Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

Vale was a beautiful city and Kingdom. That was all Jaune Arc thought when he got off the airship that brought him from his home village. The ride was alright but he still did not like flying. Luckily, he remembered his motion sickness medicine, otherwise the trip would've been so much worse. He stood there for a few seconds with his eyes closed and taking a deep breath, letting himself fully relax after being off the metal deathtrap.

He was wearing his casual wear: black sneakers, ripped blue jeans, a black, short-sleeve hoodie and a pair of fingerless gloves. The thing that stuck out the most was the sword at his left hip: Crocea Mors. It was freshly sharpened and cleaned before his journey and it was shining in the setting sunlight. It was the weapon of his great-great-grandfather but now it was his. When his training started, he had wished to use a sword and shield, similar to Crocea Mors. He looked up to his ancestor that fought in the Great War and wanted to be exactly like him. As he grew older, it was like he always had something to strive for and something to draw strength from. He was beyond shocked when his father presented it to him just before he left. All he did was hug his father tightly and let happy tears escape his eyes.

Jaune shook his head to clear himself of his nostalgia and picked up his luggage. He pulled his backpack onto his back, which contained his combat attire and a few accessories for the outfit. Then he threw his duffle bag over his shoulder, that contained the rest of his clothes, toiletries and a few items from home. With that all set, he started to walk away from the airfield and immediately found a taxi to take him to see his uncle.

You see for the last ten years, Jaune had been trained by his father to become a Huntsman. The training was difficult, some days felt like hell if he had to be honest, but he persevered and all his hard work paid off. He was accepted at Beacon. The only thing he didn't have was his aura unlocked. It was Arc custom to only unlock their aura when their training was complete. That way they would not rely so heavily on it and it would never become a crutch. Sadly, the Arc family was massive so it kept getting pushed further rand further. Eventually, it was the day Jaune had to leave and the whole family had run late that morning so his father couldn't do so before he left. But his uncle could fix that easily enough.

His parents decided that he should stay with his uncle a few weeks before the semester began. That way he would get accustomed to Vale and he could spend some quality time with his uncle and cousins. Along with that, he could become more accustom to his aura and maybe find his Semblance. The last one was unlikely but he could be hopeful. He knew the theories and exercises for aura manipulation, he really only needed the actual experience at this point.

Jaune just looked out the window as the driver slowly made his way to a seedier part of town. A few minutes later, they had pulled off to the side of the road, a block or two from where he was going. Jaune pulled out the correct amount of Lien and handed it to the driver, telling him to keep the change. He grabbed his bags and started to walk up the street as the taxi drove away. His destination was a club not too far away.

As he was nearing it, he saw a short line of people already in front of it. Jaune chuckled because he knew the club wouldn't open for another hour or so. Jaune just ignored the line and walked up to the bouncer, who was wearing the usual black suit with red tie and sunglasses. He just held his hand up, "Sorry, kid. We're not open yet. Back of the line."

Jaune just smiled and pulled out his scroll with his ID on it, "I'm hear to see my uncle. He's expecting me."

The bouncer looked it over before he nodded slightly, "Right. The Boss and twins have been talking about you nonstop." He chuckled lightly before stepping to the side, "Go on in."

Jaune nodded to him and did just that as he pocketed his scroll. As he made it into the actual club, he saw that all the lights were still on and music was playing, just very low. As he was walking in, he scanned the room to look for his cousins or uncle. He smiled widely when he saw him at the bar with his back to him. "Uncle Hei!"

The man in question froze before turning around with the biggest smile on his face. "About time you showed up. The twins haven't stopped bugging me on when you were gonna get here." He said as he was making his way around the bar. "Get over here and hug me."

Jaune did just that. He nearly ran into him before he wrapped his arms around his uncle and he did the same to his nephew. Most of his men just smiled at them. Hei Xiong or Junior as most knew him, was very intimidating and the best info broker in Vale but when it came to his family, he was just a big teddy bear. Well, until you screwed with his family then he was like an actual bear on steroids.

After a minute or so of what looked like him trying to break Jaune with a bear hug. He pulled back enough to look at him, "So, how's my favorite nephew?" he asked with a grin.

