4 The Wolf Within

Jaune Arc finds himself sitting across from Preto Hele-Nui in the man's home. Saturday's morning sun shining through his windows.

"The shift isn't just triggered by overwhelming emotions but also by conscious action.Try to make your eyes glow and only your eyes." Preto asks, leaning into his chair.

Jaune frowns and thinks back about how those bullies horrible words towards his best friend, he feels the fire he came to associate with his powers spread only for Preto to reach over and grab his wrists tightly.

"No." The man shakes his head, "Don't get yourself angry, do it by force of will." Letting go, he leans back into his seat.

"I don–"

"That's why we're training, don't worry about how long it takes." 

Jaune sighs before nodding.

"It's like moving your arm, you don't tell it what to do, you don't even think about it, you just do it because you want it to."

Furrowing his brows, the boy mutters, "I guess that makes sense." He focuses on his eyes and strains them as if he's focusing something in the distance, memorizing the unseen object details.

Minutes pass and nothing seems to happen. Jaune grits his teeth before sighing and rubs his eyes in frustration roughly.

"You're trying too hard." Preto tells the younger werewolf, "It's not about effort, it's like a baby learning walk. It takes time, practice. Trying to rush it will do more harm than good."

Jaune sighs at the advice.

"We have all day, kid. Take your time."

Nodding meekly, he tries again. It's almost like exercising, straining the muscle over short periods of time to make them stronger. 

Suddenly trumpets start playing along with a harsh but steady beat of drums, surprising Jaune. Looking at Preto who shrugs as he sets down his scroll, "The silence was getting awkward."

~"Deep in the mountains, dead and cast away. Where innocence becomes ash in the wind."~

The boy chuckles before continuing, glad not to be suffocating in the silence.

An hour passes and then another before he feels a flicker of warmth behind his irises, "I did it!" Jaune leaps to his feet with a large grin.

"Good." Preto nods with his own smile, looking away from his scroll, "Now do it again." 

The boy nods and sits back down. Barely a few minutes pass before he feels his eyes glow once more, though he can't keep them burning for more than a few moments. 

He continues to practice, minutes become hours as his control grows until it becomes a light switch.

"Try it with your claws now."

Jaune looks at his hands, specifically the tips of his fingernails, staring at them intently. They twitch as he tries to summon his claws but just like his eyes at first, they do nothing.

The boy bites his lip in concentration before eventually he sees his nails widen, stretching the barriers of the skin, "Shouldn't this hurt?"

"Why would it hurt?"

"Well," Jaune looks up from his hands, " my nails are growing larger than my fingers, there should be discomfort but…" The sentence hangs.

"It's just part of the whole deal, I suppose. Your body has adapted to the shift, to your new features kinda like how your skin constantly changes to fit you as you grow up."

Humming, he looks back to his normal nails and they start to widen again. The bed of his nails split open as they curve, pushing the folds back before, and finally the tips sharpen and lengthen to a edge.

"Werewolf claws are special." Preto starts, gaining Jaune's attention, "If inserted into the base of the skull, you can shape a person's mind; take away memories, share them, make new ones."

"What?" Jaune asks in astonishment, "That's crazy!"

"It's also extremely dangerous, do it wrong and you're liable to kill or cripple them. A werewolf is more likely to survive but a human or a Faunus, I would be surprised." Preto explains.

The boy cringes.

"To get good at it you need practice, Alpha's are usually the only ones to use the technique and they teach it to their second, most never even learn about it. I taught it to myself, and practiced on animals."

"W..hy are you tel..ling me this?" The boy stutters, imagining himself purposely sticking his claws into someone's neck, manipulating their minds like clay. 

The thought makes him sick.

Preto purses his lips, "Because it's a handy skill to know. For example, you track down a rogue werewolf but run into a Slayer, maybe you get lucky and they're one of the good ones except in this example you aren't lucky, they try to kill you. You now have two options, you kill them which can possible bring more Slayers on top of you or–"

"You erase their memories." The boy finishes.

