Hi, back again with this month's chapter. Watched the Old Guard on Netflix and I found it to be quite the interesting film about immortals. I enjoyed it. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Jaune had a half smile as he walked down the isle, hand on his blade hilt, and made himself known to the small criminal mob trying to rob the dust store.

Roman was the first to notice, his speech dying in his throat as he saw Jaune walk out.

Jaune then spoke; "Well gentlemen, I think you best be running off-" grasping the blade hilt and letting some of the blade out of its sheath "-if you know what's best for you".

Roman took a step back while the grunts, each with the signal of the white fang on their person, stepped forward. "Why should we be scared of someone like you?" One of them spoke, his finger nails growing into claws.

"You don't want to find out" Jaune answered before turning to the clerk. "You're gonna want to call the police" he said while leaving a small coin on the counter.

The grunts remained unfazed as they withdrew small arms and melee weapons.

The first one charged with a hatchet only for Jaune to fully unsheath his blade and throw the guard of his blade like a brass knuckle.

The grunt staggered back while a pair opened fire with hand guns.

Jaune sliced each bullet with his blade before rushing them.

Another got in the way, a machete in his hand, and clashed with Jaune. Their blades sang from the clash before Jaune began pushing the grunt back.

Metal groaned as the grunt tried to hold firm, the others having just reloaded their weapons, before the machete shattered from the force.

Jaune took the opportunity and grabbed the grunt trying to hold him back and slammed the man to the floor. He then sliced through the guns of the other two and kicked the first one to the ground.

The other gunner tried to hold him back with his own kick.

Jaune grabbed him by the leg, picked him up and slammed him down on the ground.

The second gunner was now dragging the slowly recovering hatchet wielder out of the shop. Jaune calmly walked over to them and knocked the fleeing grunt out with a punch.

Jaune looked around the shop to see Roman had fled and the shopkeep still cowering behind the counter. "Did you call the police yet ?" Jaune asked as he peaked over the counter.

"No, not yet, best not to involve the police wanderer" The old man responded.

Jaune chuckled as he took the coin off the counter and pocketed it. "Best not too" he quipped before leaving the shop.

Jaune took a quick glance around the street before finding the nearest alleyway and walking down it. He knew Roman and he knew how to find him after seeing him.

This proved correct as he found Roman in the midst of crawling down a man hole before Jaune grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Now Now Roman is that anyway to greet an old friend" Jaune said as he hoisted Roman out of the manhole. Roman kept a terrified look on his face as Jaune used his foot to close the manhole and dropped Roman.

"Look I just want to talk" Jaune said as Roman crawled away. "Last time you said that I was left with a bullet in my side and Neo hounding me so why should I trust you" Roman shot back as he held his cane as an attempted defense.

"True, but I wasn't the one who shot you and that's just Neo being protective" Jaune said. "Still why should I trust you" Roman reasoned.

"Because you remember before, before you had to do all this" Jaune started. "Yes, why bring it up?" Roman interrupted. "when you entered that academy with a glowing smile just for it all to be ripped away with loss" Jaune continued, unfazed by Roman's interruption.

"Yeah" Roman said, now intrigued by what Jaune was saying.

"That's what's coming, and not just on a small scale" Jaune explained while Roman's expression got sharp.

"And what makes you think I truly care for them" Roman shot back.

"Because I heard news of the train debacle " Jaune said.

Roman stared at Jaune for what felt like hours before he breathed in heavily.

"You still didn't say why I should" Roman said.

Jaune just held up a photo which Roman grasp as fast as he could. "Where did you get this?" he asked in a strained voice.

"Out on the road, your cousin is still safe but you must take heed" Jaune responded as Roman looked over the photo.

"How old is this?" Roman asked. "Six years, but I saw her recently" Jaune answered.

"Alright, I'll help, what do you want me to do?" Roman asked. "Maintain cover for now, give me any info you can get on plans, and warn me when they plan to strike" Jaune instructed.

Roman nodded before he opened the manhole once more and crawled down. Jaune just watches as the manhole slid shut before he turned and began walking out of the alley.

He was stopped as an officer held a gun to his head. "Freeze, I saw you let Roman get away, I won't let you" he said as the barrel poked against Jaune's head. "I'd put that useless thing away if I were you" Jaune responded as he tilted his head to face the officer.

