Hearts Eclipsed by Shadows
Chapter Four: The Bully and the Leader
Jaune was kneeling on the floor after defeating not three fusion monsters, but four. Yuri was leaning against the dark gravestone but had an honest smile on his face. He wears the same clothes as me but has a red shirt instead and had gloves on.
"You have gained the souls of Barbaria, Sorm, Grano and Nox!" Yuri picked up Jaune and had a smirk.
"Good job. I told you three, but you had enough stamina in you for another one eh?" Yuri started chuckling while Jaune groans and pushes him away.
"You're just as bad as Yang at times… I swear you were her ancestor instead of me." Yuri laughed, holding himself up with one hand.
"Nah… I just have a good taste in humor." Jaune shoved him off and he fell to the floor. Yuri gave Jaune an indignant look as Jaune wiped off his pants of any dust.
"Well. That explains a lot about you. But you know… Thanks for helping me really. I wouldn't be able to use my semblance if it wasn't for you." Jaune held out a hand for him to grab and Yuri picked himself up.
"Yeah yeah… Don't mention it. You are the new Harmonixer, so someone must help you. Although I can help you with your lady problems." Yuri smiled as Jaune became a bit more red.
"Please no… I rather get help from Ruby than you." Yuri immediately smelled blood in the water and went on the attack.
"So, you're trying to get at her sister! I knew you had good tastes!" Jaune became as red as Ruby's cloak under Yuri's insinuations.
"Ok fine! I do want to try… to date her… But I'm not going to sing. That was a disaster back when I was a kid…" Jaune had war flashbacks of trying to serenade one of his sister's friends. It ended badly as one may think.
"Judging by the look on your face, it ended badly. Well I'm in your head if you need help. You're going to wake up soon anyways.
Suddenly Jaune faded away from the graveyard and woke up in the dorm around five now. He got up and took off his shirt because he was feeling a bit warm throughout the night. Jaune went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth and got ready for the day. Pyrrha accidently walked in and got sight of Jaune's physique, lean but at the same time, has well defined muscles. Pyrrha walked away slowly and silently as not to tip Jaune that she saw him half-naked and lied in bed with her beet red face hidden. Jaune got dressed in his combat clothes courtesy of Miss Goodwitch sending them all a text saying show up in your combat clothes.
JNPR arrived and sat in front of RWBY and everyone was itching for a fight. Miss Goodwitch stood on the center of the arena and stares at anyone that would dare make any sound while she spoke.
"We shall be using tournament style rules during any spars. Once your aura goes into the red or fifteen percent the match will end and who has the higher aura will be determined the victor. We shall have our first spar so show you the rules." Goodwitch looked over all the students and determined her two opponents. "Can I have Mister Arc and Mister Winchester to the arena?" Cardin smirked thinking he's going have an easy win and Jaune internally sighed but smiled at the fact of beating Cardin. Jaune was upset at the fact of Cardin bullying him like knocking over his books was one example, although he did try to knock him into a rocket locker, but he tripped him and sent him away, all without Goodwitch knowing.
"Don't be disappointed when I beat you to a pulp Jauney-boy." Jaune didn't show any emotion to the jeer and prepared his gauntlets.
"We'll have to see huh Cardin?" Jaune smiled but inside, he was grinning evilly at the chance to beat down the resident bully.
Cardin hefted his mace over his shoulder and glared at the blonde in front of him. Jaune slipped into his stance but still had the smile on his face, as if taunting Cardin. Cardin decided that this blonde noodle was going down no matter what.
"Are both competitors ready?" Both Cardin and Jaune nodded. "Fight!" Miss Goodwitch moved away for the two to fight.
