Bump

"Aaand, that's how Mercury was defeated!"

With that, Ruby finished her dramatic interpretation of that afternoon's incidents, proudly placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest as Nora absolutely ate up every word and Weiss facepalmed with a small huff.

"That certainly sounds like a bizarre adventure," the heiress stated without her usual iciness as more of an admission than a rebuke, to which Jaune nodded in agreement.

"Heh, you can say that again..."

"That sure sounds like a bizarre ad-!"

"Nora. You're not actually supposed to say it again," Ren interrupted smoothly, a small smile on his lips as he placed his hand on the hammer maiden's shoulder. The warm interaction was evident to their fellow teammates, Jaune and Pyrrha trading a smirk as they acknowledged the jade warrior's attachment to his partner.

"Meh, I still think it would've been cooler if you would've done something before springing that Hamon trap - or whatever you call it - on Mercury, Saber-boy... y'know, like strike a pose or something!" Yang now stated with her winning grin, standing closer to the blonde knight than the students present had ever really seen her stand before. Needless to say, that was something that dimmed the smirk on the now slightly-exasperated Mistrali.

Jaune simply chuckled, looking down at his leg and motioning at the limb that had once been all but unusable, "Mangled leg, remember?"

Yang nodded in agreement, but before she could reply, or scoot any closer to her fellow blonde who had clearly begun to captivate her interest, the group was alerted to an eighth voice calling their attention.

"I'm back. Did I miss anything?"

Other than her voice giving away her position, Blake had managed not to alert a single one of the students to her presence; having given herself away so suddenly, she forced herself to face the sudden combined attention from the seven teens with little more than a slight reddening of her cheeks... which went a shade or two darker as she noticed Jaune noticing her new and thankfully untorn leggings that she had just gone back to her dorm to change into. But to the ravenette, it was now... strangely not unwelcome, actually. However, briefly making eye contact, the two quickly broke their knowing gaze before anyone could notice despite Jaune's momentary blush that matched the catgirl's as Yang filled her in.

"Nah, just one of Ruby's famous story time sessions..."

Focusing on her partner's statement, Blake let her conflicting reactions to Jaune's apologetic smile give way to her usual mood, remaining tight-lipped and raising both brows in acknowledgment at Yang in her wordless response, "Hm."

Jaune of course knew what her body language meant, interpreting it accurately since it had been her general response to his initial rambling about RPGs and character builds in general. Being the case, he immediately had to stifle a chuckle; but before his partner could ask what was so funny, the entire group was now set upon by a caffeine-induced speedy entrance which all of them could swear almost even rivalled Ruby's.

"Oho! Ladies and gentlemen what a fine pleasure to see you've all arrived in time what a fine pleasure indeed!"

"Remind me never to give Ruby caffeine," Yang furtively whispered to the student standing next to her as Oobleck took a sip from what four of the girls present knew better than to call a simple thermos, to which the student glared up at the blonde with a deadpan.

"Yang, this is Ruby."

"Doctor Oobleck, we are... surprised you are here to give us company," Weiss began with an almost painfully awkward politeness considering how things went the last time the fast-lipped explorer had lent their team his aide, "We had imagined Professors Goodwitch or Ozpin to give us the official briefing on behalf of Beacon administration..."

"Ah yes well unfortunately Miss Schnee that is not to be the case due to," sip, "complications arriving in Professor Goodwitch's teaching schedule and Professor Ozpin's availability," sip, "meaning that it is up to me to give your teams the proper send-off! Most exciting this is indeed!"

Having been unable to hear Blake's silent scoff at the mention of Ozpin's name, Doctor Oobleck cleared his throat to settle the grainy after-taste of heavily-caffeinated green tea in it before getting down to business.

"Very well. As most if not all of you may know Mister Arc and Miss Rose received identical messages not more than twenty minutes ago which means your teams have each been charged with mounting a recon mission as part of Beacon's heavily classified Independent Mandate Force!"

"The IMF?" Jaune interrupted, a raised brow accenting his slight confusion.

Oobleck paused for a moment, looking up as every student now heard the approaching hum of a Titan-class Bullhead from around the school towers. Larger than its Hunter-class counterpart, this Bullhead sported an extra smaller set of propellers on each wing, granting it greater mobility and enough space to house several Hunter teams on overnight mission flights.

"Excellent observation Mister Arc you are certainly correct!" he shouted over the hum of the airship as it landed by the dock where they were standing before taking another sip of tea and pointing his thermos to something behind the group, "This is a reconnaissance mission passed along the ranks of the Hunter's Association and placed under the jurisdiction of this fine academy and I assure you that we've taken utmost care to ensure your teams are properly protected. Here come the remainder of your Force now!"

Turning back to face eight more students approaching the group, grins were traded and greetings were said as team RWBY was approached first by a certain leader decked in Coco Chanel accessories - including the deceptively impractical fashionable handbag - with the rest of her team in tow. Jaune, however, traded groans with the second leader as his team was approached by the slightly scowling team CRDL.

"Why me..." Jaune sighed as the red-headed leader came up to him, Pyrrha already prepared to draw her weapons as Cardin crossed his arms and was seemingly about to say something.

But if he was, he was interrupted as Oobleck began speaking while the large bullhead side doors began to open.

"Your orders have been given and your destination set! This is ADA, your Automated Defense Airship that will be piloting you to Lambent and keeping a close eye on the surrounding areas to alert you of any danger. I presume each leader has their respective teams' items in their luggage item containers."

The four leaders nodded accordingly towards their packs which they had previously packed and vacuum-sealed to shrink them for the trip.

"But Professor," Ruby began, eliciting a dejected finger-raise from the bespeckled man before Blake corrected for her.

"Doctor."

"Oh, right. Doctor Oobleck," Ruby continued, the smile quickly returning to the Hunter's face due to the catgirl's consideration, "The message states that the facility is right in the middle of the badlands. Won't it be crawling with high-ranking Grimm?"

