Chapter 7: Longview of the Grimm

Somewhere in Vacuo…

Jaune coughed up sand that he had inhaled courtesy of his unceremonius fall to the ground. It was the worst taste that he had ever experienced. The grains were rough, dry, and vile. It was like sandpaper against the mouth and tongue.

Although he hadn't travelled much beyond his home village and a few other neighboring villages and a few wild places within Mistral, Jaune liked to think he knew a lot more the average kid his age. He had actually seen a lot of Anima and he could thank his parents for that. Huntsmen and huntresses had a lot of work that demanded travel

Right now though, he wasn't liking the initial impression one bit.

He coughed again, and spit some of the sand out of his mouth. He wiped his tongue with his hand.

I don't like sand. His mind cursed.

His personal disliking aside, he now had to find out where on Remnant he was. A moment ago, he was in a forest, one that he had explored vastly, so the only logical explanation was that he was somewhere else, as absolutely nothing gave him a clue as to where he was. He could still be in Mistral. Anima was a large continent and sported many different environments. Another possibility was that he was no longer on Anima at all.

So his situation looked bad. He had no way of telling where he was, he had no supplies to keep himself going, he had no weapons to defend himself with, nothing to protect himself from this scorching heat.

How long before he died, he wondered?

That question answered itself when he felt a dark chill tapping his spine.

"Oh no." Jaune muttered lightly. He knew that feeling that encroached upon his being. "Son of a Grimm."

Another lien to add to the swear jar.

Standing up, and cupping his eyes to protect them from the rays of sunlight, he could make out something in the distance, too far away to be seen clearly, but there was no doubting that it was black and filled much of the horizon.

A horde of Grimm? That seemed a bit unusual; Grimm weren't known to attack in such large hoards, not unless they were after a specific target.

But what target was that? It definitely wasn't him, as he had just appeared out of nowhere. Grimm didn't just attack like that, and though he was afraid, his fears weren't that intense.

Distant though they may be, the sounds of Grimm roaring all around couldn't be ignored, and judging by the loudness of their sound, it wouldn't be too long before they passed by him, and the wicked creatures weren't known to be careless when dealing with the living.

Fighting would be a lost cause within minutes. With no weapons, and being ill-prepared, he was going to have to do the one thing that seemed suicidal, but was going to give him a better chance of survival: run straight for their target. At the very least, it would buy him time, and maybe he could relive his life long enough to get a full appreciation of it.

That's what his father would tell him. He thought.

But he didn't want to die.

Jaune's father had told him that he had a lot of things to do before he passed on, including but not limited to growing up, finding a girlfriend, and having children of his own. The first one he understood just fine. The second one made no sense to him at all. The third one was impossible for him to envision.

"Not now." He turned opposite of the large horde and ran. "Run, even though it's a coward's tactic."

Oh how his mother would, without any doubt, lecture him and berate him for such behavior. Never retreat from a fight, she would always preach. Leave no weakness for thy enemy to see, and they would not be able to prod at it. Fight back.

Dammit, now wasn't the time to be having moral dilemmas.

If he used aura, he could run faster, but that would leave him more exposed to attack and he had no doubt that he would be fighting Grimm. For all of his training and discipline, he was still a little child. If luck favored him this day, at best he would survive, have some new experience, and probably have some scars to show for it.

At worst… he would die. No, at worst, he would survive and make himself look like a fool, and face his mother's disappointment.

That was worse than death.

His breathing increased, and he took this as a sign to use aura. In a more calm state of mind, he would be using it more efficiently. Nevertheless, he pushed himself more. More distance was needed. With such flat terrain in all directions, he wasn't going to be able to hide. He needed more than just his first plan to keep himself alive.

But what could he do?

Jaune looked back to see something headed for him, and he weaved to the right as an ear-splitting crack sounded all around. It was a Nevermore feather, though he'd never seen anything like it. He'd never even seen a Nevermore before.

If he wasn't motivated to run for his life, he was now.

His lungs began to scream for air, and he did his best to supply them, but with the way he was running, he couldn't keep this up for more than a few more minutes. Aura would only get him so far. Once he was out of aura, he was just be a panting mess.

Screw what his body wanted. His brain was telling him to move heaven and hell and not let up one bit.

