Hello everyone, I can't say I'm necessarily new here. Considering I have been reading from this site for years now, and writing just as many over on Fimfiction. But I've always wanted to branch into a new fandom, and especially RWBY since the beginning. It's been a blast reading all the quality stories this site holds for the series, and going in I was originally a strong shipper of Arkos. But as I read more and more, I began to lean toward the likelihood of Lancaster and the fun of Dragonslayer.
But when I came across a few stories, most notably The Distance Which Fools the Skimming Eye (Why Couldn't You Stay Dead and In His Kindness are solid too) Knightfall rose to the top. I'll explain the intricacies of decisions made for this story, specifically chapter, in the end notes, but I think it boils down to my soft spot for the enemies to lovers trope. So with this, I dip my toes into the fanfiction side of RWBY.
Please note that this first chapter does get a bit descriptive for the injuries of Cinder at the start. Otherwise the story as a whole and in the future will be Teen.
CHAPTER 1 - 20 Questions
It had to have been the most Monday-like Wednesday that Jaune had ever had. Sure, sleeping through half his classes because he stayed up late practicing the latest techniques that Pyrrha had taught him was bad. And sure, the school not having his favorite pie for breakfast was pretty demotivating. Even the bird that had laid a nice splotch of poop on his newly laundried uniform had not even cemented the feeling. No, it was definitely watching his partner get shot in the chest with a flaming arrow. That was the cherry on top.
Jaune's locker hadn't taken off; by some miracle, the shaking and weird mechanical noises were enough to convince Pyrrha to turn around and head for the tower. Strangely enough, even with her top level situational awareness and strategic thinking, Pyrrha hadn't even thought of what the weight limit on a rocket propelled locker would be. With his easily forty pounds of armor, sword, and the hundred fifty-ish of gangly man had kept it grounded.
With a shove to dislodge the door and a few seconds to process his alleged goodbye kiss from Pyrrha, he had taken it upon himself to find a way up the tower. Jaune had been too late for anything, even a distraction and had witnessed his partner receiving an arrow to the chest. He was a literal pushup away from heaving himself over when he saw Ruby had also made it to the top, her eyes catching the same scene he had.
What he couldn't do, she made up for, screaming out and essentially flash-banging the group on the tower. Jaune had almost been blown off the tower, only able to hold on to the ledge by his fingertips. The wind gusts around him gave no assistance in his struggle to make it back up to the top. By the time he made it, all three women were on the ground.
Ruby was the best out of all of them, seemingly only knocked out because of her exhaustion from whatever had come from her semblance. Her peaceful form laid on the perimeter of the floor gave Jaune a small twinge of hope for what Pyrrha might have looked like. It was somewhat true to say the least.
Pyrrha was closer to the middle, several feet away from Cinder Fall's body. From the smoke dissipating off it alone, he admittedly was a bit scared to even venture over to Cinder's body. Thankfully, after checking over his partner's body, which sported scratches and bruises but no major injuries, he deduced with his limited medical knowledge that she had been knocked back from the force of the arrow and knocked out from hitting the concrete. Jaune absently noted that it was strange that for someone whose armor was based off of old warriors that featured helmets, his partner was sans such a thing. After he had double and triple checked that the arrow had been blocked by the armor, only lodged enough to stay, Jaune had made his way to Cinder Fall.
Even with the commotion her team had made throughout the school and tournament in the past month or so, Jaune hadn't paid much attention to the woman before him. To Jaune, she had been yet another beautiful woman that wore tight fitting fashionable clothing, and could also kick his ass into next week. She had fit in perfectly into the culture of the school, even going toe to toe with his fellow teammates and sister team RWBY in class one on ones.
The fighting prowess had kept him entertained, but not interested. Sure, he had noticed her in passing. Who wouldn't. The onyx black hair, perfect shape in every spot, a living example of balance is everything. Cinder was a poster girl of a Huntress, with the attitude and skill to back it up. Granted, he only knew anything from the gossip of RWBY and Nora, but he hadn't tuned it out. It only came to mind when passing her in the hallways and such, or in this case, taking note of the differences that were present.
Objectively, Cinder Fall was not looking so good. Her whole left side of her body were, if it was even possible, covered in practically fifth degree burns. Cloth and skin had melded together in an amalgamation of cells and cotton. Her left shoe and foot had become alien-like with the material encasing her foot with melted plastic. Continuing his inspection, Jaune saw literal bubbles on her thighs from whatever Ruby's semblance had done to her, the leg itself looked more like a mutilated zombie from a video game than a human.
