Chapter 4
Jaune massaged his temples.
It had been months at Beacon now, and he still hadn't gotten much better. That was to be expected, he supposed; after all, he did fake his transcripts. The Vytal Festival was only two months away, and he couldn't afford to become an embarrassment to his teammates and the rest of the world.
Back in the Emerald Forest at the beginning of the year, he couldn't even get down from a tree after being pinned to it by Pyrrha's javelin. He had to get his ass saved by her more times than he could count! And the 'plan' that he 'came up' with to defeat the deathstalker? Well that was all Percy's plan! He didn't even deserve team leader.
He felt like a complete failure.
He needed training, heck he wanted it!
And who wouldn't?
Jaune didn't want to just remain at the bottom of his class, forever toiling and getting beaten to bits by Cardin Winchester.
He was team leader! He was supposed to be stronger. But he feared asking anyone for training; it would be like admitting he was the weakest of them and couldn't even hold his own.
He would have asked Pyrrha for training, but he didn't want to waste her time after saving his ass so many times.
Jaune mustered up the courage, and he knocked on team PRWBY's door. When no one answered, he knocked several more times, loudly.
A sleepy Weiss answered it, "J-Jaune? What are you doing?"
Oh yeah, it was 6 in the morning, on the weekend. He blushed, embarrassed.
"Is Percy there?" he peeked his head in the dorm room.
"No," she yawned, "I think he already went out for training."
The ice queen shut the door in his face, as Jaune sagged. She didn't even tell him where he was.
Well, it was time to go on a field trip around Beacon.
After wandering around the school grounds for what seemed like hours, Jaune finally came upon Percy at the edge of the Emerald forest, training with his semblance.
Jaune's foot crunched on a leaf, and Percy whipped around, hurling a ward knife towards him.
Jaune froze.
The knife impaled itself into the tree next to him, before dissolving. He sighed in relief.
"Jaune! What are you doing up so early?" Percy looked confused.
It made sense. He was normally the last to get up on his team, despite being the leader. He needed to set a better example.
"C-Could you teach me?" at Percy's confusion on his face, Jaune elaborated, "Could you train me? I want to be better. Not just a weakling that everyone looks to protect. I don't even deserve team leader. You were the one that came up with the plan to take down the deathstalker. You should be the leader of both teams! You deserve it! I want to get better, to not just be the clumsy Jaune Arc, ya know?"
Percy smiled, "You have ambition to get better. Yeah, maybe you're at the bottom of the class in sparring, but you can improve! You're a great leader. Back at initiation, I only gave you the general idea with the deathstalker. Jaune, it was one sentence. One sentence. You would have figured it out yourself. Sure, I planted the idea in your head, but you were the one who executed it. You were the one who finished it."
"B-But…"
Percy shushed him, "No buts."
"No. I have to get this off my chest," Jaune took a deep breath, wondering if this was the right course, "I cheated my way into Beacon. I forged the fake transcripts."
Jaune looked up at Percy, waiting for a reaction, but all he got was a shrug.
"Ozpin probably already knows. He saw potential in you, Jaune. Your combat skills aren't on par with the class, but your leadership was, and still is. You haven't been suspended from Beacon. You're here," he stabbed his sword into the ground, "already. So what are you gonna do? Lag behind and have no ambition? Or train and work your ass off to make your way to the top?"
Jaune grinned, accepting a hand as Percy helped him up.
"Alright Arc. You're gonna be in pain after this, but you'll be improved. I would have had Pyrrha train you, but you know she's too nice for your own good. This is gonna be brutal."
Before Jaune could speak, Percy was immediately in drillmaster mode, "Drop! Give me 20. And keep the armor on. If you're gonna fight with armor, you're gonna work with it."
Pyrrha poked her head into the PRWBY dorm room, "Have you guys seen Jaune?"
"He went out to look for Percy, I think."
Ooh. He must be training with him, Pyrrha thought.
"Well, let's go find them!"
"Why?" Weiss practically whined, seemingly wanting nothing more than to burrow in her bedsheets.
"Because have you got anything better to do?" Nora interjected, also poking her head into the dorm room while Ren sat outside in the hallway, exhausted.
"Finee…give us a few minutes. Yang! Wake up! Blake, Ruby, help me."
Yang was more stubborn than Blake and the rest of the team anticipated, and it took a while to get her away from her sheets.
The seven of them eventually found Jaune and Percy training at the edge of the Emerald Forest.
"Left to right swing, right to left swing," Percy bellowed, "Drop! Five knee pushups, five sit ups, run to the branch and give me five pullups, then five squats before you come back!"
