As Weiss stepped up to the container, I couldn't help but wonder why she seemed so eager to do it. As Professor Port opened the cage, a boarbatusk ran out, charging straight at her. She sidestepped it and slashed at it, but that did nothing. Her team was shouting words of encouragement to her, but for some reason, she got mad at Ruby a lot. Whenever Ruby shouted encouragement or praise, Weiss yelled at her to shut up.

  "Hey, Ember."

  He looks at me. "Yeah?"

  "Why is Weiss so... cold towards Ruby?"

  He raises his eyebrow and looks to the fight. "Huh, I have no idea..."

  Weiss eventually kills the boarbatusk and class ends. As I'm about to walk off my scroll rings. "Hello?"

  "Robert, how goes the mission?"

  "It's going great Roman. no one suspects a thing."

  He laughs. "That's great. listen, There's gonna be a heist soon. can you be available at (insert time)?"

  I look at my scroll's calendar. "Uh... yeah. is this the big heist?"

  "Yes. I'll see you then. huh?" It sounds like Roman is distracted. "Ok ok. uh, Neo says Hi. like she doesn't have a scroll."

  I laugh. "Ok, tell her I say hi back."

  "ok, i'll talk to you later."

  He hangs up, leaving me standing outside. I then walk to my next class

  over the next few weeks, I get to scope the place out more and more. I have no idea why I have to scope the place out. Roman doesn't either but he says to do it anyway. one day while watching jaune, I notice a lot of mistakes with his form. I nudge Pyrrha, who's sitting next to me. "Hey," I say once she looks over. "He seems a bit inexperienced."

  She has an uneasy look. "I know what you mean. but I feel he has some untapped potential. you know what I mean?"

  "no," I say, still watching him. "But I'm sure you can see something I can't."

  we look back at the fight and I see cardin holding his mace towards jaune. "This is the part where you lose"

  "Over my dead-" Cardin knees Jaune in the gut, cutting him off and knocking him to the ground.

  just as he's about to swing his mace down, the buzzer rang and professor Goodwitch speaks. "Cardin, that's enough!"

  Cardin scoffs and walks off, and goodwitch takes his spot while tapping a few buttons on her tablet. "Students," She starts. "As you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style dual, this would indicate that jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

  As Jaune lies on the floor in defeat, I look over and see pyrrha looking at him with a sad glint in her eyes. Goodwitch turns to jaune. "Mr. Arc, 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 mutters.

  "Shut the fuck up cardin," I say without looking up.

  He's about to say something when Goodwitch interrupts him. "Mr. Hutchison. while I get you are old enough to make your own decisions, please refrain from using such vulgar language," She then looks at the class and says, "As I was saying... Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

  As the three teams sit at lunch, Nora keeps telling about this dream that Ren corrects practically every sentence. I look over and notice jaune looking down. "Hey, you ok?"

  He looks up. "Huh? oh, yeah. Why do you ask?"

  "You just seem distracted."

  "I'm fine, look!" he puts a thumb up, laughing nervously.

  I'm about to say something, but cardin starts laughing. I look over and see him meesing with this rabit faunus. I stand up to give cardin a piece of my mind but briana grabs my arm. "Not now," she says shaking her head.

  I sit back down with a huff. Then an idea clicks in my head. "Jaune, is cardin the reason you're upset?"

  "Cardin Winchester?" He says looking away from everyone's eyes. "Nah, he just likes to mess around..."

  "Jaune, I mess around, I know when to stop and always make sure everyone has a laugh as well. He's a bully who doesn't know when to laugh and only cares if he laughs."

  Jaune scoffs. "Name one time he's bullied me."

  everyone in the group look at each other. “First, he knocked your books over, then he messed with your shield, and finally he shoved you in a locker and launched you away from school.”

  He shrugs it off. "I didn't land that far from school."

  Pyrrha decides to speak. "Jaune, you know if you need help you can just ask."

  Nora jumps up with much enthusiasm. "OOH! Let's break his legs!!!"

  I stand up as well. "I love that idea!" We high-five, resulting an unamused look from Pyrrha

  Jaune stands up with a sigh. "Guys, really, its fine. besides, it's not like he's a jerk to just me. He's a jerk to everyone."

  I scoff. "All the more reason to beat his pathetic ass."

  "Ow! That hurts!" “I told you it was real.” “What a freak.”

  I look over and see Cardin messing with that rabbit faunus again. I get pissed and stand up, briana trying to stop me again. but as she grabs my arm, I glare at her. "You're either a witness to a beating or another victim." I see the fear in her eyes as she lets go. I walk over to Cardin and grab his wrist. "let go."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Or what?" he says with a sneer. "You'll beat my ass? id like to see you tr-"

  Before he can say another word in, he's suddenly pinned to the ground. "You sure you want those to be your final words...?"

  He must've realized that I was serious, because he shakes his head and asks me to let go. Once I do he dusts himself off and walks off quietly. I then sit back down. "What...?"

  Nora jumps up. "That was cool and all, but you should've broke his legs..."

  My eyes widen. "Thats right! I forgot to do that..."

  Everyone just laughs, even jaune.

