RWBY: The Remnant Knight

There are many paths in life, some that are set in stone and some that are in a state of flux...then there are the ones that defy the course of fate. This is one such path where destiny is defied and the path of a Knight is forged in blood, steel and magic. This is the Rise of the Remnant Knight.

Chapter IV: Recovery

Lilac eyes slowly opened as Yang stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, half excepting to awaken to a blinding light in a pristine clean hospital room, a place she would normally send the people she'd beat up. Instead, she awoke to a grey ceiling, with wires and piping lining the metallic surface above her head.

At first, she thought she was still dreaming, but the subtle shaking beneath her bed told her otherwise. She attempted to massage her head, only to stop in horror as she looked down at the stub that was her right arm. A cold panic began to surge in her chest, as her breathing began to quicken its pace.

Until memories of the battle came back in full force

She was running through the school as the fire burned all around her, a dangerous man was standing over Blake as she screamed in rage. She was running towards him before a flash of light struck her right arm and she remembered the sight of her right arm flying from her body, just before blacking out. That was when reality hit her, harder than it did during the battle of Beacon.

Her arm was gone, taken by the horned man with the red sword...forever.

A red and white figure suddenly stood next to her as a familiar voice began to speak.

"Yang! You're ok! Uncle Qrow! Yang's awake!" a familiar voice said to her side as she turned to see the face of her baby sister and her partner Weiss sitting beside her. The young girl holding her left hand, as a relieved look was on her sister's face. Followed by the warm smile on her uncle's face as he looked down at his niece.

"Hey kiddo, you were out for quite a bit, how you feeling?" he asked out of concern for his niece as the blond girl had a strange look on her face.

"Ruby? Uncle Qrow? Where are - Ugh..." The party-girl shook her head as she slowly sat up, but grunted in pain

"Easy there kid, the medics had to give you a lot of morphine while they tended to your arm. Unfortunately, they couldn't find it amongst the wreckage, so they had no other choice but to cauterize your wound...sorry kid...but your arm's gone for good." Yang stared down at the stump of her arm as she stared blankly at the stained bandages.

"...What happened after I passed out? And where are we?" she asked as she looked around the strange metallic room.

"Well for starters we're on Bullhead headed to Kaer Arc, an old stronghold north of Vale and the ancestral homestead of the Arc family," the man said as Yang looked confused.

"Arcs? You mean Jaune's family? Why would we be going to-" memories of her uncle carrying a blood-soaked body flashed before her, "Oh Gods...Jaune...he is...a-are we delivering his body?" she asked with a frightful tone. But to her surprise, he shook his head as he sighed.

"Sort of, It's more complicated than that..." he stood to the side as her eyes widened further at the sight that beheld her.

There on the cot lying opposite her was the broken body of Jaune Arc, his body wrapped in bandages that constricted his chest with small areas that had already begun to dampen red with blood. Cables, tubes and wiring were attached all over his body as the steady sound of his heartbeat on a monitor echoed in the cabin along with the shallow breathing from his oxygen mask.

Beside him with her hand gripped firmly in his own was Pyrrha Nikos, his partner and the object of his newfound affections, sat by his side with a look of worry on her face as she silently stared at his sleeping face. A soldier with the symbol of a cross and snake stood next to the boy as he adjusted the IV drip that was attached to his wrist.

"Jaune?! B-but how h-he died! W-we all saw it! You carried his body at the docks! He was dead! How is this-?!" she was interrupted as Qrow sat beside her and sighed.

"He did, but turns out the kid's more stubborn than anyone realised and somehow came back from the dead," he chuckled slightly as he withdrew his silver flask from his back pocket. "Honestly I'm a little impressed...and that doesn't happen often," he downed a huge gulp before he wiped his lips and screwed the lid back on.

"But there is something wrong with him, his aura is acting up constantly healing and ripping his body apart at the same time. He is in a constant state of pain that I'm surprised his mind hasn't killed him by now?" Yang gasped slightly as she turned to see Jaune suddenly grunt and convulse in pain, as Pyrrha only gripped his hand and whispered comforting words to him.

"We don't know what's happening with him, so we're taking him to his family. They're the only ones who could possibly know more about Final Inheritance then anyone in the world. They might have some idea what's going on inside him, or that's what we're hoping. We won't know until we get there," he took another swing at his flask as he downed the liquor.

"...Whoa...w-what happened after Jaune came back to life? Where are the others?" Qrow ran a hand through his hair, as he began to fill the girl in on what she missed.

"Well...Vale is still in complete disarray and a lot of people who were injured or killed during the attack, most of them were foreign students and civilians. Goodwitch is trying to organise the repairs and is building temporary shelters for the survivors. General Ironwood is trying to gather up his men and reform order in the city. But he lost a lot of soldiers during the initial assault with his own drones turning against him, which has left him severely underhanded and is currently struggling to maintain order in the city until reinforcements arrive. Not to mention the damage that was done when most of his warships went down after Roman took control of the ship he was held on and blasted the others out of the sky, it's not going easy for him..." he chuckled slightly as he shook his head.

