Fires of Vengeance

by Scrumblenut

Eh, I can't figure out a way to word Betrayal and Flames into something catchy... I'll figure something out eventually. This is a Basis for a Betrayal Story.

1. Chapter 1

Now this idea... this one comes from the idea of betrayal. Now, most 'Beacon students betray Ruby/Jaune' stories have happier endings, usually with the fact being that those who betray them are mentally unwell and get the help they need etc... this won't be like that. This will be a dark, revenge based story. These are the students exempt from the onslaught that will occur:

Velvet
Ruby (One of the betrayed)
Jaune (The other betrayed)
Ren
Nora
Dove
Ozpin and staff
This list may grow, but these are all for now.

Now, here's the idea:

Note, everyone is a year older than in canon, and the time between the Dock Fight and the start of the Vytal Festival is 6 months, the dock fight being the first week of the second term, rather than second semester. The Tournament takes 2 to 3 weeks.

Everyone has a facade. A lie that they don to hide themselves from reality. This story will delve more into what lies beneath the facades of RWBY/JNPR. Their insecurities, their fears, and how that makes them act out against Ruby and Jaune, or in some cases, why they stand by them.

Ruby is a prodigy, one who has more energy than most from the looks of things, but struggles to keep up with everything having been pushed ahead two years. She does her best, but no one seems to take her best as good enough, which effects her psyche

"I know I've asked it before, but was it a mistake?" Ruby asks Ozpin. "Everyone seems to find me childish, to think my efforts are meaningless in the scheme of things. My grades are lacking in a number of areas, and it just seems to make them whisper more things about me."

"It wasn't a mistake, Ruby." Ozpin tries to assure. "This is a school. You are here to learn. I told you before that Signal's teachings would be wasted on you, and that still stands true. You are ready for this, you just need to believe in yourself."

"It's not as easy as you make it sound." Ruby notes.

"No." Ozpin sighs solemnly. "It never is, I'm afraid. I suggest you find something to fight for, to help you continue pushing forward. Once you find that thing, or person, you'll find it much easier."

Jaune lied his way to Beacon. Basically locked away by his family, he had no chance to try becoming a Huntsman the way everyone else did. He took a chance, escaped his family and was accepted. He also feels that he is not good enough, constantly comparing himself to others who had the years of training bringing about depression. Deep down, within his depression, he'd be happy to die, if it meant saving lives. He was self sacrificing in a bad way.

"Most of my family did their best to stop me from training to be a Huntsman." Jaune admits to Ruby as he lies on the cot. "My dad once told me he's see what I had, and basically beat me around with a stick before saying I wasn't cut out for it. My mother and sisters, other than Saffron, all agreed, saying the same over and over again."

"That's awful. They just... tossed your dream away." Ruby notes in horror.

"That's not the worst." Jaune states. "My dad was a Huntsman himself. He had the connections to have me blacklisted from all the combat schools around us. I couldn't even have an attempt at learning how to fight." He sighs. "I knew I couldn't leave on my own until I became of age, so I bided my time. When I turned 18, that night I snuck away, clothes packed, money stolen from my parents, and my Great Grandfathers Sword and Shield/Sheath with me. I managed to make it to Vale by morning, somehow managing to avoid the Grimm along the roads. I found Junior's bar and used all my money to get some fake transcripts made. Applied to Beacon when they were done."

"Your family was wrong." Ruby declares, surprising Jaune. "You're a better Huntsman than most of the students at Beacon..." She looks to him lovingly, leaning down and kissing his cheek, blushing all the while. "You're not a fraud, not a fake... not a liar. You're Jaune. A man who was denied his chance to live his dream but fought to achieve it anyway." She smiles. "Even if the world turns against you, know I'll be by your side."

Yang has been taking care of Ruby for years. She gave up her time to raise her. But she isn't her mother. She never wanted the responsibility, and over the years it begins to affect her psyche. Sometimes, she wishes Ruby had never been born, that Summer had never hooked up with Tai after Raven left. Deep down, she wants her to disappear so she can live a normal life, when in reality, all Yang needs to do is learn to let go, which she stubbornly and unknowingly refuses to do, turning her love for her sister, into a misguided hatred.

"You just love to cling to me, don't you, Ruby." Yang spits her name out like a curse. "I finally had a chance to be away from you, coming here to Beacon... Then you just had to go and make it so you can come with me. Too clingy to leave me the fuck alone for once, to let me live my own life rather than fuss over you."

"Yang..." Ruby has tears falling from her eyes as her own blood sister brandishes her weapon against her, weapons that she helped to forge and build.

"No. I'm tired of dealing with you, Ruby." Yang snarls. "I wish you had never been born. Though unfortunately, I can't exactly reverse time. So I'll just have to compensate by getting rid of you now." She smiles evilly.

Pyrrha has had to fake herself through life, winning tournaments and having such fame making her life one of lies to the outside world. She's all smiles and polite acceptance to everything. Sometimes, this is used against her. She has been led to believe that she isn't allowed to deny people anything, even if it makes her uncomfortable. When Jaune asks for help with training, and she says yes, it's not out of the want to help her partner. Hell, she was furious that he faked his way into Beacon. But she believed she had to be polite, to say yes. This anger about Jaune's transcripts would simmer over time, building into a rage she never released publicly.

