I've returned.

Chapter 7: Jaunedice

Jaune's fingers were locked in a white-knuckled grip on his shield. His whole arm was numb from the strain of blocking repeated mace strikes. Every part of his body was tensed, sweaty, and shaking. And although he'd avoided a direct hit, his vision and thoughts were still scrambled. He had no idea what his aura level was, and the battle strategies they'd been instructed on earlier were the last thing on his mind.

His opponent, the brawny Cardin Winchester, laughed. His mace dangled lazily over his shoulder. Jaune grimaced as Cardin's cronies began to laugh as well, from their seats somewhere in the shadows. He let his shield fall.

Cardin's eyes followed it to the ground. "Surrendering?" he said. "Really, Jauney-boy? I expected better."

Jaune shook his head. "Not to you." He dropped his left foot back and turned his body sideways, raising his sword.

Cardin realized that the turn would make Jaune much more difficult to hit. Pretty smart—not that he was going to let the wimp know that. "Pretty dumb to lose your shield like that, Jauney-boy," sneered Cardin. "Don't go whining when I clobber you."

Jaune took two steps forward. It was the first offensive movement he'd made since the duel began. Cardin didn't respond, so Jaune took another two, and another. By the time he was halfway to Cardin, he was running close to a full sprint. Mentally, Jaune expected a swing from the boy's mace and was prepared to dodge it.

He was not prepared for Cardin's foot. It came out at the last second, and Jaune barely had enough time to look down. He was on the ground before the thought of dodging it even crossed his mind, and the heavy impact of a blow between his shoulder blades eliminated any chance of him getting back up. Aching pains swam up and down his spine. He braced himself for the flurry of strikes that would surely follow.

"Enough," came a voice from outside the ring. Glynda stepped out onto the sand as the amphitheater lights clicked on, revealing rows of students watching in stands above. "In a real fight," she said, "Mister Arc would likely be dead. In a tournament-style duel such as this one, he has merely lost. Defeat occurs when aura reserves fall below ten or twenty percent, depending on the tournament.

"In this case, Cardin's final attack was unnecessary and drained his opponent's aura completely. Attacking an opponent whose aura is already below a losing threshold can cause a serious injury, which will result in your disqualification from the tournament. Mr. Winchester, proper monitoring of your opponent's aura can prevent incidents like these. Keep that in mind."

"Whatever."

"As for you, Mister Arc," she said as Jaune scrambled to his feet, "I hoped you would have learned by now. You aren't referring to your scroll during combat. When your aura level drops, you should hold your attacks and adopt a more defensive strategy."

Jaune wanted to point out that he'd gotten hit plenty even with a defensive strategy, and that he'd never win without making attacks of his own. Still, he held his tongue.

Glynda turned back to the class, who immediately ceased its chattering. "The rest of you aren't off the hook," she said, "because the advice I've given today applies to all of you. Even if you have no expectation or desire to advance beyond the group stage of the Vytal tournament, you are required to know the rules of sanctioned single combat. For our next class, please prepare a one-page essay on the history of the Vytal festival. Dismissed."

"That class was great," said Ruby as her team filed out of the classroom, heading to dinner, "but at this rate, it'll be weeks before any of us get a chance to fight. It's no fun to just watch."

"It's completely unacceptable," said Weiss. "I'm paying out-of-Kingdom tuition and I don't even get to fight for weeks at a time? It's not like my family can't afford it, but I intend to get my money's worth."

"Aww, relax, Weiss," said Yang. "There's plenty to get out of combat training besides the actual combat, and I'm saying that as someone who's itching to fight myself. Just keep raising your hand and you'll get picked before too long."

"Why'd Jaune get picked, then?" asked Ruby. "He's not the hand-raising type."

"It's obvious," said Blake, startling the rest of her team by speaking for the first time since the morning. "Miss Goodwitch singled him out as an example of bad technique so she could teach the things she wanted to."

