“You know, I’ve taken some strange exams in my time, but nothing that really compares to… well, any of that,” Second remarked as the airship took them over the bay.
“I don’t think any of us were expecting something like that,” Ren nodded, “especially Weiss…”
Jaune shuddered as he recalled the way Weiss’ eye had started twitching when the exams were revealed. Goodwitch’s had been simple enough, if brutal. She’d had each of them spar against her, and the results had gone about the way anyone expected, though she was surprisingly lenient with her assessments. Oobleck, however, had allowed the entire class to work together on an exam with far too many questions for the time frame given to them, claiming that “being able to work together towards a common goal” was the ultimate test of whether or not they’d been paying attention to his lessons. Jaune still wasn’t sure what exactly the man meant by that.
And Port…
“It was awesome, though!” Nora exclaimed. “I can’t believe Port actually got a Nuckelavee in the classroom!”
Port had somehow smuggled the huge grimm into his room, telling the students that they were to take the thing out with nothing but their fists. Yang and Nora had been the only ones excited about the prospect, but even Yang had been put off by the fact that Port himself had joined in not even thirty seconds into the exam, proclaiming that he couldn’t “let the young folk have all the fun”.
Jaune could only take solace in the fact that the man had given everyone perfect marks despite the fact that only a small handful had even dared approach the thing without a proper weapon.
And if that was how things went during their first year… Jaune was a bit intimidated by the mere thought of what his upperclassmen had gone through.
“Oh, oh! Is that it?!” Nora shouted, pointing incessantly out the window. They’d long since made their way over the water, and as the three boys followed her finger, the trees below them started giving way to walls and farmland and a relatively large settlement.
“Yep,” the blond nodded, trying to both get the words out and keep his breakfast down. “That’s Mnemosyne.” Jaune’s hometown wasn’t as large as any settlement with a huntsmen school, like Patch where their sister team was currently heading, but it was about as big as a place could get without one.
“Mnemosyne?” Second repeated. “That sounds vaguely familiar but I can’t place it.” He gave up on trying to hunt it down with a shake of his head. “This is bigger than I expected, though. It’s about the size of my hometown…”
“Really?” Nora turned towards the semblance. “But it’s not really empty farmland or a huge city…”
Second rolled his eyes. “Jinn didn’t show you my entire life. The only part of the town you’d have seen was the inside of the school, I think…”
But Jaune wasn’t in the same boat as them. He’d been inside of Second’s weird dream-memory whatever-they-weres, and Second’s comment made him think back to the one in the car. Hadn’t he made the same connection about it being about the size of his hometown? That must be where Second had grown up…
“As interested as I am to hear more about Second, it looks like someone is expecting us,” Ren broke him out of those thoughts.
Indeed, as the airship came in for a smooth landing, there was a single person waiting a short distance away.
The bridgeway lowered to the ground, allowing team JNR(S?) to step out with suitcases in hand, the giant blond coming up to meet them.
He seemed more relaxed than when they’d last seen him, and he quickly pulled Jaune into a crushing hug.
“Welcome home, son.”
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The Arc household was… slightly chaotic, but after growing up in an orphanage and spending all of his time with Nora, Ren didn’t think much of it. Really there was little difference between being surrounded by this group of girls and being surrounded by the group of girls he called his friends. These ones were just… a lot more blonde and younger than he was used to.
Having a mother involved was definitely new, though.
“Absolutely not.” She glared at the three of them. “I don’t know what sort of debauchery you kids get up to at Beacon, but in my household there will be no such thing! Nora can stay in Saphron’s room, and Ren can stay with you in your room, Jaune.”
“Pssh, what’s there to worry about!” Nora said a bit too loudly. “Renny and I are partners but we’re not together, I mean, we’re together, but not like together together or anything! That would be crazy!”
Mrs. Arc let her eyes sweep back and forth between him and his partner, scrutinizing them. “Doesn’t matter. That’s the rule. I don’t want any young women getting knocked up until they’re out of my house!”
The last part was quite loud, and clearly directed towards her daughters, who collectively groaned.
“You let Sapphron bring Terra into her room all the time!” One of the girls, Solana if he recalled correctly, complained. Trying to remember the quick tour of the house they’d been given, Ren could understand why. Their rooms were adjacent, and the walls here didn’t seem very good at containing sound…
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Mrs. Arc rolled her eyes. “Sapphron and Terra couldn’t accidentally adopt a child.”
His team leader looked like he wanted to die, and Second looked like he was somewhere between wanting to burst out laughing and feeling disgusted.
“Mom, can you please just stop?” Jaune pleaded. “Ren can stay in my room, that’s fine.”
Ren nodded in agreement. It’s not like he particularly thought that it would be a good idea to stay with Nora himself. They were a bit old to be sharing a bed these days and Nora would no doubt refuse to let him sleep on the floor.
