RWBY: The Rider of Remnant

"There was someone there that day when my home was destroyed. But he wasn't a Good Samaritan, he was something else and whatever he had, he passed it on to me. Now there is something inside of me, something I can barely control. It's like a fire that can never be doused, a rage that cannot be quelled...and a spirit of undying vengeance."

Chapter IV: Forest Fire

The wind was rushing past his ears as Jaune Arc fell from the sky, not something one would normally start a story with, but in the case of Jaune's life, this was not the strangest thing he had ever done. His eyes wandered briefly as he noticed everyone else already beginning to land. Ruby used her rifles recoil, the girl she called Yang using her Gauntlets to propel herself and that boy with the black hair using his guns to slide down the tree. He even spotted that nice girl Pyrrha...as she smashed her way through several trees...

"Seriously are all the girls at this school insanely strong?" Jaune asked before he noticed he was getting closer to the ground. "Oh crap!" he said as he spun the chain and latched it onto a branch. The chain went taut as he swung around the tree and flew towards the forest floor, but not before going through a couple of branches. He quickly drew his sword and stabbed it into a tree, slowing his descent to the floor before coming to a complete stop. He breathed in some calming breaths as he hung from the tree.

"Not my best landing, but better than nothing," he said as flicked his wrist and the chain instantly wrapped itself around his chest.

He then let go off his blade as he fell towards the forest floor and landed as he brushed off some of the leaves and twigs that he caught during his descent. He looked around the forest as he noticed how quiet it was, from the soft sound of the branches moving in the wind to the scamper of small animals that resonated all around him as he stood in the middle the forest. Red eyes then glared from the darkness as Jaune glared back as he slowly reached for his shotgun, the pupils of his own glowing orange as the red eyes recoiled. Suddenly he heard a twig snap as he spun around and pointed his shotgun at the noise, only to discover it was Pyrrha as she held up her hands.

"Friendly!" she said as Jaune blinked before realising what he had almost done.

"Oh shit, sorry! It's an old habit!" he said as he sheathed his gun. "Sorry about that, I spent most of my life on the road. At that point, you instinctively react to any sound you hear...wait how did you find me?" he said as she pointed over to the right.

"We didn't land that far from each other, and I spied you from my scope. That was a rather impressive landing," she said as Jaune blushed slightly. "Well, it looks like we are partners now?" she said as he realised that they had made eye contact, which meant that they were partners now.

'Shit, I forgot about that whole partner thing, this is just great.' He thought as he looked at Pyrrha's smiling face. "Look, Pyrrha is it? I think you should probably find someone else to be your partner. I already said that it wouldn't be a good idea, and it's more for your safety than mine." He as he tried to walk away from her, but found that she now stood in his path.

"I know what you said, and personally I think you are wrong. I don't know why it is you don't want a partner, and I can only assume it's something personal to which I will respect. But like it or not, you are my partner now and I need your help to get through this exam. So how about we get through this test, then decide whether we should be partners?" she said as Jaune merely stared at the girl before he sighed.

"All right, but I still think you're making a mistake with me." He said as the red girl smiled.

"We'll see, now we should probably get moving, it's not wise to stay in one place for too long." She said as she began to walk away.

"Hold up, I need to get my sword back," Jaune said as they looked up to see his sword still impaled on the tree above them. Grabbing the chain on his chest he unfurled the long metal, as the chain moved as if it was possessed and wrapped itself around the blue handle with a simple flick of his wrist. Then with a quick tug, the sword was free of its wooden confinement and landed in his hands.

"Impressive," Pyrrha said as Jaune shrugged and sheathed his sword onto his back and the chain to his chest. "But we should start moving, who knows when we could be attacked by Grimm," she said as she turned and started moving towards the ruins.

Jaune didn't move however as he looked back to the forest as several sets of eyes gazed upon him. The outline of a Beowulf slowly lumbered towards him before he glared and they instantly flinched back in fright. He then turned and followed the girl, only hoping he could get through initiation without setting the forest on fire.

"So..." Pyrrha said as she turned to the boy, "Tell me little about yourself?" she asked as Jaune raised an eyebrow and followed the girl into the forest.

Meanwhile

Ruby had just been partnered up with Weiss as the girl was about to leave her when they suddenly came across a large hoard of Beowolves. It was too many for one huntress to fight on their own so they had no choice but to work together. Weiss was steadying her feet, as she prepared to attack the beast head on. But at the last minute, Ruby got in her way and caused her to redirect her attack away from the girl and set a tree on fire. Which in turn started to set the whole area on fire as both girls had to run away from the blaze.

"What was that!? We could have taken them! That should have been easy!"

"Well perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" she said as she pointed to the small section of the forest that was now on fire. A bird flew by as it seemed to be screaming something about not judging it about smoking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said as she sounded offended by the comment while Weiss just glared at her.

"I'm just surprised someone who talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!" she said as Ruby glared back at her

"Well, I'm sorry you need my help to win a fight. I'm just fine on my own!" she said as Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon, Bravo!" Weiss began to walk off on her partner yet again as Ruby, with an agitated shriek, unfolds Crescent Rose and slices a tree down to the stump.

