Team B.P.A.S.
Persephone watched as Jaune and Cardin's match went on. They were the final match up in today's class, and Jaune was losing horribly. Cardin was playing with him, he'd either dodge Jaunes attacks or knock him to the ground. Worst of all Cardin was enjoying it. Cardin wasn't that good, Jaune was just that bad. Persephone felt dismay, even she wasn't this bad when she snuck in.
Jaune was panting, slumped over and leaning on his sword. With a determined looked he dashed, hoping for a vertical slice. Unfortunately, Cardin side-stepped him and the strike made sparks on the arena floor, his body was two low. Cardin used the opening and swung his mace at Jaune. He tried to put his shield up but he still went flying. Luckily, Jaune rolled with his momentum and got back up. He had lost his shield, so he tried a two-handed strike. Cardin blocked and set the two in a deadlock, and Cardin was beginning to overpower Jaune, "This is the part where you lose."
"Over my dead-," Cardin kneed Jaune in the privates, making him moan and fall to the ground. Persephone cringed at the cheap shot, she'd done it before but normally she had someone as an equal to duel. This was just domination.
Cardin prepared to smash Jaune on the floor but, the buzzer went. "Cardin, that's quite enough," Cardin withdrew and Glynda walked forward to the rest of the class. She was both teacher and referee for this match up.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and the official may call the match." An overhead display showed the aura levels of both Cardin and Jaune. Persephone sighed not sure what she could do with him. He clearly needed help, Persephone's been tagging him since team J.N.P.R. was formed, and she didn't like what she's saw. Jaune's been having a tough first month, and Cardin's bullying wasn't helping any. She would report him, but then she'd have to admit to stalking.
"Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help decide when it is appropriate to attack or is better to switch to a more… defensive strategy." Jaune was looking down at his scroll seeing his aura and stats. "We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf now, would we?"
"Speak for yourself." Cardin mumbled and headed off the duel area. Persephone grabbed in exasperation. Huntsmen are supposed to help one another, not wish for another's demise.
"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." Most of the students were excited about the tournament. The Vytal Festival was a worldwide event celebrating the unity between the 4 kingdoms: Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale. This year Vale was hosting the tournament, and Beacon is housing the students from other schools. It was going to get crowded.
The bell rang, and the students started walking out for lunch. Jaune only dropped his head in shame in the stage. Persephone watched Glynda walk past her, then back to Jaune. His team was waiting just by the door. Sighing she decided it was time for a chat with Mr. Arc and walked up to him, "Hello Jaune."
Jaune shot his head up in surprise, "M-Ms. Jupiter! Um… hi?" Persephone had a sympathetic smile, and sat down in front of him, "Jaune, is everything alright?" she spoke with genuine concern. Persephone had similar experiences during her time at school, it wasn't fun.
"Uh—everything's fine. Yeah. Why do you ask?" Jaune put on a smile but Persephone could tell it was forced. She stared, looking straight into his eyes, and Jaune was trying to avoid them. "It's just that you looked rather depressed after you fight Cardin. You know, it's alright to lose once in a while, Jaune."
"R-Realy? I had no idea." Jaune was getting uncomfortable now. Persephone wasn't being intimidating but she could tell he wanted this to end as soon as possible. So she started to get up, "Just so long as you learn from it. Come on," she extended her hand, "your teams waiting outside."
Jaune took her hand and got up but she didn't let go. "Look Jaune, I know things seem bad right now. But I promise, things will get better. Just don't shut people out." Persephone let go of his hand and let him walk out the doors. She sighed, concerned for the boy's safety. The school is going to be rough on him, if he doesn't improve fast enough.
"So there we were in the middle of the night"
"It was day."
"We were surrounded by Ursai…"
"They were Beowulves."
"Dozens of them!" Nor had slammed her hands down and stood up from the bench.
"Two of them," Ren corrected. Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R. shared a table in the cafeteria. Blake was reading, Weiss was polishing her nails, and Yang looked rather taken in by Nora's story. However Ruby and Pyrrha were looking worriedly at Jaune, who was looking away in thought.
"But they were no match. And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boat load of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs."
Ren sighed, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."
"Jaune are you okay?" asked Pyrrha. It took a moment but Jaune responded, "Huh? Oh yeah, why?"
"It's just that you seem a little… not okay," answered Ruby. Soon everyone on the teams were looking at Jaune. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously. Look." He put on a smile and a thumbs up, but they weren't convinced. Jaune laughed nervously, then saw Team C.R.D.L. surrounding a rabbit Faunus girl. His hand clenched in frustration.
"Jaune, Cardin has been picking you since the first day of school."
