Author's Note: Are we really doing this, people? Am I really going to have to write a goddamn philosophical treatise on why ethnic cleansing is bad? In 20-fucking-20?

I now understand why writers have a reputation for alcoholism.

Content Warning: Loving and consensual sexual relations.

[/]

Sessions with Ren had quickly become comfortable and familiar to Jaune. The physical ministrations were soothing to him, coaxing his shoulders to lower as the other man worked out tension that Jaune hadn't even known that he'd been carrying. Ren's Aura was likewise familiar, with Jaune able to discern the deep concern for his well-being that lay beneath the veneer of detached professionalism. Ordinarily, there was a degree of alarm as well, but on this occasion, Jaune detected that, as Ren traced new, slightly tender passageways that hadn't been traversed before, the Aura specialist was quietly pleased at what he felt.

This was all very well and familiar, part of a routine that Jaune and Ren had established soon after their team had formed. That was normal. What was not was when Weiss, at Ren's direction, began to trace those same pathways, and then used her Aura to touch his.

It was, quite simply, Weiss. Nothing more, nothing less.

[/]

Then

"This is Cadet Arc. He's been training directly under The General, and has just completed his first mission under my supervision today."

Jaune hadn't known what to expect when Specialist Schnee had spontaneously decided that he was to meet someone. It certainly hadn't been a twelve year old, miniature version of the Specialist. The girl was awkward and gangly, unsure of her new height. Blue steel brackets straightened her teeth, and he was fairly sure that the girl had stuffed her bra, if the slight sound of tissue crinkling when she'd curtseyed was any indication.

He was unsure how to deal with another juvenile, especially one who bore no military rank. The girl, Weiss, seemed just as thrown as he was, and they stood awkwardly for a moment until the Specialist suggested that she show him the Schnee Manor.

As Weiss led him away, Jaune got the impression that he would be following after this girl a lot in the future.

Then

"It's a horse, Jaune, you don't tune it like a car. You need to speak to her like a friend."

Weiss rolled her eyes at the Cadet as he had attempted to interface with the obsolete organic equine transport that she had introduced to him as "Stardust." For some reason, the teenage girl had opted to drag him to one of Mantle's stables in order to ride horses. There was no destination in mind, she just wanted to ride horses for no particular reason. The horse, a tall, white-haired creature with a brown mane, nuzzled Weiss with obvious affection.

"Yes, you're just such a good horsey," Weiss cooed as she brushed the horse. "Now Jaune, you must inform Stardust that she is a good horse and a pretty horse," she instructed, her tone prim.

"...Why would a horse care about its appearance?" he asked, puzzled.

She fixed him one of her strange, melancholy looks. "Everyone deserves to know that they're loved," she said.

Then

"I'm...I'm sorry that you had to do that. But thank you. Thank you for saving me."

His first kills. Though Weiss had been frightened, obviously, there was still such concern in her eyes. Not for herself, though he was sure she wasn't thrilled to know that the White Fang had declared her to be fair game. No, she was concerned...for him.

She embraced him, blood and horror and all.

Then

A brief moment, one interrupted all too soon. A boy held a girl in his arms and danced with her. He had no business even looking at one so high above him, but somehow, there she was, looking as though there was nowhere else she'd rather be than in his embrace.

Then

A stolen moment, a boy and a girl, meeting in the garden at the Schnee Manor. She wore a blue winter rose in her hair, and she shyly met his gaze, her crystal blue eyes full of need.

"Jaune…" she asked as she stood from where she had been examining the rest of the winter roses, her voice sounding very small and afraid. "Do you love me?"

He could not lie.

"I do."

Then

"Look, it's a puppy!"

Her face was beaming in joy, unmitigated and open joy, as she presented a small, furry animal to him.

"We're going to make sure he's safe and happy, and he'll grow up big and strong because he's just the best little boy for forevuh and evuh!" she squealed, causing the little fuzzy thing to squirm around in her grip and start licking at her face.

Then

"Jaune!"

Without reservation, as soon as she'd seen him in the auditorium at Beacon Academy, she'd thrown herself into his arms.

Then

"Don't leave me," she sobbed against his chest. "Don't you dare leave me alone in this world…"

[/]

Now

It would be folly to deny the dark.

The dark was everywhere, everlasting and infinite in its scope, and the darkness would always, eventually, win. All his life had been cold and sterile, dark and grim, save for one distant light.

It would be folly to deny the dark.

Ultimately, that's all life is, he heard his new mentor speak gently in his mind. A struggle against the dark, at best a temporary stalemate.

Even stars die, Jaune.

It would be folly to deny the dark.

But first, they burn, together, against the night.

That did not mean that it could not be defied.

Jaune Arc ignited.

Everything that he was, everything that he'd ever been, and everything that he could ever be burst forth from within him, no longer restricted, no longer hidden away to save others from its power. Killer, savior, student, lover, hero, villain, weapon, wielder, all of it erupted from within his soul. Jaune was incandescent with the power of his Aura, sending the Aura monitors on their Scrolls buzzing in alarm, and his friends moving to shield their eyes from the radiant blast. His Aura was literally an aura, a white-gold flame that engulfed his body with potent spiritual power.

Oh, Jaune thought distantly. This is who I am.

Slowly, as he acquainted himself with this new power, he drew it back within himself. The radiance died down, save for a single white-gold flame of Aura that he held in his palm, gazing at it as he contemplated what this meant for the future.

"Jaune?" Weiss asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

He smiled at her. How could he ever convey to her just how unbelievably important she was to him? If nothing else, he needed to set her at ease.

"Never better," he said.

It was the truth.

[/]

Winter tried hard not to frown as she read the message on her scroll. The good news is that she had an ally on the scene, who would be there at any moment. The bad news is that said ally was Qrow bloody Branwen, which meant that the following operation would either be carried off without a hitch or would be a grand debacle the likes of which the world had never seen before.

"Truly, times are desperate when I must turn to Qrow for aid," she muttered.

She had been keeping watch with Penny in the hours since their host had sent Specialist Clover Ebi and his squad of soldiers fleeing in abject terror with a glance. While that was a fairly potent display of a Semblance - and fairly amusing to boot - Winter knew that it wouldn't keep Clover at bay for long, and that he would not make the mistake of being seen again. She was confident in her ability to at least keep him at bay, but with Penny effectively crippled, and with an old woman and a complete civilian to protect, she was sure that he would make it one hell of a fight.

Her Scroll chimed, the prearranged signal. Cautiously, she approached the front door of the Nikos residence, eyeing the windows. Winter stood to one side, her saber drawn and ready, as she popped the doorknob and pushed the door open with one foot.

Well, there was the dunce, standing there in dunce-like fashion, with his grey dress shirt and odd red cape and his messy hair and his scruffy face.

"So," he began, his voice raspy. "You ready to get this show on the road?"

"What's your plan?" she asked him.

"I got the Corvid's Claw parked just outside of town. We haul ass past the city limits, make it to the old bird, and we're home free," he answered. The Corvid's Claw was an old Manta airship that Qrow had converted into a mobile reconnaissance base for his work. Winter, of course, would have much preferred to take her own airship, but there had been zero chance that it hadn't been fitted with tracking beacons, at the very least, or explosives at the worst, and furthermore, it would have been heavily guarded in case she had been fool enough to make for the most obvious option.

"Fair enough. Ladies," she called over her shoulder. "It's time to move out!"

Qrow quirked an eyebrow at the other three women with Winter. "What's Ironwood want with this lot?" he asked.

"I am not Atlas military property and refuse to be classified as such!" Penny huffed with indignation.

Qrow blinked. "Sure, kid, whatever. You?" he asked, indicating Medusa.

"I took umbrage to the aforementioned classification of a little girl as property and intervened on her behalf."

"Neat. What about you, grandma?"

"Oh, I'm the Winter Maiden," Fria said, entirely unconcerned with notions of secrecy.

Qrow's jaw dropped. "I...you...what?!"

"Close your mouth, boy, or you'll catch flies," the old woman muttered. "The Winter Maiden. One and only."

"Fuck me," Qrow breathed in wonder.

Fria scoffed. "Hardly. But I suppose if you're up for it, I can try to grease these old bones up for one last ride."

