Jaune awoke the next morning, tired and weary from his night of weeping he groggily removed himself from the head of 'Vordt' he suddenly felt something all off of him, he turned his head to see that someone had draped his blanket around him during his sleep. He turned his head to notice Pyrrha who lay splayed out on her belly, her arm hung from the bed but in arms reach of his hair. He smiled briefly and took it upon himself (despite the awkwardness) and readjusted her position on her bed before pulling up the covers onto her sleeping form.

She shifted uneasily and turned onto her back, obvious signs of discomfort riddled on her face. As a sign of thanks for the respect she showed him the night before, he gently leaned over and layed a soft kiss on her forehead, His little sister Jade loved it when he did that to her to 'ease' her nightmares so he figured it would work in this situation as well, at once she seemed to ease and a pleased smile graced her face.

'Jaune…' She mumbled

Blushing in embarrassment, our loveable goofball left the room hastily to fix himself breakfast splashing himself in the face with cold water to freshen himself up. He strode over to his box of mailed goods and went to work mecha-shifting each weapon into its condensed form as quietly as possible, as he finished the last of his items, other memorabilia were left behind in the box, deciding to leave it for later he lay the myriad of items onto his bed, stuffed his 'Heirs of Fire' into a duffle bag and went for breakfast.

The meal was simple, two slices of toasted bread with butter, two sunny-side up eggs, three rashers of bacon a hash brown and some morning juice to start off his day and yet he devoured them ravenously, considering that he hadn't eaten dinner this was to be expected. Bringing his tray to on the rack he decided to make his way to the practice arena, duffle bag in tow.

He unpacked a selection of some of his favorite weapons on the teacher's desk which consisted of

Gael (Cloak, Greatsword and a crossbow)

Artorias (Greatsword)

Firelink (multiform weapon)

Friede (Double Scythes)

Alonne (Nagamaki)

Moonlight (Greatsword, Blunderbuss)

He started off with Friede, with weapon scythe in both hands he set out re-familiarising himself with its move set, swinging the large scythe in graceful arcs aiming each strike at around the neck the light weighted weapon made for easy dodging and graceful precision with each swing, the shorter pole was strapped to his forearm finishing a basic combo, he let the shorter scythe form with click of a switch along the grip the blade snapping upward, then with a click on a second switch both scythes glowed with a boreal hue then he took up a stance, both weapons held behind him in an attempt at a menacing display before unleashing the signature combo of the sole sister of Ariendel.

A swipe with the shorter scythe followed by a spin using the momentum to bring the great scythe into an overhead cleave from left to right, with an unexpected anti-clockwise turn bringing the shorter scythe again swinging right to left with the larger scythe following suit, he paused expecting his invisble foe to raise his shield, then finished it off with a rising lift from the shorter followed by a downward hack by the larger.

He remembered using it on his eldest sister Bianca for the first time in their training spars, boy was she surprised by it, she commended him for the effort into learning such a complex move, but in the end, Bianca being the elder and more experienced fighter, she won out.

Jaune knew that using Crocea Mors would be the crux of his time here in Beacon, so he decided to leave the sword-shield combo in his locker for the time being, and for now his focus became on reimmersing himself with these weapons to get himself back to speed with the others, he knew that Combat Class was first lesson he had every weekly cycle, so with goal set he set out changing weapons each half hour so that he could have equal experience with all weapons, and therefore he could be better prepared for whatever student he would be pitted against on Monday morning.

It was noon by the time he had finished practicing with all of his favorites, drenched in sweat he fished his water bottle out from his duffle bag and took some hasty sips before returning it to his bag, he noticed someone holding out a small towel, with a hasty thank he wiped his face and neck clean.

Wait, someone

Jaune visually paled as he slowly lifted his gaze, silently praying to mighty Oum that it wasn't who he thought it was, as soon as green eyes met blue. The truth was revealed, he was doomed.

"Ummm hehe, H-hello Pyrrha" Jaune greeted awkwardly slowly edging backward slowly

"What's wrong, Jaune?" She asked eyes closed and a sweet innocent smile plastered on her face, Jaune could hear the barely restrained frustration in her voice as she followed him slowly.

"U-um nothing Pyrrha" Jaune replied hastily as he began to quickly pack his weapons away as quickly as he could, shivering beneath a piercing sensation that he felt in his spine that just wouldn't go away, he inwardly cringed, knowing that turning back on Pyrrha of all people was a really bad idea.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that" She asked and to Jaune's surprise, she felt no malice in his voice halting his ministrations he slowly turned to her.

