"Seems like forever since we were here." Blake commented as she and Yang walked down the corridors of the freshly reclaimed Beacon dormitories.
"Yeah, its been years and so much has happened, I wonder of our bunk beds are still intact." Yang casually replied.
"Why don't we find out?" Blake challenged as they proceeded inwards.
"I can't believe its still here!" Ruby practically squealed when Yang and Blake walked into their former bedroom.
"Ruby what is it?" Yang asked.
"My copy of the 15th chapter of Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure! I thought it was lost to time forever!" she happily proclaimed as she sat down to read it

/============================================================================================================/

Jaune groaned deeply as he leaned back onto one of the library's wooden chairs. It wasn't very comfortable but he couldn't bring himself to move, not before resting a couple minutes first. With a lazy hand he reached out and closed perhaps the fifteenth book he read that day, and for perhaps the fifteenth time that day the distinct sense of disappointment passed through him as just like every other book he had read in the last three weeks it failed to properly answer any of the questions he had in relation to any of his stand's powers or stands in general. Looking across the table he saw his study buddy Nora fared little better as she was currently lying face down on her book, which he had to admit was a sight which that continued to surprise him given how enthusiastic and energetic she normally was.

When Nora first lead him to Beacon's main library he couldn't help but feel astonished, it was easily the size of a great hall that mythic heroes of lore would build, inherit or otherwise reside in before or after their legendary quests, the banners that hung from the arches bearing Beacon's symbol only served to reinforce the point. The bookshelves themselves were easily taller than the majority of the buildings back in Sino and packed to the brim with books as well as hard drives that contained data easily accessible through the holographic terminals. Three weeks ago he was certain that he would find all the information he would need in order to figure out how his stand worked and how he could control it but now it seemed more akin to an exercise in futility.

While their was no shortage of articles, books and other mediums that claimed to provide information on predicting the future, time manipulation and possible explanations to his bizarre echo locator ability their was relatively little that he could use outside of the theory portion of his classes. And given how frustrated Nora was at the end of each trip he could safely guess she hadn't found any of the answers she wanted either.

With a quick glance at his silver pocket watch he forced himself up, lunch would be starting soon and with it came perhaps the only chance he had to relax and recharge before his next class with professor Bartholomew Oobleck and his continuing lecture on the faunus revolution.

"Nora, its time to wake up we have lunch now." he said as he gently nudged Nora from her slumber. With a sloth-like motion Nora raised her head. He choked down a laugh as the normally hyperactive and overly-friendly girl gave him the same nasty look any of his sisters would give him when he woke them early in the morning.

"Did you find anything?" she finally asked when he didn't explode or otherwise die horribly.

"No but we do need to go now. Come on we can always come back tomorrow." he replied as he helped her to her feet.

He couldn't help but smirk as she stumbled through the exit, it wasn't the first time she fell asleep in the library while searching for any information relevant to her or his stand and while she would go back to being her usual excitable self within minutes and announce her intent to continue the endeavor tomorrow he kept wishing they would find something relevant already.

As he exited the library shortly the door closed behind her, he was greeted by what for all intents and purposes looked like an art gallery. It's violet walls a clear contrast to the grey and brown of Beacon's library. As he stepped in he couldn't help but be drawn to each piece present, some were works he saw in old art books, others were new to him and others he found just bizarre.

One had a pair of farmers with eyes so realistic he swore that someone was hiding behind the painting just watching him, another depicted armored horsemen charging hopelessly outnumbered into hordes of Grimm and achieving victory despite overwhelming odds, a third showed a woman that he initially thought was one of his sisters or mother wearing an oriental turban and exotic dress with what for all intents and purposes looked like an improbably large pearl earring. Those were the first in a series of pieces that he swore he could spend an eternity looking at without loosing interest.

