Chapter Text
“Mr. Arc’s Aura has entered the red; that is a match.” The clinical voice of Professor Goodwitch announced.
He turned away from the teacher; the weight of her voice bore down on him. It sounded clinical, but Jaune knew what it was: disappointment. Something that he was becoming all too familiar with.
Cardin preened as he glanced to the Professor, “Mr Winchester, you played to your physical advantage and used your weapon deftly. Regardless, I caution you against continuing to underestimate your opponent; every battle should be treated seriously no matter what.” Goodwitch's tone was measured despite the praise.
With that, Goodwitch pushed her glasses up, and her eyes stared down at him. “Mr. Arc, I believe you are improving. However, you must refer to your scroll to check your Aura levels and improve your swordsmanship. Perhaps you may also wish to review your equipment and consider adding something else.”
He gripped his neck, a lump building; he hated it. He hated the criticism, and he hated her words cause she was right; he was barely improving. He didn’t deserve to be here; he was a fraud after all.
“I don’t think any level of advice will help him improve,” Cardin grunted under his breath, but the words were as sharp as his own blade.
Goodwitch’s crop smacked against her palm.
“Mr. Winchester, he is still a fellow Huntsman, and this is an academy. For that comment, I will be levying some additional homework.” Goodwitch’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses; Cardin shifted, but his eyes still stared down at Jaune; the disdain only intensified.
The idea of grabbing Crocea Mors and just smacking him was a tempting one, but he pulled himself up, dragging himself off the floor, grabbed his sword and reduced his shield to its sheath form.
Cardin threw one more disdainful look at him. The Winchester turned on the spot and trudged to the locker room; the thuds of his footsteps echoed like thunder in his ears as he stared at the back of Cardin’s armour plate.
He turned once more to Professor Goodwitch; she regarded him one last time before she nodded to the locker room. Jaune took one more breath before moving.
He felt an itch on his neck; he knew what it was. His eyes were glued to the floor as he kept walking.
He couldn’t bear to look back at the stands to see the pitying looks of his teammates and friends.
It wasn’t something he could bear to look at, not right now at least.
Ruby followed her first friend at Beacon as he walked- no, dragged himself to the locker room. The clatter of Crocea Mors echoed in her mind for a moment, and how dejected he looked at yet another loss.
Jaune had yet to win a single spar, and he looked frustrated. She wished she could help him, but Pyrrha had already told her that she was training him, and if you’re getting trained by Pyrrha Nikos, that should help a lot, shouldn’t it? “He did better than he usually did, but yikes, that was still rough.” Her sister pointed out.
“He is improving.” Pyrrha agreed, but even Ruby could tell the corners of her smile were pinched.
“The difference in skill is quite drastic; as much as Jaune improves, Cardin will improve as well,” Weiss commented, and Ruby grimaced at that. As much as she knew that Weiss was harsh to Jaune, especially since he had kept trying to ask her, she knew she wasn’t wrong in that regard.
“Maybe next time I should break Cardin’s legs cause then he can’t fight Jaune Jaune!” Nora suggested.
“Then what if Miss Goodwitch puts him into one of us or someone else?” Ren pointed out calmly.
“I might have to break Fearless Leader's legs? I refuse; I will forfeit instead!” Nora gasped, and Ruby couldn’t help but smile at the orange-haired member of their sister team. Nora was always a good laugh.
“That’s noble of you, Nora.” Blake snorted softly.
The small thuds of footsteps announced Jaune’s return as Ruby turned to face him alongside everyone else; he flinched.
“Are you alright, Jaune?” Pyrrha asked first, taking the words right out of her mouth.
“Uh yeah, I guess?” He answered, but no one was buying it.
“You tried your best, Jaune; that’s what matters,” Ruby added her own thoughts. Jaune’s eyes met hers, and she almost grimaced at how dim they looked.
“Yeah.” A one-word answer from the blonde knight before he took a seat next to her and Pyrrha.
“Miss Rose, are you done with your conversation? You’re next for sparring.” Goodwitch’s voice cut through; there was no amusement in that tone or those narrowed eyes behind her glasses.
“EEP!”
Turning to the voice, “Coming, Professor!”
