Hello and welcome back to another chapter of Jaune's Guilty Pleasure! Just like to take this time to say thank you all for reading my story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. That said, 30'000 Views? You guys are awesome! Never thought that a story of mine would get this popular.
Review response time!
NinjaFang1331: Thank you.
garoorar: Right… how do I do this without giving spoilers?...
For starters, you need to remember one thing: Jaune has no prior skill or knowledge when it comes to fighting. He does what comes to him instinctively as well as what he's seen from others, namely Pyrrha. He won't have his own fighting style based on his semblance until Pyrrha starts to train him (And he actually reveals what his semblance is to everyone) because he has no clue what he's doing other than block and attack. His only experience fighting is with the Grimm in Emerald Forest and the small amount of Combat Classes since, as well as the pointers from Pyrrha about how to generally use a sword and shield.
Yang, Ruby and Blake all had years to perfect their fighting styles from previous experience, be it from Signal or past experiences. Jaune has had a month tops to learn the basics of using a sword and shield. He isn't a battle genius yet, it will take a while for him to become a decent fighter, and much more to get his own fighting style based around his semblance.
Secondly, there is a reason as to why Jaune is doing what he is doing, a method to his madness if you will. I can't say what they are as that would be telling, let's just say he knows that what he's doing is being a cliché high school bully victim.
Lastly, yes it was most definitely a rehash of the show because it goes according to one of Jaune's four reasons for coming to Beacon. A lot of his actions from now on will be based off of them.
I must say though, the fact that your review was too long for the email was funny. Sorry if this response comes out a bit… strong? I'm trying to explain it the best I can without spoilers. Jeez this is a long response. Hopefully this explains things for you. If you have any other queries just ask.
Cloy552: Bunny girls for life.
Guest (Guest): You'll be surprised with how he deals with Cardin…
OnTheCobb: You'll get it… Eventually… Maybe… Probably?
Benthino: Thank you.
dracohalo117: Genuinely not know what? And the Cardin situation will be explained.
DarkElucidator: From my perspective of Jaunedice, it was Jaune trying to man up, but went about it the wrong way. That's why the end of Forever Fall is much better because he learns to accept help from others.
Toaneo07 Ver2.0: Uh, ok. What about it did you not like? The way I went about it? Was it the actual chapter as a whole? Was there a mistake I made? Could you please tell me these things? I can't get better at writing if you don't.
Well, onto the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any mentioned franchises or referenced material. They all belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 9- Forever Fall
Jaune sighed in relief, it was the last lesson for the day and, of course, it was Combat Class. Taught by none other than Glynda Goodwitch herself. "Today students, we will be practicing aura manipulation." Stated the teacher as she paced back and forth before them. "You will demonstrate the amount of control you have over your aura by letting it flow around you. A tip for those inexperienced, if you remember the chant that was spoken to you when your aura was unlocked it helps to repeat it to yourself."
The knight smiled nostalgically as he thought back to when he had his aura unlocked.
Flashback
"So Jaune, when did you want us to unlock your aura?" Asked Violet, Jaune's third eldest sister, as she smiled down at him. The boy, nine years old at the time, grinned at the three older girls before him confidently.
"I wanna do it now!" He exclaimed childishly. "Please-Please-Please-Please-Please"
Luna, his beloved second eldest sister, smiled warmly at the boy. "Jaunie Dear, do you even know what aura is?" The three girls laughed amusedly as the young boy shook his head. The four siblings turned to the door as their mother entered the room with their fourth eldest sister Light.
"What's with all the laughing?" Asked the older woman curiously. After the three girls relayed the situation all the women laughed, prompting their father to enter the room. Jaune pouted as the girls told him what happened, causing him to laugh heartily. The older man rustled young Jaune's hair affectionately.
"We're just teasing son. What do you know about aura?"
The blond nine year old fidgeted, "Um, all those really cool people that fight bad stuffs have it!" The family laughed once more.
"That's right Jaunie Dear." Smiled Luna, "Do you know what aura is, or why they have it?" The young boy shook his head once more. Light, being unable to handle his cuteness anymore, glomped the poor boy.
"Oh you're just so adorable… Wait, where's Opal?" Jaune fidgeted once more,
"She's not trying to get cookies out of the cookie jar… I'm definitely not stalling for her." Lied the boy. He squirmed under his mother's stern look. She may only be a head taller than him, but that didn't mean she wasn't any less intimidating than his dad who was slightly more than twice his size. "… Opal run for it!" He cried as Light and Lily headed into the kitchen. There was a loud noise of metal hitting the tiled floor followed by a multitude of light footsteps.
"Gotcha!" Cried Lily as she tackled the younger girl onto the couch. Jaune looked apologetically at his twin sister.
