Chapter 1: How Soldier met Knight
"Be gentle love my bones may be made of metal but I've a heart made of glass" - Dally London
Note: Originally, this was gonna be one long story, but I decided to break it into parts, this is the first part. Part 1 takes place during the events of Volumes 2-3, while part 2 (which would be a separate story) takes place during Volumes 7-8.
Yes, I'll be skipping over Volumes 4, 5, and 6, though some of the events from those volumes will be different, due to what transpired in this part of the story. I'm hoping to make a Part 3 but I have to wait to watch Volume 9 in its full.
As of right now, the first chapter takes place a day after the Volume 1 finale
Anyway, I Hope you all enjoy this story as trust me, there'll be so much Comfort/Hurt in this freaking story!
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She was with her grandfather as they looked over the city of Atlas and she thought it was the most beautiful sight as she also saw the snow fall from the sky.
"It's beautiful Grandfather," She said with a smile.
He smiled and gave her a nod, "It is," He said, "Your mother tells me You want to become a huntsman, is that true?" he asked.
Hearing his question, she looked down sadly, "I also want to join the military," Winter said, "Are you going to try and stop me like my mother? Or are you going yell at me like my father?" She asked.
He shook his head as he smiled, "No, I'm not going to do anything of the sort," He told her, "I'm going to support you,"
Hearing him say that, her eyes widened and she turned back to him with a shocked expression, "You... you are?" she asked him.
"Of course," He said, "On the condition, you can answer two of my questions,"
Winter looked at him, still confused, "What are they?" she asked.
He smiled, "The first question, why do you want to join the military and be a Huntsman?" He asked.
"I... I want to get out from under father's influence, I don't want him controlling my life, I don't want to be the damsel people see me as," she told him, "But I... I want to protect people, I don't care who they are, human or Faunus, I just want to protect them, as you did," She told him.
Those words hit his heart more than she could ever know, and he smiled at his granddaughter with a bright and proud smile. "That's a good reason, my dear, and I can't tell you how proud of you I am to hear you say that," He said.
She blushed and became bashful at her grandfather's words, "Grandfather..." She groaned while she hid behind her hands.
He laughed at her bashful behavior, "I'm sorry my dear, but it's true!" he cried with laughter, "You've made this old man proud,"
She removed her hands from her face and looked back at her grandfather, "Thank you," She replied, smiling brightly.
"Now then, my second question," He began, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" he asked.
Her expression returned to confusion, "Huh?" She asked, "Grandfather, I just told you that I-"
Her grandfather shook his head, "No, no, no," he cut her off, "That is what you want to do, I am asking you what you want to be, what kind of a person do you want to become?" He asked her once more.
She thought about what he asked and she was stumped. What did she want to be when she grew up? What kind of person did she want to become? Her father was ruthless and manipulative, he only cared for his image and the business he stole from her grandfather and mother. What about her mother? Did she want to become a woman so torn down from her marriage that she didn't even bother with her children, and escaped through a bottle?
No... no she didn't like any of those options. She despised those paths.
But she looked to her grandfather, a man who she admired since she heard about his great deeds to the people of Atlas and Mantle, how he fought for the rights of the Faunus in Atlas, and how he cared deeply for everything in the city. He was the purest and kindest man she had ever known.
And just like that, she had her answer.
She smiled at her grandfather, "Ask me again, grandfather, I have your answer," She told him.
He smiled at his oldest granddaughter and gave her a quick nod. "Winter... what do you want to be when you grow up?" He asked her.
Winter smiled softly at her grandfather, "Kind," she replied.
It had been years since that conversation, and now, Winter was a full-fledged Huntress as well as given the rank of Atlas Specialist, and she was proud of what she had accomplished, however, she wished that her grandfather had seen what she had become. She was sure she had made him proud.
Currently, Winter, along with Penny Polendina walked the halls of Beacon, looking for a room that belong to Penny's... friend. However, the question was, why was Winter with Penny?
Well you see, General Ironwood had tasked her to watch over Penny at her team, team COPR (Copper) in order to watch how Penny acted and blended in with humans and Faunus, and to make her job not seem so suspicious, Ironwood tasked other Specialist and Huntsmen in Atlas over other first-year teams.
