Chapter 36: Knight vs. Dragon

Jaune and Roland stood ready for battle at the Round Table Arena. After a brief pause, the two came at each other, clashing their blades. A series of strikes, blocks, and parries were exchanged as the two knights battled. This time, Jaune kept up with Roland far better than before. Jaune cut at Roland and followed up with more strikes to prevent a counterattack. Despite the furious assault, Roland managed to find an opening and struck, only to find his sword deflected by Jaune's aura, doing no damage. Jaune countered, landing a few blows this time, but then got hit by an energy wave by Roland as he drew back from Jaune's attacks. The two attacked again and Roland tried to mark Jaune, only to find his hand touching a plate of aura armor, leaving no mark. Roland was left surprised by this development and was open for more attacks by Jaune. Roland flew back after taking a few more blows, and as he got up from the ground, he smiled upon seeing Jaune's progress.

Roland re-entered the battle and attacked Jaune. He attacked with several quick but weak blows at Jaune while dodging attacks. Jaune had difficulty keeping up with the attacks and was worn down from using his semblance. Left open, Roland managed to mark Jaune and landed several more blows. Jaune still kept up with Roland, despite having a disabled semblance. Jaune then cut at Roland, and followed up with a shield bash. Roland recoiled from the attack and then took a blow from Crocea Mors in its combined form. Jaune attacked again, hoping to end the match only to have his wrist caught by Roland's left hand followed by a heavy blow to his chest. Jaune fell to the ground and quickly found X-Calibur at his throat. "Yield," Roland commanded, standing over Jaune. Jaune then laid down his sword and surrendered. Roland then helped Jaune up and the two put away their weapons.

As they walked out of the ring to grab their water, Jaune said, "Argh! I was close this time!"

Roland chuckled a bit, his pride taking the shot, and replied, "I hate to admit it but yes, you were close this time. I only had 20% of my aura left."

"Yeah, but still, I'm not gonna stop until I beat you Roland!"

"We'll see about that. Since you've come so close, I'm going to have to train even more so you won't beat me!" Roland smirked as he said this.

"Even more?! You're already strong enough as it is!"

"You flatter me Jaune." The two then sat down on one of the benches by the ring, sipping their water. "Speaking of the battle, I must say I am very impressed and pleased by your improvement over the last month. Your swordsmanship, combat expertise, and battle strategy are impressive. Your control over your semblance has improved drastically as well, and I never expected you to prevent me from marking you by using it. That was good thinking on your part."

Jaune chuckled at all the praise. "Heh, thanks Roland. I've only gotten to where I am now thanks to you training me. Y'know, this reminds me of when Pyrrha trained me…" Jaune looked down as he trailed off.

Roland's face grew solemn as he saw the pain etched into Jaune's face. He put his hand on Jaune's shoulder and said, "Why don't we talk about something else?"

"No, it's okay. I always feel a little better when I talk to you about this, Roland. I mean, you've felt this pain before too. It was thanks to her that I got my start. She never stopped believing in me and did everything she could to help me. She was someone very special…"

"I thought the same of Lyla, still do in fact. Because of her, I didn't feel alone when I first arrived at Beacon, since being younger that everyone else there will do that. She was the same age as me and welcomed me with that beautiful smile of hers; a smile that brightened up the darkest of hearts…"

"Heh, we knew some great gals," Jaune said, cracking a little smile.

"They at least gave us wonderful memories and a reason to make sure everyone comes home this time," Roland said, smiling as well.

After a brief silence, Jaune said, "Thanks Roland, for everything. I'm glad I have a friend like you."

"And I you, my friend," Roland replied. "You're like the brother I never had, which is an even greater relief since the only siblings we have are sisters."

"Heh, yeah I hear you. Not that it's a bad thing but it's good to not be surrounded by girls all the time."

"You got that right!" The two shook hands and got up to leave the arena. "How about we grab a bite?" Roland asked.

"Sounds good to me!" Jaune replied. "After lunch, what are we going to do?"

"Well, what you do is up to you. I have a certain fence to mend…"

"You mean with Yang? You guys did have a pretty bad fight yesterday…"

Roland sighed. "Yes, we did…"

(Scene change to flashback to the previous day)

Roland awoke that morning and got ready for the day. As he headed downstairs, he heard Yang following him downstairs into the living room. "Good morning Roland!" she enthusiastically said.

