So I actually didn't make it quite clear as to how much time has actually passed in the world, My bad dear readers.
The first part of the first chapter, where Jaune has his meeting with Ozpin, begins on the 3rd week on a Monday, since the fall was said to be two weeks ago.
Now the second part of the first chapter where Emerald, Mercury, Neo, and Ilia come to Beacon, takes place at the end of the 3rd week (Sunday) as Ozpin was building the room and Jaune was reading over their files and making his deal with the High Court of Vale.
I hope this clears some confusion I may have caused!
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Right kick. Blocked by Shield
Left kick. Hit right side of torso
upward swing. Dodged by stepping back
Left swing. Hit his right arm
This is how the fight went, a series of hits and misses. over the last week, Jaune had been training hard ever since the Fall as he wanted to be strong enough to actually fight against people of Mercury, Emerald, and Neo's strength. He knew what they were capable of when he read their files and so he trained from day to night in order to get stronger.
Mercury stumbled backward and his breath was ragged. 'Damn this guy! I threw everything I could at him! I thought he was weakest here at Beacon! yet he's actually giving me some damn bruises! The fights lasted for a freaking hour! How is he still standing!?' Mercury asked himself
"Wh-Why... won't... you... go down!" Mercury cried "Your Aura's... near the red... Just give up..." Mercury said
Standing across from him was Jaune, still holding his sword and shield. However, it took all of his strength to still hold on to them. For you see, Jaune's Aura was significantly weakening, but he refused to give up and when he did, he felt as if he was being reenergized.
Jaune chuckled, "Why... should I?" Jaune asked through ragged breaths, "I-If I'm seeing right... so are you... but I'm guessing you only like that since you never had a long fight, huh?"
"You think you're a challenge?" Mercury asked
Jaune smiled and nodded, "I do..." Jaune said, "Because if I wasn't... you wouldn't be so close to the red..."
Mercury growled, "You're getting lucky," Mercury said
"Maybe... but what does that say about you if you can't even beat Beacon's resident weakest student? eh, Merc?" Jaune asked with a smug grin
Mercury growled as he looked at Jaune and an idea came to his mind about how he could knock out his new leader. Mercury shot off around from his foot but it wasn't a normal round, instead, it was a Fire Dust round. As the round was rocketing toward him, Jaune realized what it was and he raised his shield as the round hit him. The round exploded, however, he didn't get pushed back, but instead, Jaune still stood his ground, but he could feel his Aura weaken much more and his arm rattled with pain, but he gritted his teeth and took the pain.
Jaune lowered his shield and looked around only to see that Mercury wasn't in front of him anymore. Jaune turned around only to see Mercury right next to him, however, instead of a kick, Mercury punched him in the face, Jaune took the hit, but then mercury began delivering more punches to Jaune's face, however, Jaune took them all head-on.
'These punches don't really have all that much force behind them... something like this...' Jaune began and he gritted his teeth and a glare came to his face 'Won't beat me!' Jaune thought and he began to feel invigorated.
Jaune swung his sword down on Mercury, but the grey-haired teen backed up and dodged the attack. However, Mercury looked at Jaune and then saw the young blonde begin to unleash a fury of swings at him. Mercury was able to dodge them, but only barely.
'What the hell is going on with him!?' Mercury asked himself, 'His moves and skill aren't like they use to be before the attack, in fact, he's improved a bit and still is, even now! Just what the hell is going on with this guy!? It's like he growing during this fight!' Mercury asked
Mercury had enough and he kicked up and not only did he kick Jaune directly into the chest, but his boot shot off, hitting Jaune in the chest and sending the boy flying back, and the attack shattered Jaune's Aura and the impact also caused him to cough up blood. Jaune landed on his back pretty hard and when he fell, he spat out more blood.
"ACK!"
As Jaune lay on the ground of the Arena, he looked up at the ceiling and he could feel his body becoming weak and his vision became dark.
'Did... I... loose?' Jaune asked himself
As he faded out of consciousness, he could only hear his own thoughts as well as the sound of his beating heart.
Ba-dum... Ba-dum... Ba-dum... Ba-dum...
