Saturday, the 18th of July, 79AGW.

Amphitheatre, Beacon.

“Go, Wiess!” Ruby cried. “Destroy him!”

“Hmph,” Weiss noised before straightening her dress and stepping out into the aisle.

“Good try, Claire,” Teak said as she retook her seat beside him. “You did really well.”

“I fell on my ass,” Claire pouted. “So embarrassing.”

Ren stood up at the sound of his name, and Nora almost crashed into him as he stepped out into the aisle. He steadied them both, ducked down and said something into Nora’s ear that none of them could hear before stepping out to follow in Weiss’s wake. Nora took the recently vacated seat and just about blinded the rest of the group with the smile on her face.

“What did he say?” Pyrrha asked, looking curious.

Jaune, closest to the two of them during the quiet exchange, rubbed at his eye for a moment before speaking.

“Ren said he was—” Jaune started before Nora caught him in a headlock and dragged him halfway off the chair. “Pyrrha—help—she’s eating me!”

“Don’t struggle,” Nora warned, face bright red. “It will only make me hungrier.”

“Get your hands off my victim,” Lima cried, lunging forward over the chair in front of him. “Goodwitch! Foul play, foul play!”

Pyrrha, laughing at the redface Nora’s attempt to silence Jaune, interceeded, breaking her lock and pulling her back into the seat. Lima only got one foot over the back of the chair before Lux stepped on the back of his knee, causing him to collapse back down between the chairs.

“Nora,” Pyrrha said, amused. “Wait until he’s fully grown first; there will be more meat then.”

“Pyrrha,” Jaune said, horrified.

“Please keep your teeth to yourself, Ms Valkryie,” Goodwitch said, frowning. “Ms Nikos, please do not encourage her, you should know better.”

Lima finally managed to get a proper hold on Lux’s foot. Using the space afforded to him between the two rows of chairs, he clamped down on his target, and death rolled, dragging Lux down into the gap with a yelp. Lima trapped her thigh in between his legs and then started drawing it back until Lux began to flail around.

“I’m going to break it off!” Lima cried.

“Don’t break it!” Lux squeaked.

“Mr Morta,” Goodwitch warned. “Please control yourself.”

Lima made a strangled noise of frustration in the back of his throat. Lux had just become an accomplice in the first true instance of cannibalism at Beacon, and he was the one in trouble. He let go, struggled to his feet, and did his best to straighten his clothes. Jaune met his gaze for a moment, and the two of them shared a nod of solidarity—it was them against the world.

Lima sat back down, eyeing Lux out of the corner of his eye as she rejoined him. Once he was certain she wasn’t about to blindside him again, he huffed and then turned his attention back to the arena. Weiss looked impatient at the delay, but Ren seemed to be as implacable as ever.

“If both fighters are ready?” Goodwitch said once she’d finished eyeing everyone into compliance. “The third match; Lie Ren vs Weiss Schnee.”

Ren stayed in place, raising his right up in front of him and turning sideways. Weiss moved forward, hands up in front of her as she ate up the distance between them. Ren shifted sideways as Weiss twisted into a kick the moment before contact. Weiss stumbled backwards as Ren attacked while she was recovering, her elbows deflecting the quick strikes with some difficulty.

Ren followed after her, disrupting her footing again the moment she’d regained her balance, and then he fired off a kick of his own. It crashed into her thigh, bringing both of their auras into visibility with a crack.

“Ouch,” Ruby said, wincing. “I think I felt that through her aura.”

Weiss gritted her teeth at the clean strike and then attempted to go on the offensive. Ren shifted backwards, using his elbow to direct her first punch to the side, the movement tightly controlled. He extended the same arm downwards, barely rotating to manage it and then struck her directly in the ankle as her foot came up for an attempt at a head kick in the exact same motion. Their auras flashed again, and then Weiss pulled back from the exchange, cautious.

“It’s a good matchup if they had weapons,” Blake said, “Weiss is struggling without access to the range she normally has, while this is Ren’s primary range.”

Ren waited a few moments to see if she would return and then started forward towards her. Weiss rotated around him, staying at maximum range and chambering kicks to keep him from getting in close again. Lima had the pattern memorised after the third kick and wondered how long until—Ren dove forward as Weiss spun into the same pattern again, dropping well under her rising kick. He struck out at her in a staccato of cracks, hitting three times as he rose up within her guard—thigh, belly, and sternum.

