Chapter 2

Well hello there, I'm back and with the second chapter of "In His Kindness". I'm a little..apprehensive on this chapter, some things I wish I could've figured out better but overall I think I did a decent job.

I do not own any of the characters here, it all belongs to roosterteeth.

Without further discussion- enjoy~

Chapter 2: What will you be?

To say that Emerald respected Cinder was an understatement. Nearly every action or motive behind her actions was fueled by a drive to impress the woman. She is the one who saved her, she is the one who helped and gave her a place in life. As such Emerald carried out every mission bestowed upon her to the letter. Use her semblance on an individual? Done. Assassination? Done. Anything Cinder assigned her would have her full attention no matter the mission.

..nor how bizarre the mission.

Jaune Arc was a man..no..a boy, that she didn't quite think much of. He seemed weak and unrefined. As far as she was concerned he didn't deserve Cinder's attention.

...but he saved her life

She sighed at the thought, he did indeed save Cinder. Which was probably why Cinder was so invested in figuring out why he had done it, his behaviour appeared odd to Cinder.. even if Emerald thought he must've just been some dumb heroic idiot. Even so..she would do her best to complete her current objective.

"..sooo...what did you want to ask me again? I-I didn't mean to anger your teammate if that's what this is about.."

Anger? Well..that was new.

"No no.." She spoke quickly, waving her hands in front of her as she forced a pleasant smile across her lips. "Cinder is ah..she's not mad, don't worry."

He didn't seem convinced though, not if the sudden rubbing at his neck was anything to go by, or the dubious expression that formed across his features. "She..uh..looked like she wanted to kill me."

Emerald visibly grimaced, Cinder did think she was more in control of her emotions than she was.. While she at times was a very capable actor. She had a habit of..heating up at times. Torchwick had at times gone a little too far with his mocking and..well it was safe to say getting his hat set on fire made him question his life choices.

"She can be a little...passionate.." She paused, attempting to find the right words before continuing. "But she was very thankful for what you did. Not everyone would've done it."

The blond simply tilted his head at this, a single blond brow raising slightly. "Huh? Sure they would have. Huntsmen are supposed to protect people. I'm sure anyone would have done that."

So he was just an idealistic idiot, figures. Though she didn't think Cinder would stop at that. He had gone out of his way to pay attention to her, and all that attention was something Cinder did not want. Emerald did suppose it was rather suspicious.. but not enough to warrant this much attention.

Surely it wasn't her ego talking? Cinder may have an adverse reaction to being saved like that but..

She was caught off by the boy waving his hand and shrugging. "But yeah I mean- it's totally fine. I'd do it again if I had to."

"Well, still. Thanks for saving my teammate."

"No problem." He gave her a soft smile, and turned to walk off. A sudden panic would arise within her as she quickly reached for his sleeve.

"W-wait!" She half shouted, he turned to face her with a confused expression, and Emerald immediately stiffened.

She needed to find out more about him. Cinder had tasked her with speaking to him and finding out what she could. But he was so...awkward! It seemed like everything he said was spoken as a question, on top of that it looked like he was almost afraid she was here to berate him.

But how..?

"Come eat lunch with us tomorrow." She stated, eyes wide at her request. Though Jaune looked even more surprised and twice as awkward. "W-what? Why?" He asked, stuttering away as Emerald held her ground.

"We..wanted to talk more with the one who saved our leader. I'm sure she would love to thank you properly as well.."

/-/

Needless to say, she wasn't.

"Emerald.."

Her sharp tone of voice caused the girl's already stiff form to tremble slightly. Her amber eyes would pierce the girls scarlet red. Emerald dropped her gaze to the ground a moment later, hand nervously running along the side of her arm. She at least looked embarrassed, as well as afraid of course.

"Y-yes Ma'am..?"

She sighed, raising a hand to her temple while her fingers rubbed away at the surface. Mercury currently sat off to the side with a shit eating grin plastered across his face. His gray eyes sparkled with amusement as he watched his teammate get told off by her beloved leader.

"What you did..was done so without my permission. You have invited a potential threat to sit down and eat with us."

"I-I didn't think that he was a th-"

"That is the issue. You did not think. And now we must deal with the fallout." She sighed, sitting back upon her chair as she placed her chin beneath her fingers.

The situation was unpleasant, while the boy did give off a harmless demeanor, such things weren't always evidence of what they were capable of. Even then..she could use the situation to at least some capacity.

