It's strange to think how easily someone's world can flip. Take Team RWBY, they thought this would be a usual dangerous mission: kill some Grimm and get some files for Ozpin. Same old, same old. Instead, they had a front row seat to seeing a Huntsman show skill they never seen before and the creation of the most powerful Grimm they could lay their eyes on. And it all leading up to finding out that the Huntsman turned out to be their formerly dead boyfriend, Jaune Arc. To say they were stunned was an understatement.
Ruby was just stunned and was close to tears. Some miracle had occurred, her first and only love was alive. It all just made sense now, why he protected her so adamantly against the Grimm and how he was able to use Raikiri so masterfully. She was wondering how it was possible but that was overshadowed by the pure joy to finding out that he was alive and in front of her once again.
Yang was also stunned silent. She had her suspicions, but she never thought this would be possible. She was happy to find out that he was alive but that was slowly being pushed back by the annoyance and anger she was feeling. If he was alive, why hadn't he come back to Beacon, to them? He had a lot to explain and if she didn't like it, she may punch him. Who was she kidding, he was going to get hit regardless.
Weiss was just staring down at him, her mouth wide open. She was just overwhelmed. She was ashamed of this but since the day he died, she has never been able to utter his name. He was the one that broke her cold exterior and allowed her to feel what it was like to be truly loved. Even saying his name made her heart hurt in a way that she could never explain but she forced herself to accept the reality, that he was gone. But now, here he was, and her heart was filled with both pain and happiness in equal parts.
Blake's eye never left his face and her own was set in a stoic mask. But her ears were twitching like crazy, showing just how many different emotions, she was feeling at this moment. Being as well-read as she was, she was accustomed to sadder endings to many of her favorite stories. It was a natural part of life and she was exposed to that reality at an early age. But it seemed like reality was giving her and the others a pass because they just had a revelation you only ever saw in fairy tales. She smiled slightly and reached out her hand to gently caress his cheek. As soon as she felt his warmth, she let a few tears fall.
That's when Jaune's eyes shot open and they were all shocked. The normal blue eyes they loved to stare into were no longer there. His eyes were now a dark purple, any darker and they would be black. He pushed off the ground he was laying on with his hands and feet, pumping the little aura into them to shoot back several feet. He landed feet first then knelt to dig his left hand into the ground to slow himself down. His right hand was extended, ready to use whatever aura he had left to form Void if needed. When he stopped, he was breathing deeply and looking around frantically for the Grimm that had surrounded them before. As he realized they were all gone and remembered that he killed the Drake, he sighed in relief. His body relaxed, and he stood up.
He looked and saw that RWBY were all kneeling where he presumed he was laying before. He raised an eyebrow, "What happened?" he asked and went rigid as his own voice came out and not the distorted one. 'Is the mask malfunctioning?!" he panicked before he saw a pair of familiar sunglasses in Ruby's hands. His eyes widened before his hand shot up to his face. He just felt his face and his eyes widened further before he closed them and sighed in frustration. He lowered his head slightly as his hand never left his face, "Damn it."
He heard a few footsteps after that and he looked up slightly to see them a few steps closer to him and Ruby in the lead, "Jaune?" she asked shakily, and he flinched when he heard his name. "Is that really you?"
He sighed one last time before he moved his hand away from his face and to his hood. 'No point hiding now.' He thought a she pulled his hood off his head to reveal his slightly longer blonde hair. "Yeah. Its me, Ruby." He replied weakly.
It looked like Ruby was going to tackle him like she used to, and he was preparing himself for it. That's why he was shocked when a yellow blur beat her to the punch and a fist was lodged into his stomach. He groaned slightly and held the bruised area as Yang withdrew her fist. He looked into her red eyes as he spoke, "Damn, Yang, you certainly got stronger." RWB just looked on, stunned.
She grabbed him by his collar and pulled him close, "You've got some explaining to do, Jaune." She said with an edge to her voice.
He just looked into her eyes with a very calm and neutral expression, "And what would that be?"
"How about how you survived? Maybe where you've been? Or how about, why the hell you never came back to Beacon!?" she shouted the last part and the other members of her team winced slightly.
Jaune didn't react much at all, he just sighed. "That's all classified. And even if it wasn't, I wouldn't tell you anyways." He responded in that same neutral tone.
