A/N:

Welcome to the (hopefully) long-awaited continuation of A Destined Hero and A Grimm Destiny, which will be called The Darkness Inside until I can think of yet another Destiny name pun. Hopefully you'll enjoy it, as I plan to make this at least somewhat unique. Also, I feel extremely disappointed with RWBY Volumes 4 and 5. 3 was necessary to advance the plot if a bit predictable, but… there's so many retcons and half-baked plot points in 4 and 5 that it feels like my first fanfictions… I mean, a lot of stuff just doesn't make sense, one of those definitely being the retcon to Aura. So now it's not passive, but needs to be controlled? Then how did Jaune survive like… anything? But whatever, back to my point: I'm pretty much just throwing 4 and 5 to the wayside, I'll use some things but 90% of it is gone. As well as about half of Volume 3 as well.

With that said, let's get right in…! To the Disclaimer.

Legally-Required Disclaimer: I own nothing, RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth and Destiny belongs to Bungie and Activision. If you sue me, the joke's on you cause I'm broke as can be.

And now on to your regularly scheduled reading.

{DREADNAUGHT; THRESHOLD}

{ORYX ENCOUNTER}

He loomed above me, in all His unholy glory, His Darkness saturating the air. His twisted sword was held in His hand, His other stretched towards me in a mocking stance. I kneeled across from Him, a battered and pitiful excuse of a Guardian, Her Memory held loosely in my dying grasp as I stared up at Him. My Ghost lay on the ground next to me, his eye weakly blinking with what little Light he had left.

"YOU… HAVE FOUGHT WELL, FOR A LIGHT-WIELDER. I HAVE KILLED COUNTLESS TRILLIONS OF YOU, SOLAR SYSTEM AFTER SOLAR SYSTEM FALLING TO THE MIGHT OF MY TAKEN. AND YET… YOU CONTINUE ON. NOT ONCE HAVE YOU HESITATED IN UNCERTAINTY, NOR FLINCHED IN FEAR. EVEN THE CURSED MACHINES YOU CALL 'EXO' RAN IN TERROR WHEN I SHOWED MYSELF. YET, YOU STILL STAND AGAINST ME, WHEN ALL THOSE YOU PROTECT HAVE ABANDONED YOU. AN ANOMALY, A PARADOX, ONE WHO SHOULD NOT EXIST… YET YOU DO, AND REFUSE TO CEASE. IT IS ALMOST A SHAME TO BE FORCED TO END YOU, BUT YOUR TIME HAS COME. YOUR LIGHT… SHALL BE EXTINGUISHED!"

With His monologue finished, His arm shot forward, sword descending on my form. I had no power against it, my Light fully drained and smothered beneath the Darkness that coated my veins. As the sword descended ever faster, time seemed to slow before my eyes. I felt anger well up within me, not entirely mine, at the thought of dying after coming so close, after passing so many trials… only to be denied at the very end. And that anger was what drove me to foolishly tap into the dark power that even that moment was corrupting me.

A wave of pure power escaped me, an ocean-blue miasma that impacted everything around me. Oryx was cast back, His large form thrown backwards into the void of space outside of the arena we were on. My anger was not satisfied, however, and I drew my hands together, ignoring the sheer wrongness I felt channeling the Darkness. A spear began to form, the shape of it resembling a thinner version of Crota's sword on a stick. I drew my arm back, a strange, unnatural instinct guiding my movements as I threw the spear forward, forming a streak of dark blue between Oryx and I before it pierced his form.

He roared, an almost unintelligible sound, and grasped his arm in pain. I felt a perverse sense of satisfaction run through me, a sadistic side that I knew was not mine, before I collapsed to my knees. I hadn't noticed it, but even though I felt more powerful than I ever had, my body still bled and cried out in protest to the corrupting Darkness.

Even as I laid there, my legs too weak to stand and my arms to weak to lift me, I could hear the fear in Oryx's voice.

"BEGONE!"

And with that simple command, I felt the air around me crackle and burn, even as my body seemed to be pulled in millions of directions at once. Mercifully, I fell unconscious before I could truly begin to feel the agony of being torn to pieces.

