Hello again everyone! Hope that you are all doing well. I am proud to present to you this week's chapter. No real foreword this time, I hope you enjoy.
It had been a long while before Jaune and Pyrrha left the stadium, this was due to a couple of reasons, primarily it was due to the unusual length of time which it took for Jaune's aura to patch up the various injuries which his partner had sustained during the course of her bout with Arakido. She had explained in some detail how this was normal however, and that she had suffered first degree aura burns, an injury cause by an aura based attack. The hit leaves a residual amount of aura behind which, if manipulated properly, slows down the healing rate to allow for an advantage in battle. It was usually a last ditch technique used when a fighter knows they are outclassed and as such is considered an illegal move in most professional tournaments.
Once her wounds were healed to Jaune's satisfaction, and despite the numerous protests of his partner, the blonde knight took pause to admire his aura's handiwork. It never failed to amaze him when he saw the things that this mystical energy could do. Her skin was just as fair and flawless as it had ever been, with no signs of scarring or that the wound had ever even existed. Pyrrha pulled her arm away gently making Jaune blush a little and wonder just how long it was that he had been sat there staring at it for. She twisted and flexed it, watching the way that the muscles flowed to make sure that they had indeed knitted back together as well as they had been. Content that everything was in order she gave him a warm smile, a blush creeping across her features. At a speed which rivalled even Ruby, she darted forward, pressed a kiss to his cheek and bolted from the locker room and towards the showers.
The blonde sat in shocked silence for a little while, a wide smile on his face before he stood and gathered himself. He stepped outside the locker room so as to give his partner a little privacy. In truth he had seen her in her underwear numerous times over the past months since their team had been assigned, yet it never failed to bring a blush to his cheeks or a feeling that he wasn't supposed to be there. So when he could, he would find a way to take his leave and return once his teammates were all fully dressed. This was an aspect of his personality that even Weiss seemed to approve of.
He wasn't waiting all that long before Pyrrha stepped out of the locker room to find him. She was dressed in much more casual attire than her armour, wearing a loose fit pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the word 'shine' written across the front. Hr vibrant hair was up in its usual ponytail and she was looking as radiant as ever. All signs of grime and desperation from her recent bout had been washed away. As he looked at her, Jaune could feel his knees weaken and begin to tremble. Familiar warmth spread across his face as once more his features adopted a red tinge.
"Jaune" She began with a slight giggle "How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to leave the room whenever I'm changing. Weiss and Ruby might mind but I don't, we're partners, there shouldn't be any discomfort around one another."
To Jaune that seemed to be a well-reasoned argument and at first he wasn't entirely sure on how to respond. She did have a point in that they were partners and that meant that they had to be as synchronised as was physically possible, each of them had to know that they could count on the other no matter what situation they were in. It was a part of his troubles in deciding just who his affections lay with. Yet despite all this he didn't want to appear perverse or as though he was invading her privacy.
"I know Pyrrha; I just want to respect your privacy. We can still be a great team without me being around when you change. I just don't want you to think that I'm some kind of creep y'know?" He explained, a little nervous with how she might respond.
"Oh Jaune…" She sighed with a smile, shaking her head "You do say some of the sweetest things. Honestly I think that girls could practically throw themselves at you and you would either be completely oblivious to them or would be too worried about hurting them to try and win their hearts."
Once more her words gave him pause for thought. As the two of them began the walk to the air terminal he retreated within himself to consider what she had said. Was it true? Was he really so oblivious or afraid of hurting someone to try his luck? It was certainly accurate in regards to his current predicament. Everything he did, he had considered the various repercussions that those actions would have in regards to both Ruby and Pyrrha. Knowing that he had hurt someone was, to him, the worst feeling in the world. It left him feeling guilty and ashamed above all.
"I guess you're right…" He said after a while, causing a look of concern to spread across his partner's face. "I just don't want to hurt anyone, I know what that feels like and it is just the worst thing. I don't want anyone else to feel that. It wouldn't be right."
"But Jaune, it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing that you're so considerate and there are a great many girls out there looking for someone just like you. But what I'm saying is that you shouldn't let that fear get in the way of something good. Sometimes we need to take a few risks to find the very best things that life has to offer. I took a risk when I started fighting in the tournaments, and it paid off. Even though my Papa was against it I still tried and now look where I am. I'm studying at the best school in the world with the best friends I could ever hope for. Those tournaments got me to where I am today; they honed my skills and helped me reach a level that I could only have dreamed of, you see?"
