Here we go.

Chapter 10

The fight started bad and got worse in a hurry.

Jaune had been taught how to fight by his sister, and he liked to think he was competent for a sixteen-year-old pretending to be seventeen, but he'd been trained to fight Grimm and people. The fall maiden was a person, but she was also a force of nature – quite literally. Lightning, wind, storms, hurricanes. The clearing was buffeted with all of them and Jaune was thrown off his feet before he could reach her.

As he hit the ground and rolled, he was struck by a bolt of lightning, propelling him even further. His hair tingled and stood on end, and his hands trembled as the residual shock worked its way through him. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through it, tightened his grip on his sword and rushed back in.

No matter how much he disliked this cold-blooded murder, there was a time and place for doubts and attempts to fix his sister. This was not it. He knew that causing a scene here might get one of them killed, so all the arguments he'd given the day before were pushed aside. He'd regret killing this woman, but he'd regret letting Cinder, Mercury or Emerald die even more.

Emerald was keeping the maiden distracted with illusions while Cinder shot arrows from a distance. That left him and Mercury with the unenviable task of getting close – which proved to be a problem due to the wind and lightning. Cinder was the only real one capable of hurting her thanks to her bow, so they became distractions for her as well.

When he got close, a wave of static and electricity rolled over him and caused his muscles to seize up. The maiden lashed out with her staff at that exact moment, a practiced move on her part, and he could barely force tortured muscles to raise his sword in time. Even then, his muscles were shaking and weak, and the staff broke through his guard and crashed into his shoulder from above. Aura flared and Jaune grunted, abandoning his sword to grasp onto the staff with two hands.

The maiden simply let him have it, releasing the weapon and kicking him away, then turning to hurl a lightning bolt at Emerald. Evidently, the illusions were screwing with her enough for her to see Emerald as a bigger threat than him.

Which was accurate given he couldn't get close without her static field messing with him.

The best I can do is take a beating and buy opportunities for Cinder. One lapse of judgment, or enough arrows, and her aura will fail.

Throwing the staff behind him and far out the maiden's reach, Jaune rushed back in. He hit the wall of static again and roared with the pain, drawing the woman's attention. Her eyes blazed as she pointed an open palm at him and swept him up in a small cyclone, whipping his clothes about his body. Jaune was picked up and thrown into a tree, but the moment he hit the ground, knees and hands first, he ran back in.

Mercury seemed to catch on. He couldn't shout out the plan or the maiden would go for Cinder, so they had to come to the same conclusions on their own. Mercury was thrown back right as Jaune attacked again, and the maiden snarled as she whipped a bolt of electricity into his chest. It crackled over his skin and made him bite his lip so hard it bled. Jaune fell to one knee, his free hand digging into the mud. Electricity crackled down it to the earth, making his fingers spasm.

Aura protected against a lot but electricity was a pain. It still dampened the raw damage so their hearts didn't explode in their chests, but it couldn't stop the current doing odd things to their muscles. Making them cramp up. Jaune's hand did just that, digging into the mud and soil and tearing up a chunk of it.

The maiden launched Mercury back and turned toward Cinder.

No.

Jaune roared and slashed in at her, pushing through the static field. The sword was caught on an open hand, aura blunting the attack. The maiden leaned in, lips peeled back in a snarl as she prepared to channel electricity right through him. His sword crackled, but he let go of the hilt before it could shock him and whipped his other hand forward, releasing the clod of soil and dirt as he did.

A cloud of brown splashed on the woman's face – right into her eyes.

"Arghhh!" she cried, releasing his sword and staggering back. He wasn't sure if the whole eyes on fire thing made it worse or not, but she brought her palms up to her face to scrub at it.

Twang!

Thunk!

Blood splashed across Jaune's face.

He was knelt in front of her from where she dropped him, and the arrow had come over his head and lodged in her chest. He wasn't sure whether his distraction was what caused her to lose control of her aura or if she'd just run low, but the sickening feeling in his stomach told him he'd be blaming himself either way.

