Beta/Creative Assistant: Jefardi

Cover Art: Natzo

Spectrum

Scars

Rouge gave a tired sigh as she flipped closed the latest book she had pulled from the shelf of Beacon's library. She... loved reading. Books were much easier to deal with than people. They existed solely for your entertainment or to provide you with knowledge. Books never told you lies or tried to take advantage of you.

Completely unlike others she knew when growing up. It was sometimes a burden being the wielder of one of the most powerful swords. When others talked to you, it was often hard to tell of their intentions; were they genuinely interested in getting to know her, or did they only want to get close to her because of her sword?

In a way, that's what Rouge liked about Ruby when they had met upon enrolling at Signal. Ruby had no idea what Fia Vesta was. To her, it was just another weapon. And Ruby loved weapons. It was odd, but for the first time Rouge was happy that her sword had made her friend. Because that time it was a genuine one.

Other than Ruby, Rouge only had Autumn to talk to while at Signal. No one else seemed... real, not to her. Which was why she picked up the habit of reading. It was a nice escape from everyone and their unknown intentions. With books, she could just be herself. Kind of like how she was with her family.

Now her family was gone. Her parents... dead, killed by her sisters, whose whereabouts were unknown. Her sword... destroyed. If she was being honest, she wasn't entirely sad it was gone. When she was younger she had been excited to be chosen by the sword. It made her just like all her older sisters and she couldn't wait to begin training with them.

However, it was because she had been chosen by the last sword that their father had maimed Jaune's hands. If she had never been compatible with the sword... then maybe he wouldn't have had to suffer. It was her fault that Jaune had been forced to take on the Shatter Glyphs and her fault that a barrier had formed between him and the rest of them. Maybe if she hadn't been special like them, she could have been by his side in being ordinary. He wouldn't have had to be alone.

Now that her sword was gone... he didn't have to be alone. At least, that was what she thought initially. However, the rest of her sisters still needed to be stopped. And Jaune was the only one capable of stopping them. Rouge knew how to fight, even without her sword. Jaune had taught her martial arts, often imparting what he learned on her insistence. It was just one way she tried to remain close to him and make up for what she did.

It wasn't like she needed to learn martial arts. Her sword was strong enough she could've been entirely reliant on its fire-powers. No matter how hot she made the flames they wouldn't burn her and she could easily subdue anyone with just a small flick of her wrist. Even if she could leave Beacon, it wasn't like she was able to break the swords, however. Jaune was the only one that could do that.

Placing him once again by himself.

That was why they were here at Beacon. They needed allies, he needed allies. Just because she was of no use in combat didn't mean she was completely useless. There had to be some way she could contribute to helping him rescue their sisters. The only thing she came up with was research. Maybe the answer to why this all happened was hidden away somewhere in these books. Maybe there was another way to stop them, without him having to put himself in any more danger.

So before Ruby had gone to class, Rouge asked to be guided to the library. She had been here ever since, mostly by herself. Although Ruby had stopped by on lunch to bring her a sandwich. Now that she looked at the time, classes were nearly over which meant Ruby was probably going to be stopping by again soon.

She gave a small smile at the thought. She had been sad when her only friend had been pushed forward two years and allowed early entrance into Beacon. She had wanted to do the same when she found out, but their father was against it. Attending school properly was an important tradition for the Arcs. It helped build social skills and receive proper education with their swords. Skipping would only serve to stunt their growth.

Ironic, that he could say such things and yet he refused to let Jaune leave the village. He was stuck being home-schooled, robbing him of any interaction with others. She didn't understand how their father could take such opposite stances in the way he raised the rest of them compared to the way he raised him. Was it possible...had he been expecting this to happen one day? At the very least prepared for the possibility?

"I figured I would find you here." Rouge gave a small start as her brother pulled out the chair across the table and sat down in front of her. He gave her a gentle smile and admired the large stacks of books she had scattered across the table.

"Where have you been most of the day?" She pushed one of the stacks aside so there was nothing between the two of them.

"Training, mostly." He flexed his arm, despite the fact it wasn't very muscular. "Also tried to talk to Ozpin to see if I should be doing anything for him, seeing as we're essentially freeloading at his school."

Rouge gave a small nod. "...Maybe you should also see if he will offer you more support? Maybe a teacher. He promised you two teams...but Joan's…" Her voice trailed off. She didn't really want to think about them right now. They were Joan's best friends, weren't they? Friends of Joan's would surely want to help her whole family if they could. Just because Joan wasn't Jaune's number one priority didn't mean he wasn't going to attempt to free her eventually.

