A.N. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: This chapter is made up of segments I'd made for chapter four that didn't make the cut for some reason or the other and because I didn't want to make an overly long chapter. Seeing as this is removed content, it is not necessarily in chronological order. No, I am NOT planning to make a full story of it. Hell, I wasn't even going to post these but a friend of mine wouldn't stop pestering me until I gave in.
So, bro, if you're reading this, happy now? Can we please drop this subject?
Next chapter will be something different, I promise.
Back again? Removed content
Nightmares
Jaune woke up screaming in the middle of the night for the fourth time that week.
"Jaune!"
His eyes immediately snapped to the source of the voice.
"Jaune, are you alright? What's going on?" Pyrrha demanded as she looked around.
Ren and Nora were also up and looking around warily.
'A dream…Just a dream…' he swallowed.
"It's…It's nothing." He forced himself to reply, "I just…Just had another nightmare."
"It's been like a month!" Nora exclaimed. How she managed to stay so peppy even when it was around three in the morning was nothing short of amazing.
"Four days." Ren corrected with a tired sigh.
"Did you watch a scary movie?" Nora asked him with wide eyes, "Because Ren here saw one once and he couldn-"
"That's enough!" Ren interrupted her with an expression he had rarely seen on the stoic boy.
"I'm sorry for waking you all up again." Jaune cut in before the two could start their usual antics.
"This is the fourth time now," Pyrrha commented with a look of concern, "is there something bothering you?"
He forced a smile. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm just going to take a walk. See you all in a bit."
"Wait, I'll go with you." Pyrrha called out to him before he could leave the room.
"It's fine, you should try to get some sleep." Jaune tried to stop her.
"It's alright, I could use a walk myself." She reassured him a smile.
Jaune smiled back, but it was strained. "Alrighy then." He looked at Nora and Ren. "I really am sorry for waking you all up again."
Ren sighed. "It's cool." And he plopped down on his bed again.
"Ren? He can fall asleep so quickly!" Nora commented. "Well, see you two later!" she waved cheerily.
Pyrrha seemed to be trying to tell him something, pursing her lips as she threw furtive looks at him, but they mostly walked silently until they reached the courtyard.
"Do you…do you want to talk about it?" she finally asked him.
"About?" Jaune asked cautiously.
"Your nightmares." She replied.
'Pyrrha? Pyrrha! Wake up, we won! Can you believe it? Pyrrha…Pyrrha?'
"…No."
She sighed softly.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He apologized quietly.
"What?" she gave him a surprised look.
"I should've…If only I hadn't…" he forced himself to look away and took a deep breath, locking down his rampant emotions.
"We should go back." He told her in a completely mechanic voice devoid of any kind of humanity.
"Jaune?!" she took a step back as her partner's demeanor changed.
His eyes were flat and empty, barren of any kind of emotion as he spoke.
"We can talk later." He turned around and began to walk away.
She wanted to stop him, to force him to sit down and talk, but…
Jaune left her without once looking back.
…that look on his face when he apologized.
That haunted expression on his face as he stared through her, instead of at her…
She subconsciously shivered.
That was the look she'd seen on veteran hunters who had spent their lives on the most distant fringes of society, where it was not unusual for entire settlements to be wiped out by marauding grimm, where bloodshed was an everyday occurrence…
Reconciliation
"Sir?" Ozpin looked away from the window and saw Goodwitch looking at him with some concern.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Are you…alright?" she asked hesitantly.
He felt his head tilt with confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Your paperwork's nowhere near done and you've been staring off into the distance for some time now." She answered.
Ozpin frowned. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" she pressed on. "You seem…distraught."
Ozpin shook his head. "I'm fine." He told her again.
Goodwitch might not have been as sharp as Ozpin, but she had a gift for observation and a knack for deduction that bordered on the uncanny at times.
She frowned. "The only difference between last week and this one is that Arc hasn't been stopping by. You…you don't miss him, do you?"
He sometimes forgot that she was almost as perceptive as he was.
Ozpin rolled his eyes. "I am not a middle school girl pining away. I just have a bit of a headache."
Goodwitch didn't look convinced, but she mercifully didn't press the issue.
Truth be told, he did miss the Arc's presence, although he hadn't thought it was affecting him enough to be noticeable. He mentally sighed.
Jaune Arc was, as his former (or was it future?) student, a person uniquely qualified to understand him, and that was something he had long feared and desired.
After damning all those close to him in his own war, he had avoided personal relationships, opting instead to keep everyone at a distance.
But now, for the first time in a long time, he was able to look across the gulf and know that someone else was like him.
In short, he had gained someone he could possibly call a friend, something he hadn't had in a long, long time.
