Chapter 12: Secrets

Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown

In all of my years in the Wasteland and even beyond, I have never met anyone who can speak so fast without stuttering. Although, he is also fast in movement, it doesn't surprise me much since Ruby can move as fast. Here I am, barely keeping up with our teacher, Professor Oobleck...

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie."

I thought to myself, 'This guy needs to lay off the coffee, or whatever he's on.'

Oobleck continues, "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 pauses for a moment to take a sip of his coffee and asks out a question, "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

I look towards my right at Velvet as she slowly raises her hand.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck responded.

Again, he pauses to take a sip, then said, "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!"

The 'White Fang'. I heard from the news that they used to be a peaceful organization of Faunus until something made then turned to violence. I thought grimly to myself, 'Humanity and their damn stubbornness and pride. It only breeds problems like wars.'

"Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Oobleck asks.

Then I noticed Weiss raises her hand. Oobleck asks, "Yes?"

"The Battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answers.

"Precisely!" Oobleck replies.

I raised an eyebrow and thought, 'Fort Castle? That's... a strange name for a small, walled structure that is a fort after a quite larger structure that is a castle.'

"And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

I then overheard Jaune muttering at Cardin, "Hey!"

"Mr. Arc!"

I glared at Cardin, who notices and glares back at me. 'I swear, I'll gonna kill this fucker, but not today, though...'

"Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent!" Oobleck said.

I then leaned over to Velvet and whispered, "In case if Jaune answers wrongly; don't hold it against him since he did fell asleep and was just rudely awaken by Cardin."

Velvet nodded and I noticed Blake heard as well and she nodded as well.

"What is the answer?" Oobleck asks.

I began to think about the question for the answer; What advantage did the Faunus had over this General's army? Then it hit me; normal animals would have better hearing and would also have natural night vision, and since Faunus have animal traits, then they have night vision and better hearing, as well.

I grinned to myself and thought, 'Thank you, Dad, Mr. Brotch, and Jonas...'

Then Jaune shouted out, "Um, B-binocular?!"

Then the whole class laughed, aside from me, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, and Velvet.

But I was most annoyed at Cardin and I thought, 'I WILL kick his ass later...'

"Very funny, Mr. Arc... Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

Cardin replied, "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal that a soldier."

Okay, at this point; I was about to let loose my anger on the asshole. Of course, Velvet noticed this and quietly says, "Hey, Edward. Breath, I know you don't like Cardin, but let's not get violent, please?"

I close my eyes and took deep breaths, then whispered, "Thanks, Velvet."

She smiles and replies, "Sure, anytime."

We then overheard Pyrrha saying to Cardin, "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?"

"What? You got a problem?"

I then turned around to him and said, "Yeah; my problem is YOU, Cardin..." I then turned to Oobleck and said, "...and I have the answer, Professor!"

Oobleck nodded and said, "Continue, Mr. Vaughn."

"Just like the animals like felines and such, Faunus have natural night vision that can help them see better at night, along with increase hearing, allowing them to hear more clearly than humans can. Like for example; if you blow a whistle that is so high pitch, that any normal humans can't hear, animals, like dogs, for example, are able to hear it much better. So that means that the Faunus were able to see and hear the General's army coming, even at night." I answered.

Then Blake commented, as if towards Cardin, "And perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

I then noticed Cardin, who's a little tense in anger, stands up and before Oobleck even spoke, I immediately throw a throwing knife at him, but missed him by an inch, next to his face. This stopped Cardin in his tracks and looked towards me.

I said in my death-tone voice, "If I were you, I would stay seated before I do anything that will make me regret later on."

I then walked up to him and retrieved my knife, while I glared at him with pure hatred, and went back to my seat.

Oobleck asked me, "Mr. Vaughn! Was that really necessary?"

"Yes; he was going to do something rash towards one of the students here and I can't have him do that, so I took action." I answered.

Oobleck nodded and said, "Very well! And your answer is correct, by the way."

I then overheard Jaune snickering and Oobleck said, "Mr. Winchester and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."

"Ohh..." Jaune moaned.

"Now! Moving on!" Oobleck said.

XXXXXXX

'After class...'

When we started to leave the classroom, I overheard Pyrrha saying, "You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune."

Her team nods and continues onward, along with team RWBY and Velvet. I then thought, 'Might as well do the same; make sure Cardin doesn't do anything rash.'

Pyrrha notices me and asks, "Aren't you going to go with them?"

"Actually, I'm staying, too. I'm going to make sure that Cardin doesn't do anything rash towards Jaune when they exit the class." I answered.

She nods as a reply and we both waited for Jaune. After a few minutes, a blur came out of the class, figured that it's Oobleck, and then Jaune came out and Cardin shoving him.

"OOHF! OW!" Jaune yelled.

While Pyrrha went towards to help Jaune, I went towards Cardin and punched him in the face. Cardin recoiled and held up his hand to his face, while glaring at me.

I the said to him, "Cardin, if you do that EVER again, then I will NOT hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes!" I glared at him with pure hatred once more and then said, "Now get the fuck out of here!"

