Small Issues
AN: Sorry for the longer than expected wait, lots of things that came up unexpectedly. This chapter also went on much longer than expected as well. Still, I hope you all enjoy! On with the show!
Ethics
Classes went on as expected at Beacon for several weeks but there were a few notable surprises.
Sparring classes were actually quite fun for some despite how strict Professor Goodwitch is, though her stern demeanor was tempered by her understanding and care for her students.
Pyrrha, Yang, and Nora quickly established themselves as powerhouses at the top of the rankings. Pyrrha going undefeated while the other two have a single loss and a tie to their records- their losses being provided by Pyrrha though they pushed her more than anyone else, and the tie came from fighting each other… not only did they knock each other out of the ring at the same time but they damaged the stage significantly to where Goodwitch banned them from sparring again in the classroom.
Early into second week, Ruby had been selected to spar against a young man named Cardin Winchester. A tall man who was able to physically look down on anyone in their year and was more than simply tall, he has plenty of muscle that made him even bigger. That didn't take into account that he wore armor- a cuirass, bracers, leg and foot guards over a black bodysuit. The metal is grey with gold accents along the edges and for the bird with outstretched wings across his chest.
To make things worse, his weapon, named Executioner, is a large mace. A large cylindrical shaft of metal with a rubberized grip that ended with a head of ten titanium flanges surrounding a large Fire Dust crystal set onto the end.
"Heh, come on Pipsqueak, let's get this over so you can take a nap." Cardin grinned as he tightened his grip on his mace, hefting the weapon easily with one hand to demonstrate his strength.
Unfortunately for Ruby, she was getting a bad case of stage fright as only the arena was lit and the stands where the rest of the class was darkened, yet she knew everyone was watching her.
"Oh… why couldn't I just get a Grimm to fight like Weiss did? And he's so big and that mace… titanium flanges with really sharp edges… even has angles to maximize impact force. Is that Fire Dust on the end? Oh, that thing will hurt if it hits me. Why can't I just be back in my room watching cute kitty videos?"
"HEY! Are we fighting or not? I don't care if you want to watch some stupid cats." Cardin shouts at the younger girl.
Ruby jumped in surprise. "Wha? Y-you heard that?"
"Uh, yeah? It's kinda hard not to with you muttering everything."
"Eep!"
"Come on Sis! You've beaten worse than him! Show us what you got!" Yang's yell carried across the arena to the combatants.
"Ah, shut it, Blondie. I'll smash your face in when I'm done with Pipsqueak here."
Now that was enough to break Ruby's stage fright and she glared at Cardin, one hand reaching back for Crescent Rose.
"Oh, someone found their spine? Right, heard that bimbo is supposed to be your sister or something."
A giant red scythe unfurled as it swung at him, Cardin blocking the blade just in time. "You're fighting me!"
Cardin pushed the scythe away with a grin. "Finally! Let's see how long you last!" He declared as he swung Executioner at the girl.
The fight went on with neither one gaining an advantage as Cardin was able to block her slashes and she was able to dodge his blows. At range, he was capable of deflecting her bullets while his fireballs were too slow to catch her.
But one thing was obvious, Ruby was faster. Fast enough that Cardin's ability to tank hits was being overwhelmed slowly but surely as he failed to be able to hit back.
A kick to the back of his knees brought the tiring man to kneel on the floor, the large blade of the scythe under his chin.
The lights came back on for the audience and Glynda walked onto the arena. "Miss Rose is the victor. It may have begun with a shaky start but once that was pushed to the side… the results speak for themselves."
Since then, Ruby began to wear her cloak with her normal school uniform. Interestingly, none of the professors seemed to care.
—-
Math with Professor Khadeer was nobody's favorite but it was needed. The explanations about how Huntsmen would be paid always did catch at least a few students' attention. And finding the trajectory of things provided a practical application for many to follow, those whose weapons required such calculations tended to fair better than most- like Nora.
Grimm Studies, as informative as it was, was also one that could become very boring when Professor Port would lose himself in his long winded stories of his past. The good part was that it only happens about once a week yet the students found that was the best time to either find something else to focus on like homework or they'd wind up napping.
Stealth and Security classes with Professor Greene were usually fun as between lectures on how to go about their duties as Huntsmen and Huntresses with as little impact on the environment around them, there were the practical exercises that not only had them trying to be as sneaky as possible but to locate those doing so.
Botany with Professor Peach was rather interesting as she knew how to make use out of just about any vegetation one could think of from use as rope, medicine, food, shelter, etc. The hard part was simply trying to remember not just which uses went with which plants but also identifying the plants so they could be used and not mistaken for something that would be bad. The poison ivy would take a week to wear off after some boy accidentally crushed a vine in his hand.
Professor Humphrey was always helpful when it came to their weapons and armor, giving tips on the best way to care, maintain, and repair their equipment. Not only that, he was also available to assist anyone who needed or desired to upgrade their gear.
Professor Oobleck wasn't the type to slow down for too long, more than once he had been caught by the class arranging his large map of Remnant with pins and red string, small notes next to the pins with some event in history, a very brief explanation, and the dates needed. But that only seemed to be needed because someone kept thinking it was a fun game to rearrange everything. The days that would happen, Professor Greene would hum a song.
But what all of the teachers had in common was that they stressed codes of ethics. Honesty about their work is foremost, along with being against theft (with some exceptions), along with being courteous. Emphasis was put on completing their tasks fully while keeping innocents safe as much as possible.
It may be odd to some that there were exceptions in the rules and grey areas where most would consider such things to be black and white but that methodology had been a staple of Huntsman life for generations because they learned from before the profession even existed that one cannot follow absolutes. The compromise was doing the best that one can given their situations.
Then there were some like Dr. Oobleck…
"Now, one of the greatest upsets of the Faunus War came at the Battle of Fort Castle. Now, many may cite General Legume's father as the one who sparked off the Faunus War." The hyper-energetic man zipped to the opposite side of the room. "The Great War had ended in recent memory for many, concluding on the island of Vytal but tensions were still high as Faunus continued to be oppressed."
He dashed to his map of the world and pointed at Atlas. "While the Faunus population on the entire continent of Solitas was low, nearly all of them were little more than slaves in the mines while the best that they could get was serving as a servant for one of the wealthier humans.
