103

Chapter 103:

A few minutes after Blaine had left, the elevator doors opened again to admit Glynda. Walking into the office, she immediately noted the presence of the second mug on Ozpin's desk. "You had a guest?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Ozpin with a soft chuckle. "You just missed the Elder Mr. Arc. He's off to see his son now."

"Well...that should be interesting," said Glynda. Then she froze. "Wait! Does he know about Ms. Rose, and her history...or about our 'guest'?"

In the face of her concern...Ozpin's smile only widened. "I'm afraid not," he admitted. "That must have slipped my mind. Truly, my age must be getting to me."

Glynda could only sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose. Walking up to the desk, she slapped down the paperwork she'd brought without a word, then turned on her heel and marched right back to the elevator.

"This should be interesting to see," said Ozpin, ignoring the paperwork and bringing up a live feed of the sparring ring, where Jaune was practicing learning how to use his weapon's Aura, by attacking and being attacked by Kyo.

Kyo's feet actually skidded back a few inches from the force behind Jaune's slash. "Excellent," said Kyo cheerfully. "My turn."

Jaune grimaced, and held up his shield. Kyo never tried to circumvent the defense, instead always striking head-on. However, his slash was always too fast, appearing as nothing more than a flicker to Jaune's eyes, even his arm seeming to briefly vanish from the speed of the motion. Shifting his shield to deflect the force was impossible. More often than not, Jaune found himself straight-up blasted off his feet.

After the first few rounds of testing his sword against Kyo's, Kyo had proposed doing the reverse as well. After all, the shield had its own Aura as well...perhaps. The idea was to get Jaune to explore both the offensive and defensive applications of his weapon, and the nature of Crocea Mors' Aura. Did the sword and shield have separate and distinct Auras, or were the dual weapons joined by a single, united Aura, which then shifted according to which of the two pieces he was using?

Ruby's weapon was a perfect example of the latter. Even when Akaibara split, Bara and Ibara both shared the same Aura, though they were two separate objects, physically speaking. Which of the two possibilities Jaune's weapons fell under affected how he would engage with and use them, though Kyo had assured him that neither was superior to the other.

Bracing himself, Jaune held up his shield, ready to accept Kyo's attack. He put all his determination into the motion, trying to open up to the same feeling he got, when he was using his sword. The fact that he had to actually be attacked to truly practice this in any fashion eliminated the possibility of working with this on his own. So Jaune had less practice using Crocea Mors' Aura defensively.

It was becoming clearer every time he tried. There was a tingling sensation coming, not from his arm itself, but from the object attached to it. Jaune opened himself to that sensation, trying to accept it, even as he channeled his Aura through the shield, applying the Flow Ruby had taught him.

When Kyo's swing came, as always, it was too fast to see. This time, however, something was different.

Using Projection could enhance his shield's defense exponentially. But it was draining, so not something he could rely on, not when he could simply use technique to shift the blow with far less expenditure of Aura and energy. But against Kyo's lightning-fast attack, it was his only option. Of course, the sheer speed of Kyo's strike made finding the proper timing all but impossible.

This time, Crocea Mors initiated the Projection all on its own. The shield's face flashed white, strobing with a blinding intensity. The clang of impact was a force in its own right.

Kyo reeled back, stumbling, his eyes wide with surprise, his sword-hand empty. A few seconds later, Tenro landed with a clang in the ring behind him, the tip piercing into the floor, leaving the sword standing almost straight up.

Ruby had been leaning sleepily against Amber, trying her hardest to remain awake through the training session. However, the second Jaune's shield had flashed, she jolted, sitting upright, eyes wide and alert. When she saw and heard Tenro land, she jumped to her feet with a whoop of joy, all previous lethargy forgotten.

Kyo, on the other hand, looked completely stunned, staring at Jaune with wide-eyed surprise that Jaune could scarcely imagine on the face of the strongest person he'd ever met. It was all the more amazing that he, Jaune Arc, had put that expression there. He'd shocked Demon Eyes Kyo.

"That was..." Kyo flexed his fingers, opening his hand to reveal the bloody skin, actually torn by the recoil of the blocked strike. "...far beyond my expectations, Jaune-kun." He smiled brightly at Jaune. "I'm truly amazed."

"Wha-what does this mean?" asked Jaune, staring curiously at the face of his shield.

"Your weapon may be shield and sword, but its nature appears to be oriented more defensively than offensively," he said. "Depending on the nature of your weapon's Aura, or Auras, it could be that the shield's Aura is stronger. Or it could be that its collective Aura is more defensive in nature, similar to how a person might be right or left-handed."

"Huh..." mused Jaune, not sure how he felt about this revelation.

