I've been wanting to write this for awhile, actually. Yep, a RWBY x Soul Calibur crossover...ish. This may annoy or anger some fans of Soul Caliber, but... A lot of lore from that series won't be present in this story. A lot will be changed to fit into RWBY's own lore, so that whether or not someone is a big fan of SC or not it won't matter...hopefully. Anyway, no need to waste your time with a silly author's note, enjoy the story!

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"Do you recall the fairy tale about the sword that stole the souls of anyone who dared cross it, Ozpin? I don't believe it was ever a popular story, a tale as dark and violent as it was would naturally scare any child. They say that the sword was first forged during the dawn of the Grimm, a weapon great enough to combat the ever growing threat. But as Grimm after Grimm fell before it, something changed inside its chosen wielder. The tales say he went mad with power, believing himself to be unstoppable. The legend says that he turned on his fellow man, wiping out anyone who dared cross his way. Fitting, if you ask me, Ozpin. The man's semblance was a unique one, a semblance that allowed him to steal the auras, the souls, of others."

"Ah, yes... I recall that tale quite well, Salem. It's quite tragic, isn't it? They say that eventually the sword developed a 'soul' of its own, having stripped away so many souls of others. When the wielder eventually died, the sword was found by another warrior, one with a similar semblance, and the same fate fell upon him. He went mad, and used the cursed blade to wreak havoc on the world. He too died, and the sword was lost once more."

"It was used for the third and final time during the great war, Ozpin. By that time, the sword was so powerful its wielder was able to destroy entire armies all by himself. No one knew who this wielder was, but the legends say he was an evil worse than all the Grimm in Remnant. Most knew him as the 'Azure Knight', a name that struck fear in the bravest of humanity."

"Yes, but the wielder eventually met the same fate as those before, he died and the sword remains lost to this day. The blade was shattered at the end of the war and its pieces were scattered, in hopes that no one would ever be able to wield it again. If you are implying you know the location of this sword and have plans for it, just come on out and say it."

"I do not know its location myself, Ozpin. You do not find the sword, the sword finds you. It will be seeking out its next host, and when it does all of Remnant will burn once more. It's power will be too great, your children won't be able to stop it. They will fall, and you will fail."

"We shall see about that, Salem."

"Ozpin, do you remember the name of the sword?"

"..."

...

Jaune could not sleep, nor did he want to. He laid flat on his sleeping bag, his tired eyes gazing up at the beautiful starry night sky. The campfire a few feet away crackled and popped, the light snores of his friends barely rising above the volume of the flames. Jaune sighed through his nose and closed his eyes in another futile attempt at rest, his lips turning to a frown.

Pyrrha.

She never left his mind, not once. The pain of losing her...it was too much. She was the first to believe in him, the first to make him feel like he was actually a hero, and not some stupid kid chasing an impossible dream. It was thanks to her that he got to make friends with his other two teammates, and that he had gotten as far as he had.

She was his mentor, his best friend, his...

His first taste at real love.

But...but then... Jaune opened his eyes and stared again at the millions of stars, tears beginning to take form. 'Why?' he thought. 'Why couldn't I save her?'

If only he had done better keeping watch, if only he had realized Cinder was in the vault with them. He could've fought her, he could've protected Pyrrha, stop this whole mess from even happening! They could've stopped Cinder, saved Beacon! They could've had a relationship, they could have graduated from Beacon and go on all kinds of adventures together, maybe they could've stared a family eventually...

He shook his head. 'But no,' he reminded himself bitterly. 'In the end, I couldn't do anything. I was powerless, I couldn't do anything for her or my friends.'

He had to rely on Weiss and Ruby to save her, while he stood still without any purpose. And even then, they were too late. He didn't even know how it happened! Ruby refused to tell them how Pyrrha died, she thought it would only make things worse. Nora and Ren had accepted this, but Jaune was still reluctant. He had to know, he had to. He needed to avenge Pyrrha...

Revenge. It was an ugly word, one Jaune didn't like using. But it was the only one he could use. He knew Cinder was still out there somewhere, with the powers of the fall maiden, biding her time for...something! He knew a maiden of such power wouldn't simply die at the hands of whatever deus ex machina stunt Ruby had pulled, but it was apparently powerful enough to cause her to retreat.

Jaune wished he had a power like that, something that could've put a stop to all that had happened. He knew what he wanted to be, he wanted to be a hero. A hero like his father, and his father, and his father before him. And for a short time he believed that he was. Starting out as some wimpy kid who didn't know the first thing about aura, he had evolved into a leader, able to lead his team effortlessly and even hold his own in battle. But when Pyrrha had shoved him inside that locker, forced him to run from battle, all those dreams came crashing down.

He was right back to square one.

