HEEELLLOOOOOO! A quick word on some stuff before I get into this chapter. If you haven't noticed already I have taken my story "The Vagabond" down and replaced it with another story called "Blood and Fangs". The reason I took down The Vagabond is because those World of Remnant episodes on the four kingdoms of Vale kinda screwed the story over. While I love how diverse the kingdoms are it caused an issue with Vacuo. The Vacuo I had created was just too different from the one in the actual show, and I just couldn't stand it, especially since Vacuo was a big deal in that story. Thus I have taken it down sadly. Someday I will probably rewrite the story (honestly I could have done some chapters better anyway) and re-upload it, but for now it's gone. For those of you who enjoyed that story I truly am sorry, and honestly I don't like the idea of taking down the story, but I do feel that it needed to be done.

However rejoice in the fact that I am replacing it with a new story for all of you to read! It's rated T for now, but the rating will probably go up at some point. I'm sure some of you may be able to guess at what the story is about from the title of "Blood and Fangs," but for those of you who aren't sure, or can't tell, it's got Vampires in it.

When Jaune learned of Pyrrha's death he was heart broken and wracked with grief. Faced with the knowledge that he had failed his closest friend and partner Jaune did the only thing he could think of: he ran. He did not stop running until he was within the forest surrounding the city of Vale, where he is ambushed by a horde of Grimm. Expecting and hoping to die Jaune fights until he loses consciousness as he fights, certain that he would be killed.

Naturally he did not expect to wake up on a cot in a tent, or to be surrounded by people with fangs, crimson eyes, and skin that burned at the slightest touch of the sun. Their leader, a bear of a man named Hazel, tells Jaune that they are called the Strigoi, or Vampires, and that if he so wished Hazel could make Jaune one of them, granting him strength and speed beyond his wildest dreams along with a host of other unique abilities, giving him the power he would need to avenge the death of his partner and best friend.

However as Jaune learns more and more about the Strigoi and their ways he begins to wonder if his humanity is worth sacrificing...

With that out of the way, I'm glad y'all enjoyed the last chapter. There was a ton of fighting and action, and more than a little feelsiness. In this chapter the battle is won. The Grimm have been driven back, the city is safe, and all with only a few casualties on the side of Vale. Jaune has singlehandedly defeated the Dark Champion, ensuring that a legend has just been born.

Though with all of the damage he has suffered, this legend may very well die the day it was born...


"It looks like all you suffered was a minor fracture on your ribs Miss Schnee," the doctor said, "your aura should have it healed up within a couple hours. I doubt you'll need any medical attention or pain medication, so you're free to go. Just try to avoid moving too much to avoid any unnecessary pain."

"Thank you," she muttered. Her gaze was firmly on the floor, but all she could see was Jaune collapsing after killing the Dark Champion. "Do... do you know if Jaune will be..." she couldn't say it. The idea that he could die... she just... she couldn't accept that.

The doctor placed a hand on her arm. Weiss looked up into the woman's eyes. She was smiling at Weiss, but it was the kind of smile people used when they told someone something was going to be okay when they knew it wasn't going to be. "He's still in surgery right now Miss Schnee, but I'm sure he'll be just fine." The doctor stood and grabbed her clip board. "I'll go inform your friends that you're alright Miss Schnee. I'm sure they're anxious to see you." The woman stepped out, leaving Weiss alone in the room. She knew that team CRDL was just outside of the door as some sort of honor guard. Evidently they were still adhering to Jaune's order to keep her safe.

Jaune...

She had been utterly terrified when that thing had picked her up. She knew in that moment that it could kill her without a second thought, that she was utterly powerless in its grip. Then she'd seen Jaune.

The sight of him limping to her, arm outstretched towards her and coughing up blood even as he forced his ravaged body onward was something she knew she could never forget. As the Dark Champion had squeezed the life out of her the last thing she'd heard was Jaune hoarsely screaming at the monster to stop, the last thing she'd seen were the tears streaming down his face as he struggled futilely against the Grimm holding him down.

The first thing she'd felt when she'd awoken had been his tears on her face. The first thing she'd heard was him sobbing her name over and over as he desperately tried to revive her. The first thing she'd seen was Jaune, adorned in shining plate and mail with tears in his eyes. He had hugged her then, his body wracked with sobs of relief as he rocked her back and forth in his arms.

" I thought you were dead. I couldn't, I can't, lose you. Any of you."

"He... he really does care about me, doesn't he?" That much was obvious now. If he didn't care about her, if he didn't truly have feelings for her, then he wouldn't have put himself through such pain to protect her. Every time he had flirted with her, every time he had driven her up the walls and made her cheeks darken with color had been true, honest affection. All the while she had thought him just another hopeful suitor chasing after her money.

Did she... did she feel the same about him? She didn't know. She wouldn't deny to herself that, while he had at times come on too hard, his words had touched a part of her heart, but she didn't know if that meant she returned his feelings, or if it was just a natural reaction to his words.

His battle against the Dark Champion after he had resuscitated her replayed in her head, but perhaps battle wasn't the best word for it. Watching him fight, she had known that he could have killed that thing within seconds. Instead he had toyed with it, taking it apart piece by piece as he dragged out its agony, making sure that its final moments had been filled with pain as he broke it piece by piece, until finally he had set it alight, ensuring that even its death had been full of suffering.

All because it had hurt her.

"YOU TARGETED SOMEONE I LOVE. YOU MADE ME WATCH WHILE YOU SQUEEZED THE LIFE OUT OF MY ANGEL."

Love...

What did he mean by that? That he loved her in a romantic way? Was it possible to love someone who had treated them the way she had treated him? Perhaps it was, if he still considered her his 'angel'. Suddenly the thought of Neptune using Jaune's nickname for her didn't have the same appeal that it once had.

