Chapter 1 - The Shining Beacon

AN: I. LIVE!

Been a while, hasn't it?

Sorry for not posting anything at all for over on here guys. I burned myself out on RWBY fics and I only recently got my energy back to write for RWBY. I also had to get a job and I was helping take care of my Great-Grandmother for the past two years til she passed. But now I am back with a new story and with all the stuff we know now about the lore of RWBY I have a lot more to work with so this story is gonna be a lot of fun.

This story is based on my other story, "The Conqueror", but there shall be several major differences in this story. I won't be going into any more detail about that, obviously, so I hope you all stick around and see what this story has in store! Enough about that though so let's get to what you guys clicked on this story for.

Onto the story!

Beta Reader: WhiteNightBlade

Fire. It burned so hotly it felt as though he was standing at its center.

Smoke. His eyes felt like they were on fire and his throat seized up, forcing him to his knees.

The chorus of agony and pain rang through the village, forcing him to cover his ears. Through his blurred vision, he watched as his home, his families home, burned to the ground.

He saw corpses littering the street as the monsters feasted upon them. He began to cry out for help, but his voice caught in his throat, letting out only a small cry in its place.

Tears began to drip from his face, mixing into the blood that drenched the ground. He looked down at his reflection, seeing only the faces of those he had lost instead of his own. The image then began to distort as the ground began to quake.

Something was coming

The force that shook the ground only grew louder as it grew ever closer to him. Fear consumed him as his small body began to shake uncontrollably. He wanted to run, to flee, but found his body would not respond to him. A giant clawed foot stomped down in front of him, blood flying up and masking his face as it did so. As his crying became uncontrollable, he looked up at the beast, seeing only dark red eyes stare back into his own. He tried once more to move, to run, but found once again that his legs would not budge. It was as though they were frozen.

He looked up into the soulless eyes of what would soon send him to the next world, his nightmare made flesh. Its blood red eyes stared down his azure blue as it silhouetted against the fractured moon.

Pain erupted from his chest suddenly as a claw stabbed through it, lifting him off the ground. Blood poured down the beast's claw as it brought him close, it's eyes seeming to stare directly into his soul. Air then rushed by him as the beast tossed him away, flinging him away as though he was the weight of a feather. He felt his life begin to slip away as his blood pooled out around him, soaking the ground even more and causing him to choke as he attempted to breathe.

Darkness began to overtake the light as his vision faded. His last sight was of the beast raising its foot over him before bringing it down onto him.

His eyes shot open suddenly then as he sat up-right. A moment passed before he fell back against the wall of the dust plane, releasing a heavy sigh as he did so. He had, unfortunately, grown accustomed to these constant nightmares. Near every time he closed his eyes he received one, each one reminding him of the home and the family he lost long ago. He rubbed the crust from his eyes as he began to feel his stomach churn. 'Why did I get on this damned thing?' he questioned as he held his stomach. He knew the answer. He wanted to be a Huntsmen. Since he was a boy, it was the only thing he could see himself doing in his future.

Especially after what happened to his home. That day sealed his fate, as well as the fate of his family.

And now he sat, soon to be a huntsman in training. He wondered what his mothers and sisters would think of him now. He briefly pondered on what his father would think, but that thought soon faded away as his stomach once again began to churn. He placed his left hand on his gut as he stood, the pain in his abdomen making the action somewhat difficult. Fastening it to his back Jaune slowly made his way towards a trashcan that was close by. As he did so a hologram of a woman whom he could only assume was a teacher at Beacon. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon Academy."

"Who's that?" a girl asked.

"My Name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

As the Huntress continued her speech, Jaune made his way towards the can and upheaved what he had eaten the previous day. He wiped his mouth clean before hearing a commotion and seeing everyone race over to the windows. Jaune slowly made his way there as well and found what they were all looking at.

Beacon. The Academy looked more like a castle than a hunters academy, but the sight of was awe-inspiring regardless.

This was where he would fulfill his dream.

This was where he would achieve his goal.

This is where his journey would begin.

"Oh, Yang! Gross! You have puke on your shoes!" the younger girl said.

"Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross!" the other one said as she tried to get the puke off her shoes.

"...Goddamnit." Jaune said after releasing a heavy sigh.

It did not take much longer for the ship to dock at Beacon and for everyone to start racing into the school. After the flood of people exited the airship, Jaune made his way off and began to look around the school grounds. It was even more beautiful up close. Everything from the school itself to just the courtyard was like something out of a dream. He made his way towards the center of the courtyard and stopped as he reached the fountain. Whomever the two warriors encased in stone were, they must have been special in some way.

Or someone just thought they looked cool when they erected the statue.

He let out a chuckle as the thought ran through his mind. The statue itself wasn't anything special if he was honest. Two warriors, one wielding a sword and the other an axe, stood atop a cliff as a Beowolf seemed to be running away. It didn't take a genius to figure out the statue's message, 'We Will Triumph.' It was a good message, an inspiring one. Jaune couldn't help but smile at it as he placed his hands in his pants pockets.

