Hey everybody. I just felt the weight of the new semester today. Had to be in first period today at 7 o'clock. Since Monday I've been waking up at around 6 or 7 even though A) I finally manage to fall asleep around 2-3 in the morning every night, and B) I only need to be in class one day out of the week that early… sometimes I hate my body for being able to adapt so quickly. Anyway I just woke up from a nap so it's time for chapter 11.

Chapter 11: the flow of energy

I got back to the dorm later that night and saw Velvet lying in bed, opening and closing her fans as she waited for me to get back. I was still steaming over Cardin hurting Velvet, tossing my bag of books on the floor before sighing heavily and sitting on the edge of my bed. Velvet looked over at me, she was either not worried about what had happened to her earlier or putting on a façade to make me think she wasn't worried about it.

She had a good neutral expression, but I knew her well enough to see through her façade, what Cardin had done was bothering her, and it was beginning to show.

"How long has that trash been bullying you?" she sat up and froze at my words, locking her eyes to mine for a moment before looking away. "Common Velvet, it kills me to see him do this to you. You have always been shy around other people, but now your even getting that way around me." I reached over to her bed and placed my hand on hers. "I just got the closest person I can call a sister back after so long, I don't want to lose you again."

She put her fan down on the table and sat put her feet on the floor, facing me. "I just don't want to talk about it, ok." She pulled her books from the nightstand and opened them. "Now let's start studying." I held her eyes for a bit longer before releasing her hand and with a sigh grabbed my books as well.

We studied an hour on each subject before going out into the courtyard beneath the statue to train with our weapons. The sun was on the horizon, casting long shadows across the wide stone walkway. After a moment I nodded and we started. She charged and threw both of her fans ahead of her. I dodged one and blocked the other before refocusing on Velvet.

She had covered the distance between us and as the fans zipped back to her she went on the offense. Striking at me with the fans as an extended fist, I blocked her attacks and counter attacked. I struck with my fists and elbows in a four hit combo before throwing a quick kick that caught her full force in the stomach. She shouldn't have been hit with that, she is faster than me on the ground and a better martial artist. She slid backwards, absorbing the hit with her aura and quickly tossed one of the razor fans.

It was such a close ranged attack that I barely got out of the way; it grazed my arm as it went by. I countered by throwing one of my knives and charging after it. She deflected it into the ground and caught her other fan as I got within range. She moved out of the way of my first two strikes before flipping backwards and kicking up at me. I backed up quickly to avoid her kick and caught both of her legs, stopping her flip. Before I could do anything she drew her knees to her chest, drawing me off balance before kicking back out and using her momentum to push off the ground. The next thing I knew I was on my back with Velvet bringing down her fan. I reached up and grabbed her arm before flipping her forward over my head and rolling to my feet.

Velvet was crouched a few feet away, I lunged forward and struck out with a quick kick that caught her in the chest and forced her back to the ground. Before I could take advantage of the situation she glanced at me when she landed and threw her fans in my direction to keep me away. Not bad Bunny, even when your head isn't clear you can keep up, but your letting me land hits that you would never let me get away with. I slipped into my reckless mind set. I hope you're ready to lose.

I used my last two knives, throwing them at the fans and knocking them out of the air. Charging forward I met Velvet as she got back on her feet. She met me and I struck at her with quick attacks.

Without her fans in hand she was completely in her element. She blocked and counter attacked with the ease of breathing. But while she was in her element, her mind wasn't fully focused, and eventually she started slipping up. One hit. Two hits. three hits. You lose.

Her guard fell apart from my barrage and I put a few strikes to her core before sweeping her feet out from under her. Crouching over her, I pinned her arms and delivered a mock finishing blow. She let herself go limp beneath me and I let go and rolled off of her, sitting next to her. She lay on the ground for a while and just stared at the stars before speaking.

"I've never had any friends besides you that I could be myself around. I left most of my friends behind at signal because they didn't pass the entrance exam to Beacon. So here I knew I was going to have to make new friends." She sighed and looked at me. "Then one day I decided to go for a walk through Forever Fall. And who do I meet after being attacked by an Ursa." Looking back to the stars she continued. "My oldest friend, someone I could be myself around. When I learned that you were also coming to Beacon I knew that I didn't have to worry."

She took a deep breath and I saw it in her eyes. She wasn't upset that someone was bullying her; she was upset that she was being bullied because she was a Faunus.

"Velvet."

"I've always heard of other Faunus being attacked because they are Faunus. They didn't have to be a member of the white fang. I've never known that pain and hatred, I thought I would be able to take it if it ever happened, but I can't." I stood up and held out my hand to help her up. She looked at it for a moment before taking it.

