EDIT: I'm sorry, this chapter was a corrupted HTML file. WiFi was and still is shitty. This is the third time I try to type this and Firefox closes on default. So yeah, I'm sorry and I'm pissed. I'm over pissed because I'm also stressed and my job is also being messed up seven ways to hell so yeah this is me being PISSED! Look at previous chapter's EDIT too. This chapter has been deleted and re-updated.

Anyway, before we move onto the chapter, I want to say sorry to all the ones who PM'd me. I am currently writing this in an OpenOffice Document because I don't have WiFi. Tomorrow I will update this from the library. Long story short, I will be without WiFi for… probably a week or so. And given how I must help the family, I cannot be at the library 24/7. So yeah… for a week, expect me to be mostly absent. Good news, I don't need WiFi to write, so I will start DarkerShade immediately. I know you are all waiting for that cliffhanger to be solved, hehe. Wink. (EDIT: it wasn't solved...)
And now, enjoy this chapter! Oh, also, thanks to LordHellPhoenix, who helped me with Jaune's outfit.

Huntlord Medeis Ozpin sighed as he watched the student's kill count on his Scroll. Over fifty killed Grimm, most of which were Ursai. Pyrrha Nikos was definitely living up to her fame, having gathered over forty-five points in the first hour, all by herself. Instead of sending her a notification that she'd reached her goal, he waited. He had slightly underestimated the girl. Better to see what she could do and give her more time. Besides, he wasn't the only one monitoring the students, so he could allow himself to focus on one student.

"Nathan Garnet has been killed by an Ursa Major," Peter Port spoke up from his left. Each Hunter sighed at the thought of yet another life lost to the Demons. "His two companions are battling it as we speak. I do think they will win."

"It appears that Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna are about to reach the temple's ruins. They have yet to encounter any Grimm," Glynda Goodwitch stated from behind the others, frowning at her Scroll. "They are avoiding all the worthless ones, but they are going straight into a pack of Ursai, with two Majors. I hope they will be safe."

"Ren Lie and Nora Valkyrie have slain an Ursa Major. However, both of them are still far below their objective, as they are stopping to battle any weak Grimm like Beowolves as well as the valuable ones," Bartholomew Oobleck said from Ozpin's right, the words fired from his mouth like bullets from a mini gun. "The boy seems low on Aura, but she still has half of it."

Ozpin nodded absent-mindedly as he watched Pyrrha Nikos impale yet another Ursai Major with her spear. Such level of precision, strength, agility, endurance and skill was unheard of in someone of her age. She would make for an incredible Huntress, in time. "Any Nightmare sighting?"

For a few seconds, nobody spoke. Then, a fifth person snorted and shook their heads. "Oz, you can't be serious. We might be expecting Nightmares, but not this early," said the man with messy black hair and faded red eyes. "Not under everyone's eyes."

"Ah, but what would bring more terror to the people: this school falling and being destroyed from within, or an army of Demons overrunning it before it could even open?" Ozpin asked to the group. "The first would show that there's always hope. The second, that Demons will never allow us to resist them."

"Nightmares don't use armies," the man pointed out, drinking from a flask he kept at his hip. A huge, folded sword rested on his back, the handle sticking out from his right side. "And if they wanted to overrun us, they would've gone after every Clan, individually, person by person. That's proof that Nightmares fight each other just as much as they fight us. They would never follow someone's lead. Oz, this is basic Nightmare knowledge."

"But sometimes, striking at the basics can result in victory." Ozpin closed Pyrrha Nikos's profile and turned to the others. "After all, we are expecting an army, and we are hoping for Nightmares to try and destroy this school, aren't we?"

"I still think you're insane," retorted the man. "This is too much of a risk. Also, we're risking our students' lives as well as our own!"

"Sacrifices must be made. If we want to only count how many deaths this will take, then we will never do anything. But if we look at what we could achieve…" Ozpin trailed off, looking into the distance. "No more Nightmares, Qrow. That's what we are striving for. And a drastic reduction in the Grimm population. We lose Hunters to the Demons every day. Wouldn't a few lives now be more than enough if the reward is so great?"

