Scouting and Practice
AN: Here it is at last. Sorry for taking so long, but I was on a family vacation last week. My body is still aching from it, but now I'm home and ready to rumble again.
Blake is an early riser. Something she had picked up during her time in the White Fang. But today, she felt like sleeping through today. Thankfully it's Saturday, so no one would mind if she did.
Though that didn't mean she didn't hear the chattering around her that she tried to ignore.
"What do you mean, you don't know where he is," Weiss asked, pausing in brushing her hair. Sleeping in seems to not be in her dictionary.
"Just what I said," Dahlia replied to her Driver. "We woke up and he was gone," the ice bunny said as she motioned towards the now closed door, beyond which Roze was waiting. Weiss had made it abundantly clear that she did not want a guy around to check them changing clothes.
"So where did he go," Ruby asked. The adorkable red reaper was up exceptionally early, considering there weren't any lessons today. Though that was easily explained with her wanting to get to breakfast at the cafeteria before too many people started filing in.
"I told you, Ruby. When we woke up, he was gone," Dahlia said with a sigh, "Speaking of which, shouldn't those two wake up? Especially Yang." The last one was added, because it looked like Yang seemed to have a serious case of bad hair day... At least, that's what it looked like when that mane of golden hair seemed a bit more unruly than usual. Which means, the blonde brawler would spend the next hour or so in the bathroom trying to tame her hair... If she manages to wake up that is.
"Oh, you're right," Ruby said as she went to shake Yang a bit. "Yaaang. Time to wake up," Ruby said cutely.
"...Five more minutes," Yang mumbled, turning her head away from Ruby.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ang." That whiny sound that Ruby made earned a giggle from Dahlia, and an eyeroll from Weiss.
"Leave me alone," Yang whined tiredly as she put her pillow over her head. The blonde brawler was clearly not a morning person.
Dahlia let out a sigh. "I think it's time for drastic measures," the ice Blade said while giving a questioning look to Weiss.
The said heiress smiled with unusual mischief. Perhaps she had spent too much time around these dunces, but Weiss didn't care about that right now. Instead, she nodded with a frosty smile while mouthing, "Go ahead."
With that, Dahlia went to the end of Yang's and Blake's bunk bed before applying her drastic measure. She grabbed the blanket and swiftly yanked it off of the sleeping dragon.
"Heeeeyyyy... give the warmth back," Yang complained, still sleepy, but much more annoyed.
The drastic measure had failed. "Amateur," Ruby sighed, knowing that something as cute as that wouldn't work when Yang was like this.
Dahlia had a smirk at both Ruby's words and Yang's stubborness. "Alright, drastic measure number two it is then." With that Dahlia entered the bathroom.
Just then, Blake decided to give up on sleeping in. "What is she up to," Blake wondered tiredly as she could barely hear the faucet running.
"Dahlia's trying to get Yang out of the bed," Ruby said, wondering what the ice Blade was doing.
"...I got that much," Blake said in annoyance, "What I mean is, how is she planning to do that?" Actually, if Blake had enough presence of mind to think right now, she would be questioning how Yang isn't reacting to what was going on right now.
Anyway, Dahlia came out of the bathroom with what looked like glass beads with intricate designs in her furry hand. "Now, then... up and about Yang," Dahlia said as she lifted the Blonde's tank top that acted as her sleep wear, and dumped the beads inside. The effect was instantaneous.
"EEEEEEEEEYYYAAAAAAAAK!" Yang screamed bloody murder as she started flailing and rolling, until she fell off her bunk. Which unsurprisingly went unnoticed by her, other than her getting up and jumping in place like a stung rabbit. Earning laughs out of the other's as her bed hair was bouncing frantically. Soon enough, the beads that Dahlia had dropped into Yang's sleep wear fell out, though some of them left wet patches on her top from melting. Meaning that the beads were made of ice, courtesy of Dahlia's icecraft. As soon as Yang had gotten rid of the last ice bead, she directed a glare at the culprit, "...Not cool, lady."
Dahlia had an amused smile at that declaration, "What do you mean? It was plenty cool if it got you out of bed."
