Chapter Text
"Be careful of charity and kindness, lest you do more harm with open hands than with a clenched fist." -Kreia
Chapter 12: Dance
Jaune steadied himself precariously on a rope suspended balance beam, hanging high above the Beacon's training floor. These floating obstacles were normally used to train balance and agility on unsure, elevated footing, as huntsmen often found themselves in strange terrain such as collapsing buildings or high up on tree branches.
With his enhanced senses, Jaune would normally find such a task simple. His hunger pains even seemed to have receded after he passed out in the courtyard, so he had full control over his powers and emotions once more. Gone were the spikes of ravenous hunger which made his control over his powers tenuous at best. But the task was made far more difficult due to the fact that he was currently levitating two kite shields while being telekinetically pelted by rubber balls. Jaune dodged another orange ball that flung passed his head while moving one of the shields to his flank, blocking a barrage of rubber. Glynda had called this pressure testing, seeing if he could use his abilities on multiple objects, while on precarious footing, all while under attack.
It was difficult, even with his increase in control over his powers. While he could easily levitate the shields now, the combination of constant, rapid attacks and poor footing eroded his concentration. It was like his mind was getting pulled in 4 different directions, each requiring his attention. Sensing an attack coming from behind, he moved one of the kite shields to deflect the rubber ball, only for a second to fly from his blindspot and hit him across the face.
"Focus on the present, Jaune." Glynda called out from ground level. "Were that a rock or weapon, that hit could have been lethal, or at least broken your aura."
Jaune sighed as he rubbed the red mark on his face. His emotional state shifted from annoyance to anger as he then levitated the two shields up once more, blocking another volley of rubber balls. However as he did so, Jaune leaned too far forward, forcing him to look down and regain his balance. That caused him to miss a third wave slamming into him from behind, staggering him and almost knocking him off the beam completely.
Grunting, Jaune knew he had to change strategies. Thinking of his fight with Mercury the day before, the missiles he was able to stop followed the same principle as these balls. They would come in fast and at odd angles, but his sixth sense allowed him to detect them. But the balance beam was throwing him off, distracting him and blinding him to his other senses.
That's when the realization dawned on him. He was thinking too much. Just like it was with the chalk and the chalkboard during his first lesson, he was spreading his mind too thin. He was trying to look down and maintain his balance on the balance beam, while focusing on the shields with his telekinesis, all while searching for attacking rubber balls and defending himself. It was a sensory overload that completely overwhelmed him. So he needed to stop thinking, stop relying on his sight to register every single problem, and instead allow his sixth sense to guide his actions. His sixth sense hasn't failed him before, and he doubted it would start now.
And so to Glynda's surprise, Jaune closed his eyes. It was not at all rare for huntsmen to use their Aura as a kind of extra-sensory perception, to allow them to sense danger before it happened. One merely had to watch Mr. Lie Ren to see what a high aptitude in that field looked like. But when Jaune closed his eyes, he took it to another level. No longer limited by his sight, Jaune instead felt the world around him, felt the Force despite his ignorance of its very existence.
When the next volley of orange balls shot out, aiming to pelt him from behind, Jaune jumped and flipped, expertly dodging the attack. Landing back on the balance beam with practiced ease, maintaining balance no longer an issue, he then felt three more hostile presences. Coming from his left, right, and above, telekinetically levitating balls charged forward ready to pummel him.
With nowhere to go on the balance beam itself, Jaune instead took a step back and let gravity take him, falling off the beam as the three swarms missed their targets. As he fell, Jaune then extended his hands and grabbed on to the balance beam, using his momentum to flip himself around and back onto it.
Glynda felt her jaw drop at Jaune's display of acrobatics. While such a move was plausible for huntsmen to do, it would normally be from more agile fighters such as Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren, not the more straightforward Jaune Arc. Not to mention he did the entire thing with his eyes closed! Glynda was all honesty not sure if he was doing it to focus his semblance or if he was just showing off.
"Very well done, Mr. Arc." Glynda spoke as she lowered her ammunition. "While this was technically supposed to be more training for your telekinesis, I'm glad that your Aura perception is so well developed." Glynda felt pride at her student's growth.
Jaune leapt off the balance beam and used his telekinesis to slow his fall, gently landing on the ground. "Wasn't too hard to do, once I blocked out all the distractions."
"A lesson I hope you will take to heart not only with your powers, but in all aspects of your life." Glynda spoke, always looking to impart some wisdom. "Speaking of distractions though, are you prepared for the upcoming dance this weekend?"
Caught off guard by the question, Jaune went a little red and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yeah I'm definitely excited, and all that." Jaune trailed off a bit while breaking eye contact.
Glynda's own eyes narrowed on her apprentice. "Mr. Arc, do you have a date yet?"
Jaune looked like he was gut-punched by Glynda's blunt question. Getting even redder and more embarrassed, Jaune murmured out, "Uh… no, not yet."
Sighing, Glynda made Jaune look her in the eyes. "Jaune, while I know you will have more dances in the upcoming years, you shouldn't take them for granted. You need to ensure that you enjoy your youth, lest it pass you by too quickly and you become an old man with too few happy memories."
"Is that what happened to you?" Jaune muttered under his breath.
Glynda's hawkish glare snapped onto the boy once more. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Jaune's face mimicked a deer in the headlights as he realized he said that out loud. "OH, hey, I think I hear Nora getting caught in the vending machine again, so I have to go take care of that okthanksforthelessonbye!" Jaune immediately took off running, hoping to put off his punishment for the back talk.
Shaking her head, Glynda only sighed once more. "I swear, that boy will be the death of me."
