Humbling an Ice Queen
"So they finally let you out?" Yang asked.
"Yep." I answered, popping the 'p'. "Clean bill of health!"
I was the first to the tables after acquiring breakfast. Yang and Ruby were the next two to get down here for breakfast after me.
A week cooped up in Beacon's Infirmary with only our sadistic nurse, my teammates checking in on me semi-regularly to keep me up to date on classwork, and Ozpin to keep me company as he taught me how to better channel my Aura and Will (apparently, the old man is in cahoots with Theresa, the blind old woman who lives in my head... I think...) had left me hankering for some ACTUAL food.
"Really? After everything you went through? Was it something to do with your new Semblance?" Yang questioned.
"Most likely..." I shrugged. We continued our breakfast in relative silence as, one by one, the rest of our teams began sitting down.
Weiss hasn't said a word to me at all yet, right now it's just glaring, so... Progress? Usually she'd call me out on something by now...
"How's Blake holding up? I bet she was really shaken up last night," I asked after a moment. While the two of us weren't close, I still more or less liked Blake and would like to call her a friend.
"I'm doing well enough," a voice sounded off from my right, causing me to damn near jump out of my skin.
I didn't even notice Blake sit down right next to me! Well... She IS basically a ninja, after all...
I didn't know which made me more nervous. Her unusually close proximity to me, or the large smile she wore.
Were those cat ears?
Either way, this was very unusual behaviour for her...
"Thank you..." Blake softly said.
"Don't worry about it," I tried brushing it off. "Anything for a friend..."
She raised an eyebrow.
Why do I feel like I just said the wrong thing?
"Anything?" Blake asked with a smirk. "Well, in that case, think you could join me for a trip to Vale this evening around six?"
What does Blake need me to go to Vale with her for?
I mulled it over, taking into consideration that classes ended around three-thirty, and then I had a session with Ozpin around four...
"Sure... I think I can manage that..."
To my left, Pyrrha mumbled something, but I didn't catch it.
Across the table, next to Ruby, I could see Weiss making a face that looked of disgust? Anger? Curiosity?
I don't even know at this point...
"Great!" She beamed. Right before doing something I NEVER saw coming.
She leaned forward to place a kiss on my cheek.
"It's a date!"
Suddenly, every tray, spoon, fork, spoke and knife at our table found itself stuck to the ceiling.
"Sorry, thought I saw a spider..." Pyrrha apologized sheepishly to everyone but me as I was still processing what had just happened.
Before I could even form a coherent thought, Blake had already finished her meal and had left for class.
Jaune.exe has stopped working. Reboot?
"Did... That just happen?" Ruby asked nobody in particular.
(-/Time Skip brought to you by red-faced Chibi Jaune with swirling eyes and steam coming out of his ears while he lays his head down on a table. Nora is poking him with a stick.\-)
"Jaune Arc and Weiss Schnee!"
It's been a long, long day what with everyone shooting me glances and strange looks all day. Then again, like any other public place, the rumor mill never ceases. And with team CRDL still out of commission to dispute the claim, word of my fight with (and victory over) team CRDL had spread very quickly.
Which in turn, had netted me with a reputation as a closet bad boy. But after this morning, that rumor had evolved into a story about me defending my "Faunus-girlfriend." Which is half-right, I suppose... Blake IS a girl and a Faunus. Plus, I can safely call her my friend now. And just because she called it a date, doesn't mean it really is one. We're just having a friendly outing to hang out and become better friends! It's probably just her way of thanking me for earlier this week. No big deal.
Well, for me at least. For her, she's trying to open up and if I want to be a good friend, I'll need to be supportive of her. Especially considering everything she must have been through.
So yeah, I'd say things were starting to look up for me.
All the smiles, fist bumps, and high fives from the Faunus portion of Beacon's student population was nice too.
But now, I had to go fight my second biggest hater here, Weiss Schnee, in combat class.
If you asked me a week ago how I felt about my chances of winning this match were, I'd say I would be screwed. But now? Now I have real freaking magic on my side plus some actual control over my Aura.
Who knew teachers can actually teach?
Then again, this is Weiss I'm going up against. She is a very good Dust-mage and has WAY more Aura control than I do, plus a pretty bullshit Semblance on top of all of that...
And considering how much she seems to hate me and delight in my suffering, I get the impression she is really gonna lay it into me...
Yeah... I'm gonna need all the help I can get considering my Semblance usage is still pretty crappy at the moment. And the only magic I have any at my disposal was simple pyromancy...
I was still effectively a one-trick pony at the moment until I learned a bit more about magic.
Let's just hope I can make that trick work.
As I approached my locker to retrieve my sword, I noticed my locker looked... Different?
There was a lot of graffiti all over it with plenty of derogatory terms and slurs all over it, generally accompanied with phrases or comments about or towards me.
Things like "Cockblocker", "Furry-fucker", "Go Home", "Kill yourself", and other such stuff.
Inside, it was packed so full of envelopes, it looked fit to burst. Some letters wete pretty and pink with flowers, hearts, or other things, and others looked pretty normal.
I had to dig through them all to retrieve my sword.