He looked back. They were closing in on him, and fast.

He would have run even faster if he had not felt himself impact with something in his path. By the time he turned to see what was in front of him, he had already hit it and collapsed onto the ground. He put a hand to his forehead and rubbed it, feeling the pain began to subside. As he did this, he looked up.

"DAD!" Jaune couldn't sound any happier.

"Jaune, get behind me!" His father didn't even give him time to move as he picked the boy up and placed him behind. "Qrow!"

Just then, a second figure came, and there was Qrow, scythe in-hand.

"Uncle Qrow!"

The raven-haired main folded his weapon behind his back. "C'mon little man!" Qrow scooped up the boy. "We've gotta go!"

Jaune grabbed onto his uncle's dress shirt as the huntsman began to run at a much faster speed than the boy could accomplish. Before he was sped away from harm, the little blonde boy saw his father readying his claymore for battle.

"What about dad?" Jaune asked timidly. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Your dad's one of the best working huntsman in the world." Qrow informed his nephew. "He's going to be fine."

Jaune still held onto the dot that was his father in the distance. This didn't feel right; he was abandoning his father because he was deemed unfit for combat at this time.

"Can I help?" Jaune was hopeful.

"Sorry, little man, but you're not ready." Qrow picked up the pace. "Besides, you're not even armed."

"I've killed Grimm." Jaune pouted while he grumbled. "I can handle myself."

"You've killed one Grimm at a time." Qrow argued back easily. "Not an entire horde of Grimm."

Jaune was running out of things to say that would convince Qrow that he could assist in the battle. He fought for the chance, even knowing that he himself wasn't capable of fighting them. It was exactly like the scythe-wielder had said before: he wasn't ready, and this whole fiasco had just proven that.

"But dad's fighting them all himself." Jaune still wanted to argue about this. "We can't just leave him there."

"He's not going to stay there forever, Jaune." Qrow said with certainty. "He's only slowing the Grimm advance long enough for us to get to safety."

"Where… is safety?" Jaune ventured a question. "I don't see any-"

"Shade Academy." Qrow slowed his pace by a margin.

Jaune blinked. "Shade Academy? As in... Vacuo?"

"Bingo." Qrow conveyed softly. "We'll be there shortly, then you can tell us how on Remnant you got here."

"There was a portal." Jaune mumbled in recollection. "I didn't think it was at first, the way it was formed and shaped."

"A portal." This news only made Qrow's blood boil. "That confirms it."

"Confirms what?" Jaune inquired, but then realization dawned on his features. "But why would mother…"

"A test." Qrow quickly tried to assure the child. "She wanted to see what you'd do. Nothing more."

Maybe if Jaune were a little more normal like most kids, he would just accept what he said and not question it, but this boy was beyond average in every sense. His hurt face only made it more clear that he thought that he had done something to displease Raven and this was punishment for whatever he had done.

"Does mother love me?" Jaune sounded so broken up. "Do I matter to her?"

"You do, kid, but not in the way that Daisy cares about you." That was the only honest thing Qrow could be sure about. "It's complicated."'

Jaune bowed his head in shame.

Qrow had never been one for sympathy, but there were exceptions.

(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Why today?" Lucas silently grumbled as he cut down an Ursa Major casually. "Why now? Gods dammit, Raven!"

By listening to just his voice, it was enough to hear that Lucas Arc was upset, and why not? Raven Branwen, his one-time lover had put their son into her idea of a test of survival. It was fortunate that this time around, Jaune was able to see that he couldn't fight, but the huntsman knew better than to think that there was no internal conflict. Just like his mother, Jaune disliked weakness. The boy had pride.

Lucas casually flicked his sword upward to impale through the bottom of the neck of an Ursa Major. He then used his aura to unleashed a blade of energy to slice five more in his path. A Beowulf tried to claw him only to find itself without a paw, slice off clean with a precise spin of the claymore, followed by a swift decapitation.

Another Beowulf stepped up, only to have its throat slit, followed by taking his sword by the blade and bringing down one of the guards of the hilt onto the top of the head. It was lights out in seconds.

There was a break in their ranks. Another minute and the next wave, the more dangerous Grimm classes would be knocking.