He inwardly smiled bitterly. Jaune Arc was right.
They were both the same: miserable, lonely bastards.
He decided to go out for a walk to clear away those thoughts.
"No! Goddamn it, don't you dare quit on me!" Jaune screamed at his bleeding friend.
In spite of the bloody mess her stomach had become, Yang smiled at him. "I should have seen this one coming. I'm sorry."
"Don't start apologizing, damn you!" Jaune turned around. "I need a medic here!"
"You'll be alright…" Yang coughed up blood before continuing, "Wonder Woman was right. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."
"Shut up!" Jaune snarled at his friend. "You're going to be alright, damn it!"
"It's okay…" Yang coughed again. "I'm just going…to see Ruby."
"Not yet, I still need you here! I can't…I can't lose another friend!" He yelled frantically.
Her eyes, once vibrant and so full of life began to dull, and Jaune knew that no matter what he did, another friend would soon leave him behind. He tightened his grip on his friend's shoulder even as he felt his eyes burning up.
"No...no..." his despair filled voice lowered to a whisper.
"You'll be alright…" His friend coughed once more.
Jaune closed his eyes before the tears could fall. "When you see them, tell them I'm sorry."
Yang gave him one last smile. "We'll…be waiting for…you, Vomit Boy. But take your time…we'll understand…"
Jaune felt his throat tighten as the tears threatened to break through the dam.
"Ruby…" Yang breathed out.
"Yang? Yang?" Jaune shook his friend, "Goddamn it, wake up! Wake up, damn you! WAKE UP!"
Jaune woke up with a start and stifled his screams. He was sweating and breathing hard. He looked around with panic and reached for his sword before he remembered where he was.
Beacon Academy, in the JNPR room.
He swallowed before forcing himself to take deep breaths. He looked at the clock. 3 am and then back at his bed which was now soaked in sweat and completely disheveled. He got up and left the room. There was no way he was going back to sleep.
His heart was still pounding heavily when he reached the courtyard.
"Arc?" Hearing his name, he panicked and reached for his sword as he turned around.
He dropped his grip on Crocea Mors's hilt when he saw Ozpin.
"What are you doing here at three in the morning?" he asked.
"I could very well ask you the same." Ozpin replied.
"Couldn't sleep. What's your excuse?" Jaune asked.
"Paperwork. Why couldn't you sleep?" Ozpin asked back. The blonde looked terrible. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked more disheveled than normal.
Jaune frowned. "Nightmares."
Ozpin nodded in understanding. "Ah. How long have you been having these nightmares?"
Jaune sighed. "Since I got back here." He closed his eyes. "Funny thing is I haven't had these dreams in decades…"
Ozpin frowned thoughtfully.
"Arc."
Jaune looked at his former master. "Hm?"
"If you…" he paused for a second. "If you need somewhere you can use to avoid them when it becomes truly bad, you're welcome at my office." Ozpin told him.
Jaune gave him an inquisitive look before smirking. "I knew you couldn't stay away. You really need to get out more."
Ozpin frowned. Damn his future self for teaching the Arc too well.
"I said when it gets bad, not whenever you want." He clarified curtly.
"Yeah, yeah, see you at lunch time, headmaster." Jaune waved airily before leaving.
Ozpin's frown widened.
But if one were to look closely, it would be difficult to say for sure whether it was a smile or a frown.
Brief respite
He felt his eye twitching.
"Why are we here again?" Jaune asked.
Ozpin gave him a curious look. "Weren't you the one that I said I should get out more?"
"Yes, you definitely should," Jaune agreed heartily, adding emphasis to the "you". "But why am I here?"
"Have you seen yourself lately?" Ozpin asked him.
"Hey, I made sure to shower today!" Jaune quipped.
Ozpin rolled his eyes. "You look tired. Exhausted, even. Everyone deserves a break."
"And why, pray tell," Jaune began with twitching eyes, "am I here instead of in my bed?"
"Because you wouldn't be able to sleep anyways," Ozpin answered without missing a beat, "and besides," he gave him a small smirk, "are you truly planning to pass on free drinks? I'm sure it beats whatever it is you go through every night."
They were in a bar. A frigging bar.
But the bastard made good points.
"Bastard." Jaune grumbled as he accepted a beer from the bartender.
Ozpin smirked again.
Smug bastard.
Still, this was…nice. He'd forgotten what it felt like to simply go out with a…with a friend for drinks.
"You will, of course, be paying next time." Ozpin commented before taking a large swig from his bottle.
Implying there would be more of these little gatherings.
"Yeah, yeah." Jaune agreed.
