Forever Fall.
After lunch, several students were in class, lead by the hyperactive fast-talking Professor Bartholomew Oobleck. He was talking and moving so fast, one wondered how much sugar he had in that coffee he kept sipping from. It was a real struggle keeping up with how fast he moved and spoke and he showed no signs of slowing down so the students could better follow him. Jaune had fallen asleep, while Cardin was sitting behind him, completely uninterested in Oobleck's words, and was just leaning back with his legs on his desk. Severa was sitting between Pyrrha and Blake, while Lyre was sitting close to Velvet.
"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie" Oobleck said quickly before he points at a map of said-area with his stick, then zooms off to the side for a sip of his coffee before appearing in front of the desk "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He zooms around the classroom more, sipping his coffee again before continuing to zoom and talk "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?".
Some of the students raise their hands. Velvet, after a moment, does the same. Even Lyre slowly raised her hand.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck takes another sip of his coffee "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Weiss raised her hand "Yes?".
"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answered perfectly.
"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Oobleck asked.
Unseen by the professor, Cardin flicks a paper football at Jaune's head, causing him to wake up "Hey!".
Oobleck zooms over into Jaune's face "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?".
"Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... that the Faunus..." Jaune looks behind Oobleck's focused face at Pyrrha, who coughs and motions to her lips as she gives him the answer "...had over that guy's stuff..." He sees Pyrrha cup her hands around her eyes and goes for the most obvious answer "Uhh... Binoculars!".
While Jaune looks pleased with his answer, the class laughs at him and Oobleck goes back at the front of the class and sips his coffee, looking slightly annoyed. Pyrrha sighs and slaps a hand to her forehead as Cardin pounds his fist on his desk while chortling.
Oobleck zooms back behind his desk "Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!".
"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier" Cardin said simply.
Severa had to fight the urge to give that arrogant asshole another beating, while Lyre let out a low hiss. Oobleck shakes his head in dissaproval, since it was clear Cardin didn't care about a single word Oobleck said earlier about ignorance breading violence.
"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha asked.
Cardin looked at her "What? You got a problem?".
"No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark" Pyrrha answered and Cardin growls at the correct response.
"General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured" Blake continued, making Oobleck nod in approval, before Blake turns to Cardin with a mocking smile "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure".
"I bet he was a boneheaded moron who got beaten up by girls!" Severa added, causing the class to erupt in laughter.
"Severa!" Pyrrha scolded, but her amusement was clear on her face.
"Good one" Blake said between giggles.
Cardin gets up from his seat, fist clenched. But Severa cracked her knuckles as a warning causing him to take a step back. Making Severa smirk that the bully was a little scared of her now.
"Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat." Oobleck ordered, and when Jaune laughs at his tormentor's embarrassment, Oobleck zooms up to him "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings".
Jaune: slumps his shoulders "Oohhhh...".
Oobleck zooms away "Now! Moving on!".
When the lesson ends, everyone leaves the classroom, only for Pyrrha to stop near the doorway.
"Coming Pyrrha?" Severa asked.
"You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune" Pyrrha answered.
Severa shrugs and leaves, deciding to go to the library. Once there she began looking through the books for something interesting. But she couldn't find anything that caught her eye. Severa did enjoy a nice read every now and again. The book Blake let her read during their first week at the academy was really good, so Severa hoped she could find more good books in the school Library, but she couldn't find anything.
"Hey" Came a voice behind her.
Severa jumped in surprise as she turned around and accidentally bumped in to the bookshelf, causing a heavy book to fall down on her head "Ow!".
"Oh, I'm sorry Severa! Are you ok?" Turns out the one who scared Severa was non other than Blake.
"Not sure if my head or my heart is throbbing more" Severa said while rubbing her head and holding her chest.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that" Blake said sheepishly.
"It's ok, Blake. Maybe Bernadetta is starting to rub of on me" Severa said.
Blake chuckled at that "Maybe, so what were young doing?".
"Well, your book made me more interested in literature. So I came here to see if I could find another good book. But all of them look so boring" Severa said.
"There is a saying, don't judge a book by it's cover. Here let me pick one out for you" Blake said as she bent over a little to look at the books.
Of course this lead to Severa looking at Blake's butt. To quote something that would make Yang proud, Blake sure had quite the Bellabooty. Severa blushed at that. She shouldn't be looking, but she couldn't stop. Finally Blake found a book and took it out.
"There, this one is good" She said as she looked at Severa "Umm, are you ok?".
