Ch 67: Jaunedice (5)
Team CRDL was making themselves comfortable, lounging lazily on the forest floor when Jaune returned with six jars full of purplish-red sap and collapsed face-first into the ground in the middle of them.
"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin mockingly praises as he and his team rise to their feet around him.
"I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." Jaune says cross-eyed from the ground, sounding dizzy and congested.
"Greeeeat, great, great." Cardin not really caring about his goffer's discomfort, "So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"
"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune nods, still on the ground and sounding exhausted.
"Well…" Cardin says as Jaune finally starts to sit up, "Come with me, and you'll find out." Jaune moans and gulps from his seated position as he looks up at the sinister smile on Cardin's, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.
Jaune follows them up a small hill and lays down between the mohawk spouting Russel and Cardin as he and Team CRDL peek over the crest at Team RWBY and the rest of Team JNPR down below them.
Ren was kneeling next to a tree tapping it for sap. Once he had filled a jar, he turned to Nora, standing behind him, and exchanged his full jar for her empty one. As he turned back to fill this new jar, he misses Nora's "Mmmmm!" of appreciation as she looks at the jar of delicious sap. When Ren turns back around at the sound of slurping behind him, he is greeted by the sight of a sheepish Nora with her embarrassed smile that is covered in sap rubbing the back of her head as she holds the now empty jar back out to him. Ren scowls at his childhood friend and takes the empty jar back from her, deciding to leave the one he is filling between his legs once he is done filling it to protect it from the glutton.
Weiss had already filled her jar and is working on her nails while standing next to Blake, who is sitting on the ground reading a book next to their filled jars of sap. Yang is admiring the refraction of the sunlight through the viscous liquid, and Ruby is securing the top on her jar. Pyrrha is a little ways away from the rest of her group, crouched down next to a tree in the process of filling her jar.
Seeing his friends spread out below him, Jaune turns to Cardin on his left and shakily asks, "Cardin, wh-what's going on?"
"Payback." Cardin answers, still staring at the unsuspecting group.
Jaune's eyes go wide in understanding as he follows Cardin's gaze, "Pyrrha…? Wh-what are you-?"
Cardin pounds his fist on the ground interrupting Jaune, "That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys..." Cardin pulls out a buzzing cardboard box with a large 'W' written on its sides. "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work."
Mohawk grabs Jaune by the shoulder and gives him a small shake as Jaune barely squeezes out a nervous laugh.
"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." Cardin says as Pyrrha finishes collecting her sap and begins to return to where the others are sitting.
As the members of Team CRDL stand up around him, Cardin offers Jaune a hand up, only to yank him painfully to his feet when he accepts.
"And you're gonna do it." Cardin tells Jaune as he shoves one of the jars of sap into his chest.
"Do what?" Jaune asks as he grabs the jar of sap that was forced upon him.
"Hit her with the sap!" Cardin clarifies before leaning in close to Jaune's face, "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."
Jaune looks down at the jar of sap in his hand and back up at the four smirking, waiting bullies. Jaune turns to face his group of friends and raises the jar back and high above his head as he takes aim. His hand is shaking hard as his fear of Cardin, and his friendship with Pyrrha wrestle inside of him for dominance.
A soft breeze flows through the forest at this moment, gently rustling the leaves and blowing out Pyrrha's red hair behind her. As Pyrrha turns her face to enjoy the breeze, Jaune catches sight of the profile of her smiling face, dappled by the sunlight streaming through the leaves overhead. At the sight of her beautiful, happy face, Jaune steels his nerves, and his trembling stops. He had made his decision.
"No." Jaune declares as he lets his arm fall back to his side, still holding the jar of sap.
"What did you say?" Cardin growls threateningly at his disobedient toy.
"I said… NO!" Jaune whirls around and throws the jar of sap at Cardin without thinking. The jar shatters against Cardin's breastplate, soaking him in the sticky, sugary substance. Jaune recoils his hand to hold it in front of his mouth in shock and fear at what he had just done. The other team leader just looks down at his soiled breastplate for a moment before looking back up at Jaune.
"Oh, you've done it now..." Cardin laughed darkly at Jaune as Dove Bronzewing, the bangs-over-eyes member of his team, and Sky Lark, the mullet member of his team, grab the young man by his shoulders as he chuckles to himself in despair and drags him back down the hill for his punishment. Terrified, Jaune does nothing to resist and is thrown to the ground at Cardin's feet once they reach the base of the hill.
Cardin hauls him up by the front of his shirt before punching him back down to the ground.
"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy." He tells Jaune as he picks him up again, lifting Jaune's feet clear off the ground so that he can threaten him directly into his face, "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces."
Jaune's head lolls back, a prominent black eye visible on his face from where Cardin had just punched him."I don't care what you do to me..." Jaune's voice starts out soft and powerless, but then his head snaps forward to glare at Cardin, "... but you are not messing with my team." he warns the larger warrior, fury dripping from his every word.
Cardin is momentarily shocked by Jaune's declaration before rage over having someone he had considered beneath him who was now standing up to him and defying him overrode his surprise.
"What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" Cardin asks Jaune darkly, his eyes red with rage. But all he gets back in return is a defiant smile from Jaune. Rage eclipsing the last of his restraint, Cardin roars and throws another heavy punch at Jaune's face.
Just before it connects, Jaune's Aura subconsciously activates, painting their surroundings in bright white light. When the light clears, Jaune is sitting on the ground, looking at his still glowing hands in surprise as the last of the light fades, healing all of his injuries. Meanwhile, Cardin is roaring and clutching his hand in pain, feeling like he had just punched a brick wall full force. Before Jaune can recover from his surprise, however, Mullet kicks him in the back and forces him to lay on down his stomach. All Jaune can do now is glare up defiantly at the approaching Cardin.
Cardin rests his boot on top of Jaune's head as he stares down on him darkly, "Let's see how much of a man you really are…" However, just as he finishes speaking, Team CRDL hears a low growl behind them and turns around just in time to see a massive black bear crash through the trees behind them.
It's an Ursa Major, the larger and spikier cousin of the more common Ursa Grimm, and definitely not something most first years would be expected to face. Half again as large as a regular Ursa with its back and legs covered in jagged bony spikes, the Grimm towers over the young Huntsmen as it lumbers over to them. It rises up on its hind legs to sniff the air, following the sweet scent that had lured it here. Turning its beady red eyes, it locks on to the sap decorating Cardin's chest plate. It falls back to all fours and roars at the five young men in front of it. It looks like Rapier Wasps weren't the only Grimm that liked sweets.
Rooted to the spot in fear, Cardin looks to his left and right at his teammates for help, but they have already turned around and begun to run away. Their departing shout of "That's a big Ursa" their only consideration for their leader's plight. Cardin turned shakily back to face the Ursa Major and is greeted by the sight of a giant black bear paw looming over him just before the Grimm swats him to the side.
The Grimm barely spares the cowering Jaune a glance before following its nose to Cardin. As the Grimm looms over the downed young man, Cardin pulls out his mace to fight for his life. However, before he can even begin, the Grimm swats the annoying stick that got between it and its delicious treat out of its way, sending the weapon flying to land at Jaune's feet. Jaune looks at the mace, then at Cardin, then behind him in the direction Cardin's teammates had run, considering his options.