Oh boy, some people are going to hate me for this, I'm going to apologize in advance for this chapter and the things contained within. Please just understand that for the progress of the story the things contained within this chapter are entirely necessary. I want to apologize yet again for this, either way please don't flame me too bad when you see what I've done. Now I'm going to hide in my fort. See y'all on the next one.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything affiliated.

Chapter Sixteen: Crash and Burn - Jaune's big mistake!

Once he'd showered and dressed in his uniform, Jaune collected the bookbag sitting on the end of his bed and quickly made his way out through the doorway. The hallways of the second floor of the dorm building were entirely silent and Jaune did not take this as a good sign at all. He bolted down to the end of the hallway as fast as he could without pause. Down the stairs he went next, and by some miracle he didn't lose his footing so was able to run down them and right out of the door of the dorm building without an unfortunate mishap occurring. Finally in the courtyard, Jaune sprinted across it and into the hallway of the classroom building where he was able to see a streak of golden and a sigh of relief left his lips as he caught up with the rest of his team.

"Bagel," Yang said depositing it into his left hand.

"Coffee," Pyrrha followed placing the takeaway cup in his right hand.

"Breakfast," Jaune said happily, "Thanks you two."

"Not a problem," Yang said, "C'mon, we'd better get moving. We don't have long before class starts."

"Right."

Jaune managed to not only eat his bagel but also consume the entire takeaway cup worth of coffee before they reached the classroom. He was relieved to get this done because now he wouldn't need to worry about wanting either food nor refreshment for the morning. His team-mates were really something else. He was in awe of how naturally they'd all sort of slipped into this routine of just helping each other without questioning nor any word needed for that matter. Even if Weiss seemed to have issue with it, he didn't care. Having the kind of bond he did with his team was something he was quickly growing to appreciate it since by the looks of things none of the other teams he'd been around shared that sentiment.

"Welcome, " Desmond said, watching as the students slowly filed into his classroom, "We're back again today with another lesson on Camping and Survival skills. I am sure you are all as excited as I am to get started so please come and take your seats so we can begin."

Jaune had already taken his seat between Yang and Pyrrha, but he almost immediately noted that Nora took the seat next to Blake without needing to be asked, as if detecting the potential problems that could arise if she and Weiss were forced to endure the presence of each other at a closer rate than absolutely necessary. She gave Jaune an apologetic smile, but settled down to her seat either way. Next Ren, Ruby and Weiss followed to take seats as well and things seemed to have just slotted into place. One thing that Jaune was able to note was that Ruby seemed to be sitting a little closer to Ren and Nora for some reason, as if she were afraid that Weiss might explode in her direction next. Blake wasn't innocent either, Ren had told him the story of what'd happened and despite any lack of desire to be involved that Jaune had, he did know that it took two to argue and maybe pinning all of the negativity on Weiss was a little unfair...no matter how frustrating she could be sometimes.

It wasn't time to intervene yet, but he couldn't help but feel bad for Weiss even if he probably shouldn't be thinking like that.

"Right," Desmond said, cutting through to obtain the classes attention, "Last week we talked about a couple of things regarding uses of a knife during survival missions or extended stays in the wilderness. I'd like to continue that this lesson and actually work on teaching you all to tie vines as well as rope to the speciifications that you need. Rope and Vine are very different no matter how strong either is and you need to be able to manoever both if you're going to be successful out in the wild. Now, Mr. Arc? I believe, you had quite the knowledgeable response to my questions last class. Would I be correct in assuming that you've done this type of thing before?"

Shocked to be called on out of the blue like this, all Jaune could do was nod his head meekly in response, Desmond was elated by the response despite the lack of a verbal answer. He knew that some students were shyer than others and a silent response was still a response that he could work with.

"Right then, since you already have this knowledge mind helping out a few of your classmates? I'd appreciate the extra set of hands, that way more people will have help if they need it."

"S-sure, Desmond."

"Excellent, just what I like to hear. Now we're going to get some rope handed out and start with that this week since it's easier to mold into the shapes you want then some types of vine are and you won't need to worry about checking to see whether or not the rope is poisonous like you will when it comes time to work with vine."

