Here's the chapter. I have a busy week this week, and probably busy for the next two coming as well. I have to do my big speech at an event to a few thousand people. Ugh, how very annoying.
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Kegi Springfield
Chapter 35
Qrow parried the cut towards his head and reversed his blade, locking it against the other and twisting to the side. The opponent's sword flew through the air and hit the grass a good fifteen feet away. His own tickled the underside of his student's chin.
The kid knocked it away with the back of his hand and threw a punch towards his face. It missed, but he followed up with another, this time aiming for Qrow's ribs.
It wasn't too hard to catch it, even if he did wince at the unexpected force hidden there. The kid was strong. Twisting and kicking out with one foot, Qrow swept Jaune's legs out from under him and then placed a foot on his chest when he tried to rise. This time, Qrow made sure to push down a little more firmly with his sword.
"I yield," Jaune Arc gasped.
"Heh, yeah you do." Qrow grinned and sheathed his weapon, holding out a hand. He took it, and Qrow pulled him to his feet and pushed him in the direction of his lost weapon. The kid staggered over without complaint and picked it up.
When Jaune turned once more and fell into a ready stance, it was all Qrow could do not to groan.
"Again?"
"I want to be stronger," Jaune said, one hand clutching his shoulder as he worked his muscles loose. "I know it's a pain for you, Mr Branwen, but I think I'm improving and I don't want to stop now."
The kid was improving; Qrow didn't feel bad about admitting that. What he did feel bad about admitting was that it wasn't annoyance that made him want to cut the training short. It was exhaustion. He'd been knocking the guy around for over an hour now, and as much as that didn't seem to affect Jaune limitless stamina Arc, it was having an effect on him.
But admitting that would make him sound – and feel – old. He bit down on a sigh instead and held his weapon before him. The bloody thing had never felt so heavy before, but he was not bowing out of this. The students at Signal feared his training methods, feared him because he would work them until they collapsed. He had a reputation to uphold.
He just wished the bastard could at least look a little winded.
Not sure if that's Raven's stamina or Nicholas'. Raven always could go on for a long time, especially when she was after a good fight. Still, why would he be so useless with a sword? She'd never accept that, and the last I checked, Nicholas was fairly handy with a blade.
His thoughts were interrupted for a second as Jaune charged in, his blade coming down in an overhead swing. Qrow blocked it easily, then flicked his sword to the side to knock him off-balance. Adrenaline rushed through him, and he quickly caught his second – or was it third – wind.
"Spread your legs a little further apart," he barked, pushing forward with both hands and pushing Jaune back to prove his point. He was rewarded with the kid quickly taking the lesson to hear and attacking again. "Follow through with your swings. I know you expect me to block them, but stop pulling them at the last second. If you do hit, you'll do no damage if you get that habit."
Jaune nodded, and Qrow winced as the force behind the blows quickly increased. He wasn't imagining that, and there was no way he'd accept youth or old age as having anything to do with it. He'd thought before that the kid was strong, but this was ridiculous.
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White Sheep
FanfictionEvery family has its odd member, the one that doesn't fit. Jaune was just that, the black sheep. He had always wanted to be the hero, to be a Huntsman. But when your name is Jaune Salem Arc - Prince of the Grimm - and your mother is understandably a...