Disclaimer:

I do not own RWBY or any of the cast of characters. Full credit goes to Monty Oum and Roosterteeth.

RWBY JNPR: Guardian No More

Volume 1, Episode 2: "Faded"

If there was one obstacle that was going to remain constant in Raiden's return to Beacon it was going to be how he would deal with his former peers. It was only his first day returning and it was already something well known around the Academy. Having already spent nearly a full year at Beacon already he knew how fast word traveled, even then he'd thought it would have been possible to buy himself a few days if he kept it low key. He'd already retreated back into the main building once he was a group of his former class mates heading his way, taking refuge on the rooftop above the central dormitories.

At least the quiet isolation the roof provided was pleasant enough, no one to question him or make half-ass greetings, no one about to approach him offering pity and hollow words of encouragement. He didn't care what they had to say at this point, what they had to offer, he wasn't back to make new friends or re-establish ties with old ones. Of course, if his resolve had truly been that hardened he wouldn't have retreated like he had, fled to the rooftop, hiding away rather than facing them head on. He grit his teeth at the thought, it was too late to be having these sorts of weaknesses.

He lingered for a long while, hiding away throughout the afternoon and beyond the sunset, and as darkness blotted out the remnants of the sun-touched sky the first stars began to shine. Given the time he'd spent he took the tiny specks of light appearing as his signal to make his way back to his room, but as he cracked open the rooftop entrance he was greeted by a familiar face, one he had hoped would be the last person in the academy to seek him out. Orange-red eyes focused on his face as their owned stepped forward out of the poorly lit staircase, her porcelain skin and flaming red hair lighting up in the moonlight, a pair of pointed ears twitched slightly. Her approach forced him into a retreat, and as she stalked his steps nothing was said, she simply stared at him expectantly. It was Raiden who broke eye contact first, shutting his eyes and turning away from the girl.

"So it was you," she finally broke the silence between them stopping once he turned away from her.

A moment passed before he replied to her, finally looking back and meeting her gaze, "Yes."

The faunus' clenched a fist, "Why?" At their distance he could sense her anger even if her bubbling aura didn't tip him off. Her eyes bore into him mercilessly, searching for a reaction but receiving none. The brief silence was enough for the young man to recompose himself, guarded cold front up like a force field, a harsh cold look returning to his eyes once again. She didn't falter, instead she stepped forward despite having to raise her head to maintain eye contact, "Why didn't you tell us you were coming back?"

His lack of a response caused her to press further, "We were all worried! When you stopped letting us visit in the hospital and then disa-"

"Enough," he finally told her firmly, "Things aren't the same anymore Cerise, there's no reason for you to concern yourself with me any longer."

She reached out to stop him as he moved away but he evaded the action entirely, "Of course there is! We all care-"

"You shouldn't!" He cut her off, voice raised louder than he wanted, "Tch," he turned away from her, stuffing his hands in his uniforms pocket, "just forget that I'm even here," he told her finally as he brushed past without a second glance leaving Cerise on the rooftop alone.

"We're not going to," she whispered after him.

The excitement of the previous day had died yet to die down the morning after, at least among the first year students at Beacon. The subject as quite a bit different though, going from speculation to gossip, as word of Raiden's confrontation with Cardin had spread around the Academy. Many were surprised given how Cardin excelled in combat, a few were rather impressed, those who'd been bullied by him in the past were rather smug when they talked about it, many feeling it was an embarrassment that was well deserved. When Cardin himself heard about what was being said he threw a fit.

"Cocky bastard, he only got the better of me because he caught me off guard," he fumed as he ground his fist into the palm of his hand.

The rest of his team were in tow as usual though they didn't say much, only vague acknowledgments to what was being said. They were there and they each felt the cold aura surrounding the transfer student, even if Cardin wasn't going to admit it. Of course, given his mood they weren't about to tell him otherwise which left them to simply nod and offer the odd word of encouragement for their team Leader.

It was then that Cardin's brain clicked into gear, "That's it! We've got sparring today, I'll get him then. I won't lose to him in a real fight."

"Why don't we just leave him alone Cardin? Just knock around some big mouths and make 'em regret running their traps?" Russel suggested hopeful that Cardin would accept the alternative. Even if he wouldn't admit it he didn't want to have to face down that ridiculous aura if he could avoid it. Unfortunately for the green haired member of CRDL member their leader wasn't going to have it.

