Colorful Spirits (ch3)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR PATRONS! THANK YOU GUYS!

Thanks for reading! Now we'll see a bit of the sparring and tournament things (at least the kind I'm familiar with, drama and all).

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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				     Chapter 3. The Enrichment Of Summer

Together with her friends and sister, Ruby achieved two more belt ranks within the next year.

At white belt, she'd learned the first form as well as all of the basic kicks, blocks, and strikes.

At yellow belt, she'd learned the second form, in addition to slightly more difficult kicks and blocks.

At present, she was a seasoned orange belt, scheduled to test for green in less than another month.

Weiss had already achieved green, putting Yang and Blake at blue, and Velvet and her friends at red.

Past the rank of green, there was an additional activity students were encouraged to participate in.

Sparring wasn't for everyone, but with one class held every Friday, they were all required to take at least one sparring class per month.

Ruby didn't have to attend yet, so she often sat behind the counter in the carpeted area with her father or mother to observe the class. She'd first seen Blake and Yang take the sparring class, and Ruby had initially laughed at the sight of them in the required gear.

On top of their uniforms and belts, they had to wear large chest protector pieces, arm guards, and leg guards. Being weighed down and restricted by the extra armor was more than enough to effect anyone's performance in the martial art, prevent them from kicking as high as they were able to, and hindered them from stretching properly. It was certainly a challenge, but it came with the territory of a martial artist.

The sparring class mainly consisted of drills and workout routines, followed by practicing different moves like dodges and attack techniques, and finally several minutes of matches at the end of class.

The key to sparring was to keep light and fast on one's feet, which was why people had anticipated that Ruby would be an excellent sparrer when her time came.

But for now, she simply watched on the sidelines as her sister and the other students were taught the ways of sparring.

For their first match ever, Blake and Yang were partnered against one another with Instructor Oobleck as the referee. Sparring was his main class, as he was a very speedy man who could easily keep up with the fighters.

Blake experienced just how difficult it was for her to kick another person. All her life she had been against violence in just about any form, and she surely didn't like the idea of striking Yang.

So for their first-ever match, Blake was committed to dodging, and she was good at it. No matter how many times Yang swung a roundhouse kick or aimed a punch, the best she could do was graze Blake's chest piece, but never enough for it to be considered a point.

Ruby had assumed this meant Blake was the winner, but after Oobleck declared the match over, he spoke otherwise.

"Blake! Your dodges are exquisite, just-! Exquisite! Your speed is your best ally. Unfortunately! In sparring, you are required to get points! Points, I say! Dodging constantly won't get you any of those! If a match ends up like this one where neither competitor has any points, the match goes to the person who attempted attack more. In this case-" He grabbed Yang's arm and lifted it high. "Yang is the victor. Even so, this was a very good experience for the both of you for your very first match. Good job I say! Now have a seat and let's watch the red belts spar, shall we? See how it's done!"

Yang and Blake hobbled over to the wall-side of the dojang and sat down, panting and wiping their sleeves over their foreheads.

"Geez..." Yang huffed. "I never knew you were so fast, Blake! You're always best at the forms and stuff which are a lot slower."

"Even so, it's like Instructor Oobleck said. In sparring, I need to attack if I want to win. It's just going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah, don't worry about it! You'll get used to it with more training."

"Yeah," the Faunus girl nodded. "Now let me tell you how great your kicks were – even if you missed," she said with a playful smirk. Yang smiled and pushed her lightly.

From their resting spots, they watched the next match that had been called to the center of the room. Velvet was sparring Fox.

The boy had been sparring long enough to know exactly how high he should be kicking to aim a point, and his exceptional hearing allowed him to decipher which way a person was facing and even how they were angled.

Normally, during a workout or matches, there was loud, energetic, remixed music playing to motivate students and to lessen the risk of awkwardness, until curriculum lessons were to begin. But for Fox's match, the instructors always turned the music off so he could hear properly.

This also benefitted Velvet, as she also had exceptional hearing.

The two competitors bowed to one another and then took up their stances.

Yang caught Ruby's eye from the sitting area beside the dojang; her little sister was leaning eagerly over the counter, and their father had to pull her back a bit so she wouldn't fall over.

The match commenced, and everyone fell silent. There was only the sound of feet bouncing on the mats, and a few loud huffs for breath.

With a short yell, Velvet made the first move, throwing a roundhouse kick with her right leg. It looked like it should have connected, but Fox managed to dodge by skipping closer, and out of her range. He threw a punch to move her back a bit, then followed through with a kick of his own. There was a loud thud against Velvet's chest gear, and Oobleck called the point for Fox.

As the match continued, Ruby was mesmerized by their unique sparring styles. She noticed how each person's stance was different, how they both had different ways of bouncing and keeping light on their feet.

She even noticed the specific patterns they seemed to have – how often they kicked with one leg versus the other, or how often they tried to aim a spinning kick of any kind.

She was doing her best to keep quiet throughout Fox's and Velvet's match, until at last it was deemed over. Fox was victorious.

Velvet sighed as she caught her breath.

"One day, Fox," she said with a smile. "One day I'll best you! Just you wait!"

He nodded, also smiling as he patted the girl's shoulder and led her back to their friends waiting to shower them both with compliments.

That was the first time Ruby had ever witnessed a sparring class, but it was two weeks later when Weiss attended one.

This was the only department where Weiss was doing the bare minimum for participation – only one class a month. She absolutely loathed wearing the heavy, sweaty gear over her uniform. She would much rather observe a sparring match than participate in one.

She was a little above average at best with most physical training, but it was clear that she excelled in the mental stages above all else. The mental was just as important as the physical in taekwondo, which most people tended to assume wasn't the case. The mindset is not inferior to the physical body – in fact, in a way, it may arguably be more important.

