Chapter 2 A Grieving Knight

Hello ladies and gentleman welcome back to "We May Fall but We Will Rise Stronger". I'm glad you all like my story so far, honestly, I'm surprised over 250 people have read my first chapter in under a week. To me that's just amazing. I just want to remind you all that I'm open to constructive criticism and if any of you have an idea for the story or just want to talk then PM me. I may not be able to respond automatically but I will always respond back and thank you for your thoughts. Well here's the next chapter which stars everyone's favorite dense blonde-haired knight. Enjoy.

Out in the middle of the desolated streets of Vale there lays the leader of team JNPR, Jaune Arc. The blonde-haired knight had just finished calling Weiss begging her to go save his teammate, Pyrrha. After he threw his scroll to the ground in anger, Jaune collapsed to the ground crying his heart out.

"Pyrrha why…"

Before Jaune could continue with his grieving he heard a noise across the street. At the end of the road there was a pack of around a dozen beowolves prowling the streets looking for their next prey. Seeing the best way to take his anger out, Jaune unsheathed his sword and extended his shield. With anger coursing through his veins Jaune let out the loudest battle cry he could muster and charged towards the pact. The beowolves had heard the blonde's challenging roar and decided that he was their next meal.

Once Jaune had reached the pack instead of attacking him all at together, the pack had decided to surround him. They all wanted to play with their food for a little bit, it's been a while since they had saw a human and they didn't know when the next one would fall into their paw's like this one.

Jaune was constantly moving and scanning his surroundings, he didn't know which grimm was going to attack first so he had to have his guard up at all times. The blonde knight kept his shield right underneath his eyes and his sword low to the ground. At times Jaune would also look at the reflection in his shield to see if any of the grimm were going to pull a sneak attack behind him. Besides looking for who his first opponent was going to be Jaune was also looking for a gape in their ring. Just because they weren't all attacking him at once now doesn't mean that they won't all try to rush him all at once later in the fight when he's tired.

After a few more seconds of looking around a beowolf to the left of Jaune had charged at him. It looked pretty small and skinny compared to the others in the pact, if Jaune had to guess this was probably the omega trying to prove itself. Before the omega could prepare an attack Jaune started to send a volley of stabs and diagonal slashes against its chest. With one clean arcing slash the head of the omega came clean off and the beast had fell with a loud thump! That's one down, eleven more to go.

Another beowolf decided to get the drop on Jaune while his back was turned, lunging towards him. Luckily Jaune was able to see the surprise attack from the reflection in his shield. Our blonde knight quickly dashed to the side letting the grimm face plant into the ground. While the beast was still dazed Jaune took the chance to decapitate this beowolf guillotine style. Two down, ten to go.

Seeing the young teen still standing started to irritate the remaining members of the pact. Their growls started to get louder and they were starting to inch their way closer to Jaune. This didn't intimidate Jaune though, but he did know that if they all attacked him all at once then he would be a goner. He had to think of a way to break the formation the beowolves made or at least get out of their circle before they got to close.

Quickly turning on his heels, Jaune threw his sword at the beowolf behind him. The blade had lodged itself in the wolf's shoulder causing it to let out a painful roar. While the beast was in pain, Jaune with his shield raised to his shoulders charged at the wounded grimm. With adrenaline pumping through his body Jaune was able to push the grimm a few yards away from the circle. When the beast fell to the ground Jaune unlogged the blade from its shoulder and quickly stabbed it in the face. Three down, nine to go.

Before our hunter in training could catch his breath, he heard the remaining pack charge towards him. Jaune didn't back down, he got in his fighting stance and was ready for what was next. Once the battle had started for real this time Jaune was slaughtering grimm left and right. It was like a god of war was fighting in streets of Vale. Each of his strikes had the equivalent force of one of Nora's mallet strikes. Every time he bashed his shield against a grimm's face a part of their mask would crack off. None of the grimms attacks could hit him, he would always duck, weave, or block at the exact perfect time. Jaune was using every lesson that Pyrrha had taught him to help win this one-man war. The way that Jaune fought, it was like Pyrrha was there guiding his arms like a guardian angel.

