Perchance to Dream

Ah, combat class. Two of the best words to ever appear on my timetable since nap time in kindergarten. PE could count… but, y'know, I'd rather forget about all of that. It's not important right now. Anyway, third year at Beacon means that the sparring is a lot more intense. I mean, they encourage us to go all-out.

Wait… I haven't even given my name yet. I guess there's just too much on my mind. The name's Yang Xiao Long. I'm a third-year Huntress trainee at Beacon Academy. Not that it would mean much to you.

"Alright, team RWBY! Let's show them what we can do!" That's my kid sister, Ruby Rose. She's the team leader, even after skipping the last two years at Sanctum. Of course, she's only seventeen, and with that wide-eyed innocent look she chooses to carry, nobody can tell that she's one of the most accomplished fighters in our year.

"They already know, you dolt. If they get assigned any one of us, they'll fight harder or surrender. I don't really think you should be so excited." The prissy bitch in white is Weiss Schnee. She's matured since we met, but she still exerts too much force on everything she says, as if what she says goes. The final member of our team simply rolled her eyes. Blake Belladonna isn't much of a talker. That is, unless you get her started on one of her hated topics, the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. She's a faunus, but she hides those cute little kitty ears of hers with a bow. At least she's got more luck there than her boyfriend Sun. He has a tail. Me? I'm just a busty blonde, with puns and strength to match. People like to think there's not much in my head, but that's not true. I just bury it so that they don't know the pain there.

We walked in through the doors into the arena/classroom hybrid, and I was astonished to see that our normal instructor, Glynda Goodwitch, was nowhere in sight. Instead, I was staring at the rotund mass of Professor Peter Port, complete with his blunder-axe. Talk about a change of events. Whenever Port takes a combat class, there's always a sting in the tail. Last time, he unleashed a small pack of Beowolves into the arena on top of team CRDL. I guess that's probably why Ozpin and Glynda don't let him run these classes very often.

"Huntsmen! Huntresses! Today, you will be sparring with each other! I have been unable to procure any Grimm for you to fight…" Port's voice died away for a second as he grumbled about bureaucracy or something like that. Maybe Blake heard what it was. I didn't, but I did take in the old arena layout. A hemisphere of seating around one side, and a tunnel straight to the medical department if required. For the few students studying multiple weapons, there were barrels and racks filled with a variety of new weapons. Ruby had been hinting recently about a desire to experiment with other weapons, so she would have the advantage in the next tournament. Good luck to her, but I'm more interested in simply punching things. Port's voice was back, so I decided to tune in.

"…And so, the first fighter will be Cardin Winchester." Cardin's been working out. He's passing it off as trying to get stronger, but it's not working. He's challenged almost everybody in the class, and in a few cases, he's done it with his team helping. He hasn't won since Jaune saved his life back in the first year here. He stood up, and nodded.

"I challenge Nora Valkyrie." Nora smiled broadly. Her fingers tapped a complex pattern into the shaft of her hammer. She hadn't been challenged in a while. Cardin looked around, slightly uncomfortable. I could understand why, of course. It was a gutsy move, but at the same time it was a fight he could learn from. Nora's hammer handled similarly enough to his mace, so he could pick up a few pointers from watching the rematch. I just shook my head. It was a good idea, but it wasn't exactly smart.

"He's already lost." I heard Blake whisper. "Nora isn't going to hold back, considering her grudge..."

"Well, I guess he's just ready to hammer out his peace with her." I shot. The resulting groan was worth it. She had a point, though. Cardin had done more than just bully Jaune and insult the Faunus. At one point in a sparring match last year, he managed to shatter Ren's wrist with a lucky mace strike. Ren still beat him with one hand, but Nora has been waiting for a chance at revenge ever since. I guess if you want to keep Nora happy, you don't put her best friend in a cast.