  As Oobleck is running all over the place like he’s had nothing but pure espresso shots in that cup he drinks, he eventually got around to the battle of Fort Castle.

  “Now, who can tell me the advantage the fanus had over the troops?”

  Jaune says hey and gets Ooblecks attention. We try to signal to our eyes but pyrrha makes a binoculars gesture and he says that instead cardin laughs but Oobleck gets him front and center. “And your opinion Cardin?”

  “Well it's obvious that it's easier to train an animal than a soldier.”

  “So why can’t anyone train you?” I retort

  This time the whole class laughs. “Whatever, got a problem?”

  “No, I have the correct answer." I say with much attitude. "It's that they had night vision. The general made the mistake of trying to ambush them in their sleep when it's dark outside, putting his men at a disadvantage when he thought he would have caught them by surprise. While he had the bigger army, what good is a weapon if you can’t hit the target?”

  “Maybe if he paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been known as a failure,” Blake adds on, causing more snickers.

  “Very good Robert. Now Mr. Winchester? You and Mr Arc can see me after class for additional readings.”

  .

  .

  .

  .

  As class lets out, everyone but me, cardin, and jaune leave. “Mr Hutchison? May I ask why you are still here?”

  “I need to study this more as this is my lowest grade.”

  “Understood. well, if you want extra credit, read pages 51- 91 and have an essay by the next class. That goes for the two of you as well.” he then lectures them. “Now, run along Mr Hutchison, I need to talk to these two.”

  I walk out first and turn to see Pyrrha, "Hey."

  She looks up. "Hello. what are you doing?"

  I smile, "I could ask you the same thing. you worried about jaune?"

  She smiles weakly. "yeah... I just thought he might need some help..."

  "Oh he does. "

  "Thats not nice."

  "But it's the truth," I say giving her a look.

  Jaune then walks out. he notices us and waves, but Cardin shoves him, laughing.

  “You can no longer say he’s messing around now,” I say, firing a small ki blast at him.

  “Yeah, and I am going to break his legs. … I got an Idea!” Pyrrha grabs jaune and drags him up to the school roof.

  “I know I'm going through a hard time, but I'm not that depressed.”

  “N-no!” She says, as she realizes her mistake and pulls him off the ledge. “That's not why I brought you up here! Jaune I know you're having a difficult time in class, and I know you're not the strongest of fighters, so… I wanna help you.”

  “Same,” I say, holding his shoulder.

  “You… you guys think I need help?”

  “NO!”

  “Desperately," I say, causing Pyrrha to jab me. "Everyone needs help now and then. You're not any less than the rest of us. You made it here. At the most prestigious of schools. That's enough to brag about”

  “You're wrong, I don't belong here.”

  “Well you belong here more than I do. So of course you do-”

  “No I don't! …… I wasn’t really accepted into Beacon”

  Pyrrha and I look confused. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests, I didn't earn my spot at this academy! I lied!"

  Pyrrha looks confused. "What? but... why?"

  "Because this is always what I wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one too. I was just never good enough.."

  “Then let us help you.”

  “BUT I DON'T WANT HELP! I don't want to be the damsel in distress. I want to be the hero!”

  Pyrrha looks hurt. “Jaune...”

  “I dont want to be the loveable idiot stuck in a tree, while all his friends are fighting for their lives. If I can’t do this alone, then what good am I?” Pyrrah reaches for his arm but he pulls back.

  “Leave me alone.”

  “If that's what you think is best...” she walks off.

  I take a few steps forward. "I said leave me alone."

  "And I don't care. You are going to sit and listen. Do you hear me?" my tone was unusually angry.

  "I uh... ok." He then sits down.

  "First things first, you are going to apologize. She was just trying to help you. Second, you and I have similar experiences. We both never went to combat schools. but I never lied. And also, if that's the case, you need help more than ever. You are a leader. you can't hold your team back. I'm willing to help you, but you have to earn it. Prove to me you are worth trying for. show me why Ozpin chose you to be the leader. Earn my respect. Until then, don't bother asking for help. you'll be a lost cause unless you find out what you are."

  I run after Pyrrha, hoping Jaune can be the leader I know he can. I see Pyrrha looking down, "Pyrrha..."

  "Oh, hey Robert..." she says, barely looking up.

  "Whats wrong? like what exactly hurt you?"

  "Nothing really hurt me," She finally looks me in the eyes. "I just really wanted to help."

  "I understand," I put a hand on her shoulder. "But sometimes, people need to help themselves before they can actually be helped."

  She glances at my hand and then back at me. "You think so?"

  "Yeah, I know because I always hated being helped. but I just needed to understand what I wanted before I realized how much help I truly needed."

  "Thanks for cheering me up."

  "No problem! If you need help, I'm your guy."

  Her face reddens a bit before she calms down. "Ok, I'll keep that in mind. see ya, Robert." She walks off to the dorms.

  I stand there for a minute before my scroll rings. "Yes?"

  "you free Friday night?" Roman asks

  "Should be, why?"

  "Just some robberies."

  "OK, I'll be there," I hang up.

  As I'm walking Pyrrha pops into my mind. How would she react if she knew I was working with torchw- Wait... what am I thinking? I shake off the feeling and head to my dorm.