{REMNANT; MENAGERIE}

{SIX MONTHS BEFORE BEACON INITIATION}

I opened my eyes, which instantly sent alarm bells through my head. I had passed out during Oryx's final attack, and I had been sure Ghost couldn't revive me from…

Ghost! Where was he?!

Looking around frantically, I finally found him laying in a pile of leaves next to me. A sigh of relief escaped me, and I scooped him up into my hands.

"Thank the Traveler you're here Ghost, I couldn't imagine being parted from you…"

I trailed off, looking at the Ghost in my hands. Its shell was cracked, revealing its inner workings, and the Light had completely abandoned it. The thing in my hands was nothing more than a broken shell. The only conclusion I could come to was that something had happened to him between Oryx's attack and my arrival here.

But what?! Only a concentrated Darkness could pierce a Ghost's inner Light, and Oryx wasn't even able to touch him when I attacked him with… the…

Oh no. No, no, no, please no. Please no! Please don't let me have killed my partner! I didn't think, I didn't know! Please!

The empty shell fell from my hands as I sunk to my knees, the realization of what I had done slamming into my mind. After several minutes of pleading, cursing, and praying, I felt tears pour down my cheeks as memories of our time together flooded my mind uncontrollably.

-Later-

It was only when I awoke to the sound of footsteps that I realized I had cried myself to sleep, my eyes still somewhat watery even as I quickly hid behind one of the many trees around me. I could hear voices echoing through the trees, and I slowly inched closer, reloading my Her Memory as I did.

"What do you mean Adam is insubordinate? He's helped Faunus more than anyone besides Supreme Leader Khan!"

"Hey man, I'm just telling you what I heard at the last meeting. Rumor is that Adam's getting a bit too big for his britches, some say he's planning to become Leader himself."

"Oh come on, there's no way that's right! He's a great guy, don't get me wrong, and a great Commander, but the dude would rather kill himself than deal with all that paperwork."

"Dude, calm down, just telling you what I was told. But think about it though, he's definitely been getting more aggressive lately, I hear he's even planning to attack a Schnee Company train…"

They moved out of range, and I sat down to think. Adam, Supreme Leader Khan, and Schnee Company. One was obviously someone they knew, a Commander of sorts, the second was a leader of some kind (could be anything from a fan club to a straight-up Emperor), and the third was a Company of sorts, possibly run by someone named 'Schnee'. Strange name, but I suppose us Guardians have no room to talk…

"Heh, just got here and I'm already so far out of my depth it isn't funny…"

"I'd say, stranger."

At the sound of the voice behind me, I had already spun around, Her Memory's barrel between the stranger's eyes. I had a second to take in their features, namely the vaguely feminine build, the strange mask, and the weird tail behind them, before I felt something impact my chest.

By the time I realized what hit me, I had already crashed through a tree and slammed into another one, with the lizard-tailed woman walking up to me. "Now, now, is that any way to treat a lady?"

I so badly wanted to simply fill her with bullets, but I was forced to stop and think. First off, she was extremely stealthy. Whether she was there or not before I woke up, she definitely stayed hidden for a few minutes at least while I was listening to those other two people. She was also quite strong. Nothing compared to a Guardian, but throwing a Titan through a tree is definitely no small feat, even if they weren't prepared. After all, our armor is made of extremely heavy plates, and that's not counting our muscular build. And there was also the fact that I didn't have any idea where I was. If I killed her, or even just wounded her, would more of her people hunt me down?

All of this ran through my head in a few seconds, before I opened my mouth to respond. "And just how am I supposed to treat you?"

She laughed, a strange mocking titter that matched her teasing words from earlier. "I like you already. Why don't you just hand over that gun and your armor and I'll leave you alone, huh?"

Ah, so she's apparently some kind of… bandit? She could be a guard but with that attitude I sincerely doubt it's for any reputable organization. "How about you just fuck right off?"

And with that, I had jumped to my feet, throwing my fist forward at her. It got about halfway there before I realized that my Light wasn't enhancing it. My fist still knocked her off balance, but there was no explosion of fire, or arcing of electricity, or even just a purple glow around my fist. I had just enough time to feel shocked at that before she hit me once again, this time in the stomach.

