Ch. 20 Fallout and resolution
Breakfast started late for most first year students that day. The exercise in Forever Fall left everyone exhausted and several teams had injured members who couldn't show up for breakfast even if they wanted to.
Despite the outing being cut short, the stampede incident meant the debriefing took far longer than it would otherwise. In the end, there were some teams which were only granted rest after the day ended.
Fortunately the teachers were reasonable and granted the first years respite in the form of cancelling morning classes. This of course meant that very few people were even awake in time for breakfast.
Team BSMT plus Yang and Pyrrha had arranged a party as a replacement for the picnic that never happened and the six of them were presumably still asleep in BSMT's dorm.
Sky had distanced himself soon after they got debriefed and Jaune hasn't seen him since, but he imagined the fallout of his actions was still to come.
As for Ren and Nora, those two Jaune knew for sure were still asleep. While the entirety of team RNJR were present for the party, Nora was the first to excuse herself and go to sleep. Naturally she grabbed Ren on the way out. By the time Jaune and Ruby retired to their room, Ren was trapped in a sleeping Nora's bear hug.
And so it came to be that Jaune sat outside the kitchens on a bench and enjoyed his breakfast in the company of Ruby and no one else.
"You know it's kinda rare that we spend time alone together like this."
"What are you talking about, we spend tons of time together."
"I meant outside of the smithy…"
"Oh… I guess you're right. Um… is that a bad thing? I mean we're dating but you're right, we don't really do much outside of working together."
"I don't know if it's necessarily a bad thing… Personally, I enjoy the time we spend together a lot."
"I guess we're hiding our relationship… Still shouldn't we do more? Like going on dates and kissing and… that kinda stuff?" Ruby was blushing profusely as she thought about the activities couples might do together. Jaune on the other hand thought seriously about the question.
In truth they didn't do much since the day Jaune confessed. They held hands under the table and kissed like three times total but that was about it. Jaune would love to do more, but on Ren's advice held back and let Ruby be the one to push the boundaries. Then again, no one said he couldn't encourage her to push those boundaries.
"We can if you want to… dates and stuff… "
"I… yeah, we just have to be smart about it. I really don't want Yang to find out."
The change in Ruby's expression was subtle, but Jaune grew up around enough girls to know when something was wrong. That it happened when she mentioned her sister gave him a pretty solid idea about what was going on.
Jaune took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"This is about Yang's team… isn't it…"
The subtle sadness got more pronounced, it would seem he hit the nail on its head
"...yeah… I just. I think it's my fault."
"What?!"
"I mean think about it, it's my fault the teams ended up like this, if I didn't want to get my petty revenge…"
"Then what. Cardim and Sky would be on a team with Ren and Nora. The problem would still be there, just happening to our friends instead of your sister."
"I know! But she's my big sister, she's my family and… I want to help fix this."
Jaune couldn't help but smile when her doubts and melancholy turned to resolve. That pure earnest resolve to help people.
"Then we find a way to help."
=O=O=O=
"Hello, Cardin."
"Master Arc."
Jaune startled at the title. When he decided to help put team SWNY back together he knew he needed to speak with Cardin about it. Jaune expected a lot from this meeting. This though? This completely derailed Jaune's train of thoughts.
"Wha…"
"That's your title. Proper title as well. You'd be surprised how much is public record about you… and how much one can find if they dig. I mean fuck, seven sisters, imagine that."
Jaune shook off the discomfort and went to sit on a stool by Cardin's bedside.
"I… ok? Where are you going with this."
"'Where am I going with this?' he asks. I want to apologise to you."
This threw Jaune for a loop. Cardin Winchester, apologising. Now that was simply unheard of. He couldn't do anything but stare at the injured Winchester.
"Look, when you stopped me from bullying that rabbit faunus"
"Velvet." interjected Jaune.
"Huh?"
"Her name is Velvet Scarlatina."
"...right… When you stopped me from bullying Scarlatina you frankly terrified the shit out of me. Detention with Goodwitch wasn't exactly pleasant either, but she actually spoke to me and listened. She asked me why I wanted to be a huntsman. I said I had a legacy to uphold.
She said that the two of us, despite coming from similar backgrounds, had very different experiences. It piqued my interest, I had my father look into you but thought little of it at the time. Well, yesterday he got back to me on that. Couldn't sleep anyway because of the medication they have me on and my ribs still fucking hurt, so I went through it. And I put two and two together."
"What do you mean?"
"My armour, you made it didn't you."
Jaune's face twitched at the truth being thrown in his face.
"I have no idea what you're…"
"I'm not dumb Arc. I know how my father treats the faunus. Hell, just the way he wrote about master Cobalt Fèvre… you get the point. No way Fèvre made it himself."
"Ok, say I agree with you, what is your point?"
"Point is Arc, the armour you made saved my life. You've seen the damage. That would be me. Way I see it, your creation saved my life."
"Ok, so?"
"What I want to say is, I'm sorry. My father always told me we're better. I grew up believing it. Well, I guess it's time for me to prove I can be better than him."
"Can you? Just like that?"
"It will take time, but I know I can do it. We're here to become huntsmen, to help people and I'm not going to be shown up by some upstart blacksmith. I'm going to be better than my father, and in time better than you."
Jaune smiled wryly, in the end he's still Cardin. But a step in the right direction. Then again, that isn't why he came here. He came here to deal with the fallout of Sky's actions.
