I don't own Fate/Stay Night or RWBY.

Note: This story contains spoilers for F/SN Heaven's Feel route. Continue at own risk.


Shirou winced as a certain blond knight was flung halfway across the stage with a high-pitched cry. Beside him, the rest of Team JNPR looked on with varying degrees of resignation at their leader's performance, the conclusion already apparent even though the match was yet to be called. Pyrrha averted her gaze whenever the large mace struck her partner, while Nora remained unfazed and continued to hurl encouragements at Jaune. Ren just watched in silence, his expression neutral.

Team JNPR had remained close to Team RXSE in the two months that had passed since initiation, mostly due to the friendship between the team leaders Ruby and Jaune which pulled the other six members in as well. The dynamic between the teams was good, and relationships were cordial. The only exception being whenever Jaune tried to ask Weiss out. Shirou still remembered the time his three team members had to cut the unfortunate boy out of a block of ice when he had turned up at a bad time after Weiss had been subjected to another teasing session by Yang.

Back down on the stage, Jaune struggled to his feet as he wheezed and gasped for breath. His opponent, Cardin Winchester, sauntered up to him with an arrogant grin. With a shout, Jaune charged at Cardin, swinging Crocea Mors down at the taller boy's head. Not unexpectedly, his blow was stopped by the long handle of the mace, but not before the edge of the blade dug into Cardin's Aura.

Letting out a growl, Cardin threw Jaune off and struck him in the side with a horizontal swing that Jaune caught awkwardly on the edge of his shield. Being of a smaller mass, Jaune once again tumbled and stopped near the corner of the stage. Against all odds, he somehow got back up again before attempting yet another desperate rush, sword swinging wildly.

'How is it he made so little progress in two months? What has he been doing?' Shirou wondered as he saw Jaune deflect a blow with his shield, the look of surprise on Jaune's face indicating that it was a fluke rather than an intended outcome. It quickly turned into one of pain as he failed to block the return swing.

To Shirou's eye, Jaune had indeed made some improvements since the beginning of the school term. He could take a handful of hits without falling, and his swings now carried slightly more force behind them. But his progress may as well have been non-existent, as the blond still had all the finesse of a drunken baboon whenever he swung his sword about. Little to no form, little to no technique. Just a flurry of desperate swings and a misguided hope that one of them would connect with the enemy.

Using Crocea Mors as a crutch, Jaune slowly got back on his feet when an armoured boot pushed him back down.

"End of the line, Jauney Boy," Cardin sneered as he raised his mace into the air. Before he could bring the large mace down on the boy cowering on the ground, the buzzer sounded, calling the match to a close.

"That's enough!"

Cardin grimaced as he stepped back, but not before shooting Jaune another withering look.

"As you can see, Mr Arc's Aura has dropped into the red," Professor Goodwitch announced as she stepped in front of the two combatants. "As per tournament rules, the participant whose Aura falls beneath this level will not be allowed to continue."

Turning to the downed Arc, she added sternly. "Mr Arc, I had hoped that you'd have improved more than just this. You still don't pay enough attention to your Aura level, and you continue to charge at your opponent without thought despite such a strategy failing each and every time. Even though you managing to land a few blows on Mr Winchester, your performance is still lacking. Please do try to put more effort into Combat training. We never like having to send students back to their homes, especially not in a casket."

As the bell rang, signifying the end of the class, Goodwitch returned her gaze to the study body with a final reminder. "The Vytal Festival is only a few months away. The teams that are chosen to compete will have the privilege of representing Vale, so remember to keep practicing. Especially you, Mr Arc. Have a good day."

The professor walked off, leaving Jaune to sit on the stage by himself as the blond made no move to get up.

0-0-0

Shirou groaned as his scroll beeped for the second time in thirty minutes. He reached into his pocket to pull out the electronic device, only to see yet another message, this time from a second year student requesting Shirou to help repair a chipped blade.

It happened just over a month ago, when a third year had stumbled into Beacon's forge with a Dust dagger that had its blade snapped clean off. Shirou had been there at the time, working on a new set of arrows. The first batch worked well enough, but were a bit too heavy for his liking and so he went back to forge a new set with different materials. Seeing that no one else was present, Shirou had offered to repair the student's dagger. A couple hours later, a very satisfied third year left the forge with a weapon that, to the casual eye, looked as good as new.

Word had spread like wildfire about the first year who had the expertise to repair weapons and ever since that day, Shirou had gotten all sorts of requests ranging from repairing broken weapons to even the occasional commission for a new weapon to be made.

Initially, he had wanted to turn away a number of them, as the influx of requests had begun to take up a considerable portion of his free time. Only when students began offering to pay for his help, did he realise just how demanded his skills were. He did not want to charge for his work, but he had no other source of income as a student with no familial support. In the end, his practical side won over. In hindsight, he had reason to regret his decision, for his actions had garnered him both a good and a bad reputation among the student body which saw him as either someone with a valuable skill, or someone that could be exploited for it. Yang had gotten a good laugh out of it when she had found out. After enduring all of that, being called Handsome by the blonde did not seem so bad at all to Shirou.

His team had been surprised to learn of Shirou's apparent skill in weapon creation and repair. According to Ruby, it was rare to find someone of their age who had reached that level of proficiency in a skill that was not directly linked to combat. When Shirou recalled the conversation with Ruby prior to initiation where the younger girl had mentioned students having to create their own weapons, she just laughed and explained that students generally only designed their weapons, and brought the designs to a forge master who would assemble the weapon for them at a cost. Ruby herself was one of the exceptions, having crafted Crescent Rose entirely on her own. That Shirou was willing to charge so little for what others considered to be a valuable talent made him a sought-after individual for students who did not wish to engage either Beacon's forge master or a repair shop in Vale to handle their damaged weapons.

"Looks like Mr Forge Fairy is going to get busy again." Yang grinned as Shirou gave her a glare. "Why're you even complaining? You're earning from all this business."

