"Watch where you're going, punk," Yort shoved Jaune roughly, and the latter sprawled out on the grass with a muffled grunt. But he didn't lose his nerve and quickly got back up, determination blazing in his eyes, fists clenched.
"I'm gonna—"
"You're gonna what, Jauney?" the giant took a step forward, forcing him to back up. "Tell me, what are you gonna do to me?"
"I... um... I!" Seeing his friend's confusion, Egrer, who was sitting nearby, decided to offer a hint:
"Don't freeze up, just say something." Jaune cleared his throat, while Yort pretended not to notice, continuing to play the role of the bully.
"I'll chop you up into sausages."
"Gods, give me strength." A resounding facepalm signaled the end of the training session. Egrer groaned. "Jaune, that didn't sound like a threat, it sounded like you were talking to your food in the kitchen..."
Yort crossed his arms and closed his eyes, glad to finally ignore a loser like Jaune. Just the sight of his weakness made him sick to his stomach.
Good thing they were alone out here, and only Pyrrha had to witness this embarrassment. The tree canopies hid them from the dorm windows, a small pond nearby kept anyone from sneaking up on their right, and the decorative bushes lining the path blocked the view from the left. Plus, it was that time of day when most students were doing their homework for tomorrow—late evening, right before curfew.
The thing was, Jaune had become a victim of bullies. Not even a week had passed, and Cardin and his cronies were regularly picking on anyone who let them. At first, they just tested the waters, seeing how far they could push it. Flipping up some girl's skirt, dumping chip crumbs into someone's bag, scribbling on desks. Petty crap that gradually escalated into more tangible harassment. They even tried messing with Illmond, since he was, as Yort once put it, the international standard for a victim. But he never walked around the academy alone, always tagging along like a tail behind someone from the pack.
If Magenta was around, she somehow magically managed to shame the bullies; she was actually the only one they never bothered. If Egrer was nearby, he wasn't afraid to immediately throw hands, because he knew Illmond would come to his friend's aid, and in that case, the punks were screwed. Fortunately, they weren't crazy enough to mess with a psycho who aggressively growled and looked ready to lunge at them. Egrer knew exactly how to handle that personality type. After all, the favelas were full of guys like that—happy to flex their muscles, but when it came down to actual business, they'd chicken out.
But if Yort was around, Cardin usually switched targets to him, kicking off a literal cockfight between the two of them, during which Illmond would beat a hasty retreat.
Jaune wasn't used to being bullied; in that regard, he was way too sheltered. He treated an insult, even a joking one, as a threat, and his body would trigger a defense mechanism—he'd start stuttering, scratching himself, looking around, and acting in a way that made it clear to any jackal who the prey was. It was like he released pheromones into the air that provoked bullying behavior in everyone around him. Even Yang, who wasn't mean at all and actually hated bullies, loved to mess with Jaune. She'd call him Vomit Boy, smack him on the shoulder, or make him blush with inappropriate flirting.
That's why Egrer had invented a special psychological training regimen—simulating an incident and practicing the proper reaction to it. Yort was perfect for the role of the bully, even though he never picked on people weaker than him, preferring to ignore the "dirt under his boots," as he put it. To convince him to join in, Egrer had to ask Pyrrha to ask Yort. After all, he only respected the strong, and she was undoubtedly the strongest first-year at Beacon.
"Let's go again." They returned to their starting positions and began approaching each other once more. Yort, imitating Cardin's arrogant swagger, squared his shoulders and shoved Jaune, knocking him to the ground. Jaune immediately got up, clenched his fists, and marched toward him.
"Ho?" The Vacuan gangster spread his arms in an inviting gesture. "You aren't running away from me, pipsqueak? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?"
"I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer." Yort's expression changed; he grabbed the hiccuping Jaune by the head and lifted him into the air. He was already winding up to chuck him into the pond, but Egrer and Pyrrha intervened just in time.
"Hold it! What the hell are you doing?!"
"If I were Cardin, I'd beat him half to death for that kind of lip."
"Right now, we're only training psychological pushback; the physical stuff comes later," Egrer explained, setting Jaune down on the ground.
"I'm gonna have to fight him?!" he grew horrified, eyeing Yort's muscles. "He'll send me into the red zone with a single flick to the forehead!"
