Jaune sat down on a log with a towel perched on his shoulders, he took a sip of water from his canteen and stared at the scene before him. Trees that were cut into splinters were littering the ground and leaves were sliced in half. He had basically been using his aura to slice through trees, leaves, pretty much anything that could be manipulated into a target. Since he was not using his sword the results were mixed, this was supposed to help him manipulate and focus his aura to the point where he wouldn't overload his aura or underload it either. Control was always a bit hard for him to grasp, he could restrict it to the point where he wouldn't kill someone accidentally, but meager aspects of control, such as adding minute amounts here and there to influence the damage amount, seemed to evade him.
"I really hope I can get done with this, I can't afford to drag anyone down." Jaune mumbled as he leaned back on his hands the log, "Maybe I should pick up some more aura practice books from the library.
When Jaune walked into the hall, he waved at his friends and grabbed a sandwich and soda before walking out of the cafeteria.
"What's up with Jaune?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"He hasn't been eating alot has he?" Pyrrha followed, glancing at where the knight had left.
Ren frowned, "He has been saying he isn't all that hungry, but I agree..."
Weiss sighed, "He only doesn't sit here because the dare from the slumber party hasn't ended yet, he told me so himself."
Yang grinned, "Oh, when did tell you? Eh, Snow Angel?"
Weiss glared at her, "Two things Yang. One: don't call me that. Two: We were simply talking on the way to class."
Yang only seemed to grin wider, "I didn't think you cared what people called you. Offended that I am using Jaune's nickname for you?"
If Weiss hadn't fully expected Yang to try to annoy her, she may have given into the goading, she wasn't and simply replied with a exasperated whatever, "Whatever."
Yang laughed.
Jaune's nightmare wasn't particularly new, just the same things.
But it was the most painful.
The seemingly endless rain, feeling him with a flood of pain and sadness; threatening to choke him under sheer cold.
His old village members withered arms and rotted hands reaching out to take him down alongside them. Screaming and howling at him for failing, for being unable to save anyone. Grating words of failure and what he will fail to save and achieve against his ears and soul.
"Everything you love is forfeit."
"You can't save anything, let alone anyone."
"You failed us."
"You don't deserve to be alive, you should have died."
"Why did you live?"
Fire swirling and threatening to encompass him whole as it swallowed the world around him, roaring down to crash over him in a wave of heat and pain.
Red-eyed monster slashing at him, gouging out pieces of his flesh, maybe the monsters were grimm, maybe they were demons, he was still unable to fight back.
And blood. Always the gleaming red of blood.
It hurt.
Weiss hadn't expected to see Jaune's nightmare, she had simply gone to get a glass of water, just when she was settling herself back in her bed, when she heard the faintest whimper. She rolled over and saw Jaune's shoulders shaking and his breaths coming in weak gasps and pants. She quickly rolled out of bed and went over to his bed carefully, to his credit, Jaune was instinctively muffling his noise into his pillow. Weiss bit her lip as she approached, Jaune's eyes darted under his eyelids as his face twisted in agony. Sweat was beading along his forehead and Jaune bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed slightly.
Weiss couldn't take it anymore, he gently shook his shoulder, "Jaune? Hey!" She hissed, face reflecting her worry.
Jaune stilled slightly, but didn't awake. One of his hands pressed against his skull as if he had a headache and his eye squeezed shut. Weiss toucher his shoulder in another attempt to rouse him but before she could speak up again, he shot up in his bed gasping, eyes wide and glimmering with unshed tears. He ran his tongue over his lip and grimaced when he no doubt tasted the blood from his lip. He glanced around the room before seeing Weiss touching his shoulder, he jolted slightly in shock. Weiss lowered her hand and placed it in her lap.
"Weiss." He said, voice throaty and unclear.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
He shook his head as if to clear it, "Am I dreaming or are you really here?"
Weiss huffed, "You're awake."
He grimaced slightly, "Then I'll be fine. You should go to bed Weiss."
Weiss blinked as he promptly flopped back onto the bed and turned away from her and huddled under the covers, without any explanation.
"Your not going to explain what was causing you so much pain?" She prompted.
Jaune heaved a plaintive sigh, "There is nothing to explain, it was a nightmare, Weiss. They aren't exactly calming."
Weiss bristled, and snarked,"So you expect me to just forget I saw you like that? Nightmares can get bad, I know that first hand, but you looked like you were being tortured! I can't just drop it and forget!"