Cinder's side and arm were pure black, dotted by the puss seeping out in scattered parts. The left side of her face was sliding off of her skull, like paint dumped on a wall, pulled off by gravity. Her hair was matted, mixed with the skin in a concoction that no one should have to ever experience. Jaune grimaced when he glanced at her eye, or what had now become a dented and melted ball stuck to the sides of her socket.
At the time he had honestly thought her dead, if not for the sudden gasp of breath that she had taken when he was there. He had frantically looked around for anything that might help, knowing full well that not even the shirt off his back would likely change anything. Only when her ragged breaths became a scream of pain did he attempt to touch her, trying to hold her down.
She might have tried to kill his partner, and he hadn't even considered her reasoning at the time, but in the moment, he had only felt a soul-defining feeling of keeping another living being alive. Jaune had closed his eyes, accepting his helplessness in the situation as Cinder's screams shook his eardrums. He had gone from simple hovering with his hands, to completely cradling her with his body.
Jaune wanted to call it a metaphysical pull to help her, but he hadn't been focusing on anything else but the thought of survival for another person. The thought had slowly become something more when he felt an indescribable warmth flow through his body and out. Only then had Jaune reopened his eyes to see Cinder glowing, her broken aura completely restored.
What had shocked him even more was the real-time sealing and healing of her most egregious wounds. Her burns became manageable, and skin glossened over to a nasty scar. Her mangled foot had transformed into a lifelong scarred burn, but was still usable. Even the soup of an eye had formed into a grayed pupil and glassed look. Cinder was certainly never going to look like she used to, but in some sort of miracle, his newfound semblance had saved her life.
Jaune was later told that he was found still cradling Cinder after Ironwood's army had arrived and the surrounding hunters and huntresses had come in as reinforcements. The school was in ruins, repairable from a week at best, with the hard work of Goodwitch's semblance and sweat from help. He also heard later that the nearby CCT station had almost been destroyed by an enormous Wyvern, but was stopped by Qrow who had been with the reinforcements of other hunters. Cinder's team had evaded capture, leaving her to deal with the repercussions. Even Professor Ozipin had later been found unconscious, badly injured from a battle with Cinder.
It had been a hectic day, but Beacon and the city of Vale had made it out bruised and battered. Still alive with minimal casualties and hefty damage. Jaune had always wanted to be the brave hero that overlooked a smoking, war-torn city after he saved it from certain doom. Maybe even having a damsel in distress enveloped in his arms. He'd heard of famous heroes who had been so zoned in from doing their saving, they had even helped the enemy live.
The thought at that moment was what he kept in his mind whenever he explained why he had saved Cinder Fall over the following days. It wasn't that he truly did or didn't want to, he just had done what came naturally. In that case, saving a life, no matter who it belonged to.
Presently, Jaune Arc stood in front of a door that held his future. It was his current purpose at Beacon that was behind it. No , it wasn't the rest of Team JNPR. Nor was it a preliminary test for being a hunter. Not even an interview with any prominent professionals in the field. In fact, it was plastered on the name tape on the magically reinforced door in front of him.
Cinder Fall
After recovery from all involved with the Battle of Beacon, a number of things had occurred in succession. Almost immediately, Pyrrha and Jaune had sat down to talk about the abrupt happenings before the battle. It was hard, and a little awkward, but he knew that someday she would understand that he saw her as a partner and best friend, nothing more.
Jaune had then been called to Ozpin's office to discuss what had happened. After a lengthy back and forth, going through past, present, and future details, they had come to a compromise. Really, a monopoly on the end decision for Ozpin, a 'fair trade' on extra credit for his classes in turn for coaxing information out of Cinder. Whether it be through healing with his newfound semblance for answers, or on the opposite side of threatening falsehoods to get her to give anything up.
At least four times a week after or before classes he was to spend time in the room. He was given a special ID, keycard, and permission to have some leeway on meal card purchases, among other perks and pros. In reality, it was a pretty nice trade. The room itself was just a remodeled and refitted team room at the end of their hall. Because where better to save money on security then surrounding a terrorist by up and coming adult hunters in training.
All Jaune could do was sigh as he placed his card in the reader, opening the door after the beep. He didn't know how long he would be stuck with his current disposition, but he hoped it wasn't long. There was new Pumpkin Pete cereal to try, training to be done, and video games to smash Nora in. His schedule was full as it was.
