Rooster Teeth... WHY DO YOU PLAY WITH MY FEELINGS LIKE THIS?! I can't do this anymore...
ANYWAY, here's the chapter. A few notes before we go. First, I'll be changing the pairing. At first I was planning to go on a White Knight route, following the original fanfic, but I had to sacrifice a lot of interactions between them because of the current plot. So, yeah... Sorry if you wanted a White Knight story, but now it's going to be a... (Who am I kidding, you probally already saw in the pairings) KNIGHTSHADE! YEAH! Ok, that's it. Oh, I'll also be changing basically most of WOR -The Great War, for the plot's sake.
Reviews:
genorr (chapter 5): Thank you!
dragoon109 (chapter 5): I know, I kinda sided with her on canon, and she's not entirely wrong. What is wrong is her way of abording the problem, the way she expected an immediate change of personality, and basically demanding it. But yeah, I see your point of view.
The sound of metal against metal met his ears once again. He stood there, his shield up, taking the hit like a wall. His opponent, the mace wielder, quickly brought his weapon to the air once again, at least as quickly as he could, wearing that heavy armor and took aim for a brutal hit to the knight's unprotected stomach. The hit never had a chance to cause damage, since the mace met the sword and then the shield met Cardin's face. The brute stumbled back, dazed, as Jaune assumed his offensive stance. Aiming for the gaps in his opponent's pieces of armor, he delivered a series of precise slashes and stabs. A buzzer indicated the end of the match. Cardin being defeated without being able to get Jaune's aura into the yellow.
"That's the match. The victory goes to Mr. Beauregard. Mr. Winchester, while you did try to exploit your opponent's weak spots, your own weaknesses allowed Mr. Beauregard to balance the odds." She looked at the boy. "I suggest you to not only be aware of your opponent's weaknesses but also yours. And how to turn them into strengths, starting with your speed. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am." He said, gritting his teeth at his loss, but also acknowledging what the teacher said. He got up, giving a nod towards the boy who beat him, acknowledging the well fought match. Jaune nodded back, making his own way towards his team. He smiled as soon as he saw Ruby jumping around in excitement, her eyes gleaming with awe and pride. Her partner seemed neutral, as if she wasn't surprised with the outcome, but still smiled at him as he sat between Ruby and Blake.
"You were awesome!" Ruby said excitedly, not even paying attention to the next fight.
"Thanks, I don't think it was that cool, but thanks." He said back.
"You're kidding me?! You were blocking and ducking and them bam! Pow! You didn't even get hit. And Cardin is pretty tough." Weiss rolled her eyes to her partner's remark.
"He's average." The heiress said. While the brute wasn't the worst fighter in their year, he was far from being the best. "I wish we had seen you fight with someone of your level."
"I guess it's too early for that, it's been only three weeks." Blake said. "Plus, it is a random match. I don't really see what the problem is, after all, being matched with higher leveled opponents just makes you train harder to beat them."
"You say that because you already fought him!" Ruby said, causing Jaune to sigh.
"Ruby, you know that if you want to fight me, we can always do it in the training rooms, right? All you have to do is ask." He said softly, watching the girl's face lit up. "Speaking of which, I've been working on a training schedule for the four of us, based on what I've seen from our fights in the past classes." Weiss raised an eyebrow, actually impressed.
"What you've planned?" She asked.
"Well, the basics. You guys don't have aura pools as large as mine, so we'll have to work on your stamina and resilience. I could always work on my speed as well. I have some exercises planned, if that's okay for you girls, and then all we have to do is find a good time for us to train." He said, earning a nod from the heiress.
"I'm fine with it." She said, bringing her focus back to the current match. She would never admit it out loud, but she could really use some physical training. Even with her aura, she became exhausted rather quickly from using her semblance.
"It sounds like it'll be fun! I'm on it!" Ruby said excitedly. Jaune looked at his partner, who shrugged behind her book. The buzzer brought their attention back to the stage.