A flurry of red petal roses left in her wake.
Jaune could feel Pyrrha fret next to him; she didn’t need to say anything, her looks were enough. He hated the pity after a loss, but he knew it came from a place of concern and worry. As someone who was also training him, he understood that she would be concerned about how it would affect his motivation to train and be a Huntsman.
So he just opted to do the only thing he could do: watch.
Ruby was sparring one of Cardin’s teammates, Russel Thrush. He brandished a pair of daggers while Ruby had Crescent Rose unfurled; the equipment difference almost looked comical.
“Begin!” and the fight began in earnest. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its sniper form and unleashed a salvo of rounds; the reverberating booms of the sniper-calibre rounds almost made him wince.
It certainly made Russel buckle for a moment, as the speed at which Ruby unleashed it on him meant he couldn’t dodge. The familiar shifts and clicks of another transformation, and Ruby closed the distance on Russel, swinging her scythe with the power of her semblance.
Russel barely parried before trying to counter-attack; Ruby parried it with an ease he wished he could emulate. She controlled the space, dictating when she and her opponent would clash; once more, a furious barrage of sniper rounds pelted the Huntsman.
A few more exchanges and Russel was forced to yield as his Aura dipped into the red.
“Excellent use of your ranged and melee options, Miss Rose; you controlled the space well and were able to dictate your engagements. Well done.”
Ruby gave a wide smile to Goodwitch before slinging her Scythe over her shoulder as she bounced on her boots.
Options, equipment, melee and ranged, the ideas swirled in his mind
And Jaune came to a decision; he wasn’t sure if it was going to be the right one or the wrong one. But it was a decision nonetheless.
Ruby had to resist the urge to flop on her bed after a long day of classes, no matter how tempting it was. She had won her spar, but then there was homework, and she needed to check on her baby after her fight.
It almost felt like the work didn’t really end, as her sister and teammates took up RWBY’s dorm room. Blake was reading, Weiss was at her desk, and Yang lounged around without a care in her bed.
“Yang, don’t you have some work to do?” Ruby asked her sister. Yang shrugged her shoulders without a care in the world.
“Eh, Oobleck’s homework isn't due for a while; I got time.”
“It’s due in two days, Xiao Long.” Weiss corrected her without even looking up from her desk. Ruby shuddered at the thought of the history homework; he always gave so much of it! She was grateful that she had a partner who was good at this stuff; Weiss always helped her despite her… cold, stern, teachery exterior when it came to homework.
“That’s time!” Yang corrected her, and Ruby had to resist the urge to sigh alongside Weiss, who decided to ignore the answer.
Blake turned the page in her book. “Don’t expect to copy off of me.”
“Don’t do me like that, partner!” Yang declared with a dramatic flair.
All this talk of homework made Ruby tired; she just wanted to go maintain her baby and do something she actually enjoyed!
A knock at the door cut off her train of thought; they all exchanged looks.
Who could it be? Was the unasked question.
Weiss was the closest to the door and pushed away from her table before opening it, peering from her spot; Ruby could see a blonde mop of hair.
Jaune? What was he doing here? Was he okay?
“Uh, hey, Weiss.” His voice almost sounded flat.
“Arc.” Weiss’s deadpanned back; her partner's arm was crossed.
A small part of her hoped Jaune was not here to ask Weiss out again… it was… difficult to watch? And Weiss could be a bit harsh.
“Just wanted to speak to Ruby; I need her help with something,” Jaune admitted. She didn’t need to see her partner to know Weiss was definitely raising an eyebrow.
The Schnee stepped to the side, her head turned towards her. Ruby popped off her seat as Weiss took a seat once more.
“Hey Jaune, what’s up?” Ruby asked the blonde. Jaune glanced down at her.
“Hey Ruby, do you mind if we speak alone?”
Ruby raised an eyebrow at that; Jaune usually didn’t do that, so it must be serious.
“Yeah! Let's go!”
“Behave, kids!” Yang called out, and Ruby shot her sister a dirty look as Yang smirked down at her, but her sister couldn’t hide it; she was curious about what Jaune wanted.
