Dreadix: Gotta love the peaceful moments the best!

DarkDragon472: Yep! I may or may not plan on making references and cameos to other characters later on~ and who knows. Maybe our little Unknown will embody those traits.

Dragon Rose 11: I have, actually! We'll be delving into what Sirius' weapon sooner rather than later!

ZetaZero246: Yep. That seems to be the majority vote. Team RWBY is likely going to be our go-to gals for romantic partners. I'n gonna save the other love interest suggestions for potential other stories beyond Unknown Hunter, though!

Magi Mari: Eeeyup, I know what you're getting at. Don't worry, I'm gonna be expanding more on Sirius' character and personality beyond huntsman oriented stuff in the coming chapters--it's just mostly building the ground works as of late. I'm still figuring out what Sirius' weapon is going to be but I don't want it to be a simple sword. And there will be character conflict, you're right about them getting along right off the bat. I think I leaned a bit too fast into the friendship aspect... but I'll make sure to have them clash every now and then, mostly to spice things up and freshen up dynamics. Thanks for your review! Your insight is real helpful and actually keeps me a bit grounded beyond the positive reception.

Lot better than the reviews that, well... y'know, bash.

And I think we can BOTH agree that Vegeta is a far better character than Goku. There's literally no contest. lmao.

Side note: the last outfit Sirius wore in the previous chapter will be his hunter/combat outfit going onward, for those who need a mental visual reference. lol.

Onto the chapter!

Chapter 6: Getting Gains!

"What's the matter, Clutz?! Having a hard time keeping up?!"

"Shut... up!"

"Then why don't you MAKE ME!" Cardin roared, swinging down The Executioner upon a dodging Sirius. The Burn Dust within generating a powerful explosion upon impacted with the ground that Sirius was stood in. The resulting shockwave sent the white-haired boy tumbling across the ground. He cursed mentally and ducked under another wild swing from Cardin. "You can't keep running away forever! FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"

"If '"fighting like a man" means getting my skull caved in, then I don't want to!" Sirius shot back and side-stepped another swing. His eyes widened a fraction as he saw an opening in Cardin's guard. His heart began to race. There!

Sirius pushed his feet into the ground and burst forward, throwing a heavy punch towards Cardin's exposed side. The armored leader of CRDL let out a grunt of shock and pain as he was sent sliding back from the force of the hit. Cardin blinked owlishly in surprise.

I felt that through my armor. Cardin's eyes soon narrowed and he scoffed, taking a daunting step forward. "Lucky shot."

Sirius sweat-dropped with a groan. "Ugh, that tracks..."

From up on the stands, both Team RWBY and JNPR watched on. Ruby was actively cheering Sirius on, with Jaune doing the same. But that was probably because both he and Sirius shared both a common enemy and frequent tormentor of one Cardin Winchester, who'd been kicking both boys while they were down since the start of the semester. The reason for such, neither team really didn't know. It didn't help that both boys tended to play it off as 'guys being guys'.

Ren's eyes narrowed slightly. "At the very least, he's gotten better at dodging."

"GO, SIRIUS! BREAK HIS LEGS!" Nora roared in excitement, thrusting a fist into the air. "AND HIS ARMS FOR GOOD MEASURE!"

"Being delegated to a punching bag during combat class for the past two weeks or so has to have built up his reflexes." Blake commented dryly, crossing her arms with a frown. "Still..."

"He isn't going to get anywhere by dodging." Weiss stated with a distasteful frown. Both at Cardin tormenting the boy, and at Sirius' lackluster combat ability. She knew the reason for the ladder, but it was still frustrating to watch. "He's only gotten one hit in so far."

"I'm sure Sirius can pull through." Pyrrha smiled, glancing at Weiss and then back at the match. Her smile took on a nervous edge. "Maybe the 50th time's the charm..?"

"I'm starting to think Sirius is just plain unlucky with the amount of times he's been paired against Cardin."

Yang was uncharacteristically silent as she watched the fight with a frown on her face, arms folded under her bust, and her eyes narrowed in focus. As Sirius and Cardin moved throughout the arena, her gaze focused solely on Sirius everytime he dodged and attempted to strike back. She took note of every glaring weak spot in his form, which Cardin exploited and sent him flying across the stadium with an explosive swing of his mace.

Blake took note of her partner's silence, and glanced at the blonde with furrowed brows. "Yang. Is something wrong?"

