(Leichter's POV)
Dear Lord, Jaune's doing terrible. HE and Cardin Winchester, leader of CRDL, were sparring with each other and Jaune looks completely out of it. He swings a few more times at Cardin with no results. Somehow, it wound up in a deadlock. "This is the part where you lose." Cardin announces to Jaune. "Over my dead-" Jaune is interrupted as Cardin knees him in his crotch. This results in Jaune collapsing to the ground, completely unarmed. Cardin raises his mace, seemingly to aim to end the fight. "Cardin, that's enough." Then a buzzer sounds and our teacher, Glynda Goodwitch, stops the fight. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match. Mister Arc, it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it's better to move to a more… defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf, now would we?" Jaune looks completely dejected. It's as if he knew he would lose. Or maybe that he's already lost something else. "Speak for yourself…" Cardin says. Apparently, Cardin doesn't care. With the moves he pulled on Jaune, it's safe to say that he fights without honor. "Now, we have time for one more practice match. I will generate out combatants randomly." Professor Goodwitch announces. She taps on her pad a few times and the match has been decided. This just got interesting. "Ruediger Rosa and Midori Yochu. Please step on stage." The two participants look at each other, and give each other competitive, but friendly looks. They then walk forward on the stage as Cardin and Jaune step off. "Let's go Ruediger!" Emmet cheers. "Do great Midori!" Kallyn shouts. "Fighters ready?" They both nod. "Begin!"
Ruediger is the first to make an offensive play by rushing towards Midori. Midori sidesteps Ruediger's initial charge and pulls out Kyutai. Ruediger equips Byt and Zgon quickly. Midori drops her yo-yo's body down, blades spinning. Ruediger grasps the yo-yo as it comes down with his claws. Sparks generated by two strong metals grinding against each other can be seen as the two weapons collide. Midori jumps up and slams her fist into the ground as hard as she can. The ripple effect on her string causes the sawblades to retract, but the body itself jerks into Ruediger's face, who is forced to let go. In retaliation, as the yo-yo retreats back to Midori, Ruediger shoots two dark dust shells at Midori in quick succession. She gets hit by one, but is able to dodge the other. Midori uses her yo-yo and wraps itself around Ruediger's other hand. She then forces Ruediger down to the floor with one pull downwards. Ruediger takes the hit, but is able to roll forwards and slash Midori's leg. What follows next is a martial arts battle. Midori emphasized on using kicks to repel Ruediger away, while Ruediger uses arm strikes to do the same. "Not bad Reau!" Midori praises. "You're pretty good yourself!" Ruediger compliments back. Eventually, they both step back a bit, and circle each other, waiting for the other to make the next move. I check the monitor. Both fighters are at 25% Aura at the end of their close quarters combat. The red zone is defined at 20% or lower. The next big hit may decide it. Ruediger makes a bold move and rushes forward, armed and aiming with his shotgun functions of Byt and Zgon. A terrible mistake, but Ruediger doesn't seem to remember why it is. As Ruediger runs toward her, Midori unfurls her butterfly wings and a she prepares to use her Semblance. As he fires, Ruediger looks at Midori and his face turns from one of total confidence, to one of pure shock and dismay. He realized it too little too late. Midori flaps her butterfly wings and the shells come straight back at Ruediger. They both hit his chest and he is sent back flying, a flash of fandango pink spreading across his body. Ruediger's mistake completely broke his Aura and the match was decided. The buzzer sounds. "Ms. Yochu wins."
Ruediger lays on the ground in defeat. He's smiling. And chuckling. That must have been quite a battle. Midori comes over and lends a hand to pick him up. "Man, I am a fool. Forgot about Wing-Ding and remembered it just a bit too late." Ruediger grasps her hand and pulls himself up. "Nah, you're not. It was a good move. But I thought you'd might try for that. I was open when I used it. If you hadn't gone for the Dust shells, I would've lost. But still, good game!" Both of them smile at each other before leaving the stage. Class was almost over and Glynda makes her last announcement. "Remember everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who chose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." Oh yeah, Atlas, Mistral, and hometown Vacuo are sending other teams for the festival too. I wonder if we'll meet Roderick's friends from Atlas. Hopefully not the racists. Personally, I don't care about the whole Human-Faunus dispute. But it gets seriously annoying to see people get mistreated for stupid reasons. Speaking of which, I'm concerned Midori may have just put a target on her winged back. A few of the students here, Team CRDL included, seem to seriously maltreat the Faunus students here. Now that it's known Midori is a Faunus, I'm worried she'll be bullied by those people too.
