It turned out that as impressive as the Cage was from the outside, Jaune was even more gobsmacked by what it looked like on the inside. He and Yang walked onto floors made of polished white veined marble of a dark ebony. The front desk was a block of chrome topped with a circular marble top with a string of lights run underneath it illuminating its bottom, as if it were something straight out of a sci-fi novel. Behind it, the ground floor of the Cage was divided into two sections, separated by an enormous white pillar. A pair of elevators each outfitted with two large doors was built into it, and a winding staircase of glass around it, allowing one to access all three floors of the gym without having to use the elevator at all.
Jaune could barely comprehend the splendor of it all. The Cage was less a recreation center and more like an enormous jungle gym for warriors. It was packed with people from all over the school, even a few teachers, and they were all busy with the various equipment that was around. All of it was a fitness junkie's wet dream. The furthermost left section housed an impressive collection of treadmills situated next to an equally as impressive collection of weight machines. Those on the treadmills ran like cheetahs (though of course they couldn't beat the actual cheetah faunus) while those on the machines pumped iron like their lives depended on it.
The second section, the tallest and widest, housed a pair of jungle gyms and a climbing wall that was built into the rear wall. The jungle gyms were comprised of an obstacle course made up of swinging pendulums, a tight rope stretched across ten feet, a rope swing and monkey bars that were both stretched across the largest and longest ball pit Jaune had ever seen. A pair of boys were racing themselves on those bars, which must've been fixated at least twelve feet above the pit. It looked like such a blast and an amazing way to burn some calories, but Jaune was certain Yang wouldn't want to practice on it.
"So...what's the plan?" he asked her. As much as he enjoyed the sights before him, he wanted to stay on track. Better to get it over with than let the anxiety get dragged out any further. He looked over at the machine section, noticing that the seated leg presses went up to one thousand. He thought that was overkill, though given some of the special semblances he'd seen he figured someone must've been able to go that high. "Which machine do you want to start with?"
"Oh, we're not going to use the machines," Yang replied. "Not yet, anyway. We're gonna do this old school, the way I sharpened my skills. Not that weights and treadmills and all that stuff aren't useful, but I think what you need is something more...spontaneous. It'll be even more fun, believe me."
Jaune was about to question what exactly Yang's idea of fun was, but thought better of it. Instead, she led him upstairs through a long hallway towards two large steel doors. GYMNASIUM ONE read a sign that was posted above them.
What was inside was nowhere near as impressive as the sights he'd seen downstairs, but it was still exceptionally state of the art. The gymnasium's floor was composed of freshly waxed wood, save for an enormous pad enormous gym that had a floor of padded matting. Most of it was was empty except for the top left corner of the room where two gymnastics bars had been set up, where a duo were performing feats worthy of the Remnant Games. Across from them, a bored looking teenage girl sat at a counter for what appeared to be bunch of training equipment.
"This is where they keep most of the more traditional toys," Yang explained, leading him across the gym towards the counter and pointing to it. "You can head over there and they'll give you a training sword and shield with the right weight and dimensions you need. You can even put in an order for one that's custom designed if your weapon is a little elaborate and more on the modern side, like Ruby's. But I don't think you need to worry about that. What you've got looks like it belongs in a museum, ya know?"
"You're not wrong there," Jaune said. "It's from the Great war. It was my grandfather's."
Yang's eyes widened. "Oh...sorry, I meant no offense."
"None taken," Jaune replied, even though he knew she was lying.
"I'm sure it's made of nice...metal. To have lasted so long," Yang added.
"I get it," Jaune said. "It's a little traditional for most people's taste."
"Traditional is good!" Yang blurted, and the thumbs up she gave with her forced smile was so cringeworthy than
Jaune had to fight an urge to roll his eyes.
"Okay," Yang continued. "So today I wanna gauge is how good your reflexes are. There are automated training dummies we can use, but I'd like to do it old school, in which you have an actual opponent to challenge you."
"And who would that opponent be?" Jaune asked.
"Me, of course!" Yang took two red boxing gloves out of her bag. They looked normal enough, but Jaune wanted to be sure. "Do those, um, turn into guns too?" he asked nervously.
"Very funny," Yang said, even though Jaune hadn't been joking at all. "They're just regular ol' boxing gloves. Since we're just testing your reflexes and not your aura, we'll just practice with padded stuff so neither of us won't get hurt too bad. And don't worry, I'll hold back a little for a little twig like you," Yang explained, grinning mischievously. "Grab one of those dummy sets in the closet and then we'll start."
Jaune walked over to the desk, where the clerk at the front desk managed to find a training weapon set that looked practically identical to Crocea Mars and his shield. It even fit him perfectly when he put it on as he walked back to Yang. "I guess I'll start from three—"
WHACK!
