Chapter 11

Jaune heaved in a deep breath, his left hand shooting out of the bedsheets, reaching out for the hilt of a blade. Instead, his hand impacted the wall of the room, aura flickering up to protect his fingers from the pain of slamming them into the thick steel.

He flicked his eyes across their quarters, looking for the attack that he knew was coming for him. Instead, his eyes drank in the bare metal walls and the thin bunk beds welded to the floor across from him. He felt his empty stomach churn at the gentle swaying and he grimaced as he clenched down on that feeling.

Blue eyes settled on the still sleeping figure of Ren, his combat clothes stained red and purple from their mad dash across the city. Ren had initially been carrying Nora, with Jaune and Pyrrha barely able to keep pace with Qrow as he had defended them from the Grimm. That had changed when Ren tripped, nearly dropping the unconscious Nora. She had only managed to be saved by Qrow catching her, and demanding that they keep going.

Things had been easier when Ren had managed to help the Huntsman cut down the grimm in their path, even if Qrow was forced to fight one handed, with Nora slung over the other shoulder.

Luckily, it seemed like Nora wasn't doing poorly as a result of her rough treatment. Her skin was no longer so pale, and her breathing had evened out into a softer and more relaxed cadence.

He breathed in, allowing himself to gather up all the tension from his body before expelling it out with an exhale. Nora was going to be fine. He hadn't… no. He wouldn't have failed her here regardless.

Logically, he knew that he had done his best. Jaune knew Ren was right when he had said that Jaune wasn't at fault.

It didn't feel like that however. There was this part of him now that told him that he would fail, that someone would die, and that would be on him. It was without reason, just a small piece of himself that told him he wasn't good enough. That he never would be.

Jaune placed his bare feet against the cold metal and stood up. He wasn't going to go back to sleep, so he might as well clear his head. He hadn't had a change of clothes, and the ship was cold, so he had chosen to roll into bed with his Jeans and T-shirt. He grimaced as he put his socks back on, and then put on his shoes trying to ignore the uncomfortable texture. Now dressed, he moved over to his armor.

He had left the armor haphazardly laying across a bench. He had been tired enough that he had apparently not noticed his scroll lying amongst it when removing it. He pressed the power button, grimacing at the amount of missed calls and texts. Apparently, Saph had decided to inform the rest of the family exactly what he had been doing since he left Ansel. He honestly wasn't surprised.

He briefly scrolled through the messages, and there were a number from everyone. Mom had even attached a short video that began to play silently as he scrolled past it. He stopped his scrolling just in time for him to notice how familiar the area looked. The video was only in black and white, but he could see a few festival stalls lined up across from the camera, with several familiar figures struggling to get up among the ruins of a game stand.

He watched as Ren helped him to his feet, and Nora wobbled as she regained her bearings after being launched. Jaune cursed his luck that some way, somehow, his mother had seen him being knocked around. There was no lying or downplaying his way around that.

He closed his scroll. He could deal with the consequences of that later. He slipped his arm into his wrist guard, and secured his scroll into it. Finally, he picked up Crocea Mors, and secured it to his waist with a satisfying click of metal on metal. He wasn't expecting to fight, but he was as good as useless without his sword.

With everything in order, he made his way to the door, giving the room a quick scan of the room as he was about to leave. Nothing looked out of place, but he felt something was missing… Ren had laid out all of their weapons and armor across the various surfaces. Stormflower were both resting on Ren's unused bed, alongside a single knife he had occasionally seen Ren pull from a simple leather guard. He hadn't ever used it, in combat class or otherwise, but he cared for it as meticulously as his own weapons. Next to them Magnhild lay in its grenade launcher form, all of the shells having been removed from the revolving chamber.

The golden shield and sword of his partner was missing however. Even the bunk that Ren and Jaune had set aside for her remained just as they had left it. That was weird. Pyrrha hadn't been fond of remaking her bed at Beacon, doing the bare minimum to toss the covers back in a semblance of order. Jaune doubted that wouldn't be true here.

He checked his scroll one more time, looking for a message from his wayward partner. He hadn't received one, but he had received one from Yang saying that Pyrrha was bunking in their room.

Jaune felt a moment of relief. He had no idea what he would have done if Pyrrha had just vanished. Jaune let himself relax as he quietly slipped out of the room, leaving Ren and Nora to have a bit more sleep.

Jaune's shoes softly tapped across the metal floor as he made for the open air at the end of the corridor. He tried stretching as he passed through the interior corridor, but felt himself stop as a foreign feeling ran through him.

Slowly, Jaune slowed his pace and lowered his arms, his right hand settling on the familiar pommel of Croceca Mors. He turned, allowing his chest to face perpendicular to the hallway, his right side hidden from sight. His blue eyes met a pair of brown ones, and Jaune relaxed.

"Hey. Do you need anything?"

The woman was small, only a bit taller than Weiss. Her clothes were stained in soot and there was a tear in the left side of the blouse. Her eyes widened as she realized he had turned around, and she ducked back into one of the nearby rooms.

"That's a no then. Okay?"