The door to the room slammed open and the other girls of RWBY along with Ren and Nora poured in. Ruby zipped up to Weiss, but stopped just shy of slamming into Weiss with one of her semblance powered hugs and instead bounced on the balls of her feet with her arms outstretched, silently asking if it was okay to hug her. Weiss couldn't help but smile and held out her arms for Ruby. "I've only got a small fracture on my ribs, so gentle hugs are okay." Ruby hugged Weiss and buried her head in the heiress's shoulders. It wasn't until she felt the wetness on her shoulder that she realized Ruby was crying. "R-Ruby?!"

"I thought you were dead, b-back at the breach" she sobbed. "I w-watched that thing pick you up and carry you off and I tried to get to you, w-we all did, b-b-bu-but there were just so many Grimm and I couldn't get free, then it started squeezing you, but Jaune started glowing and he saved you and he fought that thing, and he was just so angry and now he's in surgery in ICU and n-now he might die and I-I just..." she broke down into tears, her words becoming completely incoherent.

Yang stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ruby and gently pulled her back from Weiss. "Hey little sis, he's gonna be okay. Jaune's a fighter. He won't let this keep him down." Even as she said the words Weiss could tell she didn't mean them from the look in the blonde's eyes. She didn't really believe he'd make it.

"Jaune will make it," Weiss said with conviction. She glared at Yang, silently daring the brawler to disagree with her. "He won't let something like this stop him. He's strong." She looked down at the crossed hands in her lap. "Stronger than I ever gave him credit for..."

Blake sat down next to Weiss and put her hand on heiress's shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for his injuries Weiss. They weren't your fault."

"But they were!" she shouted, slamming her fist down on the examination table she sat on, "Jaune pushed himself as far as he did trying to save, trying to keep me safe. It's because of me that his injuries are so-"

A finger over her mouth cut Weiss off. Her eyes traveled up the arm of the person who had silenced her. To her shock it was Ren who had silenced her. "The only two who can be blamed for Jaune's injuries are Jaune himself and that Grimm. You may be the one he has romantic feelings for, but he would have done the same for any of us."

Weiss didn't think for a minute that Jaune wouldn't have done the same for any of them, but... "You weren't the ones that thing grabbed. I know he would do the same for any of you, I would never say he wouldn't, but it wasn't any of you he injured himself to protect. It was m-me." She turned away and ran her sleeves over her eyes as it really started to hit her. Jaune could die. "W-Where's Pyrrha?"

"She's outside the ICU wing," Nora said sadly. "They won't let her in the wing, but she hasn't moved from her spot outside the door to the wing ever since they wheeled Jaune in."

Weiss got off of the examination table and winced and clutched her side. Ruby went to help her, but she waved her off. "I'm fine. We should go to Pyrrha."


Pyrrha still couldn't believe it.

Jaune could die, was on the edge of death, and there was nothing she could do. There was no Grimm she had to kill to save his life, there was no physical foe for her to protect him from. All she could do was sit here in front of the door to the ICU wing and wait for the doctor to walk out and tell her the verdict. She stared aimlessly at the wall before her, but she didn't really see it. It was just something for her eyes to rest on while her mind went to a much darker place.

What if... what if he didn't make it? No one had told them the extent of his injuries, but it had been clear from the looks on the medics' faces when they had airlifted him to the hospital that it wasn't good.

"Pyrrha!"

the shout jolted her out of her thoughts and she turned to face the direction it had come from. Ren and Nora along with the girls of RWBY were making their way to her. With shock she realized that they must have gone somewhere, and she hadn't even realized they had left, but where had they gone?

When she saw the white clad heiress she realized that they must have gone to check up on her, and immediately felt bad for not going with them. The champion stood up and walked over to her friends. She smiled weakly at them, "hey guys." She turned to the heiress, "Weiss, are you okay? I'm so sorry I didn't go see you. I just didn't realize that-"

Weiss held up a hand, stopping the crimson haired girl. "It's alright Pyrrha. My injuries are minor, and you're worried about Jaune." Her expression softened. "He's going to pull through you know. He's strong."

Pyrrha wanted to believe that, but what if he didn't pull through? He could die, he could be dead right now, and she didn't even-

Nora's finger pressed against Pyrrha's nose. "Boop." Pyrhha blinked in surprise as Nora's finger left her face. "He's going to be fine Pyrrha. Jauney's not going to let something silly like this stop him. Just you watch, any minute now the doctor's going to walk out of there and tell us that he's going to be just fine."

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at the short ginger. It hadn't really occurred to her before, but ever since the beginning of this Gryphon Knight thing Nora had been the only of them to have total faith in Jaune's abilities. While Pyrrha didn't think him weak, she had spent more time worrying over him than actually having faith in the blonde boy who, as much as it pained her to admit it, no longer needed her to hold his hand. He needed his partner who worked with him and respected him, not someone who mothered him night and day. She was still worried of course, she could tell that they all were, but she had to have faith in him. "You're right," Pyrrha said, "we have to have faith in him. Jaune won't leave us."

"Right!" cheered Nora. "Now, what do you say we go raid the cafeteria here for pancakes?"

"Nora," sighed Ren, "I don't think they'll have pancakes at this time of day."

"Oh ye of little faith!" She grabbed Ren's hand and dragged him off towards the cafeteria, the others following behind the inseparable pair.

Pyrrha hung back until Weiss was next to her, and put her hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "Weiss, would it be okay if I talked to you in private for a bit?"

Weiss looked at Pyrrha, then turned and nodded to Ruby, who had stopped when she realized the two of them weren't following. "We'll be there in a moment Ruby."

The little leader smiled and nodded, "don't be long." She jogged off after the others, leaving Weiss and Pyrrha alone in the hallway. The two of them made their way over to a corner of the hallway.


"I wanted to talk to you about Jaune," Pyrrha said quietly, "more specifically, his feelings for you."

Weiss looked away from the champion and rubbed her arm. She had figured they would have this conversation eventually. "I know that he really does care for me," she said. "That's clear to me now." If anyone could say that anything good had come from all this it was that she no longer thought he was after her money, though that was little consolation for any of them.

