Lifeblood

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If I did, Jaune would take a freaking hint already.

Chapter 1: Red Night

(Jaune: Age 13)

Jaune was shaking with excitement. He had finally convinced his eldest sister to help his training. Sable had just graduated from Haven Academy in Mistral and was taking some time off before her first assignment. After hours of begging and flattery from Jaune, she decided to finally take pity on him and at least give him some basic tips, while their mother was shopping and away from the house, of course. Fortunately their father was in Vale for a meeting so they didn't have to worry about him.

"I still don't understand why you can't wait another two weeks when you begin combat school," she said with exasperation, while leading him into the forest. "I'm sure you can learn much more there than you can from me." The petite young woman wore a dark grey button up coat over a simple white shirt, black shorts that reached down to her knees and dark brown combat boots. Strapped to her hips were two large holstered silver pistols. Each hand, calloused from years of training and combat held a wooden practice sword. Her shoulder-length blonde hair swayed slightly in the wind. Her cyan eyes which shone with amusement and the small smile on her aristocratic face betrayed her true emotions.

"Yeah, but you were already training for years before you enrolled in combat school, and besides that, Dad always says that you should always take the initiative to get an advantage." Jaune replied, reciting one of his father's "lessons" while marching behind his sister. The boy was small, barely reaching four feet. Expecting a harsh workout he wore an old and tattered grey jumpsuit. His blonde hair, a shade darker than his sister's, bounced with each step, and his brilliant blue eyes twinkled with excitement. "I still can't believe that Mom banned Dad from training me."

"Well, Dad isn't exactly what you'd call 'responsible', and to be honest you're not much better yourself," Sable said thinking of her father's clumsiness, which Jaune had unfortunately inherited. Perhaps it was a good judgement on their mother's part to not trust him with Jaune and sharp, deadly objects. Though it probably did more harm than good to shelter him so much. She stopped walking when she reached the middle of a clearing within the forest. "Okay, first lesson, have you at least had your Aura unlocked yet?"

Jaune answered her with a blank look. "You... do know what Aura is, right?"

"Umm..."

Sable sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Why am I not surprised?' "Alright, I'll give you a crash course. Aura is the manifestation of one's soul. Aura can be used as defense by applying a layer of Aura over the body. Alternatively Aura can be used for offense by augmenting one's own body and it can even be used to heal oneself. With enough training some people can even gain a special and unique ability called a Semblance. Now, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we can even begin training your Aura, it has to be unlocked."

Jaune was practically vibrating with excitement and anticipation now. "So how will I unlock my Aura?"

"You won't unlock it, I will. Now, come here and close you eyes, stay still." Jaune stepped forward and Sable put her hand on his shoulder and shut her eyes as well.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," she intoned, "through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

At that moment, Jaune felt a great warmth spread throughout his body. He felt stronger, his senses sharper, he could feel his heart beating faster. He opened his eyes and saw his arms glowing brightly before fading.

"Wow, Jaune," he looked up to see his sister looking at him in awe and he noticed her slight exhaustion. "Your Aura reserves are very impressive. Certainly larger than mine were at your age." 'Maybe even as big as Iris' Aura'

"Why are you so tired?" Jaune asked, seeing the beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Unlocking someone's Aura takes a toll on you, and the bigger the Aura being opened, the more Aura it takes to unlock it. Don't worry about it too much," she reassured him seeing his worried expression. "I just didn't expect to use so much. It'll replenish itself soon. You should be proud to have such a potent Aura." She smiled after seeing his embarassed expression, 'He really is too easy to fluster' she thought.

"Okay, now we'll work on some basic forms and I'll tell you how to use your Aura in combat."

Three hours later, Jaune was bruised and drenched in sweat and sprawled on the grass trying to catch his breath. To his right was his practice sword, chipped and bent. To his left was Sable twirling her practice sword with an amused expression on her face.

"Well, that wasn't a bad start. I'm surprised you lasted this long. Rough around the edges, but that's to be expected. You've got a good grasp of using your Aura to augment your body and to cushion hits, but you really shouldn't rely on it too much. Not to mention how much of it you're using. I know your reserves are big but the way you use it is just wasteful."

"I thought... that Aura could... block hits... so why do I have... so many bruises?" Jaune managed to wheeze out. " And why... does it hurt... so... much?"