After about three seconds, the joke set in, and Ruby rolled on the floor laughing. Weiss tried to not laugh at Dahlia's joke and failed miserably. Even Blake who had previously been annoyed at her sleep being interrupted found herself chuckling at Yang's expense.
The said blonde was not happy about it. "...You're dead, Dahlia," Yang said with the most heated glare she could muster. Sadly... with her hair as it was, her intimidation index was zero... Okay, she managed to look crazed, but that's about it.
"...I think you have more pressing matters to attend to," Dahlia said as she pointed to the small mirror on the wall.
Yang turned towards the said mirror and saw the state her hair was in. Next, she tried her hair with her hands, refusing to believe her reflection. And then the door to the bathroom slammed shut as Yang dashed in there with a speed comparable to Ruby's semblance.
Which of course prompted more laughs out of them. However, their laughter ceased at a surprised yelp from Blake. "Nox! When did you get here," the faunus in hiding exclaimed. Sure enough, Blake's Blade was in the room and had showed writing on his scroll to his Driver that announced his precense.
"Just now." Nox showed on his scroll.
"How did you get in," Weiss asked, being pretty sure they would've heard the door.
Nox pointed at the window while giving Weiss a look that said, "Duh."
"The window," Ruby questioned. First, the girls keep it locked during the night. Second, Ruby was pretty sure they would've noticed the Blade climbing in. Third, "Why didn't you use the door?"
The ninja Blade tilted his head before opening his scroll. "I was right outside of the window. Getting through it was faster than going around for the door."
"How did you open it without us noticing," Weiss asked, having some scary thoughts of where else he could sneak to.
Again, Nox gave the look that questioned Weiss' intelligence before he showed the reply. "Easily. If you had noticed me, then it would be because of my incompetence." Nox then had a thoughtful look, before opening his scroll more. "Or if I wanted to."
"...Let's just get breakfast," Blake said as she went to her closet to pick up today's clothes. She did sleep through the night in her normal clothes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have another set of clothes she wants to change into when she can. Unfortunately, when she turned to the bathroom, she remembered that Yang had occupied it and the blonde would stay there for another hour or so. "How am I going to get changed," Blake then asked the obvious.
Nox gave his suggestion on a scroll. "I could remove the courtesan for a moment."
"NO!"
"And her name is Yang," Ruby said in mild annoyance. Yang's reaction to the word "courtesan" after Weiss whispered into the blonde's ear probably meant that it was some kind of insult.
"Blake could change in our room, since we're not there right now," Dahlia suggested with a smile.
"Thanks," Blake said as she started walking out, with Dahlia in tow.
"Well, that's one problem dealt with," Weiss said as she returned to do some finishing brushes on her hair.
"So, Nox, where... did you go," Ruby trailed off as she looked at the spot Nox used to be at. Key word being, used to. "...He really is a ninja," Ruby said in awe at the Blade disappearing without their notice.
Sadly, Weiss did not agree with her leader as she looked around the room to ensure he wasn't behind her or anything... Actually, now she was tempted to check under her bed, just to make sure that the monster wasn't there... And then she realized how childish that would've sounded if she had said it out loud. "Did you forget that he threatened to kill you just because he was startled," Weiss felt the need to point out, before the childish team leader started fangirling.
"Weiss, please don't ruin this," Ruby said with a pout, earning an exasperated sigh from Weiss. "Anyway, I'll dash to the cafeteria. See you there." With that, Ruby vanished in a flurry of rose petals. With the slam of a door signifying that she passed it.
With that, the heiress sighed. Deciding that she had brushed enough to move along with her day.
"COME ON! WHY WON'T YOU STRAIGHT-OW!" And leave Yang to deal with her rebellious mane.
Some time later, at the cafeteria, Ruby was having pancakes for breakfast. That's the second reason she was in a hurry. If Nora had gotten here first, the pancakes would've vanished into the infinite abyss that the hammerer calls her stomach. Weiss was having a healthy porridge, despite Dahlia telling her that it was okay to have something sweeter. Blake was also enjoying her own breakfast, while Nox was standing guard. Speaking of which.
"I took the liberty of checking all foods in the storage. None of it is poisoned." Nox had showed his Driver, who, to her credit, only rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness.