Jaune paced back and forth in his room, unsure of what to do. For someone who feeds off his emotions so heavily like Jaune, he felt anxiety and stress twice as hard as a normal person, similar to how he felt rage and anger twice as hard. Anxiety led to worry, worry led to paranoia, and paranoia is what led him to walking around his dorm room in circles, muttering to himself like a mad man.
"I could just go and knock on their door and ask, but there's no way Weiss would just accept that! She's a woman of class and culture, she'll never accept something as basic as that!" Jaune debated with the air in front of him. The only other person in the room was Nora, who was on her bed wearing headphones and reading a book, desperately trying to ignore her leader's ramblings.
The boy continued his one person dialogue. "Hmm… I could borrow a guitar from the music room, put those lessons I got in middle school to use." That actually seemed like a good idea to him. A romantic serenade. What better way to ask out a girl! But soon afterwards he felt a prescient wave of discomfort flow into him, warning him that it was a bad idea. "Or maybe not."
It was at this moment that the door to JNPR's bathroom opened up, and from the steam a half naked Ren walked out, clad only in his pink towel. Ren sighed with contentedness, not tiredness, as he was able to get through his long, relaxing shower without any incident.
That is however, until Jaune ran up to him and grabbed him by the arm. "We need to talk!" Jaune barked out, not waiting for a reply as he pulled Ren aside.
As Jaune dragged a half-naked Ren over to his bed, a series of confusing scenarios were running through his mind, each more alarming than the next. Ren just really hoped his leader wasn't trying some kind of strange, aggressive tactic to hit on him. While he would've been flattered by such affections, and he thought people should love who they want without judgement, his heart was set firmly on women, one orange-haired pinkette childhood friend who was still in this very room in particular.
Sitting Ren down on his bed, Jaune sat down beside him. Jaune seemed to be mulling over something internally, while Ren never felt more awkward and uncomfortable in his life.
"Ren… I'm just gonna say it." Jaune said as Ren thought this conversation was not getting off to a good start. "You are one of my best friends. I feel like we've really bonded." To Ren's surprise, the conversation only seemed to be getting worse as he started mentally preparing a rejection for Jaune.
Jaune continued, ignorant of Ren's thoughts. "Even though you don't talk much. I mean you're really quiet. To be perfectly honest, I don't know that much about you, personally, but darnit, I consider you to be the brother I never had!"
Ren glanced down at his pink towel, the only protection to his privacy and his innocence. He wanted nothing more to just get up and walk away right now. But he still respected his leader, and gave a polite, albeit strained smile and nod. "And I you." He then glanced at his outfit hanging on his closet door.
"Which is why I wanted to get your advice on… girls." Jaune finally admitted.
Ren felt an immediate wave of relief hit him, followed by one of surprise. Why was Jaune asking him for girl advice? He wasn't some kind of casanova.
"Girls?" Ren's surprise was evident in his voice.
Jaune began to stumble over himself, trying to find the right words for such an obviously delicate subject. "I guess what I'm asking is… well how did you and Nora, you know…"
Swiftly Ren's head snapped to his leader, his mouth moving but no sounds other than "uh" coming out.
"Ahem." A familiar voice cut in. Both boys turned their heads and saw Nora, headphones off, bashfully looking at them and laughing nervously. "We're not actually 'together' together…"
"NORA I SAID HEADPHONES ON!" Jaune embarrassedly yelled back.
"Epp!" Nora squeaked out and obeyed the command.
Satisfied that he was safe, Ren then turned to his leader. "Jaune… what is this all about?"
Jaune let out a long sigh before responding, staring at the floor. "It's Weiss. I want her to pay attention to me but she won't even give me a chance. She's cold, but incredible. Every time I've tried to get her attention, she's stonewalled me hard. I just want her to take me seriously, so I can tell her how I feel without messing it up."
"Then do it." another new voice cut it. This time it was Pyrrha, entering their dorm room, giving an encouraging smile to Jaune.
"What?" Jaune mumbled out in surprise.
"Tell her exactly how you feel. No ridiculous pick lines, no faux bravado. Just… be honest."
"But what if I-"
"Jaune." Pyrrha smiled at her leader's dorky insecurity. "What happened to the courageous leader who led us during initiation? Or the man who charged head first against that monster to save Cardin? You are brave, honorable, and so many other things, and have more than proven yourself to be worthy of affection. Just tell her the truth."
Mulling over Pyrrha words for a few seconds, Jaune decided she was right! He needed to be direct. In a rare moment of self reflection for him, he could actually see how some of the lines he used on Weiss could be seen more as smarmy than romantic.
Standing up with renewed confidence Jaune looked to his partner. "You're right. Thanks Pyrrha!" He took two steps towards the door as he looked over his shoulder and called out to Ren. "Good talk, Ren!" And just like that Jaune was out looking for Weiss, closing the door behind him.
With their leader gone, Pyrrha let herself deflate, losing the mask of confidence she had put up for her leader as she trudged over to her desk. A concerned Nora watched her sit, and could only sigh and shake her head.
"Practice what you preach, Pyrrha." She spoke under her breath.
Jaune stood outside of team RWBY's door for what felt like the longest 10 seconds of his life. Taking a deep, meditative breath, Jaune readied himself and knocked on the door.
"Coming." He heard a voice call out from inside.
The door swung open to reveal a slightly surprised Weiss Schnee. The two stared blankly at each other for a few seconds before Jaune spoke up first.
"Weiss."
"Jaune."
