So, I could give some excuses for why I went on my longest hiatus yet, say how hard writing is or how I was stuck in Romania for a week or how people won't stop bothering me… but maybe it will be better if I get to the chapter right away. Enjoy.
Weiss truly meant it when she said she hated Beacon.
It was a foolish thing to say out loud. Even though their teacher didn't hear it - or if he did, he didn't pay it the slightest bit of attention - it was still unbecoming of her to express her feelings, especially the negative ones, so clearly and directly.
And yet, that feeling was simply too strong to be kept hidden. The more Weiss thought about the Beacon Academy, the more crazy it appeared. The fact that it was situated in a castle, that it used a deadly challenge as its entrance exam, that the teachers had seemingly no idea what they were doing... each one of these things could pass as an example of simple incompetence or oddity, but together they painted a coherent picture. A picture of pure, distilled insanity.
It wasn't what she had expected as she signed up. She expected Beacon to be more similar to Atlas Academy which, at least according to Winter, was well-organized and rigorous when it came to training huntsmen and huntresses. Weiss knew Beacon wouldn't be exactly like its Atlesian equivalent, but she still expected the people in charge to take the matters seriously. She expected that her abilities would be tested in a reliable manner, that the teams would be selected with regards to how well they would end up performing and that, if she was not meant to be a leader, she would end up following someone who exhibited a level of professionalism. Instead Weiss got to be thrown off a cliff, went through a nearly random selection process and her leader ended up being...
"Weiss, are you upset?" Ruby asked, standing over Weiss as the heiress polished the blade of her weapon. It wasn't exactly dirty, since she hadn't gotten to properly use it that day, but it was still worthwhile to keep such an expensive weapon well-maintained.
At the moment, both girls sat in the otherwise empty locker-room. They had just finished the hunt for a rogue Boarbatusk and had a lot of time before the next lesson, so polishing weapons seemed as good a way of spending time as any.
"No Ruby, I am not." Weiss responded with a blatant lie, hoping that her team leader would take a hint and leave her alone. That, of course, was a forlorn hope.
"Are you mad because we didn't catch the Boarbatusk first?"
"I told you, I am not upset." Weiss replied, clenching her fingers tighter around the blade she was polishing.
"Alright... but if you are upset, there is really nothing to be upset about." Ruby reassured her teammate. "Yeah, team FAIL beat us to the punch and it sounds kind of lame, but it wasn't anything really important, you know?"
Weiss stood up from a bench she'd been sat upon. Myrtenaster was clean enough by now and there was not much point using any more time on maintenance. Especially if it meant spending that time around Ruby Rose.
"I will rest for a while." She said, turning away from Ruby and making her first step down the corridor. "We have a combat lesson in less than two hours and it's important that we..."
"Why won't you talk to me?!" Ruby asked, suddenly raising her voice. I was surprising enough for Weiss to freeze in place for a second, before turning around to face her teammate once again.
"Ruby, I'm talking to you at this very moment." The heiress responded calmly.
"Well not like... yes, we're talking, but..." Ruby clearly struggled to find the right words. "Why can't we really talk to each other? Why can't you tell me what bothers you and what you think, like teammates are supposed to?"
"Do you find me a bad teammate?" Weiss raised her eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but we cooperated fairly well in battle and I am yet to disobey a single order of yours. Even when I disagreed with you, like with those bunk beds of yours, I still did what you asked."
"That's not what I'm talking about." Ruby protested. "We might work together, but that's not all there is to forming a team. We are supposed to be companions to each other, to be friends."
"I'm sorry, is making friends in the curriculum somewhere?" Weiss knew that she wasn't being wise by saying those words, but at that moment, she didn't care about consequences enough to stop. "I didn't know the school got to dictate who I'm supposed to befriend. Maybe I should also ask the Headmaster who I am supposed to date? We are supposed to work together, to protect each other, but that does not require us to be friends."
Ruby stayed silent for a long moment. She lowered her eyes, confidence fading.
"You know, my parents were attending this school as well." Ruby's voice was not angry anymore, but meek and sad instead. "Even before they fell in love with one another, they weren't just coworkers. They were friends. They killed monsters together, they bonded, they… why won't you even try to be friends with me?"
Suddenly, Weiss found herself conflicted as to what she was supposed to feel. Ruby's disappointment did make her feel somewhat guilty… but then again, if the girl was sure she would make friends with all her teammates, despite lacking the social skills necessary, then she could only blame herself for that disappointment.
After all, it wasn't as though Weiss was actively choosing to dislike Ruby. There simply wasn't much to like, not from her perspective at least. Hyperactive, immature, disaster-wrecking teens were not the kind of people she was used to, not the kind she had been hoping to interact with. The whole issue of team leadership aside, she just couldn't see herself ever becoming friends with Ruby.
Still, saying all that to Ruby's face felt too cruel. So instead of replying in any way, Weiss simply averted her gaze, just as Ruby had. Two huntresses stood in an empty locker room, neither willing to say a word.
"I'll go sharpen the blade on Crescent Rose." Ruby said after about a minute. "I'd rather not lose my first fight this year. We'll see each other in the classroom, alright?"
"I won't be late." Weiss replied. Ruby nodded her head and exited the locker room, her head still lowered and her eyes stuck on the floor.
Weiss sighed. She realized that she hadn't made the situation any better with her outburst, but then again, she had absolutely no idea how to improve said situation in any way. All the tips her father gave her about interacting with people assumed she would be in a position of power. Here, she had no idea what she was supposed to do, how to act or what to say.
Maybe Jaune would know what to say. He had always been better with words than her, the one advantage he always held over his sister. But asking him for help with the issue he had no interest resolving was obviously out of the question. Weiss would have to deal with her issues on her own… even if she currently saw no way to do that and it didn't seem like she was about to come up with any brilliant ideas any time soon.