She then refolds it back and follows her partner as the tree crashes behind her. Neither notice the large dark feather floating onto the fallen trunk behind them. "This would have been a lot easier if Jaune was my partner," she mumbled as she followed the white-haired heiress.

Her mind then wandered to the boy as she wondered if he was okay. She had noticed that he was a little off this morning, as he arrived in the locker room much later than everyone else and seemed to be wanting to avoid anyone at all costs, even meeting her at the cliffs he looked like he was not liking the idea of being here. But why she wondered? What was it that was troubling him? Why did he seem so distant from everyone else? What was the boy hiding? She looked around the forest as she wondered why it was that boy was on her mind.

And why she felt strange around him?

Meanwhile – Jaune and Pyrrha

Initially Jaune was not willing to divulge his past to the girl, but Pyrrha had assured him that she would not pry too far into his personal life, and instead wanted to simply get to know the boy she would be partnering with for the next four years. Seeing that she was at least willing to respect his past, he decided to tell her a little about himself.

Like his hobbies, his weapons and motorcycle as well as the years he spent on the road. About the adventures and contracts, he took as a bounty hunter and telling her what it was like outside the Kingdom protected Walls. He didn't tell her about the 'other guy' inside of him, but luckily stuff like that didn't come up.

They then spent the time walking and talking as Jaune got to know more about the girl. From what he knew from Weiss, she was a four-time champion of a Tournament in Mistral and was on the front of every Pumpkin-Pete Cereal Box around the world. But aside from that, he also learned a little about her, like her favourite food was chocolate, her battles in the Mistral Tournament and her hobbies being training and maintaining her weapons. But he also learned of the reason she came to Beacon was to get away from her celebrity life and try being a Huntress as opposed to her duellist life.

And while they talked Jaune felt surprisingly at peace when he was beside the girl. It wasn't the same as Ruby who seemed to just radiate with Innocence that calmed the other guy, but this girl seemed to just radiate with a kindness that Jaune couldn't help but admire. It made him think that it was possible to have a normal life at Beacon and that maybe he could learn to control the other guy within him.

He just hoped that nothing happened to screw it up, like the Other Guy taking control and scaring her away.

They then stood in front of a large cavern as markings were painted across and around the surface of the rocky cliff side. The paintings depicted a large scorpion like-beast, as small humans fought it off with spears and arrows. Clearly, this was a warning left behind by brave warriors who knew that the creature inside was too dangerous to face one on one. And left it as a warning to ward off anyone who would be foolish enough to venture-

"Think this, is it?" Jaune asked as Pyrrha looked uncertain.

...Clearly, they should have left a clearer warning? 'Danger, stay away'

"I'm not sure, the Headmaster said we are looking for a temple, this looks more like a cavern than a temple," she said as she looked at the cavern. "Plus, I don't think those markings on the entrance are just for show?" she said as she pointed to the cave paintings. "I think we should keep looking?" she advised as Jaune thought about it.

In another life, Jaune would have insisted on going inside the cave despite the warnings on the front. Maybe in another life where he faked his papers and snuck his way into Beacon Academy. But that was not that life he lived, that was not the life where he had no knowledge about aura and Grimm. This was that life that he had to fight back against something that was inside of him, where he had to fight for control with an entity that wanted to punish all the wicked and sinful of mankind. A life where he knew that something like this, obviously contained a beast of great age and fighting prowess.

Not that he couldn't handle it, especially if the other guy took over. But he wanted to avoid revealing what he possessed and not be persecuted for being...whatever the hell he was?

"...Yeah, you're probably right. I think we need to head that way now?" he said as Pyrrha sighed in relief. Glad that the boy was at least willing to listen to her. They both turned away as they prepared to head in the other direction. But then a low rumbling caught their attention as the rumbling grew louder and they turned to the cavern, jumping out of the way as the entrance exploded into rubble.

Emerging from the cave was a large scorpion like-beast with black leather like skin, bone white plating covering its body with a Golden stinger that hung on the end of its tail. The creature also blood red markings glowing on its face as it glared with six beady eyes at the two who dared to get close to its territory. But the true reason it left its cave was a strange energy that radiated off the boy. The energy was like nothing it had ever felt before, yet also familiar at the same time as it sensed great anger and fury swelling inside of him. It then roared as Jaune and Pyrrha instantly grabbed their weapons, Pyrrha unsheathing her shield and sword, while Jaune merely pulled out his sword and shotgun.

"What in the!? Why did it come out!?" Pyrrha asked as wondered why the beast decided to leave the cave, while Jaune mentally cursed.

This is what he was afraid of, while smaller class Grimm like Boarbatusks, Beowolves and even some Ursa tended to avoid him, larger Grimm like Ursa's and Nevermore's were drawn to him as they seemed to want to pick a fight with him. He didn't know why it was the Grimm was attracted to him, but he could only assume it was because of the other guy. Who was currently hammering against Jaune's head as he felt the other guy stirring inside him, ready to take on the beast and annihilate the beast to ash. But Jaune managed to force him back, as he did not want to transform in front of Pyrrha.