Steeling himself once again, Jaune was committed to seeing this through. "Hey I don't suppose we could talk, you know, in private." Jaune peered into Weiss's room and saw Yang and Ruby desperately trying to appear like they weren't listening into their conversation.
Weiss turned around as well, and when she did Ruby grabbed a magazine and pretended to read it, even though it was upside down, while Yang just turned her head sideways and started whistling.
Sighing, Weiss nodded her head. "Sure. Lead the way."
Jaune kept a straight face, but was internally bouncing off the walls. Eventually, the pair made their way to one of the several empty gardens that decorated Beacon's exterior.
"So Jaune, what did you want to talk about?" Weiss asked in a practiced neutral tone, but she had an idea of what Jaune wanted. With the dance coming up this Sunday, Jaune asking to speak with her alone, it didn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that he was going to ask her. She mentally readied her stern rejection. While Jaune wasn't bad per say, he just wasn't her type and his constant hounding was getting tiresome. Not to mention she already had Neptune in mind to go with.
"Weiss…" Jaune stared deep into Weiss's pale blue eyes. "Will you accompany me to the dance on Sunday?" It took all of his will power to get that question out. He looked at Weiss and found he was unable to discern how she had taken the proposal.
Fear and anxiety welled within him again. She was going to shoot him down, he knew it. The very idea of it terrified him. So he began to pray. Pray to the Brothers, to the Spirits, to any god out there willing to listen. Please say yes Weiss. Please say yes. Say yes!
"Yes." Weiss flatly replied, her eyes glazed over.
Jaune unintentionally flinched at the expected rejection. Oh well, at least he got it off of his chest. Maybe he could ask Ruby- wait what?
"I beg your pardon?" Jaune dumbly asked.
Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I said yes, Jaune. Now, if you are going to be accompanying me to dance I have a few orders of business. First, I will be wearing a white dress with silver straps, so you will need something that matches. Something like a white suit, with silver or blue trimmings to compliment. Perhaps an Atlesean style." Weiss quickly pulled out her scroll and sent a message to Jaune. "I just sent you the address of my tailor in Vale. Go there and find something that meets those specifications. Just tell them to put it on my tab."
"Uhh…" Jaune wordlessly pulled out his scroll and checked the address.
"In addition, I will have to be at the ballroom a few hours beforehand due to my position as organizer, so I will not be able to enter the hall with you. I do however expect you to be there on time, none of that 'fashionably late' business, am I clear?"
"I… uh…" Jaune sputtered out while Weiss's eyes narrowed on him. "Uh yeah! Totally! As clear as ice dust."
Weiss nodded her head. "Good. Now I have to return to my room and continue organizing the dance, so I'll leave you to your preparations. If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to call me however. Good night, Jaune." Weiss immediately turned around and started walking away.
"Oh yeah, good night!" Jaune called back. His reaction was rather meek and tame, but on the inside he was doing backflips. Turns out just being confident really did work! With a hop and a skip in his step, Jaune began making plans for a trip to Vale tomorrow as he made his way back to his own room.
When Weiss re entered her room, she was immediately beset by an excited Yang who grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her. "So what happened between you and vomit boy? What did you say? Gimme the deets!"
Weiss tried to break Yang's grip on her shoulders, but the blonde brawler's grip was far too strong. "Dust dammit Yang, let go of me and I'll tell you."
"Oh my bad, haha." Immediately Yang let go, and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "But you didn't answer my question! What happened?"
Weiss sighed and rubbed her eyes at her teammates's antics. "For your information, Jaune called me out so he could ask me to this weekend's dance. I said yes."
Yang gave a bright smile and threw her arm around Weiss's shoulders. "Hey congrats! About time too. Been pretty painful to watch Jaune keep chasing after you like that."
Meanwhile Ruby's brow furrowed a bit. "Hm that's good for you guys. But what happened to Neptune? I thought you wanted to go with him?"
Weiss thought on this. She had been rather excited to go ask Neptune, so why did she say yes to Jaune? She drew a blank and shrugged. "I don't know, just seemed like a good idea to say yes at the time."
"If anything, is Vasilias's fault for being too slow." Yang added on. "Besides, Jaune is a great guy, emotional issues notwithstanding. I'm sure he'll treat you right, Weiss."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes I'm sure it'll be a night we'll all remember." She sarcastically remarked as she escaped from Yang's grip and made her way to her bed.
It was Saturday morning, and team JNPR was getting ready for an outing to Vale. The night before, Jaune had rushed into his room to proclaim his success to his team. His team all congratulated him on the success, rather ambivalently, though Jaune didn't notice. When he told them that he was going to head out to a tailor to get his tuxedo, Nora decided to make it a team bonding trip, since they all needed to get their dresses and suits as well. Jaune wasn't against the idea, and thought he could even use this trip to replace his still ruined combat gear. He still had his sleepwear, and Beacon provided enough uniforms that he could use it in combat class, but now was as good a time as any to get a replacement.
So the next morning, after a quick shower, Jaune threw on a fresh school uniform, while Ren and Nora were dressed in their usual combat gear. Pyrrha on the other hand… all honesty if Jaune didn't see Pyrrha change right in front of him he would've called campus security on her.
Pyrrha was wearing an all black hoodie with the hood up, a pair of loose fitting cargo pants, a large pair of aviator sunglasses, and a medical mask over her face. The disguise completely obscured who she was, but also made her look like some kind of deranged stalker.
"You uh… preparing for some kind of pandemic Pyr?" Jaune joked as he looked his incognito partner up and down.
Pyrrha sighed. "I'm sorry. I know this must look… strange, but it's a necessity. Were I to go out in uniform or my gear, fans would harass us non-stop through Vale."