"The match goes to Lie Ren. Well fought." She waited for the students to return to their seats. "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will not only be representing Beacon, but also the kingdom of Vale." She looked at her scroll, checking the time. "Class dismissed." As she said that, the bell rang, and both BWBR and LPYN headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
Lunch...
"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora said, getting complete attention from Ruby and Yang. Jaune listened to the story but was way kore focused on his food.
"It was during the morning." Ren corrected her.
"We were surrounded by Ursa..." She approached Blake, who was focused on her book. Weiss was doing her best to listen politely but was clearly failing.
"They were Beowolves." Ren stated.
"Dozens of them!" Nora screamed as she stood at the table, earning everyone's attention for a moment.
"Two of them." Ren rolled his eyes.
"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Ren sighs.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." A ringtone quickly interrupted the conversation. Jaune looked at his scroll, only to see a call from Katherine. He frowned, releasing a sigh, before declining the call. He could call her later. He looked up to see pretty much everyone staring at him.
"John? Are you okay?" Ruby looked at him worryingly, so did the rest of his team.
"Yes..." He hesitated for a second. "Why?"
"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." She said, causing the boy to shrug and smile.
"I don't see why you'd think that, everything is completely..." He went silent, his attention focused on the members of Team CRDL, who were standing around a Faunus rabbit girl. Blake frowned at the sight, and so did everyone else. Before anyone could say something, Jaune was already on his feet, walking towards the scene with strong steps. He grabbed Cardin's hand before the brute could touch the girl's ears. Said girl was now staring at her savior curiously. "What's your name?" He asked her, ignoring Cardin's attempts to getting his hand out of Jaune's grip.
"V-Velvet." She shyly answered. Jaune nodded in acknowledgment.
"My name is John. Why don't you go sit with my friends over there while I have a talk with Mr. Winchester, I promise it won't take long." Velvet nodded and walked away. Jaune released the guy's hand, and stared at him intensely. Cardin tried to match his state with one of his own.
"This is none of your business, Beauregard." The boy said, earning a chuckle from Jaune.
"I guess it is. You've said by yourself, I'm a Beauregard. The same family who fought for Faunus Equality during the Faunus Rights Revolution. I may be on a further generation, but I share the same feeling as my ancestors." A minor lie, as he wasn't genetically a Beauregard, but Cardin didn't knew that. "So if I see you and your team harassing another student, Faunus or not, I'll make sure you get more than just a warning." The leader of team CRDL laughed at his face, and was quickly followed by his teammates. His eyes met Jaune's again, and he pushed the boy back.
"Or you'll do what, animal lover?" He hissed the last words with nothing but venom in his voice. Jaune took a deep breath before staring at the brute again.
"What did you say?" Oh well, he tried. Cardin's fist tried to connect with his jaw, but Jaune was able to get past of the initial surprise and avoided it. Cardin went for precise, strong punches. Jaune identified that as the brute's fighting style. Try to end everything quickly with a strong punch. And if that doesn't work, you hit it harder. Now that he was thinking about it, it was a good think to have taken those ballet classes. He dodged with a swift, graceful style. As a fan for theatrics, he liked to add some elegance into his fighting style. Cardin was starting to notice that his approach wasn't the best, so he called his teammates for help. Now in numerical disadvantage, Jaune decided to get Cardin to cool of, quite literally, as the words came to his mind as quickly as his eyes turned completely white. "Vipera Aqua." The ground trembled a little as water pipes erupted from the floor, water bursting from them and shaping into snakes that hissed before wrapping the now scared and confused boys in a constricting hug. "Carcere Glaciem."
The snakes turned into ice, encasing team CRDL into individual ice cocoons. Only their faces were free, but it was clear that the situation wasn't comfortable for them. The floor, that was covered in puddles, also froze, such as the water pipes and the beverages on the closest tables.
"You freak!" Cardin struggled to get out of the ice. Jaune shut his eyes, wincing in pain for a moment as his eyes returned to the usual blue. He almost tripped over the ice, but was caught by Ruby, who appeared in a blow of rose petals.