Jaune sat up and groaned as his back popped. He stretched and decided he wasn't going to get any sleep that night. Standing up, he noticed Ruby was also up, her back turned to him as she hugged Crescent Rose closely, humming a soft tune to herself. The girl was on watch, having taken the last shift. Jaune walked over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. The girl gave a startled yelp and jumped out of her seat a little, only calming down when she realized it was the knight that had walked up on her.

"Hey, Jaune," she greeted, her face slightly red from embarrassment.

"Hey, Ruby," the blonde returned, pointing towards the woods. "I can't sleep, I'm going to go for a quick walk." Not waiting for a response he began walking away, but stopped when Ruby's small hand grabbed his larger one.

"Jaune, if a walk helps then go for it," she said, her face growing serious. "But you aren't alone. We can't replace her, but we're always here for you." She gave him a sad smile. "If there's something wrong you can always talk to us."

Jaune nodded and smiled back. "Thank you," he said. "But I'm fine, there's only a few things I gotta walk off." He slowly removed his hand from hers and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'll be back in a few minutes, a half hour at the most."

Ruby nodded as well. "Sounds good." She glanced up towards the sky. "It's a beautiful night tonight," she noted to no one in particular. Jaune hummed in agreement, before setting off towards the trees, eventually vanishing from sight.

He was thankful that so many stars were out tonight, even through the thick leaves and branches they were still bright enough to allow him sight. He shoved his hands in his pockets and focused his eyes forward, paying no attention to the scenery. All he wanted was some proper alone time with his thoughts.

It was only a few minutes later that he heard a twig snap behind him, causing the boy to freeze. He listened closely, eyes darting around to find something that could've been the source. He began to sweat a bit, but he tried to force himself to calm down. 'It was probably nothing,' he told himself. 'Just a wild forest critter, that's all.'

Taking in this false sense of comfort, he cautiously took a step forward. Then another one, and then another. Finally, having taken three steps without dying, Jaune allowed himself to believe he was safe, and continued on his not-so-merry way. However, five steps into his walk he heard another twig snap. Freezing again, his hand reached for Crocea Mors, but another wave of fear washed over him when his hand simply grasped thin air. He had left it by his sleeping bag.

'Jaune, you flipping idiot!' he scolded himself. 'Why didn't you let Ruby stop you or something?' He reached for his scroll, but it was missing from his pockets. Apparently he had forgotten that too. "You've got to be kidding me," he hissed under his breath. Great, now he was stuck out here with whatever it was that was following him. But what was it? Another twig snapped, and he heard something behind him rustle. Jaune whipped around, but saw nothing.

Oh God... Jaune paled as a realization crossed his mind. What if it was a Grimm? Jaune liked to believe he had some confidence in his abilities, but there was no way he could tackle a Grimm without his weapons or backup. Then he heard more rustling, and Jaune turned his head to see the bushes across from him shaking rapidly. Gulping, the blonde began to back away, preparing to run away if he had to. He could run back to camp, he reasoned. Ruby would be awake, she could take care of it.

Wait...

Which way was camp again?

Jaune cursed, mentally crowning himself as the king of bad luck. The shaking continued, and his eyes searched for an opening of escape. He figured that he could outrun an ursa, but a beowolf he stood little chance against without a solid plan.

He was brought back to the shaking bush when something emerged from its dark depths...

A bunny.

It stared at the knight for a moment, who stared back in equal amounts of embarrassment and relief. It was just a bunny. Jaune laughed a little, smacking himself for getting so worked up over such a harmless, adorable little-

Suddenly a beowolf leaped out of the bushes, shredding the innocent forest animal to red ribbons with its teeth and claws.

Oh. Of course.

The beowolf then turned its head towards the defenseless boy, its bloodstained teeth grinning evilly at him, realizing it had found its main course. Jaune gulped as the monster stalked closer towards him, soft growls coming from its throat. The blonde backed away, his breath quickening its pace and his heart thumping wildly against his ribs. He had to get away somehow, being devoured by a Grimm wasn't very high on his to-do list.

Then, an idea struck him. His eyes widened as he pointed towards the bushes behind the beowolf. "Whoa, what's that?!" he exclaimed, and to his surprise the beowolf actually turned around. Not wanting to waste his opportunity, he sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him, still dumbfounded that his half-assed plan actually worked.

The Grimm was quick to notice its mistake, and it let out an angry roar as it gave chase. It turned to face the shattered the moon, and it gave a long howl. This caused more worry to pass through Jaune, as everyone knew...

Wherever there was one beowolf, there was a whole pack of them. And just as that thought entered his brain, numerous howls quickly followed the first, and soon Jaune heard the entire pack rush towards him, their growls and pants filling his ears.

'I'm screwed!' he realized. 'I'm completely screwed! Way to go, Jaune! You just had to forget your gear, didn't you?'

