(Surprise everyone! Two updates in one day! The last chapter was a little short, so you get two, but don't always expect this. Side note: I thought it was just made up for the title, but did you know Jaundice is a real thing? It's some kind of liver problem that causes yellowing of a newborn baby's skin and eyes. With that, on to the story!)
Cardin Winchester, with his mace perched on his shoulder and Jaune Arc opposite him with Crocea Mors drawn, leaning on his weapon as if exhausted, in the spotlight shining on the Beacon Academy auditorium stage. He looked at Cardin, who laughed at his opponent's tiredness, and Jaune gathered his strength to charge forward and swung his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looked back, surprised, as Cardin's mace sent Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forced himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said confidently.
"Over my dead-!"Jaune started seriously.
Jaune is cut short as Cardin kneed him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain.
"Damn him! The coward!" Kratos snapped. He may not like Jaune, but he disliked two things more than him: Cardin and cheap shots. Sure, he was once a bloodthirsty, ruthless killer, but he still fought with honor and dignity, refusing to use cheap shots or attack an opponent on the ground and unprepared (not including the Grimm, anything goes for them).
Cardin raised his mace and was about to slam it down on a worried Jaune. "Uh... Okay, you won, man. Time to stop." Dante said, reaching for his own sword and preparing to interfere if the teacher decided not to.
just when the buzzer rings, the lights come back on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice causes him to stop. "Cardin, that's enough!" She ordered. He relented and walked away as she came onto the stage, tapping her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." She explained while Jaune still lays on the floor in defeat and Pyrrha Nikos looked sad, Glynda turned her head to look at the losing warrior as he pulled out a smaller tablet with his low, blinking stats and that of his entire team. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf now, would we?" She asked.
"Speak for yourself." Cardin said.
"Big talk for a guy who relies on cheap shots." Kratos said.
Cardin turned back to Kratos at this. "Oh, I'm sorry. You have a problem with the way I fight? Well, let's see you do better!" Cardin snapped.
Goodwitch sighed at this, but secretly held back a smile. It was no secret Cardin was far more arrogant than any Huntsmen, let alone a trainee should EVER be, while his skills were at best simply on par to allow him to be at this school, nothing exceptional like most of the other students here. He needed to be knocked down a few pegs and Kratos was the perfect person to do it. "We have time for one more match. So, Mr. Winchester, do you accept Mr. Nikos' challenge?" She asked.
"Sure. It'll be nice to knock a world champion down a few pegs." Cardin said confidently.
"That poor fool." Bayonetta said.
"We shall see." Kratos said, drawing his swords and stepping onto the stage.
Dante smirked, leaning in towards Ryu. "500 lien says he doesn't last a minute." He said.
"50 lien, he doesn't last ten seconds." Ryu said.
"That'll be interesting." Dante smirked, shaking the ninja's hand.
"Begin!" She said.
Cardin raised his mace and rushed in as Kratos swung his swords low, wrapping around Cardin's legs and causing him to trip, skidding to a stop right at Kratos' feet, looking up at the pale warrior who already had his cestus read, swinging the one on his right arm back, circling it above his head before slamming it down on Cardin's head. If you were to blink, you would've missed how fast Cardin's aura gauge dropped to zero. "And that's the match." Glynda said as Kratos walked back to his team. Ryu looked at Dante with a smirk while the white-haired boy grumbled and handed him the Lien. Good thing he's rich in this universe, because he's still just as bad at betting and gambling.
"Wasn't even 5 seconds." He grumbled.
"You either didn't give Kratos enough credit, or you gave Cardin WAY too much." Ryu said.
"My guess is the latter." Bayonetta said.
"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 be representing all of Vale!" Goodwitch explained to the excited students, Yang punching the air in anticipation, Weiss shaking her fists with an excited smile, Ruby shaking her entire body with enthusiastic energy while squealing softly, Dante twirling his pistols eagerly, Bayonetta tapping the guns on her heels together, Ryu pulling back a fist in excitement and Kratos cracking his neck and knuckles.
The bell then rang and the students started leaving. "Hey, thanks for sticking up for me back there." Jaune said to Kratos as the resurrected warrior started to walk by him.
Kratos scoffed at this. "I didn't do it for you. I did it to put him in his place. You need to train more. The skills you have no are going to get you killed." He said, walking by Jaune uncaringly. But at least this time he didn't purposefully hit his shoulder against Jaune's as he passed him like every other time. Jaune hangs his head in shame as Pyrrha looked at the scene sadly.