"I'm really sorry Opal." He sniffled, "I'm not a good liar, I don't think about what I say and I got you in trouble." The girl just grinned, she was the boy's mirror image in every way. Their appearance was similar, just mirrored around. Their personalities, however, differed greatly.
"Don't worry little bro, you did your best. Now what is this about unlocking? 'Cause Opal wants in!" The rest of the family smiled as they watched the two interact. If only their other daughters were awake, it would've been a family moment. Jaune pouted at his sister.
"We're twins, you aren't older."
The girl stuck her tongue out, "Am too. By seven seconds!"
"That isn't much older." Scoffed Jaune.
Opal just grinned, "Still older."
"Muuum! Opal's being infu… infiri… inferninat… infurytate… She's being annoying!" Cried the boy. Violet just smiled at her younger brother, he had probably heard her use the word not too long ago and wanted to sound smart. He did love learning 'big words', as the boy had put it.
"You mean infuriating?" She corrected.
"Yeah, infurrynating." Jaune's mother smiled warmly at him,
"Well, why don't we just move back onto the subject of aura?" She asked rhetorically.
Opal gave her a strange look, "Gesundheit." The short older woman chuckled,
"No silly, aura." She repeated. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burden and shields our hearts. With practice, Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."
The twins stared blankly at her, the sheer adorableness caused Light to glomp the two and nuzzle their cheeks.
Their father laughed, "Honey, I know you love to be poetic and all, but they're nine." The young woman huffed and pouted.
Jaune smiled at his mum, "No- I understand. Uh, everyone has auras in them and they are the mineyfestnation of our souls. Wait, do monsters have auras?" Luna chuckled,
"No Jaunie Dear, the monsters we fight lack a soul. The monsters, otherwise known as the creatures of Grimm, are the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness and we are the light." The twins nodded and exclaimed simultaneously.
"And that's why people fight them!" Luna smiled at their childish beliefs,
"It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our aura. Everyone has some of both." Jaune stared at his older sister in awe, stars in his eyes as she began to glow by showing off her aura.
The twins turned to their third older sister as she began to speak, "By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of the tools and equipment Hunters use are conduits for aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."
Jaune's eyes brightened as he beamed along with Opal, "It's like a force field!" The two exclaimed excitedly. Their dad laughed,
"Like I said, nine years old." He grinned, "But if you want to look at it that way then yes. So, who do you want to unlock your aura?"
The young boy grinned and turned to his black haired sister, "I want Luna to be the one!" He exclaimed. His parents chuckled, of course he would, the boy absolutely adored and idolised the young woman. Opal, on the other hand, frowned.
"After Jaune gets his unlocked, can he unlock mine?" She asked. The two adults gave each other a look and nodded their head negative.
"Opal, when Jaune gets his aura unlocked he won't be able to control it properly."
The girl pouted, "But I want Jaune to do it!" She cried. Suddenly the boy hugged her, earning an embarrassed blush from the young girl.
"Sis, I want you to do it the same time as me. We can be aura twins!" Their parents chuckled, it was a kind gesture from the boy but no one's aura was the same. It was practically impossible to be 'aura twins' in anything other than name. Opal stopped crying and nodded.
"A-alright." Light's eyes shone as a hair strand on her head wiggled excitedly.
"Ooh! Can I do it?" The young girl nodded.
"Alrighty then, close your eyes and we can begin." The twins nodded and closed their eyes as Luna and Light walked up to the two. The older girls held their hands over the side of the heads of their respective sibling. "Now concentrate." The four siblings began to glow. The rest of the family watched as the two older girls started to speak.
Flashback End
The rest of Team JNPR and RWBY watched in awe as Jaune began to glow brightly as he spoke, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Pyrrha's eyes widened, that was the same chant that had been used to unlock her aura. She inwardly grinned manically, it's fate! Glynda's mouth twitched upwards for a fraction of a second as she watched the boy glow.
"Well done Mr Arc. You seem to be getting the hang of this." The boy grinned and was about to utter his thanks but fell over. Acting out of instinct, Weiss caught him before he could hit the ground in exhaustion. "Now you need to train to regulate how much aura you use at once. I believe that is all the time we have for today students, take an example from Mr Arc and learn to train your aura." She finished. Jaune winced as he hit Weiss' non-existent bosom. It's like hitting a brick wall…
"Ow." He muttered. The heiress glared at him, seemingly reading his mind.
"I am not flat!" The knight was too exhausted to retort and just nodded off to sleep. Yang grinned at the sleeping figure of the boy, he was like a dog.
"I think he likes you. Isn't that right boy?~" She cooed and ruffled his hair, earning a satisfied whimper from the unconscious writer. This elicited several chuckles from those nearby whilst Weiss just huffed.