Mistral wasn't any better at the time, mandating that all Faunus live in the lowest levels of the city. As you all can imagine, that would all but guarantee that all of the waste from above would make it down into their living areas, making conditions not just miserable but hazardous.
Vacuo never had much of a problem with the rights of Faunus, given their general acceptance of anyone who can live in the region.
Vale… has always been known as a mixing pot of cultures since international trade was established. While Vale wasn't as generous as Vacuo back then to the Faunus population, the Kingdom did not make any mandates to discriminate like Mantle and Mistral did, nor were there any laws to prevent discrimination."
Oobleck paused as he took a sip of his coffee and looked across the room at his students. "What was it that Baron Legume did to spark the violence?"
Many of the students were busy trying to keep up with their notes, which was good. But he wanted answers from them… and judging by how some of them squirmed in their seats, they knew but didn't want to say it aloud. "Anyone?" Slowly a hand rose. "Yes?"
Blake scowled and venom could be heard in her voice. "He forced himself on a young girl after killing her parents."
"Yes, a dark fate indeed." Oobleck shook his head in disappointment of those in the past. "Baron Legume did those deeds and she stabbed him to escape. But the damage was done- the girls tragedy became a rallying point for the Faunus. Baron Legume had survived his stabbing and saw the gathering of understandably upset Faunus outside of his manor. He sent his personal guards at the crowd but they were quickly taken out and that proved to be the last mistake he made as the Faunus raided his home and killed him.
The rest of the Legume family was spared, so long as they didn't fight, but nearly everything of value was taken and the Baroness and her daughter were set free with a few possessions.
However, General Legume was the Barons son and when he heard of what happened to his family, he struck out on a campaign of revenge… attacking any Faunus he came across and he had a loyal army to back him.
Thus the Faunus War began."
It was history that Bartholomew did not enjoy retelling, evident in his voice, but he did so for the sake of historical accuracy.
"Now, can any of you tell me what happened at Fort Castle that marked a turning point in the war?"
Unfortunately, as Oobleck looked around a few students who weren't paying attention. Arc was looking at his notes but had his head propped up by his hand as he struggled to stay awake. Winchester was behind him, not even trying to look like he was interested as his books were closed and he leaned back to rest his feet on the desk.
"Mr. Winchester, thank you for volunteering!"
The young man had at least been listening so he wasn't surprised to be called on but he never bothered to sit up or take his feet down. "Well… it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier. They probably just threw bodies at him until they won."
That response made many in the room look at him in shock or disgust, including the teacher.
"Mr. Arc, what was the advantage the Faunus had in the battle?" The man asks standing right in front of him.
The blonde was surprised to be called on and scrambled to come up with the answer. "They uh… the answer is…" He stalled as he racked his brain but then he saw Pyrrha pointing at her eyes and cupping her hands around them. "The Faunus had binoculars."
Oobleck took a sip of his coffee without looking away from the blonde, creating an awkward silence. Meanwhile, Pyrrha slapped her forehead.
"No, Mr. Arc, the advantage the Faunus had was not binoculars…" The man walked back to stand in front of his desk. "Though, admittedly, you are on the right track… if barely." The blonde chuckled nervously at that.
"The advantage the Faunus troops had was…?" He points to Pyrrha who had her hand raised.
"Faunus have natural night vision, allowing them to see clearly in low light conditions. General Legume tried to attack under the cover of darkness with his much larger army, only to be ambushed and overwhelmed." She answered the question without hesitation before pointedly looking back to Cardin as she continued. "Perhaps if he had bothered to respect the Faunus enough to learn even the most basic aspects, General Legume might have survived that night." She finished with a smug smile, one that really got under Cardin's skin along with her words. With a tight fist, he began to stand up with the intent to punch her.
"Sit down, Mr. Winchester." Oobleck states clearly with an undercurrent of warning. "Miss Nikos is correct in what she said. General Legume's forces did not understand their enemy and said enemy took advantage of that ignorance. Now, how many of you have been discriminated due to your Faunus heritage?"
Nearly a quarter of the class raised their hands, some more hesitant than others, but that was essentially the entire Faunus population in the room.
"Dreadful! Simply dreadful! Such discrimination and blind hatred only leads to violence! I-I mean, just look what happened to the White Fang! A once peaceful organization built on establishing cooperation between our species that turned towards violence due to old grudges on both sides.
There is a phrase in my profession that is commonly used because of its accuracy, 'Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it'." The bell signaling the end of the class rang just then. "Oh! You all have your assignments, have a good afternoon!"
Everyone began to stand and pack up their books to leave. "Mr. Arc., Mr. Winchester… stay a few moments if you would." Oobleck requested.
Once the room was emptied besides the three of them, Dr. Oobleck made sure that both boys were sitting right in front of him as he stood still, ensuring that their focus was on him.
"Now, I don't know exactly why the two of you are falling behind in my class, whether it is a lack of interest." He took note of how Jaune was slumped in his seat. "Or that you simply do not care." He eyed Cardin who was lounging in his seat, feet on the desk again. "Either way, that needs to stop immediately. As Huntsmen, you will have people looking up to you and you WILL NEED to be prepared. Beacon only accepts the best and we expect the best effort from our students in return.
As I said during class 'Those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it'… I do not wish for either of you to make those same mistakes of the past nor for you to repeat your mistakes from this class and I sincerely hope that this lesson will carry over to your other classes and aspects of life as well. It gives me no pleasure to see my students, former or current, in the obituary.
Now, you'll have the weekend to read pages two twelve through two fifty and write up an essay about the tactics used by General Legume and Commander Shepherd as they fought during the Battle of Fort Castle and their effects. Have a good rest of your day." With those final words, the hyperactive teacher zipped out the door and into the halls.
Both boys grabbed their things and walked out, though Cardin took a moment to push the blonde into a wall, forcing his books to drop to the floor.
But this didn't go unseen as the rest of Jaune's team had been waiting just outside of the door and witnessed everything. While Pyrrha helped Jaune pick up his stuff, Ren held back Nora.
"Come on! Let me go, Ren!"
"You look like you're about to kill him."
"I'm not gonna kill him."
