Sup. First time writer here. Can y'all do me a solid, and let me know what was good and bad? It'd give me more motivation to keep writing. Anyways, enjoy!

Cover Art: Kranell

It was a Saturday morning peaceful like no other. The birds were chirping cheerfully, the grass was green as it could be, and the slow sunrise was bringing its warm rays down onto the campus. Jaune Arc awoke to this scene once he pulled himself out of the comforting clutches of his bed. He pulled his attention away from the outdoors to look at his team.

The lazy, calm ninja of the team - Ren - was stiff as a log, yet somehow looked as if he was in a state of complete serenity. Despite all appearances, Ren was actually a deep sleeper that was very hard to wake, and even when you did wake him, it was a hassle to get him out of the bed. Safe to say, he was a complete morning bastard.

To his right was the hyperactive, maniacal bomber Nora sprawled out with her feet on the footboard. Her head and an arm were leaning out of the bed nearly touching the floor. She was snoozing away without a care in the world, but with the craziest dreams she somehow remembered and would always tell everyone at lunch.

Finally, Jaune looked at his partner, Pyrrha. An amazing girl who moved with incredible grace and skill that always had him awestruck whenever she showed her stuff during combat class. His partner was extraordinary, someone who was able to win some big fancy tournament 3 or 4 times back in Mistral. Yes, that seemingly perfect warrior was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets and sheets. So big was her burrito of covers that Jaune could only tell it was Pyrrha from her distinct red hair sticking out from the top.

With a chuckle, Jaune turned away at the silly state of his sleeping friends to finally get the first shot at hot water in who knew how long. With a nice, relaxing shower to get his day started, Jaune put on a T-shirt, jeans, and his classic Pumpkin Pete's hoodie, and went to go get some breakfast. After going through all of his morning with absolutely no stress or trouble of any kind, Jaune had only one thought on his mind:

I'm going to die today aren't I?

If one was to take a good look at the noodly leader, they'd notice how tense his body was, his eyes wide and fearful that were always on the move. How he'd keep moving his hand towards his weapon as if some threat would pop up. Most would call this paranoia extreme and uncalled for, especially if they saw how unassuming his morning had been.

Is the sky going to fall?! A random invasion of Grimm in the school?! Or even worse, that Ruby finds out that I'm the one who's been stealing her cookies?!

In this case, Jaune's fears were justified because a world where Team JNPR has a day with no wacky shenanigans that end in massive amounts of stress, anxiety, and collateral damage to both people and property just doesn't exist. If something crazy hadn't started the day as per the norm, then that meant something worse was going to happen. Unfortunately for the blonde goofball, these kinds of days usually ended up the most painful for him.

XXXXXX

Man, it feels like it's been forever since I've eaten any pancakes. Probably thanks to Nora always eating them all. I wonder where it all goes, she sucks them in her stomach as if she was a black hole, and I thought my sisters were bad.

After a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes, he decided to go to Vale to get the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav at the comic book store. Of course he'd have to deal with his mortal enemy in order to get to Vale, but Jaune had a gut feeling that staying in Beacon any longer would bring him pain and trouble.

So far, nothing's happened. That's great, awesome... I'm good, everything is good. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. I'm going to get on the Bullhead, throw up my breakfast, and get my comics. There's no way anything can go wron - OOF!

So lost in his denials, that Jaune failed to see he was walking into someone who had been running around and strongly bumped into them. "Ah, I'm sorry. I was lost in my head and wasn't paying any attention," Jaune politely apologized accompanied by his signature scratch to the back of his head. "Anyways, are you alriiiiggghhhht?"

"Could be better, I'd give the morning I had a solid 5. But finding you might just raise the rest of the day to a 6."

"Please tell me you're just a stress induced hallucination to show my low self-esteem and confidence." Jaune begged to the familiar blonde face staring back at him.

The shorter blonde quickly grew a scowl on his face, "Hey! I've got plenty of confidence. Don't worry, I'm definitely real and there's no way in hell that I would be the spirit of low self-esteem."

Jaune looked to the side and murmured under his breath, "You're telling me, you did wear a dress and almost get buttfucked just to save Ti - AAGGH!" Jaune suddenly got cut off with a chokehold, courtesy of an irate, spikey blond.