"Why yes Miss Rose it is extremely likely!" Oobleck replied speedily, immediately causing the sixteen students in front of him to tense up a bit, "However preliminary reports state that there has been a lack of Grimm activity in the area as of late but there's still an active Dust-Laser Defense system surrounding the facility which ADA will be happy to arm as your group goes through! Due to the lack of Grimm presence and any further source of hostility that is why the mission was left to Beacon to take care of since we currently cannot spare any of the local Hunters!"

"So we're pretty much being sent because no one else feels like going," Coco stated blandly, putting her hand on her hip as she popped a bubble gum bubble and continued, "Those systems are notoriously susceptible to Grimm raids in large numbers, which might even be the reason the place got trashed in the first place. You sayin' we might have to face off against another load of those motherfu-"

She was promptly halted by the sensation of Yatsuhashi's hand on her shoulder, the tallest and largest student in the second year grade merely shaking his head before retracting his hand and letting the cocoa-themed leader continue with an evident eye-roll behind her shades.

"-Another pack of those things like we did at the pavilion breach a couple weeks ago?"

The remaining students turned to see the Doctor respond, who merely smiled at the second-year leader before beginning in his animated lecture voice, "Miss Adel I believe it is best to reply with some valuable information supplied to every Hunter upon graduating due to the unique and important nature of this mission," sip, "and might I add one that is normally assigned to a single team of Hunters but that we've gone ahead and taken on with four in your case," sip, "The point is this and only this, one that has been proven time and time again throughout history and of Man's eons of war against the creatures of darkness: do any of you know the difference between people and Grimm?"

Nora beamed, raising her hand and bouncing at her current spot before interjecting, "I know! It's-"

"Please Miss Valkyrie do not interrupt me while I'm asking rhetorical questions!" the Doctor quipped at the deflated hammer maiden before taking a sip of his tea and facing the group again, "Courage ladies and gentlemen! The difference is Courage! You may believe this to be a result of strength but it is not. Why you may ask? Because Courage is the opposite of strength," sip, "Courage is fear, forged into unbridled power through an indomitable will and a determined soul! Grimm lack emotion and thus a soul and cannot experience fear - therefore they can never find it in themselves to display courage! And without that power, even armies of Grimm will prove completely and utterly useless against you if you never fail to use that power for yourselves!"

The group of students listened, enraptured by the charismatic passion that team RWBY had only ever seen in their witnessing his combat prowess in action, and let out a collective breath which they didn't realize they were holding as the Doctor concluded.

"And ADA will be sure to collect you all at the first sign of a Grimm attack."

Simply raising a brow behind her shades, casting a cursory glance back at her team and turning back to face the Doctor with a small smirk, Coco shrugged, "Alright. We're in."

Coco began walking into the Bullhead with her team in tow, Velvet sparing Blake a quick smile and wave before entering the airship but not before her leader shouted with a finger in the air without turning to face the group behind her, "But I call dibs on the Master Suite!"

Blake turned to see Oobleck slightly unsettled by the remark, her Faunus hearing picking up his muttered observation that he probably hadn't meant to say out loud, "Oh dear, Ozpin is right. It's like contemplating Glynda back when she wore pants..."

But before she could react, he had already regained his composure and addressed the remainder of the group, "Very well students off you go! Be sure to report your findings through ADA's communications console should you find any evidence as to what caused the emergency beacon to activate. Best of luck, stay safe, and trust in one another!"

And with that, he sped off, leaving the students to blink in his wake and trade a few glances before stepping onto the entry ramp of the airship. However, Jaune let JNPR's pack be snatched by Nora and stayed back as his team moved forward, huffing as he steeled himself to hold back the bane of his first semester at Beacon once the massive side doors closed. This was a motion that didn't escape the eye of a certain ravenette.

"Cardin, we need to talk. And apparently, you already had something to say."

Sporting a slight grimace, the bulky fighter merely nodded to his team to let them go ahead and find their rooms before turning to meet the blonde's worried but firm gaze.

"Look, Jauney-boy," he began, a restrained tone of hostility still managing to bleed through his voice, "Let's get one thing straight. You and me may have the same rank as team leader, and you may have that lucky Aura of yours that saved our butts back in Forever Fall, but I can still squash you-"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Cardin stepped back, startled as the catgirl stepped into their conversation with nary a sound, but only seemed to scowl more as the knight and ravenette traded a warm smirk. However, much to Jaune's particular surprise, Cardin merely put his palm to his face and dragged his hand down, the resulting expression unexpectedly more sympathetic than antagonistic.

"Look," he began once more, letting out a deep breath as he eyed both students in turn, "Let me rephrase that. I got reasons not to like you, and I got reasons not to like her..."

Cardin paused as both guys noticed Blake letting out a derisive scoff which actually came out more like a feline hiss of disdain before he could continue, "But... I've got even bigger reasons to get along with you two now."

Jaune raised a brow as he quickly ascertained the motive, "Professor Dandelion's elective for Struggling Teens and Troubled Youths?"

"Yeah," Cardin sighed out in resignation, letting his gaze drop to the floor, "Prof says that if we can handle this assignment without incident, we'll be released from the elective and our records cleaned. And I don't need to tell you that the offer was pretty tempting - the guy's brutal..."

Blake had to stifle a quick chuckle, putting her hand over her mouth under the guise of scratching her nose to cover her growing smile before adding with masked amusement, "Isn't... isn't that the class where Jaune's team helped tutor you guys for that 'Team-Building Exercise'?"

Cardin raised a brow at the catgirl with his deadpan and flat reply, "Yeah. Dove still can't walk straight after that little incident with that crazy ginger girl's war hammer, and I'm pretty sure Sky actually did piss himself. Needless to say... feeling what it's like on the other side of the pain-dealing was a bit of a turning point for us. I mean, Professor Dandelion says we have potential and all, and that this may be our first chance to finally prove it... so here I am, trying to prove it."

