A Flame in the Dark

It had been a few days since the Ursa incident and, by some miracle, Taiyang had not found out about it. What he did find out about was finding all three of his kids sleeping in Jaune's bed and cuddling together. Which he found to be adorable, especially with the fact that Zwei somehow snuck into the room later on in the night and was curled up on top of Jaune's stomach, nestled between the girls on either side.

So, he closed the door quietly and went down to make breakfast. It was twenty minutes or so, when the three came downstairs to eat and he proceeded to tease them all about it. That earned him a series of blushes from them all but most severe from Ruby, who tried to defend herself by saying 'Jaune is the best pillow!' Which made her father laugh like crazy and for her blush to deepen further.

That lasted for a while and the three finally got a break when the three decided to head into Vale to get some Dust ammunition to refill what they used against that Ursa and to prepare for Beacon and Signal respectively. The three were currently driving there on Yang's bike, Bumblebee, and Jaune's bike, Nightfall, which looked very similar to Yang's except its color scheme being black and white. The three drove down the busy roads of Vale, with Ruby riding with Jaune, the safer driver. The three eventually came to a stop in a parking lot just down the street from Dust til Dawn, their usual Dust shop. They originally only went there because Yang loved the pun but they kept coming back because they liked the service the older man gave them.

They all got off the bikes and took off their respectively colored helmets. Yang starting talking slightly annoyed, "We would've gotten here much quicker if we took my route."

Jaune rolled his eyes at his sister, "Yes but we also wanted to get here in one piece. Aura is good and all but it still hurts to get slammed into the pavement. Or a wall. Or another vehicle."

"Don't forget lampposts." Ruby added helpfully with a smile.

"That was one time!" Yang said in annoyance.

"Still one too many." Jaune told her with his smirk still in place. "Besides, I don't wanna waste another weekend helping you repair your bike, again."

"Come on, you helped me build Bumblebee. Who else would be better to help me fix it?" she asked.

"Yeah and you helped me with Nightfall, that doesn't change anything. Stop crashing your bike." Jaune told her sternly, which made her pout and cross her arms. Meanwhile, Ruby was covering her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "Alright, alright. Let's get our Dust and go to our usual restaurant for a quick bite before we head home."

His sisters quickly agreed before the three started to slowly make their way down the street. Ruby was excitingly saying how she wanted to get the newest weapon magazine to see if there was anything new coming out that could be used to improve any of their weapons. Both of the blonde siblings just smiled at her antics as they let her lead them as they added their two cents of occasions. As they were getting closer to the store, Yang pulled out her scroll to check it before she frowned slightly. Jaune noticed that, "Everything alright, Sis?"

Yang looked up at him before she pocketed her scroll. "Yeah, sorry. I forgot that there was something I had to do earlier. It completely slipped my mind until now."

Ruby quickly spoke up, "Oh, well if it's important, why don't you give me the money for your Dust? I can pick it up for you and you can meet us at the restaurant when you're done."

Yang gave her a beaming smile, "Really? Thanks, Ruby, you're the best little sister ever!" She then pulled out her wallet and handed the correct amount of Lien to her. "I'll take care of this as fast as I can and meet up with you guys in a bit." With that said, Yang turned around and went off in a brisk pace to where she parked her bike.

Jaune just watched his sister run down the street to the parking lot before he saw her pull out and drive down the street. He kept watching her even after she was out of sight and the sound of her engine was too far to hear. Being her brother for so long, he knew how she ticked and he just had this feeling in his gut that she was doing something dangerous and/or stupid.

"Jaune, you okay?" Ruby asked and he turned to his little sister. She was looking up at him in concern, "You've been staring down the street for a while."

He sighed, "Ruby, I hate to do this, but could you get my Dust as well?"

She raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Sure. But why?"

He scratched the back of his head slightly, "I just have the feeling that Yang-"

"Is going to do something either Dad doesn't approve of or will get her in serious trouble?" Ruby finished his sentence for him. He just blinked before nodding. Ruby lowered her head with a sigh before she look back up at him with a tiny smile, "Sure. Go on, go stop our sister."

Jaune just gave her a small smile before taking out the necessary amount of Lien plus extra, which confused her, "Get yourself something for having to deal with all this. Plus, you are the sister that isn't giving me a headache right now." He then ruffled her hair as she smiled up at him, "Meet us at the restaurant when you're done. And please, for the love of Oum, stay out of trouble."

Ruby playfully stuck her tongue out at him as he ran down the road to where he parked his bike. He jumped onto it before placing his helmet on his head before kicking the engine to life. He then started to race down the road and down the street that he saw Yang go down.

