Chapter 15
Sitting down in the stands, all Jaune needed now was a bag of popcorn and it would be like an average Soldies night back home watching professional Huntsmen spars. Though instead of seven sisters crowded on a couch, he had seven classmates in the stadium seating.
Even though they'd arrived early, the place was still packed. Then again, that wasn't too surprising. It was the first day the practice arena was open, and it was a combat school, as well as a way to not think about the imminent classes.
Compared to some of the professional Huntsmen matches he'd seen, the fights weren't anything too special. Professional Huntsmen had trained for years, and their styles were very set and drilled. Watching two professionals spar was about seeing who had the slightest bit of extra stamina or precision. Victories by margins.
The fights they'd seen here weren't anything like that. It was clear that while everyone was trained, there was still room for learning. Styles matched up unexpectedly, and while the spars were a slugging match, they were somehow still entertaining. He could almost see the gears turning in the fighters' heads as they tried to adapt on the fly, pushed out of their comfort zone by an unexpected enemy. An excitement buzzed in the air that he hadn't expected.
"BREAK HIS LEGS!" Nora roared in his ear. He hadn't been the only one getting excited about the matches. Nora had been raring to go right from the start, screaming encouragements that bordered on worrisome, and Ren had to occasionally reign her in. And although Emerald seemed to be trying to be impassive about it, he still caught her smirking, or lightly fist pumping on a solid hit or a knockout.
When he'd glanced back at team WARP behind him, it seemed they were into it as well. Ruby was positively riveted to the arena, bouncing excitedly as her eyes followed the fighters and her hands twitched eagerly. Pyrrha seemed jittery when they first walked in, but seemed to settle down once she joined her teammates. She was watching with a light smile, and polite claps for victories. Alabaster was almost as bad as Nora, and seemed to take some enjoyment from working her up, and even Weiss seemed to be enjoying herself, even if her main focus was on recording the fights with her Scroll. To each their own, he thought.
But as the most recent fight closed, he couldn't help but feel a rising sense of anxiety. Ren and Nora's match would be the one after next, and it would be an important one. He'd heard from his parents how much the first match a team participated in was important. While only half of JERN were fighting, it still set expectations of the team in the eyes of the student body. They could always be refuted later, but there was only one first impression.
"So...how're you guys feeling about the match?" Jaune asked. The details of their opponents had been sent to them earlier that morning, and he could only assume the other team had received them too.
Nora and Ren would be fighting in the first duos round against two members of team TALC; Tundra, their leader, and Crimson. Even now he could see the pair sitting with their team on the opposite side of the stadium with their team. The two couldn't be more visibly different if they tried. While Tundra was pale, Crimson was tanned. Tundra had visibly muscular arms and stared at the fight unwaveringly, while Crimson was more lithe and glanced around as she bounced a knee.
"Feeling pretty good," Nora said happily. "Ren and I talked tactics when we got the news."
"We're thinking of engaging in position one," Ren explained.
"Position one?" Emerald interrupted.
"Position one is based around a very common pairing: one melee, one ranged. The melee fighters would contend with each other, and their ranged partners would support. There are all kinds of positions based on different team combinations. And of course, freestyle fighting."
Emerald rubbed her forehead. "Seems like a whole lot of work to memorize them. Not to mention, pointless. No one's going to let you square up in a real fight."
"Spars weren't meant to mimic real fights," Nora added. "They were only really a thing after the big cities started cropping up a couple centuries ago. Not having to worry about being killed by Grimm every day meant that you could afford to actually have a fight just for entertainment's sake. It was kind of a status thing to be able to engage in an honourable duel, and it grew from there."
Emerald seemed to consider it quietly, leaning back in her seat. "I guess I can see that...I don't quite agree with it, though. How do you win?"
"Each participant is expected to fight until their Aura drops below a threshold," Pyrrha explained, gesturing to the overhead screens. "Cameras around the arena measure their Aura levels. If it drops below the level where a major hit could be absorbed, then they're no longer part of the fight.
"Any idea how you'll break through Tundra's defense?" Jaune asked, shuddering at the images he'd seen. Tundra's main arsenal was a hand-axe and a spiked shield.
