Disclaimer: I don't own anything, all rights go to Rooster Teeth. I also don't own any characters in the story. All rights go to their respective artists

Chapter 8: Something New

Holy crap.

Jaune was finally on sweet sweet land! He thought he would never see it again!

He quickly ran out of the bullhead and into the grand Emerald Forest.

He just wanted to bend down and kiss the ground! But he wasn't going to do that because that's weird.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" a voice asked behind him.

He turned around to see a girl with white hair and icy blue eyes, smiling.

"Maybe," Jaune smiled, "It depends if you'll stay here with me."

Weiss chuckled. "What if I decide to go?"

"Well, I guess I'll follow you like I always do," Jaune said before instantly regretting it. "Oh crap, that sounded really creepy."

"Well, I definitely heard more inappropriate things from you," Weiss shrugged.

"Yeah, that's true," Jaune scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Attention, students!" Miss Goodwitch called out, "You are tasked with bringing in a single jar of tree sap for Professor Peach's research!"

'Huh, that's weird' Jaune thought to himself. He never even knew there was a professor Peach in Beacon. That sounded like a minor character in some sort of web series that would generate a huge fanbase. Huh, why did Jaune think of that analogy?

"Well, Jaune. Would you perhaps want to accompany me for this task?" Weiss asked with her hands behind her back.

"Uh, sure-" Before Jaune could finish his sentence he was dragged by the Schnee Heiress further into the forest, leaving a disappointed red-haired spartan warrior.

"Dang," Nora said excitedly to Ren, "Jaune is intermingling with other teams!"

"Nora, inside voices please."

"Why would I use an inside voice when I am outside!"

Ren sighed knowing that conversing about this would lead to a lot of circular reasoning.

JNPR (minus the J) weren't the only ones reacting to Weiss and Jaune's little moment.

"Why would Weiss leave my sister!" Yang asked, irritated.

"Yang! It's fine," Ruby said, trying to calm the dragon down, "Weiss asked me if she could hang out with Jaune."

"I guess," Yang said, still irritated but for different reasons. Reasons that may or may not include a certain blond-haired alchemist.

"Maybe Weiss wants some privacy with him," Blake suggested, showing little attention for the heiress or knight.

"Wow, look at them go," Marcy whistled with forced enthusiasm, trying to hide her jealousy.

"I didn't expect Weiss to be so forward with a boy. Especially Jaune," Emerald remarked as she began collecting some sap from nearby trees, trying to ignore the fact that Jaune and Weiss are most likely having their little "moment".

Neo shared her teammates' concerns and looked quite irked by the couple going deep into a forest alone. Where no one could see them or see what they will be doing with each other. Neo tried to shake off these thoughts.

Cinder, on the other hand, was watching something else. She watched a certain team, led by an overgrown ginger brat, snickering to themselves as they sneaked away from everyone else. Team CRDL then started traveling in the general direction of Jaune and Weiss.

Cinder knew they were up to no good.

/~/

"So, Weiss mind telling me why we're far away from everyone?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, so we c-could get m-more sap!" Weiss had an uncharacteristic blush painted on her pale face.

"Um, ok."

Jaune continued to walk with Weiss, who was still holding Jaune's right hand.

'Great job, Weiss,' Weiss mentally scolded, 'You just had to rush everything and grab his hand. Great job at making things not awkward!'

"Weiss, you have been suspiciously quiet this entire time," Jaune commented, causing Weiss' eyes to widen slightly.

"Oh! W-Well I-I'm just focused on finding the right tree!" Weiss reasoned with a strained smile.

"Are you okay?"

"Yup! I am just peachy!" Weiss chirped forcefully, "Oh look! A tree let's go over there."

"Weiss, we're in a forest. You have to be a little more specific."

Weiss' ears were boiling hot at this point. 'Oh screw it!' She thought as she yanked Jaune's right hand and pulled him to a tree.

"Wha- Weiss!"

"I'll just show you the tree!"

"Uh okay."

"This one!" Weiss pointed.

And soon both were collecting sap from the tree. One collecting the sap with haste while the other was collecting sap with composure. Guess which one was which.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Jaune asked once more.

"Y-Yes. How many times must I inform you Jaune?" Weiss said as she continued to collect sap swiftly.

"Oh sorry," Jaune sheepishly smiled, "I'll try to remember next time."

Weiss smiled internally. Despite so many years without seeing each other, Jaune was still the same. She was stunned that their experiment and the outcomes of it didn't affect Jaune mentally.

"No, I'm sorry Jaune," Weiss said as she placed her hand once more on Jaune's metal hand. "I'm just being a bit of a dolt."

"Heh, that's assuring," Jaune chuckled.