After all, Joan was Jaune's twin. No one had been closer to him than her. Rouge didn't doubt that of all their sisters, Jaune wanted to save her the most too. He was just trying to be practical about the way in which he went after them. This was what he had been trained to do almost his whole life after all. They on the other hand, were trained to fight Grimm. You would think they would understand that he understood best how to handle the situation.

Jaune gave a small shake of the head. "We've asked enough from him already. Providing us at all with a place where I can bring you all back to safely is more than I could have dreamed. He and the staff here have a duty to protecting this place and ensuring its students' futures. Saving our sisters...that's my job. The fact that even one team is willing to help is good enough for me."

How... could he say that?

He had been so mercilessly beaten when she found him and the only one he fought had been Violet. Of course, he had been severely wounded from before during his battle with her. He likely wouldn't have been able to beat any of them in his condition. The more help he had the better... at least, that was what she thought initially. Maybe it was better with only fewer people, especially if they weren't really sure of the intentions of others.

"So what have you been reading?" He changed the subject and picked up one of the books and flipped it open. He almost physically blanched at the heavy wording contained inside.

"Just about living weapons and how they are created." Rouge began flipping through the stacks of books until she found the one she wanted. "Although, no one really knows how they did it anymore. The process to give weapons a soul and fill them with Ambience has been lost."

"Hmm, probably a good thing judging by what happens. There are other living weapons other than the Arc Swords?" Jaune set down the book he had opened and gave her his attention.

"Kind of." Rouge twirled a hand in the air as she tried to think about how to explain it. "There used to be a lot of them. Before humanity learned how to harness the power of Dust, Ambience was our main means of creating powerful weapons. Now that the method has been lost the number of weapons has dwindled as they were broken over time. There are several others but none of them in Vale and none of them as strong as the Seven Sacred Arc Swords." Or she supposed she should call them the Six Sacred Arc Swords now.

"The others were broken? Does that mean there are other people with Shatter Glyphs in the world?" His interest piqued at the idea of not being the only one capable of freeing their sisters. It hurt her to have to shake her head and watch the budding hope on his face fall.

"None of the other living weapons were created quite as well as the Arc Swords. Our ancestor... Noir Arc. She is the one that crafted them. No one knows how she was able to make them so strong."

"...Noir Arc." Jaune mumbled the name uncertainly, a far-away look in his eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"No... I just feel like the name is familiar. Maybe dad talked about her once or something? She did make your swords after all." He gave a small shake of the head and his eyes refocused.

Rouge gave a subtle nod.

"She should be one of our most famous ancestors but I had never even heard of her myself. The books only occasionally mention her and I cannot determine why. It almost feels like...someone tried to hide something."

"Hmm..." Jaune drummed his fingers against the table and he appeared to consider her words carefully. She couldn't help but wonder if this information was useful to him or not.

"You guys could spend all day thinking about this stuff, or you could come spar with me like your promised earlier!" Jaune gave a small yelp as Ruby's older sister patted him roughly on the shoulder.

"There is benefit to doing research." The blonde's partner appeared next to her and picked up one of the many books before flipping it open to a random page.

"Blake's right. We're not going to be of any help if we don't prepare ourselves with the proper knowledge necessary to combat these swords." Ruby's partner spoke from just behind Rouge, startling her.

"Maybe it would be best if you took a break, Rouge?" Ruby popped up just next to her and gave a concerned grin. "You've been here all day."

"...I just want to be helpful." She mumbled under her breath.

"I know!" Ruby's eyes immediately lit up. "How about we make you a new weapon? Oh, oh. I can design it for you and everything! It'll be a lot of fun! I promise!" Rouge turned and stared at Ruby with wide eyes. A new weapon... that wasn't a bad idea. Maybe then she could be useful to Jaune and their sisters.

"Fia Vesta was a rapier, right?" Weiss placed her weapon, Myrtenaster, on the table. "Since I have some experience with them, I can tweak your initial design and recommend the Dust components necessary to at least somewhat replicate your old sword's capabilities. It won't be nearly as powerful as what you're used to but it should be sufficient. All the actual construction will be up to Ruby, though."

Rouge perked up as the chances of this happening became more probable. There was just one problem... would Jaune even allow her to fight? She turned to him with a look of pleading in her eyes and saw he already appeared to be weighing the pros and cons. Before she could even ask, Ruby vanished and appeared next to him, clinging to his arm.