"Aura isn't an absolute defense, Jaune," Sable said reproachfully. "Aura can dampen hits, but if a force is too great, some of it will break through. Not only that, but Aura can get weaker the more you use it, especially with your lack of experience and efficiency. As for why it hurts, Aura can only block the physical damage, not the pain of the attack itself."

"One more thing, You taught me sword forms, but you don't use swords."

"Jaune, those were all basic stances which you would have learned at school anyway. And there's a reason I only showed you the basics. You're still growing for one thing. If you get fixated on a style now, you'll be spending the next few years adjusting every time you hit a growth spurt. Better you tailor a style to yourself as you grow so you can be far more comfortable with it when your body settles. It's why proper Huntsmen education doesn't start until 17. Secondly, you haven't decided on what kind of sword you want to use yet."

"Why does that matter?" Jaune asked, finally able to sit up again.

"Because, you idiot, every kind of sword has a different style for attacking. Longswords for crushing blows, falchions for manoeuvrability, katanas for precision cuts and so on." A look of understanding crossed Jaune's face. Sable looked up and saw the sun beginning to set. "Well it's getting quite late, let's hea-" She cut herself off and began to look around alarmed. " Jaune get behind me, now!"

"Why, what's wro-"

"Just do it now!" Jaune quickly scrambled to his feet sensing the urgency of the situation, and moved close behind her. She drew her guns and continued to look around the area spotting a large number of malevolent red eyes. 'King Taijitu, Ursa, Beowolves and, oh shit, are those Deathstalkers!? Why are they here so near to the village? Not even the younger Grimm are stupid enough to get so close. Something must have led them here.' She looked down at Jaune who finally recognized the danger they were in. 'I need to get him out here, there isn't that many here right now, but I can't risk even one slipping past'

"Jaune, listen to me very carefully. You know the way back home, right? When I give you the signal I want you to run as fast as you can to our house and tell Mom the situation here."

"B-But what about you? T-There's so m-many of them and I think we're surrounded"

"Pfft, these guys'll need another hundred to even scratch me. And don't worry they'll be so focused on me they won't even notice a little squirt like you." In truth she didn't know if that was true, but she did know that if Jaune stayed here he'll have no chance at all.

"Now!" she shouted as the Grimm charged. Sable burst into action, instantly shooting the two Ursa in front of Jaune, creating an opening through which he sprinted. A King Taijitu reared its head to strike, but both heads were blown off in quick succesion. Any more Grimm who attempted to follow the boy were shot down just as quickly. After making sure that the monsters' attention was solely on her, she charged.

A few minutes in, Sable was already starting to have problems. She had taken out quite a few already but as far as she could tell, there were over a hundred Grimm of varying species determined to reach the town chasing after Jaune. She knew she had to divert their attention to her, and therein lies the first problem.

The thing about a diversion is that it has to be diverting. Big, flashy and crude. That just wasn't Sable's style at all. She'd rather run through these beasts and pump their soulless heads full of lead and/or rip though their throats before they can even see her. However, here they had to see her, and she was wasting too much time and ammunition making sure they did. At first, she attempted to enrage the Grimm and lead them deeper into the forest, but their persistence in reaching town forced her on the defensive.

That leads to the second problem, her limited supplies and time. At this rate she'll run out of bullets before even half of the Grimm are taken out. Not to mention that she had not finished restoring the Aura she had used to unlock Jaune's Aura. She jumped onto a branch above her just as a Boarbatusk barrelled past right below her. From her new height she could see the town in the distance, and she cursed as she realized how much ground she had lost.

'I have to take it up a notch', she thought. She reversed her grip on her guns. Her pistols clicked, and transformed; the back of the gun barrels extended until they ran along the length of her entire forearm. Along the edge of these lengthened barrels, glowing silver blades shot out, and the blades seemed to emit a high-pitched whine. Her cyan eyes began to glow with power and her body became enveloped in an ethereal, silver shroud. Sable gripped her newly transformed bladed tonfas, leapt down and the battle resumed.

Her shining blades sang as they spun through the air and cleaved through the Grimm unimpeded. It was as if two crescent moons had descended to Remnant to wreak havoc on the monsters. Any of the Grimm that attempted to bypass her were picked off by her bullets. In one minute, the Grimm were advancing, the next minute a stalemate was achieved. By the third, they were being pushed back, but only just.