Rather than go and fetch his sword, Kyo walked towards Jaune instead, reaching out with his left, unbloodied, hand to grasp Jaune's shoulder gently. "There is nothing wrong with being more defensive than offensive. Indeed, seeing as you are seeking to become a protector, it may well be the ideal one for you, a bulwark against the darkness that threatens the innocent."

Leaning in, Kyo whispered a bit more softly into Jaune's ear. "Of course, the idea that my sister would have such a shield to rely on is reassuring beyond measure."

Blushing slightly, Jaune nodded vigorously at the idea. Grinning, Kyo turned to retrieve his sword, still flexing his hand. "I believe we should call it an evening here," he announced. "It's almost time for dinner anyway. It's getting more and more difficult to wear you down, Jaune-kun."

"Thanks, I guess," said Jaune, grinning sheepishly. "But that lets me see to your hand, so I can't deny that it's a good thing."

"Indeed," agreed Kyo, pulling Tenro free, before turning back and holding up his right hand for Jaune to treat.

Carefully, Jaune gently Projected his Aura into Kyo's hand, willing it to enhance the healing ability of Kyo's own Aura. The bloody scrapes across Kyo's palm vanished, covered over by fresh skin in seconds, only the residual blood remaining, which Kyo wiped on a cloth he produced from within his kimono.

"You'll make a fine healer, Jaune-kun," said Kyo. "I believe Sasame will be ecstatic to see what you've managed on your own, once she gets here."

"I look forward to it," said Jaune.

Pulling out his scroll, Jaune brought down the barrier, he and Kyo heading towards Ruby and Amber. Ruby, still high from her excitement over Jaune's success, threw herself into his arms, pressing her lips to his in an extended kiss, before pulling away, then leaning in to rest their foreheads together.

"That was great," she said fondly.

"Thanks," Jaune replied. "Whatever helps me stay at your side."

Ruby smiled lovingly. Their mutual embrace tightened, and they pulled each other into an even deeper kiss. Meanwhile, Kyo saw to Amber, helping her stand, then make her way up a set of stairs to reach her wheelchair. Amber's recovery was coming along smoothly, and she was actually fairly mobile by this point, with her stamina being the only thing that she needed to work on. However, Ruby couldn't help but notice that Amber was often leaning on Kyo more, for reasons unrelated to her recovery.

Not that she was in a position to notice, still locked in her kiss with Jaune. Finally, they pulled apart, their stomachs simultaneously growling. By the time they'd finished, Kyo and Amber had already taken their leave, giving the lovebirds some time to themselves.

"Dinnertime?" asked Jaune.

"Dinnertime," agreed Ruby, before yawning.

Letting go of each other, Jaune was about to turn around and offer his back for Ruby to climb up onto, when one of the doors leading into the room opened, a tall, bearded man with familiar features walking in.

Ruby and Jaune froze in place, Jaune's eyes going wide in shock for a few brief seconds, before narrowing in anger.

Blaine Arc stared down at his son with an unreadable expression. "Jaune..."

"Dad..." growled Jaune, his expression much less inscrutable.

For a moment, they stood there, staring at each other. Ruby looked back and forth between father and son, a nervous feeling rising up in her stomach. The air had the sensation of a keg of fire-Dust, set to blow at a moment's notice. Her fatigue had sapped her awareness somewhat, but she could feel the swirling anger in Jaune's heart easily enough. The sensation she got from his father was far more confusing. A variety of emotions warred with one another, the man undecided about how he felt about this moment, while Jaune was much clearer on where he stood.

"What do you want?" growled Jaune.

Blaine was taken aback by the hostility in Jaune's voice. "I...I'm not sure what I want," he admitted. "I know I wanted to see my son."

"That's nice," said Jaune harshly. "I'm not exactly keen to see you, Dad."

"I know," said Blaine. "That was clear when you blocked my scroll."

"Why are you here?" demanded Jaune. "You come to tell me off for 'lying' to you about getting into Beacon?"

"Given that Ozpin himself confirmed it, I don't have much choice but to accept it," said Blaine with a sigh.

"Great!" snapped Jaune. "Good to know! Good to know that you'll trust his word over your own son's."

That didn't strike Ruby as exactly fair. Of course Blaine would take Ozpin at his word. The man was Beacon's Headmaster, after all, and would hardly lie about accepting Jaune as a student. But she could understand Jaune's anger too, considering that, when he'd told Blaine about getting into Beacon, the man had laughed him off, and then playfully chided him for lying.

"I guess you're right to be angry," said Blaine sadly, averting his eyes.

"Angry that you deliberately tried to sabotage any chance I had of getting into Beacon?" snarled Jaune, barring his teeth. "Angry that you based your every decision about something that happened when I was too young to remember? Angry that you basically lied to me about why you didn't want me to go to Beacon, then held it against me for not realizing the truth?...Yeah...I'm pretty damn angry with you, Dad; Mom too. Apparently, Saphron's the only person in this family who's willing to be honest with me."