"That's not the main issue here," Shirou responded with a sigh as he sent back a reply accepting the request. Despite what he said, it was just not in his being to turn away someone who came to him for help.

"You're seriously full of surprises, Shirou. First you're good at swordplay, then archery, and now even as a smith? Is there anything else that you are particularly good at?" Yang asked with genuine curiosity. Next to them, Ruby and Weiss listened in, even if the latter tried to look like she was not interested.

Shirou thought about it for a moment. "I'm a decent cook," he replied. "But it's been a while since I've done any cooking so I don't know how good I am now."

Ruby's eyes sparkled at the chance for a free meal. Running in front of Shirou such that the group had to pause their walk to the dining hall, she reached up and grabbed Shirou by the shoulders before starting to shake him enthusiastically.

"You can cook?! Please make me cookies! Chocolate chip cookies! Oh please! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!"

"Argh! Ruby! Stop!" Shirou disengaged himself from his partner with a crooked smile. In their time together, he had already gotten use to her antics and spontaneous energy. "Fine, fine. I can't guarantee you'll like them, but I'll do it some other time."

"Really?! Yay! Cookies!"

Weiss touched her forehead with a sigh. "Ruby, they're just cookies."

"What do you mean 'just cookies'?" Ruby retorted in indignation.

"They're just a snack for kids." Weiss waved dismissively. 'They're often too sweet and taste like a diabetic's worst nightmare."

"Take that back!"

"Why should I?"

"Ice Queen!"

"Hey!"

"Not again," Shirou murmured. It had taken some time, but Weiss had finally warmed up to the younger team leader. Even if they did bicker nearly as often as they used to, there was no longer any animosity between the girls. If anything, that lack of animosity only led to an increase in the frequency of such spats since both knew that words was all that was being exchanged.

Shirou himself had worked out some of his own issues in that time. After many attempts, he had finally reached a sort of emotional equilibrium whenever he entered his meditation sessions. While it did not solve the root cause of his problems, it did provide him with a means to access more of Archer's memories, however slow the process still was. Even so, it was still progress, for Shirou had managed to gain several new additions to his Reality Marble, including one or two that he deemed as being particularly useful.

"Hey, it's JNPR!" Ruby called out with a wave as they entered the dining hall. Their sister team waved back from their table, as the four members of RXSE took their seats opposite them.

"Howdy Vomit Boy!" Yang called from the other end of the table, getting a groan from the knight in response.

"Please, can we stop with the 'Vomit Boy' nickname already?" He begged.

"Not a chance. Until something more memorable comes up, you're still gonna be Vomit Boy."

"So Jaune, is everything okay with you?" Ruby asked after Team RXSE had gotten their own plates of food.

"Yeah! Totally fine!" Jaune smiled unconvincingly. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you seem a little… not fine," Ruby commented. "You look tired most of the time and you jump at every little thing."

Ruby sat opposite Jaune, gingerly poking at the pile of greens on the corner of her plate, something Shirou had insisted she took after seeing her pile on at least a dozen cookies. While he did not try to stop her from indulging in her addictions like Yang normally would, Shirou nonetheless would still push the healthier options on her and watch with a stern eye to make sure she finished it.

Now, Shirou just sat by idly, keeping one ear on the conversation between the team leaders.

"Come on, guys. Everything's fine."

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school," Pyrrha cut in from beside him, her green eyes marred with concern.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? That's nothing. He just likes to mess around with people. That's all. It's just practical jokes, nothing serious." Jaune tried to casually brush off the matter. It did not convince any of the ones paying attention to the conversation, as seven pairs of eyes narrowed as they each watched the blond knight.

'It was anything but practical jokes,' Shirou reflected with a frown, one identical to what his partner was currently sporting. Had Jaune and Cardin actually been close friends, then some of the stunts the taller boy had pulled over the months might have been excused as friendly pranks. But they were nothing of the sort, and the grin that Cardin wore every time something happened was only further evidence of the malicious intent behind his actions.

"Jaune. Cardin is a bully," Ruby responded.

"Oh please. Name me one time that Cardin had 'bullied' me."

"What about the time you were shoved into the rocker locker in the first week?" Shirou asked dryly. "Or that incident where pink dye had been mixed into your laundry and you had to spend the rest of the week in a pink hoodie and jeans. Or maybe it was that time he broke into your locker and stuffed Crocea Mors' sheath with rotting lettuce leaves and expired milk."

Professor Goodwitch had to excuse half the class because of that one incident once the smell got to the students watching the match. Needless to say, the custodial staff had a big mess to clean up that day.

"I take offense at the milk," Ruby muttered darkly.

Now all seven students present were staring at Jaune, waiting for him to confirm Shirou's statement.

"I didn't land far from the school," Jaune answered with a half-hearted attempt at a laugh, garnering a collective sigh from the table. "And the rest are harmless. I mean, the dye washed off after a few runs in the cleaner, and Crocea Mors was back to normal after a good cleaning. It doesn't even smell anymore!"

'I can't tell if he's that far in denial or if he is just trying to ignore the issue entirely. Neither is particularly appealing right now,' Shirou thought as he glanced over at where Cardin was sitting nearby. The sight that greeted him caused Shirou to grip his fork until his knuckles turned white.

The boy in question was tugging on the ear of a rabbit faunus, while the other three members of his team watched and laughed. The atmosphere around the table was bad, with other students either steered clear or simply pretended that nothing was happening. No one stopped Cardin or so much as called him out on it.

The arrogant sneer on Cardin's face and the bullying manner in which he picked on the faunus reminded Shirou of a certain blue haired boy that he once called friend. That is, until the truth came to light during the Holy Grail War.

Wordlessly, Shirou placed his utensils on the table and quietly stood up. His sudden action prompted Ruby to turn to him. "Shirou, where are you going?"

"Just something small that I have to deal with," Shirou calmly replied, giving Ruby a smile. "Don't worry. I'll be back in a moment."

