A/N: Here's the next chapter, as promised within a week. I decided to change an event that I had originally planned for later and put it in this chapter, mainly due to the fact that I thought it would seem much more interesting if I put it here. I'm not huge on how I started this chapter, and you'll see in a second, but I put it there as a moment of character development for Weiss. However, I am happy with how I ended it. Without further ado, here's The Azure Flame chapter 10!
Beacon Dorms
11:30 am the next day
"That was one heck of a fight yesterday." Ruby told her blonde friend as they walked through the halls of the Beacon dorms. She was walking with Jaune through the Beacon dorms, both of them wearing the Beacon uniforms, save for a few changes to them. For Ruby, she wore her trademark hood and cape while Jaune, who normally wore the standard uniform, made a few slight modifications.
The shirt that was normally buttoned all the way up, now had the top two buttons undone, revealing a yellow undershirt. Around his neck he wore a pendant in the shape of a nonagram inside a circle. At the center of the circle was a multi coloured gem. On one side, it was red and on the other it was blue. Jaune had it commissioned for him when he was at the Set camp, stating that it was to symbolise his transition into his new life. Orion teased him saying that he was making it for Red vs Blue, to which Jaune simply shoved him off. Instead of a tie, Jaune wore the collar of the school dress shirt over that of the blazer, and left the blazer itself unbuttoned.
"It was." Jaune responded, still feeling slightly guilty about the Ruby Flame - based attacks on Weiss. He promised himself that he would get his anger under control before going up against Weiss again. He also promised not to take any cheap shots.
"Although I wish I was a little more level headed. Next time I fight Weiss in combat class, I won't be using any of the Grimmoire attacks and I won't taunt her as much."
"Really?" Ruby asked. "Why's that?"
"Well for starters, she's starting to earn my respect." Jaune answered. "Yesterday after the fight, she showed up at my door and apologized. She explained why she acted the way she did. And you know what? That takes a lot of courage. To swallow your pride like that and admit that you were wrong. It's respectable."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience."
"I am. The day we got back from Forever Fall, Pyrrha and I went to the roofs. I apologized for being so thick skulled, and asked her to train me." Jaune smiled at this. "I remember she pushed me down and told me my stance was off. I watched her give me the trademarked Nikos smirk and walk towards the door, telling me to hurry up before Nora ate all the pancakes."
"Ah." Ruby responded, before asking another question. "So did you forgive Weiss?"
"No." Jaune answered flatly. "But there's a reason as to why I forgave Pyrrha and Ren, but not her. Pyrrha came to me the day that I woke up after jumping. And Ren actually had a good reason to distrust me. I'm not going to tell you, it's not my story. If I'm being honest Ruby, I can't really trust her. Hell I can barely trust Pyrrha and Ren right now. The only people I can really trust are you, Nora and Orion."
"That… actually makes sense." Ruby responded, nodding her head to one side. "When do you think you'll be able to trust her again?"
"I'm not sure Rubes. Trust is earned, not given. However, she is earning my respect for what she did."
"That's understandable, I guess." Ruby responded, before smirking and raising an eyebrow. "Sooo, the Trademarked Nikos Smirk?"
Jaune chuckled before responding. "You know when she knows she's right and smirks?"
"Yeah?"
"That's what I mean by the Trademarked Nikos Smirk." Jaune answered with a small laugh.
"So are you excit-"
"Ruby?" came the voice of someone that Jaune did not want to see. The two of them turned around to see the rest of Ruby's team standing a at the end of the hall. Yang went from a happy expression to one that could kill the instant she saw Jaune. Blake had a similar expression, but while Yang's showed teeth, Blakes was more of a frown and angry eyes.
"What the hell are you doing with my sister?" Yang shouted, stomping towards them.
"Well she asked me about my fight yesterday with Weiss," Jaune answered, not technically lying, "and I told her that she put on a good fight. Her biggest flaw is her lack of close quarters co-"
Jaune stopped short as he received a right hook from Yang. If Yang's gaze could kill then Ruby's was one of murderous rampage.