"...I suppose it can't be helped. If anything we can at least make use of this opportunity. You will both be on your best behaviour, understand?" Her eyes were sharp, words uttered with a burning edge. At times her tone could match even her semblance.

The two nodded wordlessly.

/-/

"Very good, Jaune!"

He rubbed the sweat off his eyes with the sleeve of his arm. Panting as he raised his sword in time to catch a sideways slash from Pyrrha's sword. He quickly stepped to the side and let the pointed edge slide off his blade before he attempted to slash towards his partner's chin.

..and then the world spun.

He felt the air knocked out of him as his back met the hard floor of the rooftop below him. Pyrrha had slipped under his attack before then kicking his legs out from under him. He didn't have the time to react by raising his aura in time.

..he needed to get better at that.

He groaned from his incapacitated position. The redhead's eyes flashing with worry as she knelt beside him.

"Jaune? Jaune!"

"I'm...agh...fine.." He muttered. "Just..enjoying the rough, hard floor..it's really comfortable.."

The ginger giggled, turning as she laid down beside him, the two sweat stricken teens staring up at the bright, shattered moon above. The gentle breeze provided a pleasant sensation to run up their burning, sweat filled skin, like ghostly fingertips treading along their flesh, providing a slight tingling sensation to run along their bodies.

"Hey, Pyr?"

"Mmm?" She hummed, turning her head to face him directly. Her sparkling emerald orbs seemed practically enchanted in the moonlight. She really was beautiful, if she hadn't seen him like a friend he would've almost certainly asked her out. She was like Ruby to him..a rock he could always count on..his friend who was always there for him, no complicated emotions. At the very least one half of JNPR had a solid understanding of this, he really did wonder when Ren would ever take the hint about Nora's feelings..

"Remember that girl I saved? Cinder?" At her nod of agreement and intrigued look, he continued. "Well..her teammate invited me to eat with them tomorrow. I didn't really know what to say so I kind of just..agreed, you guys won't mind that will you?"

The redhead quirked up a single brow, before a smile spread over her lips as she shook her head. "Of course not Jaune, I'm sure she just wishes to thank you more formally.. It is only just one day after all, there shouldn't be any worries."

"..and Nora?"

Pyrrha winced, eyes moving up towards the skies as a smile spread across her lips. "We'll distract her with pancakes. Or Ren.."

A laugh bubbled up at his chest, though it was abruptly cut short and replaced with a pained sound that shot up his core. Those two really were that obvious..everyone knew it besides them. "Heh..yeah. Wonder when Nora will ever fess up? I mean it's obvious! No idea how Ren doesn't see it. Heck I would've told him myself if I wasn't worried about Nora breaking my legs right after."

Pyrrha's smile seemed to falter for a moment, green eyes downcast and lips tugging down into a slight frown. He felt her gaze briefly shoot in his direction before returning to their initial position. She breathed out weakly, shutting her eyes a moment later.

"..Yeah…"

/-/

Golden eyes would pierce sapphire as their gazes met. She watched the blond audibly gulp beneath her stare, as his eyes would shoot towards Emerald and Mercury. He seemed to internally debate something with himself, before finally moving forward and taking the seat in front of her.

"Uhm..hey, Cinder.."

"Jaune.." She greeted with a nod. Emerald and Mercury both sat within the chairs in front of her, leaving a good amount of space at the center. She believed this was more than likely due to

their own distaste towards one another..but it did inadvertently cause Jaune to become cornered; he either needed to seat himself between them and infront of her, or take the seat at her side.

He chose the former.

The fact that he seemed so uneasy around her was quite amusing, considering he knew none of the reasons as to why one should feel that fear. Then again..she supposed it was to be expected, that her gaze alone could cause such a reaction..

Still, he looked uneasy. That fact alone wasn't a very good one; they needed him to be relaxed and calm in order to get more information out of him, simply asking him questions wouldn't do much if he was stuttering every word. Forcing a smile to grace her tender lips, the amber eyed woman raised both her hands and laced her fingers together, pressing her elbows against the table while her chin would rest against said fingers. She allowed her chest to be accentuated in this position, while also providing him an easy going smile. She made sure to lean forwards as well, both to help with accentuating her features but also to display mock interest.

Not ideal..but better than any alternatives.

"I should apologize, Jaune..it wasn't my intention to snap at you during our previous meeting. I was a little..under the weather, and it caused me to take out my anger on someone undeserving of it.."