"Please, Jaune! Let me make her a weapon! Please, please, please, please!" She fired off rapidly. He flinched back at her sudden proximity and a deep blush colored his face. Rouge couldn't help but giggle at their interaction.

"O-okay, it's fine. I don't see any harm in it." His eyes darted anywhere but at Ruby's face, attempting not to make eye-contact with her.

"Oh, thank you!" Ruby threw herself into him and wrapped him in a big hug, causing him to go an even deeper shade of red. In a flash, she ended the hug and appeared next to Rouge again. "Come on! I got a sketchbook back in my room! We can start right away!"

Rouge didn't even have a chance to wave goodbye as she was yanked out of her chair and out of the library. Still, she couldn't help but be a little happy. It wouldn't be like before, but she would have a weapon of her own again.

And this time, she would use it to save people, not harm them.

"I'm kind of surprised." Yang remarked as Jaune and her walked down the hallways, heading towards Beacon's sparring room.

Weiss had quickly taken off after her partner and his sister while Blake had stayed behind to put away all the books Rouge had taken out.

He glanced at her out of the corner of one eye. She walked with her arms in the air and hands behind her head, staring ahead and not at him as she spoke. He really wasn't sure what she was talking about when she spoke, not that he ever was. Truthfully, she was the one he found most difficult to deal with of his new allies.

Why then, was it her that kept seeking him out? Didn't she know how uncomfortable she made him? Odds are, she probably did and that was why she came to him. If he was going to talk to any of them, he would've rather it been Ruby. She seemed very nice, and it helped that he was older than her so she didn't feel quite so intimidating to talk to. Besides, Rouge already knew her so that would make it easier. It was also because she was Rouge's friend that he decided to let them spend time together instead of interfering with that.

Weiss would have been a close second and if he was being honest, she might be one of the most beautiful girls he had ever met. Although, he seriously doubted his ability to get out a single sentence around her in a one-on-one conversation without stumbling all over his words. So yeah, talking to her probably wasn't happening anytime soon.

Blake actually kind of reminded him of Rouge, her nose always in a book. She also didn't seem to be much of a talker herself which meant that even if he came across as awkward, maybe she would be fine with conversation with him. The only problem with that was... whenever he saw her she was with her overly talkative partner, who happened to currently be next to him.

"Did you hear me? I said I'm surprised." He had to fight the urge to give an exhausted sigh. For whatever reason, this girl seemed determine to get him talking more and wasn't going to stop until the two of them could have conversations.

It wasn't like that was completely a bad thing. Some part of him should be happy that such a beautiful girl was going out of her way to help him get better at socializing with others. Lord knows he needed the experience. He just kind of wished he could peg why she seemed so gung-ho about it. It almost felt like he was being deceived by her. Beautiful girls didn't just talk to ordinary guys and help them out for free. She had to be after something, he just didn't have any idea what it was she hoped to gain from spending time with him.

"What... are you surprised about?" He really had no choice for now except to go along with whatever game she was playing with him.

Yang gave him a sideways glance and he could see a small victorious smirk spread across her face at having got him to talk.

"I thought you would be more against your sister making a new weapon. I wouldn't think you would want her going out there to fight. Of course, Ruby can be pretty persuasive. She's adorable when she begs, isn't she?"

He was just going to ignore her last question. That one sounded like a trap just waiting to go off.

"Rouge... isn't allowed to leave Beacon. They'll arrest her if she steps off the Academy premise. Even if she builds a weapon she can't go after our sisters. If they come here though, I would feel more comfortable if she at least had a way to protect herself."

"Huh, you've got yourself pretty put together. I'm kinda impressed." She wasn't the only one. He couldn't really explain why, but since he had woken up in the hospital, his goals and decisions had been pretty clear. Maybe it was all those years of training kicking in? He had been pretty much born for this very purpose and now it was time for him to fulfill that mission.

What exactly did that leave for him once he was done? He didn't exactly have any other talents. Once he broke all the swords he would have accomplished the whole point of his existence. Yang suggested he find other hobbies but how did he even have time to do that when he had to remain so focused on rescuing his sisters?

He supposed these were questions for when he was closer to the end. He still had six swords to break and until his sisters made another conspicuous move he couldn't do anything more than train and wait.

"Here we are! I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked!" They finally arrived at the training room but in no way was he really ready. Especially when he saw all the students currently in there, sparing against one another already. Just great, plenty of witnesses to watch him get his ass kicked.

