Ruin

"I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat."

The words had merely been little more than an echo at the time, the wizened Headmaster keeping his eye instead on the screen of his own device.

Who needed to worry about a highly decorated applicant at the moment? Beacon had such individuals of potential talent in spades, and the initiation was in place for the express reason to separate the Hunters of the future from the mild-mannered citizens of the future.

Of course, such determination was always appreciated in the field of Hunters, and those who'd fail initiation could certainly find other pursuits in which to dedicate their aspirations: Law, Expansion Efforts, Medicine... ugh, politics...

And well... even farming could be a fitting option.

The young woman on screen, however, not to mention the silver eyes which currently held as much promise as her budding talent against the forces of darkness that encompassed more than initiation-level difficulty of Grimm...

"Ozpin."

"Hmm?"

The Headmaster glanced up, only to see his trusted colleague glaring at her own screen with a similar air of contemplation.

"They've drawn the Grimm through the ruins... with the weight and battle, might it not cause the-?"

"Now, now, Glynda," the man assuaged with as calm and placating a tone as ever, the woman's groan of annoyance dying in her throat as she knew only his brand of logic could only explain away, "Those ruins, though derelict as they may seem, have stood fast for hundreds of years... I hardly expect any compromise of its structural integrity to occur from a few dust grenades..."

Barely managing to refrain from rolling her eyes at the man who likely had something to do with the literal construction of said ruins themselves, the professor still felt to add, "I understand... but I speak not of the structure itself but of what lies underneath-"

CAW!

"Was that from the forest feed?" Glynda redirected instead, her hawklike expression immediately zeroing in on her screen at the concerningly loud omen of incoming Grimm even as Ozpin let his tablet idly drop to his side.

"No..."

The Headmaster of Beacon simply turned to the area of the cliff beside them to see Ruby reach the top of the cliff, circle up, and fire one last shot from Crescent Rose to rend the Nevermore's head from its shoulders in a shower of petals while the man simply took another sip of coffee from a mug that Glynda was no longer exactly sure she knew where it came from.

"I believe it was a Huntress."

Yes, Beacon had individuals of potential talent and latent abilities in spades... and while there might have been the occasional outlier, like the young man in the very group whom Ozpin was fairly surprised wasn't seen having his Aura unlocked thanks to young Miss Nikos by his trusted colleague, the old man knew there was more to be said.

Despite the accusations of inattentiveness, he knew very well what to look for in a human's potential. Physical prowess aside, Ozpin had also noticed the young man's fine conduct in how he handled himself and his peers in the face of potentially mortal danger for a youth in his place, whether the boy realized it or not. It was a heavy gambit on the boy's behalf, without a doubt, but for a man who'd lived on the order of millennia, Ozpin wasn't one to forget what it was like to have nothing, to feel weak, to be fully dependent on the support of others stronger than he.

It was a reality he relived with every reincarnation.

Of course, there was another lesson he'd learned after enough permutations of lives lived and lost in his nigh-eternal fight against his dark nemesis: hope was a finite resource - while an invaluable weapon in and of itself, it was best left to allocate where allocation was due. While this...

Ozpin glanced down to check the caption on screen over the student.

While this, Jaune Arc, was willing to risk his life and come out the victor with the aid of his instincts and new comrades, then the aged Headmaster was even willing to elevate the young man to a leadership position to prove his worth... or begin to slip, only to eventually face interrogation by the feared Beacon disciplinarian and her terrifying riding crop as well as eventual expulsion should any inconsistencies in his transcript be found.

Indeed, Ozpin dared to hope. But only where hope was due.

The rest would sort itself out in time. It was how things were supposed to be, should humanity have any hope against Salem and her gathering presence.

Ozpin watched Ruby and beside the severed head as the body of the giant Nevermore fell lifeless to the ruins and crevice below.

At this point, he already knew where he would be hedging his bets against damnation.

"Wow," was all Jaune could utter while the remaining girls and, farther away, he, Pyrrha, Nora and her sloth friend watched in amazement.

