We do not own RWBY or any other copyright content. All rights to it go to Monty Oum, Viz Media, and their original owners. All OCs are owned by us.
Writing credits go to Uzumaki Ricky Monsterhuntergod, Sharad the hedgehog, and Traines, as well as Kima Whitehawk Jordan on Facebook. And a very special shoutout and thank you to 501awezome and Mega Ghost on Fanfiction.Net for all your support.
Tiger King and Dragon Queen
Volume 1 Chapter 27: Primal Heartache
"Stop it!" Velvet yelped as Sky Lark from Team CRDL tugged on her right bunny ear hard.
"What's wrong, Bunny Girl? Fight back!" Cardin sneered as Sky laughed.
"Yeah! You're supposed to be a year above us, right? Prove it!" Sky laughed out, tugging harder on Velvet's ear.
"Hey, Boss. Shouldn't we rough her up one at a time? You know, so we don't get thrown in a dumpster again by the brick shit house?" Dove asked Cardin nervously.
"Ah shut it, Dove! Old Yatsu's not around! Besides, what can he do to all of us together without his teammates?" Cardin replied with a laugh.
"Yeah, Dove. Can't believe you're afraid of the cripple, the giant dumbass, and the preppy fashion victim." Russel said, nodding his head.
"Hey! Cut it out, guys!" The familiar voice of Jaune called out.
Team CRDL and Velvet looked to the source to see Jaune glaring at them from across the mostly empty courtyard, trying his best to look intimidating. Which would have worked if he were actually… well intimidating. Instead, with his legs shaking and his currently normal physique, he looked more like he was ready to wet his pants. Even as he put up his dukes for a fight.
"Is that supposed to scare us, Jauney Boy? You're about as intimidating as a cocker spaniel!" Cardin laughed.
"Unlike you, my bite is worse than my bark!" Jaune yelled as he built up a charge, ready to punch him.
Cardin sneered as he just side-stepped Jaune's charge and swung his arm out, clotheslining Jaune and sending him crashing to the floor. As Jaune groaned in pain, Cardin sneered down at his second favorite target.
"Like I said before. As intimidating as a cocker spaniel." Cardin replied only for Jaune to bite him in the shin. "Ow! Alright, that's it, Arc!"
Cardin kicked Jaune in the stomach, making him groan in pain as he refused to let go of Cardin's leg. "Sky, keep the carrot muncher in place! Dove, Russel, rough him up! Show Jauney Boy here what happens when a wimp tries to play hero!" He yelled out, shaking his leg to try to force Jaune to let go.
"Do I have to?" Dove asked.
"Would you like to taste the heel of my boot too?" Cardin growled, which gave Dove all the motivation he needed.
The commotion soon collected a crowd. Despite the stomps and kicks from the other three members of Team CRDL, Jaune held on like a pit bull, each blow making him dig his teeth harder into Cardin's Aura-clad leg. A cacophony of various chants and reactions from the crowd soon began to form, as the distinctive forms of Jaune's friends pushed their way through the throngs of dumb bystanders.
"We have to stop this." Pyrrha ordered, only for Azura to stop her.
"No. I know their types. Unless Jaune and Velvet stand up for themselves and show them they're not afraid, they'll keep picking on them. If we intervene, they'll never stop." Azura explained.
"You sound awfully sure about that, Azura." Ren said skeptically.
"Because I dealt with their types when I was younger. I was on the short side growing up, so I got picked on a lot. Unless you stand up for yourself, bullies like them won't stop." Azura elaborated, glaring at the four bullies.
"But they've been at this for the last two weeks." Ember pointed out.
Two Weeks Earlier
"Hey, Arc! Saw your loss to Cardin again in Goodwitch's class. Keep this up, they're gonna have to make your girlfriend team leader!" One of Jaune's classmates called out to Jaune in the hallway.
Jaune scowled as he tried to move on with his day. Getting reminded of losses was one thing, but getting reminded of having to taste Cardin's boot was another. He rounded a corner in the hallway to head to his team's study room, when he saw three students gathered around Velvet. Curious, he got closer.