"That is so not what I meant," Qrow said, a little panicked. He looked at Winter, who could merely shrug. "But yeah, no shit, we need to get you all to Oz, ASAP. Let's get a move on."

Qrow led the way, followed by Penny, with Fria and Medusa in the middle and Winter bringing up the rear. As Medusa passed the former soldier to take her place in the formation, she just couldn't resist mentioning, "He's even more dashing in person," in a teasing, sing-song tone.

Winter decided that, yes, it was probably too late to change her mind, and she really was stuck with these people for the foreseeable future. Alas.

The march out of the town of Argus was a tense one, with Winter eyeing every corner for signs of approaching trouble. Strangely enough, they passed the town walls without incident. "It's just up this hill," Qrow said, leading the way towards a copse of trees in which, in a clearing, he had parked his airship. The Corvid's Claw had its hull painted in a dark matte grey color, with red accents on parts of the wings and fuselage.

With only the barest hint of a warning, Winter dropped to the ground, an instant before a whirring Gravity dust bola whipped through the space where she'd been standing. She rolled back to her feet, drawing her saber and standing protectively in front of the girls.

"You didn't really think that that would work, did you?" she asked.

Clover - bearing brand-new pants - entered the clearing, flanked by a dozen Atlas soldiers. "Well, you never know," he said, his tone remarkably smug for someone who had just missed his target. "I could've got lucky."

"Ah, hell." Winter looked over as Qrow spat. "We really gonna do this, Clove?"

Clove? What was that?

The Atlesian Specialist rolled his eyes. "Wow, Qrow, you're kicking off all this trouble for a personal grudge?"

"It ain't personal, Clove. Didn't even know you were here. I...I don't wanna fight you."

Winter risked a glance over at Qrow. What was going on here? "You know Captain Ebi?"

Qrow grimaced. "Yeah. I know him."

Clover shrugged. "It was just a job, Qrow, no need to take it so personal."

"It was plenty personal to me."

"Orders are orders, no matter how… distasteful they might be. You didn't really think that I meant what I said, did you? Settle down somewhere, adopt a couple kids...that isn't for men like us, Qrow. I know you know that. Deep down, you must have known the truth. You were an extended assignment, nothing less, nothing more."

Winter had spoken to Qrow in fairly harsh terms on a regular basis, having called the man every possible permutation of the phrase 'useless drunk' before, and usually with all manner of other invectives alongside. He'd usually roll with the punches, giving back as good as he got, with a grin and a glint in his eye. But here? Here, hearing those words from that man, the otherwise irrepressible Qrow looked genuinely hurt.

She didn't like that. She didn't like that one bit.

"Don't you talk to him like that!" she snapped, surprising even herself with her outburst. "Qrow, get to the chopper. I'll keep him off your back."

"And his friends?"

She smirked, a harsh and humorless expression befitting a predator. "Well, I didn't say not to help from the chopper."

He nodded, and broke for the Manta, while Clover raised his rod in preparation to whip the hook out and Winter used her glyph to surge towards the captain. She interrupted his attempted casting by bringing her saber down towards his head, forcing him to block with the reel. Winter detached the dagger from the saber, pulling it down to stab at his gut. Clover spun away from her, whipping the hook out towards her and attempting to wrap her up in the line. Against that kind of weapon, her saber was more of a liability than an asset, so she slid it back into the loop at her belt and rushed Clover, bringing the fight back into infighting range. She held her dagger in her left hand, while her right closed stiffened fingers together at the tips to form the trademark beak of the White Crane Immortal style. Clover attempted to put distance between them once more, but Winter caught the line, just under the hook, and with a series of acrobatic flips and vaults, began to tangle the line in on itself.

Clover, faced with the risk of his weapon becoming befouled, returned to infighting distance. He worked his fists end-over-end in chain punches, attempting to wrap up the lethal point of the dagger with which Winter continued to threaten him. As he successfully trapped her dagger hand, Winter knelt into a low stance, building power in a smooth upward lunge that drove the crane beak hand into his lower abdomen, a stunning rising movement that painfully blasted the breath from his lungs by compressing the diaphragm.

Whether by accident or design, Winter couldn't say, but Clover surprised her by dropping his weapon entirely, grabbing her shoulders in preparation for a takedown. In response, Winter engaged in the demure and ladylike act of headbutting him in his smug prick face, a move she then followed up upon by kicking him squarely between the legs. With his defenses totally crumbled, Winter finished up her attack sequence by driving the heel of her hand upwards into his nose while hooking his foot out from under him and then pivoting into an Aura-enhanced hook kick to the chin that sent him spinning vertically in the air twice before he crashed to the ground.

It was then that Winter realized that this left her entirely exposed to an entire squad of Atlas soldiers, who all had their rifles leveled at her. She shrugged sheepishly before leaping back, as hard as she could, into the Wild Falcon pose. As she leapt, she heard the whine of heavy autocannons fire up, sending the squad scrambling for cover amidst heavy weapons fire. Winter carried through with the leap, trusting Qrow to have positioned himself just right.

Her trust paid off as her high-heeled boots touched down perfectly on the deck just inside the main passenger compartment. As the Corvid's Claw picked up altitude, she saw Clover pick himself off the ground where she'd deposited him. It occurred to Winter that, just as she hadn't been affiliated with the SDC for years now, she had crossed a line, and now she was no longer a soldier. What did that make her?

Well, for starters, she was a very annoyed woman, so she decided to reflect that by shooting a rude gesture towards Clover as they flew away.

If nothing else, it was cathartic. Who was he to talk to Qrow like that? The nerve of some people..

She closed the hatch of the passenger compartment and turned to check up on everyone. Medusa waved happily from where she was strapped into a seat. Fria looked vaguely bored.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help!" Penny chirped.

Winter sighed. "It's okay," she told the android girl. "Maybe we can find someone to help you in Vale."

"Unlikely, but I will trust that you know best!" her smile was unwavering.

Winter waved her off. "Sure thing. I need to go talk to our pilot."

Unlike most Mantas, Qrow had customized the interior of the Corvid's Claw, and had sealed off the cockpit from the rest of the interior with a thick bulkhead, something about "minimizing accidental damage." The door slid open, and she entered the cockpit. Qrow sat at the controls, his face drawn and grim.

She didn't say anything. No pet names, no insults or baiting challenges. She just sat in the copilot's seat and waited for him to break the silence when he was ready.

After a moment, he did.

"It's my own fault," he finally said, his raspy voice thick with emotion. "I should have known better. Hell, I did know better. No way someone in a position like that just happens to run into a guy like me. I knew it. I did." He sighed. "Still, me and lonesome got a long past together, and when I finally meet someone whose Semblance perfectly complements mine...maybe a guy gets to thinkin' that he ain't meant to be alone any longer. Maybe he starts believing sweet words when he really shouldn't. And maybe he gets hurt a lot worse than just a beatdown."

She didn't say anything, just sitting quietly at the copilot's seat.

"Well?" he finally asked. "Nothing to say? No recriminations on how I'm a stupid drunk who should've known better? Nothing from the infamous Ice Queen?"

"Snow Angel."

He looked at her. "What?"

"Snow Angel." She kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, refusing to look at him or acknowledge the furious blushing of her cheeks, ears, and neck. "I hereby grant you exclusive rights to refer to me by that ridiculous nickname. Of course, should you do so in public, I will be obliged to pretend to hate it, and respond in kind with a similarly ridiculous name, followed by an outrageous display of temper."

Qrow's red eyes blinked. "Pretend?"

She still couldn't look him in the eye. "Don't...don't read into it."

"Wouldn't dream of it...Snow Angel."

[/]

As long as we're doing this, I'm not even going to pretend as if you aren't going to read this, and just address this entry to you directly, Yang. If anything, once you first started reading the first entry, Pyrrha's, you probably skipped along, looking to find the entry speaking of you. Well, wait no longer, here it is.

Ruby mentioned that your name apparently translates to "Sunny Little Dragon," which is as fitting a name as any I've ever heard for a person. You always try to make the situation brighter, whether through humor or by attempting to talk sense into some of the more...stubborn members of our group. Also, I'm fairly sure that you believe that the world does, in fact, revolve around you.

Forgive me, the analogy was there, and I proved unable to resist.

