Chapter 5: Friends and Enemies… and Frienemies

As Lucy stepped off the airship, she took a moment to admire the majesty of Beacon with her sisters, from far away, but, only after a few seconds, she already wanted to explore and get a closer look at the beautiful architecture. So, as Natsu lay prone on the ground, and Ruby and Yang started discussing about weapons, Lucy simply walked off, unnoticed. She was use to her family's antics, they get so wrapped up on one thing, and if one remained quiet one could slip away undetected. Lucy did this quite often actually, sometimes waiting for an opportunity to "vanish" and scare them once they noticed her absence.

However, this time she wasn't planning on scaring them, instead she went to explore on her own: without Natsu and Yang constantly breaking things, and Ruby dashing around everywhere.

She wandered the gothic styled campus for several minutes, passing several students, some who seemed to know where they were headed, and others who looked completely lost, until she bumped into someone while she was admiring one of the nearby towers, not looking where she was going.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said a voice before Lucy was able to apologize. Pulling her attention away from the statue and to the person she ran into. Before her stood a tall boy, with blue eyes and messy blonde hair. He wore a white chest-plate over a black hoodie that was orange on the inside. He was broad-shouldered and was rather built, not quite ripped, but he was probably very strong. He had white spaulders and rerbraces on his shoulder and upper arm and detached sleeves on his forearm and on his hands were brown, fingerless gloves. He had two belts, crisscrossing, at his waist, one holding a few pouches, and the other holding a sheath containing a sword, with a blue and gold hilt, on his left hip. He wore a pair of blue jeans with a white patch on the left knee and a pair of black sneakers on his feet. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," He continued.

"No I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention either," Lucy replied as she studied him, certain she had seen him before.

"Uh, I'm Jaune, by the way," he said extending his hand towards her.

"Lucy," she replied while shaking the boy's hand

"Sooo, what were you looking at before I bumped into ya? Sorry about that by the way," he said nervously, turning his gaze to where Lucy was looking before they bumped each other.

"Don't worry about it. It was just as much my fault," Lucy said waving away his apology before continuing; "I was just admiring the architect. Not every day you get to explore a place like this."

"Hmm. Never thought about it too much," Jaune said with a shrug. "You like architecture?"

"Sorta," she said before pausing for a moment. "I just enjoy that fact that one can take a necessity, like shelter, and make beauty from it, while still keeping its functionality. Kinda weird right?"

"Not that weird," Jaune stated simply.

"So what about you?" Lucy asked after a pause. "Do you like architecture?"

"Eh" he said with a shrug, "It's not something I pay too much attention to, though I definitely don't hate it."

"So, you're a new student too?" Lucy asked as they continued walking together, passing the statue.

"Yeah, just got off the last airship," he explained.

"Wait! Aren't you vomit boy?" she exclaimed finally recognizing the male blonde.

"Oh come on! Five minutes and I already have a nickname like 'vomit boy'?" Jaune groaned.

"Sorry," Lucy laughed. "But I didn't make it up, my little sister did."

"Well, motion-sickness is a much more common problem than most people think." Jaune explained.

"That's true, and I'm sorry; it was the first thing that came to mind and it just slipped." Lucy apologized good-heartedly.

"Well I won't let that nickname stick. The name's Jaune Arc; short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, and the ladies love it!" he exclaimed confidently.

"Do they?" Lucy asked, giving her companion a look of doubt.

"They will…" he tried to reassure, both her and himself. "Well at least I hope they will. I mean, my mom always says…uh, well… never mind." he finished, looking embarrassed. They continued walking in awkward silence for a few seconds before Lucy decided to break it.

"So~, what weapon do you use?" she asked, though she could see the hilt of his sword.

"Oh, well, uh, I've got this thing," Jaune said as he drew his sword and the sheath expanded into a shield.

"Coo~l," Lucy examined the weapons with interest. "Do they do anything?"

"Well, the shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just… put it away," was his rather awkward response.

"Doesn't it still weigh the same though?"

"Yeah it does," Jaune sighed.

"Well I think it's pretty cool. You won't have a sheath getting in your way when you fight, or a cumbersome shield as you explore. It's simple but effective; though I prefer complex weapons myself," she said pulling out the brown cylindrical bar that works as the grip to her weapon, which released a length of chain-like metal that started to glow and spark with electricity, from the press of a button.