"Her targe is meant to control close quarters fighting," Nora observed. The spikes allow her to control a lock against everything shy of the heaviest two handed weapons."
"So we're not going to get that close," Ren chimed in. "Tundra's skill lies in close combat, not distance. So we don't let her engage at her preferred range."
"What about her partner? She's got fencing training," Jaune reminded them. Formal styles were rare among Huntsmen. The diversity of Semblances and cobbled weapons meant that there were too many combinations for teachers to instruct on each one. Instead, most teachers focused on the broad strokes of fighting rather than specifics, leaving the students to fill in the techniques with their own ideas. Fencing was one of the more common formal styles, and did particularly well in spars. With a focus on parrying and riposting, fencers were able to nullify and punish a lot of their foe's attacks.
"She's green behind the ears," Emerald noted, squinting as she stared at the pair. "Nervous. I don't think this was her idea."
"What makes you say that?" Jaune asked.
"Look at them," Emerald said, jerking her chin at them. "Tundra's sitting there watching the fights with confidence. Crimson's looking anywhere but the fight. She's psyching herself up."
"I would agree with that," Ren commented. That was apparently good enough for Nora, who just nodded and went back to checking her equipment. Jaune stepped towards the field, leaning against the railing as he looked over at the other team.
It was strange to him just how much information was there if you knew what you were looking for. Things he couldn't always see. He supposed part of being a leader was listening to your teammates about that kind of stuff, but at the same time, he couldn't help but want to be able to do it as well. After all, weren't leaders supposed to be able to do that kind of stuff, too? All the leaders he heard about were incredibly smart and knew just about everything.
He was startled out of his thoughts as the students cheered, and he realized belatedly the round had ended. Which meant it was also time for Nora and Ren to head down and start prepping for their round.
"Wish us luck, Cap!" Nora said as she stood up with a quick salute. She didn't even wait for him to respond before skipping down the stairs.
"Good luck," Jaune waved, and the others echoed the sentiment.
"Thank you. We'll come back once we're done," Ren acknowledged, headed down towards the pit. In the meanwhile, the next round started, and he began to tune it out as he withdrew into his thoughts.
"So, anyone have bets?" Emerald piped up, half turning to glance at the rest.
Jaune was surprised when Ruby responded. "Nora and Ren for sure."
"Didn't take you for the betting type," Emerald said, one eyebrow quirked in surprise.
"Yang and I bet on fights all the time. She used to beat me a lot when we were young, but these days it's pretty close."
"So that's one for the pair. Any more?"
"I couldn't imagine betting against friends. I'm choosing Ren and Nora," Pyrrha said with a nod.
"I'll be the bad guy here," Alabaster said with a laugh. "I'll go with Tundra and Crimson."
"Don't think Nora and Ren will win?" Emerald asked with a teasing smile.
"Nah. Just no fun if everyone bets on the same side."
"Weiss? Jaune?"
"Abstain," Weiss said simply.
"Aw come on. That's no fun," Emerald pouted.
"I don't prefer to bet," Weiss explained, looking back down at her Scroll, ending the line of discussion. Then glanced up sharply. "What are you even betting?"
They looked at each other. "Um...pretzels?"
"Suits me just fine," Alabaster agreed, and Ruby nodded eagerly.
"Well, no reason you can't bet, Jaune," Emerald said. "So what'll it be?"
"I'm with Pyrrha. I can't bet against my teammates," he said.
"Alright. Then that's three against one."
"You're not betting?" Jaune asked.
"Not fair for the scorekeeper to bet," Emerald said with a wink. "Now let's watch. It seems like it'll be their turn soon."
On cue, the previous fight ended, a student with a heavy mace winning over his opponent, signalling the end of the singles rounds. Both participants nodded in passing as the duos sat on either side. On the one side, he could see Ren and Nora talking quickly, likely going over last minute plans, and on the other side their competitors were doing the same thing.
Finally, both teams seemed to have conferred enough, and a pair of glowing squares appeared on both sides of the arena. Ren quickly settled into the further back one, shifting around for a moment until he found a position he was comfortable with. Mirroring him, Crimson took up stance in hers, and Jaune got his first look at her full kit.
