As is the Norm... I do not own anything it is all Rooster Teeth for all things RWBY and Palladium books for any mention of The Book of Heroes and Grid. The story that is mine. Sorry Charlie.
-words- :tells where or when
"words" are what people are saying in the real world
"words"is said in thought such as the mindscape or telepathy
'words' what is going through someone's internal monologue.
-THE MINDSCAPE-
His name is Jaune Arc and he will be a great hero one day. For now he is growing and learning what it truly is to be a hero within the mindscape. You ask what this mindscape is? In definition it is the landscape of thoughts, a rectification of the domain of imaginary entities, memories, feelings, ideas, fears or any other object in the mind, seen together as making up metaphoric features: forests, jungles, deserts, rivers, valleys, cloudy mountains, etc. Some people are able to enter this mental landscape and shape ideas or activate memories, much like memorizing an entire book word for word and recalling it back. Some can even do complex mathematics in seconds just by manipulating their mindscape. It is here that Grid teaches the young Arc not just how to fight but to also use his semblance.
You say the young Arc semblance never awoke? Then you are wrong. Look into the mindscape at the images of the memories of Jaune Arc. Look to the hill top in the Forever Forest when Cardin went hit him as he held Jaune up by his hoodie. Jaune doesn't take any damage and, instead, it is Cardin who receives the impact of his own punch. It was protective in nature, yet no one knew what it was so Jaune up until a few weeks ago was reluctant to explore his semblance farther. That was until Grid began coming to Jaune,first speaking to him in his head, then appearing to him in his dreams. More recently though when Jaune mediates thanks to his friend and teammate Lie Ren.
"Again Jaune you must focus. To focus is to act. Action is a high road to self-confidence and esteem. Where it is open, all energies flow toward it. It comes readily to most people, and its rewards are tangible. Your Aura is that energy and you are that flow. " The being Grid tells Jaune as he draws his sword and beckons Jaune to fight who is on the ground breathing heavy.
"Easy...for..you to..say...your...still standing." Jaune says as he moves to get up.
"The biggest adversary in our life is ourselves Juane. We are what we are, in a sense, because of the dominating thoughts we allow to gather in our head. All concepts of self-improvement, all actions and paths we take, relate solely to our abstract image of ourselves. Life is limited only by how we really see ourselves and feel about our being. A great deal of pure self-knowledge and inner understanding allows us to lay an all-important foundation for the structure of our life from which we can perceive and take the right avenues." Grid continues as he motions around Jaune within the mindscape as it changes from Forever Fall to Jaune's village. "Your image of yourself was always one of failure and low self worth. You are not a failure Jaune, but you have to believe in that. No one else can give you that."
"Your wrong she did." Jaune argued, as he said this an image of Pyrrha Nikos appears between he and Grid. "She believed in me,before I even started to. I'm just a coward and I am scared I can't do this without her."
"She saw what you truly were Jaune, what potential you had in your soul because she helped unlock your Aura and liked you due to your ignorance of who she was. You treated her like you wanted to be treated Jaune and that allowed her to see you for who you truly were." Grid walks through the image of Pyrrha and places his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "You must be able to move on and become what you know you can be, want to be, ought to be. It's scary, yes Jaune but what else is there? Stagnation? A safer form of death, not of the body but the soul and the mind. You can not stand still, you must move on,continually moving forward. You are a hero Jaune and you will come to realize it as you understand yourself."
Jaune looks up to the near seven foot man and smirks, " Okay so lets get this going."
"That's my boy." Grid laughs out and smiles, backing away from Jaune and begins his listens again.
-IN THE REAL WORLD-
Ruby Rose watches Jaune meditate with Lie Ren, both observe him smile as a feeling of peace filters over his once troubled features. Then his Aura manifests, the white glow pulsing around him. After a few more minutes they here him say "When one has no form, one can be all forms." He then shapes his Aura into a form of white translucent armor and it begins to burn in a white flame. They feel his power, his Aura, his soul. Ruby sheds a tear as Ren closes his eyes and finds his smile.
-That afternoon-
"Are you sure Blake?" Ruby tries once more to convince Blake to come back with her and Jaune as they are about to head out toward Patch. The fall weather whimsically dances with the leaves waltzing through the near empty streets of this area of Vale. Blake's hair blows across her face as she gently moves it behind her human ear.
