Chapter 4:Echoes of Regret;Haunted by the Past
The Path of Redemption: Echoes of Regret
Pyrrha Nikos stands at Beacon's training room window, her usually perfect posture slightly hunched as she grips her scroll tightly. The screen displays various social media posts and local news snippets about the mysterious new arrivals in Vale.
"A giant with black hair and tail..."
"...carries himself like a warrior..."
"...kind eyes despite his intimidating presence..."
"...spotted with a group of equally impressive fighters..."
Her hands tremble slightly as she reads each new account. Nora and Ren hover nearby, exchanging worried glances. They've all noticed how Pyrrha's carefully maintained facade cracks whenever anything remotely reminds her of their former leader.
"It... it couldn't be him," Nora says, her usual enthusiasm subdued. "Jaune was..." she trails off, unable to complete the thought.
"Blonde. Shorter. Human." Ren supplies quietly, though there's a note of uncertainty in his voice. "This person seems completely different."
Pyrrha's grip on her scroll tightens until the device creaks in protest. "Ruby and Blake were seen talking to him yesterday." Her voice carries a mixture of hope and dread. "They seemed... shaken afterward."
The training room falls silent except for the distant sounds of sparring students. NPR's reputation has never recovered from that fateful day two years ago. The "Invincible Girl" who stood silent while her partner was condemned. The team that broke their leader's trust.
"We should have said something," Nora whispers, not for the first time. "Anything."
"We were cowards," Pyrrha responds, her voice hollow. "I was a coward. After what happened on the roof... I should have defended him. Should have told everyone how hard he was trying, how much he was improving..."
Ren moves closer to his teammates. "We all failed him. But Pyrrha... if this is really Jaune, he's clearly changed. The reports describe someone very different from who we knew."
"Someone stronger," Nora adds, scrolling through her own feed. "The witnesses say he's built like a professional hunter, maybe bigger. And the tail..."
"A tail," Pyrrha repeats softly, remembering how clumsy their Jaune used to be. "Like those warriors from the visiting teams."
A group of students passes by the training room, their excited chatter drifting through the door:
"Did you see them in the commercial district?"
"That wolf Faunus girl barely left his side..."
"They're all so powerful looking..."
"I heard they're from some special academy..."
Pyrrha's hand unconsciously moves to her circlet – the symbol of her championships that now feels more like a crown of thorns. "He's found someone," she realizes aloud, her voice barely audible. "Someone who stands with him openly."
"The dance is in three days," Ren notes carefully. "If he's here for the festival..."
"He'll be there," Nora concludes. "With his new... team."
Pyrrha finally turns from the window, and her teammates are struck by the conflict in her emerald eyes. "How do I face him?" she asks, her composed demeanor cracking. "After everything... after I..."
"We face him together," Nora declares, though her voice lacks its usual certainty. "As a team. Even if..." she swallows hard, "even if we don't deserve to call ourselves that anymore."
Ren observes his longtime friend and partner. "We need to be prepared. If this is Jaune, he's not the same person who left. The descriptions, the changes people mention... he's transformed himself."
"While we stayed the same," Pyrrha whispers, looking around the training room where she used to meet Jaune secretly. Where she'd helped him improve, watched him grow, before everything fell apart. "Still hiding behind our reputations, our excuses..."
The afternoon sun casts long shadows across the training room floor, reminiscent of those late-night training sessions. But now, instead of the sound of Jaune's training sword, there's only the weight of regret hanging in the air.
"Three days," Pyrrha says finally, squaring her shoulders in a pale imitation of her former confidence. "Three days to prepare ourselves for what we've lost... and what he's become without us."
As they leave the training room, their footsteps echo hollowly in the space where they once helped build their leader's confidence, only to stay silent when he needed them most. The rumors of the gentle giant with black hair and a tail follow them like ghosts, reminders of their greatest failure as a team.
The dance looms ahead, no longer just a school event but a reckoning they can't avoid. Somewhere in Vale, their former leader walks with new strength, new purpose, and new companions who didn't fail him when it mattered most.
Their new resident Blonde Knight, Soleil Arc comes into the room and is initially polite, but NPR all know this was Jaune's sister. They knew she probably, no more than likely hated and resented them for what they did to her beloved brother. Yes, she still called him that even though her family told her to forget about the kind brother she once knew. Soleil was clearly older, more determined, and hardened by what she'd gone through since her brother's exile. She came into the room curious as to why they were so stiff and quiet. That is until she saw what they were looking at as a look they couldn't place passed over the Arc girl's features.
