An Extension of the Soul Chapter 5: Ruby Rose, a rwby fanfic

Oh, a chapter...

Okay, let's talk clearly. This sudden streak of chapters wasn't expected. I barely give you guys time to read a chapter and I'm already posting another one. EoS, EoS, ViewingTES, DSoG, and now EoS again... It's not something you can expect me to keep up. These days have been lucky and full of inspiration. I won't always be like this.

Now that I've killed your mood, let me bring it back up with a chapter.

"RUBY!"

Not even a minute into her second life, the small crimsonette was tackled to the ground by Yang and crashed onto the floor. The blonde girl brought a hand around Ruby's head to prevent her from banging her head against the ground, but otherwise didn't care for the whimpers of discomfort coming from underneath her. She was too happy to have her back.

Jaune barely had time to blink before a strong hand closed around his wrist and forced him to join the hug. Still shirtless, with soot and sweat covering him, he was enclosed in a hug from Yang while Ruby was pressed between the two, too dazed to register the presence of a third person in the death-tr… she meant hug. In the hug. Uncaring of all the dirt that was on the boy, Yang pressed a kiss on his cheek. "You saved her. You saved my little sister," she basically cried in joy. Jaune was a little lost, used to be kissed by blondes but not really used to being hugged with the strength of a Goliath, so he just tried to say it was nothing. "Nothing?! You gave us back everything! When Dad gets wind of this he'll want to adopt you!"

"I kinda already have a family…"

"Bullshit! You'll be Jaune Soleil Arc Rose Xiao Long!" exclaimed the girl, finally releasing him and getting on her feet again. The smaller girl, Ruby apparently, had small Beowolves and stars spinning around her head. "Well, Jaune, this little adorable cinnamon roll is Ruby, my little sister. She goes to Signal at the moment and I guess she owes you a `thank you`!"

Jaune blinked again and finally focused on the still dazed Ruby. She was really adorable as Yang had said, although she was also kinda pretty. Not the prettiest girl he had ever seen but pretty. She was about five feet eight with a red and black themed outfit. She appeared to be his same age, maybe a little younger but not by much. Maybe Yang's family had adopted her? Or was she Yang's twin and very different sister? They weren't nine months apart in age, that much was sure. She had large silver eyes that, at the moment, were hazy and unfocused, but Jaune was really surprised by the colour. One of his sisters had grey eyes, but he knew that grey was just a rare variation of blue, but Ruby's were just silver, although without the coldness and hardness of the metal. She had shoulder-length dark red hair with lighter tips. He didn't know if the tips' colour was natural or not, but he didn't care much. He also noticed, much to his own embarrassment, that the chest part of her corset seemed to be pretty tight on her breasts, and he quickly looked away.

"I… I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Ruby," he said, offering a hand. "The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

His introduction was met with a snort from Weiss and a raised eyebrow from Blake and Sky, as well as Glynda shaking her head and sighing, but Yang seemed to agree. "You could be called Nghtuf Snfjhgt and I would still love that name after you saved my lil' sister," she stated, and Jaune blinked.

"You… like it? That's a first…"

/-/

Oblivious to all that ongoing dementia, Ruby finally regained her bearings.

Her first thoughts were of confusion. 'I… were am I? And where is Torchwick? And where is Crescent Rose?! What happened?! Last I remember I was thrown back from that explosion and I hit a wall… Did I pass out? This doesn't look like a hospital, though. Also, why is Yang here but not Dad? And who are these people?' The newly reborn redhead looked around. 'Only an adult… the rest are teenagers. Ooooh, there's Pyrrha Nikos too, but is she doing in a hospital? Maybe she's on Yang's team in Beacon and she forced them to come and visit me?' The thought of Beacon saddened her for a second. She would need to wait two more years before she could attend it. That was so unfair! 'The girl in white seems really crabby, though. Maybe not coming to Beacon has had its positives: at least I'm not on a team with her. Bow girl seems really quiet, Ninja boy and Pink girl are opposites, and Grey hair guy seems pretty confused about something.'

