Готовый перевод Комната Историй / The Room of the Stories: Глава 2

Act 1. Chapter 2
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It had been several minutes since Ozpin had finished reading the first chapter, though in that time the students hadn't really made much of an effort to change anything. Most of them were still sitting in their seats, laughingly exchanging their opinions on the book. Yang Xiao Long was the one laughing the most. Although she was almost absent in the book, causing her to be a little disappointed, but still, she was genuinely interested in the book.

Although many of her acquaintances would say that she and a book are completely opposite things, that even if she were locked in a room with books, she would only use them as food. Not spiritually, but gastronomically. That was partially true.

Yang wasn't really into reading and stuff, but to say that she was never interested in books would be wrong. She did read. Even, for a while, she was into reading books. Many of those books were mechanics related, as Bumblebee requires special handling, after all. But even so, she could be interested in an interesting story, a thrilling adventure, or a fantastical thing.

Though many of her acquaintances, friends, or even teammates are completely unaware of it. No, if it were up to her, she would tell them about her former passion for literature, but on one condition. If they asked about it. But, uh, here's the problem. No one can simply think that she is or was interested in books.

After all, she was the hottest damn girl in all of Vail! Every club on the Patch knew her face as well as her name. She was a regular at the clubs and at the parties. So when one imagined that this hot blonde would be sitting with books instead of dancing to the music on the dance floor, it would be a little... weird.

Yeah and Yang wasn't exactly eager to get back to the books. She could, but it was boring. When you can go to some private club where you're sure to find thugs or other gangsters and start a fight that will definitely end in your victory, reading a book becomes boring.

But right now, Yang was genuinely laughing at the events in the book. And it didn't matter what it was that made it so easy for her to envision the picture of her breaking the table and looking with her red eyes at a white-haired Vomit-boy. She could visualize it. Yang could feel all the feelings that would overwhelm her in those moments. And, needless to say, she would gladly be in Book Yang's shoes just to experience those feelings.

Yang grinned bloodthirstily.

//“A whole week to fight with others and get nearly three thousand lien at the end? Catching guys like some kind of beasts and fighting until the end? Raiding all over the Academy, looking for hidden and frightened people as if you were some kind of predator... Oh, I'd be willing to do that!” - Yang thought, staring at the three guys in their large group with a bloodthirsty grin.

They flinched and turned abruptly to her, but Yang was already smiling sweetly, though it probably only made them pale more. Well, at least Vomit-boy turned pale and turned away towards the quiet... I mean, mute girl. And with all that said, Yang is more than happy to read her chapter aloud. It was only a pity it would be a long wait... but still, she could be patient.

"Hehehe,” Yang laughed softly, making Blake, Ruby, and Weiss shiver with a bad feeling.

Meanwhile, Jaune, sitting in his seat, could only once again ignore, by sheer force of will, the barbed remarks of Mercury Black, the silver-haired boy. Except that the third year didn't want to leave the blond alone. On the contrary, he seemed to find him an interesting person to talk to, even though Jaune hadn't said anything of the sort. But apparently for Mercury, it was enough for him to sit and talk about the difficulties of being a guy on the women's team.

No, the guy seemed fine, quite handsome and well-to-do, judging by his clothes. And even his fight with Pyrrha and the current speech, everything said that the guy was educated and strong. But there was one detail that could completely change that. And that was a sharp tongue. Jaune had heard so much mockery and feigned sympathy for his book version during this short conversation that the real Jaune was sickened.

And Mercury didn't even hide the slightly raised corners of his lips when he remembered Jean's maneuver with the window. And, no. It wasn't so much offensive as it was embarrassing. The feeling was especially magnified several times over when Mercury talked about it as if Jaune had accomplished some sort of feat. And when Pyrrha joined the conversation, it got several times worse.

No, Pyrrha didn't say mean things or anything like that! Honestly, Jaune couldn't even imagine a champion saying or doing such a thing. She was... Pyrrha! And if someone asked him who he would trust with his life, he wouldn't hesitate to say his partner's name. Pyrrha was kind, strong - incredibly strong! - but she had one flaw. She overestimated too much of Jaune's potential as a leader and Hunter.

She thought he was worthy of his title of leader, that if he tried hard enough, he could become a legendary Hunter. And to be honest, that did flatter Jaune. But it was in small proportions, not when it was said as if you had already become a Legendary - with a capital letter! - a Hunter and a Strategist.

And this conversation with Mercury Black seemed to show Pyrrha's shortcomings. She exaggerated her leader's strength and intelligence too much. And at moments when Mercury was ostentatiously admiring the deeds of the book Jaune, Pyrrha seemed to blossom and began to talk nonstop about how good Jaune was and what qualities she liked in him. Except that there was one downside... or not one. It didn't matter.

The important thing was that more than half of the qualities Pyrrha had mentioned were qualities that Jaune didn't notice in himself. Or rather, he didn't notice them in the book Jaune. For example, sympathy for his comrades! Jaune in the book literally sent a crowd of guys to their doom, while he tried to escape quietly through a window! Where's the sympathy for his comrades? Where's that?!

Jaune didn't see it. And Pyrrha, mysteriously, noticed it. And Mercury, that damned third-year, was adding oil to the fire, making Pyrrha talk about him more and more, praising him and extolling him as if he were - as had been said - a Legendary Hunter.

Eventually, Jaune was reduced to a ball of nerves and embarrassment as the two teenagers talked about him and his “exploits”. And it would have been okay if Mercury had been honest - I mean, it wouldn't have been okay, it would have embarrassed Jaune even more, because a third-year student was... a third-year student! Except, as has been said, Mercury wasn't being completely honest.

To be more precise, Mercury didn't even try to hide his attitude towards those moments, which he recounted with a fake admiring voice. And okay if he was saying mean things or making fun of Jon himself, okay! But Mercury didn't do that. He was just... praising. So much so that Jean felt irritated instead of embarrassed, even though the third-year had only come in seven minutes ago, and Pyrrha had only joined the conversation five minutes ago.

You understand?

In just seven minutes, Mercury had become so irritable and unbearable that Jaune was ready to howl at the feelings that overwhelmed him. Now imagine if you studied with a man like that, for three bloody years! Three!

Jaune couldn't imagine such a thing. But Emerald could. Hell, now it was clear to the blond why Emerald had started hanging out with other teams instead of hanging out with her own. He'd leave too if he had a teammate like that.

The blond slowly shifted his gaze to Pyrrha, who continued to chat with Mercury with a smile. Irritation flared up again when the third-year smirked and began to recount a moment from the book in a raised voice. That moment when Jaune, with Ren's help, was let out of the window. But Pyrrha, not even paying attention to Jaune and his unwillingness to hear it, repeated the text word for word.

How was that possible? Jaune didn't know. They hadn't even seen the text, but Pyrrha had memorized the passage in some unknown way. No, the blond had memorized that moment too, because it was really embarrassing, but why would Pyrrha memorize such a thing? He didn't know the answer to that.

Jaune sighed heavily again, trying to ignore the praise of the two teenagers who seemed to have forgotten he even existed. It was surprising, since the boy continued to sit between Pyrrha and Mercury. But they kept talking about the bookish Jaune, completely ignoring the real Jaune. And okay Pyrrha, he could understand with her heart problems, but Mercury! The one when he first sat down next to him was definitely aimed at him, but after Pyrrha intervened, Mercury shifted his attention to her. No, they continued to talk about Jaune's incredible 'exploits', but they were no longer paying attention to Jaune.

//“I wonder if they'll notice it if I leave?” - A thought flashed through Jon's mind as he was already listening to the two students talking with some indifference. He blinked. A tentative smile appeared on his lips as Jaune cast glances first at Pyrrha and then at Mercury. He licked his parched lips, due to a strange and abnormal feeling of anxiety and fear that was unfounded. Jaune would merely step aside, after all, giving the two teenagers more room to socialize.

Jaune let out a slow sigh and then walked away from the table. Pyrrha and Mercury didn't even pay him any attention as the blond stood up and stepped aside. Apparently, they were really immersed in the abyss of discussing the merits and exploits of the bookish Jaune. Well... It's better for real Jaune. Smiling slightly, the leader of his team looked around the room, hoping to blend in.

But, as if in mockery of him, everyone was busy with a limited number of people. Emerald, for example, was now talking to her leader, Cinder Fall. And the way the dark-haired girl smiled as she spoke reminded Jaune of his older sister, who smiled just like Emerald, but only at her boyfriends.

And a hunch told him that he shouldn't interfere with them. So Jaune, secretly sighing, shifted his gaze back to the other boys. Ren and Nora. The blond smiled, knowing that they wouldn't bring up embarrassing moments from the book, at least Ren wouldn't do that, because of that, he could spend some time with them until they started reading the book again. Yes, it would be better than listening to eulogizing odes in honor of his existence.

It was only after taking only a few steps towards the two teenagers Jaune noticed his friend's gaze.

Ren looked up at him, his gaze pure terror and pleading for help. It was only now Jaune realized what he was trying to do. He, who some time ago had been trying to escape from Nora's questions and her delusional hypotheses about a secret admirer, Pyrrha sneezed again, was now walking toward her, without any escort in the form of Pyrrha, who could have saved him at any moment and distracted the restless orange valkyrie.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jaune turned away, sincerely apologizing to his friend, and afterwards, looked at the last group of guys he could talk to and kill some free time with. Team RWBY, the girls who - as the bookish Jaune had said - were almost sisters to both the guy and the rest of his team.

And if it had been up to him, he would have gladly joined them, but Jaune sensed something wrong at the last moment, and his gaze instinctively stopped on Yang. She was smiling too sweetly, looking right at him. And it was so strange that he didn't want to go to the group of girls.

Taking a few steps back, the boy looked around the room again. And everything was the same, Pyrrha and Mercury were still in their little world about the book Jaune and his greatness, Ren and Nora were still talking about something, Emerald and her leader were discussing something, and the RWBY team was smiling and laughing again, apparently remembering moments from the book. And only Jaune and the strange girl were alone....

Wait a minute...Who is this?

Jaune stared dumbfounded at the only girl in the room, who continued to sit alone and eat... ice cream? Jaune shook his head to dispel the hallucination, but even after that, the girl continued to sit and eat ice cream. And at this moment, the blond man abruptly realized his mistake. After all, there was another member of the CNEM team. And that girl was her.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took a few tentative steps towards her, with his brain working at maximum level, trying to force him to take the final step towards the unknown girl. So what if they were strangers? His mom always said that strangers were just friends who hadn't been befriended yet. It's not like he's gonna do anything. Just talk to her a little, and maybe even become friends like he did with Emerald.

Decided.

"Ahem, hi, my name is Jaune Arc, nice to meet you,” Jaune said, trying to smile. It's probably too late to say that he regretted what he did, isn't it? No, the girl hadn't said or done anything like that, it was just that Jon realized that he was only going to her because he wanted to tell her how he felt about the book. Let it be someone he didn't know, let it be. Just to get his feelings out.

If you think about it, everyone in this room is venting their feelings in one way or another in their own ways. Pyrrha and Mercury are praising the book Jaune and his heroic deeds. Ren and Nora are chatting about something... honestly, Jaune still doesn't know why Ren was looking at him so pitifully. They've known Nora for... how long, right? Hmm. Wow, Jaune abruptly realized he hadn't asked that. Maybe he should ask it later. Damn, he was distracted again.

Well, it's pretty clear, everyone showed their feelings about the book in one way or another. And only Jaune couldn't do that. No, he wanted to tell about his worries and fears about the next chapters, but everyone was busy in their own way. He would have liked to tell Pyrrha, but she was too busy talking to Mercury. In the end, he was alone... until he noticed Neo.

Jaune coughed again when he realized that there was an awkward silence between him and the stranger, broken only by the sound of the spoon. Once again, the boy felt foolish. After clearing his throat, he decided to take the next action.

Pulling back the chair, Jaune sat to the left of the girl and stared thoughtfully straight at the wall, hoping he hadn't done anything wrong. There was that awkward silence again. God, this was awkward. It was the first time Jaune had ever felt like this. He'd gotten to know mostly people like Ruby or Nora, after all. Even Blake hadn't been as bad as this.

Sighing quietly, he still looked at the stranger, who, to the guy's surprise, was incredibly small. He hadn't noticed it when he was standing, but now, sitting next to her, he realized that the girl was a head shorter, if not more. After a moment, Jaune shifted his gaze to the large bowl of ice cream, which seemed incredibly large for a girl like her.

"Ahem,” Jaune felt a sharp stare on his face. Slowly he raised his head and, as if in slow motion, met bright green eyes, which in turn were squinted and staring straight at him. "Uh, hello?"

The green-eyed girl turned away sharply, making Jaune flinch, and then, moving the ice cream closer to her, she began to eat it even faster, as if it weren't cold at all. Her posture was such that she was shielding her ice cream from view with her left shoulder.

Jaune blinked.

He smiled afterward, abruptly realizing what was going on here. In fact, it was so similar to one incident of his that he couldn't help but remember some moments related to his younger sister. Especially after such a move from the short girl.

His younger sister is an avid fan of delicious treats and other confectionery things, something like chocolate cake or biscuits. So, when she starts eating them, she turns into a paranoid person for whom all people, no matter family or not, seem to be enemy infiltrators who are eager to steal her deliciousness from her. And the way this girl was behaving suddenly made him fall into a happy nostalgia.

A hand, as if alive, slowly rose and descended on the girl's head to begin slowly stroking her head as if she were some kind of animal. It seemed like Jaune was back home again, and his little sister was sitting next to him, eating her ice cream while he stroked her black-haired head.

Stop. What head?

Abruptly going pale, Jaune slowly glanced down at his hand, which was indeed on the black-haired head of the strange girl. Swallowing, he lowered his gaze down with the same slowness to meet the green eyes, as well as a slightly raised eyebrow, as if the stranger was asking, //“What are you doing?”

"Oh, I'm, uh, I'm sorry!" Quickly pulling his hand away, Jaune tried to apologize, after all, he was stroking the third year girl's head dammit! And even if she'd gotten into Haven earlier like Ruby, that still didn't negate the fact that he'd crossed someone else's personal space. And if it had happened on the street... Jaune felt someone ready to brand him a horrible person and a monster, but he was abruptly pulled back to the real world when the stranger grabbed his hand and returned it to its proper place, and then the girl patted the boy's knee as if to say, \\“Keep going.”

Jaune blinked. And then slowly began stroking the stranger, who squinted slightly at him. Honestly, he couldn't tell if it was normal or not. What normal person would let a stranger stroke his head? Although... what normal guy would even pet a small, unfamiliar girl's head? Apparently, Jaune was just like that.

Grinning slightly, he turned his attention back to the short girl, who was once again eating her ice cream. But this time, she didn't try to hide it from him. As a result, Jaune had to stroke the girl's head while she ate her ice cream. Speaking of ice cream.

"Where did you get it from?" Jaune asked, tilting his head slightly. Green eyes stared at him with incomprehension. Coughing, he pointed his finger at the ice cream. "I mean ice cream. Where did you get it?"

The look Jaune received could only describe how disappointed the girl was by his question. In fact, the boy also realized how stupid the question was, because the rooms also contained the kitchen, where the girl had probably gotten the ice cream. Blushing, the boy coughed dryly, trying not to look at the girl's raised eyebrows, which were expressing smugness.

"Yeah, I get it, it's a stupid question,” Jaune answered quickly, hoping the girl would stop looking at him like that. What was he doing anyway! He wanted to exchange opinions about the book, not stroke the girl's head! How did that even happen?! "Ahem, by the way, I still don't know your name. Can you tell me your name?"

Green eyes looked with interest, and then, as if from thin air, the girl took out a sheet of paper on which only two words were written.

Neo Politan.

Blinking, the blond tried to take the paper with interest, but the next moment it vanished into thin air as if it had never existed. Once again, he felt foolish. Well, at least he knew the silent girl's name.

"Neo Politan? Interesting... ouch!" Jaune jerked his hand away sharply when Neo pinched it. It didn't really hurt, he was just too surprised by such an action. Dazedly looking at the frowning girl, Jaune asked puzzled: "Why did you pinch me...?"

