32

Chapter 32

Someone was gently rocking him by the shoulder. Jaune grunted. "Five more minutes." The hand on his shoulder rocked him a bit more. It was a small hand... one of his younger sisters? "Jade?" He slowly rolled onto his back, and blinked up blearily at the sight of a girl with short, dark hair. One that, for just a moment, he didn't recognize. He startled fully awake, blinking. "Oh... Ruby... what time is it?"

Ruby put a finger to her lips and spoke in a soft voice. "It's six. But keep it down." She nodded toward the other side of the room. "Weiss is still sleeping."

Jaune blinked again, and nodded, sitting up, and keeping his own voice low. "Why are we up at six in the morning?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "We're going jogging this morning, remember?"

Jaune blinked again, remembering the previous evening. "Oh, right." He sighed and started getting out of bed. Yawning, he grabbed a teeshirt and a pair of shorts and staggered into the bathroom to change.

When he got outside of their dorm, he found Pyrrha and Ruby waiting for him. Pyrrha was wearing a black pair of bicycle shorts, a blue sports bra and a pair of jogging shoes. Ruby was in her pajamas... tank top and sleep pants, and was wearing a pair of trainers. Jaune did his best not to ogle Pyrrha, who was showing more skin than he was used to. Certainly her combat outfit was attractive, but he'd never seen Pyrrha's toned stomach before. The Mistralian champion had a very attractive looking set of stomach muscles. Jaune tore his eyes away from Pyrrha's stomach to catch her eyes. Pyrrha seemed amused, probably from catching him looking, but at least she wasn't angry.

Jaune grinned and stretched. "Right then. Jogging!"

Ruby nodded and lead the way out of the dorm to the quiet of the campus beyond. Without discussion, Ruby set off at a jog, and Pyrrha followed smoothly after, Jaune taking up the rear.

Jaune could admit privately that he certainly didn't mind following Pyrrha. She had a very attractive silhouette from behind, and her muscles moved nicely under her tanned skin. Despite growing up with seven sisters, Jaune did have a decent appreciation for the female form, especially if it belonged to a girl around his age that he wasn't related to. He realized, of course, that Pyrrha was well out of his league. He liked her, of course. She was kind, and generous of her time. He'd been surprised to find out that she was famous as well. He'd always thought of famous athletes as distant, rather unapproachable, but Pyrrha had been easy to get along with from the start. She actually reminded him a bit of his older sister Saphron, at least in her kind and easy going demeanor. It made it easy to talk to her.

He held no illusions about his chances with a girl like Pyrrha, of course. Far out of his league. She probably had a famous boyfriend somewhere anyway. Still... the view was nice.

Jaune wondered why Ruby had taken the lead. Was it because she was team leader? Perhaps it was because of how fast she was?

Actually, while Jaune was struggling a little to keep up, it was less so than he'd feared. Ruby seemed to be setting a pretty easy pace. Probably so that he didn't fall behind. He felt bad that he was constantly holding his teammates back... but the only thing he could do was put in his best effort every day. He didn't know why they both seemed so confident that he'd be worthy of their time and attention, but he didn't plan on letting them down if he could help it.

Pyrrha's movements seemed effortless. She ran with an easy grace, and while Jaune's breathing began to become labored, Pyrrha ran almost silently, with no sign at all that she was getting fatigued.

By the middle of the fourth lap, however, Jaune was flagging. He was near his limit, and he was starting to get a nasty stitch in his side. He was forced to slow to a walk, and sighed as he watched Pyrrha and Ruby pull away from him, still jogging swiftly.

Jaune was still walking, nearly at the point where they'd started, when the two girls lapped him. Pyrrha was still moving easily. Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to be slowing down, Pyrrha gaining on her and slowly passing the smaller girl.

Jaune collapsed by the entrance to their dorms, and waited, catching his breath. A few minutes later, he spotted the two girls in the distance. Ruby was well behind Pyrrha now, but even as they came into sight, Ruby picked up speed again, her jog changing into a run. In moments, she drew up next to the taller girl, threatening to pass her.

Pyrrha's stride lengthened as well, the taller girl's long red ponytail flying out behind her like a banner. Still she seemed tireless, running with smooth easy motions, but Ruby stayed with her, both girls running dead out now.

Ruby pulled ahead by perhaps half a foot as they came racing past him, throwing up her arms in triumph. She started slowing, and came back down to a walk, then made her way back to where Jaune was sitting to collapse beside him.

"Whoo!" Ruby said with strained cheer. "Beat you, Pyrrha." Ruby was obviously tired and sweaty, her hair rather disheveled and her face flushed. Pyrrha had just the faintest sheen to her skin, and she stood straight and stretched, looking like she was enjoying the morning breeze, but he guessed she could have managed several more laps easily.

Pyrrha chuckled warmly at Ruby. "Yes. Well done, Ruby."

Ruby snickered. "You're just being nice again. If we'd actually been racing the whole time, you'd have beaten me easily."

Pyrrha's eyes twinkled. "In a long distance run, perhaps... and only if you didn't utilize your semblance, I think."

Ruby shrugged. "Well... OK." She smiled at the taller girl. "We'll have to race for real another day."

Pyrrha's smile was genuine. "I'd like that."

Jaune sighed. "Well... you're both faster than I am."

Pyrrha hesitated. "I think you did very well for your first time, Jaune." She said encouragingly.

Ruby patted his shoulder. "You finished four laps of the whole school, Jaune. That's nothing to sneeze at."

Jaune shrugged. "Well... I did used to jog a little back home." He looked curious. "So... how often are we going to be doing this?"

Ruby shrugged tiredly. "Five days a week if we can spare the time. At least till we're a bit stronger."

Jaune sighed. Early mornings nearly every day? He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. They WERE training to hunt monsters. That wasn't a job for the weak.

Ruby stretched and groaned softly. "Well... we should probably get in and start getting ready. Showers, than breakfast..." She decided. Pyrrha nodded agreeably, and Jaune slowly forced himself to his feet as well.

As they walked into the dorms, he asked. "Does anyone mind if I take the first shower this morning? I'll be quick."

Ruby shrugged. "That's fine."

Pyrrha smiled gently at him. "Go ahead and take your time, Jaune. Your muscles will be sore, and we should have about an hour before we need to eat."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I'm used to not having any time in the shower anyway..." she muttered. "Stupid Yang and her stupid hair..."

Jaune laughed. "I know what you mean." He commiserated. "A couple of my older sisters used to spend nearly an hour every day on their hair... each. I learned to get in and out of the bathroom quick at home."

"Well, Weiss and I don't take too much time." Ruby informed him. "Although with her hair, I have no idea how she manages so quickly."

Jaune nodded slowly. "She does have pretty long hair, huh?"

Ruby nodded. "I know, right? I don't know how someone fights with all that hair." She turned to Pyrrha. "Doesn't your hair ever get caught on something when you fight?"

Pyrrha blinked, a bit startled by the change in conversation. "Well... my agent encouraged me to let it grow out... and I've actually had my hair rather long for most of my life, so... I suppose I've just adapted to having it this way?"

