A Flame in the Dark
The dark woods were completely silent, not even a bird was chirping. The silence was left unbroken like it had been for who knew how long. That was until the sound of squeaking wheels rolling across the ground, the rumble of a wagon and the tired pants slowly spread out through the calm.
A young, seven year old girl with blonde hair tied into pigtails was slowly and tiredly walking through the woods. Yang Xiao Long was tiredly dragging her wagon behind her with her five year old sister, Ruby Rose, who was sleeping soundly while wrapped in her red hood. She had been walking for hours and she was beyond tired but was too determined to stop. She had waited so long for her dad to leave to do this, she wasn't going to turn back now.
She was going to find her mother. She was going to bring her back home. That way her dad wouldn't be so sad and Ruby could have a mom again. Even her uncle would be happy because he'd have his sister back. Everything would be better and they would all be able to help the others with the grief of dealing with Summer's death. Everything would be better for it.
She tripped and fell painfully on her hands and knees. Giving out a whimper of pain, she had scrapped her left knee badly from the fall and her hands were torn up from making her way through the overgrown path. She pulled herself to her feet and gave a sniffle as she reached up to wipe away the few tears she had, smearing blood on her left cheek from a cut she got earlier from a wayward branch snapping back. She grabbed the handle of the wagon again and kept walking.
A few minutes later, she was in front of a run down building. She stopped and sighed with a smile. Her legs were shaking like crazy but she didn't care in the slightest, she had finally made it. But before she could take one step closer, the smile fell from her face as she saw several pairs of glowing red eyes. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as three Beowolves slowly started to walk out of the building, looking at her with hunger in their eyes.
Yang took a step back before falling on her butt and scooting backwards until her back hit the wagon. She stopped and just stared at them, too tired and afraid to even scream at this point. The Beowolves slowly stalked up to her, like they were enjoying playing with their food. She just stared as they looked like they would lunge at her. That was until the sound of branches snapping came from the other direction.
The Grimm looked behind themselves and Yang look through their legs, all seeing something shocking. There, walking into the clearing, was a blonde boy her age in a torn black t-shirt and blue shorts. He just looked around before his eyes landed on the Grimm and the girl behind them. His eyes went from shock to fear in an instant.
The Beowolf in the back turned towards the boy and growled before it started to run towards him. Yang tried to scream out to him but she was too afraid and tired to even muster a peep. The Grimm lunged forward and was about to sink its teeth into his throat but that was when a bright silver light filled the clearing, momentarily blinding everything there.
Yang managed to open her eyes when she heard the sound of a large dog crying out in pain. She looked over to see the upper chest and shoulders of the Grimm to be engulfed in silver flames. It frantically tried to beat out the fire but all it did was spread to the limbs as it cried out in further pain. It finally collapsed to the ground as its entire torso and arms were ablaze, the eyes turned black as it started to dissolve into black smoke and silver embers. Yang looked back to the boy and gasped when she saw he was standing there unharmed with a fearful look in his eyes, which were now glowing dark silver and his hands covered in the same silver fire.
The two remaining Grimm just turned to the boy and growled in anger for the death of their packmate. They ran towards him at their top speed on all fours. The boy flinch back and reflexively raised his hands to try to shield himself from them. As if they were sentient, to streams of silver fire flew from his hands towards the beasts. The first managed to duck under one but it scraped along its back, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. The second was less lucky, it was in the middle of roaring as the stream slammed into its mouth. It cut off the roar and the screams as the throat was filled with fire. Fire burst from its gaping jaws, spreading along its entire head and it collapsed to the ground not a second later, turning to smoke and embers like the first.
The last Beowolf was slowly and painfully, prowling towards the boy, its entire back covered in silver fire. Its eyes holding anger and hatred for the boy who killed its fellow Grimm and the pain it had inflicted on itself. The boy took a step backwards and fearfully put out his right hand, like trying to keep it back. A heatwave like wave seemed to fly from that hand to the Grimm and the flames erupted into an inferno, engulfing the Beowolf. The beast gave one last pain filled howl before it was turned to ash and the silver flames burned away into silver embers.
Silence returned to the clearing and the two awake kids just stared in shock at what had transpired. Yang let out a relieved sigh but quickly gasped when the boy turned his eyes to her, his hands still glowing with fire. He just looked at her for a bit with a tilted head before he started to walk towards her. Her eyes widened in fear as he did. 'If he can do that to Grimm, what's he going to do to me?' she thought fearfully.
