One Step Forward

This is a rewrite of my third chapter as the one I posted first was not something that I felt happy with. I actually finished watching the third volume of RWBY and it was both heart-breaking and phenomenal. Also there may be a bit of a hiatus for next chapter as I need to focus on my catching up with my schoolwork so expect infrequent and long updates. Yeah I don't like it either.

csad21: I read your reviews and I realised that I may have been lazy in writing this chapter hence the rewrite. There is a reason why Juniper and Azure is a faunus and that will be explained sooner or later in the story. Don't want to spoil it.

garoorar: I aim to tease.

Chapter 2: Baby Steps

Black, darkness, the inky void. Something familiar, he considered and a hollow laugh burst from his lips. A buzzing sensation appeared in the back of his mind, an irritating sound if he ever knew one and he was becoming more annoyed trying to find the source when he stopped. A light piercing the dark as he winced from the intensity of it. He blinked his eyes and saw gleaming white armour standing in front of him. A literal white knight. The massive claymore it held was stabbed into the ground and another massive sword rested against the knight's shoulder. His attention shifted towards the lion's head featured on the chest plate as if the hands of Monty himself crafted it. The knight's helmet had a single horn that jutted back and it obscured the face hidden underneath save for two gleaming sapphire eyes that was filled with raw determination.

Jaune's attention diverted to the four other statues except instead of the colour and life-like features, it looked as if every single statue was made of stone.

He made his way over to the second statue, his eyes were covered by a blindfold but he had a content smile on his face as if he knew the biggest secret in the world, and in his hands were two tonfas that if he examined it closely, it could shift into another weapon. He ignored that for the time being and moved onto the third statue. He was about to reach it when he couldn't move. The buzzing sensation was back and became piercing in an instant. He wanted the pain to end, to go away and it was gone in an instant and so was he.

Jaune didn't visibly react when he woke up, he listened to the monitors with their dull beep giving a sign to the world that he was alive. The tightness in his chest all but disappeared, his arms didn't feel like lead and there was someone sleeping by his side. The chatter in the room was what interested him however.

"How could this happen, Alex? I thought the borders were protected by the other huntsmen, how did such a large group get past them?" Juniper covered her eyes feeling frustration at the situation and exhaustion from the constant worrying at seeing her son in the hospital bed.

"I don't know, all this seems suspicious but I'll have a word with them. And if I find out that they were sleeping on the job well…" Jaune could feel it, the warrior in his father just through his tone and the person snuggling next to him nuzzled closer to her body.

"You should have seen him though, Juni. There were piles of dead beowolves and he took down the alpha by himself." Alex closed his eyes in thought at the memory of his son slaying the pack by himself.

"Fear does that to you, it can motivate you to do incredible feats. I can attest to that." Juniper said lowly.

"Yeah, maybe but that's the thing, Juni." Alex opened his eyes and looked at his wife with a stern expression. "He wasn't afraid. At all. I could see the rage in his eyes, like he had the wrath of an angry god."

"Alex!" Juniper felt offended that her husband would call her son such a thing, she couldn't believe that her sweet boy was like that, he was only eight.

"Sorry but you should have seen him, he has the natural instincts of a warrior in him. And that makes me proud and terrified at how fast he's growing." Alex sighed deeply and felt Juniper hug him, she mumbled something in his chest that he couldn't make out."What was that, darling?"

"I blame your genes for this, seriously why couldn't one of you Arc's be a baker or something, just so I know Jaune can be safe." Alex laughed heartily at that and Juniper came closer to Jaune's bed and Jaune no longer felt the warmth from whoever was sleeping besides him.

"C'mon, baby, it's time to go." She ushered her daughter into her arms and Jaune immediately knew who was sleeping next to him, recognising that squeaky voice anywhere.

"Hm… don't wanna… Jauney… warm." Lily protested weakly, too tired as she was lulled back into sleep by her mother. Juniper smiled at her daughter's cuteness and went to leave. "Please tell me when he wakes up, his sisters are worried about him too."

"I will." With a confirmation in mind, her footsteps receded and there was only the hum of the monitor and his father sat on one of the other hospital chairs. "So are you going to pretend to be sleeping or do you want to wake up?"

Jaune weighed the pros and cons before opening his eyes and the light from the room quickly rushed into them, closing them shut. He pulled himself up, wincing at the phantom pain in his chest. He took note of the room he was in, white, white and searing white. The hospital room had one window situated so he could view the city, there were a few miscellaneous things here and there to liven it up. A few potted plants, some drawings former patients most likely kids and he turned his attention to his father. "Well that was an unfortunate turn of events."

