Jaundice

Jaune staggers to his feet, tightly clutching the handle of Cicara Morz as his opponent stares him down. A chuckle escapes the man's lips as he looks at Jaune, seemingly unaffected by the weight of the large, spiked mace resting across his left shoulder. Jaune grits his teeth, drawing in a ragged breath before he charges forward with his sword held high, releasing a mighty battle cry. He swings down wildly but the man steps around the blow and bats his mace into Jaune.

The force of the blow knocks Jaune off his feet, simultaneously dislodging his shield from his grasp. He quickly recovers, charging in again, this time drawing his blade up and over his head before cleaving it down with both hands. There's a loud clang as his opponent blocks the blow with the handle of his mace. He is pushed back for a moment before he starts to slowly overpower Jaune, standing taller as he does.

"This is the part where you lose." He tells Jaune, a large grin plastered across his face. Jaune's blade is nearly pressing against his own shoulder as he locks eyes with the man, desperately trying to hold his position.

"Over my dead-" A knee crunches into Jaune's gut before he can finish. He drops his sword and falls to the ground clutching his stomach as the man stands over him, his grin twisting into a satisfied snarl. Jaune's eyes widen as the man raises the mace above his head, the light behind him creating a terrifying silhouette of the bulky armour protecting the giant body.

Just as he swings the mace down towards Jaune, the sound of a buzzer fills the room, halting the final blow.

"That's enough." Miss Goodwitch steps into the middle of the arena and looks around at the students lining the stands. "As you can see, Mr Arc's aura has fallen into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate he is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may end the match." She tells them, though many are still looking at Jaune as he props himself up on the arena floor; His opponent leaning casually on his mace.

'I knew Jaune might need a little help when it came to formal combat training, but that was just… painful to watch.' Theodore thinks, looking at the holographic screens displaying statistics for each fighter. On the left was 'Cardin Winchester', with an almost full aura bar; Jaune having only been able to get a few light tactical strikes early on. On the right, 'Jaune Arc', with an almost empty aura bar, flashing red.

"Mister Arc," Miss Goodwitch continues, turning back to Jaune, "you have been here a number of weeks now, so you should know that you really must try to keep your aura level in mind during combat. If you don't, as was proven today, you are unlikely to decide on the best course of action." Jaune nods sadly and hangs his head for a moment. "We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf, now would we?" She adds somewhat wryly.

"Speak for yourself." Cardin scoffs quietly as he walks out of the arena, oblivious to Pyrrha's glare. Theodore also frowns at him, but quickly turns back to Eliza and team RWBY, who are more concerned with Miss Goodwitch and Jaune.

"Remember everyone, the Vytal tournament is only a few months away, it won't be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale. So, keep practicing." Many of the students cheer in excitement at Miss Goodwitch's words. "Remember, those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale and our expectations will be high." She finishes just as the bell rings, signalling the end of class and the beginning of lunch.

Theodore looks to his friends and smiles when he sees them brimming with excitement at the news; Eliza wearing a particularly confident smirk.

A short time later, everyone is sitting together in the cafeteria, the room abuzz with conversation. There are groups from all years of Beacon, mostly talking about the upcoming tournament, but Nora is doing most of the talking at the table shared by teams RWBY, JNPR and MGTA.

"There we were… in the middle of the night…" She says, her voice ominous, her bright blue eyes shifting around the table.

"It was day." Ren corrects.

"And we were surrounded by Ursai…" Nora continues, adding dramatic flair with her hands. Yang is already enraptured by the story, as it seems is Eliza, though she may simply be appreciating Nora's skill for creating drama. At the other end of the table, Weiss and Blake are not even listening.

"They were Beowulfs." Ren corrects again, knowing full well that Nora will continue to tell the story her own way no matter what he says.

Theodore, Pyrrha and Ruby are only half listening, more concerned with Jaune, watching the young knight play with his food with a dejected gloom hanging over his face.

"Dozens of them!" Nora shouts, slamming her hands on the table and standing proudly. Blake jumps slightly but quickly returns to her book, Weiss continues to file her nails and Yang and Eliza just smile at Nora's antics.

"Two of them." Ren says, wondering why he's bothering.

"But in the end, they were no match for us, and Ren and I made a boatload of Lien selling Ursai skin rugs." Nora finishes, sitting down with a giddy smile on her face.

Ren sighs and takes a sip from his mug. "She's been having the same reoccurring dream for nearly a month now." He tells everyone with a tired tone.

Theodore wonders how any member of team JNPR manages to sleep with Nora in their dorm, appreciating at the same time that she must keep their mood one of… excitement.

