Jaune woke with a gasp and froze, quickly taking in his surroundings and then relaxing once he remembered where he was. Quietly, he threw open his covers and stood over his bed. It was dark save for a dim glow spilling out from around the curtains in their dorm. He padded over and pulled them open just enough to crack the window and lay his forehead on the glass as he stared out onto the campus. He stood there for a few moments and just breathed, the moon casting its pale glow on his features. The cool night raised goosebumps on his skin, but it soothed his aching head.
It's been a few days since his fight with Team CRDL and ever since he'd been having dreams. Sometimes they'd be nightmares but the worst ones were nothing more than simple dreams. He'd be back on Anima with Rouge and they'd explore the untamed forests just like before. Jaune took a shuddering breath before he clamped a hand over his mouth to cut off the sudden whimper that threatened to spill out. He forced air in and out through his nose as he tried to keep from making noise. He was only partially successful and every so often he'd let out something akin to a squeak or a moan that made his shoulders heave with effort.
Jaune's semblance flared up and cast a dim glow all around him. Quickly, he drew in a breath and dismissed it before taking a look around. The other members of Team JNPR remained asleep and he heaved a sigh in relief. Jaune drew the curtains shut and lumbered back into bed, wincing as the springs creaked, but ultimately settled back under the covers when no one stirred.
He never noticed in the next bed over Pyrrha watching him, eyes filled with concern.
:x:
"No Jaune this morning?" Weiss asked. Teams JNPR and RWBY gathered as always for breakfast, but immediately she tagged his absence.
Pyrrha lowered her head and avoided everyone's eyes. Nora was much the same. "...Jaune decided to skip breakfast this morning. We'll see him in class." Ren answered.
"That doesn't sound like him. Did something happen?" Ruby asked.
Ren's eyes scanned the table. "It's…a team matter. Sorry."
"Oh. Okay…" Ruby turned her attention back to her meal though not before briefly catching Pyrrha's gaze who immediately looked away.
"Odd, but very well then." Weiss acquiesced. Blake and Yang shared a glance but ultimately shrugged it off. Breakfast was a quiet event and soon enough the two teams broke for morning classes. On their way out however Ruby whispered a quick word to Yang and hung back with Pyrrha.
"Hey," Ruby said. "Are you okay? Did something happen with Jaune?"
"O-oh,um…"Pyrrha bit her lip and looked up at Nora and Ren who were discussing their upcoming assignments with Weiss and Blake. "Well, yes, something did happen. We, um, had a disagreement with Jaune this morning before breakfast. It got heated and he stormed out."
"What happened!?" Ruby asked immediately.
Pyrrha sighed, "It's just…early on we realized Jaune was quite the busy body. Always studying or training when he's not in class and he rarely spends a moment in the dorm unless it's to sleep. He barely talks to us unless it's for assignments and we haven't spent any time together as a team. Soon it became clear that Jaune hasn't taken a break, maybe in all the time he's been at Beacon, and it's starting to show." Pyrrha grimaced as she continued. "The rest of us tried to get him to take it easy for a bit, but he always brushed us off saying he was fine. Lately though I noticed he hasn't been sleeping well and he's barely eating if at all and I was worried. So I tried insisting, as his partner, that he should take at least one day of rest, but it didn't go well."
"He got mad over something like that?" Ruby questioned.
"It wasn't my intention to anger him, but he truly isn't well. I thought I would be doing a disservice if I let myself be talked down again."
Ruby took a second to think back on her interactions with Jaune and a pit in her stomach steadily took root. Jaune had always taken the time to listen to her. Sure she noticed the bags under his eyes but she knew firsthand just how hard he threw himself into his studies. He'd been looking tired, but she dismissed it as just him being a hard worker, certainly harder working than her. Plus, he'd always acted like he was fine. Jaune was the king of being fine! Were things really so bad all along and she never noticed? "We gotta talk to him again!" she blurted out.
Pyrrha shook her head."I agree, but not yet. Like I said his mind is set and he insists that he's fine when he clearly isn't. It would be better if we wait until he's called down."
Ruby wrung her hands anxiously, "I guess that makes sense, but are you sure?"
"I am."
Before they knew it they had arrived at their first class of the day. Ruby robotically went and took her usual spot but kept her eyes trained on the door. The other students filed in by the dozens, before long class had started and Jaune never showed.