The officer remained unfazed before he pistol whipped Jaune.

Jaune stood for the briefest seconds before he turned to face the officer and made his move.

First he grabbed the man's gun and crushed it.

Second he threw the officer into a wall.

Third he kicked him in the head to be sure that he was out.

Jaune dusted himself off as he glanced down both ways of the alley to make sure there was no more surprises in store. After he found nothing he walked to one of the nearby ladders and climbed up.

When he made it to the top he began traversing the rooftops. Step after step he traveled the city by the roofs as the night sky shone brightly.

He stopped when he found the lights of the Vytal stadium shining down upon him.

Jaune breathed in as he let his bag drop to the ground and laid his head on it. He raised his hands to his head and began resting, enjoying the peace for the time being as his sleep brought dreams, and those dreams brought memories.

Jaune was calm, well as calm as he could be in his situation. He was situated in a cabin out near the Vale border.

Why had he done this he had asked himself on numerous occasions while out in said cabin.

He remembered one of the talks he had with Ozma, a non-violent talk to be precise, about how a few years of isolated reflection helps one's soul. He may have just been lying to gain Jaune's trust but he might as well just try it.

All had been well at the time; the maidens were in balance, the relics were safe, and Salem hadn't tried anything for who knows how long.

Looking back at it he should have just kept on tracking her actions.

But now he stood, tied to his bed to be exact, as a team of four huntsman interrogated him about a missing family in the area.

"For the last time I have no idea where any family would be" Jaune said as he glared down at the leader of the group.

"And for the last time stop lying, why would someone stay out in a remote cabin armed to the teeth when not even the grimm roam here" the leader said before punching Jaune in the gut.

Jaune refused to give him the satisfaction of a pained reaction as he just stared them down.

"Uh.. Guys" A voice spoke from the back of the group causing the other too look back.

"What if he isn't the culprit" the voice stated while glancing nervously at his teammates.

"Oh don't tell me you give in to his lies" one of the other teammates said. "Hey I'm just saying that we might have done something wrong here" the voice responded. "And I'm telling you that he's obviously the culprit, Roman" the leader said.

"Yeah, this guys has no ID, not a lot of money, and a bloody weapon; its obviously him" Another teammate said while waving around a blood covered Sapentaoi.

"Repeating myself is getting quite tiring you bunch of psychos" Jaune wispered.

"What was that?" The leader said before he took Sapentaoi out of the other's hand and hit Jaune with the weapon's grip.

Jaune spit in his face and repeated what he had said before "Bunch of psychos".

The leader rubbed the spit off himself and cupped Jaune's chin. "That's rich, now for truly the last time, where is the family?" The leader asked while holding Sapentaoi against Jaune's throat.

Jaune stared the leader down, then glanced out towards the window. It was dark and the howling of winds was pushing against the face of the cabin. As he looked out he saw something.

A pair of Red glowing eyes.

The leader seemed to notice this as he turned towards the window. "There's nothing there, now tell me where they are?" he reiterated before slaming Sapentaoi's grip into Jaune's abdomen.

"Guys.. we should stop this, I feel like there's something watching us" the boy, Roman spoke as the leader let go of Jaune.

"There's nothing out there, its just wind and snow" the leader said before going to smack Roman.

"That how you treat your team, abuse them like they mean nothing to you" Jaune quipped, causing the leader to turn and face him.

"I don't abuse my teammates, just smack them when they do something stupid" the leader shot back.

"Call it what you want, still abuse" Jaune responded before one of the others made a shushing motion with their hands.

The leader looked over to the teammate and gave them a face that spoke 'what now!!!'.

The teammate pointed towards the ceiling, no one spoke as they did, and they could here it. The wood creaked and groaned as an unfamiliar weight traversed it.

Then came the knocking.

A soft knock of a hand on wood from the right corner of the roof.

A hard knock from the exact opposite side.

Tapping began on the windows.

"Untie me" Jaune said as the team's eyes darted around with the various knocking and tapping.

Roman followed with Jaune's request, taking a knife off of the nearby counter and sawing into the ropes holding Jaune down.

