The opening ends to Cardin Winchester with his mace perched on his shoulder and Jaune Arc opposite him with Crocea Mors drawn, leaning on his weapon as if exhausted, in the spotlight shining on the Beacon Academy auditorium stage.
He looks at Cardin, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness, and Jaune gathers his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looks back, surprised, as Cardin's mace sends Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continues to try and attack, but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said
"Over my dead-!" Jaune says he cut off as Cardin knees him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raises his mace and is about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rings, the lights come back on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice causes him to stop.
Rayelle pulls out her knife but is stopped by Ren, "Oh come on! Why won't you let me do anything?" She yelled
"Because we know you, once you attack Cardin you won't stop." Nora said
"She's right, don't stoop to his level." Ren said
"Ugh, I hate it when you guys are right." Rayelle said and she puts her weapon away
"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda yells to Cardin as he relents and walks away as she comes 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." Glynda explains to us and I write it down in my notebook while Jaune still lays on the floor in defeat and Pyrrha looks down sad at him, Glynda turns her head to look at the losing warrior as he pulls out a smaller tablet with his low, blinking stats of our team.
"Speak for yourself..." Cardin said
"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!" Glynda say focusing on the group sitting in front of her.
The bell rings, and students start leaving while Pyrrha continues to frown sadly. Jaune, still sitting on the floor, hangs his head in shame
Rayelle walks up to Jaune and offers him a hand, "Hey don't fools like Cardin discourage you." She said
"But everyone here is so much better than me." Jaune said as he took her hand
"Well if you want I can help you learn how to fight better. I know how you feel Jaune, you're a good person, don't ever forget that." Rayelle said and she gives him a hug
Rayelle sat with the rest of team JJNPR and RWBY, listening to Nora as she was telling an unbelievable story.
"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora begins
"It was day." Ren corrected
Blake was paying no attention as she is lost in her book, and Yang, who is hanging on her every word with her hands cupping her face, "We were surrounded by Ursai..."
"They were Beowolves." Rayelle said
Nora: "Dozens of them!" Nora screams this as she stands at the table. I am listening, Weiss is ignoring Nora and filing her nails, Ruby and Pyrrha are listening politely, and Jaune is messing with his food.
"Two of 'em." Ren and Rayelle said
"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren, Ellie, and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" She continues as Pyrrha, Ruby and myself look at Jaune with concern.
"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren sighed
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Rayelle asked in concern
Jaune snapping out of it, turning back toward them, "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"
"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." Ruby said
"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" Jaune tells us and he holds up a thumb while laughing nervously.
His attention is now focused on the members of Team CRDL, standing around a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughs at her and Sky Lark holds up his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her unusual features.
"I hate those guys." Rayelle said
"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha said
"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" Jaune said
"He's a bully." Ruby said
"Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune said
"Is that a challenge?" Rayelle asked
Jaune is seen on the way to class as Cardin is going the other way down the hall. When the two pass, Cardin knocks his arm into Jaune and makes him drop his book, then continuing on his way with his hands out as if daring anyone to challenge him.
"Ah, come on!" Jaune yelled
Jaune and Cardin are about to pass through a doorway, but Cardin clicks on Jaune's sheath and extends it into its shield form as he's going out, causing him to run into his own defense and have it block the exit.
Jaune grunts in frustration as he tries to lift his shield back out, "Come on...!"
Glynda is in the locker room with several students, gesturing at the devices, "Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."
Hearing this, Cardin looks at Jaune - standing between him and the only open locker in the room - and the cliché plays itself out as Cardin quickly pushes a shocked Jaune into the small dark space and closes the door on him, pressing random buttons on the pad right after that.
"What?! No, wait, wait! You've gotta get me out of here! Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!" Jaune begged
It's too late to protest when the locker scrunches down and launches up with a burst of blue fire coming from its base. Cardin watches as the locker slowly soars across the sky.
Jaune's scream can still be heard within the locker, "Ahhh, coooome oooooooon...!"
The others are totally focused on him now.
"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune said attempting to laugh it off
"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha said
"Ooooh!" Nora gets up from the table and presents her diabolical plan with a not-entirely-sane grin, "We'll break his legs!"
"Yes! Thank you, Nora!" Rayelle yelled pointing at her
"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."
They all look over as the laughing grows louder, mixed in with cries of pain from the rabbit girl when one of her ears is tugged on by Cardin.
"Ow! That hurts!" "Please, stop..." She tells them.
Cardin continues laughing as he turns to his cronies, "I told you it was real!"
"What a freak!" Russel yelled
Cardin finally relents, and the girl stands up and hurries off, her head bowed and hiding her face from the watching table of heroes.
"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha said
"How do people like him even get into this school?" Rayelle said
"He's not the only one..." Blake said staring daggers at him
"It must be hard to be a Faunus." Yang says sadly, leaning her head on her hands.
Having gotten up from the table, Jaune looks back at his friends and sighs to himself before moving on with his tray table. He doesn't realize that Cardin is watching his walk of shame with a sinister grin as I stand up and follow closely.
YOU ARE READING
Rayelle Branwen| Qrow's Daughter
ActionRayelle Branwen is the adopted daughter of the legendary hunter Qrow Branwen, and has always been considered very special. What happens when she goes off to beacon and learns more than just huntsman training?