Jaune merely turned to face Blake with a quirked brow as the seemingly repentant leader shuddered and let his gaze drop again, the knight earning a small shrug from the ravenette in response. After all, he was the one who knew that the up-and-coming Professor had instructed Nora to "drop the hammer", using his words, on those four all along. The Professor - or Nora, in hindsight - may have been brutal, but it was indeed effective.

Turning to see the changed mace-wielder before them, Blake focused on Cardin's head to test the strange Professor's claim to potential. After a few blinks, the desired information populated over his head in the familiar neon-letter format she'd become so used to seeing.

|The Strongarm|

LV15 Cardin Winchester

'Not bad,' the catgirl mused as the subject in question let out a somber sigh, 'Maybe that professor whose name I've never really heard of has a point.'

"But look Jauney-boy, all that aside," Cardin stated, steeling his resolve as he now looked back up at the knight with a proud expression and unexpectedly stuck out his hand, "I guess what I wanna say is, how 'bout we let bygones..."

A pregnant silence now hanging in the air, Jaune blinked with slight surprise at the sudden change in attitude but caught on quickly, smiling as he shook said hand and finished for him, "Be bygones."

Nodding with a considerably impressed expression at how far Cardin had come in his rehabilitation, the knight could still only watch with a total lack of surprise as the burly student then turned to give Blake a quick once-over before quipping, "No offense, but I still think you actually looked better with the bow."

And with that, Cardin turned to leave, the catgirl glaring daggers at the back of his head with narrowed eyes as Jaune watched her with an amused smirk.

"Would it still be wrong to say that you should've let him get mauled by that Ursa back in Forever Fall?"

He deadpanned at the ravenette as she turned up to meet his gaze with a mock-innocent expression.

"What, I didn't say you should've let it kill him..."

Jaune meant to reply, but before he could, the pair was interrupted by the sudden unlatching of the bay window right behind them and the momentary rush of wind that came with it. With better reflexes upon sensing the danger, Blake then ducked as Jaune was then promptly whipped in the face... by a flailing blonde monkey tail.

"Sun!?"

No sooner had the catgirl uttered that name in surprise when a flash of blue interrupted the monkey-faunus' attempt at a hand wave from the floor, a second student now crashing down on him.

"ARGH! Swiss friggin' cheese, you landed on my testicles, you useless heterosexual!"

"Neptune!?" Jaune now added with equal surprise as he recovered by rubbing the bridge of his nose, the face-down blue-haired student in question merely reaching up from Sun's pained form with scroll in hand and pushing a button to close the access bay window.

"How'd you both get in here?" the ravenette asked subsequently, the Gamer's Mind having already erased any remnant of her momentary shock by the time the window fully shut.

"Would you believe - ow," Sun began gruffly as he and Neptune separated into somewhat seated positions, "Would you believe me if I said we were forced to hold on to the outer hull of the Bullhead mid-flight because someone couldn't manage to open the right access door?"

"Hey! I may be an intellectual, but it doesn't mean hacking a Bullhead comes easy to me!" Neptune quipped in reply.

"One door! All you had to do was open one door!" the blonde Faunus shot back before wincing in pain, both hands immediately shooting towards his crotch, "And Monty dickie-Grimm Oum, next time buy dinner first, bluetard!"

Neptune crossed his arms, rolling his eyes before the group of students were interrupted by an elated exclamation.

"Neptune, you're here!"

"Of course!" the blue-haired Havenite smoothly responded, standing up and walking over to meet the grinning heiress in a full embrace, "And it looks like Snow Angels do fly over Remnant, after all."

Weiss simply giggled at the remark as she held him tightly, Blake raising a brow as Sun slowly staggered to an upright position by her side.

"You know what, Ruby's right. Seeing Weiss smiling so much really is somewhat weird."

Both blondes at either side of the ravenette wordlessly nodded their heads at her remark before Neptune pulled away from his ice princess and turned to face the trio.

"Hey guys, Weiss says that everyone's in the common area. Sun, me and you can even get our own rooms! Why don't we go meet up with everyone now before checking them out?"

Sun turned to smirk at Blake with a small wink, "Hear that? Looks like Nep and me are in like dirty laundry. I guess you'll be seeing us quite a bit during this field trip!"

His flirtatious demeanor wasn't lost on the catgirl, who merely scooted just a little closer to Jaune if at least to distance herself from the outgoing stowaway's impending advances as she replied, "I... suppose. So um, Jaune, you'll accompany me to the commons area, right?"

At that, each blonde raised a brow in much the same manner before Jaune replied in confusion, "Huh? I thought you'd take this kind of chance to find an out-of-the-way nook and read a book alon- oof!"

Fortunately for Blake, it only took a quick glare - and elbow to the ribs - to get him to understand what otherwise would've gone right over his head.

"Oh! I mean, uh, of course!" the knight corrected himself quickly, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck as he chuckled nervously at the still-confused Sun, "You didn't bring a book... I think. Hehe. So um, sure thing, I'll go with you!"

The monkey-faunus merely glanced between the knight and catgirl for a slightly uncomfortable moment before shrugging and turning to his partner, "Sounds like a plan, blue dude! I guess Jauney-boy here's just gonna ride as third wheel with- GRK!"

Their heads snapping to see Sun suddenly hunch over as he took his first step, he merely raised a finger slowly as his other hand cradled his sore package, "Actually... you know what... I think, I think I'm just gonna find a room right now. The family jewels... seriously need some rest!"

Trading an unsure glance between each other as if deciding whether to feel pity or amusement, Weiss gave Neptune a curt nod in the direction of the extra rooms before the suave student took care of the rest, "Kay dude, suit yourself. Rooms are over there. You two can follow us, I guess."

Waving at Sun with her self-defined 'pity wave' as the injured guy limped over to his new room, Blake turned to face a curious Jaune as he tapped her shoulder.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about."

The knight merely glanced pointedly at the direction Sun went as the pair began following Weiss and Neptune who were a fair distance down the hall in their own conversation.