The leader saw this and grabbed Roman. "Stop, for all we know this might just be a trick by him" he said as he pulled Roman away.

The knocking only worsened while red dots flickered by the windows.

"Duran this is not the time, whatever is happening can't be done by him" the one who was holding Sapentaoi said.

"Voss, this is no time for tour panicking" the leader, Duran, said to the now named Voss.

"Voss isn't panicking, if anyone is panicking its Roman" the yet unnamed one said.

"Look just don't worry Melc-" Duran was saying before the knocking grew even louder, practically thundering now.

Voss grabbed their weapon, an assault shotgun with a fitted bayonet, and trained it on the door. "Whatever is out might be what we're looking for" he said, the odd twitch in his eye following the thundering knocking.

"So I was right" Roman said as he cut the ropes too Jaune's left.

The unnamed one withdrew their weapons, a spiked one-handed mace alongside a buckler shield/crossbow, and took point at the largest window. "So Cabin man, what we dealing with" he said as though he didn't take part in Jaune's 'interrogation'.

"Just don't walk out, they're trying to coax us out, that's how they get you" Jaune explained while glaring at the three while Roman helped him out of his remaining bindings.

Jaune reached for Sapentaoi only for Duran to pull it away. "Uh Uh, you ain't getting this cause I can't trust you" he said with arrogance.

Jaune put this down with a hard slap across Duran's face, sending him too the ground. Jaune held Sapentaoi and kneeled down towards the team leader.

"In the five hours I've had the displeasure of interacting with you you have-" Jaune holds up his hand to emphasize it. "Mistaken me for a criminal, tied me up, put me under the base line of torture, mishandled my very precious sword, and are now trying to order me around like I'm tweedle Dee and tweedle dumbass over there" Jaune explains as he held the sheathed blade against Duran's neck.

"If you all get out of here alive, and I do mean if, there is a very low chance you will get away with your power mad crime spree" Jaune said as he lifted Sapentaoi and walked away from Duran's stirring body.

Roman was staring right at him as Jaune walked towards the dresser near his bed, felt on the side, then pulled a secret draw out with Pars Lunea inside.

The team paled at the sight of the gun as Jaune pulled some ammunition out of the same draw and began loading the gun.

"You two stay trained where you were, Roman keep an eye as to where the eyes are watching" Jaune instructed as he holstered Pars Lunea.

As Duran got back up Jaune starred him down and spoke; "And you, you just don't get in the way".

Duran glared Jaune in contempt before a horrid scratching on the windows stopped him. The others doubled over in pain as Jaune looked over at the source, a set of emaciated claws drug themselves over the window, not enough to break it but just enough to make it loud.

Voss turned his shotgun to the window but Jaune stopped him. "Don't shoot, this cabin is the only thing between us and a pack of rank 2 Stalker class grimm in the dead of a cold winter night.

Voss nodded while Duran walked over to the scrapped up window. "They don't seem so tough" he commented as he saw the claws disappear back into the night.

"You haven't even seen what they can truly do" Jaune shot back before the clawing continued on several windows.

The team covered their ears as Jaune unsheathed Sapentaoi.

As the scrapping stopped the next stage began. "Don't let the voices worm your way in" Jaune said as he took point at the centre of the cabin.

The team look at him confused as the wind blew harder.

Then it was heard.

It started as small whispers first, like a child trying to tell you something only they want you to hear.

Jaune looked over at the rest; Roman went back to back with him, a cane sword in one hand and a flare gun in the other. Voss was leaning against a chair, biting into his guard arm while keeping his gun aimed for the door. The unnamed one was driving a lower guard spike from his mace into his thigh while his shield held in a defensive position. Duran was biting down on his thumb while he held his sword at another window.

Jaune stood firm, then he heard them, the voices meant for him. They tried worming their way into his brain, the voices of those he knew, a nigh uncountable amount of those that he knew and moved on from.

Jaune glanced over at Roman, the boy's eyes danced around as he beat his thigh with the pommel of his cane sword.

"They are only voices, they can not touch you" Jaune reiterates as he unholstered Pars Lunea and got into a defensive position. His right knee on the ground with his left leg forward, Sapentaoi in his right hand, Pars Lunea in his left, the blade out front while his pistol was balanced out on it.