"…" Ren raised an eyebrow but his silence spoke volumes.
"I'm just gonna break his legs."
"No."
"One leg?"
"…." There was a pause that got her hopes up. "No."
"You hesitated."
"Maybe, but you are not breaking his leg."
Back to the other duo…
"Thanks, Pyrrha."
"You know, I will break his leg if I need to." She offers, having heard what Nora was strongly suggesting.
"Oh come on, Ren! You stop me but not her?!" Nora screeched at her 'captor'.
"She's more in control of her impulses." Was her simple answer.
"Pyrrha… it's… it's not that bad." Jaune insisted as he began walking, they had lunch next and he was hungry.
The Spartan let it go because he wanted it. As a result, Nora also calmed as they followed their leader to the midday meal.
—
"Jaune is being bullied." Pyrrha was as blunt as Nora's hammer once they joined RWBY at their usual table.
"Pyrrha! I thought we dropped this?"
"No, you wanted to drop it. I'm simply ensuring that there is more help." She almost seemed smug about her course of action.
"Gotta admit Jaune, it's kinda hard to miss." Yang shrugs.
"And why haven't you done anything to stop it?" Ren asks curiously.
"Eh, mostly hoping that Vomit Boy will finally have enough and deck the jerk." The blonde shrugs as that would be what she'd do.
"Well something needs to be done before Cardin goes too far." Pyrrha insists.
"Oh come on guys. Name one time that Cardin has bullied me." Jaune challenged.
Weiss raised a finger. "How about when he smacked your books out of your hands? I've witnessed five such events so far."
Ren spoke up next. "Pushing you into walls… a dozen times, including today."
"Or when he hit you while you were sharpening your sword! You were lucky that your hand didn't get caught in the belt!" Ruby added. Of course the weapons but would point that out.
"Don't forget the locker incident." Yang reminded everyone. Goodwitch had been showing the class that the lockers that held their weapons could be launched thanks to the small rocket engines each of them had, which could be used to bring their gear in an emergency by either sending a signal from their scroll or entering coordinates into the locker itself. But once that was mentioned, Cardin had quickly shoved Jaune in the nearest locker and punched in some random numbers, causing it to launch right there with the entire class watching. Winchester received a two weeks of detention for that stunt but that hadn't seemed to fix his attitude.
"I didn't land that far from the school." His assurances fell flat as the others gave him a deadpan stare.
"You can't keep doing this, Jaune." Pyrrha insists.
"Yeah! You gotta hit him where it really hurts!" Nora declares loudly.
"I hope you mean his pride." Weiss rolls her eyes.
The short ginger shrugs. "Eh, wouldn't that spot be the same thing even if he's overcompensating? I mean he's gotta, right?" That got a chuckle out of Yang while Pyrrha tried to at least look like she didn't approve of the idea. Jaune and Ren simply squeezed their legs together as they tried NOT to imagine what the three of them would do to… family jewels.
"Still, you should tell a teacher." Ruby suggests to her blonde friend. She didn't forget what Cardin said to her in class weeks before… before beating him in the spar. He hadn't done more than a few words to her since.
"Guys, come on." Jaune tried to wave off their concerns. "He's not just a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone."
"Ow! That hurts!" A shout drew their attention to where Velvet was being held by her long ears in the grip of Cardin Winchester himself, almost as if the world was putting him on display.
"See? I told you they were real!" Cardin laughs as he pulled on the ears more, forcing Velvet to bend over and move with him or risk even more pain. Even so, she had tears in her eyes… while still keeping her lunch tray full of food level somehow. Sky and Russel laughed while Dove smiled, though none of them seemed to be taking as much pleasure as their leader.
"I can't stand bullies." Pyrrha mutters, sorely tempted to march over and take him down a few notches.
"You're not the only one." Blake finally spoke but her glare was saying much more for her.
"Please let go." Velvet could be heard pleading.
Though if it was her request or simply because he seemed to have grown bored of his latest antagonistic behavior, Cardin relented, watching as the bunny girl walked off with her lunch while using one hand to wipe away her tears.
Though the rest of Team CFVY walking in the main doors to find Velvet sitting nearby holding her ears gently seemed to be a sign for CRDL to make for a side exit, though not before Cardin locked eyes with Jaune with a smirk that promised that he was next.
"Yo, newbies!" Coco stalked over to the teams shared table. "Did you see where Cardin went? I need to get some answers from him." Silently, all eight pointed to the side door. "Thanks." The tall girl strode off to try to catch up to the bully, hoping she wasn't too far behind her Bun-buns tormentor.
—-
They had Combat Class after lunch, which may not be the best time for students to be beating the crap out of each other but it was good practice to be ready at any time to fight.
The first fight wound up being Blake against Nora. The fight was… interesting, to put it simply. Especially since they were given the restriction of melee attacks only, no projectiles.
"It looks like a game of Whack-A-Grimm, huh?" Yang whispers to her sister.
"Yeah."
"What's Whack-A-Grimm?" Weiss asks as she sat between the sisters. Meanwhile on the stage, Nora kept swinging her hammer at the dark-haired girl only to miss as Blake used her Shadow to dodge, over and over and over again. The girl was able to slash at Nora a few times, but most of them were blocked.
"You really need to get out more." Yang rolled her eyes.
"Haven't you ever been to an arcade before?" Ruby asks.
"No."
"Sounds like we need to let the Ice Queen know what fun is." The blonde grins.
Ruby's face matched her sisters. "Do we try for the one back home?"
"Nah, too far. I know of a good one here in Vale. Billy Kidd had his birthday there two years ago."
"Ah, nice one. We need to find a good weekend for that."
"Lookout!" Weiss broke into the conversation as Blake flew at them thanks to a powerful smash from Nora.
Yang reacted quickly by jumping to her feet and catching the girl before she hit the seats, though it was thanks to Pyrrha bracing her that Yang wasn't slammed into the seats herself thanks to the force being transferred to her from the fall.
"Nora Valkyrie is the winner by ring out." Goodwitch calls out. "Is Miss Belladonna alright?"
Yang glanced at the girl in her arms. "A little dizzy but we got her before she had a bad landing."