Oddly enough the most eye-catching were what was what could no doubt be called street art, entire walls painted in mosaic depicting people he didn't know and various aspects of society, hundreds of tiny emblems and images painted carefully around doors, windows and other more 'conventional' artwork and more original pieces he swore could not have been done by anything other than an expert artist. He continued on until he came across a somewhat bland image fitted into an ornate frame. Whether it was due to the quality of the other artworks or something else entirely, the relative blandness of it stood out. In it was an image of a giant Ursa looming over a downed figure as it tried to defend itself with a large weapon in a beautiful red forest, not so unlike the forever fall forest he and his friends would be soon visiting with Goodwitch in about a weeks time serving as the background.

Something about it was bizarre, unlike the others he saw until now this one looked almost like a photograph with a clarity that seemed to burn itself into his brain. After several moments he swore the Ursa moved for the briefest of instances, he leaned in closer and narrowed his eyes until he could feel his breath off the piece. As he did he saw the Ursa's eye shift to look at him, with a gasp he tried to back away but found himself unable to. Before he could react the Ursa suddenly snapped at him, extending it's head out of the painting to bite him over the head.

He woke up suddenly with a yelp as the nightmare ended.

"Jaune are you alright?" His partner asked.

He turned to her "Just a bad dream." he said trying his best to force a convincing smile and slow his frantic breathing.

"Oooh, what happened." Nora asked from her bed propping her head up with her arm.

"I was, attacked. By a giant Ursa. Weirdly enough it happened after we left Beacon's library." 'Probably because we're spending too much time there.' his brain pointed out.

"That's not so bad." Nora casually commented.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the upcoming forever fall trip? I know Ruby has been nervous about it." Pyrrha asked.

"I, I think so." he continued after failing to come up with a good explanation 'but why the art gallery?' his brain asked.

"Jaune if you are anxious about it you can talk to us or our friends in team RWBY. If you still feel bad you can always talk to the teachers or perhaps a Councillor, Beacon provides services for anyone who needs it free of charge." Pyrrha said as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Don't worry, I'm certain Yang will comfort you." Nora teased.

'Clearly you don't know my relationship with Yang.' "I know, its just-" he managed before his brain decided to leave the conversation.

"When you are ready to talk with us, we will be here for you anytime you need it." Pyrrha said after a few moments with a warm smile.

'Huh. Maybe it's just my anxiety about the trip.' he thought as Pyrrha got up. He laid back down and put his hands behind his head 'Still doesn't explain the bizarre art gallery though.'

/============================================================================================================/

"So then I found myself surrounded by Ursa." Nora dramatically intoned at their breakfast table.

"Beowolves." Ren corrected.

"What's wrong Jaune, you look troubled." Pyrrha asked.

Jaune grip tightened on his silverware "I'm just frustrated, that's all."

"Why is that Jaune?" his crush casually asked.

"Huh?" he somehow managed, surprised that Weiss Schnee suddenly decided to talk to him during their breakfast.

"She asked you why you're frustrated." His fake girlfriend barked.

"I don't think that's your concern." He spat back.

"You might as well tell us, we're just going to keep asking until you do." Ren calmly spoke.

As much as he hated the idea he gave in once he realized Ren was right "It's mostly because of my pet project with Nora, to put it ridiculously bluntly we know too little about what we're researching and no matter where we look or who we talk to we can't seem to find any relevant information on the subject and it's driving me insane!" He yelled as he slammed his fist into the table, unintentionally implanting his damaged silverware into the furniture and causing everyone else to flinch.

"Basically me, Nora, Russel and no doubt a few other people we have met already have this 'thing' in common with each other called-"

"EVIL SPIRITS!" Nora yelled distracting everyone for a few moments and derailing Jaune's train of thought.

'thanks Nora, you're a big help.' "They are called Stands. Basically it's a special manifestation that is tied to a person's psyche like how a person's aura and semblance is tied to their soul." he resumed once his left ear stopped ringing.

"Oh. Can you show it to us?" Wiess politely asked despite wearing the face of someone debating whether he was crazy or not.

"Not at this time no. I am still learning how to control it." 'Besides I doubt you would be able to truly see it anyway.' he said

"Wouldn't it be better to spend your free period in the training rooms rather than in the library with Nora?" Ruby asked.

"I. Don't think that's a good idea. Given what happened with Russel and all." he nervously said.

