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  Editors/Beta: Lonestar, SurvivorSam, Reiter.

  Monday morning, 7th of August

  “Beep-Beep-Bee–”

  Weiss silenced the arm on her scroll with a groan. Wishing she could sleep a bit more, the aspiring huntress sat up in her bed nevertheless and stretched her arms with a yawn.

  Her blurry eyes squinted at the early morning sun gring down on her from the open window. She hadn’t noticed it yesterday due to her exhaustion, but the sunrise from the balcony was quite the beautiful sight to behold. Even the distant skyscrapers added a touch of wonder as the sun slowly climbed in between them before shining down on the city.

  Weiss stood up with a sigh, stretched her body once more, before making her way to the small bathroom of her room. After enjoying a quick but soothing shower, she dressed in a backup of her combat dress, the only one she had, before walking to the balcony. For a minute, she just stood there, enjoying the morning breeze and the smell of fresh air, though a certain shadow caused her to frown.

  The gcier she created yesterday had lost nearly half of its mass, yet it was still there, giving a pleasant chill to an otherwise hot summer day. The sight reminded Weiss of the death and destruction that happened only a day ago. From what she learned, most of the dead did not live in the inn or even the neighborhood, but that did not matter, they would not be walking those streets anymore. And yet most people did not seem overly concerned about the death toll. It was still a sobering moment for her, that people here were simply used to death and misery.

  Or was it the same everywhere and Weiss’ sheltered upbringing hid her from the reality of the world?

  At least Becky didn't bme her and was satisfied with the repair work done to her establishment.

  Sighing again, Weiss turned to her neighbor’s balcony, finding it empty. An unbidden smile came to her as she thought of her savior, Jaune Arc. What were the chances that her distant cousin would be renting the room next to her. To think she might have confused him for one of his sisters when they were children… Truth be told, she did not remember anything from that vacation. Even Jaune admitted he only remembered her because her features were so simir to his grandmother.

  She jumped to the boy’s balcony, and opened the gss door, finding him sound asleep. His room was even more barebones than hers, with not a single article of clothing or a bag id anywhere. Any who looked in would think it abandoned, yet Weiss had learned that Jaune traveled light, and had some sort of ability to store things.

  Looking at the sleeping blonde, the Schnee heiress couldn’t help but smile as she recalled the events of st evening. Arc had joined her in the bullhead on the way to Junior’s, and Menie was eager to strike a conversation with the man who took on a whole gang so easily, but Jaune was far more interested in her. For both of them, yesterday was their first meeting, and they simply talked about anything and everything.

  Just like with Menie, Weiss found herself opening her heart to him, telling him of her woes, her dreams, the conflict in her family, and how she got to Vale. In hindsight, Weiss felt like she was whining on matters that would seem frivolous to the people she had met so far, yet just like with Menie, Jaune was a good listener and empathetic to her troubles. He even agreed when she tentatively asked if they were now friends and would like to join her on her trip to Pharos!

  Weiss did not like the way Menie and Becky looked at them both, however. They even made weird faces and gestures at them; that had her cock her head in confusion, causing them to groan in disappointment.

  Weirdos.

  Once they were in the club, Weiss was quickly introduced to the crowd to a smattering of zy appuse. She took to the stage, ready to sing the song she prepared, only to freeze. Now, Weiss was used to singing to a crowd, but those were her father’s ilk; nobles and rich folk who, despite everything, were courteous and polite, yet the crowd in front of her was already rowdy and, most importantly, young!

  For some reason, it was far easier for Weiss to sing to stuffy old men or women who felt far too self-important. To people her age or a few years older? The lyrics she prepared froze in her throat, as she opened and closed her mouth uselessly. She gnced to the side, finding Junior biting his thumb in worry, while Menie and Miltia were busy handing drinks to the waitresses. No help would be coming from them, and suddenly, Weiss started breathing heavily. What if they booed her? What if she stumbled on the words and made a fool of herself? What if–

  And that was when Jaune strutted to one of the front tables. He said a few words and handed something to the couple sitting there causing them to quickly vacate the table. He made himself comfortable, producing a pte of grilled fish from somewhere and simply gazed at her as he snacked.