Jaune tried to justify the unusual behavior, but he came up blank. He shrugged, content to let the mystery go unsolved. He continued on his way, reaching the stairs and opening the door. As soon as he opened it, the salty air assaulted his nose, and ruffled his hair.

His stomach lightly protested as he made his way to the nearest railing, the gentle swaying of the ship more noticeable now that he stood on the edge of the ship. He ignored it, focusing on the early morning breeze and the slowly rising sun on the horizon.

It wasn't the first time this week he had seen a sunrise, but it hadn't lost its beauty. The early morning rays glistened off the water, and Jaune let his mind wander across the horizon and towards the city that he had left to burn behind them.

Jaune sighed heavily, letting his weight press against the railing, and he stood there musing, letting his thoughts drift from memory to memory. He was only broken out of his thoughts at the familiar sound of heels approaching.

"Arc. You're up early."

Weiss looked awful, the discoloration beneath her eyes, and the slight fumble as she walked painted a clear portrait of a woman exhausted. He was surprised that she was still on her feet all things considered. She had looked rough last night, but she hadn't looked strained or worn down in the same way she was now.

Still, given how exhausted he was after his own rest, he probably only looked marginally better. He certainly didn't smell any better. Running through a burning city had left him smelling of smoke and sweat, and he couldn't tell where his stink ended and Weiss' own odor began.

Honestly, if he thought he wouldn't be left adrift in the middle of a grimm infested gulf, he would be half tempted to dive head first into the water to wash himself off.

"Yeah… I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. You?"

Weiss nodded, allowing herself to practically collapse on the railing beside him.

"I also woke up. I figured that I may as well do something rather than lay around."

Jaune hummed, letting the statement roll through his thoughts. He felt his eyes go to his former crush, his eyes roaming over her one more time. She looked worse than she did after any of her spars at Beacon, and she had been one of the first opponents that Pyrrha had faced in the ring.

"Any reason you aren't still sleeping? Honestly Weiss, you look like you're ready to collapse."

Weiss leveled her eyes at him, and Jaune would have been intimidated if she didn't look like she was one light tap from being unable to stand up.

"I would, but I found that my bed is playing host to a redhead, and the benches on the ship are only so comfortable. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Jaune sighed as he got confirmation of Pyrrha's collapse in RWBY's room. At least he didn't have to worry about his missing partner.

"Sorry about her. I don't know if she had a choice in the matter. Yang and Ruby were pretty insistent last night."

The glare lessened as Weiss seemed to look beyond Jaune, entering a world of her own for a moment.

"It's not your place to apologize for your partner, and even if it was, you wouldn't need to. My teammates were excited last night, and for good reason. I won't blame them for kidnapping your partner."

Weiss smiled wistfully, basking in the morning light, occupying herself with some thought in her sleep added mind. Jaune nodded, content to let that matter lie until he heard the warning sounds of a scroll. His hand fell to his own scroll, but it remained silent upon his wrist.

It was only when he heard the noise grow louder that he turned back towards the Heiress that he saw she had pulled her own scroll from her pocket.

"Damn. Low Aura again."

"You have low Aura? How?"

Weiss flinched, her eyes flicking back up towards him in surprise, as if for a moment she had forgotten he was present. To be fair, based on how drained she looked, she likely had forgotten he was still present. Weiss stood completely silent for a moment, judging Jaune for some unknown criteria.

Finally, he must have passed, because slowly, she let her shoulders droop and she looked back out across the water.

"Knight's utilizing my aura to recharge himself. That's why I was in the infirmary before."

Jaune nodded slowly, as a number of pieces fell into place. Weiss had been drained when summoning her servant, however she had done it, and she probably wasn't expecting to summon a servant in the middle of Beacon. It even lined up with the time Pyrrha started going off to meet the faculty.

Still that brought up another question.

"Is that the case for all servants, because it shows Pyrrha's aura as fine."

To prove a point, he flicked open his scroll, showing three green aura meters, with the only one being in the red being Nora's, and even then it looked like it was slowly recharging. Sure, he was still recharging, with a good ten percent off from being full, but he was good to fight if there was a Grimm attack.

"One moment Arc."

Weiss held up her hand, and her mouth seemed to twitch as her lips seemed to sound out a few words. Did she have a mental connection to her Servant? Was that the case for all servants, or was that something unique to the armored knight?

If it wasn't, it did explain why Pyrrha was kept in RWBY's room overnight. It was the first time the sisters had been able to communicate with their mother in who knows how long. He didn't want to imagine how awkward that conversation was for Pyrrha, playing telephone between a long lost mother and her two daughters.

Weiss nodded, and Jaune refocused his attention onto his white haired classmate.

"Knight says it's because of how he is only receiving enough magic to sustain himself, and not enough mana to convert into aura. He is compensating by pulling aura directly from my reserves to fill his."

Knight wasn't being supplied magic, so he was pulling aura. That made sense. Lancer on the other hand wasn't pulling aura even if she seemed so much weaker than Knight? Jaune had seen Knight trailing aura, shedding rusty bronze light with every step. Was this technique the difference between them? Was Lancer going to start pulling aura from Pyrrha too?

"Uh, so then is Pyrrha…"

Weiss shook her head.

