Welcome, dear RWBY fanfiction readers, to Stark Saviors. After my failed attempt to write a RWBY story during the summer, where I lost any interest in the idea not long after getting started, this one resonates far more with me, so I told myself I'd stick with this one, no matter how long it took to get anywhere. Though I'm sure you don't wanna hear anymore, so intead, let's gets on with story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

Chapter 1

He jumped backwards as the large sword struck the ground where he had stood a second ago. He aimed a kick for the hands holding the sword, but his opponent pulled back before he could land it.

"Not bad, but not good enough," Qrow noted, holding his sword at the ready as he waited for him to move again. "Your defence is strong, but show me that you can actually fight someone."

Jaune didn't hesitate as he moved in, feinting a two handed strike from the right before he swept his left leg at Qrow's feet. The man jumped slightly, which was what Jaune had hoped for, bringing his sword down on his opponent's shoulder. Before Qrow could anything, looking rather surprised, he dragged Crocea Mors across his chest.

"Go Jaune!" Ruby cheered happily, Qrow stumbling back a little. He chuckled as he watched Jaune.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to cheer for your family?" Qrow asked, his grin gone as he glared at Ruby, who continued to smile. "Whatever. That move wasn't so bad. You're not the fastest, so finding any opportunity to strike is the way to go."

Jaune took the praise in stride, rubbing the back of his head. He knew that Qrow was holding back, since anything else would just end in an embarrassing loss for him.

"Thanks." he said, wondering if training was done. He was proven wrong quickly as Qrow switched his weapon into its gun form and fired a bullet at him, that he easily blocked with his shield.

"So long you're fighting together with someone, you'll be fine with the way you are. Having someone be able to take hits makes any fighting easier, so focus on that." Qrow explained, rushing in a moment later.

"I think Jaune's doing really well," Jaune heard Nora say to Ren, Ruby and Oscar, who were all watching his training, clearly impressed. "Our fearless leader is both fearless and awesome!"

He noticed how Qrow wore a small smile, obviously also listening in to the ongoing conversation. That didn't mean he was any less fierce in a fight, as Jaune barely ducked under a swing that was meant for his head.

"I like my head where it is, thank you very much!" Jaune cried out, attempting to bash his shield into Qrow's face with so little distance between them. The man simply side stepped the attempt, turning Jaune's momentum against him as he made him trip. He could see Qrow already lift his foot before he even hit the ground, so he quickly pulled up his shield as he felt his opponent leg smash against his shield and press him against the ground.

"You look good, lying on the ground like that. Wanna give up?" Ruby booed at Qrow's taunt, but he said nothing as he grinned at him.

"Not happening!" Jaune exclaimed, putting every ounce of his strength in pushing Qrow away. He succeeded, Qrow forced to let up in order to not lose his balance. Already back on his feet, they started circling each other.

"If someone had told you'd improve this much in such a short time, I'd laughed at them. Seems like Ozpin can still see potential as easily as ever." Qrow noted, slowly approaching him. Jaune mirrored him, and once they were close enough they engaged in combat once again. They swung, struck and stabbed with their swords, trying to get a good hit in on the other. What he lacked in speed, he tried to make up for with in raw strength. Between his shield, armor and Aura, taking a hit, or even a number of them was not a big issue. Much to his surprise, after his last swing, Qrow needed to block bullets.

"Ren?" Jaune questioned, glancing as his friend sided up to him on his right, noticing that he was looking to their left. Glancing in the other direction, he saw his other teammate standing at the ready with Magnhild. "Nora?"

"He said you were better when fighting with others, right? Let's show what we're capable of!" Nora declared, spreading her legs apart as she prepared herself for a fight.

"Now, I feel like you three taking me on is a little unfair," Qrow said, though there was denying the grin on his face. "But, if all of you wanna eat dirt, be my guests!"

Ren opened fired with Stormflower, Jaune leading the charge as Nora was right behind him. He met Qrow's blade with his shield, swinging Crocea Mors at the same time. Qrow moved back, jumping over Nora's attempted hit at his legs, spinning his sword as he deflected Ren's cover fire without any issues. It was obvious that Qrow was holding back less than when it was only the two of them, but he didn't doubt that he could beat all of them if he wanted.