Even the previously exuberant bubbly girl, Nora, couldn't help a brief moment of speechlessness at the feat.

A brief moment.

"First of all, Renny can do that."

Such was the certainty with which the words were said that even Pyrrha couldn't help turning a slightly slack-jawed expression towards the currently exhausted young man whose very nods in abject denial of the claims were dulled by fatigue. Jaune, however, was temporarily distracted by the trio still atop the ruins and they began to make their way back to the forest side.

The princess in white, whose appearance truly deserved the description of Snow Angel. Jaune's breath hitched as he watched her control over those funny little signs he didn't really understand and create a series of rotating platforms with her shining... really thin, sword... to make her way back over the ravine in midair. Every movement, so graceful, so controlled... things he so deeply wished for but didn't have.

The blonde brawler, her confident smirk well-earned by her immense strength and killer figure to boot. Jaune didn't even feel worthy of looking at her - or even calling himself a veritable blonde anymore at the sight of those divinely golden locks - as he watched her propel herself upwards and over the ravine with twin blasts from her gauntlets. It didn't even have to be said how cool those things were, no need for blades when one had that kind of strength... things he so deeply wished for but didn't have.

The silent wallflower with those glowing amber eyes. Well, wallflower, because she didn't really seem to talk much. The flower part just seemed to make sense since it was emblazoned on her outfit and thigh... not that he was looking. But if her agility wasn't enough, her cool after-image thing along with that extremely useful weapon made her a dangerous fighter in a category all her own. Skill, awesome powers that he figured had something to do with Aura, a weapon that cuts and shoots... things he so deeply wished for but didn't have.

Jaune huffed as the trio drew nearer and landed nearby, not even willing to imagine the feats his own partner could manage that he wouldn't even be able to dream of having in order to avoid some sort of depression before glancing at the three new students beside him. He couldn't help grin at how Pyrrha seemed to be subtly trying to keep the Renny guy from collapsing again while Nora kept on with some other tall tale of his legendary accomplishments.

The chance to get stronger, to become somebody! It was why he was in Beacon anyway, right!? He wasn't about to let himself get bogged down on his first day when he'd managed to pass initiation just like anyone else!

Nodding to himself with new determination, Jaune made his way over to the girls as they rejoined the group, his best imitation of his fellow blonde's smirk in place as he decided to approach the shortest of the three and spread some good cheer around - nothing more positive than building new friendships with the ex-strangers, right?

Strangers were just friends you haven't met yet!

"Well hey there, Snow Angel. I think that w-"

"Don't think. You'll lower the IQ of the entire school."

And with that, the blond was left with a raised hand and gaping at the heiress as she passed him by with a huff and a flick of her ponytail, his face barely resetting when he glanced at the other blonde girl eyeing his raised hand with a grin and lifting hers as well for a high five.

A high five that never happened, considering that the moment he went in with steadily spreading grin to return the show of camaraderie, her hand slipped away to run through her hair instead.

"Welp, too slow, Vomit Boy!"

"Guh..."

Turning back with a sigh to at least acknowledge the ravenette with as best a smile as he could manage in the situation, his stomach only sank a little further at the sight of her arch expression that was partly amusement at what the others had done to him and mostly just plain disinterest to interact with him at all.

It was like she had a little neon sign hanging from her head with the words F* Off written so plainly that even he could read it.

"Jaune?"

Somewhat surprised, the young knight turned and found his tension soften at the inquisitive emerald eyes of his partner, the young woman reaching out to beckon him with a warm smile.

"S-Sorry, guess I'm just... having an off moment," he grumbled as they drew a bit closer to the group beside the still dissipating remains of the troublesome Deathstalker.

"It's fine," she replied lightly, though definitely trying to avoid the incredulous glare from the nearby heiress who seemed to even wince in sympathy at Pyrrha's unfortunate partnering situation, "Though with the battle finished, I believe we should begin to make our way around the ruins to find another exit point."