As he was getting closer, she scooted as close to the wagon as she could but to no avail. He was standing in front of her and slowly went to his knees. Just looking into her lilac eyes, she could now see they were a deep blue since the silver glow from his own were now gone. He then reached out his burning hand to her knee and she closed her eyes with a whimper.
She felt his hand land on her knee and she flinched, expecting to feel a burning worse then when she drank her hot chocolate before it cooled. But it never came, just the feeling like warm water was slowly covering her knee. She slowly peaked open her eyes and saw his hand was still on her knee but not burning her. She opened her eyes fully and he pulled his hand away, showing that the bad scrap on her knee was gone. Like it was never there to begin with.
She just stared on in open mouthed shock. He then reached out both his hands for hers. She didn't flinch back as much as before and he gently took her hand in his own, the back of her hands ups. The two just stared at her hands, him in concentration and her in just awe. She watched as the silver fire danced around her hand, giving he that warm water feeling again. As she looked on, she saw the bruises and cuts on her hand, knuckles and fingers start to close and heal with a white light.
When they were healed, he let her hands go and the flames receded back into his hands. Yang pulled her hands to her face and was just looking at them in shock. She looked back at him and he was looking back at her but not her eyes. Her left cheek where the cut was. He reached up to her cheek and this time she didn't even move. His palm gently laid on her cheek and his thumb gingerly laid on her cut. That warm feeling started to spread across her cheek and the cut closed pretty quickly.
He pulled his hand away and just looked her over for any other injury. As he was doing that, Yang was just looking at him and still unsure on what was happening. When he didn't see any other injury on her, he looked back into her confused eyes. He gave her the tiniest of smiles and the flames around his hands extinguished themselves. With that, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell backwards onto the ground and was now unconscious.
Yang just stared at him, still just utterly confused. She jumped when she heard something land a few feet away from her. She quickly spun to it and saw her Uncle Qrow standing there with his sword at the ready. His red eyes looked over the clearing, seeing no Grimm and taking in the few people with him. He knelt down beside his eldest niece with his sword still in his hand, "Are you alright, Yang?"
She slowly nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm okay."
He sighed, "Good. Because you are in so much trouble." He told her as he looked into her eyes. She gulped and looked down, "But first…" she looked back up at him, "Who is that?" he said a she pointed to the unconscious boy.
Yang looked at her uncle and shrugged, "I don't know." She told him honestly. She then looked over at him and continued, "But he saved us."
Qrow raised an eyebrow at that but before he could say anything, both of them heard a tiny yawn come from the wagon. Both of them turned to see Ruby sitting up and stretching. She then looked around, confused when she had no idea where she was. She then saw her sister and uncle before she gained a massive smile, "Uncle Qrow! Are you here to play with us?" she asked in excitement.
Qrow looked from Ruby to Yang to the unconscious boy. He lowered his head with a sigh before he gave his youngest niece a smile, "Yeah, Ruby, I did. But first we have to get you two home first, okay?" The small girl gave a cheer and Qrow walked over to the boy and picked him up. He walked over to the wagon, "Mind scooting over a bit?" Ruby complied and he gently placed him beside her.
"Who's he?" Ruby asked.
Qrow shrugged, "According to your sister, the guy that saved you two." Ruby looked at him in shock before staring at the slightly older boy. Qrow crouched down next to the wagon, "Get on, Yang. You look exhausted." She didn't argue and slowly got onto her uncle's back. He stood up and grabbed the wagon's handle with his left hand an she started to walk them back home. Yang only made it a few feet before she slowly fell asleep on her uncle.
Couple hours later, the group had made it back to the Xiao Long-Rose home. Yang had woken up half an hour previously and was walking beside her uncle while Ruby was asking a millions questions. Taiyang immediately ran out the door and hugged his daughters tightly. Ruby, not understanding the situation completely, returned the hug as tight as she could while Yang was stunned for a second before returning the hug. The hug lasted for a while and she could hear her father just mutter quietly, "Thank Oum you're okay."
Afterwards, everyone went back into the house and Qrow laid the poor boy on the couch to continue to rest. Yang told the two adults and her sister what had happened and how the strange boy had saved them. Ruby had a look of wonderment at hearing all of this while Taiyang and Qrow were just stunned. After hearing all that, the two adults knew they had to talk and Tai sent his daughters to their room for the time being.
