Dancing is a hello...

Chapter 1: The First Dance

The taste of blood was something he hadn't wanted to get used to.

Metallic and bitter.

But it was something he knew he had grown accustomed to. Something he would taste for a long time.

As long as he didn't die there.

The haze in his eyes and the ringing of his ears began to clear up. His deep breaths began to shallow. Clarity was returning to him.

His shirtless chest still heaved, but it slowed with every intake. The blood leaking from gashes and cuts along his torso seemed to slowly start to close.

'I can't die here. Too many promises to keep…and an Arc always keeps their promises.'

He moved a strand of blonde hair, dyed almost red as it was caked with blood, from his face. He gripped the two star shaped chakram in either of his hands before bouncing on his feet and feeling a rhythm.

The dark creatures around him, shadows of beast and man alike began to buzz. The victory they assumed seemed to be slipping away.

Hundreds of the shadowy figures began to let out a piercing screech, but it would not reach him.

"I'm not dead yet...so bring it on you mother fuckers!"

With his words, the bloodied and battered blonde tossed himself into the hoard of darkness, prepared to destroy each and every one of them.

All for their sake...

Undetermined time ago…

Jaune Arc felt conflicted.

On one hand, he had received praise and admiration from his own team of Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, as well as their sister team of RWBY to varying degrees.

On the other hand, deep down, he knew he didn't deserve it.

It had already been about a week since the incident in the Forever Falls Forest, in which Jaune had taken on an Ursa Major all for the sake of saving his previous tormentor and bully of Cardin Winchester.

That day had been a turning point for many people in not only themselves, but how they viewed Jaune. And that included the blonde himself.

For the first two days, he was proud of himself. All the help that Pyrrha and the rest of his team had been giving him seemed to finally start paying off.

Nora earnestly began calling him Fearless Leader, Ren would give him more smiles and nods of approval and Pyrrha was definitely elated, constantly calling him a hero.

From Team RWBY, his counterpart leader would always exclaim how cool he was, with her sister agreeing and calling him vomit boy less often. Blake would send him small proud smiles, though she still had yet to speak a single word to him. Hell, even Weiss gave him an approving grin from time to time, though she would deny it.

So why did he feel so bitter all of a sudden?

At first, he just thought the feeling of pride he got from saving Cardin was dying down. But by the fourth day, his pride turned to shame.

If any of his friends had noticed, they didn't say. He did his best to hide his darkening thoughts from them, but he knew someone would eventually catch on. Particularly Ren.

It was during that fourth night that Jaune realized why his mood had taken a turn for the worse.

He hadn't saved Cardin.

At least, not on his own.

He remembered clearly as he replayed the situation in his mind over and over. He was ready to strike the Ursa down, aiming to cleave into its arm and chest. In hindsight, he realized that probably wouldn't have worked anyway. An Ursa had muscle comparable to the trunk of an old tree in its limbs. At best, he would have severed the arm, but dealt no killing blow.

No.

His beheading of the Ursa had been a change of plans once the Ursa had clawed down onto his shield. But he realized it then. He hadn't been prepared to block the Ursa's attack. He was too focused on attacking.

'Pyrrha moved my shield…' Jaune solemnly thought.

His partner had once again stepped in and saved him. Saved Cardin, by technicality. If she hadn't been there, Jaune would be dead. Or at the least have lost his own arm to the Ursa's swing.

Part of him wanted to just be happy that everything turned out okay. But he couldn't. It made the bitter taste in his mouth worse.

He hadn't improved as much as he thought. He still needed to be bailed out by someone. By his partner who had surely been slacking on her own training and studying in order to help him.

It was the last straw for him. He hated being a burden. He hated always needing someone to save him or help him out. Each and every one of his other classmates were capable of handling themselves solo to some degree. So why wasn't he?

He didn't want to be the lovable idiot anymore. He wanted them to look at him as an equal. No, someone they could truly rely on.

It was with those thoughts in mind that he made his plan.

A stupid, idiotic, and dangerous plan, but a plan nonetheless. Something was better than nothing.