The man nods, "Personally I would kill them anyway, if a Slayer tries to kill you for what you are then more than likely they've killed others for the same reason. Of course I would erase their memories first, then implant a suggestion to wait wherever they're staying for the foreseeable future, deal with the rogue werewolf before coming back for them."

Jaune feels sick at the scenario, "Tha..that.." Shaking his head. "I couldn't do that."

"I know it seems monstrous but what's the alternative? Go to the police? And what exactly would you tell them?"

The younger of the two closes his eyes and tries to think but he can't, his head feels jumbled.

Preto reaches over and pats the boy's back, "Heroes do what is necessary to keep others safe. By killing the Slayer, this specific hypothetical Slayer, you've probably saved a dozen innocent werewolves."

Jaune gives a nod but doesn't open his eyes, his hands are clenched tightly with blood dripping from the palms.

The two sit in silence, the music from before paused so Preto could talk. Minutes pass before the boy opens his eyes again, "Can we continue?"

"Sure, I want you to keep your eyes from responding to mine, alright?"

The boy gives a nod.

Preto makes his own amber eyes glow a brilliant silver, the other feels heat pool just behind his irises, it seeps into them before he even has a chance to stop it. 

"Let's try that again."

And they do, it takes a few dozen tries but eventually he's able to block the heat at least for a second.

"Gods." Jaune rubs his eyes, "That feels so weird."

"Why don't we take a break." Preto suggests as he stands up and stretches, "You've made some great progress but Atlas wasn't built in a day."

The boy sighs, "Awesome." He slumps in his seat and closes his eyes in rest, a moment later he feels something knocking against his chest. Opening his eyes he sees a mason jar of moonshine presented to him. "Thanks." 

"No problem."

Sipping on the drink, he enjoys the warmth settling in his stomach.

"So where do your parents think you are right now?"

"I told them I'll be training with my mentor."

"Oh?" Preto's voice is laced with interest as he sits back down.

"Yeah, I told them I finally gave up on my dreams of being a Huntsman and found an apprenticeship."

"In what?"

"I don't know, they haven't asked."

The man snorts.

"I think they're just glad I'm finally moving on from my childish dream." Jaune rolls his eyes.

"You know," Preto leans forward, " my family earned its fortune by selling cigarettes and liquor. Well, earn, despite the fire the company is still going strong. If you're interested I can teach you how, it might be fun and a decent way to earn income if you're ever low on Lien."

The boy thinks about it for a moment, "Sure."

Preto smiles, "Come on." He stands up and heads to the kitchen, Jaune following a step behind. Exiting the house through the sliding door, he's led into the forest and after a ten minute walk he finds himself in front of a shed the size of a small house.

"Huh." 

Jaune sat with his two best friends, the three of them enjoying a movie in Edward Glass's home. Jaune sat at the end of the living room couch while Ed sat at the other, in the middle was Amethyst who laid her head on the taller boy's shoulder.

"Don't look in the closet. Don't look in the closet. Don't look in the closet!" Ed exclaims as they watch the heroine inch towards her bedroom closet.

"Yeah, she's dead." Jaune chuckles at his friend's frightful chanting.

Amethyst snorts, "Why don't they ever run? Where does all this curiosity come from!"

"Shut up!" Ed whines, "You're ruining the suspense."

"Sorry, sorry." The girl giggles.

"Whatever." The smaller boy waves her off before standing up, "Have to go to the bathroom, pause it." 

Jaune reaches to the table and grabs the remote, a quick press and the movie freezes.

Ed gives a small nod and walks off, leaving his two friends alone.

"Sooo~" Amethyst turns to him, "What have you been up to, Jaune?"

Jaune blinks, "Um, nothing."

The girl gives a hum, "Really? Because for the past week you've been blowing me and Ed off, ignoring our texts. It kinda feels like you don't want to be our friend anymore." 

The boy winces, "No! I got an apprenticeship, that's it."

Amethyst's eyes widened, "What! But what about being a Huntsman? That's all you ever wanted to do since… since forever!"

Jaune sighs, "Yeah but…" He bites his lip, "That's not happening, I have no training, no knowledge, no Aura, I'll just get myself killed."

The girl looks at her friend in worry, "That never stopped you before."

