XxXxX

When he was but a little boy, his grandfather told him stories about heroes.

About huntsmen that showed in the nick of time to defend a village from a Grimm horde or bandit raids.

About their ancestors that were shining beacons of hope on the battlefield, shielding their comrades and leading them to victory.

Such stories filled his young mind with wonder and glee.

He would imagine being one of those nearly mythical heroes and heroines, helping those in need and defending those who couldn't defend themselves.

Wanting to be a hero above anything else made him do stupid things, things that no sane person would do.

In his hubris and stupidity he entered a combat school with fake documents, not knowing what it would entail.

He survived the first day only because of his partner, a woman that was a real hero.

He understood what real heroes were when he was helplessly watching her sad smile growing smaller and smaller from the air vents of a rocket propelled locker when she truly became one, sacrificing herself for the good of the others.

That was the day he understood the consequences of the immature actions he took, the butterfly effect so to speak.

If only he was stronger then she wouldn't need to face that monster alone.

If only he trained harder then he would be able to support her like a true partner would.

If only he wasn't so selfish and stupid then Pyrrha Nikos maybe would be partnered with someone actually capable instead of a guy who was little more than an anchor to her greatness.

With rage and sorrow he trained himself to the bone, in hope that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to bring the monster that killed her to justice.

He was deluded of such ideas when because of his recklessness another one of his friends nearly paid the ultimate price because of his blind rage.

The monster once more escaped with mocking laughter on her lips while he was cradling bleeding out Weiss, the world around him crumbling even further.

Thankfully his semblance manifested just in time to save her but things went only further out of control from there.

Mystical Maidens, old magic and curses, Relics of a bygone era that could and would destroy the world if their group didn't stop the millennium old war that for some reason was reaching its conclusion right now.

With General Ironwood going off the deep end and the literal Queen of the Grimm on their doorstep it was a miracle that they managed to acquire the Relic of Creation.

"Keep going! I've got you!" The blonde swordsman yelled above the cacophony of explosions to Weiss who was trying to hobble alongside him, her Aura broken from one of Cinder's attacks.

That thrice cursed witch followed after them into the portals that they created with the help of Ambrosius, the spirit of Creation that resided in the staff of the same name.

The blue spirit did warn them to not fall from the passageways but he forgot to mention the fact that it was a one way trip.

Ruby and the rest of their friends shouting and banging on the magical doorway in space were proving that enough.

Somehow, nearly all of them made it out. Nearly. Poor Penny took her own life so the powers of Winter Maiden wouldn't fall into Cinder's hands, her smile when she thanked him for their friendship and said the final goodby was forever seared into his memory.

When they were only a few paces from the exit he heard something heading their way. The frantic shouts of their friends only increased, Yang even started to use her gauntlets in a futile attempt to get back into the space between worlds.

Acting more on instinct than anything else Jaune poured as much Aura as he could into his shield arm, swinging it back to block whatever was heading their way.

Shielding Auraless Weiss with his own body he felt more than saw the blinding explosion of fire, the heat rushing post him like water around a rock.

"Weiss!" Winter's shrill scream was followed by another heavy impact, the older Schnee sister crashing not far from them both.

"And so… We meet again, Arc." The fire witch spoke, in that irritatingly alluring voice of hers. It was nothing more than poison, hiding her true monstrous self.

Jaune didn't respond, his cold blue eyes staring at the Fall Maiden over the rim of his shield.

The situation didn't look good. Cinder already had the Relic of Creation in hand, thankfully the Relic of Knowledge was secure with Ruby, already in Vacuo.

Taking a quick glance to his scroll fastened to the back of his shield he saw that most of his friends were out of range for the device with only Weiss's Aura levels being displayed as 3%, much too low to even think about combat.

"You know… Back at Beacon I never would have thought that someone like you would be able to meddle so much in my plans." Cinder continued when it was clear that he wouldn't respond.

Jaune's grip on his family blade tightened, the blue leather of the hilt creaking in protest. He was more than aware of how weak and pathetic he was back then. His stupid pride and stubbornness didn't allow him to take any help, that stupid boy from back then was so full of himself that he thought that he could do everything by himself.

If only he would agree to Pyrrha's proposal of training, if only he was humble enough to take the offered help, if only…

"It's funny, really. I had plans upon plans just in case, made for any occasion and for everyone of note. Never you." Cinder still rambled on, toying with the powerful staff in her hands.

