RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light

Chapter 10

oxoxoxo

At the same time, Ruby Rose could not have been happier or more upset. On the bright side, Weiss was back, and the two of them would be a great team forever, or at least until they graduated, whichever came first, and that was great!

But on the other hand, she hated it when her friends were upset, and it could not be more obvious that Jaune was hiding just how much Cardin was getting to him. Cardin and Jaune had never gotten along well, and things had only gotten worse with his loss to the brute in Goodwitch's class two weeks ago.

And the worst part was Jaune wasn't even trying to do anything about it. The knight just stood there and took anything Cardin threw at him, just trying to shrug it all off as if he didn't mind. Ruby could tell though, that Cardin's actions were really starting to take their toll. As the teams sat down to lunch, it was obvious to both her and Pyrrha that Jaune was tuning out Nora's story. Normally he'd be chuckling with his team as the hammer wielder spun her impossible tales, but now he was just picking at his food, a look of apathy on his face.

Pyrrha turned to the Jaune with a concerned look. "Jaune? Are you okay?"

Jaune didn't answer for a few seconds, only seeming to notice his teammate after a short silence. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, why?"

Ruby decided to voice her own concerns at that point. "It's just that... you seem a little... not... okay..." she forced out.

"Guys, I'm fine." Jaune tried to counter. "Seriously, look." He said, putting on a strained smile and flashing a thumbs up as he sat higher in his seat. He let out a small, nervous chuckle as he tried to look happy.

He could not, however resist sparing a glance across the dining hall at another table where Team CRDL was harassing a faunus girl with rabbit ears. The girl was cowering in fear as the much larger humans stood around her, taunting and harassing her as she tried to eat. He was too far away to hear what was being said, but it was obviously about her heritage as she seemed to want to hide her ears. It wasn't working.

Jaune clenched a fist as he continued to watch this. He was broken out of his thoughts, however, when his teammate piped up from next to him. "Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of class."

Oh crap, they noticed... Jaune thought. Need to think of something, fast... "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around, you know, practical jokes..."

"He's a bully." Ruby interjected.

"Oh please." Jaune countered "Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"Well," said Ruby "how many times has he knocked your books out of your hands?"

"Pfft, that's nothing..." Jaune said with a chuckle.

"What about that time he activated our shield and got you stuck in a door?" said Thatch.

"Oh, come on, that was funny!"

At about when he stuffed you in your own rocket powered locker?" asked Pyrrha "He sent you flying!"

Jaune said nothing for a few seconds.

"How did no one see that again?" muttered Francois.

"I didn't land far from the school..." said Jaune.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha insisted.

Jaune looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by Nora. "OOH! We'll break his legs!" she cried, an evil smile on her usually happy face.

There was an awkward silence following that, one that was broken by Thatch muttering "Not a bad idea..."

Jaune knew he needed to stop this before it went any further. "Guys, really, it's fine." He said, getting up "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone!"

"Ow! That hurts!"

All three teams turned to where the outburst came from, all of them feeling an anger burning in the pits of their stomachs. Cardin, apparently wanting to prove just how repulsive he could be, was pulling on one of the ears of the faunus girl he was picking on. She was begging for him to stop, but the brute just kept pulling.

"I told you they were real." The black knight said with a chuckle.

Sky and dove just laughed, Thrush adding "What a freak!"

Cardin had one last, hearty laugh before he released his captive, the rabbit girl covering her face and running from the cafeteria, sobbing just loud enough for them to hear.

Alison could only stare open mouthed at what her former test companion had just done. "Did he really just do that?"

Thatch clenched a fist and grumbled. "He did. I can't believe it."

"Attrocious..." muttered Pyrrha. "I can't stand people like him."

"On that, I think I can agree with you..." Maria replied.

"He's not the only one." Blake added from across the table.

"It must be hard to be a faunus." Yang thought aloud, missing the look of guilt that washed over her partner's face for just a second.

Jaune cast one look back to his teammates and friends before sighing and walking off.

Thatch stared after the knight, a look of disbelief and almost rage on his face. "Is he just going to walk away? He needs to do something about his." He tried to stand up, but a hand on his shoulder made him stop and look down. The hand belonged to Alison who stared up at him, pleading him with her deep, green eyes to not do anything rash. With a heavy sigh, the renegade took his seat again, the quiet girl giving a soft smile.

From her other side, however, Francois rose from his seat, placing his wide brimmed hat back on his head. "Where are you going?" demanded Maria.