"Say... can he even eat," Nora decided to ask out of curiosity. Over the few weeks, it has turned out that the Blades can eat regular food. They just don't have to. However, they have shown a need to eat dust of their own element every now and then. Not much, just about one vial of purified dust every few days. A little more if it's raw crystals
Still, Nora had asked a pretty good question. Nox's face mask would probably prevent him from putting food into his mouth... If he even has one.
"Do you eat," Blake asked, getting curious herself.
"I can, but I do not have to." Nox showed on his scroll.
"...Would you like a taste," Blake asked hesitantly, offering one of her tuna sandwiches. It may be a little stereotypical, but Blake loves tuna. Then again, different cat faunus love different things, and not all of them are cat related.
"Are you sure my lady? I would not want you to sacrifice your breakfast for someone like me." Nox even had an awkward look in his eye.
"It's fine. Just take it, before I change my mind," Blake said evenly, trying to hide the pain she was feeling. Why was she going through with this then? Simple, if Nox eats, that would mean he would have to lower his mask. Which meant that Blake would see his face.
"Blake you don't have to-Ow," Jaune's words were interrupted by Pyrrha of all people elbowing his side. "Pyrrha, what was that-OW!" Now it was a stomp on his foot from Nora.
During this exchange, Ruby finally realized what Blake was planning. She was also curious what Nox looks like under that mask. Roze wasn't too interested, but that didn't mean he wouldn't sneak a peek if this plan succeeded.
Weiss... she was convinced that behind that mask is a sadistic grin that he uses to threaten people for his own sick pleasure. Dahlia, guessing Weiss' train of thought from the miniscule changes in her demeanor, shook her head.
As for team JNPR, after Jaune realized what was going on, they had a shared interest in what Nox looks like under his mask. Some of them more than others.
But none more so than Blake. She was convinced that behind that mask was her idea of a perfect man. His personality might need some work, but at least Nox can be reasoned with.
"Hey guys," Yang suddenly called out as she flopped down on their table with a huge plate full of various breakfast foods.
That momentarily made everyone glance at Yang. Until Blake felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Thank you my lady. It was good." Was the text that Nox showed on his scroll. And the sandwich that Blake had sacrificed in her quest to see her Blade's face had disappeared.
Then Blake saw it, the slight movement of Nox's jaw before he swallowed. "...That was fast," Blake commented, as the sandwich wasn't exactly small.
"Efficiency, my lady," Nox showed on his scroll with a nod.
"What's up guys," Yang asked in confusion, seeing as they were staring at Nox with varying expressions of disappointment.
"You wrecked their plans, that's what," Roze said before shoving another helping of his own pancakes into his mouth. He may not need to eat, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy the taste. He was even introduced to Ruby's love of cookies, though he doesn't share it quite to the same extent as his Driver.
"What plan," Yang asked as everyone gave her glares, "...Guys?"
"We were trying to see Nox's face," Ruby said with a pout.
"And you distracted us," Weiss added in, also annoyed at not seeing the true face of that monster.
"How are you going to take responsibility," Nora said while giving Yang a look.
"Nora, that's not how you use that phrase," Ren told the orange haired ball of energy that was his childhood friend.
All the while Dahlia giggled at the complaints directed at poor Yang. Honestly, Nox will probably show his face when he feels like it... If only she knew.
Nox wasn't stupid, he knew from the start that these kids were interested in seeing what was underneath his mask. However, they will never get to see it as long as he has a say in it. Least of all his Driver.
"So..., what can Nox do," Jaune asked Blake who snapped out of her depression of not seeing what kind of hottie would be under...
"FOCUS! What do you mean," Blake asked, shouting the first one in her head.
"I mean... how does he fight," Jaune reiterated his question.
That got Blake to think. She had only seen Nox take down Yang, and threatening Ruby. But those hardly tell how he fights. All that tells her is that he's fast. "I don't know actually... I would like to find out," the feline faunus in hiding said as she gave her Blade a meaningful look.
Nox held the gaze for a moment, before opening his scroll. "Last night, you saw half of my weapon. The Dual Scythes. I use them in a variety of ways. Slashing, stabbing, sometimes climbing. Among other things such as..." The list went a little further, but Blake felt like she grasped the main points.