Obviously, when you're not being a happy little sunbeam, you're a force of nature on the battlefield, just as much a living artillery piece as Nora, but with much of the precision skill of Pyrrha.

Much of the skill. Not all of it. Don't get too excited, Pyrrha would still wreck you all up and down across the arena.

Yes she would. She absolutely would. Go ahead and challenge her, she's been looking for someone to fight her. For some reason, people are afraid to fight either of us after our bout.

You put up a tough front, and to be fair, there is a lot of grit to back that up. But anyone who takes the time to observe the real Yang Xiao Long can see the caring, sensitive girl underneath the bravado. I see it when you're staring at your sister with sheer adoration and pride. I see it when you take your partner by the shoulders and gently force her to confront her problems.

And I saw it as you sniffled and wiped tears from your eyes when you thought no one saw you reading my poetry notebook.

Why yes, Yang, I saw that. And no, I've not said a word to any of our friends. You know, if you had merely told me that you wanted to read my poetry just because you like poetry, I would have shared it with you happily. I don't know why you refuse to let anyone see that more tender side of yourself. At a guess, I would suppose that you felt like you had to make yourself as intimidating as possible, to better protect both yourself and your sister. Even your jacket is designed to be intimidating, puffing up your shoulders to make a broader, more masculine profile, making yourself seem larger, like a threat display from some frilled lizard.

I am unsure why no one else has noted that fact yet. A simple glance is all it takes, so why do they not see your shoulders?

I know I've said this before, but I wish that I had known my sisters, and in my dreams, I imagine that they would have looked after me the way you look after Ruby.

At any rate, while Ruby will always need her older sister, she won't always need you the way that she did when we first came to Beacon. Perhaps someday, when you feel comfortable, you can open up with us. If there is one thing that I've learned here at Beacon, it is that no one can be strong all the time, and allowing the people who love you to help shoulder your burdens can allow you to better heal, from whatever hurt it is that haunts you.

And since you seem so eager for prose, I'll end this entry on a poem.

The sunlit maiden of arbor'd isle,

We see sweet spring within your smile.

With loving warmth, in calm repose

The gentle gold nurtures autumn rose.

To see you stride, thy flame alight

Sweet sun turned wrathful, burning bright.

Returned to spring once danger's flown,

Resume your shine, but alas, alone.

Sweet sunlit maiden of arbor'd isle,

We see the hurt behind your sunbeam smile.

Your gentle heart, we be not allowed,

To soothe such truth, hid by mocking cloud.

"From the Journals of Sir Jaune d'Arc the Preserver, Champion of Vale" Arc Family Archives, Château d'Arc

[/]

The R, the B, and the Y of Team RWBY were sitting quietly in their dorm room, when the Aura alarms went off on their Scrolls. Ruby had been studying, Blake was still staring off into space after her attempt to recruit other Faunus had failed spectacularly, and Yang was pretending to read a magazine while keeping an eye on her partner. The blatting sound jolted them all to an instant alert.

"What? What's going on?"

Not long after their teams had formed, RWBY and JNPR had included each other's members on their team Aura monitors. In a sense, they were informally one, big eight-person team. As they fired up their Scrolls, they watched in shock as Jaune's Aura skyrocketed out of all norms.

"The hell is going on with Sir Rusty?" Yang wondered. "Is his Scroll broken?"

Blake shook her head. "There's no way that these readings are accurate."

After a few moments, Jaune's Aura began to recede, finally settling at about half-again as large a reserve as he'd had before. Yang whistled. "Holy crap, he's got a metric ton of Aura."

"I want to see what's going on!" Ruby hopped off of her bunk and dashed over to the door, when Yang coughed meaningfully.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Well, we may not be...exactly welcome over there," Yang said.

"But we're his friends!"

"You're his friends," Blake clarified.

Ruby made a sad Ruby noise. "I mean…"

The cat Faunus sighed. "Go ahead and check on the murderer. I'll still be here when you get back."

Ruby looked like she wanted to protest again, but Yang just shook her head and ushered her out the door. Dragging Ruby by the hand, she pounded on Team JNPR's door. After a moment, the door cracked open, revealing a slightly frazzled Pyrrha Nikos.

"Oh, hello again!" she greeted, after her eyes had darted around to make sure that a certain cat Faunus hadn't accompanied the sisters. "I take it you saw Jaune's Aura?"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" asked Ruby.

Pyrrha opened the door wider. "Well, Ren's still trying to figure out exactly what it means, but so far, it looks like a good thing." She gestured for them to enter.

Ruby went bright red as she saw that Jaune was clad only in his underwear, sitting up on the bed as Ren examined him, the Mistrali boy pausing from time to time to either add to his notes or check some kind of chart. Weiss was sitting next to Jaune, his hand in hers.

"Yo, Sir Rusty, what's the deal?" Yang, of course, cut right to the chase, unphased by Jaune's state of undress.

Jaune looked up, smiling at the new arrivals. "Hey, you two. I think I found my Semblance."

"Really?" Ruby gasped, her silver eyes glittering at the promise of something neat. "Is it awesome?"

"Well, let's wait until Ren gives the go-ahead," Jaune said.

The man in question sat down heavily next to Jaune. "Well, the boost to his new baseline is accounted for by the meridian therapy, but there's nothing I've even heard of that would produce a spike like what we saw. A Semblance would be the most likely explanation. Jaune, what were you feeling when that boost triggered?"

Jaune just sent a loving glance at Weiss. "Just Weiss, at first. I remembered all these moments we had together, and I just...decided to...be," he finished helplessly.

"Of course you did," Yang muttered. She wasn't jealous. She wasn't! At least, not of Weiss having Sir Rusts-a-lot specifically. It's just, well, she'd swiped his journal again earlier that day, before all of that craziness went down, and he'd gone and wrote a poem about her. The only person who'd thought to write her a poem was hopelessly in love with someone else.

Well, okay, Ruby had written a poem for her once, but "Roses are red, Beowulves are bad, I love you sis, and say hi to Dad," didn't count. It did, but in more of the "Aww, let's put this on the fridge, you little five-year old dork" kinda way, and not the "I'm going to make you feel like the only girl in the world" kinda way. Not in the "I've obviously put thought and consideration into who you are as a person and not as a disembodied pair of tits" kinda way. Stupid Weiss. Stupid Jaune.

She didn't want to try to swipe Jaune from Weiss. Yang had some standards, after all. She just wished that someone would see her as their world, the same way Jaune saw Weiss. To see the woman underneath the dragon. And maybe write her some mushy poetry while they were at it. That wasn't so much to ask, was it? She was tough, but she was still a woman, damn it, and women require a regular dosage of worship and adoration to maintain the lustre of their scales. Those might be dragons, actually. Either way, Yang was feeling a decided lack of worship and adoration.

But the thing is, Jaune had seen her. He may not have seen everything, but he'd seen a hell of a lot more than most people ever did. Everyone could see the party girl, the prankster, the battle-lusted boxer, sure. Looking a little closer, it wasn't too hard to see the dedicated older sister, but even there, Jaune had proven to be more perceptive than most. Honestly, what sort of man attracted to women even noticed her shoulders in her combat gear? Yeah, Weiss was practically a dude anyway - okay, Yang may have been a little jealous after all - but still.

The worst part of it was that Jaune hadn't simply been thrown by the superficialities like so many others who Yang had met over the years. No, he'd seen parts of her that she'd never intended to show him, seen so many of the qualities that she thought no one ever would, and she still didn't measure up to Weiss in his estimation. He'd somehow perceived so much of her self, of her true self, and passed up on her. At the end of the day, he'd decided that she just wasn't good enough, just like her mother had given up on her so long ago.

Why didn't she deserve to be loved?

But for all that it ached, Jaune hadn't meant to hurt her. He was, given his blood-soaked past, a surprisingly good and kind person, thoughtful and considerate, and Yang truly was worried about him. She wanted him to recover. So though he had maybe, kinda, sorta, without even meaning to, a little bit broke her heart, as he sat with the rest of their friends - with one notable exception - and practiced with his newfound Semblance, Yang did her best to do what she always did.

She hid the hurt behind her sunlit smile.