"Oh, bring it on!" Her grin was infectious, and I couldn't help but smile. Of course, in the corner of my eye I saw some of the exchange students from Haven exchange cash for bets. I saw a flash of blue hair in the middle of the commotion. Typical Neptune, once again trying to seem cool and cash in at the same time. An exasperated grunt from Weiss was the only warning she gave as she stood and headed over to him, her fingers heading towards her rapier as she did. I just have to laugh at those two, a mismatched couple if there ever was one. I looked over my shoulder at Blake, but her nose was deep in a book. Ruby, on the other hand, sat forward and stared at the battlefield. I stood and slipped around Blake, and parked my butt right next to my sister. Neither girl reacted to me.

"Y'know, it's a lot more interesting when the fight's going." I remarked. She blushed and giggled slightly.

"Sorry, I was running situations in my head," she replied. With a quick little gesture, she tapped the side of her head. "I don't understand why Cardin would challenge Nora, so I was trying to visualize what he could come out with." I blinked, impressed. Ruby was getting better at this mental strategy thing.

"What did you come up with?" My sister giggled.

"Best case scenario, he forces her into a tie. Worst case scenario, she breaks him. I can't imagine anything better than that without Port throwing in a surprise." I looked at her silver eyes sparkle with amusement. "Either way, it's going to be interesting."

"And fast." I muttered, but Ruby didn't seem to hear me. Instead, she focused on the fighters as they took up combat positions.

I'm not going to say that I'm as good as Ruby at predicting the outcome of a fight, but I had to agree with her. Cardin was taller than Nora, and his reach is longer. Unfortunately, those physical advantages were his only ones. Most of Cardin's combat experience was in the form of sparring and fights with other kids, as well as a few minor skirmishes with Grimm. Sort of like Kure-

…no, Yang, you shouldn't think about her.

Anyway, Nora's combat experience is a lot broader. She's fought a lot more Grimm than Cardin has. Bigger ones, at that. She's small, but immensely strong. She playfights and spars, and unlike Cardin, she's not used to her opponents cowering or trying to run away. No matter what Cardin thinks, or why he chose her, this will not be a fair fight.

Cardin and Nora walked into the arena at the same time from opposing paths. They both looked up at the audience and grinned. Port coughed, and I shifted my attention to him.

"The fight between Nora Valkyrie and Cardin Winchester begins… now!" The traditional Aura meters appeared on our side of the force field, and then my eyes fell on the fighters. Cardin looked cocky, like he had something up his sleeve. Nora simply looked happy. Oh, this is going to be good.

Cardin struck first. He charged like an Ursa, but the perky ginger simply spun out of the way. Her hammer swung like a counter-weight, but Cardin seemed to expect that, and the backswing from his mace slammed into her chest. I froze.

"How'd he do that?" I whispered to Ruby, but my sister simply winked.
"Look at Nora's reaction. She's got this." Damn it, I really should trust my sister, but it looked like Nora was just as surprised as I was. The girl staggered back a few steps, and Cardin pushed his advantage with an overhead swing. I felt like calling out to Nora in warning, but in that instant she moved. Her hammer flew up from its position on her left flank, and slammed straight into the head of Cardin's mace. Knocked off balance, Cardin followed his mace in a turn as he tried to keep his grip on the weapon. He never saw Nora take a hand from her hammer and let it swing up until it collided with his head. Everyone in the crowd was on their feet. Cardin's head flew backwards, and his mace flew off as Nora let the flow of battle hit her and lost herself into the fight. I felt Ruby grab my shoulder, but I barely noticed. Nora was a berserker. Like me, she dove into her deepest darkest places. No matter how badly injured she was, if she was like this, then she wouldn't stop fighting until she won. Cardin was still flat on his back when she stomped on his stomach. In an instant, he was sitting up and gasping for breath, but the girl wasn't done. Nobody signalled to her that the fight was over. Then I realized it. Port was doing this for a reason. Cardin wasn't out of the fight yet, but Nora's face told me everything. The grin was victory, but her eyes? I could see something more there. Satisfaction. Then she struck twice with her hammer, once onto each shin. Cardin started to scream, but all she did was turn and walk away.