Her blade pierces through her partners chest, his Aura shimmering at just the right moment, as if fate wanted her to have this victory, and a surprised satisfaction bubbles from within. She then laughs, her emotions spilling forth. "Well, this was unexpected. But certainly not unwelcome." She cackles. "At first, it was just going to be taking this incompetent brat out of the equation... but now... Now I can kill two birds with one stone." She jams the sword harder, forcing the end that had already come through, to hit Ruby, who was shocked frozen, now being stabbed as well, through the man who had tried to protect her from said fate. "You should never have come to Beacon, Jaune. You took a spot that someone far more worthy could have taken. Not only that, but you had me train you, a worthless and useless endeavor, and now your lies have finally come to bite you in the ass."

"I-" Jaune gurgles, his words unable to come through as his pierced lung brings blood into his mouth. His hands, still protectively wrapped around Ruby, begin to glow a faint white. His aura begins to push into her body, filling her reserves just a sliver, ignoring his own damaged body to help his friend, before Pyrrha speaks again.

"You never belonged here. Neither of you did." Pyrrha declares, pulling her sword free. Jaune's transfer stops, the pain addling his mind too much for his newly discovered Semblance to continue working. Weiss then uses the chamber of wind dust and launches them into the forest. "Good riddance." She states with relief and distaste.

Weiss grew up in a gilded cage, one she never even knew she was trapped in. Her father fed her his own truths, ones selective of reality. 'She was meant to be served upon', 'she was to be regarded as royalty', his words twisted her world around her entitlement. When Ruby is chosen as leader, she fumes. She does everything she can to get the role herself, but the teachers just refuse to listen to her 'logic'. She begins to plot drastic measures.

'That dolt doesn't deserve her spot. She's young, childish and has no experience.' Weiss thinks to herself as she leaves the others in the team. 'The others think the same, I can see it in their stance, the way their mouths twitch at her orders.' She then knocks on the dorm room before her. 'It's time to make sure she's removed from the situation entirely, so that I can come in and take control. It's what I deserve, what I've worked so hard for.'

Blake hid away in her books, pretending the world around her barely existed, only emerging when absolutely necessary or when she felt she was the only one who knew how to handle something. Being with the White Fang for almost your entire life can twist your views beyond your own understanding. Blake believed she was doing something to atone for her actions, and lack of action. When the White Fang pop up, after her moment at the docks, Ruby says no to continuing to find out what they're up to. This angers Blake, and she gives in to joining the others in their plan, dooming her to repeat the same mistakes Adam did with his own anger.

"No." Ruby declares to Blake. "We are not going after the White Fang again."

"Why?" Blake asks in shock and anger. "You saw what they had! They have been collecting Dust since the beginning of the semester!"

"And we were lucky to survive the fight against Roman last time!" Ruby shouts in return. "If it wasn't for Penny and I arriving when we did, Roman might have been able to kill you and Sun!" Ruby breathes deeply, her eyes hardening on Blake. "I'm sorry, Blake, but my decision is final."

Ren and Nora have already lost one family. They finally found a new one at Beacon. Nora had taken a brother/sister bond with Jaune, her Fearless Leader. Both of them understand June doing what he did to get a chance at being a Huntsman. They admit to him that they would have done the same in his position. They do say it was a risky move, and that he should have done more research, but they won't hold it against him. They'd stick by him to the end.

"Nora doesn't bond like this with just anyone." Ren admits, smiling at how Nora had attached herself to Jaune and fallen asleep.

"Reminds me of how my sisters would act when I was around." Jaune notes with a happy smile, though it twitches for a moment.

"Bad memories?" Ren asks knowingly.

"Just... Family drama." Jaune sighs softly. "The thing I love about you guys is that you still encourage me to push on..." Jaune smiles softly once more. "No matter my past."

"Transcripts and training aren't everything, Jaune." Ren states. "Half of what matters is who you are and how you act. You have most Huntsman beat in that aspect already."

Velvet took a liking to both Jaune and Ruby, who stand up for her against Cardin. What's better, they don't ask why she doesn't stand up for herself, she even questions why they don't ask it. They say they understand how bad it is for Faunus, and how if even a single bad thing got out about her actions, the Council could bring the whole place on top of Ozpin, even if he would defend her. Her team appreciate their help, but are rather indifferent to them. They don't really care as much as they normally would in stories, but they are also not part of the group who despise Ruby and Jaune. The three of them, Velvet, Jaune and Ruby, will be in a relationship by the end.

"Thank you... for helping me in there." Velvet thanks the two.

"It's alright." Jaune assures, a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

"It's appalling that no one else stood up to help." Ruby notes. "Not to mention, Beacon is supposed to have anti-racism precautions in place."

"They can't be everywhere." Velvet admits. "And when the son or daughter of a powerful individual is the one being racist openly, there's not much Ozpin and the staff can do without being thrown under the bus or dirt being dug up on them."

"And they would rather stay in their place of power to prevent someone even worse taking that position." Jaune adds with a knowing sigh, remembering something one of his sisters said when something similar happened back in Ansel while he was in school.

"It's not their fault." Velvet states.

"No. It's not." Jaune affirms.

"But that doesn't mean it hurts any less." Ruby notes.

Cardin. He's got an ego bigger than the school. His story is rather simple, a typical bully at first, using Jaune's transcripts against him to make him do his bidding. When Jaune saves him at Forever Fall, the wound his ego takes sends him into an internal rage. He would not let Jaune get away with all this. His way of getting back at him, however, is by dealing with Ruby. Take away his support, bring his world crumbling down. It also gets rid of a young child who shouldn't be in Beacon, in his own twisted thoughts.