…

…

…

"So, I discovered a new form of Alchemy," Jaune said, breaking the prolonged silence.

"Really?" Weiss asked, intrigued, "What is it?"

"It's called Alkahestry," Jaune explained the form of Alchemy and how it is used for medical purposes and originated in Menagerie.

"Wow, I have played with the idea that Alchemy could be used for medical purposes," Weiss explained, "But I would've never thought that there was a variation for it just for those kinds of services."

"Yeah, it is pretty dang cool."

"It sounds like it. Have you practiced it yet?"

"Nope, just researching for now."

"I can't wait for you to actually ."

…

…

…

"Hey Weiss," Jaune softly called out, both breaking the silence once more and getting Weiss' attention.

"What is it Jaune?" Weiss inquired.

"Do you like me?"

…

…

…

'Shit' Weiss cursed mentally, 'What do I tell Jaune? I thought he was a dense idiot!'

But before any of the two could speak, something interrupted them.

"HAUL ASS!"

/~/

(A little earlier)

"Alright boys," Cardin smirked as he ducked under a bush that was behind both Jaune and Weiss. He then handed out jars of sap, which caused a swarm of wasps to be attracted to the applied area, to his goons.

"What was the plan again?" One of Cardin's teammates asked.

"Oh C'mon, how dimwitted can you possibly be?" Cardin growled, "Just aim for that stuck up Schnee brat and that Full Metal freak."

"Then what?"

"Then we enjoy the show," Cardin smiled mischievously.

"Wow, what a great plan!"

"Of course, it's a great plan," Cardin grinned, "I made it!"

"On the contrary," A female voice intervened.

CRDL turned around and saw a raven-haired girl with amber eyes staring them down with disgust.

"I can't say I expected a whole lot from a bunch of overgrown pigs," Cinder sighed, "But, somehow you still disappoint. And because of that, I won't let you carry this idiotic plan out."

"Yeah?" Cardin grinned, "You can't set us on fire because you'll set the entire forest on fire."

Cinder hummed. "True," Cinder agreed, "I'll just beat you all up with my hands then."

Team CRDL broke out into laughter causing a large vein to pop out on Cinder's forehead. Cardin then got a brilliantly idiotic idea and picked up a jar of sap.

"Hey, fire-bitch!"

"Fire-bitch?" Cinder growled.

"Catch!" Cardin then threw the jar at Cinder.

It got closer.

And closer.

There was a sense of pride and smugness coming from CRDL because of their "wit".

But that quickly went away when Cinder caught the jar in mid-air. She didn't even flinch.

"Whoa," The spiky-haired team member of CRDL said, trying to hide that they were impressed.

"That was clean," The green-haired kid said.

"What the fuck," Cardin growled.

"First, language," Cinder said, "Second, you call that a throw? That felt like a paper bag being tossed around in the wind. And third, make sure you take the cap off if you plan to cover your enemies in this…"

Cinder then unscrew the jar and dipped her glove finger in it and brought a dip of the substance to her mouth.

"Hornet sap," Cinder finished with a smug smile on her face.

"You better wipe that shit-eating grin off your face," Cardin growled once more as he reached his mace.

Cinder saw this and proceeded to throw the opened jar at the brats. Cardin swung at the jar hoping to hit it back like an idiot, but the force of the jar being contacted with the mace caused it to break, getting the sap all over team CRDL.

"Oh crap," Cardin said as he looked at his arms being covered in sap.

"Uh, Cardin what do we do?" One of CRDL's team members asked.

"HAUL ASS!" Cardin screamed. CRDL ran off into the forest from a bunch of angry wasps.

Amongst the chaos, it was quite hard to gather one's thoughts. But Cinder knew one thing.

She was certainly enjoying the show.

"Cinder?" An instantly recognizable voice asked. Cinder looked over to see Jaune and Weiss looking confused.

"Hey, Jaune," Cinder had a smile, but instantly went away when she saw Weiss. "Oh, you're here too."

Weiss simply scoffed.

"What happened?" Jaune asked.

"Well, Cardin and his goonies tried to pull a juvenile prank on you all," Cinder explained. She then looked extremely proud. "But thanks to yours truly, I safely-"

She was cut off by a swift swipe intercepting her back. Soon blood was soaked into her red combat dress. She fell on the forest floor with a heavy thud.

"Cinder!" Jaune shouted as he lunged forward to help her. As he got closer he realized what had happened. There was an Ursa Major towering over Cinder's motionless body. But it simply looked at it, instead of most Grimm creatures, which would usually ravage their victims.

Jaune wasted no time in clapping his hands together, forming a blade at the end of his metal arm. Weiss got her rapier ready and lunged along with Jaune.

