Bit of a rushed chapter today due to real life stuff going on. Even I don't feel it quite as much as my last ones, but there isn't much I can do right now. I also have to go into the office later to show a potential tenant around the building. They want to rent a bottom floor office set and I have to be there to unlock the place and show them around, etc.


Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 15


Yang struck the door with her shoulder and sent it crashing inward. She skidded to a stop inside, cocked her gauntlets as her teammates filed in behind her, then shouted, "Down on the ground!"

To her surprise, bodies hit the floor.

To her shame, they screamed, covered their heads and, in some cases, wept in naked fear. Ember Celica dipped, along with Yang's self-esteem, as she took in the families – children and parents, grandparents and more – who were at that very moment shielding their loved ones from her and Team RWBY. This was no gang bar or White Fang base they were breaking into. It was a small village inn and drinking hole, a place for families to gather after a hard day's work.

"H-Hey," she stammered. "No need to…" Looking down at her bared weapons, she quickly hooked her hands behind her back to hide them. Not that it helped given the situation. Ruby had her scythe drawn, Weiss her rapier and Blake had a gun for crying out loud. "Ah shit."

"There is no need for fear!" Knight spoke loudly, sheathing his sword and stepping up. "No harm shall come to any of you as we are merely here to place a suspect under arrest. We apologise for the disruption and assure you all we will be out of your hair within a few minutes."

"I heard gunfire!" someone called out. "There's people shooting outside!"

Atlas. Yang cursed them for it. No matter which way you looked at it, this was an invasion. They'd even gone so far as to take the walls and arrest the people on guard. No warrants for that, Yang imagined, but maybe Atlas didn't need to follow Vale's laws. And now Team RWBY were a part of that. Fucking great.

"We're just here to talk to someone." Weiss said. "So long as they do not draw weapons against us, there shall be no violence here. You're all free to-" Fresh gunfire outside made them flinch, and Weiss stammer. "A-Ah. Well, perhaps it's best you all stay in here. Our business will be concluded soon."

"What business?" someone else yelled. "I know you – you're a Schnee. What are you here for? Run out of faunus and want to take us to the mines?"

"Do people here always make such base assumptions?"

"We do when you're starting a war in our village!" someone else shouted. "You come here guns blazing and expect us to treat you proper? Get off your high horse!"

Several brave souls shouted and cheered their support. They were still afraid, but there was the immediate fear of armed people breaking into the room and threatening you all, and then fear of four young girls and a single man. It wasn't hard to see that they were gathering their confidence, even if they were wrong to think Team RWBY weren't worth being afraid of.

Yang looked to Ruby for help, even if that was unfair. Team leader though she may have been, none of them had been taught how to handle a situation like this. Huntresses were meant to save lives and be beacons of hope, not break down doors and take people prisoner.

"We should find the anchor and get out of here before things get out of hand." Blake said quietly. "It's our only choice now."

"But how are we supposed to find them in here?"

Knight let out a heavy, heavy sigh. "I think I already have." The man in shining armour pushed his way forward, stepping between tables of heckling locals who glared, insulted but didn't dare stand in his or Team RWBY's way. Deeper, they moved, towards the far corner of the tavern where a man with dirty blonde hair was drinking beneath a dartboard. Across from him lay a half-filled glass and a travelling coat thrown over the back of an empty chair.

He looked up at them, his dark blue eyes sharp and analytical. The same as Uncle Qrow's, looking them over, judging them and then, like Uncle Qrow, dismissing them. Normally, Yang's hackles would have been up, but her overconfidence had already cost Leviathan his life. Now, she felt cold and jumpy. She shielded Ruby with her body.

Another Jaune. The similarities were there, enough to be obvious. Older, not unlike Magnis and Ashari, but he had the same facial structure, and the hair colour was just a shade darker but still blonde. The eyes were darker, too, and the man looked far more confident than Jaune ever had. Not cocky, she noticed. He had a sword at his side and the hilt lay within easy reach. His left hand was under the table, either hidden or ready to flip it in their direction at the slightest provocation.