'I can't keep this up for long,' she thought, a sheen of sweat already covering her forehead. 'Hurry, Jaune'

Jaune ran as fast as he could, jumping over the thick tree roots and fallen branches. He had to get help. Sable was strong and was a fully fledged Huntress, but those Grimm were so big, and there were so many, there had to be dozens. even she couldn't take on that many without support.

He hated running away. He wished he could help, but he knew that he would just be a burden, and would likely get them both killed. He felt his muscles burning in protest but he pumped whatever Aura he could dredge up and forced his legs to keep running. He could feel his Aura depleting rapidly, his lack of experience making his usage sloppy and wasteful but he paid it no mind. He had to get to town. His mother's strength was monstrous, and he knew she could decimate those Grimm within seconds.

He pushed his legs to their limit and forced enough Aura into them to make them glow. He was now practically leaping through the trees, a trail of dust and fallen leaves behind him, and soon enough he could see the town walls up ahead. He blasted through the gates, ignoring the absence of the gate sentries and was greeted with a horrific sight.

'Wha-' he thought, surveying the nightmarish scene. 'What the hell is this?!'

The small village of Crystalcliff, so named for its shimmering rivers surrounding the town that have sculpted steep white valleys around the village, had not suffered a Grimm attack for over a century, a statistic that not even the city of Vale could boast. It was the only reason Sable and Jaune could get away with leaving the village walls. The village had magnificent natural borders, the valleys so deep it might as well be an island. The only way in were three highly guarded stone bridges with large gates that could be closed within a minute. But Vale had similar and superior defences, so what made this small village so safe?

The reason was twofold. Crystalcliff was situated at a perfect distance north-east of Vale city. Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, and the amount of negative emotion from a city completely overshadows anything a small town could ever produce. It is far enough from Vale that it will not be caught in any incoming attack. At the same time it is not so isolated that it is the only source of human emotion the Grimm can sense. Huntsmen from all over Vale have recognized it as a safe haven and a small outpost was added, further adding to the town security. It should have been safe and sheltered from any threats, a sign of salvation in a continent ravaged by Grimm.

At that moment, though, it was a scene of death and chaos.

The southern half of the town was in flames. The Huntsmen were rushing the villagers into the town hall, presumably to the shelters. Several buildings have fallen, with civilians and Huntsmen alike working to free anyone imprisoned in the wreckage. In the distance he could see the southern gate, reduced to rubble, masses of black creatures spilling through. But that was not what drew Jaune's attention. That was not what would be haunting him for years.

It was the Grimm. There were scores of them, much more than the horde Sable was facing. Some were just gigantic, over thirty feet tall. Overhead, a swarm of black bird-like Grimm circled the town, swooping down to grab their next victims. With a sickening realization, Jaune saw blood on their masks. Large, armored beasts stampeded through the streets, leaving death and ruin in their wake. The air was filled with a horrendous, disjointed orchestra of roaring flames, fierce battle-cries, unearthly wails and screams of desperation.

For what seemed like centuries, Jaune just stood there, his tears falling, trying and failing to process the scene before him. Eventually, he blinked back his tears and remembered his objective. He ran towards the hall and spotted a familiar head of brown hair.

"Mom!" Jaune yelled. "Mom! Over here! Sable, sh-she's-"

"Jaune! Where the hell have you been?!" Isabelle asked her son hysterically. "Oh, that's not important, get inside quickly! Your sisters are already in there, look after them."

"M-mom, wh-what happened to you?"

His mother was wearing a simple yellow sundress, one that Jaune had seen before, since it was one of his mother's favorites. The problem was that it was in tatters. It was spattered with blood and some thick, black oily substance. Her once long, dark brown hair was singed and barely reached her ears. Her beautiful green eyes, which had always been a source of comfort and kindness had been replaced by two pits of cold rage. In her hand was a jade green bow taller than herself.

"I'm alright Jaune, the attack just caught everyone off guard. Hurry an-"

Jaune cut her off. "Mom, listen to me! Sable's out there figthing the Grimm!"

"So is every Huntsman in the village!"

"You don't understand! There's more of them! Coming from the north-east!"

"What! There's more?! How many did you see!"