"Can we... practice today," Blake asked, once again resisting getting her mind dragged into the gutter by getting "linked with Nox" out of context. Poor Blake, despite trying to remember Nox's flaws, she still can't help but fantasize about him. "Am I really that bad," the book loving girl whimpered in her head, while looking cool on the outside.
Nox seemed to consider Blake's words. "It would help you to adjust to our union if you had some practice in it."
Blake gave her Blade an unimpressed look, "...Are you trying to use innuendos?" Earning surprised looks from the others. They didn't think Blake would call Nox out so bluntly about something like that. Nor did any of team RWBY think that the ninja Blade would even use innuendos... Those that understood the concept anyway.
"Not one of my talents, I admit." Nox shook his head along with the text.
"What's an innuendo," Ruby asked innocently.
"Nothing you need to know," Yang said quickly, "And if you find out then you can never be with Ruby." That last one was added to Roze who had his mouth open like he was about to say something.
"...Alright," Roze said, though he was a little suspicious of the real reason Yang didn't want to explain it. "Anyway, if Blake had some practice with me and Ruby, or Dahlia and Weiss, it would be good," the rose reaper said.
"...You're not going to throw a tantrum again right," Yang teased the Blade, reminding him of the sparring with Weiss and Dahlia.
"...Can we please forget that already," Roze sighed. He received a talk from both Ruby and Ozpin about how sparring at school is meant to prepare them for the actual combat. It got through to him, which is why he feels ashamed of his childish reaction to losing a spar. Though that doesn't mean he takes his duties as Ruby's Blade any less seriously.
Nox, while curious, saw the information about the reaper Blade as trivial. "I admit, I am interested in seeing how strong Roze and his Driver are together." Then the ninja had a momentarily thought, before opening more of his scroll for Blake. "Although I must warn you, my lady. Most of my abilities are not suited for one on one fights."
Blake was a little curious about Nox's claim, "What do you mean?"
"...Just what I said, my talents are best used with another ally." Nox explained in his text. "Although... If you give me proper Aux Core's you might be able to change that."
"What's an Aux Core," Jaune asked, earning a surprised look from Nox.
Before the ninja could reroll his scroll, Roze got into his personal space to whisper something.
During this, Dahlia had a very worried look, because the explanation given about Blades was that they were new kind of weapons created by Atlas scientists. No one was told about the world of Alrest, including team JNPR. And honestly, who would believe it? Even Dahlia had some problems believing that she was not in Alrest, but she was much calmer about it than Roze was.
"Anyway," Weiss said, hoping to draw attention away from Nox's blunder,"Maybe we could try have a sparring match with two man teams, one Driver and a non-Driver for each team."
That hasty idea seemed to get at least Nora to forget the unfamiliar concept. "OOHHH! PICK ME PICK ME!"
"Nora!" Ren shouted, stopping the orange haired hyper girl from getting anymore hyper, "Let's finish our breakfast first."
"Oh! Okay, Ren," Nora said before returning to her food. With that, everyone seemed to be in a hurry to finish their food so they could get a read on Nox's abilities.
The said Blade already doing a thorough analysis on team JNPR who apparently will be his targets... No! Practice partners. Important difference.
After the breakfast, the teams were decided. Weiss and Pyrrha vs Blake and Jaune. Honestly, Nox didn't like the arrangement, because if you ask him, Jaune is a pathetic waste of space. Luckily for our idiot, the dark ninja kept his opinion to himself. Oh well, the blonde boy would at least make a good meat shield.
Although Dahlia clearly being a healer would spell trouble.
"Fighters ready!" Ruby exclaimed in excitement, preparing the signal on her scroll.
"Sooo, do we have a plan," Blake asked, twirling the Dual Scythes. She wasn't familiar with the weapon, but she at least had Nox to help her. Only problem is, she wouldn't be able to tell when Nox was ready to use his Special Arts... whatever they are. Then again, according to Ruby and Weiss, not only did their Blades shout when they were ready, the Drivers also felt that the option was available.
Nox pulled out his scroll in front of their faces. "Jaune will distract them, so that my lady can strike them down."
"It won't be that easy," Jaune said, knowing that Pyrrha will probably be more focused on Blake and Nox, because they're a lot more dangerous. That's not even counting Weiss and Dahlia with their healing power.