"Pfft, what a loser, scared just by looking at me. What are you even doing at Beacon? Wimps like you don't belong here." Yort knew Jaune had fake transcripts and didn't hesitate to steamroll over that fact, albeit covertly.
"Jaune," Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder, "this is part of the training, you need to answer."
"Exactly," Egrer hurried to agree. It was better to let him think Yort hadn't said that out of actual malice. "Something cocky, with some swagger! Come on, answer him."
"But he's righ—"
"I said answer him!"
Jaune gathered his strength and looked at Yort's face. The guy stood there with his eyes closed and muscles tensed, making it clear how pissed off he was about being forced to babysit wimps.
"I'm not a wimp."
"More confident," Pyrrha requested gently.
"I'm not a wimp!"
"Crank the masculinity slider to the max!" Egrer shouted.
"And anyway, I'm not afraid of you, got it?!"
"More!"
"I'm not afraid of anyone, I'll go fight Cardin right now!"
"Yort, you're up," Egrer signaled.
"Have you even looked at yourself?" The Vacuan gangster palmed Jaune's face and gave him a light push. His head snapped way back, and his body flew through the air, crashing into the bushes. "You're not gonna do shit to anybody, you're just a bag of bones. You've got no muscles, no skills, no brains; even Cardin has two out of those three. But you are a loser."
"Yort, you're crossing the line," Egrer whispered.
"Go fuck yourself, pineapple-head!" Jaune shouted from the bushes. "Like I give a damn about your opinion! What're you standing around for?! Keep walking!"
"I wanna punch his lights out so bad..." Yort hissed, already moving toward Jaune. Normally, he didn't care about comments regarding his appearance, but what pissed him off was the fact that such a wimp had the audacity to say it. Before an actual murder could take place, Egrer stepped between them.
"Bravo, bravo! We're done for today! Believe me, Cardin will shit his pants if you say that to him in that exact tone."
"If the real Cardin is in front of him, this little snot will be the one shitting himself." Yort waved his hand dismissively. "I'm out. Can't breathe the same air as him."
"Now we need to find Cardin and test your skills in a controlled environment," Egrer declared cheerfully.
"I'm not sure that's necessary," Pyrrha objected.
"M-Me neither," Jaune chimed in, stuttering. Look at how the fear hormones spiked at just the thought of them crossing paths.
"What's wrong with you guys? That was all theory, and theory is worthless without practice. If Jaune runs into Cardin any other time, he just won't react the right way!"
It was still hard for Egrer to even just talk to Pyrrha Nikos, let alone argue with her. He had only recently realized that she was actually very kind, but even factoring that in, he felt uncomfortable around her. Especially now, when he was going against her.
"Pyrrha, just admit it, you can't keep Jaune under surveillance forever. Eventually, you'll step away, and bam! He won't be able to do a thing. We need to build up his reflexes right now." The champion fell deep in thought, weighing these arguments. "It's just like martial arts. You can practice a move on a dummy a thousand times, but until you try that move a thousand times in a real fight, it won't do much good."
Honestly, he hadn't really hoped for her agreement. Lately, Pyrrha had been sticking to Jaune like glue, as if she feared Cardin was just waiting for her to leave. This wasn't helping build his character, since Jaune was already used to the fact that if she was around, he had nothing to fear. During their training, the fear hormones simply weren't produced in sufficient quantities, and his reaction was far from what it would be if he felt a real threat from Yort.
But Pyrrha's behavior was understandable. After all, she was the one who had unlocked his Aura, and she bore some measure of responsibility for his future. She felt obligated to protect Jaune until he at least somewhat met Beacon's standards, at which point she would let him sail on his own.
In short—someone's maternal instinct had kicked in.
"Only if I'm nearby," she gave the green light.
"Even better," Egrer nodded, clapping Jaune on the shoulder. The latter let out a doomed sigh. "If anything happens, we'll step in, so don't chicken out. Pyrrha alone is more than enough for all of them combined."
Gathering the next day after classes, they set off in search of their target, and Team CRDL was soon spotted near the weapon lockers. They had apparently just returned from training, as they were slightly sweaty and wearing casual clothes instead of their uniforms. All the better; a weakened enemy wouldn't be able to resist if they ended up having to intervene.