"There's no need to bring up those cursed times in front of potential witnesses. Besides, how can you say anything when you wore a dress at your little school dance?"

Even when being choked out, Jaune's pride couldn't allow him to not get the last word in. "A-At least e-everyone knew I was a dude, not to mention I pulled it off betterrrr," That was all the fearless leader of Team JNPR was able to spit out before the thin, but surprisingly strong, arms tightened their hold on his scrawny neck.

Jaune felt that this was the end. He was losing a lot of his precious oxygen. He could see the light, his ancestors were calling his name! He had a good run, it was a shame that he couldn't achieve his dream of being a hero, but avoiding the chaos that this blast from the past would bring was definitely worth it.

Said 'blast from the past' took a look at the blue, swelling mass that was Jaune Arc's suffocating face, and with a big sigh, let go. Jaune like a fish out water took a huge breath of fresh air, soon returning to the painful world of the living.

"I can't believe I missed you, it just doesn't make any sense, especially with that big mouth of yours."

Once Jaune stopped sucking in air to his lungs, he was able to give a retort, "R-Right back at you, you think it's the blonde hair? It adds to my charm, you know?"

With a deadpan that could give Weiss a run for her money, the shorter, but older blonde shot back the cutting truth. "The only charm you've got is from being a complete dumbass."

Growing a big tick mark on his forehead, and suddenly forgetful of who caused his near death experience, Jaune stood back up, hunched down, and pushed his forehead against the other man's. "Oh yeah, well at least this dumbass can rock a dress and still keep his masculinity. I don't think you can say the same, huh Thunder Head," Jaune challenged.

Not unwilling to back down, the shorter blonde grabbed the handle of the massive sword on his back and pushed his forehead back against Jaune's. "I thought I said that we're moving on from that, but since you're having some troubles with your head, why don't I give you some good whacks to the head to help you out Rabbit's Foot," He fired back.

This back and forth between the two was strong and the tension in the air thick enough thatthe few students looking at them were surprised they weren't already at blows until suddenly it just disappeared. Much to the onlookers' shock, the two blonds started quietly chuckling that soon turned to rowdy laughter.

"Hahahahaha! In all seriousness Jaune, it is good to see you. Can't say the same about your outfit."

"Hahaha! Same here, and hey! What's wrong with Pumpkin Pete? Jaune in complete seriousness asked.

With an eyebrow raised, the older swordsman gave his reply. "Other than how ridiculous it is for fighting giant monsters? Forgetting that, how do you still even have that hoodie? I could've sworn the girls burned i - uhhh, I mean didn't Red tear it apart while you were out training." He hoped that Jaune hadn't caught that slip, or he would have more crap to deal with.

"Wait, what was that first part? Ah, forget it, but you think this is the first time something has 'mysteriously' tried to destroy my precious hoodie? The look of utter seriousness from the older blonde gave away that yes, he could believe someone had attempted to get rid of Pumpkin Pete.

"My older sisters always thought it looked embarrassing and constantly tried to get rid of it when they thought I wasn't looking. Worse, my younger sisters actually really liked it and always kept trying to steal it. All I had to do was play them against each other or use the ole switch-a-roo with a dummy hoodie I always keep on me. " Jaune recounted with a look of nostalgia and pride.

"Yeaaaah, your sisters are pretty nuts. Don't know how you survived being their plaything for so long, I would've left that place a lot sooner. Also explains why you're so good at crime. Wait, was that how you were so good at sleight of hand?!"

The young Arc's face turned sheepish. "Hehe, well that and card tricks. You learn a lot when you have seven sisters. Anyways, what are you doing here? How are you here? Before I left, you were still on that epic journey to fight evil with the rest of the gang?"

"First, we finished that 'epic journey.' Second, I'm here at Beacon because I need your help. And third, I got here through that Bullhead that I threw up on from, wouldn't you guess it, but Vale. By the way, if you were planning on going down there, I wouldn't recommend going anytime soon." The spiky haired man let out with grimace and tone that spoke of not wanting to revisit his shame for a while.

