So, I've been a passive observer on fanfiction for a little over six years now. I don't think I've ever even commented on a story before. I've read several stories through several different genres and subjects. There have been some great stories throughout the entirety of the site. Some that I have even preferred over the novels and movies they are based upon. I tried to write a story a few years ago, but I do not think that I had the passion, or even the talent and commitment, to write it. I was unprepared. I spent several months looking at the two chapter story and thinking to myself "man, writing is difficult." I left the story without a word, to which I apologize if anyone was truly interested in it, and committed myself to continue with just browsing through the stories and enjoying what I read. This changed when I found the RWBY fanfiction category. I started reading there when there were a little over 1,000 stories and have been hooked ever since. The show just allows for so much freedom in the way you can write. The characters have depth and the world they are place in is the perfect mix of adventure and excitement with a little bit of romance thrown in.

To the main point, why I want to pick up writing again. I promised myself that I wouldn't attempt another fic until I was truly ready and committed. I didn't think that it would ever happen with the way my schedule works, and with how much I abhor my writing style. This changed when I stumbled upon Coeur Al'Aran's stories. The way that he writes is astounding. He takes the base characters that we know and love and changes everything about the story we think we know. Now, I know that my stories will be nothing compared to his, that's not my point. My point is, is that his stories have reignited something in my imagination that I now wish to put to paper, or laptop as it is.

But, enough about me, onto the story.

I have been hoping for a soul bond/mate fic ever since I have been browsing the RWBY category. I have found a few that have really peaked my interest, but I found a subreddit that had this story concept that I hadn't seen before. On top of that, I haven't seen anyone take up the concept. So, I decided to be a little ambitious and try it out for my first story.

As is standard, RWBY and everything involved, does not belong to me.

Scars of the Heart

Chapter 1

Alone

Humanity was not created to live isolated lives. One needs only to look at the brothers who brought us into this world to see that. The Brother of Light, as we now regard him, was alone in the desolate landscape. The emptiness inside him matched the emptiness around him. Nothing existed; not life, not emotion, nothing asides him. Alone in the most complete sense. Alone, until he wasn't. His brother brought him happiness that he wasn't aware existed, for the emptiness around him was now filled, as too was the emptiness inside him. Joy, brought by communion with his brother, was the greatest thing he had ever felt, for no longer would he be isolated to a meaningless existence. These feelings drove him to search for more, to bring about something new. With this, he begun the creation of the world that we call home. He molded the land and sea, created life in flora and fauna, but it was not enough. The creatures lived and survived in the environment that he created, but did not feel the joy of being alive that he so desperately wanted to share. So he harnessed the emotions that he felt with his brother, and impressed it upon the fauna as he shaped and molded them. Thus, the Faunus were born. At last, he felt the fellowship with another like he had with his brother, and it was magnified just as he had imagined. For a time, they walked with him and they lived together in harmony, but ,when the newness wore off, the Brother noticed that all was not what he wanted. The Faunus were content with life for the sake of life and did not strive to harness, and further, the emotions as he had hoped. They were like him, but also unlike him. They felt no need to grow and were content with the byproduct of the emotions that he had felt. So again, he wanted to create something that strove to elicit the emotions that he felt in others. With this idea, the first humans were created. The Brother of Light knew that he did not want the same result as with the Faunus, so he created the Humans, led them to the Faunus, and detached himself, content with observing the life that he created. The Faunus were distraught at the loss of their creator, but treated the Humans as their own. They watched as they grew into something that was like them, but not like them. They felt a communion with the Humans that brought forth an emotion not unlike the ones the felt with the Brother of Light.