To his credit the blonde didn't overly react, though she did notice a tinge of pink on his cheeks as he smiled and waved his hands quickly in front of himself.

"No no! Don't worry, I..I'm sure the whole thing was pretty tough. Getting mad right after waking up from almost dying isn't outrageous or anything."

"Oh?" She fixed him with a curious look. "So you weren't upset?"

He shook his head with a broad smile

"Nope."

/-/

She tried..everything.

In the near twenty minutes they had within their lunch break, he hadn't given her a single piece of information that seemed to give her much of any insight. Asking about his team, studies, school, training..everything. They couldn't dig too deep without appearing suspicious so at best they'd get information that didn't have much insight.

It was all useless information.

"Our combat class is next, we haven't done much in it yet. What's the class like normally?" Mercury piped up, seemingly trying to aid her with her endeavour, or he had simply become impatient and wished to speed up the process.

"Oh..hm.." He seemed..hesitant at first, blue eyes downcast as if recalling a memory, before he finally shook his head. "It's pretty much almost always like that really. Goodwitch has some classes here and there but it's usually just sparring and correcting our mistakes. I'm ah..not that good. I used to be terrible! But my partner training me helped a lot." He spoke in a tone of awe, a sense of pride in his voice. Cinder felt her lips contort into a coy smirk, something like this..could be used against them. Not only does she have a direct pipeline to a potential maiden, but the pipeline thought highly of her..if pushed to the right place, he could be manipulated easily. The girl's obvious infatuation aside, the same could be done in reverse as well..

Though she wasn't quite so sure of this, not if the green daggers that the champion was staring through the back of her head were any indication. She could feel her eyes- practically taste the distrust and unease. Did she perhaps think that she would steal the blonde away from her? The thought was laughable at best. Then again..using him was never out of the question.

"Aw c'mon I'm sure you got something to use, hm? A semblance perhaps…?"

Mercury was grasping at straws by now, trying to squeeze out any last droplets of information. She would need to look further into his team however, figure out-

"Ah..I don't have a semblance..I mean- I'm not sure what it is yet." He spoke sheepishly, running a hand up and down the back of his neck with clear shyness.

Cinder paused, a raven coloured brow raising in question. He didn't have a semblance? Had he started training at the standard age of eleven then he would've had at least six years of prep to unlock it. Considering his father was a huntsman, and the Arc family apparently had a long line of said huntsmen, what was more likely was that he would've begun training even before that point.

Then why…?

The bell signalling the end of their break broke through the air a moment later. Jaune seemed to straighten out immediately, giving them all a broad smile as he bid them goodbyes and jogged off to his team. How amusing.. it was rare for a man that she wasn't trying to kill to be that desperate to leave her presence.

..other than Roman, of course.

She tapped a finger at her chin, it was rare for a student not to have a semblance by this point. It could happen- but for a family with a long line of warriors it would've been scarce if he had even further training time.

"...and if you were as useless as you say..why go through all that trouble..?"

She thought aloud, drawing a look from Emerald, but she merely ignored her. Standing up as she signaled for the two to follow. Turning on her heel she stalked towards the exit of the cafeteria.

"..Let's see what you can do, Arc."

/-/

Not a lot apparently..

She sighed as she watched the blond bounce across the ground like a pebble tossed through a pond. To his credit he pushed himself up a moment later, but it was all for naught, as he was simply knocked away again a moment later.

His opponent- a large brown haired boy with a mace- wasn't particularly impressive. He looked to be at the upper half of the class, strong and above average skill in general, but not quite much. The fact that he was clearly winning the fight in a one sided manner spoke of the blonde's level..

What was even more pressing was the fact that Jaune told them he had improved dramatically since arriving at beacon. If this was his current level then what was the monstrosity that he was prior? And how did someone from such a long line of warriors be this weak? How could someone like this get into Beacon even while not having a semblance?

How could someone like this save her..?

She hissed, fingers laid across her thighs digging into the flesh. It didn't make sense, at best the boy had decent evasion and seemed strong. Though..he was very persistent. This was the longest fight of the class thus far and yet it was also the one with the largest power disparity. Yet the knight continued to get back up. Aura levels this high were..rare, very rare. It reminded her of Hazel in a way, though she wasn't quite so sure how he had it.

It still didn't answer her question, how did he get into Beacon? Even if he passed initiation his grading scores wouldn't have been high enough to get past the screening process.