Well, sitting alone in a locker room probably wouldn't help her very much. Her imperfect situation was no excuse for idleness.
Sheathing the Myrtenaster, Weiss exited the room as well. There was no point training right before a lesson, so she decided she would instead catch some fresh air instead. Maybe she would go on a quick jogging session, though that would require her to change her clothing twice, taking at least an extra hour of her time…
"Something went wrong, I presume?" As Weiss passed through the door, she heard a male voice address her. Upon turning around, she saw a tall man she immediately recognized as the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin.
"It's nothing serious, headmaster." Weiss replied, making sure to keep anger out of her voice. While she had no warm feelings towards the man who threw her off a cliff and appointed Ruby as her leader, making an enemy out of the Headmaster would be an extraordinarily bad idea. "Everything is largely in order."
"Are you sure?" Ozpin raised his eyebrow. "I have just seen Miss Rose pass through, completely lost in thoughts. She failed to notice me, so large were her worries it seemed."
"We had a little argument." Weiss admitted. "It might have gotten somewhat heated at one point."
"Care to tell me what that argument was about? Maybe I can do something to help?"
Weiss considered the offer. Bothering the headmaster with her personal issues seemed inappropriate and maybe even childish… but the problem was rather major and it couldn't hurt too much to ask Ozpin for help. Even if he was just asking out of curiosity or perceived obligation, Weiss would at least get an opportunity to present the situation in a light that made her look good.
"Well, I have some doubts about Ruby's capabilities as a team leader." The heiress started. "She acts with blind enthusiasm, be it in combat or in casual situations. She behaves rather childishly, even for her age. Speaking of which, I believe she is the youngest Beacon student currently enrolled, which would logically make her one of the least experienced ones. While she might yet prove me wrong, I currently doubt if she has the experience necessary to lead our team."
"I see…" Ozpin assumed a 'thinker pose', placing a hand under his chin. "Are you sure those are your real reasons for resenting Ruby as your leader?"
Dust damn it. On the second thought, it had to be rather obvious why Weiss disliked Ruby so much, especially to an eye as experienced as that of the Headmaster Ozpin. Now she had to retain some dignity and avoid coming off as entitled.
"Does it matter ?" Weiss replied, shrugging as to accentuate her question. "I admit, I might be biased against Ruby here, but that doesn't impact the validity of my complaints, does it?"
"You are correct, yet not quite." Ozpin replied in a cryptic manner. "Would you mind if we talked somewhere else? A corridor such as that isn't the best place to discuss sensitive matters."
Weiss nodded in response, prompting the headmaster to turn around and march deeper into the corridor. The heiress followed, leaving the locker room behind and walking towards… she wasn't yet sure where they were walking towards, but she felt there was no point asking.
"You see, Miss Schnee, your bias does not invalidate your arguments in any way." Ozpin said in a calm, yet confident tone that suited a teacher such as him perfectly well. "As they say, the dumbest of fools could say the moon is shattered and it wouldn't make it assemble into one. Please take no offence I would never consider you a fool, of course."
"No offence taken." Weiss replied. "And I studied logical fallacies. Ignoring my arguments in favor of discussing my motives instead would be… argumentum ad persona, I'd say?"
"I am impressed by your knowledge of rhetoric." Ozpin replied, taking a turn into another corridor. "You are indeed not a fool. And yet, I doubt you have ever studied rationality or scientific method, and thus some of the rules of logical reasoning elude you."
"Excuse me?" Weiss asked, for a brief moment letting her indignation show. "For every complaint I made, I can point out to a piece of evidence that proves it. I am no scientist, but I believe that is how rationalists generally operate."
"Again, you are not quite wrong, not quite correct." As Ozpin said those words, the two of them passed through a door and stepped onto a roof. The sky was clear and the sun was shining down at them, creating a rather pleasant atmosphere. "There is a thing called rationalization, and it is far more insidious than it sounds. When researching a hypothesis, scientists always start from the point of neutrality. They gather the evidence and observe where it point towards, not the other way around. You may have the most logically sound of arguments confirm your thesis, but it matters not if you only ever wanted to prove that thesis, not to find the most rational explanation for the phenomenon at hand."
"I give up." Weiss proclaimed. "May we use simpler language from now on? I don't think I can follow this reasoning."
A quiet chuckle came out of Ozpin's throat. "I am sorry, Miss Schnee. I rarely get to speak with someone who knows as many sophisticated words as me. My students rarely understand what I'm talking about and my teachers far surpass me in that regard."
Headmaster approached the edge of the roof and then stopped, staring at the grounds far below. Maybe he saw something interesting down there or maybe he just figured that standing near the edge would help his presentation.
"But I digress. My point is, the conclusion that Ruby Rose is not fit to be a team leader is clearly flawed. The arguments you used are correct, but they are presented in such a way that ensures you will conclude just what you wanted to conclude." Headmaster turned back towards Weiss and looked at her judgingly, as though he was trying to see if she understood the lesson she was conveying.
"I don't see what's the problem." Weiss tried to retort. "I might be biased, but my evidence cannot. And there is only one conclusion that can be drawn from the arguments I gave you."
"Precisely." Ozpin replied, earning a raised eyebrow from his student. "You gave me arguments from why Ruby isn't a good leader, because that's what you want to prove. And yet I am certain that, if you approved of Ruby's leadership, you could bring me just as many equally good arguments for why Ruby is a good leader and should remain at that position."
Weiss only replied with silence. Even without considering headmaster's words in depth, she knew them to be true. She could probably make a persuasive argument for why Ruby is the best leader her team could have, if only that was her goal.
