Chapter 5

It had been a week since Beacon had started and Adam had fallen into a simple routine. Between classes, he dealt with Yang's terrible puns, Ruby's ever-energetic nature and the Schnee's constant nagging. Oh she had gotten better and it seemed like she and Ruby were close friends now, but that didn't stop the near-constant "inspiration" she tried to give them to complete homework the second it was given or to act like some high born Atlassian brats. Adam preferred to ignore her completely, only responding to Ruby and Yang.

The Schnee didn't take this well, and as far as Adam could tell neither did the sisters. They tried hard to get him to reconcile with her and vice versa. It obviously didn't work. You couldn't fix years of pain and suffering in a few days. If he would ever get along with her it would take a lot of work.

Not that he ever saw that happening.

But the Schnee wasn't the one that annoyed him the most, surprisingly, it was the leader of Team JNPR. There could have been someone who was dedicated to becoming a huntsman in his place, but instead, they were stuck with an unmotivated boy who was wasting everyone's time.

Of course, Jaune wasn't the only one to elicit feelings of anger and annoyance. Cardin Winchester had tried to bully Adam in the first couple days, arrogant enough to think he had enough power to do so. Later that day Cardin challenged Adam to a fight in Goodwitche's class and lost heartily. He'd been nursing those injuries for a few days and hadn't tried his luck with Adam since.

Instead, Cardin had moved his focus to bullying Jaune, who just took it like it wasn't happening. That only pissed Adam off more. It reminded him of the Faunus who just accepted their lot in life like it was just the way of the world or nature.

It reminded him of when he was weak. When he couldn't fight or defend himself. When a single man could determine more about Adam's life than he could. His scar itched whenever he looked at Jaune or Cardin.

The bullying had gotten so blatant that both his team and Jaune's had noticed, which had led to today's breakfast discussion.

"... and didn't he push you into one of the lockers and send you flying into the Emerald Forest?" Yang stated with a point of her fork.

"What? Nooo, that was just us messing around, you know? Just typical guy things!" Jaune defended with a wave of his hands.

"Hasn't he also stolen your homework?" Ruby asked, earning a shocked sound from the Schnee.

"I was just sharing it with him!"

"Oh and remember that time he got you stuck in a doorway by making your shield expand!" Nora said before she dove back into her morning pancakes.

"That was just an accident! He didn't mean to!"

"Tch. You're more annoying than the Schnee, Jaune." Adam muttered.

"Hey!" Said girl cried out.

"You are just letting him walk all over you, stand up for yourself." He continued.

"Guys, I'm telling you that I'm fine! It's all under complete control-"

"-stop it! That hurts!" A voice cried out from halfway across the room, interrupting Jaune's attempted defence of Winchester. Across the room, Cardin Winchester was pulling on the ears of a female rabbit Faunus.

"Speak of the devil…" Adam muttered as he made to stand. Adam's blood boiled. She wasn't in a position to fight back, held by her ears like that.

But Adam could. These were the moments he had fought to stop.

A hand grabbed him. Yang held his wrist in an iron grip. He glared at her through his blindfold.

"Why?" He said through gritted teeth.

"Because if you stop him then he will only do it where you can't see!"

"So we should let her suffer because he might try to avoid us later? How does that help anyone?" He wrenched his arm from her grip.

"I thought Huntsman were meant to help people… but as long as it's someone you don't know you are content to sit back and let it happen!" He turned and marched away from them, ignoring their attempts to stop him.

He was going to be a Huntsman! He was meant to help people! To defend those who couldn't defend themselves!

Cardin and his gang of cronies he called teammates continued to laugh at the pain they caused. They heard him coming of course and as Cardin turned to say something that was probably derogatory his face blocked Adam's fist. Adam's other hand grabbed onto the bully's wrist and squeezed, forcing Cardin to let go with a yelp of pain.

Only lightly injury. I have to get her out, not beat them within an inch of their lives!

Easier said than done as the trio of goons closed on him. Not that they had the skills to match him. A fist here, a dodge there. It was too easy. Adam threw them around and into the table before turning and grabbing the girl by the hand.

Adam walked the girl back over to his team and sat her down between himself and Yang. He then returned to eating his meal, as if nothing had happened. The girl looked confused and shocked, something probably shared by the others at the table.

Cardin seemed to realize it was a bad idea to go for him now as it would poke the proverbial bees nest. Instead, he shouted something derogatory and left.

"... soooooooooo. My name's Yang, what's yours?" The blonde got to work quickly, even if she didn't agree with what he did she at least played along.

"Huh? Oh! My name's Velvet. I'm from team CFVY." She gave them a weak smile before she turned to look at Adam. "Uh, thanks! You really helped me out there!"

"Hmm." Adam grunted as he finished his mouthful. "Just doing what's right."

"Still. Thank you for helping me…"

"He's Adam, he doesn't talk much unless it's to troll Weiss over there. Ooh, let me introduce you to everyone! That's my sister Ruby and that's..." Yang put in the effort to make Velvet a part of the group. A new friend.

Adam was pleased to have helped out a Faunus in need. It was the kind of thing the White Fang used to do. Helping out people who needed it. That was under Ghira however. So much had changed when Sienna took over.

But maybe he could change that. And maybe the White Fang didn't have help, just the Faunus…

Blake had always been the best at stealth, but Adam had learned a lot in his time. It was far more than Jaune had learned to perceive. It was simple to hide and wait for his chance to snatch the blonde and pull him into an unused classroom.

The blonde warrior screamed like a little girl before Adam placed a hand over his mouth.

"Calm down. We need to talk."