Was he faking it? Did he have some form of connection to ozpin? Was he like her..?

A vessel..? It was plausible that Ozpin could use the Arc heritage and his immense aura levels to his advantage..

It..just didn't make sense.

And she needed to find out.

The match was over soon after. The knight returned with a downcast look in his eyes as he slid into his seat. His team immediately tried to comfort him; especially the champion. Yet Cinder could see that her words didn't quite get through to him..and the disarming smile on his lips didn't quite reach his eyes..

Her lips upturned.

/-/

Ice would meet tender skin, sending a chilling touch across his cheek. Like ice cold needles piercing raw flesh. He felt a shuddering breath exit his lips, heavy eyelids shutting as an audible sigh ruptured through the air. His aura had done most of the healing..but due to his lack of decent control and the fact that he skin was simply still tender; he hoped that a little bit of ice would be enough to get rid of the feeling. Then again..he had been struck with a massive mace in that area a couple of times. It was a little surprising he lasted as long as he did. Though- after what happened at forever fall- he was glad that Cardin no longer played with his food, instead looking to take him out as quickly as he could.

...silver linings.

The blond had currently been making his way around Beacon. Looking to try and get away from his team for a little while. He loved them, he really did..it was just that their looks..those encouraging looks and words, they got to him after a while. He wanted to do good, to be strong enough for them, yet..he wasn't. He was a leader without the strength to lead, the partner of Pyrrha Nikos that did nothing but bring her down.

How could he stand beside her, if he couldn't even stand against Cardin?

He had made his way outside now, passing by a large fountain as he lowered his body and sat upon the stone-like surface. The moisture from the water was refreshing..and calming. The shattered moon that was suspended with the stars practically glowed within the abyssal skies, and the late night air was..refreshing. It helped with his current solemn mood greatly.

"The moon is always beautiful at midnight."

A rich, honey like voice snapped away his thoughts immediately. He whirled his head in the direction of the sound, only to meet alit amber eyes and a coy smile that matched. Cinder stood in her familiar uniform, raven locks matching the skies above, amber eyes twinkling with mirth. She took a few steps towards him, turning her frame as she sat down upon the fountain, a foot or so of distance between them.

He gulped a moment later, realizing that he was staring, and not only was he staring but he wasn't saying anything either. Racking his mind for something- anything to say, the blond blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Y-yeah..it is.."

She answered back with a low laugh, one that was barely audible enough for him to hear. He sighed- chastising himself for his seemingly horrific skills with women, even those that he had saved in the past. His mother always told him to be polite and respectful- a gentleman of sorts. While his father emphasized the importance of confidence. He took their lessons to heart, and while he had gotten a kiss or two back home with other village girls, none of them had been quite as good looking as the girls at Beacon. They had been pretty, sure, but it seemed as though every other girl that attended the school was at least a ten. While the girls on both his team and team RWBY completely broke the scale.

..and Cinder?

Sapphire eyes briefly darted towards her, taking in her appearance. Her side profile had been just as attractive as the front.. Her pretty pink lips; full and appearing soft to the touch, nose bridge curving slightly while perking up just at the end. Raven hair thick and wavy, spiralling to her side neatly, the tips curling ever so slowly. He thought that if he ran his fingers through those locks they'd curl along his fingers as if hooking across it. Her skin seemed radiant in the moonlight- almost matching the scenery with an ivory glow to her person.

She turned her face to meet his eyes a moment later, the boy's eyes widening before darting away, cheeks hot at having gotten caught.

Scale..?! Was there even a scale that could matter for her?!

"Jaune."

She spoke softly, causing the blond to pause in his thoughts. Regaining his composure he would turn towards her again, an apprehensive look now on his features.

"Yeah?"

"Your combat today.." She began, and he felt his gut clench. Great going, Jaune..she now knew she was saved by a weakling.

"..Please forgive me if I sound rude..but you don't have much combat experience, do you?"

He sighed, nodding his hand as he planted his hands behind his body. Staring up at the moonlight. His eyelids would roll shut, it would be easier to talk about this if he didn't have to look directly at her.

"...nope."

"I've heard of your surname in the past. Your father is a huntsman isn't he? Did he not teach you?"

