Prologue: Within Darkest Hours

Act 2 – Whittle

Jaune Arc stared into the starless, night sky, silently contemplating upon his decisions that led to his current misfortunes.

It is past curfew already, but the aspirant hunter has yet to return to his dorm room – and he wouldn't.

Despite the rumors of the poor souls who were dragged to the fiery depths of detention after being caught sneaking out past curfew, he wouldn't dare go back to hi– PNR's dorm room. Knowing that the feeling is mutual, he knew that they also weren't willing to welcome him back.

That doesn't mean that the young Arc isn't anxious. Rumors or not, the prospect of being caught by Professor Goodwitch isn't so thrilling. Not at all.

'But what can I do?' Jaune thought to himself, 'It's not like I have anywhere to stay anymore.'

Yes, Jaune Arc, the lovable goof and leader of the once Team JNPR, has been kicked out of his own dorm room by his own team; and it isn't like he could blame them for doing so. They have trained throughout most of their earlier lives, sacrificing most of their childhood, just so that they can attend Beacon Academy – then there he came, to just waltz in to the scene without prior training, whatsoever. If anything, he deserved the jeers, the harassment, and the slap to the face from his partner this morning for such a disrespectful act.

He sighed, 'When did this all go wrong?' They had been happy as a team together, so when?

His hand subconsciously moved over and touched his right cheek – the last place his partner made contact with. It has been nine hours since then, and he was pretty sure that his aura had already kicked in and done its job.

So why does it still hurt so badly?

Exhausted from the stress and the physical abuse he had already received today, Jaune let out a short, dry chuckle before lying down, his head propped against a backpack. He was about to doze off into sleep when he heard a small creak.

His heart stopped for a second before resuming with increased pace. Sapphire eyes ever so slowly drifted towards the single entry to the rooftop before releasing a small sigh of relief as the door behind him remained tightly shut, undisturbed.

'That's unnerving… I could've sworn that I heard the door open, but considering my recent experiences here, delusions aren't all that far off.' Jaune reasoned in his head, attempting to calm his booming heart with soothing self-reassurance before his face contorted to a bitter visage at the last part.

"Maybe I should just go home." He murmured to no one in particular as his shoulders slumped in resignation. Now that he has thought about it, perhaps it wasn't a very good idea to cheat your way into the most prestigious fighting academy in all of Vale without pre-requisite training or experience in the first place. "I'm clearly not cut out for this. Ozpin made a mistake when he chose me as leader."

"Oh, did he now, Mr. Arc?" Came a familiar voice that shook Jaune from his self-depreciating session. His head turning so quickly that it could've broke his own neck.

He wished it did. It would have been much more merciful.

"M-miss G-goodwitch! W-what brings you h-here?" Jaune internally screamed as his already hoarse voice cracked at the end as he faced the withering glare of one Glynda Goodwitch.

"Shouldn't I be the one to ask that, Mr. Arc? As far as I know, curfew ended three hours ago." She said as Jaune quickly withered under the intensifying glare of the strict professor.

"I-I was j-just getting... erm...s-some fresh air...yeah..." Jaune nervously replied as he tried to discreetly wipe off some dampness in his eyes.

"The truth, Mr. Arc, I would appreciate the truth." Her acute eyes twitched at the blatantly horrible excuse before cutting Jaune off as he was about to speak. "And, no, I'm afraid that the 'I slept walk out of my dorm room' excuse would work once more."

It was then that she noticed his bloodshot eyes, his trembling hands curled into tight fists, and a messily packed luggage. The strict woman sighed in understanding, her glare softening gradually. "Mr. A- Jaune... you know you could've asked help from the staff."

Glynda Goodwitch, for all of her sharp tone, disciplinarian vibe, and strict appearance, is a big softy. It might not show often, but when under the right circumstances, Glynda's mother hen tendencies kick in – even though she isn't even one.

Jaune bit his lower lip with enough strength to draw blood. Two weeks' worth of abuse with nothing to do but cry himself to exhaustion, and eventually, to sleep. Throughout those two weeks, no one dared approach him with good intentions, either due to hatred, or fear of being a target themselves, he didn't know and care, all he knows is that he is left alone to weather the storm, or wither in it.

The staff, bless their hearts, tried to help him. He may be dense, but contrary to popular Beacon belief, he isn't an idiot. He can see their efforts to get him back on track, but he just can't accept it. He's first-handedly experienced how much he's damaging the school's 'elite warriors-only' reputation, seeing as how he is not. He can hear the murmurs amongst the students, whispers of disappointing to see Beacon lower their standards for him.

'I'm destroying the school by just being here,' Jaune sadly concluded, 'so why stay?'

"Though the other students may have turned their backs from you, know well that we, as the teachers, haven't. We choose which students to grant entry, not just because of their transcripts, but because of their potential. Ozpin saw potential in you, and we trust his decision to keep you here–" Glynda said, her motherly instincts jumpstarting at the obvious signs of distress.

Back when Jaune was just a small child, Glynda knows of his tendencies to downplay abuse, whether it may be of the emotional or verbal kind.

'It's just… something innate with him.' Glynda thought to herself. 'It's not him being indifferent – no, definitely not that, I could clearly see the storm of emotions within those eyes of his – he… just values honor and leniency over vengeance and power.'

As his babysitter as a kid, Glynda knows that this isn't the first time Jaune had been subjected to such treatment even before this… altercation. Despite having enough power on his hands to literally crush all those who dare mistreat him with no negative repercussions, he never did. This attitude, along with his tendencies to downplay abuse, has led to him being an easy target to bullies.

And Glynda didn't like it.

She didn't like every single time that Jaune would come home with tear stained cheeks.

She didn't like every single time that Jaune would come home with dirt and grime covering the assortment of bruises and scraped skin.

She also didn't like every single time how he would even try to cover up his tormentors and plead not to tell his family. She didn't tell his family of course – Jaune's pout when he was a kid was top-notch – but she was heavily tempted to do so.

It has been 9 years since she was put in charge as Jaune's babysitter, but even then, she still doesn't like it. Not one bit of it.

"–so, even if the rest of the school may hate the staff for aiding you, then so be it – because in the end, this is what defines us. We heroes must do things for the greater good even if it means that the world will hate us for it. It is one of the sacrifices we have to make as the defenders of a better tomorrow. Trust me on this one, Jaune. If not as your teacher or headmistress, then as your second mother." Glynda said, soothingly rubbing circles at the boy's back as he continued to sob with his hands on his face.

And with that, Jaune broke down crying. His dam of pent up frustrations and agony bursting forth.

Glynda sadly stared at the broken knight in front of her before doing what she has done in the past whenever Jaune would finally break from the abuse. She stepped forth, wrapped her arms around him, and let him cry on her shoulder.

It would've been nostalgic for the two of them if it wasn't for the circumstances.

"Shhhh…. shhhhh… shhhhh… it'll be alright, Jaune, it'll be alright…" She whispered.

She could only wish that her voice of reassurance sounded surer.

Glynda Goodwitch roamed the empty halls of Beacon on her to her room. It was already 10:43 in the evening and she still has classes to attend to tomorrow. It gave her a headache.

And who wouldn't? She handles a school that trains hormonal teenagers with supernatural powers and deadly weapons while being part of a highly secretive organization whose job is to protect all of Remnant against anyone who are hell-bent on its destruction.

Yay…

Well, atleast life has finally decided to throw her a wishbone, tonight has been almost uneventful.

Almost.

In her last patrol, she decided to check the rooftop; she did find one distressed blonde knight, after all. Then – lo and behold – she finds him there once more, staring blankly into the night sky, looking worse for wear with his eyes more somber than ever.

Indeed. Glynda Goodwitch, along with the other staffs in Beacon, does know about Jaune Arc's precarious situation. It isn't all that difficult to see the young knight get slapped by his former partner in public. Reliving the quite shocking scene this morning at the cafeteria, she could not help but pity the young Arc.

'I most certainly did not expect that from Ms. Nikos, especially since I've always thought of her as a thoughtful woman, but I guess not all that is gold, glitters.' Glynda was certainly disappointed at the Mistralian Champion's act but couldn't detain the aspirant huntress.

Out of the many students here at Beacon, it is difficult to separate those who dare torment the poor boy from those who are simply bystanders. It's not like they can simply lash out upon the student body. And even if you do find exactly who bullies and who doesn't, this situation is much more… peculiar.

Usually, apprehending a student for committing an act of violence against another student would deter others from doing the same, and detention in place for said student would come along smoothly… well… for her, atleast, but with Jaune's case… it's quite different.

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose, ever since the nature of his transcripts were revealed, almost all of the student body rallied against him. It has been a few days since then, but support against the young knight is still at an all-time high with no end in sight. Apprehending a student for acts of violence against Jaune would only cause others to become more motivated to bully him as a way of… avenging their fellow student that was detained.

Her heels clicked as she continued to walk down the deathly-silent hallways before stopping in front of a wooden door labeled as 'STAFFROOM'. She twisted the cold, metal doorknob, and went inside.

Within the staffroom is a large, oval, wooden table, a few metallic shelves, some decorations here and there, a holographic television, and, of course, a ridiculously expensive coffee machine.

Glynda sighed, pondering upon her decision on what course of action to take next. 'Well… desperate times calls for desperate measures. As much as I hate meetings in the middle of the night, we have to do something about Jaune's… situation and we have to do it as soon as possible. After all…'

She walked towards the oval table, her heels now silent due to the carpeted floor of the room, opened a hidden panel within Ozpin's table area. In it was a red button with the words 'EMERGENCY MEETING' on it.

'Hell hath no fury than an Arc scorned.'

Glynda pressed it and went outside to wait for her colleagues.

She heard four footsteps converging on her position.

Then, it suddenly sounded like a stampede. 'Ah, looks like I managed to wake Peter up.'

Glynda sighed.

'This is going to be a long night.'

"This is going to be a long night."

Jaune muttered to himself as he repositioned his prone form in an attempt to increase the meager amount of comfort he can gather.

He grimaced; trying to sleep on the cold, hard ground with a stack of towel as his pillow isn't the best of sleeping arrangements, but it's all that he has.

Despite the discomfort, Jaune's restless mind and lethargic body granted him access to sleep.