"Nora, give him hell." Jaune ordered, grinning right alongside Nora as she transformed Magnhild into its grenade launcher form. At the same he placed Crocea Mors back into its sheath, activating the built in mechanic that would attach the shield to the sword. Not having wasted any time, Jaune was already on the move as Nora fired grenades at Qrow. Ren slid under a swing from Qrow, trying to strike at his knees. Using the distraction presented to him, Jaune swung his now heavier weapon at older man, who had delivered a kick at Ren to keep him away. He had clearly underestimated the force behind the swing, his defence not holding up, leaving him open to one of Nora's grenades. The explosion sent him flying, his body making a satisfying thud as it hit the ground. Thankfully they had moved their training to an open space outside, meaning Nora's grenades wouldn't destroy their temporary abode. More grenades followed, but Qrow recovered and cut any incoming grenade down.

"Oh, fearless leader, what do we do?!" Nora's question was more exaggerated than it needed to be, but Jaune entertained her nonetheless.

"We charge him, Nora," Jaune responded, sword pointed at Qrow. "Ren, try and pin him down."

With Nora at his side, they went right back into the fray. A swing of Magnhild was followed by a thrust from Crocea Mors, with the gunfire of Stormflower mixed in between. Jaune always tried to defend Nora, and give her most room to swing Magnhild around. Eventually they found themselves in a lock, Qrow pushing against their weapons with his. Jaune could see it in his eyes. The fight was over. He was quickly proven right as they were pushed back and disarmed rapidly, followed by Qrow levelling his weapon at Ren.

"Wanna try your luck?" the veteran huntsman asked with humor in his voice, clearly already knowing the answer.

"We yield." Jaune spoke for all of them, resigned to the outcome. Ren dropped his stance and put Stormflower away, Nora changing Magnhild back into its more compact form, and he himself unlocked Crocea Mors from the shield, returning it to its sheath and placing his sword in it.

"You three are definitely not bad together," Qrow noted, wiping some from his forehead. He was smiling at all of them. "Reminds me of a team I once knew."

It sounded like there was a story behind those words, but Jaune didn't ask, knowing by the tone that it wasn't a topic Qrow wanted to breach currently.

"How much longer are we gonna be training?" Ren asked, letting a happy Nora hang off his arm. "I know we have to get stronger, but we also have to do something."

Everyone could see that Qrow was pondering the question, Ruby looking expectantly at her uncle, while Oscar had appeared at her side.

"We'll be moving soon. I still gotta do something here, and you might as well spend that time training," Qrow answered, moving back toward their current home with a fast pace, all of them following him. "Once I'm done, we're going to meet Raven."

From what Jaune had heard, Qrow and Raven clearly weren't the perfect family, for a number of reasons. The one he knew from Ruby was that Raven had left Yang and her dad. Pulling out his scroll, he checked how late it was.

"Should we start making dinner?" Jaune suggested, Nora and Ruby cheering at the prospect of food. Qrow gave the suggestion some thought.

"Yes. You three," he said, pointing at Jaune, Ren and Nora. "You'll make dinner. And the two of you will be training on the balcony until they're done."

Ruby pouted and complained, while Oscar said nothing as they continued their walk back.

"C'mon, hurry up!" Nora exclaimed excitedly, starting to run ahead of them. "I'm hungry!"

"Does anyone mind pancakes for dinner?" Ren questioned, only receiving approval for his idea. Except Qrow, who only shrugged his shoulder. The man ate everything it seemed. Or maybe him drinking from his flask made everything bearable. Jaune didn't know, though it didn't matter very much as they entered their place.

"Hey Jaune, aren't you gonna head to bed?" Jaune turned around as he heard Ruby's question. Pushing himself away from the railing, he left the balcony and closed the door behind him. The warmer air was welcome.

"I'm not feeling very tired, so I'm staying up for a while," he responded, receiving a nod from Ruby. "Hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep soon enough."

They smiled at each other for a moment, before Ruby headed towards her room, Ren and Nora already in their room.

"Alright then," the younger girl said, tilting her head slightly. "Hope you sleep well."