"Perhaps Miss Goodwitch can help you, she keeps offering supplementary lessons to everyone." Weiss suggested.

"Or forcing it upon those who fail in her classes." Yang intoned.

A shiver went down his spine at the thought of what 'lessons' Glynda might have in store "I think I'll stick to research for now, don't want anything hindering my duties as team leader."

"You're loss." Yang mocked.

"It's good that you're taking your responsibilities seriously, unlike some people." Wiess said with a pointed glare at Ruby. "How are your preparations for the trip to forever fall coming?"

"We're all set." Nora proudly declared.

"We are still deciding on what to bring with us." Ren corrected.

"But we will be ready by the time we need to leave." Pyrrha finished.

"Ugh. deciding what to bring and what to leave behind is so frustrating." Ruby whined.

"Not really, all we need is single small meal for each of us, some tools to make burrowing into trees and collecting the sap that comes out easier for us and a first aid kit for Cardin." Jaune causally commented earning strange looks from everyone.

"Why would we need any of those things?" Wiess demanded.

"Huh?" he blurted out.

"Nobody ever mentioned anything about collecting tree sap so what makes you think we will be doing that?" Blake asked him.

"Why do we need just the one meal, we have no idea how long we will be there." Yang barked.

"Is Cardin going to get hurt? If so why do we need to waste a perfectly good first aid kit on him?" Nora asked.

"But we-" Jaune started.

"Are you alright Jaune? You're not having some bizarre episode or something?" Ruby interrupted.

"Like what happened when you fought Russel?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes.

"What? Of course not." 'at least I don't think so.' he said as more chills went down his spine.

"It's just a strange thing to know." Pyrrha mentioned.

"Do you have information the rest of us could benefit from?" Yang asked with a glare.

"No. I mean-"

"Then what makes you think we will be harvesting tree sap or that Cardin will get hurt during the trip?" Yang demanded.

"I, I don't know. Please excuse me." he said excusing himself from the table and bee lining to the cafeteria doors before anyone could stop him.
'What the hell was that? Are my bizarre symptoms acting up again?' he thought as the crossed out into the open courtyard. He stopped at one of Beacon's gardens and sat down by a tree hopping to calm himself down before his next class began.

/============================================================================================================/

He signed as he fell backwards onto his bed as the evening sun finished setting. The whole day seemed to be one bizarre event after another, first the ominous dream, then what happened at the breakfast table, only to be followed by another bizarre event after lunch. Close to the end of Dr. Oobleck's class he swore he had heard the professor ask him what advantage the faunus had over their human enemies during the 3rd crusade and when he answered the professor yelled at him for interrupting his class and then acknowledged his answer as the correct one to a question he hadn't yet asked.

Worst still was what happened as a result of his next break when he found himself cornered as Cardin had shown up with his goons, somehow got a hold of his identification card and failed to humiliate him or stick him with a bad nickname that they could laugh at for the rest of their time at beacon.

'Jaune Jonah Arc? That's your full name?' the leering voice of Dove echoed in his head making him mad.

'More like John Joker Arc.' Sky's mocking voice continued.

'Come now men, we can all be friends here.' Cardin's voice rang out along with the feeling of his arm around Jaune's shoulder in faux friendliness 'We'll just call you Jojo instead, how's that?'

Just remembering Cardin say it like that made his blood start to boil and want to re-introduce his fist to Cardin's face. He felt entirely justified when he had done it the time even if professor Goodwitch did not think so and now as a result he had to spend the rest of his free time in detention while taking her supplementary lessons until the time of the Forever Fall trip.

"Hard day?" Pyrrha asked as the rest of his team started settling in for the night.

"Yeah you can say that." he replied as he turned to face her.

"It's bizarre to see you like this, normally you are so composed and sure of yourself." she said as she sat down on the edge of her bed.

"It's just been one of those days I guess." he casually responded.

"Do your bad days often feature fist fights with a bully and his team over a nickname?" she asked.

"In my defense they provoked me. It was a nickname given to me by my little sister when we were much younger and hearing him say it the way he did felt like he was not just insulting me but my family as well. Nobody other than my most trusted friends and family gets to call me Jojo." he said.