He wished it didn't.

/

"You…" Yang growled, eyes fiery red as a side-effect of her semblance, and grabbed a bowed-down Jaune by the collar of his uniform before suspending him in the air. She has always viewed being a hunter as an honor, a privilege given to those who work hard for it, so to learn someone just walk in as if it is some sort of right just… angers her.

Behind her were both teams (J)NPR and RWB(Y), each looking at Jaune with an obvious mixture of contempt, anger, and disappointment that made Jaune just want to instantly vanish into oblivion increase even further.

"WHAT. DO. YOU. HAVE. TO. SAY. FOR. YOURSELF?!" She screamed as she violently shook his suspended body for every word, arms trembling as she did so.

"…" Jaune didn't say anything, tears threatening to spill from his sorrow filled eyes, but to the 7 people in front of him, his silence meant more than enough.

Yang growled even louder, one hand no longer grasping Jaune's collar as she cocked back the arm of her free hand, ready to release a heavy beat down.

Dangling from Yang's iron grip, Jaune's eyes widened into the size of dinner plates. His eyes desperately flickered to his friends… well… former friends, asking for help.

Ruby's twisted into an angry scowl.

Weiss' with evident disgust.

Blake's judging glare.

Pyrrha's hurt look.

Nora's upset expression.

Ren's disapproving visage.

Those images would forever burn into his mind.

WHAM!

As soon as his gaze snapped away from Ren, a hard object made contact with his left cheek – forcefully. Jaune's world spun as he got flung to a wall just a few feet behind him, making a crater as he impacted.

Still dazed and disoriented from the power of Yang's punch, he didn't noticed said brawler angrily march towards him with maiming intent. His dizzied state also caused him to miss how Ruby placed a hand on Yang's shoulder, shook her head sadly, before walking away from the scene.

Yang shot a look at the fraudulent knight as he finally regained his senses, "Forget it. You're not even WORTH beating into a bloody pulp." She venomously said before following her sister.

Blake followed her partner, but not before shooting Jaune a soul-piercing glare.

Weiss simply chose to glare harshly at Jaune's downed form, "For once it think Winchester can be thanked for something, and that's for pointing out a waste of space here at Beacon." She turned around, heels clicking as she slowly followed the rest of her team, "But then again, I've always known that in the first place."

Pyrrha stepped closer to Jaune, tears gathering at the edge of her emerald pools, "Why, Jaune? Why?" She whisperingly questioned before walking away, the hitching of her shoulders being the only clue that she was crying.

Jaune himself was now crying, unable to hold back the emotions of his desolated mental state.

"Let's go, Nora." Ren quietly said to his childhood friend, eyes not leaving Jaune.

Nora didn't even respond, she just turned back and walked away with Ren following her.

Once they were all gone, Jaune curled up into a ball, sobbing with no stop in sight. But no matter how much he cried, the pain never went away.

"Hey would you look at that, its good ol' Jauney-boy!" Jaune's blood froze solid and his body went rigid. He tried to muster up rage against the guy who ruined his life at Beacon, but he was too weak to do so.

Like always.

All he could do so what look up from his fetal position with his bruised cheek and tear-stained face to see a large, mace-wielding, REAL huntsman-in-training with a raised foot, ready to stomp on him.

He could only wish that the force would knock him into a trauma-induced slumber, or – better yet – killed him.

The ginger's boot closed in on his exposed visage at an alarming rate.

SLAM!

/

Jaune woke and sprung up into a sitting position with a sharp gasp, a sheen of cold sweat coating his entire form. Calming his spiked heartbeat, he grimaced. Another nightmare – the same one he's been having for the last two weeks.

Jaune clutched his head. 'Please, make it stop.' He internally pleaded.

He laid back once more, his gaze focused unto the firmament and the shattered moon above. He concluded that it is either very late in the evening or very early in the morning, but one thing is certain – he isn't going back to sleep anytime soon. So, instead he opted to check his scroll.

'3:00 in the morning?' He rhetorically questioned himself. 'That's quite early, maybe even a tad bit too early… hmmm… what to do?'

With a slight hesitation in his thoughts, he decided to video-call home.

Dialing the numbers into his scroll, Jaune heard his father's scroll ring for a few seconds before it was answered.

"Jaune! It's so good to see you again!" A man with broad features, a five o'clock shadow, and an eye and hair color that matches his own answered the call with a cheerful expression etched on his face.

"Hey Dad!" Jaune greeted back with equal vigor, talking to his family just had that effect on him. "How's everything back home?"

"Arcadia's doing as great as ever." Jaune's father said, "The borders are calm, Grimm activities are at an all-time low, and the entire nation is excited for the Brightfall Festival."

"That's good, though I wish I could go home to enjoy the festival with you guys." Jaune nodded.

"And you will," The older Arc said with a smile, "we just need to ask Headmaster Ozpin... nicely…" He ominously spoke with the once-gentle smile morphing into a cheshire grin.

"Define nice."

The older Arc scratched his head sheepishly. "Errr... anyways! Vivian and the others are still busy for preparing Brightfall Forest for the festival there. Preparing a nationwide festival is no walk in the park after all."

Jaune nodded, "Tell them I called and asked how they're doing." He didn't bother prying on his father's definition of nice, he already had a sneaking suspicion on what he meant by nice. His dad and Ozpin are buddy-buddy like that.

"That I can do. Is there anymore, Jaune?"

"..."

"I... yes…" Jaune finally said after a minute, remembering why he called in the first place, but is still reluctant to whether he should tell his parents about his situation.

"Alright then, you can tell them to your old man right here." Jaune's father said as he audibly thumped his chest in a display of cheerful bravado.

"Well... I..."

"Yes~?"

"Actually dad, I think I got this in the bag." Jaune finally said with a fake plastered on smile. This is HIS problem, caused by HIS own volition, and HE would be the one to fix it – having his family here to fix it would be taking a coward's way out.

"Alright, I won't push if you don't want to but if you need help, just remember that we're always one call away."

"Thanks, dad, and... good night." Jaune said, a genuine smile replacing the fake plastered on. It was worthwhile to see and hear his father once again, though it would've been nicer if his sisters and mother would be there.

"Good night to you too, son."

From the other side of the world, Thaddeus D'Arc bid his beloved son good night as he stared at the starry, night sky from the castle balcony.

"THADDEUS D'ARC!" A loud, feminine voice echoed through the castle walls as footsteps were heard converging on Jaune's father, Thaddeus, whose face became paler than deemed healthy.

SLAM!

The door to the balcony flew open as a figure stood before it, looking positively livid.

"V-v-vivian, h-honey, what b-brings you h-here?" Thaddeus asked, wanting nothing more than to just teleport to… somewhere.

'Maybe I can jump down?' He briefly considered before internally shaking his head. That wouldn't work, she'll just catch up to him sooner or later.

"Well, honey, someone in the communications relay informed me that you received a call from my beloved, little, baby boy," Vivian said a little too sweetly, causing Thaddeus to gulp audibly, "and I was wondering why you didn't call me before you hanged up."

"I… uhhh… hehe…" He babbled as he nervously scratched the back of his head – a habit that ALL male Arcs seem to possess when attempting to lie – and took a step back.

"What's wrong, honey?" Vivian stepped closer, her expression still sickeningly sweet.

"B-bu-but I j-just you and the girls w-were too busy with t-the f-festival!" He stutteringly exclaimed, and it's true – he didn't want to disturb them, they can always call him whenever he's free.

Vivian just loomed even closer until he was backed into a corner, "Are you telling me that organizing the festival is more important than Jauneykins?" She asked, the saccharine in her voice oozing, just like the aura from within her body.

A glowing yellow orb appeared floating in front of her, sandwiched by two small glyphs of the same color – her insignia.

Thaddeus scrambled to get up.

Out of the orb, she pulled out a longsword with a silver hilt, stylized ends on the cross-guard and the pommel, grip wrapped in brown fine leather, a stylized, silver double-helix starting from the middle of the fuller to the rain guard, and a glowing yellow blade – Essence Absolution, her manifest.

Thaddeus scrambled to jump off the balcony.

It was of no use.

And with that, a scream pierced the cool, calm, peaceful air of the castle walls that night.

Ah, just another night at Arcadia.

Two figures stalked through the underbrush, vigorously searching for any threat that may come their way. The sky was dark, the surroundings barely illuminated by the fractured moon from above, but it didn't deter the two adventurers.

With nothing but their weapons, a crudely crafted torch lighting up their immediate vicinity with giving off a dim glow, and the clothes on their backs, they traversed through the darkness, closely guarding each other's back.

The torchbearer raised their only light source forward, turquoise eyes gleamed, not just from the flickering flames, but also from the excitement building up from within her when she caught a glimpse on what lies within a stone's throw away.

Her partner followed her gaze, magenta orbs widening in a mixture of surprise, elation, and thrill. "Is that… is that what I think it is?" He questioned.

She said nothing, only proceeding to silently stalk towards the sight up ahead, while a mop of black hair with a streak of pink followed closely behind her.

Orange hair bobbed as she started walking more briskly as soon as their objective came in full view, an excited grin on her face as she did so. She had finally done it. After years on end of searching for the lost civilization, she had done it.

In front of her stood a ruin of moderately-sized ramparts, chunks of it destroyed and overgrowth seeping through large cracks on the stone foundation, its height reaching just below the treetops, and its width stretching further onto the side – probably for miles further into the darkness – but they didn't need to see how long it goes…

… They just need to see what goes beyond.

"W-we… we found it… WE FOUND IT!" The torchbearer exclaimed in elation, jumping up and down, pointing towards the ruins in front of them, "Look! Look! We found it, Renny! We found it!"

The so-called 'Renny' ignored the bundle of energy as he continued to stare at the ruins in awe, dumb-founded at the sight. He had always thought that the myth regarding the lost civilization as false, but perhaps it isn't as much of a hoax as he believes it is – the otherworldly runes at the lining the top of the ramparts inclines him to believe so.

The pair continued their journey into the unknown, past these ancient defensive barriers that promises discovery up ahead – one of them was calmly walking, taking time to observe his surroundings, while the other one leaped around, endless words of thoughts coming out of her mounts akin to a firing machine gun…

… But their meandering eyes aren't the only ones lurking nearby.

