S'up, people? I'm back again with a new chapter! You guys really seemed to enjoy the non-canon chapter; don't worry, I have one or two more planned out! It'll be toward the end of Volume 1, though.

Alright, let's answer last chapter's reviews:

Gizmo Gear: Yep! Pretty sure everyone knew that was gonna happen.

Hmmm… I'm guessing you're referring to Undertale? If so, then I gotta tell you, I've never even watched or read that series before. The only reason I even know about it is because I watch One Minute Melee. Speaking of which, read the bottom A/N (but after the chapter)!

csshadow349: Thanks! Sorry to make you wait so long. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Professor Writer: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the sparring match! Truth be told, I was torn between having it end in a draw or having Pyrrha win, but I eventually settled on a draw. I think it showed how persistent Bolt was, as well as how good he is at observing his opponent in a fight.

I'm pleased you enjoyed the thrashing Bolt gave Team CRDL! They know they can't beat him in a fight now! Of course, that doesn't mean they're ready to give up trying to get back at him yet!

It's good to see you liked the scene with Bolt learning his TMs! Yeah, I thought it would be amusing if I added Yang and Ruby giving Bolt commands as if he were their pokemon! To be honest, I only know two RWBY/Pokemon crossovers where RWBY characters become trainers, and I've already recommended those (Chapters 8 and 9).

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Amewolfsky: Pretty sure you've seen the answer to that question!

Okay, now it's time for Chapter 12!

Chapter 12 – Dealing With The Bully

It had now been a month since Bolt and Pyrrha's sparring match, and all of the first-year students were once again in Combat Class. A match was currently taking place, this one being Jaune vs. Cardin.

The fight was, unfortunately, not going in Jaune's favor.

The blond was currently leaning against his sword, breathing heavily. Conversely, Cardin stood up straight a few feet away, not even winded. The brown-haired teen laughed mockingly at his opponent's pitiful state.

Angrily, Jaune charged at Cardin and swung his sword downward, but the taller teen easily sidestepped the attack and swung his mace in response. Jaune barely managed to bring his shield up to block the blow, and he was still sent flying back, losing his shield in the process.

Struggling to his feet, Jaune gripped his sword with both hands and swung it down from above, only for Cardin to block it with the shaft of his weapon. The mace wielder smirked confidently.

Inwardly, however, Cardin couldn't help but feel relieved, not that he would admit it out loud. Jaune was the first student he had been paired to fight against that he actually had a chance of beating. After his humiliating loss to Bolt, the next time he had been picked to fight, his opponent had been Nora. Cardin overestimated his chances against her, thinking he could beat her in a battle of strength. This line of thinking cost him the match, as he learned that, despite her size, Nora was a lot stronger than she looked.

After that, he was chosen to spar against Ruby, and this time he was sure he could win. After all, the girl was even smaller than Nora, and she was younger than everyone else in the school. Cardin figured that if he could defeat her, he would be indirectly getting his revenge on Bolt, since he knew that the blue-haired teen was close to the team leader.

However, his hopes for getting payback were dashed when the fight began. The little girl's speed made it a challenge to keep track of her, let alone hit her. In addition, Ruby was deceptively strong, what with the way she was able to easily wield Crescent Rose; she was as strong as, if not stronger than, Nora, something Cardin found out firsthand. And so, just like his match against Bolt, the mace wielder was soundly defeated without landing a hit on his opponent.

Now was his fight with Jaune. Cardin could see how bad the blond was at fighting, and that made him realize that he could finally win a match. He pressed down on Jaune with his superior strength, saying, "This is the part where you lose."

"Over my dead—" Jaune started to say before he was abruptly cut off by Cardin kneeing him in the gut. Gasping in pain, the blond team leader dropped his sword and fell over, grasping his stomach. He could only stare helplessly as the brown-haired teen raised his mace up, preparing to deliver the final blow.

Fortunately for the blond swordsman, a buzzer sounded as the lights came back on and Glynda's voice rang out, making Cardin freeze in mid-swing.

"Alright, that's enough," the teacher called, stepping forward. Reluctantly, Cardin backed off while Jaune sat up. "As you can see, students, Mr. Arc's aura has fallen into the red zone. In a tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune can no longer keep fighting, and the official may call the match."

Glynda turned to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat." As she spoke, the blond pulled out his Scroll and took a look at it. It showed the aura levels for him and his team; his teammates' were all full and green while his was red and close to empty.

"Gauging your aura will help you decide when it is the right time to attack, or if it would be better to switch to a more… defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be devoured by a Beowolf, now would we?" she finished.

"Speak for yourself," Cardin scoffed, hefting his mace over his shoulder and walking off the stage.

Glynda faced her class again. "Remember, everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to take part in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

The Team RWBBY members all had different reactions to her announcement. Blake carried her usual look of indifference, though there was a hint of a smile on her face, Yang and Ruby were ecstatic, Weiss looked excited but quickly composed herself, and Bolt just looked confused, as he had no idea what that was.

As the bell rang to signal that class had ended and Team RWBBY stood up to leave, the shapeshifter's eyes strayed over to Pyrrha, who was staring worriedly at her partner, and then Jaune, who looked completely dejected.

"So there we were, in the middle of the night…"

"It was day."

"…we were surrounded by Ursai…"

"They were Beowolves."

"…dozens of them!"

"Two of them."

Teams RWBBY and JNPR were now in the cafeteria, eating lunch. Nora was telling everyone about the time she and Ren took down hordes of Grimm single-handedly, with Ren chiming in to correct parts of her story.

However, Yang was the only one captivated by her tale. Blake was reading a book, Weiss was filing her nails, Jaune was sadly moving food around on his tray, and Ruby, Bolt, and Pyrrha were too distracted by Jaune's downcast mood to pay attention.