"It's really that bad?" Jaune questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Before initiation, I was stopped almost a dozen times on my way to Beacon. I almost missed the last bullhead because of that." Pyrrha nodded in return.
"Wow. That… sounds awful. I'm sorry." was all Jaune could really say. He felt a strange mix of emotions, primarily pity for Pyrrha but also shock at how he had no idea of who she was when they first met.
"Yes well, hopefully with luck people won't identify me. Now come on, we don't want to miss the bullhead." Pyrrha cheerfully moved on, exiting the dorm as her team followed.
The trip to Vale was a quick, empty bullhead ride to the city. Normally, the bullheads would be filled with students looking to waste away their days amongst Vale's restaurants, clubs, and other attractions. But as usual on an early Saturday morning, most teenagers had opted to spend their time sleeping in.
But once team JNPR got to Vale, things shifted dramatically. The Vale itself was busy even by its normal standards. Businesses were out, hanging out flyers and posters, advertising for the upcoming Vytal festival, while multitudes of tourists and visiting students also crowded the sidewalks.
It didn't take long for the team to find the store they were looking for, Adel Attire, a rather high-end fashion shop in Vale's commercial district. Pyrrha was surprised that this was their destination, as apparently this company had helped her and many other huntsmen and huntresses find their individual styles. Many skilled tailors and fashion designers around the world sought to work for this company and its many branches.
The way her old manager explained it, was that huntsmen and huntresses were not only expected to fight the grimm physically, but also be a symbol for the civilians to rally behind. And no one would want to rally behind someone who looked like a bum, regardless of how good of a fighter they were. Pyrrha didn't exactly believe in her manager's words, but had to admit she enjoyed how stylish her combat outfit was.
Entering the store, Jaune couldn't help but feel intimidated. He was used to shopping at Gold Navy and other such discount stores for his clothes. Here however, everything from the clothes to the carpeting bled bourgeoisie. Instead of tables of piled clothes and racks packed to the brim, there were full mannequins with sharp suits, display racks that only showed off a single item, even the employee was dressed far better than what he normally wore. Dust, he even saw a pair of jeans that cost 500 lien. In what world would a piece of denim cost that much?
"Excuse me, do you need any assistance?" The store clerk asked as he walked up to team JNPR. The clerk was a young man with a handsome face, probably a little bit older than them, with dark brown hair and a slim fitting black suit.
"Yes actually." Pyrrha spoke up, removing her hood and mask at the same time pulling out a black membership card. "My teammate here is looking for a suit and some new combat gear and we wanted to see what you had available." Pyrrha gestured to Jaune.
The clerk took a look at the card and gave a professional smile. "Ah Miss Nikos, my apologies I didn't recognize you in your current… attire, though I suppose that was intentional. If you all follow me we have some of the latest styles from Atlas to Menagerie available for you to parouse." The clerk led them to another section of the store dedicated to combat outfits. Various suits of armor, paramilitary style clothing, and much more were proudly put on display. The clerk looked at Jaune, eyeing him up and down. "Is there any specific style you are looking for?"
Jaune was completely caught off guard by both his question and the entire situation he was currently in "Uhh you know, I was more or less just planning on window shopping, just seeing what was available."
The clerk maintained a professional smile, but Jaune swore he could feel slight annoyance radiating from him. "Yes well this area of the stores is yours to explore. Just let me know if you need any more assistance."
"Oh actually, I should probably get my suit for the dance done first. I need a suit, white, preferably Atlesean style. I'll be going there with Weiss Schnee so probably something that compliments her family's colors?" Jaune felt a little bad about name-dropping Weiss here, but she did recommend the shop and she was going to pay for the suit.
"Is that so!" The clerk replied, now smiling and seeming keen to follow Jaune's every command.
Internally, Jaune could feel the emotions from this man do a 180. Before, he could sense the well-hidden disdain at seeing some random plebeian walking into his store, now it was both happiness and self-serving profiteering. Jaune scowled a fraction. This man was an egotistical worm with no actual power to back his arrogance. But Jaune swallowed his distaste in order to just get this done.
The clerk continued his rant. "Well, one day is far too soon to have something custom made, but we do have some of the latest Atlesean fashions in stock. I am sure nothing but the finest will be suitable for Miss Schnee's date."
Jaune didn't even need psychic powers to see what this man was trying to do. He wanted to lead Jaune to purchasing the most expensive item, most likely gaining a rather large commission for himself. By the time the clerk introduced the third, exceedingly expensive suit, as well as the accompanying payment plan, Jaune snapped.
"Enough! I do not require such frivolities! You will find me a suit of reasonable price that is within my specifications while I examine your combat equipment. And this will be for rent, not purchase."
The clerk's eyes seemed to glaze over. "I will find you a suit of reasonable price within your specifications for rent." He then gave a quick bow and left to do that very task.
Satisfied at having successfully cowed the man, Jaune smirked and turned around to the awestruck expressions of his teammates. In response, Jaune only shrugged and recited the lesson he learned with Weiss. "Just gotta be confident."
With that Jaune moved to explore the combat apparel. First he looked over the sets of armor they had here. They were apparently commissioned by some famous blacksmiths, and exotic and beautiful craftsmanship attached with a significant price tag. Jaune shook his head at the ludicrous costs and walked away. He didn't really think he wanted armor anyway. His fighting style relied on him dodging attacks rather than tanking them, so he needed something light and more mobile.