I felt my body fold around her fist, air escaping my lungs as I fell to my knees, coughing. Just what the hell was going on?! Not only can I not use my abilities, but I don't even have my overshield?

I could vaguely hear her walking closer, and I felt a familiar unnatural anger well up in me. This… weakling believed she could harm me?! I felt my blood flow slow down, an uncomfortably cold feeling spreading throughout my body, and my head snapped back in an uncontrollable laugh. I didn't know what exactly I had found so funny, or even why I did it, but the euphoria running through my body was addictive. My laughter slowly died off as I lowered my head to look at the lizard woman. She looked a bit worried, having heard the opponent she was dominating apparently go insane.

"My turn, bitch."

And with that, I threw my left palm outwards towards her, a sputtering ball of blue launching from my palm. She blocked it with her hand, only to scream as it began to eat through her hand. She backed away, the miasma surrounding her hand fading quickly. "How… how did you bypass my Aura?"

I allowed myself a second to ponder about this 'Aura', deciding it was probably an overshield of some kind, before continuing my assault. Despite being out of range, I threw my fist forward, my body going through an uncomfortable sensation before I found myself planting my fist in her face. Her mask cracked in two, falling to the ground even as I grabbed Her Memory again.

When she caught her balance, she looked up only to find herself once again staring down the barrel of my gun. I had a moment to wonder at the strange coloring of her hair, being dark brown with lime green streaks, and her purple eyes, before she growled. "Alright then, huntsman, you got me. Did Ozpin send you, so you can oppress us in secret this time?!"

I was a bit taken aback. First off, she acts like a bandit trying to steal my gear, now she sounds like a freedom fighter. I had absolutely no idea who this 'Ozpin' was, besides perhaps a person of high station, but obviously I couldn't just say that, I'd stick out like a sore thumb in this world if I go around saying I don't know any famous figures. "No, he didn't send me. I'm more of a… freelancer, I suppose. I would've left you alone if you didn't try to steal my equipment. The hell was that for, anyway?"

She still looked suspicious of me, but seemed to relax slightly… as much as you can while staring down the barrel of a high-caliber auto rifle, anyway. "You didn't answer the second part of my question."

I sighed. It seems there's a bit more to her than flirty bandit, she had a stubbornness that I didn't expect. "No, I didn't come here to oppress any of you, why would you even think that? And you didn't answer my question either, why did you try to steal my stuff?"

She gave me an incredulous look. "Quick question: You… are human, right?"

"Uh… yeah…?"

Her incredulous look slowly morphed to humor. "You actually have no clue, do you? A human in Menagerie, the home of the Faunus… and you have no clue what you're in for!"

She began to laugh uncontrollably, slowing after a few moments before erupting into giggles once more whenever she looked at me. I growled, annoyed and sure that I wouldn't be getting any information out of her, so I hit her in the temple with the stock of my rifle. Her unconscious body limply fell to the forest floor, and I shook my head, placing my auto rifle on my back before looking around.

Off in the distance, I could see a small amount of light in the night sky, so I shrugged and decided it couldn't hurt too bad to head there. I made my way back to where I woke up, carefully scooping my dead Ghost's shell from the ground. "Please forgive me, partner…"

And with my annoyance towards the woman turning to sorrow once more, I set out to find whatever the light might have been.

{MENAGERIE; KUO KUANA}

{HALF AN HOUR LATER}

I found myself on the outskirts of a large city near the ocean, with palm trees spread around in various places. There were several more of what I could only assume were these 'Faunus' (as the woman said this was the "home of the Faunus"), each with their own animal-like features. Cat ears, dog tails, snake scales… Interesting as it all was, I was certainly no Warlock, and I had no desire to waste time studying how these people came about.

My attention was dragged to the alleyway next to me, finding three shifty-looking men standing over a teenage girl.

"Well, what have we here, boys…? A pretty young lady out here all alone, perhaps?"

"S-Stay back! I… I'm warning you!"

"Awww, how precious… don't worry sweetie, we wont hurt ya… too much."

And with that, I stepped in, catching the wrist of the man who spoke as it made its way towards the girl's clothes. "Don't you gentlemen have something else to do on a fine night such as this?"

