RWBY REBN: Season 1
Episode 11: Jaunedice
Two weeks have passed since the end of the first quarter and Ruby's fight with Weiss.
The atmosphere is tense as team JNPR, Blake, and Yang eat their lunch awkwardly seeing Weiss drown herself into her schoolwork and Ruby played video games on her scroll.
"So… the duel was definitely something." Jaune said, trying to open up a conversation.
"It was, wasn't it. I never seen Ruby act like this or even fight like this with someone who isn't a Grimm." Yang added.
"Have either of them tried to speak with each other after what happened?" Pyrrha questioned.
"Not really, unless you count them screaming at each other and arguing to the point of annoyance." Blake mentioned as Yang nodded.
"So why are they acting this way, losing one fight wouldn't cause someone to hold this much of a grudge…. at least not for Ruby." Nora spoke up.
"Maybe there is something going on that made Ruby and Weiss hold a grudge against each other. Did you notice what caused Ruby and Weiss to not speak to each other?" Ren questioned, with Blake and Yang hesitant to answer.
"Anyway, that duel was really something to see though. You guys are so much better fighters than me. It seems like everyone else is further along in their combat training than I am." Jaune pointed out, changing the conversation.
"You should see how he fought against Weiss a few weeks ago. Weiss dominated him, I mean it wasn't even close." Yang brought up.
"Come on… it wasn't that bad." Jaune tried to mention.
We then see a quick flashback of Jaune fighting Weiss. A fight that took a minute with Weiss won in a landslide. After the fight, Jaune tried to smile at Weiss, extending his hand hoping she will help him up but no such luck.
"Never mind, it was that bad." Jaune admitted.
"Don't feel bad, Jaune. Maybe I can help you get better at fighting. It will great just the two of us." Pyrrha dreamily stated. "Besides I know a lot of good pointers on how to use a sword and shield… considering that I have a sword and shield."
"You don't have to trouble yourself, Pyrrha. I can do just fine on my own, I just need to review the basics." Jaune said
"The basics, in that case you should start with the rich history of combat. For starters, the first thing you need to know is…." Pyrrha started to say.
As Pyrrha was talking we see Ruby and Weiss as they ate their lunch. Throughout the conversation, they both kept to their activities and reflected on what happened two weeks ago and the fallout.
"Come on Ruby, I'm finally at the boss level. Don't ruin this now!" Ruby internally stated. "At least with this boss isn't an annoying, stuck-up, brat." "I am a great fighter; I don't care what she says!" Ruby thought to herself. "It doesn't matter what Weiss says, I have been trying so hard to prove myself to her but forget it. She has the nerve to keep nagging me after what happened and I defended myself. If she thinks that I am just going to cower like a little kid, then she is mistaken." Ruby internally remarked as she kept playing her game.
"Hunter Regulation and Law, chapter 15." Weiss mentally looked at the textbook. "Nice to remind myself about what a huntsman should be….unlike her." "I mean really I don't get why Blake and Yang accept her as the team leader, so what if she managed to kill a few Grimm. There is more training and experience you need to lead a team. She lacks discipline, restraint, and patience and those deserve to be recognized for what they are. When Ruby goes out into the real world of being a huntress she will be eaten alive." Weiss thought as she continued her studies.
"Wow….. I don't think someone can retain this much information without dying of boredom." Blake commented. "And is from someone who reads a lot of books"
"How does someone one know so much about something?" Nora remarked in shock and awe.
"You can thank years of training and rigorous teaching for this." Pyrrha commented.
"Well thank you, whoever taught Pyrrha!" Nora thanked in a comedic way.
"I'm sure your teachers made a lot of lien." Yang mentioned. "If not at least they made a little change. Get it."
"That was terrible." Ren internally remarked.
"I never knew there were so many ways to use a sword and shield. I have so much to learn." Jaune muttered to himself.
"The offer is still on the table, Jaune. I would be more than willing to make you a better fighter." Pyrrha commented.
"Nah…..I was just off my game, no big deal." Jaune awkwardly stated.
"Oh… really. Are you sure about that, Johnny." Nora said in a mischievous tone.