The beast roared as it reared back its stinger and thrust it at the pair, they instantly dodging out of the way as Pyrrha and Jaune shot at it with her rifle and his shotgun. The rounds doing little to deter it as it roared and lunged at the pair, who continued to dodge and evade the beast. In any other circumstance, Jaune would have gone full out and let the Rider take control. But with Pyrrha here, he could not afford to lose control now, especially since the Rider was pounding on the inside of his skull. He needed to escape and fast.

"We have to run!" Jaune said as he and Pyrrha slowly backed up, "This thing is too strong for us to take on!" he said as she nodded.

"Agreed! Let's get out of here!" she said as Jaune nodded and loaded a special round into the gun, aimed the barrel at the beast and fired. The explosion caused the beast to recoil as it was temporarily blinded by the extra firepower that was charged by both Jaune and the other guy.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the Deathstalker was left alone as it sensed the energy signature heading further and further away from its lair. Normally, it would have just left it alone if a human had gotten smart enough to leave its domain in peace. But the energy signature inside the boy seemed to be calling out to it, intoxicating it with its anger and fury. Like a moth to a flickering flame. And that flame was calling out to it, and it would not deny its call. It then roared as its sound echoed throughout the forest.

Emerald Forest Temple – Yang and Blake

Yang and Blake looked up to the sound as they heard the distant roar echoed throughout the forest as they instantly tensed up at the sound. "Did you hear that?" Yang asked as Blake nodded, her animal instincts were telling her that something bad was going to happen, and usually, they were right.

"We need to get out of here, we got out relic, so let's go," she said as Yang nodded and pocketed the Knight piece. But just as they were about to leave, they heard a sudden shriek as Blake looked up and stared in awe. "Uh... isn't that your sister?" she asked as Yang looked up and flinched as she saw her baby sister plummeting to the ground.

"Ruby!" she called out as she quickly ran around, trying to predict where she would land and was ready to catch her. Ruby continued to scream as she came plummeting to the ground, she spied her sister as she hoped that she would be able to catch her fall. But from the trajectory and the speed at which she was falling, not a likely chance. But just as she was about to hit the ground, she simply stopped as she floated above the ground.

"...Wha?" she said as was perplexed at how she was just floating in mid-air. She then noticed a strange glow around her weapon as she appeared to be suspended by her weapon.

"That was close, are you okay?" a voice said as she turned to the voice as she spotted a girl wearing bronze armour, with a red skirt and had long red hair. Beside her was someone she instantly recognised.

"Jaune!" she said as the grey glow disappeared and she fell face first to the floor, "Oof!" she said as the sound of sorry followed, but she didn't mind as she quickly sped over to the pair. "I'm so glad you're okay, is this your partner?" she asked as Jaune nodded.

"Uh...yeah, she's my partner, this is Pyrrha Nikos. She's famous apparently?" Jaune said as Pyrrha smiled slightly. "Pyrrha, this is Ruby, I met her yesterday at the landing pads," he said as Pyrrha nodded and held out her hand to her.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ruby," she said as Ruby nodded.

"Likewise," she said as she shook the older girls hand. While back at the temple, Yang and Blake stared in awe at what had just happened.

"Did your sister just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked as Yang had no idea what to say,

"I think? ...Hey, wait a minute, I know that guy! He's the one who vomited on my shoes!" she said as she was about to call out to him when a loud roar interrupted her as a large Ursa came bounding out of the trees. Right before pink lightning struck its back and it fell to the floor, dead as a doorknob, as a strange orange haired girl fell off its back.

"Ah...it broke," she said as a boy wearing green and white emerged from the forest as he leant on the decaying corpse.

"Nora...Don't...do that...again..." he said in-between breaths as he looked up to her, only to find that she had somehow disappeared and reappeared beside the temple. Her eyes shining in wonder at the golden Rook piece that sat on the pedestal. She then proceeded to pick up the piece and sing a song about being Queen of the Castle. "Nora!" the boy yelled as she stopped and smiled.

"Coming Ren!" she said as the girl, now known as Nora, bounded over to the boy named Ren.

"...Did she just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked as Yang finally had enough.

"Okay, that's it! Can everyone just stop for five seconds, before anything else happens!?" she yelled as her hair glowed and her eyes flashed red. Everyone in the forest, including the Deathstalker, as everyone just stayed quiet...for exactly five seconds.

"Uh...Yang?" Ruby said as she then pointed up, they all looked up as a large Nevermore soared high in the sky.

"How could you just leave me!?" a small white speck said, as they could only assume it was Weiss.

"I told you to jump!" she said as Ren, Nora, Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha and Yang stared up at the sky.

"She's going to fall," Blake said as Ruby scoffed.

"No, she won't," she said as Ren then pointed up.

"She's falling," he said as Ruby then panicked and tried to rush out to her.

"Oh, Sugar Honey Ice Tea!" she yelled as she quickly ran towards the spot, holding her arms out expecting to catch her in her arms. Only for Weiss to fall right on the girl and plant her into the dirt. The others cringed as the dust slowly settled and Weiss was lying face first in the dirt, with Ruby right under her.

"...You...dolt..." she mumbled in the dirt as Ruby.

