Jaune Arc (RWBY)/Synopsis

==Childhood==
Jaune was born to the Arc family, who had a long linage of Huntsmen. Jaune mentions that his great-great-grandfather fought in the Great War. Jaune grew up with seven sisters, and would often take camping trips to Anima.
Inspired by his family line, Jaune sought to become a Huntsman as well, but found his talents lacking. When time came to enroll in the prestegious Beacon Academy, jaune faked transcripts to get in, which succeeded, though it is implied that the Headmaster Professor Ozpin was aware of this and let Jaune in anyway.
==First Semester at Beacon==
Jaune is flown to Beacon on an airship, vomiting along the way and even afterwards. After entering the school grounds, he meets with Ruby Rose, starting a friendship by showing each other their weapons and talking about their goals and aspirations. He attends Professor Ozpin's speech, then spends the night wearing onezie pajamas.
The next day, after fretting to find his jet-powered locker, Jaune takes an interest in Weiss Schnee, flirting with her and offering to team up with her. Weiss introduces Jaune to Pyrrha Nikos, who Jaune is unaware is a renowned warrior until Weiss tells him that Pyrrha was the mascot for a cereal called Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes. Though Jaune believes Pyrrha is too out of his league to be a friend or teammate, Pyrrha boosts his confidence by saying that he would be a good team leader. Jaune tries hitting on Weiss again, but she asks Pyrrha to get rid of him, which she apologetically complies. Ruby and her sister Yang Xiao Long support him.
The new students prepare for initiation, which will involve them being sent into the Emerald Forest to retrieve artifacts at a hidden temple. They are also informed that the first individual they make eye contact with will become their teammate for the rest of their time at the Academy. Jaune clumsily falls but is caught by Pyrrha, who becomes his partner. As the two walk through the forest, Jaune is hit in the face by a branch and gets a cut on his cheek. Pyrrha inquires why his Aura did not activate, and when Jaune is confused, she explains that Aura is a natural defense generated by a person's soul. She learns that Jaune has not unlocked his Aura nor the special power connected to his soul, his Semblance. Pyrrha uses her Aura to unlock Jaune's, stating that he has "a lot of it".
Jaune and Pyrrha continue to a cave with drawings on the walls, only to be attacked by a Death Stalker Grimm. It chases them to the temple where the other students are. Jaune sees Weiss falling and tries to catch her, but ends up falling himself and just being landed on. The Death Stalker and a Nevermore Grimm close in, and Jaune, along with Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake Belladonna, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren all collect their relics and flee, with Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all choosing White Rook chess piece relics.
The students flee from the incoming Grimm, but are forced to fight them off. Jaune comes up with a plan for his group to fight and destroy the Death Stalker while Ruby's group defeats the Nevermore.
Following the initiation, Professor Ozpin sorts the students into teams based on the relic they chose. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren are formed into Team JNPR, with Jaune being named the leader.
Not long after, a bully named Cardin Winchester begins to pick on Jaune, knocking him into a lunch table in the cafeteria. Team RWBY witnesses the fight, and Ruby steps in to help. Professor Goodwitch steps in and suggests resolving the matter with a sparring match. After some support from her teammates, Ruby is able to easily overpower Cardin.
Jaune begins attending classes, learning history and how to fight. However, he continues to be antagonized by Cardin, who overpowers him in a sparring match and picks on him in various ways. When his friends try to offer advice and support, Jaune denies it and is adamant that Cardin is not bothering him. However, after trouble with Cardin during a class, Pyrrha takes Jaune aside and offers him side combat training to better hold his own. When Jaune refuses it again, he reveals to Pyrrha that he faked his transcripts. Pyrrha leaves, rejected, and Cardin arrives, having overheard. Be begins to blackmail Jaune, forcing him to do his schoolwork or else be exposed. Jaune contemplates himself as a failure to his team and himself, but Ruby givces him the confidence to stand up for himself.
During a trip to the Forever Fall forest, Jaune is forced by Cardin to do the work of collecting tree sap for his entire team. Jaune then learns that Cardin plans to throw the sap at Pyrrha and unleash Rapier Wasps, which are attracted to the sap, on her. Jaune refuses to comply, and Cardin begins beating him. However, a large Ursa Grimm attacks, and Jaune saves Cardin before fighting the Grimm off with some unseen help from Pyrrha. Jaune orders Cardin never to threaten his team again, and Cardin remorsefully obliges, having earned newfound respect for Jaune.