Roman imitated this by holding his cane sword out in front of his flare gun while kneeling down. Voss stopped biting into his arm and kept his back to the chair and his gun to the door. The unnamed one, melc-something, backed up and held his armament with his mace hand ready and shield arm out front. Duran twisted the hilt of his sword, opening it to allow a rifle barrel freedom of firs power.

The group stood as the voice subsided.

Then, the windows burst inwards.

Claws grasping in while the howling of grimm mixed with a rush of wind for a sound akin to metal scrapping mixed with glass shards being run throughout a blender. The voices rushed back, screeching and clawing at the ears of the group with renowned vigor and aggression.

The echoes of gunfire broke through the dark whispers and horrid winds; Voss quickly letting loose against a black tide that broke through the door.

Melc was shouting whilst holding back the grasping claws of a trio of the beasts with but his shield and mace.

Duran held his sword in ready, slashing against any limbs that neared him while firing off rounds in an attempt to support the two sides under seige.

Jaune fired off several shots fron Pars Lunea, shredding through the grimm rushing the window.

Roman fired his flare towards a window near the door, causing them to flee away from where it landed.

The onslaught lasted nought but a few seconds, yet it felt as though it was hours.

The grimm fell back, the group unsure how many they had killed.

As they looked around, spent shells littered the floor to one side while decaying grimm blood painted the other.

Jaune stood up and reloaded Pars Lunea.

Roman loaded another flare and reconnected his cane sword/ flare gun back into a simple cane.

Voss sat down on the chair he was bracing against and ejected his spent magazine.

Melc took a seat on the floor, resting from such a quick exchange.

Duran ejected his spent mag and reloaded.

The group stood there for a second before Melc blurted out; "Well, now we now what took the family"

"No shit Melcad" Duran retorted.

As Jaune stood there he watched the scene meld.

Jaune pushed his body up, the lights of the sun beating down on his brows.

The next day of the vital festival was upon them.

Jaune breathed in and took his supplies, ready for another day, a thought floating in his mind.

'I've been dreaming more than usual' he said to himself as he took off into the city once more.

Hi, I have some things to say about this work. First off is that the flashback with Roman is mostly original, we never really got much of his origins so I made my own. The one other thing about this is what those grimm are; they're a homage. A homage to the piece of art that should have won that grimm design contest. Its all a homage to the Wendigo grimm designed by artist Mayuki. She had to endure unfair hardships from hipocrisy and cancel culture for something she put true hard work into that is a shame it will never be used. I was always looking forward to a Wendigo grimm being featured in the series and such a loss just pains me. It also pains me how she was treates, though I am happy that parts of the fandom are supporting her.

So too Mayuki, if you ever do read this (which you probably won't but a man can hope) I support you and your work and am pained to see that it will never be used for any official work of RWBY form RT. I hope if you do read this fic that you enjoyed how I thought your grimm may be used in such a situation. I also apologize if anything wasn't to your liking.Now with that out of the way the second (and much less important announcements) is the grimm classification system. To keep it simple Rank specifies type of danger posed while Class specifies behavioral patterns.

Rank 1: Lone hunter (e.g. Death Stalker)

Rank 2: Pack hunter (e.g. Beowolves

Rank 3: Gargantuan Monster (e.g. Goliath)

Rank 4: Expedite (e.g. Gheist)

Rank 5: Supreme Beast (e.g. Wyvern Spawner)

Of course certain grimm could fit into more than one Rank and some grinm might deviate from their expected behavior (a lone beowolf taking that of a Rank 1 rather than a rank 2 or the Leviathan being both a Rank 3 and a Rank 5).

Next is classes, they are much more straight forward and flexable. Stalker class means grimm that tend to follow and track their prey, fodder class being those that rush in with little regard of their loses, and Watcher class being a more disconnected form of the stalker class that attacks much sooner.

Just to make a list of some examples.

- Stalker Class (e.g. Gheist)

- Fodder Class (e.g. Beowolves)

- Watcher Class (e.g. Nevermore)

- Destroyer Class ( e.g. Goliath)

- Tanker Class (e.g. Deathstalkers)

- Mind Class (e.g. the Apathy)