"Thank you, Miss Xiao Long and Miss Nikos. Miss Valkyrie, you may return to your seat." Glynda looked at her tablet and let the randomized choose the next pair. "Hmm, Mr. Arc and Mr. Winchester, you two are next." Given that the knight was sitting with his friends and team, she could see the concerned expressions they had only once his opponent was named. It was something she made a quick note of, given the rocket locker incident.
The two boys in armor were soon on stage, after Glynda used her own Semblance to repair and clean it, and stared each other down. Or rather, it was Cardin staring Jaune down while the latter failed to make adequate eye contact.
""You may begin!" Professor Goodwitch declares as the lights dimmed to hide the audience.
Jaune took Crocea Mors from his waist, drawing the sword before flipping the small switch on the grip to deploy the segments that expanded the sheath into a shield. He slid his right foot back and raised his shield, keeping the sword ready just above his waist.
Cardin reached behind himself and took a short axe from his belt. Pressing a button, the shaft extended to more than twice its former length and the heavy blade split several times vertically and those blades spun around the head to form a ring around the Dust crystal at the top of the head. Executioner was now a mace that Cardin hefted to hold at chest height.
"You're going down, Wimp!" The mace wielder declared as he charged, swinging his weapon right into the shield of his opponent hard enough to make Jaune stagger. Then again and again, Cardin battered the white and gold shield with extreme force, making Jaune's arm shake from the strain of just holding it up.
It was notable that despite Cardin's impressive strength, easily in the top five of the class, Jaune's aura was large enough to withstand the blows that would have shattered the auras of several classmates… combined.
But a rather nasty upward swing of Executioner into the shield that knocked it from the knights hand and sent him stumbling to the floor. Cardin stood with his mace resting on his shoulder, content to watch as the blonde staggered to his feet gripping his sword.
"Hhyyyyaaaaaaahhg!" Jaune let loose a battle cry as he went on the attack for the first time in the match and swung down at the taller man's face, only to have the blade intercepted by the shaft of the mace. Granted, Cardin did let out a grunt of effort from blocking the attack but he turned that into a chuckle.
"You're out of your league, Jauney Boy. Time to end this."
"Over my dead bo-ugh!" Jaune couldn't even finish his sentence thanks to Cardin slamming his knee into the blondes groin. Aura or not, the pain is felt even if the damage is largely negated.
Jaune collapsed to his knees holding himself, too caught up in his pain to notice that his opponent had stepped to his side and the blades that made up the flanges of the mace rotated back to become an axe. One that was raised high and prepared to swing for the exposed neck in front of him.
"That's enough, Mr. Winchester!" Glynda's voice cut through the tension, helped by the lights coming back on for the stands. Cardin stopped his swing before it really started, looking rather perturbed that he didn't finish the fight himself.
The teacher walked out onto the stage, ensuring that there would be no continuing the fight but more so to address the class. "Mr. Arc's aura has gone into the red. As you all know, this marks defeat in most tournaments around the world."
The qualifier had to be added as she had taught her classes about how Shade would often have spars that would go on until defeat is admitted or soundly earned, justifying it as teaching their students that the world is harsh, real fights don't have rules, and to push students to find a path to victory in any circumstances… plus there are the occasional underground tournaments around the world, if one manages to find them.
Glynda turned to face Jaune, concern on her face. "Mr. Arc, I advise that if you find yourself in such a position again of having to deal with an overwhelming offensive, change your tactics to find something that works. We wouldn't want to see you killed by a Beowolf."
"Hmph, speak for yourself." Cardin mutters as he stows Executioner on his belt again while walking away.
Jaune slowly walked back to his seat to sit with his team as they watched a few more matches before class was done.
Glynda made sure to address everyone before they left. "Now, I may not need to remind most of you that the Vytal Tournament will be happening in a few months. I WILL remind you to present a good image to the visiting students as they will be joining us in classes during their time here. But as always, try to take good care of yourselves, hone your skills, and train hard while NOT neglecting your homework for other classes. Have a good day."
At the mention of the Tournament, many of the students showed their excitement, Yang, Nora, and Ruby being among them.
—
After dinner, Jaune was quiet as the two teams walked back to their dorm. In fact, the blonde was lagging behind and Pyrrha took notice of that.
"Go on ahead, I'm going to talk to Jaune for a bit." The Spartan told her other two teammates, with Nora shrugging in accordance as Ren nodded.
It took a minute for the blonde to catch up but Pyrrha was waiting for him. "We need to talk." She said as she grabbed his wrist and marched up the stairs until they reached the roof.
The door opened onto a small landing almost the size of their room before the roof sloped down for the area in front and to the sides, behind the roof rose as the space beneath the shingles housed the air filters, heaters, and conditioners.
"Pyrrha, what's going on?" He had to admit that the cooler night air felt good and the view of the campus from here was nice.
The girl steeled herself. "Well, I thought that we could come up here and get some extra practice."
"Y-you think I need help?"
"Jaune, we both know that you may not be the best fighter… but that's why I want to help you."
"What?"
"There's no shame in asking for help." She may have said that missing the irony that she was so skilled in combat. Granted, much of that was natural talent but she also had good teachers.
Jaune turned away from his teammate, unable to look her in the eye. "But I don't want help."
"But Jaune, you are at Beacon Academy. I know that sometimes someone can hit a block in their training… a little push from others can help you push through that. Everyone earned their place here."
Jaune was tempted to take her up on the offer, until the final words. And something snapped in him. "You're wrong."
"I'm sorry?"
"You're wrong." He turned around but instead of facing her to talk, he began pacing and waving his hands as he spoke. "I-I didn't earn my place here at Beacon."
"That's not true, everyone did." Pyrrha insisted but she could hear his voice cracking, straining, and filled with guilt. Even then, her own words felt almost hollow to her, like a lie she'd tell herself to feel better.
"No I didn't." He paused his pacing but clenched his fists at his sides. "I… I didn't go to some combat school. I didn't have any kind of tutors. I'm just some guy who lived on a farm and got ahold of some fake transcripts and lied. Heck, my own family thought that the acceptance letter was some sort of prank and laughed."