"Uh….. of course I'm sure." Jaune remarked somewhat nervously.
"I dare you to challenge Cardin at the next sparring match." Yang announced.
"Yeah, if you really didn't need help, then you should have no issue with challenging Cardin and holding your own against him." Nora mentioned.
"You guys, I'm sure Jaune will do just fine during Sparring class. Besides, have any of you seen how he is doing in class, do any of you bother to ask him?" Pyrrha defended.
"Sorry. That was out of line." Pyrrha quickly apologized.
"It's okay. I's not afraid of Cardin, I mean what could possibly go wrong." Jaune convinced.
As we cut away from Jaune and the rest of his team and team RWBY, we see Cardin alongside team CRDL as they were listening in on to Jaune conversation.
We then get a montage of Cardin going through his classes throughout the day. First was Hunter Regulation and Law where Cardin like most of the others was bored out of his mind. During Dust Training, Cardin was training with his weapon using fire Dust as he demolished the training dummies. He also saw a sheep-Faunus who was struggling to use his Dust- infused weapon.
"What are you doing here trying to use Dust." Cardin remarked in a threating tone. "Sheep like you can't even figure out how to do anything other than what someone tells you." Cardin mocked as he pulled his white hair. "Have something to say or are you just going to cower like somebody's bitch."
"No…" the sheep Faunus mentioned.
"You don't deserve anything you have been given. Especially not the right to use this." Cardin mentioned referring to Dust.
During lunch we see Cardin with his team as he was listening in on to Jaune's conversation as they were all talking amongst themselves as we transition to Sparring class.
"I regret everything that I ever said." Jaune mentally remarked as he was seconds away from fighting Cardin.
"And begin." Glynda announced.
Cardin charged towards Jaune, his mace firm in his grasp as he made a horizontal strike to Jaune's side. Not wasting a minute Jaune blocks the strike with his shield as he readies himself for his next move. Soon enough, Jaune would find himself taking damage from Cardin's combos however things were not what it seemed.
With a two handed form, the blunt weapon was engaged in a series of thrusts and swings as it moved left to right desperate to get a headshot. As Cardin swung, his attacks were suspiciously telegraphed and predictable. While they were strong, the swings were wide and unfocused. The duel soon became a game of cat and mouse, Cardin's strength allowed the few hits he was able to make to eat away at Jaune's Aura. However, Cardin wanted to see why Jaune of all people would want to challenge him.
What came next was Cardin's biggest mistake.
Now Cardin's Aura was at 93% and Jaune's Aura was at 84% but now Jaune recognized what he needed to do. "Okay Jaune, I can see Cardin is just toying with me and if he keeps it up I will win. Based on what is happening now, I just need to outlast him without him noticing what is happening." Jaune thought to himself.
Throughout the onslaught, Jaune used his sword and shield in tandem as he kept up with Cardin's combo attacks. When Cardin's mace swung left and right, he blocked it with his shield and while the attacks are blocked, Jaune was able to get a sword attack in. Eventually after a while of parries and counterattacks, Jaune and Cardin were in a weapon lock, sweat dripped down Jaune's face as he was trying to overpower Cardin.
"How are you doing this? You are just a weakling who's dragging your team down." Cardin remarked, trying to knock Jaune off guard. "There is no way can win in a fight
"We'll see about that." Jaune replied, still in the weapon lock.
Things were tense and every second counted.
While Cardin had more raw strength, Jaune used the shield on his wrist which he moved and then expanded his shield which hit Cardin in the face.
Taking advantage of the momentary stun, Jaune pushed Cardin back via his shield and slashed Cardin across the chest leaving a scratch across the chest plate.
"What?!" Cardin said in exasperation, as he was brought to his knees looking at the Aura gages. "That's it no more holding back!" Cardin said to himself.
At this point Jaune's Aura was at 45% and Cardin's Aura was at 60%, for a few seconds Jaune was genuinely surprised and happy that he did so well. However, that happiness quickly faded the second he saw Cardin charging in at him.