She pointed to her head, and then to the boy's hand. Unconsciously blinking a few times, Jaune finally realized what Neo was trying to tell him. When he started to speak, he instinctively stopped stroking her head, and apparently she was displeased with that action. Jaune smiled nervously, feeling that he was wrong when he compared Neo to his little sister.

No.

Neo was more of a character like one of Jaune's older sisters, who was very fond of taking advantage of her little brother, and also, who liked to dress him up in a maid outfit. Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts to a distant drawer in his mind, not wanting to think about it. Well, at least not right now.

"Oh, by the way, how did you like the first chapter?" Jaune tried to smile, but seeing no reaction, he put the smile away. "Oh, you didn't like it?"

For some reason Jaune really wanted the quiet girl's opinion, apparently because the book was partly about him, the blond really wanted to hear good reviews. Reasonable ones, that is. He didn't want Neo to sound like Pyrrha or Mercury. Therefore, Jaune began to wait for the girl's response.

Neo didn't even seem to hear the question, continuing to eat her delicacy. But when the blond was about to open his mouth to ask again, a piece of paper appeared in front of him. Blinking perplexedly, and stopping his stroking for a moment, the boy read a single word. Jaune smiled slightly, stroking Neo's head again.

Interesting, then, huh,” Jaune looked at his friends, who seemed cheerful and expectant, apparently they really wanted to hear the continuation of the story about the Civil War in Beacon. And what to say, Jaune wanted to hear the next chapter as much as the others.

After all, somehow, this story is connected to him....

* * *

"So, I see you're looking for a little refreshment, Mr. Arc. Are you really that bored with your place already?" Ozpin, upon entering the room, questioned Jon immediately upon seeing him sitting in the other seat. Blinking, and feeling that everyone was now looking at him, the blond tried to smile and answer the question.

"I was just interested in meeting new people."

"Hmm, I see,” Ozpin shifted his gaze to Mercury, who also stood up and with a nod to Pyrrha, moved to his seat. Slowly, the students settled into their seats, until eventually, only he and Glinda were left standing. Smiling, the headmaster walked over to his own seat and sat in it while his deputy stood looking at the students. Coughing, Glinda began to speak:

"Students,” Glinda looked at each student at Beacon Academy and Haven Academy. "Some time ago, our esteemed headmaster read the first chapter of the book Civil War in Beacon. And what happened in the book has affected you in one way or another."

The professor stopped her gaze on Jaune. The boy blushed slightly.

"Even so, your headmaster and I would like to remind you that what happens in the book has nothing to do with you or other people in reality. Yes, the book shows many moments in which you might do the same, but please remember that it is only a book. Fiction. And it has nothing to do with you or your friends."

"Wait!" Yang raised her hand. "What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying, Ms. Xiao Long, is that this book is only fiction. In it, Mr. Arc may be a brilliant strategist or a Hunter, but in reality, things may be different."

Jaune blushed slightly when some of the stares focused on him again. Sighing mentally, the blond had already resigned himself to the fact that he would have to be the center of attention for the rest of the book. Well, at least after that it wouldn't happen again. He smiled weakly.
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"In the book,” Glinda continued. "tells of a pre-Festival challenge that came up in Beacon. Girls against boys. Capture the flag, to be precise. But in reality, please note, that won't happen."

In the silence that followed, two sad sighs were heard from Nora and Yang.

"Well, don't be in such a hurry, Glinda,” Ozpin hid his grin behind a mug of coffee. "Perhaps the War Games will be added to our list of events after all."

"Hooray!" Yang and Nora said in one voice. Again.

"Maybe,” Goodwitch emphasized the word, silencing everyone again. "But before that, you have to realize that the actions that your doubles will do in the book do not mean that the real people you know or the people in this room will do the same. You don't judge people through books. Do you understand?"

A discordant chorus of voices was heard.

"Did you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Goodwich!” all the students said sharply in one slender chorus, causing the professor to nod in satisfaction.

"Okay, now,” Glinda sighed, placing the book on the table. "It's time to start Chapter Two."

Everyone approached sharply, wondering the same question. Would the second chapter be as funny and interesting?

* * *

<…> Chapter 2, - Glinda read as soon as she opened the book to the right page. - <…> If you have read this far, then I commend you already, for Jaune's personal manner of writing can be difficult to grasp even at the best of times. Though your eyes might not yet have been opened to his nature, you have no doubt noticed his penchant for glossing over details that don't involve him. - Glinda stopped reading for a moment, looking at Jaune. But without saying anything, the professor continued reading. - n order to help make sense of what Jaune himself would never bother to mention, I have employed a small excerpt from a trusted source, who better describes the events which happened in the immediate aftermath of beginning of the Beacon Civil War.

Several students sat back while concentrating on the professor's next words

<…> Would that Jaune's own accounts be so detailed, but alas, he has never been one for the bigger picture. - Glinda shook her head, showing her attitude towards such actions. Jaune in turn blushed, once again feeling several glares from other people. Glinda, meanwhile, continued: - <…> Lie Ren

"Hmm,” Glinda adjusted her glasses and then continued reading. - <…> Excerpt:On Days of War, Chapter 2, Paragraph 6-15 Written by Octavia Ember. - Miss Ember, I don’t know that last name,” Glinda frowned.

"Yes?" Ozpin asked, taking a sip of coffee. "Probably came to the Festival from another Academy. Ms. Fall, do you know a Ms. Ember?"

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but there is no Octavia Ember among our Academy,” Cinder said calmly and respectfully, tilting her head slightly.

“I see,” Ozpin nodded slowly, and then looked at Glinda. "Glinda, you may continue."

"Sure." <…> To better understand the situation that befell Beacon, it's important to note that the male population was not, in itself, all that weaker than the female forces. Despite several stand out fighters among our ranks, Pyrrha Nikos being one such example, there were also many celebrated and powerful fighters in possession of different chromosomes. What led to their initial defeat, and further despair, was the way in which the war began.

Everyone listened to the calm and patient speech of Goodwitch, who, unlike Ozpin, did not show her feelings while reading the text. Only her eyes, which occasionally sparkled, showed her true feelings. It was a pity that only one person could see them.

Ozpin smiled slightly as he listened to his deputy read the text.

<…> Headmaster Ozpin's decision to declare the start of the war during a lunch hour was either a calculated move of genius, or a gross mistake. Over seventy per cent of the student body were present in the cafeteria or on their way to it when the battle began. Even assuming that there was an equal representation of boys and girls on either side, it meant that whichever side emerged victorious would have already dealt with over two-thirds of the enemy forces, not counting those who escaped. - the students exchanged glances, as if questioning each other about what they had just heard. Glinda continued to read: - <…> As everyone knows, thanks to the quick thinking by several powerful girls, and Coco Adel's choice of weapon being a fashion accessory she carried around freely, we took control of the cafeteria and eventually defeated – and captured – every man who dared stand against us.

Glinda shook her head, though for a moment a smugness flashed in her gaze. Ozpin, for his part, saw this smugness about the victory of the female gender. But he said nothing, for he felt that his opinion of it was not asked. After all, more than half the people in the room were female.

But even so, deep inside, the headmaster only smiled gloomily, mentally awaiting the ending of the book and who would win this competition...

"I wonder if Glinda would like to make a bet?" - an interesting thought flashed through the headmaster’s head.

<…> In one fell swoop, over half of the male population of Beacon had been subdued. There was more to the women's success than just this, however. - all the female students expressed joy in one way or another about this. - <…> The men who fled lived to see another day, and those who had not been at the cafeteria at all were also free. They were scattered across Beacon, however. Leaderless, disheartened and without the means to fight back.

But three students felt sadness because of their gender brothers. But even so, each of the guys still had hope for a different outcome, which could help the team of guys win the War Games.

But now, listening to Glinda's speech and seeing the smiles of the girls, they could only remain silent and wait for their day. Someday, the boys would laugh and the girls would be silent.

<…> We, on the other hand, were all gathered in one place, or at least seventy per cent of us. Fed on our recent victory, and in the momentary lull that followed, we had the opportunity to discuss and to plan, to argue and to talk – to communicate and to develop a structure. The benefits of this cannot be understated, for it allowed us to create organisation on the first day of the war, while the men of Beacon were still mid-flight

Weiss and Cinder moved closer as they heard Glinda talking about the female structure. The professor looked at the text with interest, but found nothing, and continued to read aloud.

<…> Hungry women outside of the cafeteria came for food, and were quickly inducted into the ranks. The situation was explained to them, their roles given, and as such, every woman who approached was able to fit seamlessly into the feminine forces. In a matter of hours, we had become an effective, organised and cohesive fighting army.

At that moment, each student and Glinda realized how much they had underestimated the War Games. They had just started reading, they treated it like a game, but listening to Glinda talk about it, it seemed that a Civil War against men had really begun in Beacon.

The army, food supplies, replenishment and assignment of duties... They all unconsciously began to listen even harder, just so as not to miss a word.

<…> Had the men won that initial battle, our situations might have been reversed, but it was not so, and that was by the grace of our leaders, and the bravery of our warriors. - Glinda smiled slightly. -
<…> But there was one more advantage that could not be overstated, and it would come to dominate the battlefield up until the end of the Civil War. Access to and from Beacon had been denied, with nothing capable of being delivered in or out of the academy. In such a situation, and with the men scattered to the wind, whomsoever controlled the cafeteria, controlled the food and drink of Beacon. And as any historian would be quick to point out; an army marches and fights on its stomach…

Glinda looked at her students and said her next words with more emotion than the last.

<…> Chapter 2 – From Humble Beginnings, - Glinda paused for a moment, and then looked at Miss Schnee. - <…> "What are they going to do? They have no direction, no leadership, nor even a classroom to call their own. They're helpless, and completely at our mercy. We'll sweep them up at our leisure." Brigadier General Weiss Schnee

"Wait... what?" Weiss asked dumbfounded, frozen in her place and looking at her professor with disbelief, behind which hidden hope was hidden. "Am I... a Brigadier General?"

Everyone fell silent waiting for Glinda's answer. She just turned the book towards Weiss, and the heiress saw the lines she had read, and at the end of it all, her rank and name.

For a few moments, Weiss's face was filled with many emotions. Shock, disbelief, surprise, joy, superiority, disbelief again, fear and horror. But in the end, her face settled on an arrogant grin, and her gaze expressed superiority and greatness.

Ruby snorted when she saw that expression, causing Weiss to snap her head up to stare at Ruby.

“You look so funny,” Ruby admitted, hiding her smile behind her palms. Yang, who also saw Weiss's face, smirked and said.

"Don’t worry, Weiss Cream,” Yang brushed her hair back. "Brigadier General, huh! My rank should be higher than yours! I am, after all, the strongest in our team."

"What?!" Weiss raised an eyebrow and looked at the blonde in bewilderment. “Do you even understand that in order to have the highest rank, you need to have not only high intelligence, like me,” Weiss smiled slightly. "But also to be a Leader. And you... you are most likely some kind of soldier."

"Soldier?!" Yang's eyes turned red as she jumped up from her seat. "What the hell soldier, I bet I command the entire army!!!"

"You?!" Weiss grinned arrogantly, also standing up from her seat. "Only in your dreams."

Everyone watched in silence as Weiss and Yang exchanged insults and barbs. Glinda and Ozpin were also silent, but for different reasons. Ozpin wanted to see how much they could lose their temper and whether a fight would start, and Glinda, thinking logically, decided that the fight would happen now, and not in the middle of the chapter, as was the case with Ozpin.

And the students were silent depending on their character. Jon kept silent because he did not want to get into an altercation in which he would probably be beaten up just because he was “caught in on the spur of the moment”. This has already happened once, and he doesn't want it to happen again.

The _NEM team was silent due to the order of Cinder, who wanted to find out more about the students and their interactions with each other. Pyrrha just didn't want to get into an argument, since it had already happened once, and in the end, she had to spar with two girls... I don't think it's worth saying who won in the end.

And Nora was silent only because Ren promised her that if she didn’t distract people from listening to the second chapter, she would hear him try to make sloth sounds. And in the end, only Ruby and Blake remained, exchanging knowing glances.

//"Weiss," Ruby shrugged.

//“Yang,” Blake nodded in agreement.

And this would have continued for some time, if Glinda had not finally decided to stop them so that they could continue reading. Other students, like her, already want to know what will happen next, and Weiss and Yang only interfered with them.

"Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao Long, could you please stop your arguing so that the others can hear what I am about to read?" Glinda looked sternly at the shy girls, who only nodded in response, but before sitting down in their seats and falling silent, they glanced at each other, in which two words were read:// “You’ll see!”

"Well, now that the argument is over, we can continue reading,” Glinda adjusted her glasses while her gaze ran over the lines of text. - <…> My stomach grumbled for what was probably the fifteenth time that day, and was promptly echoed by Ren's doing the same. Emaciated and hungry, the two of us didn't so much as stalk the halls as limp and stagger through them. Every now and then we would stop, sniff the air, and then move on in search of sustenance. It had been already been two weeks since the Civil War began, and things were not looking good for us.

The students looked at each other in confusion, wondering what two weeks the bookish Jaune was talking about. The War Games only lasted a week, so how could there be another week? But Ms. Goodwitch's next words put things into perspective.

"The next words are spoken by you, Mr. Ren,” Ren nodded in agreement. <…> (Jaune's penchant for exaggeration has always been well-known. It had actually been less than thirty-six hours, but to be fair we were hungry enough that it felt like weeks.)

Once again, Jaune blushed at everyone's attention, including the headmaster, who was looking directly at Jaune with a slight sneer. The blond man sighed heavily, trying to ignore those glances.

And anyway, why did he feel like there were so many more people watching him than there were in the room? Jaune stammered in his thoughts for a moment as he remembered the previous remark of bookish Ren. Shaking his head, the boy decided to listen to his bookish friend, hoping it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

<…> The halls of Beacon were empty and dark, the two of us moving through them at four in the morning, the better to dodge the patrols the women had roaming through. We'd slept fitfully the night before, squashed together into a janitor's closet for warmth. Our plan had been to sleep early and move at night, my idea for dodging the enemy. We'd already run into several patrols sent out by the girls, usually six to eight women strong and well-armed and fed. - Glinda paused to take a little break from constantly reading out loud. But a moment later, her voice was heard again in the large room. - <…> We had our own weapons, of course, and I'd never been so thankful for Beacon's strange lockers. Despite that, two against eight was poor odds, and with me here it was probably more like one and a half against eight. And since if they ever caught us, I'd be making a run for it – it was probably closer to one against eight.

Ren silently looked at his pale friend. The blond and the brunet stared at each other for a minute or so, while Ren kept his gaze fixed on Jaune's guilty and remorseful look.

“I understand, Jaune,” Ren answered. “You wouldn’t have left me, because you know that with your skills you couldn’t live alone for even a day.” And, in the first chapter, the bookish I also thought about leaving you, remember?"

Ren smiled weakly at his friend. Though the smile was small and weak, Jaune was truly touched by this small speech and smile of his friend... or even his brother. Jaune's heart beat more frequently as he pulled away from Ren's face... to meet the many eyes of their small audience. Jaune seemed ready to faint.

"That's so sweet,” Pyrrha whispered with tears in her eyes as she looked at Jon. "You really care about each other."

"Y-yes,” Jaune nodded shakily. "Can we keep going?!"

"Of course,” Glinda smiled slightly, remembering former students who behaved exactly the same way in their time. - <…> Basically, we were screwed if they found us, hence our choice to hide every time we heard other people. Luckily, Beacon was full of places to slip into, and as part of Ozpin's little game, the locks on all the doors had been opened.

Ozpin began to listen with interest.