She gripped his shirt tighter, "And why not?! We have the right to know! Do you have any idea on what we went through after we thought you died!?" She lowered her head and was shaking now. "Every day just hurt. Knowing you were gone and you were never coming back. We were all at a lost. I had no idea on what to do after that." She sniffled before she looked up at his, tear gathering in her eyes but there was still anger in them. "Why didn't you ever come back? Why didn't you tell us you were okay? I thought we meant something to you? I thought you loved us?"
He looked to the side, "You're not making this easy." He said quietly before looking into her eyes again. "You don't want the answer to those questions."
"Yes, I do! So, tell me, damn it!" she shouted in frustration.
He closed his eyes for a second before he opened them, "I don't love you."
Yang's eyes widened, and her grip slackened slightly, her mouth hung open. "W-what?" she asked weakly, hoping she heard him wrong.
"I don't love you." He repeated before he looked past her to look at the rest of her team, "Any of you." They all took a step back, like they were hit. All of them were staring at him wide eyed. "I thought I did but the truth is, I didn't love you. Back then I was a broken man that just wanted to feel some kind of affection. To not be alone. I liked you all and was attracted to you, so I fooled myself into believing I was in love." Ruby was crying silently at this point while Weiss had the most hurt expression on her face. Blake was just unreadable. He looked back to Yang as tears were sliding down her cheeks. "But there's the truth. You all may've loved me, but it was just one-sided."
With that said, Yang's eyes hardened, and she pulled her fist back. She was going to hit him, and she was not going to hold back this time. She threw her fist, aiming for his face. Jaune didn't move, to defend or dodge. He just stood there. Her fist was a few inches from his face when someone grabbed her wrist and she stopped. Yang turned to see her partner looking into her eyes. The two had a silent conversation until Yang huffed and pushed Jaune back as she dropped her fist. She turned and walked back to her team. Blake then turned and looked him in the eyes, her expression still unreadable. The two just looked into each other's eyes for a while until Blake spoke up, "You're lying." She said evenly. Not accusing him but as if she was stating a fact.
Jaune just raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"You're lying." She repeated. "Not just to us but to yourself." He didn't say anything and RWY just looked on, confused. "So, what was your plan? To lie, to hurt us in a way that we would be more inclined to leave you here? To write you off and try to get us to move on? While you just stay here and get yourself killed. Was that what you wanted, Jaune?" she asked as her eyes just burrowed into his.
Jaune just looked into her eyes. He didn't move, and he still had the neutral expression on his face. The two stood like that for a full minute or so, until he closed his eyes and sighed tiredly. He opened his eyes and just looked at her. He gained a weak and sad smile with that, "You could always see right through me, Blake."
Her gaze softened, and she gained her own small smile, "That is one reason why you love me." She stressed the word to prove her point.
He just shook his head slightly, "Yeah, you're right on that."
"Um, what is going on here?" Ruby asked, her tears stopped a little bit ago.
Blake turned to her teammates, "Jaune." She turned back to him, "Why don't you tell us?" she asked but it came out more as a command.
Jaune just looked at her then to her team. He sighed again and reached into his cloak to pull out a flask that looked identical to Qrow's, which shocked them all. He unscrewed the cap and raised it slightly, "First drink in six months. There goes my sobriety." He joked as he drank a small amount from it. The burn of the whiskey was something that he missed but he wasn't addicted to it like a certain Huntsman. He pulled it away and recapped it before returning it to his cloak. He steeled himself to answer them, "The reason why I'm alive and out here is…complicated, to say the least. But, the reason why I'm out here is because of that Grimm we just fought. The Grimm were acting strangely out here, and I decided to be the one to study them. Although, I was supposed to return months ago but things haven't been adding up out here and I was hoping to gather more information."
He ran a hand through his hair before continuing, "Ozpin was worried and wanted me back as soon as possible, I declined. That's when he decided to send someone to get the info I had already. And he decided to send your four because he knew that you'd try to bring me back. To stop that, I slipped back into my Rien persona and hid my face from you all. Although that failed." He shook his head slightly, "After that, I figured if I could make you angry enough you would leave me here. But I forgot how astute our resident Faunus is." Blake smirked slightly, "Well, there you go. That's all I can really say."
The four of them were quiet. They weren't satisfied with his answer but there had to be a reason to why he wouldn't go into detail, an important one. So, for the time being, they'd accept his answer. Weiss was the one to break the silence, "Why?" Jaune turned to her. "Why didn't you come back to Beacon?"