"Thanks." He muttered softly, regaining his balance. He glared at the frozen team. "Will you apologize now, or do I have to give you a serious case of frostbite?"
"That won't be necessary, Mr. Beauregard." He heard the voice of his "mother" and flinched. "Headmaster's office. Now." He frowned but didn't say a word.
"Wait! He did nothing wrong!" Ruby exclaimed, earning a cold state from Professor Goodwitch and being quickly backed up by Nora, Yang, and Pyrrha.
"Four students frozen in the middle of the cafeteria says otherwise." She turned around to leave but was interrupted by another voice.
"Ruby's right! He was just helping Velvet!" Yang said. "They were bullying her!"
"Also, Cardin attacked first. John stopped him from touching Velvet's ears, and was going to walk away until Cardin tried to punch him. Even after that he didn't retaliated, he just dodged. Plus, they're not injured, just incapacitated." Blake added, standing by her feet, making the professor raise an eyebrow before opening her tablet. After some silent minutes of her watching the footage from the security cameras, she looked back at team CRDL.
"Indeed." She said, without breaking her stern demeanor. "Take team CRDL to Professor Peach's lab. She'll be able to defrost them. After that, it'll be their turn to go to the headmaster's office." Ruby and Blake were going to argue, but Jaune held a hand making them stop.
"It's okay, you guys did enough already. Thank you." He said with a small smile. The girls reluctantly nodded, walking towards the human popsicles. Team LPYN got up as well, ready to help their sister team. He smiled to himself, thinking of how they defended him. Now it was his time to defend himself.
Himself...
"Interesting" The headmaster thought to himself as he watched the footage once again. The way that the boy's eyes turned white, the short and occasional muttering... Could it be... Whatever his thoughts were, they were interrupted by the arriving of the subject himself.
"Mr. Beauregard. It's unfortunate that we've met under such undesirable circumstances." He gestured for the boy to seat down.
"Sir, I... He attacked first." He said in his own defense.
"I'm well aware, Mr. Beauregard. And while you were defending yourself, freezing your classmates wasn't the safest approach."
"With all due respect, sir, it was either that, let myself get beat up, or retaliate in a more aggressive combat. I haven't hurt more than that... than Winchester's pride." He said, trying his best to stay proper and composed. Ozpin stared at him for a couple moments.
"I guess it's true." The headmaster conceded. "I can't really punish you for defending yourself or for standing up to help a classmate..." The knight let out a small sigh of relief. "However..." He froze. "I would like to know how you were able to do such a display... your files do not link Hydrokinesis or Cryokinesis to your semblance. Actually it is currently labeled as Geokinesis, previously being Golem Animation. How were you able to do such a feat?"
"Actually sir, I don't know. I think it may be still my semblance. I summoned water snakes. Perhaps it may be still Golem Animation." He said defensively. "But I don't think that's the case."
"A dual semblance wielder, maybe? Since it still doesn't explain your Geokinesis, unless every single rock you control is a different golem." The headmaster pushed in, trying to get more information.
"I don't think so, sir. When I use my... semblance there's a difference between making a golem and doing what I did at today. Creating golems, summoning them... it isn't that simple. But doing the other things like that..." He pointed towards the footage of him against Cardin. "That felt so natural and simple in a way that it seemed like I've done it before even without doing so. It's almost... primal."
"I see..." Ozpin glanced at the clock. "I think I've heard enough, Mr. Beauregard. You're free to go. Professor Goodwitch will escort you to your current class, you're already late, but you may at least attend the rest of Bart's lecture." Jaune got up, heading towards the elevator. "And Mr. Beauregard..." The boy looked back. "If you feel the need to talk about your supposed semblance, and any changes to it, you can always drop by my office." The blonde boy nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind, sir." The elevator arrived, and he entered it along with Professor Goodwitch. The ride down was silent until she broke the silence.
"I apologize for being too harsh." She said, earning a shrug from the boy.
