Jaune was knocked to the ground, and looked up to see Cardin Winchester about to strike him with his mace, a glint in his eyes showing he was enjoying this 'sparring match' too much. The blonde held his shield up in a panic, when a set of lights lit up and the voice of Glynda Goodwitch called out.
"End match! Cardin wins by Aura Break!" she shouted out, making the larger of the two young men look over at her. When she had everyone else in the classroom focus their attention to her, Glynda proceeded to speak.
"Alright Cadets, does anyone remember the rules of the tournament that will be in this upcoming Vytal Festival, and why I have called an end to to the match?" she asked. Yang was the first to speak, shadow-boxing in preparation for potentially being called out for the next match.
"His Aura monitor was in the red, which meant that he was on the verge of having his Aura broken, leaving him vulnerable to being crippled or killed severely by Cardin. Auras, while capable of protecting one from harm, doesn't do so completely, with around 70%-93% of potential damage being prevented. As a result, when the Aura of one of the fighters reaches 15% or lower in the Vytal Festival tournament, the referee is obligated to call for them to be removed to prevent such injuries."
"Well done, Cadet Yang. Class, I have one more question for you. How many victory conditions are there in the Vytal Festival, and what are they?" Glynda asked. Eleanor was the first to answer.
"There are four Victory Conditions in the Vytal Festival, without counting specific matches with additional conditions attached to them. First, is an Aura Break, or standard victory, is achieved by wearing down your opponent's Aura until it is in the red. If your opponent still has Aura high enough to still fight, but was rendered unable to continue somehow without violating the rules of the Tournament, specifically without crippling your opponent temporarily or permanently, destroying their weapon, or killing them, it counts as a Disablement Victory. next, is a Forfeit, which is declared when a fighter either declares their surrender or gets disqualified by breaking the rules I just mentioned, or starting an attack that endangered members of the Vytal Festival Stadium audience. Finally, one can also achieve a Ring Out by forcing or tricking your opponent into leaving the field of battle."
"Well said, Ms. Vandervelt. I will have you and Ms. Xiao-Long face each other. Yang Xiao-Long of Team RWBY, Eleanor Vandervelt of Team STEL, step into the ring." Glynda announced, much to the blonde brawler's visible excitement.
The two Cadets walked into the training ring, Yang stopping at the left half and Eleanor the right. Their biometrics were then displayed, showing their names, Aura status, Weapon name and finally Semblance next to a picture of the two:
YANG XIAO-LONG
AURA: 100%
WEAPON: AMBER CELICA
SEMBLANCE: BURN
ELEANOR VANDERVELT
AURA: 100%
WEAPON: NIGHT IRON
SEMBLANCE: HAT TRICK
"Match starts in three..." Yang slammed her fists together, her Amber Celica transforming into two Shotgun-Gauntlets. She then assumed a boxing stance, smiling widely as she made a come here gesture with her forward hand.
"...two..." Eleanor turned Night Iron into its carbine rifle form, and cracked her neck. She then pulled her hood up, and zipped a hidden part that unfolded over her face, obscuring her face, but it appeared to everyone that she was narrowing her field of vision. Everyone with the exception of Team STEL had various reactions to this, wondering why the Raccoon-Faunus was deliberately doing such an action.
"...one..." Ruby turned, and noticed Blake was squinting her eyes, and noticed she was focused on Eleanors' biometrics.
"...match begin!" Yang fired off a bullt of Burn Dust out at her opponent, who in turn shot a round of her own Combustion Dust at the ground, which bounced up and intercepted Yang's shot, making both explode in the air. A cloud of smoke obscured the the ring, but Yang charged into it fearlessly, firing off a couple rounds behind her to launch herself at high speed. Her Aura blipped, and dropped slightly, indicating that she was struck.
Eleanor slid along the ground to the other side, apparently running down and under Yang, who fell to the ground holding onto her stomach. Even so, she was quick to jump up and dodge as Eleanor shot another Dust bullet this one an Ice Dust round that flew out in the form a spike that shattered against the floor of the ring. The smoke cleared, allowing Yang to fire off a burst of Dust bullets, which Eleanor dodged save for two that nailed her in the right shoulder and left knee, elicting a couple grunts of pain as the Raccoon Faunus struggled to stay standing.