He followed Yang into the room as she searched for a training ring that wasn't occupied. The sight of familiar red hair caught his eye and he stopped to watch as Joan's partner, Pyrrha Nikos, fought against the entirety of team CRDL by herself. Her teammates, Ren and Nora, stood off to the side and observed quietly.

She was... amazing.

There was no other way to put the way she fought. Joan had mentioned that she was the champion of some tournament but watching her fight really set in how powerful she was.

Even outnumbered four to one and by guys considerably bigger than her too she had no trouble dominating the battle. Every parry of the shield and swing of her sword was perfectly executed and made with such grace he could've sworn he was watching a dancer, not a fighter.

"Like what you see?" Yang wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at him and another deep blush colored his face. He hadn't meant to be so mesmerized but her performance was unlike anything he had ever seen. There was good reason she thought herself capable of dealing with his twin, with or without his help.

"...She and Joan must have made quite the pair." He couldn't help but imagine they were an unbeatable partnership together.

Yang gave a small snort.

"What do you expect? You got two people with flawless offense and defense on the same team. I'm pretty sure they were undefeated in partner match-ups." Jaune gave a small nod as he paid slightly closer attention to the battle.

Something... was off.

"Their weapons…" He spoke aloud as he tried to put words to what he was seeing. "...is she altering the way they move?"

"Oh? You're pretty observant. I'm impressed." She gave him a rough pat on the shoulder. "She used to keep it a big secret, but her Semblance is Polarity, which means she can move any metal she touches as she pleases. She's pretty much unbeatable with it." It was more than just that, he could tell. There was no wasted movement. Every move she made was calculated, even when altering her opponent's. Every time her weapon mecha-shifted it was timed flawlessly. Pyrrha was an analytical fighter. There was only one way to beat people like her.

"Hey! I found us a spot. Hurry up!" Yang cut off his train of thought as she grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him forward. Her shout had caught several other's attention, including Pyrrha's, who was now looking over at the two of them curiously.

He quickly averted his eyes and stared at the back of Yang's hair instead, desperate not to make eye contact. After yesterday's awkward conversation in the library, he hadn't been able to bring himself to talk to any of Joan's teammates again. He was too afraid they were going to try again to convince him out of doing things the only way he was capable. They didn't understand because they were strong themselves, but if he didn't try to break the swords he was no good to anyone.

Maybe there was some merit to their way of doing things? He had no idea. It's not like he had actually tried to talk Joan out of it. Violet and Rouge had been inconsolable. Maybe Joan's teammates had a deeper bond with her than he did anymore? It hurt to think that way, but he had never gone out and made friends of his own where Joan had. It made sense that she was more important to him than he was to her.

Regardless, he couldn't bring himself to try things their way... because that undermined the whole point of his existence. If he didn't try to break the swords then what point was there to him even being here? So he avoided them, not wanting to risk having an argument with his twin's close friends. That was also why he had been outside their room last night when Blake had come looking for him. He never had the courage to even try and enter.

"Plop down right here real quick." Yang forcibly pushed him down onto a bench. She sat down right next to him and pulled out a couple extra training gloves exactly like the ones currently on her hands. "Let's get those wraps off your hands. These will work way better for what we're doing."

He had been so lost in thought he didn't realize what Yang was doing until it was almost too late. His mind went into panic mode as she grabbed the end of the wrap by his elbow.

"No!" He gave a sudden shout and tried to jump to his feet in a hurry. He couldn't let her see his hands. He didn't want anyone looking at his hands.

Unfortunately for him, Yang already had a firm grip on the wrap and the moment he jumped up it unwound down his arm and loosened around his fingers, causing them to tumbled off…

...completely exposing the scars for Yang to see.

It took Yang several seconds to realize what his fuss was all about.

He had jumped up with such panic she thought something had bit him. The look of pure horror on his face as his wraps fell off only further added to her confusion until she followed his eyes down to see what he was staring at. The moment she laid eyes on his hand they widened in shock and her mouth slipped open.

Calling the back of his hand... mutilated, felt like it was putting it lightly.

The entirety of his hand, even his fingers and knuckles was covered in a series of crisscrossing scars that could have only been from wounds so deep that his bones themselves had to be cut open. How was he even capable of holding anything with these hands... let alone fighting?

Wait a second.

Small things from before started to click into place. His grip when she shook his hand had been absurdly weak. He had the most difficult time holding even something like a pencil for an extended length of period and occasionally his hands would begin shaking uncontrollably. She had assumed these things were caused by some kind of jitters after the tragedy that had befallen his family... but that wasn't it at all.

