A Flame in the Dark

The eight initiates were quickly running away from the ruins where the relics were, trying to get away from the pair of Grimm that were chasing them. They had lost sight of the burning Deathstalker but the Nevermore was flying above them the entire time. Never losing sight of them for a second.

The group had emerged from the forest into another set of ruins that extended towards and over a massive chasm. The group quickly broke away into two groups and ran to either side of the ruins to get some much needed cover. As they did that, the Nevermore flew over them before landing on much larger piece of rubble situated in the center of the chasm. From its perch, it spread its wings and gave a massive screech.

That was when the trees exploded into lumber as the burning Deathstalker tore through the forest. It's burning red eyes landed on Jaune before it charged towards him. Jaune narrowed his eyes before shouting, "We need to move!" But unlike the rest that ran away from the Grimm, he moved closer to it. He heard three voices shouting his name as he did but ignored his sisters and partner for the time being.

When he was close enough, he allowed the familiar heat to run down his arm and into his hand. Instead of coalescing the heat into the Flames, he threw his palm forward and sent out a heatwave. The heatwave distorted the air as it flew towards the Grimm. Once it made contact with the still burning silver fire, they erupted. Becoming larger and more intense as the Flames tried once again to burn through the Grimm's carapace. It screeched out in agony from the heat and slowed it's pace to almost a standstill. With that, Jaune turned back around and started to chase after the group he had sent onward.

As he was getting closer, he saw a salvo of feathers flying towards Nora as she was standing between the two rows of ruins. Through an obscene amount of luck, all the feathers missed her and she pulled out her weapon before firing at the flying Grimm with a salvo of grenades. Jaune was confused on why exactly they left behind pink smoke but he'd question that later.

He stopped besides the ginger and quickly cupped his hands together in front of his chest to create a silver fireball. When it was the appropriate size her threw it forward with both hands, aiming for the chest of the massive Grimm. It sadly missed when one of the grenades slammed into the beast's head and caused it to fly away. That just allowed the fireball to fall harmlessly into the chasm. "Damn. Missed." He said in annoyance.

"My bad." Nora said beside him. That is when he heard the screeching from behind him and saw the Deathstalker on a murderous tear towards him. Before it could reach himself or Nora, Ren and his sister's partner, Blake, jumped towards it and cut across its face with their bladed weapons. Using that brief second, Jaune drew Stalwart and preformed and upwards swing while releasing a wave of ice Dust from it. The Dust froze instantly across the Grimm's face and to the ground but it just reared up and shattered it like it was nothing.

That did give Weiss enough time to get to Nora and use a Glyph to get the two of them closer to the others. The three that had drawn their weapons against the Deathstalker were not far behind them, running with everything they had. Jaune noticed that Pyrrha had stopped on the bridge they were running on and was now crouched down and firing at the scorpion Grimm while her shield was in front of her.

Weiss and Nora ran past her as Ren threw himself onto the bridge, rolling until he was also crouched and started firing as well with his machine guns. When Jaune and Blake were on the bridge, the two stopped firing and joined them as the Deathstalker couldn't follow them onto the stone structure.

That was when the Nevermore flew in and destroyed a large portion of the bridge. The eight quickly jumped to the side that they could safely get to before it was too late but it separated them. Jaune, Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Nora managed to be on the portion towards the center of the chasm. But Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren were still stuck on the side with the Deathstalker.

Jaune saw that Ruby was already firing at the avian Grimm but his eyes settled onto the rest fighting the scorpion Grimm. They weren't doing well, since the beast was still covered in silver fire and they couldn't risk getting burned. That made his decision for him as he attached Stalwart back to his belt. He turned toward his sisters and ran towards them and when he was the proper distance away, he turned back and ran at full speed towards the chasm. He quickly pumped aura into his legs and leapt across the chasm and high into the air above them.

As he was flying through the air, he threw his hands towards the burning Grimm. He clenched his fingers like he was grabbing something and pulled his arms back. At that motion, the Flames were pulled from the Grimm in tendril directly towards his hands, shocking the three that were still fighting it. The silver fire was now completely coating his forearm and hands. He winced slightly from the intense heat before clapping his hands together hard to extinguish the flames instantly.

When he pulled his burned hands away, he quickly had Glacies Tempest fully deploy around them. He pulled his right hand back in a fist as he heard an explosion from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see that Nora was following right behind him with her hammer in tow. Both seemed to have the same plan and with two shouts, both brought their weapons down on top of the Deathstalker's head with their accompanying explosions. Not only did they do damage but they helped throw the two back and away from the Grimm as it tried to impale them with its stinger.