"He's gonna lose." Yang spoke up for the first time since the match started, her eyes narrowing further.

That broke Ruby out of her reverie, shooting her sister a shock and affronted look. "What? What do you mean by that?!"

"He's leaving too many holes in his stance and keeps tip-toeing around Cardin. Dodging was working at first, but now Cardin's caught on and keeps anticipating where he's gonna move to next."

To further showcase her point, the Burn Dust in The Executioner began to glow a red hot orange. Cardin went through the motion of swinging his weapon and Sirius' eyes widened in alarm as he leaped to the right to dodge. A menacing grin crept up Cardin's face as he switched his grip and adjusted his footing, twisting his body and slamming his mace straight into Sirius' side. Sirius coughed out spittle as pain flared up in his side, but he had no time to dwell on that as he was in encompassed in sweltering heat.

An explosion shook the room and Sirius let out a cry of agony as his body sailed across the stadium, out of bounds, and crashed against the wall. As his body and collapsed and crumbled to the floor, the holo-board loudly declared Cardin as the winner, as if to put more salt in the wound.

Ruby's eyes widened in horror, Weiss grit her teeth in frustration at the brutality displayed, Blake's hand slowly curled into a fist, and Jaune paled, while Pyrrha could only cover her mouth in shock and horror, Ren released a quiet breath and closed his eyes, and Nora glared silently at Cardin's back.

Yang let out a soft sigh, shaking her head.

"And just like that, I chalk up another victory." Cardin sneered, giving Sirius' downed form a dismissive glance. "Tch. What a weakling."

"Do not degrade your fellow classmen, Mr. Winchester. It is unbecoming of a huntsman." Glynda lectured, her eyes narrowing in slight distaste.

"What? Just saying it how it is, teach!" Cardin let out a boisterous laugh, something his team mimicked, and soon, a good majority of the class as he shouldered The Executioner and made his way back up the stands.

Both Team RWBY and JNPR shared a silent look of contempt and frustration at Cardin's attitude. Glynda nursed her brow and sighed harshly, before peering over at Sirius with a look of concern. "Mr. Caelan, do you need to be escorted to the infirmary."

No amount of pain could equate to the damaged pride Sirius felt at the crowd's jeering laughs. He internally seethed as he stood up to his feet shakily, nearly stumbling over himself and collapsing onto the floor again. Letting out a pained exhaled while cradling his side. He grimaced.

"... I'm fine."

Before Glynda could state otherwise, the bell had rang. She let out another sigh and adjusted her glasses, fixing the class with a level glare. "That will be all for today, class. You are dismissed." She turned towards Sirius, concern flashing in the eyes. "While you may say otherwise, I suggest you still visit the infirmary, Mr. Caelan, if only to make sure your injuries aren't so serious."

"... Yeah." Sirius muttered quietly, slowly making his way up the steps to join the horde of students pooling out the class. RWBY and JNPR exchanged concerned glances and quickly got out of the seats to rush after their friend.

They swiftly caught up to him in the hallway, and Ruby was the first to approach. "H-Hey, Sirius!"

Sirius perked up and paused in his steps, peering over his shoulder in confusion. The group slowed to a stop and Ruby gave him a sheepish grin. "You um, did pretty good out there today!"

Sirius frowned slightly, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I, uh..."

Ruby kept going, her smile getting progressively wider as she continued. "I especially liked that fake out punch you did! It was really cool-"

"Hey, uh... listen." Sirius sighed as he cut her off, and gave her and his friends a tired smile. "I appreciate the words but, I think I just... need some fresh air. Collect my thoughts, y'know."

"O-Oh! That's great! We can-!"

"Alone." Sirius winced at Ruby's hurt expression. He'd probably been a bit too forceful. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, let alone the others. So he was quick to elaborate. "W-What I mean is, I think I just need to be alone for a bit. Peace and quiet, and all that..."

"... Oh." Ruby muttered despondently, frowning slightly. "O.. Okay."

"I'll see you guys later?" At their slow nods, Sirius nodded back, smiling slightly as he turned and walked off, giving them a wave.

Ruby sighed and stilled when she felt a hand on her shoulder, glancing up to see Jaune giving her a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. We all need space now and again." Jaune shrugged his shoulders, glancing the way Sirius had left. "He'll bounce back."

"If there is one thing I have gleamed, it is that Sirius is not mentally weak. Not by a long shot." Pyrrha shook her head, smiling softly. "Give it time. He'll come around."

