Hello, and welcome once again to the arena! This time, the yellow team has pulled a fast one by replacing their combatant with three...

Nah, I'm just kidding. This should be a blast. I've become short on words to say before chapters, but I wonder if that's because I'm lacking some of my old gumption.

Onward, together!

Beta: Knight of Cerberus

"I've found a new exercise in short-term masochism for long-term gain."

"I know I said I'd help you study, but... I don't even know how this is supposed to work."

"C'mon man, just do it." Jaune grinned, staring down at Ren. "Just wiggle the stick around a bit."

"That's all I have to do? I've never been good with these things, even on my own."

Jaune leaned back, relaxing. "It's not hard. Just do whatever feels natural."

"It is hard! Nora had me fool around a bit once, but I never really enjoyed it." Ren pointed out, sighing. He gripped the controller tighter. "Should I push any buttons, or just move the stick for now?"

"It's the beginning of the game, so there should be a tutorial or something. It's an action game, so just start out with walking forwards."

Jaune raised an eyebrow as he watched Ren lift the controller to about eye-level, pushing forward on the correct stick. When the character on screen moved as well, the boy looked at the controller, and he continued to press forward.

"This is different..." Ren breathed out from where he sat cross-legged before the screen.

"What kind of games did Nora have you play before?" Jaune felt compelled to ask. He glanced around their empty dorm, before his eyes settled on the pile of games strewn across his mattress. It was far from every game under the sun, but he had brought quite a collection with him to Beacon.

The fact that Ren had barely been familiar with video games was a shock to the blond.

"I asked if there was anything that aligned with my interests, and she recommended some cooking game. It was far from the real thing."

Jaune's eyes widened.

"A cooking game? Were there puzzles and stuff?" Poor guy.

"Yeah, puzzles. I didn't really enjoy it, and I didn't get the controls at all. There were like four different button for flipping tiles different ways, that sort of thing."

The blond boy shook his head in disbelief. "You mean you've never tried like, an action game like this, or even a strategy game?"

"No, just that cooking game Nora had. I have the feeling it was something more geared towards girls, too. All the cookware was frilly, and all I really made was cute dishes and desserts by lining up gems."

Jaune put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Then today is the day where you – a boy – become a man. Let's kill some shit."

As Ren continued to move forwards, an enemy came into view, complete with an introductory sequence and everything. As Ren seemed to have his eyes glued to the scaly lizard, a tutorial message popped up.

"So, all I have to do is hit... this button?"

Jaune grinned as he watched Ren's character fire a blade of energy from their sword, soaring through the air and hitting his target.

"That's your ranged attack." Jaune pointed out. "You'll have a lot more variety of combos you can do as you progress, using all the different buttons. Though it's weird they're giving you the ranged attack first. Usually they'd start you off with just a basic attack."

Ren looked up. "You mean you haven't played this game yourself yet?"

"No, it's in my backlog. I'm getting you to play it first so I can test something." Jaune reached for the instruction booklet, surprised that the game even came with one. Then again, it was a fairly old one.

"Once we make it through the tutorial, you can stop there if you want." The blond pointed out. "That should be enough for me to go on, unless you want to keep playing."

"And if I want to keep playing?" Ren seemed to be pressing the button for the ranged attack as fast as his fingers were capable of, and the monster melted before the onslaught of flying blades.

Jaune grinned. "That's the beauty of life, Ren. Not only am I the leader of our team, but I have a semblance that basically means I can play video games and get kickass powers from them. If you're helping me with that, well, the girls wouldn't want to interrupt, now would they?"

"Right. I believe I see your point." Ren quickly engaged the next enemy in melee combat. "There's a combo score?"

"Yeah, basically the more badass you look, the better you do."

"Seems excessive. Or at least, I'm already having fun without it."

Jaune broke into a grin. "You're enjoying, huh?"

Ren's eyes were focused on the screen, but the leader of APBL caught the smile on his lips as he nodded.

The tutorial went over a few more basics. Blocking, dodging, dashing, and jumping. If anything, the only thing Ren wasn't exactly good with at first was controlling the camera. When the newbie passed through a high-arched doorway, the screen faded to black.