Jaune shared the grimace, for he knew the pains of motion sickness as well. "First, damn! There goes my escape route. Second, you bastard! Third, you know that's not what I meant, and fourth did I say you bastard already?"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Look, the situation isn't exactly great to me either, but I really do need your help, and you know why," The man pleaded with Jaune.

Jaune cried out loudly "But I shouldn't have it at all! You said you were going to safeguard it, so that bullshit like this doesn't happen. What happened huh?!"

"Look, we'll talk about this later, preferably in a bar so I can forget about this bullshit for a night, but we have more important things to deal with. " The man with the overcompensating sword gave a nod, put on a mask of one hundred percent seriousness and confidence, held up four fingers, and counted them off. "I have no food, money, work, or place to stay. SO, my plan is to mooch off of you until we can fix our little problem."

"Urgh, I hate that I can't come up with a better plan, and even worse that you're right. Alright fine, I don't know if you can stay here, we have to go ask the headmaster and see if he will allow it."

"Alright, alright I'm liking this, things are looking good. This unexpected vacation might be shaping out better than I thought!"

"What the hell do you mean by 'vacation?' Nevermind that, what the hell are we going to tell everybody?! Looks like you're going to stay a while, so we need a story that won't blow up in our faces and that's going to fool my friends, my team, and the headmaster." Jaune cried out.

The two blondes just stared at each other, neither saying a single thing. Neither offering a usable cover story. One could even see a tumbleweed passing by with how long they just stood there. "This is the part where you start contributing."

"I came up with the plan, that's one contribution. Here's another: We just have to go with the flow and everything will be fine. Just like your dad always says, all you need is confidence. I'm sure it'll work out."

"The only reason you're saying that is because you won't have to deal with the consequences when this is all over," Jaune had a sudden revelation and gave a loud gasp. "This is revenge for what happened last time, isn't it?"

The blonde swordsman put his hands up in placating manner. "Aw come on, putting aside any old and very justifiable grudges that may or may not exist-"

"You bastard, I knew it!"

"We still have more important things to be doing like talking to the headmaster about my living situation, and going over our plan for the future. In a bar. Filled with strong whiskey."

To be honest, Jaune really didn't feel like dealing with this crap, especially on a Saturday, but then he took a good look at his old friend.

The blonde swordsman was twenty one and looked the part. His face was weathered by all the hard experiences he'd gone through, making him look more mature despite his young age. His hair was spiky and seemed to be defying gravity, his other facial feature that stood out being his shining blue eyes that hid something ethereal within. He had a tight blue combat top with loose pants that provided free range of movement. He still only wore the one pauldron and carried around that massive sword that looked more like a slab of metal.

Yup, his friend looked the same as he had when Jaune saw him last, yet he seemed more happy and at peace though that might be due to his 'epic journey' being finished. With a big sigh, Jaune Arc accepted his fate and the inevitable storm this was going to bring on his life.

"Alright, let's get this over with. I want to deal with all the pain and headaches now while my body hasn't somehow blown up because apparently anything can happen today." Jaune said.

"Glad to see you're now on board, don't worry it only gets worse from here, especially with our luck!"

"I'm already regretting this. Well, let's go…"

"Cloud."

XXXXX

"Yaaaang, come on! Let's go! I want to get the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav. I need to know how Vav escapes the the villainous clutches of the gay strip club owner Painal."

"Chill out Ruby, the store's not going anywhere. Also, isn't that comic supposed to be PG, or at least G?"

Today was not Yang's day to say the least. She had gotten little sleep from playing Grimm Shadow Legends for most of the night on her scroll. She woke up last, so there wasn't any hot water left. Small stuff yes, but when Yang found that she ran out of her top of the line, pricey shampoo and conditioner, well that created a code red. It took serious work for Yang's hair to look as great as it did every day, for it to look one day without being perfect could not stand!

She decided to go to Vale early in the day with her sister, who always went out on this hour every Saturday to get her comics, to quickly and sneakily buy her hair care products so that nobody would spread any rumors. Yang Xiao-Long having a bad hair day? Absolutely no way was that going to be the next big gossip scoop!

They were walking towards the Bullhead dock after a pitiful breakfast of toast with jam and some fruit (Some asshole took the last stack of pancakes only a couple minutes before they came) when the red head reaper saw her best friend nearby.