"YEAH! Nothing'll keep him down for long!"

"We'll be there for him when he needs us."

"Right."

Ruby felt a weight lift from her heart at her friends words, and she glanced towards Weiss. The heiress huffed. "They are all correct... Caelan will not crumble so easily."

Yang wrapped and arm around Ruby's shoulder, pulling her in for a side-hug. The blonde smiled softly. "So don't go looking so glum. It doesn't suit ya, sis. C'mon, how about we get some cookies, yeah?"

Ruby's expression brightened and she swiftly nodded. "Okay! B-But we have to help Sirius after. Leader's orders!"

Yang laughed softly and nodded her head, pushing the caped-girl along. "Aye, aye, captain!"

As the group made their way to the cafeteria, Yang lagged behind and eyed the direction where Sirius had wandered off, frowning in thought. Almost instantly, a lightbulb had formed in her head, and she grinned, rushing on after her team.

[HUNTER]

Sirius let out a strained sigh as he slumped against a tree in the courtyard. Decent enough shade to hide him away from the sun's glare. The white-haired boy grimaced deeply as his mind shot back to his match against Cardin. An ugly feeling festered within him as he remembered Cardin's mocking. The jeers and grating laughs of the student body at his expense. It gave way to smoldering anger and made his blood boil.

It made him angry. Angry at Cardin, for humiliating him in front of so many people. At himself for being so weak and lackluster in combat as to not be able to fight back against Cardin, let alone beat him. It made his eyes burn with tears, it made his soul roar in retribution, wanting to beat down on Cardin and actually taste victory.

"What a weakling."

Sirius seethed, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists so hard his nails threatened to break the skin. Tears dripped down his cheeks and he banged the back of his head against the tree he rested on. DAMN IT! He screamed internally, raising a fist that he threatened to strike the ground with. He was about to do so, if the buzzing of his scroll didn't catch his attention.

Sirius paused, and growled to himself, fishing out his scroll to see who'd called him. He blinked in surprise to see that it was Yang. The scroll continued to vibrate and he gulped, tempted to hang up and call her back later. But that'd be rude.

And he didn't want to potentially earn the blonde's ire.

Sirius sighed and wiped away at his tears, taking in a breath and picking up. "... Hello?"

["Geez, I thought you'd never pick up! Y'know, it's kinda rude to keep a girl hanging."]

Sirius winced slightly at her tease, struggling to come up with an excuse. So he just apologized instead. "S-Sorry."

That got a laugh out on the other end.

["Chillax, Shorty. I'm just messin'~ seriously though, can you head by Training Facility-01? I need to talk to you."]

"Why there of all places?" Sirius asked in confusion.

["It's a private talk, duh! Plus, not many come around after hours. I'll see you there! Don't be late.~"]

Sirius blinked as Yang abruptly hung up. He sighed and shook his head, chalking it up to the blonde being her usual self. Standing up to his feet and dusting himself off, Sirius dashed off in a blur of black and white.

What could she possibly want...?

[HUNTER]

Sirius slid to a halt in front of the doors of Training Facility-01. He stared at the doors in apprehension before sucking in a deep breath and pushing the doors wide open. He took a few steps inside and looked around with a confused frown, and called out:

"Yang?"

"Over here, Shorty!"

Sirius sighed and ran a hand down his face, and turned towards the middle of the room. There Yang stood, dressed in a bright orange sports bra and black compress shorts which hugged her curvaceous body tightly and somehow seemed to pronounce them far better than her combat outfit ever could. Sirius gulped audibly and felt sweat roll down his cheek as he approached the blonde.

"S-So. What did you need to talk about?" Sirius asked, making sure to focus extra hard on Yang's face.

Yang stared at Sirius in silence, which was abruptly broken as she suddenly swept him off his feet with a leg-sweep and swiftly pinned him to the floor. The action was so fast that Sirius could only yelp in shock and mild pain. He grimaced.

"Yang, what the Hell--"

"You left yourself wide open." Yang stated, pushing herself off of him and stepping back to let the boy get up. "Stuff like that makes you fall flat on your ass far quicker."

"What?"

"You heard me." Yang folded her arms under her bosom, frowning. "You aren't gonna get anywhere alwaye being so lax. You gotta be tense! And your stance needs work."