Jaune noticed his partner talking to him and released his fist. Looking back at the teams. "Who? Cardin Whinchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around. You know, practical jokes."
"He's a bully," said Ruby. She wasn't impressed with Cardin, and neither were some of the others.
"Oh please. Name me one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune made quotation marks with his hands. But looked away dejectedly.
"Well he knocked your books out of your hands."
"Activated your shield in the middle of a doorway, so you were stuck."
"And you were shoved into one of the rocket propelled lockers and shot into the Emerald Forest."
"I didn't land far from the school," said Jaune. Pyrrha wasn't believing her leader's sentiment though, "Jaune you know that if you ever need help, you can just ask."
"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" exclaimed Nora.
Jaune got up with his food tray, "Guys, really its fine. Besides, it's not like he's just a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone."
"Ow! That hurts!" The teams looked around to see Cardin pulling on one of the rabbit Faunus' ears. The rest of C.R.D.L. laughed at the Faunus' expense. "Please stop…," she asked sadly and in defeat.
"I told you it was real," Cardin told his team.
"What a freak," said Russel. Cardin let go, and Velvet, Cardin's victim, shielded her face with her hand to hide her humiliation.
"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him," spoke Pyrrha in disgust. Blake readily agreed with her, glaring at Cardin. "He's not the only one."
Yang propped her elbow and looked up at the ceiling. "It must be hard to be a Faunus."
The doors slammed open showing a pissed off Saga, with Velvet standing behind her. "CARDIN WINCHESTER! BRING YOU TEAM TO OZPIN'S OFFICE RIGHT NOW!" The mess hall turned quiet at Ms. Chiron's outburst. They knew there was trouble if a teacher was mad, and she looked ready to bludgeon them with her weapon. Jaune in the back almost lost his tray in surprise.
No one moved. But Cardin chuckled like no one could touch him. That was immediately proved wrong by Saga pulling him up by his own ear. "Ow! Let me go you stupid animal." He tried to escape but her grip was iron.
"Insulting a teacher, eh?" Cardin went bug eyed at his mistake, "You four are coming with me." Russel tried to speak but immediately shut up at Saga's glare. There was a fire in her eyes that promised hell, if he didn't comply. The team started following her out of the mess hall, Cardin still being dragged by the ear. "Ms. Scarletina, please call your teammates to Pro. Ozpin's office as well." Velvet nodded but still looked scared at Team C.R.D.L. even if their leader was at Saga's mercy. The door closed behind them and the cafeteria started getting louder again.
"Well, that was a thing," said Yang.
Blake looked hopeful but also scared at Saga's appearance in the mess hall. "Ms. Chiron is an inspiration to most of the Faunus here in the school. Though she is a little hot-headed when it comes to discrimination," Blake amended.
"She's great with bullies though," said Ruby. "She even gave me a cookie after class for all the hard work I've been doing." Ruby smiled daydreaming about the cookie.
"She's a good teacher," Ren complemented.
"So are the rest of B.P.A.S.," said Weiss going back to her nail. "Byron and the rest of Team B.P.A.S. have been doing missions since their student days. Often teaming up with teams Red and Blue and are considered hero's in Atlas."
"They sound more like your heroes. Eh Weiss?" Weiss blushed and sputtered at Yang's teasing. Jaune came back to the table. "Hey, watcha guys talking about?" "Team B.P.A.S. Hey which of B.P.A.S do you guys like?" asked Yang.
Weiss immediately said Byron, along with Blake. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora responded with Persephone. Ren and Ruby liked Saga. "Well I like Asher. I'd love to get a ride on that motorcycle sometime. That ride is wicked!"
"I've heard he's rather protective about his bike," spoke Pyrrha. "Even during motor derbies he's always making sure nothing scratches it. But Persephone was my inspiration to become a huntress. Ever since her first tournament at Vytal she'd always come out on top. Now I get to train with her."
"Hey Weiss," Ruby turned to look at here partner," didn't Byron teach you at one point?"
"Y-Yes. Father invited B.P.A.S. to train me three years ago. Unfortunately, they left due to… personal reasons." A little bit of blush came onto Weiss' face, recalling her advances to the lead Huntsman.
The bell rang and Jaune internally sighed. How was he supposed to become like his father and ancestors if he couldn't even be like his teammates? And what was Ms. Jupiter's sudden interest in him?
I'm back baby! What do you think? A little shorter that most I think but I hope it was still good. So the story has been edited. For those who followed the story before, names have been changed a little bit. I would like to say I'm sorry for the hiatus, I wasn't sure how to go with this story arc, that kinda lead to leaving it alone. Oh well, review!
