After the brief, but informative discussion that NPR had in the dormitory, Pyrrha decided to shelve her worries for the time being. She couldn't help but grimace at the sight of an exhausted Jaune almost every day in the afternoon, though. Sometimes, she'd ask if he were alright, and he'd always respond that he was doing fine. Although he may not have been alright physically, she was absolutely certain that this was something he wanted to do for himself. After all, she'd already discussed with him to talk to his friends if he ever had a problem.
Which is why she decided to put her trust in her leader, partner, and friend. After all, Ren introduced Jaune to the training, and he was also a part of the team. If Ren insisted that it was safe enough for Jaune, then she'd have to restrain her emotions.
As the thoughts of Jaune left her, she sat down with the rest of RWBY and JNPR in the cafeteria, prepared to indulge in their breakfast.
"So how's that training going for you, Jaune?" Ruby asked, munching on a cookie.
"It's going pretty well. I've slowly been getting more used to the pacing, and I think I'm starting to feel an effect on it in my training," Jaune said, a proud smile on his face that was so contagious, Pyrrha couldn't restrain one herself.
It was true, Jaune has shown more agility in their recent training sessions. She'd once asked him about it, and he replied that it was thanks to Ren's help. It may have put a noticeable strain on his body, but atleast it was also having a positive effect. And the exhaustion was slowly coming in smaller amounts, too.
Ren never noticed this, having not seen his leader fight often in the recent times. It surprised him. Did the dancing from D.D.R. really show through in his spars already?
"It's already affecting you?" The magenta-streaked boy asked.
"Yeah. Why? You said it was part of how you've become so quick-footed, right?" He asked, confused at his team mate's apparent confusion.
"It is, but it's only been a few days. I didn't think you'd go so far THAT much. Even for me, it took much longer for it to actually start showing."
Jaune's smile brightened. "I guess it just means that I've got a pretty strong will, then!" He munched away at his breakfast, Ren keeping a quiet chuckle to himself.
"Yeah, I guess it is…" Truth be told, Ren agreed wholeheartedly, but he was also amazed. Ever since Jaune had broken away from Cardin, he'd show much more will, soul, and strength. Pyrrha had once talked about how much he's improved, his growth impressing even her. Now, it was Ren's turn to be impressed. He started wondering how far Jaune could go. He didn't doubt that Jaune could reach close to his level of speed, but he didn't think that he'd be able to go that far in a short amount of time. Even in a year, it'd be impossible; Ren had more than just a few, and he was one of the quickest first years in Beacon because of it.
Still, it'd be nice to see Jaune try.
"And for our next match...Ruby Rose against Jaune Arc!"
There were numerous whispers in the crowd, some placing bets on how long Jaune would last, others no doubt immediately placing their thoughts of victory in the hands of Ruby, who had become known throughout the first years not just because of her young age, but also because of her monstrous weapon that she'd apparently designed by herself.
"No way Arc's gonna win."
"How long do you think he'll last?"
"My bet's less than ten seconds."
"C'mon, he's gotten better...Probably less than thirty,"
As Jaune walked on to the stage, he glanced at the crowd, managing to spot teams JNPR and RWBY give him different cheers. Some gave him a thumbs up, others just cheered loudly. A few barely reacted, namely Weiss and Blake. He smiled at the encouragement, and looked towards Ruby, who arrived on her side of the stage and stood, ready, with Professor Goodwitch in the middle of them.
"This fight will be as if it were a tournament battle. When the timer reaches zero, you will begin."
She backed away, the timer counting down from a rather lengthy fifteen seconds. Ruby unsheathed Crescent Rose, and Jaune activated Crocea Mors, holding them in a stance that Pyrrha had taught and trained him in. Shield at the front, sword to the side along with the body facing the same way, and the knees slightly bent.
The students whispers were slowly starting to stop, and both fighter's teams were watching, tense. Ruby had replaced her bullets with rubber ones, but that didn't stop them from worrying about what might happen to Jaune.
The timer finally reached zero, and there was a loud buzzer, marking the beginning of the match. Ruby immediately let loose with the bullets, Jaune having problem at all blocking them with his shield, loud pelts ringing off the surface. His training kicked in almost immediately, tactics and strategies running through his mind like a bullet train.
Bullets, no problem. Blade? Block it, but brace for brute strength and power of the recoil. Dodge the swipes. Use aura as an assist if necessary.
All of that planning, and much more, took no less than just a few seconds, by which Ruby was now rushing towards Jaune, propelling herself with the recoil from firing a bullet.
He peeked over the top of his shield, and saw Ruby raising Crescent Rose for a downward swipe. Jaune turned his body to the left, his shield arm now at his side and his right arm bringing his sword in an arc, swinging from the bottom, to the left, and up, diverting the scythe towards the ground to his right. He brought his shield back to his front and attempted to bash it against Ruby, who saw the attack and used another bullet to force herself away.
She miscalculated, however. Jaune managed to use a bit of extra force to pin the tip of the scythe in to the ground, so while Ruby did move a bit, it wasn't enough for her to escape atleast half the onslaught of Jaune's powerful shield rush.
"Hah!" He yelled, throwing Ruby back as a few people in the audience 'Ooh'ed and 'Aah'ed.
"You've trained him hard, haven't you?" Weiss asked, looking towards Pyrrha, who was smiling.
"Yes. It was tough, but it was clearly worth it."
Jaune didn't stop there; He rushed forward again, bringing his sword forward in a stabbing motion. Ruby spun Crescent Rose horizontally, forcing his sword backward, Jaune jumping away as she dashed and sliced the space where Jaune used to be. She kept going, slicing and spinning as Jaune struggled to dodge her strikes. Tension at this point was high; Would he get sliced to bits? Obviously not, but he'd get beaten at this rate.
Then, Jaune did something unexpected. He knew he'd get cornered soon, having memorized the layout, so it was time to put his new training to the test.
Instead of dodging, he leaned towards the direction of the next strike, which was coming to his left. Spinning around so that his back was facing it but he was now leaning away, he bent one knee all the way to the ground and straightened his other leg out, swinging it in a circle.
It worked; Jaune sweep-kicked Ruby right off of her feet. Now was his chance! Jaune rushed to his feet, and he brought the blade downward on to her. Ruby used her semblance to escape, however, now a few meters away. They were just about back in their starting positions, but Ruby had marginally less aura than Jaune now.
"Whoa! That was cool!" Yang said, awed at the sudden but precise strike.
"I never taught him that, though…" Pyrrha muttered, glancing at Ren, who looked back at her and smiled.
"That was a move that came from me," He said, the others turning to stare at him.
"Hey, it works." He said simply, before leaning back and continuing to watch the match.
The rest of the match went up in a flurry of dodges, strikes, and unexpected motions from Jaune. Every once in a while, Ruby would come up with a quick swipe, and Jaune would find some way to dodge it. Rolling, flipping over it, even diverting the trajectory with his shield or weapon.
He could never get a direct hit, though, only a few cuts and bruises were dealt on Ruby. Her semblance allowed her to dodge the worst of the attacks, and at the moment, Jaune was doing progressively worse against Ruby, who still had much more stamina than the tactician.
"Stop!" Professor Goodwitch suddenly yelled, the battlers instantly turning their attention towards her.
"The winner of this match is Ruby, who hangs in the beginning of the yellow zone, and Jaune, who has reached the red zone. Jaune, I must say, you've made many improvements since you first came here. This match proved to show one of the most significant ones. I've had my doubts at first, but you show much more potential now."
As Jaune thanked the professor and walked off the stage, Ruby couldn't help but stare at him as she rejoined her team, Yang giving her a pat on the back.
"Nice job, Rubes!" She said, a smile on her face. She then noticed that Ruby was still looking at Jaune. Waving her hand in front of her face, she asked, "Hey, somethin' up, lil' sis?"
"No, nothing's wrong," she answered quietly, looking back at the stage as Glynda gave more tips and advice for battle. "But...Jaune's improved so much. It makes me wonder what kind of training he's done...I haven't even gotten real, direct hits on him in the match."
Yang kept quiet, pondering on her little sisters thoughts as she glanced at Jaune. True, he'd made an improvement, but this match…
"Why not ask him?"
"Huh?"
"Ask Jaune! C'mon, maybe he'll show you a thing or too."
"But-"
"Besides," Yang interrupted, nudging Ruby in the ribs with her elbow. "you two could dance with those moves,"
Ruby hid her face with her hood as her pale face was quickly covered with red, her sister snickering.
Meanwhile, Jaune sneezed.
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine...I guess someone's just talking about me," he answered, looking back at the audience before paying his attention back to the professor.
SCHOOLS OFFICIALLY OVER! I CAN START TO WRITE MORE NOW!
Also, I've recently gotten a new idea after watching How to train your Dragon 2. The full thing isn't fleshed out yet, but I've got some of the points settled in. That makes two major stories behind the works, and 3 stories currently in progress.
Welp, hope you guys had a good read! R&R, spread the word, see you guys later!