Chapter 1: A Demon of the Past

RWBY is owned by Rooter Teeth Productions. Created by Monty Oum

Beta: tabjoy13

Jaune Arc was having a good day, aside from the nerves about the tournament he would be participating in. There he was, head on the noodle stand counter while his friends talked, when he heard Ruby call out a name that froze his blood.

"Hey Emerald."

Jaune's head snapped up and he locked eyes with her. Her red eyes widened momentarily before she responded to Ruby, trying to ignore him. He glanced around until he spotted Mercury pretending to sniff a boot.

Jaune turned his attention back to Emerald as she asked him, "How have you been Jaune, I haven't seen you in a while." A pleasant smile that didn't quite reach her eyes plastered on her face.

Jaune smiled back after a moment of hesitation and said, "I've been good, how is Cinder holding up?"

Mercury laughed, "Oh you know how she is Jaunyboy."

Jaune's grin became twisted when he asked, "Oh hey Merc, how are the legs?"

Mercury's grin faded instantly as he replied, "They're going to feel better after I pound your face in the tournament!"

Emerald asked, interrupting the two, "Have you heard from Amber lately?"

Jaune's grin faded into a scowl and his friends' eyes widened in shock when he dove for Emerald. Yang stretched out to restrain him at the same time Pyrrha reached out for his armor with her semblance.

"I'm sorry, he's not usually like this. It must be the nerves." Pyrrha said.

"Don't sweat it champ." Mercury replied as he and Emerald shared a look and took their leave with a wave.

Jaune relaxed a bit as they left and sank onto one of the stools.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha questioned, "Who's Amber, and how do you know them?"

Jaune took a deep breath and said, "They were a part of a past I would like to forget, and Amber was the one who helped me leave it behind." He hesitated as he looked to Ruby. "If they are here then that means Cinder is with them."

Ruby glanced at him. "Yeah I already met her before the dance."

Jaune's eyes widened in shock. "Ruby, the woman who attacked you, what did she use again?" He said urgently.

Yang put a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. "Whoa there Vomit Boy, chill out a second. Why the sudden interest?"

Jaune just kept staring at Ruby as she thought.

"She used fire dust and a sort of glass to-"

"Craft arrows and swords." He finished.

Ruby gaped at him. "Jaune I didn't tell you that part last time."

Jaune sighed. "Just don't trust them okay? Promise me you won't trust them." He was begging them all now. Ren and Pyrrha shared a worried glance.

"Okay Jaune, promise." Ruby replied easily. He relaxed after hearing that.

"We need to get going." Pyrrha reminded him.

Jaune let out a sigh and stood up. Nodding his head to his partner. They said their goodbyes and made their way to the colosseum. He shook his head as they walked, putting the goofy smile back on. Time to play the part of the lovable goofball.

Emerald waved at team RWBY and their friends as she walked away with her partner. When they were out of sight she rounded on him.

"You said Jaune wasn't with them." She hissed at him.

Mercury raised his arms defensively. "Hey at least I didn't antagonize him and basically confirm that Cinder is now the Maiden."

Emerald's eyes widened. "Oh shit. This is bad Merc. We weren't even supposed to let him see us, and now he knows that Cinder has part of the maiden's power."

"Hey calm down, as far as he knows she could have the full deal. Jaune was as strong as Cinder, but now she's stronger."

Emerald relaxed a bit. "You're right but you still need to report it to Cinder."

"Why do I need to tell her he knows about us being here?"

"Because your inability to notice him landed us in this mess!" She snapped.

"In my defense I thought he was that monkey guy Sune or something."

Emerald glared at her partner. "Merc, that guy has a tail. A very blond prehensile tail."

Mercury shrugged. "Whatever, you're still her favorite so you should tell her."

Emerald launched back into an argument with her partner without a second thought.

For Jaune the next few days passed without incident. Team JNPR's first match went well, a bit embarrassing but well. Jaune had kept tabs on Cinder and co as best as he could. I can't go straight to Ozpin. I've got no evidence they had committed a crime and bringing up the maidens will only incur his suspicion. Jaune ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Damn it, if Qrow was around he could vouch for me. Monty only knows where that dusty old bird is, Jaune mused as he trailed Mercury through the courtyard. He glanced at a ring of people surrounding a fight and saw Mercury run in panic back toward the dorms.

Interesting, Jaune mused. He went to check it out just as the crowd started clearing and saw Ruby hanging off the arm of the drunken bird himself. How about that, speak of the Grimm and they shall appear.

Qrow looked up and his grin turned somber when he saw Jaune. "Hey kid...its been awhile."

Jaune smiled and waved.

Ruby looked at her uncle in surprise. "You know Jaune?" She asked.

Jaune laughed. "Yeah, he saved my life a while back." Qrow put Ruby down and slung an arm around Jaune's shoulder.

The indulgent uncle turned to Ruby with a grin and said, "Hey squirt, mind if I talk to Blondie alone for a second?"

Ruby looked back and forth between their smiles. She shrugged. "Okay, I gotta go talk to Weiss about her sister. I'll catch you later." With a grin and a wave, she was gone in a flash of rose petals.

Qrow sighed and turned to Jaune. "How you-"

"Is Amber okay?" Jaune cut him off.

Qrow unscrewed his flask and took a big swig. "She's not dead." Jaune sighed in relief. Cinder doesn't have the power yet. There's still a chance to stop her if I play my cards right.

"But, she might as well be."

