Well, hello there everyone and belated Happy New Year! Been quite some time since I finished up my last fic and for that, I'm sorry; had a hard time figuring which of the many ideas I had was possible for me to genuinely write out. That, and I'd been busy with my own revised second novel, which has come quite a ways thus far – about 130+ pages so far, for those of you interested. Will still need to edit it like crazy after it's done, but eh, that'll honestly be the easy part, I think.

Anyways, surprise! Here I am with yet another RWBY fic. And a Jaune-centric one at that too. Will say right now that I'd drawn more than a little inspiration from a certain character from Silverio Vendetta/Trinity (a visual novel), but I like to think it was necessary in helping flesh out the initial idea I had for this new fic. I can only hope that what I have in store will prove interesting in both concept and execution.

Let me start by saying that this first chapter or two will be somewhat unusual in that Jaune's perspective won't really be given much, but it's my hope the buildup will spark some interest in how this version of him differs from his canon self. There will also be a gratuitous amount of jumping around since the beginning here won't differ that much from canon. By all means, please let me know your thoughts as this fic starts rolling along.

And one last thing – updating. I will be bouncing back and forth between this fic and my novel just as I've done with just about every other fic I've written, so updates may easily be weeks apart a time, possibly longer than a month depending on other circumstances. And of course, this isn't counting other sudden life changes too. That said, I do plan as always to keep the updates consistent if at all possible.

Now then, let's get this started!

Slave of Light chapter 1

When small time motel owner Isaac awoke, it was to what had become a familiar sound, one which brought a small smile to his face as he woke up and freshened up.

Exiting his room roughly ten minutes later, he peered down the hallway and saw one of his most recent tenants helping the janitors out in moving some of the heavier supplies around.

"Morning, Jaune. Already keeping yourself busy, eh?" he called out to the young man.

"Yeah. Helps me stay active," came the somewhat chipper reply from the young man.

Isaac chuckled. And not for the first time, he sized up Jaune.

Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue as the blond had said when they'd first met and introduced himself.

He's a tall and clearly well-built young man, his features a cross between sharp and soft depending on the expression he made. With somewhat messy blond and the simple manner of clothes he wore – black boots and fatigues, a dull and thick gray long sleeve whose only other color was a symbol on the front and back – it'd be easy to paint him as any other teen, albeit one that happened to be clearly fit but with a rather plain fashion sense.

However.

The two swords strapped to his sides would quickly make people reconsider such an initial impression. The clearly old and marginally faded diagonal scar on his face and the way his blue eyes so intensely pierced everything they looked upon only enhanced the surreal feeling that resulted from the contrast between his initial appearance and very presence. It certainly helped too that the way he walked… well, Isaac wasn't the brightest man around, not having really had much time in his youth to brush up on his vocabulary, but the way Jaune usually walked just radiated an absolute confidence.

Though said confidence sure didn't seem to apply when dealing with women – Isaac knew this, because he had a daughter around Jaune's age that was quite attracted to the young man, something Jaune himself had clearly noticed but had awkwardly tried to politely ignore.

It was enough to make the man snicker a bit.

But he was getting off track here.

"So, today's the day, right?" he asked as he approached Jaune, who'd finished his current task.

"That's right. Off to Beacon from here," Jaune stated calmly.

Isaac nodded, but with a certain degree of sadness.

Although he and his family have only come to know Jaune for maybe two weeks at most, they'd all come to be comfortable with him. To be expected, really, since it wasn't exactly often someone seemed to make it his mission to protect them from the few gangs that liked to stir up trouble in this part of Vale. Not only that, but he's been a big help around the motel, small and shabby and having been slowly deteriorating over the years he's run it in this equally rundown part of Vale.

From small tasks like moving stuff around for him and the few other guests the motel had to doing patrols every day to ensure no punks got the bright idea to bother them, Jaune did it without being asked to and without hesitation.

As crazy as it might sound, in the two weeks he's been staying here, the usual crime that somewhat plagued the area has taken a noticeable plunge, as if his very presence was that big a deterrence.

Again, Isaac was going to miss this guy. He really was a helpful young man.

Hell… he'd even go so far as to call him a hero, a hero of the people.

And he wouldn't be the only one that'd miss the guy.

"Well, then. Let's try to end your stay here on a good note, eh?" he suggested.

Jaune nodded and smiled. "Sure… I'd like that."

With smiles now on both their faces, Isaac started his own duties while Jaune assisted as needed.

A scant few hours later, the blond prepared his small amount of luggage and took his leave, but not before bidding a quiet goodbye to not just Isaac, but also the man's wife, daughter and even the other guests and workers in the motel.