"My sisters taught me how to fight" He replied simply

"Why?" She pressed on

"I've said it before haven't I?" he replied solemnly "I wanted to be a Huntsman"

"Then these weapons…" Pyrrha continued

"They were gifts to me from each of my family members, despite my obvious weakness as a fighter, they fully supported my decision to come here, I didn't want to disappoint them, I wanted to honour my father and his father before him by becoming a hunter" Jaune explained

"Then what of Crocea Mors?" Pyrrha asked a little too hastily "You, you're not going to use it anymore?" Jaune winced as he detected a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"Pyrrha, right now I need to do better than ever before in my time here in Beacon, sure the Cardin situation has pretty much been solved, but my failures in combat classes are dragging me down so badly" he reasoned "I've spent a good amount of my time as a kid, learning to use these heck I've developed entirely new fighting styles through them"

"But…" Pyrrha choked "What about our lessons together?"

He sighed casting a glance to his duffle bag

"Pyrrha, I've always taken every lesson you've given me to hear, from you I learnt how to wield a sword and shield better than anyone else in my family ever could" he confessed "I promise, we'll still do lessons together with Crocea Mors, but in class where it all counts, I need my best with me"

Pyrrha leaned back, contemplating his words slowly, with a shaky sigh she nodded to herself

"A-alright Jaune" Pyrrha smiled "I can work with that"

Jaune inwardly sighed in relief

"But" she began

Oh Crap

"I expect you to perform better in our spars" she spoke in a business like tone "expect a lot more strenuous sessions in future, Mr. Arc"

"Yes Ma'am" he instinctively shouted

"Now that's settled" she said "wanna head over for lunch?

"Sounds good to me" he replied following her out the door with his packed duffle bag

Monday had arrived

With a slight spring in his step he made his way swiftly to first class after breakfast and combat class awaited him.

The lesson was simple, pitting every student against another or possibly more, of near to or equal skill level or sometimes randomised based on Ms. Goodwitch's mood

After witnessing most of his class complete their own spars it was time for Jaune to see if his time practicing would bear fruit

"Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose" Goodwitch called "move to the locker room and get your equipment ready, you will be sparring each other today"

Ruby had already sped out the door in a flurry of rose petals, Jaune followed suit

Approaching locker 626, he took the time to address the kind of fighter Ruby Rose was.

She was a swift fighter, chaining multiple blows with her scythe to wear down her opponent punctuated by integration of her .50 cal sniper as its ranged form for bursts of high damage, one would need something of strong resilience and weight as well as speed to match her semblance and disrupt her attacks.

He settled for 'Farron' an equal weapon to match Ruby's speed, bolstered by its weight he could easily tank her attacks mid swing allowing for an easy trade with him landing the stronger blow, but 'Farron' lacked a ranged form and his Olivia's vague words didn't inspire much hope in matching range capabilities in this modern age, he had yet to awaken his own semblance which was itself a slight disadvantage, and he hoped should it ever awaken be useful to him in some way or form.

Returning to the arena quickly, Ruby had already gotten herself prepared Crescent Rose planted firmly in the ground as she watched him with (with starry eyes) as he took his place on the other side of the arena, there were murmurs from the audience as they took in the sight of Jaune's new weapon, some were able to analyse that it was a greatsword.

"Are both combatants ready?" Ms. Goodwitch asked

Ruby nodded her head, and turned her face to Jaune who stood tall, his sword arm hefted the mighty blade forward, and tearing the parry knife from its place on the pommel he took up the traditional salute of the Abyss watchers.

"Then let the match BEGIN" the teacher shouted as the aura meters of Ruby and Jaune presented themselves on screen

Ruby initiated first speeding towards him with great speed, bracing her scythe she started with a lifting slice, to which Jaune dodged sideways, his dagger-arm rigid the crooked blade pointed at her at all times. Ruby was careful and decided not to continue the assault bracing herself as the two circled each other slowly.

Jaune lunged dagger raised in the air, aiming to plunge it into her leg but the reaper leapt backward but not far enough, Jaune smirked as the blade cut into the arena and with the momentum of the leap he swung himself toward her the greatsword extended cutting a wide arc in front of him, the blade caught Ruby in the chest sending her staggering backward she recovered quickly and went for a slice from high left to low, Jaune however replied in kind instead he thrust the sword forward, catching her off guard before raising his dagger arm slicing her vertically lifting his dagger and blade one after the other before resting the greatsword on his shoulder and halting his attack and leaping backward Ruby strafed him firing shots from her scythe, Jaune deftly parried as many shots as he could with the dagger, but doing so cost him his aura with each shot regardless.

Caught off-guard Jaune took a series of blows from Ruby's Crescent rose bolstered by her semblance, Jaune was helpless against her that is until he considered the impossible, parrying her.

Enduring a few more seconds from the attacks he readied his knife, just as she was about slam her scythe onto his chest one more time, he brought his dagger up and shoved the weapon aside with as much strength as possible, and the results were perfect, Crescent Rose was shoved aside and the momentum of Ruby's swinging made it nigh impossible for her to prepare what occurred next. Jaune raised his greatsword and slashed her twice in a cross formation, he sliced her twice with the crooked parry knife then finished off by leaping, somersaulting in mid-air before bringing the blade down onto Ruby's sending her sprawling across the arena.

