Enjoy.

"So, how did it go?"

"Better than I thought it would." Jaune accepted the fruit drink as Ruby settled down beside him in the hall, lounging against the door frame. "I was pretty sure that we were going to be punished pretty bad. Instead we got a week of detention."

"Just a week?" Ruby blinked, "Like, five days school week?"

"Yup."

"Huh." Ruby sipped at her own drink. "Cool."
"I know, I'm fine with that." Jaune smiled, following her lead. Sweet, sweet apple juice. "Thanks for the drink."

"Sure thing." She answered his smile with her own, nudging his arm with an elbow. "So, how about with Pyrrha?"

"Haven't talked yet. Don't know quite what to say."

"Isn't she like… waiting?" Ruby did the little puppy-tilt of her head. "Like right now?"

"Yeah. I do feel a little bad about that part." Jaune shrugged a shoulder, "But I've never really been good with… well, girls. And I really have no idea if her only problem is what I think it is. Or what Blake told me, anyway."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean you can just ask her, right?"
Leave it to Ruby to simplify something he thought was pretty complicated.

"I suppose I could try. Couldn't hurt anything to try." He tapped the bottle in his hands, trying to formulate some plan of action and coming up short. Most he could think to do was apologize, but was he even in the wrong in the first place? "What's the worst that could happen? My partner wanting nothing to do with me?"

"Nope. Pyrrha's just too nice for that."

"Maybe." Jaune met her eyes, "But if I fail to fix this whole 'thing', how does-?"

"You won't fail it, Jaune." Ruby's brow furrowed and her eyes broke contact with his, choosing instead to stare intently at her milk carton. "You and I don't get that option anymore, not when it comes to our team."

"Done a bit of this on your own, huh?"

"Yeah, heh. Weiss can be a bit… difficult." The girl shrugged with a smile. Fondness shone over her face and through her voice, "But that's okay, the same way Nora can be a bit loud when we all want quiet. Sure, it can get annoying, but it's just how she is. I like her, and I like Weiss, so I try to keep them peaceful."

"I wonder how Ren stands it."

"Practice, probably." She looked at him again, "Guess it's your turn."

"Yeah." He frowned, biting his lip. "Any tips?"

"Be yourself?"

"Nobody wants that."

"Jaune." Her stern voice was punctuated by the fist she buried in his shoulder and lost itself to a slight giggle. "Don't say stuff like that. We all like you how you are. Well, except maybe Weiss."

"Thanks." He rubbed his shoulder. "Seriously though, I would gladly accept advice."

"Seriously? Just say what you need to say and it will all turn out fine." She nodded, "I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Rubes." He stood and finished off his juice. Afterwards, he extended his hand down to help her to her feet, which she accepted with a smile and a reply. "Anything for a friend. Good luck."

They departed with a hug, leaving Jaune roaming the hallways towards where his partner had asked for them to meet - one of the many rooftops. It was a simple enough route from the dorms, just a few turns and a simple wooden door. His hand froze on the knob, the cold metal all but shocking him to a simple realization.

I still have no idea what to say.

The doorknob twisted and he was met face to face with none other than his partner, robbing him of any more time to plan and prepare. Her eyes widened and her entire body twitched, before she let out a sigh and placed a hand over her chest. "My, Jaune, you gave me a fright."

"Sorry." He followed with a lie, or a half-truth depending on the perspective, letting his hand drop, "I sort of got caught up talking with Ruby."

"Something wrong?"

"Nope, just a team leader meeting… thing."

"Ah."

The silence followed. Jaune tugged at the collar of his uniform and moved past her, rubbing his sweaty palms together and trying to figure out the most apt way to begin a conversation about something he didn't - couldn't - even completely comprehend. He wasn't a complete idiot, as he was sure Blake was not either… but he also didn't like to be wrong and neither he nor the faunus were infallible. Pyrrha followed him, either waiting with expectation or patience - he wasn't sure of which. Worry, however, was clear on her brow. After a minute passed, he met her eyes, blinked, then turned away to sit on the edge of the roof. Say what you need to say, huh? So… just be honest?

"I have no idea where to start." He admitted. "But I don't want to fight or yell. I'd like an honest conversation."

"You're not alone there." Pyrrha settled down next to him. "Would you mind if I apologized again?"

"Not really."

"I'm sorry." And she really did look the part. "Truly."

"You're forgiven." Her face turned surprised from the apologetic, then contorted in a way he thought might be confused. It was quite a funny sight, as well as one he hadn't seen yet. He half-smiled, "What?"

Pyrrha hesitated a beat, then twisted her lips to one side of her face. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." He lifted a hand and let it drop, "Can't think of a reason to hold onto a grudge, considering I don't even fully know what the problem is. That, and you did sort of save us last night."