"But they didn't stand a chance! Ren and I took them down, and then we made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!" the orange-haired teen finished with a bright smile on her face.

"She's been having this recurring dream for almost a month now," Ren explained.

Finally, Pyrrha spoke up. "Jaune, are you okay?"

The blond was so out of it that he didn't answer for a few seconds. "What? Oh, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay," Ruby said.

"Like, really depressed," her blue-haired friend added.

Jaune noticed that the rest of the two teams now had their attention focused on him. "Guys, I'm fine!" he tried to assure them. "Look!" He gave them a thumbs up and a shaky smile, along with a nervous laugh that fooled no one.

A different set of laughter got their attention, and everyone saw Cardin and his team picking on a girl with rabbit ears.

"Cardin has been harassing you since the second week of school," Bolt stated. "You know, after he finally decided to leave me alone."

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah, the guy just likes to play around," Jaune refuted. "Just practical jokes."

"He's a bully," the silver-eyed girl said bluntly, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, please. Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"Well, he's constantly knocking your books out of your hands," his male teammate said.

His fellow team leader spoke up next. "Sometimes, he activates your sheath when you enter a room, making it expand so you'll get stuck in the doorway."

"And did you forget what happened with the rocket lockers a few weeks ago?" the blue-haired teen asked rhetorically.

Flashback—

Several first years were in the locker room, getting instructions from Glynda on how to operate the lockers. "Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor," she explained. "Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."

After hearing that, Cardin smirked evilly as he eyed Jaune and the open locker next to him. Quickly, he lunged at Jaune with his arms outstretched, intending to push him in.

Unfortunately for the brown-haired student, Bolt was standing in front of Jaune and had sensed Cardin's malicious intentions. He reached back without looking and grabbed the blond's wrist a second before Cardin's lunge. Bolt pulled the startled teen forward while Cardin's momentum carried him into the locker.

Before he could react, the shapeshifter swiftly kicked the door shut. He stood in front of it, gazing at the keypad curiously. "How did she say it worked?" he pondered. Bolt typed six numbers into the keypad, ignoring the angry protests from within, and suddenly, the locker flew upward, leaving behind a small cloud of smoke.

"Whoa! That was pretty cool!" Bolt laughed. Then he noticed Jaune was staring at him with a mixture of shock and awe and patted him on the shoulder. "You're welcome," he said, facing the teacher while Jaune just continued to stare at him.

Flashback end

"You should count yourself lucky that I was standing right there. Who knows where you might have ended up!" the blue-haired teen said.

"I only asked for one time…" Jaune mumbled, depression starting to set in again.

"Jaune, we're your friends. You know you can ask us for help if you need it," the redhead told him.

Nora stood up abruptly. "Ooh, I know! We'll break his legs!"

The shapeshifter shot her an odd look. "That sounds a bit extreme, Nora." Then his expression matched hers. "I like it!"

"No, Nora," Ren spoke up.

"Bolt!" his leader chided him.

"What? He has aura, so his legs would heal… eventually." Ruby shot him a disapproving glare, making him look away with a pout. "Alright, fine."

"Seriously, guys, I'm fine!" the blond said, standing up with his tray. "Besides, I'm not the only person he's a jerk to. He's a jerk to everybody."

As if to prove Jaune's point, a cry was heard from Cardin's table. "Ow, that hurts!" the Faunus girl he was hassling cried. The reason for this was because the brown-haired team leader currently had one of her rabbit ears in his grasp and was yanking on it.

However, all her complaint did was make Cardin and his team laugh louder. "I told you they were real!" the leader crowed.

"What a freak!" Russell remarked.

The two teams watched the scene with disgust. "Atrocious! People like him make me sick," Pyrrha growled.

"That makes two of us," Blake stated, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus," the blonde mused. "I guess it's fortunate that you're not one, huh, B.B.?" She turned to her blue-haired friend, but to her surprise, he wasn't sitting next to her anymore. "Hey, where'd Bolt go?"

Cardin chortled as he pulled harder on the rabbit ear, eliciting another cry of anguish from the girl. "Please stop," she pleaded.

The mace wielder smirked and opened his mouth to retort when a hand suddenly gripped his wrist like a vise. Cardin winced before he faced the person responsible.

The person was none other than Bolt, and he didn't look too pleased. "Let go of her," he said.

Cardin gritted his teeth while the Faunus gazed at him in surprise. "How about you go mind your own business?!" the former stated.

The shapeshifter's eyes narrowed as his grip tightened slightly. "I will, once you leave this girl alone."

"Why do you care?!" the taller teen demanded. "She's a freak!"

At that, Bolt examined the rabbit Faunus, and she figured this would be the point where the blue-haired student would take Cardin's side. After all, she could count the number of humans who had stood up for her on one hand.

However, Bolt's next words left her stunned. "Sorry, don't see it."

Cardin gaped at him disbelievingly. "What do you mean, you don't see it?! She's got rabbit ears on the top of her head!"

Bolt shrugged. "So what? I think it's kinda cool. I bet she can hear a lot better than a normal person." His eyes narrowed once more. "After all, I'm pretty sure she heard me when I said to let. Go." At his last word, his grip on Cardin's wrist got even tighter. Cardin finally released the girl's ear as pain flared across his face.

Bolt kept his gaze on the bully for a few seconds longer. "I better not see something like this again, or the result will be worse than what happened a month ago," he said.

Cardin glowered at him, but he didn't respond as he massaged his wrist. Instead, he opted to leave the cafeteria; his team was quick to follow him to avoid being on the receiving end of Bolt's glare.

With that problem dealt with, Bolt turned to the Faunus, his irritation changing to concern. "Are you alright now?" he asked.