As Ruby watched, she began to cheer on her sister.
"Go Yang! You got this!" she exclaimed, then turned to Weiss and Blake.
"Watch the floor and maintain your footing!" Weiss advised, while Ruby noticed Blake was staring at Eleanor intently.
"Blake?" the hooded cape wearing leader of Team RWBY asked, waving her hand to get Blake's attention.
"Whuh-uh... you're doing good Yang." Blake called out non-committedly.
"Blake, you were spacing out watching Eleanor." Ruby pointed out. She and Weiss turned to look at Blake, who nervously looked around.
"Well, I just noticed..." Blake trailed off, becoming aware that just behind Ruby, Langley and Stanton were observing her with an aside glance. "...noticed that she is surprisingly agile in spite of covering her face and eyes." she said, choosing her words carefully to see that Langley and Stanton seemed... satisfied with her answer for lack of a better term.
In reply to her being shot while this conversation was going on, Eleanor turned Night Iron into its club form, which resembled a night stick and the blue Water Dust studs lining it began to glow, while the Lightning Dust stayed dim. She then began spraying water out of the end of it, Yang side-stepping the stream and ducking under it as her opponent swung it back and forth. The blonde Cadet slide-charged at Eleanor, delivering an uppercut that caught her opponet in the jaw.
Taking advantage of her being knocked back, Yang twisted on her left heel, and kicked out with her right leg, striking her in the stomach. Eleanor reacted quickly even as she grunted from the kick, catching Yang's ankle with her arms, then yanked the RWBY Cadet towards her.
Before she could pull back, Eleanor swiped Night Iron and smacked Yang across her right jaw and face hard enough to send her sending her twirling until her back was turned, then struck her in the knees to force her to fall down onto them. Eleanor delivered an elbow strike to the left side of Yang's jaw, making the brawler cry out while Ruby winced at how vicious it looked.
Yang then jumped up to punch her opponet, only to make a croaking noise as Eleanor dodged then caught her in a headlock from behind, attempting to achieve a Disablement Victory by choking her out. The brawler, not to be outdone stood up, jerked her head forward, then back, freeing herself by head-butting her Faunus opponent in the nose, and Eleanor yelled out. The Raccoon Faunus staggered back as well, but still sood standing.
"Uuuragghh!" she growled in a tone deeper then what she usually spoke with, and looked up just in time to see Yang charging her. Before Eleanor could respond, Yang wrapped her arms around her, then lifted up the Team STEL Cadet and slammed her onto the ground with a yell.
Not to be outdone, as Yang tried to jump on top her, Eleanor caught the brawler by her wrists, planted a foot on her stomach, and used Yang's own momentum against her to throw Cadet Xiao-Long into the air. Yang then spoke up, excitement in her tone as she fought off Eleanors' attempt to put her in some form of lock.
"Well hot-damn, somebody has been working out! How many reps do you do?!" She asked in a half-taunting manner, and it was then Ruby made a comment.
"Huh, does Eleanor look a size bigger then before?" she asked out loud, and people began whispering to each other. Blake winced internally, as she could sense the rest of Team STEL tensing up, and even from the short distance of where she was sitting away from the sparring match she saw the slight way Eleanor both tensed up and looked in Ruby's direction.
As Blake observed everyone's reaction, she felt more then saw the way Team STEL was observing her, Ruby, and Weiss. Being near... whatever they were, and feeling the sheer intensity of their staring at her sent a shiver down the spine of the bow-wearing girl, as she felt every hair on her arm and neck raising up along with goosebumps that prickled her skin.
Ruby, do not say any more! Blake pleaded internally, but the short conversation that was brewing ended abruptly as a bright light exploded, and turned to see Yang wiggled from under Eleanor. The blonde brawler, taking advantage of her opponent's distracted state, had shot off Amber Celica into their face, and now had Eleanor trapped with an arm held by the wrist as she wrapped her legs around the Team STEL Cadets' neck.