Ruby watched as Shirou walked around their table and head in the direction of where other students were sitting and conversing. She shrugged, simply assuming that Shirou was going to handle another request he had received. Turning back, she listened as Jaune rattled off another list of excuses as to why he wasn't being bullied. It was not until a yelp of pain drew her eyes and all those at their table to a commotion that happened nearby.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Ruby gasped in shock as she saw Shirou grasping Cardin's forearm tightly.

"Why don't you release this girl," Shirou replied, keeping a firm grip on the struggling boy. "I don't believe she has done anything to warrant your treatment of her."

"And why don't you mind your own business, midget! Bugger off!"

Shirou tightened his fingers slowly and an audible crack was heard from the plate metal Cardin wore on his arm, the larger boy letting out a gasp of pain. As his grip loosened, the rabbit faunus backed away from the pair with large, frightened eyes.

"You happy now? Let go of me!" Cardin yelled, pain mixing with anger in his voice.

"I haven't heard you apologise to her for what you did. Apologise, and I'll release you."

"What?! You want me to apologise to that animal? You can't be serious! I'll kill you, you bastard!"

Shirou narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, everyone within a fifty-metre radius of him felt a sensation like a cold wave wash over them, causing most of them to shiver in their seats. They sat transfixed, eyes on the much shorter redhead who maintained a grip on the taller student in armour. Cardin, who was at the epicentre of it all, fared the worst. His pupils dilated as sweat popped out all over his face. The only thing keeping him upright was Shirou's grasp on his arm; his knees shaking with the fear he felt from the sheer killing intent that Shirou gave off. For the briefest of moments, Shirou's pupils seemed be filled with molten gold as a calm fury took over his person.

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry! There, I said it! Now let go! My arm is breaking!"

Shirou exhaled and the stifling atmosphere disappeared just as quickly. Blinking once, he released Cardin's arm, watching as the bully collapse onto the tiled ground with a whimper. Giving him one final withering look, Shirou turned away. As he did, he glanced at the other three members of Team CRDL, causing them all the freeze where they stood. Seeing the rabbit faunus staring at him, Shirou gave her a smile.

"You alright?"

Vigorous nodding.

"Good. If he does anything more in the future, just let me know. I'll talk to him again."

"Thank you. That was very kind of you." The rabbit faunus bowed in thanks, her smile of gratitude showing hints of confusion.

Shirou smiled sadly with a slow shake of his head. "No. It was just the right thing to do."

He walked back to his table, where seven pairs of eyes followed him until he finally sat back down. Looking about with a wry smile, Shirou asked. "What's the problem?"

"What was that?" Nora gaped. "You just grabbed Cardin and the next moment he went all jelly! You have to teach me how to do that!"

"Nora, I don't think that is something that can be learnt," Ren pulled the excitable girl back into her seat.

"No, but seriously. What was that, Shirou?" Yang added with morbid fascination. "I've never seen you so angry before."

A sigh. "Cardin just reminded me of someone similar that I knew in the past. I guess it riled me up more than I expected it to."

"Yeah. But what was that… thing you did?" Yang persisted, popping a grape into her mouth and chewing, waiting for Shirou's response.

"It's called a killing intent. With enough experience and if you focus your emotions to a sufficient level, it becomes almost palpable to anyone around you."

Everyone stiffened.

That was probably the biggest piece of bull Shirou had ever come up with on the spur of the moment. What other explanations could he give? That he had unconsciously let a large amount of prana leak out from his person? He did not know what was worse, that he had been able to come up with an explanation that horrible, or the fact that the others present seemed to believe him.

"But even in our duels, you never used that. It seemed so…" Pyrrha trailed off, struggling to find a word.

"Frightening?" Shirou finished for her with a smile. Seeing a hesitant nod, he laughed softly. "I suppose that is one way of seeing it. It's not something that I like to use. Just like in our spars. You don't see me use some of my deadlier techniques because even Aura might not be enough to stop some of them. To begin with, the techniques I learnt were designed originally for use against humans. Not to insult anyone, but if I do not reign myself in from time to time, there is the very possible risk of me accidentally hurting someone more than I wish to."

They digested this information as most of them looked at Shirou in a new light. Yang, on the other hand, had an excited gleam in her lilac eyes. "Does that mean if I asked you, you'll stop holding back in our next spar?"

"Yang! What on Remnant are you thinking?" Weiss hissed from the other side of the blonde. "Do you want him to kill you?"

"Nah. Handsome won't kill me. Even if he could he won't. But at least I can have a more exciting fight the next time."

Shirou shook his head in exasperation. "Yang, not to sound arrogant, but you won't stand a chance as you are now. You haven't even fixed all those flaws I told you about the last few times."

"I'll deal with that in my own time," Yang replied with a casual wave. "More importantly, I want another match."

"You know I'm willing to spar with you anytime, Yang. As long as you actually try to improve," he stared pointedly at the blonde who grinned flippantly.

"Great. That's what I like about you, Handsome. You never refuse me when I issue a challenge."

"Yang…" Ruby muttered in embarrassment. "Shirou, you don't have to listen to her, you know?"

Shirou shrugged good naturedly. "It's no big deal. Maybe if Yang loses often enough, she'll eventually learn something."

"I heard that you know?"

"Hey, Fearless Leader, you should learn that Super Shirou power! Maybe your hair will turn blond and stand straight up! Wait, your hair's already blond. Oh! Maybe it'll turn blue instead! Then maybe Cardin won't pick on you all the time," Nora piped up enthusiastically. Somehow in the past few minutes, she had decided on a name for what Shirou had done.

'What on earth is a Super Shirou power?' He thought incredulously.

"Nora. Like I said, I don't think it's something that can be learned."

Jaune laughed uneasily before he paused with a contemplative expression. "Just out of curiosity, Shirou. What did you have to do to become strong enough to do something like that? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

The innocuous question brought silence back to the table when everyone there realised that they too wanted to know the answer.