Jaune was clearly exhausted, and past his breaking point, but he followed Percy's instructions to the letter, albeit with clear effort needed.
Jaune dropped to the ground, exhausted, but his merciless trainer pursued him, swinging at him with a branch.
The team leader ducked, then rolled left, before extending Crocea Mors and leaving it at Percy's stomach.
"Hmph. Better, much better," Percy said, "but turn around. You would have lost more aura than damage you dealt. Still, much better."
He tapped the back of Jaune's neck with a branch.
The brutal trainer then clapped Jaune on the back loudly, the latter of whom faceplanted onto the ground, exhausted.
Percy perked up, staring right at them and grinning, "Ooh! Do I see more potential trainees?"
The rest of them shivered, but Pyrrha stepped up, dooming all of them.
"Yes," she stated firmly.
Percy grinned. Blake did not like that grin. She didn't like it at all.
"I'll make you an offer. If you can drain my aura by, let's say ten percent, I won't run you through brutal conditioning. Of course, I'll make you work on form and what not, but no conditioning."
Blake would have been sure about beating him if not for his dominating displays at combat practice. He had beaten Pyrrha, soundly, and had decimated Blake before already without losing a single percent of his aura.
She watched the others slowly accept his conditioning exercises, and immediately doing them.
Percy made his way back to her, grinning mischievously, "So you, Pyr, and Yang eh? Who's going first?"
Blake grinned, immediately pointing at Pyrrha, "She can go first, and Yang volunteered next."
"Haha, very funny Blake," Pyrrha glared at her, only half-joking.
"Tell you what. How about you three go all-out against me? Then you can skip conditioning, but only if you beat me."
The three girls shared a glance before nodding.
The three of them dashed towards him simultaneously, stopping when Percy wove an intricate piercing ward.
The sea green ward split them down the middle, and Yang took the most damage, flying backwards.
Blake lunged at Percy, who had the audacity to smirk at her and then duck.
Her kick met Pyrrha's torso, and the Mistralian was sent flying back. Blake didn't dwell on it, however, immediately chasing after Percy.
She fired Gambol Shroud at him three times before unsheathing it.
She whirled at him in a spin of sheathe and katana, but he easily parried and ducked under the strikes. He feinted left before Riptide snaked out and caught her katana. With a flick of the wrist, Blake lost the katana.
She resolved to get Percy to teach her that move.
She resorted to defending blows with her sheathe to keep him busy while Yang was charging up behind him.
A shadow clone left Percy's defenses open, or so she thought.
He grabbed the sheathe and kicked her away with ease.
Percy's eyes widened imperceptibly and ducked and rolled out of the way of Yang's attack. Yang wasn't discouraged, however, as she shared a quick look with Blake.
Suddenly, Yang and Blake were on him, engaging him as one while Pyrrha joined in on his back.
Miló pierced the spot Percy had just been, while Ember Celica was parried by Percy's forearm, and Gambol Shroud locked blades with Riptide.
Percy narrowed his eyes, and became a whirlwind of blades, spinning to stop the strikes. Even stretched thin, Riptide still snaked past their defenses, chipping away at their aura. It was an incredible display of swordsmanship. A ward dagger formed in his left hand, and Blake could only cry out a warning before Percy struck Yang's exposed midriff, launching her across the field.
He turtled behind a ward shield, away from Pyrrha's weapon Miló, as he parried Blake's strikes, twirling in the air to kick her away.
Except it was her shadow clone, and it dissolved upon impact. Percy immediately turned to block, but he was late.
Blake landed a hard boot to his face that would have left any other opponent reeling, but instead leaving him skidding on the ground.
He gave her a nod of respect, before engaging Pyrrha again. Riptide snaked in and out over and over again, and Blake re-engaged him with Yang.
His strikes were lightning quick, coming down on her each time with the force of a truck before disengaging.
He locked blades with Pyrrha.
A flick of the wrist, and Pyrrha was disarmed, left to turtle behind her shield as she tried to recover Miló.
He whirled around caught Yang's gauntlets with ease, pushing a ward into her space. Yang was blown away with a cry.
Now that both her teammates were disarmed, Blake tried to retreat to stall for time.
She couldn't get away from him, even with her shadow clones. It had worked once, but now? He somehow always knew where she would be, completely ignoring the shadow clones. He followed her, Riptide landing more than a few good hits in despite her trying to block or retaliate with Gambol Shroud.
His strikes of Riptide were flawless, efficient, quick, like he was dancing. He pressed the advantage on her, Riptide coming down on her over and over. Her muscles ached from blocking, and she could barely keep up. A feint to the side left her midriff exposed, and Blake barely parried it away. A haymaker followed, and Blake shadow cloned away, except Percy was on her again.