However, while Jaune was winning the physical battle on the streets, he was losing the emotional battle within his heart. 'Pyrrha why did you have to fall in love with me?' Dodge, swipe. 'How long have you been in love with me? Did it start at the dance?' Duck, stab. Three down. 'No, it couldn't have been then. You were always helping me ever since we first meet.' Block, stab, swipe. 'Was it when we first met? Was it because I didn't recognize you from all your victories in those tournaments?' Stab, turn, block. Four down. 'It couldn't have been then either, because when Weiss told me about you were on that cereal box I recognized you.' Bash, stab, cut. Five down

Jaune started to feel exhausted from the constant physical and emotional fight he was going through. His arms and legs were shaking, sweat was starting to get caught in his eyes and the grip on his sword and shield was starting to loosen. Soon his form was starting to suffer to. At first it was a stray hit here and there but it then turned to swipes to his face leaving him dazes, bites to his arms and legs had sent a wave of pain coursing through his body and a tackle so hard that it sent our grieving hero flying across the street.

Once Jaune stopped rolling he ended up lying face up in front of a destroyed shop. Things weren't looking too good for Jaune, his aura was depleting so fast that most of his wounds weren't healing, his shield was starting to form dents, he didn't know where his left shoulder guard was and to make things even worse he had dropped his sword in the middle of the street when he went tumbling over.

Defeat, that was a feeling that Jaune knows all too well. All through his time growing up and while studying at Beacon he never was able to truly escape this constant feeling of failure. 'You could have had any other guy in the world Pyrrha. Why did you have to give your heart to me?' Tears started to well up in Jaune's eyes as he continued to wait for his demise. 'I'm just some loser who cheated his way into the best school in the world. You, Ren, Nora, and the others all earned their right to go to Beacon.'

The hungry growls of the remaining grimms were getting closer. They knew their prey was defeated. Now was the time to strike.

Before Jaune could give up he looked up to see a sign on the front door of the rundown shop that said, "Pa and Son's dust shop". With new found determination coursing through him Jaune started to crawl himself to the broken window. When he arrived at the shattered window Jaune had used what little strength he had left for him to stand up.

Not wanting to take any chances, the remaining pact started running towards the injured knight.

Now that he was up, Jaune looked inside to see that most of the dust in the shop was covering the floor but the display cases with dust vials right behind the broken shop window were still intact. Luckily the glass casing protecting the vials was destroyed but there was only a handful of vials left. 'You deserved someone better than me Pyrrha.' The thumping sound of the pact's paw started to get louder and louder. Panic started to fill Jaune he scrambled to grab the remaining vials and turn to face his oncoming attackers.

'You deserved someone more courageous.' Jaune threw a light green vial towards the center of the pact, the intense winds created had pushed them all in different directions. Three of the beowolves had been pushed towards a car, two were knocked into a lamp post and the remaining two were sent into deserted shops. 'You deserved someone smarter.' Jaune had thrown a red vial at the car the three beowolves were besides this had caused an explosion that consumed the three grimm in a huge fireball of death. Next, he threw a blue vial at the lamppost the beowolves were laying right next to. When the water explosion hitting the exposed live wires a current of electricity coursed through both grimms making them fade instantly. In an instant one of the remaining wolves had jumped through the shop and was running towards Jaune. 'You deserved someone stronger.' Right before the beowolf could jump on Jaune our blonde hero through down a bluish red vial causing a blanket of steam to form. Confused as to where its prey went the frustrated beowolf started to sense for any negative emotions around it. Suddenly it felt a sensed a spike of anger right behind it, before the beast even had a chance to counter Jaune had already tackled the wolf with his dented shield sending it stumbling backwards towards a tall piece of glass from the busted window. The jagged glass had pierced the back of the beowolf's skull causing it to fade. This makes it eleven down and only one more to go.

Before Jaune could collapse out of sere exhaustion he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and was lifted from the ground. It turns out the last beowolf had also sensed his anger and was able to find the annoying human. The beowolf was shaking Jaune like he was a chew toy, back and forth with so much force Jaune swore his arm was going to rip off. After a minute of shaking the beowolf decided to toss its toy in to the air.