Taking a peek to his left he saw Winter, her body dully shining with Aura. That was good, it meant that the older Schnee sister still had fight in her, even as she was struggling to take in air after her last brutal exchange with the fire witch.

"It was even funny for a moment, seeing you squirm and wriggle like a worm, trying to actually do something." The Fall Maiden continued, taking a few steps in their direction.

Jaune replied in kind, moving closer to the witch while keeping his guard up. In only a few steps he already was between her and the two sisters, Winter at long last recovering and shakily standing back up with the help of Weiss who was barely standing herself.

"Oh! Look at you! I honestly don't know if I should be impressed by your tenacity or just feel sorry for the fact that you never seem to learn to not stand against your betters." She still continued to mock him but her smirk slowly transformed into an angry grimace when he didn't show any reaction.

"Get out of my way you worm! Winter Maiden will be mine and you can't do anything about it with that pathetic healing semblance of yours." She roared, sending a few fireballs in his direction with a wave of her arm.

Focusing his Aura he planted his legs firmly, knowing that he couldn't just leap to the side with the Schnee sisters behind him.

"Jaune!" Weiss's shout came just before the first bullet made of fire struck, creating a small explosion that made him slide a few centimeters back. Then another one struck, followed by the rest.

"Bravo! You certainly are better than before, must be all that Atlesian training you did. I just admit, they did a much better job than that redhead from Beacon, what was her name again?" Cinder laughed, seeing that the face of his shield now sported a few new scorch marks.

Gritting his teeth, Jaune hazarded another look at his Aura meter, breathing out with a bit of relief when he saw that this attack chipped away only a few percent.

"Weiss, get your sister to the other side." He said to his friend, mentally preparing himself for a fight.

"What about you? You cannot hope to defeat her alone!" The white haired girl shouted back, still helping her sister to stand.

"No, by all means, let a man commit suicide if he wants. It'll only take a moment." The fire witch interrupted, her free hand creating a sword of molten glass, still glowing with heat.

"Don't worry, just go to the other side." The blonde knight assured his friend, his voice surprisingly level and calm. 'I wonder if this is how Pyrrha felt, back then at Beacon…'

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to help, Weiss started dragging her sister away. With the corner of his eye he could see how distressed she looked. She probably knew what he was doing and felt as helpless as he felt back then.

"Sorry, Weiss." He whispered more to himself than anyone, fully knowing how she must have felt.

"Hahaha, that's rich! As if I would allow the Winter Maiden to slip through my fingers like that!" Cinder openly laughed, launching herself at him probably wanting to just bulldoze through and get to the frantically hobbling away sisters.

Taking a deep breath, Jaune decided to do something that he never felt comfortable doing before. In all his time after awakening his semblance he mostly used it to help others, to heal and bolster their strength because it always was greater than his own. That was why everyone that didn't have any contact with it thought that it was just some healing with Aura, Jaune never using it for anything else.

With a bit of effort he directed it inwards, his own Aura levels swelling in moments. Instantly he remembered why he never did that outside of that one time during training.

Using his own Aura to fuel his semblance that caused the said Aura to increase felt… wrong.

He didn't know if one could feel their Aura but if he had to describe it, it felt as if his soul was trying to rip itself apart while it was simultaneously being compressed together, creating discomfort on a level he never felt before.

With a wicked grin on her deformed face, Cinder swung her fiery sword in a heavy strike intended to push him aside, only for her blade to meet the steel of his shield that deflected it aside.

In her mad dash she never thought that this upstart would be able to compete with her Maiden power assisted strength, because of that she was sorely unprepared for the upward swing of his sword that struck the Staff of Creation and slid alongside it all the way to her hand.

Rolling away with the hit she felt her fingers bruising, her Aura barely being able to stop the blade from cutting them off all together.

"Well… color me surprised. It seems that you do live up to the Arc blood after all…" She commented, clicking her tongue when she saw that the Schnee sisters managed to collapse just beyond the glowing gateway, already being tended to by Ruby and the rest.

"You have nowhere to run now, witch." Jaune replied, seeing that his Aura levels were steadily climbing past 130% already. The discomfort only increased, barely allowing him to properly focus on his opponent.

"You really believe so?" She asked, clearly humored by his remark. "You think awfully highly of yourself after blocking a single attack." With those words she swung her sword once again, expelling a wave of fire in his direction.