She had already let Penny out of her sight and she had caused some damage at the Bullhead Docks, but thankfully the blame wasn't fully on her as Penny had managed to slip her watchful eye, which was quite embarrassing for her. She was furious with the android and wanted an explanation from her, but after Penny explained why she had left without telling her, Winter could not stay mad at her, after all, she had once done the exact same thing when she was younger and still under her father's thumb.
Another reason she was with Penny was that it appeared that the friend Penny wanted to see, a girl named Ruby Rose, who Penny had met when she slipped past Winter, appeared to live in the same room as her younger sister, Weiss. Winter quickly figured out meant that Weiss was a teammate to this Ruby girl, so she agreed to tag along, wanting to catch up with her sister, since it had been months since they had seen each other in person.
Penny walked gleefully down the hallway with Winter behind her. "You're gonna love my friend Ruby, Specialist Schnee!" Penny said with glee.
Winter smiled at Penny's joyous attitude, which she would admit was rather infectious. "I'm sure I will, Penny, and I hope to properly introduce you to Weiss," Winter told her.
Penny nodded with a smile, "Yes, and hopefully she'll be my friend too!" Penny said.
"Hopefully," Winter said, still smiling. 'Hopefully, she is not as... uppity as she was when she left, gods know she needs to ease up, she's not in Atlas and isn't a soldier' Winter thought to herself.
Penny looked at the doors and saw the numbers and quickly realized they were getting close to Team RWBY's Dorm. "Oh! We're almost there!" Penny cried and ran ahead of Winter.
Winter watched as Penny quickly ran ahead of her. "Wait! Penny!" Winter cried as she reached after, but let out a sigh and followed after her, she was just thankful that she didn't try to blast through the hallway with her rockets.
Eventually, after running after the Robotic teen, Winter saw Penny stop at a door, and knew that Penny must have found the door to Ruby and Weiss's room, but must have waited for Winter to arrive to knock, and once the oldest Schnee daughter reached the door, Penny squealed and decided to knock on the door but nobody answered.
Penny knocked once again in case someone was inside and didn't hear it the first time, or because they couldn't reach the door at the moment, but nobody answered the second Knock.
"Perhaps they aren't here," Winter said.
Penny's expression turned to disappointment as her head slowly turned to look at the floor, "Maybe..." She said.
Suddenly, the door behind them opened loudly and they turned around only to see a male blonde teenager with dull white armor and a sword strapped to his side, coming out into the hallway, and he closed his door behind him and then he turned, and his eyes locked onto both Penny and Winter, who were looking back at him, much to his surprise.
"Oh, uh... hi," Jaune greeted with a small wave.
"Hello," Winter greeted with a nod.
Penny seemed to perk up at seeing the boy and waved at him, "Hi! I'm Penny Polendina! Nice to meet you!" Penny greeted
Jaune smiled at her, "Nice to meet you too," Jaune greeted back, "I'm Jaune Arc, short, sweet- ah... forget I said that," Jaune replied with an awkward smile.
Winter felt like was going to try and flirt, but realizing it wasn't proper, or embarrassing, or he actually lacked the confidence, he decided to stop himself, but she decided to ignore that and gave him a kind smile. "I'm Specialist Winter Schnee, very nice to meet you, Mr. Arc," Winter said, holding out her hand.
Jaune shook her hand, "Nice to meet- wait... Schnee?" Jaune asked with a raised brow.
Hearing him asking about her last name, made her raise a brow in suspicion, and began to question if he was going to try and hit on her again or be rude to her. "Yes," She said with a hesitant tone.
But the young blonde looked surprised, "Oh so you must be related to Weiss!" he asked.
Winter nodded, giving him his confirmation, "Yes, I'm her older sister," She replied, "Do you know my sister?" Winter asked him.
Jaune rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous chuckle, "Kinda," he said, "Her team and mine hang out a lot, though I don't hang around her much... not that I blame her," Jaune muttered the last part.
Winter heard what he muttered and raised a brow at him, and was about to say something, but Penny interrupted her.
Penny moved in closer to the boy, intruding on his personal space, "Are you friends with Ruby!?" Penny asked with a smile and wide eyes.