Both slid to a stop but Nora had the unfortunate incident of knocking Blake off the bridge. Luckily, she used her weapon to get back onto the other side. They didn't have long to worry about that when the Grimm removed its stinger and the whole bridge started to give way. "Everyone, move!" he shouted and all four ran towards the Grimm.

As they got closer, the Grimm threw it's right pincer forward. Pyrrha was able to deflect it with her shield before delivering slashing it with her xiphos. It tried to retaliate with its other pincer but Jaune intercepted it with and ice Dust slash from his own sword, partially freezing it. As the partners dealt with the pincers, Ren ran forward while firing at it. The Grimm tried to impale it with its stinger but Ren just managed to grab onto it and fire at the point where the tail met the stinger.

Nora started to fire a few grenades at the beast, causing Jaune and Pyrrha to jump back from it. That did cause it to thrash its tail and send Ren flying into the ruins. Jaune launched himself forward again and threw his left fist into its face, releasing the remainder of his Dust to freeze the entirety of its head. That's when he saw that the stinger was barely holding on and he jumped backwards towards the two ladies. "Pyrrha, the stinger!"

"On it!" she answered immediately answered and threw her shield at it. The stinger was sliced off and stabbed deep into the frozen Grimm's head.

Jaune meanwhile crossed his arms over his head as he crouched down. "Nora, ready for some air?"

"You know it!" she shouted as she jumped onto his crossed arms. As he felt her weight, he channeled more aura into his legs before he shot up and off the ground, sending her further into the air. He watched her sail into the air before firing off an explosion and sending herself rocketing towards the Grimm. She spun her body and brought down the full force of her swing onto its own stinger. The stinger in question went right through the beast and the ice around the head was shattered instantly. The force also turned the bridge into an impromptu catapult and flung Jaune and Pyrrha over the Grimm and onto safer ground. The three landed on the ground as the bridge and dead Grimm slowly fell away into the chasm. Jaune and Pyrrha were in three point landings while Nora landed on her butt. A few seconds later, Ren stumbled over and collapsed next to them.

Jaune just sighed in relief as he fell back onto his own rear to sit. He clenched both his fists and ejected the empty ammo clips from his gauntlets. He hissed slightly from the still fresh burns on his hands but just decided to deal with it for the time being. That's when he gently rested his arms on his knees. "Well… that's over." He said casually.

"Yeah!" Nora shouted as she threw her arms into the air. "We were amazing!" Ren just gave a tired groan from his spot on the ground.

Pyrrha quickly stood up before turning her gaze to Jaune, "Shouldn't we be trying to get across the chasm and helping out the others?" she asked.

Jaune just raised an eyebrow before looking over to his sisters and their partners. He then grinned, "No. It looks like they have it handled."

The other three turned to see Ruby being launched towards the Nevermore and hooking her scythe blade around its neck. She then started to run up the cliff face with the help of Weiss' Glyphs and firing shots from her weapon as she went. The entire way she was dragging the massive Grimm along with her. When she got to the top, she fired one last shot from her weapon and decapitated it, letting the body fall into the chasm.

The three other's standing with Jaune just looked on in shock and awe. That caused him to chuckled and smirk, "See? Told you." He just looked up at his little sister standing near the edge. With a sigh, forced himself back onto his feet. He gave her a large smile and a salute before turning to the others. "So… anyone has any ideas on how to cross this?"


It was later on in the day and the eight of them had successfully passed their initiation. They were also told that the two sets of partners that had the same chess pieces would be paired up to form the teams. That was also the first time that Jaune knew that the relics were chess pieces since Pyrrha was the one to grab theirs in the first place.

Pyrrha had grabbed the golden rook piece and by some sort of luck or coincidence, so did Ren and Nora. So the four of them would be a team. At the same time, Ruby and Yang had gotten the golden knight pieces so they and their partners would be on their own team. Jaune was somewhat sad that he wasn't on the same team but he was relieved that Ruby at least had Yang to help her if she needed it.

They were currently standing with their teams and waiting for their turn to be called up on stage so Professor Ozpin could give them their team name and elect their team leader. The newly christened Team CRDL had just left the stage so Jaune's team was the next to come on. "Jaune Xiao Long. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces, from this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR. Lead by Jaune Xiao Long."

"Come again?" Jaune asked out loud. That's when he heard both his sisters cheering like crazy and Pyrrha gently punched him on the shoulder as a sign of congratulations. He just looked down and sighed, "Fine. Who am I to argue?" He said with a smile.

That made Ozpin grin back, "Congratulations, young man."

With that, his team left the stage as his sisters were coming on. "And finally, Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. And Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Lead by Ruby Rose."

