Many people are taught from a young age about the importance of a good first impression which is appropriate as they are the bases on which strangers will form their opinion of which directly translates to how they will treat you and while it is possible to overcome a bad first impression, it requires work. As a Faunus, Blake Belladonna understood all too well just how hard it could be to overcome a bad first impression regardless of how unfair or inaccurate it was, if a person had a bad opinion of Faunus then their first impression of her would almost certainly be a negative one regardless of any other factors and it was one of the reasons she chose to hide her ears with a bow. As annoying as it was, first impressions were just a fact of life and ultimately there was nothing wrong with using them to form an opinion as long as you were open minded enough to change that opinion later on if it turned out that you were wrong the first time. For example, the first impression that she got from her partner Yang was that she was a bit of an adrenaline junkie but she soon realized that Yang was actually rather intelligent and strove to be an example for her little sister. The first Impression that she got from her new leader Ruby was that she was excitable and perhaps even a little naive but that she also truly wanted to do good and just like Yang, Ruby was smarter than she let on. And then there was the Schnee...
Now Blake was completely aware of how hypocritical it was to judge someone based solely on their last name but she felt that in this case no one would hold it against her, especially since all her first encounter with Weiss involved the Schnee going off on Ruby for the mere crime of bumping into her. Now, admittedly there was also an explosion but the blame for that landed squarely on Weiss' shoulders for waving an open vial of highly sensitive Fire Dust in front of Ruby's nose! If it wasn't for Aura then the two of them would be in a hospital and Blake had no doubt that Weiss' family would be looking to see how they could make Ruby pay for something that wasn't even her fault!
Some would definitely say that Blake went a little too far with that one but she had seen with her own two eyes that the heiress had thrown the blame on Ruby who was the true victim. On top of that Weiss had to go and act so damn arrogant even as the poor girl tried to apologize and well the whole scenario made for a very poor first impression. To make that first impression somehow even worse add to that steaming pile how Weiss made the fact she was a Schnee a point of pride for herself and constantly reminded the people around her as if being a part of that disgusting family was something to be proud of, especially when the patriarch of that rotten family was a man who would be wasting away in jail if there was ever any Justice for the Faunus. When Blake looked at Weiss she saw someone who grew up enjoying luxury that had been bought off of the sweat of someone else's work and had been gifted privilege that was wholly undeserved and more than once Blake thought to herself, A Schnee if I ever saw one, I pity any team that ends up with her.
Sometimes Blake wondered if there was some god out there that hated her.
The first order of business for all new students at Beacon was to decide sleeping arrangements, which tended to be either extremely easy or complicated though there were also plenty of cases when someone gets a creative idea that makes everything either million times better or worse, "Hey Weiss, what do you think of bunk beds?" Ruby asked her agitated partner with all the excitement of a child on their birthday.
Weiss most certainly wanted to answer: No and be done with the conversation but restrained herself but not out of consideration for Ruby, If I don't play along she'll keep bugging me until I do but maybe if I allow her to experience the futility of this folly then maybe she will learn and if I'm really lucky she will realize that she isn't qualified to lead this team! Taking a moment to examine the beds Weiss soon determined to her pleasure that converting them into bunk beds was simply impossible as there was no way to lift them off of the floor or secure them and even if they did the frame of the beds was too low to allow any space for the person on the bottom bunk to even try to get into thier own bed, Trying is a complete waste of time! Satisfied with that knowledge she turned to Ruby and with a fake smile said "I think it's worth a try."
"Thanks Weiss! First let me get something!" Ruby said as she left the room and was followed by her sister as Weiss watched trying to concept the smile that was growing on her face.
However Blake noticed and frowned "That was rather mean of you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Weiss replied. "All I did was give her permission to try her idea out, I fail to see how that could be seen as mean."
Blake rolled her eyes completely unimpressed with Weiss's denial, Of course a Schnee wouldn't take responsibility for their own words and actions, "You only told Ruby yes because you expect her to fail, in fact i think you want her to fail."
