Chapter 11

Moonlight

The journey to the northern gate of Port Arcadia was as short as they could manage, what with a return trip to the bakery to replace the cookies that Ruby had somehow managed to devour without Jaune or Yang noticing. More shopping for everything Jaune needed could wait until he had a better, prioritized list written down. He had picked up some of his father's habits, after all.

"Bye Robin!" Ruby called out as they exited the gate, the young guard engaged in vetting another entrant to town, but waving back to her nonetheless. "That guy's a total tournament nerd if you let him get started," she informed Jaune conspiratorially.

He did not fail to see the irony, cutting his gaze to Yang to find her smiling as well. Whatever the sisters' relationship with the rest of their family, they had their own perfectly healthy dynamic going on, and it warmed his heart to see it in action. Granted, it was easier for Ruby and Yang to find their common ground, as they didn't have quite so many moving pieces to keep track of. He could honestly say that he only had the same level of easy, intimate affection with two of his seven sisters. The other five ranged from 'politely acknowledge each others' existence' in the case of daddy's girl Pearl to the 'why are you still breathing?' of Violette, though even that last one had moments of familial love buried amongst the sniping.

A brief flash of anger bubbled forth as he recalled Vi's parting shot as she boarded the airship to leave Shion.

'Don't die out here, baby bro. I'd be totally inconsolable for, like, ten minutes.'

Bitch.

Remembering his earlier stroll down this very road, Jaune silently hoped for another ambush to showcase his new skills, and perhaps work out a little anger, but thought better of it almost immediately. He remained mostly quiet throughout their brief trek, especially on subjects related to his training, allowing Ruby to regale him with the details of her summer vacation.

"And so I decided that the increased firing rate was worth the tiny hit to accuracy, and the increase in maintenance wasn't even an issue. You know how much I love maintaining my baby."

"Kinda hard to miss, Rubes," he replied with an easy grin.

It was good to be back.

"What does that mean, though?" he asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" she shrieked in protest. "It means that Crescent Rose is now also a high-impact customizable autoloading designated marksman's rifle."

"Huh?"

"She can magdump quicker now," Yang explained helpfully.

"Oh."

"So what about you? You said something about reforging your sword, right?"

"So you wanna play with Jaune's sword, huh?" Yang chimed in quickly, as if she'd been waiting eagerly to pounce on the opportunity.

"It's an heirloom antique, Yang. You've never respected the art. That's why you had to retake weaponcrafting at Signal."

"Mrs. Cavanaugh just didn't like me," Yang mumbled defensively.

"Twice. No wonder you needed my help with Ember Celica! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to have a class with you in it?"

"It wasn't a strength, okay!?" Yang barked irritably. "Besides, weren't you the one who needed my tutoring just to get a D minus in unarmed combat?"

"Girls, girls. You're both pretty, okay?" Jaune interjected before the sibling spat could turn truly ugly, the three of them coming to a halt on the road at the seeming non sequitur.

"I know, but do go on," Yang preened, successfully distracted even as her sister merely blushed slightly.

"Heh, still got it," he muttered with a soft chuckle. "But yeah, Crocea Mors was long overdue for an upgrade," Jaune confirmed, getting an excited gasp from Ruby in response. "And no, it is still not also a gun."

"Aww."

"I give you," he began, pausing for dramatic effect before drawing his sword, "Crocea Corax."

Jaune held the hilt of his sword in his right hand, resting the blade flat over the back of his outstretched left, presenting the weapon for examination. The obvious difference was the blade itself, such a departure that even Yang could tell the two apart. Gone was the nearly flat, slab-sided and elegantly simple blade, replaced instead with a diamond-shaped profile an inch and a half thick and nearly four wide, straight as an arrow with zero taper before it reached the sharply angled point.

"What's with the holes?" Yang asked, never having seen their like, even among the Huntsmen ranks, let alone the general public.