"If you do not perform adequately... No one will find your corpse." the text was accompanied, by Nox's pupil turning into a crossed glare.
"Nox," Blake said in annoyance, even as Jaune gulped nervously at the blatant threat. "We're ready," Blake said, before any more banter could come out.
"So are we," Weiss said, being a little cheerful about being partnered with Pyrrha. While she had long given up on her "master plan", fighting with the Invincible Girl was still a bit of a dream come true.
"Do your best, Jaune," Pyrrha cheered, even though she would probably beat him relatively easily.
"...Yeah." And Jaune knew it.
"Forget Pyrrha's titles! She is just an opponent that needs to be beaten." Nox practically shoved the text into Jaune's face.
"Easy for you to say," Jaune complained.
Thankfully, Ruby decided to ring the signal. Which Jaune took as his cue to charge in as a distraction.
"Idiot," Weiss thought as she launched the bitball at Blake, thinking that Jaune wasn't a threat.
However, Blake dodged the attack and dashed towards Weiss, ready to try the scythes. The first strike was quickly blocked by Weiss' rapier, before the heiress had to jump back to avoid the follow up strike. Weiss quickly responded with a few ice shots from Myrtenaster, followed by the bitball. Blake managed to dodge the shots, but got hit by the sharp bladed ball.
As Blake recovered from the hit, she suddenly had an urge to hit the deck. Which, she did just in time to see Jaune sailing right over her and straight into Weiss who had no time to react.
"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said, seeing where she had accidentally launched Jaune to. The Arc boy was about to get a lucky strike on Pyrrha, which the red haired girl had no hope of avoiding or blocking. Thankfully for the Mistral champion, she managed to use her semblance on instinct to throw Jaune away.
Blake couldn't believe her luck, ducking right before Jaune hit her and landing on a now very irate Weiss instead. "Get off me, you idiot," Weiss shouted as she managed to get the disoriented idiot off of her, "And stop laughing, Dahlia!" the ice bunny found the scene funny, as did their audience.
But that's not what Blake was focused on. The cat faunus had her eyes on Nox, who had his scroll out already, "I saw the idiot being flung, and shared my instincts with you, so that you could avoid him." That explanation made Blake glance at the energy cord connecting the Blade and her.
"That's convienient," Blake couldn't help commenting, before focusing on Pyrrha, seeing as Weiss was shouting at Jaune. Much to the exasperation of Dahlia, who was shaking her head, with a hand over her face.
To Pyrrha's credit, she instantly focused on Blake who was now charging at her. Pyrrha switched Miló to it's rifle for to take shots at Blake, but the cat faunus avoided each and every one of them with agility that she hadn't demonstrated before. Pyrrha didn't know this, but Blades share more than just their power with their Drivers. This was especially true with Nox, who's now cross shaped pupil followed Pyrrha's every move, predicting when and where she would shoot. That information was being transferred to Blake who instinctively dodged every single shot.
Then, just as Pyrrha switched Miló back into it's sword form, Nox decided to activate what he considers his trademark, Shadow Eye. From Pyrrha's perspective, Blake seemed to flicker in and out of existence. "What's going on," Pyrrha wondered in her head hesitantly, as she wasn't even sure if Blake was really there anymore. That moment of hesitation was costly, because Blake used the Scythes to deliver a devastating pirouette strike on the Invincible Girl. Dealing major damage to her aura, as well as knocking her down.
"Pyrrha!" Weiss shouted out, unable to comprehend why the champion didn't block Blake.
"Why the heck didn't Pyrrha block," Yang also said aloud, because from everyone else's perspective, Blake just dashed in and Pyrrha didn't even try to do anything.
"...Did Nox do something," Ruby asked, thinking that that's the only reason Pyrrha would be caught off guard like that.
"...Maybe his left eye has a special power," Roze commented, noticing that Nox had put his middle and index finger over his eye patch moments before Blake attacked.
"What makes you say that," Ren asked in curiosity.
"He touched his eye patch before Blake attacked, and I think the mark on it stopped glowing for a moment," Roze explained, as Pyrrha was getting up.
