Volume 1, Chapter 4: Jaundice

With his mace, The Executioner, perched on his shoulder, Cardin Winchester stared down his opponent, Jaune Arc. He was clearly losing the fight, leaning on Crocea Mors to keep from falling to the arena floor. Their armor shone in the light provided by the spotlight covering the Beacon Academy auditorium stage.

Jaune looked up at Cardin, who laughed at his tired state, and gathered what strength he could to charge and swing his sword at the bigger boy, only to miss when he jumped out of the way. He looked back in surprise long enough to see The Executioner send him and his shield flying back. Getting back up, Jaune brandished his sword with both hands and attempted to attack again.

This time, Cardin blocked the blade with his mace's hilt. He forced himself up and over Jaune who was struggling against the lock they had their weapons in.

"This is the part where you lose," Cardin said with a grin.

"Over my dead—" Jaune was cut off by Cardin's knee hitting his gut, causing him to drop his sword and himself to the ground in pain.

Now free from any counters, Cardin raised his weapon over Jaune's grounded form with both hands with the intent of finishing him off brutally. Fortunately for a worried Jaune, he was stopped by a buzzer ringing, the lights coming back, and the sound of Glynda Goodwitch's voice.

"Cardin, that's enough!" she ordered. He relented and walked off, though remained on the stage as Glynda walked on. Tapping on her tablet, she addressed the audience without looking up. "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 continued to lay on the floor, defeated, as Pyrrha looked on in sadness. Glynda turned her head to look at the loser of the duel as he pulled out a smaller tablet that showed his low, blinking stats alongside those of the rest of Team JNPR. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when its 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 an obvious lack of concern or interest

Glynda returned her attention the audience of students such as: Yang Xiao Long, punching the air in anticipation; Weiss Schnee, shaking her fists with an excited smile; Ruby Rose, shaking her entire body with enthusiastic energy; and Simon Rossi, looking at his teammates with a small, "What the hell?" look on his face before hesitantly focusing on Professor Goodwitch when she started addressing them.

"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 signaling the end of class rung, and students started leaving the room. Pyrrha continued to sadly frown at a still-sitting Jaune, who hung his head in shame.

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night…" Nora spoke ominously to her audience.

"It was day," Ren corrected in his usually-stoic voice.

"We were surrounded by Ursai…"

Blake payed no attention as she read her book while Yang sat next to her, hands cupping her face as she hung to every word Nora spoke.

"They were Beowolves," Ren corrected, holding a coffee cup.

"Dozens of them!" Nora yelled as she stood at the table that Teams RWBYS and JNPR shared. They sat in their regular attire while Simon was in his fatigues with a red-and-black digital camouflage. Weiss was filing her nails and doing her best to ignore the hyperactive girl while Ruby and Pyrrha listened politely. Next to them, Jaune played with his food while Simon listened to Nora, occasionally breaking his focus only to take a bite of his lunch.

"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 finished. Ruby, Simon, and Pyrrha had noticed Jaune's distant look and were now looking at him in concern.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now," Ren said with a sigh.

"Not gonna lie, I'm not sure if I should be happy that you two are such good friends that you know what her dreams are enough to correct them, or terrified that you know each other well enough to know what her dreams are enough to correct them," Simon said.

Ren simply shrugged in response.

Their little conversation was stopped by Pyrrha asking Jaune if he was okay.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?" Jaune asked in surprise as he snapped back to reality.

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay…" Ruby said.

By now everyone at the table had stopped what they were doing and stared at Jaune, who was trying (and failing) to get them off his back.

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He held a thumb up while nervously laughing. He stopped when his attention was drawn to the members of Team CRDL at another nearby table sitting and standing around a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair. Cardin laughed at her as Sky Lark held up his hands to his head, a mocking interpretation of her extra features.

Pyrrha brought his attention back to his table with, "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

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

"He's a bully," Ruby stated, not believing Jaune one bit.

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

"Let's see…" Simon said on the other side of Jaune. He'd caught CRDL around the girl and was leaning back to get a better view of what they were doing. He kept staring at them while speaking to Jaune and the others. "There was the time he knocked your books and papers out of your hands on your way to class."