The room that greeted him was...quaint to say the least. It featured the needed amenities that anyone could need, with a king sized bed situated in the back left, white sheets adorning the comforter. An L-desk was across to the other back corner, the door to what looked to be the bathroom on the wall to the left, next to the desk. A dresser was on the other side of the door, and a bookshelf stood directly to Jaune's left next to it. Where a television would likely have been, or any entertainment systems sat a simple table and chairs with a couple bean bags to the right of Jaune. The middle of the room was a rug with Beacon's symbol emblazoned across it.
Among the pleasant room was Jaune's charge, sat at the table to his right reading quietly. Cinder only looked up at him when the sound of the door closing brought him to her attention. She said nothing as he made his way over to the chair across from her, he took note of how much better she looked in just the few days since he had last seen her. Her hair had been cut to favor a short, almost pixie style except a long lock cast a shadow over the burns on her face. She wore a simple gray long sleeve button t-shirt, which had enticingly been only buttoned enough to contain her breasts, not cover. Jeans were her pants of choice, not even ragged to likely hide any speck of burnt skin or marks.
Jaune let out another sigh as he huffed into the seat, figuring out she might have given him her full attention, but that was it for the moment. The ball was in his proverberal court.
"Well, you look better. Not that you don't already look beautiful." Jaune stammered, catching himself off guard. "I mean, like, better than when Ruby went nuclear on you. But still pretty and good looking considering everyth- you know, I'm going to stop talking now."
He was never that good at basketball anyway.
Cinder sat down her book, still keeping an eye on him. Still not saying anything.
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, trying to assuage the nervousness out somehow. Obviously, failing to do so as he stuttered through his next sentence. "L-look, I'll be honest with you. If you can just give me what I need from you, I'm sure that we can figure something out. Ya know, help you get some leniency from whatever Ozpin has in store for you."
This time he received a quirked eyebrow.
"Okay, yeah, that's the good news for you. He hasn't reported it to the authorities, I guess he's got some idea in mind for you." Jaune sighed, "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. And since you just refuse to talk I guess we're at an impasse. Do I have to make some sort of shifty deal with you? Like, exchange my firstborn child for any sort of answer."
The second eyebrow met the first raised one, creating a modified look of judgment toward the blonde knight.
He was beginning to think he had failed and just dug a deeper hole for himself. A last ditch effort for the short interaction of the day formed in his mind, "Okay, okay, how about this. Info for info, question for question, answer for answer. You don't know how truthful I'll be and vice versa. But right now it's the best option either of us have."
A beat of silence fell upon the room, until Cinder finally replied. "Why would a peasant like you save me?"
Jaune sat back in the chair, taking a moment to think through his next words. Should they be a regurgitation of what he said to the dozens of people over the past days asking the same question? Probably. But for Cinder, the whole answer to the question itself, it felt wrong to not say everything. "Because, Cinder, you're worth it."
The chair Cinder sat in screeched as it was shoved backwards from her recoil at the statement, "You know nothing about me, how could you even say that?"
"Well, my dad always talked about the importance of not kicking someone while they're down." Jaune scratched the bottom of his chin in thought. "And the importance of second chances. Which as cliche as it sounds, I believe it too. The amount of good a simple good faith and action can cause is going to show what I mean. You'll see."
Cinder glared, showing she hadn't believed a word. "I see you've acutely memorized what the school staff has given you. Even a neophyte like you can do that, fascinating. Why should I even trust you?"
It looked like it wasn't going to be an immediate change of face, that's all good. "Hey, hey, we'll get back to you. I gotta get my questions in too. Now, what do you do for a hobby? Ya know, in your free time."
Hey, it wasn't like Jaune was a certified interrogator. The closest experience he had to compare was trying to get an idea of where his stuff went when trying to get the knowledge from any of his seven sisters. Which was hard enough unto itself, he didn't see the long term interrogation harder than finding where his favorite comics went. Granted, this time he didn't have any milk and cookies to leverage. Hmm, maybe that would be a good thing to bring the next time.
Cinder scoffed, the gall of him to ask an icebreaker, "How asinine. Gods, your lineage will end with you."
Guess it was time to bring out the cookies and milk early, "Fine, fine. You play nice with my questions and I'll see if I can slowly sneak in some quality of life things each time I'm around. Books, games, food, just ask and I will do my best, how 'bout that?"
"I suppose that is acceptable," Cinder harrumphed, "Not that I can even trust you. All you hunters are the same."