"...Blake, what did you do," Pyrrha asked, utterly confused on what just happened. She shouldn't have been caught off guard like that. During her tournaments Pyrrha had faced many opponents, some of which had surprising semblances. But whenever that happened, she only focused on how to beat them. Never letting herself be surprised for too long. This time... it felt like... her mind blanked out.
"What do you mean," Blake asked, because from her perspective, nothing special happened.
"It was my doing." Nox had opened his scroll over Blake's face so that Pyrrha would see it.
"What did you do to me," Pyrrha asked again keeping her guard up.
"That is for me to know, and you to find out." Pyrrha could swear that Nox had a smug smirk under his mask as she looked at his visible eye. "Are we still fighting?" was the next text that appeared.
"...Yes," Pyrrha said as she threw Akoúo at Blake. Only for Nox to block it with a barrier that seemed to be a standard ability for Blades.
"Nox, attack from the right," Blake said as she handed one scythe to Nox, who gladly accepted. Blake thought they should switch tactics, and seeing as Nox's weapon was two scythes, they could take advantage of that. Besides, it gave Blake an excuse to dual wield Nox's weapon with Gambol Shroud.
However, Nox had momentarily turned around to check on Jaune and Weiss. Which prompted Nox to grab Blake and move out of the trajectory of a speeding bitball.
"HEY!" Blake protested on being held now of all times. She couldn't afford her mind being dragged into the gutter at being held like a lover... "DAMMIT!" Blake cursed in her head.
"I figured he was useless, but not this much." Nox showed on his scroll for Blake, which made her turn to the only "he" the ninja Blade could mean. Jaune was in a block of ice with his eyes darting around comically. He probably would've cried for help if he could've.
"How did he end like that," Blake couldn't help questioning with disbelief clear on her face.
"Now that the idiot is out of the way," Weiss snarked, before readying the bitball for another launch.
"Weiss, do you have to be so mean to poor Jaune," Dahlia scolded her Driver, having pity at the poor boy... Even though she had a slight hand in his current state.
"Poor, Jaune," Ruby commented from her seat. The worst part is, the ice prison had some beautiful carvings on it. A proof of Dahlia having a hand in making that prison.
"I guess Jaune gets to... cool off," Yang punned earning groans from the rest of her team and NR of JNPR.
"Boo." Nora had to jeer.
"Yang... No," Ruby said, not even bothering to actually scold. Not that it would've helped even if she did bother.
During this exchange, Nox and Blake had been dealing with both Pyrrha and Weiss. The heiress and the champion worked well together, but the level of teamwork they have is nothing compared to a Driver and a Blade who's emotions are literally linked.
"Dahlia," Weiss exclaimed as she threw the bitball to her Blade. Dahlia lifted her leg high, ready to use Crystal Blizzard.
During this, Blake felt what Nox wanted, so she threw her scythe to the ninja Blade who crossed them in front of him. But Blake noticed an interesting thing about Nox. His pupil, that is normally in the shape of a four pointed star, shrinks into a cross when he fights or is annoyed. But now, the cross had turned, making his pupil an X. And then Nox swung his weapons, sending an X shaped shot of dark energy at Weiss.
Dahlia countered by throwing Crystal Blizzard right at Nox's attack. The two Special arts clashed, ice meeting darkness.
The two attacks struggled for a moment, before they finally cancelled each other out. With Dahlia's bitball returning to her.
Pyrrha had stopped to admire Nox's power that was able to cancel an attack which had dealt massive damage to Ruby and Roze. Then again, according to the teachings Adenine gave, level 1 specials are mostly equal in power to each other. And if Nox countered Dahlia's level 1 special, that must mean he used his own level 1.
"We give up." Nox showed on his scroll to both Pyrrha and Weiss.
This action surprised the two. The audience couldn't see what was on the scroll, but Blake did after checking herself. "Nox, what are you saying," Blake said, still in near perfect shape.
"There is no more point to this fight. I have seen Dahlia's abilities, and we cannot beat her if she uses her healing arts. We could probably take down Pyrrha if we were fighting just her." Was the explanation Nox showed on his scroll. Then the ninja looked thoughtful before rolling more of the scroll. "Or if we had a more useful partner than that." The words were accompanied by a clawed finger pointing at still frozen Jaune.