The first thing he noticed was just how similar her stance was to when he'd seen Weiss fight. Considering they were both fencers, that didn't surprise him, but her weapon seemed quite different. The blade was much thicker, and instead of a simple metal crossbar, a large metallic shell covered around her hand. As she adjusted her grip, he could see it was made of shifting panels, rotating to allow her wrist to move freely.
She didn't hold a weapon in her other hand, but from the looks of the gauntlet she wore, she didn't need one. Thick metal plates covered the fingers, and several blades stuck out from the back, pointed forwards towards her fingers. Despite the heavy, vicious look, the way she held her hand was almost delicate, balancing herself precisely.
Tundra, meanwhile, took defense further. The already impressive Huntress had put on a thick leather chestpiece with carefully applied metal reinforcements. The collar rose up, sealing her in with a lining of fur and a casing of metal. Both her boots and vambraces were heavy metal, and made her look downright unmovable.
In contrast, her weapon seemed almost too light. It was a mid-length, one-handed axe with a curved head. Though as he looked at it closer, it seemed that even the tips of the axehead were sharpened, making it dangerous even when locked.
Jaune looked nervously at his teammates. Ren was completely unarmored, and he suddenly realized that Nora wasn't wearing her arm or leg armouring. His first thought was that she had simply forgotten, but considering she'd been checking her equipment before the match, he doubted that. Maybe there was a reason. Speed, perhaps?
He didn't have much time to think about it as Nora and Tundra stepped into their respective squares, facing each other down. As soon as they had both settled in on their positions, the screens overhead began a countdown as the recorded voice of Professor Goodwitch narrated: "Three. Two. One."
The opening volley was almost too fast to follow. The second the buzzer went off, Tundra had lunged forward, leaning into her shield, no doubt anticipating a clash against her melee counterpart. But instead, Nora had faded back, gaining space as Tundra overextended slightly, though she didn't punish it.
Instead, Ren's guns seemed to materialize in his hands and he fired a burst at Tundra, who easily took the shots across her shield. Crimson rushed around the side opposite to Nora, flicking her foil at Ren. The blade seemed to compress and stretch, whipping out towards Ren, who threw himself to the side as Crimson's hand twitched, making the blade dance to the side.
Before she could correct, one of Nora's grenades had sailed towards her, and she retracted the blade back, bringing it up to block. In a flash, Ren was moving towards her, just as Nora shifted her hammer back, moving up to engage Tundra.
At the same moment, Nora's hammer clipped the edge of Tundra's shield while Ren's blades bounced off Crimson's blade. Both teams seemed to recoil for a split instant, and Jaune was impressed at how synchronized Nora and Ren were despite not saying anything.
Then Tundra lashed out her axe, hooking Nora's haft and pinning it against her shield. Tugging hard, she tried to pull Nora off balance before punching out with her shield, but Nora brought up the handle of her hammer, blocking it.
At the same time, Crimson flicked her blade out, trying to slash at Ren, but every swipe met thin air as he dashed back. With a twist, the blade began to extend, but Ren pushed the momentary pause, closing in. With her weapon in its whip form, she was forced to use her other hand, blocking one of his blades with her gauntlet, but the other one was out of her reach. He let off a quick volley starting from her feet up towards her chest before yanking his blade out of her grasp, his shots biting into her Aura.
Tundra turned to look at her teammate, and Nora capitalized on Ren's distraction by firing off the backports of her hammer, forcing it down towards Tundra. Under the sudden force, Tundra was forced down, turning to take the haft across the shoulder, rather than let it hit her directly. Using the momentum, she rolled back, disengaging from Nora towards Crimson's side.
"This isn't working," Tundra shouted, eying her foes carefully. "You go after her, I'll handle him."
The pair broke, charging their respective opponents. Tundra tried to shield charge again, but Ren had an easier time dodging her. He didn't even try to lock with her, and his blades were enough to redirect any of her axe swipes. Crimson, meanwhile, had her blade in whip form and was pressing on Nora, who was letting the attacks slide off her hammer handle. Even though Nora had the Aura advantage, Crimson's lash was faster, and could deal serious damage to Nora's Aura if unchecked.