To be honest, it was nothing special. Just an old, worn, dark grey crossguard and pommel with a leather-bound grip, and a blade that has blackened with age save for the edges that were still razor sharp and shined like silver. Despite its age, the sword was still in pristine condition as evidenced by the aforementioned edges that made it look like it glowed when looked at from certain angles.
The scabbard, if you could call it that, was just a homemade receptacle made from a couple pieces of wood bound together by duct tape.
"A sorry sword for a sorry son..." Is what my family had said.
It didn't matter though, not only had it held up without a scratch even after all the abuse it had taken during my time with it, but now it too felt different in my hands today. I couldn't really explain it. Before, it was just a sharp metal stick in my hand, but now... It just felt more natural, I guess.
Like it was alive somehow...
Weird. Cool. But weird.
Drawing the sword, I noticed that it now sported blue flame-like patterns on the blade. That's new. Or were they always there? Oh well, it doesn't matter...
Time to get out there and try to be better than before.
On the other side of the arena with her Dust-revolver rapier in hand, was my opponent wearing her usual "I'm Weiss Schnee, and I'm better than you in every way" expression. Why did I expect anything else? This is me she's dealing with, of course she isn't going to take me seriously when every time I've been paired with her, I get absolutely destroyed. Even Cardin had the decency to at least let me try to fight back. I am in her own words, "A hopeless loser without anything of value."
I really wanted to wipe that look off her face.
Before my parents had all but disowned me, we used to be friends. Yes, I knew Weiss when we were kids.
Our fathers go way back.
She used to be so sweet and kind... Now she's just a hateful bitch.
When I was moved to the shed, she started taking more and more after her father and spent more time listening more to my parents and sisters.
We drifted apart and every time I tried to reach out to her was met with swift and painful retribution from either my own family, or hers.
I want to hate her. I should hate her. But I can't.
I just want my friend back...
"BEGIN!!!"
Like every other match between myself and Weiss, with a flourish, a glyph appeared behind her. Powered by this sigil, and with Myrtenaster pointed at me, Weiss dashed forward.
Her game-plan was always the same - speed blitz me by dashing forwards and just before impact, unleash a blast of elemental energy to throw me out of bounds instantly.
But something was off this time.
She seemed almost... Sluggish, in her movements.
Before I had even realized it, I had already reached halfway to the center of the ring and sidestepped her attack. Almost allowing my opponent to zip right past me. Instead of letting her overshoot and subsequently land out of bounds, my hand snatched up to grab the heiress by her ponytail and yanked down, slamming the back of her head against the hard concrete floor.
Without wasting any time, I savagely stomped down on her stomach before backing up.
Weiss rolled to her side, clutching her now bruised stomach and ego while gasping in shock.
And pain, a small, ugly, part of me hoped.
"Get up and take me seriously, dammit!" I snarled.
I am not some joke to be written off anymore!
I waited as she shakily picked herself back up and regained her composure with a furrowed brow as she scowled at me.
She's angry now. Good.
She moved again, this time an upwards Aura powered slash.
But she still wasn't taking me seriously, it seemed, as she was still too slow.
Her offensive was immediately stonewalled by my own Aura-infused sword.
That's odd. Was my sword made with Lightning Dust that could be activated by Aura or Will?
Because I could see the currents of electricity running up and down the blade as Myrtenaster bounced off its surface.
Weiss didn't even have time to react (likely due to the mild electric shock my sword gave her) as I socked her in the face and use the resulting recoil to blast her in the face with a Fireball.
Her Aura protected her from any burns that would have been inflicted, bit it did nothing to save her from the intense heat and inertia caused by the blast.
With a shriek, she hit the ground. Hard.
"What part of 'take me seriously' did you not understand?!?" I shouted at her angrily as she began picking herself up yet again, this time using her sword for support as she did so.
"People like you seriously piss me off!" I vented as I stepped forward, which in turn, caused her to step back. "We used to be friends!"
At the word 'friends', I had brought my sword in for a cut from the left. Weiss barely dodged it.
"No!" She countered with a stab, but I simply stepped to the side and headbutted her.
"The moment my family turned their backs on me, you did too!" I said now bringing in a sword-swipe from the right, which she stopped with a glyph before leaping back to put some distance between us.
"Stay back!" She cried out as she shot out several shards of Ice Dust at me.
Only for them to be melted mid-air with another Fireball.
"You never truly were my friend! Or anyone's! You only think about yourself!" I called out as I began walking towards her. "Like with Pyrrha! You only try to cosy up to her because you think it will benefit you! Or with Ruby! When Ozpin made her the leader of your team, what did you do? You bitched and moaned and damn near threw a temper tantrum!"
"Stop it!" She demanded before launching a Dust-powered fireball of her own at me.
I intercepted it with my third Fireball, causing a small explosion that obscured everyone's vision as I closed the gap between us.
Now, standing before her, I leaned in close to her face, seeing the tears and rage in her eyes.
"You're no better than our fathers..." I hissed, before back-handing Weiss across the face, knocking her down yet again.
The entire class was deafeningly silent as I looked down upon my ex-best friend.
