Got some addresses over to my doctor; now waiting for their response, which feels vert lackadaisical given the severity of the situation. Ffs. It's stressful for sure.

Chapter 23

Beacon Academy was majestic. It was inspiring. The tall peaks and sloped architecture stole Jaune's breath away as the Bullhead came in – it was so incredible that he forgot to feel nauseous, instead staying glued to the window as the aircraft flew over tracts of Grimm infested forest, over large lawns for training or games, over an entire wing of the school, its red roof tiles glistening from early morning drizzle. In the centre, the great tower that shot up from the surrounding buildings pierced up higher than they were, a faint and constant green glow coming from the top like a lighthouse.

It was larger than life in a way he couldn't quite place. This was no school – this was an institution. This was a landmark. What would it feel like to walk through those halls, study in those grand classrooms and wake up every morning to a view like this? Hopefully, he'd find out next year when he won entry on his own merits and not forged transcripts.

The pilot's voice came over the speaker warning passengers to sit down and prepare for landing. It was passengers, too. Since it was a weekend, it was well within the students' rights to go off into Vale, and a few were coming back to Beacon on the same flight he was taking. No one he recognised, and they certainly didn't recognise him given the odd looks they were shooting. He had his sword with him, however, so they likely assumed he was a first year and no one challenged his presence.

I've got the right to be here. Professor Oobleck invited me.

The aircraft shook and buckled a little as it came in to land. There was a reversal of inertia as the thrusters twisted and fired backwards, halting their forward momentum as roughly as a roller coaster. Jaune bumped forward in his harness and his stomach reminded him that it didn't do well under this kind of pressure. He swallowed it down, telling himself it'd only be a moment more.

Luckily, he was proven true. The aircraft hovered down and then settled with a loud sound of metal and hydraulic pistons. It dipped – those same hydraulics taking the pressure of the landing – and then bobbed back up with a mechanical hiss, the engines spluttering off moments later. Another hiss followed the door unlocking and one of the students unbuckled themselves, opened it by sliding it off and to the side, then hopped out. The rest followed, Jaune content to wait and climb off last.

Dove had promised to meet him when he came but it was a full Team CRDL that awaited him at the bottom of the ramp. Surprised, Jaune could only just get a hand up in time for Cardin to clasp it and drag him in shoulder to shoulder.

"Jauney!" The armoured teen slapped Jaune's back heavily, then released him. "About time you made it."

"Sorry. Am I late?"

"I mean to being a student here at Beacon. Not officially until next year, but you coming here for training means you're gonna be a shoe-in."

The man's cheer was infectious. "I hope so."

"Don't hope. Work on it."

Cardin shoved him bodily toward the others. Sky patted his back as well while Russel clapped his arm and said his own greetings. Dove quickly intervened to throw an arm around Jaune's neck and drag him out from the others.

"Don't put pressure on him, guys," he said. "You're putting unreasonable expectations on him."

"Are we?" Russel asked. "He's getting private tutoring by Oobleck. No one else here got that before coming."

"Maybe we just have confidence Jauney will kick ass." Cardin said. He grinned slyly and added, "Are you saying you don't believe in him, Dove?"

"No, no, no!" Dove pushed off Jaune and made a cross-shape with his hands, more saying that to him than Cardin. "Jaune, I absolutely believe in you. Honest. I didn't mean anything otherwise."

The other three were laughing so Jaune did as well. Honestly, Dove was the only one overreacting here. "It's fine. I appreciate the confidence anyway. Helps me get my own going."

"You'll be fine," Dove said. "More than fine. You're paying Oobleck so do as you said and make sure he teaches you proper. Tell him to slow down if you need him to."

"He gets it." Cardin placed a hand on Dove's shoulder from behind and gently tugged him back. "He's not a baby, Dove. Let him breathe before you start worrying he'll choke." Cardin grinned at Jaune. "He's been more stressed about this than you have, I bet. We had to literally restrain him because he wanted to go warn Oobleck to take this seriously."

Dove's face had gone blood red and he shot Cardin a betrayed glare that had the entire team bursting out laughing. Jaune joined in; they had that effect – the ability to make him feel involved. This was what a team should be, Jaune thought. Best friends who were knit so tightly together they'd become a unit.