"I-"

"Blake gave me an inkling of an idea on this problem, so maybe it's best to start there." Now the words wanted to flow. It felt as easy as breathing, and each syllable of their conversation left him lighter than the previous. "I keep bringing up your title, and she said that you hate being a Champion."

"I don't… mostly."

"Just that I bring it up."

"No- Yes… well, just that everybody does."

"Everybody wants the Champion." The puzzle clicked together by words..

"Exactly." Palpable relief made life through her exhale, "Exactly! Everyone wants autographs and pictures, they- they want to fight and train."

"What do you want?"

"A friend."

"Oh." That stopped him short. Sent guilt and more than a tinge of sadness through him. It was easy to emphasize with that. Pyrrha put up her hands and backtracked at the sight of his expression. "Jaune, you weren't the problem. If I hadn't been so-"

"No, no, I know. I just..." He frowned and glanced away from her, once more without words. How could he explain what he felt at those words? Whether or not she blamed him, he had been a part of the way she felt.

Which was unacceptable.

"Don't blame yourself, I- the fault lies with me." Pyrrha rung her hands together, leaning her face into her palm and resting her elbow on her knee. Her other hand fell to brush over the abrasive shingles below. "I've been… blessed with incredible talents. These talents gave me opportunities, which in turn have surrounded me with love and praise to spare. But, when you put yourself on a pedestal for so long…" She trailed off for a second, waving her hand in the air as if to pluck the meaning from the sky. "You… well, you seperate yourself. Everyone assumes I'm just too good for them. Too pretty, too strong, too skilled, too smart. It feels impossible to form any meaningful relationships with anyone. Even Blake and Yang, for how grand they are as people… they're still distant.

"I had hoped it would be different here." She wiped at her eyes, then gave a slight laugh. "It was funny now, thinking back on it, how something so small made such a big impact."

"What do you mean?" His brow furrowed. He slid closer and lifted a hand to… he didn't know. It hovered for a few moments before he settled it on her arm. She glanced at the hand, then set hers over it and looked at him.

"On the airship, you were the only one who didn't talk to or even try to notice me." She tilted her head slightly and glanced left with a grin, "In hindsight, it was probably because you were busy with the trash can most of the way, but even before we took off." She met his eyes again, "So, when initiation came, I saved you and avoided everyone else. It disappointed me greatly that you knew who I was."

"But… I had no idea."

"You knew my name-"

"Yeah, I was told your name," He leaned back and spoke with his free hand, more than surprised by the outcome of one simple explanation by an unwitting friend. "by Ruby. The day before. Then, you assumed the worst out of me."

"Oh." Pyrrha leaned back this time, blinking and searching his face for… something. Then, abrupt as a lightning strike, she slapped her hands on both of her cheeks and leaned her elbows on her knees again. "Oh, Oh my, I've been so awful."

"You really-"

"I'm so sorry!" Her entire torso spun towards him, her hands coming to rest over the center of her chest, "So very sorry."

"Y-Yes, you've said that." Jaune held his hands up in surrender, "It's forgiven."

"But-"

"Seriously. It's okay, Pyrrha."

"Okay? Okay." She exhaled, reaching a finger up to straighten some hair that had escaped its tight hold. "There has to be something I can do though. To make up for it?"

"Be… normal? Normal knees?" He guessed the answer, unsure of what he could actually ask of her. Blake was going to help him train(and Yang too, judging by the course she'd roughed out with him the previous night), while he was not completely failing in class… Suppose all he could ask for was a friend. And maybe for her to get over her own first impression of him. "Pyrrha, you are a Champion. You can't hide from that, it's what you are. You could probably fight a whole team at once and not get a scratch and surprise no one. But just because you're a champion fighter doesn't make you inhuman. As bad as it sounds, none of us really care. So, I'll do my best to treat you like anyone else if you do your best not to assume the worst out of me."

"I think I can manage that." Pyrrha smiled, looking as radiant as the sun. He returned it reflexively, though it faltered when a thought occurred.

Speaking of Blake…

"I guess there is one more thing. When Blake pulled me aside, she told me a secret. I don't know if she plans on telling you and Yang, but if she does, can you give her time to explain everything?"

"Of course, these are acceptable terms. I'll shall try."

"Thanks." Another wave of relief, which seemed to be the theme of the day. All in all, it could have been catastrophic. Instead, he sat beside a partner and, now, friend. Ruby, in her optimism, was right in the end. "I'd say everything worked out."

"I agree." He could feel the smile still in her tone, which filled him with no small bit of joy himself. "I think we should agree that Ruby doesn't need to know."

"Huh?"

"That she caused this… rift?" Pyrrha played with the word for a moment, before moving on. "She'd blame herself."

"Yeah."

"Good." She nodded, then frowned. "Are we… fine?"

"Are you going to yell at me?"

"I never-" She stopped and narrowed her eyes at his face. He did his best to suppress the smile. That always worked on his sisters. "I will not."

"Then I think we're friends."