# The Path of Redemption: Sister's Resolve
Soleil Arc's entrance into the training room brings a different kind of tension. Her blonde hair, tied in a practical braid, catches the afternoon light much like Jaune's used to. But where her brother's presence had once been uncertain, hers carries the weight of someone who's weathered storms and emerged stronger.
"Nikos. Valkyrie. Ren." Her greeting is perfectly polite, yet lacks any real warmth. Two years haven't softened the edge in her voice when addressing her brother's former team.
They return her greeting with awkward nods, trying not to notice how her hand unconsciously tightens on her sword's hilt – a habit she's developed since taking her brother's place at Beacon. The weapon itself is nothing like Crocea Mors; it's a dust-enhanced blade that burns with its wielder's determination.
Her blue eyes, harder than they used to be, scan the room before landing on Pyrrha's scroll. The change in her expression is subtle but profound – a flash of something between recognition, hope, and carefully contained fury.
"So," she says softly, dangerously, "you've heard about the visitors in Vale."
Pyrrha's grip on her scroll tightens. "Soleil, we-"
"Don't." The single word cuts through the air like a blade. "You lost the right to explain anything two years ago." She moves closer, examining the images on the scroll. A smile plays at her lips – not kind, but knowing.
"The rumors," Nora ventures cautiously, "about a man with black hair and a tail..."
"My brother," Soleil states firmly, causing them all to flinch, "has always been more than what any of you saw. More than what our family tried to force him to be." Her voice carries pride rather than the shame the Arc family had tried to instill about their 'lost' son.
Ren studies her carefully. "You've known. About his... changes."
Soleil's laugh holds no humor. "Known? I've celebrated them. While our parents tried to erase him from the family pictures, tried to pretend their 'perfect' son hadn't been revealed as something different..." She pauses, her eyes challenging each of them. "I've watched my brother become who he was always meant to be."
"You've been in contact with him," Pyrrha realizes, her voice barely a whisper.
"Of course I have. He's my brother. My real family – not the facade the Arcs tried to maintain." Soleil's posture shifts, reminiscent of a warrior ready for battle. "And now he's returned, stronger than anyone here could have imagined. With people who actually stand by him."
Her gaze fixes on Pyrrha especially. "I saw the wolf Faunus girl with him in the photos. The way she stands beside him, proud and unafraid. Rather different from training in secret, isn't it, Nikos?"
The barb hits its mark. Pyrrha visibly flinches.
"Soleil," Nora starts, but the Arc sister isn't finished.
"You know what's funny? He's forgiven you. All of you. That's just who he is – who he's always been." Her smile turns sad for a moment. "But I haven't. I remember every night he trained to be 'good enough' for this place. Every time he pushed himself to prove he belonged here. And I remember how quickly his so-called friends abandoned him."
She turns to leave but pauses at the door. "The dance is in three days. You'll see exactly who my brother has become – and who he's found to stand with him. Try not to let your regret show too much on your faces. It might spoil the party atmosphere."
As Soleil's footsteps fade down the hallway, NPR stands in stunned silence. Her words hang in the air, a testament to both Jaune's transformation and their own stagnation.
"She's kept in touch with him all along," Ren finally says. "While everyone else tried to forget..."
"She still calls him brother," Nora adds softly. "Even after everything..."
Pyrrha stares at the door where Soleil disappeared. "She's right. About all of it." Her voice breaks slightly. "We're going to see him at the dance, standing with someone who didn't need secrecy to support him."
The training room feels colder somehow, haunted not just by memories of their former leader, but by the cutting truth his sister left behind. In three days, they'll face not just Jaune's transformation into Leriac, but the reality of what their actions – and inactions – cost them all.
The training room's silence stretched on, broken only by the soft hum of the ventilation system. Pyrrha's scroll slipped from her fingers, clattering against the floor. None of them moved to pick it up.
"We deserve this," Nora said finally, her usual boundless energy completely drained. "Every word she said... we deserve it all."
Ren placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, but his own composure was visibly shaken. "We thought we were protecting him by keeping our training sessions secret. By not drawing attention to his... struggles." His voice caught on the last word, remembering countless nights of watching Jaune push himself to exhaustion.
"No," Pyrrha's voice was hollow. "We were protecting ourselves. Our reputations. Our comfortable places at Beacon." She walked to the window, watching students cross the courtyard below. "I kept telling myself I was helping him by training him in secret, but Soleil's right – I was just afraid. Afraid of what others would think if they knew I was spending time with the 'weak link.'"