Jaune was a bit taken aback by Penny's outburst and at how close she was, but he recomposed himself and nodded, "Y-Yeah, I and Ruby are friends," He said with a smile.
Penny gasped, "Ruby is my friend too!" Penny cheerfully cried, "Can we be friends as well!?" She asked Jaune.
Jaune nervousness disappeared and he gave her a genuine smile and nodded, "Sure," he replied, "Any friend of Ruby is a friend of mine!" he said proudly.
"Sensational!" Penny cried as she hugged Jaune tightly.
Jaune let out an oof as he felt like the wind was nearly knocked out of him and Penny's hug felt like he was being hugged by an Ursa. To his shock, the girl before him was putting Nora to shame, but it still felt nice...
Ok, now it was getting harder to breathe.
"P-P-Penny...! To tight! Can't breathe!" He cried.
Penny then quickly broke the hug and apologized before she looked back at him. "Oh, do you know where Ruby is!?" she asked.
Winter nodded in agreement with Penny's question, "Yes, we came here to visit Ruby and my sister, but they aren't here," Winter told him, "Do you know where they might be?"
Jaune thought for a minute, "Well... If they aren't at the dorms, they might be in the library playing games or studying, or they could be at the Combat Class, they train there sometimes,"
Winter nodded with a small smile, "Thank you, Mr. Arc" Winter said as she turned around to walk toward the Library to see if Team RWBY were there, and then check the Combat Class. However, Winter stopped herself and Penny and turned back to Jaune, "Would you mind guiding us there? I nearly forgot that I am not in Atlas anymore," Winter told him.
Jaune nodded with a soft smile, "Sure, and don't worry, I've lived here for a month but I'm still getting lost," Jaune told her with a chuckle.
Penny chuckled with him, as she and Winter followed the young knight as he led them in the direction of Beacon's Library.
As they are walking toward the combat room, Jaune turned to Winter. "I don't think I've ever heard Weiss talk about you," Jaune told her, "Well, at least not around me or my team," he clarified
Winter looked at him, "I don't blame her, many have tried to court me through her or they simply try to get to know Weiss only to get her money," Winter said, "We tend to not try and get to close to a lot of people for those reasons,"
Jaune nodded, "Ah, I guess that's a good reason why she- uh...! N-Never mind! Forget I said anything" Jaune said with a bashful expression.
Winter shook her head, "No, please go on, what do you mean that was a good reason?" She asked him.
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Well uh... I may have tried asking her out a few times," He chuckled nervously.
Winter peered at him, "Really?" Winter asked with a raised brow.
Jaune realized he might have screwed up telling her that and quickly tried to straighten it out. "I didn't know who she was before, I uh... I just thought she was a really pretty girl and I thought I-I could ask her out, you know? I just needed to have confidence as my dad said, but well, she said no, but I tried a couple of more times because I thought I actually had a chance, but after a while, I finally got it through my head that she wasn't interested so I stopped," Jaune told Winter, "I wanna try to be friends with her now and make up for how annoying I was, though, I don't think she wants to try and be friends, and I can't say I blame her," He replied with a nervous smile.
Winter examined his mannerisms closely, a habit she was forced to pick up when too many people tried to get close to her for their own gain, but Jaune seemed genuine. He seemed to be sincere, which really surprised her because most people she and Weiss had met were after their fortune or worse, they wanted something more physical... but that was Atlas, this was Vale. So just maybe... it was possible that the people here were a bit different than in Atlas, and from what Weiss wrote about her teammates, they seemed to genuinely care about her as a person, and not care about her last name. Perhaps, Jaune was also one of those people, she hoped he was, but she could never really know, she has been tricked before...
However, Winter shook her head away from such thoughts and still looked at Jaune. "I'm sure she'll come around, give her some more time and I am sure that she will accept your friendship... she just needs time to let her guard down," Winter said.
Jaune gave her a nod, "I hope so," He said glumly
Penny then turned to him with a look of confusion on her face, "Why do you look sad?" She asked
"I-I don't-"
"I can see it on your face, I'm very good at reading people's facial expressions," Penny told him, "So why are you sad?" She asked him once more.