"I'm in." Cardin states quickly.

"I'll admit, I thought it would take more to get you to help me." Weiss admits.

"I have two reasons." Cardin smirks darkly. "The first, is Jauney boy. He's rather close with the current leader of your team. He humiliated me in Forever Fall, even after having faked his transcripts to enter." Cardin's words have Weiss amazed at the tidbit of information. "I want him to suffer. What better way than to make him deal with the loss of his best friend?" Cardin asks rhetorically. "The second reason, is because I agree with you." He snarls quietly. "Ruby holds no place here. A child who gets in early, when the rest of us work our asses off to get in. She's just as bad as Jauney boy."

"You, working your ass off?" Weiss questions with a raised brow.

"It may not seem like it, but I did put in a substantial effort to get here." Cardin admits. "There's a reason I'm ranked in the top ten of the first years."

It would start with the robbery at 'From Fust till Dawn', Ruby beating the thugs with ease and without any injury to the aura-less thugs, her attacks being far more careful than it seems in the series. When Roman tosses the Dust Crystal, it doesn't land close enough to Ruby to have caused her any injury, it would have just scratched her aura by about 20%. It was meant to be just a distraction for Roman and his pilot to get away quickly. Goodwitch would attempt to attack the bullhead, and Cinder would appear, though her form barely visible like normal, and would cause enough of an attack for Roman to get the bullhead far enough away for them to make an escape. Basically, things go like normal in canon, just a few little tweaks here and there.

On the Bullhead to Beacon, Ruby and Yang aren't as close as normal. Yang seems to be keeping to herself, the cheer she originally had about going to Beacon last night now gone. A hint to the fact she wanted to distance herself from Ruby. Other than that, the rest of the start goes like normal, with Jaune helping her out of the crater, Weiss being her usual self, Blake seeming to be half decent and then disappearing like the ninja kitty she is. Yang does call Ruby over to her for the speech.

During initiation, Ruby would do something abnormal, with her main focus being to find Jaune. She's about to find him, but runs into Weiss first. She does find and help Jaune down form the tree he was pinned to, and the four of them wait for Pyrrha before going off together. They find the deathstalker and run from it, unable to deal enough damage as they are. They reach the temple, but manage to have the deathstalker still on their tail. Ruby and Jaune both grab their own pieces, not really paying attention to what they grab. Nora and Ren arrive via giant Nevermore, Nora pulling Ren off it and landing for them both before grabbing a piece for herself. Blake and Yang were already there and got their piece. The fight goes as normal, but when Weiss talks about being fine with Ruby as a partner, her smile seems forced, Ruby notices it, but hopes it will fade with the time of them getting to know each other.

Initiation's completion, and the Team Naming Ceremony go off as normal, but Yang doesn't rush over, being all proud. Her eyes are flickering red at the fact she now has to be on a team with her sister after coming here to try and get away from her for a few years. Weiss is just entitles like normal and feels she was bet suited for the job of Team Leader. Pyrrha also doesn't give Jaune that congratulatory shove, as she is also pondering about Ozpin's choice. Sure Jaune had good tactical skills, but his combat form was lacking, and he hadn't even known about Aura. Her doubts begin to start.

The first day of classes will be skimmed, showing only the important parts of Weiss throwing a tantrum at Ruby, talking to Port and trying to be made leader, the usual. Jaune would also experience the first levels of bullying after his defeat to Cardin that first day. Ruby would find him being knocking about the lockers and would intervene before Cardin could send him into his rocket locker. After some heated words, along with Ren and Nora coming to see what was happening, Cardin backs off with a scoff, muttering something about needed his friends to bail him out of trouble.

It would then skip to Jaune and Pyrrha practicing, about Jaune exploding due to his anger at himself, of how he lied his way into Beacon. Pyrrha would be stunned. Her partner had just admitted to performing a crime to get into Beacon. He would go on to explain why, but Pyrrha doesn't fully listen, internally fuming at her partner's actions. Cardin would hear all this and would attempt to Blackmail Jaune, successfully doing so until Forever Fall, which is the third week into the start of their year. Pyrrha would further distance herself from Jaune at this stage, and even he would notice it when he was actually given some free time.

Forever Fall would go somewhat normally, but instead of Pyrrha being the target, it would be Ruby. Jaune would snap at Cardin, throwing the sap on him. Then the Ursa would come, Jaune would manage to fight it off alone, then RWBY and NPR would arrive with Goodwitch, to see what was happening, having caught Russel earlier as he was running. Goodwitch would then have them return to the Bullhead, with Goodwitch speaking to Jaune outside while everyone else was in the bullhead, telling him that if he needs her help with getting Cardin off his back, she'd help, with it being her duty as a teacher. Jaune would say that hopefully what he just did, saving Cardin, would buy him a little reprieve, but that if it continues he would speak with her, giving her an 'Arc Promise'.

In the middle of the night, the same day of the Forever Fall mission, the next scene would occur. Jaune was wide awake, unable to sleep as he goes through things in his mind about Cardin and his leverage over him, even though he should have been in the clear after saving his life, something in his gut told him to be wary, his mind thinking of going to Goodwitch the next day if his gut feeling turned out to come true. He hears RWBY's door creak open and closed, soft footfalls barely heard through the walls. Jaune knows it isn't Blake, since she would make no sound at all. Yang is louder when she walks, and Weiss, while light on her feet, doesn't try to hide the sound of her steps like this person is. That left Ruby. Jaune would think to himself about his fellow Team Leader, wondering why she was awake. He gets out of bed, not needing to try to be as quiet considering his teammates were heavy sleepers and follows Ruby. She heads to one of the many balconies adorning Beacon, thankfully not the one with Cardin's team directly below.

