Christmas Bonus - The Wandering Huntsman CH 2

So clearly, I decided to separate the two chapters that I am uploading for this story. Call it a creative choice. Anyway, I realise that many people don't celebrate Christmas for whatever reason, but don't be put off by my calling it a 'Christmas Bonus'. It is only meant to be in the holiday spirit of giving. I just thought it was as good a reason as any to give extra to you, my loyal patrons. Because of your help, I was able to buy my kids presents for Christmas this year without stressing. Thank you all so much for that.

Anyway, enjoy chapter 2.

Chapter 2

(Jaune POV)

Jaune led his team into the combat training room, ready to begin the first combat class for the semester. He had been training through the semester break, even though Pyrrha had gone home to visit her parents. Ren and Nora had stayed at the school, as had Weiss and Blake. It meant that there were at least two people who were able to give him some much-needed advice, as Weiss refused to be in the same room alone with him and Blake was always busy reading stuff. But it was working! While he still couldn’t beat Cardin, he was confident that he might be a match for Sky Lark or Dove Bronzewing.

“Oooh, I wonder what Glynda is going to get us working on this semester!” Nora jabbered in her usual hyperactive tone, dancing circles around Ren as she did. “Maybe she can get me bigger explosives! Or maybe pancake bombs! With flammable syrup! Hmmmm, now I’m hungry again. Ren!”

“Nora, you just had pancakes this morning,” Ren deadpanned.

“Yeah, but I’m hungry again now,” she whined.

Pyrrha let out a small giggle next to him. “Nora, I don’t think that we should push our luck with Professor Goodwitch after yesterday’s food fight.”

Jaune couldn’t help but wince a little. That food fight had shown him how poorly he would fair against literally everyone else from either his own team or team RWBY. As fun as it had been, everyone had been playing to win and he had been knocked out of the fight early.

They took their seats in the stands overlooking the arena floor, Jaune on the far left of the group. He couldn’t help but notice that Weiss was sitting on the far side of team RWBY from him. He let out an internal sigh. One day, he assured himself. One day she’ll let me go on a date with her.

“Hey,” Yang Xiao Long called out, getting everyone on both team’s attention. “Who’s the new guy on the stage down there with Glynda?”

Jaune looked down at the floor and saw that there was indeed a guy on the combat stage next to Professor Goodwitch. From what he could tell, the guy was only a couple years older than Jaune and his friends, except Ruby as she was two years younger than the other first year students. The guy was also roughly Jaune’s height, though from the stands it could have been an inch or two either way. In contrast to everyone else in the room who was wearing their own combat uniform, the guy looked like he was just heading to the gym. He had a black singlet on that showed off some very toned and muscular arms, exercise shorts that went to midthigh and black running shoes. Jaune couldn’t help feeling a little jealous at how strong the guy looked, even though he wasn’t a bulky shape like Cardin Winchester or Yatsuhashi from team CFVY. Jaune had gained a fair bit of muscle since he started training with Pyrrha but this guy looked like he could put nearly all the students in the first two years to shame.

“New transfer, maybe?” Weiss chipped in uncertainly.

“No, if that was the case then Glynda would just have him in the stands with us,” Blake said, looking up from her book.

“Well, who ever he is, he is certainly easy on the eyes,” Yang almost purred.

“YANG!” Ruby groaned in exasperation.

“Did anyone else notice that there seems to be a lot more people in combat class than usual?” Ren spoke up, interrupting the young team leader.

Jaune looked around and was surprised to see that nearly all the seats were taken in the arena stands. The entirety of the first and second years were here and Jaune saw some older people that were clearly in at least third year standing at the back of the arena, behind the chairs, though there were not as many of them in the room. A couple of fourth years too, most likely.

“Clearly there is an announcement of some kind,” Weiss stated primly. “Otherwise there would be no reason for this change in procedure.”

