Hey all, Az here! Nothing makes a ship more uncomfortable than a good ol' fashioned neglect in the fandom. *Picks through bag and gets a note with 'Knightshade' written on it.* Huh. So yeah, this was one part me wanting to get this idea out of my mind, the other to try and boost the Knightshade algorithm beyond the average story being either a one-shot or smut... or both.

In response to the people who have sent reviews so far, I want to thank you all for the feedback. I am also looking for a beta, mainly to help me in doing the portrayal of certain characters justice. That aside, this is a story I want to see flourish, so let's get to it! But first, a quick guide and a hidden message...

'Kal-El of Krypton' = Thoughts

"And 'Justice' for All" = Dialogue

Little Innsmouth, New Meridian (approximately 3 days ago) = Timestamp

"If stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out" = Quotes

No, you can't see the radiant light = Emphasis

"Elders had foreseen the fall of Micolash." = Flashback dialogue

Ascension = Flashback text

'Romeo and Delilah' = Flashback thoughts

I'd check the first letter of the last few lines = Titles in flashbacks

"Politics makes strange bedfellows."

-An adaptation of a line from 'Tempest' by William Shakespeare

Yang was many things: bold, brash, probably trash... ok, the last part did not land well. She had looks, power, popularity and the other factors your stereotypical teen would be worried about. She didn't mind Ruby being the leader of the team, as she had pulled her weight. The glaring flaw was her naivety, and other quirks she was already used to. Weiss? Refined, bitchy, the token member that was a stickler for the rules... not much was said about family, so that spoke volumes. Blake? The token silent beauty... who if she also had her fair share of issues, she wouldn't be surprised. The distance, the possible snark, and all these other factors that seemed sharp also intrigued her. It would be bold to say she had developed a crush on her partner, but there was one thing that ticked her off: Jaune.

It wasn't in a sense that she would loathe him with all her guts, but rather that to a perhaps mild degree. Blake had been spending more time with him rather than her, and yet that wasn't the reason. It did end up being a surprise on how Blake ended up opening up to him faster than she ended up opening to the golden dragon herself. While it had been a few months, it was still a matter that could be somewhat concerning for her. This realization came to her as she caught them in an empty classroom, the two going over some matters as a few of the employees were giving maintenance to the center. The thing about it, aside from how odd the setting was turned out to be the fact that she had a casual conversation with him, when the most her own team would get from the black-haired beauty were a few words here and there.

She had then come to realize that she was not angry, but rather an odd sense of confusion, frustration perhaps. How come she was outgoing with the scraggly knight? What had happened between them? Sure, she wanted to tease her partner on her being alone with a man but felt as if it would do more harm than good. Something was up, and she planned on confronting the knight in question. Her luck improved greatly when she found him in the halls. With the determination of the biggest of fools (or perhaps the most gallant of warriors), she rushed towards him and pulled him into her dorm room some time later. Once she made sure no one else was nearby, she began to tear into him...

"Alright, I don't know what you've got on her, or what you did to her, but what is going on between the two of you?" she asked, the indignation on her face.

"Not much, really. I just let her borrow a few comic books, she let me borrow one of her novels, we became reading buddies," JNPR's leader replied.

"Blake reading a comic AND enjoying it, that'll be the day..." she said, the incredulity fairly evident on her face.

"With the way you're reacting to this, it's no wonder she's kept quiet on certain matters..." he muttered.

"What?"

"You heard me, seems like you all gave her what she wanted: a team that wouldn't turn their back on her or lose it for the time being. Me? Well... beats me, she's opened up, we've confessed our fears, and we're trying to be better. There's a whole lot you could learn, but the kind of attitude you've got could hurt you."

"Personal experience, Vomit Boy?"

"With stubborn pride? More than you'd think. Took me a bit to get my head out of my ass," he answered. Jaune cursing? That was new, but more likely compared to Ruby actually losing it. She didn't want to test the odds of the latter, but back to the matter at hand...

"You're not going to tell me what's going on, are you?"

"No, trust is a bit of an issue for her, I could see it in her eyes... forcing the truth out of her will only confirm her fears."

"And how would you know that?"

"Personal experience... a trust that is mutual between the two of us. Don't push your luck Yang, let her tell you when she's ready... looks to me like you have experience on people running out on you," he replied in an ominous tone, before he made his way out of the room.

Damn, that was unnerving. She hadn't expected Vomit Boy of all people to grow a spine, but had their positions been swapped, she's sure she would have acted in a similar fashion. His determination to help Blake with whatever she had entrusted him with was fairly evident. While a more talkative Blake was an odd sight, this version of Jaune did leave her thinking. The extent of whatever he had experienced before had him as a whipping boy in some scenarios, but if someone he cared for was threatened, he would jump in and help without a doubt. Fuck, this was frustrating. If Blake was hiding something, maybe Jaune was too. Still, the remark he made earlier about people running out on her was alarming: did he know about her past? Did he read her easily? What was it?