"WHAT THE HELL YANG?" Ruby yelled. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
"I'm trying to protect you from deviants like him."
"Protect me? Newsflash Yang, I'm the leader of a team at BEACON! I was moved up two years! I can protect myself!"
"We saw how strong he is Ruby, what if a liar like him tried to attack you?"
"You're still hung up on the transcripts?" Jaune commented, rejoining the conversation. Yang moved to swing again but found herself unable to do so. Looking down, she found a black spinning snowflake under her feet.
"What the hell Weiss?" She asked, turning to the heiress.
"Yang Xiao Long, you will stand down immediately." Weiss ordered. "He has done nothing wrong, asides from how he entered."
"We can't trust him! He shouldn't be here!"
"Neither should you. Or Blake, in that case." Weiss retorted. "We all know Blake's past. And I tend to read up on the cities that I'm visiting. I found it a bit interesting that a bar you regularly go to, was seen destroyed. The owner and his nieces were found bruised and with broken bones, but refused to produce a name."
"That could have been anyone."
"It was Yang, Weiss." Ruby confirmed.
"What the hell? Why would you say that?"
"Why would you attack Jaune?" Ruby interrogated, dragging Yang down so she could whisper. "Name one good reason why you attacked him. Not the, 'we can't trust him', or 'he's a criminal'. You're fine with a former terrorist in your room, but not a forger who's not even on the same floor?"
"I-" Yang started.
"Yang I am ordering you to stand down, now." Ruby ordered. Yang was genuinely terrified of her younger sister right now. "If you refuse to, I will enforce the usage of discipline that I see fit. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-Yes, Ruby." Yang answered, still slightly scared.
"Ok then!" Ruby then responded in a cheerful voice, slightly creeping out the other four students. Jaune found it uneasy that the literal ray of sunshine that is Ruby Rose, could be so terrifying at times. "You guys go get lunch, I'll be with you in a little bit."
Yang and Blake glared at Jaune one last time before turning around. Weiss looked at Jaune, her pale blue meeting his azure. He smirked and gave a nod, to which she turned around and started to walk away.
"Hey Weiss!" Jaune called out to the heiress, making her to look back.
"You're on the right track." Jaune told her, and saw her smile at his comment.
"I'm going to go see how Pyrrha and Ren are handling the living lightning bolt." Jaune said, looking back to Ruby, who simply giggled at his reference to Nora.
"Alright, I'll go catch up with my team then." Ruby said, as she turned to leave. "See ya later, Vomit Boy!"
"You too, Crater Face." Jaune responded with a smile as he turned around and started walking to PNR's room. His thoughts ran back to last night and remembered how Nora was telling him that there's a new student joining their team. This peaked his interest, but decided to mess with Nora.
"I can't believe you would want someone to replace me, Nora. After everything we've been through."
He remembered the look on Nora's face as her eyes widened to comical portions before she realized he was joking. The slap to the face was definitely worth it.
Jaune slowed down as he approached his old dorm and smiled at it, before knocking. He heard some movement before the door opened to reveal the team ninja. Ren saw Jaune's look and quickly leaned across the doorway to block Jaune from entering.
"Oh! Uh, hey... man." Ren offered, obviously trying to not say Jaune's name. This confused Jaune, as he gave Ren a look that meant 'what the hell's going on?' as he heard some movement in the background.
"STOP MOVING MY BAGS!" came a very familiar voice as Jaune looked to Ren, who simply sighed and nodded.
"But I need the room so Ren can make me unlimited pancakes!" He heard Nora respond, earning a small chuckle from the former leader. He looked at Ren and motioned with his head for him to move aside. Sighing, Ren did so and watched as Jaune entered the room to see a new blonde figure standing in front of Nora.
"You should go along with Nora. It'll make your life much easier." Jaune advised.
