Hey everybody! Merry Christmas! A little shorter this time around, with less introspection, but I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all the feedback, I'll try to keep updating this as we go! Remember to make your opponent work!

Italics = Qrow thoughts

P.S. I know that there are way too many errors in these and I'm sorry about that. If anyone is interested in being an editor, I'd be more than happy to take you up on the offer.

Make Them Work

"Alright kid, put your crap over by the tree."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "We're fighting without our weapons today, huh?"

"You got it."

"This isn't cause you're still mad about the dirt in the eyes thing, right?"

"What? No, of course not." It totally is you Tai-lookiing bastard. "You remember when I lost my weapon to that scorpion guy, right? Could happen to anyone."

The kid looked skeptical, but set down his weapons. "If you say so."

"I do. If you're only as good as your weapon, then you're no good at all."

Jaune shrugged. "You're the boss. So, is this how you taught Yang? You were a teacher at Signal, right?"

Qrow shook his head. "Nah, that was all Tai. Yang does fight mean though." He said with a smile. "Must be natural." She's terrifying kid, stay away.

"Soooo…what do you want me to do?"

Qrow smiled comfortingly. "Just come at me however you want, and we'll go from there." Bring it punk.

Jaune nodded and began his advance, hands held high. Once he got within range, he threw a cross at Qrow's head. Qrow smirked as he dipped out of the way, and wrapped his hand around the back of kid's head, pulling down sharply and forcing him to splay out his hands to keep from face-planting. Qrow's eyes flashed at the opening and threw a knee into the boy's face, watching him drop to the ground.

I should probably feel bad about this, but we'll just call it…educational…yeah, that sounds legit.

"That look like it hurt blondie. What else you got?"

Jaune shook his head as rose to his feet. "I've got your number old man."

Qrow looked toward the sky considering. "I'm actually pretty selective with who I give that out to. You don't fit the normal description either, could use a little more in the T&A department."

The kid sighed. "You're doing the 'creepy old man in the woods' thing again."

This fucking guy.

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Can we just get this over with?"

"That's what she said." The kid laughed he rushed forward.

Definitely spending too much time with Yang.

Again, Qrow waited until he swung and missed, before starting to drag the kid's head back down. Jaune started to focus on pushing the hand holding his head down instead of taking swipes at him. Hey hey, the kid can learn! Not that it mattered, Qrow would simply switch from side to side as the kid would knock off one side or the other, leaning his weight down into his head and neck, forcing Jaune hold them both up. Soon the kid started to slow down, his resistance becoming subdued.

Qrow smirked. "Aww what's the matter kid? I heard you were some kind of Aura/stamina master."

Jaune huffed and puffed. "So…y-your…your mom has been talking about me again, huh?"

I think this kid might be my favorite. "I'm sorry, what's that? You want me to keep hitting you till you can't stand?" Qrow shrugged. "If you say so kid."

Jaune growled as he charged forward, swinging for the fences. He found himself pushed toward the ground again as Qrow put pressure on him, starting to fight the older man's arms once again, but this time, Qrow began throwing short uppercuts into the kid's face every time he forced his head down.

Not quite as talkative now, huh?

After a few minutes of punishment, Jaune dropped to his knees from exhaustion, blood pouring from his nose.

He looks tired, I could make this a teachable moment.

Qrow's boot caught him under the chin and sent him sprawling onto his back. Nailed it!

Qrow walked around till he was looking down into Jaune's face. "And what did we learn today kid?"

"You're an asshole." Jaune coughed.

Qrow gave him a gentle, well gentle-ish, kick in the ribs. "I didn't ask what you already knew, I asked what you learned."

"You baited me. You tired me out, then you moved in for the kill when I couldn't defend myself anymore."

Qrow gave the kid a slow clap. "Bravo champ. You might be some kind of Aura stud, but it drains you twice as fast when you have to carry my weight too. Listen kid, you control the head and you control the body. You lean on them and they'll tired out. Try it out next time Oz puts you up against Short-Stack, or that Ninja Kid you're always hanging out with."

"Ren." The kid corrected as he started to climb to his feet. I'm not offering you any help, learned my lesson last time brat.

"Right, Ninja Kid. Any-who, any questions kid?"

Jaune paused, took a deep breath, and looked him right in the eye. "Yeah, just one. Do you want me to call you 'Uncle Qrow' or something else once I hook up with Yang or Ruby?"

Qrow saw red. IMMA MURDER THIS BLOND BASTARD!

Qrow threw a haymaker at the kid's head, intent on laying him out. He felt Jaune's fist plant itself in his stomach. Damn that hurt! Kid's got oomph, I need to calm down.

Jaune bounced in front of him. "I'm just wondering, how familiar is this? A blond beating you down I mean, not dating the ladies in your life, though I suppose either could apply."

MUST. MURDER. MINI-TAI! Qrow unleashed, the kid caught the first couple of blows on his arms, but the speed and ferocity of the assault was too much. The kid stayed on his feet longer than he'd thought possible, but eventually collapsed face first on the ground.

Qrow fought to get his breathing under control. I can't actually kill him. Oz will never let me hear the end of it.

He sighed. "Well kid, you managed to get under my skin. It might have meant something if you weren't so over-matched." He crossed his arms. "I'm actually kinda proud of you in a really perverse way, good use of mental warfare. Not too shabby kid. Kid? Earth to Tai 2.0."

Qrow leaned down a little further to cautiously inspect the boy. Oh good, he's unconscious. He gave him a small kick. Very unconscious. I wonder how Oz will feel about that.

He sighed as he fished the smelling salts out of his belt and flipped the kid over. "Wakey wakey," he sang as he waived the salts under the young man's nose. Jaune awoke with a start. "Hey there!" He said placing a hand on his shoulder to keep the disoriented teen steady. "There's our blond sleeping beauty."

Jaune coughed. "H-how…how did you know my pet name for Yang?"

His grip on the kid's shoulder tightened.

BREATH QROW BREATH!

"Kid you have the worst self-preservation instincts that I have ever seen."