Her mother, then her stepmother... was Blake next? Was she to blame on the matter? Damn, this would keep her up at night... let alone that looming feeling of a possible attraction towards her partner. Damn! She did not come to Beacon to deal with this. Hahhh, maybe a good ol' spar could help. After all, Nora rarely refused a workout of destructive proportions.

The interaction with the blonde brawler had unnerved Jaune, and yet he had managed to hide his worry while interacting with her. He had not expected such a turn of events, but then again, there were few things he expected from the life of a Huntsman at first. The feeling of weakness did not sit well with most beings, and he was all but an exception to that. The feelings he had towards her were taking an interesting turn and yet it had been a bit of a boost to the bond between cat and knight. How long ago was it? Days? A month? His mind drifted away to the interaction the two had regarding this, and all over a stray hand...

Beacon Library

A few weeks ago...

As would happen with most of their interactions, this one had been fairly calm. The silence she was known for was no longer there, and in exchange the goofy mess he was known for was absent, now replaced with curiosity on his part. As the two shared a sizable bean bag, Blake read a comic known as Talon: The Mask (1), which was the concept of a hero being haunted by a past monster from beyond the grave. While she felt a sense of fear, she was also intrigued on the concept of these entities that don't necessarily overwhelm by physical force.

Jaune on the other hand, had finally sunk his teeth into a fairly odd but not necessarily bad entry of Ninjas of Love best known as 'Cookie Run School Tales' (2). This was fairly unconventional, as it had focused on a day-by-day basis of a group of students each finding love. There was hardly any smut, if anything what seemed like token moments of awkward encounters between teens that went as quickly as they came. It all revolved around a lone tree that the student body had a polarized view on: some considered it a blessing, and others a curse. There was also a possible theory on a supposed Horned Serpent that wrapped itself around the tree, but that left little to think on to the Arc heir.

In a moment neither could really define when they thought on it, he extended his arm to Blake, his hand brushing against the back of her head... only to be greeted by an odd feeling, that of fur. The calm came to an end as she stood up, wanting to set a distance between of two. There was only one emotion that could best describe the expression on her face as he looked into her eyes, his hands holding hers: fear. He got up and looked into her eyes, closing the distance and hesitating a bit before he whispered in her ear.

"Please don't go."

"Jaune, please let me go."

"If you want to, I will. But please, we can go to somewhere a bit more private... I have some questions, and I just want to help," he said, a somewhat pleading tone present in his voice. She pulled away and looked into his eyes. Where there was concern there was the genuine desire to help. He was so simple and yet it was reassuring, knowing that he did not hide behind a mask, or so she thought. Was she thinking too much about this? The current setting wouldn't help despite context.

"Can we please go somewhere a bit more isolated?" she asked, expecting a joke such as 'somewhere emptier than this?' and yet it did not arrive.

"Sure, my dorm should be empty. I'd bank it on the music room, but it's better to be safe than sorry," he answered, earning a small laugh as the two headed toward JNPR's dorm. Once they arrived, the faunus-in-disguise asked:

"How did you know it would be empty?"

"Comes with the territory of being a leader: you start noticing certain things like habits," he answered, closing the door behind them. "Now, about that bow..." he said, looking at her. Looking down, her breath becoming sharp, she hesitated, only for him to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"If you're ready, go for it. The more you think about it, the less you might say," he answered, a small smile present on his face. The smile would be short-lived, as he was then told about her story.

She was from Menagerie, which was far away, fairly bizarre given the nature of things, but given possible distance concerns, she ended up in Vale. But why? She hadn't said much about her family in terms of negativity, until it came to a matter of ideologies: her parents had focused on a more peaceful approach on things, while she went for a more active approach. With a childhood that was headed for the teen years, a shadowy mentor of sorts as well as events that made her father retire from the Fang, she ran. She left her family without a second thought and fell in with the Fang. He heard many things about them, the more notable ones being the negatives despite Ansel never really being affected by their actions. Then again, in a village where everyone knew each other, there wasn't much conflict.

Back to Blake's story, she went on about how this adoration and desire to have a hand in shaping the future would lead to what seemed like brighter years with the organization. The rose-tinted glasses however, had to fall apart at some point. With maturity acquired over a few years, as well as a dubious bond with her mentor, she was finally made aware of the signs that things were going from bad to worse in the Fang. At this point it was a matter of time, and she needed a golden opportunity before it was too late. Her prayers would come in the form of a mission regarding a train. A bit of restraint, a whole lot of coordination and she ditched the other members of the Fang while she managed to save the civilians.