“Ugh, Yang!” Ruby shut the door behind her, but that barely did anything to muffle her sister's cackles.
It was just her in the hallway with Jaune. “Come on, the least I can do is get you a drink from the vending machine.” Jaune nodded towards the common room.
“You don’t have to, Jaune!”
The blonde grabbed the back of his neck. “Just let me do this one thing, Ruby, please?” His face was pinched, and his jaw clenched.
“Alright, let's go get our drinks!”
The small walk to the common room was quiet, but she couldn’t help but sneak glances at Jaune; his eyes were narrowed and his hand clenched by his sides. She really hoped he was okay….
A quick purchase of a fizzy cola for Jaune and a strawberry-flavoured cola for her- good thing Yang wasn’t around to stop her. Take that, Yang!
The common room was empty except for the two of them as Jaune popped the bottle open; a small hiss of carbonation escaped the bottle as he tilted it back, taking a small sip.
Yet Ruby couldn't bring herself to open her own bottle yet.
“Are you okay, Jaune? You… seem really down after today?” Ruby winced at the way she phrased it, but better to be upfront, right?
His fingers clenched around the bottle, his shoulders sagged for a moment before he leaned against the vending machine. Even if he crouched a little, she still had to tilt her head up to look at him.
“I’m not okay, Ruby… I’m frustrated that I can’t win a spar.” He confessed. Ruby grimaced; she had always been encouraging Jaune, trying to make him feel better, but she didn't stop to think about how he felt.
“Um, I know it’s probably been said a lot? But you’re trying your best, right? That’s what matters? Pyrrha’s training is helping! You’ve been getting better.”
“Better but not winning. I want to win.” Jaune confessed, his eyes glancing down at his sneakers. Ruby squeezed the cold bottle in her hand. Jaune came to her, asking her for help. Right, how could she help him?
“How do you want me to help?’ Ruby asked her first friend at Beacon. Friends helped each other, and she would be damned if she didn’t help Jaune!
“When I saw you today fighting Russel, I had an idea. I’m the only one on both of our teams without ranged weapons, and today it helped you dominate because of it.” Jaune shifted so their eyes met, his brows pinched as his finger tapped the neck of the bottle in his right hand.
“I need something, something besides my sword and shield. I think if I had more options, it would help me win, help me get better, help me be a better Huntsman.”
Could he be asking? Really asking that question? She glanced over him before backing up to his face; his eyes darted to the side for a moment. Ruby’s heart raced in excitement, and her mind followed right after that. Jaune was asking for her help with weapons! Ranged weapons! It was because he saw her fighting with Crescent Rose, her precious baby, in action!
Because of that, he was coming to ask her for her help and thoughts on weapons! She made a note to kiss Crescent Rose goodnight later. As her mind raced at the possibilities for weapons for Jaune, if he couldn’t win with a sword… could he win with something else? Maybe.
“You need firepower, Jaune!” Ruby shouted before her hand clasped over her mouth; that came out a bit louder than she intended. She shifted on the spot as she gripped the edge of her combat skirt.
“You need firepower or a gun, or some kind of ranged option, right? You want me to help you with it!”
Jaune’s face softened, his brows slackened as he nodded. “Yeah, I need your help building me a weapon, or as you said, something to give me firepower.”
A thought crossed her mind, a rather extreme one, but she silenced it. She doubted Jaune would let her, but maybe she could bring it up at a later time.
What weapon would Jaune be good with? Pistols? Submachine guns? Machine guns! Rifles? Shotguns! The options were aplenty, but which ones would suit Jaune?
One thing was for sure: less talking, more theorizing!
She reached out and grabbed Jaune’s hand. “Ruby?” He exclaimed in shock before she began tugging him out of the common room.
“Come on, I never thought this day would come where someone would ask for my help with weapons! We need to move it!” Ruby declared as she glanced over at the taller blonde as he stumbled after her.
Jaune laughed, a small one but an earnest one.
“You got it, Ruby. I’m in your hands for this one!”
He was, wasn’t he? He was trusting her weapon skills and coming to her as a friend, not Pyrrha, not Weiss, nor anyone else.
Her.
Ruby smiled; she wouldn’t let her first friend at Beacon down!