"...Sorry..." she said as Weiss got up off her and brushed the dirt off her dress, leaving the poor girl in the dirt. Luckily Jaune went over to help her as he offered a helping hand. "Thanks," she said as Jaune nodded.

"Don't mention it," he said as they all gathered at the temple.

"Okay, so the gangs all here...now what?" Yang asked as they all stood in front of the temple.

"Well, we all have out relics, I think it would be best if we head back to the Cliffs. There's no need to drag this out any longer than it has to," Ren said as Nora held up her relic, while Yang, Ruby and Jaune held up there's. Jaune grabbing the Rook while Ruby the Knight. Suddenly the forest rumbled as a large Deathstalker burst through the treeline and roared at the assembled children.

"Is that a Deathstalker!?" she said as the beast turned towards the gathered eight and roared. It then charged as it prepared to battle the eight teens. "Well, now we can all die together?" Yang said as a joke, while Ruby deployed her scythe.

"Not if I can't help it!" she said as she sped off to the beast.

"Ruby! Stop!" she tried to say as the small girl sped off at high speed towards the creature. Her semblance pushing her even faster as she prepared to strike the beast down with one stroke. But the beast was far stronger than she thought as her attack did little damage as it easily batted her away.

"Ow," she said as she got up, a sudden screech caught her attention as the Nevermore she rode on turned its attention to her and began to attack her. Large feathers flying of its body as the razor-sharp objects came flying towards the girl.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang yelled as Ruby couldn't help but agree as she sped away from the hail of feathers, only to get snagged by her cloak and came to a full stop.

"Damn it!" she said as she tugged at her cloak, "It won't come loose!" she yelled as she continued to tug on the fabric. Suddenly she felt a large shadow dwarfed her as the Deathstalker had managed to rush up to her and prepared to spear the girl with its stinger.

"RUBY!" Yang yelled as the stinger was thrust towards the girl, she crossed her arms in front of her in a vain attempt to shield herself. But she felt something wrap around her chest as she was suddenly pulled back with extreme force, the section of her pinned cloak ripping off as she flew back and into the arms of a tall boy with blond hair as Jaune smirked down at her.

"I told you the chain had its uses," he said as he placed the girl on the ground and the chain wrapped itself back around his chest. He then turned to the Deathstalker as it prepared to attack again, only for a girl in white to sprint in front of them and seal its tail in a block of ice.

"That's not going to hold it for long! We need to get out of here!" Weiss said as they all nodded and turned to head for the forest, but just before they could the Deathstalker broke free of its ice prison and managed to rush at the eight. Jaune at the last minute pushed Pyrrha out of the way, as the beast now stood between the others and Jaune.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out but was stopped by as the Nevermore fired more feathers at the eight.

"I'll be fine! Just go!" he ordered as the Deathstalker roared and thrust its stinger at the boy, only for Jaune to jump out of the way as the beast continued to attack him. Pyrrha wanted to help him but was stopped by Weiss as she pulled at the girl's arm.

"There is nothing we can do! We have to go, now!" she said as she and the others began to run away from the battle. But Ruby and Pyrrha stared one last time before they too had to leave the boy to his fate.

Jaune on, the other hand, was glad that they left, as he now could let loose the being inside him and burn this beast to ashes. But the problem was what would stop the other guy from going even further and hunt down any one with sin on their hands. Not to mention, what would happen if they turned around and come back for him and saw what he really was. So, he needed to bargain with the Other Guy, offer him something in return for his cooperation. And he knew what he would have to do.

"Okay, listen up," he spoke as the entity stirred inside him. "I'm going to let you take control of my body to beat this thing, but only for five minutes, that's all you're getting! If any of them found out what I am, I doubt they would ever consider me a friend and I need to have some semblance of a normal life. If you do, I won't stop you from going out tonight and hunting down some sinners, but only if they don't find out about you, deal?" he asked as the Rider stirred within him, considering the deal. Jaune then felt a stir as he felt the being understood as Jaune's eyes glowed orange.

"All right..." Jaune said as smoke started to rise form his collar. "Let's do this," flesh burned away as a flaming skull with cracks running throughout the surface took its place, beady orange eyes glared at the beast before him as parts of his armour began to warp.

The white metal turned grey with a skull symbol taking its place on the chest plate and pauldron with small spikes protruding on the shoulders of the leather jacket. The sword on his back warping until the metal sheath was dark grey with a flame like a pattern as the cross guard turned into a screaming skull with a deep red handle. He then grabbed the chain around his chest, as he whipped out the chain that grew spikes, and glowed like it was on fire.

The Deathstalker suddenly backed away as it stood before the now flaming boy and the demonic roar that seemed to echo in the distance.

Cliffs

Static screens were all that they could see as Ozpin and Glynda looked at their scrolls. "He's unleashed it again," Glynda said as Ozpin could have sworn he heard the fear in her voice. "This is a mistake Ozpin, that thing inside him is going to burn everything in the forest and there's nothing we can do to stop it..." she turned as she glared at the man. "I told you we should have sent him away when we had the chance! Now you've gone and doomed us all!" she said as the man merely shook his head.

