Chapter 3: A Brief Glimpse...
Hey everyone! now before I begin, I just want to say that this chapter is going to be the last chapter to just focus on Jaune and Cinder.
The whole story will mostly focus on these two but there will be parts that will focus for now on Emerald, Pyrrha, Mercury, and Cinder's relationship with Pyrrha, Ruby, Nora, and Ren, and Jaune's Relationship with Emerald and Mercury, and how Emerald and Mercury interact with Cinder and Ruby.
Not to mention, we'll have some chapters that will delve into Cinder's past after she left. Some Chapters with Salem and what she has planned
But I'll also leave hints on what I have planned for Cinder, Jaune, and Salem in the endgame of the story...
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Jaune woke up and found himself in his bed back in Forevernight Castle. He looked around and he felt a swelling pain in his chest. He looked to see his entire chest and torso wrapped in bandages with faint stains of blood.
He looked around and saw that Cinder was missing.
"W-Where is she?" Jaune asked
Jaune slowly sat up and moved to the edge of his bed to get to his feet. But as soon as he put pressure on his legs, he felt both of his knees sting with immense pain. He sat back down sighed heavily, as he looked to the floor.
"What the hell happened the other day?" Jaune asked in confusion
He felt as if he had just missed a whole day. What had happened Cinder? What happened to him? did they kill the traitor? Did they complete their mission? It was all a blur and it made him angry and a bit worried for Cinder. Why wasn't she here with him?
"Ah, Young prince! you've awakened!"
Jaune turned to see none other than Tyrian Callows. A scorpion Faunus that was his mother's best assassin, and he even trained Jaune in fighting, though, Jaune never really like him to begin with, his obsession with his mother was uncomfortable and his love and thrill for fighting never really appealed to Jaune despite how many times he tried to instill the thrill for fighting to him.
"What is it Tyrian?" Jaune asked with a sneer
"Your mother was concerned, so she had me check on you," He said with a smile
Jaune then looked at him, "Tell her I am fine, I would answer her myself but I'm still healing it seems" Jaune said
"Of course my prince" Tyrian said
"Now, what of Cinder? Where is my sister?" Jaune asked
Tyrian looked a little sad when Jaune asked his question, "My prince, do you not remember?" Tyrian asked
"I-I don't... my mind has been fuzzy since I awoke," Jaune said "Wh-What has happened to her? to Cinder?"
Tyrian looked down with sadness, genuine sadness, "During your mission, after you had killed the traitor... it seems that your sister betrayed you and would not return to the Castle... and thus a fight between you and her ensued" Tyrian said
Jaune looked at the Scorpion Faunus with a glare, "YOU LIE!" Jaune cried
"No, I tell the truth young prince," Tyrian said "Please, you must remember what she had done to you," Tyrian said
Jaune wanted to yell, but slowly, Memories began to form, he began to remember what had happened to him. He remembered that Cinder refused to come back to the castle with him, she had tried to convince him to leave with her, but he wouldn't let her... so they fought. They slashed and hacked at the other, and that's when he remembered Cinder slashing him across the chest, he remembered cutting her deeply in her side, he also remembered Cinder shooting him in the legs with two glass arrows... before putting on in his chest.
"No... No, it's not true!" Jaune cried out, his tone and voice becoming broken
"I'm sorry my prince... but it is," Tyrian said "Your sister has betrayed you"
Something began to rise up in Jaune, his aura began to flare and he began to glow. Overwhelming power began to surge through his and the room began to shake
Tyrian became shocked as the room shook, "what is happening!?" Tyrian cried
And then a blinding white light burst out from his body and the entire castle shook...
It was Combat Class and Jaune and his team watched from the shadows as he watched his sister fought and won against that Schnee girl. As she fought, Jaune noticed that she was holding back. She wasn't even using any of the skills she had learned from their life. No doubt she wanted to hide how she really fought because of her past, but also to keep her appearance up.
Cinder was beyond any of these students. They were trained to kill Huntsmen, Cinder was the best at it, She could easily kill these fools or beat them with ease. But it seemed her "Morals", as well as her "Humanity", were holding her back.
But he was sure Goodwitch knew of this and he was sure Ozpin did as well. She was here for a reason Ozpin had let her in for his own reason as well.
Salem had always looked at this little feud between her and Ozpin as a game of everlasting chess. Right now, it wasn't his mom playing against Ozpin, it was him playing against Ozpin. And the board wasn't even close to being started. None of the players made a move. But that would change in a few nights. Then he'd just wait for Ozpin's move. He just needed everything to go according to his plan.