"He's telling me that you need a certain level of aura manipulation to do this, and even more if you don't want to drain away someone's aura entirely. Honestly, I'm rather lucky that Knight is as skilled in it as he is."

Jaune nodded, the image of Weiss laid out in the middle of a training ring flickered through his mind. Yes, it was extremely lucky that Weiss had summoned Knight of all servants. If they hadn't had the control to stop draining her… if they had burned through both Weiss and his own aura…

Jaune jerked up, looking at his own hands in realization. He was stupid not to realize it before now, but he could solve that problem.

"I can help with that, if you want."

"Help with what Arc? Unless you can literally donate me aura, there's no way-"

Jaune brought up a hand, offering it to Weiss aura dimly glowing across his bare palm.

"There's an aura technique that can transfer aura. I can do it. I did it before, in the training room."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at him in skepticism, and Jaune winced at the lack of faith. Sure, he had been a bit overzealous towards the Heiress at the start of the semester. They were still awkward even after that fact. Still, he wasn't lying, and the fact that she was practically announcing that she was looking for any deceptions hurt more than it should.

"I haven't heard of any aura technique like that before."

Jaune nodded, for once being on the side of knowing something that Weiss didn't.

"Neither did Ren, but I used it to help Nora. You can ask him about it if you don't believe me."

Weiss shook her head.

"No. I'll believe you Arc. You may be incompetent, oblivious, and a fool, but you are no liar."

Jaune almost wanted to disagree on principle. He wasn't that bad… well, not anymore… kinda…

Weiss extended her palms, placing them on his own. Jaune centered himself, breathing in a deep breath, before pushing his aura into Weiss with the exhale.

Qrow couldn't say he was surprised when his avian form was pinned down by a pair of azure eyes surrounded by a rusted helmet. Lancer had already known about his little magic trick back when he was still just learning how to fly. She had been there at every step to see him progress from unable to fly straight to being a confident flier, and now back to being unable to fly straight again.

Well, he was still able to fly straight while he was sober. The fact that he rarely was these days didn't change the fact that he could.

Saber and he hadn't really interacted with each other. Sure, the servant hadn't looked surprised when he had seen Qrow transform, but he hadn't paid Qrow any special attention before that. Qrow now wondered if that was because Ozpin had told him ahead of time that they were allies or if the servant had just hadn't bothered.

The fact that Berserker had appeared out of thin air only to remain stationary locked onto Qrow meant that Saber likely knew that Qrow wasn't an ordinary bird.

"If you would transform back, I'd like a word."

The servant's voice was calm and relaxed, without any of the focused and clipped tones from their first meeting nor the madness of the animalistic howls when the servant had tossed aside his sanity for battle. It served to unsettle Qrow how abrupt that change had been, and he pushed down the urge to hop away from the feral servant before him.

Slowly, he nodded his head, making clear that he was complying with the servant, before he let go of his magic. Instantly, the cage that kept his form condensed into a crow disappeared, and his body shifted, black feathers, claws, and beak replaced with hands, feet, and teeth of a much larger stretched his hands above his arms, allowing himself to remove a crick in his back that had been killing him for hours.

The servant of madness did not seem phased by the transformation. He didn't really seem like he felt anything at all to be honest. Qrow had felt the power of Berserker's aura, and for a servant with so much aura whose whole gimmick was harnessing the power of negativity, he didn't feel it. Sure, he was no Oz and certainly not a Grimm, but he could still sense negative emotions bleeding off the aura of signal brats with less aura in their bodies than Knight had in his index.

Ruby was a beacon of negativity compared to this guy, and Qrow wondered if there was some sort of emotional control skill that allowed Berserker to be so emotionless.

"Berserker. Ya need somethin'?"

"I'm not actually the Berserker servant."

Qrow blinked, confused at the statement.

"You aren't?"

"No, I am not."

Qrow looked around for a moment, as if expecting either of his nieces to be recording this. Unfortunately for his current theory, he didn't see hide nor hair of the girls, and his hopes of this being a prank plummeted.

"So, you introduced yourself as Berserker because…"

Qrow was surprised when Knight's response was immediate.

"Salem and her mini-maiden will think I am, and I didn't want them to think otherwise."

That… made a lot of sense actually. Next time they fought, Salem and her minions would expect a rampaging mindless man whose lack of critical thinking skills could be exploited. If the servant in front of him was as good as their word, and actually wasn't Berserker, it would make the rematch fight against the servants that much easier for Lancer and… Uh.

"Okay, so you aren't Berserker. What should I call you then? I know you aren't a Lancer or a Saber."

The armored servant narrowed his eyes at Qrow's probe. To be fair to himself, Qrow wasn't exactly sure what classes there were. Sure, he remembered that there were seven, and he remembered Saber and Lancer because they were on his side. Hell, he also knew there was an Assassin Class servant, that one thin looking figure working for Salem. Just because he knew what the servant wasn't, didn't mean he knew what the other servant classes were and which ones the armored man could be.

"Knight will do. Best not to make a habit of calling me by my class."

So, not really going with a class name. Still, Qrow thought had figured out a few things.

