Professor Arc

Chapter 49

"We kicked so much butt!" Ruby laughed from the head of their procession, returning to Beacon once more. "We were like 'kapow-wazow', then Ren was like 'whoah' and we totally won."

"That single match," Pyrrha returned with a patient smile. "I believe we took victory on the next."

"Erk... i-it was a cheap trick."

"Perhaps you should learn to fight without Crescent Rose. Then it wouldn't happen again."

"Pah," Ruby waved one hand. "When am I ever going to be stuck in a fight without my baby?"

"Fifteen minutes ago..."

"That one doesn't count!"

Jaune shook his head as he watched the two friends bicker and tease one another. Both were covered in sweat and muck, which clung to their skin and ran in brown waves across their faces and arms. Even so, their bright white teeth shined through as they smiled, laughed and boasted about which team came out the better.

They all did... even Ren wore a small, content smile – so small one might have missed it, but it was there, even if muted. Nora compensated for him, hopping from one foot to another as though the several hours' intense exercise had affected her not a jot.

"What do you think, Jaune?" Yang asked. She sidled up beside him and smiling winningly. At any other time, he might have flushed and stepped away, but he wasn't sure Yang even realised how dirty she was, or how exhausted she smelled. "Which team did the best?"

"You both did great," he laughed and stepped away from her. "Remember, though, it's no good to come up with a plan on the spot. I want to see you all coming into tomorrow's battles with a strategy or two already made. Don't give your opponents a chance to think and remember to have a back-up strategy if something goes wrong."

"We don't know who we will be fighting," Blake said. "That makes preparing difficult."

"Not difficult," Ruby smiled, "Just different. Instead of taking advantage of their weaknesses, we need to make the most of our strengths, right, professor?"

A strange feeling of pride suffused him as he nodded back. Maybe that was why Ozpin had chosen Ruby to be the leader of the team; because he saw that spark of wisdom in her. Actually, no, now that he thought back on it, it had been because the team names didn't really make sense with anyone else. Still, it was a nice thought and it didn't change the fact Ruby had risen to the post admirably.

"Let's just hope we're not against one another," Velvet said. "It would be a shame to knock one another out of the tournament so soon."

"I wouldn't worry about that," he said. "There are still plenty of other teams, so the chances are low." Not to mention, with Cinder's device in his hands, he could see what results were about to come up and change them if necessary. He doubted she would even notice, since clearly if it were RWBY vs RVNN, she would have no stake in who won or lost. At least, he hoped so. If she caught him on it and called him out, maybe he could claim he hadn't known but had his own reasons for wanting them to win.

She probably wasn't about to kill him out of hand.

He hoped not, anyway...

"Just focus on maximising your strengths," he continued. "You can adapt to suit once you see who you're up against, and it'll obviously be a good idea to watch the other matches and see how people fight." Specifically, Team EMBR, but he couldn't say that. "Make plans for each and every team you see, then you won't be caught off-guard if you are placed against them."

"We still have all afternoon," Weiss hummed. "All the previous matches are still being shown on re-runs and forums... we could look back over them and make notes. Since it's already established we're working together, we could even do it as a group of eight."