Prologue
Defeat
She seemed so delicate now, not even a minute ago she had been filled to bursting with malice and contempt. So animated and confident in her martial prowess. She had good reason to be, she'd been a bandit for most of her life, one of the Tribes strongest, if not THE strongest. Yet as he watched Vernal bleed out onto the sands of the fighting pit, Jaune couldn't bring himself to feel anything but pity for her.
It wasn't that he was stronger than her, or more skilled, it was just a bad match-up. She combined Ruby's reliance on speed with some aspects of Ren's technique. It was fast, brutal even, but it was also nothing he hadn't faced before and regularly. He supposed she had also underestimated him at first, and after his first hit had knocked a good portion of her aura off, had struggled to truly break his guard or land any meaningful hits on his large aura. Slowly her form had been degraded by her creeping frustration. He had been perfectly willing to aid her in this by refusing the offensive. Finally she had made a fatal slip, and with a bash of his shield to her face followed by a swift swing of his sword it was over. The feeling as his blade went through her chest was that of cutting through a piece of venison with a sharp knife as child, the comparison sickening him even as the satisfaction of landing the strike ran through him. They shared a disbelieving look before she collapsed to the ground. Blood pouring profusely.
As he stared into her eyes, hearing the choking sounds of her trying to force breath through the rent Crocea Mors had made in her torso, he knew he was about to do something stupid. Nonetheless the wet rasping, almost sobbing compelled him. Kneeling down, he cupped her chin, and slowly a white glow began to emanate from his palm. Slowly her breathing steadied and the tension went out of her. If she had been confused before, she was absolutely shocked now. Her mouth moved soundlessly, "Why?" . Jaune had no answer for her. She took a deep breath and sat up, hand idly testing the new flesh in her side through the hole in her vest.
He was distracted from his work by a sound coming from the woman on the throne who had dictated this battle. "Jaune Arc, you are victorious. As is the law of our tribe, the strong rule. To the victor of this battle, goes the spoils. Fit her a collar." It was Jaune's turn to be surprised. Before he could object he was interrupted."Raven! You can't!" She was oddly loud for somebody who had just been bleeding to death a second ago.
Raven was unmoved "You. Lost. Vernal. Do not humiliate yourself further. He has already shown you more mercy than I would." she turned to Jaune once more. "As for you, I hope you realize what you have gotten yourself into. She's yours now. This is a life sentence." Raven smiled condescendingly. Behind him a pair of bandits locked an aura suppression collar around Vernal's neck. Despite her earlier pleas, she made no effort to resist. One of them handed Jaune a pair of keys. They seemed like such fragile things. Taking a moment to look behind him and get his friend's reaction, he was met with identically stunned expressions. Even Weiss in her cage seemed at a loss for words. Well then, it was time to collect what he came here for.
"Where is she?" He asked to the collared bandit. Vernal's eyes remained locked to a patch of dirt roughly six feet away. "Hey!" He yelled, snapping next to her ear. "Where. Is. Yang?" She spoke distantly. "In my tent." He pulled her up, she put up no resistance. "Take me to her." She nodded and began to walk. He followed after, leaving his friends to their audience with the Bandit Queen.