Lateness apology in the bottom note! Gajeel owns nothing in this story! Bleach and RWBY are not mine! Also, I have had OC's submitted for: Yammy, Starrk, Barraggan, Tier, Grimmjow, and still need Nnoitorra, Zommari, Sayzaelapporro, and Aaroniero. If there are any other arrancars you would like to see represented, please PM me an OC for those and I'll try to work them in. After all, I do aim to please.

Previously:

Jaune's mindacape

Then Ulquiorra turned to Ozpin. "Now, about Salem…"

Ozpin's eyes grew wide. No one but those in his little group knew about the Queen of the Grimm, or so he thought.

Ulquiorra continued, undaunted by Ozpin's surprise and Jaunes' confusion. "I am given to understand that you have been waging war against her in the shadows, am I correct?"

Ozpin, having recovered from his shock, affirmed this statement with a nod, then asked: "How did you find out about her, if you don't mind me asking?"

Ulquiorra seemed to stare off into the distance for but a moment, then looked over at Ozpin and Jaune. "The Salem you know is not her first… form, for lack of a better word. She was once human, in the pre-Remnant era. Though she was human, she was very spiritually aware, and able to see and even communicate with spiritual entities that normally went unnoticed by nearly all of humanity. She was, however, a very vengeful, spiteful person, and, in a similar manner to the way we Arrancars survived, she conducted her own ritual to survive. While I am unsure of the exact details of the ritual she used, it corrupted her soul, and we believe it was then that the first Grimm were spawned, as a by-product of her ritual. Beyond that, all I really know is that she has hunted my kind, and thus our contractors, with a vengeance, even to the point of killing off one of the 5 clans who helped us survive, leaving only 4 of the Arrancar families still around.

"If you will allow us to make Beacon our base of operations, we would better be able to assist you in your fight against Salem, our mutual enemy."

Ozpin thought for a second, then seemed to have a metaphorical light bulb come on over his head.

"If it is a base you are looking for, I think I have just the thing." Ozpin said. "Underneath Beacon, there are several floors of unused rooms and such. While I would have to approve of anyone who went in there, I believe it might be just what you need.

"However, I do have a concern of my own. Team JNPR. While they are certainly towards the top of their year, I doubt they are ready for the level of combat Salem can bring to bear against any who fight her. I would rather not risk one of our top first-year teams by throwing them into a Beowulf pit before they are ready. In addition, I doubt Mr. Arc would like being separated from his team."

As Ulquiorra thought about this, Jaune, who had been listening silently the whole time, spoke up. "So, as I understand it, this… Salem… is some sort of enemy of humanity that has something to do with the Grimm? I can understand why this knowledge is kept from the public, to avoid panic, but I was wondering, how much of a threat is she, exactly? I want to know what I'm getting myself and my team into."

Ozpin answered this question. "Salem is, as close as we can understand, an absolute authority figure to the Creatures of Grimm. She can command them as one commands an army, which means that she is every bit as dangerous as any of the Grimm."

"I see. Then I would like to make a request." Jaune said. "if possible, could we have extra time for training added to our schedule? I want to make sure my team isn't left behind or thrown into water that is over their heads."

Ozpin nodded. "While I can't play favorites with my students, I can allow your team access to the special training rooms normally reserved for the upperclassmen, which is sometimes done for teams that show special promise or advanced skills. I will, however, ask you to exercise discretion about who knows that you have this access. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." He nodded. "I'll be sure to let my team know this. And headmaster? Thank you."

"Of course."

Now Ulquiorra spoke up. "Very well, then I believe we should exit Jaune's mindscape before we cause unnecessary strain on him."

Ozpin's office

Ozpin opened his eyes to see he was back in his own office with Jaune and Robert next to him. Robert was looking at something on his scroll, obviously waiting for Jaune and the Headmaster to finish their conversation. The two Arcs said their goodbyes to Ozpin and headed for the elevator, where Robert turned to ask, "So did Cardin find you?"

"Yeah, he did." The younger Arc replied. "We had a short talk, things should be better now. He promised to stop bullying people, though I think that is partly because he's afraid of getting beat up again."

"Well, that's something, at least."

"Mmhm." Jaune replied, with a very distracted sound in his voice.

"What's wrong, Jaune?" Robert asked, slightly concerned.

"The conversation I had with the Headmaster …" Jaune trailed off, looking pointedly at the students in the hallway near them, then at his father, who quickly led Jaune to his office, where Jaune told him about what was being planned with regards to his Team's training and why the extra effort.