Gasping for breath, the maiden fell to the floor, her burning eyes winking out.

"Good work," Cinder said. Jaune's stomach roiled as she walked past him. Mercury and Emerald, far less caring than he, surged forward to take the maiden's arms and drag her to her knees.

Jaune stumbled away, feeling sick and not ready to watch this happen. It was too cruel. He stumbled over to a tree and placed a hand upon it, holding himself upright as he caught his breath. He didn't want to see that disgusting Grimm insect burst out his sister's skin and consume a woman's soul, or whatever it was meant to do. Jaune pulled the hood of his hoodie up to block out the sight or sound of it.

Only to freeze when an arm locked around his neck and a sword – of some description – tickled the underside of his chin. Jaune was wrenched back so he was facing Cinder once more, his back to the chest of a taller man.

"Let Amber go or I'll kill him!"

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit. Jaune gulped as Cinder, Emerald and Mercury turned to face them. Cinder hissed something and Emerald locked her eyes above Jaune's head, presumably obscuring their faces with her Semblance. Making it so the man that Jaune recognised as Qrow Branwen couldn't identify them.

"Release her," Qrow spat. "Or I'll cut this one a head shorter."

Cinder didn't hesitate. She waved Mercury and Emerald off and planted a foot on the maiden's chest, knocking her away from them. The woman fell, already too weak, and couldn't move.

"We'll back away," Cinder said, raising her bare hands. The parasite had vanished. "We just wanted a little money—"

"Like I believe that. You're working for Salem."

"Who? I've never heard of such a person."

Cinder was playing games. Trying to make this out to be a simple bandit attack on an unwary traveller. The huntsman wasn't buying it. The Fall Maiden wasn't someone to be bested by a bunch of forest bandits.

"Back away. Slowly. Leave her."

Cinder motioned for the others to obey. Mercury already was, holding his hands up and backing away quickly, eyes wide with fear. Fear for Jaune's wellbeing. He saw the same fear in Cinder's face, no matter how hard she tried to conceal it.

"We're away," Cinder said. "Release him and we'll be on our way. Harm him and I'll make sure the girl dies before you can get her to safety."

Qrow dragged Jaune toward the maiden, using him as a shield the whole way. The huntsman would have a good chance fighting them off, but he couldn't do that and save the maiden's life. He kept hold of Jaune until he was at the woman's side, then knelt, pulling Jaune down with him, to check her vitals.

Jaune could tell she was still from the way her lips moved.

"Take her and go," Cinder said.

Qrow knew it was a trap. The moment he let go, Jaune would surge forward and use his aura to protect himself, and Cinder and the others would charge Qrow. Hostages only made sense so far as you could kill them, and aura prevented Qrow doing that quickly. The real risk was Qrow escaping with him, since he'd never see Cinder again.

Something had to change.

Qrow placed a foot on the inside of Jaune's knee and pushed outward. Aura protected, but it wasn't invincible. If it was, the act of Qrow's aura pushing against Jaune's would have cancelled one another out, defying all physics. That wasn't how it worked. Instead, Jaune's aura protected his skin from being pierced, but didn't stop Qrow pushing his knee out of place.

There was a sickening crack and Jaune screamed.

Cinder did, too, and rushed forward, snarling with absolute rage. "No!"

Qrow kicked Jaune into her arms and, while she was distracted, stooped to pick up Amber and throw her over his shoulder. He fled with her while Cinder caught Jaune, and as Mercury and Emerald rushed to check up on him.

It all happened in the space of a few moments.

The crack, the scream, the push, and the escape. Jaune hadn't even stopped screaming by the time Qrow had left with the maiden. Vomit threatened to bubble up and escape from the nauseous feeling of his knee being out of place.

/-/

"It'll take six to eight weeks to heal," the doctor said, finishing placing Jaune's leg in a cast. "You said it was a training accident?"

"It was my fault." Cinder lied. "I grappled his other leg and forced him to land funny."