I hope I get a team as cool as them. And that we get on…

"I've got to meet Oobleck in fifteen minutes," Jaune said. "Shall we head off?"

"Sure. Right." Dove tugged himself away from Cardin. "I'll show you there. These three were just about to piss off."

Russel and Sky rolled their eyes. Cardin laughed. "Yeah, sure. We were about to do just that. We'll swing back after training to hang out a little," he said. "Dove thought it might help to watch a few of us spar. You're not gonna have the energy for it yourself anyway."

A chance to see two huntsmen go at it? That wasn't something you passed up on. "Sounds fun. I guess I'll see you later."

"Guess so." Cardin walked off, waving back with one hand.

"Finally," Dove muttered once they were gone.

"What? Is something wrong with them?"

"Nah. I'm just glad to be on our own." Dove's usual smile had returned, and he threw his arm around Jaune's shoulders again. "I love those guys – I really do – but when you do lessons, eat, sleep and train with them all day every day, you started to appreciate your alone time."

"It's not exactly alone time with me here…"

"It's better. You'll see when you come here and get your own team. Anyway, let's go find Oobleck, shall we? We can catch up with them after."

/-/

"Your stance needs to be wider. When using a sword – or any weapon – footwork is key. Move your right leg back. That's it. If you are right-handed then you want to bear your weight on your right side. Then, when you attack, you step forward with your right foot and swing, carrying all your weight and strength through."

Jaune mimicked what he'd said, stepping forward and slashing down. Crocea Mors bit into a human-shaped dummy that was made of some strange foam material over a metal rod. It must have been something special because while his sword did cut through the foam, it sealed again once he drew out. A computer nearby gave him a score of 110. Jaune wasn't sure what that meant, but since his first few attacks had been between 46 and 67, he knew it was an improvement.

"Better." The green-haired man in a white shirt and yellow tie didn't scream combat instructor, and he wasn't hands on. Rather than come in and move Jaune around like what he imagined a gym or fitness instructor would, he called out instructions.

They were always clear, however. Incredibly clear. Oobleck – or Doctor Oobleck as he insisted Jaune call him – liked to explain why something was important. That might have annoyed some but for Jaune, with no combat experience, knowing the reasons behind the tips helped a lot.

"A weapon is not supposed to be swung around with muscle strength alone. Do that and you'll be exhausted in minutes. Instead, you compensate by using its weight to assist you. Someone swinging a hammer need only strain themselves to bring the hammer to the apex of its swing. The rest can be done by gravity alone. The same goes for your sword, Mr Arc. Do not tense your arm as you swing. Let the weight of the blade do some of the work for you. Let your body weight carry through on the attack."

Introductions had been swift. Doctor Oobleck appeared surprised that Dove had tagged along to show Jaune where he was, and even more surprised when Dove asked to stay and offered to be an assistant if needs be. Beyond that, however, he'd introduced himself quickly, accepted payment and then asked Jaune what stage he was at before launching into things.

That was for the best. These lessons were expensive enough as it was without time wasted on idle chatter. And judging by the fact he had to be taught how to attack at all like this, there were going to be a lot of lessons to get through. He was further behind than he'd thought if he couldn't even swing his sword properly.

"Adjust your grip." Oobleck said. "Like this." He took up a practice sword from Beacon's impressive rack of weapons and held it out horizontally before him. "See how I hold it just below the guard. That is to give me the best control, and to leave room for a second hand should I need it. Try a quick back and forth slash."

Jaune did so.

"No. No. Don't use your muscles to try and stop the momentum. If you need to reverse a strike or bring it back, try to conserve the energy you've already used. A sword should be in fluid motion. It is not something to hack and slash with despite what some might say. Be graceful. Watch."

Oobleck cut several quick patterns in the air, left, right, up, down and back again. "Notice how loose my grip is," he said. "I am not yanking the blade about. I am not using all my strength. I only need to start it moving; it will do the rest on its own if I let it. If you grip too tightly then the first time you hit something harder than foam, the vibrations will travel back through the handle and into your hand. That might not sound like much but trust me when I say if that happens enough you will feel it. A looser grip alleviates the problem."

"Won't I be at risk of losing my weapon?"

