Round 10
"Come on guys, hurry up!" shouted Ruby, as she sprinted ahead of the group in hopes of making it to Beacon one second earlier, each arm pumping up and down in quick succession.
Well, she would have been if one hand wasn't attached to a lanky blond. As such only one arm swung itself forward, with the other latched to the boy who was forced to keep up or be dragged across the sidewalk.
"Wait, Ruby slow down, Beacon isn't going anywhere," cried Jaune, who struggled to put one foot in front of the other, the prospect of face planting into the unforgiving cement becoming likelier by the moment.
"Slow down? SLOW DOWN?! How could I even think about slowing down? My sister's going to be on the main card for the Spring Maiden Event Jaune!" shouted Ruby as she turned on the spot, stopping herself mid step to begin shaking him left, right, and any which direction as her voice rose several octaves. "She's getting her first shot in the big leagues!"
While the world spun in a mix of colors and blurred lines Jaune asked, "I thought your sister was a pro already?"
"Being a pro and being a fighter in the Spring Maiden Championship are completely different," said Ruby as she pivoted towards Beacon and restarted her fervent sprint.
After settling back into the accelerated pace Ruby continued, "Not only does that mean someone had their eye on Yang, but it also puts her that much closer to being a championship contender."
"Looking at the rankings Vernal is in the top ten," began Ren in a relaxed voice, despite the speed the group ran. "If Yang defeats her opponent she would place at least somewhere close."
"When she wins," growled Ruby.
Ren nodded at her comment, a simple smile on his face when he answered, "Of course."
"Not only is the rankings important, but the publicity grows with just her being in the tournament. The light of the press will be on her, especially with Ilias' sudden drop out," added Blake as she kept pace with the group, though slightly off to the side. Her bow flattened and hair billowed backward in a black curtain from the rush of wind.
"If it's that much publicity then why have I never heard about this tournament?" asked Jaune.
Blake didn't exactly roll her eyes, but the same sentiment came across when she answered, "An average person may not know about her, but every MMA fan will know her name now after the event, not to mention the fame of Beacon, who her parents are, and her style. She checks the boxes for any journalist looking to rake in the views."
"Oh."
Blake shifted her eyes back forward before finishing her statement and drawing back to silence, "And where the press's attention is, so will be the public's."
"Not to mention all the mooolah!" shouted Nora, who not so much ran but skipped along. "I bet the sign on bonus for the fight must be hugeeee, not to mention all the ticket sales, and sponsors."
"I don't think she would be eligible for all the perks considering she has yet to accumulate that much clout," said Ren.
"Psshh, yeah, but add in the fat win bonus and she's going to be raking in all the money! Oh, Renny do you think she'll by me a tractor as a gift after she cashes everything in?"
"What do you intend to use a tractor for?"
"For the tires of course," said Nora as she imitated lifting and throwing a large and heavy, imaginary object. "I always wanted to do some tire workouts, but the ones we can find around here are always so small and wimpy. Nora needs something with a little more girth."
"Er Nora, why not just buy a single tire?" asked Jaune between pants.
"Becauseee being such a good fitness coach Yang would buy me the whole tractor. It's what all good students do. If they don't buy you at least a tractor after the first payday then what good are they!?" said Nora before pausing and placing a sole finger to her chin in thought. "Well at least that's what granddaddy Valkyrie used to say."
"Sure… alright, makes sense," said Jaune in agreement, not sure what to make of the odd statements the bubbly ginger occasionally said.
"Yang has been a pro for a while and only really lost at the start of her career, but working your way around the global rankings are hard. You can be a great fighter and never really make it to the very top," grumbled Ruby. "Not to mention different organizations running their own events and the politics of the sport, it can be hard to make a name for yourself. So the invite is a huge deal."
"This situation is the kind of thing that can make or break a career," concluded Ruby.
With her final comment the group turned the corner of the street and came across the red brick road of Beacon. The familiar sight was the only signal Ruby needed, with a whoop of glee she darted onto the brick pathway, through the glass doors and disappeared past the separator of the reception area, deeper into the gym.
The rest of the group followed her soon after. Nora's random comments and Ren's calm answers filled the quiet street as Blake walked in front of the talking pair, silently.
Jaune paused at the boundary between red brick and gray concrete, the urge to follow his new group of friends pushed him to continue, but unable to muster the first step.