  And Weiss sang.

  Weiss sang so much and so well, that she did not notice the time flying nor the people cpping in appuse. She had eyes only for Jaune, who stared intensely at her. At some point, Becky had joined him, pcing her bad leg on a seat before popping open a bottle of beer and cheering her on.

  The night was a resounding success but by the time Weiss finished, Jaune had somehow fallen asleep in his seat. They ended up borrowing Junior's bullhead again to return here, one of Junior's men flying them. Becky quickly excused herself to speak to the repair crew still busy in the docks, though Weiss feared the woman was overworking herself, what with her swaying and stumbling.

  Meanwhile, Weiss was given the duty of carrying the sleeping Arc to his room, which brought her back to the present: Jaune was still sleeping in the same clothes he was wearing yesterday, and his face twitching strangely. Now that she looked at his face, she could tell he was handsome, but… maybe shave that beard? She squinted her eyes as her hands moved to his cheeks, while it did make him look more mature, it was a bit too–

  Jaune’s hand lunged like a viper the moment she touched his cheek and before Weiss could even yelp, she found herself spread on the bed with the young man’s entire weight pressed on her. Her first instinct was to angrily flood the room with her ice dust, freezing her assaint into an icicle. Thankfully, she managed to stop herself at the st second when she remembered it was Jaune.

  Weiss would have blushed like mad at the compromising position if not for the crazed blue eyes staring at her… and the gun barrel pointed at her eye.

  The blonde man was breathing harshly, his eyes unseeing, and his body shaking. Weiss should have felt fear at her defenseless position, yet strangely, she felt only calm even with a gun pointed at her head. Unbidden, her hand went up, pushing away the gun, and settling on Jaune’s cheek… then she pinched.

  “Morning sleepyhead, you promised to join me at Pharos.” Jaune yelped as he finally seemed to realize their compromising position and his gun instantly disappeared - she really needed to learn how he did that. “Bad dream?”

  Jaune’s breathing was still harsh as he stared at her for the longest moment before slowly nodding his head. Weiss may not be an expert in reading people, she could admit she was too sheltered for that, but even she could tell there was something very wrong with her distant cousin - then she remembered the text Miss Goodwitch sent her st night. It did not go into detail, but considering what she heard from their conversation about Jaune not attending therapist sessions, Weiss could make an educated guess and say the blonde man above her had some serious issues.

  And naturally, she did not hesitate when her hands gently held his cheeks, “Want to talk about it?”

  It was a simple question, yet the moment she uttered it, a thousand things seemed to go through Jaune Arc’s mind. His eyes flitted this way and that, his head trying to shake, but she forced him to look at her, and kept a stern gaze as she forcibly nodded his head, much to his confusion.

  Weiss beamed up at him, “Great! I’m told I’m an excellent listener.”

  “I don’t–”

  “Nope! Not taking it. You listened to my whining yesterday, and even helped me out in a pinch. Now it’s my turn to return the favor.”

  “…Weiss, I…”

  It nearly made her stop at the sight of his vulnerable eyes. Weiss was not even sure why she cared so much; aside from being barely reted, and a nebulous childhood recollection, she barely knew the boy.

  Yet, she couldn’t deny having come to care for him.

  Some discordant memory told her it was natural for men to hold on to their problems and bury them in their hearts. It could have been something her mother or sister told her, yet seeing Jaune now, Weiss could not accept that at all!

  “Talk to me, Jaune.” She simply said, “I will listen.”

  The young man’s face grimaced as he opened and closed his mouth several times, before it slowly turned stony. He opened his mouth to say something, before freezing, and Weiss felt that familiar chill crawl up her spine along with the vague sensation of being seen naked. Jaune’s eyes were shining before they turned back to dull… and the boy colpsed beside her with an exhausted groan.

  “You just won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Nope,” Weiss adjusted her posture to be ying on her side, her dress getting crumpled in the process but she didn’t care, not right now. “I’m stubborn like that, and if we will be a team from now on, it’s only fair we know more about each other.”

