A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of this story I've been thinking up for the past little while that I've been watching the RWBY series. I'm not particularly sure if this story is going to be as interesting to everyone as it will be to me but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless.

Regardless of that meaningless talk though, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Templar.

Beta: dracohalo117

Chapter 1: City of Light

Those who hunted the monsters of the night…

Black splashed across green.

Most called them heroes of sorts…

A shield shrieked as ivory claws ran ragged against it.

Some called them soldiers…

A blade whistled as a bleached skull flew into the sky.

But we called them…

Jaune roared as he slammed his sword into the fallen Grimm.

Hunters.

Seconds died off into the night sky, Jaune clenched his sword tightly, waiting, listening…predicting some sort of movement in the night.

None came.

Slowly, Jaune stowed away his blade, nestling it into its sheath. He warily watched as the dead slowly melded into the night sky. Silently the dark particles stalked their way back in the blackness they came from.

Jaune breathed out slowly, the air in his lungs crawling out from between his lips in a thin pitch. He pushed past the flora that surrounded him, shoving through the tree line and into the open grass, he found himself face to face with an incredible sight.

Lights which danced across the black canvas of night, illuminating it with their incandescence. The rabble of voices far off that still toiled tirelessly despite the hours. He could feel the cool night air slink around him and drape him like a cloak, beckoning him to come forwards, to come closer to this strange world he now found himself in.

All he could do, was utter one word.

"Vale."

"It's like a labyrinth..." Jaune whispered to himself in wonder as he turned down another corner and found himself staring at the same store he had just walked past several minutes ago. He had been wandering the city for over an hour now, searching fruitlessly for wherever the governing body resided –instead he had so far found a bookstore, two 'coffee shops', and a...building that seemed to hold dust.

Jaune had no clue what these so called 'coffee shops' were supposed to sell but he certainly knew what a book was and dust was a universal concept in Remnant. Though the names for these stores were certainly...unique to put it mildly.

"Tukson's Booktrade, Home to Every Book Under the Sun..." He read aloud, staring at the shiny letters sprawled above the entrance with deep interest.

Of course, Jaune doubted this 'Tukson' actually had every book under the sun –he wasn't that naïve- and the lights were off, implying the store was closed, so he retraced his steps back toward the dust building.

Perhaps the shopkeeper could point him in the right direction.

As he walked, Jaune began recanting to himself, the goals he had set out for himself with this journey.

Find the Grand City of Vale

Establish a connection with the leadership or governing body.

Acquire help for the ongoing war.

Not exactly a plan set in stone but High Templar Romulus had told him personally that the plan had to be flexible.

We know almost nothing about the central nations Jaune, so keep your wits about you. We have your goals and nothing else. Figuring out how to accomplish those goals will be entirely up to you and you alone. I'm sure you'll be fine.

Jaune had to make sure that trust hadn't been misplaced.

When the High Templar had selected him for this task, his family had been...less than pleased about the turn of events. Connection with the outside had been effectively limited for decades and possibly even centuries –the limited communication came solely from the very rare trader who passed through or dead corpses torn apart by the local Grimm.

You could find quite a lot about a culture just by inspecting one of their dead.

Jaune himself had been...glad enough at the news. This was his chance to finally venture far beyond the wall and the forest surrounding them to learn more about this world he existed in. And while his family had been terrified about the potential danger the outside presented –his fingers gently brushed a jet black feather from within his armor- he had insurance should anything prove a bit too difficult for him. Returning his hands to his sides, Jaune gave himself a quick look over before turned the final corner to the dust building.

His heavy breastplate, colored white with a gold inlay of his family insignia, had suffered several scratches from the few Grimm encounters he had faced along the way here but was otherwise pristine as the day he received it. His sword was strapped on his left side, shield on his back. His rucksack, filled with extra clothes and other small odds and ends, had sustained no damage and looked no worse for wear from the long journey north from his home.

Overall, he felt that he looked acceptable with the minor scratches in his armor being barely noticeable.