"Hey, Bunny Ears! Shouldn't you be in a strip club, not learning to fight monsters?" One of the students sneered, slapping her on the ass.
"Don't you have anything better to do than pick on me?" Velvet asked in mortification at her butt being slapped.
"Maybe, if you drop to your knees and I drop my pants, I will." One of the other students offered with a smirk.
"Hey, leave the lady alone. If she's not interested, she's not interested." Jaune said as he stepped up to intervene.
However, the third boy decked Jaune in the nose, making him cry out in pain as he backed up and clutched it. "Mind your own business, Bitch Boy Blonde! We'll get to you later!" The first student said.
"Time to move up the schedule, then." Jaune said before punching him in the jaw.
Jaune then, before the creep could recover, tackled him to the ground, and started raining down punches onto his face. However, the guy caught one of Jaune's fists before kicking him off. As Jaune tried to get up, the other student punt-kicked him in the face to knock him over.
"You're right, Arc! It is time to move up the schedule! Whoop his ass!" The first guy said as he got back up.
The two students began kicking and stomping on Jaune to keep him from getting up. Velvet, having had enough of these two, rushed in to try to help.
"Oi! Leave him alone!" Velvet yelled, running up and scissor kicking one of the male students in the back of the head.
"Wish granted, cabbage loaf!" The one who got kicked said, turning around to face her.
Breaking off from the beatdown of Jaune, he rushed up and grabbed Velvet in a headlock, tugging on her ears. Crying out in pain, Velvet tried to squirm loose to no avail. Seeing no choice, she clenched her hand into a tightly balled fist and punched the bully as hard as she could in the groin. Crying out in pain, he let her go and backed up, clutching his jewels. This left him open as Velvet leapt up, wrapped her legs around his head, and flung him down to the ground. Before Velvet could react, one of the other two boys stopped kicking Jaune and spin kicked Velvet in the back of the head, dropping her to the ground.
"What in the name of Goodwitch's oversized tits is going on here!?" A familiar male voice called.
The three creeps stopped and turned to look. To their surprise, they saw the large, bulky frame of Cardin Winchester as the source of the voice. Stopping, they glared at Cardin.
"Get in line, Winchester! You'll get your crack at these two after we're done with them!" The first bully snapped.
"You forget, you little punk. I always get the first crack. Now scram before I take first crack at you three morons." Cardin growled, looming over them with his immense size and soon punching one of his fists into his hand before cracking his knuckles.
Paling a bit, the three scrambled back and ran off. "You just wait, Winchester! You won't be the top punk at this school for long!" One of them yelled as they retreated, the one Velvet scissor kicked stumbling along behind his compatriots.
"Alright, what the hell happened here?" Cardin asked, folding his arms.
Jaune frowned as he got up. "Nothing, Cardin. I just jumped in when those guys were sexually harassing Velvet." He explained, dusting himself off.
"And I jumped in when they started messing with Jaune for him defending me." Velvet explained.
"Note to self: Throw them in a dumpster later…" Cardin muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Jaune asked, confused.
"None of your business. Honestly, pretty sloppy work, you two." Cardin said bluntly.
"Oi! I just don't like hurting people, alright!? I came here to fight monsters, not hurt people!" Velvet insisted indignantly.
"So, you're just gonna let someone sexually harass you? Just let yourself be a victim? Because you arbitrarily don't want to hurt someone? That's pathetic." Cardin said with a sneer.
"Hey, shut up, Cardin! Velvet's a gentle soul! There's nothing wrong with that! In fact, we need more people like her in this world!" Jaune bit back, glaring at the taller and bulkier boy.
"Oh yes. More people to get stomped into the dirt like you, Arc? We are training to be Huntsmen. If you can't handle some random thugs, then you aren't going to be able to deal with the outside world." Cardin said sternly, turning his dismissive gaze to Jaune.
It was at that moment that the rest of Team CRDL showed up. Looking at the tension between their team leader and the other two students, they noted that the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was at that moment that one of them spoke up.
"Um, Boss… everything okay?" Dove asked, a bit nervously.
"Yeah. We got a couple of wimps here too chicken shit to stand up for themselves. Show them what happens to wusses in the outside world, boys." Cardin noted dismissively.