"Woah! That looks dangerous," Jaune took a step back at the sudden appearance of electric conductor.

"It is," Lucy replied nonchalantly. "It's the default mode of my weapon Golden Star. I call this mode Rivers of Stars. I also have six other weapon modes, and even one armor mode, though I don't use the armor that often. I came up with all the ideas, but my sister was the one who really build the weapon, of course, I helped, and I'm rambling aren't I?" Lucy rambled.

"Um… no, well… I mean… You have different versions of your weapon?" Jaune questioned, avoiding a possible wrong answer. "How does that work?"

"Well this is my base," she said indicating the near-foot long cylinder that she was using as a grip, "and these are three different attachments that changes Golden Star into a different version." She continued, producing three more cylinders from her belt and holding each between a pair of fingers. Each was slightly different than the next. The first was fatter, but shorter and colored black, the second was longer than the grip but was around the same circumference and colored red, and the third was roughly the same size as the grip except it was colored pink.

"So you add one of these to the whip and it changes into something else?" Jaune summarized.

"Pretty much. Wanna see?" Lucy said, not waiting for an answer, as she connected the fat black attachment to her weapon and twisted it until a quiet click was heard. The whip was quickly reeled back into the impossibly small grip and was replaced with…

"A Battle Axe!?" Jaune exclaimed in surprise as a full 4 and a half foot tall, double-bladed battle axe quickly unfolded from within the two cylinders.

"Yap," Lucy's grin was face-splitting. "This version's called Bull's Horns, and when combined with Scorpion's Tail it's also a sniper rifle."

"Wha…" Jaune was speechless.

"Unfortunately, I don't have all of my forms on me, only these three," she continued, not noticing Jaune's look of surprise and awe, "the rest are pack in my luggage. The base and seven attachments together total near a ton and a half, so I don't usually carry all of them around unless absolutely necessary. Or I want to work out." She explained, only causing Jaune to go even more wide-eyed than before. And with that Lucy condensed her weapon, disconnected Bull's Horns and put both weapon parts away. "So, did you make yours by yourself?" Lucy asked as they started walking again.

"Make? Uh, no, um, it's a hand-me-down," Jaune said looking down at the sword still in his hand. "My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me," Lucy replied jokingly, unfortunately, it didn't seem to amuse the other blonde. "Well I like it. Very few recognize the beauty in the simplicity of the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics." Jaune said, raising his head as he sheathed his sword. They fell into a comfortable science that lasted only a few seconds, before Lucy asked the question that just came to her.

"Hey, where are we going?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I was following you." Jaune replied as they looked around the courtyard they had found themselves in, which was completely abandoned, save the two blondes.

After wondering the campus some more and asking several faculty and upper year students for directions, the blonde duo found their way to the auditorium/combat practice building. It was a large, grey, circular, open-air structure with grey support pillars lined in a circle just inside of the walls. As Lucy entered the building she searched for one of her relatives. Yang saw her first though and called her over.

"Hey, I gotta go." Lucy said as she started to walk towards Yang. "I'll see you after the ceremony!" she waved back.

"Hey wait!" Jaune yelled after her but she was already gone. "Ah great, where else am I supposed to find a nice, pretty girl to talk to?" he asked himself as he walked into the crowd. Right past a green eyed, red head wearing a mixture of gold, bronze, and leather armor.

"Hey, mini-me. Where'd you run off to?" Yang asked Lucy once she made had her way over.

"Just decided to do a little sightseeing," Lucy replied before smirking. "I would have told you guys, but you were busy gawking and squawking."

"Me? Squawking? Never," Yang said with sardonic hurt, before her attention was focused onto something over Lucy's shoulder. "Ruby! Natsu! Over Here!" she yelled waving at the new duo while Lucy turned around to see the two making their way over. Once they joined the group Yang decided to ask: "And how was your first day at Beacon little sis and little cousin."

"You mean since you ditched us and we exploded?" Ruby remarked with a scowl on her face, while Natsu bellowed something about being the same age. The latter of which was ignored.

"Meltdown already you two?" Yang questioned, not understanding the literalness of Ruby's statement.

"No. we literally blew a hole in front of the school!" Ruby yelled back.