"So much for looking at the sky and seeing hope? If it wasn't for Ruby taking down Roman and Jaune stopping that woman, things could have gotten a lot worse," he said under his breath. Yang looked slightly confused before she shook her head and looked at Ruby.

"What about our friends? Are they ok?" she asked as Ruby nodded her head.

"They're fine, Coco and her team are helping with the repairs while Sun's left for Mistral. Professor Goodwitch thought that the foreign students would be safer if they were sent back home. Ren and Nora are coming with us to Kaer Arc because they want to see what will happen to Jaune, as for Pyrrha..." she stopped as she tried to find the right words.

"...Pyrrha hasn't left Jaune's side since he came back, they want to be there for her in case the worse happens..." she said as she looked over to see Nora and Ren sitting in the seats lining the walls.

Nora had her head resting on his lap, as the dark-haired magenta-streaked boy softly stroked the orange mass of hair that was his childhood friend, doing the best he could to comfort her as she lay peacefully on his lap. He would spare an occasional glance towards his other teammates, as the sounds of the one he considers a brother breathed shallow breaths that resonated in the small cabin. A look of deep thought evident on his face, as he turned back to Nora and continued to comfort the sleeping girl.

"As for us, Uncle Qrow didn't want to leave us behind with the soldiers, so he had us come with him and Professor Port while you were unconscious and Weiss didn't want to stay behind without us," Ruby said as Weiss nodded beside her.

"We're also trying to see if the Arc's can provide any relief for the people of Vale. Aside from the Schnee's, the Arc's are one of the most influential families in Remnant and we're hoping they are willing to negotiate some aid for us in exchange for returning Jaune to them alive" Weiss said as she looked over to Jaune.

Yang sighed in relief at this as she rested her head on the pillow. But that was when she noticed something was off, something she should have noticed the moment she woke up.

"...Where's Blake?"

A cold silence shrouded the cabin, as Ruby and Weiss had an almost frightened look on their faces, as they shared a subtle glance at each other. Fear gripped at Yang's heart as her teammates looked at her with sadness in their eyes.

"Guys...where is Blake?"

"Yang...Blake...Blake's gone..." Weiss said as she hung her head.

Yang stared in disbelief, feeling as though a truck had just hit her at full force. Her heart hammering in her chest as she refused to believe what she just heard.

"W-what? B-Blake? Blake is..." her eyes suddenly flashed red as she quickly grabbed the front of Weiss's dress as she pulled her close to her face. "What the hell happened to her!? Where is Blake! Answer me!" she growled in anger as demanded answers.

"Yang! Calm down, she's safe! She is still alive!" Ruby quickly said as she managed to get her sister to drop Weiss, as she roughly fell on her backside. "Blake is still alive Yang, don't worry about that...it's just, Blake she..."

"She left," Weiss said as she got up off the floor and crossed her arms. "She left shortly after Jaune came back to life, during the commotion she snuck away and hasn't been seen since..." Weiss said as she hung her head.

"We tried calling her scroll, but she didn't answer and sent us a message telling us not to follow her. Sun found her scroll a little far off from the docks, she smashed it so we couldn't find her..." Ruby shook her head as she looked at her sister.

"I'm sorry Yang but...but Blake left us..."

The blond haired girl could only stare back blankly as she fell back into the bed and lay her head on the pillow. The image of her partner briefly passing through her mind as she rested her arm over her eyes and refused to say anything.

"Yang?" Ruby asked as her sister became uncharacteristically quiet that brought fear to both her and her partner. Her only response was for Yang to roll over on her side, back facing her sister as she stared at the wall.

"Yang?"

"Leave me alone Ruby...I don't want to talk now..."

Ruby and Weiss could only glance back at each other, as worry was clear on their faces. Qrow, on the other hand, could understand why she was acting this way. She had been framed, crippled and now abandoned by her partner. She had lost her fighting spirit. He had seen it before many times before and knew it would not be easy for her to heal her emotional wounds.

Those wounds were harder to heal...and often they never did...

"I'm going to check with Port and the pilot and see how much longer we'll be. Are you going to be alright?" he asked Ruby, as the girl could only nod her head as she looked at the back of her sister.

He shook his head as he left the two sisters to themselves, while Weiss could only stare with a sorrowful expression before she got up and walked over to where Ren and Nora sat. Ren acknowledged her presence but still focused his gaze on the pair in front of him, as Pyrrha held Jaune's hand in her own.

"Hey..." she said as with a slightly awkward tone in her voice, as she sat down and the two in front of them.

"Hey..." he said, an equally awkward tone in his voice as he was not used to talking with the white-haired girl.

"Things got pretty hectic before huh?"

"Yes, it kind of did, didn't it?" he said as the girl sighed.

"I mean I don't...I don't even know where to begin? First Penny dies and then Beacon gets attacked by the White Fang, a-and now someone who was dead only a few hours ago is alive and lying right across from us..." she sighed as she rested her head in her hand. "When did everything get so...wrong? Why did it have to happen to us? Can't everything just go back to the way it was?" she said as the boy could only ponder the thought.

