I DON'T OWN RWBY!

Jaune forced the urge to sigh back down in his throat; he honestly should've expected as much, a social introvert walking with a socially awkward teen in a forest alone...weren't the best circumstances to strike up a conversation. He was able to ask a question or two about initiation and such, but even those were only dignified with short word responses.

It wasn't all boring, though - they were able to come across some grimm along the way. Each one, however, was met with a quick end, either via explosion, or from quick decapitations by Blake's katana. There hadn't been much really - the majority of the grimm they faced were beowolves, and on occasion, an ursa or two.

He was glad they didn't come across an Ursa Major or an Alpha Beowolf; it would take considerably more time and effort, plus he was never actually trained to fight the grimm in the first place.

From what he had learned first-hand, though, was that each different grimm species had different habits, natural reactions, fighting patterns, and a lot more.

The most notable, he had found, were that beowolves liked to group in packs, which is why they were even considered a threat in the first place. Alone, even a civilian could handle one of them if he or she had a weapon of some sort. But grouped together, it made them all the more dangerous - though, if only for the fact that they outnumbered you more than anything else.

Whereas an ursa usually traveled alone - and sometimes, traveled in pairs. Ursai could beat a beowolf in strength; and while beowolves could outspeed them, Ursai also had the better endurance of the two, making it so that the beowolf would get tired first just by attacking it too much.

He barely noticed how the small twigs scratched across his cheek - too distracted by his own thoughts, as well as the scenery around him. The bugs that buzzed created a soothing ambience, as well as the way the birds chirped - it was quite peaceful really.

As much as he loathed to admit it, though, he couldn't lose himself to all the beautiful things that the forests held, for it was still teeming with grimm at every corner.

Imitatio bumped across his back every few steps he took - it wasn't really bothering him much as of now, but he felt he should address the issue after this was over, that is, if he even passed to begin with.

Blake came to a sudden stop, and Jaune was just barely able to stop himself from lrunning into her. The confusion was evident on his face, but as he peered across her shoulder, his eyes widened; it seemed like nothing special, just a normal cave.

The drawings across the walls proved otherwise.

Human stick figures held spears, poised for a massive creature aiming to kill - the pictures seemed old, like hieroglyphics, in a sense. Though, he doubted these pictures represented a language of their own.

Although, considering the fact that the drawings were here in the first place, it could mean it was dangerous to go in - either that or it contained the relics, and he was really hoping for the latter.

"Do you think this is where the relics are located?" he asked skeptically, looking into the gaping hole, seeing the darkness that it held.

Blake didn't respond for a moment, but she eventually answered, "No, I don't think so. Ozpin did say they were located at the ruins."

"Well," he paused, "do you think there's anything in there at all?"

"Most likely." Blake said, "There isn't exactly going to be a cave in the middle of the forest for no reason. It's most likely a Death Stalker's home, so we should avoid it for now."

Jaune's eyebrows furrowed, "But wait, what if someone else goes in and has to face the Deathstalker?"

Blake winced, the thought had popped up in the back of her mind as well, she didn't want to leave the people to a horrible fate, but what else could they do? "What do you propose we do, then? Go in and fight it ourselves? You know better than I do that we don't have the skills to take it on, even with the two of us fighting side by side."

Jaune didn't answer, as he stared ahead into the deep depths of the cavern ahead - he wanted to go in and fight the Deathstalker, preferably alone. But he knew his limits, and even with Blake at his side, he couldn't guarantee his safety, much less Blake's.

Jaune gave a reluctant sigh, "I'm going in - you don't have to follow me, but I'm going in regardless."

Blake frowned, "You're aware that a Deathstalker takes at least a 3'rd year to beat alone, right?"

"All the more reason to go in." Jaune answered immediately.

Blake sighed in irritation, "Fine, if you're going then I'm going too; can't have my partner dying before initiation even ends, now can I?"

Jaune's eyes widened in alarm, "Wait! But it's too dangerous! What if something happens or...something!?"

"All the more reason to go in." Blake parroted his words with verbatim.

Jaune's lower lip settled into a pout, before groaning at the look of determination on his partner's face. He unsheathed Imitatio and held it with both on his hands tightly.

"Explosion." he muttered.

"Are you sure you want to come along?" he questioned hesitantly.

