I've finally managed to pull myself together. I'm really sorry about the months of nothing, but I'm trying to get back into it now!

"Speech"
Thoughts

Flashback

A Cross of Black and White

Jaune's head was filled to the brim with static noise. Though the girl, Ruby, said that the dust store was only a little away, to him it felt like ages. His mind was swirling with possibilities. Was he just going to fend away the mooks that Torchwick was sure to bring? He let one of his hands rest on Spiritod. It didn't hurt to be prepared, after all.

"So...uhm..."

As excited as she was earlier, Ruby didn't really have anything else to talk about except weapons it seemed. And since Jaune tried to ignore her for the most part, she didn't know what to do, judging from her uncertain facial expression. He felt a bit bad, letting her lead a silent stranger to a future crime scene, but she was his only lead. And in an unknown city such as Vale, he would surely get lost in a manner of minutes, possibly even seconds.

Suddenly, Jaune could see a light shining in the distance, not too far away. Narrowing his eyes, he could make out a storefront. It was hard to see, but a figure could be seen inside.

Looks like they're moving some boxes.

"Is that it?" He asked.

"Yup! Dust Till Dawn."

Ruby skipped ahead, excitement visible within her springy steps. Jaune, on the other hand, was more cautious. He was keeping an eye out for any shady figures that could be lurking in the dark alleyways. He should arrive there long before Torchwick and Blanc did, surely.

It seemed his caution was unnecessary since he made it to the store without any nasty interruptions. Although, they could actually be hiding still, waiting for the right opportunity.

Maybe until we're gone. Scumbags, waiting for an old man to be all alone...

Gritting his teeth a little and ignoring the flaws of his logic, Jaune stopped right before the entrance. Ruby was there already, looking at him with confusion written over her face.

This is it. If-, no...when I go in there, I have to stay in there until it happens. No backing out, Jaune.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped in, with Little Red Ruby following behind him.

The inside of the store was bright, almost too much so. Jaune had to shield his eyes until they got used to the glare of the ceiling lamp's light. Dust crystals were on display at the counter, ranging from the colors blue, red, yellow to green. It was also in its powdery form, filling tubes on the side.

Ruby immediately dashed to the magazines located on the right side of the store after saying a quick 'Hi!' to the shopkeep, an old man with grey hair and beady eyes. That man grunted at Jaune in a questioning tone.

"Just looking around," the boy in question answered.

That seemed to satisfy the shopkeep who went back to standing behind the counter to... count his money for the day. By the looks of it, the amount of lien is staggering, but not to the extent of Torchwick's collection. Jaune has seen the exact amount, he knew.

He's rich, yet he turned to a life of crime. Or did he get rich because of crime?

With a pounding heart, Jaune went to look at the magazines as well, constantly throwing a discreet look through the window. Though it was hard to make out anything in just the moonlight, he should be able to see someone suspicious approaching, moreso an entire group of shady people.

Not to forget, Torchwick's coat is pure white. Nobody can miss that and his flaming hair.

With every tick of the clock on the wall, Jaune's heart jumped a beat. He kept telling himself he could do this, that he could stop the evildoers from robbing an old man. He had trained for over a month.

They've been dabbling in crime their whole life.

He shook his head. There was no need for those stupid thoughts right now. Thoughts of weakness, of doubt, were to be instilled in the enemy, not yourself. Such were the words of Salem.

He flinched.

The silence was pierced by a sudden sound. Jaune let out a short gasp and turned around only to find little Ruby putting on headphones with their volume up pretty high. Hand over his heart, he waved at the concerned looking shopkeep with a reassuring grin.

Way to be jumpy, Jaune.

It never hurt to be cautious, but being overly cautious could be a detrimental factor as well.

The minutes ticked by. What was taking Torchwick so long?

Does the Kingpin of Vale need his time getting himself pretty?

He chuckled a bit at the thought of the master thief putting on make-up and lipstick. The eyeliner was already there, funnily enough.