<…> We'd found that out after checking our room with the idea of locking ourselves in it until this whole thing was over. Not only had we come across Nora already there, we'd found the doors all unlocked when we ducked into someone else's dorm to hide. - Ren and Jaune exchanged glances that showed relief for their counterparts. And Nora just pouted sadly, sad that she couldn't catch Rennie and Jonny. - <…> Either way, the need for food had driven us from our hiding place, and now, like the struggling groups we occasionally passed, we were wandering nomads - refugees from a war torn land, dragging out feet through the halls in desperate search for food. - //"Nomads?" - flashed through the minds of each of the students. “Have Nomadic groups appeared in Beacon? Wow". - <…> My scroll beeped and I drew it out, yet again ignoring the messages from Pyrrha, Nora and the girls of Team RWBY – all demanding our surrender – and instead looking at the new one sent out by an unknown caller.

"You could have given up and none of this would have happened,” Pyrrha whispered quietly to Jaune. He shuddered and looked at her with a mixture of fear and reflection. In the end, fear won. Shaking his head, Jaune uttered just one word.

"Never."

Pyrrha just shrugged, mentally thinking that Jaune was truly brave for refusing such a generous offer.

<…> "All you can eat food and drink at the cafeteria. Come and feast, with the only condition being that men lay down their arms and surrender to us. You will be fed and cared for as POW's." - Glynda shook her head, truly respecting this starvation technique. - <…> It was the same message we'd received several times through the day, and I growled as I stuffed the offending thing back into my pockets. Up ahead, Ren's stomach grumbled and he looked at the screen, no doubt wondering if putting himself through Nora's treatment was worth a full stomach.

Nora approached with interest, waiting to see what Rennie would choose.

<…> With a sigh, he too shook his head and trudged on.

Nora hit the back of her chair with irritation and bitterness, staring at the real Ren with resentment. The guy himself just shrugged and smiled faintly, as if saying that he was not to blame for such a decision by the book Ren.

<…> "How many do you think have already given up?" Ren asked, picking his way over to a closed door and nudging it open. He poked his head inside before gesturing that it was clear. - Ozpin shook his head, listening as Glinda continued to speak in the same tone, not even trying to change the intonation of her voice, which could be similar to the voice of a young guy. - <…> Jaune nodded and stepped inside, the two of them spreading out to raid and scavenge the room. I pulled open a drawer and pushed aside frilly underwear, taking a moment to stare at the long, purple, object hidden within, before I sighed and laid it to the side. I couldn't eat that, and probably wouldn't even if I could.

Several girls blushed, luckily Ruby, Nora, Cinder and Emerald were not among them. Miss Goodwitch's cheeks also turned a little red, but she was able to continue reading in her calm tone.

<…> "No idea," I said. "Some probably have. This whole thing is pretty much over." - Glinda glanced at the headmaster for a moment, who was hiding part of his face behind his mug of coffee, making it impossible for the deputy to see his expression. But she mentally hoped that behind the mug he was hiding nervousness and doom. Although, they both knew that this could not happen just because of ordinary training. But still, how Glinda wanted to dream about such a moment. - <…>Ren agreed with a hum.

<…> "I can't imagine how many of us were captured in the cafeteria. Do you think any escaped after you had them charge the doors?"

<…> "Maybe…" I didn't really care, but couldn't say that. "I hope so, but even if they did, it's not like life is any easier out here. Part of me wonders if the people already captured are the real winners. At least they get food." - and again Jaune felt so many eyes on him, but this time, it was not as nervous and embarrassing as the previous times. Little by little, he began to come to terms with the idea that his doppelganger would not only cause him embarrassment, but also end up in life-threatening situations. Just like it happened with Weiss. The only thing he could do in such a situation was endure. - <…> Our stomachs grumbled in unison once more.

<…> "Yeah, well they don't have to deal with Nora," Ren said. "You can surrender if you want, Jaune. Nora would probably still be after me and let you go." - Jaune only smiled sadly when he heard such words. But his smile was broken as soon as he met Weiss's gaze. She smiled sweetly, looking at him expectantly. If it were in another place and in another situation, Jaune would be happy, but now... he shuddered, turning away sharply. - <…> Oh, I'd definitely considered that – and kept doing so every time one of those evil messages came through. Those cruel monsters had even sent a picture of a beef dinner with the last one, and my mouth watered even now at the thought of it.

<…> It dried soon after as I thought of Pyrrha and Weiss, however. The latter wanted to kill me, while the former… well, I wasn't really sure what Pyrrha wanted, but judging from how weirdly she'd been acting before, I had a feeling I didn't want to find out. - Pyrrha squinted her gaze to the right, colliding with blue eyes that looked puzzled, as if asking what her book version wanted to do. But Pyrrha couldn’t answer, as it would have been too embarrassing and impossible for her to do in reality. Therefore, she could only smile awkwardly and shrug, leaving the silent question unanswered. - <…> (Yet again, you're an idiot Jaune…)

This time, everyone in the room focused their attention on the blond, who could only blink in confusion and also blush from so much attention.

"Hmm,” he cleared his voice, and then asked a question. "I do not understand something?"

"No!" Pyrrha replied too quickly for a thoughtful answer. Jaune looked at her skeptically. "It’s just that Ren, book Ren, apparently wanted to say that in captivity I would protect you from Weiss and other troubles. Yes, that's exactly what I would do!"

Weiss's eye twitched. If Pyrrha weren't so strong and kind, the heiress would definitely be outraged by the girl's action. But... a slight smirk appeared on Weiss's lips as she began to await further action.

The way Pyrrha Nikos tried to confess and at the same time hide her feelings from Arc was really entertaining and interesting.

Jaune was silent for a few moments, and then looked at Weiss, Yang, Nora, and finally, at his friend Ren. After thinking a little, the guy nodded, realizing that his partner’s words were quite rational. Pyrrha, as already said, was a good friend who would not leave him in trouble. But he was a little doubtful that Pyrrha would be able to guard him all the time until the end of the test. She still needs to rest... although Jaune sometimes doubts it, seeing how Pyrrha acted.

Somehow he got distracted again. Shaking his head instinctively, the young guy stared at Pyrrha, who was waiting with bated breath for his answer. In fact, it even seemed to him that it was not only the champion who was waiting for his answer. Well, Jaune wasn't going to disappoint them.

"Okay,” Jaune shrugged.

"“I-I mean, it won’t even be captivity, but just... rest,” Pyrrha blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Okay,” Jaune repeated, causing everyone who knew about Pyrrha’s feelings to choke on air and stare at the blond in shock. "From what I have heard so far, captivity would be a better solution in this situation. I mean, yeah, Weiss would probably kill me, like, twice if she could, but she'll forgive me after that. Yes, my Snow Angel?"

Glances shifted from the blue-eyed blond to the heiress, who was looking at Arc without any expression. In that moment of silence, everyone expected Weiss to get angry again and rush at Jaune to once again beat him up because of his terrible and unbearable nickname. But to everyone's surprise, Weiss just exhaled calmly.

Five times.

And then, in her calm and balanced tone, she said a few words:

"Would you please continue reading, Ms. Goodwitch?" Weiss glanced at Glinda, who mirrored the heiress' gaze. "Because I'm afraid we're already looking forward to what might happen next. Aren't we?"

"Yes!" Pyrrha said the fastest, causing some to grin or chuckle.

"Yeah,” Yang grinned widely, lightly pushing her partner on the shoulder, “we’ve all already waited, haven’t we, Blakey?”

The black-haired girl only twitched her bow, but it was this elusive action that answered the question asked. And at the same time, Nora, keeping her mouth closed, began to nod furiously, receiving puzzled looks from the students. Ren, seeing all this, only smiled peacefully, feeling that there would be no more such skirmishes in the future. Well, or he just hoped so.

"Well,” Ozpin took a sip of coffee from his mug. "It was really interesting. But still, as Miss Schnee said, we really should continue reading the book. Glinda?"

"Yes,” Glinda answered, diving deeper into the book and beginning to read aloud again. - <…> "I'll stick with you," I said instead. "I'm not leaving you behind, Ren."

<…> "Thank you, Jaune. I appreciate it."

Blue and pink eyes met again and exchanged silent answers that were clear without words.

<…> The conversation dwindled soon after, and we returned to ransacking the room, I having given up on the clothes drawers and instead taken to scrabbling around under the beds. It was a complete mess, but then again, whose room wasn't? This one looked like it had three girls and one guy, and judging from what I'd seen already, I felt equal parts jealous and sorry for the guy. All of that was wiped away a second later when I saw a glint of light flicker off a plastic case. There, at the junction between the bed frame and the wall… I'd definitely seen something. I crawled forward to get a better look and was rewarded for the effort by the discovery of a small chocolate bar barely longer than my hand, and thinner than two fingers. At any other time it would have been a small snack, but right now it felt like I held the answer to life itself in my grip.

Emerald closed her eyes for a moment, remembering some moments from her past life. In that life where she had not yet met Cinder. The girl leaned back in her chair, listening to the slightly monotonous voice of the professor.

<…> But it also came with a damning problem. I could eat this now and Ren would never know. I could save it for later too, and tell him I need the toilet and eat it in a cubicle. I don't technically have to share this… - - Jaune coughed embarrassedly, and, ahead of the possible words of his friends, he apologized for the thoughts of his double. To this, Glinda simply said. "First of all, Mr. Arc, you should listen to the text to the end, and not apologize in the middle of a sentence. If you want to apologize, wait until the end of the chapter."

"S-sorry,” the guy apologized, feeling his cheeks turn treacherously red again.

“Nevermind,” Glinda shook her head. "Secondly, didn’t I say before that you shouldn’t take responsibility for the actions of your doubles in the book?"

"Yes!" Ruby jumped, and then began to speak passionately. "Miss Goodwitch is right! Jaune, I'm sure Jaune from the book will definitely share the chocolate with Ren! You will see!"

At his friend's enthusiasm, Jaune could only smile and nod. Ozpin just chuckled as he watched the two leaders' actions as Glinda continued reading the book.

<…> The thoughts were pervasive, but I shook them off with a reluctant sigh. Ren was my only companion in this mad world, and also my only hope of survival should anyone find me – be that female patrol or some guys who wanted to shake me down for food. I couldn't have Ren starve and faint, or I'd be screwed.

"I told you so!" Ruby said with a drop of self-satisfaction, looking at the blond. He just nodded, not the least bit disappointed by this. Apparently, he thought too poorly of himself, since he thought that his double would eat chocolate without Ren. "You would never do that!"

"Yeah,” Pyrrha smiled at her leader. "Jaune, no matter what happens, always worry about his comrades."

"Pyrrha,” the guy whispered quietly, looking at the champion. But she only looked into Jaune’s eyes, and then returned to Glinda. Jaune looked at Pyrrha for a while longer, and then at his other friends. Maybe. they are indeed right. The blonde could only smile, feeling overwhelmed with warm feelings towards his friends.

<…>"I found something," I called, pulling myself out from under the bed. - After falling silent for a moment, the deputy director wet her throat, and then continued speaking. - <…>"Food?"

<…> "Chocolate." I held it up with a small grin, and Ren quickly hopped onto the bed to stare at it. For a second, I feared he might bite it straight out of my hand, but he composed himself quickly. We were both so hungry that I didn't see the point in waiting. The wrapper came open easily, and I made sure to be as meticulous as possible as I snapped it into two pieces. - - Ren looked at the book confusedly, slightly wondering how hungry he was in the book, since his friend thought such a thing just because of his appearance. - <…> It wouldn't be good to make it seem like I was short-changing him. We needed one another.

Cinder hid her smirk behind her palm as she mentally mocked the 'friendship' between Arc and Ren. No matter how she looked, all she saw was only the selfish goal of survival. And the fact that it was necessary to maintain relationships in the group was a second matter, if not a third. Although, the young girl still appreciated the sobriety of Arc’s decision, who was able not to succumb to hunger. Most likely, she would have done the same if she were in his place.

But, she wasn't. And she wouldn't.

<…> "I never thought I'd feel so relieved to find something like this," Ren said, a content smile on his face as he nibbled on the treat. I did the same, even though I wanted to force it all down at once. It would be gone soon enough, and it was better to savour the taste while it lasted. - and meanwhile Glinda continued to tell the adventures of Jaune Arc and Lai Ren. - <…> Honestly, we were just lucky we could stop at just about any room for water. All the dorms had an en-suite bathroom, and the sinks all worked. If it wasn't for that, the girls could have just parked sentries at all the men's public toilets and captured us there.

<…> "Do you think there's any hope of us actually winning this?" I asked, basking in our tiny victory. "Men against women, I mean. Do you think we've got a shot?" - Ozpin looked at the book thoughtfully. //“Can they win? Of course,” the headmaster took a sip of wonderful coffee while his fingers tightened on the mug itself.

//"There is a one step difference between winning and losing. Sometimes, an impossible victory happens because of chance, and sometimes, a victory that should have ended in a win ends in a loss. There are many factors that affect the final outcome...I should know,” the man covered his eyes, remembering how in the past he had been so close to their victory that should have ended his suffering. But, he was too focused on himself, and eventually, the people who were walking behind him started to slowly disappear. One by one...

Until he was left alone.

Ozpin took off his glasses and wiped them, remembering for a few languid seconds the faces of those who had long since disappeared from this world. When the glasses were back on his face, he was Headmaster of Beacon again, listening to a comedic story about Jon Arc. The man smiled, taking another sip of coffee.

<…> "We might have had if it was a fair fight. Our two teams are stacked against us, but there are plenty of guys in Beacon, and the older years can fight a lot better than us." Ren sighed and looked forlornly down at the last piece. "The problem is that most of them have already been caught. Right now, we're badly outnumbered."

<…> "So, we don't have a chance."

<…> Ren shrugged and ate the last bit of chocolate. I'd already finished mine a second before. As for the question, well, I supposed it didn't need an answer. I only had to look at my scroll to see that the girls controlled all of the objective markers Ozpin had set up. - several students approached the professor with interest. Some even remembered that the team that scored more of these same points won. - <…> They were linked to every student through an app, but the guys weren't even trying to defend the points. To be fair, there probably wasn't much hope. The girls would send loads of people there, and they'd be led by their strongest.

Yang moved closer with interest, mainly paying attention only to the “strongest..”

<…> I certainly didn't fancy my chances trying to take Yang or Nora off a control point, and doubted anyone else did either. - - Yang grinned triumphantly and spread her arms to the sides, as if saying, “here she is - the strongest,” when she heard her name. But noticing that no one even paid attention to her, her grin disappeared, being replaced by a dissatisfied grimace, and her hands fell limply down. - <…> My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scuffling noise off to one side – and still in the dorm we were both inside of. Ren's hand fell to his weapon immediately and the two of us backed away, suddenly aware of the possibility that someone else might be in the room. There were no good options and no allies in this madness. A woman would attack us while a man would try to rob us.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see who would show up next. Women? Or men? Jaune licked his dry lips, feeling the adrenaline rush over him, though there was no particular reason for it. Nora, who sat to Pyrrha's left, still covered her mouth with her hands, but her glittering eyes spoke volumes about what she was experiencing at that moment.

<…> We shared a quick glance, and I nodded to the side, urging Ren to check it out while I held the door. Ostensibly, that was so that I could make sure no one interfered. Realistically, it was so I could run away faster if things looked bad. - Glinda didn't even pay attention to her student's thoughts; instead, she wet her throat again and then continued reading. - <…> Ren reached one hand forward, towards a pile of blankets against one wall. We hadn't noticed it earlier, or if we had we'd dismissed it as some random mess. They were definitely moving, however, and it was getting stronger as Ren moved forward. With a sudden lunge, he grabbed the sheets and tore them away – revealing the danger beneath.

All the students moved closer, waiting for Miss Goodwich to tell them who was hiding under the blankets. But Glinda, to the surprise of many, remained silent. Her eyes ran over the lines, but her lips opened and closed silently until finally she slammed the book shut with a smacking sound. And then, under the surprised gaze of the headmaster, she stood up and disappeared behind the kitchen door.

Everyone was silent.

" Uh? And what was that?" Yang asked in a whisper for some reason. No one answered her. And when Ozpin was about to get up and move after his deputy, the culprit of all that was happening came out of the kitchen, holding... a glass of water? Glinda silently made her way to her seat, and then, sitting down, took a sip of water, closing her eyes for a few seconds and feeling the desired moisture in her throat. Licking her lips of the remaining moisture, she set the glass aside and picked up the book again. Coughing, she continued reading, though many people were still staring at her and her slightly wet lips.