"Y-Yes, I'm okay…" she replied hesitantly. She glanced at her savior; more specifically at his face. "A-Are you a…?" she trailed off, pointing at her left cheek.

Bolt was a little puzzled, but quickly realized what she was asking. He smiled slightly. "No, I'm not a Faunus. These are just scars."

"You're human?" she inquired with surprise. When he nodded, she asked, "T-Then why did you stand up for me?"

Bolt's brow furrowed. "Uh, because you looked like you needed help? Also, Cardin's a huge jerk, and he really gets on my nerves." He tilted his head. "What's your name?"

"My name's Velvet," the rabbit Faunus said.

"I'm Bolt!" the shapeshifter introduced himself. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"They're back at our dorm room," Velvet answered. "I was actually about to head back myself before…" She looked uncertain.

It wasn't hard to figure out what she was trying to say. Bolt smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry. I highly doubt they'll try anything. They try not to show it, but they're actually pretty scared of me after what happened last month. Go ahead and meet up with your team; they're probably worried about you."

Velvet stared at him, astounded, before she smiled timidly. "R-Right. Thanks for your help, Bolt!" she said, walking toward the exit.

Bolt grinned back. "No problem!" The blue-haired teen headed back to his table; upon reaching it, he blinked at the looks he was receiving from his friends. "What?" he inquired as he sat down.

"That was awesome how you handled Cardin!" the orange-haired girl exclaimed before she frowned. "I just wish you could have broken his legs."

Bolt sighed with mock disappointment. "You and me both, Nora," he said, snickering at the look he was getting from his team leader. Bolt blinked again when he sensed that Yang was feeling perturbed. He was about to question her about it, but the black-haired girl spoke up.

"Bolt, why did you go help that Faunus girl?" she asked inquisitively.

Bolt raised a brow, wondering why she was curious about that before he answered her question. "Well, Cardin may say otherwise, but she is a person. Just because she has animal ears on top of her head, it doesn't change that fact."

Blake seemed surprised at his answer, though she hid it well. "I see," she muttered.

"Besides," he added, "I think Faunus are pretty cool. They have heightened senses, so it's kind of like having an extra superpower that normal people don't have."

The monochromatic girl stared at him, her eyes slightly wide, before her expression changed back to what it normally was. "Okay," she said, going back to reading her book. If one were to look closer, though, they would have noticed the small smile on her face.

Bolt stared at her for a moment longer, wondering why she was so happy, before Yang placed her elbow on his shoulder, leaning on him. She no longer felt upset, so the shapeshifter decided not to ask.

"Congratulations, B.B.! You gained quite a bit of attention with your actions!" the blonde brawler teased.

Bolt looked around and noticed for the first time that a decent number of stares were being sent his way. He had no doubt the other students were whispering about him, too. Bolt sighed; he was already something of an enigma, with his fighting skills and unknown Semblance, and he knew this incident would only make him stand out more.

His gaze slid over to Blake again. "Hmm, I wonder…"

A week had passed since that incident in the cafeteria, and Bolt continued to keep tabs on Jaune. He noticed that the blond seemed to get more and more depressed as the days went by.

It wasn't just him; the blue-haired teen also noticed that Pyrrha seemed sad about something, too. He wondered what could've happened to make them both feel this way.

Most confusing of all, however, would have to be the sudden "friendship" between Jaune and Cardin. There was no way it could be genuine; Bolt had seen the way the brown-haired teen treated Jaune the past few weeks. In addition, Cardin seemed oddly smug, while the blond seemed uncomfortable, as if he didn't want to be around the taller teen but had no choice.

The shapeshifter reported all of this to his team leader as the two exited Professor Port's classroom with the rest of their team. "I didn't think it was possible, but he's even more miserable than he was last week. It must be pretty serious."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right, Bolt. If this goes on, it might end up tearing Team JNPR apart."

"So what should be done?" Yang asked.

Ruby hummed. "Well, I guess we should first—"

"Hey, Bolt!" a familiar voice called out.

Team RWBBY stopped and looked in the direction of the voice, and Bolt smiled when he recognized the owner. "Oh, hi Velvet," he said as she approached with three other students behind her. "What's up?"

Velvet smiled. "Nothing, really. I just saw you with your friends and wanted to introduce you to my team!" She gestured to the other girl, who had pale skin like her, sunglasses, and brown hair, with a curl that went past her face that was a lighter shade of brown. "This is my partner and our team leader, Coco."

She moved on to the boy with dark skin, auburn hair, and blank white eyes. "That's Fox. He's a bit on the quiet side." The Faunus pointed to the final boy, a tall teen with skin lighter than the first's and black hair and eyes. "That's Yatsuhashi. He may look intimidating, but he's actually quite gentle." Velvet beamed at the first-year students. "Together, we're the second-year team, Team CFVY!"

Bolt grinned in response. "Nice to meet you, Team CFVY!"

Their leader, Coco, stepped forward until she was in front of the blue-haired student. She lowered her sunglasses slightly, revealing her brown irises as she peered down at Bolt. "So you're the kid who helped our teammate?" she questioned.

"Uh, yeah…?"

Coco backed up and smiled at him. "Well then, I have to say thank you. Thanks for going out of your way to help our friend. Unfortunately, we're not always around to protect her from racists, so it pleases me that someone was there for her in our place." Behind her, Fox and Yatsuhashi nodded with smiles on their faces.

Bolt rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Well, it wasn't really a big deal…"

Coco smirked at his response. "Modest, huh? I like that." The comment went over Bolt's head, though a small frown made its way onto Yang's face for a moment. "So, how about you introduce your team?" she suggested.

"Oh, right!" Bolt pointed to each of his friends as he introduced them. "That's Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang! Together, we make up Team RWBBY, and we're in our first year!"