"And I think you're overthinking it," Weiss was beginning to feel uncomfortable and despite her best efforts to hide it, Blake could see it as clear as day.
"And I think you're jealous that Ruby was made the leader instead of you," Blake knew that was a low blow but the look that Weiss was giving her was so satisfying and most importantly confirmed what she already knew, Just what I would expect from a Schnee, you think you're owed what you didn't earn and you want to take it from those who actually deserve it. Weiss glared at her and was about to respond when the door burst open as Ruby and Yang returned, each carrying a large heavy looking bag that they set on the floor and opened to reveal various tools.
"What!? Ruby where did you get those!?" Weiss asked with a look of complete surprise and disbelief.
"I own these tools!" Ruby happily answered back.
"Yeah, how else could we have built our weapons and perform maintenance and upgrades on them without a good set of tools?" Yang added before turning to her little sister, "I think we're going to need some rope to suspend that bed from the ceiling."
"I have some rope you can use!" offered Blake much to Weiss's horror as right before her eyes the bunk beds were built.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and a familiar voice was heard through it,"Hey, Ruby it's Jaune! Is everything alright in there? I heard a lot of noise coming from within here, it sounds like a construction crew is in there."
Ruby ran over to the door and opened it wide letting him see the entry of the room, Nope! Just us and we made Bunk Beds!" she proudly proclaimed to her friend who she then took by the arm and pulled him inside to better show him. "Oh and before I forget let me introduce you to Blake! She's my sister's partner and a rather quiet person but she's also super smart and has great taste in books!"
Blake walked up to Jaune and offered him a handshake that he quickly accepted, "I'm happy to see that you're okay, Ruby became worried when you weren't present for the acceptance ceremony."
"And after everything that had happened can you really blame me!?" Ruby asked.
"No, I suppose I can't," Blake answered with a smile.
"Well, I better head back to my team so we can finally finish settling in, see you all at lunch?" Jaune asked.
"And miss the chance to meet the rest of your team? Hell no! We'll see you then Vomit Boy!" Yang cheerfully answered.
"Airsickness is a very common thing!" Jaune declared as he walked away.
As soon as he was gone Yang carefully closed the door and turned around to face Weiss who was still minding her own business at the corner of the bunk bed. "Hey, Weiss are you feeling alright? You were oddly quiet ever since he showed up."
"Don't worry it's nothing, nothing at all, I appreciate the concern but I assure you I'm perfectly fine…," she could tell that no one believed her and saw no point in insisting otherwise so she sighed in defeat and decided to just come clean, "It's just that Initiation is still weighing on my mind and seeing him made me remember some of the less than pleasant parts."
"Yeah, I get what you mean, what happened to him was rough but from what Ruby has told me, you also had it bad." Neither Blake and especially not Weiss had been expecting Yang to go in that direction or for her to keep going, "Right at the beginning you found yourself faced with a possible murderer who just happened to be a champion tournament fighter which must have been incredibly stressful and so with that in mind I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Jaune."
"Me too!" Ruby added to Weiss's surprise.
"Really? But you were the one who was the most against me when it came to what to do about him?"
"Well yeah, that's because you wanted him to fail and kept insisting that there was something wrong with him, though I completely understand why you acted the way you did around Pyrrha."
"You wanted him to fail?" Blake asked
"No, I didn't… look neither you or Yang wear there when we found Jaune, he was in a bad spot. Frankly he should have been dead but then his Semblance healed him! I just wanted him to take him to the safe zone like a responsible person would."
"What do you mean he's Semblance healed him? Semblances don't heal, Aura does," Blake pointed out the flaw in Weiss's story.
Yang on the other hand just shrugged "Semblances are weird so I don't know why you'd fixate on that especially when we had an encounter with a Grimm that could talk and Jaune was able to kill a Grimm that could use weapons, if anything that's weird. Honestly sometimes I wonder if we're going to one day find a Grimm that looks like a person!"