"What happened?"

Ren's whisper carried wonder, and then the screen bloomed, showing a close-up of the character's feet as they walked. A shadow passed overhead, and Jaune smiled a bit. The camera panned, zoomed, and a dramatic slow-motion effect took place as a dragon flapped its wings, claws gouging into a statue as it wrapped around it. The camera shook as the beast roared, before floating to its native position over the protagonist's shoulder.

Jaune's lips were pressed into a barely contained smile as Ren had a moment of panic, the camera jerking with motions of the boy's thumb.

"I have to fight this thing?" Ren asked, before dashing behind cover, flames engulfing where his character stood. He was a quick learner.

"Try attacking it. If you barely do any damage, you might have to run."

"Run?"

"Like you would if you were outmatched in a real fight, you know?" Jaune blinked as he thought about it for a moment. "Huh. To me, it's just a gimmick in a game, but I guess that's actually good advice in real life too, isn't it?"

Ren leaned in, focused as the warrior darted back and forth. He scored a hit on the winged beast, and Jaune saw its health bar drop a fair amount – not the sliver you might see in a fight where you had to run, or there was a scripted loss.

"Nice one, keep it up."

"I should keep fighting it?" Ren sounded unsure. He wasn't able to recognize the damage he'd done, probably.

"Yeah, you can take it down, I'm sure." Jaune leaned forwards, resting his hands on his knees as he watched the character's jerky, unnatural movements under Ren's control.

The blond watched as Ren continued to whittle away at the boss' health bar. There were a few close calls, but it baffled Jaune that a new player like Ren seemed to consistently escape the dragon's claws. When he retreated, he would fire off ranged attacks that caused minimal damage, and whenever the dragon started its fire breath animation, Ren would dash forwards inside the beast's range and put some serious hurt on the thing.

When the dragon was at about a quarter of its health bar, it staggered back from a melee strike, and a button prompt appeared.

"Quickly!"

A ringing tone hit Jaune's ears, and the screen narrowed with a nearly imperceptible transition in the soundtrack. The protagonist dragged his blade across the ground, lightning traveling up the blade as time slowed. With an uppercut, the sword met the claws of the dragon and clipped them. The lizard reeled back, but the warrior didn't relent.

The sparking blade buried itself in the dragon's neck, and was then pulled out in a spray of red.

Jaune gave Ren all the time he needed to collect his jaw off the floor. He looked right awestruck at the display, and the blond had a feeling he'd just played gaming cupid.

A shadow passed over the scene, and the camera pulled back, showing a long, sprawling valley with the sun high overhead. A small dragon like the one Ren had just defeated flew past, going to join a great many more – with even larger ones dotting the distance.

"Valley of the Dragons..." Ren read aloud as the game proudly displayed its title card, overlaying the scene.

Jaune refused to say a word, grinning. Even when Ren turned to look at him with the innocent, awed eyes of what might as well have been one of Jaune's younger sisters when he agreed to buy them ice cream. The blond grinned deeper, before parting his lips.

"Well?"

Blake looked up from her book with a slight scowl, tilting her head until the tension in her neck finally stretched itself out. She took a moment to shuffle further into the corner she'd pressed her bed up against, surrounded by her blanket with her back cushioned by pillows – which she adjusted. The sun flittered in through the partially drawn curtains, filling the room with a rosy glow that was only occasionally disturbed.

Near-perfect conditions for her to be cozy with a good read, except...

"Are you two still playing that game?" The girl frowned, flipping to the next page as a dulled, bestial roar ripped out from the speakers of the small screen. "Shouldn't you take a break, go for a walk or something? Anything before bed."

Jaune looked up, but Ren kept his eyes glued to the screen. The faunus raised her eyebrows as she stared down the blond boy, but her leader just grinned dumbly in response.

"Yeah, we'll go later. After Ren beats this boss. Like, ten more minutes tops."

"You have to be kidding me." Blake rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You said that thirty minutes ago."

"Yeah, well... That's because Ren needed to get to a checkpoint."