It didn't take him long to realize he had absolutely no idea on where his sister took off to. He sighed to himself in annoyance before he pulled off to the side of the road. Once he was there, he pulled out his scroll to see if he could find her scroll's GPS signal. Their dad had set it up so that all four of their scrolls could be updated on their positions as long as they were on. They all had a sneaking suspicion that idea came from the way Jaune was introduced to their family and what could've happened to the two young girls.

It took a minute or so before the GPS came through. Luckily, she didn't think to turn off her scroll. So, he was hoping that was a sign that she wasn't doing anything terrible. He put her coordinate into his own GPS so it could give him directions before he pulled back down the street and towards where his sister was. As she kept following those directions, he was moving out of the main part of Vale and moving to a much seedier part of the Kingdom. That was making his hope diminish more and more.

He eventually came to where her scroll was, which appeared to be some sort of club. He noticed that Bumblebee was parked on the other side of the road from it. Jaune pulled over and parked his bike beside it. He turned it off before taking off his helmet and walking across the street to the club itself. He was then stopped by two bouncers wearing black suits, red ties and red sunglasses, "Sorry, man, club is full."

Jaune just looked at him before motioning his chin towards the door, "Did a young woman go in there recently. Slightly shorter than me, long blonde hair with lilac colored eyes?"

The two looked at each other before the other one answered, "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, there is a good chance that she may or may not bring the place down if I don't go in there to check on her." He told them seriously.

The two of them started to laugh like crazy. The first one tried to speak through his laughter, "Yeah, good one, man." The kept laughing until they saw just how serious he was and their laughter slowly petered out until they were silent. "You're…you're serious?"

Jaune just nodded, "She has a hell of a temper and Hunter's training." That made them both pale. "Look, that's worst case scenario. Just let me go in and check on her. If it looks like it'll go bad, I'll bring her out with no fuss. If she is just having fun, I'll come right out and on my way. What do you say?"

The bouncers looked to each other for a few seconds before they stepped to the side to let him go in. He nodded and quickly made his way down the stairs in front of him and to the entrance of the club proper. Loud music was erupting through the room and a series of flashing lights flooded along with it. The club was completely packed with patrons who were enjoying themselves, both couples and singles by the looks.

Jaune quickly scanned the area, looking for his sister. He found her easily at the bar next to a rather large man dressed similar to the guys out front except he was missing the jacket. He then saw her grab the guy's crotch rather roughly and show him her scroll before he saw many other guys looking like the ones out front surround them and aim guns at her.

Jaune started to march towards the group of men and his sister. His high emotions was triggering his Semblance just enough to heat the air around him enough to make anyone start to sweat from close proximity. He reached the group of men and started to push his way through, not carrying in the slightest what they thought. They would've tried to stop him if it wasn't for the serious expression and the heat radiating off him acting as a great deterrent.

He eventually got through all the men and was beside his sister and the behemoth of a man but neither had noticed him yet. He reached out and grabbed the wrist of her offending hand, gripping it tightly. Yang spun around to probably tell him off but that anger faded quickly.

Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth fell open as Jaune just stared her in the eyes with a serious and cold look. He only had that look in his eyes when she seriously messed up. And if she was being completely honest, she hated to see him look it her like that; it made her heart drop and felt like a lead pull settled into her stomach.

"Let go." Was all he said to her. Her grip instantly went limp and the man let out a sigh of relief. "We're leaving." He told her and he turned around to drag her behind him.

Or he would've of if the guys around them didn't aim their weapons at them once again. Then a deep voice behind them sounded out, "I don't think so. She needs to pay for what she did."

Jaune just looked at the man with a hardness in his eyes, "I wouldn't recommend that."

"Yeah and why is that?" he asked confidently.

"Well, for one, my sister is highly trained and has a temper. She could bring this entire place down with ease." He let that sink in before he continued, "But the other is me. If any of you touch even a hair on her head, and I won't leave rubble in my wake. Just ash." There was an edge to his voice and the heat around him increased again. Yang was unaffected since she was already used to it from all the time they spent together and had to deal with her own brand of heat form her own Semblance. Although, she was still stunned by him being there in the first place and just how serious he was. It had been a long time since he was like this.

The leader and all of his men weren't so lucky. They were sweating profusely and some of the nearby patrons were also starting to back away from the heat and from just how bad the situation was looking. "So, what's it going to be?" he asked them all.

All the men turned to their leader and after a few seconds, just shook his head. "Let them go." They all quickly holstered their guns and started to part so the two blondes could leave unimpeded. Jaune just nodded at the big guy before he turned back to the entrance and started to lead Yang out of that place.

But it looked like the universe had it out for him that day. Not even halfway to the exit, two twins, not much older than him, were walking towards him. One dressed in white and the other in red, with both having looks on their faces he did not like. "Did you see that, Miltia?" the one in white spoke up.

