(Do go check out my other RWBY series called, Flaming Dragon, it has an OC nearly the complete opposite of Asher, and a full OC team. And they all have much different personalities.

Trust me, if you like this series, you'll like the other book.)

Cardin Winchester has The Executioner, his weapon, perched on his shoulder. Jaune opposite of him with Crocea Mors drawn, leaning on his weapon as if exhausted, in the spotlight shining on the Beacon Academy auditorium stage.

Jaune looks at Cardin, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness, and Jaune gathers his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looks back, surprised, as The Executioner sends Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back.

"He's getting his butt kicked." Asher bluntly states as he and his team watch the fight.

"He's gonna lose." Grif says.

"Cardin is just wiping the floor with him." Simmons states.

"Come on guys, what's with all the negativity?" Donut asks. "He can do it."

Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin claims.

"Over my dead-!" Jaune is cut short as Cardin knees him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain.

Cardin raises his mace and is about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rings, the lights come back on, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice causes him to stop.

"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda yells and said boy relents and walks away as she comes onto stage, tapping her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

Jaune still lays on the floor in defeat and Pyrrha has a sad look on her face.

Glynda turns her head to looks at the losing warrior as he pulls out his scroll with his low, blinking stats and that of his entire team. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you to decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin mutters as he walks off stage.

"Remember everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away."

Asher bounces in excitement, as well as Donut. Grif just looks bored, while Simmons is slightly nervous.  

Glynda continues. "It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale. So keep practicing! Those who compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

"Yes!" Grif cheers. "Lunch time. The best part of the day!"

Simmons looks at Grif. "Is all you think about is food?"

"Well, what else is there to think about?"

Asher bats Grif on the back of the head. "How about me kicking your ass, if we don't get a move on!"

Grif rubs the back of his head. "Yes, sir."

Team RDDD walks off.

.

.

Teams JNPR, RDDD and RWBY are all sitting together at lunch.

"So..." Nora starts. "There we were... In the middle of the night..."

"It was day..." Ren informs.

Donut is eating a sandwich as he listens. Grif is picking food off Donut's plate as said teen is distracted.

"We ere surrounded by Ursai."

"They were Beowolves." Ren corrects.

Simmons is looking over notes as he eats a salad. Asher drinks a strawberry Yoo-hoo as he listens to Nora.

"DOZENS OF THEM!" Nora shouts as she stands up.

"Two of 'em." Ren corrects again.

"But they were no match."

Asher looks down the table and spots Jaune, in his own world and playing with his food.

Nora continues. "And in the end... Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

"None of that story made sense." Simmons states, and an apple hits his head. "OW!"

"Quiet, Simmons!" Nora shouts. "Or I'll make a Simmons skin rug!"

Simmons grows nervous.

"I liked the story." Donut states.

Nora points at Donut. "See, at least someone likes my story, Simmons!"

Donut looks down at his plate and notices that it's empty. He glances at Grif, who's shoving a large piece of bread in his mouth.

"Wasn't me!" Grif says with a mouth full of food, and Donut just stares at him.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha calls out. "Are you okay?"

It takes a second for Jaune to snap back to reality. "Uh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

The Rose twins pull their move. "It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." Everyone stares at the two for a few seconds. "What? It's a twin thing."

"Eh, guys, I'm fine... Seriously, look!" Jaune gives a forced smile while her nervously laughs.

They all then hear some laughter and they look back to see Cardin and his team mocking Velvet.

Grif frowns as his dog ears flatten.

Pyrrha then speaks up. "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school."

"Who?" Jaune questions. "Cardin Winchester?

"He is a bully." Ruby frowns.

"He's an ass!" Grif growls and the rest of RDDD team nod.

"Oh please... Name one time he's 'bullied' me..." Jaune nervously laughs.

...

Jaune is seen on the way to class as Cardin is going the other way down the hall. When the two pass, Cardin knocks his arm into Jaune and makes him drop his book, then continuing on his way with his hands out as if daring anyone to challenge him.