"A loose grip, Mr Arc, not a negligent one. So long as you keep your fingers curled around it, you will not. The sweet spot comes with practice. Mr Bronzewing," he said suddenly. "If you wish to help then perhaps you may here. Pick up a practice sword and defend yourself from Mr Arc's attacks."

Dove nodded and pushed off the wall he'd been leaning at, pausing to select a simple, dulled metal sword off the rack and jog up to them. He held one hand behind his back and brought the sword up vertically before him like a fencer.

"Try swinging at Mr Bronzewing," Oobleck said. "Worry not, even should you hit him he has aura to defend himself with. As for you, Mr Bronzewing, defend to the best of your ability. The goal is to teach Mr Arc about impact and recovery from parried strikes. You may begin."

Jaune nodded and hefted Crocea Mors up. He caught Dove's smile and wink, a quick gesture to tell him to go all out and not worry about any hard feelings. With a quick nod back, Jaune swung in from the side.

Dove parried it as expected. That was the point. The impact sent a jolt down Crocea Mors, into his hand and up through his arm to the shoulder. It didn't hurt per se, but he felt it. Drawing back, Jaune tried the other side and Dove parried just as easily. Several more swings led to the same result, but as it went on, the pain became progressively worse and worse. Soon, each parried blow was making his hand seize up. His palm felt like it was twisted, sharp pains in muscles clamped so up so tightly they felt like they might crack and snap.

A few minutes later, Jaune had to stop. "Time out!" he gasped, throwing Crocea Mors to his left hand and wagging his right in the air. "Gah. That stings."

"Pause for now," Oobleck said. "I hope you see my point. Rest assured that Mr Bronzewing will have felt the same, but he is more experienced than you and also, I would wager, has more callused hands. Calluses help with this as they dull the pain, much like someone learning to play the guitar no longer cutting their fingers on the strings."

Jaune nodded, having sheathed Crocea Mors and taken to digging the thumb of his left hand into the palm of his right, massaging the muscles to loosen them up. "You already told me this would happen. Did you have to make it?"

"I could tell you many things in our lessons, Mr Arc, but those best remembered are those you experience yourself. You will not forget this lesson for a while."

True. He could grumble all he wanted, but he was paying Oobleck to teach him and the man was doing just that.

"The other thing I wanted you to notice is how tired you are compared to Mr Bronzewing. Attacking naturally takes more stamina than defending, though of course with two equals facing off against one another, the attacking person has the potential to end the battle early if he scores a good hit. The point I am making however is that every attack comes at a cost to you. Therefore, it is imperative that as few attacks be wasted as possible. Economy of movement. Efficiency of movement. This applies both against a person and against the Grimm. Ideally, you would want to slay a Grimm with one attack and one attack only, conserving as much energy as possible. This isn't always possible, but you can use the mindless aggression of Grimm against them. Either way, I want to teach you to properly attack before we work on your defence. It does not matter how skilled you are at warding off blows if you cannot end a fight."

"R-Right. I get it. And that's fine."

"Good. It will take time to improve." Oobleck checked his scroll and said, "It seems we're done for today as well. Will you be coming back tomorrow? I will give you a chance to back out if you wish it."

"No." Jaune panted heavily. "I'll be here."

"Pleased to hear it."

"Do you…" Jaune was afraid of the answer, but he had to know. "Do you think I have a chance? Of making it into Beacon next year? Is it hopeless?"

"Jaune, no, you've-"

"No one is without potential." Oobleck interrupted Dove. "Least of all you. I will not lie and say it shall be easy, but if you trained your hardest then you might be able to gain entry. Your level of combat would be below your peers, but this is a school. You could finalise your training here. Ultimately, the final decision will rest with you, and will depend solely on the amount of effort you are prepared to put in."

It was about what he'd expected and pretty much the same as what Hei had told him back then. About how he could reach anything he just took the time to work for it. Hearing it from Oobleck helped. "T-Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, sir."

"Yourself as well, Mr Arc. Mr Bronzewing." He nodded to Dove. "Good day."

It was only when Oobleck was gone that Jaune let his full exhaustion show. He fell to one knee, waving off a worried Dove who came charging up. "Just tired," he said between harsh gasps. "That was… my muscles are killing me."

"Want a massage?"