Passing through the light armor and clothing section, Jaune walked by a large menagerie of gear. Kevlar and dust weaved clothing, ballistic vests, even various types of leatherworking, ranging from biker jackets to fantasy styled ranger armor.
However, there was one mannequin that caused Jaune to stop. Adorning the figure was a set of black clothes. The base of the outfit was a pair of loose fitting, dark grey pants and matching long sleeve shirt. Two black, knee high leather riding boots adorned its legs while two long, black leather gloves covered the hands and extended down the forearms. The suit was completed with a sleeveless, hooded, split-tailed trench coat that extended down to his lower thighs.
Jaune gave a low whistle at the outfit. Now this was pretty much exactly what he was looking for. Light, so it wouldn't slow him down, and a good combination of stylish and intimidating to boot. In fact it even reminded him of the robes he saw the man in his dreams wear. Nora saw Jaune was staring at the clothes and walked over.
"Not going with armor again, Jaune?" She asked as she began inspecting the outfit as well.
Jaune shook his head. "No, felt too slowed down by it. This however, I think would work well."
Putting two fingers to her chin in contemplation, Nora examined the clothing even closer. "Hmm. That's a lot of black though. You going for an edgy, assassin look?"
"Funny you should mention that." The clerk called out once more, returning with a few more modest white suits, as well as a tape measure for Jaune's sizes. "This set of robes is actually a modernized design of robes used by an ancient sect of Valean monk assassins."
"Monk assassins?" Nora parroted.
The clerk spoke as he began taking specific measurements of Jaune. "Indeed. They were a group of 'shadow monks', so to speak. A death cult that worshipped the Brother of Darkness, from the religion of the Two Brothers. They saw death and destruction as the perfect way to honor their dark god, and would hire themselves out as mercenaries and assassins, doing all sorts of evil deeds. Fortunately, their order was destroyed during the Great War, but a few records of their attire and history survived those turbulent times. The designer used those records as the basis for this outfit, for use by stealthy huntsmen who would wish to inspire fear as much as hope." The clerk finished both his necessary measurements as well as his impromptu history lesson.
"That's… dark." Pyrrha mumbled out.
"And perfect!" Jaune grinned. "I'll take it!" Of course Jaune was going to use his own money for this purchase and not burden Weiss with any unnecessary and unauthorized expenditures.
Grabbing the price tag, Jaune had to fight the urge to dry heave. Top designer clothes or not, this price tag was… steep. Jaune thought he was lucky then that the clerk seemed to be wrapped around his finger.
"Good sir." Jaune called out with a fake, plastic smile that covered his own distaste for the clerk. "I believe the price on this outfit is rather absurd, and I think you should give my friends and I a discount."
The clerk froze. His face showed that his mind became an internal battlefield, fighting on whether or not he should obey Jaune's command. Seeing this, Jaune narrowed his eyes on him, glaring, and unknowingly increased the pressure of the Force. The man flinched under Jaune's gaze, before his tumultuous thoughts once again became calm, and with a blank stare he replied, "Yes the prices are rather absurd. I will give you the preferred family and friends discount on all of your purchases and rentals today."
Jaune nodded in satisfaction, and moved on. He picked a rather modestly priced, white suit based on an Atlesean naval officer dress uniform, of course lacking insignias, rankings, or commendations of any kind. It was actually reminiscent of the uniform he'd seen General Ironwood wear, and gave an air of class and authority that he thought would complement Weiss well.
As the clerk retreated to check out the purchases and prepare to adjust the fit for Jaune, the rest of his team also got their own dance attire. Pyrrha picked a long, turtleneck, sleeveless crimson gown that left her back exposed. Ren went for a more standard, black tuxedo, while Nora got a pink strapless dress with a white skirt that tapered into a v, giving her top the appearance of a heart. While they were all appreciative of the discount Jaune was able to get them, his apparent intimidation of the clerk unnerved them somewhat.
Regardless, the rest of the interaction went smoothly. Clothes were purchased and rented, sent to be fitted the same day and delivered to Beacon Sunday morning. After a quick pit stop to get some lunch, team JNPR returned to Beacon, where at least 1 of their members was excitedly waiting for the dance to come.
It was Sunday evening, and to say Jaune was rather ecstatic would be an understatement. Jaune felt rather dapper in his sleek, Atlesean suit as he stared at himself in the mirror. So self-absorbed in how good his days have been going recently, so bubbling with joy, that Jaune did not notice the various looks his teammates had.
Pyrrha, now dressed in her gown, tried to hide her feelings of depression behind her professional smile. While Nora was less than subtle at shifting between disapproving glares at their leader and sympathetic looks towards the champion. Ren on the other hand, just seemed tired and was working overtime to keep Nora in line.
But Jaune noticed none of this as he adjusted his hair for the 4th time tonight. "Hey you guys think Weiss would like my hair more parted to the left, or to the right?"
Nora not so subtly rolled her eyes and groaned to the admonishment of Ren, while Pyrrha put on a strained smile and said, "Jaune, I think Weiss will like your hair regardless of how you make it."
"Yeah, I guess so." Jaune finally stepped away from the mirror, and looked at his scroll for the time. "Well we should probably all get going. Don't want to be late for tonight!"
"Yeah wouldn't that be a tragedy." Nora spat out, earning a quick poke from Ren to keep her quiet.
The bile in the words was completely missed by Jaune. "Indeed it would, so let's go."
Jaune happily sauntered out of the door, followed by Pyrrha, who had to take a few moments to collect herself before moving. Nora walked up right beside her, never letting Pyrrha out of her sight, while Ren silently trudged on behind them.