'What will your move be Ozpin?' Jaune asked himself
"That was an amazing fight, Ms. Fall and Ms. Schnee, please leave the stage," Goodwitch said "Now, as they are waiting, we'll see who is up next," Goodwitch said
Jaune was taken out of his thoughts as he and everyone looked to the screen to see who would fight next as the two changed back into uniforms The screen began rolling through pictures. The first pictured to stop was Yang then slowly the second picture began to slow until it finally landed on a certain picture. Jaune's picture.
"Will Mr. Arc from Haven and Ms. Xiao-Long from Beacon make their way to the arena" Goodwitch announced.
Jaune smiled, while he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, this would put enough attention on him to get the notice of not just his sister but also possibly Ozpin. He wanted at least their eyes on him, it was part of his plan, and he also need to get the blood pumping.
Jaune went to change into his fighting clothes as that Yang girl. Thankfully, he had watched her fight before, which helped him formulate a plan as he got dressed 'Her gauntlets fire like a shotgun, they fire mostly fire dust rounds which can cause a good amount of damage to my aura if they hit me' Jaune thought to himself 'her punches are also another thing to worry about, her physical strength is on the same level as Nikos, plus backed up by her gauntlets, it may cause more damage... then there's her semblance, any damage dealt too her she can throw it back much stronger, and when activated a burst of flames appears which can cause damage to me slightly but using that she can get the jump on me... so how do I take her out quickly?' Jaune thought
As he finished changing, he went to grab his sword and as he did, the plan came together, a plan that would work quite well. As he stepped out of the stage he saw that the Xiao-Long already there waiting for him, she wore a smug grin and Jaune did so as well, He could tell that despite her look, she must have already had a plan in place, but he would out plan her plan.
"Are the fighters ready?" Goodwitch asked
"Yes," Jaune said
"Hell yeah!" Yang said
"Begin!"
Yang shot off quick, ready to hit him in a quick second. Jaune didn't move, nor did he even pull out his sword, instead, he let her punch, but he was unfazed as his aura began to flare a bright white and it stopped Yang's punch just a few inches from his face. Yang's smug expression turned into shock, then all of a sudden, Yang's fist, which caused her hand to glow slightly white before she was blown back.
Yang picked herself off the floor and looked over to Jaune with a confused look, but she also began to think about what had just happened. 'That some crazy defense, it has to be his semblance, a strong defense type as well' Yang thought, 'It seems like if I hit it, it blows back people, which is a problem for me... I'm a close-range fighter, and with each punch, it blows me back as it's defense, but I could use this to my advantage, the more damage I take, the more I can put it into my semblance' Yang told herself as she smiled
Jaune smiled as he knew Yang was, many people thought it was a defense-type semblance when he used it, but in truth, it was much more than just defense. Jaune's semblance allowed him to not just boost his own aura but others as well, but he had also learned that when he forced is aura and Semblance into people's own Aura and body it could hurt them.
It was like your body fighting off sickness. So, when Yang had punched him, he activated his semblance and forced some of it into Yang's fist. Her Aura saw it as a "foreign invader" and tried to stop it, but because it was too stronger, his and her own aura battled for dominance causing what Jaune liked to call an "Aura Clash", when he forced his Aura into a person and that Person's own aura tried to fight it off, but since his aura could overwhelm another's, the two Aura's would cause a blowback of Aura that damaged any person he forced his aura into.
His Aura control was insane, even Tyrian was surprised how much he had mastered Aura control and his own semblance after only getting it a few weeks.
"How about we make this even?" Jaune asked Yang with a smile
Yang was confused at his statement, but then she saw him sheath his sword and throw it to the side and he took a fighting stance.
Yang looked at the stance Jaune did, there was nothing wrong with it, his arms were in a good position and if she hit him he'd be able to block and tank the punch without being thrown off. 'So he might also know a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat... this might not be good as I thought it would be, now he can be in close combat, which means I either block, dodge or fight back' Yang told herself 'I can dodge, but if I block he'll lower my aura slowly, and if I fight back, he'll activate is semblance... still, if I play my cards right I'll give myself enough damage to the point where I can give him a knock out' Yang said
Yang shot forward and tried to go for a punch with her left fist, but Jaune side-stepped to his left and then he punched her in the right side of the face. She moved a few inches before she tried to go for an uppercut, Jaune saw this and quickly reacted to it, he jumped up and move his hands to block the uppercut, and when her fist met both of his hands, he used the momentum of her punch to flip over her and he quickly kicked her in the back of the legs before she could react, when she fell to her knees he had put some aura in his foot and kicked her in her back sending her tumbling forward.