"Aww that's sweet, do we get to call you Jojo?" she innocently asked.

"Yes. Yes you do." he said after a few moments as he turned back to the ceiling, starting to feel calmer.

"Why doesn't Yang call you that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Things are complicated between us at the moment and I would rather not get into it now." he said, suddenly a lot less calm.

/============================================================================================================/

'Ugghhh, why?' his mind groaned as his stomach threatened to do another flip. To her credit Pyrrha did try her best to be comforting by whispering soft words of encouragement and rubbing his back gently whenever he was starting to feel particularly bad as they rode with all the first year teams in Beacon in the back of a bullhead.

"Don't worry Jaune, we're almost there." his best friend Ruby quietly said so that only he, Pyrrha and the other 2 members of his team could hear.

He wanted to thank her for the encouragement but was more worried about the possibility of puking on her instead. If he knew his motion sickness would be this bad he would have given Glynda the finger and tried to avoid the trip all together, but nooooo, 'It is mandatory.' she said 'Part of the curriculum.' and while he could understand why it would be needed and appreciated the opportunity to avoid a day's worth of long lectures about Grimm, History and more as well as another trip to Beacon's library hopping to learn more about stands with Nora he wished that the school faculty chose a location closer to Beacon so at least his suffering would be minimized.

'You held out for the last two hours another minute or so shouldn't make a difference.' a voice in the back of his head said.

'Gee thanks.' he answered back while his motion sickness started what had to be a final desperate assault on his system.

"Jaune, we're here." Pyrrha said as the side doors opened and students started stepping out onto the clearing they parked in. As he stepped out and landed on the red leaf covered soil all he wanted to do then kiss the ground, any attempts to do so where interrupted when Glynda conscripted him, Cardin and a few other people he only knew for having a tendency to disrupt the various classes they shared into the distributing a copious amounts of glass jars as well as tools for harvesting tree sap to everyone.

Once the task was complete Glynda began leading everyone deep into the Forever Fall forest once again reminding them of their assignment as provided by Professor Peach while giving a speech about the beauty of the forest itself. Or at least that is what he thought she was saying, somehow her voice seemed muted, drowned out by what sounded like the buzzing of angry rapier wasps.

"Do you hear that?" he asked his partner. He couldn't hear her response, he could see her lips moving but he couldn't seem to hear her voice. The damned buzzing just got in the way only to be interrupted by the sound of an Ursa roaring to his immediate right causing him to inadvertently snap his head in that direction.

"-we will rendezvous back at the Bullhead at 4 o'clock. Any questions?" his teacher concluded.

"Huh?" he blurted out, inadvertently drawing everyone's attention.

"What do we do if we finish early?" Pyrrha covered for him.

"That is up to you, however I expect you to stay near your partners at all times and be back at the bullhead exactly at four o'clock. Split into groups and be extra cautious, while they may not be known for their subtlety the creatures of Grimm can still sneak up on you." Glynda warned confident that question period was over.

"Jaune are you ok?" Pyrrha whispered to him.

"I-. No, something about this forest makes me uncomfortable." em'like how I am hearing things again.'/em went unsaid.

"Will you be alright?" Pyhrra asked.

"I think so, the sooner we get this task done and return to Beacon the better I will be." he stated as he started walking in a direction to the group's right trying to ignore the bizarre feelings the surroundings were giving him.

/============================================================================================================/

"There he is." Cardin said as he and his team crawled to the edge of a small clear hill overlooking the spot where team JNPR and team RWBY had stopped to eat their lunch several hours after they first entered the forest.

"Remind me again why you think this plan will work?" Dove asked.

"Its simple really." Cardin began as he and his team began crawling back to their makeshift camp "Jaune is a combatant, he has a violent personality and responds to just about everything that confronts him with an abundance of unchecked aggression. We only need to look at how he ended his fight with Russel to confirm this."

"No way he would have won that match otherwise." Russel bitterly intoned as he curled up comfortably at their campsite composing of little more than a small dust fueled hot plate, several empty and discarded cans of canned food, a box full of rapier wasps and a container with five jars of tree sap all situated within a small clearing.

