Team SAGE: Two Worlds Over

Wanda: Eggh, that was harder to write than I thought. I kind of feel like Jaune's four episode arc was a bit longer than I needed to be, though I like what it did with his character. The guy in the comic relief role rarely gets much depth, and yet he does. That is part of what makes RWBY such a fun show - it's always playing with expectations.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or RWBY.

Chapter 8: Jaundice Remix

Cardin Winchester liked to use his strength to intimidate people. He didn't have a lot else going for him; he wasn't particularly smart, he had a politically incorrect (and very petty) hatred of faunus, and the only way he ever made friends was with equally thuggish and violent young men. He liked to bully and intimidate others because it made him feel strong and offset the inadequacy he felt when compared to students like Pyrrha Nikos, the prodigy.

However, now there was someone else in the building that people were finding more intimidating than the team of angry birds. While Adam was quieter and more reclusive than Cardin, his posture, aura and general personality gave a vibe as someone who should not be trifled with.

Cardin had attempted to confront Adam before. He hated how the bull faunus always regarded him with thinly concealed contempt. But both times his partner Emily had been there. Whenever the boys had attempted to bait the older boy, Emily would squeeze his arm, mutter, "Adam. Let us handle it", and then lead him away.

Sky had a bit of a bone to pick with Emily; he had asked her out (what, she was hot and he wanted a chick on his arm) and she had turned him down flat.

This morning, Cardin was feeling pretty good. He had a shiny new target in Jaune Arc, who was too self conscious and weak to really push back against the other Hunter hopeful. His other target was Velvet, a shy bunny faunus who's team was currently in the medi ward due to an accident Fox had gotten into.

It was lunch time. Velvet had just collected her lunch when she spied the four boys heading her way. She gulped and started to step backwards when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Velvet turned around and let out a squeak of surprise when she found herself staring at Adam's chest. The other faunus was nearly two heads taller than her, which made her feel more shy than usual. "Hey. This place is filling up fast. You...can come sit with us."

Velvet glanced over her shoulder. Cardin had come to a halt when he spotted Adam. Understanding caused warmth to bloom in her chest, and she blushed slightly. "Thank you. I'd love that."

Cardin growled as his intended target walked off under protection before sitting down with team SAGE, RWBY and JNPR. Those teams had become quite inseparable, and even his ego wouldn't allow him to confront so many people at once. "Who does that freak think he is?" Cardin muttered.

"He has the leave eventually," Russel suggested with a little trepidation. Adam hadn't participated in any of the sparring sessions yet – Gratcia and Ruby had been stealing the show there – but he'd heard that this guy had won the previous Regional Tournament.

"...Right," Cardin said darkly.

%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&

"Hey Velvet!" Yang said cheerfully as Velvet and Adam joined the table. "Nice to see you! Where are Coco and Fox?"

"Fox got hurt in a training accident, so he's in the medi ward. Coco's with him because she's worried, even if she won't admit it." Velvet explained with a nervous smile.

"I hope it's not serious." Blake said cautiously.

"Oh yeah. He just went because the injury is on the leg." Velvet said, brushing her hair away from her face. "They said he'll recover quickly if he doesn't put too much weight on it."

"That's great!" Ruby said cheerfully. She'd met Fox and Coco in the hallway two days ago. The older girl had complimented her cloak – it looks great on you, kid. Goes with the scythe perfectly. No one had really called Ruby pretty before (besides her mom and dad, who didn't really count – parents always thought you were pretty), so that memory had stuck with her.

Jaune muttered a distracted agreement, staring down at his food. Pyrrha gave her partner a look of concern. "Jaune, are you okay? You look exhausted."

"Muff? Yeah? Yeah, I'm fine." Jaune managed, wincing when he heard Cardin's rough laughter on the other side of the room.

Pyrrha didn't miss that. "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first day of school." She said with worry. "Why haven't you asked us for help?"

"What? Cardin? Nah, that's just roughhousing! It's nothing serious," Jaune downplayed, internally praying that he was coming across as tough and cool.

"He stuffed you into one of the Rocket lockers and fired you out of the building," Selene deadpanned. "That sounds kind of serious."

"Or when he pushed you down the stairs..." Ruby chipped in, visibly concerned.

"Or when he caused your shield to activate, getting it stuck in a door and causing you to twist your arm when you fell over." Ren contributed.

"Okay, so it's a little rough," Jaune interrupted, flushing. "But seriously guys, I'm handling it! There's nothing to worry about. Really."