The scene changes to a zoom-up of Nora Valkyrie's turquoise eyes as she tells an unbelievable story to her audience... "So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."
"It was day."Ryu corrected, taking a bite from a bowl of pork-fried rice.
"We were surrounded by Usai..." She explained to Blake, who was paying no attention as she was lost in her book, and Yang, who was hanging on her every word with her hands cupping her face. Bayonetta rolled her eyes at her twin who somehow believed the story. She was paying attention to Dante as he leaned back against the table, chilling and eating a slice of pizza.
"They were Beowolves." Ren corrected, holding a cup of coffee.
"Dozens of them!" Nora screamed as she stood at the table of Teams RWBY, SCRN and JNPR, where Weiss wass ignoring Nora and filing her nails, Ruby and Pyrrha were listening politely, and Jaune was messing with his food.
"Two of 'em."Ryu and Ren said together.
Ruby and Pyrrha were now looking at a distant Jaune with concern. "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!" She proclaimed proudly.
Ren sighed and shook his head while Ryu felt the need to explain Nora's crazy story. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."He explained.
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, looking worriedly at her leader.
Jaune finally snapped out of it, turning back toward them. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"He asked nervously, trying to avoid getting caught.
"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." Ruby explained.
"Yeah, you've been moping around like your dog died ever since Cardin pulverized you earlier." Dante said, glancing back at the blonde boy.
Jaune looked at everyone else as they stopped their distractions and stared at him. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He said, holding up a thumb while laughing nervously. Suddenly, his attention was focused on the members of Team CRDL, standing around Velvet Scarlatina, a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughed at her and Sky Lark held up his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her unusual features.
"Racist bastards." Ryu said.
"What right do they have to mock her? She's both their elder and a superior fighter to them." Kratos said. He'd seen Team CFVY in action a few times and they were quite formidable, Velvet and Coco especially, the two rarely revealing their weapons.
"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha said.
"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" Jaune said, clearly trying to play it off.
"He's a bully." Ruby said.
"And not even a good one. If he even THINKS someone could beat him, he'll take off." Dante said.
"Honestly, even for YOU, it's sad you let him bully you this much." Kratos said.
Jaune scoffed at this. "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me." He said.
"REALLY?" All the members of Team SCRN said together, looking at him.
We now flash back to a number of scenes. First, Jaune is seen on the way to class as Cardin is going the other way down the hall. When the two pass, Cardin knocked his arm into Jaune and makes him drop his book, then continued on his way with his hands out as if daring anyone to challenge him.
"Ah, come on!" Jaune complained.
Next, Jaune and Cardin were about to pass through a doorway, but Cardin clicked on Jaune's sheath and extended it into its shield form as he was going out, causing him to run into his own defense and have it block the exit.
Jaune grunted in frustration as he tried to lift his shield back out. "Come on...!" He groaned.
Finally, Glynda was in the locker room with several students, gesturing at the devices.
"Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."She explained.
Hearing this, Cardin looksed at Jaune - standing between him and the only open locker in the room - and the cliché played itself out as Cardin quickly pushed a shocked Jaune into the small dark space and closed the door on him, pressing random buttons on the pad right after that.
"What?! No, wait, wait! You've gotta get me out of here! Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!" Jaune pleaded. But It was too late to protest when the locker scrunched down and launched up with a burst of blue fire coming from its base. Cardin watched as the locker slowly soared across the sky. Jaune is still heard from within the locker. "Ahhh, coooome oooooooon...!"He screamed.
Everyone now looked at Jaune now, wondering how he'd laugh off or deny these prime examples of Cardin's bullying. "I didn't land far from the school!"He said with a laugh, Ryu face-palming and Kratos dropping his head on the table.
"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha offered.
"Ooooh!" Nora said excitedly, getting up from the table and presenting her diabolical plan with a not-entirely-sane grin. "We'll break his legs!" She said evilly.
"I approve." Kratos said.
"I love the enthusiasm, Nora, but maybe tone it down and think of a less SEVERE way to deal with Cardin." Ryu said, grabbing his girlfriend's shoulders and getting her to sit down again.
"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune said.
They all looks over as the laughing grew louder, mixed in with cries of pain from Velvet when one of her ears was tugged on by Cardin. "Ow! That hurts!" Velvet cried in pain, stopping her struggling and grimaces. "Please, stop..." She said
"Okay, let's break his legs." Ryu said as he, Dante and Kratos started to get up, but Bayonetta stopped them.
