Hey. Been a while. I was going to type out what I've been up to for the past while, but I decided to cut it in lieu of depressing everyone.

So. I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I'm going to be writing the story out again. The bad news is that the chapters are going to start out small, and I didn't actually get as much done before posting this as I would have liked. Life got in the way; Work, unrequited feelings, and more depressing stuff that nobody cares about. So it's going to be probably back on the weekly schedule. Fridays will likely be my post days, after I get off of work.

I've been holding out long enough. Thank you for your patience and your support. It's helped.

Anyone who wants the pre-rewrite files, send me a PM and let me know. I wish I could delete reviews, because I feel a bit guilty having over 300 on what is now a very short fiction. If you cannot review some of the chapters due to already reviewing before, I sincerely apologize.

As always, enjoy.

Not even through doors of Beacon, he'd already learned a couple lessons. His first lesson came in way of humility, accepting the wrong he'd just done. In this case, it was quickly and repeatedly apologizing to the blonde whose shoes he had nearly ruined, which was a pretty strong indication of his second lesson: Motion sickness wasn't something that was going to repair itself over time, he was stuck with it. Probably for his entire life. The third was to avoid said blonde in favor of living, at least until he could find a way to apologize. The fourth lesson that Jaune Arc learned was how easy it was to make a friend that felt like he'd spent a lifetime with. This one came in the form of a tiny girl with a big cloak, bigger dreams, and an even bigger gun. Among all of the classmates to befriend, the one who had sneezed hard enough to ignite several boxes of dust wasn't the worst option, especially considering she was the only one he wouldn't consider out of his league in anyway. Frankly, she looked to be the youngest, probably no older than one of his sisters, and it made him feel a little strange, and a little protective too.

It was the first lesson his mother had given him, though; Make friends. Or more specifically; Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.

Just follow the crowd. Was the first thing he'd told himself after the explosion. Staring at the poor girl hadn't helped any, she looked so helpless and sad. Just go…

His feet may have betrayed him, but he wasn't really resisting in the first place.

"Uh, Hi." The daring, dashing crusader with the social prowess of a prince made itself known, except it had unfortunately taken the form of an awkward, gangling seventeen year old who couldn't talk his way into an public building. He extended his hand to help her up, earning himself a curious look. The girl seemed shocked at the offer, but took his hand nonetheless. Jaune hefted her to her feet, surprised at how light she was... Not that she looked all that big in the first place. "You look like you could use some help."

"Thanks." She dusted herself off in quick motions, gripping her cloak on both edges and shaking it a bit. After a moment of self-cleaning, she gave him a half smile that faded just as quickly as it came. "Hey… Aren't you the guy who threw up once you were off the air ship?"

"Oh." Jaune couldn't help but wince, which was soon followed by heat rising up his neck. "Y-You saw that. At least I missed that one girl's shoe."

"That 'one girl' was my sister… and you didn't. She's mad." Jaune felt himself go cold, but the hooded girl gestured towards the building, an invitation to walk that he accepted with a careful look around. "Don't worry though, she was defeated by ice cream once. I'm sure you'll be fine." The girl smiled, "My name's Ruby. Ruby Rose. What about you, Vomit-boy?"

"H-Hey! That's not fair." It wasn't. But more importantly he wasn't going to let himself get such an awful nickname before anyone even knew him. His next words came with a bit of gusto behind it. "Motion sickness is a problem that many people face! The name's Jaune Arc. It's short, it's sweet, and the ladies love it!"

Ruby's reply killed that gusto on the spot. A quirk of a corner of her lips, a narrowing of the eyes, a questioning, disbelieving tone. Slow words. "Do they?"

"Yeah!" Jaune tried, but the confidence had disappeared. He felt his shoulders slouch, his arm falling limp from where it had previously been holding a finger in the air. "A-At least I think they do…"

"Right…" She laughed in her throat, nothing that sounded like it was making fun of him at least. A moment of silence reigned during their walk before Ruby shot him a glance out from under the edges of her hair. "So… Uh… I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"

"W-What?"

"Weapons." The girl stated as if she hadn't implied anything else, her tone even. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"Oh. Oh, right. Sure."