"I don't think things can ever go back, and even if we could, it's not going to change what happened to us." he looked over as Jaune seemed almost struggling to breathe.

"This attack, this war that was waged against us, has changed us in ways we can't even imagine. We've all lost something..."

"Our spirits..." Yang continued to ignore her sister, while Ruby could only hang her head at the sight of her older sisters pain.

"Our futures..." far away in the ruined city of Vale, Bake looked sadly at the corpses of the dead, woman and children alike as she hung her head and bolted from the rooftop.

"The trust we used to share..." Glynda coordinated with Ironwood as troops and civilians continued to search the ruins of the city for survivors. Ironwood would notice the occasional cautious glance the people shot towards his men as some even refused their help.

"We've lost too much and I don't doubt we will still lose more..." Pyrrha sadly held Jaune's hand as he twitched and drew in a sharp breath before he settled down and returned to small shallow breaths.

"But that doesn't mean it will stop us...Jaune proved that today..." Weiss looked over as Ren looked at his hand.

"He proved that even when we are pushed back as far as we can go, we can still stand firm and push back just as hard..." he gripped his hand into a fist as a determined look formed on his face. "And the next time someone targets us, I won't stand on the side as my friends...no...as my brother stands against them alone. I will be there right by his side ready to face the future together...that's a promise," Ren said as Weiss stared at him in slight awe.

She turned back to Jaune, as she was amazed at how he was able to inspire something so powerful in his friend, enough for him to call him a brother and willing to now put his own life on the line for him. It made her wonder why she never noticed that aspect of him in the many months that they spent together at Beacon.

All she had seen in him was the terrible flirt and the clueless idiot that asked her out relentlessly, but a kind and caring friend when he wanted to be, she now regretted being as overly cold as she was to him.

Now she saw something different in him, someone who was strong and brave and not afraid to put his life on the line to save the ones he cares about, a testament to that fact as he lay on the cot struggling between staying alive and accepting death. She swore to herself that if he manages to pull through this trial, to beat death and make it back to all of them she would be kinder to him and maybe accept that one date he had asked for so long.

'But...' she thought to herself as she looked over to Pyrrha's form as she held his hand in her own noticing the subtle squeeze she gave to him. 'That last one might not be possible anymore...not from me anyway...' Pyrrha held his hand in her own as she rested them on her forehead silently praying to any God that was willing to hear her plea.

Meanwhile, Qrow had moved to the cockpit as Port stood next to the pilot observing the billowing winds and the clouds that passed them before the portly man turned and acknowledged the fellow teacher.

"How are the children?"

"Well, they're not children anymore, not after all they had been through. But they're hanging on, if barely..." Qrow said as he thought of his niece Yang and the depression she now faced. Port sighed as he shook his head.

"And Mister Arc?"

"He's holding on, but I'm not sure for how much longer, I'm still shocked that he even came back to life. Are you sure that final inheritance users die shortly after activation?" Port nodded as he cast his gaze to the clouds.

"I'm certain of it...and unlike mister Arc, my friend didn't come back from the dead," he shook his head as he turned back to the scythe wielder.

"In any case, we are about fifteen minutes out from Domrémy, which means hopefully we can use the short burst radio frequencies to contact them, even with the CCT down short bursts should still work," Port said as Qrow nodded and the co-pilot turned on the radio. He fiddled with a few of the dials as he tried to find the right frequency for the fort.

"Kaer Arc, this is Atlesian Medical Transport A-497 from Beacon Academy requesting permission to land, do you copy?" static was all that answered as the co-pilot tried again. "Kaer Arc, this is Atlesian Medical Transport A-497 requesting permission to land, do you co-"

"Atlesian Medical Transport this Kaer Arc Air Control, you are entering restricted airspace. State your business" a man spoke over the radio as the pilot responded.

"Kaer Arc, we have injured in need of medical treatment with one in a critical state, fluctuating in and out of consciousness. We need permission to land"

"Medical Transport A-497 your request has been denied. You are ordered to leave Domrémy airspace. The city is under lockdown and no outsiders are allowed into the city, orders straight from Commander Arc," the radio hand said as Qrow got angry.

"Listen here tech head! Tell that stubborn bastard to let us land now! We have seriously injured children on board and one of them is his own son! If he doesn't let us land right now there is a good chance he will lose him, do you copy!" the radio went silent as the teachers waited with baited breath.

"...Medical Transport A-497 you are permitted to land, make your way to the western landing platform, a Deck team will be standing by" the tech said as both men sighed in relief.

"Well...at least that's some good news," Qrow said as he made his way back to the rear cabin. "Hey Doc, we're about to land so get prepped to move. You kids get ready too ok? We'll be touching down in fifteen," the man said, as he was about to walk back into the cockpit until Ruby grasped at his sleeve.

"Uncle Qrow, what's Jaune's home like?" she asked as the man sighed and looked at the other kids.