She then turned to Yang. 'Yang's always the same. Thankfully she's not suffocating me at the moment… just some other blond. Dad, maybe? No, Dad wouldn't let Yang do that…' True to her thoughts, Yang was currently hugging the life out of Jaune, who was rapidly turning as blue as his eyes. 'Then there's Jaune. Wait a second, how do I know his name? Have I met him before? No I haven't, I know I haven't, he just resurrected me but I haven't met him. Wait wait wait, resurrected? What am I thinking? I'd have to be dead in order to be resurrected and besides how could I know that?' She eyed Jaune a little more closely once a purple glow forcefully separated the two blondes. 'He's kinda nice with that messy hair. And from the way he is pouting at Yang he looks a bit dorky. Also, wow, I didn't know eyes could be that blue. Maybe that's his Semblance? Bluer eyes? No wait, his Semblance is not that. Wait, how do I know what his Semblance is? Also, wow, he's really toned, and kinda sweaty too. I don't really mind but he should take a shower. And why is everyone looking at me strangely?'

"So… who is this?" asked Grey Hair Boy, gesturing to her. Ruby blinked and looked at Yang. She hadn't told them? Then why had she brought them along?

"Okay, guys… this is Ruby, my adorable little sister." Ruby pouted at that. And there she went, already relegated to the position of little kid. It always went like that. Yang would introduce her to some friends of hers, and immediately label her as the little one. She wasn't a little kid! She drank milk!

"Yang… just a question… is she adopted?" Jaune asked hesitantly. Ruby wanted to sigh. Only because they didn't look alike at all didn't mean they weren't sisters! Or, well, stepsisters. Half-sisters. Well, sister was still in the word! "Because, no offence… but she doesn't look much younger than you…"

Ruby blinked and looked at Jaune. In her mind, he had just been labelled BBF. Someone who finally didn't see her as a kid? That was new. And welcome. And fantastic. And… kinda depressing since it also reminded her everyone else did, but that was beside the point. The others, from Pyrrha Nikos to Bow Girl or Crabby White were still looking at her strangely, though.

"What do you mean she doesn't look much younger? She's fifteen!" 'I take offence in that. I'll be sixteen in October, thank you very much.' Jaune coughed and scratched the back of his head. He seemed to be kinda awkward as well as dorky…

"Well… I…"

"He's right, Ms Xiao Long. Your sister might be fifteen of age but in body, she has probably been aged a little," intervened Adult, whose name she had yet to catch. What she had just said was confusing, but also kinda interesting. A younger mind in an older body? Maybe that would make the others stop treating her like a kid… "Jaune's Semblance has the side effect to bring the resurrected one far closer to his own age. Remember that Sir Jekyel died well over forty, and looked barely past twenty when he was resurrected."

Resurrected? What they were talking about? Ruby looked at Jaune, whose name she still knew without knowing how she had learned it, who nodded meekly. Yang blinked and looked her over before sighing. "Okay, fine, at least she's back. We'll have to go shopping for new clothes though."

'New clothes…?' Ruby looked down at her clothes and froze. Now that she thought of it, her corset did feel a bit constricting. Kind of suffocating, even. She hadn't noticed. But her corset was made for her chest size, so why was it too tight? She actually had to loosen the lace that kept it closed to understand what Adult had meant by `aged a little`. She hurried to fasten the lace again with a flaming red blush on her cheeks.

"Ruby, please, introduce yourself, we'll explain everything later," Yang sighed. Ruby looked around before focusing on Jaune. Since he was the only one he knew the name of, she guessed he would be a good start.

"Hi Jaune, my name's Ruby!" She held out her hand and then blinked. Jaune still hadn't retrieved his hand from earlier, so there they were, both with their hands outstretched at different heights.

"Err…" Jaune lowered his own and took hers. His hand was warm, even hot, too much for it to be normal body heat. Ruby would know, she had Yang as her sister and Yang was basically a human stove, but Jaune's heat was too much for it to be normal. But as it appeared they were in a forge, maybe he had forged something earlier. That would've explained why he was so sweaty, too. "N-Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Jaune."

"Hi Jaune, I'm Ruby," she replied, shaking his hand. For a second they just stared at each other. "Uhh… nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too…" Jaune cleared his throat. "So… you're Yang's sister?"

"Yep. And you are… her new teammate?" Ruby's face scrunched up as she thought about it. "Yeah, teammate. I mean, you don't look cool enough to be her friend or boyfriend so you must be a teammate." Her eyes went wide. "I mean-no, I didn't mean it like that I… you are cool, it's just… Yang doesn't befriend… I mean, she has certain standards that… not that you are under these standards, just…"

Jaune blinked before raising a hand to stop her. "Socially awkward?"

Ruby sighed. "Much."

"Same here," he grinned. "Just less cool."

She blushed at that. Not that she wasn't cool, but it was nice being called cool and not cute or childish for once. Yang had always been the cool one. "Although your weapon was kinda odd… I mean, not odd as in bad but odd as in… ehm…" He searched for the right word for a few seconds. "Unusual! Yeah, odd as in uncommon!"

