Chapter 1: Darkly Dreaming

In the vast world called Remnant there exists three separate forms of land which cover the entire planet. First there are the 'human' lands which account for 40% of the total space on Remnant which consist of the Four Kingdoms and various settlements within their territory.

Outside of this territory are called the Badlands, desolate wastelands with barely any vegetations that stretch for miles and account for at least 15% of the total area of Remnant. This is where the nomadic tribes occupy, as well as where Dust companies set up shop and drill for pockets of Dust.

Beyond the badlands is a place where no living creature would dare venture into unless they had a death wish. These lands were lost to both humans and Faunus at an unspecified point in time as such it is the referred to as the 'Forgotten Lands' of Remnant. Officially though, they go by another name which at this point fits the area perfectly, The Grimm Lands.

"Ugh" the groan seemed to echo as the figure squirmed in place.

There was the sound of sudden shifting but the figure was too out of it to notice the sound as it took the time to gather its bearings.

'why's my bed so hard?' he thought.

Then again this didn't feel like his bed, come to think of it, when did he even go back to the dorms? It was with this realization that he opened his eyes to stare at the dark stalactite covered ceiling.

'Huh?'

Okay so this is definitely not his room but that just begs the question

'Where am?' thought one groggyJaune Arc.

He tried to sit up but just has he did came down with a case of vertigo, so instead he propped himself on his elbows.

*Sniff, sniff*

Jaune froze, and turned slowly to come face to face with burning red eyes. Immediately his blood ran cold, his joints locked up in fear as his mind drew a momentary blank. There was a moment of silence as his mind tried to catch up with what he was seeing until.

"AAAAHHH" with a panicked scream Jaune distanced himself from the Grimm until he hit a wall, his dizziness was long forgotten.

The knight watched in horror as the Grimm….not do..anything.

'Huh?' he thought after a moment of silence where the Grimm was just staring at him, the only movement it gave was the slight tilt of its head as if it were confused.

Not paying attention to that he frantically looked around for his weapon and spotted it right next..to the..Grimm.

Crap.

Okay now what? He didn't have his sword and he was being stared down by a Grimm. Is it just him or does the cave wall seem unnaturally warm and..moving?

*Snort*

A puff of warm air was thrust upon him and he gulped 'do I even want to know?' he questioned himself.

Might as well the tiny voice in his head reply you might have peace in the afterlife knowing just what is that killed you.

That actually made sense, in a morbid kind of way, he mentally nodded and began the excruciating task of turning to meet his killer, then maker. He could see it now, once he meets his ancestors he would proudly announce that he Jaune Arc was killed in battle by a..

'What the heck is that?'

Now being a student at Beacon a school dedicated to training young men and women in the art of killing different species of Grimm Jaune should be able to identify most of the known species especially since it is close to the end of the first year. Unfortunately before coming to Beacon he has never even seen a Grimm proper and at most could only identify the Grimm most common to Vale. Add the fact that his Grimm studies teacher is the most boring man on Remnant who manages to put him to sleep ten minutes into his class and well

*Sigh*

Long story short, Jaune has no idea what he's looking at right now. Still didn't stop him from backing away. Now that he had a look at them Jaune could say that they looked a lot like wolves if he were being honest. Not Beowolves but real actual wolves. Some Grimm had the appearance of animals and they are definitely wolves, one small and the other really, really big.

The cave was eerily silent Jaune noticed and he feared that if he so much as breathed it would set them off.

'What am I doing!?' he mentally screamed.

Here he is, a supposed Huntsman in training trembling before two Grimm, granted one of said Grimm was very huge and he would have no doubt that anyone in their right mind would be scared. How could he call himself an Arc, a family of brave heroes, when he's a quivering mess?

No matter how he sliced it he was going to die, he didn't see a way out but that didn't mean he wasn't going to go without a fight.

With new found resolution Jaune stood slowly, he kept his eyes on the sword and the two Grimm cautiously. The larger Grimm's ears perked and the smaller one seemed to shrink away but all that provided was a better pathway to Crocea Mors.

Jaune was ready, it all came down to this moment, funny, he's been in this situation before and usually he'd be hearing the thumping of his heart but for some reason there wasn't that pulse pounding, adrenaline rushed thump he'd come to associate with this kind of situation.

Nevertheless Jaune bent his knees slightly, he'd learn a few things about Aura control from Pyrrha and Ren in the last few months and he intended to use his Aura to amplify the lunge towards his weapon. He eyed the bigger threat as he did so, the wolf was slowly edging from its resting position with its eyes narrowed at him.

Then the wolf's eyes flickered to the smaller Grimm and Jaune took his chance. There was a loud boom as he shot forward but he was deaf to that. At the same time the wolf lunged at the same spot.