All I got was a hiss from him, before he somehow twisted out of my arm and was already back to his buddies before I could react. He pulled out a weapon, some crude combination of what appeared to be a knife and a sidearm, before pointing it at me. "Yeah, what now, tough guy?! You think you're hot shit just cause you've got some shitty Atlesian armor?! Well we've all got our Auras unlocked, and we've all got huntsman weapons! I've even got my Semblance! And we're gonna fuck you up!"

Those terms again, Aura and Huntsman. As I thought earlier, Aura's probably some kind of power that can aid them in battle (an overshield or ability, or both), but it seems these huntsmen are a bigger deal than I thought at first…

I was brought out of my thoughts when one of his friends rushed me, holding a mix of a shotgun and a mace. I let him close in, grabbing the Invective, before firing Solar pellets into his stomach. He roared, staggering backwards even as his cat ears lay flat against his head, and I took that moment to fire again, this time completely knocking him off balance and to the ground.

I had no time to do anything but block the strike from the third man, some form of barbed flaming whip wrapping around my arm. I could feel the heat even through my battered armor, but I simply used his own weapon against him, pulling him towards me and slamming my fist into his stomach. He fell to the ground, and I turned to the first man, who seemed to be rethinking a few of his life choices.

"H-Hey man, we was just kiddin', see? No r-reason to hurt us any more, r-right?"

I sighed, placing the Invective on my magnetic back plate once more. "Just leave, and don't ever do anything like this again."

"Thanks mister… for being so gullib-ack!" His 'sneak attack' was cut off halfway through by the girl I had saved, some kind of purse having hit him in the groin. She turned to me and smiled.

"Thanks for helping out with these guys sir, I really appreciate it!"

I felt a bit awkward at the moment, surrounded by three groaning would-be rapists and talking to their extremely bubbly almost-victim, but I managed to shrug it off and respond. "No problem miss. I would suggest you enroll in some self-defense class, perhaps learn to use a sidearm for situations like this."

"Thanks for the advice sir, I'll definitely check into that!"

And with that, she was gone, leaving me standing around with these three idiots. What was I supposed to do with them now?!

"This is the police, we heard gunshots in this area! Hands up where I can see them, you're all under arrest!"

Great. A criminal record already…

{KUO KUANA, KUANA POLICE STATION}

{A FEW MINUTES LATER}

"So, do you know why you're in here, son?"

My helmet sat on the table in front of me, the rest of my armor having proved too difficult to remove for the police. My weapons were somewhere else, having been taken from me when they first saw me. "Yes officer."

"Good, that makes this easier. Please, do tell me what exactly a human was doing in an alleyway, surrounded by three incapacitated Faunus?"

"Self-defense and prevention of rape, sir."

"Whose rape? Yours?"

"No sir, I was protecting the virtue of a young woman. She appeared to be fifteen or sixteen, with white hair and snow leopard ears. She also had a white purse with leopard spots."

"Hmm. We'll have to ask around, but generally we don't get that amount of detail from delinquents lying to us. You'll have to stay here for a bit, but feel free to ask the officer outside of your room if you need something. I'd better not find out you lied to me, boy."

And with that, he left, leaving me to stare at the face of my helmet. Strong and aesthetically pleasing, the Future War Cult armor was, but I couldn't help but find the helmet's pitch-black eyes to be somewhat intimidating. The helmet I'd worn for the past year, the one that'd seen me through countless battles against the Darkness… but that was just it. What am I supposed to do now?

I obviously wasn't going to find my way back to my own dimension, especially not without my Ghost. I sincerely doubted that these people had made any more progress on that front than we had. And, since I couldn't go back, I needed a way to fit in here. But what could I do? My only skills were killing monsters… and a bit of dancing, but I doubt that would help much. I suppose I could be a bodyguard or a bouncer, but those professions generally had a bit more going on behind the scenes that I really didn't want to get into.

It was a bit strange that these people had this 'Aura', which apparently protected them and gave them superpowers, but what was the point behind it? What reason did they need it for? Maybe if I could find that out, I might be able to find a way to fit in here.

I was broken out of my musings by someone entering the room with me. He was a large man, bigger than Shaxx even, and had some frankly amazing facial hair. "Hello, I am Ghira Belladonna, Mayor of Kuo Kuana. I hear that you helped to apprehend some of the unsavory sort that live in our city?"