Blake tried her best to make the most disgusted noise she could, before she set her book down and leaned forward to get a view of the screen. From what she could see, the things occurring on the screen made it much too busy for her – numbers that she assumed quantified damage bloomed and floated away. Jets of fire flickered across the screen as the character was swarmed by small, dragonesque creatures.

Ren groaned as the man outstretched his hand towards the sky with a pained scream, before disappearing into ash as his cloak fell to the ground, sizzling out like the last embers of a bonfire.

"What am I supposed to do against so many of them?" The normally stoic boy pounded his fist into his thigh, before sighing. Blake caught how Pyrrha's eyes flickered towards him, before returning to her scroll where she laid.

"Yeah, they really hiked up the difficulty for this section." Jaune mumbled, scratching his head. Blake watched on as the blond patted the boy next to him on the shoulder. "Maybe we should take a break for now, go grab a bite to eat."

"A bite to eat?" Blake's eyes widened as the baffling things the blond just said continued to add up in her head. "You guys haven't eaten yet? Since lunch?"

"No, why?"

"It's like nine in the evening." Blake craned her neck towards the window, trying to emphasize the fact.

"And? The cafeteria will still have food for us." Jaune crossed his arms. He really didn't get it, did he? And Ren? He was an even worse offender.

Blake sighed as she prepared her spiel. "Eating at such a drastically different time of day is bad for you. Almost as bad as eating and then going to sleep in..." The girl checked her scroll. "Less than an hour? You should let your body start to digest most everything before you even think about lying down for the night."

He had the sheer audacity to shrug in response.

Blake glared at him. "Fine. I don't care. Go choke on a turkey leg."

"Don't worry, I probably won't get one." Jaune helped Ren to his feet, before looking over to Pyrrha. "Want anything?"

"No, I ate with Blake." Pyrrha mentioned, kicking her legs back and forth. The aforementioned faunus was slightly surprised the girl hadn't said anything more than that. Did she have nothing else to add, or was she distracted?

Ren stretched, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "We won't be long, don't worry."

The two departed quickly, to the benefit of Blake's sanity.

"I'm surprised you didn't mention something about eating too fast giving them indigestion."

Blake parted her lips and turned towards Pyrrha, before clutching her sheets and sighing as she saw the redhead's grin. She glanced to the window, then back to Pyrrha with widening eyes.

"Are you... teasing me?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. You seemed to get rather heated there."

Pyrrha, teasing? Blake didn't claim to be an expert on the redhead's mannerisms, but considering how much time the team had spent together so far, she wondered if Beacon didn't start putting something in the water that morning, with how everyone was acting.

Blake hummed for a moment, before shuffling towards the end of her bed. Pyrrha was right. When the faunus girl took a second to consider it, wasn't she talking just like her mother used to?

'You'll strain your eyes, reading all the time. At least turn the lights on. Why not go outside and get some exercise?'

Her eyes widened more. Was she becoming a mom?

"Oh no..."

Blake drew her knees into her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"Pyrrha, did I sound... old, just now?"

"You were complaining about the boys playing games for so long. While I think that's justified, you sounded like you were nagging more about their diet."

"It's unhealthy."

The girl's eyes grinned. "And your seafood diet?"

Blake felt her cheeks heat up. "I'll give you that one."

"Besides, there's no sign this trend will continue." Pyrrha hesitated to continue herself, as her head turned slightly and she sighed, looking at the pile of the games on Jaune's bed.

"Foot in mouth?" Blake smiled.

"Are you offering?"

Pyrrha's back straightened out immediately as the faunus in the room blinked slowly, processing. The redhead shuffled, before Blake flinched in realization.

"Did you just...?"

"It's a joke!" The redhead put her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed as Blake was unable to differentiate between her ears and her hair. The black-haired girl could feel her pulse pounding through both pairs of her own ears.

Blake's eyes trailed lower, where Pyrrha's knees were slightly rubbing against each other through her leggings.

"Oh."

Pyrrha looked up, red-faced. "It was a joke, okay?"

And who had just been teasing her moments ago? Blake grinned as she mentally steeled herself for her revenge.

Placing one foot on the floor at a time, Blake rose from her bed, stalking around Jaune's. It was just the two of them in the room, after all.