Jaune just looked up to the sky, looking for the right words. "The Fall allowed me to see a side of the world most people will never see. And for good reason." He looked back to them, "I learned a few things and eventually found out that me being around would be dangerous. A lot of people would be hurt, if I was around." He took a deep breath. "Especially, you girls. Look, just take the files to Ozpin and forget you ever saw me. You're better off that way."
There was a silence until he heard something very familiar, "Nope!" Ruby said. He looked up just in time to see Ruby collide with his chest and hug him tightly. She was looking up at him with a smile, "We just got you back, we are not going to just leave you here."
He just looked down at the reaper, "Ruby, trust me, it's better this way."
She just stared up at him, "Nope!" was all she said as she held him tighter.
He groaned, "Ruby." He then looked at the others and they all had similar looks. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"Afraid not, Jaune." Weiss stated. "Ruby has made her decision and as her team, we need to support her."
Jaune just glared at them, "You do realize this the exact reason why I hid my identity, right?"
Blake nodded, "We figured but we are vetoing your decision."
Jaune groaned again, "Oum damn it."
Yang chuckled, "Face it, Jaune. You are either coming back with us or we're going to stay here with you. Your choice."
Jaune just looked at them all before he growled, "Why did I have to fall for such stubborn women."
"Because we're awesome." Yang replied.
Jaune wanted to just turn them down. He knew the risks of going back to Beacon, that's why he was out here. But, his heart said otherwise. He missed them all so much and now here they were. Could he really just push them away, again. He relented, it'd be easie rthis way an dhe could always fall back on his backup plan. "Alright, alright. You girls win." He gently started to pat Ruby's head, "I'll come back with you."
Ruby jumped up and cheered, showing she still had some of her more adorable antics. Yang and Blake looked at each other with triumphant smiles, Blake's was more restrained though. Meanwhile, Weiss had pulled out her scroll and was sending their coordinates to their pilot. The bullhead landed a few minutes later, just as the sun was beginning to set. RWBY were getting on board as Jaune pulled out his scroll. He went into the controls for the motion sensors and cameras he had set up in the forest. He scrolled down until her hit a button that then short circuited all of them. He had to make sure no one got their hands on them, that was the deal he made when he got them. The motion sensors were no big deal, but the cameras were going to set him back a bit. He then walked on board and sat across from RWBY as the doors closed. As they began to fly off, the stress of the day caught up to him and he dozed off.
Beacon was in ruins around him. There were fires everywhere, and you could hear the Grimm and students fighting. Jaune was standing in the middle of a large horde of Grimm. He was completely exhausted and was barely holding his Void in its longsword form. Jaune looked around, past the Grimm to see his old team and RWBY fighting against more Grimm and just as exhausted as him. He had to back them up, no way around it.
He heard a scream and quickly turned to see Nora using all her strength to stop a Nuckelavee from crushing her under its hoofs. She couldn't do anything as the human half grabbed her and started to squeeze her. She was screaming the entire time. Both him and Ren shouted for her but soon grew silent as they heard a sickening snap. Nora stopped screaming and the Grimm dropped her. She bounced off the ground and stared at him with dead eyes.
Ren shouted in fury and anguish before he charged at the Grimm in a berserker charge. Jaune could do nothing as a King Taijitu intercepted him and sent him flying into the air. Ren had no time to correct himself when the other head caught him, its fangs sticking out of his shoulder and his stomach as he bled profusely. Ren tried to get himself free before he started to go limp, his head rolled to the side with Jaune looking into his empty eyes.
Jaune quickly turned away and his eyes landed on Pyrrha fighting a Death Stalker. He tried to rush over to her, but he was too exhausted, and the Grimm were stopping him. He shouted her name and as she turned, the stinger was pushed through her chest. Pyrrha looked down at the stinger before looking up at Jaune in disbelief. She dropped her weapons as the light left her eyes. The Grimm pulled its stinger free and her body slumped to the ground.
He turned away and saw Yang and Blake fighting with each other. Yang was facing numerous Ursai while Blake was fighting a large pack of Beowolves. They were doing well until an Alpha snuck up on Blake and bit into her shoulder. Blake screamed in pure agony and the other members of the pack surrounded her. She just kept screaming and even though he couldn't see it, he knew what was happening. Yang was shouting, trying to reach her partner. While she was distracted, an Ursa Major bit into her back and stomach. It lifted her into the air and was squeezing down, intent on splitting her in two. Yang was screaming and tried to pry the jaws open. Eventually he heard a snap and Yang stilled, just before her torso fell away from her legs and the other Ursa and Grimm moved to where she dropped.