This is him, Yang thought. But if there are two iterations here then where are the anchors?

"Jaune Arc." Weiss said sharply. "We need you to come outside with us and talk to someone."

The man chuckled. He closed his eyes, smiled and took a quick drink before setting the glass down. "Would those be the same people I hear shooting at someone? Not the best of first impressions. Besides, I'm afraid you have the wrong person, young lady. That is not my name."

"Whatever name you've chosen for yourself doesn't matter-"

"This isn't another iteration of myself, Weiss." Knight said. He stepped up and drew the empty chair out, pushed his sword to the side and sat with a creak of wood. "This is the anchor."

"What?" Yang demanded. "But he looks almost identical-"

"Hello father." Knight said, ending Yang's statement and causing Team RWBY's eyes to bug out.

In hindsight, it should have been obvious, Occam's Razor at least, but they'd been dealing with more versions of Jaune than not, so their first assumption had been an older iteration. It hadn't even occurred to her to think Jaune's father might get involved, or that they'd run into him.

So far the Jaunes have all been anchored to people close to them in some way, or at least people they knew in life. I guess it's not too crazy to think one would connect with his own father.

"Then Magnis is-?"

"My son?" the man asked. "Yes and no. No more or less than this man clad in armour is. You've done well for yourself it seems," he said to Knight. "You can have the drink. Technically, it's already yours."

"I'll make sure to pay myself back for it." Knight took a drink. "So, you're an anchor, father?"

"Looks that way." The man sighed heavily and leaned back. "Gave your mother quite the fright, I tell you. Not every day you go down for breakfast to find a clone of your son at the table. She near enough brained him. I near enough tried to kill him."

"Only tried? That's unlike you."

"He gave as good as he got and then Juniper started crying. Ugh. Neither of us had the heart to continue after that. Then some naked blue chick appears to explain things neither of us wanted to hear."

"You know about the war, then." Yang interrupted. "Wait, what's your name? We can't just call you Jaune's dad."

The man chuckled. "Nicholas."

"Yang," she introduced herself and then pointed. "This is my sister, Ruby, her partner Weiss and mine, Blake. We're Team RWBY and we're friends with your son. Your actual, this world, son."

"Yang!" Weiss hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Being polite. This is Jaune's dad – you don't really think he's not going to be on our side, do you?" They had no reason to think Jaune had a bad relationship with his family, definitely not enough for them to support Salem. Plus, they'd been on their way to Vale. It seemed obvious enough to her. "You're headed to Beacon to find out more, right?"

"That was our plan, yes. Before we were ambushed here."

"Not our choice." Knight said quickly. "General Ironwood and Atlas have taken over this war and their priority is… well, the defence of Remnant. At whatever cost."

"Ah. My favourite of the old excuses." Nicholas said. He sighed. "Either way, you can put your rapier down, girl. Leaving aside how little good it would do you, I'm not your enemy."

Weiss, of course, focused on the wrong thing. "How little good-? It is five against one-"

"Weiss." Knight said. "I will not harm my father."

"I'm not keen to harm children either," Nicholas said. His eyes slid past Yang, and she couldn't help but follow them. Blake, poor Blake, looked like a deer caught in the headlights as Jaune's father gazed fondly at her. "Nor the mother of my future grandchildren."

The sound that escaped Blake's lips might have been akin to the slow death rattle of a dog's squeaky toy. Her ears flattened to her scalp, and she wavered for a second, catching herself on the table to keep herself from falling in a dead faint.

"Oh." Nicholas noticed her distress and said, "Have I jumped the gun a little?"

"That ship hasn't sailed yet." Yang said.

"It won't ever sail!" Blake cried out.

"Sure thing, mom." Yang enjoyed the strangled noise her partner let out. Sure, she'd maybe be getting smothered in her sleep later but at least she'd die with Blake's blushing face seared into her memory. "But hey, since we're all on the same side and none of us want to start a fight, do you think you could come out with us and help clear everything up? It's probably an absolute mess out there by now."

More gunshots from outside punctuated her point.