"Excellent. Friends." She smiled and mouthed the word a second time, then a third. "I suppose I have making up to do. The cat is, as they say here, out of the bag."

"That's… That doesn't exactly work."

"No?" She set a finger on her chin with a frown, looking to the clouds. "I was certain that I had that one figured out."

Straight to the advice.

AFTA: A reply to some reviews, a triple thread advice section; Sanderson's Laws of Magic, Power Creep, and fights from anime in comparison. Sorry if this is a bit jumbled.

'You just said fiction isn't anime. But how does that work if anime is fiction?' - Someone in response to a comment that read 'fiction isn't anime'.

When I say 'fiction isn't anime', I was mostly short-handing 'FanFiction', which is the main audience for these advice sections; Fanfiction writers. Ergo, writing, which is not and never will be animation. Things that work in animation will not always work in writing, and vice versa. Do not watch videos on what makes animation fights great and expect to learn a great amount about what makes a written fight great - they don't always go hand in hand. That's not to say that you cannot learn from the videos at all, there are always things to consider that cross platform. There are many things that are similar between them that are always mentioned; Tension, Emotion, Consequences... Etc.

But I suppose, since it's eerily similar to the previous review that mentioned anime in response to fights in a written story and Sanderson's Laws of Magic... I'll address it in full. I was asked about SLoM, Power Creep, and 'What makes a fight great(which would take too many words to go over)'. Things that I haven't fully gone over, considering the column that was commented on was likely about the Suspension of Disbelief and the advice on Fog of War. And likely about the ch4 advice, Power Levels, which do go over Power Creep just a bit.

Alright, so Sanderson's Laws of Magic.

Let's start with the elephant in the room; Nothing in my story is 'Magic' in the classical sense. The way I explain the Aura in my notes is more like the 'Mutant Gene' from X-men. Because we don't have a real explanation in Canon as to why Aura seems specific to Huntsman, I've created my own, as I have with many, many different things in this story. But that's an explanation for another time.

I like Brandon Sanderson, and I like his 'laws'. What I do not like, however, is taking them as if they are a law of the universe rather than a law to be considered when writing. His laws are, for the uninitiated, simple. 1 'A characters ability to solve a problem with magic is directly proportional to the reader's understanding of magic', 2 'Limitations Ability/Power' and 3 'Expand on what you have already before you add something new.'

These three laws are guidelines I've laid out over a few of my advice sections, but I don't restrict myself to them. They're too specific, too closed minded when taking into account the broad spectrum of a story. For example, Character B can do extraordinary things that are yet explained, allowing him to solve problems and remove obstacles as an antagonist without our protagonist understanding the barest minimum of the power. Character A, our protagonist, is still learning.

This directly conflicts with Sanderson's first law. But it is a great opportunity to set up a mystery, a chance to learn more about the magic, among other things.

The problems with 'laws of x' when it comes to creative processes are that they are restrictive. The biggest thing to take away from Sanderson's first law is that what it essentially says is something I myself stated in a previous advice column; Do not use Deus Ex Machina.

Next up, Power Crawl/Power Creep. Whichever term you prefer.

I hate to be this guy, but go back and read the advice on chapter four. Specifically the paragraph third before the last, where I ask and answer the question; "How do you keep a character from progressing too fast?"

How about Power Crawl, you ask? The answer to that is to Set a Hard Limit(and never break it).

The video recommended to me in the review here is 'Avatar: The Last Airbender | Handling Power Crawl'. And this is something I've watched before, it is good and relevant to writing in any medium.

Lastly, Written fights compared to Animated fights.

There's apparently some disconnect here, so I'll go a bit more in depth. Animated fights are always going to be different than written fights. Now I've seen this video that a guest reviewer recommended; 'What makes a fight scene interesting.' There's a lot of good advice in the video. And while I don't agree on recommending a video that uses only animation and movies to try to essentially preach to a someone using a different medium.

Here's an issue with the recent reviews; I'm not going over every aspect or in depth on everything in these advices. I'm giving short, simple answers to questions I pose myself. Which is why I haven't gone over 'what makes a fight great' yet, because I could write essays on this topic. I think it's an issue that I didn't point this out as well. These advice sections are simply small, bite sized bits of reading to get someone thinking so that they come to their own conclusions and ask their own questions.

I shouldn't have to explain to you how animated fights differ from written ones because it's obvious; You read one, you watch the other. Written fights are imagined, and as such require different explanations and methods in order to get the same point across that an animated fight would. The Bare-bones aspects of the fights are still present. You want tension, emotion, character development and consequences, among many, many other things. There are so many things that go into action scenes that I doubt anyone has the complete, concrete answer. Not George R R Martin, not Stephen King. Here's why; There's always someone who likes something different. Some people do want that over the top action that you'd find in animation, while some people want that gritty heroic action you'd find in 300.

Like most people, I don't know everything.