Everyone also realized the light that burst to life and was continuing to glow was coming from Yang Xiao-Long activating her Semblance Burn, and now holding down Eleanor with the strength boost it has provided her. Glynda observed, as the rules of the Vytal Festival tournament dictated that unless Eleanor tapped out, fell unconscious or Yang pressed her increased strength enough that Eleanor couldn't physically resist at all, she couldn't declare a Disablement Victory yet.
"Go Yang, pin her down and get the win!" Ruby yelled. Ted in turn also began to cheer on Eleanor.
"Come on, don't give now! Break free!" he shouted, while everyone, now seeing that the match was nearing the end, began cheering for whichever one of the fighters to win, including Cardin much to several people's surprise.
"Come on, pin'em down!"
"Slip your hood off!"
"Break that lock!"
After several moments of struggling, Eleanor was visibly starting to weaken, as she fell over growling intensely. After about three more seconds of struggling, she began tapping Yang's thigh, forfeiting the match. Glynda Goodwitch held up her hand as she called out.
"Match end! Yang wins by Disablement Victory!" she yelled out as Yang released Eleanor, who rolled onto the ground while her opponent stood back up. As the sniper for Team STEL waited for her vision to clear, Eleanor looked up to see Yang reaching down with a hand.
"That was a pretty good match, I didn't expect you to hit as hard as you did." Yang praised, offering to help Eleanor up. She was also smiling despite the entirety of her face turning blue and purple from the strike Eleanor delivered. After a moment passed, she grabbed the hand, and allowed Yang to lift her up, unzipping her hood and pulling it back.
"Thanks..." she replied in a simultaneously nasal and hoarse, rubbing at her neck. Yang paused as she noticed the expression Eleanor had along with the amount of blood covering her face, then stepped back as Glynda approached the Raccoon Faunus with a tube of ointment and offered it to her.
"Here, this should relieve any soreness and pain in your neck." she explained. Eleanor stood still, and after grabbing it and sniffing the contents, proceeded to apply some of the substance and hummed lightly in appreciation. It was then the bell rang, causing Goodwitch to address the First Years.
"Alright Cadets, remember to continue your preparations for the Vytal Festival, and study for the First Aid exam that will be coming up tomorrow! Eleanor, Yang, Jaune, remember to see the Nurse's Office as well!" she called out, allowing them all to file out to head out to Professor Bartholomew. the Raccoon Faunus waved her hand in acknowledgement upon hearing Glynda address her and the others, making a noise as she did so.
The group of First Year Huntsmen walked to Bartholomew's History Class, save for the three aforementioned named Cadets who walked down to the Nurse who was situated just off to the right of the Combat Ring they were training in. As they walked over to it, Eleanor turned to Jaune.
"Where exactly did you train at?" she asked, wincing as she stopped her bleeding nose. Jaune stiffened up, and stammered.
"Uh-um... I, er... I trained at Bonfire Academy." he answered, which Eleanor scowled at while Yang tilted her head with a raised eyebrow.
"...Your combat teacher failed miserably at training you, and shouldn't have passed your request for earning Beacon." Vandervelt said bluntly. Yang sharply inhaled, while Jaune flinched.
"Ok, I think you can be a bit more-" Yang was about to suggest, when her sparring opponent interrupted her.
"No, I am not sugar-coating what an absolute fucking failure of a warrior Jaune is. You saw how effortlessly that prick Cardin trounced him. Jaune, if there's one thing I would suggest, it's to leave Beacon, and either reapply into a different Academy while you are still under 20 and try again once a proper teacher instilled a proper combat form and technique into you... or quit your training altogether and get a job as a Dyftr driver or other job that would earn you a decent living without getting yourself, and possibly even your comrades killed." the Raccoon Faunus snapped, making both Humans flinch at the venom her tone had.
"W-w-well, I have the dream of becoming a Huntsman." Jaune Arc muttered, visibly hurt by Eleanor as the three of them were just entering the Nurse's Office. There, Nurse Doe, a Deer Faunus wearing a light brown blouse under a white medical robe looked up intitally to greet the three students who walked in, only to see Vandervelt looking over at the Team Captain of Team JNPR with an angry look.