Within a few minutes Jaune found himself trying to keep up with a flurry or blows and strikes. Every upward and downward swipe of his mace was filled with ferocity and an intent to win, specifically aiming at the legs or the arms. Despite Cardin's mace moving slower than Jaune's sword, Cardin was able to overwhelm Jaune to where he can barely react.
As for Jaune, dodging and weaving only got him so far. Knowing that his strategy has failed in, he fell back into muscle memory and instinct as he did his best to block and parry Cardin's attacks. Unfortunately, it was not enough as with every hit Jaune lands, he gets 3 hits in return.
This was it… Jaune's Aura was at 27% and Cardin's was at 50%, any hit could be their last.
Cardin stood with his mace perched on his shoulder and Jaune was leaning on Crocea Mors, exhausted from in the fighting as he realizes that he will lose this fight.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said.
"Over my dead body!" Jaune exclaimed.
In one last attempt at victory, Jaune ran up to him hoping to land a good hit on Cardin only to miss and get hit by a swing of Cardin's mace to the stomach. After the blow, Jaune dropped his sword as he saw Cardin come up to him ready for the final blow. However, before that happened the match was called by Glynda with Jaune's Aura being at 17%.
"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda announced as she stepped on combat area.
"Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's 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 Beowulf, now, would we?" Glynda reminded.
"Speak for yourself…" Cardin muttered to himself.
"Remember everyone, it won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale for the Vytal Festival, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"
After the fight we shots of Ruby, Weiss, and Yang and get their reactions from the fight. Said reactions would vary with Yang initially smiling with Jaune going after Cardin to them feeling pity for Jaune, Weiss was just indifferent to the whole thing, and Ruby was just shocked seeing Jaune doing so well.
Later that day once classes were over for the day, we see Jaune on the way to his dorm when he was given a note by Ren and Nora telling him to meet Pyrrha up on the roof.
As Jaune and Pyrrha look out the skyline of Beacon's night sky they saw the green glow of Beacon Tower and the lights of the buildings in the City of Vale. On the roof the mood was serene as the two hunters in training just stood there lost in thought, Pyrrha felt calm when she was around Jaune. However, she knew the moment had to end as she had to address what happened earlier.
"Hey Jaune, so I wanted to ask you about something?" Pyrrha commented.
"If this is about Cardin, I don't want to talk about it. He is having a party to celebrate his win against me. Everyone in his Sparring class who won a fight is invited." Jaune explained.
"It's not about him, this is how you fight. I oversaw a someone who videotaped your fight against Cardin and even though you lost I was impressed about how you fought Cardin. If he didn't notice that you were chipping away at his Aura you would have won." Pyrrha noted.
"Yeah but Cardin was just toying with me, when he wasn't holding back I would have lost much sooner." Jaune downplayed.
"Don't worry I can help you train. With practice and hard work you can become the huntsman you always wanted to be, like huntsman that inspired you." Pyrrha remarked. "So what do you say?
"I…" Jaune began to say, wanting to accept Pyrrha's offer. "I can't, I don't deserve to be here."
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha question.
"I used fake transcripts to get myself enrolled into Beacon." Jaune said turning away to the sky, not looks Pyrrha in the eye. "I did this because no matter how hard I tried in combat school my grades were. All of these huntsmen academies require the best of the best in terms of grades and/or combat abilities. So thanks to me I have basically robbed so many people of the chance of being accepted to Beacon when they put in much more effort than me."
"Even if I have failed the tests my fighting skills wouldn't be good enough to make it to an academy. It's bad enough on its own but my family's reputation of warriors and protectors makes things even more complicated. They didn't force me to be a huntsman but when they saw I wanted to be a huntsman… I felt like I couldn't let them down… I couldn't let down anyone who needed me." Jaune continued.
"Jaune…. I know what you did was… impulsive to say the least but that doesn't matter right now. What matter's now is that I help you." Pyrrha insisted.
"What I did was not only terrible but also pointless, I have been trying so hard to catch up. I bet my ancestors and other family members never had to deal with this, and I know all of the implications what the Arc family name means to people." Jaune remarked.
"Then let me help you, no one else will never know." Pyrrha pleaded, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"No! I need to do this on my own! I don't want to be dependent on you, Ren, or Nora to fight my battles for me anymore. I need to find my own way of fighting so am not just a burden on anyone else." Jaune commented.
