I don't own "RWBY". That is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.

Font:

Normal: "'Go that way,' I say!"

Thought/Dreams: "Half-awake people are not trustworthy with directions."

Writing: "The Grimm are a species of soulless creatures."

TRANSITION: "Anything with This Font."

Previously on "The Body and Soul"

With no one else around anymore, Jack started to casually talk to Johnson, "I know we are supposed to be doing something right now, but I can't remember what." He didn't know what he forgot, yet he knew that it had something to do with a training field.

He didn't expect Johnson to give a response, "Training room five, sector seven. High-threat male wants Soul there. Said to prepare for combat."

Jack didn't think it was necessary to question how he remembered, so he rolled with it, "So that is where we will be!"

One Hour Later, Beacon's Fifth Training Field of Sector Seven

Jack expected many things when he went to the training field. He expected an open space. He thought it would be a grassy field outside. He assumed there was going to be wooden posts as training dummies. He guessed that the training fields of Beacon would have been similar to Signal's. What he got was nearly the exact opposite of what he expected.

His expectation of an open space was incorrect; it was a closed room. His thought of a grassy field wasn't right; it was a giant room made of cold, white steel. The assumption of wooden posts in the room didn't come true; it was barren with only Jack, Johnson, Leo, and two metal doors. The training fields of Beacon weren't close to the fields of Signal; they were completely foreign to him. He didn't understand how the room could've been considered a training field.

Leo sat in the direct middle of the room with his legs crossed and in his combat apparel. He didn't have much in terms of armor, but out of what he did have, they have seen better days. The front of his torso was bare of any sort of armor except for a set of extremely thick, steel pauldrons with many scratches and nicks. His body was littered with scars, too many to count. On his back was a giant, round sheet of thick steel, noticeably cleaner than his pauldrons—not by much, but still cleaner. His forearms were covered with steel guards that were just as thick as the pauldrons and just as pristine as the steel sheet on his back, and they also had intricate, black lines covering them. The forearm guards led to metal gloves that gave him steel claws. He wore a dark leather battle skirt that was covered in scale-like pieces of metal, and it ended just above his knees. Starting just below the joint was a pair of thick steel grieves with clawed toes—dim and scratched—just like most of his other pieces of armor.


The body realized that it was only an omega-threat to the male. It could tell from scars of battle along his body that it was nothing more than an insignificant ant to him. The wisest action would be to not fight; however, if the soul will fight, the body would protect it. That was its duty to uphold, and that will its main priority until it let out its final breath.


"Where is your team?" Leo suddenly questioned.

It took a few seconds for Jack to recover from the sudden question, "Well, I don't have one."

The giant didn't let any of his surprise show, "So there's a new True Man Out, is there?" The way he spoke confused Jack, but he wasn't able to ask anything before the man started speaking again, "Alright, let's see how long you'll live on a mission."

Jack couldn't help but question, "How are we going to do that?"

He started to get up as he elaborated, "I will run you through a few tests." He started to walk towards the back of the room, which had a door that Jack didn't notice before. Leo opened the door and passed through the opening.

Peering into the room, Jack noticed a few things about it. The room was much smaller than the other one, and it had a square podium with a small green screen sticking out of the side. Off to the side of the room was a large, dark table with the same type of screen on the wall above it. In the back of the room there was a wooden door.

"Hello Mister Tigris," a synthetic female voice spoke as a hologram of a business-like women appeared behind the podium, "are you here to recalibrate your weapons into the system?"

"No," he replied, "I'm testing the new blood." Jack assumed that he was talking about him.

"I'm sorry, but Beacon regulations state that a first year is not allowed to use the simulation rooms unless supervised by either a teacher or an administrator," the hologram stated.

He didn't seem too bothered by that, "That won't be necessary, we will only be sparring."

It processed the request for a little bit before speaking again, "Fourth year Leo Tigris has requested a duel with first year Jack Gilligan Johnson. Do you accept?"

Jack wasn't sure what happened, but he still responded, "I guess."

Nothing else about the duel was explained as the hologram turned to him, "Hello Jack Gilligan Johnson, I am the Holographic Assistant of Beacon Teachers and Students, but many have elected to call me, 'HABTS.' Usually, one of the combat instructors would show the training fields to the students, but it isn't uncommon for first years to get here on their own."

Unsure of what to do, Jack decided to roll with it, "All right HABTS, what do you need me to do for the duel?"

"It seems that you don't have your Aura synchronized with your Scroll," HABTS stated before asking, "would you like to do that now?"