"Jaune or some weird alien body snatcher, if you're trying to impersonate my son, you'd better tone down the vocabulary." Alex joked and Jaune deadpanned at him. "Oh ha ha."

"Jaune watching you get skewered by that Alpha... that scared me more than anything else but you're shrugging it off like you're making commenting about the weather, even I can tell that's not normal." Jaune remained silent at his statement and he knew maybe using a big vocabulary and not at all caring that he got stabbed in the lung was probably not a good idea.

"And what you did back there with the swords that takes an unparalleled amount of skill." Jaune was about to refute his argument when Alex held up his hand. "I'm not finished. You're going to say that it was all instinct and how you let your guard down but I've seen what anger does to the best of people even skilled warriors make mistakes. There's also the fact that you managed to unlock aura. By yourself. And you physically manifested them into swords."

Jaune realised that doing something like that did warrant attention but he didn't regret it for one moment, he would do anything for his family. Alex sighed deeply through his nose and stared Jaune straight in the eyes.

"I was surprised at the amount of aura that you had, your wounds are completely healed. There's not a scratch on you no scar from your the stab." Jaune shrunk in his hospital bed and Alex released a weary breath.

"Thank you, Jaune, for saving your little sister. I will always be proud of you being a big brother to Lily." Jaune blinked in surprise, he couldn't remember in his previous life where his father ever said that to him, he had always been weak and really if he looked back far enough his sword-work was pathetic and he could see why his father would be disappointed.

"Thank you dad." Jaune couldn't help the tired smile on his face..

"There are questions that need to be answered Jaune. The skills that you acquired, the massive amount of aura that surpasses my reserves and that look that you had when I saw you the other night. The ones that I see veteran huntsmen have." Jaune winced at the interrogation but he had resolved himself that he wouldn't tell him about the future. No, not yet he wasn't ready.

"I can't tell you, dad."

"Can't or won't?"

"Dad, please just... just let me keep this secret and I'll tell you, one day." Alex's piercing gaze met Jaune's exhausted stare before he broke contact. There was a few minutes of silence and Alex turned to Jaune, his voice resolute when he spoke his next words.

"I don't like this son. You're in pain, I can see it, I want to help you but you're not letting me. And as much as I hate to say these words, I won't pry any further. But when you tell me on how you managed to do... what you did, I want all of the details. I am your father Jaune, I worry about the safety and well-being of all my children." Boy was he looking forward to that conversation. Hey dad remember that time I died when I was born? Turns out I'm a soul from an alternate future where everything has gone to hell but it's okay I'm going to train so I can change the future. Yeah that conversation would go real well.

"Thanks, dad." Alex's serious gaze turned into a mischievous smirk, one where he had seen on two terrifying twins.

"Oh don't thank me yet not when your mother hears that you're awake." Jaune paled immediately and Alex yelled at the door. "Honey! Jaune's awake."

Jaune felt the crushing embrace of his mother before he knew what happened as the door swung wide open followed by all of his sisters. Really, his mother could match Ruby in terms of pure speed if she managed to be by his side so quickly.

"Jaune!" Emotions swirled in those green orbs, fear, anxiety and relief. He realised those green eyes belonged to his mother. She hugged him tightly and he could feel his shoulders getting damp. His mother was crying. Damn, he felt like an ass.

"Jaune, you're alright. Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Juniper sniffed, she fussed over him and saw someone peering over the foot of his hospital bed. Dark blue met sky blue and Lily jumped on the bed and tackled her big brother into a hug.

"Jauney!" A rush of air left him and he could feel his ribs being crushed by the tiny girl hugging him.

"Lily… ribs… need air." He breathed more easily and looked down to see Lily had tears glistening in her eyes. "Stupid."

"Sorry, Lily, I promise I'll be more careful next time." Jaune ruffled the little girl's hair and she beamed her toothy grin at him, her tiny arms wrapped around him and nuzzled her head into his chest.

"How about you promise that you won't risk your life like that again?" Juniper said sternly and the motherly frown she had scared Jaune more than anything else in his life.

"Lighten up on the kid, Juniper." Alex had never been more cowed in his life when Juniper turned her head mechanically towards him and gave him a look that promised pain or a life of celibacy if he wasn't careful with his next words. "I mean Jaune listen to your mother and don't risk your life like that."

Amber walked up to Jaune, her face the epitome of uninterested and yet he could see that she cared in her own way. Like right now.

"You scared us quite a bit, little bro." Amber walked up to him and punched him hard in the shoulder. Yeah he deserved that and he couldn't wincing and could feel his aura immediately healing the bruised area. "Don't ever do that again."

