One of my favorite classes while Beacon had to be Combat Training with Ms. Goodwitch. Granted she was pretty strict and loved to point out every little mistake I and everyone else made, the class was still fun nonetheless. However, combat doesn't exactly work out for everyone.

Jaune was facing off against Cardin Winchester, a mace wielding guy with a serious case of being full of himself. Jaune was getting thrashed by every blow Cardin threw, turning the sparring match into target practice for the mace wielding pretty boy. Carding swung his mace like it was a baseball bat, striking Jaune in his breastplate and knocking him on the ground a couple feet away. To my surprise, Jaune managed to pull himself up, leaning on his shield to support his tired body. He looked at Cardin, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness, before gathering his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looked back, surprised, as Cardin's mace sends Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, only to be blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forced himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin smirked at the weakened blonde.

"Over my dead-!" Jaune is cut short as Cardin kneed him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raised his mace and was about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rings, the lights came back on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice caused him to stop.

"Cardin, that's enough!" The pretty boy relented and walked away as she walks onto the stage, tapping her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." Jaune still layed on the floor in defeat taking out his scroll as Glynda turned her head to look at the downed warrior. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself…" Cardin muttered with a smirk that aggravated the shit out of me.

Glynda turned to the seated and standing students. My team sat in the front row while I opted to stand in the back. Any time Cardin was in the ring my blood boiled. He was the living definition of a high school bully. He always picked on those he deemed insignificant to him, whether they be faunus or human. I always had to keep my temper in check when I was around him. "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

The bell rang, and students start leaving. Jaune, still sitting on the floor, hung his head in shame. I started to head over to him before I noticed Pyrrha standing in the middle row to my right. Her face showed deep concern mixed with sadness that I could only guess was for Jaune. I sighed before walking towards the red-haired girl, stopping at her side and turning to face Jaune, whom was slowly starting to get up.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked her.

"Since the first week." She responded, clasping both of her hands together. "Cardin picks on everyone but Jaune seems to be his personal favorite."

I thought for a moment. "Has Jaune talked to you guys about it?"

"No. In fact, he says nothing even mentioning Cardin." The slightly taller girl looked at me. "What do you think we should do?"

"As much as I would like to, we can't beat the shit out of Cardin." I sighed and folded my arms. "But we should definitely talk to Jaune about this. I'll talk to my team about this too. Hopefully we can help him before this gets to out of hand."

"Right.." Pyrrha sighed as Jaune left the sparring ring, the girl watching him leave.

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night…" Nora was deep into an over-exaggerated story, with Ren adding in his bit of corrections

"It was day." Ren sipped from his coffee cup.

"We were surrounded by Ursai…"

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" She practically screamed this as she stood at our table where Weiss was ignoring Nora and filing her nails, Blake was reading her book, Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha, and I were listening politely, and Jaune was messing with his food.

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match… And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora concluded while Ruby, Pyrrha and I now looked at Jaune, whom seemed lost in his mind, with concern.

Ren sighed as Nora finished her story. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, worriedly. The question snapping Jaune out of his daze.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay…" Ruby said, rubbing her forearm a bit

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" The blonde held up a thumb while laughing unconvincingly until his attention was focused on the members of Team CRDL, standing around a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughed at her and Sky Lark held his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her unusual features. The sight of it made my blood boil even more than usual, causing me to clench my fists tightly.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha said, her worried tone grew a little stronger.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah… He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" Jaune said nervously.

"He's a bully." Ruby stated with a frown on her face.

"More like a piece of shit." I growled as Cardin and his goons continued to pick on the faunus girl.

The blonde scoffed. "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"He's constantly knocking books out your hands, he's "accidentally" activated your shield at least twice, and he shoved you in the rocket locker literally 3 hours before the Emerald Forest test." Ruby listed every event, counting them down on her fingers.

The others were totally focused on him now, however Jaune attempted to laugh it off. "I didn't land far from the school!"

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Ooooh!" Nora stood up on the table and presented her diabolical plan with a not-entirely-sane grin. "We'll break his legs!"

"For once, I agree with Nora." I said, cracking my knuckles. "I'll get the left one."

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune shrugged a bit. The laughing from team CRDL grew louder, mixed in with cries of pain from the faunus girl when one of her ears were being tugged on by Cardin, causing all of us to look back at them. I clenched my fists even tighter and gritted my teeth, my twin looking worriedly at me.