"I suppose we should." Nicholas finished his drink and stood. Knight did the same, taking Magnis' coat while his father picked up the sword. "But if Ironwood thinks we will be surrendering to his mercies, he has another thing coming. This is Vale. Not Atlas. And Ozpin, no matter what he thinks, does not have the authority to throw away our sovereign rights."

"It is for the sake of Remnant!" Weiss argued.

"Autocrats ever enjoy their little excuses. If we will throw away basic freedoms for Remnant, what else will we throw away? The lives of innocents? Your life? Your sister's life?" He let that hang, leaving Weiss with an open mouth as he walked by. "Come. I'm keen to see my son again – my normal son. It will be interesting to see how much he has grown."

Ruby looked to Yang, who shrugged back. She put her scythe away and followed Jaune's old man with Knight at her side. All in all, Yang thought they'd done well to avoid a fight. Better than I did at the docks anyway. If only I hadn't been such a hard-headed fool then.

She clenched her fight tight and let it go with a sigh. All she could do was learn and not make those same mistakes again. That, and keep moving one step at a time. The first step was towards her shocked partner, to place a hand on her shoulder, lean over and ask in a voice filled with concern: "Is the baby okay?"

Blake was not nearly so amused.

"Yang, I will kill you…"

"But then who will babysit?"

Blake's glare pre-empted hammer blow to her gut. Yang buckled over the table as her partner stomped away. Even so, and past the tears in her eyes, she managed a ragged, "W-Worth it…"

/-/

Funnily enough, Jaune had gotten used to the idea that every other Jaune was different. Grimm had been overwhelming numbers, Ashari overwhelming skill and Knight was overwhelming strength and speed. It stood to reason then that Magnis would have his own niche and the original Jaune, who had been feeling less and less so in the recent days, was cautious about finding out what it was.

So were his team.

Pyrrha, shaken after Ashari's one-sided beatdown, approached with shield raised and sword brought up behind it, while Ren flanked left and Nora right, and Fate hung back. No one actually began the attack on their side, and he had to wonder if like him the others weren't hoping Winter would do it for them. This was her and Atlas' big idea after all. Their team hadn't wanted to corner another Jaune after the last attempt went so poorly.

It was perhaps a little expected then when their opponent caught onto their hesitation. The Jaune – wearing his own face but older – went so far as to wink at Jaune as he raced past, leaving him cringing in anticipation of pain, only to feel a little awed when Magnis never once attacked him. For once, for what felt like the first time, an iteration didn't necessarily hate him. Instead, he went for Winter.

"Don't underestimate me!" Winter barked, drawing her sabre and flicking forward. She was fast – faster than even Weiss, and yet remarkably enough not as fast as Magnis. He caught her sabre on the edge of Crocea Mors, slid under her guard and drove his shield into her face and chest with incredible force. The blow was meaty enough to make Jaune wince and sent Winter wheeling away to roll on the dirt.

Magnis stood, cracked his neck and watched her scramble to her feet. Smirking, he said, "I never underestimate a foe. It's you who are doing that to me."

Was she? It didn't feel like it when she'd brought two teams of huntsmen-in-training and then two squads of the army to face off against two people. That felt like she was taking Magnis very seriously. Winter shouted out another order and fresh gunfire rained down on him. This time, Magnis darted forward, correctly guessing that they wouldn't dare shoot if he was in close quarters with Winter. Aura should protect her, but one mistake in the heat of combat would mean an end to that. Atlas couldn't take the chance.

Sword clashed against sabre and Magnis' shield was as good as a second weapon, always on the attack. He would block with his sword and drive the shield into her, sometimes the flat, sometimes the edge, into her inner arms, her elbow, her knee or under her ribs. Every blow sounded like a sledgehammer against flesh, and Winter's attempts to use her Semblance were thwarted each and every time. He wouldn't give her time.

"We should help!" Pyrrha said.

Said, but did not. Yeah, they probably should help, but if Winter was being handled this easily then he wasn't sure what they could do. Not even Nora wanted to tangle with him, and Fate gave word to their darkest thoughts in three simple words.

"Meh. Fuck her."