"I promise Ruby, next time the entire team comes to your home I will be there." Blake replies, hugging her former leader and dear friend. Jaune places his hand on the faunus' shoulder after the hug between Ruby and her and simply smiles. Blake feels Jaune's peace rolling off of him,it warms her heart and makes her feel hope.
Nora come up and hugs Ruby tightly" Nora...can't …. breathe...you're...breaking me."
"Oh sssoooorrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy." Nora apologetically responds as she releases the younger and smaller girl. Ruby takes a deep breath as if she had not taken a breath in an eternity. "It's (deep breath) okay." Ruby says as her coloring returns from the purple coloring to her normal shade.
"How long will you be gone Jauney?" Nora turns and smiles at their leader.
"Probably a day or two at most three but no more than that lightning rod." Jaune smirks as he scruffs her hair.
"Wha..what? Why sssooooo long Jauney? It will be so lonely here." Nora's eyes grow wide. "What if something happens and you don't come back, what will happen to us? It will be horrible and worse yet because Blake will not be able to get warm at night without her huggy buddy because I don't share Renny."
"NORA!" Blake,Jaune, and Ruby exclaim as all three of them blush with the memory of the earlier morning fiasco.
"Come along Nora. We need to go make a scavenge run. Come on Blake." Ren replied as he pulled his best friend along with him,shaking his head.
"Nora that was really not appropriate." Ren's voice fades into the background as Jaune and Ruby leave the little former book shop and Blake turns to follow Ren and Nora.
"But Ren it was ssssoooooo ffuunnnnyyyyyyyy..."
Jaune and Ruby smile, shaking their heads. Blake still embarrassed heads off in the direction Ren took Nora as she waves to the two awkward friends.
-An hour before dusk on the island of Patch-
"Dad, Yang we're home!" Ruby yells as she and Jaune walks in the door of her home.
"Hey cookie monster." Taiyang Xiao Long answers as he walks to greet his daughter from the kitchen. "I was starting to worry Ruby. It was getting late and you really didn't say you were going to stay the night in Vale. It's a little dangerous still."
Ruby looks down to the floor and fidgets slightly, "I know sir, but by the time we arrived it was later than we thought..."
"It was my fault sir, I didn't want Ruby to make the trip back at night and alone." Jaune interrupted Ruby, "I take full responsibility."
Taiyang looks to the young Arc and exhales slowly, "As long as that is the only thing that went on."
Both Ruby and Jaune's eyes bulge as they bother stutter out at the same time, "N-n-no s-s-s-ir he/she is just a friend."
Taiyang begins to laugh at the two teenagers as they blush innocently and waving their arms. He waves them off as he hugs his youngest daughter around her shoulders. He allows Jaune to go to Yang's room as is the younger blonde's normal routine. Though before Jaune can reach the hallway to Yang's room, Tai calls out "Jaune."
Jaune stops and turns to the elder blonde, "Yes Mr. Xaio Long?"
"Its Taiyang, Jaune, and can you do me a favor and see if you can convince Yang to take a bath, she hasn't moved from her bed in four days except to use the bathroom. Please?"
"I'll try sir."
Ruby looks at her father and notices the dark circles starting to form around his eyes. "Dad you need to rest. You can't help anyone if you can't help yourself."
Tai smirks and it reminds Ruby of one of Yang's smirks, "I know cookie monster, I was just worried about you and yang still is walled off. I really do not know how to help her except to be here when she is ready. I know I was just as bad after Summer's..."
Ruby grabs her father's hand with her own and squeezes it. "Its okay dad, she knows."
-Meanwhile-
Qrow watches over the Xiao Long house from the hill as a figure walks up beside him. She takes off her Grimm mask revealing her red eyes.
"How is she?" Raven asks with little motion to betray her inner turmoil.
"As well as Tai was after Summer died." Qrow never looks over to his twin, his voice colder toward her than normal.
"She is strong like her father, she will become stronger because of her loss." Raven continued to look at the house she once called home years ago. Her inner thoughts swirl as she breaths. She has regrets but she can not allow them to rule her. It was for Taiyang she left to begin with. Raven still loves him in as she does for her daughter but it would not be fair for anyone if she were to enter back after being gone for so long.
"It would help if you actually showed you cared for her about now more than ever Raven."
"What would you have me do brother? Walk up to the front door, knock and say here I am Tai."
"For starters, yes."
"I left for a reason."