“Good morning everyone,” Professor Goodwitch said, immediately bringing all conversation around the room to a halt. “I hope that you enjoyed the break. We are getting straight back into things right away, but first there is an introduction to be made.” She turned and gestured with her hand to the unknown guy. “This is Isaac Gris. He is a qualified huntsman who has agreed to assist in certain aspects of your combat training, including the training of your aura and Semblance. He is not officially a professor, though he is a teacher and therefore it is expected that you will behave responsibly and respectfully in all lessons that you have with him, the same that you would for any other teacher here.”

“But he’s too young to be a huntsman!” Weiss’ whispered objection to that statement carried clearly to Jaune’s spot on the far side of both teams. She wasn’t the only one; Jaune could see that a number of students around the room were whispering uncertainly to each other, giving doubtful glances at the newly identified Mr Gris.

“Maybe he just looks young for his age?” Ruby ventured uncertainly.

“Oh please, if he is older than twenty then I will give a White Fang member a kiss,” Weiss objected.

“I suddenly find myself hoping that he is thirty,” Blake cut in, smirking at the glare that Weiss sent her in response.

And I find myself wanting to be the White Fang member if he is, Jaune thought to himself.

“He-hem,” Professor Goodwitch cleared her throat, instantly cutting off all the quiet conversations. “I will turn you all over to Mr Gris for his own introduction.” She turned and looked at the guy standing only a few feet away.

“Thank you Madam Goodwitch,” the new teacher said. He turned and looked out over the assembled students. “As you heard, my name is Isaac Gris. In class, I will only respond to Mr Gris, or sir. I am what’s known as a wandering huntsman. Who knows what that is?”

Jaune couldn’t help feeling stupid. He knew what a huntsman was, sure, but he had no clue what a ‘wandering huntsman’ was.

Weiss immediately raised her hand, the only one of the first years to do so. Jaune could see that Coco Adel and Scarlet Velvetina also had their hands raised, as well as quite a few of the other older students.

“You there , the one who thinks she’s cool by wearing the vanity sunglasses indoors,” Mr Gris said, pointing at an affronted Coco. The stylish girl clearly had no idea how to respond to that, so she just answered the question.

“A wandering huntsman or huntress is a hunter that is not based in any of the four kingdoms,” she said, her eyebrows furrowed slightly over the top of her glasses as she looked at the instructor. Jaune believed that she was glaring at him. “As the name suggests they are always on the move and don’t really follow any boundaries set by the councils. They are typically more freelance as they don’t get paid a retainer by whatever kingdom they live in. All their jobs are found on the road. They also usually have a lower life expectancy than other hunters because they are usually outside any protections and more frequently come across higher level Grimm.”

“That is essentially correct,” Mr Gris agreed. “They are also more likely to be involved in shady criminal activities or go rogue than other hunters due to the fact that there is no oversight, less jobs, uncertain pay and nearly no employment conditions. Jobs only come from frontier towns and villages that are far away from the big cities and there are less of them every year. Mostly they are involved with killing high level Grimm, security for supply caravans or attacking bandits; and that’s the honest jobs. Too many criminal elements ask for hunters and there isn’t always enough money going around for the wandering hunters to feel like they can say no. Then again, some of you are already most likely budding criminals so those won’t be squeamish when those jobs come available.”

Jaune was stunned. This was another side of the job that he had never heard before. He knew that he was never the best informed on life as a huntsman, even with his dad, grandfather and so on having been huntsmen, three of his sisters having been trained as huntresses and he having been at Beacon for a semester. Still, no one had ever mentioned a wandering huntsman or the life they lived, including the teachers here.

He also couldn’t help flicking a glance at CRDL at hearing about budding criminals.

“I can see that there are obviously a few doubts about my qualifications from you students,” Mr Gris continued. “So, a little about myself; I was born and lived in Ko village on the edge of the Mistral Grimmlands” Jaune noticed Ren and Nora stiffen out the corner of his eye. “I was there when it fell and continued to live in its ruins there with a few of the survivors. Eventually we were found by elements of the Atlas military where I managed to impress a huntress sufficiently enough that she took me on as an apprentice at the grand old age of twelve. I graduated my apprenticeship at the age of seventeen and a half and have spent the last couple of years as a wandering huntsman going throughout and beyond all four kingdoms.”