"He's coming to the dance," Nora whispered, sinking down to sit on one of the training mats. "After two years, we're going to see him. But it won't be our Jaune anymore, will it?"
"Perhaps that's the point," Ren mused, his eyes distant. "Our Jaune was someone we tried to mold into what we thought he should be. Leriac..." he tested the name carefully, "is who he chose to become without our... interference."
Pyrrha pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window. "The wolf Faunus girl... did you see her in the photos? The way she looked at him?" Her reflection showed a bitter smile. "That's how I used to look at him, before I decided my reputation was more important than..."
She couldn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.
"What do we do?" Nora asked, looking between her teammates. "At the dance, when we see him – them – what do we even say?"
"Nothing," Ren answered quietly. "We say nothing unless he chooses to speak to us first. We've lost that right, as Soleil made very clear."
Pyrrha turned from the window, her champion's posture crumbling. "Two years ago, we let him face his family's rejection alone. We stood aside when rumors spread about his departure. We..." her voice broke, "we helped maintain the silence when people questioned where he'd gone."
"And all that time," Nora added, "his sister was there for him. Supporting him. Loving him unconditionally." She laughed, but it was a wet sound, closer to a sob. "We thought we were the family he needed."
"Three days," Ren said softly. "Three days until we face not just him, but everything we failed to be."
The afternoon light continued to stream through the windows, catching dust motes in its beam. Once, this room had been filled with the sound of clashing weapons, encouraging shouts, and Jaune's determined grunts as he pushed himself to improve. Now it held only the weight of regret and the echoes of Soleil's words, a harsh reminder of how thoroughly they had failed their leader, their friend, their family.
Ghosts of the Past
The streets of Vale held a different energy in the evening light. Shop windows gleamed with warm displays, and the scent of fresh bread wafted from nearby bakeries. Leriac walked with his team, their easy camaraderie evident in their relaxed postures and occasional laughter.
Aiko's wolf ears twitched at some distant sound, and she instinctively moved closer to Leriac's side. Scarlett was regaling Zero with tales of her latest weapon modification, while Daikon offered dry commentary that made them all chuckle.
Then the laughter died.
She stood like a pale ghost under the streetlight – Weiss Schnee, former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. The pristine white outfit that had once been her trademark looked wrinkled, as though she'd stopped caring about maintaining appearances. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her signature side ponytail had lost its perfect arrangement.
"Jaune?" Her voice cracked on the name, barely above a whisper.
Leriac's team tensed immediately. Aiko's hand found his, a silent gesture of support. Scarlett's fingers twitched toward her weapon, but a subtle head shake from Leriac stopped her.
"It's Leriac now," he corrected quietly, his voice carrying none of the desperate eagerness that had once characterized his interactions with Weiss. His black tail, a manifestation of who he'd become, swayed gently behind him.
Weiss took a stumbling step forward, then caught herself. "I... we heard rumors, but I never..." Her eyes tracked over his changed appearance, the confidence in his stance, the way his team positioned themselves protectively around him. "You look... you seem..."
"Happy?" Leriac supplied, his tone neutral but firm. "Strong? Like I finally found where I belong?"
A choked sound escaped her throat. "We were wrong," she blurted out, her usual composure shattered. "That day, when everything happened... when we all just stood there and let..."
"Let me face my family's rejection alone?" Leriac finished for her. "Let the rumors spread? Let me disappear without a word?"
Daikon shifted closer to his leader, his presence a reminder of the family Leriac had found instead.
"I was cruel to you," Weiss continued, her voice thick with regret. "Before everything happened, I was needlessly cruel. And then when you needed support the most, I... we..."
"Showed me exactly who you were," Leriac stated simply. There was no anger in his voice, just a steady certainty that seemed to cut deeper than rage ever could. "And in doing so, you showed me who I needed to become."
Tears spilled down Weiss's cheeks, leaving tracks in her makeup. "I don't even recognize myself anymore," she whispered. "After that day, after what we did... or didn't do... everything started falling apart. My perfect world, my perfect plans..."
"Perhaps that's what needed to happen," Leriac observed, not unkindly. "Sometimes we need to lose our way to find a better path."
He gestured to his team – to Aiko's unwavering support, to Scarlett's fierce loyalty, to Zero's steady friendship, to Daikon's quiet understanding. "I found mine."
Weiss reached out a hand, then let it fall limply to her side. "Can you ever..."
"Forgive you?" Leriac smiled, but it held a touch of sadness. "I already have. That's not the problem, Weiss. The problem is that I no longer need your approval, your acceptance, or your friendship. I've found people who gave me those things freely, without conditions or secrets."