Jaune stumbled backward, Yang's sudden blow to his chest was so powerful that he spun around twice before landing hard on his bottom.
"What the heck was that for?" he gasped, barely able to move his limbs. He never liked the feeling of getting the wind knocked out of him, the feeling that something was pressed onto his chest that kept him frozen in place. "What was wrong with a warning?"
"Bad guys aren't going to warn you when they're about to strike," Yang replied coolly. "They're gonna be on the lookout, so you need to as well. And if they fight dirty, well, sometimes you need to fight even dirtier. All that needs to be etched in your mind whenever you're in the field where opponents can spring up like weeds. Now shake it off and land a hit on me."
"Alright," Jaune said with a sigh. "But could you soften it a little? I do still want to be able to have dinner, you know."
Yang rolled her eyes but nodded. "Just don't let dinner take up too much of your mind."
Jaune nodded, immediately getting back into combat stance. Her next blow came about five seconds after Jaune had done so...or so he thought. Yang threw her right fist at his head, but suddenly threw it back only for—WHACK! A blow from her left to his gut. Jaune stumbled again, but it wasn't anything that hurt him too badly.
Jaune countered with a fake out of his own, and then proceeded to charge at Yang with his shield. Yang sidestepped him, backing off, but she suddenly stumbled. Jaune took that opportunity to swing at the right side of her face. Yang pivoted around to the left, but her already shaky footing only caused her to lose balance. Jaune immediately went for the takedown, ramming her to the ground with his shield and keep his sword pointed at her face. He planted a foot onto her stomach, keeping her pinned there.
Face flushed, Yang looked up at him, her mouth gaped open in shock.
Then her lips then slowly curled into a smile. "I was sure you could do it."
"I definitely wasn't," Jaune replied. From his angle above her, Jaune noticed how Yang's hair had pooled onto the floor, her bangs still framing her face. Her lilac eyes met his and seemed to stare into his soul. Even sprawled on the gymnasium floor, Jaune realized, Yang looked effortlessly stunning.
Then a drop of sweat fell from his brow and onto Yang's cheek. Embarassed, Jaune felt his cheeks warm. "Sorry," he said, and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. He quickly took his knee off Yang's chest and lent her a hand to help her up.
"No worries," Yang assured, and from the look on her face Jaune detected...pride? Which he figured was deserved. After all, he'd initially thought he'd feel more comfortable spending time with an angry bull.
Yang wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and got to her feet. "How did that feel?" she asked coolly.
"Good," Jaune said, surprising himself with the admission. "Different, in fact, from the time I took out that Ursa in the forest."
"And yet you think I'm too much for you?" Yang chuckled, shaking her head. "Dude, you have bragging rights above most people here. A good chunk of them at best can say they've held off against a Grimm."
"Wait, really?" Jaune asked, bewildered. "You mean most of the students here, at Beacon, one of the greatest Huntsman academies in the world, have never actually taken down a Grimm by themselves?
"Yeah," Yang said. "Combat training is mostly about keeping your cool and being able to prepare for an unexpected enemy, as Grimm often are, and mastering one's semblance to work at its best, maybe even evolve it past its first stage. But only maybe a third of the students here have never actually beaten a Grimm, which gives you an edge over these show offs."
"Huh," Jaune remarked. "I guess I was kind of just caught up in the adrenaline of what was happening. this sudden rush of energy I had that came from...whatever you feel when when you're in a situation like that. Fear? Bravery? It honestly didn't feel like I was in control of my own movement when I used my shield , not like when I just..."
The gears in his head suddenly grinded to a halt. There had been something off about what had happened in that moment. His shield had felt particularly light, and he hadn't been able to control its weight like he'd done with blocking Yang's strike. It was almost as if it had been pulling him in that moment...
"Hello? Earth to Jaune?" Yang waved her hand in front of his eyes. "You still here, bud?"
Jaune hadn't realized he'd been literally frozen in thought. "It's nothing," he replied bashfully, getting back into combat stance. He would deal with the revelation later. There were more important things at the moment that deserved his attention. He couldn't let that throw him off, not when he'd just come off a high point of the day. "Let's keep at it. Gotta be able to do that more than once, right?"
Yang grinned. "Didn't need to ask," she said as she raised her hands once more.
And thus their brutal practice resumed.
Having a torrent of worries rushing through her mind wasn't anything new for Pyrrha.
But what was different compared to what she usually stressed over before she came to Beacon was something she'd never expected. When Pyrrha first decided to attend Beacon, she figured that all she really needed to focus on was keeping herself in shape, her reputation high, maybe making some friends along the way, and prepare for any fight. She could have never guessed that the thing she would end up worrying about most was a boy.
