Enough dilly-dally and onto the story! Again, I don't own RWBY. How many times to do I have to say it?
Several holographic screens floated above the headmaster's desk, all of which replaying all of the recorded security footage concerning the events that had transpired hours ago. Professor Ozpin watched intently as the video showed the Beowolf being freed from its cage and causing havoc within Port's classroom. He took a sip from his ever present coffee mug that was half-filled with a steamy brew.
Ozpin hit the pause button just as the Grimm lunged over the desks in the direction of team JNPR. Of course, by this point, it was obvious who the target was. All of the other screens displayed the beast's pursuit of Mr. Arc throughout the halls. One of the screens showed him the battle that took place once the two students managed to lead it outside. The two teams had put up a good effort but in the end, the Grimm had fled as soon as it saw the teachers arrive onto the scene.
He turned his seat around and stared pensively out of the large windows of his office. The shattered moon was visible in the night sky.
The headmaster couldn't help but feel troubled after reviewing the events that occurred earlier today. In all his years at Beacon, he had never seen anything like this before. A Grimm had managed to surprise an experienced Hunter like Port and freely ran amuck through the school. Fortunately enough, none of the students had been harmed and the situation had been controlled just as soon as some of the more senior students arrived onto the scene.
However, what bothered Ozpin the most was the fact that the Beowolf had completely ignored everyone else and instead chased after Mr. Arc. The creature only stopped to engage anyone who posed as a hindrance in its pursuit of the boy. For example, the beast had only attacked Port and Miss Schnee due to the fact that they were the only two people who held any weapons at the time before switching to its primary target. Another instance that proved this was the way it disregarded all of the students that it passed in the hallways. Anyone else would have been easy prey but it still chose to pursue the young Arc despite this.
It seemed as if the wolf had a personal vendetta against the blonde student. If that was the case, then they were obviously dealing with something more dangerous than an average Grimm. This one in particular seemed to display a greater sense of self-preservation than most of its kind and also possessed a keen awareness of its surroundings. In any case, he would make sure that his fellow members of the teaching staff will practice caution when they decide to take the students out on expeditions in the forests. They would also have to keep an eye on a certain young man as well.
The elevator that led into his office beeped and opened to reveal Glynda, Bartholomew, and Peter. The three of them entered as Ozpin turned his chair around to face them. He tapped on a button and all of the holographic footage disappeared.
"Well?" he headmaster inquired.
Oobleck shook his head despondently. The usually energetic man was surprisingly calm. "We scoured the entire forest but we lost all traces of it once it exited the school grounds. We followed the trail as best as we could for a few meters before it went cold."
"What of the damages?" Ozpin turned to Glynda.
"I've already taken care of it and we should be ready to resume classes by tomorrow." The blonde woman said.
It was at then that Peter stepped forward and bowed his head. "I must apologize for being the cause of all of this. If I had acted sooner, then none of this would have happened."
"Don't be too hard on yourself my friend." Bartholomew said, patting the man on the shoulder. "None of us could have anticipated the Grimm's actions. However, I must say that I find it unsettling to see it focus solely on one person. It could be a deviant of some sort but this clearly makes it more dangerous."
"Indeed." Ozpin said. "That is why I want a routine search throughout the surrounding areas. A single Grimm may not pose a threat but I don't want to take any chances."
The three seasoned Huntsmen nodded in agreement before Peter spoke up again. "What is the condition of our young student if I may ask?"
Currently, the boy was resting in the medical bay while his friends patiently waited at his bedside. The nurse had informed him that he was only experiencing a severe case of fatigue due to the overuse of his Semblance. The medical staff told him that he should be able to resume classes by tomorrow as long as he doesn't overexert himself for the next couple of days.
"The doctors inform me that he only requires rest at the moment." Ozpin told them. "Clearly the use consecutive use of his Semblance had taken its toll on him. He should be able to attend his classes but I'm afraid he must skip this week's combat practice."
Glynda nodded and after exchanging a few more reports, the three teachers exited the office to get some rest, leaving the headmaster alone in his musings.
Ozpin was once again impressed by the boy's quick response to the situation. He immediately deduced that he himself was the Grimm's primary objective and used that to give them a small amount of time to recover from the unexpected incident. He also made good use of the facilities by giving them the location of where he planned to regroup.
Then again, he shouldn't be surprised by the boy's skills at this point. After all, given his lineage, the boy had apparently picked up a thing or two from his relatives. The boy's father is a renowned Huntsman and his mother had been a respectable Huntress before she retired at an early age. Not only that, but it would appear that he also received tutelage from a great warrior.