"Casian had to keep the balance right with the new blade profile, plus it conserved the Sanusian steel the blade was originally made from, so that he didn't have to use a lot of extra metal," Jaune explained as best he understood. "Plus they offer a better grip if I'm half-handing my sword," he added, turning his left hand over to show off the gripping studs embedded into the palm of his gauntlet.

The blade was the same thirty inch length as before, with the series of cutouts Yang had mentioned running through the blade. These were in two rows, one on either side of the blade's spine , leaving the center of the blade intact. The blade and point both were perfectly geometric, with nary a curve in sight, almost affecting a modern, Atlesian aesthetic.

"It looks like it came from some old video game!" Ruby said through a smile, successfully suppressing a giggle.

"Form follows function," he replied with the slightest of huffs. Yeah, it looked a little weird, but all indications so far were that it was damned effective.

The polygonal blade contrasted with the organic curves of the brass-plated steel crossguard, now nearly a foot wide at the points. These were sculpted to resemble the sharpened, two inch talons of some great beast, finely carved lines giving the illusion of scales. The crossguard gave way to the hilt, wrapped in a richly dyed royal blue leather, fixed in place by a widely-spaced winding of braided brass wire. The hilt had also been enlarged, now eighteen inches long, and was capped with a pommel carved to resemble a grasping claw, the four talons surrounding a pocket to hold a large gemstone in place if the mood struck the wielder, empty for now. Dangling from this was Casian's gift to him, a braided blue leather cord with four gold beads, ending in a tassel of the same leather that swayed gently with the motion of the sword.

"Crocea Corax?" Ruby asked curiously, her silver eyes examining the blade from mere inches away now.

"Yeah. Crocea Mors in old Sanusian means Yellow Death. A corax was an old type of battering ram, kind of like a drill. Remember that history paper we had with Oobleck last year? I did mine on the siege of Masada Keep during the Great War. My great-great-grandfather ordered a corax built on site, because nothing else could breach the walls. Corbeau de Guerre. I figured that since I had Casian reforge my sword to better breach Grimm armor, it seemed appropriate."

"Look at you, getting all poetic."

"Hey now, Yang. Don't tell me you just went with 'Ember Celica' because it sounded cool," Jaune replied, pausing as he didn't get an immediate answer. "Oh my god, you did, didn't you?"

"Hey now, a kickass Huntress like me needs to sound just as cool as she looks."

"Whatever," he retorted, smiling regardless as he sheathed his sword again. "I still don't know how you manage to hide all that in those little bracelets."

"Ancient Mistrali secret," Ruby intoned solemnly. "Besides, those are nothing compared to Gianduja."

"Gezhundheit."

"Coco's handbag?" Ruby clarified, slightly irritated at Jaune being dense.

"That thing's bigger on the inside, I know it is. I swear she's secretly Inspector Spacetime," Jaune said suspiciously.

"For the last time, Jaune, Inspector Spacetime doesn't actually exist," Yang deadpanned, clearly a subject she'd covered before.

"That's what they want you to think!"

Yang chuckled at the third-most important dork in her life, hoping that the second would make it home before they left for Vale. Taiyang had never gotten to meet Jaune, plus the boy was in serious need of a scary father figure threatening his life after everything he'd pulled this summer. Brothers know Ruby couldn't manage scary if her life depended on it, and he seemed to be largely immune to her own tactics somehow.

"Before I forget, are all the Grimm around here so small?" he asked, quickly shifting topics.

"Mostly, yeah. Signal faculty and students keep 'em pretty pared back, so they never really get that old. Why?" Yang asked.

"Talking about my sword got me thinking about this afternoon."

"What happened?"

"Just some Beowolves on the way into town."

"As in more than one?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Five, yes."

"Bullshit."

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked with naked concern in her voice.

"I would've said if I wasn't." he said flatly, his tone drawing notice from both sisters. Ruby felt a little ashamed at her assumption, and Yang couldn't help but feel the chilly backlash in his reply. "Look, I get it. I'm at the bottom of our class for a reason, but I've been working my ass off for an entire year now, so maybe, just maybe, you all can stop treating me like a damn civilian," Jaune explained, barely contained emotion in his voice.