"I... I feel bad for asking Weiss out so much," Jaune said, "I know that I annoyed her a lot with my attempts of asking her out, and I know I came off as a creep, so I just have a good feeling that I kinda ruined my chances of being friends with her..." Jaune told her.
Penny looked at him for a bit, but she wasn't just scanning his facial expression, she was also monitoring his heartbeat for any signs of lying, but she found none, so she knew he was being honest about his feelings. Penny then gave him a smile, "Don't worry Jaune, I think Specialist Schnee is correct, she simply needs time to... Get the stick out of her butt?" Penny said.
Jaune tried not to laugh but he couldn't help himself, Penny just said that with a straight face, and based on how she sounded, it was just so funny to him.
"PENNY!?" Winter cried in shock as she turned to the robotic girl, "W-Where did you hear such a phrase!?" She asked.
Penny turned to look at her, "Oh, Neon!" Penny said, "She said it was another way to say that someone needs to loosen up, why? Is it wrong?" She asked the specialist.
Winter sighed, "It's... It's correct, but it's a crude phrase," Winter told her.
"Oh!" Penny said with shock, "Sorry..."
Winter just smiled softly at Penny, "It's alright, just try not to say that next time,"
Penny nodded and Jaune regained his composure and continued guiding them to the Library, and continued chatting with them.
Jaune chuckled at her and nodded, and he felt a little better, "Thank you, Penny," Jaune said with a soft smile.
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After a long walk, they arrived at the library and looked for four female teens, unfortunately, team RWBY was not there, so they left to check the combat class, and eventually, after another very long walk from the Library to the classes, they arrived at the Combat class.
"Here we are," Jaune said as he turned to Winter and Penny.
Winter gave him a soft smile and a nod, "Thank you, Mr. Arc," she said.
"It's no problem Win-Mhm, Specialist Schnee," Jaune replied with a nervous smile, "And please, Jaune is fine," He said.
Winter opened her mouth to protest, but she realized that Jaune was simply trying to be nice, so she simply let it go and gave a nod in reply.
Winter, Penny, and Jaune entered the combat class to hear the sound of the fighting occurring, and they walked closer to the arena and saw Team RWBY fighting a 2-on-2 battle, and the girls were with their respective partners. The three watched the fight, and Winter finally got a look at the entirety of her sister's team, and she wanted to know a little bit more but didn't want to stop the fight, so she decided to look for information from Jaune.
Winter turned to him, "Mr-... Jaune, can you tell me a little about my sister's team?" Winter asked
Jaune looked away from the fight and looked back at Winter, "Well, Ruby's the team leader, though she's pretty young, managing to get into Beacon only at 15, she's one of the best fighters of our year and she has this way of Inspiring people," Jaune said with a soft smile.
Winter saw the smile on Jaune's smile and she could tell it was one of admiration, it reminded her of how she smiled when she thought of her grandfather.
"I see," Winter said, "What about the brunette?" Winter asked.
"Her name's Blake Belladonna, she's team RWBY's ninja so to speak," Jaune replied, "I don't know too much about her, she's kind of quiet and not so social,"
Winter nodded, "And the blonde?"
"That's Ruby's older half-sister, Yang Xiao-Long, she's the brawler and a heavy hitter of the Team, she's funny and overall someone fun to be around with, though... she's got a bit of an anger problem," Jaune said with a smile.
Winter nodded, as she turned back to the fight, and as she did, the fight had come to an end, the winners were Yang and Blake. Winter, along with Jaune and Penny, walked down and into the arena, and Winter looked toward Weiss with a smile. "You did well, Weiss," Winter told her
Hearing her Voice, Weiss turned around and saw Winter, as did the rest of her team. Seeing her older sister, Weiss smiled brightly and made her way quickly toward her sister.
Weiss looked at Winter, still beaming with a smile, "Winter, it's so good to see you again!" Weiss said with glee.
Winter still smiled at Weiss. "Yes, it's good to see you again as well, Weiss," Winter replied.
"Hello there!" Penny said.
Weiss looked at her with a shocked face, but before she could reply, a squeal could be heard and it came from Ruby herself as she saw Penny.
"Penny!"
"Ruby!"