Jaune's eyes snapped up to Qrow's. "What?" Jaune hissed.

"Come on kid, we need to talk to Oz." Qrow replied.

Jaune reluctantly followed him as he walked up to Winter and the General.

Cinder was flicking through the Beacon network on her scroll in boredom, checking off the so lovingly crafted steps of the plan. Rig the matches, pull everything on potential targets, copy all available data off of the Atlas ships, prep the emergency broadcast for the speech. In truth there wasn't much left to do other than wait.

Cinder's finger hovered over the student files. She clicked on one team in particular. Team JNPR, wasn't that his mother's name? She was almost certain that was intentional on Ozpin's part. Her interest wasn't in the team name but rather its leader.

His picture sat on her scroll mocking her. His bright cobalt eyes and carefree smile were insulting the seven years they fought under the same banner. She scrolled through his file for what felt like the hundredth time. She couldn't help but ask herself. Why?

That question plagued her in more ways than one. Why abandon us like that? Why are you using that relic, and why are you faking a low skill level? Cinder watched video after video of his performance in combat class. Everything in those videos pointed to him having almost no talent for combat. Cinder was no fool, she knew Jaune. He was playing some kind of long game with his team, and team RWBY. Why else would he get so close to them? Does he think he can twist them into pieces strong enough to face Salem? Is he aware of Ozpin's plans for his partner?

Cinder's thoughts were interrupted by Mercury barging into their dorm. She looked up as he burst in, slammed the door behind him, and bent over panting. Neo looked at her and cocked an eyebrow.

"What is so important you felt the need to run all the way here Mercury?"

The assassin straightened up and spoke quickly. "We have another problem, Qrow Branwen is here." He panted out.

The door opened again and an annoyed Emerald stepped in and began to report, "We have another problem."

Mercury cut her off. "I already told her Em."

Emerald shot her partner a glare. "If you had stuck around another minute you would have seen Jaune meet up with Qrow. Then grab Ironwood and his dog to go meet with Ozpin."

"Children." Cinder called, before the two could launch into an argument.

The two froze and turned towards her, standing tall and keeping their mouths shut.

"The plan has not changed. We simply need to run interference. Jaune has no proof but his word."

They seemed to relax at the thought.

"However, should he expose us, the two of you are to fall back to your fail safe positions and wait for your time to strike. If need be I will deal with Jaune myself."

Her subordinates nodded.

Cinder looked back down at Jaune's grinning visage. I shall have to pay him a visit regardless. Don't make me have to deal with you permanently Jaune.

Jaune sat on a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk, while Winter and Ms. Goodwitch yelled about Qrow's drinking habits. Jaune thought back to the look of fear on Mercury's face when he saw Qrow. I can't remember the last time I saw Cinder that afraid. I would love to have a picture of the three of them, faces lit up in terror as all their hard work crumbled around them. Jaune thought as he grinned. Jaune was snapped out of his musings by Winter shouting, "What is a student even doing here!" Jaune felt all eyes on him, and instinctively turned to Qrow.

Qrow nodded. "You can trust them kid. They were Amber's friends."

Ironwood's eyes bore into Jaune as he asked, "How much do you know about Amber?"

Jaune locked eyes with him.

"Jaune saw her in action." Qrow said.

The General kept a straight face. "Schnee, leave us."

Winter looked outraged that Jaune was being allowed to stay and not her. "But sir-"

"Now," the General commanded.
Winter snapped to attention and walked into the elevator. Ozpin leaned forward as the elevator doors closed on the scowling face of Winter and asked, "Tell me Mr. Arc, what's your favorite fairy tale?"

Jaune blinked at him. Of all the questions… he looked over at Qrow who was failing to look innocent. "You cheated." Jaune told him.

This confused the other members of the room who turned to Qrow.

Qrow shrugged. "I bet him 20 lien that would be Ozpin's first question."

Jaune glared at him and threw the lien card. "Cheater." Jaune took a deep breath and turned to Ozpin. "I only know one."
Ozpin quirked an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. "Oh?"

Jaune nodded. "The tale of four seasons, and the man with two souls who gave them their powers."

Ozpin placed his cup down as Ms. Goodwitch and Ironwood tensed up. With a look of supreme calm on his face, the headmaster asked, "And what makes you think the two are connected? Or real for that matter?"

Jaune smiled. "Because one of them saved my life, and spoke of the wizard as if he still lived."

"I see." Ozpin said, taking another sip of his coffee. "And do you have any idea where he might be?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, but I'm sure he's still around." After all, Salem still fears his interference, he mused.

The others in the room visibly relaxed. Ozpin took a quiet sip of his coffee before continuing. "So, Mr. Arc how did you meet Amber? And why did Qrow bring you to see me?"

So Jaune told them the same half-truth he'd told Qrow and Amber. That a young Cinder found him after his village was destroyed and asked him to join them, and he lived with her, helping her for years. Then Jaune found out about the dark work they were doing for Salem. So he fled and Amber found him days later and helped put him on the path to Beacon.

"Headmaster they are planning something big relating to the festival." He finished. Please just agree to arrest them.

Of course, any hopes of them doing anything were crushed by Ozpin's sigh. "Mr. Arc, I know you want us to take action, but aside from preventing Miss Fall from getting the remainder of the maiden's power, there isn't much else we can do."

"Why the hell not!" Jaune roared.

"Mr. Arc, contain yourself!" Ms. Goodwitch scolded.