Ruby nodded thoughtfully. "It doesn't seem to slow Yang down much either... although it does get damaged in fights sometimes. Although when it does... watch out. Yang does NOT take well to her hair getting hurt."

Jaune nodded seriously. "I believe it." He remembered how upset his sisters got when they'd gotten a bad haircut, or even just on bad hair days. Girls took hair seriously. He didn't have to understand it to know it was a fact of life. Not all girls, of course. Not even all of his sisters. But for quite a few girls, a bad haircut was no laughing matter.

"Seriously though." Ruby warned. "If you see Yang's hair get damaged in a fight... run. Just run. You MIGHT survive."

Jaune laughed nervously. He'd seen the blond literally punch a beowolf's head clean off with a single blow, her hair glowing like fire and her eyes bright red. He REALLY didn't want to get on Yang Xiao Long's bad side.

By the time they reached their dorm room, Weiss was already up and dressed in her school uniform, going over their history textbook. Jaune hurried into the shower. Weiss... didn't really like him, he'd decided. Although that didn't quite fit. Like or dislike implied she paid him any attention at all, but so far, beside the bare minimum of interaction required for living in a dorm room together, Weiss Schnee had paid him almost no attention whatsoever, save for the occasionally dismissive glance. He'd actually had a bit of a crush on the girl. She was beautiful, and he'd been lucky enough to hear some of her music. His younger sister, Jade, was a huge fan, actually.

Jaune had seriously considered approaching her. Maybe even asking her out. His father had said that all you needed was confidence, and if she'd ever hinted that she might be interested, he'd have given it his best shot, but... it seemed clear that the less she had to deal with him, the happier she'd be. Weiss was the kind of girl he'd imagined he might end up with some day. A princess to rescue and protect. His dream was to be a hero, after all, and what was a hero without a damsel to rescue?

But Weiss didn't need rescue. She seemed... angry all the time. He'd have thought it was just her outward persona... a way to keep people she wasn't comfortable with away, but he'd lived with her for several days now, and the facade wasn't dropping. She really was that detached. He'd say she was as frosty on the inside as she appeared on the outside... if he wanted her to stab him with her rapier, anyway.

Jaune had been showering on automatic. By the time he got out and got dressed he found Pyrrha helping Ruby cook pancakes in the dorm's communal kitchens, and he volunteered to take over, having cooked for his younger sisters on multiple occasions. Ruby headed off to the bathroom for her own shower, making him promise to save her some.

Ruby was in and out of the shower and dressed in her school uniform by the time he and Pyrrha had made enough for everyone and both of them had taken the time to eat. Ruby came over quickly to wolf down the half dozen pancakes they'd left for her in under a minute. Weiss had declined their offer of pancakes and had gotten herself a grapefruit and a cup of coffee.

Pyrrha took her turn in the shower, and by the time she was out and dressed, it was almost time to leave for class.

Ruby found a seat next to Jaune in Professor Port's Grimm studies classroom, and gave him a smile. As the professor started droning on about how his grandfather had recruited him to... apparently, work as a bee keeper? Ruby took a moment to whisper in Jaune's ear.

"This story is going to be about Ursa." Ruby told him softly.

"Ursa?" Jaune whispered back, confused. "How do you know that?"

"Because Ursa are attracted to the same kinds of plants the kind of honey bees Professor Port is talking about are." Ruby explained. "So you're going to find Ursa near bee hives a lot."

Just then, Professor Port cleared his throat, looking at Ruby with a slight frown. "Was there something you wanted to share with the class, Miss Rose?"

Ruby smiled and answered immediately. "I was just explaining to Jaune how Ursa are often found around bee hives, sir!"

Professor Port raised an eyebrow. "Indeed..."

Ruby went on. "Sir, could you tell us more about how you used that ball of string and those thumbtacks to save the farm?"

Professor Port blinked. "Ah yes... I was just getting to that!" He started to ramble off again, explaining with many hand gestures and far too many words about how he'd somehow set a trap... and Jaune lost the thread again.

Ruby continued to sprinkle useful facts into Port's story, and usually in such a way as to tie into the professor's lecture. After a while, Jaune actually found himself giving the older white-haired huntsman more attention, as, at least with Ruby's help, the points the man were trying to make actually seemed to make some sense.

The professor's story finished up just a couple minutes before the class ended. Ruby raised a hand at that point to ask a question.

"Sir?" Ruby asked with an expression of rapt attention. "Could you explain a little more about why trapping the Ursa's left paw like that gave you the advantage?" Several students groaned at the Professor being prompted to talk MORE, but Jaune was interested as well now, and he listened closely.

"Of course!" Port boomed cheerfully. "Well, obviously, once the beast's left paw was trapped, I was able to keep track of it's right with ease... and so, I entered into it's reach and jammed the canning jars I'd collected down it's throat, one by one..."

Jaune tried to picture it. He looked up at the board again, where a picture of an Ursa was. He remembered seeing a few in the forest during initiation. Ruby had dispatched them before they could get close to him, but he could remember how they'd reared up on their hind legs to attack. He thought about how one might look if one of it's paws was trapped, and how it might move after that, and realized that, the way they were built that would mean they couldn't really swing very effectively, could they?

Jaune closed his eyes and tried to imagine. He made a few pawing motions with his right arm, imagining that his left was trapped, and his right was thick and inflexible as an Ursa's, and for just a second, pictured Ruby and Pyrrha during their quick boxing match from the previous night.

"You got inside it's guard!" Jaune said in astonishment, and he realized, much to his chagrin, much too loudly to a classroom that had just fallen silent as the Professor had once again finished his story.

But Port was beaming. "Precisely my boy!" The old man told him with a firm nod. "It's a tactic I've used in many a battle, why I could tell you about this one time..."

Just then the bell rang, signalling the end of class, and the Professor sighed. "But... that story will have to wait for another day."

Jaune and Ruby joined the other students leaving the classroom, but as he was leaving the class, he was knocked aside by an annoyed looking guy half a head taller than him that Jaune recognized from when he'd challenged Professor Goodwitch in Combat Class the other day.

"Teacher's pets..." The guy growled as he strode away, looking annoyed.

"Cardin..." Ruby growled under her breath, watching the large boy as he left.

"Cardin?" Jaune looked at Ruby in surprise. "Do you know him?"

"Cardin Winchester." Ruby said in response. "And... not really, I guess, but he's really not getting on my good side so far."

Jaune shrugged. "Well... I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Ruby frowned but didn't reply.

Weiss and Pyrrha met them outside the classroom, and they headed to their next class as a group.

"I can't understand how you are getting anything out of these lectures." Weiss complained in mild annoyance to Ruby. "Were you actually following any of that?"

Ruby shrugged. "It all makes sense in context..." Ruby went on to explain several of the details she'd pointed out to Jaune during Port's story, points that illustrated a particular Grimm's weak spot, if in a rather roundabout manner.

Weiss frowned as she listened. "But... how were we supposed to get any of that?"

Ruby shrugged again. "Well, most of those details about Ursa behavior patterns IS in our textbook, Weiss. I guess Professor Port expects us to have done the reading?"