[/]

Flying from Argus to Vale was one hell of a trip, so Qrow had had plenty of time to think of some way to explain to his boss why he'd suddenly abandoned his mission observing ol' Jimmy's activities to make a sudden beeline back to Beacon. Ultimately, as they left the continent of Anima and began the trek across the sea, with Winter checking on the civvies in the back, Qrow decided that he just wasn't able to think of any line of bullshit crazier than the truth, so he dialed up the boss on his Scroll, keying it to display the video on the windshield.

After a moment, the bemused visage of his master apparated onto the screen. "Ah, Qrow. What have you discovered?"

Qrow hesitated for a moment. "Not sure if it's good news or bad news, but it sure as hell is interesting news. I'm headed back to base, on my way already."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, leaning back at his desk. "Well, this must be quite the development indeed. What has happened?"

"Oz, we gotta a thirty-two pickup," the spy reported. No use straight-up saying "Winter Maiden" when others might possibly overhear.

In his office, Ozpin leaned forward, his hand on his chin. "I see. You did well to return straight here."

"Sure, but we've got some civvies along with them - and a defector. One of Jimmy's little pals was there with some goons. Defector had to fight her way outta there, so she ain't gonna be able to go back, and they know I helped her."

Ozpin sighed. "Well, I suppose it couldn't be helped. Still, there will be...complications, as a result of these developments. We'll discuss them further in person. Fly swiftly, Qrow."

Closing down the Scroll call, Qrow slumped back in the pilot's seat.

[/]

Weiss struggled to keep from blushing as she brushed her teeth in Team JNPR's bathroom. She loved Jaune, she truly did, but gods, he could be such a dunce! Said dunce was brushing his teeth behind her as they stood at the sink, still clad only in his boxers, and he was completely oblivious as he sported a tremendous tent in the front of his underwear!

She made the mistake of bending down a bit to spit out the toothpaste into the sink, causing...it to raise up the rear of her nightgown. Weiss sputtered as she shot back upright. "Jaune!" she gasped, scandalized.

He just raised an eyebrow at her as he leaned over - pressing it against her bottom! - and spat into the sink himself, leaving the faucet to run for a moment to rinse out the sink. "What?" he asked her, shutting off the sink and moving to leave the bathroom.

"That!" Weiss pointed at it.

"Huh?" Jaune looked down. "Oh, that? That's nothing to be concerned with. It's just a physiological response indicating my desire to mate with you. It'll pass soon enough."

At the breakfast table - Jaune and Weiss had got a late start that lazy Saturday morning, as Ren figured that he needed the rest to recuperate - Pyrrha spat out her orange juice in shock, spraying Nora with a citrus-saliva solution.

"Oh, gross!" Nora cried. "Pyrrha!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Jaune!" Weiss cried again, completely mortified, while Jaune's teammates just stared. Then Nora just started laughing, outright cackling.

The aspiring knight was completely puzzled by the uproar surrounding something as innocuous as an erection. "I don't understand the reason for the commotion," he said, pulling on his pants, which failed to completely conceal the extent of his physical arousal. "Spending the night with you in my arms clearly set off a natural instinct to mate. And why shouldn't it? It's a little strange that that reaction never happened before, but there's still nothing to be ashamed of."

Weiss just buried her burning face in her hands. Of course, with her luck, her boyfriend had finally started recognizing her as a woman, but was completely unfamiliar with the idea that he shouldn't just announce it to the world.

"I...think there's an explanation for the...abruptness of the...occurrence," Ren said, struggling with his natural inclination to flee. This was a matter of Jaune's emotional and spiritual health, after all, and Ren refused to let his own embarrassment result in his providing anything less than the best possible treatment. "Of the meridians that Jaune had closed off, and that we opened back up yesterday, one is known to have profound effects on...sexual health. Given what he revealed yesterday, it seems as though he crippled himself sexually to prevent himself from...being used to abuse people."

Annnnnd that just made Weiss sad all over again. She let out her frustrations and embarrassment with a deep sigh. There were many ways in which Jaune simply wasn't like other young men his age, and this was just one more of them. In a way, it was something of a miracle that someone who had seen and been made to participate in such horrors was still so...innocent.

Innocent, yet still entirely upfront and unsubtle about his desire for her. So absolutely ready for her and only her.

Weiss swallowed, hard, her heart racing in her chest.

"Ultimately, I believe it best that the two of you have that, erm, private conversation in private," Ren continued quickly, obviously wanting to let the situation resolve itself. "To that end, I suggest that the rest of us go into the city."

"That sounds grand!" Pyrrha hastily agreed, perhaps a little hysterical in her tone. The girl was already halfway out the door. Meanwhile, Nora just kind of sat there, her head canted in curiosity.

"Hey Jaune, can I watch?"

Ren's stoic facade finally cracked, and he dropped a heavy hand onto Nora's shoulder. "Now, Nora."

"Coming Ren!"

Ren shook his head as he ushered Nora out of the dorm room. Percival, for his part, just jumped onto Pyrrha's bunk, and Ren decided that he wasn't about to take on the task of corralling all of the rest of Team JNPR. How Jaune handled it all the time, he had no idea.

As Ren closed the door, Weiss distracted herself by gathering up the team's hastily-abandoned dishes. "So…" she began. "There's a…reason why we were all acting so strangely just now."

"Huh. Well, what's going on?" Weiss tried not to whine in frustration as Jaune put his shirt on and sat on his bunk to start putting his boots on. She was torn between wanting him to finish getting dressed and wanting him to turn right back around and take those clothes back off.

Weiss took a deep breath to calm herself. Right now, Jaune needed her to take charge, so that he could better assimilate with people who had not been mistreated by some kind of psycho super soldier program. That meant getting over her own nerves and embarrassment and speaking plainly.

"Okay, Jaune. First, understand that there are...cultural taboos that most people have that makes it...rather difficult to discuss these things openly. To the rest of us, the way you were...displaying those physiological reactions was frank to the point of embarrassment."

"Oh." Jaune looked abashed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable. I'm...I'm not a threat."

"A threat?" she looked at him, confused.

"I would never...hurt you like that," he said, a miserable expression on his face.

Oh. Oh. The only context Jaune had for other men discussing desire would have been in regards to their victims. This also painted Jaune's particular disdain for Cardin Winchester in a new light, as the other boy's crass comments about Nora gained a more sinister connotation than a dumb, vulgar boy trying to chat about girls with another boy. And now Jaune was worried that she had thought that he was…

Weiss padded over to him and reached down, gently lifting his chin to look him in the eyes. "Jaune. I know you would never hurt me. It's just that there are things that you need to know." Gods, was she really going to have to do the 'when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much' spiel? "Something that you never learned is that sometimes, people…" she took a deep breath to take the plunge. "Sometimes people feel sexual desire for reasons other than procreation, or to hurt people. This other form is an extremely...personal and intimate conjoining. People have sex with one another for...for fun, or to relieve tension, or just to feel good. Ideally, it would be a way for people to share something beautiful with each other. Beautiful and private," she said, making sure to emphasize the privacy aspect. "Very, very private, and not for other people to see or hear discussed."

She watched as he digested this new insight. On an impulse that even surprised herself, she wrapped an arm behind his neck and lowered herself onto his lap, straddling him. His eyes widened and his breath hitched, and sure enough, she felt his arousal return in force, straining at his pants. She did that. Weiss felt a rush as she realized just how much she affected him. A simple shift, and he was ready for her. A mere touch, and he'd unlocked his Semblance. He was hers, her beautiful Jaune.

They locked eyes. Her hand stroked his muscular chest. His hands found their way to her slender waist, just above where they flared out to her hips. Hearts raced, faces flushed. "Jaune," Weiss said, her voice just above a whisper. "I understand that you've had...difficult circumstances. You should know that, if you aren't comfortable, you don't have to do anything. Say the word, and I'll step back, give you space. It won't make me love you any less. But...if you want...if...if you're ready," she gulped, face flushed, as she made the leap. "I'm ready. I don't...I haven't before, but...I want to explore with you. You and only you. I can't imagine anyone else."

She watched as he considered for a moment. Then he kissed her.