"Who the hell do you think you are to tell me-" the blonde figure turned around and went wide eyed as she saw her twin brother standing before her.
"Trust me on this one, butt head." Jaune responded, a smirk crawling its way onto his face.
"Oh is that so? Why should I listen to you?" The female responded, gaining a smile of her own.
"I'm older, and I'm better looking."
"Eh, I'd say you're only half as good looking now."
"Why's that?"
"You lost some of the good looks along with your arm." the blonde responded. The air tensed up, the three members of PNR looked at their new member in shock, as the words left her mouth. The tension disappeared as Jaune moved towards their new member and embraced her in a hug.
"It's nice to see you again Jeanne."
"You too, dumbass." Jeanne replied, hugging him tighter. The two stayed like that for a few moments until Ren cleared his throat.
"I'd hate to break up such a tender reunion, but we still need to go get food." the resident ninja informed. "And I'm pretty sure none of us want Nora to flatten the school."
"I mean, I wouldn't mind trying!" Nora chimed in.
"Ren… please take control of your partner." Jaune threw at him. He turned to his twin and then motioned for her to lead the way. Smirking, Jeanne walked past him, swatting the back of his head on her way out. Ren and Nora soon followed, with Pyrrha and Jaune not too far behind.
Cafeteria
11:45 am
"So, what class is up next?" Nora asked. She sat between Ren and Pyrrha, opposite of Jaune and Jeanne.
"Leadership course for me." stated Jeanne, as she took a bite of steak. "Wonder that's going to go down."
"You pretty much learn how to make attack strategies and how to effectively neutralize an opponent." Informed Jaune, who cut off a piece of his own steak. "Which means that, I, have a spare period."
"And the two of us are going to be training." came a voice from behind him. Orion sat down next to Jaune, opposite of Ren. "I'm going to show you how to properly call it and maybe even show you the disruption event."
"Disruption event?" Jaune asked, taking another bite of steak. "What's that?"
"A disruption event, although we just call it a disruption, allows an elder flame wielder to boost their attacks exponentially. The downside, is that it eats up twice as much aura as a normal call."
"So you're turning my little brother into an overpowered killing machine?" Jeanne sarcastically accused.
"Jeanne? When'd you get here?" Orion looked at the female Jaune. Even though the he hadn't seen her since they were pre-teens, she still looked how he remembered. Slightly smaller than Jaune, although she had more muscle than the Jaune from a couple months ago, and a face that thinner than her twin's. She wore her hair with the sides shaved off, the top cut short and pushed over the right side of her head.
"Last night around nine thirty." She answered, taking a sip of her water.
"You're the new Team JNPR leader?"
"Yeee-up!" She popped, before finishing her steak. She was looking forward, if she was being honest. "Back to my original question, you're essentially turning my little brother into an overpowered killing machine?"
"I am not your little brother."
"I'm older than you by six minutes."
"And I'm taller than you by six inches. Therefore, you are my little sister."
"Fine!" The leader mocked, "Are you turning my, younger, brother into an overpowered killing machine?"
"Not really overpowered, the Grimmoire still takes a lot out of its wielder." Orion finally answered.
"So, training with you," Jaune pointed to Orion, "and then combat class at three." Jaune sighed as he remembered the previous days events. "Wonder who I'll fight this time."
"Hopefully someone on RWBY!" Nora exclaimed, "That fight you had with Weiss yesterday was awesome!"
Ren looked at Jaune and then Nora, before realizing how Jaune felt about his fight with Weiss. Seeing this as an opportunity to fix their relationship, he spoke up.
"If you want, Jaune, I could help you with some meditation to help you keep your emotions in check." the ninja offered. He saw Jaune look at him with a soft smile, before nodding his head.
"Sure, Ren." Jaune responded, finishing his lunch. "I'll take you up on that." He looked over to the others. "So what are you guys doing during the spare?"
"I'm heading to the training rooms." Pyrrha responded first, "I want to work on my reaction time between multiple targets."