As the girls went up the stairs, Tai looked over the boy and noticed that his clothes were torn in many places and he had fresh burns on both his hands. Tai left the room and a few minutes later, came back with a first aid kit. He applied an antibiotic spray to his one hand before he started to wrap bandages around his wrist and hand. As he was wrapping his second hand, Qrow started to speak, "You do realize how bad this coulda gone, right?"
Tai sighed and nodded weakly, "I know."
"I wouldn't have got there in time. If it wasn't for this kid…"
"I know." Tai said angrily. There was a silence for several seconds before the older blonde sighed tiredly, "I know. We would've lost them, Qrow. I get it."
Qrow just looked at his friend and brother-in-law as he was leant against the wall. He sighed, "I get it, Tai. You're taking Summer's death hard for good reason. But your daughters need you, they need their father. So, and I say this with love, pull yourself together."
After a few tense seconds, Tai nodded and finished up bandaging the boys hand. Tai stood up and walked over to Qrow. The sober for once drunk was still looking at the kid, "Have you seen him around before?"
Tai shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Nope and even if I never talked to them, I've seen pretty much everyone on Patch at least once."
"So, he must've just shown up recently." Qrow concluded, "Why in the hell was he out there anyways?"
Tai just shrugged, "We'll have to ask him when he wakes up." They stared for a bit and he started to speak again, "I know me and you don't see eye to eye on everything, but I'm glad my girls have you around Qrow…I'm glad I have you around. Thanks."
Qrow just looked at him from the corner of his eye as he smirked and placed his hand on his shoulder to shake him slightly, "We're family. Don't forget that."
A few minutes later, the two men heard a weak groaning coming from the couch. They looked and saw the boy blink his eyes open before slowly sitting up. He started to rub his shaggy blonde hair as he looked around. He looked around in confusion and looked to see that his hands were bandaged up. He then spoke out loud, "Where am I?"
"That would be my home." Tai said out loud. The kid turned a full one-eighty to see the two men. His eyes grew with fear and panic as he quickly started to crawl backwards to the other side of the couch. Tai quickly put his hands up in a nonthreatening way, "Easy, Kid. We aren't going to hurt you. So, please calm down."
The young boy just looked at the two men, his eyes darting from one to the other. He eventually swallowed and slowly nodded. Tai nodded calmly, "My name is Taiyang, you can call me Tai if you like. This is Qrow." He motioned to the other man as he nodded, "Mind telling us your name?"
The boy just nodded hesitantly, "Jaune, sir."
"Jaune what?" Qrow asked.
The now named Jaune flinched involuntary before he looked at the other man. He then looked down, "Just Jaune. I don't have a last name."
That earned raised eyebrows from the Huntsman while Tai continued, "Okay. Where's your family, Jaune?"
The boy just shook his head, "I don't have one. Never have."
That earned a shock look from Tai and a sympathetic one from Qrow. Tai continued the conversation, "How did you get here then? To Patch?"
Jaune looked down and thinned his lips, like he was trying to remember. After a minute or two, he shrugged, "I don't remember. I just remember being here a few days ago."
The two just exchanged looks, not sure on what to say or think. Qrow asked the important question, "Why were you out in those woods, Kid?"
Jaune finally looked back up at them, his eyebrow raised, "Because that's where I heard the monsters were." He said it straight faced, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"So why would you go out there then?" Qrow continued.
That made the light leave the young boy's eyes as he looked down. He then said in a resigned voice, "Because that's where a monster like me belongs." Both of the adults were just flabbergasted by that. Jaune then stood up from the couch and turned to them. He bowed his head slightly, "Thank you for helping me. I'll leave you alone now." He turned around and went to the door.
"Hey, wait a minute." Qrow said as he took hold of his upper arm. Jaune instantly went rigid and put his other arm over his head to protect it from a hit he was sure was coming. Qrow's eyes went wide before they sank when he realized how tough this kid must've had it. He spoke gently, "Kid, I'm not going to hit you. So, relax."
Jaune then hesitantly lowered his arm, his eyes still holding some sort of fear in them. Qrow then let his arm go and Tai stood besides him, "We can't in good conscience, let you go out there and fend for yourself."
Jaune looked down again, "That's nice of you but I'll be fine. I really should be going." He turned to the door again but before either of the Huntsmen could do anything, a voice from the floor above then came through and Jaune stopped in his tracks.
"Daddy, can me and Yang come downstairs now?" Ruby asked.
Tai looked from the now stopped blonde boy to the stairs, "Yes, sweetheart. We want you to say hello to someone."