"It's more than that," Pyrrha continued. "Do you still have the Angel's Rose?"

Weiss frowned in confusion. What did the rose Neptune had given her have to do with anything? "Of course," Weiss replied. "What about it?"

"Well, Neptune didn't buy it from a store in Vale like he'd told you. Do you remember the first food fight between our teams?"

Weiss grimaced, remembering all of the food that had gotten on her throughout the course of the fight. "I do, why?"

"Do you remember what Jaune told you just before the fight began?"

Weiss frowned in concentration, trying to remember exactly what he'd said. She remembered him flirting with her, which had been pretty normal for him at the time, but then something about the Emerald Forest...

"I found something in the Emerald Forest this weekend that might change your mind."

The pieces fell into place, and she finally understood. But if Jaune had found the rose in the forest, why was Neptune the one who had given it to her?

"I don't... I don't understand. If Jaune found it, why did Neptune have it?"

Pyrrha smiled sadly. "Because Jaune gave it to him. The night you went to ask Neptune to the dance, Jaune followed you to ask you, not realizing that you planned to ask Neptune. He saw Neptune turn you down, and let your teammates know to come help you."

Well that certainly explained why her teammates had shown up to help her. "Why didn't Jaune say anything to me?" She may not have had the highest opinion of him at the time, but it wasn't like Jaune to leave someone crying.

"He thought you would be angry with him, so he texted the others while he went to get answers from Neptune."

Weiss had to admit to herself that had he made his presence known to her in that moment she would have been upset with him. "What do you mean, Jaune went to go get answers from Neptune?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "Jaune didn't exactly go into detail about what happened. He just said that he talked to Neptune and convinced him to ask you to the dance, and gave him the Angel's Rose so he could give it to you to ask for forgiveness."

"He..." she leaned against the wall. Jaune had convinced Neptune to take her to the dance, and given him the rose? "Why?"

Pyrrha placed a hand on on Weiss's shoulder. "Because he cares about you Weiss. He was so excited to ask you to the dance, more excited than I had ever seen him before, but when Jaune saw how hurt you were when Neptune refused you he put aside what he wanted to help you." Pyrrha sighed and looked away from the heiress. "Weiss, how do you... feel about Jaune?"

"Are you asking me if I think I like him romantically now?" inquired Weiss.

"... Yes," admitted the champion. Weiss could see the pain asking that question had brought the crimsonette. If Weiss did return Jaune's feelings then that would essentially put an end to Pyrrha chances with the blonde for the foreseeable future.

But Weiss didn't know how she felt about Jaune. Her opinion of him had certainly changed for the better, but she didn't know if she had romantic feelings for him, or if the pounding in her heart when she thought about him was only because he had saved her, and of things he'd said. One thing she did know however was that she didn't want to do anything that would upset Ruby or Pyrrha until she was absolutely certain about how she felt about him.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I know that I have a much better opinion of him now, and when he wakes up I want to try and be his friend, but I don't know if my feelings for him go beyond that. I don't... I don't know."

Pyrrha smiled. "Well I think that, whether or not you do have romantic feelings for him, he at least deserves your friendship, and I think you deserve his."

Weiss smiled back and nodded. "I think you're right."

The two of them stood in awkward silence for a moment, then Pyrrha said, "he's going to be fine you know." Though the words had been directed at her Weiss felt that Pyrrha was trying to reassure herself of that just as much as she was trying to reassure Weiss.

Weiss nodded, "I know he will." He had to. He couldn't just go and die on her, on all of them, just when she'd decided that she wanted to be his friend. She would do whatever it took to help him, even if it meant calling home and talking to her father-

Oh God, her father.

There was no way he hadn't heard about the breach by now. He was probably on an airship to Vale right now to be sure his precious little heiress was okay. Though if he knew then Winter almost certainly knew about the breach, so hopefully she would be coming too. Weiss sighed and shook her head.

"Are you alright?" asked Pyrrha.

"Yes, just thinking about something. Come on, we should go find the others. Maybe Nora did find pancakes, who knows?"


Amazingly enough Nora did find pancakes.

As the seven of them ate the syrup covered treats Weiss discreetly looked at the faces around her. Yang was telling her horrid puns to Nora, Ruby was chattering Pyrrha's ears off talking about weapons, and Ren and Blake were conversing about book series they both liked. All of them were smiling and laughing.

All of them were faking it for the sake of everyone else. It seemed that the seven of them had somehow come to some silent agreement that they would refuse to allow the mood to fall until they knew for certain that Jaune was going to be okay. None of them could even dare think about what would happen if the worst came to pass.

"Weiss!"

Weiss and the others turned around at the familiar voice and saw Neptune and Sun running over to them. Weiss pushed herself out of her chair. "Neptune?"

The bluenette wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Weiss gasped in pain as the hug pressed against her injured rib, and he let and backed away. "I-I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

Weiss smiled softly and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm okay, it's just a small fracture. It should be healed up soon."

He wrapped his arms around her again, but was careful not to squeeze her. "I'm so glad you're okay. No one told us what hospital they had taken you to, so me and Sun have been basically scouring every hospital in the city for you."

She frowned and looked up at him. "Why didn't you just call my scroll?"

"I did, but it went straight to voicemail every time. That's one of the reasons why I was so worried."

Confused, Weiss stepped back from him and pulled her scroll out of the pocket on her dress. It had been bent out of shape, and the screen was shattered. She realized it must have been broken when the Dark Champion had grabbed her.

"Is Jaune..." asked Sun, but stopped, leaving the question dangling in the air.

"He's still in surgery," Ruby said as her smile fell, but she perked up and said, "but he's gonna be okay! He's Jaune Arc! Gryphon Knight, Beacon student, and all around cool guy!"

"Yeah..." Sun said as he awkwardly scuffed the bottom of his shoe on the floor.