"I'm going to the weight room." Nora chimed in, "I want to be able to bench five of me and one of Pyrrha before Vytal."
Jeanne looked at her brother with a raised brow, and saw him chuckling, before realizing that he wasn't kidding when he said that she should just go along with Nora's antics. She turned back to Nora and had a small smirk, before looking at her scroll's clock.
"Aw shit, I'm going to be late." She stated, getting up and running out the door. "It was nice seeing you again Orion." They watched her leave, before Jaune got up as well. He picked up his empty tray and called out behind him.
"I'll meet you in my room 'rion!" Jaune placed his tray on the return table before walking out.
Jaune's Room
12:55 pm
Jaune and Orion sat across from each other, cross legged in the middle of Jaune's room. Jaune, wore a white t-shirt with salt and pepper sweatpants, pendant still hanging from his neck, while Orion wore a black and red, sleeveless shirt and a pair of black joggers. Orion raised his Grimmoire and looked into Jaune's eyes.
"Restriction 407 released, Dimensional Interference Field Deployed, Obsidian Flame… Activate!"
Black Fire crawled up Orion's right arm, as he continued to lock eyes with Jaune.
"Every Grimmoire has a different call. If the Grimmoire is an elder Flame, you can call the individual Flames for a concentrated use. Right now I have all the Flames engaged, however," Orion stated, closing the Grimmoire. "If I were to call only the Ruby Flame, or the Opal Flame, I would call that Flame specifically. On top of that, I would also need to specify the parameters of which Flame I'm using. For example, if I wanted to use Ruby Flame, I'd call it by say, 'Restriction 479 Released, Dimensional Interference Field deployed, Ruby Flame Activate'. For the Azure, I believe it's either Restriction 636 or Restriction 666." Orion pondered. "Actually, I believe they're both for the Azure, the only difference is that the second allows you to use the idea engine."
"Idea engine?" Jaune asked. "That's the thing that enhances the Azure right?"
"Yeah, we'll need to get you one." Orion answered. "Not today, today you're going to learn how to channel it. Now, push aura into your Grimmoire."
As he did, Jaune felt a warm sensation along it. It wasn't a sensation one would feel if they were channeling aura, it felt warmer than that. As if he was wearing a long sleeve shirt in late spring.
"Now, repeat after me." Orion told him. "Restriction six six six released."
"Restriction six six six released." Jaune repeated, feeling the Grimmoire start to warm up.
"Dimensional Interference Field Deployed."
"Dimensional Interference Field Deployed." A blue-gold nonagram appeared where Jaune sat.
"Azure Flame... Activate."
"Azure Flame… Activate."
As Jaune spoke the last words of the call, the restrictor on his Grimmoire opened as the Set clan crest, a set of Skeletal Wings with two curved blades at the top, shot forward from it. Blue Fire raced up his Grimmoire, startling Jaune initially, but he calmed down when it felt like he was at a campfire rather than a scorching flame.
"So… this is the Azure Flame?" Jaune asked, moving his arm a bit. The dancing flames seemed to hypnotize him. He sat in silence, before Orion broke him out of the trance.
"Yeah, and by the looks of it, you had a similar reaction to what I had when I first called the Obsidian." Orion told him. "Now, try imagine it gathering in your hand, almost as if it were a snowball."
Jaune did as he was instructed and watched the flames die down and move towards his hand. He let the Fire crawl back up his arm and repeated the exercise a few more times.
"Entertaining isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Hold your hands out, palms facing each other, and try to imagine that there was a ball between it."
Jaune followed the instructions, and saw the blue flames race down his arm and gather in his hands. He looked into the ball of dark blue energy, lost in its fiery dance.
"-une. Jaune. JAUNE!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry" Jaune responded to Orion, who looked annoyed that his friend kept spacing out.
"I understand that it's entertaining, but please try to focus." Orion reprimanded. "I have class in forty five minutes, so let's try to do a little more practice before I leave."
"Sure."