"Trouble sleeping?" Jaune asks softly, yet still managing to startle Ruby. She turns and looks to him with a soft, apologetic smile.

"Yeah. Sorry If I woke you." She answers.

"I wasn't asleep to begin with." Jaune admits with a sigh. "Figured I could try to help you with whatever is going through your mind." They sit in silence for a few minutes, before Ruby speaks up.

"It's my team." She finally admits. "Weiss has gotten colder towards me, and when we had seemed to finally put it all behinds us. Blake has become more withdrawn, and Yang is... I'll admit, I don't know what's up with her, but she seems to be avoiding me whenever she can."

"I can imagine how much it hurts... to be shunned like that by your team." Jaune notes softly. "I think Pyrrha is doing something similar." He adds. "Her smile seems fake, and her efforts when it comes to helping, or even tolerating me are dropping... I would say it's from how I've been acting recently, how distant I've been with everyone, but something about this feels different to how one would react to how I've acted. It's like she wants to be anywhere else but thinks she's obligated to be by my side."

"I guess both of us are losing those close to us." Ruby notes solemnly.

"Not all of them." Jaune assures, looking at Ruby with a smile. "Even if the whole world turned against you, I'd stand by your side." Ruby barks out a short laugh.

"That's really cheesy." She states. Jaune chuckles as well.

"Maybe. But it's a fact for me." Jaune admits. "Friends till the end?" He holds out his hand for her. She grasps it.

"Friends till the end." She smiles, and in that moment, Jaune feels his world light up, as though he had just found everything he needed for life. He smiles back to her, and the two stay up there until the sun begins to rise.

As some of the snippets up above show, the seeds of betrayal are planted, with Weiss talking with Cardin the day after the scene above. (Or the day of it occurring, depending on how you put it.) After Combat Classes that day, which would have been Ruby vs Pyrrha, she would then talk with Pyrrha, taking her from her team for a moment to talk about her plan. Pyrrha agrees with her plan, saying that Ruby is cheating or has some kind of Teacher help. She didn't believe someone with nowhere near her own experience and training, let alone younger by 2 years, could almost fight on par with her level, as would have happened in the spar. Weiss would be patient, waiting to be able to turn the whole of WBY against Ruby. It doesn't happen until after the fight at the docks, 2 weeks later. When Blake says that she wants to keep digging into what the White Fang is doing, Ruby would put her foot down, and Blake would feel angered at this. Weiss would whisper her sweet words of promises to bring her into the fold. Yang was surprisingly easy to turn, considering all the animosity she was already feeling against Ruby.

Next comes the dock fight, which would go as normal, but with Ruby being far more concerned when she sees what's happening. She doesn't turn away to talk to Penny, instead simply telling her to get back and out of danger while watching Torchwick. During this stare-off, Penny would bring out her wire connected blades and jump into the fray, surprising all at the scene. Torchwick would cut his losses and make his escape. Penny would also be using her blades to incapacitate, but with how sharp they are, that meant cutting the hands off of each White Fang rather than kill them. Ruby would note to herself that the poor girl, even if she seems to have no issue with her actions, should get some duller blades, or learn to use the flats of the blades to knock her enemies out in future.

After getting back to Beacon, Blake would argue about continuing to find out what the White Fang are doing, but Ruby would refuse, saying that Sun and Blake were lucky to still be alive. Torchwick might not kill his enemies if they are students, not directly, anyway but the Fang would, and all Roman would have to do is whittle away their aura. Blake is furious, which leaves her open to Weiss' manipulations, turning the Faunus against her team leader. A few days after the dock fight, Ruby would inform Ozpin that she would be taking her team out to the Emerald Forest to train. Ozpin would give his approval, and Ruby would go to grab her team. On the way out there, Weiss would text Pyrrha and Cardin, and they would head over.

-Ruby is taking her team to the Emerald Forest for training. This is our chance to take her out. Meet us at the edge of the cliff- Weiss smiles to herself as she sends the text to the group chat. Today, all her hard work would pay off.

Dove, the main voice of reason in his team, and decent guy to interact with compared to his teammates, would notice and have a bad feeling about it all, considering that Cardin would usually drag his whole team with him wherever he went. He would go to JNPR's dorm, finding only Jaune in the room. He would say that Cardin left without his team and was heading to the Emerald Forest. (Thank the Scroll Trackers for this knowledge) Jaune would then check his scroll to see where his own team was and notes that Pyrrha was doing the same. Ruby had told him earlier that day that she would be taking her team out to the Emeral Forest. He would get his own bad feeling, especially after the conversation he had with Ruby a few days prior, though he prayed that his worst-case thought wasn't going to happen.

"Fuck." Jaune curses, looking to Dove. "Find Ren and Nora. Take them to the cliff." Hopefully we'll still be alive." He mutters the last part as he rushes out of the room, his mind running a million miles an hour. 'Things can't be that bad.' He tries to assure himself, but something in the back of his mind is telling him it really has gotten as bad as he thinks. 'They wouldn't be so stupid to think that murder would solve all their problems.' He notes that he passes Goodwitch on the way out, and thanks whatever gods are out there that she doesn't stop him. It doesn't occur to him that he should have grabbed his gear, as he leaves without it.