"I have done the reading..." Weiss protested, then frowned. "Not thoroughly enough, apparently." She continued in a much quieter voice.

"Don't feel bad." Pyrrha commiserated. "I felt rather lost during most of the lecture myself, I'm afraid."

They reached their history classroom next. Once again, Ruby sat down next to Jaune. Then, once the class was seated, Professor Oobleck jumped into talking about the... Jaune strained to keep up with the man's breakneck pace. Apparently he was explaining about the economic downturn in Mistral over a hundred years ago?

Jaune noticed Weiss and Pyrrha had their notebooks out, and opened his own to try and jot down some notes, but there was so much, and he wasn't sure what he should be taking down. Ruby hadn't gotten out her own notebook, and while she seemed to be listening to the Professor with half an ear, she seemed to be spending some time looking at the other students rather than paying attention to the professor.

As if sensing her inattention, the hyperactive teacher asked her a question Jaune barely caught. Something about what the economic depression had led to?

"The effect that was most noticeable would have been how the nobles in the area stopped paying for mercenary protection for the smaller villages, the ones farther from the capital." Ruby explained calmly. "Which lead to increased casualties from Grimm attacks in those areas, which lead to growing distress and anger at the deaths, and that the people weren't being protected... more negative emotions... so..."

"More Grimm." The teacher... Jaune was pretty sure his name was Oobleck, finished the statement for her. "Yes, very good Miss Rose." He went on, moving around to the other side of the room in a blur to ask another student a different question.

"You're going to want to put down something about each of those connections..." Ruby said softly to Jaune.

Jaune hesitated, then jotted down a line between the words 'Economic Downturn' which he'd written at the beginning of the lecture, and 'noble' with a question mark. Then he wrote the words 'not enough money for mercenaries' and circled it, then drew a little arrow and wrote. 'More deaths equals angry people equals more Grimm.'

Ruby glanced at his notebook and nodded, then gestured to the Professor, who had failed to get the correct answer to "What was the noble's response?" Jaune guessed it was in reference to the question Oobleck had asked Ruby.

Weiss raised a hand at that point, and answered. "They blamed the increased deaths on those who had died." She began. "Specifically on a traveling band of actors that had been moving through the area at the time."

Ruby nodded at Weiss and gestured at Jaune's notebook, so he wrote 'actors' down on his notebook and made an arrow pointing from the word 'nobles' and 'actors' and wrote along the arrow 'blamed for Grimm'. Ruby grinned and went back to people watching. Jaune paid more attention, making a note whenever someone correctly answered one of the doctor's questions. Apparently each question lead to the next, and Jaune found he could follow the story now. Although he was worried that if he was called on, he wouldn't know the answer he'd need.

Then the teacher zipped over to his side of the classroom. "Now, who can tell me how all of this helped lead to the great war?"

Ruby glanced down at Jaune's notes, then leaned in to write the word 'art' at the bottom of the page, then drew a quick arrow to that word from 'actors'. She pointed at the words 'noble' and 'blamed' and Jaune blinked. Some things that the teacher had said at the start of class that day came back to him. Slowly he raised his hand.

"Mister... Arc?" The teacher said his name as if he wasn't completely sure of it. "What is the answer?"

Jaune wrinkled his nose. "Well... Professor, the nobles wanted to blame the actors for the Grimm... so... they told people that... art called the Grimm?"

"I'd prefer it if you called me Doctor." Dr. Oobleck replied. "I didn't earn a doctorate for nothing, after all... but yes, that is a reasonably accurate summation."

Ruby grinned at him, and Jaune breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor sped off to continue his lecture.

Jaune grinned back. He sat back in his chair, relieved. The teacher probably wouldn't call on him for the rest of the class. He winced as something bounced off the top of his head and glanced back over his shoulder. Behind him, the large guy that had knocked into him earlier was sneering down at him. Jaune quickly looked away. He didn't want to get into anything with anyone that big and scary looking. Cardin... Jaune remembered now that the boy's name was Cardin, would probably leave him alone if Jaune didn't annoy him. Right?

Cardin knocked into Jaune again on the way out of class, this time as Jaune was leaving the row he'd been sitting on in order to enter the aisle leading to the door. Ruby caught Jaune before he could fall and kept him standing till he could catch his balance.

Jaune turned to Ruby to thank her and found her glaring at Cardin's back as if she could bore holes in it with her eyes. "I'm sure it was just an accident..." He tried to reassure her.

"It wasn't." Ruby said quietly back, her tone resigned. "I'm going to have to do something about that."

Ruby started marching after Cardin and Jaune hurried after. "Ruby... it's not important..." he pleaded with her quietly, trying not to be overheard by the other students nearby.

"Not important...?" Ruby turned to face him. "Jaune, that's twice now..."

Pyrrha caught up with them. "What's going on?"

Jaune waved a hand quickly in front of his face. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

Ruby started to say something, then stopped, and sighed. "Alright, I'll drop it." She took a deep breath. "For now." She said in a softer tone.

"Let's get to lunch!" Jaune suggested.

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes."

Weiss was already out the door, heading in the direction of the cafeteria, and with a small smile directed at Jaune, Ruby raced after the white-haired girl. "Wait up, Weiss! Let's get a table together!"

Jaune started after them, Pyrrha moving to walk at his side. "You seem to be doing better in class today." Pyrrha commented politely.

"Ruby helped a lot." Jaune admitted. "She seems to know this stuff a lot better than I do."

"Well, her father IS a teacher." Pyrrha said with a consoling smile. "But it seems as if you are getting more out of the lectures today?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I'm a little bit behind in the reading though." He admitted. "I guess I'll have to read ahead more."

Pyrrha nodded back easily. "So it seems." They continued in companionable silence to the cafeteria, where apparently Ruby had convinced Weiss to sit with her across from her older sister's team. Jaune and Pyrrha went to get food, then joined the group.

Nora was telling some sort of tall tale about herself and Ren, something about bandits and a pack of Ursa. Nora was a much more entertaining storyteller than Professor Port, even if her stories seemed to have even less of a point than the Grimm Study's professor. At least hers were interesting. And, from the way Ren would occasionally break in with a correction, at least partially true.

Jaune got the impression from the context of the story that she and Ren had been traveling together for a long time. Perhaps years. Why? They were both his age, so why didn't they live with their parents? His heart sank a little. Were they orphans? He'd heard stories about villages destroyed. It happened more often than anyone liked to admit. His home village was relatively safe, as it held half a dozen retired huntsmen and huntresses, but others places weren't so fortunate. Perhaps Ren and Nora had been from a village that hadn't survived? He didn't know. He was also sure that he wasn't going to ask. It wasn't something you talked about with strangers. Even though it seemed likely that, through Ruby and Yang, their two teams would continue spending time together, they weren't there yet. Still... maybe they would be friends? It seemed like a pretty good possibility.

Jaune was suddenly thankful that he'd chosen to come to Beacon. Forged transcripts or not, how else would he have ever met such an interesting group of people. More than that, he was, by default, one of them now. They were all stronger than he was. That was obvious, but at the same time, they didn't seem to mind, with the possible exception of Weiss, who he had to admit looked annoyed with him almost every time she looked his direction.

