Hello all, and welcome to my first story on this account...i suppose that's really all I had for the intro, so please enjoy!

Chapter 1: Alone

-1 year post-beacons destruction-

If there was one thing he hated about Mistrals weather it was the gods-forsaken rain. Every day for the last week there'd been a constant downpour. And the fact he was on a time-sensitive mission wasn't helping his mood on top of being soaked, even with the heavy cloak over his head. He stopped when he saw a indent near the edge of the path. Kneeling down, he ran his armored fingertips over a footprint that lead off into the woods. The print was beginning to fill with rain water, the mud around it thickening. Whoever'd made it was obviously counting on the rain covering the track before someone happened upon it. "Almost worked too," he mumbled, heading in the general direction the person had gone.

The woods quickly began to surround him, and he was sure he'd officIally lost the trail until he saw another print, this one fresher and leading down an embankment to a smaller footpath that he guessed used to be an old game trail. "Clever..but should've been more careful of those heavy footsteps." As he walked down the trail, he went over the target again. Grapha, a member of a small group of bandits that had been raiding more and more frequently lately. The contract was for him specifically from a murder he had committed about a month ago, but upon learning of his affiliation, taking down the whole clan seemed appropriate.

About twenty minutes into his walk, he began to see the signs. It was subtle at first, but quickly became apparent. Along the path were various types of tripwires, to a trap or alarm he wasn't quite sure, but he avoided all of them none the less. Then he saw a shadow bolt forward and ahead of him to his right. "A perimeter guard..that settles it. This is definitely it." He smoothed back his hair as her removed the hood of the cloak. If his approach was spoiled regardless, he wanted the full view of his surroundings. It was a good decision, because as he rounded the final curve he saw a makeshift gate made of the same dark black wood of the trees, the bandits symbol carved into it.

Just as he was about to think of his next move, a shot rang out and he had to duck behind one of the trees next to him to avoid the dust round that almost hit him. "That was a warning shot huntsman! I suggest you take your sorry ass back to wherever you came from!" A gruff voice shouted from somewhere out of sight. Taking a deep breath, he slowly unsheathed his sword a bit, enough to see the gate with the reflection. Two men, each carrying handmade bladed weapons stepped out, and that's when he saw the one with the rifle. Grapha. It was cheap, probably an older model from before the standardization of the metals used today, but you'd think he was wielding an Atlesian particle cannon from the disgusting smirk on his face. Its fire power probably wouldn't pierce through his semblance, but it would still be a risk. There wasn't any way to be sure how many were in there either.

"Damn…I should've caught him before he made it back. Now it'll take all night. Oh well..can't be helped," he mumbled. His body began to glow white as he drew his sword entirely and ran out, charging at the men with the blades. He had a scary second where he felt one of the a round from the gun slam into his shoulder, but his semblance reflected it off of him. "well..my luck has to change at some point' he caught the strike of one of them with his blade, then used his shield to throw the other onto his back. Two more shots rang out, and thankfully missed him. He may have taken one, but he wasn't willing to push his luck any more. He clashed blades with the grunt a few times before he saw the one he had knocked back slowly getting up. Thinking quick, he swept the bigger ones leg then buried his sword deep into his gut, meeting minimal aura resistance. Amateurs.

"You bastard!" He spun and barely blocked the weapon as it tried to come down on his arm. He punched him hard in the gut, using his semblance to add to the force. The man's eyes bugged out a bit as he dropped his weapon. Picking it up, he slashed down, cutting him from shoulder to waist, making him fall to the ground flailing around a bit before he lay still. Taking in a deep breath, he turned towards the gate again. Grapha's face had lost all of it's color, and he began shouting further into the structure and a handful of other bandits were making their way towards him. 'Never a dull moment around here' he thought as he charged towards them, sword raised high.