The dance itself was all things a generic school dance should be. Teenage students awkwardly hung around the edges of the dance floor, schmoozing and idly chatting with one another. Many chairs, tables, and punch bowls were set along the perimeter of the hall, giving many students an area of refuge to avoid being sucked into the social danger zone that was the dance floor.
After scanning the crowds for his date, he saw Weiss standing over by one of the tables, arranging a vase of flowers, desperately trying to make one whiterose stand that kept wilting. With no hesitation Jaune abandoned his team to their own devices and made his way towards Weiss. When the rose failed to stand on its own for the third time, Weiss let her head hang in defeat.
"You know, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Jaune called out behind her.
Weiss jumped a bit and turned. Her expression initially unreadable, the heiress gave a small smile when she saw Jaune's attire. "Well then, you must truly be the master of the insane." Weiss lightly jabbed, referencing his many attempts at courtship.
Jaune shrugged, "Hey at least I eventually got a different result." Jaune then extended his hand out for Weiss to take. "Now come on. You've been so busy preparing this party that you haven't been able to enjoy it. You could use a dance."
Weiss glanced at Jaune, then his hand, then back to Jaune, before blankly looking at him and replying. "Yes, I suppose I have been too busy and been unable to enjoy the party. I could use a dance." Weiss shook her head a bit, shaking away a strange lightheadedness, before taking Jaune's hand. "And good job with the suit by the way. You do look rather sharp."
"Well I like to think I clean up pretty well." Jaune laughed as he led Weiss to the dance floor, grabbing her right hand with his left and wrapping his right hand around her waist.
"Do you know how to lead?" Weiss asked what she thought was a very fair question.
Jaune however, scoffed as if she had just insulted his entire family line. "Do I know how to lead? Weiss, prepare to be stupefied, mesmerized, and otherwise amazed!" as Jaune began to lead her all across the dance floor.
And Weiss was amazed. Not only did Jaune know how to dance, but he was actually an amazing dancer. Weiss, having been classically trained as a member of upper class society in many forms of dance, from waltzes to ballet, actually found herself struggling to keep up with the skill and ferocity of Jaune's dancing. A small crowd actually separated around them, giving the pair a wide berth to continue their dance uninhibited, but also unintentionally making them the center of attention.
Together they spun and twirled, pirouetted and whirled, gliding across the dance floor unrivaled by any other pair. As the song crescendoed, so too did their dancing. And when the song was finally over, both Jaune and Weiss stood, breathing heavier and slightly sweaty, still within each other's grasp. That's when the clapping began. The raucous applause immediately brought Weiss and Jaune back to reality, causing them to look around to see what all the commotion was.
All around them students clapped at their performance. Yang gave a few loud whistles, and even Sun, Blake, and Neptune gave approving nods and applause. Suddenly the White Knight duo felt a flush of embarrassment, and became red. Giving a few gracious nods and thanks, the two then quickly retreated to the perimeter of the dance floor.
"I have to say, Jaune." Weiss said while slightly flustered. "I had no idea you were such a good dancer."
Jaune, similarly disheveled, simply smirked and shrugged. "Things like that happen when you grow up with seven sisters."
"Seven sisters!?" Weiss guffawed. "Do your parents not have a hobby?"
Jaune laughed at her extreme response. "I think that is their hobby."
Weiss couldn't help but burst out laughing at the ridiculousness. Meanwhile Jaune was on cloud nine. This night was going perfectly! Him and Weiss were getting along great and having a blast. All he needed was for Weiss to give him a chance to show her what he's like. He felt himself inflate with pride. Once their laughing fit was over, Jaune felt particularly parched from the whole ordeal.
"Hey Weiss, you want to get us something to drink?" He innocently asked, merely because Weiss was closer to the punch bowl.
The smile on Weiss's face immediately fell, adopting a more neutral expression. She blankly stated, "I want to go get us something to drink."
"Awesome." Jaune gave two thumbs up as Weiss left to go to the punch bowl, completely ignorant of the shift in her attitude.
Weiss returned with two drinks and the two of them took their seats along the ballroom wall. Eager to make sure the night didn't fall to awkward silence, Jaune struck up a new conversation.
"So Weiss, what was your home like? Must've been crazy living as the heiress to the SDC." Jaune asked.
Weiss gave a somewhat sad chuckle. "Crazy is a word to describe it, yes. Parts of it were good, and I was never lacking in material things. Although it could get hard when your father is an overbearing megalomaniac." she sighed.
Jaune winced. "Hm that's rough. My parents have also been, overbearing, I guess you could say, but I can't imagine living with your dad was easy."
"No it was not." Weiss shook her head. "He wanted to control every aspect of my life growing up. To mold me into being his perfect successor. Failure was not something he tolerated, and I learned quickly so I would not become one. What was wrong with your parents?" Weiss wanted to get away from the topic of her father, and Jaune seemed like he didn't have reservations talking about it.
Jaune did grimace a bit. "They were kinda controlling like yours, but in a different way. They were the ultimate helicopter parents. Overprotective. Over-invasive. It's like they were afraid I'd disappear if they weren't watching me."
"I can see how that would quickly become suffocating." Weiss sympathetically said.
"Suffocating is a word to describe it, yes." Jaune mirrored Weiss's statement. "They had no intention of letting me become a huntsman, so I had to take matters into my own hands and run away to Beacon."
Weiss's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a runaway?"
Jaune nodded. "Yep. Had to hike my way through a grimm infested forest just to get to Vale. But what about your Dad? I doubt he liked the idea of you coming to Beacon."
