Chapter 11: Even More Lessons: Part 1

Blake, Weiss, and Ruby started the training two days after everyone woke up (The hangovers lasted the entire day after the party), and no one could be more excited. Well, to be fair, some showed it more than others. The second her patience ended (which wasn't long), Ruby ran full speed to the auditorium to meet Kevin, only to find Dusty and Yang going for each others throats. They must've been in there for a while, because they were both sweating furiously, and Dusty was bare-chested, trying to keep cool. Yang was covered in bruises as always, and Dusty had some, too, for a change. Ruby was amazed by the fact that Yang had gotten strong enough to land hits on Dusty so quickly, but that amazement was swiftly ended, as Dusty had knocked her down.

"Here early, I see." Said Kevin. "At least you're eager."

Ruby turned to see Kevin behind her, decked out in his battle gear, and also early.

"Man, they are going nuts, aren't they?" said Kevin, referring to Dusty and Yang. "It's kinda scary that she can keep up with him already…"

"It really is." Agreed Ruby.

They both decided to watch the next few bouts before beginning the training, and took seats in the bleachers. Watching two masters of the fist was scary even for people such as Kevin. They knew who would win every time, but Yang still held in there for a good two minutes, landing at least 5 or 6 hits before going down. Yang was more beaten up than Ruby had ever seen her before, and bleeding from several places, but the really scary thing was that she was smiling. To have that many bruises and cuts must make it hard for her to even move without a generous amount of pain, and yet she was smiling like she was having a good time. It wasn't nearly as bad for Dusty, but he was still covered in bruises. He wasn't smiling, but you could tell from the look in his eye that he was exhilarated to be fighting someone as strong as Yang.

The next few fights went the same way, and Yang lost. Ruby was slightly upset that Yang hadn't won a single fight yet, but hey, he was a third-year. Still, ranks and years aside, her patience had ended again, and she asked Kevin if they could hurry and get going.

"All right, fine." He replied. "Be forewarned, though. We won't be training in weaponless combat, so be prepared for some pretty serious injuries, tons worse than Blondie gets."
"I've gone through worse!" said Ruby, letting her mouth run. She had, in fact, not been through worse, and she had little inkling of what she would have to endure through the next few weeks.

Kevin led her to a corner of the arena that Yang and Dusty weren't using, and got down to business immediately. Ruby, remembering the incident on Yang's first day of training, kept well out of reach, fearing that Kevin would try to feel her up. But "that" wasn't what Kevin had in mind, apparently. He only asked for her weapons specs, and how she used it. Ruby, happy to oblige, tossed him Crescent Rose, and started going into every single detail of its design. After a while, Kevin asked, "Interesting. How do you use it? I mean, you have to deal with the issue of the rifle recoil, and then you need to deal with the issue of swinging it around in the right way."

"Well, I can stick the scythe point into the ground to kill any recoil, and then I use the recoil to launch myself at the enemy, and then again to give my swings more momentum. It's actually really fun, like a roller coaster ride."

"Hmmmm…" pondered Kevin. "Well, that's a weapon style I've certainly never seen before. Weapon styles aside, though, I think it's high time I saw what you can do with it."

Kevin gave Ruby her weapon, and told her to walk as far away as she wanted. She walked almost out of the arena before Kevin told her to stop.

"Now, you come at me any way you want, and I'm gonna judge your strength." He yelled from the other side of the arena. "Any time you like."

Kevin (Less unfortunate than you would think) didn't realize just how fast Ruby was, and how ready she was to attack. She was two feet in front of him before he could react. But Ruby (more unfortunate than you might think) didn't realize that Kevin was trained to deal with fast enemies like her. She saw a large orange light in front of her, and realizing it was Kevin's flamethrower, used her semblance to bounce the other way (This all happened in less than a second, by the way). She started to circle around him, a good ten feet away, looking for an opportunity to get in and cut him, but he was keeping his eyes on her, even with her speed. The good thing was that he wasn't quite fast enough to catch her with his flamethrower, but there was another issue. By now the arena was covered in fire (Luckily the arena itself was fireproof), and ruby was running out of places to run to. So, she decided to simply go at him full-speed, and bust through his defense.

…

"YOU ASSHOLE, KEVIN!" Yang screamed in Kevin's face. Yang, who had been watching Ruby out of concern, saw the whole thing, and immediately rushed over to Ruby (Now unconscious and against a wall), screaming at Kevin the entire way. After she had assured that Ruby had no injuries (Thank god for aura), she turned to Kevin, and yelled the above sentence.

"Bitch, I was charged at by a freaking rose twister. What would you have done?" he countered. "And plus, she agreed to this of her own free will. Not my fault."

"You could've just dodged! WHY DIDN'T YOU DODGE?" (For those of you who get this reference, I applaud you.)

"I'm a trained soldier tailored to defense and crowd control, dumbass. Do I look like someone who can dodge?"