"But Jaune, if you let me help-"
"I don't want any help! Can't you see? If-if I can't even do the simple stuff on my own, what good am I?" He was on the verge of fully breaking down, torn between emotions and stubbornness, feelings of inadequacy and desires to make himself proud. "My father, his father, my great grandfather… they were all warriors and heroes… I just want to live up to them."
"Jaune… I-i didn't know." She was hesitant to go closer, fearing that she might drive him over the edge, either emotionally or the physical roof they were on.
"Just… go away, Pyrrha… please."
She slowly backed away with her hands clasped in front of her, looking at the young man in front of her with worry, pity, and a strong desire to help… but she honored his request. "If… that's what you want." She opened the door and glanced at him one last time, a young man struggling under the weight of a legacy he had little idea how to uphold but determined to do it himself.
The blonde nearly collapsed to his knees as he fought back tears, feeling worse than ever having rejected the help of someone who had already helped him so much. The closing of the door felt like he was hit by Nora's Magnhild in the chest.
Then suddenly he wasn't alone anymore.
"Wow, Jauney Boy, I didn't think you were such a rebel."
Jaune stiffened as his previous emotional distress was replaced by fear as he looked behind him to find Cardin pulling himself easily onto the roof from below.
"Ah, C-Cardin!"
"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone." The larger man says as he sauntered over to the blonde. "I couldn't help but to hear you from my room." He points down to indicate that his teams dorm was right below them.
"Y-you won't?"
"Of course not, Jauney Boy." He clapped a large hand on the knights shoulder, keeping his grip there firm. "All you have to do to keep me from telling Professor Goodwitch about you cheating your way into Beacon is… helping me out when I ask for it."
"That's it?"
"Of course, Jaune, we're good buddies now. We help each other out, right?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess." He answered as he watched Cardin walk a few steps back to where he came.
"Now you're getting it. That being said… I really don't have time to write that report for Oobleck, think you could take care of that for me, buddy?"
There was no argument from the blonde, just a silent resignation that he'd do as required.
And Cardin grinned at the sight as he swung himself over the edge of the roof. "And it better not get lower than a C!" He added before disappearing over the edge and back into his room.
Left alone and the recent events crashing down on him, Jaune could only groan as he fell to his knees and stared up at the fractured moon and twinkling stars for answers… but none came.
—
The next month for Jaune was little more than a slog. Thanks to Cardin's whims, he rarely got to do anything more than classwork and training with his team. Relaxation of any sort besides when he was finally able to sleep was nonexistent.
And his team… they were somewhat sympathetic to him, at least Ren and Nora were. The two of them tried to help him where they could but usually were unsuccessful. Team RWBY had their own things to do but with as close as the two teams are, it was hard for them not to notice that he wasn't himself or the team dynamics had shifted drastically, especially with the knight spending so much time with Cardin when they last knew the latter what's bullying Jaune. Granted, the actual bullying in and around classes seemed to drop off to nearly nothing, but that only made everyone suspicious as to what was really going on.
And then there was Pyrrha… the girl had effectively been giving Jaune the cold shoulder since that night, confusing the rest of their friends as to why it was happening in the first place. And quite honestly, he felt that one hurt him the most. She had helped him more to achieve his dream of being a Huntsman than his own father did and when she offered more, he rejected her.
"Ugghh…" Jaune let his head drop onto a table as he finally found a moment of peace, his groan venting out just part of his frustrations.
He was barely aware that someone sat down at the table with him until they spoke. "Sheesh, I haven't seen you look this bad since you puked on my boots."
And his moment of peace ended.
"What do you want?" He didn't bother lifting his head to see the girl.
Yang could hear the strain in his voice along with sheer exhaustion.
"Just came over to see how my fellow elder sibling is doing." They had bonded a bit over that fact, though the size difference between the families was huge when comparing numbers.
"Uuugghh…."
"That bad, huh?"
Slowly he sat up just to slump in his chair. "I screwed up."
"It happens."
"I really screwed up."
"Been there, done that."
"I did something I shouldn't have… really not anything to be proud of."
"Sounds familiar."
"But now Pyrrha's mad at me, Cardin's got me on a leash, my team barely talks to me…" He trailed off to fall forwards to lay on the table again, his head impacting with a heavy thud. "I really, really screwed up and I don't know what to do about it."
Yang let him vent and did nothing to stop his head from hitting the table but she did start to see the bigger picture of what's been going on with the other team.
But apparently Jaune noticed and rolled his head to look at her. "No comments?"
"Oh, it's just that some things are starting to make sense now, even if you were being pretty vague."
"And?"
"And…. It sounds like you need to knock Cardin down a few pegs, make things up with Pyrrha, and get back to working with your team." She counted off with her fingers. "They miss you."
That last bit hit him hard and he rolled his head to face the other way just so she couldn't see it on his face. "But I don't know how."
"Well… Cardin is probably the simplest- a simple solution for a simple man. Beat him or do something that he fails miserably at with him there to see it, that should really help. As for your team, coming clean with them ought to help and don't forget to apologize."
"And Pyrrha?"
"I dunno what you did to her, but she's taken it badly. Best I can say is to get the other two problems fixed and drop to your knees and ask for her forgiveness."
"Do you think she'd forgive me?"
Yang shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe she already did and is just waiting on you to ask."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, not bothering to move, just watching the sunset.
"I've been a bad team leader. I don't deserve it." Jaune suddenly mutters. "Ow!"
Yang grinned as he sat up holding his head after she gave him a sharp knock with her knuckles. "There's something that my Dad and Uncle used to tell all of us when we had their classes, 'A real leader is not someone who wants the job but someone who can do it by rising to the challenge when needed.'"
"Really?"
"Yeah. I guess that's why you and Ruby were chosen, out of all of us having to deal with those big Grimm, it was you two who took charge with plans and stuff. Add in Oz's little team selection with those Relics and Boom! We got Team RWBY and Team JNPR."
"You make it sound so simple."
"Sometimes it is that simple, especially when your team are your friends who want to help in any way they can." Yang says with a smile.
"And remember that you aren't alone to take the burden."
Both blondes looked up to see who spoke, only to find Ren sitting at the table with them.
"Gah! Ren, when did you get here?!"
"Jaune… I've been sitting here for the past few minutes." It was hard to tell if Ren was insulted that he wasn't noticed or amused by it. "But she is right."