Cardin immediately surged forward with a swing to Jaune's head, but the blonde ducked and responded with an uppercut to force him back. Cardin wiped his mouth off on his sleeve and saw Jaune running towards him and swung at his mid-section to back him off. But to his surprise, Jaune activated the gravity dust in his left hand and punched the mace down and landed a right hook. Jaune didn't let up and moved into Cardin's personal space and started repeatedly jabbed into Cardin's armored chest, making Cardin jump back with his aura now in the yellow by Jaune. Cardin activated his semblance and caused a wave of explosions heading straight for Jaune and Jaune realized he doesn't have a way to move and crosses his arm and moves his center of gravity lower to withstand it. Jaune took a decent hit but stayed standing, Cardin getting more reckless and just swinging at Jaune but Jaune bobbed and weaved though the swings and landing more jabs in his defense. Deciding to finish it, Jaune knocked Cardin's mace to the opposite side of his body and jumps up in the air above Cardin's head. Jaune slammed the heel of his right foot into his face, sending him to the ground and into the red. Jaune moved away as Miss Goodwitch came in to the center of the arena, Cardin looking like he was about to get up and get revenge for getting beaten. He was about to grab his mace when he realized that he couldn't move, his body having a faint purple outline.
"I am going to have to prevent you from taking any actions that you'll regret." Goodwitch stared into Cardin's eyes with a glare that demanded obedience. "As you can see class, Mr. Winchester's aura has reached the red and has lost the match." Goodwitch looks at the Jaune. "Mr. Arc, you have strong close-range ability, but you need some ranged help if you can get it. You won't be able to beat an opponent if they can keep you away. Jaune nodded, thinking about having Ruby modify Chimera for him. "Mr. Winchester, you thought your strength would be able to overpower Mr. Arc, but he has shown to be quite agile to dodge your attacks and you were getting reckless and allowed him to chip away at your aura. Keep a level head and try not to telegraph your attacks to the opponent." Cardin just grunted in acknowledgement and walked away as class ended with Jaune being hugged by his team.
"You did great Jaune. I'm proud of your skills." Pyrrha gave him a genuine smile while Nora jumped on his back.
"You were great Jaune-Jaune! Although you really should have broken his legs…" Nora threw her right hand in feign annoyance but kept smiling.
"Maybe one of these days we should spar Jaune. I would like to see how my skills stack against yours." Ren spoke surprising Jaune as he didn't see him.
Jaune was about to agree but his scroll went off as a message from Ozpin himself asking him to appear in his office. Jaune sighed thinking he was in trouble for something, more likely for Nora almost destroying the dorm room for making pancakes herself.
"Sorry guys. I got to go see Ozpin really quick, but I promise to be right back!" Jaune ran out of the room to go to Ozpin's office for something.
A few hours earlier
Ozpin was sitting at his desk wondering about Jaune's powers that he has yet to use and how to help him. Alexander let him know that his only son is a Harmonixer and is going to need all the fusions he could get now that an inevitable war is going to happen in his lifetime. He is going to need the gravestones and Amon if he's going to be able to at least be able to fight against other Huntsmen. His musing was cut short when a crow was tapping on his window. He opened the window and then the crow suddenly transformed into a scruffy looking male that had black hair that was slick back with a few bangs hanging out here and there, piercing red eyes that looked tired and weary. He wore a grey dress shirt and black dress pants with black dress shoes. He did smell like alcohol and his sword was collapsed on his lower back and had a small smirk on his face as he looked at Ozpin.
"Hey Oz. What do you need me for since you called me off earlier for me to come here?" Qrow sat on the chair in front of him and took a swig from his flask. Ozpin pulled out a picture of Jaune without telling Qrow who he is. The picture was when RWBY and JNPR were hanging out in the cafeteria having fun at Jaune's expense.
"Who's this kid? He looks like a watered-down version of Alex." Qrow took a closer look at the blond, already thinking Oz was messing with him.
"That's because he's Alexander's son, Jaune Arc. And he is the one thing we need to have on our side against her." Qrow looked at the only blond male in the group, knowing he's Alex's son just based on his face alone.
"Why is he special Oz? If you don't mind me asking he's kinda... normal if you ask me." Ozpin gave Qrow an knowing smirk behind his cup and decided to let him know who Jaune is.
"Jaune has a ultra-rare semblance that can turn tides instantly. See... He's a Harmonixer. The only one in this generation meaning a war is coming." Qrow's eyes widened and realized he can be an asset.