Either way, Weiss wasn't very good with sparring, and she didn't fancy the idea of taking the classes, but she wasn't about to start slacking off in that field just because she didn't like it.

As a current green belt, she was now sparring against her fellow classmates. And although they always went through kicking drills and practiced different kicks, dodges, and attacks beforehand, when it came time to actually spar, Weiss faltered.

Sparring Pyrrha was an experience Weiss was conflicted about. It was clear that the crimson-haired girl was more skilled with it than Weiss was; Weiss had seen her spar the boys, and Pyrrha was always throwing combinations of kicks rapid-fire, yelling shout after shout as she scored up to ten points per match.

But when she was partnered with Weiss, Pyrrha always seemed to be taking it eyes on her. Every point Weiss got – few as they were – she felt that Pyrrha was letting her get them. She wasn't earning those points herself.

And when Pyrrha kicked her, it never had much of an impact. Weiss had once seen her send Sun back against the wall with a simple roundhouse kick. Pyrrha took it easy on Weiss, and that always miffed the latter to an extent.

But Pyrrha was the best opponent for her to be pitted against simply for the sake of feeling what it was like to score a point at all.

Neptune had a lot of height on Weiss, and with the gear restricting her, it was next to impossible to angle her body in such a way that allowed her to kick as high as his chest piece. Meanwhile, the blue-haired boy seemed to have no trouble aiming lower and landing points on her.

Despite the unchangeable height difference between them that leaned in Neptune's favor, Weiss didn't mind being hit all that much.

At least he wasn't holding back on her.

But after every match of theirs, Neptune always hurried over to Weiss with concerned eyes and a frown to ask, "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

And that was Weiss' next turn-off to sparring. She didn't need to be treated like a child. She didn't need to be babied and pampered and given unfair advantages and be "taken easy" on.

Which was why she surprisingly found Sun to be her favorite sparring partner.

His agility and flexibility even with the gear on was nothing short of impressive, and Weiss assumed it was because of his Faunus heritage. His tail allowed him fairly good balance, and he never held back on his kicks. Not even jumping back kicks or tornado kicks. Sun liked to take risks and use the back-turning kicks, which would earn two points instead of one if they landed a hit.

Weiss appreciated that he didn't go easy on her or act excessively concerned. But every time she faced him, she ended up winded on her back.

She didn't have the necessary bulk to counter such fierce kicks, and after going down three times in a single match, it was called off and Sun was proclaimed the winner.

The smallest mercy though, was that Sun always reached down a hand to help her up, and didn't make Weiss roll around like a turtle on its back to stand with the sparring gear. She never hesitated to take his hand. She just appreciated that he didn't treat her specially when it came to sparring matches.

To better her skills, Weiss soon opted to try attending two sparring classes per month instead of just one.

Though Ruby remained on the sidelines for now, she really loved watching all of her fellow classmates spar. She had to wonder what kind of techniques Jaune, Nora, and Ren would use when they all started these classes together.

But that wouldn't be for a little while yet. Before their next belt test, there was an even bigger event on the horizon.

The annual tournament was nearing.

When Ozpin and his fellows had been students in training in their younger years, their old master had taken them to the very same tournament. They knew what to expect in the competition, and knew how to train their students for it.

Ozpin had attended the previous year, taking only Coco, Velvet, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Sage, and Scarlet as his school's competitors.

Ruby and the others hadn't been of the necessary belt ranks to attend at the time, so they had stayed home and rested that day. But they'd all heard plenty of news from their upperclassmen.

The tournament consisted of numerous other taekwondo schools traveling to a single convention center to hold joint competitions. They competed against other schools' students in the departments of forms, breaking, and sparring for medals and trophies.

Last year, Ozpin's highest ranked students had only been orange belts at the time, so none of them had sparred. But this year, that would be different.

As opposed to his group of six last year, now Ozpin would be taking twenty students, a much more formidable number. Everyone from the lowest rank to the highest would be competing in the forms and breaking departments. But only students ranked green belt or higher could compete in sparring in the tournament, and sparring wasn't a required field.

Blake was opting not to compete for that, as was Scarlet. But the red belts, Sage, the other blue belts, and all of the green belts were going to compete. Even Weiss.

She'd resolved herself to do this for several reasons.

Firstly was that she wanted to improve herself in sparring, secondly because she wanted to make her father proud, and finally because she wanted to experience what it would be like to spar someone she'd never faced before.

In the weeks before the tournament, all students at Ozpin's school took extra classes per week to perfect their respective techniques. Weiss came to all four sparring classes that month.

Each day, there was a new layer of excitement and anticipation in the air. This year, Ozpin's students were determined to make him proud.

They'd all heard unfavorable rumors about last year from Coco and her friends.

Last year, Ozpin's students – few as their had been competing – had won him a trophy at the end of the day. They'd been one of the few schools whose students had all received at least one gold medal, and so the headmasters accordingly award the masters of those schools with a small golden trophy to demonstrate how well they had trained their students.

In Ozpin's past, back when he'd worked his way up through every belt color alongside Glynda, Peter, and Bartholomew, there had been a few other students who had trained alongside him. Their names were Cinder and Roman.

When their old master had retired and the school had closed down, Ozpin had offered to have the two join his school. But Cinder had suavely refused his offer. They'd never really gotten along; they'd simply happened to train together in the same classes. Glynda despised Cinder, and the feelings were more or less mutual all around.

Cinder and Roman had always been a bit more violent, often branching off from their old master's ways and making their own rules. Cinder had started her own school several towns away from Ozpin's, and he could only imagine what she trained her students to be like there.

Ozpin and his staff were firm to the belief that taekwondo was a gentle martial art, more about a sound mind and healthy body than it was about winning first place every time.

