DarkDragon457: Pain is the best motivator! When it comes to fighting, it's Yang's speciality. And consider they're both bruiser types, she's the best option to teach Sirius how to fight. Save... like, Pyrrha.

Triscythe59: Nnnope. Sirius won't be getting his Aura unlocked. Side effect of being a human from an entirely different planet. At least in this universe's continuity. His biology's been altered by the Brother Gods upon arrival on Remnant to better suit and handle the harsher environments of Remnant. I can guarantee you normal humans on Earth wouldn't last very long on Remnant unless they too had Auras.

Guest, WiredArcana: Thank you for your kind words! I've definitely been having a blast writing this story so far. And I hope you stick around long enough to enjoy it as much as I do! I'm glad you also enjoy Sirius' character. He's real fun to write.

On a... certain subject, I'm sure it gets bad reception most of the time because of how poorly written they are. I'm going to try my best not to fall into that same basket. So I'm not going to let their negativity stop me from doing what I like. Not to be rude to them, but if they don't like it, they can read something else. Not that hard.

Anyway, onto the chapter!

Chapter 7: Cue the Training Montage!

"One, two, one two! Up and at 'em, Sirius! We've barely broken the 15th lap!"

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

Sirius groaned loudly in dismay. His muscles burned and screamed for rest, but he had to keep moving unless he'd lag behind. When he'd agreed to Yang's training regimen, the drive to get stronger and pound Cardin's face into the dirt was what got him motivated in the first place. He was slowly beginning to regret that decision. Team RWBY were absolute monsters! He was beginning to think they weren't human at all, with how fast they moved.

Guess that's the perks of Remnant and the power of Aura. You're conditioned to be strong. Sirius sighed and sucked in another breath, and pushed onwards.

The group had woken up 6AM sharp to begin their training. Starting with Ruby, it was all about focusing on building up his endurance and honing his super-speed. Considering Ruby was a speedster herself, it was a no-brainer why she was chosen for this segment of training. Of course the rest of her team joined in, and they were no slouches either. Blake seemed to have the best time keeping up with the hyperactive team leader as they ran several laps around the school campus.

At least Weiss isn't faring any better. Sirius sweat-dropped as he peered over at the heiress, sweat matting her frame. and her face slightly red from exertion. Seems as though endurance wasn't her strong suit. He wouldn't admit aloud, but that made him feel a bit better about himself.

"Annnnnd, done! Time for a break!"

Weiss and Sirius groaned in unison as they reached the final stretch and collapsed onto the floor, gasping greedily for air as their lungs burned from the gruesome exercise. Ruby giggled softly and jogged over to a nearby bench where their water bottles sat. She grabbed them and tossed them to her team.

Yang caught her bottle and popped the cap with her thumb and chugged half of it down in seconds. "Puah~! Whoo! Now that's what I call a workout!"

Blake nodded silently, taking slow sips as to not waste it all in one go.

"I haven't had that much fun jogging in a long time! It's so much more fun doing it with friends!" Ruby grinned brightly, not seeming exhausted in the slightest. She'd barely even touched her water.

Weiss groaned again, glaring at her partner in confusion. "That is what you call a jog?! What's the equivalent of a run to you?!"

Ruby's face took on a contemplative look as she tapped her bottom lip with a finger. "Uhm~ I dunno! Maybe... 50 laps, minimum?"

"MINIMUM?!"

Sirius' face turned a little green and he covered his face. "Fuck... I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Yang snickered, placing a hand on her hip. "Eeeeyup. That's Ruby for ya! Trust me, she can run for MUCH longer."

"That doesn't make us feel better at all?!"

Ruby looked confused. "What? Is that not a normal amount?"

Sirius and Weiss looked appalled by the sheer innocence and confusion in her question. Blake huffed in amusement and sent Ruby a dry look. "Not usually."

"Ohhhhhhh... whoops!" Ruby poked her tongue out sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head and letting out a nervous giggle. "Guess I'll pace us next time!"