Sirius' brows furrowed in confusion and he shook his head. "Y-Yang, what are you--" He shrieked in shock and ducked under a lightning fast jab. He soon found himself dodging from an onslaught of punches from Yang. "Did I do something wrong?! Why are you attacking me! I thought we were gonna talk?!"

Yang shuffled from side to side as she approached Sirius and launched forward with another punch. He dodged. Her eyes narrowed at that exact moment and she changed her trajectory, pouring aura into her foot and boosting herself forward, slamming her fist into his solar plexus and knocking the wind straight out of him.

Sirius crumbled to the floor, cradling his stomach. Tears nearly swelled in his eyes from the direct hit he took. "W-Why...?"

"You aren't going to beat Cardin like that. Or anyone."

His blood suddenly ran cold and he looked up to see Yang staring him down. "What...?"

"That's why I called you here." Yang smirked softly and held out a hand to Sirius, who hesitantly took it and pulled himself up. "I'm gonna help you train so you can kick Cardin's ass!"

Sirius felt his confusion grow for the umpteenth time today. "... Why?"

"Kiiiiiinda getting old with you getting your ass kicked." Yang quipped, placing her hands on her hips. "That and Jaune. Someone's gonna have to knock him down a peg, and if it ain't gonna be Vomit Boy, may as well be you!"

"Why don't you do it...?"

"Oh, I gladly would! But would that be satisfying to you?"

Sirius frowned and clenched a fist. If he were being honest with himself, no. It wouldn't. His pride wouldn't allow someone else to take Cardin down. Not in the way he wanted. He wanted payback. "... No. It wouldn't."

"E~xactly." Yang grinned, punching Sirius' shoulder. "So~ I'm gonna teach you hand-to-hand combat!"

Sirius' blinked in confusion, tilting his head. "... Just that? Nothing else?"

"Nnnope!" Yang said with a pop, winking. "That's where they come in!"

"... Where who comes in?"

The doors suddenly swung open to reveal Ruby, Weiss, and Blake stepping into the room, all of them wearing casual, loose clothes. Ruby, a bright red short-sleeved hoodie and black compression shorts with black and red sneakers. Blake, a dark grey tank-top and black compression tights with white lines running down the sides, and white sneakers. And finally, Weiss, who wore a loose white t-shirt and blue shorts with a pair of white blue sneakers.

"Hiiiii, Sirius!" Ruby grinned with a cheerful wave, pulled out a whistle, and blew on it loudly, causing Weiss and Blake to grimace and cover their ears.

"Ugh--seriously?!"

"Did you have to use that when we just stepped through the door?"

Sirius gave them a look of incredulity, and then shifted that gaze to Yang. "... What."

"I'm gonna focus on your hand-to-hand and strength training!" Yang jabbed a thumb to herself, and then to the rest of her team. "Rubes is gonna help you with endurance and making your weapon, Blake will help you with your dexterity and mobility, and Weiss will help teach you more about Remnant and adaptability in the middle of a fight!"

Sirius looked at Team RWBY with a look of shock, his brows furrowing. "I... o-okay. Who came up with all of this?"

"Yang came up with it!"

"... This is all surprisingly complex for someone like her to come up with."

"That's what I said!"

"It is rather surprising."

"OI!" Yang glared at her team and Sirius, her eyes flashing red for a moment as she folded her arms. "Alright, alright. I know I ain't the smartest girl in Beacon, but when it comes to fighting?" She smirked and slammed a fist against her chest. "I'm a genius."

Sirius and RWB looked between each other and shrugged with agreeable hums. Yang's brow twitched and she huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway," Yang pointed at Sirius. "With all of this, we're gonna make sure you're capable enough to at least hold your own in a fight without getting completely trounced. At best? You'll kick serious ass. So!"

Yang crossed her arms as the rest of her team walked up to stand alongside her. The blonde winked at Sirius, wearing a broad grin on her face.

"Let's get some gains!"

This chapter is a bit on the shorter side. Originally, how this chapter was gonna play out, was that it was going to solely be dedicated to Sirius and Yang, like the previois chapter. I was gonna have Sirius have one on one interactions with Team RWBY for next few chapters to build up their dynamics, but then I thought:

"Why wouldn't Yang get the rest of her team involved?"

And then, the thought hit me! Why not have them all help pitch in and train him! They get training in, Sirius gets training in, they ALL get to interact with each other, and Sirius gets to bond with the gals as both a collective and individually for the scenes!

Killing two birds with one stone! HAH!

Went on a tangent, there. Sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time!