"Jaune, I…" Pyrrha began to say.
"Just... leave me alone. Okay." Jaune pleaded.
"If that's what you think is best..." Pyrrha conceded with a sad tone to her voice as she went back down from the roof.
"And to think, I thought Jaune would learn something from helping Ren and Nora." Pyrrha thought to herself.
Soon enough, Jaune found himself alone with his shameful thoughts when seemingly out of nowhere Cardin showed up.
"Oh, Jaune..." Cardin said, just entering the rooftop.
"Cardin!" Jaune replied in shock.
"To think someone who is so useless and pathetic during the initiation and nearly 2 months later still proved to have nothing to offer. No Dust, no strength, even your weapon is really basic, even that 15-year-old is doing better than you." Cardin pointed out to Jaune's dismay.
"I was having my epic celebrating my win against you when I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. Of course I was thinking "how did this motherfucker get into Beacon?" and then you admit it. You snuck into Beacon, I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!" Cardin said, with Jaune feeling a multitude of emotions.
"What do you want, Cardin?" Jaune asked in both fear and annoyance of hearing him talk.
"Funny you should mention that. Since you clearly are so desperate to keep this secret alive, I propose a challenge that if you win I will keep your dirty little secret but if I win you have to drop out of Beacon." Cardin propose with a nasty smile.
"Why are you doing this Cardin!? What did I even do to you?"
"So you weren't the guy I just heard talking about how your actions were unfair to so many people who should have been accepted to Beacon instead of you and now you want to talk about why I am doing this?" Cardin blurted in anger, as he sees Jaune return to a submissive posture. "Yeah that's what I thought."
"What's the challenge Cardin?" Jaune muttered.
"Simple…. every day after class for the rest of the semester you have to try and successfully beat me in a no holds barred, 1 on 1, hand to hand fight, first person to break their Aura loses the fight. No tricks, no using anything that can be considered to be a weapon, and I choose where we fight." Cardin revealed.
"If you skip a day for any reason or if the semester ends out and you still lose, don't expect to be welcomed back to school next semester." Cardin warned.
"You should be happy Jaune, no matter how many times I win in these fights, I still have to wait until you mess up if I ever want to have a chance of claiming total victory. All you have to do is to beat me once." Cardin added, the lack of respect at an all-time high.
"Fine. And if I don't accept this challenge or mention a word about this to anyone, you are just going to tell everyone about how I cheated my way into Beacon." Jaune deduced.
"Look at you, someone's finally getting it. I heard forging transcripts to enroll for a huntsman academy will stay on a permanent record forever, no one would ever want to associate themselves with a fraud. After all, why would someone need fake transcripts if they can pass the combat showcase before the initiation." Cardin mentioned as he put Jaune in a "friendly" headlock, talking directly to ear.
"See you tomorrow night." Cardin finished saying, letting go of Jaune as he went back to his dorm.
"What have I done…." Jaune said to himself as he falls to his knees with his hands in his face.
A/N: Okay, I have a lot of explaining to do and for those who a more convenient reminder of what's happening or what will change will get a more general answer on my profile shortly after this chapter goes up. This chapter has been hell to write and with the more projects I have to do it makes me realize that I might have been over my head with all of these projects. I have many RWBY and non RWBY related fics that I want to start but since the year is a month and a half a way from being half over, it's clear that priorities have to be made. Long story short I will be in college in the fall and during the summer I have so much going on with moving to a different part of the state and taking up a college training program for a third of the summer prior to me attending. Not only that but I am about to make plans for RWBY REBN Season 8 now that the canon volume 8 has concluded. What I said in my last author's note with not giving up on this story still applies but I just want people to know that content may be scattershot for a while. As of now I am going to take a break from writing but I hope to finish RWBY REBN season 1 by fall of this year. Thank you to all those who have put up with me throughout all of this and please leave a review about the latest chapter, the Jaune vs Cardin fight is the first one I have deliberately planned out so feedback is appreciated. What topics do you want to address between the wait between chapters? Until next time.