(Roderick's POV)
"So… there we were… in the middle of the night…" Nora tells. "It was day…" Ren says. "We were surrounded by Ursai…" Nora articulates. "They were Beowulves." Ren states. "DOZENS OF THEM!" Nora shouts. "Two of them." Ren corrects. "But they were no match. And in the end… Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora declares. That was an impossibility. One, Ren's statements completely contradict her story, and I'm more inclined to believe him over his eccentric friend. Two, if they were truly rich, they'd have something to show for it. And three… "She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now." Thank you Ren. But I suppose it doesn't hurt to dream. Maybe someday it actually WILL happen. I digress. "So, we going to address the low-hanging fruit?" Kallyn asks. "What do you mean?" Clive asks back. Kallyn jerks his head towards Jaune, and Clive immediately understands. "Jaune… are you okay?" Pyrrha asks. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?" Jaune stops staring at his food and jumps a little when Pyrrha asks him, concernedly. "It's just that you seem a little… not okay…" Ruby explains. "And it's not exactly subtle, either." Emmet backs. "Eh, guys, I'm fine… Seriously, look!" Jaune disguises his solemn behavior with a cheesy smile. It fools no one. "Honesty is best." Uhai states. "I-I am being honest!" jaune defies, still fooling no one. We then hear mocking laughter from a nearby table. Team CRDL seems to be making fun of a rabbit Faunus girl. I scowl. "Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha proclaims. "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah… he just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes!" Jaune denies. "Really? You're committing one of the biggest taboos of school by denying it." Leichter deadpans. "Denying what?" Jaune asks. "He's a bully." The other team leaders at the table state, myself included. It's true. Cardin Winchester and his team have been harassing multiple students at Beacon simply because they could.
I remember some of the stuff they've done to the many students here. Cardin once filled Chihiro's backpack with weights and threw it on top of a library bookshelf, knowing fully well that Chihiro could neither reach it herself, or use her Semblance to get it since it became heavier that her. She then tried climbing the bookshelf to get it herself, but it ended falling down on her and she ended up getting in trouble while Cardin got away, scot-free. There was also a time where Russel replaced Diane's pencil with an electric conductor while she wasn't looking. She ended up shocking half the classroom, including the teacher. When asked, CRDL immediately pointed at Leichter. Since Leichter is able to build stuff like that with relative ease, the professor immediately assumed he did it, and Leichter was punished for it. And then there was the time where Sky blew an airhorn in Emmet's ear. Nobody got in trouble for that. And then there was the time where Dove tampered with Starktronic. It ended up firing a rouge missile at the teacher. The teacher didn't see it as an accident and put Stella in Saturday detention last week. CRDL has been messing with all of us for an entire month now, and MY team seems to be getting the blame for it. They also seem to have a discrimination against Faunus too, as evident by the amount of times they've bullied the Faunus students here. Midori hasn't used her Faunus traits up until today. It's bad enough CRDL bullied her WITHOUT that knowledge. Now that everyone knows she's a Faunus, I fear Midori may be the new worst victim of CRDL's torment.
"Oh please… Name one time he's 'bullied' me…" Jaune scoffs. I am absolutely certain that the one who's BEEN getting the worst of it is Jaune. "Well, there was the time he smacked your books to ground from your hands. Classic bully move." Ruediger says. "Like I said, just messing around." Jaune attempts to deny. "And there was the instance where he activated your shield it the middle of a doorway." Kallyn adds on. "Yeah, what a jokester…" Jaune continues his futile attempt to protest. "He pushed you in a rocket-locker and shot you out of Beacon." Blake goes on. "I didn't land far from the school…" Jaune continues to drag on his rejection of the truth. "The real kicker is the time in a forest expedition he pulled your leg from behind, made you fall into me when I had my axe ready, I fell over and hit Professor Port with the wayside, knocking him unconscious! And I'M the one who got in trouble for it!" I declare. Yep. Even I am not exempt from his oppressive behavior. "Easy Rody. Breathe." Stella tells me. There's my temper starting to rise again. "Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask…" Pyrrha reassures Jaune. "OOH! We'll break his legs!" Nora suggests. If it weren't for the fact he'd probably tell on us, I would've actually agreed with her. "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, we all know he's not only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune still defends. "YOU THINK?" RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW all berate him.
"Ow, that hurts!" The rabbit Faunus exclaims. Cardin is pulling on one of her ears. Of course. I can feel myself wanting to cave his face in. "Please, stop…" the Faunus politely asks. "I told you it was real." Cardin declares. "What a freak." Russel insults. The girl manages to pry her ears free and walks away in shame. "Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha says. "He's not the only one." Blake stats. "It must be hard to be a Faunus." Yang solemnly says. "Stella." I say darkly. "Y-Yeah, Rody?" She asks nervously. "I want you to hold my torso, and DO NOT, under ANY circumstance, let go until Leichter gives you the okay." I order. "Uh, why?" She asks, unsure of what's about to happen. "JUST DO IT!" I snap. She does so immediately. I then attempt to charge at Cardin to give him a piece of my mind. Only I don't as Stella is holding me back. I am NOT getting in trouble again because of Cardin. That's why I asked Stella to do what she's doing right now. Everyone, including her, is wide-eyed at what my intentions were.