"You never went into that reason, so excuse me if I do not sympathize with you at this moment in time sister o'mine." Qrow was sober and a sober Qrow is a more sarcastic Qrow.
"Would you understand if I told you now?" Raven clinched her fist tightly and relaxed it.
"Try me and let me see if I can Raven." Qrow replied, "You need to trust me once in awhile."
"I do,more than anyone Qrow, even if our views of the world are so different." She looks at her brother for the first time.
"Then explain it to me Raven. Tell me why you left Tai when you loved him so much."
"He didn't love me as much."
"He what?" Qrow perplexed, staring at Raven as he says this.
"He also was in love with Summer." Raven looks downward for a moment as a single tear falls. "Summer also loved him but they would never act upon it because of me. The heart wants what it longs for Qrow. You know that more than anyone, after all you were in love with Summer as well were you not."
"Yes." Qrow looks up to the cloudy sky as he remembers.
"It was not their fault and I never blamed them for their feelings. Taiyang was such a lovable goof ball and his heart was always in the right place. He always tried to be there for his friends and those he loved but he loved two women that loved him and instead of watching him torture himself I left. Summer was like my sister and she deserved happiness and with Tai she could be happy."
"What about you Raven? What about your happiness?"
She turned, walking away as she drew her sword, "Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." With that she cuts open a portal and walks through.
"I hate when she does that." Qrow replies as he walks away from the house.
-The Xiao Long home at the same time-
"Hi there Yangarang." Jaune says from the doorway.
Yang continues to look out of the window, not giving Jaune notice. He walks into her room and pulls up a chair. "So, anything interesting in that window today or are you still ignoring me?"
Yang still says nothing to him. Jaune once would have left her alone but those days are over. He was once a coward but now he has latched onto something, something larger than himself. It is hope.
"A...I guess you can say,friend recently told me, "Notice the stiffest tree is the most easiest to crack, while the willow or the bamboo survives by bending in the wind." Jaune leaned closer to the blonde bombshell, "You have always been the willow Yang."
"pffftt, Where did your friend find that piece of advice Vomit-boy? A fortune cookie?" Yang replies to his statement, never turning her head.
"He is pretty wise actually, but Yang I can't assume to even understand what your going through, but we all lost something or...someone precious to us." Jaune takes a deep breath to begin speaking again, only to be interrupted by Yang.
"Don't you dare." She turns her head to face the young knight for the first time. Her eyes are watery, her cheeks tear streaked, "You didn't lose anything near what I did."
Slap!
Yang's head swings from the back-handed slap and turns toward the one that hit her. Her eyes blazing red. Jaune is standing up from his chair his hand pulled to him, fire in his eyes as well. "Your angry Yang, good use it."
Yang begins to leap from her bed to hit Jaune, only to be caught and flipped to the floor. The wind taken out of her. "Yang you are not the only one who lost something! Yes you lost your arm,your partner left but she had her reasons and when she is ready she will tell you! Your mom left you when you were a baby so what. Get over yourself,move forward!" Jaune stood a little way from her so she would not try anything. "At least you have the rest of your family to support you, at least the person you love isn't dead Yang! Blake is still in Vale with what is left of my team!"
Taiyang and Ruby had run toward Yang's room after they heard the crash but stopped outside the door to hear Jaune. "So you lost your arm! Did you see Ironwood?! Did you? He lost much more and he is still walking and fighting. You can do the same Yang just be the damn Willow and freaking bend!"
Yang had been looking at Jaune from the floor where she had been gaining her breath, she had never seem Jaune lose his temper nor had he ever acted like he is now. He was truly coming into his own, but he also was hilariously comical with his expressions. She began to laugh,not just giggle, but truly laugh. She rolled into a ball, laughing for what seemed to be several minutes. She finally had to stop due to the lack of breath in her lungs. She tried to take a deep breath but her lungs were on fire and her sides hurt. At first Jaune looked at Yang's spectacle with trepidation, then he too began to laugh as he realized how funny he had to have looked. He fell to the floor joining her in her fit. As they both finally stopped and began looking at each other. Jaune reached for Yang's hand but stopped halfway not wanting to invade her space. Yang saw this and grabbed his outreached hand, looking into his blue eyes.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome, but your dad is right." Jaune replies with an impish grin.
Yang looks at him puzzled "You need a bath." Jaune replies as he goes to shield himself from Yang slapping his shoulder.
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