"If any of the problems you mentioned becomes more apparent, I will take steps to make Miss Rose realize her failings and improve upon them." Ozpin assured his student. "Until then, I can offer you a different type of help. Tell me, why exactly you resent the idea of Ruby Rose being your team leader?"
Weiss spend the next few moments pondering just how much she should tell Ozpin. The fact that she and Jaune were stuck in a mutual rivalry wasn't exactly a secret – indeed, it was fairly obvious to anyone who knew anything about the Schnee family – but she couldn't imagine that asking the headmaster for help in beating Jaune would turn out to be a good idea.
"It is about recognition." Weiss ultimately decided to settle on a half-truth. "A team leader has more chances to prove their worth on the battlefield and tends to be the one people admire the most."
"I see." Ozpin nodded his head in understanding. "There is a common and incorrect perception that a leader is the most important member of the team. This stereotype will hinder you if you seek glory, but you can still outshine Miss Rose if you try hard enough. And if you decide that following her robs you of well-deserved recognition, you can leave the team the moment you graduate and start your career proper. I would never advise such a decision, but it is certainly on the table."
"Well, I need that recognition now, or at least in short term." Weiss replied. She didn't want to mention the other reason Ozpin's suggestion wouldn't work – namely that with Pyrrha on team, becoming the star through combat prowess seemed impossible – as she didn't wish to derail the conversation.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Ozpin responded. "But does that have anything to do with outshining your brother?"
Weiss' silence was telling.
"Well, I cannot tell you how to best your brother. I deal with politics occasionally, but judging from your actions during the initiation, the war the two of you are waging seems to be more complex than most international affairs." Ozpin's tone didn't make it clear whether he was joking or not. "However, I believe I have a piece of advice which may prove useful to you."
"I will appreciate any advice you may give me, Headmaster." Weiss requested politely. Even if Headmaster wasn't about to help her in any direct way, an advice from someone like him could prove very valuable. Could he offer her some tactical insight? Maybe an advice that would greatly improve her combat skill?
"I think, Miss Schnee, that you should learn how to lose."
Pyrrha wasn't sure if she liked Beacon.
As she sat in a classroom – if it could be called that – meant for combat lessons and waited for more students she arrived, Pyrrha found herself questioning all her choices. Not necessarily regretting them, not yet, just questioning.
Her main purpose in choosing to attend Beacon Academy was to find a place where she wouldn't be constantly put on a pedestal and treated like a celebrity. She didn't expect that goal to be fully fulfilled – she would still be recognized wherever she went – but she hoped that, in a place filled with exceptional people she wouldn't stand out too much. As for why she chose Beacon over all other huntsman academies, it simply seemed like the most optimal choice. Haven Academy wouldn't do, as she would no doubt meet many of her old rivals and fans, neither of which she wanted much to do with. Shade Academy would be less than perfect as well, since it students famously valued strength over anything else and thus everyone would see Pyrrha either as someone to admire or someone to challenge. Atlas Academy could be a good choice, but as far as Pyrrha knew, Atlas had many negative qualities, from its famously prejudiced society to its famously cold weather.
And thus, Pyrrha chose Beacon as the school she would attend for the next four years. Her hopes came partially true, as she got paired up with Ruby – someone who recognized Pyrrha as a championship fighter, yet didn't treat her much differently for it. There was also Ren who, while he never made his thoughts clear on the topic, also didn't seem to treat Pyrrha's celebrity status as a particularly big deal. She could already tell that these two would be amazing teammates for the next four years and maybe even longer.
As for Pyrrha's third teammate… well…
Weiss was exactly the kind of person Pyrrha had been afraid of getting teamed up with. She seemed to think of Pyrrha not as a person, but as some sort of walking weapon. She showed hints of this attitude during their first conversation in the ballroom, seeming very stiff and awkward, but her feelings only became fully apparent during the initiation. She appeared to be constantly judging everyone around her, trying to determine how useful they would be for her purposes. The only times she showed genuine emotion was whenever she felt annoyed, or troubled or outright furious. All in all, she didn't seem like a great person to hang around or to fight alongside for that matter.
Worse yet, she didn't appear to care about any of the things Pyrrha did. If Weiss came to Beacon in order to make friends or because she genuinely wanted to defend people, she didn't let that show. The sole purpose behind most of her action seemed to be outshining, or simply spiting her brother, which didn't rally paint her as some sort of an amazing person. Pyrrha could appreciate the value of rivalry, but whatever was going on between these two… it was more than just rivalry. It was a full-scale conflict, in which the goal was not to improve oneself by surpassing the other person, but specifically to beat that person and nobody else.
Was Jaune any different from Weiss in that regard? Pyrrha had been watching him for quite a while, initially for unsophisticated reasons – he had some nice muscles and Pyrrha did have a thing for blondes – but the more she observed Jaune, the stranger his behavior started to seem. At first glance he seemed far nicer than his sister, as he actually bothered to be nice to people. But was that a sign of actually being a better person, or just of having a better disguise? Pyrrha wanted to give Jaune a benefit of a doubt and assume the former, but there was something that made her believe the latter instead...
"Hi Pyrrha." Someone said quietly and then took a seat next to Pyrrha. After turning around, Pyrrha found out that said person was no one other than her partner and leader, Ruby Rose. Unlike an hour ago, she was wearing her combat attire, complete with a weapon at her side. She seemed unusually sad, one could even say depressed, which was weird considering most people were excited to start their first combat lesson of the year.
"Are you feeling alright?" Pyrrha asked, shifting all her attention onto Ruby. "You seem… unwell."
"I'm not sick." Ruby replied and then sighed. "It's… it's about Weiss."
Of course. If Weiss' behavior bothered Pyrrha so much, one could only imagine how much it had to bother Ruby. The girl clearly wanted her team to be unified and it couldn't be pleasant to watch one of said team's members continuously refuse to cooperate. Or just be nice in general.
