Heya and welcome to my first fic, and also my first Rwby fic... well... um.. obviously. So I don't want to talk much in this Author's note. This will be a Jaune x Blake pairing but I'm aiming to make it a realistic pairing. What I mean by that is I read a lot of fics on here which have pairings and "romance" that seems incredibly convenient and forced. I.e. "I meet you, I'm in love! You love me too? Awesome!" Whenever I read them I always cringe and have to stop... and I always perhaps unfairly wonder to myself - have they ever dated a girl before? Case in point, Snow Angel. No woman likes nicknames like that, ever. Rooster Teeth know that, they've used it as a comedy piece and nickname that stuck to tease Weiss with, but some ff writers genuinely seem to think it is romantic. That's fine if you're like 10-12, but I'm kind of a 26 year old Company Director who has been around a bit and am active on the dating scene... so... yeah. More reality.

So expect hormones, complications, frustration and self-denial. Not to mention drama, jealousy and candid looks. That said I'll also be looking to not change Jaune or Blake's characters either, so don't expect Jaune to suddenly become a suave ladykiller, or Blake to take the lead.

I also realised while writing this, that Blake doesn't have all that great a relationship with Jnpr. She is more of a "friend of a friend" and while she acts polite with them, she never really seems to have the same level of intimacy that Ruby does with them, or the teasing friendship Yang does. Weiss has her unwanted flirtations with jaune, and past friendship with Pyrrha.

Anyway! Here we goooo!

Chapter 1

Blake grunted to herself as a Beowolf flew past her, claws slashing furiously at where she had been just a few seconds before. One of the faster varieties of Grim in the forest - they still seemed to move so slowly in comparison to her feline grace.

Then again speed wasn't their main weapon, she considered to herself as she flipped over another, her faithful weapon scoring a deep line across the back of its neck as she arced over it. Letting her ribbon bound arm swing free she propelled the second blade of gambol shroud in a violent arc, spinning it around her body and causing the blade to lodge deep into the bottom of the Beowolf's jaw. The beast fell with a sickening crunch, dislodging her blade as she swung it back to her hand.

A brief twitch of her concealed ears showed that there was no enemy in her immediate vicinity, taking the brief moments rest to recover her bearings her yellow eyes surveyed the scene about them.

Grim corpses littered the floor of the forest like black leaves fallen from the trees. Weiss and Ruby were stood together at one side, the latter providing long range support while the Schnee heiress provided a dead zone, incapacitating and dispatching any Grimm that tried to approach them.

She supposed the change in their tactics might have something to do with their exhaustion. Ruby's high speed fighting style probably took a grievous toll on her physical stamina. The girl so used to ending fights quickly that she struggled against herds of weaker foes. Whether Weiss was defending their leader, or was herself running out of steam – or dust – was unknown.

Blake's own partner of course, seemed as filled with energy as ever. Diving under the swinging arms of a Beowolf to deliver a devastating blow to its chin. Blake rolled her eyes internally at the huge grin on her face.

She was beginning to tire herself, and considering she was actively minimising her movements to conserve energy that was saying something. This whole training trip had proven to be a poor idea.

"Boom! Got it!" A voice that sounded far too ecstatic called out, as the dust from another explosion whistled past her. There was another one with entirely too much energy, especially considering how heavy that hammer was. She didn't care what anyone said. Limitless energy had to be a facet of her semblance…

Team JNPR had agreed wholeheartedly with Ruby's idea to get some live fire training in the Emerald Forest. It hadn't hurt that Beacon considered such training missions as permissible reasons to skip class – and could even consider them extra-credit.

Further reasoning had been sound, they had been training so much lately against each other, and other Hunters in Goodwitch's lessons, that they were forgetting who the true enemy really was. Yang had been keen for any kind of adventure, and once Weiss had been won over Blake had just tagged along to keep them out of trouble.