Huffing, he turns away, "I… I guess I finally grew up."

She looks down, "I.." A crease appears in between her brows. "You don't have Aura?"

Jaune looks back at her in surprise, "You know what Au–" He shakes his head. "Right, your dad used to be a Huntsman, of course you would know. No, I don't have Aura."

The girl looks shocked, "Wha– how exactly were you going to.. to survive Beacon without Aura?!"

He looks up to the ceiling and sighs, "I didn't even know about Aura until a couple days ago."

Amethyst huffs in disbelief, "Your par–" She stops and closes her eyes. "No, of course your parents wouldn't tell you." Shaking her head, she whispers. "Why would I assume they did?"

Jaune laughs and gets a smack on the shoulder making him laugh harder before feeling her arms wrap around him.

"I'm sorry Jaune, if… if I had known, if I had asked…"

The boy wraps his own arms around her form, "I… thanks."

"I…" Amethyst hesitates before hardening her resolve, she pulls back and rests her hand on Jaune's cheek.

"Wha–"

"For it is in sacrifice we achieve peace." The girl glows a harsh pink, an almost purplish color that slowly spreads across him, "Through this we become icons of justice and prosperity to protect all others, infinite in potential and unbound by mortal shackles." Jaune shivers as the energy seeps into his skin, reaching deep to his core, "I release your soul and by my knee, shelter you." As she finishes, she falls over, her head resting on his chest and her breathing turning shallow.

"Amethyst! Are you okay?" Jaune asks with worry. 

Looking up, tears gathered in her pink eyes, "I'm sorry, I… tired to unlock your Aura but I… I couldn't." She brings her arm to wipe away her tears.

"It's fine…" Slowly he brings his own hand to rest on her cheek, "Thank you for trying, it's more than my own parents ever did for me."

The girl leans her face into his hand, "I don't know why I.. I cou–"

"It's fine." Jaune mutters again, a warmth, different from the one he felt when shifting, fills his stomach. He looks at his friend and his eyes drift to her lips, a look she catches.

A blush spreads across both their cheeks, she leans forward slightly but stops just shy, he finishes the journey and their lips meet briefly before they both pull back.

"Fucking finally!" 

The two jump away from each other and turn towards Edward whose smiling so wide it looks like it hurts.

"Gods, you have no idea how long I've waited for this!" Ed claps, "I thought it would never happen!" He laughs and almost skips forward, taking back his previous seat. 

Jaune and Amethyst's already red faces turn atomic. 

Ed reaches forward, grabs the remote and unpauses the movie, his grin never leaving his face. The two other teens look at one another before smiling, their smiles turn to laughs and both of them look back towards the film, Amethyst leaning on his chest and Jaune's arm wrapped around her shoulder.

After the movie finishes, they watch another and one more, by the time they're done the afternoon sun has set with the shattered moon taking its place. Jaune and Amethyst leave Ed's house hand in hand, their fingers interlocked.

"Sooo?~" Amethyst begins, an almost teasing tilt in her voice, "Are we together now?"

Jaune feels his face heat up for what feels like the hundredth time that day, "I.. I wou..ld like that." He stutters. 

The girl smiles brightly, "I would like that too." She raises up by her toes and presses a kiss on his jaw. "I… I've liked you for a while, Jaune, like really, really like you."

Jaune looks down and his smile turns goofy, "Yeah?"

She nods and Jaune can't help himself but lean down, slowly and cautiously, something Amethyst decidedly isn't as she pushes forward, pressing her lips against his. She molds her lips against his and he can feel her upper lip press harshly against his bottom teeth and unlike their last kiss, she doesn't pull away, though to be fair neither does he.

It's messy and chaotic, it's not a good kiss by any metric he's sure. Teeth click together, it's rough and wetter than he thinks it should be but…

Jaune pulls her in closer, his arms wrapped around her small waist. A familiar heat spreads through his body and his mind shutters, turning into something less than human.

He wants her, all of her. Right now. He wants to taste her… consume her, his hands move down and rest on her ass and squeezes. 

"Ow!" 

Jaune's heart stills at the sound of pain and pulls away, his mind snapping back to normal, the heat turning blistering cold.