When asked by passengers, she simply said 'I got lucky'. Her story over, the Princess of Menagerie shook slightly, nervous at the answer. What she did not expect was a relieved laughter followed by a series of choked sobs. It was shortly after where it became full on crying as he pulled her in closer, stroking her back as he reassured her that she was well. The past only covered so much, and when concerned about the tears he shed, he shared his story, one that surprised her given her impression of the knight.

He too hid a secret, this one concerning how he got here. Also part of a stable family, he did not quite receive the support of his family regarding his dream. A very vocal father and a silent mother when it came to his desire to be a Huntsman, not much progress was done. In a tight situation, he resorted to something he was not proud of: forgery. While it had cost him a considerable amount of cash and some time spent in Vale working, he managed to go through Initiation and survive, which was a feat in itself. He had no Aura until Pyrrha unlocked it on day 1! Was he foolish, or brave? His fears of not opening up came from a possible rejection that came out of a lack of help. As it turns out, Cardin had found out as well and capitalized on it, only for things to go south when the class went to Forever Fall.

An Ursa attack, perhaps initiated due to him reaching his limit when it came to his bully. She wouldn't have blamed him for leaving Cardin to his fate, but he didn't. With Arc's story ending there, he pulled away, holding her hands and looking into her eyes.

"I-I know how it feels to be helpless, maybe useless. To run away from the past, from family and friends... and fail. We all fail. I still hate myself for my actions, my mistakes. I really want to go back and make myself a better person, maybe less of a pushover but- "

"We can't," she interrupted. "I know it sucks but Jaune... can I ask you a favor?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied, her hands gripping his a bit harder.

"I want to stop being afraid of HIM. I know it's been a few months, but... I feel odd. I think it's how we're kind of similar, with our secrets and quirks but... can you help me?"

"Only if you can help me too," he replied, looking away. "I really need to shape up, I suck at fighting. That and well, I may or may not have cut off contact with my family excluding Saph."

"Fine, but you have to help me with my family," she said, a hopeful look on her face.

"Want to make a promise?" he asked.

"If it helps, I guess."

""Ok, here goes," he stated, standing up before he emanated the resolve of a thousand men. "I, Jaune Arc, son of Joseph and Maria, begin this vow. I promise to help you with your troubles. I will rise above my fears and weaknesses, the same way my ancestors have. With this promise consisting on the will of two, we will be bound until the day we are both proud of the people we've become."

"Did you read that in another of your comics?"

"Nope... ok, I may have based it off that yellow demon that rhymes (3). Want to give it a try?"

"Sure, why not, she said, standing up and looking at him. "I, Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira and Kali, begin this vow. It begins not tomorrow, for it begins now. I'll dispose of my many fears, which took hold over a few years. We walk together, my own strength and yours borrowed. We will be better people, both today and tomorrow."

"Ok, that was way better," he said, laughing as he no longer held her hands.

"It wasn't a contest, but I'll take that compliment," Blake said, a somewhat smug smile present on her face.

"Oh Miss Belladonna, Gods forbid your team sees this side of you."

"Nor Weiss seeing what she's missing out on."

"Hey, I get nervous easily!"

"Not anymore," she ended, looking at him.

"C'mere you," the Arc son said, arms spread.

"No, we already hugged it out."

"That one was for comfort. This one's to wrap it up. Mama Arc raised a hugger," he said, the smugness that was once on Blake's face now present on his.

"Tell no one of this."

"Never planned on telling them," he countered, pulling her in for a hug, this one reassuring before he removed her bow. While she may have hesitated for a bit, she ultimately sunk into the embrace once more. This was a very bizarre turn of events, but she wouldn't question it. Now the two of them were in it together, and she planned on seeing this through... as soon as this hug ended. Their families could wait, he was a damn good hugger.

(1) Teen Titans episode called 'Haunted'

(2) A certain Cookie Run Kingdom visual novel made as an April Fool's joke.

(3) Etrigan, from DC.

Hey all, I want to thank you all for tuning in on another chapter of 'Blake and Jaune in... Of Knight and Cat'. Before we proceed, I want to thank P!nk from the Discord for helping me out with the previous chapter. I kind of whipped this up in a couple of days, so I couldn't get a beta. Once again, if you want to help me beta, I'd be excited, as it helps me improve my skills portraying characters and improve my writing skills.

Feedback is welcome, and I do hope we can all tune in for another chapter hopefully next week. Take care!