Sirius sighed loudly and drank half of his water before dunking the rest of it on top of him. He nearly melted at the cool sensation and huffed in relief, slumping against the floor. "What's next...?"

Yang took out her scroll and hummed. "We got about an hour before class starts. How about we get a few more laps in before hitting the showers?"

"Aw, yeah!" Ruby whooped, pumping her fists.

"May as well..." Blake shrugged her shoulders.

Sirius and Weiss paled in horror.

[HUNTER]

"Hello, students. My name is Shion Tora, but you'll be referring to me as Professor Shion for the duration of your 4 years at this academy. And I welcome you to Aura Application."

Shion Tora was a tall woman, standing at a staggering 6'1", with mocha colored skin, catlike golden eyes and dark purple hair with split bangs done up in a high-ponytail. She was toned and muscular, with a large bust and shapely thighs and hips, appearing to embody the pinnacle of athleticism. Wearing a skintight black jumpsuit, a bright orange jacket, and white combat boots, a purple panther tail swayed from side to side in an almost hypnotic dance, showcasing her faunus heritage. She folded her arms and let a sharp, fanged toothed smile cross her lips.

"Now! Who can give me a summarization of what Aura is?"

Pyrrha was the first to speak up. "Aura is the light of our soul. It protects us from the dark and strengthens us. When manifested it allows us to perform feats no ordinary human or faunus alike can accomplish, giving us the power and strength to combat the Creatures of Grimm."

"A nice, basic summary, Ms. Nikos" Shion smirked and Pyrrha bowed her head. The panther faunus began to pace around the room, eyeing her student roster. "But let me elaborate. Aura, while it is sufficient as a shield, will also be your sword. When controlled and manipulated, it will be even more valuable than your very own weapon."

"What? But weapons are a core part of us--it's an essential to our style! How is Aura going to be more valuable than that?" Ruby rebuked in general confusion and slight offense, her brows furrowing.

"I'm glad you asked, Ms. Rose." Shion smiled down at the silver-eyed girl, and clapped her hands together. "Tell me, if you were to lose your weapon in a fight, or worse, your weapon broke, what would you do?"

"W-Well, Crescent Rose was expertly crafted to withstand loads of punishment and damage. So it wouldn't break! And I would never-"

"-Lose it, right?" Shion cut her off, smiling in amusement. She nodded her head and closed her eyes. "What you say may be true. But let me say this. I know a good lot of you are dependant on your weapons. It's a core part of your fighting style, what makes you a hunter. But in the potential event that your weapon was destroyed or lost in battle, you must learn to improvise, and fight without one."

"That, is where Aura Application comes into play. I will teach you the advanced techniques of Aura Manipulation. Your shield will become your sword, and in the event that you do have to fight without your weapon, you will be perfectly capable of handing the situation like a true warrior. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you all know of the basics to Aura Manipulation, yes?"

There was a round of hums of confirmation and nods at Shion's question. Sirius couldn't help but sweatdrop. Considering he himself couldn't even manifest an Aura, he felt considerably out of place. It wasn't like he was going to say such. That would raise too many questions. And what was he going to say? That he was from another world?

That's a can of worms I don't want to open. Next thing I know I'll be shipped off to be dissected. Sirius shuddered at the thought, cringing.

"Now, let's start with the first basic, but most essential Aura Manipulation technique. Augmentation." Shion nodded and took a few steps back. She closed her eyes and exhaled, and soon, her Aura spurred to life in the form of crackling, purple electricity. "Augmentation is a technique in which you focus your Aura throughout your body to enhance it. One normally uses this for brief bursts in strength and speed, or perhaps even defense. Today, that is what we will refine."

"This is basic as fucking hell." Cardin grumbled under his breath, face scrunching up into a look of distain. "We learned this shit back at the starter academies! Why are we wasting time on this."