Simply put. Winter had invited this fight, she'd pushed for it, and Jaune wasn't sure he wanted to commit his team to it. Winter hadn't been there when Leviathan nearly killed them, or when Ashari had a hundred chances to do so and chose not to. Chose. Jaune was under no such illusions otherwise. The oldest-looking of them had granted them a mercy out of the goodness of his heart, and there was no guarantee anyone else would be so generous.

"Pyrrha, shoot at him from a distance but don't engage," he ordered. "I'll cover you. Ren and Nora do the same. We can at least look like we're helping."

Fate laughed loudly, and Jaune had the feeling it wasn't quite as mocking as usual. Turned out Fate disliked Atlas, Winter and Ironwood more than he did himself. That was nice to know. Pyrrha quickly transformed her javelin into a rifle and began placing careful shots into Magnis' side. Ren and Nora broke off, sub-machine guns and grenade launcher looking for an opening. No one could fault him, weak as he was, not running into melee and ruining his teammate's chances at ranged superiority.

Fate just popped out a cigarette and continued smoking.

While his team continued to fight at range it also gave Jaune more time to watch the fight between Magnis and Winter. This was another Jaune, a future version of himself. Didn't that mean he could aspire to be like this? If so, he had to make a note to fight more with his shield because Magnis made it look punishingly effective.

He's not as brute force as Knight and I don't think he's as skilled as Ashari was, he thought. The moves were quick and devastating, but Ashari had moved with a precision that felt much more one-sided. He's a mix of both. Strong, fast and skilled enough. Is that his niche? An all-rounder?

"Huntsman." Fate muttered. Jaune wasn't sure he was expected to overhear it. "As good as Qrow, but nothing special."

Nothing special? That sure as hell looked special. Magnis continued to shrug off gunfire and manhandle Winter around the village. What moments she bought to try and summon white Grimm to challenge him yielded no results. He cut through a pristine white ursa with one swing and continued on to her without losing momentum. A flock of Nevermore were ignored entirely, allowed to smash into and die against his aura.

He was relentless, powerful, but not invincible. Not like Knight felt. Magnis at least took hits, and the flashes of aura were proof that they affected him. With Knight, attacks like this would have barely tickled him. He doesn't have any super powers or special abilities like the others; he's just good. Better training, more experience, more physical mass and conditioning. It was like watching an athlete at peak performance display their skill, and it was both magical and humbling. No time travel like Fate, no eldritch monsters like Leviathan or RPG mechanics like Knight. Just a Huntsman at their best, the ultimate ideal of what any student in Beacon should aspire to. And that same person was throwing down with Weiss' sister like it was nothing.

"Team JNPR!" Winter roared out as she locked blades with him. Not a good choice given his advantage in height and strength. "Engage now! Attack him!"

Pyrrha looked to Jaune for orders. He imagined Ren and Nora were as well. He was the team leader after all, the one expected to make the decisions that could decide whether they lived or died. He hadn't had to so far, but the docks had been close. Too close. He hadn't been a leader then, just following Team RWBY's lead and trying to do what felt right, and it almost cost them their lives. I'm not making that mistake again.

"Don't." he ordered loudly. Winter's eyes widened. "Offer fire support and nothing more."

"Traitors!" Winter hissed.

Fate scoffed and muttered, "How can we be traitors with no loyalty to you, bitch?"

"Children, more like." Magnis said, disarming Winter with a vicious strike of the edge of his shield to the inside of her wrist. He followed it up with a quick punch to her face to stun her, then gripped her by her shoulder, spun her around and locked his sword over her throat. "And they made the right choice," he said loudly enough for them all to hear. "A proper huntsman knows what battles he can win and those that he cannot. Anything less and you're just a child playing at being the hero." He tightened his grip. "Or a mindless soldier throwing their life away. Call your men to throw down their weapons. Now!"

Winter struggled against an arm too solid to budge. She wasn't choking, but she wasn't going anywhere, and her attempts to rake her boots down Magnis' knee didn't yield any results. Jaune saw her grind her teeth together, clench her eyes shut. Defeat, he saw, but not surrender.