'I Feel angry yet satisfied...' Jaune said 'I... I wanted to see how far I've come and get a closer look and just how strong these guys are but... I... I wanted to also see you both again... but I... I also wanted to beat them! I wanted to kick their asses! I... I wanted to...'
However, Jaune's eyes closed as he fell unconscious.
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"How long are you going to be sleeping there?"
Jaune's eyes slowly opened and he looked up to see the bright blue sky, with only a few clouds in the air. He looked around only to see that he was lying on the grass and he could feel it underneath him. Jaune then quickly sat up only to see that he wasn't in the arena but he was at the cliffs where initiation took place.
"How did I...?" Jaune began
"Don't ask me, This was the place that your soul took us to"
'That voice...!' Jaune thought 'It can't be...!'
Jaune quickly got up and turned around only to see the last person he had ever expected to see again, especially since she was dead. His eyes widened with shock as Cinder Fall stood before him, looking the same as he remembered, however, she had a look on her face that expressed interest.
Jaune's eyes hardened and he glared at the woman, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Jaune cried
Jaune went to reach for his sword, however, Crocea Mors was not strapped to him. In fact, he realized that he wasn't wearing his armor, he only wore his shoes, jeans, gloves, and hoodie. He looked around in confusion, however, when he looked back in front of him, Cinder had gotten closer to him, looking at him as if he was some sort of phenomenon. He glared as he tried to grab her, only for her to disappear in a burst of flames before reappearing behind him. Jaune turned around her and gave her a glare and he could feel his anger boiling.
"Interesting..." She said
"I asked you a question..." Jaune began as he balled his hand into a fist, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Jaune asked again
Cinder's eyes began to glow a goldish amber color and she smiled, "Very interesting..." She said
Jaune went for a punch, but she blocked it with her hand and pushed him back as of he didn't weigh a thing.
Jaune fell to the ground on his back but quickly sat up and looked at the woman and glared. As he was looking at Cinder, he watched as she waved her hand only for a glass table to form as well as two chairs. Cinder smiled as she looked at the blonde teen with a smile.
"Please, sit," She told him "And before you ask, no, this isn't a weird dream, and yes, I am actually the Cinder Fall you've come to know," She said
Jaune got up and glared at the woman. He wanted to... he wanted to kill her any way he could, he just felt so much rage looking at her that he almost think straight. However, he wanted to know why she was here, why she was in this... Place with him. So she did as she said and he sat at the glass table across from her, still glaring at her.
"Why. Are. You. Here?" Jaune asked
Cinder smiled, "Interesting question, may I ask one?" Cinder replied, "Would you like some coffee?" She asked
"Cut it out, just answer the damn question!" Jaune asked
Cinder smiled and her eyes glowed once again, which Jaune noticed this time, she then waved her hand over the glass table and a small porcelain cup of coffee appeared right in front of her. She smiled and grabbed it and took a sip of the beverage.
"You really want to know?" Cinder asked "It might shatter the little trust you have with Ozpin as well as the rest of your oh so dearly trusted teachers," She said
"You don't think I already know Ozpin is hiding something?" Jaune asked
Cinder looked at him with a bit of a surprised look but also still held that smile on her face. "Your not as brainless as I thought you were, Arc," Cinder said
"I remember the basement and I remember the woman in the pod," Jaune told her "I also remember Ozpin kept saying something about a "Maiden", but I don't know what that means," he told her
"Good Memory," Cinder said, "but why do you think I know what it all means?" She asked
"Don't play with me!" Jaune cried "You killed the woman in the Pod and you suddenly gained some weird power! You somehow knew Ozpin would take Pyrrha there and you knew who or what the woman was and you killed her in order to get that power! You know what is going on! So answer the damn question!" Jaune cried with a glare
Jaune glared at her and her eyes glowed once more and a satisfied smile came to her lips, and Jaune once again noticed the glow in her eyes.
"Very well then," Cinder said "I will tell you all that I know but first I will be starting with how I have to be in your soul"
Jaune was a bit surprised, "Really? You'll tell me everything? Just like that?"
Cinder took a sip of her coffee and nodded
Jaune peered his eyes at the crimson-dressed woman, "Why?" Jaune asked, "What are you playing at?"