:x:
Jaune stood in his clearing with Verreaux engaged and his eyes closed in concentration. Once he was ready he flourished the spear and ignited the fire dust. Like before the tip burst into an inferno and sweat began to form on his brow. Over the next couple minutes he began to steadily reign in the blaze until the shroud covered the point evenly before it went out. Taking a deep breath, he took a moment to center himself before starting again. It was undeniable that he'd made the most progress he ever had, but his dust weaving was still far from practical. It took too long to regulate the dust into something more manageable and he couldn't maintain concentration and fight at the same time yet.
"Jaune?" A meek voice called out.
He turned to find a red cloak and glimmering silver eyes emerging from the tree line. "Ruby? How'd you know where to find me?"
"Uh, Weiss told us about this place after she helped that one time." she said, her hands wringing the edge of her cloak.
Jaune switched Verreaux to carry mode and hooked it to his belt. "Right. Well, what are you doing here then?"
"You weren't answering your scroll and you didn't show up to class. I was worried about you."
His smile became a little strained. "Oh, yeah. I wasn't in the mood for classes today so I thought I'd skip."
"...Because of your fight with Pyrrha?" Ruby said slowly.
Jaune stopped short and she watched as that small easy smile he always wore around her melted away. It was such a small change but to her eyes it was a dramatic transformation. He seemed older somehow, like the world was bearing down on his shoulders. Pyrrha was right and it had all gone over her head.
He took a breath before answering. "She told you about that, huh?"
"I asked her, she didn't go spilling it to everyone." She said quickly. "Are you okay, Jaune?"
"Not you too!" He spun on his heel and sat on one of the nearby logs. "Like I told Pyrrha and Nora and Ren, I'm fine."
"Well Pyrrha, Ren and Nora don't seem to think so. And neither do I." She took a seat across from him.
Jaune sighed and ran a hand through his hair, frustration mounting. "Again, I'd know better than anyone when I need to take a breather and when I can keep going, okay? I don't need Ren silently chastising me or Nora and Pyrrha sending me worried glances everytime we're in the same room together. I don't need you tracking me down when I clearly want to be alone either."
Ruby shifted in her seat. "Jaune, they're just looking out for you. You clearly need rest."
"How do you know what I need?" he snapped at her.
"Jaune! You look awful! Pyrrha was right, you haven't been sleeping have you?"
"That's none of your business!" he snarled, raising his voice so loud the forest went silent. He stood and began to march away leaving Ruby rooted to the spot. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes and she quickly stood, vanishing in a haze of rose petals and appearing in front of him.
"This isn't healthy you need–"
Jaune's hands came up quickly and grabbed Ruby by the shoulders, not enough to hurt or leave a mark but definitely to get her attention. "RUBY! Stop! Just stop talking!" He shoved past and pressed his hand to his temple as he vanished into the trees.
:X:
"Yang, it's no big deal, really! He's just in a rough spot." Ruby pleaded.
"Nope. I'm gonna cave his face in." Yang had started to get worried when Ruby skipped out on lunch and doubly so when she never showed for their next class. Worry soon turned to anger when she'd finally found her sister with her eyes and cheeks red from crying. It didn't take her long to find out the cause. First, she had to get through their next class, but then she was gonna teach Jaune a hard lesson. Ruby could talk all through class like she had on their walk across campus, but her mind wasn't gonna change.
"Yang. Don't do this. I'm fine." Ruby's own frustration was building. Her older sister has always been like this and sure she was grateful for it in the past when other kids tried to pick on her, but she was in Beacon now. She was growing up.
"Sorry, Rubes. No use trying to put the brakes on this."
"Ugh!" Ruby went ahead and rounded the corner to Professor Goodwitch's arena and stopped short.
Yang quickly came up behind her, "What's the hold–oh…"
Outside the door to combat class stood Professor Goodwitch as well Headmaster Ozpin. Across from them was an irate looking Jaune and a sheepish looking Pyrrha and Nora. "Well now," said Ozpin. "I believe we have found our missing truants.
"Ms. Rose, Ms. Xiao Long. I expect you have a reasonable explanation as to why Professors Port, Oobleck, and Peach, reported your absences from their classes alongside Jaune." Goodwitch's tone was clipped and her glare was icy.
"Uh…" Ruby didn't have the words.
"Indeed. Ms. Nikos, Ms. Valkyrie. Is there any particular reason you were trying to sneak out of class as well?"
Nora swallowed the lump in her throat. "Well…you see…"
"We were worried about Jaune." Pyrrha answered.
"Really, and why is that?" Ozpin asked.
Jaune fixed his partner with a glare, silently commanding her not to say a word.