"If you're comfortable making a joke like that..."

Pyrrha was breathing heavily, looking aside as Blake slowly lowered herself to her knees. "Wait..."

Blake did not wait, gently wrapping a hand around Pyrrha's ankle. She lifted the girl's foot and tilted her head as the redhead's breaths were audible. She trailed a fingertip from heel to toe, tracing a wavy line in the sole of the girl's foot.

Pyrrha gasped, and then shuddered in Blake's grip. Her green eyes were wide as Blake pinched the fabric of the redhead's leggings, tugging.

The faunus' heart pounded in her chest though, when Pyrrha lifted her hips off the bed, and her leggings started to slide down.

Either the redhead had called Blake's bluff, or this was actually happening. The way Pyrrha's chest rose and fell as she stared expectantly from her seat on the bed sent a shock through Blake's spine, and hinted to the latter.

Blake reached up when Pyrrha's leggings were at her thighs, gently pulling them further. When Blake released her grip on the championship victor's leg, it didn't move. The leggings were pulled off slowly and tossed aside.

Now the faunus' own breathing was heavy as she saw Pyrrha clench her sheets between her fingers, toes spreading before her eyes. The next slightly labored breath Blake expelled, she drew in the scent of soap and a slight of perfume – though the smell of sweat was still present. Pyrrha's toenails were immaculate, but Blake's eyes strayed, seeing a slight lift in the girl's skirt.

It ended in an instant. Blake's lips made contact with the ball of Pyrrha's foot. The redhead twitched and let out a soft moan.

The faunus met the green eyes that stared down at her expectantly, before slackening her shoulders and delivering another kiss on Pyrrha's foot. A hand trailed up the girl's calf while her other held Pyrrha's foot steady.

What came over the girl didn't matter. When Pyrrha squeaked at the contact, it only excited Blake more – to the point her tongue parted her lips and entered the gap between two of Pyrrha's toes.

The sound that left Pyrrha's throat next was both shrill and dull. Loud, yet not. Blake dropped her teammate's foot and rose into a crouch, before pushing the redhead down and mounting her. Opposite knees separated their legs, and Blake rested against the girl's thigh.

When Blake leaned in with eyes lidded and laid her lips on the redhead's. Pyrrha blinked, before pushing her back and gasping panickedly.

"W-Wait, no..."

No?

Blake hovered over Pyrrha's face, her hair framing the thin red strands of her teammate's own. Pyrrha shook her head.

"I..." The girl breathed. "You were... teasing me back, but I... didn't want to lose."

Blake pushed herself upright a bit, a little staggered by Pyrrha's admission.

She'd been ready to absolutely ravage her teammate – she still was, even – but Pyrrha just didn't want to lose?

It took Blake a moment to come to terms with the fact, but she didn't want to believe it with her crotch pressed against Pyrrha's warm thigh. She shuddered with an absolute desire to continue where they left off.

That feeling took over, and the black-haired girl leaned in and placed her lips on Pyrrha. She held them there despite the girl's muffled reply, before pulling back with a thin trail of saliva.

She wouldn't be satisfied with that. No way. But the look in Pyrrha's wide eyes as she stared back after the kiss forced Blake to cool her head and reset.

"You still won." Blake gasped. "Y-You really got me."

Pyrrha's fingertips brushed her own lips as she stared, chest heaving. Blake could swear Pyrrha wanted it too.

It was the heat of the moment, though, and considering what she'd been about to go through with... Blake rolled off of Pyrrha, gently rubbing her thighs together as she stood.

"I'm taking a shower." Blake stated, already unbuttoning her shirt as she speed-walked over to the bathroom. She didn't even close the door as she stripped out of the Beacon uniform, before realizing she hadn't and promptly slamming it.

Turning the water on, Blake bounced on her heels as she felt the stream warm up. With a heavy sigh, she stepped into the tub and pulled the showerhead down.

Ren bit a chunk out of his apple, leaning on the wall of the training arena as Jaune swung his sword in wide arcs. He munched on the dense fruit, chewing before swallowing.

