This chapter will have some of the biggest changes in the entire story, at least so far. Let's face it, with how much Jaune has changed, there had to be something different for this chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Devil May Cry.

Chapter 7: Knight's Legacy

Jaune was in the middle of a training bout with Cardin Winchester, the leader for Team CRDL. Cardin was a tough opponent, and very strong, but Jaune had the edge in defense and agility causing the fight to even out. Normally Cardin was used to just smashing his opponents into submission. He certainly had the strength and weapon-type for it. But Jaune's skill-set and superior defenses forced Cardin to try some newer tactics. In spite of his growing anger at not being able to pound the blonde pipsqueak, he had to admit he was impressed.

Then Cardin noticed something. Everytime Jaune threw up his Semblance to block an oncoming attack, it was always with the right hand, the one wearing Grimmlock. Smirking, he dashed over to Jaune's left side hoping to get an opening. Hitting a button on his mace, he launched a Dust-powered fireball and Jaune. Not able to turn in time, Jaune tried swinging Roseus Ignis to deflect the attack. Instead he got something better. To both his and Cardin's shock, Jaune's Semblance manifested from his left arm, easily blocking the attack.

Jaune took advantage of his opponent's temporary confusion and popped a lighting Dust crystal into Roseus Ignis' throttle and charged up. Cardin was so caught off-guard from Jaune's new flurry of attacks that before he knew it, his Aura level had dropped below the required threshold, signaling the end of the fight. Glynda Goodwitch, who had been watching the fight, approached the two students. "Well done. It seems this fight was good for both of you. Mr. Arc, from the looks of things you are starting to develope your Semblance. Keep at it and you may be able to manifest it throughout your body."

She then turned to Cardin. "And I hope you are starting to learn a few things, Mr. Winchester. Not every fight can be won by repeatedly bludgeoning your opponent." Cardin sighed as Glynda turned to address the rest of the student body. "As you are aware, the Vytal Festival is fast approaching. The main event is a grand tournament featuring representatives from all four kingdoms. This will give students from rival academies a chance to pit their skills against each other. You each represent Beacon Academy and should therefore give nothing less than your absolute best. This is why training early for the tournament is so important."

Later that day, RWBY and JNPR met for lunch. "Can you believe it?," Ruby said excitedly, "A tournament here in Beacon! And we get to participate!" Blake nodded. "I gotta admit, I am looking forward to it." "Same here," Jaune said, "It'll be a good chance to see how ten years of training with my dad pays off." "Speaking of which," Pyrrha said, "You seemed to be really into your training match with Cardin." "Well yeah, guy's been bullying me all week," Jaune said, a little irritated, "Shoving me in the Rocket Lockers, knocking my books out of my hand, deliberately shaking the table in shop class."

"How's that a problem?," Yang asked. "Jaune uses shop class to calibrate his weapons," Ren explained, "Cardin's made a habit of deliberately shaking the table Jaune uses in hopes of causing him to make a mistake and scratch them." Jaune nodded. "Basically I decided this would be a great chance for some catharsis. Personally I'd like to know what I ever did to him. I know he picks on every student, but he seems to have singled me out as a personal plaything. It's getting annoying." "I don't think you're his only favorite," Ren said, pointing out Cardin and his team teasing a Faunus girl.

"Isn't that Velvet Scarlatina?," Yang asked. "Seems Cardin is one of those rude individuals who's prejudiced towards Faunus," Pyrrha noted, causing Blake's eyes to narrow at Cardin. Jaune nodded to his team and they moved to confront CRDL. When Cardin spotted the four of them approaching, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you want?" "I think that'd be obvious," Jaune said, lowering his head to meet Cardin's. Cardin chuckled. "What, you actually care about some dumb animal?" What happened next was so fast, Cardin actually flinched and fell out of his chair.

Jaune had moved to punch the big bruiser, but stopped within an inch of Cardin's nose. "I've heard that word thrown around at Faunus all too many times," Jaune said, his voice low, "Let me ask you something. Can animals speak the Human language fluently? Do they have the ability to reason with us, to feel as us? Personally, I don't see Faunus as anything less than a person just because they happen to have a few animal parts. After all, one of the friends I made while here is a Faunus. And keep this in mind. I don't really care what you do to me. And before you bring up our fight earlier, I was just blowing off steam. But try to harm the people around me, especially those I care about, and you will regret it. That's my honor as a knight of the Arc Family."

Cardin was so stunned he couldn't even speak, and just nodded numbly. Nearby, Velvet smiled, grateful for the assistance and Jaune's speech. Blake, for her part, seemed a little tense, while Weiss looked a little guilty. Just outside the cafeteria, Glynda had watched the whole thing. She had been about to intervene on Velvet's behalf, but Jaune had done the job nicely. 'Ozpin chose well when he made Mr. Arc a team leader. He certainly reminds me of his father.' JNPR rejoined RWBY at their table. "Jaune, that was awesome!," Ruby said, "You really told off that guy." Jaune shrugged. "Hey, I'm sure you guys would have done it if we hadn't."

