Cover Art: Digital-SilverEyes

Guest: Yea sorry about the distinct lack of Neo. I just haven't had the chance to write her in the story yet and I'm still trying to figure out a couple things about her introduction. I had a little scene planned for the end of this chapter just to show what was happening with her at this time but the chapter lasted a lot longer than expected. So the next chapter will defiantly feature Neo. I want to make some stuff clear before anyone get to interested in the story. This story is attended to be an action story. There is going to be a Jaune/Neo relationship (a physical one at least) in it but that isn't what the story is going to revolve around. The focus of the story is going to be the adventures of team JRNN (Journey) as they try and accomplish their goal. I understand how someone could find that deciving with the Jaune Neo tag and the cover art.

Icemaxprime: Hope this chapter answers your question.

rugby1719: I took your advice and edited the last chapter. I tend to group chapter by POV so if a single character has an inner monologue or a fight scene the chapter tend to get pretty long. You where right thought they did get to long and in this chapter I tried switching between character as much as possible.

Chapter Four: Therapy

Jaune remained seated on the ground as he watched Ruby's uncle drink what must have been the equivalent of 5 shots before walking over to Jaune.

"Is there a reason to turned off the training exercise?" He struggled to ask as he got his breathing under control.

"I figured you had been on it long enough. I've only been watching you for the last 30 minutes and it was starting to make me feel tired. Any longer and you would have hurt yourself."

Yea, that was kind of the point. "I was just trying to get a good workout. My stamina need work."

"Hmpf" Qrow said as he sat down next to Jaune and offered the flask to him.

"I'm 17?" Jaune replied.

"With what your team went through this last week, I think your entitled."

Jaune grabbed the flask and took a swig for no other reason but to shut him up. Jaune instantly started coughing when the liquid ran down his throat. "What is that?!"

"That right there is bottom shelf whisky."

"I don't think I'll ever understand why you like it so much."

Qrow took another swig from his flask. "It numbs the pain."

Jaune looked around the training ring. "So, I suppose you're not going to tell me where your 'friend' went."

Qrow didn't make eye contact. He just stared out in front of him while he spoke. "You're a nosy little kid, do you know that? Everyone else on your team seemed fine on accepting what I told them, taking the money I gave Ruby, and enjoying the rest of their night but you just have to find a problem with every single thing I tell you all."

"I just want to know the truth about what where involved in. I think with what happened at Beacon that isn't too much to ask for."

Qrow sighed. "No I suppose it's not. Look I didn't lie to you about the kid. He is a friend. He has a somewhat unique skill which could be useful in fighting Cinder and the people she is working with. That's why I left him at Heaven. He's supposed to help Professor Lionheart…understand the situation we're in."

That's his idea of an explanation?! Jaune was about to ask a follow up but was cut off.

"But I think the fact you're out here at midnight while your friends are playing games is a far more concerning matter. The other guy on your team…Ren was it? He messaged me earlier saying that you all met the Schnee girl in town. Shouldn't you be with the rest of your team celebrating your little reunion?"

"I doubt she cares, all that much, that I'm not there. Besides, this is far more important."

"What? Getting your ass knocked on the ground is more important than having fun with your friends."

"Getting some training in is more important than playing a damn board game." Jaune said dismissively.

"O, is that's what you were doing. See from where I was standing it seemed like you were just trying to hurt yourself."

"I-

"Don't bother lying to me. I was a teacher at Signal and I was tough on my students and even tougher on my nieces but I never would have put them through a workout like that without a break. I know when someone is training and when someone is trying punish themself. You may be able to convince the rest of your teammates that your fine but I can see through the façade. You feel guilty and you think you deserve to get your face kicked in, don't you?"

"The training still serves a purpose, regardless of my conscience." He said, trying to avoid the question.

"Does it now?" Qrow waited for a response but was met with silence. "Look I understand better than most what you're going through. I get feeling like you deserve to be punished for letting someone down." Qrow said before bring the flask to his mouth to take another drink.

"I suppose you do, don't you?"

The reply caught Qrow off guard and he nearly chocked on the whisky. That was nowhere near the reply he had expected from the kid. Most people like this are never willing to accept that someone else can relate to their pain. It's how me and Tai where after Summer died.

"Ruby told me that you where her mother's partner."

"I'm surprised she told you that story." Qrow said solemnly.

"I supposed she thought trying empathize with me would make me want to talk about how I felt."

"Did it?"

"Not really. I didn't see what good it would do to unload my problems on Ruby. She has her own trauma to deal with after Beacon all"

"There are better ways to handle guilt than working yourself to death."

"What, like drinking it away?" Jaune replied with an edge.

"In my defense, I was a heavy drinker by the time I graduated Beacon."

"Look, you've been where I've been. Did any of the caring words or heart to hearts help you deal with your guilt?"

"No." Qrow replied as he looked down at his flask and wished there was more in it. "I got over my pain out of necessity. As much of a wreck as I was after Summer died Ruby's father was worse. He couldn't take care of himself let alone his daughters. For those first couple of years Yang and Ruby lost both their parents. I got over my guilt because I had to be there for my nieces. What little I could do I was determined to do." Qrow turned to look Jaune in the eyes. "For whatever reason my niece really cares about you. Like you said, she has her own trauma to deal with. If something happened to you…well a person can only handle so much loss before they break."

"I'm not suicidal, Qrow. I still want to live." He said it confidently but it was only half true. Jaune wanted to kill Cinder which required him to in fact keep living. After that goal was accomplished he didn't really know what he wanted.

Qrow gave him a skeptical look. "It's not just about living. You need to find a way to live with yourself and preferably in a way that doesn't put you in a hospital. I know you didn't want to talk to any of your friends about this but torturing yourself isn't going to make you feel any better."

"Nothing is going to make me feel any better." Jaune snapped. "Nothing can change the fact that I let my partner down. That I failed her at every turn. I wasn't able to protect her when Ozpin tried to give her the Fall Maiden's powers, I was too week to help her fight Cinder, and couldn't even be there as her as a friend. She asked me to help her decide what she should do." Jaune said, as his voice cracked and his eyes began to water. "She was practically begging me to tell her that she shouldn't take the Fall Maiden's powers. To tell her she didn't have to take on that burden." Jaune gave a sad empty laugh at the memory. "And I did the opposite. I told her that she couldn't let anything stop her from her destiny." Jaune began clenching his fists so tightly that his nails began to dig into his skin. "I wasn't even supposed to be at Beacon. I didn't have any formal training but I had it in my head that I had to be a Huntsmen. If I had just swallowed my pride and done something else maybe Pyrrha would have been partnered with someone stronger. Someone that could have made the difference when she fought Cinder." Jaune was quiet for the next few seconds as he tried to control his anger. "I get that you know what if feels like to lose your partner and I'm sure you probably felt like you should have been able to save her but it wasn't your selfishness that got your partnered killed."

This is more like what Qrow had expected. The constant idea that you were the only person that had let someone down. Like you where some how the worst person in the world. Ozpin had told him about Jaune's transcripts or more accurately Ozpin had told Oscar and Oscar had told him. "See that's where your wrong. It wasn't just that I wasn't strong enough to help Summer. She was hurt because she was my partner. Look I told you about my semblance. People around me tend to have bad things happen to them. My sister's semblance works the opposite way. People around her tend to find good luck. Together we seemed to cancel each other out, more or less. But when she left, instead of leaving the team, I decided to stay. I convinced myself that even with my semblance Summer and Tai would be better off with me than without me. Tai and Summer had become more of a family to me than my own sister. I was so afraid to let them go that I put them all in danger and Summer paid the price. I robbed my nieces of their mother and my best friend of his wife, all because I was too scared to be alone. So I know exactly what it feels like to have someone die because of your own selfishness."

Jaune was unable to respond to the confession. They just sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. "If you do understand how I feel then you know that I have to do something. At least when I'm in pain, for a short moment, I'm not burdened with my guilt."

It was at that point Qrow realized nothing he said would get through to the kid. "I guess there's only one thing I can do then." Qrow said as he stood up and walked over to his weapon. "If your determined to put yourself through this insane form of training I won't stop you…but I would prefer to control it. Instead of letting holograms chip away at your aura until it gets into the red how about we see how long you can keep up with me before passing out."

Jaune got up and went to fetch Crocea Mors. He returned and stood at the opposite side of the ring, facing Qrow. The two men synced up their scrolls.

Wow! Ruby wasn't kidding when she said this kid had large aura reserves. Two hours on a simulation like that and he's still at 50%. Anyone else at his age would be running on empty. Qrow thought as he looked at their health bars. "Alright kid, when you're ready. I'm just going to warn you right now that I'm not gona go easy on you."

Jaune said nothing in reply. It was of course a lie. Qrow was not only a real huntsman but a particularly skilled one at that. If he actually took this fight seriously Jaune would be down in about a minute. Still it did leave the question of how much he was going to hold back. Was he just going to defend and pick away at Jaune's aura or was he going to actually try and do some damage to him. Jaune figured he make the first move and find out. He charged at Qrow with sword and shield in hand. He brought his right arm back and prepared himself to swing across his body.

A smirk formed on Qrow's face as he saw the swing coming. He easily side step the swing and swung his giant sword at Jaune's side.

Jaune tried to stop the swing midway and redirect Qrow's strike. He was only able to bring his sword far enough to catch the incoming attack. The force of Qrow's strike pushed Crocea Mors up against his own body and shot Jaune back 10 feet.

"Your gona have to do better than that kid." Qrow taunted.

Well I guess that answers my question." Jaune thought to himself as he stood up. He examined the man for a few seconds hoping to find a weakness. He had figure Qrow's left side would be his more vulnerable side because he was right handed and didn't use a shield. Obviously that assumption had been incorrect. The attack must have been too telegraphed. I'll need to try something more unorthodox. Jaune rushed Qrow once more. He brought his sword back as if he was going to swing but slid at the last second. He saw the giant sword swing over his head as he slid towards Qrows legs. He swung his sword at the man's feet.

Not bad. Qrow thought as he jumped over the swing. He brought his sword straight down but was met by the kids shield. Jaune managed to redirect Qrow's sword out of the way, leaving his center wide open. Qrow saw the strike coming for his center and to someone looking on at the battle it might have looked like it would hit. Qrow pulled the trigger on his hilt, the force of the bullet pushed him just far enough to dodge the oncoming thrust. As soon as his first foot hit the ground he used the other foot to kick Jaune in the stomach. The kick sent Jaune rolling back a couple of feet but he was able to a stop himself and bring his shield up just in time to protect his face from a a spray of bullets.

Damn Qrow and his stupid sword that was also a gun. Jaune though as he hid behind his shield. He knew he had to do something. He's not going to waste all his bullets shooting at my shield. If he runs up at me in this position I'll be a setting duck. He waited in-between shots had made a run for it. His shield took another couple of shots as he charged Qrow. He swung his sword at the man as he had done before and like before Qrow side stepped the strike and countered with his own swing. Jaune twisted his body counterclockwise and met Qrow's strike with his shield. He thrust his sword at Qrow's face. His attack's failure became apparent by both the smirk on Qrow's face and the knee in his stomach.

He should just about be in the red. Qrow wanted to take a look at his scroll but the kid seemed to be determined to follow up on his failed attack. Geez, hasn't the kid ever heard about catching a breath. Qrow swing his sword at the kid and he blocked it with his shield. Qrow fully expected another strike at his face but noticed Jaune aiming at his outstretched arm. He's trying to get the weapon out of my hand. Smart…but I don't need a weapon, kid. Qrow let go of the weapon and the swing passed between his hand and the sword. Jaune's bodied followed through with the strike turning his back towards Qrow. To Qrow's surprise however, he was unprepared for the reverse roundhouse kick that followed.

This is may chance. Jaune charged at his dazed opponent and swung his sword at his body. Qrow managed to catch the blade on his forearm. His aura protected him from any real damage but the attack must have hurt. He followed it up by ramming his shield into Qrows face. He prepared his sword for another swing, this time at Qrow's leg but was stopped dead in his tracks when Qrow's fist smashed into his nose. He didn't even see the kick coming as he fell to the ground. He heard Qrow picked up his sword and braced himself for a strike. Instead Qrow unloaded the rest of his clip on him.

Alright that should do it. Qrow though at he finally had a chance to look at his scroll. Argh, he still has 5%. And he's probably going to make me beat that 5% percent out of him. Qrow looked at his own health bar and saw that it was at 94%. I had better hurry up a finish this. It's already late. He put the scroll back up and walked over to his opponent. "You ready to call it a night."

Jaune managed to get to his knees. He knew he never had much of a chance against someone like Qrow but he couldn't find it in himself to just stop. How could his friends rely on him if he just gave up whenever things became difficult? He propped himself up by using Crocea Mors as a cane. He swung the edge of his shield at Qrow.

"Of course, you're not." Qrow sighed, as he caught the sorry attempt at an attack. He slammed his sword into the ground, grabbed Jaune's head and rammed it in the pommel. He followed it up with a hard kick to the stomach that sent him flying to the end of the ring. "And that should just about do it." He said as he looked at his scroll once more. 0%, I just hope I don't have to carry him back to the inn. He looked up at Jaune and saw him struggling to stand up. "You gona be okay?"

Jaune tried desperately to get his breathing under control. His body ached and his vision was beginning to become blurred. As he leaned on Crocea Mors he felt that any second, he would fall over. He had no clue why he was continuing at this point. He didn't even remember who he was fighting. As he looked up he saw the vague outline of a figure. He heard a muffled sound which he assumed was the figure trying to talk to him. He knew he wasn't an any real danger but he also couldn't control this unrelenting anger in the pit of his stomach. The fury in him just kept growing, demanding that he continue. He didn't know how that was possible. His aura was, without a doubt, gone and his adrenaline had stopped which immediately flooded his senses with all the pain he had accumulated over the last two hours. Then all of a sudden, the pain began to lesson as a warm sensation covered his body. The pain grew fainter and fainter until there was none at all. The last thing he remembered, before he passed out was a white light.

Qrow just stood there in silence as he saw the light consume the young man. As it covered all the cuts on bruises on his body it healed them until he looked as good as new. Somethings not right, aura doesn't heal you that quickly and even if it did he doesn't have any left. Qrow glanced back at the scroll and noticed that his aura was slowly growing. That can't be right, it was at zero. This has to be some kind of semblance but Ruby said the kid didn't know what his semblance was.

Qrow looked back up at Jaune. In a blink of an eye he was gone. Reflexes brought Qrow's sword up just in time to block Jaune's strike. The blade came just inches away from his face and pushed against him with way more force than Qrow was expecting. He looked at Jaune and saw that the white aura remained on his body. What concerned Qrow the most was his eyes which had been completely engulfed in light. "You still in their kid."

The only reply he got was Jaune's shield slamming into his body. Qrow recovered quickly and swung his sword down at Jaune. Jaune's counter had more force than Qrow had anticipated and his sword was pushed back into the air leaving his body wide open. Jaune charged at him and swung right at his stomach. Qrow managed to dodge the strike by a few inches… at least he thought he had but a huge gust of energy followed behind the attack and sent him flying back. Qrow stuck his sword in the ground to stop himself from falling out of the ring. He had little time to rationalize what was going on as Jaune thrust his sword at him. Qrow was able to avoid the strike and punched Jaune right in the face, sending the young man flying to the other side of the ring. He ignored the immediate pain that flared in his fist.

Qrow looked down and saw a long cut had been made across his shirt. His aura had been able to protect him from whatever was accompanying Jaune's strike but his clothes had not been as lucky. Okay I got to end this now. He shifted his sword into its scythe form. He didn't wait for Jaune to stand all the way up as he ran at him swunging the inside of his scythe at him. He swung him up and slammed him back down into the ring floor. Jaune dodged the follow up attack and swung wildly. Qrow stepped back to avoid the attack and this time he was prepared for the accompanying force that followed the strike. He brought his arms up to protect his face and managed to weather the invisible attack with only a small dip to his aura. He didn't wait for a follow up attack and smashed the handle of scythe into Jaune's face and then swung the blade across Jaune's body. This time the blade cut through the white light that covered Jaune's body. As he hit the ground the sound of shattered glass filled the air. On instinct, he raised his scythe up to bring down another strike until he realized that was no longer necessary. The white light that surrounded Jaune had vanished. Qrow checked scroll again, just to be curtain. It showed him at 87% and Jaune at 0% again. His shoulders slumped in relief.

Qrow flipped Jaune over and saw the peaceful face of the unconscious teen. Not a single cut or bruise on it. Qrow sighed as he put his weapon on his back, placed the kid's sword back in its sheath, and finally picked him up and put him over his shoulder. Qrow began to think on Oscar's words. "Ozpin says that Mr. Arc has as an important linage." Could he have been more vague? It was obvious now to Qrow that this kid had been hiding something other than his transcripts. "Where going to have a little chat in the morning kid."

So I did proof read this chapter but it's 7am and I'm just know about to got to bed soooooo cut me a little slack. I hinted at several things in this chapter like Jaune's ancestroy and his semblance, both of which will be important to the story. We've seen a glimpse of Jaune's semblance in Vol 1 but I assume theirs more to it. The semblance I have in mind might seem a little OP but it is going to come with some massive draw backs. The idea for the strikes having an invisible force behind them stems from the scene with Jaune training in the middle of the night. My first though was how is doing the same 3 moves over and over going to help him get any better until someone pointed out to me that it was demonstrating his aura control.