"Brothers Eleanor, calm your tits! If you're mad about losing to me, just tell me to my face." Cadet Xiao-Long said drawing her attention away from Jaune, which clearly only agitated the Raccoon Faunus sniper further.
"I don't care about losing! I just need to get better, not go right back to Basic Stance Holding 101 to figure out how to wield my damn butter knife without looking like a moron!" Eleanor barked out, before cursing under her breath, and placing both her hands against her nose.
"What are- no wait, wait!" Nurse Doe exclaimed, only for everyone to flinch and recoiled as the sounds of Eleanor setting her nose back into place stopped her protests.
CRACK! "Shit!" SNAP! "Nnaarrghh!" CRACK! "AAAHHH!"
The sniper then walked over to a first aid kit mounted on the wall. With very little fanfare, she grabbed it, then yanked it open, rummaging for a bandaid to put onto her nose to keep it on place.
"Hey, I need to verify that you don't have any internal bleeding!" Nurse Doe exclaimed, pausing as she got a glare from Eleanor. After setting the bandaid in place, she took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Regaining her composure, Eleanor sighed and relaxed as she walked up and allowed Nurse Doe to examine her.
"You're... fine. Who taught you how to reset a broken nose?"
"My teacher back at Mistral. It was absolute hell, but they at least made sure to teach First Aid to help one another here how to be a surgeon. I suppose you can give him a few lessons in the medical field!" Eleanor jabbed while pointing at Jaune, who was considerably whitered by how verbally violent she was towards him.
Yang paled as she watched Eleanor began to storm out. She paused, then turned to the blonde.
"Cadet Xiao-Long, you're a worthy peer, and I shall see you in class." she said, then walked out aggressively.
"What the hell..." Jaune mumbled, shaking lightly, while Yang reached over to comfort him.
"Jaune, just ignore her, she needs to-" he pulled back, and spoke up.
"Don't. I rather you not." he answered, getting on the bed.
As Eleanor opened the door, she saw the now familiar green and white blur that was Professor Oobleck turn along with the rest of the class to look at her as she half-walked, half-marched to her seat.
"Ah, Eleanor Vandervelt! Back already?" the Professor asked.
"Yeah, got in and out quickly... Faunus Revolution?" Eleanor asked, taking a moment to examine the notes and papers Oobleck had on his board.
"Indeed... your Team is over there." the Professor replied, gesturing to Team STEL, who were sitting by Team JNPR, and Eleanor saw that Team CRDL behind JNPR. With a audible groan, she walked over to take her seat.
"Now then, where were- ah, right! The Faunus Rights Revolution, after the Great War specifically. When the war ended with a victory for the Vale-Vacuo alliance, Humanity began to grow nervous and mistrustful of the Faunus, and proceeded to try and force them to move to the island known as Menagerie. In addition to this, what were some of the other issues that the Faunus Rights Movement, now known as the White Fang, wished to address across the Four Kingdoms?" Blake raised her hand. Oobleck turned to Blake.
"Yes, miss Cawlson?"
"After the Great War ended, the refusal by the Atlas Military Office of Aide to give retired Faunus soldiers, many of whom were conscripted by the Atlas military at the time no less, benefits and financial aid to them, or to members of their family. They often cited 'supply shortages and economical costs' as the primary reason for their rejection, but an agent of the White Fang leaked statistical data that Human veterans were fifteen times more likely to have their cases for assistance accepted despite making up only 10% of the requests made and leaked private documents of Office of Education officials considering removing mentions of Faunus contributions in fighting for the Atlas military during the Great War within history classes." she said, while Weiss fidgeted with an eraser she was holding in her hands.
The Schnee heiress herself then raised her own hand, to which Oobleck gestured to reply. She swallowed down the knot in her stomach, as she felt everyone looking over at her, especially the various Faunus students in the room. Most of those ones in particular seemed to cast judgemental glares at Weiss, no doubt knowing who she was related to, which caused her to shift and adjust her skirt while she speaking.