Yang nodded. "That wasn't a fair matchup. Although, no offense, I don't think matching anyone with Jaune would be an even fight."

"That sucks," said Ruby. "Jaune's a good person, just not so great a fighter. Hey! There's JNPR now. C'mon, let's go sit with them."

Nora was in the middle of telling a story as Ruby and her team sat down. Pyrrha was listening, Ren was slumped with his head in his hands, and Jaune was sitting off to the side.

"So," Nora said, sweeping her head over the table, "there we were. Alone, in the middle of the night."

"It was day," mumbled Ren.

Nora ignored him. "And circling around us were pairs of glowing red eyes. We were surrounded by bloodthirsty Ursai!"

"Ursai?" said Ren. "I thought it was Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of them."

"They thought they had snuck up on us, but Ren and I were prepared."

"Jaune?" interrupted Pyrrha. "Are you O.K?"

He didn't answer.

"Let me finish," hissed Nora. "And when it was done, Ren and I hauled them away and made a boatload of lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!"

Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for over a month now. It seems to get more ridiculous each time she tells it. There's no such thing as an Ursa skin rug — it would disintegrate before you could ever pick it up."

"Ren! Don't ruin my story!"

"Jaune," said Pyrrha, visibly more concerned this time. "Jaune! Are you O.K?"

"What?" he sputtered, shaking his head and blinking. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that, Jaune?" asked Ruby. "You really took a beating during class. You don't seem like someone that's doing okay."

"Honestly, guys, I'm fine," he insisted. "Cardin just kicked the crap out of me. It's not like it'd be different with anyone else. I'm more worried about that girl over there."

He pointed at a brown-haired girl sitting at a nearby table. Cardin, Sky, Russell, and Dove stood around her, pointing and jeering at the fuzzy pair of rabbit ears poking up from her hair.

"She's a Faunus," said Blake. "That's the first one I've seen here."

Ruby's jaw dropped. "She has bunny ears? That's so cool! I wish I had those."

Blake shrugged. "It's not so cool when you consider the stigma it carries for some people. It can result in unwanted attention and harassment from certain groups. Cardin and his team being Exhibit A."

"That's terrible. Is that why there've been so many protests?"

"There's always been protests. They're only getting attention now because of how they've turned violent."

"Jaune," said Pyrrha, "do you agree that what Cardin's team is doing to that girl constitutes bullying?"

"Huh? Of course it does, that's why I pointed it out."

"Then you agree that he's bullying you as well?"

"Me? Cardin? Nah. Sure, he went hard on me during class, but everything else has just been a practical joke."

"So it was a practical joke when he shoved you in a rocket locker and activated it?"

"Of course it was. I didn't land that far from the school."

"Jaune, you could have broken your legs!"

"Yeah!" Nora cut in. "How about we break his legs, huh?"

"What about," said Pyrrha, "the time he got your shield stuck in the door? Or knocked your textbooks out of your hand? Or just plain shoved you, like he did yesterday? That's bullying."

"I mean, you're not wrong, but Cardin's a jerk to everyone. He's not singling me out."

"That hurts, stop it!" screeched a voice from nearby.

Ruby wheeled around to see who it was. She cringed at the sight of Cardin gripping the Faunus girl by her ears, and couldn't resist calling him out. "Let go of her, you jerk!"

Cardin grunted and released his hold. The girl dashed out of the circle of Cardin's team, mouthing a silent thank you to Ruby and her friends as she left the cafeteria.

"What a freak," said Cardin, as he dusted short, fuzzy hairs from his hands. "I told you her ears were real."

"That's crazy, Cardin," said the mohawked boy, Russel. "I thought they kept all the animals locked up on Menagerie."

A few tables away, Blake shuddered. "They're the animals," she whispered, "every single one of them."

"I… can't believe they're serious," said Yang.

Nora too was glum. "I'd go beat them up, but we'd be no better than they are."