After the trip, Jaune apologizes to Pyrrha, and the two begin training outside of school hours.
Sometime later, Jaune and his team are told that Blake of Team RWBY is a Faunus, and agree to keep it a secret.
==Second Semester at Beacon==
At the start of the second semester, Jaune gets involved in a foodfight with Team RWBY, and later is seen reading comic books in the library. When Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias arrive, Jaune is jealous that Neptune and Weiss begin flirting with one another.
After the announcement of the Beacon Dance, Jaune goes to Team RWBY's dormitory room with a guitar to ask Weiss to the dance, which she coldly rejects. During their sparring session, Jaune tells Pyrrha that he was rejected, which upset him, unaware that Pyrrha has developed feelings for him. When Pyrrha says that she has not been able to get a date either, Jaune does not believe her, declaring that if she does not get a date, he'll attend the dance in a dress. Pyrrha, though upset that Jaune is not recognizing her, encourages him to ask Weiss out again. He goes to do so, but is disheartened when he sees Weiss asking out Neptune.
On the night of the dance, Jaune is seen alongside Ruby sharing a drink. When Ruby tells him that Weiss came alone, Jaune is angry that Neptune turned her down. On his way to confront Neptune, Jaune bumps into a distraught Pyrrha, who reveals that she could not get a date because of her celebrity status and everyone thinking she is above them. Pyrrha admits that she likes Jaune because he did not put her on a pedistal, and when they met, had no idea who she was. She admits that she would have been his date had he asks, and leaves.
Jaune runs into Neptune, who admits to Jaune he rejected Weiss due to not knowing how to dance. Jaune encourages him to admit his faults to Weiss and go talk with her, and Neptune agrees.
Later at the dance, everyone, especially Pyrrha, is shocked to see Jaune arrive in a pink dress, fulfilling his promise to Pyrrha. He dances with her before his team joins in and they all dance together. 
The following day, after the dance, Jaune and his team register for training missions nearby, and see Team RWBY off to their mission to Mountain Glenn. However, the next day, Jaune is woken by Ruby frantically calling his Scroll before cutting out, concerning him. As they set out on their mission, they notice smoke and sirens and find out that the terrorist group the White Fang, accompanied by the criminal Roman Torchwick, have breached the city walls and have begun letting Grimm into the city. Jaune and his team join in the fight, helping the others fight off the Grimm and secure the city.
==Vytal Festival Tournament==
Jaune and his team participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament against other academies. After sharing a meal with Team RWBY, Team JNPR battles Team BRNZ from Vacuo. He shows off his improved combat skill, but primarily his stronger tactical prowess by using strategy and leadership to guide his team to victory. He returns to watch the subsequent matches, and Pyrrha is nominated by her team to represent them in the singles match.
However, Jaune is unaware that Pyrrha has been chosen for something else: Professor Ozpin, along with his allies Professor Goodwitch, Qrow Branwen, and James Ironwood want her to become the next Fall Maiden, a being of incredible power, to replace the last one who is dying from an attack. The teachers fear that the maiden Amber's powers will go to her attacker if they do not experimentally transfer them to Pyrrha, who is hesitant because of the ethics and responsiblity of the act. When Jaune notes that she seems upset, he comforts and sits with her. The two bond by encouraging each other, and Pyrrha is surprised when Jaune puts his hand on top of hers and allows her to lean against him. When Pyrrha tries subtly asking him what she should do when faced with the prospect of immense power, she is put off by his advice to sieze it immediately. She accidentally uses her Semblance to push him away, and apologizes before running off crying.
Jaune attends the singles match, with Pyrrha up against Penny Polendina from Atlas. However, due to interference from Emerald Sustrai, Pyrrha hallucinates and accidentally destroys Penny, revealing her as a robot. Jaune is shocked as the villainous Cinder Fall and the White Fang, who begin unleashing Grimm into the city, hack communications to declare war on the Kingdom.