Jaune was surprised at how quickly he got to his destination, he grabbed the sword, seemingly dodging the larger Grimm's attack in the process. Skidding to a stop he turned around with his weapon ready expecting the wolf to be upon him but was shocked when the Grimm was just staring at him. Neither made a move as they glared each other down and for a few moments he thought it wasn't going to attack but as far as he knew that was a pipe dream.

They're Grimm after all, he's never met a Grimm that didn't want to kill a him. Jaune stood there in anticipation, they said that for a man on death row it wasn't the chair that kills them, it was the wait. He didn't know where he heard those words exactly but Jaune found that it pretty much fits his situation.

In a moment of anxiousness Jaune finally snapped, if he was going to be killed he might as well get it over with.

Jaune growled "COME ON!" he yelled, his voice booming through the dark cave and now that he realized could see perfectly in. He saw the wolf flinch a little despite its obvious size advantage.

Jaune paused 'was that my voice' he thought in flabbergasted awe.

It sounded otherworldly, if he were to describe it, it would sound like someone was recording it through a broken speaker, high pitched and gravely. He didn't even know something could make that noise.

"A-ahem" he coughed to clear his throat but even that came out distorted. He reached to touch his throat when something prickly touched it.

Looking down he stared in wide eyed disbelief too see his hands, his clawed hands.

He staggered back "wh-what?"

Looking at his hands in disbelief and fear he caught a glimpse of his reflection on the blade and stopped. Ever so slowly he brought the blade up to his face to show –not his face but the visage of a mask of some kind.

What the hell was going on?

After a while he reached around the edge and with all his might pulled "argh!" he yelled and brought up his other hand still holding Crocea Mors.

Doubling his efforts he pulled harder without success, he staggered to and fro until his back hit the cave wall but still the mask remained stuck to his face. If anything he felt like he was ripping his own face off.

'NO! this isn't my face!'

The wolf Grimm's watched in muted fascination as Jaune attempted to pull off his mask with no apparent results. This went on for a few more minutes until "ARGH" Jaune dropped to his knees in pain. A particularly hard tug resulted in a searing pain running through his very being. Though he desperately wanted to he couldn't take the mask off, it felt like he was trying to rip if own skin off.

At least that's what he thought, Dust knows he's never been in nor did he want to be in a situation where he had to rip his skin off. Warm air caught his attention and Jaune looked up nervously to come face to face with the larger Grimm. The beast stared at him hard yet for some reason Jaune didn't feel threatened by him.

Wait him!?

He took a closer look at the Grimm, he could tell that this Grimm was male. He didn't even think Grimm had gender and looking at the smaller Grimm he wondered if they could reproduce. A snort caught his attention as the large Grimm had apperantly lost interest and went to where it previously was to resume its resting.

Jaune should be worried, he really should but contrary to popular belief Jaune isn't an idiot, he may be socially awkward, a little clumsy at times, terrible at combat and know almost nothing about Hunter but he isn't dumb. An idiot wouldn't have been able to cheat his way into a prestigious academy, an idiot wouldn't be chosen to lead a team and an idiot would definitely not be able to effectively lead that despite his obvious weakness.

If he analyzed his situation as if he were on a mission then he would be able to find a solution. Okay so he doesn't know where he is, how he got there, why he looks like a..no he will not admit that, ever. The there's the question of the day, why is it that those two Grimm haven't attacked him?

Doesn't matter, that thing's almost as big as the Deathstalker at initiation and there is no way he would want to fight something like that and alone? No way, maybe if he was in the world's strongest tank attached to the world's biggest cannon.

He stood, the movement caused the large Grimm's ears to perk in his direction but that was the only response. Jaune searched his pocket and sighed in relief when he felt his scroll where he left it. The relief vanished when he saw that he had no signal and turned to worry when he saw the date at the top corner of the screen.

It was almost a month after what he remembered the date was!

One month, he'd been stuck there for one month! How? It doesn't make any sense!

'Okay calm down Arc, you just need to get out of here' he looked around 'wherever here is' he added grimly.

Looking around the large cave he began to move but cast a glance at the occupying Grimm, the smaller one was biting the larger one making growling noises but the big one ignored it, seeming content to just sleep.

'Huh, it almost looks like- no! Stay focus'

Ignoring the duo he began walking, if the Grimm didn't attack before then it won't attack him now. With that in mind he went about exploring, he noticed the larger Grimm's tail encircle around the smaller one protectively.

'Great now I'm the bad guy' he mentally sighed.

Jaune continued to explore going further into the dark, he never noticed the curious red eyes watching him the entire time. As Jaune walked through the progressively darkening cave a million thoughts ran through his mind some of which included

How did he get there?

Why couldn't he remember the last few days before?

What happened to him?

Why does he look like a-NO!

Shaking his head he buried the thoughts but then another one came into place how is he supposed to explain his appearance to everyone.

