Ren didn't know what to expect when the Arc's had told them they would start to train them. But whatever he thought would happen, well that was blown out of the water. It had already been a week since they started training, and he had to admit it was seriously draining. While the Arc Parent's were incredibly loving outside of the battlefield, it seemed that during training, this didn't crossover. Ren gulped as he barely dodged another rubber ball thrown his way. One may ask, why avoid a rubber ball, what's so bad about getting hit by that? Well when that rubber ball was thrown with enough force to knock you flat on the ground, Aura be damned, well that was pretty scary.
Though he could tell, they were definitely holding back, none of the children had been hurt. And when it seemed that their Aura was going to break, which he had know idea how the Arc parents knew, they would stop. From there, they were taught how to control their aura, to bring it back from the cusp of empty.
Swish, Ren was knocked out of his inner thoughts as another ball came incredibly close to pinging him in the face. His eyes now focused on Mrs. Arc, he drew back on his bow, it was a small bow meant for use by children for practice purposes. It seems, that during the chaos, the Arc parent's had recovered his father's weapon.
Ren cried when they had returned it to him, repaired even, but he knew what he had to do. He'd honor his parents, and so he took up the knife and bow. Once again losing focus, it seemed that the Arc Parent's were keenly aware when ones concentration was off. He found a ball coming towards him, this one too fast to avoid. Thankfully he didn't have to, it was Jaune who came to his rescue. His form was sloppy, but he had been a great boon to all of the Arc children.
He had been given a wooden sword and shield, apparently a mock up of their familial weapon. What had been of interest to his parents, and his sisters apparently was that he had made explicit use of the shield. While he didn't completely forgo the blade, using it sometimes in his attacks, Ren had found that he used the shield quite a bit in both defense and offense.
Well, with Jaune now in the way, though getting bowled over regardless, Ren was free to take a shot. Pulling on the makeshift arrow he let loose, the arrow took flight, and for once it looked like he had aimed it correctly. They had drilled in him the ability to move and shoot, which he had to admit was incredibly difficult.
Though, his hopes were dashed when Mr. Arc tossed a ball that demolished the arrow, now with Jaune on the ground, and himself caught in a fluster he knew he was in trouble.
"Not on my watch!" Both Boys were taken back, as Nora this time, jumped in front of them. With a mighty golf swing, she met the ball on the other end of her wooden mallet, sending it veering back at Mrs. Arc who had been distracted by the Twins and Saphron. The yard was filled with silence as the ball loudly clunked against the woman's head. She didn't even flinch though, and that in itself was frightening. Of the two Arc's, Ren could say that Jaune took after his mother, the woman was basically a mountain of defense.
What made it really scary was that, well everyone had soon learned, Nora was incredibly strong. Stronger than most adults even, it was insane! Both Jaune and Ren had gained a natural reflex to avoid her bear hugs.
Either way, back to the action, everyone stared silently watching as neither nor Mrs. Arc made any movements, until both of them broke out into a boisterous laughter.
Soon, the Arc sisters started to cheer, and finally it hit the trio. They finally hit one of them, in this massive 10 vs 2 they finally landed a blow! Realistically it didn't do anything, but it was the small victories that mattered.
Ren, besides himself was the first of the trio to break the silence amongst them. He if he was being honest, was the least emotive and responsive of the three, he was sure that everyone had issues with it. Or at least he originally thought, no everyone was just patient and wanted him to move on his own time.
Well he supposed that time was now, in a rather uncharacteristic moment he rushed forward. Swooping both Jaune and Nora into his arms he couldn't help but cheer.
"We did it! We did it!" Tears, this time tears of joy, were now dripping from his eyes. An actual smile plastered on his face as he held both of them close, too lost in their own stupor to respond.
If he had been a bit more attentive he would have noticed the small shade of pink on Nora's face as she began to break from her own little world.
Though it was Jaune who reacted next, bringing his arms around the two others he hugged back. "We did! We actually got them! Good job guys!" His smile was as bright as the sun, possibly mirroring Ren's own.
Nora was next, as she started to lose the small blush, and instead a massive grin formed. "Ya! We're the best!"
Ren couldn't help himself, they... they weren't his family, at least.
His thoughts were broken, as the trio soon found themselves at the bottom of a 10 person dog pile.
They weren't his family, at least not yet, but he was sure that they would be soon.