Jaune guessed that was the most affection his elder sister would show him and Alex had an amused expression on his face.

"So does that mean I'm grounded for life?" Alex however moved to stop Juniper from whatever she was going to say.

"Actually Jaune now that you've unlocked your aura, we're going to have to start your training earlier than expected. You have to learn how to defend yourself now that the Grimm are going to be coming after you as well." Seeing the deadly glare his wife was sending his way, he sent a pleading gaze and her eyes softened and she resigned to herself that it was going to be inevitable.

"Fine." Juniper said with finality and Alex knew that there were going to be pros and cons to this decision. The withering look from his wife showed that she didn't like this decision at all and he knew that he would pay for it. Seriously how did a picnic lead him to sleeping on the couch?

Jaune panted heavily, his knees hitting the dirt. His father however just seemed shy of being a little out of breath. It was late in the afternoon and they were in the backyard of the family home. A log post was situated near the corner and a few logs were strewn around the training ring where four of his sisters sat. Lily cheered for Jaune, Crystal was making notes and keep an analytical eye on the spar, Autumn took some sadistic pleasure at seeing Jaune getting curbstomped by his father and Amber just sat leisurely on the side, one eye open in interest.

"You got some cute tricks." Jaune rolled out of the way and the massive battle-axe dropped down to where he was. "But not good enough."

Jaune raised his shield to parry his next heavy blow to the side and his sword was singing through the air ready to slice him from shoulder to hip but Alex wasn't a seasoned veteran for nothing and managed to block the blade with the axe handle, kicking him away in his unguarded midsection.

Alex twisted his battleaxe around him, the flatside ready to slam into Jaune's midsection. He brought up his sword in time to block it but his bones rattled at the force. Seeing an opportunity, he collapsed his shield into sheathe form and brought it forward to bludgeon the man, who took the hit but it didn't faze him in the slightest.

"Dodge!" Jaune didn't know how he ended up on the ground but if the way his chest heaved and groaned, then the punch he got from his dad told a lot.

"Hate you, hate you so much." Jaune leaned on his sword for support and almost stumbled, panting tiredly.

"Alright that's enough sparring," Alex threw a water bottle at him, who caught it and took a deep drink, relishing the cool liquid going down his throat. "So girls, how would you rate Jaune's performance?"

Lily bought her card up the scrawled drawing of a 10 and her beaming grin lifted his spirits, really she reminded him so much of Nora and he paused at the thought of them meeting in each other. Monty help them if they did. Crystal merely raised her card, an elegant 7 fixed on it and she returned to taking notes. Jaune could reason that his young body couldn't match the speed and power of a high-level battle so he took that in stride but Autumn's score dampened his spirits with a low 4.

"Damn, do I suck that much?" A depressed air hung around him as he drew small circles in the sand.

"You're doing exceptionally well for a kid your age, Jaune." Amber commented, moving forward with purpose as she grabbed one of the training swords holding it up before switching to a bow staff. "Going half an hour against dad, that takes some skill or sheer stubbornness."

Jaune's breath evened out and he was ready to get back into the spar. "Alright, I'll be your next trainer, it'll be so nice to someone who doesn't keep shrugging off attacks like they were nothing."

"I don't always shrug off attacks sometimes I have to be careful too." Alex amused herself burying his battle axe in the stump next to him. "There was this one time where Juni had her revolver pointed at my testi-"

"Okay dad, too much information." Amber twirled two training swords in hand and stood in the center of the circle and offered one of the blades to him. He grabbed the sword and began to twist the blade in his hands, getting a good feel for it. They both stood ready, Jaune had opted for a two-handed grip while Amber held her blade to the side in a lazy one-handed grip.

"Alright Amber, I want you to teach him form four." Alex called to the side, Lily had already climbed the mountain of a man and was sitting happily on his shoulder. Whether he gave any indication that Lily's weight bothered him or not, he continued to observe his children before him. Amber went through the motions showing what to do first by demonstrating on Jaune first. She jabbed first which he went to defend but found that her blade had weaved around his and the tip of her sword rested on where his heart would be, his sword was outstretched to the side and he was open for attack. They went to perform this a few times and Jaune continued to watch analytically.

"Alright Jaune, I want you to use form four against Amber." Jaune went to attack, his sword was quickly deflected before he was able to perform the move.

"Too slow, again." Jaune grunted and went again, moving faster this time but he over-extended and his back was on the ground again.

"Control yourself, Jaune." Alex's voice boomed once again at him and Jaune readied himself breathing slowly. Eyes closed, he blocked out the world and a memory flashed in his mind.