Jaune took a deep breath as Ironwood explained. "I understand your frustrations, but without evidence we would be locking up foreign students without probable cause on the word of a Beacon student at a festival of peace. It would be a huge international indecent."

Jaune knew he was right, until they did something illegal nothing could be done. Jaune got up and left despite protests from Ms. Goodwitch.

"Mr. Arc you were not dismissed!"

"Let him go Glynda."

I guess I'm on my own again, Jaune thought bitterly as the elevator doors closed behind him.

Jaune had been keeping his eye on Cinder's group as best he could. More specifically Emerald, and Mint. Cinder won't risk doing anything overt, and Merc doesn't understand subtle. That left the green haired illusionist and the mystery girl. I'm just gonna assume Neo until proven otherwise. That's who Jaune was following at the moment.

Mint didn't seem to notice his presence, he wasn't sure if that meant he wasn't as rusty as he thought or that she was leading him on. He followed her through the games set up on the Beacon grounds as she weaved her way in and out, ignoring everything around her. She only stopped to glance longingly at an ice cream stand. One more point for the Neo column.

Suddenly she took a sharp turn out of the festival and took off running. Jaune cursed and chased after her into the school. She practically flew down the halls weaving in and out of students. Finally she made a wrong turn and Jaune had her cornered in a dead end hall in an unused corner of the school.

Mint wasted no time kicking open the only door and disappearing into the room. Jaune gave chase and found himself in Professor Port's Grimm storage. He drew Crocea Mors quietly and crept through the rows of cages, keeping his senses alert for an ambush. Suddenly Neo was in front of him. Before he could react, she grabbed his shirt and flipped him over her shoulder into a cage.

The dust shield spun up almost immediately, trapping Jaune in the cage. He glared at Neo, who just smiled and waved before vanishing out of existence.

"Damn it. Of course it was a trap."

Jaune sheathed his sword and looked around the cage for a way out. It was a rather large cage most likely made for an Ursa.

"I can't brute force my way out, the shields would be designed to take the blunt force on of an Ursa."

"So Beacon really has dulled your skills."

Jaune turned around to see Cinder standing there in a Haven uniform, a soft smile on her face.

"its nice to see you again Jaune."

Jaune snorted. "The feeling isn't mutual."

Cinder just kept smiling at him. "Oh Jaune I know you don't mean such things. Don't worry, after Beacon falls I'll bring you home and we can fix whatever Ozpin has done to you."

"I'm going to stop you Cinder."

She laughed, an almost angelic sound tainted by a hint a of malice. "Oh Jaune, you of all people should know you can't stop us now."

Crocea Mors sang as he drew the blade from its scabbard and struck the barrier. Jaune lashed out, striking the barrier three more times with no effect. Cinder watched his efforts with an amused smile.

"Tell me this first, are you trying to build pawns out of team RWBY, and your own JNPR?"

Jaune didn't answer her.

Cinder grinned at him, taking his silence as a yes. "So you were trying to recruit the silver eyed girl, and Ozpin's champion."

Jaune tensed at the mention of Ruby and Pyrrha.

Cinder chuckled at him. "When the dust settles, remember the part you played in all of this and rejoice. Thanks to you, we are going to change the world."

Jaune dropped his sword and placed his hands on the barrier.

"Cinder listen to me, you have to call off the attack. You can't give Salem what she wants."

"I'm sorry Jaune. Just two more days and this will all be over, you can't stop it now. Goodbye Jaune, I'll come collect you when its all over."

She turned and began walking away.

"Cinder!"

Jaune brought his sword back up and struck the barrier again.

"Cinder!"

She was gone, and he was trapped there while she had free roam of the school. Jaune cursed his own stupidity for falling for such an obvious trap. I'm stuck here till someone decides to check on the Grimm or Cinder 'collects' me. Jaune shuddered, thinking about what Salem would have Watts do to 'fix' him.

Jaune waited for what felt like hours, sitting in his cage hoping someone would come by. His scroll had been jammed, leaving him with no way to contact the outside world. His scroll suddenly rang out. Jaune grabbed the device hoping it was call. Sadly it was just an alarm reminding him of Yang's match against Mercury. Great I was looking forward to seeing that smug grin wiped off of his face.

It was only a few minutes later that Jaune realized they must have pulled something during the match. The Grimm around him were whipped up into a frenzy all at once trying to break out of their cages. What did they do? The sound of warping metal was heard and Jaune could see a dent in the side of one of the un-shielded containers. Oh shit. I can't let these Grimm get out of here, there are civilians on the grounds.

Jaune leapt to his feet and drew his sword once more. He could see the generator control panel on the front of the cage. He placed his sword against the metal wall, looking for gaps in the interior shielding. Sure enough he found a small one right above the control panel. If this is a newer model the control panel broadcasts data back to the generator to increase shield strength every time a motion is made to attack the shield. Hopefully its an older model and I can just short out the dust crystal. Jaune placed his sword against the metal, allowing a small portion of his aura to flow into his blade, causing it to glow. Three, two, one. His sword came down, aura enhanced blade cutting through the metal like butter, exposing the controls.

Oh thank Oum for small mercies. Sure enough the control was old fashioned with a regulator added on for the newer model generator. Jaune sheathed his sword and pulled out his hunting knife. He found the shock dust crystal that powered the control easily enough. Now comes the hard part. Jaune carefully began to shave a large chunk off of the crystal, trying to keep his hands steady as it electrified his knife. He caught the chunk as it fell off and looked at the back of the panel for the override switch connections.

