Author's notes:

On the topic of OC's, there's will only really be a single one. She'll play a vital role in Jaune's connections to the rest of Remanent, seeing as it's one of the only ways I could think of to connect Jaune across continents. I needed some other plotline to give a reason for him to travel and babysit while keeping his main goal of wanting to be a Huntsman.

Welcome to the first story arc of sorts! We have our first pair of the baby-sat, who I'm sure you can guess from the title alone.

Little clear-up, last chapter I said Jaune was seventeen. I'm just gonna go out and say that he's actually fifteen. This gives him two years worth of travel time before Beacon starts for him.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. Created by Monty Oum and owned by Rooster Teeth.

Chapter 1: Between a Flower and a Hammer

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"Ren, Ren, Ren, did you hear that?!"

"Nora, shush." A boy with dark black hair with a peculiar single pink strip running through it put his finger against the mouth of a ginger girl who was now cross-eyed looking at his finger.

Moving away from the darn silencing finger, Nora looked worryingly in the direction of the scream.

"But it sounds like someone's in trouble, Ren... Like real trouble!"

Ren gazed into the treeline where the plea for help came from, lost in thought for a second. Whatever differed 'real' trouble from 'regular' trouble aside, he shrugged anyway.

"I doubt that there is too much that we are capable of helping with, Nora. We aren't exactly built for battle, " the rose-eyed boy gestured to himself and then Nora. "We have yet to learn any form of combat and don't wield any weapon of our own."

"But, we could totally like, sneak under the legs of the Grimm or something!" Nora suggested.

"I don't think that's very wise, Nora. We were only sent out here to pick berries for her today and anyway, if we heard it, then it's pretty clear that Miss Shima has as well."

Just as if on cue, a cloaked figure lept through the bushes - leaving a trail of leaves in its wake. The cloak was a navy blue, holstering two silver daggers by the hip and a hole behind that revealed a striped tail of orange and black.

Nora's eyes widened in admiration and her mouth formed a large 'O' before she gasped, "Oh my gosh, Miss Shima is so amazing, isn't she, Ren? Isn't she?!"

Ren took a red berry from the littered ground that flew through the air after Miss Shima rustled the bushes around them. Putting it in his basket, he stood to look with Nora into the space where their caretaker had disappeared into.

"Yes, Nora, she is."

/*-*/

The moment that ear-piercing scream graced her feline ears, she was running. Leaping across shrubbery, Tora Shima raced to the area where she had heard the voice.

Some young girl needed saving!

She saw Ren and Nora completing their chores along the way, bless those two children. A real tragedy what happened to their hometown. She had found them dirty and wounded while she was carrying firewood for her lodge since winter was coming up and all. She dropped it all instantly and slugged them both onto her two shoulders to bring them to safety.

Hopefully, she could do the same here.

Approaching the perimeter, Shima saw the wounded figure of a Beowolf on its last legs. The whimpers from its mouth didn't change the amount of sympathy the matron had as she promptly disposed of it with her twin daggers. Kuro and Oren slit its throat with frightening accuracy as Shima herself was already moving towards the sight of a blonde girl in a pool of deep crimson.

Snorting, another Beowolf circled the fatally wounded girl. Unfortunately for the bone-plated monster, it wasn't getting it's dinner tonight, or ever again. Shima's speed accelerated at alarming rates until she was a spinning blur of black and orange. Her two daggers burrowed their way into the Grimm's hide repeatedly and alternatively until the black mass turned to ashy dust.

Sheathing her dual blades around her hips, she instantly turned to the dying blonde behind her. Upon closer inspection, the person she assumed to be a girl had the face and build of a young man. Either the girl was brought up under strict rules or the 'girl' was in fact just a guy. Whoops.

Her hazel eyes flashed to the red gash that decorated the blonde's stomach area. A wretched sight to be sure, but nothing she hadn't seen before on the field.

It wasn't too deep, but the kid would still bleed out if it wasn't patched-up correctly. Understanding this, Shima dug a hand into a pouch, which was on the belt that also held her two blades, taking it back out to show a silver syringe that contained a green substance within.

