RWBY: Silver Huntsmen

An Arc's Lesson

At a Combat class in Beacon Jaune Arc is participating in a duel against Cardin Winchester, his mace perched on his shoulder and Jaune opposite of 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 continued 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 mocks, smiling

"Over my dead-!" Before Jaune could finish, Cardin knees Jaune right at the nuts. Everyone sitting on the bleachers wince at this, but River continues to watch, unimpressed by Jaune's skills

"Oh, now that's just uncalled for!" Crimson cringes

"If he'd predicted the incoming attack, he would've blocked it." Jotaro adds, caressing his chin

"How the heck did he make it into Beacon?" Fenrir asks, glancing to River who shrugs.

Cardin raises his mace and was about to finish him off

"Mr. Winchester, that's enough." Noticing the lights coming back on, and Professor Goodwitch standing on stage, Cardin decides to back off and slowly lowers his weapon as Goodwitch shows the results on the massive screen

"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." After Glynda finishes her explanation, she turns her attention to Jaune. "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?"

Cardin raises up his mace and rests it on his shoulder.

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin scoffs

"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 informs, exciting the students.

"Ha ha, I can't wait!" Fenrir fist pumps.

"I should keep an eye on Weiss once the students arrive..." Jotaro says, mostly to himself.

"Hey guys!"

The team look to their left noticing Ruby and her team approaching.

"Hey little red, what's up?" Fenrir asks.

"We were heading to the cafeteria and have lunch with Team JNPR." Ruby answers

"Care to join us? It should be fun!" Yang offers, smiling

"Why would we-,"

"We'd love to!" Crimson interrupts River, grabbing the latter by his neck and pulling him closer.

"Agreed, let's go while there is still some food for us to take." Jotaro nods, standing up.

***

Later, Teams CJVR, RWBY and JNPR are having lunch where Nora was telling her story. Fenrir and Yang were listening with interest while the others were focused on either eating or reading

"So there we were...in the middle of the night." Nora starts.

"It was day." Ren corrects.

"We were surrounded by Ursai." Nora continues.