Crk.

"Uhhh..."

Juane froze a the ominous sound, the teens seeing the remains of the Deathstalker seemingly shift downward all at once as a few cracks began growing outwards from the ground beneath it. The Renny guy simply sighed at his partner and apparently long time friend.

"You hit it too hard again this time, Nora..."

Eyes widening, her immediate reaction to distract everyone from the reddening of her cheeks was to point at the knight, "His fault!"

"Nora..."

Jaune noticed the girl with the amber eyes, the one standing closest to the dead Grimm at the moment, turn her gaze towards him with a somewhat complicated expression. He didn't figure he was half bad at deciphering expressions, so the knight tried to ascertain its meaning and figured it as a mix of surprise, shock... maybe even admiration?

"Wait... you mean the noodle did that?"

Well... surprise and shock, at least.

"No, but it was by his order that it fell," Pyrrha defended with what almost seemed like pride, though Jaune could tell that she certainly hadn't said anything against the noodle part, "In any case, I suggest we vacate the vicinity lest we risk the ground in the area becoming destabilize-"

CrCrk.

The brawler narrowed her eyes at the Mistrali, "You just haaaad to jinx us there, P-Money..."

"Uhh, guys," Jaune began as he noticed another crack worming its way towards them, though no one paid him any heed.

Crrrk.

"...Guys?"

"Well I suppose Pyrrha has a point," Weiss noted imperiously, completely unaware of the crack that was right about to reach them, "Let's just go around to the cliff and claim our-"

CRACRAACKKK!

"Hey, look out!"

With no time to lose, Jaune did the only thing he could as the crack reached the boots of the ravenette girl with the bow and the ground gave way under her; leaping at her to shove the girl in black out of the way, she landed in the arms of the brawler with a shocked yelp and eyes wide as she watched the lightly armored teen land and fall through the floor.

"YAAAAaaaaa-oompf!"

It'd taken a moment, maybe more, for the knight's cerulean eyes to open. But under the dim lighting under the evidently dim cavern which had to be at least three times his height, the first thing Jaune noticed wasn't his surroundings at all.

It was a sharp, intense pain.

"Gyuuuuuugggghhhhhh..."

He whimpered through clenched teeth as he came to realize he'd managed to land on his own sword, the blade cutting through this supposedly useful Aura that he figured should've acted like a sort of force field and having dug into the flesh of his shoulder between his armor plates. It felt nothing short of agonizing as he slowly sat up and tried to pull it out, glad that it hadn't actually stabbed into his shoulder as much as clipped into the flesh upon landing on the blade at an angle.

Well, relatively glad.

With a muted cry, it finally came out with a small spatter of blood that speckled his shield below him, and his despir slowly turned into the beginnings of relief as he saw that familiar glow of Aura return and practically weave the flesh together again right before his eyes.

"Hm. That's convenient..."

After a few more seconds, and another ten on top of that even after the glow had receded from his apparently healed wound, Jaune rolled his shoulder a few times before managing to stand once more. It'd been strange that the area seemed so silent despite the relative proximity to the surface, but he was eventually able to hear voices calling - Pyrrha's the most easily recognizable one - coming from the dim light source which he'd seemed to have rolled away from upon falling into the cavern.

"Ja-! -ne! -aun!"

"Hm. It's like the walls absorb the sound or something," the young man noted aloud as he drew closer, running his hand along the oddly damp walls in his attempts to understand the reason behind the unnaturally muted calls from what should've only been a few dozen feet away. But before he could call back up to him, a peculiar sound of moving rocks from the depths of the cavern caught his attention.

"Wh-Who's there!?"

While there was no verbal response in the first few seconds... the pair of glowing crimson eyes that appeared in the darkness was response enough.

Practically feeling his skin blanching as he raised his weapons at the ready, Jaune could only gulp as the creature slowly... intelligently... made its way into the dimly lit area and analyzed its prey.

