Radiance

Chapter 4, Day of the Hunt

I do not own anything pertaining to the RWBY universe. No stocks, no stakes in RT, nothing. Don't even own any merchandise.

I am aware that in Canon, Jaune has seven sisters. Due to his father passing away early in Jaune's life, his mother did not become pregnant with the youngest daughter, thus reducing the siblings by one. For every alteration to his past I make, there have to be some consequences to reflect as such.

Let's see if anyone can guess where part's of Jaune's fighting style is drawn from.

[RD]

"Oh, OH! We could use a sloth call to find each other!" An exuberant redhead called out as Jaune passed by her locker on the way to his own, her words directed towards her green clad companion who was currently studying his weapons with keen eyes.

"Nora... I don't think I know what a sloth call sounds like." Her partner answered back in a tired voice, his pink eyes having drawn in slightly as he wracked his mind to see if he actually knew what a sloth sounded like.

His answer clearly showed he did not, but his partner, Nora, seemed to take his ignorance in stride and proceeded to demonstrate for him, loudly, the glory that was the sloth call.

Jaune tuned the two out as best he could as he continued to pass by the busy students on the way to their own lockers, his mind wandering to the night prior and the two daughters of Summer Rose that he had stumbled upon. While he had wanted to reach out to them years prior, his mother had advised against it due to his inability to meet them face to face at the time. Instead, he had thrown himself into training with his grandfather and later, his eldest sister upon her return from Beacon.

In hindsight, perhaps he should have reached out to the daughters of Summer against the behest of his mother, but it seemed Fate was willing to throw him a bone and allowed their paths to cross naturally.

He had missed them both in the cafeteria, though he could have been a bit preoccupied in devouring a few granola bars to hold him over until it was time for the evening meals served after the test. Due to the nature of Beacons Initiation, Jaune had broken his habit of skipping breakfast for once, even if for a small pick-me-up.

From the corner of his eyes, Jaune noticed the targets of his thoughts both slink into view as they seemed to make a beeline directly for him, the elder blond going as far as pushing a tall, broad shouldered student out of the way completely without glancing in his direction. The student in question slammed into an open locker, which proceeded to shut from the force of his entrance.

"Good morniiiing, Jaune!" Yang greeted almost exuberantly as she flashed Jaune a million megawatt grin, "You didn't wait for us to wake up, I was going to ask if you wanted to team upbut forgot to last night!"

The last portion of her words were spoken a bit lower than her greeting, just loud enough for herself, Ruby and Jaune to hear as the two sisters came to a halt before him.

"I was just about to ask the same thing!" Ruby was almost vibrating in place as she said this, her face whipping to face Jaune before she gave him a smile much like Yang's, "You'll team up with us, right?! Come on, we'll all be like Whapow, kichah!"

Ruby proceeded to hop onto one leg before demonstrating a snap kick that would have sooner broken her ankle than done any damage to whatever was on the receiving end, causing Jaune and Yang to snort in amusement at the action.

He had already intended on asking them if they wished to team up as well, so having both pose the question before he could pleased him greatly. Jaune would be lying if he said he wasn't already slightly fond of both Ruby and Yang, especially considering who helped raise them. He had promised himself the night prior he would do his best to look out for both of them to the best of his abilities, as he knew it's something Summer would have asked of him anyway.

"Sure, there's plenty of room here on Team Jaune." The blond nodded before crossing his arms, "We now have three members, you know what that means?"

"What?" Ruby questioned excitedly as she bounced up to Jaune's side while staring upwards at him, having to crane her neck backwards to do so.

Something about the gleam in Ruby's eyes set him slightly on edge, the shine almost familiar to him. He leaned back a bit to put a bit more space between the two, though he disguised it as him simply stretching his back out.

"We're just one member shy of a full house." Jaune gestured behind him before turning on his heel and marching in the direction he was originally heading in, Ruby quickly falling in step with him while Yang followed behind them, "Do you think Pyrrha might be interested in joining us as well?"

