Chapter 5 – Battle Scars
After surviving another brutally boring lecture, Teams RWBY and JNPR both congregated in the cafeteria for lunch. They each plated a respectable amount, except for Nora. She had piled a mass of food on to one tray, enough to feed a dozen people. Ren assured everyone that this was normal and to just let it happen.
"Was that why there were no pancakes left this morning?" Jaune asked.
Bradly nodded in response."Saw it with my own eyes, and they don't lie." The group of students chuckled and started eating. As the two teams merrily conversed and joked about, Jaune noticed a bit of commotion a few tables down. A large man, who Jaune recognized as Cardin Winchester from the initiation ceremony, was teasing a girl about the rabbit-like ears that grew from the top of her head. Throughout the world there are people with these animal-like features. They are known as Faunus. Although they tend to live harmoniously with humans, some humans think lesser of them and berate and mock them. Some go so far as to drive them out of villages or ban them from stores. Cardin bullied this girl relentlessly, pulling at her ears claiming that they must be fake and stealing her lunch away from her. This bother Jaune greatly, and his teammate Pyrrha took notice.
"People who treat others like that make me sick." She claimed.
"Yea, they serve no purpose other than to make others feel bad." Jaune responded. "I just with there was something we could do." Jaune felt useless as he wasn't brave enough to face the large man and he returned his attention to the table in front of him. Pyrrha believed something had to be done and was about to get up and confront Cardin until Jaune spoke out.
"Hey, Bradly! You're a big tough guy right? Could you go tell that Cardin guy off?" Jaune asked enthusiastically. Bradly looked over at the man and his smaller teammates as they continued to harass the faunus girl momentarily before returning to his meal.
"The situation doesn't concern us." Bradly replied reluctantly. He was no fan of the mistreatment of others but remembered Ozpin's deal he had made and held himself back.
"C'mon, she's helpless to them. What if she gets hurt?" Jaune persisted. "I'd do it but...I'm no match for a guy like that." Jaune pitied himself. Bradly paused and placed his utensils on the table. He knew he had to play by the rules but couldn't help the call of someone in need. Bradly stood swiftly and began making his way to the girls rescue.
Ozpin said I can't pick fights, never said anything about defending myself. Just no guns. No problem Oz. Bradly thought to himself. He planned on making Cardin throw the first punch in order to justify a fight and claim it as self-defense. As Bradly approached the group of men, one of the other members of Team CRDL spotted him and brought it to Cardin's attention. He then release the faunus girl's ear and set his sights on Bradly.
"Look what we've got here. Mr. Tough-guy." Cardin jested. "You seem to be making yourself known around here. I could use a friend like you." Bradly shot a cold gaze at Cardin as the larger man sized him up. Cardin stood a fair amount taller than Bradly who was only six feet tall. "What do you say, cowboy?" Bradly ignored Cardin's mockery and spoke calmly.
"I've met a fair amount of men like you over my short life, Cardin. Not quite as dumb, but just as full of themselves. Now, self-confidence is an important thing but boasting too much can cause problems, at least, that's what I've seen."
"Really, and what problems did it cause them, partner?" Cardin continued to mock.
"Well, me, for one."
Cardin and his squad laughed. "Is that right? And what did you to cause them trouble? Sing them a country song? Steal their horse? No, wait. I know." Cardin reached out to Bradly's head and picked up his hat, placing it on his own head. "You took their hat." Once Cardin fixed Bradly's hat upon his head, he returned his sight to Bradly who sported a furious expression.
"No, Cardin much worse. I threw them in a hole." Cardin burst out laughing again.
"That's it? You put them in a little hole?"
