Chapter 08: Acquaintances and Dilemmas I

The battle currently underway had different reactions from the teams connected to them. Jaune, Pyrrha and Weiss silently observed and took notes while Ruby, Nora and Yang wildly cheered for their respective teammates.

Blake Belladonna vs Lie Ren

Blake skidded back from Ren's heavy kick, which caused her to lose Gambol Shroud's cleaver-sheath as it fell beyond the ring, and retaliated quickly with Gambol Shroud's pistol, putting some breathing distance between them.

After a brief second, the 'ninjas' of Teams JNPR and RWBY clashed again, grinding Storm Flower and Gambol Shroud against each other. They separated then clashed again and again until Ren grabbed an opportunity to palm thrust Blake's midsection. This was a mistake as Blake swiftly left a Fire Dust clone, which not only granted her escape but nearly burnt Ren's hand.

Then both combatants switched their weapons to gun mode and fired at each other. For some seconds, Ren and Blake did nothing but shoot and dodge each other constantly and vigilantly.

Ren dashed forward, going for a heavy double kick, which Blake parried and dodged away Ren took advantage of his midair stop to nearly kick her head off. The two clashed weapons until in a feat of dexterity, Blake disarmed Ren of his weapons, which ironically landed near Gambol Shroud's cleaver-sheath and then held him at gunpoint.

"Do you surrender?" Blake held her arm steady, trying to ignore the stinging from Ren's earlier kicks.

"No" Ren dropped to his knees while simultaneously thrusting his arms backwards, which released a burst of aura to propel him.

This got him into Blake's personal space and let out a flurry of palm thrusts and elbow hits on her. Blake barely managed to switch out with her clone but was still hit by a few. Blake steadied her breathing and then switched Gambol Shroud to katana mode.

Ren rushed forward, believing her to be out of bullets. This was a mistake, as Blake swung her weapon at Ren's approaching form, releasing a translucent purple slash which cut into Ren and sent him flying backwards.

"That's enough, Ms. Belladonna!" Goodwitch declared, letting Blake to lower her arm and and stumble out of the way as the teacher entered the stage, tapping her tablet.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Ren's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Lie Ren is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." As she talked, two holograms appeared behind Goodwitch, showing Blake's Aura in the yellow while Ren's Aura had entered the red.

While Ren still laid on the floor in defeat and exhaustion and Nora reluctantly passed Yang some lien, Goodwitch turned her head to look at the defeated ninja as he pulled his scroll, looking at his low, blinking stats and that of his entire team. "Mr. Ren, it's been weeks now. Please try to bolster your defense. While you do have a solid offense and very little recklessness compared to some people,"

Goodwitch turned her head to gesture at Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie's direction, before facing Ren again. "Your only faults seem to be your low defense and stamina."

Ren sighed in response. "We wouldn't want you to collapse and get gobbled up by a Beowulf, now, would we?"

"Good fight." Blake chimed in.

"Thanks." Ren stood up, stretching his back as he made his way to his seat.

After a while, the Bell rang to signal the class' end.

"Blake, can I talk to to you for a second?" Jaune asked Blake as she took her seat next to him. "That purple attack you just did in Goodwitch's class. What was that? Was it some sort of Dust usage?"

"No. That was Aura manipulation."

"Eh?"

"Aura manipulation is as it describes." Ren took over for Blake, either ignorant or uncaring to Nora stealing his lunch. "It's a skill which allows one to manipulate their Aura for specific functions such as the basic reinforcement techniques and so forth."

"But what Blake did couldn't have been a reinforcement technique."

"It wasn't." Blake replied. "It was a projection. I infused my Aura into my blade and released outwards as I swung it. I... learnt it from a former friend of mine."

"Thanks Blake, I'll give a try. It's too cool not to." Jaune gushed, remembering an old comic where the main character could do the same thing with his sentient sword.