His hands had been physically scalped open. As she realized this fact, irrational anger overtook her. Eyes flared red and her grip on his wrist unintentionally tightened.

"Who did this to you?" She seethed out between clenched teeth.

Jaune averted his eyes, almost as if he was ashamed.

"The Shatter Glyphs... the only thing capable of destroying the swords. They have to be inscribed onto the bones of your hands." Her grip on his hand loosened and it fell helplessly to his side. He was quick to cover up the scars with his other hand in case anyone else was looking.

She got it now. She finally understood why he had turned out the way he was. Why he believed he only had one purpose to living. Those scars were old, even she could tell that. He must have been a child when he had them inscribed on his hands. It was entirely possible it had been drilled into his head since he got them that one day he might need to destroy the swords.

That was just stupid.

Yet how could she say that to him now? Now that he actually had to destroy the swords. It was almost like fate was telling him he only had one path in life.

She closed her eyes and gave a frustrated sigh. When she opened them back up they had returned to their natural lilac color.

"Sorry. I didn't know." The look of fear on his face slowly shifted to one of melancholy and she saw him flex his exposed hand.

"It's okay... I don't like to tell people. They... usually don't react well."

She supposed he was adding her to the list of people that hadn't reacted well. Somehow she couldn't let it end like that so she extended her hand towards him, holding up the wraps she had unraveled with the other.

"Bring it here. I'll rewrap it for you."

"I-I can do it myself." He shook his head quickly but she wasn't taking no for an answer and snatched his hand and brought it over to her.

"Just shut up and let me do it." Before he could protest any further she set to wrapping his fingers and he clamped his mouth shut. After several seconds, he sat back down on the bench next to her while she continued her work.

Her hands brushed against the scars as she worked her way up and he gave a small flinch but she chose to ignore it. She wasn't going to let it bother her, she was going to show him that she didn't care about his scars. She owed him at least that much.

"...Thanks." He mumbled as she finished.

"Don't mention it." Yang just couldn't find it in herself to pick on him right now, she almost didn't even want to spar him at all knowing his hands were like that. Yet she knew if she tried to back out of fighting him now he would think it was because of his scars. He was awkward about them enough as it was, she didn't want to add fuel to that fire.

She took a big breath and brought her hands up, slapping herself in the cheek and creating a loud smack that echoed across the room. "Alright!" Jaune gave a small jump at the noise and shout. "Let's get this show on the road! Show me what you got, Vomit Boy!" She skipped backwards and into the fighting ring, bringing her fists up into a defensive position as she did.

Jaune gave a small smile at her enthusiasm. He likely understood that she was just trying to act like nothing happened but he at least seemed to appreciate her effort. The smile almost quickly slipped from his face though as something seemed to catch his attention out of the corner of his eye. She turned her head slightly to see NPR and CRDL were now focusing on the two of them from the other side of the room. It made sense, they were probably curious about what he was capable of too.

For his part, Jaune seemed to become increasingly more nervous now that he knew they had an audience and he broke out in a cold sweat. His breathing became a little more erratic as he looked back at her. She gave a small shrug as if to tell him not to worry about them. He took several more deep, irregular breaths before he finally seemed to calm back down. Only once his breathing stabilized did he slip into a fighting stance of his own.

She smirked, glad to see his head in the game.

"Come at me!"

Before the words even left her mouth he vanished in a blur or yellow.

He was fast!

Yang ducked just in time and his outstretched fist flew over her head. With her head tucked low and him right in front of her, she was in a perfect counter position. She threw a left hook but once more he was gone in a blur and landed a couple feet away.

"Hoh... not bad." Yang grinned coyly, starting to feel a little excited about this fight now. She had been worried that he was paying too much attention to Pyrrha and the others, but that stress actually appeared to be channeling into adrenaline right now, making him solely focused on her.

His eyes darted all over her, never remaining in one place for a moment, almost as if he was analyzing her and looking for some chip in her defense. She was getting kind of tired waiting for him to attack first and inched her right foot forward.

The moment she did he was off like a rocket. She was expecting his accelerated assault. He was fast, sure, but nowhere near as quick as Ruby. His right foot swung out in a sweep, hoping to catch the leg she had extended. She bent herself lower to the ground and took the full brunt of his attack, taking the force of his blow and channeling its power into her Semblance.