As the blond walked off with nary a glance back, Isaac watched him with a peaceful smile on his face.

He may not ever even come back here… but nonetheless, Isaac remained unnaturally confident that none of those gangs from before would ever bother him and the motel in general again.

And it was all thanks to one extraordinary young man.

"Good luck, Jaune." He mumbled to himself long after the blond had left his sight.

Jaune Arc walked with purpose, effortlessly carrying his two bags of luggage as he did so.

He made his way from the motel to his destination – the loading dock for the bullheads that were to travel to Beacon – without any issue.

And along the way, he'd turned his head and responded with a small smile to everyone that called out to him.

Patrice from the flower shop.

Corrin, Alisha, and Mark, a trio of kids that liked to run around this area.

Old man Faustus that manned a large antique shop.

These were but many of the people that happily called out to him. These were all people that he's helped in some form or another since coming to Vale just two weeks ago.

They were saddened to see him go, but wished him well nonetheless. He did likewise.

And so this repeated, this constant bidding of farewell and good luck as he eventually left the slummish area, eventually reaching the more uptown parts of Vale.

Now with no one else to interact with, Jaune remained dead silent and focused solely on reaching his goal.

He did so in record time despite having only walked, the bullheads opening up and letting the prospective students on board just as he arrived.

Boarding one just as silently as he'd arrived, he placed his luggage to his right and proceeded to sit perfectly upright.

His expression was unreadable, but his eyes not so much; they burned with anticipation, so much so that any others that had even considered making some small talk with him were quick to look away.

Today was the day, the start of his new journey.

Ruby Rose wasn't having such a good start to her time here at Beacon.

As excited as she was to be able to come to Beacon two whole years earlier than the norm, as a big-time weapons nerd, being around so many people was just waaaayyy too much for her.

Seriously, she knew that at some point she'd have to get over her social anxiety like Yang kept on telling her, but she'd been hoping to start small, like being around maybe one or two people she didn't know at a time, not be surrounded by like, dozens and dozens of people she'd never seen before.

It was like trying to choose an easy level in a game only to accidentally misclick and end up choosing the hardest one instead.

Then her 'dear big sis' just had to go and betray her by leaving her behind!

And now, now here she was being yelled out by some crabby girl with white hair!

Uh oh.

The whitehaired girl was waving around a vial of Dust… and it wasn't closed all the way.

Fully aware of the danger this meant from her years of working with Dust and weapons – note to self: mixing lightning Dust and fire Dust in the middle of the kitchen is a BAD IDEA, AVOID REPEATING AT ALL COSTS – Ruby tried to warn the girl before the vial got set off.

But it was already too late; she could feel a sneeze coming on.

Whatever crazy rant the girl was going on was completely ignored by Ruby as she prepared to sneeze-.

Only for the sneeze to never actually come.

Before she even knew it, a hand suddenly reached out of nowhere and closed the Dust vial before any more of it could spill out while another hand practically conjured up a tissue and nearly rammed it into her face, muffling her sneeze before it could somehow trigger what Dust did spill out.

"Careful there," said a voice, clearly a guy.

Ruby and the whitehaired girl turned in surprise to the young man, a tall and fit blond guy that was eyeing them back. She nearly shivered at how intense his gaze was and that scar of his was kind of freaking her out for some reason, which made her feel bad and look away and- oh wow, he's a dual wielder?!

"You two alright?" he then asked.

The whitehaired girl was the first to respond. "U-Unhand me, first!" His hand hadn't just closed the vial, but was also practically gripping her own much smaller hand in the process.

"Ah, sorry about that." He sounded a little sheepish, though it contrasted a lot with how serious he still looked. "But if you'd kept waving that Dust around while it was unsecured, it'd have exploded, you know?"

The whitehaired girl made to speak, only to stop and even flinch as she then seemed to consider what had been about to happen.

Then, rather than apologize, she huffed and walked off.

Yeesh, a real friendly girl that one was, Ruby thought sarcastically.

It was only a few seconds later that she realized the blond was still standing there. "Ah, uh, oh, eh," she started to stutter out, inwardly panicking. "T-Thanks for the save there. I was scared I might blow myself up with all that Dust flying my way."

The guy chuckled a bit, even smiled a little too. "You're welcome. Glad I just noticed in time. Now come on, the orientation's going to be starting pretty soon." He then motioned towards the other teens that were just barely disembarking the remaining bullheads, all of whom were walking towards a specific building.

"O-Oh, right!"