Honestly? Yes. Jaune waved his head no however, knowing Dove was just teasing. "I want to crawl home and fall asleep until this evening. Aw man, I've got work too. I feel ruined…"

"You could call and tell them you're ill."

Nice thought and all, but one did not lie to the Malachite twins like that. Plus, he had this training every Saturday and Sunday now – working days – so he had to get used to it at some point.

"It's fine. I'll have a nap before work."

"Hmm. Drink some water anyway." Dove pushed a clear bottle into his face. "It'll help. Try not to stay still. You'll get a cramp. Come on." Letting Jaune drink, Dove stooped and took his arm, hauling him up and letting him lean on his friend. "Let's get outside with some fresh air. You can watch Cardin knock Russel around the ring. That'll make you feel better."

/-/

Watching Cardin and Russel fight was a treat. Cardin was big and strong with powerful swings of his two-handed mace, while Russel was more like the rogues of his old RPG games back in Ansel, using two daggers and darting in and out. It was such a crazy mismatch that Jaune wasn't sure which way it would go.

The fight was brutal in an elegant way. It was obvious they both knew how the other fought and were compensating for it – Cardin refused to be baited into swings when Russel darted in and out. Now with Oobleck's lessons under his belt, Jaune could recognise why. Cardin had to be careful not to waste energy using such a big weapon. Russel wanted him to.

In the end it came down to a lucky grab by Cardin that caught Russel's arm. The smaller boy went into a mad frenzy of knives, dragging Cardin's aura down from green to yellow, but Cardin gritted his teeth through it and grappled his teammate down to the floor, pinning him and raising a hand to show he could still punch.

"Yield!"

"Accepted!" Russel laughed.

"Not me, asshole." Cardin brought his fist down, but it was in a light sway to the top of Russel's head. "Do you yield, or do I really have to do this?"

"I yield. I yield."

"Good man." Cardin stood and hauled his teammate up. "You're as tricky a bastard as ever to get hold of."

"And you lucked out again."

"It's not luck if you keep giving me the chance to grab you. That's a pattern."

Jaune clapped along with Dove and Sky, reminding the two they had an audience. Cardin huffed and crossed his arms, while Russel gave them a deep flourish and a bow worthy of the big stage. The fight hadn't been long by any means, maybe eight minutes in all, but it had been a good thirty since his training with Oobleck and Jaune was just about recovering himself.

"See how they worked around one another," Dove said to him. "They know how the other fights, so they changed their approach. You've got to be able to adapt to make it here, especially since everyone has different weapons, semblances and combat styles."

"Sounds exciting."

"Grimm don't have the same variety," Cardin said. "Then again, Grimm are different from fighting each other. They don't defend as much, don't plan and don't take advantage of openings."

"I'm sure the Doc will teach him about the differences later," Dove said.

Cardin hummed. It seemed he didn't like Oobleck much. Dove might have mentioned a detention or something before. At any rate, Cardin hadn't talked poorly about the man or suggested Jaune change teacher, so it wasn't much of an issue.

"Hey!" a loud, feminine voice called out. "Is that Jaune?" Everyone turned to see who it was, Cardin growling first to show it wasn't a friend. To him at least. Ruby's sister, Yang Xiao-Long, strolled up in a brown duster jacket and shorts, a huge, bright smile on her face. "It is!" she cried on seeing him. "Hey there, stud."

Not one to ignore a pretty girl, he waved back. "Hey."

"I wondered why there was so much testosterone over here. Place practically reeks of it."

"What do you want, Xiao-Long?" Cardin demanded.

"Xiao-Long, huh? Are you still pissy I beat your ass so badly? It was a spar. Someone has to lose." Yang rolled her eyes and turned back to Jaune. "Speaking of, not to be a snitch or anything but are you even allowed here?"

"He has private lessons with Doctor Oobleck!" Dove snapped defensively. "He's allowed. Youi can ask him."

"Whoah. Whoah. Chill. I wasn't gonna run off and tell or anything." Yang brought her hands up to ward off Dove's rather sudden anger. "And that's cool, being trained by a teacher and all. You must have some sick moves."

"Ah. No. Not really…"

"Selling yourself short? Or maybe you're shy." Yank winked and nodded her head to the arena Cardin and Russel had just vacated. "Why don't we go a round? I'll go easy on you."

"I… don't think that's a good idea…"

Huffing, Yang crossed her arms. "Why not?"