Amethyst is rubbing her butt, she looks at the boy with a small glare that he knows is anything but genuine.

But... 

"I'm so sorry!" He frantically apologizes, he takes a step towards her only to stop, he can feel tears gathering at the corner of his eyes and the girl glare drops. She's the one that closes the distance between them.

"It's fine." She tries to take his hands but he flinches away. Taken aback, she watches the boy take shorter and shorter breaths.

"No! It's not, I hurt you!" He yells, "You're the last person, I ever want to hurt, I… I…" He can feel the wolf again, worming its way back in. He clenches his eyes and fists, his forming claws stabbing into his palms.

"Jaune!" Amethyst shouts in shock as blood pools around his hand, she rushes forward and desperately pulls at his fingers, "It's fine! You squeezed a little too hard! It's okay!" She tries to reassure him but the boy shakes his head.

"It's not. It's not." He mutters, tears running down his face.

"Jaune, please. You're scaring me." She tightly holds his wrist, "Please stop."

Jaune opens his eyes and sees her own tears falling down. He's hurting her.

Again.

Jaune unclenches his hands and pulls away, "I'll.. I'll call you." He quickly walks away.

"Jaune!" She calls him but he ignores her, "Come back!" 

He starts running but no matter how far he goes he can still hear Amethyst, clear as day, calling for him, begging him to talk to her. The world blurs at the edges of his vision, he suddenly falls to his hands and runs on all fours.

His heart is beating so fast it might pop out of his chest, fury burns through him at what he might have done. 

What he can still do.

The change is instant and baser instincts take over. A thought reverberates throughout his head, 'Hungry.'

Jaune is so fucking hungry.

Growl escapes his lips and chills the air, he goes where he knows he'll find all the food he can eat. Home.

It's not long before he finds himself standing in front of the Arc household, standing from his crouch he walks up to the door and opens. He can hear his family scattered through the house, their hearts loud and clear, the closest is–

"Jauneey!" Violette's voice calls from the living room, "Welcome home, mind getting me a soda?" 

Jaune walks into the room and sees the girl sitting on the couch watching t.v. Stalking over, he breathes in and his stomach tightens, she smells so good.

Good enough to eat.

Standing behind her, he rests his hands on her shoulders. The girl brings her own hands up and rests them on top of his.

"Sooo, is that a no on the soda? Dad said I could have it." 

Jaune brings his head down and opens his mouth wide only to stop just shy of her head when his eye catches sight of Corcea Mors displayed proudly on the mantle just below the holographic screen.

His mind flashes, he sees himself wielding the weapon. Strong and noble, like his forefather and the wolf within is shoved back ruthlessly. 

Jaune stumbles back and holds his palms against his mouth, vomit threatening to spill from his lips.

"Jaune," Violette turns and concern marks her face, " you okay?" 

Tears spill from his eyes and he runs up the stairs to his room, the door slamming behind him as he enters. He falls to his knees and shoves his clenched fist in his mouth and screams until his throat turns raw.

'I… I can't stay here… I can't stay.' Jaune sobs. Standing up, he yanks his scroll out of his pocket and tosses it on the bed before grabbing his backpack from his desk, he empties it before filling with clothes from his dresser. He then enters his bathroom and shoves in his toothpaste and toothbrush, as he walks out he grabs one of his pillows before tossing the door wide open, revealing his mom and dad.

"Jau..ne?" His dad's eyebrows furrow while his mother's narrow.

Jaune falters for a moment but his will quickly hardens, he squeezes past them and walks down the stairs. 

Two sets of footsteps quickly follow him, "Jaune! Where are you going?!" Noah asks.

"I'm leaving." He says roughly.

"What!" 

"And where exactly are you going?!" Jupiter yells.

Jaune ignores her and grabs the door knob to the house and yanks it open, he feels a large hand wrap around his wrist, keeping him from leaving.

"Jaune, what's wrong? Maybe we can–" His father tries to comfort him but he doesn't need comfort, he needs to get as far away from his family as possible.

"No!" He yells, "We can't fix it! Nothing can fix it!"