"Because…" Pyrrha trailed off. Ozpin features settled into a slight frown but before they could be questioned further Cardin of all people rounded the corner. He froze at the sight in front of him and went to speak when he caught sight of Jaune but thought better of it.
"'Scuse me." he muttered as he walked around Professor Goodwitch to get into the classroom.
Ozpin sighed. "Well, I suppose we'll table this discussion for the time being. Seeing as how all missing students are accounted for, why don't we start class. Glynda?"
She fixed them with a look. "The five of you will remain after class where we will discuss your behavior at length." Her eyes lingered briefly on Jaune before she ushered them into the arena.
Once inside they split into their respective teams with Jaune sitting a little further apart from the rest, arms crossed and jaw set.
"Good of you to finally show up." Weiss remarked.
"We were going to follow you out, but Weiss spotted Glynda coming in with Jaune and the Headmaster in tow," said Ren.
"Well, I wasn't planning to, but I couldn't sit by and let you walk into trouble." Weiss clarified.
Pyrhha flushed. "Perhaps I was too hasty. Sorry for dragging you into that, Nora."
Other girl grinned. "Aw, don't worry about it! I'll always watch your back." Pyrrha smiled gratefully before her eyes settled back on Jaune. He seemed composed at first glance but he was gripping the sleeves on his shirt and his shoulders were tense. She looked away once she heard Blake speak up.
"What's gotten into you?" Blake asked her partner.
"Jaune's gotten it into his head that he can make Ruby cry and get away scott free. Not on my watch."
At this everyone's heads turned to look at Yang.
"Jaune made you cry?" Blake asked. "What did he do?"
Weiss leaned in, intent on not missing a single word.
"Yang!" Ruby hissed, embarrassed. "Fine, yes, it happened, but I'm fine. Jaune's not himself right now. He didn't mean to."
"Do you know something about this?" Weiss asked their sister team.
"...Jaune has indeed been having a difficult time lately, but we don't know much more beyond that. He's not one to share his problems." Ren supplied.
"So what?" Yang said, shooting a glare in Jaune's direction.
"Yang." Ruby said seriously, "He didn't mean to and he didn't stick around so I don't think he even knows. Let's just talk to him. Whatever's going on he needs our support."
Yang said nothing and continued to glare.
All the students turned their attention back to the center of the arena as the lights dimmed a spotlight shone on Professor Goodwitch. To everyone's surprise they saw Professor Ozpin had taken a spot just outside the light and along the wall. It seemed like he planned on spectating this time around. "Welcome to Combat Class, everyone." Goodwitch said. "By now you should all be familiar with the process so let us not waste any more time. The first bout will be between–"
"Hey professor!" a voice shouted. "Yeah actually if it's okay with you I'd like to fight!"
Heads turned to see Yang standing up. Beside her Weiss, Blake, and the rest of Team JNPR looked up in surprise while Ruby tried in vain to pull her sister back down.
"Ms. Xiao Long please return–"
"I want to fight Jaune!" she continued.
"Ms. Xiao Long that–" Before Professor Goodwitch could continue Ozpin stepped forward and whispered something to her. Whatever he said made her twist her mouth in disapproval, but the next thing she uttered had the crowd break out in fierce whispers. "...Very well. If there are no objections then the match will proceed."
All heads turned to Jaune who slowly stood. "No objections."
Goodwitch sighed. "You have ten minutes. Go change."
"Jaune–" Nora started but before she could say anymore he was moving. Ren reached out and put a hand on her shoulder while Weiss and Blake traded conflicted looks. Yang was quick to rush out the door, Pyrrha boring holes into her up until she was out of sight. Ruby groaned and held her head in her hands.
:X:
The locker rooms were so quiet Jaune could almost hear the blood rushing in his ears. He fastened his sash to his robes and his bracers to wrists and reached for his weapons. Suddenly, the world seemed to skew and threw out a hand to brace himself against the lockers. He could feel the world spin even with his eyes closed and he took several deep breaths to regain his composure. When the dizziness finally subsided he grabbed his weapons and stumbled out of the lockers rooms. Thankfully, the walk back to the arena gave him plenty of time to regain his sureness of foot.
:X:
The crowd was animated. Students were whispering, taking bets, speculating on how the fight would go. Professor Goodwitch spoke quietly to the headmaster. "What do you hope to achieve in endorsing this?" She was none too pleased her class was being turned into a spectacle.
