Distortion

A few months had passed since Ren was brought to Knightingale's base, meaning it had been six months since Jaune's reappearance at Beacon. Pyrrha and Gil were shocked to see Ren turn up. When Pyrrha asked about Nora and got her answer, she pulled Ren into a hug and just held him. Jaune stayed out of it, his presence wasn't needed or wanted. That also gave him an opportunity to see a weird phenomenon.

When they hugged, their Negative auras seemed to replenish each other. Nothing outrageous but just a few percentages for each. It was unusual, he'd never seen anything like that happen with Positive aura. Was it something to do with Negative aura? And if so, why was it happening? Questions he'd worry about later. He had to call Raven and give her a heads up on what had happened. To say that Aaeron and Raven were unhappy was an understatement. Raven got over it the next day while Aaeron just gave him a look of resigned annoyance.

During the months that followed, Pyrrha and Ren were put through intense training and had made leaps and bounds. By this point, both had control of their Negative auras and no longer siphoned off the auras of the other members of Knightingale. Along with that, Gil had helped Ren on becoming more proficient with Magnhild. Along with their training, Gil and Aaeron had taken them on missions to test them and their loyalties. They weren't the most vital missions, just gaining information or supplies. But they went with it, nonetheless. During those missions, Onyx or Raven would be close by to observe them. Onyx with his Semblance and Raven with her avian form.

After a while, the five masked members of Knightingale sat down and discussed what they should do next. They had all come to the conclusion that the two were willing to fight this war. For different reasons though. Pyrrha wanted to save the world but more so, she wanted to be by Jaune's side again. Ren on the other hand fought for vengeance. His anger and hatred from Nora's death was moved to Grimm as a whole. He saw this as a way to destroy as many Grimm as possible and bring about their destruction. Safe to say, they all didn't see them betraying Knightingale anytime soon. But they would need one more test before they could induct them into their group fully, to be absolutely sure of their allegiance.

During those months, their appearances had also changed. Ren stopped tying his hair back and his clothing had changed besides his white pants, except now they were tighter below the knees. He now wore a longer, sleeveless tailcoat that was a darker green. Under it was a black sleeveless turtle neck with red tasseled ropes over his hips. Along with calf high open-toed sandals and from his middle finger to his biceps ran gradient pink-to-black detached sleeves ending in metal armbands. To finish this, he had a pink ribbon tied around his left upper arm, just above his armband. It was to remember Nora.

Pyrrha's appearance changed as well, not as drastically though. Small metal plating was added to her corset for more defense. Her gorget was replaced with a bronze chest piece that covered her neck with a high collar along with her shoulders and most of her chest. She also wore another bronze bracer on her right arm, in case she ever needed to move her shield to her right side.

They weren't the only ones to go under training during those months, however. Jaune had started to try and gain more control over the two Semblances he stole. With his Telekinesis, he was now able to manipulate all states of matter more easily but trying to manipulate huge or multiple targets was still strenuous for him. Meanwhile with Via Sun, he could create his light clones more easily but he was having trouble summoning more than two at a time. They weren't up to where he wanted them to be but it was still better than before. Besides, he always had Distortion to fall back on.

That was the only luck they were having though. Raven kept hitting wall after wall on her search. Today she finally hit her breaking point and was taking it out on the training drones. Jaune was standing against one of the walls as he watched his wife completely destroying drone after drone. He had locked the door to the training area as a precaution, that way no one else would set her off and be the focus for her wrath. Especially Pyrrha. That would not end well for her and he didn't want to go through pulling his angry wife off of the redhead.

Jaune looked down at his scroll and saw she had been at this for forty-five minutes or so. 'Better stop he before she overdoes it. Plus, we're running low on drones.' With those thoughts, he reached over to the panel beside him and powered off the drones.

Raven had just beheaded another drone and turned to the other before she saw it and all the others around her shut down. She looked around in confusion before her eyes landed on Jaune and she glared at him. "Turn it back on."

He just shook his head, "Sorry, Love, but no. You've torn up most of the drones already. The system needs time to repair them again. Besides, you've been going at it for a while and need to rest."

She just scoffed and turned around as she sheathed her blade. She was about to walk away when her entire weapon was covered in a black aura and was pulled from her grasp. It flew across the room and into Jaune's hand, who was giving her a stern look, "I said rest. You're not about to go somewhere and start killing Grimm."

She gave him a murderous glare but he just raised an eyebrow at her. Burning crimson were trying to burrow into frozen blue. Eventually, she huffed and crossed her arms at him. Jaune just smirked at her and started to walk towards her locker to put away her weapon. As he opened it, he heard her speak up, "I don't need to be treated like a child."

