Pancakes (A Renora Fanfiction)

Ren: Reinforcement

Ren jumped up onto the surface of the cliff, catching his partner's eye as he did so. She stood across from him, having made it across the cliffside second.

Oscar, no, Ozpin had challenged them to scale the cliff looking over Haven, and once they had, their training would start.

Ruby and Nora were evidently in the middle of a match, and their weapons laid off to the side, unused.

Ruby seemed to be doing fairly well, but Ren could see that the younger Huntress relied mostly on her semblance instead of facing the fight.

Nora caught Ren's attention when she resumed fighting, and he remembered that she had watched him fight before.

She took on his strategy, keeping Ruby in her sight no matter how much the other girl burst into rose petals.

When Ruby finally made a move, aiming to sweep Nora's legs out from under her, Nora jumped into the air and flipped over her teammate, landing and sweeping Ruby's legs out from under her instead.

Ruby gasped as the breath was knocked out of her, and Ren shook his head as he realized he was staring.

Nora grinned in his direction as Ruby got up and crept back over to where the weapons sat. A scuffling noise sounded behind Ren, and he turned around to see Oscar climbing up the side of the cliff.

Jaune was farther off, but he was making progress, and when Oscar got to the top, he was in the same spot.

Oscar's eyes turned hazel, and he spoke with Ozpin's voice. "Well done, students. I assume Miss Rose made it first?"

Ruby nodded, obviously still winded. "Yeah, but Nora beat me. She's scary good at hand to hand."

Nora giggled. "Aw, thanks Ruby! I learned most of that from Ren, though."

Ren inclined his head to his partner, who had caused the smile that was now present. Ozpin nodded, glancing back as Jaune made his way up the cliff as well.

"Very well. Mr. Lie, you seem to be the most well versed in hand to hand combat, perhaps you would like to help me demonstrate some moves to your teammates?"

Nora clapped enthusiastically. "Yay! Go Ren!"

He and Ozpin faced off, and even through Oscar's eyes, Ren could see the calculating look that had always been present in the headmaster's expression.

He could hear Nora cheering, and he smiled as Ozpin ran towards him ready to attack...

His partner broke him out of his thoughts by flopping down on the couch in their room with a sigh. "That was exhausting!"

Jaune nodded. "Yang coming in and helping made it worse when I couldn't land a hit."

Ruby nodded, obviously envious of her sister. "I could have...I just didn't have enough time to analyze her movements, that's all."

Ren chuckled to himself. "Do you know where she went?"

The blonde Huntress had disappeared shortly before they had come here, looking troubled and saying she had to find someone.

Ruby sighed. "I have an idea. It's not a good one, though."

Qrow's voice sounded in the doorway. "Raven. She's always wanted to find her, and now she can."

Ren's eyes widened at Ruby's change in expression. The smaller Huntress looked angry now. "Did you know where she was this entire time?"

Qrow sighed. "I warned Yang that her mother was dangerous to confront. She doesn't seem to care."

Ruby sighed, loud enough for the sound to fill the room. "Fine. That doesn't change the fact that you've been keeping her location from her."

Jaune grimaced. "Ruby..."

She didn't respond, only the sound of the door closing behind her followed. Qrow rolled his eyes and walked out after her, taking a long drink from his flask.

Nora flopped over sideways on the couch, returning the sigh that was still present. "Well, that went fantastic."

Ren nodded. "It could have gone better, yes. Ruby's under a lot of stress right now, though."

"We all are." Jaune's voice was quiet, and he was looking towards the door where she had disappeared.

Nora exchanged yet another glance with her partner, who picked up on the meaning immediately. "She'll cool off."

Her hand drifted to Jaune's shoulder, and he didn't flinch. Ren took the remote and turned on the screen in their room to serve as a distraction.

"...Jacques Schnee has issued a reward for her return. At the moment it stands at 10,000 lien."

Nora perked up. "Wait...Schnee? You don't think..."

The news anchor continued. "As of this moment, Weiss Schnee is no longer the heiress to the company, but her father has refused to comment on the matter."

Jaune unclenched his fists as soon as Ren shut the screen off, and a sad smile crossed his face. "Weiss escaped."

Heh. No training montage for you c: Some slight feels incoming, when I know what the heck the current volume's going to do. See you Bookworms in the next chapter!