"Oh boy, where to start?" he cleared his through as he turned to the kids.

"The place we are heading to is called Domrémy one of the largest settlement ever established and maintained in Remnant history. It's based just on the borders of Kingdom territory and ruled by a powerful family of warriors, the Arcs. And while they don't technically answer to the Council, they do have a long-standing contract to protect the smaller settlements in the region. In exchange for ownership of a portion of the lands and access to the region's mineral and dust resources. You could almost say they are a private military if it wasn't for the civilians inhabiting the town."

"They mostly sustain themselves by growing their own food and mine the rare metals and dust from the ground in order to procure trade agreements for weapons and ammunition. Relax, none of the workers, Faunus or otherwise is forced to work in hazardous places and is properly paid for their work. It's almost scary how devoted they are to protecting the town" he crossed his arms as he remembered his last trip to the settlement.

"Not to mention Arc warriors or those trained by the Arcs are highly sought after by other countries, so they amass a large amount of wealth from each mission...Sometimes I wonder if they are honourable warriors or just a large mercenary force with a code?" he shook his head as he sighed.

"They have stood as the Vanguards for the entire region for almost eighteen generations, that's longer than any other recorded settlement known to man. The current leader is Jaune's father, Roland Arc, one of the strongest and most stubborn bastards I have ever had the privilege to know. He and I fought together on some missions in the past and he didn't always get along with my 'cynical view on politics and order', but still he is one of the best men to have fought by your side when you need it...and he is one of my closest friends," he smiled slightly at the one memory of the man as he and Qrow toasted a victory in days long since passed.

The others looked at him before he shook himself of the memory. "Other than that, he's mostly known for his stoic personality and willingness to enforce Iron fist judgments when he needs to instil order, but he generally cares for the people under his charge and will do anything to protect them..." he chuckled as he looked at the comatose boy.

"At least he only got that part from his father," he said as Jaune's shallow breathing slightly echoed in the cabin.

"We're almost here if you want to see Domrémy form above, now would be a good time...its one a heck of a view," While the medical unit began setting up the cot to go mobile, Ruby out of curiosity left her sister's side as she went over to the port side window and looked out. Her eyes briefly widened as she realised a small gasp.

"Whoa...hey guys, Uncle Qrow wasn't kidding" Ren, Nora and Weiss moved over to the Window, while Yang and Pyrrha stayed in their place not really caring about the view.

They gasped slightly as the came into view of a huge settlement based at the foot of a large mountain surrounded by an endless sea of forest, it was smaller than a city but far larger than a simple village.

Surrounding the settlement was a large concrete wall with sentry towers placed at thirty-meter intervals with large sentry cannons placed on each tower along with the symbol of the Arc family brandished on every flag, along with the Vale national flag just underneath the banner. As they flew over the city they soon noticed a large fortress-like structure carved directly into the mountain face. The fortress stonewalls naturally blended into the mountainside that from a distance it looked like it was a part of the mountain itself.

It was a marvel of architecture and strategic engineering.

Several helipads could be seen, as one had lights flashing signalling for the transport to land on that particular pad, along with a man holding signal lights to direct them. The Bullhead slowly began to descend from the sky, before the landing gears deployed and the ship touched down on the platform. The medic and Port carefully placed Jaune onto the stretcher as the rear ramp opened up and the rest of them began piling off the ship.

"Wait here, got to find out what mood Roland's in before we bring out his son," Qrow said to the medic and Port as the nodded and remained on the ship until Qrow would signal them.

No sooner did they step off the ramp, did a squad of men and woman dressed in armour came marching towards them with spears at the ready.

They quickly surrounded the group as they stood fast in a soldier's salute, spears pointed up to the sky as they quickly parted for two individuals. Following them was a tall blond-haired man dressed in heavy white armour with a large broadsword strapped to his back. He had a scar running from the top of his brow to the bottom of the jaw on the right side of his face.

The woman beside him had long dark brown hair and was dressed in a long green dress, with a simple short sword on her waist. A determined look was set on his face as the heavily armoured man came marching towards the new arrivals.

"Qrow!" the man yelled as he marched towards the group.

"Oh great, he's in his 'chipper mood', this going to play out well..." Qrow muttered as the pair walked up to him.

"What did you mean when you said our son was onboard and that he was alive? How is that possible, explain right now before I rescind my order and force you to leave!" the man said as Qrow gave a snarky smile to the man.

"Roland, always good to see your chipper personality. Diana you are looking lovely as always" Qrow quipped, as Diana and Roland only glared at the man.

"Cut the crap you bastard! Tell us where our son is!" the man demanded as Qrow sighed and motioned for the two inside the ship, Pyrrha wisely choosing to step back as she allowed the parents to look over their son.

Both parents gasped in horror as their son was slowly brought down the ramp.

The subtle sounds of his breathing almost seemed amplified to the pair, as they could only stare at the torn flesh that decorated his chest and the multiple scraps that decorated his face and body. Diane instantly was at her son's side as she held her hand in his and cupped the side of his face. Tears already in her eyes, as she glanced at every wound that covered his body as she silently wept for her child.