Jaune could hear the shriek of tearing metal reminding him that he didn't have a lot of time until civilians would be in danger. He looked at the panel, trying to remember where the lever was. Screw it. He picked the two largest connections on the bottom left and pressed the long crystal shaving to them. He applied a bit of aura and was promptly electrocuted. An arc flash went off, melting the bottom half of the control panel, causing an even larger arc flash before the panel sputtered and died, dropping the shield.

"Yes!" Jaune celebrated, throwing his arms above his head.

The sound of tearing metal and a triumphant roar ended his celebration.

"Ah shit."

Jaune dashed out of his makeshift cell, heading to the loading doors in the back of the facility. All around him Grimm were slowly tearing their way out of their prisons. Jaune reached the back wall and looked around for a control panel. He spotted it and hit the emergency lockdown button, an alarm blared and an automatic warning was broadcast by a computerized voice.

"Warning, emergency lockdown in effect, please make your way to the employee entrance and manually secure the door after exit. The remaining exits will now automatically lock, and be shielded."

Jaune was already on the move before the machine had finished. He climbed a cage and made a mad dash over the slowly growing hoard of frenzied Grimm below.

When he finally reached the door, he noticed the lock down lever had been reduced to sludge. An experimental push on the door revealed it was fused shut from the outside.

"Fuck." He cursed. Turning around he noticed an emergency weapon rack on the wall. Jaune ran over and took stock. Two Vale standard issue D9 hand cannons with silencers, four magazines of armor piercing, burn, and frost dust rounds. One silenced marksman's rifle two magazines of armor piercing, two magazines of burn dust rounds. Silencers must be to not disturb other Grimm if they have to put one down. Jaune mused before returning to his inventory taking. Three stun rods, eight disruption grenades, and one disruptor pistol, with twelve spare power cells.

He noticed three sets of night vision goggles. After deliberation and a glance at the long shadows of the dark facility he slipped a pair onto his head. Jaune wasted no time after that strapping one of the hand cannons to his lower back, and slinging the marksman's rifle over his shoulder. He grabbed the disruptor and strapped it to his right thigh, securing the grenade belt on his right hip. He could hear the sound of Grimm moving in the dark and was very aware that only the strongest would have been able to break out of containment even with the frenzy they were stirred into. At least things have calmed down, but I still can't let these things live.

Jaune climbed up onto one of the empty cages, calmed his nerves, pulled the marksman's rifle off his back, and slipped the night vision goggles on his face. Time to go hunting. He mused, as he loaded the rifle and brought it up to his shoulder, creeping carefully along the tops of the cages.

Penny was wandering the halls of Beacon after the latest match of the tournament, analyzing the data over and over again. It didn't add up to the android. Yang Xiao-long was an angry person yes, but she had no history that would indicate such an attack without provocation. The General had dismissed her assessment of the situation.

So here Penny was looking at all available information and trying to determine where she went wrong. If the General said she was wrong then she must have made an error. She carefully watched the blond brawler's reaction to her own actions, every action when compared to Penny's baseline concluded that Yang wasn't lying about being attacked. But that's not possible. Penny poured over her own footage as well as that captured by the cameras and could find no evidence of a hostile action from Mercury Black.

So lost in her thought was Penny that she ran right into a person. Almost like she had appeared out of thin air in front of her. The smaller girl was a surprised as Penny.

"My apologies I wasn't paying attention. My name is Penny what's yours?"

The strange girl tilted her head at Penny with an odd look before signing something to her.

Mint Penny's database translated.

"its nice to meet you Mint."

The strange girl waved before vanishing into thin air. Penny blinked, So she did appear out of nowhere.

Penny realized she was in a dead end hallway and turned to leave. A muffled cry caught her attention. Penny turned her attention to the one steel door in the hallway, noticing that the door and frame had been fused together and a strange device had been placed on the door. It looked like a keypad but she couldn't read and a locking mechanism. In fact, her sensors couldn't detect anything about the device. Strange, Penny approached the odd keypad, interested in it. She attempted to interface with it through the CCT network but found that there was no receiver on the device. Penny ripped the device off the door and crushed it in her hand. Penny looked at the door and decided to investigate what was on the other side. One of her swords sprung from her back and shifted, forming laser aimed at the melted door. Penny noted that she had to increase intensity of the beams to cut the metal. Whatever fused this was extremely hot.

Cinder was lying in her dorm room monitoring the various news outlets that were covering the incident that had happened earlier that day. With Jaune...occupied, things went off without a hitch for the first time in months. Not for the first time Cinder wondered if it was Jaune that had set team RWBY against Torchwick in an attempt to slow her down. She dismissed the thought. No, Emerald said he was surprised to see her. If he knew the plan had been accelerated he would have stepped in personally.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Neo's arrival.

"How fares out little Knight?"

"He broke out of his cell and is playing a game of cat and mouse with the Grimm. Only the big ones got out so I decided to give him a few more playmates." She signed, a carefree grin on her face.

Cinder smiled at the sadistic midget. And she claims to like him. "Thank you Neo. Your services may be needed again before the big show tomorrow."

The mute nodded, giving her a mock salute before vanishing to terrorize someone for fun. Probably Jaune. Cinder shrugged to herself. Let her have her fun. He'll survive, he always does.

