I'm quite the RWBY supporter. My two favorite characters are Jaune and Neo. Unfortunately, we didn't see anything of Neo in the whole forth volume. With that in mind, I thought I'd put together a little something for fellow fans. This story is a oneshot for now. However, if you want to see more then let me know. If I have the time, I'll happily extend this little tale. There's also a poll on my profile. Feel free to cast your vote and leave your thoughts!

Compassion (Arc I)

Revenge. Placation of the desire to insight suffering. Vale burned. The academy was gone. Everything sat in ruins. Beyond all else, her boss was dead. She'd never forget, especially after he'd gone so far to pull her up from nothingness. They were going to bring the world under Salem's heel and go down in history as the two greatest rogues of all time.

It wasn't meant to be. Atop an airship everything fell apart. She watched, carried by the wind on her umbrella, as Roman Torchwick faded from existence. A Grim saw to that. Worse still, if that harlot hadn't tossed her from the battle things wouldn't turned out differently. She would have been there to save Roman before it was too late.

Now, her entire purpose in life was different. A dual persona of pink and brown – one color for sadism, and the other for the tiny shreds of compassion that remained within her heart. Neo knew what she had to do. Her sole goal was clear now. The girl in the red hood with the scythe, Ruby Rose, had to feel the icy burn of payback.

How? The only way she knew. She'd make her suffer, tarnish the things that mattered to her tenfold. After all, everybody had a weakness, something to bind them to this world. Ruby's weakness was clear – she held one of her traveling companions very close to heart.

No, not the tall, dark-haired warrior with the gun blades. Ren, she believed his name was. The fiery, loud-mouthed girl carrying the hammer served little significance, either. The one she wanted, no, the one she'd already snatched during their journey through the surrounding woodland, would do perfectly.

A cabin in the depths of darkness shielded by trees and protected further by an ever-hungry slew of Grim. It was old, desolate, almost on the verge of collapse when she'd found it. Months of time, effort, and single-minded determination saw to that. Piece by piece, splinter by splinter, Neo brought it back to working order. Now here she was, enshrouded by the shadows, her shining eyes of mixed hue gazing upon her newfound plaything.

Everything about him filled her heart with elation. His scraggly blond hair, those ripped jeans, the baggy hoodie he wore under a crude excuse for an armour vest. His weapons were just as fascinating, an olden day sword and shield, far behind the typical weaponry that people used today.

There he sat, unconscious and helpless. She'd made sure to bind the ropes around his wrists extra tight. There would be no getting away – not until she received the satisfaction she required. A smile curved those pinkish lips of hers. Oh, how she would enjoy this.

It was time. Taking note of her surroundings, drinking up the sight of the kitchen area of her little log cabin, from the crude and rusty sink to the dusty windowpanes, Neo descended upon her sleeping captive.

Reaching out, her slender fingers touching the side of his face, skin so smooth – she shook him awake. It took many long moments for his eyes of blue to focus, no doubt struggling with the newfound sights.

"Hey…. What? Where- What am I doing here?"

That was when his eyes widened in shock. He realized that he couldn't move – visited by the harsh reality that disallowed him any escape. Though he struggled, grunted and wriggled in exertion, it was a fruitless endeavour.

Neo silenced his strained attempts at finding freedom with a finger upon the lips. His cheeks lit up, glowing bright red under the dim flicker of candlelight. A simple but effective source of illumination for the room. His eyes were so blue, so frightened and yet so gentle at the same time – like the innocence of a calm ocean, so vast and beautiful amidst the tribulations of a fractured world.

Edging back, she placed her hands upon a little notepad pencil, both of which sat upon the dust-laden dinner table to the side. She smiled, reinvigorated by the sight of the blonde man's further struggles.

A few deft flicks of the pen upon paper and she presented him with a question – her lips curving into an expression most excitable and yet venomous.

'What's your name? I'm Neo.'

At first he didn't seem too thrilled over the concept of providing a reply, instead choosing to continue his incessant thrashing. Seconds became minutes – crawling through the hourglass like grains of sand.

Finally, laboured and defeated, the prisoner hung his head in defeat, sighing loudly.

"Jaune. My name's Jaune Arc. Why, Neo? Why'd you bring me here?"

