Symbiote Knight

Chapter 14: Rapiers and Longswords

Jaune was exciting as classes ended for the day, not just because of the fact that classes were over, but because he had time with Weiss. Granted it was to help learn some swordsmanship from her, but time alone was time alone.

~I swear this is one of the most complex mating rituals I know of~

"Well, what's a simpler one then?" He asked out loud as he was in the locker room changing before going to get his weapons that were stored in another room.

~One, is you give the head of her enemy to her, another would be to win a battle in her name, there was one about giving a ballad performance about her, but given your musical ability we'll skip that~

"I'm not that bad…am I?" He paused remembering that time he tried to sing to her with that guitar that, granted he didn't know how to play fully. He never did finish his guitar lessons before going off to Beacon. Maybe he could use their mental mindscape thing they did at night to practice more?

~Regardless, other types of these rituals you don't have the physical ability to perform.~

"Like what?" Jaune was always curious about all the knowledge his symbiote had of space. It was kind of exhilarating; he was learning things he bet people like Doctor Oobleck would gladly give up an arm and a leg for.

~Well for starters you don't have gills to puff up, change the color of your skin or hair, or expand the size of your head.~

"Oh," Jaune blinked wondering what kind of aliens that could do that, well that was a question he could ask later. He didn't want to get sidetracked, and make Weiss wait on him. She was a very punctual type of girl from what he was able to learn about her from his interactions with team RWBY. Now dressed he went to the weapons locker room and got his sword and shield and found Weiss in the training room she had booked.

Given the large number of students there were smaller more personal training rooms than the larger ones used in combat class. The only reason he and Pyrrha hadn't used this was because anyone could just walk in, and they wanted their nightly training to be kept under wraps for now. Jaune didn't want people to know he had no training until that moment, so the balcony was the safest place to train.

Jaune found Weiss already there waiting for him and for a moment he felt he might be late, he checked his scroll to see he was still two minutes early.

"I uh, hope you weren't waiting long." Jaune asked setting up to her.

The smaller training room was basically a small white box like room, very sparce with a viewing window off to the side and although he didn't know this at the time, had camera system to monitor students just in case something happened. Given the number of students that were at Beacon it made sense to have more than just the large training room they used for class when it was only two people wanting to train.

"Not long, only a few minutes," Weiss was glad he was punctual, she liked to arrive five minutes early just in case to appointments. Drawing out her sword she saw Jaune do the same.

"So, what exactly kind of style do you know out of curiosity?" Jaune asked her.

"It's a modified style," Weiss told him. "Before my semblance activated, I learned the basic Atlas Rapier style that my sister uses but after my semblance I then modified it." She liked to use her semblance to allow her to increase her speed and launch her across the battlefield. To come at targets at angles that normally you wouldn't fight against, it used her speed and agility to make fast thrusting attacks, but she had the basics still there in case she couldn't move around.

"For starters let's start with some basics, do you know about the strong and weak points of a blade?" Weiss asked.

Jaune blinked at Pyrrha's training was more about learning the proper foot placement, and stances. Valor had been teaching him styles that worked with his sword and shield combination but neither had really gone into that.

"Not exactly," He told her.

Weiss raised an eyebrow a little bit on that but said nothing. It was odd to her that no one knew that but maybe her teachers had been different than Jaune's. "Put up your sword and keep it there."

Jaune did so as she tapped the tip part of his sword with her own. "This is the weak point." She tapped the mid-section of his blade next. "This is the strong point. In the rapier style it's best to keep your strong point against the weak point like so."

She moved her blade with her mid-point against his tip and moved it aside as his blade was now not aimed at her and her tip aimed at him. He could see how she had control if this was a battle, he would be unable to get his blade back in time to prevent her from thrusting into him by her simply sliding her blade forward towards him.

"Try that with me but use both strong and weak to see the difference." She asked him.

So, he did, when he did weak to weak, he could see that it wasn't as effective or could be totally ineffective if she just adjusted her wrist. But when he used the strong part of the blade against her weak point it was a lot easier to get her blade to move and get his sword into position to attack.

"Notice the difference?" She asked him.

"Yeah's it's a lot easier when I use my strong point against the weak point."

Weiss nodded, "Yes, it is and that's one of the key points, control. Controlling your opponent's blade is important to a fencing style."

"So, I guess there are ways to counter or regain control then?" Jaune figured that from all his personal training that there usually were ways to turn the fight back in your favor.