-Higanbana, 3 hours later-

He stepped into the dimly lit living room of the village leaders residence, a tied up Grapha in tow. "Here he is. And you can also cross one bandit tribe off your watch list as well. I didn't leave anyone but him." The older mans eyes widened a bit as he stared from his to the shaking and terrified bandit.

"You..killed them? All of them?"

"I did. Technically the contract was just for him, the rest were..unfortunately in the way of me getting him."

"Well..I..I certainly didn't expect..thank you. Truly."

"Just doing my job, sir. And part of that job includes…" he said, waving his hand a bit

"Oh! Yes, the matter of your payment. Here you are, 500 lien as agreed upon," he smiled handing over a small bag that was stretched thin by the coins. Pocketing the money, he bowed and glanced back at Grapha.

"What will you do with him now?" He asked. The leader glared down at the man.

"He will be jailed and dealt with for his crimes, I assure you. Will you be staying here?"

"For a couple nights at least. I want to rest before I head to Mistral city. Got a bigger contract that needs doing, but I need to meet with the client first," He said stepping into the doorway

"Well your more than welcome here any time. We owe you a great debt." He nodded a bit and left, heading straight for the inn he intended to stay at. Walking in he counted out the 100 lien for the two nights stay as well as another 40 for a meal from the kitchens.

"Thank you, sir. May I have your name for the register?" The clerk said. He sighed heavily and looked back up at her.

"Is it really necessary?"

"Im afraid so. I don't really want to lose my job, and the owners a bit of a hard ass. Help me out, please." He ran a hand over his face but let out another sigh, this one defeated.

"Jaune Arc." He grabbed his bag and walked upstairs as quick as he could, but he didn't miss the look of shock on her face. Great. And here he'd hoped she wouldn't recognize his name. He walked into the room and threw his bag onto one of the chairs in the corner. He slowly undid the clasps on his cloak and sat it by the window then unfastened his chest piece and gauntlets, sitting them on top of it along with his sword. He carefully lowered himself onto the bed and removed his knee pads and boots before laying down; his body finally relaxing for the first time that day.

"Why does anyone still act so shocked..not like my name should mean anything," he mumbled. He wanted to try and sleep for a bit before the food came, but found his eyes wouldn't obey his wishes. He heard his scroll buzz from inside his pack and with a groan he stood and grabbed it out of the pouch.

T: You get that contract done?

He rolled his eyes before typing out a reply

J: Like you have to ask. Grapha's clan is finished, and he's in custody. Told you not to worry.

T: I always worry about you.

J: Well, don't. You taught me well.

T: You were a good student. I'll let you get some sleep. Contact me when you get to the city and we'll get some food.

J: Sounds like a plan. Good night.

T: Night.

He was about to put it away when he noticed that he had an unread message from someone he hadn't heard from in some time. He hesitated for a second before letting out a heavy sigh and opening it.

R. Rose: Are you ever going to come home? We all miss you..Pyrrha misses you.

His eyes watered a bit in spite of himself and he had to take a moment to regain his composure before he replied.

J: You know I can't, Rubes. Don't worry so much about me, I'm doing alright. And..tell Pyrrha I'm sorry, but she's better off.

He didn't expect a reply but it came before he could even close the screen

R. Rose: Do you not miss us at all?

J: That's not it…of course I do. You know that.

R. Rose: Then come back. You're the only one keeping yourself away, Jaune.

J: Im going to bed now, Ruby. I'll try to keep in touch, with you at least. But im not coming back. Im sorry.

: Fine..please take care of yourself alright? Good night Vomit boy.

He smiled a bit

J: Always. And night to you too..crater face.

He put the scroll back and tried to relax again, unable to get the conversation out of his head. Pyrrha was better off forgetting about him. Really, they all were but Ruby was stubborn if nothing else. He closed his eyes, knowing he'd most likely be dreaming about how things used to be..and how they had to be now.

And were done with chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed it, I know it may not be the best, but I'll start improving with any luck

If you wouldn't mind and you enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could review/fav/follow all of that

I'll see you guys next time