"Accidents happen. Learn from it. I'll write up a pass excusing himself from combat training and physical exercise. Broken limbs in Haven aren't all that uncommon, so don't fret too much. You'll be provided crutches or a wheelchair. Your choice."

"Crutches will—"

"He will take the wheelchair." Cinder cut him off. "I will push it."

That was that, then. He knew better than to argue with her and let the doctor fold out a wheelchair and give instructions on how to handle staircases. Cinder listened with similar determination to when Salem gave orders, taking everything in with a seriousness that seemed to unnerve the doctor. It was a miracle the injury wasn't worse given they'd had to rush back to Haven without treating it, all to give the illusion it happened here.

When they left, Cinder pushed the wheelchair in front of her.

"I could have used crutches."

"No. It's my fault you're in this situation. I will take responsibility."

"Your fault? Cinder, this is my fault. I let my guard down—"

"Our enemy was bested and the fight was over. We all let our guards down. I won't hear you blaming this on anyone other than that huntsman." Cinder puffed angrily. "It doesn't matter. The wound I left on her will surely prove fatal. In a sense, I'd rather the power come to me naturally than by Salem's parasite. The latter might have some nasty surprise where it syphons it to her instead of me."

"Then you're not angry in me? Disappointed?"

The wheelchair stopped. Cinder moved her hands from the handles to his shoulders and squeezed. "Jaune. Brother. You're the one who blinded her and distracted her long enough for me to take the shot. You're the one who charged her and kept her busy. I know you didn't want to; I know harming someone you consider innocent causes you pain. You didn't want to be there. But you did. For me."

There was a rustle of cloth as Cinder leaned down, sliding her hands down his chest, and placed her head on his shoulder. Her cheek pressed against his.

"Thank you," she whispered. "You were amazing."

"Cinder…"

"Yo-oh my god, she has a heart! Someone call the press!"

Cinder stood up and glared at Sun and Neptune, who had just stepped out the stairway into the corridor. Neptune began to sweat, but Sun, lacking any survival instincts, just grinned and shot a pair of thumbs up toward her.

"That was super cute by the way. Total sibling moment."

"Speak of this and no one will find your bodies."

"W—We just came because we heard what happened to Jaune," Neptune said. "You okay, buddy? How long you out for?"

"About two months. It doesn't hurt anymore. Though I've got an itch around my shin that I'm starting to realise I won't be able to scratch for a while. This might just become the worst torture imaginable."

"You need a long knife or metal stick," Sun said. "Had it myself. It's okay if you poke something down. You're just not meant to bend your leg. Aaanyway." He held up a pen. "First dibbs on signing your cast?"

"Sure—"

"No." Cinder said. "I'm first."

Jaune rolled his eyes. Cinder could be so childish sometimes.

"Sure." Sun tossed her the pen. "But we get to go after."

Cinder uncapped it and knelt on the outside of his leg, placing the red felt-tip pen against the cast. Jaune looked up at the ceiling for a moment, but soon frowned when he realised Cinder's name was taking a long time to write. Over a minute, in fact. He looked down and gaped.

"Cinder, what!?"

"What?" she asked, capping the pen. "It's my name."

It was, technically. CINDER. Written in full caps and a font so large it spanned from the bottom of his leg to the top. There was room for at least three signatures in the gap of the D alone. Probably two in the R. In terms of real estate, she'd taken up half his leg.

"It's not a competition…" Neptune whispered.

It was with her.

Cinder handed them the pen.

Sun and Neptune wrote their names at a much more reasonable size, and Neptune even wrote his upside down so that Jaune could read it properly, writing "get well soon, Neptune" with a smiley face below it. Sun drew a little caricature of a grinning monkey by his. Both went very much eclipsed by Cinder's casual mark of ownership. He was surprised she hadn't written "Property of…" before it.

"Thanks guys."

"No worries. You ever need help up and down stairs then let us know. The elevators here are in real crappy spots."