So he turned the corner, intent on getting some direc-

*CRASH*

His fingers shot around the hilt of his blade like lightning as he heard glass shatter and sprinkle over the hard ground. Looking forwards he saw the source of the noise, a small girl in a red dress holding a...

"What the hell?" He whispered to himself as the...well...box, for lack of better term, unfurled like a curtain into the form of a scythe. He was frozen in wonder as the incredible weapon shifted with the whirring of gears hidden and unseen beneath layers of metal and steel.

He was brought back to focus when the girl slammed the scythe into the floor so hard it embedded into the hard ground beneath her.

Surrounding her were a group of men all dressed similarly in black, though one was wearing white and apparently had issues walking if the cane was any indication.

Jaune hesitated for a moment, wondering what on earth he was supposed to do. They had all emerged from the building he had just been walking towards and it was clear they were about to fight over some unknown slight. He had no clue where to reach the nearest chaplain and he doubted that getting involved in this incident would actually help his case once he met with whoever led the city.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Moreover, the girl seemed to be handling the men just fine from his point of view. She flew through them, throwing them around like dolls, with every single bang –Jaune had no clue what the hell was making that raucous noise every time she moved but he assumed she was somehow doing it with how synchronized she was with the blasts.

So Jaune simply stalked forwards, body bent low to the ground and a hand on his blade as he carefully edged closer and closer to the fight. Sure, inching so close left the possibility of getting caught up in the quarrel but they seemed quite interested in fighting each other, so they didn't notice him as he edged along the wall, stepped through the broken window, and made his way into the store.

Definitely some sort of dust repository...Seems like those men were in the process of robbing it if the conversation outside is any indication along with the color matching suitcases filled with dust. Jaune sighed to himself as he looked back towards the laughing, if overly flamboyant, man.

And now the question came: should he help stop a robbery?

Was it even his responsibility? Hell, this young girl seemed more than capable and no one had come to stop the fight yet, so perhaps she was the local authority, crazy as it seemed.

Though, all of these thoughts came to a close when the young girl took one look at him and immediately pointed her scythe at him.

"Back off the shopkeeper!" Her voice was quite...shrilly if he had to put a word to it. A bit unpleasant to hear if he was honest to himself.

"Now, now Red! You shouldn't look away in a fight!" A bang sounded and smoke filled his vision in an instant, Jaune quickly grabbed the old man and relocated outside, outside the cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared he saw the young girl –emphasis on young he mentally noted, the girl looked younger than him- coughing but otherwise alright. She locked her eyes on him and furiously pointed her scythe at him.

"Let him go!"

Don't you have a thief to catch? Jaune wanted to retort but let the man go regardless, not wanting to raise the tiny fighter's ire.

"That man is getting away you know." He mundanely said as he turned his head towards another building a small ways off. Jaune pointed and the girls head followed along, her eyes finally landing on the white cloak of the man she had been fighting.

"Yo-You just stay here!" She said, clearly annoyed and unsure of how to manage two different potential targets. "And don't hurt the shopkeeper!" She shouted back at him as she leaped onto the roof of an adjacent building.

"..." He stared at the old man who stared right back at him.

"Please don't hur-" A fear-filled raspy voice began.

"I won't." He cut the question off a bit more ruthlessly than necessary, admittedly a bit bothered by how the young girl had brushed him off so easily. He looked up to see 'Red' –that's what the Man-In-White had called her so he was sticking with it for now- finally reaching the top of the building the supposed criminal had ran up to.

She was quite fast it seemed.

Jaune sighed and decided to break the rules a little and ignore her command to 'stay right there', instead, with a push from his legs, he leaped up to the building she was on top of.

He got there much faster than her, certainly immature for him to be keeping track of something so small, but it still brought him some joy in this botched plan.

"See ya Red!" The Man-In-White shouted as he...

...

...

"What in the name of God is that..." Jaune whispered as he walked up next to Red. She jumped and turned to face him but he ignored her completely, regardless of her shrill shouting. The man was in some sort of...machine? He couldn't even tell what it was let alone how it was flying so easily.

It was amazing.

Suddenly his instincts roared back to life, prompting him to draw his shield and position himself in front of Red, legs bracing for some kind of impact.

