Two Weeks Later
Jaune was in his dorms shower, washing away all of the sweat after one of his usual morning spars with Winter. These two weeks she had been instructing him in sabre fencing, while she told him that he had most of the basics down and were fairly skilled he'd still need to strengthen his skill and knowledge about more advanced techniques if he wanted to fight against other aura users. Exiting the shower he dried himself and donned his Atlas Academy uniform, while he wasn't practically a student of the academy, being a Specialist apprentice meant that he legally was. He put on his leg holster and attached his sword to his belt before holstering his revolver. He still couldn't find names for his weapons, he hadn't cared to name his old ones and he just couldn't think of names that wasn't either edgy or just childish for his new ones, Winter said that it would come naturally with experience as she named her weapons after getting inspiration from a mission. Exiting his room Jaune started walking towards the cafeteria for lunch.
"Mr. Arc!" a familiar voice called out to him.
Turning he saw Ciel Soleil, a brown skinned, black haired girl who he thought was quite pretty. He had met her while exiting one of the sparring rooms with Winter as Ciel and her master was also returning to their dorms, while their masters were catching up Jaune introduced himself to Ciel and they started a small friendship from there, though he thought Ciel was trying too hard to be an adult most of the time.
"Hey Ciel, sup." Jaune said.
"Can't you be a bit more formal?" Ciel replied in an annoyed tone, "Specialist Schnee wants you to join her. Apparently you both are summoned by General Ironwood."
"Alright, thanks." Replied Jaune, before he started walking towards the General's office.
Nearing the office Jaune noticed Winter waiting just outside the door.
"Hey Winter, Ciel said something about being summoned?"
"Hi Jaune. It's about your apprenticeship." Winter replied before knocking on the door and entering, following her Jaune entered the office as well.
"Hello mr. Arc, did Winter tell you why you were summoned?" General Ironwood asked.
"It's about my apprenticeship?" Jaune said.
"Yes, Winter has decided to end your orientation period as she thinks you're ready. Jaune Soleil Arc, you're hereby granted the rank of Specialist Third-Class and all of the privileges it entails. As you're now an official apprentice, you will be able to tail Winter in her missions and gain field experience." General Ironwood replied.
"In fact, Winter will be assigned a mission today." General Ironwood said before turning to Winter.
"You're to clear out a newly set up White Fang base near the southern border of the city of Mantle. A Bullhead is already waiting for you, good luck." General Ironwood said.
Exiting the office they made their way to the airship docks.
"So… do we know anything else about the mission?" Jaune asked.
"Apparently the place is a warehouse used for distributing food, but the White Fang managed to disguise themselves as teamsters while also distributing their own goods like weapons and ammunitions. I'm thinking of simply storming the place." Winter replied.
Arriving at the docks they boarded the Bullhead and took off towards the destination.
"You sure it's smart to just barge in like this?" Jaune shouted over the sound of the Bullhead's engines as they neared the location.
"The report says only a couple big shot names, it shouldn't be too hard." Winter shouted back in reply.
As the Bullhead's door opened Jaune and Winter jumped, each using their semblance to safely land before taking off towards the warehouse.
It was a large building, built on a fenced lot it had two large gates and a parking lot for trucks, Jaune could see faunus workers loading a truck. While none of them were wearing the White Fang masks, Jaune thought workers having weapons on them made it quite obvious.
"We'll simply barge in through the side, kill anyone that resists but leave the ones who surrendered alive for detaining." Winter told Jaune.
"Alright." Jaune replied. And with that he saw Winter create a red glyph on the wall of the warehouse, Exploding it created a large hole for them to enter. He saw faunus scrambling to their feet while there were less disoriented ones already firing at Jaune and Winter, tanking the first few shots with his aura Jaune used his semblance to get close to one of the gunmen before unsheathing his sabre and slicing the gunman across the chest in a single move, killing him. Turning his attention towards the other gunmen he saw Winter using her glyphs, creating platforms for herself for movement while creating offensive glyphs around several White Fang members that were barely able to keep up with her from the corner of his eye.
"Those must be the "big shots" she talked about. Heh… they aren't fighting against her any better than i do." Jaune thought before he focused on the gunmen again.