  “Team?”

  “Y-Yes? I mean, we are both going to Beacon, right?” Weiss looked at the young man in trepidation. That was just what Becky said, yet she had no idea what Jaune’s pns were and could only sigh in relief when he nodded. “Great! I don’t know how the teams are formed there, but we make a great couple–I mean, team!”

  She spped the boy’s shaking shoulder as he chuckled at her poor choice of words. It was a nice change from the doom and gloom that seemed to have overcome him earlier, but as he finished ughing, his face turned back to morose.

  “I have certain powers that come with severe drawbacks.” Jaune Arc suddenly spoke as he stared at the ceiling. “One of them allows me to easily connect with people I trust during combat, allowing us an unnatural affinity towards teamwork. Almost like we are reading each other’s minds, and in the middle of battle, that would be a godsend.”

  Weiss wanted to comment on how versatile such an ability could be, yet restrained herself from gushing about the details. “That sounds like a wonderful ability.”

  “It would seem like it… until the ones you are connected to start dying one after the other.”

  The words brought a chill to her spine and her stomach felt like a hammer dropped in it. There were so many implications to what Jaune said; he had already been in battles, he had lost people he cared about, or at least he connected with, yet she felt curious about something.

  “How does it work?”

  “By connecting our Aura together, we connect our souls. By severing that connection through death, the soul would leave an imprint on the link… and would haunt you forever.”

  If Weiss felt unease before, then now she felt nothing but dread. It had always been theorized that Aura was the manifestation of one’s soul, yet many people in the scientific community disdained that thought process, calling it religious drivel; that unlocking Aura was merely an evolutionary step for humanity to better protect themselves against the Grimm. Now, she felt like ughing at their arrogant hypothesis; here was solid proof that the soul actually existed.

  “Tell me everything,” Weiss suddenly demanded, wishing–no, needing to learn all she could about her first true friend. Jaune gazed at her strangely; Weiss feared he would refuse and wondered if she was being too forward. Surprisingly, he huffed out a chuckle before his gaze turned warm.

  “You are a stubborn one, aren’t you?”

  “Yep,” She nodded her head rapidly, before her stomach grumbled, her nose twitched, and her face scrounged in distaste, “On second thought, how about you shower first, then we can talk over breakfast?”

  “Fine by me.”

  Jaune got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, “Don’t forget to shave! Your beard looks and feels too scruffy.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Starting to sound like my sister.”

  Was the muffled reply as the young man closed the bathroom door, leaving Weiss alone in his room. In the bed he had slept in. The same bed where the much taller boy had her at his mercy underneath him. The young girl squealed in shock and embarrassment as she rolled from one side of the warm bed to the other, her face burning red. Weiss found herself hugging a pillow tightly as she felt bashful to even think about their earlier position, though one thing did stick to her mind as her face had a dopey grin.

  She did not mind it one bit.

  The sound of the bathroom door opening several minutes ter had her jump from the bed as she fixed her dress hurriedly, “Finally don– W-Where the hell are your c-clothes?!”

  Jaune Arc had exited the bathroom with nothing but a flimsy towel around his waist. Even as Weiss tried to cover her eyes with her hands, a treacherous part of her told her to look and she couldn’t deny it. The blonde was clean-shaven, showing a much younger face that matched his age compared to earlier. His hair was still too long, long enough to be tied in a ponytail if need be, but it was shiny and clean. Weiss’s eyes trailed down to the rest of his body, causing her to unconsciously lick her lips at the sight of his powerful physique that was only marred by strange fading scars on his right side. It almost looked like a spider web… or the aftereffects of a lightning strike.

  Suddenly, Jaune moved his towel and Weiss immediately covered her eyes; she did not want to see his privates!

  Okay, maybe a little sneak peek won't–

  “Ah, whoops. I’m decent now.” She almost groaned in disappointment as she lowered her eyes to find Jaune’s body already covered by casual clothes - jeans, bck T-shirt, and brown boots. “Ready to go?”

  Weiss could only nod demurely as she followed him outside, though she wondered how the heck he dressed so fast?