"Eh, I think she's actually getting recruited as we speak." Yang spoke up while jabbing her thumb to the left a few rows down from where they were standing, where Pyrrha was speaking what appeared to be amicably with the silver haired teenager that had a problem with Ruby.

"Well, there goes that idea... I guess we'll just have to figure it out as we go." Jaune murmured thoughtfully as he finally found his locker.

Approaching the large, rocket powered storage unit, the blond flashed his Scroll and forced the locker to swing open and reveal his stash of weaponry and armor.

"Wow, are you a ninja or something?" Ruby questioned loudly as she leaned forward to stare at the rows of throwing knives in the shape of kunai lining the left side of his locker.

"Er, not quite, Ruby," Jaune laughed sheepishly as he removed his cloak for a moment to hang it within the locker before pulling his golden and white cuirass, greaves and vambraces into position over his chest, legs and wrists, "I was just trained by one for a few years."

The familiar weight of his fathers armor and blade settled his nerves greatly, as did the pouch of assorted gadgets and Dust vials he strapped to the brown belt crossing over the hem of his shirt. Nothing spelled prepared like explosives, flash bombs and smoke screens, after all, and Jaune certainly felt prepared as he went over his gear one final time.

"Wait, really?" Yang leaned against the locker next to his to get a better look at the contents as well, whistling lowly in appreciation upon seeing the large stash of knives, metal wire, raw Dust and what appeared to be crimson vials of... some form of liquid.

"My Grandfather, despite being one legged, blinded and bitter, taught me a good bit of what I know about fighting, armed and unarmed." Jaune wasn't quite sure why he was admitting such things freely, but he chalked it up as the kindred bond he felt with the two children of Summer.

He was just as open, if not more so, with his sisters and mother, so he wasn't surprised that he felt comfortable enough around the two to relax his guard even the slightest bit.

"So, you're a ninja, but you decided that you wanted to change classes midway through leveling?" Ruby tilted her head slightly before the bright smile on her face returned, "That's so cool! I want to learn how to be a ninja!"

"Hmm, I don't know, you're awfully loud to be a ninja, Rubes." Yang teased as she took a step back and allowed Jaune to close his locker, "Maybe I'd make a better ninja."

"Pfft, you wish! You're like, a bajillion times louder than I am!" Ruby retorted hotly, spinning on her heel to point at Yang accusingly, "You can't even sneak into the bathroom at night without the entire house hearing you bang your elbows on every corner!"

"Hey, it's not my fault I have long arms!" Yang crossed said arms over her chest before turning her head away from Ruby as if offended by her words, "You're one to talk with your knobby knees, our poor tables can't take your abuse anymore!"

"Girls, we should probably save this discussion for later, they are about to tell us to head to the-" Jaune was cut off by the sound of the intercom blaring to life above him, the aura being constantly circulated through his ears allowing him to pick up the high pitched whine before the voice of Glynda Goodwitch called them all to attention.

The announcement was short lived, of course, leaving Jaune, Ruby and Yang to finish preparing themselves quickly before making their way out the back exit of the locker room and to where the Headmaster and his deputy Headmistress were waiting.

[RD]

Yang and Ruby had ended their small bout of bickering as soon as they exited the locker room, instead allowing the group of three to fall into an amicable silence as they traversed the now slightly uneven terrain closer to the cliff sides. There had been quite a few different markers present among the patch of trees just outside of the locker rooms, some with names etched upon their surfaces while others bore strips of cloth or wreaths of long dead flowers.

Jaune knew what they were immediately and gave a silent prayer to the Brothers for mercy on their souls, his face gaining a solemn frown as he memorized as many names as he could.

He didn't recognize a single one, of course, but at one point, they had been fellow aspiring men and women wishing to train in the same profession Jaune himself found himself aspiring towards.