"Ow! That hurts!" The girl stopped struggling and grimaced. "Please, stop…"

Cardin continued laughing as he turned to his cronies. "I told you it was real!"

Russel, one of his cronies, guffawed. "What a freak!"

Cardin finally relented, and the girl stood up and hurried off, her head bowed and hiding her face from everyone.

"Ok, that does it!" I slammed my fist on the table and began to stand up, my anger finally reaching its limit. "I'm gonna kick his ass."

"Luke, no!" Ruby said, grabbing my wrist. "It's not worth getting expelled."

"We'll see about that." I growled as I shook my twin off and stood up. But before I could do anything, I felt a hand on my shoulder squeeze tightly. I turned around as Weiss retracted her hand.

"Look, even I want to pummel those..those miscreants." she said, gesturing to Cardin's gang. "But this isn't the place nor the time to be doing so."

"So what do we do? Do we just sit and wait while more people are bullied and harassed?" I was shaking with rage. "I thought we were training to defend people! You know, like Huntsmen and Huntresses?"

"Yes but even the best Huntsmen can tell if a fight is worth it or not." Weiss said calmly, but even I could tell she was just as pissed as me.

Before I could say anything, Jaune stood up. "Guys, seriously. It's fine." He walked away, dumping his tray into the trash as we all watched him go.

I sighed before grabbing my tray and leaving the table as well. "I need to hit the weight room. I'll see you guys later."

"I'll go with you." Yang said, standing up as well. I shrugged before walking away, dumping my tray in the trash on my way out.

"Why does Cardin get you so riled up?" Yang asked about an hour after we started our workout, I was on the bench press and she was spotting me.

"The real question is why doesn't he get you riled up?" I rested the bar on its posts before sitting up and wrapping my towel around my neck, sweat dripping down my face and neck. "If assholes like him become Huntsmen or Huntresses, we might as well give psychopathic murderers pardons from prison."

"He may be an ass but letting him get to you is only letting him win." My older sister sat next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"He isn't what's getting to me." I gritted my teeth. "The teachers should be able to see through his bullshit yet he gets away with not even a slap on the wrist."

"Maybe they're waiting for something." Yang seemed at a loss for any other guesses.

"What could they possibly be waiting for?" I gave her a 'seriously?' look.

"Well, you got me there." She shrugged and chuckled, removing her hand from my shoulder. "But beating his face in isn't going to earn you any brownie points."

"Cookie points are better." I chuckled before sipping my water. Yang laughed at that.

"Nice to see a joke finally found you." She nudged my arm. "I thought your veins would burst if you got any more pissed."

"I'm surprised they haven't already." I drank some more of my water. "Anyways how many sets was that?"

"Six, I think." My sister answered as we pulled the weights off the bar (1 forty five and 2 tens). I shrugged as I finished my water. "I probably could've done eight though."

"Maybe." Yang said, gathering her belongings. "Do you feel a little better now?"

"A little bit."

"So you promise not to beat Cardin's face in next time you see him?"

"Nope." I chuckled as we walked out.

"Lukas." Yang gave me one of her famous warning looks matched with her warning tone.

"Ok fine." I groaned. "I promise I won't beat Cardin's face in."

"Good." Yang chuckled.

"You didn't say anything about his goons though."

"Nice try smartass."

I decided to go to my favorite spot on the roof after Yang and I came back from the gym. Once I climbed the staircase and reached the maintenance door, I heard the voices of Jaune and Pyrrha. I cracked the door opened and listened to the pair. Something didn't feel right.

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time." Pyrrha was saying. "It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!"

"You're wrong. I-I don't belong here." Jaune said softly

"That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!"

"No, I don't!" Jaune snapped before sighing. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon…"

Pyrrha stammered. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Jaune seemed to get more worked up as he spoke. "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

I held back a gasp. It all made sense, considering his combat abilities or lack of, but it still was a lot to take in.

"What? But… why?"

Jaune's voice cracked a bit. "'Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."

"Then let me help you!" Pyrrha said, seeming to approach the blonde.

Jaune was beyond frustrated. "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"Jaune, I-"

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own… then what good am I?" Jaune snapped before pausing to breathe. "Just… leave me alone. Okay?"

Pyrrha sounded hurt. "If that's what you think is best…" She said before walking towards the maintenance door. I stepped out of the way but stayed near as the door opened. Pyrrha looked at me in surprise before turning around and closing the door. "You heard everything?"

"Only the important stuff." I answered, folding my arms. "Though I am impressed he managed to get fake transcripts that looked legit."