"Augmentation is a core fundamental to learning Aura Manipulation and will be the key to accessing the other techniques." Shion dryly stated, as if she were lecturing a child. "Now if you're going to complain, you can very much sit out, Winchester, while the rest of your peers progress?"

Cardin scowled at her but didn't utter a single word. Shion smiled demurely and placed her hands on her hips.

"Now, we're going to place you all into pairs of two. I want you all to focus on augmenting your bodies and try to pin your partner to the floor. Whether it be through attacks or counters, it's up to you."

Shion pulled out her scroll and started the raffle. Each student got their partners in randomized fashion, as to not end up with their teammates and goof around during the majority of the lesson. Some of the notable pairs were Yang and Nora, Pyrrha and Blake, Weiss and Russel Thrush, Ren and Dove Bronzewing...

And Ruby and Cardin.

"Tch. Can't believe I got stuck with the shrimp." Cardin scoffed and uncrossed his arms, rolling his eyes. "Let's get this over with, Half-Pint."

Ruby slowly narrowed her eyes at Cardin's words.

Off on the other side of the room, Sirius had been paired up with Jaune. Sirius felt his brows dip slightly at the blonde's staggering height. While Jaune was 6'0", Sirius himself was only 5'5". This forced the white-haired youth to look up just to have eye contact with his partner for the lesson.

Jaune began to sweat slightly under Sirius' intense stare. "Uh... something wrong?"

"Nothing." Sirius grumbled, sighing and putting up a smile. "So! How do we do this?"

"Dude, I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea..."

"Seriously?" Sirius squinted in confusion. "I thought you knew more about this stuff than I do?"

"Uhhhh--I-I do! Just... uh." Jaune fumbled and scratched the back of his head, grinning nervously. "Just always had a problem using my... Aura...?"

"... Mm." Sirius blinked owlishly at Jaune's behavior but shrugged it off. He scratched the back of his head. I don't even have an Aura, how the heck am I supposed to help?

Sirius stood there in awkward silence with the blonde as he tried to think. While the rest of the students got to work on utilizing Augmentation and trying to flip their partner onto the floor and pin them down, Shion watched her students with a smirk. Then she noticed both Sirius and Jaune just standing there and narrowed her eyes. Soon, she was making her way over to figure out the problem.

Just as she was doing that, Sirius' eyes widened as a thought came to mind. Wait... Augmentation sounds just like...!

"LIKE AN EGG IN A MICROWAVE!"

Jaune blinked and stepped back a bit in shock at Sirius' abrupt and energetic outburst. Shion paused and rose a brow. "... Uh. What?"

Sirius blinked a few times and coughed into his fist, flushing in embarrassment. He decided to elaborate. "S-So, imagine this. When you put something like an egg into a microwave, you put it on a timer to heat it up, right?" At Jaune's nod of understanding, Sirius continued. "If you time it right, the heat perfectly boils the egg. If you leave it in there for too long, the egg will go bad or explode! Augmentation is similar to that."

"Imagine your body is the egg, and your Aura is the heat. You gotta focus it into a section of your body. You can't overextend, or you'll worsen the egg... can't do too little or nothing will change. It has to be the right amount, perfectly controlled."

"I think I get it..." Jaune nodded, frowning in confusion. He looked down at his hands and clenched them into a fist. "... Guess it's worth a shot."

Closing his eyes and taking in a slow, steady breath, Jaune began to call upon his Aura. At first, it didn't respond, but like embers it began to spark, and soon became a roaring white inferno. Sweat rolled down his chin as he struggled to reign it in. Aura flickering off his body in the form of white flames. Egg in the microwave...! Jaune reminded himself and focused harder. His brows creased in effort as he grunted, and grasped onto his Aura in tight hold.

Gradually, he began to channel it at a steady pace. Pooling what felt like an endless sea of energy into his arms. He sucked in another breath and continued to channel his Aura. He strained for a moment... before it steadily began to flow. His arms shone with white Aura, and his eyes snapped open with a look of awe. "W-Woah! I did it!"