Due to their unsavory histories, when Ozpin and his students had encountered Cinder and her own students at the tournament last year, the bows exchanged had been a bit begrudging.

After Ozpin had been awarded his trophy, he had set it down on one of the judges tables for a moment so he could retrieve his car keys, intending to put the trophy in his trunk for safekeeping. But when he'd returned a minute later, it had vanished.

He'd never said anything other than it had been "misplaced", but given what they knew of Cinder's dishonest teaching methods, Ozpin's students had concluded she'd stolen it.

They'd managed to refrain from confronting Cinder or her students about it, but when Ozpin's school had driven home that day, there had been an air of sadness about their master.

Which was why they were all determined to win him a trophy again this year.

They all trained hard, even Cardin and his friends. If they were going to succeed with this, all twenty of them would need to receive at least one gold medal in the tournament.

They all focused on their strengths and poured their energy into perfecting those things in particular.

Pyrrha helped Jaune with his board-breaking; more often than not, sheer dumb luck was on his side, and he'd end up breaking the board even if he struck it incorrectly. But it was his safest bet for getting gold.

Ruby focused on her breaks as well, as did Yang – kicking was her best department, after all. Blake and Ren focused on their forms, as did Velvet and Yatsuhashi, and Sage and Scarlet. And even though he was blind, Fox was permitted to compete, and he intended to impress the judges with his breaking based off hearing alone. Coco practiced with him.

And then there was Weiss.

Her father had become a bit less strict with her over the months since she'd joined, allowing her to visit Ruby and Yang's house to have fun every now and again. And during her last belt test when she'd brought him her broken board, he had even gone so far as to smile.

But he was still pushing her a bit with her first tournament coming up. Not many green belt students competed in all three fields of sparring, breaking, and forms in the tournament; most people tended to select only two, especially if they were below the rank of blue belts.

But Weiss was hellbent on proving herself to her father, and to herself, so she'd signed up to compete in all three.

They all trained hard, particularly in the final week.

And before Ruby knew it, it was time.

. . .

The tournament took place on a Saturday, and it was almost an hour drive to get there.

Ruby literally jumped out of her top bunk bed when her alarm went off at 6AM, and she landed on the floor with a thump before diving into Yang's bunk to shake her.

"Yang, let's go! Get up!"

Her sister moaned.

"Five more minutes..."

"No way! This is our first tournament ever, you dummy! Do you wanna be late?"

With another groan, Yang pushed herself up and stretched, cracking her back, neck, and shoulders. Ruby zipped into the bathroom to change into her uniform and tie on her belt. She grabbed her three boards of breaking wood that Ozpin had given her a few days ago; each competitor was responsible for bringing their own boards to the tournament with them.

In under half an hour, the entire Rose-Xiao Long family was awake and ready to go.

Their father and mother sat in the front seats of the car as Yang and Ruby piled into the back excitedly. They stopped by Blake's house, and the Faunus family got into their car and followed them to their destination.

They stopped once to buy bagels and coffee for breakfast and ate as they were driven.

The sun was just rising as they drove down the highway, dyeing the sky in yellows and pinks. Yang dozed a bit in the car, but Ruby was far too excited for that.

When at last they reached the designated building of the convention center, Ruby's jaw dropped.

The parking lot was already filled with cars, and all around there were people wearing uniforms similar to hers. Her own school had a tiger design on the back, but some schools had a dragon or various symbols or flags. Some uniforms had black collars and some had white, some belts had stripes and some had tapes. Each school was clearly marked and different from the next.

Just in the parking lot alone, Ruby saw so much diversity in the art styles of taekwondo.

They found a spot to park, and once Blake's family had as well, Ruby and Yang raced over to her car. Blake hopped out, dressed in her full white uniform, her golden eyes bright, though slightly tired. Ruby threw her arms around the older girl excitedly.

"We're here!" she sang. "Our very first tournament! This is gonna be soooo much fun!"

Blake chuckled and patted the girl's back.

"It's good to see you've got so much energy so early in the morning."

"Of course I do! Today's tournament day!" She released Blake, and Yang moved in for the next hug.

The girls all grabbed their breaking boards, and Yang slung her sparring bag over her shoulder.

Together, the two families started off toward the main building.

In the front lobby, they gave their names and school, and were directed to a certain table. The three girls were handed name tags that listed their individual belt rank, weight, and which sections they would be competing in.

Ruby's and Blake's tags had form and breaking checked off, while Yang's had breaking and sparring. Had she decided to compete in forms as well, she likely would have had to compete against Blake, since they were the same age and belt rank. Yang would have much rather tried her luck at sparring than face the Faunus girl in her best field.

They slipped on their name tags and entered the auditorium.

The ceiling was easily two hundred feet high, with bright lights shining down all around. Before them, the hard floor had been covered with portable red and blue mats, which had been spread out into ten rings. Each group of competitors would be competing in one of these rings, run by different schools and their staff.

Ozpin's school had their own table. The masters themselves weren't allowed to participate directly and were present more so for overseeing things and resolving issues rather than scoring competitors.

But Glynda, Peter, and Bartholomew were all working together to run one ring, and the instructors and volunteers of other schools ran different rings.

As they walked toward the bleachers to find a place to sit for now, Ruby recognized that some of her classmates had already arrived.

The red belts were all here already, and so was Weiss. Like many other students were, she was practicing her form by herself on the open space of the wooden floor – once the tournament officially began, they'd be called into the rings to compete.

As soon as she saw her friend, Ruby raced over to Weiss, her sneakers squeaking to a stop on the polished floor.

"Weiss!" she called, throwing her arms around the girl.

Weiss had been in the middle of the form when she was plowed into, but she quickly found her balance and managed to return the zealous embrace.