"Nothing," Blake replied flatly, looking forward with a nonchalant shrug, "But... thanks for going along with it."

Jaune scoffed playfully as he nudged her in the arm with his own, "So I'm getting blown off with a thank you? C'mon, what's the deal between you two? You seemed to be okay with him at the dance."

"You noticed?" the ravenette quickly questioned, her eyes furtively darting up to search his surprised expression for clues. And suddenly, the calm and collected catgirl wished she had the audacity of someone like Yang to simply come right out with it and ask why. Or to at least tease it out of him with wiggly brows and an anime-perfect stutter-inducing wink.

And though Blake knew she simply wasn't that kind of girl, she knew that the question had still undeniably crossed her mind. Why would he notice something like that? Was it something that mattered to him? Was he... jealous?

"Well, yeah," he began, catching the girl by surprise as her eyes widened a bit with the faintest of blushes, "I mean, you and Sun danced to a song like two tables away from us. Both me and Pyrrha noticed from where we were talking at our own table."

"Ah. Right," Blake drawled, mentally facepalming herself for having let her mind wander like that to which he merely raised a brow at her with a small smirk.

"So…?"

"So," she continued thoughtfully, replaying a few post-dance encounters between the two, "It was the least I could do to thank him for sticking around. I mean… I know he cares, but aside from our heritage… there's really nothing we share in common."

"At all?" Jaune asked with some surprise, the ravenette flatly shaking her head in reply.

"At all."

"Oh."

Jaune might've continued speaking as the pair turned the corner at the entry of the main room, but Blake's attention was suddenly focused elsewhere as a notification popped up.

DING!

[You sense an acute source of danger.]

"Incoming."

Instinctively ducking at the remark, Jaune dodged a flying object which the catgirl caught with impressive reflexes by the tail end. Running to meet them was Ren, who seemed a little paler than normal as he beckoned for the object with a raised hand and Blake handed it over as he explained.

"Thank goodness you caught it. Ruby and Nora started having a pillow fight when Ruby accidentally mistook Nora's travel bag for a pillowcase."

"But… Nora's bag is a pillowcase," Blake observed with a raised brow, turning to Jaune for clarification.

"There are many things Nora does that people don't understand. We just kinda roll with it," Jaune added with a shrug before turning to Ren with curiosity, "You seem really relieved, though. Was there something important in there?"

At that, the stoic student reached into the bright pink pillowcase after regaining his composure, pulling out a small music player connected to a pair of bright pink headphones.

"Yes," Ren replied indicatively, "If these would've been broken, Nora would've become very upset. And being that we're in the air and have no way to replace it… there's no telling what she'd do…"

"Oh Renny you saved my stuff!" Nora cut in as she approached the group with a wide grin, followed in the distance by a sheepishly apologetic Ruby as the hammer maiden checked to see if the music player worked, "Perfect! All good here; see for yourself, Jauney!"

Suddenly handing the device to her leader, Jaune spared Ren a questioning glance to which his teammate shrugged and nodded for the blonde knight to take it. Putting it on, Jaune was surprised to hear the interestingly serene melody being played by violin.

"Wow, Nora… I had no idea you listened to classical music."

"Wait for the drop," Ren mumbled enigmatically, raising the ravenette's curiosity before she heard the music suddenly stop in the headphones Jaune was wearing…

BWAAAAAWAWAWAW BWAAAWAWAWA BWAAAAWAWAWAW…

Blake could've sworn she saw Jaune's eyes vibrating in his head before he yanked off the headphones with a squeal, catching them when he let them drop lest they be damaged when they hit the floor.

"Gah! W-What was that!?"

"Classical dubstep," Nora replied with her usual bubbly grin as Ren nodded understandingly as his aching leader.

"I tried to get her into classical… but she ended up taking it a step further."

"Yep! My cousin actually made that one – he's a DJ in Vacuo who goes by the name Hansel Thorn. He even named it Valkyrie after our family name!"

"She was also introduced to Lindsey Stirling's music through him as well, solidifying her love for classical dubstep," Ren added meekly with a sigh as Nora nodded emphatically at Jaune. To the bewildered knight, it was clear that Ren had been used to the interesting quirks of Nora's infinite playlist for quite some time now.

Now deciding to tune out of the conversation, Blake decided to step aside to the large velvety couch beside the group and lay back against the armrest as Nora began telling her teammates about the first time she met Lindsey Stirling. The catgirl nearly unwittingly placed the headphones over her own ears, settling into the music as she shut her eyes.

'Hm, not bad…'

The thought lingered as the heavy bass blared on in her mind at full volume. Blake felt like she could relate to the music and its doubtless effect on Nora's personality; sure, she wasn't a music junkie in the least, preferring an intriguing book over the often unfulfilling tracks of mainstream artists. But then again, something about hi hats, snare drums and electric guitars roaring along at face-melting tempos in the kinds of tracks she listened to just made her feel at peace.

She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until several rough pokes to her side caused her to sit up in a start and open her eyes.

"Hey, Snugglebutt! Just gotta say, you drool when you sleep…"

Letting herself slouch back on the armrest with a slow huff, Blake rolled her eyes at her ever-blunt partner.

"Yang…"

The blonde brawler in question merely stood over the catgirl with a mischievous grin as Blake slowly realized that the sun was much closer to the horizon than she previously expected from the large windows around the empty common area.

"How long was I out?"

"Meh," Yang replied with a neutral expression, prompting a soft glare from the amber-eyed girl. But before Blake could ask for clarification, Yang continued, "Heya, Blakey. I got a question."

A raised brow from the ravenette.

"Saber-bo- I mean, Jaune. You spend a lot of time with him…"

"…And?"

"Well… what's he like?"

The catgirl furrowed her brows at the unexpected question, her gaze slowly dropping downwards as she thought about it for a moment.

"He's… nice," she drawled at first, picking up to a more natural speed as she continued, "I mean, now that I think of it, he's rather considerate and thoughtful of others. Sure, he can be a bit awkward at first, but he's got an interesting way of keeping your attention as things go on, too. Does that answer your question?"