Hovering the sharp tip over the arm of the mortally wounded blonde, she prepared the contents to enter his bloodstream,

"Hope you aren't too afraid of needles, kid."

Injecting the green liquid into his arm, the woman waited for the effects to kick in. Aura boosters were a real gift on missions, pick-me-ups for whoever may need them. Whether it be after a long hike through the mountains or being on the brink of death due to Grimm, these babies were made to make sure your aura kept on flowing.

So, she waited. And waited. And waited some more. Until it was frightening clear that there was no magical glowing or sudden gasp of life or any sign at all that indicated that the boosters had, in fact, worked.

Panic started to settle in, albeit slight, as Shima retracted the needle back into her med-pouch. This was fine. It's completely normal that a kid would walk around Mistral's forests with a weapon fighting Grimm without aura, right? Gods, what could she do...?

The tailed woman breathed in and released a deep sigh as she drew up her arm and raised the cloak's dark blue sleeves to reveal pale skin as she placed her hand across the young man's heart.

She wasn't supposed to do this, damn it, but she was hardpressed if she was about to let somebody else die on her watch. No way, not again.

Her hand started to glow a bright orange, which eventually traveled up her arm and throughout her body as she chanted:

"For it is in dying that we understand immortality. Through this, we become the epitome of love and virtue to guide above all. Forever in time and bound by life, I release your soul, and through my hand, breathe life into thee."

Sudden pain coursed through her arm for the slightest moment has a white flow flared to life, surrounding the lying blonde. It was impressive how much aura he had, would surely prevent this from happening again as long as he was careful.

Taking her arm back, Shima drew both her arms underneath the black hoodie that clothed him and dragged him upwards into a bridal hold. The underneath of the cloth was damp and warm from blood as it still dripped downwards.

She bounded through the greenery towards her house where she would fix up the lad's clothing and equipment - or lack thereof.

What was peculiar, however, was how tightly he gripped that sword of his, even while at the mouth of Death.

/*-*/

Jaune woke to bright, white light. Regrettably, the next sense to grace Jaune with its presence was the immense feeling of pain. He could only groan as he tossed and turned to try numb it.

"Hnnnghh... Gods it hurts like a bi-"

"Psst, Ren, I think he's awake!" A young voice faux whispered. The kind of whisper that made it seem as though an attack Bullhead was where you learned how to communicate.

"Yes, I know, Nora. Try not to disturb him too much, alright?" A more masculine voice said. Well, as masculine as you could sound at, what? Seven? Eight?

The voices were followed by the appearances of two children. The one leading the other in was a boy black hair and bright pink eyes while the other was a ginger girl with blue eyes, much lighter than his own.

The boy carried a freshly damp towel that he placed carefully onto Jaune's head as he walked over to the nightstand beside him and gestured for the girl to place her item there. It looked like an incense of sorts. Mom would normally place them all around the house after they went on a family trip to the city, saying how it would invigorate the household or some other mumbo-jumbo like that.

"Is that better for you?" asked the young boy.

Jaune nodded, already feeling calmer and at ease thanks to the soothing temperature of the towel and pleasant scent of the incense.

The girl behind pushed the rose-eyed boy out of the way as she gushed: "So how was it, you know?! Like, fighting the Grimm and stuff!"

"Nora, please, give the man some peace."

"Aw, come on, Ren!" She turned to face the boy. "It's not every day we get somebody else who fights the Grimm. We're gonna be huntsmen too one day, we gotta know what they're like!"

"Still, he's recovering and - "

The conversation continued but Jaune didn't - couldn't listen. Grimm? Did he fight Grimm? When was that...? He remembered running away from home, camping, hiking and...

Jaune ripped his covers away from him as his sea-blue eyes darted across his torso. Where the hell was the huge red claw mark? Why the hell wasn't he dead? Who the hell could have saved his sorry ass?

He was only brought out of his haze of questions by the sound of another pair of feet coming into his room.

"Well, well, well, look who's decided it's wakey-wakey time." Her voice purred.