“Winner; Lie Ren,” The system reported, “Aura depletion.”

Weiss blew a breath out of her nose at the sudden loss, but her eyes were sharp and clear, the intense fight bringing something inside of her up to the surface—Lima had seen it on the faces of many of their classmates before, excitement, adrenaline, and the same kind of warrior-drive that brought most of them to a place like Beacon, to begin with.

“Ren!” Nora cried, “I’m proud of you too!”

Ren ran a hand through his hair at the sound of her voice and sent a smile up at the stands.

“Is that what he said?” Pyrrha said, amused.

“Don’t look at me,” Jaune said, looking wary. “I almost got eaten.”

The two fighters returned to the stands, talking, quieting as they walked, and Goodwitch pressed her glasses up as they rejoined the group.

“Ms Schnee, you would benefit from unarmed practice with a particular focus on flow,” Goodwitch said, eyeing them for a moment. “Aiming for continual movement, rather than coming to a complete stop after you attack would do much for you—apart from that, you handled yourself very well.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Weiss said, smiling. “I will make sure to address it.”

“Suckup,” Ruby said and then coughed into her hand a moment later. “Wait—I did that wrong.”

“Idiot,” Weiss hissed, visibly embarrassed.

“Mr Ren, your skill continues to impress me,” Goodwitch said, “You have a natural aptitude for close-range combat—I would like to see another bout before I offer any suggestions.”

“Thank you,” Ren said, ducking his head slightly. “I appreciate the kind words.”

Goodwitch sent them both off with a smile and then returned her gaze to Lima’s borrowed scroll.

“I see,” Goodwitch said, nodding. “Miss Belladonna and Ms Xiao Long—you’re up next.”

“Let’s go, Blake,” Yang said, clapping a hand over her fist.

Blake followed after her, the two of them vanishing down the stairs and out of sight.

“Weiss?” Ruby said, looking anguished. “Who am I supposed to cheer for?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Weiss said, eyeing her for a moment.

“No?” Ruby managed.

“It’s simple,” Weiss said, voice bright. “You’re supposed to cheer for—”

Lima wondered if he’d ever seen such a clear look of betrayal as when Weiss turned away without finishing. Ruby grabbed the older girl by the shoulder and tried to shake the answer out of her, but Weiss just smirked.

“Absolutely savage,” Lima said, shaking his head. “I love it.”

“The fourth round; Blake Belladonna vs Yang Xiao Long,” Goodwitch said, lowering her scroll. “Begin.”

Yang dashed forward, arms trailing behind her, and Blake immediately broke off to the side, keeping her distance. The two of them were clearly used to each other’s fighting styles, and Lima soon realised that there was an odd dynamic at play.

Yang was undoubtedly a close-range fighter, and she focused almost entirely on using her arms to deliver fast precision hits. Her footwork was good, and there were some kicks added into the mix, but they were almost an afterthought. The lack of her shot gauntlets probably had the least effect on her ability to fight out of everyone present, although the rapid momentum changes, leveraged recoil and additional force brought on by using them was notably absent.

Blake, however, was also a close-range fighter but of a different breed entirely. She held a low centre of gravity, and she was agile, using acrobatics to throw herself around and attack from odd angles. Inside the forest, it had made her a menace to fight, with objects for her to turn the fight into a three-dimensional battlefield, but up on the flat expanse of the stage, it left her missing an entire facet of her fighting style. If she’d had access to her weapon, she would have been able to nullify the disadvantage somewhat by using the kusarigama form to pull herself around, but without it, she was struggling.

The result was two primary close-range fights running around in wide circles as Yang slowly cut the distance down between them. The moment Yang would get close, the two would engage in a furious display of blocks and strikes before Blake attempted to make distance again. Without stealth, range, or the ability to come at her from off-angles, Blake consistently came out of the exchanges poorly.

Almost four minutes later, Blake tried to break the pattern, got caught in an extended exchange, and then Yang burned her Aura down before she could break free again.

“Winner; Yang Xiao Long,” The system announced, “Aura depletion.”

“Go, you guys! You both did so well!” Ruby tried, looking like she was about to have a meltdown. “The two of you!”