Silence reigned over the trio of friends for several moments, Yang's expression unreadable as she processed what he'd said against how he'd acted since they'd reunited. Something wasn't quite adding up for her, and it wasn't something she could just shrug off either. Ruby decided to cut right through the awkwardness instead.

"Okay," she said simply, looking Jaune in the eye and giving him a gentle smile. "I'm sorry, Jaune."

"All right," he said, his voice losing it's edge. "Apology accepted."

"Come on, you two," Yang cut in, resuming their walk to their homestead.

"So what's the deal with that teacher, anyway?" Jaune asked, hoping that Olivia wasn't in too much trouble before school even began.

"Professor Buzzkill? Aside from the fact that she probably hasn't gotten laid since the Great War?"

"Yang!" Ruby snapped, shutting her sister up. "Professor Clark is the Deputy Headmistress, and is the one in charge of discipline that isn't resolved in the classroom. Guess who was in her office a lot during her time at Signal?"

"Uhh, you?" he asked earnestly, earning a guffaw from Yang as Ruby seethed beside them.

"It's the hair. It's gotta be the hair," she grumbled.

"You kinda walked into that one, Rubes," he said, mollifying her a bit.

"Still, Clark can't be as bad as what this sensei guy did to you," Yang added. "So how do I find him? Give him a piece of my mind?"

"For the last time, Yang. I'm not telling you their name. I made a promise, and for a good reason."

"And what kind of reason would you have to protect someone who sounds like an abusive asshole?" Yang continued, unrelenting.

"They're not the one I'm protecting. They have powerful enemies, the kind where knowing a secret can get you killed. That's all I'm saying about it. Besides, Sensei would probably just take you over a knee and spank you like a disobedient child, if they didn't kill you outright, and then me for giving 'em up."

Yang and Ruby both looked at their friend as if they barely recognized him now, the sisters at once frustrated and worried for Jaune. Yang was, naturally, more the first than the second, with her sister the exact opposite.

"Please, just drop it," he added after weathering their gazes for a moment. "I know it sucks, and I know it's frustrating, but it's for the best. There are some fights you don't want a part of, and I really wish I hadn't gotten roped into this one. All I can do is ask you to trust me. I promise if anything comes up that puts you or any of our friends in danger, I'll let you know, okay?"

"You'd better. I got tired of the 'it's a secret' crap last year," Yang replied, still clearly unhappy, and not just with him.

"And 'friends' includes you too, okay?" Ruby added, getting an affirmative grunt and nod from Jaune.

He stopped as the trees thinned, looking back the short distance to where they'd left the main road before returning his gaze to the two story log cabin before them. "Seriously? I missed this place by a hundred yards earlier," he groused.

"Dad bought this place because it's nice and quiet, but still close enough to town to be convenient. Plus we're not so far that we can't evacuate into town, if worst comes to worst," Ruby added absently. It's not like either of them feared the Grimm.

"Welcome to Shezz Xiao Long!" Yang said cheerily.

"It's pronounced 'chez'," Jaune corrected, his Gallic sensibilities rankling at the mispronunciation.

"Ugh, fine. Shezz Chez Long."

Jaune cut his gaze across to her just in time for Yang to blow a raspberry at him, drawing a gentle shaking of his head at her attempt at humor.

"You're impossible."

"Nah. Just hard to get."

Ruby zipped forward to the door, opening it and crouching low with her arms spread wide. Jaune could hear a muffled bark, then the staccato clicking of claws on a wooden floor rapidly increasing in volume before a black and white blur leapt into her arms, spinning Ruby around from the impact.

"Oh, I missed you too!" she squealed as Zwei began to feverishly lick at her face. "You remember Jaune, right?" she asked, turning the dog so that he could see him and Yang before allowing him to squirm out of her grip and fall to the ground. Zwei scampered over, leaping up several times around Yang's ankles before she reached down to scratch behind his ears.