"Except that we aren't talking about your nieces' lives, but mine," the man called Qrow shot back. The three other Hunters kept their thoughts to themselves as they continued to watch the students. Goodwitch began to assign points to the four girls for their clever plan. "We argue about this everyday, and everyday you put your foot down with your usual 'it's for the greater good'. And what if this fails? It might very well fail. You're relying entirely on Summer's word, going against what Remnant has believed for millennia."

"I trust Summer," Ozpin simply replied. "If using this whole setup as bait works, I'll be proven right. If it doesn't… well, this school is a good idea, even if we didn't mean for it to really work."

"I trust her too, Oz. I'd trust her with my life, with my nieces' lives, with everything. But she's still a person, and as a person she can be mistaken. When history itself goes against her, why do you still believe her?" Qrow sighed as his flask ran dry. "She might've been tricked and lied to, Oz. She trust people too much."

"But she is one of the best Huntresses of our generation, Qrow, and she has dealt with Nightmares many times." Ozpin didn't mind Goodwitch's suddenly stiff posture, but he did look over her shoulder to see what was happening. "And I trust-"

He cut himself off as he took in the scene on the Scroll. The new blond had appeared out of nowhere. No, that wasn't exact, he had appeared from Ruby's necklace. The one Summer had trapped a Nightmare's Dusk in. As he continued to watch, the newcomer ran from the Grimm and hid behind a pillar, repairing the jewel. Then he summoned a greatsword, and fought the Ursa Major. Even though Ozpin was already sure of his true nature, he could've just been a student whose Lunas were shadow-related.

However, Pyrrha Nikos's timely arrival confirmed his guess. The redhead warrior forced the Demon to flee, and stopped to check upon the students. Oobleck had already a Bullhead ready and close at hand, hovering just off the edge of the cliffs. The champion seemed to briefly speak with the other girls before she called his Scroll. Offering it to Glynda, the two of them boarded the Bullhead, with Ozpin piloting it.

"Qrow, Peter, Bart, you three stay here and monitor the students. Qrow, I know you aren't a 'professor' here, but please do help them. We will handle this," Ozpin called out, throwing Glynda's Scroll at him before the hatch closed. The man called Qrow scoffed as if disgusted, but he did snatch the device, and he swiped it to look after some blond boy fighting a Boarbatusk.

Back inside the Bullhead, Goodwitch closed the call and reached Ozpin in the piloting cabin. "Good news, it's a Nightmare and it apparently is not showing any sign of aggressiveness. Do you think…?"

"I don't know what to think, Glynda. Honestly, I hope so. Despite what I told Qrow, I am surprised by the presence of a Nightmare so early on," was the Huntlord's tense reply as the man forced the Bullhead to speed up. "If Summer really trapped Dusk in that jewel, there is a chance that our whole setup was useless, after all."

"And you think that a random Nightmare is the one we're searching for?" she asked, highly sceptical.

Ozpin shook his head as the Bullhead dived and landed in a hurry. "Quite the opposite, Glynda. Using a highly powerful Nightmare would've been my first choice," he told her as the two of them leapt out of the hovering aircraft and landed on the grassy terrain not far from the ruins. "And this Nightmare is an unknown variable. Again, a possible problem. However, the Nightmare's unfitness for our project might exactly be what we need."

"That doesn't make any sense!" protested the woman, keeping an eye on the golden-haired individual, that was talking with the girls. Or rather, with young Ruby Rose.

"I have two main reasons. One, if the Nightmare thinks we are desperate, it might try to strike a better deal for itself. If instead it understands we deem it unfit, it might be the desperate one. And two, it'd be easier to control a weaker Nightmare, rather than a very powerful one," explained the silver-haired man as the two approached the group of six. "Glynda, you forget the only reason we made this a school was to attract Nightmares. If we weren't ready to use them, why try at all?"

"I thought you wouldn't have chosen the first to stumble by," seethed the Huntress.

"Why not? We are capturing monsters, Glynda, not recruiting people. It doesn't really matter which one we choose, only how we handle it. Now silent, we are about to enter their hearing range." The woman nodded in acknowledgement as the two of them crossed a dangerously damaged bridge across a deep chasm.