He saw this tactic before.

Bracing himself he turned up his gravity repulsor in the crest of the shield to the maximum, blasting the wave straight ahead. He immediately was rewarded by a surprised and definitely pained scream from that wretched woman. Clattering of something metallic on the ground was only the cherry on top.

Moving even before the smoke and flames dispersed he sprung forward, his form starting to glow pale yellow from the overflowing power of his Aura.

"You worm! How dare you!" Cinder roared from somewhere before him, still hidden by the smoke.

Oh how much did he dare.

For once luck did favor him, the Staff of Creation laying so much closer to him than to her.

Not even stopping to think about what to do he stomped on one end of the precious relic, sending it spinning into the air and with his gravity repulsor in the shield still turned up to maximum he sent it straight out of the portal to Vacuo and into surprised face of Yang who wasn't at all prepared for it.

"You…" Cinder hissed at him through her teeth, air around her body visibly heating up according to her mood.

With an incoherent, rage full roar she exploded in his direction, not even touching the walkway any more.

To his own surprise Jaune didn't panic, even in the face of this monster. He managed to defeat her in the end, he took back the relic and it was safely in his friend's care.

With a smile on his face he used Aura Amp once more, even if he had to grit his teeth just after from the pain.

Recalling Pyrrha's lessons he moved his shield arm into place, the sword held low and back, ready to lash out in retaliation.

XxX

"Did anyone catch the number of that bullhead?" Yang asked in slight jest, trying to rub away the slight bump on her forehead.

"We need to do something! Jaune can't win with her!" Ruby panicked, torn in between helping the Schnee sisters and watching the fight between her best friend and a fiery incarnation of fury that was the Fall Maiden.

"Can't we use the staff to get him here?" Blake asked, no less scuffed up then Weiss and Winter. The cat girl of the team barely standing by herself, the sheath of her weapon nowhere to be seen.

"Fearless leader?" As if they didn't have enough on their heads a ginger haired girl called out with hope in her voice, limping to their group. She had one of her eyes swollen shut, the scarring on her neck and collarbone even more pronounced after she overused her semblance again.

A loud explosion from the portal immediately dragged their attention to the shimmering hole in space.

To their surprise the blonde knight was still fighting, holding his ground even against a barrage of exploding fireballs that crashed into his shield. Jaune's Aura flashed like a stroboscope but even then it didn't break, shocking them even more.

"Jaune-Jaune!" Nora reacted first, crashing into the one way barrier covering the gateway. Her fists limply pounded on the invisible wall, futilely trying to get through to her friend.

"Ambrosius!" Picking up the Staff of Creation, Ruby called out to the ancient spirit dwelling in the relic not minding the crowds of refugees not so far away.

In an explosion of blue smoke a giant man of the same color flashed into existence, his keen eye immediately scanning over the gathered people and the vast desert around only to end back on the girl holding the Staff of Creation.

"Ruby Rose… It's now often that I'm being called so…often." Ambrosius said, once more looking around. His sight landed on the portal that he created and the ongoing fight inside, making him take a pose of a thinker.

"There's no time! Can you bring Jaune here and close the portal?!" Ruby asked immediately, not giving the blue giant any more time for his ruminations.

"No and yes." The spirit replied after a few seconds, keenly observing the still escalating fight in the space between worlds.

"What? What do you mean? You can just create a portal for him right? Everyone's here already, we can close the gate now!" The red reaper asked, ignoring the people in the background that were starting to slightly panic after the appearance of the enormous spirit.

"Well, Missy, I would be able to do that if he were in this dimension. As things stand, until he is in that space, I'm unable to help. I can close the portal without any problem, even if someone is still in there. I'm not exactly sure about what would happen to those individuals though." Ambrosius nonchalantly explained, rising upward in the air and starting to look around.

"And it looks like you will have to find out if you want me to help with that." He continued, vaguely gesturing to the endless expand of sands around them.

When the group looked around, a cold chill went down their spines when the clear to this point horizon started to shimmer with black, as if tar was flowing across the dunes in their direction. To make matters worse the crowd of civilians started to scream in panic, probably making themselves an even bigger target to the creatures of Grimm because of all those negative emotions.

"W-what do we do?" Ruby asked with a trembling voice.

"We need to use the Relic of Creation, otherwise all of us die." Winter was the one to answer garnering a few angry glares from the rest.