He must be honored, Ozpin thought. Not everyone can say that they were trained by the legendary Jonah Arc, the Unyielding Knight himself.
"Well done Ms. Nikos." Professor Goodwitch congratulated as she walked onto the arena floor. "Top marks as always."
The young Spartan reached down and helped her opponent up onto her feet. "Good match."
"Whew, you really know how to kick ass." Yang said, dusting herself off. "I could have sworn I almost hit you with my last punch but you dodged it pretty easily and it almost felt as if my fist moved slightly out of the way."
Pyrrha adopted an innocent look. "I must have gotten lucky today."
"Right," Yang had a look that told her she wasn't buying her excuse. "Anyway, I'm definitely game for a rematch. I can't let you hog the top spot for too long."
The redhead smiled in good-nature. "I look forward to it."
The two girls then rejoined their teammates that sat on the bleachers that surrounded the arena which served as their classroom for Ms. Goodwitch's combat lessons. Yang took a seat next to her sister while Pyrrha claimed a spot next to her partner.
"I can't say I'm surprised." Jaune grinned at her. "It was pretty close but I knew you were going to win."
"Yeah, you were awesome!" Nora chimed in while Ren gave her a thumbs-up.
The girl expertly hid her blush at the praise. Receiving compliments from complete strangers was one thing but to hear her friends speak so highly of her was another thing entirely. The opinions of her friends held much more weight and meaning than the criticism of other people. Additionally, she knew that they meant every word of it and it gave her a warm feeling that she couldn't explain.
"Alright, the next match will be Jaune Arc versus Cardin Winchester." Ms. Goodwitch announced.
Jaune then got up from his spot and proceeded to make his way down to the dueling area with Cardin not too far behind. She remembered him as the boy who rudely shoved past her partner on the first day. She grew an instant dislike for the student as he seemed to be more of bully than anything else. He sported a huge mace that he hefted over his shoulder. The weapon was undoubtedly heavy but the tall boy carried around with ease. He also smirked as he eyed his opponent for today.
Three weeks had passed since the Beowolf incident and things quickly began to return to normal the following day. Jaune spent the whole day in the medical bay after he collapsed. The doctors assured them that he would be up and about the next day. Pyrrha and the others would have slept next to their unconscious friend that night had it not been for the nurses who ushered them out and reminded them of curfew. True to their word, her partner looked much better when he joined them for breakfast the following morning.
And so, they all began to fall into a routine of classes from that point onward. The most notable subjects in team JNPR's schedule consisted of Grimm Studies during Mondays and Wednesdays, History with Professor Oobleck on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Combat Practice with Professor Goodwitch on Wednesdays and Fridays. They were allowed to wear their usual attire as long as they had a session with the strict blonde woman on the same day otherwise they were expected to be in their uniforms.
"Go Jaune!" Ruby cheered.
"You got this fearless leader!" Nora yelled with her fists pumped into the air.
While the two girls were the most vocal about their opinions, the rest of the two teams were also in favor of the blonde. Not only because they were supporting of their friend but because his opponent was a jerk. The brute of a boy had been picking on weaker students and harassing some of the faunus simply because he enjoyed it. Pyrrha felt sickened whenever she saw someone trying to assert themselves as a superior to others through unsavory methods. She wanted nothing more than to teach Cardin and his lackeys a painful lesson but she knew that in doing so, she would only stoop to their level.
The two combatants had reached the arena and stood a good distance away from the other. Two monitors displayed their names, faces, and Aura levels. Cardin grunted as he hefted his mace onto the other shoulder while Jaune calmly drew his sword and activated his shield. Pyrrha couldn't' help but notice that something about her partner's stance seemed off for some reason. The way he held his weapons was…strange but she could not exactly figure out what it was.
"Begin!" Glynda signaled.
Cardin wasted no time in waiting and immediately rushed toward his opponent with his weapon raised. Jaune saw this coming and sidestepped the downward swing of the mace. However, he was caught unprepared for the sudden explosion that followed once the weapon made contact with the ground. The blonde boy staggered back and his Aura was slightly reduced because of it.
Jaune tried to retaliate with a quick jab to the boy's side but Cardin was able to block the attack with the handle of his weapon. Pyrrha had to hand it to the boy, despite the amount of weight his weapon possessed, his speed and reaction time wasn't greatly affected by it. In fact, Cardin didn't seem hindered at all which unfortunately put Jaune in a slight disadvantage.