He spun around and glared at his subordinate, "Are you telling me to just let everyone think he's better than me? So what if he's some hot shot from last year, he make the cut and he's back again for a second helping, I'll make him regret it."

Jaune hated the sparring classes. He never won, he never did really well, and he always ended up sore for the rest of the day after whoever his opponent was finished throttling him. Even when Pyrrha praised him during their small training sessions he never felt much confidence, one of the worst times was when Yang was paired up against him, she beat him so thoroughly that he'd missed the following days classes laying in bed. Now there was someone else to worry about in his class, beyond Yang and Cardin, someone scarier, someone he was supposed to lead.

As the clock ran down so did the list of students set for sparring and demonstrations, and as the list grew smaller so did the chances of his name being called. Professor Goodwitch skimmed her portable data terminal, finger running down a list of names, "Jaune Arc,"

"Aw..."

She pressed a button to randomize the selection, "And Cardin Winchester."

"Aw man."

Pyrrha and Ruby looked on sympathetically as Jaune rose to his feet.

"Hold on Ms. Goodwitch," Cardin called out from his seat standing with a cocky grin, "As much as like wiping the floor with Jauney Boy here, I could really go for something more interesting."

Glynda frowned, placing her terminal on the stand in front of her, "Mr. Winchester these matches are randomly determined-"

"So what? That's boring, why don't you give the new guy a shot?" Cardin thrust a finger in Raiden's direction. The raven haired student simply offered a blank stare before turning away with obvious disinterest, the action itself spurned Cardin into anger, "What? Too scared to fight me when I've got a weapon in my hand pretty boy? Heh! No wonder you and your crap team never made it to the second year."

"Cardin, cease and-" Glynda started but was cut off as Raiden responded to the taunt.

"Professor, I'll fight him," he agreed rising to his feet.

Cardin smirked, he'd taken the bait as far as he was concerned, "C'mon Professor, he agreed."

The blond pushed up her glasses looking between the two male students, eyes lingering on Raiden, "I won't-"

"I think this will prove to be rather interesting, I'll approve this," the voice of Professor Ozpin drifted into the room. He took up a spot in front of the class next to Glynda with a small smile on his face, "I hope you don't mind the intrusion Ms. Goodwitch."

She frowned at the Headmaster, but gave in, "It's fine."

Cardin was already in the combat area his mace over his shoulder as he waited for his opponent to join him. Raiden made his way over to Yang's seat, "My equipment is in disarray, if you would allow me, I would like to request the use of one of your gauntlets. I will not break it, "he assured her.

"On one condition," Yang beamed, "You beat that idiots face in good," she told him as she disconnected the gauntlet on her left arm. Quickly she stuck her tongue out at Cardin before handing the item to Raiden who nodded his thank you as he slipped the gauntlet over his hand. He made his way over to the combat zone, leveling his gaze with Cardin's.

Once Raiden stood in position, the match countdown started.

Battles between warriors within Beacon and other regional tournaments were decided on multiple factors: Skill, Endurance, Aura, and occasionally, Time. Set in specialized combat zones, combatants have their aura output monitored and are required to maintain it as a defensive barrier at all times as a safety regulation. Further, sensors have been better tuned to gauge a warriors internal reserves, and fights generally end with the officiator and combat system determining one party did not have enough aura left to defend themselves. Of course these machines could only really read ones output and provide estimated calculations and there were more than a few critics who lamented the systems inconsistencies.

Aura in itself was not an absolute defense, but compared to the common person it shielded its wielder to great effect, warding off otherwise fatal blows and cushioning extreme force along with augmenting physical abilities depending on the level of skill the user possessed. Most Hunters and Huntress' competing in combat or operating within Beacon are required to possess a moderate level of skill. That said, it wasn't uncommon for some attacks to be more effective than others, skilled manipulators capable of augmenting their attacks to ridiculous levels, some even capable of more or less nullifying the defensive nature of another aura.

Despite himself Raiden was now facing off against Cardin Winchester, and while he regretted it immediately, Cardin had struck a nerve with what was supposedly a simple provocation. Unfortunately while Raiden would have wanted nothing more than to obliterate him in an utterly humiliating fashion, it wouldn't be that simple. Despite his attitude Cardin was a formidable warrior, a natural brawler and a naturally strong aura, and his size wasn't simply for show either, he had strength to spare. In fact the size difference was obvious when they were face to face, a small and lithe form much like Lie Ren or Jaune Arc that came up to Cardin's barrel chest. Raiden was one of many melee combatants that chose to opt out of heavy armor, sporting black leather outlined with dark grays and whites, minimal protection in favor of freedom of movement.