Her smirk widened – thrilled at his choice to submit. Finally, the hopeless blond vagabond had a name she could match with his face. It would make the experience all the better.

Ink touching paper again, she continued.

'Your friend Ruby took away someone that meant the world to me. I'm going to return the favour…. I'm going to hurt you, Jaune….'

However, much to her surprise, Mister Arc didn't seem all too bothered by her intentions. He simply shook his head, ocean eyes held low yet again, and gave a dejected sigh. "So you've lost something as well, huh? Can't say I'm surprised…. The world's full of loss these days. I should know…. Someone dear to me died... It's been months and I still can't let go."

Neo paused her thoughts. Bizarre. This wasn't how things were supposed to play out. Jaune was supposed to beg, he was supposed to plead. This was supposed to be her beautiful moment of retribution. He was ruining it - staining everything it was supposed to represent!

With a frown, she reached out, giving him an irritated slap across the side of the face. He didn't shout back, he didn't complain. Worse, he just took it – his expression devoid of anything save rainy sadness. The fear was gone, replaced with an empty shell.

"If you're going to hurt me then just do it. At this point, I've got nothing else to lose. I've tried staying hopeful but it's too much for me. It's so hard to keep smiling… when all I see is her face staring back at me."

Flames twisted and crackled inside. Neo's hand balled into a fist. Pulling back the notepad from Jaune's lap, she began frantic scribbling. Words fired out faster than her thoughts could follow.

'You think you know what it's like to lose somebody? You don't understand pain… Have you ever woken up and seen the entire world faded and grey? Have you ever seen a whole village burn and felt happy inside?'

"No," Jaune shook his head, "But I know what it's like to love a girl…. I know what it feels like to care about someone with all your heart… and never have the chance to tell her how you feel."

Something about his words made Neo seethe far beyond rationality. With a bitter, vicious scowl, she snatched up the paper and tossed it upon the dusty table, stomping past to arrive at the kitchen draw.

Knives came into her view. Some small and inoffensive, others shiny and foreboding. The kind of implements you'd see on those late night horror channels across the Vale Scroll Network. Only the sharpest blade would do. Only the harshest punishment would surffice. She'd carve up his pretty little face – distort and scar him forever – then toss him back into the woods for Ruby and her band of ideological little pests to find.

The first cut would be the most beautiful. Arriving back at Jaune's side, she kneeled in preperation to begin. His response to the weapon between her fingers was vauge at best, a hint of nervousness but otherwise flat – devoid.

"Whatever Ruby did," Jaune began, gazing past the knife and straight into Neo's eyes, into her soul, "I'm sorry…. I know her better than anyone… She doesn't have a hateful bone in her body. Everything she does is for her friends and family."

That wasn't a good enough excuse! Nothing this blond fool said would bring Roman back to her. It would never reunite her with the man who saved her from a fate beyond words. Torchwick gave her purpose, he gave her a future, and in doing what she did, Ruby took all of that away!

Neo squeezed her hand tight around the handle – bringing the tip of the knife closer and closer, watching somewhere between glee and twisted satisfaction as Jaune started shuddering. She brought the tip of the weapon against his skin, pressing in lightly – marvelling at the sight of a red droplet that trickled down his cheek.

There was something about this moment. Neo felt lost in her duality. As she scratched the knife further down his face, watching the trail of crimson leak in an smooth line, half of her was overjoyed, filled with beautiful closure at the sight of Jaune's suffering.

However, as his cries intensified and the horror in his eyes took hold, Neo felt her thoughts flash back to another time and place entirely. His expression, the look of horror, uncertainty and pain, she'd seen it once before.

All those years ago, a wandering orphan without purpose, lost in a world that didn't care. A much younger Neo started at her reflection in a broken mirror, clinging to the only ornament of her past, an elegant parasol, and wondered what would become of her.

That was when Roman came – strolled out of a seedy roadside drinking pit at the other side of Vale, and reached out his hand to her. "C'mon kid…. I've seen you sat out here for days now. Tell you what…. Come with me and I'll show you the ropes. I could use a new partner. The last one? Well… he didn't go down so well. So… we got a deal?"

She gave a curtesy and took his hand.