It served, too, as a warning of what was to come within the next few minutes, causing Jaune to tense slightly in preparation. He noticed Yang and Ruby, too, had tensed upon seeing the monuments to the dead would-be students to take Initiation before them, their expressions more subdued than before, but none the less still optimistic.

He wished he could put on even the slightest of smiles at the moment, instead feeling as if the weight of the world was slowly creeping down upon him. A deep breath dispelled any trepidation he felt, as did the soothing feeling of his dense ocean of Aura swelling up in response to his heightened emotional state.

The three kept to themselves as they approached the line of students already present before Ozpin and Glynda, both authority figures standing at ease while the teenagers and young adults before them stood rigid. It was a stark contrast, to be certain, to see the gray haired man so calm after seeing such a turbulent expression upon his face the day prior. Perhaps whatever was ailing him at the moment had passed, or subsided enough for his attention to be brought back to where it should have been.

Jaune was cut off from his musings as the Headmaster began speaking, drawing the attention of the many people, Human and Faunus alike, towards the two adults seeing over the exam.

"For years, you all have trained tooth and nail to become warriors. Today, these abilities of yours will be tested in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began, the disinterest in his eyes glaringly obvious, though their was a smidgen of amusement in his voice.

If not for the stern eyes of Glynda Goodwitch behind him, Jaune doubted anyone would take the aloof man nearly as seriously as they did. It did well to have such a hard-ass for an enforcer, it seemed.

The riding crop wielding blond took his silence as her queue and began to speak, her tone leaving no choice but to listen. "Now, I'm sure some of you have heard... Rumors, about the assignment of teams."

The way she said rumors made Jaune believe she hated them with a passion. He didn't, as rumors usually could be considered leads to those who knew how to listen. Her strangely shaded green eyes pierced across the small distance between herself and the white cloaked knight as she said this, causing him to tense slightly before he forced himself to relax.

"Allow me to put an end to any confusion you might have. Each of you will be given teammates... Today." Glynda felt the need to emphasize her words with her riding crop, drawing a small smile from Ruby, who was still within Jaune's peripheral vision, for a reason Jaune felt he didn't want to know.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued her words without skipping a beat, almost as if the two were playing good cop, bad cop with the students before them.

Glancing downwards at the launching platform beneath his feet and then back at the forest before him, vast in distance and green in scope, he felt they were both the bad cops.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner... for the next, four, years." Ozpin paused to take a sip from his mug, pulling it away from his face before his lips curled upwards while he nodded his head in appreciation.

Jaune watched the man mouth 'not bad' before he took his time with a second long draft of his beverage, once more causing him to question the man slightly about his inability to take the situation as seriously as his female counterpart was.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern most end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way so do not hesitate to dodge, or kill, everything in your path or you will die. Or wish you had."

Ozpin sighed heavily, seeing that his words did not seem to be sinking in as well as he wished they had. He coughed lightly and then continued on with his speech, warning the students that despite being monitored, the instructors of Beacon will not intervene to save their lives.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Retrieve one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there... any questions?"

"Yes, just one, Sir... how much weight can these platforms support?" Jaune rose his hand before posing the question, not bothering to wait on being called upon.

"Two thousand pounds, give or take." Ozpin seemed amused by the oddly specific question, especially when Jaune reached out and grabbed Ruby and Yang before dragging them both onto his platform, sandwiching himself in between either of the two.

"Any more questions?" The grey haired man questioned, ignoring the incredulous looks being sent his way by his deputy Headmistress, Glynda.

"Can they do that?" Came the excited voice of the orange haired figure making sloth calls from down the line, causing Ozpin to shrug his shoulders as his only response. There was a quick shuffling afterwards as the Schnee heiress jumped onto Pyrrha's platform while the orange haired female who posed the question leaped onto her green-clad companions.

Ozpin seemed to wait for any further questions before raising his mug as if to say 'Let's get this show on the road'.

"Very good." The Headmaster seemed pleased by the silence, unused to having such a quiet crowd. He might actually like this years students.