She looked back up at me, defeated and breathing hard with tears in her eyes as the fight had been knocked out of her.
Weiss was completely at my mercy.
I understood now. It wasn't that she wasn't taking me seriously anymore, or that she had somehow gotten slower. I had gotten faster.
The roles between us had been completely reversed.
And with that realization, the raw anger I felt towards her evaporated.
"I'm done now." With a tired sigh, I turned around and began walking off the stage.
"Match Over! Weiss Schnee wins by forfeit!" Prof. Goodwitchcalled out after taking a moment to register what exactly she had just witnessed as I returned to my locker.
'I really do suck, don't I?' I mentally asked myself upon reaching my locker before the world greyed out.
Turning around, I saw the same ethereal symbol from the Path to Power, what I had learned from my lessons with Ozpin and my dreams with Theresa, to be called the Guild Seal.
Reaching out, I found myself back on the Path to Power with Theresa. But unlike last time, I was now slightly further along with an open gate behind me, and another gate closed before me.
"You have done well today, Jaune." My guide told me.
"Really? Because it doesn't feel like it." I grumbled, still disappointed in myself for letting my emotions get the better of me. Sure, I had technically won, but at what cost? Driving the wedge between Weiss and myself further apart?
"Your defeat of Weiss and decision not to go further has proven you as a capable warrior and word of your merciful nature will spread. Furthermore, Weiss will now become a better person for this in the future as you have now opened her eyes," Theresa explained.
Huh. Didn't think I had that kind of effect on people. Still, I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll believe it when I see it...
"Now, open the gate and unlock more of your potential. You have a date to prepare for tonight," she smirked under her hood.
"IT'S NOT A DATE!!!" I defended, but it was no use as Theresa had already vanished into the air.
"First time she's done that, and I already hate it..."
AND SCENE!!!
So there we have it. Jaune's first win in Combat Class! Except that technically, he didn't win, seeing as he gave up and walked away at the very end.
In classic Fable style, Jaune's decision nets him "Good" morality points. If he had continued, he would have gotten "Evil" points.
And yes, in this story, Jaune and Weiss do in fact know each other. Unfortunately for them, when Jaune's family turned against him, Weiss's father and his own parents saw to it that the two would never have contact with each other while feeding Weiss their own opinions of the boy, poisoning her against him.
And don't worry any and all "Knight of Light" fans, (looking at you IronGiant9000, buddy) I will be continuing that story. Just dealing with a bit of writers block on it and am just focusing on wherever my inspiration is going.
Just trying to decide if I wanna go ahead and expose Jak's identity as Jaune to the rest of the cast yet, or let it marinate for a bit...
Anyways, a few of you may be confused as to how and/or why Jaune pretty much dominated Weiss here.
Well, the easy answer would be anime-logic and that this is basically my story... But I'm guessing some of you may want more than that, so I'll break it down.
Aura and Magic are pretty powerful on their own, but without the necessary knowledge on how to use it, Jaune was basically a step up from a Huntsman-grade punching bag.
Thanks to having Ozpin giving him the basics for both, combined with the fact that we know for a fact Jaune is actually a very quick learner, on top of the fact that Jaune has had a year to get familiar with his sword (In this story, at least.), it made sense he'd be able to fight as efficiently as he did.
Speaking of swords, yes, Jaune's sword is based off the swords available in Fable 3. Seeing as how Fable 3 was not only my friend's favourite Fable game, but their introduction to the seriesvas well, I thought it was appropriate. Now unlike Fable 3, Jaune's Heroic Sword actually IS something special.
In the game, the Heroic Weapons given by the player's Heroic parent was made out to be something special and important. They weren't.
So here, Jaune's Heroic Sword IS what it's cracked up to be.
Just like the game, as Jaune grows stronger and develops his skills, abilities, and achievements, his sword will change its appearance to match. But unlike the game, and (because it is actually integral to the story this time around) it will start having effects, because it does have its own identity (and name that Jaune doesn't know yet) like every other weapon in the game did.
Such as its ability to light itself on fire.
So far, all but one of its "perks/augments" are inactive.
Now since this sword is special, it has a fourth "feature" unlike other Heroic Weapons of its kind that only get three.
They are as follows.
(Completed) Sacred Smiter: Increase your moral standing to add Shock damage.
Jaune IS a good person at heart, so he's already at (or at the very least, near) max morality at this point.
Righteousness: Defeat 300 Evil enemies to add 100% damage to Evil Enemies. 11/300 Defeated.
Evil Enemies include Bandits, Hobbes, Hollowmen, Minions, Shadow-beings, Balverines, Grimm, and 90% of all enemies out there.
Fiery Passion: Have sex with at least five women to add Flame Damage. 0/5 Women Banged.
And that's it on the sword for now.
Any takers on who Jaune is gonna do the do with? Who should he lay?
And does anyone else feel like taking a "stab" at the sword's name? Imaginary cookie if you do.
And if you get it right, I'll let you decide if the perks/augments and their requirements for Jaune's future gun.
AND its name!
For a hint, it's based off a sword in folklore and features prominently in a book series.
Ciao!