(Possibly add a Goodwitch POV of this part as well, with her wondering why Jaune was so concerned as he made his mad dash, Goodwitch having gone to reprimand him, if not for the flash of his worried features stopping her in place. She makes a note to ask if he's alright when he returns, a bubbling concern welling in her stomach.)

RWBY would arrive at the edge of the forest and as Ruby begins to explain their training, Weiss would fire a spike of ice at her from her weapon. Ruby, being on edge, senses the attack and would manage to dodge. She turns to find her whole team pointing their weapons at her, with Cardin and Pyrrha emerging as well, their own weapons brandished. Ruby, confused, would dodge for a bit, trying to ask what they were doing, getting heated responses in return, before finally using her weapon, unable to get them to stand down. (Note, the cameras are offline in the Emerald Forest at this time, though no one will ever figure out why that was the case... mostly cause I don't have an answer for it yet.) She would fight well, but Pyrrha would use her semblance in anger at the group not managing to hit her. In her mind, and that of Cardin's and Weiss', Ruby was incompetent, so this happening would send them into a frenzy, thinking that she is cheating somehow. At this point, Ruby is starting to become exhausted, and bit by bit, her Aura is whittled down. Pyrrha, having had enough, would scream in rage, tearing Cresent Rose from Ruby's grasp, crumpling it into a ball of scrap metal and tossing it at Ruby, who would be in so much shock that she doesn't evade, the ball of scrap that was once her precious weapon taking out the remainder of her Aura. Pyrrha would lunge to stab Ruby, only for Jaune to jump in front of the young prodigy. The blade would pierce through his chest, as his Aura seemed to crackle on contact with Ruby, giving her some of his Aura without knowing it, while leaving an opening at just the wrong time... Though if you'll remember, he didn't grab his armour or weapon from his locker, not thinking straight when trying to rush to Ruby, so he had even less protection. The blade would pierce straight through, before piercing Ruby, the Aura transfer not being completed until after this happens. The snippet of Pyrrha speaking to Jaune after stabbing him would occur after this.

As they flew through the air, Ruby began to gather the small amount of Aura she had, thanks to Jaune, focusing on her semblance. She knew she had to time this right, if not, they would still reform far too fast to survive the fall. She could feel her body trying to use the sliver of Aura to heal itself, but she forced it to leave the wounds alone. If she stated to heal, the Aura would dissipate, and they would die. Her body twists suddenly, with Jaune now below her, his body crashing through a branch, a groan coming from his mouth. She knows he did it on purpose. Even as he was dying, he did his best to protect her, to keep her alive. She turns her head, and sees the ground closing in. At the last possible second, she uses her semblance. Both her body and Jaune's dissipates into petals, impacting the ground harmlessly, before they both reform. Ruby slips out of Jaune's hold, a scream of pain tearing through her lips before she finally passes out, a mix of Aura exhaustion and pain.

Where they land is near a small home. Built from some of the trees from the forest, along with Grimm Bone chiseled into fastenings and supports. Kai (More specifically, the Kai from my Spirit of Ninjago Story, he has gone through several loops of his life and finally escaped its grasp. This would be his second or third new world) would live in the home and would hear the two landing. Jaune, barely clinging to life and consciousness, would be slowly dragging his body and Ruby's toward the home, the last of his strength being used to try and get them to safety. Kai would quickly bring them inside and work on healing them to the best of his abilities, having to stitch their wounds as quickly as possible, thankfully with both of them passed out so he didn't have to stitch their wounds while they were awake. Ruby would wake the next day. She would be distraught and emotional, to which Kai does his best to comfort her. Jaune takes another three weeks before waking. What Ruby does in that time will mostly be recovering, as well as designing a new Scythe, along with a tanto to ensure she had something else if her Scythe was taken from her once again. Beyond that, a bit of conversation with Kai.

With the release of Volume 9 of RWBY, there's been some really cool, depressing scenes for Ruby. One of them, the one in Episode 9, hit me rather hard, as it involved parts that I go through with my own depression. The scene with Ruby talking to the Blacksmith/Tree will be tweaked to fit with Ruby speaking to Kai, with Kai eventually explaining his own experiences, mentioning that while the primary function of his Semblance is Fire, he has a passive semblance called Curse, his immortality.

Kai would also explain a bit about what he does, which, surprisingly, is supply Beacon with replacement weapons, even a few custom orders, alongside the fact he made parts for bigger companies who sold weapons and parts as well.

"What do you do all the way out here?" Ruby asks, her head down on the drawing table as she works on basic schematics for her new weapons, planning to rebuild her precious once Jaune is awake and healed enough for them to return to Vale.

"I'm a Blacksmith." Kai answers simply. Ruby stops her work, looking to him in curiosity. Kai can see the look in her eye and gestures for her to follow. He leads her into a small balcony/outside area, where an Anvil that seemed to shine stood alone. Different metals and scrap pieces lay around the area to indicate their use.

"You're a blacksmith? How can you work metal without a forge?" Ruby asks. She turns to face Kai, fining him with his hand covered in fire... no wait... it was almost like it was now made of fire, rather than being made of flesh and blood.