Jaune snorted, "I'm your only nephew."

He shrugged, "True. Doesn't change the fact that you're my favorite. So, out with it."

"I'm fine. Little tired from the flight but good. Excited for you to unlock my aura though." He said with a smirk.

Hei nodded at him, "Still can't believe my kid-sister asked me to do that. Thought I was hallucinating. But, I'm honored to be the one to do it." He said with a smile and pat on his shoulder. Jaune smiled back at his uncle until Hei look over his shoulder and his eyes widened slightly. That's when he smirked and let go of him. "Good luck."

Jaune raised an eyebrow in confusion. But that was when he heard two voices shouting, "Jaune!" He quickly spun around in time to be tackled by two blurs: one red, the other white. He gave a weak protest before he was brought to the ground because of them. Jaune just groaned while on the ground, under the two bodies that crashed into him as they hugged him. He looked up to see Hei looking down at him and trying not to laugh like a madman. Jaune just sighed before he wrap an arm around each body on him. "Good to see you two, Mel, Mil." He said with a smile.

They pulled back just enough so he was looking at two identical faces with the same exact smile. "We missed you so much." Melanie said.

"What kept you? You were supposed to be here like three hours ago?" Miltia continued with an annoyed tone to her voice.

"Sorry, girls. Large flock of Grimm was spotted on the route here, so the airship had to take a detour to avoid them. And scroll service was spotty so I couldn't give you a heads up." He explained.

Melanie sat up but was still at his side with a look of relief, "Well, that explains it."

Miltia imitated her sister but crossed her arms, "But you still owe us for making us worry. So, tomorrow you're taking us out to lunch."

Jaune chuckled, "Sure, no problem. It'll let us catch up after so long." He sat up with a smile.

"Alright, alright." The three turned to Hei as he was talking. "We'll be opening soon and I need you two ready." The twins pouted but didn't argue. " And I know you don't want to deal with most of the noise and people, so why don't you go up to the guest room and get yourself settled in." He motioned with his head to a back door that would lead off to the top floor, which was a very nice apartment where the twins and Hei lived.

Jaune nodded and stood up, "Thanks, Uncle. I'll get settled and come back down to see how everything is going."

Hei just waved him off, "Take your time, Kid. Should be a usual and boring night."

Jaune nodded and picked up his bags before walking to the door then up the flight of stairs. Jaune sighed as he did. He wasn't an idiot. He loved his uncle but he knew about his less than on the straight and narrow businesses. Not in detail but he knew his uncle dealt in information and was one of, if not the best. Along with all his men being as close to a gang as you could get. What he meant by 'boring ' was no one should be coming in for anything more than a drink or music.

That caused a lot of strife between his father and his uncle. But his uncle had a code and he would not participate in anything that broke it. And he would make sure to keep that part of his life as far as possible from his family. Which meant Jaune and his family were never a possible target. But he'd hate to see what his uncle would do if someone ever tried. He loved him and his sisters almost as much as his own daughters. That was probably the main reason why his father never forbade Hei from seeing them.

Jaune sighed and shelved those thoughts yet again. He finally made it to the top of the stairs and opened the door to the apartment. He was met with a giant room that was the bulk of the apartment. It was the living room and kitchen with an open floor plan so very little divided the two, besides the small island set between them. The kitchen was full of modern and top of the line appliances. Meanwhile, the living room had a L-shaped couch and matching recliner. There was a coffee table in the middle of them on top of a carpet that covered the floor of the sitting area. They were situated in from of a huge flat screen tv with an entertainment stand below it for DVDs and games consoles and the games. On top of that, the entire apartment was soundproof so anyone up here wouldn't hear the music from below.

By the kitchen was a hallway that lead to the bathroom and the bedrooms. Jaune went down it until he found the guest room at the very end. He opened the door to show a twin-sized bed, dresser and book shelf on opposite sides of the room. On the wall right next to the door was a wall-mounted tv right across from the bed. There was also a closet right beside the dresser.