He sighed at that. Weiss was... beautiful. Like a princess from his stories. She was petite, with delicate looking hands and pale, perfect skin. Even the one visible scar over her eye seemed more like a beauty mark than anything that detracted from her appearance. She was an incredibly talented singer. He'd been lucky enough to hear some of her music, his younger sister, Jade, was a huge fan. Weiss seemed lonely, as if she needed someone to be her friend. But... she really didn't seem to like him much at all. She almost never spoke to him, and seemed to try and ignore him most of the time. She probably felt he was unworthy of her attention. His father had told him that all he needed was confidence, but with Weiss, there just seemed like too much of a gap between them. If she'd shown any interest in him... he might have tried to win her affection, but as it was, it seemed impossible.

Jaune pushed any thought of pursuing Weiss out of his mind and concentrated on his food. They had Botany and Survival next. There, Jaune was grateful to be on pretty solid footing. His family loved camping out, and his father had taught him quite a bit about the subject over the years. Only Ren and Ruby seemed to be as confident in the class. Jaune was grateful that here, at least, Ruby seemed content to let him take the lead. He had the impression that, if she'd wanted, she could have answered any of the teacher's questions with ease, but she only chimed in occasionally, letting him and Ren take most of the teacher's attention, only speaking up when the class seemed stumped.

Then came Combat Class. Jaune was starting to dread combat class just a little. Everyone on his team was so much stronger than he was, and having watched all the fights so far, he couldn't think of a single student who he'd have a good chance of beating.

Thankfully, today they were apparently not going to be sparring. Professor Goodwitch instead took them on a tour of the school, showing them the various combat rooms, then the Beacon forge and armory, then the locker rooms. She ended the tour by taking them to a room filled with row after row of odd looking lockers. They seemed to have some sort of glass dome on top, and were a bit oddly shaped, being narrower at the top and wider at the bottom.

Jaune opened one curiously as the Professor described them. "Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."

Jaune looked at the locker next to him in amazement. The lockers could fly? That was pretty awesome! But suddenly large powerful hands were shoving him roughly into the open locker Jaune had been admiring and shutting him inside. He saw Cardin's smirking face for just a second before the door shut on him, and then heard the larger boy tapping on the keys.

"What? No! Wait, wait!" Jaune started to protest, then he heard a heavy thump just outside his locker, and moment later there was a heavy metallic crash somewhere to the left of the locker he was inside, and faintly, a groan.

Ruby opened the locker and helped Jaune out. Jaune glanced to the left and spotted Cardin crumpled over next to a locker which he'd apparently been thrown into hard enough to knock over. The large boy seemed dazed, and was only now starting to try and get to his feet.

Cardin growled as he got to his feet, and he started moving over towards Ruby with a snarl. "Why you little..."

Ruby just grinned at him. "I'm sorry... I didn't see you there."

Cardin snarled wordlessly and reached for her, but Ruby blurred into rose petals as he did and appeared behind him, then kicked him in the back of the knee, causing him to topple over.

By this point, Professor Goodwitch had made her way over. "What seems to be the problem here?" She demanded with calm authority.

"This little..." Cardin began, forcing himself to his feet once more. "She ambushed me!" He protested.

"After you shoved Jaune into a locker and started typing in a code." Pyrrha interrupted quietly, her face calm with just a hint of anger. "I don't believe they're meant for transporting people."

Professor Goodwitch looked unimpressed. "Is this true, Mister Winchester?"

"Just... messing around..." Cardin said casually, putting his hands behind his head. "Didn't mean any harm..."

The combat professor snorted mildly. "It seems to me, Mister Winchester, that if you didn't want Miss Rose to... ambush you, you should not have accosted one of her teammates."

Cardin frowned darkly, glaring at Ruby, but didn't respond.

Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you have anything to add, Mister Winchester?"

Cardin seemed to hear the warning in her tone and swallowed nervously as he turned to face her. "No, Professor."

Professor Goodwitch nodded to the rocket locker Cardin had knocked over. "Straighten up that locker, Mister Winchester. And try not to antagonize your fellow students any further today?" She then turned and walked away.

Cardin waited till the professor was out of earshot. "This isn't over." He hissed at Ruby.

Ruby's eyes flashed. "If you go after my team again, you'll regret it." She promised darkly.

Cardin towered over Ruby menacingly... she was tiny in comparison to him, but somehow of the two, Jaune didn't think it was Ruby who should be worried. Cardin seemed to think better of it as well, and simply scoffed and walked away.

Pyrrha beamed at Ruby. "That was well done, Ruby."

Ruby shrugged. "Cardin isn't all that dangerous." She said dismissively, before turning to Jaune. "If he bothers you any more, let one of us know, OK?" She told him earnestly.

Jaune forced a laugh and waved her off. "I'll be fine..."

Pyrrha frowned at him. "Jaune, if you ever need help, just ask."

Jaune wrinkled his nose. "I can take care of myself." He protested again, then shook his head and started walking away.

Ruby caught up with him and grabbed his arm, turning him to face her. "You'll be able to soon." She promised him seriously. "Before the end of the year, you'll be stronger than Cardin."

Jaune frowned at her. "You can't know that."

"I believe it." Ruby assured him. "You're going to be great, Jaune. I know it."

Jaune looked into her eyes, but the small girl seemed completely earnest. "Because you're going to teach me?"

Ruby nodded. "We all will." She assured him. "You've just got to be willing to put in the work." Ruby looked up into his eyes with an expression of trust, of faith. "I know you've got it in you, Jaune. You want this. I can see that. You've got what it takes. You'll see."

Jaune found that he couldn't deny her. With her right there, staring into his eyes like that, he found that he could almost believe it himself. "I'll put in the work." He found himself promising almost against his will. He didn't like being the weak link... but Ruby was right. He could get stronger. He had to. And if someone like Ruby Rose believed in him... who was he to say she was wrong?

/-/

As they got out of Combat Class, Ruby turned to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Let's head to the combat room and do some more training." She suggested.

Pyrrha nodded, looking pleased. "Should we bring our weapons?" She asked.

Ruby nodded. "Might as well. Jaune is going to have to fight in Combat Class tomorrow or the next day, so some actual weapon practice before then is probably a good idea."

Weiss had been listening in. "Shall I come along as well? I can spar with Jaune." She offered.

Ruby hesitated, then looked at Pyrrha. "We want him to do well in class tomorrow. Should we keep focusing on the basics, or do you think some sparring will help more?"

Pyrrha thought about it. "We'll want a lot longer than a day for the basics, but for the best results tomorrow, Jaune should get at least a little sparring in before he has to perform in front of the class."

"I'll grab my gear." Jaune said, trying not to be annoyed at how they were planning everything out for him. They were the experts... they'd know best. He knew that. He didn't necessarily like it, but he'd promised he'd put in the work, so he was determined not to complain.

Yang came up to them. "Hey, Ruby... are you going to have time to spar with me tonight?"