"My Semblance is unique... at least in this day and age." Kai begins, his arm slowly returning to normal. "Back when Semblances were first discovered, they were mostly element based. Our will was to be able to fight, and the closest thing we had to hold our own was Dust. Our souls used that as a basis. The first few hundred were based in the Elements of Fire, Ice/Water, Wind/Lightning and Earth." He looks to Ruby with a smirk. "I don't need a Forge... I am a Forge." He then goes and superheats a piece of scrap, holding the metal as it begins to melt. "A side effect of my Semblance, is that I won't ever suffer from any injuries related to heat." He doesn't mention how long it took for him to get used to that when forging, or how many failed attempts he had when he first started... the amount of wasted material because he let it heat up too much was astounding. Ruby shakes in excitement, and dashes of in a flurry of petals, before reappearing before him, sketch in hand.

"Could you help me forge the pieces to build this?" She asks with stars in her eyes. Kai chuckles, as he scans the sketch.

"Come up with a full schematic and I'll help you out." He assures. "What did Jaune use before all this?"

"Short Sword with a collapsible Shield/Sheathe combo." Ruby rattles off immediately. Kai hums at her response.

"While you work on that, I'll come up with a new Sword and Shield/Sheathe for Jaune." Kai states. His hand unconsciously going to the holster that contained his custom MP412 Rex, an idea coming to mind. "Does he know how to shoot?"

"Not to my knowledge." Ruby answers.

"When he wakes, get him up to speed on shooting pistols. Revolvers, more precisely. I'll either lend my own pistol, or I'll have Jaune's ready for him." Kai instructs. "Depends on when he will wake."

"Alright." Ruby says, vibrating in place. "Imma work on this now, bye!" She disperses once again, rose petals covering the floor of where she just stood.

"Guess I should do the same." Kai chuckles.

Kai and Ruby have the sketches done and the weapons started on when Jaune wakes. Ruby is there to comfort him, and vice versa as they kinda fumble around with their emotions, Ruby with remembering what happened weeks ago. In this moment, the scene snippet up top after a small Jaune explanation of his false transcripts would occur, though just before it, Ruby would admit she has feelings for him, and he would admit he feels the same. Ruby and Jaune would then talk about what happened and ask any questions they needed to ask each other to get the whole story. They would feel upset and want revenge. They want the ones who caused this to feel the pain they felt... To have their whole world turned against them. Jaune would have mentioned about Dove warning him of something happening, and that Ren and Nora weren't a part of it. They would start making a list of people they would leave be, while they would burn everyone else. They also knew of the students that whispered hatred throughout the school and planned to bring them down as well, even if they weren't directly involved, as they still tried to destroy them mentally.

It had been a week since Jaune had woken, and now he was back on his feet. He was watching as Ruby worked with her new scythe. She'd gotten it finished the other day and was testing it out in her own hands now. Kai walks up beside him, the two continuing to watch for a few more moments, before Kai speaks up.

"She's pretty good. I've only seen two other single-scythe users, and she's already really close to their skill." Kai admits.

"She's a prodigy, that's for sure." Jaune adds with pride in his girlfriend.

"She won't be the only one." Kai notes. He takes a sheathed sword from his hip and hands it to Jaune. "She asked me to make you a replacement for Crocea Mors."

"Does she have a name?" Jaune asks.

"I figured I'd leave that to you." Kai chuckles. "I've never been good at naming my weapons. And the only other person I know that names his weapons has them all of them named after the Dragon God Tiamat."

"Wouldn't he run out of names eventually?" Jaune questions.

"You'd be surprised." Kai retorts. He then brings out two pistols. (HK45 and MP412 Rex) "The Revolver is for desperate situations." Kai explains. "She'll shatter most people's aura with a single shot. But the other, well, she's just to add a projectile weapon to your arsenal." He then hands Jaune a scroll. "This has a few katas and instructions to sword fighting that we could also go through together. Should help you to gain an edge over most, considering the one who recorded these is a prodigy as well."

"Thank you." Jaune smiles. "For everything."

"I'm just doing what any decent human/humanoid should do; help someone in need the best they can." Kai states, patting Jaune on the shoulder encouragingly.

The weapon Kai gives Jaune is a Sword/Sheath/Shield Combo, to replace Crocea Mors, which is either in Beacon, or returned to his family after his supposed death. This sword could work as a Short Sword and Shield, or the Shield in its Sheath form could be moved up the blade to give an extension to it, turning it into a Long Sword. The edges of the sheath in this configuration would have Hard-Light Dust emitters, which would give that extension an edge that could cut just as well as the metal blade. He would also give Jaune an MP412 Rex, which is a revolver, one that was passed on to him by Vex, who got it in his life as Recker from Dunn. Kai would explain that a single shot would destroy a person's aura, knocking them down. He explains that it was to be used only in dire situations, where it was life or death, giving him the 'Wolf Stuck in a Trap' quote as well. He would also give him another pistol, a HK45, for normal ranged attacks, showing him how to fill the casings with dust if he gets the chance to save the spent rounds.

The MP412 Rex would have two things engraved on it;
Aliit Ori'Shya Tal'Din (Family is more than Blood in Mandoa) along the barrel, mirrored.
Dunn, Vex, Kai, Jaune - The names of everyone who has used the gun, engraved on the grip. It would also be in Norse Runes.

They would leave Kai after 6 weeks of being in his care, with 1 of those weeks involving Jaune being taught the basics of the sword fighting style on the scroll, helping to give him a bigger head start, with Ruby also helping teach him to shoot. They wouldn't return to Beacon after Leaving the Emerald Forest and Kai would keep their survival a secret at their request, unless asked directly by Ozpin. They would head to Junior's Bar.