A slurry of emotions began to pop up in the blond's mind as he watched the backs of the group continue down the path towards Beacon, towards martial arts he supposed. Studying combat permeated the people who lived in Beacon. The mentality thrived within the people there, even Ren the most level headed person Jaune had ever met, practiced his katas and enjoyed it.
If he followed would he be subjected to much the same treatment as last time. Maybe with a nicer sparring partner and hopefully without the sentiment that he needed to be expelled from the gym.
The flurry of blows, the fear of being stuck in a situation with no option, but to hit and get hit back, a knee slamming through his organs, all ran through Jaune's head.
He would still have to fight, at least learn to.
Blake, the lead of the group, paused in her steps, hand wrapped around the handles of the glass entrance. Her head cocked to the side slightly, a stray breeze causing her bow to twitch.
Instead of pushing ahead, she turned back towards the blond, hauling the door wide open.
Amber eyes met blue, serving as a nonverbal signal as Nora turned back to face him, Ren following soon after.
Jaune watched as the bubbly fitness coordinator's eyebrows rose and her lips formed a small 'o' before spreading back into a large grin. Nora dropped one hand to her hip and extended her other hand in offering, her palm wide open and said, "Come on Jaune, I just found out about a new type of cardio training called Tilapias."
"Tabata, it's called Tabata, a very rigorous from of exercise where you work on a twenty second active timer and a ten second rest timer," said Ren. "A Tilapia is a type of fish."
"Whatever I could make a Tilapia routine that was a hundred times harder than the Tanabata workout."
"That's a type of festival in eastern Mistral."
"Damn right and my workout is harder than that!"
Before Ren could attempt a comeback the oak door hiding the rest of the gym exploded open, exposing the open area and porcelain white mats. Ruby Rose stood there, stars in her eyes, as she shivered in excitement. A grin of maximum power covered her face as she yelled back to the group, her mirth apparent even to someone who couldn't hear the laughter in her voice.
"Come on guys, what's taking you so long!?" Ruby continued, "Yang's being interviewed right now, hurry up you have to check it out!"
With a chuckle he joined in on the red hooded girl's infectious cheer, Jaune reached out and clapped his hand onto Nora's, as a result taking his first step on the brick path.
A second step followed the first and soon joined by more as Jaune made his way back into the gym.
Jaune found himself walking between the cheerful Nora, now explaining the exercises needed for a professional level fish based workout as she kept one arm draped across his shoulders, and the enigmatic Ren who asked why a fish needed to do a landmine press.
As they crossed through the entrance, Blake followed after, letting the glass doors close shut behind them.
"Welcome back," said Blake as they walked past the reception desk.
Jaune couldn't find it in himself to disagree.
~/~
"I'm always ready for a good fight, that'll get my heart pumping," said Yang into the scroll she held in her hand.
The person on the other side of the call must have asked another question as the blonde boxer split into a grin as when she spoke, "Hell yeah, I'm not the one who should be worried about what happens when the cage doors close. If Vernal wants a fight I'll be happy to give it to her."
Yang fell silent for a few seconds as she nodded absently along to the scroll before finishing, "My dad and uncle are the ones who trained me pretty much."
The grin on Yang's face quickly dropped from the next inquiry asked by the interviewer. A small frown graced her features before she answered, "Yes, it's just us here at Beacon, my mom died a while back."
"No don't worry about it, honest mistake," she responded after a buzz of unintelligible words came through the scroll. "Yeap that's correct, my dad and uncle do the training and my sister Ruby and I are the ones who do the fighting."
"My record? 9-0, only really lost when I was an amateur, learned my lesson and no one's been able to stop me since."
"What do I think is going to happen? I'll be the one walking out of the cage, she won't be."
"Alright, so you guys are going to send over a photographer soon? Sorry that was the best quality photo we had at the time."
At the last statement, the blonde haired girl closed her scroll shut to be tackled immediately by the human bullet known as Ruby Rose.
"Yang, I saw the announcement, why didn't you tell me you had a spot on the main card!?" asked Ruby as she vibrated from the excitement.
"Woah sis, easy. I didn't have the chance to message you. They pretty much called us up and asked us yes or no," replied Yang as she hugged her sister back. "Pretty much as soon as I agreed they were already running the news."
"This is so awesome, now everyone will see how awesome you are."
"Hey, everyone already knows that."
"Yeah, everyone in Vale, but now the whole of Remnant will know. You'll be the next to add your emblem on the wall!"
"Heh, it'll be fun, my opponent looks like she'll at least pose a challenge."