Ruby's face was the epitome of shock as Yang threw her arms around her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you!" she told her younger sister.

Jaune instantly brought his fingers to his lips for a piercing whistle. "Way to go, Ruby! That's my sister!" Pyrrha and Nora giggled at his enthusiasm while Ren just smiled. He just took it in stride. He wasn't ashamed by how much he loved his sisters.

As soon as the ceremony was done, all the students were escorted to the ballroom they stayed in the night before for a small party to welcome them. Jaune, with his team following close behind him, quickly found his sisters and wrapped his younger sister in a hug. "My baby sister is a team leader. I'm so proud!"

He felt her thrash a bit in his arms, "Jaune! Let me go! This is embarrassing!"

"Good then I'm doing my job right." He told her with a smirk as Yang just chuckled along to Jaune's shenanigans.

"Jaune!" she shouted as she tried to push him away.

"Sooner you hug me, the sooner I let go." He told her. She kept trying to push him away for another few seconds until he heard her sigh in defeat and hug him back. With that he gently rubbed the top of her head, "I am proud of you, Ruby. You know that?" He told her seriously.

She slowly peaked up to look at him. A noticeable blush from her embarrassment was on her cheeks but he wasn't going to mention that. She smiled at him, "Thanks, Jaune."

The two pulled away and Yang gave him a cocky grin, "So, how did I do?"

He just looked her in the eyes for a bit before he shrugged, "Meh."

He jaw dropped before she glared at him, "What do you mean by 'meh'?!" she said in annoyance.

"Meh." He said again. This time with a teasing grin.

She just kept eye contact with him before she rolled her eyes. "Jerk." She said as she shoved him.

"Love you too." He said with a smirk. "Anyways, Ruby, Yang. These are my teammates, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren. I thought I would actually introduce you since we aren't trying to not die or in the middle of a ceremony."

"It's great to meet you!" Ruby said in excitement.

"Please keep an eye on our brother." Yang said with a smirk. "He can be a handful."

"Less so than you, Little Sis." He said with the same smirk.

He noticed her eye twitch slightly before she shook her head, "Jaune, this is my partner, Blake."

Jaune just smiled at the raven haired girl and held his hand out to her, "Nice to meet you. And if you need some aspirin, just come to me. I know how my sisters can get."

"Hey!" the two shouted.

Blake just grinned at him, "I'll keep that in mind." She said as she shook his hand.

When they let go, he looked around for a bit. "So, what happened to Weiss?"

Ruby looked to the side slightly as she poked her index fingers together. "I accidentally spilled punch on her dress and she stormed off."

"That makes sense." Jaune said. "Don't worry. She'll cool off. Let's enjoy the party for the time being and deal with that later." With that, they all just enjoyed their night before going to their rooms and getting some well deserved rest before classes the next day.


Jaune was the first one to wake up the next morning. Practice from all the times he had to get up before Yang so he could actually have a hot shower. He sat up and stretched out his arms before making his way into the bathroom with his Beacon uniform. He came out fifteen minutes later, fully clothed and his entire morning routine done. He saw Pyrrha was up and patiently waiting her turn. He gave her a small smile and she gave him one in return. "Morning, Pyrrha. Bathroom's all yours."

"Thank you, Jaune." she said as she got up from her bed with her towel and own uniform. As she was getting closer she asked, "How are your hands?"

He just raised one to show the healed and unscarred skin, "All good. Told you they would be fine in the morning."

"I just wanted to be sure. I didn't know how you would get any work done today if your hands were still injured." She said with a hint of worry to her voice.

"It would be hard but I've had to do it before." He answered nonchalantly as he tried to wave off the concern. "May wanna hurry before Nora wakes up. She may just kick the door in when she thinks it's her turn." He said with a smirk. Pyrrha giggled slightly but he could tell that she wasn't entirely sure that wasn't a possibility as she closed the door behind her.

Jaune sat down on his bed and pulled out his scroll. He was going through his schedule for the day to see what classes were in store for him. As he was doing that, he saw Ren quietly wake up and sit up in bed. He looked up from his scroll, "Morning, Ren."

He nodded, "Morning, Jaune." He looked around for a few seconds. "Is Pyrrha in the bathroom?"

He nodded, "She just went in so it may be a while. Also, is there a certain time we should wake her up." He asked as he pointed his thumb towards Nora's bed.

Ren just shook his head, "No. I'll wake her up. If anyone else tries, they will most likely get punched."

That made Jaune chuckle, "Thanks for the heads up." That reminded him of once or twice when Yang took a swing at him when he would try to wake her from a nightmare. 'I wonder how things are going for those two?' he thought to himself.