It was twisted in a way, he realized, that the only person he felt comfortable confiding in was his manipulative bastard of a mentor…
He took a large swig from his bottle.
…but then again, he hadn't been directly responsible for his death.
And now he was moving on to the morbid thoughts. He sighed and shook his head. This was supposed to be a break.
"What are you thinking about?" Ozpin inquired.
"That obvious?" Jaune asked sardonically.
Ozpin shrugged.
"Just wondering where my life went wrong that I'd end up in a dingy bar with you of all people." Jaune answered with a small smirk.
Ozpin gave him an amused look as he shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Take it however you want, old man." Jaune replied, acting like the rebellious eighteen year old that he was supposed to be.
Ozpin frowned. "About that name you call me. Weren't you the one to say you were closer to me in age than to you fri-"
Jaune glared at him.
"Your classmates?" Ozpin corrected smoothly.
"It's what I used to call in private in my timeline." Jaune shrugged.
"About that," Ozpin suddenly gave him a serious look, "do you mind if I ask you how I was in your future?"
Jaune thought about it. "If you had asked any of the students, they'd say you were the cool but eccentric headmaster…Kind of like Dumbledore."
"If you asked the students?" Ozpin asked.
"Yeah. But if you were to ask Professor Goodwitch, she'd give you an answer closer to the truth." Jaune continued.
"Do tell."
"She had never seen you laugh, not for real. You threw yourself into your job, because you knew that you needed something, anything to distract you." Jaune answered bluntly.
It was almost imperceptible, but Jaune noticed that the headmaster had flinched a little, although he recovered far too quickly for him to point it out.
"And if I were to ask you?" Ozpin asked him.
Jaune hummed thoughtfully before formulating an answer. He looked directly at the headmaster. "I hated you."
This time the flinch was far more noticeable.
"You pulled me away from my mediocrity, filled my head with dreams and hopes, and then, when I needed you most," Jaune scowled darkly, "…when I needed you most, you died, leaving me, Grandmaster Ozpin's apprentice alone to lead everyone to victory."
Ozpin looked down, unable to meet his gaze.
"I hated you because you because suddenly, I was no longer playing chess with wooden pieces, but with people's lives. I hated you for training me, for turning me into a tactician, for dumping your duty on me." He continued coldly.
The headmaster said nothing, still refusing to meet his gaze.
"But above all else," Jaune closed his eyes and a self-deprecating grin made its way into his face, "I hated myself. I hated myself, because you warned me, but I so desperately wanted to be special in some way, because then, I wouldn't feel like I was dragging my friends back."
Ozpin's eyes opened wide as he absorbed his words.
Jaune finished his bottle and opened a second one. "I hated myself for being jealous of my friends, who had shown nothing but goodwill and compassion since day one."
He finished that bottle too.
"Do you still hate me?" Ozpin suddenly looked up and asked him.
"Hm?" He thought about it and opened a third bottle.
"Whenever a day came that I had lost someone important, I cursed your name." Jaune admitted.
Ozpin sighed softly.
It was true. He'd cursed the headmaster's name more than anyone else's. But in the end…
Jaune gave him a pensive look, "But in days where the people around me won with minimal casualties, and when the war finally ended, I thanked you." Jaune went on.
Ozpin looked up.
"In the end, I forgave you. How could I not?" Jaune asked bitterly, "Grandmaster Arc, they used to call me," he snorted, "I hated that title. I hated it with every fiber of my being," he admitted freely, "I understand what it means to be a tactician, so in the end I forgave you."
He no longer harbored strong negative feelings for the manipulative bastard.
Ozpin's breathing stopped for a second. "T-then?"
"So to answer your question, no, I don't hate you anymore," Jaune finished his third bottle and opened a fourth one, "I just hate that the world has need for people like us. We tacticians deal in death and misery."
"Arc, I-I just," Ozpin stopped himself and then gave him a look he'd never seen on the old man before, "thank you."
Jaune examined the man. He still looked like his usual guarded self, but there was a certain light to his eyes that hadn't always been there.
Emerald Forest
Jaune sighed as he received their assignment. They were to patrol the outskirts of the Emerald Forest.
Strangely enough, he didn't quite remember receiving this assignment in his timeline, something which both relieved and worried him.
Worry, because that was a frightening prospect. Changing this timeline to the point that he could no longer rely on his memories to guide him terrified him.
Relief, because his original timeline had ended in death and suffering, and any deviation from that, any kind of change gave him hope.
Still, a part of him idly wondered what change he could've caused to merit a simple change of assignments.
"I hope we can find another Ursa to ride!" Nora commented excitedly.
Ren groaned. "Nora, no."
Pyrrha chuckled lightly.