Yang rolled a few feet but she regained herself, only to see Jaune right in front of her ready to go in for a punch, Yang dodged the attack and then went for a punch to Jaune's side, but instead, the punch only met his semblance and her fist once again glowed white, and she was blown back yet again. She was sent back but she held on, her fist shook slightly at the pain she was no doubt feeling but she kept a calm demeanor.
Jaune had already known that there were two logical outcomes when he thought of Yang's plan, 'She's dodging and attacking, which means she knew that Blocking wasn't the best plan, but still, she's either allowing herself to get damaged by some of my punches as well as my "Defence" because I can tell she is holding back and trying to make me keeping hitting her in order get enough damage that when she activates her semblance she can one-shot me, or she is fighting because she wants to see my limit, trying to see how long I can keep my "Defense" Up before she lands a blow' Jaune told himself 'Either way... no matter what, it works in my favor' Jaune thought with a smile.
Yang then charged at him, she had seeming caught him off guard and when she went in for a punch, she hit him in the face, no blowback this time, and Jaune went flying back. Yang quickly used this opportunity of a clear shot and went to attack. Jaune regained himself and saw Yang come flying at him, She reeled her fist back and put most of her Aura into her fist, and she was close enough, she had seen Jaune smile at her and that's when Yang knew she had fucked up.
As soon as her punch landed, it didn't hit him, but she had hit his aura, which caused a massive blowback and sent Yang flying backward crashing right into the arena wall. She slid down and looked at Jaune with anger
'Damn it! he made me think his Semblance was down but it wasn't! not to mention that blowback was bigger than before! which means his defense semblance is a bit like mine, but it just blows back attacks on the same limit, not like how I can give it back 10 fold!' Yang thought, 'but that doesn't matter...'
Yang then looked over at the screen and saw that her aura was 50% while Jaune's was 35%.
'So using his Semblance for so long does take damage on his Aura, good to know for later, but for now, it also means he doesn't have enough Aura to use his Semblance to stop this...' Yang told herself
Yang stood up and her eyes flashed red before a burst of flames and the ends of her hair lit up in flames. RWB looked at Jaune with pity as they had known it was now over. Jaune however smiled at her.
'Just as I thought, She allowed herself to be hit by me and take damage from my semblance to a get to a certain point of damage where she could activate her Semblance and try to one-shot me,' Jaune told himself 'Just as I planned' Jaune said with a smile
Yang didn't care why he was smiling at the moment, she was too angry to think or care. She just reeled her fist back and with a glare in her eyes, she shot forward with such speed that she was half close to Ruby's level of speed. Still, Jaune saw her coming and he kept smiling because when she was close, Jaune ducked before she even threw her punch, and then threw it and she missed, Jaune grabbed used this and shot back up in the side of her and grabbed her by the head and began pouring his Aura into her.
Her Aura began to rise and power overflowed in Yang, she was trying to fight it, but the power beat her aura, and her semblance began to feel odd, the flames on her hair became hotter and she could feel the heat radiating off it, her whole body began to become overwhelmed with power.
'What the hell is this!? I can feel so much power but it's like my body can't handle it!' Yang cried in her head
'By forcing my Aura into her, and giving her so much of a boost without her aura allowing it, her body can't handle it and with all that energy being bottled up in a body that can't handle it, the energy will then...' Jaune Began with a wicked smile
Yang's entire body began to glow and her flames began to glow brighter and brighter, before eventually, a large amount of energy burst out of Yang, causing an explosion to envelop the arena and shake the stands.
After the smoke cleared, they saw Yang knocked out and on the ground, smoke left her mouth and her eyes were rolled to the back of her head. Jaune just stood next to the body and he acted as if he was out of breath.
"I think the fight is over, Professor" Jaune said as he gave a fake tired smile at the combat teacher.
"Mr. Arc wins," Goodwitch said with a bit of a glare, "will the rest of team RWBY help Ms. Xiao-Long to the infirmary? And also, since it's almost time, Class is dismissed"
With that, the fight was over. Team RWBY picked up Yang and they went on their way to the Infirmary. Jaune went back to the men's locker room to change, but before he went in, he had looked up only to see Cinder herself staring at him with a shocked expression, Jaune just smirked at her before entering the room to change back into the Haven uniform.
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Jaune.
That was Jaune.
Her brother.