Pyrrha frowned and grabbed the sleeping boy, laying him on her chest. "I think it would be better if he stayed like this. He seems pretty exhausted and I am his partner, so I have to do at least this much for him." Yang gave a knowing smirk,
"Please Cereal Girl, you just want to keep Vomit Boy to yourself." Blake frowned,
"If you're so against it, why don't you have Jaune sleep against your chest?" The buxom blond laughed,
"I'm sure Jaune would prefer to be in your arms Miss White Chocolate Lover." A light blush found it's way onto the black haired girl's face.
"How did you know about the white hot chocolate?"
"I bribed Nora." The Valkyrie grinned,
"I don't regret a thing, those were awesome sloth plushie!" Exclaimed the girl happily, bringing out a sloth plushie to snuggle.
Before Blake could wring the sloth lover's neck, the rest of the group decided to interject. "The lessons over, time to head to our dorm rooms!" Cried Ruby as she held back the embarrassed introvert.
"C'mon Blakey~" Cooed Yang as she grabbed the back of her uniform and dragged her off. The rest of Teams RWBY and JNPR briefly looked at each other in amusement before leaving.
Unfortunately for a certain young knight, he was still unconscious and none of the students noticed as they exited the room.. To make matters worse, Cardin was the one to finally notice the comatose young man.
"Wake up Jauney Boy." He growled. Dear dust, this guy could sleep through an earthquake! He mentally frowned as he shook the unconscious writer. The boy just grumbled a little bit before mumbling 'waffles' as the bully stopped shaking him. "Jaune!" He cried angrily as he slapped him. The hard slap was enough to shake the boy from his dreams as he awoke to the annoyed face of Cardin. The blond groaned,
"What now Cardin?" He asked. This was the seventh time this week. The mace wielder smirked,
"I have a plan."
Pyrrha gasped as she realised that they had left Jaune in the arena. "You two go on ahead!" She cried as she spun around and sprinted back towards their blond leader. Nora tilted her head curiously,
"What's her problem?" She wondered aloud. Ren's movement staggered for a split second, I completely forgot about Jaune... Deadpanned the silent boy in realisation, oh well, Pyrrha's got him. Some friend I am...
Upon arriving at the arena, the champion came to a halt just shy of the doorway. What was she going to say if he was conscious? Not only her, but everyone had left the boy unconscious on the floor. How did they manage that? Peering slowly around the doorway, she was surprised to see that Jaune was not only conscious, but conversing with Cardin. She frowned as she watched them talk like buddies, Well, they were buddies after all. She sighed, might as well leave Jaune to his devices. Their wise leader obviously knew what he was doing...
Jaune sighed as he approached his dorm room. Things were starting to get out of hand. It was just one little thing he wanted to do, but now it was spiralling out of control. He looked at the note he received from Cardin. "What am I going to do?"
From inside the room Pyrrha stared worriedly out the window. The champion was gazing at the outside world so intently that she almost didn't hear Nora speak. Said Valkyrie was currently jumping on a bed whilst watching Ren tinker with Stormflower. "How come Jaune gets home so late?" She asked innocently.
Ren's mouth contorted into a miniscule frown, "He's become rather scarce ever since he began fraternising with Cardin." He commented. The normally silent boy aimed his weapon at the wall to get a sense of progress with his tinkering.
Nora looked at her teammates sadly for a moment before quickly shifting to her happy demeanour, "That's weird." Commented the hyperactive girl as she continued to bounce. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow?" The orange haired girl did a spin in mid-air and landed perfectly on her back. "We need our rest."
Pyrrha glared out the window, "I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Spoke the champion angrily. In her head she was incredibly worried for the boy, but she was angry that she couldn't force herself to act upon it. The girl inwardly squirmed at the thought. She had never felt this way towards someone before and couldn't explain just how confused it made her.
The childhood friends exchanged glances as they noticed the expression on the red haired girl's features. "I guess so…" Nora mumbled.
Outside the room Jaune was kicking himself. He had overheard the whole thing and was considering going back to the roof and letting loose some steam. Before he could come to a decision on his next move a familiar, adorable voice spoke from behind him. "Hey Jaune!" She giggled as he jumped several feet off the ground. Literally. The young reaper made a mental note to ask Jaune how to jump that high without the use of aura, it was awesome! "How is it going?" Greeted the rose. "Did you lock yourself out again?"
Jaune laughed as he turned around to see Ruby and was treated to the sight of her rather cute sleepwear. "Oh! Uh, nope!" He exclaimed, "Got it." The knight smiled proudly as he held out his scroll.
Ruby looked at the blond in confusion, why wasn't he in his pyjamas yet? "So, where have you been lately?" She asked. Jaune masked his sadness, she was obviously referring to the times he had been preoccupied with Cardin and his team.