"Hey Jaune, look at th-"

Before the boy could even answer, Ruby's words were drowned out by his own beating heart. His eyes widened as he gripped the right part of Spiritod tight. It was unmistakable, as he thought. They were still quite a bit away, but the moon shone directly on Roman Torchwick like a spotlight.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked. He could hear confusion as well as concern in her voice, but now was not the time.

"What are you doing?"

He couldn't respond as he moved out of sight of the window. They couldn't have recognized him, no way. From the looks of it, Torchwick, as suspected, had hired a little entourage of mooks dressed in black suits, the getup you'd expect from a band of bad guys. Although...the red glasses are something else.

He pulled the two pieces of Spiritod Lux out of their holster and put them together, eyes still focused on the group coming closer and closer. He could really see Torchwick sauntering towards the store now, cigar flaring every now and then.

"Ruby? Mr...uh...Shopkeep? You better run. There are criminals about to wreck this place," Jaune said, going into a battle stance. Despite the confident demeanor he was trying to convey, his shivering hands gave his true emotions away. This was it. The deciding battle. The moment of heroism he had been dreaming of since he was little. Torchwick was a criminal, no doubt. All that training with him was not horrible, but in the end, Roman Torchwick was just another shady face seeking to disturb the peace of Remnant.

So why am I shivering this much? Am I that afraid?

Gritting his teeth, Jaune tried to force those emotions away. He'd rather not get Geist...the Geist involved. He was not out to kill, after all, something the Grimm would definitely have no qualms about. Heroes don't kill...except Grimm, but those were soulless beings anyway. They were made to be killed.

Then...what about me? Am I to be killed too?

The teen growled and slapped his cheeks. Was now really the time for that?! No matter how much he tried to banish those thoughts, they always came back, at times even stronger.

To distract himself, Jaune glanced back in the hopes of finding Ruby and the old man gone...

Only to find Ruby unsheathing a giant red scythe while the old man called the authorities on an old phone instead of a scroll.

Not really the sight he expected, at least what Ruby was doing. The shopkeep calling the police was expected. Although, why did he believe him immediately?

"Uh huh. Roman Torchwick," the old man muttered into the receiver, causing a lightbulb to go off over Jaune's head.

Of course. Guy's famous. He must have seen him too.

He had no idea whether that's good or bad-

Wait, that's bad! Really bad! What if the police identify me?

Instinctively, he reached out a hand to touch his orange hair. Surely this must be enough to hide his identity? He was only in Vale once and that was years ago. Unless the entirety of Remnant was out to search him, which is something he wouldn't doubt Enciel ordering, actually. Was there anything he could do?

A quick scan around the area showed Jaune the clothes rack on his side of the door. As fast as he could, he grabbed the brown coat and hat hanging there, ignoring the grunt of protest coming from the old man. And not a moment too soon.

The door opened, making Jaune's blood run cold. He kept his gaze to the wall on the side, hoping to the dear Gods Torchwick didn't recognize him. He held his staff in front of himself, trying to obscure it from view.

"Men, take care of those...side characters."

The unmistakeably smooth voice of the master thief caused the boy's entire body to sweat. One wrong move could make this go wrong. One single wrong move.

Heavy footsteps met the floor in sync with his heart. Several, by the sounds of it, maybe two sets? Still, Jaune didn't dare move.

"Now, do you know how hard it is to find a dust store open this late?"

Torchwick had already started to threaten the poor owner. And what was Jaune doing? Shivering like a damn coward. Fear, was this fear? It was a different fear from most he had felt before, much stronger.

Whatever it was, it was strong enough for a certain creature.

Nonono, this is bad!

A hand met his shoulder and turned him around roughly, causing him to face the grim stare of a hardened criminal with crimson glasses.

"I...," Jaune began to say, but no words came out. He should have expected this, these complications. Complications like his own reluctance? Why was he so afraid of fighting?

Just...why?

He gripped his staff tight with his still human hand and clenched his eyes shut, only to open them again.

Screw it. There is no return from this.

But before he could even let out a roar to boost himself, the man was sent through the window. Blinking in confusion, he saw that Ruby too was outside, her scythe's blade aimed at the man. Her eyes were glinting. A glint that made him shiver.