Jaune's reply was infuriatingly simple.
"Yes you can, and you will."
Team JWNR wake up wasn't exactly as rowdy as usual. Jaune had already left and was probably in the cafeteria. Weiss was unusually silent as she got ready, mid going over what she had learned from her leader from the previous night. Ren was quiet and only occasionally replying to Nora as per the usual. Nora was bouncing around the room urging everyone to hurry up so they could catch up to their leader. When they left they still hadn't seen Jaune in the cafeteria, though Team RPBY was already there, Yang telling them he had grabbed a sandwich and milk before leaving. Weiss scarfed down a meager breakfast and went to the classroom only to see Jaune sitting against the classroom door with half a sandwich hanging from his mouth. He was flicking through some assignments from his scroll and glanced up briefly as Weiss walked up.
He nodded in greeting and went back to typing on his scroll.
"Why weren't you in the cafeteria?" She asked immediately.
Jaune shrugged.
Weiss huffed, "You're not acting like this because I saw you having a nightmare? Are you?"
Jaune just stared at her with a "did-you-really-just-that?" look for a moment before sighing and taking a gulp of milk as it helped him swallow his sandwich.
"The only reason I am not talking is because honestly, there isn't much to say." He said.
Weiss slid down the wall to sit next to him, "So you aren't embarrassed at all?"
Jaune smiled nostalgically and handed Weiss the other half of his sandwich, "Tuck and Velv have already seen it, it don't go around screaming about it, but I honestly don't care if people find out. If I should be embarrassed about anything, it would be about how long I have been having them."
Weiss snorted in an unladylike fashion, "That's nothing to be ashamed about, you've had to deal with losing everything, you can't just wipe it away."
"Mmmmm..." Jaune hummed thoughtfully, "I know ... Do you know that I haven't been there?"
Weiss paused mid-bite of her sandwich and glanced at him, "At all?"
He nodded, "I made a promise, to myself... Once I accomplish something, then I can go back there and say a final goodbye."
Wiess looked at him, Jaune was staring at the ceiling, his blue eyes swirling with emotion.
"What was the promise?" Weiss asked.
"... Maybe one day I can tell you." Jaune said as he got up chugging the last bit of his milk and brushing the crumbs off his lap before offering his hand, "Now come on, it's almost time for class."
Weiss took his hand and pulled herself to her feet.
Jaune listened to Peter ramble on and he quietly began to sketch in his artist's notebook in class. Jaune never knew exactly why, but he always found a measure of peace in working with the arts. They calmed him and often allowed him to think through any problem he was having in his head. He absently sketched until the class finally ended and Jaune got up.
He paused and waited for Weiss, "I gotta say, i don't feel like going to any of my classes today...i just don't want to put up with any of it."
Weiss scoffed, "You should see the lessons with my private tutors back home, they make these classes a cakewalk."
Jaune glanced at her before stretching, "Be that as it may, you were still prepared for the classes then. The only things i really look forward to is the combat, i have to pay attention in Obleck's class because of Iz."
Weiss raised a eyebrow, "Who?"
Jaune looked at her, "You remember that note? Well I am tutoring a brunette named Iz, she's pretty bright and a hard worker." Jaune said, smiling fondly, "She'll go places, of that I am sure."
Weiss frowned slightly, "You seem pretty close, you been having dates with her?"
Jaune almost tripped, "What? No!" His small outburst garnered some attention and he hastily quieted down, "No. Jeez, Weiss, way to blow something out of proportion in less than a few seconds, I am just a tutor, she's a friend and classmate."
Wiess inwardly smirked in an odd sense of satisfaction, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be offending."
Jaune waved off her apology, "Nah, it's no problem, just a bit surprised. I didn't know you were into gossip and relationship gossip at that."
Weiss flushed, "I am not! Don't go making things up!"
"Sorry, snow angel."
"Lunkhead!"
Jaune had been practicing alone with his aura control using quite a few tips from various books that he had been reading, and while they helped to a minute degree here and there in improving his control, overall he was still having trouble restraining too much of his aura bleeding into a strike. He winced as he sliced straight through a relatively thick tree trunk. He had already cut a small clearing in the woods and sat upon the new stump he had made. He glanced at the night sky before sighing.
"I guess I have done all I can..." He murmured.