“I guess you were right Weiss,” Yang muttered, staring down at the instructor with pity. “He’s not even twenty.”

“Now, any questions?” Mr Gris finished.

Ruby’s hand shot into the air immediately. He gestured to her. “What’s the strongest Grimm that you’ve taken down?” she asked eagerly.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well that’s a tough one. Me and a couple of hunters took out a nest of manticores out in the Menagerie Badlands.” Jaune noticed Blake sit up sharply, her notebook forgotten as she stared wide-eyed at the guy on the stage. “The regulars were pretty tough because they can breathe fire. The alphas were damn strong but the nest leader was an Elder Manticore. I took that one down but the thing was big, damn fast, blew fire that could melt Atlesian steel and had tough enough armour that our weapons couldn’t even breach its skin. I had to throw a bunch of explosives down its throat and blow it up from within before it finally fell. Which was obviously more difficult because every time it opened its mouth it was blowing fire. Then there was one time I was helping escort a supply caravan for some remote villages in Vacuo out in the southern deserts and we were attacked by a small wyvern nest and while we were taking them out, a bunch of deathstalkers got in on the action and came in from the other direction. We lost a civilian in that one but everyone else was able to walk away with bumps and scratches and the supplies were intact when we got them to the villages. Those are the worst Grimm fights that stand out. Though, there was a time when I accidentally wandered into a beringal den while I was nearing the end of my apprenticeship that gave me a run for my money.”

“Did you really go to Menagerie?” Blake blurted out, almost demanding in her question.

Mr Gris looked at her for a long moment, his face impassive. “Yes, I did,” he confirmed slowly. “I was there for a few months, working with several of their local hunters to expand some of their land to give the people there more room. Working together, we managed to clear a few extra miles for habitation. Now the people there are not so crowded and everyone is a little happier.”

Blake sat back in her chair, her golden eyes wide open for a minute longer. Jaune wasn’t sure what to make of that. Sure, he knew she was a faunus, but was a human huntsman helping out the faunus really a big deal? After all, that’s what it meant to be a huntsman, right?

“Now the first lesson that I am going to teach will begin in a few moments and it will be for everyone, but I understand that some of the older students have a class on survival with Professor Peach so they are excused.”

Jaune saw about three teams of what looked like the third years heading out the doors. Everyone else stayed where they were.

“Good,” Mr Gris said. “First, I would like the following to come down on to the combat stage. You,” he pointed to Cardin Winchester, “the big guy,” he pointed up at Yatsuhashi from team CFVY, “the red head,” he pointed to Pyrrha, “and the Schnee,” he pointed at Weiss.

“He only knew your name?” Yang asked out loud looking at her teammate.

“That is not necessarily correct,” the teacher said, obviously having heard Yang’s question, leaving the blonde to blush a little and grin sheepishly. “I don’t need to know her first name to know her family name. Not to mention that I have had dealings with her sister.”

“You know Winter?” Weiss asked him, visibly brightening as she stood up.

“We have met,” he replied flatly. “You remind me of her somewhat.”

“Thank you!” she said beaming at him.

The smile was not returned. “You clearly misunderstood me. It was definitely not intended as a compliment.”

Weiss went from happy to outraged so fast that Jaune almost flinched. “How dare…”

“Down here now, Ms Schnee,” he barked, cutting her off. “You can be self-righteously angry at me later.”

Weiss glared but a few people in the crowd chuckled. Jaune couldn’t help but feel indignant on behalf of the girl he had a crush on. He didn’t like it when his Snow Angel was upset! He wasn’t going to speak up though; he didn’t want to have the teacher focus on him.