"I see what you're saying Pyrrha and I'll try to be a little braver, it might just take me a while." He replied. And it was true; so far he had been incredibly cautious in his approach to the two girls. Perhaps Pyrrha was right. Maybe it was time that he became a little more outgoing in his relations with the two of them. Maybe that was the best way to determine just who it was that really held his heart and bring about a swift end to his confusion. He had enough confidence in his teammates that they would all still be able to work together no matter what happened. After all, they were his best friends and they could get over any obstacle.
"All I'm suggesting is that you try, you don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought that it might help you out in the long run."
He offered her a smile and a nod as the two of them walked back through Vale. The banners and flags were still hung out, flapping slightly in the breeze. The streets were nigh on empty as they walked and devoid of the noises that earlier had been all too prevalent. The street vending stands were shut up, the salesmen long since having gone home for the night though their wares were left littering the street for the night-crew to clear up ready for the next day. Jaune couldn't help but wonder just how much money that had made from the throng of tourists in the city. Given the sheer number of little flags which had been cast away in the street it must have been an astronomical amount.
Before long both Pyrrha and Jaune had arrived at the air station and boarded their flights. Thankfully the services ran throughout the night or the two students would have been stranded in the city. Settling into their booth, Jaune sat beside his partner with a sigh and relaxed into his seat. He yawned, stretching his arms above his head in a wide arc before bringing one down to rest across her shoulders. Pyrrha laughed as her cheeks turned a light pink.
"That was so cheesy" she teased playfully and cuddled closer into her side, resting her head on his chest with a contented sigh. A gentle smile crossed her features as she closed her viridian eyes. Before long she had drifted off to sleep against him. Quite without realising what it was that he was doing, his hands made their way to her ponytail and began to play idly with her fine red hair. It relaxed him, and though he didn't know it, it also relaxed her. The therapeutic feeling of his fingers rhythmically passing through her hair put her mind at ease; it was a constant reminder of his presence.
The flight was, for the most, part uneventful. With Pyrrha being asleep Jaune had nothing to do but caress her hair and wait for the flight to end. His stomach growled threateningly a few times but for the most part it left him alone, a fact he was grateful for. He couldn't imagine what he would have done had he had a motion-sickness attack whilst the champion were asleep on him. He shuddered at the thought. It was like something out of his worst nightmares. Pushing the thoughts from his mind he focussed once more on the here and now, primarily what to do about his partner whom was still contentedly asleep on his chest.
It reminded him of his date with Ruby somewhat, he could of course carry her back in without waking her. That would certainly be the most romantic option. The only disadvantage that he could see would be how Ruby would react. He had already elected to go and watch Pyrrha fight instead of the little rose, so turning up at their dorm late at night and carrying a Pyrrha who was soundly asleep and cuddling him might not go down so well. Still, what choice did he have? She had had the busiest of days and was completely worn out. Hardly surprising really given the way that the fight had gone. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to carry her back after all. By now surely Weiss and Ruby would have heard about the way that her fight had gone. It had put the stadium more or less out of action for the immediate future.
Remembering Pyrrha's words from earlier he chuckled and grasped at her bag, he slung the main strap around his neck and slowly worked his arms around her to a point where he could lift her safely with little risk of dropping her. With extreme care he lifted her and stood to his feet. Suddenly missing the support and comfort of the seat she had previously been sat on, Pyrrha pulled Jaune closer still and buried her face into his chest. When he stepped him out into the night again, the evening chill hit him and stole his breath. Regardless, the blonde steeled himself and made his way across the campus to the residential block. Opening the door he stepped in out of the cold with a shiver. Moving on through the hallways he met very few people, hardly surprising after all, at this sort of time it was only the night-owl students who were still up and about. Even then they mostly stayed in their rooms watching movies in a crudely constructed pillow fort.
Reaching the door to their dorm, he struggled briefly with the lock. Hearing it click, he tentatively pushed open the door. To his surprise he wasn't met with an utterly dark room as he may have expected, instead the light was on and both Weiss and Ruby were there waiting for them. Jaune could only watch on as Ruby's bright silver eyes scanned over both he and his partner. Deep within them, the blonde could have sworn that he saw a flash of sadness before Ruby buried it once again deep within himself. The blonde would have felt bad if he had time, as it was Weiss had bolted to her feet and dashed over to him in what seemed an instant.
