For the rest of the week, Ryu and his teammates saw how Cardin and his teammates used Jaune by making him place gum in Riley's gauntlets, replacing Olette's normal bath salt with red pepper salt, and hitting Horus with a rock when he was flying back from vale.
Team HORR were in their dorm room… and they weren't happy "That damn son of a bitch is starting to be a pain in my ass! Does he have any idea how hard it is to get gum out of my gauntlets?!" Riley shouted as he punched his punching bag with Olette looking at him from her desk.
"Tell me about it! Jaune I can forgive for doing these things since he's being forced to. But Cardin…" Olette merely shrieked in frustration "I swear… i want to punch that bastard in the face!" Olette said.
"I swear, I am ready to break that jerk's legs." Horus said.
"I know how you all feel but we just need to keep our emotions in check. We can't let ourselves get consumed by rage." Ryu said as Olette sighs.
"You're right… but it's so damn frustrating! I want to help Jaune but we might make the situation worse…" Olette said as Ryu walks over to her, kneels and places his hands on her shoulders.
"I want to help him too… but for now, we need to take the back approach. Like you said, if we intervene now, we'll make the situation worse." Ryu said.
Horus then sighs "Then what should we do…?"
"I… i don't know…" Ryu said, making his teammates stay silent for a few seconds.
"It's late… we should get some sleep." Olette said with a sad tone.
"...Yeah." Horus simply said as the four laid on their beds, not certain on what to do about Cardin.
The next day, Ryu was in class, learning about how to upgrade his weapon into a better version of it… but Ryu wasn't paying attention, for he saw Jaune sitting right next to Cardin, making the faunus worry for his friend.
The woman teaching the class had voluminous peach-coloured hair that descends into gradients of tea rose which she wears in a shaggy, waist-length ponytail using a midnight, sakura flower shaped head-ornament.
Her outfit is aristocrat in style, consisting of a clean and fluffed, white dress-shirt with rose coloured bands, a midnight blue lace with a pink sakura-shaped brooch, and a midnight vest. Completing her outfit are a pair of dark-brown dress pants and black thigh-high boots accented with hot pink arrows and zippers. During the class, she wears a white laboratory coat.
"...Now, i know this seems very tedious but knowing what dust to use in your weapons is important! And while some of you don't use dust in your weapons right now, that might change in the future." Cardin was making a paper airplane and threw it towards Horus, now being stuck in hair.
"What the-!?" Horus exclaimed quietly as he tried to get the paper out of his hair but he found that it's stuck on his head.
Cardin snickered at Horus's struggle, which caught the attention of their teacher "Mr. Winchester! I believe that treating your fellow students with respect would've been taught to you by your family. Perhaps on Saturday, you and your friends can come here and practice on that." This makes the class laugh at Cardin as the teacher helps Horus get the paper plane out of his hair.
"Thanks, Professor Peach." Horus said as Professor Peach continues with the class.
"Now, where was i…? Ah yes. I was going to ask, who can tell me the precise measurement for when you infuse Ice dust into your weapon?" No one in the class answered "Nobody? Mr. Himura, you're a smart cookie. Care to tell your fellow classmates the answer?" Ryu then turns to her.
"Huh? Oh, um… no more than fifteen percent." Ryu answered, making Professor Peach worry about him.
"Correct. Mr. Himura, I would like to talk to you after class." Professor Peach said as Ryu nods "Now, as you all know there is a field trip tomorrow, so i want you to collect some samples from the trees." Horus looks at Ryu with a worried look.
After class, Ryu was sitting on a chair in front of Professor Peach "Ryu, it's not like you to space out in class… What's wrong?"
"I don't… i don't know how to tell you… Professor Peach, i-"
"Don't call me Professor, just call me Celestia." Celestia said.
"Right. Well, Celestia… how would you feel if someone you know had faked their transcripts and they're being blackmailed by a bully and you can't do a thing to help?" Ryu asks.
"Is this about Mr. Arc?" Ryu's eyes widened.
"You know?!"
"My semblance allows me to see the truth in not just people but in other things as well. For example: transcripts." Celestia smiles.
"But why haven't you told Professor Ozpin anything?" Ryu asks.
"Ozpin already knows. But he and I see potential in Mr. Arc. That's why we haven't told the teachers." Celestia explained.
"I see… but it doesn't change the fact that Cardin is blackmailing him." Celestia scowls at this news.
"I… I know. But something tells me that Cardin might just get his just desserts soon." Celestia said smugly.
"What do you mean?" Ryu asks.
"That remains to be seen. Ryu… the only way to help Jaune is to let him sort it out himself. Who knows, it might show he might be a great huntsman, given the chance." Ryu tilted his head at this "It's gonna get late, you should head back to the dorms. That field trip is tomorrow " Ryu smiles and he leaves the room.
Once he was back at his dorm room, he told his teammates about what Celestia had said to him "We have to let him sort this out himself…?" Horus asks.
"Exactly. We can't baby him… he has to do this by himself. Right guys?" Ryu asks.