As for the other team? Nora had been keen, naturally. And Ren had agreed to come along to watch over her, whatever their relationship was, or wasn't, Blake had known they would both come. Pyrrha had shown her usual protective attitude over the two, and Jaune had either come along because he wanted to be stronger… or just felt peer pressured. Blake could never tell with the blonde.

Speaking of the boy, he seemed to be doing okay. His style was much more immovable than her own, blocking and defending before lashing out at over-extended limbs whenever he had the chance. Both of them relied almost entirely on counter-attacking, though she emphasised never being struck in the first place.

To each their own, she guessed.

A crunching of leaves behind her caused a sigh to escape her lips as she pirouetted on the spot, and weaved between the clawing arms of another Beowolf, this time keeping Gambol shroud sheathed as she ploughed the blade into the beast's sternum.

"Ready to go home yet?" Yang crowed over the violence, her back banging into Blake's as she assumed a back to back stance with the faunus. Once more Blake felt her eyes rolling, there was no need for a back to back fighting stance, and she wasn't immobile enough to even cover the blonde… she'd literally just done it for style – as usual.

"I certainly wouldn't mind a rest." The taller redhead opined from nearby. "I didn't expect this level of Grim when we agreed to this." In the distance they could hear Ruby yell out an apology which they collectively ignored.

"A shower would be appreciated right now." Blake offered as she broke away from Yang and re-joined the fray. The sweat and blood was what was getting to her the most, the mingling scent disturbing her sensitive sense of smell. There were relatively few Grim left now, and despite their usually terrible luck they hadn't managed to attract a Deathstalker with the noise or some such nonsense.

Nor a squadron of white fang or giant robots, or the usual ridiculous scenarios she found herself dragged into. Why was it always crazy dangerous stuff, and not some crazy good-looking ninjas or something, she thought to herself with a sarcastic grin.

"Blake! Look out!" The sudden male scream caught her attention, her eyes instantly alighting on Jaune who was sprinting towards her. Trusting his reasoning despite his usual goofiness she span herself to one side, hoping to avoid whatever Grimm had managed to sneak up on her. A huge weight clipped her as she tried to dodge, slamming her to the ground even as a great weight landed on her legs causing her to hiss in pain. The reflexive strike she delivered with her weapon bit down into thick flesh but with little reaction.

Little wonder she hadn't heard or felt something sneaking up on her. The body that pinned her legs to the floor was an already dispatched Beowulf that had been knocked aside by someone. Grunting in irritation she began squirming to free her legs from the smelly creature.

"Blake, are you okay?" The blonde knight asked her as he jogged to her side. She ignored his somewhat rhetorical question as she strained to free her legs. The body was heavier than she'd expected and brute strength had never been her strongest point.

"I'm fine, help get this off me."

"E-eh, sure." The boy seemed surprised at her instructions but obligingly hurried to help, settling his hands under the creature's shoulders as he prepared to life it enough that she could wriggle free. "This thing is heavier than it looks!"

Blake let her head fall back onto the soft earth in silent frustration as he struggled with the corpse. Their studies aside, how light had he expected an eight-foot creature made of solid muscle and bone would actually be.

"Damn it this isn't budging! Hey Ren, can you give me a hand over here?" Blake let her head dip to one side as she laconically looked in the direction of the green-clad gunman her saviour had shouted out to. The dark haired boy seemed to let out a short sigh that perfectly reflected her own current mood as he stopped firing to look at them, right before his magenta irises widened in alarm.

"Jaune! Behind you!"

Blake flinched at the sudden noise and almost let out a yelp of alarm when Jaune's boot slammed down next to her face as he took a more rigid stance. A solid tonne of muscle and bone was on them at the next moment as a burly clawed arm slammed into the Knight's shield, deflecting off with a shower of sparks even as the force drove the boy back a step.

Blake resumed her urgent struggling as Jaune was forced back. The Beowolf had perhaps not noticed her yet but it was only a matter of time before it did, or just stepped on her and killed her.