"Yeah, only that was after they scraped up what body parts they could find, put them in a wooden box, and lowered it six feet below the ground." As Bradly angrily explained his story, he activated his semblance which shot fear in to Cardin like a bullet. Shocked and scared, Cardin instinctively swung his right fist at Bradly's face. Bradly saw the attack coming and raised his left hand, catching the strike from the larger man. He then gripped Cardin's fist tightly and bent his wrist backward, causing a loud crack to be heard nearby to come from it. Cardin groaned in pain and dropped to his knee under the force of Bradly's hand, then with his free hand, Bradly reached out to Cardin's head. Cardin saw Bradly's hand move and he flinched, awaiting to be struck but instead felt the hat leave his head. After replacing his hat on his head, Bradly continued speaking.
"I'm also not fond of those who steal for no reason." He then pushed against Cardin's hand, causing him to fall backwards in to the table where the other members of his team sat, stunned by the events happening in front of them. Fearing for their safety, they cowardly ran, leaving their toppled leader behind.
Bradly turned to rejoin his friends and met the entire cafeteria silently watching at him. He looked around at the students where were awestruck at the demonstration Bradly presented.
This isn't goo- Bradly thought before being approached by the faunus girl he had just saved.
"Thank you, that jerk's been bothering me and a number of other students all day." She spoke with an English accent. "I'm Velvet." She held out a hand in front of her.
"Bradly." He responded, shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you Bradly, I guess I'll see you around." She turned to swiftly leave the cafeteria. "And thank you again." Bradly continued on to join his friends at their table who were all still awestruck. By then, most of the other students in the cafeteria had lost interest and returned to their meals and conversations.
"That...was...AWESOME!" Ruby and Jaune proclaimed enthusiastically.
"Indeed, it was very impressive." Pyrrha agreed. Yang, who was sitting across from the red-haired girl, smiled and gave Bradly a thumbs up.
"How'd you do it?" Nora asked, mouth full of food.
Bradly was hesitant. "Well...I saw his fist coming a mile away and...he wasn't really that strong."
"Not that strong? He's, like, the strongest first years in Beacon!" Jaune shouted.
"Didn't seem like it." Bradly joked back. The group laughed together as Nora finished her food.
"Well we should probably get to our next class." Pyrrha claimed. The two teams cleaned their table of plates and began making their way out of the cafeteria.
"What do we have next?" Jaune asked.
"Combat Training!" Ruby responded joyfully. Jaune swallowed heavily, nervous if he had to fight, and who.
The last half of the day was reserved for combat training and fighting skills development taught by none other than Glynda Goodwitch. The students retrieved their weapons, changed in to their combat outfits and made their way to a set of bleachers surrounding a small combat arena. Once everyone was seated, Glynda began her lesson.
"Hello students, welcome to combat training. For the first week of the semester we will be assessing your current skills in combat by sparring, one on one. To get us started, I require a volunteer." Glynda began scanning the room of students, awaiting a response. Wanting to see him in action, the members of Team RWBY began nudging Bradly to volunteer which he refused. Professor Goodwitch caught on.
"Mr. Smith, it seems as though your teammates are eager to see you up here. Could you join me please?" Bradly rolled his eyes and made his way down to the arena. "Your first lesson is about Aura, Mr. Smith, could you please bring out your scroll." He obeyed Glynda's command and opened his scroll which he had nearly forgotten he possessed and hands it to her. "Your scroll is not just a means of communication and entertainment, it is a vital tool you must use in combat to decide whether to attack or take a more defensive position. It's able to keep track of your aura's strength."
"What is an aura?" A student towards the back of the class asked.
"Aura is the manifestation of one's soul, and with enough practice, can be used as a defensive shield and even heal our injuries. It can appear differently depending on the person activating it, usually by a simple difference in color." Bradly shied away at the topic and hid his face behind his hat's rim. After tapping a few controls on Bradly's scroll, she opened up[ a window containing a green meter that showed the number one hundred over top. "This is how your scroll shows your aura's strength, monitor it carefully as you fight. In a tournament-style setting, once a person's aura drops below fifteen, they are deemed unable to continue fighting. Let's demonstrate this. Mr. Smith, could you please choose a sparring partner." Bradly scanned the students who all became nervous, Jaune being the most afraid. Bradly looked over the students until he noticed a familiar person caring for an injury to his wrist.