Shirou smiled wistfully as he met the curious, waiting gazes. "I had something that was worth fighting for."

0-0-0

"Ozpin, you called for me?"

"Glynda. Good that you're here. I thought you'd like to know that Bart had finalised his report on Mr Emiya." Ozpin slid a file across his desk, silently inviting her to peruse the document.

"This is a rather thick report," Glynda mused as she flipped open the front. "Bart has outdone himself again. To compile something like this in only two months."

"Yes. He did say he spent many a sleepless night at the CCT, reading up on research articles that were published by the various leading researchers of Aura in Atlas. I believe that in his words, this is 'new territory' we are heading into," Ozpin replied, taking a sip from his coffee mug to hide the faint smile he had.

Glynda quickly scanned the table of contents, before flipping through the report. She was a decently fast reader, but even she had trouble keeping pace with the sheer quantity of technical jargon that littered the pages.

"Mr Emiya's two Aura signatures originate from different parts of his body?" Glynda looked up with a doubtful expression.

"Please don't look at me that way, Glynda. This came as much of a surprise to me as it is now to you. But you know Bart. He is nothing if not meticulous. If this is the result that we get from all those hours of testing, I'm inclined to accept it, however unbelievable it may sound."

"New territory indeed," Glynda agreed, turning her attention back to the heavy stack of paper that laid in her lap. "No signs of any external influence. So, Bart concluded that Mr Emiya's condition is entirely natural?"

Ozpin tapped the pommel of his cane thoughtfully. "That's what he concluded, certainly. While we cannot rule out the possibility of someone having done something to him in the past, the fact that we cannot find any indication of such tampering with his person leaves that scenario unsubstantiated. I am personally inclined to believe that his condition is not natural, but I suppose that will not be confirmed for the foreseeable future."

Nod. Flip. Flip.

The minutes passed as the Combat Instructor went over the details with a trained eye. She stopped at one page, blinking several times at the words printed there as Ozpin gave a knowing smile. Moments later, Glynda looked up.

"I'm finding it harder and harder to believe what I'm reading." She removed her glasses while rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Some coffee Glynda?"

She glared at her superior. "You know I only take tea, Ozpin."

"Yes, I do. But a change of pace can perhaps be beneficial for your current situation."

Glynda scoffed, but nonetheless had a smile as she replaced her glasses and resumed her reading. About two-thirds the way through the report, she stopped to look at Ozpin again.

"Aura Channels?"

"I presume Bart could find no better name to describe the strange structures he found inside Mr Emiya," Ozpin replied. "Structures that have never been identified in any living human before this. It would explain how he has a lack of visible stimuli whenever he uses his Aura in your Combat lessons."

Glynda nodded in acquiescence. She had been the one to note that unusual development ever since his first duel. That despite having an obvious protection against the physical blows he received, he showed absolutely no sign of Aura leaving his person. That his Aura was flowing within him instead of acting as an external protective layer would certainly provide an answer as to how that could be so.

"I know many people in Atlas who will kill just to read what is in here," she laughed softly. "Or to even get a chance to study him."

"I believe James would be more than eager to push for such a thing," Ozpin agreed with a nod. "That is why I believe that we must keep Mr Emiya's condition solely among the staff of Beacon for the time being. I will be keeping this report here with me, and no copies are to be made, digital or otherwise. We cannot afford to take even the slightest risk of this leaking out."

"Do we inform Qrow?" This time, she did not look up from the report, fully engrossed in its contents. Yet for a brief moment, her face contorted at the thought of the perpetually drunk scythe wielder.

Ozpin cupped his chin, reclining in his chair as he did so. "No. We will inform him of this when he returns. He has enough to worry about right now, and this information is of no help to him on his current assignment. He doesn't need the distraction."

She accepted that logic. There was no reason to side track Qrow from what he was doing, not with how dangerous his role was. As much as she disliked his constant drunkenness, he was still their compatriot and, even if he did not show it, a moderately decent person at heart.

Glynda sighed as she finally closed the file, softly placing it back on Ozpin's desk. "How much of this is applicable to Amber's condition?"

The most pertinent question that she could have asked at that instance, and the first that came to mind after finishing her admittedly exhausting read.

"That is something else we have to work on. For now, we have completed the first step. It may not appear to be much, but we have already achieved something substantial with this."

"And what is Bart's view on this? Do we continue with further tests on Mr Emiya?" She asked.

Ozpin steeped his fingers while resting his elbows on his desk. "Bart is of the opinion that there are likely a lot more that we can learn if we dig deeper, but at the same time he does not wish to conduct any more tests on one of his students. If we want to know more, we would need to resort to somewhat invasive procedures, and I think you know his stance on such things."

She grimaced at Ozpin's answer. It did not warrant a response from her, for she held the same views, if not more strongly so, about experimentation on humans or faunus.

"On a side note, I wish to know your opinion on Mr Emiya. How has he been faring since the start of the semester?"

The prim lady adjusted her glasses as she pondered the question. "He's exceptional," she finally replied in her usual, curt manner. "He has stuck to a particularly dangerous style of combat, and by dangerous, I mean to himself. Yet in the same period of time, he has managed to best most of the students in his age group. His most recent spar against Ms Nikos ended in a draw, if you've heard of it."

Ozpin chuckled softly. "Yes I have. He caused quite a stir with that spar. But that's natural considering the reputation that Ms Nikos holds."

"Despite the inherent dangers, it was his use of that style that allowed him to end the match in a mutual defeat, so I might have been wrong when I warned him of its use at the start of the semester," she admitted. "If the rumours circulating around Beacon are to be believed, he is also talented in both blacksmithing and archery. He had been seen visiting the forge several times a week, and our security footage have recorded him practicing with a bow in the range."

"A wide range of competencies. Yet when you look closely, all three are interconnected."