"Uh, yes sir. Is there a reason you came to visit me, Mayor Belladonna?"

"Yes, I came to offer my thanks to you. These three have been repeat offenders, anything from vandalism to rape, and we've never been able to apprehend them thanks to their leader's Semblance."

"His Semblance?" Maybe this would give me some information on what that was.

"He calls it 'Shed Skin', and it allows him and up to three others he chooses to 'shed' their body, leaving it behind for a few seconds before it seems to teleport away, but really is just the illusion of invisibility breaking off and their illusionary body fading. It also allows him specifically to contort his body like a snake, completely ignoring the limits of his bones with no consequence for a few seconds."

"That's… an incredibly useful power."

"Yes, it is. Unfortunately, it was given to a criminal, but luckily for us he can't escape from a prison room, as there are no bars for him to contort through."

"Well that's good I suppose. But, with all due respect, why are you here, talking to me? It can't just be to thank me, the police could've done that for you."

"Observant, aren't you? Yes, I did in fact come here for a reason. But first: You are a huntsman, right? At least one in training?"

Again with this 'huntsman' term… I really needed to find an archive somewhere and just read about all this world has to offer. "Well, more of a freelancer, but it would appear we have similar talents."

He seemed to be thinking for a moment, before sighing. "I wouldn't normally ask a child this, but there has been an increased amount of White Fang activity lately. They're even blatantly patrolling the woods, officially to 'protect us from Grimm', but far more likely they're looking for something. I have no one else who is able to help, as they're all at different outposts, fighting the Grimm. And judging from the footage of your fight with those three, you can protect yourself if you get caught. Just… could you check into it for me, and report back anything suspicious you find? Please?"

I thought it over for a moment. I didn't particularly want to get involved, but then again, this would get me in the good graces of the Mayor, which would definitely be helpful later on. There was also the fact that I had no money, and nothing besides the armor I was wearing and the weapons I came with in terms of supplies, and even though the Invective regenerated ammunition, I would definitely run out of it for Her Memory soon if I didn't find a stable source of it. "I'll do it."

His shoulders sagged in relief as he thanked me, "You have no idea how much this means to me. And… if you find anything relating to a 'Blake Belladonna', please tell me immediately. Here's my scroll number."

He passed me a piece of paper with a few numbers on it, and I scratched my neck sheepishly. "Uh… I don't have a scroll, sir."

"Well that just won't do! Follow me… uh… what was your name again?"

It hit me that not once in the conversation had he asked for my name, nor had I introduced myself. "It's Jaune, Jaune Arc."

{KUO KUANA; ELECTRONICS 'R' US STORE}

{ONE HOUR LATER}

I found myself with a brand new… device in my hand as I walked out of the store, deep in thought over its features. Communication, gaming, and most importantly for me, access to a large wealth of information at my fingertips. I was definitely going to be searching a lot of things tonight.

"Thank you once again, Mr. Belladonna."

"I told you that you can just call me Ghira, remember?"

"Sorry sir, but that feels a bit… improper."

"Understandable. Well, my boy, I'll show you to where we suspect the main Fang operations are, and you can get started in the morning with surveillance. Also, uh, you might want to change into something a bit less… eye-catching than that."

I looked down at my armor, wincing a bit at the bright white and glowing blue. "Yeah, that'd be for the best. Any recommendations?" The Mayor had already given me my 'allowance', which I apparently got weekly in order to purchase any supplies I may need. It was enough for smaller things like food and clothing, in total it could probably cover the monthly rent of an apartment.

"I'd suggest civilian clothing. You can add a bit of your own flair like most do, but try to keep it to a minimum. After all, the more eye-catching you are, the more likely you'll be caught," he explained, then added, almost as an afterthought, "And don't wear all black, that's even more conspicuous than simply being seen at night."

I nodded and thanked him for the advice, and once he had left, I walked into a clothing store, deciding to go ahead and get this over with.