"Right." Everyone said as they laid on their beds.
"For now, let's get some sleep." Ryu said as he turned off the lamp.
The next day, the students at Beacon were walking through a forest with falling red leaves "Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight see." Glynda said as the students looked at the forest in awe.
"Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect some samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and i'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." Glynda said as she stopped and so did the group, causing Jaune to bump into Cardin.
"Watch it, Arc." Cardin warned.
"Sorry…" Jaune simply said.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." Glynda then pulls a jar of the red sap as an example.
"However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm. So be sure to stay with your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four O'clock. Have fun!" Glynda said as everyone paired off with their teammates and headed in different directions to collect their samples… well, everyone except Jaune.
"Come on, buddy. Let's go." Cardin said as he walked to the east side of the forest, with Jaune and Pyrrha exchanging glances at each other.
Cardin and his teammates were sitting on the grass when Jaune came back with seven jars of the red sap and collapsed onto the ground "Heyyy! Good work, Jaune-y boy! Now that wasn't hard, was it?" Cardin asks as Jaune struggles to get up.
"I think i'm allergic to this stuff." Jaune said as Cardin walked to him.
"Great, great, great. So, Jaune… I bet you're asking yourself 'why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect seven jars when there are five of us'?"
"That is one of the questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune said, making Cardin smirk.
"Well, come with me and you'll find out." Jaune really didn't like where this was going.
Team CRDL and Jaune then saw all of the other students collecting their sap samples "Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asks.
"Payback." Cardin said simply as he stared at Pyrrha and Ryu.
"Pyrrha…? Ryu…?" Jaune said as he saw Pyrrha and Ryu collecting sap from the tree "What are you-"
"Those two..." Cardin said, punching the ground "Red hairs, know-it-all's, think they're so smart." Cardin then pulls out a box with a W written on it "Alright boys... last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps." Jaune then gulped, realizing what Cardin was gonna do.
"And now… We're gonna put them to work." Cardin said as Russel patted Jaune on the back "Now, according to the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things love sweets. I'm thinking we teach those two a thing or two." Cardin said as he stands up and lifts Jaune up and gives him the jar of sap.
"And you're going to do it." Cardin said.
"Do what?" Jaune asks.
"Hit them with the sap!" Cardin clarified "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch. And you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." Jaune looks at the jar he was given and was prepared to throw it… but he sighs.
"No." Jaune said quietly.
"What did you say?" Cardin asks.
"I said… NO!" Jaune then throws the jar at Cardin, covering his armor in the red sap.
"Haha, oh you've done it now…" Team CRDL then grabs Jaune.
"Did you hear that?" Riley asked his teammates.
"Yeah… it sounded like a jar shattered." Olette pointed out.
"Well, we are near Cardin's group. Maybe they need help?" Horus said.
"Didn't you say the other night that you were ready to break his legs?" Olette asks.
"Says the girl who verbally assaulted Cardin last week." Riley said.
"Don't make me come over their Blackwood… i will rip your world a fucking sunder." Olette warned as Riley rolled his eyes when Ryu heard a slurp coming from his jar and saw that it was empty.
"What the…?" He then saw that Nora's mouth was covered in the sap "NORA!" Ryu yelled.
"We should go…" Olette said as Horus and Riley nodded and leaves towards Team CRDL direction with Ryu following them after shouting at Nora.
Hiding in a bush, Team HORR saw Jaune getting beaten up by Team CRDL, which made each and every one of their blood boil with hatred as Cardin punched Jaune "You know that wasn't smart, Jaune-y boy. I'm going to make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny pieces." Before Riley can go and save Jaune, Ryu stops him.
"Look." Ryu points to Jaune.
"I don't care what you do to me… But you are not messing with my team." Jaune said as Cardin scowls.
"What? You think talk like that makes you tough?! You think you're a big strong man now?!" Cardin asks threateningly but Jaune only smiles smugly when Cardin punches him but as he does, Jaune has shined a bright light.
"What was that?" Olette asks as Ryu smiles.
"I don't know…" Ryu said.
"Whatever that was, it protected him…" Horus said as Jaune was kicked back into the ground by one of the members of Team CRDL.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are." Cardin was about to walk to Jaune but then an Ursa had appeared behind them.
An Ursa?!" Team HORR exclaimed.
The Ursa then smells the sap on Cardin's armor and Cardin was shaking in fear "That's a big Ursa!" Dove shouted as he and the others ran away.
"Hmph, Cowards…" Riley said as he and the others pulled out their weapons and began to huddle around Cardin.
"You guys?" Olette then turns to the defenseless bully.
"Look who needs who now." Olette smugly responded as she uses her Semblance to teleport behind the Ursa and tries to attack from behind but was slapped by it, breaking her Aura and knocking her unconscious.
"Olette!" Ryu yells as Riley lunges at the Ursa but it was a bit more stronger then Riley.
"Damn! I guess taking the power of that Beowolf was a bad idea!" Riley said as the Ursa threw him at a tree, breaking his Aura as well.