"Exactly and our attempts to get even have been less than successful." Sky said as he rubbed the remains of a blackened eye.

"Heh, that is because we were too forceful and foreword that time." Cardin said as he struck a power pose while sitting.

He sat with the soles of his feet touching each other while the entire surface of the outer portion of his upper and lower legs lay on the red-leaved covered soil without issue. He rested his hands on his inner thighs and left his elbows to hang above his knees. As he leaned slightly foreword his armored form seemed to consume all the space around him, the cocky smile only serving to reinforce the point.

"Our mistake was that we tried to confront him directly, we were idiots to believe the four of us alone could intimidate him into submission, so instead we will try a different approach." Cardin said as he held up a jar of sap.

"Hey we need those if we are to pass professor Peach's ridiculous assignment." Dove barked.

"Wrong, if you were actually paying attention to what Goodwitch said you would know we only need one for each of us. If you take a look at our container you will see their are four jars there, one for each of us. And if you count the one I am currently holding you don't need a Beacon level education to figure out that we are still in the safe zone." he said as he pointed to it.

"Yeah and the rapier wasps you had me carry all the way out here are attracted to the stuff, you said so yourself but what happens if you fail to hit him from here?" Russel asked.

"It won't matter as long as some sap gets within a close enough distance the wasps will do the rest. Like Jaune they are highly aggressive when provoked and being trapped in a box all day has no doubt fouled their mood so get yourselves to a good distance where you will be safe, I'll handle the rest from here." he said as he stood up. He watched with a wary eye as his team moved away, judging where they needed to be in case something went catastrophically wrong with their plan then what angle and direction to throw the jar at and with how much strength to ensure that it came at lest within five feet of Jaune. He smirked as he gave it a light toss before easily catching it again.

"Just like playing ball back at home." he whispered to himself before pulling his arm back "Jaune! Its payback for everything you have done to us!" Cardin yelled with an intense expression as he started swinging his arm, only to be interrupted by a giant paw seemingly appearing out of nowhere and slamming into his side. With a pained yell he spun through the air loosing his grip on the Jar and landing hard. He spat out some leaves as he turned to face his adversary as it stepped on and crushed the box of rapier wasps with another giant paw.

/============================================================================================================/

"Great. What are we going to do with all the extra food we brought?" Yang asked as the group finished their lunches.

"To be fair I did expect us to be here a lot longer, like the rest of the day longer." Ruby countered.

"Nothing wrong with being prepared." Weiss commented.

"Jaune are you ok?" Pyrrha asked.

"Huh, uh yeah, I just got this bizarre feeling that's all." 'like something is supposed to have happened now.' Jaune replied.

"What's up?" Nora casually asked.

"Well-" Jaune started before a roar interrupted him.

"What was that?" Nora half yelled as everyone jumped to their feet.

"URSA!" A voice yelled.

Drawing his sword and extending his shield he saw Russel, running for his life screaming "URSA!" over and over while a terrified Dove and wounded Sky did their best to keep pace with him.

"What happened?" Yang demanded as she grabbed and stopped Russel.

"Their is a giant Ursa back there!" he said as he pointed in the direction he had come running from "Cardin's getting clobbered by it."

"Ursa?" Jaune absently said as he stared in that direction.

"We have to save Cardin." Ruby said as Russell scurried out of Yang's grip.

"What we need to do is get professor Goodwith. The best ways is if all of us spread out and find her." Wiess barked.

"And while we are doing that Cardin might die." Ruby barked back.

"Is that really a bad thing?" Blake started. "He's a racist bully, we see him everyday harassing students he thinks are weaker than him, especially faunus."

"No. I mean yes! It's our duty to help those in need even if they are not deserving of it." Ruby said before she dashed away "And nothing will stop me!"

"Damn it Ruby." Jaune cursed "Nora, come with me, everyone else go find Goodwitch, we'll handle this." he ordered as he ran after Ruby.