"Be patient, Glynda, at least give Mister Arc a chance. That is after all why we accepted him into Beacon? To help him control his power, this is necessary if he wants to control it. He needs to face this challenge,"

"That maybe, but we still don't know what we're dealing with! And you haven't seen what he possesses inside of him, that thing that killed those men! You're playing with Fire Ozpin, and it's going to burn us all!" she said as he merely stared at the static screen.

"We shall see, Glynda...we shall see..."

With the Others

The other continued to run as they dashed through the forest, their hearts pounding and their breaths heaving as they continued to run. But a dark thought was lingering in their minds, as they thought about the boy they left behind. Sure, it was not their fault, and he did tell them to run, but the guilt was still there. It was still gnawing at the corners of their mind, mocking them for not doing anything to help and instead of running away like cowards. They had left him to die, while they ran.

Pyrrha suddenly stopped as she looked back to the forest, the thought of her partner still lingering in her mind as she cursed at herself for not going back.

"Pyrrha, what are you doing? We have to keep moving?" Weiss said as she shook her head.

"No... No, I'm going back for him. He was supposed to be my partner and I left him to die, how could I do something like that!? What kind of person am I!?" she said as Weiss shook her head.

"We barely knew him! Plus, you all heard what he said, he told us to run. I'm sure he has some plan to escape, but we can't help him. That Deathstalker was too much for us, not to mention with the Nevermore flying over our heads, there was no way we could help him," she said as Pyrrha shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, I'm still going back for him!" she said as she turned to head back to the battle.

"But that's insane! You'll get yourself killed! Somebody tell her!" she said as she turned to the others. But they seemed to be debating themselves as they too didn't know what they should do. Should they turn back and help him? Or should they continue to the cliff and hope for the best? It was a hard choice to make.

"...I'll come too," Ruby said as she stood next to her. This caused Pyrrha to smile as the younger girl stood by her.

"I guess I'm coming too?" Yang said as she walked over to her sister. "Can't have my baby sister going up against life threatening odds by herself, can I?" she asked as Blake then stood beside her.

"And as your partner, I suppose I must go too?" she said Yang grinned, while Weiss could only look at them in shock.

"We'll come too! I've never fought a Deathstalker before, I wonder if you could ride it?" Nora said as they looked at her strangely.

"That means we'll help too, it would be shameful to leave a fellow Huntsman behind," he said as he and Nora then stood with them. The only one left was Weiss as she stood alone, as she looked amongst the assembled six, surprised by their devotion to saving a boy they barely knew.

"You do know that the likely chances of us coming out alive are slim to none, right?" she asked as they all nodded. She then sighed as she walked over to them. "All right, but at least someone tells me they have a plan," she asked as Ruby nodded.

"Don't worry, I've got it all sorted, let's go!" she said as they all turned back to the clearing. But suddenly a large wall of fire sprung out in front of them as they were forced to back away as the entire forest was starting to burn. A loud demonic roar echoing all around them, followed by the pain filled sounds of a monster in agony.

"What the hell!" Yang said as she and everyone backed away from the flames as they continued to burn the forest. A large tree branch broke off and landed before the seven as the smoke and flames became too much for them.

"We have to get out of here!" Blake said as she held a hand over her mouth, to stop herself from inhaling any more smoke.

"But Jaune!" Ruby said before she had to jump away from another falling branch.

"We'll come back for him! But right now, we need to get out of here! Before we're all burned to a crisp!" Ren said as they all turned around and ran out of the forest. While high above the Nevermore looked down as a large section of the forest burned. And at the centre of the blaze was its comrade and a being that was engulfed in flames as the demonic presence still radiated off the being. And for the first time in its entire life...

It was afraid

Jaune – Emerald Temple

Jaune, now possessed by the Rider, roared as it continued to battle the Deathstalker. It's fiery chain whipping and striking against the hard armour of the Grimm, as the beast roared in pain. It swung its stinger at the boy, who only dodged and pulled out his shotgun, that warped into a darkly twisted counterpart, and blasted at the beast. The Deathstalker roared in pain as part of its face was blown off, two of its six eyes now missing from its skull.

It then roared as it attacked with its pincer as it wrapped around the boy's chest, hoping to crush the boy, only for the boy to grab the pincer and slowly pry it open. But before it could do anything else it was kicked back and a metal chain was wrapped around its tail as it looked up and then at the Rider as the Rider pulled and began to spin the Deathstalker around the forest.

The large beast smashing and crashing into the forest as tree after tree was uprooted and the beast was then thrown as it crashed into another tree before it came to a stop and it weakly stood up. Two of its legs were snapped like twigs, as the others were barely helping to keep the Deathstalker up. It looked back at the boy, as the Rider slowly walked towards the Deathstalker, the flaming chain scraping against the ground as everything around it was burning. The burning blaze behind the being brought only more fear to the Deathstalker as the Rider only glared and prepared to finish the job.

The Deathstalker was afraid, this was too much for Grimm to handle as the beast now realised that the call from the being was a trap. To lure creatures of darkness towards the boy so that he could kill them and burn them from existence, it would not return to the source like his brothers, he would simply cease to exist. And that made the creature afraid. So far it had lost three of its eyes, two of its legs and the pincer on its right side was hanging by a threat. Any longer, and it would perish to the boy.