"Knight, huh? Like the Rusted Knight from that one fairytale?"

"I am not referring to the time of day when the sun isn't up."

Qrow let out a humorless laugh. Sure, he thought he had nailed down who Knight was, but then again, Salem probably thought she had nailed down who the Berserker was. Without a confirmation, his theory was just that, a theory.

"Of course not. So, any reason you're talking to me instead of hovering around the Ice Queen?"

Knight nodded, before taking a step forward, and Qrow felt that overwhelming presence again. His nose burned at the acrid smell of rusted iron, even as Knight stepped into his personal space.

"I'm here to deliver a warning, before we have a fatal misunderstanding."

Qrow found his throat dry as he lifted his own aura up to cover himself, protecting his vitals from a frontal attack that could come in the blink of an eye from an enraged servant.

"I was summoned by Weiss, and should she perish, I will die with her. I will not be taking up another master. Not your niece. Not the maiden. Not you, nor the magical parasite."

Knight seemed to tower over Qrow, even as their eyes were about level. Logically, Qrow knew Knight wasn't any different now than he was only a minute ago. That didn't mean he wasn't more scared of Knight than he was of who he thought Berserker was.

Berserker was a powerful mindless beast that he would only have to interact with through the ice queen. Knight was a cold and calculating man, who deceived his allies and enemies alike to gain an advantage, and explained the consequences of betrayal long before the thought crossed anyone else's mind.

"If you injure her, or place her in more danger than she is in the assumption that I will join you if she dies, you will make an enemy of me. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

And it was perfectly clear. It was clear that Knight was no Berserker. Qrow refused to imagine any Berserker as so meticulous or well thought out when it came to preemptive warnings. Threatening enemies or unaffiliated parties, that made sense. Threatening allies? That was a whole different level to paranoia.

"Good. As long as we keep that in mind, I don't think we will have any problems."

With a breath, Knight stepped away, his aura receding back with him, leaving only memories of its weight that left Qrow's knees trembling.

"I should go. My master has been asking me questions, and I think I should…"

Qrow felt panic as Knight's eyes widened and the man's armored glove fell to his belt, even as Qrow didn't feel a single ounce of emotion leaking from the aura diffusing the air.

"No…"

In a shower of blue motes, Knight vanished into thin air, and Qrow felt the servant's overpowering aura vanish. With it gone, Qrow found himself gripping a nearby railing. His heart was beating too fast, and he felt as if he had run a marathon.

Hell, he had run a marathon, even if it was hours ago. He was too young to have heart attacks, and he was too tired and too sober to deal with this shit. The only reason he wasn't both right now was because the ship was liable to run into a kaiju sized Grimm the second he laid his head down. At least he wouldn't have to be so guarded for that much longer.

In the morning light, he had enough light to finally see through the mist and spot their destination.

Patch.

Qrow smiled, as he tried to keep his legs from shaking. As long as he didn't have another confrontation with a servant, he could hold out until the ship docked.

Weiss sighed in relief as she felt Jaune soothe her battered aura, his own aura melding with her. It had a foreign feeling, and she could feel the warmth and smell of a hearth, of the smokeless burning of wood and she could almost hear the light laughter of a family in the distance.

There was still that constant drain, the bond between herself and her heroic spirit that was slowly but steadily draining her of aura. Now however, with Jaune's aura flowing into her, she could feel that hunger retreat, with Jaune directly pumping his aura to fill that gaping void.

The feeling was nice and slowly, Weiss felt herself relax.

The respite was short lived, just as soon as she had let herself begin to truly let herself settle to listen to the quiet laughter and feel the warmth of the cozy fire, she felt something shift. The laughter seemed a bit further away, the fire a bit colder, all of it muted by a cold sharp intruder slowly making itself known.

It wasn't uncomfortable. It was solid, dependable, as strong and dependable as Myrtanaster, but as soon as Weiss tried to feel it more closely, the connection broke.

There was no fire, nor quiet conversation. Instead

She was back on the boat, the scent of saltwater filling her nostrils and the light rocking of the waves beneath them.

"What the…"

Weiss was shocked as she reexamined her surroundings, making sure that she was in fact standing on the ship she had been on less than a minute ago. She flexed her aura, checking that it was in fact stronger than it had been a mere moment ago, and smiled.

Her eyes finally met Jaune. The boy was pale and sweat ran down his face, his hand clasped firmly on the railing behind him. His eyes were unfocused, and his breaths were ragged and uneven.

"Jaune?"

Ruby's friend was unresponsive, even as Weiss approached him. He hadn't mentioned that his aura transfer was such a strain, and Weiss would've waited until there was somebody to at least watch them. At least he hadn't fallen overboard while he overexerted himself.

"Jaune, is everything okay? Do you need anything?"

Weiss strode up to the man, lifting her hand to place it onto his forehead. She had expected him to wave it off, maybe even fall back onto those horrid pickup attempts. She didn't expect his fingers to wrap around her wrist. She was yanked up with strength she hadn't expected from the weakest student of Beacon. With only his right hand, he lifted her up even as his open hand bore straight towards her undefended stomach.

"Wh-

Weiss didn't even have the time to flinch before Jaune's fist impacted against the armored chestpiece of Knight, his armored figure blocking Weiss' vision. She could feel the grip with which she was hoisted clench, and Weiss couldn't stop the bark of pain from escaping her lips.

"Ah. Ouch. What in the brothers name is this for?"

Jaune's hold on her wrist didn't loosen, still managing to hold her with one hand, even as his arm reached over Knight's shoulder. There was an animal guttural snarl that she barely believed was human, that mirrored Knight's battle last night against the two enemy servants.

"Let's all take a step back. Nobody is in any danger. We're all on the same side."

Knight's voice cut through the growl, and Weiss was surprised at the calming tenor of his voice. The animalistic growling lessened, and as if faded, so did Jaune's grip on Weiss.

"I… ah… s-sorry?"

Slowly, Jaune lowered Weiss, before letting go. He took a step back, and Knight did as well pressing his armored body into Weiss.

"Sorry? How about instead of an apology you-"

"Weiss."

Knight's tone was quiet but firm, cutting through the start of her buildup. It was harsher than she expected, especially towards her. She had been in the room when he had put this clipped tone of reprimand during the very start of the battle last night, but that tone hadn't been directed at her at the time.

Slowly, Knight raised his hands into the air in a placating manner towards Jaune, slowly stepping away from Weiss to reveal his figure.

Jaune was still as sickly looking as he had been a moment ago, but where there were once unfocused glassy eyes, now there was laser focus. An unnatural intensity burned in Jaune's eyes, as he watched Knight with dedicated focus, even as he struggled to breathe. He shook with every rasp and gasp of air, and Weiss couldn't move. She could only observe the pitiful wreck he had turned himself into for her benefit.

"Let's just take a second to breathe. Nobody's here to hurt anyone."

Weiss felt shame pool in her stomach as Knight continued to try and calm Jaune down. She should have waited. She really should have waited on this aura transfusion. She could have dealt with the exhaustion for a little while longer before asking Jaune to do something he had likely only learned recently, and without any supervision.

"You need to calm down. You're experiencing a panic attack. Can you follow my breathing?"

Jaune shook his head in a jerky motion before aborting it. Instead, his voice came out in a paper dry rasp.

"-can't… see-"

"That's fine. It's perfectly understandable. Just give me a moment. I'm just going to take off my helmet."

With slow movements so as not to startle Jaune, Knight placed his hands on either side of his helmet and lifted it up to reveal his face.

The first thought that Weiss processed was the fact that Knight looked… mature. It was clear that he was a man who put very little thought into how he looked, and yet still managed to look good. His long blonde hair was tied into a very simple ponytail, tied back with a strip of red fabric. Long bangs shrouded the edges of his worn face, with streaks of white showing how much stress the man had lived through. His beard was free of the white, although it was as messy and unkempt as the rest of him. His most distinguishing feature however was his eyes, a deep cerulean that was worried, but not panicked as he placed his helmet onto the ground.

His face was familiar, in a way that Weiss hadn't expected it to be, and she turned towards Jaune, trying to compare him to his older and more worn counterpart.

"Dad?"

Weiss could feel emotions roll across the bond between them, all of them complex and all of them banished before Weiss could get a chance to identify them. Knight breathed in a steadying breath, before shaking his head in the negative.

"Still just me. Now follow my lead."

Knight breathed in, raising his hands with the movement. When he breathed out, his hands lowered accordingly. Slowly, Jaune managed to follow, matching his breathing to Knight's more sedate pace. When he was more calm, Knight began to gently ask Jaune questions about mundane things… the things he had for lunch yesterday, the color of his bedsheets, the feel of the ground beneath him.

Knight was in control of the situation, and Weiss let some of the guilt go. She couldn't have known, so she shouldn't beat herself up over this. She would be better in the future, and take her time with her decisions, so that Knight didn't have to step in.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Jaune gave her servant a shaky smile. She could tell that it wasn't really genuine, but it was enough for now.

"It's fine. I get them all the time, and I've learned how to deal with them. It's no surprise you picked those up from me."

Weiss nodded for a second before the meaning of those words registered, and her eyes turned towards her servant. Apparently she wasn't the only one. Jaune was gaping at the elder man, his breathing returning to an irregular pattern.

It was Weiss who was able to get their mouth under control first.

"Picked that up? Like you mean-"

Knight raised his hand in a stop motion before going back to the same breathing pattern he had before, running Jaune through another two breaths of breathing control.

"What I mean is that I felt something reach for my saint graph. While Jaune here was giving his aura to you, a little bit of my soul touched his back."

Weiss had gotten quite good at rolling with the punches, or at least she thought she had. Sure, she was expecting Knight to say that he was one of Jaune's ancestors. She was even prepared for some more convoluted explanation like Jaune's son was pulled from the future, or that he had passed some magic from Arc male to Arc male, like the maidens.

Weiss found herself not prepared for the implications of literal soul manipulation. Surprisingly, Jaune was quicker on the uptake.

"A little bit of your soul? How the hell does that work?"

Knight rolled his eyes, as if he hadn't declared that Jaune had been reaching around his very soul and that he had taken something from it.