As the countdown dwindled Raiden flexed his left hand, the gauntlet activating as he manipulated it, extending over his fist and rotating its ammunition cartridge with a loud click as it loaded itself automatically. Lowering himself to the ground He took a low stance, legs spread with his free hand holding up his upper body parallel to the ground. Cardin only smirked swinging his mace around in front of him in a sweeping motion showing the ease in which he was able to manipulate the heavy weapon, "Try not to cry when you get hit newbie," he sneered.

The timer hit zero and Glyndas voice cut in with flawless precision, "Begin!"

Raiden was the first to move, charging forward still keeping low to the ground, he closed the distance between them in an instant though Cardin was already swinging. His mace swept across the ground in front of him, a direct course to smash horizontally into Raiden's advancing form, however the massive swing merely swept through the air and Raiden slammed his fist into the ground, triggering a round to fire and propelled himself over head. He vaulted over Cardin's shoulder, gripping the back of his armor to anchor himself directly behind his opponent.

Cardin moved to face Raiden but was halted as Raiden's elbow collided with the back of his knee forcing him to a kneel, "It's too late to beg."

The taunt elicited a growl in response and Cardin rolled forward, a blind swing of his mace behind him as he gained some distance between himself and Raiden, "That's my-" he never got to finish his retort as he barely registered the silhouette in front of him before his open mouth ate a knee. His head flew back, aura flickering from the blow and the screen overhead registered the drop in energy. There wasn't a moment to recover for him, even as he stumbled backwards gaining his bearings, a shotgun enhanced punch doubled him over. He groaned from the force but grit his teeth and slipped sideways, dodging another attack aimed at his face. His sense back, he glared at Raiden and steadied himself, rearing his mace back before charging forward, swinging his weapon with deadly speed and power. He only hit air however, as Raiden danced backwards, gracefully evading each swing until he finally side stepped Cardin like a skilled matador would a charging bull.

Raiden smirked relaxing his stance a little as he waited for Cardin to face him. He advance as Cardin caught his breath, instead he looked away disinterested knowing it would only fuel the others rage, "You're thinking: 'if only I could land a hit', aren't you?" Raiden snorted contemptuously, and across the room Glynda narrowed her eyes, "Want to try it?" He now stood carelessly in the center of the ring, no stance, no guard, arms left hang loosely at his sides.

"Cocky piece of shit, I'll crush you!" Cardin shouted, rage distorting his features as he accepted the challenge, both hands gripping his mace he bull rushed forward, raising the weapon above his head for a full downward smash. He raised his right hand as Cardin's mace neared its mark, and with a heavy dull thud that echoed throughout the room the weapon was halted by his raised hand. Raiden stepped in, slamming his gauntlet encased fist into Cardin's wrist, forcing him to let go of his weapon. Cardin attempted to create some distance between them, but Raiden took hold of his wrist with an iron grip, pulling him forward firmly before driving his fist right into his elbow, and with a sickening crunch forced his arm to bend in an unnatural direction. Cardin howled in pain, releasing his mace entirely, staggering backwards only to find Raiden still had a firm grip on his broken arm, "Sto-"

Raiden shifted the limb in his grasp mercilessly, moving to strike his arm once more without hesitation, a finishing and brutally debilitating blow. Fortunately for Cardin a barrier spell blocked the blow and expanded between the two combatants, forcing them apart. Cardin collapsed to his knees, cradling his arm as he teammates rushed to his side. Professor Ozpin approached the two flanked closely by Glynda who still had her wand at the ready, "That is enough. Team CRDL, see to it that Mr. Winchester gets to the infirmary," he leveled his gaze on Raiden, "I trust you're satisfied?"

By now Raiden's aura had dispersed and he was removing the gauntlet he'd borrowed from Yang, "It was just a sparring match Professor," he responded calmly. Glynda looked over to the Headmaster with uncertainty, but only received a dismissive half smile.

"Very well," he nodded, "Please keep in mind our schools code of conduct Mr. Arma, I'm aware you've been out of touch for a while but they have not changed since you were previously enrolled," for a brief moment his expression hardened, "I expect you'll exercise more restraint in the future."

"Yes sir."