"No, no, you can trust me." Jaune thumped a fist against his chest, "I give my word as an Arc, and an Arc never goes back on their word."
"Pfft," Cinder didn't seem to believe it, opting to lean back in the chair and stretch, "That remains to be seen. To answer your stupid question, I like razing villages, watching greek fire stick to children, and long walks on the beach in my free time."
It seemed that Cinder Fall did in fact possess abilities beyond face value; comedy was a welcome addition. Jaune chuckled, "Yeah, of course, don't we all. Really, no sports you used to see as a kid, bands you liked to listen to as a preteen, normal stuff. Or abnormal, which I'll be straight, seems more your speed. Like sword swallowing or Zumba belly dancing."
"Yes, well I can't say I had the privilege that everyone else had." Cinder tucked a strand of hair back, "It is a harsh world out there, Jaune Arc, and the strong have no time for childish games or frivolous dealings. Planning the next dust steal, or a proper warning to someone getting too nosey is my true pastime. I can't even recall the last time I had enough time to sit and read like I have now."
Silence permeated the room, letting both in the room take a second to consider the other. Jaune could tell that he wasn't really getting anywhere, not by any real standard. But what could he expect off the first day, any talking was progress though, and Jaune wasn't one to think of anything half empty. He could tell it would be better to come back in a day or two. With time he would be able to find some, in Cinder's thought process, bribes for the woman. He already had some in mind, it would just take a trip downtown, maybe some consulting with Ruby on a couple processes.
Jaune pushed on the table, using it as leverage to push himself up and the chair out of the way. "I see, well I'll leave you to it. It's just Thursday anyway, I'll be round in a day or two so we can continue our trading of questions then. Enjoy your book Cinder."
No response came as he made his way to the door. As Sylver Arc, his mom, used to say "kill 'em with kindness". Which might be the case with how his situation was turning out.
Saturday had come fast, but Jaune had still managed to get his errands and things he wanted to get done, well, done. With a trip downtown, he had fetched the contraband for his upcoming bribes. The rest had come after an evening training session with Ruby. Even with as many sisters he had, some things still called for the experienced to be taught by the master. With his spoils in hand, Jaune knocked on the door in front of him.
"Cinder! I'm coming in!" He said, banking on her being decent at six in the evening.
The door slid open with some pressure from Jaune's shoulder, coming completely open with the assistance of Cinder. She looked him up and down, dragging her eyes at the bags in his hands. "I could kill you where you stand and escape in seconds. Why do you leave yourself so open?"
"YOU WON'T MAKE IT PAST THREE STEPS IF YOU TOUCH Jaune-Jaune LADY!" A shout in the distance from Nora came in reply.
Jaune gave a sheepish smile, "Trust has to be given to be earned. I'm trusting you Cinder, and not because Nora would go King Deedee on you, but because I want you to trust me too."
It would take a good bit, but Jaune was confident that his first real domino effect as a hunter in training would come from Cinder. His team supported him in his path to finding goodness, but everyone was rightly on edge. If he could tame multiple sisters on their bad days through the current means he was enacting, who's to say it wouldn't work on a girl no older than his second oldest sister Violet. It worked then, and he was going to make it work now.
The duo sat across each other once again, with the bags Jaune had carried in front of both of them. Cinder peeked in one of the bags, sighing as she plopped back down in her chair. "What are you doing Arc? At this point my short experience with your tendency to be no smarter than the dirt beneath my feet concerns me."
"Well that's just not nice." Jaune said, taking the contents of the plastic bags out, setting them back down in an organized pattern. "Look, I know you don't think too highly of me. Nor nearly as good as I think of you. Heck, I don't even think you have a semblance of a list of pros about yourself. But don't worry, these will fix it. Every item on the table is a barter, you answer a question, you get an item. Bet your items, knowledge, and anything else in the games for the win too. Choose wisely, because I only have enough time to give some things, not all, to you. I'm rambling again, aren't I. Shoot, Pyrrha has been telling me to get a hang of that."
Jaune could tell he had caught Cinder's interest. He might be bad at talking to hot girls, literally and figuratively, but he knew people. He might even be cocky enough to say it was how he was such a natural leader. The tendency to know and predict people before they knew what they wanted themselves had helped in home life, in training, and in the battlefield. The table was pretty full, almost blocking Cinder from his view. Her amber eyes pierced through him over the pile of books, games, and towering stack of cookies Ruby and he had baked.