"A wolf grimm... underground? It... can't be-grk!"

No growl. No roar. Not a single warning as the creature of darkness, seemingly aware of the nearby potential backup to this hapless human child, pounced with unbelievable speed to pry down Jaune's shield arm with a paw before twisting around and slashing at his legs with enough force to launch him several dozen feet into the depths of darkness. It looked to be about the same size as any other Beowolf, Jaune noticed, nothing exceptional about the size...

Other than the fact that this particular Grimm was covered nearly head to paw in thick, runed Grimm bone-armor.

The force of the initial impact alone should've easily been enough to dislocate his arm, Jaune quickly realized, if not tear it off completely, had it not been for his newly-unlocked Aura and his action of letting go of the shield. Much the same must've attributed for the fact that his legs hadn't shattered upon the follow up attack as well as the intensely surreal odds of having landed on a cave floor as hard as he had without more than a few scuffs... but as Jaune slowly stood to face his incredibly dangerous opponent, thankful that this time he'd landed with his sword in a way that didn't dismember him somehow, he quickly realised that his abysmal luck had sunken impossibly lower as a soul-chillingly large amount of more pairs of Grimm eyes appeared in the darkness.

"So much for an off moment," Jaune quietly hedged as he saw a few larger Grimm, much like the first but with spikes coming out their backs and forearms, put themselves between him and his only exit, and he slowly began backing up before nearly tripping back into what he could only describe as the darkest shade of black he'd ever seen. "This is soooo much worse than just an off moment..."

But with one having increased to at least a half dozen, and more looming in the shadows, Jaune quickly realized he was on the edge of some sort of stone bridge suspended over nothing and pawed for his scroll as a final gamble came to mind.

As he quickly fumbled with the controls from within his pocket to switch on the flashlight and tune into the music player by memory, he readied his stance with his sword out in a single hand as he pointed himself towards the exit.

"Here I go..."

His thumb, hovering over the side button as he quickly pulled out the shining scroll to light up the cavern in a flash of light, pressed play as he stated to run forward.

There'll be no rest~
There'll be no love~
There'll be no hero in the-

GRAWWWR!

Who will rise above~

The sound echoing around the cavern at full blast, Jaune's heart leapt to his throat as he was able to dodge around the dazed attacks of one, two, three Grimm before having to duck under an errant paw swipe that caused him to stop and kill his momentum.

The action soon proved to kill his chances as well, as he noticed that the moment he'd turned the light away from the cavern behind him, dozens of wolf Grimm appeared - not to attack him, but to cut off his only escape route with snarling growls in order to let the first ones recover and finish their job.

"No..."

Turning back to light up the cavern, Jaune felt true terror for the first time in his life when the flashlight lit up the area for a split-second to reveal a horde of Beowolves approaching across the simple stone bridge as well as a slew of unspeakable creatures crawling along the walls in his direction.

Thankfully, slouching his shoulders at the sight had moved his head a few inches forward, barely enough to create a margin for the Beowulf that pounced behind him to graze the size of his head painfully with a claw instead of taking it off completely. Between death ahead and death behind and likely death below, Jaune's momentum no longer stopped with his choice now made.

The shining light will sink in darkness~
Victory for hate incarnate~
Misery and pain for all~

"Rrrrrgh-YYYAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhh...!"

And so, with his sword in one hand and his scroll in the other, Jaune ran with all he had and as fast as his legs would take him... leaping down and into the abyss.

When~ it~ falls~

"Headmaster Ozpin! Headmaster, thank goodness!"

The Mistrali rushed over to where Ozpin, Glynda, and Ruby - there was no chance to deny the young woman her joining the professors - landed nearby the area via shuttle, the only reason the champion herself hadn't leapt into the hole after him being the nearly instant reactivation and ping in the students' scrolls expressly directing them not to follow the unfortunate knight.

"We've barely heard anything after Jaune fell through, but Blake mentioned that she thought she could hear Grimm about a minute ago!"