Jaune chuckled softly at the little corgi's antics, reaching down himself to offer the bundle of energy some affection as well. Zwei paused, his head cocked comically to one side, not recognizing the new addition to his personal aroma smorgasbord. He took two steps forward, sniffing tentatively at Jaune's proffered hand before slowly slinking backwards, ears pinned back and a low growl in his throat.

"Zwei!" Ruby shouted, at once upset and confused by the dog's reaction to Jaune. This was especially puzzling since they'd met before and gotten along famously. "I don't know what's gotten into him, Jaune."

"It's okay. I uhh, kinda ran out of soap last month," he admitted sheepishly. "Plus Grimmstench."

"I wasn't gonna say anything," Yang confided with an eye roll. "Top of the stairs, second door on the left. Touch any of the Tressant Supreme products and I kill you," she added nonchalantly. Setting boundaries was important.

"Thanks, Yang. You have a washing machine? My clothes are probably pretty ripe too. Plus everything in my pack is soaking wet right now."

"I'll take care of it, Jaune," Ruby volunteered.

Jaune dropped his pack on the floor and headed upstairs, finding the bathroom where it was promised and closing the door behind him. He turned on the shower and quickly stripped, stepping under the almost painfully hot water with a hiss as the stream began to wash over him, slowly easing body and mind.

What would be considered a fairly obscene amount of time later, at least in an Arc household with ten people under the roof, Jaune was toweling off when he heard a knock at the door.

"It's me, Jaune," came Ruby's awkward voice.

"Sorry I took so long, did you need the shower?"

"Don't worry about it, Yang would've still been in there. Besides, we showered at the beach," she reassured him. "I brought you a pair of my dad's pajama pants, they should fit you until you can wash the rest of your stuff. Plus a change of underwear that I threw in the drier for you. Are you decent?"

"Hold on," he said, wrapping the thankfully large towel around his waist before opening the door a crack. Ruby offered up a dark brown pair of light pants with pockets and a drawstring along with his undergarments, and Jaune plucked them from her grasp. "Thanks, Ruby."

"No problem!" she chirped, her voice cracking a hair before she closed the door behind her.

Pretending she hadn't caught that glimpse of his bare back was going to be difficult to say the least. What she'd seen stirred unfamiliar emotions within her, along with a good measure of fear slathered on top. Maybe the scars had always been there? It wasn't like she'd seen him in just a towel before, right?

She resolved to ask him about it later, and hopefully without her sister present to tease her into oblivion.

The Xiao Long household couch was certainly comfortable, and Jaune couldn't complain about it, especially with the light blanket Ruby had provided along with the big, fluffy pillow currently wadded in his fists. His frustration with the lack of sleep was evident, the blanket rumpled over his form from his restless movements. Perhaps it was the overabundance of comfort compared to his sparse existence over the last three months, or just something weighing on his conscience. The mess that was his life right now wasn't exactly conducive to a good night's sleep, and so he rolled to a seated position, reaching for the end table beside him.

His scroll was now fully charged, and he was still just as locked out of the CCNet without the security updates that could only be downloaded from Atlesian servers. Local comms couldn't even work for him without the update, and he'd resorted to borrowing Yang's scroll just to have a text conversation with Olivia after dinner. Dropping his device onto the table in frustration, Jaune idly scratched at his belly, relieving an itch as he contemplated what to do to help him sleep.

He stood and stretched, blue eyes casting about in the bright moonlight streaming in from the window until he located the kitchen. The house was quiet, as neither Ruby nor Yang were snorers, for which Jaune was eternally grateful. He padded over towards the kitchen, bare feet slapping softly on the wooden floorboards before he froze, a chill running down his spine as he caught a glimpse of something he never thought he'd see in this house.

