"Pewter," Richard nudged his teammate.
"Hmm?" Pewter looked up, blinking slightly.
"I caught you," Richard looked triumphant.
"Did not," Pewter objected, scowling at Richard.
"Did too," Richard leaned on the table motioning to the table opposite. "You spent all of lunch looking at Miss Eucalyphta Magnolia."
"She prefers being called Cally," Pewter ran a hand over one of his horns.
"Aha!" Richard nudged Pewter, the faunas rolling his eyes. "You're on nickname terms now, huh? Does she get to call you that nickname I'm never allowed to mention again in or out of your presence?"
"No," Pewter glared at Richard, trying to ignore the fact how close Richard was to hitting the nail on the head.
He really did like Cally. She was so energetic and bubbly. Sweet too. Pewter rubbed fiercely at his horn, as if that would solve every problem in the world, including his girl problems.
"I suggest you go talk to her," Richard piped up, standing up. "While I go feed GDYH really fast."
Pewter opened his mouth to protest, but only an unrecognizable squeak came out. One Richard thankfully did not hear, since he was well on his way back to their dorm room to feed their Pom Pom Goldfish. Despite everyone else's efforts, the poor goldfish had been titled "Go Do Your Homework". Recently though, Richard had switched to calling it GDYH.
Pewter glanced over at Team Jasmine's table. Shaking his head he debated whether to get up and talk with her. While he was deciding, he tried distracting himself with Onyx and Robin's debate over a certain type of tactics Professor Zaff had introduced in the class.
When he had finally gathered the courage to go talk with her, she was gone to combat class. Pewter sighed and rubbed his horns again. He needed to get better at this or he would miss her completely.
Jazpeer bolted up in his bed, hitting his head on the bunk above. Rubbing his head, he picked up his books that had scattered at his sudden movement.
"What's wrong?" Moegi looked up.
"I forgot our Grimm Studies Paper at the library," Jazpeer looked up apologetically at Sakura. "Its due tomorrow and I don't want to take the chance on losing it by morning."
"Hurry," Cally frowned at their little clock. "It's almost closing time. Want one of us to go with you?"
"No, I'll be fine," Jazpeer jumped around the room, pulling on his boots. "I'll be back in a minute."
Rushing out the door, he ran to the library. Thankfully, the paper was laying on the table, neatly stacked like he had left it earlier. Turning out the door, he nodded goodbye to the librarian closing up.
Suddenly, hands grabbed him and he was dragged beyond the lit sidewalks into the library's garden. The papers went flying floating to the ground like a white cloud. He struggled as Galena's teammates held him steady in front of her.
"Don't you want to face me like a Huntress?" Jazpeer glared at her.
"I was thinking about what Professor Zaff taught us," Galena smiled, running a long finger down his jawline. She laughed as he pulled his chin closer to his chest. "How sometimes, one has to use numbers and sneak attacks to succeed in a mission."
"He was talking about Grimm," Jazpeer tugged again.
"Aren't you just like one?" Galena asked wickedly. "Darkness is your semblance. Sounds like you're just the same as those monsters."
His eyes widened and the fight left him. Galena suddenly spun, kicking Jazpeer in the stomach. He doubled over, gasping, feeling his aura break in that one blow. He looked up fearfully at her.
"Shh," she picked up a little device off her foot, which was now fading from a vibrant red to a dull lifeless gray. "Got this off the Market."
She tossed the device into the bushes and smiled up at him, "Nice little gadget. They call them aura breakers. One blow, not even using my semblance, and bam! Your aura is useless until you can recharge. Which...we don't plan on letting that happen."
Jazpeer gulped, his eyes darting down to where his scroll rested easily in his shirt pocket. If only he could break away for a moment and grab it. Albino seemed to read his mind and grabbed the scroll first, tossing it into the bushes after the dead device.
"Can't have you calling your little friends," Lavender whispered in his ear.
Jazpeer's heart thumped against his chest and his breath caught in his chest. He turned his gaze back at Galena only to meet her fist. Pain burst along his jaw and he backed away in his captors' grasp. They tightened their hold and dragged him back. Navajo was next, two kicks in the back of his knees bringing him down. Grinding his teeth, Jazpeer kicked out as Galena approached him again.
"Aw, the monster fighting again?" she teased. "This will teach you to mess with us."
Jazpeer sagged, the fight once again leached out of him by her words. She smiled and the beating continued. He lost count of the blows delivered, only knowing the pain assaulting him. His back arched as one of their boots came into contact with his back. He was dropped to the stone path, surrounded by their kicking feet, their words ringing in his head. Wrapping his arms around his head, he tried to orient himself enough to fight back, but a few blows to the head pushed that thought out of his mind.
"Get away from him," A new voice said.
