A/N: *Insert stupid Avenged Sevenfold joke here*

"Jasper!"

The voice was muffled and unclear as it wrenched him out of his slumber.

"Jasper! Wake up!"

His eyes shot open as he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake vigorously. Jasper looked up drowsily to see that his father, Jaune was the one responsible for rousing him. At first, he was annoyed, but then he noticed his expression. He wide-eyed, his face contorted into a mix of fear and anger, and he was breathing heavily.

"Dad? What's going on? What's wrong?" he asked sleepily.

Jaune shook his head as he pulled him out of bed. "There's no time to explain, come on. I've gotta get you out of here."

Jasper rubbed his eyes and cleared the sleep from them, as he did, more and more things made themselves known to him. His room felt hot, and he smelled smoke. Was something burning in the kitchen? No, that couldn't be right. Dad wouldn't have woken him up in the middle of the night simply because mom had messed up a batch of cookies. Then again, she wouldn't have been in the kitchen in the first place. It was one-o-clock in the morning for crying out loud.

Next to come to his attention was the now very loud noises coming from somewhere else in the house. They sounded like someone was slamming a car door shut over and over again. However, he knew that was incorrect. The sounds' were too frequent and were definitely coming from inside, possibly the living room.

"Those aren't...gunshots, are they?" he thought.

They made their way out of Jasper's bedroom and into the hallway, walking slowly as if not to draw any attention. He turned to face Jaune, the man's face was hard and focused. He had never seen him like that before. He was always so gentle and friendly, not once had he shown that side of him that Ruby said he had. The bad side. The huntsman side. The cold and merciless attitude that he had acquired during their days fighting Salem. What's more, he was his sword, Crocea Mors, in his hand, although its companion shield was nowhere to be found.

"Dad, are we being attacked?"

Jaune did not answer and simply pulled him a little closer. As he did, Jasper accidentally bumped into his back. Pulling away, he felt something hot and sticky seep through his t-shirt. To begin with, he thought it might have been sweat; however, when he glanced down to look, the liquid had a dark hue to it. Blood. Jaune was bleeding, and profusely if Jasper had gotten so much on him just by brushing up against him. Come to think of it, he was also limping, not a lot, but enough to cause worry.

Jaune led him into his and Ruby's bedroom and closed the door behind him, locking it for good measure. The scent of smoke was getting stronger, the fire was engulfing the house.

"Yes, we are," huffed. His breaths were getting more and more labored. Likely a result of the wounds on his back going untreated.

"By who, who's trying to get us? And where's Mom?"

"I don't know, son. Your mom's downstairs, you don't need to worry about her," Jaune walked across the room to the closet. "Right now, I've got to make sure you're safe. Then I can help her."

He pulled the door open and motioned for Jasper to come inside with him. Once he joined him, Jaune flipped a small lever which activated a mechanism in the back wall, causing it to slide open, revealing a panic room of sorts.

"Let's hope Weiss's wedding gift doesn't go to waste, huh?" Jaune tried to let out what sounded like a laugh but was halted by a sudden onset of gurgling coughs. Jasper looked at with concern but was quickly pushed into the safe room before he could speak.

The chamber was a little bigger than the closet itself, LED lights shone brightly from the ceiling. All three walls had some different form of weapon or tool mounted on them. Everything a huntsman needs to stay alive in the event of a surprise home invasion. Dust rounds of all flavors, weapon maintenance kits and emergency medical supplies were organized neatly all over the room. All-in-all, it was the ultimate temporary shelter. The walls were lined with fireproof insulation and concrete so Jasper would be safe from the growing blaze downstairs. At least for the time being.

"Alright, you stay in here and don't come out," Jaune said sternly. "No matter what you hear, this door stays closed. Understand?"

Jasper could do little more than nod. He was old enough to realize that he'd be nothing but a burden to his parents in this kind of fight. They'd both trained him for a long as he could remember, however, he was nowhere near ready for real life-or-death combat.

"Good boy," Jaune reached out and tousled his son's black and red hair. "Don't worry, it's all gonna be okay. I'm going to go help your mom, and then we'll both come right up-" He was interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door shattering, followed by a loud thud. The unconscious body of Ruby slumped into view, falling just in front of the closet door. "Ruby! Stay here," he commanded.