As they walk into The Club, they're pleased to see no one bothers to pay attention to their entry. Both of them walk up to the counter.

"Aren't you a little young to be in here?" Junior asks Ruby.

"If I was ordering a drink, maybe." Ruby retorts with a small smile. "But today, we're just here for some information."

"Can you pay for it?" Junior questions.

"That's the second thing we're here for." Jaune admits. "We don't have money to pay you, but we can offer our services. Bouncers, staff... even the shadier side of your work if you really need us to."

-bit of bartering would go on before the next bit.

"And what exactly do you need me to find for you?" Junior finally asks. Ruby slips over a piece of paper containing a list of names.

"We need you to find the darkest secrets, the worst actions, of every first, second and third year of Beacon, excluding the names on that list." Ruby reveals.

"Well, that's a tall order." Junior notes.

"We know." Jaune states with a sigh. "I suppose it's not often you would get two dead students walking into your bar either."

"No. It isn't a common occurrence." Junior admits. "Your first payment will simply be an exchange of information. The reason you're stated to be dead, for information on 15 of those students." Jaune and Ruby look to each other, before Ruby explains what happened. Junior sighs after the explanation. "Alright. Come back in tomorrow at 4pm. I'll have your first bit of info, and you'll start paying off the rest."

At first, he would have them work as bouncers, even servers at times, as they had offered. One night while being on guard duty, they would notice Ren and Nora. They would re-exchange contact info, having new scrolls, and would meet up the next day, which is their day off. Ren and Nora would explain that they had left Beacon after Jaune and Ruby were declared dead, saying that they felt something was off (as did Dove, though he didn't want to throw his career away), especially after finding blood not only in the forest where they last were, but also in their dorm, that Pyrrha had failed to clean properly. They would say that they want to get revenge on the people who hurt them, and Ren and Nora join them, mentioning that people like that didn't deserve to be Hunters.

Junior would have all four of them running odd jobs after this, asking the new duo if they were okay working the less legal side. The four of them said it wouldn't bother them, saying that even Huntsman had to walk the darker path at times. 8-9 weeks (About 2 months, and 2-3 weeks after returning to Vale) after the Dock Fight, they would do a heist alongside Roman and Neo, managing to befriend the two, who both had some of their own troubles with people in the past, even some betrayals (Roman and Mt. Glenn as a former Hunter, cause I like the idea he was once a Hunter. Neo and her abusive Family).

They would become decent allies and friends. After another month or two of working together, with Roman getting more of a gauge at their abilities and allegiance, Roman would admit that normally he would mostly just keep the criminal underworld in check, stealing mostly from Atlas and the Council, keeping the more serious drugs off the street, and kicking traffickers out into the wilds, rather than the Dust Shops he had been stealing from recently. They would learn of Cinder, whose plans would be in motion, with herself and her team being in Beacon as a part of the Festival. Neo would conceal Ruby one day, letting her see Cinder and what she was like during a meeting with Roman, which was just before the Student Missions. She would bring what she learned to Jaune, Ren and Nora. They all agreed that they would find some way to take Cinder down, stating that while they may not be Hunters anymore, in training or not, they would do their best to protect humanity and Faunus-kind. They agreed though, that their plans for revenge would come first, unless Cinder's began causing too much issue.

5 Weeks before the Tournament, when the other school's teams arrive in Vale, Ruby would meet Penny and they would become friends like normal, though Penny would admit that she believed Ruby to be dead. Ruby would explain her side of the story, and Penny would be extremely upset. She says she would take the info to Ironwood and Ozpin, but Ruby stops her, saying that she wants to be the one who brings them down with her own hands. Penny asks if she intends to harm them physically, but Ruby assures her that they don't intend to do so. They most they'd do is cause an unusual match in the Vytal Tournament and beat them fairly, before revealing the truth. Penny is eventually convinced after further explanations and promises not to inform the General and Headmaster unless things went wrong. Ruby thanks her and says it's a fair deal to inform them if things went bad.

The breach would occur 3 weeks before the Tournament, but team CFVY would have been on the mission instead of RWBY/WYBP. They would receive injuries from the crash, their Aura unable to stop everything, and then they would go to holding off the Horde of Grimm. RNJR would be the first team to arrive, having gotten a call from Velvet that cut out and being in town already. Ironwood would not be able to use his ships in the city area, so he won't fire bolts of plasma at the Grimm. He would send down Winter and a dozen robots to help. CFVY would be exhausted when RNJR arrive, with Ruby and Jaune telling them to rest as they take over. After an hour or so of fighting, from both RNJR and the Atlas squadron, Goodwitch would have returned from her own team mission, having been called back for the emergency and would seal the breach. When Goodwitch arrives, Ruby grabs Jaune and both of them disperse into petals, as Ruby gets them out of sight before they can be dragged into the spotlight. Ren and Nora would quickly inform CFVY that Ruby and Jaune wish to stay 'dead' for now, and the 6 would cover, saying they were the ones holding the place themselves. Goodwitch wouldn't completely believe them, and asks some of the crowds quietly what they had seen. After hearing what the bystanders say, she would go to Ren and Nora before they can depart, and tells them that she knows Ruby and Jaune are alive, and asks them to tell the duo that she and Ozpin would like to speak to them. She gives them a Scroll Numbe to call. Ren and Nora would inform Ruby and Jaune, and they would call the number, coming into contact with Goodwitch. They would sort out a time and place to meet with her and Oz for the next day. They would meet with Ozpin and explain what happened and their plan. Ozpin would be unhappy, saying that it could cause the Grimm at the edge of the city to become more aggressive, but Ruby promises they'd help fend them off if needed. Ozpin would give them his permission, though mentions that he doesn't like the fact they intend to drag so much negativity into light. Ruby would say how if there was another way to get justice for what was done, without all the political crap that their families would bring with them, they'd do it in a heartbeat. But there wasn't another way that would bring less Negativity either. Ozpin would admit that Ruby had a point. Ruby would then hand him a recording, and is told to have it played after their match, no matter if they win or lose.