"Yeah, it was awesome. There was some fire, and I think ice—" Natsu confirmed.

"You two are pulling my leg aren't ya?" Yang asked with a smile as Natsu continued trying to remember if it was ice or wind that was making the fire of the explosion cold. Again, he was ignored.

"I wish! I tripped over some girl's luggage and then she yelled at me and then Natsu and I sneezed and then we exploded and then she yelled again! And then I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" Ruby said in one and a half breaths as an individual came up behind her, trying to discern if Ruby was the person they were looking for. She was.

"YOU!" Weiss yelled at Ruby, sending the brunette into the arms of Yang out of fright.

"Oh god, it's happening again!" Ruby whined.

"You're lucky we didn't get blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss continued to reprimand.

"Oh my god, you really exploded," the fact still came as a shock to Yang.

"Hey, leave her alone! It was an accident a'right!" Natsu yelled back while brandishing a fist at the white haired heiress. She just ignored him; unfortunately, her brother did not.

"Hey! What'd I tell you about yelling at my sister!?" yelled a peeved Gray.

"She was yellin' first!"

"Well, you still can't yell at her!"

"Says who!?"

Me, that's who!"

"Well then, I'll just let my fist do the talking!"

"You try to lift a finger against her you'll have to deal with me!"

"I ain't afraid of you!"

"BOTH OF YOU KNOCK IT OFF!" Lucy screamed at the arguing duo. Luckily both complied, though they continued to glare at each other, and Natsu made sound reminiscent of a hiss.

During the boys' yelling contest, Weiss had presented Ruby with a pamphlet that read "Dust for Dummies and other Inadequate Individuals" as well as a very fast, very lengthy, and very confusing set of words that sounded like some form of terms and conditions page, leaving Ruby just a confused mess.

"Um," was her intelligent reply.

"Do you really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked.

"Absolutely," the red hooded girl's response sounding like a plea for salvation.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss handed the pamphlet over none too gently.

"Look, it seems you two got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends?" Yang spoke up, trying to salvage the situation and possibly make Ruby a new friend; meanwhile, Lucy was playing the same part between the two boys. Where Yang had at least one party willing to befriend the other, Lucy had neither side wanting to be friendly; instead, they prefer to just stand there glaring at the other.

Yeah! Great idea, sis!" Ruby said enthusiastically. "Hello, Weiss. I'm Ruby" she said extending her hand for a shake. "Want to hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies—"

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails!" she interrupted with sarcasm. "And try on cloths and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" she gestured toward an unsuspecting Jaune who let out a "Huh?"

"Wow really?" Ruby exclaimed not noticing the sarcasm.

"NO." Weiss said with a look of annoyance as she turned away, leaving Ruby with her head hung low.

It was at this time that Professor Ozpin decided to begin his speech.

"Ahem. I'll keep this brief," the headmaster began, standing on the stage with his iconic cane, mug, and glasses, which he pushed farther up his nose. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills and when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people, but I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose… direction. You assume knowledge will set you free of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." And with that he walked away as Professor Glynda Goodwitch took his place at the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow you initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." And with that she left as well.

"He seemed kind of off," Yang said.

"It's almost like he wasn't even there," Ruby continued, noticing the same. Lucy noticed as well and she watched the grey haired headmaster walk off the stage with worry in her eye.

"I'm a natural blonde, you know," one Jaune Arc said, approaching Weiss; who face palmed in exasperation.

Corner w/ Nate and Co.

Nate- …

Nate- …

Nate- …Hel—

*At the same time*

Yang- HIIIIIIII!

Weiss- GREETINGS!

Natsu- AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ruby- HEEEELLLLLLLLOOOOO!

Lucy- HEYA!

Jaune- Wah! Uh, HEY! What's up!

Gray- Sup!

Glynda- Shouting.

Ozpin- This is actually amusing.

*At the same time*

Nate- *sigh* Can I do the outro please?

Yang- Sure!

Nate- … Hello! Ok they're actually letting me do it. So, welcome to the corner of the fifth chapter! We're getting close to initiation and teams! This chapter is the longest so far I think, but that's because the first half I had originally planned to be in the previous chapter, whatever, it's here now and I'm caught up. Yay!

Yang- Yay!

