A Flame in the Dark

Jaune slowly opened his eyes and came back to consciousness as his internal clock told him it was seven in the morning. His first sight was the ceiling of the ballroom he and the other initiates had stayed in the night before. He smiled to himself and was about to get up until he registered the two bodies on either side of him.

He looked down to see that it was indeed his sisters. Ruby was on his left; she had managed to slide herself between his arm and his chest to use the latter as her pillow as she pulled herself close to him. On reflex, he must've wrapped his left arm around her to keep her close during the night. Yang, on the other hand, had pinned his right arm between herself and him, keeping him close with her arms wrapped tightly around him in a hug. He sighed to himself, "First time I let them sleep in the same bed with me in years and they are already making a habit out of it." He couldn't help the small smile though, it reminded him of when they were kids. Now he had to go about waking them up.

His eyes landed on Ruby first. Out of the two, she was the easiest to wake up. Except for the fact that his sister just looked adorable the way she was cuddled up to him. So his eyes immediately panned over to the harder of the two to wake up. He then smirked as he got an idea on just how to get her up. He unwrapped Ruby with is left arm and she immediately shivered slightly and pulled herself closer to him. He then reached over himself and gently took a lock of Yang's hair between his fingers. That's when he started to tickle her nose with it. Her eyes and face scrunched up but he didn't stop which led her to shake her head slightly in her sleep. When he still persisted, she gave a mix between a groan and a whine as her eyes slowly opened.

Jaune stopped with what he was doing and Yang's eyes focused on the lock of her own hair being held by someone. Her eyes snapped completely open and her head instantly looked up to see who dared to touch her hair. She was met with the smirking face of her brother, "Morning, Yang." He said innocently.

Her eyes narrowed before she sighed heavily, "You are so lucky I didn't punch first."

"Wow, that's a first." He said cheekily as he gently rubbed the lock of hair between his fingers.

"Jaune, it's early and I haven't had my coffee. Don't make me hurt you." Yang told him seriously. "Why'd you wake me up anyways?"

He shrugged, "Because my darling sisters had me trapped and I couldn't get up otherwise."

With that, Yang finally realized that she was hugging Jaune very tightly and, if she wasn't mistaken, his arm was pushed between her assets because of it. She wasn't the faintest bit ashamed though, it wasn't like she hadn't done something like this before with him, sleeping or otherwise. She then turned down from his face to look across his chest and saw her little sister still asleep and holding him just as tightly. Yang smirked and rested her chin on his chest. "Still can't wake up our sleeping sister because she's too adorable. Come on, Jauney, it's been years now, you should've gotten over that." She teased him.

Jaune was unfazed, "That's why I woke you up. You can be the bad guy and wake her."

"You would make your sister into the villain? How cruel of you." She grinned at him while Jaune just looked at her with a look that just explained he wasn't amused. She rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll do it, you big baby." She then let go of him with her right arm, her left was still under him at the moment, and started to shake her sister, "Come on, Rubes. Time to get up."

They both heard her groan slightly before trying to bury her face further into Jaune to stay asleep. But Yang wouldn't stop her shaking so Ruby reluctantly awoke. Her eyes blinked open and she slowly looked over to see her siblings. She yawned, which both found to be adorable before she started to speak, "Morning, Yang, Morning, Jaune."

"Morning, Sis." The two Xiao Longs said nearly in sync.

Ruby let go of her brother to sit up and stretch with another yawn. "So, why'd you wake me up so early?"

"We have to prepare for Initiation. The earlier, the better in my opinion. Plus, you two have a habit of sleeping in." He then gently poked Yang in the side, "Mind letting me go now? I'm not carrying you into the bathroom with me."

Yang gave a huff and let him go so both could sit up. She looked around the ballroom at everyone, "Looks like we're one of the first to get up."

"Good." Jaune said as he stood up and bent backwards slightly until he felt a satisfying pop in his spine. He sighed and righted himself, "We'll have first dibs on the bathrooms and breakfast. Plus some time to relax before Initiation." He offered each of his sisters a hand, "You two ready?" he asked rhetorically.

Each of them smiled up to him as they took his offered hands before he pulled them to his feet. After that, the three split up and went into their separate gender bathrooms. Jaune took a quick shower to help wake himself up completely before he quickly dried off and dressed in his normal clothes, minus his ammo belt and weapons since those were still in his locker. After that, he styled his hair into the usual semi-messy look before he started to brush his teeth.