She grabbed a cookie from the pile, "Well what is your question?"
"Hey those are my bribes, you can't just take bribes you know." Jaune said, attempting to grab the half eaten cookie.
"Consider it a tax for the future answers." Cinder mumbled through the chocolate chip cookie.
Jaune sighed, "Fine, alright, take it. Well, first question then. Do you have a favorite animal?"
Cinder also sighed, "This again. Arc, why not just waterboard me instead. You'll get better answers out of me than these incessant rambles."
"We're not even near water, how could we go waterboard?" Jaune asked quizzically, scratching his head.
Skin hit skin as Cinder facepalmed, "You know, never mind. My favorite animal, hmm, I would say something like a wolf or lion. The commanding presence they hold is admirable, fear is an afterthought in their world. Much like me in this one."
"A bit basic." Jaune commented, "But, I guess that makes sense for the little time I've known you. I like red pandas myself, they represent balance and compromise. There's some other stuff, but those things always stood out to me. It's nice to project them to myself when I have to think through something."
"How quaint. A pair of predator and prey aren't we." Cinder said, her gaze just as predatory as her talk. She reached for the bags and grabbed the milk and glasses, pouring herself some. Another cookie disappeared from the pile too in her wake.
Jaune chuckled, "Well good thing I can just domesticate you with milk and cookies."
He could have sworn he saw red grace Cinder's cheeks, but he didn't have enough time to check as she spun her head away looking at one side of the room. "Right, how about a barter then, a simple game of tic tac toe for now in exchange for a book of my choice ? After my question, of course."
"Sounds good, fire away."
Cinder looked back at him, her fiery eyes drawing his full attention once again. "What did you do to save me? I should have been dead, easily within seconds, yet somehow I wasn't. Was there some Atlas military secret that you used, or what, I cannot comprehend what could possibly have happened."
"Funny thing," Jaune said as he cleared off the table, grabbing a white board and markers from the bag. "I'm not really sure myself. I've been talking with the teachers, my team, and Team RWBY about the specifics of it. But, from what we've discussed and tried out, we've found that it's a type of Aura Amplifier semblance that caused your rapid healing. There's some weird topics that Ozpin threw about, but what it boils down to is I literally tenfolded your aura to the point that it healed all the injuries imminent of death."
"Fascinating." Cinder said, grabbing a red marker for herself.
"Yeah, I didn't even have an aura till I came here. So everything is a little too new for me anyways." Jaune retrieved a blue marker for himself, gesturing for her to begin. "Ladies first. Ah-actually, the bet. I never mentioned what I want if I win. How about a location of one of your safehouses. Only fair considering you kinda attacked our semi-safehouse, yeah?"
Cinder lightly laughed. Jaune tried very hard to not notice how it created the same warmth he felt when he first healed her. The pleasant chime of her laugh touched his ears with precision, giving him a shiver as they reached them. He couldn't let himself get distracted by the enemy, but maybe he could appreciate a pretty girl's laughter.
"That isn't too fair now is it. For a book, I would say equal value is much less than your request." Cinder finally said after she stopped her laughter.
Jaune gave a small smile, "Right, then how about something a little more selfish. Some training seems about equal. I'm always looking to improve my sword skills, and I'm sure you're a pretty good fighter at anything."
"Hmm," Cinder took her time to draw her first move, carefully drawing an x in the top right corner. "That sounds acceptable. You're in luck that I have specialties in that craft. Your sword will rust in its scabbard though, because this game is mine."
"We'll see, keep in mind it's best two out of three. Everything like this is that." Jaune drew a circle in the center.
Cinder gave him a look, "Your pride will crumble with two losses, are you sure you'd like to do that?"
"Does that count as your question after mine?" Jaune asked.
"Et tu, Jaune, et tu." Cinder grinned, placing an x on the bottom right.
There was no rush for Jaune, since he had plenty of experience with these types of games. Surprisingly, not with his sisters, most of them only played at the occasional family game night. They opted to find their own things to do, a must in a family of their size, just to even attempt to have a, heh, semblance of individuality. And when Jaune was hard stopped from physical training by his father, Corda, he pressured him into mental training. Whether it was chess, Risk, or any assortment of 'thinking man's' games.
It had come in handy leading his team, keeping his mind sharp for when he came to Beacon. And in this case, it would help him even further. All he had to do was pull out all the tricks he knew in the next string of games they would play and he might just gain some secret training to start winning in Professor Goodwitch's classes. A start at least to crawling out from the bottom fifty percent of his year group.