He stepped forward, past her frozen form. His team moved with him, a unit, a family. He didn't look back, didn't need to see her reaction. His tail swayed with each confident step, a physical reminder of the transformation that had freed him.
Behind them, Weiss Schnee stood alone in the gathering dusk, watching the person she'd helped break walk away whole – but without her, without any of them, in his life.
The evening breeze carried the scent of fresh bread, the sound of distant laughter, and the weight of consequences long overdue. Leriac's team continued their walk, their earlier joviality returning gradually, while behind them lay the ghost of a past that no longer held any power over their future.
Before Leriac could take that final step past Weiss, her hand shot out, not quite touching him but urgent enough to make him pause.
"Wait," she said, her voice trembling. "There's something you should know. About Yang."
Aiko's ears flattened against her head at the mention of that name, sensing the shift in Leriac's energy. The rest of his team drew closer, their protective formation tightening.
"She's..." Weiss swallowed hard. "She's gotten worse since that day. More volatile. When your name comes up, when anyone mentions what happened..." She wrapped her arms around herself. "She shows no remorse. None. If anything, she seems proud of what she did to you."
Leriac stood perfectly still, his tail no longer swaying but held rigid. The temperature around them seemed to drop several degrees.
"You're warning me because you think she'll try something when she sees me," he stated flatly.
Weiss nodded, her eyes haunted. "She's not the Yang we used to know. The guilt of what happened that day changed all of us, but it twisted her. Made her harder. Crueler."
A low, humorless laugh escaped Leriac's throat. "The difference between Yang and the rest of you," he said, his voice carrying an edge that made even his own team tense, "is that she never hid who she was. That day, when my family rejected me, when everyone else stood silent... Yang was the only one honest enough to show her true colors."
He turned just enough to meet Weiss's gaze, and the intensity there made her step back. "When I see Yang again, I won't be the same scared boy she enjoyed breaking. I'll show her exactly what I've become. And unlike her, I won't take any pleasure in it – but I won't show mercy either."
"Leriac," Scarlett murmured, but he continued.
"First, I'll let her see how far I've come. Let her realize that everything she did to tear me down only built me stronger. Then," his voice dropped lower, "I'll break her spirit like she tried to break mine. Only after that, when she understands what it feels like to be utterly defeated by someone she once thought beneath her... only then will I consider forgiveness."
"She won't make it easy," Weiss whispered.
"Good." Leriac's tail moved once, sharply. "She doesn't deserve easy."
He turned away again, his team falling in step beside him. This time when he walked past Weiss, his words drifted back to her like a promise – or a warning.
"Tell Yang I'm coming. Tell her to remember every cruel word, every punch, every moment she enjoyed my pain two years ago. Because I'll make sure she feels each one before we're done."
The street lights cast long shadows as Leriac and his team disappeared into the evening crowd, leaving Weiss with the knowledge that she'd just witnessed not just the strength of his recovery, but the depth of his resolve. The boy who had once desperately sought their friendship was gone, replaced by someone who no longer needed anything from them – except, perhaps, this one final reckoning.
Ripples of Return
The news of Leriac's arrival in Vale spread through Beacon's halls like wildfire, each whispered conversation carrying the weight of long-buried guilt. In his office atop the tower, Ozpin stood at his window, coffee cup forgotten in his hand as he processed the intelligence reports.
"He's changed," Glynda observed, reviewing the photographs on her scroll. "Not just physically." Her voice carried a note of professional admiration tinged with regret.
"We failed him," Ozpin replied quietly. "As educators, we should have seen the signs, should have intervened before that day." He turned from the window, his expression grave. "Now he returns, not as our student, but as someone who found his strength elsewhere."
In one of Vale's less reputable establishments, Qrow Branwen sat alone, a gesture that had become increasingly common since his estrangement from his niece. The message on his scroll confirmed what he'd already heard through his network: Jaune Arc – now Leriac – had returned.
"About damn time," he muttered, remembering how Yang had changed after that day. His niece's descent into cruelty had been gradual but unmistakable, eventually forcing him to distance himself from her. The bright, passionate girl he'd helped raise had become someone he barely recognized.
Meanwhile, in the training rooms, Cardin Winchester stood frozen, staring at his own scroll as reports of Leriac's team circulated through student channels. Yang's arms wrapped around him from behind, her touch carrying none of the warmth it once had.
"Thinking about your old punching bag?" she asked, her voice sharp with amusement. "I heard he's grown a tail. Fitting for someone who always acted like an animal."