Adjusting his grip on Crocea Mors, Jaune limped cautiously out into the bedroom. Kneeling down, he placed his free hand on her forehead. She was bleeding from a large gash on her temple. Jasper heard his father curse as a tried and failed to amplify her Aura with his Semblance, his own reserves apparently being too low.

He then heard a new set of footsteps enter the room. They were heavy and loud like the person was wearing lead boots. Jasper felt like a child in a scary movie, listening to the monster walk around outside and being able to do nothing but sit there and hide.

The thunderous stomps finally stopped, and Jaune raised his weapon. With a murderous yell, he lunged toward the hidden figure. Fear gripped Jasper's mind, strangling it like a boa constrictor would its prey. His heart was pounding out of his chest. How could all of this be happening? He'd gone to bed that night excited to wake up and attend his first day at Signal Academy tomorrow. Now he was listening to his father battle for his life against some boogeyman-like assailant while his mother lay on the floor, near death.

It didn't make sense, everything people had told him about Ruby and Jaune suggested that they were almost superheroes. They had survived more than most could have, gone up against Salem, and saved the world. How did they get beaten in one night?

Jasper was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his dad thrown back into view. He slammed against the wall, crushing the sheetrock and fell to his knees with a grunt. He coughed up and spit out another mouthful of blood as he struggled to regain his composure. The attacker did not let up, however. Out of nowhere, a storm of bullets tore through the air toward Jaune. Some missed and dug into the wall around him, others glanced off what little Aura he had left. He was able to deflect a lucky few with his sword, saving himself at least some amount of pain.

One thing neither Jasper, Jaune, nor the intruder anticipated, however, was that one of those shots that he managed to redirect, headed straight into the panic room. The bullet struck and burrowed into Jasper's left eye socket. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was a searing pain in his face. That, and his father's horrified screams of agony, guilt, and rage.

He awoke an unknown amount of time later. The pain in his face was still there and strong as ever. He might've cried if he'd still had tear ducts in that eye to cry with. Dried blood peeled off his right eyelid as he struggled to open it. Jasper recognized his surroundings as the Arc family's backyard. He determined that he must have been out for several hours at least because the house that had once stood in the center of the forested property was now nothing but a pile of smoldering rubble.

How had he gotten outside? Come to think of it, how was he even alive? Hadn't he taken a bullet to the face? Jasper tried to stand but found he was too weak to do more than sit up. Which was just as well, because when he looked around, he found something that sucked the drive to even move right out of him.

There on the grass lying still as a statue was Ruby. His mother. One of the two most important people in his life. He might have been happy to see that she made it out of the house, if not for the lifelessness in her silver eyes and the deep crimson streaks on the ground around her. She was dead, there was no mistaking it.

He attempted to cry out, but no sound escaped him. What came out was merely a hoarse cough. The taste of bile rose into his throat, bringing with it a torrent of disgusting fluids. Jasper turned away from the cold body of his mother so as not to risk catching her with any splashback.

When he had finished, he used every ounce of energy in his body to drag himself to her. The cut on her head was still there, however, now it was dry and scabbed over. Her red-streaked hair was matted and crusted with blood under her signature hood. Up and down her torso were many similar gashes, burns, and even one or two gunshot wounds.

As he took in the image, tears flowed out of his remaining eye, obscuring his vision. The salty droplets fell from his face and landed on Ruby's hands, which were clutching something against her chest.

Jasper glanced at the object, finding out that it was her scroll. What had been so important that his mother needed to use her scroll in her last few moments of life? Maybe she tried to call for help? Tried being the key word in that assumption. Obviously, no one had come, as he had been out for hours and she had likely been dead for about as long.

He wiped the tears from his eye and carefully pulled the device from Ruby's grasp, placing her hand back in its original position once he had. Unexpectedly, it still had power, not much, granted but enough. That was odd. It wasn't on the communication tab like he'd thought. Her last action was in the form of a video in the camera function. The screen was frozen on an image of Ruby's bloodstained face, tears streaming down, but with a lovingly sad smile. She had clearly recorded some sort of message. For whom, he had no way of knowing unless he watched it.