"Right, well for my next question." Jaune marked a circle on the middle right. "Favorite color? Something simple, I know. But still, can't say I'm not curious."
"Curious is a facade for idiocracy in your case. It's almost an insult that you would ask these things instead of something that can actually help you. That old coot Ozpin has to have given you some." Cinder placed an x on the bottom middle.
Jaune shrugged, "Yeah, he did. But he also gave me some big breathing room with you. And considering you aren't going anywhere anytime soon, well, I think I'll take my time and use this one-on-one to my advantage."
"Tch," Cinder grumbled as she saw her first loss, Jaune having put a circle on the middle left. "How uncharacteristic of you knight. Selfishness doesn't suit your type."
"Oh, so you have a type?" Jaune grinned and flexed his arm. Nothing special yet, but he had already gained a good fifteen pounds in the few months of training at Beacon.
Cinder rolled her eyes, "I must apologize, but I have no time to even think of such things. Villainy is such a stressful nine to five you see, no reason to think about types. Now, let's get this fluke of a win out of the way."
"Of course, of course." Jaune chuckled.
The next game went just as quick as the previous. Jaune was able to maneuver from the bottom right corner, picking spot after spot, which forced Cinder on the defensive. He might be years behind her in real life skill, fighting and executing techniques, but in the controlled environment of these games he was in his element. The twitching of Cinder's eye told him all he needed to know. And the win that arrived shortly after swelled him with pride.
There was no handshake, no congratulations, just a nod of respect from Cinder. Jaune knew it wouldn't be today that she would warm up to him, maybe not the next day he visited, or even months. But some time, at some point, he knew that consistency was key and she would come around. That would be when the fruits of his labor would appear, because maybe, just maybe, he could change the life's path of an oh so certain villain in the making. If second chances prove to become a positive mark in the history of Beacon, he wouldn't know until the footnotes were completed. At this point, Jaune was just excited for a new challenge.
Jaune stood up from his chair, picking the crumbs up from his clothes and spot on the table. He stood near the door to the room, having dispensed the cookie crumbs in the trash bin next to it. "Well Cinder, I look forward to the next meeting. I'll be sure to bring my sword too."
Cinder waved him awake with a flick of her wrist. "Well get going, I have more important things to attend to then your petty good cop nature you think will work."
"Cinder," Jaune waited until she looked in straight in the eyes, "I do it because I care, not because of the system or the faculty, not even any of my friends. Because of you, and I hope someday you see that."
No response was given, they only stared at each other for a breath. Jaune took that as his cue to leave, carefully closing the door behind him and making his way back to his room down the hall. It was looking to be a constant push to change what looked to be impossible. He would take everything in stride, because he knew that Cinder Fall would be worth it. Otherwise, why else would his semblance have activated to save her life?
Thank you to everyone who read this far. I appreciate it.
As much as I've always loved KnightFall, it's always had a certain crutch to it that goes against what I think prevents the semi-realism of such stories. Suspense of belief is integral to most media. Movies, shows, and stories all have this aspect to an nth degree depending on the necessary constraints and such. For KnightFall, depending on when the relationship of Cinder and Jaune is introduced, the suspense of belief that someone exceptionally normal like Jaune would even mess with Cinder after she had killed so many innocents, among other atrocities. Again, depending on the time of meeting. Going into the stories that ship them with the suspense of belief lets me fully enjoy the masterful writing they provide.
With that in mind while writing this story, this chapter even, I wanted to provide Jaune with the current knowledge that Cinder hadn't killed anyone. This caused second and third order effects that have been seen and have yet to. The second order effects are Pyrrha and Ozpin being alive, and well you're welcome to comment the other effects. I truly believe that if Jaune had encountered Cinder before her decent into madness that I perceive, her future would have played out similar to what I want to write.
A side note, just because I felt it necessary to explain. As much as I think tropes can define a story's base, in this case the enemy to lovers trope. I cannot stand the love triangle and harem trope, especially in stories that obviously state the ship goal. I came here for KnightFall, you came here for KnightFall, it's going to happen in as natural pace as I can attempt. I adore the relationship of Jaune and Pyrrha in the show, and anytime her training video is brought up in any stories I get choked up, but any romance isn't placed in the story for the stated reasons.
Please enjoy the journey of Jaune and Cinder. This will be cross-posted on Archive of Our Own, but I do plan to always update here first. So, if you read it on either site feel free to read and review!