Ruby looked over at her sister and smiled. "Yeah. I'm pretty rusty with my hand to hand. I'd like the chance to work on that tonight, if you're up for it, Yang?"

Yang grinned and nodded. "You're on, sis."

Blake, Ren and Nora were close behind Yang, looking interested.

"Can we come?" Nora asked, sounding interested.

Ruby hesitated, then glanced at Jaune. "Jaune, do you mind?" Jaune winced. He didn't really like the idea of more of an audience to how bad he was, but he didn't know if he had any right to protest.

"Er..." Jaune said hesitantly. "I don't know..."

Yang seemed to sense his hesitation. "Hey, we all had to start somewhere, Jaune." She told him cheerfully. "We're not going to judge."

Blake spoke up. "I'm still willing to act as another sparring partner, if you need one." She said quietly.

Ruby smiled at the dark-haired girl with the apparently ever-present bow in her hair. "Thanks Blake. That'll be a big help."

Jaune sighed. "Yeah." He tried to give her a smile as well. "Thanks."

Nora chimed in. "Yeah, we promise we won't make fun of you!"

Ren palmed his forehead. "What Nora means is that we certainly won't judge you by your skill level. We are all here to learn, after all."

Nora looked puzzled. "Isn't that what I said?"

Jaune chuckled slightly. "Well... I guess we should get going then?"

The group trooped to the combat room together with a pause for Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake to pick up their weapons.

When they got there, Pyrrha and Ruby put their heads together for a minute, discussing their best course of action. Jaune caught bits and pieces of it.

"Focus on the sword first...", "One handed?", "Weiss?"

"We're going to start you on parries." Pyrrha explained after they'd finished planning. "So get into your stance, pull your sword, and I'll show you the basics of what we want you to work on today..."

Jaune pulled out his sword and started to get ready to turn his sheath into a shield, but Pyrrha shook her head. "Leave your sheath on your hip for now. We want to focus on your sword-work first." Jaune hesitated, then took his sword in both hands. Again, Pyrrha shook her head. "Just use your right. That's your primary hand. We want you to be practiced using your sword in just your right hand."

Jaune nodded, and let his left hand fall away. "What... what should I do with my left hand?" He asked curiously.

Pyrrha smiled. "Put it at your back, like this..." She demonstrated, putting her own left hand behind her back. "Or let it hang at your side. Whatever is most comfortable. You just want to keep it out of the way for now." Jaune nodded, and put his left hand at the small of his back like Pyrrha had done. She nodded. "Good." She then stood at his side and pulled her own weapon, Milo, off her back and transformed it into it's sword configuration. She stepped in close. "Now, I'll show you the form you want to use." She hesitated, then waved towards the people observing. "Weiss, Blake, could you come over here?"

The two girls only hesitated a moment before coming over to join them. Pyrrha gestured to the space in front of them. "Could you both mirror Jaune and I?" They nodded, Blake moving to stand in front of Pyrrha, and Weiss in front of Jaune. Pyrrha aimed Milo at the middle of Blake's throat. Blake drew Gambol Shroud, leaving her sheath on her back, and did the same, aiming for Pyrrha. Blake tapped the tip of Pyrrha's sword with her own, and made a small adjustment backwards so that their blades had several inches of distance between them.

Pyrrha nodded, then looked at Jaune. "Point your blade a bit higher than their center mass, at their head or neck." She told him. "You want to bring your blade back to that point after every parry or attack. When you're not defending or attacking, you always want your sword pointed at your opponent."

Weiss drew Myrtenaster and pointed the sharp end at Jaune's throat. Jaune did his best to imitate the others, bringing Crocea Mors up to point it, slightly waveringly, at Weiss's throat. He noticed that he could just tap the end of Weiss's blade with his own, and he shuffled back a few inches so that there was a small gap between their blades.

"Like this?"

Pyrrha nodded again. "That's right. Now, against a regular opponent, that's a good distance. You'd be able to strike your opponent by simply taking one big step forward... which is about where you want to be. The perfect distance will change depending on your opponent, and what weapon they're using, but for now, try and maintain about that distance."

Jaune nodded. "Right. You showed me this yesterday."

Pyrrha smiled. "Yes." She gestured with her sword. "Now, the most basic defensive pattern goes like so." She moved her wrist to the right, while keeping the point of her blade facing approximately the same direction. "Upper right..." She moved her wrist across her body, keeping the blade pointed in Blake's general direction, but the length of it now moved from her right side to her left. "Upper left..." she tilted her wrist so that the blade pointed downwards at a slight angle. "Lower left." She brought the blade across, leaving the point facing downward. "Lower right."

Pyrrha hesitated. "There are more parries, and these won't work all the time, but just those four will guard you from most attacks, if you use them correctly."

Jaune blinked. "Really?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Blake, would you care to demonstrate?"

Blake shrugged. "Sure... want me on attack or defense?"

Pyrrha wrinkled her nose. "Defense, please."

Blake nodded. "Alright. Go ahead."

Pyrrha swung her sword at Blake's head. Blake moved her katana half a foot to the right and their blades rang off each other. Pyrrha attacked again, swinging lower, and Blake brought her sword down with a smooth motion and caught Pyrrha's sword again.

Pyrrha attacked a dozen more times, and each time Blake parried easily, using only variations on those four parries.

Pyrrha finally stepped back and smiled. "Thank you Blake. That was perfect." She turned to Jaune. "Do you see how it's done?"

Jaune hesitated. "I think so?" He answered after a long moment. It seemed simple enough, but he doubted it would be quite so easy in practice. Nevertheless, he had seen enough to get the basic idea.

Pyrrha nodded to Weiss. "Weiss, could you demonstrate some attacks for Jaune? Slowly please... and call your targets."

Weiss's face was cooly professional, not showing anything beneath the surface. "Of course." She looked at Jaune. "Upper right." She told him, and sliced for his right shoulder with a smooth, swift stroke.

Jaune reacted almost instinctively, bringing his blade to the side and catching Weiss's rapier on his own. "I did it!" He muttered, almost surprised.

Weiss's left eyebrow twitched once, then she spoke again. "Lower left." Her blade made a small circle in the air as it came around and struck him in the upper left thigh before Jaune could parry it. "Upper left." Jaune managed to get his blade over in time to catch the blow. "Upper right." Weiss's blade came around again and Jaune quickly parried. "Lower right." Jaune brought his blade down a fraction too slow, just missing Weiss's rapier as it tagged him lightly in the right hip.

Pyrrha called a halt, then moved in closer to him and helped him adjust his stance and how he held his sword. She walked him through the four parries again and at one point held his wrist from behind his back and moved his sword for him to parry each of Weiss's strikes to show him exactly how she wanted him to do it.

Weiss continued working as his sparring partner while Pyrrha coached from the side, and before long, half an hour had passed.

Blake had gone back to the side of the room to stand and talk quietly with Yang. Ren and Nora had excused themselves at some point in the middle. Weiss looked both determined and resigned. As if sparring with Jaune was a chore she felt obligated to perform. Ruby watched quietly from the side as well, standing a little off by herself.

After about half an hour Pyrrha called for a break. "Thank you Weiss." She told the heiress honestly. "I think that's enough for tonight."