Avoiding her gaze, he answered, "I uh…" He began in an attempt to make an excuse. Where was his usual writer's flare? The writer sighed in resignation, if he wanted to resolve this mess he had found himself in, he'd have to come clean eventually so why not start telling the truth now? Even if he was only going to tell half the truth. "I messed up," He confessed. "I did something I shouldn't have and now Team CRDL's got me on a leash and Pyrrha's mad at me… I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He said sadly as he slumped against the door to his room, "I'm a failure". Ruby's eyes widened, she didn't expect him to just open up like that, especially to someone from another team. Maybe it was because he trusted her? She blushed faintly at the thought. Smiling, she found a way to pep him up a bit.
"Nope!" She exclaimed confidently.
Jaune glanced at her, "Nope?"
"Nope!" She exclaimed once more. "You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure." Stated the young reaper matter-of-factly.
"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Among other things. He kept the last part to himself.
Ruby appeared to consider his statement for a second before speaking her wise word once more, "Nope!" She exclaimed. Jaune laughed and rolled his eyes as the reaper went to sit beside him.
"You know, you're not exactly the easiest person to talk about this kind of stuff." He deadpanned.
"Nope!" The writer banged the back of his head against the door in annoyance, though only gently so as to not alert his team. "Maybe you were a failure when you were a kid." Ruby watched as Jaune slumped further down the door, was she being too harsh? "You might've even been a failure the first day we met." The boy somehow managed to slump even further down. Yep, too harsh. Meanwhile, the writer's negativity was having a field day. First girl he met was consoling him by saying that he's a failure, great. How is this supposed to be encouraging? "But you can't be one now. You know why?"
"Uhh, because…"
Ruby pointed at him to emphasise her next point, "Because it's not just about you anymore. You got a team now Jaune. We both do! And if we fail then, we'll just be bringing them down along with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second." She said as she stood up and moved to her room. "You're team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I think that can be you." The writer smiled hopefully, the light in his eyes rekindled by the small rose. "Have a good night Jaune." He laughed to himself once she closed the door behind her. Here he was getting life advice from a girl two years his junior. It was sad really, but she had a point. From here on out, he was going to stop being a failure and start being his own man. He got up triumphantly, first step was fixing the situation that had gotten out of hand. He had enough research anyway.
Jaune blinked as he listened to a new message on his scroll from Cardin. The blond sighed. Scratch that, first step was getting Team CRDL a box of Rapier Wasps.
The next day found the students at a bright red coloured forest. Forever Fall Forest, thought Jaune as he absentmindedly took note of his surroundings. It was a fitting name as the leaves of the trees were constantly in an autumn colour palette. He whistled at the trees, they were a lovely shade of red that reminded him of his partner. He gazed aimlessly at the beauty of the flora around him as he followed the other students.
"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But, we are not here to sight see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." The teacher inwardly smirked, plus it gives me some time to read without Ozpin leering over my shoulder. Jaune 'accidentally' bumped into Cardin with his armfuls of equipment, innocently whistling when the boy glared at him. "Each of you must gather one jars-worth of red sap, however, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock, have fun!" The blond writer rolled his eyes, have fun his behind. They were just here to do some errands for a teacher that couldn't be bothered to do it themself. Why Miss Glyn- Goodwitch was here and not the other professor was beyond him.
Cardin gripped Jaune's arm, "C'mon buddy, let's go." He spoke cheerily. Jaune watched sadly as his team walked off without him. Nodding slowly, he followed the bully. Pyrrha observed the knight as he walked away and sighed, what was she going to do about him?
Team CRDL lazed about as their good ol' buddy Jaune got the sap for them. The four bullies smirked as the knight came back, carrying six jars of Forever Fall sap. "Hey, great work Jauney Boy." Complimented Cardin as the knight collapsed from exhaustion. "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"
Jaune looked back at him as his eyes started to unfocus, "I think I'm allergic to this stuff." He replied nasally. "Does anyone else see that purple and green dinosaur giving free hugs?"
Cardin seemed to pay no mind to Jaune's question as he continued on. "Great, great, great." He interrupted, "So, Jaune. I bet you're asking yourself: 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?"
Jaune's unfocused eyes widened, "Whoa, are you psychic? That, along with why that blue rainbow over there is pink, is one of the many questions I have asked myself today." He gaped.
The bully blinked confusedly for a moment before grinning as Jaune sat up, eyes focusing slightly. "Well come with me and you'll find out." Jaune gulped, he was going to get it now.