As the four girls gave their individual greetings, Yatsuhashi raised a brow. "A five-person team?" he said.

"Bolt here is kind of an exception," Yang explained, leaning her elbow on his shoulder as she grinned. "He got accepted into Beacon a different way."

"I see," the brown-haired leader replied. "Well, it was nice meeting you five. Let's go, guys." The second-year students started walking away when Coco suddenly stopped. "Hey, you first-years are supposed to be taking a field trip to Forever Fall tomorrow, right?"

"That's right," the heiress confirmed.

"Then I suppose you should know about the rumor."

"A rumor?" Blake repeated.

Velvet nodded, catching on to what her partner was talking about. "Yeah, that's right. A few years ago, two guys were walking through that very forest when they saw a strange-looking Grimm."

"What's so weird about that?" the shapeshifter inquired.

"Well, one of the guys said that when he moved closer to get a better look, it noticed him and he got scared. However, instead of going to attack him, it fled," the Faunus continued.

"So he saw something that looked like a Grimm but didn't act like one?" Yang stated.

Yatsuhashi nodded as he took over. "That's not all. After the Grimm ran away, the two followed after it and claimed that they saw a red light, and then a minute later, a bird was flying away from the spot."

Ruby's eyes widened. "You mean there could be a new type of Grimm capable of changing its form?" she asked.

"As we said, it's just a rumor," the glasses-wearing teen said with a shrug. "No one's ever seen a trace of anything like that since then. We told you guys because we wanted to let you know to be careful in the forest. Have fun on your trip!" And with that, Team CFVY walked off, leaving the first-year team by themselves.

"You guys think the rumor could be true?" the blonde wondered.

"It's possible, but it sounds like we don't really have anything to worry about," the black-haired girl reasoned. "It hasn't been seen in years, so odds are we probably won't see it tomorrow."

"Blake's right!" Ruby chirped. "Besides, even if we did see it, I'm sure the five of us could handle it! Now, what were we discussing before…?"

"We were trying to decide on what to do about Jaune's bully problem," Bolt reminded her. "Why don't you try talking to him, Ruby? You told me he was the first friend you made at Beacon and vice versa, and maybe he'll listen to a fellow team leader."

"Great idea, Bolt! I'll talk to him tonight," the silver-eyed girl said. "Alright, Team RWBBY, let's go get ready for tomorrow's trip!" The five students headed to their dorm room to prepare.

The next day had finally come, and the first-year students were currently at Forever Fall. They consisted of Teams RWBBY, JNPR, and CRDL, and Professor Goodwitch was their supervisor.

It was certainly a sight to behold. There were trees with blood red leaves all around. Red was everywhere as far as the eye could see.

"Yes, students. The forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee," Glynda spoke as the students gazed around in awe. "Professor Peach has assigned each of you to collect a sample from the trees deep inside this forest, and I am here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."

Bolt frowned as he moved closer to Yang. "I still don't understand why Professor Peach couldn't come here herself," he whispered.

The blonde shrugged. "I guess she had something pretty important to take care of," she replied.

Glynda stopped and faced the students. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap," she instructed, holding up a jar for emphasis. "But be cautious, as this forest is crawling with Grimm. Therefore, it's important that everyone remains with their teammates. We'll rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" On that note, the professor treaded off to do her own thing.

Jaune tried to walk over to his team, but Cardin grabbed his shoulder before he could leave. "Come on, buddy! Let's go," the mace wielder said with a smirk.

The blond looked utterly forlorn as he glanced over at his team, making eye contact with his partner. Jaune wanted nothing more than to reunite with her and his teammates, but he had to keep doing what Cardin said in order to protect his secret. With a heavy heart, he averted his eyes and followed after Team CRDL; Pyrrha sighed and moved to catch up to Ren and Nora.

With RWBBY, Yang and Bolt were collecting their jars of sap together. "So, how are you enjoying your first field trip, B.B.?" the former inquired.

The shapeshifter beamed in response. "It's incredible!" he answered. "This place is amazing! It's a nice change of scenery from the Emerald Forest."

Yang smiled at his enthusiasm. She liked seeing her blue-haired friend like this. "Well, I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself."

Bolt smiled widely at her, and she couldn't help but look away, a slight blush on her face. Whenever he smiled at her like that, when it was less of a challenging smirk and more pure, it always made her heart flutter.

As she looked away, Bolt glanced over to the rest of their teammates. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake appeared to be finishing up, just as they were. As the three of them regrouped, Bolt locked eyes with the youngest girl. She seemed to be asking a question silently, to which the blue-haired teen tilted his head slightly before nodding. Ruby smiled and nodded back before focusing on her partner again.

Bolt, on the other hand, looked over to where NPR was collecting their sap. Pyrrha was in the process of filling her jar while Ren was doing his and Nora's.

Bolt frowned; he could sense Team CRDL and Jaune were deeper in the forest, but he had no clue what they could be doing. He suspected the former was up to something but didn't know what, so he decided to wait until they came closer.

Meanwhile, Team CRDL was lounging around, doing nothing while Jaune collected the sap for them. Once the blond finished, he walked over to where the all-male team rested, dropped the seven jars in his arms to the ground, and collapsed himself.

"Hey! Great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin said.

"I dink I'm allergic to dis stuff," Jaune replied, his voice nasally.

"Yeah, yeah, that's great," Cardin said, waving him off. "So Jaune, you're probably wondering 'why did my buddy Cardin have me collect seven jars of tree sap when there are only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes."

The brown-haired teen smirked. "Well, come with me and you'll find out."

Jaune groaned but complied. A few minutes later, the five boys made it to a hill that overlooked the clearing that the other teams were in.