The two of them continued with the exercises, Orion would tell Jaune to focus somewhere, and Jaune would listen to his friend. This went on for a few more minutes, before Orion had to leave for class.
As Orion left, Jaune checked the time and realized that he had about forty five minutes before combat class. Feeling tired from exercising the Azure, he set a timer for half an hour and fell asleep on his bed.
Beacon Combat Arena
3:15 PM
Jaune sat beside his sister and former team in the bleachers as they watched Nora fight against one of the transfer students from Haven. If he remembered correctly, the boys name was Scarlet David. The boy fought a losing fight from the beginning, as Nora had the better range and CQC abilities, compared to Scarlet. He watched as Nora quickly end the fight, by connecting Scarlet with her hammer and sending him out of bounds.
"Winner, Nora Valkyrie." Goodwitch announced. "You had strong hand to hand combat and your ranged melee attacks were commendable. You should work out a solution for what should happen in the situation where your opponent is out of range or if you were disarmed. On top of that, watch your backswing, you're projecting your attacks too much and over-extending them. This will tire you quicker than if you controlled it. Overall, it was a respectable fight from both of you."
Goodwitch turned to the class before continuing. "Do we have any volunteers for the next fight?"
"I volunteer!" came the loud voice of Yang Xiao Long, as she walked her way down to the arena.
"Very well, I'll find you a par-"
"I'd like to fight that bastard." She responded, cutting off Miss Goodwitch and pointing to Jaune.
"Miss Xiao Long, you will watch your language." Goodwitch reprimanded, before turning back to Jaune. "Do you accept the challenge, Mr. Set?"
"Sure, why not?" Jaune responded as he strolled down to the arena. It was clear that he wasn't in any hurry. Along the way, he called his weapons to his sides, and his mask to his hand. When he arrived at his position on the arena floor he met Yang's murderous look, before he equipped his mask.
"You know those intimidation tactics won't work on me right?" Yang growled, her expression stayed unwavering.
"I don't care if they don't work. It's something that I picked up from your mother." Jaune responded. "She happens to be close friends with my father."
"Weren't you disowned?"
"Yuuki Arc is a bastard, and is not my father. Albatross Set is." Jaune answered calmly. "Although I did know my mother before I was disowned. Shame you can't say the same."
He saw Yang's expression change into one that could cut through metal beams. She cocked Ember Celica as Jaune pulled out Hellfire. He held it in front of him, blade side down, and angled towards the ground.
"You shall fight standard tournament rules. Fight until your aura is in the red, or you are knocked out of the arena." Glynda stated. "If you find yourself no longer able to fight, you may concede. If you are separated from your weapon, you may continue fighting, however if in regards to the previous rule, you may concede. Do both combatants understand the rules?
"Yes."
"Clear as day, mam."
"Begin!"
Yang propelled herself towards Jaune using the recoil of her shotguns, bringing one arm back mid-flight. As she approached Jaune, she saw him run towards her, and then slide under her path.
She felt a pain in her stomach as she looked down and saw the ground get smaller. It took her a second to realize that Jaune had launched her in the air. Re-orienting herself, she shot herself back down using her shotguns and connected a fist with Jaune's shoulder. Dust from the impact clouded the two fighters as Jaune brought Hellfire into an overhead swing, only to have it blocked by Yang.
He brought Hellfire around for a side attack, only to be met with another Ember Celica. He jumped back, giving some distance between the two. The dust cleared and he looked at her through the mask.
"Man, you're almost as good as your mother." Jaune commented, enraging Yang. She let out a yell and activated her semblance, shooting towards him again, cocking her hand back. She was determined to finish this. However, like Weiss the previous day, she failed to take into account Jaune's strengths. She had let his taunting get to her and it clouded her vision.
Jaune brought Hellfire around in an underhanded swing, sending Yang back, before switching to Gematria and Gehenna, and unleashing a hailstorm of bullets and the blonde brawler.