Jaune smiled, "Home away from Home." He walked in and placed the duffel bag on the bed and shrugged off his backpack. He put it down in the corner, right next to the bookshelf. He wouldn't need his combat gear or anything in there until Beacon, so there was no point in unpacking it. He then opened his duffel bag and started to put most of his clothes in the dresser; he put his jacket and hoodies in the closet though. He then took out the few books and comics he brought and put them on the top shelf of the bookshelf. On the shelf below it, he put up the knickknacks that his sisters gave him as a goodbye present. They weren't much but they meant a lot.

With that done, he took his toiletries out of his duffel bag. He put it at the bottom of his closet before he shut it before walking out of the room. He then went to the bathroom to put his toiletries away then went to the kitchen to grab a drink. He saw that the twins had a few cans of their favorite soda and helped himself. They wouldn't mind too much. He drank it while leaning against the counter. Jaune was still having a hard time believing that he was actually here. That he was really going to Beacon. All his hard work was finally paying off. He grinned at that and took another sip of his soda.

He took out his scroll and sent a message to his parents saying he was at Uncle Hei's and had just settled in. He saw the time as he was doing that and realized he had been up here for an hour. He chuckled, "Must've lost track of time." He muttered to himself. He quickly drank the rest of his soda and threw the can into the recycling before he went over to the door to get back to the club. It was then that he saw that he still had Crocea Mors at his hip. He really should put it on his bed but he still didn't want to be separated from the sword and shield. Eventually he just struggled it off. Melanie and Miltia had their weapons, along with most of his uncle's gang. And he was family, who would tell him otherwise. With that decided, he went down to rejoin the party.

When he walked into the club, it was a completely different sight than when he left. Half the place was destroyed and it was completely devoid of any patrons. And in the center of it all was a blonde haired woman, who in Jaune's opinion, was beyond gorgeous. But his awkward teenager side was pushed away and the Huntsman-in-training side came out, since she was currently fighting against Melanie and Miltia on even ground. A lot of Hei's men were on the ground, either injured or unconscious. He looked back at the blonde and saw her punching the air and sending out volleys of red dust from the yellow gauntlets she wore.

'Must be a Huntress-in-training.' He instantly thought and without a single instance of doubt, he drew Crocea Mors' sword and charged her. He closed the distance between them as she was about to land a devastating hit to Miltia. The blonde quickly spun and caught his blade on her gauntlet when he swung from his right shoulder. He looked into her lilac eyes as she gave him a confident smirk. He didn't bother to return it, he was too focused on watching her every move.

He felt more pressure come from his blade and figured she would try to throw him off. He pulled his sword back at the same time she threw her arm out, setting her off balance. He quickly stepped into her guard and delivered a slash from his right hip this time. He cut across her chest and felt his blade bite into her aura. She reared her fist back but that's when the twins caught her from both sides, with a kick and slash, sending her skidding back. The two stood on either side of Jaune and the three just stared her down.

As soon as both her feet were planted, she started to release another volleys of shots. Jaune took a step forward and reached down to his sheathe. It attached to his arm and was bringing it up. The sheathe was already deploying from the second it attached to his arm, so it was fully deployed when his arm was in front of him. Jaune braced himself and moved one of his feet back to take the volley hitting his shield.

As he was tanking the volley, the twins ran form either side to intercept her: Melanie from the left and Miltia from the right. Their blonde opponent stopped her long-range attacks and started to engage them. That's when Jaune compacted his shield back into its sheath form to reduce air drag and ran into support them.

She had just knocked Miltia back and Melanie jumped back to avoid a haymaker. That's when she saw Jaune closing in on her and she tried to connect with a right. Jaune started to slide and pivoted to his right so her fist just missed him. He started to bring his left fist up in an uppercut and as he did, he deployed his shield once again. The blonde caught the shield right to the solar plexus and she was forced to step back with a groan of pain.

Jaune pressed his advantage and started to deal a series of sword slashes. She had to keep taking steps back as she parried his blade. She then dug her feet in and a burst of yellow flames and heat erupted from her, pushing him back a few steps. Before he could think, her fist was flying at him and he brought his shield up to block. As her fist hit his shield, his entire arm shook and he grit his teeth from how bad his arm was ringing.