Glynda nodded in understanding. "The ability to forge weapons implies a much greater knowledge of the various types of weapons and their respective strengths and weaknesses. It would explain in part his ability to quickly discern his opponent's capabilities if he is already aware of the limitations of their weapons."

"Indeed."

The professor stood up. "Is that all for now Ozpin?"

"Yes, Glynda. Thank you for your time. I'll inform you if there are any new developments."

Watching as his confidant and friend enter the lift and disappear behind its doors, Ozpin looked back down at the file with a shake of his head. He had lived for far longer than the average huntsman and in his life, had been exposed to many bizarre truths that were generally known only as the stuff of myths… or fairy tales. He had come to accept them after seeing proof of their existence over the years. The Relics, the Maidens, and even the silver-eyed warriors were all among the many secrets he kept. Secrets that the world was not ready for.

But Emiya's condition was something that was neither recorded in history nor mentioned in any of the various stories that pervaded Remnant's diverse cultures. Not once had Ozpin heard of a person who could channel Aura in the way he did, nor had the kind of structures in him that resembled a secondary nervous system. Perhaps it was a mutation on the genetic level that brought about his condition, a link between the physiology and the soul that scientists had yet to discover.

No.

Ozpin denied that possibility. Every part of his being knew that was impossible. Yet by rejecting the most logical of answers, he was back at square one again.

"Just what are you, Emiya Shirou?"

0-0-0

"Hey you! The shorty with the red hair!"

Yang snickered and even Ruby giggled behind her hand as a voice called out from behind them in the hallway as they left Doctor Oobleck's class. Shirou rolled his eyes, resigned to having that moniker stick with him for the next four years.

'Just because I'm of below average height among the male students here doesn't mean I'm short,' he grumbled mentally. 'It's everyone else that's tall.'

Walking up to them were a team of four, each wearing the standard Beacon uniform. Shirou had not seen the other three in any of his classes, and so guessed that they were likely not first years.

One of them was the rabbit faunus he had encountered earlier, and next to her were a girl in sunglasses with a handbag slung across her shoulders, an incredibly tall male with short black hair, and the last member being a tanned male with dark reddish-brown hair and pure white eyes.

"I heard you stood up for Velvet here," the girl in the sunglasses spoke up, pointing to the faunus beside her who gave Shirou a shy wave. "Was about to beat the living daylights out of that ass myself but you saved me the trouble. Thanks for that, by the way. Oh, that was rude of me. I'm Coco, leader of Team CFVY. These are Velvet, Yatsuhashi and Fox. We're all second-year students here."

"It's a pleasure. I'm Emiya Shirou. This is our leader, Ruby, and these are Yang and Weiss. I think you already know, but we're only first years." Shirou inclined his head in greeting as the rest of his team waved.

"Wait, aren't you that fellow that tied with the Mistral Champ just last week?"

Shirou awkwardly scratched his head. As much as he would have liked for it not to, the news had spread rather quickly. "It wasn't much. Even though it was a draw, I believe I still came out of it worse than Pyrrha."

"My. You're not one who can take praise, are you? How cute." Coco giggled. "Just wanted to say that we're all thankful for what you did. Velvet gets some flak for being a faunus and we're not always around when things like that happen. If you need help with anything, just call us. We owe you one for what you did today."

"That's alright. I don't need anything in return," Shirou hastily replied.

Coco stepped up until her face was mere inches away from his. Pulling down her sunglasses such that she stared over their rim, she smiled. "I insist."

Shirou gulped. He knew that tone of voice. He nodded once and the older girl stepped back with a smirk.

"A question. Is it true that your Semblance allows you to copy weapons?"

Shirou paused at the unexpected question, but let a smile tug at the edges of his lips when he noticed several members of Team CFVY waiting in anticipation for his answer. In particular, the rabbit faunus he now knew by the name of Velvet. "I can neither confirm nor deny that."

"Tch. As expected," Coco muttered. "Well, I tried. Right. Just had to get that out of the way. We'll see you around, Short Stuff. We'll be keeping an eye on your duels in combat class. Yatsu and Fox here seem interested in your services so I'll leave you guys to work something out. Ciao."

After briefly exchanging contacts on their scrolls, Team CFVY departed, leaving a bemused Yang to playfully jab Shirou's side with her elbow.

"Good business eh?"

"Yang, don't be so mercenary."

"That's rich coming from the Schnee."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss bristled with indignation, both at the jab as well as the intended pun.

"Guys! Stop! Now is not the time for this," Ruby cut in before Yang and Weiss could start another of their verbal bouts. "We still have a lot to do. Professor Port's assignment is due tomorrow and the outing to Forever Fall is only a few days away."

"Oh please. That assignment is easy," Weiss remarked, momentarily distracted from her soon-to-be argument with Yang. "I finished that yesterday. We all did."

Ruby's mood took a steep nosedive.

"What?" She looked around wildly, only to see Yang give a sheepish grin while Shirou decided that the view outside was particularly lovely that day. "When?"

"When you were busy doing maintenance on Crescent Rose, Rubes."

"Why didn't you call me?!" Ruby whined as she stared at the rest of her team with a look of betrayal.

Yang shrugged. "We did. You just didn't answer your scroll."

As it turned out, there were several missed calls and messages on Ruby's device, much to her dismay.

"Uuu…" Ruby swayed about with teary eyes.

"You can probably finish it by tonight if you start now," Shirou said helpfully. "It's like Weiss said. This one's not too difficult."

Ruby latched on to the sleeve of his uniform in an instant. "Shirouuuuuu. Help meeeeeeee."

Whenever Ruby got like this, Shirou would be reminded of a certain irresponsible guardian of his who used to behave in that exact manner in order to get her way. Except that his guardian was far too old to ever justify that kind of behaviour.

"Ruby, I can't always be assisting you with assignments." Nearby, Weiss and Yang nodded their agreement.