Walk… walk… walk… walk… the pair continued walking for a few more hours, a third-party following them from a descent distance. Within this amount of time, the bundle of joy and energy finally calmed down, but remained invigorated on their search; her partner remained ever observant, they are on uncharted territories, an abandoned dominion swallowed by the Grimm, it is best to be cautious…

… But not even vigilant sight can spot the large figure, thanks to its natural affinity for stealth, as it continued to follow the two adventurers.

The lunar glow started increasing; where the tree lines finally come to a halt must be up ahead.

"Nora," The male one spoke out to the torchbearer, "extinguish the torch's fire or the wood would burn out. I am NOT cutting off another piece of wood using Stormflower, the wooden materials out here are tougher than they look."

Seriously! It took him an entire half an hour just to chip away and cut off the branch they're using as a light source. The dark-brown colored material was heavy and certainly durable, it may as well have been made out of iron if it wasn't for the fact that it's probably a bit heavier than one and just as element-resistant as any other regular piece of wood.

The torchbearer, whose name is revealed to be 'Nora', violently swung the improvised torch until the fire dies before bounding over to 'Renny', giggling as she did so. "Ren, you said 'wood' four times!"

Ren sighed. "I only said 'wood' three times, Nora. Besides, we should get going, aren't you excited to see the lost civilization."

Nora started skipping forwards, Ren calmly walking close by.

"So you finally believe me! Since when did you realize that the lost civilization is true?! Do you think we can find treasures there?! Oooh! Oooh! Why not SELL the lost civilization for Pancakes?" She loudly asked with hyper-active energy clearly oozing from her demeanor… metaphorically speaking anyways.

Ren sighed once more, "Nora, I don't think we ca–" But he wasn't able to finish his sentence, being once again awe-struck as they finally got out of the woods and into a grass field.

Their view finally unrestrained by the trees and vegetation, they came across a gigantic wall – probably ten times larger than the ramparts they passed through earlier. Just like the rampart from before, overgrowth has evidently grown from it, and alien runes lining its top, but what really caught their attention was the gigantic hole – spanning up to half of the wall's height…

… But such was their attention that they didn't notice murderous, bleary, red eyes focused on the stunned pair.

Ren recovered his senses first, Nora still stuck with her hands sandwiching her face with her mouth still gaping. As he shook his head and stared at the ginormous infrastructure with only one phrase to express…

"OH–"

… But looks like the monster is also ready to express itself…

GROWL!

… As it ghosted out of its hiding place, and from its maw came a terrifying, inhumane growl.

" – shit."

The pair scrambled to leap out of the monster's way, its speed evidently quicker than any other Grimm they have ever personally-encountered.

The two cursed themselves for letting their guard down as they readied their weapons before diving and rolling out of a strike from the powerful Grimm. They got up and got into their stances – they knew what this ABOMINATION is…

/

"A WRAITH!" Nora exclaimed dramatically, leaning close and making exaggerated gestures.

Ruby continued nibbling the cookie she had on-hand, eyes wide and gleaming from the excited from the story. She have always liked Nora's tales of epic adventures and discoveries, but this… this just took the cake!

But even then, she can still feel sadness creeping out from the back of her mind, where she desperately pushed it into as to not fall into a spiraling depression. Ruby knows that the entire table, composed of Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and her, is also trying to do the same – with Nora trying to bring a sense of normalcy to their downtrodden group by entertaining us away from their current troubles… or more specifically, trouble.

And it seemed to be atleast working.

"Do you really need to narrate it like that, Nora?" Pyrrha interrupted as he took a sip of her orange juice, a strained smile still plastered on her face – like the entire PNR has been for the last two weeks.

"But it's dramatiiiic!" Nora whined before continuing, "Anyways, we kicked the Wraith's butt, explored the lost civilization where we found the Monty Grail. Renny and I sold it, and thus, the very first pancake & sloths hotel in all of Remnant is born!"

"…"

"…"

"That was… anti-climactic…" Ruby said as she took a bite of the last cookie on her plate.

"She's been having this dream since last week." Ren said.

Ruby respected the green-garbed ninja, he's always calm and collected, and would always put up with Nora. He's like Blake, but less… Blakey.

"Well… she's certainly… errrrmmm… creative?" Pyrrha said, although the end of it came more of a question.

"You still haven't told me how you killed the Wraith." Ruby grumbled.

"What Wraith?" Nora questioned innocently.

Ruby sighed, "Wha–? You know what, nevermind." Arguing with the logic of Nora's tall tales is always an uphill battle, so she just moved on to the other question that has been bugging her, "Hey, Pyrrha, are you okay? You seem… not okay."

At this, the Spartan grimaced. Despite her fellow prodigy's abysmal social skills, she isn't oblivious and is actually quite perceptive of others, especially those who are close to her.

Oblivious.

As much as Pyrrha wants to forget their leade– FORMER leader, she can't help it if his face pops out whenever the word comes around. Why the word oblivious? It's Jaune, go figure. "Well, honestly, I was thinking about Jaune…"

Ren's eyebrows were furrowed, Nora's face straightened, and Ruby's face has a deep grimace etched into it; the mere mention of his name is enough to bring down the cheery atmosphere of the table and create a slight tension in the air.

"Hey Ruby…" Pyrrha silently started, shattering the silence of the table, hey eyes evidently filled to the brim with hesitation and morbid curiosity.

"Yeah?"

"Why haven't you broken up with Jaune yet?"

At that, Ruby was stunned. Her first former friend, former leader, former adorkable goof, and a whole lot more titles with the word former that comes along with each of it, but one of the most notorious ones is the reason for his very downfall – liar.

Oh, and did she mention that he was also her boyfriend? Because he is.

Ruby's stunned look morphed into a light scowl.

She had been his girlfriend ever since last month, but ever since his secret was out, she had been avoiding him if possible. She was sure that he had noticed it, so why is it difficult to just break-up with him? Would it be a blow too below the belt if she did? The accusations he is facing is already making his reputation at Beacon bleak.

At first, she didn't believe it. The adorkable, blonde, goofball is a liar? Of his transcripts, no less? There's just no way in Remnant that he is. Eventually, though, she couldn't deny it. No matter how hard she tried, she really couldn't. Not when even he couldn't deny the accusations himself.

It just wasn't fair! She can understand the feeling of worthlessness – she WAS one before she went under the tutelage of her Uncle Qrow – but even then, it took her YEARS of hardwork and determination just to even dream of steeping into Beacon, then he'll just come into the scene, thinking that he can get a FREE RIDE?!

She stopped her inner monologue when she heard a small crack of glass, before realizing that she had been gripping an empty glass of milk a tad bit too tight.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to intrude too much," Pyrrha hurriedly said, afraid that the question stepped on a nerve, "just… just forget that I asked."

"It's… it's alright, Pyrrha," Ruby said with a strained smile, "I was just surprised is all."

Ruby waited for a reply from the three, but after a few minutes of awkward silence, she decided to finally answer.

"Well… it's that I don't… I don't know how to…"

Her reply initially surprised the PNR-trio; just how hard can saying the words 'it's over' can be? To HIM no less, but then Ren, ever the analyst, remembered a vital factor to Ruby's dilemma – two, actually;

A.) This is Ruby's first relationship. Her inexperience towards the matter may be the one causing her indecision towards how to deal with initiating a break-up.

B.) Ruby's too kind for her own good. Sometimes, Ruby really is too kind for her own good but, nonetheless, they wouldn't force the speedster clad in red-and-black to change her approach, it was one of her good points. Taking away kindness from Ruby is like taking away the sugar from a cookie, it'll look similar, but is actually different, and Ruby is fine as she is.

Pyrrha coughed into her hand, "Well… I think you should do is to–"

Why is this even a discussion?" Nora interrupted, wearing an incredulous expression that none of her other two teammates have, "Oooh! Oooh! I know! Let's just break his legs!"

Ren sighed, "Nora, no, Ms. Goodwitch had already placed a warning regarding bullying before lunch, remember?" He then turned to Ruby, "I suggest that you call your fellow teammates so we can better decide our next course of action."

"Oooh! Great idea! Thanks, Ren!" Ruby said as she downed her glass of milk in one go.

The three was about to say their thanks but stopped as they realized that Ruby had already vanished in a flurry of rose petals and a swinging double door. They just shrugged and continued on with their lunch, although it wasn't the same with the quiet atmosphere and a certain blonde hovering in their thoughts.

Weiss was furious.

And it had started off as a promising day too. She was experimenting with Viridian No. 9 and Albino No. 1 mixed in with a little bit of Azure No. 5 to see if she could create a concentrated beam of solidified dust – a dust thread, of sorts – well, she WAS experimenting until it exploded.

Directly on her face.

And then some.

By the end of her dust experimentation session, the entire dust lab was covered in soot – and so was she.

Now… that… that annoying brother of hers suddenly calls to tell her that he's arriving at Beacon to STAY?!

'And it had started off as a promising day too.' Weiss sighed as she straightened out her dress, making sure that she's presentable while waiting for her brother to arrive – Whitley is still family after all, and while he may not be the best sibling she could ask for, he's… tolerable.

A few more seconds passed, then those seconds turned into minutes. She's running out of patience, but years of honed discipline allowed her to only have arms akimbo as the only expression of impatience.

20 minutes have come to pass and she has yet to see an SDC-custom Bullhead, but what she does see is a regular bullhead, or more specifically, Beacon's own standard-issue Bullhead.

'But Whitley can't possibly be in there, right?'

The bullhead soon came to a hovering halt over one of Beacon's landing pad – the one that Weiss had just happened to be standing nearby – before slowly descending itself to land.

The single passenger that departed from the Bullhead caused Weiss to become confused. Whitley, riding in a normal vehicle like every average person? Since when did he became this mature?

"Hello, sister," A familiar voice shook Weiss awake from her thoughts, "it has been quite some time seen we have seen each other." The white-haired boy approached Weiss with arms stretched outwards for an embrace.

"Hello as well, Whitley, I suppose you didn't come all the way over here from Atlas just to chat." Weiss replied as she accepted the embrace with her own – a little shaken, but not stirred.

"Well… it is one of the reasons, though the main reason that I am currently here is to accompany you."