Everyone was either finished or finishing up their assignment, except for Ren. Every time he filled up a jar, he would hand it to Nora, and the hyperactive girl would drink the whole thing when his back was turned. Curious, Bolt stuck his fingers into the tree next to him, then pulled them out when some sap dripped onto them. He gave it a lick and became starry-eyed at how good it tasted, garnering a laugh from Yang and Ruby.

The blond looked at his tormentor. "Cardin, what's going on?" he asked uncertainly.

Cardin was no longer smirking; his face carried a scowl now. "Payback," he answered, his gaze shifting between two of the people in the clearing.

Jaune followed his gaze, his eyes landing on the figure of his red-haired partner. "Pyrrha?" He looked over to the other person, a certain blue-haired shapeshifter who was now laughing along with his two friends. "Bolt?"

"Those two," Cardin muttered. "The redheaded know-it-all and the blue-haired Goody-Two-shoes. They think they can get away with making a fool out of me? Well, I'll show them."

The brown-haired leader reached for something behind himself and pulled out a brown box with a W on it. "Alright boys, last night, Jaune managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps. Now it's time to put them to work."

Russell placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder approvingly.

"Now, according to an essay he wrote for me last week, these nasty things looove sweets," Cardin went on. "I'm thinking it's time we teach those two a thing or two." He stood up with his team, pulling Jaune up and shoving the two extra jars into his hands. "And you're going to be the one to do it."

The blond leader had a sinking feeling he knew what Cardin meant, but still he asked, "Do what?"

"Hit them with the sap," Cardin ordered. "Do it, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."

Jaune stared at the jars in his hands, then at the smug looks on Team CRDL's faces. With no other options, he reared his arms back, ready to splatter the two targets with the sap.

Except…

Except he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He looked at Pyrrha as she glanced at her friends, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Jaune thought back to how she had offered to help him multiple times, yet he turned her down each time. The armored girl had been nothing but kind and caring to him; was this really how he wanted to repay her?

Jaune shifted his gaze over to Bolt next. He, Ruby, and Yang were no longer laughing; now the sisters were talking about something while the shapeshifter turned his head to face them.

He remembered how Bolt had helped him a while back, as well as the rabbit Faunus that CRDL had been picking on. Cardin called Bolt a Goody-Two-shoes, but he was just being nice, standing up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves. Could he really do this to someone as nice as Bolt?

A resolute expression appeared on his face as he made his decision.

"No."

Cardin's eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?"

"I said… no!" Jaune spun on his heel and threw both jars at Cardin instead. The jars smashed open and splattered the contents all over Cardin's chest armor, painting the yellow bird totally red. The blond flinched a second later when he realized what he just did.

The mace wielder chuckled menacingly. "Oh, you've done it now," he said. His teammates grabbed Jaune and pulled him deeper into the forest, ready to put him through a world of pain.

Bolt smiled.

Unbeknownst to Jaune and Team CRDL, the shapeshifter could sense exactly where they were, and when he turned his head, he had been watching the five of them out of the corner of his eye. He had sensed the blond's indecision, which was soon replaced with resolution, and saw Jaune finally stand up to Cardin with his action.

However, Bolt frowned when he witnessed CRDL drag the blond into the woods. "Okay, time to step in," he thought. Spying some of the extra jars, he picked up a couple of them and turned to his friends with a smile. "Hey guys, I'm going to go collect some more sap in case Nora tries to get to it again. I'll be back in a minute."

"Can't you just do that here?" the white-haired girl questioned.

"I could, but I also want to explore the forest a bit," Bolt said.

Yang seemed like she was about to say something, but Ruby spoke up. "Okay, Bolt! Just make sure you're back here soon!"

The blue-haired teen nodded before turning around and walking off into the forest.

It only took Bolt a couple of minutes to reach Jaune's location. When he got there, he saw Cardin holding the blond up in the air with his fist reared back to punch him. Bolt narrowed his eyes as he reached for his weapon and prepared to jump in when he was abruptly blinded by a bright flash.

When the light died down, the shapeshifter spotted Cardin on the ground, clutching his injured hand. Bolt gazed at Jaune and saw that the light emanated from him. It took a second to figure out what the light was.

"So he managed to activate his aura…" Bolt mused as he stared at the blond leader, impressed. Jaune himself seemed awed by what just happened until he was kicked to the ground by Sky.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are," Cardin said, stepping forward. Jaune just glared at him defiantly, ready for whatever the bullies would do next. Bolt glowered ahead, once again about to step in to help his friend.

This time, he stopped when he heard the roars.

Team CRDL whirled around to see not one, but two Ursai stalking toward them. However, these weren't regular Ursai. They were Ursa Majors: bigger, stronger, and tougher variants of the more common Ursa Minor.

The two bears sniffed the air, trying to locate the sweet scent that they smelled. Once they found it, they zeroed in on the source: Cardin, who was trembling due to how close the Ursai were.

"Those are big Ursai!" Russell screamed as he, Sky, and Dove immediately turned tail and ran, abandoning their leader. Cardin wanted to run after them, but he was too terrified to move, as the Ursai were focused on him. One of the Grimm swatted him to the side, putting Jaune in their line of sight. However, rather than go for the smaller, less threatening target, the Ursai turned away from the blond and lumbered toward Cardin.

Jaune got to his feet and looked behind himself as if he were considering running, too. Then he looked back to Cardin, seeing one of the Ursai knock his mace out of his hand.

Meanwhile, out of sight, Bolt was staring in the direction that Cardin's team ran off in. "Wow, they just left him there? Some friends they are," he thought. The shapeshifter watched as the Ursai ignored Jaune and went for the brown-haired teen. He swiftly put the pieces together. "Of course! They're after Cardin because they're attracted to the sap!" Bolt gazed at the blond swordsman, wondering what he would do now.