Blake rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm sure."

Jaune grimaced, he had really been hoping that she would've said no - but that was pointless and he knew it. She was training to be a huntress for dusts sake, of course she wouldn't abandon someone else for her own safety.

"So, you got a light source anywhere?"

"Bad idea! BAD IDEA!" Jaune yelped, narrowly dodging the debris that fell over his head, slicing through one or two stray stones that threatened to smash his skull in.

Blake didn't even dignify that with a response, too focused on the fact that she could get squashed at any moment to even care at this point.

They had found something, all right - and it looked like Blake had been right in the regard of this being a Deathstalker's home. The drawings on the sides of the walls should've made it obviously clear, but it seemed that her partner lacked the perceptive skills she did.

Not very surprising, considering her past.

Jaune could barely see - the only light source he had was the faint glow that came off of Explosion, and as dim as it was, he had only slightly been able to dodge possible death.

He considered letting out an explosion at the creature rushing towards them, but ultimately decided against it - that would only result in the cave likely collapsing on top of them in a matter of mere seconds. Dodging a few stray stones was already hard enough; but a whole cavern?

He shuddered just thinking about how he'd get out of that.

Blake was contemplating something - the fact remained that she could see in the dark, but her partner couldn't. And while he hadn't gotten crushed by anything as of yet, it was still a possibility. She didn't want to be the cause of another death; she came her to stop killing dammit!

She grit her teeth, though this was a dire situation, she still wasn't sure. The entrance was just a few yards away, in a few seconds Jaune would be able to run free, without worrying about the lighting or anything falling on top of him.

"SLYPHARION"

His sword shifted into Slypharion, and he gained a large burst of speed - just enough to dash through the cave entrance, all the while grabbing onto Blake's wrist and throwing her out into the open. She heard her yelp in surprise, but payed it no mind, as he turned swiftly on his heel and called out his command.

"EXPLOSION!"

His sword shifted again, and he slashed in a wide arc, creating forth a burst of energy hurtling towards the Death Stalker.

Blake's eyes widened as she figured out just what he had been planning; he was trying to collapse the cave on top of the Death Stalker! And while that may not be able to kill it exactly, it could severely damage it.

Jaune panted, letting the tip of his sword hit the ground with a thud, "Did we...did we get it?"

Blake resisted the urge to let out an unladylike snort, "By we, do you mean you? Nevertheless, we probably didn't kill it, you probably damaged it quite a bit."

He groaned, and Blake could sympathize with him - they brought down a cave on it for dusts sake, it should've been enough to kill it.

But it wasn't.

They heard a loud screech, and watched as the Deathstalker broke out of it's artificial rocky shell, shaking in what appeared to be anger - they couldn't be sure though, grimm were emotionless. Jaune grimaced, slashing in an arc once more, aiming at the thick shell in hopes of damaging it even further.

It hit it's mark, exploding on contact, creating a large smoke cloud that encompassed the area that surrounded them.

Jaune squinted through the thick, grey haze, "Did that do it?"

"While I would like to think so," she shook her head, "No."

Just as she said the words, the smoke cleared from the area, and the Deathstalker reared it's stinger back, aiming a strike at the two partners that disturbed it's slumber. Jaune rolled to the left, whereas Blake rolled to the right, just barely dodging the lethal strike.

The stinger, now stuck on the ground, was vulnerable to attack, and Jaune took the opportunity quite well. He made do with a quick slash at the unarmored skin between the stinger and the bone plating, but grimaced as the grimm blocked it with it's pincers. At least now he knew what it's weakness was - even if the Deathstalker hadn't meant to show it, much less even had knowledge of showing it at all.

It yanked it's stinger out of the dirt, and used it small legs to run towards Jaune - having become aggressive from the attack he had given. It lashed out wildly with it's pincer - hoping to knock the nuisance off to the side. He narrowly dodged each strike clumsily, making hasty rolls side to side.

Blake tried to slash at it's weak spot where Jaune had failed to do so - but to no avail as the Deathstalker kept moving left and right, making even getting close to the Deathstalker a daunting of a task.

"SLYPHARION!"