/============================================================================================================/

As he passed over the hill he froze as he saw the Ursa standing over what was no doubts the remains of their camp and equipment. True to Russel's word the beast was indeed huge, at least as wide as he was tall but twice his height before he took the spikes that protruded from its back into consideration. It loomed over a downed Cardin who raised his two handed mace in one last attempt to block its next strike only for a single sideways swipe to send the heavy mace twirling through the air and deep into the trunk of one of the trees.

For a brief moment he swore he saw a familiar frame on the edges of his vision as the Ursa turned to face him with a snarl. He swayed slightly as the reality he was facing and the memory of his distant dream seemed to clash. Sensing his weakness the monster gave Cardin's body a strong kick propelling the teen into and knocking over Jaune, the full force of the impact knocked Jaune's senses back into reality as his mind finally grasped the situation he was in. With a quick motion he pushed Cardin's groaning form off him and willed himself to his feet despite the protest from his internal organs.

With another ear piercing bellow the Ursa charged at him while Nora's grenades exploded around it, when it reached him it attacked in an ever so predictable manner. It extended it's giant arm outward for a wide and certainly not subtle strike, in response Jaune willed time to slow to what he believed was half it's normal pace while he moved to strike it down, were things moving at normal speed the Ursa would have struck him before his sword connected his only saving grace being that with time moving at half speed he was already in it's guard before the blow could connect. With a battle cry that sounded more like a yelp in actuality he swung his sword upwards and decapitated the Ursa.

'Now for my awesome pose.' he thought as he collapsed his shield, moved to sheath his sword and turned to face his friends with a confident smile that subtly said 'I am awesome.'

"Jaune! Look out!" Ruby cried.

"Huh?" was all he managed before instinct forced him to turn around and put his arms in a standard boxer's block.

The arms of his stand materialized as he finished turning just in time to block a backswing from the Ursa, the force of the blow sent him crashing into the trees at the edge of the clearing before landing hard on the ground. Forcing himself to look up he saw the beast turn to look at him, its head still on its shoulders.

'How?' Jaune could only think as he tired to force himself to his feet. He was sure he decapitated the monster, he felt his sword connect, he felt the Ursa's flesh resist the blade and the sudden added momentum when it tore through.

'That's not right.' a part of his brain commented as the monster absorbed a direct hit from Nora's hammer and the resulting explosion without appearing to sustain any real damage.

'Not now!' he mentally barked back as he charged the beast. Willing everything to slow down to a quarter speed he rushed in and with as much force as he could muster slashed at the monster. He couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as his blade cut deep into the monster's shoulder stopping when he reached its mid section. With a pained roar the monster swung again, the impact of it's bizarrely large paw bounced off his shield but transferred enough force to send him spiraling through the air until he crashed into Nora a moderate distance away from it.

"That thing is not normal." Ruby cried out as to everyone's horror the horrendous, otherwise fatal wound he left on the monster began to mend itself until the only sign any damage had been done was the sword stuck in it's mid section.

'How? No Grimm can survive a hit like that, unless-' "NORA IT'S A STAND! IT'S AN ENEMY STAND!" Jaune yelled as he turned to her.

"A what?" Nora asked genuinely confused.

He bit back a growl before gritting out "That 'thing' we have in common. One of those must be powering that monster."

She gasped "What? How? From what you told me evil spirits can only affect humans and faunus. How is one possessing that Ursa!?"

"We can figure that out later, right now we must find a way to defeat it"

"How? That Ursa seems immune to physical damage and my electricity is not doing much to it."

"Thier must be a-." he started "Nora can you increase the current of your electricity?" he finished with a confident smile.

"I don't know, I-" she started before an expression of enlightenment crossed her face "Can you distract that thing for exactly 10 seconds?"

"Consider it done." He said as he charged at the Ursa.

Ducking as it swiped at him and Ruby, with a grace befitting a dancer he reached outwards and grabbed his sword still embedded in the monster's mid section. "MUDA!" he yelled as he mustered as much strength as his arm could manage and tore it through the monster's body to freedom only for the wound to start mending itself.

"Let's see how fast you can regenerate from this!" Jaune yelled as he focused his will into forcing time to slow as much as it could.