"I'm playing at nothing as if the moment, this is about survival, Arc" Cinder said "You see, I am inside your soul because it was my soul's last-ditch effort to preserve itself," Cinder said
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked
"You see, the power I took from Amber, the woman in the pod, gave me the ability to split my soul from my body," Cinder said
"But how is that possible?" Jaune asked
"You see, deep in my soul, I wanted to survive, and my soul searched for a way, it searched not only my soul but the soul of Amber and the previous Fall Maiden's and it found a way... However, what I'd didn't know was that in order for my soul to live, I needed to attach myself to someone,"
Jaune glared at her, "So you attached your soul to mine," He said, "Why me?" Jaune asked
"That I actually don't know, My soul chose you, not me," Cinder said "However, if I had to guess as to why I suppose it would be because of your incredible amount of Aura you possess,"
"How do you know about that?" Jaune asked
"Your memories, I have access to them," CInder said "I wanted to get to know more about you before I decided to actually show you myself, but it seems our souls couldn't wait to meet each other,"
"So what? We're bonded through our souls?" Jaune asked with a raised brow
Cinder nodded, "Yes, we are connected deeply from what I can tell you," She said "For example, I actually feel something akin to warmth when you are angry, and it actually gives me the power to somewhat shape this... inner world of your's," Cinder told him "However when you feel emotions like relief or joy, I grow weak,"
"So it sounds like to me is that you grow in power when I feel negative but grow weaker when I feel positive emotions," Jaune told her
Cinder nodded, "Yes, though I will admit that there may be two outcomes as to how this ends," She said
Jaune raised a brow, "What do you mean?" Jaune asked
"You see... only one soul can exist inside of a body for a certain time, the two souls will fight for dominance until one soul will become dominant,"
Jaune realized what this meant and glared, "So what your telling me is that it's possible for my soul to lose and for your soul to take over my body," Jaune asked
"Yes..." Cinder said, she then leaned in and let her head rest on her hand and gave Jaune a smile,
"What's the 2nd outcome?" Jaune asked
"We merge," Cinder said
"And what happens if we merge?" Cinder asked
"Unlike Ozpin's reincarnation cycle, I think a new person and soul will be born," Cinder said "And don't worry I'll explain that soon enough," SHe told him
Jaune nodded, "So it's possible I'm screwed either way..." Jaune said with a defeated sigh,
Cinder nodded, but then looked at the boy with pity. While she had been spending time in his soul and watching his memories and learned about his large amount of Aura which was still locked away. Locked away...
'He still hasn't unlocked his full potential!' Cinder thought
That's when a realization came to her, a revelation that filled her mind with a truly amazing plan. A plan that not only would ensure the Fall of Ozpin... but the fall of Salem as well. A plan that would help her "live" in a sense,
Cinder sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, "Though, there is a way to fix all this,"
Jaune once again looked at her with a raised brow, as he peered at Cinder, "What do you mean?" Jaune asked, "How can we fix this?" Jaune asked
"Simple... I give up and allow my soul to fade away," Cinder said
"You'd... give up?" Jaune asked, "You'd let your soul fade away and let mine be dominant?"
Cinder nodded, "Yes..." She began "but on one condition,"
Jaune peered at her, "And what is that?" Jaune asked
Cinder took another sip of her coffee and then set it down and looked at the blonde teen, giving him a wicked smile...
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Ilia watched over her new leader as he rested on the couch in their room, still unconscious from his fight with the one known as Mercury. Oddly enough, it was the boy who offered to carry Jaune back to the room and let him rest.
"How's he doing?"
Ilia turned around only to see Mercury standing a few feet away from her, a few bruises were still present as his Aura hadn't completely healed him yet, and he was wearing his pants, but his jacket was absent, leaving him with just a white short-sleeved shirt on.
"He's still breathing," Ilia told Mercury "But he's been fidgeting a few times as if he's having a bad dream," Ilia said
Mercury nodded, "Good because he better heal soon... I want a rematch," Mercury said with a smile,
Ilia looked at him with an annoyed look, "A rematch? Is that all you really care about?" Ilia asked him
Mercury shook his head, "Nah, but it's the most important right now," Mercury said with a smile, "After all, Shaggy here got's some guts!" Mercury chuckled
Ilai was surprised by his demeanor, "Why... Why do you seem to like him now?"