"We heard the explosion from the stadium, is she alright?" Weiss asked in a hurried voice. From her tone and the look on her usually steely face, Jaune could tell that the heiress was greatly concerned about the champion. A slight motion of his her leader's head was enough to somewhat alleviate her worries. He smiled to her before laying Pyrrha down on her bed. She seemed less than happy about being parted from her blonde knight but soon pulled the duvet up and around herself. As she did, her smile returned.
"It's alright Weiss, don't worry she is just fine. Really tired but fine. That explosion you heard was something else entirely let me tell you, it was unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of." He said softly, turning to his teammate.
"Well what was it? Was it the White Fang?" She asked, pressing him for details.
"No, it was Pyrrha's opponent. He wasn't doing very well in the fight. I mean you've seen Pyrrha in battle. She was up against some third year and at first it seemed that they were pretty evenly matched. Pyrrha started to get the upper hand because she could engage him at a variety of ranges. But… well he realised he was losing and went berserk. He was hacking and slashing at her with his knives like a madman and she started losing aura. When she recovered and counter attacked he snapped. He started to glow and everything went all hazy around him. The blast shields started coming down and the crowd was in panic. Then he just kinda… exploded."
"He exploded?" Ruby asked slowly, a look of confusion on her face. Even Weiss seemed a little unsure of the story.
"Yeah, he concentrated his aura into his body and then kinda forced it out in a huge explosion. Everyone thought Pyrrha was done for cause there was no sign of her and the guy was grinning like a lunatic but then Pyrrha came out of this dust cloud and gave him a real kicking! It was so awesome! She was all burned and stuff and she walked right up to him locking eyes with him as if to say 'this isn't over yet' and outta nowhere she hit him in the side of the head and knocked him out cold!" As Jaune recounted everything that had happened his voice grew in volume as the excitement of the day's events kicked back in again. By the time he finished, he had furnished his story with elaborate hand gestures which to him somehow made the tale easier to understand but to Weiss and Ruby made no sense.
"I've never heard of a technique like that before. Did they say what it was called?" Weiss asked after having pondered the story for a moment.
"No, the officials only said that it was classed as an illegal move because it was the attempted use of deadly force." He explained "I just kinda thought that 'big bang attack' or 'final flash' were good names." At this both Weiss and Ruby rolled their eyes. "How did Ruby's fight go today though?"
"It was less exciting really, pretty straight forward fight. I-I won though!" Ruby explained with a slightly disappointed expression.
"Oh she's just being modest. It was an incredible fight. She was up against another of the first years, someone that I'd never encountered before. He was very skilled and for a long time I wasn't sure who would win. But Ruby wore him down with short and sharp his and Run attacks. Before long she had exhausted his aura and the official called the match. It was interesting to see the dolt fighting with her head for once~" The heiress teased, behind her Ruby folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at her partner. A blush spread across her cheeks as Jaune laughed but thankfully it was late and the blonde was too tired to see it.
The three of them chatted amicably for a short while before Weiss pointed out that it was still very late and they all had classes the following day. After that the trio disbanded. Weiss and Ruby climbed into their respective beds while Jaune made his way through to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and soon returned. Pausing by the light switch he looked over his three teammates with a wide smile, glad that things worked out the way they did.
"Turn out the light you dolt!" Weiss growled from her bed. The blonde chuckled and switched out the light. He crawled into his bed and was grateful for the comfort it provided. After that it wasn't long before his breathing slowed right down and he drifted into the world of his dreams.
Jaune's alarm beeped to life the following morning. With a groan he reached out and felt around on his nightstand for it. Still being half-asleep it took him some time to find it and even longer to actually switch the alarm off. Around the room his teammates all growled, groaned and shouted at him to turn it off faster. Even Pyrrha joined in on the cacophony of angry voices which caught Jaune off guard. There was a collective sigh of relief as the blonde finally managed to shut off his alarm and silence settled on the room again. It was hard for the four teenagers to believe that it was time for them to be getting up. To them it seemed as though they had only been asleep for five minutes at most. It would take them another ten minutes before any of them were even remotely ready to crawl out of their beds.
"Ugh, what time is it?" Ruby groaned in a sleepy voice from across the room.
"The alarm was set for eight." Jaune replied. Classes weren't due to start until half past nine, so they usually had plenty of time to get ready before they actually needed to be there. That morning was set to kick off with a double lesson with Professor Goodwitch. Rumour held that she was due to give a recap of all the matches from the day previous for both the students who had been fighting and those who had been unable to make it to the stadium due to tickets being sold out. That would have been Jaune if Pyrrha hadn't been able to pick up a free ticket for him. Being the champion seemingly had its perks.