For a moment, for one brief telling moment Weiss's eye widened and her mouth dropped open but that moment was soon gone and her face returned to normal, whether anyone else besides herself noticed it or not, Blake did not know but what she did know was that Weiss was scared, But why? What could have possibly run through your mind just now? Blake then looked away, whatever was going on with Weiss was simply not her concern or problem.
Their actual first class as official students of Beacon was something that would haunt the nightmares of every single student for years to come: Grimm Studies with Professor Peter Port. The worst part of it all was how little sense it made, the man was a celebrated Huntsman! His stories were insane and this was Grimm Studies, the study of actual monsters and how to kill them! There were many words that could be used to describe a class like this one but Boring should have never been one of them!
"And then I went out to grab the hose that I required in order to fill the pool with the Vaseline that I needed to defeat the Gustav!" Port went on and on and on and Blake's attention began to drift away slowly but surely surrendering to the sweet temptation of sleep, This man's stories could be used as a weapon... maybe that's his Semblance?
"And can I now have a volunteer to fight this rowdy Grimm?" That question snapped Blake wide awake as she scanned the room in a surprised daze as the professor asked the class while pointing to a cage that wasn't there just a minute ago or maybe it was always there and nobody noticed until now.
"I'll do it!" Declared Weiss, who was already making her way down to face the Grimm.
"Oh! So you think you have what it takes to take down the Grimm eh? Well, Miss Schnee, you are in for a treat." Professor Port then walked over to the cage and began to lean on it, "Inside this cage is what is known as a Regional Grimm! Can anyone tell me what that means?"
Several people raised their hand and Port picked out a dark-skinned Faunus who had cute little tusks sticking out of her mouth, "Well Sir, Regional Grimm are species of Grimm that only live in certain places of the World, an example would be the Manticores of Northern Mistral or the Bombardiers of Vacuo."
"Very good Katherine! Now Miss Schnee inside here is what is known as a Boartusk which are only found in the woods and plains of Vale. This pig-like monster is not the most dangerous of Grimm but they are tenacious and have one rather unusual but effective trick that you will know when you see it. Now, are you ready?" he asked Weiss who was finishing her preparations, once she was done she nodded to the Professor who pulled out an ax and broke the lock freeing the beast who rolled out with the force and speed of a cannonball resulting in Weiss being knocked to the floor almost immediately.
"Oh, dear it looks like this particular Piggy thinks itself to be a wolf! Better watch out Miss Schnee because once a Boartusk starts its death roll it is almost always better to get out of it's way!" Port spoke with an almost sing-song tone.
Weiss' training kicked in and she quickly recovered just in time to see the Boartusk charge towards her for the second time however this time it wasn't rolling towards her, Why isn't it rolling? Is there some sort of limit or weakness? I guess I'll have to study the Regional Grimm of Vale after this is over. She waited for the last moment before gracefully twirling away to the exposed sides of the creature and taking the opportunity to strike at its legs as it passed her, however to her irritation Myrtenaster only struck the bony armor of the beast doing little to no damage.
"The belly Weiss! Boartusks have no armor there!" shouted Ruby.
Weiss turned to her leader, "Can you please no-" and was once again knocked down by the Boartusk who took full advantage of Weiss' distraction. This time instead simply knocking her over the beast instead stood over the Heiress and attempted to trample her to death.
"Well, Miss Schnee are you in need of any assistance?" Professor Port inquired while inching a little closer.
Instead of answering, Weiss created a Sigil Barrier between her and the Boartusk which pushed the creature off her. However true to the Professor's earlier warnings the monster was indeed tenacious and began working to destroy the barrier bashing its head against the shield and giving Weiss the opportunity she needed. Wasting no time she took Myrtenaster and rammed it into the ground releasing several spears of ice that pierced the beast from underneath, ending it's unnatural life.
"Bravo, Miss Schnee! I must applaud your rather clever use of sigils and Ice Dust. Though I, unfortunately, must insist that you stay behind after class to help clean up, it wouldn't do for the next class to have to deal with this."