Sirius' eyes sparkled with awe and kiddy-like feeling of wonder as he stared down at Jaune's glowing arms. He laughed, pumping his fists. "A-Awesome! Good work, Jaune! Looks like we can get started!"

".. Right!" Jaune snapped out of his look of awe and felt a confident grin creep up his cheeks as he nodded and held his arms up. "Hope you're ready to fall flat on your face!"

Sirius chuckled and reciprocated Jaune's stance. "You stole my line!"

Shion raised a brow and felt herself grin slightly, humming. Not bad...

WHAM!

She was jostled out of her musings when a heavy THUD! impacted the floor and graced her enhanced ears. Shion raised a brow and blinked in surprised to see Cardin Winchester flat on his ass in a heap, groaning in pain while one Ruby Rose stood on top of his body, posing like some victorious hero. The girl let out a laugh and roar of victory, thrusting her fist into the air.

"HUZZAH!"

[HUNTER]

"Gotta fight back, Sirius!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!"

Sirius grunted as he blocked a strike from Yang. He felt his bones creak under the blow but he stood strong and swatted Yang's arm to the side, rushing forward and throwing a punch her way. She easily countered this, palming his fist to the side and diverting all his momentum, only to drive a knee into his stomach.

Sirius grunted and slid back. He had no time to register the pain nor contemplate his life choices. Yang was upon him once more. He was pushed onto the defensive again, blocking and dodging Yang's powerful punches. Yet the blonde switched things up, performing a clean spinkick straight towards his head. Sirius' instincts flared and his eyes widened in shock. Quickly, he caught her ankle, holding the blonde in place.

Sweat rolled down his chin and he grunted, tightening his hold on Yang's ankle and tugging. Using his abnormal strength, Sirius spun and threw Yang across the stadium, letting out a sigh of relief as he was given a moment of reprieve.

"I ain't done yet, Shorty!"

Sirius' eyes widened in horror as Yang had caught herself on the wall, utilizing Augmentation and pushing Aura into her legs to strengthen her launch as she sped sped towards Sirius like a speeding missile and dug her fist into his stomach, causing him to gag and go flying. She swiftly gave chase, grinning maniacally.

"She's enjoying this way too much." Weiss commented dryly, sweat-dropping as Yang chased Sirius down like some raging Beringel. She felt sympathy for the boy. But personally, she was glad she wasn't on the receiving end of those attacks.

"At the very least he's improving." Blake shrugged her shoulders, flipping through a page in her book. "Alarmingly so."

"Fair enough."

"No, that won't work..."

Weiss and Blake peered over at Ruby with looks of confusion. Weiss was the first to ask. "What won't work?"

Ruby frowned tightly, scribbling things down in her notebook. She tapped the butt of her pen against her buttom lip in thought. "I'm trying to figure out a good weapon for Sirius. I'm drawing blanks, though..."

"Why not a sword?" Blake piped up, sending Ruby a confused squint. "It shouldn't be that hard for me and Weiss to teach him."

"Issue is though, Mystrenaster is styled after a rapier. It's meant for jabbing and slashing. It's too thin. With Sirius' strength, it'd snap like a twig." Weiss' brow twitched at the unintentional jab at her weapon's dexterity. Ruby was far too in the zone to notice. "Gambol Shroud functions as a sword but it's a Multi-Purpose Mecha Shift model, it's main strength is the kusarigama add-on that allows for ranged attacks. Your styles are suited to long to mid-range combat, and if you were to get into close range it's for pot shots or quick damage."

"... It's scary how you know so much about our weapons and fighting style." Weiss sweat-dropped with a twitching brow. Blake nodded silently in agreement.

Ruby twirled her pen in between her fingers, eyes narrowing in intense focus. Blake and Weiss sighed, knowing they weren't going to get any further responses from the girl for a while. Their attention snapped back towards the sparring session between Yang and Sirius.