"Yeah!" She'd gone from zero to one hundred in an instant, twirling in a circle and unsheathing a weapon that Jaune could only describe as three things; Gaudy, Complex, and extremely cool. The tip of the blade implanted itself into the concrete like a hot knife into butter, striking hard enough to send pieces of concrete up at his face. He couldn't help jumping. Unburdened by such worries, Ruby gave him a toothy grin. "I've got this!"

"By my blood… Is… Is that a...?" Jaune asked, his voice breathless and his eyes locked firmly on the large weapon. It was almost as big as she was, how in the world did she stand the weight!? But it looked familiar enough, he'd seen hundreds back home. "A scythe?"

"Yup!" She popped the 'p', lifting it as if it were made of paper and hugging it to her chest, rocking it back and forth like it was a child. Her voice rose in pitch and volume as she talked, giving away her growing excitement of just explaining what it was. "It's also a sniper rifle. Fully interchangeable internal parts, twelve round magazine, variable zoom, nanofiber skeleton, steel blade with a tungsten carbide edge, dust coated barrel!" Somehow, she had enough breath left to let out a sigh of happiness. The next words, at least, were soft. "I call her Crescent Rose. She's my baby."

"Yeah… I see that?" He cleared his throat, unsure of how to follow up against such a detailed explanation. He also wasn't sure about half of it. "So… it's also a uh... gun?"

"In layman's terms, I guess you could call it that." The weapon folded in her grip, though he still wondered how she moved it so easily. That thing had to weigh more than two of him. "So, your turn. Whaddya got!? You got a telescopic sword that shoots out shotgun shells?!"

"Uh... " More and more, alienation and discomfort crept into his stomach. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to be carrying what he was, all he'd done was swipe it off of the mantle before he left home. Though on that note, it did also technically belong to him. So, he reached down to his hip and drew Crocea Mors, freshly polished and shining in the fading sunlight. Ruby's head cocked to the side, so he offered the blade to her handle first. "It was my Dad's, and his dad's before him. So on and so forth. It's been in my family for generations, only used to kill the Grimm."

"So it's just a sword? No gun? Ooh, whoever made it was good!" She eyed it, definitely more familiar with swords than he was. "You've got a smudge here…"

"What?" He'd started to reach for his sword, but Ruby had already taken care of the offending mark with a rub of her cloak. Instead of handing it back, Ruby took the blade by the handle and held it out. "It's balanced really well." She complimented, before offering it back to him handle-first. "I like it! Not many people appreciate the classics."

"Thanks, I think." Jaune accepted the blade with one hand, unbuckling the sheathe with his other. He keyed the release and kept his fingers out of the way while the sheathe extended into it's shield form. He'd learned quickly that the shield had a lot of force when it extended. One time with pinched skin was enough for a lifetime. The scar still shone in the light. "This also turns into a shield and uh… back to a sheathe."

"Ooh. That saves space… But, doesn't it still weigh the same?"

"Yeah." He slouched again, returning the sword to its rightful place and the sheathe to his hip. Ruby laughed, her voice as clear as a bell. "Sorry," she managed after a moment, "I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons."

"It's alright, one of my sisters is the same way."

"Oh, you have sisters too?" She seemed delighted at the ability to continue talking, which was good because he had no idea how to keep a conversation going without a lot of pre-planning. Or maybe at the fact that they both had sisters? It didn't matter. Talking to her almost felt easy, which was a lucky break considering his track record with friends. "I've just got Yang, but she's also sort of like a mother to me."

In one of his wiser moments, he didn't ask what she meant. Her voice had gone extremely somber towards the end, though he missed the way her face scrunched up in pain. Instead, the teen entangled his fingers on his stomach and continued as if the conversation hadn't taken a downward spiral. "Yeah, I've got seven sisters…"

"Ouch." She reached up and made to pat his arm, hesitating for a moment before following through with the action. "I feel for you. Yang is bad enough, I can't imagine having seven sisters who are Huntsman."

"They're not all Huntsman." He corrected, "Only four of them. Lionne, Violet, Aurora, and Aster are the Huntsman. Lily, Ivy, and Duck are-" Jaune stopped, almost slipping. Like me. Without abilities. Maybe they were trying to protect him from that life, but he wanted to help people. His mother had offered for him to be a farmer if he wanted to do good, but that just wasn't the same. "They're uh… civilians."