The two girls collided and hugged each other as if they were long-lost sisters, however, Ruby lost her balance and the two fell to the floor, and Ruby let out an oof. While that had happened with the two, Weiss turned back to Winter with a bit of a forced smile, trying not to show her embarrassment.
"That is my leader," Weiss replied.
Winter nodded, "Yes, I'm aware," she replied, she then gestured toward Jaune, "Mr. Arc has told me about your team, and I am please to hear how well your team is doing,"
Hearing this, Weiss turned her head away from Winter and toward Jaune, and gave him a peered glare, "Why are you here?" She asked.
Winter was a bit taken aback by her sister's expression and her tone when she addressed Jaune.
Jaune scratched the back of his neck uneasily, "I-I showed Winter and Penny here since they were unfamiliar with B-Beacon's layout," Jaune replied, his tone a bit lowered.
"Well at least your good for something, but I hope you didn't try to hit on my sister," Weiss told him.
Jaune's entire body shrunk in and he shook his head in response.
Yang chuckled as she approached Weiss, and stood behind her but looked at Jaune. "Strike out on the older hotter sister, eh VB?" Yang asked.
Jaune looked down, embarrassed and feeling put on the spot, "I didn't hit on her Yang," Jaune replied.
Winter could tell by Jaune's body language that he was tense, and when she saw his face, it spoke volumes of how embarrassed and uneasy he was, and for some odd reason, recognized the look on his face. She shook away those thoughts and looked at her sister and Yang. "Mr. Arc has made me aware of his attempts to court you, Weiss, and he's expressed to me that he meant to harm in it," She told them.
"I'm sure he is, but still Winter, he was too persistent," Weiss told her, "It really greatly annoyed me, and it took him what felt like forever to get it through his thick skull that I was not interested," Weiss said.
For some reason, Weiss's attitude and words irked Winter, and when Winter thought about why, she realized that it was due to how she wasn't easing up on Jaune despite her letting her know that he feels terrible for annoying her with his attempts of asking her out, and another reason was that Weiss was acting like their father, demeaning someone right in front of them without regard to their feelings... as he did to them many, many, many times.
"Weiss!" Winter cried with a stern voice.
Weiss stopped talking and turned to her sister with a stunned expression, even her teammates were taken aback by her raising her voice.
Winter looked at Weiss with a disappointed expression, "You are being disrespectful to a fellow student that, not only you, but your team may rely on at some point in the future, he's already apologized for inconveniencing you, Weiss," Winter told her, "But worst of all, the way you've talked... reminds me of father," Winter said, her tone slightly angered.
Hearing the last part of that sentence made Weiss shocked and her expression turned to that of sadness, and she looked down in shame, "I'm sorry... Winter," she replied.
'I'm not the one you should be apologizing to,' Winter thought, a little angry that Weiss didn't apologize too she sighed and closed her eyes for a split second before opening them and looking back at her, "Weiss, I'd like to have some time to catch up, when you've cleaned up, give me a call,"
Being told that, Weiss lightened up and smiled back at Winter softly with a smile and a nod, and she quickly made her way toward her dorm room leaving the rest of her team hanging out with themselves.
Winter turned around and looked at Jaune and saw his composure relax, letting out a sigh. She walked over to him. "Mr. A- Jaune," Winter called to him.
Jaune looked at her, and Winter saw that a forced smile came to his face, "Yeah?" He asked.
Winter looked at him with a glum expression on her face, "I'm sorry for my sister's harsh words," Winter told him
Jaune quickly waved it off, still with a forced smile on his face, "I-Its alright," Jaune said, trying to sound normal, "Like I said, I'm pretty much used to it, so I just brush things like that off now," He replied with a chuckle.
Winter was cleaning herself up in the locker room as one of her teammates kept watch for the girls that dumped their drinks on her. "Winter... I'm sorry that they did that,"
"It's alright... I'm used to it" Winter replied with a sad tone as she changed her uniform.
"And to be fair, I kind of deserve it," He said.
Winter sat in her room with a bruise on her left cheek and a busted lip, she turned to the mirror of her vanity and her lip quivered, and tears began to form in her eyes. "You're an idiot for asking, you knew he was going to be angry but you still had to ask," She told her reflection. "You deserved it..." She told the mirror reflection once more.