Ozpin took a moment to observe the Nightmare. Its hair seemed to be made out of real gold, and not just blond, something that hinted at its inhuman nature, and its eyes seemed sapphires. Both shared the coldness of metal and stone instead of the warmth of a person. Its skin was as pale as porcelain – yet another cold object rather than living being. Maybe Summer was wrong after all?

Its clothes didn't bring any more reassurance to the Huntlord, as they were so Nightmare-cliché he felt like chuckling. It wore a pair of mid-calf-high combat boots of studded black leather, with the studs being silver, with straps criss-crossing their whole length from just below the knee down to the ankle. Its pants were adherent enough to make the girls slightly uncomfortable, and they were -unsurprisingly- as black as the rest of its clothing, and more silver-studded straps with no apparent use were fastened around its legs. Ozpin silently thanked his keen eyes for allowing him to see so well even during the night. The Nightmare also wore three belts, all black and with several pouches and small knives attached to them. Due to the long, flowing black cloak it wore -a cloak he was sure could be wrapped around its whole frame if needed-, Ozpin had to wait until they were almost face-to-face to see what it was wearing on the upper half of its body.

As it turned out when he reached the group, the Nightmare was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with a high collar that covered almost all its neck, and whose sleeves continued on the back of its hands and fastened to its middle finger, leaving the wrist, the palm and part of the back of its hand free of clothing: on the strip of cloth connecting the sleeves and the middle fingers sat two small metal plates with small silver spikes on them. Over the shirt it wore a black, sleeveless vest, with a small, silver eight-pointed star sparkling where a human's heart would be. A silver, flame-like pattern was weaved on the lower hem of the vest and around the hem of the hood, as well as over its forearms. Ozpin couldn't tell whether the silver was real metal or silver-coloured thread. To complete the image, the Nightmare wore a silver chain necklace around its neck, and hanging from said necklace there was a small dark blue eight-pointed star – what Ozpin knew was its weapon's pommel, previously worn by Ms Rose.

Ozpin frowned. That Nightmare… it was too inhuman. All Nightmares were almost undistinguishable from human, but the one before him looked almost… fake. Its hair looked like curved wires of gold, as fine as it was, its eyes looked cut out of sapphire, and its skin seemed made of ivory. Its whole appearance just looked wrong, as if the world itself recoiled from it, and at the same time it felt more natural than a human, something that confused Ozpin to no end.

Chasing his doubts away from his mind, the man stopped just shy of five feet from the Demon, who didn't seem to acknowledge his presence in any way. It was repeating three words in a loop, three words Ozpin guessed were his name. Jaune Luna Arc. Not the most original name he'd ever encountered in a Nightmare, nor the most flamboyant, nor the most dramatic, nor the most mysterious, nor the 'coolest' as teenagers would say, but normal names were the best names for Nightmares.

Noticing his gaze resting upon it, the Nightmare chuckled dryly. "Let me guess: I look weird."

Ozpin didn't deign it of an answer, instead allowing Glynda to analyse him as well. However, Yang Xiao Long decided to speak up instead. "Yeah, now that you pointed it out, you do look inhuman. You look like a bunch of unliving material dumped together and shaped like a human." She reached out to touch its hand, making Ozpin, Glynda and Pyrrha Nikos tense up. However, the blonde immediately snatched her hand away from its skin. "Holy shit, you're freaking cold! How's that even possible?!"

The Nightmare opened its mouth to reply, but Goodwitch beat it to it. "Ms Xiao Long, Nightmares -as all Demons- do not have blood like we do. They are made of pure, coagulated darkness. As such, they can shape themselves into human forms, and they can even push their darkness to create something similar to a human's organism, and even heat. However, this particular Nightmare has apparently shown no interest in appearing human. Otherwise, it would be undistinguishable from a human – unless you have Virtuous skills like Ms Nikos, of course."

Xiao Long's eye twitched. "Call him 'he' for Oum's sake! I get he's not a real person but he looks like one and acts like one! Do we call criminals 'it' just because they are criminals?!"