"Woah don't get too cocky firecracker," spoke the gravelly voice of Qrow, who sat off to the side next to the smiling Taiyang. "Your opponent is completely different than the person we've been training for. We haven't developed a game plan for this one yet."
"Eh, who needs a game plan," shrugged Yang. "It's the same as every fight, get in and then unload."
"There's a little more finesse to in-fighting than that sweetheart," said Taiyang, whose eyes shifted over to see the rest of the group coming into view.
If the elder blond had not made eye contact, their approach would have been noticed shortly, as the sound of compressing mats grew once they drew nearer, the black chain linked walls of the cage looming overhead.
Jaune watched Taiyang wipe both hands across his pant legs before walking over to meet them.
Standing face to face, Jaune looked up to meet the matching blue eyes of the elder Xiao Long.
Expecting apprehension, resentment, or a myriad of negative qualifiers, Jaune's eyes widened when he saw only cheer.
"Hey, glad to see you finally made it back Jaune," said Taiyang before a pinched look took over his smile.
The sound of impacts filled the room, the source being a certain hoodie wearing girl kicking her father's leg.
"Ouch, Ruby I know okay just give me a second sweetie. I didn't mean it like that," responded Tai once Ruby finally stopped her assault on his appendage and instead choosing to glower, arms crossed.
Turning back to face Jaune the same welcoming smile appeared on his face softening slightly when he spoke, "Do you mind if I speak to you on the side Jaune?"
Not having a reason to refuse Jaune nodded once before following Tai as they walked off to the side, leaving the rest of the group to restart the excitement of Yang's opportunity.
The two blonds walked to the far end of the room, away from the group, using the cage as a screen to allow a modicum of privacy and through it all Jaune only knew one thing.
The situation was extremely awkward.
Even discounting the fact that the whole situation reeked of some sort of lecture, Taiyang's general appearance made Jaune feel like he would be scolded by his distant relative.
Knowing the talk would relate to the eventful night, but not sure where the conversation would head, Jaune could do little to prepare. As such he let his eyes roam during their silent march.
He idly noted that some of the ceiling vents needed a good scrubbing and one of the cog emblems had its wing scrubbed off at the tips. Ultimately he settled on watching the figure of Taiyang as he lead.
The man's hands were shaking, not from fear or anger, but rather like a nervous tick. As they walked Jaune noticed the older man's hands flex periodically or twitch, the digits of each hand splaying out and flexing before relaxing again.
Jaune so immersed in waiting for the next round of movement almost missed when the man stopped. Taiyang turning to face him almost caused Jaune to run into the champion boxer.
"So there's some things we need to talk about," he said once Jaune had regained his footing.
"Okay," said Jaune, letting Tai dictate the conversation.
"Well first, I owe you an apology and an explanation. I know you're likely have heard it from Ruby and rest of the kids, but as the adult and head of the gym I felt like you should hear it from me."
"I'm honestly not sure how the situation escalated to what it did in the first place," said Jaune.
"I do, doesn't make what happened right, but let's say I'm a little biased when it comes to my baby girls, especially a certain one."
"Ruby?"
A bright smile pulled at Tai's face as he spoke, exactly like his own father's whenever he talked about his siblings when they were younger. "To her great dismay I still see her as my little girl. See Yang has always been tough. She would be the one who got into fights as a little kid, while Ruby on the other hand would try to make friends with everyone instead."
"I don't have to worry to much about Yang because she's grown to be a lot like her old man, she can take a punch. Ruby on the other hand looks more like her mother every day," added Taiyang in a much more somber tone.
"The same person from the poster?"
"Caught on to that did you? Yeah, the one on the left, she even wears hoodies all day long, just like her mom," laughed Tai, back to his normal cheer. "And like her mom she stands up for what's right, always standing up for her friends. I haven't gotten a lecture like the one from a couple of nights ago in years."
"Wait Ruby yelled at you?"
"Her and the rabbit faunus both. They make for a terrible tag team, even if they seem cute and cuddly at first." Taiyang coughed once into his fist before continuing, "Anyway, I'm an adult, I can admit when I made a mistake and I made a mistake with how I handled the situation with you."
Jaune about to comment was cut short when Taiyang continued, "I let my protective instincts overtake logic. I know you didn't mean to hurt her and I know if Ruby continues down the path she's set on, no matter how much I wished different, she will face worst than you did. Though, in the heat of the moment, you have to give me some leeway. The scene I walked into didn't look quite good."
"I can see that."