"Absolutely not! We can't abandon Jaune like that!" To the surprise of the group it was the other Schnee of all people that voiced her protest. "He's still fighting that woman, we have to help him somehow!" She continued with clear desperation in her words.

As if to accentuate her words a large explosion sounded from the portal, their friend being sent quite a distance before he managed to stop and get to his feet.

To their horror Cinder took a hold of his sword, melting it into scrap and lazily tossing what's left of it back at the white knight with a satisfied grin on her face.

"We don't have time! Arc won't be able to hold that woman off for much longer and none of us will be able to stop her then!" The older Schnee countered, barely able to stand by her own strength.

"We can't abandon him!" Probably for the first time in her life Weiss shouted back at her sister, her voice mixing anger, fear and sorrow at the fact that her older sister was right.

On one side they were sworn to protect the civilians at all costs, on the other they couldn't abandon their friend who was clearly still fighting for their sakes.

Another loud explosion from the portal made their decisions for them.

XxX

Numbness, pain, disorientation. Jaune's semblance could be explained with those words to those who would ask.

The last attack from his adversary didn't help in the slightest, sending him away through the air and causing him to release Crocea Mors from the impact. Thankfully the shield sheath was mounted onto his left forearm, otherwise it probably would fly away too.

Managing to put his feet on the ground after the third or fifth flip he skidded to a stop in the middle of the main walkway, a choke point of sorts that all the entry gates were funneled through to the exit behind him.

Clinking of metal drew his attention as the hilt of his ancestral blade came to a stop near his feet, only a quarter of the actual blade still attached to it.

Seeing the state of his trusty weapon filled him with a strange mix of feelings.

Fear at what his father would say about the destruction of the family heirloom that Jaune stole in the middle of the night.

Sadness at losing his trusty weapon that held him through countless fights.

Rage at the monster that so casually trampled and destroyed whatever she liked.

He picked up the hilt, Crocea Mors feeling unnerving light and wrong.

"You still plan on fighting? It's clear that you won't win. Give up already!" Cinder's mocking voice reached his ears, making him focus back on the fight. His semblance once again increased his Aura reserves, making him feel as if his insides were crushed and pulled in different directions.

He looked down to his arm, the crest of his family shining duly on his shield despite the scorch marks.

With a smile he looked at the golden lining, remembering his friend and partner. All the times they trained on that rooftop.

His eyes traveled to the grief stricken faces of his friends, all of them begging him to not give up, to just run.

A loud roar broke the relative silence. A large Beowulf Alpha tearing its way into the space between from one of the portals from Atlas. Only a few smaller ones followed but it was a matter of time before more would show up.

"Give up?" He asked back, slowly sliding what remained of his sword into the slot in his shield as he transformed it back into a sheath.

"I am a huntsman of the Kingdom of Vale!" Jaune declared loudly. So loud in fact that even his friends and people closest to the portal could hear him.

"We have a duty to the people! Duty to help! Duty to protect! Duty to keep fighting the darkness when it tries to swallow us whole!" Empowered by his semblance and will, his voice traveled far and wide.

Taking a good hold of his sword with both hands he switched it into the great sword configuration, the shield providing a new, heavier blade.

"And only in death does duty end!* He roared, launching himself like a bullet at the surprised Cinder who barely managed to bring up any defense.

With wide eyes she felt as the blonde's blade crashed into her two swords and barely slowing down started carrying her with its momentum like a metal bat striking a ball.

"What?" She mumbled out in shock, barely stopping herself from being sent off from the bridge of light.

Jaune didn't even stop to see if she recovered, already intercepting the charging Beowulf with his blade, bisecting it with a heavy swing. Still in motion he spun in place, the heavy blade on his hands drawing a wide circle as it crashed into one of the smaller beasts and went straight through, biting deep into the chest of another.

Letting out a frustrated shout Cinder launched herself back into the fight, sending a stream of concentrated fire at the fighting Knight, making his Aura light up like the sun.

All that she achieved was a short grunt of pain from the blonde as he let his Aura weather the attack, focusing on finishing the Grimm.

"Why! Won't! You! DIE?!" Cinder roared with fury, sending more and more magic at the blonde knight who finished with his opponents and started using his wide blade to block most of the attacks as he started to close to distance.