"I choose Cardin." Bradly pointed at the man attempting to hide behind other students. Glynda tapped a few commands on her larger scroll, bringing up Cardin's aura meter.
"It appears that Cardin has sustained an injury at some point and his aura is not at full strength, please choose someone else, Mr. Smith." Cardin sighed a breath of relief.
"Then one of his teammates should stand in for him." Bradly sneered, wanting to prove a point to Cardin.
"Fair enough, could one of the other members of Team CRDL please join us in the arena." Glynda commanded. The other three men fought each other in choosing who was to go out. Cardin then impatiently grabbed one of the men and pushed him towards the arena. "Ah, Mr. Bronzewing, thank you." She then added Dove to the roster and stepped out of the arena. "On my mark." Bradly flung his coat behind him, revealing his holstered guns and readied his hands near them but not drawing them. Dove drew his sword and fearfully positioned himself for the fight. "Ready..." Bradly's fingers twitched, causing Dove's knees to shake.
"Don't worry, I'll make this quick." Bradly threatened.
"Begin!" Glynda shouted and in less time than anyone could count, Bradly had drawn his right pistol and sent a round barreling toward Dove's head, striking him above the bridge of his nose. This round knocked the man off his feet and instantly depleted his aura. Bradly simply twirled his pistol on his finger and holstered it again, then walked back to his seat next to Weiss and Yang who simply stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Uhm, B-Bradly is..the winner." Glynda stuttered once finally processing the fight. "A-As you can see...D-Dove's aura has dropped...below f-fifteen and is...unable to...c-continue fighting. He may need medical attention." The other two uninjured members of team CRDL brought Dove to his feet and dragged him out of class to the infirmary.
"What was that?" Weiss fanatically asked the man to her side as Glynda aided Team CRDL. Feeling a sense of self-confidence, Bradly smirked.
"A fight." He replied sarcastically, he then turned his attention to include Ruby. "Remember when I shot at you guys? You only had one coming at you Weiss, but Ruby, you had eleven. Remember?" He chuckled. Both girls froze, terrified at the realization of how close to death they really were. Professor Goodwitch had returned to the combat arena to continue the lesson.
"Mr. Smith could you please join my down here again, I wish to use you for another demonstration." Bradly rolled his eyes again and reluctantly joined Professor Goodwitch again. "Mr. Arc, could you join us as well." Jaune's heart pounded in his chest as he heard his name being called. Pyrrha, also shocked, covered her mouth in panic, fearful of what may happen to her friend if Bradly was to fight him.
"I already fought someone, why me?" Bradly asked Glynda, knowing that Jaune wasn't the most capable fighter.
"You won't be fighting this time, instead, I'd like to ask you if you'd be willing to take a light strike from Mr. Arc to demonstrate the effects of taking damage on your aura."
"I'm not sure about this, ma'am." Bradly hid his face behind his hat again, concerned that the weakness in his aura would be discovered.
"Oh don't worry, I'm going to ensure that Mr. Arc's attack isn't strong enough to cause any permanent damage. Besides, judging by your demonstrated strength during initiation, you shouldn't even feel it." Glynda disregarded Bradly's concern as Jaune made his way to the arena. "Mr. Arc, could you please draw you weapon." Jaune led his shaky hand to the hilt of his sword that was sheathed on his left side and drew the blade. "Now, please lightly strike Mr. Smith."
"Uhh, what?" Jaune asked, unsure if he had heard Professor Goodwitch correctly.
"For demonstration purposes, I need you to lightly strike Mr. Smith. Hard enough to cause some minor damage but nothing too serious." Jaune's heart raced, terrified of how Bradly might feel towards him.
"Wait." Bradly halted the experiment. He then removed his jacket and dropped it to the floor at his side. "There, go ahead Jaune."
"But I-" Jaune hesitated.
"Do it Jaune! May as well get it over with. No hard feelings."