"You were only doing your job. I'm a student here, not..." 'Your son.' He completed in his mind. An awkward silence took place for a couple seconds, as he tried a different answer. "... someone who should be treated differently."
"Of course." Her voice hid a hint of sadness. The doors opened, and mother and son walked out from the building. "I'm glad you have a good team." She broke the silence again, and after seeing his confused look, she continued. "There are not many students who would willingly stand up against me. I can be a little... intimidating." Another pause. "They really like you."
"They're great friends." He said. "I guess I got pretty lucky." They entered the main building, some students who wandered around the halls glanced at them, specifically at Jaune.
"Have you called Katherine? She's been calling me to know about you." Jaune sighed. "I'll take that as a no." Her scroll bipped. "It looks like Professor Peach finished unfreezing team CRDL. I have to get them to Professor Ozpin." They stopped at Doctor Oobleck's classroom door. Glynda grabbed the handle. "Call her, please. You want answers, she can answer you even better than I can." He nodded. She opened the door and gestured for Jaune to enter. The two co-workers exchanged a glance and a nod, the combat teacher leaving quickly as her duties called her. Jaune took na empty seat by the front of the class. His teammates were looking at him with worried looks, and he tried to reassure them with a small smile.
"Mr. Beauregard! Good to see you! We were just talking about the Faunus Rights Revolution! I'm guessing that you know plenty on the subject?" The profess... doctor spoke quickly. Jaune barely had time to understand his words.
"I certainly know more than most people would, yes." He said, trying to follow the green haired man, who ran into the classroom with a speed rival to Ruby's.
"Excellent, excellent! Then you can enlighten us on the events of the battle of Fort Castle! Specifically how General Lagune was defeated." Jaune nodded.
"General Lagune was an arrogant man. He believed in strength in numbers, and didn't considered Faunus to be strategically organised, he didn't even considered them more than animals wearing human skin." He made a quick pause, remembering his lessons with Katherine. "He took what usually would be considered a valid strategy, attacking their camp while they were asleep. However he didn't even considered the near-perfect night vision shared by most Faunus. His army was soundly defeated, and he was captured. The battle is regarded as the war's turning point."
"Precisely! Well done, Mr. Beauregard." Doctor Oobleck took a sip from his coffee. "An interesting fact about the General's capture: He was incapacitated by one of his own men. Well, in that particular case, woman. Katherine Beauregard, or the Memory Stealer, as she was called after the war, acted as a spy for the Faunus forces. After using her semblance to convince a whole battalion that she was one of them, she was able to rise in their ranks, becoming a Lieutenant under General Lagune's orders in two and a half years. During the aftermath of the battle, the General was ready to escape with some high ranking offices, including Ms. Beauregard. She was able to efficiently defeat all the officers and the General himself and handed them to the Faunus forces." The man talked and moved so fast that it was hard to follow his words, but those who were able to now eyed Jaune with extra curiosity. "She kept her cover as the only one who was able to escape, and continued to leak information to her side." A student raised a hand.
"Why would she aid the Faunus if she is a human?" A random student asked.
"A fair, common question." Doctor Oobleck said. "Many believe that it is because of her husband, William Beauregard, a fox faunus who died in the war. He was a high ranking officer in the Faunus side of the war." Jaune raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Beauregard?"
"Her affiliation with the Arc family also influenced on her participation." He said, having heard old war stories from Katherine when he was little before his family was murdered. They weren't gruesome since he must have been eight years old, but she always gave him details where she could. The memories were fresh as if he had been told the stories yesterday.
"Yes, indeed. The Beauregards and the Arcs were powerful families back then, especially the Arcs, who rulled the kingdom of Arkend for generations, until... The Arc Massacre." He said with a somber tone. "Back then, Arkend was the only kingdom to officially support the revolution, Vacuo and Vale were sympathizers, but tried to maintain neutral."
"What was the Arc Massacre?" Another student asked.