"Psssh, everybody's experienced that."

"Okay. He activated your shield just as you were going through a doorway. Took five minutes to get you un-stuck."

"It wasn't that bad…"

Simon quickly returned to his regular sitting position, staring Jaune down. "When Ms. Goodwitch showed us those rocket lockers, he shoved you into one, closed it, punched in a random set of coordinates, and sent you flying into the sky."

The others stared at Jaune. Clearly, this was a new one.

"I, uh, didn't land far from the school…?"

"You also didn't haul the damn thing out of the river, either."

Pyrrha stepped back in. "Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask."

"Oooooh!" Nora sat up from the table with a not-so-sane grin on her face. "We'll break his legs!"

"You're scary," Simon said with ever so slightly widened eyes. "You know that?"

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

As if to prove a point, everyone turned to CRDL when their laughing grew louder and was now mixed with the cries of pain from the rabbit girl as Cardin roughly tugged one of her ears.

"Ow! That hurts!" She stopped struggling and grimaced as she said, "Please, stop…"

"I told you they were real!" Cardin said, ignoring her pleas.

"What a freak!" Russel Thrush laughed as the others continued their harassment.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him," Pyrrha said with irritation.

Blake glared daggers at the group of bigoted bullies. "He's not the only one…"

Yang leaned her head on her hand in sadness. "It must be hard to be a Faunus."

Simon, who'd gone back to staring at CRDL with his mouth slightly open, quickly turned to the others. "Yes. It's even harder when people—who clearly have a problem with it—simply stand by and watch it happen."

He spoke with venom in his voice, something that actually took the others by surprise. Before they could do anything, however, he stood up and marched over to where the girl was trying to free herself from Cardin's hold.

The ringleader in question was too busy laughing with the others to notice the pissed off military officer approaching him until he was roughly shoved. He lost his grip on the Faunus's ear but managed to regain his balance and not fall. He looked up to see Simon with his arms crossed, putting himself between Cardin and the girl who was watching while rubbing her sore ear.

"Alright, buddy, that's enough," Simon spoke, completely serious.

"Aw, what's the matter? We were just having some fun with the animal," Cardin countered, not interested in dealing with this guy.

"The lady you were with didn't seem to be having much fun having herself be grabbed by you. Now you owe her an apology."

"I ain't apologizing to no freak of nature who thinks it can walk on equal footing as humans."

"Winchester, I'm not in the mood for this. You can apologize willingly, or I can get it outta you by force. Decidi tu; your call."

Cardin stood up straight in an attempt to intimidate the punk who thought he could just talk like that to him for no good reason. Unfortunately, it didn't work on the guy who was a few inches shorter than him.

If anything, it pushed Simon's buttons even more.

"You don't scare me, but you're really starting to get on my last nerve, asshole!" He leaned ever so slightly. "Now, let's put a stop to this before it gets ugly."

"You must not be very bright. I'm the big man in these parts, so I'll do what I want. Now get lost… you fucking critter-loving jockey." With that, Cardin gave a very rough shove to Simon, knocking him back into the Faunus.

A few gasps were heard around them after that. Simon pushed himself from the girl who helped catch him, muttering a "Thanks" before he took in what Cardin just did. His eyes narrowed as he sighed at the smirking brute.

"That… was free one. Now, I'm not sure what the meaning of what you just called me is, but I'm damn sure I don't like it."

Cardin leaned in one last time. "And what are you gonna do about it, little man?" He began to cock his fist back.

That did it.

In seconds, Simon had his fist curled around the top of Cardin's armored breastplate and lifted him up into the air. His armored boots now kicked helplessly about a foot in the air as he was shocked by Simon lifting him up one-handed. He began to panic when he saw the glare Simon was giving him.

Cardin was suspended in the air for about three seconds before he was slammed onto the table he and the others had been sitting at moments prior. It didn't break from the hit, but there was a noticeable bend and creaking as Simon pushed him further into it and planted one leg on top next to Cardin and one on the bench for ease of maintaining his grip, and to push him further across the table.