"Ah, come on!" Jaune complains.

...

Jaune and Cardin are about to pass through a doorway, but Cardin clicks on Jaune's sheath and extends it into its shield form as he's going out, causing him to run into his own defense and have it block the exit.

Jaune grunts in frustration as he tries to lift his shield back out. "Come on...!"

...

Glynda is in the locker room with several students, gesturing at the devices." Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."

Hearing this, Cardin looks at Jaune - standing between him and the only open locker in the room - and the cliché plays itself out as Cardin quickly pushes a shocked Jaune into the small dark space and closes the door on him, pressing random buttons on the pad right after that.

"What?!" Jaune yells. "No, wait, wait! You've gotta get me out of here! Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!"

It's too late to protest when the locker scrunches down and launches up with a burst of blue fire coming from its base. Cardin watches as the locker slowly soars across the sky.

"Ahhh, coooome oooooooon...!" Jaune yells as he blasts off.

---

Everyone is totally focused on him now.

"I didn't land far from the school..." Jaune claims.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask..." Pyrrha informs.

"OOH!" Nora stands up. "We'll break his legs!"

Asher snaps his fingers. "I like that idea."

"Um, Sarge?" Donut calls out. "Isn't that a little too far?"

Asher shakes his head and growls. "No, he touched my shotgun."

...

Asher is getting ready for combat class and he grabs Cataclysmic Edge out of his locker, then sets it down on the bench behind him. He then goes back into his locker and messes around.

Cardin walks up behind Asher and notices the shotgun on the bench. He looks between the short teen and the gun. Then Cardin gains a malicious smile.

Asher pulls a few shotgun shells out of his locker and he turns around to notice his gun gone. "Uh, my baby?!" 

Asher frantically looks around, until he spots Cardin throwing his gun into the trash. 

"NOOOOO!" Asher falls to his knees.

---

Everyone stares at Asher.

"That was a little dramatic." Yang states.

A tear falls down Asher's face as he shakes a fist. "My gun will be avenged."

Grif grunts. "Cardin is really a massive asshole."

"Oh, yeah, he really liked to pick on you a few times." Simmons points out.

"Don't mention it."

...

Grif enters the bathroom and he goes into a stall and locks it. On the outside Cardin walks up with a bucket full of water. He stops in front of Grif's stall and tosses the water into it.

A loud splash is heard and Grif shouts. "WHAT THE FUCK!"

Cardin smiles as he drops the bucket onto the floor.

...

Grif is happily eating breakfast, until a bunch of slop falls onto his tray.

"Huh?" Grif questions as he looks up to see Cardin.

Cardin laughs as he shakes an empty can of dog food. Then he drops the can onto Grif's head and walks away.

---

Grif grunts as he glares at Simmons. "I said don't mention it."

Jaune stands up as he grabs his tray. "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

They all look over as the laughing grows louder, mixed in with cries of pain from Velvet when one of her ears are tugged on by Cardin.

"Ow! That hurts!" Velvet stops struggling and grimaces. "Please, stop."

Cardin continues laughing as he turns to his cronies. "I told you it was real!"

"What a freak!" Russel guffaws with his teammates.

Asher growls as he looks to his team and nods. They nod back and pick up their spoons. They all take a spoonful of mashed potatoes off of Asher's plate.

The four then turn to Cardin and his team and pull back on their spoons.

"Fire." Asher orders.

Team RDDD launches their potatoes and they fly through the air, and into the eyes of team CRDL. They all panic and wipes mashed Potatoes out of their eyes, giving Velvet a chance to get away.

Velvet swiftly gets away from Cardin and his team, giving team RDDD a smile as she exits the cafeteria. The team waves bye to her, Simmons does it nervously. 

Then RDDD team turns to each other and high five.

"Atrocious." Pyrrha frowns. "I can't stand people like him." 

"He's not the only one." Blake points out.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus." Yang says. "No offense, Grif."

Grif holds up his hands. "None taken."