"MUDA!" he yelled with a savage swing cutting a deep gauge into it's chest. "MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! /spanMUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!" he yelled as he continued as he slashed at it intending to do as much damage as he could before allowing time to resume it's normal pace. As expected the creature stumbled backwards before its odd colored wounds started to close on themselves.

'So it takes 5 seconds to heal grievous wounds like that.' he thought as Ruby renewed her assault.

"That thing is invincible." Cardin yelled as he finally managed to climb to his feet "Bullets, blades, brute force. Nothing works, it either shrugs it all off or gets back up after a few seconds."

"Their must be something we can do." Ruby yelled as she unloaded her weapon into it.

"That thing can regenerate quickly, it won't matter what you do to it, until Goodwitch comes and help us all we can do is survive." Cardin barked.

"Wrong, all we need to do is hold out until Nora finishes preparing whatever she is going to use to destroy this thing." Jaune replied.

"What makes you so sure she can beat it when you, my team and Ruby with all our weapons could not!?" Cardin yelled.

"I trust her, that is reason enough." He replied as the Ursa turned to face him.

"And how long will that take?" Cardin asked.

"Less than ten seconds. If we can deal a substantial amount of damage to the Ursa's body then it will spend more time regenerating than fighting us." He said before the Ursa started charging at him again.

This time it swung its giant paw overhead intending to crush him flat into the ground, 'how strange.' he thought as he deployed his shield, absorbing some of the impact and forcing the rest to fall to his side at the risk of destroying his shoulder or forearm before retaliating by slicing his blade through it's head from chin to crown, his stand materializing just long enough to help him complete the task before bringing the blade down upon the beast's paw slashing through it and unintentionally embedding his sword into the ground.

"I got this!" Ruby screamed as she blurred next to him driving the blades of Crescent Rose through it's other paw and pinning it to the ground.

"Hmm, now we wait." He said as he elbowed the beast's mask before turning around and walking away calmly.

"Uh Jaune? You might want to look at this!" Ruby called out as she backed away from the beast.

"Huh?" Jaune remarked as he looked over his shoulders.

With an almost quiet sound, not something he would expect from flesh ripping from steel, it tore it's paws tore free from their binds and slowly began mending while it's broken and partially crushed face contorted into a snarl which almost resembled the face of a angry person, likely that of the person controlling the stand keeping the Ursa alive.

"I'm impressed by your determination." He said, mostly to the opposing stand user while not entirely sure if he or she could hear him through the Ursa "But I am afraid it's too late for you. After all-" he held up his hand to his forehead, his thumb and middle finger tucked around the silver chain of his silver pocket watch, the lid open for the beast to see the interior clock "-it's been already been ten seconds."

The beast seemed to gasp in genuine surprise as it turned to see Nora Valkirie standing with what could best be described as a lightning storm between her palms "Jaune Move!" she yelled before she clasped her hands together and formed a triangle with her fingers.

Jaune barely had time to dodge as arcs of electricity flew from Nora's hands into the beast.

"While electricity itself doesn't have a temperature it can superheat the air around it to at least five thousand degrees Fahrenheit or more based on its current and other factors, easily more than enough to light most things on fire." she dramatically intoned as the monster's fur started erupting into small fires.

"That's right, even if it can regenerate quickly it will just continuously burn until either it dies or puts the fires out which will give us an advantage either way." Ruby said as she grasped the situation as it unfolded before her.

"Wait something isn't right here." Jaune said as the monster started flailing it's arms in one last defiant act before collapsing. To his surprise and that of everyone watching the Ursa didn't dissipate into thin air like all Grimm do but instead collapsed into a pile of orange sludge.

"It's clay." Ruby said as she cautiously grabbed some and ran it through her fingers.

"Just clay." Jaune confirmed after confirming nothing was going to jump out and try to bite his face off.

"I don't feel so good." Nora intoned before fainting.

"We need to get Miss Goodwitch. She needs to know about this." Jaune remarked as he went to check on Nora.

"Yeah we should." Ruby stated.