==The Battle of Beacon==
Jaune rushes the arena to help fight off a Nevermore and console a devastated Pyrrha, ensuring her that the villains are the ones to blame. He joins his teammates and other students and helps fight off the Grimm, eventually taking an airship down to Vale to help fight there. When Pyrrha runs to the vault where a comotose Amber is being kept, Jaune follows her. Pyrrha explains to him, and Jaune agrees to stand guard as Ozpin attempts to transfer Amber's powers to Pyrrha. However, the process is interrupted by Cinder, who murders Amber and gains her powers. Ozpin commands Jaune and Pyrrha to flee, which they do as he stays behind to hold off Cinder, dying in the process.
After failing to get into contact with Goodwitch, Jaune realizes that Cinder is still in the CCT Tower. Pyrrha wants to go and stop Cinder, but Jaune prevents her from going. She kisses him, then pushes him in a jet-powered locker and sends him away to safety as she goes to fight Cinder. After landing, Jaune calls Weiss and Ruby, pleading to them to help Pyrrha before smashing his Scroll and breaking down. Ruby attempts to reach Pyrrha, but is too late as Cinder kills her. Beacon falls and the students are displaced.
Determined to find out who was behind the Fall of Beacon, Jaune reunites with Nora and Ren, then with Ruby, to go to Haven Academy to get help. 
==Journey to Haven==
In the months after the Fall of Beacon, Jaune and his allies, calling themselves Team RNJR, travel to Haven in Mistral. Along the way, they help any towns they come across fight off Grimm, including a Geist. As payment, a metalsmith upgrades his weapons and armor, now sporting designs similar to Pyrrha's armor.
When the group travels to the town of Shion, they are all shocked to find it destroyed. They find a Huntsman who dies, and Jaune is frustrated that they could not save him. That night, Jaun trains to a video Pyrrha recorded for him, unaware Ruby is watching.
After a brief stay in the town of Higanbana, Jaune and the group discover the abandoned village of Oniyuri. Once there, they are attacked by the villainous scorpion Faunus Tyrian Callows, tasked by his "goddess" to capture Ruby, though he briefly takes an interest in Jaune. Jaune, Ren, and Nora attempt to fight Tyrian off, but he overpowers them. Qrow, who is revealed to have been following and protecting the group, steps in to fight off Tyrian, and he and Ruby manage to injure him and send him fleeing, but not before Qrow was badly poisoned by Tyrian's stinger.
Qrow reveals to the group the history of Remnant, and how two gods created the world. They left behind artifacts of power, and an ancient evil named Salem, who was behind Cinder and the fall of Beacon, is seeking them out. He also explains the existence of four Maidens with powers of nature, whose power is passed down to women in every generation, who are the ones able to open the vaults that contain the artifacts. As Qrow's poison takes a turn for the worse, the group travels through the destroyed town of Kuroyuri, which is actually Ren's hometown before it fell to Grimm. They are attacked by the Nuckelavee Grimm that destroyed the city, and are able to defeat it. They are then able to flag down some pilots from Mistral, who take them to the city and heal Qrow. Jaune rests.
==Battle of Haven==
Jane and his allies meet Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy, but are unable to do much but wait for aid. They are informed that the Spring Maiden is likely allies with Raven Branwen, Yang's mother, who is a bandit.
Later, Jaune and the group are introduced to a boy named Oscar Pine, who is the current vessel for Professor Ozpin's soul. Ozpin explains that he has existed for centuries, living on through others' bodies, and plans to continue Jaune and the others' training.
Later, as the group is preparing a dinner for some Huntsman and Huntresses that Qrow is expected to gather, Yang and Weiss return, having left their homes to reunite. The group eats together without the expected guests, and Yang and Weiss explain that they learned Ozpin gave Raven and Qrow the ability to turn into birds. Though Jaune is frustrated Ozpin is still keeping secrets, he agrees to help fight Salem.
However, the group is betrayed by Lionheart, who has allied with Salem. Raven Branwen, and Salem's Inner Circle arrive, including Cinder Fall. Cinder's arrival enrages Jaune, remembering how she murdered Pyrrha. When she mockingly states that she does not even know who he is, he attacks her. Cinder overpowers Jaune, who states that he is ready to die as long as his friends are safe. Cinder takes advantage of this and throws a spear into Weiss, impaling her, sparing Jaune so he can watch her die.