The group of five walked through the forest of Forever Fall until they came across teams RWBY and JNPR collecting sap. Jaune watched sadly as all of his new friends appeared to be having fun. He stifled a chuckle when Ren handed a full jar to Nora in order to fill another jar, only for the Valkyrie to devour it whole, jar not included. He turned confusedly to the bully to his right. "Cardin, what's going on?"
The boy replied with one word. "Payback." Jaune twitched, masking his surprise.
The knight quickly gazed at his partner worriedly, "Pyrrha?" he muttered. "What are you?-"
He was interrupted as Cardin pounded the ground with a closed fist. "That's the girl. Red haired know-it-all thinks she so smart, just because she got onto a cereal box." Jaune frowned as Cardin brought out the box of Rapier Wasps. "Alright boys, last night old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box full of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're going to put him to work." Jaune grimaced, he really was going to go through with the plan. "According to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things love sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." Jaune was pulled onto his feet as CRDL got up. "And you're going to do it." Jaune blinked as Cardin placed a jar in his hands.
"Do what?"
"Hit her with the sap," Explained the bully as he pointed to the jar within the knight's arms. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." The others within Team CRDL laughed at the boy as Cardin stepped back confidently.
Jaune stared at the jar within his hands. Does Cardin really want me to do this? Who in their right mind would come up with this? He thought back to Ruby's inspiring words of encouragement that would no doubt show him the right thing. 'Nope!' Grinned Imagination-Ruby. The blond knight's eye twitched at the adorable figment of his imagination. You really aren't helping.
Imagination-Ruby simpered at him, 'That's because I believe you'll make the right choice.' Jaune gasped hopefully and pointed to himself. You really believe in me?
Imagination-Ruby held in her laughter as she spoke her wise word once more. 'Nope!' She grinned jokingly.
"Well screw you too!" Jaune cried as he threw the jar of sap at Imagination-Ruby. Unfortunately for the poor boy, Imagination-Ruby didn't actually exist so the jar went straight through her and hit Cardin square in the face. The jar quickly broke upon impact, splattering its contents onto Cardin's face and chest.
The bully looked at his teammates briefly before growling, "You've done it now Jauney Boy." Jaune gulped as the two bullies on his sides gripped his shoulders menacingly. What had he just done? Dust, this is the last time I'm getting Ruby's help for this kind of stuff.
Pyrrha frowned as the birds flew away from nearby, "Jaune?" She mumbled worriedly. Suddenly Ruby spoke from next to her, startling the champion.
"You okay Pyrrha?" She asked in concern. The Spartan girl sighed.
"I'm fine." She froze as she heard a loud slurping sound from behind her. The girl turned around to find that a certain teammate of hers had eater her sap. "Nora!" She exclaimed in amused annoyance.
Jaune coughed hoarsely as Cardin knocked him to the ground. "You know that wasn't very smart Jauney Boy." Frowned the leader of CRDL as he rolled his shoulders. The knight coughed as the bully picked him up, his lackeys cheering from the sidelines. "I'm going to make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces." The boy emphasised his point by shaking the beaten writer. Jaune just laughed weakly at the young man, "I don't care what you do to me, but you are not messing with my team." He finished off strongly. Cardin scowled.
"What, you think talk like that makes you tough?" He growled, "You think you're a big strong man now?" The knight just smiled in response.
Irritated, the bully went in for a punch to the face only to be stopped by a bright light. He grasped his hand, surprised by the pain he felt. Jaune grinned as he stared at his glowing hands, "Force field." He murmured. Suddenly Sky kicked him to the ground from behind.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are." Threatened Cardin.
"GRAOAR!" Came a growl from the forest behind them. The boys turned to see that an Ursa Major had exited the woods. Well… This wasn't part of the plan. Gulped the knight.
The group stepped back in fright at the sight of the large Grimm. Cardin was visibly shaking and the others had a clear look of fear. "That's a big Ursa!" Cried one of them as the lackeys of Team CRDL ran off. Jaune blinked as Cardin was sent to the ground a couple of feet away by a single swipe from the Ursa.
"Well this sucks." He grumbled to himself. The knight was surprised however as the Ursa Major completely ignored him in favour of the sap cover boy. The blond writer facepalmed as he stood up, "The sap!" He groaned. Jaune frowned as he watched Cardin's mace get swatted out of his hands after he pulled it out of… somewhere. Checking to see that no one else was around he dashed towards the downed bully. "Cardin!" He shouted as he threw the weapon at it's owner. His eyes glowed white, "Heads up!"
Meanwhile with the rest of Team JNPR and Team RWBY, Ruby gasped as a loud noise came from the distance. "You guys hear that?" She asked the group. The six young women, one man, and Ruby –being fifteen- jumped as the remnants of Team CRDL rushed passed them.
"Ursa, Ursa!" Cried Russel as he ran, only to be stopped by Yang.