Two more steps brought him to face the wall just to the side of the entryway into the kitchen, a single picture hanging there that he'd missed during the evening's conversations. Four Huntsmen, all wearing easy, confident smiles against the backdrop of the Emerald Forest. The blond could only be Yang and Ruby's father, from the pictures the girls had shared with him over the last year. The rest, however…

"You… " he whispered, now burdened with yet another secret he didn't want.

Shaking his head, he walked into the kitchen, checking several cupboards until he found a tall glass before pouring himself a drink from the tap. Jaune had never really paid particular attention to hydration before, and the few times he'd sucked down a can of Brawndo was simply because nothing else was available, not because 'it has electrolytes'. His personal preference was People Like Grapes, because really, who didn't? But now?

Water was second only to air on the hierarchy of bodily needs, and a parched Huntsman could become a dead Huntsman in short order. Professor Port had mentioned something along those lines in passing once. Maybe. Jaune had either tuned the man out or been half asleep, so he couldn't be absolutely sure. Sensei, however… They'd drilled that concept into him with conviction and fervor. And by conviction and fervor, he meant humiliation and the crack of a cane. He couldn't keep his promises if he was dead, after all.

Setting the glass in the sink, he turned to head back to the living room when something caught his attention through the window. The clearing between the cabin and the barn was well lit from above, and on the edge of it, Ruby Rose stood in full battle gear, stock still and looking up at the sundered moon. Sensing something amiss, Jaune quickly slipped on his boots, forgoing tying the laces for now. Plucking Crocea Corax from its resting place atop the coffee table, he made his way outside, leaving the back door only slightly ajar. The soft breeze stirred the few stalks of grass that reached above their brethren, the only motion in the scene before him. She began to move at last, her weapon unfurling in a riot of noise before she started to work through practice forms, either doing so with her eyes closed or so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice his approach. Ruby's voice murmured softly, barely audible over the sound of Crescent Rose splitting the wind, repeating a mantra born of pain.

"Not gonna get me again."

With a start, he finally understood what it was like to be on the other side of this scene.

"Don't hesitate, Jaune. Let your feet flow over the ground like water, never rooted to one spot."

Pyrrha's words do little to effect change in Jaune's steps, the complex movements yet beyond him. The moonlit night carries little sound beyond the scroll recording and the rasping hiss of the pea gravel beneath his feet, the repurposed rock garden serving well for a training space. They are hiding, the two of them, a necessity given the situation they find themselves in. Not another soul can be found for miles, and Jaune is grateful for that. He doesn't have to worry about more than a single set of eyes upon his clumsy self, and those are fast asleep inside the abandoned ryokan, trying to heal with the aid of every last bit of aura he'd been able to expend in assistance.

"What the hell are you doing?" comes a cracked, haggard voice.

Or not.

"Training. Some video lessons from my partner. Sorry if I woke you," he adds hastily.

He hears a long exhalation, whether from exasperation or simply fatigue, he can't tell. The hard clack of a cane sounds three times in slow succession as the lone member of his audience ambles forth onto the porch, their face still cloaked in shadow.

"Show me," is the simple command, the tone of voice heavily steeped in unspoken authority.

"I...okay," he replies, seeing no possible harm in it. Resetting the recording, he presses play, trying to keep the cadence and timing of the lesson intact, as he already knows every one of Pyrrha's words by heart. He begins, moving through a simple cross exercise for three repetitions before the lesson gets harder. The next iteration is faster, and a mite more complex, working in some random elements. Only once does he outright trip over his own feet, an improvement over the first time he'd opened and practiced with this video.

"And that's it," he says at last, allowing himself to relax his posture now.

"I thought you were a Huntsman, not some cut-rate dancer."

"I...I'm getting better," Jaune replies, not the most self-confident person on Remnant even on a good day.

"Ha!" comes the brief, cackling retort. "You still move like a pregnant yak with two club feet."

"And that's why I'm training."

"You're doing it wrong."

"I'm following Pyrrha's…"

"Stop!" comes the harsh interruption. "We agreed. No names."