As Jaune cradles Weiss in his arms, his Semblance is unlocked, using his own Aura to amplify Weiss' and allowing her to heal. As his allies continue the battle, Jaune regenerates Weiss back to full health. The villains are driven away, 
Raven is revealed to be the Spring Maiden, and turns on Cinder when Cinder kills Vernal. Cinder is apparently killed, and Raven apologetically flees, leaving the Relic of Knowledge with Yang. Lionheart is killed by Salem through a Grimm.
==Journey to Atlas==
Two weeks later, Team RWBY and their allies set off for the Kingdom of Atlas, hoping to find the next Relic. The board the Argus Limited train, but is is attacked by Grimm drawn to the Relic. Team RWBY fight back the Grimm, but the train derails and they, along with Qrow, Oscar/Ozpin, and a woman named Maria Calavera are separated from Jaune, Ren, and Nora.
Jaune and his teammates make it to Argus, where they stay with Jaune's sister Saphron Cotta-Arc and her wife Terra Cotta-Arc. They attempt to get into the kingdom, but learn that there is a travel ban and are held off by Atlas military specialist Caroline Cordovin. Team RWBY and the others make their way to Argus, but are also unable to get into Atlas. Back at the house, Jaune and his team are informed told by Team RWBY new information that they learned: the Relic of Knowledge contains a spirit named Jinn, who can answer three questions every one hundred years. After asking what Ozpin was hiding from them, they were told that Ozpin (originally called Ozma) and Salem were once lovers, but she fell to darkness and Ozpin devoted his immortal life to stoping her. However, according to Jinn, Salem cannot be destroyed. Infuriated, Jaune punches a wall and attacks Oscar, taking out his anger on Ozpin, who has gone dormant inside Oscar's body. Ruby holds Jaune back, and he storms off. Oscar later goes missing, and a regretful Jaune goes looking for him.
As Jaune searches, he comes across a memorial statue of Pyrrha. A woman, assumed to be Pyrrha's mother, is also there leaving a boquet of flowers. Jaune and she mourn together, with her assuring Jaune that Pyrrha knew the risks, and Jaune assuring her that even though Pyrrha never had the chance to graduate, she was still a Huntress. Jaune returns to the house and finds Oscar there, and apologizes to him.
Jaune formulates a plan to steal an airship, and they enact the plan. However, things go wrong when Cordovin attacks in a giant mechanical Colossus, and Blake and Yang are attacked by Adam Taurus. Jaune and his group help fight the Colossus, with Ruby taking it down. Yang and Blake kill Adam, but a Leviathan Grimm is approaching and the main defense, the Colossus, is unusable.
Despite setbacks, Ruby is able to confront the Leviathan and use her Silver Eyes to stun it. Cordovin defeats the Grimm and, as an apology and thanks, Cordovin allows Jaune and the group to pass into Atlas. They fly to the city, only to be cornered by the Atlas military.
==Atlas==
Jaune and the group abandon the ship and enter Atlas' sister city of Mantle, where they meet Penny Polendina, rebuilt by her creator Pietro Polendina. They battle a sudden influx of Grimm, but are arrested by Ace Operatives and taken to Ironwood.
Upon being brought to Ironwood, he recognizes the group and frees them, thanking them for their service. Ironwood reveals that his is intending to repurpose Amity Colosseum into a communications tower, but is being hindered by the actions of the vigilantes Robyn Hill and the Happy Huntresses.
Later, Ruby and her group are given a mission to secure the launch site for the new communications tower, fighting off Grimm to do so. As thanks for their hard work and dedication, Ironwood awards Jaune and his peers with licenses, making them professional Huntsmen and Huntresses. Jaune and the group team up with the Ace Operatives to take care of jobs throughout Atlas and Mantle, with Jaune even acting as a crossing guard and winning the admiration of local mothers. He also spends time training with locals Team FNKI.