After a minute of trashing and not-so-silent cursing, I finally calm down and return to my lunch. "You can let go now, Stella." Leichter says. She does. Next thing that happens, an open milk carton is thrown on Midori's back. We all turn and stare at the source. "Have fun flapping now, freak!" Sky taunts. My team, Emmet's and Herald's all look at each other for one moment, and we all nod, as if we knew what we wanted to do. While CRDL laughs at their misdeeds, they look at us again. Their laughter immediately dies. They can feel my heat emanating from my Semblance, Stella gives them a stink-eye, Chihiro raises a palm to them, Leichter builds a razor and grips it firmly in his hand, Emmet cracks his knuckles, Clive has a wind ripper ready, Ruediger glares at them evilly, Uhai holds up a drawing of a frying pan, Herald materializes kitchen knives, Midori tightly grips a string, Diane's fingertips surge with voltage, and Kallyn folds his arms. CRDL immediately knew our intentions and returns to their lunches. They may be bullies, but they're not completely dumb. Even THEY know how dangerous the numbers game can be. I can immediately tell what we're all thinking.
(RSCL's, ECRU's, and HYDW's POV)
Oh, how I HATE them so much!
(Roderick's POV)
I will say this, Professor Oobleck's class is probably the most interesting of them all. Mostly because of his ludicrously fast talking and mad dashing across the room. "Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He quickly takes a sip of his drink, of which I am certain is coffee. Less than a second later, he resumes his lecture. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" Another sip. "Now! Have any of you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" A wolf Faunus raises his hand quickly. Midori immediately after. Velvet then raises her hand meekly. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" That is true. While Oobleck sips his drink, Clive was quick to react. "Isn't it also the reason the White Fang resorted to it's now… extremist methods?" He asks. Oobleck responds, "Precisely Mr. Gronn! Precisely! Now, moving on, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" A few hands raise. "Yes, Ms. Schnee." Weiss is quick, and proud, to answer. "The battle at Fort Castle!" She seems to be correct. "Precisely!" Oobleck declares. "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Oobleck asks. I was about to raise my hand, but something catches the corner of my eye; Cardin flicking a paper football onto Jaune's head. "Hey!" Jaune calls out. Unfortunately, Oobleck heard him. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" Oh brother. It's common knowledge that Jaune has been struggling in multiple classes since day one. And, of course, one of those classes is History, which is the class we are in now. "Uhhhh… the answer… The advantage… of the Faunus… had over that guy's stuff…" Oobleck's face starts becoming unamused. Pyrrha coughs and starts making motions to Jaune as if to signify something. Mainly, with her eyes. Unfortunately, it can be interpreted in multiple ways. I knew the answer, but even I couldn't fathom how what Pyrrha was doing was supposed to even remotely resemble it. "Um, B-binoculars!" Numerous students laugh, Cardin included. I also notice Diane, Clive, and Pyrrha facepalm. Oobleck was not amused. "Very funny, Mr. Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on the subject!" Cardin looks smug as he gives his blatantly racist answer. "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." I stand up. "Oh, like you're one to talk Mr. Football!" I snap. "It's Mr. Winchester to you, Rodney. And I didn't flick that paper. It was Mr. Fixer over there who did it." He points at Leichter, who's sleeping in class. Again. "Amusing how you would think that Cardin. Considering the placement of the paper projectile, it could only have come from behind. And from what I see, Mr. Xandercat is directly next to Mr. Arc on his left, fast asleep…" Oobleck pauses. "I will address that later. And Mr. Montague, please sit back down." I do. "Anyway, does anyone have the answer to the question I asked Mr. Arc?" Pyrrha raises her hand. "It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." Cardin growls a little at getting shown up by the Invincible Girl. "Correct! And, Mr. Xandercat!" He moves to Leichter. "Sleeping in class, again are we? Can you tell me why night-vision helped the Faunus win the battle at Fort Cast- "He doesn't get to finish, as Leichter raises his head from his slumber, eyes looking unfathomably tired and disappointed. "General Lagune decided it would be a smart idea to attack the Faunus at night while they were sleeping. Because of said night vision, his army was almost completely outmatched and General Lagune was captured by the enemy. He was later released at the end of the war, bringing shame to his militia for his ignorance and was promptly demoted." My partner's deadpan response was perfect. "Well then, it seems you are paying attention in class after all, Mr. Xandercat." Oobleck praises. "Yeah. Perhaps if General Lagune had paid attention in HIS classes, maybe he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." Blake responds. There were a lot of snickering at Cardin's expense. I, myself, was struggling to keep a loud burst of laughter in. Cardin gets up, ready to beat the three who ridiculed him. "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat. You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings. And Mr. Xandercat, how do you pay attention wile fast asleep?" "Trade secret. I'll tell you in private later. I'll see you after your additional readings with Jaune and Cardin to tell you when and where. Now can I go back to sleep and listen to your, quite frankly, fascinating lecture?" Leichter asks, with his signature deadpan expression. "Flattery will get you nowhere Mr. Xandercat. However, you do seem to be doing quite well in my class. Very well, let's move on!" The rest of Oobleck's class goes by without any interruptions, still going by very quickly to cram in as much History as fathomably possible.