"Thank you, Miss Nikos," Ozpin replied succinctly, his face entirely neutral aside from the notable rush in his gait to approach the affected area, "If you will please have the remaining students evacuate the vicinity, we will look into the matter and send someone in to retrieve him."

"Time is of the essence."

"Indeed," the headmaster replied to his colleague, nodding at Pyrrha for her to take Ruby and the rest of the apprehensive group towards the shuttle before coming to a halt beside the hole with her, "I know what you're going to say."

A curt sigh from the deputy before she brandished her crop and began levitating slowly into the hole.

"Then there's no need to say it."

Needless to say, Ozpin was oddly unsurprised when not even a few seconds after disappearing into the depths, a heart stopping miasma of ivory chitin and ebony ochre stormed through what little line of sight the opening offered.

"Oh my g-!"

Ozpin turned, equally surprised and impressed to see the young woman beside him having escaped detection as her pale hands flew up to cover her lips under trembling eyes.

"Miss Belladonna, please rejoin the others by the shuttle."

Amber eyes turned up to glance into his with a storm of questions and increasingly turbulent emotions, but a single second under his gaze was enough to have her swallow her distress and retreat to safety and away from what she realized could've marked the spot of her death.

The man let out a contrite hum, the look in her eyes before she'd turned away more than enough indication that she'd reached the correct understanding about Jaune's likely current situation.

"Ozpin."

The white-haired man turned to face the woman, unscathed but with a soft pant to her breath which was plenty testament to the danger which lay under their very feet, before she pulled out a bloody shield with a slow shake of her head.

"With no other sign of conflict or remains in the area, I presume Mister Arc never even reached the ground before being attacked and taken."

"There aren't many alternatives," Ozpin mused quietly, more in thought but also due to his awareness of curious ears nearby sensitive enough to overhear, "None of the entrances to the higher floors open from their respective lower floor, and the uppermost entrance is currently all but sealed shut."

"He could easily have gone down..."

"Through the Labyrinth of Seven Trials? Every floor is more dangerous than the last," Ozpin rebuffed, his colleague taking the news with as much professionalism as could be warranted in the situation, "The final one leading to the chamber inhabited by draconian-level Grimm as powerful as the one buried dormant somewhere in Vale."

"A little harder to reach than the rest, hm?" the Deputy demurred, her tone suggesting that the phrase was a quote before somberly glancing at the shield between them, "Ozpin, this..."

The old man looked down, his neutral expression shifted for the first time with a frown as he took the weapon and easily found the mechanism to make it contract into sheath form.

"The dust insulation is holding and has not been compromised, as is the magic barrier. We will have the opening sealed and the surrounding area reinforced... I will attend to the students, and as well as to the condolences for the Arc family."

Trading a brief nod, Glynda set herself to pulling at boulders in the area to set a temporary plug in the hole while Ozpin began his long walk back towards the shuttle... one he knew would be all the more difficult as he noticed the young Rose identify the remaining blood on the collapsed sheath and bury her head in her sister's side.

"Children... while I wish the news were delivered under better circumstances, you may enter the shuttle and return to Beacon to await team assignments after having successfully completed your initiation," the Headmaster stated, his gaze taking on a graver tone as he continued, "And while this is a lesson which no one would have wished to be your first as students of Beacon, today we mourn the loss of a future Hunter and galvanize our spirits to keep moving forward..."

He paused to glance at the crestfallen Mistrali, the somber lotus and his uncharacteristically quiet companion, the brooding heiress, distraught sisters, and aggrieved ravenette in turn before adding, "Mourning, of course, may take many forms, as you all will no doubt witness and experience in your own paths... some will cry, others may laugh, some will fight, and some may write..."

Ozpin resisted the habit of bringing a hand up to sip from a cup of coffee he wasn't holding.

"Know that no one way is better than the other... and know that no one way is flawless as well. Our hope is to best equip each one of you to face the threat of the Grimm and end these tragedies once and for all."