Once Sunday rolled around, he put his plan into motion. After spending time with his team mates, he waited for everyone to finally fall asleep. Then silently gearing up, he snuck out the teams window. With a gulp, he dropped himself down to the ground, hoping that whatever little aura control he had would dampen the blow and muffle the sound.

Luck was on his side as he landed in bushes. The cushioning of the shrubbery as well as his aura made it so he only suffered minor aches to his backside.

With that done, getting out of Beacon proper would be easier. Many an upperclassman had already helped plenty of their juniors find ways of sneaking off of the property with no faculty being the wiser.

Using one of the routes that Coco had told them about, Jaune made his way away from Beacon.

And back towards the Forever Fall Forest.

In the pitch black night, the journey was arduous. Especially since the forest was North of Beacon, and therefor away form the inner city of Vale. The trip down the mountain was dangerous enough, but Jaune was so focused, he hadn't been scared at all.

In the half hour it took to scale down the mountainside, and the other half hour it took to walk to where Beacons forest ended and Forever Fall started, Jaune had been surprised to not have encountered a single grimm.

It was actually more unsettling than not.

The glow of the broken moon in the sky was his only solace. Thankfully his eyes had adjusted to the night before he was even off of Beacon grounds, but he momentarily felt it would be great to be a faunus right then.

Finally, an hour and a half within his journey did he hear the snarling of Beowulf. Their eyes glowed in the darkness and he could see that three had surrounded him while he was in thought.

It was also at that moment that Jaune felt that his idea had indeed been stupid and dangerous.

'No use crying over it now. I need to prove this to myself…'

With a deep sigh, Jaune drew Crocea Mors and activated his shield. He took a firm stance, one drilled into him by his partner. He did his best to remain calm minded, as both Ren and Weiss tried to explain to him.

'Don't hesitate on your strikes, like Nora said.'

With his resolve in place, he awaited the Beowulf to make the first move. He held his breath, doing his best to keep track of their glowing eyes and mask that caught small rays of the moonlight. It was extremely disconcerting to only be able to see those features as the rest of the grimms bodies essentially blended in perfectly with the night.

The beowulf on his left was the first to strike. Jaune minutely glanced at the creature from the corner of his eye before turning and placing his shield in front of him.

The creature struck his shield and barely pushed him back. Jaune immediately retaliated with a horizontal swing of his blade. To his surprise, the beowulf jumped backwards, his blade missing by a mere inch.

He knew he couldn't stay focused solely on the one in front of him and turned just to see the beowulf that had been on his right already mid leap towards him.

With a grunt, he swung his blade again, this time scoring a hit. The creatures attacking arm was severed and it tumbled past Jaune in a ragdoll like roll. Jaune wished he could say that had been his intention but he knew it was simply luck and instinct.

The last beowulf let out a howl and Jaune knew that couldn't be good. It was one thing to have been spotted by the small mob, but he hadn't thought about the noise that such a fight would cause.

Not wanting to stay there any longer than necessary, the knight moved forward swiftly, his adrenaline fueling his movement. He spun and cleaved at the beowulf. The monster tried to move but was caught in the shoulder, losing a chunk of its upper arm. However, it seemed to only anger the creature as it used its other arm to swipe at the blonde.

Jaune once more forgot to bring a guard up and tried to backpedal, but the claw shaved into his aura at his chest. He was sent stumbling back and finally put up his shield as the monster hobbled forward to attack again. Blocking the attack, Jaune parried the blow upward before thrusting his sword forward and impaling the monster, ending it.

Unfortunately, the other two beowulf hadn't sat around. The unharmed beowulf leapt onto Jaune's back, pinning him to the ground with his shield under him. He lost his grip on Crocea Mors at the same time.

Everything seemed to slow down as Jaune realized he had no way of defending himself. The beowulf could sink its teeth right into his neck and tear at his aura until it eventually made it through and tore his head from his body. The hot breath of the creature on his neck let him know that it was exactly what was about to happen.

'Is that it? I could only kill a single beowulf by myself? Ruby told me how she took on a veritable army of them by herself before she even got to Beacon...is this really all I'm worth?'