"It means exactly that. Aura is the energy of the soul, and Heroic spirits are practically souls contained and bound here through magic. What do you think happens when someone with a semblance that can directly pour his own spirit into us gets thrown into the mix?"

Weiss had no idea. If Knight was just an aura construct held together with magic, and something messed with his aura…

"So what? I'm picking up things from you?"

Knight nodded at Jaune.

"It's a little more nuanced than that. The technical term is called Soul Resonance. It's a phenomenon where two near identical souls begin to bleed into each other, until there are two indistinguishable souls."

Weiss had her thoughts spiraling. The merging of two souls was a thing apparently, and obviously common enough to have a terminology dedicated to naming it. There were so many questions to ask. What would happen if Knight's muscle memories were mixed with Jaune's lackluster fighting, or even worse. Could messing with Knight's soul destabilize him, and cause him to completely disappear?

That wasn't even considering things from Jaune's perspective. Would Knight be as friendly with Ruby or to JNPR as Jaune himself? Would the two of them be forced to be someone familiar but not at the same time? Then another worrying question popped into her head, one that she let herself vocalize.

"How close do two souls have to be to do this soul resonance?"

Knight shrugged with a nonchalance that showed how her servant had mastered his body language, and even his own emotional control, but not his face. His brows furrowing in thought gave his true thoughts away.

"There really isn't a good metric for that sort of stuff, but there has to be quite a number of similarities. Goals, dreams, personality traits, experiences; Most or all of these need to have some similarity. In this case, sharing blood doesn't hurt either."

Jaune looked up at Knight, studying his face closely with a reverent look, as if the hero from his bedtime stories turned out to be his uncle all along. Honestly, it seemed that it wasn't that far removed from the truth.

"You're an Arc?"

Weiss smirked in victory at her theory that nothing could not be made more complicated being proven correct. Knight on the other hand resisted a wince at the question, but managed to maintain his composure. Weiss wasn't confident that Jaune noticed, but she had tutors teach her how to pick people apart in this way. Given his reaction, she doubted that Knight and his family had departed on the best terms.

"I used to be. Still, I think we should focus on the thing that caused you to have a panic attack."

Weiss couldn't help but notice the deflection into a topic that would get the focus back onto Jaune and away from his past. She wasn't surprised when it worked.

"It wasn't a panic attack. I was just startled. I'm fine now?"

"Given that I had to deal with panic attacks while I was alive, and you pulled that one from me, I think I'll stick to my assessment."

"Jerk."

Knight raised an eyebrow, first at Jaune, and then turning to face Weiss herself, a tendril of annoyance poking at Weiss across their bond. Weiss rolled her eyes before stepping back into the conversation. Let nobody say she wasn't willing to pay her servant back by pulling him from a conversation he didn't want to have.

"Enough Arc. I understand this situation is stressful, but there is no need to lash out."

Jaune looked ready to protest, before cutting himself off. He scratched at the beach of his head sheepishly, and rested his weight against the railings behind him. With one blonde dealt with, Weiss turned back to her servant, an amused look passing across his face.

"Knight, is there no way to undo the damage?"

The amusement died on Knight's face, as he shook his head.

"No. There's no undoing this, just living with the consequences. I'd be surprised if after this he doesn't start picking up some of my habits."

"Such as?"

Knight's eyes flicked from Weiss towards Jaune, before raising his hands in a mock surrender.

"No clue. I've gotten this far off second-hand knowledge from the throne. I don't have the foggiest idea."

Knight smiled helplessly down on her, as he protested that he hadn't the answers. He ran his hand into the back of his hair, before catching himself in the act, freezing. Weiss tried to ignore the blank expression that crossed Knight's face as he looked down and away. Instead she turned to Jaune.

"Jaune, do you have any idea?"

Jaune paused, crossing his arms as he took up a thoughtful expression. Slowly, his eyes turned towards the horizon.

"Do you get up early? Like, the crack of dawn early?"

Knight nodded, his helmet now in his hands, picked up from where he had set it down on the ground.

"I did when I was alive. I liked to see the sunrise. It was a little moment of peace to start my day."

Knight's face took on a nostalgic look, as he gazed across the water to the now rising sun. There was a hint of melancholy that Weiss could feel from their connection, alongside a slew of other complicated and mixed emotions.

Jaune nodded, turning back to Weiss.

"Then, yeah. I've been waking up pretty early every morning ever since the Vytal Festival."

Knight remained facing the sun, his elbows now propped against the railing, looking out across the water, helmet still clasped between his hands. Weiss crossed the small distance, placing herself between them on the railing, so that all three of them looked out towards the horizon.

"I'm sure. I doubt it's the only thing you picked up. Any memories? Weapon skills? Any new tactics or nervous tics that you've noticed?"

Jaune was silent for a moment, as he thought over Knight's question.

"I have."

Knight pulled all of his emotions away, and Weiss didn't want to turn her head to see Knight's expression. Still, she imagined that his face wasn't a happy one. Slowly, Knight placed his helm back on his head.

"I see. Since this is the second time, I have no doubts that this time you'll find yourself with more of everything."

