The Fallen Knight

Jaune had given all he had to defend Beacon. His school, his home, his team, he decided to save everyone but himself. He blinked as he lay totally drained against one of the pillars that hadn't come crumbling down when Roman Torchwick's forces attacked Beacon. He could barely raise his head to see the furious witch stalk up and begin forming a massive swirling spire of sharp debris. He wouldn't be able to block it, his aura was filling up too slowly.
Of course, it was stupid to try to fight her in the first place, he had already beaten his way through a group of Roman's lackeys. He hadn't exactly come out without any damage. He had been running through the halls, trying to locate his team when he saw them all about to be killed by the witch. He wasn't going to let it happen.

Crimson stalked up, she was pissed. This peon of a boy, barely worth the air he used had blocked her from killing those pathetic students.

Crimson had them cornered, those seven had had taken out a majority of the forces, they had fought hard and were weary, easy for the taking. She had planned to start with the scythe-wielder, who she remembered from the robbery and kill the rest of them at her leisure.

After all you can't rush perfect technique and poise.

Then he had attacked in a whirlwind of white aura. She had barley gotten out of the way of his first strike that would have cleaved her in two. He had a powerful aura, she would give him that. He told his friends to run and the moment they were far enough away he collapsed the columns keeping the corridor connected to escape ignoring their screams as he sealed himself off. He knew it wouldn't hold her but it would buy time for his friends. Then he charged. She honestly had been shocked by just how fast he was. She blocked all of his strikes with her palms but when his shielth became a massive gauntlet made of glowing white metal, even she had to retreat or she would have been crushed by the first blow. She began to fire spells at him and he rolled, ducked, bobbed, weaved.
When he got hit she thought he would fall, but he got up, if anything more determined. He roared a battle cry and dashed forwards. She flung fire at him, shards of the broken floor, anything to stop him. He ripped through it all in his charge. He smashed it aside or cut it in half. He attacked and even managed to punch her with the massive gauntlet, which had hurt a lot. He wasn't coming out unscathed though, he had been bruised and beaten, burnt and bleeding. She had gotten plenty of deep cuts for her trouble.
Then she hit him with one last fireball and he slammed into the wall of the hall had been. His last bit of aura faded and massive gauntlet disappeared and reverted back into the simple shield.

She figured he would have the good sense to stay down.
He didn't.

He got up, swaying drunkenly and stumbled forward. Everything but his eyes said he was on the verge of collapse, they were sharp with rage and anger. Not a flicker of fear. She waited smiling, she bashed him aside when he got close. He was smart enough to raise his shield and block the blow, and even then he was sent sailing. He was even a challenge. She sighed and got ready to blast away the debris blocking her path.

"Hey you stupid bitch, who said we were done?" Came his voice, clear as a bell.

She turned to see him using his aura as though he hadn't even come close to using it all up. He flared with white Aura and moved to close the distance, smashing into her with a flying body tackle. Crimson was too surprised to even try to break the grapple when he grabbed her by the arms and threw her into the wall. She got up and dusted herself off only to be punched through the wall by his aura enhanced shield gauntlet. She groaned and sat up, fighting the urge to cough up blood, fixing her gaze on him she realized he couldn't have been older than 18. His golden hair was streaked with red and was rust colored from the blood, his eyes were a deep fathomless blue, and he was surprisingly handsome. He was also wounded. There were gashes littering his armor and body, and blood dribbling out of his mouth.

He glared at her for an instant before rushing at her, swinging his blade. She rolled back and danced away, occasionally blocking or throwing an aura-aided attack of her own. He either ducked back or caught the attack on the oversized gauntlet which was again covering his arm. He she grabbed his forearms digging her nails in and used her aura to block the gauntlet from smashing her into oblivion.

"Why do you keep fighting like this? You know you can't win, you will die here." She hissed.

He swung up his leg and thrust it out kicking her squarely in the stomach, knocking her out of the lock as he spoke, "Well I won't know that till I've tried."

She knew he was lying, he hadn't planned to live through this all. Crimson pitied him, what a fool, throwing himself away for a handful of lives. What an idiot.

She let loose then blasting him with a massive amount of magic and dust, he had blocked most of it but even he couldn't block it all. He rushed in whirling around a badly shot ice blast, and slashed at her, drawing a weeping line of red across her arm. She growled and punched him in the stomach, as he doubled over she grabbed his neck and slammed him into the wall. He fought the urge to gag and slammed her with an open palmed hit from his gauntlet, sending her tumbling back.

She had enough of him. She force a huge amount of power into the next blast of magic and hit him with it. Even with his gauntlet covering most of him, there was no way he could have gotten up after that. He lay there panting against an undestroyed column. He looked like he was trying to get up. She didn't intend to let him get up at all, she brought her hand up pulling the sharpest shard of whatever she could find to form a massive spear over her.

"I just have one question." Crimson asked, "Why were you willing to sacrifice yourself? If you hadn't challenged me, you could have become so much more."

He let out a choked laugh, and stared at her with those sea-blue eyes, "Because, they are my family."

"That's it?"

