Chapter 18 - Forever Fall

Shallot and the girls had woken up and knew they had a field trip today to the Forever Fall. Shallot had already left to shower and when he had gotten back he noticed that Weiss didn't seem to be too antagonistic to Ruby anymore.

Shallot: 'She must have talked to Professor Port. So some things haven't changed with people I haven't interacted with heavily ...interesting.'

Shallot got back to his room and saw that everyone was ready to head out. Shallot grabbed a small notebook and started reading it. It had the events that he could remember and today should be a major event with Cardin getting Jaune to throw something onto Pyrrha but since Pyrrha wasn't the one to answer he wasn't sure how things would turn out today.

He had knocked out Cardin yesterday so he isn't even sure that he had called Jaune to make him go and get things. Shallot closed the notebook and put it back into his bag and then left with the girl to Forever Falls.

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[An hour later]

Everyone had started walking with Glynda through the forest looking around.

Shallot: 'This is a really nice place. Even though the world is pretty hard to survive in outdoors, there so much beauty around.'

Glynda: "Yes, students, the Forest of Forever Falls is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peaches asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest."

Shallot had looked back at Cardin and his team to see a large bruise on the left side of his face in the shape of a boot. The rest of the team had some bandages wrapped around them. When Blake turned to see what Shallot was looking at and noticed Cardin's group and giggled and pulled Shallot's hand slightly.

Blake (whisper): "Did you do that?"

Shallot (whisper): "I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Shallot started whistling slightly and looking away from their group.

Glynda: "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun.

Cardin pulled Jaune and made him follow his group and Shallot walked away with his team and Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. They were walking through the wood so they could collect some sap from the trees when Ruby came up to him and started a conversation.

Ruby: "So you never told me. Is your semblance flying or is that just something you can do."

Everyone else was interested in that and listened to the conversation.

Shallot: "That is a technique that anyone can learn if they have mastered using their life force. It is the same way I did that attack against the Nevermore."

Weiss: "Hold on. Wait!!! You mean that use your life for more power."

Everyone else was looking worried at that.

Shallot: "Your thinking of life span. What you need to do is use life force but it will take some time to learn how to use it. I can teach you guys some time but I've already said that I'm going to be training Ruby and Yang, but I do have some ideas for Pyhhra to become stronger with her semblance."

As Ren and Nora were collecting sap from the trees they were still listening to the conversation.

Pyrrha: "You have a way for me to get stronger?"

Weiss: "Why did you mention them but not me? Aren't we on the same team?"

Shallot: "It's because I don't know a lot about your semblance. I'm not too familiar with Nora's or Ren's completely so I can't do anything about there semblance either since I didn't get the chance to observe it in the last fight. Pyrrha."

Pyrrha: "Yes."

Shallot: "You seem to be great at close quarters combat but you don't have any way for combat at mid-range distance. I don't want to say what your semblance is out loud since I don't know if you want others to know."

Pyhhra waved her hand in denial.

Pyhhra: "No, I really don't mind I can tell them. My semblance is polarity which allows me to control magnetism."

Ruby: "You can control poles?

Weiss: "No you dunce, it means magnetism.

Shallot: "Ok, since you control magnetism you should go out and get a supply of iron sand or pulverized iron which can work in the same method. You can attack from the distance while also using it as a defense if you become adept with using it. The more you use the iron sand, you'll be able to use it for defense with hardly any body movement."

Weiss: "So you're saying that she can become even more powerful and she can stop people from even approaching her. Won't that make her even stronger than you?"

Blake hearing that started giggling and Shallot started laughing at what Weiss said.

Shallot: "If there is anyone who is closest to my strength then it would be Blake. Blake just doesn't like fighting that much but will use everything to protect those close to her."

Weiss: "Hold on, Blake is the strongest after you here? Why didn't she take out the Nevermore at the canyon then."

Blake: "It might be due to Shallot's laziness rubbing off on me over the years."

Shallot: "Hey... I'm not lazy... I just like relaxing, anyway as I was saying. I will be training Ruby with hand to hand combat and teaching Yang a fighting style that will help her last longer in fights. I can help Pyrrha with the methods I have come up with. Since the Vytal festival is going to be soon we need to work together so that we can show the other schools that we are then strongest of them all."

Ren moved closer to the group after filling another jar with some sap.

Ren: "Pyrrha's weapon can be turned into a sniper rifle already isn't that enough?

Shallot: "A sniper rifle is good for long-range situations while the spears are for close-ranged situations, but what about mid-range situations. You won't always end up in with a long-range situation or short-range sometimes you will need to deal with attacks from mid-range.

Ruby: "I don't think we have enough time though. Doesn't the Vital festival start tomorrow?"

Shallot: "Well Ruby, we stay in the same dorm room and I can help you there whenever you aren't busy studying, and for Pyrrha, I can only give her advice on how she could improve upon using her semblance. Helping Ren and Nora would require me to get information on how their semblances work and whether I can come up with anything that would be useful enough to help them with it.

As for it starting tomorrow, the festival will begin tomorrow but the scheduled fights won't be happening until another 4 or 5 days. I'm not sure about the exact time but 1 week should be enough if I help you cram some basics. We won't be changing your fighting style or anything just preparing you just in case you can't use your weapon."