Yang slowly half-nodded, half shook her head in what ended up looking like a circular motion before chuckling at her partner, "Man, you've got a really dry way of describing people, Kit-Kat. And for a second I thought it might be different in Saber-boy's case… ah well, I take it you and him aren't like, a thing, right?"

Blake fought back a short burst of surprise that threatened to reach her cheeks as she retorted, "Of course not."

However, she could feel her feline ears flattening a bit over her head as Yang stared at her intently for a long second before shrugging with a small smile, "Okay, cool. Cuz I kinda asked him out while you were knocked out on the couch!"

At that, Blake's mask of indifference cracked with her reply, "Y-You what?"

"Sheesh, Blakey, I thought you two weren't a thing~"

"We're not!"

"So… no harm no foul, right?" Yang concluded with a triumphant grin at her most recent feat of wooing. But still, Blake couldn't believe it… had Yang actually done that!?

"I thought he wasn't your type," Blake defended mousily, looking down at her hands firmly clasped between her thighs with a small blush.

"Well I never said that," Yang corrected while looking up in thought, "And the more I thought about it, the more I realized, 'Why not?' Oum knows the guy would never ask someone out by his own choice first!"

"But… what about Pyrrha?"

Blake knew that everyone else with half a mind had caught wind of the Mistrali's fondness for her leader, but at this point she was just grasping for straws, hoping for reasons totally beyond her that this was just some strange, strange antic that the blonde bomber was playing at again.

"She wasn't in the room when I popped the question," she remarked thoughtfully before turning to her cat-eared partner with a matter-of-factly grin, "But that's not my problem! Nice girls finish last! And if she's choking by not having told him for this long, then she's obviously not ready. But I am!~ I mean, c'mon, just look at me!"

At that, Yang lifted her arms up to show herself off as she did a small twirl in front of Blake. The catgirl noticed only then that Yang had ditched her usual attire for the dress and makeup she had worn in the dance and immediately felt her stomach twist with the knot of irony at the visual reminder of the subject she and Jaune had just been speaking about earlier as well.

"Who's to say he's attracted?" Blake nearly spat out, surprised at the tone she had unwittingly used but somewhat relieved that Yang didn't catch onto it while admiring her form in the reflection of the Bullhead windows.

"You kidding? Of course he's attracted! I'll have you know that this perfectly crafted body you see here has been the cause of five car crashes in my lifetime. Five," Yang quipped as the catgirl merely let her jaw slacken a bit before Yang held up two fingers, "And two of them were fatal!"

Blake then facepalmed as she shook her head, "Ugh…"

However, the catgirl was surprised when she found herself hoisted up and placed on her feet by her grinning partner who promptly turned her around and began walking her back towards the rooms by the backs of her shoulders.

"Aaanyways, hate to move things along so fast, but me and Jaune are due to have some dinner here in a sec, and I kinda need you to not be here when it starts."

"You made food?" Blake asked incredulously, turning her head a bit as her partner's superior strength had her still walking forwards by force.

"Raided a convenience fridge in the galley and nuked what I could find."

"Figures."

And just like that, a door was reached, a scroll swept, and a very internally confused ravenette dumped in a room before Yang waved a short goodbye.

"Thanks for the talk! See ya later!"

Slam!

"…"

"Ugh, that went much weirder than expected," the miffed catgirl mumbled as the lights around the room automatically turned on with her presence. It wasn't much – just a cot on one end with a closet that looked more like a locker on the other with her pajamas and extra gear likely already packed inside by Ruby – but she was content enough to settle with pulling back the sheets on the cot and to get in.

But even then, Blake couldn't quite get the subject out of her mind. Of course, it didn't help when she heard the faint sounds of movement and Yang's flirtatious tone drifting through the halls, either. Turning around to resist the urge to eavesdrop by burying her head and both pairs of ears into her pillow, Blake huffed into the fabric as she mumbled out her thoughts.

"No… way. I'm actually bothered by this."

She couldn't help berating herself for it: an ex-terrorist with senses honed to track and hunt with lethal efficiency… reduced to a smoldering wreck about a boy. Sure, she had spent a considerable amount of time with the blonde knight over the past few weeks, which by now felt more like months. And even she had to admit that she was beginning to enjoy his company more and more to the point that she was even forgiving him for doing things that she'd have obliterated any other boy for doing!

'So… isn't it at least logical that I'd be a little jealous at the prospect of Jaune sharing his attentions with someone else?'

Blake didn't know if that was Gamer's Mind speaking or not… but something deeper within was beginning to admit that logic couldn't quite cover these types of emotions anymore.

Blake cared about Jaune.

No point in denying it. But just how much was her best guess. Still, she didn't know if she was quite ready for that close of a relationship with anyone yet, at least for now. As her unknowingly tense expression began to soften with the flashing memories of friends she once held dear, Blake pondered and fought with emotions long buried… emotions she once thought she had snuffed from existence… emotions…

"You know, for a girl who tries to act so emotionless, you sure let emotions run most of the things you do…"

"Shut up."

Despite the flat remark, the catgirl's smirk didn't go unnoticed by the owner of the gruff voice she whose eye contact she was playfully trying to avoid.

"Just saying. But still, I couldn't have asked for a better student… you've truly become way better than I could've ever hoped to be."

"I know. You literally tell me that all the time, Tukson," Blake replied with an eye-roll and small smile before adding, "Besides, you never did hold up well against a leg based offense..."

But as they stood at the exit of an unmarked outpost belonging to a brotherhood she once called hers, even then, Blake couldn't help keeping her mischievous smirk from turning somber.

"This place... It isn't what it used to be, Blake. You need to get out while you still can," Tukson noted before making a motion to place a hand on her shoulder but drawing it back, "Whether you agree or not, I won't be here when you come back."