By the time he was done with that, some more early risers started to filter into the bathroom but it was still pretty obvious that most of the other initiates were still fast asleep. He slipped out and was going to wait for his sisters but was stunned to see that Ruby was already fully dressed and awkwardly standing against the opposite wall, waiting for him. He smiled and walked up to her, she looked relieved as soon as she saw him and smiled, "So, where's Yang?" he asked.

Ruby sighed, "She was still drying her hair when I was done. She was still half-naked on top of that." She said in annoyance, "I got bored waiting and with more people showing up, I decided to meet up with you."

Jaune felt his eyes twitch. Yang taking her time in the bathroom was a nightmare in the Xiao Long/Rose household so he wasn't shocked in the slightest to hear that was what was keeping her. Hell, he still remembered the time a few years back, he walked in and she was standing in the middle of the bathroom in only a towel as she was drying her hair. The two froze for a few seconds before Yang blushed and she screamed. That was when she punched him in the jaw and across the hall into the wall, knocking him out cold. He made it a priority to always knock on the door after she was out of the shower after that.

Jaune shook his head to come back to reality. "Well, let's go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. She'll meet us there when she's done." Ruby quickly nodded and the two made their way to get something to eat. As they got nearer, the smell of fresh breakfast was wafting down the hallway and both felt their stomachs growl in preparation. They walked in and saw the amount of different and fresh food ready for them. They grabbed their trays and before she could get too far, Jaune had to say something, "Ruby, do not get cookies."

She looked up at him in horror, "Come on, Jaune! Please!"

He shook his head, "I know you love them but they are not for breakfast. And don't even try the puppy eyes." He added as he had his back to her to purposely not see them. He heard her huff behind him and just knew she was pouting now. He sighed but he did see something that she was going to love. He picked up a strawberry parfait and placed it on her tray. That made her stare wide eyed, "There. Will that make you feel better?"

She just smiled before she put down the tray and hugged him tightly, "I love you!" Jaune just smiled and gently started to rub the top of her head as she continued to hug him. She eventually let him go and they grabbed the rest of their breakfast. Jaune grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast before grabbing a cup of coffee. Ruby grabbed something very similar, except she left the toast and got a hot cocoa.

The two grabbed a table and started to enjoy their respective breakfasts. Jaune was savoring his coffee while Ruby was nearly moaning as she dug into her parfait. The two had about ten minutes of peace until they saw the doors open and more of the early rising initiates walked in with Yang at the lead. She found them easily enough since they were the only ones sitting down. She gave them a quick wave before she went over to grab her breakfast.

When she was done, she came over and sat down on Jaune's right since Ruby was already on his left, "Thanks for waiting for me you two."

Ruby had just stuffed another spoonful into her mouth before he answered, "You take forever."

Jaune gently laid down his mug, "Rubes, your mouth is full." He then turned to Yang, "But I agree with her. You take forever in the bathroom. That is a major reason why I woke you up so early." He then took a bite from his toast, "Plus, hot breakfast is the best."

Yang just shoved him lightly at that before she dug into her own breakfast. The three ate and just chatted with each other as more and more initiates started to filter in. No one really sat with them but to the table to their left, an orange haired girl talking a mile a minute was sitting with guy with long black hair who seemed to take it all in stride. He didn't focus on the pair too long because Yang was currently teasing their little sister about the yogurt all around her mouth. Before the younger girl had a chance to, Jaune picked up his own napkin and started to clean her face as he gently held her cheek. Much to Ruby's embarrassment and chagrin.

Eventually, the three siblings were done with their breakfast and they left the cafeteria to go retrieve their weapons, with a few more of their fellow initiatives doing just the same, including the pair from before. As Ruby and Yang were grabbing their weapons, he could hear her still chatting with her friend. "Does she even breathe?" he said out loud but not loud enough for her to hear. He didn't want to insult her on accident. Jaune's locker was farther away from theirs since the ones around were taken before they had gotten there so he was just standing by and joining in on the conversation when needed.

Ruby answered as she opened her locker, "No idea, she definitely seems worked up though."

Yang shrugged, "Who knows? Although, you seem chipper now, sis."