"I don't know! She told me to run when she saw them but there were dozens, at least!"

"How far is she from the town?"

"Uh, a mile or two straight east. You have to send help, Mom! She's all alone out there!"

Sable noticed something peculiar about these Grimm. Judging by the size of some of them, they should have been at least a few decades old, maybe even a hundred, so they should have developed some semblance of self-preservation. Grimm like these were capable of retreating because they knew that they could survive to kill another day.

'So why won't these bastards take a hint?!' she raged internally. She jumped over a Taijitu and in one fluid movement she separated the head from its body. The second head rushed at her in midair, but luckily she managed to twist around and shoot it before it could reach her. She landed on a Deathstalker and swiftly carved through its thick exoskeleton just before it could skewer her with its stinger. Unfortunately, she could only bring her arms in front of her as an Ursa Major swiped at her and sent her flying.

She impacted a tree several meters away. 'Damn, I'm slowing down too much. And there seems to be plenty more of them' She was in a bad shape. She had already taken a few minor injuries like the long gash on her left leg from where a Beowolf got lucky. The wound had impeded her considerably and she coudn't spare the Aura to close it. Fortunately, the number of Grimm incoming seemed to be getting low. 'I hope Jaune reached the village in time'

She sprinted forwards, and sidestepped a Creep's feral charge before splitting it in half as it ran past. She backflipped over a Beowolf's claws, but an Ursa clawed at her from the front. In an amazing show of skill, Sable embedded one of her tonfas in the Beowolf's head, and used it to swing herself out of harm's way. Unfortunately she was too late in noticing the Deathstalker's pincer, coming from her left, intent on crushing her within its jaws. She brought up her Aura as high as she could manage and awaited impact.

But it never came.

A torrent of wind blasted past her and straight into the armored scorpion. It was lifted clean off its legs and was slammed into a pack of Beowolves. Sable landed on the spot where the Deathstalker just was. 'Was that-' Her thoughts were cut off as the Ursa tried to reach her once more, but its claw was stopped by a shining blue, octagonal barrier.

"You are getting sloppy, Sable." a cold voice chimed from behind her. She turned and saw a young woman with dirty blonde hair step into view. She wore a blood red jacket over a maroon blouse, a black combat dress and red and black boots. In each hand she held a red-and-white folding fan about a foot long. A long gash on her forehead spoiled her otherwise perfect face. This was Sequoia Arc, the third daughter of the Arc family.

"Yeah, normally these bastards wouldn't even touch you. Must be losing your touch, eh?" A second voice piped up. The second woman looked identical to the first, except her long hair was tied up in a ponytail leaving large bangs over her face which was displaying a teasing smirk. Her attire consisted of steel-toed boots, very short cut-off jeans and a navy tank top. Her weapons were a pair of morningstars, each one as long as her leg. The handles were dark blue and were lined with several buttons. Bandages could be seen underneath her tank top and on her right shoulder. This girl was Iris Arc, Sequoia's younger twin sister.

"Sequoia! Iris!" Sable exclaimed with obvious relief, but that quickly changed to concern upon seeing their injuries. "What the hell happened to you two?!"

"You are not the only one that has been having difficulties." Sequoia told her.

"Where's Jaune? Did he get home safe?"

"Whoa, there, calm down. Pipsqueak's fine. He's the reason we were sent here. Let's save the Q&A for later. Now, we kill these ugly fuckers!" And with that proclamation Iris charged forward and with a mighty overhead swing, she brought both morningstars down onto a Deathstalker's back, making it cave in and killing it instantly. Before the other Grimm could even react, Iris erected three more blue barriers: one in front and one on each side, before pushing them outwards towards the Grimm, scattering their numbers and disorienting them further, before leaping at them like a wild tigress seeking her prey, bludgeoning and crushing everything within range.

"Despite her rashness, Iris is correct." Sequoia said calmly, a stark contrast to her younger twin. She twirled her battle fans, causing a breeze to swirl around them. "We must eliminate this group of Grimm and return to the village immediately. We shall explain the situation on our way back. For now, you must focus on recovering your strength. Trust me, sister, you will need it."