While Jaune was soaring through the air time began to slow down and memories of him and Pyrrha being together started to flash before his eyes. 'Wait, I thought my life was supposed to flash before my eyes? Why am I getting images of me and Pyrrha together?' Memories of the two training, studying, and fighting together continued to flash by. 'I'm supposed to see all my memories, aren't I?' Next came the images of Pyrrha first talking to Jaune in the hallways, then them becoming partners in the Emerald forest and their times just sitting on the roof talking. 'Maybe I'm seeing my happiest memories instead?' Then there was the dance, the fight in the tournament and when Pyrrha was laying her head against his shoulder. 'Man, now that I look back on it I can finally see the signs. All those jokes Yang was making towards us finally makes sense.' Finally, the last memory was the kiss that he and Pyrrha had shared.

With a loud thump Jaune finally hit the ground. Our hero's hoodie was covered in holes and tares, his chest piece was barely clinging on to his body and the bite mark on his shoulder was starting to bleed. 'Ow, that one hurt. But it's nothing compared to what Pyrrha had to deal with. I probably broke her heart every time she saw me hit on Weiss or complain about how I could never get a date with the ice queen. I'm a real idiot.'

Jaune looked up to find that the beowolf was still standing there just staring at him. It was probably contemplating weather to leave and hunt an easier prey or avenge its pack.

'I'm sorry Pyrrha. I should have been honest with myself, Weiss was clearly not interested in me but you were always there for me. Every time I messed up you were always there to cheer me up, whenever I had to face a challenge nobody thought I could accomplish you were the first one to cheer me on, you saw potential in me that nobody else saw.' Without even realizing it Jaune slowly started to sit up. 'You could have had anybody else in the entire school, heck even the world. But you chose me.' Even though every muscle fiber in Jaune's body was screaming for him stop he kept pushing on! "Because I didn't see you as the four-time winner of the Mistral regional tournament." Before Jaune even knew it, he was standing up with his fists held tight and a determined look plastered on his face. "I saw you as Pyrrha Nikos! The greatest friend I could have asked for and DAMMIT I Loved You!"

Seeing Jaune's passionate roar had sealed the deal on what the beowolf was going to do next. Licking its lips, the wolf grimm dashed towards Jaune with vengeance burning in its eyes. Jaune had one last trick up his sleeve but the timing on hit had to be perfect.

"So next time we meet." When the grimm was less than twelve feet away Jaune had pulled a dust vial from his pocket and threw it to the ground. "I'll tell you everything." The ground was encased in a black and purplish energy field and the beowolf was now eleven feet from him. "About how your smile could always brighten up my day." Nine feet, Jaune's moment was coming up. "How your laugh was like music to my ears." Seven feet, time was running out. "And most of all, I'm sorry for not saying how I felt about you from the beginning." NOW!

Just as the blonde human was in the beowolf's arm reach, in an instant he disappeared. Confused as to where the human went the beowolf suddenly stopped on the spot and looked around for its annoying victim. "That I promise!" Turning to face where that noise came from the beowolf had spotted Jaune currently soaring in midair. Not wanting to play this game any longer the beowolf tried to run towards where Jaune would land. Sadly, no matter how hard the grimm had tried to move it couldn't make any traction. This could be because the seven-foot monster was hovering above the ground. Turns out our blonde hero had used a gravity dust vial to not only propel himself towards his weapon but also to keep the beowolf in place.

Gracefully landing in front of his sword Jaune picked up Crocea Mors and turned to face the floating grimm. "And you know when it comes to us Arcs." Jaune stared to charge the grimm with his sword held high and keeping his shield close to his body. "We never go back on our word." Thankfully the gravity dust was able to keep the beowolf in place while Jaune was running towards it. Once Jaune was in striking range the remaining beowolf raised its right paw in the air ready to swipe the would-be hunter's head clean off. By reflex Jaune had blocked the attack with his shield and with a smooth sweeping arc of his sword Jaune was able to decapitate the grimm with one swipe. This had reminded Jaune of the battle he had with the ursa in the woods two semesters ago.

Smiling at his victory Jaune proceeded to collapse on to his back.

"Hey ground, it's been a while since we've seen each other." Jaune joked while trying his hardest to try and stay conscious. The wound on the blonde's shoulder was still bleeding profusely and with no aura left in his system it doesn't look like it's going to be closing anytime soon.

"I think I over did it a bit. It's a good thing Pyrrha isn't here right now, she would probably scold me and tell me I shouldn't have been so reckless." The bleeding was getting so bad that a small crimson puddle was starting to form underneath our fallen hero. "Looks like that's another thing to add to the 'I'm sorry list'."