"There is a bit of a problem with her attitude." Pyrrha replied, trying not to be too harsh regarding her white-haired teammate. "But I'm pretty sure it will sort itself out in time."
"Will it? Because I sure doubt so." Ruby replied grimly. "Pyrrha… why does she dislike me so much?"
"Are you sure she dislikes you? Maybe she's just…" Pyrrha paused upon seeing her partner's tired glare. Apparently, Ruby didn't appreciate sugarcoating the situation like that. "I don't know. I haven't talked to her about that."
"No guesses?" Ruby kept asking. "No suspicions? Doesn't anything come to your mind?"
Actually, quite a few answers came to mind almost immediately. There was the sense of superiority that probably made it harder for Weiss to make friends. There was the discrepancy in Weiss' and Ruby's personalities, which made it only natural for the two girls to butt heads with one another. But if Pyrrha was to be honest, the main reason for Weiss' behavior seemed to be…
"Jealousy." Pyrrha finally replied. "I've seen that quite a few times. People tend to resent those who have something they have not."
"Is that it?" Ruby seemed genuinely surprised. "Is she just mad at me because I got to be a team leader? It doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me…"
"Well, it might seem more important to Weiss than it seems to you." Probably for the reasons that had to do with Jaune, but Pyrrha neglected to mention that. It was only a speculation and one that would only paint Weiss in more negative light. "And I'm not saying that's the only reason for her being jealous. She might just feel overshadowed in general."
"I guess… still, isn't that kind of silly? I've been jealous from time to time, but I don't think it ever got me that bad. Do people really act like that when they get very jealous of someone?"
Yes. As Pyrrha could personally attest, envy could easily turn into resentment or even hatred towards the person you envied. Ambitious people such as Weiss – or just about any aspiring huntsman – had it particularly bad, as jealousy was part of their core drive. It was the main reason why Pyrrha was never able to make friends among fellow fighters, even those who weren't that much weaker or less wealthy than her. It was hard to be truly friendly with someone you were envious off, even if you tried.
Instead of voicing any of these thoughts verbally, Pyrrha simply nodded her head, causing Ruby to sigh deeply.
"Well that's a bummer. Do you think there is anything I can do to make Weiss hate me less?"
Before Pyrrha got to reply, or even think of a suitable response, the conversation had to be cut short. The primary object of the exchange, Weiss Schnee, arrived in the classroom and proceeded to take a sit next to her two teammates.
"Hi Ruby. Hi Pyrrha." Uncharacteristically for her, Weiss didn't pay much attention to the people she was addressing, or anything else for that matter. At the moment, she seemed lost in her own thoughts.
"Hello again, Weiss." Pyrrha replied while Ruby stayed awkwardly silent. "Did something happen? You seem bothered."
"Happen? No, not really." Weiss replied, sounding somewhat absent-minded. "I just had a weird conversation. I'll be fine, you don't have to worry."
"If you say so." Pyrrha replied. Ruby still didn't want to say anything, likely for fear of sparkling another fight. And since Weiss didn't intend to converse with Ruby either – be it out of her disdain for the young girl or because she still had her head in the clouds – the three huntresses sat in silence.
That was Pyrrha's main problem with her team. Not the arguments or the lack of true cooperation, but the unwillingness of its members to actually speak their minds and talk about their problems honestly. The worst thing was, Pyrrha herself was part of that problem – even though she wanted the conflict resolved, she didn't dare bring the topic up, even though she had a good opportunity to. She simply had no idea what to say to make Weiss any more friendly, or to make her understand how damaging her attitude was. Silence seemed like the easiest option available.
I took a few more minutes for the classroom to fill up with students. The members of team JNBY arrived in a group soon after Weiss and then took sits on the opposite side of the circular bleacher arrangement. Ren also arrived on time and, after exchanging few words with Nora, sat down with his teammates. He was just as silent as the rest of them, though in his case, it was his nature rather than disdain towards anyone present.
Of course, just because the members of glorious team RRWP wouldn't exchange a single word didn't mean that everyone else was silent as well. Students were all excited, nervous or just curious to see how their first proper combat lesson would unfold. Several dozen people were chatting with each other, filling the room with constantly growing noise. All this chatter was, however, quickly silenced once the teacher arrived.
Professor Glynda Goodwitch was already known to everyone present, as she had accompanied the Headmaster when he made his opening speech and then helped overseeing the initiation. The woman emanated a strong aura of authority, a combination of her imposing height, confident posture and probably a riding crop she held in her hand. While that aura could be broken pretty easily, as Jaune and Weiss proved the precious day, at the moment it was more than strong enough to make everyone in the classroom stop talking and focus purely on their teacher.
"Welcome, students, on your first combat lesson in this semester." Miss Goodwitch said, her voice loud and clear despite lacking any sort of microphone to boost the volume. It turned out the chamber was fairly acoustic. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch and I will be your instructor during those classes. Before we start, is any team missing one or more of its members?"
There was no reply. Apparently, not a single student dared to skip the lesson.
"Excellent. Since everyone is present, let me explain what this course will be about and what rules you are beholden to respect. My purpose here is to teach you how to best utilize your abilities in combat. More specifically, combat against other aura-capable opponents. While your main purpose as huntsmen will be to combat the Creatures of Grimm, it was decided that it is best if you first learn about those creatures during the course on Grimm Studies."
So combat against other people. Other students, probably. Pyrrha couldn't say she was happy with that – she was eager to learn how to utilize her skills against the Grimm instead of people – but it was only to be expected. Letting students fight against each other was a good way of letting them hone their techniques in a controlled environment and possibly weeding out those who stood no chance of developing enough skill to become huntsmen.