Once the rope had been handed out, the class was split into two smaller groups and Jaune couldn't help but notice that Desmond had ensured that Cardin had ended up in his own group rather than Jaune's. He was privately very thankful for this and happy that he could go back to working on helping out the students in his own group without worrying that Cardin would try to discredit or bring him down in some shape or form.

"How's this look?" Ruby asked Jaune, holding up her strand of rope.

"Looks good, Ruby but you might want to focus some of the coil into the tightness a little more, it looks like it'd fall off if someone gave it more than a tiny tug. I understand wanting to be able to untie it again but there's a trick I can show you that'll have it undoing itself whenever you need it to come lose without having to cut it free so don't be afraid to tie it as tight as you can, okay?"

Ruby answered in the form of a salute then went back to attempting the knot again, using much more strength than she had the first time around.

"You're rather good at this," Ren observed, "I wouldn't think-"

Jaune automatically sensed where Ren's train of thought was going and he quickly cut an answer through before Ren could finish what he was saying, "It was a long time ago, back before mom passed. Before everything changed."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks."

By the end of the class, both groups had produced some rather impressive knots and by the look on Desmond's face, though it was early, Jaune could see that the camping trip had a decent probability of being in their futures.

"Unfortunately that's all we have time for today," Desmond said, "But I hope you'll continue working on the knots until our next lesson where we'll start showing you how to attach them to sticks and branches in order to create makeshift spears for fishing and fruit collecting. As for you, Mr. Arc I'll be giving you something more advanced to create. As much as I love having assistance with teaching the class I'd also be remiss if I let the opportunity to see what you're truly capable of slip out of arms reach. That's all folks, enjoy the rest of your day and I shall see you for your next lesson."

"I can't believe it," Cardin muttered as soon as he thought that he and the rest of CRDL were out of Desmond's earshot, "Arc's a god-damned teacher's pet. How is that loser good at anything? He's got girls practically falling off his arms and now is even getting preferential treatment?"

"I think you're looking into this too much," Dove countered, "He's not intentionally doing these things. He's on the same team as those girls, like he has any choice if they're around him or not and as for the class, Dude's been camping a lot, makes sense that he would be called to help in a class that's about camping and survival skills."

"I have more knowledge about camping and survival in my pinky finger than that useless moron has in his entire body," Cardin snarled quietly, "And I'm going to prove it, by kicking his ass in combat class...again."

"Then we'd better get a move on before we're late and Goodwitch tears us a new one," Russell added.

"Good idea," David agreed.

And so through the busy hallway of students Team CRDL made their way through the copious amounts of students lingering, or making their way slowly to their next class. Combat Class, like always, was hosted in the largest training room that Beacon Academy had to offer and unlike the others this one wasn't available to use for the students outside of Class Time. It was only ever used for Combat Class or if the school had an official fight, either through an event or a particularly notable grudge match. As with all the other lessons Glynda Goodwitch had once again taken the stage at the far end of the room and was looking out over the class at her students, "Our first match today will be between - Nora Valkyrie and Tom Ruffle."

The moment they heard the announcement of the match both Ren and Jaune shuddered at precisely the same moment. Jaune just hoped that Nora ended it quickly and didn't prolong this kid's suffering. Luckily for Tom's sake the match had ended quickly. If Jaune was honest, far more quickly than even he could've guessed. The guy rushed in, Nora dodged and then one Nora smash later, Tom Ruffle had been thrown from the ring and knocked unconscious in a single blow.

"Well..." Goodwitch said faintly, "Miss Valkyrie wins."

"Thanks teach!" Nora said excitedly, returning to her seat with a newfound spring to her step.

"I suppose we should be thankful he didn't suffer," Ren noted quietly while Nora was still out of ear-shot.

"My thoughts exactly," Jaune agreed, shifting in his seat a little bit. For some reason he couldn't shake a sense of worry that had been washing over him for the entire class so far. He had fought Cardin last class so...surely he wouldn't be-

"Next we will have Mr. Winchester and...Mr. Arc, could you both collect your gear from your lockers and return here for your match please?"

Of course he'd put it out into the universe with that thought, hadn't he?