The bell signaled an abrupt end for the class though few students moved. Until Glynda stored her wand once more and clapped her hands together to gain the students attention, "Class is dismissed, make sure to review your notes properly." There was a collective murmur as the room began to buzz to life once more though much quieter than usual. Most eyes were fixated on Raiden, and as the room emptied most of the students made an obvious B line away from him and the Headmaster who stood silently along with him. When the last of the students had exited Yang approached slowly dragging Ruby behind her.

"Ah- Hi!" Yang opened with an enthusiasm the greatly contrasted the two companions she totted unwilling along behind her. The blonde stopped in front of Raiden letting go of her younger sister to playfully punch the male student in the shoulder, "You did great in there! I've been waiting for someone to put Cardin in his place, he's such a jerk."

Raiden held out the borrowed weapon to her merely nodding in response to her praise, "I appreciate your lending me your weapon, if there is any issue with it I'll cover the repair fee's or repair it myself if you would permit it," he briefly looked between Yang and the weapon before the girl took the hint and slipped it back onto her arm.

"I- ah, no, no, don't worry about it, you barely used it, it'll be fine. Tools need to be used right?" she was beginning to feel the weight of the conversation now, and while normally a social person, she could barely register any sort of connection with him, even eye contact felt out of place. She quickly changed the subject, throwing Ruby in front of her to divert the awkwardness, "I'm Yang by the way and this- is my little sister Ruby!"

Ruby paled unsure what to do, she was already socially inept, being on the spot certainly wouldn't help things any. She fidgeted on the spot silently cursing Yang as she struggled to come up with a subject, unfortunately nothing came to mind and instead she ended up spewing her entire story, "I'm Ruby, I'm the leader of Team RWBY. I'm younger than most people in beacon because Professor Ozpin asked me if I wanted to come to Beacon after I stopped some thugs from robbing a dust shop in the city. That doesn't make me special or anything so don't worry I'm just me, Ruby, plain old Ruby- I'm going to stop talking now because Yang really wanted to talk to you and I'm just blabbering on and- YANG!"

Raiden held up a hand to interrupt Ruby, "We were introduced yesterday," he reminded her with an unnerving evenness.
Ruby raised a hand to the back of her head laughing nervously, "Yes, right, of course!"

"That's my little sister for you," Yang grinned resting an elbow on her little sisters head, hoping to alleviate the awkwardness in the air,"tiny little air head," she teased ignoring her sisters fidgeting beneath her not to mention growing irritation at being the butt end of the teasing. It didn't help that both sisters had a habit of rambling when they were nervous and unsure of a situation, "Really makes you wonder how she's the leader of the team right- Right?"

"YANG THINKS YOU'RE CUTE AND YOU SHOULD GO ON A DATE," Ruby blurted out of no where, finally freeing herself of Yang's weight grinning up at her sister knowingly before sticking out her tongue and retreating back to the rest of the team.

"Wait- what?" Jaune's voice rang out all too clearly in the eerily silent classroom, the leader of JNPR looking between his own team and the remainder of team RWBY hovering nearby for an explanation only to receive none, their faces painted with a look of disbelief at their leaders blatant lie. Unfortunately Ruby's outburst was plenty loud, loud enough that the remainder of the class had stopped to witness the exchange, and as was becoming common lately, a hushed murmur spread across the spectators.

Yang felt her cheeks darken as Ruby's words dawned on her, and as she turned back to Raiden she felt her mouth moving to start a protest though no words came forth. For what seemed to be an eternity she was locked in a terrible starring match with him, but it was he who finally spoke up as he undid his leather armor, "Not interested."

The room hit silence again.

"Wait- what?" this time it was Yang's turn to be confused. She had expected a number of responses, ranging from surprise to an enthusiastic yes to which she'd have to ever so humbly correct the misunderstanding her younger sister had caused. His blatant rejection though... it struck a nerve, one she wasn't aware she had, one she'd never been forced to deal with.

"Not interested," he repeated before stepping away from her, "... thanks for letting me borrow your weapon though," he followed up as if realizing something was off. This was the worst case scenario, the last thing he wanted to deal with. Even before he was never good at these things, usually leaving his former teammates to deal with the social aspects of things, the perks of being the tactician and mechanic, there was always an excuse to hide away in a workshop, "I've got some work to do in the weapons labs."

Yang grabbed his arm to stop him much to everyone's surprise and her own, "What do you mean 'not interested?' what kind of a jerk answer is that?" she knew she was getting angry but she didn't really care even as she spun him around to glare at him.

Raiden narrowed his eyes at her touch meeting her glare with a frown of his own, "It was a proper answer, I'm not interested."