The anger that tried to bubble up turned to tears as he knew it meant nothing. There was no point in getting angry when he didn't have the skill to back it up.

'I'm sorry, mom...dad. All of my sisters...Ren, Nora...Pyrrha…'

Tears fell even as he shut his eyes tight and awaited his death…

Only to feel the weight disappear from his back.

The hot breath of the beowulf disappeared and was replaced once more with the cool air of the night.

It took a few moments for him to open his eyes. It was only after hearing the sound of the other beowulf whimpering and then the sound of a body hitting the ground that he did.

Turning over, his breath caught in his throat.

'Beautiful…' Was the one and only thought that came to him.

Her pale skin seemed to reflect the moonlight...no, she was glowing almost radiantly. Her long black hair was as straight as possible, looking all too much like silk simply flowing from her head. The snow white kimono she wore hung loosely from her shoulders, giving him a satisfying view of her porcelain skin. The lack of straps let him know she was braless, even though she was partially turned from him.

The kimono bled from snow white to midnight black as it passed her hips, the garment stopping just under her buttocks and giving him plenty of skin to look at from her thighs down. A large black bow was tied to her back, possibly holding the kimono together. A sheath was at her hip, the shining katana that had ended the beowulf slowly sliding itself back into its place.

When she turned to face him, he exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Her golden eyes indeed shined in the darkness. The twitch of the two black fox ears with white tips atop her head also made him notice the lazy sway of the bushy black tail with the same white tip. He could see the calm smile on her face, directed at him.

"Are you okay?" Her voice flowed out like honey.

She turned to face him, finally letting him see her completely. Sure enough, porcelain cleavage peaked through the kimono gap since she didn't wear it on her shoulders. It was almost as if a simple breeze would release her mounds to the world. The kimono bottom was even shorter in the front and every shift of her hips gave him a tantalizing view of her white panties.

His throat was clogged with his words. It was as if simply speaking to this goddess would be an affront to some deity.

Seeing the look upon his face, the woman giggled.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." She spoke with mirth. She approached the downed blonde, letting him get a full view under her kimono unabashedly. She held a hand out for him.

It took a few seconds to register, as his eyes drunk in everything of the beauty before him. However, when he realized he had been staring and she held a hand out to him, he looked away, his blush glowing in the darkness as well.

"S-sorry!" He grabbed her hand and let her pull him to his feet. He was shocked at her strength too. She effortlessly drug him up even though she barely seemed any taller than Nora.

"It's fine. Modesty is overrated." She shrugged. Jaune blushed and couldn't help but look down at her cleavage again. But his eyes averted just as fast. The woman rolled her eyes and chuckled. "So what are you doing all the way out here in the middle of the night?"

Her words made him remember what he had been doing. Looking around, he spotted Crocea Mors impaled in the ground a few feet away.

"You saved me from those beowulf...thank you." He spoke dejectedly.

"You're welcome. So I take it that means you weren't out here to kill yourself."

He flinched at her words and felt his mood fall even more. Was that how it looked to an outsider? Then again, he was in the middle of a grimm infested forest by himself in the middle of the night…

"No...not that it made a difference."

Jaune moved to pull Crocea Mors from the ground but found it almost too heavy for some reason. Maybe it was his conscience finally telling him he wasn't worthy of the blade…

"I wanted to prove that I wasn't weak…" Jaune started. The woman's ears twitched at his words and the smile that was on her face faltered for a moment. "I wanted to prove to my team that I wasn't some helpless loser that always needed someone to bail him out…"

Her frown solidified as she smelled his tears, even with his back turned towards her. Still attempting to pull the sword from the ground, Jaune put both hands on the weapons hilt.

"But all I did was come out here and almost die. Again I had to be bailed out by someone. I couldn't even handle three simple beowulf. I'm a fucking joke!"

The teen fell to his knees, both of his hands gripping the sword hilt. His head was bowed in shame as tears continued to flow unceasingly.

The woman sighed and moved to stand next to him. She knelt beside him and placed a hand on his back.