"Information, naturally. Jaune has been here for some time and yet we have nothing to indicate his purpose." Ozpin's eyes scanned the crowd and took note of Teams JNPR and RWBY and their agitation.
"You're fishing then." Glynda said, none too impressed.
"I suppose so. Still, if Jaune is here for Ms. Xiao Long then we might glean something from this bout." His eyes briefly settled on Glynda's face next to him before turning as the two students in question entered the arena. "I know you don't approve, but I ask you to humor me."
Instead of answering, Glynda strode into the center. "The match will commence on my mark. All hostilities will cease once your opponent's aura reads in the red or is rendered unable to continue. Now…begin!"
The second the words left her lips Yang engaged Emberi Celica and shot forward with the help from the recoil. Jaune immediately jumped back but his opponent closed the distance in record time and began raining punches down on him. For the moment all of Jaune energy was dedicated to evasion. Yang's strategy of rushing him down was already paying off as he barely had a moment to breathe let alone counter attack. Still, ducking a particularly wild haymaker he saw his chance and went to draw Auger.
Yang grinned as she transitioned from the haymaker into a stance with her fist pointed back and her elbow pointed forward. The next moment a shotgun blast rang as she discharged Ember Celica behind her and drove her elbow straight into Jaune's chest. His eyes widened in shock as he flew back dozens of feet onto his back. Students in the crowd whooped and hollered while others groaned and clutched their own sternums. "You like that?" Yang taunted.
Ruby groaned. "She's quite enjoying this, isn't she?" Weiss asked.
"She's always been like this. Growing up, the other kids would either ignore me or pretend to be my friend to get to Yang, the popular one. Sometimes they were just looking to pick on me but everytime Yang found out she'd punch their lights out. Once she even sent a kid to the infirmary."
"That seems like a bit…much." Blacked added.
"Ugh, you don't know the half of it." Ruby lifted her head, hands dragging down her cheeks. "I adored her for it when we were kids, but people started avoiding me once they found out she was my sister. I tried telling her to give me some space every once in a while but never listens. I thought Beacon would be the start of something new, especially since she ran off on the first day so I could make friends, but here we are." Ruby gestured down to the arena.
Jaune climbed to his feet and no sooner that he did Yang was on him again. This time he managed to draw his sword and slash twice. The first one missed as she stopped on dime to avoid it. He took a step forward with his second cut but Yang duck down caught the edge on Ember Celica. "Nope!" she shouted. Her other fist connected solidly in his gut and she doubled down, letting loose a fierce combination punctuated with a shotgun blast that sent him skidding back on his feet.
Auger in hand, Jaune engaged his semblance and fired off three arcing waves of energy. Yang shot forward ducking under one before sidestepping the second and finally propelling herself into the air with a shotgun blast and coming down with an axe kick. In response, Jaune quickly jumped back and kept his sword level. "Why so scared, Jaune?" Yang smirked and triggered a mechanism on her weapons, ejecting the empty shells before throwing up two rows of fresh ammo and catching them on her wrists.
Jaune's mind was racing. Once she gets in close Yang is truly in her element. Not only do her weapons hammer on extra punishment with its dust rounds but they also allow quick bursts of speed in almost any direction. Jaune was snapped out of his thoughts as Yang fired off a salvo of projectiles he was forced to dodge or slash. Not taking it lying down, he activated Amplify and fired off a wide horizontal wave low to the ground. Yang grinned and charged straight at it before jumping up aided by her weapons and primed another falling axe kick. That's when he struck.
Having baited her into the air, Jaune waited until she was at her apex before taking a couple steps forward and jumping up as hard as he could. To her surprise, they met in mid air as Jaune grabbed onto and reversed their positions so he was overhead. Semblance engaged, Jaune slashed at her midsection and sent her crashing to the ground followed by another enhanced wave rushing to meet her as she impacted the arena floor. There was a pause before the crowd burst into cheers before they were swiftly cowed by Professor Goodwitch. Jaune landed in a crouch, primed to draw.
The impact and subsequent wave kicked up some dust that soon cleared as Yang pulled herself to her feet. "Ugh, okay that was a good move."
Jaune remained silent and focused. From the outside he seemed as determined as ever, but internally something was wrong. His body felt and he was nearly panting.
"This strong silent type act is getting kinda old, dude." Yang put her fists and did a come here motion with her fingers.