He left a lingering gaze at the hooded girl, the crimsonette sniffling as she opened a watery silver eye in his direction and he finished his thought.

"Once and for all."

Now making his way into the shuttle, the new students sullenly followed his lead... more than one young Huntress-to-be turning a final glance towards the location of the young Arc's demise with a heavy heart.

"Uuugh... not my finest moment..."

The Arc, slowly coming to his senses, took another moment to flex each limb in turn, relieved to find everything still in working order - and sending a silent thank you to the powers above for not having skewered himself on his own sword... again - before loosening the fingers on each hand and regripping his sword and scroll.

He also made a mental note to buy Pyrrha a huge bouquet of flowers for setting him up with this whole Aura gig. The blonde huffed as he hefted his sword to eye level.

"Mom's gonna kill me when she finds out I lost her shield..."

It was an unfortunate turn of events in a series of unfortunate events, he'd admit, but by this point, Jaune Arc was now also pretty sure that he'd fallen further away from his only exit.

grrrrrowk

And apparently, he was not alone.

"Aw gimme a break..."

Lifting his scroll up and flipping the light switch back on, Jaune felt some relief with the light brightening up the otherwise nearly pitch black place despite the realization that the speakers had likely become inoperable. However, relief became apprehension when three new pairs of crimson eyes lit up just outside his field of perception, each stacked above the others.

Just when apprehension was about to become panic, Jaune hesitated as the three pairs of eyes hopped into his line of sight, their owner being a creature of Grimm which resembled more a head with nothing but two stubby legs underneath it.

growk! growk!

At full height, it barely stood taller than his knee.

"Aw, hey little guy~" Jaune cooed, approaching the juvenile Creep as it growked in his direction, "You don't seem so bad..."

growk!

"Never seen one like you before, you not from around here?~"

grrrowk!

"Aww~" Jaune gave it a small wry smile before lifting his sword over it, "Welp, bye bye now!"

And with a single slash, the creature was bisected, Jaune watching on as its remains began to dissipate. It was a slow affair, one he found himself silently drawn to watch in the depths of the darkness which made the sight lit by his scroll that much more difficult to take his eyes from.

At the very least, it was one less Grimm that people at the surface wouldn't have to worry about. He'd find a way out, rejoin his class, and get stronger so that not even the scariest of Grimm could make him fear for his life as much as they had this day... all he had to do was avoid any more-

grrrr

"Ugh... so much for that..."

Turning his scroll up towards the sound, the knight found himself staring at a larger version of the Grimm, large claws on its two legs and even a small bone plate forming on its head. Needless to say, Jaune took an adjusted response according to the fact that this grimm was nearly as tall as he.

Turn tail and run.

Labored pants could be heard as the young blonde sped deeper into the cavern, panic rising even more as he realized that for such a stubby, robust build, that Grimm was particularly fast and actually gaining on him. It was made worse by the fact that it seemed to make little to no noise, the sound of its heavy feet against the damp floor more than enough indication of its pursuit.

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be..."

Words came out unbidden in the breaths he heaved out, fatigue getting the better of the boy who'd yet to learn how to manage his aura. Feeling like his heart was beating in his ears, he even dared to hope after a few minutes of running, coming to the conclusion in his oxygen-deprived mind that he might even be imagining the steps behind him, that he left behind the grimm long ago.

Right as he was about to turn and look, he suddenly caught a glint of something shining in the darkness, something that could only be an exit! Adjusting his course, Jaune didn't even realize the glowing energy coalescing around his legs which gave him purchase to run harder and faster he'd ever run before in his growing hope.

Unfortunately, unexplained increase in speed was something he hadn't accounted for, the only sound radiating through the cavern being a startled yelp when he slipped and fell on another damp spot on the floor.

