Chapter 11: Jaundice

"So there we were, in the middle of the night."

"It was day."

"We were surrounded by ursi."

"They were normal bears."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two, Nora," Ren corrected her, "There were two."

Nora scoffed. "I'm just trying to make it more interesting, Ren! That's what I do in my dreams!" She folded her arms and pretended to pout.

They, along with Jaune, Yang, and Blake, were relaxing in the common room down the hall from their dorms. Yang had been listening raptly to Nora's story while Blake was reading a book.

"So, Yang," Jaune said, twiddling his thumbs idly. "How are Ruby and Weiss?"

Yang groaned and Blake shifted uncomfortably.

"Not good, man," Yang said, leaning back. "Not good at all. I said our team was in tatters before; now, we're hanging by a thread."

"Weiss has holed herself up in the library," Blake said, lowering her book. "We haven't seen her a lot this weekend. Says she's studying."

"Ruby's hardly different," Yang said. "She could barely put her video games down to do homework!"

Jaune let out a breath. "That's rough. I guess that fight last week was more than just a friendly spar."

""You can say that again."" Yang and Blake said, almost in sync.

"Not like your partner spar, Jaune," Nora said, turning with a wicked smile. "That was hardly a fight."

Before Jaune could respond, Pyrrha walked into the room. "Sorry about that!" she said with a smile. "Some fans wanted an autograph, and-" she noticed the mood around the group. "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing," Jaune said, looking away.

"Your partner spar," Yang said with her own grin. "The one that barely lasted ten seconds."

Pyrrha perked, then said, "It wouldn't have been much different with someone else; I am rather formidable." She smiled sheepishly.

"I was just off my A-game!" Jaune said, causing Yang and Nora to share a smile.

"Oh yeah?" Nora egged. "Wanna bet, Vomit Boy?"

Jaune flushed, gritting his teeth. "Sure. I can take you on, Nora."

"Nah, I was thinking you should challenge Cardin," Yang said. "During tomorrow's class."

"Alright; what's the ante?" Jaune asked, crossing his legs.

"If you win, I'll give you my desserts for a whole week," Nora said.

"And if I lose, I'll give you my limited edition X-Ray & Vav comic book."

"You're that confident?" Yang asked.

Jaune nodded firmly.

"That's not a good idea, Jaune," Pyrrha said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't you spend a lot to get that book?"

Jaune brushed her off. "Pyrrha, I'm not afraid of Cardin. I got this."

'I got this,' Jaune Arc thought as he stared down Cardin Winchester, trying to psyche himself up. 'I totally got this.'

The massive boy was resting his mace on his shoulder, glowering over Jaune. The blonde boy held his sword and shield defensively as beads of sweat formed on his neck.

They were standing on opposite sides of the practice arena, waiting for their match to start as Glenda Goodwitch said, "Alright, begin."

Steeling himself, Jaune charged with a yell, sword raised.

Cardin caught his blade in the hollow head of his mace, sending off a blast of fire and throwing the weapon from Jaune's hand.

Cardin whipped his mace back, then gripped it with both hands, swinging it at Jaune, who crouched and readied his shield. With another blast, Cardin sent Jaune skidding across the battlefield toward his sword. Jaune's white aura glowed as he recovered Crocea Mors' blade, readying himself for another attack.

Lifting his mace up, Cardin charged. The larger boy slammed the weapon down, another explosion shattering part of the floor into fine gravel as Jaune dodge right, thrusting his sword at Cardin. His attack was battered aside by the shaft of Cardin's mace.

Jaune brought his shield up, angling it to reflect the ceiling's light off the gold design on its front and into Cardin's eyes. Cardin stepped back, using his free hand to swat at the glare.

Jaune skirted around to his opponent, scooping up a handful of crushed stone in his shield hand as he circled Cardin. As the other boy readied his weapon, Jaune threw the pebbles into Cardin's face.

"Cheater!" Cardin roared, making a sloppy attack that deflected off Jaune's shield. He stepped back, frantically wiping his eyes. His vision cleared as Jaune lunged forward, slashing down Cardin's form with a strong swing. A burgundy aura wavered across Cardin, whose eyes went wide as he stumbled further away.

Jaune prepared to slash again, but Cardin reset his stance and swept his mace out. The blow caught Jaune off guard, forcing him to twist his body to press his shield against Cardin's left handed attack. The mace let off another blast, throwing Jaune into the center of the arena. He lay on his back dazed, as Cardin walked up, hefting his mace.

"This is the part," he said to Jaune, "where you lose." He raised the weapon high as Glenda called the match.

"The victor is Jaune Arc."

The whole room froze, turning to her as she waltzed into the arena, waving her riding crop to repair the damaged floor with her semblance.

"Excuse me!?" Cardin yelled, "I have him pinned! You can't-"

Glenda waved her weapon at him and he immediately fell over.

"What is our first rule of sparring, young man?" she asked coldly.

Cardin sat up, a faint shimmer of aura pulsing around him as he glowered.

"I know you know it," she chided before turning to the class. "Does anyone else know why Cardin lost this fight?"

"He turned off his aura," Dove Bronzewing, a shorter boy with light-brown hair and dark tan armor, said from the back of the room. "Rule one: Never turn off your aura during a match."

"Correct," Glenda said. She turned to Cardin, who was now standing. "It is dangerous to turn your aura off during combat, and disrespectful when done during a friendly sparring match. You should only do it to recharge it if it's low; but even then, it has cost many huntsmen their lives."

Cardin glared at the professor, then turned and stormed toward the stairs. As he stepped on the first stair, it crumbled to pieces, his foot getting stuck in debris.