Jaune walked slightly ahead of them, trying to avoid being too close to the strangers that wore the faces of his friends.
"But it'll be fun!" Nora complained. "We can ride one together!"
"Nora, no." Ren replied.
Jaune internally sighed. He'd missed these little scenes, these interactions, but seeing them now, seeing them still alive caused him more pain than relief.
"Jaune?" he heard Pyrrha call him.
"Y-yeah?" he asked.
They soon reached a clearing.
"Are you sure you're healthy enough for this?" she asked him.
Jaune grimaced. He hadn't slept well in a long time, but he'd always been able to sleep enough to look normal, to function normally.
Not anymore. The dark circles under his eyes, his slumped shoulders and tired disposition made that abundantly obvious.
"I can go on less." Jaune replied tiredly.
Pyrrha pursed her lips and looked like she was about to say something when they head a rattling noise.
"Did you hear that?" she asked out loud.
That noise…
"What is that?" Nora wondered.
That rattling noise sounded familiar…Very familiar…
He internally swore before allowing his instincts to take over. His mind began to run through possibilities, through possible scenarios.
"It's a deathstalker. Spread out." He ordered calmly.
"A deathstalker?" Ren asked him as he looked around. "Are you sure?"
He nodded curtly. "Yes, but something's off. Keep your eyes peeled."
A deathstalker burst into the clearing as soon as he gave his orders.
"Scatter!" he yelled before running a few meters to the left and combat rolling forward, landing on his feet and a respectable distance away.
"What's a deathstalker doing here?" Ren demanded as he fired bursts from Stormflower while retreating.
He noted that Pyrrha and Nora had also spread out and were firing at it.
Jaune examined the creature and realized why the sound seemed off. "It's young, possibly the offspring of the one we killed." He noted clinically.
The younger ones were much easier to deal with, but deathstalkers rarely laid only one egg. And if this one was close…
His eyes widened when he saw a glimmer of white, bone-like plate approaching his partner though the dense foliage.
"Pyrrha, roll forward! Nora, fire at her current position!" he ordered.
They did so, and the second deathstalker was forced to momentarily retreat under Nora's barrage of pink death.
"There's two of them?" Pyrrha looked at the second one with shock and dismay.
Jaune grimaced. "Actually, we might see a third one pop out soon, so keep your eyes open."
His team member nodded grimly.
"Ren, Nora, focus on the one to your left. Ren, use hit and run attacks. Nora, cover him, but don't engage directly just yet." He ordered.
"Gotcha, leader!"
"Right."
He looked at his partner, who was currently slashing away at the stalker while avoiding its attacks.
"Pyrrha, disengage!" He ordered before jumping, taking her position just as she jumped back.
"Alright, all of you, aim for the eyes!"
Deathstalkers had think plating covering most of their bodies, making most attacks ineffective against them.
Their eyes, however…
The deathstalker he'd been fending off retreated as Pyrrha's bullets found their mark. Jaune smiled coldly.
…were soft and squishy. There was an evolutionary reason these wretched things had ten eyes.
"Pyrrha, rifle mode! Aim for the joints!" he ordered as he ducked under the stalker's frantic attacks. The reason the younger ones were easier to deal with was that their plating wasn't as thick, not as well spread out.
He took a brief second to observe Nora and Ren. They'd also taken out the eyes.
"Ren, you too! Nora, distract it! Feel free to engage directly now, but be careful!" he blocked a pincer and side stepped the other, "Let Ren disable it before doing anything too crazy!"
"Aye, aye, captain!" Nora replied cheerfully.
Jaune kept the stalker distracted while Pyrrha fired at its joints, which did not yet have the thick plating the rest of its body had.
The stalker fell over, unable to support its weight. It could still swing its pincers, but its lack of mobility meant only its stinger could strike at angles.
Jaune lunged, stabbing one of its eyes, causing the stalker to attack frantically while rearing its tail.
"Pyrrha, cut off its stinger!" he jumped back just as the stinger fell and slashed at it, weakening its connection to the rest of the tail.
Pyrrha threw her shield at it, cutting the golden stinger off.
Jaune allowed himself a brief smile before looking at the stalker Nora and Ren were fighting just in time to see Nora smash her hammer down on the blinded, immobile stalker, crushing its head.
Huh.
"Nora, can you finish this one off?" he asked.
"On it!" Nora answered with a wide grin as she raised her warhammer.
Jaune breathed out and let his combat persona sink back into the depths of his psyche.
"That was quite an experience."
He turned around and saw Pyrrha smiling at him. "What was?" he asked.
"You giving out orders like that." She explained.
"Agreed. I'm actually impressed." Ren added as he approached them.
