Screw It, I'm Going Out to Find It!

Chapter II: Gathering a Crew

All the joy he felt the day before was gone. Jaune, for some reason, had not expected anyone to be against the idea of him setting sail. Especially after Port mentioned turning a blind eye, he hoped it would be a simple matter of gathering some friends and setting out. Now he was on house arrest in all but name. He and Ren were to be watched all hours of the day by at least the majority of his female teammates and team RWBY. They even installed something to monitor their door activity at night to deter him from setting out then as well.

Ren assured him that this was only a setback, and that they just needed to figure out how to get past the defenses. That hardly lifted his spirits, and thus seemed to incite more concern. The largest source of it was Pyrrha. Especially when Jaune had emphasized that his foul mood came directly from Ozpin, she was radiating guilt since she felt herself as part of the reason — not that she would ever regret it.

Evidently Cardin was getting a similar treatment with only his team watching over him. Yang had mentioned some conspiracy that all guys were 'in on it' and Cardin needed to be monitored by someone not on his team. When Weiss mentioned the headmaster was a man, Yang had replied that he might secretly be hiding 'her true gender.'

Port had not gotten away with it either. He had gotten chewed out by Goodwitch so badly that the students who overheard it were provided free therapy from Beacon. The lively man looked almost hollow. Jaune felt bad for him since he knew the man's heart had been in the right place.

"Stop it, Yang!" Blake hissed.

The two teams turned to see Blake holding a book away from her blonde partner. Yang was wearing a giant grin as she made another reach for the book.

"Come on," Yang laughed. "Just let me see it once. If you have to cover it, it has to be good."

It took a moment, but Jaune noticed what she was talking about. Two long pieces of opaque tape had been placed on her book, one on the front and one on the spine, both where the title would be.

Blake's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you touch my book, I'll throw away all of your shampoo."

Yang's eyes matched her partner's. "You wouldn't."

"Don't make me."

Weiss snapped at them, "Both of you, stop this! You're embarrassing us in front of the rest of Beacon."

Yang gave up and began acting like the moping Jaune while Blake put her book away. Jaune did not miss the weird look Blake gave him.

***

"Might I ask what you're doing here, Qrow? I did not send for you to return right now." Ozpin steepled his fingers, trying to read the odd behavior of his subordinate.

Qrow laughed lightly. "I wanted to see my nieces, so I thought I could give a report and do that at the same time."

Ozpin simply continued to stare, trying to get Qrow to read his expression, but it was futile. "Qrow, wanting to see your family is not an excuse to remove yourself from the field. In fact, now is a bit of a fragile time."

"What do you mean?"

Ozpin sighed, lowering his hands and grabbing his mug of coffee. "It appears that I have a student who wishes to turn to a life of piracy."

"Pirates?" Qrow mused, "That's a bit of a crazy career choice for a Beacon student."

"Quite," Ozpin allowed. "Qrow, you're already here, so you might as well meet with your nieces. Please make it quick as I might need you ready if anything happens these next few days."

Qrow took a quick swig from his flask and stood up. "You got it, Oz."

As he left, Ozpin sipped his coffee while trying to ignore the feeling that things were going to go terribly wrong.