She quickly caught up with the guy just as he started to walk off, though he'd clearly been lagging behind a bit to allow her to catch up anyways. He even matched his stride with her own, she noticed, which made her happy…

Until she realized how quiet things were between them.

Oh no, wasn't this bad?! Weren't things already feeling awkward even though it'd literally been some odd seconds since they met.

"So, uhm, I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!" she started.

"Name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue," he replied as he looked her way. "Nice to meet you."

"Y-Yeah, right back at you!"

He nodded.

And then there was silence again.

Her panic returned.

"So… I have this," she said, eager to start up a conversation, literally any kind of conversation. She pulled out her precious baby, Crescent Rose, eagerly hoisting it up for her potential friend to see. She even shifted it into its awesome scythe form, giving it a slight twirl.

He quirked an eyebrow. "A scythe?"

"Mhm!" She was perking up now, noting his (marginal) interest. "And a high impact rifle too! Up close or far away, my baby here will see me to victory!" She boasted with all the charm of a kid, though she'd deny it if someone tried making this comparison aloud – she drank her milk after all, no way she could be a kid.

"Huh, that's really neat. Can definitely see how that'd be awesome."

Ruby's smile grew. It was always great when others acknowledged Crescent Rose's greatness. "Made it myself!" She then eyed his swords. "So what about you? What kind of swords are those?" she asked, whatever traces of unease she had now gone. "What kind of gun function do they have?!"

Needless to say, now that she's quickly warmed up to this guy, her excitement was practically palpable.

What kind of awesome, but not as awesome as her baby, weapons were this guy's swords?

"Ah…" He looked a little embarrassed in the face of her enthusiasm. "They're just swords, nothing more, nothing less. But they can cut real good." That last statement was said rather cheekily.

It was enough to get Ruby to giggle. "Heh, well, nothing with the classics. If they work for you, then that's what matters."

"…Mhm." Her new friend Jaune now sported a rather serious expression, eyeing his own swords for a second with an expression she couldn't read. "Yeah… they do work indeed."

Ruby could only stay silent in response, feeling a little taken aback. Her surprise must have shown, for Jaune then chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry. I get lost in the moment sometimes." He then paused. "So… Beacon, eh? Excited?"

Taking the conversation change for what it was, Ruby was quick to smile again and respond.

And from there, the words just flowed out naturally, her and Jaune having a legitimate conversation as they made their way to where the orientation was to be held.

Looks like her time here at Beacon was off to a good start, after all.

Pyrrha Nikos did her best to ignore the glances many of the others around her was sending her way. Though she did her best to ignore her fellow potential classmates, it wasn't easy.

She'd come to Beacon in the hopes of a fresh start, away from all the paparazzi and fans, but it looks like her reputation was greater than even she'd ever thought it'd be.

Was it because of the Pumpkin Pete's sponsorship? She should've known better than to cave to her agent's pleas to appear on that cereal's box – it was clearly way too popular for even her own good.

Not to mention it was super unhealthy too.

That said, she was saddened by what this current situation was suggesting to her. Her hopes of making friends – genuine friends – may very well be all for nothing if these people were going to idolize her like everyone did back in Mistral.

Or so she thought.

For in that moment, she couldn't help but take notice of a slight commotion nearby. A tall and well-built blond walked in alongside a short girl with a red cloak, the latter loud and excitable in contrast to the more cool-headed blond teen.

Then after some more talking, the cloak wearing girl seemed to notice someone familiar and hastily bid the blond a quick goodbye before running off at an impressive speed.

The blond watched the girl go and Pyrrha too could only watch too as a moment later a whitehaired girl – wait, that was Weiss Schnee. She better watch out for that girl – approached the cloak girl and another girl, a curvy blonde with long and wavy hair.

What looked like a brief argument seemed to ensue, but whatever it was about, Pyrrha couldn't hear. If she'd focused hard enough, she might be able to hear. Now, doing that would be rude, very much so, but with not much else to do, she guiltily considered doing so.

Only to stop when the blond teen started to look around the room, eventually locking eyes with her in the process.

She stared into his intense blue eyes and he stared back into her green ones… and then, he merely nodded in greeting and glanced away, his interest clearly elsewhere.

This was such a simple thing, ridiculously simple, but in that moment Pyrrha found herself taken aback. And pleasantly surprised.

That blond… it didn't look as if he'd even remotely recognized her. That was interesting. Most interesting, really.

And call her crazy, but it gave her peace of mind in addition to only ensuring her own interest in the young man.

Perhaps her hopes weren't quite dead just yet, after all.

Ah!