Sirius swerved around Yang's fist and lashed out with his own punch. Yang grunted from the powerful impact and Sirius continued his onslaught, slamming his fist against her jaw and another at her chest. Yang raised her arm to block the second strike, smirking as they remained in a deadlock, fighting for higher ground.

"Not bad! You're improving quick." Yang complimented.

Sirius grunted, clearly straining against Yang's strength. "T-Thanks...".

"But it isn't enough to beat me!"

Yang flared her Aura, causing it to burst outwards akin to roaring flames. She pushed Sirius back and burst forth, striking his stomach with blitzing speed and following up with a devastating uppercut that forced his head to snap upwards. Yang's eyes flashed red for a brief moment as she lashed out, sweeping Sirius off his feet, grabbing him by the arm, and slamming him into the floor.

Blake held up her scroll and tapped it. "And that's time."

Sirius groaned dizzily as Yang hauled him up to his feet. He grimaced and rubbed his jaw. "Ugh... my jaw is sore."

"That's what she said~"

"Shut up, Yang."

Sirius grumbled as Yang snickered and jogged back over to the group, grabbing a water bottle to drink. Sirius followed sluggishly behind, glancing at Blake. "How long did I last this time?"

"Ooh, the innuendos just keep coming!"

Ignoring Yang, Blake answered truthfully. "One minute and thirty seconds. A vast improvement from last time." She hummed. "You only lasted about 5 seconds when we first started."

"Way to wound thy pride, Belladonna." Sirius snarked lightheartedly, rolling his eyes.

"Art thou truly wounded by thy words? Truly, my lips are venomous." Blake shot back with a wry smirk.

"Ugh, stop. I'm going to lose braincells." Weiss groaned and buried her face into her hands.

"Alright, alright. We'll--" Sirius blinked and slowly turned to Ruby's direction, only for his eyes to widen as he witnessed the girl so engrossed in her work, that she was muttering aloud and scribbling down notes at supersonic speeds.

What the hell am I looking at...? Sirius, Blake, and Weiss collectively thought, sweat-dropping.

"Hold on, I got it." Yang casually chopped Ruby on the head. "You're mumbling again, Rubes."

"Ow!" Ruby dropped her notebook and pen, whining and rubbing her head. "Ooh... did I do it again?"

"Yep."

"'Again'. As in, this happens often?" Sirius asked, brows furrowing.

"Yup. When Ruby gets in the zone in regards to weapons, her thoughts tend to leak out for the world to hear."

"Mmh. It's not that bad."

"I beg to differ!"

Weiss nursed her brow with a sigh and shook her head. "It's like dealing with children..."

"I think it's endearing." Sirius shrugged his shoulders, smiling slightly. "I've never had siblings... it's nice to see."

Blake hummed, raising a brow. "Now that I think about it, you never did tell us much about your life on Earth. Or what Earth really is."

Ruby's slight bickering with Yang came to a halt at Blake's words. Her eyes sparkled with interest as she looked towards Sirius. "Oooh! Ooh! Yeah! Tell us about your world!"

Weiss didn't vocalize her interest, nor did Yang. But judging by the way they looked at him, they were clearly also interested about his world. Sirius stiffened at the attention set upon him and grinned nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Uhm... Earth really isn't that interesting." Sirius said, though Team RWBY continued to stare at him unflinching. He sighed and took a seat in front of them, shrugging. "Uhm... okay. For one thing, there's no Grimm on Earth. No huntsman and huntresses, no Dust, or Aura."

"How do your people survive?" Weiss questioned incredulously. "Dust is our fuel source for all of our technology--I can understand you wouldn't need it for weaponry considering there are no Grimm... but how do you power your machinery."

"We use things like electricity. I'm not that much of a mechanic or tech wiz." Sirius muttered sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "We've gotten pretty far with everything as it stands. Not as advanced as Remnant, though..."