"It looked too much like a situation that's happened before and I overreacted."
"You guys were arguing about that before, the whole fame seekers thing?"
"Beacon is, well Beacon was a gym created by four champions; Ruby's mom, Qrow, myself and one other person, all for the purpose of training together. We wanted it to be the next mega gym," said Taiyang as he gestured to the logo of Beacon and the four symbols painted closest to it. "With our reputations we started getting a lot of applicants and everything was great for a little bit."
Taiyang's eyes drifted off as he continued, reminiscing at the same time as explaining, "Then there was a split, we had an argument on how the gym should be run. You see, while we were all champions we all trained very differently and the way to build the next generation of fighters were completely different from each other."
"Is this all related to how Ruby's mom passed away?"
"That was more the final nail in the coffin. When she passed and the other champion left we lost a lot of our star power, we still had regular clientele and were able to live off our fight winnings, but it wasn't the same as back then." Taiyang zeroed back in on Jaune and spoke, "Now Qrow and I keep the martial arts part of the gym open, for the girls. Yang had always been a fighter and Ruby dreamed about being a champion from the day she could walk."
Taiyang gently clapped both hands across each of Jaune's shoulders as he continued, "So, sometimes I can be a little harsh when new people come around, especially when there's injuries. A father never really is prepared for those kind of things."
"I understand."
"I don't think you quite get it. Not until you have kids, but regardless I am sorry Jaune and I hope you keep coming to Beacon. Qrow is right when he said that you fit in. I think you'll do great here."
"It's fine really," said Jaune, accepting the apology. He had already come to terms with the situation, reluctance from moments earlier became acceptance. As long as his place with the friends he made stayed secure he didn't have much else to complain about.
"It isn't, but I did come up with an idea on how to mend the bridge just a bit," began Tai as he reached a hand into his back pocket for a manilla envelope, before passing it over to Jaune. "Think of this as a small apology gift."
Peeking into the contents of the envelope Jaune saw a printed sheet for a room in one of the nicest hotels in Vale.
"A ticket?" asked Jaune as he pulled out the other item in the envelope, a bright green ticket double sealed in a plastic lanyard.
"It's a ticket for Yang's upcoming fight," said Taiyang.
"I can't accept something like this. I accept your apology and appreciate the thought, but this is a bit too much. Ruby said before that just watching the money costs money, I can't imagine how much a live ticket is."
"The organization is hosting our whole team with four rooms, Ruby, Blake and Yang will share, same goes for Qrow and me. I already asked Nora and Ren so that leaves one extra room." At Jaune's odd look the elder blond continued, "Think of it more as a mini vacation, with a free show ticket coming with the room. The fight is only for one night, but we have the rooms for three."
"Are they paying for three nights as perks?"
"Somewhat yes, we're required to be there for a press day, weigh ins, and the actual fight so it's not as generous as it might seem, but you can use that extra time to relax."
"I'm not sure…"
"Don't worry too much about it. Again think of it as an apology from me and from Yang."
Jaune tried to think of some of the negatives to accepting the offer and came up empty, the gesture itself was kind and the attempt at fixing the issue itself rang true.
"Alright, I'll take it though you don't really have to."
"I insist Jaune, though it comes with a slight favor if you don't mind."
"What is it?"
"Can you give Yang time? I know she went over the line and that you deserve to hear it from her as well, but with only a week till her fight she needs to be focused. I'm sure she'll come around after the fight is over."
Jaune tired of the constant sorrys and pleas for forgiveness, finally spoke, "Look, I really appreciate all the apologies from Ruby and you both and I appreciate the gift, but really it's unnecessary."
When the older man looked ready to refute Jaune, he continued, "It was a misunderstanding, as I was saying from the start. I'd much rather we just move past it. If that's alright."
The man swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue before pausing and finally nodding.
Smiling, Taiyang gave Jaune a friendly squeeze before saying, "Thanks Jaune."
Thier private meeting must have gone on for a while, either that or Ruby's uncle felt the need to ruin a moment as the male Branwen shouted from the other side of the cage, "Tai, I see you over there! You better not be making a move on my student, you missed your chance."
Taiyang released his hold on the younger blond before yelling in response, "I was just asking him to go easy on the old man. We don't need you breaking a hip."
"Who are you calling old?" yelled Qrow indignantly to the snickers of both Ruby and Yang. "Last I checked we're the same age."
"At least I'm not turning grey!"
"Don't you know? The young kids call it silvered it's the hip thing now."