He smirked and closed the door. He turned back to her, "No, you do not. But you're stubborn beyond a fault and need someone to smack some sense into you." He started to walk towards her, "Luckily, I'm the man for that job."

She snorted and gave him a challenging look, "Oh, please, you'd never smack me. And if you did, you know I'd rip your arm off."

He was right in front of her with his smirk still in place, "Never said I'd slap your face." He then pulled her into a hug, one arm was around her back while his other hand lightly grasped her rear, "We both know how rough you like it." He whispered into her ear and kissed her neck, right on the sensitive spot he knew so well.

She shivered slightly before she sighed, "I'm starting to believe you married me to just get into my pants."

He pulled back and raised an eyebrow, "We both know that isn't even half true. And excuse my libido, I'm genetically a young Arc, comes with the territory. That's how I had seven sisters."

Raven gave him a teasing smirk, "Are you hinting that you would like to get me pregnant?"

He shrugged, "Eventually, I wouldn't mind having a kid or two with you. But now isn't that time." He let her go and grabbed her hand, "Come on, you need some tea to help you unwind."

She didn't fight him as he led her to one of the living areas in the base. He had her sit down at the table as he tasked himself with preparing her tea. Not long after the water was hot enough, the tea was done as well. He took the pot from the stove and brought it to the table on a tray with two cups from the tea set they managed to keep from when they abandoned their camp. He set one in front of her and filled it before sitting across from her and doing the same for himself.

The two sat in a comfortable silence as they enjoyed their tea. It ended when Raven sighed and gently put down her cup, "We're nearly out of leads."

Jaune nodded, "It was bound to happen. There's nothing in all the information we got from the Academies?"

She shook her head, "None. I've tracked down anyone that could've had an idea on where the relic could be but no luck. And even with the description of the relic, I'm just finding sporadic sightings. And when I get there, it's either a dead end or just was nothing to begin with."

The two sat in a silence. As Raven drank her tea, Jaune was gently tapping his finger against the table. There was one possibility but it be risky to say the least. "We could always use our informant in Vale."

Raven stopped mid-sip and put her cup down, "We do that and we lose our one way of keeping any kind of tab on Ozpin."

Jaune nodded, "I know but he has gotten nowhere closer to finding us. Qrow is doing his damnedest but he's only one man. And with Ironwood out of commission, the hunt for us has slowed to a crawl. Plus with Vale's info, we can possibly find more people that may know where the relic is. And if not, then we'll at least have all the Academies info to look through. Hell, we may be able to find a pattern with those sporadic sightings and figure out where it may be now."

He stopped and took a sip of his tea, "Yes, it's a risk, Rave. But it could be our only choice. Without the relic, our plan can't work."

Raven just looked down and was contemplating on what to do. She eventually sighed, "We don't have a choice, do we?"

Jaune just shrugged, "None that I can see."

"Alright, does she have the program ready?" Raven asked.

Jaune nodded, "She has it on her burn scroll and has one of our black ones so she can't be traced."

"Then tell her to be ready to do this as soon as she can." Raven had a determined look in her eyes. "But we aren't taking the risks we took with Gil and Onyx. We'll be there as well."

Jaune raised his eyebrows in shock, "You want us to be on Beacon grounds? I doubt Oz would be happy about that."

"That's why we need to be there. If things go south, we can help her out. As much as she annoys me, she's still part of the Branwen tribe." She took a breath to calm down some, "And if Qrow is there, it'll make things very complicated. You've grown strong, Jaune, but I don't know if you can go against my brother and win. I can."

She had a point. If the stories Raven told him about Qrow were true, he'd have a hard fight. "So, what's the plan going to be?"

"When our informant gets into Beacon, she'll go to the cliffs. It's secluded enough for us to get in without alerting anyone. When we get there, I'll turn into my avian form and get an elevated view. She'll make her way to Beacon's tower and you'll act as her back up if things go wrong. When the information is uploaded to her scroll, we'll get back to the cliffs or a suitable location and open a portal back here. In and out."

Jaune thought it over, "It could work. The semester will end soon and most of the students should be away for their break. But, that could still leave quite a few students that could get in our way. And I can't be looking everywhere, even my sensing of aura has a limit. And if I'm dealing with an issue, it could make it that someone isn't keeping an eye out for her. We need more people."

Raven drank more of her tea, "But no more than two extras. Too many may be more of a hindrance. Onyx and Aaeron?"

Those two were excellent in stealth, he knew that for a fact, but he shook his head, "Pyrrha and Ren."

Raven just raised an eyebrow that just said, 'Explain.'