Jaune was currently in the underground bunker beneath town hall. He held a sleeping 5 year old to his chest with his right arm, and with his left he hugged his younger sisters close, trying to comfort them and stop their terrified sobbing. He didn't know what to tell them. He didn't know if things were alright, he didn't know if they would be okay. Within the steel bunker were dozens more people in a similar or worse state.

Near Jaune were a group of injured people, Huntsmen and civilian alike, being tended to by the town medics. The smell of blood disgusted Jaune, but not as much as the injuries themselves. He could see large lacerations, broken bones, severe burns, entire limbs missing, even dead bodies which were mercifully covered up. Every now and then another person would come in with a grievous injury and he could see that the medics were becoming overwhelmed. Jaune had the misfortune of seeing a Huntsman die of blood loss, but luckily he could shield his sisters' view by holding them to his chest. He felt like vomiting, but he needed to show strength for his sisters.

Over to the side, several people, sat in front of a large computer, which was the only source of light in the small shelter.

"What's the ETA on those Bullheads?" a young woman demanded through a headset. The woman was small, barely reaching five feet. Her hair was a blinding white and her eyes were red. Her skin was worryingly pale, the screen giving it an eerie blue glow. Her beautiful face was marred with anger and perspiration. This was Bianca Arc, the second child of the Arc family. Unlike her sisters, she did not train as a Huntress due to her fragile body. Instead, she developed a talent for science and technology. At the age of 19, she was already a pioneer in the field of radiocommunications, making several breakthroughs in the development of the Cross Continental Transmit System.

"Roughly 10 minutes," a crackling voice responded through the computer. "Several swarms of Nevermores have slowed us down, but there don't seem to be anymore incoming."

"What about land-based Grimm?"

"That's the strange thing. Far from the village the Grimm activity is normal, but once they get within thirty miles of Crystalcliff they're all desperate to reach the village. Even the older Grimm are rushing there. We've received similar reports from other incoming Bullheads."

"What the hell can cause that kind of behavior?" a Huntsman muttered.

"At the moment, it's not my biggest priority. At least now we know the scope of this attack. How's the situation there? Any casualties?" the voice in the computer asked.

At that question, all the Huntsmen, and Bianca grimaced. "Way too many. We never saw the attack coming. Half the Huntsmen here were already tired and injured from previous missions. A lot of the casualties were civilians who died in the panicked stampede to the bunker."

"How's Isabelle?" this time, the voice was tinged with worry.

"She's outside, leading the defense of the bunker and the evacuation of any remaining civilians." Bianca replied, reassuring the voice. "And before you ask, Dad, the younger ones are safe. Sable, Sequoia and Iris are ot there too, assissting the defense. Dad... hurry. I don't know how much longer they can hold out."

"Long range fighters climb on the rooftops and take down the Nevermores and point out any patterns in Grimm movements! Everyone else focus on drawing their attention away from the town hall. Collapse the empty buildings to slow them down!" Isabelle continued to bark out orders, all the while shooting arrows into the incoming Grimm.

"Maia! We have a group of Sabres incoming, with a few Archsabres!" a Huntsman shouted with a terrified voice.

His dread was well-founded. Sabres were another species of avian Grimm. The resembled large flying lizards, with black leathery wings, and elongated beaks. They were not as sturdy as Nevermores, but they were much faster. They had large talons, each the size of a grown man, and sharp enough to slice through stone. Each one could grow to up to ten feet in height.

Archsabres were even more terrifying. They are an older and larger subspecies of Sabre. Each one was over three times the size of their little brothers. They were identical to Sabres, but they had armored, spiked spines and to top it all off, they had the ability to breathe fire.

"Oh shit," Maia breathed out. "Everybody scatter! Whatever you do, don't let them near the hall! Aim for their necks and the chinks in their armor!" She then took a small metal cartridge which expanded into an arrow. Within a second she notched the arrow, took aim and fired. The arrow screamed as it flew and embedded itself in an Archsabre's neck and exploded with a dull boom. Despite the concussive force, it did nothing but divert its attention and cause it to dive dowards her.

Pressing a switch on her bow, it straightened out, and became a double sided warglaive. Twirling her weapon she charged towards it. With an amazing show of speed, she nimbly evaded the pillar of flame it shot at her and using its beak as a springboard, she somersaulted over its head and jammed her glaive in the chink between its neckplates. Concentrating, Maia caused her blade to vibrate rapidly and glow and sunk it deeper in its neck. The Archsabre screeched in pain and began to spiral out of control, and with a careful application of force, Maia sent it careening into several Sabres, sending them down. too.