Roland slowly walked over as he looked at his son's broken form. The blood-soaked bandages drew his attention the most, as the blood seemed to almost glow amongst the red lights of the helipad lights.

"Son..." he said as reached out to stroke a strand of hair from his head, as he lowered his head and held in a cry of anguish. He then turned to Qrow as he moved towards the veteran hunter.

"What is the meaning of this Qrow? How can my son be still alive?" he asked as the man scratched the back of his head.

"Honestly, I don't know, somehow your son came back to life after being dead for three hours. We were hoping you'd be able to help us understand what's going on with him? I mean your family does know more about final inheritance than anyone else figured you might know what's going on with him" Roland looked back as his son was being transported to the Medic and Port with the armed escort.

"No, no one has ever survived it before, it shouldn't be possible..." Qrow was slightly stunned that the man he knew was at a loss. Was it honestly the first time he had ever seen him so...conflicted? Did seeing his son in that state that nerves wrecking for him? He always figured the man would be-!

Suddenly a large wave of energy shot from Jaune's body as he began to spasm and scream in pain. The energy slammed against everyone around them as large bolts of electricity shot off his body. The Medic and Qrow quickly tried to hold him down while his mother shrieked at the sight, as his father could only watch in muted silence.

"Shit! It's happening again!" Qrow said as he held the boys struggling arm, "Cereal girl! Get over here now!" he ordered as Pyrrha flinched slightly before she ran down and cupped his head in her hands.

"Jaune, Jaune its ok! You're safe now; we're at your home! It's ok now, you're safe...you're safe..." she whispered into his ear as the boy's breathing became calmer as the energy slowly receded back into his body as the parents looked at the red-haired girl in shock.

The guardsmen and parents could only stare in stunned silence as the redhead continued to keep the boy calm and stable.

"W-what was that!?" Roland asked as Qrow sighed.

"We don't know, it's been happening ever since he came back to life"

"But what is it? What's been happening to my son?"

"Oobleck believes it's a form of aura metamorphism, his aura is changing into something else and his body can't take it. His body is healing and tearing itself apart at the same time...from the looks of it, he could die at any moment and we still don't know what's happening to him"

"He is becoming something more," both men turned around as woman began walking towards them, followed by men dressed in white and bearing the medics cross.

Unlike Diane, the woman was slightly smaller then Pyrrha and had pure dark hair, with small strands of gold mixed into the mess.

She was dressed in what they could best describe as priestess robes with a hood covering her head, as she walked with a staff that had a white crystal at the end with the Arc symbol embedded into the crystal. She had an air of authority and wisdom around her as the soldier and Arc's instantly bowed to the woman.

"Whoa, who is the woman?" Ruby asked as Weiss spun to her.

"How would I know?" Ruby shrugged while Port leant next to her

"That's Melaine Arc, she is the highest-ranking member of the Arc Family and the world's foremost surgeon and medical practitioner in all of Remnants history. But not only that, she is also..." before he could finish, Roland got back up and addressed the woman.

"Mother what are you doing here?" he said as the students flinched as if struck by a bolt of lightning.

"Mother! She's Jaune's Grandmother!" the rest of the students shouted in shock as they were addressed to Jaune's grandmother.

"What? Haven't you ever seen a young looking grandparent before?" the woman asked the students just shook their heads.

"I guess not seeing as you are used to seeing wrinkles and grey hair, one of the many benefits of being married to an Arc, not getting old," she said as she placed a hand against her smooth skin.

"Just being near my husband had saturated me with his aura's healing abilities and reduced my ageing by decades. Arcs have been a warrior family for generations, how is it you think they fight for so long?" Diana slightly nodded while Roland rolled his eyes. The woman then turned as she smiled to Peter Port.

"Peter, it's so good to see you again," she said as the Portly Professor bowed before her.

"Indeed Lady Arc, I only wish our reunion was not so similar to...Cornelius," he said as the woman only smiled softly at the old man.

"I told you, my husband had no regrets when he passed on, so please call me Melaine, we are friends after all?" she said as the man shook his head.

"I cannot, the fact that his blood is still on my hands will be with me for the rest of my life...I will carry that burden" the man side as most were surprised by the normally boastful teacher's serious persona.

"Then so be it...old friend," she said with a saddened smiled as her son walked over to her.

"Mother, do you know what's going on with Jaune?" She smirked slightly as she walked over to them and placed her hand on the boy's chest and her eyes glowed gold with a small cross in the centre.

"The energy inside of him is fusing and adapting to his aura, it is changing the very nature of his semblance, amplifying it and giving it a new form." As if to emphasise her point sections of his armour formed on his body before they warped and shattered like glass.

"But his body is still too weak to handle the transformation and if we do not act soon, he risks losing his life," she said as Qrow looked at her curiously.

"How do you know what's happening to him?" he asked as the woman's eyes returned from gold to its normal hazel coloured eyes.