<…> Canine eyes blinked up at us, and a stubby tail wagged. - Rounding her face and widening her eyes, Ruby could only open and close her mouth as words tried to come out of her mouth. The rest of her team, along with Jaune's team, also began to guess who was hiding under the blankets. - <…> "Zwei," I gasped, hand falling from my sword as I sagged with relief. Ren held his head with one hand and sighed, storing away his weapons a second later. -

"Zwei!" Ruby nevertheless screamed, abruptly jumping up from her seat and clutching her head. She stared in horror at her team. They, like the other people in the room, could only look at Ruby in confusion. Seeing the misunderstanding on the part of her friends and team, the girl narrowed her eyes sharply and almost screamed. "Zwei stayed in our room!!!"

Yang and Weiss simultaneously widened their eyes, and although Blake also repeated the gesture, unlike her friends, there was no fear in her gaze. There was happiness there.

"God! Ruby, Zwei is left alone in the room!!!" Yang jumped up abruptly from her seat.

"Without food!" Following the two, Weiss stood up and looked at them with even greater horror. - "We haven’t fed him since the morning! He won't survive without us!"

Blake jumped up after her comrades and with a smile on half her face, shouted:

"Hurray~!!!"

Ruby glanced sharply at Blake, and then almost hissed through her lips:

"No Yay! We've got to get Zwei to us!" Ruby said emphatically, putting her arms at her sides like some kind of mommy. Yang only snorted with laughter at this sight, turning down the heat of her worry over the little Corgi. In fact, the blonde was even willing to bet that Zwei could survive on his own with his strength. But Ruby, eh Ruby, had always loved her little pup. And so did Weiss, who at the moment was ready to faint from the situation. "Director Ozpin! We need to get Zwei to us! He can't survive without us! There are too many dangers and villains in the big world who are ready to happily attack a poor and defenseless corgi!"

At this time, some villains looked thoughtfully at Ruby, who was using her Semblance while running from side to side. After listening to the young girl’s speech for a while, Mercury stared at Emerald with the same thoughtful look.

"Hey Emy, are you feeling the urge to kick the little corgi?" the guy asked quietly, causing Emerald to blink and look at him in confusion. "No? Hmm, strange, I thought that you really wanted this, you said that you hate dogs."

Emerald blinked again, skipping past another speech about the dangers of the outside world to stare with her red eyes at Mercury, who was sitting with his elbows against the back of a chair.

"What makes you think that?" Emerald shook her head sharply, and then continued with irritation. - No, I don't want to kick a corgi. And I don't hate dogs. I just don't like them,” the dark-haired girl twitched her shoulder, remembering the bad times she'd had with dogs. "If it was a silver bulldog, though, I'd kick him in the ass to stop calling me that stupid nickname!"

Mercury grabbed his chest, and then spoke with a breath:

"Oh, Emerald, did you give me a nickname? I'm struck to the core!"

Emerald's eye twitched, looking at the idiot in front of her.

"The heart is on the other side, idiot,” Mercury immediately changed his position, now correctly holding onto the area of ​​the heart. "And in general, shut up, you’re interfering with listening."

"Okay, my gem,” the girl's other eye began to twitch. Mercury grinned, also returning his attention to the unfolding picture. Apparently, during their brief conversation, this girl, Red, had been able to describe so many horrors that she was ready to break through the wall with her own strength just to save the poor dog. He chuckled and put his hands behind his head, leaning back against the back of his chair and listening to what was going on.

"Miss Rose!" Glinda couldn't stand it any longer and raised her voice, causing the girl to stop and widen her terrified eyes even more. Ozpin, who was also watching the scene, was ready to widen his eyes, as it seemed to him for a few moments that a silver light shone in Ruby's eyes. After coughing a few times and seeing no light, the Headmaster looked thoughtfully and apprehensively into his mug, wondering about the coffee. But finding nothing, Ozpin turned back to Ruby and Glinda.

"Ms. Rose,” Glinda said again, but in a calmer, soothing tone. "Don't worry about your corgi, I'm sure our teaching staff will keep an eye on your pet, and when we get out of this room, Zwei will be safe and sound."

Ruby swallowed a lump, and then, with moisture in her eyes, asked hesitantly:

"Oh, really?"

"Yes." Glinda smiled, seeing the young leader calming down. "Now, let's get back to reading the book."

The Reaper blinked, and then blushed, realizing what she had just done. Grabbing the hood of her cloak, she abruptly threw it over her head, closing her eyes in shame and embarrassment.

At such actions, Yang only grinned mercilessly, remembering some moments from the past when little Ruby also threw herself at everyone and everything, when Zwei disappeared for the first time for the whole day. The then Reaper alarmed the whole house and the whole street looking for her corgi. But in the end, Zwei was just dozing in Crow's closet.

In fact, Young is still surprised that the corgi can be in that closet without any gas mask from the stench that reigns not only in the closet, but also in his uncle’s room.

"Well, I hope you're right,” Weiss whispered quietly, looking at Glinda. The heiress was really worried about her... or rather not her own, but Zwei's, who was incredibly close to her heart. He was so small and helpless after all... Weiss shook her head, remembering that Zwei had Aura, but even so, worry and anxiety overwhelmed her. She wasn't the only one, Ruby, who sat to her left, still hiding under her hood, was muttering something about Zwei and the dangers of the world.

And the only one who was happy about this situation mentally purred with pleasure.

Glinda, meanwhile, took the book and found the place where she had left off. Clearing her throat, she began to read.

<…> "Zwei," I gasped, hand falling from my sword as I sagged with relief. Ren held his head with one hand and sighed, storing away his weapons a second later.

<…> "About the only thing in the academy not actively trying to attack us," Ren said. "It's about time we had some luck. What's he doing around this area, though?"

<…> "I'm not sure. There's no way Ruby or Yang would leave him on his own. He's probably just roaming. It's not like the teachers are around to tell them off." - Glinda narrowed her eyes slightly at such words. But without stopping, she continued reading. - <…> The poor thing probably got bored in RWBY's dorm anyway, and not for the first time I wondered how they handled the situation of their secret dog needing to go for a potty break. I ignored the horrifying thoughts and knelt down to stroke his head.

"Wait,” Jaune suddenly raised his hands up, causing Glinda to stop. "Miss Goodwitch, did you know about Zwei?!"

"Of course,” the professor shrugged. “The bylaws state that pets like cats, dogs, birds or Grimm are prohibited from being kept or owned in the common rooms, though,” Glinda glanced sideways at Ozpin, who was grinning faintly while sipping his coffee. "someone decided to give you the right to care for and have a pet. But!"

Glinda shouted sharply, causing most of Team RWBY to fall silent and look at her warily.

"But!" Glinda continued. "If your corgi harms or injures one of the students or professors, in one way or another, then he will no longer be in this Academy!"

There was silence.

"Ahem,” Jaune coughed quietly, attracting Pyrrha’s attention. "How can Zwei even harm anyone?"

“Eat an essay, lecture on a subject, ruin or chew someone’s clothes,” the champion shrugged. "There are many ways to harm students, but most of them are too minor."

“Gotcha,” Jaune nodded thoughtfully. And then he suddenly froze. "Wait, the rules were that Grimm couldn't be used as a pet?"

Nora, who wanted to ask this question as soon as she heard it, but could not do so due to the deal with her partner, suddenly relaxed, filled with a feeling of gratitude towards her leader.

"Yes,” Glinda cringed for a moment as her mind pictured Peter keeping his own Borbatask secret for months, until one day his ‘pet’ died. It was that day that the entire staff finally found out about the secret pet. And honestly, Glinda still couldn't believe that a grown man would try to tame a Grimm. It was impossible! But Peter had tried and failed. "Let's just say that too much had happened at Beacon Academy that necessitated this decree."

Valkyrie, who was listening to the professor, became sad when she remembered that Grimm at the Trial. Perhaps if she had known sooner, she would have been given a chance to tame that handsome man! Eh, it's a pity that he can't be brought back....

"And since we finished here, I think we should continue,” Glinda looked at the book. - <…> "Good boy. Don't tell your owners where we are, okay?"

<…> Zwei nodded once and turned back to something behind him. He gripped it in his mouth and dragged it across the floor and towards the door. Ren and I stared at it, eyes suddenly wide. It was a bag of dog food.

Glinda blinked in confusion, as did almost all the students around her. But her eyes, which continued to run along the lines of text, began to slowly widen, and her mouth opened slightly from the shock that she experienced.

The smartest students began to realize where the book was going. Ren slapped himself in the face with the palm of his hand, feeling not only sympathy for his book version, but also mild disgust. Emerald just smiled nostalgically.

"Ahem..." <…> Zwei froze at the door, noticing our hungry gazes, and then figuring out what they were aimed towards. The corgi growled around the bag gripped between its teeth. Its hackles rose, eyes narrowing as it backed up just a fraction more. I swallowed and took a step forwards. - now even Ruby realized where the book was leading them, which is why she even took off her hood and stared at Ren and Jaune with anger.

"Don't you dare steal my dog's food!!!"

"Miss Rose!"

"They want to steal Zwai's food!" Ruby pointed an offended finger at the embarrassed guys. “It’s inhumane to steal food from a defenseless corgi! Jaune, how could you?!"

Feeling a lot of looks, the blond just swallowed the lump in his throat, and then said in a slightly nervous tone.

"I-I'm sure my double won't steal or eat food! Ruby, I swear I wouldn't do something like that!"

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the boy's blue eyes. After a while, she nodded slowly. But the gaze still remained wary towards the two guys. Glinda just sighed, realizing that when Ozpin was talking, there were much fewer such situations. After straightening her curls, she began to read.

<…> The corgi fled. We leapt after it. There was no honour to it, no dignity, but as the two us ran through the halls in pursuit of the small and speedy ball of fluff, none of that mattered. Food, edible food – gross, yes, but filling. With nothing else on offer, it was all we had and we weren't about to let it slip away. - Ruby gave the two guys a death glare but didn't say anything. Yang, who was sitting to her right, raised her thumb and mouthed, “Like stealing candy from a child, well done guys!” I think it goes without saying that Ren and Jaune felt as if they really were villains, like Roman Torchwick. - <…> Zwei ducked down a side corridor and we gave chase, never more than ten metres away, even with the little thing ducking under chairs to try and give us the slip. There was a dead end ahead, and the dog ducked into the classroom on the right. I followed and Ren dashed in close behind. With a mighty leap, I flew over Zwei's head and closed the window he'd been headed towards. Trapped between us, the corgi placed the bag down and stood atop it, growling.

"Zwei,” Weiss bit her lip in alarm, feeling overwhelmed with anxiety for the little corgi and anger at the two guys. However, her opinion was supported by Ruby and Yang. And only Blake crossed her fingers and prayed for the best. Of course, not in favor of this little ball of horror and nightmare.

<…> "Ruby and Yang will give you more," I said, salivating as I moved a hand towards the bag, then withdrew it when he bit. Ren took his chance and snatched it from behind, then stood atop a desk when Zwei tried to bite his ankles. - everyone held their breath. - <…> "I've got it!" he said.

<…> I cheered. "Tonight, we eat like Kings!"

Ruby silently stared at the two boys, who looked embarrassed and guilty. She opened her mouth but didn't say anything, instead she just stared at Goodwitch again. But even this made Ren and Jaune feel enormous guilt. The look they saw from Yang only made them feel even more shame and guilt.

<…> Zwei whined pitifully at us, which was probably the moment we realised we were fighting a toy-sized dog over a bag of its food. Ren's cheeks flushed and he clambered down off the table. He didn't let go of the food, however. We needed it.- The real Ren also blushed a little, as did Jaune. - <…> Self-preservation guided my next action… as in the self-preservation that warned me how bad I'd be in for it if Ruby or Yang ever found out I'd stolen food from their dog. I sat down and patted the ground next to me.

<…> "We'll share it between the three of us. We're not monsters, Zwei. We just need to eat as well." - Ruby thawed a little when she heard these words. But even so, she could not easily forgive her best friend and friend of her friend, that is, Ren. - <…> Ren seemed to agree, and sat down with me – Zwei doing the same opposite. My friend, whose clothes were tattered and dirty, tore open the bag of kibble and brought out a handful.

"Huh, will they really eat dog food?" Mercury whispered with mockery. Emerald just shrugged, remembering the forgotten taste of past food. And Neo, who mostly continued to sit quietly and listen, only mirrored Emerald’s gesture, although her grin showed her attitude towards what happened next.

<…> "Three portions?" he asked.

<…> "Three? I really think that should be seven."

All the people in the room, except for Glinda, froze and stared at the professor with incomprehension. And after that, everyone began to have their own guesses about the next actions. And Goodwitch at this time did not even try to read further; instead, she took a glass of water and drank a little, again getting rid of the dry throat. And after a moment, adjusting her glasses, she continued reading.

<…> The voice came from our left and the entrance to the classroom. I recognised it instantly, but my eyes still strayed over nonetheless. Cardin stood there, - Jaune suddenly darkened and let out a weak sigh. Pyrrha and Jaune's other friends also frowned, realizing where the book was leading. - <…> his normally burnished armour dull and dented. His hair hung loose and his smile was feral. Behind him, his entire team waited.

"Hah, strange, isn’t this his usual appearance,” Yang asked with a nasty grin, causing some to chuckle, but Jaune only sighed again, feeling that this skirmish would not end well.

<…> "Cardin," I greeted, mind whirling for something to say. I didn't harbour any thoughts this might end peacefully – not with Cardin's mace planted against the ground in front of him. The four of them looked far too feral for it, their faces gaunt with hunger and haunted by the terrible things they'd doubtless seen. - Ozpin looked thoughtfully into the void, feeling that the idea of ​​​​War Games would definitely appeal to James. - <…> "Jauney," the much larger and hungrier man replied. "So good to see you. I couldn't help but notice you've come across some bounty recently."

<…> He nodded to the dog kibble in my hand. "Me and the boys have been pretty hungry. Times are hard out there. What say you share some with an old friend, hmm?"

Pyrrha only frowned deeper, feeling the desire to beat up the Cardinal team awakening in her again, just because of such behavior. Once again, Jaune just sighed sadly, feeling as if he had returned to those days when Cardin would push him around at any given moment.

<…> I wasn't an idiot, even if I wasn't the smartest tool in class. Cardin wasn't asking for a portion – he wanted the whole bag, and likely whatever else we had on us as well. Hell, he probably wanted Zwei too, as horrible as that sounded. - - At this moment, Ruby, Yang and Weiss widened their eyes in horror. The Reaper wrapped herself even tighter in her cloak, feeling a chill run through her.//“Zwei was left alone... He was left alone with these monsters!!!” - horror reigned in her eyes. Glinda, meanwhile, cleared her throat, causing everyone to look at her. "Next is your note, Mr. Ren."

Ren was embarrassed, but still nodded, not knowing what his double could say. Well... it would be better if the double didn’t say anything.

<…> (And I must confess that the thought did cross my mind a little, even if I dispelled it a second later. I make no apologies. Times were hard and Zwei could look like a cow if I squinted my eyes hard enough.)

Ren felt many stares, including one of pure horror on Ruby's face. She looked at him as if he was really ready to eat Zwai right now. The only thing the guy could do was use his Semblance to avoid choking on his breath.

"Ahem, don’t worry, I’m not attracted to Zwei as food,” Ren tried to smile as best as he could. Luckily, the Semblance was still working when Blake moved closer and asked:

"You are sure? I could get it for you,” Blake didn’t even pay attention to the shocked looks of her team. Even Ren heard Jaune choke on air, and Pyrrha hit him too hard, causing him to hit the table. But now, he was only focused on the golden eyes. After thinking a little, he finally answered Blake's question.

"No. I'm sure I'm not attracted to Zwei in the form of food."

"Well, if you change your mind..."

"I won't change my mind."

