Chapter 13
All Jaune was feeling now was pain. Cardin was unhappy with the fact that he would not go through with his plan. The blond knight was knocked to the ground with bruises all over his face. He didn't even get a moments rest before Cardin picked him up and punched him, causing him to fall to the ground again.
"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney Boy." Cardin picking him up by his chest plate, "I'm going to make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny pieces. Do you know what the worst part is? Theodore Coinstrientane isn't here to save you."
"It's Theodore Con-stan-tine," Jaune corrected with an angry look, "and I don't care what you do to me, but you are not messing with my team or my friends."
"What? You think talk like that makes you tough?" Cardin replied while lifting Jaune into the air, a foot above the ground, "You think you're a big, strong man now?"
Jaune looked at him with a sheepish smile that said, 'Sort of.' Cardin was extremely ticked off now. He made to deliver a punch to Jaune's face, but only contacted something that felt like a brick wall. He immediately let go of Jaune and held his injured hand. Jaune was just as confused, because he felt no pain on his face. He looked at his hands and found the answer. His aura had protected him from the punch and healed him. He didn't get to ponder on that thought for long because he was kicked in the back by one of Cardin's boys. Looking back up with an angry face, Jaune saw Team CRDL in front of him.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are." Cardin said, taking a few steps towards him. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he heard a growl. All five boys turned to see an ursa walk out of the woods. It wasn't the normal ursa they took out in initiation though. This one was bigger and had spikes protruding from its back like a porcupine. It stood up on its two hind legs, making itself look bigger. It started to sniff around for something and found the source on Cardin's chest plate. It was the sap that Jaune had thrown at him and the ursa looked hungry for something sweet. It once again got down on all fours and roared at Cardin.
"That's a big ursa!" Sky said while turning tail and running away, as did the other members of Team CRDL, leaving Cardin and Jaune alone with the Grimm. It swung its right paw at Cardin, making fly a few feet to the left, leaving Jaune face to face with the Grimm. Instead of attacking him, however, it walked over to where Cardin was on the ground, determined to make him its dinner. The leader of Team CRDL tried to fight off the ursa, but had his weapon swatted away. Jaune was contemplating whether to go get help or stay and fight, even though he wasn't very good at it.
On the other side of the forest, the remaining students heard a roar.
"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked. Everyone's attention was turned from the question to the three members of Team CRDL running past them shouting "URSA! URSA!"
Sky was stopped by him accidentally running into Yang. He didn't knock her over and he didn't fall either. Yang had grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him into the air.
"What?! Where?!" Yang asked.
"Back there!" Sky replied pointing in the direction they came from, "It's got Cardin!"
"Jaune!" Pyrrha said, dropping her jar of sap out of shock. Yang didn't get to question Sky further when Theodore grabbed him by the hair and yanked him out of Yang's grasp.
"And you just left them?! You COWARD!" Theodore exclaimed, anger written all over his face. He then threw Sky away from him and darted towards where Jaune, Cardin, and the ursa were located.
"Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch." Rudy told her sister. Yang immediately followed the three member of Team CRDL with Blake right behind her.
"You two, go with them. There could be more." Pyrrha told Ren and Nora, before activating her weapon and following Ruby and Weiss.
Cardin was trying to run from the ursa, but failed as the Grimm jumped in front of him and swatted him like a fly. Cardin landed on his back, a bit winded but unharmed, for now. He tried to crawl away but felt one of his leg muscles go stiff.
"What the-cramp! Cramp!" he said while trying to crawl away with the injury.
"Hey Grimm!" someone shouted. Both, the student and Grimm, turned to the source to see Theodore with his sword at the ready. "Are you an ursa or a porcupine?!"
Theodore then leapt at the ursa, planning on chopping its head off. Instead, he was swatted right into Cardin, both boys colliding into a tree. Two of the branches fell off and onto the boys, trapping them. Cardin had the branch on his back, with his body facing the ursa. Theodore's back was up against the tree, with the branch on his lap. Both boys watched helplessly as the ursa slowly walked closer to them. Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha had reach the location just as the ursa was three steps from them.
"Oh no!" Pyrrha exclaimed. The ursa was within striking range of the two boys. Cardin tried to crawl away, while Theodore tried to lift the branch off his lap. Their attempts were in vain as the ursa raised itself on its hind leg and put its left paw in striking position.
"Bullocks." Theodore cursed. Right when the paw was about to hit him and Cardin, it was blocked, to everyone's surprise, by Jaune. The blond knight had stepped into action, unsheathing his sword and using his shield to block the attack. Weiss was about to step in and help Jaune when Pyrrha stopped her with a simple 'Wait.'