A few nearby students that had been watching the events unfold had gotten up from their seats to avoid getting caught between the two. His three teammates moved in to get Simon off him so they could gang up on him and kick his ass, but he jerked his head up and pointed to where they stood. "You three stay right there or you're getting your leader back when I throw him at you."

When they didn't move, he turned back to the squirming bully. "As for you: For the last goddamn time: Say you're sorry, or you become one with the floor !" He pushed even harder, the wooden table crying out for mercy as it seemed to start bending, getting close to splintering.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Cardin finally gave up and forced the words out.

Simon briefly stopped pressing down. "Was that so hard?" He gave Cardin one last press before releasing him, allowing him to breathe and the table to return to normal. He jumped down from the table and bench and walked over to the girl, who was understandably scared.

"Sorry about scaring you, but I gave him the chance to apologize peacefully," he said, now calm.

"Y-Yeah… It's a-alright," she replied.

"Good. Your ear okay?"

"Yes. It's n-not hurting as much. I-I'm Velvet, by the way."

"Alright. If he messes with you again, let me know. I've faced enough racism and people who felt they were superior to me and others just because of what we are…" Simon trailed off when he noticed Velvet's eyes widen at something past him.

He quickly spun around just in time to be met with a fist knocking him to the side and to the table. Simon managed to use his arms to keep his chest from ramming into the edge and stayed for a moment. Cardin's team was now cheering on their leader for his sucker punch, and he started to approach Simon with the intent of doing more damage.

He was stopped when Simon pushed against the table and back up and glared at him. That wasn't what stopped him, however.

Cardin stopped when he saw Simon's skin had paled, and his eyes went from amber to a glowing red-orange.

"You brought this upon yourself, asshole. I was actually willing to let you go."

In a split-second Simon struck out with his palm, sending Cardin across the room and skidding on the floor. The wall of the cafeteria provided a rough stop.

Simon closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and his face and eyes returned to their normal colors. He offered to let Velvet join him and the others at their table, but she turned it down because she had been finished eating and needed to go catch up with her own team. Simon agreed, patted her shoulder, and walked back to his team.

"Now, what were we—"

"That! Was! Awesome!" Nora immediately shouted once Simon sat back down.

"Although a bit much, that was very nice of what you did for the girl," Pyrrha said.

"Well, I didn't see any of you standing up to help her, and you're the ones who're native to this place. All of you would have a better idea of what the Faunus go through than I would," Simon stated.

Everyone but him and Weiss looked down in shame. Simon, who was alien to their world, stood up against Cardin's bullying against a race that he'd never grown up around like they did. They should've been the ones to step in.

The snow-themed student looked at him with slight confusion. "What did you mean when you told her about facing racism yourself and others being superior to you? Are you talking about those vampires you were fighting back on Earth?"

"Vicina, Weiss. You're close. I've faced discrimination from some vampires, but I've faced more from the humans."

"But… aren't you human yourself?"

This brought a look of confusion to his face. "Did Headmaster Ozpin or I never tell any of you about this?"

"No. Matter of fact, Ozpin never directly told us anything since we're not your teammates; everything we know about you was told to us by you five after your meetings with Ozpin," Ren pointed out.

His words were true. While some general information about Simon, such as him obviously not being from Remnant, was released to the staff and student body, most everything else was only given either by Ozpin or Simon himself to RWBY. The same information was usually given to JNPR not long after.

"Huh. Thought one of us already told you about it. Anyway, you'd be told sooner or later; this looks just as good a time as any. You see, I'm not a human—not completely, at least. I'm actually a dhampir," Simon said.

(A/N: For this story, it's pronounced "dam-peer")

"'Dhampir'? I'm guessing that has something to do with vampires?" Ruby asked.

"It's a vampire/human hybrid, isn't it?" Blake responded, turning to Simon for confirmation.

"That's right. My dad, famous Italian chef Lorenzo Romano Rossi, was human; my mother Rayne was the vampire. I'm the result. One of them, anyway."

"So you're part vampire, huh?" Yang asked in a teasing voice. "Do we have to worry about you trying to suck our necks in the night?"