His eyes widened when she didn't stumble and fall like he had likely predicted she would. The shock vanished almost immediately and was replaced with fear as she stepped forward and swung at him from below, aiming to uppercut his jaw. His body twisted and he twirled past her fist. As he finished his twirl he ended up just inside her guard and swung his other leg high in a powerful kick that caught her in the middle of the back.

She stumbled forward but managed to maintain her balance. She spun around and swung at him with a wild haymaker but he had already ducked low and her fist flew high over his head. He extended his elbow, catching her in the ribs and knocking the wind out of her lungs.

She gave a growl of frustration and unleashed a chamber kick that he dodged by nimbly skipping just backwards enough. Before she could bring her leg back down he caught her by the ankle and delivered an uppercut to the bottom of her calf.

She grimaced in pain and her eyes flashed red as her hair began to spark gold with flames. With her strength being enhanced by her Semblance, she pulled her leg free from his grip and caused him to stumble forward. He almost fell face-first into her fist as she gave a straight jab but at the last second he twisted his foot and fell to the left.

He dodged once more at the last second as he fell to the floor and tucked into a roll before springing to his feet from right below, catching her in the armpit with an uppercut.

Damn, this was beginning to get annoying. Not only was he quick on his feet but he was nimble as Hell. His attacks didn't particularly pack much power behind them but if she took enough of them even she would become worn down.

He had almost the complete opposite fighting style as she did. Whereas she stood her ground and took the brunt of the attack before retaliating with powerful hits of her own, he focused solely on dodging while getting in quick jabs wherever he could. Opponents like that could become increasingly frustrating to deal with... but they usually had the severe weakness of being brought down in a single strike if caught.

And every hit he landed was only making her stronger, so she had a feeling that if she could get in even just one hit he wouldn't be getting back up. Now if she could just get in that hit.

Her hair was practically alight now in golden flames as she swung at him with a series of vicious punches, giving loud screams of exhaustion with each one. He backpedaled away, bobbing and weaving past each punch without raising his arms to parry or guard them physically, instead preferring to let them fly past him.

She was swinging too fast now for him to possibly throw in a counterattack of his own and he was quickly losing ground as she forced him back to the edge of the ring. She grinned victoriously as he stepped on the line. One more punch and he would go over or she would knock him on his ass. Either way, it was her win.

His eyes narrowed for a second as he looked at the bracelet on her wrist. She swung forward and his own arm went up but not in a block like she expected. He tapped the button on Ember Celica, triggering it into active mode and causing it to discharge a Dust shell. She was so caught off guard by the act that she allowed the recoil to halt her punch and spin her sideways. His grip on Ember Celica remained firm and he was yanked forward with her, pulling him back once more away from the edge of the ring.

Before he let go, he twisted his hand and somehow pressed the locking mechanism. Ember Celica snapped off her wrist and he pulled it free from her before skipping back.

"..." She stared with fiery red eyes at her weapon that he was now holding in his open palm.

He had disarmed her right gauntlet so effortlessly. What's more, he had manipulated it beforehand to do what he wanted even while it was still on her wrist. A small rational part of her brain realized that was only natural. He had been trained specifically to counter weapons.

Although, that rational part of her mind was almost completely swallowed by rage now. No one just touched her weapons, and there was no way in Hell someone just stole them from her like a common pickpocket. Her red eyes flared dangerously and fire practically exploded from her hair.

His eyes widened in shock as she closed the distance between them in only a second. He dropped her weapon to the ground and barely dodged a haymaker that probably would have put him in the infirmary for a week. Yang grit her teeth and turned after him, raising a hand behind her head as she prepared to smash it into the ground. The remaining Gauntlet went into active mode and when she struck the ground it would discharge a shell, causing a shockwave that would knock Jaune off his feet.

Before she could bring her fist down, Jaune swung both hands forward... and clapped them together right in front of her face. The loud noise reverberated straight through her, shocking her so badly she forgot her anger and the arm that was poised to strike the ground went limp.

What... the Hell just happened? Her answer to that question was a knee to the gut that doubled her over and nearly dropped her to her knees. She raised her arms in a cross directly in front of her face just as Jaune delivered an uppercut that knocked her back upright. She stared at him in stunned silence, her own body still too slow to react even as he flew at her with a spinning kick. She barely blocked the strike with her elbow.

He left himself completely open to a counter attack while his leg was suspended in the air but in her stunned state Yang had no chance to take advantage of it.

He had... stopped her Semblance.

That clap had startled her out of her rage and shattered the momentum she had been building up throughout the whole fight. He had perfectly countered her Semblance without even actually striking her... no one had ever done that before.