There was no use dwelling on it. He'd been training with Yang, Blake and Pyrrha for a little while now and though his skills weren't where he'd like them to be, he had still improved a lot since he'd arrived at Beacon and maybe he could even pull this off. Maybe he could avenge his defeat from last time? Maybe instead of fighting to survive, Jaune could fight to win this time?

"You may begin."

"I'm going to stomp you into the ground, Arc!"

Jaune exhaled a calming breath as he steadied his grip on Crocea Mors, thinking desperately, "If you wanted to wake up again, now would be the perfect time."

Jaune felt a small tremble within the blade in response to his words, was the sword finally going to come to the party? He felt his confidence shoot up by miles at the thought and lowered himself into his stance, feeling at the ready for this encounter. Clang! The metal of Cardin's mace and the blade of Crocea Mors collided, yet Jaune remained standing, he'd barely even moved an inch.

Ren's eyes were drawn to the screen above the two leaders' heads displaying their Aura guages and was surprised to see that the strike had drained Cardin's aura more than it had Jaune's. That was certainly unexpected.

"So you finally learned a basic block did you?" Cardin sneered, "Well, let's see how you handle-THIS."

And so the match continued, both Jaune and Cardin exchanging blows at a much quicker rate than they had during the last match. Jaune was doing a good job of keeping up with Cardin and though this was mostly down to Cardin's clunky armor, it didn't stop the smiles on the faces of Team ABYN from becoming wider. Jaune was improving so much in their training sessions and to see it on display like this was more than any of them could've hoped for. He truly was a natural, even if Jaune would nevr believe it was so if anyone else made the point of telling him as such.

"He's...a little better," Weiss said softly.

"Damn right he is!" Yang said happily, "he's going to kick Cardin's ass I just know it."

"You feel it in your jellies?" Ruby asked, then looked around at all the confused faces of her friends, quickly dropping back into her seat and covering her face with her hood, shivering in the face of all the attention being on her, "My uncle says it a lot, okaaaay."

Nora reached out and patted Ruby on the head gently through her hood, a gentle smile on her face, "Your Uncle's weird, not you. Just calm down a little and we'll convince Ren to make us cookie flavored pancakes later, okay Ruby Reaper?"

"I did not agree to this," Ren pointed out.

"You try saying no to dual pouty faces!" Nora exclaimed brightly.

"...Why me?" Ren sighed, "What did I do to deserve such a fate?"

Nora noted the almost invisible smirk on his face, seeing that Ren was only teasing and not just being a meanie she playfully stuck her tongue out at him, "Well if youuu don't make us cookie flavored pancakes then I won't make you the cupcakes with the lotus flower shaped icing on them!"

Damn. Girl really knew his weakness, didn't she? One thing most people didn't know was that despite Ren and Jaune primarily doing the cooking for their teams because it was a hobby for the both of them, it didn't mean that any of the others were-okay, no that was a lie. Ren and Jaune had both come to the agreement that Ruby Rose would be allowed nowhere near a kitchen to cook ever again. Crescent Rose is not a knife, Ruby! But be that as it may, the other girls had their own skills when it came to cooking and Nora in particular had a fondness of baking cupcakes. Something that Ren had learned when the two of them were traveling together.

The Lotus Flower cupcakes she'd made had brought tears to his eyes the first time he'd tried them. A memory from his childhood shaped into food. That in itself was worth all the cupcakes in the world. You really had to get to know her to see it but Nora Valkyrie was so much more than just a hyper, pancake obsessed, Nora-smashing young woman.

"When you're all done flirting," Weiss snapped, "Can we go back to watching the fight?"

"You're interested in the fight?" Blake asked, taken aback slightly, "He's not even on your team?"

"Oh, so someone has to be on my team for me to care what happens to them now?"

"Well you certainly had a different tune about Jaune two weeks ago! What's the sudden change for all of a sudden!? There's no way a change that happened so quickly could possibly be real unless the spoiled little princess attitude was an act in the first place and then what are we expected to believe!?"

"Guys!" Yang snapped, effectively cutting the rest of them off their conversations, "I am trying to watch this fight so please, keep it down before I make you keep it down."