However, one of the attacks wrapped the whip around her haft, and Crimson quickly dug in her heels, yanking back. Nora held on tight, triggering her backports again. The sudden kickback caught Crimson by surprise, and she was yanked off her feet. To her credit, she rolled to a kneel.
But it didn't matter, as Nora had already lined up the shot, and a couple of grenades impacted into the Huntress. With her whip still wrapped around the barrel of the gun, she was unable to defend herself, and she was flung backwards, her Aura depleting to disqualification levels, flickering violently.
The overhead buzzer blared, and everything stopped. Tundra glanced over her shoulder, seeing her partner out. With a sigh, she raised her weapon hand high, and the screen called out a forfeit. After Crimson got up, the pairs met in the middle, shaking hands.
The audience began to applaud, and Jaune couldn't help but be impressed. They'd done even better than he'd imagined. Glancing over at Emerald, he could see she was confused about something. "What's the matter?"
"Why did she give up? She'd barely been touched," Emerald asked.
"It's an old tradition. If your partner went down, you were expected to cede victory. After all, two versus one is not fair," Pyrrha explained.
"And in a real combat situation, you'd try and rescue your companion, not fight on," Alabaster added grimly.
"These days, it is considered bad form to waste your opponents' time and resources once you are beaten since you are just weakening them before their next fight," Pyrrha finished.
Jaune waited a moment to see if there was anything else Emerald wanted to say, but after a moment, he stood up, gesturing for her to come with him. "Come on, let's go congratulate them!"
Ruby had watched the fight with avid interest. When Tundra's axe came down, she could practically feel the weighting in her hand, fingers twitching as she imagined the grip. From a distance, it looked like it had a straight handle, but it could be improved with a few ridges and some padding.
A flash made her jump slightly, and she looked for the source. Another girl in a brown suit of armour with golden trims held up a rather nice looking camera, photographing the fight. The pair of long ears on her head marked her as a Faunus, which Ruby had seen quite a few of over the past few days. Maybe not as many as there were Humans, but more than she'd seen on Patch.
"Is this seat taken?"
Ruby jumped slightly, turning to the source of the accented voice. She was surprised to see it was the same girl, looking straight at her. Her brain stumbled a few times, trying to piece where the accent was from, who this girl was, why she was interested in her…
"If it is, that's okay. You just have a good view from here," she apologized, taking a half step back.
"No, no! It's okay, no one's using it," Ruby insisted reflexively.
"Excellent. I was hoping I might catch some of the new fighters." With a smile, the girl stood behind Ruby, turning her camera to the ring, taking a couple of pictures. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to Ruby. "Oh, sorry, my bad. Velvet Scarlatina. Sophomore."
"Sophomore?" Ruby parroted, completely missing the offered hand.
"I though Sophomores weren't expected until tomorrow," Weiss commented, finally looking away from the fights.
"I'm from Vacuo. Foreign students arrive a little early. You're the Freshmen, right?"
"Y-Yeah." Finally, Ruby could feel her mind catch up to the conversation as she shook her hand.
"Man, do I envy you," Velvet sighed. "Nothing quite matches the wonder of coming here for the first time. How are you liking it?"
"Uh...it's fine, I guess. I haven't been here all that long, so…"
"That's fair," Velvet agreed absently, taking a couple of pictures as the two sides struggled. "Man, the Emerald Forest was a fun time. Scary as hell, but fun."
"You could say that."
Crimson's foil wrapped around Nora's hammer, and Ruby tried to imagine the strain, especially with the firing of the ports. Maybe she could do something like that with her scythe. If she modified the compensator ports…
"That was impressive," Velvet commented as she applauded.
"I agree. That last move was very impressive. A lot of control in her form," Ruby explained.
"Oh...yeah, that. I was referring to your hand. It looked like you were predicting their motions."
"Oh, was I?" Ruby asked, feeling her face flush, just now realizing she'd been mimicking movements unconsciously. Did she just mess up? What if everyone heard about it, and thought she was odd?
"It was cool," Velvet assured her. "I'm the same way, but I've never seen anyone else do it. So uh...you train a lot or is it something else?"
"Just a lot of time watching fighting. I like weapons," Ruby admitted, surprised to hear there was someone like her.
"You don't say?" Velvet replied with an amused smile. "What are the odds?"
