Yo!

Welcome to a new commissioned story! I've been working alongside CawmeKrazee here on FF to make this happen! This is one that's been in the works for quite a while now! I hope you guys like what we've cooked up here. The summary for this is something I threw together last minute, so that might change lol. The spirit will be the same, however.

Start Chapter 1

They'd lost.

It was the kind of realization that sent chills down Jaune's spin; the kind of realization that had him staring down at Penny – sweet, innocent Penny – as her blood trickled out onto the golden bridge beneath them.

Jaune was numb, despite feeling more in that moment than he ever had in his life.

Cinder was upon him in the next.

Jaune didn't even really hear what she said. Something about him? That She was angry at him? That made sense, he supposed. He'd done as Penny had asked; kept the power from Cinder, and let her choose the one who'd gain it.

He'd killed her.

Her blood was on his hands.

He tried to fight back; honestly, he did. He raised Crocea Mors, and struck out at Cinder, but the blade snapped on their very first exchange. It felt oddly poignant. Like his blade knew that he had given up before even he had.

There was nothing left. His aura yet held, but he wondered how long that would last.

Everyone else had fallen into the abyss below. Yang first. Then Blake and Ruby. Then Weiss.

Now it was just him.

That seemed like it was going to be the case, at least, until a figure, with blue fire burning about her eyes, slammed into Cinder's side.

The Winter Maiden.

Appropriately, it was Winter herself.

She knew, then. It wasn't just the pale blue flames blazing out of her eyes that told him she was aware of Penny's fate, but the tears that fell down her face. The way her lips were peeled apart, and there was naught but hate in her eyes.

She was trying to kill Cinder.

Jaune didn't blame her that.

Their fight was the kind of thing that might be described in legends; like twin drakes, one of fire, one of ice, blasting their magics at one another. Winter was perhaps the more conditioned fighter, but Cinder was raw ferocity, and far more experienced with the Fall Maiden's flame.

In the end, however, Cinder fled, back through the portal to Atlas.

For a minute, Jaune just… sat there. Winter came over to him, asking where Weiss was, and Jaune couldn't do more than shake his head wearily.

"She fell…" He breathed out, at a loss. "She fell, and…"

She fell, and I killed Penny.

There was an odd feeling in the air, like the world itself had shuddered. He looked, and realized that the entire place was collapsing in on itself. Cinder had taken the Staff of Creation, and she had, seemingly, just used it.

Winter began to fly, gunning towards the portal at the back of the room. Jaune stood as well, his steps uneven, unbalanced. His head was spinning. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Winter turned around, and looked back at him. He didn't really know why, in all honesty. She should've forgotten about him, and gotten herself to safety.

Then, of course, he lost his footing. He had a half-instant to look down, and realize that the bridge beneath him was gone.

Oh.

Well…

It wasn't like he could've faced his friends anyways. After what he'd done… after he'd seen the blood coat his blade, after he'd watched the life leave Penny's eyes, knowing it was his fault…

And then something barreled into his chest.

Jaune had the wind knocked out of him as Winter hauled him up, pouring a blazing blue flame out of her legs, and left arm, to keep them afloat. She had her right arm around him, but was clearly struggling to hoist his weight with just that.

"If you could help here!?" She snarled.

"Right!"

He wrapped his arms around Winter's body, and even if at any other time he'd have been self-conscious about that… he just didn't have the energy to be in that moment.

Winter hesitated in the air for a moment, and Jaune wondered why.

"Weiss… how long ago did she…"

Oh. She was wondering if she could catch her sister, too.

But…

"She… whatever's down there… it absorbed them all the moment they hit." Jaune told her, shaking his head. "She's gone."

It hurt him to admit it. Honestly, it did. It was clear Winter didn't want to accept that. She hovered there, unable to move away, until Jaune's gaze flitted towards the gate that would take them to Vacuo, and…

"It's closing!" He pointed.

Winter turned, and then swore below her breath. She rocketed forward with the Maiden's power, but her control of it was not nearly as adept as Cinder's had been, which allowed the evil woman to cleanly fly through the air in whichever direction she wanted.

No, Winter was awkward, and forceful.

And at a glance, Jaune could tell it wouldn't be enough.

Winter must've been able to tell as well, because she pushed herself harder, utilizing the magic now flowing through her veins. The flames emerging from out of her limbs burned hotter, and spread farther.

Jaune winced as some of those flames crawled up Winter's legs, and licked at his own. Her fire couldn't burn her, but that was in no way true for Jaune.