Severa's face was matching her hair "What?! Oh yes, I am perfectly ok! No butts, I mean props! I mean, I am good... I've been talking for to long".
Blake blinked a few times before she had a look of realization and gave Severa a mixed look "Right, well I can assure you this book is more interesting than whatever you were looking at".
Blake hands over the book and walks away. Severa looked at the book before slamming it in to her face over and over again. She's never felt more like an idiot than she did now.
It was now nighttime and Lucina along with her team was getting ready for bed. Severa had been very quiet and her teammates were wondering what was up with her.
"You ok Severa?" Lucina asked.
"I'm fine... just tired" Severa answered.
"Thinking about Blake?" Lyre asked.
"What!? No! Why would I!?" Severa demanded.
Lyre smirked "Well you've been looking at her a lot recently. Do our strong little red head have a crush on the black cat?".
"Shut up!" Severa said as she threw a pillow in to Lyre's face.
"Please don't make a mess" Lucina said with a tired sigh "Lyre, stop teasing her. Severa's love life is her business".
"It's not like that!" Severa almost yelled.
"Please stop arguing!" Bernadetta said from under her blanket.
"She's right, remember a field trip is coming up soon. So we need to get our rest so we can study and prepare for it" Lucina said.
"Fine, cat nap time" Lyre said before crawling on her blanket and fell asleep right away.
Severa grumbled before going to bed herself. Lucina smiled in satisfaction before she turned of the lights before going to sleep.
The following day, things had changed. Team JNPR were missing Jaune. And Pyrrha looked upset about something. This would of course catch Severa's attention, since her cousin was rarely this upset. So Severa waited until class was over before looking for Pyrrha and when she found her she grabbed her shoulder.
"Hey Pyrrha" She said before Pyrrha let out a surprised yelp and used her semblance on instinct, effecting Severa's armored legs, making her turn upside down before falling on the ground.
"Ow!" She groans.
"Severa! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha said before helping her cousin up.
"When did you get so jumpy? What's the matter with you Pyrrha? You've been really down lately" Severa said.
"Oh, it's nothing. Sorry if I worried you" Pyrrha said.
"Don't brush me of Pyrrha, I know this is far from nothing. Remember what we agreed on when it comes to secrets" Severa reminded.
Pyrrha sighed "We are family, and family don't keep secrets. You're right, I'm sorry. It's just... something I am not sure I should talk about".
"Is it connected to why Jaune is barely around anymore?" Severa asked.
"Yes..." Pyrrha said, looking away.
Severa put her hands on Pyrrha's shoulders "Pyrrha, tell me what happened. And don't worry, whatever you tell me will be safe with me".
Pyrrha sighed and put her hands on Severa's own "You're right, I know I can trust you with this. I will tell you".
A while later, Jaune was out on another task given to him by Cardin. But as he was sneaking out, a hand grabbed his arm and before he could react, he was thrown against a wall.
"What!? I was going to do what you said... wait, Severa?" He said confused.
Severa was glaring at him "Where you expecting your big pal Cardin?".
"How did you... Wait, did Pyrrha tell you?" Jaune asked before Severa punched the wall next to his head, making him yelp.
"You're damn right she told me! When my strong cousin walks around looking upset, I will start to worry. Is what she told me true? Are you avoiding her just because she wanted to help you?" Severa demanded.
"Severa, you don't understand-" Jaune began but Severa stopped him.
"Quiet! She told me everything. She told me how you cheated your way in to Beacon and how you wanted to be a hero like your father, your grandfather, and your great grandfather. But let me guess, you weren't strong enough to be like them so you tried to take the shortcut. Like entering Beacon would magically turn you in to a great warrior" Severa said.
"Fine! You're right ok! I am a failure who wanted to become great. Happy now?" Jaune asked, getting annoyed.
"Happy!? What the hell do I have to be happy about!? You stand there complaining about not being able to live up to your father's legacy. Well, guess what, you are not the only one who spent your life growing up in the shadow of a great warrior" Severa said.
Jaune blinked, his annoyance replaced by confusion "What?".
Severa sighed and stepped back "Do you know about the Huntress Cordelia?".
"Cordelia? Of course I know about her. She is one of the most famous huntresses in the world. My father told me about her, said she was a genius who could accomplish anything she set her mind to, the very embodiment of a prodigy" Jaune said, remembering all the stories his father told him.
"She is also my mother" Severa said.