Percy kneeled, touching the ground, confusing her for a second.
Dirt flew into her eyes, blinding her.
She hadn't been expecting it, and Riptide hit her stomach with a vengeance. She almost doubled over in pain, frantically backing up to avoid another strike.
Pyrrha hurled her shield at his head, and he dropped immediately into a crouch.
Akoúo̱ struck Blake's head with force. Blake stumbled, seeing stars in her eyes. A boot struck her in the face, and she fell onto a knee.
Something in front of her exploded, sending her flying through the air.
Blake's aura fizzled out in a crackling of purple energy.
Blake shook her head to clear her mind, and she watched the fight from afar.
Yang charged back in, Ember Celica firing blasts of explosions that forced Percy to turtle behind ward shields.
Pyrrha fired at him from a distance as Yang charged in.
Yang's hair was on fire as she charged in, eyes red. Blake watched eagerly as she essentially went berserk.
How would he handle this?
Percy widened his eyes, before dodging all of Yang's frenzied punches, ducking into her guard.
Riptide bit into her, taking a massive chunk of her aura.
A rifle blast from Pyrrha struck Percy in the back, but he tanked it, choosing instead to play distance with Yang. He snuck Riptide past Yang's defense's again and again, chipping past her aura to red levels. A ward shield formed on his back to protect him from Pyrrha, as he pursued Yang.
She fought him valiantly, but his swordsmanship showed; Yang couldn't get past his defenses, and Riptide easily snuck past hers. Percy feinted right, and Yang went to follow, throwing a final, powerful, but desperate punch that left her open and off balanced. Percy landed a kick to her stomach, followed by a kick to the face. Riptide came down on Yang's shoulder with the force of a truck, and Yang crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain.
Yang's aura fizzled out with a cracking of yellow, and now it was just Percy and Pyrrha.
And somehow, he didn't even look tired in the slightest. In fact, he looked excited, energized even.
Blake shook her head in disbelief. He was a machine.
He blocked Pyrrha's shots before he leapt the gap. Pyrrha swung her blade at him, and Miló cut a dangerous path through the air.
In an incredible display of skill, Percy bent over, somehow keeping balance and reversing Riptide and instantly cutting into Pyrrha's exposed thigh. She cried out in pain, as Percy spun, flipped his blade, and pressed the advantage, striking Riptide over and over again with such speed that it blurred.
With no shield to turtle behind, Pyrrha had to meet his strikes while backpedaling, her muscles cramping each time she tried to parry. Her left hand reached out, twitching and trying to do something, but nothing happened.
He jumped onto a tree unexpectedly, then jumped off when Pyrrha missed her shot.
He flew into the air, drawing an expel ward and pushing aura into it.
It was the coup de grace.
It smashed down onto Pyrrha with fury, causing the ground to shake and dust to fly up as a result.
Pyrrha's aura fizzled out in a crackling of red as she lay on the ground, coughing up dust.
"Wow…"
Blake turned around to see the rest of the group lying on the ground, exhausted from the conditioning.
Pyrrha was being bridal carried by Percy over to the group, seemingly exhausted.
"Shit… sorry Pyr. I guess pushed a little too much energy into it," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's fine," Pyrrha waved it off, content with lying exhausted on the ground.
"Good fight. If I may offer some advice: I only won because you three were uncoordinated. I don't blame you for that," he amended when Pyrrha made to comment, "But I used your attacks to hit your allies rather than expend energy. You could have beaten me had you had more experience and were more coordinated."
"Sure. Guys, his aura is still in the green, and he says that we 'would have beaten him' if we were more coordinated," Yang deadpanned, checking her scroll.
That scroll had to be broken. There was simply no way!
The rest of the group was in a similar state of disbelief.
"He's cheating!" Jaune accused him half-heartedly, and Percy shook his head in humor.
"Anyway, since it is the weekend, and we all pretty much finished training," Percy scratched his head nervously, "I was thinking of going… shopping? Well shopping for combat gear with Jaune, since we both need some anyway."
He started rambling when the group stared at him, "W-Well, cuz I need some armor, and some clothes and like some other weapons like throwing knives cuz I don't wanna waste too much aura, and Jaune needs his own stuff too. The thing is… well… I don't really have money," he winced, awaiting the group's reaction.
Blake couldn't take it anymore. Here he was, asking for a favor from a group of friends, and he was stuttering like a kid asking out his crush! It was kind of cute.
"BWAHAHAHHHH!" the group dissolved into laughter, cracking up.
"It's not that funny," Percy argued, but only rolled his eyes when his comments made them cackle even more.