"I'm afraid that is not the current lesson, so I don't see it's relevance now. However, we'll have a lecture about it next semester." A bell rang. "Well, that's it for today, class. See you all in our next encounter. Moving on!" He disappeared in a green blur. The students started to disperse, but Jaune wasn't surprised to see that his team and team LPYN were still in the room, waiting for answers. Before any of them could talk, he decided to put an end to the wait.
"I didn't get detention." His friends looked relieved, especially Blake and Weiss. The later due to the fact that her team's name wasn't tainted, but also for her leader.
"That's good to hear. You worried us for a moment." Yang said.
"Well, I guess I have to thank you guys for that." He said, pulling Blake and Ruby to a hug. "If it weren't for you things would've been ugly."
"It was nothing." Blake said awkwardly, not used to physical contact.
"Well, you still didn't answer us in the cafeteria." Weiss said. "What's wrong with you lately?"
"It's... nothing. Why would you guys think there's something wrong?" He asked, trying to leave the room, but being blocked by Ruby and Yang.
"You've been receiving and declining calls for the past two weeks." Blake said.
"You've also stopped training at night time, as you usually do." Pyrrha said, being used to finding him in the training rooms during her own training. They used to help each other. "At first I thought you were taking a break, but then you started to skip some of your morning exercises as well."
"That's true. You haven't been jogging on the last few days," Yang said, as they usually met during the mornings while on their own routines. "I thought it was something that I did."
"No! It has nothing to do with you guys!" He said.
"Then what is it?" Ruby asked.
"It's..." He sighed. "My family. I've got some personal issues, nothing big." He said, avoiding eye contact.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked as Jaune glanced at the classroom's door. Some students were starting to enter for their next class.
"Perhaps another time, in a more secluded place." He said, making his way between the sisters and getting out of the room. The remaining seven shared sad, puzzled looks, as they got out of the classroom as well.
"I don't get it. If it isn't a big deal, why does he don't want to tell us?" Yang asked to no one specifically.
"Everyone is allowed to have their own secrets." Ren said. "Perhaps he needs some time."
"I don't like that he's hiding something from us." Weiss said, sighing.
"John is a good person, I'm sure he has his reasons." Pyrrha added.
"Yeah! His family can't be that bad if he turned out to be the awesome guy he is, right Renny?" Nora said, earning a shrug from the boy.
"If only we knew who they were." Weiss said. "We know he's the grandson of Katherine Beauregard, but nothing else." Ruby gulped, trying her best to remain quiet. Her sister, however, noticed her struggle.
"Ruby knows something!" She said, pointed towards her sister. The red reaper yelped, finding herself surrounded.
"I can't tell a thing. I promised him I wouldn't! It's a secret!" She said defensively.
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, a little bit hurt for Ruby knowing secrets that her own partner was keeping away from her.
"I know who his mother is! He told me when we were heading to the auditorium on our first day here!" She said. Blake felt better after knowing that it wasn't as big as she thought.
"I don't like where this is heading to. As Ren said, everyone is entitled to their own secrets. Will we risk our relationship with John because of a secret?" Blake said, defending her partner, and, to some extent, herself. "I won't be a part of this." She walked away from the group, instead choosing to find her partner. He would need someone to be there with him, and she could try to do that.
Try...
Jaune tried to dial the correct numbers several times, but his own reluctance was what was keeping him from calling Katherine. What would he say? Was he ready to hear the answers he was looking for? It was a silent night, but the view of Vale from the rooftop was amazing. He heard the access door opening, and saw his partner walking towards him. He acknowledged her presence with a nod.
"Hey..." He said softly.
"Hey..." She stood by his side, staring at the sky and the shattered moon. "You know they're planning to get this secret out of you, don't you?" He took a deep breath before nodding. "And before you ask, no. I'm not here to get them out of you."
"Well, that's good. So you've decided to isolate yourself with me?" He asked.
"Better than listening to their schemes." Blake shrugged.
"Nah... I could get you to spy on them, so I'd had an upper hand." Blake rolled her eyes.
"I've made my point clear with them. They'll suspect." Jaune sighed dramatically.