Winter reached out towards the closing gate, trying, somehow, to reach it.

"Damnit!" She screamed.

She knew they couldn't, wouldn't, make it.

And then, as the gate collapsed, the entire realm around them did as well. The light dimmed; a dark void enclosed around them.

The curse Jaune had been about to utter died in his throat as the darkness overwhelmed them entirely, and then, there was nothing at all.

/

Water lapped at Jaune's heels. Sand interlaced itself through his fingers. He filtered back into consciousness. It wasn't a quick process. It was likely a minute or two before he found the will to push himself up off the floor.

His body hurt; the aches and pains of the previous battle affecting him now that he was no longer filled with adrenaline. He tried to stand, but found his limbs sluggish and unresponsive.

Eventually, however, he was able to make it to his feet.

And take in the breathtaking landscape surrounding him.

In any other circumstance, Jaune would have been delighted at the veritable tropical wonderland before his eyes. There was a sandy beach, palm trees, and what looked to be a kind of jungle just beyond him. Hanging at the edge of the horizon was a massive tree, easily eclipsing anything else along the skyline.

But perhaps most obviously, and the thing that Jaune focused in on, was the figure lying face down in the sand just a few meters in front of him.

It was Winter.

He hobbled his way over, having seemingly injured his leg at some point. Maybe he'd blocked one of Cinder's blows at a bad angle? He didn't really remember.

He looked down at it, and realized that it was not a break. It had been burnt.

Winter's fire…

That was right. She'd burned so hot and heavy trying to save the both of them.

It hadn't been enough.

Jaune was so very used to not being enough, and so he couldn't find it in himself to blame Winter for such.

As he arrived, he knelt down, and brought Winter's head up off the ground.

He checked first to make sure she was breathing, and then, having confirmed that – with a breath of purest relief – he channeled his semblance into her.

Her aura hadn't been this low before they'd been sucked into… well, wherever they were, but Jaune had to assume that they'd perhaps fallen from a great height, and that their auras had taken the impact for them, even unconscious. He was lucky his own aura was rather potent, or else he wouldn't have been able to do much at all here.

Winter gasped awake about twenty seconds later, pushing her way out of Jaune's hold and fighting to right herself. Jaune didn't take it personally. She seemed to be bewildered, needing a moment to get her bearings.

Once she had them, she looked over, and asked, "What… Where the hell are we?"

"No idea." Jaune admitted. "Woke up about two minutes ago. I'm as in the dark as you are."

Winter hummed out noncommittally as she got to her feet. She didn't seem to have any injuries like Jaune did, and so she was able to scout out ahead a bit. She walked over to the ocean and ran a hand through it, testing it for a reason unknown to him.

"It's saltwater." She spoke, and Jaune realized she'd been wanting to see if this was an ocean, as it appeared, or a lake. "We're very likely on a coastline of some sort. This could be a saltwater lake, but they're quite uncommon, and not usually this large. As to where… that is the question, is it not?"

Jaune did his best to stand, but hissed as his left leg spasmed under him.

"You're injured." Winter noted. "Don't try and move. Give me a moment, I'll grab a fallen log and manufacture a splint."

It was funny how quickly Winter took charge. Perhaps that was a coping mechanism; to control that which she could, and drown out that which she could not?

Over the course of the next few minutes, Winter did as she'd said she would. It was surprising, in Jaune's opinion, that she even bothered. He'd sort of expected her to… well, to ignore him, and go and search for Weiss.

The surprise must have shown on his face, because as Winter was showing him how to bind the splint to his leg with some palm fronds, she spoke.

"Right now, we are in an unknown situation, in unknown territory. Our first order of business is orienting ourselves. We figure out our position. Judging based purely on the local flora, I'd peg us either on the northwestern coast of Vacuo, or the southeast of Menagerie."

It was a decent theory if they were really still on Remnant.

It was just…

"What if we're not… on Remnant anymore?"

Winter didn't seem to want to consider that, and yet… they were dealing with magic. Ambrosius had crafted the strange corridor that they'd been using to ferry people out of Atlas in a different dimension. It was possible that they'd been transported to another one, someplace entirely alien.

"We'll consider that if more factors emerge that lend themselves to that theory." Winter spoke calmly, evidently deciding to ignore the massive tree in the distance. "For now, our objective is to stay where we are, and see if we can't link up with anyone else."

She was confident, and for that, Jaune was grateful. He was doing… not well, but okay. He'd been better, certainly.