"Soldiers!" she commanded. "Open fire on my loca-"

"Belay that order!"

The voice came from the wall, and Winter's head snapped that way in clear anger. Her mouth opened, only to close once again when she saw Jaune, Warchief, was the one to have given it. He had a hand to his collar, the other held up as all the soldiers awaited his orders. Did he have more authority than Winter did? It was possible. Ironwood had said he'd be put in charge of things because of his tactical experience.

"Warchief!" Winter shouted. "What are you doing!? For the sake of Remnant there is no limit to-"

"Immediate orders from Headmaster Ozpin to desist and let them go."

"We don't follow his-"

"The orders were ratified by General Ironwood himself." Warchief's words had Winter going slack in Magnis' grip.

"How-?"

"Team RWBY have made contact with the anchor and have negotiated on Beacon's behalf." Warchief said. Jaune looked to Pyrrha, who grinned back. Thank goodness – he'd have to buy Ruby some cookies for this. "They then made contact with Ozpin and General Ironwood, at which point the decision was made to end this conflict. Magnis and Nicholas Arc will be brought to Beacon as guests."

Nicholas-? Jaune's face paled at the exact time Team RWBY stepped out the tavern with his father in tow. Ruby had her scroll still out, no doubt from having called Ozpin. Dad is an anchor-? How-?

"Fuck!" Fate swore under his breath. "Not you as well. For fuck's sake!"

"General Ironwood is on his way to meet with us." Warchief said again. "At which point he will confirm these orders. Until then, we are to stand down, Winter."

The proud woman, still caught in Magnis' grip, bit her lip angrily.

/-/

It turned out to be both Ironwood and Ozpin who arrived, likely Ozpin coming along to prevent any further misunderstandings. Magnis had gone back to Nicholas, releasing Winter once it was clear she wouldn't try anything, and the two of them mostly stood near Team RWBY. Jaune supposed they could have wandered over as well, but his team were following his lead and he wasn't feeling gutsy enough to speak up to his father after stealing his weapon and running away from home.

When the new Bullhead did land and General Ironwood stepped off with Ozpin, Winter and Warchief were quick to salute him. For all that Warchief claimed to be just like him, a normal guy, he'd sure adapted well to the military lifestyle. Or he could fake it like a pro.

"Nicholas Arc." General Ironwood rumbled as he walked past Winter and Warchief and approached them. "And Magnis, I'm told. Ozpin himself has assured me of your credibility, and I welcome you to Vale."

"Some welcome." Magnis said.

"We are at war, as well you both know. Given the circumstances you'll have to forgive us for wanting to be cautious. We have already had two iterations die, and one flee."

"Deaths?" Nicholas demanded. "Already?"

"Yes. One before I took over, and one assassinated on the very day I arrived." Both out of his control, he was basically saying. To be fair, he wasn't lying and Jaune knew how antagonistic his dad could be sometimes. "Given that, we've decided to be much more cautious of whom we trust. It's only because of your relation to the iterations and your son that Ozpin was prepared to offer assurances for you."

Because whatever their relationship, his dad wasn't about to go and fight for the end of the world his family lived in. That much was a given. Jaune's worry was more what he might do towards him being trapped in the middle of it. He could expose my lack of training and try to send me home. It'd be for my own good, but I can't leave the others on their own.

"We're fortunate Team RWBY had the good sense to put us in contact with Nicholas and deescalate the situation." Ozpin spoke up in what felt like a not-too-subtle dig at Ironwood's plan.

"Yes. Were they mine, they would be commended for their quick thinking. I am sure Ozpin will reward you in kind." He straightened and glanced at them, at Team JNPR. "However, I am told that you all ignored a direct command from Winter, and that you left her to fend against a foe alone." He didn't outright accuse them, but he did cross his arms and say, "I would hear your reasons."

"We couldn't-" Pyrrha began.

Jaune placed a hand before her, drawing eyes to him. He took a deep breath and said, "It was my decision as team leader."

Ironwood's gaze hardened. "Go on."