Line break

Jaune was pissed, he was almost out of rifle ammo, he only had two disruptor grenades left, and his night vision goggles had been broken, leaving him at a disadvantage for the last few kills. Thankfully he was done. He checked every broken cage and made sure the correct number of Grimm had been killed. Jaune paused as he passed a cell he was certain wasn't open the first time he passed it. No, that's impossible, its not like someone is letting them out as I kill them. Jaune soon found out that was exactly what happened when he was jumped by a juvenile Beowolf. It was dispatched with ease after the surprise wore off. He concluded that Neo must be playing a game with him.

Jaune dragged Crocea Mors out of the throat of the Beowolf, wiping the blade clean on the monster's pelt. Oum damn Neo. Jaune picked up the marksman's rifle that the beast had knocked out of his hand when it surprised him. The gun itself was fine, but the scope was broken, crumpled inward with shattered glass falling onto the floor as he picked the rifle up. Jaune sighed, slid the scope off the top rail of the gun, and dropped it to the ground.

Jaune heard the tapping of a foot and looked up to see Neo standing on top of a stack of cages. She waved down at him, a childish smile on her face.

"Can you at least tell me how many are left?"

Neo seamed to ponder this, pulling an overdramatic thinking face as she tapped her chin. She nodded, held up seven fingers, and vanished.

Jaune rolled his eyes at her antics. She's like a psychopathic version of Nora. Or is Nora a less psychopathic version Neo? Jaune honestly couldn't tell sometimes.

There was a growl behind him and Jaune spun around, dropping to one knee and bringing his rifle up. The Ursa roared at him and Jaune just aimed for its eyes calmly. He pulled the trigger, a explosive dust round heading straight for the beast's face, only to sail harmlessly past its head and explode on the cage behind it.

Jaune lowered his gun and just looked at it. Jaune sighed, "Of course the gun isn't sighted in, why would it be? its just an emergency weapon."

He imagined the Ursa would have raised an eyebrow at his sarcasm if it was capable of the action. Instead the bear-like Grimm charged at him. Jaune looked at the gun in his hands and shrugged. When the Grimm got close enough to take a swipe, Jaune sidestepped and placed the barrel against its head, firing a point blank shot. The Grimm crashed to the ground, its head gone. Half of the Grimm's mask clattered to the floor, a spider web of cracks stretching across the bone.

Jaune's weapon didn't fare much better. Evidently not of Huntsman make, the weapon's barrel was ruined by the shot. Its not like I had enough spare ammo to sight the thing in anyway. Jaune rested the gun on one of the cages and drew the disruptor. Passing it to his left hand and drawing Crocea Mors in his right, he took off in search of the remaining six Grimm Neo had let out.

Jaune found the first one around the corner. A Boarbatusk was roaming and spotted him. It tucked itself into a ball and came charging at him. Jaune tensed, waiting for the right moment. Just before the rolling Grimm struck he rolled to the left and brought the disruptor up, firing an electrically aided concussive blast into the beast's unarmored side. The pig-like Grimm spasmed and unrolled, bouncing several feet past him from its own momentum. Jaune quickly ran up to the stunned creature and drove his sword into its throat.

Five left. Hopefully they don't realize I'm here. Suddenly a howl echoed from by the door, answered by several roars and howls that started moving back in that direction.

"Or they could team up and head for the door, ruining my chance to pick them off." Jaune sighed, "Oum damn it Neo. This is not gonna be fun."

Penny hummed as she slowly cut through the door. The sound of a body hitting metal, then she heard a battle cry followed by a roar. Penny tilted her head as she heard a muffled cry of:

"Oh come on!"

Suddenly a sword pierced the wall next to her. Penny blinked, wondering what was going on in the room.

Jaune found the Grimm as they approached the door. He counted three Beowolfs, one Ursa, and a Beringel. They were waiting for someone cutting into the door from outside. Can't let these Grimm out. Jaune jumped off of the cage he was crouched on, firing the disruptor at the Beowolf in the back. Jaune landed behind the stunned beast and sliced out its throat, drawing the attention of the other Grimm.

"Hello boys, make sure to give Salem my regards."

The Ursa roared and charged, taking a swipe at him. Jaune sidestepped the swipe and lopped off the limb. He brought his stun gun up only for the Grimm to bite his gun in half. He cut its head off in retaliation.

Jaune tossed the remains of the gun aside, grabbed one of his last disruption grenades, and tossed it at the waiting Beringel. He turned around before the grenade went off and climbed a stack of cages, holding his sword in both hands as he jumped off the top and came down above the stunned Grimm.

The Grimm leaned its head back, causing Jaune to impale the arm it had been shielding itself with. Jaune dangled in the air, holding onto his sword while the Grimm stared at him.

"Hey there big fella."

Jaune was promptly backhanded through the outer wall of an empty cage coming to a hard stop inside. After a few moments he dragged himself out of the hole. The Beringel had just succeeded in pulling his sword out of its arm.

"Oh come on! Any chance you're gonna give that back?" Jaune asked it hopefully.

The Grimm snorted and threw the blade behind it where it pierced the reinforced wall next to the door.

"Guess not."

Jaune reached behind and pulled out his hunting knife and his borrowed hand cannon. Holding the gun in his left and his hunting knife in an ice pick grip in his right hand. The Beringel beat its chest and roared. Jaune let out a battle cry of his own as he charged the beast.