"So who is going for first shower then?" Weiss asked, her mind already making plans for their day. It was always the first question that she asked in the mornings and Jaune didn't blame her. Living with three women had its rough patches, primarily was the fight over who got into the shower first. Ordinarily Jaune would sit back and let them fight it out, going last in line out of a wish to stay alive. Once, out of interest he had snuck into the bathroom first and to him it seemed as though all hell itself had broken loose. They were pounding on the door so hard that the blonde was near certain that it would pop clean off of its hinges and squash him flat. In the end he had been too scared to actually have a full shower and had settled for a quick wash out of the sink. That was the last time he had ever tried to get an early slot in the bathroom.
"Dibs." That was the first distinguishable word he had heard from Pyrrha that morning. The others groaned realising that they had been beaten. Neither Weiss nor Ruby had the bravery to dare and refute the international dibs protocol. With a wide grin on her face Pyrrha climbed out of bed and made her way off to the bathroom. She was still dressed in her clothes from the night before and if Jaune was going to be honest about it, she still looked really good in them. You would never have though that she had slept in those clothes.
Jaune misjudged. That morning in particular the three girls took far longer than usual in getting ready, so much so that as he came out of the bathroom he was halfway through pulling on his pants. His team made no real effort to help out their leader. Admittedly even if he had wanted to it wouldn't have been easy given how hard the three of them were laughing. Jaune continued to try and dress himself as best and as quickly as he could, his blood rushed to his cheeks in embarrassment.
As it was, they ended up being a couple of minutes late to Goodwitch's lecture despite Weiss' constant urging for them to move faster. They burst through the door into the lecture hall fully expecting a stern talking to or even to be immediately called into a demonstration. What they weren't expecting was for Goodwitch to look at them with a smile.
"Ah team JSPR, would you mind taking your seats. We were just about to begin watching th highlight reels from yesterday's matches."
Every one of them shuffled in utter silence towards their seats, not daring to make even the slightest utterance which might risk upsetting their professor. They didn't know what had happened or why but Goodwitch was in a strangely good mood and if she was willing to let them off of their tardiness then they were certainly not going to risk trouble where it could be avoided.
The lesson went by without further incident. In fact, it was a lot more lax than usual in terms of discipline. They were allowed to speak with one another to discuss the various highlight reels and offer opinions on the matches that they watched. As Jaune may have expected, Ruby's highlight reel played and as he watched the nature in which Ruby fought he felt a sense of pride at being her team leader. Turning to face her he caught her eye and gave her an appreciative nod. Goodwitch herself had glowing praise to say for the video itself, aside from a brief comment about overuse of her semblance, which Ruby acknowledged, there were no real negatives which the professor picked out.
Even Goodwitch herself seemed to enjoy reviewing the footage. She had a distant expression as though the videos reminded her of times long gone and similar tournaments in her youth. Often she would offer critical analysis of particular turning points in the various fights, explaining the best way to handle each situation along with alternatives should the variables change. To Jaune it was all fascinating, it was certainly a rare occurrence that they covered combat theory in Goodwitch's classes but those select few lessons were always Jaune's favourite. Goodwitch always spoke with a sense of pride and passion, often suggesting scenarios and allowing the students to debate over what they would individually do and what was deemed the best course of action. Occasionally she would offer up an anecdote from her days as an active huntress and, unlike Port's, they were actually interesting.
Yang Grinned bright as the sun when her own highlight reel played. The rest of the class only cringed and winced as they watched her beat another first year to a pulp with ease. The poor guy had managed to land the first hit, unfortunately it had severed a few of the brawler's hairs, and from there it was of course a complete and utter bloodbath. The last they saw of her opponent, he was being carried off on a stretcher with several of his bones bound in a splint.
For the most part, their friend's reels were pretty standard. The matches were fairly even but their two teams managed a decent win/loss ratio. Out of both team JSPR and BRNY only Ruby, Pyrrha, Yang and Nora managed to win their matches. Ren was defeated by a much larger fighter whom was far faster than he had any right to be. Blake was knocked out of the championships by a small and nippy faunus with two short swords. She simply couldn't track him and so was quickly overcome. Besides those two, Weiss and Jaune had chosen not to compete. This meant that there was an even split between the competitors with every duo having at least one fighter in the championships. It was as though some god with a sense of humour had planned the whole thing before hand.