Her hair was short and shoulder length, bunned near the back. Her eyes were a milky hazel and her skin was pale and fair. She wore a Mistralian robe that wrapped around her in black and orange and a waistband highlighted her curves. Two daggers hung loose on the band but what was more interesting was her feline ears and striped tail. She was a faunus.

"Uh -"

"Now, now, kid, you're still recovering." She walked forward, tracing her fingers across his stomach. "Though I'll admit, your aura reserves are spectacular. No scar, no nothing."

Aura? Hell was that? Questions for later, Jaune filed away.

Calling upon his father's wisdom to be more confident and his mother's repeated drilling of manners into his head - Jaune greeted the feline woman with his name.

"Ahem. My name's Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"..."

"That's what you say first?" She chuckled. "Not 'where am I?' or 'who are you?', huh? Hah. Treating this like it's some sort of formal event or something."

She extended her own hand.

"My name is Tora Shima, a pleasure to save your life, Jaune Arc."

Taking her hand, Jaune could feel the rogue callouses that dotted around it. Her skin looked smooth but upon touch, it seemed worn and rough. Experienced. And save his life? Gods, the questions he had.

"So, uh, where am I?"

"Onto the important questions, I see. Well, I found you half-dead in a pool of your own liquids somewhere in the middle of the Mistralian forests and about to be taken into a Beowolf's maw as it's dinner."

Jaune's hand subconsciously found itself on his stomach, rubbing it wearily.

"Luckily for you, I heard your voice as I was in the area with these two kiddos doing a few things for the place." She continued, pointing her thumb to the children who Jaune deduced were Ren and Nora from their previous interaction. "By the way, you sound like a complete girl when you scream."

"Thanks for that, " Jaune smiled. "I think that almost being Grimm food would do that for the best of us."

Shima paused for a second before a grin cracked on her face. She slapped a bare palm on Jaune shoulder hard causing him to cry out in pain like a baby girl.

"Well if you've still got that wit about you, you should be fine to start helping out around here!"

Still recoiling from the pain that blasted hand brought him, Jaune could have sworn the woman before him said something about 'helping out around here'.

"Sorry, did you say something about 'helping out around here'?" Jaune echoed his inner mindscape.

Shima turned just before she was about to leave the door, one hand on the frame. "Well, yeah. It's the least you could do for us after I saved your life and everything." She said, walking out and down a set of stairs. But before she was out of ear-shot she called back out to him. "If it's that much of a problem for you, we can always provide you with some lien as long as you aren't gonna slack on the job."

The mention of money had perked Jaune's interest. He would need lien if he wanted to purchase equipment and more importantly, food. Gods knew how little he had in the past two days of travel. The Arc had managed to snag a box of Pumpkin Pete's on his way out but those had lasted less than a day because of how god damn good they were. Not for you. Just good.

Thinking of food alone caused Jaune's gut to rumble in excitement. And pain. Mostly the latter.

"Ooo, ooo, Ren, he's hungry!" Nora pointed out, with a little bit too much excitement.

"Well, it makes sense. His body would require fuel to power his aura after all the work it put itself through to repair his body." Ren assessed logically, his chin resting in between his fingers with thought.

"Sorry, but you wouldn't actually happen to have food here, would you?"

Looking back upwards, Ren analyzed the look on the blonde's face and nodded. "We do. Follow me, please."

With no other real alternative, Jaune complied with the boy who was just a little above half his own height. Probably around 4" 5 or 6. So, he followed Ren through the door and down the stairs Shima had come down earlier with Nora skipping behind them merrily.

/*-*/

The building Jaune woke up in was very traditional and wooden. At least what Jaune would assume was traditional from all the Mistralian anime he watched in his room. Rooms were furnished in short banners that seemed hand-painted with symbols that Jaune had seen around the city of Mistral on family trips. From the bottom of the stairs, the view of a dining table was in sight. Looking as though it could hold six people, a bowl of fruit was at the center - accompanied by a small note at its side which read: "If I don't see you have one of these at each meal you're not getting any cookies! -Miss Shima" in neat cursive writing.