That was when he heard a loud whistle from across the hall. He looked over to his door for a few seconds before he smiled with a small shake of his head. That was when Nora bolted up and looked around in a panic. When she saw no danger, she gave out a yawn as she gently rubbed one of her eyes. "What was that?" she asked in a tired voice.

Jaune gave a quite chuckle, "Probably one of my sisters, if I know them as well as I think. If I had to guess… Ruby." That made Nora pout and he just went back to his scroll to doublecheck what he would need for his classes. Once he did that, he went about gathering up all his supplies. During that time, Pyrrha came out and Ren took her place. Nora was still trying to fully wake up in her bed, she seemed pretty lethargic since she was prematurely awoken. She was finally fully up when Ren came out of the bathroom and she quickly ran in for her own shower.

When he had everything in order, Jaune turned to his other two teammates. "I guess when Nora is done, we can all head down to the cafeteria and grab some breakfast before class. Do you two mind if I invite my sisters and their team to join us?"

Ren shook his head and Pyrrha gave a more vocal answer, "Not at all, Jaune."

He smiled at them, "Thanks. I'll go over and ask them now." He moved towards the door, "I'll be back in a few." He opened the door and quickly made his way to the other door just across the hall. He raised his fist to knock but stopped when he heard the sound of power tools on the other side. He just closed his eyes and sighed, "What are they planning now?" he asked himself as he finally knocked on the door.

The door was then opened by Ruby and her look of curiosity quickly turned to excitement. "Morning, Jaune!" she said happily.

He just grinned back and gently ruffled her hair, "Morning, Rubes. I was coming over to see if you all wanted to join my team for breakfast."

"We would love to." She answered immediately. "We just need to finish setting up our bunkbeds."

"What do you mean by bunkbeds?" he asked instantly, already not liking the sound of this.

Ruby flung open the door and spread her arms out, like she was showing off a modern marvel. Jaune just stared at the four beds crudely set up into a bunk bed fashion. One being held up by stacks of books and the other by ropes from the ceiling. "What the hell?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're awesome. We know, Bro." Yang said as she walked over to him with her hands on her hips. Seeming too proud over the monstrosity they had created. He could already feel a headache coming on.

He quickly turned to the other two members of their team. They didn't seem as pleased by the set up as his sisters were. That was a good sign. "How'd they convince you this was a good idea?" he asked them

"I was outvoted." Weiss huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I thought it was a good idea at first." Blake answered as she turned to the side.

Jaune just placed a hand over his eyes as he sighed. He then pulled out his scroll and started to go through his contacts. "What are you doing?" Yang asked.

He held up a finger as he hit call and turned on the speaker so they all could hear. They all heard it ring until it was finally was picked up, "Hello, Professor Goodwitch speaking."

"Hello, Professor. It's Jaune Xiao Long." Jaune started the conversation as the four girls just looked at him in shock.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Xiao Long. How is your morning going?" the deputy headmistress continued.

"Pretty good so far. Sorry for calling so early but I had a question I wanted to ask you." He continued as he just ignored the other four in the room.

"It's no problem at all. It's why the professors give the students our scroll numbers. I wish more of our students used them like they are supposed to. So, what was your question?"

"I was just wondering; how hard would it be for a team to get extra furniture for their room? Like bunk beds?" He asked as he made eye contact with his sisters with a smile.

"It's actually fairly easy." Goodwitch started to answer him. "The Team Leader just has to ask for a form to formally request the piece of furniture or addition they'd like for their room. Once that's done, the form needs to be signed by all their teammates. They then just have to give it to me and once I approve it, they can get the addition in a matter of a week or so. Although, many students over the years have asked for bunk beds and we keep several sets in storage because of that. A team could have them by the end of the day. Would like me to forward you the form?"

"Not me, Professor. But my sisters may like it." He gave both of them a smirk and the two looked away from his eyes in embarrassment. "Could you send it to them?"

"I'll do that now. Is that all you needed, Mr. Xiao Long?" she asked.

"Yes, that was it. Thank you again, Professor." Jaune answered with a smile.

"It was no problem. Now, I will advise you to not be late for your first day. It would not bode well for you." She threatened.

"Yes, ma'am." He answered before hanging up. A few seconds later, Ruby's scroll pinged as she was sent the form they needed. He just grinned at them, "You're welcome and we should head to breakfast soon. Don't wanna be late for our first day, right?" he said smugly as he left RWBY's room and closed the door behind him.

There was an extended silence before Yang sighed as she looked down in defeat, "He's going to be impossible to be around now." Ruby just nodded in defeat. Both knowing how their brother was in these kinds of situations.