Finally, the Brother felt at peace, for he knew that this is what he had always wanted, even if he, himself was not able to be with them. However, his brother, who we now refer to as the Brother of Darkness, was not happy. He was envious of these creations who had stolen his brother from him. He did not see why his brother needed these things to occupy his time, it was just fine when it was the two of them. The Brother used these feelings of resentment that he felt to create a creature that would rival his brother's. Like his brother, he impressed these feelings upon the fauna of the world, bringing about the creatures that we know as Grimm. The Grimm did not think, they only knew of the hatred towards human and Faunus kind. They needed to rid the world of these creatures, so they attacked. Unprepared, humanity had no way to combat the new creatures of the world, and they fell. For the first time, the Brother of Light felt loss, and it was worse than the emptiness that he had felt when he was alone. He knew what it was like to walk with others, the things that he had painstakingly created, and then it was taken away from him. He did not want his remaining people to ever feel the loss he had felt again, and gave them a gift to combat the creatures and these feelings, a piece from his very soul. The first instance of Aura. The brothers, Grimm, and Humanity fought until they could fight no more. In the end, the Grimm and the Brother of Darkness were pushed back and forced to escape. The world that he had created still stood, but was shaken to its very core. What remained was a shadow, something wholly incomplete, a Remnant of its past-self. With one last gift to those he had created, he left, and took his brother with him.

The gift that the Brother of light had left humanity with, was perhaps the greatest gift that he could have given. The gift that forged a bond between the souls that he placed inside them himself, ensuring that no one would ever truly be alone again.

With the last sentence read, Juniper Arc sat back in her chair and looked at the eyes of her children, eyes filled with wonder and amazement. She knew that they believed every word that she had read. It wasn't the first time that she had read the story of their creation, but the children would be enraptured each time. The looks in their eyes were why she would consent when they oft asked her to read the story. Even her eldest, Scarlet, who had just started at Beacon, would gather her siblings and bring them to the study when she asked her mom to read the story. Juniper glanced at her eldest with that in mind, expecting to see the same look the other Arc children wore. Instead, she was met with a face that was slightly confused, but inquisitive.

"Scarlet," the eldest daughter's eyes focused at hearing her name, "What's the matter honey?"

Scarlet hesitated, looking as if she was trying to organize her thoughts. All eyes turned as she asked her question.

"The gifts that the brother gave us, the book mentions that the first is Aura, right?" Her mother nodded, so she continued,"but the book never says anything specific about the second gift. I was just wondering if the the bond that is mentioned is our soulmates?" Scarlet finished the question with a grimace, uncomfortable speaking about the topic, but curious enough to ask anyway.

Juniper Arc grinned at the question, wondering when one of her children would stumble upon the true meaning of the story that they had so often heard. She wasn't at all surprised that it was Scarlet, the most curious of her children, that asked the question.

"Well, what do you think the bond is?" Juniper asked, trying to find her daughter's reasoning. "And the question isn't just limited to Scarlett, I want to know what all of you are thinking."

Emerald, the middle daughter, responded first.

"I always thought it was the bond between all of us, everybody I mean, not just us here."

"I used to think that too." the second born, Amber started, "but that wouldn't explain how we would never be alone, because people fight all the time and there are wars and stuff. Same would go for the bond between Humans and Faunus."

Auriel, who was between Amber and Emerald, both in age and on the couch the were resting on, took a shot next. "What about what Em was saying, but not with everybody. Is it the bond that we have as a family?"

"Then orphans, and those who lose their families when they're older wouldn't have the bond" Amber refuted again.

The older Arcs quited at that, mulling over different ideas. Juniper glanced at her youngest four, who were on the floor leaning against the couch. She was curious as to what their thoughts were. The older set of twins, Sapphire and Ai, were looking at their mom, knowing that she would answer eventually. They seemed tired of trying to figure it out themselves. Juniper smiled at them, but continued to the youngest set of twins, Jaune and Violet. While Sapphire and Ai were tired of thinking, Violet was just plain tired and had already began to doze on Jaune's shoulder. Jaune, however, seemed to pay rapt attention to everything being said as the older sisters once again started offering ideas, which were mostly countered with Amber's logic. Jaune turned and saw his mother looking at him.

"Mom," Jaune began quietly, "was Scar right?" Conversation stopped at the question from the youngest, and all eyes turned back to the Arc Matriarch.

Juniper smiled proudly at her only son, and turned to address her kids, "She was, in fact." Her smile turned into a smirk at the disgruntled look her elder children gave her for making them think it was something else. She enjoyed having her kids think for themselves, instead of just giving them the answer they were looking for. It is the process that sticks with them, after all, and not just the answer.