'I can't take many of those. I have an idea but it's so stupid.' He thought to himself. Not backing down, he quickly stepped towards her with his shield in front. As she connected another punch, his shield flew off his arm and behind them. That let him catch her in the nose with his left elbow. It was enough to stun her, so he capitalized with a heavy swing from his right with his sword. Too bad she was able to jump back just before it would make contact.

She landed a few feet back and the two stared each other down while trying to calm their breathing. That was when half a dozen blonde strands of hair slowly fell between them. Her eyes went wide before she looked down and started shaking. Jaune tilted his head in confusion but quickly felt a shiver go up his spine. She looked up and her eyes were now blood red. "You bastard!" was all she shouted before she closed the distance with discharges from both her weapons. He could do nothing to defend himself as her fist hit his chest with a force of a speeding train, minimal.

Jaune was sent flying through the air and he could do nothing to stop himself. He finally did when he hit the far wall, arm first. He fell to the ground and dropped his sword as he did. He groaned in pain and slowly tried to get into a kneeling position. His adrenaline was going so he didn't realize how bad a shape he was in. As he was trying to regain his breath, after having it knocked out of him, he checked on his arm. But he would wish he didn't.

His eyes widened when he took it in. His shoulder was dislocated but that was the least of it. He could see that his humerus was definitely broken since he could see it sticking out of place. Luckily, it wasn't sticking out of the skin but it looked like a massive bump. His forearm wasn't much better, he had two bumps there, one on either side of his forearm. His finger were defiantly broken. They were uneven and bending in weird positions. But worst was his elbow, it was bent backwards. As he stared at it, that's when the pain registered. His left hand grabbed his arm and he released a blood curdling scream.

Yang had just sent the blonde bastard that cut her hair flying towards the back wall. She was about to follow him but as soon as he hit the back wall, her and everyone still conscious heard many eerie breaking sounds. She instantly froze and just stared on in disbelief, she had heard sounds like that before but she was hoping she was wrong.

She saw him get into a kneeling position and that's when she got to see his arm and it made her stomach churn. Broken didn't even cover it. It was more like shattered. When he grabbed his arm and screamed, that's when reality finally hit her. Her eyes widened and shifted back to lilac, she had just went full strength against someone who didn't have aura.

"Jaune!" she heard the two twins shout before they ran over to him. They slid over to him and were trying to calm him as they checked him over. It was proving to be hard since he was now doubled over and screaming more. Yang took a single step forward, she didn't know what she could do but this was her fault. She had to do something. Before she could take another step, an explosion erupted a few feet in front of her. She covered her face with her arm and looked to the side.

Standing there was Junior with a rocket launcher on his shoulder. But the look on his face was nothing less than murderous. His eyes bore into her's and he was clenching his teeth so hard, she was surprised they weren't cracking. "Stay the hell away from him." His tone was filled with rage.

They heard him scream again but this time, he stopped halfway and they heard the sound of him coughing. "Junior!" one of the twins yelled, the white one. They both turned to her and she had a look of pure panic on her face. "He's coughing up blood! A lot of it!"

That caused them both to freeze for a second before Junior threw his weapon to the side and ran over to them. They gently rolled him to his back and he knew something was wrong. His breathing was raspy and he was wheezing. "She may've crushed his chest." he said quickly but trying to remain calm. The twins gasped and Yang crumbled to her knees.

"No time left." Junior said out loud. He gently laid a hand on Jaune's forehead and the other gently on his chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "For it is in our bonds that we achieve security. Through them, we become a paragon of reassurance and support to overcome anything, infinite through will and unbound by doubt. I release you and by my heart free thee."

With his words, Jaune's body erupted in a bright white light. When it died down, the three family members noticed that his breathing was back to normal. His arm was still in the same shape as before but that wasn't important now. Junior sighed, "I'll stay with him, one of you call an ambulance. Now."

It was two days later, Jaune was currently sitting in a bed in Vale's General Hospital. He was looking out the window to his right, just enjoying the view of Vale he had. Well, that and just trying to come to terms with everything. He looked down at his right arm. It was in a cast from his shoulder all the way down to his hand. He couldn't feel it, still had painkillers running through his system.