"My semblance is called 'Analysis' it allows me to perform in-depth scans of a person's body and aura in order to determine their abilities and their weakness. I mostly use it for medical purposes, so I have not used it for combat in quite some time..." she gripped her hand around her staff as she looked at the arch of electricity that surged briefly around his body.

"And for the fact that I have been studying Final Inheritance for the past ten years since my husband died, in order to understand what it is that inflicts his family...and why it took my husband from me," a memory of her husband passed her mind. But she shook it off as she turned to the

"Get him to the ICU, we need a deep tissue scan of his biology and a reading on his aura levels" she ordered as the medics that followed her nodded.

"Yes, ma'am" they then grabbed the gurney as they made their way to the medical facility.

"In the meantime, I think it's best that we hear what our guest have to say, they did return our heir to us after all?" Melaine said as Roland begrudgingly nodded.

"Follow me, we have a lot to talk about..." he said as they all followed him into the hallowed halls of Kaer Arc.

Two Hours Later, Kaer Arc Medical Centre

The rhythmic sounds of a heart monitor echoed in the pristine white room as Jaune Arc lay in the bed. His bandages redressed and his body washed clean as a team of medical professionals, along with his grandmother, stood over his body as they began trying to ascertain what exactly it was that was affecting his body and why his wounds were in a constant state of repaired and damaged.

Melaine knew it had something to do with Final Inheritance fusing to his body, but she needed to know what exactly was happening to him if she was going to treat him. After finding out that he had been dead prior to his resurrection, the first thing she checked was his brain activity, to see if the time he spent dead had degraded some of his brain tissue due to lack of oxygen. But scans had revealed that Final Inheritance, fused with his natural healing abilities temporarily, had repaired all of the damage to the brain.

Meaning that he would not suffer any loss of brain function if he woke up.

It was almost as if both his aura and Inheritance knew that the brain needed to be repaired first, before going to war with each other. Strange? Maybe it was an instinctual need to survive? Put aside their differences for their own survival? Who knows?

In any case with his brain no longer an issue, she began to run her semblance over his body, finally able to get a deeper scan of his injuries as she watched the White Aura and the Yellow Aura clash within his body. The white seemed to repair his damaged cells while the Yellow seemed to do the opposite, albeit unintentionally and then collided in a show of light.

It was like watching fire and ice trying to snuff each other out while both burning and freezing everything around them and then clashing in a show of fiery ice. Almost beautiful...

While she tended to Jaune, Roland and Qrow watched from behind a sheet of glass as they waited to find out the fate of the young knight. Roland leant up against the window as he watched his son breath shallowly through a tube, a sight that pained him so.

"So this woman, this Cinder Fall? She's the one who did this to my son?" Qrow nodded as he looked at the boy.

"Yeah, Ruby managed to give us her name after the battle, we know she was after something in the school and brought an army to get it"

"You mean the Maidens power?" Qrow looked back as the man scoffed.

"Don't pretend to be ignorant Qrow, it wasn't hard to figure out after it was broadcasted over the entire network. We know of the Maidens existence, one my ancestors fought alongside the previous Summer maiden long ago, but vowed to keep her existance a secret. Maybe if you had informed us, we could have helped." Qrow lowered his head slightly.

"But in any case, this Cinder woman, she is dead right?" Qrow nodded.

"My niece confirmed it herself, she watched her blow up in a big explosion," Qrow said as Roland growled.

"Damn...and I wanted to make her suffer," he said as he looked at his son. "But why was my son the one fighting her? Where were you lot?" he asked as Qrow spoke.

"Most of us were in the city or the Coliseum when the attack happened and the only other one at the tower was Ozpin, but he has been missing since the attack. The Nikos girl told us that he stayed behind to fight her while telling the kid here and herself to get back to Vale and warn us. But apparently, they saw her flying to the top after they made it out..." Roland turned back as he started slightly.

"You mean Ozpin is?" Qrow shrugged as crossed his arm.

"I'm not sure. We haven't found a body yet, but with that woman's abilities, I doubt there would be anything left of him. Or maybe he escaped and is nursing his wounds somewhere and can't contact us, I can't really say for sure." Roland still shook his head as he felt Qrow was hiding something from him.

"That doesn't explain why my son and that girl were there? What did they have to do with it?" Qrow sighed as he leant himself against the glass.

"Ozpin...wanted the Nikos girl to take the other half of the maiden's power, making her the new Fall Maiden," blue eyes widened as he turned to him.

"What!? Why would he do something like that?"

"Ozpin felt we needed to even the playing field and that girl was the strongest out of all the students, he felt confident that she would be a potential candidate. So we brought her down and explained everything to her, hoping that she would do what needed to be done. But afterwards she seemed distraught and unfocused; I think she was weighing the choice she had to make." he sighed as rubbed a hand across his chin.

"Then the attack happened and I'm assuming Ozpin brought her down to give her the power...and then you know the rest..." he sighed as he remembered telling the girl the truth.

"She told us after the battle that your son put her in one of those rocket-lockers to get her to safety, while he went up to hold her off...your son didn't go up there to save the world...he went up there to save her..."