"I just-" and he stopped as he saw the hypothetical third stalker approaching them from behind them.
Memories flashed in his mind. Ren standing before him. Ren falling over as he was shot from behind.
His eyes flashed. No. Not again.
NEVER AGAIN.
"Get down!" he roared.
Startled, they all threw themselves down. Jaune charged forward, blade and shield up, Aura being channeled into them. The deathstalker slammed its stinger down, but he channeled Aura into his legs, giving him a boost.
He ran past it and slammed his glowing shield forward to meet the stalker's pincer. The pincer was wrenched out of its socket and sent flying back.
Then he lunged forward, Crocea Mors held before him as it became a golden blur. His blade sliced through the stalker's exoskeleton even as he kept running forward, cutting the stalker in two.
He finished his charge and swung his blade to a side, splattering the stalker's blood on the soft grass beneath.
Crocea Mors radiated a beautiful, dazzling golden light in his hand as it lived up to its name once more.
"Jaune…" he dimly heard a voice call him and he turned around.
His team mates were looking at him with shock and awe. He blinked as he remembered where he was and immediately stopped channeling Aura into his weapons.
The golden light dimmed before vanishing entirely and the clearing they were in felt slightly empty as it went.
"That was…" Pyrrha seemed unable to continue, too shocked by the events that had transpired.
"…beautiful." Nora, on the other hand, was far more capable of articulating her thoughts, it seemed.
"What was that?" Ren asked him as his gaze went from to his blade repeatedly in rapid succession.
Jaune grimaced as his mind began to run through possibilities. "…Just a party trick." His mouth finally blurted out.
He would have slapped himself if he were alone. He turned around and began to walk away. "C'mon, we should get out of here."
"W-wait!" they ran after him.
"Seriously, what was that?! That was soooo cool!" Nora chirped when she caught up.
"Nothing. Forget about it." He answered bluntly.
"How am I supposed to forget that?" Ren questioned incredulously. "That was…"
"I'm curious too. How did you do that?" Pyrrha asked him too.
Jaune internally sighed. "I just channeled some of my Aura into my weapons."
"I've never heard of any weapon reacting like that though…" Pyrrha replied thoughtfully.
"I guess Crocea Mors is special after all." He smiled down at his blade.
"What about that thing, with the shield?" Ren asked him.
Nora snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! That was awesome!"
They weren't going to let up until he told them everything. It was one of the things he remembered about his team.
"My semblance. Works in conjunction with my shield." He replied.
"Your semblance?!" Pyrrha asked him with surprise. She also seemed a little hurt and betrayed.
Right. She was helping him train to find his semblance.
"Sorry." For everything. For all the things he'd done to her. "I should have told you sooner." He told her honestly.
"It's alright." She gave him a small smile. "So what does your Semblance do?"
Memories flashed through his mind again. Memories of Pyrrha explaining his own Semblance to him.
He smiled at the irony as he decided to use her own explanation. "Have you heard of Newton's Third Law?"
Pyrrha and Ren nodded. Nora looked slightly confused for a few seconds before her eyes lit up and she nodded as well.
"It's similar to that. I repel outward forces with an equal amount of power." Jaune explained.
"That's…that's very like you." Pyrrha smiled warmly at him. He looked away, unable to meet her eyes.
"But the pincer was completely ripped off." Ren observed.
Jaune smiled fiercely. "I can amplify the effects by using my Aura. And I have lots of it."
Still, it was a purely defensive ability, something he found vaguely ironic, considering his job.
"When?"
Jaune looked at the magenta eyed boy with curiosity. "What?"
"When did you do all of this?" Ren asked him.
Damn. He'd forgotten how observant his team mate was.
"Side project I've been working on during my free time." He replied.
Ren nodded, but Jaune had been trained by Ozpin himself. He could see that his team mate hadn't quite bought that, but at least he wasn't pressing the issue.
"We should head back now." Jaune told them, hoping to change the subject.
Ren nodded.
"Agreed." Pyrrha replied.
"Wait 'till RWBY hears about this! The tales of the awesome and great Nora Valkyrie and friends!" Nora added excitedly.
Jaune would've rolled his eyes if it weren't for the fact the implications of that worried him somewhat.
He didn't notice that he was no longer walking ahead of his team mates, that he was no longer avoiding them.
Late night plans
Jaune walked into the office, with dark circles under his eyes.
"Nightmares?" Ozpin asked rhetorically.
Jaune nodded and sat down. "I don't suppose you have alcohol?"
Ozpin rolled his eyes and opened the cabinet, where he kept a small flask for special occasions and in case a student did something particularly stupid or impressive.
It was usually both.
Jaune gave him a grateful nod and drank the contents in one go.