"Come on guys let's help Weiss!" Ruby then made her way over to help the rather grateful heiress and was soon joined by Yang and even Blake which surprised Weiss but she wasn't going to complain. It would take awhile for this group of Huntresses to become a true team but this was a good step in the right direction.
"And then Ren and I were able to buy enough food to feed ourselves for the whole winter using only the money we made selling the fur of those Beowolves!" Declared Nora who was somehow speaking rather clearly despite having a mouth full of pancakes.
"It was a dream she had last night," Ren clarified
Lunch was turning out to be a rather interesting experience thanks mostly to the antics of Nora's crazy stories and Ren's interjections which were being made with perfect comedic timing. Even Blake couldn't help but smirk a little just watching and listening to those two, there was just something so wonderfully bizarre about how on the surface Nora and Ren were complete opposites and they were so in sync with each other, that she wondered if they had grown up alongside each other. But the surprises didn't stop with them, their leader Pyrrha was shockingly pleasant as she was rather friendly and humble rather than being as stuck up as Blake would have imagined a celebrity from Mistral might be, especially if they were a tournament champion like her. As for Jaune himself, the man was surprisingly cheerful and looked unusually healthy considering everything he went through during initiation, then again perhaps it was to be expected from someone who supposedly had High-Speed Regeneration as his Semblance, I still having a hard time wrapping my head around that.
"Please let go!"
"See I told you that these were real. Man what an absolute freak!"
And just like that, the bright and happy mood of lunch was destroyed.
Cardin Winchester was the worst kind of person possible, an asshole who for some goddamn reason never seems to get punished for their actions no matter how blatant they were. It was partly thanks to people like him that the Faunus had to fight for their freedom, it was partly thanks to bastards like him that the Faunus had to struggle to overcome many disgusting and inaccurate preconceptions and it was thanks to people just like Cardin Winchester that men like Jacques Schnee were able to legally commit what amounted to crimes against humanity over and over again without ever facing a single consequence for their despicable actions and it made her sick.
Blake wanted to scream at Cardin, she wanted to scream at the Faunus girl whose ears he was pulling, Fight back! Why won't you fight back?! Cardin won't stop unless you make him stop! They will never see you as an equal unless you force them to see you as one! She turned to her team looking for a kindred spirit and saw them all just sitting there, clearly uncomfortable and in the case of Yang even angry as her eye turned bright red as she started reaching her limit But Weiss!? She just kept sitting looking down almost as though she was… ashamed? Then why aren't you doing anything? Just like her partner Blake was now reaching her limit and very soon she was just going to march over to Cardin herself and break his jaw.
"Let her Go!"
Blake turned to see who was talking and to her surprise, she saw Jaune with a look of total fury on his face standing up and marching over to Cardin and the Faunus girl. Before he could get there one of Cardin's teammates, some guy with a green mohawk got up from his own seat and attempted to intercept the blond but Jaune simply shoved the guy away and continued his march completely unopposed this time.
"Let her go. Cardin."
Cardin to everyone's shock did comply, letting go of the girl who thanked Jaune and then quickly left. He then with a gross overconfident simile on his face, got up from his seat and stood over the wanna-be knight, "So you're Jaune Arc, I've heard about you. I heard about the things you supposedly did during initiation." A vicious smirk formed on the bully's face, "About how you needed to be protected by a group of women."
Jaune was not at all impressed, much less affected by Cardin's attempts to taunt him, "I do not. Care. What you think of me. I just want you to cut your bullshit or I will give you shit!" as he spoke these words his own team began to rise from their seats.
However, Cardin just ignored his warning and kept on talking, "Though I gotta say maybe being protected by some women isn't such a bad thing considering the ones protecting you. a cute little goth who thinks herself a Huntress, along with a Heiress that might as well be a princess from a storybook and Star Athlete with a body that most certainly helped her rise in fame as well as raise a few other things, if you catch my drift." Cardin added a crooked smile and a perverse wink to drive the point he was making.
