Author's note: All work and no sleep makes ****** a dull boy. I really wish school didn't require so much tedious work, it really takes away from my sleep and I really like my sleep. At any rate, I managed to make a slightly longer chapter, despite not having the time, energy or motivation to write. Enjoy the chapter and post reviews, I never seem to be satisfied with my work so I enjoy reading feedback, I actually like it when people get really critical.
"Shit!" Jaune swore out loud as the first claw grazed his arm. "Ash, defend Ruby."
The snow leopard cub obeyed, blindsiding the grimm that was furthest from the hole. Tearing off a bony spike from its corpse, Ash used it to impale the next oncoming beowolf. Flaring his aura, he created sharp extensions from his front paws and a bludgeon at the tip of his tail.
Jaune made his way to Pyrrha, cutting down any creature that got in his way. Reaching her side, he began hacking at the chains that held her to the ground. 'I need to save them,' was all he could think as he struck the chains in vain.
He used his body to shield the defenseless girl from the blows of the ursa. He struck it once, then again and again. None of it made a difference, there's no scratch on the chains, no bent or broken links, nothing. His body was struck from the side, sending him flying out of the way like a ragdoll. Unable to move from the pain, he saw behind the large creature, the hordes were closing in.
"Ash!" Jaune watched as the gray cub was knocked out of the way in the same fashion. "No, I can't do this," he quietly muttered on the verge of tears, "I can't protect them… I'm a failure."
"Nope," Jaune looked up to see his fellow leader in her pajamas. Jaune remembered this, but why this memory?
"Nope?" he asked in confusion.
"You're a leader now Jaune," she said, attempting to encourage the knight, "you're not allowed to be a failure."
"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" he asked, slumped against the wall.
"Hmmm, nope," she answered after pretending to think.
"You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff," he reminded as she took a seat right next to him.
"Nope," she smiled as he leaned his head back against the wall in defeat. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid," Jaune slid lower at the reminder. "You might have even been a failure the first day we met," he slid lower at the, yet again, painful truth, "but you can't be one now, you know why?"
"Uuuhh, because?" Jaune looked at the petite girl for the answer.
"Because it's not just about you anymore," she pointed at him accusingly, "you've got a team now, Jaune, we both do, and if we fail, we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first and ourselves second," she stood up as she delivered her last piece of advice, "your team deserves a great leader, Jaune."
"Jaune, everyone needs a little push from time to time," he looked up to see his teammates emerald eyes, illuminated by the moonlight. The scene changed back to that night on the rooftop, "you made it to Beacon, that speaks volumes of what you're capable of."
"You're wrong," he turned around, his guilt prevented him to look at her eyes any longer, "I don't belong here."
"Of course, you obviously don't belong," he heard a deep voice before feeling a hand firmly grasp his shoulder and turn him around. Looking around the scene had once again changed, but to the morning he left home, "Son, we Arcs never had a place to belong."
"Thanks dad, that's very assuring," Jaune looked down at the ground in shame.
"Look at me, Jaune," he reluctantly looked at his father's face, "none of us are born with a place to belong to. But we all found what's important to us, and we draw power from that."
"I don't understand."
The much older man unstrapped the sword that hung from his belt. "You don't belong at Beacon, that doesn't mean you can't earn your place," Jaune looked at the weapon that was presented to him, "find what's important to you and protect them with your life."
The memory ended, the landscape faded to white. White was all that he could see, stretched out over the horizon. "It seems you are at a crossroads," Jaune spun around to face an elderly man. His face was old and wrinkled, and his hair was gray but he was still tall and muscular which filled out his armor perfectly. He looked at the young knight and examined him before shaking his head, "They get here at a younger age every generation, such a shame."
"W-where am I?" Jaune started to panic, "Who are you, why am I here?"
"Like I said, you are at a crossroad, and as your ancestor, I've come to meet you," the elderly man answered, "this place exists between life and death. You, like your father a long time ago, are on the brink of death. By now you should be aware of your large stores of aura, correct?"
"Y-yeah," Jaune stuttered as he tried to process the situation.
"Here's how it works kid, you can move one to the afterlife, or you can use your aura to heal yourself an go back to the world of the living," a door like panel of darkness behind him appeared.
"But I can't use any of it," Jaune argued, "my semblance, not even my aura. I'll just end up dead anyway."
"Kid, you're an Arc," the man moved forward to place his hand on Jaune's shoulder, "you carry on my semblance, do you know what that means? Just remember your father's words; it's a saying that's passed down through the generations."
Jaune thought hard. Making his decision firm in his mind he smiled and walked into the uncertainty of the darkness. Yet again, the scenery in his vision changed, back to the horrid sight in front of him. Sliding his hands under him and pushing down, Jaune lifted himself off the ground with a smirk on his face. "I get it now, dad," Jaune felt a weight lift from his body, the pain of his injuries fading away, "so this is the power of our family, the reason why you, grandpa and his father were labeled as 'heroes'."
Jaune felt a surge of power course through him, a bright light coating his body, attracting the attention of all moving creatures in the room. "I wonder if it would work at this distance," Jaune thought out loud as he concentrated on Pyrrha and Ruby. To his amazement, the two captives started to dimly glow white. "Hey, all you God damned creatures," he brashly announced. Without another word, a large portion of grimm changed their direction towards the paladin in the middle of the room, while some fruitlessly attacked the shielded girls.