  .

  .

  .

  “Wow, that’s quite impressive all around.”

  They were back in their rooms after bringing breakfast from the kitchens. The dining room was open, but was already crowded when they stopped by, so they opted to pick a few things from the buffet to bring back to their room, where they spread it on the table on the balcony. Jaune used that strange ability of his to store things away to pack up far more food than necessary. ‘Getting his money’s worth’ was his reasoning, after paying for both of them. Becky was nowhere to be seen, most likely sleeping away her exhaustion as she did not have the benefits of aura helping her heal, but her workers seemed to have everything in hand - one of them even ordered them a bullhead to take them to Pharos as it was too far away for them to hope to make it in a timely manner.

  Apparently, Vale had started employing aerial taxis. Something about a deal with Hyperion to provide them with civilian aircraft. Weiss shrugged, it was convenient, although she hated to think how much it would cost. Perhaps Jaune could get them a family discount, though.

  “Heh, yeah, I suppose so.” The young man produced more skewers of grilled fish to share with her - Weiss was really curious about that ability, and Jaune hinted that he would talk more about it ter, so she patiently waited. “I recall Qrow mentioning that Beacon had obtained footage of that battle. Maybe they will use it in css as reference or something.”

  “Qrow? Hmm, the name sounds familiar.”

  “It should be, he’s one of the most famous huntsmen in Remnant.”

  Perhaps so, but Weiss felt she heard the name more recently; Oh well, probably not relevant.

  “Still, I think you did an admirable job in defending Celdic from the Grimm.” She finished the st of her fish before moving to a pte of baked beans and spreading them over toast. “You avenged those who fell, right?”

  “…Yeah, I did more than that.” Jaune pced down his fork as he gazed out at the river. “I chased the bandits to their hideout and wiped them out.”

  Weiss did not need to be a genius to understand the finality of his tone. She remained silent as the young man continued to gaze at the boats making their way up and down the river, until he started speaking again. Weiss simply listened as he spoke of the horrible things he saw there, the poor children who were tortured, the captives, and the hundreds of bandits that still pnned to attack the town.

  She even gasped in surprise at the unexpected redemption of a White Fang member, of all people! Weiss did not expect that out of those animals, but perhaps she was being harsh, as they did not seem to be vilified in Vale. The faunus she had met so far had been no different from regur humans, in mannerisms and character: some good, some bad, some annoying, some smart… some quite scary like those huntsman twins.

  Nevertheless, Weiss decided she would reserve judgment until she experienced more. Her bias against faunus did not stem from nothing, after all, but if there was the possibility that she was mistaken about them, then she would explore it.

  By the time he was finished, they were done with breakfast, and Weiss had learned all there was to learn about Jaune Arc and his strange abilities.

  “Is that why you had trouble sleeping?” Jaune gazed at her questioningly, “Becky mentioned you never sleep and are always fishing.”

  “Ah, that nosy nag.” A sad smile appeared on the blonde’s face, “Fishing helps me rex. To forget.”

  “What changed then? I mean, when you made that stylish entrance yesterday, you mentioned it was the first time you had proper sleep in weeks.”

  Just the idea of spending so long awake felt like a nightmare! How was Jaune still sane? His body should have shut down after a week of no sleep, although with aura healing any damage, Weiss figured the man with the most aura reserves she had ever seen could afford it.

  “Hmm, I’m not sure.” Jaune continued to gaze at her, “Last night was the first time I had a full night’s sleep rather than the power naps I would occasionally get every few days.”

  “You fell asleep in the club, you know,” Weiss gave him a slightly aggrieved look. “I had to carry you here, while at the same time making sure a drunk Becky didn’t crash into a pole or something.”

  “Sorry about that,” Jaune rubbed his hair awkwardly before draining the st of his coffee. “You have a beautiful voice.”

  The sudden compliment caught her off guard, causing her to blush at how sincere it sounded. It was not the first time someone complimented her singing, yet for some reason, it meant a lot more that it would come from Jaune than from one of her father’s associates.