Crying out in frustration, Jaune forced himself to roll back up facing the Grimm instead of the exit, surprised to see just how far he'd outstripped it when it should've been right on his heels before seeing the apparently aggravated Grimm come to halt some yards away. Jaune wasn't about to lose this chance now... if he had to, he'd fight his way out!

grrrowk! grrrow-THOOMP

Cerulean eyes widened greatly when he noticed the entire Grimm literally curb stomped into the wall it stood beside by a much larger version of its own clawed leg. A much larger version belonging to a much larger version of the same type of Grimm, which against all forms of logic regarding interaction between Grimm stomped the already dissipating remains again with sadistic malice.

GRRRROAR!

Jaune felt his sword dip, his hand shaking and skin going cold as he realized just how far his chances for survival had just dropped.

As the very large Grimm with muscular hind legs and thick tail took several lumbering steps towards him in a charge, Jaune instinctively raised his left arm that would've held his shield to brace for the impact, but was taken wholly by surprise when the Grimm instead opened its giant maw before a dark sticky bulb at the end of an elastic tongue shot out from between rows and rows of fangs to latch onto Jaune's upheld arm...

And bodily pulled him towards it through the air at frightening speed before its jaws clamped shut.

CRUNCH

Jaune didn't feel the moment he crashed on the floor, his scroll landing some distance away and skittering to the side.

In fact, he couldn't feel or hear much of anything, just the sound of the Grimm above him chewing on flesh and sinew.

Looking down at his left arm, trembling eyes set in a paper-white face trailing along to the point where it ended at the elbow, Jaune slowly felt his world swirl back into the present as he connected the dots.

"W-Why...? Why did it...? M-My arm..."

GRRRR

The wet, guttural growl bringing his attention back up to the creature over him, Jaune felt his heart drop in abject terror under the crimson-eyed glare on him as a viscous line of fluid he dared not try and identify fell on his hair.

"No... n-no..."

He desperately tried to scurry back, too distraught by panic to stand properly or even turn to crawl away lest he lose sight of the creature only for it to attack. Even his breathing came out in shallow pants, threatening to hyperventilate as he realized that the Grimm was making no attempt to actually attack but instead take a step forward every time Jaune moved back with a glint in its eyes that could only be construed as enjoyment.

"N-no... please, no," he whimpered as he realized he would soon be cornered, his hand landing on the blade of his sword but pushing it back towards the wall behind him in his haste to stay way from the creature that'd want nothing more than a little more entertainment before it killed him.

Was this...? Was this what he was going to amount to? His hopes, his dreams, his wish to become a hero and change the world... nothing more than the final thoughts of a scared boy in a Grimm-infested dungeon, never to be found again? He'd realized no one had ultimately come after him to try and rescue him, the pathetic faker that he was; maybe they'd realized that by now. Would he be forgotten so soon then by the students on the surface, by Beacon... by his own family?

The first tear fell at the thought of his family, the faces of his sisters as they wailed over their lost brother, the faces of his downcast parents as they traded a gaze that aside from sorrow communicated the fact that they already expected this would happen. He couldn't even be angry about that.

His life... was about to end.

Maybe he should've made peace within, or maybe a final prayer for his soul before letting himself succumb to the inevitable, but instead, too afraid to even decide, Jaune kept scurrying back. He didn't even notice the strange shimmering light that slowly engulfed his body until it was already fading.

But it had saved him.

The brief glimmer of light, aside from confusing or otherwise annoying the Grimm and causing it to momentarily pause its advance, had brought Jaune's attention to where his scroll had landed nearby... right under an overhang which may or may not have provided enough space for him to squeeze under. While it provided no guarantee of success, Jaune desperately latched onto the possibility and slowly got a foot under him as crimson eyes above him flashed in anger.

THWOK

A bulbous tongue shot out to where Jaune lay, only to hit muddy stone as the teen uncoiled his leg with enough force to propel him towards the opening. His last-ditch diving effort landing him beside said opening, he shifted his legs under and with unexpected luck found a decent handhold under the stone to pull the rest of himself in just as the beast turned in his direction.

GRRROAR!