"What? Where?" The boy cowered under her glare.
"Back there, it's got Cardin!" he exclaimed before running off. Pyrrha dropped her jar in realisation.
"Jaune!" The group turned to her in surprised. Ruby frowned and started issuing orders,
"Yang, Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" The two nodded and ran,
The champion turned to her teammates, "You two go with them, there could be more." The childhood friends shook their head in confirmation as the girls took out their weapons.
Back with Jaune and Cardin, the bully was trying his damnedest to not get mauled by the bear Grimm when it knocked his weapon out of his hands… again. Before the knight could intercept, the bully was knocked off his feet and onto his stomach. Jaune was about to help him up when he noticed that Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss had arrived. "Tch," He groaned annoyed. The knight hesitated for a moment before jumping in the way just as the Ursa Major was about to swipe, successfully blocking the blow, much to the three girls' surprise. Jaune's legs buckled slightly from the sheer strength behind the Ursa's attack. Weiss was about to interfere when the champion held her arm out,
"Wait!" She exclaimed, halting the heiress' attack. She wanted to see where this went. Jaune pushed the large paw off the top of his shield and went for a strong downwards strike to the torso of the bear Grimm, causing it to stagger backwards. Upon recovering, the Grimm threw a heavy punch at the blond knight who rolled out of the way. The writer agilely jumped over another swing from the Ursa Major that knocked up several leaves but had no time to escape from the second strike.
Jaune quickly recovered and went over his battle plan. Block, dodge, attack, block, dodge, attack. The knight ran back towards the large Grimm undeterred and leaped for another slash onto to be knocked away once again. That didn't work… He grumbled. He really needed to learn how to fight. Getting up and glancing briefly at his aura levels the blond frowned as he noticed that he was in the red. The writer groaned, he also really needed to work on how much aura he pumped into his semblance. Not wasting anymore time the knight charged in howling a battle cry. For those watching, time slowed down as the two came to a final clash, swinging their respective weapons. Crocea Mors vs. an Ursa Major claw. Pyrrha frowned as she saw the writer's stance, with his shield down he'd definitely be hit by the claw before he could reach the bear Grimm with his sword. Making use of her semblance, she moved his shield upward enough to block the attack. Smiling proudly, she watched as Jaune took a steady footing to let the swipe glance off the shield part of Crocea Mors and went for a powerful upward arc slash, effectively beheading the Ursa in one clean motion.
Ruby glanced at the red haired girl in confusion, "Uhh… What?"
"How did you…?" Trailed off Weiss. Pyrrha just smiled at the two,
"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, my semblance is polarity." She explained. The younger girl gasped in awe,
"You can control poles." She mumbled. Weiss giggled under her breath, she's so adorkable. Snapping out of her thoughts the heiress snorted,
"No you dunce, it means she has control over magnetism."
"Magnets are cool too," Mumbled the reaper. The white haired girl frowned as the champion began to walk off.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened!" Pyrrha smirked at the two,
"We could, or perhaps we could just keep it our little secret."
Jaune sighed in relief as he sheathed his sword, he'd have to thank Pyrrha for saving his behind. But that could be settled at a later date, for now… The knight extended a hand to the fallen bully. Cardin smiled slightly and accepted it, "Holy crap Jaune-"
"Don't mess with my team, my friends, ever again." Demanded the knight heroically, "Got it?"
The bully laughed, "They're gone." Jaune collapsed to his knees in exhaustion.
"Oh thank dust. If being a Hunter doesn't work out you could always become an actor. How did you do that for so long?" The 'bully' shrugged.
"Well it helped that I was already a bully before all of… this." Jaune laughed.
"Yeah, uh, we gotta talk about some of that stuff."
Cardin looked at the knight in confusion. "Stuff?"
The knight nodded seriously, "Yeah, you went a bit overboard a couple of times. I mean, you didn't have to include Velvet."
"The bunny Faunus chick? Uh yea, sorry about that, but Sky started it and I couldn't do anything about it or else I'd risk blowing our cover. Then again, I did see you walking after her, so good on you!" He laughed as he pat Jaune's back. "Also, what happened to the plan? You were supposed to throw the jar at the floor beneath us so the Rapier Wasps would chase us off and you could go hang with your friends." Jaune laughed sheepishly,
"Yeah, uh, blame Imagination-Ruby for that."
"Um… what?" Asked Cardin confused.
"Nevermind."
Jaune sighed as he and his 'bully' walked to the rendezvous point slowly. "Really sorry that this happened." He apologised. Here Cardin was, helping him with research, and he nearly got the guy killed by an Ursa.