Francois cast a glance down to his leader and said "Someone has to make sure she's okay."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Ren. "After being harassed about being a faunus, do you think she really wants to see a human right now?"

"Human or non," Francois replied "After what happened, she needs someone. I'll return quand je suis fini." With that, the nobleman got up and walked off in pursuit of the faunus girl.

oxoxoxo

Velvet Scarlatina didn't stop walking until she reached a secluded corner of the school where she sat down and sobbed to herself. Why? Why her? What had she done wrong? It was when her ears fell over her eyes that she received the answer to her rhetorical question. She knew there were people who thought of her people as second class citizens, but having lived in a small, insulated village all her life until this point, she had never met any of those people, and therefore didn't know just how... how awful they could be. She didn't even have a team yet to hide behind when they came for her. And the other students... to her they could be considered just as bad. They did nothing to her, but they had also just sat passively by while she was harassed.

And with my luck, when I do get a team, they'll probably be just as bad...

With that thought in her head, Velvet brought her legs up to her chest and buried her head in her knees as she began to sob anew. At this rate, she'd never be free of that Winchester boy and his cronies. She'd spend the year being his target. And all because of my bloody ears! That thought sent her further into sorrow. Why does this year have to be so long? She thought.

So absorbed was she in her grief that she barely noticed when someone said "Excusé moi, are you okay?"

Velvet didn't want to look up, afraid she might be pushed right back down, but her curiosity got the better of her and she peered up from her knees, ears and sorrow to see a boy standing in front of her, his hand outstretched to her. A human boy. What was he doing here? Probably wanted to pick on her some more. That's what humans did, harass the faunus and then tell them they deserved it, that they were monsters, no better than the White Fang, the faunus terrorist organization dedicated to bring down humanity at all costs and raise the faunus to where they belonged.

Not wanting to give him the chance to hurt her any more than she already was, Velvet only looked away, lowering her head back into her knees, refusing to cry this time though. She wouldn't give him what he wanted.

The boy didn't seem to get the hint though as he didn't leave. No, he instead sat down next to her and put a hand on her back. "I understand why you would be angered with me." He said softly, just loud enough for her to hear. "You've obviously not had good experiences with my people in the past. I know I cannot erase what they have done, but I can tell you that not all of us are so awful."

Against her better judgement, Velvet spared a look up to the boy. She could tell he came from money with his fancy clothes and the look of his face with his long, flowing blonde hair and thin moustache that did just enough to make him stand out from the other students without making him look silly. Combine that with his accent, and there was no doubt in her mind.

That being said, she knew better than to look for too long, as he would always prove to be just another human, bigoted and hateful as the rest, no matter what he said.

"You doubt me." This wasn't a question. "Je comprends. Were I you, I would not trust a human I did not know, especially an armed one."

"You have a point, I hope." She said through her sobs. Why am I talking to this man?

"I'm asking you to trust me when I say I want to help you." He said "I've seen what happens when good people are hurt by ignorance and hatred. It would kill me to see something like that happen to you."

"What do you mean?" Velvet asked, genuinely interested against her better instincts.

The boy opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get a word out, a bell rang out around the school, signalling the beginning of class was not far off. The boy shook his head and rose to his feet, offering his hand to the rabbit eared girl. "I'll tell you another time, classes will begin soon and if I'm late, my leader will kill me and my partner will never let me forget it. Will you accompany me?"

Velvet hesitated. On one hand, he was human, and therefore similar to Winchester. On the other, he was one of the few people at this school who had ever talked to her and not called her an animal.

After a few moments of silence in which she looked him over, searching for any sign that he might be lying, Velvet tentatively took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Taking a moment to brush away her lingering tears, he shook his head and said "How rude of me, I never told you my name. Je suis Francois Delatrois, et tu madame?" Velvet gave him a questioning look, whereupon he said "What is your name?"

Velvet gave a nervous smile and said "Velvet Scarlatina."

Francois brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. Velvetès face turned red as he came up to say "Enchanté, après vous." He said, gesturing in the direction of the next class.

With her head held slightly higher, Velvet followed this boy to class. For the first time in her life, she had found what seemed like a decent human.

A part of her mind, however, did not believe it. This boy was likely nothing but trouble. A bigot in disguise trying to get her to lower her guard, or worse, a playboy looking for an easy notch in his bedpost. No matter how hard she persisted, these thoughts remained in the back of her mind, refusing to leave her alone.