"This fight is over." Port stood forward and spread his hands as a medical team rushed from the tunnel path to Cardin's side. "The winner is Nora Valkyrie." There were a few high-fives and pleased looking faces, but most of the audience was stunned at her almost unthinking brutality. As Nora walked up and the floor was mopped of sweat and blood, I gave her a nod.

"Broke his legs?" I whispered. She simply kept grinning as she replied.

"Oh, yeah! Finally got him back for Ren." I snorted.

"And is Ren aware you just went for revenge?" The girl's grin vanished, and she snuck a glance at her boyfriend. He looked annoyed, like he suspected just that. I shook my head sadly.

"Go get your punishment girl, but well done." We exchanged a fist bump as she started to tiptoe towards the frustrated Ren. Gotta love Nora, even if she can be a bit… rough, she's always more interested in her friends.

Weiss walked past me, dragging Neptune by his arm.

"I still cannot believe you had the audacity to put money on Cardin coming out of that fight without major injury." I couldn't help chuckling at that. The idea of Weiss losing her cool about Neptune's bets was still something I was getting used to. He tried to protest, but the heiress was adamant, and whatever he said was drowned out. "If it wasn't for me putting down an equivalent sum on Nora breaking both of his legs, then you would have lost money." Wait, what? I shook my head and stared at her. I could see a number of other students do the same. I simply couldn't believe it. Weiss… laid a bet?

"Well, snow angel, you have my gratitude. Now can you let me go? I want to set up for the next fight…" I'll give him credit, Neptune was smooth. Unfortunately, Weiss wasn't having a bar of it, and simply dragged him down to sit next to her. This was joined by the familiar sound of Scarlet miming the crack of a whip. I laughed with the others. Yeah, Neptune really is whipped. Surprise surprise, even Mister Cool had to bow before the might of the Schnee princess.

While we teased Neptune about needing his girlfriend's money reserves, the medics had carried Cardin off down the long corridor to the medical bays and Professor Port was ready to speak again.

"The next fighter chosen is Jaune Arc." We all cheered, and Pyrrha offered him a hug. Jaune had grown from a wimp into a worthy opponent for almost everybody in this room, barring his tutor-girlfriend who still beat him without breaking a sweat. He didn't have the nervous look on his face we all remembered well as he stood. Instead, he looked ready for it.

"I challenge… Yang Xiao Long."

Wait…what? I blinked, uncertain that I'd heard right. He hadn't just challenged me, had he? Nope, judging by everyone's expressions, he had. He smiled at me, winked at Pyrrha then set off towards the stairs.

"Well, Miss Xiao Long, do you accept his challenge?" Port's voice boomed out over the room. What was I supposed to say? No, I'm not going to fight my friend? There was really only one option, and I'll be damned if I didn't feel strange when I stood to say it.

"I accept." As I started to walk down after him, Pyrrha grabbed my hand.
"It was my idea, Yang. You're a better hand-to-hand fighter than I am, and he needs more experience dealing with close-in fighters." I…oh… Damnit. She had a point. As skilled as Pyrrha is, when it comes to bare-knuckle brawling, I have more experience. She continued. "So, please, make it a challenge for him."

"I'll try." That was all I could whisper as I followed the steep staircase into the combat arena. With a quick flick of my wrists, I felt the comforting weight of Ember Celica forming around my hands, and as my feet touched the slightly bouncy floor of the arena, I closed my eyes.

Ok, Yang, breath. Inhale. Hold for three. Exhale. Again. As I followed Dad's old mind-clearing advice, I felt some of the tension loosen. Not enough for me to be totally comfortable, but just enough to clear my head. I can't afford to lose my temper. Jaune's good, but I don't think he'll be able to take too much exposure to my Semblance if I really lose myself to the fight the way Nora did.

I let my eyes slide open, and all I could see was him. Jaune had made the most of the extra time I'd given him, and was fully prepared. He was oriented towards me. Shield covered his left-hand side, so I won't be able to take advantage of the minor coordination issues I know about. His sword is in a flexible grip; loose enough to let the weapon move, but tight enough that he won't drop it. I slid back into a comfortable combat stance, and waited for the starting gong.