"They know Beacon's layout better than Onyx and Aaeron. Plus, seeing them around campus would be less conspicuous. And with them having Negative aura, it'll make any possible fight less problematic." He rested his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers, "On top of that, this could be there final test. They pass and we'll get two more members."

"But if they fail?" Raven asked seriously, "They could easily betray us while at Beacon. Even if we get out, they will have disastrous information to give to Ozpin. And they'll know more about Negative aura and your biggest secret will be exposed. So, what do you plan to do if they betray us?"

Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When they opened, they held steely determination, "We'll kill them." His voice never wavered as he said those words, "The three of us who'll be there have dealt with Hunters before, we can do it again. And we know how they fight, so even with Negative aura effecting you two, we can win. Worst case, we can just open a portal for back up." Jaune sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, "And think about it like this: if they are still loyal to us after having the best chance to betray us, we'll know for certain that we can trust them."

Raven just looked into his eyes, "That is one hell of a gamble, Jaune."

He nodded, "I know. Worst case, we have to fight our way out of Beacon. We could get injured or lose people. There's even the chance that we'll have Vale targeting us as well. Best case, we get information and can trust those two fully."

The two sat in another silence. Both knew that Jaune was the leader of the Branwen tribe and Knightingale. If he wanted to, he could make this an order and they would all follow it. But they also knew, he respected Raven's opinion above all else. If she didn't like this and told him no, they would forget this and try to find an alternative.

Raven eventually came to her decision. She looked into Jaune's eyes, "Tell our informant, to be ready to infiltrate Beacon. And we'll tell Gil, Onyx and Aaeron about this, that way they can be prepared for the worst." Jaune smirked and nodded as he pulled out his scroll.

It had been a few days later and the break at Beacon had begun, it was almost time for their mission. Jaune was gathering his gear at that moment. Focusing his mind on what he needed to do and what he may need to do. He checked both his guns before holstering them. He made sure his blade was sharpened before he attached it to his back. He grabbed his mask before closing the locker and heading to the training room.

Standing there was Raven with her gear and mask on, across from her were Ren and Pyrrha. They both had black face masks that cover from their noses down. Pyrrha had also applied some Dust to her armor, turning the color to grey temporarily. "Ready?" he asked the two and they nodded instantly. He could tell they were nervous but saw the determination clear in their eyes. Jaune looked over to the clock, it was getting close to dusk at Beacon and any minute he'd get the message they were waiting on.

Not long after that, his scroll went off. He checked it and it was a message that said just one thing: In position.

He looked up to everyone, "She's ready." The three nodded and he put his scroll away, they then all put earpieces in to hear each other when they separated. He drew his sword and slashed the air, creating a black portal for them. Raven stepped through first followed by his old teammates. He sheathed his blade and looked behind himself to see the other three members of Knightingale walk into the training area, armed and ready. He raised an eyebrow at them and they nodded in return. With that, he placed his mask on his face and walked through his portal.

When he emerged on the other side, the portal snapped shut behind him and the four were standing on the cliffs and the sun had just set. They could see the lights of Beacon come on, being the only light for miles. Before he could focus on anything else, something collided with him, making him grunt.

He looked down to see a shorter person hugging him close and a smirk came to his face under the mask. He saw Ren and Pyrrha tense, and he raised a hand, stopping them from attacking. He then gave a brief hug to the person hugging him. She was wearing a black version of the clothing she usually wore but what stuck out was the mask she wore. The Griffon Mask of the Branwen's. It completely hid her face but her tri-colored hair was not and fell down her back. "Good to see you too."

She looked up at him and shifted her mask to the top of her head. Her brown and pink eyes looked up at him and she had a flirtatious smirk on her lips. That was when Raven cleared her throat and was looking at them, although they both knew that she was glaring at Neo. She pulled away and Jaune turned back to Ren and Pyrrha. "This is Neopolitan, she is our Informant for Vale."

Ren nodded and Pyrrha said quietly, "It's nice to meet you, Neopolitan."

She looked them up and down with a hand on her hip. She looked back up to Jaune with a raised eyebrow. He nodded, "Yes, they are the same two from my team while I was at Beacon." That got her to glare at them and she was reaching for her parasol, until Jaune poked her between her shoulder blades. She stopped and gave a muted sigh before she pulled her mask back down.

Jaune closed his eyes and started to sense any nearby auras. He didn't find any but that made sense. At this point in time, any remaining students would probably be at the cafeteria or the dorms but it never hurt to be cautious. He opened his eyes and turned to Raven, she nodded and turned into her avian form before taking off. They gave her a minute or two before they began to move, "Ren, Pyrrha, keep your Aura Senses open, just in case." The two nodded and when they were all ready, they took off in a sprint towards Beacon. Moving fast but quiet, using the darkness to hide.