There was the deputy headmistress stepping out onto the stage. Pyrrha took note of how everyone immediately quieted down as the blond woman prepared to speak.

The redhead made sure to listen intensely as professor Goodwitch swiftly proceeded to introduce the headmaster Ozpin to them… but at the same time, she also tried to spare a glance to the blond teen from just now, who'd quietly walked forward several feet when the headmaster appeared.

Pyrrha nearly jumped in surprise when, as the headmaster gave a quick speech, she heard the sound of knuckles cracking quite loudly.

It had come from the blond teen, whose hands had clenched into fists just now.

Had something just upset him?

No, it didn't look that way. Rather, his expression… it seemed determined, to put it mildly. But what had triggered such a reaction? Had it been the headmaster's speech just now?

Well, if there was one thing Pyrrha felt certain of, it was that she may have just found someone she'd very much like to meet down the line.

Yang Xiao Long, dressed now in her sleepwear, eyed with varying levels of interest several hunky boys that were currently trying to show off their bods.

Mmmm, now that was a sight she definitely didn't mind seeing before heading to sleep. Even if she did admit that sleeping with so many others around was a bit new for her.

Eh, not like it can be helped. Saved Beacon's staff the trouble to set up rooms for them all right off the bat. And not like any of the others were going to try anything with initiation scheduled first thing in the morning.

And besides, as the big sister here, it was up to her to make sure Ruby didn't stay up too late.

Heh, her little sis may try to say constantly that she's not a kid anymore, but staying up late so stubbornly was very childish indeed.

Not only that…

"What's that? Writing a letter?" Yang asked.

"Mhm! To the gang back in Signal," Ruby replied as she wrote away, her penmanship not exactly the most flowery.

Yang let out a 'awww' at how her sister had said that. "You really are a cutie, Rubes~" she cooed playfully as she ruffled her sister's hair.

Ruby pouted and tried to swat her hand away, but the strength difference was too great for her to do so. So Ruby just pouted even harder until Yang laughed and removed her hand.

"So, how was it? Your first day here." Yang will admit that leaving behind Ruby so suddenly earlier today was kinda messed up, but it had to be done. Only way for Ruby to break out of her little shell was to throw her into the deep end of the pool, figuratively speaking of course. Otherwise, the girl would just use her speed semblance to stick to her like superglue.

"It was alright… though I think I made a negative friend…" Ruby mumbled.

"Ah…"

Right, that Weiss girl. Yeah, Yang could see why Ruby would say that. That girl really needed the stick in her ass pulled out at some point.

But that said…

"But come on, sis." Yang was practically leering now. "I'm pretty sure you made a positive friend too~"

Ruby's cheeks turned a rosy red. "H-Hey, I've only really known Jaune for like ten minutes! Calling him a friend now…" She blushed a bit more and averted her gaze. "I mean, that'd be really awesome, but wouldn't that be assuming too much?"

"Hmm, don't know." Yang looked then looked up and to the right. She grinned. "Why don't you try asking him?"

"E-Eh?"

"Hey!" Yang suddenly called out, waving her right arm up. "Over here!"

Several people looked her way, but she didn't pay them any mind. It took another call out or two, but the boy in question, who'd just walked into the massive room just several seconds ago, finally noticed her and proceeded to stroll up to them.

"Oh, Ruby," the boy – Jaune – murmured in surprise, but not unpleasantly. "We meet again."

"H-Hey, Jaune," Ruby mumbled back, embarrassed. "Sorry about my sister here. Just wanted to meet you and all…"

Smiling unapologetically as her sister glared at her comically, Yang stood up and sized up Jaune as she did so.

Hmm, her sister surprisingly knew how to pick 'em.

His sleepwear was pretty plain, just black sweats and a dark blue shirt, but they did little to cover his muscular form. And boy oh boy, speaking of muscles, this guy was pretty jacked, his shoulders broad and his arms extremely well defined.

This was someone who didn't mess around. She could appreciate that. And that scar of his definitely added some extra charm to him somehow. Made him manlier than he already was despite the sharp and narrow features of his face.

"Heard about you from my sis," Yang began as she took in his blond locks and sharp blue eyes.

"Hopefully all good things," he quipped with a small smile.

Yang laughed. Oh, she liked this guy. "Don't worry, I won't be pulling the overprotective sister act or anything. Just wanted to meet the guy who caught my sister's eye."

She spoke rather teasingly there at the end, getting a blush out of Ruby. As for Jaune, however, he merely huffed in mild amusement. Looks like he was used to this sort of thing.