"Ruby! You dunce... good morning."

"Morniiiiing!" she sang. "We're here, Weiss, we're really, really here! We're at the tournameeeent!"

"I'm well aware," she chuckled.

Blake and Yang made their way over to the pair as their parents got seats on the bleachers.

"Morning!" Yang grinned to Weiss. "Geez, you're here early. What time did you get here?"

"Six forty-five."

"What?!" Yang shrieked.

"God..." Blake winced. "What time did you wake up?"

"About five thirty."

"Oh my god, Weiss!" Ruby shrieked. "How did you do that? Even for tournament day, that's waaay too early! Did you at least eat breakfast?"

"Of course I did," Weiss replied. "My father merely wanted to ensure I was here early and had some extra time to practice before things got started."

The other three shared glances with one another.

"Welp," Yang said. "Now we're all here together! So let's practice our stuff!"

They removed their shoes and socks, leaving their breaking boards and sparring bags with their parents on the bleachers.

The four girls practiced their forms together, and their upperclassmen came by to give them a few last-minute pointers.

"Remember," Velvet told them. "If you get called up to do your form more than once, that's a good thing! It means you won against your first opponent and you're competing against another winner. So you've at least got second place already!"

"And," Coco added. "Make sure you check all of your board holders first before you start kickin'. You should break all three boards right in a row without having to stop in between. Also, try not to be so nervous, okay? Even if you don't get gold or silver, it's not the end of the world. This is only you guys' first tournament, so there's always room for improvement next year."

With wishes of good luck exchanged between the groups, the red belts headed off toward their school's ring to greet the instructors.

Ruby and the others continued stretching and practicing for a while longer, greeting their fellow students as they arrived.

Pyrrha walked in with Jaune stumbling behind her, clearly overwhelmed by everything. Nora was skipping and bounding joyfully alongside Ren's calmer pace. Sun and Neptune arrived together as well, and before long all of Ozpin's students were present.

There were about two dozen other schools present as well, and hundreds of other students. Combined with the families and friends tagging along, the large, spacious room was filled within an hour.

Ruby and the others stopped by Ozpin's table and said hello to their instructors. There was only a small fraction of a chance that they would end up in this ring for their individual competitions, so their mentors made sure to wish them all good luck now.

"Now remember," Glynda told the four girls. "The tournament goes in order of belt ranks. So the lowest ranks will be going first, followed by higher ranks. You girls should be called to prepare for your competitions fairly early on in the day. Be sure to listen for the announcements."

"Yes, ma'am!" Yang said. "Got it!"

"Best of luck to all of you. Do your best," the Head Instructor replied.

Ozpin wasn't at the table, and Ruby assumed he was walking about or conversing with other schools' masters, overseeing the tournament as a whole.

The four girls went back to the bleachers area and found their fellows, who were reviewing their things a few more times before the competition began.

Pyrrha went around to each and every person from her school and wished them best of luck, going so far as to hug all of the girls.

"Everyone just do your best!" she said. "Let's have a grand time today!"

"Yeah!" they cheered in unison.

At last, the din of the congested room was overpowered by a greater sound. The loudspeakers came on to start giving announcements.

They asked for all students yellow belt to blue belt from ages 9 to 12 to gather in a specific waiting area so they may be called out and brought to their respective rings.

Presently, only younger students were being called, so Ruby and her friends didn't budge. Though they did all share glances with one another, and it was quite obvious that they were anxious and more or less wanted to be called as soon as possible.

"Hey," Yang said. "How about we all have a drink, guys? We're gonna need it."

She ushered them over to the bleachers and called out to her father. He reached into a small bag they'd brought along and extracted four water bottles, handing them to Yang one by one.

Each girl thanked him before taking a drink. Ruby was parched, and she hadn't realized it until now, so she started to chug until Weiss tapped her shoulder to make her stop.

"Don't guzzle it down like that, you dunce," she scolded. "Do you want to give yourself cramps during the tournament?"

Sheepishly, Ruby put the bottle down.

Before long, groups of younger students were being brought onto the rings to start competing. Ruby and the others observed them from the edges of the rings, seeing how the competitors were partnered up based on age, belt rank, and sex, then seeing how they were judged for forms and breaking.

A pair of students – both from different schools, one labeled as red and the other as blue – would compete simultaneously for their forms. Three judges would then select either red or blue to determine who was the undisputed winner. This process would repeat until all of the students in a particular group had participated.

Then, the group would move onto breaking techniques. Each person would perform all of their breaks in a row, and the judges would then score them with number sheets where they could flip the pages. Judges increased or decreased a person's score based on how accurate they were in their kicking, whether they broke the boards on their first try, and how powerful they were.

Ruby gathered all of this information, making sure to remember it for when she would be called up to compete.

It was only about ten minutes later when the fourteen-year-old orange belt girls were being called to the waiting area for preparation.

With a squeak of nervousness, Ruby ran to grab her three breaking boards from her mother who kissed her and wished her luck. Ruby hugged both of her parents before hopping nervously off the bleachers.

"Ahhh, th-they said I should go to the waiting area. Wh-Where's that?" she fretted.

"Chill, baby sis!" Yang said, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"That way," Blake nudged the girl. "Through those doors. You'll find it."

"O-Okay..." Ruby mumbled. Her heart was starting to pound, and the others could see just how nervous she was.

Yang gave her sister a big hug, and then released her so Blake could embrace her as well, softer and a bit more calming. But still, Ruby was shaking.

When the Faunus girl released her, golden eyes flashed expectantly up at Weiss. The white-haired girl gave a small sigh, but smiled a bit as she walked up to Ruby.

"Ruby," she said, turning the girl around tot face her. "You're going to be fine. Don't let your nerves get the better of you. This is our first time at the tournament, too. We're all scared. You're not alone with that."