Jaune was having a breakdown at this point. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't. Jaune heard a screeching sound and looked up to see a Nevermore circling above. It flapped its wings and sent a volley of feathers at a target. He turned and saw Weiss was fighting. He ran and quickly shouted for her as he was reaching out to her. She turned in time for a dozen feathers to pierce through her body. All she could do was stumble a few steps before falling to the ground.
Jaune heard someone screaming and her turned to see Ruby on her knees. She was crying that her teammates were dead. She stared him in the eyes and they held a message: This is all your fault. He knew it to be true but knowing she blamed him made it all the worse. That's when he saw the Drake behind her, charging its energy attack. He screamed to her, telling her to move. She just turned away from him and towards the massive Grimm. She just closed her eyes and was enveloped by the red light. When it dissipated, nothing was left of her.
Jaune fell to his knees with that, his Void fading away. He started crying. Everyone he loved was gone and it was his fault. He just wanted the Grimm to end this. He heard a sound and sat up slightly and his eyes went wide as a blade sword was pushed through his chest. He looked in front of him to see a black robed figure driving the sword into his chest. Jaune didn't even have the strength to raise his arms. He could only watch as it pulled its hood down, revealing it to be him. Except he had the eyes of a Grimm and black hair. This Grimm version of himself just grinned sadistically as he drove his blade up to the hilt into his chest. With that he leant towards his ear and whispered in a demonic voice, "You did this, you should've stayed dead."
All Jaune could hear was it laughing as his vision went black. His only thought being, 'He's right.'
Jaune woke up with a start and instinctively created a Void orb in his right hand. He quickly regained his senses and looked around, remembering he was in a Bullhead. He calmed down a bit and absorbed the Void back into him. He was breathing raggedly as he looked across at RWBY sleeping a few feet away. Weiss was on his left with her right hand supporting her head. Ruby was sitting next to her and was leant against her sister. Yang was doing the same but with her head on top of her younger sister's. Blake was right beside Yang with her arms crossed and the back of her head leant against the wall.
Jaune took a deep breath before he leant forward and rested his face in his hands. He was trying to calm himself down. 'It was only a nightmare. Snap out of it.'
"Jaune?" He heard someone say his name and he flinched. He raised his head out of his hands and looked across to see Yang awake and looking at him in concern. "Are you okay?"
Jaune just nodded weakly, "Yeah, just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, I'm fine." He looked down at the ground with that.
He was distracted, so he missed Yang gently move Ruby to not wake her and leant her head against Weiss shoulder. She then stood up and sat next to him as she gently rubbed his back. He flinched since he was so deep in thought. He looked back at her, "You still have them?"
Jaune chuckled but it had no humor in it. "They never stopped. After the Fall, they just got worse. That mixed with being in the badland for so long, gave me a bout of insomnia."
Yang just looked at him before she decided on what to do. She placed her hands on his shoulders to guide him to sit up. He looked over at her confused as she grabbed his right hand and wrapped his around her. She sat closer to him and wrapped her left arm around him as she rested her head on his shoulder. She then took his remaining hand in her own. "Yang?" he asked.
"Us being close helped with them. Just relax and get some rest." She said with her eyes closed.
He looked at her before turning away, "I don't deserve this." He said quietly.
"It's up to me whether I want to do this or not." She told him simply. "Just get some rest, Jaune. You're safe."
The two sat like that for a while and Yang soon drifted off. Jaune sat there in her embrace, conflicted. He felt happy that this was happening again, but he still didn't deserve it. Soon her scent and warmth were starting to overwhelm him and he was slowly falling asleep. He ended up resting his head on hers as sleep took him. If this was another time, he'd probably would have kissed her before falling asleep. But he didn't. He had no right to do that. Not anymore.
A/N- He is the next chapter! But I have two announcements about this story. First, chapter three will have A LOT of exposition, so you have been warned. Second, that chapter won't be out for about two weeks or so. Sorry for the inconvenience. I plan on posting Distortion next week since I post those chapters t the beginning of the month and I have a one-shot planned for Valentine's Day. I really don't have much time to write as of late, really only have time to write a chapter a week. I would love to write more but just don't have the time. I hope you all understand and will be patient. See you all in the next update!