The sudden sound of an explosion caught his attention, snapping him out of his train of thought. Looking back he saw two girls standing in the center of the crater. One was dressed all in white and had long white hair. The other he recognized from the ship as one of the girls who saw him vomit into the trashcan. The two argued as he approached over who was responsible. Another girl then joined the conversation as she held a vial filled with red dust. The girl in white became angered over what the one in black said and snatched the vial away before storming away.

He stopped to watch her haul her luggage past him, seeing her angered expression as she passed. He looked back to the crater and found that the girl in black had begun to walk away and the girl in red how sat in the center of the crater. "Welcome to Beacon." he barely heard her say.

"Need a hand?" he asked with an outstretched hand. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby," she said as she took his hand and he helped her up to his feet. "Aren't you the guy who vomited on the ship?"

Jaunes simply stared at her as he let go of her hand. "Aren't you the girl who just exploded?"

"It was an accident!" she said.

"Mmhmm," he said in response as the two began to walk back towards the school.

"Look, I'm sorry Vomit-boy! That was the first thing that came to mind!" Ruby said in her defense.

"Vomit boy? Really?" Jaune asked as he stopped walking to look at her.

"Sorry!" Ruby said as she shied away from his gaze.

"If we're gonna start givin' each other nicknames I guess you're Crater-face," Jaune said as he smirked.

"I told you, that was an accident!" Ruby yelled.

"So was me throwing up." Jaune retorted. "How about we make a deal, you stop bringing up the fact I threw up, and I won't mention you blew up. Deal?" he asked with an outstretched hand.

"Deal!" she said quickly as she shook his hand. After the two let go of one another Jaune could see her eyes drift to his sword. "So, I got this thing." A giant scythe then expanded behind her and stabbed into the ground.

"Nice scythe." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's also a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle," she said as she lifted it and a rifle scope came out of the scythes handle.

"I bet that comes in handy. It got a name?" he asked with a short laugh.

"Oh, immensely! and her name is 'Crescent Rose'." Ruby said as she hugged her weapon before putting back into it's collapsed form. "So," her eyes drifted back to his sword. "What you got?"

An amused smirk made it's way onto his face as he grasped his blades handle. "Just this thing," he told her as he pulled it out. The blade itself was white with the outer edge was golden. Several grooves also ran along the center of the blade. The swords guard was black and had two yellow crescent moons beside one another on its center, and on both sides of the blade. The guard also had a small trigger located underneath it. The sword's grip was wrapped in black leather, and the sword's pommel was multi-colored.

"Ooo! What's it do?" She asked excitedly.

"Well, it slices, cuts, and stabs. Not in that order though." He said with a smirk.

"Really?" she asked as she rolled her eyes and also wore a smirk.

"It also does this!" he said as he pressed on the trigger under the blade's guard, causing the grooves on the blades to become red and flames to shoot out from the edge of the sword. Ruby stared wide-eyed at the blade before Jaune pressed the trigger again and the flames dissipated.

"How does it do that?! Is it 'cause of the sheath?! Do you have dust in it?! Is it housed in the hilt?! The guard?! Please tell me!" Ruby asked as she zipped around him until she stopped and hung onto his right arm.

"The sheath is just a sheath, Ruby," he told her, causing her to wear a frown. "The dust is, as you predicted, housed right here." He pointed to the swords pommel and the multitude of colors that adorned it.

Ruby removed herself from his arm as she outstretched her arms. "Can I see it? Please?" she asked as she used her puppy dog eyes.

Jaune shook his head as he looked down at her. Tossing the blade into the air Jaune grabbed it by its blade before offering the swords handle to her. "Here you are."

Ruby took the blade from him and began to inspect it, giving it a few swings as she did. She then started to inspect the pommel of the sword. "I see, those crystals aren't just ornamental but dust crystals. By pressing the button on the hilt you funnel dust to the blade, giving you an even more deadly attack." She then offered the blade back to him. "Did I get it right?"

"Yep! You really know your weapons," he said as he put his sword back in its sheath.

"Yeah, I'm kinda obsessed with weapons! They're just so cool!" Ruby said energetically.

"Nothing wrong with that. I'd show you my shield too, but it's still being made for me. I'll probably have to go to Vale to get it after classes start." Jaune told.

"Ooo, can I come when you do? If it's anywhere as cool as your sword, I wanna meet who made it! Maybe they can help me improve Crescent Rose!" Ruby said as she began to jump up and down.

"Yeah, sure," he told her.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, I don't see why not. We are friends," he said as he smiled.

"Really?! You'd be my friend?!" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Of course," he said as he smiled down at her.