"Winter chose to go after an unknown enemy in melee. That's fine for her if she's a fully qualified huntress, but we're not. We're still in training." He felt Weiss' indignant glare from across the short distance for daring to insult her sister, and Winter's far more arctic one. He knew he was making an enemy of both right now. "I had to make the best decision I could for my team, and I didn't think that would be in close quarters against someone that was already beating Winter handily. We could have been killed."

"So, you chose to ignore her orders and shoot from a distance?"

"It was the only thing we could do to help without getting in the way." Jaune said. "If you don't like that then maybe-"

"Good work."

Jaune, who had been building up to defend himself in an angry shouting match, all but tripped over his own words. "W-What?"

"Good work." General Ironwood repeated. "You know your team's limits better than Winter or I do after having not seen you fight. You made the best choice you could given the circumstances, and Winter was incorrect to try and draw you into a disadvantageous melee." Behind him, the woman looked away unhappily, her lips a thin line. "I'm sure she merely forgot herself, more used to commanding teams of specialists than students."

"I… I apologise, General." Winter saluted. "I will accept any punishment-"

"No talk of that now. You did well, Arc. Team JNPR. Team RWBY as well," he added. "A much better showing than the ill-fated sortie at the docks as far as I can tell." He either ignored or failed to notice the way Yang trembled. Ruby didn't and laid a hand on her sister's arm in comfort.

"Ass," Fate mumbled.

Jaune kind of agreed.

"Nicholas." Ozpin spoke up. "Perhaps you would like to return with Ironwood and I and hear what measures we have in place to protect our students, your son included."

"Yes. That sounds like a good idea."

"Excellent. Magnis can ride with the others."

"Separating us already?"

"We both know that makes you no less a threat, Nicholas. I'm only suggesting they interact and build some teamwork. They'll be working together for the safety of Remnant after all."

"If it's all the same with you I'd rather be given the respect my position deserves." Magnis said. "No offence," he said, smiling warmly at them. "But it's been a long time since I was a student. I won't be treat like one again."

"Very well. You can both travel with us." Ironwood said. "Winter, arrange the others into transports. I've a feeling the locals would prefer us gone sooner rather than later."

Jaune let the tension slip out of him as Winter left. Even if Ironwood had said he'd made the right call, he wasn't sure she would forget the embarrassment anytime soon. Nor Weiss. At least Pyrrha looked proud of him, smiling his way. He felt pleased, too, and that was a rare occurrence. It was the right decision to make. No one died.

Team RWBY had done the same as well in speaking with his father instead of fighting them. He wanted to say his old man would have been able to handle them, but Knight was the odd one out. He wasn't sure anyone on Remnant could take him out in single combat without getting the drop on him. Maybe Ashari, but even that felt like a lucky one-time win.

"Hey guys," he said. "Guess we both managed to avoid any disasters this time."

"Looks like it." Ruby said. "Jaune, your dad. He's kind of intense…"

"Tell me about it. You should try growing up with him." Jaune felt a pair of eyes burning a hole in his neck, and though he tried to ignore them there really wasn't any way to. He glanced over, a little worried to find that Blake of all people was staring at him. "Um. Hey Blake. Is-?"

"Don't look at me."

"W-What? But you-"

"Don't talk to me."

Jaune sealed his lips shut.

"Don't touch me."

But he hadn't been about to! He hadn't even suggested he would! Jaune looked past her, to Ruby, for help, only to see crater-face giggling awkwardly with red cheeks. You too, Ruby? Was no one going to explain what was happening around here? He looked to Weiss, only for her to glare back, huff and cross her arms.

"Pig."

"What? What did I do!?"


Yeah, the chapter isn't bad I guess but I didn't feel it as much as the others. Too much going on right now. Maybe I'm overthinking it more than anything. We have Yang and Jaune both growing up and learning from past mistakes at least, and Ruby stepping up to go against orders and call Ozpin because she decides it's the right decision.

Often annoys me in media, anime especially, when characters never seem to learn from their mistakes. They do the same thing, get the same results, say "never again" and then go and do it again anyway.


Next Chapter: 5th March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur