Chapter 6:
Cardin stood on one side of the arena, his mace resting on his shoulder. He was watching his opponent, Jaune, who was leaning on his sword, apparently tired. He laughs as Jaune summons the strength to make a charge, which Cardin dodged. Jaune looks back to see Cardin's mace rocketing towards him, launching him and his shield across the arena. Standing up, Jaune charges, now only armed with his sword, but gets blocked by the mace's hilt. With their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over Jaune.
"This is the part where you lose!" Cardin said, glaring down at his opponent.
"Over my dead-!" Jaune starts, but then gets kneed in the gut, making him drop his sword and fall to the ground. Cardin raises his mace above his head and goes to slam it on his head before the bell rings, signifying the match being over.
"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda called from the side, causing Cardin to relent and walk away. She walks up, tapping a few buttons on her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match. Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?" she continued, glancing at Jaune who was sitting on the stage, looking at his scroll.
"Speak for yourself" Cardin muttered, walking off back to the stands.
"We have time for one more match, the match will be Omega Pi versus Yang Xiao Long" She announced, to which Omega and Yang stood up and walked over to the stage, and took their stances. Yang activating Ember Cecilia, Omega changing his weapon to a sword.
"Oh, and Mr. Pi, please, don't use your railgun for these sparring sessions, we don't need that happening again" Goodwitch told him, Omega nodded begrudgingly.
The two circled eachother, waiting for the other to make the first strike. It was Yang who charged first, sending a right hook straight to Omega's head. He dodged the strike, rolling under her arm and delivering a minor blow to her leg causing her to stumble a bit. Once again, they waited, watching eachothers movements, waiting for an attack. This time, Omega made a charge, pressing a button on his sword to change it to his gauntlet, he sent a hit soaring into her stomach, Yang blocked this with her left gauntlet and used her right to send a hit to his head. Jumping back from her attack, he switched back to his sword, readying himself for an attack. Yang charged launching a dual handed attack to the left and right side of Omega's abdomen. Parrying the hand from the left, he hit her in the head with the hilt of his sword, taking a small hit from her right hook at the time.
"Haha, you seem be a good… challenge..." she stated, noticing the few strands of hair that were floating down infront of her. A single 'Oh no' was heard from the crowd. "You… you bastard!" Yang yelled, her eyes having changed from lilac to red.
"Um… what?" Omega asked, one eyebrow raised until he saw a flurry of blows coming his way, hitting him from every angle and launching him across the arena. Upon his landing, a small patch of what looked like skin landed atop Yang's head. She grabbed it looked at him. His left hand had a hole in the layer of skin. What she saw wasn't muscle though, muscle isn't silver. Having calmed down, she walked over to him, looking at his damaged hand.
"Well… I guess since you noticed that I can do this now..." he said, seemingly pressing his arm randomly. A couple of seconds later, the skin on his arm dissolved into the air, leaving a mechanical arm in it's place. Yang just stared, shocked. "Y'know, if you stared any harder, I'd have holes in it. Good job, by the way"
"Huh?" Yang asked as Omega showed her his scroll. His aura was in the red. "I guess I tore a hole in your attack plan" she said, causing the whole classroom to groan apart from Omega who laughed. "Yeah, I think I'll run like a hair if I do that again" he said, which got even more groans from the class, before returning to his seat to get his stuff before the bell rang.
"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" Glynda announced, receiving a cheer from Team COPR.
Sitting down at their table for lunch, they started talking. "So… I've just realised this… it's been like… 3 weeks? And, we haven't really learnt much about eachother, so… Prost, who are you?" Omega said, chuckling a bit.
Prost chuckled with him. "Well, as you probably guessed, I'm Rosa's twin brother, older twinbrother. I attended Signal and I'm a human, so I'm not hiding anything physically" he said, looking at Omega. "I spent 5 years training, including live training, and unlocked my aura at the age of 10, sums up me, really. Same goes for Rosa, 'xcept for the fact she's a girl and was born 5 minutes after me." he continued, receiving a glare from his sister.
"Fair enough" Crimson said, "I'm Crimson, or, in Om's case, Crim, I'm a wolf Faunus and was raised outside the kingdom so I didn't attend combat school but I did learn from my parents. You know Blake? Yeah, we knew eachother, used to go to the same club… thing. However, I had to move a few years ago so I doubt she remembers me. Anyway, my aura was unlocked when I was 12 and I've stuck with Om for the past few years now," she stated.
"Wait, you're a wolf faunus?" Rosa asked, "Don't they normally have the ears?" she continued, one eyebrow raised and pointing to the top of her head.
Crimson looked down upon being reminded, "Yeah, I did once too. You know the story about the faunus that was attacked a few years ago? Had their ears… removed." she said.