(Leichter's POV)
Ah nighttime. The time where I can gaze upon the vast, beautiful night sky. I am at my favorite spot in all of beacon, the balcony. It has the perfect view of the stars and the broken moon. I am currently waiting for Professor Oobleck to arrive. Or rather, I was. While I was stargazing, he zipped towards me. "Alright Mr. Xandercat. What did you want to tell me?" I stand up. "It's less what I want to TELL you, and more what I want to SHOW you." I turn my back towards the professor and roll up my shirt. I show him my trade secret. A pair of bat wings, attached to my shoulder blades. "You are a Faunus? A bat Faunus at that. So that would mean…" "Yes, I am nocturnal. And yes, I have almost perfect hearing at all times. But no, I'm not blind." I answer quickly, unlike the me at day who is groggy. "I see, then why hide it?" He asks. "I believe you know the answer from one, Cardin Winchester." He understands immediately. "I see. And I suppose the reason for you wanting this to be private is…" "So that nobody else knows." Oobleck nods his head. "And I respect that. But I have to ask, out of everyone here, you kept this a secret from everyone all your life, even your teammates. So why tell me?" I think hard a bit before answering. "Firstly, you're the only teacher who catches me sleeping in class." Oobleck looks a bit disappointed. "But mostly, it's because I feel like you're the one who knows the most about Faunus that any other human here. And, I want to have intellectual conversations Faunus-to-Man." Oobleck's eyes lighten up. Or at least, that's what I could interpret from his glasses. "I see then. Well, your secret's safe with me." I smile. "Thanks Professor Oobleck." "It's Doctor Oobleck actually. I didn't earn the PhD for fun." We both share a small laugh before Oobleck departs. I then notice Jaune laying on the roof of one of the schoolhouses. I also notice Cardin jump off the same roof. For Oum's sake, what did you do now Jaune? Or rather, what did Cardin do to you?
Author's Notes (11/2)
I'm back! My schedule kept me booked for a long time and I had no way of getting to write this story until 11/1. Here's hoping nothing like that happens again. Although, knowing my luck, it will. Anyway, I know this chapter is short, and that I said the rest of Jaundice and Forever Fall would be one chapter. But after re-watching that part of RWBY, there's a time-skip between those two points of time. Therefore, I have decided to merge Chapter 8 with this part instead. The author's notes of that chapter will still be here, it's after this set of author's notes. Also, yeah, plot twist! Leichter being a Faunus is something I've always had planned. He is known for being drowsy in the day, but more active at night. But he's not going to share this knowledge to anyone. I'm sure you can figure out why. Now that my schedule is clear, I can safely say that the true chapter 9 will be posted between 11/9 and 11/11. That should be all. I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I only own Teams RSCL, ECRU, and HYDW. And until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.
Author's Notes (10/3)
Yes, I know this was a pretty short chapter, but I honestly felt that, for once, splitting an arc into two chapters would be better. Part of it is because the Jaundice arc is the second longest arc, only behind the Beacon Entrance Exams, of Volume 1. But mostly, I couldn't find a good way to implement it into one chapter well, since technically Forever Fall and Jaundice are two different fragments of the story. That and none of RSCL, the main focus of this story, would be around to see Jaune confess everything to Pyrrha and get blackmailed by Cardin. Therefore, Oobleck's lecture, and the entirety of Forever Fall will be one chapter, so the Jaundice arc is still going. Oh by the way, the title of this story actually has more significance that at first glance. The duel between Midori and Ruediger was not part of canon. So how did it come into play? Dice roll. How did I determine who would be the combatants? Dice roll. How did I determine who would win? Dice roll. Yeah, it could've gone in any way, shape or form. I believe I do need to address something, I am, for the first time, late on something. I was supposed to give the updated library schedule on 9/20. Internet died on that day. I posted it yesterday, but it was only today that I noticed a few problems with it. It shouldn't be that bad of an inconvenience though. I believe this is all I wanted to say other that the obvious.
-UltimateEnigmatic