"Good for you- Nora! My food!" Ren yelled at Nora who just downed the last of Ren's meal. "It's your loss for ignoring it, Renny!" Nora crowed as she dodged his grabs.

"I have been wondering for a while now but, why does Nora refer to you by your surname?" Pyrrha asked as Ren squeezed Nora's face to stop her from chewing.

"I asked him that earlier." Jaune moved to Pyrrha's side, unaware of her blush at his close proximity. "In his home language 'Lie' means Ardent. Unfortunately in English, 'Lie' just means... you know."

Jaune shuddered as he watched Nora triumphed the impromptu match between her and Ren "He must have been bully magnet as a kid. The only times I hear his first name are when teachers call him. And even then, that's not much."

Jaune walked through the hallways after submitting his homework to Professor Port. He had just submitted his essay on Nevermores and might have been trapped in listening to one of his boring stories, had he not lied that Professor Ozpin had an errand for him.

He had just left the hallway adjacent to Port's classroom when he literally ran into Cardin. Cardin was only pushed back a bit while Jaune fell on his ass. Jaune quickly apologized and stood to walk away when Cardin suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Not so fast." Cardin pulled Jaune into a nearby closet. "I need your help with something, Jaune."

Jaune widened his eyes. Cardin calling him by name was a serious matter.

"What is it?" Jaune warily checked his surroundings. He would have to be prepared for anything Cardin would throw at him.

"You remember that chick from before? Velvet Scarlatina?" Jaune nodded.

"I asked her out, for reals." Jaune lost control on his jaw.

"N-No way." Jaune shakily replied. "I-I was joking you know. I deliberately acted in such a narmy way to tease you. Look, I'm so sorry you got rejected but-"

"She said yes." Cardin cut in.

"WHAT?!" Jaune was in shock. "I... wasn't expecting that. What's the problem?"

"I've... never been on a date in my life." Cardin looked like he wanted a Goliath to swallow him whole for admitting that out loud.

"O-Okay... Where does that bring me in?"

"Other than the fact you the only one I know from childhood in the school and the fact that you tricked me into it," Cardin pointed out. "You've got experience with girlfriends. Like your wife, Snowlander-"

"She's not my wife!"

"Or Nessa."

"Nessa dumped me, remember?" Jaune recalled the only girlfriend he had before Beacon, who had dumped him after finding out his love for comics. Apparently, Comic fans or nerds were a deal breaker for her.

"Anyway, I'm going to the city with her this weekend. Ask the girls in your team for tips on what to do."

"I'll ask Yang instead. Nora's too different from Velvet and Pyrrha's probably never gone on a date in her life, due to her fame." That really sucked for the poor Champion. "Ruby tells me that Yang on the other hand, used to constantly go for parties, before Beacon. She'll at least have some experience."

After a little more discussion, the two knights left the closet and parted ways. Jaune took out his Scroll to call Ruby.

"Ruby, I know this might sound weird but can you please send me your sister's number? I need some advice."

Hunter Profile

Name: Blake Belladonna

Age: 17

Title: The Shadow Beauty

Aura: Purple

Color Motif: Black, White

Sex: Female

Alignment: Chaotic Good (She is a former terrorist, after all)

Likes: Her family, Yang and Ruby, The former White Fang

Dislikes: Weiss Schnee, racists, The current White Fang

Bio: Blake was practically "born" into the White Fang due to her father's connections to it. However, soon after the change in leadership, she left as she could no longer accept the increasing death toll the current White Fang was responsible for.

She enrolled into Beacon in order to gain strength, knowledge and experience in order to reform the White Fang and eradicate anti-faunus racism.

Due to her experiences, she still slightly racist against humans, but is still cordial to Ruby (for her naivety), Yang (for her sheer stubbornness in holding conversations with her), team JNPR (mostly Jaune and Pyrrha for helping Velvet Scarlatina, which she witnessed) and the teachers.

KingVessel: A bit short i know, but there's more in part II. please review