"Jaune, are you ok?" Pyrrha asks a little too loudly, looking at him with concern. Most of the table also turns their attention to him. For a second Jaune doesn't even register Pyrrha's question, still too absorbed in his own thoughts.

"Hmm… Oh, yeah. Why?" He asks.

Theodore looks at him with a concerned but calculating gaze; he and Jaune have become friends and not only does he feel he knows Jaune and his tells, but he certainly knows a lie when he hears one. Especially from a poor liar. Surtur however doesn't seem to care and decides to entertain himself by blowing small smoke rings into the air.

"It's just you seem a little… not ok." Ruby elaborates, trying to be delicate, fidgeting with her fingers a little before deciding randomly to point them at him as finger guns.

"What? Guys I'm totally fine, see?" He puts on a big smile and gives a thumbs up, doing his utmost to brush off the situation. But his attention is grabbed at that moment by the sound of laughter; he looks over to Cardin and his team snickering and jeering at another table. His façade cracks and he absentmindedly balls his fist, the leather of his gloves creaking as he does.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha says, clasping her hands over each other and trying to keep her voice calm, despite her anger at the thought.

"No, he just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes." Jaune replies, turning back with a smile that everyone can see right through, waving off Pyrrha's accusation...

"He's a bully." Ruby scowls, glaring at Cardin for a second.

"I concur," Theodore says, absentmindedly stroking Surtur. "His behaviour is atrocious." He feels the agreement around the table. It's not the first time he's seen someone like Cardin at Beacon, every year seems to have its troublemakers, some worse than others, and Cardin is the usual type.

"Oh please, name one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune scoffs, making air quotes as he looks around the table and lets out a nervous chuckle.

"Well let's see…" Eliza chimes in, "…he constantly knocks your books out of your hands like you're both ten years old, he opens your shield so you get stuck in doors, deliberately tries to belittle you in any way possible and, oh yeah, let's not forget the time he stuffed you into a rocket locker and fired you out of the school." She lists off Cardin's offences, and Jaune's subsequent tribulations, without missing a beat and without considering Jaune's embarrassment. Theodore sighs slightly; everyone else had managed to be tactful.

"I didn't land far from the school." Jaune says. His cheeks are an uncomfortable shade of red, and the concerned stares of everyone at the table quickly silence him; even Blake and Weiss stop what they're doing to give him an uneasy look. He awkwardly avoids eye contact and shifts in his seat.

"You know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha assures him. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Oh! We'll break his legs!" Nora announces loudly, jumping up from her seat again, a crazy gleam in her eye as she balls her fists by her face. Theodore cocks an eyebrow at the rapid escalation but doesn't label it a terrible idea.

"Bottom line, you shouldn't put up with it." Yang concludes, her older sister instincts taking over for a second.

"Guys, thanks, but really, it's fine." Jaune states, grabbing the tray with his half-eaten lunch and standing up. "Besides, it's not like he's just a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone." As if on cue they all hear Cardin and his goons chuckling and jeering again.

Looking over, they see that the group of bullies have surrounded Velvet, who unbeknownst to them had been quietly eating her lunch alone. She's looking straight down at the table and shifting every time one of team CRDL moves, trying to ignore them, their comments, and hurtful questions. Theodore and Eliza share a look, a silent conversation occurring in that split second.

"Hey, Theodore isn't that…" Ruby turns to see Theodore and Eliza have disappeared, confusing not just her but everyone. "Are we sure he isn't actually a spy?" She asks, looking to Jaune for an answer. He shrugs and says nothing. They look around and see their missing friends quickly approaching CRDL and Velvet.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. I don't think the lady is enjoying your company." Theodore tells Cardin and his team, Eliza stood next to him with her arms crossed. Velvet smiles in relief and all but Cardin back off slightly.

"Lady? Oh, you mean her." He sneers, pointing a finger at Velvet. "I was only asking if her ears were real." His smile is over the top innocent and his goons snicker as Velvet shies away a little more. "And, I think she's a little too… primitive, to be a lady."

Theodore frowns slightly while Cardin shoots an amused look at Eliza; she grinds her teeth into the sudden silence in the entire cafeteria.

'Slimy little prick.' He thinks. Surtur growls on his shoulder, a dangerous look in his eye.

"The only primitive one around here is you," Eliza tells Cardin scornfully. "It's funny how the only way you can feel strong is by making someone else feel weak." She shows him a taunting smile, enjoying the scowl that immediately darkens his face.

RWBY and JNPR watch in quiet admiration.

"Well, at least I didn't need my mommy's leverage or some idiot's recommendation to get into this academy." Cardin spits, leaning in and clasping his hands together with an intense stare. "Why do you care about her anyway?"