After weeks of missions, Jaune gets a night off and opts to go see a movie with Weiss and Oscar. However, an election party for Robyn Hill, who is running for a seat on the Atlas Council, is attacked by Tyrian Callows, assisted by Salem's assistant Arthur Watts and Jacques Schnee, and many are killed. Using doctored footage, Watts and Tyrian frame Penny for the attack, raising tensions between Hill and the Atlas military. Jacques wins the election, and invites Ironwood to a party at Schnee Manor to defend his new position.
Ironwood brings Ruby and her allies with him to Schnee Manor, where he meets with Jacques to discuss his recent election victory. Weiss investigates and discovers her father was involved in rigging the election, but Watts uses Jacques' credentials to hack into Mantle's heating grind and shut it off, leaving the populace to freeze as a Grimm invasion moves in. Jacques is arrested by Weiss and taken away, and Jaune goes down to Mantle to fight the Grimm threat.
Ironwood and Hill make a temporary alliance to reveal Salem's existence to the world and bring the people together under a common enemy. However, Ironwood finds out that Cinder has infiltrated his office and recalls Ruby and her group to him. As Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Oscar head there, they are attacked by Neopolitan, now working with Cinder, who steals the Relic of Knowledge from them. When Jaune meets up with Team RWBY again, they learn that Ironwood intends to use the Relic of Creation, housed in the academy, to raise Atlas high enough so it will be safe from attack, and leave Mantle to deal with the fallout, hoping to sacrifice the city so the whole world may continue on. Team RWBY opposed him, and now they and theiar allies are considered criminals. Additionally, Salem herself is coming with an army of Grimm.
After another confrontation with Neopolitan where she takes the Relic and evades them, Jaune and his teammates flee from Atlas soldiers into an escape vehicle, which takes off as Salem arrives. During this time, Penny becomes the new Winter Maiden.
==The Battle of Atlas==
After regrouping, the group splits into two groups. Jaune teams up with Yang, Oscar, and Ren to help the people of Mantle while the others go to launch the communications tower. Jaune and his team patrol Mantle, and he helps fight of Atlas soldiers attacking Pietro. They group are given hoverbikes and go to fight off Grimm, but are attacked by the Hound, an intelligent Grimm in Salem's service. The Hound kidnaps Oscar, and Jaune and his group give chase as it carries him to the Monstra Grimm where Salem is stationed. The Grimm escapes, and Yang, Jaune, and Ren follow, but tensions begin to rise. When they make it to the Monstra, they are intercepted and captured by Winter Schnee and the Ace Operatives. Though it takes a great deal of convincing, Winter and the Ace Operatives let Jaune and his allies free to try to save Oscar, though on a time limit as a bomb needed to destroy the Monstra is on its way.
While fighting their way through the Grimm in the Monstra, Jaune and his group come across Oscar and a reformed Emerald, though Yang initially refuses to trust her. As they try to escape, Salem herself attacks, As Salem is about to kill Yang, a reformed Hazel Rainart attacks her, allowing everyone to escape while he gives his life to hold Salem back.
Jaune and his group make their way to a subway tunnel, where Jaune wants to detain Emerald for her role in the Fall of Beacon. They eventually make their way to Schnee Manor where their allies have convened, with Jaune using his Semblance to help Nora heal from an electrical injury. However, Ironwood gives Penny an ultimatum: come open the vault so that Atlas can be saved, or he will personally destroy Mantle. However, Penny has been hacked by Salem's follower Arthur Watts to open the Vault, and Jaune and his friends have to restrain her. After denying Penny's request to kill her and transfer the powers of the Winter Maiden to Ruby, the group decides to secure the Relic of Creation to create a way for Atlas and Mantle to evacuate and Penny to be saved.
As Team RWBY and Penny go to the Vault to use the Relic of Creation, Jaune teams up with Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Emerald to fight Ironwood. Winter aids them and they overpower Ironwood. Jaune broadcasts himself to warn people that Atlas and mantle will fall and evacuations will start, but his signal is cut by Arthur Watts.