"Now would be the time to make a speedy retreat." Lucas analyzed, sheathing his weapon, while also tapping a finger to his wrist-mounted scroll. "Qrow, what's your status?"

"Jaune and I just got to Shade Academy." Qrow's gruff voice said back. "What about you?"

A Nevermore's shrieked in the skies above where the Grimm horde was amassing. He had about thirty seconds.

"I'm going to be… delayed." Lucas couldn't explain why he was using his diplomatic voice.

"Just don't die." Qrow reminded him. "I've saved your ass enough times."

"Language." Lucas scolded his friend. "Jaune's around."

Qrow snapped the channel off, and Lucas didn't make a fuss about it. The scythe-wielder wasn't one to restrict his language and to be told like a child not to curse was one thing that ticked him off.

As he began to backpedal, something else in the sky caught his eye. It was energy that came out of nowhere, slashing at the Nevermore as well as a few flying Griffins. Well, to the normal eye, that was what it appeared to be.

"Raven." Lucas breathed in realization. "What's your game? You always love to be ahead of the game."

"You should know by now, Lucas." Raven's voice came from behind. "You're always ahead, just like I am."

He whirled around. Yes, she was still the same as always.

"I should punch you right now." Lucas rounded on her and got in her personal space. "I want to, but more than that, I want to hear an explanation first before I do so."

"I like it when you're aggressive." Raven playfully grinned. "It's so… alluring."

"Let's go." Lucas knew better than to respond to the huntress. "Qrow's already at Shade with Jaune."

Even with his more heavy equipment, Lucas was still fast as he sprinted with Raven right by his side. Occasionally, both would leave some very nasty traps with their aura once the Grimm would pass by where they had been.

They would only occasionally look over their shoulders to see the distance they had created, which wasn't very much as Grimm could be very single-minded about killing the living and as such were not easily stopped, even with traps laid out by professional hunters.

The entire Grimm horde invading Shade just seemed just a little to suspicious. None of the huntsmen academies on Remnant had been attacked since the academies were first constructed. Were the after…

No, she wouldn't be a fool to attack now. Lucas couldn't see the logic in attacking. She knows all too well that even with a Grimm force this size, we've got a plan b and then some. What's her game?

With the tower unable to transmit and the entire system basically save for local communications down until the repairs were completed, was it possible that this was a distraction?

"Qrow." Lucas felt the urgency in his being increased as he keyed into his local channels on his scroll. "C'mon, answer, dammit!"

"Is my brother being a nuisance again?" Raven commented nonchalantly as they continued their brisk pace?"

"This is not the time for smart-ass comments." Lucas grilled the huntress harshly. "So do me a favor and be quiet until we get to Shade."

"Is that a way to talk to a maiden?" Raven turned around and brandished her weapon. "And speaking of which… let's do a test."

Lucas stopped running to witness what was to happen next, as his interest was piqued, but he also needed to see just how far Raven had progressed.

The huntress's eyes glowed and she began to channel the power of the Summer Maiden into her sword. The blade began to glow to the point that the metal was turning red, but still it held true. With a look of death, she unleashed all the pent-up energy into a single horizontal sweep. The ensuing power was enough to completely decimate the first several waves of Grimm and pushed the other waves back due to bodies flying backwards.

"Are you finished with your power display?" Lucas hid his approval. "I have no need for a showoff."

"But you do need time, time which I can give you." Raven pointed out in such a way to provoke irritation from him. "Now what were you saying about me?"

Now she was just ticking him off. Regardless, he reigned in what little annoyance he had.

"I was saying that you need to tone it down." Lucas changed his tune. "You know that this only makes you more of a target. She's not blind you know."

"I know what she can do." Raven wasn't the least bit phased by his words. "If she wants the power, she can pry it from my cold dead body."

"And that's what worries me so much." Lucas grimaced, while turning to run. "Jaune needs his mother, you know."

"But do you need me?" Raven egged him on.

"I have no answer to that." Lucas refused to give her the benefit. "We have to go."

"Always the stalwart knight." She chuckled. "Lead on."

(X)(X)(X)(X)

Jaune hated the stares that were directed at him as Qrow carried him onto Shade Academy grounds. It was like none of them had ever seen a kid before. Nevertheless, the child remained calm.