Nate- Yang, please control yourself. Anyway, I've had a few people ask what I mean by "drama" when regarding the pairings (Jaune, Lucy, and Pyhrra are all included in this bracket), well, I can't tell you. There are so many surprises, plot twists and plot thickeners that there's a lot I won't be able to tell you; like who Erza's paired with. Also, only one person has guessed who Gray's significant other is going to be.

Gray- Really? Could you tell me? Promise I won't tell.

Nate- Yeah, don't think so. You'll learn soon enough. On to Ruby!

Ruby- *through mouthful of cookies* Wahh!

Nate- Ruby will find that special someone; he's going to be an old friend of hers and an OC of mine. He's going to be part of a rather important team so you guys will probably be able to guess who it is when he shows (which won't be for a little while). I think that's all for the pairing part of the corner. Feel free to still guess who I'm sticking Gray with.

Ozpin- Shall we review the reviews now?

Nate- Yes, yes we shall. This is something new I'm going to try. In this and future chapters I will respond to as many reviews from the previous chapter as I can. I'll even let the guests in the corner answer some, if I think they know the answer (also, at least until I start getting tons of reviews per chapter [which may never happen], I will respond to reviews here that I've already responded to through PM). First off!

grimlock987: soon. Hopefully next chapter, if not then, than definitely the chapter after. So sixth or seventh.

Shadow Joestar: thanks reading, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Sorry though, NatsuxYang won, and I actually want to see me writing it like that. One big reason is, though NatsuxPyhrra would be awesome, the person that would have had Yang, who will now be paired with Pyhrra, would've been death to try and form a relationship between them. However, I have the perfect plan to get unnamed guy hooked up with Pyhrra. And NatsuxYang is going to be glorious to write.

Matt(guest): Thank you for the suggestions. The Eclipse one was very creative.

Glenn(guest): I will have characters from other shows/games/etc but they won't be main characters, just cameos and the like. (At least for now)

Dragon Force 463(guest): I know right? It would be awesome! *hint hint* *nudge nudge*

mike alvarez(guest): Congrats on voting for the winning team.

Alicanto: Thank you. Good guess, and, as the saying goes, "Close but no cigar".

grimlock987: Gray?

Gray- Absolutely, though most people in this world have weapons that change form.

Nate- There you go. Next!

Guest(guest): I'm not sure what you're referring to.

LordNodrogLock648: The only thing I'll mention here is a thank you, the rest I've already talked to you about.

Well that's all for the reviews. Feel free to review about pretty much anything! Is there anything I'm forgetting guys?

Lucy- Love Secrets.

Nate- Ah, yes. Thank you. Check out Love Secrets. It's a Miraculous: Ladybug one-shot that my little sister wrote and asked if I would upload it, which I did. It's really cute, so you should check it out, especially if you're a LadyNoir fan.

Jaune- Profile?

Nate- Hmm. Ok. Feel free to check out my profile, I've updated it so there's more info on it, plus a (small) section that tells about story ideas that I have for the future. So if one looks interesting, PM me, or leave it in a review if you prefer, saying that you want to see it. Anything else?

Yang- Your MOM.

Nate- What? Oh! Yes. Check out my other, other story, Man of Machine (or MOM for short). It's a Star Wars fic with primarily OC main characters, which a lot of people won't like, but I'm writing it anyway. Although it's being rewritten currently and's placed on the backburner since I've started writing a book that I actually want published and I have this story to continue. Anything else y'all can think of?

Glynda- Work.

Nate- …yes… I have a high probability that I will be getting a second job, one that will work me far more hours than my current one. This will be in inconvenience. However, paying rent and buying a car are both more important than writing at the moment. I hate to say it but it's true. I need the extra money to continue living under a roof. Even with this second job, I will still strive to get two chapter out at least every month like I have been managing somehow, but don't be surprised if it drops to one every month. Alright! Anything else?...

…Alright good and with that I'll be signing off and going to bed cause I have work in the morning. Say bye everyone!

*At same time*

Yang- BYYYYYEEEEE!

Weiss- FAREWELL!

Natsu- AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ruby- GOOOOOODBYYYYEEEEE!

Lucy- SEEYA!

Jaune- Uh, so long!

Gray- Later!

Glynda- Good evening.

Ozpin- Still amusing.

*At the same time*

Nate- *sigh* Adios.