"Well for that you'll need a team. Can't become a huntsman without it."
"Right, that is why you came here. I try not to think about that damn coward."
"Well, you'll have to think about him soon. Yang and Pyrrha have been avoiding him so far, but unlike you they'll have to see him in classes at least. Ruby is trying to talk her sister into dealing with it in a healthy way, by which I assume she meant getting Yang not to kill Sky before you come back to the team.
But in the end he's YOUR partner. Talk to him, berate him, maybe punch him in the face, but then you'll have to get on with it and help him get better."
"So what, you want me to just forgive him? It's his fault I'm in this damned hospital and remember it could have easily been you in my place."
"Look, I'm not saying to let it go and forget. I'm telling to forgive. You want to be a better person? Prove it."
"You know, there's a reason the two of us don't get along, Arc. What was that saying again? Forgive but never forget? But you're probably right. I will speak with him as soon as I can."
"I was hoping for today…"
"Yeah well we can't always get what we want. I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future and Sky is a coward. He won't come here unless someone drags… now there's an idea. If Yang and Pyrrha do it…"
Jaune smiled wryly. It would seem old habits die hard and Cardin is going to basically bully Sky into talking with him.
"Well, it seems to me you've got something figured out. Guess I'll take my leave."
"Not so fast master Arc. One more thing."
"Yes?"
"I want to commission you to repair my armour."
Jaune frowned at that.
"Cardin, you're better off commissioning a new one, the chestplate is a write-off."
"I know, I've been there, remember?"
"Fixing it isn't going to be worth it, I can melt it down and…"
"No, I want you to fix it. Not just any fix either. I want you to use the stuff your sword is made out of. I don't know what you've done to it, first I held it I thought it's some sort of an heirloom, what with you being an Arc. But knowing what I know now, I know you made it yourself. I want that aura conductive capabilities in my armour."
"Not the whole thing though? You want me to work it into the old armour?"
"The damage mostly and a layer underneath if you can manage it. Leave the damage visible, you know?"
"Let me get this straight, you want me to patch the slash marks in your chestplate, and increase its thickness by what, glueing a layer of the new material to it? Cardin, do you know anything about armorsmithing?"
"Admittedly, no not really? Why is there a problem?"
"This would be possible while using the same materials but welding it would still introduce weaknesses into the armour. And that isn't even taking into account the material my sword is made of. Making a new chestplate out of the high dust alloy may be possible but I doubt I can make it thin enough to be worn underneath other armour. Plus the alloy just isn't very good for making large pieces of armour. It requires aura, otherwise it becomes extremely brittle and you probably don't have enough aura to fill that much of it in any reasonable time.
Here's what I can do, I can use a lesser version of the alloy, one that is significantly more pliable and fix the damage with it. It'll have significantly more aura conductivity than the steel I used initially and I can probably get it to weld itself to the old armour. I refuse to do a full undercoating of the whole armour with it, I just don't have the time for that with school, but the upper chest part can be reinforced by it with relative ease. But even then it will be expensive. Not just the raw materials but my time as well. I can't afford to slack off in school and risk holding my team back."
"Money is a non-issue. I know what I want, but you're the craftsman, if you say this is the better solution here then great. I want to keep the reminder. Like battle scars."
Jaune's frown turned more serious, thinking of his own battle scars.
"Fine, I'll do it. I'll need to see the armour first though, before I give you a quote."
"Good, let me know when you have a number for me."
=O=O=O=
Ruby was speaking with Yang and Pyrrha when they received a message from Cardin. It seemed Jaune had successfully convinced him to talk it out with his team. Yang left with a viscous smile on her face though so Ruby was a bit worried if it would turn out well.
When classes started back up Sky sat with the rest of his team, sans Cardin of course. This seemed like a good thing if one ignored the bruise under his eye. He was on speaking terms with his team though so it was a good thing? Right?
When Ruby turned to Jaune for answers she saw him calculating percentiles of volumes of metal. Ruby knew this type of maths well, almost as well as ballistics, but that only gave her more questions. That is until she noticed the sketch next to the calculations. It was Winchester's armour, complete with the bird insignia. But the drawing included outlines of the slash marks together with rough measurements of the damage.
She was about to ask Jaune about it when the portly professor in front of the blackboard cleared his throat and started his lecture. Unlike other times though Jaune was too absorbed in his work to notice and take notes.
Ruby was hit with a mild panic when she realised that Ren was the only one taking notes today and quickly started noting down as much of the lecture as she could. You could never have enough notes to compare when it came to Port's lengthy stories.
Jaune was so focussed on his calculations that he only noticed the class had started when it was already over. When he looked at Ruby she met his gaze with a toothy grin and proudly presented the messy pages of her hastily scribbled notes.
He plonked his hand on her head and started messing up her hair with a head pat.
"Thanks for covering for me."
Ruby swatted his hand away with a blush as she looked to the empty seat where her sister sat previously. With relief she noted Yang was
already gone.
"Somebody had to, now hurry up and tell me what you've been working on."
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
Personally I believe I'm better at dialogue heavy chapters than combat. But ultimately that's for you to judge.
The story will go into summer vacation soonish, but we still have a few more chapters to go until then. Do expect a "beach episode" when we do get there.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward too the next chapter: Ch. 21 Work, work and more work