"There was also concerns of a lack of work safety measures for... for Faunus laborers such as in factories and in mining operations, leading to a higher risk of death for them compared to facilities that Humans were employed." Weiss said, managing to maintain a stoic expression after taking a moment to steel herself. A number of students murmured softly, and when Weiss looked over at the rest of Team RWBY, she saw that Ruby was righting something, while Yang gave a subtle nod. It was Blake in particular Weiss focused on, as she saw that the typically introverted girl in black had a subtle look of surprise on her face, with one of her eyebrows raised up slightly as she tented her fingers under her chin.
Oobleck hummed as he examined the classroom, then nodded to Weiss.
"Ah yes, that has been a big issue throughout the Four Kingdoms." he said, but before he could add anything else, Cardin spoke up.
"Hey, if an animal isn't being trained properly, it's not the company's fault is it?" he spoke in a clearly demeaning tone. Many of the students were visibly offended, especially the Faunus as they cast a bunch of death-glares.
"Well, maybe Humans should learn to mine Dust properly themselves then." Eleanor could be heard remarking back with a verbal jab of her own, prompting the Team CRDL Captain to look at her with a look of annoyance while his subordinates look over in surprise. Cardin looked enraged as he clenched his fist at Eleanor, but then Professor Oobleck cleared his throat, making everyone look over at him.
"Before the you all start fighting about your beliefs, I must stress that this is a controversial topic, but one that should be discussed regardless. While I understand that there are strong... opinions about Faunus rights and the history surrounding it, fighting like this was what led not only to the Faunus Rights Revolution, but the Five-Month War and even the Great War. So therefore, Cardin Winchester, I advise you do not make any more disparaging remarks, especially towards your Faunus classmates. Eleanor Vandervelt, I ask that you also avoid doing so as well, and that if you have something to settle with each other, you can do it after class." he said, and after a moment of both Teams STEL and CRDL staring off at each other, both groups settled back into their seats.
The door to Ooblecks' classroom opened once again, prompting everyone to see Yang and Jaune walking in. Pyrrha, Nora and Lie were shocked to see how down their Captain was. The Professor raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment as the two blonde-haired students sat down with their respective Teams.
"What did we miss?" Yang asked.
"Eleanor had a verbal spat with Cardin after he made a racist comment towards the Faunus." Blake replied, watching where Teams JNPR, CRDL, and STEL were sitting with curiosity.
"Yeesh, she's become rather prickly today then... she chewed out Jaune in the Nurse's Office just before she left." Yang replied.
"Huh, what for?" Ruby asked.
"Apparently, she has taken her training as a Huntsman very seriously... can't say I blame her, given her growing up as a Faunus in Mistral. It has been pretty rough for them in recent years, considering the news." Yang answered. Weiss and Blake simply shifted about in their seats, as Professor Oobleck began to speak.
"Right then, many Humans within the Kingdoms became adamant that the Faunus should be moved to a the island known as Menagerie as I mentioned earlier, something the Faunus began to become more then willing to fight over rather than be forced from their homes. As the war began, the Human side started out strong due to having better access to military equipment at first, but was the turning point of the Faunus Revolution?" Weiss raised her hand.
"The Battle of Fort Castle!"
"Correct! What exactly was it that enabled the Faunus to turn the battle in their favor?" Oobleck replied, to which Cardin flicked a paper football at a currently emotionally down Jaune, making him flinch, stammering as he looked up to see the Professor rushing towards him.
"Mr. Arc! Would you happen to be willing to answer on what it was that allowed the Faunus to prevail?" he asked Jaune who stammered as he noticed Pyrrha gesturing to her eyes.
"They uh... had... they had binoculars!" he exclaimed, making the class chuckle lightly.
"Well, I guess it would be easierr for animals to train themselves." Cardin quipped, ruining said amusement for the class while Oobleck frowned in disappointment. An eraser flew out and struck him in the eye, making him curse as he covered it. The two of them looked over at Team STEL.