"Good night." Jaune told her, plopping down on the couch as she left.

"Good night!" Ruby called out, flashing him a smile and waving at him as she disappeared from sight. Now alone, Jaune closed his eyes as he began to think. They had been training a lot lately, and he knew that they very well needed it if they wanted to even be able to do anything. Their encounter against Tyrian had just shown how much below his level they were. Improvement was a must if they planned on doing anything but letting Qrow do all the hard work.

"Ugh…" Jaune grumbled as he rolled his shoulder. Qrow had decided to personally train him, as both of them wielded swords as their primary weapon of choice. The man didn't go easy on him, and his body felt it. His musing was interrupted by another person.

"Jaune?" Ren asked, watching him from the corner of his eyes as he got himself a glass of water. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Jaune looked up at his teammate, shaking his head.

"Can't sleep yet, so I'm trying to pass time until I'm able to." he told Ren, now standing up to stretch, joining him at the sink and getting a glass of water of his own.

"Anything you need to talk about?" Ren had always been perceptive, and he proved it once again. "You look like you're thinking too hard."

Jaune sighed, returning to his previous seat, while Ren sat in one of the chairs opposite of him.

"It's just, I feel like we're lagging too far behind to be useful. Compare ourselves to Qrow," he spoke, placing his hand behind his head as he leaned back. "Qrow could deal with Tyrian, but what we do when even Ozpin couldn't beat Cinder?"

Ren said nothing, looking contemplative.

"I don't know," was Ren's honest response, a slight grimace on his face. "We'll have to figure it out as we go, and keep improving. And rely on our fearless leader to lead us through these harsh times."

Neither of them said anything, but soon themselves unable to hold in their laughter. They quickly managed to compose themselves, in order to not wake anyone who was already asleep.

"Thanks, Ren." Jaune's words were sincere as he grinned at his teammate. "Get some sleep. No need for you to stay up because of me."

Ren said nothing as he stood up and left his glass in the sink, only giving a short wave as he left. Returning to his musing, and emptying his glass, he didn't get far as a new voice interrupted him, one he had gotten more familiar with over the past few weeks.

"Need a drink?" Qrow wondered, walking pass him and sitting down where Ren had sat a moment ago. He held out the flask he always carried on him. "Don't be a wimp. It might do you good."

Jaune had never tried anything alcoholic before, but a small sip couldn't hurt, right? Accepting the flask, he took a gulp, his eyes immediately widening as whatever he had just swallowed burned in his throat. Qrow burst out laughing loudly, slapping himself on his leg in amusement.

"What is that?" he barely got the words out as he rubbed his throat.

"Not your average drink, I can tell you that much," Qrow was still laughing, but was slowly managing to calm himself down. "You did at least better than Yang, who couldn't even keep it in."

It was understandable that Yang couldn't keep it in. He was surprised that he didn't want to throw up after tasting the foul beverage, handing the flask back.

"Hey Qrow," Jaune started, not sure if he even wanted to ask. He pressed on after a split second of thinking. "You mentioned that we reminded you of a team you knew. Is there a story accompanying those words?"

He had caught him off guard, as his expression told him everything he needed to know. Qrow closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he drank a lot of whatever was in his flask.

"You noticed, huh?" acceptance was only thing Jaune could hear in the few words spoken. "Since you're still up, I'm assuming you got no problem staying up a while longer.

"You'll probably understand this well enough, having lost your partner."

"This team…" Jaune started, not getting any further as Qrow stared at him.

"Team STRQ. In my opinion the best team to ever come from Beacon," Qrow's word hit him hard. He understood why he considered it to be the best team to come from Beacon. "Especially since it was my team."

"You're no team anymore though," his words about him understanding made sense now. He had lost Pyrrha, but Qrow had lost his team. "What happened?"

"A lot of things happened, but what would be our last mission as a team was the start of us falling apart," Qrow responded, arms crossed and eyes closed as he thought. "It was a simple mission. We were simply to defend a village from a Grimm attack. Turns out it wasn't a simple Grimm attack, but something far bigger. Something even Ozpin had no idea about. Something even worse than Salem."

Worse than Salem, without even Ozpin knowing about it? That was a very worrying thought.