But did he really want to watch it? Did he want to hear her dying words, whether they were for him or anyone else? He hesitated, maybe he was still holding out hope that everything that happened wasn't real. Several minutes dragged by. Finally, Jasper worked up the nerve to press "Play" when he saw that the scroll's battery was almost gone.

The video came began with the camera shakily flipping around so Ruby could speak directly into it. He was right, it had indeed been taken hours ago, as the wound on her head was still fresh.

"Jasper, honey I know that you'll see this when you wake up. I honestly wish you were already awake so I could tell you this in person, but I don't think that's gonna happen," she coughed. He watched in horror as she started to cry. His mother rarely cried. On the few occasions that she did, it never lasted very long. But this...her heart was truly broken. "My Aura is gone, I'm losing blood, and I'm pretty sure I've been shot. But none of that matters. All that's important is that you're safe. Your dad made sure of it."

"You were dying, but he...he used that last of his Aura to boost yours, so that wound wouldn't kill you."

So Jaune was dead too? He supposed he expected it. The man would have -and now did - die before anything happened to his family.

"I'm so sorry for leaving you like this. There was so much I wanted to teach you; about the world, being a huntsman, your eyes...but now I can't. You're going to have to stay strong for me now, okay?"

She paused, taking a moment to wipe her eyes and look at Jasper's unconscious body in the video.

"I know that you wanted to go to Signal because you thought they would make you strong, but you don't have to. You're already strong and brave and kind, you make me so proud to call myself your mother. Don't ever forget that, and never stop growing. Go live your life; make friends, be the master of your own destiny, fall in love...do whatever makes you happy. And always remember that I love you. We both love you so much."

Ruby smiled with more love than he had ever seen.

"I can feel my eyes getting heavy...Be good for your Aunt Yang for me...I...love y-" The recording cut out.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the treetops, bringing with it a brand new day; but there was no joy to be had. No sense of renewal. There was only grief.

Jasper looked away from the screen and back to the real body of his mother. For some reason, she appeared different than when he'd first seen her. Her eyes seemed to be locked on him, and her mouth was twisted into a terrifying smile.

"What the-?"

He didn't even get to finish his thought before the world around him burst into flame. He suddenly realized that he was no longer reliving a memory, but trapped in a nightmare.

Jasper fused his eye shut. "Wake up! Wake up!" he thought.

When he opened it, the fire was indeed gone; replaced by pure, empty darkness, and his body had aged to its current. Ruby was still there, however, still covered in blood and wounds, but standing upright. She stepped closer to him, he tried to move away out of fear but his body wouldn't obey his commands. He couldn't close his eye, turn his head, or do anything to avoid her. She had him completely entranced.

She stopped inches away from him, the wicked grin on her face now turned to a sneer of contempt.

"You failed, Jasper," she said. "You let us die when you could have stopped it."

Although he could not deny her his attention, Jasper tried his best to block out her words.

"You let us die. And now you have to make that up to us...You have to avenge us."

He gritted his teeth in defiance. "No. Get out of my head. You're not my mom, this is just a bad dream."

Ruby stretched out a hand and touched his cheek. Her skin was frigid and the contact sent shivers down Jasper's spine. "You need to kill the one that killed me and Jaune," she ignored him. "They need to die; slowly, painfully, make them suffer for what they did."

He stopped resisting her influence. A part of him agreed with her. The murdering bastards did deserve death at his hands. But...

Ghost-Ruby's evil smile returned. "So, you know I'm right. Kill them. Kill all of them, they have it coming."

But the real Ruby had always told him that all life was sacred. And that it was his responsibility as a Silver-Eyed warrior to safeguard it. He had never really understood what that last part had meant, she had died before she could teach him about his powers. But he knew that he was supposed to protect people, not kill them, whether they were deserving of mercy, or not.

It seemed as though the phantom sensed his hesitation, as she grabbed him by the neck and yanked him close to her. She stared right into his eyes as if she was looking into his very soul. "You will kill them, you will kill or you will die," she snarled. "I'll tear your spirit from your body if you don't."

"No."

Her eyes went wide, filling with rage. She squeezed his throat in an attempt to make him submit to her will. "You will."

"No, I won't."

Her grip strengthened. Jasper felt his windpipe being crushed and his vision started to go black. "You'll never sleep another night. I will haunt your every thought for the rest of your miserable life."