Shirou had went along the first couple times, but had to put his foot down when Ruby started to show excessive reliance on his aid.

"Please?" Ruby stared up at Shirou with the textbook quivering lip and watery eyes.

"Ooh. Ruby uses Sad Face! It's super effective!" Yang grinned as Shirou tore his gaze away with great effort.

"Shirou, you need to stop coddling her," Weiss said after seeing his reactions.

"I know that. Ruby, I'll help you only if you really are unable to finish it. Please at least give it your all first," Shirou patiently told his partner as he gently pried her off. "This is for your benefit."

"Fine." Ruby slunk off to their dorm in defeat with the other three in tow.

"Shirou, I know you like to help others, but it won't hurt to say no once in a while." Weiss turned to him with a sideways glance. "I'm not saying that what you're doing is wrong. People will just take advantage of you if you carry on like this."

"Yes, I've been told that before."

Seeing that Shirou was not willing to expand on that, Yang and Weiss kept silent as they returned to their dorm room for the night.

0-0-0

The days passed in relative peace for Team RXSE. For the most part, life was the same old routine. Waking up, preparing for morning lessons followed by lunch with Team JNPR, and finally finishing the day with more lessons in the afternoon.

There was, however, one difference that Shirou and, by extension, the rest of his team noticed. Ruby's counterpart on their sister team had for several days been absent for increasing amounts of time. When asked about it, Pyrrha and even Nora had been evasive with their answers; all that they got in response was that Jaune was busy with other things.

It was obvious for Shirou that Ruby was concerned for her friend. Especially when the few times they spotted the blond knight, he was in the company of Cardin and his team. While on the surface they looked to be getting along, there were still signs that Jaune was going along with it against his wishes, judging by the subdued behaviour he displayed around the four loud and boisterous teens.

That particular day was no different, as the teams trudged through the picturesque location known as Forever Fall, a place where the trees all bore red leaves, the ground bearing the same colour due to the layer of fallen leaves that carpeted it. Shirou noticed with a frown that the blond knight still stuck with Team CRDL rather than his own. Knowing that Jaune would never prefer them over his team, Shirou could not help but wonder why he continued to do so.

Stopping the group, Professor Goodwitch proceeded to explain their assignment: the collection of red sap from the various trees in Forever Fall. While Professor Peach had wanted the sap itself, Professor Goodwitch had told them to treat the assignment as a simulation of actual acquisition missions that they would have to participate in once they were fully fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses. As she dismissed the teams, they each moved off in different directions in search of sap producing trees.

Grunting in annoyance as the object he carried caught on low hanging branches for the umpteenth time, Shirou reached behind to adjust it. In addition to Kanshou and Bakuya, strapped to his back was a copy of Archer's bow and a small quiver that contained a number of his Dust arrows. While there was no guarantee that they would encounter Grimm during their short few hours spent in the forest, he brought them along just in case he had a chance to test his newer, more lightweight arrows. That, and he also had yet to have an opportunity to compare the differences between how his actual creations and traced copies fared against the creatures of Grimm; he had only practiced on cardboard cut outs at the range back in Beacon.

"I wish we get to see some Grimm," Ruby remarked as she tapped a tree, only to find that it was of the wrong species and produced no sap.

"Why would you even want that?" Weiss asked in confusion. "I would think that having a peaceful time here without the need to exterminate Grimm would make for a more pleasant experience. We don't get to come out here very often, so we should appreciate this opportunity even more."

"But I want to see Shirou set some Grimm on fire!" The black-and-red haired girl whined in reply.

"Ruby, I am not using the firestorm arrows in a place like this," Shirou called over from where he was collecting sap. "I don't want to have to explain to the professor why I started a forest fire."

Ruby raised a finger but Shirou, even with his back turned to her, interrupted before she could get a word in. "No, Ruby. I'm not using the explosive arrows either."

"Stingy."

Watching as the viscous liquid slowly drip down into the mason jar, Shirou noted the odour as it wafted out of the jar and the opening he made in the tree. To his senses, the smell was sharp, almost having a bite to it and seemed to linger in the air no matter where he turned.

Out of sheer curiosity at the substance that was non-existent in his world, he tentatively reached into the partially filled jar with one finger before bringing it up to his lips. His head jerked back from the unexpectedly sweetness. The taste reminded him of maple syrup, but stronger by an order of magnitude. He coughed to clear his throat of the thick substance that was overwhelming his taste buds.

'How does anyone eat this?' He thought with aversion. Without heavily diluting the sap, it was near unbearable in how sickeningly sweet it was. But seeing how the girls did not notice the intensity of the sap's taste, he wondered if it was just him. Perhaps it was a Remnant thing.

It took a couple hours for all four of them to collect enough of the red liquid to fill each of their jars, but eventually they completed the task and, with nothing else to do, decided to take follow Weiss' advice and relax while enjoying the scenery.

"This is too boring. I need something to punch." Yang sat up from where she had been lying on the leaf-strewn ground. "This is just weird. I thought there were supposed to be tons of Grimm in this place. But we haven't even seen one the entire time. Anyone else thinks it's strange?"

"This forest covers a vast area. Even if there are Grimm in here, with how spread out they are, it's not surprising that we haven't seen one," Weiss rationalised. "Or we're just lucky not to run into any. I for one am not complaining."

"Heya fellows!"

They knew that voice. Turning, they were greeted by three of the four members of Team JNPR approaching.

"Yo! What's up?" Yang called.

"Nora here drank all of our sap. The trees in our area are depleted so we need to find more," Ren explained, giving his partner a hard look.

"But Renny! It was so tasty!"

"You drank three jars worth of sap. Our only three jars."

Shirou nearly gagged at the thought as his face scrunched up in disgust. He eyed the energetic girl with the hammer who, likely due to a sugar high from all the sap, was bouncing about with more energy than he had ever seen her possess.

'Note to self. Never let Ruby consume any Red Sap when she has Crescent Rose with her.'