Cardin's shoulders tensed. Two years of watching Yang's transformation, of being pulled deeper into her twisted worldview, had shown him exactly what unchecked cruelty could do to a person. His own actions toward Jaune, born of jealousy and insecurity, now haunted him nightly.
"This has to stop, Yang," he said quietly, pulling away from her embrace. "What we did – what I did – to him was wrong. We can't keep pretending it wasn't."
"Wrong?" Yang's eyes flashed dangerously. "We showed him exactly where he belonged. Below us. Where he's always belonged."
"No," Cardin's voice strengthened. "We showed ourselves where we belonged. And it wasn't where we thought." He turned to face her fully. "I'm going to find him. I need to make this right."
"You're choosing him over me?" Yang's hair began to glow, her semblance activating with her anger.
"I'm choosing to fix my mistakes," Cardin replied. "Something you might want to consider before he finds you."
He left her there, his steps echoing through the training room as he headed toward the door. Behind him, Yang's fury manifested in the sound of shattering equipment, but for the first time in two years, her anger didn't make him turn back.
In his office, Ozpin received a message from Qrow: "We need to talk about Yang. And about giving someone else a chance to make things right."
The headmaster's response was swift: "Bring Mr. Winchester to my office. Perhaps it's time we discussed redemption."
The pieces were moving now, all across Vale. Leriac's return had sparked more than just fear or anticipation – it had ignited a chance for change, for redemption, for consequences long overdue. As night fell over Beacon, the air itself seemed charged with possibility and the weight of approaching confrontation.
Moonlit Truths
The shattered moon cast long shadows across Beacon's courtyard as Leriac and Aiko walked side by side. Her wolf ears twitched occasionally at distant sounds, but her attention remained fixed on him, stealing glances when she thought he wouldn't notice. Their hands brushed occasionally, sending sparks of warmth through her each time.
"Are you sure about this meeting?" she asked softly, her concern evident.
Leriac's tail swayed gently as he considered her question. "Ozpin and Glynda... they tried to help, in their own way. After everything happened, they made sure I had somewhere to go. Someone to guide me." His voice carried no bitterness when speaking of them, only a measured gratitude.
Aiko moved closer, their shoulders touching now. "They gave you the path that led you to us. To me." The last words were barely a whisper, colored with emotions she hadn't yet found the courage to fully express.
As they approached the tower, Leriac paused, turning to face her. "Aiko..." There was something in his eyes, something that made her heart race, but before he could continue, the tower's doors opened.
"Mr. Arc – or should I say, Mr. Leriac?" Glynda's voice carried its usual professional tone, but her eyes held genuine warmth. "Please, come in. Both of you."
--
Across campus, in Team RWBY's dorm, a very different conversation was unfolding.
"He's what?" Yang's voice cracked with dangerous energy, her eyes already tingeing red.
Weiss stood her ground, though her hands trembled slightly. "He's changed, Yang. Not just physically. There's something... something powerful within him now. I felt it."
"The weakling grew a tail and suddenly you're scared?" Yang scoffed, but there was an edge of uncertainty in her voice.
"No," Weiss's voice dropped lower. "I'm scared because I saw what's lurking beneath the surface. He's not angry anymore, Yang. He's beyond that. There's this... presence about him. Like a sleeping beast just waiting for the right moment to wake up."
She stepped closer to her teammate, trying to make her understand. "He said he'd show you no mercy. And Yang... I believe him. The power I sensed..." She shuddered. "If you push him, if you try to break him again like you did before..."
"Then what?" Yang's hair began to glow.
"Then you'll be the one who breaks." Weiss wrapped her arms around herself. "He's not coming for revenge, Yang. He's coming to show us exactly what we threw away. And when he does..." She met Yang's red eyes with her own haunted gaze. "When he does, I pray you're wise enough not to fight him. Because whatever's inside him now... it's waiting for an excuse to show itself."
Yang turned away, her fists clenched. But for the first time in two years, beneath her anger, there was a flicker of something else.
Fear.
--
Back in the tower, Ozpin gestured for Leriac and Aiko to sit. "I believe," he said carefully, "we have much to discuss about your return to Vale." His eyes lingered on the obvious affection between the two, noting how Aiko's presence seemed to ground Leriac in a way none of his previous relationships had.
The night stretched ahead of them, full of possibilities – some hopeful, some dangerous, all inevitable. And somewhere in the darkness, a power slumbered within Leriac, waiting for the moment when it would finally be needed.
To be continued in Chapter 5: Redemption and Confrontation with The Past