"Yes, one way is you can disengage, this can be done many ways, but the simplest way is to let your wrist relax." She put her blade up. "Try that again."

He did so as his blade hit her weak point as he want to move in her blade quickly dipped down making him lose contact with it as he brought it back up on the other side. Now her blade was again pointed at him, and his blade was now out of position.

"Oh, so you just move the blade down," Jaune could understand that easily enough.

"Yes, but you have to relax your wrist and not force it." Weiss stressed to him.

"Really? Why?"

"Try to bend it when I go on the offensive." Weiss figured a physical example would work best. She went on the 'attack' this time but as Jaune bent his wrist instead of relaxing it she slammed her sword down on it making Jaune go off balance lose his grip on his weapon.

"That's why, you're not loose enough to take the blow and now you see the result."

Jaune nodded as he spent a few minutes feeling the different between letting his wrist loosen instead of forcing it down. The two of them continued on for the next hour as they went back and forth, Jaune had to admit there were some key points he was learning although he knew his longsword wasn't build for a rapier style, it was still worth learning in case he came up against another rapier user and a few things he learned he could use and keep in mind.

Her style was all about speed, control to make thrusting attacks and it was a very precise style of combat.

~Her blade is good for thrusting and one on one but less so with cutting or slashing. That's where your blade comes out on top plus it's studier. As for which is 'better' that usually comes down to the user.~

'Yeah, and she's very good,' He thought back. While he could see there was a difference in skill compared to Pyrrha now that he had someone else's skills to compare, he could still tell that Weiss had put a lot of effort in. She always seemed to have this sense of 'control' about her. While Pyrrha was almost like a force of nature, always moving, always just in the right place, with power and grace to match.

Weiss was more about controlling the battle, almost like she was in a dance leading him about.

It was here he was learning that training under more than one person was starting to give him a perspective in how others actually had trained and learned to fight in their own way.

"You put in a lot of work," Jaune stated after having a light spar, with him using some of the things he had learned. She still usually came out on top but that was just the difference in their experiences.

"Yes, I have." She nodded her head. She always seemed to be doing something growing up. If it wasn't educational, or etiquette, learning about high society and even business. She was also learning combat, singing, dancing and so many other subjects. For years from the moment, she woke up to the moment she went to bed she had little in the way of 'free time' and it was only when she got to Beacon that she was learning this.

Originally, she just thought her teammates were a bit lazy, not doing something important after classes, instead they read books, played games and other things she had never been allowed to do. It took her a few weeks to suddenly realize they weren't lazy and were putting in the effort just like her, it's just that her upbringing wasn't as normal as she had thought.

Even this moment with Jaune teaching him and sparring she found a bit more relaxing. She wasn't under pressure to preform but to take this at their own pace instead. There was also the fact he was a quick learner; sure, he had some work to do and some habits to get out of, but she could see the potential. She could respect someone that pushed themselves to be better, it was a struggle she had done for years after all.

As they took a break to refresh and drink, she cast her eyes sideways. She would have to admit that her initial assessment of Jaune Arc might have been off. Yes, he had moments of being a bumbling fool but lately she had seen him strive for improvement. His activities in combat class were improving, as were his scholarly skills in class. As he eyes roamed over him she couldn't deny that he had grown in other ways.

The new clothing and look certainly helped to show him as more put together individual. She quickly looked away as she had almost been caught staring. Such a thing would be most inappropriate.

~She was looking at you for some time there~

'Wait, what?' he looked at her but her back was now turned.

~I think you caught some kind of interests~

Okay so he might have gotten on Weiss' radar, that was good, the only problem now was, what was he going to do next?

"I'm curious, why did you choose the rapier?" Jaune brought up the only thing he could think of off the top of his head.

Weiss paused to look at her weapon. "I supposed it just fit me, also my older sister using her own version."

"I have a few older sisters myself," Jaune being a 'middle' child you could say in a group of seven sisters had both older and younger. "What's yours like?"

"She's…professional," Weiss thought about Winter. "I always admired her, and she always seems to sure of herself and strong. She even got into an elite unit in the Atlas military at a young age."

"You sound very proud of her," Jaune noted the tone in her voice.

"Yes, yes I am," She nodded.

"Family has always been important to me," Jaune looking down at his sword. "I always wanted them to be proud of me and not disappoint them."