Cardin growled and he went away. I turned towards Pyrrha and Jaune, who were staring at me in shock, and I asked, "Hey, Jaune, are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks." Jaune replied.

Then Pyrrha asks me, "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"That you will kill him?" she asks.

I thought for a moment before replying, "As long as he doesn't do anything rash again, then I won't. But if he does, then you better hold me back with all of your strength, 'cause I will NOT hold back on him."

They both nodded and Pyrrha, "As long as you allow me to break his legs."

I cocked an eyebrow and said, "That's oddly specific..."

"Nora was the one who suggested it while you went to help Velvet from Cardin and his friends in the cafeteria." She said.

"Oh, well then afterward, I will shoot his broken legs for good measure." I said with a grin.

Then Jaune sighs, probably from our conversation, and then Pyrrha brightened up and says, "I have an idea!"

Jaune and I looked in confusion at her and then she began to drag Jaune, saying, "Here, come with me!"

"AAUHA!" was all that Jaune replied. I decided to follow them and shouted towards them, "Hey! Wait up!"

XXXXXX

We came outside on the balcony of such and they both started to stare at the tower, with its green, glowing orbs at around the top.

Jaune says, "Pyrrha, I know that I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not... THAT depressed."

Jaune began to look down at the edge and I began to pull him back, saying, "Jaune, I don't think Pyrrha wants you to commit suicide; she likes you too much to even suggest that."

After a moment of silence, Pyrrha said, "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so..."

Pyrrha takes a deep breath and then said, "I want to help you!"

"W-what?" Jaune asks in confusion.

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha said.

I grinned and followed with Pyrrha, "Hey, let me help, too. I can help with ways in combat as well. I done it before with a group of misfits and I ended up turning them into one of the most well-known squad within the New California Republic."

Pyrrha smiled and said to Jaune, "See? Even Edward wants to help, too!"

Then Jaune asks, "You guys think I need help?"

"N-no! No, that's not what we meant." Pyrrha said.

"But you guys just said it." Jaune said.

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon, that speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, you deserve to be here Jaune. all you need is a little push, just like Pyrrha just said." I said.

Jaune turned his back on us and said, "You're wrong... *Sighs* I-I don't belong here."

Pyrrha replied, "That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do!"

Then Jaune snapped, "No, I don't!"

We both stared at Jaune before he continued, "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."

"Wait, what do you mean, Jaune?" I asked.

"I mean, I didn't go to Combat School! I didn't pass any tests! I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" Jaune said before turning towards us, then continued, "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied."

"What? But, why?" Pyrrha asks.

Before Jaune could answer, I replied, "Is it because of your family's legacy? Is it because you want to prove that you are able to follow the path that your family had followed before?"

Jaune answers, "Yes! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I just wanted to be one too, but I was never good enough."

Pyrrha was speechless and I stepped towards him and said, "Listen, Jaune! It doesn't matter if you were chosen to be here or not, you are here now. Look at me; I wasn't always this skilled in combat or anything else. I was like you, Jaune; unskilled, inexperienced, and unaware. But over time, you began to learn, not just your accomplishments, but as well from failures. Failures teaches you what you should not do and to do it differently. That is what we call 'Life'. Life becomes a teacher; a teacher that shows us our flaws and help us fix them. All you need is help, Jaune!"

Jaune tries to push me away and says, "I do no-"

I interrupted Jaune, "Yes, you do, Jaune! Your stubbornness and your pride are the things keeping you from your future; from your dream! In order to look pass you pride and stubbornness, you must focus on your character; for it is not a title that makes you, it's not the success that makes you. Your character finds the success and finds the fame, and it starts right there, for there is one in the thousands of hours in the training room, running laps, 5 A.M. runs while everyone else is sleeping, that's when it's won. The heart of a champion is a light switch that's always on; it doesn't go on and off when someone's watching, it's constant. It's how you are able to do with the best of your abilities."

I paused as I noticed both Jaune's and Pyrrha's face in surprised expression. I then continued, "It is up to you to make your dreams come true. You ARE a warrior, Jaune! All warriors have to train constantly in order to become better, to be stronger, through successes and losses, for they are your lessons for you to learn to make yourself better. And not every warrior is ever alone. Even though I was known as the Lone Wanderer, I was always in company with friends that I met along my travels. You must let us help you, Jaune. Let us help you to become stronger."

Then Jaune snaps, "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I WANT TO BE THE HERO, NOT A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS!"

Pyrrha began, "Jaune! I-"

Jaune interrupts, "I am tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in a tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you guys understand!? If I can't do this on my own... Then what good am I?"

I then began, "Jaune, LISTEN-"

Again, Jaune interrupts, "No! I'm done talking to both of you! Just leave me alone."

He the marches off away from us and Pyrrha was about to go after him, shouting, "Jaune, wait!"

But I stopped her and I said, "No, Pyrrha. Let him go. He's going to have to learn this the hard way now. He will figure it out, eventually. All we can do is wait."

Pyrrha nodded and we began to head inside, and I thought to myself, 'Damn it, Jaune! Why do you have to be so stubborn?'

To be Continued...