Weiss opened her arms invitingly. Ruby blinked, a little shocked at the silent offer, but she hurried those few steps forward and hugged Weiss tightly, feeling gentle arms fall around her back.

"Thanks, Weiss," she mumbled into her shoulder. At last, Ruby stepped back and turned to face the others as well. "Thanks, you guys. I'm gonna go do my best!"

With this triumphant declaration, she started marching off toward the doors Blake had pointed towards. They led to a small, enclosed room, which was very quiet compared to outside.

There were about fifteen other girls in her age group and belt rank gathered there, and as she waited to be brought out to the ring with the rest of them, Ruby tried to remember all of the advice her instructors and upperclassmen had told her.

She jolted when she felt a sudden tap on her shoulder.

"Heya! I'm here too!" Nora beamed at her.

"Ahhhh, Nora!" Ruby hugged her friend vigorously. "I forgot you'd be with me! I'm so glad!"

They stretched themselves out a bit, and Ruby offered a few timid, but excited 'hi's to a few of the other girls. Some of them ignored her, but a few of them smiled back and wished her luck.

After a few more minutes, an adult came by to lead them to their ring. All of the girls picked up their boards and followed along.

They were led to a ring run by a school Ruby didn't know.

At first, she'd wished it had been her own school's ring, but she later realized she wanted to be judged by people who didn't know her personally. This was for the better.

The girls all sat down on the sides of the ring as name cards were collected and given to the head table. Information was scribbled down onto paper Ruby couldn't see, until at last, the referee started calling up names.

Ruby wasn't in the first pair competing for her form, so she sat back and watched the other two. She judged for herself which one she thought had the better technique, louder voice, and most powerful blocks. The judges ended up selecting the same person for the winner as Ruby had.

The next pair of girls went up, and then the next, and Ruby started to grow anxious.

With the next pair, Nora was called up in the 'red' spot, and Ruby watched her friend eagerly. But in the end, two of the judges held up the blue card, and Ruby knew Nora had lost. Even so, she was proud of her friend.

Finally, Ruby's name was called and she replied with a loud, "Yes, sir!" as she stood and walked to the center of the ring. She remembered to bow to the head table and to the judges before stepping into her ready position.

Don't worry about your opponent, she reminded herself. Even if we're doing the same form, I don't have to keep pace with her. I go at my own pace.

The command to begin was given by the referee, and Ruby didn't hesitate for a second. She started right away, going over all of the motions just as Blake had always trained her to before class, and Weiss had helped her with during.

She put as much power and force behind each motion as she could, aiming high above her head for the few kicks and yelling loudest of all on her final motion. Once she'd finished, she remained still until given the order to sit down.

The judges behind her gave their scores to the head table, and Ruby wouldn't know if she'd won until either herself or her partner was called up to compete against someone else.

She watched the other girls compete, then began to notice when some of the same people were being called up again. But she herself wasn't one of them.

Once the forms were finished, the referee called each girl up by name, lining them up into three lines. Everyone in Ruby's line – Nora included – had received third place.

Even though her first tournament medal ever was a bronze, Ruby was far from discouraged. She was still so excited and proud to receive it, shaking the referee's hand and thanking him and the judges profusely before sitting back down.

A glance to the bleachers showed her parents were waving at her, and also very proud.

But Yang and the others were nowhere to be seen, and so she assumed they had all been called to the waiting area to prepare themselves.

Glancing around the room now, Ruby caught sight of a few of her friends.

The orange belt boys were competing a few rings away, and she could see Jaune sitting on the edge of the ring waiting his turn. But Nora pointed out who was competing presently.

"This is Ren's third time going already! That means he's got at least second place right now!"

Ren was in a ring across the room, but they got a fairly clear view of him from where they sat. They watched as their friend finished his technique and was asked to kneel down. Ren was in the 'blue' spot, and all three judges held up their blue card.

Nora and Ruby both squealed in delight and hugged one another.

"He did it!" Nora cheered. "He got gold!"

They watched from afar as Ren was awarded a gold medal, and Jaune received bronze.

By that time, their own ring's referee was ready to begin breaking.

Ruby and Nora directed their attention back to the first girl competing in front of them. They watched three other girls perform, each getting scores around 7's, before Nora was called up.

She had the people holding her boards position them just as she'd trained. Nora focused on high jumping-kicks, and each board was held above her head-height. When she was ready, she bowed to the head table and judges before beginning.

In rapid succession, she performed a jumping front-snap, jumping roundhouse, and jumping ax kick, breaking all three boards on her first try as her yell echoed around the room.

Ruby saw she received all 8's and clapped excitedly for her friend.

When it was Ruby's turn, her techniques focused less on height and more on power. She performed a skipping side-kick, a back kick, and a power punch. She, too, managed to break all three boards on her first try.

After that, there was nothing left to do but wait.

Casting her gaze about, she spotted Weiss two rings over. She hadn't started competing yet and was merely kneeling respectfully at the side of the ring. Ruby sent her silent wishes of good luck.

At last, she, Nora, and the other orange belt girls were called up to receive their breaking medals. Ruby had to refrain from screaming for joy when she was given gold.

"We did it!" she sang to Nora. "We each got one gold!"

"Yeah!" Nora cheered. "We're gonna get Master Ozpin his trophy if it's the last thing we do!"

After one final bow, the orange belt girls were dismissed.

Nora ran over to watch Ren's group finish up, while Ruby headed instantly for Weiss' ring. She had missed her friend compete in her form, but when she looked closely, she could see a blue ribbon resting on top of Weiss' still-unbroken boards. That meant she'd gotten gold in her form.

Ruby congratulated her silently.