Blake fell silent, sighing heavily and feeling her wonderful plan coming apart at the seams. Although... Team Cardinal was still at large, so the chance that Zwei would fall into their hands was also quite high. She grinned, not paying attention to how many continued to look at her and then at Ren in shock.

Ruby just stared at Glinda with tears in her eyes, asking her to tell her that Zwai would be okay. Please. Glinda flinched when she met the silver eyes, but still she overcame herself and continued reading so that the students would calm down about the corgi.

<…> "I'll share out some portions," I said. "Then we can go our different ways."

<…> "So soon? I really think we should stay and chat for a little bit." Cardin nodded his head to the side, and his three companions spread out in a wide semi-circle, cutting off our escape. The leader stalked towards us. "I'll bet we all have stories to tell, huh? How about we share them over a nice, friendly meal?"

Nora narrowed her eyes when she realized what Cardin was trying to do. He wanted to force Ren to give up their food, and with it something else... Nora would definitely break four pairs of legs when she was able to escape from the locked rooms.

<…> Ren stood and drew his weapons, and I did the same beside and a little behind him. I didn't like our odds, and with them blocking the exit, I couldn't see a way to escape either. As much as I hated the idea, it looked like a fight was our only option. I assessed our forces, a tired and exhausted Ren, me, and a dog. It probably said a lot about the situation when I counted Zwei among us, and akin to a huntsman-in-training, but he had teeth, and that probably meant he was tougher than I was.

The Haven students stared at the blushing Jaune in confusion. Luckily, Pyrrha decided to answer for Jaune.

“He’s just too modest,” the champion smiled at the third-year students. Although, Jaune didn't like how pointedly Mercury exchanged glances with Pyrrha. And while this was happening, Glinda managed to take another sip of water and return to the text again.

<…> It still didn't measure up to Team CRDL… but as Cardin lunged forward and the others charged, the chance for strategy was torn out of my hands either way. Crocea Mors came up in time to block a crushing blow to my head, and then I was lost in the melee. - - Most of the students held their breath. - <…> To be frank, I hate fighting against people. I'm not a coward… not when I'm here being a huntsman, and even Weiss will admit I can hold my own against a Beowolf or an Ursa if I have to. Those things aren't so hard, though, and I normally have backup. Grimm charge in the front, and I can use my sword and shield to dispatch them. If things go bad, the team will help me out.

<…> People are different. People are tricky. I parried a blow from Russel's dagger, but was caught in the legs from behind by the butt of Sky's halberd. I fell hard, but managed to reach out and grab Russel by the Mohawk – and he fell with a pained scream atop me. That little cover afforded me was enough to make Sky hesitate, and I was quick to drive my foot up between his leg as thanks. - For the first time, the team from Haven looked at Jaune with some kind of appraising look. Especially Neo and Mercury. They exchanged glances and, with identical grins, continued to listen to Miss Goodwitch. - <…> He toppled with an agonised squeal, but I didn't have the time to celebrate. Russel was crawling over me to try and reach something. A dagger? No, worse – the dog food!

A laugh was heard, but no one noticed who gave it, so everyone quickly returned to reading. And Ozpin only hid a smile thanks to his mug of coffee, sincerely amused by the events in the book. And yet, the idea of ​​arranging this in reality began to take on special meaning. Ozpin grinned, already wondering who would side with him and who would be against him.

<…> With me down and Ren engaged, not to mention Zwei distracted as he gnawed on Cardin's head, the two rolling across the floor, the prize of the whole fight was left open – and Russel no doubt wanted to take it and run. I caught his leg before he could and dragged him back, then pressed my hand down on his head and tried to crawl over him instead. If I could get the food and run, Team CRDL would probably ignore Ren and then I could come back for him. I told myself that, anyway. It helped me feel better. Ren would be fine. He was always fine.

"Thank you, Jaune."

"You're welcome, Ren."

<…> "Get off me!" Russel growled, rolling over and jabbing an elbow into my eye socket. "Come on, man. We just want some grub!"

<…> "Then go surrender at the cafeteria," I hissed, and cuffed the man around the face. My eyes were far higher, focused on the kibble. "We found this. Finders keepers!"

<…> "Spoils of war," Russel argued, but yelped when I bit his hand.

<…> "Get this dog off my head!" Cardin roared, rolling past them struggling with the tiny – but very vicious – corgi. - Yang laughed, feeling that Zwei really was her favorite. Making a moron scream out loud, what could be better? Hmm, maybe beat up the idiot herself? The blonde grinned bloodthirstyly. - <…> I knew I'd been right to broker peace with the thing. If the thing could live with Ruby and Yang as its main carers, it was probably hardy enough to survive a bomb, and strong enough to bring down its own food.

"Go Zwei!" Ruby couldn’t bear it and screamed out loud. "You can beat Cardin!"

<…> The battle raged on around us. Ren fought with Dove, while I struggled with Russel and Cardin did battle with Zwei. Of Sky, there was little sign other than the occasional whimper as he clutched his bruised groin. In all honesty, the fighting was weak and petty – as befit our exhausted hearts and minds. Had Miss Goodwitch been there to see us, she would have wept – or more likely made us weep – for showing such a lack of discipline. - Glinda smiled, really wanting to make her students cry. After thinking a little, she made up her mind. "Yes, you were right, Mr. Arc. After we get out of the rooms, you, Mr. Ren and the Cardinal team will have some extra study after school. I hope you learn tactics, strategy and discipline. Do you agree with me, Mr. Arc?"
Двойные стандарты такие двойные

Jaune could only nod as he felt the color drain from his face, leaving only deathly white.

Pyrrha smiled sadly at her partner, but she did not dare offer her help. The last time Goodwitch wanted to “check” her, Pyrrha could barely make it to her dorm, and then fell exhausted on her bed without even undressing. Subsequently, she categorically refused “extra classes.”

"Do you agree, Mr. Arc?" Glinda repeated with emphasis, to which she received a sharp nod from the blond. The professor smiled and looked at Ren. "Do you, Mr. Ren, want to say something?"

“No, mam,” Ren answered too quickly, feeling a faint fear towards the professor. The guy still remembered what Pyrrha was like after these “extra classes.” Therefore, the answer was obvious. "I agree."

"Great,” Glinda smiled, not noticing how Neo looked at her studyingly and with a slight hint of interest. "Then let's continue..." - <…> And so lost were we in our struggle that we failed to realise just how much noise we were making. Others did not, and it took a new arrival for our battle to come to an end. The new entrants were eight in number, well-armoured and well-fed, and most importantly… They were female.

Everyone held their breath, realizing what would happen next.

<…> "Well, well, well," the girl in the lead said, holding a sword in one hand. "What do we have here? Six men scrambling over some dog food. Fitting, I suppose." - Yang grinned slightly, looking forward to an interesting battle. - <…> My heart fell to the floor, and I was so shocked I didn't even feel Russel push me off and pick up his weapon. All thoughts of in-fighting were lost, replaced with nervous fear. Even Zwei let go of Cardin's head and backed away warily.

All the guys felt a nervous tremor.

<…> "Girl scouts…" I breathed. - Glшnda stopped and looked at Ren. He already understood the hint, so he just nodded. - <…> (And not the kind which sold cookies either, unless you wanted them delivered via the tip of a sword. The Girl Scouts were, quite literally, scouts for the female forces, who were tasked not with defending key objectives, but scouting the halls and locating any straggling men, which they would then capture. Even over just a day, they had become a symbol of terror for all men.)

At this information, Glinda only received a few nods, while the rest were focused on the further battle that was about to take place. Sighing slightly, Glinda continued reading, although she was really tired of reading everything out loud. And if it weren’t for the glass of water, her throat would not have survived this day at all. But somehow she got distracted by her thoughts...

<…> "We're doomed," Sky breathed, his agony forgotten. "What are we supposed to do? Cardin…?"

<…> "I… I don't know." Cardin ground his teeth together and raised his voice. "Oi, you lot better clear off if you don't want to mess with Team Cardinal!"

Yang couldn't help but laugh at this statement. And like an avalanche, Blake began to laugh for Yang, and after Pyrrha, and, in the end, just anyone started laughing. And it was all due to the fact that almost all the people in the room knew Cardin and his team, they distinguished themselves too well in their roles - bullies and haters of fauns.

In addition, Cardin and his team mocked Jaune at first, and then pushed him around like some kind of slave. Therefore, seeing - or more accurately hearing - the fear and uncertainty in Cardin's voice, many felt comfort and amusement.

What can be said, even Jaune laughed weakly. Although, unlike the others, he could imagine the expression on Cardin's face, using memories of the day when Jaune refused to follow the bully's orders and personally killed his first Grimm. A facial expression filled with fear and misunderstanding with an admixture of uncertainty. Oh yes, it was funny, especially if you put not Ursa, but girls opposite Cardin.

"It’s a pity to upset you and interrupt such a pleasant moment, but we must continue reading,” Ozpin’s voice rang out, and all eyes focused on him, and the laughter stopped quite quickly. The headmaster took a sip of coffee and smiled. "Thank you. Glinda, you can continue."

“Thank you,” the deputy said, putting aside a half-empty glass of water. She coughed several times and then continued reading the second chapter. - <…> At better times the intimidation might have worked… back when Team CRDL looked the part, and when they weren't all clearly hungry, tired and already halfway to defeat. The girls looked between themselves and giggled, while the leader rolled her eyes and held her sword before her.

The laughter was heard again. But one glance from Miss Goodwitch was enough to restore silence. She smiled slightly.

<…> "Very cute, boys. Truly adorable. Now, since the bluster is out of the way, surrender yourselves to us and we shall see you treat as prisoners should be." Her eyes roved over Ren and I and her smile widened. "And you two…? Oh, there's a bit of a reward for the ones who bring you in. Let's just say there's a pair of redheads waiting for you."

The real Ren and Jaune looked at each other, and the looks they conveyed to each other showed sincere sympathy for their counterparts in the book.

<…> We both shivered at the proof our teammates hadn't forgotten about us. The two of us shared a look, and there was more understanding in it than anything else. We could not be caught here. - Once again Pyrrha looked at Jaune, thinking about whether her partner would be caught and what awaited him in captivity. After all, not only photographs can be taken, but also something else... Pyrrha blushed for a few moments, and then turned pale, looking at the book with horror. It was as if she was shocked when she realized with horror the thought that had come to her. She swallowed the lump in her throat, while crossing her fingers under the table, hoping that Jaune would still be able to avoid capture. And if he does get captured and Pyrrha’s thoughts happen... she’d rather tear up and burn the book than allow someone unknown to steal her declaration of love! Yes, that’s exactly what she will do!

<…> "Prepare to fight," I cried, all bark and no bite. Crocea Mors felt heavy in my hand, and when I held out a hand to help Sky up, he failed to notice how I positioned him in front of me. "If we work together we can take them out."

<…> "Are you mad?" Cardin snapped. "There's eight of them and six of us. Seven of us," he added when Zwei barked angrily. - Ruby smiled when she heard this. - <…> "That's not exactly good odds."

<…> No, and it wasn't about to get any better. I lowered my voice and stepped a little closer to him, whispering in his ear. "I have a plan. Work with me a little."

<…> "Why should we trust you?"

<…> "What other choice do you have? We're doomed either way." - Ozpin shook his head, already predicting what the young Arc would do. One part of his mind argued that he would escape like he had in the Great Hall, the other that he had somehow actually come up with a plan with which they could win. Because of such thoughts, Ozpin even moved closer to Glшnda and began to listen more carefuly. - <…> Cardin glowered, but eventually nodded. "Okay. We'll try it your way. What's the idea?"

"Wow!" Yang made a surprised sound when she heard this. “I was sure that Cardin would act like an idiot and just rush to the patrol.”

"Honestly, I thought so too,” Weiss admitted.

"And I,” Ruby jumped.

"Probably each of us thought so, Yang,” Blake shook her head. But Pyrrha suddenly intervened, forcing them to focus on her.

"Actually, Cardin is quite smart,” and receiving surprised and shocked looks, the champion just shrugged. “I mean, every fight with me, he learns from his mistakes and tries to correct them."

"Yes?" Weiss asked incredulously. "Are you sure you're talking about Cardin?"

"Of course,” Pyrrha blushed faintly. “It’s just that I usually defeat them faster than they can come up with tactics against me.”

"Miss Nikos is right,” Glinda adjusted her glasses. "The Cardinal team is one of the best in its year. Yes, they have their mistakes, but they correct them and become better. Although, their attitude towards fauns spoils the attitude towards them a little."

"But they never defeated us!" Yang protested.

"Who are you, Miss Xiao Long, weak or strong?" Ozpin spoke up. Yang only twitched her eyebrow at this question, and then said in a self-confident tone:

"Of course we are strong!"

"Yes,” Ozpin smiled slightly. And then his gaze swept over all his students from Beacon. "You are all very strong. And I'm not just saying this as some kind of compliment. No. I will not be mistaken if I call you the “strongest generation” of the new Hunters and Huntresses. You are strong and that makes you make mistakes. For you, where you stand now is the norm. A common thing, because you can go further and become even stronger. And so when someone comes near you, you instinctively put them on your level. If they met expectations, you will consider this the norm, because you are like that yourself. But if they didn't pass your test, then to you they are weaklings who miraculously got into Beacon."

Jaune winced.

"The CRDL team not only has good teamwork, but also learns from their mistakes. Unlike you, Miss Xiao Long,” Yang couldn’t help but shudder, “they spend several hours every day training, studying, and, to your surprise, working.” Yes, some, like Russell Thrush, go to Vail in their free time to do their part-time jobs, where they earn their liens."

"B-but how could they get it?!" Weiss said incredulously. "And even if they get it, they simply don’t have enough time for all this!"

Ozpin smiled.

"There is enough time for everything, you just need to be able to put everything in its place. As for your questions, Miss Schnee, I will answer them. Yes, it is impossible to get a full-time job while studying to become a Hunter. BUT! You can get a part-time job and go to your job after classes. So did Mr. Thrush."

"B-but lessons." Ruby whispered.

"Mutual assistance,” Ozpin smiled. "And you know what? If I were given the choice of a team that is the best at teamwork, I would, without a doubt, choose the Cardinal team."

Many opened their mouths in shock, but Yang suddenly stood up and shouted to almost the entire room:

"What?!!"

“That,” Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "I won’t say that you are worse or better. You are still just learning to trust each other, while the Cardinal team has already reached this level."

"Hey! We are actually better than them at teamwork!" Ozpin raised one eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that!"

Yang burst, but before Glinda could reprimand her, Ozpin put his mug on the table and looked through his glasses at the blonde.

"Yes? Are you sure, Miss Xiao Long?" she froze for a moment, but then waved her mane and nodded decisively. "Got it. Then let's take one test. Everyone is silent."

Everyone was silent anyway, but after the Heqdmaster’s words, everyone felt as if even if they wanted to say something, they couldn’t. Cinder narrowed her eyes at Ozpin slightly, but instead of doing anything, she simply leaned against the back of the chair and began to listen.

Yang still stood there silently feeling nervous until Ozpin finally spoke.

"Here's the situation for you. You, Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna are on a mission to kill Grimm. Miss Rose's partner - Weiss Schnee is missing, she did not go with you on the mission, you can come up with any excuse" Ozpin fell silent for a moment. "You met the Grimm and started fighting. Let's say it's a pack of Ursas and a few Beowolves. There is a battle going on, you fight shoulder to shoulder with your partner, but the battle does not end."

Everyone was anxiously silent.

"At some point, you hear Miss Rose scream,” Yang’s eyes widened. "You turn around and see how she, let’s say with Aura in the red zone, is fighting with three Urs. You see how she dodges, but noticing your gaze, she shouts: “I can handle it, keep fighting!” Your partner and you are fighting at this time with the same number of Ursas, but unlike Miss Rose, both of your Auras reach a green-yellow level. What will you do, Miss Xiao Long?"

"Of course I'll help Ruby!" Yang shouted, staring angrily into the calm eyes of the headmaster. He nodded.