When they reached the nearest building, they jumped using their auras and landed on the roof. They all stayed crouched and looked around, they didn't see anyone nearby and the three Negative aura users could only sense auras walking away from the tower. Jaune looked to Ren and Pyrrha, the two nodded and broke off from the other two. Ren moved to the left and Pyrrha moved to the right. The plan was to form a perimeter around the tower and each of them would cover their own section.

While they were waiting, two students walked by the building they were on. Neo grabbed a hold of her parasol but Jaune grabbed hold of her hand. It wouldn't be smart to attack them, if they saw them then they would, but for now, it was best to let them go. Luckily, they walked by without any issue. The two relaxed and kept watch. A few minutes later, Ren spoke up over their earpieces, "I'm in position."

Pyrrha came through a few seconds later, "I am too."

Jaune nodded, "Alright, stay in position and let the rest of us know if you see anything" He handed Neo her own earpiece, so he could give her instructions or warnings. She put it in before leaping off the roof. He watched her sneak over to the tower's base. He saw her look around before waiting for any signal from her three watchers. When none of them spoke up, she slipped into the building then into the elevator. When he lost visual of her, Raven flew over his head and around the tower, keeping an eye out for her.

With that, he started to sense for any nearby auras. The only one was Ozpin's at the top of the tower. It was his job to keep a tab on him, he would be the biggest issue to their operation. He didn't seem to move for a while but he must've jinxed himself because he felt Ozpin's aura moving down the tower. "Everyone, Ozpin is moving. Keep low and out of sight."

He got several affirmatives and saw Raven take a perch on a nearby building. He moved to the other side of the roof and stayed low so only his eyes could peer over the roof. Ozpin stepped out of the tower and looked up to the sky. He stayed like that for a minute or so before he lowered his head. He started to walk away from the tower. When he was next to the building Jaune was on, he stopped. Jaune felt his whole body tense at that and his hand was lowering until it gripped Sommeil Eternel. He also notice that Raven was watching them just as intently. He hoped that Ozpin would move, last thing he needed was for Raven to try to attack Ozpin to save him.

Luckily, his fear was unwarranted because Ozpin started to walk away again. Jaune watched the Headmaster walk off until he was sure they were safe. His hand moved from his gun and he sighed, "He's gone. I have no idea for how long though. Neo, not to rush you but try to finish this quickly." He felt his scroll vibrate once and that was the signal for 'yes'. He then saw Raven take off flying again.

He moved back to the other side of the roof and kept an eyes out for anyone else. For a few minutes, nothing else happened. Until he got a call from Pyrrha, "Jaune, we may have a problem."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Team RWBY is coming towards the tower. They seem to be arguing with each other, that could draw attention to us. What should I do?" she asked.

"You've got to be kidding me." He muttered to himself. "Keep an eye on them for now. As long as they don't head towards the tower, we should be okay. Anything on your end, Ren?"

There was a silence for a few seconds, "I was going to say no but CFVY is heading this way from the other side. Wait, Velvet's missing for some reason."

"What? We have two teams heading our way?" This was not adding up, why would two teams be heading this way now? "Keep an eye on them for now. Neo, you almost done?" he felt his scroll vibrate once then a second time a second later, meaning 'no'. He then felt his scroll vibrate five times in rapid succession, meaning five minutes. "Damn it." He cursed to himself. 'This is getting to be out of hand.'

He started to focus on the auras around him, Ozpin had moved out of his range but he felt another one nearby. It was moving weirdly and was small, too small to be a person's. It seemed to come from behind and above him. But there was nothing there but open air. His mind connected the dots and he quickly was reaching for his sword but stopped when he felt a blade at he left side of his neck, "Don't even think about it, Kid." A gruff voice said from behind him.

Jaune ground his teeth slightly before he slowly moved his hand from his blade and he moved his other one away from his gun, "Fancy meeting you here, Qrow." He replied nonchalantly. He looked over his shoulder to see the Huntsman standing behind him and Harbinger in sword mode at his throat.

He didn't seem amused, "Yeah, fancy."' He said sarcastically. "So, mind telling me why you're here?"

Jaune chuckled, "What, I can't just pop in every once in a while to see how everyone is doing?"

He felt the blade move closer to his neck before the Huntsman spoke up again, "No jokes. It's time you stop this and give up. For your sake and my nieces."

Jaune scoffed, "Yeah, their sake. Honestly, I think they'd want me dead than anything else. That way they can forget about this mistake, right?"

"Are you that far gone? Ruby cares about you, even after everything you've done. What you're doing is hurting her more and more." Qrow tried to reason with him.