Blinded by her furry, the Fall Maiden brought her both hands together, firing a pale blue jet of fire at the approaching Jaune who with a roar of his own stopped defending himself and swung his heavy blade with all the Aura enhanced strength he had.

With his sight swimming he could barely see his opponent. The agonizing pain in his whole body not helping at all. He couldn't even feel if he was injured or not, the twisting pain in his soul that his own semblance brought upon him leaving him breathless.

In an instant, the fight stopped.

Trying to breathe, Jaune didn't even have the strength to panic when he discovered he couldn't.

His blade suddenly became too heavy for him to wield as it started to pull him along, Jaune being too stubborn to let go of its hilt.

He barely managed to stay on his legs as the tip of the blade slammed into the ground, providing him with something to hold him upright.

After a short while his sight focused a bit, the shocked and disbelieving face of Cinder Fall looking back at him from the ground, her body nearly split in half as her blood created a large puddle underneath them.

His chapped lips curled into a small smirk, his body not even having enough energy for anything else.

He could hear a distant roar of a large creature, probably that whale Grimm back in Atlas. Stomping of clawed feet and animalistic roars followed but he didn't have any strength to fight any more.

Instead he stared into Cinder's eyes as she still was desperately clinging to life, one of her shaky hands managed even to reach to the blade, as if she would be able to just push it away. Her grim arm was lying nearby after being chopped off by the strike, turning into dust like all Grimm did.

"Knight… beats… queen." He rasped out, keeping eye contact with the monster underneath him.

XxX

"No!" Nora and Weiss cried out, seeing the final confrontation.

Jaune's declaration wasn't missed by anyone, all of the people near the portal were able to hear his words.

For a few moments it even looked as if Jaune could actually pull off a victory…

Until a jet of blue flame went through his chest at the last moment, his Aura giving in to Cinder's last attack as his own attack connected.

All of the beacon students became speechless, observing how their friend sacrificed himself for everyone by stopping the Fall Maiden from following after the exhausted group.

Now, as Jaune's sword pinned the Fall Maiden to the ground they could clearly see the large hole in his abdomen, smoke still wafting from the carbonized flesh.

"Ambrosius! We need to secure those people now!" Winter was first to break out of the shock, ordering the Spirit of Creation to start acting.

"I'm sorry, but only the current wielder of the staff can give me an order.* The blue giant answered, observing how all kinds of Grimm started to pour into the space between the world, slowly approaching the only two humans on the bridge.

Ruby Rose stood there, limply holding the Staff of Creation as she observed her best friend's final moments, not wanting to believe in what was happening.

The rest of the group weren't any better, Yang dropping to the ground on her knees as Blake was not able to support her, the cat girl's ears so flat against her head they weren't even visible.

Weiss and Nora were crying with the Valkyrie bloodying her knuckles as she pounded on the barrier preventing them from helping their friend.

Seeing that the group was unresponsive, Winter hobbled to Ruby and gently prayed the staff from her hands. "Ambrosius… Create a defensive formation around the refugees and the camp." The Winter Maiden ordered softly focusing her mind on the formation she requested.

In a flash of blue light the doorway to the space between worlds vanished as strong walls sprouted around them, together with buildings for the refugees and automatic defenses that immediately started firing upon the encroaching Grimm.

All the beacon students looked at the specialist who caused the portal to disappear, some of them looking as if they were going to attack her for what she did.

Letting out a sigh, Winter allowed her Maiden magic to lift her into the air with a grubby o of pain.

"Hunters!" She exclaimed loudly, gathering the attention of everyone. She took another look at the grieving students below her, and let out a sigh.

"The fight is not over! Resupply and regroup! Anyone who still can fight, man the walls! The rest, focus on recovery and helping civilians!" She ordered, rising higher into the air.

From this height she could see the slowly moving sea of the nightmarish monsters, the cannons on the walls keeping them at bay for now.

"We have a duty to these people!" She exclaimed again, as a wave of murmurs spread through the crowd.

She looked at all that's left from Atlas citizens. Mothers, fathers, daughters and sons. Small children in their parent's embrace and old people being helped by their relatives. All of them in fear and close to despair.

She looked at her own sister, crying after their friend that made the ultimate sacrifice to buy them more time.

She swallowed hard, steeling herself.

"AND ONLY IN DEATH DOES THIS DUTY END!"

XxXxX

Author's note: This is what happens when I break and embrace the cringe… :D