Jaune was amazed by the advice he was given and smiled for what felt like the first time in days. "Thanks guys."
"Hey, what are big sisters for?" Yang stood up and stretched her back, arms raised high.
"Ummm… Yang? We're older than you." The other blonde points out, making her pause. "By a few months."
"A little over a month for me." Ren adds.
"Whatever, I'm still a big sister and I take that role seriously. I do that with my team and I'll do it with yours if I have to."
The boys shared a glance before Jaune chuckled. "I think you already are. Thanks."
"No problem. Now I'm gonna get back and take a shower, we have a big day tomorrow."
"Is that what that smell is? You?" Jaune couldn't help but tease her, feeling like he was back home.
"Nothing wrong with a little workout to get the blood pumping. If you aren't sweating, you aren't working hard enough." The girl flexed her arms a bit to show the strength they hold thanks to her short sleeved shirt.
"Okay, okay, enough with the gun show." The knight laughs. I'll be back in a few minutes… you gave me stuff to think over." He watched as his friends left for the student dorms and felt a bit better now that he had spoken to them. "Alright, no more moping around here."
Then his scroll rang. Pulling it out, there was a voice message left for him.
"Hey, it's your buddy Cardin. Listen, I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bunch of Rapier Wasps for a little project of mine. And make sure that they have some really big stingers, okay? I'll need them tonight."
With the message over, Jaune's newfound confidence rapidly dwindled as he moved to comply. At least he knew of a nest nearby so he wouldn't be out too much longer.
—
The next day was a big event of sorts as most classes were canceled for the first year students. Whenever that happened, the students enjoyed that immensely as they would be doing some field work. It was supervised but it also meant that they were out of the classroom.
"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful but we are not here to sightsee." Glynda Goodwitch told her group of four teams as they walked.
The year had been split up so several teachers would have just a few teams each to manage. As it happened, Glynda had Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, FUSA with her for this occasion.
"Professor Peach has tasked us with collecting sap from the trees around here for their unique properties. From my experience, you best be prepared for a test on the uses of the sap in her class." Goodwitch warned them, a small smirk on her lips from hearing them groan about the test.
"Now, many of the trees here have been tapped already, you merely need to go around and switch out the full buckets for the empty." She gestures to where Jaune, Sky, Yang, and Nora are standing with packs full of empty galvanized steel buckets. Others had been tasked with carrying packs full of other packs so they could haul their cargo out without overburdening anyone. "We'll meet back here with all of the freshly collected sap and you all should stay on your guard as Grimm frequent this forest. Clearing them out will only help the regular crew when they come through again."
The packs were dropped to the ground and empty buckets distributed to the teams before they dispersed, leaving Glynda alone to watch over the rest of the gear, tally up how much each team brought back, and read a book.
She did notice that three of the teams had gone off in the same relative direction.
With enough trees between them and Goodwitch to block her sight, Cardin grabbed Jaune by the arm and ran off with Sky and Russel close behind. Dove hesitated enough that Pyrrha grabbed him by the wrist, not really surprised that the young man didn't fight back.
"What is going on, Dove? I thought that you were better than this."
The boy in brown armor slumped immediately, remembering the times back at Sanctum they shared as they sparred in the arena and competed academically. "I… don't know. Cardin… he- he's been pushing us into this stuff."
"So he bullied you into helping him bully others?"
"Look, you don't live with the guy. He gets us with little stuff all the time… only stops if we help him."
"And that makes it alright?" She was rightfully getting angry, though it was controlled.
"No! Of course not!" Dove responded immediately, then he deflated. "I… we don't want to go through the wringer with Cardin again."
"The wringer?" Her anger was replaced, or at least overwhelmed by concern.
"In our first week, he had us fight him… and he didn't hold back. Not even when our auras broke."
"He's been beating you into following him?!" Dove merely hung his head and nodded. "He should be expelled!"
"Pyrrha, please… let's not be too hasty."
"You're defending him?"
"I… I-I don't know."
Weiss marched up to the pair, with Ruby by her side, having heard everything. "Then what does Cardin plan to do to Jaune?"
—
"Alright Jaune, I think that's enough, for now." The leader of Team CRDL says as he lounged under a tree, having forced the blonde to collect a dozen buckets while the other two did half of that combined. Dove came walking over to the group with four buckets of his own. "Where were you?"
"Getting more sap, what's it look like?" The boy responded, as he set the buckets with the others.
"Whatever, time for the fun part." Cardin dismisses as he stands up. "Now thanks to one of Peach's essays, we know that these little guys love sweet stuff." He hefts a jar full of large wasps complete with the paper and mud nest sitting on the bottom, shaking the jar a little to agitate the bugs.
As he spoke, he walked over to the edge of a small cliff that was part of a rise in the land, where at the bottom the rest of Team JNPR could be found collecting their own set of buckets. Ren occasionally having to stop Nora from trying to taste the sap as Pyrrha lectured her about needing to get the sap to the school, not drink it.
"Now… Ol' Jauney Boy here is gonna drop a bucket on them."
"What?" Four out of five asked.
"It's payback time for that nosy, know-it-all." Cardin was apparently still hung up on what Pyrrha had said in classes going back to Oobleck's the day Jaune let out his secret. Not to mention how she'd 'coincidentally' needle him in other classes or lately, beat him in a spar… brutally.
The large boy shoved a full bucket into Jaune's hands, spilling some onto the white armor. "Now, throw the sap!" Cardin jabs a finger down the cliff, the other hand ready to toss the jar down after.
Jaune hesitantly raised the bucket and looked down at his team, blissfully unaware of what was going on above them.
He looked back at CRDL and saw that Sky and Russel looked worried but interested in how this would turn out. Dove was behind Cardin, shaking his head. As for Cardin, he was grinning menacingly making a 'go on' gesture with his free hand.
Jaune turned back to face his team, still with the bucket ready to be thrown… but his arms shook and eyes clenched shut.
"Let's get this over with." Cardin insisted, taking a step closer to the blonde.
Blue eyes fell upon red hair… "No."
"What?" Cardin was taken aback by the sudden change of tone. Behind him, the trio were surprised as well but also looked afraid, but not for themselves.
"I said, no."