Multiple doors were at the walls around the dining room. To Jaune's right was a living room area, where the blonde could see a large flat screen TV. How did they get a hold on that? It was forest as far as the eyes could see. Which wasn't that far as the eyes couldn't see past the thick logs of wood that were at every angle. Opposite Jaune and past the dining table was what seemed to be a path along a corridor to the exiting double doors. On the left was an open kitchen with a serving window through the wall where Shima was currently busy stirring away.

"Like what you see?" The faunus woman asked, turning away from the dish she was making. She gestured around the dining area. "Built her myself over a few years."

A loud cough came from Nora, who had her fist balled up near her mouth before she looked up once more - arms crossed and looking expectantly. Ren could only seem slightly exasperated as he facepalmed and shook his head.

Shima bent down to ruffle the ginger's head as she preened in the praise like some sort of bird. "With a little help from the little ones, of course."

Jaune took another look at the furniture and made his way to the window. Outside he saw another building, wooden and smaller.

The hazel-haired matron saw his gaze and explained, "That's our second building. It's where I take the kids to bathe and where we do our laundry."

"Where are we?"

"Didn't I tell you? My home, " she opened the window and breathed in the fresh forest air. "Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Calm and peaceful. Close enough to nearby villages for supplies and materials and close enough to the sea for a day out every now and again."

"Who are you?"

Shima made her eyes meet Jaune's and made an amused, slightly annoyed, grin. "Wow, either you have some sort of memory problem or you're too thick-skulled to get it through your head." Her hands poked the side of his head lightly. "I'm just a woman trying to save those who need saving."

Patting his cheeks twice she walked off and called out, "Come on then, Jaune, let's get you acquainted at your new workplace. Chop chop."

/*-*/

After a short tour around the different facilities, Jaune, Shima and their two little tagalongs found themselves sat back at the dining table, food served. It was a meat stew of sorts, warm and comforting in both taste and nature. The blonde at the table thought to how she could have used a little bit more pepper and left it to simmer slightly longer to make the meat more tender but quickly shook the thoughts from his mind.

"So, Jaune..." Shima's voice startled Jaune, making him jump slightly.

"Y-yeah?"

"Where's your family?"

The question was innocent enough but numerous scenarios played out in Jaune's head. What if told the truth? Would she try to take him back and be forced by his father to give up his dream? Or would he lie and have to constantly sink deeper into a spider web of half-truths?

"It's not like I'd bring you back, or anything." She continued. "I've already spent the effort to indoctrinate you here. I'm just mildly curious. Though if you don't want to share, that's completely up to you." Shima took a spoonful of the stew and looked to Ren and Nora.

Nora was shoveling the food into her mouth while Ren desperately attempted to slow her down, to no avail.

"My family... they... they don't really want me." In a sense, it was a lie. But in another, it was not. They wanted their son back. But they didn't want him to be a Huntsman.

"I see. That's extremely unfortunate. I'm sorry."

"I am too."

Shima finished off her bowl and strolled to the sink to place it there. Ren followed as soon after, so did Nora. She tussled their hair and told them to go and play. No reason to disagree, the two children made their way outside. Nora's playful screams could be heard as she dashed around the house while Ren struggled to keep up.

"Why did you take me in?"

"I wasn't just going to let you die in the middle of nowhere, kid. What did you expect?"

"That's not what I meant," Jaune looked upwards to meet Shima's hazel eyes. "Why do you want me to help around your house?"

The woman in question leaned against the kitchen worktop, both hands placed upon it.

"Just seemed right. I took those two in while they were on the brink of death, so why not you two?" She said, referring to Ren and Nora.

"I want to be a Huntsman."

Eyebrow raised, "You do, do you?" She asked.

"What I'm trying to say is that I can't stay here."

Shima took her hands from the countertop and placed them on her hips where Kuro and Oren lay. "Jaune, if you go out there, you'll die. You saw what a pack of three Beowolves did to you. What the hell do you think will happen if you come across a larger pack? Gods forbid an Alpha?" She took her hands and mimicked ripping, repeating the gesture many times. "This. This is what'll happen."