"This must really be eating you up to tell it to a stranger out in the middle of the forest…" She noted. "So I'll accept your feelings."

She placed a hand on his own, gripping the sword with him.

"Hold your tears and speak to me." Her voice lost all of the mirth from earlier. The bluntness she had been speaking with was replaced with the honey he had attributed to her earlier.

Her words made him look up into her eyes. The shining golden orbs of this faunus woman was the closest thing to understanding Jaune had ever seen. And with it, he let loose, hugging on to her and pouring out all of his grievances.

It took almost half an hour, ending up with the woman holding Jaune's head to her chest as his sobs ended with him feeling empty.

The frown on her face showed that she truly did take in all of his feelings. A single tear fell from her own eye, landing on his cheek.

"I...I'm sorry for dumping all of that on you…" Jaune tried to move away, now feeling the awkwardness of unleashing all of his pent up emotions on to this woman whose name he didn't even know.

She shook her head and held him tighter. "Don't be. I accepted your feelings, and I don't regret them."

"I...don't even know your name. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."

She smiled and hugged him tighter. "Just call me Izanami."

The moment her name was spoken it seemed like a wave of nostalgia washed over Jaune. A warmth like that of a mother…

"Thank you again, Miss Izanami."

After letting a moment of silence calm the boy completely, Izanami released him and helped him stand once more.

Even as they stood, Izanami didn't release Jaune's hand. She stood in front of him and looked up into his eyes. "Better?"

The boy couldn't help but let out a smile of his own. "Better."

The woman's ears twitched happily, her tail swaying just as well. It was adorable, to say the least. He blushed and scratched his cheek, his eyes once more being drawn to her well developed assets.

"So what were you doing out here Miss Izanami?"

The woman huffed. "Just Izanami Jaune. Or better yet, just Nami!"

"O-okay. Nami…"

Her beaming smile returned, along with the playful movement of her extra appendages. "I was simply taking a walk to clear my mind. I hadn't expected to run into anyone, especially so far away from civilization in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, not one of my best ideas…" The blonde sighed in defeat.

Izanami shook her head and placed a hand to his cheek. "It may turn out to be one the best things to happen for you, Jaune."

The sincerity in her words overrode his curiosity of her statement. It felt weird to have someone believe in him so wholeheartedly. Even Pyrrha seemed to doubt him every now and then.

'But she never gave up on me. I can't think like that.'

"Hey, no getting down again!" Izanami chided him. "You've purged yourself clean, don't taint your mind again so soon."

"Purged myself?" The blonde finally did question. He had to admit, the way the woman talked sometimes was rather strange. She was both blunt and cryptic in a way. A mysterious beauty to the tee.

"You're conviction was broken. Your pride wounded. Your life was at its end. But because you lived, I was able to take those impurities from you. I can even feel that your aura was only recently unlocked right? So you've become completely pure again. Doubts will only fill up your soul with taint again."

"I don't follow…"

Izanami giggled. "It's alright. There's a lot to learn. Which reminds me...you spoke of your family and how none of them believed in you. But it's clear that they loved you and you love them. So things couldn't have been all bad, right?"

As dense as Jaune was, he wasn't lost on the fact that she was trying to change the subject. But he let it go, seeing as he couldn't wrap his head around what she had been talking about to begin with. Thinking of his family, he gave a wistful smile.

"No, things weren't always rough. It was hectic, but we all had fun together. We went camping together a lot. I was actually pretty good at gymnastics too, which made all my sisters jealous. Except for Jean. She was just as good as me."

The happiness that Jaune spoke of his family made Izanami smile. "Gymnastics you say? How long did you do that?"

"Only for about two years or so. My parents were using it as a way to trick me into thinking it was training. Once I found out I quit. I wanted to be a huntsman still and didn't have time for flipping around…"

He trailed off as he realized gymnastics probably could've been good training for him. It wasn't like he completely forgot all of his moves either…

Izanami clearly noticed he had come to the same conclusion as her. "You goofed." She giggled

"Yeah...in hindsight it probably would've helped with my agility."