Now he was the one controlling the flow as he pushed her back with a parade of blows that she could barely react to. She hadn't expected any of this. He had gotten thrashed by his sisters. Supposedly one of them had beat him to a pulp without even wielding her sword. Yet here she was getting her ass handed to her by that same guy? Just how ridiculously strong were his sisters then?

She grimaced in frustration and anger, another spark of red returning to her eyes. She wasn't going to be the one holding him back. Her pride wouldn't allow it, especially when it was her that had offered to train him. His right arm jabbed at her face and at that moment she threw a cross-counter, bending his arm to the side.

This time he couldn't react in time and took her punch directly in the cheek. His head jarred to the side and his arm remained stretched outwards. She spun around and grabbed him by the forearm before yanking him off his feet and flipping him over her shoulder before slamming him onto the ground on his back. He gave a horrible cough as she twirled around and plopped down onto his stomach with her butt.

"My win Vomit Boy!" She grinned playfully as she flicked him in the nose, doing her best not to show how winded she really was from their fight.

"...Your win." He relented quietly between gasps for breath. He looked rightly disappointed. He had the opportunity to finish her when he had caught her off guard but he hadn't been capable of landing a definitively winning blow. He had taken too long and she managed to reign her emotions back in check quick enough to put a swift end to the fight.

"You really surprised me there." She climbed off him and offered a hand to help him to his feet. "Where the heck did you learn to do something like that?" She was of course referring to the way he managed to throw her Semblance out of whack.

"..." He gratefully accepted her hand and she hoisted him to his feet. He appeared to consider his answer for another second before he began to speak slowly. "Using the swords requires a sound mind. If you're able to disturb the user's concentration you have a chance of disrupting the sword's ability. That saves me a Glyph charge which I can then use to break the sword. I was taught several techniques meant to surprise my opponents and disrupt the flow of their thoughts. I gambled on it working with your Semblance since it appeared to be triggered by anger."

"You had time to think of all that while we were fighting? Not to mention that trick you did with Ember Celica." She picked up her other Gauntlet and turned it once more into a bracelet before clipping it back to her wrist.

Jaune shrugged and scratched his cheek with one finger.

"I actually inspected your weapon while you were rewrapping my hand. Beyond that, I was just trained to think on the fly. The swords have very different abilities so I have to be equally versatile. I just wish... I had taken that training more seriously."

"You're this good and you didn't even seriously train!?" Did he have any idea how much effort she had to put into training to get where she was right now? Yet he was saying he didn't even train hard and he was nearly at her level? He must be joking.

"It's not like I didn't train at all... but I should already be at a level where I can counter the swords without any difficulty. Yet I can't even beat you in a match."

"Hey! Keep talking like that and I'll take it as an insult!" His eyes widened and he quickly began to shake his head. Before he could verbally apologize she cut him off. "You're actually pretty good. Don't let anyone say you're not. It's no big deal that you can't beat me. Besides, you never intended to do this on your own to begin with. That's why you came to us for help, isn't it?" He contemplated her words for a second before giving a small nod. "So there's no problem with not being perfect. We'll cover your weaknesses for you. That's what it means to be a team."

Those were words she had once heard her sister tell Weiss. Hopefully Ruby didn't mind that she was borrowing her words. Who knew she would be the one to say something so inspiring though? That was probably why she was the leader.

"...Team." He mumbled the word like it was some foreign concept.

Yang gave a big nod.

"That's right. Until we get your sisters back, you're a part of team RWBY. You better get used to us." As she said those words, she shot a backwards glance at Pyrrha and the others. They were already walking away, apparently having lost interest now that their fight was over. Jaune should have been a part of their team. Until they pulled their heads out of their asses, RWBY had no problems taking Jaune in.

She turned back to Jaune just in time to see a small smile spread across his face.

"Being on a team sounds... nice."

Chapter End

Post Chapter Author's Notes: That clap move Jaune did was lifted from the manga/anime Assassination Classroom.

Special Omake chapter this time supplied by Aegir01

Guest Omake

Prank Time

Written by Aegir01

Violet couldn't believe this. She had to leave right after Jaune had been crippled by their bastard of a father? Stupid, stupid training trip! And stupid, stupid her for forgetting it up until now! She continued to berate herself as she threw together her belongings in a rush. She was more than willing to blow off the whole trip to be there for her only brother, but her parents had not budged, and were able and willing to knock her out and drag her to the bus themselves. Someday…

She was forced to go, then, but surely she could depend on her sisters to look after Jaune for just a few days? Sure, they bickered sometimes, but with Jaune's hands mostly immobilized, even they should see the need to help. As she dashed out the door, she called over her shoulder, "Make sure to look after Jaune, alright?"