Ruby snorted in amusement. Yep, socially awkward duo. That was confirmed. Onto the others… nope. No no no no no. She had a friend and that was enough. Besides, if he really was Yang's teammate -he hadn't confirmed it but it was clear he went to Beacon since everyone else seemed to have a weapon, and there were two sabres on the table that must've been his- then it meant she would lose him as soon as she had to go back. Although she was still curious as to how she had ended up in Beacon's forge from Vale.

Torchwick's explosion couldn't have sent her that far, now could it have?

Nah.

"So, Ruby, these are my teammates Ski, P-Money and Blakey!" Yang exclaimed, gesturing to Grey Hair Boy -now Ski-, Pyrrha Nikos -that had probably been a nickname- and Bow Girl -now Blakey-, who hesitantly waved back. Then she turned to Crabby White, Pink Girl and Ninja Boy. "These are our friends Weiss-Cream-" "Hey!" Yep, crabby. "-, Smash and…" Yang looked at Ninja Boy, trying to come up with a nickname. "…Quiety?"

Ninja Boy sighed.

"I can't believe I have to do the introductions," huffed Crabby White. "Your sister's teammates are Sky Lark, Pyrrha Nikos and Blake Belladonna. These two are Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, two of my teammates. And I am Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

Blake seemed to mumbled something under her breath.

"Oh, so you're Yang's friends?" Ruby asked, tilting her head on the side. "Because, you know, teams should be made up of only four people, right? I mean, on the news all the teams are made up of four people, so…"

"Yes, we are two teams," the boy called Sky explained with a sigh. "Yang, Pyrrha, Blake and I are Team NBLS, and Pyrrha's our leader. Weiss, Ren, Nora and Jaune are on Team JWVL, with Jaune being the leader. And she is Professor Glynda Goodwitch… theoretically the Terror of the School…" he added in a whisper no one caught.

The woman seemed to be friendly, smiling at her and time and again glancing at Jaune, eyes filled with pride. Maybe she was his mother? She did have similar hair… Although no similar facial features. Her choice of clothes was kinda weird, all tight and fitting with a skirt that covered next to nothing and the odd purple cloak flowing behind her.

Sky Lark, Pyrrha Nikos, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Professor Glynda Goodwitch, Yang and Jaune.

Only one missing.

"Eh… okay, but guys?" she called out. "Where is Crescent Rose?"

/-/

Even after taking a shower, Jaune felt bad. He felt really, really bad.

Not because he was ill, mind him, he was perfectly healthy. He felt bad at having to watch Ruby being explained the whole affair. Understandably, she had been quite shocked to hear she had died, but just like Jekyel she had also been kinda accepting. Auntie Glynda had chalked it off as another side-effect of his Semblance. Preventing people from freaking out at the news of their own death was, to be honest, quite handy.

What his Semblance hadn't helped with had been explaining that Crescent Rose was no more or rather, that it wasn't hers any more. Hadn't Jaune modified his weapons, he would've gladly allowed her to use them, but he also kinda needed them to fight. Yang had mildly managed to cheer her up by reminding her that she would get to forge another one, but Jaune could understand the sentimental value the scythe had for the girl. He would've done it a thousand times to save a life, but he felt bad nonetheless. Seeing the girl begin to cry for her weapon had been heartbreaking. He would need to forge her a new one soon.

Another thing they had discovered was her Aura. Or rather, the effect the resurrection had had on her Aura. It was gone. Locked again. She could feel it inside her but she couldn't reach out to it. That explained the extremely ease with which she got a concussion, but that was also worrying. Did that mean Jekyel had tanked Yang's hits without Aura? The doubts were sated when Goodwitch had stated that Ozpin had unlocked Jekyel's Aura six times over as they drank, each time forgetting he had already done so. Yang had almost unlocked Ruby's Aura again when the issue had come up, but she had been stopped by Weiss.

And that led to their current situation.

"Just let me do it, dammit! Every second she stays without Aura is a second she might die! Again!" shouted Yang, trying to get past Weiss, Ren and Nora, the latter being the only one to actually be actively holding her back. "She died once already, with Aura! I'm not letting her stroll around in Beacon without Aura!"

"I agree with you, Yang, but I don't think you should be the one to unlock her Aura," countered Weiss, relying on Nora to keep her from punching her out of the way. "There have been theories about the Unlocking ritual, and many experts suspect that there are variables in it, variables that could increase the Awakened Aura's potential if exploited intelligently."