"He said no!" Dove interrupted. "Take a hint."

"What's your problem? I was only offering. Being friendly, you know?"

"He's just come out of two hours' intensive training with Oobleck," Russel said, a little less antagonistically. "I don't think he has a spar in him."

"Oooh. Right." Yang laughed. "Yeah, that sounds rough. Well, offer's open if you ever want it. I owe you one for covering us at the mall the other day."

"What mall?" Dove demanded. "Cover what?"

"It was nothing," Jaune said. "I bought Yang and her team some coffee."

"He was the most popular guy in the mall for a while," she teased. "Surrounded by four sexy girls." Yang made a show of blowing him a kiss; something Jaune easily recognised as a joke. "But I guess if you're not in the mood to get hot and sweaty with me now, I'll let it go. To be rejected hurts, but I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

"The only thing big about you is your ego," Cardin muttered.

"Geez. Alright. I can see when I'm not wanted."

Yang turned away and flung a hand over her shoulder, middle finger extended. Jaune winced, but Team CRDL appeared happy to see her go, especially Dove and Cardin. I hope Ruby won't think bad of me for that. I should probably ask her to pass an apology onto Yang on my behalf.

"Did you have to be so rude?" he asked them.

"Don't be fooled by her," Cardin said. "Xiao-Long loves nothing more than to knock people down. Call it training all you like, but she makes a sport of going around on weekends pushing people's faces in."

"Funny how she never challenges people better than her, though." Sky said.

"Losing doesn't help you feel better about yourself, does it?" Dove said. "Xiao-Long's a bully. Won't admit it and gets away with shit because she's not obvious about it, but she makes fun of people while she's beating them into the ground."

Really? He hadn't gotten that impression from her but then CRDL knew her better than he did. And she had come up and asked to spar with him when she knew he had no chance against her. Maybe she was amusing herself that way. It reminded him of playing games online back home and running into smurfs. Everyone liked winning; some people just liked it enough to intentionally pick winning matchups or play against new players.

Maybe I misjudged her, he thought. Or maybe she's nice apart from that. It doesn't matter – I don't want Ruby feeling bad and cancelling our lessons because of it.

"If we didn't tell her off then she'd have challenged one of us instead," Cardin said, filling the silence left by Yang's departure. "We're meant to be chilling. She has a team if she wants a spar; let her knock one of them around."

He supposed Cardin was right.

/-/

After a relatively quiet and rainy Friday, Saturday night was booming at the club. Literally thanks to a visiting celebrity DJ that Hei had apparently arranged for months ago. Jaune didn't recognise the man, but he was apparently a big deal on the radio, and the crowds of people on the dancefloor reinforced the idea. This was the first time in weeks the bar had been nearly empty. It was a nice change.

Jaune took the chance to check his scroll, relieved again to see Ruby's response to his message assuring everything was okay, and that Yang wasn't one to hold a grudge. He'd asked her to pass on an apology for him anyway. It didn't hurt to be polite. Team CRDL and Team RWBY didn't have to like one another, but he wasn't going to turn on Ruby just because CRDL disliked her team, and he wasn't going to turn on the guys just because they didn't like Ruby's team.

"Hey barkeep!" someone yelled over the loud music to his left. "Two moshito!"

Moshito…? Jaune frowned and turned. "I think you mean mojito-"

It was the girls from last night. Namely, the fashionable looking brunette who had come with her team to pick up her absolutely smashed teammate. Said teammate was with her, not in a loose blouse and jeans a little more suitable for clubbing, but also with a bright red face, droopy ears and an adorably embarrassed wobble to her lips.

Maybe it was cruel of him but he couldn't help but come over and say, "Ahhh. Moshito it is," he said, intentionally mispronouncing it. "Do you want it hard or soft?"

"S-Stop…" Velvet whimpered.

"Hmm. We'll have it with actual alcohol for now," the other – Coco, he recalled – said, taking a seat at the bar. "Though I'll keep an eye on Vel. Wouldn't want her to pass out after half a glass."

"I wasn't that bad!"

"You nearly were," Jaune said.