"Yeah?"
"That was me, Om here came before I was about to be murdered for my heritage and lost his arm in the process... that's also how we met, since you were asking earlier, Rosa," Crimson stated, sounding rather depressed from the memory.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
"It's fine"
"Anyways, continuing, I'm Omega, Crimson's long time friend! I was raised on one of the offshore islands so I had live training, I was taught by my parents pretty much from since I was able to walk, so I'm pretty damn good with my weapon, I've not left Crim's side so she's pretty much like a sister to me" He said, smiling.
That is, until Cardin spoke up from behind them, "Ohohoh, a Faunus girl huh?"
Crimson didn't do anything as a response, however she did notice Omega's hand clench into a fist. She put her hand on it, trying to calm him down.
"I mean, it's not surprising that an animal like you hangs out with a freak li-" He never got to finish his words as both Crimson and Omega punched him in the face, making him ragdoll back into his table.
"Flight school is now in session, free for those who wish to insult me for my missing arm!" Omega announced, glaring at the struggling figure of Cardin. "No one? Aww, I wanted to launch another person across the room" he pouted, walking over to Team RWBY and NPR, who watched all of it, "Hey, where's Jaune?" he asked, noticing the lack of the blonde leader.
"He left after we consulted him about his issue with Cardin, I don't think he really wants to talk about it..." Ruby said, a hint of sadness in her tone.
"This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War!" Oobleck said, appearing next to the map at the front of the class. "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." he continued, pointing to Menagerie on the map, then appearing at the side to take a sip of his coffee before returning to his desk. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" he stated, zooming around the classroom and taking a sip from his coffee once more. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" he then asked.
Crimson looked at her friend, who just smiled and nodded. She slowly raised her hand, she saw a few other students do the same.
"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He exclaimed, taking another quick sip of coffee "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Weiss raised her hand "Yes?"
"The battle at Fort Castle!" she stated, rather matter of factly.
"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Oobleck continued to ask.
"Hey!" Jaune accidentally shouted, making all of Team COPR's heads turn in surprise.
"Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" Oobleck asked, suddenly in Jaune's face, at this point, Omega had lost focus and returned to staring around the room. He noticed Pyrrha making weird hand gestures towards Jaune.
"Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... of the Faunus…" Jaune said, noticing Pyrrha's abstract hand movements aswell. "...had over that guy's stuff..." He continued, until he saw Pyrrha cup her hands around her eyes, instantly assuming the most obvious meaning. "Uhh… Binoculars!"
For the first time in his life, Omega's hand literally went through his face.
"Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!" Oobleck announced, receiving a groan from Crimson.
"Well, I know it's easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin replied, causing Crimson to glare at him and growl a little.
"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha said, looking rather unamused.
"What? You got a problem?" he asked, glaring back at her.
"No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." she answered, smirking a tiny bit. Cardin growled.
"General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured," Blake added, turning to Cardin, "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." she continued, making Cardin stand, his fist clenched.
"Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat. You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." Oobleck stated, zooming infront of Jaune while doing so. COPR heard the groan that Jaune released.
"Harsh…" Prost muttered, continuing his game of watching Oobleck.
"Now! Moving on!" Oobleck announced, disappearing to the other side of the classroom.
They left the classroom, walking towards the training rooms since they had nothing else to do. That is, until Omega broke off from the group and headed down a different corridor.
"Hey, Omega? Where are you going?" Prost asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Forge, then library, I've got a project that I want to work on" he replied briefly, not stopping nor turning around.
"Um… okay..? See you at the dorm later..?" Rosa said, sounding like she didn't believe her words.
"Sure, sure" He said, raising a hand in a sort of wave behind him, Crimson was looking at his back in shock.
"Crimson? Are you okay..?" Rosa asked, giving her leader a weird look.
"Was he being serious about something? Holy fuck it's the end of the world... Monty save us from this terrible fate!" Crimson yelled in response, surprising the other two members of her team.
Everyone in the corridor just stopped what they were doing and stared at her, some trying to hold in laughter, others with looks of utter confusion splashed across their face. That is, until Prost spoke up.
"So… training?" He asked, turning to face the corridor again.
Sorry if this chapter's late, there's 2 reasons for this.
1. I am generally rather shite at keeping to schedules.
2. I recently reacquired Skyrim, so I've been playing that for the past few days.
Anyway, yes, Crim's a faunus. Any of you expect that? I guess some of you did, but what about Om's arm? Doubt any of you expected that! Haha!
[Omega: Boooo!]
Oh shut up, Om, and get back in the story!
Anyway, thanks for reading, reviews are welcomed as always!
Stay legendary.
-=[MysteriousBiscuit]=-