"You must know a lot about exploiting," Blake grumbled under her breath.

"I am not aware of the whole theory, but I do know that the amount of Aura of the Unlocker is one of those variables." When Yang looked confused for a second, Weiss sighed. "The bigger, the better."

"Watch out, Weiss-Cream, you're small," the blonde shot back. "You have a limit to how much you can take. Wink."

Red tingeing her cheeks not in embarrassment but in rage, Weiss's eyes blazed. "How dare you! To behave like… like… like a lowlife harlot!" Ren placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned grey for a second. When colour returned, she took a deep breath, apparently calmed down. 'Uh, that's an interesting and useful ability,' thought Jaune. 'I must ask him to teach me…' "For your information, our leader is the one with most Aura out of all of us, so it would be wiser to allow him to unlock your sister's Aura."

Everyone turned to Jaune. "Do you know how to unlock Aura?" Sky asked.

"Ehm… yeah, kind of… I mean, I've read how to make a chant but I've never really done it…" Jaune yelped when Weiss merely pushed him toward Ruby. Apparently she didn't know what `gentleness` meant.

"Try. Besides, it's not like you can harm her if you don't do it perfectly," she ordered.

'Like you did with me?' Jaune wanted to retort, but letting out that he had his Aura unlocked during Initiation wouldn't have been wise. "Ehm… okay… So, Ruby? Just… close your eyes and try to concentrate." She did just that and he placed a hand on her cheek and one on her chest, just above her breasts. He didn't miss her blush. 'And mind's out of the gutter,' he added sarcastically. Really, sometimes girls could be embarrassed by the minutest of things. He had lived with her sisters for years but he still remembered one time when he, five at the time, had walked in on his older sister, who was fifteen at the time, who had been mortified. That didn't make sense back then and it still didn't. They were siblings, and they had seen him naked many times. He had just added being easily embarrassed to the long list of strange things girls did and moved on.

"For it is in choices that we find our path in Life. Through these we become a paragon of freedom and purity to defend our Light. Determined to protect and unafraid of Death I release your soul, and may my Light guide thee."

White.

Silence.

Something strong pulling him.

Nothingness.

And then… terrible headache.

Jaune Soleil Arc Rose Xiao Long opened his eyes with a wince, the pain slowly fading. The first thing he noticed was that he was no more in Beacon Academy. He was somewhere else. Where, he couldn't tell for sure. Around him there were hills covered in verdant grass and beautiful red flowers. Around him there were several trees, all of them with foliage of a vibrant green. Everything around him was alive, but he couldn't hear any sound.

The second thing he realized was that he was naked as the day he was born. Strangely, the thought didn't bother him in the slightest. That was his soul, it was logical for his soul not to have clothes. Immediately he found out he knew what was happening. That was his soul. He was in Ruby's soul, or in the realm where her soul existed. The red flowers must've been probably roses.

He got up and looked around, trying to understand what to do next. In the books it never spoke of something like that.

Just like he had simply known what was happening, he knew the answer to his own doubt. His bond with Ruby was strong due to his Semblance having brought her back to Life. But if that was true, then what was he doing there? How could he unlock Ruby's Aura once again?

He began to walk toward the spot where the trees seemed to diminish in number. He seemed to have ended up in a forest. He passed what seemed like a tombstone on a cliff, and felt something come from it. Going back to it, he knelt and read the name.

Summer Rose.
Thus I kindly scatter.

Summer Rose. Who was she? Ruby's mom, probably. She was dead. Jaune felt sad for the girl, knowing how it was to lose a parent. He would've liked to leave a flower on the grave, but he didn't want to touch any of the flowers for fear of hurting Ruby's soul. Almost as soon as he thought that, in his hand shined a light. When it died down he saw a pure white rose without thorns. He thanked whoever had done that, be it Ruby's soul or his own, and placed it on the grave.

The entire world seemed to shudder for a second, and he feared he had done something wrong. Instead, nothing happened. After a few moments, he straightened and return to walk toward the clearing.

It was farther than he'd thought, as he only reached it a few minutes later. He could clearly see a fountain in the middle of the clearing, and there was a person laying beside it, naked just as he was. He recognized the dark red hair. Ruby. Or at least, her soul.

Having grown up surrounded by girls hadn't granted Jaune the ability to ignore the female body, but for the same reason he didn't feel bothered by his own bareness, it felt natural to see her without clothes. That didn't mean he would stare, though.

He walked up to her and knelt beside her, poking her cheek once. She appeared to be asleep.