"Thanks, I—"

"That won't be necessary," Cinder said. "I will take care of any needs Jaune has."

Sun grinned. "Even the showers?"

Jaune shook his head.

"Of course." Cinder didn't see the tease. Or she didn't care to acknowledge it. "Jaune doesn't have anything I haven't seen before. I washed him when he was a brat complaining about shampoo in his eyes."

"S—Sis. Don't talk about that!"

"Heh. Looks like you're in good hands," Sun said. Under his breath he muttered, "Lucky bastard."

No. No, he wasn't lucky. Cinder was his sister, and lack of blood relation didn't mean he got to avoid the ick factor of feeling related to her. "Save me," he mouthed to them.

Sun offered him a thumbs up.

Bastard.

/-/

In the end, he managed to prove to Cinder he could handle showers and toilet time alone and she accepted that, even if she was convinced to help him in and out of bed, and into a modified pair of trousers with one leg cut off. Mercury and Emerald had also signed his cast, along with a few other classmates.

None had dared write as large as Cinder, as her reputation for being a possessive sister had spread far throughout Haven.

"This won't be a problem," she told the team. "Amber was critically wounded and isn't likely to survive, and we have to stay in Haven for a full term to make our cover story for the Vytal Festival next year. There were always going to be long periods of us waiting here."

"What about Qrow Branwen?" Emerald asked. "What if he asks around for any sudden broken legs?"

"We're first years. Besides, the headmaster has already officially stated that he saw the incident happen here at the school. The story is that he heard a scream from the training rooms and caught me carrying Jaune out on one shoulder."

"You think they'll buy that?"

"As the doctor said, broken bones are a common occurrence. Leonardo works closely with Ozpin, so he'll be believed for now. The other teachers here have no reason to doubt the story, either. Emerald. You said you stopped him seeing us."

"Yes. I made all our faces shadowed. All our hair colours were brown and black as well."

"Excellent. Then we're safe. Jaune can have as much time as he needs to recover, and the fall maiden will likely have died by the time he does. That'll give me plenty of time to master her power for my own."

Mercury, who had been cleaning one of his mechanical legs, set it down. "Then we're on holiday? Just slumming it here until the year is over?"

"We'll have other things we need to do. Continue meeting with the White Fang, make contacts in Vale ahead of our arrival in the nest school year. We'll save that until the summer holidays. Go to Vale ahead of the next year. But Salem may yet have tasks for us. Until then, yes. Spend your time how you wish. I suggest you both train. Neither of you were able to hold the Fall Maiden back. Only Jaune did."

Emerald nodded. The criticism wasn't deserved but she'd take it so as not to cause any arguments.

Mercury rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. We could have kicked her ass on our own and you'd still favour Jaune over us. Besides, maybe you should get some training in with this new power of yours that'll come flying by any day. I can look after Jaune while you do."

Cinder's eyes narrowed. "Jaune is my responsibility."

"Yeah, sure, but if this new power is uncontrollable then you don't want him harmed by it…"

"…" Cinder clicked her tongue. "Then Emerald will look after him."

Emerald sighed.

"Sis! Mercury! Stop fighting over me!"

"I'm not fighting." Cinder lied. "Why would I need to? You're my brother. He's just an associate."

Mercury opened his mouth, likely to say "bros before hoes" but Emerald smacked him in the face with a pillow and saved his life. Confident that meant she'd won the little argument, Cinder nodded and turned away from him.

"All in all, we should see this as a success. Jaune getting injured was the fault of all of us for not keeping our guards up, but there won't be any consequences from it. I'll inform Salem of what happened."

"Will she be angry?" Jaune asked.

"I shouldn't think so. We struck a fatal blow and avoided detection. I'm sure Watts will try and make it look like we failed, but that man's an idiot."

/-/

Leonardo Lionheart was never a fan of the online meetings with Ozpin. He didn't dislike the man. Even though he was a traitor, he still respected and admired Ozpin for all he'd done. The reasons for his treachery weren't because of anything on their end, but because he'd been too weak to resist Salem.