For a few moments there was silence between all of them. Weiss glanced at Neptune and looked away. As happy as she was to see he was okay... they had to have a talk.

She turned to him, and spoke at the exact same time as the bluenette. "We need to talk."

They both stared in surprise at the other, neither of them expecting the other to say the same thing. "Uh, yeah okay." He pointed to a table in the corner of the cafeteria away from the other people in the cafeteria. "Is uh... is there good?"

She nodded and the two walked over to the table and sat down. For a moment there was awkward silence between them, then once again they spoke at the same time.

"Jaune gave me the rose."

"I know Jaune gave you the rose."

The both of them looked at the other in surprise. "Oh," said Neptune. "I hadn't realized he'd told you."

"He didn't," Weiss replied. "Pyrrha told me a few minutes ago."

"Oh," he said again.

Weiss placed a hand on Neptune's shoulder, then withdrew it. "Why didn't you tell me Neptune? And what's the real reason you turned me down that night?"

"I, um..." he scratched the back of his head. "I didn't tell you Jaune gave me the rose because he told me not to. As for why I turned you down... um... I... I can't dance..."

She stared him. "Come again?"

"I can't dance."

"But... you danced at the ball just fine. I mean sure you weren't the best, but you held your own."

Neptune laughed awkwardly. "Only because Jaune gave me lessons."

Not only had Jaune given Neptune the Angel's Rose, and now that she thought about it Jaune was almost certainly the one who had named it that, but he had also convinced Neptune to ask her to the dance, and then given the boy lessons so that he would be able to dance with her.

Weiss was beginning to feel a bit sick with herself.

"He gave you dancing lessons, after giving you the rose and talking you into asking me out?"

Neptune nodded. "Pretty much, but maybe 'talking to me' isn't bet way to put it."

Weiss was almost afraid to ask exactly what he meant, but ask she did. "Could you clarify?"

"Jaune was furious when he 'talked' to me. I thought he was going to beat me right there in the corridor, but he just kept asking me why I had turned you down until I told him I couldn't dance. He asked me if I really did like you and I said I did, and I do I swear, and his mood just... did a complete one eighty. He gave me the Angel's Rose and told me to go apologize to you and ask you to the dance, and then said he'd give me dance lessons if you said yes. He's the one who named it by the way. The rose, that is."

That... actually explained a lot now that she thought about it. At the time she had thought it odd that Neptune had seemed almost afraid of Jaune the night he had given her the rose, and at the dance he had occasionally sent a nervous glance the blonde's way, as though making sure what he was doing was okay. If Jaune had threatened Neptune with physical harm, especially considering the things Neptune had seen Jaune do, then it made sense that the bluenette would be wary of him. But if Neptune had only asked her to the dance because of Jaune, then what did that mean about how he felt about her?

"Neptune?"

"Yeah, Snow Angel?"

She winced at the nickname. That was another thing she was going to have to talk to him about. "How do you really feel about me? Do you really like me, or did you just ask me to the dance because of Jaune?"

"No!" he all but shouted, drawing the attention of their friends and a few others. "No I totally like you! I was just being an idiot that night, and Jaune helped me realize that. Rather forcefully."

She sighed in relief and placed her hand on top of his. "That's... good to hear, honestly."

"What about Jaune?" whispered a part of her mind. "Despite how you've treated him he's been there for you many times. Does he not deserve this?" She frowned and slightly tightened her grip on Neptune's hand as though she was trying to assert her feelings for the bluenette. She was conflicted about her feelings for Jaune. She wasn't sure if she really did have romantic feelings for him, or if they would fade after a few days. She just didn't know.

As though he could read her thoughts Neptune said, "you know, Jaune's a pretty cool guy."

She nodded, "yes, I suppose he is."

"Do you..." the Haven student scratched the back of his head, "Do you... you know, like him?"

She didn't know.

But she did know that she liked Neptune, and she wasn't willing to risk her first real relationship on the possibility that she might like someone else.

She placed a kiss on Neptune's cheek. "I like you," she said simply. It wasn't an actual answer to his question, but she hoped it would be enough for the blue haired boy. Judging by the pink tinge on his cheeks, it was.

He smiled and squeezed her hand. "Well I like you too." He pointed over to the table where their friends sat. "So, should we go join the others?"

Weiss smiled and stood up. "Yes, yes we should." The two made their way over to the others and sat down. Weiss smiled as she listened to the friendly chatter between all of her friends, but she wished that there could be one more person here. True Jaune had been annoying at times, and had been a bit too forward on more than one occasion, but he did care about her, had saved her life more than once, and sacrificed his own chances with her to make her happy. She owed Jaune a lot, and she was going to make sure she repaid his kindness.


"Excuse me, teams Juniper and Ruby?"

The two teams plus Sun and Neptune turned looked up from their conversations to see a short portly man in a doctor's coat and glasses standing before them. The nine of them leapt out of their seats and surrounded the doctor, and Ruby had to stop herself from grabbing the man by his coat and yanking him down to her level. Even team CRDL from their position on the other side of the room came over to listen, but didn't try to breach the circle the nine of them had made around the man.

"Is Jaune alright?" asked Pyrrha. Ruby couldn't stop herself from bouncing up and down from nerves as her heart raced. The doctor seemed pretty calm, even with a bunch of trained huntsmen surrounding him, so that had to be good sign, right?

"Mr. Arc is fine. It was very touch and go for awhile, but we managed to patch him up enough to ensure he'll live, and his aura is repairing the damage that we could not. Naturally we will be keeping a close eye on him, but we expect him to make a full recovery."

Ruby squealed with joy as the others let out sighs of relief and Pyrrha turned her head away to wipe the tears of joy out of her eyes. He was going to be okay!

"Can we see him?!" asked the little leader of RWBY.

"If you wish, but Mr. Arc is still unconscious. We suspect he'll be that way for the next couple of days at least as his body works to repair the damage done to it."