Weiss felt a familiar tug inside of herself, that need to have her family to be proud of her when she was a child, before everything seemed to go wrong. When her parents stopped talking, before her mother started drinking, before her sister left their home. Yet again she was surprised to find that she actually had some things in common with Jaune Arc.

There was an awkward moment of silence as neither really knew what to say. Jaune was starting to panic a bit internally as he didn't want to mess up what was happening. He felt that lately he had gotten a bit closer to Weiss.

~Maybe you can use this opening.~

Jaune thought about it but for what? That's when his symbiote started to whisper an idea.

"Weiss, I wanted to thank you for doing this, I know you didn't have to, but I really do think I learned a few things here that will help." He honestly told her as he wanted to make sure she knew that he did appreciate what she had done.

Weiss nodded her head. "It was nothing, you behaved like a gentleman, and I appreciate someone that works hard."

Jaune scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I feel like I need to improve myself. So, I was hoping there was something I could do to thank you today."

"You asked for help, and I gave it in kind, nothing to be thankful for." She told him.

"Yeah, but still, I feel like I should do something to thank you for the help. It's only fair and the right thing to do." Jaune had a sense of honor and he felt that taking help without returning it in some way, well it made him feel like he was taking someone for granted. Now that he thought about it, he needed to offer something for Pyrrha and Yang for their help as well.

Although the problem was, what could he do to help them?

Weiss regarded him, studying him to make sure this wasn't some kind of ploy. She had seen firsthand how 'favors' were traded in Atlas high society. It brought back some unpleasant memories which brought her inner walls back up in a reaction to them.

"And what do you propose?" Weiss cautiously asked.

Jaune tried to think of something but came up blank. "Uh…I have no idea. I mean you're already super smart, so you don't need help with homework, you're amazing in combat classes so you don't need help with that. Honestly, you always seem to have everything under control."

Weiss felt her guard lower with his praises, she couldn't hear them as empty words given how he spoke about her. Plus, he was correct in saying she didn't need help in any of those areas.

~How about treating her? You can pay for a drink or meal in the city?~

Jaune's eyes lit up at that. "Oh, I know, how about I treat you to something in Vale? Like coffee or tea or something?"

Weiss thought about it for a second before she realized that sounded a lot like a date. She narrowed her eyes; did he think such a tactic would fool her? "If this is your attempt at another way to court me by trickery I am not impressed."

~She's on to us, pull back!~

"No-no-no!" Jaune quickly told her. "I just wanted to replay you and well, you don't seem to get out much and I figured you could use a nice break in the city. I've been going and found a few places you might like, and I just wanted to treat you for being nice enough to help is all."

Okay so maybe he was hoping for a kind-of-sort-of date but not-date with her but just hanging out as friends would be good enough for him. Plus, he had noticed a few stores that he thought might be good places to take a date to.

Weiss stood there silently judging him.

"Seriously Weiss, I really do want to thank you," He honestly told her. "I know I annoyed you in the past so this can also make up for it? This is me totally not asking you out, just…wanting to do something nice in return."

Weiss was on the fence, she always had to guard herself with those that had tried to worm their way into her life and her family's life through her so often she had automatic responses at times. She had to admit he had stopped his horrible attempts to court her, he had been improving and was becoming a competent student. Also, she could use a break from her team, as much as they were slowly starting to grow on her, she could only take so much chaos.

"Very well, one time only I will allow this but make no mistake," She walked up to him and poked his chest. "This is NOT a date."

"Perfectly clear, just two people going out to the same place to relax, nothing more." Jaune quickly clarified.

She took a step back and nodded as she turned to leave. As soon as she was gone Jaune sighed and had a smile on his face.

~Why are you happy? This is not a date isn't it?~ Valar asked confused.

"No but at least it's a step in the right direction. Maybe with this I can open her up to the idea later on?" Jaune whispered back in a hopeful way.

Valor just mentally shrugged, he still didn't get these mating rituals at times. The universe would be much simpler if every species just reproduced like his kind did. Less messy and less complicated for sure.

Weiss returned to the dorm room as she saw her team there, Blake reading in her bed, Yang was in hers as well looking through her scroll and Ruby was at her desk looking to be going through homework. Ruby had been studying hard lately and it was good the younger girl was taking her huntress training seriously.

"So how was training with Jaune?" Yang asked not taking her eyes off her scroll.

"It went…adequately." She told her going to her own desk and pulled out her homework. She still had plenty of time to get through it all if she started now.