Now in a much more Grimm-like fashion, the intelligent beast slammed into the rock over Jaune in its rage, his panic returning in full force as he realized that the creature, though perhaps aware that it'd be unable to murder him by mouth, was content with trying to cause the overhang to fall and crush him instead. The sudden crash of claustrophobia that the situation gave the young teen facing a solid rock face not even two inches above his own was downright nauseating.

"No... no, please no, not like this! Not like this! Not like this!"

Each exclamation was pronounced with his hand grabbing hold of whatever it could to pull him further in, the violent vibrations of the rock above him jarring him with the possibility of it being the last before crushing him completely.

"Not like this! Not like this! Not like this!"

He no longer cared how strange it looked that his only hand now seemed to shimmer and glow with aura, he didn't even care how his fingertips somehow seemed to dig into the rock whenever he pulled himself inward, only on the fact that he needed to get out of this before his heart burst in his chest in his panic. But finally, against all odds, the worst was confirmed when with a cry in pain, a shattering sound like breaking glass was heard the next time his hand tried to dig into the rock. The shimmering light now gone, he painfully sprained his thumb against the rock face with enough force to separate skin from nail and draw blood.

But the worst was only matched with the incredible improbability that the other four fingers had found and gripped the other side of the rock.

Gripping and pulling with all what he was worth, Jaune's head emerged from the other side and gasped at the sensation of having no more rock in his face as if he were coming out from spending several minutes underwater. He could still hear, and feel, the Grimm angrily ramming into the stone from the other side, but he pulled himself out a bit more only enough to notice the scroll skitter into the small clearing after apparently having been dragged along.

The scroll light upon being uncovered revealed the opening to be a tiny alcove in the rock, neither tall enough to stand in nor wide enough to lay in completely; while it did little to assay the aftereffects of the claustrophobia, it was enough to at least confirm his temporary immediate safety. Jaune huffed in relief...

Relief that faded into fatigue...

Fatigue, in turn, that faded into a strange light-headedness...

Jaune glanced at the stump of his arm as he was finally able to pull in his two feet into the opening at an awkward angle, noticing the blood still dripping freely and realizing that he had no more Aura to heal it. He'd lost too much blood, the price in saving himself now likely turning out to be his very life.

The irony...

"Heh... big sis always said people often meet their destiny... on the road they take to avoid it..."

Taking a final breath that he now believed would be his last, Jaune's vision faded to black and he slumped over on the damp rock face beside him with enough force to injure the side of his head on impact. Though he didn't feel it anymore, it was enough to have fresh blood trickling down his blonde locks.

It was also enough to reveal a glint of something shining in the darkness underneath the rock the impact had displaced, a trickle of water emerging from the light.

Crystalline in its purity but somehow too blue to be natural, it dripped into his open head wound.

And continued trickling in.

A/N: Hello there, TPS here!

Not much to say about this one aside from the fact that it's a bit of a surprise fic. A new muse, so to speak, singing sweet nothings in my ear which I could no longer ignore. For now, I'm planning on leaving it as a two-shot or three-shot depending on where this goes.

This is, honestly, a much more likely outcome to an initiation involving sending an untrained citizen into a forest teeming with man-eating monsters, but I plan this to be a story that encompasses V1-5 and beyond should it expand past 3 chapters. Of course, this specific development changes things, though others will stay the same. All in all, I should note that Jaune's semblance is pretty much the exact same in canon - i.e. it IS the exact same in canon. But hey, half of everyone thinks that there's likely more to it...

And Oz does say that a Semblance can grow and evolve to its full potential.

So how will it happen here? Well that's what I plan to write and explore in this plot, and you dear reader can leave a Fave, Follow, and Review to show your support! It's always appreciated, and even armless Jaune might find comfort through it! If he wakes up.

And yes, one more note, and only because it felt oddly right to do it this way... if he wakes up, yes. There will be harem.

Hypothetically, of course. Since he could be dead right now, for all we know.

Anyway, until next time...

And Happy Reading!