"Say no more, boss." Russel said with a smirk.
With that, Team CRDL crowded around the two. Smirking, cracking their knuckles and punching fists into their palms, they sneered down at the two as Jaune and Velvet paled. The two were then encircled ominously by the rest of Team CRDL as Cardin walked away.
Present Time
"Let go of my damn leg, you blonde chihuahua!" Cardin yelled as he tried to shake Jaune off his leg.
Jaune just growled like said yapping little dog in question, refusing to let go and only bit down harder. Velvet tried to squirm out of Sky's grip to help Jaune but got a punch to her stomach for her troubles from Dove. Seeing this, the rest of Jaune's friends turned to look at Azura.
"Alright, where's the problem and where does it not like to be kicked!" A loud and brashly familiar voice called from the back of the crowd.
Azura and the others turned and looked to see Sylver and the rest of Team SHDW making their way over. Azura sighed and nodded to his friend.
"We're waiting for Jaune and Velvet to stand up for themselves against Team CRDL rather than just stick up for other people exclusively. And I think we're going to be in for a long wait." Azura noted, his eyes full of fury as he watched the scene unfold.
"Sounds needlessly complicated. Why don't we just beat them up?" Sylver asked.
"Wait a little longer, Sylver. If things start getting out of hand, then we'll jump in." Azura replied to his friend.
"I can't keep watching this, Azura! We need to do something!" Ruby called out to her friend.
"Can we wrap this up? I just want a burger. Or five. Or fifty-five." Sylver groaned.
Clenching his hands into fists as he kept watching, Azura finally reached a point where he had had enough. Glaring at Team CRDL, he turned his gaze to Sylver.
"Sylver! We're stepping in and putting a stop to this!" The azure samurai finally called out.
"Finally! SYYLVEERR! TEEENNNRŌŌŌ!!!" Sylver called out in a lunatic craze as he rushed in with Azura right behind him.
"What the fuck-oh god!!!" Came the collective cry of Team CRDL.
Before the bullies could react, two blurred streaks, one azure blue and the other metallic silver, rushed in and tackled them away from their friends. Standing up, Cardin tried to punch Azura only for Azura to easily turn his punch aside. He quickly slid his hand up Cardin's arm and backhand smacked the jock wannabe hard in the face. Groaning a bit, he left himself open to Azura grabbing him by the wrist and flipping him back first onto the ground.
"Ohhhh…! What the fuck…!?" Cardin groaned before crying out in pain as Azura twisted his arm to force him to his knees, twisting hard.
"Let him go, you wannabe royal pain!" Russel yelled, rushing at Azura with a punch.
Keeping his eyes on Cardin while keeping his arm locked, Azura deflected and dodged Russel's punches and kicks. Deflecting an overextended punch down, Azura ax-kicked Russel in the back of the head to drop him to the ground. As Russel cried out in pain and clutched his face, Azura brought his foot down in another ax kick to Russel's back, making him cry out in pain as Azura ground his foot into the bully's back.
Meanwhile, Sylver tackled Sky to the ground and off Velvet. Grabbing the bully tightly by the throat, Sylver began wailing down hammer fist punches onto Sky's face. Unrelenting as he pummeled the bully's face, his aim especially focused on the nose. Dove rushed up to help only for Sylver to turn and shoot him a glare as he kept wailing down blows on Sky. The glare was not intense, merely questioning. As if asking, "Are you volunteering to be next?"
"No…" Dove nervously answered before high tailing it away from the fight.
Shrugging, Sylver went back to wailing on Sky. Trying to fight back, Sky threw a punch that, while failing to hurt Sylver, knocked his hat askew. Glaring down furiously, Sylver grabbed Sky by the face, lifted him up, and slammed him into the ground back of the headfirst hard enough to crater the ground. This nearly knocked Sky unconscious as Sylver adjusted his beanie while Cardin yelled out in pain.
"Okay, okay! We give! We give!" Cardin yelled in pain, stopping his struggle.
"Good. Now scram." Sylver said in a most unenthusiastic voice.