"Sure it is… you keep telling yourself that."
Knowing engaging in a quip battle with Ruby's uncle to be pointless Taiyang shook his head before motioning Jaune back to the group, their private chat finished.
As they neared the group Jaune noticed the inquisitive look of Ruby, obviously concerned over whatever it is that her father said to him. Looking to reassure his friend Jaune signalled her that he was okay, to which Ruby visually relaxed before pumping her fist once.
"Alright, now that we're done, how are we looking for planning, Blake?"
The brunette nodded from her seat on the edge of the ring as she spoke in her reserved tone, "I'll be there. Do you know if they'll be providing supplies or do we have to bring our own?"
"An organization that big should be offering their own supplies, only thing we have to bring is the eye iron and recovery drinks. Ren?"
"I'll have it done by the weigh ins and for the fight," responded the pink eyed man as he sat cross-legged on the mat.
"Oh great, juiced leaves now," mumbled Yang, grabbing the attention of the small group.
"That brings us to you. How much are we looking at cutting?" asked Taiyang.
"Not too bad," started Yang. She rubbed a hand through her long locks before sighing, "Just fifteen pounds."
The number seemed like a lot to Jaune, but having no other reference he couldn't tell if that was a good number or not. Looking at Taiyang's grim expression he figured that it wasn't the best.
"It's time for my patented sweat suit," exclaimed Nora, who from nowhere pulled out a bright pink plastic abomination. "This baby will get you down in no time."
Yang did not seem very enthused at the prospect.
"Well, it's not the worst we ever had to deal with, unfortunate since we were on track until the sudden change. I want you to include extra miles on your road work, no heavy drilling for now.," said Taiyang. He pointed to himself. "And we all know that I'll be there, I'll have to get the legal stuff all settled. Qrow can be there for press day."
At the mention of his name Qrow spoke, "Yeap, can't miss out on the booze."
"Hey," complained Yang, followed by a slap to his arm.
"Oh, I meant to support my favorite niece."
"Hey!" repeated Ruby, followed by a slap to his other arm.
"Yeesh, no bullying your dear uncle. Why don't you take your sister on a run, get started on her weight cut," said Qrow as he feigned injury and rubbed at his arm.
"Oh yeah, come on Yang we'll get you on weight in no time!" exclaimed Ruby as she began dragging her sister by the arm.
"Great..thanks," groaned Yang, making sure to turn a crossed look to Qrow, doubly so when Nora followed with her pink jumpsuit.
"That's what she gets for laughing," said Qrow once the trio left. "Now blondy, don't think I forgot about how you left me hanging for our first date."
Jaune swiveled his head around at the sudden attention, noticing Taiyang stepping off to take a call, leaving himself as the only blond in the group.
"Er, what?" asked Jaune.
"Your first class with me kid. I would normally be insulted, but after being a human punching bag I can't blame you," said Qrow, giving Jaune a once over. "You look better now and you're here, you ready?"
Jaune imagined hitting mitts and sparring, sparing a moment to glance around and seeing only Ren and Blake, two of the calmer individuals of the gym, he nodded. He already decided to come back and with the more forceful members, if he could word it that way, out jogging, Jaune supposed it would be an ideal time.
How bad could Qrow's training be?
~/~
Between the action of sucking in air, the torrent of sweat pouring from his face, and the throbbing of his muscles Jaune had to reconsider his earlier thought.
Qrow was a bastard.
Immediately after nodding the older man yelled at him to get down to do push ups. No explanation, no warm up, and no pity.
The man merely mocked him when he asked for the number of reps and told Jaune if he could ask questions he wasn't going hard enough.
After his twenty fifth pushup, at the point where his arms quivered and moments before collapsing, Qrow told him to get up and do squats.
The cycle of repetitions continued on, each new exercise added weirder and weirder movements, starting at first with normal squats and lunges all the way until he was crawling across the floor and doing his best to get as flat as possible without letting anything besides his hands and feet touch the ground.
Each time Jaune stood at the edge of giving up, Qrow would switch to another exercise which used a different portion of his body.
The result? A quivering mass of a vaguely Jaune shaped human.
What felt like hours really only five minutes elapsed. Jaune pushed through fifteen different movements and all of them left him near exhausted until Qrow called the next. At the end of it all Jaune collapsed onto the ground to attempt to slow his heartbeat.
Jaune could only whimper when Qrow said the next round started in a minute.