She barely caught the voice that yelled back, "Sure!" Reassured, she turned her thoughts to training with Ostrum Tempus.

She shouldn't have been reassured. For in her haste, she failed to recognize which sister had replied.

Ciel rubbed her hands together. Time to "help"!

"Open your mouth for the dustplane!" Ciel's chipper voice rang throughout the dining room. Jaune tried to shake his way out of her firm grip.
"No! I'm not going to be babied by you! I haven't needed this done for at least six months! Stop, Ciel!"

Her megawatt grin didn't abate in the slightest as she started to move the spoon closer to his mouth. "Whoosh! It's coming in for a landing!"

Faced with a choice between giving in to his sister and getting a face full of the oatmeal, Jaune sighed in surrender and opened his mouth. Ciel flicked it upwards into his nose anyway. Jaune sat with a resigned look, trying desperately not to react, because that's exactly what she wanted.

Jaune was struggling with his scroll, trying to bring up the weather to see whether he would need an umbrella for his walk. He didn't even want to think about trying to tie his shoes…

"Oh, need help with your shoes?" One of his sisters asked as he tried to tap the darn weather icon.

Distracted as he was, he agreed absently as he finally pulled it up and saw that it should stay sunny for the next few hours.

"All set!" Jaune nodded in thanks and took a step forward.

Much like his eldest sister, Jaune occasionally got caught up enough to not pay attention to which of his sisters he was talking to. So it wasn't until he was most of the way through his step and his weight had shifted forward that the thought wait, wasn't that Ciel? crossed his mind.

This was, of course, just in time for him to trip and fall onto the nearest couch. Jaune glanced down at his shoes in resignation. Yep, his shoelaces had been tied alright. Tied together. Why me? Jaune lamented as he glanced around in the hopes of finding one of his sane sisters.

After Rogue had told him that the shower was free, Jaune trudged to the bathroom. These stupid bandages made it almost impossible to clean himself. Ah well, nothing for it but to try…

He entered the bathroom, the door swinging shut behind him.

"NOPE!"

The door blew almost off its hinges as Jaune tore through it at an incredible speed. He was halfway down the hallway in an instant, and scrambling for traction to corner when the youngest of his sisters came running out of the bathroom in nothing but towels. Rogue and Autumn took off after him, yelling, "We'll help you wash up, big brother!" although the malicious grin on Autumn's face may have indicated some kind of ulterior motive. Olivia was only a few steps behind them, shouting about getting him clean.

Back at the damaged doorway, Ciel was still laughing, clinging to the doorframe for support. "That was perfect!"

Joan stepped up beside her, a wide grin plastered across her face even as she fought to maintain her mature façade. She hitched a thumb over her shoulder as she asked. "How did you get even Amethyst in on it?"

Ciel tried to answer through her gasps for air, even as her towel started to slip a bit. "I… I didn't. I just… timed it so… she was… leaving the shower…" Amethyst stepped past the duo, having changed back and entirely unconcerned with her younger sibling's antics.

Joan allowed a chuckle to escape as she heard the chase continue outside. "So when Violet is away, Ciel will play?"

Having recovered some small amount of composure, Ciel grinned at her. "Well, sure. And hey, it gets Jaune's mind off of his hands. I'd say that's a good plan."

Suddenly a hand clamped down on the top of Ciel's head. The iron grip was unmistakable, and Ciel's face was abruptly covered in sweat as her eyes widened in terror. She didn't want to face the horror behind her, but her head was slowly turned by the inexorable pressure being applied to her skull.

Ciel found herself facing Violet, with her bag still slung over her shoulder and an absolutely radiant smile on her face. The prankster wasn't reassured in the slightest. "Ciel. We need to talk. I was hoping you could enlighten me as to what 'good plan' leads to two of our youngest siblings chasing our injured brother around the house in the nude?" Apparently Rogue and Autumn had lost their towels in the excitement. "In fact, I am sure we have MUCH to discuss, dearest sister." Violet began dragging the struggling girl towards the bench near the back of the house, where their father kept a paddle. "Let's take this discussion somewhere more private. Joan…" The blonde straightened like she was on a parade ground before the strictest drill sergeant in history. "…please collect our siblings and get them dressed. I would like to discuss some things with them about proper conduct."