Weiss sighed and nodded. "Alright." She closed her eyes and seemed to steel herself before opening them again. "More tomorrow?"

Pyrrha looked thoughtful. "It might help a little, but I think I can handle Jaune on my own at this point. At least until he's up to actual sparring."

Weiss looked mildly relieved. "Of course." She said with a polite smile. "I'm glad I could help." She nodded at Jaune. "When you've gotten past the basics, I'll come back and practice with you again."

Jaune smiled weakly back at the heiress. "Thanks for your help, Weiss. I appreciate it."

Weiss's cool look warmed just slightly. "Of course. It is the least I could do for one of my teammates." She nodded to Pyrrha, and turned to go.

"Our turn!" Yang said with cheerful exuberance. "Ruby, you still want to get in some hand to hand, right?"

Ruby grinned and followed her sister out to the middle of the room. "Absolutely." The smaller girl agreed cheerfully.

Pyrrha and Jaune moved over to join Blake at the side of the room, while Weiss paused at the door, looking back at the sisters squaring off with noticeable curiosity.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and tapped at it for a bit. "Let's say we go till our Aura's hit yellow." She suggested.

Yang grinned, pulling her own scroll. "Sure. This shouldn't take long."

Ruby's eyes flashed with amusement. "We'll see."

Curiosity obviously winning over whatever desire that would have drawn her from the room, Weiss turned to focus fully on the upcoming bout herself. Ruby slowly walked away from Yang, then turned to face her from about halfway across the room.

"We go on one." Ruby said with a grin.

Yang nodded. "Three."

Ruby continued. "Two."

"ONE!" Yang shouted, leaping forward, her hands clenching into fists.

But Ruby was faster. She blurred immediately into rose petals and zipped directly at her older sister, coming out of her petal swarm about ten feet away, her right leg coming up and locking into place just before she crashed into her older sister foot first like she was performing some kind of rocket powered kick.

Yang got one arm up in front of the kick, but was still knocked backwards and to the floor by the impact. Ruby bounced away, zipping into a burst of rose petals again before she even touched the ground. Ruby's petals swept upwards, then back down, and Ruby came out of her petal swarm with both feet pointed straight down as she dropped on Yang as if she was a guided missile aimed for the blond brawler's stomach.

Yang yelped and rolled out of the way just barely in time, and Ruby hit the floor heavily half a foot to Yang's left with an impact that caused Jaune's teeth to ache in sympathy. Ruby's knees bent with the impact, but she wasn't done, dropping on Yang sideways with her right elbow leading the way. Ruby's elbow drop struck Yang in the left kidney, and Yang grunted, slapping Ruby away with her left arm with enough force to knock Ruby clear of her. Ruby and Yang both rolled to their feet, now about ten feet apart, and Yang lunged for her younger sister. Ruby blurred into rose petals just before Yang could reach her, this time the red swirl of petals zipping backwards away from Yang before making a turn and beginning a spiral around the blond, moving faster and faster as the rose petals tried to get around behind Yang.

Yang spun with the petals, trying to keep track of them, her eyes flashing between red and purple from moment to moment. The petals zipped in, and Yang was quick enough on her feet to stay with them, bringing her arms up in front of her body, hands in front of her face in a classic boxing guard position. But Ruby came out of her petal swarm much closer this time, coming in around Yang's guard and rapping her ribs from the side once, then twice, before Yang could shift to block the blows. Yang stepped back quickly, swinging her other leg to try and hook Ruby's, and she succeeded, hitting Ruby's right leg hard enough to cause the smaller girl to nearly flip over entirely, her head swinging for the floor.

Ruby zipped into petals again, for just a moment, and she was hammering on Yang's lower back with her tiny fists, then Yang's kidneys as Yang spun to face her, swinging an elbow for Ruby's face. Ruby ducked the elbow, and stepped into Yang's body, hammering away at her ribs from inside Yang's guard like she'd done to Pyrrha during their brief boxing demo the previous night. Yang did the same thing Pyrrha had done, and attempted to grab onto Ruby, but Ruby flitted into rose petals even as Yang's arms closed around her, and like before, Ruby had gotten to Yang's back and kicked her in the back of the knee before Yang could adjust.

Unlike Pyrrha, however, Yang didn't fall. Her leg buckled slightly, but she answered Ruby's kick with a spinning backfist that caught Ruby across the mouth and sent the smaller girl straight to the floor herself. The hit seemed to stun Ruby for long enough that this time she hit the floor, and Yang capitalized on that by falling on Ruby with her own elbow drop.

Ruby blurred into petals and Yang's elbow hit the floor with a sharp crack, and Ruby reappeared at the other side of the room, landing lightly on her feet and rubbing the back of her right hand across her mouth.

She then checked her scroll. "I'm in the yellow." Ruby announced. "That last hit did it."

Yang checked her own scroll. "Huh. I am too." She announced, sounding mildly surprised. "So... who won?" Ruby walked over and held her scroll over next to her sisters. Yangs bar was just slightly shorter than Ruby's, and she laughed. "Huh. Good fight, sis." She shook her head. "You've... you've really gotten a lot better." She said softly, a mix of pride and chagrin in her voice.

Pyrrha started clapping softly. "Oh, that was marvelous! Both of you!" Blake and Jaune joined in a moment later. From the doorway, Weiss had a look that seemed to be a cross between shock and bemusement.

"Are your fights usually so... brutal?" Weiss asked with a mix of curiosity and trepidation.

Yang hesitated. "Not usually..." she began, frowning. "But Rubes has gotten a whole lot better... recently. I haven't really had a chance to spar with her like this in a while..." she broke off, as if not sure how to continue.

"I guess I kept you on your toes, huh?" Ruby said with a small smile.

"Yeah you did." Yang agreed, her smile slowly returning. "It's going to take me a while for me to adjust to how good you've gotten." She admitted. "You've got some serious new moves there, sis."

Pyrrha was moving forward, her face a broad smile. "I take it that Ruby has just started incorporating hand to hand techniques while using her semblance?" She looked curiously at Ruby. "Who have you been practicing with if not your sister?"

"Dad." Ruby told her, mostly truthfully. "His style is a lot like Yang's."

Yang gave her sister a look of mock betrayal. "I should have known. You were training to counter me, huh, brat?"

Ruby grinned. "Training to counter someone stronger than you." She shot back.

Yang snorted. "I'll have dad beat by the end of the year. Just you wait."

Ruby smiled at her and nodded. "I know you will."

Pyrrha beamed at them both. "Oh, your father must be amazing!" She enthused. "I can't wait to spar against you both!"

Ruby looked at Pyrrha with a grin. "What... one on one, or against both of us together?"

Pyrrha blinked at that, then smiled softly. "Either would be quite acceptable."

Weiss made a choking noise, and Blake laughed. Jaune just goggled. Pyrrha looked forward to fighting both Yang and Ruby at the same time? Really? Was she just overconfident? Or was she really that good? Jaune was mildly terrified to find out which it was.

Weiss cleared her throat. "I would be... interested to witness that."