"Will you-"

"I won't tell anyone. I'll leave that up to Jaune." I answered, nodding my head as the prodigy turned around to face me.

"Thank you..." She looked down, tears prickling the edges of her eyes before she quickly wiped them away. I walked a little closer and stood by her side, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"You know he's not mad at you, right?" I gave her a small smile.

"I know. I just...I hate that he's letting himself being hurt like this." Pyrrha sighed, her shoulders sagging a bit.

"He's trying to pull a 'lone wolf' attitude. Oh, the irony." I chuckled, thinking back to the Emerald Forest. "But, and I think I'm starting to sound like you a bit, he needs to sort this out mostly on his own."

"What do you mean 'mostly?'" Pyrrha looked at me, puzzled.

"Well, he does need the support of his teammates and his friends." I pointed out before sighing. "Yep, I am starting to sound like you-"

"Cardin!" Jaune's voice interrupted our convo. I placed a finger over my mouth before we both began to listen to what was being said.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room." Jaune's bully said. "So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!"

"Please, Cardin, please, don't tell anyone!" Jaune begged

"Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!"

The blonde seemed puzzled by the response. "A… a friend?"

"Of course!" Cardin chuckled before putting Jaune in a headlock. "We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." the bully released his victim, who fell to the ground, gasping. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" Cardin leaned down to rub Jaune's hair before getting up with a grin. That's what I thought. Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me." Team CRDL's leader climbed down the ledge and into his dorm, chuckling.

I turned back to Pyrrha to discuss what we should do next but the girl had already gone down the stairs. I groaned a bit before opening the maintenance door and walking towards Jaune, whom was still on the ground, looking down in shame.

"Huh, guess Cardin isn't just a bully." I said, sitting next to the blonde.

"How much did you hear?" Jaune asked miserably

"Just about everything." I replied nonchalantly. "What pages you need to report on?"

"Fifty-nine to ninety-one." Jaune looked at me. "Why-"

"I'll do Cardin's essay. However, you make this a habit and I'll make sure my team shaves your hair." I stood up and began walking away.

"Wait!" the blonde called out as I reached the door. I stopped and looked back at him as he said "thank you, Luke". I nodded at him, smiling a bit, before opening the door and walking down to my dorm, leaving Jaune on the roof.

A few days later, Goodwitch took us out to the grey and red Forever Fall forest. Honestly, this was about one of the most beautiful places I have been to. Ruby and I couldn't stop looking around with our mouths agape and gasping at every new thing we saw.

"Yes, students," Goodwitch was saying. "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." We stopped after a couple more feet before the huntress turned to face us, holding a jar of some kind of tree sap. "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!"

My siblings and I all smirked at each other before Yang and Ruby dashed off to collect their sap. However, I stopped when I heard Cardin address Jaune. "Come on, buddy - let's go!"

I turned around just as Jaune, toting a box and a bunch of jars, was following team CRDL, looking even more miserable than when I last saw him. I looked over at Pyrrha, whom was gazing sadly at the blonde. I walked over to Pyrrha and tapped her shoulder. "Has he been doing better or worse?"

"Worse, he won't even talk to us.." She sighed.

"I figured as much.." I thought for a moment. "I'll keep an eye on them. You stick with the others."

"What if-"

"I'll take care of it." I gave her a reassuring smile, which seemed to comfort her a bit, before walking in the direction Cardin's team went.

I kept myself hidden in a tall tree with thick leaves while I kept watch over team CRDL. Cardin had instructed Jaune to collect the whole team's, plus himself, worth of sap. What interested me was a shoebox parked with a "W" that Cardin kept by his side with an annoying smirk plastered on his face. Team CRDL had made themselves as comfortable as possible by leaning on stones, trees, and the ground while Jaune returned to the group with six full jars, setting them down just as he collapses face-down. Wait a minute. Unless my math was wrong, there were only 5 of them. Nothing felt right about this at all.

"Hey, great work, Jauney boy!" Cardin said in mock congratulations. "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff…" Jaune groaned, still on the ground

"Greeeeat, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune sighed as he sat up

The taller boy chuckled. "Well, come with me, and you'll find out."

What the hell are these guys doing? I thought as Jaune stood up miserably to follow Cardin and his goons deeper into the forest. Once they were out of earshot I descended from my tree and carefully managed to catch up to the gang of possible future psychopaths.