Jaune almost fell over "Wait what?! You are the daughter of the great Cordelia?!".
"Would you keep it down, idiot! Yes, Cordelia is my mother" Severa said before she sighed and walked away a few steps "And as you should know, growing up as the child of one of the greatest huntresses ever known... was not a easy life. She was good mother sure, but her reputation came with a lot of expectations for me. I was constantly compared to her, and everyone kept saying if I worked hard enough I would be a genius just like her. But the thing is, I don't want to be like her. Don't get me wrong, I love her, but her damn reputation nearly ruined my life. I don't want to be Cordelia 2.0, I want to be Severa! And only Severa!".
"Oh... why are you telling me this, Severa?" Jaune asked.
"Because, you are exactly like how I used to be. I too used to think I needed to do everything on my own, and that I couldn't rely on anyone. I was stupid to think I needed to do everything myself. And you are being the same idiot I was. Non of us will get anywhere on our own, Jaune. If we push others away, we will remain a failure for the rest of our lives. That's the fate that awaits anyone stupid enough to refuse help when they need it" Severa explained.
Jaune looked down, not sure how to argue with that... and parts of him knew Severa was right.
Severa walked up to him "I don't know what Pyrrha means to you, Jaune. But she means the world to me. She may be my cousin, but she is more like a sister to me. I love her more than my own life. She was there when I felt like I was suffocating from the pressure put on me. She helped me when I was upset and treated me like a person, not just as the daughter of the great Cordelia. So trust me when I say this, Jaune: Anyone who hurts her in anyway, will answer to me. So it's time you man up and accept your limits Jaune, and accept the help offered to you".
With her mind spoken, Severa walked away. Leaving Jaune to think about what she just told him.
In a forest bustling with red leaves and gray trunks Glynda is leading teams several teams through the area. The students were looking around at the beautiful forest as they followed their Professor.
"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so" Glynda said.
The group stops, and Jaune, grunting and carrying a large case with six empty glass jars on top, tries to catch up with them and ends up bumping into Cardin. The bully scowls at Jaune, who attempts to feign innocence by whistling tunelessly.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda instructed.
While Yang and Ruby smile at one another, Jaune attempts to, noisily, sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer sees this and grabs Jaune by the back.
"Come on, buddy - let's go!" Cardin ordered.
Jaune miserably looks up at his team, where Nora and Ren are already walking into the forest's depths and Pyrrha is staring sadly at the scene. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turns and follows CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha before she continues on. Severa sighed before following the rest as well.
Later on their trip, everyone is retrieving their samples of sap. Ren, kneeling to collect it from a tree, passes a full jar to Nora, who "Mmmm!"s at the gift as Ren trades it for the other jar in her care. He turns back to the tree and starts filling it up while several licking sounds are heard behind him until he looks back at Nora, now with an embarrassed smile covered in red and an empty jar in her hands, much to Ren's annoyance.
While they did that, Lucina was collecting some sap of her own "This should be useful in case we make pancakes".
"I like pancakes" Bernadetta admitted as she accepted the full jar from Lucina and gave her an empty one.
Lyre came up with a few filled up jars "Just keep an eye out. Nora is on a sap addiction".
Lucina smiled "Not surprised. Just keep filling the jars, and don't let anyone snatch them".
While they continued their work, Jaune along with Team CRDL were looking down at them from a hill.
"Cardin, wh-what's going on?" Jaune asked.
Cardin was still staring at the unsuspecting group sharply. "Payback."
Jaune widens his eyes in understanding "Severa...?" He sees Severa collect sap with Pyrrha "Wh-what are you-?".
Cardin pounds his fist on the ground "That's the girl. Red-haired brat who thinks she can beat me up and turn me in to a laughing stock. And her cousin is no better, know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys..." He pulls out a buzzing cardboard box "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work".
Russel grabs Jaune by the shoulder, who barely laughs in nervousness.
"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets.I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two" Cardin said as he and his team get up. Cardin offers his hand to Jaune, only to painfully yank him up on his feet and shove the jar into his grasp "And you're gonna do it".
"Do what?" Jaune asked.
"Hit them with the sap! If you can get both of them, then we can call that a bonus" Cardin said before he leans in close to Jaune's face "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon".
Jaune looks down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at the four grinning teammates waiting to see what happens. Jaune turns towards the group and aims his throw at an oblivious and smiling Pyrrha, trying to steel his nerves and shaking hand to do the deed, but ultimately steels himself for what he's about to do.
"No" He finally said.