The Brother she had thought she had killed. The brother she had left dead in the snow was right in front of her fighting Yang. She couldn't believe it. it was impossible! There's no way he was really here! this must have been her mind playing tricks, or some sick joke from some student with an illusion semblance! There was no way her brother was here! He was dead! She had shot him right in the heart! She saw him die! How... How was he here!? It made no sense at all!
"Cinder? Are you ok?" Nora asked
Cinder was taken out of her shock by Nora's voice, and she recomposed herself quickly and looked over to her orange-haired teammate. "I'm fine Nora," Cinder said "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you just seemed shocked about how hard Yang actually has it, I haven't known anyone to be able to keep up with Yang, she's the 3rd strongest person here," Nora said
That was true. Yang was the 3rd strongest, while Cinder herself kept second place, and Pyrrha had taken the top spot, but only because Cinder didn't fight her seriously. Seeing Yang getting toyed with because Cinder knew that was what her brother was doing, wasn't too shocking to her. Sure yang was strong but Cinder knew that Yang stood no chance against her Brother. In fact, Cinder could tell he had gotten a lot stronger, maybe even stronger than her. But that brought a sudden worried thought to her.
'Why is he here?' Cinder asked herself 'Mother must have sent him, but he can't take Ambers powers and the only thing he could take of value is the Relic' Cinder finished
She watched as her brother fought Yang. Jaune had really grown and while his semblance shielded him from attacks, she had a feeling that wasn't the only thing it did. it seemed to be a defensive semblance, but it wasn't. The blowback from Yang's punches had told her as such, a defensive semblance didn't cause harm to any outside force, no they focused on the protection of the user, which meant it was a different kind of Semblance.
The fight in the arena continued, CInder saw as Yang charged at Jaune, Cinder had noticed that Yang had seemingly caught him off guard and went in for a punch, which had Cinder was expecting to see another glimpse at his Semblance, but when Yang went in for the punch, her hit connected with his face with no blowback this time. Cinder could already tell that Jaune had let it happen, it was a move he had used on her many times.
'The basis of the trick was that one would allow themselves to be attacked, giving your opponent the thought of victory or an advantage and just when they attacked again...' Cinder began
She saw Yang quickly try and use this opportunity of a clear sho to attack Jaune. She did so as Jaune regained himself, and Cinder saw Yang reel her fist back and put most of her Aura into her fist, and she was close enough, she had seen Jaune smile at her and that's when Yang knew she had fucked up.
'...One would regain themselves quickly, shocking the enemy and using their split few seconds of shock to kill or destroy your enemy' Cinder finished
And just like Cinder had predicted, as soon Yang's punch landed, it didn't hit him, but she had hit his aura, which caused a massive blowback and sent Yang flying backward and crashing right into the arena wall and falling to the ground.
'But there's more to his plan... he no doubt had seen Yang's previous fights, so he had to take into account her Semblance' Cinder told herself.
Just as she finished that thought, Yang had stood up and Everyone could see her eyes flashed red before a burst of flames and the ends of her hair lit up in flames. Cinder watched intently, as did the rest of her team and she looked over to the rest of team Ruby and they all gave off the look that said the fight was over, and they were right... but yang wouldn't be the victor. And Cinder looked back to her brother and saw that Jaune had smiled at Yang.
'Just as I thought, He as one more trick up his sleeve...' Cinder told herself
However, Cinder didn't know if Yang had seen his smile, but if she did, she acted like she didn't care. Cinder had known that Yang must have been too angry to think, she always allowed anger to control her... which is why she was going to lose.
Cinder saw Yang shoot forward with such speed and she was in close range to Jaune, and she was close, Jaune ducked before she even threw her punch, and when Yang threw the punch, it missed, and Jaune used this opportunity to grab Yang's head and his hands glowed as his hands grabbed the sides of her head. Cinder then looked to the Aura meter on-screen and saw that Yang's Aura began to rise and rapidly, Cinder then looked back and saw that the flames on Yang's hair became hotter and her hair glowed brighter.
Cinder looked at the scene and began to look more in-depth at Jaune's semblance, 'Why is it rising? can he amplify another's Aura? If he can then he's forcing her aura to grow beyond what it is used to and what her body can handle, which means...!'
Just as she finished her thought, Yang's entire body began to glow and her flames began to glow brighter and brighter. Cinder knew what was about to happen and she looked to the rest of her team
"Duck!" Cinder cried out to them
They followed her orders and just as they crouched down, a large amount of energy burst out of Yang, causing an explosion to envelop the arena and it had shaken the stands. The explosion was massive that the smoke rose up into the stands and they could hear many people cough. After the smoke began to clear, CInder looked back down in the arena only to see that Yang was completely knocked out and on the ground, not only that, but smoke left her mouth and her eyes were rolled to the back of her head and next to her standing up, playing weak, Jaune looked up to Professor Goodwitch.