"Well consider this a… side-quest for your current mission. Locate any gravestones and I do believe that Amon is somewhere in Vacuo or in Mistral. If you can find them, I'll reward you handsomely." Ozpin crosses his fingers in front of him. Qrow was greatly considering since Ozpin rewards him with the strongest whiskey he can find and give him three bottles of the stuff, enough to last for eight months.
"Fine Oz you made a fine deal for me…" Ozpin interrupts quickly. "Three bottles for EACH gravestone you find and seven if you find Amon." Ozpin held out his hand for Qrow to shake to agree to the deal.
"Deal! I'll try whenever I can Oz." Qrow gives him a two-finger salute and transformed back into a crow and left.
'I suppose it isn't playing favorites if I try to better Jaune huh? He'll need all the help he can.'
Ozpin sent a message to Jaune asking him if he could see him in his office.
Present Time
"Uh… Professor Ozpin? You called for me?" Jaune slowly walked in the office after receiving his message.
"Yes, take a seat Mr. Arc." Ozpin motioned for him to sit and kept his stoic gaze on Jaune.
"Um… Am I in trouble Professor?" Ozpin shook his head and had a small smile on his face.
"No, you are not in trouble Mr. Arc. I am just going to ask if you would like a private training room so that you can practice with your semblance in secret." Jaune nodded, knowing he's going to use it to its fullest.
"Now Mr. Arc, have you told your team all about your semblance?" Jaune looked a bit fearful since he hasn't but is planning on doing so.
"I'm just a bit scared that they'll ditch me or attack me for my fusions look monstrous, but I've resolved to at least tell my team. My dad told me trust is a two-way street and I need to trust them if they want to trust me." Jaune puffed out his chest in false bravado.
"It's not uncommon to be afraid since of who you are. But you do need to have some trust in your team so that you have someone to watch your back." Ozpin hid his smile in his coffee. "But I have delayed you long enough. Time for you to head back to your dorm. Have an enjoyable day Mr. Arc." Jaune got up from his seat and left to the elevator.
Jaune opened his dorm's door and saw Ren cooking some pancakes while Nora was in front of a whiteboard with Pyrrha trying to decode Jaune's semblance while she was writing down various theories.
"Uh... guys? What's up with the whiteboard and where did we get it?" Jaune walked in and sat on his bed when Ren gave Nora some pancakes.
"Well Ruby and her team and us are all trying to figure out what your semblance is and we only get one choice! I bet it is that your life is a dating sim!" Nora rose her hand with a pancake on it in the air.
"I bet it's the ability to amplify someone's aura. Considering I feel that you have a lot than a normal Huntsman." Pyrrha gave her two cents.
"Ren?" Jaune looked at Ren and saw him staring at him stoically. "I bet it is the ability to time travel." Jaune raised a eyebrow at that.
"So what did Ruby's team bet on my semblance being?" Jaune almost regretted his choice but he wanted to know what funny things his sister team thought of.
"Ruby bet on you being able to destroy any Grimm with a touch, Weiss with the ability to summon things through crystals, Blake thinks you can slow down time or speed up time on people and Yang believes that you can destroy weapons with your hands." Nora spewed out while Pyrrha chuckled at the ideas.
"Wow. And I thought your ideas were weird... Well I'm gonna let you guys know that now we have a training room we can use whenever we would like." Nora perked at that and grabbed Ren and threw him over her shoulder.
"Let's go!" At that, Nora disappeared with Jaune and Pyrrha walking to the training room.
Well at least she's enthusiastic for working out. Maybe that explains how she's so fit while eating all that pancakes.
"Let's go. I got the key for the room and I'm hoping she didn't break down the door or Miss Goodwitch will come down on us and punish us beyond what we can think of."
Nora was bench-pressing her and Jaune's weight by his guess while Jaune was practicing his punches and kicks on a practice dummy with armor. Pyrrha was just watching Jaune practice unknown to the blond himself that Pyrrha has a huge crush on him. Meanwhile Ren was just meditating and letting his aura flow through him.