"I was looking at the class lists and curriculums earlier," said Pyrrha, "and I believe Team CRDL is in the same history class as all of us, right after dinner. The Faunus Revolution and Civil Rights Movement are primary topics of that class. Perhaps, the exposure will be good for Cardin and his team."

Yang snorted. "Not likely."

"Who's teaching history?" asked Ruby, pulling a crumpled schedule out of her pocket. "Remnant's History. Room 18. Bartholomew—"

"Oobleck," said the professor, scratching his name on the board in chalk, "Bartholomew Oobleck, Ph.D. You, the students, shall address me as Doctor and then Oobleck, in that order. At least I'll get something out of my degree, hmm?"

"Whatever you say, Barty," piped up a voice from the back: Cardin. The rest of his team laughed.

Oobleck's eyebrows shot up so fast that his glasses nearly popped off his head. His spiky green hair stood on end. He moved with lightning speed to the boy's desk, speaking much more slowly now. "What was that, Mr. Winchester?"

Cardin wasn't fazed easily, nor was he known to back down. He usually didn't let people get the final word or blow—not even teachers. But, something about Oobleck's rapid movement and abruptly slowed speech were immensely unsettling. He swallowed, for once not caring about looking tough in front of his team. "I just said, 'I'll be sure to do that, Doctor Oobleck'. Nothing else."

The professor shot back to the front of the room, speech returning to his usual rapid-fire. "I'm not sure how accurate your account is, Mr. Winchester, but it's good enough for me. Be aware that you are on thin ice in this class. I don't know how many of your previous teachers allowed rude or unproductive behavior, but I assure you I will not be one of them.

"Now, I've wasted enough time on discipline for today. In fact, my allotted two minutes and forty-five seconds of introductory time are already over. Before we begin our first unit, the Faunus Civil War and Rights Revolution, I believe we should first determine the class's current level of knowledge. To do this, I will provide a brief summary while calling upon students at random to fill in details. You should know most of this already, but it's fine if you don't. For now.

"While the peaceful aspects of the Faunus Civil Rights movement are equally important, I believe that discussion of the subsequent Civil War might be more conducive and thus serve to galvanize your young minds. Now, who among you can tell me what the current scholarly consensus is regarding the turning point of the war?"

A pale hand sprung up in the front row.

"Yes," said Oobleck, "Miss Schnee."

"The Battle at Fort Castle."

"Very good. After all, Fort Castle is considered by many to be the most decisive battle in the history of the continent! Despite being better organized and equipped, General Lagune's forces were defeated by the Faunus army after a failed ambush. What inherent advantage, not considered by Lagune, was key to a Faunus victory?"

A few hands went up, but the Oobleck ignored them. "Not you," he said, "we need full class participation. Ah, Mister Arc! I see you've been sleeping to allow my lecture to ruminate in your head. Let's see how effective it was. Tell me, what advantage did the Faunus have?"

Jaune had just managed to extricate his head from the open textbook he'd been using as a pillow. He heard the professor's question, but nothing that came before it. In desperation he looked to Pyrrha, who cupped her hands over her eyes and nodded in encouragement.

"The advantage," Jaune said, "that the Faunus had over the other guy was… binoculars?"

The class roared with laughter. Pyrrha curled her mouth, ashamed, but still trying not to smile. Cardin laughed the loudest of all, flicking a spitball he'd prepared earlier at Jaune.

"Very funny, Mister Arc," said Oobleck. "I noticed Mister Winchester thought so as well. Perhaps, Cardin, you have an answer of your own to share?"

"I don't know for sure," said Cardin, "but it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

Oobleck shook his head. "I cannot believe you, Cardin. Why it is exactly this kind of ignorance that breeds violence."

"You're not exactly being open-minded with that answer," interrupted Pyrrha, "are you, Cardin?"

"You got a problem?"