"What now?" Jaune questioned.

"We get ready." Qrow put him down. "The Grimm are coming."

"What can I do?"

"You're not doing anything, little man. Didn't I just say that. Daisy's in a fit right now, and if anything were to happen to you, your father might just die from her wrath. You're staying out of the fight."

"But Qrow-"

"That's final. Don't even think about doing anything either, or I'll know."

Well so much for trying to help. Jaune may be in greater control of his emotions than many children his age, but like his mother when things didn't go how he wished, he let out a small growl, a glare, and a slight bearing of his teeth.

"Now there's my sister." Qrow could only notice this resemblance. "She would be so proud of you."

"Is mother proud of me? I don't know sometimes. I hear parents say nice things to their children, but I don't hear it from her."

"Don't sweat the details, kid. If she didn't care, she wouldn't come see you often." Qrow tried to assure his nephew. "Which is more than I can say for Yang."

"What?"

"Nothing, kid."

Jaune pouted a bit, but then he retracted back into an impassive look that was unbecoming of a child his age. No matter how much he looked like his father, the blonde-haired kid was more like his mother than even he realized. Kids didn't do stone-faced indifference. Kids did everything emotional because it was healthy for them and they really didn't know any better.

He was nothing like his half-sister in that respect.

"Okay, kid down you go." Qrow let Jaune get to his feel. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Jaune mumbled. "So this is Shade Academy."

"Not very good-looking, is it?" Qrow jabbed.

"I think it looks cool." Jaune said. "But what's everyone in a hurry for?"

"Bad stuff, little man."

"What bad stuff?"

"Nothing you need to know."

"Tell me-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

Qrow said 'no' many more times before Jaune got the hint and simply resorted to being glum. The kid wanted to help, but he was far from ready to kill Grimm in such large numbers.

"All hands, incoming Grimm attack. Battle positions!"

That was the alert that all of them were waiting for. All bodies moved twice as fast they were before that announcement. Things could be worse; although the majority of the fighters here were students, they were all-around eager to get a taste of their first real battle. He was hoping that none of them would get killed.

"Well… damn." Qrow licked his parched lips. "It's time to make like a tree and get lost."

"But you can't use a portal like mother can."

"I'm taking you to a temporary safe place."

"But aren't you fighting?"

"Now I'm guarding you."

"But I can take care of myself."

"If I lose you, your parents will get some loose screws. No dice. What part of 'no' is hard to understand? No means no. Am I clear?"

"..."

Qrow could only kneel down and look his nephew in the eye.

"You'll get your chance on day, but you're not ready for something like this. Am I clear? If something happens to you, everyone would be unhappy."

"Okay, okay, I get it."

Those word were the only ones he could ever hear during a time like this. He wasn't able to do it. He was incapable of doing it. Knowing Jaune well enough, this had to be a serious dampener on his pride. He wanted to see real live combat with Grimm, people, whatever. Raven and Lucas didn't even train him per say. They sparred with him.

"So when can I kill Grimm?" Jaune inquired.

"Give it a few more years." Qrow patted him on the head. "Then we'll talk serious Grimm killing."

"A few years?!" Jaune pouted and shouted. "But I wanna do it now!"

"Kid, nobody should be wanting to kill at all." Qrow tried to shush him.

The little boy had absolutely no leverage and he seemed to realize it and finally appeared as if he'd accepted his situation and ceased his whining altogether.

"I'm bored."

It was right about then that a very loud stomach growl bellowed, enough so that the two of them could hear it. The boy looked embarrassed while the huntsman snickered, trying to contain his laugh.

"Well, for starters, some food is no order." Qrow pointed to the doors to the school. "Cafeteria's got food. Let's go."

"Can I?" Jaune eagerly demanded.

"Sure it is." Qrow assured.

No more convincing was necessary as they both headed for food. Kids loved food, or at least Jaune loved food. So far, none of the family had discovered something that he didn't like, and for that everyone was grateful.

Well, Jaune was an easy child to raise.

(X)(X)(X)(X)

Midnight

"Gods dammit." Qrow slammed his fist against the table. "When did things start going to shit?"

"This whole situation was a major disaster from the start." Lucas mumbled with his head bowed as he leaned against the wall. "We only managed to thin out a quarter of the Grimm numbers."