"Don't hold it against your little sisters," urged Blaine. "They didn't know either."

"That still doesn't excuse everyone but Saphron mocking and belittling me for even trying," growled Jaune. "You could have told me the truth at any time. You could have set the girls straight whenever you wanted. Apparently you like keeping me in the dark, then resenting me for not magically knowing anything about what you went through."

Blaine blinked furiously, holding back tears. "Maybe you're right," he said. "It wasn't fair of us to keep you in the dark like that. It was especially unfair for us to be upset that you didn't realize the pain we'd experienced, when we'd gone to such lengths to keep you from knowing about it. We let that attitude spread to your sisters too."

"It's more than that, Dad," said Jaune. "You tried to kill my dream! All I ever wanted was to be a Huntsman, a hero, like you. I wanted to protect people, to try and make the world a better place. You didn't just try to discourage me, you actively undermined me. You went to every length possible to try and make sure that me getting into Beacon wasn't possible.

"I got in through a miracle. I made it this far because I was so damn lucky to find friends who were willing to accept me and help me. This whole time, I've been struggling to catch up to them, when I could have already been doing so much, all because you held me back. It's going to be a long time before I forgive you for that, Dad...if ever."

Blaine bowed his head. "...You're right. I don't have any right to ask you for forgiveness."

"Well, at least you understand that," said Jaune. "Now that that's over, you can leave."

Ruby reached over and gently rested her fingers against the knuckles of Jaune's hand. "Jaune..." she said softly, drawing his attention, meeting his angry gaze (at least she knew she wasn't the one he was angry at) with her solemn one.

Jaune's expression immediately softened, upon meeting her eyes. "Ruby..."

Ruby gave him a slight smile. "I know you're upset," she said. "You have good reason to be. But...if he's willing to accept the truth now...maybe give him a chance."

Jaune's lips parted slightly. He quickly realized what Ruby was talking about. There were so many parallels between this situation and Ruby meeting with her own father for the first time in years. They both were angry at fathers who had deliberately held them back and tried to undermine their chance to chase their dream. They'd both resorted to extreme measures to get what they'd wanted.

The difference was that, unlike Taiyang, Blaine was willing to see the truth. Whatever Ozpin had said or done to set him straight had worked, unlike with Taiyang, whose belief in Ruby's unfitness to be a Huntress was downright delusional, who'd gone so far as to basically try to kidnap Ruby to get her away from Beacon. Blaine, at least, was willing to accept the reality, that Jaune was at Beacon, that he deserved to be there, and that he wasn't going to be abandoning his dream anytime soon.

Jaune closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He turned towards Blaine again, letting that breath out slowly, trying to let his anger bleed away. It wasn't easy. Even when Jaune tried to let it go, fresh anger welled up within. His mind was being flooded with memories of Blaine discouraging him, blocking him from training properly, his sisters mocking him for trying, his mother meekly suggesting other lines of work.

Reaching deeper into his memories, Jaune called up the older ones, the happier ones, memories of playing with his father as a younger boy, playing with his sisters, even that stupid one of them forcing him to wear his hair in twin-tails. He called up memories of birthdays, hugs, and kisses. Those memories were a lot further back in his mind than he would have liked, but he found them easily enough. With those, he began to soften the dark feelings in his heart.

Slowly his eyes opened. He didn't smile at his father, but he wasn't glaring with fury any longer. "Well...you at least came to see for yourself," he said. "And you aren't talking about taking me home."

"That would be stupid of me," said Blaine. "I don't have any authority to take you out of Beacon. Even if I did, I couldn't bring myself to try anymore."

Jaune found one corner of his mouth rising in a wry smile. "At least you can learn."

An awkward silence returned between them. "So...now what?"

"I'm not sure," Blaine admitted.

Ruby's stomach answered for them. "Dinner," she said firmly.

Jaune's stomach growled in response, and he nodded in agreement. "Dinner." He looked up at his father again. "What are you gonna do?" he asked.

Blaine shrugged. "If it's all right with you, I might hang around for another day, just to see what I've missed."

"I can accept that," said Jaune. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll be doing some extra training. We haven't decided what though."

Blaine blinked. "Really? Extra training on a Saturday?"

"Sure," said Jaune, blinking in confusion. "That's what Saturdays are for, right?"

"I...guess," said Blaine.

Ruby giggled from her spot behind Jaune. She remembered the days when he'd been shocked that he'd have to train on Saturdays. She supposed that he was just used to it by now. After all, it had been their routine for months now.

"Well, if you're gonna hang around, I guess you can watch," said Jaune.

"Sounds like a plan, for now," agreed Blaine.

"I'll see you later then," said Jaune.