{KUO KUANA; LUAU CLOTHING STORE}

{HALF AN HOUR LATER}

I sighed, putting on another outfit. I had taken one step inside, and the girl at the counter instantly latched on to me and dragged me off to try on outfits. Something about 'too cute to be in such an ugly armor', which I found a bit insulting as I liked my armor, but I found it was easier to just go along with her. Her strength was on par with all of these other 'Aura' users, and I had no desire to channel Darkness through me just to escape clothes shopping.

Of course, now I wished I had, because I had gone through at least two dozen outfits, each more outlandish than the one before, and my patience had just about run out. I looked in the mirror, taking in my appearance quickly. Light blue denim pants, a white t-shirt, and a thin black scarf that hung from my neck. There was a place for an emblem to be placed on it, and it was the only piece of clothing I insisted on keeping. Hey, I liked how it looks.

When I exited the changing rooms this time, the girl nodded, and I allowed myself to sag in relief.

"That looks good on you, surprisingly enough. I guess you've found your signature look, huh?"

I shrugged, glad that I didn't have to keep trying on clothes any more. "I suppose so. Mind if I check out now?"

She led me to the checkout counter, where I bought the outfit I was wearing, along with a few other colors of shirts and pants, and a large backpack that I could carry my armor and weapons in. Apparently this store catered to these Huntsmen people, so they had quality gear for fair prices.

"And here's your change sir. Would you like to have a personal emblem stitched onto your scarf?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay then, we have a few basic patterns, or you can create a custom one. Which would you like?"

"… Custom, please."

"Okay sir, just draw a sketch of it or give me a picture, and I'll do it for you!"

{KUO KUANA; CITY STREETS}

{TWENTY MINUTES LATER}

I looked at the emblem on my scarf once more, it being a fairly simple four-pointed star with a circle in the middle. To anyone else, it wouldn't mean anything. To me however… it meant that my partner was with me again, if only in spirit.

I tore my gaze away from the simple caricature of Ghost, looking around the streets. I had enough money left to buy food for a little while, if I was careful. Luckily for me, I was used to spending long periods of time without a bed to lay in or a roof over my head, so the lack of housing for this week wouldn't bother me too much for now.

I drew a few glances walking down the street, my being a human and my large backpack probably making a few curious and the rest either angry or fearful. I had read up a bit on the Faunus while I was waiting for the girl (who was named Jade and had almost forced me to accept her scroll number) to stitch my emblem, and what I saw disgusted me.

In the Last City, racism was not tolerated, nor was it prevalent. After all, when you're all in the same rickety boat, rocking it is generally a good way to get yourself thrown overboard. But here… not only were Faunus treated as slaves, but even once they gained 'freedom' and 'equal rights', they were still treated as third-class citizens. Of course, the White Fang wasn't helping matters, but I could somewhat see where they were coming from… if I ignored the hatred of humanity… and squinted a bit.

I was drawn out of my thoughts by something poking my side. I turned around slowly, halfway ready to fight, only to find a little boy standing there. "Hi mister, I've never seen a Faunus like you! What kind are you?"

Has this kid never seen a human before? "Well, I'm not a Faunus actually. I'm a human."

He gave me a funny look before shaking his head. "Nuh-uh, humans are evil meanies, you look way too nice! You've got to be like some super-cool type of Faunus that no one's ever seen before!"

… Evil meanies? Thanks a lot humans of Remnant, you might've screwed pretty much all of your race over. If even the kids think you're villains, this problem is going to be around for a while… "I… Yeah, you got me, but don't tell anyone. I'm a secret type of Faunus, okay? Just between you and me though, not all humans are evil meanies, okay?"

He seemed pretty excited at my words, though I'm fairly certain my comment about humanity didn't really sink in. "Okay mister, I'll keep your secret!"

And then he ran off, shouting to his mother about the 'super cool secret Faunus'. I shook my head in amusement before continuing on, my mind on what had just happened. If even the kids didn't like humans, what does that mean for me? There's bound to be more than just the White Fang that dislike humanity, and it would appear I'm in the vast minority here. In fact, I haven't seen another human while I was here at all yet… Which speaks volumes of either the Faunus' inhospitality to humanity, or humanity's arrogance towards Faunus… or both, really. Clearly, this was going to be a problem for me while here. I was just lucky that the Mayor didn't seem to hate humans, or else I would be rotting in a cell right now… or being chased by police after I was forced to use the Darkness to break out.