Asher crosses his arms. "Makes me hate him more for making fun of them. Velvet's a good friend to team RDDD, for helping us not get in trouble with Ozpin the other day. And nobody messes with RDDD team!"

Grif, Simmons and Donut all nod.

.

.

.

Inside Doctor Oobleck's class Asher is sitting in the front row, beside Velvet. While Simmons is sitting in the front a few spots down from Jaune. Grif and Donut aren't in this class.

Simmons is trying to keep up his note taking, but Oobleck speaks very fast. So he's sweating from the stress.

"Yes!" Oobleck shouts. "Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War,-" He zips to behind his desk. "-humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing the Faunus population in Menagerie."

Oobleck zips to the side and drinks his coffee. Then he zips to the front of the class. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

Oobleck zips to right in front of the desks. Then off to the side and sips his coffee.

"Now!" Oobleck zips back to the front of the class. "Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

A few students raise their hands. Velvet looks nervous, but Asher encourages her to raise her hand, which she does.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful!" Oobleck shouts. "Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!"

Oobleck sips his drink.

"I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!" Oobleck zooms off to the side. "Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Weiss raises her hand. "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss confidently answers. 

Oobleck is back behind his desk. "Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Unseen by the professor, Cardin flicks a paper football at Jaune's head, causing him to wake up. "Hey!" He yells.

Oobleck zooms right over to Jaune, getting in his face. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

" Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... that the Faunus..." Jaune looks behind Oobleck's focused face at Pyrrha, who coughs and motions to her lips as she gives him the answer "...had over that guy's stuff..." He sees Pyrrha cup her hands around her eyes and goes for the most obvious answer. "Uhh... Binoculars!"

While Jaune looks pleased with his answer, the class laughs at him and Oobleck, back at the front of the class, sips his coffee. Pyrrha sighs and slaps a hand to her forehead as Cardin pounds his fist on his desk while chortling.

Asher face palms and sighs. Simmons glances at Jaune in confusion. 

Oobleck zooms back behind his desk. "Very funny, Mr. Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin states.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha asks him.

"What? You got a problem?"

"No, I have the answer!" Pyrrha turns back to the Doctor. "It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark."

Cardin growls at the correct response.

Simmons raises his hand. "General Lahune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep."

Blake continues for him. "His massive army was outmatch, and the General was captured.

Asher turns back to Cardin with a smug smile. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure. Kinda like you, Cardin."

The class oohs, and Cardin stands up with an angry look.

"Mr. Winchester!" Oobelck calls out. "Please take your seat."

Cardin glares at Asher, as said teen sticks out his tongue at him.

Though Jaune is snickering.

Oobleck zooms right in front of Jaune. "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." He sips his drink.

"Oohhh..." Jaune whines.

"Now!" Oobleck zips to the side. "Moving on!"

.

.

It's late at night and Pyrrha is walking down the dorm hallway, with a sad look.

Pyrrha hears some footsteps nearby and she rounds a corner to see Asher. Who is wearing some red sweatpants and white tee-shirt. Sweat falls from his head as he stops and takes a drink from a fountain.

"Asher?" Pyrrha calls out.

Asher jumps and chokes on his water. He takes a few steps back and pounds on his chest as he coughs.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha panics as she walks over to him.

Asher gets his coughing under control and looks up to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, what are you doing out this late?"

"Oh..." Pyrrha grows sad. "Just taking a walk."

Asher grows confused. "Ooookay?"

"What are you still doing up?"

"Oh, just some late night training." Asher rubs his head.

"Training?"

Asher nods. "Yeah, I got to get ready for the Vytal Festival. Gotta show off how great RDDD team is. OH! I heard your a really great fighter, think you can help me train?"

Pyrrha rubs her arm. "I... I guess."

Asher's eyes shine with stars. "YES!" He clears his throat. "Thank you." He checks his scroll. "Well, it is getting late so I better get going." He walks off. "See ya later, Pyrrha." He waves to Pyrrha.

"Bye, Asher." Pyrrha waves back.

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12-31-2023

2586 words