Now THAT took Weiss by surprise, "What… what do you mean you're here to accompany me?"

"Father… requested for me to stay here until further notice. He said that thinsg over at Atlas are becoming… more volatile, and that Castle White and even Atlas Academy are no longer as safe as it used to be… so… here I am."

Weiss simply opted to nod as she stared at her younger sibling with a mixture of a curious and dumbfounded expression. "Well then, Whitley, I personally welcome you to Beacon Academy – Vale's most prestigious combat Acad–"

"WEISSSSS!"

Weiss shrieked as she was suddenly tackled to the ground by a figure dressed in gothic black-and-red.

Ouch.

To Ruby who was also sprawled on the floor? Physics. Ruby never really paid attention the Gavton's Three Law of Motion, and how he dropped a bottle of headlight fluid from the top of The Leaning Tower of Mistral, it seems unrelated to the world of hunting man-eating, hate-filled monsters. Karma decrees otherwise.

'Owww… I feel like as if I've been struck by something overburdened with crabbi–'

"You absolute DUNCE!" Weiss growled as she stood up, interrupting Ruby's thought process, "Why are you even in such a hurry? We don't even have classes for Oum's sake!"

"Well I… I needed some help fo–"

Weiss's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Are you going to drag us into some sort of crazy adventure that involves docks, criminals, androids, ginormous robots, Grimm, White Fang, fairy tales, and crazy invasion schemes?"

Ruby was about to reply to her white-haired partner, but another voice beat her to it.

"Weiss? Who is this?" Whitley asked with a curious eyebrow raised as he offered a hand for Ruby to take.

"Oh! I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose! Proud leader of Team RWBY!" Ruby cheerily said.

"So this is the leader you spoke of Weiss?" Whitley rhetorically remarked with an amused smile.

Weiss sighed. "Yes, she can be quite a handful most of the times; however, her skills in the field is quite… adequate."

"So… who are you?" Ruby asked.

"I'm Whitley, Whitley Schnee, Weiss' younger brother. I am pleased to meet you." Whitley said before extending a hand towards Ruby.

Ruby quickly took Whitley's extended hands with her own and energetically shook it, "You have a younger brother, Weiss?" The speedster said before gasping with eyes wide in utter terror, "Weiss! Don't tell me you're going to make horrible puns too!"

"Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed as she smacked her partner in the head, "I refuse to become someone with the likes of that barbaric sister of yours!"

"Weiss! That's mean!"

Whitley chuckled. "You weren't lying when you said that she's quite a handful. Her hyperactive behavior can be quite overwhelming indeed."

"Speaking of behavior… Whitley… you seem… different…" Weiss slowly said with an inquisitive look.

"And you've been away, I'll have you know that I didn't stop growing while you we're gone, after all, I drink milk."

"Whitley, I–"

But Weiss was, once again, interrupted by the sound of Ruby Rose. "I drink milk too!"

"I'm sure you do." Whitley said with an amused tone in his voice and a kind smile following shortly after.

"So… are you sure you're Weiss' sister? I mean… you don't seem as crabby her." Ruby asked with innocent curiosity.

White-haired heiress angrily fumed at that and smacked Ruby once more in the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Ruby asked as she rubbed the sore spot in the back of her head, it might have even taken off a percent from her aura.

"Ruby!" Weiss angrily started with gritted teeth before taking a deep breath and releasing as a sigh, "just… what do you want?" She calmly said with an open palm gesture.

At that Ruby deflated, remembering the circumstances of why she approached Weiss in the first place, "Well I… I just needed some… personal… advice." Ruby softly said, her cheer replaced with melancholy.

"I would just excuse myself from this conversation then." Whitley noticed the sudden change of tone and atmosphere from Ruby and decided to leave the two be as to grant privacy, "Have a nice day, sister, Ruby." He said before walking towards the headmaster's tower.

"Have a nice day as well, Whitley." Weiss called out to her brother before turning to Ruby once more, "Okay… so, what is it, then?"

"I'll tell you later. Now, c'mon, I also told Team PNR about this." Ruby answered.

"What's up, sis? Weiss-cream?" Yang greeted, with Blake simply nodding to the two before resuming on reading her smu– I mean, literature. Based on the blush on her face, she's on the steamy part of the smu– novel.

"Yang! Blake!" Ruby greeted back, with Weiss just huffing and stomping to her bunk bed.

"Well, someone's grumpy." Yang teased, earning a sneer in return.

"Oh, don't be a pest!"

"Yaaaaang…" Ruby warned… well… as threateningly as Ruby can be without her scythe.

It was like a growling puppy.

"Alright, fine! I'll lay the Ice Queen to cool off," Yang said with a mischievous smirk on her face. Everyone groaned at her horrible excuse for humor.

Ren, through the commotion of the argument, clapped his hands twice, "Now that we're all here, we can talk about… well... I think it'd be better if she's one to tell you about it."

And so Ruby told her dilemma.

The atmosphere within Team RWBY's dorm room that followed is a mixture of crestfallen and slight tension.

Yup, his name truly is enough to kill the cheery atmosphere of the two teams. They just didn't want to remember him. You know the saying that 'bliss is ignorance'? Well, that is what they were going for until they can muster enough strength and leniency to forgive Jaune, but until then, he remains infamous.

The excited gleam within Ruby's eyes was gone, seemingly finding interest at the floor below her. Despite her dislike, she isn't spiteful, but spiteful or not, it isn't going to stop her decision of breaking-up, it just makes her want to dampen the inevitable blow it'll deliver.

She was initially excited, because she finally doesn't have the entire problem to bear, she has friends, HONEST friends, to help her carry the burden throughout the way, but now, her giddiness was replaced by indecision once more.

Should she do it?

Her friends says that she should, though she knew that they were biased in their decision-making, but then again, so is she. Well… atleast she has doubts about it, that makes her a little less bias, right?

Doesn't it?

What if he breaks down? What if he can't accept that I broke up with it?

What if breaking up with him isn't worth it? What would be his reaction? Distraught? Disdain?

So many questions, all without a clear answer for Ruby. She was a combat tactician! Not a love expert! If anything, she was the most socially-inept within the inner circle of friends, possibly even of all Beacon.

Her frown deepened.

All she wanted to be was an awesome huntress with normal knees, and not be subjected to… this. But she was in too deep now, all she had to do was to follow the best plan they can come up with in this brainstorming session.

Thought processes from the seven who are within the room thundered with concentration and contemplation. The problem seems simple, but with their judgement clouded with despise towards the young Arc, it was not easy to think of something less… pain-inducing.

Yang scowled.

Weiss's arms were crossed.

Ren frowned.

Blake's eyebrows furrowed.

Pyrrha rubbed her chin.

Nora snapped her fingers, "Oh, I know!" Nora exclaimed with an expression that screams 'eureka' all over it.

"What is it?" Blake questioned, intrigue oozing at what solution the Valkyrie has come up with. Her cat-like curiosity not helping in the slightest. Even then, it was rare to see something pique Blake's interest away from her book.

The others leaned forward, also interested at what the Valkyrie has to offer. Call them crazy for actually considering what someone who blew up half of the cafeteria with nothing more than pancakes, a metal pole, and maple syrup thought of the situation, but after half-an-hour of drawing blanks, the group was desperate. Besides, if anything, Nora may be… explosive at times, she is also creative. How else could you make half the cafeteria blow up with nothing more than an elongated scrap and two items of food?

Exactly.

"Well… what I think Ruby should is to..."

The grouped hummed their agreements. It was a simple approach, how come they haven't thought about that sooner? Nonetheless, no one fought for their ego, not even Weiss. They just wanted to get over this. The sooner they wouldn't have to think about the fraud, the better. Besides…

It's not a bad plan...

Not even in the slightest...

For them, atleast.

'Dammit.'

Jaune stared blankly into the piece of paper as he read its content. Sitting in the desk of the spare room Headmaster Ozpin had provided him, he spoke nothing as he read it for the fourth time.

Now, the fifth.

Now, the sixth.

Now, the seventh.

Now, the eighth.

His hands gradually trembling as he did so, slowly increasing the pressure his fingers applied on the fragile material as creases on its once smooth surface developed, and along with it comes the urge to scream and crumple the source of distress.

Make no mistake, Jaune holds no illusion that their relationship would survive the strain of them learning of his fraudulent transcripts, but for some reason, he clung. Memories flew by, replaying, as if fate has decided to mock him of what was.

/

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby said, a bag of cookies in her left hand, and her face as red as her namesake. It was late at night, and the stars are out tonight, it was perfect for a confession, something that a certain rose is prepping herself up for, 'It's now or never, Ruby! You have to tell Jaune you like h-him!'

"Hey, Ruby," Jaune replied a little less enthusiastically, worried that his first friend is sick. Well… if she actually was. Ruby would always be flushed whenever near him lately, almost as if someone would turn up the temperature whenever he was in close proximity with her. She would sputter, and mutter something inaudible, only to panic and defensively deny she said anything if he asks her.

"S-so… w-what're you u-up to today, J-jaune?" Ruby stuttered, cursing herself for being socially awkward as he sat down beside Jaune, 'How is he going to fall for me if I can't even talk properly to him?'

Jaune sighed, 'And there she goes again with stuttering,' he thought to himself. "Not much, it's better than getting humiliated in Combat Class," He said as he patted Ruby's head and gently ruffled it, earning a small 'eep' and a deeper blush from the girl, but she let him continue the administrations, slowly melting into the affectionate contact.

"Jaune?" Ruby said, her face burned crimson while she felt her heart do multiple backflips and her stomach to do the same.

"Hmmm?"

"I… I… I…"

"I what?" Jaune, being as socially inept as Ruby, asked with little tact to the high-strung expression and speech of the girl.

"I… DO YOU WANT SOME COOKIES?!" Ruby blurted out loudly, but covered her mouth as soon as she did.

'Arghhhh! Why did I say that?! He probably thinks that I'm a weirdo now! Arghhh! Stupid Jaune, stupid crush!' She wanted to confess, not offer treats.

"Uhhhh… sure! Why not?" Jaune said as he inched closer to Ruby, and shifted his body so that he could get the cookie with his left hand without needing to stop ruffling Ruby's head. Ruby sat at Jaune's right.