Shallot and the others went collecting the sap after finishing their conversations when they hear the sound of glass shattering and a couple of moments later the sound of a Grimm howling out. The group headed over to see what was going on since that was in the direction of where the sound came from. Russel and Dove whose face was bandaged running past them screaming Ursa.

Shallot yelled for Blake to head off to get professor Goodwitch since she was the third-fastest here so it shouldn't take long. We need the teacher here just in case someone is injured.

Blake: "Ok, I know that whatever Grimm is there won't be a problem for you. I'll leave now."

Blake covered her body in ki and focusing mainly on her legs and dashed off leaving everyone to head towards the sounds.

Everyone else was running in the direction of Cardin

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The group had arrived at the location where Jaune and Cardin were. They had seen Jaune standing in front of a cowering Cardin protecting him from the Ursa.

Shallot: "Look at that, it's an older Ursa. Haven't seen one of those close to cities in a while considering I killed anything that piqued my interest on the way here."

Shallot raised his hand with a pointed finger with ki charging up planning to use a ki beam to kill it quickly and Pyrrha noticed and wanted to stop him by grabbing his wrist. While grabbing his wrist she could feel the heat coming from the small point on his figure and new that it would likely pierce the Ursa fairly easy.

Shallot: "Pyrrha, what are you doing?"

Pyrrha: "What? I think that he can handle this."

Jaune was fighting the Grimm and was being thrown around but kept attacking.

Shallot: "At least he has determination. Well if something happens to him, I'll just tell Ozpin you said that he could handle it."

Ruby looked at Shallot.

Ruby: "You're not going to help him if he can't handle it."

Shallot: "Pyrrha's choice. She wanted him to fight to gain experience I guess."

Shallot then dispersed the ki gathering on his finger and lowered his hand.

Jaune did a final attack at the Ursa while the Ursa was going to blindside Jaune but then Pyrrha used her semblance to raise Jaune's shield to block the attack. Jaune then sliced the head off of the Ursa.

Shallot squinted his eyes and looked at Pyrrha.

Shallot: "Hypocrite."

Shallot then walked away heading away from the group.

~~~

Ruby was looking amazed at the attitude change that happened in Shallot.

Yang was also looking at Shallot leaving then looked towards Pyrrha.

Yang: "He probably called you a hypocrite because you stopped him and then went and helped Jaune anyway. He probably only stopped because you were his team member. Shallot is strong and probably doesn't like being stopped from what he is doing.

Yang: 'Neither do I so I think I understand why he is upset.'

Yang: He always seems carefree and does what he wants no matter what someone else says just like when we could clearly see him insulting Cardin and his team. He probably also sees Jaune as a friend and doesn't want to give him false pride like what you just did.

He told us he is from a warrior clan and pride might be something that is ingrained into them. He probably saw what you did as detrimental."

Weiss: 'I doubt that. He is more of a douchebag in my opinion.'

Weiss: "How do you know?"

Ren: "I'm also curious. He doesn't seem like the one to get upset about anything. He always seemed to be joking about everything and seemed more like a jokester."

Yang: "I guess we can call him Joker hm."

Yang giggles a little afterward.

Nora: "He just seems overconfident to me but he is super strong."

Ruby: "I think he's really nice though *mumbles* (and good looking)"

Yang looked towards Ruby hearing that and smirking a bit thinking she has something else to tease Ruby about.

Yang: "The way he walks is that of a martial artist. Even though he jokes around a lot it always seems he is paying attention to his surrounding as if he is expecting an attack. We may have first seen him with a weapon but I think he chose to use a weapon to become stronger but to mess around instead of becoming stronger."

Pyrrha nodded her head understanding that what she did would give Jaune false pride but sometimes false pride is what someone needs to become stronger. She knows that Jaune is not as strong-minded as others but wishes to improve. She knows that Shallot probably only got upset because of that and still thinks he is a nice person since he gave her ideas on how to become stronger with her semblance.

The others decided that they would head back and get ready since the Vital festival would begin tomorrow. At least the preparations will be. Ruby wanted to see what Shallot would do to help her with hand to hand combat.

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[Ruby]

Tier: 8-C

PL: 135

Attack Potency: Building level+

Speed: Hypersonic | Hypersonic+ (Equal to Blake Belladonna and comparable to Sun Wukong, higher with her Semblance

Lifting Strength: Class K (Can drag a Nevermore up a vertical cliff) | At least Class K | At least Class K

Striking Strength: Building Class+ | Large Building Class | At least Large Building Class

Durability: Building level+

Stamina: High (Ruby can mutilate hordes of monsters by herself and shows no signs of fatigue in battle at all)

Range: Extended melee range with Crescent Rose, at least hundreds of meters with a sniper rifle

Standard Equipment: Crescent Rose, Dust Ammunition

Intelligence: High

Weaknesses: Ruby is somewhat reckless, Continual damage to her Aura will cause it to decay to the point where she can be left open to more significant damage, Inept at hand-to-hand combat. Aura's durability is cumulative; it will deplete with each attack she takes and can be brought down by characters of similar strength.

Semblances drain aura by a small amount and without aura they cannot be used until the user's aura is recharged. | Unable to use Silver Eyes willingly and to their fullest extent

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