Jazpeer looked up, his head spinning as he blinked stars away from his eyes. He recognized the girl standing in the middle of the path, her staff stretched out. She was one of the other team's leaders….Team Cargo? He tried to clear the dark spots from his vision and stand.
"What are you going to do? Tell on us?" Galena smirked. "How will you know if you can't even see?"
Cloud slammed her staff onto the pavement, "You've seen me practice with my team, how would you rate my fighting skills?"
Footsteps and the sound of Jazpeer's name being called echoed into the garden. Galena hesitated, knowing if they started a fight, they would soon be matched evenly.
"We were just evening things up," Galena's smirk faded. "You can't prove anything. Lavender."
The girl stepped up, looking through a telescope into their dorm room. As soon as her three teammates touched her they vanished.
Cloud sighed, looking frustrated that they had decided not to fight. She guessed they didn't want to take a chance on getting caught themselves. The night watchman did his rounds very soon. Plus, it sounded like his team was looking for him. Walking over, she helped Jazpeer to his feet, activating her semblance so she didn't take a chance on hurting him more. The footsteps pounded right beside her.
"Oh no," Sakura rushed forward and took Jazpeer from Cloud. "What happened?"
"Bullies," Cloud replied, still helping to support him. "I heard them taunting him."
"Let's take him back to our room," Sakura took charge. "We can bandage him up there."
Moegi's eyes smoldered angrily, "It isn't right to beat someone up like this. We'll need to tell the Headmaster."
Cally gripped her hands together into fists, wishing she had her boomerang. "I know who they are. We should go make them pay for this."
Jazpeer shook his head, "No." He ignored the way the world spun as he did so. "That's just what they won't. If we just ignore them, they'll quite."
"But you were hurt!" Cally exclaimed.
"Hasn't been my first time," Jazpeer slurred the words, wincing as his bleeding lip throbbed.
"However," Cloud let Moegi help Sakura. "I do believe we should report this in." She strode over to the bushes, feeling around for the metal device. Picking it up, she showed the others. "An aura breaker is not an object to be allowed on campus."
"That's IT!" Cally bellowed. "We are going to bust Team Galena's heads in!"
"No," Jazpeer said firmly. "From returned violence stems only more violence. It would be a war and the Headmaster wouldn't be pleased."
"But…" Moegi protested, supporting Cally.
"We aren't starting a civil war in the school," Jazpeer tried to straighten up. "Ignore them. That's the worst punishment."
Sakura bit her lip, even she wanted to go break Galena's nose. From the looks of it, Galena hasn't hesitated to do the exact same thing to Jazpeer. She needed to get him to their room and tend to him.
"Promise me?" Jazpeer asked.
"Promise," Moegi sighed.
Cally looked disappointed and still angry but still nodded. "Promise."
Jazpeer glanced at the others. Cloud shrugged, holding up the device, "I'm still reporting this. My team had its own problems with Galena, but she learned to stay away."
Sakura moved them forward towards their dorm. "Promise. Now let's get you back before you faint."
"I won't faint," Jazpeer protested.
Once they got him back to their room, Sakura bustled about, cleaning Jazpeer's open cuts and putting a paste on his bruises. Cloud had accompanied them, to see if they needed any help. Seeing as how they didn't, she nodded at Jazpeer.
"Second monday of the month, the Team leaders have breakfast at eight in the lunchroom," Cloud said. "Next week is our second time. You might want to join us. Don't worry, Galena will never be invited."
"Thanks," Jazpeer winced as Sakura washed the cut above his eye. "I'll think about it."
Cloud nodded then left. Jazpeer sighed and laid down on Sakura's request. He closed his eyes, trying not to think of the pain.
Monster
Lilith Achlys leaned back in the pilot seat of her single passenger aerocraft as Beacon faded into the distance. She had everything she needed and they had been none the wiser. Clicking a button on the dash, she began speaking.
"Day 33," she said. "At 1300 hours. Mission complete. There are several students of interest. As the press I was allowed almost everywhere. Everyone is still completely clueless about what is soon to transpire. I am heading back to the laboratory now, where I hope to see...sufficient progress on Doctor Autamick's work."
She paused, double checking her coordinates before continuing.
"One student in particular I believe will be of great interest. Jazpeer Aldenwood. He has...silver eyes. There is also something else about him…"
She trailed off, then pressed the button again, ending the recording.
"Something about him…" she repeated to herself.
This chapter is for a friend :D Who wanted to see Jazpeer hurt. *waves at friend*
Fun fact: The Queen of Vytal's name is based off of RWBY's every name has a connection to history, fiction, or fairy tale. Basically, Hypnos was the Greek God of Sleep. He had a son called Morpheus. I changed the name around for a girl and there we have it!
Fun stuff...some ships introduced :D