Fortunately for Ruby, Jaune had to shift his body to a position resembling a hug to get a cookie.

Unfortunately for Ruby, she couldn't resist.

"R-ruby?"

She remained silent, her arms wrapped around the knight of her affections while she stared into his sapphire-blue orbs. It seemed endlessly deep, bottomless, but pure and calming, just like the ocean. Ruby loves the ocean. Jaune tried calling out to Ruby once more, but the trainee huntress just moved lower to focus on his lips. It was soft, yet strong; gentle, yet unyielding… tempting. She leaned closer… wanting… needing… closer…

"RU-RUBY?!" Jaune cried out, a tone higher than usual. It wasn't a loud shout by any means, if anything it was nothing more than a volume of increase. He knew something was off about Ruby tonight, but shrugged it off as she has acted like this in previous encounters, but this...

Then, it clicked, the previous hints coming together like a jigsaw puzzle, and a conclusion formed within his mind. His eyes widened. He could feel sweat glands activate and go into overdrive while his heart thumped louder and faster than normal. He suddenly feels as if he ran a marathon.

"U-uhhhh… u-ummmm…" Ruby tried to explain herself, awoken from the trance she was in by the dork's high-pitched shout, but was unable to produce neither words nor thoughts. With an atomic blush spread in her cheeks and her mouth doing a perfect imitation of a fish struggling to be put back into water, she heaved herself off the intimate contact, and used her semblance to speed off, leaving the young Arc to his thoughts.

Jaune shook himself from his musings, 'Now is not the time, I need to find Ruby to confirm… all of this…' he thought to himself. However, before he could even completely stand up to follow his possible-admirer, he heard a crunchy sound made right beside him.

It was Ruby's cookie bag, and with it comes a letter.

He opened it.

With a smile on his lips, he read the letter.

/

With trembling lips, he read the letter.

As if fate has decided to mock him of what he had, memories flew by, replaying. Over and over again.

In the end of the letter, written is a small attempt of consolation, 'I'm sorry, it's just not working out.'

Alas, an attempt is all it was. And a small one at that.

His cheeks were tear-stained like the letter he holds, and eyes sunken like the realization he was hit with. He looked up to the mirror that hung on a wall in front his desk.

A mess, inside and out, is what he saw; eyes red and puffy, dark rings underneath it, his blonde hair messier than regular, and his face as pale as an albino.

He couldn't take it, he didn't want to see how far from grace his mental state has recessed, but at the same time, he couldn't look away.

So, Jaune did what he could and made do with what he has.

He stood up, eyes still trained on his reflection, then…

He punched it. No aura, no protection whatsoever, just pure, straight-up punch of pent up frustration, agony, and grief. His hands bled but it to him it didn't matter, the pain was welcome, it helps dull the other ache he has.

So, he punched it again…

…and again…

…and again…

...and again…

...until his knuckles were almost diminished to a bloody pulp.

He likes to think that he holds no illusions that their relationship would come out on top after all this…

…but it did nothing.

He still cried, not because of the pain in his hands, but the pain that resides in his heart.

The paper in his hands still crumpled, no different from his current willpower.

The mirror that once held his reflection was still reduced into shattered remains.

Just like the illusions he once held to. False hope, nothing more, but hope nonetheless.

Hope that was fractured into tiny pieces.

A shattered hope.

And so, Jaune Arc, drained of his energy, sat in his stool once more and propped his arms on the table for his head to sleep on, uncaring of the shards that pierced his skin and drew a nick of blood. He closed his eyes, not even bothering to draw forth his aura.

For he knows that not even aura can heal all wounds.

'Dammit.'

Numbness enveloped him.

But not before a blanket of comfort did.

CRASH!

Silver eyes peered through a crack in the room. Eyes wide in horror to the broken man before her, but didn't intervene, he had this coming. Still, it didn't stop the pit of guilt that grew within her stomach, they were like butterflies, but more… sinister.

She tried to make the letter as gentle as can be, filled with messages of cheering up, encouragement, and hope mixed in with the break-up letter, she really did try.

But she guessed that he didn't share the sentiment.

Blood… blood dripping from his knuckles, even if he was in pain, he didn't show it. His irises were hollow, no depth or any sort of emotion to be found, but the tears that flowed freely from his eyes proved otherwise.

'Why isn't he using his aura?' Ruby asked herself internally.

No answers came. He only stood there unmoving other than his heavy breathing, before he sat down to his chair without a word and left the world of consciousness. He may be a fraud, but it's not like he did a crime against humanity or something.

She snuck inside, careful not to cause noise that awaken the blonde, and took a blanket in his bed.

Ruby has always been the kindest of the quartet. Call it naïve, childlike, and soft-hearted, but she doesn't care, she's a huntress and she's here to help.

Ruby sighed. 'Maybe someday, Jaune…'

Could she find it within herself to draw forth enough kindness for Jaune's leniency? No. Not even she can be so forgiving. Would she let it stand in her way to help others, though? No. Most absolutely not.

She carefully approached Jaune, watching his back rise and fall in rhythm to his breathing. When she has reached close proximity, she gently covered him with the blanket that she took. She looked at his hands and arms; a burst knuckle with the former and cuts prevalent throughout the latter. She let her hands hover above the damage and activated her aura to heal him.

Her deed done, she tiptoed out of the room and closed it.

"Ruby, are you alright?" The voice of a certain white-haired male asked, concern leaking through his hushed voice. Ruby was sitting in a bench, deep in contemplation when he encountered her for the second time this day. He asked the same question as he did now, and she told him about her current situation, their plan on what do about it, and how she dislikes the idea but ultimately acknowledges its necessity. And so he decided to accompany her, which she readily accepted.

She turned around as she palmed her cheeks and noticed moisture in them. She hadn't even noticed, "Y-yeah, I guess… thanks for accompanying me to this." Ruby softly said, barely above a whisper, as she rubbed off the still-damp tears with the sleeve of her dress.

'What do I do, what do I do...?' Whitley mentally scratched for solutions. He wasn't any good with comforting women – he's just fifteen years old for Oum's sake!

"Look, Ruby… this is better than leading him on, you had two bad choices and you took the lesser evil, sometimes life just doesn't give you the benefit of a black-and-white decision." He finally said.

Placing a hand in her shoulder, Whitley steered Ruby away from Jaune's room and towards her own team's, warring thoughts conflicting the silent hallway they traversed.

"Maybe someday…" She murmured to no one is particular.

Two weeks have passed since. A week and a half of self-loathing. Two weeks of watching Ruby and that other guy... Whitey? Witty? Willy? Whatever his name is, he's getting a little too close to Ruby for Jaune's comfort.

'But not that it really matters, now does it...'

Jaune Arc walked down the hallway, his head bowed and hidden behind the shadows of his hoodie, refusing to meet the judging eyes of numerous students who gave him a glance before turning to their companions, whispering god-knows what.

'Probably insults.' He thought with no small amount of pessimism. While he isn't what many would normally call a pessimist, it is safe to assume so that the students are still vindictive over his transcripts.

Surprisingly, Jaune noticed that there are significantly less people staring him down, and the whispers that followed has also winded. This sparked a small spark of hope within the young Arc's heart and mind; that someday the school as a whole could forgive him for his fraudulence. But even then, Jaune knows that the worse is yet to come. He knows that the school faculty was able to convince a large portion of the school populace to not openly harass him, but he also knows that there are still going to be students who would refuse to follow the notion.

"OOF!" Jaune stumbled, turning heads to his direction before subsequently laughing, snickering, chuckling, and many more expressions of amusement.

He supported himself with his arms before twisting his body and neck a little to see what he tripped himself on… or in his case, who.

'Speak of the devil and he shall appear.'

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" said a voice all too familiar for the blonde. And not in any good way.

"Cardin..." Jaune grunted as he tried to push himself up but to no avail as a heavy foot found its way to his back before gradually applying pressure, slowly squashing the boy back to the ground.

"Jauney-boy! How's our one-and-only master transcript forger?" Cardin exclaimed, fake enthusiasm leaking through his voice with malice augmented in it. A small audience has now coalesced around the act of violence. "Well, buddy, how about you and I have a little… chat with you?"

"It's not like I have a choice in that matter…" murmured Jaune before mentally hitting himself for the remark, hoping that no one heard his snappy slip of the tongue. Sadly for him, there is no such luck.

"What was that?" Cardin asked demandingly as he suddenly dug his heels deeper into the blue-eyed blonde's back, making the teen grunt and exhale sharply in pain. When Cardin heard no response, he stomped, earning a louder grunt before removing his foot from the downed boy. "You're no fun, Jauney-boy. It isn't nice to talk behind your friend's back. Though I should've known you'd be into that, you are a liar after all."

Gritting his teeth, Jaune tried to stand up, but failed as a large hand took hold of his hoodie, roughly picked him up until his legs were dangling in the air before slamming his body against the wall and holding him up against it. As the pain in his aching back subsided, he saw the scowl on Cardin's face, his three lackeys smirking, and the once murmuring crowd now jeering him, taunting him of how weak and unwelcome he is. But while these insults might have cut deeply into him a week or so back, all it met now is a numbed mental barrier hardened by experience. Arcs have always been renowned for their lightning-quick adaptability.

"Still no answer, huh?" Cardin snarled as he reared his fists back while the crowd roared with approval, the faculties' pleas against violence against Jaune long forgotten. "C'mon Jauney-boy, old pal Cardin here just wants to teach you a little lesson about manners."

'Here it comes… again…' Jaune braced himself but didn't shut his eyes, instead opting to stare defiantly at his oppressor, his minio– teammates, and the spectators. At the corner of his sapphire pools, he saw Weiss amongst the crowd, her team close-by, staring at the commotion with a frown plastered on her face. Cardin's smirked faltered for a second before resuming at full-strength as his coiled arm and clenched fist tensed, ready to strike at any moment.

"Here comes lesson one!" Cardin exclaimed as he hurled his cocked fist towards Jaune as the latter simply tilted his head to direct the impact to his cheek in an attempt to mitigate the upcoming strike.

Well… if it did struck.

"ENOUGH!"