He dashed towards it's pincer, hoping - praying - that he would be able to a strike in, just one. He roared as he reared his sword back to his hip, pouring his aura into the strike like he had seen Qrow do many times before. Diagonally, he let it all out through one strike, the energy a blinding white - searing white. It dissipated maybe a few seconds after contact, but he had a general idea on how much it's weak spot could take.

Though, it seemed this wasn't thought out properly, as he felt the air leave his lungs harshly, and he was launched back into the trees.

"Jaune!" Blake cried, dashing towards her partner and distracting the grimm with her dust-infused bullets. She was able to shoot it's eye, and occupied it for a few seconds, if not less.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked worriedly, glancing up and down for any injuries - he may have had aura, but Deathstalkers could hit like a truck...thrice over.

"Yeah...just hurting." he groaned, propping himself up with his sword, whining as he felt Blake assist in getting him back up.

Blake rolled her eyes, "That's not the definition of okay, you know."

Jaune gave a weak grin, "I'm fine, really - besides, we have bigger problems to worry about."

His eyes trailed off to the thrashing mass of black and white, instinctively backing away from the danger that the creature entailed. He could feel Blake glance in the same direction as him, narrowing her eyes and shifting her weapon back into it's katana form.

With a heavy sigh he got back into his normal stance, gathering his aura into his blade for an extra boost in power.

The grimm screeched and hissed in anger, wildly swinging it's pincer at the trees surrounding it. It wasn't a fast process, but it was slowly recovering from Blake's shot to it's eye - adjusting to the change like grimm always did.

Jaune sighed in irritation, shaking ever so slightly - whether it was from fear or anticipation, he couldn't know for sure. Gripping the handle on his sword, he rushed forward to meet the Deathstalker halfway, duly noting Blake followed suit beside him.

But Blake paused, both sets of ears perking up as she forcefully halted and looking around in confusion - the same confusion was mirrored on Jaune's face as he turned to look back at his partner.

"What? What is it?" He asked skeptically.

Blake narrowed her eyes, enhanced perception scanning over the clearing, ignoring the Deathstalker's screeches of anger, as well as the threat it posed.

"'I could've sworn I heard someone else's footsteps…" She muttered to herself.

An explosion, and the Deathstalker's cry tore her away from her musings. Both her's and Jaunes' expressions changed in a flash, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. He took a step forwards; could these be other initiates?

He knew grimm couldn't create anything energy based - they were like animals, in a sense. Except the don't possess an aura, which means they're soulless.

An animal can create a small burst of energy because of the aura it's born with - which is something he learned while watching Ruby and Yangs' dog Zwei. The little mutt was practically able to launch himself forward at an incredible speed, which shouldn't have been possible if he wasn't using aura to proper himself.

Without aura, grimm are about as lacking as the rocks on the ground or the clouds in the sky.

So, in this case, he was really confident it was another student-to-be, and not the grimm itself making the explosion.

He had never been so right.

A girl - a particularly bubbly girl - came skipping into the clearing with a...grenade launcher...thing on her shoulder. She hummed a jaunty tune nonchalantly like nothing had ever happened. Jaune stared in disbelief, Blake's expression was one and the same.

After the girl came a boy, clad in a jade shirt and white pants. He held two small green blades in his hands, both of which looked like they had guns attached to the front.

"So!" the girl with the grenade launcher exclaimed, "Anyone need help smashing some grimm!?"

AN: I am...so sorry.

Yes I know, this chapter took more than, like, 3-4 months and it sucks butt. I may have made a bunch of mistakes in the lore, the grammar, and just the whole thing in general. But I needed to get SOMETHING out for you guys for being so patient. I guess I should explain why I was out for so long. No, it was nothing so bad as a broken bone. It could be in part because of my laziness, it could be because of school. But honestly, it's a mixture of both added in with a loss of inspiration. Don't get me wrong, writing is still kind of fun for me, but it isn't as fun as it used to be. Video games just...came back to me, I guess. I posted this chapter because I didn't want to leave you guys hanging. I didn't want to leave all the people who took the time to actually read this shitty story with nothing. I know none of you can forgive me, I just hope you guys will continue to read. If not, then that's okay, it's your choice. Please feel free to say the various mistakes you find in this chapter, I might make a new version of this if inspiration strikes.

On another note, 395 followers and 300+? favorites! That is insanse!

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Cya.