Her leader ducked as his opponent nearly took his head off with a powerful swing. Jaune sent two quick upward slashes at Cardin's chest as an opening momentarily presented itself. The blonde had managed to inflict some damage which caused the larger boy's Aura to deplete a little.
Cardin scowled at this and sent a thrust kick aimed at Jaune's midsection. However, the young knight managed to raise his shield just in time. The force behind the blow made the blonde skid back a couple of feet and once again reduced Jaune's Aura.
"Is that all you got?" Cardin taunted as he once again stalked toward his opponent.
Jaune didn't bother to reply as he kept his shield up with his sword pointed at the mace wielder. He was mindful of the distance between the two of them and moved accordingly to make sure he was just outside of Cardin's reach. Whenever the boy took a step closer to him, he would take one step back and one step to the left.
"What's the matter? Fight me like a real man you coward!" Cardin jeered as he swung his mace to no avail as Jaune kept out of range. This continued for several minutes as Cardin would aim to catch her partner with the unforgiving side of his weapon. At times when his opponent struck the ground to catch him off balance, Jaune would hop away from the explosion before returning to the distance between them.
"Come on Jaune, you can do this!" Ruby cheered once again.
"Yeah, kick his ass Jaune!"
"Mind your language Ms. Xiao Long!" Professor Goodwitch scolded.
"Sorry." Yang mumbled but she didn't sound very apologetic.
Despite not being too greatly hindered by his weapon, Cardin was still just a person and someone who kept swinging something heavy would get tired eventually. Perhaps this was what Jaune had been hoping to accomplish as Pyrrha noticed the other boy's movements become slightly sluggish. Cardin once more swung his mace in frustration but the result ended up in a wide arc that left him open for just a moment but apparently it was the only thing her partner needed.
In two quick steps, Jaune immediately closed the distance between them and delivered a swift thrust to Cardin's abdomen before raising his shield again and retreating to a safe distance. The same thing occurred when the leader of team Cardinal tried to retaliate with another swing. This time Jaune delivered a clean underhand cut to the shoulder. This process continued until Cardin's Aura had dipped into the yellow.
Enraged by this, Cardin then gripped his weapon with both of his hands and released his pent up frustration into a brutal assault. In a surprising display of speed, the mace wielder rushed forward and slammed his mace into Jaune's shield. The resulting explosion sent the blonde knight flying for a couple of feet before tumbling into a halt. The direct hit caused his Aura to dip straight into the orange.
Luckily, Jaune managed to get into a crouch before Cardin was upon him again with his mace held high, ready to deliver another blow. However, with no other options available to him, her partner inadvertently raised his shield to absorb the brunt of the attack. This was a big mistake.
Pyrrha heard Jaune grunt in pain as the weapon made contact with his shield and sent him rolling a few feet away. His Aura had already fallen into the red which meant that Cardin had won the match. But one look from the other boy's face told her that he either wasn't aware of this yet or simply didn't care. The boy stalked toward her partner and planted a foot on his chest preventing him from getting back up.
By this point, she and her team had stood from their seats and were about to leap down onto the arena seeing as the other boy had no intention of stopping. Cardin raised his mace above his head but he froze at the sound of Miss Goodwitch's commanding voice.
"That is enough!" She said, glaring sternly at Cardin. "Mr. Winchester, you have clearly won the match and I see no need for you to continue fighting. I expect you to practice more self-control before you step into my class because I will not tolerate more aggressive behavior than necessary. Are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am." Cardin replied and reluctantly removed his boot from his opponent's chest. He spared Jaune one last look of contempt before making his way back to his seat.
"Well then, Cardin Winchester is the winner of this match." The professor announced. "He was able to overpower his opponent through sheer force and strength but Mr. Arc showed a good amount of resourcefulness against a stronger foe. Please keep in mind that you won't always be able to tackle your enemies head on and you should remain calm in dealing with pressing situations. Now that is all the time for today and I want to remind everyone that the Vytal festival is only a few months away which means that students from the other kingdoms will be arriving soon so keep practicing."
Students began to file out of the room while team RWBY and the rest of team JNPR walked over to where Jaune was getting up.
"Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now and I have yet to see any real improvement from you." The two teams heard Goodwitch say. "You have a good head on your shoulders and I approve of your methods and strategies but you haven't won a single match since the start of classes. I do hope I will see a much better performance next week."
Pyrrha heard Jaune sigh as professor Goodwitch walked away.
