A/N. Hello once again community, The Quiet Bibliophile here with the third chapter for Of Weiss and Ren.
Before we begin I would like to ask, how do you like the current chapter length?
Please enjoy.
Classes proceeded as normal that morning, Professor Port was long winded, Doctor Oobleck was energetic, and once combat training rolled around, Professor Goodwitch was distant, except of course whenever she felt someone needed some helpful criticisms.
Keeping with the tradition of "business as usual", it was Jaune on whom the Professor had set her sights.
Weiss commended Jaune on his vast improvements in combat class, he had managed to last far longer in most of his fights now, and had occasionally managed to surprise his opponents by doing something unexpected and therefor secure a victory. The problem was that none of these victories had been against members of teams RWBY or JNPR, instead he had managed to best Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing of team CRDL, in one on one engagements.
And again, unfortunately for Jaune, his opponent for the day had been Yang...
It was true that he had done well, but it was still a case of "Too little, too late" and he had earned the short tempered teachers ire as consequence.
Yang's direct, aggressive style had systematically put Jaune on the back foot, and then kept him there. And when he finally made a mistake, Yang brutally capitalised on it, by smashing him into the arena wall.
The blonde brawler did have the decency to look apologetic as she helped the knight to his feet, and in an attempt to cheer him up, she pointed out that he had, at the very least lasted longer against her, than he had against her sister.
Nobody had yet managed to best the little red reaper in sparring classes, and only a few people were able to avoid the intimidating Crescent Rose for long enough to claim a draw by waiting for the clock to strike zero.
As it stood, Jaune was the only person in combat class who had enough aura to survive a direct hit from the monstrous scythe, and not be reduced to the red.
Even so, not even the white knight had the ability to block an attack from Ruby, and even if he did survive her first strike, the small girl was more than skilled enough to finish the fight with a swift followup attack.
The leader-board currently read that Ruby was joint top of the class in the one on one aspect, and second in the handicap classes. she had only secured sixth spot in the theory class, but for somone who had been moved up two whole years, Ruby was keeping up. Pyrrha had taken joint-top spot in one on one, the top spot in handicap and second place in theory classes, making her the one to beat overall.
team fights did not come with a leaderboard, as there where not enough teams per year to bother with one, it was however still well known that team RWBY was the top team in the first year.
In the case of one on one fights, the bronze clad gladiator had more wins than Ruby, but she had also lost two fights, where as Ruby tied more often but had never lost.
Pyrrha's first loss was to Ruby herself the first time the pair had fought, in their first engagement Pyrrha had tried to manipulate Crescent Rose with her semblance, only to find that the momentum and weight of the large weapon was too much for her. The end result was one victorious little reaper, and one unconscious gladiator. An upset victory to be sure, Ruby had become the talk of the academy afterwards.
Pyrrha's second defeat had come at the hand of Yang, who was currently third on the leader-board for one on ones and handicaps, and fifth in theory behind Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren and Blake. the loss had come at similar circumstances as the first, with Yang's unmatched strength, paired with the nature of her gauntlets being to much for Pyrrha's polarity to handle, one solid strike later and Pyrrha was once again unconscious.
It was less of an upset than Pyrrha's first ever defeat, but it had still become a topic of conversation at the time, and nobody had forgotten it, Yang was known for being intimidating, she had simply become a little more so.
Trying to manipulate Yang's weapon was like trying to manipulate her very arms, and with the blonde being able to defeat Yatsuhashi in arm wrestling, the task was a lost cause from the start.
Fortunately for Pyrrha, she was skilled enough to defeat Yang without the aid of her semblance in later fights, and the topic had died in favour of talk of the Dance.
Pyrrha, like everyone else could not however land a single blow on the leader of team RWBY in a one on one fight. In spite of this Pyrrha drew all other fights with Ruby, remaining untouched herself. and won nearly every other spar she fought in, Drawing only against Ren, Weiss or Blake every so often.
Ruby herself found that she would win most fights, but would also occasionally draw with Yang, Blake and Ren; at least on a more regular basis than Pyrrha.
Her sister had sparred with Ruby enough in the past while the two were under the tutelage of Qrow, that she could predict most of what was about to happen when the pair fought, and with Blake being naturally evasive, and Ren being skilled enough to read Ruby's tells during a fight, the trio where able to avoid being hit throughout some sessions.
The fifteen year old was terrifying on the field of battle, moving faster than the eye could see, leaving only rose petals and a light breeze in her wake... Completely untouchable.
The strangest thing was how quickly Ruby could switch to defence should she need to block, and how little energy she expended whenever she wanted to dodge, allowing the recoil of her weapon to move her light form around the arena in an unpredictable manner.
It was easy to tell that you where in trouble when Ruby fell into one of her rare moments of focus, so far Weiss had only seen it a few times, when the immature little girl with a short attention span disappeared and was replaced by a single minded and calm combatant.
One time Weiss had witnessed a spar between Ruby, and one of the visiting students from Vaccuo, the boy had challenged her, incredulous that a fifteen year old girl was tied for first place on the first year leader-boards in one on one combat.