"No he did not." Weiss shook her head once more. "It took months of pleading for me to convince him to let me attend here. But it was worth it, just to get far away from his... toxicity."
Jaune chuckled a bit and raised his glass. "To crazy parents?"
Smirking, Weiss raised her own drink. "To striking out on our own."
The two clinked plastic cups and drank their punch.
The rest of the night continued in a similar pattern. Jaune and Weiss spent a lot of time just sitting down and talking, getting to know each other. Since Weiss never really gave Jaune a chance, they were never able to learn that much about each other, find out if they had common interests and similarities. And to their surprise they did.
Besides their overbearing parents, both of them had a shared love of music. While dancing and singing were something Weiss's father had forced onto her, she found that she greatly enjoyed both as an expressive outlet. Meanwhile Jaune pursued music as a hobby, having picked up the guitar, and was forced to learn to dance by his sisters so he, in their words, "wouldn't be a complete dork".
Soon enough, their conversation was cut off by the DJ. "Alright boys and girls, huntsmen and huntresses. The night's coming to a close soon, so I wanted to get one last dance for all the lovebirds out there." The lighting of the hall went to a calming blue, and he put on a slow song, one that caused many of the more intimate pairs to close up and begin slow dancing, and sent the pairs that were just friends scurrying away.
Feeling a sense of passion and romance like never before, Jaune stood up, and extended his hand towards Weiss once more. "How about it Weiss? One more dance." Unbeknownst to Jaune, the Dark side fed on passion and pleasure just as much as it did anger and fear.
Weiss's eyes glazed over and blankly said, "Sure, one more dance."
She stood, taking Jaune's hand and the two made their way to the dance floor. Holding onto each other tightly, Jaune had never been happier. As their bodies slowly swayed back and forth to the music, Jaune found the courage to take it one step further.
"Weiss, would you like to kiss me?" Jaune hesitantly asked, cursing internally at the awkward wording of the question.
Weiss however, didn't seem to mind, and with a blank look on her face simply said, "I would like to kiss you." Weiss closed her eyes and puckered her lips as she went in for a kiss.
Scratch what Jaune thought before. NOW is the happiest Jaune's ever been. Jaune closed his eyes as well and moved his head forward, when something broke him out of his blissful state.
"And then that dork said-" a familiar, boisterous voice boomed near him, drawing Jaune's attention.
Jaune opened his eyes and glared at the source, one Cardin Winchester, who was standing by the side of the auditorium, speaking with his team. Of course, leave it to Cardin to almost ruin the best night of Jaune's life. Jaune turned back to Weiss, lips still puckered, and thought to himself, Just ignore him. Just be glad that he stopped harassing you and your team after you… after you told him… after you told him to stop.
…
Oh no...
"We-Weiss." Jaune choked out, "Weiss stop."
Immediately Weiss's face returned to normal, and she looked at him with a blank expression.
Ok, not too bad, anybody would stop if you asked them like that. He needed definite proof.
"Weiss, let go of me and take two steps back." He commanded, not asked this time.
Without hesitation Weiss let go of Jaune's hands and took two small steps backwards, then stood still, as if awaiting a new order.
Why is she being so subservient? The Weiss I know would question this, or call me an idiot for asking her to do such strange things.
This wasn't looking good, but in Jaune's defense, maybe she was just humoring him. He needed something more extreme. Something that Weiss would never normally do.
"Weiss, spin around three times, and then bark like a dog." She would never do this. She was going to call him an idiot and smack him across the head, or kick him in the shin, and he would go back to his dorm and feel like an idiot for screwing it up with Weiss.
To Jaune's absolute horror, Weiss stepped back, did 3 beautiful pirouettes, and when she finished she squeaked a cute, "Arf!"
Now people were starting to whisper. Attention was being brought to both of them as Weiss seemed to just spin around and bark like a dog for no reason. Amongst the viewers, the rest of team JNPR merely watched the spectacle in confusion. Yang, beside Blake, couldn't help but laugh while Blake looked on in concern, wondering what was happening.
Meanwhile Jaune felt like his whole world was crashing down around him. He… he had been manipulating Weiss this whole time! How!? Why!? For how long!? Jaune's throat became dry, all color drained from his face. Weiss continued to stare at him, confusion now entering her expression as revelation after revelation rushed into Jaune.
If he somehow mind controlled Weiss, and he also mind controlled Cardin… Was there anyone else!? Anyone whose lives he could've accidentally ruined with this. Going through his memories, he came to another realization. The store clerk. Jaune had forced the store clerk from the tailor into following his orders as well.
Looking back to Weiss, Jaune was forced to ask himself one final question. What did he almost do to Weiss? Jaune… Jaune realized he's a monster. He almost committed some kind of crime by essentially forcing Weiss to kiss him. Dust, if he didn't realize what he was doing, how far would this have gone? Dust, he wanted to go further! Jaune felt like he was going to throw up.
Does it matter?
A voice within Jaune's mind spoke.
What? He thought back.
The girl is now yours, take her. Break her. No one else would know.
No! That's not right. He fought back. I… I would never do that! This was just a mistake! All of it! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! Jaune felt tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes.
Jaune shunted the dark thoughts out of his mind. He knew that this was all his fault. His fault for not controlling his powers, for really understanding them. He… he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to fix this. Never before did Jaune feel so helpless, afraid that anything he did would end up in hurting those he loved.
"Weiss…" Jaune managed to stammer out, tears now freely flowing down his face. "I'm so sorry just, just go back to your team, and enjoy the rest of your night."
