Hi everyone! I'm Neb and this is my first fic, I suck at writing and trying to get things across and I'm hoping that this will help and I'll get better, so anyways any and all criticisms will be taken into account in proceeding chapters (If it goes farther than this chapter). So before we start I just want to state that I don't own RWBY or any of its characters, they pertain to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.

So before we start, this is an AU where Cinder and Co. aren't antagonists, and are just regular Haven Students in Beacon.

ON WITH THE FIC!

Chapter 1 – Bruises and Broken Bones

Jaune wasn't the best fighter in Beacon, hell he wasn't even on half the level that most of his classmates where at to begin with, but he did have heart. He never backed down until it was over, and that was an admirable feat that many of his friends loved, though it did get him into trouble more often than not, and this wasn't going to be an exception. Everyone had Goodwitch's class today and that meant sparring for whoever she picked. Jaune took his seat next to his team members and gave a smile to team RWBY sitting a couple of rows away.

The elegant professor took her place in the middle of the classroom's battlefield and cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Instead of one-on-one duels today we will be doing two-on-two's, I will decide the pairs, let's begin."

"First, Mr. Winchester you will be paired with..." A certain blonde male held his breath hoping that he wouldn't be paired with the brainless brute.

"Emerald Sustrai, both of you please prepare for battle and report back to this room." The blonde released his breath and smiled sheepishly at his teammates.

"Next is Cinder Fall, you're partner is..." Every male head turned to look at the beauty that was Cinder Fall, she was a student from Haven who were in Beacon because of the upcoming Vytal Festival but in the short time she was here she had enthralled almost every male student at Beacon. They all looked at her like Ursai look at Red Sap, all hoping that they would be chosen to be her battle partner, but she paid no mind to them. She waited to see which one of these lust-filled boys would be paired up with her.

"Jaune Arc, please ready yourselves for battle and return to the room." The entire male population let out a collective sigh of defeat, how out of all the strong people in class she gets paired with the loser that is Jaune Arc? It must have been Monty punishing them for what they've done in a past life. They let it go and just waited for Jaune to get his ass handed to him by Cardin.

In the locker room

"Hey Cin, sorry you got paired up with Jaune." Emerald had a sense of pity in her voice, not for her teammate but for the blond goof who would definitely receive a swift beating.

"It's nothing, You know me, I'll make it work." Cinder responded to her teammate, hoping that the blond wouldn't drag her down too much. She turned to leave back to the classroom.

"Oh and Emerald?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not holding back, so I don't expect you to either." Cinder smirked at her teammate, always a feel of rivalry between the two.

"You know me, I don't know how to hold back." Emerald returned the smirk, a glint of fire in her eyes.

Back in the classroom

Jaune smiled at Cinder as she walked towards his side of the battlefield. Jaune's interactions with her had been minimal throughout the while she's been at Beacon, a simple "Hi", "Bye" and a few "How are you?"s had been exchanged between the two, but never evolving into a deeper conversation. She stood beside him and asked, "Can you handle the brute long enough for me to get rid of his teammate?"

"I can try my best, but no promises."

"It's better than nothing." They both looked at their opponents, ready to begin the battle.

Ms. Goodwitch looked at both sides.

"The rules are as follows: The match will be over when both teammates' auras dip below 10% there will be no cheap shots allowed, meaning no gauging of the eyes or blows to, ahem. Lower areas."

She stared at Cardin for the last part, knowing the boy wasn't the cleanest of fighters.

"Ready? Begin!"

Cardin charged at Jaune hoping that he would make quick work of him, he swung his mace aiming straight at Jaune's chest but the blond moved out of the way before he could get hit. He bashed Cardin with his shield and immediately took a step back to put distance between himself and the mace-wielder. Cardin turned and gave the boy a venomous glare.

"You're gonna regret doing that."

On the other side of the arena Cinder focused on sending fireballs at Emerald, preventing her from using her kusarigama and forcing her to use her pistols. Cinder was being evenly matched, but that was to be expected. They trained and lived together, so they each knew the other one's fighting style very intimately. What threw Cinder off was a blur of blond hair flying across her peripheral vision, she threw one more fireball towards Emerald before turning her eyes to check the screen for everyone's aura levels.

Cardin Winchester – 24%

Emerald Sustrai – 48%

Cinder Fall - 53%

Jaune Arc – 12%

The sight made her cringe, she turned back and dodged more bullets from Emerald before seeing the blond try to stand only to be impeded by Cardin's foot. The boy raised his mace, and finished the blond mess off dropping him to 10%. Jaune's body dropped like a sack of potatoes, the sight made even Cinder feel pity for the boy. Cinder sidestepped a little bit and hit Emerald straight on with one of her fireballs. She took the moment to charge at her and engage, but she felt she forgot something. She looked at Jaune, Cardin was nowhere near him, she had dropped her guard and felt the brutish boy grunt behind her. She closed her eyes and readied herself for the blow from the brute and the blades from Emerald's weapon, she wasn't sure if her aura would block the entirety of the damage, but she hoped. What happened next all passed in slow motion for Cinder, she felt the cold ground of the battlefield meet her back forcefully, she heard the collective gasp of everyone in the classroom, then she heard the screams, students were shocked, and she heard Goodwitch call the fight off completely, she tapped her scroll furiously and yelled something along the lines of "WE HAVE SEVERE TRAUMA, MEDICAL ASSISSTANCE REQUIRED ASAP."

Cinder was confused, she didn't know why everyone was screaming, that's when she lifted herself to see Jaune, or what was left of Jaune. Cardin's mace had dug itself in his side, and Emerald's kusarigama had pierced his two shoulders. They all stood in shock, Jaune's aura had completely shattered and left him open to physical injury, Cardin withdrew his mace and Emerald removed her blades. Jaune's body dropped, and everyone ran to his side.

Emerald and Cardin didn't know what to say, their eyes had gone completely wide and they dropped their weapons, they tried to stutter out a sorry but their voices didn't come out. Cinder crawled to his side, and in his last moments of consciousness he asked her.

"Are you ok?"

She nodded and with that, his head dropped and the blood began to pool around his body.

In the next moments the medical staff arrived and were rendered speechless by the sight of the boy, they moved him to a stretcher, making sure to keep their movements rapid in order to try and save the boys life. Once he was transported into the Emergency sector of the medical facility, team RWBY, Cinder, Emerald, Cardin, and what remained of JNPR were forced to wait outside until the doctor came to them. The doctor stated his injuries, including a mess of broken ribs, and some internal bleeding, but he had made it through, he was asleep now but they could remain by his bedside if they so wish. They all visited, and Cardin and Emerald were the first to leave, nobody blamed them for what happened to Jaune, he did this out of his own volition, it was just like him, but this time he may have taken it too far. Next was team RWBY, they all needed their rest but left him balloons and the like before they left. Finally albeit begrudgingly was Pyrrha and the rest of JNPR, she wanted to stay with him the entire night, and wanted to be there when he woke up. Ren had convinced her otherwise however, and she left after hugging Jaune.

Cinder was the last one left in the room, she looked at the sleeping form beside her, she wasn't one for sappy emotions but she wondered why the boy who she barely knew had risked his own life to save her from being the one in this position. She was more shocked when he asked her if she was alright before passing out, was he really that concerned? Why? All the questions in her head went unanswered as sleep slowly claimed her mind, she laid her head down on Jaune's bed and drifted off into sleep.