*BOOM*

Heat slammed into his shield with the weight of a deathstalker stinger, causing his feet to sink into the rooftop, crushing the tough material underfoot. He held steady, even as the heat spread around his shield and grazed his arms, luckily they were armored and protected.

The fire receded though, quickly, as though it were a dog having its leashed tugged back. As Jaune stood back up he narrowed his eyes and shoved the girl backwards.

Roughly.

He wasn't holding a grudge at her dismissal of him.

Nope.

More importantly than his completely non-existent grudge was the fact that these people had just attacked him completely unprovoked.

His mind was settled on the matter now.

He raised a hand and opened his mouth, ready to call down thunder but he froze as a feminine figure in the flying device began glowing brightly, the air around her shimmering with heat. Suddenly she summoned bright red orbs of fire which hung around her, circling her in a hypnotizing orbit. Jaune cursed as he leaped backwards, shield up again, ready to block for the younger girl who had just now gotten back up after a long string of grumbling.

"Get down!" He shouted as he knelt beside her, covering most of her body with his own, ensuring her safety as the fire rained down upon them.

But it apparently wasn't needed, as none of the blasts even hit his shield let alone his body. Instead they had harmlessly exploded against some translucent purple force before him.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Red whispered next to him. He turned to find her practically drooling at their new addition –so that probably made this woman an ally of some sort, Jaune guessed. The woman in question was dressed...strangely for lack of better word. She wore a short skirt and leggings, her upper attire seemed a bit fancy in his opinion, though apparently his opinion was worth jack according to his sisters.

Even stranger however, she was holding a whip as a weapon it seemed.

"Whip?" He whispered to himself. Not the most practical weapon to be honest and Jaune couldn't see a situation where she would even be allowed to use it properly, unless someone else brought the ship down for her and then she used it to spank them. Which didn't seem...plausible.

"Hmph." She disregarded the two of them and raised her weapon, twirling it slightly. Jaune's eyes widened as stone began lifting off the ground and coalescing into the shape of a crude spear. It began to spiral like a drill, slowly at first, but picked up speed quickly, whirring like a top. It shot forwards, tearing through the wind on a warpath towards the metal bird in the sky. But before it could even get close however, fire erupted in a sphere around the machine, knocking the stones away easily. Jaune could barely make out the Man-In-White giving them an unknown hand gesture as he flew off.

Jaune knew little about the culture here, but he was sure it was something rude.

"You're Glynda Goodwitch!" He jumped when the girl beside him launched off like a boarbatusk towards this 'Glynda Goodwitch'. Her eyes shone like diamonds and her hands were clasped together like steel links. "Can I have your autograph!?"

He flinched at her voice and locked eyes with Glynda, staring her down as he stood up fully straight, his blonde hair still slightly singed from the encounter, but he ignored it.

The woman sighed, palming her face as she shook her head.

Getting into trouble on your first night, what a strong entry Jaune. He thought to himself derisively, forehead practically glued to the table in front of him.

After the battle –if you could really call it that- the woman had apprehended the two of them took them here, a large and important looking building where she then separated them into two rooms –he had been told to sit here quietly while she talked with Red. Hopefully they finished soon though, he was getting a bit famished now.

He lifted his head when he heard a noise sound from the other side of the door.

The door.

That was another oddity he couldn't quite understand. Doors were simple enough, a slab of either wood or steel that could swing on hinges and had a handle to turn. Simple, right?

Apparently wrong since this door had no handle and didn't swing. It just seemed to...melt into the wall, sliding smoothly into some hidden compartment that he couldn't see. It had no handle that he could easily discern, a small flat plate residing in the location where the handle would have been. When he had been escorted into the room they had just walked up to it and it opened all on its own.

It was fascinating to say the least.

Speak of the Grimm...That one is Glynda I think. The other though? Jaune watched the door slide open –he would need to investigate it further when he had the time- to reveal Glynda and a fancily dressed man. The man sat in front of him while Glynda remained standing, strict and proper.

The man cleared his throat and blinked slowly, his eyes locking onto Jaune's figure.