"Yeah," said Blaine, sounding a bit reluctant to bring their conversation to an end, just after they'd reconciled somewhat. However, they both needed time to process their feelings over the situation.

Jaune allowed Ruby to climb up onto his back, carrying her to the dining hall, while Blaine went to avail himself of the guest quarters available to, amongst others, Beacon Alumni. As he went, Glynda Goodwitch stepped out from behind a corner, watching him go, before letting out a soft sigh of relief.

"Seriously...your father?" asked Weiss, shocked by the revelation Jaune dropped on them, when he and Ruby explained why they were late to dinner.

"Yep," said Jaune. "Threw me for a loop, that's for sure."

"I can't say I blame you, considering what you've told us about him," said Pyrrha.

"But it looks like he accepted it," added Jaune.

Pyrrha broke out into a wide smile. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed. "So he's willing to listen to reason then."

"Looks like it," said Jaune.

"I'm happy for you," added Pyrrha, Weiss nodding along with a small smile on her own.

Jaune couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Pyrrha. For all that things suddenly seemed to be on the mend between him and his father, the rift between Pyrrha and her own parents was as wide as ever, as far as he knew. They were still unhappy about her refusal to budge from Beacon, her unwillingness to assuage her sponsors, and the remarks she'd made about what they'd said and done during her and Ruby's interview with Lisa Lavender.

Of course, that didn't hold a candle to Weiss' own father strong-arming their team into a dangerous mission by holding Vale's Dust Supply hostage. Sometimes Jaune was amazed at how all four of them had managed to come from such dysfunctional families. Hopefully, he could manage to work things out with his own. On some days, he honestly missed talking with his sisters.

Team RYNB quickly joined them at the table. Unbeknownst to the others, Yang discreetly snapped a picture with her scroll, taking a picture of Ruby smiling widely as she chatted with her friends, while sitting next to her boyfriend. It was a picture of a smiling, happy, and healthy girl; one who was exactly where she wanted to be, and doing what she wanted to the most.

Yang wasn't looking for blackmail material, or anything like that. Recently, she'd hit upon an idea, a possible way to get through to her and Ruby's father, to show him how much better off Ruby was for coming to Beacon. To that end, she had sought to capture as many of these little candid moments as she could; moments where Ruby was smiling that smile of hers, the one that could light up an entire room all on its own; moments where Ruby was spending time with all the friends she'd made, where she was surrounded by the people she cared for and who cared for her; moments where she was studying, with that adorable look of concentration on her face…

It was a far cry from the Ruby that they'd known back home, before she'd run away. That Ruby had been sullen, withdrawing from both father and sister, refusing to accept them, and the way they'd tried to lock her away from the world. Yang hoped that seeing that difference, seeing how happy and fulfilled this way of life made Ruby, that Taiyang could be convinced that Ruby was better off at Beacon, without him perpetually meddling in her life.

That was the hope, at least. Given that Taiyang had watched Ruby fight Pyrrha Nikos to a draw, and had still been conjuring up excuses to try and justify taking her out Beacon, and then gone so far as to try and subdue and kidnap her (especially disturbing, considering that someone else had tried that in a different way, not so long ago), it seemed likely that almost nothing was going to get through that head of his.

But Yang still wanted to try. At the end of the day, Taiyang was still her father, even though he hadn't been much of a father to her sister. To that end, she'd gotten the contact of the therapist that Ozpin had assigned to Taiyang, from the Headmaster himself no less, allowing her to pass along these pictures, so that the therapist could show them to Taiyang, and just maybe set him onto the right path.

Because of that, Yang could ignore Ruby's closeness to Jaune. She thought she'd come to terms with him being Ruby's boyfriend. But now, the sight of him put her hackles up. Yang couldn't bring herself to forget that Jaune had hurt Ruby, not merely in the sense that they'd had an argument, or something like that, but that he had actually injured her substantially. That knowledge brought anger that Yang thought she had already addressed bubbling to the surface.

But I can't let it get to me, she told herself. She'd already forced the rest of RYNB and RASP to subdue her before. I will be better than Dad. I can trust Ruby, and she trusts Jaune.

So Yang decided to focus on the fact that almost nothing seemed to make Ruby smile brighter than being around Jaune. Capturing moments like that were perfect for showing their father how far Ruby had come.

Maybe Ruby had given up hope on Taiyang. Maybe she was right to. But Yang just couldn't bring herself to give up on her father. So she pressed on with the hope, however fleeting it might be, that they could be a real family again...one day.

As they were getting ready for bed, Ruby couldn't help but notice a certain tension in Jaune's body. "Are you okay?" she asked, slipping under the covers with him.

"I'll be all right," said Jaune. "It just feels strange, knowing Dad's here. I just can't help but wonder what he'll make of what he sees us doing tomorrow."