"Hey Ren? Do you mind if I meditate with you? Nora and Pyrrha decided to spar." Ren nodded and Jaune sat in front on him cross legged, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Ren was observing Jaune when Jaune's aura activated around his body. He noticed it is pure white but then the color changed to red then yellow.
Ren wondered how aura can change colors like that. Ruby did mention that the stone on his necklace can change color too and is made by his aura during one meeting about Jaune's semblance.
Jaune suddenly got up and stretched his back, popping it a bit. "Well I'm going to head back to the dorm. The door will lock after everyone leaves." Jaune walked away and then team RWBY was nearby the door as Jaune left.
RWBY snuck in as part of Nora's impromptu plan for them to scheme how to get Jaune to reveal his semblance as Yang and Ruby were getting antsy while Weiss can care less about Jaune. Nora was setting with Pyrrha as Ren was kicked out unfortunately for him with RWBY sitting in front of them.
"So... What evidence we have for Jaune's semblance?" Ruby asked while Nora shook her head.
"Nothing so far... All he was doing was practicing his attacks while Pyrrha..." Pyrrha blushed while the others were having a chuckle at her blush. "Was watching."
"Is he any good? Was he's stamina out of this world?" Yang teased Pyrrha while Ruby was just as red as Pyrrha.
"Yang...! Why did you have to say it like that...!" Ruby started hitting Yang to no avail.
"Why did we agree to help these two dolts on figuring out Arc's semblance?" Weiss looked to Blake for a reason while Blake was just reading.
"Maybe because Ruby asked us to and Yang threatened us behind her back?" Weiss flinched at the hidden threat Yang gave them as Ruby used her puppy-eyes.
"Well since we didn't gain anything..." Nora suddenly interrupted Yang as she got a text from Ren.
"Ren said Jaune's aura changed colors! That has to be a clue!" Nora started jumping up and down excitedly, not noticing that the sun was going down. Weiss however, noticed and they all left to their respective dorms when Pyrrha and Nora were greeted with food.
"Wow... Who cooked all this?" Pyrrha saw pancakes that were made by Ren while there was some pork-chops with a baked potato with green beans for Pyrrha.
"I did. Benefits of having a huge family that somehow has a few bad cooks." Jaune chuckled at his younger sister, Rouge's attempts at making toast. They had to replace a toaster.
"How big is your family anyways Jauney?" Nora inquired while Pyrrha thought of Jaune's family all being blond as he was.
"Well... You have my parents Alexander and Julia Arc, And my seven sisters." Nora and Pyrrha's jaws dropped at the mention of seven sisters.
"Can you tell us anything about them Jaune?" Pyrrha was blushing a bit but was curious about his siblings.
"Not tonight." Jaune raised his arms and stretched. "Cardin was bullying a student at dinner today and I decided to put him in his place but I got a detention after the Forever Falls trip due to me and Cardin fighting." Pyrrha was worried now.
"Why did you have to fight?!" Pyrrha exclaimed as Jaune sighed. "I don't like people picking on Faunus. It really gets on my nerves..."
Pyrrha sighed knowing she isn't going to change his mind but loved that he stood up for anyone, doesn't matter who they are.
"Alright Jaune. We better get some sleep for the trip tomorrow. We have a long day ahead." Pyrrha went into the bathroom to change while Ren and Nora was already asleep.
Jaune smiled, feeling lucky that he got a partner as supportive and helpful as Pyrrha. He was already in his sleepwear and laid in his bed, remembering the antics his sisters can pull him in and all the helpful tips that they gave him.
"And there's nothing I would change about them..." Jaune whispered to himself as he fell asleep.
A.N: Yes sorry about you guys waiting for a new chapter but I needed to add in a few scenes that I had thought of AFTER the fact of this chapter being done. And I realized that having Jaune reveal his semblance to his team early was kinda bad imo. So I'm working on CH.5 at the moment and I hope you guys love the humor and secret easter eggs I put into this chapter that would tickle at your funny bone.
See you guys in the next chapter and like, follow and review if you guys liked this story! Golden out!