"Don't worry, boys. I'll handle this one." She said, walking around the tables, approaching Cardin from behind.
"I told you it was real!" Cardin laughed to his teammates.
"What a freak!"Russel Trush laughed at the girl.
"The only freaks I see around here are a bunch of sissy boys who think they're so tough when they pick on girls." Bayonetta said, getting their attention, before grabbing both of Cardin's ears and lifting him to his feet, almost even off the ground by his hearing appendages. "Oh, look. Yours are real, too. And it probably hurts when I pull on them, just like it hurt when you pulled on poor Velvet's." She said.
"Agh! Yes! Stop!" He said, grabbing her hands and wiggling, desperately trying to free his ears from her vice-like grip. His teammates started to come towards her to help, but a quick glance from her that basically said "sit down, bitches" brought them to an instant stop.
"You didn't stop when she asked, so why should I stop when you ask?" Bayonetta asked him.
"Ow! Okay! Alright! I'm sorry! I'll stop!" He said, still struggling to get free.
"Fine, I'll stop, if you stop messing with everyone. Not just her, but Jaune and all the others you pick on as well. And if I catch you doing this again... Well, we'll see if these ears of yours can actually hold your weight." Bayonetta said, lifting Cardin to the very tips of his toes, before finally dropping him and strutting away sassily.
"Thank you!" Velvet said happily, before going on her way.
"And that, my dear Jaune, is how you deal with a bully, you stand up to them... And if possible, humiliate them in front of their friends." Bayonetta said, before both of her sister's covered her mouth.
"No! Don't do that!" Yang said.
"Yeah, just ignore that last part!" Ruby agreed.
"Yeah... Thanks..." Jaune said, leaving to take care of his tray. (Great, now even girl's are sticking up and fighting my battles for me.) He thought sadly to himself as he went to take care of his tray, unaware of Cardin watching his walk of shame with a sinister grin.
Later, Jaune was asleep in class while a constantly-zooming and fast-talking Professor Bartholomew Oobleck is in the middle of his hyperactive lecture, educating Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, Velvet, Ryu and Cardin, who is directly behind Jaune.
Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution-more popularly known as the Faunus War-" He started, zooming up to the front of the class and the map covered in papers behind his desk. "-Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He explained, pointing at the map of said-area with his stick, then zoomed off to the side for a sip of his coffee before appearing in front of the desk. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He said, zooming around the classroom more, sipping his coffee again before continuing to zoom and talk. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" He asked.
A few faunus students raised their hands as Ryu looked at Velvet, sitting to the second year student's right. "I'm pretty sure getting your rabbit ears pulled is some form of descrimination." He said.
She looked at him for a few moments, before nodding. "I suppose." She said, raising her hand shyly.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He warned, taking another sip of his coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" He asked, before seeing a raised hand. "Yes?"
"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answered proudly.
"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" He asked again.
Unseen by the professor, Cardin flicks a paper football at Jaune's head, causing him to wake up. "Hey!" He exclaimed in surprise and annoyance.
Oobleck zoomed right up to Jaune's face. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" He asked.
"Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... that the Faunus... Had over that guy's stuff..." He stalled, looking around at Pyrrha and anyone else who might give him the answer.
Ryu sighed at this. Normally, he wouldn't bother to help someone who didn't study and didn't know the answer, but he felt bad for Jaune as Cardin kept picking on him and was the reason Jaune was called upon. Using his time-stopping Ninpo, he quickly moved beside Jaune. "Night Vision." He said, before moving back to his seat and restarting time.
Jaune jumped for a moment, hearing the answer in his ear, before shaking it off and finally answering. "Night vision!" He answered.
"Yes, wonderful! Many faunus are known to have nearly perfect vision at night." Oobleck confirmed.
Cardin scoffed at this. "Meh. It was probably easier to train animals than soldiers." He said, earning him a glare from most of the class.
"You aren't the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha asked.
"What? You got a problem?" He demanded.
"General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." Blake added, looking at Cardin. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." She added. (Insert mic drop)
Cardin growled at this somewhat hidden jab that he wasn't paying attention, getting up and clenching his fist and Blake and Pyrrha. "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat. You can see me after class for some additional readings." Professor Oobleck said, to which Jaune quietly giggled.
Later that day, Kratos and Pyrrha were walking down the halls together when they saw Jaune further down the hall, before Cardin emerged from around the corner and shoved him to the ground. "Cardin!" Kratos snapped. The bully turned to see the pale wall of muscle and quickly took off.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha said, running up beside him. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah... I'm fine..." He said.