Once all four of the chosen students were on the stage, all wearing their combat uniforms as everyone did any time they came to the arena for combat class, Mr Gris faced the students in the stands. “All right you plebs.” Jaune felt a little taken aback at that, matching the surprised exclamations and minor outraged noises that came from the students that were being addressed. “First thing you are going to do is show me your ability to assess an opponent based on what you can see and nothing else. Take a long look at these four, then I want you to tell me strengths and weaknesses when I point to them.”

Jaune looked at the four students on the stage, determined to do a good job. He knew he wasn’t the best fighter but he was decent at come up with strategies. An important part of being a good leader. At least, that’s what Pyrrha told him. And his mum.

The first person to be pointed at was Cardin who stood at the end of the group of four. After a moment Russel Thrush put up his hand.

“Cardin is wearing a breastplate and pauldrons so his chest, shoulders and upper back are protected,” he said once Mr Gris gestured to him.

“A bit basic but you are not wrong,” came the reply from the huntsman. “Why is that important? Shouldn’t Aura protect him?”

Ren put his hand up. “Because when his Aura is depleted, he will still have a layer of protection, assuming that it wasn’t destroyed beforehand.”

“Also correct,” Mr Gris said. “But again, that is a bit basic. I want someone to give me a real analysis of Cardin here and tell me his strengths and weaknesses based only on what you can see from looking at him.”

It took a long minute before Velvet put her hand up, fairly hesitantly. “He is big and has a lot of muscle,” she began uncertainly. “His armour protects him but only in certain areas so it wouldn’t restrict his movement much. He has his mace which is a big weapon and it has a fire Dust crystal at its core.”

“Ok,” the teacher said, once it was clear she had stopped talking. “So what does that mean for you if you were to fight him? Why does having a lot of muscle matter?”

This time Coco put her hand up. “Because having a lot of muscle can help a person in being able to weather an attack,” she explained. “By being able to take a hit, it means that he will lose less Aura than a smaller person who gets hit with the same level of force.”

“Correct! Thank you, Ms I-Wear-Sunglasses-Inside-Class-Where-There-Is-No-Sunlight,” the huntsman exclaimed. “But seriously, only the blind and try-hards do that. Take them off in my class.”

Coco scowled at him for a long moment, as if she was going to defy him. Suddenly, the man’s demeanour changed, from pleasant but sarcastic teacher, to downright threatening. “That would mean now, future former team leader.”

Coco jerked back in her chair as if shocked. Velvet sitting next to her suddenly looked scared. Finally, after another long moment that Jaune was afraid was going to escalate things further, Coco took off her designer shades. Immediately, the tension left, as if it was never there. “Thank you, Ms Coco Adel,” he said with a big grin. “I’m sure that your mother will be happy to know how cooperative you are.”

Jaune was shocked to see Coco pale slightly as she sat back in her chair, no longer scowling at the teacher. He was also concerned to know that even though he hadn’t said her name until then, he clearly knew who Coco was. He felt a little uneasy as he realised that this guy probably knew who every single person was in the classroom. Jaune was a little worried by how much. But Ozpin knew about his transcripts so he should be fine, right?

“Anything else with Mr Cardin Winchester before we move on?” Mr Gris continued as if nothing had taken place.

Blake stuck up her hand. “Even though he is wearing armour, it doesn’t protect his head, lower stomach and other soft organs, so those, along with his joints, would be obvious targets. His armour looks expensive so clearly he would be expected to have some tutors to help him train so while being bigger would normally mean slower, you can expect him to be able put up a decent fight, though if you are quick and agile enough you can expect to be victorious.”

That one earned a smile from the huntsman. “Thank you for that Ms Belladonna.”

Jaune saw Blake stiffen from the corner of his eye as he turned back to the stage. At the same time, Cardin glared at Blake, obviously not happy to have his potential weaknesses pointed out like that. The next person that was pointed at was the giant Yatsuhashi. This time, Jaune raised his own hand.