Weiss quickly shot a wave of ice at the creature but the Ursa Major quickly dodged by somersaulting forwards toward Jaune. Jaune saw his chance as he lunged close to it and tried to wipe his blade across the creature's chest but it moved away once again by backing up into the wall of ice, shattering it almost instantly.

'What the hell?' Jaune asked himself, 'Why isn't it attacking us? It's just retreating. It's like it doesn't want to hurt me. That's not like a Grimm at all.'

'It's showing restraint,' Weiss thought to herself as she tried to get the beast. 'It also moves way too quickly to be a regular Grimm beast.'

Something wasn't right. This whole entire scenario doesn't make sense. Where the hell did the Ursa Major come from? The teachers should've swept the area thoroughly to prevent these disturbances. It was almost like it just materialized out of nowhere. Almost like it was waiting for something.

"You should check on your girlfriend. She's looking paler than usual!" The Grimm laughed.

Jaune and Weiss' eyes went wide and the color from their face drained.

"Did it just?" Weiss said, dumbfounded.

"Uh oh, guess Lust was right," The Grimm said, putting a claw to its chin, "I do run my mouth too much."

Jaune clapped his hands together and placed it on the ground causing a dome to form around it. But it was destroyed in an instant and red electricity and debris surrounded the area.

When everything had cleared, the creature was still there. And one thought went across both Weiss and Jaune's minds.

The creature just performed Alchemy.

"How is that-" Jaune didn't know what to think.

"Seriously kid. I wouldn't be asking questions now," The Grimm said, "I am quite concerned about all that blood coming from your friend."

Jaune and Weiss looked behind him to see Cinder both unconscious and bleeding. She was practically leaking blood.

'Crap,' Jaune cursed. He looked back at the Grimm to only see it long gone. He didn't waste time and dashed toward Cinder with Weiss.

"We need to put pressure on the wound," Weiss said, in an urgent tone.

Jaune didn't need to be told twice as he took off his sweater to cover up Cinder's wounds. He carefully put pressure on the sweatshirt, in turn, putting pressure on the oozing wound.

Weiss was quick in messaging her teammates and Goodwitch with her scroll. She also messaged Cinder's teammates.

'Agh! She is still losing blood!' Jaune mentally detected, 'We have to find another way to stop it!'

That was when something clicked in Jaune's heads. He could use Alchemy to save Cinder! The book he read a while ago on the alternative form on Alchemy, Alkahestry.

"Weiss, stay back," Jaune instructed as he quickly started drawing a circle, which had a star in the center, on the area where Cinder's wound was with his blood-soaked hands. He quickly pushed his hands together causing a blinding blue light.

Weiss did as instructed. 'Can Alchemy really help her?' Weiss asked herself. She then watched Jaune desperately hold his hands together which were shaking violently. 'It looks like he's praying.'

"C'mon! Hold in there, Cinder!" Jaune said, not letting up on his attempt to save her.

Little did Jaune or Weiss know, Cinder was witnessing something far beyond anyone's reach.

/~/

"Where am I?" A raven-haired teen asked herself.

Her amber eyes scanned her surroundings and observed that she was in a vast empty white void. She would describe her surroundings as blinding but they never caused her eyes to squint in irritation. She observed what was in front of her and at her sides. She then turned around to see a large set of stone doors with some sort of chart like carvings engraved into them.

Cinder was able to deduce that they were doors in the first place because of a thin opening in the middle of the stone. It was so thin that only a knife could fit through there.

'Where did they lead to?' Cinder asked herself mentally.

"Am I dead?" Cinder asked herself aloud.

"No, not yet," A voice answered, startling the teen.

Cinder turned around and saw a humanoid figure surrounded by a black aura. Cinder felt a strong urge to run away from this being. But her feet remained planted.

"You are simply in shock," The figure explained, "Typical of humans. Can't decide if their soul wants to pass or remain with their body. What puzzling creatures. At least this one seems to want to remain. It has wants. Desires. And a surplus of ambitions. This one has much more visions than the other mortals."

Cinder was confused. The figure kept referring to her as if it didn't see humans very much. "Who are you?" Cinder asked.

The figure sighed. "I usually don't like monologues but I don't want to be outdone by my brother." The figure cleared its throat. "I am everything. I am everywhere. I am not sought after nor am I not unwanted. I am necessary as much as the air you breathe and exhale. You may know me better as the God of Darkness."

Cinder's eyes widened slightly. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

"Hey don't act like that. I know it wasn't good since I made it up on the spot," The God of Darkness said, disappointment evident in its voice, "Have some sort of reaction. You're in the presence of a God for crying out loud."