"Tch. Take care of her. And...," Torchwick muttered loudly. This was Jaune's cue to get the hell out of there. By jumping through the shattered opening Ruby had just created and straight into the nearest alleyway.

Dammit Jaune!

He bit his lip and looked at Ruby still fighting. She was fast, almost inhumanly so. She fought with precision and would've sliced the mooks up were it not for their aura. Against her, they seemed like amateurs. A quick glance to his hand showed that Geist still hadn't calmed down.

Fear me!

Of course, that pathetic mental attempt of scaring the Geist off wouldn't work at all. It just kept creeping up his arm, no matter how many hushed threats were thrown against it and no matter how hard his grip on his arm was. In the meantime, Ruby was still very easily fending the criminals off and doing a great job at it too. She was great.

He didn't like it at all.

What was his purpose for coming here then? He let go of the grimmified arm and stared at the battlefield with a glare.

What does she have that I don't? She's younger than me, so she must be uncontrollably inexperienced...

Not that he was that much more experienced, but he was certain that she had led a peaceful life until now. After all, how else could anyone be so annoyingly happy and cheery? He clenched his fist...no, he clenched his claw. What was his purpose then? If everything was going to be solved by one little girl, what was the point of coming?

He was ripped out of his thoughts when a henchman landed at Torchwick's feet, the owner of which had just stepped out of the shop.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were...," the flamboyant man muttered, looking at his fallen accomplice. His gaze then set on Ruby, a playful smirk on his lips.

"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around..."

He aimed his cane at her, causing Jaune's eyes to widen.

"This...is where we part ways."

Jaune already dashed off before the blast even left the cane. He could already feel his consciousness fading, albeit much slower than in any of the instances before. The Geist was taking over and he couldn't stop it. But if he could at the very least shove Ruby out of the way, he would've done one deed that day.

The darkness closed in and he could already feel the impact-

A bright light exploded to the right of his face.

It tore into his skin, introducing him to a world of agony. Black and white spots dominated his view, clashing with each other in a blurry of grey, until they finally faded to black.

Darkness. Only darkness.

Wake!

Right...he was in battle, he was about to face Roman Torchwick and defend the old shopkeeper...right...

...an...awa...dangerou...

The silence was deafening, despite his own voice in his head desperately trying to get him to rise and wake up from this world of black.

WAKE!

He rose with a startled scream, eyes opening to an alley lit only by the shattered moon above. He blinked twice, staring at the rain descending from above that drenched his entire body. Lightning cracked through the sky. At least he assumed it did, considering his ears still didn't do their job.

But not only his ears, he couldn't feel anything at all. He may have risen, but that sudden movement was all he was capable of. He was sitting on the dirty ground, close to trash cans and other disgusting pieces of garbage people have carelessly thrown into the alley.

I...what?

Seconds passed, and then...

The sound of rain hitting the ground finally reached his ears, the thunder above roared with the might of a lion and the floor felt cold and wet. He could feel the weight of the coat on him still. The hat was gone though.

"What...what just...," Jaune whispered, voice weak and dry. He touched the left side of his face with his right hand and immediately flinched. He pulled his fingers away from the dull, throbbing pain that lingered still. He could still remember the agony that almost tore him apart before his blackout. While most of the pain had already subsided and he could feel most of his body again, his left arm didn't seem to have gotten the memo. Moving it was possible, but...

He tried to touch it, but felt nothing. An extremely short glance at his left hand told him that he charred his entire arm, judging from the black. He hissed, not looking at it again, instead stuffing that hand into the coat's pocket. He took deep breaths, trying not to panic. There was no use thinking about it now, not until he found a medic. But even that could be terribly dangerous. He needed to find out where he was, first of all.

With staggering steps and by supporting himself on the brick wall, he stumbled his way out onto the streets. The sight that greeted him was not one that filled him with joy. Rather, he despaired over the unknown sight that showed itself to him. Houses and shops were lined up against the street, none of which seemed familiar at all. Only darkness came through their windows. The only lights that shone were the weak flickerings of the broken street lamps and the gentle shine of the moon through the fading rain.