"No kidding." Blake agreed quietly. "Although actually, having seen you two, I feel like I need to work on my own hand to hand a bit."

Yang shot her partner a thumbs up. "Got you covered, Blakey. We can go a round or two tomorrow if you like."

"After combat class." Blake agreed. "In case either of us has to fight in class tomorrow."

Yang nodded.

Pyrrha looked at Ruby, her eyes earnest. "Then... Ruby, would you like to have a match with me tomorrow?"

Ruby smiled. "Sure. Hand to hand, or with weapons?"

Pyrrha thought about it. "Either is fine." She decided. "Both, eventually."

Ruby grinned. "Yeah."

Pyrrha smiled at the shorter girl.

Weiss coughed. "Well... on that note, goodnight, everyone." She nodded to Pyrrha. "Please let me know when you'd like my assistance next."

"I will." Pyrrha replied, turning to give Weiss a smile and a nod. "And thanks again, Weiss."

Jaune spoke up quickly, feeling like it really wasn't Pyrrha who should be grateful. "Yeah, thanks Weiss!"

Weiss's eyes narrowed just slightly, but she nodded back to Jaune politely enough before opening the door and leaving. Jaune winced. It seemed pretty obvious now that she really didn't like him. Weiss had been a lot of help, and he appreciated it, but it seemed obvious that she hadn't really wanted to be here.

Pyrrha turned to Jaune when Weiss had gone, looking at him speculatively. "Shall we practice a bit more tonight, Jaune?"

Jaune hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah... sure. I'm not tired yet."

Pyrrha smiled at him. "Good. Every little bit helps."

Jaune sighed. "If I do have to fight tomorrow, I don't know if I'll be ready, no matter how hard we practice tonight."

"Probably not completely ready." Pyrrha agreed. "But you'll at least be able to defend yourself somewhat. And after your first match in Combat Class, we'll know more about what we will need to work on next."

Jaune hesitated. "So... should I just fight one handed tomorrow?"

"Assuming you're called up?" Ruby answered. "It depends on who you're going to fight. If they have a gun... then no. You'll want your shield."

Jaune frowned. "So... shouldn't I train with it?"

Pyrrha and Ruby exchanged glances. "For tomorrow..." Ruby said slowly. "For tomorrow, we'll keep it simple." She walked up to him. "Right... get out your shield and hold it up."

Jaune blinked, then drew his sword out of it's scabbard again, then opened the scabbard into it's shield mode, and held it firmly in his left hand. Ruby held out a hand to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, can I borrow Milo for a minute?" Pyrrha blinked, then nodded and handed Ruby her weapon. Ruby transformed it into it's rifle configuration and pointed it at Jaune. "Now... if your opponent has a gun, you're going to want to keep your shield up, and charge them." Pyrrha tilted her head to the side in confusion, but remained silent.

Jaune raised his shield a bit higher, and Ruby nodded. "About there, yeah. Keep it below your eyes so you can see, but covering your upper body, and run right at them."

Ruby gestured for Jaune to move into the center of the room, and she took up a place about fifteen feet away from him. "So... I'm your opponent... and the match is about to begin. I've got a gun, so I'm going to start shooting you whenever you're too far away from me to hit me with your sword... so I'm going to want to stay away from you and keep shooting you till you drop, and you're going to want to close the distance so you can hit me with your sword. Got it?"

Jaune nodded. "So... tag... but with swords."

"And guns." Ruby agreed. "Now, you're going to get hit. You're not quick enough to dodge everything, and we're not going to get you good enough with your shield in one night to stop everything either. But if you keep your shield in front of your upper body and charge in as fast as you can... they won't be able to get in many good hits, so long as you can close the distance quickly enough."

Jaune frowned. "And... what do I do when I get to them?"

Ruby grinned. "Run into them. Run right into them, shield first. Don't slow down, just hit them as hard as you can. Then start swinging your sword at them while their guard is down."

Jaune blinked. "OK?"

Ruby lifted Milo so its barrel pointed at the ceiling. "Yeah. So let's practice that a bit. All you need to do is catch me and run me over."

Jaune snorted. "I don't think anyone can catch you, Ruby."

Ruby grinned. "I won't use my semblance. Just do your best."

Pyrrha bit her lip. "Ruby... you're not planning on shooting Jaune, are you?"

Ruby shrugged. "Not right away... and better with Milo than with Crescent Rose..."

Pyrrha pictured Ruby's enormous sniper/scythe and winced. "That's true..."

Ruby pointed at Jaune, cradling Milo under her right arm as she did so. "OK Jaune... the match starts in three... two... one..." She pointed Milo at him. "Now!" Jaune hesitated only a moment, then he charged at Ruby. Ruby ran sideways. "Bang!" She shouted. "Bang, bang!"

Pyrrha laughed as she watched. Ruby ran around the room avoiding Jaune and shouting 'Bang!' whenever she had Milo's gunsight lined in on Jaune. Jaune chased her, giving it his best. Ruby had to start dodging back and forth as Jaune closed the distance, but she was quick on her feet, and kept slipping past him.

After a minute of this, Ruby stopped. "OK, that's..." Jaune had lunged for her the moment she stopped, and while he obviously tried to stop at the last second, he'd thrown his full weight at her, and couldn't stop in time. Jaune hit Ruby in the face with his shield, knocking her flat, and then tripped and fell on her.

Yang burst out laughing, going from a chuckle to laughing so hard her sides were shaking in moments.

Ruby groaned and slowly pushed Jaune off of her so that he fell to her side. "Ouch." She said in a deadpan voice.

Blake snorted, and Pyrrha bit back a giggle.

"Sorry!" Jaune said quickly, scooting away from her and biting his knuckle. "Sorry! I couldn't stop!"

Ruby sighed. "That one... was mostly my fault. Don't worry about it."

Jaune hesitated. "Well... sorry."

Ruby grinned. "You're forgiven. Now... as I was saying... that's enough kid gloves. I think we should start with actual bullets next."

Jaune's face paled. "So... you're going to actually shoot at me?"

Ruby looked thoughtful. "Actually..." She glanced over at Blake. "Blake? Care to take over? Gambol Shroud is pretty small caliber. Jaune will be able to tank more hits from your weapon then from Milo, and it won't be as hard for him to get used to at first."

Blake blinked. "Um... sure?"

Ruby looked like she just remembered something. "Oh, I'll pay for your ammo. Since this is for training my team..."

Blake smiled and shook her head. "That's not necessary. I can afford a few reloads. And I won't be unloading multiple clips tonight, I don't think."

Ruby hesitated. "If you say so." She looked like she wanted to say more, but seemed to change her mind.

Blake walked out to the middle of the room, pulling Gambol Shroud out and converting it to it's pistol mode. "So... you just want me to keep away from Jaune while shooting?"

Ruby nodded. "Go slow at first. Single shots only."

Blake nodded back. "Got it. No problem."

Jaune was looking increasingly nervous. "I'm not sure I can do this."

"You'll be fine." Ruby assured him. "But you don't want your first time to be getting shot at to be in class tomorrow. It's better if you get used to it here."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "You're really worried about how well I'll do in combat class, I guess?"