Robert nodded slowly after his son finished with his story. "It seems that you have had a daunting responsibility placed on you. Being a leader isn't something you carry only into battle. It's a badge you wear constantly. And it seems that Ozpin made the right choice to pick you as the leader of JNPR. But I won't lecture you about that for now. Instead, I'll see what all I'm allowed to do to assist your Team with what they're about to face, though I doubt it'll be much."

With that, Jaune left his father's office, heading towards his Team's dorm. When he got there, he saw that Team RWBY was also with his team and were in the middle of an argument, the main points being argued by Weiss and Pyrrha. Jaune leaned against the wall in the hallway and listened in.

"I don't know what that was, but he is dangerous!" Weiss yelled. "He almost killed Cardin!"

"He promised me that he was still himself." Pyrrha retorted. "Plus, his father explained to us about his powers, and he's receiving training with them from his father. I don't see what your problem is!"

"After that weird transformation, he threatened me! Even though up till then he's always been hitting on me, no matter how many times I tell him no. and then he threatens me. Something in him changed! He might not be the Jaune from before like he says he is!"

At that, Jaune entered the room. "I'll stop you there, Snow Angel. I'm still me." He said, as all eyes turned to him. "Like I told Pyrrha after that match, I just didn't feel like being pushed around anymore. And I only 'threatened' you because I saw your hand moving towards your weapon. You're one of the last people I'd ever want to harm. If you guys promise, and I mean you have to really, truly promise not to tell anyone what I tell you, I'll let you know about my abilities. Is that OK?"

For a few seconds the room is silent, then Ruby makes an executive decision. "I Promise we won't say anything. I'll vouch for Team RWBY." Quickly her teammates nodded their agreement.

"OK, first off, the powers I showed in the spar were not directly my Semblance, but were brought about by my semblance. The Arc family, apparently like the Schnee family, has a sort of hereditary semblance." Weiss looked very surprised at that statement. "It is the ability to contract with… spirits… from a time lost to history. My contractor is named Ulquiorra Cifer. He was once the fourth most powerful leader of the Arrancar army in that time." Jaune continued to explain about the era of Earth, the Arrancars, Soul Reapers, and Hollows. Eventually he came to explain his powers.

"The blast I used was a Cero, which basically concentrates my aura into a ball and then releases it in a direction that I choose. There are other things I can do, but I'd like to keep those to myself until I know I have control over them. Have you guys got any questions?"

There was a moment of silence while Team RWBY processed the last of what they had just been told. Then Blake spoke up.

"You said your Aura was unlocked once before, why wasn't it left unlocked? From what I've heard, re-sealing an aura can lead to major problems later in life."

"We re-sealed it because Ulquiorras' power was too great for a ten-year-old's body, and it could have caused me to burn up in the power, at least that's what my parents feared."

Next was Ruby, "You said that you introduced the headmasters to Ulquiorra, could you do the same for us?"

"I would rather wait before doing that, because it takes a toll on me to have other people in my mindscape. Eventually, I'm sure I'll be able to do that more than once a day, but for now I'd rather not. Sorry about that."

Ruby nodded understandingly. After a moment it appeared there were no more questions, so Jaune politely asked if he could have a moment alone with his team, and Team RWBY left for their dorm across the hall. After they had left, Jaune started a floor-pillow-circle, and the rest joined him in a circle on the floor.

"I need to talk to you guys about our training. Since I'm being put through a fast-track sort of thing, so that I can stand up to Soul Reapers and the like, I've asked that we all get advanced training so that I don't ever have to leave you guys behind." Pyrrha looked rather relieved at that statement.

"We are going to be given access to the upperclassmen's training rooms, so that we can have more training time, and better equipment to train with-" Nora squealed with joy at that. "BUT, we have to be discreet about who knows we have this privilege. If everyone knew, they would think we were being given special treatment, or that we were the Headmaster's favorites, or something like that."

"Of course." Ren said. "We will be careful about that. Are there any other changes we should be made aware of?"

"Not at the moment. Let's finish our studies for the day and then go check on the training rooms, eh?" Jaune grinned. (Nora was the most enthusiastic with her nodding, making Jaune worried about the health of her neck.)

After finishing their homework, which Nora seemed unusually enthusiastic about finishing, JNPR made their way to the training rooms, which they quickly looked over before heading down to supper.

As they got to the cafeteria, Jaune noticed Cyris was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the room. Pointing him out to his teammates, they quickly gathered their food and headed towards that table.