"Oh no! My plan was doomed from the start!" He said sarcastically, earning a punch in his arm. They shared a couple minutes of silence before Blake spoke up again.
"You're okay, right?" She asked. "Be honest, I'll know the difference."
"Blake..."
"You don't need to tell me why." She snapped. "Just... tell me if you're okay." He closes his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I trust you, Blake. You're the first friend I've made here." He looked her in the eye. "Do you promise you won't tell a thing to them? At least not until I decide to tell them?"
"Yes." He saw no hesitation in her eyes. He nodded, glancing away from her.
"My mother is Glynda Goodwitch. Well, my adoptive mother, that is." Blake's amber eyes widened more than once.
"I assume that you only found this out recently?" He nodded. "What happened to your parents?"
"Same thing that happens to pretty much everyone's parents in the Huntsman career." He said coldly. "And that's not even the problem."
"I..." After thinking a little, she decided to wait for him to continue.
"You know of my adoptive grandmother semblance, right?" Blake nodded. "Good. She... She entered my mind when I was little, to change my memories of them, because I'd seen they die. Every single memory of them, even the happy ones. For seven years, it was like they've never existed." Blake had a hand covering her mouth, the other placed on Jaune's shoulder. "Then she gave them back to me, and expects me to be okay with it, but it's only been barely a month since I got them back. Tell me, if you were in my shoes, would you talk to her in such a small amount of time?"
"No." She said, her voice trembling slightly. "Did your mother knew?" He nodded.
"But at the same time, I want answers. There's so much things I didn't know about my family's death, and I know she's the only one who can answer my questions." He curled his hand into a fist. "So no, Blake, I'm not okay." A single tear ran through his cheek. He looked away from Blake, not wanting to see her reaction. She did the only thing he wasn't expecting. She walked towards him and gave him a hug.
"I'm here for you. We all are, even if they don't know about your story yet." She buried her head into his chest, and he fought the urge to pet her head. "You... You're not the only one who is hiding secrets here." She said, her hand touching her bow. She took it off, revealing a pair of cat ears. Now he was really fighting to not pet them. "Well keep each others secrets."
"Sure, partner." He returned the hug. "We should get back inside. I'll meet you in a while. I have to make a call." He gestured to his scroll as she nodded, putting her bow back. She went ahead. He waited for her to go before shutting the door. He was about to call Katherine when he heard footsteps.
"Well, it looks like mister perfect isn't so perfect after all." Jaune frowned, recognizing the voice. "Is that how you escaped detention? Mommy saved you?"
"You're stepping on some thin ice here, Winchester." Jaune said, glaring daggers at the slightly taller boy, who at least had the decency to look threatened. "So tell me what you want or sod off!"
"What I want? Glad you asked. You see, Doctor Oobleck passed a lecture to my team about today's class, as a punishment for not attending his class. You wouldn't mind doing it for us, would you, buddy? Unless, of course, you want me to tell your secret to every single person in this school." Jaune laughed at the boy. "What's so funny?"
"You." He said, assuming a somber tone. "Trying to blackmail me, taking an advantage over my suffering, thinking that it makes me weaker..." The air got heavy, Jaune's eyes were slowly turning into white. "But you know what they say? Wounded Grimm are the deadliest. And while I'm no Grimm, the saying is fitting. Mentis Angustia." He whispered, Cardin fell to the ground, taking his hands over to his head, wincing in pain, as it slowly got stronger. Mental Anguish, the words meant. "Still feeling like blackmailing me?" Earning a painful grunt in response, he released his mental grip over the boy, his eyes turning back to the usual blue. "Don't mess with me, Winchester. Consider this a final warning."
He left the boy alone in the rooftop, now with an extra thing to worry about. It felt so wrong, entering into someone's else mind, imposing his will over Cardin's. Katherine did this all the time, how could she sleep? Jaune regretted what happened almost immediately, he only wanted Cardin to feel his pain. His semblance or whatever power that was took it literally. It worried him. So much power yet... So little control. Without a word for his team, he drifted into sleep.
Next Chapter: February 4th.