The world around Jaune was starting to go in and out of focus. Even trying to keep his eyes open was starting to seem like an impossible challenge. Suddenly throwing his scroll against the concrete didn't seem like it was the smart thing to do.

"Looks like I may be seeing you soon Pyrrha. Please don't be too mad with me. I was just being my usual dumb reckless self. But hey at least I get to keep my promise to you after all."

Before our contempt hero could close his eyes, he heard something.

"Jaune!...Jaune!...Jaune!"

Who was calling for him Jaune didn't know. All he could tell was it sounded like a woman and she seemed worried about him.

Jaune didn't even try to see who it was. He was too tired and all he wanted to do was close his eyes and dream about him and Pyrrha together. Everything started to get dark and Jaune could feel something covering his entire body.

Location: Unknow Time: Unknow

Warmth. This was the first thing Jaune noticed after laying down for so lang. It felt like his entire body was being covered by a warm, cozy blanket. Honestly Jaune wished he could just stay like this all-day long. But something in him was telling him to get up and no matter how hard he tried to keep his eyes closed they eventually started to peel open.

What came next after the blonde opened his eyes had shocked him into standing up. For some strange reason the leader of team JNPR wasn't in the desolate streets of Vale but he instead was underneath the shade of a tree in the middle of a tranquil forest filled with trees full of changing colored leaves and many fallen leaves covering the ground.

'What is this place and why does it feel so…'

"Familiar."

Jumping at the sound of his now higher pitched voice Jaune started to panic.

"Why does my voice sound squeaky and why are my hands so small?"

More and more questions started to pile up in Jaune's head. Knowing that standing around won't get him any answers the now shrunken blonde began to scan his surroundings to find out where he was. Thankfully he spotted a hiking trail and decided to follow it.

After a half hour of walking on the trail Jaune ended up in a place he never expected to see. Home. Well to be more specific his hometown Domreand. It was a small town where hunters and huntresses usually go to retire and start family in. Most of the retired huntsman and women would spend the rest of their days as farmers or shop owners. Because of this most of the town was filled with small ma and pa shops.

'Okay, that last beowolf must have made me hit my head so hard that I'm in a dream like coma.' Jaune thought while slowly walking into the town he grew up in. As he was walking Jaune was mesmerized by how well kept all the stores looked. In the present most of the stores and buildings were replaced with retail and convenient stores. Tourism wasn't doing too well as time went along so almost all the old ma and pa shops, made by the retired hunters, had to close down.

While continuing walking Jaune had noticed his reflection in the window to one of the many small shops. Staring back at him wasn't a beaten-up wreck of a teenager but instead a cute seven-year-old boy. He was wearing a plain yellow t-shirt and blue jeans. One thing that didn't change though was his untrimmed blond hair.

'This is all a dream and when I wake up everything will be all…'

Images of Vale being over-run by grimm, the Atlas Robots turning on the civilians and Pyrrha going up to her death flashed in Jaune's mind.

'Even if this is all a dream there's nothing left to go back to when I wake up.'

Still curious to whether this was a dream or not Jaune had held out his hand in an attempt to summon Crocea Mors. Sadly, it didn't appear, meaning that all of this is probably not a dream. Luckily there wasn't anybody on the streets because Jaune looked like he was a kid playing with an imaginary sword.

Sighing in frustration Jaune continued to walk towards his home.

After ten minutes of walking Jaune finally arrived at his family's house. For most people when they see the Arc family house they would see it as the perfect home away from home. The building was a two-story cabin like house made from cedar wood, had a cobblestone fireplace, ceramic roof tiles and had an amazing front concrete patio that had two outdoor tables and chairs. The house was actually made by Jaune's great, great grandfather during the Great War as a home base for forces from Vale. After the war the great Arc general was rewarded with the building which he turned into his home for him and all his descendants. While Jaune always loved his home the one thing he never liked was all the yard work both he and all his sisters had to deal with. Not only did the Arc general get the building but he also got half an acre of land. Having to mow, trim and help with the many gardens that his sisters would make was truly hellish for the young man.