The boy just laughed it off, "Don't sweat it, we're buddies now. Though I think I might lay off on the fake-bullying for a while. It's really ruining my rep, and your hammer-crazy friend might break my legs." Jaune joined in the laughing.
"Thanks, I'll definitely get you those signed copies of the new Jane Caur series. I'll also try to stop my friends from roasting you as well." Cardin smirked,
"Think you'd be able to handle it?"
Jaune smiled at him, "Like you said, we're buddies. But you may want to set your team straight. If you need any help you can just come to my team."
"Thanks." The two bumped fists and separated, they were nearing the rendezvous point and still needed to keep appearances up after all.
Jaune stood outside of Beacon on the roof where he and Pyrrha had that fight. The knight had been thinking of recent events and realised he had a lot of apologising to do. He sighed as he remembered the reason all of this started to begin with.
Flashback
"You want me to what?" He asked over the phone to his editor.
The orange haired man sighed, "Look kid, recently the media's gone crazy over bullied kid sap stories and I want in. So try and make a series circled around a teen who gets bullied, then meets his crush and the two get together after overcoming the bully." Jaune rolled his eyes.
"That sounds highly unrealistic and even if it was, I don't know what it's like to be bullied. I have seven overprotective sisters." Roman groaned,
"I don't know kid, you love getting research for your stories right? You live in a school for dusts sake, just get some random asshat to start picking on you. I don't care how, just make it happen." He hung the phone. Jaune sighed, where was he going to find someone to 'bully' him? Oh well, he frowned. He had Combat Class next so he'd have to think of the solution later.
On the other side of the phone Neo glared at her surrogate father. Roman laughed nervously,
"Wh-whatever do you mean? I'm not attempting to get him hurt just because he tried to seduce my little girl, what are you talking about?" The ice cream themed woman's glare harshened. "… You can't prove anything!" He exclaimed as he pointed dramatically at her before jumping out of a window. The woman smiled menacingly at his retreating body, once he comes back he is in for a world of pain. Her little brother tilted his head in confusion,
"Sis, why did he jump out of the window?" He asked, "It's the one hundredth and seventy fourth time he'd tried to hurt your author through his love of research. You'd think he'd learn that nothing get's past my awesome older sis!" Neo smiled at the young boy and ruffled his hair. She could only hope that her cute little author didn't do anything stupid.
This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. Thought Jaune to himself as grabbed Cardin by the shoulder. "What do you want?" He growled to the knight.
Jaune smiled, "Just wanted to talk." He had seen the boy's true thoughts during the fight using his semblance. There was only one thing to do, have Cardin Winchester help with his research and become a cliché bullied student. "I want you to help me research."
The larger boy gave him a look. "No thanks, I'd prefer not to do any work." Jaune laughed,
"But Cardin, you don't have to do anything but bully me, and you get the latest Jane Caur series signed for your mom as well as a proper friend that you can show her."
Cardin frowned, how did he know this? He was sure he hadn't told anyone about that. "… Who are you?"
The writer smirked knowingly. "I'm just a regular student who has connections and a special semblance that I used during our match." Cardin stared skeptically at the blond,
"Explain." He demanded.
"Well take a seat, 'cause this might take a bit." After the two sat down in the stands Jaune began to explain. "So, first of all my semblance. It gives me a form of control over the electro/neurochemical signals within my body. You know, the ones used by your brain to send 'messages' that allow you body to function. But only my ones." He clarified, Cardin nodded slowly. "You have no idea how long it took for me to figure out what it was at nine years old, and training it was a pain. Anyway, I have found two ways to utilise this.
Firstly, I can use it to accelerate my thinking speed to the point where I can process information quickly. Using this I can formulate plans quickly and it also enhances my senses to something similar to a Faunus by increasing the strength in which the signals coming from the sensory nerves are received. Got it so far?" Cardin sighed, he understood to an extent, but it was a lot to take in at once.
"Right, well I can also use it to get a 'snapshot' per say of how another person thinks. By touching, or 'tagging', a person or being with a brain I can send an electrochemical signal through their body and back to mine. This gives me an idea of what a person was thinking at the time, how their thoughts are processed along with a handful of memories that they may have thought about recently." Explained the writer. "Basically, I can get a general idea of how that person would react or think during a situation, though this is limited to things that they know during the snapshot. I also have to have physical contact with whatever I connect to with my semblance in order to use it." The stronger boy sat dazed with the large amount of info to process.
"So let me get this straight. You can read people's minds by touching their skin, you can think like a genius and you can have Faunus senses all thanks to your semblance?"
"… More or less yeah." Cardin gave him an annoyed look,
"Well, while that is over powered and all, why are you telling me this?"
Jaune smiled, "During our match I used my semblance to make sure you weren't planning a counter attack but I used too much aura and saw what you were thinking. I learned that you aren't a horrible guy. I mean, what bad person wants to get his mum a present for no reason other than because he can?"