"The theoretical portion of this classes is reduced to the barest minimum. The faculty is well aware that each and every one of you has a unique set of combat skills and we want you to develop them naturally instead of adhering to some specific set of guidelines. That being said," Miss Goodwitch's voice go a little louder "Everyone will have to obey a set of rules during the classes. I want you to listen carefully, as those rules are crucial to the development and safety of everyone involved."
"Firstly, all fights have to be announced and overseen by your instructor. It should go without saying, yet I still mention it because of how important it is to remember. I reserve the sole right to determine who will fight whom, when the spar begins, when it ends and what additional rules apply. Anyone who disobeys that directive, be it by starting a fight outside of the ring or by refusing to stop when ordered, will be forbidden from attending the course until the end of the semester."
Miss Goodwitch didn't bother to ask whether everyone understood. The firmness of her voice and words ensured that nobody would think of breaking that particular rule.
"Secondly, you will be expected to use an appropriate force for an educational spar. This means that no techniques that bypass aura or run a risk of injuring your opponent in any way will not be tolerated under any circumstances. The students with particularly dangerous semblances or weaponry were already notified of the dangers they might posed and given individual sets of guidelines, but even if your abilities haven't been judged as extraordinarily unsafe, you will be required to make every effort that can minimize the risk of injury. If you cause harm to anyone during your fights, the faculty will decide how much fault lies at your side and whether you should be allowed to continue the course.
"Thirdly, there will be no interaction between combatants and the observers once a spar begins. The ones fighting are not allowed to step out of the arena or use the environment outside it to their advantage. The ones outside of the arena will not attempt to interfere with the fight in any way. Hurling insults or giving advice is forbidden and might be punished with detentions. While an urge to help out your teammate might be strong, I ask you to let your classmates utilize their own experience and learn from whatever mistakes they make."
"Lastly, you are only allowed to use weapons your instructor deems appropriate for a given fight. The armament you registered with has been approved, but any additions need to be discussed with me prior to the fight. Is that clear, Mr Schnee?"
"I take offense to being singled out and I fail to see how a simple act of taking a parachute to a test should earn me that kind of attention. " Jaune replied without stumbling, as though he had that answer prepared in advance. "But yes, I will adhere to every one of these rules."
"I am relieved to hear that. Now, if nobody has any questions regarding the rules, I believe we can begin the lesson proper." Miss Goodwitch waited for a second just in case there were actually some questions, before she resumed. "As I said before, only a minimal period of time will be spent learning theory. Developing your own combat styles and learning about your teammates' techniques is far more important than knowing tactics that might be inapplicable to your individual abilities. For that reason, I came up with an exercise that I believe will be appropriate for the opening lesson."
If the students weren't completely silent before, they were now. Everyone started paying even more attention now that the lesson proper was about to begin.
"I want for the members of each team to divide into two pairs. Each one of those pairs will be called into the arena for its members to fight one another until one of them has their aura brought down under a twenty percent mark, or gets removed from the ring. The other combatant will be declared a winner, which I feel a need to clarify, will not impact their final grade in any way as the exercise is designed purely as a way for you to learn each other's fighting styles."
Pyrrha felt an urge to swear loudly. While Miss Goodwitch surely had good intentions when ordering this exercise, this was not a good idea for team RRWP. For one, Pyrrha would probably have to hold back to make her fight not look completely one-sided – all her teammates were skilled, but simply having metal in their weapons made them extremely vulnerable – but it also didn't feel like a good idea to let Weiss fight one of her teammates. Not in her current emotional state.
"Since we only have a little over eighty minutes until the end of the lesson, not all teams will get to perform today. The only ones I require to fight this lesson are Team HART, Team BRNS, Team JNBY, Team CRDL and Team RRWP, in that specific order. I want the first pair to report to me five minutes from now."
A second after Miss Goodwitch stopped speaking, the classroom descended into loud chatter once more. Since nobody wanted to look badly during their fight, they all sought to fight people who weren't much stronger than them. Most teams would probably end up dividing themselves into pairs of mostly equal opponents so that everyone got to look at least decently. Of course, in team RRWP, this would be exceptionally hard…
"We need to decide who gets to battle whom." Weiss proclaimed. Now that something was actually happening, she seemed more focused on reality rather than whatever internal problems she faced. "While it's not my place to decide, I suggest we simply fight our respective partners."
Just the sort of suggestion Weiss was expected to make. Even such a small decision was a calculated move on her part, even if it wasn't obvious at the first glance. If the rest of the team agreed to the suggestion, Weiss would end up fighting Ren, whom she had at least a decent chance of besting, while Ruby would have to face the unbeatable Champion of Mistral. The Schnee heiress would end up putting a respectable performance at worst, while her disliked team leader would almost certainly get defeated by Pyrrha. A perfect outcome.
"It does seem reasonable." Ren replied. "Not that it matters very much. It is just a spar and the entire point is to…"
"I've got it!" Ruby suddenly shouted while jumping out of her seat.
"What exactly do you got?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh well… the strategy for how we split up, of course." Ruby said unconvincingly. "Sorry Weiss, but I'd rather the two of us fight it out. Ren and Pyrrha can fight against each other instead, right?"
This declaration took Pyrrha by surprise. Did Ruby decide that the best way of dealing with Weiss would be to beat her in a duel? It didn't seem like a good idea and it certainly didn't seem like Ruby's style… but then again, it was only polite to put some faith in your leader.
"It is as good of an arrangement as any." Pyrrha said in response. "Are you okay with the two of us fighting, Ren?"
"It will be my pleasure to test my strength against you." If having to face off against Pyrrha made Ren angry of afraid, he didn't let that show. Not that he head a habit of showing much emotion in general.