Jaune raised a fist to strike Cardin but Nora grabbed his arm and held it back with her great strength, "Don't do it Jaune! You'll be the one in trouble if you do."
"And even now you are being protected by yet another beauty! You really are sick Jauney Boy."
"What!? I'm the sick one here? How?" he asked, fully confused and angry.
"Because asshole, the rumors don't stop with you being body guarded by a trio of babes. They also include you fighting alongside them and even destroying a Varana with a rock of all things! Now I got to ask, how is that possible? How can you be injured to the point that you needed to be protected and yet not even three hours later you get dragged in a fight where your life was on the line against one the rarest species of Grimm in all of Vale and you win, with just a rock now I'm not a detective but something isn't adding up here."
Jaune's expression went from grim seriousness to confusion to horror and then settling right on anger, "Is there a point to this?"
"Just a friendly warning, losers like you who pretend to act tough or weak when it suits them disgust me almost as much as the animals that society is letting walk around without a leash. Now Jauny Boy let me get to the point. I want you to take your wannabe cardboard heroism and plastic chivalry and shove it deep up your ass and fuck off. Or I'll get to the bottom of those rumors and prove what a pathetic faker we both know that you are."
Ruby then jumped up from her seat, "Well then you'll sorry Cardin! Because Jaune really did do all that and for your information his Semblance is Regeneration! That's how he could do it!"
Cardin for a moment was stunned but soon enough that smirk returned, "Regeneration huh? That's an odd Semblance for a Huntsman to have, It makes me wonder how it works considering how Aura is supposed to protect and heal us. But let's assume that the brat is telling the truth and I really do hope she is. I've been needing a new punching bag," with that he left the cafeteria followed by the rest of his team.
Blake's anger was beginning to fade as he left the cafeteria but that racist misogynistic pile of crap in armor wasn't the only cause for her ire and the fire in her veins refused to be extinguished. She could feel her contempt for the people around her begin to grow as she started to look around at the cafeteria looking at everyone who only stood and watched. Looking at the ones who couldn't be bothered to make a difference, who allowed and would have continued to tolerate such abuse as long as it never affected them, I need to calm down. I need to leave and find a nice quiet place and just. Calm down. Without sparing a word or a glance at anyone else Blake left the cafeteria.
Even with the causes removed from the cafeteria the uneasy feeling hanging over the heads of those who remained refused to disperse. Instead, an element of awkwardness was added to that feeling when it slowly became apparent that not everyone in the cafeteria had noticed the altercation or perhaps they just didn't care.
"Ren?"
"Yes, Nora?"
"I'm not hungry anymore."
"Neither am I," and without anything else needing to be said between the m two they also left triggering a chain reaction as all the remaining members of team RWBY and team PRAN left the cafeteria though for different reasons. Some left just to get their minds off of things and others left to blow off steam and were followed by those wanting to make sure that their friends were okay. But, there was an exception to this trend.
Weiss did not leave, she just stayed sitting in her chair running the events through her mind again and again, The way Jaune was looking at Cardin, his voice… It's just like it was back at the initiation! And those points that Cardin brought up he's right! That bastard was completely right; It is just far too strange, but I was there! I know that Jaune wasn't pretending but, then how was he able to fight? Jaune is hiding something from us, that the only explanation
Blake thought of libraries as her safe haven, the one place that she could go to when she just needed to waste time or in this case calm down. Scanning through the shelves she found the perfect books to help her relax and was about to do so when a familiar pair of brown bunny ears wandered into her field of view, If I am remembering correctly her name is Velvet Scarlatina and she is a second-year, which probably means that she could have taken Cardin. So why didn't she fight back? I heard her team was highly regarded so she theoretically would have been fine defending herself against the bully. Resolving to find out, Blake put the books she was planning to read on a nearby table and made her way over to where Velvet was being very careful to make sure that she would be spotted or heard by the Upper Year who was currently sitting by herself in an empty corner of the library. Blake suddenly stopped, What am I going to say to her? Well this is a library so talking about books would be a good way to start. Going back to her little corner she grabbed some of the books that she left at the table and made her way back to Velvet.