The next class the students had was history with Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck. Oobleck spoke at a rapid pace, but not so fast that nobody could understand his lessons. At the moment, he was lecturing on the Faunus Rights Revolution. "More commonly referred to as the 'Faunus War', the revolution was started in response to Humans attempting to contain Faunus on the island of Menagerie. The Humans at the time were quite adamant about keeping the Faunus there, and discrimination of the Faunus race was at an all time high. Now, has anyone in this class been discriminated against just for being a Faunus?"

Several Faunus students raised their hands, including Velvet. Oobleck sighed and nodded. "Sadly this is a product of ignorance breeding violence. An excellent, if tragic, example would be the White Fang movement. Once a peaceful protest group, they recently turned to terrorism when their methods didn't seem to be working. Now then, can anyone tell me what advantage the Faunus had over Humans during the war?" Jaune was quick to raise his hand. "Yes, Mr. Arc," Oobleck acknowledged. "Night vision," Jaune said.

Oobleck smiled and replied, "Precisely, Mr. Arc. It is the fact that Faunus have near-perfect night vision that eventually proved to be a turning point in the war. Can anyone give me a good example of this?" Blake was next to raise her hand. "Yes, Miss Belladonna." "A good example would be General Lagune," Blake replied, "Who made an attempt to ambush the Faunus army during the night." That got several snickers from the students, save for Cardin who just grimaced. "Indeed Miss Belladonna," Oobleck nodded, "General Lagune's ill-fated ambush attempt is looked upon with embarrassment by Human and Faunus alike, since even then the Faunus' night vision ability was well-known."

Cardin then interrupted, "He still should have won. He was up against a bunch of animals." "It was because of ignorance like that that cost Lagune his victory," Pyrrha countered, "And got him captured when his army was defeated." Cardin growled, but Oobleck diffused the situation with a simple cough. "Mr. Winchester, I'll be seeing you after class. The rest of you are dismissed for the day." Cardin frowned, but stayed behind as he got a lecture from Oobleck on the importance of learning from history. Jaune just shook his head. 'He could be so much more than he is if he just dropped that stubborn pride.'

That night, Jaune took Pyrrha out to one of the school balconies. Pyrrha gazed in awe at the twinkling stars. "Beautiful, right?," Jaune asked, "Mom always said a night sky like this helped remind her that even with the world as it is today, there's still a sense of peace somewhere." Pyrrha smiled. "By the way, Jaune, what did you mean earlier when you said 'your honor as a knight of the Arc family'?" Jaune leaned against the balcony railing. "Well, my great-great-grandfather fought in the Great War. He won many battles during that time and was labelled as a hero."

He looked at Pyrrha. "You know that sword I hung up in our room?" Pyrrha nodded. "That was his sword," Jaune said, "The Crocea Mors. It earned its name because every time great-great-grandfather swung it, it seemed to have a golden glow that would strike down those with evil intentions." He looked to the sky with a solemn look. "As a descendant of warriors and heroes, I always felt a pressure to live up to that legacy. Especially since I'm the only boy among eight siblings. But as it turned out, I was feeling a pressure that wasn't even there."

"What do you mean?," Pyrrha asked. Jaune smiled. "Well, one day a thought popped into my head. What if I asked to be trained so I could live up to my family's legacy? So I asked my dad to train me. He and mom were really surprised. Turns out they thought I didn't want training. So when I asked to be trained, Dad agreed wholeheartedly. I spent the next ten years learning how to be a Huntsman, and Dad even used his influence in the Vale Police Department to get me the materials I needed to make my own weapons. And through it all, I made myself a promise."

Pyrrha looked at him curiously and asked, "What's that?" Jaune got up. "That I would uphold the same code of honor my great-great-grandfather set forth. To always protect those around you who need it, regardless of who they may be. And to always remember that protecting others is a conscious choice, one that should never come at the expense of who you are as a person." He turned to look at Pyrrha. "That is what my great-great-grandfather believed to be the mark of a true knight." Pyrrha smiled at him, but Jaune could detect a bit of sadness behind that smile. He gently cupped her cheek in his hand, and brought her in for a kiss. To his delight, Pyrrha made no move to resist, but rather to meet him head on. They held their kiss for several seconds before parting and heading back for their room.

To be continued...

I said there would be Arkos, and here we have Arkos. Yeah, I had to really think about Jaune's speech at the end there. Fans of RWBY will likely understand why I settled on what I did. They'll also enjoy seeing Jaune able to beat the snot out of Cardin. As for why I kept in Cardin's bullying behavior, I thought it would form a great basis for some later character development. Read and review.