And because he'd be dead the moment he failed her.

In the end, it was obey Salem or die, and now that Cinder was in his school that was even more immediate. Unless she suffered an accident and got herself killed, he couldn't dare to do anything to upset her.

"Amber, the Fall Maiden, has been critically wounded," Ozpin said. It was him, General Ironwood and also Qrow on different corners of the screen.

Ironwood was critical. As always.

"I told you not to let her travel. You should have kept her under lock and key."

"The girl wasn't a criminal to be locked up," Leonardo pointed out.

"If I wanted the opinion of someone who has misplaced their maiden, I'd ask for it!"

Leonardo fumed. The fact he'd lost the Spring Maiden was, ironically, the one thing keeping his relic safe! It had been a last moment of bravery from him to tell her to flee, and she'd done as he asked, removing any ability for him to hand her over to Salem. To have Ironwood sneer at that, unknowing or not of the truth, had Leonardo growling.

"We're not here to throw around insults, James. What's done is done. Amber was attacked in Mistral. Qrow…?"

"Four people. Black and brown hair. I'd say they were young but I couldn't get a good look at their faces. I suspect it was the same guy from Raven's tribe. Similar height and build. I broke his leg, so you may want to keep an eye out for any huntsmen reporting leg injuries."

"A good idea," Ironwood said. "Have you checked your records, Lionheart?"

Leonardo took a drink to calm his nerves. He'd never been a good liar. "I've kept an eye out but there's a good chance they'd go outside the kingdom for treatment. Salem knows you'll be keeping an eye out here."

"None at all, then?"

"A student broke his leg, but he's a first-year student – and blonde."

"Hair dye exists, and Amber wasn't that much older. Four people fits a team, too."

"Teams continue beyond graduation and Amber had control of her powers!" Leonardo was much too alarmed that Qrow was pushing this angle. "Besides, Jaune Fall broke his leg here at the school. I carried him to the infirmary myself."

"Then that line of investigation is closed," Ozpin said. Leonardo let out a breath. "If he was seen breaking his leg in Haven, there's no reason to waste time on him."

"The name sounds familiar, though…" Qrow said. "Jaune Fall. Hn. I think that's the name of my niece's pen pal. I hear her father and Yang teasing her about having a boyfriend enough times in Signal."

"Are the private letters of a young boy and girl of importance here?" Leonardo asked, eager to change the subject. "Amber has been attacked and the Branwen tribe has confirmed dealings with Salem. I really feel we should focus on that."

"He's right." Ironwood of all people agreed with him. "I suggest eradicating the Branwen tribe. A pre-emptive strike."

"Fuck off. That's my sister. And the deal she made was to stay out the fight, not to help Salem. If we attack her, I guarantee she'll join Salem to get back at us."

"It's only a suggestion. We should put all ideas on the table and consider them."

Leonardo tuned out as they argued. Ironwood and Qrow never got along, and likely never would. He personally found them both troublesome, but he tended to side with Ironwood more if only because he was a coward at heart, and Ironwood's plans normally involved destroying those that might stand against them.

If he had an ounce of Ironwood's courage, he wouldn't be in this situation.

No, Leonardo thought. I'd be dead instead, and Salem would simply be threatening my replacement into submission. Fighting back against an immortal enemy won't achieve anything.

He wondered how eager Ironwood and Qrow would be for the fight if they knew just how immortal Salem was. They knew she was undying in age terms, but Ozpin had kept it secret from everyone that she couldn't be killed. He only knew it because of the Relic of Knowledge. In so learning it, he'd come to realise just how horrible it was to know things.

Ignorance truly had been bliss. Back when he'd thought they could fight back the darkness, win, and end the threat of Salem once and for all.

But that was just a white lie from Ozpin.

One he wished he could still believe.

Bit of a time skip incoming.

Since this is a year before RWBY's first year in Beacon, we'll be jumping around a lot to keep the flow up.

Next Chapter: 1st April

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