Disclaimer: I own nothing. RWBY is all Rooster Teeth.

AN: This is my first ever fanfiction and I certainly hope you enjoy it. I'd appreciate any and all constructive criticism so that I can refine my writing :D

Year 13X1 NRE

The town of Edge was a small but peaceful town. The kind of a town where the community is large enough to be self-sustaining but small enough that everybody knows each other. The town was shaped in a circular form with a town hall at the center and homes and shops scattered around every which way. At the north east end of the town, at the very edge, was a house. This house was made of cedar wood, had two stories, was fairly large and had back yard that extended just into the surrounding house. This peaceful looking house was where a mother was currently attempting to rouse her son out of bed for his fifth birthday.

"Jaune, Jaune, Jaune wake up please" came from the lovely voice of Cedilla Arc. She wore a green dress and had shoulder length blond hair accompanying vivid green eyes that sparkled with mirth as her son slowly started to wake up.

"mmff…wuh?" groggily responded one Jaune Arc as he continued to face the wall with his sheets over his head.

"If you don't wake up...I can call Violet in here and she can wake you up if you'd like?" Cedilla said in a teasing voice. Jaune ripped his sheets off and swung his legs over his bed while giving his mom a look of horror. The sunlight streaming into the room from a window lit up his features. He had the same shade of blond hair as his mother but had azure blue eyes that only stuck out more on his wide eyed expression.

"I'M UP, I'M UP" he yelled frantically. Whenever the oldest of his older sisters woke him up she would pull him out of bed by his legs and then carry him upside down to the bathroom while shaking him a little. He was understandably traumatized at the thought of her waking him up. He looked at the clock and saw that it was only 7 AM. He looked at his mom and was about to ask why she was waking him so early when he remembered "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY" he shouted with glee and hugged his mom as he jumped out of bed.

"Yes, yes it is and you know what that means right? You get to go watch your father hunt for the first time. First you have to go get ready though, you both need to be back by noon so we can have your birthday cake Jaune" she explained with a slightly strained smile. Although slightly nervous about sending her youngest child out in the presence of grimm her husband had kept all her other children safe when it was time for them to see what they would be fighting in order to keep the Arc legacy alive. It was only because she trusted her husband that she did not stop her son as he ran to the bathroom to get ready.


Jaune ran down the stairs and almost tripped as he hit the bottom of the stairs. He walked into the kitchen at a more sedate pace in order to avoid falling. He was greeted by the sight of his father, Declan Arc, slipping on his shoes and hefting his axe. His father was a tall and burly man with blond hair, deep brown eyes and what he affectionately referred to as his "beard of legends". The axe was a deep blue and Jaune had seen it mecha-shift into a medium sized rifle his dad used for hunting. His father, along with all his sisters were hunters and he wanted to be able to fight with them one day and be a hero!

"You ready to go champ?" his father asked him and seeing him nod they walked out of the house towards the woods. As they walked deeper and deeper into the woods Declan could see the excitement shining brilliantly off his son and was looking forward to the experience. He had done this trip with all of his daughters but was looking forward to doing this with his only son. He loved his daughters and was proud of them but he needed some male company once in a while. "Even if said male company only just turned five and couldn't share drinks with him" he grumbled under his breath.

"What was that Dad?" Jaune asked looking up curiously at his father.

"Oh nothing, nothing, certainly not anything you need to mention to your mother son" he responded hurriedly as they continued their foray now getting closer to the heart of the forest. The last thing he needed was his wife thinking he was smuggling his toddler son alcohol. He'd only mixed a little bit of his drink in Jaune's once before out of curiosity. Just once. The ensuing chaos made him realize two things. The first was that toddlers cannot have alcohol. The second was that a month of living on the couch and enduring his wife's fury was not something he would ever repeat. On that line of thought he figured now would be a good as time as any to lay down some ground rules. "Jaune I have some rules about this hunt and you have to make sure to follow them okay? I don't want you to get hurt by accident and have your mother be mad at m-us" he slowly said.

"Sure Dad, what are they?" he asked with same enthusiasm even as he paled at the thought of his mom being furious.