"No," she said, "I have the answer. It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect vision in the dark."

"You can thank General Lagune for the failed ambush," said Blake, turning to Cardin. "Maybe if he'd paid attention in class, and hadn't been so damn ignorant, his army wouldn't have been captured."

Cardin scowled. He pushed out his chair and stood up, then grabbed his bag. He stopped as the professor zoomed in front of him.

"Mister Winchester! Please, take your seat."

Now it was Jaune's turn to chuckle. The laugh was abruptly cut off as Oobleck wheeled around and stopped in front of his desk.

"You think discrimination is so hilarious, Mister Arc? You can join him. Both of you, see me after class for an additional assignment. Now, let's continue."

The rest of Oobleck's first lesson was uneventful, except for a few withering glares shared between Jaune and Cardin. Weiss and Blake proved to be more knowledgeable than the doctor had anticipated, and he rewarded them with an extra, more difficult section of reading to look at for the next class. If they were bothered by the extra work, they didn't show it.

At the conclusion of class, the students filed out in relief. Cardin tried to slip out with the rest of his team, but Oobleck caught him at the door and beckoned him toward his desk, where Jaune was already waiting.

"I just can't understand what the problem is," said Oobleck, taking a long drink of his coffee. "You two aren't the only students causing problems, but you are a big part of it. I don't know if it's lack of interest, or history between you two, or just stubbornness, but whatever it is, it stops here. Do you understand?"

"Yep," said Jaune.

"Uh huh," said Cardin.

"That's not good enough for me. Give me a nice, sincere, 'Yes, Doctor Oobleck'."

"Yes, Doctor Oobleck," they repeated.

"That's better. Remember, both of you, these words. If you don't learn from history… you're destined to repeat it."

"That's great," said Cardin. "Can we go now?"

"Don't think I haven't forgotten about your extra assignment. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one, I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now, run along."

Jaune was glad to finally be out of class. He wasn't relishing the forty pages of reading he'd have to do later, but it was worth it seeing Cardin upset. Speaking of which, where had Cardin gone? He must have run ahead after Oobleck had let them go.

As usual, Jaune was looking up, not down. He missed the outstretched foot as he turned the corner, and groaned in pain as Cardin sent him sprawling to the floor once again.

"Piece of shit," muttered Cardin as he stalked off down the hall.

For a minute or two, Jaune did nothing but lie on the floor in silence. It wasn't that his injuries were even so bad. They were nothing more than bruises. He was just afraid to face his team and scared of the possibility that Cardin might still be around the corner. It was a voice from down the hall that convinced him to pick himself back up.

"Jaune? Where are you?"

Pyrrha was relieved to find her teammate free of serious injuries, but she still panicked a little seeing him sprawled out on the floor.

"Oh, hey Pyrrha," Jaune mumbled, dragging himself back to his feet. "What's new with you? I took a little spill."

"I'm not dumb," she said, "I know Cardin did this. What he's been doing is unacceptable. I can't let it go on any longer."

"Can't really argue with that one."

"Good. Then don't. Just come with me."

Pyrrha led Jaune up three flights of stairs and through a metal utility door, opening out onto a flat, unfinished platform—somewhere between a roof and a patio. It was late enough in the fall that the sun had already set, and the only sources of light were the moon, the buildings in downtown Vale, and the brilliant green flare atop the CCT tower, shining through the city like a beacon.

"What's this for?" Jaune asked, "and, uh, are we allowed to be out here?" He walked to the edge of the roof and looked down fifty feet to the grounds below. "I'm unhappy, Pyrrha, but I'm not that depressed."

Pyrrha looked to the edge and then back at Jaune before she realized what he meant. "No!" she yelped, yanking him away from the ledge. "Why would you even think that? I brought you up here because… I know you're having trouble in class and with Cardin, so I wanted to help you."

"You do? How?"

"We can train up here after class. It's a nice open area, there's no one else around, and—provided we don't fall off—it'll be a great place to practice fighting."