Retrieving his sword he readied himself for battle while his feline familiar assumed his position at Jaune's side. Standing firm, he advanced towards the hole in the middle of the arena, swinging his sword at any and every enemy in his way. Once again he shone a bright white, the light deflecting every attack that he didn't block. Standing at the edge of the hole, he looked for an emergency closing mechanism while Ash held enemies at bay. "Ozpin, how the fuck do I close this thing?!" he yelled with no answer. Jaune frantically looked around for another way, quickly scanning the room.
Jaune took a look at the magazine pouch at Ruby's belt and did the same for Pyrrha. Running to Ruby's side he checked to see if she was all right, "Ruby, I have an idea, but I need to know if you have extra dust rounds or extra dust."
"I should have a full magazine in my pouch," she blushed lightly realizing where he had to reach. She tried to hide her best to hide her reddening face as she felt his hand against her rear before grabbing the magazine out of the small bag.
"I'll be back, I just need to go blow up the arena," Jaune lightly joked as he ran in Pyrrha's direction.
After telling his teammate his idea she looked up at him in shock, "Jaune, that's stupid and dangerous, you could die!"
"That's what you said on the way to our first mission, and I'm still alive," he pointed out.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you," tears welled up in Pyrrha's eyes.
"I'll be fine," he reassured her as he retrieved the small bag from her hip, "besides, someone has to help Ren keep Nora from drinking coffee every morning."
Jaune returned to the hole where Ash sliced at enemies that tried to enter the arena, he set the items down and went to work. Jaune hastily tore off a large piece of his shirt and fashioned it into a fairly large bag. Working quickly he emptied what dust he could from the dust filled capsules into the cloth and tied it into a makeshift bomb and fuse. Pulling out a lighter, he lit the end of cloth, dropped the package into the opening. Looking over the edge to see grimm crawling out, his eyes widened at the sight of a large ball of fire quickly making its way up. Grabbing the leopard cub, Jaune hugged him tightly and turned his back towards the hole, shielding them both from the blast.
"Well done, Mister Arc," he heard the headmaster's voice announce over the speakers. The room whirred as the mechanisms closed the trapdoor and the bindings released the girls, "You did better than I expected."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he screamed into the air again, "We could have died!"
"But you didn't. You know, your family harbors a very noble power," the silver haired man smiled, appearing in the front row of bleachers, "In the last war that Remnant has seen; there was a man who was considered a hero. He defended the west wall of Vale from the enemy kingdoms and grimm. He was severely injured and the rest of our unit was unconscious and close to death, yet none of his comrades died in that war."
"What does that have to do with me?" Jaune asked confused by the sudden war story.
"That man's name was Yves Arc," he smiled, "his comrades, his friends, were the most important thing in his life. He was a failure of a fighter, but he became an unstoppable destructive force during the war. It wasn't to destroy the enemy or out of hatred, but to protect his friends and his home. I knew you were the same."
"You knew my father?" Jaune managed to calm down a little.
"Yes, he was a good friend," Ozpin smiled at the feeling of nostalgia.
"Before I left home, my dad told me 'find what's important to you and protect them with your life,'" Jaune quoted.
The two redheads blushed at the statement, thinking of the significance they might hold in the knight's heart. "Are we really that important to you?" Ruby asked.
"Of course," he smiled at them both, "I know you'd do the same for me if the situation was reversed."
"Oh, y-yeah," Pyrrha answered, trying to mask the disappointment she felt, "of course we would."
"Well, it's getting pretty late," Ozpin announced whilst checking his watch. "I think we've had enough for today, I suggest you all get back to your dorms," he instructed before leaving the trio.
Ruby closed the door to her dorm room behind her, only to be met with the worried faces of her teammates. "Ruby, you look terrible!" Weiss was the first to speak, "What happened?"
"Oh, nothing, just some training with Jaune and Ash," she partially lied.
"Is he alright?" Weiss grabbed the younger girl's shoulders, showing a surprising display of concern for the boy in question, "You didn't beat him too bad, did you?"
'After how long of him chasing you, and only now you care about him?!' was what she wanted to scream, but only smiled. "No, he's actually gotten better at fighting."
"I swear, if his face is too bruised to-,"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ruby interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of the heiress's complaints, "I'm gonna take a shower."
Before anyone else could get another word out, the bathroom door was shut. Turning it as hot as possible, Ruby stepped into the falling stream of water. She hugged her legs as she felt the stinging heat against her skin. 'You still don't realize what you have, Weiss. Why couldn't it have been me?' she thought as she silently cried.
Pyrrha tossed and turned in her bed, her thoughts did their best to keep her awake. Growing more and more restless, she got up and left the room. Walking in a zombie-like way, she roamed aimlessly through the halls of the school. "Pyrrha, I need to talk to you," she turned to face the source of the voice to find no one, but realized where she had wandered to. She watched her memory as if it were a holographic scene.
"Oh, Jaune," she remembered herself turning around, "what did you need?"
She remembered the regretful look on his face perfectly, already knowing what he was going to say, "I should give you your answer. I know what it's like to be kept waiting with no answer," he averted his eyes to the ground.
"So what is it?" she forced her smile, still hoping that the answer isn't what she thought it would be.
"I'm sorry, I appreciate that you feel this way, but-,"
"No, I can't!" Pyrrha interrupted the scene, looking away. She leaned against the wall for support, "Why am I even here?"
"I know people might think I'm stupid for this," she continued to hear, "but how I feel about you hasn't changed, like how I feel about Weiss hasn't changed. I'm sorry."
Pyrrha found herself back in the dorm room. Feeling something crawl down her face, she touched her fingers to her cheek, pulling it away to see her fingertips wet with tears. Looking down, she found her sleeping leader. 'I'm fine, I just need… sleep…' her thoughts trailed off, not realizing his face coming closer to hers, entranced by his lips.