"..nope." He answered once again,sighing with a hefty breath. He could hear a sound of confusion come from cinder, but he ignored it. Vexatious arguments with his father bubbling within his mind. His desire to become a huntsman had always been a bit of a sore spot within the household. His mother believed the occupation to be too dangerous for him, while his father was always giving some fabricated excuse or another as to why he couldn't become a huntsman. Eventually the excuse cemented itself as 'you're too old to begin training now'. Even though the only reason why he became too old was because he had always refused to train him.

"My mom always said it was too dangerous. Dad..well he never gave me a reason. I guess he maybe had his reasons, but..well I never stopped wanting to be a huntsman. It was always my passion.."

She hummed, not once turning to look at him but listening nonetheless. "..and so, you found other means of training?"

His heart hammered in his chest, threatening to pop like an overstretched balloon. For a moment it felt like she could see right through him. As if those candle like eyes knew what he was thinking..what he was doing.

His fingers tightened their hold along his thighs, teeth chewing on his lip nervously as he nodded his head. "Yeah. I..found training. But it-"

"-It wasn't enough?" She asked, though the question sounded more like an answer than anything. They both knew it hadn't been enough, his showcase against Cardin was more than evidence of that.

He nodded, propping his elbows upon his knees as he hung his head. Golden locks fanning either side of his face while simultaneously covering her view of his eyes. "Sorry, it must suck to have been helped by someone who's this weak, huh?"

"Not exactly.." She stated, causing his head to raise as he fixed her with a dubious look. The beautiful woman was currently sitting with her fingers folded upon her lap, one leg crossed over the other as wind gently swayed her hair back. She looked...beautiful, graceful even.

"The fact that someone with such little power had risked their life in such a manner, with little hope for survival or personal gain..it is quite honourable. In fact I'd almost say it's unthinkable."

She paused, golden eyes shifting as she met his eyes. He could've sworn there was something there..but she looked away a moment later.

It did make sense if he really thought about it..it wasn't like everyone jumped into the line of fire without a semblance, little training, and without getting anything in return except for probably dying..but he disagreed with her. "I wouldn't say that..I mean we are training to be professional huntsmen aren't we? It's our job to do this, I'm sure someone else would've done the same."

Her face was..unreadable. For a moment it looked like she was..irritated? If the twitch in her brow was anything to go by.. it reminded him of how Weiss looked whenever he smiled at her in public and she didn't want to make a scene.

..okay maybe he should stop flirting with her every other day..

"As you say.." She spoke, voice measured though with a hint of heat. He watched as her hands moved along her legs, fingers meeting her knees as she tilted her head towards him.

"Tell me, Jaune..what is it that you seek?"

He paused at this, turning away with hesitation. What did he want..? Well since they were talking about being huntsmen she was probably talking about something to do with that. It was hard to say how he wanted to answer that..he wanted to fight off Grimm, save people, help his team, become a respected huntsman that was worthy of his family name.. The only way he could think of doing such a thing would be..

"I guess...I guess I want to be strong?"

The words seemed to have some effect, as the calm expression on her face would turn into one of curiosity. Her golden eyes would shift across his frame, as if sizing him up. The attention caused him to shift uncomfortably, cheeks reddening under her stare as she tilted her head to the left slightly.

"You seek power? I didn't see you as one for a power fantasy."

His eyes widened, the blond's back immediately straightening as he waved his hands wildly in front of him. "No no! I mean..I don't want power for that...I think? I want it t-to help my team! To help people and.." He paused, gaze dropping towards his lap as a huff left his lips. "..and to be respected, to prove myself. I guess I just don't like feeling like a weakling."

Her stare did not waver, but she did nod nonetheless. Even then he could see..something there from his last statement. A silence overtook them, a calm that pushed down within the beacon courtyard. The only sounds that remained audible were the gentle sways of wind and the occasional rippling of water, not to mention the bartering of his heart.

"Jaune?" She finally asked after a few minutes of the continued silence. His blue eyes dragging towards her.

"Yeah?"

She ran a hand across her lap in exasperation, eyes shutting closed for a few brief moments as he continued to wait with utmost silence. Finally; he watched as she turned to him with a coy smile across her lips, leaning towards him momentarily.

"Would you like to train with me?"

Well there you have it everyone. To answer one of the questions presented by my readers; I'm not exactly sure what my update schedule will be. I suppose a safe answer is "whenever I'm able to" but on average I'll probably be aiming to get out chapters every 1-2 weeks.

Hope you all enjoyed! Any constructive critiques are welcome. This is probably the first time I'm writing these characters so there may be OOC moments here and there but I'll try my best to keep them scarce.