“You probably should have cheered for Yang,” Weiss said, still smirking. “She is your sister.”

“Weiss,” Ruby managed. “Don’t do this to me.”

“Well done, Ms Belladonna,” Goodwitch said, smiling. “When you can not defeat the enemy outright, you must prolong the battle until assistance can arrive, and while there is no ally to come to your aid in a duel, it was still a perfect example of how to conduct yourself under these conditions.”

“I was just trying not to lose,” Blake said, looking a bit overwhelmed by the praise. “Thank you, though.”

“Ms Xiao Long, you are another student with clear, natural aptitude in close combat, and you used it to its maximum effect here,” Goodwitch said, looking down over her glasses. “I look forward to seeing you continue growing and how you will fair in the Vytal Festival Tournament.”

“Thanks, teach,” Yang said, beaming. “Blake, that was fun—we should mix things up like this more often.”

“You want to chase me around while I can’t fight back more often?” Blake said, deadpanned. “So much fun for me.”

“Mr Arc and Mr Morta,” Goodwitch said, raising an eyebrow. “Good luck.”

“Why Jaune?” Lux wondered. “Are you just being lazy again?”

Jaune pushed himself to his feet, eyes shadowed by his hair, and stepped into the aisle, ignoring his teammate’s attempts to cheer him on. Lima stood up without answering, hesitating at the look Goodwitch was giving him. He hadn’t thought about it before, but he might need to warn her, or he was going to end up in detention again.

“Good luck, Lima!” Teak said, leaning over the open seat and holding out his hand. “You can do it!”

Lima slapped his hand against the shorter boy’s and then kept his hand up until it ran straight into the back of Yang’s head.

“Watch the hair,” Yang said, alarmed. “Geez.”

Lima came to a stop next to Goodwitch and then leaned in as close as he dared, dropping his voice down so that only she could hear. He caught sight of Blake angling her head towards him out of the corner of his eye but decided he was going to have to risk it.

“Mr Morta?” Goodwitch said, raising an eyebrow. “Your opponent is waiting.”

“Jaune is not my opponent; he’s my protégé,” Lima whispered before pausing. “I will show you something amazing before the end of the tournament, so please don’t give me detention, no matter what.”

Lima, not wanting to give her a chance to say no, jumped over the divider before she could reply. He approached the stage where Jaune stood and vaulted up onto it rather than use the stairs. Once he’d reached his own position, he turned and looked back up into the stands, taking in the group.

Goodwitch had crossed her arms and seemed to be trying to figure out whether Lima was going to land them back in the headmaster’s office on the last day of school. Lux, not wanting to sit by herself, had moved back and taken the open seat next to Teak, trapping the boy between her and Claire.

“You can do it, Jaune!” Pyrrha said.

“The fifth match of the Going Away Tournament,” Goodwitch said, sounding almost hesitant. “Jaune Arc vs Lima Morta—begin?”

Lima took a step forward and tripped over, landing flat on his stomach in the middle of the arena—then he started rolling until he tipped off the edge onto the floor of the arena.

“Winner; Jaune Arc,” The system announced, “Ring Out.”

“What the hell was that?” Lux cried, already up on her feet. “You’re supposed to actually—”

Jaune hopped off the edge of the stage and offered him a hand up. Lima took the offer, letting the bigger boy pull him up to his feet.

“I was way further from the edge than I thought,” Lima said, “I probably should have just walked out.”

“Probably,” Jaune admitted.

“How are you feeling, getting nervous yet?” Lima said.

“Yes,” Jaune said immediately. “Blake managed to hold out for way too long. Pyrrha is going to be fresh again by the time her next fight comes around.”

“Stamina, yes, Aura, no,” Lima said, steering him towards the stairs. “Listen, she does this competitively, remember? Pyrrha is used to tournament-style fighting; she’s already pacing herself—we knew this already, man, believe in the plan.”

“Right,” Jaune said, taking a deep breath. “Thanks, Lima.”

They reached the top of the stairs a moment later and then stepped into sight of the others. Goodwitch was watching them with a look of half-aggrievement, half-interest. Lux seemed to be trying to fight her way free of both Claire and Teak to make herself heard, but they managed to hold her off for now.