"What did you say?" Carin asked dangerously.
Jaune grips the jar tightly "I said... NO!".
He turns and throws the jar at Cardin, instantly recoiling his hands to himself as he looks at Cardin's breastplate covered in sap. The other team leader, however, just looks at himself and laughs darkly.
Cardin: "Oh, you've done it now..."
Jaune humorously laughs to himself once more with his hands still raised in an attempt for defense as Dove and Sky grab Jaune's shoulders and pull him away.
Back with the group Pyrrha looked towards the hill as she could've sworn she saw something. Ruby noticed this and walked closer to her "Pyrrha? You ok?".
"Yeah..." Pyrrha said as she closed her eyes not even noticing the sound of a jar opening, followed by slurping. When she opened her eyes she noticed her jar was empty "Nora!".
Ruby jumped a little at Pyrrha's sudden tone raise "Hey, were did Severa go?".
Pyrrha looked around "Severa? Severa?" She called out but got no response "Where did she go?".
Elsewhere, Jaune was getting pushed to the ground. Groaning as he looks up and sees a sap-covered Cardin looming over him. The bigger warrior picks Jaune up by his front and grins while punching him back to the ground.
"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy." He said as he picks up a bruised Jaune again while the rest of Team CRDL watches "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces".
"I don't care what you do to me..." Jaune said before he looks at Cardin with fury "... But you are not messing with my team".
Cardin looks momentarily shocked "What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?".
Jaune smiles in defiance. An enraged Cardin roars and raises his fist again, but just as the hit connects, a bright light shines from Jaune, and when the white fades from the screen, Cardin is crying out in pain as he holds his hand. Jaune, now back on the ground but completely healed, looks confusedly at his hands as they faintly glow white. While he stares, though, Sky kicks Jaune in the back and gets him on his stomach, but he looks up and glares at the approaching Cardin.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are..." Cardin said.
"Hey! Asshole!" Everyone looked and saw Severa storming towards him "You must be the most cowardly bully I've ever seen!".
"Well look who's here. Miss daughter of a celebrity" Cardin said with a growl.
"Looks like the beating I gave you didn't stick. Maybe I should break your legs this time" Severa said in anger.
"You can try. There are four on one this time. And I am not above hitting a girl" Cardin said as he and his team looked ready to fight.
"Learn how to count. There are two against four. Get up Jaune" Severa said.
Jaune pushed himself up "Right. Two on four".
Cardin smirks "This wimp is your only back up? This will be easy".
Just as he says this, a low growl is heard, and a surprised Team CRDL turns around and sees a large paw crash onto the scene, belonging to a huge Ursa Major with dozens of jagged spikes sticking out from its wide back. It leaps forward and stands over the terrified students, lifting its head in the air to smell the sap on Cardin's breastplate. It lands back on its forelegs and roars at Cardin while his teammates heroically flee.
"That's a big Ursa!" Russel said as he runs.
Cardin is rooted to the spot when the Grimm swings its claws and knocks him sideways, revealing Jaune cowering behind him. The Ursa continues to sniff, uninterested in Jaune or Severa and following its nose to Cardin. It towers over Cardin, who gets his wits and pulls out his weapon only for the monster to swipe it away to Jaune's feet. He looks conflicted, wondering whether to fight or run away.
Meanwhile, the roar of the giant Ursa is heard by the other Teams, still collecting sap on the other side of the forest.
Ruby gets up, concerned "Did you guys hear that?".
Suddenly, the remaining members of Team CRDL are seen running the other way from the roar through the other students.
"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel said before he runs into Yang accidentally.
"What?!" Yang said completely unfazed by his collision, she picks him up by the front of his shirt "Where?".
Russel was struggling and still running in air, but points back from where they came "Back there! It's got Cardin!".
Pyrrha drops her jar of sap "Jaune! Severa!".
Ruby quickly goes into leader mode "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!"
Dropping Russel, Yang and Blake nod before following the orders.
Pyrrha looked at Ren and Nora as she and Ruby activate their weapons "You two, go with them! There could be more!".
"Lyre, Bernadetta! Got with them as well! I will help the rest" Lucina ordered as she pulls out her sword.
"Be careful!" Lyre said before she and a scared Bernadetta run away.
Cardin is attempting to run from the following Ursa, but it leaps over its prey and claws him away. He tries to get up and crawl away "Crap! Crap, crap!".
"Ah damn it!" Severa said before pulling out her weapon "Stupid grimm! You will pay for making me protect that jerk!".