"Can you at least try to be threatening?" Azura asked in frustration.
"Dude walks around with a completely fake machismo swagger. His spine is like wet cardboard. If he isn't going to put in any effort, why should I?" Sylver asked, bored.
The two princes let the bullies up. The rest of Team CRDL then scrambled to their feet and ran for it. As they did, Cardin called back to the two warrior heirs.
"This isn't over, prince boys! Far from it!" Cardin yelled as they retreated.
"What the hell just happened?" Jaune asked, turning to Velvet.
"You mean the beatdown or the fact Sylver went ballistic over a hat?" Velvet asked, confused.
"Yes." Jaune answered.
"No one. Touches. The hat." Sylver coldly said, patting his beanie.
"Can I ask why?" A random person in the crowd asked.
"You can, but only if you wanna die." Sylver replied, glaring at the person in the crowd.
"Sorry we didn't step in sooner, Jaune. We wanted you two to stand up for yourselves. Are you okay?" Azura asked, offering a hand to help Jaune up.
"I'll be fine." Jaune groaned a bit, smiling due to not missing the fact that Azura called him by his first name.
"You've got courage, I'll give you that, Jaune. Most people wouldn't step into a four-on-one situation to stand up for someone else knowing that they're outmatched." Azura complimented him as Jaune took his hand and Azura helped him up.
"Aw, you do care about me." Jaune said with a happy grin.
"Care is making a lot of assumptions. It's more that I respect you now." Azura playfully said, patting him on the back.
"Ow…! Better than nothing, I guess…" Jaune said as he winced with the pain of the pat like a needle into his skin.
Meanwhile, Sylver walked over to help up velvet. "You okay, Bun-Bun?" Sylver asked, a concerned look on his face as Velvet smiled at the playful nickname.
"I'm fine. It's not the first time I've been roughed up." Velvet answered. "Is everything alright with you?"
Sylver forced himself not to flinch, smiling as he held his hand out for her to take it. "Of course. Why wouldn't they be?" He replied as Velvet took his hand, allowing him to help her up.
"Well, when I saw you nearly punch Sky's head off over touching your beanie, I was just making sure." Velvet said, putting concern in it to try and sniff out a satisfactory answer.
"It's fine. I just don't like people touching it." Sylver said a bit defensively.
"It's a little off tilt. Do you mind if I adjust it?" The bunny Faunus asked politely.
"No." Sylver simply said, adjusting it himself.
"But I could-" Velvet started to say as Sylver cut her off.
"I said no." Sylver told her a little more firmly.
"Okay… Well, have a good day…" Velvet nervously said, backing away.
"Heya Velvet. Can we talk? Alone?" Jaune asked her, looking a bit surprised at Sylver's reaction.
"Sure…" Velvet said, somewhat unsure. However, after the day she had had, it was not the weirdest thing that happened today.
The two walked past the dining hall towards a collection of small picnic tables. Sitting down, Velvet noticed an unusually inquisitive look on Jaune's face.
"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Velvet asked confusedly.
"There's something weird going on with Sylver. I may be blonde with blue eyes, but I'm not a dumb blonde with blue eyes." Jaune explained.
"You're going to have to be more specific than that." Velvet said, still visibly confused.
"He's weirdly defensive of it. Haven't you noticed?" The blonde knight noted.
"You mean about the beanie?" Velvet asked.
Jaune nodded. "Do you think it has some kind of sentimental value to him?" He asked the older student.
"I don't think so. From what I've seen of him; he's not an overly sentimental type." Velvet said, shaking her head a bit at the assertion.
"Then maybe he has something under it he wants to hide? Wait… is he bald underneath it?" Jaune asked.
"Yes, Jaune. He had to go through chemo… are you daft?" Velvet answered in an annoyed tone.
"You don't have to be rude. It was just a theory." Jaune replied, a bit hurt by that.
"Well, we know he's a Faunus. Maybe he's an Atavistic Faunus?" Velvet noted, thinking about it.
Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Right, atavistic. Let's pretend I don't know what that means." He replied.
"Atavism is a condition where someone develops traits from a distant ancestor. In Faunus, it means more than one animal trait will show up." Velvet explained with a slight bit of annoyance.