"Blake!" The blonde shouted in alarm as he surged forwards again to take a position above her prone body. If the situation hadn't been so dire she would have felt more than a little foolish having her head close enough to bite his ankles, while staring up his legs at his crotch. Instead she struggled with her hips trying to get her legs out from under the dead grim. A sharp pain shot up her left thigh at the effort, and for a moment she feared it had been punctured by one of the spikes the creatures had across their carapace.

Another roar and crash of metal above her drew her attention back to the fight raging above her form. Jaune once more staggered back from the blow before righting himself and planting his foot firmly down in front of her head. She knew it wouldn't last though.

The force of the blows was too strong for him to block without some of the momentum bleeding through… normally he would seek to deflect the blow while moving back with the force. Staying completely stationary was doing nothing but damaging his arm and draining his aura. With his own body reeling back from each strike he wouldn't be able to do anything with his sword… the blade would literally hit the grim with all the force of a butter knife.

A more heroic person might have shouted at him to save himself, to forget about her… that she would be fine. She'd read about those kinds of people all the time in her books – and dreamed about having that kind of bravery and fortitude. Until now, she had thought she might have.

I don't want to die… not stepped on like an ant by a monster that doesn't even have any good reason to kill me!

"Jaune, Blake, hang on!"

And maybe she wouldn't have to die, neither of them would. Ren would certainly not have ignored them while they were trapped in such a precarious situation. Not when his best male friend and leader was in trouble…. Even if she wasn't as close with them as she was with her own teammates. She didn't think he would ignore her in trouble either.

"Argh!" The boy above her shouted out as a sickening crack echoed from his arm. Blake's yellow eyes widened in sudden fear as she saw his shield arm slump uselessly at his side. The sudden realisation of what this meant shone in his eyes as much as her own, as the two of them met. His own blue eyes looked sad and defeated – as though it was just one more reason to be ashamed. She didn't need to see her own eyes to know that they were wide in understanding terror.

With the beast lunging in once more, there would be no way for him to defend himself or her from the attack. Instead he would be forced to abandon his position above her and dodge the blow, leaving her to perish beneath the clawed feet of the maddened grim.

Their eyes stayed locked to each other as she tried to form the words she wanted. Instead all she could do was mouth the word she wanted to shout out. Move. His own blue eyes hardened, a sudden flash of anger or frustration even as he let out a short sigh.

Blood splashed across her vision a second later as the two forms above her clashed. Through the red haze she could see the dark bipedal grim falling back away with a sword through its face, on the other side a smaller blurry figure also collapsed to the floor.

"… Jaune…?" She whispered in the sudden silence as she struggled to look at the body lying beside her. His blonde locks had fallen across his face so she couldn't see if he was awake, or even alive. "Jaune!" She tried again, louder this time as she reached out with one hand to touch him. The distance was too much as her questing fingers fell short a scant few inches from his face. Frustrated she strained herself to touch his skin, there had to be a pulse. Had to be! If only she could reach him and make sure!

But the blood! There was so much blood. Pooling beneath him even as her body screamed in pain from her attempts to stretch it. Another blurry figure rushed to the downed boy's side, a male voice she recognised piercing her confusion.

"Jaune! Oh Gods, Jaune. Damn it."

Ren. That was good. He would fix this, right? The adrenaline rushing through her system seemed to be escaping her, along with what remained of her consciousness. Her fingers still reached out to touch that hidden face as she slipped away.

"Ja…une…"

Maybe when she woke, this nightmare wouldn't exist anymore.

So there we go, a short starting chapter but I am a super busy person and I wanted to give Blake and Jaune a realistic reason to interact. Also I think I raised a randomly important point... they are training to hunt Grim... yet they're constantly fighting off thieves, terrorists and militants... did Rooster Teeth somehow think an entire ecosystem of monsters wasn't enough of a threat to fill a series on!?

And why do we do so much training fighting each other? I have yet to see a Grim using a spear/sword/gun ... :/