He tried to speak, but her hand clamped down harder, allowing little more than a pitiful squeak loose. Slowly but surely, he succumbed to the suffocation and the darkness around them enveloped him entirely.

Jasper gasped as he shot up in his bed, clutching his throat, thinking that the nightmare's hands were still there. Even though he'd known it was a dream, the whole experience of reliving that night and then the ghost's demands was terrifying. His heart was pounding; so much so that he thought he might need a doctor, he was drenched in a cold sweat, and his lungs felt like they were going to collapse.

After a minute or two, the muscles in his body relaxed and he remembered where he was. "You're fine," he whispered shakily to himself. "You're in Schnee Manor, and this is your room."

Jasper looked around to reassure himself. Yep, it was all still there. He was laying in bed that was much too big for just one person, wrapped in silk sheets and soft quilts. Beside the bed was a nightstand with a digital alarm clock. 2:16, the display read. Pale moonlight from the large window illuminated the rest of the room quite well, which only served to help calm him down even more.

Standing up slowly, Jasper winced when his bare feet made contact with the frigid hardwood floor. Forcing himself to adjust to it, he walked over to his bag. It was set against the wall, near the door. Blutrache and Valorschutz leaned up next to it. Despite how much he felt like he needed a weapon right now, he ignored them and picked up the tattered red cloak off the duffle.

Over the years, the garment had seen and taken a lot of abuse, as was evidenced by the many rips and tears that adorned it. But in spite of that, Jasper still considered it to be his most prized possession, both for the sentimental value and the fact that it just looked so badass. He could recall countless nights when nightmares similar to the one he'd just had would plague him, even before his parents were murdered. He would wake up crying about the Grimm underneath his bed or some other manner of childish fear. But no matter how many times it happened, Ruby would always be there to wrap him up in her cape with warm hug and smile. When he was really little, he'd actually believed the cloak was magic, for all its ability to make him feel safe.

Nowadays, the worn cloth still provided that kind of comfort. Putting it on, he pulled the hood up and lay back down on the bed. The last of his shakes had finally dissipated, and he was able to breathe again. Where he'd had chills before, now he felt warm and at peace.

Closing his eye, Jasper smiled and thought to himself, "Huh, maybe this thing really is magic?"

Morning came after a few more hours of peaceful sleep. Sunlight glinted through the window and shone into his eye. It seemed as though the nightmare had been just that: a nightmare. Jasper awoke calmly, but not rested, as the horrific dream had made the night hell.

He slowly rolled out of the massive bed. With an exaggerated groan, he stood and stretched. He glanced at the clock. It said 7:07. "Not bad," he thought. "Five hours is better than nothing."

Walking up to a chest of drawers, on the wall above which hung a mirror, he examined his face. There were dark circles in his eye sockets - well, one of them anyway - indicating that his sleep, what little he got, had not been restful. He never slept with his eyepatch on, on account of how uncomfortable it was, and the fact that he often slept on his stomach. Therefore now, he had an all too unpleasant view of the scarred and mangled flesh that was where his left eye used to reside. Along with all the unpleasant memories surrounding it.

He harkened back to those first few months after Ruby and Jaune's deaths, and the sheer misery he experienced. As if losing his parents wasn't enough, Jasper also had to endure the horrible itching and annoying doctor visits that Yang and his other aunts made him go through. Then there was all the drama about deciding who would be his new guardian. His dad's eldest sister, Saphron - despite living on the other side of the world - had always been a sort of second mom to him. For a while, it looked like she and her wife would be the ones taking him in, but Yang had fought them tooth and nail, saying that Ruby had wanted her to take care of Jasper.

Looking back, he counted himself lucky to have such a large and loving family that cared so much about him. He knew there were other kids that went through similar ordeals with no one. Where would he have ended up if that were the case for him? He wondered. Would he have chosen the same paths in life that he had? Probably not.

Jasper smiled slightly, recalling the day when Yang had burst into her apartment, where he was staying with her, wearing the biggest, brightest grin he'd ever seen.

"Saph finally gave up," she laughed. "You'n me're gonna be roomies from now on!" And that what it. Their living arrangement had been one similar to them being roommates instead of family. Yang left him to his own devices and he was content to give her the same courtesy.