Meanwhile, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Penny sneak to the vault. Ruby obtains the Relic and summons the spirit Ambrosius, who she requests make Penny human. He complies and makes a new, human body for Penny as her old robotic, hacked body is left to die. They then request him to create a pocket dimension that the citizens of Atlas and Mantle can travel through to safety to the Kingdom of Vacuo. He complies, but warns them not to fall off the pathways and into the void below. Jaune uses portals to reach people and guide them through, evacuating the people to Vacuo. As Jaune helps people, they are attacked by Cinder Fall and Neopolitan. Penny is fatally injured, and when Jaune tries to heal her, she insists there is no time and to mercy kill her, so she may freely send the powers of the Maiden to Winter in Vacuo where they will be safe. Jaune hesitates, but cries out in anguish as he grant's Penny's wish and kills her with his sword. Cinder attacks, and knocks Jaune off the path to his apparent death. Cinder steals the two Relics and returns them to Salem. Although all the citizens make it Vacuo, Atlas falls and both it and Mantle are destroyed, with Ironwood and Watts killed in the process.
==Ever After==
Jaune falls into a mysterious realm called the Ever After, described in the Remnant fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through the World. However, Jaune finds a magic clock that sets him back in time by a great number of years. As he waits for Team RWBY, Alyx, the protagonist of The Girl Who Fell Through the World, arrives with her brother Lewis. Realizing he is the Rusted Knight character from Alyx's story, he attempts to lead her through the story by taking her to a great tree in the center of the realm, with help from a being known as the Curious Cat. However, he realizes that Alyx is far more cruel than she described herself in her book, and after a visit to a creature known as the Herbalist, she becomes more wicked. She poisons Jaune, knocking him out long enough for the Cat to lead her and Lewis to the tree, where she sacrifices her brother to return to Remnant. Only after does Jaune realize that the tree allows Ever Afterians to "Ascend", where they are absorbed into the tree and reborn without memory to better fit the role they were intended to play. Jaue sees the Cat as a feeder of the tree and despises it, hating himself for allowing Lewis to be taken. As the years passed, Jaune at some point befriended a giant jackalope he named Juniper and recovered Ruby's lost weapon, Crescent Rose. He settled down in a village made of paper, where he served as the local protector of its people, the Paper Pleasers. These kind and hospitable, albeit careless, paper people had the role of serving the people and land, and had done their job and were ready to Ascend. Jaune, however, convinced that Ascending was just a form of death, refused to let them go on and constantly saved them from the various disasters they created every day. In solitude, he began to lose some of his sanity, even naming the Paper Pleasers after his old friends and allies. Over the years, he would chart the Ever After whenever he could, hoping to find a safe passage back to Remnant.
One day, the Ever After market is attacked by the Jabberwalker, which stops creatures it eats from Ascending. As he fight it, he is joined by Team RWBY. Neopolitan is also in the Ever After, using her powers to create duplicates of the Jabberwalker. Te hereoes are forced to flee, and Jaune leads Team RWBY to safety before revealing himself. He explains what happened, and informs them that Salem got the two relics. He leads them back to his village, but is angered when the Curious Cat returns, blaming it for what happened to Lewis. A "punderstorm" forms, which creates physical forms of mental states and phrases. As the Cat says they are "at a crossroads", liter crossroads form, with Jaune, Ruby, Weiss, the Cat, and Ruby's mouse friend Little left to navigate them. Jaune tells the rest of his story, and the Cat claims that Alyx betrayed him as well. The Cat, feeling used and unappreciated, leaves as the storm dissipates. Jaune and his group are reunited with Blake and Yang (who have confessed their love for one another), and Jaune takes them to his village. He returns Crescent Rose to Ruby, though she is so distraught that she does not want it back.