The look she saw radiating from Jaune right now – it was one and the same. The terror of a younger Neo, the fear of an uncertain outcome – the sadness of losing everything, of having nothing.

Alas, she dropped the knife and backed away, looking to Jaune with wounded pink eyes. This wasn't the way, this wasn't going to solve anything.

Her captive gave a pained exhale of breath – his left cheek tarnished with a thin but elegant vertical slice. His sight jumped between the cutting implement and back to her again, the cycle continuing over and over, only intensifying Neo's guilt.

"Neo…." Jaune took a breath. His body shook like a leaf in a storm. "Please… Tell me why…. Why'd you decide to do this? Why me?"

The anger was gone – overwhelmed by a fresh storm of unforgiving emotion. Everything inside threatened to crumble. Her heart hurt. Her entire world was on the verge of falling apart again. People might've called Roman a crook, but he looked after his own. To those he trusted, he gave his all.

With him gone she was alone in the wilderness yet again. Jaune wanted to know why? She'd tell him why!

As tears streamed from her eyes of sentimental pink, she reached with trembling fingers for the notepad, hunched in a little heap on the floor as the words came pouring out as violently as her feelings.

'Because I'm afraid! Because I don't want to be alone! I don't want to hurt anymore! It was never about what Cinder wanted…. It was about staying beside Roman….. I don't know what to do!'

She couldn't take it a moment longer. She needed somebody, anybody to understand how she felt. The tiniest hint of comfort would help to suppress her misery toward the idea of such a broken and unforgiving future.

Reaching out, throwing her arms around Jaune – disregarding his stunned surprise and his gasp for breath, she squeezed him tight, held him dearly, basked in the warmth he provided. As the seconds ticked on her heart eased – helped in tandem by his lack of refusal.

Wait. Jaune wasn't struggling against her? No... he wasn't. He rested his head against hers, the blood from his cheek pattering against her tattered magenta outfit.

"I get it," he began with a sorrowful sigh, "You want your friend back…. I've been there. Honestly, I'm still there right now. Neo… I'd do anything to see Pyrrha again. All I want is to tell her the truth… tell her how much she means to me."

That was exactly what Neo wanted too. In her own harrowing way, she longed to see her boss one last time – to thank him for all he'd done. Indeed, she and Jaune had far more in common than she'd initially thought.

Breaking her hold, Neo reached for the paper and brought her heart to bare yet again.

'It's agony…. I never had the chance to say goodbye.'

Jaune smiled sadly, "I know, Neo… I know…. Pyrrha left me with a kiss and that's the last I ever saw of her. You're not alone... You're not the only one that's suffering."

There was no sense carrying this on – not with things, the way they were. Nightfall had long since descended, basking the little log fort in the welcoming glow of a shattered moon. Lunar rays washed the kitchen in a soothing embrace, bringing everything to a feeling of calm.

'Thank you, Jaune… for understanding. Let me clean your face… it's the least I can do.'

Reaching out, she grabbed the bloodied knife – and with a flick of the serrated edge, sliced the ropes holding Jaune's wrists.

"Unf!" He flopped from the chair with a 'thump' rolling onto his side and taking a moment to get his bearings. "Thanks," he breathed out, crawling onto his knees.

Neo watched as he shuffled across the old creaky floor, slumping against the cupboards with a tired sigh. "I'll be on my feet in a sec. I'm… well… you know… face kinda hurts."

She gave an understanding smile – hopping to her feet and moving toward the sink. Never before had she taken a captive quite like this. She looked back, taking in the sight of his bright hair and gentle features. There was something about his understanding nature. It made her feel warm; comforted.

His name was Jaune Arc, and despite the circumstances, Neo was happy to have met him. As she ran a damp cloth under the rusty faucet, her lips curved into a smile. The first genuine smile she'd had in a very long time.

To be continued...

Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter! Did you enjoy the read? Would you like to see more? Please feel free to leave me some feedback if you like. I value the thoughts and feelings of all my readers. All of the advice and guidance people give me helps in improving my skills as a writer.

For those of you who want something else to read, I also write for other fandoms. My profile has plenty to offer, including Fire Emblem, Huniepop, Katawa Shoujo and more.

Until next time, keep on supporting RWBY!