The Grimm Huntress

Dozing and Defending

Cardin had his weapon perched on his shoulder and Jaune, his opponent, was leaning on his sword, exhausted.

He looked at Cardin, who laughed at his opponent's exhaustion, and Jaune gathered his strength to charge forward and swung his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way.

Jaune looked back, surprised, as his opponent's weapon sent Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, but was blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forced himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.

"This is the part where you lose."

"Over my dead-!"

Jaune was cut short as Cardin kneed him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raised his mace and was about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rang, the lights came back on, and Goodwitch's voice caused him to stop.

"Cardin, that's enough!" He relented and walked away as she came onto the stage, tapping her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

While Jaune still lied on the floor in defeat and Pyrrha looked sad, Goodwitch turned her head to look at the losing warrior as he pulled out a smaller tablet with his low, blinking stats and that of his entire team.

"Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin grumbled quietly.

Goodwitch continued to remind the seated and standing students, such as: Yang, punching the air in anticipation; Weiss, shaking her fists with an excited smile; Ruby, shaking her entire body with enthusiastic energy while squealing softly; and Eclipse, lying her head on the desk but still more attentive than usual.

"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

The bell rang, and students started leaving while Pyrrha continued to frown sadly. Jaune, still sitting on the floor, hung his head in shame as the scene went dark.

•••

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora began her story.

"It was day."

Blake was paying no attention as she was lost in her book, and Yang was hanging on her every word with her hands, cupping her face. "We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves," Ren said, holding a cup of coffee.

"Dozens of them!" She screamed as she stood at the table of both Team RWBEY and JNPR, where Weiss was ignoring Nora and filing her nails as Eclipse started painting hers black, Ruby and Pyrrha were listening politely, and Jaune was messing with his food.

"Two of 'em," Ren corrected her again.

"You need to file those down," Weiss told Eclipse, looking at her nails. "They look like talons."

Eclipse shrugged in response, finishing the top coat.

While Ruby and Pyrrha now looked at a distant Jaune with concern, Nora finished her tale. "But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"