"You've known my heritage for less than five minutes and you're already making racial remarks, Yang? I'd hoped you'd be more accepting of what I am," Simon deadpanned at her, his good mood gone.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way!" Yang instantly apologized. She didn't mean to offend Simon.

The hybrid in question raised his hand, silencing her. "Ah, it's fine. You don't have much of an idea of what me and my people face on a regular basis back on Earth, and you were simply teasing me with what you had. I don't mind jokes about it, but I'd prefer it if you'd hold off on them for right now; at least give me some time to know that you're not trying to use them in a derogative way."

"Got it, Simon. For what it's worth, I'm not a racist person, and I'm sorry."

"No harm done. And no, you don't have to worry about me biting anyone. I don't use people for blood." He stuck out his hand to Yang, who grabbed it. Much to her surprise, he leaned in with a grin and whispered, "Unless, of course, you're offering…"

With that, he leaned back and released her hand, leaving the blonde to stare at him before smiling.

Pyrrha spoke up when they finished. "So you don't drink blood? But I thought vampires can't eat food. Are dhampirs an exception, or something like that?"

Simon turned to her. "It's… kind of hard to explain. Our vampires can eat food, but they can't live off it exclusively like humans; they need blood to prevent starvation. We dhampirs can live off either blood or human food, but most—including me—just eat normally.

Whatever Simon was going to add was stopped by the academy bell ringing, signaling the end of their lunch period. Students all around them began to throw away their trash and head to their next class. Everyone at the table did so as well.

"I'll tell all of you more later. We got to get to class," Simon said.

Everyone nodded or spoke in confirmation as they walked out of the lunchroom. Jaune stayed behind for a minute as he watched his friends walk ahead of him, looking down and sighing before moving to put away his tray and catch up with them.

Little did he or anyone else know, Cardin had gotten back to his seat and had overheard the conversation the two teams had. He watched Jaune walk out of the room with a frown on his face that switched to a sinister grin.

A uniformed Jaune slept with his hand resting in his hands as the professor, Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck, zoomed around the front of the classroom as he fast-talked his hyperactive lecture. Those who were awake to listen to the green-haired, casually-dressed teacher included Simon, Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, and Velvet. Cardin was also in the same class, leaning back in his chair behind Jaune without care.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution—more popularly known as the Faunus War—humankind was quite, quite, adamant about centralizing the Faunus population in Menagerie." He stopped in front of a map at the front of the room and pointed to the said area with his stick before zooming off to the side for a sip of his coffee (or whatever hyper-fuel was in his cup) before suddenly appearing in front of his paper-covered desk.

"Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

He zoomed around his classroom again, sipping his coffee before continuing. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

Around the room, some of the students raised their hands. Hesitantly, Velvet did the same after seeing others do the same. Simon was about to before catching on that Dr. Oobleck had asked for the Faunus students, so he kept his hand down.

At least, until Oobleck zoomed closer to him.

"Mr. Rosie, I'm aware of your non-human background on Earth as are many at this academy! Have you faced discrimination from your heritage?" He asked.

"Yes, Doctor. We dhampirs face discrimination from both our human and vampire halves. More so than either one independently, in fact. And it's not 'Rosie', it's 'Rossi'. If needed, just call me Simon," the student in question answered.

"I'll keep it in mind," Dr. Oobleck replied with a small smile before returning to the front of the room. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence! I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang! A once-peaceful rights group now a terrorist organization!

"Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" One student—Weiss—raised her hand. "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!" She answered.

"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Taking advantage of the teacher not paying him any attention, Cardin wadded up a paper football and flicked it at the sleeping head of Jaune in front of him, waking him up.

"Hey!"

Oobleck zoomed over and got in Jaune's face. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uhhhh… The answer… The advantage… that the Faunus…" As Jaune struggled to come up with an answer, Pyrrha caught his attention over Oobleck's shoulder with a cough and motioned to her lips.

"…had over that guy's stuff…"

Pyrrha cupped her hands around her eyes. She should have gone with some other way of communicating the answer, however, because Jaune went with the most obvious choice: "Uhh… Binoculars!"

Despite his pleased look, Jaunes answer was only met with the laughter of the class and Oobleck sipping his coffee at the front. Pyrrha facepalmed with a sigh as Cardin pounded his fist on his desk.