"Sooooo... if Grimm don't exist, that must mean Earth is really peaceful, right?" Ruby grinned brightly, leaning forward in excitement.

Sirius winced, and slowly shook his head. "Not... not exactly. I mean, sure, there's peace, but we've had so many wars I've lost count. One way or another, we'll always find some reason to fight. Sometimes countries have strained relations hanging on by a thread. Other times it's the people within our own cities and nations that cause violence against one another. It's a mess. But that's humans, for you."

Ruby visibly deflated at the news, frowning slightly. Yang pat her on the back sympathetically. Weiss sent her partner a look of empathy, while Blake frowned, crossing her arms. "... So human and faunus relations are still fractured, even on other worlds?"

"Huh? Faunus?" Sirius raised a brow in confusion. "I... actually forgot to ask this. What are faunus?"

"W-What?" Blake stammered, her eyes going wide with shock as she looked at Sirius. "What do you mean by that?"

"I dunno what a faunus is?"

"They're humanoids with animal features. Maybe a pair of ears or tail. Gills, probably. Kind of hard not to miss." Weiss dryly informed, crossing her arms.

"Ohhhhh... so that's what Velvet is..."

"Who?"

"They're also treated as second class citizens and suffer from discrimination." Blake squinted at Sirius, mostly from confusion. "Are you telling me Earth doesn't have faunus?"

"Nnnope. Just humans... that's weird, though, isn't it? Racism against the... faunus, I mean." Sirius shook his head, glancing between the girls in genuine confusion. "Like... why is that a thing? They aren't that different from humans, save for the extra appendage... what's so off putting about that?"

Blake's eyes widened a fraction and her jaw dropped slightly. Her posture slackened, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "I..."

"Honestly, I can't understand us sometimes." Sirius laughed, shaking his head. "It's one thing to discriminate against an entire separate racist based off of their skin or other notable features. But animal ears and tails? That's just plain messed up! Who wouldn't like cat girls?"

Yang smirked, raising a brow. "Hoh~? Whaddya mean by that?"

"I-" Sirius yelped, and swiftly shook his head, waving his arms about wildly. "N-No! I didn't mean it like that! What I meant to say, was-!"

"Nah, nah! C'mon, elaborate on what you said! Did I just hear of a preferred type? Spill!"

"Oh, come on!"

While Yang badgered Sirius for answers, Ruby giggled loudly and watched on with a bright grin, while Weiss rolled her eyes and shook her head. Blake remained silent, lost in her own thoughts at the revelation from Sirius. Soon, she found herself viewing the boy and his world in a new light. A world without faunus sounded like it would be a world without discriminatory views and the mistreatment of separate races. Yet, from his words, that seemed to be the exact opposite of her thoughts. She tried to rack her brain to find the logic and reasoning behind it all, and yet, she found none.

... So even on other worlds, there's still a minority that suffer at the hands of others. Blake frowned softly, balling a hand into a determined fist. She glanced up and glanced around her team, focusing on Ruby and Yang's grinning faces, the faintest of smirk's on Weiss' face, and Sirius' embarrassed visage.

She felt herself begin to smile, as she was surrounded by the kind laughs of her friends.

But, at least there are people that view them differently. That make equality seem possible.

Blake subtly nodded to herself, clenching her fist tighter.

So I'll continue to fight for it.

Annnnnd, cut. That's a wrap for this chapter. We get glimpses of the training with our heroes, a glimpse into their dynamics, and, most of all, Team RWBY learn a bit more about Earth! Huzzah!

Hope I portrayed Blake's mindset well. Characters like her are typically a tough nut to crack for someone like me. lol. Thought it'd be fitting if we ended the chapter with her, though.

Next up, expect more training from the gang, aaaaaaaand, the build up to a certain someone's weapon~

By the way, there're two references in this chapter this time! One is a character, and the other was exposited dialogue~ if you know where both references come from, you get a cookie!

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. See ya next time!