In a last-ditch effort, it spun around and smashed a couple of trees towards the boy, who quickly whipped the chain around and cut the trees in half. But while the boy was distracted, it took the chance to escape as it quickly scurried away and proceeded to head to the cliffs...

Right in the direction the others had run off to.

The Rider growled then roared a horrible demonic noise as the flames on its head grew bigger and brighter as it realised it had been deceived. It then looked to the left as its eyes flashed orange and the sound of an engine echoed in the forest. Jaune's motorbike zoomed towards it at incredible speeds, before coming to a stop before the Rider. Like the Rider, its shape had changed as the engine glowed red hot, while the wheels were fully consumed in flames.

But before it could go any further, it felt its body halt as Jaune had managed to take control. "Hold up!" he said as the Rider turned to the boy, or rather an astral version of him. "Remember our deal, you had five minutes and you used it up! Plus, they can't find out about you! I'm taking control again!" he said as the Rider growled.

"We had a deal!" he reaffirmed one last before it relented as the Rider fell to his knees as the flames died and flesh began to grow back on his head.

Jaune breathed in heavy breaths as he felt control return to him as he looked around at the burnt forest as the flames had died and sighed in relief. It wasn't easy to bargain with him, but when a deal was struck, the Rider tended to uphold the bargain. He looked up as he watched the Deathstalker running at full speed in the direction the others went. He cursed as he realised that the Grimm was too far gone to catch up to it in time. He looked over to the motorbike as he sighed.

"There is no way I'm going to able to explain this," he said as he got on the bike as he pulled back the throttle and sped off towards the cliffs.

The Others – Beacon Cliff's

The others stopped to catch their breaths as they managed to outrun the blaze and reach the large temple that was situated on the cliff face. However, they were currently barred as the Nevermore was effectively blocking them off as it hovered over the ruins, waiting for the other participants to cross its path.

"Well that's just great," Yang says as she peers from the corner of the pillar.

"Doesn't look like it's going to be moving anytime soon. We need a plan to distract it, then make it to the cliffs. Hopefully, then, we can get one of the teachers to go help Jaune," Pyrrha said as Weiss looked back to the large smoke that drifted off into the wind.

"If he isn't already dead by now?" she said but flinched when Pyrrha turned her glare to her, but just before they could do anything the Deathstalker burst from the treelines. For a moment, they felt fear surge on their chests as they realised it was the same creature they left Jaune to fight. Badly injured, but still alive. But before they could mourn, the creature roared as it charged towards the group.

"Run!" Ruby said as they all made a beeline to the cliffs. This caught the attention of the Nevermore as it began to fire feathers at the seven. Each member ducking and dodging out of the way as feather after feather skewered the battlefield.

"Nora! Distract it!" Ren shouted as the girl nodded.

"Roger!" she said as she pulled out her weapon, a silver grenade launcher with intricate markings, and fired multiple shots at the large bird. The grenades, marked with pink hearts, exploded on the creature and forced it to fly away from the fight. If only temporary, to circle the ruins. But this gave the others time to get to the bridge as Pyrrha deployed her rifle.

"Ren! help cover me!" she said as the boy nodded.

"Okay!" he said as he fired at the Deathstalker that was charging them. Most of them managed to make it across, except for Nora, Ren and Pyrrha as the Nevermore soared and smashed the bridge to pieces. "Damn it! We have to take out the Deathstalker!" he said as Pyrrha turned to the Nevermore.

"What about the Nevermore!?" she asked as several gun shots resonated, as Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang avoided another head-on collision.

"They will have to handle it on their own, for now, let's deal with what's in front of us," he said as he unloaded another round of bullets at the Deathstalker's tough exoskeleton, but did little to harm the creature. The creature did try its best to protect its damaged parts, as Nora deployed her grenade launcher into a hammer charged and she slammed it down on the creature. But even that was not enough, as it merely shook off the attack and proceeded to attack the three. Pyrrha managed to bring up her shield as she blocked one of its pincers while Ren ran around the beast to disorient the creature with his weapons.

Meanwhile, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang were lined up on the ruins as they all fired at the Nevermore that flew around the ruins. "Stay still stupid bird!" Yang yelled as her eyes flashed red and she unloaded another bout of rocket shells at the beast. But the beast easily evaded the rounds as it flew around the ruins, and then launched another barrage of the feathers at the girls. Each one had to jump out of the way, with Weiss using her glyphs to create a running platform for herself to the floor, while Blake merely used her Gunn and Ribbon to swing her way down to the ruined floor.

Yang took a more direct approach as she used the explosions of her weapons to propel herself to another section of the temple. While Ruby used her speed and weapon to make it down the floor. "We need to stop it moving around," Weiss said as she looked between the Nevermore, the cliff and Weiss.

"I have an idea, but it's risky," she said as Weiss looked over to the beast.

"At this point, I'll take just about anything," she said as the others nodded.

"Okay, Weiss Cover me," she said as Weiss nodded and prepared herself for whatever she had planned. Ruby then saw the bird soaring towards them as she spotted her sister on top of a ruin. "Sis! Draw it to the cliffs!" she yelled as she grinned and jumped right into the path of the Nevermore. She managed to land on its face, and hold its beak apart as she fired round after round into the bird's mouth.