In spite of this incredible display of skill, Maia saw that she had only managed to down a handful of the Sabres. Huntsmen on the rooftops attempted to shoot them down, but were overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

'Where the hell are those Bullheads?' she thought angrily. 'If they take any longer, we won't have time to evacuate everyone '

"Mother!", a voice exclaimed, just before a spinning red disk flew past her head and decapitated an Ursa Major behind her. The circle curved around and sliced through several more Grimm around her before returning to its wielder's hand. The disk shrunk revealing its true form to be a battle-fan.

"Girls! I'm glad you three are alright." Maia said with obvious relief.

"I don't think 'alright' is a good word to descibe us at the moment." Iris said wryly. "How's the evac goin'?"

"Much too slowly. All civilians are in the hall now and awaiting the Bullheads. According to Bianca, they should be here by now but-" a beeping from her scroll cut her off. She put her scroll on speaker. "Yes, Bianca, what's the news?"

"Mom, the Bullheads just reached town, but the landing pads are overrun with Grimm. They can only hover and drop the ladders, and only for a short time since they'll be vulnerable to aerial attacks."

As if on cue, a large rattling sound rang out, and a large number of Nevermores were peppered with Dust-infused rounds. The Huntsmen turned their heads and saw half a dozen Bullheads swooping in, their guns making short work of entire clusters of Grimm.

"Alright, tell the pilots to hover over the town hall and lead the civilians up there. We'll make sure that they don't get near while they're boarding." She hung up the scroll and turned to face the surrounding Huntsmen. "Well, you heard her! Everyone start moving to the hall! Don't let the Grimm anywhere near those Bullheads!"

"Everybody move up to the roof." Bianca commanded. "All Huntsmen, once we get up there take out any flying Grimm. Ground forces will be handled by the Huntsmen outside."

Immediately, everyone began to make their way out of the bunker. Anyone too injured too walk was supported by the medics. Jaune faced his sisters, Coral and Lavender, who were still sniffling. "Girls, we'll have to go now. We're going to be okay now."

"B-but what about the monsters?" Carol asked tearfully. The girl was only 8 years old. She had long platinum-blonde hair tied in a ponytail on the left side of her head. Her large green eyes were tinted with redness and were framed by tears. She wore an bright orange sundress, but it was ruined by numerous scorch marks and dirt stains.

"Do you really think Mom and our big sisters will let the monsters near us? You know they're all super-strong."

"If they're so strong, why do we have to run away?" Lavender was the one who posed this difficult question. She was identical to her sister, except she tied her ponytail on the right side. She wore a purple long-sleeved shirt and an indigo skirt. Her eyes, were far more composed than her sister's, but Jaune could see sadness and fear bleed through.

"Well," Jaune tried to think of an answer, "it's like those hero movies you and Iris like so much. The good guys can't fight all out until they know that their families are safe. So once we leave, Mom and our sisters will take the Grimm out easily."

Seeing that his sisters were somewhat placated by the explanation, he stood up, his youngest sister, Magenta, still dozing on his shoulder, and led Coral and Lavender to join the line of evacuees.

"Jaune!" He turned around and saw Bianca catching up to him. She glanced down at her sisters behind Jaune clutching at his shirt. "How are the girls doing?" she whispered to him.

"I think they're OK. But they're scared, sis, and frankly speakng, they should be. They-no, we need to get out of here." Jaune whispered back, trying to hide his own terror.

Bianca wasn't fooled, but decided not to call him on it. "Don't you worry guys. We'll be up and away within fifteen minutes. You'll be glad to know that Dad leading the rescue."

That fact made all of the children's eyes light up. "Daddy's coming?" Coral asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah. In fact he should be up there by now. That reminds me, you girls have never flown, have you?" she asked the girls. Their green eyes flashed with excitement. Bianca then proceeded to explain to them, in simple terms of course, how Bullheads fly and how she helped make one at her company. Jaune gave Bianca a grateful look for distracting them from their fear.