After the third round of the insanity that Qrow called a workout, Jaune was left mostly holding static poses, only able to do a single pushup before being unable to continue, forced to hold the position.
The whole time Qrow commented from his comfortable throne of foam squares, jeering at him to go harder and to do one more repetition.
When all was said and done, Jaune flopped onto his back, eyes closed as he focused on supplying himself with much needed oxygen.
"Tuckered out kiddo?" asked Qrow, before he finally stood from his seat. "Good, now that we got the blood flowing to your brain let's talk theory."
The silvered man stepped a few paces to the side, giving him sufficient space in all directions before bringing his hands up in a posture slightly off from the one Ruby taught him, though oddly familiar.
This specific posture had his feet closer together, his torso and hips facing forward and his hands to rest at his brows instead of his cheeks. It wasn't until Qrow spread his elbows, exposing his chest and began stamping his feet did he recognize the posture as the one Ruby had assumed during their spar, the one at the beginning of their rounds.
"What's the goal when you're in a fight?" he asked.
Still lying across the mat Jaune answered in between pants, "To not get hit?"
"That's one part of it for sure. The fancy answer is to implement your will over your opponent, but I like the way you think. Too many meatheads care about being the attacker more than protecting themselves," said Qrow with a smirk. "What truly separates a pro and the rest of the world is having a great defense."
"You know, I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that," said Jaune, figuring someone like Qrow would emphasize a strong offense being a strong defense or some other cliche.
"The fault would lie in my nieces I imagine, both of them never really cared to learn the basics, but even if it doesn't seem like it both their styles are premised on a strong defense."
"How? When we sparred they both were non stop action," said Jaune puzzled. Thinking back to his limited experience in the ring, both of the girls fired off a constant barrage of attacks, at least always trying to close the distance to attack.
"That's just because you're bad kid, " said Qrow, chuckling to himself once he saw the sour look on the blond's face. "You didn't put up much of a threat so both girls didn't need to focus their attention on defense, since all you really did was throw out one punch at a time. Well, at least until you caught Ruby anyways. Heh, if it wasn't for the injury I would compliment you on teaching her about being overconfident."
"Wait, I still don't see how either of their styles focused on defense first, both of them seem so aggressive."
"That depends, what do you consider defensive fighting?"
"Er, dodging attacks or blocking I guess?"
"You got two of the three correct. In fighting there's a general flow chart for defense . First is dodging, if you can avoid getting touched at all then that's the way to go, at least in my opinion," explained the older man as he mimicked back stepping away and leaning his body to the right, sparking recognition as the very same move Ruby and Blake did to get to Jaune's side.
"There's a lot of techniques that fall into dodging. There's slips, ducks, back steps, L steps, leans and plenty more, but in general it's about not getting touched at all," said Qrow as he instead switched to standing still and swatting at empty air. "Second is parrying or deflecting some of the force, used to prod opponents attacks off target, it doesn't have to be dramatic but a few inches turns a devastating punch into a grazing one."
This time the man turned his arm in, followed by shelling up in movements reminiscent of the lessons Ruby had taught him in the very beginning. "Last, if all else fails, is absorbing the damage. Protecting your more delicate bits with your arms, legs, and shoulders to minimize how much impact you take. We call it blocking."
"Nothing in that says you can't use your defense to set up your attacks," finished Qrow as he returned to a relaxed position.
Could that be true? Looking deeper into the incidents with Ruby perhaps he could see what Qrow spoke about. With Cardin she did say she took risks due to his size, but she premised her attacks off of an evasive move.
"Okay, sure when it comes to Ruby or Blake even I can see what you mean, but Yang I can't even imagine."
"The girls told me what happened, does a certain punch to the forehead ring any bells? From what I understand without the headgear you were wearing that would be a literal statement," said Qrow as he posed in imitation of the very maneuver Yang did, crouched low, forehead forward as he swung his right in a mock overhand blow.
"Doesn't that prove my point? Instead of defending she opted to hit me instead?"
"Nope, in fact it's a perfect example of mine newbie. What my dear niece did there is block your punch with her forehead, taking some damage sure, but trading it for that haymaker she hit you with."
"Sure…" said Jaune as he trailed off, still not quite understanding the concept of an offensive defense.
"You'll understand once you get some more rounds in, though I wouldn't exactly advise copying Yang's style especially for people not used to getting hit," said Qrow as he stretched his limbs and reached for the flask in his back pocket. "The main point of all of this is that you should be working on your defense. Alright lesson over I'll see you around kid?"