He was alone right now. After his Uncle Hei had unlocked his aura, he was put on an ambulance and brought here. Short story was that the punch broke a rib and it punctured his lung, that was why he was coughing up blood. Apparently, as soon as his aura was unlocked, it all focused on healing the life threatening wound and the rib that caused it. It was miraculous to say the least but the doctors didn't have to operate on that part of him. But because of that, he had no aura left to heal his arm. But the news on that wasn't great. Besides the breaks he knew of, apparently there were dozens of smaller fractures across the entirety of his arm. Too much pressure and it would result in worsening them.

He had woken up earlier in the day, to his cousins crying and saying they were glad he was okay. His uncle had asked him how he felt. They then told him that they stayed with him the entire time he was out, which made his heart swell a bit. That was when the doctor came in to check on him. Jaune told them to go home and get some rest, and a shower in a joking manner. They begrudgingly agreed but said they'd be back later. When they had left and after his checkup, the doctor told him everything. And Jaune was still unsure on what to do.

He heard the door open then close behind him and he sighed. He put on a small smile, "Back already? I wasn't expecting you this-" He turned and stopped when he saw who it was. The blonde woman that did this to him was standing barely ten feet away.

She looked nervous but he didn't pick up on that, too busy panicking. His eyes widened and his smile fell. He could feel his heart going a mile a minute and he was wondering if he'd have a heart attack at this point. He felt a jolt a pain go through his arm, but he had no idea if it was psychological or not. As he just stared at her in shock and fear, his left hand was slowly going toward the switch he had to call for a nurse. He was an inch away from it when she shouted and put her hand out, "Don't!"

He flinched back and closed his eyes. He quickly put his good arm in front of him, to try to offer even the slightest defense. He missed her wince at her own tone and put her arm down. She looked off to the side and spoke in a weaker tone, "Please don't do that. I'm not here to hurt you."

He opened his eyes slightly and saw that she seemed more subdued. He also saw that she didn't have her weapons either, so that added a bit more truth to what she said. 'Although, it's not like she needs them.' He thought to himself as his chest throbbed slightly. He slowly put his arm down, "So, why are you here than?" he asked timidly.

She looked up for a second but she turned away as their eyes met. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and started to play with it. "After everything that happened….I wanted to apologize for what I did. But now that I've said that, it sound really, really stupid."

Jaune just stared at her, "Apologize?" he asked in shock. He felt a wave of irritation go through him but he quickly snuffed it out. The quicker she said her piece, the quicker she would leave and the sooner his heart rate would go down.

She nodded slowly, "You're the first person I've ever hurt that badly. Especially, after I started training to be a Huntress. Junior, his men, the twins. They all had aura, so I didn't hold back. And with the way you fought, I could tell you had hunter's training as well. I didn't even think you didn't have aura. And well…." She let her sentence just drift off.

'So I was right, she is a Huntress-in-training. Then why the hell did she start tearing up the club?' he asked himself. He felt another wave of irritation go through him, along with a small flare of anger. He bit the inside of his cheek to try to stay calm. "What were you even doing there?" he asked.

She looked at him in shock before looking down and biting her lip. Like she was debating on something. She eventually gave a quiet sigh, "I've been looking for someone for a good portion of my life. I heard that Junior is great with information, so I thought I could get a lead. I got a little handsy with him to intimidate him, probably not the smartest move."

'She did what to Uncle?' Jaune thought and his left hand started to grip his sheets tightly as more anger flared inside him.

"He didn't have any information and his men showed up. I thought he could've been lying and he was trying to use his men to get me to back down. That's when I hit him and, well… you know where that went."

'Are you kidding me?' he thought as more anger swirled inside him and his grip tightened on the sheets. Anymore and he's tear them.

She took a step closer to him, "Hey. Are you okay? You don't look so-"

"Are you kidding me!?" he shouted at her. She took a step back and was shocked by the unbridled fury in his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"W-what?" she asked lamely.