"So, your theory is that you shouldn't be able to use anything from Valley of the Dragons because I'm the one who played it, and you just watched me do so?"

"I get that feeling, yeah." The blond replied as Ren kept an eye on his form. For someone who had such a firm focus in martial arts, the long-haired boy only had one thing to say about his leader's style:

It was sloppy, but in the way someone who was self-taught would have put hours into their training for a different result than someone polishing their form. Ren recalled that Jaune's sister – the one here at Beacon – taught him how to fight, but from what he was seeing she probably didn't have much in the way of formal training herself.

If anything, she did ensure Jaune got some major points right. His swings carried weight, but he didn't flow. There wasn't much in the way of follow-through, and even warming up Ren could see the boy left himself open after swings.

Was it his place to correct something of the sort?

But then Ren recalled the boy single-handedly out-maneuvering and over-powering the members of team CRDL. He glanced to the side, and saw the barricades put up around the crater he made in the cement floor. Granted, Jaune passed out both times after such displays – but with barely any scratches and a slightly bruised hand.

Ren adjusted his stance where he leaned, crossing his legs as he took another bite.

"Alright, so we'll start with the basics." Jaune smiled uncertainly, resting his sword on his shoulder as he rolled his other one.

Ren chewed as Jaune swung his sword downwards, blade clattering against the cement before the blond dropped it, cursing as he shook his hand.

Ren swallowed, then rubbed his lips on his blazer's sleeve. "Was that supposed to be the ranged attack?"

As Jaune nodded and put his hands on his hips, Ren frowning.

"Try it a few more times, then. Also, try aiming."

Ren took one more bite and stepped out onto the floor proper. As he walked out to the middle, he bent down and set the remainder of the apple's core upright.

"Aiming?" Jaune asked, picking up his blade and patting it against his pants leg.

Ren shrugged, remembering the gaming binge he'd enjoyed thoroughly as he stepped away. "It's annoying to use the move without locking on in the game."

The boy could see Jaune frown as he lifted the blade to his shoulder again. He took a step forward and swung down, this time not letting his sword clash against the cement.

It did nothing but disturb Jaune's blond locks as he held the pose.

Ren hummed. "Nothing, then?"

"I didn't even feel it tug on my aura at all."

"What about that coating thing you do?" Ren crossed his arms as he stared at Jaune's blade. "Where you cover your sword with your aura?"

Jaune snapped his fingers, before pointing at Ren. "I was just about to try it. Thanks."

Ren nodded in agreement. It was nothing to be thanked for, he supposed.

The blond's sword was alight with a glow a moment later, and Ren could see Jaune's lips spread into a grin. He swung his sword and the light remained.

Still nothing.

"Maybe try another move?" Ren offered. "I've never seen someone swing a sword and fire a blade of energy before in real life, so it might have something to do with that."

"What should I try?"

"Claw Crusher?" Ren suggested.

Jaune pushed the flat of his blade forwards with the palm of his hand. Nothing.

"Death Rush?"

Nothing again.

"Scale Piercer?"

The leader of ABPL thrusted forwards, but the lunge wasn't nearly as refined or steady as the one in the game. Jaune sighed, and Ren nodded.

"What about anything from what you've played recently?" Ren quizzed, already feeling rather certain Jaune's theory held true. "You haven't really tried anything since you were sent back to the infirmary last, right?"

"Yeah. I haven't tried much because I'm supposed to be taking it easy."

Ren pursed his lips in thought.

"Then what about trying something easy, Mr. Arc?"

The boy turned around as Jaune's mouth fell open, and was taken aback momentarily. It was certainly someone Ren had never expected to hear say anything of the sort.

Professor Goodwitch was already walking into the room as she spoke, and her cool eyes turned to Ren with a slight nod before returning to his teammate.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

"I've read the reports on the... incidents... you've been a part of several times and I've been thinking on them. Both scenarios you passed out after activating your semblance, but both times you performed rather extraordinary feats."

When the professor turned and stared at the crater Jaune made, Ren could swear the air felt colder.

"Then you're saying I should try something that won't drain me as much?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Mr. Arc." The combat instructor adjusted her glasses. "I've already heard Ms. Periwinkle's analysis."