She didn't coddle him, especially when it came to training. Of course, she didn't come at him with everything but damn if he didn't walk away with bruises, burns, and cracked ribs. It made him tough though. Gave him the mentality of a fighter; no matter what, he would never give in or back down from an enemy.

Jasper never enrolled at Signal as he had originally intended, but through Yang's teaching's and her own recommendation, he'd applied and been accepted into Beacon. At first, he felt that her backing him had caused Headmaster Pine to play favorites, given the two's history together. However, during the initiation, he saw that it was skill alone on which the Professor judged potential students, not merely word of mouth. Yang's training had helped, sure, but from what he saw, most of the other huntsmen-in-training had to earn their spots as well.

He'd been placed on a team, same as everyone else, and for the most part, they all got along. Team JJET wasn't the best group of students to ever walk Beacon's halls, but they certainly weren't the worst, either. They didn't get into any serious trouble, just the kind that awarded them a stern talking to and the occasional detention. Replacing Professor Bully's captive Grimm with balloon animals, secretly installing a voice modulator into the Headmaster's PA system, that kind of thing. They were even gearing up to compete in the Vytal Festival.

Jasper thoroughly enjoyed his time at the academy, short as it may have been. Towards the end of his first full year, he had an especially bad day. Sleep deprivation, a migraine, and the anniversary of his parents' deaths saw to that. Needless to say, he wasn't in the best mood; so when he overheard some stuck-up third-year make a joke about his mother, it made something in his head snap.

He couldn't remember any of the details, just that there had been lots of screaming, swearing, and blood. The one Jasper had attacked barely survived the encounter, having to have facial reconstructive surgery and eat all his meals through a straw. His theory about Pine playing favorites had been proven true when the man had gone easy him out of respect for Ruby's memory. Seeing fit to simply expel him.

Not long after, Jasper had gotten his own apartment, that crappy little hovel in the "Cauldron," and started doing under-the-table security work at a nightclub. Eventually, between being a glorified doorman and his regular training regimen, he picked up the hobby of dishing out steaming plates of street justice to Vale's petty criminals. Which led him to the routine of landing jail and Yang coming to bail him out. Which, in turn, caused him to fly halfway across the planet to Atlas on the chance that he could get a shot at revenge on the bastard that ruined his life. Funny how things came full circle.

After spending a good fifteen minutes contemplating the direction his life had taken up to that point, Jasper finally snapped out of his trance. Donning his leather eyepatch, he got dressed in silence and carried his weapons out the door.

"Might as well get some training in before breakfast," he thought.

On the way to his room the previous night, Weiss had also given him directions to the gym. However, that didn't make it any easier to find. He traversed the halls of the mansion for what felt like four hours when in reality it was only about ten minutes. Eventually finding it nearby to the Schnee's personal office. He met Oliver in the hallway as the butler was exiting office, a finished breakfast tray in his hands.

"Ah, good morning Mister Arc," Oliver greeted him cheerfully. "Off to get a bit of exercise in, are we? Or were you here to speak to Miss Schnee?"

"Yeah, just here to use the gym for a while. Don't wanna bother Weiss while she's busy."

"Very good, sir," the butler nodded. "I believe that Miss Xiao Long is also blowing off some smoke, as it were."

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Wait, don't you mean blowing off some steam?"

As if on cue, there was a loud crash from inside the gym, partnered with the smokey burnt scent of spent Dust rounds. "No," Oliver replied dryly.

"Oh. That makes sense I guess," there was an awkward silence while they braced themselves for another explosion. When there was none, Jasper continued. "Welp, suppose I'd better get to it. I'll try to make sure she doesn't break anything too expensive."

"That would be preferable, yes. Well, should you have need of me, do not hesitate to call."

Jasper nodded as he opened the door to the training room. "Thanks, I will."

Weiss's training room looked more like an Atlas military gym. The room had no windows, on account of being closer to the mansion's center. Along the back wall were various kinds of weightlifting machines, not unexpected, but not the kind one would normally see in a home gym. To the right, in front of a giant mirror that covered the whole wall, sat a row of treadmills and pull-up bars, again, nothing out of the ordinary.