All that was needed was a small portion of his Aura activated and it would scan its frequency. He did so while hiding in front of Johnson, so Leo couldn't see the Aura activate outside of the body. It only took a few seconds to familiarize itself to his Aura, "Aura synchronization complete. Mister Tigris, which field do you wish to start in?"

He didn't hesitate before responding, "Activate the standard field."

"Understood. Please wait for a moment," stated HABTS before the sound of metal screeching against metal and gears striking gears resounded from the larger room behind the door. "The standard field is ready. You may now enter."

After HABTS finished, they re-entered the previous room—Johnson more cautiously than Jack. The room was darker. Light only shined on a circle in the middle of the room and a small path from the door they opened to the circle. It looked as if the area around the circle was not there—only an abyss in its place.


The body didn't know what hid in the darkness around them. An assortment of hidden traps could be around them, unknown until they activate. It didn't like the possibility, but it wouldn't speak about it. The body would be ready to defend against anything. It would be ready for any trap from the darkness. It only needed to wait.


With each step Johnson took, the floor panels fell with the sound of shifting gears. One by one, the panels fell in an oddly rhythmic pattern. It was mesmerizing—and very distracting. Jack almost didn't hear Leo speak.

"I want to see your skill, new blood," he said. "We will fight, and I evaluate whether or not you're strong enough to be a True Man Out; however, I will limit myself in the fight."

"Would you like to modify the standard tournament rules?" HABTS caught what the fourth year said.

"Yes," he replied. "End the match only when the new blood has no more fight in him."

"Understood," it said.

Leo and Johnson finally stood in the center of the field, "Now, I've decided that I'm going to go easy on you. With that said, I will refrain from using Panthera's claws," the claws on his gauntlet shifted and rounded out to normal ends, and the claws at his toes retracted into the grieves, "Panthera's blades," Jack didn't know what he was talking about, "or Panthera's fury," and that was just as confusing.

"So, when do we start?" The younger one couldn't help but ask.

Leo didn't respond verbally.


The body was sent across the arena like a rock skipping across a pond. It skipped across the ground four times and skidded to a stop on the fifth. It traveled approximately fifty feet, leaving behind the soul.

It wasn't as ready as it thought it was.

The sternum was fractured, it realized, the coming battle will be a challenge. The body will need to be careful. The soul will need to help the body in the battle. They need to work as a team—and the soul was already attacking the alpha-threat male.

The body quickly raised to its feet and shot of in order to join the battle.


Jack didn't know what happened, but he also didn't care.

After Johnson was hit, he started his retaliation. It was done secretly. He backed up before sprinting at his target. Activating his Aura, Jack increased his mass before delivering his Knee of Pain.

It made contact with the front of the giant's head, but it didn't matter to the man. The attack did virtually nothing. With Leo's Aura taking the brunt of the blow, he didn't need to make a move. He just stood there with a spectral knee in his face and a smirk forming on his face. Not wanting to stay in that position any longer, Jack kicked off of his opponent's chest.

Landing next to his former body, Jack quietly told him to stop. They definitely needed a plan to fight this new foe.

"You have ten seconds!" Leo shouted. "Ten seconds to make your next move, or I'll make one for you!"

It made Jack think quicker. It took only a second to come up with a plan. It took six seconds to tell Johnson. It took two seconds to rush towards the fourth year. It took one second for the plan to initiate. However, it wasn't quick enough.

Even though they were pushing the limits of their speed, Leo was still faster. In the time it took for Johnson to swing his weapon, the behemoth delivered a swift kick to his abdomen, sending him away to the edge of the arena again. Jack tried to attack his blind spot, but he was detained by a quick jab hitting his silhouetted torso.

With his Aura flickering away, he flew across the field, on the exact opposite side of his former body, "All according to plan."

Jack activated his Aura to signal the start of the second part of the plan. Almost like there was a mirror in between them, they rushed the enemy at the center of the arena. Each step taken was in sync with the one on the other side of the field. It was as if a single person was perfectly guiding two puppets to the same location.


The body followed the plan clearly. It dropped a small bundle of cloth on the ground before attacking the immediate threat. Barely able to follow the movement of the high-threat, the body could only barely dodge the foot of the opposition. Its job in the plan was to only distract, nothing more.


Jack couldn't dwell on the fact that his former body was lasting extremely well, so he followed up by holding his part of the plan. Quickly picking up the cloth bundle, he unrolled it to reveal one of his special Dust crystals. Its surface shined with crimson and white. He tried channeling Aura into the special crystal.