Before anyone could say anything else Ruby took off down the hall, her semblance allowing her to clear the distance in seconds. She barged through the doors to the ICU wing, glancing into the window of each door she passed as she looked for Jaune's room. "Not Jaune, Not Jaune, Not Jaune, Not Jaune, Not Ja- Wait yes Jaune!" She skidded to a halt and backpedaled to the door she had just passed and opened it, stepping into Jaune's room.

Just like the doctor said he was asleep. Jaune's chest rose and fell with easy breaths as he slept, the look on his face being one of peace. Ruby was relieved to see him so peaceful, but was less relieved to see how pale his face was, or all of the tubes and wires running from him to various machines. She didn't know what most of them were for, but she did know that one was a heartbeat monitor, two others were IV, one hooked up to a blood bag and the other hooked to a bag of clear liquid, water she guessed, and an oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose.

"The oxygen mask is more of a precaution than anything else." the doctor said as he and the others entered the room. "His lungs took significant damage, and while we managed to patch them up enough for his aura to heal the damage we don't want to take any chances until we're certain he can breathe on his own."

"How bad was it?" Pyrrha asked quietly as she stood next to Ruby, staring at her partner as he slept.

For a few moments the doctor was silent. Then he spoke. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Ruby and Pyrrha nodded, as did the others in the room.

"Well..." the doctor sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Mr. Arc's injuries were some of the worst I've ever seen, and I've worked ICU for twenty years. His rib cage was was a complete wreck. Not one of his ribs remained whole, and most of his internal organs were punctured by shards of bone from his own ribs, resulting in heavy organ trauma and internal bleeding. By the time we had begun surgery we were concerned that he would bleed out, but amazingly enough he did not. It should be noted that most of the damage to his organs was self inflicted. Had Mr. Arc not forced himself to keep moving his body would not have been so damaged. Honestly it's a miracle he lived, aura or not."

Ruby heard a pained whimper behind her, and turned to see that Weiss had her hands over her mouth and tears pouring down her face. "I-it's my fault," she sobbed.

Ruby reached an arm out to her partner, but pulled it back, not sure of what she should say or do. "Weiss..."

Neptune put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, his mouth opening and closing rapidly as he thought of something to say. "It's not your fault Weiss," he finally managed, "no one blames you!"

"I do," she sobbed into Neptune's chest.

Pyrrha, possibly the only person in the room who had any right to blame Weiss, went over to the heiress and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you do," she said softly, "but I know Jaune, and I know he doesn't blame you, and he wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

"Miss Nikos is right Miss Schnee."

They all turned to the door to see Professor Ozpin standing there, cane in hand. He stepped into the room as Weiss wiped her eyes. "H-headmaster. I apologize for-"

He silenced her with a pat on the head as he walked past her. "Don't apologize for your tears Miss Schnee. You're only human, and it's good to cry from time to time." He stood next to Jaune's bed, his eyes never leaving the sleeping boy's face. "As I said, Miss Nikos is right. I won't pretend that I know Mr. Arc as well as the rest of you, but I do know that were he awake he wouldn't want you to blame yourself, nor would he want any of you to stand around here moping. He would want you all to get some rest and relaxation, and goodness knows you could all use it after today."

"But we can't leave Jaune here alone," protested Nora.

"And what good would it do Jaune or any of you to remain here? As the doctor said, Jaune is not expected to wake up for a couple of days at least, and even when he does he will be confined to this bed for a number of weeks. All of you should go back to Beacon and try to get some rest. If it's any consolation classes have been canceled early and everyone who partook in the battle has been made exempt from their missions, meaning your break has started early by a good few weeks. I promise that you'll all be informed when Mr. Arc awakens, including you and your team Mr. Winchester." Ozpin glanced at the all male team. "While I am glad to you're concerned about Mr. Arc's well being, I will admit that it is odd considering that he and your team were at odds for some time. Is there a particular reason for this sudden change of heart?"

Ruby and the others turned to team CRDL expectantly. The boys looked everywhere except at their fellow students and the headmaster. Eventually Cardin spoke up, "with all due respect headmaster, we'd rather wait until Jaune wakes up and we talk to him before saying anything."

Ozpin shrugged, "as you wish. Now as I've said I want all of you to return to Beacon and get some rest."

"Yes headmaster," they said in unison.


Weiss along with her teammates and the other three members of JNPR were gathered in team RWBY's dorm and watching the news on their hologram projector. Neptune and Sun had gotten word that their two teammates had arrived in the city and had gone to get them and help them settle into their teams dorm, while team CRDL had gone off to their own dorm, choosing to spend as little time as possible with teams RWBY and RWBY. Predictably all the news was playing was footage of what was being called the battle of the Breach. Most of the footage had been captured either by security cameras or news drones, and the sound had been cut out, presumably because no one would have been able to hear anything except the sounds of gun fire, blades cutting through skin, and the howls of Grimm. It wasn't like there was anything the general public needed to hear anyway.

She watched as the Jaune in the video knelt over her body as he applied CPR. She couldn't hear it, but she could tell from the way his lips were moving that he was sobbing her name over and over as he worked to revive her.

No, nothing at all that the general public needed to hear.

She sent guilty glances at Pyrrha and Ruby as the Jaune in the video pressed his lips against her and pushed air into the system of the Weiss in the video. While CPR was by no stretch of the imagination a real kiss, and she was grateful to be alive, she couldn't deny that it made it a bit awkward for her when she was sitting between two girls who she knew had a crush on the one who had applied the CPR. She felt even more guilty when he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly after she was revived, rocking her back and forth in his arms as she watched his lips on the video utter those words.

"I-I thought you were dead. I couldn't- I can't lose you."

She knew she didn't have any real reason to feel guilty for hugging him back, after all he had just saved her life, but she did still feel a bit guilty.