  “Thanks,” She replied weakly. “I thought it bored you to sleep to be honest.”

  “Heh, who knows? Maybe your dulcet tones did manage to put me to sleep.”

  “Like in that tale of the princess and the dragon? Oh, woe is me. The big evil dragon shall eat me if I don't sing him to sleep!”

  They chuckled as they enjoyed the comfortable silence for a moment, Weiss stifling sudden snickers at the image of her singing lulbies to the tall man. While not as tall as Junior, Jaune was easily an entire head taller than her - probably more.

  “Do you want it?” She looked up from her tea in confusion, “I can give you my powers.”

  The sudden change in subject was slightly jarring, but Weiss would not deny being interested in the topic.

  “There is no such thing as a free lunch, Jaune.”

  Weiss calmly took a sip from her tea, though she tried to hide the excitement bubbling inside her - the young man had expined how his ability worked when she asked. She could see it being very convenient to always have Myrtenaster on hand, and avoid a repeat of yesterday.

  Jaune simply raised an eyebrow before looking pointedly at her food, “You’re eating one now.”

  Weiss nearly spat out her tea as she burst out ughing, “True, thanks for the meal. Still, to give away such abilities so easily! Especially if it would be gone for good–”

  “It wouldn’t be gone, I would still be able to use them, but it does cost me something to share them.”

  “I thought aura abilities could be learned with enough talent and hardwork? Or was that your sembnce?”

  “Ah, but these aren’t aura abilities, my dear cousin.” The young man grinned cheekily at her as he raised his hand and withdrew his gun out of thin air and pced it on the table. “It’s magic!”

  Despite the toothy grin and the utterly ludicrous cim, Weiss couldn’t help but believe him, simply because many of the abilities Huntsmen did were considered magic to the yman. Perhaps it was something that even Jaune did not understand clearly, but knew it was not aura? Weiss felt excitement bubble inside her at the thought of analyzing such a power.

  “Alright then, if you're offering. How would you share this magic ability?”

  “I just need to touch you and will it to happen.”

  “Oh?” She waited for him to eborate but Jaune simply gazed at her - he had been doing that a lot, was there something on her hair? “So simple, but there must be a cost.”

  “Not really, I can always replenish the cost by killing more Grimm. The important thing is,” He hurried before she could ask more, and Weiss let it go - for now. “Which ability do you want? I discovered that there is some sort of soft limit to the amount of abilities one can have, though I have yet to understand the reason.”

  “Huh,” Weiss felt like she was missing a lot of vital information to make an educated decision. For starters, her analytical mind instantly wanted as much information as possible in order to figure out the reasoning behind such limits. “What abilities do you have?”

  “Right now, I can give you two abilities…”

  Weiss listened attentively as Jaune expined the abilities in question, and felt ashamed that she was basically getting a massive boon for absolutely nothing in return. Jaune Arc struck her as the type who simply saw it as a way to help others, as he confessed to giving the abilities to a few people, including his sisters, for no reason apart from him believing they would do good to the world with those abilities. After learning all he discovered about the abilities, it was easy to simply ask for both, but Weiss was not a greedy girl - she was also wary of the soft limit he mentioned.

  “I’ll take Storage. Not having to lug around my bags and weapons sounds like an excellent bargain.”

  “Smart,” At some point, they left the table to stand over the rails and watch the boats sail by. Jaune pced his warm hand on hers and instantly, she felt something flow in her and click in pce in her mind. “Try it out and tell me how rge it is.”

  Not bothering to hide her excitement, Weiss quickly grabbed the first thing she found on the table, a cupcake. She did not even know how the ability worked, but it just came to her as natural as breathing, as the cake disappeared and Weiss instinctively knew all about her Storage.

  “I think…it’s about one cubic meter.” She withdrew the cupcake and bit into it, “Is that small or rge?”

  “I would say about average. Mine was also the same size but I can manipute it with more aura. My sister, Maya, said hers was much rger at three cubic meters, but my other sister, Bleue, only had one cubic foot.”