Mercury looked at Ilia with a smile, "Because he went beyond my expectations," Mercury said, "I only knew him as the weakest student here at Beacon, and I also thought he was a wimp with how he couldn't even stand up to that Schnee chick and I thought he also his behind his team..." Mercury said
"But?" Ilia asked
"But this guy really showed he wasn't anything like that," Mercury said "He's got the courage, the skill, and the freaking will to fight his own battles, after all, he almost gave me a run for his money, and that's not something most can do,"
Ilia raised a brow as she looked at him, "Why do you say that?"
Mercury looked at her and he put his head down a little and his smile faded away, "... I was raised to kill since I was able to actually fight,"
"When was that?" Ilia asked
"Since I was 7," Mercury replied
Ilia could tell it was a sore subject for him and felt a little saddened, "I'm sorry..." Ilia said "It must have been a hard childhood," She said
Mercury chuckled a little, "Hard doesn't even begin to describe it," he said
Ilia nodded, agreeing that he must have had a hard life, maybe even harder than hers. She looked back to Jaune and saw his sleeping form and a worried expression came to his face.
"Mercury... would you say you've come to respect Jaune?" Ilia asked
Mercury looked at her and then to his unconscious leader and a smug smile came to his face, "I guess you could say that," he replied, "Why you askin'?"
Ilia thought deeply about if she should tell Mercury what she discovered about the deal Jaune had made that involved his own life. While she had no right to tell him what she had found out, she believe that he had a right to know about the deal Jaune had made with The High Court of Vale.
Ilia turned to him and looked at him as he looked back, "Mercury... there's something that I think-"
"Ugh... my head!"
Ilia and Mercury quickly turned around and looked to the couch as Jaune sat up and rubbed his head.
"Jaune!" Ilia cried out "Thank goodness your finally awake!" She said
"Y-Yeah," Jaune said "Where are we?" He asked
"Back in our room, oh so Fearless leader!" Mercury said with a smug smile
Jaune looked up at the grey-haired teen, sighed, and gave him a soft smile, "I'll give you this Mercury, You hit hard,"
Mercury rolled his eyes still with a smug smile on his face, "Tell me something I don't know Arc," Mercury replied
"But you still got a long away to go before you knock me out," Jaune said with a smile, "Pretty sure I would have won that fight if I trained a little better,"
Mercury gave Jaune a half-hearted glare, "You just got lucky Arc, when your fully healed, I want a rematch!" Mercury said
Jaune chuckled weakly but still held his smile, "Right, no problem," Jaune said
Mercury smiled and gave Jaune a quick nod before leaving the living room and heading into the kitchen.
Ilia smiled and turned to look at Jaune, "I think he's beginning to like you," Ilia said with a small smile
"You think?" Jaune asked with a raised brow and a smile
Ilia nodded with a smile.
Jaune's smile widened a little, "Anyway, how long was I out?" Jaune asked
"An hour," Ilia told him
"Not so bad," He said "Where's Neo and Emerald?"
"Just went to go get food from the cafeteria," Ilia told him
"And what have you and Mercury been doing while I was out?" Jaune asked
"Mercury's taking it easy, for now, still healing from your fight with him," Ilia said "I've just been making sure you don't die in your sleep,"
Jaune chuckled, "Hahaha, Thanks," He said
Ilia nodded, "Well I felt it was my duty, after all, I know why you did it," Ilia told him
Jaune looked at her with a surprised look, "You do?" Jaune asked
Ilia nodded, "Many in the Fang do the same when they want to earn respect amongst their peers, however, I also think you had another reason for fighting Mercury,"
Jaune put his head down, "Yeah..." Jaune began "I... I wanted to know just how strong he was, I was going to do that with the rest of you but I can wait till tomorrow,"
Ilia sighed, "Please don't tell me you plan on fighting tomorrow," She said
Jaune shook his head and smiled, "No, No, I won't" Jaune said "I'll just see how you four can fight while you face each other, after all, I gotta know my new team is lacking to make sure we can fi it and come back alive from a mission," Jaune said
"Understandable," Ilia said, she then remembered something she heard Emerald and Mercury mention the night before, "Jaune... where is your old team?" Ilia asked
Jaune froze when he heard the question and he kept looking down. "Two of them are... gone," Jaune said
Realizing she hit a sore subject "Ah... I-I'm sorry," Ilia said
"It's not your fault," Jaune said
"Still... I know what it's like to lose people close to you," She said as she looked down
Jaune nodded, "Yeah... I-I know..." Jaune said
Ilia then looked back up to him, "What about your partner?" she asked
"She's... she's alive but she's not here at Beacon anymore," Jaune said
Ilia felt terrible to hear this news, He lost two teammates during the Fall no doubt and his partner abandoned him when he know doubt needed her the most, whoever she was. She couldn't help but feel more sorry for Jaune. He has been through so much since the Fall and he now was risking his life for them.