The figure sighed once more. "Why couldn't Light take this one?" Suddenly the figure seemed distracted. "Well bully for you, you'll be leaving here in one piece for now."

"Wait! What do you mean by that?" Cinder demanded.

"Oh, you'll see," The figure said and then it perked its head up as it remembered something. "Oh yeah, you might wake up with a headache."

"Wait-"

"Humans really like saying "wait" a lot," The God of Darkness commented before Cinder held her head in pain.

She couldn't determine whether she was moving around or not. But she could definitely determine many changes within herself. She felt flashes of Alchemy. She previously thought Alchemy as beyond her own comprehension. Until this moment. She felt her mind spiraling both around her head and in confusion. She was overwhelmed with so much at once. She didn't even know where she was anymore. A feeling of a need for knowledge seeped into her soul. She wanted more of this! This could give her the power to accomplish her dreams!

"Interesting," The God of Darkness's voice rang out in Cinder's ears, "It seems that Light missed out."

In an instant, everything stopped and light-filled her eyes causing her eyelids to nearly close in irritation. Her eye's soon adjusted to her new surroundings. She looked around once more to see whether she was still in the white void. She was relieved, once it was apparent to her that she was no longer in that anomaly of a place. She was instead tucked in a bed located in Beacon's medical wing.

She then felt a weight on the bed next to her lower half. She looked down to see a head of blond messy hair. Instantly, almost all her worries about what had happened went away as she quickly recognized the face of a drooling Arc. She took her gloveless right hand and ran it over Jaune's head. Her hand was as gentle as a thief's hand carefully pick-pocketing an unsuspecting victim. She could see bags under his eyes and his hair somehow looked messier on a second look.

Her chest filled with a warm sensation that she was all too familiar with.

"Maybe I should wake him up," Cinder softly asked herself. But she quickly denied the notion, wanting to make this moment last longer.

"You're finally awake." Were the words that brought her out of her romantic trance. She looked up to see a certain heiress at the doorway of the room with her arms crossed.

"Good job, you have eyes," Cinder smirked, causing Weiss to roll her eyes.

"I see your mind is still damaged," Weiss smirked back.

"What happened?" Cinder asked, ignoring Weiss' comments.

"To put it simply," Weiss sighed as she walked over to the side of Cinder's bed that had a sleeping Jaune. "You almost died and Jaune saved you."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Well, if you insist," Weiss' lips couldn't help but slightly tense upward.

"Hold it. Don't go all exposition mode on me," Cinder said.

"What does that mean?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms.

"I think you're smart enough to figure that out," Cinder smirked.

Weiss clicked her tongue in annoyance and began to recount to Cinder all the events that had occurred during Cinder's absence. Weiss summarized what had happened with the Grimm creature causing Cinder's eyes to widen.

"It talked?" Cinder asked, shocked.

Weiss nodded.

"And it performed Alchemy?"

Weiss once again nodded.

"And Jaune performed an extremely risky form of Alchemy on me?"

"Are you going to just repeat what I just told you?"

"Are you going to just be an annoying brat?"

"Are you going to just be a bitch?"

Before Cinder could insult her any further, she heard a soft yawn, which came from a sleeping Jaune. Both Weiss and Cinder couldn't help but admire the blond knight.

Cinder started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Weiss asked.

"Oh it's nothing," Cinder smiled, as she ran her hand through Jaune's hair. "I find it humorous that a boy is able to stop us from killing each other."

"Jaune has that ability," Weiss sighed.

There was then a moment of silence between the two girls and the sleeping boy.

"Why do you hate me?" Weiss asked.

Cinder took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. It was going to be a long day.

A/N: I am so sorry to say this. But there is a high chance that I am going to go on a permanent hiatus on all my stories on this account. I don't like writing this kind of stuff anymore. I enjoy reading it but definitely not writing it. It was fun while it lasted. But at a point, I realized that this story just didn't click with me anymore. I made this story way too convoluted and it just isn't as good as I want it to be. This made me realized that I don't have enough talent to do this kind of story. I was heavily influenced by Parcasious and how they wrote their stories. Parcasious is a writer worth more your time and support than me.

I want to thank everyone for reading this fanfic. I don't regret writing this story and I am glad I did. I know it's far from perfect but it brings me so much joy knowing that people genuinely liked this story. I wanted to finish this last chapter before I decide to do this.

I want people to know that anyone can take the ideas from my stories and use them (I don't know why you would but that's cool). You don't need to ask for permission to continue any of my stories because you already have it. So good luck to those who want to do that.

Keep in mind that my stories are on hiatus, not my account. I'll probably be active for a while but I just won't write stories.

Damn. Sorry for the essay. I'll finish the drafts and put something like this at the end of it.

Once again.

I'm sorry.