Ozpin held up a hand to stop Goodwitch's retort. "My apologies, Ms Xiao Long. For us Hunters, it is quite hard to refer to Nightmares as people, but for your sake, we shall try. However, do keep in mind that criminals are still human, while Nightmares aren't. They can act like people, but their core nature is just inhuman." Turning to face Nikos, he continued as if the interruption hadn't happened at all. "Ms Nikos, you are the one who made the call. Can you tell us how this has happened?"

"I am here, you know? You could just ask me…" Ozpin, Goodwitch and Nikos all pointedly ignored the Nightmare's grumble.

"There is not much to tell, sir. I arrived just in time to chase it… him away, interrupting a possible fight between i-him and them. Then I called you, and Ruby managed to calm it… him down enough to drop its aggressiveness. I… He returned just about when you arrived, sir," Nikos calmly reported, although Ozpin noted how her hands were gripping her weapon.

Sighing, he nodded and turned to Rose, Schnee, Belladonna, and Xiao Long.

/-/

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

Ruby Rose had never given much thought to how Nightmares were treated. To her, they had always just been Grimm in human form. Jaune was different, though. For once, he was… there wasn't really a specific word in her dictionary to describe him. He was nice enough, at times, rude at others and weird at yet others. He seemed fairly calm, but his sarcasm was at odd with his relaxed expression. And of course there was the lack of the aggressiveness for which Nightmare were so famous.

But for all his quirks, his weirdness, and his quite uncaring personality, Jaune still wasn't an object.

It wasn't fair… no, it was more than that, it wasn't right to treat him like an object. To refuse to call him 'he' because of something as stupid as race. 'At least now they are trying,' she grumbled in her mind. Then she yelped when she noticed that Huntlord Ozpin had been staring at her for… probably quite some time now. "Y-Yes?"

"Ms Rose, I would just like to have your input in the matter," the man smiled ever-so-slightly, still completely ignoring Jaune. "How did this happen?"

"Well…" If she remembered right, Jaune had exited from the jewel… when she had asked for help. So he could hear her thoughts from within the necklace, or at least she supposed he could. Realizing she had been spacing out again, she shelved the idea for later, and awkwardly cleared her throat. "H-He helped me fight the Ursa Major. He was a little… dizzy… from exiting my necklace so he acted a little weird for a bit, but then he was polite. Then she rushed in, threatened him and chased him off. When he came back, since he told us he didn't have a name, I gave him one. And that's all… I think?"

Ozpin nodded and moved his gaze over to Weiss, leaving Ruby to sigh in relief. A quick glance at Jaune told her that he didn't seem at all concerned by how the meeting was going, and she winced when she realized why: the Nightmare had probably just resigned to his imminent demise. Without thinking, she poked his arm to gain his attention, idly noting that it was like poking clothed stone, and cleared her throat again. Sorry, she mouthed him.

That seemed to amuse him. He waved her apology off with a little smirk as Ozpin moved to Blake. "Meh, I kinda asked for this. I shouldn't have chosen the worst possible place to break out of that prison."

"We can agree on that," Ms Goodwitch snorted with disdain. "But it is also fortunate that you did… at least for us."

"Wow, so considerate of you. Basically 'sucks to be you', in an even shittier way," he remarked with his usual sarcasm. "Really, Demons might be monsters, but at least we don't lie to ourselves and pretend to be nice people."

"You should watch your tongue, as sharp as it is, if you have any semblance of self-preservation," the woman snapped frostily, levelling him with a glare that would've broken stones. As it was, Jaune didn't even seem to notice. Or maybe he was trying to rile her up further. Ruby thought about it. Definitely the latter.

"Now, now, now. I am sure this meeting would go smoother if we at least attempted to be civil," Ozpin amiably cut in, uprooting the argument before it could even begin. "Because as I see it, this meeting should be civil."

There was a warning undertone in his voice, and everyone within earshot instinctively tensed up. It was a subtle thing, but it was definitely there. Even Jaune lost his careless expression, replaced by a very slight, curious frown.