"Ok, who was that?!" Cardin demanded, while Dove, Russel and Sky stood back.
"Who was what? Langley, did you see anything?" Eleanor asked.
"No, me is dumb animal, me wasn't trained to see anything." Langley replied in a mocking tone, making a few students snicker. Blake raised an eyebrow, while Yang, Weiss and Ruby watched as Stanton began playing along, while Ted slunk deeper in his seat, giving the appearance of growing shorter for a moment.
"Must be a new species of eraser tossing Grimm... anybody else think that was it?" Stanton asked, a guffawing sound of amusement in the background making Cardin growl in anger. Oobleck cleared his throat before any more actions could be taken.
"Now then, would either of you happen to be willing to share the answer? What advantage did the Faunus have that allowed them to triumph at the Battle of Fort Castle?" he asked. Ted sat back up on his seat, raised a hand, and mumbled lightly. Upon Oobleck encouraging him to speak louder, he raised his voice.
"It was the fact that General Lagune, the commander of the Human forces, attempted to attack the Faunus at night. He tried to ambush them in their sleep, despite multiple warnings by his subordinates about their ability to see in the dark, resulting in them turning the tables and surrounding his soldiers despite being outnumbered. On top of that, logistical issues began to crop up among the factories in Mistral owned by Gaean Industries, as the supplies for the Human armies sent to quell Faunus descent began to suffer a drop in its quality, attributed to Faunus mine and factory workers being forced out and replaced with a less qualified Human work-force when the Mistrali Council tried to deport them by force." he answered.
"Splendid answer Ted, especially as you brought up a little known fact about the Mistral front at the time. Now then, from that point on, the Faunus Revolution continued on, with the Four Kingdoms eventually conceding and agreeing to a cessation in hostilities. As a result though, while the Faunus aren't being forced into Menagerie, much of their population moved there due to feeling threatened outside of it. Other consequences of the uprising can still be felt today in this regard, how many of the Faunus Cadets here, for example, have felt discrimination from anyone... besides Cardin?"
A few students raised their hands, including a shy Rabbit Faunus Ruby vaguely recalled being named Velvet, Langley and Eleanor. Oobleck sighed before commenting.
"Dreadful, and it is exactly that kind of ignorance that led to the Great War and Faunus Revolution. One needs only to look at the White Fangs' own history to see how it has fallen..." he said, and Weiss was the one to raise an eyebrow as she noticed Blake tense up, while Team STEL seemed to be... in agreement about the White Fang?
Huh I half-expected Langley and Eleanor to be somewhat sympathetic. Mistral, specifically Gaean Industries was pretty vicious when it began a crackdown on the White Fang, and it led to the Iron Curfew being declared on the Faunus population... the Atlasian thought to herself. The bell rang again, drawing the attention of the class to see that it was time to move on with the day.
"Now then Eleanor Vandervelt, Jaune Arc, and Cardin Winchester, before you three go I wish to speak with you three." Oobleck commanded, making the three students stop and stare at each other or their Team.
As the rest of the Cadets left, Pyrrha stayed behind as Oobleck began speaking with the three that stayed behind. At least, he focused on two of them for the moment. The oth r members of Team STEL also stayed behind, waiting for their companion.
"First off, to you two, Jaune and Cardin, you two have both been struggling since day one of my class! Whatever it is that is making you two fail, it needs to stop now. To give you both extra credit to make up for your low mark, I want you both to write an essay on pages fifty one to ninty one of your history textbooks. That will be all for you Jaune, you can go. Cardin, you're staying here." with that, the blonde walked out with Pyrrha approaching him. As she softly asked him to speak with her, the Professor turned to Eleanor and Cardin.
"Now then, my problem with you is in regards to your discipline. Since the rest of Team STEL is waiting outside, what I say applies to them as well." he remarked pointedly, watching as Langley and Stanton effectively rolled their eyes at getting called out, but not reacting over-all. Ted simply scrunched his mouth, but didn't look away from his Scroll as he fiddled with it.