"Being a Huntsman is not something you do on a whim... people die if they are unprepared!"

Jaune couldn't refute the lady's point. He had almost died. He was just lucky that she was in the area. Looks like he did owe the Gods some good luck after all.

Shima's eyes softened at Jaune's expression of defeat. "But," She continued. "I'm not against making you learn how to not die next time. That's a pretty well-crafted sword you had on you."

Crocea Mors! That's right, where was it?! The Arc family blade passed down from generation to generation, used by heroes to be passed onto heroes that -

"I left it in the storage room for you if you want to pick it up later on."

Oh.

"What's the catch then?"

The brunette raised her eyebrows in amusement before saying, "Skeptical, are we? I like it, though. Smart. The catch is you start helping out around here. You see, I've got to meet my sister in Menagerie on some business stuff soon," she shrugged. "Can't really take the kiddos with me seeing as it's going to be a multiple day journey and I'm not dealing with Nora's attitude on travel." As if to punctuate her statement, another crash, giggle and the resounding "Nora..." from Ren sounded from outside.

She continued, "I want to get it over with, so I'm leaving tomorrow." Shima pushed herself away from the kitchen top and moved past Jaune.

"How... why are you trusting me?"

Shima's black and orange tail swung as Shima herself turned halfway, looking into Jaune's eyes with her single hazel one.

"Let's just say... I can see it in your eyes." She explained, before turning back around to call Ren and Nora in.

...

...What the hell did that mean?

/*-*/

Nora's eyes were wide in disbelief, "You're going AWAY?!"

"Nora, she went away to the city herself just a few weeks ago." Ren deadpanned.

"But that was for a single day. This for at least..." Nora paused to think. "More than a single day. 'Cause Menagerie's real far away and all!"

"Don't worry your little heads off. I'm leaving Jaune here to take care of you, so you don't have to worry."

Ren looked at the blonde in question doubtfully. "With all due respect, he did almost die taking on a pack of Grimm. Are you sure, he can take on... this, Miss Shima?" He asked his guardian, pointing towards Nora.

"Huh - "

"Of course he can, Ren. Don't you worry." Shima said, cutting of Nora's response.

Glaring at Shima, Nora moved towards Jaune - her head still fixated onto her caretaker like an owl. Finally removing her gaze, she stuck a hand out with a wide smile.

"Well if Miss Shima trusts you, so do I! Nice to meet you, Mr. Jaune, the name's Nora Valkyrie!" Nora said enthusiastically. "And this nice boy behind me is Lie Ren!"

Ren followed soon after, offering his own hand behind Nora's, creating a two-handed hand.

"Indeed. I hope that you'll look after Nora and I for the duration of Miss Shima's leave."

Jaune took both of their hands in his bigger one and shook vigorously under the influence of Nora's energy.

"I give you my word," Jaune said.

He was going to be a great Huntsman and hero. But along the way, he was going to meet people. People that, maybe in another time would have formed bonds with nonetheless. But here and now, Jaune had the become Jaune the Babysitter, who also happened to want to become a Huntsman. He had to keep lien in his pockets somehow, after all.

He was also hoping that his older sister's lessons and experience with his younger sisters would help him out some, because even if Jaune didn't know it himself - Gods knew how much he was going to need it.

Ending notes:

So I said we were getting to babysitting this chapter but I guess I lied. Next chapter, I swear. For realsies this time.

Say hello to Tora Shima, though. My only OC throughout this entire story. Try figure out what kind of Faunus she is, props to whoever answers correctly.

Ren and Nora will be the first to experience the babysitting, that a good thing or a bad thing for them? Guess we'll find out next chapter.

The goal here was to make it seem realistic on who would meet Jaune first. From Mistral, we have Ren and Nora, Pyrrah, possible Mercury and Emerald (yes those were choices). Out of a debut championship fighter, thief and son of an assassin and a pair of orphans, the boop couple seemed most likely and more sensical.