Wait, am I actually okay with a fight right now?
This thought was new and alien, but he simply chalked it up to the presence of the world-famous champion next to him. No one is scary when she's around.
"Target acquired," Egrer nodded, peeking around the corner. "Alright! Just walk straight, don't try to go around, but don't barrel right through them either. Walk close by. When they react, don't show weakness for even a second, and keep snapping back at them."
"I can't do this," Jaune groaned, starting to panic.
"A little more confidence, buddy."
"I'm confident I can't do this!"
"We will help if the situation becomes critical," Pyrrha reassured him.
"What if he shoves me?"
"If he starts beating the crap out of you," Egrer corrected. "Better think about your precious Snow Angel. If you want to be worthy of her, you're gonna have to be a badass in deeds, not just words! Or do you think some uncool mumbler is fit for her status?" He actually had no idea what kind of guys Weiss was into, but that argument seemed to work.
"Well..."
"Let's not drag this out, forward march!" Jaune nearly fell over from a shove to his back, but managed to regain his balance in time. He turned around and begged to come back with a hunted look in his eyes, but to no avail. Egrer made a shooing motion with his hand, while Pyrrha simply gave a thumbs up.
"We are right here," the champion assured him.
Gathering his strength, Jaune finally walked straight into the jackals' den. He was terrified, even knowing he had a dragon and a wolf watching his back. But all that training wasn't for nothing, right?
On his second attempt, he squared his shoulders, fell into the rhythm of a confident stride, and managed to catch Cardin's attention. One of his lackeys, a slicked-back Mistrali, blocked his path, but Jaune didn't slow down, ramming him in the shoulder with all his might.
"Nice," Egrer whispered, crouching and carefully peering around the corner. Pyrrha stood above him, also watching the situation closely, ready to rush in and help at any moment. The tail of her crimson hair brushed against Egrer's cheek, causing unpleasant tickling sensations, but he refused to let such a minor detail distract him.
The Mistrali swayed and took a step back, but tripped over a bench. He would have fallen if the dude with the mohawk hadn't caught him. Jaune tried to keep walking as if nothing had happened, but his stiff gait completely gave away his nervousness. Cardin and his lackeys stared in surprise at the back of their victim, who had suddenly decided to fight back. But it didn't last long.
"Jauney, stop right there." The blonde instantly froze in place as if turned to stone. "You offended my friend and you need to apologize."
"Uh..." Jaune turned around and somehow mumbled, "S-Sorry?"
"Who asks for forgiveness like that?" Cardin placed a supposedly friendly hand on his back and shoved him, simultaneously tripping him. "You need to ask on your knees! Try again!"
The jackal planted his foot on Jaune's back, preventing him not just from getting up, but even from taking a proper breath. He looked desperately toward where his friends were hiding, a plea for help visible in his eyes. But Pyrrha just smiled encouragingly, and Egrer first pointed at Cardin, then ran his thumb across his throat.
"Why don't y-you..." Jaune stumbled for a second and squeezed his eyes shut, "...go fuck yourself, you asshole?!"
"Nice," Egrer repeated, and Pyrrha nodded in agreement; he could feel it by the movement of her hair.
"Wrong answer, Jauney." The bully hoisted him up by his collar. "You need to think about your behavior. Remind me, where's your locker?"
"Phew," Pyrrha exhaled. "Being locked up isn't that scary. I was afraid he was going to start beating him."
"Yeah. Once they leave, we'll get him out." In the worst-case scenario, he could recall the good old days and hack the electronic lock, but only if it came down to it. Egrer had zero desire to search for excuses as to why he had such unusual skills for a Huntsman.
Meanwhile, Cardin took Jaune's Scroll and used it to open his own locker.
"Fresh air will refresh your memory and remind you where you belong." The bully tapped something on the Scroll, and a small hatch on the ceiling right above them slid open. Something began to hum, the floor started to shake slightly, and the glass windows rattled.
"No!" Egrer and Pyrrha darted out of cover, but it was too late; the jet engines fired up and carried Jaune off into the sky.
A second later, Cardin was sprawled on the floor. Neither he nor his cronies had time to react; they'd been too busy laughing. Pyrrha proved that she didn't hold the champion title four years running for nothing, wrecking each and every one of them in under five seconds. And Egrer just stood there nearby, completely blown away. Good thing she was on his side!