He always heard of the stories of the Hunters that controlled the very elements with Dust. He was taught that Dust reacted to Auras' touch. He heard how it required extensive training and discipline to effectively be a Dust Mage—as they are called. He could only hope that he could recreate one of the many spectacles from the stories in the situation he was in.

The wind Dust was activated first. His rainbow-like Aura rapidly shifted into a brilliant, silver shine. As wind started blasting the area, Johnson was shoved away from his fight and Leo's attention was captured. The windstorm only lasted a few brief seconds, yet it was enough to relocate the former body out of the immediate fighting zone and ruffle Leo's mane.

The next to activate was the fire Dust. His bright silver Aura quickly darkened into a menacing red. Fire sprouted up from his silhouette with a heat that Leo could feel from his distance. The crystal relocated itself to the center of Jack's chest. The fire around him sparked and crackled. It was something that he didn't expect, but it was definitely more than he hoped for.

It gave him a feeling of power—stronger than his Aura. He felt the wrath of the fire at his fingertips. He could feel the strength it granted him. Just like when he activated his Aura for the first time, he didn't have this feeling for long; however, it wasn't because of the surge of power weakening him.

No. With most fires, there comes death and destruction. With that fire, however, rage was spawned. This rage wasn't the simple fluctuation of anger. This rage carried with it the wrath of the flame, anger so powerful that it could cloud the mind of the most peaceful monk.

Overcome by the rage, Jack's thoughts went to a grinding halt. Any plan he previously had turned to Dust. Any doubts he had disappeared. He could only process who his target was.

Literally blazing towards his opponent, he attacked. When he used his fists, he swung with all he had. When he gave a kick, he made it as powerful as possible. With each attack, he gave everything with his new rage. But it wasn't enough.

Choosing to stay in a single place, Leo only played with his adversary. With every punch he received, he dodged slightly to the side by only rotating his torso. Every time a foot came his way, he redirected it with his shin. No matter what he was given, Leo smugly stood at the center of the arena. However, it soon grew boring to him.

Dodging a swing to his left, Leo snapped out his right arm. His hand found itself gripped around the crystal within the Aura construct's chest. He could feel the flames cook his armored hand, but it wasn't much of a problem when he coated it with even more Aura. Ripping the crystal away and crushing it in his palm, he let his attention drift away from the fading Aura construct before spinning and launching his foot towards the head of his incoming enemy.


The body barely ducked beneath the threat and continued to charge, but that didn't matter. The threat returned his foot to its original position by dragging it down, catching the body's back. It was dragged across the ground.

A weight rested itself upon the body's back, "Do you yield?"

Seeing no other way out, it only nodded before allowing itself rest as soon as the weight was taken off of its back.


He shook his head at how easily the new blood was taken down. Sure, he had some rather strange tactics, but that couldn't always save him. Never once did he and his Aura construct attack at the same time for a good amount of time. The new blood only seemed to buy time for his construct to prepare an attack—except for that final push he made.

And that construct was extremely strange. It always formed itself some distance away from its creator. If he wasn't mistaken, Leo would have thought that the construct was the one making the plans, but that would be absurd. It also seemed that it became angry when it integrated the Dust crystal into itself, yet constructs don't have emotions.

He was—naturally—curious, "HABTS, tell me how his Aura construct worked."

The lights in the room brightened, as the room rearranged itself to its original self, "Mister Johnson's Aura never activated where he was located. Wherever it manifested is where his Aura was located."

He didn't know what to think of that, "Are there any other cases where that has happened?"

The room finished fixing itself, "According to the records at Beacon, no. I am sorry, but I can't access any other document."

"Don't worry, but there is something else I require." He turned his gaze to the unconscious occupant of the room. "Can you make sure that no one enters this room while I'm gone?"

"That would not be a problem, Mister Tigris, but why would you need that?" The artificial intelligence wanted to make note of everything to later send to the headmaster.

He was almost at the exit when he responded, "All I'm doing is getting lunch, and it would be terrible if someone were to walk in on him in this state." And with that he was out the door.

End

What? Did you think that Jack could beat Leo? Ha! That's a good one. If he had difficulty beating a group of Beowolves that basically anyone else would have no problem doing without a scratch, then he is never going to beat a fourth year.

Review any question you have about my story and I will try to answer it.

May the sun guide you through the day, and the moon lull you to rest.