"Name's Yang, by the way. Hope you don't mind being my friend too. Ruby and I… well, being sisters and all that, we kinda come as one package."

"Not at all. Hope we can get along."

Oho, another little quip there. And without hesitation too. She was liking this guy more and more.

"Only if you're willing to show me how much you want to get along with us~"

"Yang!" Ruby finally cried out, more embarrassed than ever. "No flirting!"

Yang snickered at her reaction and at Jaune's, her fellow blond finally looking a tad bit embarrassed too.

But very indirectly, Ruby raised a point. Now wasn't the time to be messing around with either of them. With the initiation starting so early tomorrow, they all had to be getting their shuteye soon.

"Heh, sorry, sorry," Yang said. "But real talk now. Heard from Rubes how you helped her escape ice queen's Dust lecture. Thanks for that. And for becoming her friend… which I'm assuming you did, right?"

Jaune nodded. "Of course. Ruby… she seems like a good person. A truly good person. No way anyone would turn down being her friend."

Said girl's face darkened all the more from the compliment. Yang smirked at the girl. This was quickly giving her a lot of teasing material for later and for so little too.

"That's kind of you to say, Jaune." But teasing material aside, it wasn't exactly common for others to offer up such sincere compliments out of the blue. Yang couldn't help but be touched. "Well, kind of sucks to cut things so short, but we do have to get sleep now. But hey, maybe after initiation, we can hang out sometime. That cool with you?"

"Of course. I'll look forward to it," Jaune replied.

The sincerity in his voice once again touched her. The words he spoke were absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, but it was clear he truly meant it.

Heh, Ruby really did know how to pick 'em.

She and the girl in question then bid Jaune a good night and he did likewise before walking off.

And so as she eventually lied down in her sleeping bag and slowly drifted off to sleep alongside Ruby, Yang eagerly anticipated what was to come.

As soon as his back was fully turned to both Ruby and Yang and he was far enough away, Jaune's smile fell and a grimace took its place.

That… had been surprisingly hard to do.

From the moment he'd entered the room up until now, he'd immediately spotted more than a dozen people who'd looked to be in need of some help. Whether it be simply setting up their sleeping spot or looking for missing items or something else entirely, there were those that weren't quite adjusting to their new environment just yet… and his instincts had nearly compelled him to help out each and every one of them.

He'd have done just that too if Yang hadn't called out to him, given him something else to focus on.

But now that Ruby and Yang were turning in for the night along with many others, there really wasn't much else left to distract him from his compulsion.

Help.

He needed to help others. He absolutely had to.

After all, helping others wasn't wrong. How could it be?

…

…

Okay, he seriously had to calm down now. Hadn't he told himself that he was supposed to try cutting down on this?

Taking a moment to simply breath in and out, Jaune did his best to remain aware of himself.

Helping out Isaac and the others back in Vale's slums… that had been one thing – they'd genuinely been in danger of being hurt by those gangs that roamed those areas. And the motel and other shops had been in serious need of some remodeling lest they eventually fall apart. Helping them out with such matters was perfectly normal – acceptable.

Sporadically going around, helping others with their sleeping bags or looking for some good luck necklace? Different matter entirely.

Or so he liked to tell himself.

Alas, he had to. If he didn't, he'd be helping everyone he saw. And he'd promised his family the last time he saw them that he'd try to find a singular purpose to focus on.

It's why he's come here to Beacon – to find a true purpose to dedicate himself to.

However, the headmaster's short speech had left him less than impressed. Angry, even. For all intents and purposes, the headmaster had pretty much told them all to find their own goal in life. An understandable thing to say, really, but not something a person of authority should have said so nonchalantly.

Especially when his own efforts to concentrate his energies had been an utter failure so far.

But his frustrations aside, Jaune remained undeterred, unwavering. This wasn't the end just yet for him.

So long as he marched onwards, he'll eventually discover what he truly desired.

He had to.

Because if he didn't, he honestly had no idea what he'd do.

And done! A rather lengthy first chapter, at least compared to how I initially planned it out to be, but hopefully one that will interest you guys.

As you've noticed by this point, this Jaune differs considerably from the canon one. And don't worry – all the differences have story relevance in one form or another. They will be explained later down the line.

Anyways, again, I hope this will really grab your attention because I intend for this fic to be something of both a deconstruction and reconstruction of some common concepts. Of course, I won't be skipping out on the action either and it's also my intention to make said action even more intense and epic than any other action scene I've written thus far in fanfiction.

Whelp, beyond that, not much else that needs to be said other than that I'm excited as hell to finally be starting this fic, ha ha.

Until next time, everyone. Take care!