"Where did you send him?" the Crimson Fury asked.
"And what're you gonna d—" His sentence drowned in a wheeze when she stepped on his throat.
"Wrong answer." She was so scary when she was mad! Note to self: under no circumstances piss off Pyrrha Nikos.
"I don't even know! I just typed in random coordinates." Pyrrha snatched his Scroll and began hastily digging through it.
One of Cardin's buddies tried to get up, but Egrer didn't let him.
"You guys stay on the floor if you value your lives." He didn't miss the chance to sock the brave idiot in the face. And man, did that feeling of power feel good. With Nikos backing him up, he could cause absolute mayhem if he wanted to. "Don't even try to stand up, you scumbags."
Egrer moved closer to Pyrrha and peeked into the Scroll as well.
"Is there something like a browser history, but for flights?"
"Nothing like that. Guess we'll have to search on our own." She immediately sprinted for the armory exit, and Egrer bolted after her, but paused for a second. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to say a few parting words.
"Pray that nothing happens to him, otherwise Pyrrha will..." He left them the opportunity to finish the sentence themselves in their minds. Each of them arrived at some horrifying conclusions and went pale.
Right after that, Egrer quickly caught up to Pyrrha and ran toward the rapidly vanishing smoke trail. It disappeared behind Beacon's spires and buildings, but it was definitely heading somewhere toward the cliff they'd been thrown off during Initiation.
Going full tilt, they vaulted over a bench occupied by some sweet couple, paying no mind to their indignant shouts. They sprinted past Ozpinopus's pond, into which Magenta was currently tossing walnuts. They covered about half a mile in a minute and finally stopped at the edge of the cliff. The smoke had already dissipated into the air, but Jaune's approximate location could be figured out.
"He didn't fly that far," Pyrrha noted encouragingly, trying to spot a steel box in the former Emerald Forest. After Initiation, everything down there had burned to the ground, so now it was more like the Black Forest or the Ash Forest. "We should have brought our weapons."
"We aren't going to have to jump, are we?"
"Going down any other way takes too long." And without any warning, she just dove over the edge.
"Oh... you're nuts." Egrer watched her plummet and let out a doomed sigh. Then again, he had already fallen from this cliff, and not just fallen, but been launched by a catapult practically up to the clouds. But even so, psyching himself up to do something like this willingly was still a bit terrifying.
Gathering his courage, he took a couple of steps back. Eyed the distance. Crouched slightly. Adjusted his footing. Took one more tiny step back. Then exhaled and made a run for it.
"Taking a running start, I'll jump off a cliff!"[1] Egrer screamed, pushing off the ground. The second half of the lyrics, "Here I was, and now I'm gone," drowned in the roar of the wind, but that was probably for the best. No need to jinx himself.
He smashed through a few brittle branches with his body and painfully slammed his feet into the ground, but still managed to stay upright. A small black cloud enveloped him, making him cough.
Great, now I'm covered in soot. Egrer noticed a couple of black stains on his school jacket and tried to brush himself off, but his efforts were futile and only smeared the dirt worse.
Pyrrha, on the other hand, survived the fall much easier and didn't even get dirty. She was already walking deeper into the forest, shouting the name of a certain blonde goofball. Egrer hurried to catch up and join her.
If Jaune had been braver during his first encounter with Cardin, it would have saved them a lot of trouble. No, he did great by telling that asshole off, but he should have fought back right from the start. Show weakness once, and that's it—your position as a punching bag is cemented for years. Getting rid of that kind of reputation requires doing something extraordinary.
He was also lucky with his team; everyone was ready to stand up for their leader, if said leader didn't keep turning them down. To some extent, it was actually wise, because if they managed to catch him alone, Cardin would definitely make up for lost time. Plus, it was kind of awkward being the leader of a team of perfectly capable people, including Pyrrha Nikos herself, and walking around with an escort of bodyguards all the time.
However, Jaune didn't do it out of some wisdom hidden deep inside, but precisely because he was embarrassed or trying to play the "Tough Guy." Most likely, it was a bit of both.