Pyrrha had also gotten gold by the looks of it.

Neptune and Sun were in the boy's green belt ring and were too far off to tell, but Ruby had faith they'd done well, too.

We can get Master Ozpin that trophy!

After a while, Pyrrha performed her breaking: a high jumping-roundhouse kick, a flying side-kick, and a reverse chop. She executed all of them flawlessly, and received the highest number score Ruby had seen yet today.

Then it was Weiss' turn. Her routine consisted of a high jumping front-snap kick, a double roundhouse kick, and a downward chop.

Ruby watched with crossed fingers as her friend bowed and began. Weiss gave a yell, breaking her first board easily and with perfect grace. But she missed the first board of her double roundhouse, only breaking the second. She quickly tried again and got it on the second try, but knew her score had suffered significantly now. The downward chop was successful, but in the end, she walked away with silver.

Pyrrha had received two golds, and Ruby was glad for both of them, but knew Weiss was probably beating herself up a thousand times over.

There was a break in the action as the girls who weren't sparring were permitted to leave. During that time, Ruby slipped closer to the ring and reached Weiss.

"Weiss! You did awesome!"

"Ruby?" The green belt girl smiled sadly. "Maybe you think so. But for me, that was just embarrassing."

"Hey, it's okay! You got silver! That's still amazing!" Ruby hugged her quickly. Weiss sighed but smiled, unable to feel upset when Ruby was like this towards her.

"How did you do?" she wondered.

"I got a bronze in form and a gold in breaking! And so did Nora! And we saw Ren get a gold in forms, too!"

"That's very good," Weiss said. "I just worry about that noodle boy..."

"I'm sure Jaune'll luck out!"

"I hope so," Weiss chuckled. "But you should go now. I need to get ready for my sparring match."

Pyrrha walked over to them then with a grin.

"I'll help you with your gear!" she offered.

Ruby left them for now, deciding to seek out Yang and Blake in the meantime. She spotted them in the next ring over.

Blake was just finishing her form. Ruby saw the precision and power of her blocks even from this distance. The judges all held up the blue card for her, making her the undisputed victor.

Yang wasn't competing in form; if she had, she likely only would have gotten silver at best.

Blake received her gold medal, and then the breaking began.

From where she stood, Ruby heard Yang's energetic shouts as she shattered all of her boards, and she could see the judges' eyes widen, impressed. She received gold, and Blake got silver.

Weiss' sparring match should have started by then, but there were a lot of other girls sparring in her ring as well, and Weiss was set for the final match.

So Ruby darted over to Yang's ring to watch her spar in the meantime.

Dressed in her bulky gear, her long hair swaying in its ponytail, Yang looked pretty intimidating.

Her opponent, however...

Her opponent was at least five inches shorter and remarkably petite. The gear was huge on her, and she looked as though she might get bowled over by a gust of wind. Her hair was a swirling mix of brown and pink in its ponytail, her eyes equally as peculiar.

Ruby met her sister's puzzled gaze. Yang didn't want to be rude, but she asked the head table if this girl was really supposed to be her opponent. She clearly weighed less than Yang did, which put her at a huge disadvantage in sparring.

But the judges assured her that it was permissible.

So Yang followed the referee's commands and took up her position in the center of the ring, across form her smirking opponent. The two girls were wearing all of the proper gear aside from the helmets; in this tournament, kicks to the neck or face were prohibited.

They bowed to one another, long ponytails falling down over their shoulders before they straightened up and took up their fighting stances.

Ruby could see the other girl's uniform now; Yang's opponent was from Cinder's school.

Blake moved up beside Ruby and watched the match commence.

Right away, Yang yelled and threw a kick, but her opponent dodged easily. Yang's countenance was firm and serious; she wasn't about to judge this girl based on her size alone.

The girl dodged another of her kicks before spinning like a ballerina, aiming a rapid-fire round of double kicks and back kicks at Yang. She was so fast the blonde hardly had the time to react. She managed to block a few of the blows, but she heard the point-giving thud against her gear at least three times.

With a growl, Yang kicked again, but her adversary kept dodging, gliding around her hits like a breeze, the smirk never leaving her face all the while.

"Whoa..." Ruby mumbled. "That girl's so good."

"Almost too good..." Blake agreed. "If it was possible to cheat in sparring, I'd say she was doing it. But she's just... really good."

By the time the first round had ended, Yang hadn't scored a single point. Blake ran to grab her a bottle of water and handed it to her friend.

"The hell is that girl?" Yang snorted. "She doesn't even yell when she kicks. She's just... silent. It's weird!"

"I don't know..." Blake said. "Just do your best."

"Yeah..."

Yang already knew she wasn't going to win this, but she'd at least hoped to score a single point on this girl – Neo, as the ref called her.

But at the end of the final round, Yang hadn't scored any points at all, and her opponent had a total of nine. Yang received her bronze metal and Neo smugly took her gold before shedding her gear and scampering off.

Ruby helped untie her sister's gear and Blake helped remove her arm and leg guards. Once she was free of her gear and had put it back into her bag, Yang sighed and slumped into Blake's arms.

"I'm beat... literally."

"It's okay. You'll win next year."

"Yeah!" Ruby said, squeezing her sister from behind. "You still did awesome, Yang! And you got gold in breaking!"

"Yeah... that's true..." Yang straightened up, and for the first time looked to the medals hanging around her sister's neck. "Bronze and gold! Way to go, sis!"

"Thanks!"

"Oh." Blake's ears perked up. "Weiss' match is starting. Let's go."

They hurried back to Weiss' ring. Her gear was flipped to the blue side and her opponent wore red.

The referee called Weiss' name and then the other girl – Emerald. She had tan skin and long, moss-colored hair that was tied in a low ponytail. Judging by her uniform, she was from the same school as Neo – Cinder's school.