For a second, Weiss looked as though she was about to protest, but she knew better than to argue with the rest of her team. "Fair enough, we will fight in this arrangement. Since we are going to be last, let's just observe the fights for now."
Indeed, the fights that followed were worthy of their attention. Since the pairs were arranged to contain more-or-less equally skilled combatants, all of the duels between the members of Team HART and Team BRNS were quite a spectacle. Still, even though the participants were all skilled in their own unique ways, they seemed to be still below the level that Pyrrha's teammates presented. Their fights weren't truly complex on a tactical level – each duel consisted of participants exchanging blows until one of them was out of aura. Miss Goodwitch then announced the winner, said a few words regarding the fight and the mistakes made and then called another pair onto the arena.
Only when Team JNBY's turn came did Pyrrha really start to pay attention. They apparently decided that the first to fight each other would be Blake and Nora, since it was them who stepped into the arena once their team was called. Neither of them seemed particularly worried or nervous as they took their places in the ring – Blake exhibited no outward emotions while Nora was basically beaming with enthusiasm, judging from the smile on her face and the way she gripped her hammer.
"Nora seems pretty confident." Pyrrha said, addressing the remark to the one member of her team who knew Nora for more than a day.
"She is always like that." Ren replied. "With her strength, she is right to feel confident... Though I don't think she has that particular fight covered."
Pyrrha nodded, as she understood what her teammate was talking about. Nora's fighting style – using a giant war hammer to hit her adversaries and launching grenades en masse – was good against Grimm, but it didn't seem fitting for a controlled fight against an opponent with a more practical weapon. Pyrrha was yet to get a good look at the fighting style of either of the girls, but based on the information available to her, there was only one way the fight could go…
The moment Miss Goodwitch announced the start of the fight, Blake shot out forwards with her blade in hand. Nora attempted to use the handle of her hammer to block the attack, but Blake wasn't the one to strike so directly. She instead jumped over her teammate and slashed across Nora's back before the redhead managed to turn around.
To her credit, Nora was apparently focused enough not to let the strike knock her off balance. Before Blake got to carry out another strike, the hammer-wielder jumped back to gain some distance and then swung her hammer at the opponent. The hammer's head failed to hit anything other than a shadow clone which Blake then used to propel herself out of Nora's range and into the opposite end of the arena.
After that move, both of the girls found themselves more or less back at their starting places. The only difference between the current situation and the one before the start was Nora's aura level, which was now several percentiles lower than originally.
The rest of the fight followed a similar pattern. Blake would repeatedly step into her opponent's guard while Nora would try – and fail – to score a decent hit with her sizeable weapon. Neither of them switched their weapons to the ranged form at any point during the fight. Blake probably found that pointless since her strategy seemed to be the winning one anyway, while Nora couldn't really use her grenade launcher without risking damage to the arena or the people outside, who would definitely feel the shockwave or get hit with the shrapnel.
It wasn't just the difference in weaponry that mattered though. Though it was rather subtle, Pyrrha couldn't help but notice that there was something rather unusual about Blake's fighting style. It was far too pragmatic, too… precise to be something designed specifically for fighting Grimm. It was clearly meant to be used against other people, though why Blake would feel a need to train in that direction, Pyrrha had no clue. She didn't remember seeing Blake in any tournaments and there was no doubt that if she had participated in any combat tournaments, she would get quite far considering hoe skilled she was.
What reason did Blake have to train specifically with other people in mind? Was she raised somewhere where people were a greater threat than Grimm? In some poor urban area that was safe from the Grimm but not from violent criminals? In some faraway settlement where people were expected to know how to fight their fellows? It made Pyrrha quite curious, though she probably wouldn't ask – it would be a highly personal question and Blake seemed like someone who really valued her privacy.
The duel ended rather predictably. Despite her physical strength and impressive determination, Nora stood little chance against an opponent who was just as skilled and far more agile than her. About three minutes after the start, Blake – visibly tired from the fight, but with her aura almost unscathed – scored a finishing blow against her teammate. The two of them then shook hands, listened to their teacher's short talk about their combat strategies and, once dismissed, headed back towards their sits. If Blake felt particularly proud about her victory or if Nora felt in any way bummed about the loss, they wouldn't let it show – their moods seemed to be identical to ones before the fight.
"Well, that was fun to see." Ruby commented, before turning towards Weiss with a kind of nervousness on her face. "So, it looks like our siblings will be fighting now."
"Yes. What about it?" Weiss responded calmly.
"I just wondered, um, if you have a favorite?" Ruby asked, apparently not confident enough to ask the obvious question directly. 'Are you rooting for your brother to fail?'
"I hope that my brother will represent the Schnee family accordingly." Weiss replied, refusing to give a straight answer. Ruby apparently deemed further effort pointless, as instead of pressing her teammate, she focused on the events down in the ring.
In a way, Jaune and Yang mirrored the previous pair with their attitudes. Whereas Yang seemed confident in an outward, expressive manner, Jaune didn't betray much emotion and seemed to be calculating possibilities in his mind, as to maximize his chance for victory.
The moment Miss Goodwitch gave a signal to begin, Yang was already moving. Fast. Using the shotguns in her gauntlets to propel herself, she flew towards Jaune and threw a powerful punch straight towards his head. Jaune, luckily for him, was fast enough to bring his shield up and block the punch, though it didn't entirely mitigate the impact. The young man was pushed back by the force and actually lost a bit of aura, likely due to the damage his arm suffered from having to push back against such a blow. He quickly repaid Yang by taking advantage of the opening she left and driving a sword into her stomach.
The strike took away a bit of Yang's aura, but the blonde didn't seem to care. With a vicious smile on her face, she punched Jaune in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards and onto the floor. The boy proved himself fast enough to get up and bring his guard up before Yang could take advantage of his position, but he still took significant damage from the strike.