"Don't worry Jaune, I think you did great!" Ruby told him, trying to sound upbeat.
"Yeah, you got him so worked up he couldn't even think straight." Yang added.
Blake gave her partner a strange look. "You do realize how that sounds out of context, right?"
"Maybe, but you're the only one who thought of it first Blake." Yang retorted before a teasing smirk appeared on her face. "I'm starting to think those smut novels you love so much is beginning to affect your thoughts. What was the series called again? Was it Ninjas of Love?"
The raven-haired girl glared at her partner. "We agreed never to speak of that outside of the dorm room."
Everyone got a good laugh out of the banter between the two as they began to head toward the cafeteria for lunch. There was nothing that worked up an appetite like a good sparring session. They all chattered about one thing or another, the topics ranging from schoolwork to the upcoming festival.
The two teams had grown rather close since the start of classes. They all shared similar time schedules and were often seen eating together at one table. Pyrrha had never imagined herself to be part of a tight knit group of individuals who each had their own quirks and likable traits. Yang, Nora, and Ruby were always lively and could get the conversations started while Ren, Blake, Weiss, and she were a bit more reserved. Jaune was something in the middle. Sometimes he would instigate the silliest debates with the others, crack jokes that got the whole table laughing, and just be a plain goofball most of the time. Other times, he would just contentedly listen to the others talking and would give his input every now again.
Pyrrha could see him hanging back a little from the group and she could faintly make out the small frown on his face. She decided to match his pace so that they could walk side by side.
"Lien for your thoughts?" Pyrrha inquired with a small smile.
Jaune shook his head. "I'm just thinking about what Goodwitch said and the fact that I lost isn't exactly helping my mood either."
The redhead racked her brain for something to say. She hated seeing him look so glum. He always adopted the same look of disappointment on his face every time they finished Combat Practice because of his losing streak. It probably didn't help that Pyrrha was ranked number one due to being undefeated so far with the rest of their friends not too far behind. Jaune on the other hand was three ranks above the lowest person in a class of forty students.
The blonde's inability to win a single match bothered her greatly. Even without the use of his Semblance, Jaune should have still been able to rack up a few victories. He displayed a great amount of skill during the initiation and the Beowolf incident plus his swordplay was always expertly executed. But for some reason or another, his strikes and blows were a bit sloppy and stiff whenever he stepped into the arena.
"Well I wouldn't dwell on it too much." Pyrrha advised. "She obviously wanted to give you meaningful criticism so that you could learn from your mistakes and get better."
Jaune nodded absently. "Yeah, I guess…"
"A-And if you want, when we have some free time, we could, um maybe practice together." Pyrrha said nervously. "I could help you out with anything you might have trouble with and maybe give a few pointers that might be useful."
She cursed herself for sounding so anxious. It wasn't like she was asking him out on a date or anything, but her treacherous mind played out an image with just the two of them laughing and having a good time in each other's company. Her brain began to run a mile per minute as dozens of thoughts bounced around in her head.
Oh no, did it sound like I was asking him out? What if he thought I was and refused? But what if he said yes? I would probably…no, get a grip Pyrrha. Calm down. I just want to spar with him and help him get better at fighting. Yes, that's right. Two people just having a friendly match…alone…with nobody else….just her and the boy she had a crush on… Stop! Oh wait he's looking at me and telling me something.
"Hello, Pyrrha?" Jaune said, waving a hand in front of her face.
"Yes?" She said, snapping back to reality.
"You kind of spaced out there for a sec." Jaune told her. "As I was saying before I lost you for a minute, it sounds like a good idea. Just give me the time and place and I'll be there."
"That's great!" She had said that a bit more cheerfully than she intended to. "I'll let you know when I find a good area to spar."
He gave her a warm smile that made her heart start doing little tap dances. "Alright then, you got yourself a sparring partner."
Jaune dug into his triple layer sandwich as he listened to Nora's tale.
"So, there we were in the middle of the night." She said dramatically.
"It was day." Ren interjected but his partner continued unhindered.
"We were surrounded by Ursai." Nora said in her best storyteller voice which had Yang totally engrossed in the story.
"They were Beowolves."
"Dozens of them!" Nora slammed both hands on the table before abruptly standing from her seat for effect.
Jaune snickered as Ren sighed. "Two of them,"
"But they were no match, and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boat load of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs."
Nora then sat back down with her arms crossed and a satisfied smile on her face.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren told them as he balanced a mug on his palm.