Weiss knew as much, and she was determined to give this girl a run for her money.

They bowed to one another, then got into their kicking stances. The ref shouted for them to begin.

Instantly, Weiss threw a roundhouse kick, successfully catching her opponent off-guard. She followed up with a punch to push her back, and then two consecutive kicks. Emerald hissed and dodged the last of them, but Weiss had scored a point.

Talking wasn't permitted for the fighters during a match, but Weiss could hear everything this girl wanted to say simply by look at her irked expression.

But Weiss wasn't about to let herself get cocky; this was only the start of the first round.

She dodged a tornado kick, but Emerald scored some points with swift skipping-kicks. Weiss tied the match with another flurry of side-steps and push-kicks.

By the end of the first match, they were evenly scored.

"You can do it, Weiss!" Ruby cheered excitedly.

"Keep it up!" Blake called.

"You got this!" Yang added.

Pyrrha had joined them to watch as well, also calling encouragement to her friend. Their school's purple and red belts were presently competing, but the other orange belts came to watch Weiss' match as well.

The second round commenced, and the ref confirmed they were indeed tied.

Ruby tried to keep her eyes on Weiss, but she looked up when she noticed an unfamiliar woman standing on the other side of the ring. She was dressed in a black suit, her ashen hair covering one shoulder and one half of her face. Only the masters were dressed so formally at this event.

Ruby instantly knew this woman was Cinder. She felt a shiver go up her spine. The woman's red lips were curved into a wicked smile, her eyes trained on Emerald.

Weiss scored another point with a roundhouse kick, and her classmates cheered for her.

But Ruby's cheer was cut short when she noticed Cinder's smile turn to a frown. Her eyes narrowed as she met Emerald's gaze. There seemed to be something communicated between them in that instant.

Ruby saw the green-haired girl nod ever so slightly to her master.

Then, Ruby's excited cheers for Weiss abruptly cut off.

Horror seized her and made her stomach clench as she watched Emerald jump suddenly, spinning in midair. She performed a tornado kick, but she didn't aim at Weiss' chest piece.

Instead, her foot slammed into the side of Weiss' head full-force.

Weiss yelped in pain as she lost her footing, her ankle twisting as she stumbled beneath the force of the dizzying hit.

But even after the ref had instantly shouted to stop the match, Emerald kicked Weiss again to shove her forward.

Weiss crashed into the judges' table, and all of the adults shot up from their seats in alarm. They had to physically restrain Emerald to prevent her from attacking further.

Horrified gasps and shouts went up all around.

"Oh my god!"

"She's not allowed to do that!"

"That was an illegal hit! And it was intentional!"

But Ruby hardly heard her friends' and sister's outraged cries. Her heart was pounding as she raced into the ring, collapsing onto her knees at Weiss' side even before the adults could reach her.

"Weiss! Weiss?!" she screamed.

Her friend was lying on her side, dangerously short of breath, her cheeks streaked with tears. Blood trickled from her nose and was staining the collar of her white uniform.

Ruby made quick work of untying her chest piece and tossing it away, allowing Weiss to breathe a bit easier.

There was chaos all around as masters rushed into the ring, and someone was calling for medical assistance.

Blake and Yang had pushed their way in beside Ruby. The Faunus girl pulled Weiss' leg gear off and Yang tended to her arms. Ruby cradled Weiss' head in her lap, her own eyes already overflowing with terrified tears. She used her sleeve to wipe a bit of the blood away from Weiss' face.

"Weiss? W-Weiss, can you hear me?"

The girl only moaned, her breath short and labored in between little sobs of pain.

Ruby could hear the arguments erupting behind her, the adults shouting about how Emerald's hit had been deliberate and illegal. Ruby could only hunch forward and cry into Weiss' shoulder, her fingers clinging weakly to her friend's uniform.

"Weiss... Weiss..."

Yang and Blake hovered over them as well, and Pyrrha and the others flagged down Ozpin from across the room.

Yang had unstrapped one of Weiss' arm guards and put it aside, but the second she lifted the girl's left arm, Weiss shrieked in pain. Ruby gasped and clung tighter to her friend to prevent her from moving too much and injuring herself further. Yang hissed a curse.

"Shit... I think her arm's broken..."

"Oh, god..." Ruby sniffled. "Weiss...? Can you hear me?"

"Give her a minute," Blake murmured in contrast to the yelling above them. "She's badly winded. She can't breathe well."

Ruby continued holding Weiss' head and shoulders in her lap as Blake and Yang waited impatiently for the medics to arrive. Their parents had flocked there as well amongst the rest of the crowd.

Ruby just wished everyone would go argue somewhere else. Her friend was hurt and needed help right now.

At last, a team of medics pushed their way through and had Ruby and the others leave Weiss. They moved her onto a stretcher and rushed her away within minutes.

Ruby watched until they were out of sight before she crumpled into Yang's arms.

"Why..." she sobbed. "Why did that girl do that?"

"I don't know, Ruby," Yang sighed, petting her sister's hair. "I don't know..."

She and Blake helped Ruby to her feet, and together they all stumbled over to their waiting and concerned parents. Weiss' father had followed the medics out.

For about an hour, Weiss' friends sat solemnly on the bleachers, unable to even be happy about their medals and accomplishments here today.

Cinder had argued with Ozpin that Emerald's hit had been an accident, but thankfully, no one was believing her. Emerald had struck above the shoulders and added an additional kick to the chest even after the ref had officially made the call to stop the match.

In the end, the grandmasters agreed that Emerald would forfeit the match and receive no medal, and Cinder and her students slunk away after a long and furious lecture from the other masters. They all disappeared not long afterward, abandoning their ring without a word and causing all sorts of problems for the remaining schools and judges.