The leader of Team CRDL flushed in embarrassment. "Y-you saw that?"
"That and your mom wants you to turn a new leaf, so she wants you to show her someone who is 'normal'. Though I'm kind of ticked that you were thinking of that and not the actual fight." Cardin frowned.
"… So what do I have to do to get those books?"
Jaune smirked triumphantly, "I want you to bully me."
"I don't know why you want me to, and I won't ask. But I won't bully you."
The blond writer blinked, "Huh?"
The 'bully-to-be' crossed his arms, "I came to this school because of my mom. I wanted to stop being a bully for her. I'm not going to start for a stupid book." Jaune frowned, he hadn't seen this in the bullies thoughts. It must've been something he wanted to keep private.
"Even if it's for your mother?"
"… Fine, I'll humour you. But if it turns out you can't get me those books, tell my mom about this or you don't pretend to be my 'normal friend' that she wants, you'll wish that I kept bullying you." Jaune smirked,
"Glad you saw it my way… Buddy."
Flashback End
Jaune was snapped out of his reminiscent thoughts as he heard the door behind him open up. "No Cardin tonight?" Asked a feminine voice from the direction of the door. Jaune stayed silent as the soft noise of shoes slowly made their way towards him. "I thought you were best buds." The knight turned to his left to see his beautiful partner. He gave her an apologetic look,
"Pyrrha." He started, "I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice and, I-I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head and, I got too caught up in research and wanting to be a hero that I forgot the biggest reason I came to Beacon." The champion gave him a confused look.
"Research?"
Jaune nearly choked, "Uh, forget I said that." Pyrrha looked at him sceptically but decided to follow his wishes. If recent events have taught her anything, it's that ultimately, Jaune will tell her everything.
She chuckled warmly at the knight, "Jaune. It's okay." The two shared a smile. "Your team really misses their leader you know?" The girl turned and began to walk towards the door. "You should come down. Ren made pancakes~" Jaune laughed at the next sentence, "No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that." The writer reached out a hand to his partner,
"Wait!" He paused hesitantly, timidly grabbing his right arm. "I know I don't deserve it with all that happened, but… Would you still be willing to help me… To help me become a better fighter!" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'm still new to this, and I'm not exactly the best right now. I have no technique and I don't even last that long, but if I want to do it with anyone… I want it to be you." Pyrrha turned around, seemingly as if to think about it, but in reality she was trying to hide the fact that she was on the verge of a nosebleed… and fainting. Does he not know how suggestive that last sentence was? She cried mentally. Shaking the perverted thoughts from her head, she rolled her eyes and sauntered over to her annoyingly oblivious partner.
Before Jaune could say anything he found himself on the ground. "Hey!"
Pyrrha smirked superiorly, she was going to have fun with this. "Your stance is all wrong, you need to be wider and lower to the ground." She 'lectured' as she held her hands against her hips. The writer smiled and accepted her hand up. "Let's try that again."
From below Cardin couldn't help but smirk. Looks like everything's coming up Jauney Boy. Now to deal with his team…
Well that was… a thing. So, for those who haven't realised it yet. This was almost exactly like Canon, except Cardin is actually a good guy who's helping Jaune get research because Roman doesn't like him being around his daughter! This chapter and the last were fairly similar to Canon bar a few differences, but that was because it was the best way (In my eyes) to make a good-guy-Cardin whilst also shoving in a truckload of character development. Sure I could have executed it in a cleaner way, but unsurprisingly enough: I'm still a novice writer and this is my first ever fanfic. Not as experienced as most.
A lot was shown in the past few chapters, how Jaune got his aura, the fact that Roman's overprotective of Neo and Cardin's a momma's boy, introduction of Velvet, Jaune's semblance, Jaune's lack of fighting experience, the fact that Jaune loves his books and will stop at nothing to get proper research. I mean he got 'bullied' for several weeks because Roman told him to. There are a lot of other things but that would be telling.
Also, jeez this was a long chapter. I admit I could've done things better, but this is what I've done with the two-ish months of writing Fanfic experience I have. Hopefully this chapter explains a lot about past events, but if you're still confused please PM me and don't ask through a review because it's easier to answer you through a PM than a review response.
That said, if you enjoyed or are interested please Favourite, Follow and Review, and tell me what I did well and how I can improve!
Lastly, after next chapter I will be resuming my usual schedule of one chapter per one or two weeks, because this fast updating is taking a lot out of me, and I can tell it's affecting my writing skills.
So, hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy my story!
Anyone who can guess a specific reference gets a jar of Forever Fall sap! As long as you aren't like Jaune of course and have an interesting reaction to it...