"Good morning Yang," he replied with a big smile on his face. The two kissed and sat on the couch, cuddling close to one another. They began to talk about what training they'd been doing for the last few weeks. Then Yang said, "Y'know, I'm getting tired of all this training. Why don't we spend the day together, just you and me? I bet we can find some fun places to hang out!"

"I'd love to Yang, but I'm going to be training with Jaune today," Roland replied. "He should be ready any minute, and I'd like to soon test his strength again to see how much he's improved."

"Aw, come on! Boring! Why spend the day with him when you have a beautiful girl like me to spend the day with?" She then rubbed her finger across his chest.

Roland then got up from the couch and said, "Tempting, but no means no Yang. I can't afford to stop now." As he said this, Jaune entered the house. "Ah, Jaune. Yang and I were just talking about you."

"Good things, I hope," Jaune nervously said. "You ready to go?"

"Yes, give me a second." Roland turned back to Yang, who looked annoyed. "Sorry Yang. Another time, alright?"

"Yeah, sure," Yang replied with an annoyed tone. "At least you want to spend time with someone around here."

"Exactly what is THAT supposed to mean?" Roland said, also growing annoyed.

"It means what I said: you'd rather hang out with your 'buddy' than with me, your girlfriend."

Roland turned to Jaune and said, "Why don't you wait outside? I'll catch up with you in a minute…" Jaune immediately obeyed and waited out on the porch. The next few minutes changed from stern talk to shouting. "For this last month, it's always been the next time with you!" Yang shouted. "Why not now? I think I've been patient long enough!"

"This again?!" Roland shouted back. "I'm sorry for trying to make sure we all survive this war! I'm surprised all you're thinking about is having fun!"

"At least I'm the one trying to keep this relationship going! All you care about is the next mission!"

"This mission is more important! Apparently relationships seem to be more important to you than our survival, is that it?!"

"I think you're forgetting why we fight! We fight so we can have a home to come back to, and it's not home without someone there waiting for you! YOU told me this! Am I wrong?"

"You know what? I don't need this! I can't keep Jaune waiting."

"So it's Jaune over me again huh?! Well, goodbye and don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

"Humph! Goodbye!" Roland shouted.

"Bye!" Yang angrily shouted back.

The door shut loudly as Roland stepped onto the porch. He took a deep breath and said to Jaune, "I'm sorry about that. Shall we be on our way?" Jaune said nothing and merely nodded and the two left in silence.

(Flashback ends)

Roland looked down on the ground, wrecked with guilt. He and Yang did not speak since their fight the previous day. "Aw, come on," Jaune said. "Chin up Roland! So you two had a fight. As long as you two make up, you'll be fine! Though, you will need to apologize to her."

Roland raised his head and said, "Yeah, you're right." As the two of them began to leave, they saw someone they didn't expect: Yang was walking up to the arena with Ruby. Roland was astonished upon seeing her coming up. As Yang approached Roland, the two looked at each other for a moment until Roland said, "Hey."

"Hi," Yang replied.

"Jaune, why don't we give them some privacy?" Ruby asked Jaune.

"Right," he replied and the two of them left, leaving Yang and Roland alone.

Roland took a deep breath and said to Yang, "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I was wrong in treating you like that."

"I should be the one apologizing Roland," Yang replied. "I'm sorry for what I said too."

"I forgive you, but you were right. I was focusing only on the mission ahead of me and forgot about what really matters: someone to come home to."

"I forgive you too Roland, though you did have a point too." The two then embraced and held each other for a while. "Are we alright now?" Roland asked.

"Yeah we're alright Roland," Yang replied. She then looked at the arena where Roland and Jaune trained at. She whistled at the sight and said, "Wow, you trained here?"

"Yeah, this is the Round Table Arena built in honor of Artheo and his twelve knights."

Yang looked around at the arena, amazed by its sights. "You wanna start making up for that spat we had yesterday?" she asked Roland.

"Sure. What do I need to do?"

"Spar with me here. I've spent all my time fighting with you as a teammate but never against you. I wanna see what you're made of!" She winked after that last statement, which caused Roland to blush.