"When the Brother of Light left our world one last time," at this, Jaune nudged Violet to wake her for the explanation. Juniper continued "he gifted us each with a connection that would be formed from the moment both us and our soulmate are born. The connection will be with us until the time comes for us, or our soulmate, to pass on. The connection itself is almost as much a mystery to us as Aura is. It is something that is with us innately, but not something that we have complete control over. Unlike Aura, however, the proof of this lies on each and every one of us. It lies in the scars that we hold."

Eight pairs of eyes looked at her in confusion so she went on "Ai," the younger of the eldest twins focused on her, "do you remember ever having your ears pierced?" Ai's hand instinctively reached for her lobes to feel the hole in them.

"Well, not really, but I figured that you and dad just had them done when I was really little." Ai's confused face perked up quickly, "Wait, do you mean that my ears are pierced, because my soulmate has their ears pierced?"

Juniper smiled again and opened her mouth to congratulate her daughter, but was cut off by Sapphire, who was trying to hold back her laughter. "What kind of dude has their ears pierced?"

"Whoever said it was a boy" Amber countered with a smirk. Sapphire lost it and Ai hid her face in her hands, mortified.

"Girls," Juniper began sternly "don't tease your sister so much. It is becoming fairly common for men to have piercings, but even if it isn't, you should be supportive of your sister." Ai looked up at this and smiled gently at her mother, and her sisters had the decency to look properly scolded. Juniper smirked "Besides, I'm sure that AI's soulmate would look beautiful in a wedding dress." The Arc children erupted into laughter and Ai hid her face behind one of the couch cushions, mumbling about retribution. Which, of course, made Sapphire laugh even harder.

The kids were all getting ready for bed as Juniper made her rounds. She always enjoyed this time of night. She got to talk to each of her children as she tucked them in, and when she was done, she would be able to hear the sound of eight children sleeping peacefully. Eight breaths of life that she had raised from infants. Never did she feel more at peace than at these moments.

She made her way to her youngests' room. Violet, who she knew was already drowsy from earlier, was already sprawled out on her bed, fast asleep. Juniper shifted her under the covers and kissed her forehead. Violet sighed and snuggled into the pillow and her covers.

Juniper turned to do the same for Jaune, but saw two bright blue eyes looking back at her. His face seemed crinkled in concern.

"Jaune, are you okay?" His face crinkled a little more before finally relaxing.

"I'm just a little worried Mom."

"What about sweety?"

"Well, you said that we have scars from our soulmates right?" she nodded. "But the only scar that I have is the one on my arm from when I fell out of a tree. I checked just to make sure. Is it possible not to have a soulmate? Am I supposed to be alone like the Brother was in the story?"

Junipers eyes softened at the question, and she hugged her only boy when his face contorted into sadness again.

"Jaune, sweety, you know what the book says. The Brother never wanted us to be alone again. Every single person since that time has had a soulmate that they are destined to be with. Just because you don't have any scars, doesn't mean that you don't have a soulmate. Instead, you should be happy that your soulmate is unhurt."

Jaune's tears stopped at this, but he still seemed upset. "But how will I know if I don't see anything?"

"Have faith Jaune. That in and of itself is the very definition. Your soulmate is out there, looking down at their left arm and wondering about you right now."

Jaune smiled a little. "Promise?"

"I promise, now get some sleep, we have a big day for you and Violet tomorrow. You don't want to be late to your first day of class, do you?"

All traces of sadness disappeared. "Thanks, Mom. Love you"

"I love you too, Jaune. Good night."

"Night."

Juniper leaned down and kissed his cheek before tucking him in and walking out of the room.

Jaune rolled over and began to fall asleep, thoughts of a mysterious soul mate running through his mind.

A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter. Since this is my first story, I don't know what the update schedule will look like and it may not be consistent at all. So there may be another chapter tomorrow, or there may be one next week. Let me know what you think in the comments or through a PM. I welcome any and all criticism, because anything will help. Thanks again. Have a great day!

P.S. I mentioned Coeur Al'Aran in the pre-notes. If you haven't read his stories (which I highly doubt because he pretty much owns this category) I highly suggest you go and read them. He updates regularly and has multiple stories going on at once.

Ammendment:

I forgot to add in the ages of the kids. It will help things go by smoother if you know them. They are as follows:

Scarlet 17

Amber 16

Auriel 15

Emerald 15

Sapphire 13

AI 13

Violet 12

Jaune 12