Roland looked stunned for a moment as he looked over at his son as he felt a feeling of pride in his chest. Qrow sighed, as he was afraid what he had to ask of the father.

"Roland, I know I have no right to ask you for this, but Vale needs your help. It may be free from Grimm, but the city is still in turmoil. They have no food, no medical supplies and they don't trust us anymore to guard them. They certainly won't trust the Atlas reinforcements that will arrive in the city. But if you can offer any aid, seeing as the kid was from your family, they might just be willing to-"

"I'll send aid..." Qrow was taken back slightly as he looked at him.

"Roland?"

"I said I'll send aid, the people of Vale will have our support..." he lowered his head as he a sullen look came over his face.

"My son gave everything he had to fight that woman and it nearly cost him his life. And while it may have been to protect that girl of his, I won't allow what my son saved destroy itself from fear. I'll send my eldest daughter to Vale with supplies and some troops. When they see our symbol they will know who to trust..." he then turned to Qrow as he glared at him.

"But let me make one thing perfectly clear Qrow if I find out that you all were hiding something else that will cost my son's life. No county and not even an army Grimm will be able to protect you from our wrath, understood?" Qrow didn't react but only nodded as he turned and left the man to his thoughts as he looked back to his son.

Kaer Arc Living Hall, Main House

Sitting on the extravagant lounges were the remainders of teams RWBY and JNPR as they looked around at the large high ceilings of the living quarters of the fortress. They had been able to change out of their blood-soaked and battle damaged clothing, wash away the grime and filth from their bodies and into some clean clothing that was provided to them by the Arcs.

They were then brought into the main living hall as they were soon seated on the lounges, while the guards stood still in the corners of the room. They took the moment to look over the large mansion like fortress marvelling at the many paintings, statues and artefacts belonging to many great Arcs.

"Whoa...so this is where Jaune grew up?" Nora said as she looked around the home. "It's huge," she said as Ruby nodded.

"It's almost as large as my own home, maybe even more?" Weiss said as compared the size of the fortress to her own home.

"It kind of makes you understand why Jaune faked his way into Beacon," Ren said as they looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked as the boy laced his fingers together.

"His family has been protecting this region of Vale for the past eighteen generations, that is almost over two to three hundred years of men and women that had led and protected this place, each one of them remembered as heroes and saviours. That kind of pressure, I can't imagine anyone having to live up to something like that...other than Weiss here," he said as everyone looked at Weiss.

"Maybe that's why he wanted to get to know you better back at Beacon, he thought you knew what it was like to live up to high expectations?" Weiss looked around at the large memorabilia that decorated the fortress walls and felt a strange feeling of guilt as she realised that there was more to Jaune then she thought.

Suddenly the large oaken doors opened up as Diana Arc and another woman with straight light blue hair and emerald green eyes walked into the room. She was dressed in a long blue dress with silver armour decorated on her chest, shoulders and hands, with a decorated long sword strapped to her waist.

"Greetings, I hope you are all comfortable?" Diana asked as she received hesitant nods from the group.

"There is no need to be afraid, after everything that has happened to you all, I do not blame you for being worried. You are safe inside these walls and there is nothing to be afraid of. Allow me to introduce my eldest daughter, Bleu Arc, she is captain of the 4th regiment here at Kaer Arc," the woman nodded as she and her mother sat on the spare couches.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, I wish it were under better circumstance but I guess fate had other plans?" she said as she greeted the team, as Pyrrha waved slightly.

"Hello, I'm-"

"Pyrrha Nikos, I know, Jaune talked about you all the time when he called. It's nice to finally meet his partner" she said as Pyrrha suddenly looked sullen.

"I don't think...I don't think you should be saying that" she said as the pair looked confused. "It's-it's my fault that Jaune is like this, it's my fault that he that he..." a soft hand was placed on her own.

She looked up as she was met with the soft presence of Diana as she shook her head.

"Do not blame yourself for this, my husband told me your story from Qrow, so I understand what you were going through. What happened in the Vault and with that woman is not your fault, don't blame yourself for any of this, you're not expected to save the whole world" she said as Pyrrha stared at her.

"As for Jaune, he knew what was he was doing when he went up against her. he knew what he had to do to keep you safe...my son told me that he was developing feelings for you..." Pyrrha looked stunned slightly as the others looked just as shocked.

"He said that he was starting to feel different about you after the dance about a month ago back at Beacon" Pyrrha blushed slightly as she remembered that dance with Jaune, even though he was wearing a dress.

"You made him feel more special than he had ever felt in his entire life, as a mother I felt sad that he felt that way from someone outside his own family," Bleu lowered head slightly as she nodded. Diane then smiled as she looked into the red head's eyes.

"But I was happy, happy to know that my son had found someone who had so much faith in him," she said as she squeezed her hand slightly. "If Jaune put himself through all of this, just to make sure you were safe...then I know he would never hate you for it and neither would I," she said as Bleu placed a hand on hers as well.

"Thank you for believing in him..." she said as Pyrrha could only stare at the two.