He didn't know how far he ran, he just knew that the beowolves were right on his tail and his legs were screaming for mercy. But Jaune knew he couldn't slow down. Slowing down meant a VERY painful death at the hands of an entire beowolf pack, and that was the last thing he wanted.

"This way."

Jaune nearly faltered as he heard someone else speak, but thankfully he managed to keep moving. If there was something that could help him, who was he to argue considering his current situation?

"Follow my voice."

There it was again. That strange voice that seemed to be leading him... 'Left!' Jaune commanded himself, and he made a sharp turn, the Grimm pack skidding behind him. Jaune silently thanked whatever it was that was leading him, as he noticed a small opening between a few boulders, creating a small cave too small for any beowolf to squeeze in. Sucking in his gut, he gave himself one last desperate burst of speed, and dived inside the opening. He felt a beowolf's claws scrape against the soles of his shoes, before it gave a snarl of frustration as its prey vanished.

'Now I gotta hope Ruby and the others find me,' Jaune thought. 'Surely they heard all of the howls, they'll be here any minute.'

"Assuming you last that long."

Jaune yelped and turned around, but his eyes saw nothing except... "A sword?" he muttered, curious eyes looking the weapon up and down. It appeared to be an ordinary broad sword, except some parts of the blade seemed to be missing. And attached to the top of the blade, as well as the hilt, was... Jaune nearly threw up. "I-Is that..." He paused to look it over more, just to be sure. "...flesh?" he finished.

Then, as if to prove that the sword could be even more bizarre, a freaking eye appeared on the hilt! Jaune gave a startled cry and pressed himself against the stone walls, his eyes wide with fright.

"You'll be dead before they arrive."

It was the sword that was speaking, Jaune realized in horror. By some sort of miracle, the frightened boy found his voice. "W-What?" he breathed.

The eye shifted away from him and towards the top of the makeshift cave. "Look up." it said.

Jaune fearfully obeyed, and when he looked up he saw that the beowolves were attempting to pull the boulders away from each other, thus leaving Jaune right out in the open.

"This cave won't hold much longer. You'll die before your friends arrive."

"Oh God..." Jaune whimpered. "What am I going to do?"

"Wield me." the sword suggested.

Jaune glanced down in surprise. "Huh?"

"Wield me, and you can make it out of this alive."

The beowolves were beginning to pull the cave apart, their howls singing of victory as they kept pulling. Jaune gulped, and shifted his eyes between them, and the sword. "A-Are you sure?" he asked, not even bothering to wonder why he was talking to a weapon. "I'm not sure using a talking sword with an eye is the best idea."

The eye of the sword simply stared at Jaune, and he could've sworn he saw a flicker of annoyance emerge from it. "I can help you." it explained. "You want revenge, don't you? I can feel it in your soul."

Jaune froze. "Revenge?" he repeated.

"Against the woman who stole your love's life," the sword continued. "She is powerful, and you are not. But with me in your hands, you will defeat her. Think about your love, Jaune Arc."

Pyrrha... She was killed at the hands of Cinder, and now this...thing was giving him the chance to defeat her... He slowly approached the sword on his hands and knees, staring right at its eye. "You...you can help me?" he asked.

The eye blinked. "Of course."

Jaune bit his lip, still hesitant. But right then, the cave broke, and the beowolves howled in victory. Realizing he didn't have much of a choice at this point, Jaune nodded in agreement and grabbed the sword by its handle. With a battle cry, he swung the blade around, and the beowolf behind him was effortlessly cleaved in two. The beowolves looked just as surprised as Jaune was, and they began circling him carefully, not wanting to make sudden movements.

Jaune glanced down at his newly equiped sword, and shivered slightly as the eye continued to stare at him. Jaune gulped, and asked, "What are you, really?"

Suddenly a beowolf lunged at blinding speed, but Jaune felt himself sidestep it easily and decapitate it with a swift strike. Or rather, he felt the sword decapitate the Grimm. Jaune honestly felt like he wasn't doing anything at all, it was as if the sword had a life of its own. Which he guess would explain why it could talk, and why it had a freaking eye.

The eye of the blade turned to gaze at its wielder, and the knight could have sworn he heard a dark chuckle coming from the weapon.

...

"The name was given to it by the second wielder, a name he thought was fitting for a soul-stealing weapon. He called it... Soul Edge."

...

And that's the first chapter, everyone! I hope you enjoyed it :D

And man, I think I have a really bad habit (or some twisted kink) for screwing over Jaune, all you gotta do is take a look at my other RWBY story to figure that one out. Which reminds me! For those who are currently following my story "Angel in Disguise", the next chapter should be up sometime this week. I haven't had much time to work on it since school is starting and such, but I'll get to it soon!

Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd! ;D