But you could put yourself in his shoes. Getting into a Huntsman academy without the slightest skills and ending up at the very bottom of the food chain is unpleasant, even if expected. Jaune is just trying to seem more significant than he actually is and wants to overcome this crisis on his own. Well, almost on his own; he barely got over his pride to accept help from Egrer and Pyrrha.
He probably gave in because they were very persistent in their decision and literally backed him into a corner. Pyrrha was especially persistent; she accepted no excuses and gave Jaune no choice. Back then, she displayed an unusual level of harshness for her and laid down an ultimatum: either he ends this farce, or she stops talking to him. Surprisingly, it worked.
Pyrrha helps everyone in general, whether the people around her want it or not. Egrer, of course, didn't really know her personally, mostly because he avoided interacting with her, but according to stories from Nora and Jaune, she never refuses to help. And it didn't matter what it entailed—carrying furniture or explaining homework—the word "No" simply wasn't in her vocabulary. She was always happy to solve someone else's problem, often neglecting her own. Again, according to stories from her teammates.
"Ja-a-aune! Where are you, Jaune?!" Pyrrha strained her voice while Egrer stared thoughtfully at the back of her head.
Since she was so selfless, maybe she wouldn't refuse to help Illmond too? It was very unpleasant for Egrer to admit, but it seemed Pyrrha knew their mutual acquaintance far better than he did. At least his past, anyway, so she must know or at least have a guess as to why Illmond is so obsessed with the idea of being the best at everything. His perfectionism wouldn't lead to anything good, but to prescribe a treatment, you need to know the cause of the disease.
The phrase he had said during Initiation, "Nothing matters if I'm not the best," and the fresh one, "Everything has to be perfect, or it shouldn't exist at all," still hadn't left his head.
"Listen, Pyrrha—" She suddenly waved her hand, calling for silence. Soon they heard a rhythmic tapping somewhere in the distance, like someone hitting metal.
"That's probably Jaune." And so it was. A weapon locker had landed in a small stream in a ravine, submerged about a quarter of the way into the water.
"Guys? Is that you out there?" Jaune's weak voice came from inside. "Get me out of here!"
"Hang on!" Pyrrha climbed down to him, not squirming at the thought of standing knee-deep in murky water. Egrer preferred to stay up top, and totally not because he didn't want to get his clothes even dirtier. I mean, why crowd around down there when she was the only one with the Scroll anyway? That was the only reason.
The panel by the door flashed green, and a pale Jaune immediately collapsed exhaustedly right into the champion's arms, gurgling something incoherent.
"What?"
"I'm saying... I'm gonna throw up..." She immediately let go of him, and he faceplanted into the water. Apparently, Pyrrha wasn't that squeamish-proof. "Oh, sorry! I'll get you right up."
***
Jaune was dragged back to the academy, washed clean of slime, and escorted to his team's dorm room to brag to the others about what a badass he was. Nora took the news exceptionally well, listening to Egrer's brief recap with burning eyes.
"And then he said, 'Why don't you go fuck yourself, asshole?' You should've seen Cardin's face, he flew into a rage." Per Jaune's silent request, Egrer didn't mention what happened next.
"Whoa!" The redhead almost started jumping. "You should have broken his legs too!"
"Yeah, oversight on our part."
"I don't think so," Jaune chuckled mirthlessly, rubbing his neck. "Actually, I'd better not piss him off like that again."
"No, you better do it. Or do you think that piece of shit is going to leave you alone after just one time?"
"Do I have to act like that all the time?" The prospect filled Jaune with terror. He'd barely worked up the courage to tell Cardin off once, and now they're telling him this should be his normal reaction. Plus, he realized that even if Pyrrha and Egrer were around, it wasn't a guarantee they'd have time to intervene.
"You bet. You've already been branded a loser, and it'll take time to peel that label off. Think of it as medicine; it's unpleasant, but swallow it for a month or two, and that annoying sore will vanish. Remember your Snow Angel!"
"A month or two?.." Jaune whispered in surprise. Or rather, in doom.
"I doubt it will take that long," Ren noted, sitting cross-legged on his bed. He was smiling too, listening to his leader's exploits, and even Nora's exclamations right in his ear didn't faze him. "Cardin has other victims, so he'll forget about you fairly quickly."