One by one, the students were launched from the platform until only Jaune, Ruby, Yang and the black haired female that he remembered having falling onto his shoulder on the airship ride to Beacon remained standing.

"This might have been a terrible mistake, now that I think about it." Jaune piped up as he watched a massive Nevermore enter the airspace he and the two on his platform were about to occupy, its shrill call ringing out over the canopy of the Emerald Forest.

"This idea was perfect, Jaune! Now we can be partners for sure!" Ruby countered his words with encouragement, one of her arms attempting to snake around his before she was interrupted by the mechanism below them.

The three were promptly launched before Jaune could attempt to convince the Headmaster to perhaps wait until the Nevermore had flown a bit further away before launching him into the forest, leaving Blake as the last student to be catapulted into the forest.

Ozpin sighed heavily before reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose, shaking his head as he did so upon hearing a desperate cry of 'Birdie NO!' disseminate from the aerospace of Ruby Rose.

"I have a feeling that one is going to be worse than her mother, and that concerns me greatly." The Headmaster said to no one in particular, though Glynda took it upon herself to respond anyway.

"I tried telling you, but no one listens to me. I honestly don't know why I bother."

[PL]

The sound of rustling fabric, gun fire and screams of both fear and excitement filled the air around Jaune, Ruby and Yang as they soared through the skies. Due to having pushed Aura into his legs before using his Semblance to amplify the intensity of its release, Jaune had flown far quicker than either of the two sisters he planned on teaming up with, leaving him to encounter the Nevermore before Yang or Ruby.

The fowl beast seemed to have picked him as its next target and flew low before circling around and lining itself up to allow Jaune to fly directly into its waiting mouth, leaving him to curse his abysmal luck for the umpteenth time in his life.

Finding his options as limited as the time he had to take action, the blond knight withdrew the blade of Crocea Mors from its shield-sheath before pushing as much of his Aura into the weapon as he knew it could take. A pale white sheen danced across the silverish blade, only to grow in intensity until the silver of his blade could no longer be made out. What was once a blade only three foot in length and perhaps a few inches thick nearest to the base had instead become the size of a claymore with a blade far more suited for large opponents than a short sword.

Aura Sharpening was one of the first techniques his grandfather had taught him after awakening his Aura two years into their training, forcing Jaune to learn how to turn a dull branch fresh from the tree into a deadly weapon capable of slicing. Crocea Mors, of course, had been forged with alloys that were far more receptive to being infused with Aura, created and wielded during a time when it needed to be trained against Human, Faunus and Grimm alike.

His fathers journal had entries that spoke of his great grandfather cleaving a Goliath in two using the same type of technique, though there were clear differences between what Jaune was doing and what Jeremiah had done.

Preparing himself as best he could, the blond tensed the muscles in his arm and angled his shining blade as best he could before swinging the heavily reinforced weapon vertically through the throat, sinew and bone of the massive creature impeding his path. The forward momentum generated by the springing platform was more than enough to enhance the cutting power behind the Aura enhanced blade, otherwise Jaune highly doubted his ability to cut a Nevermore from the sky.

Semblance or no, the blond had limits on just how far he could amplify his strength through his Aura, as did his weapon.

Due to the positioning of the corvian Grimm before him, Jaune was forced to keep pumping more and more Aura into his blade to continue cutting his way through, not wanting to be slammed in between to slabs of dissolving Grimm and pulled into the forest below with the assuredly dead beast.

After what seemed like hours while in reality only lasted seconds, the blond knight cut the flow of Aura to his weapon as he cleaved the Grimm in twain before replacing the silver short sword to its sheath. Ruby's cry of 'Birdie No!' caused him to glance back in confusion, only to watch as both Yang and Ruby slammed into either half of the now dead and descending Nevermore, halting their forward momentum completely while knocking them off their projected path.

'Of course you had to throw my hopes into the fire.' Jaune directed his thoughts towards Fate once more, feeling that somehow, the omniscient concept of predetermined destiny was responsible for his plight once more.