Winter shook the memories away as she looked at Jaune, "No, you... you don't deserve it," Winter said.
Jaune looked at Winter and when he did, she noticed she looked a bit dazed, "Um, Specialist Schnee? Are you ok?" he asked.
Winter appeared to be taken out of her daze and looked at him and gave him a quick nod, "I'm Fine," She replied, "I was just, lost in thought," She said.
"Oh," Jaune replied.
Winter nodded, "It was good meeting you... Jaune, I hope we can meet again," She said with a soft smile.
Jaune slowly began to form a genuine smile on his face, "Same here, Specialist Schnee," Jaune said.
Winter still smiled at him, "Please, you can call me Winter, You're not a soldier of Atlas so there is no need to address me by my rank," Winter told him, "Now, please excuse me, I and Weiss have some catching up to do," She said.
Jaune nodded, "Of course," He replied.
She gave him a nod, and a small wave, "Goodbye, Jaune," She said as she walked away.
"Goodbye..." Jaune began as he watched her walk away, "Winter," Jaune finished with a smile.
Yang then rested her hand on her fellow blonde's shoulder, and Jaune looked at her and he saw the expression she wore, which was a smug one as she wiggled her eyebrows.
"What?" He asked with a confused look.
Yang chuckled, "You, Jaune D. Arc, got the hots for the older sister, am I right?" She replied with an amused tone.
Jaune glared at her but had a small blush on his cheeks, "I-I do not!" He told her.
"Sure you don't~" Yang replied in a sing-song voice, "But I can't blame ya, I mean Weiss's sister looks like the full package~! Bow chicka bow-"
However, Yang was cut off when Blake struck the top of her head with her book, "That's enough Yang, you already embarrassed him enough," Blake said.
Jaune looked at the brunette, surprised she kind of stood up for him. "Thanks, Blake," Jaune said with a smile.
"Mhm," Blake replied as she walked off, opening her book and reading.
'Though she still seems to be the quiet one,' Jaune thought.
Yang followed her partner and Jaune watched them walk away, and he was about to leave, but before he could, Ruby called out to him.
"Hey, Jaune!"
Jaune turned around and looked at the two girls, one of who was now a new friend. "What's up Cretor Face?" Jaune asked with a smile, teasing his friend.
Ruby smiled and rolled her eyes and her fellow leader, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me and penny, Vomit Boy," Ruby said, reminding him of his own nickname.
Jaune chuckled, "Sure, I don't have anything else to do,"
Penny looked at the two, "Why did you two refer to each other with "Cretor Face" and "Vomit boy"?" Penny asked the two.
Jaune and Ruby chuckled together, forgetting Penny was not used to their nicknames.
"It's just our nicknames," Ruby told her robotic friend. "I call him vomit boy because he threw up on my sister's shoes," Ruby told Penny.
"It was motion sickness!" Jaune cried with a smile, "And the reason I call Ruby Cretor Face is that she caused an explosion in the court year by sneezing," He told the ginger-haired girl.
"It was an accident!" Ruby said with a smile as she elbowed Jaune.
Penny couldn't help but giggle at her two new friend's antics, "Such amazing stories! You have to fill me in on everything!" Penny said with joy.
Ruby nodded, "No problem!" She cried, and then she realized what had happened only last night, "OH! You guys won't believe what I just learned about Blake!"
The three left the combat class as Ruby told the two (mostly Jaune) about the fight at the shipping docks and what she had learned about her own teammate, however, a part of Jaune's mind couldn't help but think about Winter and how she was a lot kinder than when he first met Weiss.
'She's very kind,' Jaune thought with a smile as he walked with Ruby and Penny.
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Pretty good beginning eh?
Also, If you didn't notice, I did change Jaune's middle name to D because he's based on Joan of Arc, and In french it's Jeanne d'Arc, so I wanted to make his middle name just D... but yes it's also a reference to One Piece, but it's not some mystery for this story, just a middle name.
This story is gonna be another deep and emotional story, much like my other RWBY Fic "Sunshine" So prepare for the feels and for characters to be hurt both physically and emotionally.
Anyway, I want to thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a good day!