"What else did you do at home? What were your hobbies or anything you were passionate about?" She was prying a bit to come to a conclusion of her own about something. Truthfully, she had seen Jaune fighting the beowulves. There was something about his fighting style that she noticed immediately.

"Well, I cooked quite a bit. I enjoy making things. And I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty good at dancing."

Bingo.

Her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly. "You like to dance?"

"I love to dance." The blonde chuckled. "Honestly, it was how I could cope with having 7 sisters. Sometimes I'd just go to the lake nearby the house and dance in the shallow water...that doesn't sound too soft does it?"

"No, not at all!" Izanami immediately answered before bounding before him and taking his hands in her own again.

The burning scarlet of his being lit up the forest again as the smaller woman gazed into his eyes excitedly.

"Dancing is something I found to be of the greatest and utmost importance in this world! It's tied to many wonderful things that people seem to have forgotten!"

Her excitement surprised Jaune again. She could be calm and warm one moment and then boisterous and excited the next. It reminded him even more of his sisters. Or even a mix of Pyrrha and Nora.

The woman blushed when she also realized how excited she had gotten. With a cough, she took a small step away from Jaune. "Um, if you wouldn't mind. Would you like to dance with me Jaune? Just for a bit?"

The blonde teen found himself blushing a lot, his shy personality at the forefront to be bared to this mysterious beauty. He hated that he couldn't find the confidence he so often feigned.

"That's...a little…" He couldn't find the words. It was still pitch black out, sans the moons light piercing through the canopy every now and then. Plus they didn't have any music. Though he could find his own rhythm and dance from memories, he wondered how two people dancing together were supposed to pull that off.

To his surprise, the woman flicked her wrist and produced a scroll. He blinked, not knowing where she could've gotten it from. A quick glance at her chest certainly gave him a clue though.

"If music is a problem, I have lots of music on this thing. It's amazing! You can do so much with it! Even call and talk to people from far away!" She explained excitedly again.

Jaune chuckled at her. "Yeah, that's what scrolls are generally used for."

Izanami blushed once more, noting that what she said was clearly common knowledge. Instead of drawing attention to it, she held it up.

"So…"

Jaune shrugged. "If you'd have me, I'd love to dance milady." He gave a small bow.

With a roll of her eyes, Izanami went through the scroll until she found a song for them.

Once the beat started, Jaune's eyes widened. The devious smile on Izanami's face was feral.

"A salsa?" He gulped. He thought they would perhaps start with a waltz or something slower.

"What better way to get to know someone than the intimacy of the salsa?"

With her words, she moved towards him.

With their very first step, Jaune immediately fell into his rhythm. As much as he would've protested, dance was his true passion.

So as soon as Izanami kicked off the ground, he simply caught her and rolled her around his body before planting her on her knees in front of him. He immediately struck a pose as she spun to her feet.

He ducked under an arm that passed over his head before catching her leg that hooked around his waist.

The woman placed her back against his body and held on to his neck as he picked her up and spun them once to the music before releasing her and allowing the woman to spin in the air like a top. She landed gracefully and Jaune spun once more before holding his hand out to the woman.

She took his hand and spun into his embrace, once more placing her back to his chest. They moved forward together while in the intimate stance before Izanami flipped forward into a low stance, followed by Jaune not even a second later. The boy landed in a split and Izanami spun onto his shoulders.

Jaune rose with a twirl, and lifted Izanami even higher, his hand finding her supple bottom and supporting her with a single arm.

The woman bent backwards as Jaune lifted her and as the tempo changed a bit, she flipped off of him. Landing right in front of him, she was happy to feel him wrap an arm around her waist before pulling her forward and dipping her on his other side.

She slid between his legs and grabbed his hands as she came up behind him. The dance ended with Jaune flipping forward while still holding the woman's hands; only releasing them as he came to stop on his knees with his head leaned back into the woman's stomach, her hand under his chin and her lips a mere inch from his own.

The two weren't even winded after the performance, but their heavy breaths was indication of an understanding between them. Something akin to lust, but not quite there.

"Absolutely marvelous." Izanami breathed out as she released Jaune and let him stand.