It was almost as if Ruby had taken the boy's disbelief as a personal insult, and she accepted his offer to fight immediately wishing to proove herself.
The Crimsonette's eyes narrowed as she stepped into the ring with the far taller blonde haired boy.
The fight had been as amusing as it had been brief, Ruby stood stock still as her challenger had rushed her, and as he swiped horizontally with his large, two handed broad axe, she vanished leaving behind a small flurry of rose petals.
The Vacuan boy had time only to look from side to side in confusion before his Aura was obliterated by the blunt end of Crescent Rose; his teammates had to carry him out of the arena and Weiss was certain that she spotted a large lump forming on the back of the boy's head.
'Well it was his fault for not bothering to attend the class beforehand, he should have been observing the competition from the moment he arrived.' Weiss thought to herself, remembering how annoyed she had been with the boy.
He had not been the only visiter to challenge a student of Beacon, but most first years didn't think it was worth the effort.
Pyrrha had fought Mercury Black from Haven Academy, but had taken a forfeit victory after he had conceded, Weiss thought it rather odd when he surrendered, it was as if his loss had not bothered him at all.
Weiss could not wait for the Vytal festival tournament at the end of the year, team RWBY would be able to show all of Remnant just how skilled they were. And while the first year fights were not the most prestigious of the event, people would still take notice of the victor, especially if one of the members of the winning team was a Schnee.
Weiss was pulled from her train of thought by Yang, coming to take her place back in the stands with the rest of her team.
"Hey guys" Yang said sounding cheery, and not in the least bit out of breath.
'Jaune may be improving, but it's still not good enough.' Weiss thought.
"Hey sis, how was your spar?" Asked the energetic team leader.
"It wasn't bad, Jaune's getting better." The brawler replied. "It must be all the late night training he's doing with Pyrrha, Nora told me that they spend most of the night alone."
"And i'm sure you replied with something vulgar and suggestive?" Weiss intoned.
"What, between Pyrrha and vomit boy? Pfft, Naa." Yang laughed.
"So you don't think that there might be any mutual attraction between them?" Weiss questioned. "I heard from Ren that Pyrrha is rather fond of him."
"Well dont get me wrong, Jaune's not bad to look at, and he's a nice guy but... Well it's Pyrrha we're talking about here." Yang continued. "I mean, she's the most desirable girl in the school, besides myself of course."
"Modest as always..." Blake chimed in dryly.
"No, I think Weiss has a point... Think about it, who else does Pyrrha spend time with? She clearly likes him, we just don't know if she LIKE likes him." Ruby stated happily. "And Jaune's so nice you know? He's funny."
"Are you sure you don't have a crush on him? You sound a little too fond of him, if you catch my drift..." Yang smirked.
'Any opportunity to humiliate her little sister... Thank god winter was nothing like that, she was far to busy learning how to run the company and learning how to fight and being emotionally distant.'
"Eeew Yang no! Boys are gross..." Ruby shuddered.
"See, Ruby agrees with me, Pyrrha is clearly infatuated with Jaune." Weiss said, breaking herself from her thoughts.
"Ok, so maybe she has a crush on him, but what's to say that it will go anywhere? Especially when she has so many options?" Yang asked, still sceptical.
"I don't think that Pyrrha is that kind of person Yang, also when have you ever seen anyone flirt with her? She does seem kinda unapproachable..." Blake added.
"Well guys hit on me all the time." Yang pointed out. "And i'm not any less intimidating than her..."
"Perhaps if you dressed less like a stripper..." Weiss dryly suggested.
"Hey watch it ice queen, you know my semblance forces me to wear less than what might be considered socially acceptable." Yang stated, while making air quotes.
"Well you don't have to look so comfortable while doing it." Weiss replied.
"Hey! At least I have a figure I can be proud of." Yang retorted angrily, eyes briefly flashing red.
"Enough, please stop fighting, you two are friends, where is this coming from?" Ruby cut in desperately, thrusting her arms between the two.
"She started it..." Yang mumbled, looking chastised at having been told off by her younger sister.
"Apologise." Ruby said sternly. "Both of you".
"Sorry Weiss".
"Sorry Yang".
"Sorry for what?" Ruby continued.
"Sorry for saying you dress like a stripper." Weiss grinned.
"Sorry for implying you have no chest." Yang giggled.
The two promptly burst into laughter.
"Uhhh... Blake what's happening?" Ruby questioned.
"I have no idea." Blake responded.
"They've both gone mad, my sister, my partner, Nooooo!" Ruby cried out dramatically. "Dont worry guys, we will get you the best help Weiss's money can buy".
"Why not your own money?" Blake questioned, smiling.
"Are you kidding? I'm broke. If I use what little I have, how will I be able to buy ammo for Crescent Rose?" Ruby replied, now grinning herself.
The lesson concluded with team RWBY shaking with laughter.
And in keeping with tradition, the lesson ended with Professor Goodwitch looking on with her head in her hand.
A/N. Ok community, that was chapter 3. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you would be so kind as to take the time to leave a review I would greatly apreciate it.
I hope you all had an enjoyable halloween.
Until next time.
The Quiet Bibliophile.