"Give me your blade," She held her hand out. "We'll need to cut firewood, and your weapon is far more suited to such than my own."

Jaune nodded his head, reaching towards Crocea Mors, and drawing–

He drew forth a fractured blade, and reality, all at once, crashed back into him.

He's staring down at her, just below him, with horror in his eyes. She's smiling up at him, trying to make things easier for him, perhaps? To let him know that this is what she wants, what she knows she has to do? It's not helping. Because he knows that smile. He's seen it on her face while she laughs along with Ruby and the others, has seen her break out into a dance, or a song, seemingly at random, and give that same smile.

All of those memories will be forever tainted by this moment. Never again can he picture Penny smiling without remembering this.

He brings his blade up, just to get enough leverage, and then–

"Breathe, soldier!"

Jaune let out a pained gasp as he was wrenched from out of his own head. He looked up – gaze blurring – to see Winter trying to keep his eyes on her.

"Do you hear me? Breathe!"

He tried to; he really did. But he was being consumed by his own emotions, by that smile Penny had worn in her final moments, by the fact that she'd been alive for a few seconds after the blade had pierced into her, how she'd not been able to stop herself from flinching in pain.

Gods, but he'd never be able to escape that.

"Arc!"

Twin hands on his cheeks forced him to look away from the bloodied, neutered blade in his right hand, and made him look at Winter's eyes. His breaths were coming heavy, and rasping, and far, far too shallow.

He couldn't breathe.

His focus was hazy enough that the figure in front of him shifted. Her hair was longer. There was a scar down her left eye. She was berating him for being a fool, asking her out even after she'd made her opinion clear.

"Arc, you need to breathe. Follow along with me. Understood!?"

He forced himself to nod. He was scared. He thought he knew what this was. A panic attack, perhaps?

It was odd. Hearing them described didn't quite do them justice.

She breathed. He breathed with her. She spoke words that he didn't hear. He inhaled; exhaled. Over the course of the next minute or two, Jaune was brought out of his panic, and back to the present. He was panting, taking deep, greedy breaths by the time he did.

"I…" He shook his head, "Thank you, Weiss. I…"

Winter – who was very much not Weiss – looked at him strangely. He looked down and away, ashamed, and muttered out an apology.

"I didn't–"

"Don't explain yourself." Winter spoke to him, and she did so… with a shocking amount of emotion in her voice. With an almost tender tone. "You've no need."

He nodded his head as Winter took Crocea Mors from him – just the half-blade, she left the shield with him – and stood. She walked a few paces away before seemingly remembering something.

"Are you alright if I go inland and chop down a few trees?"

He nodded his head, and she left after a second or two, probably confirming if he really meant it. He used Crocea's shield in sheath form to support himself as he got off the ground, and then took up the very makeshift crutch that Winter had crafted – which was a stick tied to another stick with palm fronds – under his left arm.

He was able to make it to where Winter was in a few minutes, and when she saw him, she nodded in his direction.

"I figured you'd be trying to locate Weiss." He said, too curious to be quiet any longer.

Winter's eyes widened a moment, before her expression fell.

"Basic survival training states to stay where one is and make themselves visible. We will be burning a fire, which will shoot up smoke into the sky that will be visible for miles inland. Hopefully, that will be enough to bring the others to us."

Winter wasn't saying what they were both thinking, of course; 'what if the others aren't here?'

Because while they'd been sent somewhere by Ambrosius' dimension seemingly closing, the others had fallen. Perhaps those different methods of entry had resulted in them ending up in different places.

But Jaune didn't want to consider that possibility.

Clearly, neither did Winter.

Hours passed. Winter assembled a decent fire, and it burnt on the sand of the beach they'd landed upon. Neither of them said a word, and eventually, Winter told him to sleep, and that she would take first watch.

It was a pointless endeavor for the both of them. Jaune simply laid awake on the sand, staring up at the foreign stars hanging above them.

Three hours later, when he was completely convinced that sleep was not coming to him, he pushed himself up out of bed, and told Winter that he'd take over.

She looked about as bad as he did at that point, nodded her head, and laid down on the sand.

An hour later, she sat back up, having not slept at all.

She instead trudged over to the ocean, and seemed to be attempting to catch and kill fish for them to eat. Judging by the occasional curses, and lack of fish, Jaune assumed she was not doing terribly well.

"The fish are… odd." Winter explained as she walked back over an hour later. "They are no species I have ever seen before."