Great. Just great.

Jaune sighed and tried to reach for his scroll as the rain completely cleared. It should still be somewhere in his pockets, he surmised, seeing as he never took it out during the squabble with the gang. He ignored the fact that he didn't fight at all with a roll of his eyes. He did rush in to save Ruby in the end, so-

He blinked and then frowned. The memory of what happened after he rushed in seemed completely gone from his mind. He tried to dig deep within his memories, but the last thing he remembered was utter pain and agony. Pain and agony...

He tried to touch his left cheek again, feeling the lingering amounts of dull throbbing still left. While this would probably be fatal for a civilian, his aura should have shielded him from any harm. Though the dust must have been pretty strong to leave this much pain behind, lasting injuries should take no longer than a few minutes to heal.

Finally, he could feel the cold metal of the scroll in his palm. A wave of relief washed over him since the loss of the device would mean he was completely and utterly lost. Now all he needed to do was turn it on and...

"..."

His heart seemed to stop for a moment.

DAMN IT!

He tossed the shattered scroll onto the floor, breaking it into a million pieces. He breathed heavily, staring at the shards of what Roman gave to him a while ago, just after he got 'accepted' into Beacon.

"Huh...this is for me? From you?"

Seeing the skeptical look on Jaune's face, Roman scoffed and lit a cigar.

"Sure, sure. Don't mention it, kid. It would be pretty strange for you not to have one after getting into Beacon, y'know? Suspicions and all."

Jaune pulled the device apart, already seeing it connected to his aura, blinking at a healthy green like a video game's HP bar.

"So...who paid for it?"

But before he got an answer, Roman had already left to rob another bank. At least that's what he suspected, it really wouldn't surprise the blonde at all.

Slapping his cheeks, Jaune ripped himself from his memory. As a certain someone once said to him, it didn't do well to dwell on the past. Rather, it's way more exciting to live in the present, the now. To face what will happen rather than what did.

Glancing at his shattered present once more, Jaune sighed. For some reason, he couldn't just leave it there. He tried to walk away, but something inside him kept pulling him back to the broken mess that was once a fine piece of technology. With another sigh, he picked up the pieces and put them in the pockets of the coat he stol- borrowed.

What a stroke of luck, for me to grab a coat able to carry all this.

Lucky or not, he felt like a fool. There he was, a proud and cursed warrior, picking up pieces of garbage like a homeless man desperate to find anything he could sell for an amount of lien.

A sharp pain coursed through him.

"Ouch!"

Jaune retracted his arm and stared at the hand that had just dropped that pointy piece of glass. A tiny amount of blood was dripping from his finger.

Shaking his head, Jaune went to pick up that last piece before standing in place.

What the hell am I doing? What am I supposed to do with it now?

Still not able to shake that odd feeling of detachment, he turned and made to walk away. He didn't get very far though.

Wait...where am I going?

Facepalming over his stupidity, Jaune's head moved around to see if there were any street signs, anything that showed him where he was. A bookshop caught his eye, located at the far end of the street.

Tukson's Book Trade? Maybe?

He walked towards it, a tiny amount of hope in his mind.

Hope?

He stopped in his tracks, frowning at the buzzing noise that started to grow in his mind. Shaking his head, he continued to walk forward.

Hope? Is it like despair?

He kept ignoring it until the buzzing grew to almost inhumane strength. Gripping his temple, Jaune breathed out slowly.

"What the hell?"

The bookstore was still too far away, so Jaune moved to the side to let his head rest against the window of a rather small building.

Great, now a headache too. As if my head didn't already suffer enough today.

He looked into the window and...

He blinked. Was he seeing things? No, it couldn't be.

No way...it used to be only...

Quickly throwing the coat off (and cringing at the sound of shards of glass hitting the ground), Jaune rolled up his sleeve to see the damage.

No...

What he thought was just a heinous burn was far, far worse.

The reflection in the window showed that his left arm up to his cheek was entirely black.

That black wasn't a burn at all.