“Like Cardin, Yatsuhashi is big and has lots of muscle, so physical impacts are going to cause less damage than expected. He doesn’t wear armour but the greatsword he has, along with his longer reach would mean that unless you were fast enough, going close quarters would likely end up with you getting hurt. The best way to take on someone like him would be to stay back and shoot him from long range as he doesn’t appear to have a long range weapon on him to fight back with.”

“Thank you, Mister Arc,” Mr Gris said, his tone flat. “Anyone want to add to that?”

An older student that he didn’t know raised their hand. “Shooting at long range is not likely to be as effective as the greatsword is wide enough that he could use it to defend from Dust rounds. Getting in closer would reduce his effectiveness as he would not be able to make full use of the length of his greatsword. Then you would just need to worry about his hand-to-hand fighting but with enough training a person would be able to get around that quite easily.”

Jaune felt a sinking feeling in his gut at hearing that. His own ‘analysis’ hadn’t picked any of that up. And he had even seen Cardin use his mace to block dust rounds in combat class! Clearly, he still had a lot to learn.

“Very good, Ms Gloss, that’s correct.”

The next person who was pointed out was Weiss. Jaune let out a dreamy sigh as he mentally thanked the new teacher for letting him have a few moments to just stare at his Snow Angel and appreciate her for all she was. Perfection.

He stared so long that he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be analysing her strengths and weaknesses. It wasn’t until Nora bumped him that he tuned back in to hear someone had been doing just that.

“… so she won’t be as durable and physical blows will do her more damage. She has a rapier which is a stabbing weapon so that would suggest that her fighting style is more about precision stabbing instead of slashing, but she does have a revolving chamber set in the handle that is filled with different types of Dust that will likely be used to make up for a lack of ranged weaponry. Her legs are exposed so that we can see that they are skinny and not overly muscled which would suggest that she is not much for kicking. The fact that she fights in a skirt would also support this as going from appearances alone she doesn’t appear to be the sort of girl that would really be into flashing her underwear by kicking a lot in a skirt.”

“Very thorough analysis, Mr Bronzewing, well done!” Mr Gris actually clapped as Weiss gave a little noise of agreement to the statement that she wouldn’t be showing her underwear. Not that the combat skirts that Weiss and Ruby wore would reveal all that much anyway. “But you did miss two rather obvious things. Can anyone guess what they are?”

Having missed the first part of the analysis, Jaune decided that silence would be the best option to prevent himself looking stupid so early in the semester. Plenty of time for that later.

“No? No one here can possibly think of anything?” Mr Gris sounded a little disappointed. “Alright, you three off the stage but don’t go back to your seats just yet. Ms Schnee, would you take the position to have a quick spar with me?”

Weiss gave the new teacher an angry glare.

“Oooh, looks like the Ice Queen is looking forward to paying back the new teacher already,” Yang crowed in excitement.

“Yeah, she really didn’t look happy about him saying anything bad about her sister,” Ruby agreed, looking highly excited about the upcoming fight. “Though to be honest, I didn’t even know she had a sister. She never talks about her,” she finished with a frown.

“Ah don’t worry about it Rubes,” Yang said, nudging her sister’s shoulder. “She is just a little Weiss-cold about sharing.”

“Yang!” Ruby groaned in exasperation.

“Shushushush!” Nora said, waving them to silence in her hyperactive excitement. “It’s starting! Stab him good Weiss!”

Ren gave a sigh. “Nora, stabbing teachers is usually bad.”

“Not in a spar it’s not!” she countered with a giggle.

Ms Goodwitch had stepped forward to referee the match. “Ready?” she looked to Weiss who was standing at one end of the stage glaring at the new combat instructor with fierce determination, her weapon held high at the ready. Said combat instructor stood at the other end, with… no weapons? And the guy just looked bored. Jaune frowned. Was he not taking this seriously?

“For what it’s worth, Ms Schnee,” he called out to her, “I am sorry for what is about to happen.”

Weiss’ glare deepened.

“Begin!”