"You rush to the aid of your sister, leaving three Urs on the shoulders of your partner,” Yang shuddered. "Thanks to your strength and Ruby's speed, you kill three Ursa quite quickly. Now, you turn around and see that Miss Belladonna dealt with those three Grimm, but for this she had to sacrifice her Aura. As a result, Miss Belladonna and Miss Rose have an Aura in the red zone,” the mentioned girls shuddered.

Ozpin continued.

"But that is not all. At the last moment, you notice a Giant Ursa emerge from the bushes and purposefully move towards your partner. Your Aura is just above the yellow zone. Your sister speaks again and says, “I can distract him.” What will you do?"

“I’ll distract this monster,” Yang said categorically after a minute of silence. Green eyes continued to look with calmness, but even from such a look, Yang began to tremble in her hands. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I see. You rush in and distract the Grimm. Little by little, you realize that you can win, you just need to push harder. What will you do?"

"Damn it, I'll just kill the Grimm and that's it!"

"... I see,” Ozpin leaned back in his chair. "You kill the Giant Ursa, but you spent too much Aura, as a result, yours stopped in the red zone. But without paying attention to this, you turn back. When you turn your attention to your team, you see Miss Belladonna lying in her own blood, and only Miss Rose's protection still saves the girl from the fate of being eaten by the Grimm."

All the students flinched when Ozpin said this in a calm, or even indifferent, tone. Yang, as well as Blake, widened their eyes and looked at each other in horror.

"You rush to help with a feeling of horror and anger, but this only makes the situation worse. The Beowolves began to gravitate toward you like a magnet, until even your defenses crumbled under the yoke of the Grimm. Miss Belladonna died first. She died of bleeding. The second one to die was Miss Rose, who threw herself between you and the teeth of the Grimm. In the end, you died. Died from bleeding or from Grimm, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that your actions contributed to the fact that almost the entire team, except for Miss Schnee, was killed. Do you want to say something?"

Ozpin bowed his head when he saw Yang's angry look. She nodded and clenched her fists, almost screaming:

"In reality this would not happen! We could easily take down this bunch of Grimm!"

"I don’t argue,” Ozpin nodded. "But it was your actions affected the ending of this test. Let's take a closer look at it. Your first mistake happened when you ignored Miss Rose's words. I repeat: “I can handle it, keep fighting!” Instead of killing the last Ursas along with your partner, you rushed to help your sister."

"What should I have done?!" the blonde protested with trembling hands. "Leave Ruby alone?!"

"Yes,” Ozpin nodded, causing many to choke on air. The only ones who didn't do this were Ruby, if you don't count the CNEM team and Glinda. "And do you know why? Because Ursas are slow. Let me remind you that your sister has a Semblance associated with speed. Miss Rose would have been able to hold out until your help so Miss Belladonna wouldn't harmed."

Yang bit her lip as she looked away from Ozpin.

The second mistake happened when you ignored your sister again. Yes, the Giant Ursa is dangerous. But if your goal is not to kill him, but only to detain him, then Miss Rose would be an excellent option for this.

Silence.

"The third mistake is that you forgot, or better yet, didn’t think about it, that your team’s Aura is in the red zone. And there are still plenty of Grimm around, ready to attack. If you had not tried to kill Ursa, then perhaps you would have had enough strength to escape from that place with Miss Belladonna and Miss Rose."

Yang didn't want to show her face, continuing to look at the floor.

"That's why you are worse than the Cardinal team. It's not about strength or skill. You surpass them in everything related to the work and art of Hunters. But you fail at teamwork. Tell me, Miss Xiao Long, what was your mistake?"

"Is it because I didn't listen to Ruby?" the blonde asked after a minute of silence.

"No, although this is due to your error. You have decided that your sister needs help. You, who lived with her for over fifteen years, didn't think that she could handle or even defeat the Grimm. No, you didn't think about that. Instead of thinking logically and rationally, you gave in to your emotions and rushed to help your sister, leaving Miss Belladonna alone."

Blake remained gloomily silent, although her gaze was always focused on Ozpin. Her partner was also silent, but now out of guilt.

"And it’s not just you who would do this,” Ozpin turned to Team JNPR. "For example, if Miss Nikos were in your place, and Mr. Arc were in Ruby’s place, the same thing would happen. The difference is that Miss Nikos is strong and is not in danger of getting into a deadly situation. In fact, this would happen to Mr. Ren and Ms. Valkyrie if they were in your place."

The Beacon students were silent, unable to look into anyone's eyes.

"What could Cardin do better?!" Yang couldn’t stand it, lashing out at Cardin. "He's still such an idiot! And he is several times weaker than any of us! He would…"

"Team Cardinal could handle it. They have all trained with each other, each of them knows the weaknesses and strengths of their partners and other team members. Yes, they are weaker than you, but they are stronger in teamwork than you combined. They can trust eachother when they say they can do it. They truly are a team."

There was an oppressive silence. Ozpin was silent for a while, and then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Having returned them again, he looked at the students more good-naturedly.

"You will also learn teamwork, it just takes time. You are students, it is our duty to teach you and point out your mistakes. But it's also your duty to listen and learn. The CRDL team are bullies and racists, but they are Hunters. That is the most important thing in our Academy. You should know that for yourselves,” Ozpin paused for a moment at Blake, who in the next moment lowered her gaze to the floor. "In the future, you will all be a team. Just some sooner and some later."

Ozpin picked up the coffee mug again and took the last sip of coffee. There was a sigh as he stood up from his seat, drawing attention to himself. Coughing, he looked at Glinda and then at Cinder.

"Miss Fall, would you like to help us with the snacks?" as soon as the last word was said, most of the students felt their insides stand on end and their stomachs whine pitifully. Cinder was hesitant to respond to such a proposal, but then finally nodded.

"Of course, why not?" Cinder stood up from her seat and followed Ozpin into the kitchen, followed by Goodwitch. Once the door was finally closed, the atmosphere returned to oppressive and depressed. Many simply could not look their friends and comrades in the eyes, as they were ashamed and sad for the thoughts that were now spinning in their heads.

And so it would have continued if Mercury had not whistled and said in an admiring and slightly frightened voice:

"Wow, now I understand why Ozpin is the headmaster,” Mercury chuckled slightly. "I would also be careful not to argue with such a dude, huh."

“Actually, Headmaster Ozpin,” Weiss answered first, while correcting Mercury. "We should call him Headmaster Ozpin."

"Yes?" Mercury raised an eyebrow. "So, just Headmaster Ozpin? No, I understand that we need officialdom and all that, but honestly! Calling him “Sir” or “Headmaster” can break your tongue!" Neo giggled quietly. "Do you even know his name? Last name, I mean."

There was silence. Everyone began to look at each other, suddenly realizing that none of them knew the name of their headmaster. The first one to give up was Nora.

"He has no last name!" The girl widened her eyes in fear. "This means that he is not human! Is our headmaster really some kind of government project?! Is it possible that he is artificial intelligence?!!"

Ruby choked on air, looking at Nora in horror. //"She knows?! No, Nora can't know! But if?!" - flashed through the reaper’s head, but fortunately Ren helped her.

"Nora, Headmaster Ozpin is not an artificial intelligence."

"Then why doesn't he have a last name?!"

"There is a last name, it's just that the headmaster probably doesn't want it known,” Ren said calmly.

"Ha! This is what he wants us to believe, in reality he is a computer who in the future will take over the whole world because of which I will have to go back in time to save the son of Garden Rose! Or Lancaster's son... Or maybe Ladybug?! Or is it a White Rose?"

"Uh, am I the only one who didn't understand anything but the Terminator reference?" Jaune asked Pyrrha, to which he received a smile.

“I didn’t understand anything either,” Pyrrha admitted, listening to Nora’s endless suggestions. And what is this Milk and Cereal?

No one even noticed how the atmosphere began to grow warmer and warmer, until that gloominess disappeared altogether. Everyone laughed as Nora kept saying strange names that only she could understand.

* * *

As soon as the door closed, Glinda quickly approached Ozpin, who was already standing by the coffee maker, pouring another mug of coffee.

" And what was that, Ozpin!" Glinda whispered with quiet rage. "You almost brought the students to tears!"

"Yes? I hadn't noticed,” Ozpin shrugged, going about his business. The disregard made Glinda's face darken even more. And if Ms. Fall hadn't been in the room, she would have yelled at the man by now. Perhaps that was the very reason Ozpin had invited her to join them. Glinda sighed.

"Ozpin, I respect you and your actions regarding the Academy, but I don't think you should be lecturing students,” Glinda shook her head. "You saw how awful Ms. Xiao Long looked! She wasn't the only one. All the students were in a terrible state because of what you said."

"Well, they should be used to it. Hunter life isn't easy,” Ozpin said lightly, taking a tentative sip of the cool coffee. Nodding, he turned to Glinda and raised an eyebrow. "What? It's true."

"Yes, but you shouldn't say... like that,” the woman sighed sadly. "They're too young for such thoughts."

"That's it,” the headmaster protested, stepping back to Ms. Fall, who was looking for something to snack on. Ozpin also looked at a few open lockers that held cookies, cereal, and some snacks like chips and peanuts. Apparently they were actually arranged comfortably. Taking a sip of coffee, Ozpin looked at Cinder. "What do you say, Ms. Fall?"

Cinder stopped her hand an inch away from yet another locker, and then turned around and asked with interest.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh,” the man smiled. "Just about my speech you heard a while ago. What do you think of it?"

Shifting from foot to foot, the girl stared thoughtfully at the headmaster and then at his deputy, who was looking at them both with a look of disapproval. Cinder chewed her lip and looked at Ozpin again.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but I don't know these teams well enough to give a definite answer. If I knew them better, I might be able to answer your question."

"I didn't ask for an answer, Ms. Fall,” Ozpin smiled lightly. "I was just asking for your opinion. Glinda, for instance, thinks I acted too harshly, and I think I did the right thing. What do you think? Was it cruel of me or not?"

Cinder stared at the headmaster again. She was silent for a while, then nodded.

"Our world is cruel,” Cinder began. "There is no God to watch over us and compare whether we do good things or bad things. So many people do terrible things and become criminals or murderers. And with these Grimm creatures, our world becomes not only violent, but dangerous. Unlike civilians, we walk on the edge of the blade every day. On missions, on sorties, or simple raids on large places of great negativity. We can die even in a normal forest if we are not careful."

Ozpin and Glinda were silent.

"People make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes are the last ones,” Cinder was silent for a moment. "And from those mistakes, we learn. In many ways, humanity exists now only because someone made a mistake, and as a result, what happened happened."

Tilting his head slightly, Ozpin listened to the girl intently, though his thoughts returned to the past for a few moments. A past he couldn't leave behind even if he wanted to. He had made too many mistakes to forget....

"If you hadn't acted so rudely today, that girl could have died in the future because she didn't hear that speech. Her comrades could have died. Her family,” Cinder stared at the headmaster. "Or maybe she would have survived. The only one who would have survived the test you suggested she take. And it would have broken her even more. But you didn't. Even if it was rough, even if it hurt them, you did what you did. Only the future will tell if you made the right choice or not."

There was silence. A moment later, there was a surprised hum. Ozpin lifted his mug and took a sip of coffee.

"You know, Cinder, I'm allowed to call you that, aren't I?" Cinder blinked in surprise, but nodded. Ozpin smiled, ignoring his deputy's disapproving look. "That's good. So, you know, Cinder, you could just say “yes” or “no,” or, at the very least, “I don't know,” instead of lecturing me on the errors of humanity and the rightness of our choices."

Such a statement made both women gasp for air. And then Cinder turned to the side as she spoke the next words:

"I...get your point. I'll definitely keep your words from today in mind next time."

"Well, I don't really care,” the headmaster shrugged, walking over to the locker and grabbing a pack of bacon-flavored snacks. "Wow, I didn't know they had chips in here. Bacon? My favorite flavor!"

The way Ozpin was behaving was nothing but tomfoolery, so Glinda thought again about the reputation of their Academy and approached the student who continued to watch Ozpin silently.

"Ms. Fall, I'm sorry for the inconvenience you've been inconvenienced by the headmaster's suggestion, you may return to your companions and we'll be back with snacks shortly."

Cinder turned her head and looked at the professor for a few languid seconds before nodding with a smile.

"You can ask for help at any time,” Cinder said as she moved into the great hall.

"I will,” Glinda nodded, watching the door close behind the student.

"What Glinda?" the headmaster asked, turning around with an open stack of snacks. "Didn't we close the subject about my speech? Or did you think I'd share my chips? No way."

"What...?" Glinda blinked, and then shook her head, and with a slightly raised voice continued. "That's not what I meant! I just wanted to ask you why you brought up the subject of strength and weakness and teamwork and all that... You don't usually talk about it so much."

Ozpin grabbed one of the chips and put it in his mouth. He chewed it, then replied:

"Why not? Perhaps then they would have lasted more than one year."

"Ozpin...” Glinda said wearily, taking off her glasses and wiping her eyes. "They would not part after they became official Hunters."

"Sure,” Ozpin agreed. "Not on the first day, but no matter how much you deny it, their team will be broken and the girls will go elsewhere. It's inevitable if they don't get help."

"Ugh, where did you even get that idea?" Glinda put her glasses back on and looked at the man with irritation. There was another crunch.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow in surprise and confusion. "I thought you'd have figured it out by now, since you didn't ask me about it. I am surprised."

"I didn't ask because it's stupid. They are strong Hunters, yes their teamwork isn't brilliant, but in time, like you said, they will become the perfect Hunter team. It just takes time."

"Time won't help,” Ozpin shook his head. "They're just too different. And it's not about personalities, as you might think. Tell me, Glinda, do you know what the RWBY girls dream about?"

"Of course,” Glinda blinked incomprehensibly. "But what does that have to do with your stupid idea?"

"Directly,” there was another crunch that made Goodwitch feel her right eye twitch. "It was because of their dreams and goals in life that they would break up. All because their desires and dreams are too different. For example, Ms. Belladonna. Tell me, can you believe that she'll be able to change White Fang by being constantly on missions or on cleanup duty? I, for one, don't believe it. It's gonna take her at least a few years just to get White Fang back on a peaceful non-violent path. And I'm not even saying that it will take time to clean up the reputation of both the White Fang side and the Faunus side. There may be other factions that won't renounce violence. Tell me, Glinda, would you be able to handle all this as a Huntress?"

Glinda was silent.

"So it's just Ms. Belladonna. You could say the same thing about Ms. Schnee. She wants to fix her family's reputation, clean up the labels of “fawn-haters” and the like. And knowing Jacques' reputation, that dream will take a long time to fulfill. Perhaps even a few years, just to fix his reputation among humans. You don't have to mention the fauns. You know what percentage of fauns work in the Ashes Caves. You're beginning to understand, aren't you?"

Glinda bit her lip, but nodded.

"I'm not saying their ideas, their dreams, are bad, no,” Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "They're beautiful. But it will take time to fulfill them. Time for their missions together, time for being Huntress, time for communicating with their team. All of these things will be required to fulfill their desires."

"What about Raven's daughter? I don't remember her having any big goals in life,” Glinda squinted at Ozpin. He smiled sadly.

"She doesn't have any. She doesn't have any big ideas or goals in her head. Yes, she wants to find her mother, beat her up, and probably question why she left. Other desires are to be with her family. All of them. I wouldn't be surprised if in those moments when others are relaxing after missions, she's in bars or in the ring fighting or dancing. She doesn't have a dream, Glinda. And that will ruin her."

"And Ruby? What about Ruby?" asked the professor one last question. Ozpin turned away, looking at the wallpaper with different patterns, He was silent for a while, and then he spoke.

"She wants to save people, Glinda. From Grimms or people, it doesn't matter. She wants to be a hero, like Mr. Arc wants to be. But even so, she doesn't want to do it alone, she wants to do it with her team. Being together no matter what hardships she faces. But instead, she gets what she gets."

There was silence.

"If given a choice, Glinda, I'd give Ruby to another team. JNPR, CRDL or others. Better five people than one."

"It could be different,” Glinda argued.