"I think the fight is over, Professor" Jaune told the professor, Cinder noticed that he had given the combat instructor a fake tired smile.
"Mr. Arc wins" Goodwitch Announced, thought Cinder also saw that she had glared at her brother. Goodwitch then turned to the stands and looked at the three remaining members of Team RWBY, "will the rest of team RWBY help Ms. Xiao-Long to the infirmary? And also, since it's almost time, Class is dismissed"
With that, the fight was over. Cinder watched as Ruby, Weiss, and Blake, jumped down from the stands and picked up Yang and they went on their way to the Infirmary. Cinder then quickly looked to where Jaune was going and saw him going back into the men's locker room to change back into his Haven Uniform, but before he went in, he had looked up only to see Her staring at him. Cinder looked a little shocked and then Jaune just smirked at her before entering the room.
Cinder was stunned, she was utterly shocked, her brother was here, and he had known she was here as well... this didn't bode well, but there was another part of her that felt relieved, felt a huge amount of pressure being lifted off her chest.
She was glad he was alive. She was happy to see him. Still... there was something she needed to see. She needed to know why he was here, what was he after... and maybe, just maybe, she had hoped that this time she could save him.
"Get to class you three... I need to go and see someone" Cinder said with an authoritative tone
"Cinder? Where are you-?" Pyrrha asked
"Go. Now. Understood?" Cinder ordered
They all began sweating bullets, Cinder had only talked like that when she was angry and they didn't want to see Cinder Angry right now. So Nora pulled Ren and herself out of there while Pyrrha stayed and looked at her team leader as she now also began to walk away but in a different direction, Pyrrha had no idea why Cinder was mad but she had a feeling it had to do with that Blonde boy, but Pyrrha just sighed sadly and she began to walk away.
Cinder knew she had to apologize to her team, but that wasn't important right now. Right now, all that mattered to the girl was catching up to her brother.
She chased after Jaune through the crowded hallways of Beacon and shoved and pushed students aside as she chased after her brother. He was a good distance ahead of her but she had chased after him as best as she could. He didn't turn around, she just chased after him, but she began to lose her footing and stumbled a bit, she looked ahead of her and saw her brother was now getting farther
"JAUNE!" Cinder yelled out "JAUNE!"
She didn't watch her step and she stumbled again and landed against a wall, she regained her footing but when she looked back down the hallway only to see Jaune had finally turned back to look at her. He smiled softly at her, but then he did the most childish thing ever. Something they would do as children.
He stuck her tongue out at her while pulling his bottom eyelid down, and just as a group of students blocked the sight, he disappeared along with them. Cinder was just a little stunned, but she recomposed herself and she began to walk back to class. As she did, she vowed to confront Jaune soon and she would ask some questions that needed answers.
But this meeting was far from over...
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If you wondering why Jaune's Semblance hurt Yang despite it never being shown to do so in Canon, well, since this Jaune is different, his Semblance is just a bit different. As Jaune described it, he is forcing his Aura into others which is like a sickness forcing itself into a body, because it is not the same Aura the body is used to, while this Jaune can still Amplify Aura like Canon Jaune, he can also hurt them because he is forcing his Aura/Soul into another body technically that is not used to his Aura.
The reason this version of Jaune's semblance is different is that those that trust Jaune, willingly allows themselves to be amplified, which allows them to be amplified and allow the body to handle the pressure of power, however, when this Jaune forces his Aura into someone against their will, he can still boost them but it hurts them in the process, like with Yang, the only reason she was hurt is that she never willingly allowed Jaune to boost her (Because remember, she thought his semblance was a defense type).
Besides, since Jaune was trained by Tyrian, (who I do believe is a master of Aura control for many reasons) he has picked up a trick or two (besides, its not uncommon for other RWBY Fanfic Authors to make up some weird Aura power or something for characters).
In this story, we've barely tapped into Jaune's Aura control and Manipulation powers which are even more powerful due to his own semblance.
Also yes, I have organized every semblance in the show because I needed to make an excuse for Jaune to hid his real Semblance. The Wiki has listed them as Offensive, Utilitarian, and non-combative. But it also says that Semblances can also be categorized by their effects, which means that while there are sub-categories...