"You can't just tell a girl who asked you out that you're just not interested without even a sorry or telling her why you ass!"

"You tell him Yang!" Weiss called out safely across the room, her support answered by cheers from the rest of the girls in the room, Pyrrha cheering particularly loud.

"Fine, you're not my type," he responded exasperated, strangely following through with this confrontation.

"I'm what!? I'm everyone's type, you just can't handle all this, broody boy," Yang taunted as she gestured to herself seductively, "you're just too intimidated, scared you can't even handle one date without looking like a clown."

"Whatever, we'll never know," he sighed finally, shaking his head as he turned to leave again realizing he'd been drawn in by her antics. As he exited the room he offered a dismissive wave over his shoulder ignoring the whispers of the students between themselves that he passed.

Watching him leave Yang fumed, her aura flaring around her in a burst of flames as she watched his back disappear down the hallway, "On day, I'm going to punch that guy right in his stupid 'not interested' face," she growled to herself before glaring around the room at the rest of the spectators. Taking the queue to leave the students dispersed in a hurry, not wanting to deal with the fiery blondes temper leaving only team RWBY and JNPR in the room to calm her.

"Don't worry Yang, he's not good enough for you anyways," Weiss attempted to cheer her up, Lie and Pyyrha nodding in agreement spouting similar sympathies.

"Besides-" Nora grinned draping an arm around Yang, "just say the word and Jaune and I will break his legs."

Jaune sputtered, arms up in front of him, "Hey wait, that guy is on our team remember? Temporarily but I can't just break his legs, he can probably launch me into the air just by glaring at me!"

Ruby patted Jaune on the shoulder, "It'd take more than a glare, he'd probably have to use his pinky or something to really send you flying."

"... Thanks."

"Why don't we all get off this topic and grab something to eat," Blake suggested, "We've got the rest of the afternoon off right? Why not head into town and grab something other than cafeteria food?"

Weiss clapped her hands together, "Excellent suggestion, then we can hit the shopping district after, there's a new shop that just opened and I heard its imported some designer merchandise from across the world."

"You guys have fun, I've got some make up classes with Professor Port," Jaune sighed dejectedly, it wasn't his fault the stories of the Hunters glory days were so boring even when described with such grandeur.

"I'll- we'll bring you back something later alright?" Pyrrha offered.

Jaune nodded with a smile, "Thanks guys, I'll catch you later alright?"

Separated from the others Jaune made his way through the halls, towards the lecture hall. During days like this Beacon cleared out quickly, a perk inherent in sparring and combat classes on a Friday. Start early, finish early with daylight to spare. A sort of an early weekend though most students were expected to maintain their own training regiment. However Jaune was one of the few students who had extra curricular activities, or so he liked to call them, in reality he'd simply been caught falling asleep in class and as a result was gifted an extra tutoring session. It was becoming sadly common place, and even with his improvements there were some habits that died hard.

Lost in thought he barely registered the arm that grabbed him from the shadows of an empty classroom and pulled him inside. As the door shut behind him and the lights clicked on Jaune panicked, "Not the face or crotch please!" he winced preemptively cowering behind raised arms.

"Huh? I'm not going to hurt you silly," the a soft voice reassured him, pulling his arms down, "calm down alright?"
Not entirely sure if it was a ruse or not he opened his eyes slowly, looking at the source of the unfamiliar voice, "Oh, good," he sighed in relief, relaxing almost immediately. Before him stood a fox attributed faunus girl donning a second year uniform. Her red hair and orange-red eyes peering up at him curiously, similarly colored fox ears topping her hair and a bushy tail swishing behind her.

"You're Jaune Arc right? Leader of JNPR?" the girl inquired.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, that's me, but what do you want with me?" he asked in return, people rarely sought him out beyond his own team mates and when they did it was usually a professor to tell him to work harder or Cardin looking to let off some steam.

The faunus girl smiled, "I'm Cerise Solus, I want to talk to you about your new team addition, Raiden Arma."

Episode 2 End!

Cliff hangerish, sorrynotsorry. Was considering continuing but it seemed to flow better into the episodic flow. Yeah~ Got my Cardin beat down in this, I'm sure a lot of people have similar dislike for him. In the future though I really do want to expand on a direction to his character, especially in relation to Jaune and JNPR.

Another new character thrown into the mix, I know, honestly I'm trying to avoid throwing in major OC's into the equation especially considering how large the cast is, but Cerise and her teams connection to Raiden are just too important to dismiss for my vision~

Anyways, until next time!