An unexpected scream tore through the air and the seven teens found themselves instinctively reaching for their weapons, standing and glancing around to find the source. Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark and Russel Thrush of team CRDL rush past them with a scream of "Ursa!" which put all the seven students present on high alert.

"What Ursa? Where?!" Yang demanded, grabbing Russel by the lapels as she hoisted him up, his feet dangling above the ground as he struggled helplessly in the hands of the much stronger blonde.

"Back there! Big, big Ursa! It's got Cardin!" The male with the green mohawk replied, his voice high and hysterical with panic. Yang loosened her grip and the moment his feet touched the ground, he ran by her without a moment's hesitation, fear written all over his features.

"Oh no…" Pyrrha dropped her mason jar as the rest glanced at her with worry. "Jaune's with Cardin."

Shirou's mind quickly put the pieces together. Russel mentioned a big Ursa, which meant that they had possibly encountered an Ursa Major, a particular subspecies that were generally slower, but larger and far stronger than their smaller counterparts. That CRDL felt they were unable to handle it also meant that it had to be a particularly large specimen, or they were probably just cowards. A part of Shirou wanted to believe that it was the latter, since it also meant that the inherent danger to the blond male from Team JNPR was lessened in such a situation.

'If it is as bad as they mentioned, Jaune won't stand a chance with the level of skill he has.' Shirou concluded, feeling more than just a tinge of worry for his counterpart after remembering his skill, or lack thereof.

"Yang, Weiss. Go get Professor Goodwitch." Ruby ordered, her tone leaving no room for bargain as she fixed her eyes on the pair who, after exchanging a glance, nodded and ran back in the direction the teams came from.

Ren and Nora joined them after a brief instruction from Pyrrha. Now, Shirou found himself running alongside the remaining two girls as they dashed through the forest. Subconsciously, his mind drifted back to the various lessons they had taken on Grimm behavioural patterns and he looked at Ruby with urgency.

"Remember what Professor Port mentioned about Ursai?" Shirou asked, maintaining his pace as he did.

"What about it?"

"Ursai don't normally travel alone."

A roar confirmed his suspicion as they ground to a halt. A small herd of the Grimm emerged from among the trees, growling menacingly at the humans they detected. A quick once over left Shirou with a rough estimate of about ten to twelve. Fortunately, he saw only Ursa Minor among those present.

"We need to clear these fast," Pyrrha hissed between her teeth. "There's no telling how Jaune and Cardin are doing."

Ruby readied Crescent Rose and fired the first shot. It caught one Ursa between the eyes and the beast slumped to the ground with a guttural moan as the large calibre bullet tore through the plating covering its face with ease. Seeing one member of their herd downed, the rest flew into action with angry roars.

Shirou brought out Archer's bow with his left hand, holding his right close to his chest while clutching thin air.

"Trace on."

A thin shaft materialised in his hand as the arrow formed from his prana. This was a replica of his Dust arrow, one that was meant to deliver a powerful electric charge using lightning Dust. Taking only a split second to aim, he let fly with the arrow as it buried itself into the flesh surrounding the shoulder of a Grimm.

Dust was normally activated using Aura, but Shirou found that a sudden pulse of prana was capable of doing the same. He watched as sparks flew from where the arrow had buried itself into fur and flesh. The Ursa roared in pain but to Shirou's annoyance and resignation, did not die.

'Just as I feared. The copies really are too weak.'

This was the problem he had discovered when he tested the first batch of Dust arrows. While the actual arrows he forged and filled with real Dust had lived up to expectations, the copies he traced were nowhere near that. They contained merely a fraction, perhaps a fifth or less, of the power of one of his hand forged creations. He did not truly understand the reason behind it but, if he had to guess, he would have to pin it on Dust.

It appeared to Shirou that his ability to recreate the material was lacking, not due to his skills in Projection, but rather the simple fact that the material was something his magecraft was unable to fully comprehend and replicate, not being native to his home world.

Pulling out an actual lightning Dust arrow and not a Projection, Shirou shot it into the same Ursa and watched as its entire body now light up with sparks before collapsing in death. He turned and quickly put down another two by firing a fragmentation arrow into one and watching as the second next to it died along with the first from the shrapnel that flew out of the Grimm with the force of an anti-personnel mine.

Near him, Ruby and Pyrrha were quickly dispatching the rest in short order and in mere minutes, the entire herd of Ursai were left turning into piles of dust and ashes as the three Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training resumed their search for the missing blond.

They reached a clearing, where Cardin could be seen sprawling on the ground and backing away on hand and feet as the large, spiny form of an Ursa Major bore down on him. Before any of them could cross the distance, Jaune had leapt out to block a downward swing of its large paw with his shield. One leg planted firmly into the ground, he pushed off with the other as he knocked the limb away and slashing across the Ursa's chest with a powerful diagonal downward swing.

The large Grimm stumbled back and Jaune pressed his advantage, landing several shallow blows in quick succession. With a roar, the Ursa Major struck his shield just as Jaune was in mid step, sending him flying several metres across the clearing.

With a frown, Shirou was about to bring his bow up when he felt a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. Looking at Pyrrha questioningly, he saw the girl shake her head. "Let's just watch for now," she murmured softly.

Quelling his desire to outright kill the Grimm, Shirou lowered his weapon with great reluctance. "Alright. But if I see that he is unable to handle that Grimm, I won't hesitate to put it down."

"That's fine with me."

They turned back, just in time to see Jaune make a mad dash at the Ursa just as it reared up on its hind legs with an arm drawn back for an overhead swing. Shirou gripped the handle of his bow as he prepared to take action if needed and by the way the two girls with him had tensed, they were likely preparing for the same eventuality.

As the blow came, Jaune's shield came up once again in a successful block. Digging his foot into the ground, he used it as a pivot to twist his body as he swung up with his other arm with a yell.

Shirou noted that for the first time, Jaune swung his sword in a proper fashion, his arm positioned up and outwards, and followed through with a spin in his entire form.