"You do know we're like, filthy rich right?" Yang boasted, "Weiss here is like ultra-filthy rich. Pyr has won so many tournaments and gotten sponsorships and got paid from them. The rest of us aren't so bad off either. Don't you worry about it. We'll go shopping."
"Yeah, I just didn't want to come off as- as, well, stealing your money or something…"
He scratched the back of his neck again. He seemed to do that a lot when he was nervous, Blake noted.
"Nah, we know you aren't like that, our esteemed team leader."
Percy rolled his eyes good-naturedly as the team got up.
"A shower first though. You all stink!"
"Speak for yourself!"
Percy groaned for what felt like the thousandth time he slid the forearm guard off. It was just pathetically flimsy, to the point where a strike that wouldn't even hurt him would tear the vambrace in half like a piece of paper.
Did they just not have good armor here in Vale?
"Perhaps we should try another shop?" Pyrrha suggested softly.
"Or…" Weiss was deep in thought, "I could get you a commission."
Percy perked up excitedly, whipping around, "Really Weiss? You would do that for me?"
She rolled her eyes, "Of course, you dunce."
"But…" their team leader winced, "Won't it be a little… expensive? I can't really field the costs remember?"
Weiss waved it off, "It's fine. I'm not hurting for money anyways."
"I'll pour in!" Pyrrha piped up.
"And me!"
"And me!"
Percy whirled around to see team JNPR and team PRWBY enter the armory shop, their arms full with bags.
"You guys would really do that for me?"
"Of course," Nora skipped happily, whacking him on the shoulder.
"You guys are the best. I still need to get some outfits…"
"Uh… guys? I don't think this is really working."
"No, no, you look great!" Yang practically drooled at him, staring fondly at his torso.
"Isn't this a little tight?" Percy pulled at his… ahem… extremely tight shirt. It was practically skintight, clinging to his torso and showing each toned muscle he had…
Pyrrha trailed her eyes up and down his valleys before she blushed, looking away.
"No, this is perfect!" Yang insisted, "You have to look good while fighting! And plus, you said you don't know anything about fashion, so you let us," she gestured to herself, Pyrrha, and Weiss, "help you! Now you should trust our judgement."
"I would, but not yours," Percy smirked at Yang's fake downcast look, instead turning to Pyrrha.
"How does this look?"
"Uh…" her brain stuttered, fumbling. He tilted his head, intense teal eyes boring into her.
"Oh I look bad…" he looked a little disappointed, his lips turning into a frown, "I shouldn't have trusted Yang."
"W-Wait, no, no it's not that…" Pyrrha managed to get out, taking a deep breath, "You look great!"
Percy frowned, "You don't have to lie to me like that Pyrrha. Weiss, what do you think?"
"Hm?" Weiss looked him up and down, a faint color on her cheeks, "It's a good casual outfit. Shirt is a bit tight… did Yang put you up to this?"
She sent a scathing look towards the blonde, who only shrugged her shoulders innocently and raised her hands.
"I'll just try on the other shirt."
"Why don't you just do it here?" Yang suggested, winking. Pyrrha choked, and even Weiss turned away.
"We're in public Yang."
"I'm sure no one would mind."
"I would," Percy shook his head, then dramatically entered the mens changing room.
A week later, and they were on some sort of a field trip. Percy would have to be careful with this one. He had a horrible track record of field trips.
"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful," Goodwitch said as she led them through the dense, red foliage, "but we are not here to sight see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."
Sheesh. Now wasn't she peachy. Jaune bumped into Cardin by accident, Cardin looking back at Jaune with a snarl and Jaune whistling and looking away nervously.
Percy watched the interaction with narrowed eyes. He'd have to keep an eye on Cardin. He suspected Cardin was doing something nefarious to the team leader of JNPR ever since Pyrrha told him Jaune had been getting back to their dorm late every night.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap," the professor held up a jar, "However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"
"Come on buddy! Let's go," Cardin called out to Jaune, who followed him reluctantly. Percy narrowed his eyes, tailing them. Percy filled his jar instantly, using his powers when no one was looking and scooping the stuff into the jar.
He continued tailing them as he watched team CRDL sit down while Jaune went and did all the hard work.
After a while, Jaune came back, arms full with six jars of sap.
"Hey! Great work Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin commented, as Jaune fell to the ground, exhausted.
"I think I'm allergic to this stuff," the blond said, his eyes crossed and looking, for all intents and purposes, drunk as shit.
"Great, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of five of us?"
"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes."
"Well, come with me, and you'll find out."
Jaune gulped, as Percy decided to keep tailing them instead of intervening.