When Jaune had entered his home, he called out to see if anyone was home. The only response was his own echo. Confused as to where everyone could be Jaune had begun to look around. In the kitchen he found a note that said both his parents and sisters, which there are only four as of now, were currently at the store getting groceries and would be back later tonight. Relieved that he knows where his family is at Jaune proceeded to bolt up to his room. There were many similarities when it came to both Jaune's and Ruby's rooms. Both had Legos and toy weapons scattered all over the ground the only differences were instead of weapon magazines being scattered and posters of cute cartoon creatures on the wall, Jaune had comic books scattered and had superhero posters all over his walls.

It felt weird for Jaune to see his room like this. While in the present it's still kinda messy he did keep his comics, all organized in a box that he kept underneath his bed and most of the posters he had would be replaced with ones on famous huntsman and woman.

Realizing that he was getting distracted Jaune turned his attention to searching for the one thing that could help him get some answers. Jaune had an early model scroll from his parents for emergencies only. It didn't have access to the internet or games but it still could make calls and had basic tools like a calculator, timer and most important of all a calendar.

His parents wanted their son to always have it on his body at all times but sadly when Jaune was young he always kept losing the scroll which would lead him into constant trouble. From what the blonde had remembered he kept leaving his scroll in his clothing draw and under his bed. It wasn't in either locations but it was under one of his many comics, if the young Arc's parents saw where he left his scroll it would have landed him into a land of trouble.

"Okay now today is November the eighteenth… wait if the date's right than that mean I was sent ten years back in time!?"

Panic began to again fill the young blonde. He started to pace back and forth in his room while also having a complete mind melt down. Theories and possible explanations were being shot out left and right. Each theory he made kept getting crazier and crazier the more he kept talking. Some of the ideas soon started to sound like they were something he would have read in one of his comics.

After a half hour of freaking out Jaune took a deep breath and tried to divert his thoughts into something positive. While Jaune did think he had a great childhood there were somethings that he wished he could have changed.

'Maybe this whole-time travel thing may not be so bad after all. I can avoid all those embarrassing pranks my sisters would set up, with my teenage brain I would probably get straight A's letting me get into Beacon with ease and I could tell Pyrrha…'

At the mention of his teammate's name Jaune stopped on the spot and started thinking about the Spartan.

'Wait if I really went ten years back into time then I can stop Pyrrha from sacrificing herself at Beacon tower. All I have to do is stop her from enrolling into Beacon in the first place!'

Without even thinking twice Jaune grabbed his school bag dumped out all the supplies on the floor and went to start packing for his trip to Mistral.

Location: Arc Family Home Time: 6:26 Pm

All day long Jaune was packing for his future road trip. Right now, the young knight was in his room going over his inventory, he had to make sure he had enough canned goods, bottled water and camping gear for the journey ahead. Just as Jaune was about to finish counting he heard the front door open.

"Jaune sweetie, are you home?"

"Yeah mom I'm upstairs finishing my homework."

"Okay well dinner should be done in a little bit so you need to hurry up. If you have any questions just ask one of your sisters for help."

"Alright."

Jaune quickly threw all the gear into the backpack, zipped the bag up and placed it underneath his bed. Just as the young Arc was walking down the steps about to go greet his family he heard his mother call out to him.

"Jaune you got a letter today."

"Was it from one of my grandparents?"

"No, it said it was your pen pal."

'Pen pal? I've never had a pen pal in my entire life.'

"You should have said you were doing a pen pal project for school. Me and your father would have loved to help you write your first letter."

"Sorry mom it must have slipped my mind. We can all write the next letter together though."

"Sounds good my little pumpkin, if you want to read the letter it should be on the dining room table."

Still confused about this whole pen pal business Jaune finished walking down the steps and headed towards the dining room. The dining table was a long rectangular handmade oak wood table with ten nice looking dinner chairs surrounding it. While there wasn't any food on the table all the plates and silverware were nicely set in front of the chairs. At the edge of the table there was a red envelop with the words pen pal written on it and a small cookie sticker sealing the envelop.

'Wait a minute could this be from…?'

Moving faster than a sugar high Nora, Jaune grabbed the letter and ran up the stairs towards his room. One thing that Jaune didn't notice while looking at the table was there were nine plates set instead of the usual seven.

After shutting the door behind him and jumping on top of his bed Jaune began to slowly open the letter with his shaky, sweaty hands. Once the envelop was open he pulled out the piece of notebook paper within it unfolded it and began to read the message.