Needless to say it didn't. Instead of flesh colliding with flesh, Cardin's fist stopped mid-air, one part due to the purple sheen of telekinetic energy covering it, the other due to one fuming Glynda Goodwitch burning holes behind his head with a soul-crushing glare. The entire audience of students froze after hearing the icy, harsh voice, even more so when they realized who shouted it.

Glynda took one step forward. Whimpers were heard, eyes widened in fear, backs went ramrod straight.

Glynda took two more steps forward. Ominous intent and aura leaking through her evidently angry face and forceful strides.

Glynda is took three more steps forward. The crowd is no more but a few stragglers who have yet to disperse, whilst Cardin and Jaune are frozen like ice but sweating buckets.

"What is the meaning of this?" Glynda asked, but came out more as a demand. "Didn't I specifically told you not to bother or harass your fellow students?"

Despite the ever increasing infuriated aura that surrounded the platinum-blonde professor, Cardin tried to fabricate false reasoning, but as he opened his mouth, a familiar purple glow surrounded his head, and his jaw was painfully snapped shut with an audible CRACK! Cardin let go of his grip on Jaune's hoodie in favor of gripping his own jaw.

"I will see you later in my office to discuss about your actions," Glynda said, clearly restraining herself from physically harming the cowering form of Cardin Winchester, "you, your father, Headmaster Ozpin, and I clearly have a lot to talk about. Now, leave."

Cardin could only dumbly stare at the Professor with his mouth doing a perfect imitation of a fish out of water. Cardin is not stupid – no matter what his academic aptitude tests imply, he is the leader of his own team for a reason – his dumbfoundingly high ego just leads him to make stupid decisions and choices. But no matter how ego-centrically stupid he is, Cardin knows that there are just some things you shouldn't mess with, and one of them is the Beacon's teaching staff, so he obliged and scampered away, daring not to invoke more of the Professor's wrath despite the bitter taste and hurting ego the encounter has left him with.

Jaune, still on the floor with his back against the wall he was pinned to earlier, also stood up to leave, but was stopped dead in his tracks.

"Jaune…" Glynda started, her face and voice devoid of anger, but one bearing that of concern and sympathy.

"I… I'm alright, Ms. Goodwitch, just a little… bruising is all." Jaune waved off her concern.

"Jaune, if you keep downplaying your situation, if you keep allowing yourself to be pushed around, to be spat on by your supposed classmates and friends, then yo–" Glynda scolded, but with warmth evident in his tone.

"I know! I… I know that Ms. Goodwitch! It's just that maybe if I hold on, it'll give them less reasons to stay mad at me, then maybe, just maybe, I'd be treated right again," Jaune cut her off before his face fell, now staring at the ground as if it is the most interesting thing in the world. "It's… It's all I ever wanted…"

Glynda frowned, "I understand and applaud your self-restraint and your hopeful resolve, but you must understand that while wounds may heal on their own, treating them makes the process faster. You are letting others define you."

"But they are! They define me! I wouldn't be me if it wasn–"

"They don't," Glynda calmly stated with an air of someone stating a scientific fact. "It is your life, your path, yours to take, so don't let them think otherwise. Friends, families, authorities, and societies don't define you, they never had, and should never will, but rather, they are someone who helps you define yourself. They may influence, enforce, dictate, and persecute, but in the end of the day, the choice is still yours to take."

Jaune just stood there, shocked by the normally strict teacher's maternal attitude. 'Heh, should've expected that, she was my babysitter after all.' He thought to himself before smiling.

"I see that my advice has sparked some light in you. I'm glad to have knocked some sense in you," Glynda flashed a rare smile back, happy to have inspired wisdom into the young Arc.

Jaune chuckled, "Well, I'm glad that knocking some sense into me isn't as literal as before."

"I'm going to have to if you don't reach your next class in time," Glynda replied, maintaining the smile.

"Crapbaskets!" Jaune exclaimed as he checked the time in his scroll, and to his horror, found out that he has only two minutes to reach class. Profess– errrrr… Doctor Oobleck isn't going to be happy that he's late. "I– uhh… I got to go now, Ms. Goodwitch! Thanks for the pep talk!"

With those parting words Jaune made a mad dash towards his classroom. And while Glynda would normally tell her students to avoid running in the corridors, she thinks that she should cut him some slack, after all, his classroom is still on the other side of Beacon, and she is the reason for him running late.

She chuckled as she watched Jaune scramble to reach top velocity.

She admired the resilience and adaptability of the Arcs, how they could adapt to harsh environments to maintain their good-nature. But she is no fool, she noticed how Jaune suddenly shifts mood and emotion when presented with different situations and individuals with a short lapse of time in between, and the ever-present bottle of anti-depressant medication in his nightstand. In his eyes, she could see the conflict in his eyes, his efforts to bat away depression.

Glynda's mouth shifted to a thin frown as she recalled the conclusions she came up with alongside the other professors upon observing Jaune.

Jaune is struggling. Behind those quick-to-recover smiles, his optimistic vocabulary, and his goofy actions is a man desperately combating the constant siege of depression with whatever remains in his decimated disposal to remain just barely in the upper hand.

"We're truly sorry for this, Jaune. We're sorry for everything, but–"

After all… he is destined for so much more.

But was denied of it.

"– it was for your safety…"

For a short while, Jaune forgot all of his troubles, his depression, his helplessness… as it was promptly replaced with panic.

He's late for class! Again! And this time, Doctor Oobleck may not be so lenient.

'Please don't be additional readings, please don't be additional readings!' Jaune repeatedly pleaded in his head as he rushed down the hall, barely caring for the few students that he inadvertently shoved in his haste to make it to Theoretical Studies in time.

With the doorframe of the classroom in sight, he gradually slowed down until he came to a halt in front of the door. Jaune can hear Doctor Oobleck with his ridiculously fast speech, rattling about the Faunus Rights Revolution and a place called 'Fort Castle'.

Yes, the fort's name is 'Castle' and, no, it isn't the most ridiculously named place in history.

But the lesson is the least of Jaune's problems right now. Doubts and indecision swam rampantly in his head. CRDL is in there. RWBY is in there. PNR is in there. Could he really do it? To stand up and rise against pretty much the entire student body of Beacon Academy? Sure, he shows a bit of defiance here and there, but those are just that, bits. Full-blown defiance against them is whole different story.

Should he really follow through with Professor Goodwitch's advice? He didn't know. Like the Grimm Studies assignment he passed to Port earlier, he has no idea what he's doing.

Tick

The quiet tick of the wall clock nearby signaled the contemplating Arc that a full minute has passed by already, and he still had no idea on what he's supposed to do. But all things considered, when has that ever stopped him?

Jaune opened the door and tried to stealthily walk up the stairs by the edge of the lecture hall, hoping that his non-existent ninja skills would allow him to sneak in unnoticed. Again, Lady Luck seems to not favor the blonde boy.

"Well, looky here! Hey, Pyrrah, looks like Jaune made a slapdash on his way here!" Yang exclaimed, alerting everyone in the room of Jaune's arrival, and earning snickers, not for making a good pun, but for making a good insult.

Cardin opened his mouth, armed and ready to deliver a payload of slurs, but was stopped when a familiar voice chimed in.

"Alright that's enough now settle down now," he exclaimed in his usual brakeless speech, trying to stop the oncoming onslaught of insults headed Jaune's way. "Mr. Arc, we may discuss your tardiness after class you may now head to your seat."

Jaune sighed. He had already lost count as to exactly how many times he had repeated the action today, but he's sure that he had done it for more than the fingers of both of his hands.

"What's with the long face? Had a bad trip on your way here?" Russel Thrush, member of Team CRDL, said, trying emulating Yang's humor as he suddenly stuck his leg out just as Jaune was about to walk by, causing Jaune to lurch and fall forward face-first into the steps.

The entire class burst into uproarious laughter.

Jaune got up, the shadow of his bangs covering his eyes, and quietly walked up the steps to the corner of the lecture hall, where his seat is located with a space of one chair in between him and the nearest occupant.

Oobleck glared harshly at Russel, who grinned and high-fived the person sitting next to him, Ruby Rose, who hesitantly met the raised hand with her own. Oobleck stared at the isolated Jaune with concern, he knows that the young knight is just bidding his time, waiting for his fellow aspirants to forgive him, but he has to slap some sense into the boy - inactivity is never a good way to solve a problem.

And he intends to. After class, that is.

But somehow, he has to lighten up the boy's mood, he can't be talking to the boy while he's in the middle of a funk.

Oobleck mentally grinned as he zipped by throughout the lecture hall, individually giving everyone their test papers, "Alright everyone we have a surprise test today!" He proclaimed before he took a sip from his thermos, ignoring the sea of protests and complaints from his students. "Now each and every one of you would be given test paper with 20 questions unique to yourself and would be given five minutes to finish the paper. Do you have any questions?"

Despite the multitude of hands being seen raised in the air, they were simply too slow to be even acknowledged before Oobleck near-instantaneously moved on to commencing the exam.

"Alright begin!"

If the paper placed on his desk didn't snap him out of his trance, Oobleck's voice certainly did the trick. Jaune slightly jolted, awakened by the doctor's fast-paced go-ahead, although that did not stop him from inwardly sighing, telling himself off for not getting used to it. He looked at the piece of paper lying face down with both of his eyebrows scrunched lightly.

'Oh dust…'

His fingers twitched as he reached over the edges of his examination.

'Oh dust… please not the Faunus Rights Revolution…'

He turned the paper over and gave it a quick skim.

While Jaune had already snapped out of his funk long before he even dared to look around under the fear that his classmates – or as he refers to in his journal as his 'tormentors' – might see the deep frown plastered on his face and take it as a sign of aggression or displeasure, he had now decided to keep his head down for another reason.

And that reason is most certainly not because of his twitching mouth that threatened to evolve into a cheshire, near-maniacal grin.

'Oh dust indeed…'

Or more specifically, Advanced Dust Mechanics and Manipulation. He was originally hoping to impress Weiss by being an ace about Dust considering the fact that she's the heiress to THE COMPANY who monopolizes DUST within the ENTIRETY of Remnant.

The entire test consists of questions ranging from simple ones that can be answered by any hunter-in-training worth their salt, to things only Dust specialist and scholars would know.

'What is Nicolas' Law of Dust Conservation?'