"Hey there's Jaune! Huh? Why's he walking away from the Bullhead? That's super weird, he always goes to get the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav around the same time I do." Ruby wondered with a small frown.

"You wanna know what else is weird? That guy walking with Jaune. I've never seen him before and I thought Jaune didn't have any other guy friends besides Ren and Sun." Taking a closer look at the shorter blonde and saw that despite his stature he still looked toned and strong. Especially when she saw the weapon he was carrying. "Geez look at how huge his sword is."

Ruby chimed in excitedly once her favorite topic was brought up. "I know! How does he lift it? Does it crush people with its weight, or does he actually slice and dice? What can it transform into?! *Gasp* Is it a giant cannon too or maybe even a railgun?! I have to know!"

Aaannd just like that, Yang lost Ruby to the insanity that was her obsession. The weapons nut probably forgot they were wondering why the swordsman was with Jaune and not why he was using that big of a sword to fight.

"JAAAUUUUNNEE. JAAUUNE"

Shaking the blonde out her thoughts was a yell by her sister to her fellow leader. Yang, realizing that if Jaune and his friend looked in their direction, they'd be witnesses to the less than perfect state of her hair and could not let this happen.

"JAAUUNNEE, IT'S ME RUBY! COME OVER HE - mrhghg!"

With a firm hand over her sisters loud mouth, Yang avoided having to commit murder. "Jaune seems busy with his new friend. Why don't we just leave them and head down to Vale before anybody cool looks this way?" The bombshell attempted to convince her little sis, but was met with the slimy rebuttal of her tongue, making Yang let go in disgust.

The leader of Team RWBY gave a glare at her sister. "No way Yang, I've got to know what's going on with Jaune's friend and how he uses that massive sword!" Ruby fired back before giving another loud call.

"JAAUNNEE!"

Looking back at the pair of blonds walking, Yang noticed that they definitely heard the last one from how they both suddenly stopped. The two stood there for a few seconds before they looked at each other, gave a sure nod, and sprinted towards the headmaster's office.

The two Huntresses in training blinked once. Then twice. The event being so strange they couldn't comprehend it right away, and could stare at the dust cloud they left behind.

Ruby was the first to snap out of it. "What the heck! My bestie just ran away from me!"

"Sure did. Well, that's a sign that he doesn't want to be bothered. Come on, mama needs to get her good stuff."

"No way, now I have to know what's going on! What if they're going on a super secret mission?! X-Ray and Vav can wait, we gotta go after them!" Ruby declared and shifted into a runner's stance.

"I'm sure Jaune will explain everything later, but we need to go…" Yang paused and felt a cold shiver pass her when she saw the devious glint in her sister's eye. "Ruby noooooo" Yang was too late as Ruby used her semblance on both of them and went after Jaune.

There was an unspoken rule among Huntsman: Semblances were bullshit.

They just didn't make any sense. If one were to take at Pyrrha's supposed polarity semblance, then why could she control any metal she wanted even if they weren't magnetic? Ruby's semblance was speed, then why does she turn into rose petals? How does that make her move faster? They're supposed to be a manifestation of their soul, so does that mean everyone's souls are fucked up in their own way? If people + Aura = Semblances and Semblances = bullshit. That means people are bullshit too. It was the only logical conclusion.

Yang didn't know why she was thinking about the philosophical nature of one's soul while she was currently a cloud of yellow rose petals, probably to distract herself from the despair of someone going to see her hair.

The speeding cloud of red and yellow rose petals eventually caught up to the two swordsmen and stopped in front of them, effectively blocking their path.

"H-Hey Ruby. Yang. H-How's it going? Jaune nervously greeted.

Ruby tilted her head in mock wonder. "Well it was going great until I saw someone who looked like my best friend running away from me after I kept calling his name at the top of my lungs." Ruby then put the sweetest and most innocent smile on this side of Remnant. "But there's no way my bestie and first friend at Beacon who's always had my back and has never been a rude jerk would ever do that, right Jaune?"