"But we can't just give up! We can still do this," Blake argued.
"No. We cannot. I used Shadow Eye to get that surprise attack on Pyrrha. Something I shouldn't have done, because now she and everyone else can use that knowledge against us in the future."
"So we just give up the fight," Blake asked, getting angry.
"No. We end a spar. I want to use my full abilities only during real combat." Nox argued with his scroll. "Besides, why do you get worked up over ending a mere spar."
Blake opened her mouth to retort, but found herself unable to. This made her wonder... why did she get so angry about Nox's declaration?
"Uhh... Blake," Weiss sounded out, getting a little worried about the argument.
"...I'm sorry," Blake said to Nox, realizing that her outburst wasn't about this fight.
"...So...," Pyrrha said, feeling the tension between Blake and Nox. Or at least Blake, Nox was hard to read. "Do we stop here," the mistral champion asked awkwardly.
"...Yes, we stop here," Blake said in embarrassment. She had forgotten her opponents momentarily.
As soon as that was said, Pyrrha hurried to thaw Jaune out of his icy, but artistic prison.
"BOO! Keep fighting," Nora jeered, wanting to see more awesome fighting.
"Nora," Ren said in a firm scolding tone, which promptly calmed the orange haired hammerer into just pouting.
"That was anti-climactic," Yang said in disappointment. The fight was getting good and then Nox decides to be a wuss.
"...He's a little paranoid if you ask me," Roze said, realizing why Nox gave up, despite not seeing what the text said from this far away.
"What do you mean," Ruby asked, being disappointed herself at what looked like a good fight, despite what happened to Jaune.
"He doesn't want to reveal the full extent of his abilities in a sparring match, even though he probably hasn't even begun to unlock his potential," Roze explained with a sigh. Thanks to combat classes and some more sparring, Roze has felt his power grow alongside Ruby.
"...Smart, but paranoid as you said," Ren agreed with Roze's sentiment. Although he still wasn't sure how this Driver and Blade business worked.
"OH COME ON!" Was the shout that made the audience look back towards now partially released Jaune who had his head down.
"NOX! You can't just say something like that to a person," Blake scolded her Blade angrily, as Pyrrha looked like she was trying to comfort Jaune who got depressed by whatever Nox showed on his scroll.
Even Weiss, who was in the middle of melting Jaune free with fire dust, looked apprehensive of whatever Nox "said" to Jaune. "...Dahlia... Do you still think I'm wrong," the heiress asked her Blade who had previously questioned Weiss' apprehension of Nox.
The said ice Blade looked worried,"I'm starting to think you might be onto something."
"What're they talking about," Ruby asked, utterly confused.
"...I think Blake's fantasy just turned into a nightmare," Yang said, not sure if she should laugh or be worried about their vomit boy looking so miserable.
"I'm gonna break his legs," Nora said evilly. No one messes with her friends like that.
"Nora, he's a ninja. Do you honestly think you can catch him," Ren pointed out, having heard how he disappears and reappears whenever he pleases from team RWBY.
"I don't need to catch him. I just need him hurting," Nora counter argued.
Roze shook his head. Even if Nora did break Nox's legs, he would just recover from it. After all, even if Blades are hurt, they will just recover from any injury in moments... Unless you destroy their Core Crystal, which is easier said than done, but still possible. "Hopefully, we'll never need to reveal that," Roze thought grimly, although even if an opponent went after their Cores, it would be hard to get past their Drivers. And that's assuming that the Blades themselves won't fight back if they are attacked.
AN: And here we are. Nox showed a little of what he's capable of. To those of you wondering why Jaune gets bashed this hard, just face it, the guy is useless... for now.
I will point this out in case I wasn't clear. It's stated in the game that Blades recover from any injury inflicted on them, but not how fast. But I would assume it's near instantaneous if attacking the Blades themselves is considered useless. As for the Core being destroyed. Well... without spoiling anything, all instances were done by extremely powerful attacks or beings.
Someone pointed out that I introduced a secondary Driver in my previous two. Well, that's true, but the question is, will I continue that trend? Just wait and you will find out.
As for Yang's Blade... Let's talk about that later.