"Sorry," he says sheepishly, even if that particular agreement was something he'd been forced into by his adamant companion. "I'm following her instructions to the letter. I can't live up to how awesome she is, not now. Probably not ever."

"Then don't. You're not her. You're you. Be a better you."

"Which is why…"

"You're out here flailing around trying to be someone you're not?"

"I…" he begins, at a loss for words.

"Do you always fight in just your pants, with no shirt on?" is asked of him pointedly.

"I was trying to stay cool, and get through the lesson."

"Then you're an idiot. You want to fight better? Train better."

"It's also kind of exhausting keeping you alive right now."

A scoffing sigh is his only reply for several moments.

"Go get everything on, get back out here, and do it again. I can't have my savior getting bested by the next small child with a sharp stick." he hears, the sarcasm roiling in the quiet summer evening.

Jaune sighed at the memory; the sheer amount of soreness resulting from the ensuing workout had rendered him immobile for the next day. Blinking once, he shifted his focus back to the here and now, watching as Ruby planted the point of Crescent Rose into the dirt, assuming a familiar firing position with her eye behind the scope of her beloved rifle. He froze for a moment, eyes scanning the forest in front of the both of them for a threat, his hands holding Crocea Corax at the ready. Finding none, he wondered what she was up to, given that her weapon was sure to wake Yang up if she fired it.

Walking up behind her, he leaned against a tall tree stump to observe, now a little concerned that she hadn't noticed him. Without warning, he heard a soft click before Ruby cycled the bolt, ejecting an empty casing that bounced off his chest. He could hear her take a deep breath, her exhalation even and long before the cycle repeated itself, the second casing popping him in the nose. The third iteration changed everything, as the soft click was replaced by the muffled pop of a live primer.

With a frenzied battle cry, Ruby spun into action, whirling her scythe impossibly fast for someone so small. Jaune barely had time to duck before Crescent Rose removed a six inch section from the top of the stump he'd been leaning against, the foot-wide round of hardened maple thudding to the ground several yards away, joining several more like it. Blue eyes flicked upward again, barely noticing the scattered strands of blond hair floating away as he took in her appearance.

Ruby's silver eyes were wide, shock and horror written across her face, her breathing heavy as she leaned over. She was balanced against her weapon, now braced against the ground, her red cape dangling limply in the still air. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, far more than he'd ever seen her before.

Except that one time, he remembered with a chilling twist of his heart.

"Ruby?" he asked quietly, as one would a frightened child.

"Jaune!" she replied, flinching at the sound of her name before she jumped back, nearly tripping over Crescent Rose in the process before she regained her balance.

"You okay?"

"Never better! Just out here. Training. Yup, just training!" she babbled nervously.

Jaune regarded her for several seconds, the pause making her even more nervous than she already was. "Okay. I just saw you out here, and I was wondering what you were doing is all," he finally said, deciding to play along with her fib for the moment. "What was that with the empty casings?"

"Oh, that. Kind of a modified ball-and-dummy drill."

"A what now?"

"It's a gun thing," she replied before she caught herself. "Oh, right. What you do is load a magazine with a couple dummy rounds. They don't go bang," Ruby added in response to Jaune's blank look. "Then you go through the magazine, and when you hit a dummy round, you can see if you're slamming the trigger, or jerking your weapon anticipating the recoil. What I was doing was kind of the opposite. Bunch of empty casings plus one live primer mixed in at random."

"That sounds a little weird."

"I just wanna work on my target fixation. I can kinda zone out when I'm looking through the scope sometimes. Leaves me...open…" she trailed off, and Jaune clued in on her meaning immediately.

"Oh. Sorry," he added, remembering full well how her slip-up had nearly gotten her killed. "You need any help?" he asked, forcing his voice into a happier tone, trying to drag her out of her melancholy.

"Sure! Here," she said, handing over a pair of empty magazines. "Load these for me? I can't be surprised like I need to be if I'm the one doing it."