Immediately, Weiss lunged forward in her typical fencer’s charge, going almost too fast for Jaune to see.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” Weiss had come to a sudden stop, her head tilted uncomfortably back as the huntsman had a solid grip on her ponytail and was holding it in a position that was keeping her off balance. He held her hair and moved, pulling her around fairly gently, enough to show that she wasn’t in control of where she was forced to step and doing it in a way that her hair was in between his body and her rapier so she didn’t try and attack him. After a moment longer, he let her go.

“That’s enough, thank you Ms Schnee,” he said casually, as if he hadn’t just caused Jaune’s precious Weiss any harm. “This demonstration is over. You other three can come back to the stage now.”

Jaune could see that Cardin, Yatsuhashi and Pyrrha looked a little unsure but they came back to the stage.

“How dare you!” Weiss shouted at the new teacher.

“Ms Schnee!” Professor Goodwitch snapped, stepping forward. “This is your last warning. Mr Gris is a teacher here and will be afforded the proper respect.”

Weiss tensed up slightly but lowered her weapon. “Of course.” She turned and gave a small bow to Mr Gris, earning an upraised eyebrow. “I… apologise for my outburst Mr Gris.”

“Apology accepted, Ms Schnee,” the huntsman said easily. “As I have already given my apology pre-emptively, I will just have you know that it is my hope that the pain you felt will be a reminder that helps you save your life in the future.”

He turned back to the watching students. “So, everyone saw what the weakness she had in her outfit?” he called, pretty unnecessarily in Jaune’s opinion.

“Long hair can be pulled and that can in turn lead to someone’s downfall?” a second year that Jaune didn’t know called out.

“Close.”

“Are you telling us that we all need to cut our hair?” Yang shouted out, her eyes starting to turn red. Jaune gulped as the air started to get warmer in the immediate vicinity. Yang’s hair was her pride and joy. Anyone that touched it did so at their own risk.

However, the teacher just shook his head. “Not at all,” he denied. “I was pointing out through that demonstration that having long hair loose is a potential hazard that many people do not think about and it can lead to them being hurt or someone being able to manipulate a person through such action. Ms Schnee, how much control did you have when I was pulling you around by your hair.”

Weiss visibly winced. “Not enough.”

“And had I had a weapon in my hand at the time, how easily would I have been able to hurt you?”

Her slump became more pronounced. “Far too easily.”

He nodded. “Indeed. But I am not saying to cut it. Madam Goodwitch, would you be able to do us all a favour and let your hair down from its bun?”

Professor Goodwitch fixed Mr Gris a glare that made Jaune nervous. Still, she must have agreed that the request was an important lesson because only a moment later she reached up and undid the familiar bun on the back of her head. Jaune was surprised as he saw her hair fall down to her mid back as the deputy headmistress shook her hair out.

“You see?” Mr Gris asked. “Madam Goodwitch also has lovely hair that goes down a long way. However, by putting it in her usual style, it is unlikely that an enemy would be able to use it against her by grabbing and pulling it. Thank you, Madam Goodwitch.”

She gave him a nod and, to Jaune’s astonishment, fixed her hair back to its usual bun with a flick from her riding crop.

“Loose hair, long pants or dresses that can tangle up your feet, cloaks and robes that flutter about, long beards and even long jewellery like a necklace, all may be used against you in battle in similar manner to what you just saw. I am not telling you to cut your hair Ms Blonde Girl. What I am doing is trying to make you all aware that your personal styles and costume designs can be a liability on the battlefield to a smart enemy. Ms Schnee, I know for a fact that your sister also puts her hair up when in uniform.”

Weiss looked startled for a moment, then turned thoughtful before giving a small nod. Ruby gave a small whine and clutched at her hooded cloak like it was a lifeline.

“So, now that we have covered that, I think that we can skip to the last weakness that I mentioned and move on to Ms Nikos as the demonstration for that, seeing as you share a similar weakness. Who can tell what it is?”

Silence. No one wanted to criticize Jaune’s partner. Jaune couldn’t help but notice that Pyrrha looked slightly crestfallen.