Jaune matched him though, refusing to blink as they observed each other. Seconds passed by at a snail's pace, the minutes crawling past him even slower. As they passed by Jaune began to try his best to work out what the man wanted, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what the man wanted no matter how hard he racked his brain for answers. Maybe he wanted Jaune to start speaking? Possibly introduce himself first? Or maybe this was a test of endurance to see how strong his will was, testing the waters so to speak.

Finally the man cleared his throat and brought out a thin plate with a black face and a grey back. Jaune watched carefully as he fiddled with it, keeping the black side from view. When he slid it onto the table, Jaune was amazed to see that a cacophony of colors had somehow replaced the black side. The colors formed into images and words, and most impressively some even moved. Jaune resisted the desperate urge to reach out and touch it.

"You don't go to Signal, do you?" His voice was probing and curious, which put Jaune at ease. He had been expecting a more accusatory tone to be frank. "In fact," he slid a finger across the strange tablet, faces flashed across the screen before resting on a large question mark, "you don't seem to go anywhere." The man's eyes took on a steel edge and Jaune tensed, his fingers itching to his sword.

Like a lightning bolt, Glynda had drawn her whip and jabbed it into his neck, holding him stone steady from even touching his blade.

Ah...I suppose this is why they felt comfortable with leaving me my weapons. Apparently they were that confident in their skills. Though Jaune couldn't really hold it against them, he hadn't even seen the woman move. She had been standing still one second and in the next, her whip was trying to impale his throat. Jaune lifted his hand back up to the table slowly, letting them watch the action as a show of peace.

"My name is Jaune Arc." He answered stiffly, craning his neck slightly to better alleviate the uncomfortable pressure building on his Adam's apple. "And you?" He croaked back, cringing as he felt the hard cartilage bounce against the hard steel.

"Glynda." A small wave of relief ran over Jaune as the man placed a hand on Glynda's arm, gently lowering it back down. "No need for that right now." He turned back to Jaune and calmly took a sip of whatever was in his mug. Seemed quite dark however. "So, you don't know who I am?" Apparently the question had taken him by some surprise, though he wasn't showing it in any physical capacity, expression unchanging, the only sign came from the way his eyebrow quirked ever so slightly.

"He didn't seem to recognize who I was either." Glynda piped up as well, nodding to the man curtly before returning her narrowed eyes at Jaune.

"Strange." The man hummed quietly to himself, taking another long sip before setting the mug down and folding his hands on the desk. "My name is Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"I see," he really didn't, especially since he wasn't privy to wherever 'Beacon Academy' was, but he just went along with it as best he could. "May I ask why I'm being held here?" Against his will at that but he didn't want to press the issue too hard, just in case.

"According to Glynda, you were involved in a street robbery of some sort."

"I was just watching. No intentions of getting involved." Okay, so a half lie but it wasn't like they would really know. In fact, the worst he had done was defend Red, if you could even consider that bad.

"No intentions of getting involved?" His voice didn't change tone at all but it was somehow laced with accusation.

"Absolutely none."

"Well then," Ozpin's eyebrow rose up a small bit as he sighed to himself in subtle resignation, "where did you learn how to use aura?" He tapped the screen once, twice, and thrice more as it filled with a still image of Jaune and Red on the rooftop, his feet sinking into the ceiling as he defended a fiery blow.

It was Jaune's turned to be confused though. "What is aura?"

"...What is...aura?" This time, incredulity came through into his voice loud and clear, though he quickly covered it with a cough. Ozpin shared a look with Glynda that Jaune couldn't really interpret, though he caught flashes of it that he could understand.

Confusion, of course, was at the forefront, but also suspicion and caution.

"Jaune -that is your name correct?" He only continued after Jaune gave him confirmation through a short nod. "Exactly where are you from?"

"Shiloh." Easy answer. It didn't seem to take with Ozpin however, as his expression stayed minimally confused but the sipping intensified. "It's south of here, past the mountains." That seemed to get a reaction, Jaune noted, as Ozpin seemed to choke on his drink. Jaune certainly gave him credit however, as Ozpin recovered quickly and his coughing fit had, incredibly, not spilled a single drop anywhere on the table or on his person.