Teams RWBY and NPR were still waiting around, making conversation now that their task was complete, when they heard a loud roar.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked in alarm.

Seconds later, RDL burst out of the forest. "Ursai! Ursai!" Russell was still screaming as he ran until he bumped into Yang.

Before he could take off again, the blonde grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him into the air. "What?! Where?!" she demanded.

The terrified teen pointed to the woods. "Back there! They've got Cardin!" Yang dropped him and he ran off.

Pyrrha dropped her jar in shock, remembering who else was with Cardin. "Jaune!" she gasped.

"Yang, you and Blake find Professor Goodwitch and bring her here!" the silver-eyed girl ordered, bringing out her weapon.

"You two, go with them!" Pyrrha said to Nora and Ren as she followed Ruby's lead. "There might be more!" The four of them took off to follow the instructions given them while Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha ran into the forest.

Back in the forest, Cardin was trying to run from the Grimm, but one of them leaped over him and slashed him, sending him flying onto his back. The mace wielder tried to crawl away from it but forgot about the second Ursa, which charged at him and rammed its head into him, putting him on his back again.

The three girls arrived in time to see one of the Ursai towering over Cardin, ready to land the final blow. "Oh no," Pyrrha muttered as the beast brought its paw down. There was no way they would be able to save him in time.

However, they soon found out that there was no need to worry.

A familiar shield intercepted the Ursa's blow and stopped it in its tracks. Jaune grunted as he struggled to hold back the monster. However, as he was doing that, he failed to notice the other one creeping up on him.

Weiss pulled out her rapier and even Pyrrha looked ready to jump in to help, but they were both stopped by Ruby. "Wait," she said. "I believe in him."

Both girls stared at her with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "Are you kidding?! There's no way Jaune can take on two Ursai by himself!" the heiress protested.

Ruby grinned slightly. "I never said I was talking about Jaune."

As the swordsman continued to hold the Ursa back, the other bear lumbered toward him from behind. When it was close enough, it stood on its hind legs and roared. Jaune grit his teeth with worry. He already had his hands full with one Ursa, literally; he knew for a fact that he couldn't handle two. The second Ursa seemed to realize this as well, as it raised its paw.

In the next second, it was blindsided by a flaming foot to the face.

The monster fell onto its side, and Jaune took the opportunity to push against his Ursa and slash its chest with his sword, knocking it back a bit. The blond turned to see who had helped him and found it was Bolt.

"Bolt?!" the blond exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help you," the shapeshifter replied. He glanced over at Cardin. "Guess we've seen how much of a man you really are."

Cardin couldn't respond; he was too speechless at what he just saw.

Bolt sighed as he formed his Bone Rush and readied himself. "Let's take care of these Grimm, Jaune."

"R-Right!" Jaune said as he stared at one of the Ursai.

In the shade where they still couldn't be seen, Weiss and Pyrrha were both stunned to see the shapeshifter. "What is Bolt doing here?!" the white-haired girl questioned.

"I sent him here earlier," Ruby answered cheerfully.

"When was this?! I thought he said he was going to get more sap…" Then Weiss trailed off as she put two-and-two together.

"I instructed him to keep an eye on Jaune to make sure he was okay and to help him if he needed it," the silver-eyed leader explained.

Pyrrha spoke up this time. "But why?"

Ruby looked at her. "Because Jaune is our friend, and you guys are all our friends. We didn't want something bad to happen to your team, especially because of Cardin. Therefore, I made it our mission to help out! I got Bolt involved because I knew his set of abilities would come in handy." She turned to watch the fights, leaving the other two girls to do the same.

"Alright, you overgrown teddy bear, let's go!" Bolt shouted as he charged at the Ursa he attacked; in response, the bear Grimm roared and swiped at him with its left paw. The blue-haired teen jumped right to avoid it, then jabbed its shoulder, leaving it off-balance. Before it could recover, Bolt leaped up and slammed his weapon down on the Ursa's head, driving it into the ground.

With Jaune, he rushed at his Ursa, which stood on its hind legs to meet him. Being a little faster, the blond slashed its chest again, making it roar in pain. The monster tried to smash Jaune with its paw, but he rolled out of the way. It swung its right paw at Jaune next, and the swordsman jumped over the attack. Unfortunately, he was left open for the Ursa to swing its other paw and smash him away.

Jaune was sent rolling back but quickly got to his feet. He charged at the Ursa again and jumped to attack it, but he was swatted away once again and ended up on his stomach.

As the blond leader stood up, he heard Bolt call out to him. "Jaune! Remember what Professor Goodwitch told you. Check your aura. Sometimes defense is better than offense."

Looking over at the blue-haired teen, Jaune saw him holding his Bone Rush horizontally while the Ursa was pushing against it. After a few seconds, he pushed it back a bit and tossed his bone upward. Seeing him weaponless, the Ursa quickly swiped its right paw at Bolt.

However, Bolt simply held up his left hand as he shouted, "Endure!" A red aura surrounded his body, and as the bear Grimm's paw crashed into the shapeshifter's left hand, he wasn't moved back an inch. The beast struggled to push him back, but at that moment, the bone that Bolt threw into the air came down, landing in his open right hand. Before the Ursa could react, Bolt whacked it across the face, making it stumble backward.

Not giving the beast a chance to recover, Bolt twirled his bone before impaling the Grimm in the chest, eliciting a roar of agony from it. The Ursa seemed to breathe heavily as it slammed its paw on the ground, trying to hit the shapeshifter. It lifted its paw as it stood on its hind legs, only to be confounded upon seeing that Bolt was no longer there.