They all watched as Jaune handed her off to team CRDL and turned to face the Dark Champion alone, his armor gleaming with inner light as his halberd burned with white fire. The two opponents charged towards each other, clashing in the middle of the square even as the Grimm that had been pouring out of the breach slowly began to turn around and flee back into it. Weiss hadn't seen it happen during the breach as her focus had been on Jaune, but watching the black furred monsters retreat back into their caves was nothing short of amazing. Grimm never ran from a fight, but here they were, doing just that.

All because of Jaune. She supposed that the light and fire emanating from him had to be his semblance, but what kind of semblance was strong enough to make the Grimm run in fear?

They watched as he pinned the Dark Champion by driving his halberd through its leg and walked up the length of its body, grabbing its head by the horn as he roared at it. Again there was no audio, and his back was to the camera, but that didn't stop the words from echoing in her head.

His angel...

She watched as he burned the Dark Champion alive, his white fire spreading slowly across its body. She remembered the sight of Jaune standing over the monster, his fist buried in its eye socket as he scorched the beast, its howls of agony driving the remaining Grimm to flee in a panic. His lips had been pulled back in a furious snarl, blood stained teeth gleaming crimson in the glow of the fire as his eyes literally glowed blue with power and fury. Finally the beast died, Jaune pulled his halberd out of its leg as the glow and fire faded, and he smiled at them all just before collapsing. Weiss hit the power button on the remote on and turned off the projector as the medics rushed to his still form. They all knew what happened next anyway. Both of their teams sobbing over him as he and Weiss were loaded onto a bullhead and flown to the hospital even as Nathaniel and Talon were put on a second one and taken to the same hospital and a veterinary clinic respectively.

The room was silent for a few moments, then Ren spoke up. "I believe we should all get some sleep. We've had a long day. Jaune would want us to rest."

Weiss and the others nodded in agreement and the three members of JNPR said goodnight to the girls of RWBY before exiting the dorm room. From there the girls of RWBY silently got ready for bed, taking their showers and changing into their sleep wear. When the four of them were in bed and the lights were turned off Weiss rolled over and stared at the Angel's Rose as it glowed softly on the vanity. She reached a hand out and gently stroked the petals, imagining what might have been different had it been Jaune who had given her the rose.

As her eyes drifted closed she imagined him lying alone in his hospital bed, his body hooked up to various machines as his chest rose and fell evenly, uncaring men and women in white coats coming into his room every now and then to check up on him before leaving him all alone again.

"All your fault," whispered a part of her mind.


Weiss stood outside the door to Jaune's room, trying to work up the courage to open the door and walk in. The others were back at Beacon, doing various and sundry activities to distract them and eat up the time until they got the message that Jaune was awake. She had told them that she was going 'out' and hadn't specified her destination, but she suspected they knew anyway.

The doctors had informed her that he was still unconscious, but honestly that worked in her favor. What was Weiss was about to do was not something that was easy for her, and having to talk to a conscious Jaune would have made it all the harder.

Weiss liked to think that since coming to Beacon she had gotten better at detecting her own flaws. She had come to realize that one of her greatest flaws was a severe reluctance to openly admit that she had been wrong about something, or in this case someone. Admitting it to herself was one thing, but admitting it to the person she had been wrong about was another entirely. She remembered how she had treated Ruby at the beginning of the year, thinking she was simply a foolish child who had gotten into the school on the merits of her combat abilities alone. While Ruby was a child, and behaved foolishly on a number of occasions, that didn't mean she was a stupid or incompetent leader. It had taken a lot of will power on the heiress's part to swallow her pride and accept that her original impression of Ruby had been wrong, and her current situation reminded her very much of that time.

"You can do this," she muttered, "he's asleep, so it's not like he's going to actually hear anything you say." Before she could second guess herself Weiss opened the door and stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her.

Jaune was still completely asleep on the bed, just as the doctor had said he was. They had removed the oxygen mask from his face and a couple of the machines were no longer present, but most of the machines remained. The color had returned to his face, so he no longer looked like a corpse. Were it not for all of the machines he was hooked up to Weiss could have almost thought that he was sleeping peacefully. But he wasn't, and she couldn't think that. Despite what the others said Weiss knew it was her fault that he was like this. She should have moved faster when she realized the Dark Champion was coming for her. She should have fought harder, she should have done something besides what she had done. It hurt her to see Jaune like this. He should have been back at Beacon with the others, smiling and cracking jokes, teasing Ruby about her height with Yang, getting into pancakes fights with Nora, being completely oblivious of Pyrrha and Ruby's feelings for him...

"Flirting with you," whispered that part of her mind that was becoming very annoying, but... perhaps it was right. She'd rather have him flirting with her every second of the day than laid up in a hospital bed, attached to emotionless machines and surrounded by uncaring white walls.

She sat down in the chair next to his bed. "Hey Jaune," she said uncertainly. "I'm uh... I'm glad to see you're looking better than you were yesterday. The doctors said that they're hoping you'll wake up in a couple of days, so that's good. I miss you- I mean we, we miss you, you know. We're all waiting for you to wake up so things can go back to the way they were before." Could they? Could things ever go back to how they were before? She didn't know.