"Just adequate?" Yang asked curiously.

"He still needs work," Weiss threw out opening her books.

"I don't know, he seems like he came a long way in a short time since he showed up," Yang shrugged being idle with her scroll.

Blake looked up from her book and looked up at the bunch over her. "You seem to be defending him a bit more lately."

"Well, he's a pall, and I've been working with him in the gym, and I've noticed that he's come a long way. Just wanted to give props when it's earned." Yang defended herself. Blake raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off and went back to her book.

"Yeah, Jaune's nice," Ruby spoke up for the first time taking a small break. "He's been helping me out to catch up and also he's a good friend."

Yang nodded at that, she was thankful that Jaune was helping out Ruby and had been a good friend, an actual friend to her little sister. That gave him some important points in her book as family was important to Yang.

"He has…improved," Weiss had to admit since he looked so hopeless at first when they all started. It made her stop as again; something didn't seem right. He had to have had training to get into Beacon and yet it seemed he was a complete dullard in everything at first. Now he was catching up at breakneck speeds that normally wasn't possible. Again, that mystery of Jaune Arc was making that part of her brain itch. There had to be some kind of logical reason why he seemed to be hopeless at first and then was gaining skills so quickly.

Was he hiding his true talent? No, that made no sense, why would you hide behind the mask of a buffoon? She tapped her pen as she couldn't figure out this puzzle. Jaune Arc she was realizing was a man of many conflicting notions.

"Well at least he's stopped asking you out," Yang shrugged.

Weiss' pen stopped tapping at that. "Not…exactly."

Yang paused herself as she took her eyes off her scroll. "What?"

"It's nothing, he wanted to thank me for the lesson, and we are going to Vale for him to simply take me out for some tea." Weiss refused to think of it as a date. "We're simply having a nice drink that's all, it is in no way a date."

She wanted to stress that point out although now that she thought about her earlier thoughts in this setting maybe she could gleam a bit more information to explain the oddity that was Jaune Arc. Something wasn't adding up and she knew she was missing parts of the equation.

Yang felt an ugly twisting sensation in her but pushed it down. It was stupid to feel this way, she had plenty of chances, but it was only recently she started to notice Jaune as more than just Ruby's good friend. Looking back at her scroll she tried to concentrate on it but found she couldn't. Weiss' little announcement of her and Jaune going out together made her feel a sense of jealousy she didn't like to feel.

She closed her eyes and sign. 'Come on Yang, you've thought about it. It's just a stupid crush, get over and it move on. You had all this time, just because he got fit, got better at fighting and with the new look makes him look kind of hot.'

Yang's hand holding her scroll was quickly slammed onto her bed as she looked up at the ceiling.

'Not helping brain!' she mentally yelled at herself. Granted Jaune had gotten better looking with a decent haircut and his improving physic was a difference from when she saw him in his onesie on the fight night at Beacon. 'I wonder if he still has that? God, he really could use some fashion sense help.'

She smirked at the memory since no matter how much he changed on the outside he was still a dork on the inside but so was her dad and her sister and she loved them for it.

'Look, he has eyes for Weiss. Just let it go for now,' She thought about how she liked having him as a new workout buddy and how eager he was to learn and get stronger. Which led her down to thinking of him in the gym lately, how he looked when he got sweaty, or how his hands felt when he gave her that massage that one time.

Her face heated up as she pulled her pillow over her face. She really hoped she could get over this quickly.

In the dorm room across the hallway, team JNPR were also doing various things. Nora was listening to music as she read the chapter for homework. Ren was at his desk quietly doing his written work while Pyrrha was trying to concentrate on her work, but her mind kept thinking that Jaune and Weiss were all alone now. Sure, nothing could happen, but some part of her mind wouldn't let it go.

Part of her was jealous of the fact that Jaune was getting swordsmanship training from someone else. Yes, she saw the logic in training with other styles, but the illogical part of her mind just didn't care.

Jaune finally entered the dorm in his student clothing looking a bit refreshed, most likely he had a shower after the training.

"Have fun?" Nora asked him.

"Yeah actually, even learned a few things too." He nodded with a smile on his face.

"Self-improvement is a constant thing," Ren stated not looking up from his homework. "When you stop improving yourself then you risk sliding back."