It took Jaune a minute or two to calm enough for them to talk. "Why did you want to talk? And why couldn't we just do this normally?"

"The second is because you keep trying to deflect everyone and the first is because you are pathetic and spit on this institution and the Warriors it creates." Adam folded his arms as Jaune winced.

"That's…"

"I'm going to change that."

"Wh-what?" Jaune stared dumbfounded.

"I said, I will change that. You are at the bottom of the class, unable to beat anybody. You barely know how to swing a stick let alone a sword and you let Winchester step all over you. It's pathetic."

"I don't need help! I'll be fine! I've got this."

"That's even more pathetic." Adam ignored the boy's wince. "You are weak but have someone wanting to make you strong and you refuse? Would you refuse Pyrrha as well?"

Jaune shuffled awkwardly for a moment before Adam facepalmed.

"You turned down your partner who fights with the same kind of weapons as you? Are you that arrogant! Can you even see how weak you are?"

"I know I'm not a good fighter! But I don't want people wasting their time on me… I got myself here so I have to make do."

"Jaune Arc. So you want to be a Huntsman?"

"Huh? Y-yeah. I do."

"Then accept help. A person can only get so strong by themselves. You need people who can push you to greater heights. You need a mentor to train you, a rival to aspire to beat, something to fight for! That will make you strong!"

"I… what about you then, what were all of those for you?"

Adam sighed and sat down in a chair. "My mentor was battle. I fought Grimm and… well, plenty of things. I didn't have a formal education like everyone else here. My rival… well, I suppose in some ways it was myself. I aspire to best myself. To become so much better than what I was. The thing I fought for, still fight for, is the Faunus. We are oppressed, treated like garbage. I want to change that."

"So what, are you going to be my mentor?"

"I could. Your partner already offered. Cardin will work fine as an early rival, he already antagonizes you. All that remains is your reason to fight. Why did you want to become a Huntsman?"

"I… I wanted to help people… I wanted to be a hero, to make my ancestors proud. They were heroes too…"

"Then put the effort in. You want to help people? You can't if you remain weak. There is nothing wrong with accepting help. You are going to be a Huntsman right? Then act like it. Be the hero you want to be, and don't let yourself be strayed from your path."

Jaune considered it for a moment before he let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll think about what you said, ok?"

Adam let out a weary sigh. "Whatever. You know where to find me when you make up your mind." Adam left, leaving the fool behind.

If he didn't change then that was his own fault.

Jaune hadn't changed. Or he had but not in the right way. Instead of standing up for himself and becoming what he wanted to be, he had become little more than a slave to Cardin's will. Jaune had even started ignoring his team, going so far as to sit away from them during meals. It was obvious the team was troubled by it, Nora had barely eaten any of her morning pancakes for example, even if they didn't say anything.

Adam had tried to give the boy a chance but it had been squandered. Jaune evidently didn't mind the situation, as he went along with it without a fight. Adam despised it, but he had tried.

The boy was fine with it, so why should he worry?

Why was he worried?

Adam didn't know the answer. He barely realized he was worried, let alone why. Perhaps it's because he reminds me of other Faunus? Or…

Adam could remember a time when he had been subject to another's will, back in the mine with the other Faunus, working day in and day out for a man he knew nothing about other than that he was the boss.

"...Oh hey, don't we have that trip soon?" Adam turned back into the conversation as Ruby spoke.

"Oh yeah! Some trip into Forever Fall for Professor Peach or something right?" Yang replied. The name brought back memories of a train, a girl with black hair, robots and tears. Adam kept silent as everyone else got excited about the trip.

It felt like he had been away from the White Fang for a long time, even if it wasn't. He wondered what everyone was doing. Was Blake angry? Was Illia helping her? Had news of his betrayal even reached Menagerie?

What did Ghira and Kali think? Ghira had admonished him for killing so long ago now, but he had been right. Was Ghira proud that he had finally left or was he angry for causing Blake's fall?

"That's a pretty solemn look, what ya thinking about?" His partner whispered as she poked his side with her elbow.

"Nothing important." She didn't look like she accepted that answer so he sighed and continued. "Home I guess. Or the place that was closest to home. There were people that felt like parents there…"

"You wondering what they think of you being a Huntsman?" She laughed at his look, even if she couldn't see his eyes. "Hey, I can be pretty insightful!"

He hummed. "Wondering if they're proud of me I guess…" He looked back at the table. "I wouldn't say I was ever the best around them. In fact, I know that for a long time there they hated me and my choices…"

"Are you sure they hated you? If they were like parents to you then maybe they were just worried about what you were doing. They would have wanted you to be safe and happy and maybe they thought what you were doing wouldn't be safe or make you happy or something."

Adam looked back at Yang. She smiled and patted him on the back. "Now no more moping, we gotta come up with some way to get it into Jaune's head how much of an idiot he's being!"

When she isn't making bad jokes or acting like an idiot she can be pretty smart huh? Had Ghira and Kali thought that way? Had they only wanted him to be happy? Had he squandered their efforts just like Jaune was squandering his?

Didn't I say I wanted to help people? I gave up pretty quickly. How many times have I admonished people for doing the same thing? Maybe it's time to take my own advice.

Adam looked across the room to CRDL and their new 'friend' Jaune. He didn't exactly look happy.

Forever Fall would be a good chance for another chat with the blonde.

And this time he wouldn't just give up.

A/N: Aaand another chapter! Hoping to keep up a weekly schedule now. We shall see how that goes. Adam learns a bit about himself and Jaune. Forever Fall is coming up soon! Hope you all enjoyed!