"Awright, c'mon. Break it up, lovebirds." Said Dusty, trying to keep the situation under control. "Yang, little red's completely fine. They're training in armed combat, so this'll happen all the time from now on. Red's aura is pretty strong, so she has no injuries, but if she has a concussion when she wakes up, then you can try to yell at Kevin. Be forewarned, though, he has a retort for, quite literally, every insult you throw at him. And Kevin, try not to smash her head in too much, 'kay?"

"But I-" started Yang.

"No buts!" said Dusty. "How do you think Ruby felt when you came home with bruises and cuts? It's your turn to deal with it." Dusty turned to Kevin. "Now, what can you promise NOT to do?"

"I think I can promise no broken bones, but it's a stretch."

"That'll have to do. Yang, any words for this?"

"If Ruby comes home with anything more serious than a broken arm, I'm kicking your ass." She said, trying to keep her temper under control.

"Just try it, shitface. See what happens." Retorted Kevin.

"Kevin!" said Dusty.

"Alright, fine. I won't break any ribs." Promised Kevin "If I break this promise, you get one free punch and one only."

These conditions were agreed with, and Dusty led Yang back to the middle of the floor to get back to training, while Kevin waited for Ruby to wake up. It took a good while. During that while, Roy and Blake walked in, and started their training. Or at least, they walked in to say hello before going out to the emerald forest. There was no way to train in climbing, stealth, and concealing yourself in a room with literally nothing in it but a stage. So, Roy and Blake started the trek to the forest. Roy decided halfway there that it would be troublesome to walk this distance every day, so he called Dusty and told him that these would be 3-day trips with 2-day breaks in between. On the way there, Blake (compliant as always) asked about their training, and what it would consist of.

"Well, first of all, we need to up your stealth and attacking precision. Actually, what do you consider to be a stealth kill? Before we start, let's see what you know first."

Blake explained that her idea of assassination was killing the enemy before they even know you exist, jumping out of nowhere and securing victory in an instant. All the while, Roy nodded, agreeing.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. The BAD news is that you seem to have limited abilities in that area. The GOOD news is that you seem to know exactly what you're doing, so we're already halfway there."

Blake, slightly offended, asked,"What do you mean, limited abilities?"

Roy explained, "Well, you have one part of the concept of stealth down, which is concealing your physical form. You have an excellent affinity for blending in with the shadows, and you showed that when we fought. If I didn't know how to pick up on someone's breathing, movement sounds, and scent, I wouldn't have seen you at all. But, the problem with your stealth is just that: you breathe too heavily, and you make slight sounds when you move. It was actually pretty simple picking up where you were, and I was actually aiming for you when I shot at you, but I didn't know where your physical form was, so I missed. But then you jumped, and revealed yourself, so it was child's play getting to you with my semblance."

Blake drank the entire speech in, and quick to comprehend his speech, figured out what he was getting at.

"So I need to hide my breathing, and not move at all?" she asked.

"Ahh, you're quick to catch on. That'll make this easy." He replied.

"But what about my scent? If your nose is keen enough to pick up someone's scent, how will I hide it? Speaking of which, how is your nose as good as it is?"

"That's simple, actually." Said Roy, pulling his beanie off. Under his beanie were short, black dreadlocks, and… Faunus ears. However, what kind of ears they were was a mystery.

"What- is that?" Asked Blake.

"Bat ears." Said Roy. "Bats are actually really good at sniffing stuff out, and their ears some of the best in the animal kingdom. Don't worry, I wouldn't expect you to be able to hide your breathing from something that can use echolocation, but if you can, that will make you all the more deadly."

"Wow… I've actually never seen a bat Faunus before." Said Blake, mildly awestruck.

"While we're still on that topic, what kind of Faunus are you?" asked Roy, taking Blake completely by surprise.

"How did you know?" Asked Blake.

"Please, the back of your bow is furry. Anyone with eyes could see that. And while we're still on this topic, why do you hide it? I've seen tons of Faunus here already, and they aren't discriminated against."

Blake had no choice but to remove her bow, revealing her cat ears. "I want people to see me as a person, not a different race. Why do you hide yours? You don't seem like the kind of guy to hide things."
"You're right, actually." He said putting his beanie back on. "I usually wouldn't conceal my Faunus heritage, but…"

A moment later, Blake understood what the metal under his beanie was. It folded down; making a mask that covered his face. "Lesson one, never let the enemy know your identity. You didn't see it during our fight because I was always behind you."

"Oh." Said Blake, completely out of retorts. For once, there was someone that her studious mind couldn't get around. It was like he had completely walled up every part of himself, so that nothing could get in or out for his enemies to pick up on.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, shall we start?" he asked.

Blake looked up, unaware that they had already entered the emerald forest.

"Oh, of course." She replied.

End of

Chapter 11 Part 1