"Velvet, like you, I haven't seen anyone get attacked. I've heard of them and even argued with someone that was prejudice. But the strangest thing that I figured out a year ago is that I am also prejudice… against humanity. We are creatures that don't have anything special about us except our semblance and abilities. Faunus can sense each other and all have different traits based on what animal your DNA is coupled with. We humans are envious of that and therefore we hate." She got to her feet and I went to collect our weapons. "The only humans I truly have any relationship with are Ozpin and Lie Ren from team JNPR. I would add my mother to that list, but she disappeared. Otherwise it's all Faunus, Shay, the host at the Restaurant, and you." I returned to her side, forcing aura into my wings to stretch the connection point after so long of them being folded, and gave her the fans. "I don't have a lot of friends, Velvet. But I'm here for everyone, you and Shay before anyone else." I smiled at her as she took her fans.

She looked at me for a moment before hugging me without even sheathing her fans. It caught me off guard for a moment but I quickly returned it. It took a moment for me to realize that I still had my wings open. I cast my awareness to its maximum distance all around us but as far as I could tell nobody was around, since they were getting ready to go on the field trip into forever fall tomorrow.

She let me go after a while and sheathed her fans. "Thanks, Ike. I really needed that." she said with a smile before heading back to the dorm. I followed beside her. She wasn't over the problem, but she was in a better mood and I think able to wrap her head around it better.

I narrowed my eyes for a moment. Cardin, you're going to be my next challenger in the ring tomorrow. If you want to be the big guy that controls others, you're first going to have to go through me. Velvet turned to me as we walked and I called my face to keep the mood a good one. She was happy again and I wasn't about to ruin it.

The next day I woke to Velvet already in class. After showering and getting ready for combat practice I received a message from Goodwitch saying that if you weren't going into Forever Fall to collect red sap for Professor Peach then today's class is cancelled. I listened to the message before tossing my scroll onto my bed and looking out the window. Okay so I'm free for a few hours. What to do.

Of course the first thought that popped into my mind was go on the field trip to give me something to do but odds were that Goodwitch wouldn't let me. The second thought was to stretch my wings and fly around out at sea. But today is a weekday so I can't without Ozpin getting sore at me. So instead I went to beacon cliff and just cast my awareness out over the forest.

I hated that I couldn't turn off my semblance like others, while it was incredibly helpful when I was fighting, during the day I could pick up everything that went on in a classroom. Every whisper or pencil taps. While some of the things I heard were quite funny or ridiculous, sometimes I just really didn't want or need to hear something. But most of the time I was just aggravated at the fact that I couldn't cast it further.

Coming back to my immediate surroundings I just looked out on the Emerald Forest. I thought about Shay and I how I wish I could be with her right now that I had nothing going on. I thought about Team RWBY and JNPR, wondering if they would ever become more than just allies. And I thought about Velvet, who was my dearest friend, almost a sister, and how I could keep her away from Cardin.

At the moment he along with teams RWBY and JNPR were in Forever Fall, collecting sap. I wasn't in Professor Peach's class yet so I looked forward to that when the time came when I would do that. But I wish that I could have fought Cardin today. I had noticed when I saw them walking out that Juane was carrying all of team CRDL's supplies and not his own teams. I put together that Cardin was also bullying Juane based on what I had seen then and in the cafeteria after I learned he had been pulling Velvet's ears again.

I can't do anything for Juane since I he isn't on my team, but hopefully Juane figures it out. I remembered his fight against Cardin during combat practice. He hadn't so much as touched Cardin and was so uneducated in swordplay that he might as well have fought with his bare hands. At least then he would have had a little more control over his weight distribution. He needed help from his teammates in combat, and he was lucky, he had fighters that were on the same level as team RWBY, probably better if you consider the experience in actual combat.

I sat there for a long time waiting for the hours to tick past until my next class started. When It finally came time for professor Port to start lecturing I was happy to have the distraction. I had nearly jumped into the forest to train. There wasn't a large steel crate in the corner of the room today so the class was all lectures and class discussion. Same went for Oobleck's class.

We had started talking about the Faunus Rights movement and the battles that inevitably decided the war. Once again I soaked up the information without even trying. Apparently I had a natural interest in history. Whenever I had questions Oobleck was always ready and enthusiastic to answer them.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by and when I got back to my dorm room it had felt like I had just been out on Beacon Cliff. Velvet seemed to be in a better mood today as we studied and spared before getting some food in the cafeteria. We ate and finished our day like normal. Except tonight I had trouble sleeping. I tossed and turned all night, even after Velvet fell asleep I remained awake.

The hours ticked by and eventually I laid flat on my back and used an old trick I had learned from Shay. I slowed my breathing, starting at my head and working my way down I realized every muscle in my body, until I could feel the energy building in every muscle. I realized that I had a weird feeling around the connection point on my back.

I sat up in bed and forced aura into my wings unfolding them and working out the nerves that connected to the device. Within a few moments I had relaxed it, folding my wings back over my chest. Hmm I wonder what that feeling was. I've never felt that before. I was going to contemplate it but was quickly dropped into the void of sleep.

It may seem like a crap way to end this chapter. But why do chapters end, to lead up to something or hint at something. For right now I'm going to leave it at this because I like where I'm going with this idea that I have. Any way as always let me know what you thought, you're like and dislikes, concerns or phobias. Leave a review for me If you want to help me out and ill see you the next chapter I write. Eternal out.