"As you can all see, we have yet to take any initiative to remove this Demon – Jaune, if I am not mistaken. As such, it should be clear to all of you that we are not here to eliminate him – not immediately, at least." Six nods from the students and the Nightmare assured him that he had gotten his message across. "Now, Jaune Luna Arc – may I call you Mr Arc? Thank you. Mr Arc, may we hear your own version of the tale?"

Jaune's shoulders did not relax, but he did force himself to speak. "Well, you know, I was just having tea in my apartment when all the Aura around corroded and destroyed my walls. So I stumbled in the outside world, and immediately a stupid Grimm tried to attack me. So I killed it. Then, since I really wasn't too keen on having a one-on-four fight with them, I tried to talk my way out of it. Then the bitch arrived." He pointed at Pyrrha, who frowned at him and brought her weapon just a little higher. "Yeah, you. Anyway, the bitch arrived and started shooting at me. I, as any being with a brain would've done, fled and hid. Then Ruby called me back and told me you were coming here. She gave me a name, and then you arrived. Oh, and have I mentioned that Yang doesn't like the bitch, too?"

Ozpin raised a single eyebrow at the tale, but it fit with the others'. "Very well. Now, I have witnessed the whole event via cameras, but I wanted to hear your versions. Mr Arc, I have a question for you." Jaune gave him the go-ahead, and Ozpin nodded. "If I were to spare you, would you work for me? Let me explain. You currently have two choices. Choice number one, you fight all of us. Certain death, I'm afraid. Choice number two, you give us a reason not to kill you, by making yourself useful."

Ruby frowned. That sounded more like forcing him into serving Ozpin than anything else. Sure, Jaune was a Nightmare, but still… "Isn't that a bit extreme, sir?"

Ozpin slowly shook his head. "Not in the slightest. Among my powers there is thought reading, and I can assure you that Mr Arc wouldn't think twice about backstabbing any of you if it granted him freedom." Ruby looked at Jaune in shock, but he just shrugged, passively confirming the man's statement. Ruby felt her trust in the 'boy' creak. "Although Mr Arc also seem to be somewhat reluctant to hurt you, Ms Rose."

Under the man's gaze, Jaune shrugged once more. "She's my Bearer, my Weaver, and my Forger," he simply said, as if that explained everything that needed to be explained.

A quick glance around told her that she hadn't been the only one to miss the explanation, but thankfully Ozpin seemed to take pity of them. "Nightmares are born in a very specific way, students. Huntborns usually study this at the very end of their training. For one of their kind to be born, Aura must be used. When Aura and Darkness mix, Dusk is created. We still do not know how can this happen. The owner of said Aura is the newborn Nightmare's 'Forger'. Newborn Nightmares are immediately adult, but they know nothing of the world. As such, they attach themselves to a person and subtly steal Aura from them while studying the world. This person is called 'Bearer', and they are not aware of the presence of the parasite. Finally, when it believes to have learned enough about the world, a Nightmare has to choose a name. However, if anyone else gives it a name before it can choose on its own, that person becomes the Nightmare's 'Weaver'." Ruby and the others looked confused, while Pyrrha seemed to be already aware of the knowledge. Jaune was just amused. "However, it has never been recorded of a Nightmare that hesitated to hurt its Forger, Weaver or Bearer. If anything, Nightmares seem eager to eliminate those people."

"I'm extraordinary, I know." Jaune's voice was dripping with unrestrained amusement and sarcasm. Then he turned serious, and Ruby realized she didn't really like when he was serious. His already inhuman expression turned even more wrong. Normally, people's faces couldn't stay completely still for long, but he had not such issue. No muscle moved in his face, and his eyes didn't blink as they darkened slightly. "But returning to your very generous offer, what kind of work would that be?"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses and offered a very small smile. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you here. However, as proof of my willingness to go through this meeting civilly, I will allow you a day to think about it. You shall remain in Beacon under strict surveillance, and after the time has gone you will have to have found an answer." Ozpin offered his hand to the Nightmare, something Ruby was pretty sure should've been recorded in the history books. "These five students will be forbidden to mention your nature, although I do ask you to modify your aspect to a more human appearance, or all our care will be for nothing. Once we are in my castle, behind closed doors, we shall discuss your work more in depth."