"I...I actually haven't danced like that in years. It was more fun than I've had in a long time." Jaune admitted.

"It's clear that you're passionate about it. The way you moved was instinctual too. Something no ordinary person could do."

The blonde scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Thanks...I don't think I'm the best, but I do have some pride in my dance skills."

Izanami smiled brightly as she noticed how he held himself taller. 'Maybe...maybe he can truly be the one...my king?'

The thoughts racing through her mind were an accumulation of everything she had experienced with one Jaune Arc up to that point. So there was just one more thing she needed from him…

"Alright, I've decided." Izanami suddenly started. "I'm going to train you."

Jaune rose an eyebrow. "Train me? To dance?"

"No...well, sort of. You don't need dance training, that much is clear. No, I'm going to train you to fight Jaune."

Seeing that the boy was still confused, the small woman took a few steps back and drew her weapon. She saw Jaune tense and his hand reached for Crocea Mors.

"Spar with me. I want to show you something."

The boy relaxed a bit and gave a relieved sigh. For a moment he thought this enchanting woman had been playing with him all along.

"Why the sudden shift?" He asked as he drew Crocea Mors.

"...I'll tell you afterwards. There's just something I need to see as well."

She was happy that his self-doubt didn't return. Truly, after their little dance session, it was clear Jaune was welling with confidence. It was perfect.

"Ready?" She asked. With a nod, Jaune held his shield in front of him and took a solid stance. It made her frown for a moment, but the blonde wouldn't notice.

In the blink of an eye, she cleared the small space between them.

Jaune's eyes widened and in a panic, he tried to move to his left, hoping to avoid the rising slash the woman gave.

'I knew it…' She thought as she pulled back on her blow, spinning behind Jaune and placing the sword to his throat.

Jaune froze, not ever having been beating so fast by anyone, not even Pyrrha.

"You tried to dodge." Izanami stated knowingly. "It's as I thought." She removed the blade from his throat.

Jaune unconsciously rubbed his throat and relaxed his own stance. "What's as you thought?" The small bit of despair in his voice made Izanami bristle.

"Nothing bad, Jaune. Not really. It means your body and mind are both subconsciously trying to fight the rigid style you're attempting to force yourself into."

"I'm not forcing my style. I use a sword and shield, and this is how Pyrrha has been teaching me…"

"But that's just it, Jaune. The reason you don't feel like you're progressing as much as you should is because you're not using a style suited to you and your strengths. Would you expect someone whom primarily cooks pastas to suddenly go and try to become a pastry baker?"

His entire world froze. It was at that moment that he realized what she had been saying and what he was doing.

'I...never really even thought about how I wanted to fight. I just picked up Crocea Mors and decided to use a sword and shield. Everyone else, from both my own team and Team RWBY, all have their own unique styles and weapons that suit them…'

"You understand now?" Izanami asked.

Jaune nodded. "I...I think so. But the sword and shield is all I know. Even with the little progress I've made, just dropping it now would make things worse, wouldn't it?"

The small woman shook her head. She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she took a deep breath and Jaune noticed her calming down from all the excitement. She seemed like she was preparing herself for something.

"Jaune Arc...as of this moment, I have chosen you for a purpose far exceeding that of the grimm."

Her eyes held his and he could tell she was being serious. But serious about what?

"Are you royalty or something?" He asked nervously.

Izanami's gaze kept his and no mirth showed through on her face. "By law and logic." She answered without missing a beat. "But please hold your questions Jaune. There is a lot that I need to explain to you, and by the end of it, you'll have a lot more questions than answers."

The turn of events was making Jaune even more nervous. Everything had been bouncing from one moment to the next and he was starting to find it hard to keep up. He wanted to ask her who she truly was, but he would hold his questions just as asked.

"Since I will be entrusting this knowledge to you Jaune, just as you entrusted your feelings to me, I must be completely honest. About who I am and the things that exist outside of the public eye."

She stepped away from Jaune and looked up towards the shattered moon. Jaune followed her gaze and for a moment he saw a slit eye upon the moon. His eyes widened as it looked exactly like Izanami's own.