Penny heard the sounds of fighting as she neared cutting the door open. Muffled yells and the crash of someone hitting metal, hard. As the door came free, Penny pulled it out of its frame and tossed it to the side. She turned back to see a Beowolf lunging at her. Penny brought her swords up to strike but the beast suddenly halted when an arm wrapped around its neck and buried a large knife in the creature's shoulder. The beast howled in pain before four muffled gunshots were heard, each accompanied by an armor piercing round exiting the creature's chest. The beast was dragged down to its knees by the knife in its shoulder. An armored blond man covered in Grimm blood stepping in front of the Grimm and raising his firearm to the creature's head, unloading a final round between the its eyes. The beast slumped, held up only by the knife in its corpse until the man planted his foot on its chest and pushed it off the blade.

"That was way more than seven."

Penny clapped at the performance, drawing the man's attention.

"That was quite the take down, I wish I could have seen the rest of the fight."

He sheathed his knife and put the gun and a few harnesses for missing weapons on the wall next to an identical gun, before pulling the sword out of the wall and turning to her.

"Thanks, but trust me, you wouldn't be this enthusiastic if you were in there with me. I'm Jaune Arc by the way." He introduced himself as he sheathed his sword.

"Penny Polendina. May I ask why you were in Grimm storage?"

Jaune chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Something caused a stir and some of the stronger Grimm broke containment. Someone sealed the door after I entered, probably as a prank. Though I know for a fact that a friend of mine teleported in and let a few weaker ones out intentionally."

He laughed but it sounded forced.

"Do you mean Mint? I ran into her in the hall just before I discovered the door to this room was fused. That doesn't seem like something a friend should do."

Jaune chuckled, "Yeah well she's a sadistic little midget, this is just her idea of a practical joke. Anyway it was nice meeting you Penny, but I have to go take a shower. I'm so annoyed right now so this blood won't dissolve."

"Oh, okay."

Jaune was currently walking in circles trying to shake the strange girl who was following him. She wasn't even trying to hide or blend in. Cinder wouldn't use an amateur to trail me, she would have sent Emerald or Neo. So who the hell is this Penny working for? Jaune made a rather obvious show of checking his sword for damage as he walked, trying to get a good look at the girl. She looks distracted. Maybe she's a transfer student who got lost? Jaune stopped walking and turned to the girl.

"Are you lost?"

Penny shook her head. "I'm not lost, I'm following you."

Jaune was even more on edge. He moved his hands behind his back, gripping the hilt of his knife in his right, ready to draw at a moment's notice. He was painfully aware of how empty the part of the school he had led her into was. She could have friends out of sight, and I isolated myself. Great.

"Why are you following me exactly?"

"I was lost in thought and pondering the incident in the arena earlier. I was just wandering and happened to follow you."

Jaune's eyebrows furrowed. "What incident?"

Penny blinked at him. "Were you not aware that Yang Xiao-long attacked Mercury Black after their match concluded? I thought that was why you went into the Grimm storage?"

"Yang would never do that unless he attacked first."

Penny nodded. "My assessment of friend Yang comes to a similar conclusion. However despite her claims and a positive match on her telling the truth, I as well as the cameras in arena witnessed friend Yang fire a shot into Mercury Black's leg. Leading me to believe my original assessment is flawed as General Ironwood suggested."

Jaune shook his head and grit his teeth. Of course Ironwood wouldn't look into it any further than 'oh this student has anger issues'. Damn it Emerald. "Have you and the general considered foul play?"

Penny tilted her head at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well look at it this way, the Vytal Festival Tournament is a very prestigious event that would certainly benefit the school that wins. Not to mention bragging rights. Don't you think someone with the ability to alter people's perception would use that to their advantage to disqualify a stronger opponent like Yang?"

Jaune held his breath while Penny considered his words. Her eyes seemed to blank and widen almost too large.

"I believe with a ninety eight percent certainty that you are correct Jaune. Based on the angle of the shot taken, an honest reaction from friend Yang, and the inclusion of potential foul play, I have concluded that friend Yang was framed by someone with a perception alternating semblance. Thank you for your help, I can't wait to tell friend Ruby."

Jaune tilted his head at the strange girl as she turned around and ran off. She's an odd one...oh she's the girl Ruby ran into looking for Blake. She's exactly as Ruby described. Jaune shrugged and started walking back to the dorms.

Jaune started his next day off on a positive note. He spent some time with his partner after he noticed she was struggling with something. She slipped off at some point which left Jaune to look for her hoping to help her. He found her around a corner of the school leaning up against a wall looking lost. Thankfully Jaune had one of the ultimate weapons for cheering a woman up: candy, specifically cotton candy.

"Its no green goop but it should do the trick." Jaune stated, a small genuine smile on his face as he handed her the cotton candy. Pyrrha accepted the gift without a smile.

"Thank you Jaune."

Jaune's smile dropped and he sat down next to his partner to console her.

Well I think I have successfully slipped into my 'village idiot disguise'. Jaune sighed as he dragged himself up off the floor. I might as well go catch the match, and make sure Emerald doesn't try something again. Not much else I can do to stop them at this point. Jaune was tense the entire ride up to Amity.

Jaune was acutely aware that he had no way to stop Cinder, only save his friends. As he was making his way to Pyrrha's fight he couldn't help but worry about them, when he saw Ruby head into a back room labeled maintenance he was curious and worried. I hope she's just lost and not being led to a trap by Emerald. Jaune followed her in until he saw Mercury grinning at her. "Ruby move!" He shouted, startling both of them. Jaune drew his hunting knife and threw it at Mercury right as he went to kick Ruby.