"Hey, Cyris. Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.

"Not at all. I take it this is your team?" Cyris replied with a smile.

"Yup. I'd like you to meet Nora, Pyrrha and Ren." The girls waved while Ren inclined his head slightly in greeting. As they sat down across from Cyris, Nora immediately started in with the questions, getting out three before Ren got her under control

"So, where are you from and why are you here? Do you like pancakes? I reeeeally like your horns, what type of Faunus are you? OH, and…" then Ren put his hand over her mouth, and whispered in her ear.

Cyris looked at Jaune, and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, she's always that hyper. Just be careful with giving her pancakes, she's kinda obsessed with them, for some reason."

"I see. Well to answer your questions, I currently live in Vacuo, and I am here" (he glanced at Jaune who nodded) "because my contractor felt Jaune awaken his powers and was impressed with the power he wields, as she felt it all the way in Vacuo. I like pancakes, though I don't eat them too often. As for my horns, I'm a Dragon Faunus, with horns and claws."

All of JNPR was surprised at that last fact, as Legendary type Fauni were very rare. From there the five of them continued on into casual conversation, getting to know one another better.

"So, Cyris," Ren began, "I was wondering, if it's not too much to ask, you said you are from Vacuo? What do you do there? What is your occupation?"

Cyris smiled at that. "I work as a security guard for a large building, and in my off time teach kids self-defense classes. I also do some huntsman missions on the side."

"That's very interesting." Pyrrha replied. "What academy did you train in?"

"Well, that's a bit of a touchy subject with me, but I don't see the harm, so I'll answer it. I didn't train at any academy. I was actually born in Menagerie, where my parents were part of the Peaceful White Fang, as was I in my childhood. But later on, after my mom died, at the hands of a racist, my dad practically forced me into training. Eventually, after the Old Man stepped down, and Sienna Khan took over the Fang, I was already on the verge of quitting, but it wasn't until my other squad members, but not me, committed an especially… nasty… hate crime towards humans, that I quit. I won't say much more on that, just that the Fang hates me, now, too, for the way I quit. But, yeah, that's where I did my training, under my dad and the WF."

Even the stoic Ren was surprised at that, and it showed on all of JNPR's faces. It was around this time that Team RWBY came in to the cafeteria, and out of habit, headed over to sit with JNPR. Cyris saw them coming, and his eyes immediately locked on to Blake's, and both their eyes got WIDE.

"CYRIS!?" Blake exclaimed, momentarily forgetting where they were.

"Blake Belladonna. I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?" Cyris replied, albeit in a much calmer manner, though still obviously surprised.

At that, Blake seemed to realize that her outburst had drawn the attention of about half the cafeteria, so she quickly asked to borrow Cyris for a minute, and the two of them stepped off to one side and had a quiet discussion, while Ruby, Weiss and Yang sat down at the table, a little offset from JNPR due to Cyris already having taken a spot right across from them.

When the two got back to the rest of the group, Yang, who was curious as always, asked what that was all about.

"We're old friends from a long time ago. But that's a private matter, if you don't mind."

Seeing as the two weren't going to say any more on that subject, Ruby, of course, had a question for Cyris.

"So, what kind of weapon do you use?" she asked excitedly, as always. As in, she was bouncing in her seat at this point, which drew an irritated sigh from Weiss.

"Heh, I use a trident that splits into two athames, a type of dagger. What do you use?"

Cyris immediately knew that he had made a mistake as all of Team RWBY (minus Ruby, of course) groaned, and Ruby immediately began to go on and on about her precious Crescent Rose, which slightly unnerved Cyris, since he could only see a weapon in that light if it was an arrancar's weapon, which they could actually communicate with.

When Ruby stopped to breathe (2 minutes later… HOW?) Weiss clamped a hand over her mouth. "Yeah, the dolt's a weapon nut. So, we don't ask questions about weapons much anymore unless we're in shop class, and need help with something."

Cyris laughed as Ruby squirmed out of Weiss's grip and pouted at her partner, who just gives her a look that practically screams "well, tell me I'm wrong…" and turns to shrug at the newcomer to the group, who just laughed a bit harder.

After that, the group devolved into casual chit chat, though for some reason Blake seemed to be a little tense.

A/N: ok, yeah, I'm so sorry about this chapter being soooo late, but if I were to rush it, it'd turn out a dud. I hope to get the next chapter out quite a bit faster, but with the job I just started being full time, I don't have much time to write. I hope you all understand.