The blade of Crocea Mors formed a perfect arc and dug into the neck of the Ursa Major, decapitating the Grimm with that single sweep. Jaune landed back on both feet as the now headless body fell behind him with a resounding thud. With that, the forest was quiet once again.

"Wow. He did it," Ruby whispered.

"Yes. Yes, he did," Pyrrha replied with a proud smile on her lips as she watched her partner help Cardin to his feet. Motioning to Ruby and Shirou, the three silently departed, confident that with how he was able to deal with the Ursa Major, they could leave Jaune to handle the aftermath on his own.

The incident came to an end and, to their relief, it seemed that Cardin had stopped all of his antagonization of Jaune thereafter. The close encounter with the Ursa Major must have opened his eyes to reality, for the tall boy no longer appeared as confident, but started to put in far more effort in the following weeks' Combat classes, something that Professor Goodwitch was visibly pleased about. While things were not exactly cordial between CRDL and JNPR, there was much less animosity.

There were changes with Jaune as well, for the blond knight mentioned proudly that he was underdoing training with his partner, Pyrrha. That, and whatever confidence Cardin lost, Jaune seemed to have gained. The boy stood taller, and was less hesitant in his overall behaviour. The occasional times that Shirou encountered Jaune on his late-night training, he could see visible improvements in the boy's form and techniques.

Perhaps the thing that surprised Shirou the most was when Jaune started to actively ask for his advice on combat the few times they met, bearing an enthusiasm that Shirou had never seen him possess before. Seeing no harm to it, Shirou was more than happy to assist the blond, giving him tips on how to alter his swing and ways to identify subtle nuances in the movements of his opponents.

When asked why he was still practicing on his own now that he was training with his partner, Jaune simply replied that while Pyrrha was a good teacher, he needed to make sure that he was doing things correctly, and that he did not want to rely on her for everything.

All in all, it was a relatively good end to what had been a short-lived but troublesome incident.


Omake: A different kind of story

(takes place post-Season 3 of canon RWBY)

Ruby Rose tossed in her bed, whimpering as she thrashed about. The nightmares were back. The voices were back. All the voices. Penny. Pyrrha. Huntsmen. Civilians. A multitude of men and women, young and old. All those who had perished when the Grimm had gotten into Vale.

She was hearing all of them.

Again.

Voices calling out to her to save them.

She watched, transfixed in the dream as the memory of Penny's dismemberment was replayed. She watched as Pyrrha was turned into ash in front of her eyes.

She wanted to scream, oh so badly. But her mouth would not move. Her body would not move. She was just a spectator, watching the scenes unfold like a sickening horror movie.

And then there was Yang.

"You could have saved them, you know?"

Ruby started, suddenly finding herself able to move. She whirled around to see nothing but thick grey mist.

"Who… who's there?"

"Do you want the power to save them?"

"Who are you?" Ruby demanded. "What is this place?"

"This is your dream. I am here to help."

The voice sounded childlike, and Ruby would have called it innocent if the sound of it did not send chills down her back.

"What do you mean?"

"I could give you the power to change things. All those people wouldn't have died. Your sister wouldn't have lost her arm. You could still be the hero that you always dreamed of being. You can still save the world."

It sounded too good to be true. Even Ruby knew that. Nothing could come that easily. But in the depths of her heart burned a tiny flame of hope that things could be right once more.

She licked her lips nervously.

"How can I do that?"

The outline of a form appeared in the mist. Ruby could not make out any details, save for a black shape. It was small and animalistic, with a strangely oversized head and long, dangly ear-like things.

A pair of beady red eyes shone through the mist.

"How would you like to make a contract with me?"

Could she accept it? It was too good to pass up.

'I don't care what happens to me,' she thought. 'If I can save everyone…'

Ruby gave her reply.

And Remnant's fate was changed forever.


Author Notes

Hello, good people. Life has been quite a lot busier than before, but I somehow managed to get this out on time. Recently been having less and less time to write due to an increasing workload at university, which is kinda bad. Well, I'll try to pull through somehow. Let's get started on talking about this chapter.

Yep. A Jaundice plus Forever Fall coverage. First I want to say that I actually like the kind of character profile that Jaune falls into. An earnest enough person who wants to do good in general, and a clean enough slate that a good author can work wonders with him in numerous ways. Basically a mass of potential that is in some ways the best kind of character to write about.

However, he is also sadly not my main character and so his arc (haha, see what I did there?) is only a single chapter told from Shirou's perspective with not much actually shown about Jaune. As Shirou's not directly involved in those events, there's not really much to tell, although there are some slight differences. If you expected more of Jaune, whelp, sorry.

For those who wish to see more Jaune Arc, in exceptionally good quality fics I might add, go check out the stories by Coeur Al'Aran. If you have somehow not heard of him or his stories… you have been missing out on life.

One more thing, Jaune does not get that much better just because Shirou gave him a few pointers. That kill was still more a fluke than anything, and all it's supposed to show is the minor differences that arises from different character interactions, which in this case, are Shirou and Jaune's interactions. Just like canon, Jaune still has near zero proper technique at this point in time. Will he get better than canon? Possibly. Will it be within the timeline from Season 1 to 3? Maybe. Maybe not. Most people don't improve that fast.

And so the story progresses, things happen, Shirou doesn't use his explosive arrows just yet. Sorry that he doesn't have an abandoned castle to practice them on. Fortunately, he also doesn't get paralysed every time he uses them or needs to shout EXPLOSION when he casts them. That would be a whole different kind of funny.

Omakes are mostly drabbles that just happen to come to my mind. In the case of spontaneous ideas like this one, don't expect it to be long or of a similar quality to the chapter. Most of the time I don't have the motivation to actually work on the omake to make it good, unless I really like that specific idea.

More stuff happens next chapter, so stay tuned.

Not much else to say this time except thanks for reading.