"But you have to admit that it never gets old no matter how many times you hear it." Jaune said, taking another bite out of his sandwich and giving Nora a thumbs-up.
"What on Remnant have you been putting in your sandwich?" Weiss scrunched up her nose in distaste as she glanced at the sloppy mess in his hands.
He held it up to her and began to list of the ingredients. "Let's see, we have ham, bacon, bologna, chicken, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, some mustard, and—,"
"Forget I asked." Weiss said before she resumed filing her nails.
"Don't knock it till you've tried it." Jaune said, taking a rather large bite out of his lunch and making loud chewing noises. He took a sliver of satisfaction from seeing her make a disgusted face. It was always fun to get a reaction out of their resident heiress. It even almost made him forget about his loss he suffered earlier. The key word was almost.
It was then that the group heard a small commotion a few tables away from them. They all turned to see Cardin and his gang picking on another Faunus. It was a girl with long brown hair and rabbit ears on her head. The leader of team Cardinal was roughly pulling on one of her animal appendage while his teammates laughed.
"I told you they were real." Cardin told one of his teammates.
"Ow, that hurts!" The bunny girl exclaimed. "Please stop."
Jaune's hands balled tightly into fists when he saw this. He also noticed Blake narrow her eyes at the scene and looked like she was about to rip the book she was holding into two. Everyone else from their table scowled at Cardin's group of bullies.
"Atrocious, I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha hissed out.
"He's not the only one." Blake said as they noticed other students snickering and pointing at the girl as they watched.
"It must be tough being a Faunus." Yang said sadly.
"Jaune, where are you going?" Ruby called out as the blonde got up from the table and approached team CRDL.
They didn't seem to notice him as they were too busy making fun of the Faunus. He stopped right in front of the group and only then did Cardin take note of his presence.
"What do you want Jauney boy?" The burly boy demanded with a sneer. "Didn't I just put you in your place just thirty minutes ago?"
His teammates chuckled at the remark but Jaune was unfazed by the insult.
"You know Cardin, you could tell a lot about a guy based on his weapon." Jaune remarked casually. "The question is why does a guy like you choose to carry around such a huge mace? I mean it seems to me like you're overcompensating for something if you catch my drift."
At this point, the cafeteria had descended into a stony silence. Everyone had begun to notice the blonde boy staring down at the seated Cardin. The rabbit girl stared at Jaune with wide-eyed awe as she was now completely forgotten while her tormentor had found another target. She caught the blonde boy signaling her with his eyes to slip away while she had the chance. Not wasting any time, she complied by talking small but hurried steps away from the five boys.
In all honesty, Jaune had no idea what possessed him to come to the girl's defense. He could have just pretended that nothing was happening and continued eating lunch with his friends until it was time for the next class. He had done it before when he attended school back in his hometown. Whenever the bullies decided to pick on someone else besides him for a change, he would immediately ignore it and walk a little faster before they could set their sights on him. However, the guilt and shame never failed to make themselves known afterward and it was when he was alone that the tears started to fall.
I'm not that kid anymore. I refuse to just sit and watch any longer.
Yeah, that's great and all but now you're going to get socked in the face. The logical side of Jaune's mind spoke up.
Cardin rose from his seat and glared down at him as he squared his shoulders.
"Care to repeat that, Jauney boy?" The taller student's voice sounded calm but Jaune could sense the boiling anger underneath it.
Not missing a beat, Jaune replied. "What are you deaf too? Or are you just embarrassed about your little problem?"
The students that heard him gasped and Jaune could see Cardin's fists shaking at his sides. It was only a matter of time before he threw the first punch. The rest of team CRDL began to take up positions on either side of their leader. The two students stared each other down as the cafeteria merely watched in anticipation.
Screw it. He got this far. He might as well go all the way.
"I think the doctors can take a look at it. But even if they manage to fix that for you there's still no cure for being an asshole."
That was the final straw for Cardin. "You're dead!"
He raised his fist but his punch swung wild and missed Jaune completely. Instead, it hit Sky on the nose and the boy stumbled back, clutching his face. Cardin scowled in confusion as his other two teammates backed away from him else they end up like their comrade.
Jaune glanced back over to where his friends were seated to find them all standing up from their table, ready to jump in at any moment. Yang cracked her knuckles and Nora was rotating her arm with a maniacal look in her eyes. He also noticed the dark glow emanating from his partners hand before it disappeared. He made eye contact with Pyrrha and she winked at him in response.
The young knight grinned as he realized that his attacker must have been wearing a watch that his partner could manipulate with her Semblance.