"I'm not finished, young man," Glenda said as Cardin turned back to her. Jaune was standing up now, looking between the two.

Cardin glared, but came back over, asking, "What do you want now?"

He stood by Jaune, and they both faced their teacher.

"I allowed this match because the two of you seemed to have similar strengths," Glenda explained. "You both fight with close-ranged weapons and neither of you have found your semblance. Your weaknesses, however, are vastly different. What has this fight shown you?"

"That I'm surrounded by cowards!" Cardin jeered, waving his weapon over the assembled class. "First day we get to spar whoever we want, and only Arc here has the balls to fight me!" He glared daggers at his own team.

Glenda sighed, but did not correct Cardin. Instead, she turned to Jaune, asking, "And you, Mr. Arc?"

Jaune drew his mouth into a line, then said, "I underestimated my opponent. I thought I could use tactics to win the fight, but-"

"Tactics?" Cardin interrupted. "You mean dirty tricks, you-"

Glenda struck him with a piece of debris. He rubbed the back of his head, turning his anger on her.

"Jaune was speaking, Mr. Winchester," Glenda said tersely. "Though it's obvious he has learned more from this than you. Return to your seats; we have more matches to get through."

The boys left the arena on fully repaired stairs, returning to their respective teams. Cardin received a shoulder pat from Sky Lark, a boy with sleek, dark blue hair, while the rest of his team ignored him.

Jaune had an awkward reunion with team JNPR. Ren gave him a thumbs up; Pyrrha smiled at him, while Nora's jaw was still drooping.

"You won?" she whispered. "How?"

"It's more like Cardin lost," Pyrrha said.

Jaune turned to Nora with a smirk. "I'll be expecting those desserts, Ms. Nora."

Nora stuck her tongue out at Jaune while he laughed. Pyrrha looked at her partner worriedly as the next match began.

"So, what are we doing up here?" Jaune asked Pyrrha as she led him out onto a balcony on their dorm's floor. "Planning to confess?"

"Not quite," Pyrrha said smiling. "Actually, I wanted to help you practice!"

"Practice what?" Jaune asked, looking over the railing and down a three-story drop. "Dangerous landings?"

"No!" Pyrrha gripped Jaune and towed him away from the edge. "I meant to help you get better at fighting."

"What?" Jaune said with a flippant grin. "Pyrrha, I'm fine. You know, I did win that last sparring match."

"On a technicality," Pyrrha said. "Cardin had you on the back foot for most of the fight."

"No way! I got at least one hit in."

"After distracting him- twice," Pyrrha said. "Then, you twisted around to stop his attack with your shield instead of blocking with your sword."

"But shields are for blocking," Jaune defended. "His left-handed grip-"

"Shouldn't have mattered," Pyrrha interrupted. They locked eyes. "Jaune, I don't know what training you've had, but I can help you become the best fighter you can be."

"I don't need help," Jaune insisted, turning away. "I can learn just as fast as you guys; that's why we're here: to learn."

"You don't have to learn alone, though," Pyrrha said, her voice earnest. "We can teach each other!"

"But you don't have anything to learn from me," Jaune gripped the railing, glaring into the distance. "I can do this on my own. I have to."

"But why?" Pyrrha asked. "You don't have anything to prove. You already made it into Beacon- a huntsman school, known for-"

"I didn't."

Pyrrha stopped at his words. "What?"

Jaune took in a deep breath, then explained, "I didn't make it into Beacon. I forged transcripts from a combat academy that my parents wouldn't let me attend. Most of it is accurate, I think, but anything about my ability to fight is a total fabrication. I had to do it; to uphold my grandfather's legacy."

He turned to Pyrrha, resolute. "My father might be fine with only saying pretty words about our ancestors, but I'm not. I'm here to honor them; to show the world that the Arc name still means strength." He tightened his fists.

"But, your sister…" Pyrrha trailed off.

Jaune gave a dry laugh.

"She did the same thing. Rebelled, and forged her way into Beacon. Figured I could too, but I don't have an awesome semblance like her.

"But that's not important," he continued, "I'm close to catching up with everyone; heck, I've gotten high marks on most of my classwork. I'll figure out how to be the best fighter I can be, my own way. I just need time." He turned away from Pyrrha, who had worn a worried expression for his entire rant.

"Jaune, I-"

"I don't need your pity!" Jaune waved her outstretched arm away. "I got myself into this mess, and I'll get myself out."

Pyrrha looked at her feet, then turned and walked away. At the threshold to the dorm tower, she half turned her head back at her leader with a pained look.

"If that's what you want, Jaune."

She left him to stare down at the dark campus below.

A weighty silence followed as Jaune slowly left the railing. He glanced at the empty entryway, then gripped his head and groaned in frustration.

"Well, that was interesting."

Jaune spun to find Cardin Winchester climbing over the railing, a broad smile on his face. "Didn't think you'd dump her like that."

"Cardin," Jaune said, panicking, "You didn't-"

"Every word," Cardin said. "You should really be careful about whose dorm you stand above while having these sorts of heart-to-heart conversations."

"Please," Jaune said. "You can't tell anyone about this. I-"

"Don't worry," Cardin said, strolling over and putting an arm around Jaune. "I'd never rat out a friend like that."

"A… friend?" Jaune asked. Cardin put him into a headlock.

"Of course, buddy!" Cardin said. "Great friends! The sort that do each other's homework, help out when money's tight, and keep their mouths shut when it's convenient!" He gave Jaune a hard yet cheerful glare.

Sweating, Jaune gulped and nodded his head vigorously. "Yep," he said, his voice strained by Cardin's choking. "Great friends."