She sped over to him. "Jaune what's going on?"

"No time, stop Emerald, before she frames Pyrrha too!" He shouted as Mercury dropped an ax kick on his shield. He pushed up, throwing Mercury into a backflip. Jaune tried to follow it up with a slash at the falling assassin but Mercury used the recoil from his boots to dodge the swipe. The grin on Mercury's face widened when Jaune heard Ruby scream in anguish. He froze, eyes widening, his only thought Pyrrha! Jaune grit his teeth but held his ground. Fuck. I can't risk turning my back on Mercury. I should had have kept that damn gun.

"What's the matter hero? You gonna go save the girl?"

Jaune snorted. "She can take care of herself."

Mercury grinned at him and charged forward, firing off both boots and somersaulting in the air to try and land a two legged kick. Key word being try. Jaune ran forward and slashed up at Mercury's back, carving a chunk out of his aura and drawing first blood.

"What's the matter Merc? You all tuckered out from a party girl kicking your ass?"

"Nah I just wanted to see how soft you've gotten." Mercury stated with a cocky grin, placing his hands behind his head.

Emerald! Jaune dropped to his knee as two shots sailed over his head and slammed into Mercury. Jaune brought his shield up to block the follow up shots from Emerald. He turned his attention back to Mercury just as the assassin came in for an ax kick. Jaune caught the kick on his blade, lowered his shield, and leaning his head back right as Mercury fired into the face of an unsuspecting Emerald. He pushed up, throwing the surprised Mercury off balance. Jaune used the opening to shield bash the thief and step through her guard. He collapsed his shield to reduce drag, grabbed his sword in two hands, and slammed the pommel into Emerald's back, sending her sprawling into Mercury.

"Did you really think I couldn't tell the difference between your real shots and an illusion Em? I know your aim isn't that bad."

Emerald and Mercury were quick to get back on their feet facing Jaune down.

"You can't beat both of us Jaune and you can't stop the fall of Beacon. Just come home with us." Emerald offered hand outstretched.

Jaune shook his head. "No. Maybe I couldn't stop this, but you can be damn sure I'm not gonna let you touch my friends."

Emerald withdrew her hand. "We were your friends once."

"I thought you were my friends too."

The silence was punctuated by the dying cry of a Nevermore. Jaune acted first, reaching into his waist pouch he pulled out a cheap red dust crystal and poured aura into it, throwing it at his old friends and bolting back down the hall as the improvised grenade went off. I gotta get to Pyrrha. Cinder's gonna head right for her.

The next few minutes were a blur. Fighting his way down to Beacon, Jaune struggled through large groups of Grimm and robots, desperate to reach the Vault before Cinder and protect Pyrrha. He held nothing back, hacking his way through anything that stood in his path. Jaune knew he was too late when he came across Pyrrha standing at the base of the tower, looking up as a column of fire shot up the elevator shaft.

Cinder killed Amber, Jaune mourned the loss of first real friend quietly as he ran up to Pyrrha and called out to her. "Wait, you can't fight her alone!"

Pyrrha looked at him with a sadness in her eyes. She smiled, and out of nowhere kissed him.

Jaune's whole world froze in that moment. When he leaned in deeper, he barely felt her lift him with her semblance until he jerked sideways into a locker. Then with just a word of goodbye, he was in the air.

NO! I'm not letting that monster take anything more from me! Jaune reached for his hunting knife only to curse, realizing he hadn't retrieved it after his scuffle with Mercury and Emerald at the colosseum. Jaune coated his feet in aura and kicked until the rockets under the locker gave out and he began free falling. He braced himself as the locker spiraled closer to the ground before crushing a lone Beowulf with a squelch.

As he pulled himself out of the remains of the locker and climbed the crater, Jaune dialed Weiss.

"Jaune, where are you?" She asked concern evident in her voice.

"Don't worry about me, Pyrrha is fighting someone too powerful for even Ozpin on top of Beacon tower, you have to save her!"

Jaune hung up, ignoring Weiss and Ruby's cries to be safe. Jaune instead drew his sword and began a mad dash back to the tower in the distance, praying Pyrrha could survive until he or Ruby got there. Just hold on Phyr.

Cinder was enjoying a fight for the first time in a while. The Spartan was putting up a decent fight, it reminded her of her sparring matches with Jaune. The girl must have thought she was protecting him when she sent him away in that locker.

How naive, Cinder grinned as her arrow pierced the Spartan's heel. She walked ever so slowly towards her with a flirtatious grin as she asked, "Did you do this to protect your pitiful friends, to protect your partner? Or to try and claim a power that was never truly yours?"

Pyrrha looked at Cinder defiantly, but didn't utter a sound. Cinder just kept smiling as she summoned her bow and arrow.

"You never really knew him you know, not at his best."

When Pyrrha didn't rise to the bait Cinder raised her bow and formed an arrow as she drew the string back, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha asked.

Cinder's smile vanished as a picture of a younger Jaune formed in her mind. He was framed by stars as he'd asked her the same question, with that goofy grin on his face.

"Yes." Cinder replied with narrowed eyes as she let the arrow fly.

Jaune heard her last words through the painful silence before he could reach the doors to the top floor. "Do you believe in destiny?" Hearing the impact, and her last desperate gasps. It was like getting stabbed over and over again. Jaune drew his sword from his sheath and slashed wildly at the door. Come on! As he succeeded in shredding the door, he watched Pyrrha dissolve into ash on the wind and her tiara fall to the ground. No. He dropped to his knees as he heard Ruby scream and saw the blinding light of the Silver Eyes power.