"I think so too," Pyrrha agreed. "A week, maybe two."
"That's still too long."
"Don't sweat it, Jaune." Egrer patted him on the shoulder. "If he dares to do anything terrible to you, he'd better bounce from Beacon. We'll hound him to the ends of the earth." The others nodded in agreement, thoroughly embarrassing Jaune.
"Oh come on guys, you're overreacting."
"Not at all," Pyrrha argued. "We are a team, and taking care of each other is our duty."
"But I'm the leader..."
"That doesn't mean we can't help you out with things."
"Pyrrha is right," Ren said with a sage look, "we compensate for each other's weaknesses, that is the whole point of a team, and the leader is a part of it too. You don't have to be invincible."
"Exactly," Nora nodded enthusiastically. "Renny is smart, Renny is never wrong."
"Oh, guys, what would I do without you?" Jaune was touched. Even before, just hearing words of congratulations had him practically throwing his arms around them in a hug.
"Suffer," Ren shrugged. "Are you all busy this weekend? It would be nice to celebrate this."
"Sorry, but I have a part-time job," Jaune informed them, wringing his hands. "From morning 'til night on Sunday and Saturday."
He really ran himself into the ground—studying on weekdays, working on weekends. Then again, serves him right. He shouldn't have promised Sarah that kind of money, so he can dig himself out of the hole he dug. At most, Egrer would offer moral support if needed, but he wouldn't hand over a dime from the Pack Fund, even if Jaune had to sell a kidney.
"And what's your job?" Pyrrha asked with keen interest.
"A waiter at a cat cafe."
"A cat cafe?! Do they eat cats there?!" Nora was horrified.
"No! You play with them and, well... pet them. And you also eat, but not the cats, just normal food!" Jaune added, figuring she might get the wrong idea.
"We still need to check this place out and make sure they aren't cooking up kitties."
"And you, I take it, are quite the crazy cat lady," Egrer chuckled. He shouldn't have done that; she shot him a suspicious glare, then leaned over the nightstand and poked Egrer in the chest.
"Everyone loves kitties." Nora squinted even harder. "Do you love kitties?"
"It's not that I don't love them, I'm just allergic to them," he admitted easily, which plunged Nora into a fit of existential dread.
"A nightmare!" She clutched her head and started frantically scratching at it, as if trying to dig right down to her brain. "How do you live?! Without kitties? Without the embodiment of cuteness?"
"Madge works as my embodiment of cuteness. Unless she has an episode, that is... But generally, I prefer dogs, especially the big breeds. They're awesome."
"No, they're scary," Nora recoiled from him like he was a leper. "Where's your cafe, Jaune? I need some kitty therapy, stat!"
"You want to come visit me?" He looked very surprised by the attention.
"We will all come support you," Pyrrha said, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Eg, even you?"
"Well yeah. Pyrrha did say we'll all come." If she wanted it that way, Egrer wasn't about to argue. "I'll try to drag my guys along too, it's been a while since we went anywhere."
"But you have an allergy."
"Not a problem, I'll grab Madge's gas mask."
"You're pretty serious for a guy who hates cats." Nora squinted so hard you couldn't even see her pupils through her eyelids. Basically, she just closed her eyes and scrunched up her face.
"I don't hate them, I have an allergy, those are different things. Anyway, we've been sitting here for a while..."
After quickly sorting out the meeting time and place, he left their room and went about his business. Jaune's problem with Cardin, the Order of the Seat-Snatchers' plans, the arguments with Magenta over leadership, classes—all of it was taking up an obscene amount of time and distracting from his main goal: music.
Egrer had been living at Beacon for several days now, but he still hadn't signed up for the music club, and that was unacceptable for a future world-famous musician. His Baby was dying of boredom, tired of playing alone, because even his music band couldn't carve out any time.
Illmond still hadn't adjusted to his surroundings and was keeping a lower profile than grass, Magenta spent all day wandering around Beacon, excitedly staring at every bush and rock, and Yort had already joined the weightlifting club, where he pumped iron with the other meatheads.
But even if Egrer ends up being the only one in the music club, that's better than not being there at all.
A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach warning of something unpleasant and ominous was mercilessly suppressed.
[1] King and Jester — “Jumped Off a Cliff.”