While his kisses had always been tender, loving, and filled with emotional longing, here it was flavored with a more primal hunger for her. He stood up, Weiss wrapping her legs around his waist as he laid her down on the bed. Holding himself over her, Jaune's weight crushed her in the most delightful way. She threw her head back to allow him access to the tender spots on the side of her neck, her long white hair spilling freely around her.

"Wait," Weiss gasped, causing Jaune to sit back on his knees.

"Weiss?"

She rolled over to the nightstand, where she'd put her purse the previous night. Rummaging through her handbag, she produced a small foil packet, holding it up to show to Jaune.

"For the record," she said, with a rueful smile. "This is the protection everyone was talking about."

She practically pounced on him.

[/]

Ruby led her sister and Blake through the streets of Vale, more to get a change of scenery to ease the tension with their Faunus teammate than with any sort of destination in mind. Blake had stared at her black bow for a minute solid before ultimately deciding to go without. That didn't mean that she had overcome her nervousness, a wary alarm that bordered on outright fear, as the three girls had left Team RWBY's dorm room. Her cat ears twitched carefully as they walked along the boulevards of the city of Vale.

Yang, soft-hearted girl that she was, tried her best to make small talk.

"So…" began the blonde, "Do you write to your mom and dad?"

"No," Blake said, affecting a disinterested monotone.

In the midst of the awkward silence, Ruby shot Yang a glance, causing the older sister to shrug.

"Well...why not?"

Blake tried to demure from the conversation, but Yang refused to let her drop the conversation, peering at her with a bright smile and wide, violet eyes. "C'mon…" she teased. She held up a finger and slowly waved it from side to side in front of Blake's eyes. "You want to open up to us," she said, as though attempting to hypnotize her partner. "You want to open up to us…"

The cat Faunus rolled her eyes. If it would get her to shut up…

"I didn't leave on good terms," she said.

"...And?" Yang led.

"...I can't face them until I've made amends," Blake relented.

"Wait," Ruby stopped, turning to face her Faunus teammate. "Do they know that you're here? That you're safe?"

Blake couldn't meet their gaze.

"Blake! You need to let your parents' know! They're probably worried sick about you!"

"...I'm not worth the bother," Blake muttered.

Yang put an arm around her shoulder, gentle but assertive. "Yeah, nah, bullshit. If they're any parents worth the name, they'll be longing to hear from you. It's not cool to leave them worrying like that."

"It's been three years," she said. "I just...I said terrible things to them when I left. I called them cowards, I…" Realizing that she was revealing far more than she'd ever intended, Blake clammed up again.

"I'm sure that they'll love to hear from you," Ruby said, her tone sad. "No matter what you said back then. They're your parents. And you shouldn't take them for granted. I would do anything to be able to speak to my mom again, even for just a minute. You can, and all that's holding you back is your own fear."

The three girls fell silent. Then Ruby started as she saw a very familiar trio standing in front of a store with a smashed-out storefront. "Look, it's Team JNPR!" She went to run towards her friends. Blake went to turn around and walk the other way, but Yang turned back and dragged her over to join the rest.

"Hey guys!" Ruby waved hello to Ren, Nora and Pyrrha. "What's up?"

"Where's the murderer?" Blake spat, her ears flattened against her scalp.

Pyrrha took a step towards the Faunus girl. "Spending alone time with his girlfriend, terrorist."

"Easy, Pyrrha." Ren nudged the champion.

Yang mirrored the gesture with her belligerent partner. "C'mon, Blake, no need to pick a fight."

Blake sighed, but Ruby gestured towards the busted storefront, which had yellow police tape around it. "What happened here?"

"Dust robbery," Ren said. "Detective thinks it could be the White Fang."

"Of course he does," Blake huffed. "Humans always rush to blame us for everything."

"Oh yeah, you know those humans," Nora deadpanned. "Can't trust 'em for nothin'."

If Blake caught the sarcasm, she didn't reveal it. "The White Fang doesn't do things like this!"

An awkward silence fell over the group. "Didn't...didn't you steal Dust?" Pyrrha finally asked. "As in, you personally?"

"That was different!" protested Blake. "We went to steal Dust from the SDC, not normal storekeepers!"

"A distinction without meaning," Ren pointed out. "The stores are part of the distribution network, but are not too well-guarded. The company shipments would be better defended. Lacking one of their more skilled operatives, they may have opted to shift to softer targets."

"You don't know that! He's poisoned you all against the Faunus!"

"Blake." Yang put a hand on her partner's arm. "They didn't say anything about the Faunus in general, just the White Fang specifically. They aren't one and the same, you know."

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" A voice called out from a nearby dock, the order nearly sending Blake into a panic. As the students watched, a blonde monkey Faunus came tearing down the dock, easily leaping up the stairs that separated the dock area from the boulevard. As he passed by, he took a moment to shoot Blake a roguish wink, causing the cat girl to blush in embarrassment.

The students blinked at one another as the Faunus and his police pursuers ran past them.

"Uh...that just happened," Yang said, to a puzzled shrug from Nora. "Blake, did you know that guy?"

She shook her head. "No, I've never seen him before."

"So why the wink?" Ruby asked.

Yang grinned. "Well, maybe he just recognized a hot pu-"

"Maybe he's a part of the White Fang," Blake interrupted. "My replacement? I need to find out what he knows!" Then, before Yang or anyone else could stop her, Blake was gone, leaping onto the rooftops in pursuit of the random Faunus boy.

A silence.

"Well, shit."

"Yang!"

[/]

In the months since their semester at Beacon had begun, Jaune's friends had come to recognize his expressions. Most of the time, his face was set in a blank, stoic mask. From time to time, he would have either a very slight, sly smile - as though he were privy to some great jest that had escaped everyone else - or else a melancholy little smile that expressed his remorse and grief more completely than any frown ever could.

That was why it was so very strange for his friends when they met for dinner in a cafe in town, and Jaune sported a wide grin that was, for lack of a better term, downright goofy. His expression matched that of the silly golden puppy that trailed along behind him. For her part, Weiss - who had teetered in on slightly wobbly legs - looked torn between putting on a blank mask of her own to conceal all, and looking downright pleased with herself.

Yang rolled her eyes as Jaune pulled a chair out for Weiss, some old-fashioned move that she must have taught him herself. The dorks. Weiss herself seemed oddly relaxed moreso than Yang had ever seen the heiress, as though some sort of knot deep within her had been untied, easing some sort of taut tension that had her so high-strung. And Jaune looked as though he'd won the lottery, with the prize being some sort of world-shattering revelation that left him equal parts bewildered and giddy.

Nora opened her mouth to say something, only for Ren to give her a look, causing her to pop her mouth closed again.

"So, I trust issues were resolved in a satisfactory manner?" Ren asked.

"Indeed. Thank you all for the privacy to resolve such issues," Jaune answered, in a carefully neutral tone.

Weiss nodded in satisfaction. She had very much impressed upon him that, if he wished for said activities to continue, he would exercise discretion as it pertained to such personal matters. Given how he very much wanted said activities to continue in the future, it took a surprisingly short amount of time to train him properly.

She just hoped that no one had noticed how she'd still had a little difficulty walking properly. A demure little smile spread across her lips as she remembered just how...diligent her Jaune had been in meeting her needs. Apparently, Jaune had had five siblings, and Weiss had a suspicion of just how such a large family had come about, if Jaune's father had been anything like Jaune himself. She was going to need to pick out more baby names in the future. Jaune would give her a great big family, one filled with love and joy instead of cold bitterness.

While Weiss daydreamed happily, the others were discussing their day in the city. After Yang had showed off her new boots and Nora had told everyone about the movie she had dragged Ren and Pyrrha to see, the conversation swiftly turned to the subject of their missing Faunus friend.

"I sent her a text telling her we were all getting something to eat," Ruby said, "But she never responded. It's...it's getting late. Should we try and find her?"

"Blake seemed like she...wanted her space," Pyrrha said diplomatically.

The conversation took a brief pause as the waiter arrived to take their orders. Once he left, Yang shifted in her seat. "We might need to give her a little space, but not too much. That guy looked like a goofball, but so does Jaune, and he's plenty dangerous."

"Jaune doesn't look like a goofball!" Weiss protested. Her objections fell away as she saw the man in question sneaking blueberries from the fruit salad spread to his puppy. "Well...not much of a goofball."