In an instant, movement. The gong sounded, and Jaune was already moving. I leapt to meet him. My fist met shield. His sword met my bracer. I feigned a right lunge, but Jaune saw right through it. His shield bash knocked me back a step. I faltered slightly then threw a quick punch set – right, left, right. He blocked with ease and took a step forward.

"Man, come on, Yang. If you're too scared to give me all you've got, then maybe you should go and give up now," he spat. I froze for a second. The voice was Jaune's, but the words weren't. The last time somebody spoke to me like that…. It was time to stop being such a nice girl.

My knuckles collided in a light burst of Semblance, and I dashed back in. This time, I used my Aura to knock him back on the impact with the shield, and flipped over him to land a slide-kick on his leg. He didn't even stagger when our Auras collided. Instead, he swung his sword low, straight for my head. I flipped backwards, but his follow-up swing knocked me to the ground. If I didn't have my Aura up, that would have left a serious mark. Jaune snorted, but at least he had the decency to let me get back up. This isn't like him. He's fighting cockier than normal. My vision swam. One second, I saw Jaune, the next, one of the bullies I'd fought day-after-day in Sanctum. Then Jaune again. I shook my head roughly and charged at him. He ducked beneath his shield as I leapt, then stood when my feet connected. Heh, that's a bad play on his part. As I shot backwards into the air, I started to throw punches. The ground at his feet exploded into dust and flame. I made a show of landing with a gentle backflip before my feet touched the ground, and started to prepare.

Too slow. Before I had all my weight back down on my feet, I saw Jaune emerge from the cloud of smoke. His blade narrowly missed my left eye as he ran past. I heaved a breath and started to spin to face him. There was some kind of muffled noise coming from the audience. It's not important. All that matters is the fight. All that matters is victor…

No.

Nonononono.

My hair. There's some on the floor. The piece is only small. But it's on the floor. The other fighter stood totally still, his shield half-way through a movement to cover his body. My vision rippled with heat haze and flame. That monster… he doesn't know what he's awakened. No chance to react, I charged. Right fist chambered. The shield moved into my path – too slow! My left hand simply shoved it to the side. Then I slammed my right hand into his gut.

That instant, I was blinded. Pain shot through my arm. He seemed confused. The flames around me grew larger as I growled. That fool must have instinctively reflected my punch with his own Semblance. He seemed panicked, and he opened his mouth. So I punched it. Left hook across the jaw. His Aura flared, but he stayed silent as I drove a straight right into his chest. Right-left-right-left-right combo, all across his chest, then a left uppercut to the chin. The young man's armor shattered. His Aura wasn't even flickering now. So I made the most of it. I chambered right a second time, while I grasped his shoulder with my left hand and held him in place. Now let's see this little bitch block again. I drove my fist straight into his kidneys. He went limp, so I let him fall. Heh. I turned to the audience, with my ears prepared for adoration.

"YAAAANG!" Ruby's voice. Wait, what's going…

Oh, Grimm. There, lying at my feet was the body of Jaune Arc. My friend. Not the bully I had seen. His armor was shattered. My punch had burned through his shirt. He couldn't breathe properly. All he was doing was groaning. My vision broadened from my berserker rage. All I could see was horror in the faces of everybody watching. My throat was raw. Had I been yelling? Then I could hear it. The most gut-wrenching scream I had ever heard in my life; and it was coming from none other than Pyrrha Nikos. I couldn't simply stand here. A team of medics dashed over to move Jaune onto a stretcher, but I didn't stick around. I turned and ran down the same corridor. People screamed at me to stop, but I ignored them. Maybe this is all a nightmare. Maybe I'm dreaming. I'm numb. I don't feel anything. Just the slightly damp patch on my cheek where the first tear has started to fall.

Oh, God… what have I done?

A/N: A new year, a new project. Welcome, RWBY fans! To those who enjoy The Rose General, there's more coming. This was a request from the RWBY wiki forums that I decided fitted my writing style, and BAM, new story! Hopefully I'll have more for you guys soon, so as always, like-fav-review, and I'll see you on the flip-side.