Ruby quickly gained a massive smile, "Yup! No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She then pulled Crescent Rose from the locker and hugged it close.

Yang gained a deadpanned expression while Jaune just chuckled before he spoke up, "Don't get too crazy, Ruby. Remember, we are going to get partners and Dad didn't tell us just how they do it. They'll most likely be strangers to us."

The reaper looked down, disgruntled, and Yang nodded quickly, glad that Jaune was on her side for this. "Exactly! If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together."

She sighed in frustration. "You sound like Dad!" she said before she kicked her locker shut. She turned back to them. "I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!" she crossed her arms with that.

"Yes. That milk we totally help you kill a horde of Grimm when they come for you." Jaune said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "Ruby, look, I know you're not a people person, I get it. But no matter how skilled you are, you can't take on everything by yourself. That's the reason why the schools organize their students into teams."

Ruby looked down in a pout and Yang continued where he left off, "Yeah, those aren't optional. What was your master plan for dealing with that?"

Ruby's confidence from earlier started to dwindle and she looked more nervous, "Um, I don't know. I was still hoping to be on one of your teams."

Jaune watched Yang pull her hair over her shoulder and start playing with it, Ruby wasn't the only one nervous, "Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?"

Ruby gasped and pointed at her, "My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?" she asked with a tone that sounded both annoyed and hurt.

Jaune could see where this was going from a mile away. And he learned a long time ago to not get in the middle of his sisters when they get into an argument. So with that, he slowly started to step away and neither of them saw him, luckily. With that, he turned around and started to walk to where his locker was to retrieve Glacies Tempest and Stalwart. Hopefully by then, those two would calm down. Although, it appeared his luck had run out since he now saw that Weiss was standing in front of his locker and talking to another woman with long, red hair. He sighed, "Perfect."

As he got closer, he could hear what Weiss was saying, "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself." Jaune couldn't help but roll his eyes at how thick she was laying it on.

He then heard the redhead hum before speaking up, "I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on the same team together." Weiss offered.

Jaune decided to make himself known to them, "That will be a lot harder than you think." Both turned to him in shock, Weiss more so out of the two, "You don't really get to choose whoever you want to be your partner or teammates. If you pass Initiation, how you perform in it decides on who you will have as teammates."

"How would you know that?" Weiss asked having recovered slightly.

He shrugged, "My dad graduated from Beacon. He couldn't tell me how partners and teammates were formed but told me enough. Now, not to be rude, but I need to get my weapons." He then pointed past them to the locker. Weiss quickly stepped to stand next to the other girl so Jaune gave her a small smile, "Thank you."

He opened his locker and quickly but on his ammo belt, making sure he had the usual number of Dust clips for both his weapons. Once he did that, he grabbed his trusted sword. He quickly checked to see what the Dust level was at and was content to see that it was still full. He grinned before he attached it to the left side of his belt. He then grabbed his left gauntlet and slid it on before he deployed it. He loaded in a fresh clip of ammo from his locker before he reverted it back into its compact form. He did the exact same thing with is right gauntlet.

He closed his locker and turned back around to see that Weiss was still looking at him weirdly and the other girl was looking between them in confusion. "What?"

Weiss just looked away, "Nothing."

The redhead cleared her throat and Jaune turned his attention back to her, "Sorry for the inconvenience."

Jaune just shook his head, "No big deal. Wasn't like you knew that was someone's locker." He then had a small smile before he held out his hand to her, "I'm Jaune, by the way. Jaune Xiao Long."

She reached her hand out and took his, "Nice to meet you. I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

He nodded as he took his hand back, "Same to you. Don't take this the wrong way but considering how… enthusiastic Weiss was to have you on her team, you must be pretty skilled."

That seemed to shock her and Weiss turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, "You've seriously never heard of her? She graduated top of her class at Sanctum Academy in Argus and won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row."

Jaune just shrugged, "Sorry but no. I grew up on Patch, nice secluded little island not far from Vale. Unless you were looking for certain news, you really didn't get it. Plus, I really didn't look into other schools since my dad worked at Signal and I always intended on coming to Beacon."

"Oh, that's fine." Pyrrha said happily. "I can't expect everyone to know me."