Yeesh, her sis could really be heartless. She was sure that face could guilt trip a Grimm. Tall, Blonde, and Scraggly wasn't faring so well after hearing all that. He looked as if he was going to confess to blowing up a store full of cute, cuddly puppies. Yang could tell that Short, Blonde, and Skinny was feeling some guilt too even if he was only guilty by association. The power of Ruby's cuteness was terrifying.

"Alright Crater Face, you got us. We did run away from you." Jaune quickly put his hands up with wide eyes to ease the little rose after seeing her start to tear up. "BUT, we did have a very good reason. What can we do to make up for it?"

The scythe wielder puffed her cheeks and aggressively poked his hoodie. "Well buster, I want a big, heartfelt apology full of chocolate chip goodness, I want to know why you ran away like someone who's going to lose their bestie privileges, aaaand we want you to introduce your friend!"

Seeing an opportunity, Yang chimed in. "We also demand Giuseppe brand shampoo and conditioner!"

"What the hell Yang?! Ruby I get, but how did I hurt your feelings? I didn't even know you were there?!"

"Well Ladykiller, think of it less like an apology, and more like a bribe."

"A bribe? For what?"

"For not punching your teeth out for being a jerk to Ruby. Also for seeing my hair like this. Seems fair, don't ya think?"

"Huh, is something wrong with your -" Jaune switched gears as soon as he saw her eyes turn red. "I mean, your hair looks perfect as always." He gave out what felt like the tenth, but not the last, sigh that day. "We'll get you guys your shampoo and cookies."

"Woah, what's with this 'we' business? Last time I checked, I was just following your lead." The mysterious friend of Jaune finally added to the conversation.

"Nooo, no. Last time I checked, we both came up with the idea to run away at the same time, and the reason we ran was because of you! That makes it your business as well."

The short blonde rolled his eyes and retorted back. "Yeah, let me help out with the zero money to my name, that'll buy the stuff."

"You could always try this new thing called getting a job. Crazy I know, but even with your track record, I'm sure you can pull it off."

"Oi! What do you mean by my... track record…" An awkward silence lingered until the blonde grew a scowl. "You win this time, Jaune."

Yang didn't want to stop the entertaining show, but felt weird that they still didn't know who the stranger was. "Soooo, hate to interrupt, but about those introductions."

Jaune gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head. "Heh, sorry. Girls, this is.. This is…" Jaune tried to keep up a big smile, but gave up with a sigh. "This is my cousin Cloud Strife. Cloud, this is my best friend Ruby and her sister Yang."

"Cousins? You sure you ain't brothers? I know Vomit Boy here has seven sisters, so an older brother wouldn't be too surprising."

A look of remembering untold horrors came onto Cloud's face."I'd go insane if I had to grow up with those seven psychos. No, we just grew up in nearby villages, and I'd come visit Jaune's family occasionally with my mom."

"Hey, they weren't that bad, and yeah, Cloud and I have known each other for a while now."

Cousins huh. Well she didn't expect that. It made sense though with how similar they looked, but Yang's curiosity wasn't satisfied yet. After going through all this trouble, she might as well know why he was here too. She must've been spending too much time with Blake.

"So now we know who Mr. Short, Blonde, and Skinny is, you mind telling us what's your story?"

"Yeah! Are you a Huntsman? How many missions have you been on? What's your weapon called? Why do you use it even though it seems really impractical? Can it transform into a railgun?!" Ruby excitedly rapid fired her questions one after the other.

"Slow down. No, I'm not a Huntsman. I'm a... delivery man. If you count deliveries as missions then I've been on a couple. This is the Buster Sword, a good friend gave it to me and it gets the job done. And no. It's just a sword."

Ruby's disappointment replaced her previous excitement."You're just a mailman? And your sword is just big? But but that's so… boring. Ahhh, I meant normal! That's so normal. Just like Crocea Mors." She panically tried to recover. "Umm, then why do you have combat gear on?"

"I do deliveries. That means getting packages out to people in villages through Grimm infested areas. I've got this, so I don't get gobbled up by Beowolves. I've got training and experience to know how to fight." He explained with a calm and stoic confidence.

"Wait, if you had training, then why didn't you join a Huntsman academy?" Yang questioned the two blondes.

"And why were you telling him to get a job if he already has one?" Ruby added.