"Jaune, can I tell you something?" She asked
Jaune looked at her and nodded, "Sure, what's up?" He asked
"Why... why did you agree to lead us?" Ilia asked
Jaune looked at her and quickly realized that when she spoke to Ozpin, he must have informed her about everything.
"Well... because it was the right thing to do," Jaune said "I'm sure you know everything, right?" He asked
Ilia nodded.
"Well... when Ozpin gave me your files on everything they could find about you four, I realized that none of you were truly evil or whatever... you were just misguided," Jaune said "None of you had a chance to live as you wanted, none of you had the chance to see the good, you were only shown the worse of what humans were capable of... and that's when I knew that I wanted to help you, to show you the there is good in this world, but..."
"But?" Ilia asked
Jaune sighed, "But with what I've come to learn, I've started to doubt that I could do that," Jaune said "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop trying to help you four, I want to put you all on the right path and be the best leader I can... I know I'm the not most ideal leader, but I promise to do my best for you four," He said
Ilia smiled, "I think that you're the best leader we could have got," She said "I had a lot of time to think, and If it wasn't for someone like you, someone who was willing to risk everything in order to help people like us, I don't think I would have realized that there are some humans who are kind,"
Jaune looked at her with a smile, "Really? I-I was able to help you realize that?"
"Well, not just you... but I think if I hadn't learned about your sacrifices for us, I would have still been trying to kill you," Ilia said with a chuckle
Jaune chuckled nervously, "Your joking right?"
Ilia just kept smiling s she got up to her feet and walked back to her room, leaving Jaune alone in the Living room.
Jaune was a bit surprised and still nervous about her... joke? But he just let it slide. After all, he had a much bigger problem to worry about now, he thought back to his conversation with Cinder and her one condition to let him keep his body.
'Keep your end of the deal Cinder... because I'll be keeping the end of mine...' Jaune thought
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Tyrian was perched in a tree in the countryside of Vale, waiting for the Rain where he was to let up so he could continue to make his way to the city and find out where Cinder's little pawns were.
'OOOOOH! I just can't wait! I just can't wait! kill Cinder's little pawns and make sure they don't spill my dear lady's plans! And I will be rewarded! I just know it! OHOHOHOH!' Tyrian thought to himself 'Just one more day! one more glorious day and I will be in the city!'
GROWL
Tyrian was taken out of his thought as he looked down only to see a whole pack of Beowulfs surrounding him. He smiled as his golden eyes turned purple and the biggest smile came to his lips.
"Do the little doggies wanna play~?" he asked
Tyrian then stood up straight and then stepped off the branch and landed on the ground. The Beowulfs closed in as they growled and looked at eh the Faunus with hunger.
"Then let's play~!" Tyrian said in a giggling cheerful tone
Lightning crackled as Tyrian slashed and killed the Beowulfs as they charged at him.
None of the pack survived that night.
And the Scorpian Faunus didn't even break a sweat.
Tyrian Callows was no doubt closing in on his prey, and the prey was very, very, unprepared for the danger they were about to face...
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Jaune's just making a bunch of deals huh?
But the question now is, what was the deal he made with the High Court of Vale and with Cinder? Is Cinder really in Jaune's soul? Does Jaune know the truth of Ozpin's plans? Can JEMNI stand against Tyrian Callows?
You'll just have to wait till the net chapter!