Normally, Jaune wouldn't take such obvious bait, but he'd come to a decision. Yang was quick, agile, and packed a heavy punch plus, her weapons allow her to get away with more than she should. By using the recoil she can steal back her turn in the engagement by maneuvering out of danger without warning or turning an overextension into an opportunity to continue her assault. The ache in his chest from that first elbow served as a strong reminder as to what she could pull off. Still, sometimes a good offense was a good defense.
Jaune kicked off the ground and fired off waves to cover his advance. Yang dodged to the sides and readied herself as Jaune came bearing down on her. He slashed at her repeatedly pausing and resuming his assault as he sheathed and drew Auger to keep her guessing and defending. He drew back Auger and instead of going for a cut he aimed the point at her and stabbed. Yang twisted her body to the side and straight in Jaune's offhand punch that connected squarely with her cheek and snapping her head to the side. Not being able to bring Auger back for an effective cut before Yang could recover, Jaune reversed his grip and struck her in the temple with the hilt and snapped her head in the opposite direction.
Yang discharged her weapons in front of her to gain some distance but Jaune kept up the pressure with more crescent waves. Confusion came through on his clearly though as instead of dodging Yang grinned and put up her guard to weather the arcing blades of energy. "That all you got?"
He spared a glance the monitors overhead to find that Yang had inflicted heavy punishment and his aura was a sliver above green to reflect that. After this latest stunt on her part though Yang's aura was dangerously close to the red.
"Another exchange like that and Jaune will win this." Ren commented.
Nora bit her lip. "He might win, but I don't think all this fighting is gonna do him any favors. Pyrrha?"
Said team member watched the fight intently, studying Jaune's every move. "I'm speaking to him after this. I won't stand back and watch him run himself into the ground any longer."
Ren and Nora shared a look. "We're with you." said the Raven haired boy. "No more half measures."
Nearby, Weiss' eyes were glued to the arena. "What's she thinking taking those attacks like that?"
"She's not worried at all." Blake said. "She had plenty of time to react, but she took those hits willingly."
Ruby pulled her hood over her as she watched the match. "It's her semblance. You'll see, just watch." she said at seeing her teammates' curious looks.
"Looking a little winded!" Yang called out. "You tired or just plain scared?" She didn't give him a chance to answer before charging back in, not had Jaune planned to respond anyway.
Another low horizontal wave came at her though instead doing a large flashy jump Yang did a low hop and propelled herself forward instead of upwards. The second she landed she fired off three more rounds blasting her forward, then the side, and then forward again to dodge Jaune's follow up attacks. Jaune braced himself to defend though to his surprise Yang skirted past him. He turned in time with the shotgun blast as she quickly reversed her course and landed another elbow squarely in his gut which she followed with another fierce combo.
Jaune grimaced as blow after blow rained down him but unlike last time each attack felt weightier and sapped his aura much more quickly. Getting desperate, he slashed at her but Yang ducked under the edge, unafraid, before snapping back up and landing a punishing uppercut on his jaw that lifted them both off the ground before another solid punch in his gut sent him flying back and trailing fire. Jaune landed in a heap skidding against the ground though still having enough sense to roll with the attack so he could recover quicker.
The overhead light was blindingly white and black spots danced in out of his vision as shakily stood. His head pounded something fierce and for a brief horrifying second he forgot where he was entirely. It all came crawling back as Yang, the yellow blur that she was, made a mad dash for him. Jaune, fully desperate and confused, fired a clumsy wave to halt her advance but to his shock Yang merely ducked her head and let the attack crash into her guard. She stumbled for an instant before her hair suddenly exploded into fire and a wave of heat went out all around her.
He couldn't even muster up the effort to amplify his aura as Yang's fist came crashing into his face like a burning comet. The shockwave exploded out as Jaune went flying into the wall behind him.
The entire arena went silent.
Jaune pulled himself out of the impact crater and fell to his knees. Despite everything he managed to stagger to his feet as a look of worry finally flashed across Yang's face. Everything around her was a blur in his vision as the dust cleared. Jaune tried taking a step forward before his whole body lurched as though he were about to collapse but his legs held on and he righted himself at the last moment. Yang positioned her feet and brought her fists up into her stance. That last attack took all she had but if nothing else she was sure as hell was gonna go out fighting.
"Your eyes…" Jaune uttered.
Yang dropped her guard slightly. "What?"
"They're red like…" Before he could finish Auger clattered to the floor as his legs failed him on the second step. Jaune would have followed a second later if Glynda hadn't surged forward and held him aloft with her semblance.
"It's over." she declared.
A/N: I had fun writing this one! A sincere thank you to those who favorite and follow, my little story doesn't deserve it. Till next time!