"Whatever he makes of it, it doesn't really matter," Ruby told him, snuggling up against him. "We all believe in you, and that's what's truly important."

"Thanks," said Jaune, giving Ruby a kiss.

Ruby merely smiled and tucked her head under his chin, letting herself drift off in his arms.

The next morning, there was some debate about what to do. Ruby had considered returning to the Emerald Forest to continue practicing the Raikoken. However, when Weiss showed her the news regarding the "mysterious weather phenomenon" that had occurred over the Emerald Forest, Ruby decided to give that training a rest for a couple of days, at least, not wanting to make people too anxious through a continuous display of inexplicable events.

Of course, there was little else to do in the Emerald Forest, considering that Kyo's presence had driven away all the Grimm for miles. Ruby and Jaune also decided to forgo training with Kyo for the day, not wanting to go through the awkwardness of explaining his presence at Beacon to Jaune's father. Given that, they decided to mostly go through some general fitness exercises for the day, before finishing up with some sparring in one of the practice rings.

As he had promised, Jaune's father was there, watching everything with a discerning eye. His eyebrows went up when he saw how much effort Jaune was putting into his exercises. Back home, a younger Jaune had always been a little on the flimsy side. Blaine and his wife had chalked it up to lingering weakness from Jaune's infancy. But he realized he'd just been trying to continue to convince himself that Jaune was too weak to work as a Huntsman. Now, seeing Jaune working with weights that were nearly at the level of what Blaine himself worked with, he could say that Jaune had the requisite strength.

The girls that Jaune had on his team were no slouches either. Despite their slim builds, the girls were incredibly strong. Ruby was especially so, still able to lift and work more than Jaune. Pyrrha was almost as physically strong as Ruby, having a lifetime of training and work behind her previous career as a tournament champion to thank for that, also able to lift more than Jaune. Of all of them, only Weiss had less raw strength than Jaune, though she could lift an impressive amount of weight for her size.

Blaine was also impressed by Jaune's dedication. Despite working alongside a trio of extremely attractive, and very well-proportioned, girls, Jaune kept his mind and his eyes focused on his work, even though Ruby had finally gotten herself a proper workout outfit (at Weiss' insistence, of course), which hugged her curves and showed off a generous portion of her toned stomach. It also revealed the slender, yet powerful muscles of her arms and legs, the lines of which stood out starkly against her skin, when she was straining them. That Jaune could work alongside the girls without batting an eyelid was nothing short of impressive.

By the time they broke for lunch, they'd worked up a healthy sweat. Blaine was stunned by how much work they'd put in. He was fairly certain that he and his team had never put this much work in during their Beacon days. Of course, he had the benefit of training before coming to Beacon. But to see the girls working alongside Jaune was just as impressive.

"And you do this every Saturday?" asked Blaine.

"Not every Saturday," said Jaune. "Sometimes we go into the Emerald Forest and hunt Grimm. I've been doing a lot of physical training, because it's where I need to catch up the most."

"And because his Aura lets him bounce back so quickly, we can work him harder than most people," added Pyrrha.

"It does...?" The fact that Aura could help people recover, whether from injuries or plain physical exertion, was common knowledge. But to hear that it had helped with Jaune's training to this extent was startling.

"He has a lot of it," said Ruby simply. "When I unlocked it, I was shocked by how much he had."

Jaune blushed slightly at the memory. It always felt a little weird to have other people talk him up like this. And now his teammates were doing it in front of his own father.

"So what comes after lunch?" asked Blaine, when they entered the dining hall.

"We were going to hit the sparring ring next," explained Jaune. "Now that we've had a proper workout, the girls will have slowed down a little closer to my level."

"Whereas Arc, with that cheat-level Aura of his, will be right as rain, by the time we're finished eating," groused Weiss, drawing amused giggles from Pyrrha and Ruby.

"And do you do your homework after dinner?" wondered Blaine, remembering what a chore doing homework on the weekend had been, during his days as a student. "Or do you put it off to Sunday, like we always used to?"

"We're done already," replied Jaune casually, the girls nodding along with him.

"Huh?" grunted Blaine.

"We did it as soon as we got off class on Friday," said Jaune.

"What?" Blaine was flabbergasted. "I know I shouldn't be asking this, but who are you, and what have you done with Jaune? Since when did you gain a work ethic?"

"Since I realized I'd have to train my ass off to have any chance of making it here," growled Jaune a little defensively. "I wasn't too happy about it, at first, but I needed every spare minute I could get for training. I still do."

Ruby reached over, resting her hand over his, the gentle touch prompting Jaune to relax a little. He gave Ruby a grateful smile, before turning his hand over so that he could mesh his fingers with hers, before giving Blaine a more neutral look. "Sorry."