'One step at a time' he reminded himself 'first I need to get out of this cave'

Walking along the path Jaune noted that although he could tell there were no lights to speak of, the cave didn't seem all too dark to him. After a moment he came to the conclusion that he has night vision. Actually he was thankful for it, who knows how many times he would have tripped over rocks or bumped into something.

After what seem like hours of exploration Jaune scowled, seriously how big was this cave!? This was more of a labyrinth than a cave at this point. After a few more minutes of walking, he came upon a dead end. He let out a disgruntled growl; he was more frustrated than nervous, who would be after traversing a labyrinth for hours with nothing happening.

He went to turn around when he caught something he missed, a small crevice carved in the side of the cave wall. Getting closer he noticed claw marks around the hole which instantly put him off yet taking a closer look he could see some form of light shining inside.

Now he had two choices either go inside the hole in the wall where he would find possible freedom or go back the way he came, spending another mind numbing hour in absolute silence. The answer seems so simple yet looking back through the hole where he could definitely see a light he couldn't help but think it over again.

There is a pretty high chance that there is a Grimm in there but should he be afraid of it. Those other Grimm didn't so much as bat an eye at his presence and they only reacted after he made the first move. So maybe his appearance works as a kind of camouflage, hides him from the Grimm as long as he doesn't do anything to provoke them.

Looking at his hands he rolled up the sleeves revealing some kind of intricate line running along his arm of which he couldn't tell the color of but he would bet any amount of Lien that it was red.

This could work…right?

'What am I thinking? This is a stupid idea!' he admonished.

Even though he admitted it was a stupid idea Jaune still drew closer to. What does he have to worry with stupid ideas? This was the guy who forged transcripts to attend a school training people to kill monsters, without any form of combat training, knowledge or expertise on anything related to the subject matter.

But hey just like with Beacon its high risk high reward.

Jaune squeezed through the tight space his chest scarping against the wall, he had to suck in his gut. Even then he saw claw marks along the wall, whatever Grimm he was absolutely sure was on the other side, couldn't be a big one to fit in this space. Of course he could be wrong; knowing his luck there's a good chance that he is.

"Hah" releasing a breath, which he realized was unnecessary and probably gave away his position, Jaune finally made it through the wall.

As he saw before, there was a light across the room, yes! If he's quick enough he can make it outside before-

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-"

*CRASH*

"Ow" his voice sounded from the bottom of the ravine.

'Who put that cliff there?' he thought drowsily before rolling onto his stomach.

Despite the height of the fall Jaune didn't feel too much pain, in fact it felt like he tripped and fell on the ground rather than plummet 100 feet. A fall like that had to have hurt more than this; Dust knows he felt sore when that Deathstalker tossed him into Ruby. Jaune rubbed his back soothingly before his hand grazed something lying on the ground.

He froze at what he saw in the dark.

Bones, lots of bones and considering Grimm don't leave behind anything when they died it could be one of two kind of bones and there wasn't much to distinguish from either but he silently prayed….

Screw that!

Jaune looked around frantically for Crocea Mors 'idiot, what was Pyrrha's number one rule?' he chastised eyes darting around 'never lose your weapon under any circumstance. Aha!'

Spotting the family heirloom next to a skull, as if that wasn't disturbing, he took time to make sure he didn't make any more noise Jaune quietly made his way to the sword. He grasped it in his hand tightly and swore to himself that he would never lose it again….

*Crash*

..Or he would have if something hadn't just crash landed right in front of the damn thing and by something it would probably be the Grimm he was trying to avoid earlier. Said Grimm stood at its full height, easily towering over Jaune, heck it was taller than Cardin! With this Jaune saw its face, if he would describe its appearance it would be some kind of man bat.

The Grimm spread its wings and with its head lowered released an ear shattering screech that echoed for at least 5 seconds more seconds after it stopped. Jaune had his ears covered the entire time and took a step back as the Grimm stepped forward and then…stopped. Its head tilted as if it were confused and it started circling him.

Its talons crushed bones as it menacingly stepped around him with its body low, or at least tried to. Jaune took the opportunity to circle the Grimm, mostly so he could reach Crocea Mors. Halfway towards his weapon the Grimm stopped and Jaune tensed.

There was a bead of silence as Jaune's attention shifted from the Grimm to his family heirloom.

…

Then it lunged.

If it was trying to catch him off guard, it failed miserably as Jaune surprised even himself with a perfectly timed lunge for his sword. Just like how he practiced, Jaune managed to grab his sword and roll into a crouch position then stood in a low stance. The stance felt weird without his shield in hand but he'll have to make due.

He sidestepped another lunge and slashed at its back and to his dismay only left a shallow cut. Doesn't matter he pressed the attack while he still could and charged, the Grimm spun around with unexpected speed and flapped its wings, hard. The force of wind it generate managed to knock Jaune off his feet, something he never expected from something so small.