  “Manipute it with aura?” Weiss repeated and decided to try it out. She stored the table and chairs, then moved into her room to store random things, until her Storage was forced to expand, nearly colpsing her at the sudden aura drain. “D-Damn, that was tough! I think I lost nearly a third of my aura storing the bed. Shoot, it’s still draining my aura!”

  “Well, start unpacking then,” Jaune’s ughter had her blush at her brashness and she quickly emptied her storage… which ended up making a mess as the table still had the remains of their breakfast. Groaning in frustration, Weiss started storing the spilled food again, before depositing it in the trash bin. “It’s quite handy in cleaning things up as well. Still, not bad all around. Here, can’t have you go on that test with depleted aura.”

  Before she could ask what he meant, he pced his palm on the top of her head, and the familiar feeling of her aura skyrocketing to the maximum nearly caused her to moan in pleasure. Weiss blushed madly as she awkwardly moved away from the smirking blonde, but before she could ask how he did that, her scroll beeped.

  Their bullhead was outside.

  .

  .

  .

  “Are you sure you're okay to be up and about, Becky?”

  “Naw, I feel like shit and should probably remain in bed.” The proprietress of the Wayward Mermaid looked pale and cmmy as she blew her nose into a tissue, causing her face to gain an unhealthy blush. “Fuck, I expected a hangover, but getting hit with the flu too? Fuck me, I haven't been sick in–”

  Weiss ignored the crass behavior as the woman sneezed once more, and blew her nose in a fresh tissue. They were at the inn’s lobby, Becky sat behind her desk on a wheelchair, while she and Jaune waited until the bullhead finished loading its fishy cargo. The aircraft doubled as a small freighter as well as a passenger ship, and the demand for river trout had been on the rise recently.

  Yesterday's attack did not seem to have stopped business much; not even her gcier seemed to be causing trouble. Weiss could see many people lounging near it to enjoy the cool air it made.

  Becky cimed the cleanup crew offered to remove it but she denied them ciming it saved on the electricity bill.

  Even the lobby looked clean without a single bullet hole or scorch mark left, a vast contrast to yesterday when it looked like a warzone.

  She wondered who could have the power to repair such damage so easily?

  “I still say you should be either asleep or in the hospital, Becky.” Jaune looked worried, his hands twitching as if he wanted to help but knew he could do nothing. “If only you had aura…”

  “Yeah, well, them’s the breaks. I never managed to unlock my aura, and not for a ck of trying.” Becky looked pissed, or most likely just tired from her sickness - it came so sudden as well, but then again, Weiss had never gotten sick ever since she unlocked her aura. “Never found someone who could unlock it either.”

  “Shame, I can tell you have potential.” Jaune stared intently at the woman causing her to grimace. “If you want, I can try to–”

  “Forget it, kid. Many have offered to unlock it for me but it never worked. It's my fault, I just don't trust easily.”

  Jaune nodded and let the matter go, but Weiss thought it was a sad thing. Unlocking aura for someone was always a tricky thing, for it required a rge amount of trust from both parties. It was far easier to put the child in a stressful situation so they could unlock it themselves. Even if it were to be unlocked by others, it was usually reserved for family members and when the target was young and easy to trust.

  For Becky to fail on having someone unlock her aura at the ripe age of twenty-seven was telling. The woman had severe trust issues, yet Weiss still wanted to help her.

  “Now boarding for the Northern Route.” Came the call from the bullhead's loudspeaker.

  “Looks like it's time for you kiddos to get on,” Becky sniffed, twitching her nose as she tried to breathe properly. “Good luck snow princess, and don't forget you didn't pay today's rent yet. I'll be a generous gal and keep it like st time.”

  “Ugh, and here I was contempting finding a way to unlock your aura.” Weiss annoyingly withdrew ￡100 from her wallet before smming them on the desk. “Here, and I'll see you ter.”

  “Oh sweetie, if you do find a way to unlock my aura, you can forget rent payment.” Becky folded the bills without counting them and shoved them down her cleavage, before smirking at her. “Hell, I would be your fucking bitch for life if you succeed.”

  “As vulgar as always. Come on, Jaune, let's go.”