Knowing that his chances of getting either Ruby or Yang as his partner had now dwindled to nearly the single digits as far as percentiles went, Jaune angled his body downwards and brought his arms and legs in line as close as he could. The change in his positioning changed his estimated path as well, forcing him to descend into the treeline of the Emerald Forest and through the canopy far sooner than quite a few of the other students still soaring through the skies. Pulling the sheath of Crocea Mors from his waist, Jaune allowed the scabbard of his blade to transform into a heater shield before gripping it tightly with both hands.

Placing the heater shield before his body, the blond knight allowed his Aura to soak into the protective half of his weapon and reinforce its defensive capabilities further than before, the Arc family crest upon it barely visible through the gleam of white.

Despite being some of the last students launched, Jaune had a feeling he was one of the first to descend into the forest proper, easily skirting past the tops of the trees before landing heavily upon one of the thicker branches he spotted on the way down.

The branch of the tree he found himself deposited on barely held under the transference of momentum from his falling body into the wood below him, though the thick growth held strong despite his fears.

Taking a moment to gather his wits, the slightly lanky teenager tried to shake off the feeling of slight Aura depletion, having quickly burned through an eighth of his reserves by reinforcing both his sword and shield within the last few minutes.

Heaving a sigh as he jumped to the ground, he withdrew his blade once more and allowed his Aura to focus towards the tip before amplifying it beyond its normal strength. This had the effect of causing it to gleam brightly in the darkness and act like a torch he could use to light his way through the gloom.

With his weapon in hand and his path illuminated, Jaune began his trek southbound instead of heading directly towards his objective, having every intention on making sure Yang and Ruby were on the same team as him.

He was expecting quite a few things within the underbrush of the Emerald Forest, but he wasn't expecting to stumble across, or rather into, another student just moments after landing himself. Upon reaching out with his free hand to brush the branches of a rather large bush from his path, the same figure that stood to his far right during the launching sequence stepped forward and locked her amber gaze with his.

"Oh, I... wasn't expecting to see someone so soon." Jaune tried his best to hide the disappointment he felt upon being partnered with a complete stranger, though it was obvious his new 'Partner' easily picked up on it.

"I wasn't either, but... rules are rules." The black haired female sighed in apparent disappointment as well before stepping forward a bit, her weapon lowering slightly as she extended her free hand, "Blake Belladonna."

"Jaune Arc, nice to meet you. Would you be too bothered if we doubled back for the blond and the redhead I sort of knocked out of the sky?" Jaune took the offered hand and gave her a firm shake before nodding in the direction she had just came from, "I sort of promised them I'd team up with them, and I would really, really hate to be forced to rescind my word."

Pursing her lips slightly, Blake eventually nodded before spinning on her heel and proceeding back into the thick underbrush, gesturing for Jaune to follow after her. He couldn't help but allow his eyes to trail perhaps a bit lower than they should have, the sway of her hips pronounced as she strode through the forest like it was her home.

"Well, at least she's easy on the eyes." Jaune felt his brows raise slightly before he tore his gaze away from Blake's behind, instead doing his best to focus on the illuminated sections of the gloomy forest to keep an eye out for any ground dwelling Grimm.

"I could say the same about you, handsome." Blake called out over her shoulders before turning and locking eyes with him before smirking.

Jaune stammered and attempted to say something, anything, but all that came out was a strangled wheeze. "I... uh, didn't think you'd hear that."

"You'd be surprised at the things I can hear, Jaune." The way she lilted her words made them sound sweet, but to Jaune, they sounded like warning sirens.

Swallowing heavily the second time in just as many hours, the blond knight nodded numbly before Blake returned her attention southward and continued towards where Yang and Ruby had descended into the Emerald Forest. Waiting for Blake to put a few more paces between them, Jaune fell in step with the black haired teenager while cursing himself under his breath for his careless habit of speaking his thoughts when he assumed no one could hear him.