“No? Ignoring all the other strengths and weaknesses that Ms Nikos has or might have, can no one tell me a weakness that Ms Nikos and Ms Schnee share that isn’t their long, loose hair?”

Another long silence. Mr Gris looked around and huffed a disappointed sigh. “Really? Even Madam Goodwitch shares this weakness in her preferred combat clothing choices.”

Jaune saw Professor Goodwitch start in surprise and she stared at her co-worker in confusion. Jaune guessed that she didn’t have any idea of what Mr Gris was talking about.

“Wow, he really went there huh?” Yang said. “The guy must have a death wish.”

“That brave man! He shall be remembered!” Nora cried out with fake tears running down her face.

With a shake of his head, the teacher walked up to Pyrrha. “Can you think of what it would be, Ms Nikos?”

Pyrrha looked up at Jaune, her face reflecting the uncertainty that he felt. “I’m not quite sure,” she said, a hand reaching towards her long red ponytail, “Other than the things that have already been mentioned, nothing immediately comes to mind.”

This time Mr Gris gave a huff. “Well then,” he said, with what looked like the hint of a smile on his face as he looked at Pyrrha, at least from where Jaune was sitting, “I guess that means you are just like everyone else.”

It took a moment for that to sink in to Pyrrha. But once it did, Jaune could see her give the new teacher a happy smile.

“That being said, I am sorry for what is about to happen.”

A quick look of confusion rapidly turned into a squawk of indignation and pain as the new teacher kicked the side of Pyrrha’s heel and led her to stumbling as the high-heel based fashion boots that Pyrrha wore tilted on the point and she stumbled, likely with a newly twisted ankle. A cry came out from Weiss who looked on in outrage at the treatment of the champion, not to mention Jaune who now glared angrily for the cheap attack of his partner.

“High heels are easily knocked off balance by anyone aiming for them and an accidental misstep can easily lead to a sprained ankle, distraction and even death if it happens in a critical moment,” the teacher said as he helped Pyrrha back to her feet. She was clearly favouring her now injured foot as she leaned against him, her arm putting her weight on his shoulder. “Stable footwear, either runners or boots, are the preferred type of shoe. A solid platform of no more than two inches would be the limit that anyone should think of before their own clothes become a hazard. Check your feet; if you have shoes that are likely to be remotely unstable, then you are carrying a weakness that can be exploited by an enemy or an opponent, or just leave you at risk when fighting the Grimm. After all, most of the time that you will fight the Grimm it will be in the wild with uneven ground, broken branches, rocks or other obstacles that make heels a greater risk of instability.”

He released the students to head back to their seats, aiding Pyrrha until she reached the entrance to the stands before passing her over to Weiss to help Jaune’s teammate hop up the stairs. Jaune couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for his partner who obviously needed at least another hour or so before her Aura healed her ankle properly.

“You ok?” he asked quietly.

She nodded. “I wasn’t prepared for it, but I will be fine soon enough with my Aura helping.”

“That was a cheap shot though,” Yang grumbled. “He could have warned you.”

“Or just told you about it,” Ruby chipped in.

“No, it’s ok,” Pyrrha said with a small smile. “Some of my trainers used to do the same thing. This was nowhere near as bad as some of the things they did.”

“Still, it didn’t seem very professional,” Weiss said, her magical voice darkened with displeasure. Jaune loved her voice.

“Right,” Mr Gris’ voice cut off any further discussion. ““As I said, I am not telling you to change your uniforms or footwear or hairstyles or anything. But you do need to be mindful that what you wear and how you wear it can be used against you in combat. But before I start actually teaching you how to fight, I need to see you fight so that I can assess your abilities. Madam Goodwitch will partner you at random. Obviously we won’t have time to see everyone today but I should gain enough to know how to structure the next class for you. However, before we begin, team JNPR, a word in private outside.”

“Huh?” Jaune sat up in confusion. Why would the teacher need to speak to the whole team outside? He shot a look at Ren and Nora but both of them seemed to have no more idea than he did. They got up, Nora deciding to be cheeky and picked up Pyrrha in a bridal hold and carried her out the room, giggling all the while. Ren just gave a long-suffering sigh as he and Jaune followed the girls.