"Velvet is not only our friend, but also an exceptional person who doesn't deserve to be the target of your frankly disgusting racism and bigotry." Theodore tells him, the superiority and blatant condescension in his tone surprising everyone. Cardin growls and stands up, but Theodore remains still, his cold, calculating glare boring into Cardin.

"That means fuck off, asshole." Eliza says, making Theodore's lips twitch. She adds her own glare to Theodore's. Velvet shrinks back further, uncomfortable at being caught in the middle of the confrontation.

Yang gasps at the language, comically covering Ruby's ears, until Ruby swats her hands away. Various students whisper and a few even jeer at Cardin and his team, while others stare in admiration at Eliza and Theodore.

"Don't start a fight you can't finish, 'Eye candy'." Carding growls, his knuckles turning white as he clenches his fists. Eliza barely restrains herself from strangling him on the spot, her fingers digging into her palms as Cardin gives her a sly smile. "If it really means that much to you then take your freak and go."

Surtur bristles his wings, dark smoke starting to pour from his nostrils, his irises becoming almost invisible as he stares daggers at Cardin, eagerly anticipating an opportunity to go for him. Theodore feels Surtur's tail slide slowly over his back and the orange glow build in his friends' chest warming his shoulder.

"Mr Winchester," Theodore says, "since coming here you have proven two things; one, that you have a desperate need for the attention you seemingly lacked in childhood, and two, that you fall pitifully short of everything this academy stands for. You have no place being a huntsman." Theodore ignores the gasps, jeers, and laughs from the students around him. In truth he doesn't like the mob mentality that often falls over these kinds of social hiccups, and his words spring as much from disappointment that none of them stood up for Velvet as they do from disgust at Cardin's behaviour.

"You think you're better than me, Teachers' pet?" Cardin snarls at Theodore, his team edging slightly closer.

Eliza glances dangerously at each and every one of them, daring them to see what happens if they make a move on Theodore. "Yeah, we kinda do," she tells Cardin with a smug grin.

He glares at her for a second before finding a dark smile of his own, smugly reaching over and grabbing one of Velvet's ears, tugging on it so harshly she squeaks in pain. Eliza's arm shoots out like a viper's tongue, grabbing Cardin's other hand, using her thumb to apply backwards pressure to the middle of his pinkie finger.

"Your aura may heal your fingers, but it won't make it hurt any less when I break them." She hisses, pushing her index finger into the knuckle at the base of the pinkie as she slowly forces it backwards. Theodore wards off the bully's team with a silent threat as Cardin grimaces. "Let go," Eliza commands.

Cardin grunts, his eyes narrowing as if he is assessing Eliza's commitment, strength, and skill… after a few seconds, he begrudgingly releases Velvet's ear, balling his fist with an ugly look at Eliza. She smiles sweetly at him but doesn't release his pinkie, instead pushing it just a little bit further.

To avoid a full-scale war in the cafeteria Theodore calmly steps up beside Eliza, adjusting one of his cufflinks, a slight smirk on his face. "That's enough," he whispers in Eliza's ear. "You'll only get yourself in trouble."

She shows him a resentful scowl, stubbornly holding on to Cardin's finger for another few seconds before huffing her acceptance and releasing him. Cardin immediately flexes his fingers and shoots a dark look at Eliza, Theodore and Velvet.

"If you believe you're better than us then prove it where you think it counts, in combat class." Theodore says, looking first at Cardin then Eliza. 'Oum knows, you can't hope to prove it anywhere else.' He thinks.

"Can't wait." Cardin spits, glaring at Eliza for another few seconds before walking away, his team following close behind.

"Likewise." Eliza says, her small smile one of anticipation. She looks around to find mixed expressions from teams RWBY and JNPR. Unsure of their meaning she rubs the back of her neck awkwardly.

Theodore checks Velvet's ear and gently takes her hand, guiding her to her feet. "Are you alright?" He asks softly. Velvet runs a hand over her ear, wincing slightly when her fingers trace the area scrunched by Cardin's brutish fist. Surtur empathises by leaning in and silently giving her permission to stroke him, which she does.

"I'm ok, just a little embarrassed," she assures Theodore. He gives her a knowing look, one she refuses to meet, instead clearing her throat and looking at Eliza as she continues to stroke Surtur. "Thank you, I know I can always count on you."

"Any time, what are friends for?" Eliza tells her, wrapping an arm around her as she subtly tries to stroke Surtur as well. He shrugs her off. Velvet giggles and Theodore smiles. "And we can always, you know… dispose of them 'permanently' after Mrs Goodwitch's class, if we want." She adds quietly with such a mischievous look that Velvet's eyebrows and ears stand to attention in surprise, and some fear as she is unable to tell if Eliza is joking or not.