"I didn't think you were gonna talk to me after you left earlier," remarked Velvet without even looking at Blake.
"I just thought you needed something to help take your mind off of things, so I brought these," she then offered one of the books to Velvet who took it and looked right at the cover.
"Ninjas of Love? Isn't that a stupid love about a ninja who is constantly shagging or getting shagged?"
"Yes, yes it is but, it also comes with a surprisingly good plot and many likable characters" Blake admitted with just a tinge of shame.
"Really?" Velvet pointed to another seat nearby, "How about you tell me about this plot?"
Blake had many questions she wanted to ask Velvet, but all of them could wait at least until after Velvet became comfortable enough to allow her to even ask what she knew would be some very personal questions. However she was willing to put in the work in order to connect with her fellow Faunus and lover of books. The time for questions would come but right now, it was time for some bonding, "So it all starts with this guy known as the Gangbang Shogun."
Jaune was in the middle of opening up his locker to retrieve what was left of his armor along with his sword Crocea Mors and once he he was holding both in his hands he began to make his way over to the changing stalls when the door to the locker room opened and Pyrrha walked in.
"Jaune, what are you going to do?" She asked with concern as she watched him enter a stall.
Deciding not to leave her waiting he spoke to her through the stall as he changed, "Cardin left me feeling agitated so I want to take my frustration and put it into something productive. What are you doing here?" The question sounded far harsher than he intended, "Sorry about that, I'm not angry at you."
"It's alright, you're just on edge. But to answer your question, I just wanted to make sure that you were fine," she answered.
He emerged from the stall with his combat gear on and placed his school uniform inside the locker but as he did so he spotted Pyrrha removing her gear from her locker and making her way over to the changing stall, "You're going to train as well?"
She laughed "I didn't become a champion by resting on my laurels, it took a lot of blood, sweat and more tears than most people to imagine, beside I was already planning on a little post meal workout and this is a good opportunity to see where everyone is."
"Where everyone is?" he asked as a small feeling of fear began to grow.
Pyrrha emerged from the stall with all of her equipment on, "The best type of training is personalized to suit the needs of the trainee and to do that I first need to push everyone to their limits and naturally combat is a major aspect of that!" Trying so hard to make yourself helpful.
"Uh… Thanks?" Well I'm screwed.
With a smile she walked to the exit as Jaune followed her, "Great! Let's go, Partner!" You already hurt him once and you will do it again. That's not true, it was an accident! Excuses, is that all you're good for? Shut up.
Author's Notes:
There is a lot to unpack this chapter so let's start with the easiest: The Gustav's are an amphibious Grimm based on the Crocodile. They are ambush-style predators that are found in large freshwater rivers and canals though there are some saltwater variants. They are not particularly large or heavily armored or have impressive land speed but they have very powerful jaws and are known to kill very quickly.
The name itself comes from a Real-Life Crocodile that is said to hunt the Nile River.
As for the POV of the chapter, well I just wanted to practice writing from a character's point of view and I thought that Blake would have a rather interesting perspective for this point in the story. I included Velvet because I wanted to show her interacting with other Faunus.
As for Weiss' fight, it is different from canon because if you are reading this story then you almost certainly watch RWBY and would therefore already know what happened so I simply decided to try something different. Also, her paranoia has returned in full force.
And for Cardin, well I wanted to show that other characters do notice what happens around them furthermore, it gives a reason for Cardin to antagonize Jaune in the first place since in this story the false transcripts aren't that big of a deal.
And as for Pyrrha, I wanted to give her and Jaune's relationship a chance to grow and it won't just be them. I want to take advantage of this medium to spend the time on relationships that the show couldn't.
And Finally, Nora stopping Jaune, I'll admit to a little Headcanon here as I believe that Nora is smarter or at the very least wiser than most people think she is. Nora and Ren managed to survive by themselves as kids for who knows how long, there is no way that they haven't learned a hard lesson or two.