The one in red, Miltia, nodded, "Oh, I did, Melanie. When was the last time we've seen Junior buckle to anyone?"

Melanie just shook her head, "It has been some time. You must be something special." She stared up at him and both were now only a few feet away from him.

Jaune just looked at the two and could guess just where this was going but he had other priorities to deal with. Mostly getting his renegade sister out of this place. "I'm nothing special. If you'll excuse me, we need to get going."

He tried to push by them but Melanie wrapped her arms around his free one and held it close to her chest. He could feel her hands travel over his bicep and feeling the muscles under his shirt. "Why the rush? Stay with us and we can show you some real fun." She said flirtatiously.

Miltia walked in front of him and placed her hand on his chest, slowly tracing circles. She fluttered her eyelashes at him, "We can share with you an amazing experience. It's been a while since someone like you caught our eyes."

"Get your hands the hell off him, you bitches!" came the very familiar shout of his sister from behind him. He turned to see her eyes now red and her teeth clenched in anger. This wouldn't be the first time he had seen Yang act this way. She had done it to plenty of girls that were too flirtatious with him. He thought that she was being overprotective like she was with Ruby. He eventually found out that a lot of those girls had rather unsavory reputations around Signal, so he thanked her for that. Although some of the other girls didn't, so he wasn't a hundred percent sure why she chased them off. But he was sure she had her reasons.

The twins did not look too happy with that and the two glared at her, "What's your problem?" Melanie hissed at her. "Why don't you get out of here before you regret-" She was cut off when Yang's fist collided with her face. She was forced to let go of Jaune's arm and was sent flying across the club and land in the center of the dancefloor, causing some of the patrons to scatter. Miltia didn't have time to react before another hit sent her into her twin. Yang deployed Ember Celica and ran after them.

Jaune placed a hand over his eyes and dropped his head slightly. He sighed in defeat, "So damn close." And that was when the three women got into the mother of all cat fights with him wondering how he was going to stop her now.

"Uh, think we should stop that?" he heard one of the men say behind him.

"I'm not going anywhere near that." Said another.

"What should we do, boss?" asked a third.

There was a moment of silence, "As much as I don't want that to continue in my club, this could be useful. Maybe the twins will teach that blonde bitch a lesson."

Jaune's whole body went stiff before another, angrier, sigh just escaped him. "Oum damn it." He muttered under his breath before his hand gripped the hilt of Stalwart on his left hip. It looked like a sword with half a blade but as his hand wrapped around it, the other half shot out of it to reveal the full blade.

Stalwart looked very similar to his Uncle Qrow's Harbinger. The noticeable differences were that it was more of the size of a longsword compared to the greatsword-sized blade of Harbinger and the blade was double-edged. There was no clockwork like gears in the center of the hilt, Jaune going for a sleeker and stream-line look. He also had a pair of parallel handguards on either side of it, creating a cross guard. And instead of shotgun barrels, were a pair of just as long but thinner, vent-like barrels.

He pulled the sword free from his belt before he spun around and leapt towards the massive man. Junior was in the middle of smirking at one of his employees before he turned back just in time for Jaune's left fist to slam into the side of his face and sending him over the bar.

While in the air, Jaune spun himself before he plunged Stalwart's blade into the ground below him and squeezed the trigger mechanism. At that moment, dark-bluish mist erupted from the barrels on each side of his sword. As it came in contact with the ground, the Dust mist froze it and started to spread out rapidly until all the employees around him were trapped, their legs from the knees down frozen.

He pulled his sword free and stood tall, still glaring at where Junior fell over the bar. "Stay put." Was all he growled out as he charged towards the man that insulted his sister. He just managed to stand up from behind the bar as he saw Jaune rocketing towards him. He quickly managed to bring up his massive club and used it to block the blade that would've slashed across his chest.

With his momentum stopped, Jaune's feet landed on the bar. He then started to deliver a series of quick slashes against the bar owner. Junior was just managing to block the slashes but was slowly being forced to step backwards. Jaune following him the whole time by walking on the bar itself. He eventually found a slight opening and managed to deliver a heavy horizontal swing. Jaune just managed to bring his sword up to block it but was still sent skidding across the bar top.

As soon as he came to a stop, he shot off again with another burst of his aura. He was on Junior again and brought down Stalwart with a downward, two-handed swing. Junior managed to block it again but Jaune released more Dust onto his weapon, coating the entire thing in a massive chunk of ice. Not expecting the added weight, Junior shifted backwards slightly and he had to use his other hand to support it.

That gave Jaune the perfect opportunity to jump up and onto the club and drive Junior backwards and onto the ground, back first. Junior groaned from the impact and looked up just in time to see Jaune bringing down his sword directly towards his face. At the last second, the blade moved just enough to miss his head and stab into the ground between his head and shoulder. That caused the man to gasp in relief before his left shoulder and upper arm, left side of his neck and left side of his chest were covered in ice.

Junior just stared up at Jaune as he glared back at him. He was still standing on top of him and driving his frozen club into his chest, making it hard to breathe. He became laser focused by what the blonde above him said next, "You ever call my sister a bitch again, and the next time this will end way worse. Do I make myself clear?" He practically hissed the last part and Junior couldn't shake his head quick enough.

Jaune just stared him down for ten full seconds before he removed his sword from the ground and stepped off the man. Jaune started to walk towards his sister who had just about finished up her own fight. His eyes lingered on the other men he had froze before, making sure they didn't try anything. None of them even raised their weapons at him. With that, he collapsed his sword back into its standby mode before he saw his sister lay Melanie out with a spin kick to the face.

She was looking around with her hair glowing from her Semblance. When her eyes landed on her brother, she froze and her hair stopped glowing after a few seconds. The two just stared at each other, one in concern and trepidation while the other was just neutral. Jaune motioned to the door with his head, "Come on." Is all he said as he started to walk away. He heard her quickly running over to catch up to him along with the telltale sounds of her weapons collapsing back down into their compact form.

The two made their way out of the club without issue, most of the patrons left after Yang threw the twins. While the remaining of them, let them go unhindered after seeing what the two just did. Luckily they didn't cause too much damage to the establishment. The worse would probably be the ice he left but that would melt, eventually.

They walked out and the two bouncers just stared at them as they walked across the street and to their bikes. Neither spoke as they mounted their own bikes and put on their helmets. Both engines were kicked into life and the two bikes took off down the street, with Nightfall in the lead.

Several minutes later, the two pulled into a familiar restaurant and parked in their normal spots. With that, they shut off their engines and the two started to walked towards the entrance. Jaune was still refusing to look at his sister while Yang was feeling more and more like a child that got caught doing something they shouldn't have. They walked in and were greeted by a familiar waitress, "Well, if it isn't the Xiao Long siblings. What brings you here?"

Jaune smiled at her, "The usual, Shelly. We needed to get some Dust before going to Beacon and we decided to come here afterwards. Can we get our usual table?"

She looked into the restaurant and grinned, "Lucky for you, it's free." She grabbed a couple menus before looking up, "Is Ruby going to be here too?" Jaune just nodded with the smile still on his lips. Shelly nodded before grabbing the third menu and escorting them to their table. The two sat down, on opposite sides of the table, as she placed the menus on the table. "I'll grab your usual drinks." Was all she said as she went off to get them.

That left the two to sit in a tense silence. Yang just stared at the table like a scolded child while Jaune just looked out the window uncaring. They sat like that for a few more minutes with Shelly giving them their drinks. When she left, Yang finally managed to speak up, "I'm sorry."

Jaune finally looked over to her, "What the hell were you even doing there?" The slight edge he had in his tone caused her to flinch. "I mean, if you were going to just go there to have fun, that's one thing. But I think we both know it wasn't that since you tried to lie to me and Ruby. And what I saw when I walked in."

Yang looked down again before she slowly pulled out her scroll and selected a picture before sliding it to him. Jaune looked down to see a very blurry picture of her mother. Jaune just looked at it and sighed, letting just the slightest bit of his frustration out with it. "Trying to find anything on your mother." She just nodded. "Why wouldn't you tell us or at least me, Yang?"

Yang just stayed silent for a little bit, "I know you and Ruby wouldn't care. But Dad does… and I'm so used to doing this on my own. Besides you've never seen too interested in looking for your family so I just thought you wouldn't be interested in helping me…"

Jaune just looked into her eyes for a second, "Because my family is either dead or didn't want me." He said with a finality to his voice. "Why would I want to know who they are?"

The two now sat in a very uncomfortable silence until his scroll just started to go off. He looked down to see that it was Ruby. He answered the call and brought it up to his ear, "Hey, Ruby. You on your way?"

"Hey, Jaune. Um, is Yang there with you?" she asked.

Jaune felt something was off with her voice, like something as bothering her. "Yes, I found her. Why?"

"Oh, um, I was hoping you two could come pick me up." She sniffled slightly. "I'm kinda being detained at the police station and I need someone to get me."

Jaune's eyes went wide before he stood up, "We're on our way now, Ruby." He then left enough Lien on the table for the drinks they didn't drink and a good tip for Shelly. He looked at Yang who was just looking back at him in confusion, "Ruby is being detained at the police station."

"What!?" she said in shock before she stood up and raced to the door with Jaune right behind her.

"We gotta go, Shelly. Money is on the table!" he shouted to the stunned waitress. As they were making it to their bikes, he had just one thought going through his mind, 'What in the hell did Ruby manage to do?'