Taking out his pistol Jaune fired a couple shots at the next gunman as they tried to focus on Winter, before the bullets pinged off of the gunman's aura as the guy turned his attention to Jaune. Sprinting Jaune closed the distance between them as he slashed, getting a hit on the gunman's arm and making him drop his gun before the gunman drew his own melee weapon, a two handed spiked club roughly the size of Jaune's sabre in just length alone.
"Is that even practical?" Jaune asked.
"Die you human scum!" the White Fang member shouted before charging Jaune.
"What are you, racist?" Jaune joked as he dodged a swipe from the gunman.
Jaune slashed as he dodged, hitting the gunman on the collarbone and making him stagger back before the gunman bent himself forward slightly, swinging his club from his right-low to left-up hitting a Jaune that didn't expect the move. As Jaune was knocked back, he used his semblance to put further space before deciding to ignore him and went for the auraless gunmen. Holstering his weapons Jaune materialized behind the remaining few gunmen with his right facing them before twisting his body towards them and unsheathing his sabre in a cut that flung an arc of aura, cleaving the gunmen and killing them. Jaune was knocked back as he got hit by a swing he didn't notice from the gunman he ignored, using the force of the blow he rolled back and got up to his feet before dodging another swipe from the gunman. Getting an idea he used his semblance to materialize next to the gunman, slashing his arm and using his semblance to materialize on the other side as the gunman tried to block, slashing the gunman again from the other side.
"I guess i could cheese it like this… doesn't look too different what Winter does with her semblance sometimes. It's tiring though." Jaune thought.
Seeing the gunman breathing heavily, Jaune deduced he was tired and low on aura before deciding on a single heavy blow that would kill the gunman. Using his semblance Jaune put some space between him and the gunman before getting his pistol out and firing the rest of the bullets in it but cursed when he realized that it wasn't enough to shatter the gunman's aura. Using his semblance Jaune materialized in front of the gunman and unsheathed his sabre in a cut that the gunman blocked with his club, using the deadlock as leverage Jaune punched with his sabre's knuckle guard a couple of times, breaking the gunman's aura and causing him to stagger back. Pressing his advantage further Jaune stepped forwards and thrusted his sabre through the gunman's skull. Stepping back as he recovered his sabre, Jaune let the gunman's body slump to the ground. He looked around as he reloaded his revolver, watching as Winter killed the last of her targets before stopping and looking around herself, catching her eye he sent a smile to Winter as she replied in kind.
Jaune fell down with a grunt as he was starting to walk towards Winter, feeling a large pain from the right side of his stomach. He tried to run while getting up, barely dodging a second bullet.
"Use your semblance!" Winter told him before creating a black glyph to shield them both.
Using his semblance Jaune materialized just next to one of the columns, quickly hiding behind it. Jaune made to look but accidentally hit his face on Winter's chest.
"sorry!" Jaune whisper shouted with a red face.
Winter giggled and replied, "It's fine." as she moved to hide behind the column herself.
"Fuck, what was that? I felt the pain through my aura… took a large chunk out too, my aura is low." Jaune asked still grimacing a little.
"That was an earth dust slug. They're on the catwalks, probably were in the office upstairs during the fight. I can create a shield with my glyph to take a look, and they won't be able to hit you with your semblance." Winter replied.
Creating a shield Winter scanned the catwalks before noticing a small glint followed by a shot that was blocked by her shield.
"There, towards the front of the warehouse." Winter told Jaune, "Get ready."
"Alright, i'm low on aura though. Won't be able to use my semblance too much." Jaune replied.
Winter renewed her shield glyph while creating a new one for Jaune near the catwalks, who used it as a step for his semblance. He had to dodge a shot as soon as he landed as he saw the White Fang member aiming at him. Using his semblance he got behind the her, slashing as she blocked his sword with the blade on her shotgun. Now looking at her Jaune could see that she was a short woman with white medium hair in two braids and a long tail reminiscent of a rat. The most notable thing about her was her weapon, a semi-automatic shotgun with an integrated large blade extending much further backwards than a bayonet would and a small handle-like part between the gun and its stock, which he guessed was for her to be able to hold the gun like a sword.
"Wouldn't that be awkward to hold, though?" Jaune thought, before noticing Winter attack a large man near the office of the warehouse.