"I don't need another reason. I care for them, they are precious to me and I'll be damned if I let some uppity bitch like you kill them when I could have saved them." He spat, a mocking grin on his face, which he pulled off very well despite the blood on his face, "Well, are you going to kill me or do you have the heart-to-heart with every person you are going to kill?"

She clenched her fist and the swirling debris clenched together, " you are going to die!" she hissed beginning to move her hand down.

Jaune had done it. He knew they were safe, he had told them to leave and he was sure Ren would force them to go. He let good memories flow through his head and felt a warm peace wash over him. He licked his chapped and cracked lips, tasting the metallic taste of the blood. He didn't regret his decision. Not to say he lived a fantastic life, but the past year was probably his best, and judging by the timeframe of the current moment, it had been.

Then he remembered.

"Aw crap." He groaned.

Crimson paused in surprise, "What?"

"I forgot that I told my parents I would write soon. Man this bites." Jaune said casually as if he wasn't about to die or that he was facing an already pissed off sorceress, "I hope they break the news gently to mom."

Crimson tilted her head in confusion, what was with this kid? Was he insane?

He glanced at her, "I'm sorry I am interrupting you? Or do you have to sate your thirst for what I am thinking, really it's all happy thoughts. You know no use regretting really."

"You are-"

"Insane? Impossible? Outright crazy?" he supplied, "You're not really telling me anything I haven't heard before lady."

He closed his eyes and said, "Do it, I am sure you have a schedule to stick to, besides it's not like I have the energy to move, I'd probably bleed out sooner or later."

She heard the smirk in her voice, "Gladly."

As Crimson was about to bring her hand down to impale Jaune, she heard something coming her way. She turned and looked in time to see Crescent Rose flying at her as it spun in the air. Although she had gathered enough aura to keep from being seriously hurt, she was sent a good ways flying as the familiar red scythe dug into her left shoulder with a splatter of red.

Jaune looked at where the scythe had come from to see Ruby running towards him. Yang and Nora were trying to make a hole in the collapsed rocks larger so that they could get through, the only reason Ruby had gotten through was because of her smaller stature.

"What the hell are you doing Ruby?!" was all Jaune got out before he seen Crimson stalking back toward her, Crescent Rose in her grip, aiming at Ruby.

"Saving you!" Ruby yelled.

"You foul little prick!" Snarled Crimson, throwing Crescent Rose.

Ruby was too focused on Jaune, and didn't notice Crimson with Crescent Rose, until her prized possession had been turned on it's master. As fast as it was flying, Ruby knew that even with her speed she wouldn't be able to dodge the attack. She vaguely heard Yang scream at her to move and futilely try to squeeze through the opening to do something.

Her life flashed before her eyes. Yang, Mom, Dad, Grampa Crow, Ren, Nora, Pyyhra, Blake, Weiss, and Jaune, she went over all the times she had spent with all of them, laughing, crying, smiling. She remembered the time everyone was up on Saturday night and decided to play truth or dare. Of course, Ruby took advantage of Blake saying truth and asked what Ninjas of Love was about. Everybody wished they hadn't heard what Blake had told them. As payback for what she heard, Yang dared Ruby to spend seven minutes with Jaune in the closet.

To say that it was embarrassing would be an understatement. Before her or Jaune could protest they were both thrown in the closet and trapped there. For the first few minutes Ruby and Jaune just sat there blushing, looking down at the ground. Eventually Ruby decided that she should try to break up the awkward silence.

"Jaune, have you ever had to do this before?" Ruby asked.

"N-No, not really", he replied, seeming even more nervous then before.

"Me neither", Ruby told him, unsure as to how to break up the tension.

"Not a social person?" Jaune asked a bit of humor in his voice.

"No, it's just that I didn't do stuff like this back at Signal", Ruby admitted sheepishly.

"Me neither, though it was mostly because no one wanted to deal with me", Jaune said, letting the second part slip out, before realizing what he had said, "Just forget that second part Ruby, it was-", Ruby took hold of his hand, "Ruby?"

"We are all more then happy to deal with you Jaune, especially me", Ruby confessed.

"Well of course you would! I mean you're kind, cute, smart, energetic, funny, the biggest badass with a scythe ever and I felt really lucky when you wanted to be my friend and...I am rambling aren't I?...can you ignore me? I ramble when I get really nervous." Jaune said, trying to preserve a bit of dignity by trying to keep his mouth shut.

"Jaune, please just shut up for a moment.", Ruby said before suddenly kissing Jaune on the lips. At first Jaune was surprised, but he quickly relaxed and put his arms around Ruby, leaning into the kiss like she was, lifting her up a bit, her arms around his neck, "Do you get what I mean now?" Ruby whispered as they slowly pulled apart; her face, if Jaune could've seen it, as red as her hood.

"Yeah...but a second telling would definitely be nice" he said,grinning wolfishly at Ruby. It all seemed magical for a moment, until Yang opened the closet with a camcorder in hand.

Things -understandably- had gotten a bit out of hand after that.

That was her and Jaune's first kiss. Neither of them thought it was a mistake or an accident. They both knew they were meant for each other, and wouldn't want to live without the other.