For the next two minutes, the fight seemed fairly even. Yang's punches were incredibly strong and did quite a number on Jaune's aura, but at the same time, she lacked any viable defense against Jaune's counterattacks. Her weapons weren't made for blocking, she wasn't fast enough to dodge every attack coming her way and each time she attacked she had to extend to the point of leaving her arm as an easy target. With neither combatant having a good defensive option, the fight such as this would normally end fairly quickly. But, since both Yang and Jaune had very durable auras, the duel just kept going as both of them took more and more damage.
Yang's aura was the first to go below fifty percent mark. Seemingly convinced that he was on his way to victory, Jaune stuck overhead, slamming the blade of his sword into Yang's shoulder. The strike connected and took away nearly ten percentiles on Yang's aura, marking the most powerful blow of the entire fight.
That was soon about to change.
Without any sort of warning, Yang exploded into flames. The fire didn't appear to be damaging in of itself – Jaune's aura was unaffected by it in any case – but it managed to deconcentrate Yang's opponent as well as blind him for a second, giving her a perfect opening to strike.
As Jaune took a devastating punch to the chest, his aura dropped by almost twenty percentiles. That, however, was far from his biggest problem. The force of the blow turned out to be sufficient to lift the young man off the ground and send him flying at a rather high velocity. Without any way to change his momentum, Jaune continued to fly until he hit the ground out of the ring's bounds.
"Yang Xiao-Long is the victor of the match." Miss Goodwitch announced. "I have a few words to say about this fight, but since we are short on time, I shall be brief. Mr Schnee, I advise you figure out a way to defend against powerful attacks so that you don't end up approaching terminal velocity each time one connects. Miss Xiao-Long, while your semblance worked to your advantage in this fight, I should warn you against relying on it too much. Letting your aura be brought down so low would have been a horrible idea had there been other opponents facing you."
"Don't worry, I have other tricks up my sleeve." Yang replied nonchalantly. "Well, I don't really wear sleeves here, I prefer to show off my muscles a little…"
"I repeat, we are short on time." The teacher insisted. "Mr Schnee, will you adhere to my advice?"
"Would a parachute be a good solution?" Jaune replied, before quickly adding. "But of course, I will consider other, more practical options first."
"Excellent. Now take your seats and let the next team perform."
"A semblance…" Weiss murmured as the two combatants returned to the bleachers. "A strength boost, one that requires her to get damaged first, or just fight for a longer while."
"The first one, actually." Ruby replied, making yet another attempt to strike a conversation. "Yang can return every blow Jaune did really good all things considered. He put up a great fight…"
"No he didn't." Weiss suddenly interrupted. Her brows were furrowed as though she was thinking about something intensely. "He didn't even try to beat her."
"Um really?" Ruby seemed surprised. "He almost brought Yang down to red. Not many people can do that. Do you think that he would beat her if he tried harder?"
"It's not a matter of trying hard." Weiss shook her head. "Yes, Jaune fought as hard as he could. But he didn't make any serious attempt. He didn't try to think outside the box, he didn't use any tricks and, most importantly, didn't secure himself against that semblance in any way. Not that I noticed."
"Maybe he didn't know about Yang's semblance?" Pyrrha suggested. It really seemed as though Weiss was jumping to conclusions. You couldn't prepare for every trick your opponent has to offer. "Even if she used it during the fight with the Death Stalker, Jaune might had simply not noticed it."
"Even if he had, he should still know about it by now." Weiss disagreed. "He had to ask the others about their semblances."
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked. "I didn't ask you to explain yours. Seems kind of private."
"Yes, I'm sure. That's one of the first things I would ask if I were…" Weiss paused, as her eyes narrowed slightly for a moment. "But that's not truly important. Let us focus on the fights."
To be frank, the next two fights weren't really worth focusing on. All four members of Team CRDL were capable, perhaps more than the majority of other students, but their fighting styles were mundane and made for a poor spectacle. The fight between Cardin Winchester and his partner Russell consisted mostly of the latter jumping around the former and launching weak attacks with his daggers and ended abruptly once Russell failed do dodge one of Cardin's attacks and took a dust-amplified mace to the face. The duel between Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing was somewhat more interesting – the combatants showed considerably more skill and finesse – and ended with Dove depleting Sky's aura after managing to step into his guard. Such was the weakness of pole weapons such as a halberd.
"I was certainly a skillful display from both parties." Miss Goodwitch said, apparently not being able to say anything insightful about the fight herself. "There are only two pairs remaining. Team RRWP, who are you sending first?"
"Oh, I didn't think of it." Ruby replied and then turned towards Pyrrha and Ren. "Can you guys go first?"
"Of course." Pyrrha replied, as she didn't care much for the order. Ren simply nodded.
"We want Pyrrha and Ren to fight first." Ruby said, turning back towards her teacher.
"Excellent. Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren, please take your places in the arena."
Pyrrha obliged and so did her teammate. The two of them quietly entered the ring and took places on its opposite sides.
"I wish you good luck." Ren said, bowing slightly.
"Likewise." Pyrrha replied with a polite smile. Both of them gripped their weapons tightly and, a few seconds later, saw Miss Goodwitch give a signal for the fight to begin.
Ren immediately opened fire. Countless bullets flew towards Pyrrha, only to smash against Akoúo̱, her trusted shield. Feeling as though her advantage lied in melee, Pyrrha closed the distance by running towards Ren and slashing at him with her sword. The boy managed to dodge the strike, but he didn't get a chance to strike back, as Pyrrha immediately followed with a quick thrust Ren only barely managed to deflect.