And there's another thing, the Darkness. The first time I used it, it almost tore my body apart. The second, it felt addictive, like a drug, and even now I can't stop thinking about channeling it, if only for a moment, just to feel that power again. It scared me that I had these thoughts, and I was terrified of what I would do if I lost control. Would I ever be able to come back from the brink, or would I be lost forever, with no more will than a lowly Taken Thrall against the Darkness?

And, the question that I didn't want to answer: … Do I really even care? I had lost everything, my world, my home, my purpose, even my partner, and I was thrown into a world with Darkness rather than Light running through me…

Shouting drew me out of my thoughts, and I found myself at the edge of the city, facing the wall in front of me. Yet another similarity to home, but so different.

"GRIMM! GRIMM ATTACK!"

Grimm? Attack?

A loud, ear-piercing shriek drew my attention to the sky, where a large black bird was swooping down towards the city. Several gunshots rang out, fire erupting across the bird's body, and its second shriek was cut short as a bullet pierced its head. Its corpse began to turn to smoke even as it fell, and I felt one thing that had me quickly searching through my bag for my weapons.

That thing was pure, unadulterated Darkness.

I drew out Her Memory, turning to the sky once more even as several more of those things dove towards the defenders on the wall. Adrenaline pumped through my body, the Darkness inside me stirring slightly in excitement before I shoved it back down.

This… this was what I was reborn for!

A/N:

Okay, first off, let's address some stuff that some of you might point out.

1, Guardians Using Darkness / Will Jaune use his Light abilities?:

This is actually canon, to some extent. Let me draw your attention to Dredgen Yor, who was a Titan who coated his hand cannon, Rose, with the chiton of a Hive champion he killed. He was corrupted through his new weapon (now known as Thorn), and is canonically said to have wielded the Darkness in some way. It is never explicitly stated how, as he isn't a character that appears in game, but his Grimoire card shows a Warlock-style helmet, so it can be reasonably assumed that he used it much like Warlocks use Light abilities. Also, for the spear thing, I'm going to make the 'Darkness' super a bit of a combination between the Sentinel and Arcstrider subclasses from Destiny 2 (which I have not played so I'm winging this). You get no information other than that, since I want it to be a surprise. As for his Light abilities, those are gone, at least for most of the story. The Darkness polluting his veins is blocking his Light. If his Ghost was around then he might have a chance of cleansing himself, but… yeah that's a bit of a problem. So it's Darkness only for now, and trust me, Jaune is very unhappy with that.

2, Going from His to his:

The capital-H His is generally used when talking about powerful beings, from gods and deities to even Emperors and Kings. Therefore, when Jaune was struck low by the power of The Taken King, the writing referred to him as Him, in order to show the helplessness our Guardian felt against him. Once he was able to fight back, the writing referred to Oryx as him, since the two characters were on vaguely equal ground (not really, but Jaune felt he was for those few seconds). It was kinda subtle, but it was there, and if you caught it, good for you!

3, Exactly what Oryx did:

Okay, this is probably going to be a big plot point. Spoiler alert: Oryx isn't dead. He was wounded, yes, but his reaction was more from surprise and growing fear than any kind of terror. The line "The air around you crackles and burns" appears onscreen in-game whenever Oryx summons one of his weird Taken-bomb-laser things above you, and it is shown that Oryx can traverse dimensions, even pulling or forcing Guardians into them (see Regicide or the King's Fall Raid). So basically what happened was Oryx panicked slightly and tried to both kill and send Jaune away. Luckily for our hero, Oryx's teleport is significantly faster than his weird bomb move, and sent him to a random dimension as Oryx had no end point in mind. The technicalities behind it don't really matter, as it's not a huge deal, but be sure that Oryx is definitely searching for him…

4, Why Menagerie?:

Well, that's actually for a couple of reasons. First off, it's most certainly unique, I've read hundreds of RWBY stories and I haven't seen a single one where the main character starts anywhere outside the Four Kingdoms (may have missed some though). Second, this lets Jaune build up some credibility in an area that doesn't really have that great of a security or surveillance system (like seriously, all these White Fang assassins everywhere in this place). And third… well, he needs something to do while he's waiting for canon, and what better way than messing with the Fang? Seriously though, this'll be important later, it's not just some overpowered character stomping over the opposition or something.