"Last chance, Jauney Boy. Do it." The warning in Cardin's voice was clear as he took a step closer.
"Back off… I'm not hurting my friends." Any hesitancy that was in Jaune faded as conviction took hold, throwing the bucket down to the grass as Cardin's feet, resulting in a large splash over his armor.
Cardin dropped the jar of wasps onto the grass, agitating the bugs further but the glass didn't break. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that." He cracks his knuckles. "Now I'm gonna make sure they send you home in a wheelchair." The bully looked back to his team. "Hold him."
Sky and Russel took their time walking over to grab Jaune by the arms, the blonde noticing that their grips were loose yet he was resolute enough to stand up to Cardin that he refused to take advantage of it.
Then the first punch came crashing into his jaw.
A second aimed for just under his armored chest, targeting his ribs.
And they kept coming… and coming until his aura was nearly about to break. It was still a testament to his auras strength that it took so long for Cardin to wear it down to this point with his fists alone, where even the tormentor was feeling a bit of strain from the effort.
"Last chance, you little punk." Cardin threatens as he catches his breath.
Jaune wearily looked up at the abuser, giving a little grin that instantly sent Cardin's temper over the edge.
"HyaaAHH!" The punch powered by rage swung at Jaune's face with the intent to wipe the smirk from the target's face, permanently. But upon contact, Jaune's white aura flashed brightly and Cardin recoiled as he held his wrist in pain.
Jaune dropped to his knees as he was released, confused as to why and how he had hurt Cardin the way he did. Looking at his hands, he could see his aura pulsing across his body, feeling the pain from the punches dwindling rapidly. "What the… what is this?"
GGRROOOOOWWWWWWLLLL!
The five boys were surprised as an Ursa Major marched out of the trees into the small clearing they were in, drawn to the malevolence produced by Cardin and the fear from the others… and it sniffed a few times, locking onto the sap that covered Cardin.
"That's a big Ursa!" Russel calls out as he positions himself to move.
"We can take it!" Cardin shouts at his team, though taking his eyes off the beast was a bad idea as it crossed the distance between them quickly and reached out with its long foreleg, smacking him to the side with a flick of its massive paw.
"C-Cardin!" Sky yelled in surprise, deploying his Feathers Edge- a halberd with a rifle for a shaft- and jumping at the Grimm. Swinging hard with the blade, it made contact with the beast's shoulder but the weapon got lodged in the white shoulder plates.
"I'm coming, Sky!" Russel shouts as he leaps high with Shortwings drawn, landing on the shaft of his teammates weapon and scoring a light slash to the shoulder before he jumps again, the movement dislodging the polearm.
Dove dove under the Ursa, slashing Hallshot into the softer underbelly of the beast. He came out behind it in time for Russel to land on the flat of his sword braced by both hands, before assisting the jump of his smallest teammate.
Sky spun his halberd to strike at the limbs of the Ursa, unable to do more than deliver a few quick, small cuts but he did keep the focus on him before Russel came flipping over the spiked back, delivering a cut across its masked face and shoulder with his daggers.
Unfortunately, that only seemed to irritate the Ursa which then backhanded the two boys, sending them over the short cliff. Dove was able to take advantage of the situation by slashing into the left hind leg before stabbing the other, firing a few rounds from the sword's built-in pistol for good measure.
The Ursa spun faster than any of them expected for a creature of its size, let alone with the attempted hamstringing, and swiped at Dove. The boy managed to dodge the first attack and scored a cut across the paw in the process but the second swipe caught his arm, sending him off balance long enough for a third strike to solidly hit him in the chest and hurl the swordsman into a tree, hard. Dove fell to the ground, limp but breathing.
"Crap, crap, crap." Cardin muttered as he crawled away, having watched his entire team get taken down with ease.
It didn't help that the Ursa seemed to ignore Jaune sitting on the ground right in front of it, choosing to follow its nose to the sap on Cardin. It was almost as if the sweet sap was a great treat for the Grimm with the likelihood of destroying a few mortals as a bonus.
Cardin drew Executioner from his belt but that was smacked from his hands before he could even swing it, let alone stand up.
The Ursa reared up and raised its paw, the intention was clear- to crush Cardin and enjoy the sap on his body.
—
At the bottom of the cliff, the commotion from above was heard, especially the roar of the Grimm. The only thing keeping Team JNPR from investigating was the sound of combat from the site and that they were quickly joined by Team RWBY.
Then Sky and Russel fell from the cliff. While they were successful in getting their feet beneath them to kick off the cliff face and roll out onto their feet once they hit the bottom, Russel rose just in time to slam face first into Yang.
Hitting the blonde brawler was usually much like hitting a brick wall, though he impacted some 'things' much softer that 'assisted' his bounce off of her.
Still, she caught his collar in a tight fist and hauled him back up to look him in the eye. "What's going on?"
Quickly the green mohawked teen pointed back up the cliff. "An Ursa! It's going after Cardin!"
"We need to help!" Ruby shouts as she jogs to the cliff.
"It's Cardin… do we have to?" Blake's deadpan question made the cloaked girl stop and look back at the girl.
"Blaaake! It's our job."
"We'll stay here and watch out for more Grimm!" Nora declares as she lifts her hammer handedly. "Besides, Jaune's got all the help he needs."
Weiss had joined Ruby in looking up to find Pyrrha clambering over the edge at the top, having begun her climb almost immediately once the danger was known.
A glyph was formed beneath their feet, launching the red and white pair high to follow the Spartan up the roughly three story cliff.
—-
Cardin saw the massive paw swinging down at him and he closed his eyes in anticipation of the pain, memories racing through his mind of a large man blocking out the kitchen light, bathing his features in shadows as he raised his fist and swung down.
THUD!
There was no pain, not even an impact on him yet the sound made him flinch just as much as the memory did.
But when he opened his eyes to find out why there was no pain, they widened at the sight of Jaune standing between him and the Ursa, shield raised and holding the paw back. The paw alone matched the size of the metal barrier and the claws hung over the edges longer than steak knives.
The blonde strained to hold back the weight of the beast, slowly giving in yet giving it his all. "What are you waiting for? Get out of there!"