The next morning, Jaune explains how he defends the Paper Pleasers every single day. He plans with Team RWBY, suggesting they stay and defend the village while he tries to find a safe exit back to Remnant. Team RWBY is concerned for Jaune, and a Paper Pleaser overhears their conversation. It explains to them that the tree is not dangerous, but a place Ever Afterians want to go after they have fulfilled their purpose, ready to be born anew. However, Jaune is convinced the tree is dangerous after what happened with Alyx and Lewis, and refuses to let the Paper Pleasers ascend like they want to. Jaune and Team RWBY argue about what is best until Neo and her Jabberwalkers attack. Jaune mounts Juniper and rides into battle. When he sees Ruby barely fighting and pinned down by a Jabberwalker, he aids her teammates in saving her and driving Neo and the Jabberwalkers off. He is frustrated at Ruby and tries to hand her Crescent Rose, but she jumps with fear away from it. However, in the time they were fighting, the Paper Pleasers manage to topple a dam and flood the town, allowing all of them to ascend, mortifying Jaune. Weiss, Blake, and Yang attempt to comfort him and want Ruby to do the same, but Ruby finally has had enough. She gets angry at her friends for never thinking about her needs, and how they are so preoccupied with their goals or each other that they never consider how she is feeling. Jaune lashes out at Ruby, blaming her for everything including Neo's hatred and them falling into the Ever After in the first place. When he sees her tear up, he apologizes and admits that he has lost some of his sanity, both due to the isolation and the regrets of his past actions. Blake attempts to cheer everyone up, but Ruby tells her off, to the shock of everyone. She grabs Crescent Rose and runs away, with Little still with her.
Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jaune search for Ruby, realizing that they were not attentive enough to her needs. They finally find her trapped and tortured in one of Neopolitan's illusions. Neo holds them off as Ruby, having witnessed Little killed by Neo and the Curious Cat revealed to be a traitor, is broken in spirit and drinks a tea made of the Tree's leaves, ending her existence and taking her to the Tree to Ascend. Jaune watches with horror as Ruby is swallowed up by the ground and the Cat possesses Neo. The Cat makes for the Tree, and Blake and her allies follow. They try to get to the Tree, but the flooded village blocks their path. They are greeted by Genial Gems, who are the Paper Pleasers Ascended into new forms. Jaune feels bad that he prevented the Paper Pleasers from moving on out of his desire to save people. They are suddenly all teleported to the Tree, realizing that acceptance was the path to reach it. They come across Ruby as a wooden statue on the tree, and realize that her fate lies in her own decisions.
However, they come across a magical door back to Remnant, and the Cat, still possessing Neo, trying and failing to get through. He finds he cannot, since Neo has no attachments in Remnant anymore. He reveals that he attempted the same with Alyx, allowing Lewis to go back while he tried to possess her, but she did not comply and the at murdered her instead. He sees Ruby and decides to make her his vessel again, but Weiss and her allies step in his path and defend her. In the battle, Weiss conjures a wall of flame, but Cat/Neo doges and the fire hits Jaune, throwing him off the tree. Jaune recovers, but with a vision of Alyx realizes that they can use the burning leaves of the Tree like the Herbalist used to create smoke. Neopolitan inhales the smoke, and her visions and feelings are so strong they drive the Cat out. Ruby, meanwhile, chooses to remain herself and emerges, joining her team to defeat the Cat, with Neo striking a killing blow with her Jabberwalkers. Jaune reunites with Ruby, Neo opts to stay behind and Ascend, and Jaune joins his allies as they travel through the door.
There they meet the Blacksmith, the one responsible for Ascension. The Blacksmith explains that the Gods of Light and Darkness were born in the Ever After, made to fulfill the roles of creation and destruction. Over time, they began to create their own creatures, including the Cat to fill the role of helping others Ascend, and the Jabberwalker for destroying what was deemed necessary to destroy. When they were ready, they traveled beyond the Ever After and created Remnant. Whenever their creations came to the Ever After, they had a profound effect, such as with Alyx and Lewis and now with Team RWBY and Jaune. The Blacksmith goes on to say that while some were hurt and driven to evil like the Cat, others were shown kindness and made better like Little/Somewhat. She says that Alyx desired to right the wrongs of her past, and using magic, restores Jaune to his younger age. She then opens the door back to Remnant, and Jaune and his allies walk through into Vacuo.
==Vacuo==
Jaune and Team RWBY arrive in Vacuo, and are greeted by their friends who thought them dead. Jaune reconnects with his team and tells them his story, which they parade around and treat him like a legendary hero. Despite this, Jaune still suffers from post-traumatic stress from his time in the Ever After and has a hard time adjusting. He speaks to Oscar/Ozpin about it, who encourage him to keep a journal and remenice on the good times in the Ever After. Jaune thinks back to the times he spent with Alyx and Lewis, telling them stories and the excitement of knowing most of their story already. He is able to see that in the people of Vacuo, and begins to calm and accept that he is finally back.
Category:Synopsis