He wasn't tired but he really didn't want to stay out any longer than he had to. With a small sigh he got up and walked towards the building in the distance. Jaune almost paused when he heard a rustling sound from a bush. He glanced at it as he passed but kept on moving, he chalked it up to an animal or something. He heard the barest clink of metal and whirled slashing his hand through the air. A shard of metal that was headed for his back, broke in half and both pieces flipped into the air as it made contact with his aura-enhanced hand. He didn't say anything but caught the metal as it fell back to earths and flung them at the bush. He heard two loud clangs and a flash bang rolled towards him.
Jaune eyes widened and he snapped his eyes shut and threw himself sideways as the flash-bang erupted with a loud crack and flooded the area with light.
Weiss was only looking for Jaune because it would be problematic if the team leader was caught late and outside of the dorm in the training fields. She wasn't worried about the blond-haired leader one bit. When she saw him, she hadn't expected he to throw himself to the floor in what seemed to be a random move. Then she saw the flash of light and she had to squint and saw a dark shape advance on Jaune with a gleaming red knife held overhead.
It was going to KILL Jaune.
Sudden fury and desperation SCREAMED through every inch of her veins.
Weiss raised a glyph and shot forward, drawing Myrtenaster, but even with her increased speed, she clearly saw that wouldn't reach the attacker in time.
She prayed for a miracle as she still tried to move faster.
She didn't need to.
Jaune caught the attacker's wrist and flipped the assassin, slamming it into the ground, forcing the attacker to drop the knife. Twisting its arm, Jaune grabbed the back of the attacker's shirt and hurled it into a tree. Jaune whipped out his swords and spun them in his hands and held them. The attacker drew a serrated red blade and angled it in a defensive slope.
Jaune's eyes had been closed throughout the entire motion. He opened his eyes and Weiss was relieved to see his sea blue eyes, blazing with focus and intensity.
"Well now, that's new, a would-be assassin, wonder what you could possibly want with me." Jaune said almost, sardonically amused.
Weiss skidded to a stop, "Jaune?"
He didn't glance at her, "Weiss step back, this is my fight."
"But-" she was about to protest.
"WEISS." Jaune said quietly, "DON'T."
The attacker ran forward.
Weiss gulped, but instead of doing nothing she whipped out her scroll, scrawling a message out.
The attacker charged at Jaune and Jaune ducked under a swipe and the battle was on.
Ozpin was getting ready to finally turn in when he got a beep from his scroll. He sighed and his shoulder slumped, he really hoped it wasn't something he missed.
Or Glynda telling him he made a mistake in something, those messages were always overloaded with reprimands and you-need-to-keep-your-head-on-straight's.
He turned the scroll on and saw he had a message in his priority box, from Jaune's team. He blinked, Jaune wouldn't send a message even if he was in trouble, and his teammates barely even knew him. Nonetheless, Ozpin read the message.
"Red-bladed assassin attacking Jaune?!" He read.
The scroll slipped from his hand and Ozpin was in a flat-out sprint and out the door with his weapons, before the device hit the floor.
"Not them..." Ozpin growled frustratedly, "Why would they expect a different response this time?"
Jaune cartwheeled back and sliced upwards, warding off the attacker before he could strike. Jaune then rushed forward and began to attack at even higher velocities than when he had been fighting Ozpin. The attacks were clearly not as strong, but much faster and disorienting. The attacker was simply being overwhelmed with the sheer amount of blows that were flashing his way. Red splattered the stones as Jaune didn't even slow an inch in his assault, when the attacker dropped his guard for just a second, Jaune struck. He rushed in and slammed his oversword hilt into the attacker's forearm and broke it with a loud crunch. Not wasting a minute, Jaune hooked the wrist and hilt of his other hand behind the attacker's head and smashed his face in with headbutt. As the attacker stumbled, Jaune emotionlessly sliced the person's torso and the attacker dropped as a gash spurted blood over Jaune and the floor.
"So, what business do you have here, or was my last response not to your family's liking?..." Jaune said, striding forward and ripping off the person cowl and mask.
Dirty-blond hair spilled out from the figures face as he glared with Jaune with obvious contempt and envy. He had lighter blue eyes, but rather than water they were like chips of ice reflecting the sky. His figure was more lithe and speed oriented than she originally had thought. He looked up just as the moon broke free from the cover of the clouds and the sudden moonlight lit his entire face up.
Weiss gasped.
Jaune scoffed.
The teen looked like a slightly different version of Jaune as if he hadn't been scarred by his past in a literal and figurative sense.
"...Eh, little cousin?" Jaune said.