"Oh, okay, sure thing."

"Range bag is behind the log there," she added, pointing to a large log that appeared to have been cut from the same tree Ruby had been slowly whittling down to ground level. Jaune took a seat on it, reaching down for the small canvas bag and setting it in his lap. "Inert casings in the main bag, live ones in the side pocket, one per mag."

"How many fit in these?"

"Eight. Anything more than that would throw the balance off, and I'd need to completely redesign my baby."

Jaune went about his work slowly, unfamiliar with anything of this large a caliber, but the concept was pretty much the same as Ren's pistol mags, and without too much effort he was done. "Here ya go, Ruby."

"Could you put one in for me? Really trying to keep myself honest here. Mag release is at the front," she added, swinging the butt end of Crescent Rose around almost as if for inspection. Jaune swapped out the magazines with a minimum of fumbling, getting a satisfying click as the new one slotted home. "Thanks, Jaune. Wait here? Well, don't stand next to that tree again."

"Don't need to tell me twice," he replied with a chuckle.

Ruby resumed her position, quieting her thoughts and gazing out into the night through the precision optics of her weapon. Taking and releasing a deep breath, she applied an even two pounds of pressure to the trigger, jumping ever so slightly when the striker snapped forward and detonated a live primer again. Rushing to catch up to what her response time should have been, she spun and hammered Crescent Rose into and through the maple log behind her, the cut at an angle far removed from horizontal. The chunk of wood she'd removed slid down slowly before thudding to the ground.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked with quiet concern.

"Yes, I'm okay!" she barked back. "You're not supposed to put the live round in first!"

"You said 'random'!" he replied, his voice raising defensively before he caught himself. "What's wrong, Ruby?" he asked, calm and concerned again.

"I...I just," she began, trying to find the courage to speak.

"You look like you're tearing yourself apart over something," he began, standing up to approach her.

"I couldn't sleep. I keep...I keep reliving that day, Jaune," she said softly, averting her gaze.

He took a calming breath, steadying himself so that he could be a rock for her to stand upon. "You're still here, Ruby."

"I know, it's just...there are so many who aren't. I couldn't stop Cinder. She killed Penny, Jaune. Killed her right in front of me. Murdered one of the kindest, sweetest people I've ever known. She killed Penny like it was nothing to her. Like she was nothing," Ruby whispered, tears beginning to fall. "And then I saw her try to do the same to my Uncle Qrow. I don't even know what happened then. I was looking through the scope, getting ready to put a round through her head, and then there was a light, brighter than the sun. When I came to, it hurt. It hurt so much. There are times I can still feel them. I can still feel the blades in my back," she admitted, barely noticing as Jaune embraced her, squeezing gently. "I knew it. I knew I was dead, Jaune. It was so cold. So...dark," she sobbed into his chest.

"Have you talked to anyone about this? Your dad? Yang?"

"Yeah, but…"

"It still happened."

"That too."

"There's something else?" he asked her, worried even more now.

"Something I can't talk to them about. I don't know how they'd take it."

"They love you, Ruby. They're your family."

Ruby stilled, having just realized she'd returned his hug, her arms locked around his lower back. More volatile emotion was added to the mixture that was Ruby Rose, threatening to overwhelm her, and she clung to him like she was drowning. She couldn't look him in the eye, and so chose to stare at her home instead, praying that her sister wouldn't see her...them, like this. She also hoped against hope that he wouldn't think she was crazy after what she was about to say.

"Jaune?"

"Yeah, Ruby?"

"What happens when we die?" She cursed herself for even asking the question as she felt his breath hitch, his posture stiffening as the words hit him like a bomb. She waited a moment before taking a breath, prepared to tell him to disregard her question before he spoke.

"I don't know, Ruby. Why do you ask?" he replied, mostly succeeding in keeping the trepidation out of his voice.

"I...saw something. Before you found me. Before you brought me back," she said, intentionally keeping the details vague.