  Despite her annoyed words, Weiss couldn't help but feel Becky's uncouth behavior had grown on her. She giggled as she dragged the taller man's hand, Jaune merely chuckled at their antics.

  .

  .

  .

  “You know, I’m starting to think you’re a cheat.”

  Jaune stared at her weirdly before huffing, “You’re not the first person to accuse me of that.”

  They were on the bullhead, flying over the commercial district and approaching the upper-css district on their way to Pharos. The preparatory school was built on a cape near Forever Fall forest, known for its namesake, a massive lighthouse that could be seen for miles out on sea. Jaune had just finished expining how his sembnce worked, and Weiss really felt inferior in comparison.

  Especially when she confessed to not having unlocked her sembnce yet. Jaune hid it well, but she could tell he was slightly disappointed. Everyone in her family had managed to unlock the vaunted Schnee sembnce, even Whitley, but not her.

  “I mean, any one of those powers could have been a sembnce in their own right, but to have three such broken abilities? And they are not, ugh, magical, right?”

  Even with the evidence provided to her and her new ability to store away items, Weiss still found it difficult to believe that magic was real. Then again, she did benefit a lot from storing her sword and dust, as well as all of her luggage, in her Storage.

  “Once again, you’re not the first one to ask me that. But no, no magic is involved at all with my sembnce. I suppose I’m lucky to get such a versatile sembnce.”

  Jaune stared at the news channel on the accompanying TV; the aircraft they were on was not really a bullhead, but some new design from Hyperion – though it was still called a bullhead for convenience's sake. It could fit six people comfortably and had a noise-canceling feature that allowed them to speak freely without wearing any headsets. That was in addition to its cargo hold, which they discovered was also heading to Pharos Academy's kitchens.

  They were the only ones onboard now, the pilot having dropped off the other passengers, finally allowing them to speak candidly with no worry of being overheard. And to be frank, the amount they asked for this trip was incredibly exorbitant, the least they could do was provide them with snacks. But no, the best they could do was an old TV.

  At least Jaune was the one paying for it. He insisted, and despite her pride telling her to refuse such charity, Weiss had no choice unless she was willing to bankrupt herself to pay for the ticket. Besides, she already accepted his charity with that magical ability, something far more valuable.

  “Do you want me to give you a boost for the exams?”

  Weiss shook her head vehemently, “Absolutely not! I want to pass the entrance exams on my own merit; Thank you very much!”

  “Well said,” Jaune smiled softly before turning back to the screen, and Weiss followed the news. She was surprised not to hear anything about the gang war that happened yesterday, aside from a brief mention of it as if it was an everyday occurrence. Then again, in a city with such a massive popution, crime did seem like an everyday occurrence.

  “Oh, it’s Pyrrha Nikos!” She blurted out as the news switched from some boring celebrity’s scandal, to a Breaking News segment.

  “Who?”

  Weiss nearly choked as she looked aghast at the blonde, “You don’t know the Pyrrha Nikos?”

  Jaune hummed as they stared at the screen, where the famous red haired aspiring huntress was dressed casually in a beige sweater and carrying groceries. She seemed to be in a hurry as she speed-walked away from the camera, and awkwardly waved away a veritable army of insistent reporters following her on the streets of Argos.

  “Miss Nikos, is it true you won’t be enrolling at Haven?”

  One of the reporters rushed forward and nearly shoved his mic into the poor girl's eye to get a reply.

  “Uhm, sorry, but how did you–”

  “Which school would you apply to if not Haven?” Another reporter pushed aside the first one and almost shoved his mic on the girl's prodigious chest if not for her backing away.

  Weiss could see her eyes narrowing, yet still maintained a veneer of politeness.

  “Sorry, could you let me pass pleas–”

  “Could it be Ats?”

  “Or maybe Beacon?”

  “What are your thoughts on many of your fellow Mistralians finding it a betrayal that you would abandon your home academy for one of the other kingdoms?”

  “Miss Nikos, you have to answer to your fans! You are the hope of Argos– no, the whole of Mistral!”