The young reaper embraced her new friend in a tight hug. Jaune could only smile down at her as he placed a hand atop her head. He could see her face becomes slightly red as she looked up him before letting him go. "Sorry."

"It's ok, don't worry about it." Jaune told her.

"So, where do we go now?" she asked as they began to walk together again.

Jaune looked around and began to wonder the same thing. He then saw that everyone else was going in one direction. "Let's just follow the crowd. That should lead us to where we need to go." Ruby simply nodded as they followed where everyone else seemed to be headed. They soon found themselves in the meeting hall. A large crowd had already formed when they arrived, making getting close to the stage difficult. "Well, we made it."

"Looks like it," Ruby said as she began to look around the room.

"Ruby!" a voice sounded out. The two of them looked for the source and found it coming from the other girl from the ship, Ruby's sister. "Come on! I saved you a spot!"

"Coming, Yang!" Ruby yelled before turning to Jaune. "It was nice meeting you Jaune, hope we can talk later!" she said before running off to join her sister.

"Likewise, Ruby," Jaune said as he watched the young reaper run to her sister. Looking around Jaune found that there weren't many places close to the stage that he could get to. Instead he just simply leaned against the wall he stood by and watched as an older man with silver hair walked onto the stage.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." the older man said before stepping back.

Glynda Goodwitch then stepped forward and spoke, "You will all gather in the Ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

It didn't take long for everyone to get situated in the Ballroom. It was hard to find a place to get situated with almost every space having been occupied. Jaune would have much rather sleep outside, under the stars, but he would most likely be in trouble if he got caught, so he chose against it. After getting into his black tank top and white sweat pants Jaune made his way through the ballroom, trying to find somewhere he could sleep. As he did so, he could feel others watching him. The scars on his back most likely being the reason as the tank top he wore allowed others to see where they started on his left shoulder. He just sighed as he continued to look around the room for somewhere to sleep.

Eventually, he did find one place, far in the corner of the room. It had somehow not been taken yet, and Jaune quickly made his way over to make it his own. After setting a pillow and blanket down, he took out a sleeping pill and promptly swallowed it. They helped him sleep, but they didn't stop his nightmares. He could only hope one of his more frightening nightmares wouldn't revisit him this night. As he got comfortable, he began to see something out of the corner of his eye.

He watched as Ruby and Yang approached the girl with the bow from earlier and began to speak with her. As they did the girl in white, who now had her hair down, came up and she and Yang argue over something. Amidst the argument, Ruby began to look around as though to look for help. Her eyes met his own, and she gave him a small wave. He returned the gesture before she looked back at Yang and the other girl then looked back at him. She put her hands together and looked at him pleadingly. Jaune pondered whether to answer her pleas or to stay out of this quarrel.

'You should go resolve this. It doesn't look like they will resolve it on their own.' a voice in his head said to him.

With a sigh, he rose and began to walk over to them. Ruby bore a toothy smile as he approached before turning back to the others. "What's the problem here?" he asked as he scratched at the back of his neck.

"None of your concern." the girl in white said.

"It is when you're causing such a commotion," he told her. "So, I ask again, what's the problem here?"

"These two are too loud," she said as she pointed at Ruby and Yang.

"I was just trying to make friends!" Ruby said in her defense.

"Perhaps now is not the ideal time to do so." the girl with the bow said.

"Aww come on, Blake!" Ruby said as she looked at her.

"Look, why don't we all just go lay down for the night. The last thing we need is for us to be at one another's throats tomorrow," he told them.

With a 'Hmph!' the girl in white turned and walked away from them. Jaune watched her walk away before turning to Ruby. "Thanks for helping, Jaune. Sorry I dragged you into this."

"Don't mention it, Ruby. What are friends for?" he told her, earning a smile from her.

"Who's this?" Yang asked as she looked Jaune up and down.

"Yang, this Jaune. Jaune, this is my sister." Ruby told them

"Hi."

"Sup."

"He's the guy who I met earlier. You know, the one who helped me after you left me." Ruby said as she glared at her sister.

"Oh, so this is Vomit-Boy! Good to know." Yang said as she took a step back.

Jaune turned to look at Ruby and sends her a glare as she scratched at the back of her head. Turning around he waved to them both as he headed back to his spot. "Night you two."

"Night, Jaune!" he heard Ruby say as what little light in the room was snuffed out. Despite the darkness, Jaune found his way back to his place. As he laid down he could feel his consciousness begin to fade as the pill he took earlier began to take effect. He turned to face the wall and pulled his blanket over himself. His eyelids grew heavy and soon found the light being overtaken by darkness once more as his consciousness faded.

AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write a RWBY story again. Special thanks to my friend and Beta Reader for this story WhiteNightBlade. He actually helped me get back into writing RWBY as I have beta'd several chapters of his in the past so please go check out his stuff, he's a really good writer.

Well, that's it for now. Hope to be getting chapters 2 and 3 out to you guys soon so stay tuned

Til next time!