In reality, Bolt had leaped into the air to dodge the blow. When the Ursa stood upright, the blue-haired teen landed directly on the bone, while his right foot burst into flames. Performing a backflip, he kicked the bear Grimm, nailing it in the face a second time.

"Whoa…" Jaune muttered as he watched his friend fight. It looked so… effortless for him. The blond was pulled from his musings when he heard a roar from the Ursa he was fighting. Facing it, Jaune saw it was already charging at him. Listening to Bolt's advice, he retreated behind his shield just as the Ursa swung its paw.

The blow sent him back, his feet skidding against the ground but not leaving it. Jaune exhaled before he pulled out his Scroll and checked his aura level. It had previously been in the yellow zone, but that last hit knocked it into the red. If he hadn't blocked it, it probably would have been depleted.

Jaune gazed at the Ursa, which looked like it was about to charge. Deciding to take a risk, he rushed at the beast, prompting it to do the same. Once he was close enough, the blond leader swung his sword; at the same time, the bear Grimm swung its paw.

On the sidelines, Pyrrha watched the two charge at each other and attack. She could see that while Jaune was aiming for the Ursa's neck, the bear's paw was on a collision course with Jaune's head. With the Ursa's strength and Jaune's low aura level, the blow could completely shatter his aura and cause serious damage.

In order to prevent that, the redhead held out her hand as she activated her Semblance. Jaune's shield moved upward and intercepted the Ursa's attack. The blond paused briefly as the monster's paw crashed into his shield, but then he let out a yell as he swung his sword and decapitated the Ursa.

Bolt and Pyrrha smiled as they saw that. "Way to go, Jaune," the former thought as he faced his Ursa. It looked like it was on its last legs. "Guess I better wrap things up, too." The shapeshifter placed his hands close together as aura began to gather in between them, much to the astonishment of everyone watching. Once he was done, he thrust his arms forward. "Aura Sphere!" he called out.

The blue sphere made contact with the Ursa's stomach and exploded, causing a lot of smoke to rise. When the smoke cleared, the Grimm had a gaping hole in its stomach. It fell over onto its back, dead.

"Wow… When did Bolt learn to do that?" Pyrrha inquired.

"He probably learned it recently," Ruby mused. "He must have forgotten Force Palm since it's the only move we didn't see him use."

"Enough about that! Pyrrha, how did you do what you did with Jaune's shield?" the heiress questioned.

"Well, just as Ruby has her Speed and you have your Glyphs, my Semblance is Polarity," the armored teen explained.

Ruby looked a bit dazed. "Whoa, you can control poles…"

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss corrected.

"Magnets are cool, too…"

Pyrrha went on. "I thought Bolt would have shared that information with his team," she said.

The two other girls' eyes widened slightly. "When did Bolt figure that out?!" Weiss demanded.

"It was during our sparring match some time ago," Pyrrha answered as she turned to leave.

Weiss seemed puzzled by her action. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah, shouldn't we tell them what happened?" her partner asked.

Pyrrha smiled. "We could… or we could keep it our little secret," she suggested. However, as they witnessed Jaune saying something to Cardin, Bolt suddenly gazed in their direction. He shot them a thumbs up and a grin, surprising Pyrrha and Weiss.

"Does he know we're here?" the redhead inquired.

"Yep!" Ruby chirped as she began heading back.

"How is that possible?!" the white-haired girl cried.

The youngest girl stopped for a moment. "Wait, did we forget to tell you about the other things Bolt can do as a side effect of his Semblance?" The disbelieving and curious faces that Weiss and Pyrrha, respectively, were sending her answered her question. "Oh, guess we did. Well, we'll tell you everything when we all get back." And with that, the three made their way back to the clearing where they left their teammates.

With all the fighting done, Bolt and Jaune were currently walking through the forest to reunite with their respective teams. A couple of minutes into their walk, the blond spoke. "Hey, Bolt? I was wondering… how did you get to be so good at fighting Grimm?" he asked.

Bolt paused for a second before he kept moving. "I guess you can say… I have a lot of experience in that field," he answered.

"How much experience?" Jaune asked curiously.

The silence lasted longer this time. "…7 years."

Jaune stumbled in surprise. "7 years?! Your parents let you fight Grimm since you were 10?!"

Bolt lowered his head. "…My parents didn't exactly have a say in the matter," he said sadly.

Jaune was confused at first, but it didn't take long for him to realize what the shapeshifter meant. His eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry, I had no idea!"

Bolt merely waved it off as they continued their stroll back. A minute later, the swordsman spoke up again. "I wish I could be more like you, Bolt," he confessed.

The teen in question gazed at Jaune. "What do you mean?" Bolt inquired.

"I mean, you beat that Grimm like it was nothing! It was so easy for you!" Jaune sighed. "I just wish I could be as good as fighting."

Bolt stopped walking again. "Jaune, why do you think I'm so good at fighting?"

"Huh? Uh, well…"

"It's because I was trained," Bolt went on, not bothering to wait for him to answer. "My mom and dad were a highly trained Huntsman and Huntress, and they trained me for a month before they died. I continued training by myself afterward, and eventually, I met Yang and Ruby, and I was able to train with them, too."

"Oh, I see. So you had training," the blond leader mused. He actually didn't have as much training with his weapon as he would've liked. Sure Jaune could swing his sword around and use his shield to block attacks, but pretty much anyone could do that; he couldn't wield his sword as well as some of the other students with swords, like Weiss, Blake, or even… Pyrrha.

"Training is important and all, but you know what's even more important than that?" the blue-haired teen questioned. Jaune shook his head, and Bolt gave him the answer. "Knowing when to ask for help."

Jaune's eyes widened a little.