The way she said that confused him a bit. And going off of Weiss' expression, she was just as confused as he was. "Right?" he said uncertainly. "Well, it was nice to meet you and I wish you luck. But, I should probably go find my-"

"Jaune!" he heard Ruby shout before she collided into him with her Semblance. He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and she just looked up at him in a pout, "Stop ditching me!"

"I didn't ditch you. I needed my weapons and you and Yang were getting into an argument that I was not getting involved with. So, I effectively killed two Nevermore with one stone." He explained to her. Although, that didn't stop glaring up at him.

"Ruby has a point." Yang said as she walked over with her hands behind her head and a teasing smile on her lips.

Jaune just groaned as he fell into step beside Yang as their younger sister still clung onto him as he walked, "Don't you start too, Yang." The three siblings just traded banter as Weiss and Pyrrha watched them go.

The champion then looked towards Weiss, "Who were they?"

Weiss sighed, "His sisters."


The three Xiao Long/Rose siblings were now standing on a cliff edge and standing on metal plates. In front of them were Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch, who were explaining what their initiation would be. 'We're seriously being partnered up by just making eye contact with someone. No wonder why dad didn't tell us, we wouldn't have believed him. After that, go north to this temple, collect an artifact and make it back up here while killing any Grimm in our way. Pretty straight forward.' His eyes panned over to his right to see Ruby, standing on the very last plate, and she was not looking very happy.

He reached over and gently gripped her shoulder, making her turn to him. He gave her a reassuring smile, "You got this, Ruby." After a few seconds, she smiled back at him with a nod. With that he took his hand away and was getting ready to go as the other end of the metal plates started to launch the other initiates into the Emerald Forest.

As Glacies Tempest started to fully deploy, he felt a love tap on his left shoulder and looked to see Yang giving him a look, "Wanna have a bet?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "What do you have in mind?"

She pointed northward, "The one to go the farthest before touching the ground wins."

Jaune thought for a second before he nodded, "That sounds fair. What about the stakes?"

"How about the usual?" Yang asked.

"Really? That's what you want?" he asked her and she just nodded. He shrugged with a playful grin, "Sure. Why not?" She then gave him a big grin before she winked and was launched into the forest. Jaune had a few seconds before he soon followed after her. He felt the metal pad below him getting ready to activate so he turned to Ruby and gave her one last reassuring smile before he was launched into the air.

Jaune allowed himself to be thrown as far as he could from the initial launch. As he was starting to near the treetop, he threw his right fist forward and released a barrage of ice bullets. They did what was intended and created an ice path on top of the trees. He landed on it and used his momentum to slide across it. At the end, he jumped forward as far as he could before he redid the process.

He looked forward and saw that Yang was using her gauntlets to launch herself further and further north but was quickly approaching the treetops. He smirked as he realized that if he kept this up, he'd win this bet of theirs. He reached the end of his latest ice slide and jumped forward again. He was starting to bring his arm forward to fire but was shocked to see what was in front of him. Or more accurately, who.

Pyrrha Nikos was crouched in the treetop with her weapon, a rifle of the looks, and was looking at the initiates that were still in the air. She was right where he needed to fire and he was so distracted by Yang, that he was too close to adjust his trajectory properly now. "Pyrrha, watch out!" She turned around just in time to see Jaune spin himself enough to just miss her before he vanished beneath the canopy of leaves.

He kept his arms crossed in front of his face to protect it from the branches he was snapping through. But because of that, he didn't see the much thicker one in front of him until he slammed into it stomach first. He bounced off it with a shocked gasp of pain before he fell backwards and out of the tree branches. And onto the ground with a meaty slap.

Jaune just laid their as he let out a groan of pain. Luckily enough, he had his aura active when he was launched so he wasn't in too bad shape. But because he didn't focus his aura more on his stomach and back when he hit the branch and ground respectively, he felt more of the pain. But now his aura was taking the edge off. "I'm so glad Yang didn't see that. She'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Jaune!" he heard a familiar voice shout from above. He looked up to see Pyrrha drop down from the branches above and land beside him in a couch. She had a worried look on her face as she held her hands out, like she wanted to help him but didn't know what to do. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"A bit sore but I should be fine." He sat up with another, all be it quieter, groan as Pyrrha hovered next to him. "I'm just glad I noticed you. Otherwise you would've been a frozen champion. What were you even doing up there anyway?" he asked in curiosity.