"Don't talk to you–" His mother starts but he doesn't stay to listen, he pulls his hand free and walks out.

"Jaune! Jaune! Get back here this instant!" Jupiter screams as she follows him out.

"Son! Please! We can work out whatever's wrong!" Noah calls out.

Jaune continues down the road before suddenly his mother is in front him, nothing more than a blurs he could barely even perceive, outrage clear across her face.

"Get. Back. Inside."

Jaune feels like a pike stabbed itself in the back of his head, an overwhelming urge to listen to her consumes him from the inside out.

'Her semblance.' Jaune thinks as he turns around slowly and walks back to the house. As he does he sees the rest of his sisters walk out, worry clear on all their faces and for a moment he sees himself covered in blood, their corpses littering the ground.

"N..o." He stutters out and turns back around.

Jupiter's eyes widened before narrowing, "listen to me and get back inside!" Her body glows an intense yellow, almost like the sun but darker.

Jaune groans and falls to one of his knees, he shakes his head.

"Jupiter! You're pushing him too hard!" Noah appears beside him, using speed he never even hinted at.

Jaune stares at the ground unblinkingly, he can't go back. He can't, he'll kill them.

He'll kill them all.

That thought forces Jaune back to his feet and he walks, Noah stands up and follows him.

"I won't let you leave!" Jupiter yells, frustrating tears leak from her eyes, "Go ba–"

Jaune bellows, his voice thick and unwavering, layered with a growl barely perceived but still there. His eyes flash, revealing the wolf underneath.

His mother takes a step back and his father freezes in his tracks. Their fear is clear, he walks forward and passes Jupiter. He doesn't turn back.

Amethyst sits at the round dining room table, a bowl of ice cream in front of her with a look of uncertainty and sadness. Her dad, Henry Cazador, sits opposite of her with a frown, his concern for his daughter apparent.

Henry is an older man with a square frame, like his daughter he has a sand complexion and lively pink eyes, though unlike her his hair is a deep maroon with flickers of white spread out. 

"Hon, you've been picking at your ice cream for the last half hour, it's practically soup, what's wrong?"

Amethyst sighs, "Dad, for the last time, it's nothing." She takes a spoon full of the desert and shoves it in her mouth.

"It's not nothing, Ame." Henry returns the sigh, "You've got me worried, kid." His tone is soft and reassuring.

Amethyst groans, "It… something weird happened with Jaune." She admits with a small blush.

Henry lifts an eyebrow, "Something like…" 

"We.. we kissed." She admits with a little smile before it falls, "But then he freaked out like bad and he was crying and then he started hurting himself!"

The man's eyes go wide, "He hurt himself? Why?"

"I don't know! It was so weird an.. and scary." Amethyst looks down, staring at her ice cream, "He… he never acted like that before, it was like he turned into a whole other person." She looks back up, her eyes watering. "Dad, he was so scared."

"Of you?" Her father asks.

The girl shakes her head, "No, of himself."

Henry purses his lips, "Did anything happen before then?"

Amethyst shakes her head before stopping, "Well… I…" She hesitates.

"Ame, what happened?" The man asks.

She sighs, "Jaune told me he didn't have Aura, how he only learned about it and decided to give up on his dream of being a Huntsman. I tired to unlock it–"

"Amethyst!" Henry yells in shock and anger, "I can't believe you would do something like that!"

The girl cringes.

"Aura is dangerous! You know this! It takes training to use it properly and consistently, he could hurt himself! He could hurt other people!"

"I… wouldn't let that happen!" 

"You wouldn't let that happen?! Ameth–" The man pauses, "Did you say tired? You tried to unlock his Aura?"

Amethyst sighs in relief when her father stops yelling, "Yeah, It seemed to be working at first but then nothing. It was almost like… like–"

"He didn't have a soul." Henry eyes narrow, the girl looks taken aback at the words.

"But everyone has a soul." She says, "Right?" Her voice wavers.

Henry's scowl deepens, "Not everything." 

Amethyst looks at her father in apprehension, "Jaune's okay right? Nothing wrong with him, is there?"

The man grits his teeth at the question, "He isn't Jaune anymore, hon."