5, Why is Ghira so trusting?:

Well, that's honestly a bit of artistic liberty there. I feel like he's extremely worried about his daughter and super stressed about handling all the different things going on, so he'd jump at a chance to find his daughter's whereabouts (as she's left with Adam for at least a year or so now). He also sees Jaune as a bit of an orphan, or at least alone, since he doesn't have anything besides his armor and whatnot. As for the armor, he just explains it off as some sort of Huntsman or Atlesian Army gear, and that Jaune's team was probably killed off or left him since they're not around, and he doesn't want to bring up bad memories. Of course, again, he isn't really thinking much about it as he's more worried about the White Fang and his daughter. It will come up though, and that'll definitely be a problem for Jaune to explain.

6, Will Jaune reveal he came from a different dimension?:

Well, no, at least not at first. He's mostly given up, really. Oryx broke his fighting spirit, to a degree at least, and he has no real desire to go back, especially since his Ghost is dead. Think of it as a soldier who's been through a lot, and feels he still has a duty to help, but he was tortured on his last mission and his friend was killed in front of him, and he doesn't want to go back and feel that pain again. So, at first, he'll just want to fit in here, and not worry about being a Guardian. This doesn't mean he won't help people, but he won't want to become a Huntsman or anything. Of course, we all know Jaune well enough to know that attitude will be kicked out of him eventually…

7, How long has Jaune been a Guardian?:

He's been a Guardian for three years ((1) Year 1, (2) Dark Below and House of Wolves, (3) The Taken King). He was also revived at 16, so he's technically 19 now, but since Guardians canonically age slowly, he looks somewhere between 16 and 17.

8, Darkness Abilities:

So, for this I've basically made it like an actual subclass. Three Grenades, three modifications for the Super and Melee respectively, an Overshield whenever he's channeling the Darkness, and two sets of three modifications to his general performance. He'll level up his 'subclass' as time goes on, unlocking all of the abilities, and the last one is definitely something you'll love. I'll list the current abilities he has right here though, and it'll update whenever he gains another one.

Phase Grenade: A Grenade that deals a small amount of damage to health, ignoring any shielding the opponent has. (For an idea of the damage, it would deal about half of a Dreg's health, but ignore a Captain's shield)

Blink Fist: A quick, linear forward teleport ending with a heavy punch. (Teleports a couple feet, useful for dodging, but is used up even if it hits nothing. Finally a Titan can blink)

Liege of Darkness: A powerful spear that can either be wielded or thrown. If wielded, it slowly drains the user's health to empower itself (ends whenever player health falls into critical or spear is thrown). When thrown, it will alter its flight in order to cripple opponents (against large targets such as Ultras, this will Suppress their abilities for a short time. Against human-sized targets, this ability shears off entire limbs or decapitates them).

I feel these abilities are fairly balanced, and again later on there will be some changes he can make to the moves (for example Suncharge for Hammer of Sol).

9, Current Gear:

So, as everyone who plays Destiny knows, you can carry up to ten types of an equipment slot (ten helmets, ten primaries, ten Ghost shells, etc). However, these are accessed using some convoluted combination of programmable matter (Glimmer) and Ghost. As our hero has no Ghost, he is stuck with the two weapons and armor set he had on at the time. Later on he may get some add ons using Remnant tech, but for now here's what he has:

Her Memory: Primary Auto Rifle, Chroma: Blue. Perks will be shown in use then revealed.

Invective: Secondary Shotgun, Damage: Solar. Abilities: Full Auto, Regenerate Ammo.

Spektar Infinite Helm: Legendary Helmet, Chroma: Blue.

Spektar Infinite Gauntlets: Legendary Gauntlets, Chroma: Blue.

Armamentarium: Exotic Chestplate, Perk: Gain an extra grenade charge, carry more ammo for special weapons

Spektar Infinite Boots: Legendary Boots, Chroma: Blue.

Harrowed War Numen's Mark: Legendary Mark

Queen's Web: Legendary Shader

Sootpearl: Legendary Artifact

Well, that should be it for now. Until next time, AWDTB signing off.