Still, Weiss couldn't complain too much. It was good to see Jaune looking less...haunted, than he had been. It was as if years of darkness had fled before her touch, and for once, Jaune looked as young as he really was. To look at him now, so happy and carefree, one would never suspect that that same young man had attempted suicide just the previous day.

She had done that. In a way, it was a bit awe-inspiring, to realize just how much he must love her for her to have been able to make such a dramatic shift in his attitude so quickly. It occurred to Weiss that she would need to be very careful to keep that in mind, as she had the potential to absolutely devastate him emotionally.

"Annnnnd we lost her again," Nora teased from across the table.

Weiss blinked. "Wait, what?"

Nora grinned. "So, how was it?"

Yang snickered as both Jaune and Weiss sat up straighter, painting identically-neutral expressions on their blushing faces. "I have no idea what you mean, Nora," Weiss lied outrageously.

"Dude, Weiss, c'mon," Yang scoffed. "You're practically glowing, and when he looks at you, Jaune's literally glowing. You don't gotta get x-rated, but you're not fooling anyone."

Jaune glanced at Weiss - and he really did start to glow softly when he looked at her, making her heart flip - but he was also slightly panicked, caught between his obligation to be truthful and his obligation not to embarrass his girlfriend. Pyrrha looked like she'd rather not hear it, while Ren just gave up trying to wrangle Nora with a sigh and an apologetic shrug.

The couple was saved by the arrival of the food. "Oh, look at that, dinner's here!" Weiss announced, slightly hysterical. Nora and Yang had mercy on the poor heiress, and soon after the food had been distributed, the conversation returned to the topic of Blake.

"I'm just saying, we need to figure out a way to reach her," Weiss said. "I understand why she feels this way, truly I do, but we can't function without her onboard."

"Short of dumping Jaune and splitting RWBY from JNPR entirely, I'm not sure how to do that," Ren said. "Which, of course, I would never suggest," he quickly added, seeing the sudden look of panic between the pair.

"I'm all for stickin' with your friends," Yang began, speaking around a mouthful of rare steak, "but you guys have been taking this whole thing really cool. You're not morally opposed to working with Jaune, or taking his orders again in the future? Like, at all?"

"Of course not," answered Nora. "We've got to stick together!"

"Nora and I were orphans as well," Ren explained. "Had General Ironwood been sweeping through Mistral looking for recruits at the time, would we have ended up in Jaune's circumstance? Would we be doing the general's bidding even now? It was all Jaune ever knew. We refuse to condemn him when it so easily could have been us instead."

"And I simply trust that Jaune has good intentions," Pyrrha added.

Jaune swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "Have I ever told you all that you're the best?"

"So, ditching Sir Rusty is out," Yang reasoned. "That means we need to reconcile Blake. But we can't do that if she isn't friggin' talking to us!"

"Well, we have to keep trying," Jaune said. "I'm not ready to give up on a friend."

Yang winced. "Uh, she was pretty clear last night that she doesn't consider the two of you to be friends. Sorry about that."

The aspiring knight shrugged, unconcerned. "She might not consider herself to be my friend, but that doesn't mean that I'm not her friend."

A pause.

"What?" Nora asked, confused.

"It's been an hour since I last texted her." Ruby, ignoring Jaune's odd statement, checked her Scroll. "Once we finish up here, we should split up and go look for her. Weiss, you're gonna need to come with me. I'm glad you had happy canoodle time with Jaune and all, but we're going to need to fix this as a whole team."

Weiss was gearing up for another denial. Even the child was intimating that she'd had relations! The fact that she'd actually had, repeatedly, enthusiastically, and with plans to do so again in the future, was irrelevant. It was the principle of the thing, damn it!

However, before the heiress could give her objection, the cafe door opened up and the woman of the hour herself walked onto the dining veranda, led by the waiter and with the blonde monkey Faunus boy from earlier in tow. As Blake saw her friends, and Jaune, sitting at a nearby table, she attempted to make an immediate about-face, only for Yang to leap up from her chair and snatch her up in an embrace.

"Blake! We've been waiting so long! You simply must come dine with us!" Though her tone was bright and cheery, there was no room to argue with her eyes. "And your friend as well. Waiter, bring us two additional chairs, please!" With that, Yang frog-marched Blake over to their table, practically shoving her into a chair once the waiter had set it down.

Once the waiter left with an order for two coffees, Yang opened up. "Blake. You had us all worried, just like your parents. We care about you, you ditz, so stop giving us all a heart attack and answer your damn Scroll! Also, who is this guy?" she indicated to the monkey boy.

"Name's Sun Wukong," he answered nonchalantly. "Leader of Team SSSN," he finished, his expression proud. His face fell as he realized that no one there recognized the name. "Team SSSN? Hottest thing at Haven Academy?"

"Well...that sounds...lovely, Mister Wukong," Pyrrha, bless her, tried to salvage the boy's feelings. "So, how do you know Blake?"

"He doesn't," Blake answered quickly, cutting off Sun's response. "He says he has information on possible White Fang activities at the docks, and I needed somewhere to ask him in detail."

Weiss quirked an eyebrow. "So you chose...a cafe?"

"He suggested it, and I am in dire need of some good coffee," Blake answered.

Yang grinned at Sun. "Did you leverage her crazy to get a date?"

"It's not a date!" protested Blake. "Also, how dare you," she muttered weakly.

"Well, since we're here, I might as well get talkin'," Sun said. "Oh, sweet coffee. Thanks, man," he thanked the waiter as he placed some fancy mug of specialty coffee in front of himself and Blake. He took a deep pull before beginning. "So, when I was stowed away on that ship, I heard some people talkin' 'bout this big SDC shipment coming in later tonight. Seems like those crazy White Fang nuts are looking to hit a big score tonight. I was gonna follow them, but then the crew spotted me and, well, you know the rest."

"So if you didn't know Blake, why did you wink at her?" Weiss asked the boy.

He shrugged. "What? She's cute."

"Idiot," Blake muttered into her coffee. "There's still no definitive proof that it's the White Fang carrying out these robberies. That's why I'm going to take Sun here and scout out the docks to see who's really to blame."

Blake's proclamation was met with several different responses, ranging from mild indifference from most of Team JNPR to Ruby demanding that she take the rest of the team along. Finally, Blake held up her hand to call for some quiet. "Look, Ruby, I get that you want us to be a team and all, but this is personal to me. I don't want the rest of you to get involved."

"That's not fair!" protested Ruby. "We are a team, or at least we're supposed to be! Why won't you trust us to help?"

"How can I trust you when you side with that murderer?" Blake retorted, indicating Jaune.

"It's not a matter of sides, Blake!" Yang butted in. "We can recognize that what he did was wrong while still acknowledging the circumstances behind it! It doesn't have to be so black and white. We're not your enemies, Blake, but we aren't going to turn on a friend who's trying to atone either."

Blake looked around at her human friends, and then at Sun, who could only offer a shrug in response. "Ugh, fine," she relented. "But if all nine of us head out, we're going to attract attention, and probably scare off the real culprits."

"Well, Team JNPR should head back to Beacon," Ren said. "We'll stay on alert in case you run into trouble you might need backup to beat."

"Actually," Blake interrupted, "I was hoping you'd lend me the murderer for the time being. I want him to see that the White Fang isn't what he was taught it is, so he can know just how wrong he was."

"If you call him murderer one more time, you and me are gonna throw hands, kitty-cat," Nora interjected, clearly ready to fight on her friend's behalf.

"It's okay, Nora," Jaune said, trying to placate his friends' anger.

Weiss disagreed. "It really isn't, Jaune."

"Look," began Jaune, holding his hands open in supplication. "If it makes Blake feel better, then that could be the first step towards some kind of reconciliation, and that could help bring Team RWBY back together."

Ren shook his head. "Jaune, you always looked out for us. Now I'm looking out for you. You can't expect to go from attempting suicide to carrying out a field operation in a single day, no matter how effective Weiss is at...soothing your spirit."

"No one said anything about fighting anyone," Jaune pointed out. "We go, we look, and then we call Vale's authorities, assuming that the robbery really does take place. Easy in, easy out, and it's a first gesture to reach out to Blake."

