RWBYA: Volume 1: Vale. A RWBY AU/Fanfiction.

Chapter 5: The Determined Flame.

"Aoihi!..."

"AOIHI WAKE UP!!!"

Aoihi groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Weiss?"

"You idiot." Weiss replied tearfully. "We almost thought we lost you."

Aoihi sighed and smiled solemnly as he looked at Weiss.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to."

Weiss sniffed and smiled back at Aoihi as she wiped away her tears.

"Darn." She muttered. "Our facial scars are definitely reflections of one another." She then paused before giving Aoihi a hug.

"I'm okay, Weiss. Just need to rest some." Aoihi's voice was soft and gentle as he did what he could to comfort Weiss some. He then glanced at the rest of his team, giving them a nod to let them know that they are free to ask any questions.

"What was that?!" Ruby asked immediately. "Why did your hair change color and your eyes glowing?! And what did you do?!"

"Ah.." Aoihi began casually. "That was my Semblance, Blazing Will. It allows me to increase my strength and speed with my determination. As you saw back there, that was my semblance at its 100% mark. Usually, I don't need more than 30 to 50% of my semblance's power to beat Grimm."

"I see." Yang remarked as her sister and partner took in the information. "So what about those blue flames on your sword back there."

"Oh! Right, those." Aoihi said before sighing. "That was a special dust mixture that my grandfather made. The recipe for it was passed down to my father, and then to me. It's called Blue Fire Dust, and it's quite powerful. Being strong enough to destroy shields made of hardlight. I don't use it until I need to. Considering the damage that it and my semblance can do, well, I'd say it safe to say that Grimm was VERY tough. Doubt I could even defeat it alone."

"And so he says." Yang responded as she then held a smirk at Aoihi. "Well! It seems you melted our local Ice Princess's heart."

Aoihi gave an annoyed glare at Yang as Blake and Ruby laughed at this. Unbeknownst to them, Weiss was blushing as she heard this. Her heart racing as she continued to hug Aoihi.

As the next day came, classes had officially started in Beacon. Aoihi accompanied the rest of team RWBYA, and while he did help ensure their safe study, he still ensured that he didn't give away the answers, much to the dismay of Ruby. As night fell across Beacon academy, Ruby was on her bunk of the new bunk beds that they purchased and put together the day before, right after the Grimm incident. As she yawned, Weiss walked over with a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

"Here you go, Ruby." She said kindly. "This should help you keep the batteries charged."

"Thanks, Weiss." Ruby replied as Weiss inspected the notes carefully.

"Not bad, but you still need some work, Ruby." She then grabbed a book out of her bag. "Here, I highlighted some of the correct information in this. And if it helps, I can also tutor you a bit tomorrow so you can graduate with no issues."

Ruby smiled at her teammate.

"I really appreciate it, Weiss." She replied softly, before looking at her in confusion. "But uh... why not tonight, if you don't mind me asking."

Weiss shook her head and smiled gently.

"I'm going to check in on Aoihi. He may say he's fine, but I can tell that he's still in pain from the battle against that ancient Ursa. Got to make sure that our teammates are fighting fit, you know?"