Though they said nothing Blake and Weiss maintained their glare on one another.

"Jaune's doing really well and we don't want to miss a second so please listen to her," Pyrrha beseeched. Blake and Weiss finally looked away from each other but it was difficult not to notice the heated tension filling the space around them even after their outburst had finally been quitened.

Clang!

Steel once again collided, Cardin and Jaune now standing to the back end of the ring, Cardin with a smirk on his face and Jaune's confident expression from earlier having faded somewhat. Why hadn't Crocea Mors changed yet? It'd responded when he asked it to help him...yet...yet it wasn't doing anything. It was in his hand, motionless and frozen as though it were nothing more than a basic and ordinary weapon.

"Where's your confidence from earlier Arc? Finally realizing that no amount of luck is going to garner you a victory against me? It is a troublesome realization I am sure. But it is important to remember that you must always respect your superiors...to kneel at their feet like the worthless excuse for a fighter you are."

Cardin accentuated his statement by aiming a kick to Jaune's legs, Jaune's eyes widened as his footing came undone and he dropped to the ground, kneeling before Cardin as he looked right up at him, Cardin lowered his lips to the spot right beside Jaune's ear, speaking in such a manner so that no one else could hear the next words from his mouth, "A few training sessions with those girls doesn't bring you to my level Arc. I am a god when compared to the likes of you."

Without another word, Cardin dropped a swing, throwing all his force into it alongside a fierce battle cry. The ball of the mace collided with the side of Jaune's cheek. There was no sound for a moment aside from the impact of aura against metal and then the crash of the wall that was heard thanks to Jaune being thrown transversely into it after such a brutal attack.

"I'll kill him," Yang stated simply, trying to jump the barricade, yet she was unable to complete the jump for some reason, "L-let go of me! I'm going to do his head in! I'll pulverize the bastard!" Yang's usually expressive violet eyes were now a burning crimson full of hatred as she tried in vain to escape from Ren and Blake's grip.

"It was a sanctioned match," Pyrrha said quietly, "There's nothing we can do."

"Nothing we can do my ass, Pyrrha. I'm going to smash his head in. He just took things too far!"

"Miss Xiao Long...please sit down."

Lucikily, Miss Goodwitch had stepped in, "Miss Nikos is correct, this was a sanctioned match and therefore what Mr. Winchester did hasn't broken any rules despite how," Goodwitch paused and narrowed her eyes at the offender, "Dishonorable the move was. As it was an official match nothing can be done."

Jaune had pulled himself back to his feet in the time this had occurred, using the blade of Crocea Mors to assist him he got back to the best stance that he could. The hatred of the words uttered to him by Cardin rang inside Jaune 's head and he glared at the smirking man in the ring. Though there had been no physical damage thanks to his aura, Jaune could still feel the slightest trace of wooziness thanks to the blow and knew that if it wasn't for the help of his sword, he wouldn't be standing.

"Sorry about that, Arc," Cardin said, though no one in the room thought that he actually meant it and that included Miss Goodwitch. Cardin shrugged after speaking his 'apology' then returned to his seat. 'That'll show those girls they have no business being around that loser and that they should turn their attention upon someone truthfully deserving of it. Me.'

And so that was it. He'd lost. Again.

Where had it gone wrong? He'd been putting so much effort into his training and it still hadn't been enough to put some kind of dent in Cardin's aura. The arrogant bastard had picked him apart and had damned well enjoyed every second f it. To Jaune, Cardin came across as the sort of person who took some form of sick enjoyment out of fighting opponents less skilled than him. The words he'd uttered in the final seconds of the match were clear evidence of this. Clear evidence that made Jaune's entire body tremble with rage. Yet, he knew the same as always that perhaps his father had been correct, perhaps he really wasn't cut out to be a Huntsman of any sort.

Jaune's attention was back on Crocea Mors' the sword that had once again grown silent in response to his pleas. Why? Why did it come to his aid and then suddenly change its mind? What other forces were at play here? He needed to keep looking deeper into Acheron, if there was any answer to Crocea Mors' strange behavior then there was no doubt in his mind that the answer lay within his ancestor's history, but maybe he was going about this entirely the wrong way. Perhaps he was starting too far back. If he truly wanted to decipher Acheron's secret then he was going to need to start at the beginning. Because someone was trying to keep that information hidden and they'd done an incredibly good job of it. If he was going to unlock the secret.