"Past the mountains?" Ozpin asked, wiping his hand down with a small handkerchief he had procured from inside his coat. "That means Shiloh is in the outskirts. It's an outskirts city." He seemed to mutter it more to himself than anyone else though as he seemed thoroughly captured in his own thoughts. He turned to Glynda. "Do you think he's telling the truth?" He asked.

"I am." Jaune replied, a bit annoyed at getting the cold shoulder once again, but he was completely ignored.

Glynda shook her head. "He didn't show on any of the citizen records, and he clearly isn't some vagrant judging by his use of aura and general attire. But he could be a spy for..." Her words trailed off.

"He doesn't seem to have the demeanor of a spy." Ozpin's said as he gave Jaune a quick look over.

"But the timing of his arrival was certainly lucky."

"So was Ruby's." Ozpin retorted. "Fortune plants the seeds opportunity where she wills."

"It's dangerous to use unknowns Ozpin." Glynda warned, her voice taking on an edge.

"Nothing is ever known Glynda, we only ever know better."

"He could turn out to be dangerous."

"They'll all turn out dangerous one day. It's our job to keep them from becoming the wrong kind of dangerous."

"That would only count if he were going to Beacon."

"..."

"Ozpin..." Glynda cringed as she slid her hand over her face. "We can't just induct new-"

"We allowed Miss Rose in early." He quickly parried.

"Exactly, early, meaning that she was already bound to end up there. This," she threw a hand towards him, "boy is not a student."

"But he could be."

"I'm not here to learn anything from either of you." Jaune quickly interjected, raising his voice slightly to get their attention. When they turned towards him, both watching carefully, he continued. "I'm here to establish a connection between the Central Nation of Vale and Shiloh and act as an ambassador between the two." Simple mission with simple goals. He didn't feel like wasting anymore time here with these two.

Apparently they didn't agree however.

"Jaune, I apologize if we seem a bit...hesitant to believe you." Ozpin traced his words with care and nuance as he beckoned for Jaune to give him a listening ear. Jaune almost refused to due to a small amount of immature spite. "We only know of a few outskirts cities, and Vale has rarely ever contacted any of them. In fact, there hasn't been contact for quite a few decades. I'm sorry if we seem a bit...cautious." He took another slow sip.

Jaune sighed, calming down as he listened to his words. The man wasn't wrong, Shiloh refused to trade with any of the Central Nations and the only time they really communicated with them was on sparse occasions when the errant traveler would somehow manage to stumble through their gates, if you could really call that communication. Really, Ozpin wasn't wrong, and Jaune's anger was a bit misplaced, perhaps they could even help point him in the right direction.

"Well, I apologize for the slight outburst. I'm just a bit frustrated is all." A small peace offering in the form of words, Jaune hoped that they would accept it. "Do you know where the governing body resides here? I'd like to finish my mission soon." He stifled a telling yawn.

"Jaune, before I answer that, I'd like to know why Shiloh wishes to establish this connection in the first place."

He bit his lip, chewing on it slightly as he deliberated. On one hand, he didn't really want to give out his missions details to someone who wasn't a part of it but on the other, he didn't feel like arguing right now. Eventually his desire to just get on with his mission won out and he started talking.

"Shiloh requires more food and fighters to help with the ongoing war. We were hoping that a Central Nation would be willing to lend us their...um..." he searched for the word in vain, unable to bring up exactly what term had been thrown around by Bishop Hammond.

"Soldiers?" Ozpin offered, though his words came a bit sharp this time. Jaune took notice and tempered his voice and planned his words a bit more carefully.

"No, it was something else. I believe they were called..."

"Hunters?"

"Yes, I believe that's correct." Jaune nodded as the word came flooding back into his mind. Hunters. A word that was a bit of a taboo in Shiloh due to their reputation, though it seemed the High Templar didn't hold the same reservations. "We need hunters for the war."

Ozpin grimaced a bit at the word, sharing the same dark look with Glynda as he set the mug down, a bit harder than normal.