"That's it? You just made me do a workout and lectured me on protecting myself and it's over, no sparring, no pads?"
"Do you want to spar? I could go for a couple rounds." said the man, who continued before Jaune could say that wasn't what he meant. "No need to get ambitious, you haven't even gotten to my secret techniques that you don't show the referee heh, but really it's your first day back."
Qrow paused for a second to take a deep pull from his flask before continuing, "Take it slow, learn the basics, and we can go from there. After all how do you expect me to teach you to fight if you can barely stand after a few squats and lunges?"
After Jaune nodded he understood, Qrow said one last thing before walking off towards the stairs leading to the upper level of the gym, "We still got some time until your bully is healed up enough to get revenge on you. Hands take a while to heal and some better cardio will do you worlds better than anything I can teach you right now."
What Jaune intitaly expected from the Uncle to two of the scariest girls he ever met was a far cry from what he experienced. Preemptively guessing on some sort of survival of the fittest lesson he instead was met with professorial level lecture on the basis of defense.
Qrow didn't even hit him until he got the point, quite different from the lessons with Ruby who preferred to be more hands on.
Then again isn't that the reason he got hurt in the first place? A certain punch to the sternum came to mind at the thought.
In addition Qrow told him to practice defense, lessening the chance he could hurt anyone and hopefully ensuring he wouldn't get hurt in turn.
Jaune took a moment to look around the empty gym. Ren had excused himself some time during the workout and Blake returned to the front desk, leaving him and his mirrored reflection.
With a grin Jaune put his hands up in the position taught to him by his red hooded savior. No one to hurt or be hurt as Jaune prepared to spend time to put Qrow's lesson into practice.
To hit and not get hit, he summed up, moments before starting his practice of dodging, parrying, and blocking.
Maybe it wasn't so bad after all … wait. How do I even practice defense?
Jaune supposed he could shadow box, but what was he supposed to do? The drunkard mentioned various techniques to work on dodging or parrying, but he never actually showed him how to do it, leaving his only means of practice Elbow blocks.
Slapping a face to his head and scrubbing fiercely, Jaune hissed, "Dammit Qrow."
Practicing one out of the three wasn't too bad was it? Thought Jaune as he resolved to spend an hour moving his elbows up and down.
~Omake~
"Helloooo young students Sensei Ruby is here with the first ever episode of 'Fight Camp Fight Camp' on ScrollTube!" said a bubbly girl in a bright red hoodie.
The only response being a blinking red light as the camera continued recording.
"I am starting this video series the day I found out about my sister's invitation to the Spring Maiden Championship. Isn't that awesome?! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT MY SISTER'S IN THE BIG LEAGUES!"
"Uh, Ruby I don't think the video is getting anything but the inside of your mouth, with you so close…"
"Oh, uh right, thanks Jaune," began the petite girl, drawing away from the camera and back into view.
Coughing once to clear her throat the girl called Ruby continued, "I will be your great and knowledgeable sensei and student Jaune will be here to help demonstrate."
After several moments of silence, Ruby leaned to the side and stage whispered to someone offstage, using her palm to hide the action from the camera, "Pssst Jaune this is your cue!"
"Why are we doing this again?" groaned a shrill male voice from offstage.
"Ergh, come on Jaune you're the one that asked me to explain what uncle Qrow was talking about."
"I asked you that before I practiced in front of a mirror for hours, I can barely move my arms!"
"What the heck did you think I would do after borrowing your camera if it wasn't to film our lesson Jaune! Come on the conclusion's obvious."
"Uh…"
Before the male could respond another higher and much angrier voice responded, "He's tired can't you see that!?"
"Gah, Velvet when did you get back?" shrieked the petite girl, drawing the camera closer and as a result giving a closeup of her face as her silver eyes widened slightly
"This is the time I've been coming for the past couple of days, but more importantly why did none of you tell me Jaune came back? Actually, BACK OFF, don't make me bust out the bunny on you!"
Ruby, not wanting anything to do with whoever Velvet was off screen, turned the camera away, right onto a black and white themed girl.
"Okay then let's go with not as great and knowledgeable co-sensei Blake," started Ruby as she joined the girl in the shot. "Blake say hi."
"Uh, Hi?" said the girl with a questioning look in her citrine eyes.
"Alright so for our first lesson of fight camp fight camp-"
"Wait, why the repetition?"
"Because repetition makes perfection!"
"What?"