Jaune didn't even wait to see if Weiss would follow that order as he turned and started sprinting for the door. Violently shoving and pushing his way through several students, Jaune escaped into Beacon's halls and ran, not knowing where he was going.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out and immediately took after him.
Meanwhile Weiss, rather confused and befuddled by this whole situation, simply walked back to Blake and Yang, who were staring at her, mouths agape.
"Weiss." Yang started, not believing what she just saw. "What did you do to him?" Sure her and Jaune weren't the closest, but they fought and bled together. She was more than happy to consider him a friend, and would never want to see him so… broken. Ice queen must've literally torn his heart out and stepped on it.
"I… don't know." Weiss honestly said, puzzled by everything going on. She shook her head again, clearing it of a foginess that was within it. "I'm not entirely sure why Jaune left like that."
"And why did you spin around and bark like a dog?" Blake asked, not wanting to lose sight of that strange episode.
"I'm not sure either." Weiss seemed perturbed by her confusion "It… it just seemed like a good idea at the time."
Yang and Blake both gave Weiss incredulous looks, but the heiress did not have any answer for them.
"By the way, where's Ruby?" Weiss questioned. Normally their airhead of a leader would go chasing after Jaune as well.
"I think she snuck out earlier." Yang answered. "Dances really aren't her thing."
"Apparently it's not a lot of people's thing." Blake remarked as General Ironwood and a squad of Atlesean soldiers rushed into the hall, calling for an end to the dance.
Jaune's legs burned as he continued to run as hard as he could. His face burned as tears flowed freely, emotions exploding within him. Bursting through one of Beacon's side exits, he paid no attention to the voice calling out after him, no attention to the lockers that were flinging open and objects sent flying by his rampant powers. So blinded by his rage and grief that he paid no attention to a small cobblestone that stuck out from the walkway. Jaune clipped his foot on said cobblestone, and with his emotions in such turmoil he couldn't stop himself from falling flat on his face.
Grunting as his face slammed into the stone ground, the pain and sudden stop forced him to take a second to collect his thoughts. As he did a voice called out behind him.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried as she finally caught up to her partner.
She immediately moved to kneel beside him and check on him. He was uninjured, but his once pristine white suit was now dirtied and torn, while tears and snot poured down his face.
Jaune turned up to see his partner next to him, and he instantaneously latched onto her waist with a hug, crying into her dress. Pyrrha swiftly returned the hug, patting his head and his back.
"Shhhh, Jaune… it's ok, I'm here." She tried to comfort him. After a few seconds like this, Jaune finally calmed down, so Pyrrha pulled him off of her and asked, "Jaune, what happened? What's going on? What did Weiss do?" She swore if Weiss broke Jaune's heart she was going to kill that harlot.
"No." Jaune choked out, shaking his head. "It wasn't her, it was me. It's all my fault. I'm a monster and I almost hurt Weiss."
Pyrrha's heart bled for Jaune, seeing him like this, but her face hardened. She needed to find out what happened. "What did you do Jaune?"
"Do… do you remember, back last term, when Cardin was harassing me?" Jaune seemingly asked out of nowhere.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, after I met with you on the rooftop, Cardin confronted me. Apparently he lived in the dorm beneath the rooftop, and heard the whole conversation." Jaune admitted.
Pyrrha was aghast. "What!? What did he do?"
Jaune sighed. "He wanted to blackmail me. Recorded the whole thing and said he was going to tell Ozpin I lied to get in if I didn't do what he said."
"Is that what happened here? Did Weiss find out about your transcripts?" Out of everyone, Pyrrha thought that Weiss was probably the worst one to find out about the transcripts. She had too much respect for authority and the rules.
Jaune shook his head however. "No, because the thing is, I told Cardin to delete that recording, and never bother us again."
Pyrrha was now even more confused. "But, that's a good thing, right?"
"No Pyrrha, you don't understand! Cardin didn't have to do anything, he had me by the throat. But I made him do it. I controlled him, forced him to delete the recording and leave us alone even though he didn't want to. Just like I made Weiss go to the dance with me." Jaune hung his head in shame.
"Wha- what?" Pyrrha stammered out.
"I don't know how, and I don't know when, but somehow, my semblance allowed me to manipulate their minds, to persuade them and force them to do things they wouldn't normally do."
Pyrrha… Pyrrha didn't know what to say, didn't know how to feel. Shocked was the first word that came to her mind. Shocked that Jaune's powers were growing still. Shocked that he could use them in such a dangerous way. Pyrrha shook her head to clear herself of those thoughts. Right now, her partner and team leader was having a breakdown in front of her and she needed to help him.
"Jaune." Pyrrha whispered out, cupping his face in her hands. "Jaune listen to me. You are not a monster. You didn't have control over your powers, and once you realized what was happening you stopped before you did anything… irreversible." Pyrrha didn't even want to go down that dark train of thought.
Refocusing on her leader, she continued speaking. "Jaune, we are going to figure out a way to fix this. To train your powers so this never happens again." She then took a deep breath, and looked Jaune right in the eyes. "But first, you're going to have to go to Weiss tomorrow and explain everything to her."
Jaune was horrified at the idea. "Everything? But she'll kill me!"
"Jaune!" Pyrrha scolded. "This may have been an accident, but you still manipulated her. You NEED to clear the air of this, otherwise no one, especially team RWBY, will ever be able to trust you again."
Jaune nodded his head, silently accepting his responsibility. After a few moments of silence, Jaune found the strength to mutter out one more phrase. "Thanks Pyrrha. For everything, for being there for me."
Pyrrha said nothing as she immediately wrapped Jaune up in the tightest hug she's ever given in her life.