"Any minute now and we'll be minced up." Raven chuckled humorlessly while sitting in the only chair in the room. "Well, most of us at any rate."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Qrow buried his face in one hand. "Can we just get to the part where we kick ass back?"

"Agreed." Lucas looked at Raven. "And Raven?"

"Yes, dear?" Raven joked.

Lucas stared robotically at her. "The next time you decide to endanger the life of our son, I wish to know."

"I'm not going to apologize for my actions." Raven smirked a bit. "Everything I do is for a reason."

"Now where have I heard that one before?" Qrow muttered lightly.

"We will talk about it later." Lucas got off the wall and resumed a straight posture with his hands behind his back. "I'm assuming that you don't have a portal linked to Daisy."

"No." Raven crossed her arms. "Just for you and Jaune."

"That would be too convenient if you did." Lucas took a deep breath to calm his irritation before continuing. "Well, Shade is completely blocked in all direction. As far as I know, there's no help that's coming, at least not for another night at best, a few days at worst."

"We're not getting any sleep then." Qrow took a long sip from his flask. "I don't bring enough booze with me."

"I'm surprised that you haven't died from drinking yet, Qrow." Raven took a shot at her brother. "How does Jaune put up with you?"

"He just doesn't care, I guess." Qrow finished his drink. "And speaking of the kid, he finally went to sleep. I was wondering if I was gonna have to tell a story."

"And we all know how much you love kids." Lucas chimed in with his own jab. "If your training with Jaune is anything to go by."

True to Qrow's words, Jaune had been put to sleep in a spare dorm. Thankfully, nobody seemed to ask too many questions regarding the boy. Children near Shade Academy, or any of the huntsman academies at all was a cause for questioning. The only thing that any of them had been willing to supply was that there was exceptional circumstances. People had more questions, but they all took on looks to deter further inquiries.

Also now was the time to plan their next move. With the CCT tower still out of commission and with reinforcements nowhere in sight, all that remained had to hold down the fort. A fallen huntsman academy was not going to look good to the world. That reason, though was merely an official statement. All three of them were perfectly aware of what was really at stake should the Grimm overtake shade. It was this little thing, a gift from the Gods, and the queen wanted them more than anything else.

"We don't have enough people here to help." Lucas reported, beginning to pace. "Those engineers Ironwood sent can only do so much. Whoever tampered with the tower was looking for more than a way to destabilize us."

"The tower has to be compromised." Raven offered. "If it's taking this long to get it back up and running, someone's being a snoop."

"Salem might want to be a snoop." Qrow fiddled with his scroll a bit. "I mean, why not? She seems to be all about using things and people."

"No, this entire thing, it all sounds a little too disorganized, too chaotic to be the work of Salem." Lucas disagreed. "She's more subtle than that."

They all closed their eyes, trying to think of another angle. So far, they had listed off possibilities, backed up with no evidence. If this was the best that they could do, then what was the point of continuing on further.

"Have you contacted Daisy?" Raven directed her question to Lucas.

"I can't, remember?" Lucas narrowed his eyes at her. "Long-range communications are down, and local waves are hard enough to listen to."

"So what do you think she'll say once you get back?"

"What do you think, Raven? It was going to be my head if Jaune didn't come back. She adores Jaune like her own flesh-and-blood son. She'd never forgive me if I didn't come back with him."

"And did you tell her what I did?"

"I didn't need to. She figured out you were only one who could do it. She knows about your semblance, you know."

"Because you told her."

"So I did. Is there a problem?"

Now they had a new reason to be tense. Raven had always been different from most people. Even among fellow huntsmen and huntresses, she absolutely was a unique snowflake. Between her questionable character and her radical ideals, she wasn't a person that people trusted as a friend, but she was capable of getting results. However, her actions always had their own problems.

Whatever her reason for putting Jaune through the gauntlet, there was going to be fallout. Jaune was only a kid not even six years of age; that little fiasco earlier today shouldn't have happened, at least not for another five years or so. Right now, his only job was to grow and become a shield to defend himself.

Raven would rather that Jaune be a sword to deliver swift and uncompromising retribution to everyone that threatened herself and all that she cared about. Her clan was constantly on the move and in-danger. In that world, morality was so grey, something that mirrored young Jaune's mind right now. Plus, Raven was his mother, so of course he valued her opinion.