"Very funny, Mr. Arc!" Dr. Oobleck said, now behind his desk. "Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," the bigoted bully said with a smirk.

"Oh, is that how an undersized ape like you got into this school, Winchester?" Simon asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Why you little sh—"

"Cardin, I suggest you sit back down," Simon said as Cardin quickly stood up from his chair. He then added more seriously, "Or I'll put you through the table this time…"

Cardin hesitated for a moment, but a brief flash of red-orange from Simon's eyes had him sitting back down, silently glaring the whole time.

Simon faced the front again. "Sorry about that, Dr. Oobleck. Continue."

"Mr. Simon, please refrain from making threats to other students. Now, do you have any ideas?" Oobleck responded as he took another sip.

"Well, I'm going to admit that I haven't been reading up on the Faunus as much as I should, so I'm not fully aware of how they compare to humans. Knowing how dhampirs and vampires compare to humans, however, I'm going to guess the answer you're looking for is either night vision, or enhanced senses. They're not necessarily the main reason for the Faunus victory, however."

"'Night vision' is the answer I was looking for but do tell what it is that you mean."

"What I mean is that it takes more than one advantage to turn the tide on the battlefield. Night vision without extra equipment is good, but there were likely several other factors that played a role; knowledge of the terrain; whether their officers were experienced or not; how well-trained and motivated troops were; ability to stay supplied; and more. Similar factors that we faced back home against the vampires."

"Excellent, Mr. Simon! Excellent! A great show of knowledge comparing our world to yours! We'll have to have a class discussion about your home world and kingdom. Age, history, geography, culture, belief system, Dust Mechanics, local equivalent of Grimm—you must tell me all that you can!"

"I can tell you what I know if you'd like, but I'd prefer it if we could schedule it for some other time. There's a lot to talk about, especially if you want specifics and necessary information, and I'd need time to gather notes and what to talk about."

"Fair enough, Mr. Simon. See me when you have some free time and we'll start planning." Oobleck then zoomed over to stand in front of Jaune and Cardin. "Mr. Winchester, you and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."

Jaune could only groan as his shoulders slumped and Oobleck zoomed away with, "Now! Moving on!"

Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Simon walked out of Oobleck's classroom when the lesson ended. Pyrrha stopped near the doorway and turned to her friends and said, "You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune."

Instead, they all looked back inside as the professor addressed the two boys.

"You two have been struggling in my class since day one! Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is…" Oobleck paused and took a long drink of his coffee. "It stops now! You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it. History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it, then you're destined to repeat it. Pages 51 to 91! I want an essay on my desk by next class! Now, run along."

With that, Oobleck zoomed out of the room in a green and white blur past a waiting Pyrrha. Jaune walked out first with Cardin emerging from behind him. The bigger boy then pushed the blond to the ground, his "Ow!" making him laugh until he spotted Simon looking at him, arms crossed.

"What are you looking at, freak?" Cardin spat.

"Hmmm… How many guesses do I get?" Simon snarked back.

Cardin growled before stomping off down the hall as Pyrrha finished helping Jaune back up.

"You know, I really will break his legs," she said, recalling her teammate's words from lunch. She looked at Jaune who sighed before a look of inspiration covered her.

"I have an idea! Come with me!" Pyrrha grabbed a confused Jaune by his arm and ran off with him down the corridor, leaving Nora, Ren, and Simon to look on at the two.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the reveal about Simon. I really enjoy Dhampirs, and I do wish there were more portrayals of them (besides Blade).

Also, I'd like it if anyone posted some in-story questions for Simon when he talks to Oobleck's class. He's from our world, but if our world sucked a bit more in the future. This will be in a chapter between Volume 1 and 2, and I'll have another chapter before this one where Simon will show off his gear and weapons to the rest of Team RWBYS (since I never got the chance to write it into an earlier chapter).

Take care, and I'll see y'all next time!

P.S. At the time I'm writing this line, I'm currently stuck on mobile. If there's any mistakes on this chapter or the next ones, know they were not intentionally done or overlooked; I was just unable to fix them properly.