Jaune nodded at the proclamation, oddly unworried at the promise of more unprompted changes that he was going to have to deal with. Weiss raised an eyebrow in Jaune's direction, but he ignored her, focusing on the Arc ancestor.

"I understand. Thanks for the warning Knight."

Knight nodded back, acknowledging the comment from Jaune, both of them seemingly content to end the discussion there. Weiss continued to wait for Jaune to ask any number of follow up questions. Apparently however, Vomit Boy had decided to leave his brain back in Beacon, and Weiss took it upon herself to pick up the slack.

"So this is going to happen every time Jaune uses this technique?"

Weiss had expected a prompt response from her servant, or maybe a slight pause as he considered the question. The genuine confusion that passed across their bond however was not what she had expected.

"Technique? You mean Jaune's Semblance?"

Weiss stopped herself from tossing her hands into the air, as Jaune leapt on the perceived misconception.

"This isn't a semblance. It's an aura technique. Someone else taught me it, so it's not unique to me. I would have figured-"

Knight held up his armored hand flat in a stop motion, cutting Jaune off from his train of thought.

"Jaune. This is a semblance. I should know, given that I was the one who talked you through your first time using it. Did you not remember me from the training room?"

Weiss frowned at her servant. She couldn't see Knight's face anymore, which made reading him significantly more challenging. Still, Weiss let the moment pass, allowing Knight more opportunities to address her concern before bringing it to his attention.

"Wait, really? That was you?"

"That was me. Did you not go back and check for the person? Didn't you question where I seemed to disappear as soon as the medical team arrived."

Weiss rolled her eyes, unwilling to admit that she was in much the same boat. She wasn't sure that she could remember any details about that day with accuracy, let alone the face of any of the paramedics that had brought her into Dr. Peach's infirmary.

Still, she had been injured. Surely, Jaune should have remembered Knight's face, for their uncanny resemblance if nothing else. Apparently not however.

"Well… not really. Things were just kinda moving fast, and I didn't really have the time to think it out."

Knight gave a half-hearted chuckle as he rolled his eyes.

"I see. Hopefully I have cleared this misconception then?"

Jaune nodded, looking at his own hands in contemplation, as Knight returned his focus to the now cresting Sun, the entire body almost completely above the waterline, returning them back into silence.

Weiss sighed as it became clear that neither of them were interested in pursuing continued questioning. As much as Jaune had grown, and Weiss would reluctantly admit that he had, he was not attentive to the fine details of explanations. On the other hand, while Knight was a reliable source of information on a variety of topics, the man was not exactly forthcoming until prompted.

That left Weiss with the solemn duty of pulling those answers from her Servant.

"I don't understand something. Knight, how did you know Jaune's semblance?"

Knight visibly winced, even as Weiss felt a note of apprehension across their bond. For a moment, Weiss felt Knight retreating to hide behind his emotional walls. It was only at the last second that he stopped to reconsider. He allowed for a thin tendril of hesitance, before a larger tendril of reluctant acceptance crossed the emotional no-man's land that was their bond.

"Well, there is no good way of getting out of this with the secret intact, and I suppose Jaune might learn it through my memories anyway…"

Knight leaned forward, his eyes roaming Jaune up and down, looking for something. When he seemed to not find anything, he slowly began to talk again.

"Weiss, my semblance is an information gathering one. It allows me to read people's aura, semblance and all."

Reading people's aura? Seeing their soul? No wonder Knight had noticed so quickly that his own soul was being manipulated. While not a powerful semblance in the traditional sense, it was likely an invaluable tool when fighting another human.

Pyrrha had dominated the tournament because of her semblance being unknown, and her subtle use of Polarity ensured that her opponents would always fight at their worst. Knight however would never have had that problem, nor would he fall to any other subtle semblance related tricks. He would always know how to counter a person's semblance.

That was only the tip of the iceberg. If he could read names, he could identify any other servant by sight. If he could see how aura was commonly used, he could predict how they would fight, or where common weaknesses were. Even if it was only half as useful as she was thinking, it was a massive edge in almost every situation.

"It's likely a bit more limited than you are thinking."

Knight's voice cut through her internal musing before she could delve any deeper into the hypothetical uses for such a tool.

"It won't give me names, or fighting styles. It barely gives me an understanding of who a person is. That said, it is more useful when trying to narrow down what a semblance might do, or how it goes about doing it."

Weiss tried not to wonder if she had been thinking too loud or if she had just managed to guess at the most commonly asked questions about her semblance. The amusement that crossed their bond, indicated the former.

Still, Weiss wasn't too concerned. It was a shame that it was limited in such a way, but it was still useful.

"Does your semblance work against other servants?"

"It does, but we're getting a bit off track."

Weiss wanted to protest that it was important that they discuss how they could go about using and abusing this newly discovered tool in Knight's arsenal. It was only Knight's quick glance at Jaune did she remember the other tools that Knight was keeping secret from everyone else.

"To answer your previous question, given the nature of his semblance, I assume some level of soul resonance will happen every time Jaune uses his semblance, at least with a servant in the mix. I have no idea if it will be to the same degree between different servants, or if there will be any resonance between non-servants".