"Arc, I know we need to stop the war at all costs, but you really should take a break every now and then." Ozpin commented.
Jaune coughed a little as the alcohol burned his throat. "I can sleep when I'm dead."
"This will happen sooner rather than later if you keep this up," Ozpin countered smoothly, "You can barely function as you are."
Jaune frowned as he reached for the map they'd been using to keep track of people of interest.
"I'm fine," He replied flatly before refocusing on the map, "Have Ironwood lead a small strike force here." he pointed at a particular Dust manufacturing factory that had been established recently in one of the fringe towns.
"Are you sure they'll strike there?" Ozpin asked.
Jaune nodded. "Positive. If we play our cards right, we can neutralize one of the White Fang's top lieutenants before he can cause too much damage."
Ozpin nodded sharply. "What can you tell me about the target?"
"He uses a chainsaw. No special attachments. The bastard's pretty tough, so make sure the strike team has at least one specialist." Jaune answered.
"Understood. Based on the terrain, I assume Faunus huntsmen should compose the majority of the strike team?" Ozpin asked as he examined the map.
Jaune frowned and shook his head, "No. That factory is profitable because it exploits faunus there. Last thing we need are defectors."
He grimaced as he remembered the large number of defectors that had heavily crippled their war effort before it could even be prepared.
Ozpin nodded distastefully as he thought of living conditions on Dust mines. "Something has to be done about Faunus rights."
Jaune sighed tiredly as he leaned back in his chair. "Agreed."
Gods, he felt so tired…
"Arc, when was the last time you had a good night's sleep?" he heard Ozpin ask.
"Define good." He answered blearily.
"Eight hours or more."
He smiled bitterly. "That sounds greedy. When was the last time you had that?"
Ozpin frowned. "Touché."
"That does sound nice though. Wonder what that feels like…" Jaune mused.
"You need to rest." Ozpin ordered.
"And you need really need to hurry up and marry Goodwtich." Jaune replied with a small smirk even as his eyes began to close.
Ozpin actually did a double take at that. "Wh-what?!"
Jaune chuckled softly, but his voice sounded distant and his vision faded.
"Arc, you need to stop making these insinua…Arc?" then his statement turned into a question as he noticed the blonde snoring softly in his chair.
He sighed to himself before taking off his coat and placing it on the sleeping blonde.
Morning discussions
"Where's Jaune?" Pyrrha almost demanded.
Ren sighed. Morning came, and with it, the realization that the blonde wasn't in the room.
"Jaune-Jaune?" Nora asked while looking under his bed.
"Why am I here? What time is it? Why do I have your coat?" Jaune demanded.
Ozpin shrugged and smirked.
"You should've woken me up!" Jaune complained as he threw Ozpin's coat back at the old man,
"You needed the rest." Ozpin replied nonchalantly as he caught it and put it on.
Ren blinked as his Scroll beeped at him. He turned it on. "Message from Jaune." He said out loud.
Pyrrha snatched the Scroll away before he could even read the first line.
"Had a couple things to do. See you soon." She read out loud.
Ren blinked and took a step back. The redhead looked angry. REALLY angry, and the thought of an angry Pyrrha terrified him.
"Let's…let's just go down to the cafeteria." He suggested after silently offering up a prayer for his friend.
"Morning!" Ruby greeted them as they sat down.
They greeted back.
Ruby looked around hopefully.
"Vomit Boy AWOL again?" Yang asked rhetorically.
Ren inched away from Pyrrha. "Yes." He replied a little nervously.
Ruby sighed dejectedly.
"What's he doing this time?" Weiss asked more out of habit than actual concern.
It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. In fact, most of their conversations in the cafeteria revolved around the missing blonde and the contradictions he posed lately.
It was, however, the first time he'd vanished before they'd woken up. He usually fed them an excuse before disappearing and showing up again for their morning classes.
"No idea. He was gone when we woke up." Nora answered.
"That's a first." Blake commented, looking a little more curious now.
Ren agreed with her. This was a change in the usual pattern, and that was something he found interesting.
"He's acting even stranger lately." He noted.
"And he's still avoiding us…" Ruby sighed sadly.
Yang's eye twitched as she noticed her sister's expression. "Maybe he and I should have a chat."
He decided to change the subject. Bros before hoes, right?
"Have you noticed how tired he looks lately?" he asked.
"It was kind of hard not to with those circles under his eyes." Weiss replied.
"Is he still having nightmares?" Blake asked him.
Pyrrha sighed. "Yes, but he's no longer waking up screaming in the middle of the night."
"Actually, he still wakes up in the middle of the night. I've heard him leaving the room when he thinks all of us are sleeping." Ren corrected.