In the center of the room was a sparring ring, about twenty feet wide and long, raised up from the ground with stairs on each of the four corners. Also protruding from each corner stood a kind of projector, pointed down into the arena. Hard light projectors, he realized. The concept was being talked about all over Beacon when he was still there, it was groundbreaking technology and it was very, very expensive.

Apparently not so much so that Weiss Schnee couldn't afford it - that woman really did have one of everything. And that Yang was allowed access to it. At the moment she was in the middle of an intense battle with four artificial assailants. Well, calling it a battle was a bit too generous; she was kicking the computer's electronic ass.

Two of the translucent figures struck at once, attempting to overwhelm Yang by attacking from in front and behind her. A move which proved ineffective when she sidestepped the one ahead of her and redirected its weapon into the other. The construct exploded into a shower of glittering particles. Without losing any momentum, she landed a solid, shotgun-assisted punch with her mechanized arm in the staggered one's back, taking it out of commission as well.

With its first attempt ending up in failure, the training AI must have realized it was on the back foot, as the remaining two combatants began to play more cautiously. However, even with all its calculations and predictions, the machine still had nothing on Yang's unmatched strength and brutality in combat. Where some fighters danced around their opponents, she powered through them. Yang was an unstoppable force, yet to meet an immovable object to counter her.

Hard light bot number One tried to push her back with a volley of kicks and punches. None of which connected, simply allowing Yang to show off her impressive speed as well. This easily-dodged offense turned out to be a feint, however; while she was distracted, number Two flanked behind her. Jasper considered calling out to warn her but thought better of it immediately, it was a training match, after all. What good would it do her to have someone giving her assistance? Two actually managed to get a hit in, landing a precise jab on the back of Yang's head.

She was knocked forward, into yet another blow to the face from One. The strike was solid, sending her staggering to the left. It put some distance between her and them, which would've normally been a good idea...were she a standard brawler.

However, Yang Xiao Long was anything but standard.

Without missing a beat, she fired Ember Celica into the air behind her, propelling her forward with a wild yell. In an instant, the fight was over, as she collided with both Two and One. Reaching a hand around each of their polygonal heads, she smashed them into one another. The projections' bodies dissolved with a sound akin to that of glass shattering. Blue shards of hard light flew through the air before disappearing as the projector powered down.

To no one in particular, as she hadn't noticed Jasper standing silent at the edge of the arena, Yang laughed, "Now that was one head-Yangin' fight!" If only to punctuate the pun, she slammed her fists together, cracking a few of her organic knuckles.

"Ugh, goddammit Yang!" Jasper groaned as he facepalmed.

She turned to face him and laughed again. As much as he claimed to hate them, he really did enjoy her stupid jokes and she knew it too. They were a pleasant quirk and a reminder that even a long-time war veteran and badass could have a childish and playful sense of humor.

"What? It was," she said defensively. Hopping down out of the ring, she walked over to a benchpress and picked up a towel and a bottle of water. She pressed the towel against her face, wiping off some of the sweat she was now drenched in. "D'you enjoy the show, kiddo?"

"What I caught of it, yeah. How long have you been at this?"

Yang sat down on the bench, taking a long swig of water. "Hmm...What time is it?" she asked, indicating that it had probably been a while. Judging by the state of her clothes, it should have been obvious. She was garbed in average work-out attire: dark grey sweatpants, a matching hoodie tied around her waist, and a bright yellow tank top. Sweat had soaked in and created a dark spot at the shirt's low neckline and her face and arms were glistening in the gym's LED light. Despite all that, however, she didn't show any signs of fatigue or injury from the fight.

"About seven-thirty."

"I've been here for two and a half hours," she stated matter-of-factly.

He nodded. "Yeah, guess I should've expected that you wouldn't sleep in."

Yang chuckled and ran a hand through her long golden hair, flipping over her shoulder. "It doesn't take as much sleep as you'd think to keep up this youthful beauty. Thank you Xiao Long genes."

Jasper couldn't help but release a snort of amusement. Another habit of hers was making sure everyone knew how good she looked for being her age. Usually via wearing clothing that accentuated her form - i.e. custom-fitted to be way too small. As disgusting and pervy as it made him feel, had she not been his aunt, he couldn't help but think he might have made some kind of move on her. Come to think of it, he was almost definitely certain that there was an entire genre of porn dedicated to sick stuff like that.