"Miss who?" Ren and Jaune echoed immediately as they drew a sigh from their teacher.

"Professor Peri. She and the headmaster both said something about your power coming from a deeper connection, and not the criteria you seem to have set for yourself."

Ren looked between the professor and Jaune, before the younger of the blondes nodded.

"By deeper connection do they mean... Hmm..."

Jaune readied his sword again, bringing it in front of himself. Holding it parallel, he tilted his head down and closed his eyes. He blinked them open and hopped forwards, bringing his sword down. It brushed the ground with barely a tap, and Ren stifled a chuckle.

Professor Goodwitch didn't seem to react, from what Ren could see. She seemed to be staring rather intently at the blond boy with her arms crossed. When Jaune swung his sword twice – his first downwards and sloppy, and his second upwards and unbalancing – the combat instructor glanced at the apple core on the floor.

The woman stepped forward, pulling her weapon from her thigh. The apple core floated to about eye-level, before being lazily tossed towards Jaune, who was hit in the back of the head.

The blond turned, raising his blade before lowering it in confusion.

"Have you considered you need a combatant for your semblance to take effect?" Goodwitch offered, Ren backing well away.

"You?" Jaune asked, probably as surprised as Ren was to see this side of the professor.

"If you're concerned about hurting me, that should be the least of your concerns. Or should I make it your last, instead?"

Jaune seemed uncertain, before sheathing his sword. "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to offer... Do you have any other advice?"

"Headmaster Ozpin mentioned something to me I found quite peculiar. I don't quite get it, but he said something about a resonance in character."

"A what?" Jaune questioned. Ren could only shake his head and rub his face.

He felt he understood what the professor was saying whereas Jaune did not. If that was truly the case, then the issue with Jaune being unable to reenact the moves from Valley of the Dragons wasn't because Ren had been playing, but because Jaune had been too focused on the moves, and being unable to relate to a character he hadn't been playing as.

Jaune looked down at the sword at his side, before unbuckling it. Ren caught his frown as he mouthed some words to himself.

Whatever the boy had said, he nodded resolutely and drew his sword, holding it in his left hand, holding his shield to the side in his right.

Wasn't he right-handed? Why would he change hands, especially against the professor?

When Jaune's sword began to glow with a soft red flame, Ren's eyes widened, and his lips parted in a single syllable:

"Oh."

"So then, Professor Goodwitch totally kicked my ass around the training room." Jaune smiled enthusiastically, more excited about the story he was sharing than the ass-kicking itself. Ruby smiled in return from across the cafeteria table, the boy's team enjoying breakfast with her own.

"Sounds incredible, Jaune."

With a nod, the blond's grin only seemed to stretch wider. He'd finally found a baseline – a solid one – for how his semblance worked. He felt himself shudder in excitement at the thought.

Sure, in a way it was disheartening that one of Jaune's most beloved heroes of all time could be stomped so badly by the professor of Beacon's combat class, but he also wasn't a literal god-slayer like they were. Therein was the point Goodwich reaffirmed: borrowing, copying, emulating; whatever his semblance was doing specifically, he needed to remember his limits.

And boy, had she pushed him to them. Ren practically had to carry him back to the dorm after their evening training.

Well, not really, but that's sure how Jaune felt afterwards.

"I'm glad you're figuring yours out quickly." Ruby mentioned, stuffing some noodles in her mouth. "Mimmph tchuk fuw ama."

Jaune stared at the girl as she swallowed in a loud gulp, eyebrows raised. He gave her a second of buffer, before coughing. "Could you repeat that?"

"Mine took forever." The girl licked her lips, before forking more noodles. "But not really."

Jaune stared at her bowl as she slurped, twirling more noodles around her utensil. He scratched his head. Noodles for breakfast?

The boy turned, before frowning. His eyes traced the row of trays before him, each set before the members of VLWR.

"Why are you all eating noodles?" Ren's put Jaune's thoughts into words, realizing the same thing: each of the four girls sitting across from him had a bowl of deep brown noodles and thick, nearly opaque broth. "Or perhaps more importantly, how?"