Ruby was going to question what she meant when Velvet turned the camera so she could see the screen. What she had expected was pictures of the fight, and that's partially what she got. But the pictures were oddly focused, with large parts of the people in them out of frame. The only consistent thing between them was their weapons being visible. Front and center, even.
"I like looking at other weapons," Velvet explained. "And especially how people use them. Even weapons in the same family can be vastly different if you build them from even slightly different materials or Semblances."
"Not to mention styles," Ruby agreed. "And even people trained in the same style can move differently depending on their body."
"Exactly!" Velvet clapped. "Tell me, are you taking the equipment course?"
"Well, sorta…" Ruby wavered. "I'm trying to decide what level to take."
"Ah, you have to choose. Well, speaking from experience, the higher level course is a lot more fun, and you learn a lot more. The intro course is basically a refresher for stuff like how to sharpen your weapons properly, or identifying components. No theory or anything."
"Wait, did you take it?"
"Yep. First year, I took the higher level course. Rest of my team got stuck in intro. At first, Coco, our leader, was annoyed, but she kept telling me how proud she was of me."
Ruby nodded, mulling it over, but her attention was drawn by a student coming up the steps. It took her a second to place him, but she realized it was the victor of the last singles round. Cardin...something. He was heads above them in height, and built like a brick house with short brown hair and a satisfied smile. Thinking back on some of her sister's words, she realized this was a perfect chance for some harmless socialization. All she had to do was say something congratulatory, and he'd be on his way.
"Uh...good match!" she managed as he neared. Cardin looked up in mild surprise before a grin spread across his face.
"It's always good to be recognized," he boasted, leaning on the seats across the aisle. "So what is a group like yours doing…"
Cardin paused as he looked at Velvet, his smile dropping a half inch. The silence was only there for a moment before he looked back at Ruby, forcing the smile back up. "Doing here?"
"Just enjoy watching matches," Ruby explained, feeling her panic rising. This was supposed to be easy. But now she was talking, and she was inevitably going to shove her foot in her mouth at some point.
"You seem a bit young to be here," he pointed out before striking a pose. "Thinking of being a big, strong Huntsman when you grow up?"
"Actually, I'm a Freshman here," Ruby explained, smiling slightly at the joke. Or at least, she thought it was a joke. However, she began to doubt herself as Cardin looked her up and down, almost predatorily.
"Well, we'll have to get you in the ring sometime, see how you shape up." With that cryptic remark, he stood back up, and left them. Ruby watching him go in confusion, not sure what had just happened.
"What an arse," Velvet muttered irritatedly.
"You can say that again," Alabaster grumbled.
"Wait, what?"
"You mean you didn't get that feeling from him?" Velvet asked in surprise. "When he saw my ears, he paused, and he basically called you a kid."
"I am a kid."
"Yeah, but he basically dismissed you outright. Aren't you the least bit offended?"
"I thought he was just surprised. Besides, you don't know how good someone is at fighting until you get them in the arena. It's just how fighting works."
Alabaster scoffed and Velvet sighed in defeat, standing after a moment. "Well, don't let him walk over you. And hey, if you do decide to take that upper division course, I'm going to be one of the assistants, so feel free to ask any questions you want."
Flipping out her scroll, Velvet began typing before pausing. "You know, I just realized I never actually got your name. I can't well find you without it."
"Oh, Ruby. Ruby Rose. Team WARP."
"Ah, there you are," Velvet hummed, flicking through menus. She pressed a button, and Ruby felt her scroll buzz. "Wait a minute...you're the teams that got all those bonus points, aren't you?"
"Uh...I guess. Are...are people talking about it?" Ruby asked nervously, and she felt everyone in the group turn to look at her.
"Only some. I know Coco was talking about it. She's...interested in up and coming teams you could say," Velvet answered hesitantly. "But I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the more competitive students started trying to challenge you. Happened to us, too. In any case, I should get going. Hope to see you around!"
Ruby quietly waved as Velvet left, her head spinning in multiple simultaneous thoughts. It felt like she'd just had a mountain of information dumped on her, and she wasn't sure how to handle it. She didn't know how to deal with any of this. She just wanted to be a Huntress.