Emily raised an eyebrow at him. She found herself thinking of Ron – very self conscious, desperately trying to make himself seen as a talented person in his own right. Gratcia had commented that Jaune reminded her of her older brother before, and she saw the parallels. It was a good thing he had Pyrrha, Nora and Ren for teammates.

"Whatever you say, tough guy." Ginny chuckled, before downing more coffee. Blake visibly rolled her eyes at this but kept her trademark brutal honesty to herself.

"You know if you need help you can just ask, right?" Pyrrha pushed, eyes wide with concern.

Nora jumped to her feet. "Ooooh! WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS!" She said with a grin.

Adam unexpectedly burst out laughing at that remark, earning surprised looks from Emily, Selene and Ginny, slightly unnerved looks from Ren and Blake, and a frightened look from Jaune. Adam almost never laughed. "I like the sound of that," He said with a smirk.

Nora cheered and punched the older boy's shoulder, which he took with stride (another big surprise). Finally, somebody agreed with her!

"Guys, really." Jaune said, abruptly standing up. "It's fine. I'm fine." He walked off, supposedly to get some more food. Emily paused, and then got up herself. Adam rolled his eyes affectionately, knowing what was on her mind.

"Good luck," Selene muttered.

%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&

"You're afraid they'll look down on you if you ask for help?"

Jaune yelped and spun around to see Emily standing behind him. The redhead had her arms crossed and she was studying him with a seemingly neutral expression. "W-What?! What do you mean?"

"About Cardin." Emily said quietly. "Jaune, I know you probably want to prove yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. But people like Winchester can't really be dealt with alone."

"W-What makes you so sure? I can handle it! I am handling it! I know I look like a joke and it makes me sick because I always end up hanging from a tree while everyone fights the monsters but I will get better on my own!" Jaune ranted, waving his arms over his head, before flushing when he realized he had blurted out his reasoning.

Emily's expression shifted slightly – not pitying, but sympathetic all the same. She looked like someone who had dealt with things like this before. "I understand." She said sincerely. "I'm sure you can do it alone...the thing is, you don't have to. You know?"

Jaune's resolve faltered slightly, and he stared down at his feet. "T-thank you for offering...that's very nice of you. But-"

"Hey!"

Emily bit back some rude words and turned around. Russel and Cardin were approaching the pair with huge, smug smirks on their faces. Jaune winced until Emily took a step backwards so she was standing next to him, as a sign of companionship.

"Hey there, cutie...what are you doing hanging around with a looser like Arc?" Cardin asked in a way that was probably supposed to come across as smooth, but instead seemed oily. Emily resisted the urge to shudder.

"I didn't realize there was criteria for who I could make friends with." Emily responded neutrally.

"You can do a lot better, looking like that." Cardin said, reaching out to touch her face creepily. Emily took a step backwards in response. "You should try hanging out with me." He grinned lecherously. "We'll show you a good time."

"I'm flattered," Emily said coolly. "But I think I'll pass."

"C'mon! You'd rather hang out with a bunch of freaks-?" Russel asked, clearly referencing Adam, Blake, Ginny and Velvet.

Emily froze up at the phrase 'freak'. Her mind darted back to a particularly violent beating from Vernon Dursley, back when she was a small child. You're a freak! He bellowed, raising his hand over his head – she felt her blood, hot and wet on her face –

Russel wasn't even done his sentence before Emily lashed out with one arm. She punched him square in the face, sending him flying six feet, breaking his nose and leaving an indentation in the wall he had been slammed against.

%&%&%&%&%&%&%&&%

"What happened again?" Ozpin repeated gently, looking between a guilty, nervous Emily and a worried Jaune. The three were standing outside the medi wing hallway.

"I'm so sorry Professor," Emily said quickly, "I-I lost my temper and-"

"I know what happened," Ozpin said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to know why it happened, from you." Emily let out a long breath and met the man's eyes shyly. "It's been my observation that you're a kind person, not prone to violent outbrusts."

"Yeah, that's right."

"It...it was something he said." Emily admitted reluctantly. "A word...freak." She shivered slightly. "I have a history with it."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed slightly at the implications. "I see." Gently he squeezed her shoulder before letting go and saying, "that's troubling."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"You don't have to apologize, Emily. The punishment will not be severe." Ozpin said with a comforting smile. "Now I'm sure your team is wondering where you are."

End Chapter

Yeah, Emily still has a trigger issue with the word 'freak'. That will be fun to mess with.

Read and Review please!