"I know," he whispered, his own eyes misting over.

"What? How do you...?"

"Silver eyes. Just like yours. Black hair fading to red at the tips. A white cloak billowing in the wind, backlit by the sunset," Jaune said calmly, despite the fear he held for what she thought of him now. "I'm so sorry, Ruby."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's a side effect of my semblance. If I push too hard, if someone is almost gone, I...see things. Almost like I'm pushing into someone else's soul and overwhelming it. And I end up with emotions. Images. Feelings. Thoughts that aren't my own. It's happened three times already. I was so desperate to keep you alive. So scared that I woke my semblance and used it without even realizing it. At the time, I thought that I was just seeing you, like...a future you. Older. What you could become. What I was trying to protect. But that wasn't it at all. I know that now. It was something I never should've seen, and I know that it was wrong for me to intrude on that moment"

"No, it wasn't," she corrected softly. "You didn't do it on purpose. And now at least I know I'm not crazy, right?" she asked, perking up for a moment before her voice fell again. "I don't even have many solid memories of my mother. She...left us...when I was four. I couldn't tell you any stories, or anything she'd ever told me. All I have are...moments. Feelings. Yang remembers her better than I do."

"Is she why you asked…?"

"Yeah."

Jaune paused to contemplate his words very carefully before speaking again. "You're wondering what's waiting for us," he stated more than asked, getting a simple nod in reply. "I honestly don't know, Ruby. Never really thought about it, in spite of being dead for the last three months, apparently."

"Not funny," she said, frowning despite how much she wanted to giggle, before poking him hard in the ribs.

"I've heard people talk about the afterlife like it's a fact. I've also heard that there's nothing after this . Once you're gone, you're gone, so make your life count for something while it lasts. Kind of dark, really, but there it is."

"Which do you think it is?"

"Like I said, I don't know. What I do know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that your mother loved you very much." Ruby gasped at his words, taken completely by surprise at his insight. "If there is an afterlife, then she's there. Proud of you. Missing you. Waiting for you. Kind of makes me wonder what my own ancestors might think about me," he mused aloud.

"And if there isn't?" she asked, at once uncertain and hopeful.

"Then what you...we...saw? It was just you remembering everything you could about her. Reaching out to the one person who you knew loved you unconditionally more than anyone else. If your mother left such an impression on you in the short time you knew her, then she was easily the second best mom in the history of Remnant."

"Second best?" she replied flatly, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she disengaged and took a step back.

"I know what I said."

"Are you, Jaune Arc, implying that my mother, Summer Rose, isn't the greatest supermom in the history of the world, ever?"

"You've never met my mom," he replied with a gentle smirk.

"Like your mother could ever invent my mom's famous almond triple chocolate chunk cookies."

"You've never had Rose Arc's madeleines before, have you?"

"Well, you've never had my mom's cookies either!"

"I would have, but you said that someone ate them all before you could share."

"Yeah, and?"

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"You can't prove anything!" she squawked indignantly, her angrily pointing index finger an inch from the tip of his nose.

Jaune's eyes crossed, focused on that digit, a short gigglesnort escaping his nose before he devolved into a full on chuckle. Ruby followed suit shortly after, her accusatory posture breaking down entirely. Silver eyes sparkled as she looked up at her friend with a burgeoning smile, a soft sigh leaving her chest and taking a good measure of her anxiety with it.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"For?"

"Being a good friend. I've never had many friends. Not before all of you guys."

"I don't see why not, you're caring, smart, and just plain fun to be around," he replied, favoring Ruby with a smile of his own.

To hide her blush, she stepped forward to hug him again, not caring what her sister might think for once, and practically purring when she felt him return the embrace.

"I wish I could have met her, Ruby," he said sincerely. "I only caught a fraction of what you felt for her, but I could tell she deserved every bit of love in your heart." He felt her breath catch in her chest again, as she fought once again to keep her emotions under control.

"She'd be happy that I've got such a good friend, I think."