/============================================================================================================/

After the teams split-up and went in different directions hopping to find or at least come in contact with Glynda Goodwitch quicker Blake looked for anything out of place that might hopefully lead her to her professor, within minutes she found something strange. It was a pink squirrel with a white tail more art than mammal than she would have liked with a strange familiarity to it, when it saw her looking it darted from the tree deeper into the forest. Blake followed after it, a strange curiosity blossoming in her head. If anyone else was here with her they would likely question her sanity or at least question if she somehow ingested a hallucegenic substance while they were here.

She stopped as the bizarre squirrel ran up and into a tree's hollow a moderate distance away almost prompting her to come closer with its presence. She gulped and reached for it, unless she was sorely mistaken this was probably not a complex trap meant to lure her to her death. She gasped as a hand emerged from the tree to grip her by the wrist she extended while another hand reaching around to hold her by the small of the back as a face and body emerged from the tree.

He had styled his hair in dread-locks, with each tightly wound lock of hair were several yellow, almost golden circular clips that to the untrained eye seemed to resemble the suction cups of an octopus or other marine based cephalopod. His lightly tanned skin had trace amounts of paint small enough to go unnoticed at any distance save an intimate one. His black painted lips only inches from hers while his brown shirt and stained artist apron pressed against her. With a smile he released her as the tree he came from transformed into a chair with a paint stand holding a half-finished canvas on it.

"Hello Blake." he said, dangling a paint brush from his finger.

"Damn it. What is wrong with you?" She barked back.

"What are you not happy to see me again?" the bizarre artist commented.

"You know I hate it when you do things like that Rokyo!" she yelled at him.

He smirked at her as if it were some in-joke the two shared. She couldn't help but smile back, Rokyo Inkster was perhaps one of the few people she could truly call a good friend. An artist by trade he sought to follow in the footsteps of the legendary artists before him, believing that through art he could help bridge the gap between humans and faunus.

"That is why you love me." he joked, licking the paint brush and staining it with the natural ink he seemed to secrete from his saliva glands.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Blake asked.

"A 'favour' for a someone going by the name coffee, spelled C,F,V,Y. And while I was waiting for my clay Ursa to strike I decided to start painting the beautiful setting. Its not often we get see nature so untouched like this." he said as he continued drawing the outline of several trees on his canvas.

"Clay Ursa?" She questioned.

"Imagine my surprise when I see you here as well." he said pointing his brush at her, ignoring her completely. "Last time I heard from you was when you left Menagerie to join the fang, without even sending me a goodbye letter in the mail."

She winced at that "Well I left them, now I am a student at Beacon."

"I see that, by the way how is Beacon. I applied last year but did not get in. If I knew you were their I would have applied again this year, we might have even ended up on the same team." he smiled.

"Things are 'complicated' right now and it's probably best you didn't get in." Blake said.

Frowning but understanding the subtle message he reached into his pocket and produced a business card "I am currently living in Vale, if you need anything call me and if I am able to I shall help you."

With a careful hand she took the card and smiled "I will, but right now I must go." she said before turning to leave.

"Don't forget to write this time." she heard him call out.

A smile unintentionally crossed her lips, for what felt like the first time in a long time she relaxed. Should Jaune or his issues become problematic for her in the future she had an ally who could no doubt help her out. Ruby and the rest were good to her of that thier was no question, but they were also friends with Jaune, close friends. Meaning that if something were to happen to her they may never suspect him of anything, even if they did he could use his bizarre charm to dissuade any and all suspicion. She looked down at the card as she walked through the woods, considering if perhaps an outside source can help shed some light on the mystery surrounding Jaune.

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Stand name: Electronic
Destructive power; B
Speed; A
Range; B/
Durability/staying; B
Precision; C
Development potential/Learning; C
User: Nora Valkyrie
Abilities: By manipulating the energy waves in her body Electronic can greatly enhance Nora's speed, strength and durability by absorbing electricity. Alternately it can also weaken her by temporarily transforming any metallic weapon into a rail gun and paralyzing enemies or rapidly discharging it from her body.

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Special thanks to ghost83 for the OC