"I'm going to assume you meant sparring with that last remark." Roland quickly gathered himself upon saying this.

"Sure, we'll go with that," Yang said, winking again.

After thinking for a while and ignoring her remark, Roland said, "Well, why not? I too have wanted to see how strong you are in battle!"

"Yeah! Let's do this!" The two of them readied their weapons and entered the ring. As they stood ready for battle, the knight statues moved like they did before, signifying the battle was about to begin. "I'm not gonna pull any punches just because I'm facing you Roland!" Yang confidently said.

"I wouldn't expect you to and know that I will do the same," Roland replied. "Besides, I know you'll get angry if I go easy on you."

"Heh, smart boy." The two of them ceased talking and stood ready for battle, waiting for who will make the first move. After a bit, Yang attacked first, as Roland expected, and her fist collided with his shield. Roland recoiled a bit from the impact of Yang's massive strength and countered with X-Calibur. Yang drew back to avoid the attack and came at Roland again with a flurry of punches and kicks. Roland blocked and dodged each attack that came his way and responded with strikes from his sword. Both of them were on par with each other and neither one of them gave an inch. They then separated and Yang began to fire off rounds from Ember Celica. Roland avoided and deflected the shots with his sword and shield and responded with energy waves from X-Calibur. Yang dodged all of the attacks and countered with more shots. Both of them charged at each other and re-engaged into close combat, as if they were thinking of the same strategy.

The battle continued on in a stalemate with neither side taking any damage. Yang began to grow impatient and propelled herself at Roland with a shot, packing power behind her next attack. Roland dodged and got behind her to deliver a counterattack. Yang turned around with surprising speed and blocked Roland's attack with her metal arm. Roland was stunned by the unorthodox move and took a punch to the gut by Yang. He fell to the ground and was doubled over due to the wind being knocked out of him. What? he thought. She did that on purpose, but it makes no sense! She exposed herself to lure me in… He struggled to get up and received another punch with a kick from Yang.

He then recovered and then countered with an energy wave from X-Calibur. Yang dodged only to find Roland coming at her immediately and suffered a strike from his sword. Roland followed up with a shield bash and another cut, causing Yang to fall to the ground. She quickly recovered and came at Roland, propelled by Ember Celica. Roland raised his shield to block her head-on this time, expecting another unorthodox moved only to find her fly past him. She fired another shot to stop her momentum and delivered a powerful blow from behind. Roland staggered from the blow and took several more follow-up attacks. She changed strategies, he thought. It's almost impossible to predict her! Hmm, how do I respond? He put away his shield and came at Yang, not caring about avoiding her attacks. He took another blow but grabbed onto Yang's arm and delivered a clean cut with his sword followed by an energy wave to separate the two of them.

The screen showed that their auras were exactly the same level: just above half. They both looked at each other as they recovered from the attacks they both took. Roland readied his sword and looked in horror as he saw the one thing he didn't want to see: a single strand of blonde hair falling from his sword. Yang looked in surprise upon seeing that her hair was cut by Roland's sword and grew angry. "Oh no…" Roland said and prepared for the worst.

"Grrr!" Yang said as she came at Roland. He was surprised to see that she didn't completely blow her top and activate her semblance. She still stuck to changing strategies and didn't get sloppy at all. What's going on? Roland thought as he fought on. I thought she was going to go berserk after I cut that hair off. She seems to be controlling her emotions and using her head. They continued to exchange blows still being on par with one another with both sides taking more damage. Yang then fired off more shots from Ember Celica to get some distance between the two of them. She came at Roland once again to deliver another powerful punch. Roland got out his shield again, intending to block the attack head-on. However, Yang directed a shot to the ground to propel herself upward and fired more shots at Roland. Having no time to dodged, Roland blocked the shots and saw Yang bump her fists together and activate her semblance after she landed. She came at Roland again and delivered a heavy blow. Although Roland blocked the attack, the power was too great for him to withstand and caused him to recoil, leaving him wide open. Yang followed up, intending to end the fight only to find Roland dropping his sword and catching Yang by her wrists, thus stopping her attack. His took the pain of his hands burning due to the heat she exuded, and he kicked off of her and recovered his sword. The fire around Yang faded as his mark appeared on her left wrist, negating her semblance, or so he thought.