Jaune pushed the paw away and slashed at the ursas neck with his sword. The blow caused the ursa to take a few steps back, growling in pain. It retaliated by swiping at Jaune, missing when he dodged to the left. It swiped and missed again when the blond knight jumped in the air. It's third swipe, however, was successful in hitting Jaune, sending him rolling a few feet in front of Theodore and Cardin.
"Jaune! Get out of there!" Theodore shouted, "Let Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss handle this!"
"No way!" Jaune replied while standing up, "You helped me even when I didn't ask for it! Now, it's my turn to help you!"
The blond knight then charged at the ursa, leaping in the air, hoping to get a hit on its face. That plan failed though when the ursa dodged and its paw impacted Jaune's back. This caused the blond knight to roll a few feet again. He got up and checked his aura meter to make sure he could still fight. It was in the red, near the point when he would have any to protect himself until later.
Jaune knew he had to finish the fight quick or he was a goner. The ursa roared to get his attention, causing the blond knight to get into a fighting stance. Both he and the ursa charged at one another. Theodore saw that Jaune was planning to deflect the paw and slash at the ursa, but noticed that his shield was tipped the wrong way. Making sure that no one was watching him, he raised his hand slightly in the air towards Jaune. Before he could do what, he was going to do, however, Theodore saw Pyrrha do the same thing.
He deduced that she came to the same conclusion and was going to help. He saw a dark black aura surround her hand and on to Jaune's shield, tipping it in the right direction. Her plan saved Jaune's life and gave him enough room to kill the ursa, cutting off its head. The head of the ursa flew a few feet to the left and the body fell to the ground.
"HEADSHOT!" Theodore shouted in excitement, "WOO-HOO! WAIT TO SLAY A GRIMM JAUNE! THAT WAS AWESOME!"
"Uh…what?" Ruby asked.
"How did you…?" Weiss added.
"Well, Ruby has her speed," Pyrrha replied, "you have your glyphs…my semblance is polarity."
"You can control poles." Ruby said. Theodore tried his hardest not to laugh at what he heard her say.
"No, you dunce." Weiss stated, "It means she has control over magnetism."
"Magnets are cool too."
"Hey, guys!" Theodore shouted to get their attention, "I don't mean to interrupt the friendship moment, but…a little help here please?"
Jaune immediately converted his shield into a sheath, strapped it to his belt, and sheathed his sword. He then ran to where Theodore was and started to help him get the branch off. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss came to help and get the branch on top of Cardin off as well.
"We should probably tell Professor Goodwitch what happened." Weiss suggested.
"We could," Pyrrha replied, "or, perhaps, we could just keep it our little secret."
"I don't know how that would work, but I'm trusting you Pyrrha." Theodore replied. They finally removed the branches off him and Cardin. Both were helped up by Jaune which they were surprised at.
"Holy smoke!" Cardin exclaimed with surprise, "Jaune!"
"Don't ever mess with my team," Jaune replied with authority, "my friends ever again. Got it?"
Jaune walked away from an embarrassed looking Cardin towards his friends. Theodore was both surprised and proud of Jaune. Surprised that he chose to help Cardin, both by protecting him from the Grimm and getting the branch off him. Proud for choosing to do the right thing even if it meant him leaving the school. With that in mind, he followed the remaining students back to Professor Goodwitch.
It was night time at Beacon Academy. Jaune was reflecting on what happened that day. How he almost did the wrong thing and almost died when he chose to do the right. A small smile came to his face when he thought about how he finally listened to his friend's advice. If only he chose to do that at day one.
"You wanted to see us?" asked a familiar voice. Turning to the source he saw Theodore and Pyrrha walking up to him. He noticed that Theodore was counting some lien in his hand. It was probably the payment Yang had to give him for losing the bet.
"Yang's fifty lien?" Jaune asked.
"Yup." Theodore replied putting the money in his pocket and looking at him, "She was pretty hesitant at first, but finally gave it up."
"What is it you wanted to talk about Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.
"I just wanted to tell you guys thank you for not giving up on me," Jaune replied, "and, if your offers are still open, I want to accept you guy's help. Training me to become a better fighter."
Pyrrha stood away from Jaune with a smile on her face. Turning back to him, she walked up to Jaune and pushed him to the ground.
"Hey!" he said.
"Your stance is all wrong." She told him, "You need to be wider and lower to the ground."
She then offered a hand to Jaune, which he accepted with a smile and was helped up.
"Well, you two have a fun time training." Theodore said turning away towards the door, "Tomorrow though, Jaune, you and I will start, and I promise, it won't be as nice as what you are doing with Pyrrha."
With that said, Theodore left the roof and entered the building. While walking to his dorm, his thoughts were on what almost happened that day.
I almost revealed what I could do. He thought to himself, I should tell them soon, especially the headmaster.
With that in mind, Theodore entered his dorm to turn in for the night.