"Eat! This!" she said with each shot as the beast roared in pain. Distracted long enough, it never noticed it was flying right into the path of the cliff until Yang jumped onto its back and slam into the cliff. The beast roared in pain as it fell into the ruins. But before it could move, Weiss jumped down from a column and froze its tail with some ice. Blake then threw one end of her weapon to Yang as they both held the ribbon between two columns as they signalled Ruby.

Ruby then jumped off the top of the ruins and landed on the ribbon, drawing it back as Weiss summoned a few black glyphs that held it in place. Effectively turning it into a giant slingshot as Weiss aimed it at the Nevermore. "Only you could come up with a plan like this," Weiss said as she used her glyphs like a scope.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked as Weiss smirked with confidence.

"Hmm! Can I!"

"... Can you?"

"Of course, I can!" she said as Ruby looks forward and pumps Crescent Rose as Weiss turns the circle from black to red and releases Ruby at such a speed that the ground behind her launch cracks.

Rose petals flying from her ascent with each new shot, she gets closer and closer to the trapped Grimm until her scythe catches the Nevermore's neck in its blade and causes them both to fall to the cliff wall. Weiss raises her sword and creates a series of white circles up the wall, which Ruby dashes through by firing the entire way up.

Yang, Blake, and an exhausted Weiss watch her climb up with the bird in her grasp until, both warrior and monster crying out, Ruby reaches the top of the cliff, circles up, fires one last shot, and rends the Nevermore's head from its shoulders in a shower of petals. She lands beside the severed head as the body of the giant Nevermore falls lifeless to the ruins and crevice below while the girls looked up in awe.

"Show off," Yang said as she smiled at her sister. Ruby then jumped down, using her weapon to drag down to the floor as she ran back to the group.

"Come on, we've got to help the others!" she said as they suddenly remembered the other and ran back to them.

Back with the others, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were in the for the of their lives as they continued to fight against the large Deathstalker. Despite it being injured, it proved to be far stronger than they expected as it clearly had enough experience with fighting multiple huntsmans at once.

Pyrrha doing her best to fight the beast as she used her shield to block its stinger, but was thrown back from the force. Ren running up the arm of the beast as he shot at the stinger, only to then be batted away as he slammed into a column.

"REN! Nora yelled as she grew angry and charge at the beast, only for the monster to spin around and knock her away with its tail. This left on Pyrrha as she stood before the large beast. But she did not relent as she held up her shield and prepared to fight to the bitter end.

"Pyrrha!" she heard her name call out, as she turned to see the others running toward her. "We're coming to help!" Ruby said as they all ran to in that moment, the beast took its chance to strike and quickly knocked the shield out of her hand.

With little time to react, Pyrrha was then knocked back as she flew high into the air and off the cliff towards the ravine. Time seemed to slow down for everyone as the red-haired champion slowly fell towards the large abyss as she looked at the shocked face of the others as she fell. Yang, Ruby and Weiss screaming her name, while Blake reached for her weapon. But she knew that she would not make it in time.

'Is this my fate? To die like this, before I could ever become a huntress?' Pyrrha thought as she soon felt gravity begin to take her as. 'Then I guess it's for the best, for not helping him like I promised...' she slowly closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable.

But suddenly the sound of an engine roaring caught her attention as a black shaped blur sped towards her, the Deathstalker turned and screamed as several fiery shots impacted in its face.

The blur then shot off a rubble like a ramp and caught her in mid-air. Before a long chain flew from the figure wrapping itself around a pillar, as the force sent them pulled them both back to the bridge. They landed with a loud screech as the sound of tires skidding across the floor brought everything to a halt as the world seemed to stop where the only sound that could be heard was the engine of a motorbike as everyone stared in awe.

Pyrrha looked up in stunned awe as she was now in the arms of Jaune as he glared at the Deathstalker, for a moment she could have sworn his eyes flashed orange before he turned down to the girl. "Hey," he said as she blinked. "Sorry I'm late?" said with a smile as she only stared at him.

For a moment, everything was silent as they all just stared at the sight.

"Jaune!?B-But how!? The Fire!? And the bike!? Where'd the Bike come from!?" she said out as the sound of her voice was enough to shake the Deathstalker out of its shock as it suddenly roared and drew their attention.

"Later, right now we've got to deal with him!" he said as turned to Nora and Ren, who managed to get back up. "Nora hit it with everything you've got! Ren, try to take out its eyes!" he ordered as they both nodded and began to attack the beast.

"Pyrrha," he said as she turned to him. "How sharp is that sword of yours, can it cut through its skin?" he asked as she blinked and looked at her sword and shook her head. He then pulled out his sword as he handed it to her.

"Then use mine, it's sharper than it looks," he said as he handed her the blade. "get on the back," he said as she stared before nodding.

"I'm assuming you have a plan?" she said as she got onto to the back of his motorbike. He nodded as he pulled back on the throttle of the bike.

"Something like that," he said as he then sped towards the Deathstalker, tires screeching on the stone floor as they sped towards the beast.