"Apparently, awakening someone's Aura is a pretty accurate description," he thought, and he was surprised when his thoughts were said aloud in the otherwise silent clearing. "Of course… My thoughts are just the words of my soul, aren't they? But I still wonder why there is no sound here… no birds, no rustling of the wind through the leaves… nothing. But I guess that's not my place to find out. I have a girl… I mean, a soul to awaken."

He looked at the water in the fountain. "Should I use that?" he wondered. "It does not appear dangerous. Besides, why would anyone have something dangerous where their soul rests?" He moved to fill his hands but his hand was grabbed by the still-sleeping Ruby, who nuzzled her head against it. "Apparently souls can be cuddlers too…" he thought with a deadpan. His sternness faded away the more he looked at her sleeping.

No, she looked too adorable, too angelic and most importantly too at peace to wake her up with water. He'd have to find another way.

"I guess pinching her awake is out for the same reasons, same for slapping or tickling," he thought. "Maybe it's time to try out what Mom used to wake me up? I'm not too sure how I feel about sharing her method but I don't have the heart to spray her with water. Also, that looks cold water so it'd be even worse. Let's try to use Mom's method…"

He looked around for inspiration, but nothing came to mind. Nothing but his favourite song. He sighed. That would need to do. Besides, it was the only song he knew the lyrics of off the top of his head. He could've written those words even in the darkness. His mother had sung them for years, until he had begun to sing them himself. Looking back down at the sleeping girl… soul? Ruby. Looking back down at the sleeping Ruby, he began to sing, unaware that the entire world seemed to respond to his words and started singing with him.

"They see you as small and helpless,
they see you as just a child,
surprise when they find out
that a warrior will soon run wild.
Prepare for your greatest moment,
prepare for your finest hour,
the dream you've always dreamed
is suddenly about to flower.
We are lightning straying from the thunder,
miracles of ancient wonder.

This will be the day we've waited for,
this will be the day we open up the door.
I don't wanna hear your absolution,
hope you're ready for a revolution.
Welcome to a world of new solutions,
welcome to a world of bloody evolution.
In time, your heart will open minds, a story will soon be told
and victory is in a simple soul.

Your world needs a great defender.
Your world's in the way of harm.
You want a romantic life,
a fairytale that's full of charm.
Beware that the light is fading.
Beware as the dark returns.
This world's unforgiving.
Even brilliant lights will cease to burn.
Legends scatter. Day and night will sever.
Hope and peace are lost forever.

As the last words faded into silence, he felt Ruby starting to stir. At first it was just her hands gripping his own tighter and her face trying to snuggle closer to the source of warmth… could he still be considered source of warmth even without a physical body? Spiritual warmth, maybe? It didn't matter. Then she rolled over entirely and pressed her face into the ground as it were a pillow, but that too didn't work. Finally, she rolled again, returning to lay on her back, and stretched, letting go of his hand, yawning widely.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. Souls were really similar to the people they belonged to. He didn't know souls could yawn. Yet again, he didn't know unlocking someone's Aura could be something as complex as that. He could've gotten lost inside of Ruby… okay, that sounded very perverted but never mind, he didn't mean it like that. The world he had appeared in was somehow related to her soul, right? So he had been wandering inside Ruby's soul… or in the world where Ruby's soul resided.

As Ruby began to stir more, he felt something. Something strong was pulling him away just like it had pulled into her world. He tried to fight against it, but to no avail. Whatever was pulling him was stronger than anything he had ever fought before. Not even Yang would've been able to resist it… probably… and Yang was the strongest person he knew in terms of raw physical strength. He couldn't resist it, no matter how much he fought. He was being pulled away…

A hand closed around his wrist. Blue met silver. "Stay."

The pulling stopped, and everything went white.

No I'm not gonna tell you what Ruby did. Or rather what her soul did. Or what the effects will be (if there'll be effects... frankly I haven't planned it yet).

So... what happened? Let me explain: that (minus the "stay" part) is what usually happens to souls when one unlocks (or awakens) another's Aura. Why did Jaune live it personally? Because his Semblance is linked to Ruby. His Semblance is the manifestation of his Aura, his Aura is the manifestation of his soul. Follow the line, Ruby is linked to his soul. So he could see what happened.

No romance yet, I'll tell you when it starts.

I hope you liked!

Next chapter will be telling the peers about Jaune's Semblance... while also withholding vital (Vytal?) information.

Next chapter: Coming Out.

I have chapter titles planned up to Ch17.

Until next time,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh.