Chapter 2 – Shaky Emotions

Ruby and the rest of the team quickly ran towards the collapsed knight that could no longer stand. Their faces gave a horrified look, a look that made it seem as the world was about to end. Their faces were just as horrifying as Jaune's face.

"WHAT HAPPENED!" said ruby loudly, as she looked at the knights terrified light blue eyes.

The rest of the students that were there turned around at the sound of Ruby's yell.

"Who is that? It looks like she's dead." one of the students said, as she looked on at team RWBY and NR (Nora and Ren) who were trying to grasp what had happened.

"Isn't that Pyrrha Nikkos?" another said loudly.

"Hey it is! How could this have happen?" a student in the front row said.

"Ruby… get Yang and Blake and tell them to come help pull Pyrrha out of his arms." Ren told Ruby as he proceeded to kneel down in front of the crestfallen knight.

"Jaune tell me… how did this happen?" Ren said as he held the shoulders of his friend who would be considered close to a brother after spending many months with the blonde knight.

Blake and Yang proceeded to pull the fallen huntress from the knight's arms.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH HER!" Jaune exclaimed, as he struggled to hold on to the amazon woman.

"SHE CAN STILL BE SAVED! We just need doctors…" Jaune said.

"LOOK AT ME JAUNE!" Ren yelled, as he shook Jaune trying to get his attention.

"SHE'S DEAD!" Ren yelled to him, trying to get him to understand that she is no longer alive.

"He said that she's dead." One student said.

"How can Pyrrha Nikkos die? She is the best Huntress in the school, probably one of the best in all of Remnant."

"It's probable that she was trying to protect that blonde scrawny weakling. Everyone knew that she had feelings for the coward"

Jaune grinded his teeth after he heard the statement. A voice with sadness and despair yelled.

"BE QUIIIEEEET!" yelled Weiss.

"INSTEAD OF JUST STANDING AROUND, GET HELP!" She yelled at the students who slowly backed away and proceeded to get help.

"I… I wasn't strong enough" Jaune said as his voice began to crack.

"This isn't your fault Jaune. You can't blame yourself for not being able to save her." Ren told the Knight who couldn't agree to what Ren had just said.

"She sacrificed herself to SAVE ME!" Jaune exclaimed.

"ME! … a weakling who gets stuck on trees, a weakling who shouldn't even be here in the first place!"

Blake and Yang managed to pull Pyrrha out of Jaune's arms and helped the medical team carry her onto the stretcher.

By simply looking, Ruby could feel Jaune's pain. She can feel his despair… his sadness. Tears ran down her fragile face. Looking at the knight made her feel as if she lost someone so close to her, causing it to break her heart in 2.

"Jaune… let me help you get on the stretcher. You need to get patched up and rest." Ren said, not knowing what to else to say to the knight's statement.

Ruby quickly ran to the knight to help Ren place him onto the stretcher.

She looked at Jaune's empty eyes, eyes that no longer had a reason to live in this cruel world. Ruby was now frightened at what she was looking at. Never in her life has she seen someone with those same eyes, eyes that have come to a realization that nothing that he does will help anyone.

As she looked toward the knight that was being taken to the infirmary, she bit her lower lip to the point where it began to bleed. She was angry, outraged at the people who had done this to the soul crushed knight. Ruby wiped off the remaining tears she had left and marched towards her room with Crescent Rose in her hand.

Ren and Nora walked outside and looked at the scenery. Smoke, death, and a blood red shattered moon was what they were seeing.

"Ren… what are we going to do." Nora said as she tightly held Ren's hand.

"I don't know… we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Ren said, while he pulled Nora closer to his arms

Hours later, the once red blood moon returned to its natural white color.

All the students were now asleep, trying to get the image of blood and gore out of their minds. There were a few hunters and huntresses still awake, patrolling the school and the surrounding area. Team RWBY were at their room sleeping heavily, however, one teammate remained awake. It was Ruby who couldn't sleep, knowing that her close friend is injured and devastated of the loss of a teammate. She was just staring at the shattered white moon, the moon reminded her of Jaune, the white knight she came to know. The bright white glow that the moon shined reminded of her of the kindness and generosity that Jaune was very known for. Every time she was close to him, she always felt at calm and in peace. This was something that she loved about the blonde knight. She got up and quietly walked to the infirmary room where Jaune was held, she wanted that comfort he always had. On her way to the infirmary, she bumped into Velvet Scarlatina who was patrolling inside the school.

"Sorry Velvet, I didn't see you there." Ruby said as she tried to avoid talking loudly to keep anyone from hearing.

"It's my fault Ruby. I'm a bit tired and I get really clumsy when that happens… anyways, what are you doing up so late? You should be resting."

"I should, but I couldn't sleep knowing that a close friend is in an uncomfortable spot right now and I want to just see if he is doing fine."

"You mean Jaune? I heard what happened to him and Pyrrha from other students. It's devastating what I heard, are the rumors true?"

"Yea…it's true." Ruby said, trying to avoid crying again.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I do hope all you for the best. And do send my regards to Jaune when you reach him." Velvet said with a saddened but sincere voice.

"I will"

"Oh by the way, be careful when roaming around the school or outside of it. The kidnappers will surely use this time as a perfect opportunity to kidnap people."

"Don't worry, with Crescent Rose in my hand, they will think twice before doing something like that." Ruby said, as she smirked.

"Okay, I will see you later"

Both Velvet and Ruby then walked away. Ruby felt a little happy knowing that there is someone else other than her teammates who care about Juane. Ruby finally reached the room in where Jaune was recuperating. She opened the door and saw Jaune sitting outside of the wide open window staring at the white shining moon.

"You should be asleep Ruby." Jaune said, with a calming soothing voice that would make any person feel at calm.

"I should, but it's hard to do that when someone close is in pain." Ruby said, in a caring voice.

"I guess you are right."

Ruby walked inside the room and decided to sit next to the crestfallen knight.

"I sometimes wondered… what would my life be at if I never met you or Pyrrha. Would I be living in a farm? Would I be working in a shop in some random town earning minimum wage?"

"You would have still ended up here Jaune… you want to be able to protect the…"

"Protect what? I couldn't even protect my teammate." Ruby remained silent after hearing that statement.

"Do you know my family's history? The arcs are heroes in war, fought many bloody battles and were victorious. They were inspirations to the younger generation. When my mother had me, they told me that they were happy to know that they had a boy that will continue the arc legacy, but that came to an end when my father passed away in battle when I was only 6.

Ruby put her hand on Jaune's shoulder after hearing that. When she heard about Jaune's father's death, she could feel the connection they both had.

"I didn't have any other person to help me train to become like my father. My mother wouldn't allow me to train because she feared that I would end up just like him… dead on the battlefield. I was her only son, so I can understand why she would want me to be safe, but I wanted to help the innocent people that were being terrorized by evil. I want to stop this evil force and bring peace into this world. I don't want anyone to no longer suffer." Jaune said, raising his voice slightly.

Ruby's eyes began to release tears when she saw that small smile that Jaune released after he said. Ruby now fully understood what Jaune felt. She knew now how she felt about him.

It was only a month ago when she was wounded in a confrontation from several Beowolfs. She had fought many others and began to run out of stamina and aura. She couldn't take them all on and thought that this was the end of the road for her, but out came 2 teammates that were separated from the mission. It was Jaune and Blake. Blake managed to get the Beowolfs attention which gave Jaune the opportunity to pick Ruby up and run away. She looked at the Knight that held her and what she saw amazed her. His clear blue eyes, his charming blonde hair, and his elegant face that seemed like if he were an angel sent from heaven to come rescue her.

That's where here feelings began and she now acknowledges that she is indeed in love with the white knight that stood before her.

"You still can save those you love. Life is meant to be hard time to time, and you can't let that stop you from achieving your dream." Ruby said as she leaned closer to the knight.

"But I'm usel…" Jaune gets cut off

"No you're not. You managed to stay alive all this time, and as a leader you were able to keep your team alive. Tell me, would you let someone else lead? Knowing that they can fail as a leader and cause your friends to die? Knowing that you could have been the person to be able to save them?" Ruby said, as she stared at him.

Jaune looked at the delicate rose whose face was a few inches away from his. Her innocent and sincere grey eyes, her soft and gentle hand that was pressed against his left face, her statements about the situation, all these things made Jaune realize that there are still something to live for, something to keep him going. He has friends who are still relying on him, he has friends who do care for him, and he has something to bring to the world and intends on spreading it.

"Thank you Ruby…" Jaune said, putting a small sincere smile on his face.

Ruby leaned forward to him, trying to close the gap between them, aiming for the Blonde's lips.

Footsteps were then heard coming towards the door which made Ruby quickly back off from Jaune's face and get up.

The door opened and came in Velvet. Ruby's face turned red like her cloak when she saw Velvet staring at the two. Jaune didn't understand what was going to happen when Ruby leaned towards him and didn't think too much of it.

"Ruby what are you still doing here. It's been nearly an hour now and why are the lights off?" Velvet said, with a surprised look as she turned the light on.

"Ummm I kinda lost track of time. You see I was…" Ruby said, as she luckily gets cut off by Jaune.

"Ruby was cheering me up. I was feeling down and she wanted to cheer me up. As you can see it took quite a while but she was able to do it" Jaune said to the Faunus.

"Yeah that's right. That is what I was doing!" Ruby said loudly, trying not blush.

"Oh, okay. Well I think you should really head back to bed, professor Ozpin told me to keep guard by Jaune's room and doesn't want anyone visiting him till morning." Said velvet.

"Well it is late. I can see why he doesn't want anyone visiting. Why is he still awake anyways?" Jaune said as he looked somewhat interested.

"He didn't say why, but I wouldn't consider it weird of him staying up this late knowing that trouble can come at any given hour. That and he is always drinking that special coffee of his." Velvet responded, with a slight chuckle.

"Yea I guess you're right" Jaune said.

"Well I guess I will be heading off Jaune, sleep well". Ruby said, speed walking towards the exit.

Everyone left the room now and Jaune returned to his bed.

"I will become better… I will protect my friends." Jaune said as he slowly fell asleep.

Here is chapter 2. It seems some people enjoyed the first chapter and I am really enjoying making these chapters when I have the time. Although there wasn't action, there was some stuff that people like. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, if you enjoyed reading it, leave a favorite and a follow if you want to be alerted for more chapters. I will see you all later.