"I tried to join a Huntsman academy, but I, uh, didn't make the cut." Yang thought she could see some embarrassment in Cloud's expression.

Jaune suddenly grew a shit eating grin and started snickering. "Hey Cloud, why don't you tell them why didn't you make it in?"

Cloud quickly deflected. "That's not important! And as for the other thing, it's because… its, ah, because…"

"It's because he fucks up a lot." Jaune said with complete seriousness and certainty. Yang saw that Cloud went silent and was staring at Jaune with intensity.

"Cloud has the worst luck, things just always go wrong for him, so the deliveries end up a mess." With a big smirk, the blond noodle fired big, dangerous shots. "Just like his love life."

"You… son of a bitch!" Cloud grabbed Jaune's shirt collar and brought him down face to face. "I guess the chokehold wasn't enough, a trip to the infirmary will have to do."

"You can threaten me all you want, but that doesn't change the facts. After all, do you want to tell them why you're here or why you don't have any Lien, or should I?" Jaune asked with a quirked eyebrow.

In a low voice with a face full of murderous rage, Cloud explained why. "... It's because I got robbed. Right away after arriving in Vale with both my money... and the package I needed to deliver."

Yang gave a sharp whistle while Ruby went over to the soon to be blonde murderer and gave him a comforting pat on the back. "If it's anything like Jaune's, then I am so sorry."

"Let me get this straight. You're here because you need Jaune's help in getting back your stolen belongings. Have you reported it to the police? Pretty sure they'd be a bigger help than Sir Dork Knight here." Sure, Jaune was great at dancing and taking care of a household, but that was kinda his whole skillset. Great for family life, not for finding thieves.

"Really feeling the love there, Yang."

"Let's just say me and law enforcement don't have the best history together. Unfortunately, I do need this idiot's help with this." Cloud's glare deepened at the object of his rage. "Trust me, I know what I'm going to be dealing with because of him."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"It means you're a pain in the ass, that's what." With that being said, Cloud let go of Jaune. Jaune took a step back to probably get out of his cousin's range and smoothed out his clothes.

Not for the first time was Yang wondering if they were actually brothers, they had that sibling like relationship where they were trading jabs, but lacked any heat behind them. Kinda like Ruby and herself when they fought. They looked a lot alike too. All Jaune needed was some hair gel, lose a couple inches, and they could pass off as twins. They were close too with how in sync they acted that she was surprised that Jaune never brought up his cousin before.

Cloud turned towards them. "I've told you two all you needed to know, it's time for us to go."

"Yeah, sorry if it seems like we're running away again, but Cloud plans to bum of me till we can get his situation worked out. So, we need to go talk with Headmaster Ozpin to see what he says."

Ruby put a hand on her chin and rubbed her imaginary beard. "Hmmm, weellll. As long as you don't act like a mean jerk face again and deliver those apology cookies, then yeah! Everything will be A-Ok!"

"We'll get out your hair now Vomit Boy. After all, Mama has got to buy her hair products pronto especially when they're covered by such a great friend."

"Yep, that's me. I sure am the greatest." Jaune replied with sarcasm so thick that he could use it as a second shield."

The four then exchanged their goodbyes and went on their way. With their curiosity now sated, they were free to go about to Vale again. Yang quickly noticed a frown on her sis's cute, little face.

"What's bugging ya, Ruby?"

"Didn't you feel that something was off with Jaune's cousin? I'm pretty sure I saw something hidden with his eyes, but I can't figure it out."

Yang hadn't noticed anything strange with Cloud, but then again, Ruby had this knack for understanding other people, seeing what they were like underneath. She just couldn't talk to them without some help to save her life.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it, he seems ok enough. Plus, he's a part of Jaune's family. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I guess you're right."

Behind them, Yang could hear a distant shout. "CLOUD! Put down the giant sword! Can't we work this out peacefully?! Is it because of what I said about your love life? Ahhh!"

Well it sounded like they were working out some issues. Yang was sure that Jaune would be fine. He had a big Aura, and had gotten better since the last semester. She thought about going back and making sure that her favorite noodle wouldn't need to see the nurse, but then remembered the state of her hair. Plus, it was a family thing, and it'd be pretty rude of her to just barge in there.

She was a great friend like that.