"Note to self: Clear browser history," he thought with a slight shudder.

Thankfully, Yang spoke up and distracted him from the filthy gutter that was his own mind. "You look a little pale, you feeling okay, kiddo?" she asked, taking notice of the bags underneath his eye sockets and the lack of color in his face.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. I'm fine, just didn't sleep all that well last night," Jasper replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Had a bit of a nightmare."

She gasped as she finished off the last of the water in her bottle. "Oh?" she huffed. "What about?"

"Well, actually this," he gestured around them. "This whole mission."

She patted the spot next to her on the bench and he sat down. "What do you mean by that?"

"I never gave it much thought but...what are we gonna do when we catch the ones that killed my mom and dad?"

Her cheerfulness faded when she heard that, and her expression became more serious. "Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "I've had to kill before, but I never liked it. I hated myself for it, in fact."

Her gaze hardened and she clenched her fists. "But these bastards murdered my sister. I may not enjoy it, but I'm thinking that I might just let the chips fall where they may. In other words, I don't plan on being merciful. Or on letting them get away."

"See, that's what I thought at first, too," Jasper said, rubbing the back of his neck with uncertainty. "But my mom always said that everyone's life is precious. Not just the ones we care about. What does it mean if I just ignore her and just start killing for the sake of revenge?"

The faintest smile tugged at her lips. "It's good that you feel this way," Yang wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Ruby was a lot of things. Sweet, innocent, caring. But it came at a price; she was very naive. She always wanted to save everyone." She chuckled softly. "Hell, she even managed to save Salem...from herself. Afterward, when some the witch's more...fanatical followers started taking out their anger on innocent people, Ruby had to learn a hard lesson. Sometimes, lives have to be taken to save others."

He never knew that. Of course, he'd suspected that his parents and their teams had had to do some questionable things, but neither had ever let on that they'd ever killed someone. Though, he supposed it made sense, considering that most of Salem's lackeys had been dead for two decades or more.

"So...does that mean that we're going to kill these guys?"

"If they don't give us any other option, most likely." They fell silent. It seemed as though neither cared for the idea, but were forced to accept it nonetheless.

In an attempt to bring the mood up, Yang squeezed his shoulder, causing him to wince as the muscles in his arm were crushed. "But hey, we don't have to worry about that today," she told him, pulling him to his feet. "Right now, I want to see if all my training has paid off." She playfully shoved him in the direction of the arena and stepped over to a control panel which connected to the hard light projectors. "Let's see how you handle four-on-one, shall we?"

Jasper stood the center of the ring in a readied stance. One hand over his right shoulder, gripping the handle of Blutrache, the other held firmly at his side, preparing to parry any oncoming attacks. He tensed as he heard the machines powering up, emitting a soft humming noise. In front, behind, and on both sides of him, blue polygonal humanoids constructed out of thin air. When they finished, he looked at Yang and nodded for her to begin the match. She echoed him and brought her finger down onto a keypad dramatically and...nothing happened.

Well, something did happen, just not what they were expecting. In the span of about five seconds the holograms dispersed, all the lights went out, and a loud explosion could be heard from somewhere else in the building.

"What the f-?" Jasper was cut off by yet another blast, this time a bit closer.

A few moments later, the lights came back on. He and Yang shared a worried glance, then a more serious one. "Weiss!" she exclaimed. She turned and bolted for the door. With Jasper not far behind.

As they exited into the hallway and began their mad dash to Weiss's office, he had one final troubling thought. "Let's just hope they give us more than one option."

A/N: Can you say Exposition Dump? In all seriousness though, this chapter was originally supposed to be much shorter, but I had no idea where to cut off so I just decided, "Screw it! Put it all in one chapter."

On the subject of Jaune and Ruby's deaths, there was one reviewer wondering how two fully-fledged huntsmen could get taken down by a ragtag group of thugs. I tried to touch on it in the last chapter, essentially it boils down to the fact that numbers can overwhelm. Jasper didn't see any of the assassins but it's implied that there were a lot of them in the house.

Also, I do want to say that if you have an idea of who is behind the attack - i.e. the one who shot Jasper - shoot me a message (Hint: It is a character from the show). I'd love to see if anyone can figure it out.