Her eyes widened slightly before she turned her head a bit to the side and muttered something. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you." Jaune told her.

"I was… looking for you, actually." She said just a bit louder.

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Me? Why?"

He noticed that her hands were now in her lap and were fiddling with each other. Her nerves also started to make her stutter slightly, "I-I was hoping… t-that you wouldn't mind being my p-partner?"

"Really?" he asked. Her answer was to look down at her hands and nod. Jaune sighed, "There may've been easier ways to go about that. But it looks like you got your wish."

She looked up at him and he just smiled at her, "We've already made eye contact, so it looks like we're stuck with each other for the next four years. Hope you don't regret this, partner." He said with a cheekier smile as he held his hand out to her.

She just stared at him for a bit before a stunning smile made itself onto her lips. She then took his hand again and squeezed slightly, "I doubt I will, Jaune." With that she pulled him back to his feet.

He let go of her hand and slowly stretched his back to make sure everything was in order. Once he was sure he was fine, he looked back to Pyrrha, "Well, let's start heading north." Pyrrha nodded happily and the two were about to move before they heard rustling in the bushes. Both turned on a dime, Jaune falling into his boxing stance and ready to unleash a hail of bullets, while Pyrrha pulled out her rifle and had it aimed forward and ready to fire.

That was until they both her a dainty 'ow' and saw Weiss trying to pull her dress free from the very same bushes. Once she was free, she walked forward and moved some low hanging leaves to step into the clearing. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Pyrrha and Jaune standing there with weapons ready. But seeing who it was, both of them lowered their weapons. Weiss then gave Pyrrha a smile, "Pyrrha, so good to see you. It looks like we are partners."

As she was walking forward, Jaune noticed that Pyrrha stiffened up a bit. A polite smile made it onto her lips, "I'm sorry, Weiss, but I've already partnered up with Jaune." she motioned to him on her right and Jaune just nodded in return.

Jaune noticed her smile become slightly tighter and her eyes landed on Jaune in a restrained glare. She still managed to keep her cheery mask on, "Well, if that's the case, would you mind if I join you until I find my own partner?"

Before they could give her an answer, all three heard something else moving through the bushes but the voice that followed stopped any of them from raising their weapons, "Weiss, wait! We're supposed to be teammates!" Ruby then walked into the clearing behind Weiss. That caused Weiss to freeze and Jaune to give her a glare.

Ruby looked past Weiss to her brother, her downtrodden expression quickly lit up, "Jaune!" she said happily and ran past Weiss to him.

Jaune looked down at his sister with a happy smile. Before she could run into him, he gently started to rub her head, "Ruby, it hasn't been that long. How are you that excited to see me?" He said jokingly. "But, what was that about Weiss being your teammate?" He asked as his eyes went back to Weiss in a glare of cold fury. That had Weiss freeze further.

Ruby just looked up at him, "I was looking for you or Yang as soon as I landed. But I nearly ran into Weiss, we made eye contact but she just turned around and walked away."

"Is that right?" he said out loud as his glare seemed to intensify. "So, you not only disobeyed the Professor's rules but also tried to take Pyrrha as your partner. Which means, you abandoned my sister out of your own self-interest, huh?"

Weiss couldn't find the words to speak and her eyes looked over to Pyrrha for some form of help but the champion just looked at her in disappointment. She looked back to the clearly infuriated Jaune, "I…"

Jaune released an angry huff, "Fine then." He looked down to Ruby and his glare shifted back to a look of caring, "You can tag along with Pyrrha and me, Rubes. Hopefully we can find you a better partner." Without waiting to get a response, Jaune put his arm around her shoulders and started to lead her northward. Pyrrha fell in behind him after a second or two.

Weiss stood there for a few seconds before she tried to follow after them. She went one step before the cocking of a gun stopped her. She saw Jaune look over his shoulder, "You aren't coming with us."

"What?" Weiss asked.

"Let me make this clear to you." Jaune turned to face her with a steely edge to his voice. That but the three on edge, especially Weiss. Ruby looked uncomfortable because it had been a long time since she had seen Jaune this angry. "I care about my sisters more than anything. You were willing to abandon my sister for your own selfishness. So, I will not trust you to watch my sister or my back because you may just stab us in the back for your own gain. If you don't like that…" his other gauntlet cocked, "You can prove me wrong."