The world slowed down and he moved again. His muscles flexed and the sword shot forward, Amber was ready to meet his in a clash of steel when his sword weaved around hers. Amber found the tip of a sword at her throat. Her eyes locked onto Jaune's and she almost flinched at the look. He blinked and it was gone.

"Ah sorry about that sis," He let down his sword and Amber stepped back, letting out a breath.

"Don't worry, that was great work. Brilliant." She praised and she stepped back into the circle.

"Alright, let's see if you can put your skills in actual combat." Hearing the challenge in her voice, he couldn't help the small grin on his face.

Jaune sat comfortably on the sofa chair, gazing at the stars and the shattered moon. The stars reminded him of the beauty of the world and the universe and he couldn't help wonder why everyone were so driven to fight one another.

The White Fang he could sympathize to an extent but their methods just continued the cycle of hatred and discrimination and in turn, the authority had no choice but to respond with force. This brought fear towards the Faunus as they could no longer take the discrimination and would later join the White Fang fueling their agenda. Jaune couldn't help but shake his head at how much the situation could've been prevented if people took the time to talk, to listen and to understand. He lamented that fear and hatred would always be a part of everyone, Human and Faunus. A problem he would have to work on another day.

He lost himself to his memories and began to sing.

"Distant stars, come in black or red." A memory appeared in his mind, of Pyrrha and their time together. "I've seen their worlds, inside my head."

Her smile illuminated his world, it made him feel confident and be the best that he could be. Even when he had so much doubt in himself, she believed in him. Monty, he was an idiot for not seeing it sooner.

"They connect with the fall of man." The devastation and heartbreak he felt when news of her death reached him. He didn't want to believe but he had to be a pillar of support for Ruby who actually saw her die by her hand. "They breath you in and dive as deep as they can."

But nothing would compare when he saw her again, corrupted by Salem. Jaune turned to the side hearing the applause from Azure and she sat next to him.

"I didn't know that you could sing." Azure came closer and sat beside him on the chair.

"I'm not the one with the talent for singing." Azure waved her hand in an off-hand manner and she stared at the night sky.

"Why were you singing?"

"Don't know, just felt like it."

"Jaune you know you can talk to me, to any of us." No, he couldn't. He really couldn't. The future was his burden to bear and he wouldn't want his sisters knowing the bleak future he'd come from.

"I know, Azure but I'm fine and I'm just feeling like singing."

"Since when does an eight-year old feel like singing soulfully into the night?"

"Since you felt like starting a music career a year ago." He joked and she ruffled his messy hair and tickled the hell out of him.

Several weeks had past since 'the Grimm incident', Jaune had gotten stronger using his past experiences to help him. He would occasionally have nightmares of his previous life, they were manageable but he couldn't go back to sleep. He would practice on the guitar that Azure had gifted him and that would calm him down, losing himself to the music instead of the nightmares. Amber would continue to be his training partner before she had to go back to Beacon but not before giving him her unique apathetic thanks and the slothful huntress-in-training left.

Currently, Jaune was with Lily and Crystal and they were walking in town with an unknown destination in mind.

"Ooh, ooh let's go to the arcade!" Lily tugged at her brother's arm. "No, no let's go to the shop with all the big guns."

"How about something less noisy like the bookstore?" Crystal peeked up from her book.

"Aww but books are boring." Lily whined, much to Crystal's annoyance at the insult towards her beloved books.

"How about we go to the arcade then the bookstore?" Jaune attempted to placate the two but they both huffed at him. He always wondered how he dealt with these two in his last life but he remembered that he didn't exactly have a solid plan to that. Saying yes to every request until the problem went away was always his plan but he had the experience of hanging out with six very different and very hormonal teenage girls in his other life but he thanked Monty for small mercies. Amber was probably the poster-child for lazy and Azure was focused on her music career however he still had Autumn and the twins to contend with, he dread the day that Aunt Flow would visit them.

"FREAK!"

He paused at the sudden announcement. He turned his head to find the source of the bizarre noise, to see that there was a ring of children all surround a smaller figure. Lily gripped his hand a little tighter and scrunched up her nose in... anger? He had never seen Lily display any emotion related to anger, he always saw the happy bubbly girl and Crystal's eyes flashed dangerously. Guess he had to break it up.

"What's going on here?" He moved between two of the kids, Lily still had the adorable glare but he had the feeling they she would cause mayhem if she was angered enough and Crystal was behind him hiding her face behind her book but still keeping an eye. His attention was drawn to the small girl and his brain stopped.