The Deathstalker roared as it tried to get away, but the constant bombardment of grenades made it hard to think, as Nora cackled as she shot after shot at the beast and forced it to back away from the girl and into the open. It didn't help that at the same time, Jaune was shooting with his shotgun as fiery explosions impacted against its shell. Ren then speeding towards the beast as he managed to jump over its head and shot multiple bullets at the creature's face. With luck, some managed to hit their target as the creature lost its last eyes and was now completely blind.

Seeing this, Jaune and Pyrrha sped towards the beast as Jaune jumped over the gap with his bike and then sped to the beast, "Ready!" he yelled as they got closer. "Now!" he yelled as he forced the bike onto its side as they slid under the beast. While doing that, Pyrrha stabbed his sword under the beast and flooded it with her aura and semblance as they carved a huge gash under the Deathstalker.

The Deathstalker screamed in pain as pitch black smoke poured out from under it, its body thrashing and crashing across the open grass as it desperately tried to stop the pain that it felt. But nothing could be done as slowly 'bled' from its wounds. Jaune then got the bike back up straight as he skidded to a stop and looked at the dying creature,

"It's not dead yet!" Pyrrha said as Jaune cursed and pulled out his shotgun.

'Hey! I could use a little help!' he begged the Rider as he felt a surge of energy rushing through his arm.

The barrel of his gun then become bright as an intense heat could be felt across the barrel. But Jaune didn't care as he aimed the gun at the beast as his eyes flashed orange and he pulled the trigger. A large ball of fire then shot out of the barrel as it sped towards the dying Deathstalker, who let out one last deafening scream before a large explosion rocked the ruins. A large plume of smoke and dust covered the area s everyone turned with baited breaths to the centre of the smoke as it slowly dissipated.

Eyes then widened as they saw the entire head of the Deathstalker was blown to bits as thick black smoke poured out of the new hole. The body then fell forward as it landed on the ground, dead and disappearing into the wind. But unlike the usual way Grimm died. The process seemed to be faster and a small flame singed at the smoke before it and the Deathstalker was soon completely gone.

Jaune then lets out a sigh of relief as he holstered his weapon and shut off the engine of his bike, Pyrrha too taking a deep sigh as she leant on the boys back, but then shot back as she blushed. "That was close," he said as he failed to notice that, to which she was thankful.

"Y-yes, I suppose it was," she said as she noticed the other running to them. "Well, at least everything's over now. By the way, where did you get this bike?" she asked as the boy just shook his head.

"Later, Pyrrha, much later..." Jaune said as he looked down at his hand as he felt the power slowly fade. He narrowed his eyes as he wondered what this meant for him.

Later – Beacon Atrium

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark," Ozpin says the screen of the auditorium shows each of their profiles as the boys are lined up for the applauding audience to see as Ozpin continues. "The four of you retrieved the black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester." The crowd in the atrium cheered. While Cardin grinned as he felt pride. He then turns as four girls then line up.

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose" he says as Weiss looks to her right surprised, where Ruby is obviously in shock as Yang goes over to hug her sister.

"I'm so proud of you!" she said as Ruby was just left to a stuttering mess, while Jaune smiled from a distance.

"Good for her," Pyrrha said as she stood by his side. "She truly deserves it," she said as Jaune couldn't help but nod. Ozpin then motioned them to come up to the stage as Jaune felt slightly nervous about standing in front of a lot of people. Mostly because he could sense all the small sins that radiated from everyone in the room. But luckily being near Pyrrha and Ruby were helping to keep it calm.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR..." he said as the crowd cheers and claps as Nora laughs and gives Ren a hug. Jaune smiled as he saw this while Pyrrha chuckled.

'Well so far so good,' Jaune thought to himself as he stood beside his partner and the new team. 'I managed to make it through the exam, I didn't lose control and managed to keep my secret intact,' he thought to himself as he looked to his partner. 'Maybe I can have a normal life here? Maybe things won't be so bad, so long as we have Pyrrha as our leader,' Jaune thought as he turned to the girl.

"Led by...Jaune Arc"

Jaune became frozen as he heard his name being said as he snapped his head back to the man who seemed to be smirking at the boy. "Eh?" he said as the man nodded to the stunned boy.

"Congratulations young man," he said as his teammates and friends cheered as Pyrrha gave him a friendly bump on the shoulder, not that he noticed. But then grew concerned as he just seemed to be staring at Ozpin. Said man then raised an eyebrow as the boy just stared at him for the longest time possible.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as he stared before screaming at the top of his lungs...

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?"

And Scene. Well, here is Chapter IV of The Rider of Remnant. Yes, I made Jaune leader of JNPR, One, because it's canon. Two, I have a very good reason as to why, which will be explained in Chapter V. And as for why I didn't write them asking how he got his bike to the forest, I will explain that in the next chapter, after Jaune and Ozpin have a talk.

But now that Jaune has entered Beacon Academy, how will the new Rider of Remnant handle the responsibilities and task that are involved with being a leader? And how long can he keep his secret from the others? And will Jaune ever be able to learn how to control the power of the Rider? Find out next time in...

Chapter V: The Rider's Lesson