"Where to? And why didn't you tell me?" Pyrrha almost demanded.
"I don't know. The first times it happened I just assumed I was dreaming." Ren admitted sheepishly.
Blake blinked. "I've seen him in the library sometimes."
"What was he doing there?" Yang asked. The part where she asked what she was doing there was implicit.
"We discuss books." She answered curtly, hoping that her partner wouldn't make it more than it was.
Yang's sly grin dashed those hopes.
"Literature? With Jaune Arc? I wouldn't have believed that some time ago." Weiss commented.
It was true. Jaune Arc had never struck any of them as the type that read.
"Speaking of unbelievable, do you remember how he killed that deathstalker?" Nora asked excitedly. "That was so awesome!"
They all blinked at that.
"Wait, you mean he killed it by himself?" Yang asked skeptically.
Nora nodded. "Yeah! He was like "Get down!" and then he ran at it and used his shield and whoosh, the pincer flew off!"
RWBY blinked again and looked at Ren for a more detailed explanation.
"He used his semblance and Aura on his shield to rip off one of the stalker's pincers." Ren explained.
"What?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"His semblance? What is his semblance?" Blake asked with undisguised curiosity.
"The entire pincer?" Yang looked impressed.
"Jaune Arc did that?" Weiss asked skeptically.
"His semblance counters attacks with equal but opposite forces. He used his Aura to strengthen the effect, which ripped of the stalker's pincer, and yes, Jaune Arc did that." He explained calmly.
"Damn, never thought Vomit Boy would ever do something like that." Yang commented.
"Impressive." Blake agreed.
"Then he channeled his Aura into his sword and cut the stalker in two." He finished.
"That's impossible," Weiss denied, "I've never heard of anyone using their Aura like that."
"I guess his sword's special after all." Ren replied, internally smiling at the little call back.
Yang snorted, causing him to roll his eyes.
Then he frowned. "I just don't understand when he got that good. He said it was a side project, but that was too well executed to be a newly developed trick." He voiced his suspicions.
"Now I really want to see his tricks." Yang told him.
"Remember that fight with Cardin? Why didn't he use his semblance?" Pyrrha suddenly asked.
Ren frowned thoughtfully. "And the way he took charge of the situation in the forest."
"His knowledge of those deathstalkers." Pyrrha added.
"The plans he formed on the fly." Ren also added.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down and explain!" Weiss demanded. Blake nodded in agreement.
It was a little known fact that the two enjoyed mysteries, so long as they were well crafted, and this one had nabbed their attention.
Ren began to explain what happened.
Jaune examined the board carefully before moving his bishop.
"You should try to have breakfast with your frie-"
Jaune glared at the headmaster.
"-your peers." Ozpin corrected smoothly.
"And deprive you of my company?" he asked.
Ozpin moved his knight forward, deterring further attacks. "I admit I enjoy a good match every now and then, but avoiding them can only serve to alienate them."
Jaune frowned before moving his bishop back to prevent it from being taken and apply pressure at the same time.
"But that's the point, isn't it?" Ozpin asked him before moving his rook, taking the blonde's knight.
Jaune said nothing.
Three turns later, Ozpin's knight captured his rook. "You want to leave them, but you can't bring yourself to cut all ties outright."
Jaune's frown widened as his options became limited. He moved his remaining bishop to slow Ozpin's momentum.
"But you want them to leave you. Less guilt that way." Ozpin's pieces began to take control of the center of the board.
"If I wanted to be analyzed, I'd talk to Ren." Jaune snapped before springing his trap.
"How when just talking to them terrifies you?" Ozpin asked before frowning as he studied the board.
"Why do you care?" Jaune began to move his piece forward, taking back control of the board.
"Because much as I enjoy these little gatherings, I hate seeing someone like me squander a second chance that I myself did not get." Ozpin replied harshly.
Jaune flinched and his tenuous control of board began to fade.
"Jaune did that?" Weiss asked skeptically.
"It doesn't sound like him." Blake agreed.
"I was surprised too, but when he began to give out orders like that, I just followed them." Pyrrha admitted with a small blush.
"Crouching moron, hidden badass!" Nora exclaimed cheerfully.
"Didn't we agree that that wasn't the case? The way he used to act…I don't think he faked any of it." Ren reminded her.
"Yeah," Yang nodded, "No one could've faked that kind of skill...Or lack thereof."
Nora pouted. "Aww…"
"Squander it?" Jaune demanded angrily before moving his pawn to defend his king. "I've been working my ass off to stop the war!"
"That's not what I meant." Ozpin denied.
"Then?" Jaune asked angrily.