It was unmistakable when he first laid eyes on her hair. The first half of it was brown but the other half was pink mixed with white streaks. Her eyes cycled from brown to pale pink and white and the blank expression on her face told Jaune exactly who the person in front of him was.

Neo.

Those eyes peered at him curiously, flitting to his sisters beside him for a second before focusing on him. He had always felt confident that he kept a calm mask on the surface but inwardly his thoughts were more along the line of 'What. The. Fuck.'

"Why don't you buzz off, loser?" A round of laughter erupted from their throats. A mental groan and he wondered why oh why did he have to deal with immature brats.

"I can't really 'buzz off' when a bunch of kids suddenly yell 'freak' in broad daylight and not, you know, be curious on why. So why are you calling her a freak?" He questioned to the speaker, he assumed that he was the leader judging as how his fellow bullies seemed to be looking at him to knock the new kid down a peg. Ah the cruelty of children.

"What's it matter to ya, besides look at her eyes, they're freaky and freaky eyes belong to a freak." He had to commend the boy's expansive vocabulary and knew that the future was safe in the next generation of these idiots. He couldn't blame them. No not really. They were young and dumb.

"So you're telling me that you're calling her a freak because she's got different eye colours. You know it makes perfect sense. You're all idiots." All the kids looked like they got slapped and the leader just got angrier.

"What'd you say?"

"She's got different eye colours, so what? Does it affect your life in such a profound way? Oh, it's so terrible my life has been changed because a girl I don't know has pink and brown eyes." Jaune couldn't help the mocking tone in his voice. He really couldn't. It was his defense mechanism against stupid. They didn't take that to well.

"Are you telling me what to do?" The boy stepped forward and the mental groan was louder. He was being threatened by a thirteen-year, for Oum's sake.

"Look, you can just leave her alone and be on your merry way, no fuss." He gently ushered Lily towards Crystal who had the foresight to move back and Neo was still in the middle with Jaune keeping her cool blank gaze still observing him. The boys surrounded them and they jeered and screamed insults. Oh he was really doing this, wasn't he?

"Behind you!" Crystal's voice was raised in warning and he simply moved, grabbing Neo's shoulder as a boy from behind tried to shove him. The boy started to cry staring at his scrapped hands and knees.

"Hey bro." The boy through his tears looked up at him. "Walk it off."

A fist sailed towards him and he spun out of the way with Neo who had a mischievous glint in her eye and stuck her foot out, tripping him. The bully landed on top of his friend and their heads collided against each other. The collective shock lasted for a moment before they scattered and a big grin was plastered on both Lily's and Neo's face.

"So who wants ice-cream?"

TEASER 1

Adam stepped forward menacingly and bloodlust started to leak out of him.

"Who are you?" Adam barked at the masked man. The man tilted his head before he put a finger to his mask. Blake sweated heavily at the man's presence and Adam was already past her, hand drawn on Wilt. Wilt was already out and the blade inches away from decapitating him.

A hand rose up and the blade was stopped in its track. Blake stared in opened-mouth shock and Adam's eyes widened beneath his mask.

TEASER 2

"You know, Neo, I've always enjoyed these small talks we've always had." Neopolitan's only response was another spoonful of ice-cream served to her.

"..." Jaune took back the spoon and dipped it into the cup.

"I feel like I can really connect with you, show you the real me." Jaune looked over to see that Neo had stopped eating and was staring intently at him with a clear purpose in mind.

"..."

"You wanna have sex again, don't you?" Neo grinned widely.

TEASER 3

"I'm sorry that I had to do this, Penny. I'll always be your friend." Jaune's eyes welled with tears and his gauntlets transformed.

"Thank you, Jaune." Penny's voice garbled and cracked as her green eyes flashed red. Her swords rose in the air and Jaune met them with his own blade.

TEASER 4

"Oh and what do you hope to accomplish, you're just a simple huntsmen." Cinder remarked with a cruel smirk. "While I have the powers of the Fall Maiden."

Ren panted tiredly, blood dripped down his forehead and one of his eyes shut in exhaustion.

"Do you seriously think you can take me on? Not with your aura levels. You're not on Glynda's level, on Ozpin's and you're certainly not on Jaune's. You can't even protect your girlfriend." Ren stared down at his hands and the words triggered a cold and burning rage in him. His head snapped up to her and aura flashed into his eyes.

"Yeah well you know what? Fuck aura levels." Aura flared from his body becoming visible.

"Fuck Maiden powers." The wind whipped furiously around them as Nora looked in astonishment at him. Ren clenched his fists tightly.

"And fuck you!" The world exploded in a blinding light.

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