Weiss nodded. She hadn't really considered if she had any soul resonance with Jaune until that point. She hoped not, and she didn't feel any different but only time would tell. At least if she had the urge to foppishly swoon over herself, it would be done in front of a mirror, rather than in the middle of a public hallway. There was also the very possible upside of him learning an ounce of discretion from this whole mess.

Weiss banished the whole horrid line of thought, swearing to herself that she would have to ask one of her teammates if she had begun acting abnormally.

Jaune on the other hand, had not lost his bullheadedness, and continued to press against the current.

"I used my semblance on Nora, and I haven't felt any different."

Weiss pushed her exasperation across their bond, and Knight softly returned some of his own. His voice was as soft and low as it had been the entire conversation, outwardly expressing the patience of a saint.

"And I assume you felt yourself after the last time you used your semblance on Weiss?"

"I… Uh…. Yeah?"

Weiss nodded in confirmation, content to let her more patient servant deal with the explanations.

"Unfortunately, since you had a rather violent reaction here, if there are consequences to that use on your teammate, I doubt you'll notice them. I think it is for the best if you avoid using your semblance."

Jaune stilled, his back straight, staring shocked into Knight's rusted helmet, into the azure eyes beneath. Jaune's aura flexed, instinctively protecting his palms from having deep fingernail shaped grooves in them.

"What?! But, what about Weiss?"

Weiss flinched as Jaune called upon her name, turning around to give the blonde her full attention.

"What about me?"

Jaune was undeterred by her glare, matching them with his own as he towered over her. Weiss noticed how he had abandoned his normal stance. Usually, he was lower to the ground, making him easier to approach, and also easier to look down upon both physically and mentally. Now, he stood proud, tall and unbothered by her. Her eyes flicked back to her servant, standing in the exact same way. Weiss looked back at Jaune, and felt pity for the peer in front of her.

Unconcerned for her train of thought, Jaune calmly raised his counterpoint.

"Nothing has changed. Knight will need more aura, and two sources of Aura will allow him to get onto his feet faster than one."

It was a pragmatic argument. It was logical. It was not an argument Jaune would have made a week ago. Weiss found herself unable to meet those calm blue eyes. It was Knight that was forced to voice their concerns.

"What about you? Use your semblance too much, and you'll start to lose who Jaune Arc is. That's not something so easily cast aside."

Jaune shook his head, turning to face his ancestor.

"That's my decision to make, and there are far worse things to lose. I'd rather lose some of who I am, than lose any of my friends."

Weiss could only stare as Jaune made that statement, before any and all connection from Knight seemed to vanish. Slowly, she could feel the air around them shift, the smell of salt remaining, but gradually being overpowered by the smell of rust. Her eyes turned towards her servant, and noticed his eyes glowing beneath his helmet.

"Is it? Is it only yours?"

Knight took a step back, and Weiss noticed that Jaune faltered, taking a step back, his hand reaching out for the sword fashioned to his belt.

"Does Weiss not get a say or shall she just be expected to suffer from any unknown effects silently?"

Knight did not seem to notice, taking another step forward, even as Jaune backed away, his stance lowered, and his grip on his weapon tight. Weiss forced herself to move, placing a hand on Knight's breastplate.

"Knight, maybe it's better if-"

Knight ignored her, taking another step forward, into striking range of Jaune. Knight did not bother with raising his voice, but his outrage and hurt was condensed into every syllable. The world was filled with an oppressive nexus of condensed aura, and both men seemed ready to spring into violence at a moment's notice.

"Do I not get a say on the memories of your childhood that get forced into my mind? Have you become my master now?"

"Knight! You need to calm down."

Weiss felt powerless in the face of Knight, and she heard the desperation leak into her voice, and she pushed it across the bond, praying that it would be enough to stop knight from coming to blows with Jaune.

As if by a miracle, it was.

Knight halted in his tracks, as his eyes observed the scene in front of him with a new perspective. Jaune was tense, clearly hanging onto his blade as if it was a lifeline. He looked awful, even more than when he had just let go of her. His eyes continued to stay locked onto Knight, even as the servant took a step back, and then another.

"I… yes, I see. I seem to not be myself. It may be for the best if we discuss this later."

Weiss sighed in relief as Knight began breaking up into particles of blue light, and the air lost the rust smell.

"Master, call on me if you need me. For now, I think I need to examine my saint graph to see what changes have taken hold."

With that, Knight finally vanished into nothingness, and Jaune allowed himself to collapse onto the deck. Weiss could only let herself lean against the railing and watch Jaune to make sure he didn't roll overboard. She had been given too much to think about recently, and not nearly enough sleep to be thinking about it.

Hello. Been a while. I had initially planned this chapter as two seperate chapters, but I didn't really want to leave the chapter at the first two scenes, nor did I really want to break the last scene into two seperate scenes and leave on a rather unsatisfying cliffhanger, so you get one chapter that is the length of two. That's the reason why this chapter took longer than promised.

Lots of stuff happened here, with most of this happening between Weiss, Jaune, and Knight. Looking forward to the reactions you'll have to it.

As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and if you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to review the story or PM me. I'll try my best to answer. Until Next Time.