"I... I know you can't actually hear me right now," she said as she placed a hand on his bed, "but I need to say this to you, and I just don't think I could say it if you were awake." She took a deep breath in, and let it out. "I... was wrong about you. I thought you were just another one of the countless suitors I've had to deal with for so long, that you were just after my family's name and wealth, just like they all were." She gulped and forced herself to continue. No turning back now. "Ever since I turned thirteen my father had been setting me up with the sons of wealthy and powerful families in the hopes that I would fall for one of them so he could arrange a marriage for us when I turned old enough to marry. I couldn't stand any of them. Stuck up, full of themselves, and more interested in having the wealth of my family than having me. They only saw me as a stepping stone to that wealth, to that power." As she spoke her hand slowly traveled down the bed towards his own hand. "That's not even including the ones I had to deal with at formal functions when my father brought me to show me off to any bachelors present. It wasn't just young men my age either. While many were my age more than a few were the age of my father, or old enough to make my father look young in comparison, and his prime is far behind him. I dealt with all of this unwanted attention, bearing it in silence as I thought the heiress to the Schnee dynasty should. As I drew closer and closer to my eighteenth birthday I still hadn't found someone I cared about, and I was afraid that my father would pick what he thought of as the most suitable candidate for me and arrange a wedding for me, regardless of what I thought about whoever he picked. Then I was given an out. Ever since I was young I had been trained to fight as a huntress for my own safety. Headmaster Ozpin approached me at a formal event and extended an offer to me: an offer to attend Beacon Academy. It was a chance to get away from my family, from my father, and most importantly from all of my suitors. I gladly accepted the offer." Her free hand reached up and touched the scar running over her left eye. "My father was not pleased, and set up a test that was designed for me to fail so he could force me to remain in Atlas. Despite this I passed his test, and he allowed me to attend Beacon. I hoped that while I was here I would not only get away from my family and all of the so called 'courtly' intrigue that surrounded it, but that I would also find someone there I would fall for, someone who would really care about me."

Her hand found his and rested on top of it. "You weren't the first person who tried to flirt with me here. I had more than one boy approach me on the airship ride to Beacon, and they all found themselves turned away, just like you were at initiation. However you were the most persistent of my suitors. Unlike the others you simply refused to accept defeat, constantly flirting with me and pestering me at any given chance. I still remember that time you tried to serenade me out on the common grounds with that stupid guitar of yours you know. You should really learn how to play before trying that again." She glanced at the door, as though expecting the others to come barging in at any second. If any of them saw this... oh god, if Neptune saw this...

She sighed and took Jaune's larger hand in hers, properly holding it. The skin was rough,calloused, and warm, while hers was smooth, manicured, and cool. She thought it was a good comparison of their personalities. He was simple, straightforward, and seemed to almost exude a warm influence wherever he went, while in contrast she was elegant, graceful, and clear minded.

"I was so used to suitors trying to take advantage of me that I immediately waved off your own attempts as just that: attempts to take advantage of me. Albeit they were the most clumsy attempts I had ever had to deal with." She rubbed her thumb against his palm. "At least, they were at first. After you started training under Nathaniel you, dare I say it, might have begun to become a bit... charming. Every day more of the Arc dunce disappeared was replaced with this new and confusing Jaune who said all of the right things to make me blush, but if anything that was your downfall. So many of my past suitors had been the 'charming' type, and this change in personality cemented you in my mind as just another pursuer of my family name."

She let out a shuddering breath. "Then came your battle against Neptune, and the dance. After you defeated Neptune I was certain you would claim your 'prize' of a kiss, but you didn't. Looking back on that moment I now understand why you did that, but at the time I just thought it was more proof that you didn't really care about me. Seeing that Cinder woman with her hands all over you after combat class while you just stood there and let her do whatever she wanted didn't help your case any, by the way."

"Then, there was the night I asked Neptune to the dance... Pyrrha told me about how you gave the rose to Neptune, and that you were the one who called my teammates to come get me. Neptune told me about how you... convinced him to ask me to the dance, and about how you gave him dance lessons. I think he's a bit scared of you now honestly, though maybe that's not such a bad thing. It's nice to know that I have someone keeping him in check for me so I don't have to."

And now they had come to the part she was dreading the most. The Breach.

"I..." her grip on his hand tightened. She saw him forcing his broken body towards her even as the Dark Champion held her out to him, mocking him. Even as he was coughing up blood, even as every movement damaged his body even more and gave him unimaginable pain, he continued forward.

All for her.

"The breach, when that... thing grabbed me, when you... when you... saved me, that was when I realized." She reached up with her free hand and brushed the tears out of her eyes. "That was when I realized I was wrong about you. That was when I realized that all the times you tried to flirt with me, all the times you pestered and bothered me, were real affection. That was when I realized that I had been so busy comparing you to my past suitors that I hadn't bothered to even entertain the possibility that you might actually care for me."

She gulped, thinking about what she was about to do. "I-I don't know how I feel about you Jaune. I know I now consider you someone I can trust with my life and a friend, and I swear that when you wake up I am going to be the best possible friend that I can be for you. However I don't know if my feelings for you go... beyond just friendship. I do know that I like Neptune, and that he likes me, and I don't want to jeopardize that on the possibility that I might have romantic feelings for you." She stood up, her hand still intertwined in his, and stared at his peaceful face. "But I do know one thing for certain." She leaned down until her face was just a couple inches from Jaune's and whispered, "I, Weiss Schnee, owe you one kiss. Both for defeating Neptune Vasilias in combat and winning the bet, and for saving my life." She cupped his cheek in her hand, "and Weiss Schnee always makes good on her debts."

She closed the last few inches between them, and the heiress's lips pressed against the squire's.

It was not much, just a chaste meeting of the lips, but had anyone been there to witness it they would have been unable to deny that it was a kiss. His lips were like fire against her cool ones, but the burn was good. After what she thought was about five seconds she broke off the kiss and stood straight, trying to regain her composure. Her heart pounded in her chest like a piston, her whole body shaking, her mind cloudy and incapable of fully comprehending what she had just done. She looked at Jaune, trying to ignore his lips (and the little voice in the back of her mind telling her to go for round two) and saw that he hadn't moved an inch, blissfully unaware of what had just transpired.

As her heartbeat finally slowed to more normal levels and the color left her face she gave Jaune's hand one final squeeze before releasing. "Goodbye Jaune," she said quietly, "wake up soon. For all of us."

She walked to the door and opened it. She glanced back at his peacefully sleeping form one last time before she stepped into the hallway, and softly closed the door behind her.


When he heard the door click shut Jaune's eyes flew open. "What the hell just happened?" he whispered.