"Your friends could help you. You could help them. And I know there is a part of you that wants to atone for what happened in your timeline." Ozpin explained before moving his knight, locking down escape routes.
"You're wrong." Jaune snapped.
"Then why did you let your inhibitions go when you saw your team mates in danger? Why did you get so emotional when you thought you might lose them again?" Ozpin pressed on.
"You were watching us?" Jaune demanded.
"It's standard procedure when we send out first years out on assignments." Ozpin replied with a shrug. "And what I saw in you the moment that third deathstalker appeared…that was definitely emotion."
"I just…I…" Jaune moved his king back, but he knew that the match was over.
"You care about them. Don't alienate them. Don't push away the people that love you." Ozpin told him before moving his rook. "Checkmate."
Jaune got up. "I have morning classes to attend to."
"There's one more thing that bothers me. Bothers me more than all of that." Pyrrha sighed.
"More than all the inconsistencies he's shown so far?" Blake asked her.
"Yes. It's the looks he gives us sometimes." Pyrrha answered.
"Looks?" Nora asked.
"Sometimes…sometimes he looks at us, and he looks so sad…" Ruby was the one that answered.
"I've noticed it too. When he beat me in that chess match. He looked…" Weiss looked away.
"Mournful." Pyrrha finished.
Blake nodded thoughtfully. "Even I've seen it."
His skills, which seemed like a natural evolution of the skills he possessed when he first came to Beacon. The way he acted around them. The looks he gave them.
Nora chuckled.
"What?" Ren asked her.
"It's just, imagine if he were a time traveler!" she giggled.
They all blinked before laughing too, although that thought became ingrained in their minds…
Baby steps
Ozpin walked through the empty corridors, following the soft melody coming from the music room.
Beacon was a prestigious Academy, after all, and they did offer extracurricular activities like those to students.
He opened the door and saw a figure by the window, where the moonlight revealed a familiar blonde.
"I wasn't aware that you could play the guitar." He commented.
"And good night to you as well." Jaune commented without looking up from his guitar.
"The trap worked. We have the White Fang lieutenant in custody." Ozpin told him.
Jaune smiled with cold satisfaction at that. "So far so good."
They both fell silent and Jaune resumed his guitar playing.
Ozpin looked at his former (or was it future?) student. "Georgia on my mind?"
Jaune shrugged. "I'm a fan of the classics."
Ozpin smiled before sitting down in front of the piano. To his surprise, the headmaster began to play the same song.
Jaune gave him a questioning look before shrugging and playing along with the old man.
They both played silently for a moment, staying perfectly in sync despite never having played together before.
"I tried to ask Pyrrha out to the dance," Jaune told him while still playing, "seemed like a safe choice."
Ozpin kept playing, somehow staying in sync with him.
"I couldn't. I froze up." Jaune added with a sigh. "In the end, she asked me, and I barely managed to accept."
They played silently for a moment.
"But you accepted." Ozpin stated more than asked.
"To be honest, I have no idea how I managed to accept." Jaune finished with a bitter, self-deprecating smile. "To be honest, I find it strange. Mentally speaking, I'm closer to you in age than them."
They both shared a chuckle.
"But you're planning to go?" Ozpin asked him.
Jaune looked up, and for once, his expression was light and unguarded. "Terrified as I am, yeah, I'm going."
Ozpin looked up from the piano and gave his former (future?) student a half smile. "Baby steps, Arc, baby steps."
Jaune gave him a small smile. "All these years and it seems I'm still learning from you."
Both were lonely and miserable, but for the first time in a long time, they began to look forward to the future with feelings other than apathy and grief.
'I said just a sweet, old song. Keeps Georgia on my mind…'
AN: I'm actually surprised by the positive feedback these have been getting. I'm glad that they're being well-received but I have no intention of continuing any of these. However, if anyone wants to adopt these that's perfectly fine with me. All I want in a PM telling me so I can follow the story.
Anyways, as for this chapter itself. Reasons they were removed:
Nightmares: Because it really felt like it didn't accomplish anything that wasn't implied in chapter 4.
Reconciliation: I felt like the events in chapter 4 hinted at the fact that the two were continuing to meet afterwards.
Brief Respite: This one I actually wanted to include, but had no idea where to put it, chronologically speaking.
Emerald Forest: One of my greatest fears is creating an OP character, and I felt like this came close to crossing the line.
Late night plans: I actually felt like this continued the plot, but I wanted to focus on character interactions.
Morning discussions: This segment felt like it was consuming way too much paper and I already had a version of Jaune's friends becoming suspicious.
Baby steps: Didn't have the space nor the content needed in the previous chapter to show Jaune starting to reconnect with his friends.