'HA! Easy!' He had to suppress a chuckle at that one. 'I mean, c'mon now, anyone who handles dust knows that it simply states that Dust, whether it may be crystallized or powdered in form, doesn't permanently lose its energy once it's expended, they simply go dormant. A dormant Dust can gradually regain its elemental property when isolated and introduced to microbiotic beings called 'bacteria', which are also responsible for the phenomena of decay to occur. The dormant Dust does this by depositing itself...'

Jaune decided to abruptly halt his nerdy train of thought when he realized he was spacing out, 'Whoa... going to stop those thoughts there, I'm starting to doze off again! Luckily, looks like I haven't spaced out for too long…'

"TEN MINUTES CLASS come on now and get those tests done in the jiffy those who can't finish the test in time would..."

If what Oobleck said after that was important, Jaune probably didn't hear it. He was too busy nerding himself out with his advanced theoretical knowledge in Dust; after all, he was already done with the exam five minutes ago, just seven minutes after it was given to him.

Overall, the exam boosted his morale up, even if he knows that it's only probably temporary before he's back in the dumps again, and he isn't even sure if it would literally or figuratively this time.

"PASS YOUR PAPERS CLASS those who wouldn't be able to do so in ten seconds would be automatically marked with a failing grade and face the punishment along with those who haven't completed the exam!" A rapid spew of words belonging to Beacon's resident historian and archeologist rang true throughout the lecture hall, and a collective moan of aggravation followed suit.

'Not Jaune though,' Oobleck triumphantly noted as he gave a passing glance to the impassive face of Jaune. He was pretty sure that behind that massive face is a smirking soul that refuses to express itself in fear of exacerbating the mood of his oppresso– ermmm… classmates. 'I guess this means that I get to proceed to offer counselling as planned, Peter would offer to help him sharpen his skills and shape up to be a proper huntsman, while Glynda and Ozpin can become his parent-figures.'

Now, Beacon's staff isn't normally one to become biased with their opinions, services, and favors, but then again, the one they are rooting for is hardly normal; not when considering Jaune peculiar… circumstance, and not just with his status too. Although, he does agree that angering both Arc patriarch and matriarch is not a prospect he looks forward to.

No… it is something more… cruel… something unjust.

He could have been something more; in fact, he WAS something born for greatness.

But with what it entails, it is simply a trade one must not take.

Oobleck can only think of a few more words of apology as he dismissed the class and called out Jaune to stay behind.

He leaned on his desk and watched as Jaune sighed and approached him.

'I'm afraid that this is all I can do, Mr. Arc…'

He opened his mouth when the door were closed, ready to confront the boy of his troubles.

'... destiny in danger is hardly worth the risk.'

" Mr. Arc..."

When the speakers suddenly flared into life.

"... please proceed to the headmaster's office. That would be all."

Rubbing his temples to mitigate a migraine, Ozpin sighed as he leaned back to his chair after making an announcement through the intercom. It probably wasn't a good idea to publicly announce it, knowing the complications of the situation.

But alas, General Arthur of Evenskeep specifically requests the freshest teams of Beacon's finest to aid in the upcoming campaign against the bandit tribe of Oddessey, and they wouldn't settle without the second best team, or with it as only a three-personnel team.

Beacon's headmaster then took a sip of his caffeinated beverage before looking at the opened folder as he leaned towards his desk, propping his arms with intertwined fingers and his chin rested on it.

'Any second now…'

Ding!

The loud chime of the elevator announced the arrival of one angry Glynda Goodwitch.

"Ozpin…" Glynda said through her gritted teeth, stomping her way to her boss' desk. "What is the meaning of this?"

Ozpin said nothing, instead opting to just grab the lone folder on his desk and hand it over to his deputy with a resigned expression on his face.

Glynda shot Ozpin a sharp glare before opening the folder handed to her. Her green eyes narrowed, scanning the document with scrutiny before, gradually, her expression turned from exasperation to an unrecognizable countenance of shock, worry, doubt, and a hint of defiance.

"B-but Ozpin! This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed, obviously not liking the idea what the document – a hunter requisition document – entails, "We all know his current situation here at Beacon! If he's being treated here like that, what more if they're outside of our jurisdiction and authority?"

Ozpin sighed, gingerly drinking from his mug before speaking out, his visage looking even more tired than a few moments ago, "While I agree that this isn't exactly the wisest of decisions, given his… infamous relationship with the rest of the student body, but we just can't keep him here anymo–"

"Not you too!" She suddenly exclaimed in outburst.

"Not in that way!" Ozpin said calmly, albeit his voice has raised slightly, "We already have the other half of the Fall Maiden's powers, and a Silver-Eyed Warrior in our possession. Having a potential Demi-Light residing with us would only make us a more valuable target to crush. Ms. Rose and her combat prowess could probably handle if… no… WHEN they attack, but Jaune has yet to reach that sort of prowess."

"I… I understand…" Glynda weakly conceded, still not liking the idea one bit.

"Storing three legends here at Beacon would make it a more enticing target, thus increasing the amount of ferocity that attacks would come on our way. I hope you understand, Glynda," Ozpin paused to take a sip of caffeinated nectar, "Jaune would only be there for only a few months – three at most. Soon after the Vytal Festival, he'll be sent back here."

"What about the D'Arcs? Were they notified of this… maneuver of yours?"

"I have given them the proposition last week, and I was given the thumbs up earlier this morning."

Glynda nodded, "But why on Remnant did they have to choose Team JNPR and RW–"

Ding!

"H-Headmaster Ozpin? You called for me?" A skittish Jaune called out as the elevator door closed behind him.

"Ah, yes, take a seat, Mr. Arc, we'll begin in a moment." Ozpin said as he gestured to one of the seats at the side, taking a sip of coffee afterwards.

Glynda simply sighed while she tended to her left temple. If there D'Arcs have agreed to Ozpin's proposition already, there's pretty much no use in arguing any further, so no matter how much she dislikes the idea, all she can do for now is to hope and pray that no harm would befall on Jaune.

Ding!

Jaune's eyes widened in a mix of confusion, agony, and fear as his eyes locked on the recent entrees of the office.

As Teams RWBY and _PNR stepped out of the elevator and met the boy's horrified gaze, the air pressure within the immediate vicinity felt like it had increased ten-fold from the raw, air-choking tension.

"Professor Ozpin… what is THIS all about?" Pyrrah said with her calm voice betraying her stirring anger.

"I'd say… finally kicking IT out?" Yang said, her eyes flickering red and her gaze not leaving Jaune's fear-stricken form.

"Profess–"

CRACK!

But before Ruby could even begin to fully voice out her thoughts, Ozpin had already stood, grabbed his cane, and slammed the bottom end of it down, cracking the concrete to a small, intricate, web-like design.

The room fell into silence, but the tension is still as cacophonous as two warring kingdoms.

His mocha-colored pools focused on one team, "Team RWBY," Then his gaze shifted to the other, "Team JNPR, I did not call you her today to belittle the young Arc. Sit down. We have much to discuss." He said as he propped his cane against his desk and sat down once more.

Jaune did not know as to how long he had sat in his chair, it felt like it had been hours. Despite the fact that Ozpin's office is themed like clockwork, there doesn't seem to be any clocks visible around to tell the passage of time, but that's the least of his worries.

Ozpin had told – no – briefed them as to why they are called here.

He does not like it one bit. Nu-uh. All aboard Nope Express to Fuck-that-shit Town because this has got to be the absolute worst mission Ozpin had probably come up with ever… of all time.

And looks like Jaune isn't the only one with the same thought in mind; although, others are more vocal about their objections.

"Absolutely not! I wouldn't entrust the value of my life – on my team's life – in a mission with that… that… FIEND!" Weiss angrily argued as she quickly stood, her tiny fists clenched at her sides, and icy eyes narrowed towards the still impassive facade of Headmaster Ozpin.

Blake stood as well, although more slowly and cautious, "Headmaster… you do know that simply including… him in this mission would hamper the progress and potentially endanger our lives, right?" She, with a thin veneer of composure and constraint, added as both an insulting jab and a genuine question.

While the two voiced their complaints, the rest of the group remains quiet, with the massive frown marring their expressions being the only indicator that they too, disagree with the mission at hand.

"That is enough! Ms. Schnee, Ms. Belladonna," The deputy headmistress loudly scolded, causing both Blake and Weiss to visibly flinch in both fear and surprise, "I would not have students rudely interrupt an official briefing from the headmaster." She growled, putting emphasis on words that would overtly imply their disrespect towards higher authority, "Now, if you would please sit back down on your seats and let the headmaster finish on the details."

As she said this, Ozpin's stoic front promptly shifted to slight displeasure, with the corner of his lips slightly lowering. And then he explained the supposed 'logic' of this mission.

Throughout the entire room, the spike of tension could be felt as it progressively increased as the mission briefing does so.

But none more so than one Jaune D'Arc.

Jaune definitely did not feel good the entire meeting, but now he felt much worse. It's as if he's going to be used as a bait, or a pawn, or something that would really not end with him being on good terms with his well-being.

Seriously, what else is his actual role in the mission other than Grimm bait?

His expression shifted to one of disbelief. 'I mean, come on! The mission is search-and-destroy, not ESCORT! The whole idea of them treating this like an escort mission, and ME, of all people, as the one to be treated as if I'm to be escorted through the mission is clearly just a blatantly horrible excuse to tag me along!'

Conspiracy theories had never been something that Jaune took interest to.

You know, like Black Bullheads, Atlesian Black Ops, and fairy tales being true.

But as the briefing adjourned with their defeated – and admittedly, resentful – thoughts for them to foster, Jaune couldn't help but ask himself what the headmaster's end goal here; why include him? What's he trying to achieve here? What's he to gain that he's so hard-pressed to land him, of all people, in this mission?

The answers that formed in his head didn't settle well with him.

And as he left with unsettling possibilities whirling in his mind, Ozpin looked at the boy whose back is faced away from him, trudging slowly towards the elevator.

'I am truly sorry for sealing your fate, Mr. Arc…' A certain headmaster thought as he looked at the troubled sapphire eyes of the would-be Guardian of Light.