"No one is strong enough to do everything by themselves, and that includes me. I may be proficient at killing Grimm, but that doesn't mean I won't need help from other people," Bolt explicated. "For example, think back to your Initiation. Even after I got a boost in power with my Semblance, the most I could do was leave those two Grimm incapacitated for a short while. It took all of us working together to finally defeat them."

The blond pondered his words as Bolt looked at him. "It's okay to be strong on your own, but if you need help, you shouldn't be afraid to ask for it. Likewise, if someone who can help you offers it, you should accept." The shapeshifter began walking again, and a few seconds later, Jaune followed after him, having a lot to think about.

"And Jaune." The blond looked up when Bolt called him again. He saw his blue-haired friend grinning at him. "Congratulations on killing your first Grimm by yourself." He kept treading ahead while Jaune smiled.

Once everyone made it to the rendezvous point, they boarded the Bullhead and it flew back to Beacon. The flight took about an hour, and once they got back, the first-years still had a couple of classes left in the day. By the time they were all finished, it was nighttime.

Jaune found himself standing on the roof of the school once again, though he was alone this time. The team leader was reflecting on the things that had happened since last week, especially the words that Ruby and Bolt had told him.

As he was thinking to himself, a familiar voice rang out behind him. "No Cardin tonight?" his partner questioned as she walked over to stand next to him. "I thought the two of you were best friends?"

Jaune turned to face her. "Pyrrha… I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was a jerk. You were only trying to help, and I had all this stupid, macho stuff going through my head—"

"Jaune," Pyrrha cut him off. "It's okay." The blond smiled at her sincerely, and Pyrrha smiled back, her face slightly more red. "You know, your team really misses their leader. You should come down." She started walking toward the door. "Ren made pancakes! No syrup, though; you can thank Nora for that."

Bolt's words were still ringing through his head. "Wait!" Jaune called, making the redhead halt and face him. "I know I don't deserve it after everything that's happened, but… would you still be willing to help me… to help me become a better fighter?"

At first, she didn't reply; she just turned around so that her back was to Jaune, making him think she would say no. However, with her back turned, the blond couldn't see the smile on Pyrrha's face. The scarlet-haired warrior walked over to Jaune and abruptly shoved him to the ground.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and closer to the ground," Pyrrha stated matter-of-factly before holding out a hand to him. With a smile, Jaune took it and got to his feet. "Let's try that again."

And that marked their first night – the start of Jaune's training.

"So? Are things better?" Ruby asked Bolt.

After classes had ended, the silver-eyed leader had instructed Bolt to keep track of Jaune again. He reported to her that he sensed him heading for the roof, then told her when he sensed Pyrrha following after him. At that, Ruby had taken him to the stairwell that led to the roof. Yang tagged along out of curiosity.

Currently, the three sat on the other side of the door. The sisters were relying on Bolt's ability to sense people's feelings to determine whether or not the problems on Team JNPR were still around.

The shapeshifter was silent for a moment before replying, "Pyrrha feels happy, and Jaune feels relieved and ecstatic. If I had to guess… yeah, things are probably better now."

Ruby fist pumped. "Yes!"

"So does this mean you guys are done with your mission that you wouldn't let me be a part of?" Yang asked with her arms crossed.

"Looks like it!" the younger girl answered. "And Yang, I totally would have included you, but I didn't really need you for anything, only Bolt."

"I sure I could have done something!" the blonde protested.

Bolt chuckled as he watched the sisters squabble. "Come on, you two. Let's head back to our dorm room," he said, pulling them along as they continued to argue.

All right! That's the end! It might be a little abrupt, but that's really the best I could come up with.

As you all can see, I left out episode 12 and the first half of episode 13. Since there was absolutely nothing different than in canon, I saw no reason to write it in.

How was the cafeteria scene with Velvet? Did you guys like it?

How many people expected me to introduce Team CFVY this chapter? We never see when Team RWBY met them in canon, so I thought I'd throw that in here. As for the rumor… well, it will be explained in time.

I hope you all enjoyed the twist I added when Jaune fought the Ursa! I have to admit, though, the scene afterward with Jaune and Bolt was actually the hardest part of the chapter to write. I remember everything I wanted to write perfectly, but because I didn't write it down immediately, I forgot it. The scene here is the best I had.

Now, does anyone watch One Minute Melee? If so, did you see Season 6, Episode 11: Yang vs. Bakugo? If you did, that episode was totally awesome, right?! It was easily the best episode of Season 6 for me! That episode is the reason it took less than a month to finish this chapter; it really motivated me to work on this story!

I also saw the second episode of RWBY Volume 6 recently. Won't spoil anything, but I will say that it's pretty intense, and it reintroduces someone I'd hoped to not see again.

Well now, if I'm correct, there should be two more chapters left for Volume 1! I'm so close to finishing! However, before I get to that, I'm jumping over to The Fairy Tail Shapeshifter for a couple of chapters. Then I'll finish things up here.

Well, that seems to be everything, so I'll move on to my story recommendations:

The Journey of the Guardian by dragonwolf12 – A pokemon Fanfiction where Ash's starter pokemon is Riolu and Ash has the ability to use aura. It's a very good story; go check it out!

Soul of the Tempest – Shinatsuhiko by BringZStorm – An Akame ga Kill fanfiction that plays out differently than in canon. Tatsumi was trained by a master assassin alongside two other kids and has a different Teigu. Read this story!

Lollipops, Headsets and Other Eccentricities by Deathwhisperer – An AU Akame ga Kill fanfiction where Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu are attending a school known as Imperial Academy while staying at an apartment that they share with the members of Night Raid. It's incredibly hilarious, so go read it!

Well, that's all for now. Remember to favorite, follow, and review! I'll see you guys over at The Fairy Tail Shapeshifter! Sparky D., out!