"What do we do?" Horus asks.
"I don't know…" Amidst all of this, Cardin tried to run away but the Ursa didn't let him and instead knocked Cardin down into the ground.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Cardin yelled as Ruby, Pyrrha and Weiss appeared.
"Guys!" Horus shouted as the Ursa was about to strike Cardin down but then stopped at the last minute by Jaune, using his shield to block the attack on time.
"Wait." Pyrrha said as she puts an arm in front of Weiss.
Jaune then uses his shield and lifts the beast's claw off of it then using his sword, he slashes at the monster and damages it, causing it to lunge its arm at him. Fortunately, Jaune dodged at the last moment. The Ursa continued to do this when it finally hit Jaune, knocking him towards Cardin.
"Jaune!" Ryu shouted as Jaune quickly got up and ran up to the Ursa again but it sent him flying again. Jaune quickly got up and took Glynda's advice and checked on his Aura on his scroll and saw that it was in the red.
"Ahhh!" Jaune screamed as he charged towards the Ursa and the beast was about to claw him down but then, Pyrrha stretched out her hand and it soon covered in a black glow and it moved Jaune's shield to protect him from the attack. Jaune finally finished the fight by decapitating the Ursa's head, severing it from its body.
Pyrrha smiles, leaving Ruby confused as Horus helps Ryu walk over to the girls and Riley carries Olette bridal style to them as well "Um… can someone tell me what just happened?" Horus asks.
"That's my question too." Weiss said.
"Well, Ruby has her speed, Ryu can produce electricity, and you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity." Pyrrha explained.
"You can control poles…"
"No it doesn't." Ryu corrected Ruby "She has control over magnetism."
"Magnets are cool too." Ruby said as Pyrrha starts to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Riley asks.
"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened." Horus said, but Pyrrha smiles.
"We could… or perhaps we could keep this our little secret." Pyrrha said as Jaune puts his sword back into his scabbard and walks over to Cardin, who was in complete shock of what he'd seen.
Jaune then extends his hand out and helps Cardin up "Holy crap… Jaune?" Jaune doesn't let go of his hand and looks at Cardin dead in the eye with an angry expression.
"Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again…" Cardin saw just how much of a man Jaune had just become on this day, seeing the determination on his face "Got it?" Cardin nods slowly as he walks back to Team HORR and the girls.
"Let's go." Jaune simply said as he walked back to where they were meant to rendezvous, with Ryu smirking proudly.
At the rendezvous point, Glynda saw Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby, Weiss, and the members of Team HORR walking towards her "Olette!" Glynda runs up to Riley, who was still carrying her.
"She's fine. She's just unconscious." Riley said but it didn't quell Glynda's worries.
"Olette. Sweetie? are you okay?" Glynda nudges the girl when she begins to open her amber eyes and looks around her.
"Riley?! What the hell are you doing?! Let go of me!" Riley wasn't someone who could ignore a request of anyone and he let her go… by dropping her to the ground "Ow!"
"What? You said to let go of you." Riley said smugly.
"You know what i meant, asshole…" Olette then got up from the ground and was still shaken up but was helped by Ryu to stand properly "Thanks."
"No problem." Ryu said as Glynda frantically looks around her daughter.
"Are you okay, Olette?" Glynda asks.
"I'm fine mom. You don't have to worry." Olette said with a smile.
"Well, I just want to make sure." Glynda said when she and Olette heard some students looking at the wholesome moment.
"Awww…" The students all said.
"All right, enough of that. Because of what happened, we are all returning to the Academy." Some of the students groaned and they all went back to the airship.
On the rooftop, Jaune was looking at the Academy on the horizon when Ryu and Pyrrha walked up to him "No Cardin tonight?" Ryu asks.
"Me and Ryu thought you two were best buds." Pyrrha joked when Jaune sighs.
"Pyrrha… Ryu… I'm sorry. I was a coward and i should have come to you two for help but i-"
"Jaune, it's okay." Pyrrha said, reassuring him with a warm smile "Your team really misses their leader, you know." Pyrrha said.
"You should come down and join us. Ren made pancakes!" Pyrrha said in a sing-song voice.
"No syrup through… you can thank Nora for that." Ryu said with a hint of annoyance.
"Hey! When can we start training?" Jaune asks as Ryu throws a punch and Jaune dodged it in the nick of time.
"Good. You already completed lesson number one... and number three." Jaune tilted his head in confusion.
"Lesson number three?" Jaune asks.
"Always stand your ground." Ryu said with a smile as Jaune smiles back at him and Pyrrha.
Once back down from the rooftop, Olette and the others were enjoying Ren's pancakes when they spot Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ryu entering the lounge "Hey! You guys gotta try these! They're amazing!" Horus said as he gives the three plates.
Ryu, Jaune, and Pyrrha took a bite of the pancakes "My gods you're right! These are really good!" Ryu said as everyone laughed. The night was then spent with friends and laughter. Ryu hadn't felt like this in so long… and he enjoyed it for the first time in a long time.