Beyond that, there wouldn't really be a first person that has their secrets revealed, it's more sporadic. It would start a week before the festival and gets worse over time, more and more of the students' dark secrets revealed (Mostly First years, along with a couple from higher grades), the things they wanted hidden from the world. Halfway through the tournament, as in at the end of the first week, there would be an odd matchup... one of a team that doesn't exist, and one full of the most promising young candidates at Beacon. Ozpin would be in the booth stating that this was something he had done himself, after having learnt of a terrible act, and this was his way of apologizing to the people it affected. He would also say that more about this event would be revealed after the match, as it truly pertained to everyone. RNJR would fight against WYBP and win. Then, a video clip would play; Jaune and Ruby, together, would explain what happened, giving their proof with both scars being shown, or as best as they could be without flashing the audience in Ruby's case, then Ren and Nora would add their own perspective from when they were grabbed by Dove in a frantic manner. Even Dove and Kai would have a segment in it, with Dove explaining what Jaune said to him. Kai's segment would involve explaining how he heard something outside, ran to find what it was and found to students severely injured. Ruby and Jaune, at the end of the clip, would explain that they wanted the people who did this to hurt, but that they wouldn't stoop to their level of attempted murder or grievous injury. WYBP would then be placed under arrest, being placed in cells at the local police department, since Beacon had no jail cells, and they wanted Roman away from other people in the flagship. They would be cuffed with Aura suppressors, but none of this would be worth doing, as Cinder would have them broken free, promising revenge, (Oh, the eternal cycle.) and earning their temporary loyalty.

RNJR would mostly be feeling happy that justice was served after this. They would even invite Kai to join them, which he accepts. During that celebration, Ruby would admit they needed to plan on how to defeat and stop Cinder, freeing Roman in the process. Kai, having only just heard about Cinder, would ask about her. When Jaune and Ruby explain, he would ask if her eyes glowed when she used her fire powers. They would affirm they do, and Kai would tell them about Salem and the Maidens revealing that Cinder was a Maiden, or well, half Maiden. He would explain that Ozpin had been fighting Salem for millennia, and that he had been watching and helping from the shadows for all that time, admitting he was immortal, in the form of being unable to die of old age.

Their plan would involve finding a way through Cinder's defenses to kill her. Kai would explain that the way Salem operates is to divide humanity and Faunus-kind. To sow negative feeling into the populace and encourage the Grimm to advance against them. The group would then realize that they may have just made things easier for Cinder and her team as they just sowed a massive amount of discord with the reveal of all the students' dark secrets. They deduce together that the end of the Festival is the most likely time that they will strike against the Kingdom, as the most negativity will have formed by then. They plan to both defend the people on Amnity, as well as fight on Beacon grounds. Kai and Jaune would work on Amnity, having already been given invites to the Festival. Since Ruby declined hers, she would join Ren and Nora at Beacon to defend there. Neo would help free Roman, and they would commandeer Ironwood's flagship, considering the troops aboard likely wouldn't listen. They would kill only if necessary, and imprison the rest of the crew until they were finished. That was all in the plan, at least.

When the attack happens, Roman and Neo manage to take the flagship, but find Yang and Blake aboard as well, uploading the virus. They would be forced to fight them for control, with Adam joining in to try and get Blake, causing both her and Yang the same injuries as Canon, before Adam is then fighting both Neo and Roman. On Amnity, Kai would fight off the White Fang, Grimm and turned Robots alongside Oobleck and Ironwood, while Jaune fought against Mercury. At Beacon, Ruby, Ren and Nora would fight against Cinder, Pyrrha and Emerald, along with the Grimm Dragon. Cinder would manage to grab the Maiden powers, and seemingly kill Ozpin before moving to Ozpin's office to look for the Relic, where CFVY would attempt to fight her. Velvet would be the last standing, and when Ruby arrives to try and help, she would watch as Velvet is impaled by one of Cinder's blades. She would scream and activate her eyes, which would go as normal, making the dragon a statue and causing Cinder severe injury and forcing her to escape. Velvet would be near death, but Ren, Nora and Jaune would arrive soon after and manage to keep her alive long enough to get medical help, Jaune discovering his Semblance's healing aptitude here. Ruby would be taken care of by Qrow, who had been in the city fighting off the Grimm and Robots there before seeing the silver flash and rushing over.

Ruby would wake up, Jaune sitting next to her bed on Patch. Neo and Roman in the living room telling stories of their exploits to Tai and Qrow, who are surprisingly laughing along. Ruby would ask what happened, with Jaune saying he doesn't really know, having been on Amnity while all the important things seemed to occur down on the ground at Beacon, just that it was over for now. I'm not fully sure how I want to end it yet, but know I don't want it to go into Haven and beyond, though I will likely leave it open ended so that in theory it could have gone on.