She runs at the grimm, which noticed her and swings it's paw at her. Severa turns her weapon in to it's shield mode and blocks the strike, but the impact sends her sliding back.
The others arrive just in time to see the Ursa turn back to Cardin and leans over the helpless victim, raising its paw and swiping it down... only to be blocked by Jaune's shield. He struggles to defend a stunned Cardin from its attempts to lean on him, but Weiss lifts Myrtenaster as she prepares to go help. Lucina did the same.
"Wait!" Pyrrha said.
Jaune takes the shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashes at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. He rolls out of the way and jumps over its swipe at his feet, but he is unprepared for when it launches a claw at him in midair. He lands far away, yet is immediately back on his feet and passing Cardin as he charges again. The Ursa knocks Jaune behind it when he tries for a leaping attack, and he looks at the Scroll in his shield to find out that his Aura level is in the red. He grows angry again and starts to run at the Ursa as it also begins to dash towards him.
"Jaune!" Severa called out, she wanted to help, but part of her felt like Jaune needed to do this himself. But if Jaune is about to die, she will jump in, regardless if it annoys him or not.
As they are just about to clash, Pyrrha sees that Jaune has left himself completely open to the Ursa's attack, and lifts her hand out to him, gathering dark red energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa is about to hit him, the glow surrounds Jaune's shield and makes it lift up to block the swipe. Jaune uses the surprise defensive move to lean on the ground, push his shield back up, and swing his blade right through the Ursa's neck. The head falls to the ground as the body slams onto the ground.
Ruby looked at Pyrrha as her hand stops glowing and she smiles "Uhhh... What?".
Weiss was equally amazed "How did you...?".
"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity" Pyrrha said.
"Whoa, you can control poles..." Ruby said.
"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss corrected.
Ruby was still impressed as she whispered "Magnets are cool, too...".
"Given how many opponents uses armor. It could be very useful" Lucina said
Weiss noticed Pyrrha began to leave "Wait, where are you going?".
"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby said.
"We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" Pyrrha suggested and walks away again as Lucina, Ruby and Weiss smile at each other in understanding before flowing Pyrrha.
A bruised Jaune sheathes his weapon before going over to Cardin. Still covered in sap, he looks up at Jaune as his savior offers a hand. Cardin smiles as he takes it and is lifted back up on his feet.
"Holy crap, Jaune!" He said, sounding truly impressed.
Jaune holds his hand threateningly "Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again. Got it?"
Cardin looks intimidated, possibly even apologetic. With his order spoken, Jaune turns and walks away from a frozen Cardin.
"Your own teammates left you to fend for yourself, Cardin. Remember this: Bullies have few friends when they need them the most" Severa warned before catching up to Jaune "Nice work there. Sorry I didn't help you out. But you were the one who wanted to be the hero".
"It's ok Severa. You were right... and I have a lot of apologizing to do" Jaune said.
Severa smiled and gave him a light punch on the arm, causing him to fall over and Severa only chuckled.
A while later, Severa was about to head back to her dorm, only to be stopped by Pyrrha.
"Oh, hello there Pyrrha... take it you are here to scold me for running of?" Severa asked.
"No, that will be Lucina's job. I am here to thank you, for helping out with Jaune" Pyrrha said.
"It was nothing. He just needed someone to knock some sense in to him" Severa said, but Pyrrha just wrapped her arms around Severa's neck and gave her a big hug "Wow! Easy there, no need to-".
"Severa. Shut up. And let me thank you" Pyrrha said, still hugging her cousin.
Severa sighed but smiled as she hugged Pyrrha back "You're welcome. This is what family does".
"Yeah... and you know what else family do?" Pyrrha asked.
Severa blinked "What? WHOA!".
She ended up falling on her back as Pyrrha used her semblance to pull her armored boots of, exposing her bare feet. Pyrrha then quickly wrapped her arm around Severa's legs, trapping them.
"Tickle footsies!" Pyrrha said before using her free hand to tickle Severa's feet.
"AH! NO! DON'T! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Severa laughed loudly as her feet were being tickled "STOOOOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!".
All in all, a funny end to a rough ordeal. Just a fun family moment. They do this from time to time, just for the fun of it. And after everything that happened, they needed some fun.
.
Sorry for not bringing in the rest of the team more. But I saw this as good chance to give Severa a bit of a story arc, as Pyrrha being her family member would lead her to get directly involved with what was going on.
.
Tell me what you think.