Ruby had a good life, and she was content with dying if it meant her love had his chance to escape. A small smile made it's way to her face as she closed her eyes, "We'll meet again in Heaven Jaune", Ruby thought to herself as the blade drew closer and closer to her, "I love you."

Yang was screaming, hell everyone was, but Jaune voice seemed to rise over everyone else's.

"RUBY!" Jaune yelled as he ran towards her, using every ounce of aura he had left to boost his speed, he felt his muscles and legs tear and burn in protest and-

There was the sound of flesh tearing and metal squealing.

Ruby opened her eyes wide as she felt warm liquid hit her and saw what had happened.

"Jaune..." was all Ruby could say, her eyes wide, before her stood Jaune, back towards Crimson, arms stretched out as the blade of Crescent Rose sticking out his chest, drops of his blood decorating the floor.

There was a moment of silence as Jaune stumbled forward slightly before lifting his head and staring accusingly at Ren, oddly enough though, Jaune was grinning slightly.

"Goddamit Ren", Jaune said, rasping heavily through the copper liquid he felt rising in his throat, "that's...the last...time...I trust you...with anything", Jaune looked down at Ruby, the blue color in his eyes slowly becoming less focused as he coughed up a fountain of red blood, "I'm...sorry...I...couldn't...beat...her...Ruby", Jaune gasped before finally collapsing to his knees at Ruby's feet.

"Jaune!" Ruby called out to him as she tried to support him up in her arms, holding him close to her, "Jaune! You can't! Please! Don't leave me! Jaune!" she screamed desperately, tears beginning to stream down her face, landing on Jaune's face.

"Ruby...I guess I'll be...the one...seeing you later", Jaune said haltingly with his dying breath, his eyes sliding closed, almost as if he was falling asleep, "but you better not arrive for a while or swear to whatever higher power there is...I will kick your ass... Love you."

He heaved one large breath before exhaling in a rush.

Ruby just sat there her arms cradling his corpse, her pain and sadness making her limbs numb and shattering whatever resolve she had left, Jaune was gone, dead and gone. Despite the expression on his face, he didn't look asleep. It was like a candle put out, the fire inside gone. He was never coming back. Ruby would never hear his sarcastic, snarky wit ever again, never feel his hand grabbing hers in an attempt to show her something new, or feel his lips on hers. Ruby didn't want to go on, not without him.

Instantly, Gambol Shroud whipped across Crimson's torso, opening a long line of red in her abdomen, Miló shot through air and buried itself in her right arm. Crimson screamed in pain and pulled it out only to feel icicles pierce her chest, courtesy of Weiss. Ren and Nora attacked slamming her with bullets and was a burst of fire and Yang roared past them all, slamming her Ember Celica into Crimson's chest, burying itself all the way up to her elbow.

Crimson was still grinning, "Looks like you win...but at what cost?" She chuckled before going still.

-One Week Later-

Everyone was grieving, the battle despite everyone's sacrifices and best efforts, had been grim, some students had died, had their spirits broken, or had broken down for their lost brothers and sisters in arms. No one had the energy left to cry or try to rebuild Beacon yet. When everyone heard Teams RWBY and JNPR had killed Crimson, they wanted to offer awards, only to be violently chased away by the furious members. One of the worst possible things to say was, "Why are there only seven people for two teams?"

Whoever said that or something even remotely related to that risked a painful death.

Ozpin had always been stoic, and the only thing that changed with him was a slight clenching of the jaw as he looked among the lists of the fallen. Glynda Goodwitch had decided to act as a councilor to the more distraught, the teacher were stretched thin as it was. Things had to be planned, people called, concessions made. Families came to grieve and pray their children were okay.

Jaune's funeral had actually been small, only his parents and closest friends. Ozpin was there, taking time from his busy schedule to actually attend the funeral. Ren was pressing the heel of his hand into his eye, Pyrrha wept brokenly, Nora didn't have any energy. Weiss and Blake were respectfully silent, they knew without Jaune's intervention they would be among the lost. Ruby had kept her head down and tried to keep from sobbing out loud, clutching at Yang like she was all she had left. Every hollow thud of the dirt as it hit the coffin felt like a punch to everyone's stomach.

Ruby stood in front of Jaune's grave, everyone else having left, the actual burial having been over long ago. Yang wanted to stay with Ruby, but she told her that she just wanted to be there alone, and so Yang left with the rest of her friends. Ruby ran her hand on his tombstone reading the words, as she had done dozens of times before, "Jaune Arc, hero to all of Beacon Academy, gave his life protecting everyone during the Torchwick Invasion. Beloved son, friend, leader, and lover". Ruby couldn't help but let even more tears run down her face, those words weren't enough or just to describe Jaune, he was so much more, words didn't do him justice. After a few minutes of crying she took out Crescent Rose. The weapon that Ruby once cared so much about, and now she could stand the sight of it. Whenever she saw it all she could see was it sticking through his chest, or his blood dripping off the tip. Shivering, she put it down in front of Jaune's grave, and turned to leave, a hole in her heart that would be left forever empty without Jaune.