Jaune was visibly surprised by this explanation. "So, you think he might have a pair of wolf ears under that thing? But why would he be hiding them?" he asked, completely confused.
"It can be bad enough to be a Faunus at times, but it's worse for those who suffer from atavism. Atavistic Faunus on average suffer increased prejudice and even experience it from other Faunus. If Sylver really is atavistic, then I don't blame him for covering it up." Velvet explained sadly, her ears drooping a bit in kind.
"Then it's probably best that we leave it alone for now. If he's gonna tell us, he'll tell us when he trusts us enough to feel ready to." Jaune noted, looking concerned for his friend.
"You're right. Last thing we need is him flying into a rage at us." Velvet said in agreement.
Meanwhile
After wolfing down a nice hearty lunch, Sylver began the trek back to his room. Normally, such a walk would not be much of an affair. However, as he began to get close to the dorms, he stopped by a large oak. His mind brought him back to his conversation with Velvet about his beanie. Instinctively gripping it he growled under his breath.
"No one can know… no one…" Sylver quietly growled, as he was soon assailed by memories he long thought buried.
Five Years Ago: Kingdom of Atlas
"Come on, Prince Mutant Freak! Keep up!" A boy said, swinging a training sword hard at a younger Sylver.
The young wolf Faunus, his tail out and a pair of wolf ears on his uncovered head, blocked the swing with his own sword. Pushing back, Sylver glared at the other boy while fighting back tears. "I'm not a freak!" He yelled back.
"Oh yeah? Then why have you got so many animal bits?" The boy asked snidely, getting a cheap hit in on Sylver because of it.
"I can't help how I was born, jerk!" Sylver snapped back, going for a swing of his own.
"And that's why you're a freak, freak!" The boy shot back.
"Aw, what's wrong? Is the big, bad wolf freak gonna cry?" Another kid jeered from the crowd.
Sylver's Aura became visible, burning like a metallic silver flame. His eyes, glowing gold and burning like fire, glared with eyes full of fury. "For the last time! I! Am not! A FREAK!" He yelled, his voice changing into a feral roar in a voice that was not his own.
As Sylver roared this, his nails crew and sharpened into short claws. His teeth sharpened into fangs as his canines extended. His hair and the fur on his ears and tail stood up on end, the shadow of a massive silver colored wolf with feathered wings appearing in his silhouette, the winged canine snarling in fury. Letting out a howl as loud as a rock concert that unleashed a shockwave and shook the ground beneath him, Sylver's grip caused the wooden training sword in his hand to snap into splinters, causing the crowd of kids to pale in fear.
"OWWWW!!! TOO LOUD!!" One of them yelled into the titanic, ear-splitting howl.
"Hey, Prince! Calm down! We were just kid-AGH!" Another kid yelled out, only to cut off as Sylver appeared in front of him with his clawed hand around the kid's throat, glaring up at him with eyes full of malice and furious glee.
"The Prince isn't in right now! Leave a message after the beep! Which will be your screams cutting off you cursing in agony!" Sylver sneered out in a voice and tone not his own.
One of the kids, scared out of his mind, gulped as he backed up slowly. "I… is it too late to apologize…?" he nervously asked.
The creature, formerly known as Sylver, looked at the boy with a feral, vicious grin. "Way too late! On the plus side, none of you have to wonder where your god is! He's right here! And he's fresh out of mercy…!" The beast growled out before howling in fury and lunging at the crowd.
Present Day: Beacon
Sylver snapped back to reality and in a fit of rage punched the oak tree hard. The trunk shook; its leaves and branches rattled as the wood of its trunk cracked where his fist impacted it. Yet Sylver stood there, staring blankly into the bark. A cold sweat slowly began to form on his body. He slowly and quietly panted before he began to collect himself, taking a deep breath.
"Never. Again." Sylver growled as he began to walk away.
Unbeknownst to the Tenrō warrior, Jaune watched him from behind a tree. Normally he would have walked up to talk with him, delivering the apology as planned. After what he just witnessed, he figured it better to give it to him on a different day.
To Be Continued…