  “Pyrrha–”

  “Miss–”

  “What are your–”

  “I’m sorry!” The poor girl looked utterly overwhelmed as a hundred reporters doggedly hounded her until she sprinted up the walls of a building and jumped away.

  “Damn,” Jaune whistled, “Talk about rabid. Kind of sad that this is what is considered breaking news material. It was not even about Vale!”

  “Yeah, but don't you see?! If Pyrrha Nikos is not attending Haven, then she must be coming here to Beacon!”

  “Okay? I still don't see what the big deal is.”

  “It's Pyrrha Nikos!” Weiss nearly growled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Again, who?”

  Weiss turned to her companion in disbelief, “What do you mean who? How have you never heard of Pyrrha bloody Nikos?”

  “Hmm, well, the name Nikos does ring a bell.” Weiss nodded, of course he would know about– “Wasn’t there a general of the Hellenes with that name during the Great War?”

  “Wha– No! That’s not it,” The white haired girl was not sure if the blonde was teasing her or truly did not know. “Pyrrha Nikos graduated at the top of her css in Sanctum Academy, but more importantly, she won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row! Didn’t you mention you lived in Argos for a while? How could you not know about her?! She's a native for goodness sake!”

  “Eh, it was more like visiting family there, and I’ve been busy the past couple of years training under gramps.” Jaune scratched his head awkwardly, “though I could have sworn I’ve seen her face somewhere.”“You think you met her in Argos or something?”

  “Could be…though I feel like I would remember meeting a girl like that in person.”

  “Oh, a girl like that?” Weiss felt something cold settle in her stomach for some reason, “What’s so special about her? Is it because she’s pretty?”

  “Hmm, well, she’s certainly pleasing on the eye,” That feeling intensified and suddenly, Weiss regretted bringing Jaune’s attention to the world-famous prodigious huntress. “But no, from what you say, she must be very strong, yeah?”

  “Uh, yes? She’s world-famous for it, you know? That Regional Tournament was open to all people except official huntsmen…and she had been winning those since she was thirteen!”

  “Hot damn!” Jaune whistled once more as he pulled out his scroll and searched Pyrrha’s name before freezing at one of the images provided. “Ah…now I remember where I saw her.”

  Weiss looked at the image in question only to groan in embarrassment. She forgot the girl had been duped into being the mascot of that junk; Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Fkes tasted horrendous the one time Weiss tried it in support of her fellow aspiring huntress.

  Moreover, it made her feel stupid to find that Jaune cared more about Pyrrha Nikos’ combat prowess rather than the fact she was a beautiful celebrity. She didn’t take him for a battle-nut, but then again, Nikos was renowned for her fighting abilities first and foremost. That she was beautiful was but a bonus for the masses.

  “I remember having to collect a hundred or so box tops to get their prized hoodie - I knew I saw her before, it must have been when she was young.”

  “Hoodie?”

  “Yeah, and now that I think about it, you haven’t returned it yet.”

  Weiss gawked at the blonde’s accusing stare as she recalled the hoodie in question, and felt utter shame boil inside her for some reason. Still, she was loath to let go of that hoodie. Jaune, her first real friend, gave it to her, after all, and it was both warm and comfy.

  Before they could talk more about the whereabouts of said hoodie, which was naturally in the safety of her Storage, the bullhead descended as they approached their destination.

  Pharos Academy!

  A short chapter with mostly fluff and a little dash of angst. Weiss may seem to have come to accept Jaune too fast, but the circumstances have made her looking for someone to rely on, and she simply tches on to the most reliable guy around. She is still the same bossy loveable tsundere we know, evidence by the “we’re a team” moment. Naturally, she sees herself as the leader.

  I have not been feeling well at all over the past week, which resulted in the shorter than usual chapter. I had pnned to completely finish the entrance exams this chapter so I can move on to another chapter in Vale before we start the Beacon arc.

  Reality is sadly different.

  Anyway, we have established the duo's dynamic and increased their bond. Next chapter we shall see a couple of familiar faces that may or may not have been in the story at the time, but I’m already going AU and doing my own thing here.