"Hold on a second. You think I need help?"

"I didn't mean that!"

"But you just said it."

"So I did. Jaune, everyone needs a push from time to time. That doesn't mean it's a judgement of you as a person. You've already proven yourself very capable. You had to, in order to get to Beacon."

Jaune turned back to the edge. "I wish that was true, but it's not. I don't belong here and nothing you say or do can change that."

"Don't be silly. You can always get better."

"I wasn't accepted to Beacon."

"Wh-what?"

"I wasn't accepted to Beacon."

"Jaune, what are you talking about? Do you mean you don't think they should have—"

"No, Pyrrha, I meant what I said. I wasn't accepted here, at least not legitimately. I didn't go to other combat schools, didn't pass any tests, and I don't have a good background. I faked my transcripts and lied about everything. That's the only reason I got in. And I still would have failed during initiation if I hadn't been paired with you."

"But, why?"

Jaune had to think about that one for a second because his reasons for attending Beacon had changed drastically since he'd arrived. What did Pyrrha want to hear? A sob story? The truth? Better to just start with why he'd done it in the first place.

"Because this is what I always wanted to be. Or at least what I thought I wanted, that fact's been up in the air recently. My dad, and my dad's dad, and my dad's dad's—ugh, you get the point. They were all huntsmen, and pretty famous ones too. I just wasn't good enough to make it by myself. I didn't—don't want to be the one that failed."

"Then let me help you!"

"What if I don't want your help? What if I'm tired of being the damsel in distress, the lovable idiot who has to be bailed out by his friends over and over but can't do things on his own? What if I didn't want to cheat my way in, but I had to because I couldn't bear the thought of failing? If I can't do things on my own… then what good am I?"

"Jaune, you don't understand. I'm offering to help you get better, and after I did, you could do things on your own. You just have to get there first. Please, trust me."

He shoved away Pyrrha's outstretched arm. "Just… leave me alone."

Pyrrha bowed her head. "If you really think that's best, I will."

Jaune began to pace as the metal door to the roof slammed closed. He wiped away a layer of warm, salty tears as he held back sobs. The words had barely left his mouth and he was already regretting them. He had pushed away a teammate out of embarrassment, a teammate who was understanding and had wanted to help him. Now he was stuck doing it the hard way, helping himself and trying to get by at a school where everyone except him deserved to be there.

"Oh, Jaune…" called a voice from over the edge of the roof.

Jaune wheeled around and stared at the empty roof in confusion, only to freeze in panic as a figure clambered over the edge of the roof. "Cardin!" he said, "What? How'd you get up here."

"I climbed," said Cardin, getting to his feet. "I'm on the floor right below, and I couldn't help but overhear an argument from out my window."

"You didn't happen to listen to any of it, did you?"

Cardin laughed. "Nah, man, I heard nothing. Only about how you cheated your way in. That's cool, Jauney-boy. I never knew you were such a rebel."

"Just swear you won't tell anyone."

"Don't you know me better than that, Jauney-boy?" Cardin said, stepping forward until he was towering over Jaune. "I'd never rat on a friend like that."

"A… friend?"

Before Jaune could resist, Cardin pulled an arm around his neck, trapping him in a headlock and pulling him to the ground. "Of course we're friends, Jauney-boy," he said. "And we'll stay that way as long as you're doing what I tell you to. For example, I really can't be bothered to write that essay for Oobleck's class. You're already writing one, how much work is it to write one more? Can you do that for me?"

Jaune gasped for air before croaking out, "I… suppose."

"Great!" said Cardin, rubbing Jaune's hair with the back of his knuckles before releasing him. "I knew I could count on you."

He walked back to the edge of the roof as Jaune picked himself up for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

"Remember, Jaune," he said, "we're friends now. As long as you don't go forgetting that, your secret will be safe with me."

Thanks for reading.