"No...I'm sorry," said Blaine, lowering his head. "This was Me and Saph's fault. If I'd just had the sense to let go of the past."

"It's not easy to do," said Ruby, giving Blaine a small smile. "My father still can't do it. That's why he's locked up in a psychiatric facility right now."

"Really?" asked Blaine, shocked.

"Yeah," said Jaune. "I thought you were bad, but then we met Ruby's dad...and he's downright crazy."

"I'm sure you remember the sensation the headlines had with my match against her," said Pyrrha.

"Of course," replied Blaine.

To be honest, he'd thought it to be absurd that people were doing something as insane as blowing a simple sparring match up to such epic proportions. Sure, Pyrrha Nikos was famous as a girl who'd never lost a match. But it was common sense that no one could win forever. Blaine supposed that Pyrrha's streak of wins, running for as long as it had, made that inevitable loss (or draw, in this case) all the more dramatic. But it was still just a sparring match, which people had been giving all the scrutiny and hysteria of a major scandal. He even remembered hearing about protests back in Mistral and Argus over it.

"Ruby's father was there to see it in person," said Weiss, her voice laden with contempt for Taiyang. "He was watching with his own two eyes, when Ruby fought the Invincible Girl to a draw, practically a historical accomplishment, yet he somehow still talked himself into believing that Ruby was too weak for Beacon."

"That's...seriously absurd," noted Blaine.

"Yeah, well, the jerk's out of my life at least," said Ruby, taking a bite of her food. "As long as he can't bother me again, I'm good."

Blaine frowned, staring down at his plate. How close had he come to reaching that point with Jaune; the point where Jaune would genuinely believe he was happier without his father, without his family, in his life? God...we've made such a mess of this. When he got back to Ansel, he was going to need to have a long talk with Sapphira and the girls about how they'd been treating Jaune, and then figure out just how they'd be able to make amends.

After lunch, they took a brief period for rest and digestion. No one wanted to fight with cramps after all. About an hour later, they made their way back to the training center, where they booked the first available sparring ring. That wasn't always an easy task. Teams from all four years made use of those rings. Fortunately, third and fourth years rarely used them, being more preoccupied with missions than regular training. But that didn't change the fact that they were still something of a hot commodity, especially on the weekends.

They paired off with their partners for basic sparring. Weiss and Pyrrha took the first round, fencing furiously back and forth across the ring. Nowadays, Weiss was trying to put her Semblance to better use, rather than relying on the copious use of her Dust. When she and the others had gone out to the Emerald Forest, she had been continuing to work on her Summoning, particularly condensing the process needed to execute it down to a level where she could rely on it in a pitched battle.

While she'd definitely done a good bit in that respect, particularly considering she hadn't been able to even do it properly, a few weeks ago, Weiss knew she wasn't yet ready to call upon her Arma Gigas in a fight...particularly against an opponent like Pyrrha.

But that didn't mean she couldn't put her other Glyphs to use. Her matches with Ruby had taught her just how much more flexible she needed to be in their use. So she was now putting work in how to use them more offensively and defensively. Creating a small Propulsion Glyph, then thrusting through it, allowed Weiss to rapidly increase the speed and force of her thrust, sometimes managing to overpower Pyrrha's technique of using feather-light applications of her Semblance to divert Weiss' strikes.

Of course, Weiss wasn't the only one who'd been refining the use of her Semblance, as she found out to her detriment, when one of Pyrrha's shots, lined with the black energy of her Polarity, plowed right through the Glyph Weiss had put up as a shield, blowing Weiss off her feet and onto her back.

When exploring the different potential applications of her Semblance, now that she was no longer concerned with hiding it, this had actually one of Pyrrha's first ideas. Using her Polarity to enhance the acceleration of bullets fired by her rifle seemed like a natural course, turning it into something akin to a railgun. Doing so increased the speed and force of her shots several-times over, though it had taken a lot of careful refinement to reach the point where she could time it correctly to fully accelerate her shots, and she was still working on being able to do with enough ease that she could rely on it naturally in battle. Much as Weiss had been doing with her Summons, Pyrrha had been working on the Temper, Suppression, and Projection combination in order to properly execute the technique.

The match had no earth-shattering conclusion, ending as it did, with Weiss on her back and Pyrrha standing over her, holding out a hand to help her partner back to her feet. After that, it was Ruby and Jaune's turn.

Taking to the ring, Jaune hunkered down behind his shield, silently reflecting that he should be sparring with his partner more. Not only was testing himself against Ruby a good way to work himself hard, but he also figured it would be good to get a better view of what she could do, so that they could function better as a team, which would be important, when the first round of the Vytal Festival Tournament rolled around.