"I'd be surprised if you could get with a mile of our home now." Lucas laid out the reality. "Daisy is very passionate about family, and any threat, direct or indirect, is something she won't tolerate."

"Maybe she wouldn't be this way if you told her things." Raven wasn't having the blame being placed upon her. "If you'd just tell her what the templar really are, then maybe she'd see the reason for what we do."

"You make it sound like that is an easy thing to do." Lucas shook his head. "Frankly, there is a reason we don't tell anyone about our true purpose. Defending the weak and being champions for good is a part of the equation, not the answer."

"And what makes you think that Jaune will maintain silence once he discovers what he really is?" Raven crossed her legs and arms. "Our son is not a fool, and once he knows the truth, he will take matters into his hands."

"What is the problem exactly?" Lucas could take a guess, but still posed the question. "His path in life is his own."

"No, it isn't." Raven stood up, her hands clenched into fists. "He only has two choices in life. Whatever his opinion on being in both words, it won't work."

"Yet you let him continue to say so." Lucas looked dubious.

"It's more effective to let his own worldview change by his own volition." Raven took a step close to Lucas. "I don't make it a secret how I see the world, and Jaune knows that. He knows what I think, but he doesn't fully believe me."

Lucas knew how Raven maneuvered, and despite being honest in some respects, she deceived and hid other true intentions hiding behind other truths and facts. He only knew that she was hiding something, but despite knowing the method, he couldn't say for sure what she really wanted. Protecting her tribe and continuing it seemed too easy an answer.

Something hitting the floor alerted them both and they turned their heads to see something that was as dismaying as it was amusing. Apparently, Qrow had just finished his flask, and it was enough to get him drunk. He had collapsed onto the ground face-down. He appeared to be alright. Any damage probably went to his aura.

"Qrow, you stupid fool." Raven rushed to his side and checkcd on him. "Have you died yet?"

"Nooooo, but it sounds like a great idea." Qrow appeared to have heard her and had something to say. "I just need a little more-"

"No more, Qrow." Lucas cut his battle brother off. "You've had enough. It's now time for some sleep, buddy."

"I'll sleep when I die." Qrow muttered almost incoherently. "Gotta… kill… more Grimm."

With some struggle, the two of them got the drunk man to the same room where Jaune slept peacefully. They were careful not disturb the child and thankfully, Qrow's prattling had ceased and he was now unconscious. They weren't too worried about him actually being harmed further.

"What happened to you brother?" Raven frowned at the undignified sight. "You're supposed to be my equal in all things."

"Nobody can be your equal now." Lucas said. "You possess power beyond all reckoning, and with time, you'll only get better."

"Don't you say the nicest things." Raven replied.

She turned around and faced him, cupping one side of his face with her right hand. This lasted for a moment, then he turned his back.

"Have some manners, Raven."

"It's so nice to see you so unbalanced."

No, this game was going to light a powder keg, and he wouldn't be involved in this mess.

Whoops, did I forget this story? No, I didn't but then I couldn't figure out what the hell I was doing. Then I got some of my mojo back and got to writing. There's one more chapter in this little character development arc before I turn to Beacon Academy.

My goal is to create a version of Jaune Arc that's more in line with his current state in volume 5, someone who is trying to be optimistic yet is also saddled with demons. Make no mistake, this will be a different take on Jaune, but I don't want to create an OC. Jaune has certain characteristics that make him who he is, and I hope to capture that essence.

Apologies for an extremely long delay. This semester in college has been more busy than I anticipated as well as disorganized. I hope to pull myself together and actually get back to a somewhat consistent writing schedule.

Anyways, if you guys still want more from this story, then don't hesitate to leave a review with feedback as well as any ideas in the future. Additionally, I think it's time to get myself a beta-reader to help me develop the story. I've got an overall story laid out, and a second pair of eyes would be greatly appreciated.

Apologies for any grammar errors that I missed during my fast read-through.

Finally, for future stories, go check out my stories on my profile page and vote for your favorite one to come in the future. I've got a lot of ideas jotted down, some of them having drafts too.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading.

"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of."

Bruce Lee

Peace!