Small tears formed in her eyes as the woman brought her into a hug. She allowed the former champion cry into the older woman's shoulder, doing her best to comfort the one that her son given his life for. Ruby and the others watched as they looked at the scene and smiled knowing that no matter what they had gone through...

They would recover

The doors opened up again as everyone turned to Melaine, Roland and Qrow walked into the room. Melaine's hands no longer covered in blood, as she stood before the group, Roland came up behind her as he stood behind his wife. Pyrrha instantly shot up as she stood before her.

"Jaune, is he?" the woman raised her hand as she brought it up to her brow.

"Jaune is alive, for the most part...the energy of final inheritance was surging throughout his entire body, breaking down his cells, while his natural healing abilities were repairing the damage at an accelerated rate. If it had continued his body would have eventually be ripped from the inside out. We were able to repair as much of the damage as we could, by suppressing Final Inheritance with aura nullifiers and healing wounds...but..." she sighed as she was afraid to say what would come next.

"In order to do so we also had to suppress his aura as well and because of it...Jaune is now in a coma"

Eyes widened in shock as Diane gasped while Pyrrha placed her hand over her mouth and stumbled back onto the couch as Ruby and Nora were instantly by her side as they attempted to comfort the girl. Ren and Weiss looked shocked while Bleu gripped her fists tightly. Ruby looked over at her as fear was evident on her young face

"How...how long will he be like this?" the older woman shrugged as she held her own hands.

"I don't know...it could be days, weeks, months...years even? The only way to save him was by suppressing final inheritance which had already mixed in with seventy-five percent of his natural aura reserves...to save him we had to cut him off from both. We set the nullifiers to slowly release his aura over a period of time, allowing small amounts of inheritance and his aura to merge and adapt to his body safely. However, the process was too painful for his mind to comprehend, so his body forced him to recede into a coma..."

"Now..." she said as she stared at them, "It's up to Jaune whether or not he lives..."

The room was silent as they thought about what they had just been told. Jaune was alive, for which they were happy about, but was now trapped within his own body. They had often heard stories about how people could remain in a coma for years with no sign of ever waking up, that they would be forced to let them go. They were afraid that the same thing could happen to Jaune.

They were afraid that they were going to lose him...

"He'll make it..." they all turned to Ruby as she looked up with brave eyes. "Because he has something to come back to..." she turned to Pyrrha as she nodded to her "it's what brought him back before"

Pyrrha looked at the girl as she felt every eye was now on her, all their hope of bringing Jaune home now rode on his will to live, not only for his family and his friends.

But for the one person who always believed in him.

Blue eyes slowly opened, as a blinding light was the first thing that greeted Jaune. A rhythmic sound of a monitor hammered in his eardrums as he returned to the world. He groaned as he slowly tried to raise himself from the bed, only to fall back down as he found he had no strength in his entire body.

"W-what the? Where am I?" he moved his head around as he recognised it as one of the medical rooms back at Kaer Arc. He was back at his home.

"H-how did I?" he stopped as he noticed a familiar shade of red next to his right leg as he looked down to see Pyrrha as she rested near the foot of his bed. Her hair was no longer tied in the ponytail that he had so often seen her with, but was now cascading down her back and spill over the sheets that she lay her head on.

"P-Pyrrha?" the sudden movement caused her to stir as she slowly raised her head only to widen her eyes in shock as she looked into his eyes.

"Jaune!" she said as she suddenly embraced him in a tight hug. "You're awake! Oh, thank Oum you're all right! I was-I was so and I was afraid you wouldn't..." she said as she rested her head against his chest and soaked his shirt with tears as Jaune looked at her confused.

"P-Pyrrha, I'm-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to- I'm sorry," he said as her sobs slowly began to die down.

"It's...it's okay...I'm just glad you're safe," she said as she held his hand in her own. Jaune nodded as he tried to get up again but found he had no strength once again.

"Pyrrha?" she looked as he looked back at her, "Why can't I move my body?" The room became deathly silent as Pyrrha tried to find the right thing to say to him.

"Pyrrha?"

"Jaune...the doctors...your grandmother...said that in order to save you, they had to cut you off Final Inheritance which had already begun to mix in with your aura and release it over a period of time...but in order to do so, your body placed itself into a coma..."

Jaune's eyes widened as he looked down and noticed that his arms and legs looked slightly thinner than when he last remembered them. He tried to raise them up, but it was almost as if all of the muscles in his body was filled with lead. He also noticed that his hair was longer as it just touched his shoulders and shrouded his eyes from view.

"Pyrrha...how long was I in that coma?" Pyrrha struggled to speak before she said with a heavy heart.

"...Five Months"

And scene, well here is Chapter IV the long-awaited sequel to Chapter III of Remnant Knight. Sorry for the long wait but I was working on an assignment that required me to work on it for the past six weeks. But now Jaune is awake, after being in a coma for the past five months. How will he react to the world he left behind, and how will his actions have affected the state of Vale.

Stay tuned for Chapter V: Awakening