Cardin didn't waste time scrambling away towards his weapon, which happened to land near Dove. But without the unarmed boy behind him, Jaune was free to twist out of the way and let the Grimm fall to the ground.
The Ursa was quick to rise again, though not before the knight scored a quick cut across its flank. A massive paw smacked the blonde away, though he managed to take the fall well by rolling upon hitting the ground and smoothly transitioning to his feet.
Rising up on two feet again, the Grimm tried to crush the knight but he dove out of the way and got two slashes into its leg before having to jump backwards, though he was hit while in the air. Fortunately, it was largely mitigated by the fact that he was already moving in the same direction.
Somehow flipping in the air and landing on his feet, Jaune charged back at his foe with a yell, cutting into the beast's arm once before having to dodge-roll away, forcing the Grimm to turn around.
Another shallow cut as the knight moved around the Grimm, forced to dive over the claws and put some distance between them.
By the cliffside, three girls watched as the biggest Ursa any of them had ever seen fought the young knight. Jaune was doing surprisingly well, given his combat skill level being at the bottom of their year, but it was clear that this would be a battle of attrition… and he'd lose if he didn't find a way to win quickly.
Weiss drew her rapier and shifted to her ready stance, only for Pyrrha to lift an arm in front of the much shorter girl.
"Wait." The redhead wanted to see where this was going, though she was just as ready to jump in as the others. She didn't miss Dove slumped against a tree either or Cardin nearby watching in awe.
Jaune could feel the boost to his aura wearing off and doing so fast. He knew he had to finish this fast if he was to survive.
One way or another, this was going to be the last big clash… and apparently the Ursa Major knew that too.
With a roar, both opponents charged at each other. The Ursa launched itself into the air with the full intent of using its weight behind its swinging arm to crush the knight. Jaune ran in ready to go for the 'heart'.
Pyrrha saw how the situation was going and reached her hand out covered in a black glow. When she did, Jaune's shield, which had been lowered as he fully committed to attack, began to rise and moved his arm with it.
As a result, the paw struck the shield rather than the knight and was deflected towards the side. And while the knight's footing had been solid enough to take the hit from the Ursa, his legs were able to use the freedom to help him jump and bring the sword to the neck of his enemy. Unknowingly having channeled much of his remaining aura into the blade, it cut through the beast with ease, severing its head from the body cleanly.
Jaune stepped aside as the body fell, unaware that the head had rolled over to the audience as his focus now turned to Cardin who was down on one knee in shock.
"H-holy crap… Jaune?"
The blonde sheathed his sword and collapsed the shield to return it to his belt. Walking over to Cardin, he reached out with his hand, helping the larger boy upright. But he didn't let go of the hand, instead he squeezed tighter and pulled Cardin in closer.
"Don't you mess with me or my friends… ever again. Got it?" Jaune was serious but also saw that Cardin was… anything but the confident and brash bully he usually was… instead he looked saddened, confused, and worried along with other emotions that revealed his inner turmoil. All he could do was nod in acceptance. "Good, now take care of your team."
Jaune released his hold on Cardin as they looked to Dove nearby, though the boy was no longer slumped over but watching them.
Russel and Sky came running over to them a few seconds later as Cardin helped Dove to his feet. But that was when Jaune saw Pyrrha standing by the cliff and smiling at him. Team RWBY and the other half of his team standing nearby.
—-
Jaune stood on the roof again where he had confessed his misdeeds to get into Beacon. He had watched the sunset a while ago from this spot and he was reflecting on what had happened since that night. Most notably was what happened in the forest earlier today.
After the fight with the Ursa Major, Cardin had been rather subdued and quiet. Almost going through the motions as he carried buckets of sap back to Glynda… but nobody brought attention to it. And that carried through the trip back to campus. At dinner, everyone was watching Team CRDL for whatever tricks they may pull, but they were quiet, speaking softly so only they could hear each other through the din of dozens of conversations at once.
At the end of the meal, Jaune was walking by when Cardin grabbed his wrist. He opened his mouth to say something but the words wouldn't come, eventually he just hung his head and let go.
It may not have been an apology but it was about as close as one as he'd likely get for a while. The mere fact that there was an attempt at all was surprising, and the fact that he had done so in such a public area.
The door opened behind him, drawing his attention from his thoughts. "No Cardin tonight? I thought you two were best buds."
Jaune turned to face his teammate. "Hey, Pyrrha." Cardin wasn't the only one who was subdued.
"I thought it would be best to let you know that Ren is making pancakes. Best to get some before Nora eats them all." She seemed rather chipper about something. Maybe it was because Cardin had been knocked down a few notches and humbled or that his team had been convinced to go to Glynda about their treatment at his hands should he ever revert.
"Pyrrha, wait." She had turned back to the door when he called but stopped and listened. "I-I'm sorry for turning down your help before… I just had all of these stupid, macho ideas in my head that I didn't need help for anything… I… I was an idiot."
Because she had her back turned to him, he didn't see the smile on her face from that admission that only turned into a smirk as she tried to hide it from him. Still he continued.
"I don't think that I deserve you as a teammate but… can you forgive me and train me to be a better fighter?"
She schooled her features to become serious as she marched over to the slightly taller young man and shoved him to the roof. "Yes, I think I can forgive you now." She extended a hand to help him up, which he took, before she continued. "Your stance was all wrong, you need to be wider and lower to the ground to not fall over at a small push." She let go of his hand and stepped back a bit. "Let's try that again."
AN: I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, parts of it were fun to write up. Honestly, it's amazing how much of it I wrote from memory of the original episodes while still expanding on many things. You may have noticed that I gave Cardin's weapon, Executioner, a bit of attention by having the mace able to reconfigure itself into an axe. Rather fitting, wouldn't you say?
The Ruby vs Cardin fight was pulled from the RWBY manga, though not entirely as I was also working from memory with that scene. Plenty of other parts received some expansion and tweaking, such as Oobleck's class and the Forever Fall sap collecting. The latter is much like maple syrup collection with the buckets and taps. As for CRDL being bullies and cowards... I did my best to make them more than one-dimensional, typical school bullies, even with Cardin as bad as he was. Those of you who have read my Big Issues and Larger Issues will have seen some drastic changes from the CRDL we've known before, this just marks the beginning of those changes.
Reviews are welcome!