If he unlocked the secret of the sword then Cardin wouldn't stand a chance, no one would. If he could summon the power he'd come across in the Emerald Forest then there would be none who could stand toe to toe with him let alone defeat him. Jaune would never lose again, all he had to do was piece together Acheron's secrets and by extension the secrets of Crocea Mors. He couldn't win this alone. He needed to find out the secrets of the blade.

Then, and only then could he bring down Cardin once and for all.

x-x-x-x-x

Acheron.

The greatest mystery in Jaune's world right now. He turned another page, glancing down at the text held within. Though this was another page without any clue into what he was looking for in terms of texts but what he did notice was the depiction of an individual at the top of the page. This image was painted in a deep red, with sections of gold that made it look like the figure pictured was utilizing magic. Jaune's finger traced against the image as the familar blade shape fully caught his attention. He remembered it vividly as he had felt the weapon's incredible power first hand.

"Excalibur," he breathed softly.

"He's got his head in that book again," a voice sighed, "It's like he's obsessed with it."

"I'm sure you're just overthinking it, Yang," Blake put in.

"I don't think she's too far from the truth Blake, I saw him sleeping with it the other night."

"And why were you watching the dunce sleep for?" Weiss hissed from slightly behind them.

"N-no reason."

If anyone noticed the way Pyrrha refused to meet their gazes, they refused to comment on it. Mostly because their gazes were still looking over at Jaune, mostly having concern on their faces. Ren shook his head at the girls and looked back down to the book he had on the desk in front of him.

"I don't know why you're all so bothered by it, he's reading, it's not exactly an uncommon hobby."

At this juncture, Ren paused to shift his gaze to Blake pointedly, then returned to his own novel, "I just don't see what the problem is."

"He's sleeping with the damn book," Yang said again, "It's not natural."

"Blake sleeps with hers all the time," Pyrrha added meekly.

"You watch Blake sleep too?" Yang asked incredulously, "You know what, never mind. The important thing is this obsession of Jaune's with Acheron is becoming unhealthy. I know he's trying to find out more about his dreams, but it's like it's taken over his entire life."

This was what Blake had been worried about when Jaune first started his venture into researching the dreams and his apparent ancestor. She knew first-hand what obsession could do to someone and she really hated to see that her leader was being affected by it so easily."

"It's not about about his ancestor," Ruby murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since that fight with Cardin...Jaune's been different," Ren said, in complete agreement with Ruby's statement, "He's constantly messing with his sword, whenever we're all in the cafeteria he barely eats, instead using the time to pour over that book and yet his eyes are never too far from the sword even then."

"What are you getting at Ren?" Yang pressed.

"I think that Jaune is under the impression that he needs the power from the emerald forest to beat Cardin. The one that caused his blade to get all giant and glowing-like. His obsession isn't with Acheron it's with Cardin."

"But he's been working so hard at training..." Pyrrha tried to counter.

"And Cardin was still able to pick him apart," Ren shook his head at all the angry faces aimed his way particularly thanks to Pyrrha, "I'm not saying it to be degrading that's just what I saw. It's what we all saw. He was able to hold his own for a little while because it felt like the training he's been doing with the three of you but the moment that Cardin decided to be brutal that was it."

"Are you insinuating that us taking it easy on him while he got used to training was a bad idea."

"I'm saying that it's not going to prepare Jaune for fights like Cardin nor is it going to prepare him for Grimm either. You took him the easy road expecting his natural talent to take over without much hard work but it just doesn't work like that, talent can only carry you so far. Or did you make the same mistake Jaune has thinking that a giant glowing blue blade would come along and just solve all your problems?"

Ren stood from the table, looking at each of the girls from ABYN seriously, "Jaune needs to be mentored in a way that doesn't hold his hand. He needs to be mentored in a way that's going to bring his true strength to the surface. You're all so focused on being his friend that you forgot to be his team-mate along the way."

End Chapter.