Mrs. Arc gave them the stink eye one last time before breaking into a wide smile. “Of course sweetie. If any of my little boy’s new friends need anything, don’t be afraid to ask!”
“Thank you, Mrs. Arc…” Second awkwardly smiled at her as she walked off to the kitchen.
“Perhaps we should put our things away and settle in?” Ren suggested, eager to escape the loud arguing of the twins and the way that Aurelia had been glaring at them since they walked through the door.
Nora pouted. “Don’t think you can get rid of me so easily, buster!”
“I’m sure we can find something to do together shortly, Nora,” Second reassured her.
She seemed to accept that, and they made their way down the hall of many doors, walking past a neat and tidy Kiara reading a rather thick novel on her bed and a Zinnia who squeaked and quickly shut her door when she spotted them. Nora’s temporary room was directly across the hall from Jaune’s and when they split up Ren found that Jaune’s room was… acceptable.
Second sighed. “This is… certainly a room.”
Jaune frowned, turning on his semblance. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Ren wasn’t quite sure either. Truthfully this was probably the first time he’d been in the room of someone who was its sole occupant in… a very long time. Beacon had the dorm system after all, and the orphanage certainly didn’t have much privacy.
Large posters of… well, characters that he didn’t recognize lined the walls. A television with an accompanying games console was tucked into the corner opposite of the bed. A small desk was covered in all sorts of random items and the bed itself was covered with a comforter with a character on it.
He ignored his friends as they descended into some pointless bickering, carving out a spot on the floor for himself. He was a simple man, he didn’t need much.
And of course, he had only let go of his suitcase when there was a sudden weight on his back, threatening to drag him down. “Renny, I missed you!”
“It’s been less than a minute, Nora.”
“A minute too long!”
An unrecognizable voice shrieked somewhere else in the house.
“Let go of your sister's hair!” Mrs. Arc shouted.
Ren sighed. Hopefully the others were having a more relaxing break.
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Yang dug through her closet, searching for a good outfit for a night on the town… or at least the closest equivalent she could get in Patch, which likely meant struggling to even get a non-alcoholic drink because her dad and uncle had terrified every bartender on the island.
“Soo….” Blake drawled, sitting on the edge of her bed. “Your dad is -”
Her hair went up in flames.
“Not. One. More. Word.”
“...noted,” her partner meekly replied.
“EW! NO WAY, WEISS!” Her sister yelled from the room next door.
Maybe agreeing to house the team was a mistake…
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Ozpin slowly sipped on his coffee, very much enjoying the peace and quiet of a school without its students. Most of them, anyway. There were always a few who for one reason or another spent their break at Beacon, but they were so far and few between that he could at least pretend that they were all gone.
His peace was shattered by tapping on his window.
Reluctantly moving to open it, he watched as Qrow flew inside and transformed before him.
“You were gone longer than expected. Was your little mission a success?”
“Ehhhh,” Qrow quickly took a swig from his flask, “mostly? Hunting her down was a bitch and a half, and I managed to convince her to open up a line of communication again…”
“I’m sensing a but here.”
Qrow sighed. “But she refuses to do anything against Salem and her minions unless it’s right on her doorstep.”
“That’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing I suppose. Did you get anything from her on how or why she managed to stay hidden away for so long?”
Qrow shrugged. “I’m not a miracle worker, Oz. Honestly I don’t think I’d have managed to get her to agree to talking with us again if not for… um… my very impressive people skills.”
Ozpin gave the man a deadpan look. “Your… impressive people skills?”
“...yes.”
“...I’ll pretend to believe that, for both of our sakes. I have a feeling that I’d rather not know the truth.”
“Great!” Qrow smiled. “But enough about that, come on, give me the details! I need to hear all about it!”
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. “About what?”
Qrow glared at him, refusing to play the game, and Ozpin couldn’t help the smile that wormed its way onto his face. “Glynda has been in a fantastic mood lately. She’s getting pictures framed of her face when she woke up in the machine. And I pawned her off on James.” He was quite proud of himself for that one, and it seemed Qrow was much the same, holding his hand out for a high five.
Normally Ozpin tried to hold himself above such things, wanting to ensure that his older visage retained its wise and above-it-all demeanor… but there was no denying the loud clap that rang out through his office as they celebrated the end of a major threat.
“So who’d you give it to? Winter?” Qrow excitedly asked. “Heh, I can’t wait to make fun of her for that! Summoning flames is going to ruin her whole ice queen thing, you know?”
“Ah… well, you see…”
Before he could explain where the maiden’s power had gone, his elevator alert went off, and they found themselves joined by a surprisingly irate Glynda.
“Qrow you buffoon! Would you mind explaining to me why I’ve just received a call from Haven about how you’ve been gallivanting around Vacuo with two of their students?”
The color drained from Qrow’s face. “Those brats ratted on me?!”
“They have tans Qrow! And they missed their finals!”
“Ah….” Qrow awkwardly laughed. “...shit.”