They were now perched on a hilltop overlooking the other students, team CRDL - plus Jaune, squeezed between Cardin and Russel Thrush - peak their heads over the crest and watched as everyone was retrieving their samples of sap. Ren, kneeled to collect his sample from a tree, passed a full jar to Nora, who "Mmmm!"ed at the gift as Ren traded it for the other jar in her care. He turned back to the tree and starts filling it up as Nora slurped down the red sap. Ren turned back to Nora, who now with an embarrassed smile covered in red and an empty jar in her hands, and sighed, very much annoyed by Nora's antics.

Jaune turned to face his bully, a worried look on his face. "Cardin, wh-what's going on?"

Cardin smirked as he stared at the unsuspecting group. "Payback."

"Wait.." The smaller blonde turned his attention to his teammates. "Pyrrha? Wh-what are you-?"

Cardin pounded his fist into the ground. "That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys…" Team CRDL's leader pulled out the now buzzing cardboard box with a large "W" written on its sides, a shiver went up my spine as I secretly prayed it wasn't what I thought it was. "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work."

Jaune you goddamn idiot! I clenched my fists in anger. Those things are deadly as hell! What were you thinking?!

Russel grabbed Jaune by the shoulder, who could barely laugh in his 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." The members of CRDL stood up as Cardin offered his hand to Jaune, only to painfully yank him up on his feet and shove the jar into his grasp. "And you're going to do it.

"Do what?" Jaune obviously knew what he was being asked to do but even I could tell he didn't want to.

"Hit her with the sap! Cardin leaned 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 looked down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at the four grinning teammates waiting to see what happens. Jaune turned towards his teammate and aimed his throw at an oblivious and smiling Pyrrha.

Jaune, if you do this you'll be expelled regardless! Don't do it! I mentally screamed at him before he suddenly surprised me.

"No."

"What did you say?" Cardin growled at the blonde, clenching his fists.

"I said... NO!" Jaune turned and threw the jar at Cardin, instantly recoiling his hands to himself as he looked at Cardin's breastplate covered in sap. The other team leader, however, just looked at himself and laughed darkly. "Oh, you've done it now…"

Jaune humorously laughed to himself once more with his hands still raised in an attempt for defense as Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark grabbed Jaune's shoulders and pull him closer to Cardin. The sap covered team leader shoved the other to the ground, causing Jaune to grunt in pain. The bigger warrior picked Jaune up by his front and grins while punching him back to the ground.

I took this as my cue to enter the fray, dashing from my tree with my hand on Thorn's hilt.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy. Cardin picked up a bruised Jaune again while the rest of Team CRDL watched, oblivious to me closing in on their position. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces."

"Not today!" I shouted as I reached the group, dashing past Sky Lark before tackling Jaune out of Cardin's grasp. We rolled a couple times before stopping near the base of a tree. I quickly jumped to my feet and drew my sword, standing above Jaune in a defensive pose. "If you want to hurt him, you'll have to go through me." I growled, my eyes flashing in anger.

"Lukas?! What're you doing?!" Jaune exclaimed as he got to his feet, the members of team CRDL smirking at the pair of us.

Before I could answer, Cardin chuckled loudly. "It seems Rosey boy has come to play with the big boys." The leader smirked obnoxiously. "Well then, let's play-" Cardin drew his mace just as a huge Ursa Major crashed through the woods behind Team CRDL, roaring with a deafening boom.

"That's a big Ursa!" one of Cardin's goons exclaimed before running off with the other two, leaving the three of us to fend off the grimm. Cardin was rooted to the spot when the Grimm swung its claws and knocks him aside, revealing Jaune and I with our swords drawn. The Ursa continued to sniff, uninterested in the pair of us as it followed its nose to Cardin. We both watched as it towered over Cardin, who gets his wits, or his stupidity, and pulled out his mace only for the monster to swipe it away to our feet.

"Jaune, your call." I said to the blonde, wishing I hadn't left my shield in the dorm.

Jaune looked as though he didn't know what to do, his face writ with confusion, fear, and uncertainty, as he looked between the Grimm and his bully.

(PYRRHA POV)

A roar, from what seemed to be an Ursa, echoed through the forest, causing me to look up in surprise, the rest of team JNPR and team LRWBY also looking up in concern.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked as she stood up, her hand lingering towards her weapon. Suddenly, three of Team CRDL were seen running the other way from the roar past the other students.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel was crying out before running into Yang, whom was unfazed as he fell backwards.

"What?!" The blonde picked him up by the front of his shirt. "Where?"

Russel pointed a shaky hand back from where he and the other two came. "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

I dropped her jar of sap in horror, realization flooding into my mind. "Jaune!"

"Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby called out to her sister, whom dropped Russel before nodding, her and Blake running back to Goodwitch.

Following Ruby's example, I called out to Ren and Nora. "You two, go with them! There could be more!" I drew my weapons before rushing off with Ruby and Weiss in the supposed direction of the Ursa.

(Lukas POV)

Before Jaune could come to a decision, Cardin attempted to run from the following Ursa, but the beast leaped over its prey and clawed him away as he tried to scramble up and crawl away."Crap! Crap, crap!"

Shit...as much as I hate him... "Jaune! Get ready, cause we're going bear hunting!" I exclaimed before charging at the Ursa, having Thorn poised to strike into the Grimm's back. Unfortunately, I underestimated the Grimm's reflexes because the beast had quickly swiped me away the very second I was within range of its monstrous claws, sending me into a nearby tree. My aura took the brunt of the impact, but I still had a headache and I began seeing black spots as I slid off the tree, landing on my back.

"Oh, no!" I heard Pyrrha's voice call out.

"Lukas!" There was no mistaking Ruby's voice as I attempted to sit up, dark spots still clouding my vision. I felt her hand on my shoulder as she helped me stand. "Did you forget your shield again?"

"Not..the time." I grunted out as my vision cleared. The Ursa seemed less interested in us as it leaned over the helpless Cardin, raising its paw and swiping it down… only to be blocked by Jaune's shield. He struggled to defend the stunned Cardin from the beast's attempts to lean on him.

"Wait!" I heard Pyrrha's voice say but I was too dazed to bother myself with what else was going on.

Jaune took the shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush the blonde. He rolled out of the way and jumped over it's feeble swipe at his feet, but he was unprepared for when it launched a claw at him in midair, sending Jaune a good distance away. The blonde seemed to be running on pure adrenaline as he was immediately back on his feet and charging at the beast once again. No matter how many times he was knocked down, jaune simply refused to give up. His body seemed to glow with every strike he dealt or took. Wait..what happened to his bruises from earlier? Glowing... Holy shit..he's activating his aura! He might even discover his semblance.

Things seemed to move in slow motion as Jaune was ready to strike the Ursa once more. I noticed that his shield wasn't covering his exposed torso, and the ursa's paw was about to rip it to shreds. I was about to shout out but Pyrrha had raised her hand. At first, I thought this was her way of calling out to the blonde, but then the blonde seemed to move his shield on his own, blocking the paw and beheading the Grimm.

Ruby also noticed the strange occurrence, turning to the redhead in confusion. "Uhhh… What?"

Weiss, this being the first time I had seen her amazed, had gasped a bit. "How did you…?"

Pyrrha smiled sheepishly."Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, and Lukas boosts his strength by channeling his anger. My Semblance is polarity."

I was still dazed from being thrown into a tree and said something intelligent like "Whoa, you can control poles…"

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss scolded me, annoyed.

"Magnets are cool, too…" Ruby whispered, causing us both to chuckle.

"Wait, where are you going?" Weiss asked Pyrrha, whom started to walk away.

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby added as I slowly managed to slide off of her shoulder and, albeit still dizzy, stand up on my own.

"We could…" Pyrrha said, looking back at us. "Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" Pyrrha added mysteriously before away again, the three of us smiling to each other in understanding.

"I'll go check up on Jaune." I said, turning away from my teammates. "I also need to find my weapon.." I said with a groan of slight annoyance, Ruby and Weiss giggling at my misfortune, when I realized I couldn't remember where I dropped Thorn.

Cardin was still covered in sap when he finally came to, having been knocked out by the Ursa. I looked at Jaune, who's more recent bruises had begun to heal already, and gave him a shrug that roughly translated to "I ain't helpin' him." Chuckling at me before turning to his fallen bully, whom looked up at Jaune as his savior offered a hand. Cardin smiled as he took it, being lifted back to his feet, exclaiming, "Holy crap, Jaune!"

Jaune instantly glared at Cardin, his voice dropping in a threatening manner. "Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again. Got it?"

Cardin did a double take, surprised, and possibly apologetic, that he was being stood up to, before nodding, showing possibly the only shred of respect I've ever seen him show. With his order spoken, Jaune turned and walked in the same direction that Pyrrha and my teammates went, soon followed by Cardin.

"Wait..." I said to myself aloud. "Where the hell is my sword?!"

GOOD GOD THAT TOOK TOO LONG! Anyways, I hope people are still reading this haha. See you next chapter!