"Yes,” Ozpin took a sip of coffee and then stared at the liquid. "It could be different, if you gave them a bigger target than their current ones."

Glinda widened her eyes.

"You're not... Ozpin! They're still children!" Glinda stared angrily at the man. "You want them to be the second STRQ team?!"

Ozpin looked up and glanced at his deputy. She flinched.

"When I told the STRQ team about Her, I didn't intend anything like that. I only did so because I thought they could handle the news and join us. I was wrong. Now, I only want to do it because I don't want to see a great team like RWBY go to pieces."

"... is that true, Ozpin?" Glinda looked at the headmaster expectantly. He smiled slightly.

"Yes,” Glinda relaxed.

//“Liar” - flashed through his head, but no one except Ozpin himself heard this voice.

* * *

"So, what did I miss?" Cinder asked, or should I say ordered, as she sat down in her seat. Neo shrugged weakly, continuing to stare boredly at the teenagers, who were telling funny and slightly embarrassing stories about their lives. For example, Ruby now admitted that when she was a kid she thought coffee was just cocoa for adults.

Well, she made a mistake and paid for it when she decided to ask her uncle to give her a taste.

As a result, she had a bitter taste all day, and neither sugar nor anything else could help her get rid of it. From that day on, Ruby refused to drink coffee, even if it looked nice from the outside. She knew that behind that soft and pretty wrapper was a horrible creature waiting to rob you of all the sweetness in your life. Though she still couldn't understand why adults drank it if they knew how awful it was.

And a moment later, Nora would cut into the conversation telling of the...

Cinder's eye twitched as she heard Nora narrate the story of the Legendary Heroes, whose destiny was to fight endless battles between each other, for the sake of the Red and Blue flags. But their fate changed the moment two Heroes from the Blue Kingdom started discussing what the Heroes from the Red Kingdom were doing. And so on and so on...

"She was just telling the beginning of Red Vs Blue now, wasn't she?" Cinder grumbled as the blond from the same team, who had been listening to the noisy girl's story with interest, began to ask his stupid questions. Sighing quietly, Cinder looked around the room again, noticing that the students were more relaxed than when she had left. "Apparently they had already forgotten about Ozpin's speech...."

Neo only repeated her gesture, continuing to sit and glance at the individual students who apparently interested her. Scoffing at this disregard, Cinder stared at the RWBY team, who seemed cheerful and, if you could call it that, casual again. But that's just it, Cinder could notice how the blonde still wasn't making eye contact with her friends. Golden eyes squinted as she left a note in her mind.

Neo only repeated her gesture, continuing to sit and glance at the individual students who apparently interested her. Scoffing at this disregard, Cinder stared at the RWBY team, who seemed cheerful and, if you could call it that, casual again. But that's just it, Cinder could notice how the blonde still wasn't making eye contact with her friends. Golden eyes squinted as she left a note in her mind.

Her eyes stopped again at the door to the kitchen as she recalled every word, from beginning to end. Was it really an accident that the principal had called her in? Could it be that he was beginning to suspect her of something? But of what? Or was it still just a simple coincidence that was causing her to overthinking?

Cinder wrinkled her nose and then turned away, forcing her thoughts to go in another direction, like... Why couldn't even the Maiden Force help her break the strange barrier around all the rooms. Yes, Cinder had tried to break the barrier, and it was at the very moment they were given time to think about agreeing to read a book about the Civil War in Beacon. She was able to sneak into the bathroom and try to do something there while everyone was distracted with their own business.

As for the barrier...

Of course, she wasn't stupid to throw herself at it with all her might. Then not only would the students would run towards her, but also the professors, which was undesirable. So, she decided to try to concentrate her strength in one finger and see if she could break through it or not. The outcome came out... ambiguous.

Honestly, Cinder was prepared for two outcomes. In the first, she would effortlessly break the barrier and they would be able to free themselves, and in the second, she would be thrown backwards, as she had been with Ms. Goodwitch. But the unexpected happened...

Her finger was able to penetrate not only the barrier but also the wall without any effort. But that wasn't even the point. It was that she didn't feel the barrier at all when she used her Force. It wasn't until she was able to penetrate the wall deep enough, for the sake of interest, that Cinder felt... something.

It was like there was something empty behind the wall. And no, it wasn't as if there was just empty space, no. It was like if you kept using the Maiden Force, you could go further. More and more, even though you could clearly feel that there was nothing there. It seemed like nothing, but... Cinder could only stop when her arm was elbow-deep in the wall.

When she pulled her hand out with fright, which, it should be noted, took far more strength than when she tried to punch the wall deeper, she saw her hand... in a strange state, to say the least. It was like a mirage. A grotesque likeness of her hand appeared before her eyes, as if made after the example of a Grimm. Cinder could even see the bones charred to blackness, and where her palm had been, to her horror, there was a strange outgrowth with sharp claws that looked like fingers.

Needless to say, such a sight almost made the girl's soul go to her heels, thankfully that vision vanished the very moment she took her eyes off her hand. It was gone. Nor, for that matter, was the place where Cinder had dared to use the Maiden's Powers. Clear. Everything was intact, as if her memories of being able to break through the wall were just a fabrication and everything else was just a bad nightmare for who knows what reason.

Except she still had that feeling of something foreign pushing you further and further away, and your thoughts flowing sluggishly until you finally realize that part of you is gone and the rest of you just needs a little push. Cinder isn't afraid of much. Afraid of her Queen, afraid of death, afraid of failure... actually it's all tied together, but that's not the point. The point is that another item has been added to that list. Fear that she will drown in that “void” and disappear as if she never existed.

There was a man...and he's gone.

She flinched as the door opened abruptly, letting Ozpin and Glinda into the room. I don't need to say that the atmosphere in the room dropped a few degrees down in an instant. The brunette immediately felt herself coming to her senses, and those thoughts associated with “emptiness” faded away, leaving only a calm mind and common sense.

Cinder mentally smirked as Ozpin stopped and lifted a large bowl with many snacks, cookies, and other snacks and spoke in his usual tone:

"Who wants snacks?"

* * *

"Well, now that everyone's settled into their seats and grabbed a snack,” Ozpin paused for a moment, staring at Ruby's cookies, then smiled. "We can continue reading the book."

After saying that, Glinda looked at Ozpin. With a quiet sigh, she stood up and went out to fetch the book she had brought with her when she had followed the headmaster into the kitchen. Only a few seconds had passed when the woman returned with the book in hand. Even though everyone was waiting for the story to continue, the room was still a little bit dark because of the headmaster's arrival.

Glinda, however, paid no attention to it, determined to finish this chapter as quickly as possible so she could give the damned book to someone other than her. When she opened the page, the deputy coughed and then spoke:

<…> Cardin glowered, but eventually nodded. - Glinda began reading where she left off, but this time no one interrupted her. Everyone was silent, and it's hard to say that this made the situation easier. - <…> "Okay. We'll try it your way. What's the idea?"

"You four charge in the front and keep them busy," I said. "Ren and I will loop around the back and spring the trap. They'll never know what hit them." - //“Not a very effective plan,” flashed through everyone’s minds. - <…> Mostly because they'd never expect the two of us to book it out the door and away, but hey, it would be a learning experience for everyone. As for the trap, well, that would be Cardin. As in he and his team were going to be the trap which kept the girls busy until they'd dealt with them, all the while Ren and I ran away with our tails tucked between our legs.

Glinda sighed, the moment she heard Mr. Arc's apology again. But she wasn't going to react and stop reading.

<…> To be fair, Team CRDL would be captured and fed. They weren't going to face unspeakable horrors like we were! - Everyone thought for a moment, and then nodded. Book Jaune was somewhat right about the difference between them and the CRDL team. - <…> Cardin looked me in the eye for a long moment, before he nodded – apparently satisfied with what he found there. His poor judge of character aside, he stomped to the front of his team and roared at the top of his lungs. Bestial as it was, it seemed to inspire confidence in his men, something I'd never been able to do with my own team. Sky, Dove and Russel straightened, a strange gleam coming to their eyes.
The situation was no less hopeless, but their cocky air had returned, and they all drew their weapons.

Nora, still silent, moved closer and listened harder, interested in the words in the book. Her partner also sat up a little more comfortably, while his gaze remained fixed on the professor.

<…> "Like that'll make a difference," the leader of the Girl Scouts chuckled. "Take them out, ladies!"

<…> The seven women with her charged in, while CRDL rushed to meet them. Ren moved too, but I grabbed his wrist and tugged him to the side instead.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee as his fingers grabbed a chip and tossed it into his mouth. A snack, a good read, his favorite coffee and no reports - what could be better? The man smirked faintly, feeling himself starting to get excited about what the White Knight would do.

<…> "Leave them," I hissed. "We have to get around to the other side."

<…> "You have a plan?"

<…> "Yes."

Glinda paused for a moment, and then sighed heavily, for the umpteenth time that day, feeling that even for her it was too much. But still, she continued reading, knowing that there were only a few pages left.

<…> Escape, run, and feel bad about it later, roughly in that order. I made sure to grab Zwei as well, mostly because if we did run into Ruby and Yang, my good treatment of their pet might get me out of a beating. He, meanwhile, made sure to grab the bag of dog treats. - many simply did not know how to react to such words, so they simply decided to remain silent. - <…> We ran around the left flank of the melee, which had turned into a mad whirl of steel and flesh, as weapons battered against aura and people were knocked left and right. For all his exhaustion, Cardin waded through the battle like a giant, one girl clung to his left arm and another with her entire body wrapped around his neck. They were going to drag him down in time, however. Unless we intervened, that was.

Everyone held their breath at Glinda's last words.

<…> So, basically, he was going to be dragged down. It was a shame, but that was life. The world was one of bloody evolution, and unfortunately for Cardin, he'd evolved with a penis. - Mercury couldn’t help but chuckle, which made everyone look at the guy at once. But he, without being confused, just smiled and winked... at Jaune. Glinda adjusted her glasses and returned to the book, deciding to finish reading her chapter first and then lecture. - <…> which meant he'd come out on the wrong side of this war.
So had I, sadly, and it was proven even more true as the last woman, the apparent leader, dove in front of us, cutting off the exit.

<…> "Where do you think you're going? You two are the main prize here. There's a promotion in store for whoever brings you in." She let out a sigh and clenched her hands together. "Finally, I can get an easy job defending one of the objective points. I can't believe I have to wander around school attacking desperate idiots."

<…> "Split up," I hissed, pushing Ren to the left as I went right and Zwei ran down the centre. She couldn't catch all of us at once, and I could only hope Ren would come back for me if he slipped by her. - Ren smiled slightly and nodded at Jaune, who caught his gaze and nodded back. Once again, a silent conversation passed between them that only the two of them knew about. - <…> The girl froze as her target became three, and then two as Zwei rushed between her legs. - Abruptly relieved, the reaper smiled and collapsed in her seat, no longer worrying about Zwai. - <…> She hesitated in Ren's direction, and then moved in mine. Perhaps she sensed the weaker threat, or maybe she thought I was the leader since I was doing the most talking. Either way, it was bad news for me.

Jaune sighed silently, roughly understanding what this would lead to. He was too bad in fights with humans. Therefore, it is not difficult to guess what result they should have expected.

His thoughts were suddenly distracted when a hand laid on his shoulder and shook him slightly. Turning his head to Pyrrha, Jon stared in surprise at a few nuts held out in her palm. Looking up, the boy saw the smile on the champion's face again, and his heart relaxed a little.

He took a few of them and looked at them thoughtfully, then threw them in his mouth. In a few moments, all the nuts were eaten, and the guy smiled, feeling that he no longer cared about what would happen in the book, or rather what would happen to the bookish Jaune; now the real blond was just relaxing, realizing that he had friends like Pyrrha.

<…> I hopped away from her sword, coincidentally landing atop a desk pressed up against the side of the classroom. She growled and lunged after me, and I clambered higher up the stacked chairs to get away. Come on, Ren, I begged. I'm keeping her busy. Knock her out or something! Unfortunately for me, Ren was nowhere to be seen. - Glinda stopped. "The next words read you, Mr. Ren."

And without waiting for a reaction, the professor continued reading.

<…> (I'd actually been engaged by another Girl Scout, not that Jaune noticed. As ever, his attention was fixed upon himself and his immediate surroundings.)

Zhawn blinked, and then looked apologetically at his friend. He sighed, and then waved his hand as if to say, //“It's all right. They both knew that such situations were bound to happen in the book, so apologizing every time wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth apologizing every time. Well, at least talk about it out loud.

<…> "End of the line," the leader taunted as I reached the top of the stacked chairs. It wobbled precariously, but I managed to wedge myself between it and one of the roof tiles. "Are you going to keep running or are you ready to fight?"

//“The first,” Jaune smiled.

<…> "I was going to keep running, honestly," I said. - Jaune smiled, feeling a certain excitement that he could predict his counterpart's thoughts or actions. It was, to be honest, even fun. -<…>
Maybe if I pushed the roof tile up, I could slip up there and sneak out? No, those were probably solid, and I was too heavy. I'd fall back through the roof.

The next words Glinda had to utter shattered in an instant the merriment that had overwhelmed the blond man.

<…> Hm, would she be distracted if I took my trousers off and threw them at her?

Some girls blushed, some didn't. Nora...

"Bunnies,” one word, but Jaune blushed like a beet. Hiding behind his hands, he tried to ignore the stares of the people, especially Mercury's burst of laughter, which irritated him. The latter even seemed to be choking on his overflowing laughter. At some point, Yang joined in, followed by Weiss, and so on until half the room was laughing while Jaune was dying of embarrassment. Well, or like Nora, from the horror of her actions. She stared into Abyss's eyes...

Which stared back at her, glittering pink and victorious.

"You lost, Nora,” Ren smiled lightly. "You distracted people from reading."

"B-but Renny! I accidentally!"

"A deal's a deal,” her partner shrugged, and then turned to Jaune with a smile, thanking him profusely for his passive help. To be honest, Ren was sure that Nora would lose even earlier, but after they'd brought up the subject of Teamwork, things had gone south. And Ren almost despaired, realizing that he would have to do it, since, at Nora's request, they had sworn on pinkies. But, a miracle happened and Nora raised her voice.

But still, it was fun.

"R-Renny, but what about the sloths...!"

"No, Nora, no..."

Glinda coughed, silencing everyone in an instant, and also surprising Ozpin, who had seen it in use more than once. But the woman herself apparently did not consider this ability unique, as she simply continued reading the text.

<…> I was desperate. Sue me. A yelp escaped me as the girl leapt up onto the side and started to scale towards me. She waved her sword once to try and push me off, and I flicked Crocea Mors against it. She growled and pulled herself higher, while I crawled to the other side and tried to find a way to jump off. Trapped against the wall, however. - Pyrrha held her breath while the same battle took place in her head. How Jaune stands on the very cliff while he is pushed closer and closer to the abyss by a giant, terrible and incredibly strong dragoness who just wants to devour her knight... Pyrrha blushed as she coughed and choked on air when she noticed Jaune's worried look. She could only smile uncertainly while she felt the tips of her ears turn red. Meanwhile, Glinda continued: - "Got you," she crowed, hands appearing over the edge. She grabbed my ankle before I could kick her, and disarmed me with a casual cut from her thin sword. She was at least a second or third year, and much stronger than me. "Now it's time for you to come with me an-"

Everyone held their breath, turning their attention back to Glinda and the book in her hands.

<…> She paused. I froze. The world beneath us teetered precariously. My eyes trailed down at roughly the same time hers did. The stack of chairs we were both now clinging to swayed away from the wall, rocking back and forth as our added weight overbalanced it. - Ozpin smirked slightly when he saw the understanding of what was being discussed flare up on the students' faces. - <…> I clamped down on mine, eyes wide and teeth clenched together. She desperately tried to do the same, but the sudden movement proved her undoing – and with a horrible crack, the chair at the bottom broke. It was like riding an avalanche.