Jaune shrugged and his form blurred for a second. When the blur settled, Ruby and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed that Remnant as a whole did. His appearance was now completely human, if one didn't notice the still dark look in his eyes. His hair was still a golden yellow, but now it was more similar to Yang's colour, and his eyes were like river water rather than dark sapphires. His skin too had taken a slightly rosier tone, and when Ruby grazed his hand, she could feel a low warmth coming from it.

Then he took the man's hand in a gentle but firm hold. "Being killed tomorrow is still better than being killed on the spot," he commented sarcastically, but Ruby didn't need any mind-reading Luna to see that he was intrigued. Very, very intrigued.

/-/

Ozpin regarded all the students before him with a heavy expression. There were nine less than the ones he had dropped off the Bullheads. Two had died to Beowolves, one had been killed by an Ursa Major, and six by a Deathstalker. Checking his records once again, he pushed back a wince at just how many hadn't been able to pass the Initiation. Well, he had to get started.

"Greetings to you all. As you can see, there are nine less of you this morning. So, before the ceremony, I ask a minute of silence for those who met their demise in the Emerald Forest." A big guy in armour scoffed silently, but a single scathing glare from Goodwitch froze him on the spot. A little more than a minute of silence later, Ozpin continued to speak. "Now, of the twenty-eight applicants, only nineteen have survived Initiation, and… much fewer have actually passed it."

Ozpin looked at the teenagers. "Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Regina Fynn, Russel Thrush, Mia Cyan, Lie Ren, Sky Lark, Nora Valkyrie. None of you has reached the thirty points you needed. Some of you lost too much time fighting Grimm that did not give you points. Others simply failed to defeat enough Grimm. You are unfortunately denied access to Beacon." As expected, protests and complaints rose from the applicants, but Ozpin silenced everyone with a single tap of his cane against the floor. "Vernal Branwen. You have reached exactly thirty points. However, due to your unwillingness to team up, we must detract a point from your score, like I informed you back at the cliffs. As such, I am sorry to inform you that you failed Initiation as well."

The girl's eyes darkened and she stomped hard, clearly not liking the news. However, Goodwitch's glare was keeping her from throwing a fit right then and there.

Sighing, Ozpin continued, "Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, and Yang Xiao Long have all gathered around forty points, and as such they are welcomed in Beacon." Looking at the last student, he allowed himself a small smile. "Pyrrha Nikos, you managed to reach the impressive score of eighty points all by yourself. We are happy to have you among our students."

Pyrrha nodded slightly, while Yang just scoffed at her score.

Ozpin sighed. 'Hopefully, they will manage to solve their issues.' "You will all sleep within our premise, but tomorrow those of you who failed the entrance exam will be accompanied back to Vale. Goodnight, and enjoy your stay."

What? I never said how many people there were. In a world where most Hunters are trained by their families, not many would've accepted going to a school like that. And yes, Beacon is so gonna face the consequences of letting nine applicants die during Initiation.
Ren and Nora aren't weak, they just hold a grudge against the Grimm, and killed the Grimm that didn't give them points.
Also, Vernal, go choke on a dick.
Anyway, to explain something that people have been confused about: Yang and Ruby are step-sisters and act like in canon. Summer and Taiyang are divorced but they were married when Ruby was born, like Tai was married to Raven when Yang was born. Once Tai refused to allow Raven to take away their daughter to grow in her tribe, she left him. Summer and Tai were married for years, but eventually they fell out of love and divorced. They are still best friends, though.
The 'deal' between families I mentioned in the first chapter is just another way this world call marriage. It's complicated because the two family don't always merge into one, so it's a real deal.
And wow, Jaune at first didn't even look human. Also, more weird names, hehe. ^^
And yes, I know, I'm cruel for not telling you what will be the whole plot of this story. I'm evil and I'm proud to be evil. Who wouldn't, after all?
Again, this week (maybe longer) I will be mostly offline, so don't be offended if I don't reply for quite a while. I do not do it on purpose. Likewise, chapters might not be updated as soon as they're ready like usual.
Next chapter: The Offer (maybe I will change the title, hehe)
Until next time,
Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh

PS: did I already say I hate bad WiFi? Because I really do. I really really do.