"Cardin, you're attitude towards Eleanor, and indeed your Faunus peers are unbecoming of a Huntsman of Beacon. They have worked just as hard as you to be here, by being the best of the best among all aspiring Huntsmen so it is a shame upon this institution that you and your subordinates in CRDL have been actively antagonizing them the way you have been. If you continue this behavior, you could end up getting demerited further or subject to disciplinary actions for it." Cardin tsked at this, causing Oobleck to scowl as he looked back at Eleanor.
"Now then, Miss Vanderbelt. While I understand your comments and behavior towar-"
"Professor, with all due regards..." the Raccoon Faunus said, interrupting him, "...what of Cadet Arc?"
"Excuse me?"
"You said Beacon's Cadets are, and I quote, 'the best of the best of all aspiring Huntsmen', so does that include Cadet Arc?" Eleanor asked, looking over at Oobleck. Cardin looked over, observing the conversation. The Professor saw then what she was getting at, then took off his glasses.
"Considering he has been accepted, I am not the one to ask that. Even with Jaune being as imperfect as he is with his training, he has clearly shown more than enough motivation to pursue this line of work." he replied, wiping the lens of his glasses with a cloth.
"Yes, yes, and that is all fine and good... until he is put in an actual combat scenario, then he becomes a liability on the field. Like you stated, me and my fellow Faunus worked hard to enter Beacon... and I had to excel as a student in Mistral just for them to consider letting me enlist for becoming a Huntsman." Eleanor countered.
"Heh, didn't thi-"
"Shut it Cardin."
"Well then, I can see why you would be... upset with Jaune being in Beacon, but that isn't an excuse for you to lash out at him either." the Professor replied to Eleanor, silencing Cardin with a look.
"So then what did you call me out here?" the Faunus sniper asked.
"For now, I just want you to work on getting along better with your peers. It is acceptable here in Beacon to allow fraternizing between Cadets and Teams, perhaps Cadet Arc knows things you could benefit from, and he in turn could benefit from your own skillset, hmm?" Oobleck said, prompting Eleanor to tilt her head, processing what he said.
"Seriously?" she questioned. Oobleck looked off to the side then nodded, making her sigh. "If the topic is brought to me by JNPR, I will... consider it, no promises or guarantees."
"...I suppose that is the best I can hope for. You two may go." with that, the Cadets walked away from Oobleck's desk. As Cardin went off to find the rest of CRDL, Eleanor reunited with the rest of Team STEL, and summarized the conversation with Oobleck.
"So... would you really consider it? Training Jaune I mean." Ted asked his teammate as they walked down the hall.
"No... why would we-"
"Do it." Langley interrupted.
"What?"
"Do the training, but limit it to hand-to-hand combat and better handling of his sword. Maybe we can get closer to Nora, Ren and Pyrrha if we salvage a relationship Team-wise with them."
"Why though? Sure, Pyrrha has shown herself to be a prodigy in various tournaments and all that, but is it really worth it if she likes us?" Eleanor questioned. Langley was quick in his reply.
"You didn't see it when she stayed behind for Jaune?"
"See what... wait, she actually likes him?"
"Yes. How he managed that, I am unaware of why, but she has some amount of affection for him. So if we end up in a situation where we have to face her and the rest of JNPR, we may well need to exploit that to render her vulnerable enough to be taken out of combat, and learning the weaknesses of the other Teams would be good as well... that is something I want to do with the rest of the Huntsmen Teams as well." Langley explained. Eleanor, Stanton and Ted could see the reasoning behind this. So it was, that the Raccoon Faunus rubbed at the back of her neck, then nodded.
"Alright, I suppose you have a point there. Even with just RWBY, JNPR and CRDL, if they somehow figure us out, that is 12 Hunstmen against 4 if us Garou, so while we could still break out of Beacon, we likely wouldn't be able to fight our way into the records room, complete our objective, then fight back out the other way to whatever evacuation plan Miss-Con sets up without having some idea of what will be thrown at us." Eleanor replied, conceding to Langley. Stanton and Ted, upon seeing her agree with him, throw in their own consent and set to work deciding who would speak with who.