"BECAUSE REPETITION MAKES PERFECTION!"
The black themed girl grabbed at her ears as Ruby faced towards the camera assuming a basic fighting stance. "Today, we will be learning about dodging."
"In martial arts there are slips, ducks, and complete evades as the basics for dodges. These are preferable to moves such as parries and blocks because you avoid getting hit."
"A slip is when you subtly take your body off the line of contact for a punch, normally used against straight punches, this move allows you to close distance as well as let you create new angles of attack if you're positioned properly," said Ruby as she demonstrated to the camera while speaking.
"The basics go as follows: first you predict which arm is punching at you, once you find out, your goal is to get to the outside of the arm, not only dodging the attack, but getting away from the opponent's other arm."
"Thus reducing the chance your opponent can follow up," added Blake.
"Correct, co-sensei Blake who had not been called upon. Why don't we demonstrate? Let's start with the jab."
The bow wearing girl nodded and assumed a similar position to Ruby and began throwing slow motion punches with her lead, left hand.
"So the basic slip," said Ruby as she turned her left shoulder in, causing the rest of her body to follow suit and lean slightly over to her right. As a result Blake's jab missed, brushing past Ruby's cheek.
"Okay pause!" shouted Ruby as she rose from her position, leaving Blake's left arm fully extended on the left side of her neck. "Students get a good look, as you can see I dodged the punch, but not only did I do that I likely dodged her follow up attack because if Blake wanted to hit me with her rear hand she would have to turn a lot just to face me square, probably taking an extra step in the process. All that lag time would mean I could get out of her way before she could even attempt throwing a cross."
Ruby continued speaking, this time after slipping past Blake's jab she turned with the movement and threw a rear hook stopping right before making contact, "I could run after a slip or I could counterattack like so. You can slip not just someone's lead punch, but it can also be for their rear, power punch, the cross. Go ahead Blake."
The bow wearing girl responded, this time throwing a rear cross, slowly extending her arm completely leaving her entire right side stretched out and taut.
Ruby in turn dodged much the same, but this time leaning towards the left and turning her right shoulder inwards. Instead of staying in that leaning posture Ruby half stepped outwards with her lead foot.
Balancing on the ball of that foot she pivoted, drawing a sweeping crescent across the mat with her rear leg and appeared in perfect fighting posture to the right side of Blake.
"And that's the amazingness of slips, ducks can be done in the same posture when defending against hooks, though you have to add some type of squat," said Ruby, as she placed both hands on her hips and smiled at the camera. "Evades are the simpler ones where you see an attack coming and back or side step away. You give your opponent a lot of space to breathe when you do this so don't get too comfortable, but it guarantees you dodge the attack and you save energy. Blake and I will do some soft boxing to show you the various types of dodges you guys at home can work on to make your defense even better!"
"Wait, did I miss the video?! I brought my luchador mask as well as some costumes for everyone!" shouted a rapidly approaching voice off screen.
"I told you we weren't filming a pro wrestling skit. I asked you for help when we got to the wrestling segment. Ah, Nora careful for the camera!" shouted the the hoodie wearing girl, as the camera caught the growing terror in her eyes.
Laughter continued unheedingly until at its crescendo, a dark specter loomed over the film, knocking the camera off its stand, sending the view into a dizzying spiral, before being caught by the dutiful Sensei Ruby
"UHH, Okay students I guess we will see you next time. Join us again for Fight Camp, Fight Camp when we go over parrying and- No, Nora I told you no masks!"
The film cut off with a hiss of static, followed shortly by screams of terror.
"Oh god not the camera, I'm borrowing that from my classes!"
"Nora, I swear if you try to grab my bow again I'll-"
"There is no Nora, Just destruction behind a mask! All will fear the Luchadora 'Rosa' Valkyrie!"
The following cackling was the last the mic picked up before it too cut off into silence.
Author note note
THERE I FINALLY GOT THE OMAKE OUT! How did my attempt at expanding techniques without overcrowding the main story work? I tried to keep it light hearted and funny so I guess i'll see what happens with that.
In regards to the main story we now have progress and an explanation to why the gym is in its current state as well as the older generations motivation, well atleast Tais. We also got a return to form where we get a martial arts lesson where Jaune does his best to learn.
In regards to update time I found that every other week works the best for me. As it stands I don't have the time to keep to a once a week schedule, unfortunate because I had plans for more fics, but ah well have to pay the bills and keep up my own actual training.
Until next time,
Mkspotlights