"Come on," Theodore says, "we'll walk you back to your dorm and then I'll talk to my mother about getting you the rest of the day off." He smiles kindly at her. Surtur returns to his shoulder and Velvet smiles shyly, not wanting to acknowledge the fact everyone's staring at them.

Without another word the three of them stride out of the cafeteria; Theodore giving a brief departing gesture to teams RWBY and JNPR. The silence remains even after they're gone, some of the students glancing over at the two first-year teams.

"That was… satisfying to watch." Blake breaks the silence, everyone murmuring their agreement, bar Nora who mumbles something about broken legs. Jaune watches the door for a second before looking back at his friends, their concerned looks returning. With a sigh he bins his tray and walks away, unable to take the pitiful stares any longer.

Yang sighs as she quietly pads her way across Beacon, the near-empty halls now slightly chilly with crisp evening air. She clicks out the second button on her blazer and silently curses herself for forgetting her books, having been too distracted in lesson to remember them… thinking about how much to bet on MGTA's fight with CRDL. She arrives at Professor Peach's classroom and quickly scans the lecture rows, spotting her books in a dishevelled pile on the professor's desk. She sweeps them up and heads back to the dorms, eager to relax.

On her way back she spots a light in the weapons workshop, this alone wouldn't normally be enough to keep her attention but the glimpse of a small red creature in the doorframe catches her interest. She smirks and immediately changes direction, the sounds of tinkering and idle talk growing louder the closer she gets to the light.

Ruby would definitely be jealous if Theodore revealed the secrets of his weapon to Yang instead of her, which made Yang's smile ever wider. On top of that, no one had seen Theodore or Eliza since lunch and-

"Ah, fuck."

Yang's train of thought is interrupted by the exclamation. She stops at the workshop door and quietly peeks her head inside, immediately spotting Theodore at one of the benches with Surtur stood across from him; Eliza is nowhere to be seen. Theodore flicks his thumb back and forth before quickly sucking on it like a baby. A giggle escapes Yang's mouth, which she quickly covers.

Theodore isn't wearing his jacket or waistcoat, both items folded neatly over the back of a chair, leaving him in only his shirt. Both shirt sleeves are rolled up and the top button of the shirt undone; she spots the accompanying tie hanging from one of the rafters… guess Surtur got bored.

As quietly as possible, she stalks up behind Theodore, leaving her books on a bench. Surtur flicks his head to look at her, so she quickly holds a finger to her lips. Thankfully, Theodore doesn't seem to notice and the wyvern goes back to watching his friend work. Just before Theodore starts to screw in a small bolt, his vision is blocked by two soft hands.

"Guess who?" Yang grins, peeking over her friend's shoulder at his weapon, partially disassembled, with bits and pieces placed neatly around it. Theodore sighs with a smile and puts down his tools, feeling Yang's fingers flick his hair slightly.

"Yang." He states. His reward is the return of his sight. Her full golden locks brush his neck gently as she leans down over his shoulder. She seems to radiate heat, almost like the sun as he feels it wash across his side.

"So, what you are working on handsome?" She asks playfully; Ruby is the weapons pro not her, but she knows a thing or two. Theodore smiles at her obviousness and returns to his tools. Surtur slithers around to his side and Yang watches his nimble fingers pick up and reassemble piece after piece.

"Just a simple upgrade, nothing fancy." He responds, picking up a tight roll of metal wire, situating it carefully before clicking the ends into place. "What about you?" He asks. "Finally realize those homemade bunk beds of yours are a death trap and come to fix them?" Surtur chortles at this but Yang lightly punches him in the arm.

"I'll have you know they are genius. I just forgot my books." She thumbs behind her and Theodore 'hmms' in acknowledgment. Surtur looks intently at the books for a moment before Yang sees him and glares with meaning, her eyes briefly flashing red. "No." She tells him firmly; lost books are one thing, burned books are quite another.

Their staring contest is cut short by Theodore rising from his seat, his umbrella fully reassembled and freshly polished. Yang marvels for a second at how quickly he put it together, then curses that she failed to learn about any of its inner workings so she could hold it over Ruby.

"Well, that's that." Theodore says, folding his waistcoat and jacket over his forearm and looking around for his tie. After a second, he looks to Yang. She flicks her lilac eyes to Surtur. The wyvern looks upwards. They all look up and Theodore sighs, retrieving his tie and turning to Yang again. "Goodnight Yang, don't forget your books." He smiles and walks out, quickly followed by Surtur.

Yang grins… next time.