The match went about as one would expect. Ruby went on a furious offensive against Jaune, who dedicated himself entirely to fending off her strikes, not even bothering to try and hit back, knowing that doing so against an opponent of Ruby's level would just give her an opening to mercilessly exploit. Instead, he remained calm, determined to wear her down through attrition, doing his best to read the course of her strikes, and deflect them as best he could, in order to lessen the strain on his arm.

It wasn't easy. Even slowed down by her earlier training, Ruby was still terrifyingly fast, and monstrously strong, far more than her size would suggest. Her mastery of her Aura, particularly Flow and Projection, meant she hit like a truck. Her sword left streaks of crimson in the air as she swung, the blade practically exploding as she clashed it against Jaune's shield. It took every ounce of strength and control Jaune had to keep from getting blown off his feet from every hit.

On top of that, Ruby was no brute, aiming to overpower Jaune with a barrage of attacks, all from the same direction. With her Shukuchi, she danced around him, seeming flickering from place to place, leaving petals dancing in her wake. It took Jaune applying all the practice he'd put into his defensive footwork drills to keep up with her, and sometimes he didn't completely succeed, taking a hit to the shoulder or leg for his troubles. Still, he was at least managing to hold his own somewhat.

Then Ruby began using her lightning.

As she usually did, she used her swift, flickering dance to fill the air around Jaune with petals, before dancing back. "Hanabi!"

Already knowing what was coming, Jaune resorted to the one thing he could think of that might stave off a devastating attack that would bombard him with electric jolts from all directions. Turning, he swung his shield out, using Flow to channel his Aura into it, then Projecting it into the motion. The shield blazed white, its own Aura merging with his own, the swing producing a powerful gust, which blew back Ruby's petals, before they detonated like countless firecrackers.

Outside the barrier, Blaine's eyes narrowed.

Ruby flashed between the lingering sparks of her own attack, flying at Jaune, tracing two fingers along the length of her sword's flat. Akaibara lit up with a ringing sound, before it was lined with more crackling arcs of energy. Seeing it coming, Jaune grimaced, shunting his Aura into his shield again, the shield's Aura responding in kind, producing a sheath of energy over its surface that would prevent Ruby's lightning from taking advantage of the conductive nature of its metal. The crimson arcs scattered across its surface in a cascade of impotent sparks.

Ruby flickered back, not even giving Jaune the smallest chance to counter, not that he was foolish enough to try to begin with. The lightning running along her sword extended out, forming a single crackling chain, which Ruby wielded like a whip. "Raikoben!"

Given the flexible nature of the whip of lightning Ruby was now swinging at him, Jaune had to be more careful about when and how he blocked her attacks, lest one wrap around his shield to strike his body. He blocked the first couple of lashing attacks, before seeing Ruby close a bit more, in order to better bring the length and flexible nature of her attack into play. Rather than block with his shield, Jaune chose to counter with his sword stepping forward, while channeling his Aura along its length, again opening himself to his weapon's Aura. Crocea Mors' blade emitted a chime, flashing white, leaving streaks in Jaune's vision as he slashed the incoming whip, severing it, the whole thing breaking down and unravelling.

But Ruby continued to close in, undaunted. Out of position to fall back behind his shield, Jaune instead opted to use his own sword to counter. He had less practice in this, but Dove and Pyrrha had drilled him in such techniques. Shifting his sword, he was barely able to use it to deflect Ruby's slash aside, though, as always, the power behind Ruby's strike was unreal, and Jaune was still sent skidding back.

Ruby pressed the offensive, but Jaune's parry had given him the chance to fall back behind his shield. Bringing it back up, he used it to weather the flurry of slashes Ruby unleashed at him, the speed and ferocity of her attack threatening to overwhelm him. Still, Jaune kept focused, determined to let Ruby play herself out, so that he could find the opportunity to finally strike back. It wouldn't be easy though. He had to be patient.

Whatever else, even though Ruby might have been faster than him, stronger than him, more skilled than him; the fact remained that Jaune had more Aura than her, which translated into more staying power, especially if he was conservative in its use, while Ruby continued to spend hers on Manifestation attacks. Waiting her out was the only viable strategy here.

Seeing Ruby bringing her sword down, Jaune saw an opportunity. Channeling a little extra Aura into his shield, he brought it around, feeling the shield's own Aura respond naturally to his intent. It seemed that he had a lot easier of a time controlling the nature of his weapon's Aura defensively, which gelled with what Kyo had told him about Crocea Mors being better suited to defense than offense. As a result, when Ruby struck, the shield reacted, flashing white with a brilliant strobe that nearly blinded him. On Ruby's end, the force of her swing rebounded back against her, prompting her to yelp, the recoil nearly wrenching Akaibara from her hand.