Receiving those hits, she lay on the ground, exhausted from the barrage of bullets her opponent presented. She heard him walk up to her, and she looked at him through the holes in his mask.
"Let go of the past Yang." He said. "Ren's done it. Pyrrha's done it. Nora and Ruby didn't let it bug them. Hell, even Weiss let go of the past and she used to hate me. You'll only hurt yourself if you stay on this path."
He pulled Gehenna and aimed it at her stomach and fired until he heard the buzzer.
"Winner, Jaune Set." he heard Goodwitch announce as he took off his mask. "You have shown a tremendous improvement, in the two days you've been here, Mr. Ar- Set. Apologies, Mr. Set."
"No worries professor." Jaune responded. He knew that the name change would still take some time for everyone to get used to.
"Your fighting style has improved quite a bit, however I will inform you that taunts may not always work. Bear that in mind when you're fighting an opponent."
"Thank you professor."
"Now then," Goodwitch announced, turning to the class. "Who can tell me what Miss, Xiao Long did wrong."
There was another pause in the air, not as tense as the previous days, as the class knew that Jaune had improved a lot. However, it was a moment before someone spoke up.
"Much like myself, Yang failed to take into account Jaune's new fighting style. On top of that, she made the same mistake I made of allowing the taunts to anger her, thus leading her to make rash decisions. She also seemed to go for the same attack patterns, which allowed Jaune to quickly analyze them and create counters for." Weiss spoke up.
"Thank you Miss Schnee." the professor responded. "Miss Xiao Long and Mr. Set, you two may return to your seats."
"If I'm being honest professor, I could go another round." Jaune told her. "I still have full aura."
Glynda looked at his aura levels and found that he was correct. "Very well, I shall find you another opponen-"
"I challenge him." came tenor voice from the class. The owner of the voice stood up. The male had a mix of golden and platinum blonde hair, green eyes and a look that screamed 'pretentious snob'. His combat attire consisted of a blue, military style jacket, with black military combat pants held up with criss crossed belts. He held his weapon, a katana, in his left hand.
"Very well, Mr.-" Goodwitch started.
"Arc." The challenger responded. Jaune's eyes widened, before returning to an lowering his eyebrows as he clenched his fist. "My name is Jin Arc. And I'd like to show my brother where he belongs."
A/N: So yeah. Jin.
I wonder who he's based off of.
I had originally planned for Jeanne to be introduced in a later chapter, like wise with Jin, however the story would have been so much exposition. And that's not entertaining is it? As for Yang's fight scene, I couldn't really write in any Grimmoire attacks, so I decided to focus it around Jaune exploiting Yangs weakness towards her mother.
I'm also considering changing the pairing that I have planned. I'm not 100% sure if I'm happy with what I originally have planned so I might re-work it a bit.
Review Responses:
DragonlordSyed101: I plan on having more Ruby/Jaune interactions.
Patriot-112: I actually have something else planned for Weiss' redemption, and it may come sooner than you think.
ubivashka: Thanks for bringing that up. If I'm being honest, I'm not 100% happy with how I wrote chapters one and two, so I may end up re-writing them in the near future as well as add a chapter between them. It was addressed in an earlier review (I belive chapter 2, so check chapter 3 for my response) but these definitely some things that I'll keep in mind when writing future chapters.
Rakkis: Glad you liked it, hoped you liked this chapter as well.
CaptainRayno: I decided that some karma for Weiss, was in order. However, the way I'm writing Jaune is that, he's come back stronger from before, while still retaining what made him who he was. I'm not sure if I'm going to have him mop the floor with Weiss again. I hoped you like this chapter.
someUntel: I know, I know. I wanted to throw those phrases in for dramatic effect. I might keep doing them, I might not. I'm not 100% sure yet.
Zyriarch: Given the fact that Weiss canonically performs music, I thought it would make more sense if she already new the song.
That's all there is, I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think of it. I'm not sure if I'm going to update this one or Undertow next. I guess we'll both find out in a bit.
-dicknouget