Approximately five minutes before Weiss had entered his room Jaune had woken up with pain the likes of which he never though possible running all through his body, especially his torso. A quick look under the blanket and his oh so manly flower print hospital gown had shown him the patchwork of stitches that his torso had become. Apparently they'd had to operate on him. Processing this information Jaune had almost panicked, worried about his friends before he remembered everything that had happened at the Breach. Soothed by the knowledge that they were okay Jaune had relaxed and used his alone time to do one thing: think.

His battle against the Dark Champion, while ultimately successful, had taught him something.

He could never have a relationship with anyone so long as Salem lived.

The Dark Champion had been able to read into his thoughts and emotions, quickly finding out who to target first to hurt Jaune the most. It had gone after Weiss, his Snow Angel. It had almost killed her.

That could never be allowed to happen again. Not to Weiss. Not to anyone. He would not let them die because of him.

The sound of the door opening had shocked him out of his thoughts and he had done the only thing he could think to do: he had pretended to still be asleep. He had been hoping that whoever it was would see that he was still supposedly unconscious and leave him be, allowing him time he desperately needed to think. He had not been expecting to hear Weiss's voice.

Still silently pretending to sleep Jaune had listened to Weiss talk, not daring to even breathe too hard lest he alert her to the fact that he could hear her. When she'd talked about how her father had put her out there as some sort of trophy to be won or something to be sold to the highest bidder and about how so many men had seen her as just the Schnee heiress he'd had to wrestle down the urge to leap out of bed, assuming his injuries even allowed him to do that, and tell her that those men were trash, not worthy of her. Weiss was not just an heiress, she was not just a stepping stone to wealth and power. She was a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent girl who deserved someone who would treat her as such, not like some prize to be won and boasted about to your friends. Though it did explain why she had been so hostile towards all of his advances. If only he had known what she'd had to put up with, he would have changed tactics, tried to befriend her first, to show her that he did care about the real Weiss, not the heiress of some company.

Especially since she had opened his eyes on how just how annoying he had been on more than one occasion. He hadn't meant to make her feel so uncomfortable, but looking back... he had probably crossed a line here and there. Especially with the guitar...

What was worrying however was that she blamed herself for his injuries. That was obvious to Jaune, but it could not be allowed to stay that way. Jaune would have done the same thing no matter who it had been that thing had grabbed, and he would have put himself through all the pain in the world to keep his friends safe. He would have to find a way to talk to her alone after he got out of the hospital, to make it clear that she wasn't at fault.

When he'd felt her lips on his he had been so utterly stunned that his body hadn't even thought to react, which as far as he was concerned was a gift from Vaya. Had he reacted at all things could have very well been a lot worse.

He sighed and touched his lips gently. His first kiss, and from the girl he had a massive crush on no less. He should have felt ecstatic, completely over the moon.

He didn't.

Had she told him just a couple of days ago that she might like him and kissed him on the lips, as a thank you or as something else, he would have been on a whole new plane of existence, but now? Now it only worried him. Weiss, or anyone for that matter, wouldn't be safe with him as anything more than a friend. He wouldn't put her in that kind of danger. He had to make sure that she stayed with Neptune, and stayed happy with him. Hopefully her possible feelings for him would go away in time.

As much as it hurt to think about it, he couldn't ever be with her, or anyone. At least not until Salem had been defeated.

The door opened, and a nurse stepped in. She stopped in surprise when she saw him awake. "You're... I'm sorry I didn't realize you were awake Mr. Arc. We thought it would be at least a couple more days before you woke up. I'll go inform the doctor."

She left before he could say anything, and less than a minute later was back with an older portly man in a white coat and glasses. "Mr. Arc!" he said happily. "So good to see you awake again. I'm sure your friends will be delighted to hear you're already up."

He smiled weakly, "actually, could you hold off for a few hours on telling them? I need some time to think."

The doctor nodded. "Of course, but now that you're awake we need to run some tests on you to be sure you're healing regularly. That you're awake is honestly rather shocking."

Jaune sighed and rested his head back on the pillow. "Go ahead," he said. He'd have time to work through the jumble of emotions that was his mind later.


Well that didn't take a month to type at all.

Ahem, well I hope y'all did enjoy this chapter. I'll be the first to admit that there are moments where I think this chapter does fall flat.

That being said, I hope I did the interactions between the different characters well here, especially Weiss's talk with 'sleeping' Jaune.

I tried to make it clear in this chapter that Weiss wasn't the 'bad guy' for not liking Jaune, and that she did have legitimate reasons for turning him down. I figured one of the best ways to do this was to give back story on Weiss's past and what kind of guys she had to deal with growing up as the heiress to the world's largest Dust company.

I would also like to make it clear here and now that no Weiss is not suddenly in love with Jaune. Her opinion of him has undergone a one eighty because of what he's done for her, and she's feeling conflicted about Jaune, which is natural considering the fact that he risked his life for her. She's not sure if her romantic feelings for Jaune are authentic or if they'll fade in time, and isn't willing to risk her relationship with Neptune, who she knows she likes, on a maybe. The kiss, for that matter, was not solely romantic either. Weiss knows Jaune has a crush on her, and figured it was a suitable thank you for everything he'd done for her. It definitely helped that Weiss thought Jaune was asleep, which resulted in Weiss being a bit more... brave, I suppose you could say, than she would have otherwise been.

However she definitely wants to be his friend now, romantic feelings or not.

On top of that, Jaune realizes just how dangerous it would be for her if he keeps pursuing her, or worse actually started a relationship with her, so he's definitely done trying to win her affection, or anyone else's for that matter. Ah poor boy. #foreveralone.

If you liked this chapter then please follow and favorite if you haven't already! If you have a friend who likes RWBY or RWBY fanfiction then please let them know about this story if you think they'd like it! If you have questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to tell me what you think of the story so far then feel free to leave a review or PM me! I love you all. BBBYYYYYEEEEEEEE!