"Then…"

Winter didn't say anything at all, but then, she didn't have to, either. They were both thinking it.

This isn't Remnant, is it?

It wasn't long after the sun rose the following morning that the initial plan fell apart.

Winter, her leg bobbing a mile a minute, stood from her place on the sand, and started slinging things that she could along her back.

"How's your leg?"

"Better now." For anyone else, it would've been pure bluster, but Jaune's aura was powerful, and his semblance only made it more so. "Why?"

"We're going inland." She announced, and immediately began trekking towards the jungle in the distance.

"W-Wait, hang on," He called out to her. "Didn't you say we should stay put?"

Winter did stop.

"I… am choosing to renege on traditional survival tactics. We do not have the food we need, and our source of water is salty. We would need to rely on the sun to evaporate the salt out of it. And that's something we can't afford to wait on for so little a reward."

Jaune heard what she was saying; really, he did, but…

"You can just admit you want to go look for Weiss, y'know."

Winter said nothing, not looking back at him.

Eventually, they walked on.

They traveled perhaps half a day. It was not an eventful journey. It was hot and humid, both a welcome respite from Atlas' freezing temperatures, and a bit of a problem given that he was dressed for them. He'd have taken off some of his clothes if he had any others with him.

He did not, and so he'd simply have to manage.

Eventually, however, they exited out of the jungle into a small clearing, and found…

"What… is that?"

Before them stood a decently sized tree with what looked to be clock-like fruits dangling from its branches. There were perhaps a dozen clocks strewn about it, and Jaune was initially tempted to walk right over and pluck one from its branch.

He didn't, though.

"Uh… it looks like a tree that's growing clocks like fruit."

"I gathered that." Winter replied frostily. "I meant more 'why is there a tree growing clocks like fruit'?"

"Yeah, that's a fair question. I don't know."

There was a pause.

"Should we approach it?" Jaune asked.

"I'm not certain." Winter's lips formed a pout as she thought. "A clock would not at all be an unfortunate thing to have in a land we are unfamiliar with. My scroll's battery is running low, and once it dies, our only means of telling time would be the sun. Or, well, assuming the star hanging in the sky above us actually is the sun."

"So, we're admitting this isn't Remnant?"

"Do you not see the tree growing clocks right in front of us?"

"Okay, yeah, fair point."

They stood there in silence for five or so seconds.

"So… we take a clock fruit?"

"As absurd as that is to say, yes. We take a clock fruit."

Jaune nodded his head as he stepped forward. The ticking of the clocks grew louder as he approached, and he found himself hesitating for just a moment before reaching out, and plucking one off its stem.

Immediately, the ticking grew more feverish. Jaune took a step back as the hands of the clock began moving not forwards, but backwards. He looked up at the sky as the light shifted, and saw the way that the light was ebbing and flowing far too quickly.

What in the world was–

"Stop it!" Winter shouted.

"I'm not doing anything!" He yelled back.

Winter swore below her breath, even as she charged towards him. He flinched, but he was not her target.

She knocked the clock from out of his hand, and then slammed the pommel of Crocea's broken blade down into the clock's face. It shattered down the middle, fracturing the mechanisms inside, and the world righted itself once more.

The sky was dark now, however. Time had passed, given it had been midday at the latest just a minute ago.

"What… just happened?" He asked Winter as he turned towards her. "What was that just now?"

"I…" Winter seemed just as uncertain as he was. But the look on her face…

It was one of worry. Of panic.

"That's impossible… it can't…"

"What's impossible?"

"Look up at the sky, Arc."

He did that, and saw… well, the night sky.

"What am I looking for?"

"The stars." She spoke, and her tone was foreboding. "They've shifted in the heavens."

He had a vague sense that such things did not happen quickly. He was aware that over the course of the year, the stars that hung over Remnant appeared to move as the seasons shifted, and the planet moved along its orbit of their star.

Which meant…

"We went forwards in time?"

"No…" Winter shook her head. "The way the sky was just moving was… it was against the current wind, which faces to the northeast. As difficult as it is to believe, If I were to guess based on the way the clouds and stars have shifted…"

Winter looked to him, and her gaze spoke of grim tidings.

"We have traveled backwards in time."

End Chapter 1

Alright, that was chapter 1 of the Rusted Knight and the Winter Witch! This is a bit of a slower burn story, but I hope you guys like it all the same!

Updates will be whenever I and Cawme have time to work on this story lol. So probably not until January for Chapter 2! See you all then!

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