The fight turned into an exchange of blows and parries. While Ren wasn't a bad fighter by any means, Pyrrha found keeping up with him quite easy even without using her semblance – she surpassed her opponent in close quarters combat at the very least. Besides, Ren's two blades made for a rather poor weapon in direct combat. They had noting on a solid sword, and Miló was nothing if not a well-crafted blade.
Pyrrha could probably end a fight fairly quickly by pushing harder, but she figured letting Ren stay on the ring for a minute or two would only be polite. As she parried all her opponent's blows and mechanically launched her own strikes, she found herself thinking more about an upcoming fight than the one she took part in. What exactly was Ruby hoping to achieve by fighting Weiss? Contrary to what some would say, fighting was a poor method of bonding with other people. It could be a fun activity if you already liked the person you were going against, but it couldn't make enemies into friends or anything like that. There was only one reason why Ruby would be so enthusiastic to fight Weiss, and it didn't seem like a very good reason…
A slash across the face reminded Pyrrha that she was, after all, still in the middle of a battle. As she had already lost nearly a half of her aura, she decided that eliminating Ren wouldn't be quite so impolite anymore. Taking advantage of the opening the slash left, she slammed Miló into Ren's shoulder, damaging his aura as well as knocking him off-balance. She then struck again, this time slashing at her opponent's arm, and when Ren attempted to strike back with one of his blades, she used polarity to slightly change the angle of the attack. This allowed her to easily dodge the strike and respond with a powerful attack on her own, striking at Ren's head with the pointy end of her sword.
It proved enough to both topple Ren and bring his aura below the acceptable level. After sheathing her sword, Pyrrha approached her teammate and extended a hand towards him – a gesture which Ren accepted with appreciation.
"Thank you." He said as he stood up from the ground.
"My pleasure." Pyrrha replied. "It was a challenging battle you gave me."
Ren's bitter smile implied that he knew just how untrue the statement was, but he didn't say a single word. The two of them listen to Miss Goodwitch closing remarks – there weren't that many this time, either because she couldn't find much wrong with their combat styles or because she felt that pressed for time – and then headed towards their seats.
On her way to the bleachers, Pyrrha passed Ruby and Weiss heading downwards to wage their own duel. As they walked past one another, Ruby gave Pyrrha a reassuring look,
As for Weiss, she was looking straight forward, taking a visible effort to maintain a perfect posture and demeanor. Even before the actual start, she cared greatly about presentation. This would be a useful attitude in a tournament fight, but during a lesson such as this it seemed… misapplied. They were supposed to learn something about their teammates, not prove themselves better than them.
Pyrrha wondered if she was supposed to say something to either of her teammates, but she still couldn't come up with anything. She instead made her way to her seat and slumped down on it, her eyes focused on the arena below. Ren sat down next to her and then, unexpectedly, put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder.
"I think you worry too much." He said calmly.
"Huh?" Pyrrha replied, taken aback by both Ren's word and his newfound tendency to say anything without being spoken to first.
"It's clear that you are worried about them. I say you calm down a little." Ren carried on. "Whatever issues Weiss has and whatever Ruby is planning, they will not harm each other or do anything that would harm themselves. More importantly, you are not responsible for whatever trouble they do end up getting into."
Pyrrha once more looked down on the arena, to see Weiss and Ruby preparing for their fight. With their weapons "The last part didn't strike me as reassuring."
"Sorry. I don't reassure people often." Ren smiled weakly. "But my point stands. Let us watch the fight and only intervene if something goes really wrong, may we?"
Pyrrha considered Ren's words and then nodded. She had to admit, there wasn't much that could be done about the current situation. Whatever Ruby and Weiss were about to do now was entirely up to them. If there was a way to ease the tension between them, only they could do that.
If only there was a way to help them out with that…
As Ruby entered the arena, she took a deep breath. She felt quite nervous, partially because she didn't like having a whole crowd staring at her – and yes, forty people were enough to qualify for being a crowd – but also because of how important the fight was.
She observed her teammate step inside the ring herself. Weiss did her best to seem collected and unconcerned, but in her head she was probably thinking of countless scenarios for the upcoming fight, analyzing what she should do to win, what could be gained by winning and why she wasn't allowed to lose. It was just like Weiss to lose so much energy thinking about some quick, unimportant spar, as though winning meant anything.
Except for Weiss, winning probably meant quite a lot. A chance to win respect from her classmates or a teacher, impress someone in the audience, something like that. To her, the duel was important, and that's what made it important for Ruby as well.
Ruby heard Miss Goodwitch say something about safety precautions, but didn't really pay attention to it. She tuned out her teachers words and forced herself to forget about the crowd – a nice trick to make herself more focused in times like this. In her mind, she kept repeating the steps of her plan, just to make sure she would be able to carry it out.
It was a simple plan, really, based on an equally simple idea. If Pyrrha's words were anything to go by, Weiss' poor attitude was mostly the result of her envy. She envied Ruby for being made a team leader, maybe of getting to kill that Nevermore back in the Emerald Forest. Either way, she felt overshadowed. She wanted more limelight and respect for herself. There was an immediate way to deal with that issue, or at least make it less severe. At the moment, the eyes of all the students were focused on Ruby and Weiss, expecting to see their fight and ready to judge them based on how well they performed. It was a perfect opportunity to even things out in terms of prestige.
All Ruby had to do… was lose.
There is something weird about having RWBY characters use real-life concepts and terms. Since we know little of Remnant, we don't know what philosophical concepts are common there. I assume there are the concepts such as science or rationality, since there is advanced technology there, and that there is an equivalent of Latin, seeing the existence of names such as 'Taurus' or 'Calavera'. I will take that as a sufficient excuse to use some smart-sounding words.
Anyways, here's the chapter. It's the longest one yet, so I hope you liked at least a part of it.