Jaune smirked, "I noticed you didn't mention Yang in that." Their eyes met, "I'm guessing she'd rather I was gone, huh?"

"I didn't say that." Qrow started.

"You don't need to." Jaune cut him off as he felt a very familiar aura coming in fast. "You seem to not understand, so I'll explain. I don't care about that. The only things I care about are my mission and my true family. Especially, your sister."

Qrow was confused with the emphasis he but on that word. That was until his eyes widened and he raised his sword to stop the red blade from cleaving his head in two. Raven was now back in her human form and was clashing with her brother. Jaune spun around with his hand covered in Distortion, "How misfortunate for you." He slammed his hand into Qrow's stomach, sending flying off the roof and into the ground. Him colliding with it caused a huge sound that would alert anyone nearby. "Damn it!" Jaune cursed.

"I got him, focus on the mission." Raven told him before she jumped at her brother again.

Jaune quickly held his finger to his ear piece, "Ren, Pyrrha, how are those teams?"

"Team RWBY seems to be heading over after hearing that racket." Pyrrha said.

"Team CFVY was already headed this way but now there moving faster." Ren informed him.

"Damn it. I need you to stall them. Raven is dealing with Qrow, I'm about to help her out. Neo, as soon as you're done, give Pyrrha or Ren a hand. They'll let us know when you arrive and we can fall back to get out of here." Jaune ordered them all.

"On it!" Pyrrha answered.

"Got it!" Ren responded.

Jaune felt his scroll vibrate for a 'yes' from Neo. As soon as he felt that, Jaune drew Tourmentage Tordu. He leapt into the fray with an overhead swing. Qrow was trading blows with Raven until he saw Jaune and he jumped back to avoid it. Jaune landed in a crouch and with him positioned like he was, Raven used him as a springboard to shoot herself towards her brother. The two got into another power struggle and Jaune pushed off the ground to go for a low slice for his legs.

Qrow had no choice but to jump back again. He shifted his weapon so he could fire three shots at them as he was in the air. Jaune stood in front of Raven and used Distortion to protect them both, knocking the shots in random directions. Qrow lunged towards them as soon as his feet met the ground. Jaune held his sword diagonally to stop the attack using his left hand to brace the blade more.

As the two glared at each other, Qrow quickly had to duck to the side as Raven fired her sword at him from her sheathe. With that distraction, Jaune drew Souffrance Eternelle and rapid fired three shots from his waist. Qrow took the shots but managed to push Jaune back before delivering a punch to his face. As Jaune was reeling, Raven came in with a powerful kick to her brother's stomach, separating them. The husband and wife were staring at the estranged brother for a few seconds and in the reprieve, they could hear the sounds of gunfire from the other two fights.

Qrow just glared at them and shifted his weapon into its scythe form. He was serious now. Jaune holstered his pistol and quickly recalled Raven's sword to her with his Telekinesis, using the brief pause to swap out his Semblances. She sheathed her sword as soon as it was in her hand.

The three were about to charge when a cloud of rose petals flew to Qrow's side and materialized into Ruby. "Uncle Qrow! What's going on? I heard your gun fire and I…." she trailed off as she looked to see Raven and Jaune. "J-Jaune?" she asked with wide eyes.

Before he could answer, Qrow spoke up, "Ruby, you need to get out of here, now."

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"What, don't want her to see you fighting us? Or is it because you don't want her getting in your way?" Jaune asked. "Or is it because of your Semblance?"

If Qrow could do it, his glare would've killed Jaune. Ruby looked from Jaune back to her uncle, "Your Semblance?"

"So, you haven't told her." Raven spoke up next. "You've been hanging around Old Man Oz too long, little brother. Keeping secrets as well now."

"Enough!" he said and took a step forward, "This can stop right here. Just come back to us Raven, we can figure this all out. We can-"

"Enough of your lies." Raven spoke up with an edge. "I walked away because I was tired of this damned stalemate and being nothing but a pawn. I thought you'd do the same after Summer but you didn't." Qrow glared and Ruby's eyes widened. "You still believe that Ozpin won't sacrifice you if the time comes. And because of that, you turned your back on your tribe. Your family. You didn't even look for me when it was destroyed. So, who turned their back on whom." Her hand rested on her hilt of her sword. "Get out of our way, Qrow."

He just stared at her before he got into his own stance, "You know I can't do that."

Jaune silently got into his stance and Ruby looked between them all, still unsure on what to do. She finally came to a decision and reluctantly got into her own stance. Her eyes looked to Jaune before locking onto Raven. It was without a doubt that the mission had gotten very complicated.