Jaune tried to overpower her short stature as she tried to leverage to aim the shotgun at him, slacking his strength for a moment he caused her to stagger forwards before punching her with his sabre's knuckle guard and knocking her down. As she was laying on the floor she simply aimed her gun from her position and fired a shot at Jaune, who was able to dodge it with his semblance but accidentally hit the handrails and tumbled to the floor. Getting up he had to use his semblance once more as she was already on a knee and aiming at Jaune. Taking his revolver out he returned fire which she dodged before sprinting towards him. Jaune was skid back as he blocked a swing, surprised at the strength behind it. As he was recovering from his skid the White Fang member used the advantage to shoot at him, Jaune was knocked back again with a grunt as he was hit in his chest.
"Fuck, that hurts. At least a cracked rib…" Jaune thought while holding his chest.
Using his semblance he materialized just next to the woman, going for a slash as she went for a thrust, quickly changing his slash to a parry Jaune pushed the woman to his right, punching her with his left hand. She recovered, going with the flow of his blow and used the opportunity to put all of her strength behind a slash, hitting Jaune and launching him over the railings to down below. Landing painfully Jaune groaned as he felt his aura break, getting up to his knees he had to dodge towards one of the columns as he saw the woman fire at him.
Hiding behind the column Jaune let himself fall into a sitting position to catch his breath, while he was catching his breath he saw Winter break her opponents aura with a kick that sent him crashing into one of the walls, before creating an ice blue glyph under him which summoned an ice spear through the man.
"Damn i love her semblance." Jaune thought.
Jaune didn't notice the woman sneaking up on him until she was already starting her slash, trying to dodge he managed to turn a cut that would be fatal into a large injury across his chest, falling yet again with a small scream.
"Jaune!" Winter shouted, running towards him as she readied her glyphs, she blocked a thrust aimed at Jaune from the woman with a black glyph before she created a red glyph on top of the black one and unleashed a large fire ball on the woman who was sent flying back.
Checking on Jaune, Winter could see his blood slowly pooling around his chest, what aura he was regenerating back not enough to stop it. Deciding to give enough aura to at least stop his bleeding, Winter put her hands on Jaune's chest and started concentrating.
"Winter?" Jaune mumbled, feeling her aura mix with his own, falling asleep as he felt warm and safe.
"You're going to be alright." Winter told him as she watched the wound on his chest quickly stop bleeding. Cutting the aura when she felt his reserves to be sufficient enough she turned towards where the woman was launched before, trying to think of a reason why the woman hadn't attacked her yet before seeing her half charred and dead body.
"Well then." Winter thought, taking her scroll out and calling the assigned bullhead.
Jaune woke up, eyes groggily looking at the white ceiling. Last thing he remembered was feeling Winter's aura mix with his own, which felt pretty intimate as he could feel her soul communicating with his. Noticing a weight on his stomach he looked to his right, seeing the sleeping form of Winter as she was sleeping in a chair, bent forwards with her head on his bed and her right arm across his stomach.
"Hey." Jaune whispered as he caressed Winter's hair, slowly waking her up.
"Jaune?" Winter asked drowsily before sitting up and stretching… which did wonderful things to her body, Jaune thought.
"Mornin'." Jaune said with a slight red to his face.
"Morning. How are you feelin?" Winter asked.
"Eh, i'm completely fine." Jaune replied. Getting up, he felt a breeze as he stretched, looking down he noticed he was shirtless and he turned to Winter in mid stretch.
"Why am i shirtless…" Jaune trailed off as he saw Winter's gaze on him.
"Winter?" Jaune asked prompting Winter to break her gaze with a slightly red face.
"Sorry, and we removed your shirt to see the wound... " Winter replied, "Here's a spare." Said Winter as she handed him the shirt that was on her lap.
Finishing his stretch with a flex that caused Winter's face to go red again, Jaune put on his shirt before he heard the door open.
"Ah, i see you're up mr. Arc. How are you feeling?" The nurse asked.
"Completely fine." Jaune replied.
"Well then, you're free to go." The nurse told him.
Checking out of the infirmary, Jaune and Winter decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast. Looking around to choose a spot to sit after they got their meals, they joined the table Ciel and her master was sitting at.
"Hey Ciel." Jaune greeted.
"Hello Jaune." Ciel replied, "Got yourself injured on your first mission i heard?" she asked.