Kratos rolled his eyes at the blonde, before extending his hand. "Here." He said. Jaune looked up at him, surprised, before taking his hand and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. "Come with me." He said. He lead the odd number members of team JNPR (1 and 3) to the roof of the dorms. "Here." He said.
Jaune walked to the edge of the roof and looked over the edge. "Uh... Kratos, Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed." He said, confusing them. "I could always be a farmer or something." He said as Pyrrha looked over the edge as well, before realizing what Jaune meant in horror.
"No!" She said, pulling him away from the ledge.
Kratos face-palmed at this as well. "No, you idiot! Look AROUND, not down. There's plenty of room up here. After class, we could come up here and train. Between two four-time tournament champions, you could be one of the best warriors in this school." Kratos explained.
Jaune and even Pyrrha was shocked at this. "Y-you're willing to do that for me? Why?" He asked.
"Don't get me wrong, I STILL don't like you, but I'm sick of seeing you get beaten all the time. You're the leader of my sister's team. And I will not allow you to drag her down and be so pathetic. I will train you to stand among the greatest warriors in Remnant." Kratos said.
"And I'll help, too." Pyrrha said.
"You think I need help?" He asked.
"Yes, obviously, that's why I brought you here." Kratos said.
"N-no! No, that's not what I meant." She said.
"But you just said it." Jaune said to her.
"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" She tried to encourage her leader.
He sighed, turning away and lowering his head. "You're wrong. I don't belong here." He said.
"Maybe not know, but with help, you could." Kratos said.
"Kratos!" She said in an annoyed tone, making her brother back off, before looking at Jaune. "Jaune, that's a terrible thing to say! Of course you belong here!" She said.
Jaune started becoming angry at this. "No, I don't!" He snapped. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon..." He admitted.
"What?" Kratos demanded.
"Wh-what do you mean?"Pyrrha asked.
"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!" He confessed.
"You pathetic waste of space!" Kratos snapped, but Pyrrha held him back.
"But... Why?" She asked.
"'Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough." He explained sadly.
"And all you've done is disgrace them, their legacy and your team." Kratos said.
"But if we helped you, you could be good enough." She said.
This only frustrated him further, however. "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!" He shouted.
Kratos angrily stepped forward at this. "Denying her help is one thing, but if you keep snapping at my sister like that, I'll snap your neck." Kratos warned.
Jaune was somewhat nervous and scared at this, before standing up to Kratos, matching his glare. "I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives!" He explained, then backed up and looked at both of them. "Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?" He asked.
Pyrrha attempted to reach out for his arm and console him, but he leaned back from her touch. "Jaune..." She said softly.
"No great warrior gets to where they are on their own. They always need help from someone. Pyrrha and I got to where we were because we trained hard and honed our skills against each other to learn and find a way to overcome our weaknesses. All warriors got to where they are with someone else's help: somone who trained them, someone who gave them their weapon, someone to spar with and hone their techniques. No one has EVER done it all on their own... And you shouldn't have to either." Kratos said with amazing sincerity.
Jaune looked at the taller boy for a second, before shaking his head and turning his back on them. "Just... leave me alone. Okay?" He asked.
Pyrrha bowed her head in sadness at this. "If that's what you think is best." She said, starting to walk away, Kratos putting an arm around her shoulder to console her.
"You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped." He told her.
Jaune paced a little until he heard a mocking laugh and Cardin appeared on the roof from his window. "Oh, Jaune..." He said darkly (Yeah, maybe you should make COMPLETELY sure no one else is in earshot before screaming the second biggest lie in the series Jaune)
"Cardin!" He said in fear.
"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!" He said with a smirk. (He's on the edge of the roof! One quick shove, that's all it'd take!... No, he's still necessary...)
"Please, Cardin, please, don't tell anyone!" Jaune pleaded.
"Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!" He said as he approached the blonde.
"A... a friend?" Jaune asked, confused.
"Of course!" Cardin said, walking over and trapping Jaune in a headlock under his arm. He struggled to free himself from the taller boy, but to no avail. "We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." He said, finally releasing Jaune, who gasped as he leaned on the ground. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave me today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" He asked, leaning down to rubbing Jaune's hair, before getting up with a grin. "That's what I thought." He said, heading back to hang onto the edge (Just stomp his fingers, Jaune! No one would ever know!) "Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me." He said, dropping back down to his room, leaving Jaune to rub his neck in pain and worry.