"So, how did that break your team apart?" Jaune asked with interest, leaning forward as he waited for Qrow to continue.

"Lots of reasons, some not even related to the mission. We learnt of an unique Grimm created by Salem, one that was capable of advanced thinking," he explained, dissatisfaction in his voice now. "It had been sealed away and had broken free, attempting to overthrow Salem.

"We should have destroyed it, but only Raven was even entertaining the idea. The rest of us agreed on sealing it away again, convincing Raven as well."

Regret, lots of regret. Jaune had no idea how to react to the story.

"We were too afraid to deal with it, so we decided to let someone else deal with it once the Grimm breaks the seal again," Qrow went on, letting out a big sigh after a while. "I regret it a lot nowadays, and it's one of the reasons why Raven started distancing herself from us. Throw in her dislike for Ozpin, and it didn't take much more to push her away completely."

"What about the rest of your team?" Jaune wondered why Qrow hadn't mentioned his other teammates yet. Had something happened to them as well?

"Tai, Yang's dad, probably drew the second shortest of all sticks. He first got together with Raven, and the two had Yang," he told him, disappointed in what he was telling. He reached for his flask and emptied it. "Everything was fine for a while, until she left them. Of course, Summer, my partner and Ruby's mother, also had a thing for Tai, so she moved in and kept him together. Things were looking great."

Ruby had told him that her mother was dead, though she hadn't had any details on what happened.

"How did she die?" Jaune asked carefully, spotting surprise in Qrow.

"She was killed on a mission, lured into a trap by someone who had helped us find the Grimm all those years ago," Qrow finally answered, draping his arm over his eyes. "Raven blamed Ozpin for it, and since then she's been on her own. For Tai it was Raven all over again with Summer gone. STRQ was done for."

He didn't know what to say. He had lost Pyrrha back at Beacon, but Qrow had lost his partner, and his team had fallen apart, with the exception of Yang's dad from what he understood. There was no way Jaune could imagine what the man must be feeling, or how he even could tell all of that to someone who was practically a stranger. He snapped to attention as he heard Qrow starting to grumble about something.

"You alright?" Jaune watched as Qrow still had his arm draped over his eyes.

"Eh, everything's alright. Except I'm out of drink and I can't be bothered to head out to the bar now." he complained, continuing to lie back and doing absolutely nothing.

"Would you take the opportunity to fix things if you were given it?" it was a sudden question, but one Jaune had been thinking on for quite some time while they had been talking.

"Would I take the opportunity to fix things? Yes, I would take it without hesitation." Qrow spoke clearly, sitting up properly, with no doubt coming from him as he said the words.

"I'm sorry for what happened-" Jaune couldn't finish speaking as Qrow's eyes stared in shock behind him, and his mouth opened.

"Jaune, watch out!" Qrow shouted, already moving with his hand reaching for him. He had no idea what was going on, but turned around to see what had Qrow so shocked. A portal was swirling behind him, and he could feel it pulling on him, his entire body moving towards it. He tried fighting against the force that had taken hold of him, but it was to no avail as he was slowly dragged into it.

"Qrow!" he called out, grabbing the man's hand, but even that wasn't enough as he kept disappearing into the portal.

"Hold on!" Qrow's words weren't much of any help, his hand slowly slipping.

"Jaune?!" Ruby's voice. Jaune saw her, Ren, Nora and Oscar sprinting from their rooms, as they took a second to take everything in. They all looked horrified. "No!"

He tried to hold on. He tried to use his other hand to latch himself onto Qrow, but it was to no avail. Nothing helped as the force of the portal kept tugging on him.

"Keep dragging!" Qrow ordered everyone, all of them now holding onto his hand and pulling with all their might. "Why the hell isn't it working?!"

Those were the last words he heard, as he lost his grip. All of them cried out in horror, but he barely paid it any mind as darkness surrounded him. The portal had taken Jaune Arc.

And that's the first chapter. I'm sure some of you can see where I'm going with his, between the summary and the end. I will try to aim to update every 2-4 weeks, though I make no promises. Now, I do hope you enjoyed it, and I would appreciate a review if you got something to say. Until next time!