"Just because you are a Huntress-in-training, does not mean you get to do whatever you want!" He continued. "You went to my Uncle's business and threatened him to get what you want and when you didn't get the answer you wanted, you threw a temper tantrum and nearly destroyed the place! Are you that fucking delusional that you thought that would be okay in any way!?"

She didn't say a word and just stared at him. He didn't let her speak though, his anger had finally reached his breaking point. "Newsflash: if you wanted his help, you could've asked and paid him like any other person. And if he didn't have anything, he could've looked into it for you! But instead, you attacked him, all his employees and my cousins! Do you realize how many people you put in danger with that stunt?! How many civilians!? Just because you're training to be a Huntress, does not mean you are above everyone else!"

She gulped before speaking shakily, "I-I know. I-I really s-screwed up."

"No, you don't know! You still don't get it!" He screamed as angry tears gathered in his eyes. "Because of you, my arm was broken severely! Even with aura, it's gonna take weeks maybe even a month to heal! Then I'll need months of physical therapy afterwards. And even then, there is little chance it'll ever be the same! I won't be able to hold a sword ever again!"

She took a step back in shock and she covered her mouth. He just kept going though as his tears fell from his eyes. "I was supposed to go to Beacon in a few weeks but you took that from me! All my training has amounted to nothing now! Ten fucking years of my life wasted because of what you did! You took away my dream! Everything I've ever worked towards! And you think saying 'sorry' is enough to fix it?!"

He just stared at her as he was breathing raggedly. The entire room was quiet and he was surprised no one had come to check on the noise. He just stared at her for a bit as she stared back at him in shock. He turned back to the window. His hand unclenched the sheets. He was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again. It was calmer but there was still anger in it. "Just go. You've done enough."

Yang stood there for a few seconds. She was trying to wrap her head around everything she just heard. She unconsciously reached out to him but stopped. She lowered her head and slowly started to walk to the door. She opened the door and that's when he spoke quietly. She didn't know if he wanted her to hear it but she did anyway. "You should've just killed me. It would've been a mercy." She froze and stared across the hall. She quickly left the room and closed the door behind her.

Jaune sat there and stared out the window for what felt like an eternity. Tears were still sliding down his face but he did nothing to stop them. Soon his anger burned out, leaving with feeling empty besides the cold feeling of his own despair. He looked down and his lips started to wobble.

"Jaune?" he heard a voice. He turned to the door to see his uncle standing there with a somber look on his face. "The doctor just told me about your arm. I'm so sorry."

"Uncle Hei." Jaune said brokenly as more tears poured from his eyes. Hei quickly strode over to him and knelt down beside him. He wrapped Jaune in a hug, avoiding his right arm. He gently rubbed his back as Jaune buried his face into shoulder and he clenched the back of his shirt tightly with his left hand. That's when he lost control of himself. He openly bawled into his uncle's shoulder as his dream was shattered.

As soon as the door closed, Yang took off in a sprint away from the room. She rounded a few corners before she put her back to the wall. She was breathing raggedly. Her entire body was shaking and she slowly slid down the wall until her rear touched the floor. She looked up at the ceiling as her eyes began to tear up. She thought she had learned to not let her search for her mother control her. Back then she almost got herself and Ruby killed. But now? She had taken everything from someone innocent because of it.

She looked done at her hands as she held them palms up in her lap. They were shaking like crazy as her tears started to fall into them. He could've been a classmate to her. Maybe even a teammate. Hell, even her partner. But because of her arrogance, anger and selfishness, she had robbed him of everything. 'Do I really have any right to be a Huntress now?' she asked herself

She gave a quiet sob as she wrapped herself in a hug and started to fully cry as it felt like her very soul was breaking.

A/N- This story idea just came to me while I was checking out the story The Strongest Fear The Weakest For Good Reason, I'm not gonna spoil it so check it out if you're curious. The thought came to me, What would happen if Yang did injure Jaune before Beacon? And this is what I came up with. I have an idea of where this story will go if I continue it. I'm going to wait to see the feedback from any reviews before deciding. If I don't, I'll just leave it as a one-shot. Hoped you all liked it and I'll see you in the next update!