"Vale has no interest in helping fight another nation's war." Glynda answered back simply, eyes narrowing down and turning ice cold. Jaune bristled at the words.

"I believe that would be the governing body's choice to make. Not yours." He shot back with similar toxicity.

"Stop." Ozpin's voice didn't ring loud but it was hostile, filling the room with a chill that silenced the both of them instantly. "What war?" He hissed, voice filling, for the first time since he had entered the room, with emotion.

"It hasn't started yet," Jaune began, doing his best to shrug off Glynda's glare, though failing miserably as a shiver crawled along the length of his spine. "But we spotted an enormous pack of Grimm heading straight for the city just days ago. They're far for now but they're undoubtedly heading our way and will hit the city in a matter of months."

The two of them seemed to deflate quickly, animosity immediately replaced with relief at his words.

"A war against Grimm?" Ozpin asked him in a heavy voice.

"Yes...why?"

"We thought...perhaps..." Glynda just sighed as she struggled to put together a sentence that would explain it for him. "Jaune, Vale has had issues with wars in the past against other nations. We just thought-"

"That I was asking for soldiers to fight against other men." Jaune finished in a monotone voice. It had been his mistake, truth be told he should have clarified in the beginning, but at least it had been cleared up quickly enough before any true animosity had grown. "I'm sorry, I should have-"

"No. It's alright Jaune, we made baseless assumptions to begin with. No need to apologize." Ozpin quickly hopped on, one hand waving away his words. "Now, Vale has a system to hire hunters, I believe that might be what you're looking for."

Jaune nodded, happy to finally get some solid information that would get him on the right track. "So we just need to hire these hunters? I'd still like to set up a channel for communication of course, but acquiring the hunters comes first."

"Yes, well I believe I can help you there Jaune." Ozpin stated as he reached over and tapped on his tablet once again, bringing up the picture of a large building with massive archways and gardens, an impressive sight certainly, though it was lost on Jaune. "This is my school, Beacon Academy."

"I see..." He really didn't, but chose to simply wait for Ozpin to explain himself.

"Jaune, how do you think hunters are made here in Vale?" Ozpin's lips turned into a subtle smile. "They have to learn somewhere, right?"

Ah.

And there it was. The pieces aligned like a soldiers in formation and painted a clearer picture for him.

"So this school produces hunters." He placed a finger on the image, ignoring the small bit of excitement he felt at the image moving under his touch when he slid his finger around. "And you run it." He moved his finger over to Ozpin with a bit of incredulity. Ozpin...well he didn't seem particularly strong and he seemed a bit too young to have that much experience to pass along to the next generation. Though who was he to judge how their culture raised their fighters.

"Yes and I believe we can help each other."

Jaune listened, curious as to what kind of deal he was going to propose. Really, Jaune just wanted to finish his main goals but if Ozpin could offer something better, well who was he to refuse something that could help his home. "What kind of deal?" He returned tentatively.

"I want you to come to my school as a student."

Well...That was certainly a request. A bit strange and Jaune didn't really have the time to put his resources into school. "I'm sorry, but I have a mission to complete first, and I can't be at a school while I negotiate deals with the government."

"Yes, but hear me out." Jaune sat back and folded his hands on his lap obediently, gesturing for him to continue. "Full-fledged hunters can be incredibly expensive especially for a scenario such as this, heading past the borders of our country-"

"Shiloh will provide the means of transportation." Jaune quickly interjected.

"Regardless," Ozpin nodded, apparently understanding his words but ultimately finding them lacking, "it will be expensive, but I can help provide a larger cohort of hunters and huntresses for much cheaper. More importantly, however, I can vouch for you in front of the Council." He nodded to Jaune, raising his drink to him. "I have influence with the Council Jaune, I can expedite any requests you might have. Especially since the Council has a tendency to be a bit...slow."

Glynda tried and failed to repress a loud snort, drawing their attention.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, the Council can be a bit slow when making decisions but I can...push your cause further and faster than you alone could."