Of course, this was barely an issue at all compared to more serious concerns she had regarding her self image, her status as a celebrity, the leaden expectations that came with all of that, but as much as Pyrrha loved him for everything he was: dorky, cocky, and kind, looking Jaune came with its setbacks. But meeting him, allowing herself to open up to him, being his friend and, (she still couldn't quite believe it) falling in love with him, also brought her relief from the strains and pains of being a celebrity. But she found that, of all the things she would ever find herself stuck in a rut; be able to express that, along with her true feelings, was impossible for her to grasp.
But right now she had other things on her mind, as she closed the textbook she was reading and allowed herself to relax into the chair at her desk. There was Cardin, first of all. She figured getting him to cooperate with her wouldn't be too difficult as he seemed to be deathly afraid of her.
Those feelings were he rightfully deserved. She wasn't at all ready to forgive him and his team for pressuring Jaune into betraying her. She would most definitely take his fear of her to her advantage, and he had plenty of it, given how many times he'd dropped his axe on accident during the brief sparring session they'd had earlier in the evening. She found him easier to shape up than Jaune, thankfully. He was capable, but he swung his weight about too easily and was no match against a high speed opponent like her. She would have to work on that with him for the rest of the four weeks they had till the day of the trials, so long as she resisted the urge to thrust her spear into his nether region.
She was jolted from her thoughts when Jaune arrived into the dorm room carrying a shocking amount of beef and salad for someone who usually didn't that much. Pyrrha immediately snapped up off her desk, not bothering to pick up the study guides that had fallen to the floor. "Did you just start eating?" she asked. She'd gotten worried when Jaune hadn't made it to dinner. "Where have you been?"
"Training with Yang," Jaune huffed. He was wearing an orange T shirt she'd never seen him wear before that was clinging to his chest, still matted with sweat. had shed his usual black hoodie and tied it around his waist, and a black towel printed with the Beacon logo was draped around his neck.
Pyrrha had never seen him look this exhausted. "She worked you out this hard before you could have dinner?" she fumed. Even compared to her own intensive workout routine, this was too much for someone like Jaune to start out on. "She should know better!" She couldn't believe Yang had the gall. Damn whatever hit absorbing semblance she had, right now Pyrrha was ready to march into Team RWBY's dorm room, find her, and spare not a single drop of her wrath.
Jaune shook his head. "No! not at all. She just showed me how to use some of the equipment, tested my endurance a bit. I actually got so caught up in it that we stayed longer than either of us expected to."
Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief and shook her head. "Don't scare me like that. Clean off before you leave the rec center, it's not healthy to walk around the school that damp. If I didn't know better I'd asked if Cardin had something to do with it. Relax first, and then eat."
Jaune plopped himself onto his bed with a grumble. Despite all of his efforts to keep cool, he was still drenched and clearly exhausted. Pyrrha knew what that felt like, so she immediately got up and went to the sink to wet a small towel for him to cool himself off with. "Thanks," he said, smiling in gratitude.
Pyrrha went to her mini fridge and took out a bottle of sparkling H2-OH! "You could have at least taken the time to use the showers at the rec center," she said as she unscrewed the cap for him.
"They closed early," Jaune said. "But it's no big deal, really. I'm fine, I'll do it later. I hope I don't smell bad, though."
"You don't," Pyrrha assured while taking in the smell of his deodorant: a pleasant scent that wasn't too overpowering or putrid. They'd spent so much time together that she recognized it like the back of her own hand. And as if anything you insist could ever convince me, she thought to herself. "Jaune..." she said, carefully considering her words, "Just remember to take it easy. I know this assignment is important to you, but you can't burn yourself out like this so early."
But Jaune didn't seem to accept that as an answer. "I've got a question for you," he began. "Why haven't I improved much? It's been over a month; why am I largely as strong as I was when we first met?"
"You're not," Pyrhha insisted. "Have you forgotten what happened in the forest with Cardin?"
She definitely didn't. That had been such a close call, and one of the biggest gambles she'd ever had to make in her life by letting Jaune take control of the situation. Surely he would see taking down an Ursa as a major landmark, right? Unless...
"Here's the thing," Jaune began. His expression darkened, his damp bangs had fallen in front of his eyes, giving him a and suddenly he seemed to be a very different person from the kind, bashful boy she'd known for a few months by now. "Back then, when I was about to take a swing at that Ursa, I suddenly got this burst of energy. I felt like I was invincible, that I could tackle anything that stood in my way. But the more I think about it, the more I realize something wasn't right."
It was obvious what Jaune was about to say, and Pyrrha braced herself for the hurt and shame that would follow.
"Pyrrha, did you use your semblance to help me fight the Ursa?"