"If...if you insist." Jaune swallowed hard and gripped his sword tight. He began running towards Bradly and swung his sword with moderate strength. Without even flinching or even lifting his head, Bradly accepted the attack which struck him on the side of his right shoulder. Jaune held his sword in place, eyes shut tight, petrified at what counter attack Bradly might send back his way. However, Bradly remained motionless.
"See children, as you take damage, your aura will weaken which is shown on your scro-" Glynda halted her statement, surprised to see Bradly's aura level unaffected by the attack. "I...I don't understand." Glynda spoke, unsure of what had happened. She looked up from her scroll at Bradly to see if Jaune had missed or failed to contact his skin. As she inspected the man, blood began running down Jaune's blade and soaked in to Bradly's white shirt. Jaune had opened his eyes and fearfully pulled his blade out from Bradly's arm to which more blood began to flow.
"My aura's level will never drop below fifteen because it doesn't protect me from injury. I was hoping to keep it a secret." Bradly stated, upset by the demonstration. He then tore the cut sleeve of his shirt off his arm, exposing the open wound. "The only thing my damn aura does it keep me from falling apart." Bradly became further agitated but started focusing his emotions within himself. Suddenly, the wound on his arm began to glow a deep shade of black. The blood stopped flowing from it and moments later the wound seemed to close but left a scar behind. Upon closer inspection, Jaune and Glynda could see dozens of smaller wounds down his arm to his hand. Bradly bent down and grabbed his jacket, donning it once more then exiting the arena. He walked up the stairs of the sitting area but continued on, passed where he had been sitting, and made his way to the door. Glynda, feeling responsible, allowed Bradly to leave and motioned to his teammates to follow him. She then instructed Jaune to take his seat so they could continue the class.
Shocked and confused, the girls chased Bradly down, unsure of what he was thinking or wanting to do.
"Bradly stop, wait up!" Ruby called out as the trio caught the upset man. "What's going on? Please tell us!"
"If you want to know, follow me and I'll explain." Bradly responded with his neutral tone, worrying the girls further. He lead them back to their dorm when, once inside, he locked the door and instructed them to sit on the lower beds. They obliged, and sat patiently awaiting his explanation.
"As I said, my aura is...different." Bradly explained. "Instead of protecting me from injury, it only closes the wounds I receive. However, it leaves behind these scars, perfect images of the wounds I receive." He then dropped his jacket and removed his vest and torn shirt, revealing his torso. It was covered in scars ranging in all different shape, sizes, and directions. Some small and narrow, other spanning the entire length of his upper body from shoulder to opposite hip. Some where short but deep, like a stab wound from a large blade, and some were jagged like the cut was made with a dull edge. One wound stood out from the rest, a large round scar just to the right of the center of his chest, a few inches below his collar bone. It was about an inch to an inch and a half wide, and circular with a rough edge. Weiss was the first to notice this odd scar. She was nearly in tears over the sight of the sheer amount of damage Bradly's body has received over his lifetime.
"What...what's that...round one…?" She asked hesitantly.
"It's from a nine millimeter." He responded coldly.
"Like, the bullet, nine millimeter?" Ruby asked to confirm her thoughts.
"Yes, it goes well with the other." Bradly tuned, facing away from the girls. There were just as many scars on his back as there were on his front. Two stood out to the girls, a flat, dark scar about an inch and a half long below his left shoulder blade and a larger round one above his left hip.
"That was from a Colt .45 hollow-point. Destroyed my kidney, that one." He continued, pointing out the large scar.
"What's that deep looking one on your upper back?" Yang asked out of curiosity.
"That was a Bowie knife, missed my heart by about a quarter of an inch." Weiss had a steady flow of tears streaming down her face, while Ruby and Yang looked on interested but feeling an unpleasant sense of sorrow for Bradly.
"What...happened to you?" Ruby asked, tears welling up in her silver eyes.
Bradly let out a sigh. "Since it looks like we're going to be spending quite some time with each other, I may as well put it all out in the open..."