Ren sighed. "I very tentatively sign off on this," he said. "But if anything goes wrong, you give me a call, understood?"

"Understood."

"Blake…" Ruby stood. "I hope that you'll be able to trust us one day. All we want is to be your friends."

Weiss gathered up Percival in her arms, the puppy wriggling happily. "Be safe," she told him. "Come back to me. And you -" she pointed to Blake. "He's sating your own ego for the sake of our team. The very least you can do is to stop referring to him as a murderer."

With that, the rest of the teens left, leaving Jaune, Blake and Sun standing alone in the cafe.

"Wait, Weiss was supposed to get the check," Jaune pointed out.

Blake looked at the check. "Um...I don't suppose either of you have any cash on you, do you?"

It was just her luck to have an entourage of broke blonde idiots.

[/]

Blake tried hard not to scowl as the trio took to the rooftops. Her designated smut fund had just been depleted covering the costs of her friends' dinner - and all she'd had was a coffee! Truly, being Blake Belladonna was suffering. Soon enough, they settled on top of a warehouse at a designated SDC industrial dock, and began their vigil.

"So…" Sun began, awkwardly trying to make small talk. "Why does Blake call you a murderer?"

"For the record, you are terrible at small talk," Blake muttered.

"I was raised by the Atlas military," explained Jaune, keeping his tone calm. "While I was in their care, I ended up carrying out numerous atrocities in the shadow war against the White Fang, including the torture and extrajudicial execution of prisoners."

Sun blinked. "Dude."

"I know."

"So, like...what's your deal now?"

"Headmaster Ozpin took me in. Offered me the chance to turn my skills to a more noble purpose. Now I try to find atonement through service to Remnant as a knight."

"Like, one of those old-fashioned Vale knights, like you see on TV?"

"The very same. It's something of a family tradition."

Sun scratched the back of his head. "Well, I mean, you recognized that what you were doing was wrong, right? And you're trying to be a better person?"

Blake turned at him. "Really? You're siding with him too?" She practically hissed at the monkey Faunus.

"Whoa, hey," he said. "I don't know what you want to do about it now. Not like there's a time machine. Plus, we all hear of some pretty messed-up stuff coming from Atlas, and if this guy was raised by them, it makes sense that he'd been in the middle of it all."

"He should go on trial," Blake muttered.

"Trial by whom?" questioned Jaune. "Because I guarantee that no one in Atlas would risk going against The General to hold someone accountable for actions taken while in his service. No way. The Vale Council? Not likely that they'd want to hold the last son of one of their storied noble houses accountable for Atlesian war crimes. Mistral? That has possibility, but given how much their national defense relies on Atlas, I highly doubt that they'd seriously risk crossing The General. The most logical answer would be to go to Menagerie for trial, but the sensationalism of such a trial would further destabilize your father's political situation, especially if the trial returned a verdict of not guilty due to my age at the time. That would put Ghira in the damned awkward position of either ensuring that the trial has a predetermined outcome, or else make the highly-volatile position of advocating for the rights of a human war criminal, which, combined with your bow exploits, would be handing the White Fang control of Menagerie on a silver platter."

Blake's jaw dropped. "...You put a lot of thought into this."

"Of course I did. You didn't think that I felt I deserved to get off scot-free, did you?"

The three fell silent as they continued to wait.

"Wait, you're the princess of Menagerie?" Sun asked.

Blake looked embarrassed. "My father's the Chieftain of Menagerie. The position isn't...it isn't hereditary."

Sun whistled. "Can't believe I met actual royalty! Wait, am I supposed to bow?"

"I will hit you," Blake muttered. "I'm just...I'm just Blake."

As they watched, a ship pulled into the port. A few moments later, a Bullhead landed by the warehouse. A tall human, who wore a white suit jacket and black bowler hat, twirled a cane as he began surveying the cargo ship. More to the point, he was flanked by two dozen Faunus who clearly wore the black and white uniform and Grimm masks of the White Fang.

"I do believe that that is the White Fang," Jaune couldn't quite resist pointing out.

Blake shot him an evil look. "This has to be some kind of mistake."

"They're grabbing the Dust," Sun noted.

"Well, unless there's some other Faunus exclusive militia that I've yet heard of, one that wears an identical uniform and mask, then that's the Fang all right," Jaune continued.

"Why are they taking orders from a human?" Blake wondered. "Something's all wrong here."

"At a guess, they're being used as expendable muscle by some unknown faction," Jaune reasoned. "None of which changes the fact that that is, in fact, the White - Blake?"

As he watched, Blake leapt from the warehouse roof, to land smack-dab in the middle of two dozen hostiles. She held her sword to the throat of the human as she made to address the Fang.

Jaune and Sun shared a look of pure shock. "Did that just fucking happen?" Sun blurted.

Sure enough, a fight immediately broke out, with Blake in the unenviable position of being utterly surrounded. As Sun leapt into the fray, Jaune pulled out his Scroll and dialed Ren's number.

"Jaune," he heard Ren say on the other end of the line.

"Trouble," Jaune stated. "It's the Fang, out in force. Blake jumped right into the middle of them. I'm going to have to fight to get her out. Get here quick, but it'll probably be over before you do." With that, Jaune ended the call.

Blake and Sun were good, to be sure, but by getting herself into that situation, Blake had ceded every possible tactical advantage to the Fang, leaving it to Sun to try and extricate them from the situation. Jaune tried to keep from rolling his eyes as Sun revealed his weapon to be a brace of shotgun-nunchaku. They were an awful lot of bang for not a lot of blood. They made for an impressive light show, but in terms of actual damage, the monkey Faunus might as well have been waving sparklers in the unknown human's face. First Blake, then Sun went down, and Jaune was out of time. He had to act.

Blake felt confused and lost as she watched the blade descend towards her, helpless to escape due to the wound on her leg. Why were the White Fang acting like this? What had changed to make them this way? She realized that she would never know the answer. The man who would kill her, a dog Faunus with a machete, wore the uniform of the White Fang, and was just as willing to butcher her as any human.

As she resigned herself to her end, a blade of white steel erupted from the front of the man's throat. The other Faunus's hot blood splashed across her face and chest, soaking her.

Jaune forced the Faunus to the ground, using a foot to brace against the man's back and rip his spear free with a gout of blood. He swung his spear in a wide, overhead orbit, inscribing a powerful hewing cut that pushed Blake's attackers back to clear some space around her.

Oh yeah? You and what army?

I am an army.

The exchange, which Blake had witnessed on the first day of classes at Beacon, had originally seemed to her as empty boasting on the part of Jaune Arc.

It was no lie. Merely a statement of fact.

His movements were quick, but brutally, horrifically efficient. He stamped knees, smashed throats, and worked the bladed spear as though it were a surgeon's scalpel. When an enterprising ram Faunus darted inside the reach of the spear, Jaune retracted it to the size of a sword, sidestepped the White Fang member's clumsy slash, then grabbed his horn, wrenching his head back and driving the blade through the Faunus's eye.

Blake watched in horror as Faunus fell, dead or dying, around her.

Sun just whistled in morbid fascination. "Holy crap, dude." His eyes widened as he saw a second Bullhead begin a strafing run. "Head's up, incoming!"

As the monkey boy scrambled to drag Blake to cover, Jaune focused his newfound Semblance on himself, boosting his Aura. He focused it into his legs and made a grand leap into the air. The Bullhead's pilot had enough time to see a glowing apparition, but not enough time to try and avoid it. Jaune smashed through the Bullhead's windshield, lancing the spear through the pilot's chest. He wrenched the spear free and shoved the pilot's corpse onto the flight controls, forcing the vehicle down and to the right. With that done, he leapt free of the rapidly-descending aircraft.

Roman Torchwick had decided that he'd had more than enough of all of this, and that was before some kid started butchering animals like a one-man slaughterhouse. He hopped into his waiting Bullhead with whatever Dust the damn furries had managed to load onto it and ordered the pilot to get the hell out of there. They had just managed to take off when a proximity alarm began blaring, and the pilot began screaming. Torchwick had just enough time to see another Bullhead coming in hot, which was enough to inspire him to take a flying leap out of a moving airship.

With a grinding shriek of tortured steel, the Bullheads collided with one another, the momentum of the first sending the second rocketing into the ground. The aircraft were engulfed in an explosion, one which only intensified when the volatile Dust on the escape craft went up. That was a fairly impressive blast, but it was utterly dwarfed by the one that ensued when flaming debris landed amidst the main Dust cache.

When Roman was able to stand, he looked about to see that, in less than a minute, that kid had turned the SDC dock into a charnel house. Flaming bits of burning scrap rained from the sky, while great flames, hundreds of feet high, licked the night sky. The gentleman thief raised his cane, the Melodic Cudgel, as the kid himself, his face and armor darkened by streaks of soot, stepped through the fire. The kid, spear carried casually in his hand, looked entirely unphased by the destruction that he'd just wreaked, or the moans and cries of the injured or dying White Fang who lay scattered across the docks. Despite himself, Roman took a step backwards, only to nearly lose his balance before realizing that he stood at the lip of a newly-formed crater that had been blasted into the concrete.

"All right, kid," he acknowledged with a tip of the hat. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Still, all this means is that we're gonna have to settle this the old way, like men. No dumb animals, no air support, just you, and me, and Neo, get me the fuck outta here!"

Jaune leapt forward to dragoon lance the thief, only for Torchwick to shatter like glass as the spear stabbed through him. Catching himself before he could pitch into the crater, Jaune looked up to see the human, clinging onto a small woman as her parasol caught the flames' thermal updrafts, sending them up and away. He frowned. A Semblance was at work, obviously, but of what nature? Illusion? Teleportation? Both? It was possible that the human used his own Semblance in conjunction with a partner. Either way, they would prove to be a most elusive duo.

He refused to shut down his battlefield awareness until all hostiles were accounted for. Leaping back over the ring of flames, he found Sun, backed into a corner, standing protectively over Blake while facing off against a trio of surviving Fang. For their part, the three insurgents looked shocked and confused over how they had gone from a force two-dozen strong, with air support, to merely three, left stranded on a burning dock.

Their questions were answered as Jaune strode towards them. "Surrender or die," he said without preamble. The ultimatum, perhaps the oldest in history, might have sounded somewhat cheesy if not for the blood dripping from the blade of the spear, or the raging inferno that surrounded them. This one absolutely meant it.

Their weapons hit the ground without a fight.

[/]

True to Jaune's prediction, it was all over but the burning by the time the rest of the Beacon students arrived. The flames were still roaring strong, fueled by the mystical energies contained with the Dust, providing the first indication that Blake's scouting run had perhaps got a little out of hand. The sheer number of police, firefighters, and paramedics on the scene provided the second. All told, Weiss was just about in a state of panic by the time she managed to convince the police that, as the heiress to the SDC, whose property had been destroyed, she needed to make an immediate survey of the losses. With her retainers. After all, she couldn't be too safe with the White Fang around, now could she?

Her heeled boots clacked against the concrete as made a beeline towards her wayward boyfriend. He was standing next to that Sun boy as a paramedic was wrapping a bandage around one of Blake's legs.

"Jaune!"

He turned just in time to catch a ballistic Weissicle to the chest. The small woman clung onto him. "Jaune, are you okay? Are you hurt at all?"

The aspiring knight reached down to stroke her hair. He began glowing softly in gentle white-gold light as he held her in his arms. "I'm okay, Weiss. Not a scratch on me. You're going to get your dress covered in soot, though," he chuckled.

"I don't care." The heiress looked around them, at the devastation, and at the bodies being bagged up. "Jaune…"

"I know," he sighed, the glow dying down. "I held off as long as I could, but I had to act. They were going to kill Blake."

At that, Weiss's eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to begin to berate her teammate, when she noticed the faraway look of shock on the girl's face, and thought better of it. Whatever she had to say could wait.

"I am sorry, Jaune," Ren said, as the rest of his team flanked him. "I should have never let you go off like that."

"I don't regret it," replied Jaune. "If I hadn't come along, we could have lost Blake, and our new friend Sun as well."

"Uh, yeah, thanks for that, man," Sun piped up. He was more than a little intimidated by Jaune, but Sun had keen survival instincts forged by a childhood in the streets of Vacuo. When the guy who single-handedly wiped out most of a White Fang expeditionary force on his own, in less than a minute, calls you a friend, you smile, nod, and say "Sure thing, buddy."

"Are there going to be legal complications to all this?" asked Pyrrha.

"Doubt it," Jaune answered. "Lots of White Fang on the scene, including survivors."

"Survivors?"

Jaune smiled. "I offered quarter when I could. A little bit better every day, right Ruby?"

Ruby smiled weakly. Her team was literally a disaster, and it was all her fault. "Right. Thanks, Jaune."

[/]

It had been a long, long day, but there was one last piece of business that Jaune had to attend to, once they were cleared to return to Beacon. Team RWBY - all of Team RWBY - sat on the floor or the various bunks at the Team JNPR dorm room. Jaune reached into his desk and pulled out two books, and a photograph.

"These were my parents and my sisters," he said, passing the photo around. "They were murdered when I was just an infant, as you know. I didn't have them with me to teach me, to guide me into becoming a good person. I was raised to be a weapon. Until I met Ozpin, the only guidance I had came from a man who taught me how to use cruelty as a weapon, with what bits I could pick up from Weiss and her sister to even begin to clue me in to a wider, better world. Then I defied The General, and everything I knew collapsed from under me. Try to understand, Blake, that all that I know about how to be a good person, I'm picking up from these books that my parents left behind, or learning from all of you personally."

He took a deep breath. "I believe, I truly do believe, that the eight of us in this room are meant for something. We have the chance to truly change things, to build a better world than this brutal, cruel one in which we've all come of age. But to do that, we need you with us, Blake. We simply can't do it without you. I'm not asking you to forgive me, Blake. I'm asking you to help me."

She stared at him.

[/]

Her teammates had fallen asleep when Blake stole from their dorm room. Sleep had eluded her, filled as it was by the screams of the dying, screams caused because she had been so sure of how the world was, because she acted without thinking. It was the matter of seconds to pop the lock on an empty dorm room. Blake turned on the lights, and then set her Scroll to record. It wasn't as good as a live CCNet call, but it was the next best thing.

"Hi...mom," she spoke into the Scroll. "Hi, dad. I want you both to know that I'm safe, and that I love you both so very much. I'm...I'm sorry for the things that I said. I was young and stupid and mean, and...I've left the White Fang. You were right, and I was wrong. They...they asked me to kill, to kill innocent people without hesitation, and I...I just couldn't do that."

She looked to the floor before forcing herself to look directly at the Scroll. "I've left the White Fang, and enrolled at Beacon Academy. I'm still a fighter, I'll always be a fighter, but...I want to put my skills to better use. To make my own impact defending people, Faunus and humans, as a Huntress. I...I hope that you'll be proud of me."

Tears welled up in her amber eyes, spilling down her cheeks. "I..I need you both, so much. I've been so lost, and people have been hurt, people have died because of me, because I was so, so wrong when I thought I was absolutely right. I love you. I'm sorry."

With that, she turned off the recording. She hesitated for a moment, blinking to clear her vision of the tears that had obscured it, before sending the video message to her mother.

Then, alone, Blake Belladonna began to weep.

[/]

Chapter Endnotes: Long chapter this time.

Was thrown for a moment by the notion of choreographing a fight when one of the combatants used a fishing rod. In the end, I opted to treat it like a rope dart. I also gave Qrow a cool ride as a sort of apology for how things went down with Clover. The show depicted Clover as following orders to the point of stupidity, so I figured he would be the sort to follow orders to compromise Ozpin's main spy however he could.

Hormonal teenagers gonna hormonally-teenage. At least their first time wasn't traumatic.

Poor Yang had angst. Yangst.

Factoring in Blake's behavior at Beacon with her status that we discover in Volume 4...well, I didn't want to be Blake-bashing, but much like how Weiss treated Ruby at first, sometimes a character is just wrong. Blake has a very strong moral compass, but it's all out of whack when we meet her, and it doesn't really stop spinning until Volume 7. Here, with all her secrets laid out on the table, her friends get her to get back into contact with her parents, who can offer much-needed guidance to their wayward daughter, at a much earlier point.

Hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter!

-Mahina