"Jaune look out!" Ruby cried out in warning just as Cardin rushed at him and threw another punch, only this time with his other hand. Jaune managed to sidestep the attack and stuck his foot out to trip the boy. The bully stumbled and eventually tripped. His face landed on a plate that had a slice of half eaten chocolate cake on it.
Cardin slowly rose to his feet and turned around to face the punk who had the nerve to insult him. Jaune would have been intimidated by the fierce glare the mace wielder was giving him but it was hard to pull it off when your face was smeared with chocolate icing all over. The other students burst into a fit of snickers and laughs when they saw it, with teams JNPR and RWBY being the loudest.
Just as Cardin was raising his fist, a loud voice cut through the din of laughter. "What's going on here?"
Everyone turned to see Professor Oobleck observing the scene with his arms crossed. Jaune spotted the Faunus girl standing a few paces behind him and figured she must have called him. The rest of the students immediately returned to their meal and previous conversations like nothing had happened. He shouldn't have been surprised.
"Care to explain, Mr. Winchester?" The eccentric History teacher inquired.
The larger boy adopted a false innocent smile as he tried wiping off the icing with his sleeves. "Oh, it's nothing Professor. I'm just roughhousing with my buddy Jaune. We just like playing jokes on each other, don't we pal?"
Professor Oobleck's head swiveled to face the other boy. "Is this true Mr. Arc? Because I was informed of a possible confrontation occurring in the cafeteria and it looks to me like you two are the ones who are instigating it."
"He's right Professor, clearly it must have looked like something was happening but we do this all the time, right Cardin?" Jaune said, to which the other boy just nodded with a painfully fake smile.
The green haired Professor scrutinized the both of them for a moment. "Very well, I will take your word for it. However, if I ever catch wind of another incident like this then the two of you will be in for a lot of trouble, are we clear?"
"Yes sir." The two boys said in unison.
The man briskly began walking toward the exit and Jaune let out a small relieved sigh. That was close. He wasn't entirely sure if he was willing to risk a month's detention or something just to make sure Cardin gets what he deserves.
"You better watch your back, Arc." Cardin growled threateningly before he walked away.
Just then, Jaune felt something crash into him from behind. He turned his head to find Nora suddenly hugging his neck while forcing him to give her a piggyback ride. "Way to go fearless leader! You showed him who was boss!"
"Nora! I need air!" Jaune choked out as his teammate nearly strangled him.
"Whoops, sorry!"
Jaune sucked in a huge amount of oxygen just as he was swarmed by his friends. Yang gave him a high five and Ruby was talking animatedly about how funny it was when Cardin got smeared with chocolate cake. Ren gave him an approving nod and a quick "Nicely done." The most noticeable reaction, however, came from an unexpected source. Blake was giving him a rare fond smile that seemed to convey gratitude for some reason. He didn't have time to ponder on this because he felt someone tap on his shoulder.
He turned around and found himself face to face with the rabbit girl standing there nervously.
"Thank you for what you did back there." She said after a brief moment of hesitation. She had a faint accent. "Not a lot of people would have done it."
"Well, those people are idiots." Jaune replied with a grin. "My name's Jaune."
"I'm Velvet Scarlatina." The girl introduced herself with a small smile of her own. "It's nice to meet you Jaune. I want you to know that if there's any way I could return the favor, don't hesitate to ask."
"Sure thing." Jaune said before Velvet bid them goodbye and began to head out of the mess hall.
The blonde then felt Yang give him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Nice going Prince Charming, you managed to save the damsel in distress."
"I had help." Jaune smiled at his partner, to which the girl responded with her own. "And FYI, I'm always charming."
He heard Weiss scoff at the statement. "Don't get such a big head Arc."
"I think it's already too late for that." Ren said.
Jaune pretended to look hurt. "Not cool, dude!"
The two teams shared a good laugh before deciding to head to their next class. The eight students were unaware of the vengeful eyes that followed them out of the cafeteria. The owner had every intention to wipe their silly smiles off their faces, starting with Arc.
And that's the chapter. I know that it's shorter compared to the previous ones but I think I did the best that I could. I felt that it might have been a little rushed but I tried my best to set the stage before things really get interesting. I'm finally getting close to the parts that I really want to write about so stay tuned for more. Also, if you guys are confused about why Jaune keeps losing during his fights, it will be explained in the next chapter. Trust me there is a reason for his low ranking for now. Leave your reviews and as always tell me what you guys think.