Team JNPR was only waiting for two minutes before the teacher came out. One look at his face, which had become hard as stone, told him that he wasn’t likely going to be happy about what was said.

“Right,” Mr Gris said, his tone as no-nonsense as his expression, “I’m not going to sugar coat this. Mr Arc, you are barred from attending my combat classes. As leader for team JNPR, it was required that I tell your whole team. You are still required to attend all combat classes taught by Professor Goodwitch.”

“What!?” Nora shouted out as Jaune felt sick. “Why? How can you ban our noble leader like this!?”

“Because I don’t reward liars and cheaters, Ms Valkyrie,” the huntsman said, his tone flat and unimpressed by Nora’s outrage.

Jaune’s heart fell out of his chest. The young huntsman did know about his fake transcripts. But Ozpin said he was fine!

“I’m sorry,” Ren spoke up, his voice uncertain, “but what do you mean by that? When has Jaune cheated or lied?”

Jaune’s panic was rising again, it was becoming difficult to breath. “W-what do you mean, sir?” he stammered out.

The young teacher looked around at the individuals in team JNPR for a moment before replying. “Interesting,” he mused. “Ms Nikos knows what I am talking about but you clearly haven’t seen fit to tell the rest of your team.” He shook his head and turned to address Ren and Nora. “I am talking about the fact that Mr Arc gave fraudulent transcripts to get in to Beacon Academy.” He turned back to Jaune, who felt like the world was crashing around him. “The headmaster may have forgiven your transgression and decided that you may stay, but I do not believe that cheating should be rewarded in such a way. As such, you will not be accepted in my combat classes.”

“But if Professor Ozpin said he can stay, shouldn’t he be allowed to learn in your classes too?” Pyrrha objected quickly.

“I made it a condition of my employment that I have the final say on who I teach in my classes,” Mr Gris countered. “Even if he was not criminally entered into this academy (Jaune couldn’t hold a wince), he is not at a level I would consider sufficient to learn in my lessons. This is not open for debate.”

He turned and started walking away, back to his class, leaving Jaune feeling lower than dirt. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Ren and Nora, who was being unnaturally quiet.

“Wait!” Pyrrha called out, her voice desperate. “How about we prove he is fit for the class? You said that even though Professor Ozpin let him in, he wasn’t at a proper level. If we can prove that he is, you let him stay!”

Jaune looked up, not daring to hope. Mr Gris’ face was inscrutable.

“Are you suggesting that Mr Arc here fights me to prove himself?” he asked, incredulously.

“No, not just him,” Pyrrha amended. “You’re a fully qualified hunter. But if our whole team can face you then yes!”

“Interesting,” he replied. “And does your whole team agree?”

Jaune looked over at Nora and Ren who both looked uncertainly at Jaune. They quickly shared a look with each other and their expressions firmed up before looking back and nodding.

“We stand with our fearless leader!” Nora shouted.

“We are behind Jaune all the way,” Ren said calmly.

“Well isn’t that swell,” Mr Gris said sarcastically. “But that only talks about what would happen if Boarbatusks could fly and you pulled off a win against me. If you choose this and lose, then none of your team will be allowed the advanced course. And because I now don’t trust that you wouldn’t just share the information I teach you all with anyway, as you have issued the challenge now it is considered live. That means there is no cancelling the request, because anything other than a victory now will be considered a loss. Understood?”

Jaune couldn’t help feeling uneasy. “Guys, please, you don’t have to…,” he started.

“No Jaune,” Pyrrha cut him off, glaring at the instructor. “We are a team and you are our leader. We are either all in or all out.”

“Admirable,” Mr Gris said it in such a deadpan voice that there was no mistaking the sarcasm. “Bet’s on then children. Grab your gear and come back in. I have a lesson to teach.”

With that, he turned and headed back to the arena.

…