Yet there was one video which nobody uttered a word during; the video of Pyrrha's match. Every pair of eyes in the room was fixed upon the screen as first the introduction played and then the fight itself. An atmosphere of pure shock rippled through the room as Arakido pulled his big bang attack and the feed was cut out. There were gasps of fear and awe until the footage was restored and they saw Pyrrha step out of the dust and knock her opponent unconscious. The class cheered loudly at the conclusion, making Pyrrha blush and sink into her seat to try and avoid the attention.
"Let me make this perfectly clear. I do not want to so much as hear of any of you using manoeuvres like that in this tournament. If I do then you will be on the first airship back to whatever dwelling it was that you emerged from. The student you just watched has already been expelled and shall not be returning to complete his training either here or at any of the other academies. What you witnessed is an incredibly risky technique, only to be used in cases of extreme peril." The students nodded in utter silence as the professor explained the repercussions of such techniques.
Yet sadly, as with all things, her class eventually came to an end. The Professor herself seemed disappointed in the fact, her eyes losing some of their glow as she delivered her closing statements to the class.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your diligence and input in today's class. We shall be continuing with this lesson format until the conclusion of the tournament and potentially for a short while after" The class cheered at this "Also for those of you who are due to be fighting in the next round of the tournament, you can expect a message to your scroll later this evening with details of when your next fight shall be and whom it is that you will be fighting. Best of luck to you all, I am sure that you will all do both Beacon and Vale proud."
The rest of the day passed relatively quickly, the remainder of their lessons linked into the tournament in one way or another which kept them interesting. Even Oobleck took to describing the history behind the event. That was something which Jaune found incredibly interesting given that members of his family had served in the Great War. They had fought against the oppression of creativity. In part that was how his name had come to be, he was named after colour just as a great many other students around him were. It was fascinating to him to see just how widespread the impact of the Great War had been, even several generations later.
Later that evening after a big meal to celebrate both Ruby and Pyrrha's successes, team JSPR sat in their dorm waiting anxiously for the tournament information. Both fighters had been sat holding their scrolls and staring at the screens expectantly since their team had got back. As the seconds passed into minutes there grew a clear strain on both Pyrrha and Ruby's faces. Surely the message should have come through by now? As if to answer them, both of their scrolls vibrated at the same time. The sound was so sudden that it startled the four of them. Eagerly both of the fighters opened their messages.
"I'm fighting a Penny Poledina tomorrow in the main stadium again. I don't think I know the name, it must be one of the exchange students." She said with a thoughtful expression. She seemed relieved that she wasn't due to be fighting any of their friends. Ruby however did not look so happy. She had a look which could only be described as one of pure horror.
"Ruby, what's wrong? You like white as a sheet." Weiss said softly, reaching out to place a hand on her partner's shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"I-I'm fighting… I'm fighting…" She stammered, it seemed as though the sentence was impossible for her to say. Every ounce of colour had drained from her face to be replaced with fear.
"Well? Who is it you're fighting? It can't be that bad surely…" Weiss sighed, rolling her eyes. Yet it was exactly that. With a trembling hand, Ruby held out her phone for them all to read the message. As each of them read the words on the screen it was easy for them to understand just why she was scared. It was an unfair match to have straight away as soon as the tournament began in earnest. Every one of them subconsciously reached down and placed a hand on their legs. For the name written on the screen was that of the one and only Nora Valkyrie.
"Why her?! Nora's crazy! She'll squish me for sure!" The little rose cried in anguish. "I thought we were meant to be fighting the foreign students!"
"That was the likelihood, but they draw straws so it was never guaranteed." Weiss explained "There was always a possibility that you would be fighting one of our friends. Still, at least it wasn't Yang right?" But Ruby didn't see it that way. She only saw Nora's hammer swinging wildly in her direction. All her life the little rose had loved the thrill of battle, but this was one that she was in no way looking forward to.
Ruby versus Nora! Who is looking forward to that? I sure as hell am! Well... kinda. I can't believe that this story has gone on for this long. Honestly I expected it to be much more short lived and yet here it is, still going strong and having dwarfed 'The Sword and Spear' in word count. Thank you all for your continued support. I have now plotted the ending to this tale, properly and everything. I know where Im going to take it and how Im going to resolve that all important love triangle fluster cluck that I have created. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did then please do favourite and follow.
All of your reviews truly do help shape the tale so keep those coming in. I love reading all of your comments and criticisms.
As always I have been TheFlagshipArkos and I'll see you all in the next chapter!