Ozpin had gone along with the medics, while Glynda and the other instructors returned to their ring to continue their work.

Presently, Ruby was sitting on the bleachers in between Yang and Blake, their arms around her back and stomach as she rested her head on one's shoulder, and then the other's.

Their friends were sitting on the rows above them. Neptune and Sun were uncharacteristically silent, the latter's tail drooping and limp. Pyrrha was sighing repeatedly, worry prominent in her eyes, and even Nora was silent, along with Jaune and Ren.

The higher belts had finished competing, but had easily caught wind of what had happened. They were still mumbling angrily to one another about how Cinder's school had done it again. Only this year, they hadn't simply stolen a trophy; they'd hurt one of Ozpin's students, one of their precious underclassmen.

Ruby had her eyes closed, her tears having dried half an hour ago, but she was still feeling hollow inside. It was then she felt Blake stir beside her, patting her back gently.

"Hey, look."

Ruby opened her eyes and followed Blake's gaze.

Ozpin had reentered the main room with Weiss' father looking glum at his side as they spoke together. Then, a small figure dressed in white appeared behind them.

Her long hair was down now, released from its ponytail, and her belt had been removed as not to constrict her stomach. The blood had been cleaned from her face, though there were still traces of it on her uniform. Her left arm was in a blue sling, and her eyes were downcast.

But that didn't stop Ruby and the others from jumping up and crying out in relief.

Ruby was faster than the rest of them, and she dashed barefoot across the floor, slipping in between Ozpin and Weiss' father to get to her friend.

"Weiss!" she cried, screeching to a halt in front of her. Ruby was already crying again as she ever-so-gently wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulders, being sure to avoid her broken arm.

Ruby felt her jolt, and when Weiss spoke, her voice was tired and heavy with surprise.

"Ruby...?"

"Yeah..." she nodded. "It's me, Weiss. Here, come sit down."

She kept an arm on her friend's back and led her to the bleachers where the rest of them were waiting, their eyes sparked in concern and lips curling up into anxious smiles at the sight of their friend.

They all slid closer to Weiss and Ruby, close enough to hear her speak, but made sure to give her some space.

"Are you alright?"

"How's your arm?"

"What did your father say?"

Ruby kept her arms loosely around Weiss, pressing herself to her friend's uninjured side and keeping close to her. She was just glad Weiss hadn't needed to go to the hospital.

But she could feel Weiss sigh weakly, her voice low and tired.

"My father wants me to quit..."

"What?"

"No!"

"You can't!"

Ruby joined in with the protests, but Weiss quickly went on.

"But Master Ozpin convinced him otherwise. He wants me to keep going with this, and after some persuasion, my father agreed."

Her friends released a collective sigh of relief. They took turns explaining to her how Emerald had been denied the medal and Cinder had disappeared with the rest of her school. But more than anything, they all told Weiss how happy they were that she was alright.

"Thank you," she said softly. "My arm won't be better for over a month. I won't really be able to take classes. I might miss my next belt test..." she sighed. "I'll have to take a break for a while... but I'm glad my father isn't making me quit."

"Us, too," Blake said from beside her.

"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "It'd never be the same without you!"

"We love you, Weiss!" Ruby said, hugging her again.

Weiss felt her heart skip a beat as they all proclaimed similar things to her. Never before had she ever felt so accepted, so warm.

She thanked them all again, though Ruby didn't allow anyone else to hug her, so Weiss simply returned the embrace with her good arm.

The heavy atmosphere that had fallen upon them gradually began to dissipate now that they all knew Weiss was going to be fine.

For the last hour or so of the tournament, they all wandered about and observed the other competitors in their rings.

At the end of the day, the students said goodbye to Ozpin and their instructors before heading home. And just to celebrate a bit, Ruby had her parents make plans with Blake's family and Weiss' father.

They all stopped at a restaurant on the way home for dinner. The four girls stayed together at one table, giggling and reminiscing on the better parts of the tournament.

Weiss' dominant hand was unusable, so the others helped her a bit, cutting up her food or steadying her right arm for her.

The adults seemed to be enjoying themselves as well – Ruby even saw Weiss' father smile a few times.

Once they finished up, they all headed out into the parking lot together, and the four girls slipped themselves into a group hug, Weiss cradled gently at the center.

"I won't be able to take classes for a while," she said. "But I'll still come by to watch the rest of you."

"Yeah!" Yang grinned. "And you can come over to our house any time!"

"Feel better," Blake murmured. "We'll be looking forward to when you can come back to train with us again."

"You deserve a break, Weiss!" Ruby said. "You're always working so hard, so just take it easy for now!"

"...Only because you all asked," Weiss smiled.

They wished one another goodnight, and parted ways to their respective family cars.

Thus, they reached another milestone in their journey, taking all of the memories – good, bad, and everything in between – along with them.

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A/N: A bit dramatic, I know. But believe it or not, things like that really do happen at tournaments. I've judged and refereed several over the years, and I was surprised at the gall some schools and students have. My own school actually won a trophy once and had it stolen by another school, hence the mention in the fic of Cinder stealing Ozpin's trophy.

Some people really do cheat in sparring matches too, and I've seen the medics get called in plenty of times before. But for the most part, tournaments are about technique and learning other schools' styles by observing the competition (and making friends!). It was a lot to try and squeeze into one chapter, but there's a lot to a tournament. A lot.

Chapter titles explained! The first chapter was "The First Step", which is the beginning of the belt meaning for my own school's white belts. Chapter two "Planting The Seed" is for yellow belts, and symbolizes the beginning of the journey (of taekwondo). This chapter, "The Enrichment Of Summer" is the green belt meaning, so about midway through the journey/belt ranks.

See you next week!