Her arm bounced back, straining her shoulder in its socket, while she stumbled away, trying to recover her balance. Finally seeing his opportunity, Jaune surged forward, lunging past the guard of his shield to strike with his sword, which glowed white with the light of Jaune's Aura. Jaune held back from utilizing his sword's Aura in this strike, not yet confident in his ability to produce an attack that wouldn't risk severely injuring Ruby, so he relied solely on his own Aura for the strike.

But Ruby could easily sense it coming. Rather than try to recover her balance, so that she could stop her backwards stumble, she instead pushed off the floor, skipping back farther, managing to escape the reach of Jaune's sword, though Jaune's slash still produced a flashing wave of energy that reached out beyond the immediate arc of his swing to strike Ruby. But her backwards movement had enfolded her cloak around her, allowing Ruby to harden it with her Aura, and block the extended reach of Jaune's attack.

Recovering control of her arm first, Ruby brought it down in front of her face, bringing her right hand up as well, pressing the first two fingers against the flat of her weapon at the base, she pulled Akaibara along her fingers, its length lighting up as Ruby's fingers brushed along it, the blade chiming once more. Whipping the weapon through a circular pass, Ruby took the handle in both hands, raising the blade over her head for a straightforward downwards strike, swirling currents of air condensing around the blade, which was lined with crackling, crimson arcs of electricity, the two merging together, red lightening and transitioning to an energetic violet.

"Crap!" Jaune exclaimed. Fortunately, Ruby's buildup had given him the chance to fall back behind his shield once more, getting it up just as Ruby closed in once again, her weapon descending.

"Yoake no Bara!" The violet nimbus of energy lining Ruby's sword blazed brighter, striking with a crack like thunder.

At the same time, Jaune channeled his Aura into his shield, merging it with his weapon's own once more. The shield flashed a brilliant white again, the strobing effect merging with the flash of Ruby's attack to nearly blind all the onlookers.

With the sound of thunder, the two were blasted away from each other. Jaune slammed his back up against the safety barrier with an angry crackle. Ruby was blown nearly all the way across to the other side of the ring, knocked onto her back and skidding along for a short distance, before managing to recover enough to go into a roll that brought her feet back under her. Rising up, Ruby flowed naturally into her usual starting stance, Akaibara held over her head, the blade being held almost parallel to the ground, Ruby's right hand rising up to lightly pinch it near the tip between her middle and ring fingers.

They froze in place, almost looking ready to begin again. Then Jaune groaned, his legs giving out under him, falling into a slump.

Ruby let out a breath, then relaxed. She was feeling a bit shaky, after taking the recoil of her attack like that. The ragged state of her cloak attested to how much of her Aura she'd expended. Still, when she sheathed her sword, she was grinning happily. "That was great, Jaune!"

"Thanks," gasped Jaune, shakily managing to get to his feet.

From ringside, Blaine looked on, a strangely serious expression on his face, eyes glued to Ruby. "That was quite the impressive set of attacks," he noted. "What Dust composition does she use to produce such unique techniques?"

"Ruby doesn't use Dust," Weiss replied automatically. "Those attacks were created from her Aura."

"Is that possible?" asked Blaine, something...off about his tone as he asked the question. Rather than skepticism or genuine curiosity, it sounded as though he was fishing for a particular answer.

"Yes," replied Pyrrha, both her and Weiss unsure of what the change in Blaine's tone meant, but thinking they had no reason to be too secretive with Jaune's father. Surely he could be trusted not to report Ruby to the Council, or someone with a similar issue with the Mibu.

Blaine's eyes narrowed. "As I thought then..."

Pyrrha was already going through the process of bringing down the safety barrier. However, Ruby, currently supporting Jaune as they made their way out of the ring, sensed the change in the demeanor of Jaune's father. Animosity erupted out of him, not the unconstrained rage of someone about to attack in a blind fury, but the conditioned, tempered animosity of someone preparing to engage with a hated enemy, a malice that was fixated entirely on her. With a gasp, she looked up, meeting with the eyes of Jaune's father, seeing dark conviction in those familiar-looking blue orbs.

"Jaune!" snapped Blaine, striding forward through the crackling remnants of the descending barrier. "Step away from that fiend, now!"

"Dad! What are you doing?" asked Jaune, his eyes wide with confusion.

Blaine didn't respond, his right hand going across his body to his left hip, where what looked like the handle of a sword rested. It resembled Crocea Mors' in shape, the rounded handle terminating in a circular, disk-shaped pommel. However, the handle was a uniform, alabaster-white. It also lacked a crossguard...or a blade for that matter. Pulling it off his belt, Blaine walked forward with a determined stride, his gaze fixated on Ruby.

"Foul creature of the Mibu," intoned Blaine, almost as though he were reciting a religious scripture, "in the name of the Arc Family, I hereby pass judgment upon you for the grief you have wrought upon us."