Jaune paused at the words and nodded. "Yeah, I can see that." He then went to dig out his own homework as he took to the desk next to Pyrrha as he started to get to work. This used to take him awhile to get through but with Valor's help, his homework wasn't as hard as before. It helped that his symbiote could remember everything it experienced and could explain anything Jaune had trouble with, well for the most part. Anything neither of them knew he did ask for help with.

"So, things went well with Weiss?" Pyrrha commented trying to sound neutral with her tone.

"Yep, I think she's starting to warm up to me," He smiled starting on his Grimm studies.

"That's…nice," she said using her fake smile she had years of experience putting on in front of cameras and the public. Even though on the inside she felt a crushing weight being put on herself.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it but she agreed to let me take her out to Vale as a thank you for her help today."

At the end of that sentence, Pyrrha's pen flew out of her hand as several metallic objects moved away from her suddenly. That made everyone in the room jump as they looked at their teammate shocked.

"I'm sorry," she said embarrassed as she reset everything on her desk and got a new pen out of her desk. "That…can happen sometimes."

"Your semblance can just activate?" Jaune hadn't unlocked his own, so he had no real idea of just what it took to use a semblance.

She quickly nodded. "It's rare but it can happen." She wasn't totally lying, with surprising emotional shocks she could lose control of her magnetic semblance at times. She had trained hard to make sure it didn't happen but that comment about him and Weiss going out had caught her completely off guard.

"So…you and the Ice Queen are going on a date?" Nora asked pulling off the headphones. They weren't loud enough to drown out everyone, so she had picked up on what he had said.

"Well, it's not a date," He admitted to that much. "It's just a way to thank her."

He then leaned over to Pyrrha and in a low tone said. "Also, I wanted to thank you too for everything, so if there's anything I can do to repay you just tell me."

She was glad that he wanted to thank her as well, although part of her wish he was doing this for more than just thanking her for her help. "It's nothing, we're partners. We should be helping each other."

Jaune placed his hand on hers as Pyrrha felt herself stiffen for a second before forcing herself to relax. She could feel her heartbeat going faster as he was so closer to her face with a serious expression in his blue eyes. "I'm serious, I wouldn't be half the person I am today without your help, and I want to show my appreciation. Just name it, Arc's honor."

'Kiss me,' was the first thought that entered her mind but that immediately got crushed as she felt her cheeks heating up. They were so close that if she just leaned forward it could happen, if she was fast, he wouldn't even have time to react until it was too late. She pulled away as she tried to get control of herself.

"I-I'll think on it," she told him.

"Okay then," he smiled at her. "Just let me know when you come up with something."

He released his hand as Pyrrha was a mix of emotions now, she could use this favor to ask for something like a date but again, she had mixed feelings. She didn't want to try and force things, but she knew she had to do something, or else Weiss might start to open her eyes and fall for him too. She had nothing against the girl but a part of her did have this ugly sensation that if she wasn't around then Jaune might have noticed her.

It was a new sensation for her, being jealous of someone else. Then again this was the first time someone else had something she wanted. Casting a side look to Jaune she bit her lower lip slightly as she tried to focus back on her work.

This of course while being out of Jaune's sight wasn't out of Valor's. For awhile now he had noticed that Pyrrha acted strangely around Jaune. She seemed to be worried about something but was holding back. It was too bad that his existence was a secret, he could have attempted to reach out and form a temporary bond to see into her mind. But that was a deeply personal thing and not something he would violate unless necessary.

Although he was bonded to Jaune that didn't mean he couldn't 'link' with other living beings. It just meant he couldn't leave Jaune fully, a part of him would have to stay with Jaune. Perhaps one day they would find someone both of them were comfortable with sharing their secret and Valor would be allowed to link with said human. If Jaune mated with another female at least it could finally give Valor some insight into the female side of the population.

Maybe he should consider that the next host be female, if only so that he could gain a better understanding of humanity. Maybe a Faunus next as well? At any rate it would be decades for him to decide on things and by that time perhaps he will learn enough to understand these people more. He was also stuck on this planet until they could figure out space travel at any rate.

That was an upside to being a symbiote, he had time, time was a much broader concept when you were long lived as he was, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy his time with his hosts. Joining with another was what his species yearned for, it gave a sense of completeness. Valor had been alone for so long in space that joining with Jaune was a comfort for the alien.

It puts those thoughts aside as he went back to focusing on Jaune and helping when he could with the homework. Because in even simple tasks like this, Valor was no longer alone.

TBC…