"How?" Jaune probed the offer on its sides, looking for a reason to refuse. It seemed a bit too good and he wasn't foolish enough to think that going to school was the only requirement. There had to be something else. As a trader from Ashkelon once told him, all trades go two ways.

"Being the head of the only hunter academy in the entire nation gives me powerful leverage, I'm sure you can understand that."

That was certainly a surprise, Jaune nearly choked on his spit. Leader of the only place that made hunters certainly seemed like it would give the man a very large voice in the governing body out of sheer necessity. From what he could remember his mother telling him, hunters were practically the only line of defense against the Grimm in all the Central Nations bar one. Sure, he knew that Ozpin ran one of them but to think that there was only one in the entire nation and he was holding the keys.

This Council probably afforded him quite a bit of voice in any decision.

"And you'll just...help me? As long as I go to your school?" Once again, Jaune just didn't believe it. Incredulity filled his voice as he voiced his thoughts.

"No," funny enough, the answer filled Jaune with a bit of relief, "In return, I'd like a direct line to the leader of Shiloh for myself. A personal one that the council wouldn't know about."

Jaune paused at the deal, his brain working it slowly as he tested it out in his mind. A personal line of communication to the Lord's Council itself would be...difficult, but it could be worth it, not just for Ozpin, but for Shiloh as a whole. A direct line to a garrison of hunters would undoubtedly prove beneficial should the need ever arise again.

After some seconds, Jaune nodded to Ozpin. "I can do that. Anything else?"

"Aside from your cooperation as a student, no."

"What exactly does that cooperation entail?" Jaune asked, worried now. He hadn't really put much thought but this was a school to train hunters, but hunter he was not and no ambition to become one did he have.

"Learn primarily, whether you apply what you learn or not will be up to you." Ozpin answered, hands lifting his mug up to his lips as he took another long sip. "But most importantly, I'd like you to teach me more about your culture as you learn about ours. I know very little about the outskirts cities and I'd like to learn more before I begin dealing with them."

Ah, there it was. Information. This was all being done for information, which made perfect sense in the grand scheme of things. As long as Jaune chose his words carefully and measured what information to share, it didn't seem like a particularly dangerous arrangement.

Overall, he was sold on the deal.

"I believe that this can work." Jaune said, standing up out of his chair. "When can we start?"

"Tomorrow. For now, I'll fill you in on what you'll be doing in the near future. Don't worry about the Council just yet, we'll get to them as soon as feasibly possible."

Ozpin stood up as well, mug in one hand as the other extended forwards, open palmed.

Jaune just stared at it curiously. Ozpin coughed as he jabbed it forwards a bit towards him, nodding at Jaune with a raised brow.

"...You're supposed to shake it..." Ozpin answered his unspoken question.

"Ah!" Jaune quickly gripped Ozpin's hand in his own and vibrated it before letting go. An embarrassed smile adorned his face as he felt it heat up.

Ozpin's lips quirked into a curious grin.

"Not...conventional. You'll have to learn some general customs as well it seems."

Yes, Jaune stared down at his hand sheepishly, I guess I do.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter!

Wow, I just can't believe that it's been so long already. So much has happened since my last updates that I don't even know what to talk about. But I think I have an idea and I'm just going to test it out here and see how it goes.

-STORY-

So this idea came to me kind of out of the blue one day when I just thought about how most of Remnant seems to be uninhabited or at best, sparsely inhabited. I began thinking of what it would be like if there were still people outside the cities who had survived the times though not without some sacrifices; kind of like some isolated tribes but far larger in scope.

So thus, the outskirts cities were born. Cities which were apart from the main land nations, with their own governments, religions, and laws. Cities which bowed down to their own standards and weren't interested in the squabbles that plagued the main nations of Remnant. Politics, economics, and cultures all so different but similar in those differences.

I just thought it'd be something interesting to explore and decided to roll with it. Of course, Jaune, being my favorite character, would need to be the main catalyst for this.

We know nothing about his family or where he comes from which makes him the ideal blank slate for me to write on. Regardless though, this story will be split up into a couple of major arcs, the first one already having been planned out in its entirety -though it may change as I write.

I suppose we'll just have to see where this story goes.