Yang then built up more power, as if she was trying to break from chains, and yelled causing the mark to disappear, surprising Roland. What?! How?! he thought. That's never happened before! Yang's aura then swirled around her once again, proving her aura was no longer negated, and attacked again. Roland began to grow weary from her relentless onslaught and fought on as hard as he could. Yang however, also began to grow tired as well from the long fight and grew sloppy. Rather than counterattack, Roland would use the opening created from dodging Yang's attacks to mark her again, this time, marking her twice. Roland's eyes glowed royal blue along with his marks on Yang, and her semblance was negated once again. This time, Yang couldn't build more power to make the marks go away like before. "What's going on?!" she said. "I know your semblance can't stop mine!"

"I can mark more than once, sweetheart," Roland replied, somewhat taunting her. "If I mark a single opponent twice, my hold on them becomes twice as strong." As the two continued to fight, Roland thought, However, if I use more marks, the cost in aura goes up proportionally to how many marks I use. I only have enough aura remaining to keep this up for a minute until they'll fade away. Roland then began to gather energy in his sword and only defended from Yang's attacks. "What's wrong?" she taunted. "You just gonna play defense?" The runes on Roland's sword began to glow, followed by the sword itself. Roland then bashed his shield into Yang and drew back. The "X" on the hilt of his sword then glowed followed by the sword growing in length due to the energy. He held his sword in front of himself and then drew an "X", releasing an X-Blade Slash against Yang, intending to end the fight. Yang was wide open and could do nothing to avoid the massive attack. Seconds before Roland's attack landed, his marks on her faded and her semblance returned. Surrounded by aura, she charged head-on into Roland's attack, causing an explosion.

As the smoke cleared, Yang emerged, still charging at him. She then swung her right fist at him, engulfed in aura like flames, in one final attack. Roland then charged his sword with energy and swung to meet Yang's fist, causing both powers to collide. Light engulfed them both from the collision, and as it cleared, the two were still standing, both out of breath. Roland's sword, however, was at Yang's throat, signifying his victory in the battle. "Yield," he commanded.

While Yang initially looked frustrated, a smirk appeared on her face. "Heh, you first," she replied. Roland's confident look faded into uneasiness as he noticed her right arm aimed at his gut, Ember Celica prepared for another blow. The screen showed that both their auras were completely depleted, proving the match a draw in all aspects. They both sank to their knees, completely exhausted from the battle. "What a battle…" Roland said, still catching his breath. "It's been a while since I've been pushed this hard…"

"Heh, you put up good fight yourself Roland…" Yang said, also catching her breath. "You really gave me a run for my money there…"

"I'm impressed Yang… Who would've thought of such unpredictable strategies like you did...I couldn't read you at all!"

"Heh…well you knew my fighting style so well…and are good at battle strategy… I had to be unpredictable to throw you off!"

"You're using your head… Good…" Roland smiled as he said this. "Even when I cut that hair off…"

"Oh yeah…THAT was hard… I knew if I got angry, you'd use that against me… Speaking of which…" Yang then punched Roland. "That was for my hair!"

"Ow! Okay, I'm sorry!" Roland rubbed his arm from the pain. He then thought back to the battle. "You handled yourself so well in that battle. Brains, brawn, and beauty, what don't you have?"

"Heh, you got that right. I've got it all! You're not too shabby yourself." Yang winked as she said this.

Roland simply looked at her and said, "Oh, I love you…" and planted a kiss on her lips. Yang was surprised by his actions and fell to the ground. As they did, they both started laughing and lied on the ground beside each other, looking at the sky. Roland reached out and took Yang's hand, and she did the same with him. "I love you too Roland," Yang said, looking at him. Roland looked back and said nothing, enjoying seeing Yang smile. After a while, they both got back up and gathered their weapons. As they left the arena Roland said, "I think we both deserve a nice meal after that battle. Don't you agree?"

"Oh yeah!" Yang replied. "Now you're talking!"

"After that, we can do whatever you want to do. They day is ours to spend together."

Yang's face brightened up. "You mean it?!"

"Yes, whatever you want."

"Aw yeah! There's a ton of stuff I wanna do!" The two left the arena hand-in-hand and headed into town.