Dear Jaune,

I know what I'm about to say won't make any sense, heck it still doesn't make any sense to me, but I need you to listen to me. If you are feeling like you aren't supposed to be in this time like you're somehow living in the past or it's one of the most intense feelings of déjà vu it's because you're not supposed to be in this time. Somehow you, me and some other people were sent back in time before a…tragedy happened. We've all been given a second chance to stop this tragedy from happening. All of us have an important role to play and this includes you. There's this amazing fighter called Pyrrha Nikos I need you to find a way to get in contact with her. The sooner the better. She may have important information that could help us. If she somehow doesn't have the information then ask her to train you. She will be able to help you to become an amazing hunter. Please don't ignore this, a lot of people's lives are on the line. I'm going to list my scroll number and mailing address at the bottom. Contact me as soon as possible. This all sounds crazy but I promise you all of this is real and you need to trust me.

Sincerely, Ruby

No matter how many times Jaune reread the letter he couldn't believe what he just read. It was all true, somehow him and his friends were sent back in time. This of course started to scramble Jaune's mind.

'Okay so me and my friends were sent back in time with the knowledge that Vale during one of the most popular times of the year, with the most people in it, will be attack by an army of terrorists, grimm, and have its own police force turn against them. It's our duty to prevent this from happening but we still don't know the reason for the invasion or how Cinder was able to accomplish her mission. Yeah what could possible go wrong?'

Not wanting to waste his time sulking Jaune quickly got out of bed, went to his father's personal study room to grab: a sheet of paper, pen, stamp and envelope (the senior Arc had a few huntsman friends that preferred the old ways of communication) so he can write back to his friend. With all the tools in hand the young Arc raced back to his room and began to write his response letter to Ruby. While halfway through the letter Jaune stopped writing, and started to think about what should he do next. Setting down the pen and paper Jaune grabbed his travel pack and started to consider if he should go to Mistral after all.

'Pyrrha knew what was going on with Ozpin and that underground bunker at Beacon Tower. She should have a good idea of what's going on. But what if she didn't go back in time like me and Ruby? It takes at least a day to get to Mistral by airship, it would take me months to get there by foot. Plus, I'm only seven years old I doubt my new body could handle that trip. And how would my family take this? I doubt they wouldn't freak out and search all over Remnant for me if they knew I ran away from home. But if I don't go then so many people will die from the invasion.' Jaune's grip on the backpack was tightening to the point where his knuckles were turning white. 'I can't lose Pyrrha gain but this is a suicide mission I'll find another way to get in contact with Pyrrha. I've got at least ten years before the invasion happens we all have plenty of time.'

Confident in his decision Jaune threw the bag back underneath his bed and went back to writing his letter. After finishing the letter Jaune neatly folded the paper into the envelop, sealed it up and was going outside to put into the mailbox. When he opened the front door though, who he saw standing in front him had shocked the young man to the point of dropping the letter.

Right there standing in front of Jaune was the embodiment of beauty. It was a young girl around Jaune's age, she was wearing a red dandelion dress that matched with her long flowing hair that even when kept in a ponytail had reached to the middle of her back, she had pale skin that shined under the orange rays of the setting sun that gave her an almost angelic glow to her and her eyes were the deepest emerald green that looked like they were doing their best to hold back a river of tears that looked like they were going bust at any second. The smile she wore was so warm that it was starting to make Jaune weak in the knees.

"Jaune?"

"Pyrrha?!"

And that's all folks. So, what did you guys think love it, hate it tell me. Who was calling Jaune's name before he passed out in the streets? Why did Jaune suddenly appear in November instead of October like Ruby? Why is Pyrrha at Jaune's home?! All questions that will be answered soon my viewers. This chapter for me was both a pain and a blast to write. I tried my best to write a grieving Jaune that felt like his whole world was falling apart and truly didn't care about his own wellbeing. While I was able to get this chapter out in a week I don't know if the next chapter will come out as fast. I honestly had the idea for this chapter while I was writing my first chapter. And while I do have a general idea of what the next chapter is going to be about it will take a good amount of time to flesh the idea out. Either way I hope you guys all liked this chapter, tell me what you thought and I'll see all next time.

Peace