Ozpin knew that he had sealed the boy's fate. He would either safely train there to unlock the power, or he would be exposed to danger, to near-death, and the powers would unlock. But whatever string of fate he'd be forced into there, he knows that he had just tied Jaune's destiny to fight against the creeping darkness.

'… but danger IS your destiny.'

It had been two days since the briefing.

The loud roar of rotor blades masked the group's intense expressions. No one dared to break the ice, none dared to say a word as they await for the last handicap to arrive.

Nora didn't like it.

She had always been the hyperactive one – loudmouthed, troublemaker, good storyteller – her middle name might have as well been 'Noise'; but for some reason, the usual rush of electricity through her nerves did not come, it was as if it some entity had sapped the zap out of her soul. And for all her crazy antics and bizarre ideas of fun, even she thinks that being enervated of your soul's unique property is not a fun for the afternoon.

With her outer presence preventing itself from doing anything, she let her inner thoughts meander about.

Jaune. That name popping up didn't really make her and Ren's blood boil like how she observed the others.

Yes, Nora Valkyrie can also be observant at times, one does not simply grow up with Lie Ren without picking up a thing or two about observing. And from what she observes, the Team RWBY and one-third of PNR is growing irate at both how long it will take Jaune to get here and the mere idea of him actually getting here.

Needless to say, it was a conflicting situation. Nora looked sideways to Ren for his slice of insight, but he also seemed deep in thought. His magenta orbs locked in a general direction as his pupils danced about every so often but never focusing into anything in particular. His head propped into his open palm with his signature stoic expression.

He's probably also thinking about Jaune and how this journey would turn out with him joining us. This mission, after all, requires cooperation amongst members in order to complete the task with no negative repercussions, but with the amount of animosity between a sole member and the main group, it's bound to cause some trouble.

She knows why the group hates Jaune and what he has done. It's like spitting on all their hardwork – all the hardships that they endured, all the blood, sweat, and tears they shed, and all the childish freedom they lost to be delegated to training their aspiration. It's simply just insulting.

As such, one would normally assume that Nora and Ren hates Jaune the most, having the most tragic of hardships within the group of seven to get accepted to Beacon; on contrary, however, while they are still a bit angry on Jaune, it's slowly dissipating. Sure, they wouldn't be on good terms again until he has formally apologized, but it's pretty apparent that they are the least of the one's that hate him.

And as Nora continued her inner ramblings towards their current, almost month-long, blonde-related dilemma. Ren is having his own internal discourse with himself with regards the no-longer-lovable goof. In it he tried to rationalize his former leader's actions, if only to create less friction on interacting with him. The seven have discussed how to deal with Jaune's presence within the mission last night, and they all agreed that while they do detest the young forger, they neither have enough loathing or ill-will towards Jaune as to let him die…

Wait, where was he again? Oh yeah, rationalizing his tea– former team leader's act of forgery.

'For one, I understand his reasoning behind his actions, and that is probably why Nora and I don't hate him as much, and is also probably why Professor Ozpin hasn't expelled him yet. Jaune wants to be a hero; he may not have suffered the same hardships to get to this point as Nora and I, but he wants others to not befall the same mishaps and nothing more.' Ren hummed in contentment as he finally found a somewhat reasonable theory to dwell upon for the remainder of the mission. It doesn't cover the more logical and practical aspects of being a hunter, but it doesn't need to be the perfect argument, all it needs to be is to be enough.

Knock! Knock!

But before Ren can further reinforce his conclusive thoughts, his was knocked out of his reverie, with two, metallic-sounding knocks on the bullhead's hull, indicating a recent arrival. At first, Ren thought that the long not-so-awaited passenger has finally arrived, but instead of yellow hair and blue eyes meeting his vision, icy-blue hair and eyes stood in a formal stance on the bullhead's ramp.

Ren's eyes sparkled in recognition. 'Isn't that Weiss' brother?'

"Whitley! What are you doing here?" Weiss shouted, with a tone not unlike to a concerned sister because, well… she was. She stood then briskly walked the distance towards her younger brother before briefly engaging in a mutual embrace.

"Hello as well, my dear sister." Whitley greeted with a small, polite smile, removing one of his hands in his back to make an open palm gesture directed to his sister as he did so, "As to why I'm here, I am to accompany you towards your destination."

Weiss was about to voice out her concern when another voice beat her to it, "Have you gained permission from Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked as she stood as well, if only to get a better view of Whitley.

Whitley turned his attention to his fellow 15-year old and walked until he was in front of her, "Don't worry, the professor was the one who suggested this in the first place." He said as he ruffled her hair, with his smile slightly widening.

At that, both Weiss and Yang raised a single eyebrow before turning to each other, an inquisitive look present on their faces.

Ruby and Whitley continued this – quite admittedly – affectionate stare down. Well… as much as they could continue until a voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Ahem."

All heads, sans the pilot and flight engineer, towards the offending voice.

There stood Professor Glynda Goodwitch, a scrollpad held in hand like a clipboard and her telescopic wand tucked in its holster. Behind her is the infamous Jaune Arc, with an unsure posture and guarded expression, Crocea Mors magnetically clipped to his waist. He looked just as, if not more, nervous than any of us; furthermore, the scathing glances sent towards his way didn't help, but no one tried anything more than that, fearing the strict professor's ire.

Glynda's intimidating glare swept through the passengers of bullhead, "Students, I would be accompanying you in your stay in Evenskeep." Glynda paused momentarily, checked her scrollpad for… something, before looking up to Ruby, "Ruby, I trust that you've skimmed through the initial mission details sent the Headmaster Ozpin through your scroll?"

At that, Ruby nodded. "U-uhmm… yes, Ms. Goodwitch; although, some details are missing."

"The full mission briefing would be provided to us in Evenskeep. Now, I expect that ALL of you would be in your BEST behavior during our stay there."

The seven nodded as Glynda beckoned Jaune to take; he took the seat farthest from everyone else, with Glynda sitting at the seat nearest to the ramps.

With all of its cargo accounted for, the bullhead's engine whirred even louder as it lifted of the ground, hovered for a few seconds before its tilt rotors angled, and they zipped off towards the horizon.

AUTHOR'S NOTE / CHAPTER DISCUSSION:

Remnant Reloaded - As you can see with the appearance of the Cerberus and the Evenskeep, this AU version of Remnant is revamped with additional Grimms, locations, organizations, and changes to how Aura and Dust works. I've added a new legend into the mix, why not add and change a few more stuff? This is my take on Remnant anyways. From here on out, expect Jaune to encounter new stuffs that isn't on the show.

A Soul's Ultimate Manifest - At somewhere at the middle, you might have noticed two terms that are unknown to you story-wise (Insignias and Manifest), so let me try to clarify and explain.

Insignias are basically small glyphs that signifies that someone is going to summon a manifest. A manifest is an indestructible weapon borne out of the user's soul and is made out of Lunar Dust that was created when Remnant's moon shattered and activated the aura of the first aura-users on Remnant. It doesn't have any unique, per individual, special ability, but rather, it has an effect solely based upon Grimm.

One of a manifest's effect is that it exudes an invisible sphere around of a certain distance (I'm still not sure of its particular dimensions) that exhausts Grimm - and only Grimm - who are within it, slowing them down, and weakening their physical strength. Against being that are NOT Grimm, it pretty much functions like a normal weapon.

All manifests aren't created equal, however, most could only get a single-wielding Manifest, but the lucky rare ones could get a special effect (but said special effect isn't unique), some could receive a dual-wielded manifest (a 2-in-1), whilst even luckier than all of those, having a dual-wielded, special effect manifest.

However, a manifest also has its own downsides that makes its appearance rare amongst modern huntsmen and huntresses. Summoning a manifest also takes out a chunk of the summoner's aura reserve, but once summoned, can be wielded for a few minutes (five) before shattering into specks of aura.

Also, manifest summoning is extremely difficult to learn (aura control and all that BS) and even more difficult to master, and because of that very few people even think that it's worth the effort.

Finally, you don't get to control how your manifest would take shape, so if your manifest is a weapon that isn't your mastery... well, you're going to have to learn to use the manifest effectively too.

Anyways, to get a clearer look on what Vivian's Essence Absolution looks like, it's basically the "Blade of Absolution" from AQW but without the floating symbol and with a leather grip.

Enter: Jaune's Family - Meh, haven't thought of what they are like. But they'd probably be reprising the cliche good family roles. Sue me, I like the cliche good family roles.

Actually, don't file a lawsuit, that would be bad.

Rest be assured, Jaune's family would be playing a major part eventually, but not just within the first arc of the story (Hehe, "arc" see what I did there? :3).

Arcadiaaaaaa - Also, don't have much planned. The only description I can give is that its somewhere in the middle of Sanus, the cliche successful Arc Kingdom. It isn't a Kingdom, however, it is just a Settlement. Arcadia is pretty military-heavy – but not as much as Evenskeep – it is also self-sustaining, but they don't have a CCT or any other form of long range communication.

What makes Arcadia special, however, is the fact that they do have politics outside of the military, albeit only limited. Both the military and limited civil politics are led by the D'Arc Royal Family.

Jaune's Royalty?! - What?! No! No! I'm pretty sure he isn– ah! Screw it! Jaune IS royalty (good job, Sherlock!), but he is under the not-so-well-made-alias of Jaune Arc, which is the undercover name of his real name (the one that is known as the royal last name) Jaune D'Arc. Why replace so little? Well, unlike the Schnees, the D'Arc don't go around parading and advertising Arcadia or the last name D'Arc.

Truth is, all Settlements and Kingdoms have agreed to limit the popularity of Settlements. Why? Because its bad for both, with the Kingdoms experiencing a sudden drop of population (and tax money), and with the Settlements experiencing a sudden influx of people who want to enter their borders, which – if allowed – could lead to overpopulation.

Besides, Settlements are heavy on immigration and border control. Settlements even have walls (don't worry, then don't make the Grimm pay for the wall... well, not by Lien atleast).

Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter of D'Arc Radiance, don't be afraid to drop some criticisms on what you think of the story and even leave a suggestion (Grimm concepts, original characters, locations, abilities, so on and so forth) if you feel like it. It'll all be taken in with open arms (or pushed into the 'bin of ignorance' if it's a destructive criticism).

Until then, this is Caffeine-Magnum, Signing out. (5/13/17)