When it cleared, he saw Cinder laying on the edge of the roof by the now frozen Grimm dragon, crawling closer to the edge. Jaune stalked towards her, sword raised to finish her, but he noticed small pieces of obsidian lifting off the ground. His shield expanded in time to catch the hail of razor sharp black spikes. When he lowered his shield, Cinder had dragged herself onto the back of a Griffon clinging to the edge of the tower and took off.

Jaune looked away from her retreating form and turned his attention back to the now unconscious Ruby. At least you've unlocked your silver eyes in all this mess, we may need those one day soon. Jaune hated himself for thinking of the young Rose as a tool, as a weapon to be pointed at an enemy. He sat down and cradled her head in his lap, looking at the bronze circlet sitting across from him. I'm so sorry Pyrrha.

When Qrow got there, he found Jaune staring at a bronze circlet while cradling a sleeping Ruby. Before he could even ask, Jaune spoke, "Cinder is the new Fall Maiden. She killed Pyrrha, and presumably Ozpin. Ruby unlocked her Silver Eyes, and they hurt Cinder and froze the dragon." He didn't take his eyes off the circlet or stop stroking Ruby's hair the entire time.

"You loved her, didn't you?" Qrow asked as he lifted Ruby up. Jaune walked over to his partner's equipment before answering. Qrow already knew the answer the moment Jaune turned his tear-filled gaze towards him, holding the remains of his partner's equipment with trembling hands.

"Yes," was his whispered reply.

He looks just like Tai after he lost Summer, Qrow thought to himself.

"Come on kid I'll buy you a drink on Patch."

A few days later Jaune found himself sitting at a table in the small inn and pub on the far side of Patch. Pyrrha's circlet sat in the center of the table. Jaune took another sip of his drink as his studied the jewelry.

"I'm sorry Pyrrha, I was a fool." He whispered to himself letting his head hang as he stared down into his drink.

"From where I'm standing kid, you still are fool."

Jaune looked up to see Qrow standing across from him with a drink of his own in hand. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from Jaune.

Qrow glanced down at the circlet and back up at Jaune. "You know I'm gonna use this as an example of how much worse I could be next time someone says I have bad drinking habits. You've been here for three days drowning your sorrows over your dead girlfriend's jewelry."

Jaune sighed, ignoring the jab. "Why are you here Qrow?"

Qrow leaned back with a beer in hand and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What? Am I not allowed to share a drink with a friend?" he asked innocently as he drank half his glass in one gulp. Jaune just stared at him, waiting for a real answer.

"Fine. I did some digging into your friends, and found out that their transcripts were bullshit."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Really? I never would have guessed. They seemed like such good students."

"Save the snark kid. Anyway, they were so bad they really shouldn't have been accepted."

"You thinking inside job?" Jaune asked sipping at his drink.

"I wasn't, but word got out among the Council and some other high ups that a third party may or may not been at Beacon."

Jaune took a big gulp of his drink. "That's not good Qrow if the Councils start blaming each other then they will play right into her hands."

Qrow held up a hand. "Relax kid, I got Goodwich on that front. The news ain't going to make it out of the kingdom short of some bullshit about foul play from human agents of the Fang."

Jaune nodded, relaxing.

"That said, I have a rat problem to take care of before I can focus on anything else."

Qrow placed a file sized envelope on the table.

"What is this Qrow?"

"Info to get you started, suspect list, notes on their file irregularities, and some basic info on the Mistrial underground. Oh and there is a letter for Ruby giving the basic gist. Enough to get her going anyway."

Jaune stared at the envelope. "What makes you think I'm dragging her into this?"

Qrow chugged the last of his drink standing up. "You're not dragging anyone into anything kid, just giving them the choice to follow you." He walked away, hands in his pockets, whistling a tune as he left the inn.

Jaune looked at the envelope again and then at Pyrrha's circlet. They're gonna get caught in the coming storm anyway, and I could use the allies. His own rationalization didn't make Jaune feel any better.

Ruby took a deep breath as she closed the door to her house.

"Hey," Jaune said as she turned to him, a small smile on her face

"Hey Jaune. Ren, Nora, its good to see you." She paused. "Haven's a long way to go."

"I know, but its the only lead we have," Jaune replied.

"And you're sure you want to come along?" She questioned. Ruby knew his answer, she could see it in his eyes. She turned to Ren as he answered.

"The journey will be perilous, and whether we will find answers is unclear." The quiet boy replied.

"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up to it." Nora finished for him with the same determination in her eyes.

Ruby just smiled. "Then let's get started," she said as they set out. She couldn't help but glance at Jaune, as they walked and see the hatred in his eyes as he glared off into the distance. She remembered his warning and began to wonder, what is your past with Cinder?

Revised 10/10 /18

So I'll admit when I first wrote this chapter it was a messy rush job. That being said now that my writing has improved and I have a better idea where this story is going I chose to revise this chapter. (Its pretty much a straight retcon. I had almost no clue where this was going when I originally wrote this chapter.) I added in a few interactions that I skipped last time, and lengthened some of the note story segments by adding dialogue. And of course the Grimm fight scene. I promised myself I would add another fight scene, but then I decided to trap Jaune in a cage and taunt him instead of having him buy supplies in Vale. One thing led to another and one of my favorite fights so far was born. I hope you like this better. Constructive criticism still welcome on all chapters.