This new Jaune shocked the crowd, team RWBY (minus the R) and JNPR (minus the J) were shocked silent by this strange new fighting style Jaune had adopted, and it was working. Both of them were at equal levels of Aura and were nipping at each other's heels with each attack and counter-attack.

Jaune dashed sideways to avoid the swift cleaving motions of Crescent Rose, he wasn't going to make it. Most of his moves are starting to lose effectiveness, and the fluidity of Ruby's combos was difficult to power through, He needed some support.

Suddenly Ruby was stuck in the side but managed to recover from the blow, as she turned to face the aggressor in the middle of their duel, it was Jaune?

"Wait what?" she shouted turning her head swiftly to meet the eyes of the same person, then back at this other-Jaune.

Jaune was just as surprised as she was, but then he remembered like the original boss fight, there were always two Abyss watchers, one was a faux the other was the true boss and they'd always fight you. There was that other corrupted one that helped out every now and then, but this was different, was this his semblance?

The new Jaune took up the Legion etiquette pose before charging at her swiftly bringing his own Farron Greatsword to meet her scythe, they both connected at equal force making them rebound away from one another, seizing the opportunity Jaune lunged bringing 'Farron' into a reverse grip and aiming forward plunged into Ruby's back making her crash onto the ground, Crescent Rose skittered away.

The two Jaune's regrouped standing side by side, perhaps this was his semblance. A plan formed in his mind and the two Jaunes sprinted at her, their bodies tucked low as they sprung like wolves his clone lunged high as Ruby barely managed to parry his blade away, but was struck in the chest by a lifting strike from the true Jaune's blade sending her into the air, clone- Jaune acted quickly salvaging their plan attempt as best as it could he foot stooled off of Jaune before slamming the flat of his blade against her prone-mid-form sending her into the ground, following up Jaune squatted low bracing himself he charged at her lunging forward performing the 'Wolf Lunge' hitting her square in the chest just as she stood up, barely keeping up with their new overly aggressive fighting style, Ruby resorted to taking pot shots with her sniper rifle.

One lucky shot caught clone Jaune square in the forehead, it flew backward and onto its back it struggled to rise from the skilful shot, it did not get up again. Jaune's eyes widened watching his brother fall and dissipate into pale white mist, glancing up at the aura level meter, Ruby was dangerously low, whilst Jaune's remained at around the 40% marker.

Gripping Farron tightly he suddenly felt something off, there was a jutting metal part on the grip, tucked neatly beneath the cross-guard, he flicked it open and pressed the button, a slight droning sound was heard, and the gleaming edge of his sword glowed with heat. And fire danced and flickered along the blade, Jaune smiled in sadistic glee, he squat low and flourished his red hot blade his dagger braced for action and his switched into a determined frown mimicking the second stage stance of the Abyss Watcher.

Running towards her, he could tell that Ruby was fearful she struck at him sparingly and fired from her rifle as much as possible, using his Abyss watcher mimicry he dodged and lunged in ways no normal person could, twisting his body before lashing out with his greatsword, barely catching a hair off of our young reaper, but what caught her unaware was the after burn of his blade, each swing left marks wherever it touched, before detonating before her eyes in a blast of combusting air. She desperately dodged and weaved away from his attack and managed to land a shot on Jaune's chest bringing him down to 32%, Jaune had to be swift and merciless to finish her off.

By now the crowds were clenching their armrests and craning their necks, desperate to see the final outcome, gone was the adorkable blond knight Jaune Arc and in his place, a wolf hunting little red riding hood.

With a feral cry Jaune performed the 'Wolf Lunge' completely bringing himself closer and closer with each strike, but never making contact, and in this attempt he lost another 8% Aura, making him growl in frustration, his stamina drained by the execution of the full combo, Ruby was confident that a simple combo would be enough to finish Jaune off. Aiming Crescent rose backward she fired herself forward and gripped her scythe tightly ready to steal victory from the weary wolf.

Jaune feigned his exhausted state, taking his parry knife he reattached it to the pommel of Farron and prepared for the inevitable swing she raised her scythe high and struck down, but Jaune taking a gamble lunged at the space beneath her right arm and her body, quickly raising his blade high he brought it down along her back, Ruby took the blow swinging herself mid-air and mecha shifting Crescent Roe into its compacted sniper state and taking aim she fired at his exposed forehead.

"STOP!" Goodwitch shouted

The crowds immediately turned their attention to either their teacher or to the display screen, and all were in shock.

"The match is over" the headmistress said "Congratulation Jaune Arc, you are the winner by Aura level"

Jaune's tired eyes drifted to the display screen, his eyes widened to the size of the faux eyes of the basilisks.

He sat at 16% and Ruby had hit the red level

"An impressive display by the both of you" Goodwitch commended "return your equipment and I shall dismiss the class from there"

They both nodded and silently left the arena.