"Oof" he landed sprawled on his back then rolled out of the way just as to razor sharp talons took a piece of the ground in the air.

'That was close' he thought 'great, now its flying, that's fair.'

The Grimm circled around the room and dived towards him, Jaune expected it to try and grab him with its talons. Instead it released another are piercing screech forcing Jaune to almost cover his ears in pain, almost. The knight brought up his sword to block and braced himself. The screech stopped seconds before Jaune felt the impact.

The boy flew about 8 feet before he landed on his back with Crocea Mors pinned to his chest by the weight of the Grimm whose talons had the blad in a vice like grip. The Grimm began clawing at his face relentlessly and Jaune has never been so grateful that he had the mask on. The thing was heavier than it looked..

With effort he managed to free one of his arms just in time for it let out another screech, point blank in his face. He wanted to scream; he could feel blood coming out his ears and for one sick moment wondered why he isn't deaf yet just to stop the pain. That sick second turned into an angry few moments, one in which he looked for a weakness on its ugly mug.

Using his newfound claws, three fingers grabbed unto one of its eyes, Jaune grinned when the scream turned into agonized wailing. He yanked the eyeball from its socket prompting the bat Grimm to finally un-mount him. Jaune's vision was swimming, he could taste blood in his mouth and he's sure his nose is bleeding but that didn't matter.

It was right there!

It had to die!

He wanted to kill it

He needed to kill it!

With a savage snarl he grabbed one of its wings, he felt a rush of satisfaction when he felt his claws make a rip in the appendage. He pulled and punched it eliciting another shriek of pain, Jaune managed to get in another punch before the Grimm retaliated by lashing out with its free arm.

Jaune's head snapped to the side and he stumbled at the unexpected blow releasing his grip in the process. Before he could get his bearings he was thrown off his feet and landed on his back with the full weight of the Grimm's talons on his arms. Jaune heard a shriek and felt himself lift off the ground.

Instead of screaming in panic Jaune let out an inhuman snarl and despite the vice grip on his arms he never let Crocea Mors go. In an effort break free he began kicking, struggling, not caring about the drop. There was a sharp lift then

"umph" his body was slammed into the ground dragging him along as it flew, it slammed him into the ground twice more before taking off with his arms still held in place.

Jaune was getting more and more irritated than hurt by its attempts at this point and his struggling increased as did the anger fueling his strength. Jaune's arms began to move despite the grip which wasn't drawing blood as far as he could tell. The Grimm flew next to the wall turned sideways and threw its prey against the wall.

Jaune hit the wall hard but recovered and pushed off his mild imprint harder before the Grimm could get far. The bat Grimm felt a weight on its legs that dragged it down causing it to flap its wings even harder.

"You're not getting away that easy!" Jaune shouted flipping his sword to hold it in a reverse grip.

While the Grimm tried (and fail) to shake him off, Jaune managed to climb onto its waist before it slammed, back first, into a wall. For a moment he let go but used the wall to push himself onto its back before it had a chance to escape. Jaune raised Crocea Mors and with all his strength stabbed the blade into the Grimm's shoulder eventually through the shoulder blade

With a guttural shriek of pain the bat spiraled out of control and they plummeted to the ground with Jaune jumping off at the last minute. He landed on his feet making boot prints in the dark cave yet he ignored that instead watching the Grimm fall in a heap. The Grimm made pained groans as it struggled to stand pitifully.

Jaune stalked up to the Grimm his eyes seem to glow under the mask as he approached it. The Grimm heard a foot next to its head and attempted to move but a swift kick to the temple sent it sprawling several feet away.

Once again Jaune made his way to the downed Grimm, he grabbed it now useless wing and holding onto the sword embedded in its shoulder ripped it out, cutting a part of the busted appendage. The Grimm's loud shriek of pain got louder as Jaune mercilessly ripped its arm off, tossing it aside like garbage.

Its cries were abruptly ended when a sword was stabbed through the back of its head exiting its mouth. A series of gurgling noises were heard as Jaune applied more pressure into the sinking sword. Soon the blade was halfway into the ground , the Grimm long since dead as the ashes left its body.

Jaune stared long and hard at the body and after a moment reared his head back and let out an inhuman roar of triumph that sent shivers down the spine of the curious observer of which the boy turned Grimm was oblivious to.

As the roar echoed throughout the ravine and beyond he was also oblivious to the ashes which seem to pull towards him.

Author's Notes: Just something I've been working on for months now. My version of the now classic, Jaune is a Grimm story with added mystery. I'd like to think of this as a test run, when I started writing this story it was something entirely different, lots more action but I ended up scrapping that and writing something that turned out to be a mystery, go figure.

If you like the first chapter, post a review of what you think. I don't expect much since it's the first chapter and it is a mystery but tell me if I should continue.