"Just one more job. I put my whole life into this, I have to be sure," the catgirl replied, completing his motion and placing her hand on his well-formed arm. Besides, she owed it to her race. She owed it to the group she had spent most of her life with. She even owed it to her newest mentor, a man she hoped still had the untainted sense of justice he'd had when she first allowed him to take her under his wings for the Fang's highest form of black-ops. Nevertheless, she knew that her childhood guardian, the one who had shared and eventually passed on his love of books and martial arts to her, still had a point.

"I know," he replied while playfully ruffling her hair while being careful not to undo the bow. After all, he had suggested the idea when she was much younger to help shield her from the worst of humankind's discrimination as well. "Just a train heist in Fall Forest… at least you get to stay in Vytal this time. I won't be too far. I'll probably stick around the kingdom for a few months; you know, earn some lien before I head out to Vacuo."

She smiled as she took his hand with both of hers, a warm grin belying the sadness in her amber eyes, "Thank you. I guess… I guess this is Good Bye..."

As her gaze then slowly began to fall to let her hair obscure her expression, the catgirl was surprised when her fellow feline Faunus picked up her chin with his free hand and a small chuckle, "You make it sound like it's the last time we ever see each other! Look, keep your chin up and use your abilities for the right thing, no matter what. You'll be alright outside of these walls."

Blake scoffed, her deadpan glare present not only because of his joking attitude but because of his presumption that he already thought he knew that she'd leave the organization, "Not many nine-to-five jobs out there that my skill set is actually good for."

At that, the burly puma faunus hummed in thought, retracting his arms to cross them in front of himself and pensively place a hand to his chin, "Hmm… maybe you could try your hand at being a huntress. Different methods, same cause."

The ravenette couldn't help but cock her head at her deceptively wise older mentor. Of all the things she had imagined herself doing had she never joined the White Fang, being a Huntress had never really crossed her mind. After all, she sought equality between humans and faunus. What better way to do that than showing they could work shoulder to shoulder against a common enemy?

"Maybe... Maybe you're right."

"Heh, I'm always right!" Tucson replied with a confident grin before tapping his former disciple's shoulder with his fist, "Hey, we'll meet again. I promise."

Blake turned to cast him a delicately placed smile as she slowly shook her head.

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep."

At that, her dear friend and mentor gave no reply, only giving her the warmest of smiles before turning to walk away.

DING!

[After a full night's rest, HP and MP has been fully recovered!]

The daily notification unfailing as always, Blake slowly awoke with tears in her eyes as the sounds of banging on room doors became more noticeable.

"C'mon, kids! Rise and shine!"

Likely Coco by the sound of it.

Taking a deep breath, Blake let out her pent up thoughts and emotions in a single tremor before standing and stepping over to the locker to change her gear. Pulling up her inventory, she pulled out the uniform skirt she had stored and replaced it with an extra pair of leggings… Oum knew those things had a terrible knack of tearing. Pulling on the rest of her gear and walking over to the small sink at the other end of the room to reapply her makeup over the smeared remnants of that of the night before, Blake set herself to thinking with a clearer mind.

Her feelings for Jaune… were complicated. She liked him as a friend, and a surprisingly good one at that. But 'friend' didn't quite seem to describe it anymore. Only time would tell, she thought, since things worth having should never be rushed. Until then, she'd have to make sure that she didn't jeopardize what they already had…

Bang Bang!

"Oh, Blaa-aake~"

The second banging on her door eliciting a small grunt from the catgirl as she put on the finishing touches on her makeup, she was about to put on the bow on instinct before recalling Jaune's words and putting it away in her inventory with a warm smile.

"Coming…"

A moment later, Blake opened the slide-up door to see a grinning Yang back in her combat gear.

"You seem… pretty happy this morning."

"That's cuz I am!" the brawler replied as the pair began walking towards the side-door entryway.

"I take it… last night went well?"

As if it weren't possible, Yang's grin grew a little wider as she began to make a face much like Ruby's when the topic of cookies was brought up.

"Yep! It was pretty nice. Nothing magical or anything, but we had a good meeeal, we read some fanfiction togetheeer, he touched my leeeg-"

The ravenette immediately scrunched her face at the thought, suddenly regretting having asked the question in the first place which earned a nudge from her partner.

"Oh c'mon, Blake. It wasn't like he did it on purpose," she continued with a mischievous grin, "I 'accidentally' dropped my scroll behind me when we were chilling on the couch and conveniently moved myself into the way of his hand as he reached for it~"

"I'm going to be sick…"

"The way he turned so red was the most adorable thing! And then I invited him back to my room~"

At that, Blake quickly turned her head to stare at her partner, her eyes a little wide and her skin a little paler as the lilac-eyed blonde let her story-telling smirk fade a little at her partner's countenance.

"Sheesh, Blake, snap out of it," Yang quipped with the smallest tinge of worry as she playfully punched the catgirl on the shoulder, "It's not like he accepted. He went beet reed and shot out like a million excuses in a second before we said goodnight. He thanked me for hanging out and we, you know… parted ways and stuff."

With her last statements, Blake felt her natural body heat returning to thaw out the clamminess which had set into her system. 'Hanging out'? Did Jaune even realize he'd scored a date with arguably one of the hottest girls in Beacon!?

Suddenly, Blake had to hold back a small smirk at her revelation. Knowing Jaune and his painfully obvious lack of experience with women… he likely wouldn't even know a date if he was on one. And just like that, the ravenette began to shake her head with an understanding smile at her partner.

"It's fine. I guess it's just my imagination… running away with me."

"Yeah, I figured. Too much Ninjas of Love smut fueling that surprisingly prude brain of yours~"

"It's not smut!" Blake complained loudly before stopping cold in her tracks upon realizing the pair were the last to reach the side-door entryway… currently occupied by every other member of their task force.

Coco, who was standing in the center of the now awkwardly-silent group, merely raised a brow behind her ever-present shades before continuing.

"Right. Okay, ladies-"

"-Um, there are dudes here, too, you know…"

Some of the students turned towards the sound of the voice from Cardin's group. Could've been Dove. Or maybe Sky. Nobody cared.