"Well the thing is I'm going to be putting you up in a tree nearby so the beowulf's won't be able to get to you easily. The first rule is you keep your butt on that tree. You don't run or try and help me if I seem like I'm in trouble. I'm your dad and I can handle a few beowulf's easy enough. The other thing is to not make noise. I don't want them noticing you and making this more of a hassle than it has to be got it?" His son nodded furiously in agreement not wanting to disappoint his dad. "Good and we seem to be far enough along so let's get you up there".

"Yeah, yeah let's go!" Jaune exclaimed excitedly while holding his arms out towards his father. He picked up his son in his arms and searched around for a tree. He found one with a pair of sturdy looking branches and climbed up and placed him ten feet up. He climbed down the tree, stretched his muscles and proceeded to open his mouth to yell.

"COME GET IT YA BASTARDS" he hollered into the darkness of the forest. He then leaned back against a tree adjacent to the one his son was on and held his axe loosely in one hand. He closed his eyes and waited.


It only took fifteen minutes for Jaune to regret coming on this trip with his father. After his father had shouted it took almost no time for a beowulf to appear. He'd heard about them through his stories seeing one in person was terrifying. They were lupine in form and far larger than the average human with black fur covering dense muscles. These beasts had white bone armor covering their heads which extended slightly onto their back. They had additional bony spikes extending from their forelegs, shoulders and their hands in the form of menacing claws. The most noticeable trait to Jaune however was their glowing red eyes that gleamed with bloodthirst and malevolence. The sight of one facing his father nearly made him scream out but he kept quiet only because of the trust he had in his father.

That's when it happened.

The beowulf charged at his father and before it got the chance to even swing his father simply chucked his axe and impaled it into its skull. He whistled softly as he walked over to the body as it started to evaporate, grabbed the handle with one hand and simply pulled it out. Jaune couldn't believe it. He sat there with his mouth agape at the casualty with which his father took down the Grimm. His father looked over at him and winked to which he simply continued staring.

"Careful son you might catch some rapier wasps if you keep your mouth open like that" his father said as he chuckled at his son's expression. He turned back around as he heard a crunch. Three sets of gleaming red eyes greeted him and he smiled as he decided to continue showing off for his son.

"Wow Dad has some moves" Jaune muttered to himself as he saw his father proceed to mow through grimm after grimm. They continued to stream in from the woods in batches of three or four and his gather would just cut them down with casual but precise strikes. He would cleave one in half, chop of the head of another and shoot whichever ones were further off by mecha-shifting his axe into its gun form.

Unbeknownst to Jaune or his father one beowulf separated himself from the packs and was circling around to try a stealthier approach. This beowulf had slight moss and scratches on its armor. It had been around longer than its brethren and knew that direct opposition was not always the best option. It kept its body low as it skulked through brush as the shadows of the trees helped it blend into its surroundings. Its eyes were focusing on the clash of its brethren and saw one of its brethren almost land a hit on the man.

Jaune let out a gasp and had to steady himself when he saw a beowulf almost claw his dad's chest. When his dad dodged by stepping back and dispatched the beowulf he gave a soft but audible sigh of relief.

The beowulf's keen ears picked up on the one utterance of Jaune and spotted him high up in the tree. Bloodlust ensnared its senses at the sight of defenseless prey and it changed the prey it desired. It built up to a run and leaped into the air slamming the tree with its body. It snarled as it barely missed nipping the boy. Its effort was not in vain however as the child, overcome with terror, lost his balance and the impact of the collision rocked him off the tree.

He was dead

That was the only thought Jaune even as his voice let out a scream. He could hear his father curse in the background as he tried to dispatch another Beowulf in order to get to him.

His head hit the ground

He felt his back land on the ground and managed to hear a crack from somewhere through the ringing in his ears. He could have sworn someone yelled his name but he was too dazed to tell and there was something trickling down his head into his ears. He was able to make out two glowing red eyes before a fur covered appendage raised itself into his view.

'I don't want to die' the thought briefly passed through his mind

His world exploded in pain before his vision went black.