With that they heard a 'Yay!' and then saw the small girl run down the stairs with her elder sister a few feet behind her. Yang froze when she saw that Jaune was standing in the middle of the room. While Ruby just became laser focused on him and ran at him, stopping just before she would run into him. Jaune jumped and took a step backwards, "Hi! I'm Ruby. That's my sister Yang." She said as she turned around to point at her sister, who shook herself before walking over to her sister but staying a few steps behind her. Ruby turned back to him with a cheerful smile, "So, who are you?"
Jaune just looked towards the two adults, like he was afraid they would attack him for talking to the girls. When he saw them nod to him, he turned back to the girls. Ruby was just looking up at him with a big smile while Yang was looking at him with uncertainty. "I'm Jaune." he said calmly and politely. When neither of them said anything or even moved, he quickly tried to think of anything else to say. So he said the first thing that came to his mind, "You two have pretty eyes."
Yang's eyes widened before she turned to the side, with a blush on her cheeks. Ruby just smiled wider, "Thank you. You have pretty eyes too."
Jaune just tilted his head slightly, "Thank you?"
"You're welcome." Ruby said happily. She then started to hop up and down slightly, "Yang said you saved us from some Grimm out in the forest. Is that true? Huh, is it?"
Jaune looked to the blonde girl, who was still not looking at him, back to the younger girl, "Yeah. I guess I did." He slowly scratched the back of his head.
Ruby gasped, "Are you a superhero!?"
With that, Jaune stopped with his nervous tick and dropped his hand. He shook his head, "No, I'm no hero. I'm just a monster."
Tai and Qrow looked at him in concern while Yang looked at him in confusion. Ruby just tilted her head, "What?" she giggled slightly, "Don't be silly. You're no monster. Monsters don't save people."
Jaune sighed to himself. He didn't want to do this but it was the only way to prove it to these people. "I'm a monster because of this." He raised his left hand, palm up. He felt the familiar heat travel down his arm and into it just before it erupted in silver fire, burning away the bandages on the hand.
The two adults just stared on in shock. They knew it wasn't magic but seeing a kid so young use a Semblance was nearly unheard of. Yang was staring wide eyed, both in recognition and awe. Meanwhile, Ruby was just starstruck by what she was seeing.
Jaune wasn't looking at any of them, just the fire. "I've been able to do this forever. It's usually okay. But when I'm scared or mad…I can't control it…and people get hurt. I've…I've hurt so many people." He gave a weak sniffle. "That's why I know I'm a monster."
He extinguished the flames and dropped his hand to the side. He then turned back to the door and took a few steps closer to it. He flinched to a stop when he felt someone grab that hand. He thought it was one of the adults trying to get him away from the girls but that's when he realized the hand was smaller than his own. He slowly looked to see that it was Ruby.
The young girl raised his hand so she could see it better. More fresh burns were now covering his hand and she was looking worried. She looked back up at him with concern in her eyes, "Does it hurt?"
Jaune was shocked by that. Anyone who saw him do that never worried about him before. He slowly nodded his head, "Every time."
That made the younger girl frown and look at his hand. She then got an idea and gently kissed the back of his palm, further shocking him. She looked up at him with a tiny smile, "Better?"
Jaune just slowly nodded, "Yes. Thank you."
That was when Yang started to march over to him. Jaune's whole body stiffened. 'Is she going to hurt me for being close to her sister?' Jaune questioned himself. Next thing he knew, she had wrapped her arms around him and was hugging him. Jaune's arms went to the side, unsure on what he should do.
He felt her shake and she started to speak up, "Thank you." Jaune was about to ask her for what when he heard her sniffle, "You saved me and my sister." She continued in a shaky voice, "I-I did something dumb and if n-not for y-you…" She gave a quick sob before she buried her face not his shoulder and started to cry. "Thank you. Thank you."
"It's okay. It's okay. Oh man, please don't cry." Jaune tried to say quickly. He then gently returned the hug and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.
Eventually, she calmed down and with a last sniffled stepped away. She wiped her eyes and gave him a grateful smile. That's when she gave him a quick kiss to his cheek, "Thank you." She said again, this time bashfully.
Jaune blushed slightly, "No problem." He said embarrassedly.
They heard chuckling and they turned to Tai and Qrow. Tai had a smile on his lips, "Looks like my daughters have taken a liking to you. Why don't you stay with us until we figure out what to do with you. What do you say?"
Jaune just looked at him confused. He looked at the girls, who nodded in agreement. "Why?" he asked. "Why would you do this for a monster?"
Tai just knelt down in front of him to look him in the eyes, "You're not a monster, Jaune. You're just a poor boy that has had a very tough time and needs a hand. So, do you want to take me up on my offer."
Jaune just looked at him, trying to see if this was a trick. But after a few seconds, slowly nodded his head.
Six months have passed since that day and the Xiao Long-Rose family has been all the better for it. It took a while but slowly but surely, Jaune started to trust them and open up to them. He turned out to be a very happy child that just wanted to make the people around him happy. He was even slowly getting used to physical contact. But that may be due to the fact that Yang and Ruby loved to give and get hugs. And having him around was like returning a light that was extinguished when Summer died. It wasn't the same but it made things easier.
Ruby and Yang had someone to play and have fun with. Especially when Yang went to school, Jaune would keep Ruby amused for hours by himself. And when Tai was away, he helped Yang with keeping an eye on Ruby. He was even bringing Tai out of his funk quicker than most would think. Qrow would still stop by on occasions to check up on everyone and to spend some time with, who was quickly becoming, one of his favorite blondes.
Tai and Qrow tried to look for any clue on his family but found no leads. Not that anyone in their family was complaining. No one was looking forward to the day that they would have to say goodbye to the blonde boy.
Which lead to Tai sitting in the living room with his daughters. He looked at their smiling faces with his own, "You two ready?" The two nodded, "Jaune! Can you come down here please?"
They all heard him open the door to the guest room he had been staying in before they heard his footfalls go to the stairs and down them. "Yes, Mr. Xiao Long?" he asked as he was now in the living room. He was now wearing a brand new black t-shirt and blue shorts. Curtesy of them buying him them. He had a smile on his lips.
Tai took on a serious expression, "Well, the girls and I have been talking and we agree. We can't keep going with the way things are right now and we need to discuss you arrangement here."
Jaune's mood fell along with his face. He lowered his head slightly. He knew it was going to happen eventually but he didn't want to leave the Xiao Long family. They were the nicest people he had met. But, he knew he'd have to eventually. It wasn't like they could let him stay here forever. He then nodded, "I understand, Mr. Xiao Long." He said trying to put on a brave face.
Tai sighed, "Jaune, we talked about this. Call me Taiyang or Tai."
He quickly looked up and shook his head, "I'm sorry but I don't think I can do that, sir."
Tai's serious expression shifted to a smile, "Well, how about calling me something more appropriate? Like 'Dad'?"
Jaune looked at him in shock, not sure if he heard him right, "What?"
Tai smiled more, "We've been talking it over and-"
He was cut off by Yang, "We want you to be our brother!"
Ruby giggled, "Yeah, I want you to be my Big Brother, Jaune. Please!"
Jaune looked at the two of them before looking back at Tai, "Y-you're serious? Y-you want me to stay?"
Tai just smiled and nodded, "We do, Jaune. We've come to care for you very much over these last few months and we don't want to see you go. So, what do you say? Do you want to be part of our family?"
Jaune just stared at Tai for a while before looking at Ruby and Yang. Both were looking at him excitedly and nodding to him. He looked down and started to shake. 'This is real?' he asked himself. He sniffled before he started to cry. He desperately started to wipe his eyes.
The three family members looked at each other in shock. Tai got off his chair and knelt in front of Jaune, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Jaune, what's wrong?"
Jaune looked up to him with tears still pouring from his eyes. He couldn't say anything but just wrapped his arms tightly around the older man's neck. He and the girls were shocked since even though he got better with physical contact, he was still wary around adults. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." He said slowly and repeatedly.
Tai finally understood and smiled. He wrapped his arm around the boy to hug him, "You're welcome, son."
Hearing that caused Jaune to sob more but Tai just rubbed his back. Yang and Ruby got off the couch and walked over to them. Tai let go of Jaune and the girls hugged their new brother on either side. Tai wrapped his arms around all three of his children in return. The entire time, Jaune just kept crying in the embrace of his new father and sisters. But he was happier than he ever thought possible.
A/N- And here it is, my new story. To be honest, in the poll this story took the lead early on and never lost it. It was shocking. Before anyone asks, what happened to Jaune's family? I will explain that later in the story since it is very important for the plot. But just not yet. Wanna build the story itself some before diving into that rabbit hole. And I will explain his Semblance in the next chapter so don't worry about that.
So, I hoped you all enjoyed this first chapter and will look forward to the rest of this story. I will see you all in the next update!
Beta Readers were Jauneforever and Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh. Go check them out if you haven't. Both have great stories.
