Chapter 10: Negotiations

Jaune was dreaming.

His dream was different from the one he'd had before. There was no snow, no barren world filled with death. In this dream, he didn't exist. He was but an invisible observer, watching the whims of the gods unfold.

There was a dark room, lit only by the shines of white light flowing through stainless glass windows. In the centre of the room, a girl stood, rigid and unwavering, dressed all in white. Weiss, Jaune realized. He tried to reach out to her, but of course he couldn't-he wasn't actually there.

Something appeared from the shadows. It was a grand knight, bending down on one knee, clad in massive silver armor, wielding a mighty blade. Silently, he knight stood up to face Weiss, who held its gaze fearlessly, despite it towering several heads above her. Run away, Jaune wanted to shout.

Suddenly, he found himself inside Weiss' mind. He couldn't control her body, but he felt her every action, and could her every thought.

He felt Weiss dodge to the left with a somersault, as the knight swung his blade at her, shaking the ground where it landed. With graceful agility, Weiss manoeuvered around her enemy, striking at its armor with her rapier, trying to find a chink. The knight, unfazed, swung another blow at her. Barely deflecting the strike in time, Weiss was knocked back several feet, and recovered just in time to avoid its next attack. He is strong, she thought. But I'm faster.

She leapt into the air, dodging the knight's swing, but the monstrosity threw a powerful punch at her with its free hand. Caught off guard, Weiss stumbled and crashed onto the cold floor. Jaune, in her body, felt a sharp rush of pain run through him.

No…Jaune could feel the girl's anguish, her panic. I can't lose here…I'll never get another chance! I have to win!

Grimacing, Weiss got up, feeling the blood from her face where it had been scraped from hitting the floor. It was quite a cut.

But it won't be enough to slow me down, she thought. I'll prove it to him. If I can pass this test, Father will let me go to Beacon. I can finally be free…I'll finally be 'Weiss', and more than just another descendant of the Schnee heritage!

Filled with determination, she adjusted the revolver chamber on her rapier. Myrtenaster…This will be the first time I use you to your full potential. Do not let me down.

Taking a deep breath, Weiss unleashed the blade's full energy, blocking the knight's strike as fire Dust enveloped Myrtenaster in a bright red aura. When the colossus swung the blade again, she leapt onto the sword and sliced it out of its hands. Barehanded, the knight desperately tried to strike Weiss down, but it was futile-the tables had been completely turned. Releasing strands of ice Dust, she bound the knight midair using glyphs, before leaping into the air for a coup-de-grace.

There was a satisfying crunch as she sliced through the colossus' shell, before landing gracefully onto the floor. Her opponent fell, lifeless, behind her, before it disintegrated into nothingness. The trial was over.

I won. Weiss couldn't help but smile, just a bit. Jaune could feel her overwhelming happiness and relief. It was clear that this was something that meant a lot to her.

Weiss touched the area around her right eye, wincing in pain. It was still bleeding, and there was a deep scar that likely wouldn't fade for quite some time. It didn't seem particularly damaging, but it was severe enough that her Aura couldn't repair it. She supposed that for now, she'd wear it as a token of pride.

She looked over at the window. Someone was watching her…what were they thinking? It didn't matter. After what she'd just done, her Father had run out of excuses. She was going to Beacon Academy, no matter what. She was going to become a Huntress.

For the first time in years, Weiss Schnee was happy.

"Jaune? Are you awake?" The girl's voice called out to him.

"U-u-ughh…" groaned Jaune as his eyes fluttered open. Where am I…? He remembered being in a forest, Ruby was there, some strange people tried to kill them, they ran into Pyrrha for some reason, and then…? He tried to get up, only to feel a rush of dull pain in his shoulder. "Gah!" he grunted.

"At least you're back in the land of the living." His Servant breathed a sigh of relief, peering at him from close up. Jaune saw her scar over her right eye, and instinctively felt a small ache over his own eye. That dream...that's how she got that scar? "You were out for a whole day. You should feel lucky that the bullet didn't go in too deep, otherwise you might have slept for much longer," she said, frowning.

Bullet…? Whole day…? At once, everything came back to him. "Ah…right, I saved Pyrrha from some sniper, and…" He winced, moving his arm around gingerly. It hurt but wasn't unbearable. "What happened afterward?" he asked, looking around the room. He was back in his simple apartment room, and the first rays of sunlight were shining in through the window.

"Your friend managed to drag you to safety. We joined you after those other two Servants retreated, and we made our way back home. I managed to get the bullet out of your arm, so there's little chance of infection," Saber explained. "I suppose I should have expected you to get yourself hurt stupidly like that, Master. Do you feel alright?"

Jaune got up slowly. "Y-yeah…yeah. I'll be fine. I think I'll make myself some breakfast, and then we can decide what to do ne-"

Suddenly, the door was flung open, and Ruby waltzed in, with her Servant right behind her. "Hellooooo," she said cheerfully, holding out a grocery bag. "Jaune, you're awake! Here, I got you something to eat-hope you like sesame buns."

Graciously, Jaune accepted-he was quite hungry, he realized. Over a meal of buns and chocolate chip cookies, the four of them discussed what they were going to do from now on.

"That Mercury guy is so gonna pay," muttered Rider angrily, combing her long golden hair. "I don't remember him being that strong over in my world."

Saber held out her hand commandingly, as she chewed on her sesame bun. "Wash we shush-" She gulped, swallowing her food. "Ahem. What we should be focusing on is that we've identified another one of the Masters." She turned to Jaune. "Ruby says she's your friend, right?"

Jaune nodded hesitantly. "Yeah…she is. Pyrrha Nikos. She's also my classmate at Beacon. I don't want to fight her if I can avoid it, but…she seems really determined to win this war."

"Don't let your personal feelings get in the way," warned Saber. "If she's refused to an alliance, then there doesn't seem to be anything you can do."

Ruby raised her hand. "Uhh, I got a suggestion."

"What is it?" Jaune asked.

'My uncle Qrow," Ruby began. She explained how her involvement in the Holy Grail War had begun when her uncle had sent her that mysterious parchment that she'd used to summon Rider. "It…seems like he knows what the Holy Grail is. He said he'd explain everything to me when he came to visit."

Saber raised an eyebrow. "That's certainly strange. Why exactly would this 'Qrow' have access to science-shattering secrets like that? I'd like to ask him some questions if we can find this man."

"…I don't really know," said Ruby. "And well, he likes to go from place to place without telling anyone, so I don't know if we'll be able to track him down at all."

"How wonderful," sighed Saber. "Your uncle certainly sounds troublesome."

Rider just laughed. "That sounds like my Uncle Qrow, that's for sure. Well if he's coming to visit in a week, I'll sure be looking forward to meeting him."

"But until he decides to show up, we have to deal with the current situation," Saber interjected. "Since we've identified one of our enemies, we have something to go off of. Today is a school day, right? Jaune, you and I should confront Pyrrha at school-after hours, preferably. Unless, of course, your injury is too severe."

Jaune shook his head, though he still felt pain in his arm. "I'm fine. I'll just tell everyone I tripped and scraped myself. Trust me, they'd believe that from me," he said with a tinge of self-deprecation.

"What about us?" asked Ruby.

"You and Rider will wait near the schoolgrounds and intervene, in the very unlikely event that I am unable to handle Pyrrha and Archer by myself," replied Saber coolly. "Any objections?"

Ruby shook her head silently. "Sounds good to me," said Rider.

"Good." Saber smiled at her successful pitch. "What about you, Jaune?"

Jaune thought over it for a moment. He didn't want to have to hurt Pyrrha, for many reasons. But she was his enemy now. If I can talk her down…get her to back off…then it won't have to come to blows. But can I really do something like that? I've never been good with talking to people…

"I'm in," he said to Saber.

The day went as normal, much to his surprise. Even more surprising was how natural going to school felt after the madness of the last couple of days. He still fell asleep in almost every class, he still shrugged off Cardin's embarrassing attempts to insult him, and he still ate beef brisket for lunch in the cafeteria, sitting alone. The isolation didn't bother him much, though-it was nice to be able to have his thoughts to himself.

In the third period, he shared a class with Pyrrha. When she made eye contact with him, she seemed uncomfortable for a moment, but immediately regained composure. "Hello Jaune," she said to him, smiling. "Did you remember to do your physics homework over the weekend?"

Obviously, Jaune had not even touched his work-not that he usually did it anyway. "Yeah, it wasn't that hard, actually," he replied, trying not to show how tense he was. The bell rang, and class began.

Jaune did his best to take in what Professor Goodwitch was saying, but it just as difficult as ever. Maybe I'll wish for a sharper mind once I win the Holy Grail, he thought dryly. As luck would have it, Pyrrha was sitting right next to him. He tried his best not to look in her direction-just being in her presence was making him uncomfortable-for several reasons.

He remembered walking to the academy with Ruby following close behind. "Beacon looks so pretty even from here," said his friend cheerfully as she pointed to the structure in the distance. "If I win the Grail I'm totally wishing for a scholarship."

Please reconsider, thought Jaune. "It's not all it's made up to be…a-and really, I'm not just saying that because I suck at the courses," he added defensively. "At least the people are decent…for the most part."

"Like Pyrrha, right? Are you two particularly close?" asked Ruby.

"Not particularly-we are friends, though…I guess," Jaune said uncertainly. After an awkward silence, he blurted out: "I, uh, kind of like her…you know, a-affectionately. Not that I have a chance, aha. She's, y'know, way out of my league."

Ruby laughed. "Yeah…I thought so. And you decided that winning the Holy Grail War would somehow make you confident enough to ask her out, right?"

"H-how'd you know?" Jaune spluttered.

"Hehe, call it a best friend's instinct," said Ruby mischievously. "Just try not to kill her before your first date, ok?"

Jaune would have preferred some more immediately helpful advice. Right now, his heart felt like it was going to pop out of his chest. It didn't help when, while he was agonizing over the centripetal acceleration of a motorcycle traversing a sharp curve, Pyrrha leaned over to his desk and explained, "You're supposed to calculate the square root of velocity over time."

Silently, Jaune nodded. He stared at her, trying to read her expression, but to no avail. As she went back to her own business, he noticed she'd placed a small roll of paper on his desk. What's this?

For one stupid moment, he thought it was one of those stock 'I love you' notes that girls passed to their classmates in those awful romance movies Jaune's sisters watched (and made him watch, tragically). But of course it wasn't like that. It read: I'll meet you in the history classroom after school. Come if you wish to settle things, but I understand if you choose not to.

Jaune's heart sank. This can only go so well.

After that, the school day seemed to go by in a blur. After the last period was over and the bell had rung, Jaune stealthily made his way over to the history classroom on the second floor. Thankfully, no one was around by the time he arrived.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door. "Pyrrha...?" he called out.

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was just pure dumb luck, but for whatever reason Jaune suddenly lost balance and tripped, falling over onto the floor just as the arrow flew over his head. "Wh-wha!" he stammered in shock, jumping to his feet.

"So, you've come," said Pyrrha. She was still wearing her uniform, but was wielding her sword and shield and maintaining a battle stance. The fiery woman stood next to her, smiling serenely.

"Wait, wait! I came to talk to you, not to fight!" Jaune protested. "And what the hell?" he added irritably. "Didn't I save your life that other night? This is how you repay me!?"

The woman chuckled. "Life is unfair, Jaune Arc. A man once gave a snake warmth when it should have died in the cold, yet the snake bit him anyway. You should never just expect gratitude for your deeds."

"That's enough, Archer." Pyrrha glanced coldly at Jaune. "I'm sorry, but you know the rules of the war. The least I can do is make it quick."

Jaune had heard enough. He ran, as fast as he could.

He heard an explosion of fire ring out from where he had been moments ago. He belatedly realized brining some kind of weapon to defend himself would have helped. Oh well, he thought. So much for negotiations. He raised his hand into the air.

"Weiss! Come to me!" he yelled. His Command Seals began to glow, and in a flash, Saber materialized in front of him. Before he could say a word, she nodded, her face serious. Quickly, she drew Myrtenaster just as Archer came flying down the hallway, firing arrow after fiery arrow.

"Go!" Saber yelled, deflecting the projectiles with inhuman precision. Nodding, Jaune fled towards the nearest exit. Bursting out of the school building, breathless, he looked around him. Thankfully the schoolgrounds were empty. Ruby should be nearby, he thought. He was just considering calling her to ask for help when the door behind him exploded.

Oh you've got to be kidding me. He saw Saber leaping out from the wreckage, parrying with Archer, who was now armed with two obsidian-black daggers. Their clashing blows sent red sparks flying into the air. Archer sent out a blast of fire from her hands, sending Saber reeling back in pain. "You're strong," she spat.

"Anything will seem strong and powerful to the weak," Archer replied silkily.

Pyrrha ran out of the building, weapons drawn. "Aim for the both of them!" she called to her Servant.

Archer turned her gaze towards Jaune. "No you don't!" Saber snarled, striking at her. The two of them stood there, blades clashing and unmoving. The Servants glared at each other, waiting for the other to falter.

Jaune turned to Pyrrha. "We don't have to fight!" he insisted, trying to sound more confident than he was.

"There's no other choice…" Pyrrha muttered quietly. She sounded uncertain. "It's either fight or die."

"No it isn't!" said Jaune. Think of something to say, anything… "If we can just call a truce we can-"

BOOM.

There was an explosion from several blocks away. Surprised, Jaune turned to look in its direction. Pyrrha and even the Servants also paused where they stood, intrigued by the source of the noise.

BOOOOOOOOM.

Another explosion, this one even louder than the last. And accompanying it was the scream of a familiar voice.

Terror seized Jaune's heart. Ruby, he realized.