“You do know you just threw away your chance at having all of us owe you a favour?” Weiss said as they came into range. “What was the point of this if you weren’t even going to fight?”

“Hmph,” Lima noised, turning his chin up into the air.

“That’s not—” Weiss said, offended. “I don’t sound like that—I don’t—do I?”

“That’s exactly what you sound like,” Ruby said knowingly.

“Mr Morta, you may benefit from learning how to fall properly; it was very uncontrolled and seems to have cost you the entire match,” Goodwitch said, voice dry. “Mr Arc—your effort to conserve stamina worked well.”

“He didn’t even do anything,” Weiss hissed before crossing her arms. “Ugh.”

“Let’s move onto the next round,” Goodwitch said, continuing. “Ms Rose and Mr Fawn—if you please.”

“My turn at last!” Ruby cheered, hopping over the divider without waiting.

Teak stood up, looking nervous as most of the group turned to watch him. Lima placed a hand on his head as he passed by.

“You’ve put in a lot of work since we first got here, and you’re much better than you think,” Lima said, messing up his hair. “Go get her.”

“Right,” Teak managed.

Lima watched him head towards the stairs before he turned and bravely took the spot he’d just vacated. Lux glared at him as he sat down, but Claire seemed far more suspicious—she leaned in and lowered her voice. Lux stuffed her head into the huddle a moment later, the black scales on the side of her head digging into his temple.

“Depending on who wins this match, Jaune has to either fight Ruby or Teak,” Claire whispered, “If he wins that one, then he gets a bye to the finals—Lux was right; you definitely rigged this.”

Lima eyed them warily, wondering if everyone had figured out the plan already or if Claire was just particularly tuned in to his bullshit. They’d been talking about it while he was in the arena; that much was clear—Teak probably had a part to play in it as well.

“Why do you want Jaune in the finals?” Lux demanded.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” Lima said, crossing his arms.

“That means we’re right,” Claire pointed out.

“The sixth round; Ruby Rose vs Teak Fawn,” Goodwitch said, “Begin.”

“Go, Ruby!” Yang said, cupping her hands over her mouth. “You’ve got this in the bag!”

“You can do it, Teak!” Claire called.

Ruby basked in the cheers for a moment before giving a war cry. The black-clad girl sprinted across the stage with her hand held up and then tried to boot Teak in the chest with a front kick in the most ineffective feint Lima had ever seen in his entire life. Teak slipped to the side of the kick with his guard up high, far too used to getting whacked in the face whenever he dropped it.

“This baffles me every time I see it,” Lima admitted, “Doesn’t she spar with Yang at all?”

“I asked her once, and she said that she does, but she’s a weapon-nut, so that’s what they always use during spars,” Claire said. “They had different primary trainers growing up as well; Yang learned from their dad, and Ruby learned all her crazy scythe tricks from their uncle.”

Teak stood there until Ruby had recovered and then hopped to the side again as she swung at him again. It took Teak three more of Ruby’s attempted finishers before he realised he wasn’t going to be immediately overwhelmed like in all of the spars he’d had up until that moment, and then he started fighting back.

Ruby spun into a furious circle, the motion clearly taken from one of her Scythe Kata’s, and she tried to use her foot instead of the much longer weapon. Teak caught it on her raised guard and then slammed his foot into the inside of her thigh. Off-balance and with one leg still in the air, Ruby gave a shout as she toppled over backwards.

“Oh—did you see that—” Lux said, eyes locked on the fight. “He’s getting so good.”

Teak gave chase as Ruby rolled backwards into a rising somersault that left her back on her feet, and then she squawked as Teak landed two strikes on her chest before she’d managed to raise her to guard properly. Right beside the edge of the ring now, Ruby began swinging wildly in an attempt to ward the similarly sized boy off.

“Timeout!” Ruby cried as she lost the momentum of the fight entirely. “I’m not ready!”

Teak hesitated for a moment, almost giving into the plea, and then kicked her flat in the chest, sending her off the edge of the ring.

“Winner; Teak Fawn,” The system announced, “Ring Out.”

“Yes!” Lux cried.

“Noooooo!” Ruby wailed, rolling around on the floor of the arena. “Teak, how could you do this to me?”

“I’m sorry!” Teak said, panicked.