"Anywayyy, ladies," Coco continued indicatively, "Looks like we're approaching the wonderful world of Lambent. Their systems will be armed, but we won't take any chances. We still don't know what's inside that place."

Suddenly, the accessorized leader paused, suddenly noticing something amiss and tilting down her shades at her new subjects of curiosity, "And who are you two supposed to be?"

Sun and Neptune traded a quick nervous glance before simultaneously reaching into their pockets.

"Junior detectives," Sun began meekly as both quickly flipped open their badges before Neptune finished just as quickly.

"So you know it's official…"

Not even casting a glance at the brass, Coco idly motioned her head back towards her auburn teammate, "Fox? How's your semblance in the morning."

The student in question stepped forward, causing no small measure of discomfort in the room as he immediately zeroed in on the two Havenites despite his clouded milky eyes.

"Heartbeats normal… they're not lying."

At that, a sudden lunge of the aircraft caught everyone by surprise, Coco casting a cursory glance out the nearby access bay window before turning to face the group.

"Okay, that was the laser defense system kindly letting us through. We'll be landing at any-"

SHOOM

"…second," she finished as the unexpected jolt caused everyone to lose their balance. As the slightly miffed second-year leader now straightened up to slide her shades back onto place, she glared at the two stowaways, "As for you two, fine. Just do your jobs, and otherwise stay out of our way."

"I take it we've landed," Velvet now spoke up with her distinctive accent, prompting the purse-wielder to nod in agreement as the sounds of the side doors depressurizing filled the room.

"Alright everyone," Coco now commanded as the door began to crack open from the top down, "Let's roll out!"

A/N: Two words, dear readers: Password problems.

That should answer about 97.3% of all questions asked between the posting of last chapter and this one.

Anyway, moving on. So… I was asked about six months ago by a reviewer in another story if I'd consider doing something called an 'omake'. I said no at the time, mostly because I had no idea what an omake was. However, after reading over the last few weeks several examples of excellently executed omakes, I've decided to give it a shot! But… since I like to give things a little twist, I'm going to do something a little different. Instead of a straight omake, this omake – and potentially future ones if I decide to do so – will feature a crossover! That's right, every spin-off from the story will involve a crossover with another fandom which I've dubbed a Crossov-omake! Not as smooth as Knightshade, I know, but I'm sticking to it. Let me know what you think!

Crossov-omake #1: Avengers

"So… it was the least I could do to thank him for sticking around. I mean… I know he cares, but aside from our heritage… there's really nothing we share in common."

"At all?" Jaune asked with some surprise, the ravenette flatly shaking her head in reply.

"At all."

"Oh."

Jaune might've continued speaking as the pair turned the corner at the entry of the main room, but Blake's attention was suddenly focused elsewhere as a notification popped up.

DING!

[You sense an acute source of danger.]

"Incoming."

Unfortunately, the knight's reflexes weren't fast enough to dodge the heap of items which flew in to noisily crash against him.

"Ack! What was in that thing!?"

Bending down to pick up what looked like a pink pillowcase as Ren ran over with a significantly paler face than normal, Jaune reached in to pull out a jumbled mess of wires and a busted pair of pink on-ear headphones. At that, Ren froze in his tracks like a deer in headlights as he caught sight of the items, concern growing within Blake as she watched the usually well-composed student slowly begin shaking his head in fear.

"Oh no… Dear Monty, what have we done?"

"What happened?" Blake asked as Jaune glanced at the broken electronics and back at his teammate in confusion.

But Ren only took a few hesitant steps back before Nora and Ruby came running over to the scene of the accident.

"Renny! Were you able to save my *gaaaaaaaaasp*"

DING!

[You've detected a strong bloodlust.]

Blake then understood the danger they were all in as Nora turned red and began yelling at no one in particular.

"You… broke… my… EAR-THINGIES!"

At that moment, Jaune, Blake, Ruby, and everyone else in the room could only look on in shock as Ren knelt down to cower behind the couch, shivering as he repeated over and over, "Not like this… Not like this!"

"U-Um, Nora… maybe we can work things out," a very apologetic Ruby now tried to interject, "Maybe you can use my-"

BABOOM!

An unexpectedly close thunder-clap suddenly caused the airship to lurch violently as the remaining students stumbled into the commons area and the hairs on everyone's necks began standing on end.

"N-Nora, w-what are you doing?" Jaune asked nervously with a loud gulp as Nora suddenly raised her dominant arm up into the air.

"Well, Jaune, you're not the only one who's gotta use cool lines to activate your noble phantasm!"

"It's not a noble phantasm!"

But it was too late. Nora began her aria as heavy rain began pelting the aircraft…

"O Monty,

Bless this Thy hammer,

That with it Thou mayest smash Thine enemies to tiny bits...

In Thy mercy!"

And flashing a bright shade of pink, Yang's, Pyrrha's and even Yatsuhashi's attempt to tackle the hammer maiden failed as Magnihild flew into the grasp of Nora's upheld hand and sent the students flying back with searing tendrils of electricity. With a mighty roar, Nora then readied to put the hammer down with a fell swoop at the cabin floor in her anger as every student said their final prayers.

"YAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

…

"And that, dear brothers, is how the first Valkyrie blasted her way through spatial dimensions into the realm of Aasgard. Stranded in the godly world free of the creatures of darkness and despite all odds, it was she who went on to wed Jaune of Arc... and thus began the great line of Valkyries who would one day birth the great King Odin who now reigns over the Nine Worlds from Valhalla!"

Three faces merely stare at the enthusiastic God of Thunder from the penthouse of one of the tallest buildings in New York, the ornate A logo for the strongest team of heroes the world has to offer proudly hanging outside the windows.

"So she became Queen of the Castle in the end after all," one of the faces finally begins as he sits back in his seat and takes a sip of his kale smoothie forced upon him by his girlfriend/ex-secretary/CEO while idly motioning at his facial features, "And this Jaune guy. Blonde hair, blue eyes. I guess that runs in the family now?"