"Hey… i wasn't that bad. Just not used to fighting against aura users…" Jaune replied.
"You're just not doing enough damage yet, Jaune. We need to work on that." Winter said.
"How though? It's not like my semblance does any damage on its own…" Jaune said.
"You do have basic training in auric arts, take a guess." Winter replied.
"OH! Can i make rasengan like that Mistralian cartoon technique?" Jaune asked excitedly.
"... no." Winter replied curtly, prompting Jaune to think further.
"I do have that technique about throwing aura through my sword that you taught me. I do use that…" Jaune replied.
"You should do it against opponents that utilize aura too. Aura by nature is more resistant against non-magical attacks, meaning that the technique you just described will not only do more damage because of its magical nature but because it also negates the non-magical resistance that aura has in the first place." Winter told Jaune.
"But wouldn't literally pouring aura out of my body with my every attack just empty my aura reserves quickly?" Jaune replied.
"True, but if you keep your weapon, works better if you're using a melee weapon as there is no way to keep a bullet connected to your aura unless you have a semblance enabling it, coated in aura you won't use as much as actually throwing it out of your weapon." Winter said.
"Huh… i'll try it." Jaune said
"We'll work on it in our spars… just be more careful than that, you got injured because you were watching me instead of looking out for an enemy you knew wasn't incapacitated.." Winter said with a slight softness to her tone.
Taking her hand in his, "Oh? Of course, dear." Jaune teased with a smirk.
"I'm trying to be serious here…" Winter whined, though not removing her hand.
Kissing the knuckles of her hand, Jaune replied, "I'm not joking either." with a warmness to his voice which caused Winter to get slight red to her cheeks.
"Ehm." A male voice sounded, which prompted both of them to turn to the voice before standing up to salute.
"Should we leave you two lovebirds alone?" General Ironwood said with a small smirk.
"It's not like that... " Winter argued.
"We'll invite you to the wedding, sir." Jaune said, causing Winter to whirl on him with a completely red face and getting a chuckle from the General.
"Jaune!" Winter whined.
"It has been a long time since anyone could get Winter this embarrassed. You have my approval, Jaune." General said with the same smirk.
"Wait a minute, are you two dating!?" Ciel said.
"No! They're just joking." Winter quickly replied, while "Oh yes, we even shower together and everything." Jaune replied with the same teasing tone.
Suddenly Winter turned to Jaune, smiling very coldly. "Well. i guess we do... don't we, dear." Winter said.
"Oh fuck." Jaune thought, suddenly feeling very afraid.
He was currently in his bed, thinking about the day. He thought the fear he had felt during that moment was pretty justified, as Winter sent him to the infirmary after the brutal morning spar.
"Eh. I should look on the bright side, that was one of the most productive spars we had to date." Jaune thought. Luckily the visit to the infirmary had been brief, and he was released just an hour later. Turning to his left he watched the sleeping form of Winter, thinking back on the aura exchange and how warm he felt… he had felt Winter's very soul at that moment, and he thought Winter must have felt his own soul too. Winter's soul was even more beautiful than her physical appearance… which was a feat on its own.
"I wonder what she thought of my soul…" Jaune mulled over, "I hope she liked what she found…" . And with that thought Jaune went to sleep, suddenly not feeling as confident as before.
I'll try for harder fights, but i try to keep the choreography somewhat realistic which means shorter fights with much decisive ends.
Also the guest that said Jaune's semblance is too similar to Ruby's, Jaune's semblance is basically shunpo/flash step to the contrast of Ruby's more dc-flash like simple super speed with an actual speed cap. (iirc dc flash simply keeps accelerating if he wants to.)
Also, the reason why Knightshade in this fic wouldn't be anything like romeo and juliet is simply because Atlas isn't Jaune's home and while he'll come to hold affections for Winter (non-romantic in this fic sadly, but i do like Winter Knight ship too.) his real family is the Arc family, who never held any hate for Faunus just for being Faunus.
So here we have it, Chapter 4. 8 days seems to be the magic number of days for me… though i'm really not confident in the ending and the cafeteria scene here… just feels like fluff to fill the word count, though that very ending where Jaune feels less confident is going to go somewhere i think. What do you guys think? Also any complaints about my sentence structures and grammar would be appreciated, English is not my native language and i would like my fic to be easy to read.