They sat on a hill overlooking teams JNPR and PRWBY gathering sap.
Ren diligently filled the sap, handing it to Nora before swapping. When he turned back, Nora had already drank all of it.
He facepalmed silently. Typical Nora.
"Cardin? What's going on?"
"Payback."
"Pyrrha?" Jaune half-whispered to himself.
"That's the girl. Red-haired, know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. I would have gotten that stuck-up kid Percy, but he's not here. That little shit had the nerve to publicly humiliate me! We're just going to have to settle for her, though."
Tch. As if Cardin had anything on him.
"Alright, boys. Last night ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps."
Percy could here the wasps buzzing in the box. So that's where Jaune had been! Cardin was practically coercing him into doing whatever he wanted.
"And now, we're going to put 'em to work."
The douche with the gray and green hair clapped Jaune on the shoulder as he laughed nervously.
"Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things looove sweets. I'm thinkin' it's time we teach her a thing or two. And you're gonna do it."
"Do what?"
"Hit her with the sap! Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."
Percy narrowed his eyes dangerously, barely restraining himself from lunging at the bastard. Somehow, he knew! Jaune was in some deep shit now.
Jaune looked more than conflicted, and Percy felt for him. He would let him make his own decision, but if he actually threw it at Pyrrha, Percy would lose all respect he had for him. Worst case scenario, Percy would just divert the sap in the bottle to make it seem like the wind had blown, and the sap would miss Pyrrha.
Jaune made to throw at Pyrrha, but his hand shook, and he lowered it, "No."
"What did you say?" Cardin looked angry and surprised at the same time.
"I said… NO!"
Jaune threw the jar of sap onto Cardin's chest, splattering it with red sap.
"Oh-ho-ho, you've done it now."
Percy trailed them as they attacked him, but he didn't step in now.
Jaune had to fight his own battles. Despite that making him a technical asshole and hypocrite, Jaune needed to fight back. He hadn't unlocked his semblance yet either.
"I don't care what you do to me. But you are not messing with my team."
Jaune didn't look panicked. In fact, he looked resigned to his fate.
"What, you think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?"
More than you'll ever be Cardin, that's for sure.
Jaune didn't respond, ignoring the bastard gripping his hoodie.
Cardin roared and made to punch Jaune in the face.
Except something repelled it.
A high-pitched ringing resonated throughout the clearing. Something had blocked Cardin's shot.
Percy narrowed his eyes, looking for any sign of a semblance.
There! On his cheek! His cheek was already beginning to heal slowly… like Jaune was a son of Apollo or something. His semblance had something to do with healing, maybe with aura.
Cardin smirked at Jaune.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are."
Team CRDL made to beat Jaune up, and Percy would have intervened had an ursa not stepped into the clearing. This one was large, clearly an old one, and it roared menacingly.
Cardin's team ran and abandoned him, while the ursa swatted Cardin aside like a moth.
It ignored Jaune in favor of Cardin, even though Jaune was right in front of him…
The sap! Of course, the sap.
The ursa roared menacingly at Cardin, swatting him away again.
"Crap, crap, crap."
The ursa swatted, but Jaune was there. He held the shield.
Percy smiled proudly. Even if Cardin was a son of a bitch and a bully, he didn't deserve to be eaten alive by an ursa.
Jaune landed a strike on the ursa and rolled to the side to avoid a retaliatory one.
He jumped up over one, but then took a strike to the chest. Jaune ran back at it, jumping in the air without a shield protecting his side, and the ursa swatted him away again.
He dashed towards it, the ursa swinging wide.
Jaune swung for the head, his shield going down.
Tsk, tsk. Percy would have to work on that with him.
Percy reached out to conjure a ward shield, but his shield magically moved back into place as Jaune cut the ursa's head off.
Pyrrha had her hand reached out.
Her semblance is something to do with controlling metal! Percy's brain went into fireworks. That seemed… incredibly broken. Disgustingly broken.
So that was why she had reached out her hand during the spar the other day. Except Riptide didn't work under her influence… probably something to do with it being a godly metal and celestial bronze. Mortals couldn't influence it with their semblances.
Yeah, metal was racist like that.
He watched as Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby walked away, content to let Jaune and Cardin talk.
"Holy crap, Jaune?"
"Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again."
Cardin looked at him, dumbfounded.
"Got it?"
Percy smirked as Jaune walked away, leaving Cardin in the dust.
He had just earned levels of respect in Percy's book, even if Pyrrha had to help him a bit. Jaune, although not the best fighter just yet, had good morals. He honestly reminded Percy of when he was younger, and more naïve.
That might've been insulting, but it meant Jaune was good in his books.
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