"Indeed it does, Stark."

"...Makes perfect sense."

The trio remain staring at the great war hammer resting at Thor's side, the living legend letting his gaze drop to the weapon as well before adding, "The grenade function on Mjölnir, as it was dubbed after the incident, was lost several millennia ago; many say that the lost ability was merely a fable that went with the First Valkyrie's exploits. The same goes for the supposed insignia of a pink heart on the sides."

"But what happened to their previous world?" the second face asks curiously, snapping his fingers as he tries to remember the name, "Um, Remnant! What happened to that place?"

The large man standing over the three men listening to him on the couch in the large modern living area lets his shoulders slacken a bit, a slightly somber mood dampening his deep voice for a moment as he replies, "Alas, Captain Rogers, by the time the Bifrost came to be, Remnant had already fallen to the darkness... and become the wasteland known as Svartalfheim."

"So no one survived!?"

"Only a small number..."

"Sheesh," Stark interrupts with an eye-roll, heavily dubious of the lore, "If there were so few, why not ferry them all into the wonderful world of Aasgard?"

"No, not small in number," the blonde man standing replies, "Small in stature. And over time, they had become tainted by the darkness and elected to remain in their accursed world ruled by their accursed ruler..."

At that, the third face interjects for the first time, trying to put two and two together, "The world of the dark elves... ain't that where your boy Malekith came from, Thor?"

Thor crosses his arms over the group in front of him, looking at the third with some confusion, "I don't have any offspring..."

"Don't sweat it, Legolas," Stark quips as he clarifies the misunderstanding, "That's not what Falcon here means to say."

"Stumped me the first time, too," Rogers adds with an understanding nod. But Falcon only throws his hands up in frustration at the billionaire.

"For the tenth time, Tony, my name is Sam. Sam Wilson! You don't hear me calling you Iron Man every time we meet up, do you?"

"First of all. This is only the second time I invite you over, and I'm becoming more and more inclined to say that it should be the last. And second," Tony pauses, dragging his hand down his face and finally deciding simply to come clean, "I... honestly never got around to learning your actual name, anyway."

"Seriously?"

Thor raises a brow despite the smirk gracing his lips at the antics of the petty tiny humans, "Sam is right, Stark. He deserves due honor as a future member of the Avengers."

"Y'know, that's something else I don't get," Tony adds pointedly, putting his glass of green liquid down on the table in front of the couch with a loud clank, "Why do they feel they have to add new people to the team? We're fine as we are! And this guy here has barely faced a single threat with Cap and he's already being given a spot? What gives!?"

"It was a big threat!" Sam defends heatedly.

"It wasn't even global!"

"And your pre-Avengers resume is so good?"

Tony sits back with a smug smirk, holding up a hand to count off his deeds, "Iron Monger. Whiplash. A hacked War Machine. Mandarin. The real Mandarin. Shall I continue?"

Steve tries to interject placatingly, "Tony, you know there's no need to-"

"-Several near death experiences. Self-operation. Twice. Angry girlfriend. Dying girlfriend. Girlfriend on fire..."

Thor can't help nodding at the last one, mumbling "But Jane is still better" under his breath before Captain America interrupts more forcefully this time.

"Stark! That's not the only thing that matters... and I'm pretty sure some of that stuff happened after we defeated Loki as the Avengers. But at the end of the day, we're not getting any younger, right?"

"Oho, that's rich!" Tony retorts, reaching out and taking another swig of his smoothie in a huff, "This coming from an eighty year old Capsicle with a body fat percentage of what... point five percent!?"

"C'mon, man," Sam adds as well, "You make it sound like a lifelong thing. You know we're all only booked for the next four Avengers movies anyway..."

"Hey," Stark replies seriously, pointing at Falcon with a stern finger like a kid ratting out another kid to the teacher, "You haven't even been in an official Avengers movie yet, so you have no right to break the fourth wall. Only The Author can do that. And maybe Stan Lee."

Rogers merely facepalms before motioning at Thor for some help, "Okay, aside from telling us about the origins of your race, you mentioned that you'd brought us a gift or something?"

Ding!

At that, Thor grins a mighty grin and turns towards the kitchen before replying, "Verily so, dear Captain! I have baked for thy selves a cake!"

As Thor now makes his way to the kitchen, his red cape flowing regally behind him, Tony deadpans before turning at his two companions and pointing at the direction the thunder god went, "And that's why he won't be in the next Avengers movie. Anyway, Crunch! Bring us a round of whiskey!"

'Yes, sir. At your orders.'

Steve and Sam merely blink at the smug billionaire as a hole opens in the table in front of them and comes up with a round of alcohol with the incredibly familiar British voice's reply.

"You... renamed Jarvis?" Steve asks incredulously as Tony dumps the kale smoothie in a nearby trash bin and puts in some ice cubes for the whiskey.

"Yeah, I kinda decided to shake things up after the whole Ultron incident. I originally renamed him First Lieutenant Crunch, but I decided to promote him since you barely come around anymore."

"It is perfect!" Thor shouts before coming out of the kitchen holding an upside-down pineapple cake in a tray with giant oven mitts, "Let us eat cake!"

At that, the algorithmic hologram of the Stark-built A.I. pops up in the middle of the room between all four men.

'The drinks have been served. This is Captain Crunch reporting for any pending orders, Mister Stark.'

Steve deadpans at Tony, who merely returns an ear-to-ear mischievous smile.

A/N #2: Eheheh… couldn't help myself. I know all of you have thought of a RWBY/Avengers cross-over too, don't lie ;) Anyway, remember to Fave, Follow and Review to show your support for the fic and to tell me what the future of the crossov-omakes should be! Last time? Every few chapters? Every chapter? I've got lots of crossovers I'd love to make, but I now leave it your very capable hands, dear readers! :) Until then, take care,

And Happy Reading!