Soon enough they reached the door to the roof. The leading Huntsman opened the door, and an orchestra of death greeted them. Coral and Lavender immediately covered their ears, whimpering, and Magenta woke up on Jaune's shoulders and began crying. The edge of the roof were lined with Huntsmen, shooting down at the Grimm attempting to breach the town hall. Jaune could see several Huntsmen jumping off the Bullheads and assissting their exhausted comrades below. Over a dozen Bullheads were hovering two or three meters over the roof with steel rope ladders hanging down.

"All of you, climb up to the Bullheads as quick as you can!" Even without Bianca's command, the terrified villagers scrambled up the rope ladders. Jaune quickly ushered his sisters forward and let them climb onto the nearest Bullhead first. Once the twins were safely aboard, making sure Magenta was holding tight, he began to climb up the ladder. He made his way up and reached up towards the Huntsman's hand-

"INCOMING!"

The warning came too late. Jaune was just fast enough to retract his hand and wrap it around the still-crying Magenta before a high-pitched wail rang out as the Bullhead was knocked aside. The Huntsman at the door lost his balance and fell to the ground. The ladder rocked violently inflicting horrible nausea to Jaune as he desperately held onto the ladder with one hand. He closed his eyes as a particularly violent swing caused Jaune's feet to lose their grip. He could make out voices all around him.

" -the hell is going on?!"

"An Archsabre has grabbed hol-"

"-Sabres incoming!"

"Shoot them down!"

"Fly low! Get the Huntsm-"

"JAUNE! Don't let go!"

"-ASEFIRE! You'll hit the engines!"

Jaune's eyes opened, and he immediately wished he didn't. The ground below was spinning and seemed to be getting closer.

"JAUNE!" He recognized that voice, it was his father, Jacques. "Son, prepare to let go of the ladder when the Bullhead's low enough! We'll be ready to catch you!"

Jaune could not respond to the instruction, but he heeded the words. He trusted his father. He tightened his hold on Magenta and kept track of their current height, which was fluctuating erratically due to the Archsabre's grip. 'Fifty feet, forty, thirty-'

"JAUNE! NOW!"

'What the hell, thirty feet is good enough.' With that thought, Jaune released his hold and angled his back to the ground. He wrapped his arms around Magenta and felt his body fall head first. In the corner of his eye, his father was running up to him, preparing to jump. Jacques clambered onto a fallen building and leapt more than twenty feet up, perfectly aligned to catch him and Magenta.

But he was too late. A split second before his father caught him, Jaune was snatched away by a swooping Sabre. Trapped within the avian's grip, its talons digging painfully into his skin, he turned his head and saw his father and several Huntsmen in very close pursuit, but with their speed they couldn't hope to catch up to the Sabre. Squirming within the Grimm's grasp, he managed to free his upper body. Looking around he saw that they were flying low and were approaching the village boundaries. He also saw that there were no aerial Grimm around them...

Aura can be used for offense by augmenting one's own body

Jaune turned to the weeping child in his arms. "Maggie, listen to me. Do you trust me?" Seeing the little girl's tiny nod he continued, "Okay, hold on to me as tight as you can and close your eyes for me will you?" Magenta was reluctant, but complied.

Jaune closed his eyes too and concentrated on his Aura. He had recovered a decent amount while resting in the bunker, but now he'll need every drop. He drew on his reserves and channelled them into his arms, but instead of releasing it, he kept it there. He continued to compact as much Aura as he could into them, his thin muscles visibly straining. Once he could hold on no longer, his sapphire eyes snapped open, shining with power. With a mighty yell, the boy brought his glowing fists together and smashed it as hard as he could into the Sabre's talon.

The talon shattered. The two children through the gap before the grip could tighten. They were free. But Jaune miscalculated.

If he had had his eyes open, he would have seen that the Sabre had ascended to sixty feet. He would have seen that the pursuing Huntsmen were over a hundred metres away. He would have seen that they had flown over the town walls, and as a result they were now plummeting into the famed canyon of Crystalcliff.

Making a split-second decision, he quickly kissed Magenta on the forehead and said to her, "I love you, Maggie." before using the last bit of his Aura to throw her towards the Huntsmen.

As he fell into the gorge, the last of his strength draining, his wounds from the Sabre bleeding, Jaune Arc had time for one last thought.

'At least I died a hero'

Then the world turned red.

Author's note: First story ever. Constructive reviews appreciated. Flames shall be ignored.