Glinda paused, taking a single sip of water as the rhythmic crunching sounds to her right began to make her nervous. Apparently Ozpin really wanted to finish her off... Taking a sip, Glinda abruptly set the mug down on the table, just as Ozpin put another chip in his mouth.
* * *

Perhaps the deputy wanted him to be surprised and choked, but neither of those things happened, she just startled her students with the sudden knock. With a heavy sigh, Glinda grabbed the book.

<…> It was like riding an avalanche. Or, at least, that's what I imagine it was like. The stack of chairs fell and spilled outwards, toppling over the girl and pinning her to the floor, even as fifty or so more surged over the battlefield and struck the melee from behind. One girl barely had the time to cry out a warning before I hit her, and to be honest she should have heard my panicked cries first. -- the knowledgeable people remembered the initiation and grinned while Jaune felt the color on his face. And Pyrrha's consolation only added color to the fire of his feelings. Once again he hid behind his hands. - <…> She went down hard, and I was propelled over their heads as my chair cracked.
I landed hard and rolled to a stop, my back on fire and just about everything hurting. Worse, I'd somehow managed to end up back on the wrong side of the fight – away from my escape. No, I'm done. Screw it. I give up. Take me now and let Pyrrha and Nora do whatever they want.

Glinda stopped and continued, causing everyone to listen to her speech with interest.

<…> "It's the signal!" Cardin cried. "Push them back!"

"What?” several students asked in one voice, among them Jaune himself.

Ozpin only smirked, marveling at the younger Arc's luck. Both in reality and in the book, their luck is truly limitless.

<…> Wait, what? The roar from Team CRDL drowned out all other noise, and I watched in awe as they pushed forward and actually started to take control of the fight. The numbers against them had dwindled from seven to three, and it looked like at least two of the women – not including the leader – had actually been pinned under the fallen chairs, and were even now trying to get back out. - Once again, everyone held their breath as they listened to the incredible words that were like honey to all the men in the room. - <…> Cardin and his team took full advantage of that. Notions of gentlemanly nature and care were forgotten, and they struck their foes unconscious as quickly as they could. It only took a minute or two, but it felt like longer as I watched.

<…> It wasn't until Ren dispatched his opponent that I realised what had just happened. Cardin realised it too, and stared down at his hands.

<…> "We… We won…" he whispered. "We defeated them."

The three boys glanced at each other, and then smiled synchronously, each in his own way. Mercury smiled cheekily and defiantly. Jaune was happy and relieved. And Ren... Ren was just smiling peacefully, happy for the victory of the male species. Yes and they weren't the only ones smiling, Pyrrha, Nora and Ruby, all of them were also happy for their friends and their victory. Yes, the girls lost, but honestly, they didn't even know their names, of course they would be for Jaune and Ren.

"Whoo! Ren won!"

"Hey!” Jaune shrieked. "That was my plan, actually!"

"A plan?" Weiss grinned. "What were those thoughts that spoke only of escape? Didn't you want to leave Ren and the CRDL team alone against a female patrol?"

Jaune blushed, but said nothing as Pyrrha managed to stand up for him.

"It doesn't matter what he thought, what matters is what he did! Jaune was able to do the decisive action in his plan that made them win,” Pyrrha looked at Jaune and smiled shyly at him. "No matter how much you deny it, it was because of Jaune that they were able to win. It's all thanks to you, Jaune."

And for the umpteenth time, Jon felt his cheeks redden, but this time from Pyrrha's praise. He was about to thank her when he stopped. It was only after he took a few breaths to regain his normal skin tone that he looked at his partner again.

"Thank you, Pyrrha,” Jaune smiled, making the girl's one little heart beat several times harder while her mind was clouded by those beautiful eyes... Which were so much like a vast sky in which one could drown.

"Uh, Pyrrha?" Jaune waved his palm in front of her face, trying to bring her back to the Remnant. But it didn't work. The guy sighed. "God, she should see a doctor for her heart problems after all."

Everyone who heard his words reacted differently. Some grinned, some smiled, some slapped themselves in the face with the palm of their hand, and some, like Glinda, only coughed, causing everyone to shut up and return their attention to her so she could continue reading the book. She nodded as everyone's attention... her eyes stopped on the champion... almost everyone's attention was turned back to her. Coughing, she began to read.

<…> "We need to get out of here," Sky said. "We made way too much noise. People will be coming." - and once again, almost everyone's attention was focused on the book. - <…> The others agreed and quickly rushed to the door, but something else had caught my eye. One of the girls had fallen on her side and something had spilled out of her pocket. It was a packet of beef jerky, and my mouth watered at the sight of it.

<…> "Food!" I cried. It stopped the others dead, and they turned in time to see me looting one of the girls. She had beef jerky, some grain bars, and also what looked like sandwiches carefully wrapped in tin foil. Compared to the dog food we'd been about to eat, it was the greatest luxury.

Jaune and Ren breathed a sharp sigh of relief, realizing that their doubles would not be eating the dog food they had so fiercely hunted and fought for with the CRDL team.

<…> "He's right," Cardin hissed. "Guys, quick, loot them of all the food and valuables we can!"

<…> "What should we do with them?"

<…> "Nothing, there's nowhere we can keep them if we take them prisoner. Just take the food and we'll get out of here." - Glinda paused for a moment to take a sip of water, and then she continued in her usual tone: - <…> Cardin jogged over and gripped me by the arm, hauling me up.

Teams RWBY and JN_R were tense for a moment, waiting to see what Cardin would do. But the next words stunned them all.

<…> "You saved us," he whispered. "Your plan worked!"

<…> My plan…? Oh hell, the plan. - giggles were heard in the room, in most cases from Mercury and Yang, and others also smiled lightly. Even Ozpin hid a smile behind a mug of coffee, looking at the young Arc. He simply hid behind his hands, feeling a renewed sense of embarrassment. - <…> "Heh heh… uh, yeah… I guess it did."

"Next comes the line break,” Glinda said, causing everyone concerned to move closer.

<…> It was ten or fifteen minutes later when we found ourselves in an altogether different room, some third year dorm we'd taken over. It was far enough away from the last classroom that we wouldn't be found, and the trek here had been a terrifying one, us carrying more food than we'd seen in ages. If anyone had seen us, we would have been attacked for sure, but luck was on our side and we made it through unharmed.

<…> The food we'd stolen was now amassed on the bed before us, though it had been split into six small piles put before each person. All of that had been done in silence, but it wasn't a comfortable one. Had it been just Ren and I, or just Team CRDL, then it probably would have been such. Sadly, we were still technically enemies, and without a common cause to unify us, the atmosphere was tense. Up until now, the lingering adrenaline had been enough to keep everyone subdued. The moment ended when Cardin stood and approached me.

Jaune, as well as the rest of his friends and team, tensed, waiting for any trick from Cardin and his crew. Ozpin, on the other hand, just sat back and popped another chip back into his mouth. A crunch sounded. //“I love the taste of bacon,” Ozpin thought with a slight smile as he listened to Glinda.

<…> I stood opposite him and tried to look as confident as I could. I probably failed, but it was worth a shot. - all the students from Beacon held their breath. - <…> "What happened back there…" Cardin paused. "Since the war began, there hasn't been a single report of a male force being any female one. The Girl Scouts have been unchallenged."

"Next comes your note, Mr. Ren,” the guy nodded, waiting for what his double would say. - <…> (This was true, but we would later realise it was because no one had tried. The men were so scattered, that there was never a chance for them to win.)

<…> "You, however," he went on. "You managed it. We actually won. I have no idea how, but…"

Once again, silence.

<…> He trailed off, and stared at me with an unreadable expression.

<…> "Was that your plan all along?"

"Eh, of course not,” Jaune whispered quietly, though it was pointless, because the others could also hear what the bookish Jaune was thinking at the very moment he was executing his ‘plan’. So, to avoid blushing again, the blond simply decided to ignore the others' stares and just listen to the story. Yeah... this was going to be much better.

<…> No, of course not, but I couldn't very well tell him I'd planned to run off and abandon him. I shrugged instead, eyes glancing to the side as I waved one hand in the air. - and again laughter, but Jaune controlled himself. - <…> "Pretty much," I said, taking the undeserved credit in full. "There was no way we were going to win a fair fight, but I figured they'd be so overconfident they wouldn't think to use any strategy."

"And that, unfortunately, turned out to be true,” Weiss shook her head, feeling ashamed of those women who couldn't catch a mere Arc! She could only sigh and shake her head as she continued to listen to Ms. Goodwitch's voice.

<…> "They're too used to fighting Grimm," Cardin said. "It didn't occur to them to treat us like anything different and… and maybe I've done the same."

Yang raised her eyebrows, with a ready shout that Cardin would never apologize, but she was also abruptly silent. Pyrrha, Ms. Goodwitch, and Ozpin's words came to mind. And in that moment, Yang simply realized that she knew nothing about Cardin except that he was a bully. That sudden thought simply threw her off balance.

<…> He looked down at his hand. When his eyes flickered back to mine they were harder, sharper, and somehow more resolute.

<…> "You led us to victory," he said. "You've achieved what no other man has. You gave us victory. You gave us food…" He gestured to the pile of food on the bed. "But more than that, you've given us our dignity."

<…> We all looked to Zwei, happily munching on his dog food – and once again thanked our stars we wouldn't be doing the same.

Ren and Jaune smiled in relief again, feeling happy and relieved for their doubles and that they wouldn't be told how they were humiliated by eating dog food. Therefore, they could only smile at such thoughts.

<…> "I don't know how you did it, Arc, but ever since this started, we've been lost. I did my best to keep us together but I never managed to provide for us like this. There's food enough here for a full day. That's… that's probably more food than any guy in Beacon has right now."

Slowly, everyone began to fall silent, until the only voice in the room was Goodwitch's.

<…> "It wouldn't have been possible without you four," I said, partly because it sounded like it was expected, but also because I wanted to make it clear exactly how much I didn't want to fight with them. "You guys did most of the fighting, so-"

<…> "No." Cardin shook his head. "We may have fought, but it was you who led us to victory." - Glinda froze abruptly, and her eyes widened from what she had just read. She glanced sideways at Jaune first, and then at Ozpin. Glinda sighed, feeling that Bart was influencing his students too much with stories about the past. In the end, she still continued to read while the eyes drilled many holes into her. - <…> Before my eyes, the armoured man knelt.

Everyone froze in their seats.

<…> "I, Cardin Winchester, do pledge my allegiance to Jaune Arc."

Ozpin's eyes widened.

<…> "W-what?"

"W-what...?" Jaune and Glinda, who voiced the book Jaune, said in one voice.

<…> "I, Sky Lark-"

Ruby opened her mouth, realizing where this was going. After all, she was so fond of tales of knights and heroes from the old days, so it wasn't hard to guess.

<…> "I, Russel Thrush-"

Cinder listened to Ms. Goodwich with a mixed feeling. Somehow she was reminded of the moment when she had joined her Queen. The thought made her choke on air. Comparing this blond man to Her was just... ridiculous!

<…> "I, Dove Bronzewing…"

The others were also beginning to realize what Miss Goodwitch was talking about, for they had all been listening to lectures from Professor... sorry, Dr. Oobleck about ancient times when there were Kings and Knights with their statutes and rules.

<…> The four of them were on their knees before me. They'd formed a semi-circle with Cardin at the head, and each of theirs was bowed towards the floor, one hand on raised knee as they pledged their loyalty to me. Me! Of all the people!

Jaune just stared at the book with his mouth open. Shaking his head, he realized now what Miss Goodwitch had said at the beginning of the chapter. It was really just a book, a fantasy that had nothing to do with reality!

Unfortunately, Pyrrha listening to Glinda had a different take on the situation. Her fantasy began to take her slowly to places where there are knights, kingdoms, and also where there is one blond man in knight's armor, and around him, kneeling on one knee, his loyal knights, ready to serve him faithfully. After all, it is they who will have to go through many difficulties and victories to free their Kingdom from invaders, and afterwards, their King will return again... Jon Arc is a prince who one day lost everything: his Kingdom, his friends, his family, as well as his love - remaining with his loyal knight with pink eyes and a group of mercenaries who swore to serve him, for the sake of their entire Kingdom....

Pyrrha smiled, not noticing how the others had already come to their senses and even had time to discuss what she had heard while she was daydreaming.

In the meantime, Ozpin smiled nostalgically, remembering periods of his turbulent youth, as well as times when he was himself... the smile faded as the one image of the woman he loved with all his heart... and whom he had self-destructed because of his death, came into his thoughts.

The headmaster sighed, turning his attention back to the students, who continued to discuss what they had heard. The man who was responsible for what was happening was mumbling something to himself, staring down at his desk, not daring to look up. Once again, a smile appeared on his face as he watched his students.

"Ahem,” everyone fell silent, and then stared at Glinda. Even Pyrrha woke up abruptly from her fantasies and stared at the vice-headmistress with embarrassment. The headmaster himself only threw another chip into his mouth. Crunch. "Let's continue..."

<…> "To he who shall lead us to better times," Cardin declared. "Our swords are yours to wield, our armour is yours to defend, and we shall go where you command. Lead us, and allow us to reclaim our rightful place!"

//Reclaim…? went through the minds of many.

<…> Reclaim…? They wanted me to fight against the girls? Ha ha, no way. No chance. Nuh-uh. That wasn't happening. Not in a million years. There were six of us here, and it would probably take at least ten times that number to even have a chance. - many smiled at the blond’s thoughts. - <…> That said… there was safety in numbers, wasn't there? My instinctive desire to turn them away was quickly squashed down as I realised just how much easier it would be to look for food if there were more of us. Sure, we'd draw more attention, but if push came to shove, Ren and I could just abandon them again and go back to just the two of us.

"What,” Jaune shrugged when he saw the looks on the other men's faces. "Even with the oath, they're still Team Cardinal."

To such a statement, many simply nodded, accepting it as a response to such thoughts.

<…> "I accept your allegiance," I called, hoping I didn't sound quite too dismissive or uncertain about it all. "Rise now. We've worked hard today, and now we should celebrate. There's food aplenty, and we're safe here."

<…> "Not that's an idea I can get behind," Russel laughed. The four rose, and it suddenly felt like any and all animosity between them and us was gone. No longer were we Team CRDL and half of Team JNPR. We were something else. We were similar. We were men. - laughter was heard from the girls. Even Jaune realized how stupid his thoughts sounded, since they were already men. But the words sounded like they weren't. In a word, it was quite embarrassing. - <…> I also noticed that the pile of food put before me was bigger than theirs. Cardin looked at it enviously, but made no complaint. I'd been given the best of it all, which looked to include homemade bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches that made my mouth water.

<…> I wanted it all to myself, I really did. They were the ones who were going to be doing most of the fighting, however. If they were weak from lack of food, they wouldn't be able to hold the ground, and without my meat shields, I'd be stuck having to fight again. It would be in my best interests to keep them happy and well-fed. They'd need the energy, after all. They were going to have to pull my weight.

<…> With a shake of my head, I reluctantly broke one of the sandwiches into two.

Once again Glinda groaned at what she had read, but this time she groaned at the nonsense she had just read with her eyes. Taking a breath, she decided to end it all in one fell swoop. Grabbing a glass of water, the woman drank all the water in one swift motion and started reading:

<…> And did He take the bread in hand and shake his head. In two He broke it, and then two again, until His food was shared with all of His disciples. No words did He speak, but His message was clear. Together we would suffer, together we would struggle, and together we would survive.
As we, His first, shared that fateful meal, I wondered if it were that He knew just what He had wrought. For in that moment when He delivered us victory, He won over our minds. In the time moments before, when He secured for us victuals, He won over our stomachs.
But when He, our Lord, declared that He would suffer with us…? He won over our hearts and souls. /-/ High Priest Russel Thrush /-/ Verse 21 The Book of Jaune

The book slammed shut abruptly. Glinda sighed, ignoring the widened eyes of the students and even Ozpin, who froze with the last chip in his hands and stared at the book in shock. She simply threw the book on the table and afterward got up and left for her bedroom.

She decided to get some rest, because reading the book was more difficult than she had originally thought. Well, while the students and Ozpin recovered from what they'd heard, she could get some rest, and maybe a nap... it had been too long a day.
* * *

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