"Oh." She narrowed her eyes, definitely noticing the slip but possibly nice enough not to comment on it. He sent a silent thanks her way. "Okay… I have a question…"

"Yeah?" Panic.

"Uhm… Duck?"

"Oh, yeah." Relief. He felt himself laugh at the memories, "Right, She makes everyone she doesn't know call her that. She found this duck about a year ago and Mom let her keep it for some reason. Well, she got this idea that she didn't like her name, so she gave it to the duck and took the name Duck as a nickname."

"Wow! That's something. What's your sister's actual name?"

"Oh, no no. You don't get to know that." The smile plastered on his face didn't leave. The unease he was feeling, however, did. "You'll have to be her friend first."

"Oh." Ruby was silent for a moment, "You're a good brother."

"Thanks. I try to be."

"For the record, anyone who keeps their siblings secrets, no matter how small, is a good sibling." She nodded, crossing her arms and accepting no substitute for her own wisdom. Another silence fell over them, but this time it was a comfortable one. "Hey, Jaune?"

"What's up, Ruby?"

"Do you know where we're supposed to be going?"

"W-What?" There was that unease again, this time it was just him feeling foolish though. "I-I was following you."

"Well, I was following you!" She accused, glancing around with a groan. "Aw, I don't wanna be late!"

"Do… do you think there's a map anywhere? Or like… a directory?"

"Oh, who needs one!" Ruby, having recovered from the momentary gloom, hopped on her feet and balled her fists in a cheer. "Let's explore!"

"Uh- Woah!" Jaune had made to voice his disagreement on the idea, but Ruby had taken his wrist in her hand and pulled with more strength than a girl her size should actually have. They took the first set of stairs two at a time - or at least Ruby did. The male of the pair mostly stumbled his way behind her, doing his best to get his footing and survive the sudden and excited motion. The halls were barren and clear, but sparkling and chilled. The cloaked girl's head went straight to a swivel, her mouth stuck open with an awed sound coming every so often as they spotted an intricate set of tiling, or a masterfully crafted painting… and Jaune couldn't help but feel the same. There were statues of famous Huntsman and influential leaders of all ages, races, shapes, and sizes. None of them were recognizable, yet several of them seemed so… familiar.

The pair stopped at a fork in the hallway, a T intersection that left them smiling and staring upwards at a particularly strong figure. The statue was painted and obviously important. The man depicted was strong of jaw, with chin length white(Though considering it was stone everything was white) hair and eyes as blue as the sky. His face was one of concentration, while his armor and shield, ornate and segmented, nearly shone despite its make of rock. Under his hand sat a large yet simple of build sword, tip planted firmly into the 'ground' below with his palm resting on top of the pommel. And finally, the most piercing detail of all; There was no name for the man, only a title; The Huntsman.

"Ah, inquisitive minds!" A voice cut the silence from nearby, nigh shocking the two teens into a puddle of surprise and chagrin. "I'm sorry!" Ruby was first to recover, flinching away from the new figure slightly. Jaune, on the other hand, had jumped so violently that the back of his ankle had caught onto his shin. This left him as a crumpled heap of armor and male on the floor, which groaned and slowly returned to the form of a sitting teen. "W-We were lost, and decided to explore to find the meeting hall-"

"There is no need to apologize for being curious! Knowledge is the key to everything, after all." The figure, with frizzed green hair and glasses, lifted a mug to his lips as a momentary cease in his words. To Jaune, he seemed to be the bookish, almost nerdy type. Thin, glasses, quick speaking and excitable about, well, knowledge. "You know the saying. Curiosity killed the cat, but the satisfaction of acquiring knowledge returned it to life!"

"Yeah…" Ruby, her brows furrowing and her lips pursing, seemed quite confused. "Uhm… are you a professor?"

"Why no I am not, I am a Doctor." His voice took a note of patience with the words, as if he'd already corrected her a thousand times. "Doctor Oobleck, and I teach Remnant History. I see you have already discovered some of our most prized possessions of history! Quite fascinating it is! And yet, equally so fascinating; your interest in it! I look forward to teaching you."