Ruby hesitated. "Well... I'd like for you to do well your first time. I know you're probably not going to win, but it's going to be your first real fight against another person. It's important."

Jaune nodded. "Well... OK." He walked over to the center of the room, opposite Blake, and raised his sword and shield. "Alright... I'm ready." He winced at the way his voice shook.

Ruby walked over to him and borrowed his scroll, putting his Aura up onto the big screen on one wall for everyone to see. "You've got your Aura up." Ruby reminded him. "Bullets hurt, but it's like getting punched when your Aura is down. It'll sting, but it won't hurt much. And we'll keep track of your Aura. Blake will stop when your Aura gets too low."

Blake nodded at that. "Right."

Ruby walked out of the center of the room, and stood along the wall near the exit with Yang and Pyrrha. "OK, start in three... two... one... go!"

Blake brought up her pistol and fired a single round that pinged off of Jaune's shield. Jaune shouted an incoherent battle cry and charged straight at her.

Blake shot him in the leg as she stepped aside. Jaune yelped but stayed on his feet, turning quickly to bring his shield around to keep it between him and her, and kept running.

Blake started quickly backpedaling and fired off another shot and another. One hit his shield, the next flew past his head. Jaune kept coming. Blake nodded and started moving faster, jogging, then running in a big circle around the room with Jaune slowly gaining ground.

Blake grinned and started moving even faster, squeezing off shot after shot. She kept firing rounds one at a time, each deliberate, and aimed for his shield, or his legs, or his right arm or upper torso when he failed to keep his shield in the way, or occasionally for a near miss of his head to make him duck.

Jaune kept moving faster, rushing at Blake with his shield held in front of him. Blake glanced at the Aura meter after having successfully hit Jaune in the legs or torso or right arm for the seventh or eighth time, and was amazed to see that his Aura was still, if barely, in the green.

Jaune, who'd been starting to slow as he got tired, put on a burst of speed as Blake glanced away, and Blake reacted by summoning a shadow clone at the last instant as she faded out of his way.

Jaune barreled straight through the shadow clone with a shout of triumph, which turned to a shocked squeak of surprise as he tumbled to the ground, his shield and sword clattering away as he slammed into the floor.

Ruby laughed. "Well done Jaune!"

Jaune looked around wildly. "I thought... what just...?"

"You hit one of my shadow clones." Blake told him, smiling. "And Ruby's right. Well done. My semblance may have saved me, but you'd have tagged me that time for sure without it." She went over to offer him a hand up. "You really do have a ton of Aura."

Jaune glanced over at the Aura reader, where his Aura was STILL just barely in the green. "Um... I guess?"

Blake nodded earnestly. "I'd have been in the red after that many hits. And you're getting faster."

Pyrrha spoke up. "But you're also getting tired. Time for a break."

"Let's get a snack or something." Ruby decided. "But then another half hour of sword work before bed."

Jaune groaned, and Ruby walked over to pat him on the shoulder. "We won't train this hard every night." She assured him. "But I really do want you to do well tomorrow if you're up."

Jaune took in a deep breath. "Sure." He got to his feet, and went to collect Crocea Mors. "A snack, then another half an hour." He agreed.

/-/

By the time they'd called it quits, Jaune had gotten relatively confident in his parries. He couldn't keep up with either Pyrrha or Blake at full speed... not even close, but he'd gotten to the point where he could stop at least the first strike or two pretty consistently, and hold his own relatively well at what Pyrrha called "half speed." At least when it came to simply defending.

They hadn't bothered with teaching him how to attack yet. "You're not going to win your first match." Ruby told him. "But you'll stay on your feet and make them work for it. That's what you want to shoot for tomorrow if you get called up. Stay on your feet, keep your guard up, and make them work for it."

It didn't sound like a ton of fun, but in a way, it sounded like something he might actually be able to accomplish. He was supposed to be a tank. If all he could do was delay his opponent... that was actually one of the most important parts of his job on their team. He was the tank. He took the hits and stayed standing. If that was all he could do tomorrow, it'd be enough.

Blake had been encouraging. "You're improving." She'd told him. "I think you'll do well."

Yang had slapped him on the back. "Unless you're up against me, anyway."

Jaune had just chuckled nervously and decided not to comment. He really hoped he'd be up against someone weaker than Yang.

They'd gotten dinner after that and gone back to their dorm. It had been pretty late, and Jaune was exhausted. He changed into his onsie in the bathroom, and was asleep moments after climbing into bed.

/-/

Jaune woke to the sound of a muffled shriek, and was staggering to his feet on autopilot. Jade was having another nightmare. She'd had a close run in with a Beowolf a few years ago while she'd been out playing hide and seek, and her father had barely managed to get to her in time. She'd had nightmares every night for weeks, and while they'd nearly completely stopped, they'd still pop up from time to time. Jaune had gotten to the point where he'd move on reflex at the sound, to comfort her, get her back to sleep, then get back to sleep himself without even really fully waking up.

But he was barely on his feet when he realized that he wasn't home. Jade wasn't crying out in the next room. He was in their team dorm at Beacon, and the one having the nightmare was Ruby Rose.

Ruby twisted and turned, thrusting an arm out blindly while whimpering piteously. Her eyes were closed, but he could tell she was just on that edge between waking and sleeping, where the nightmare was often the strongest.

Jaune moved over to her bed and sat down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby... it's OK. You're having a nightmare. Everything's fine."

Ruby gasped at his touch and flinched away, curling into the bed, but Jaune kept talking to her softly. "It's just a dream, Ruby. You're OK. Everything's OK."

Ruby's eyes fluttered open and for a long moment she stared up at him in a mix of horror and confusion. The horror faded almost immediately. The confusion remained for awhile longer, but slowly she seemed to calm as understanding, then mild chagrin filled her expression.

"Oh." She said softly. "Sorry Jaune."

Jaune smiled fondly at her. "It's OK, Ruby. Bad dream?"

Ruby nodded slowly. "Yeah. I... I get those sometimes. I... I'm sorry for waking you."

Jaune shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He waited to see if she was going to say anything else, then patted her on the shoulder. "Are you going to be able to get back to sleep? Or should I make you some hot chocolate or something?"

Ruby blinked at him, then smiled a bit. "Hot chocolate?"

"It's my sister Jade's favorite." Jaune explained quietly, shrugging. "She has nightmares too sometimes."

Ruby licked her lips once, looking tempted, then she smiled and shook her head. "No... that's OK. I'm just going to try and get some sleep."

Jaune nodded. "OK. Goodnight Ruby."

Ruby smiled at him a bit wanly. "Thanks Jaune. Goodnight."

Jaune headed back to his bed, got his covers straightened out again from where he'd kicked them off getting out to check on Ruby, then climbed in. As he lay down on his side, he saw Pyrrha looking at him, her green eyes just barely visible in the dark. Pyrrha nodded to him once, and Jaune thought he could see a small smile on her lips. She put a finger to her lips. Jaune nodded once back, and returned the gesture. Then he laid on his back and did his best to get back to sleep.