"My idea!" Nora cheerily opened with, grinning, a little of the black liquid dripping down from her lip before she wiped it away. "I said hi to the cafeteria lady and asked if she could prepare meals more tailored to the team's needs."

"Certainly not the team's wants..." Weiss grumbled from further down. "It tastes like rotten fish and a pound of salt."

"I don't know about you, ice queen." Yang chided, before lifting her own bowl to her mouth and draining it past her lips. Jaune watched as she guzzled the broth down before sighing contently. "This stuff is the tits!"

"Is it really that good?" Jaune asked warily, crossing his arms. It certainly looked more like Weiss described than Yang claimed.

Ruby slid her bowl forwards and offered Jaune her fork. After a cautious glance to the girl's older sister, he took it gingerly, before collecting a few noodles between its tines. Wary of dripping broth, Jaune inched his face closer and slurped.

Salt. It literally tasted like he'd just taken a box of salt and poured it over his tongue. It almost made him gag as his eyes widened. Next, as Weiss had claimed, was the stench that passed up into his sinuses through his throat: something most assuredly rotten. He wanted to spit it up, but he sealed his lips shut and grit his teeth as he chewed through the rubbery noodles, eyes squinted in disgust.

Finally, the spices hit. As he tried to breath in through his nose in order to abate the rising sickness in his gut, Jaune felt like whatever bile had been rising was stomped back into his stomach. All that left his body was a choked gasp as he shuddered.

He pushed the bowl back to Ruby, staring blankly ahead. He could feel his cheeks swell. A moment passed and he rubbed his sleeve across his lips. It came away stained a darker black.

"Disgusting." Was all he'd managed to quietly push past his lips without vomiting, clenching his pants. As he took a breath back in, he was assaulted by a curious sensation on his tongue.

He blinked.

"That was delicious." He found himself saying, looking at the bowl. Why was it so suddenly the most appetizing thing in the world to him? He knew how utterly gross it had felt, sliding into his throat.

With another breath dragged past his lips into his lungs, Jaune sighed contently. He tensed his muscles, and stood.

"I'm gonna go for a run."

The boy heard Nora laugh as he felt himself hop to his feet, back over the bench. The moment the soles of his shoes tapped the floor, he took off, legs pumping. He sprinted right through the open cafeteria doors, and onto the grass. He didn't stop, crossing his legs over each other as he rounded a corner. His entire body tensed and relaxed with each movement, the air passing through his lungs as if they'd just become unclogged after an entire life of breathing dust fumes.

He was sure he'd passed Velvet, but everything was a blur as he sprinted out to the airship docks. It felt like he blinked, and he was running past the dorms.

When he next opened his eyes, he was seated in the cafeteria, bowl filled with broth blacker than a Beowolf with noodles that looked like earthworms before him.

"Are you okay, Jaune?"

His eyes snapped up to Ruby's and he nearly fell backwards out of his seat, pushing the bowl and tray back to the girl for what felt like the tenth time. The blond looked around, and briefly managed to catch Nora's knowing smile.

"Umm, yeah." Jaune smiled uneasily, uniform clinging to his body. What had he just witnessed? Had that even been real, that pure feeling of energy rushing into his body? "They're alright."

"Right?" Ruby chirped happily, scooping more cursed noodles into her mouth, slurping them all down. Did she even taste them?

What was the deal with these noodles?

Jaune was bumped into slightly, and he nearly jumped out of his seat as Blake shuffled in next to him with a tray of food herself.

"Not sitting next to Pyrrha today?" Jaune pondered to her alone, to which Blake sighed.

"Very observant of you." She groaned, Jaune's sarcasm sensors giving him capped readings. "We had a passionate, one-sided make out session when you and Ren were off getting late supper, so it'd be super awkward right now considering she didn't really want it."

Jaune snorted, before giving his one syllable reply: "Hot."

The girl slugged him in the arm, hard, before turning to her meal.

*loud coughing* "Y'all suck toes?"

Sorry about the slow and limited updates. I'm a man of worthless promises, but at least I can say it once again: updates for everything should be more frequent in the coming days. We shall see.