"Professor Oo-?" Jaune pushed himself up, and was met with a slight glare from the older man. One that made his pulse quicken and his mouth stutter out the correction. "Doctor Oobleck, sir, uh…" The teen stopped, cleared his throat, and gestured toward the statue. "Who is he?"

"The great mystery, of course! His name shows up in no text, while his actions do. He is simply the first Huntsman, the first one to use Aura to battle the Grimm, to build a code that we still follow today! What a fascinating fellow he must have been!"

"Oooh. So he's like… the founder of the Huntsman?" Ruby did seem a bit intrigued now, "He must have been quite a hero!"

"Indeed! Though I would not go as far as to say he founded the Huntsman, Ms…"

"Rose. Ruby Rose. And this is Jaune."

"Pleasure to meet you." Though not enough of a pleasure that he remained on the words for long, as Doctor Oobleck immediately continued onto a lesson of what was told about the man to a very interested Ruby. She ate the story up, growing more excited with each subsequent twist and turn. Jaune, on the other hand, spent more time staring up at the face of the man. His hand held firmly onto the hilt of Crocea Mors. Words still drifted around his ears, enough so that he did not simply feel as if he were hearing a supposed story of 'what we know', but more that he was hearing fact. This man had single handedly taken an army of Grimm on his own, wielding the first 'Semblance'; The power to manipulate fire around his body. It was told that he was joined by a woman on the field who held the same power, yet their differing views had split their alliance into two and reduced the battlefield to ashes in the end.

And yet that fact didn't seem to fit. Not to Jaune.

"-and of course there's the idea that-" The man stopped, tilted his head, took a sip of his drink, and finally set his eyes on the teens. "My word, I seem to have taken up much more of your time than I'd intended! I need to get you two to the auditorium!"

"Aww! But it was just getting good!" Ruby whined, visibly slouching. "I love stories!"

"Indeed it was! But I am afraid we will have to postpone the story until we cover it in class! Come now, students, follow me! Glynda will have my head if she knew that I had kept you so long!" And with those words, Doctor Oobleck turned and sprinted off.

Jaune and Ruby stared after him, the former's jaw dropping slightly.

"S-Should we even try to follow him?" Ruby muttered, eyes wide. "He's so… so fast."

"I didn't even see which way he went…"

"Lead the way?" Ruby smiled and shrugged, hopeful.

The blonde only blinked at her. "I'm going to find a directory."

Yeah, as before; BMS is going to start off fairly slow and probably ramp up much quicker in this rewrite.

I'm going to provide a little bit of writing advice at the end of every chapter, probably using the chapter as a bit of an example. Hope it helps someone.

But thanks for reading, I'm happy to hear your comments and concerns.

-Phoenyx

Advice for the Aspring FF Writer; Your first few chapters.

Starting off stories is generally pretty tough. There's a trick to them in that you want to start off close to the action as you can without losing out on setting and worldbuilding. The hardest are stories that have tragedies in the beginning - Start off as it happens and the moment has no effect, but last too long and it might become obvious as to what you intend to do. Starting a Fanfiction is much harder than a book, because in books you have time to go back and rewrite it without having to worry about messing up readers, while on FFNet... we don't have that option. But still, don't be afraid to rewrite the beginning!

Set up foreshadowing and later events(more on that in a later segment) in the first five or six chapters, but also introduce your main Characters. Hint(key word) their flaws and show their virtues(more on this too) with actions more than words. Try not to over-narrate or slap people over the head with exposition, flowery or not. Don't be afraid to mess up; It happens.

Here's an important one; Set the scene, but be subtle about it. In this chapter, I don't describe Beacon at all. I describe the temperature of the air, the happy chatting of the surrounding students, even the scent of leaves and grass in the air. All of this gives the idea of a calm, happy atmosphere. I start ahead of BMS pre-rewrite by not including the airship at all, which inevitably changes up the relationship between Jaune and everyone, as he doesn't meet anyone of note before initiation. One of the key things about AU that barely changes the Canon storyline in the beginning is that you want things to change in a butterfly effect. The small changes set up for a few dynamics that are different than canon. You want a notable example? Pyrrha's a PoV character, you'll see it in her thoughts.

My favorite bit of foreshadowing/referencing; "She was defeated by ice cream once."