"Nghhhh!" Velvet tugged on her ears, dragging them down to frame her face. "I-I'm sorry," she said. "I wanted to apologise for… well… last night. Being drunk. Being sick." Her eyes darted to the bar and back to him. "T-Thank you for helping my team find me. And sorry again…"

Too cute. "It's fine." He had to say it gruffly to avoid surrendering. Jaune forced himself to look down at the drinks he was mixing. "Kind of my fault for bringing you here anyway, but I wasn't about to leave you sat in a puddle in Triple-X alley."

"Where now!?" Coco asked quickly.

"Coco, please, I told you I was in a bad place…"

"Yeah, I assumed you meant emotionally – not literally."

"It's nowhere dangerous," Jaune said. "Just a place with a couple of sex shops."

"Ah. I thought you meant… well, never mind." Coco accepted her drink and took a sip, making a happy sound. Velvet looked at her own mistrustfully, no doubt remembering some of the last night. "Drink up, bun. I'll be keeping an eye on you tonight, so it'll be fine."

"I don't know why we're here at all…"

Coco raised an eyebrow.

"Other than the apology!" Velvet said quickly, flashing him a grateful smile. "And I really am sorry, honest. I just mean why are we staying? I don't want to… after last night…"

"The reason we're staying is twofold. One, I've been trying to get you to go clubbing with me for a full damn year and you keep saying no, then you went behind my back and got wasted." Coco raised another finger. "Two, just because you had one bad experience doesn't mean you should give up on something. Or what, are you going to swear off alcohol forever because you got drunk once? Better you learn how to have fun within your tolerance. That's what we're doing here."

It made perfect sense to him. Coco seemed a lot more at ease with the overall atmosphere of the club, so he assumed she could keep an eye on Velvet and keep a repeat of the other night happening. If not, they might both get themselves banned. That wasn't his problem, though. Nice as they seemed, he'd really been a good Samaritan by helping Velvet out. No need to adopt her or anything.

"You getting a break at any point tonight?" Coco asked.

"Hmm? Me?"

"Sure." She leaned an elbow on the bar and winked at him. "You helped Vel out. That makes you a friend in my book. We can share a few drinks, chat and exchange embarrassing stories about her."

"Coco!"

"A joke, bun. It was a joke."

They were friendly enough, and the Malachites were always telling him to hang around with some girls, maybe make some friends. He supposed it couldn't hurt. "Sure. My shift finishes in half an hour if you want to grab a table. I'll come on over when I'm done."

"Awesome." Coco flicked her legs to the side, hopping off the barstool and grabbing her drink. "Make sure you keep your word. No one stands up Coco Adel and gets away with it."

"Didn't you get stood up on that last online date you went on?" Velvet asked.

Coco winced. "Not twice, anyway."

"And the one before that…"

Jaune snickered at Coco's beleaguered expression. He felt sorry for her, even if he couldn't understand why any guy would be dumb enough to stand her up. Were they blind, dumb or just cowards? He didn't know. All he knew was that Coco's expression was too funny. "Snrk."

"Bun. Seriously. Shut up. You can shut up as well!" she told him. "I'm just too much for some girls to handle. That's all."

Girls…? Oh, she was like Saphron? Jaune stamped down on the instinctive thought of how much of a shame that was. Her choice, her life. Besides, it wasn't like she'd have been interested in him anyway. "Are you two on a date tonight?" he asked.

Coco snorted.

Velvet looked horrified. "No, no, no! I'm not like – I mean, not that there's anything wrong with. But I'm not…"

"Velvet is off-limits for me. I don't date among the team," Coco said for her. "Too much potential for something to go wrong. You're stuck with your teammates for four years, maybe longer, so it's not a good idea to risk feelings breaking that up. Also, she's straight," Coco added as an afterthought, as if that was the smallest hurdle to her snagging Velvet. "Though you wouldn't know it for her dating record. Hasn't gone out with a single guy."

"COCO! Don't just tell him that!"

"Then don't just tell people I got stood up three times in a row," Coco shot back. "You know how embarrassing that is?" Coco rolled her eyes at him as if to say she was trying her best, but Velvet was an idiot. "Thirty minutes, bucko. Then you're at our table and drinking with us. I need to teach this social shut-in that clubs are friends, not foe."

Jaune laughed. "I'll be there. Promise."

Back to trawling records and the like. Yay.

Next Chapter: 24th June

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur