Disclaimers : I do not own any of this but the oc's, everything else belongs to there rightful owners

" Normal " - speaking

' italics ' - thinking \ flashback

" italics " - Reaper talking

Bold - yelling

* Bold * - sound effect

The Unforgiving Path

Ch 4: A Daring Deal

Have you ever been scared in your life? What am I kidding, of course you've been scared. It's only natural. But the only way I can describe what I'm feeling right now, is like knowing i'm walking into a minefield. One wrong step and you die.

Ozpin and I were walking along the hallway that lead to his office. None of us spoke a word, the only thing that made a sound was Ozpin's cane.

Then the cane stopped along with me as now I was standing in front of an elevator. The headmaster pushed the button calling the elevator. Ozpin reach his hand out and pushed the button to call the elevator.

Seconds after calling for it, the doors opened and Ozpin walked in and beckoned me to join him.

" Come now Mr. Arc, you have nothing to be afraid of." He said noticing how tense my body. I didn't respond, I just walked into the elevator and avoided eye contact. Walking right past him, I felt the heat from his coffee. Given any other situation the heat would barely be noticeable, but in my situation the heat was enough to make me nearly jump, but I ignored it and moved to the railing and looked out the window and saw a beautiful view of Beacon. The view was nice, the sun was shining, the grass was green, the flowers were blooming, these were all sign that showed spring was approaching. The view almost looked like it was painted, but it brought my mind to a slight ease.

… until I was brought back by a guy obsessed with black.

" Wow Jaune, you're more anxious then a teenage boy on his first date." My mental partner said.

' yeah,' I replied, ignoring the joke, ' It's not like I'm walking towards my probable expulsion.' I finished, running my hand through my messy hair then feeling a slight jerk upwards signaling the elevator working it's way to his office.

" I don't think that he is going to expel you just for property damage." Reaper said trying to comfort me.

' I don't know. In my position anything can be a possibility leading towards it." I said, uncertain of what might happen to me.

" Jaune, you can't keep pulling yourself back into the pit. Give yourself some credit, you just got out of a fight that could have very well taken your life, you used your aura in a way that people can only dream. And you did this with no weapon, or proper training." Reaper said, obviously not wanting to hear this constant belittling of myself.

' That's because you were there to help me Reaper. Plus it was just a beowolf.' I replied looking up to see if we were any closer and judging by the distance we had at least a few seconds to go.

" No! The only thing I did was tell you to stay focused. You did the rest. And even if it was just a beowolf, not many people would face one with their fists." Reaper replied in a more calm tone.

' Really?' I asked. Then suddenly remembering Yang and how she fought. Would she technically be fighting with her fists.

Before I could get a answer, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Ozpin walked out with me in tow. As soon as I walked out I immediately began to inspect the place. It had everything that you would see in a clock, it had bolts, gears and whatever else you needed and all was protected by a glass pane.

" Is something troubling you." I heard Ozpin said as he sat down in his desk, give a sigh as he got comfortable in his chair.

" No, but I do have a question." I said as I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of him. " Have you ever had an issue with the glass breaking?" I asked.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and answered. " I've never had to worry about to windows breaking. As they are reinforced with dust, you can shoot a bullet at it and it would leave a mark." he answer. " Now Mr. Arc, you do know why you're here. Right?" Ozpin said.

" No sir, you never told me why." I answered. Then he waited as If he thought I knew the answer to his questions. Him seeing that I wasn't going to answer anytime soon, he continued.

" I brought you here to ask you questions." he said. " I would first like to know about what happened at Professor Port's classroom. I came in the classroom when the beowolf was released, I saw how you tensed up. Now I'm not one to jump to conclusions, and stop me if I'm wrong. But my best guess was that you were afraid " he said , leaning forward and setting his elbows on the table.

" No sir, you're not wrong." I replied

He then folded his hands and put them in front of his lips. " If that's so then can you please answer me this? I was told that you took down a Ursa Major when you went out to collect sap for Professor Peach. Why is it that you had the courage to take down a B-class Grimm, but got scared of a C-class Grimm. "

'Because some guy in my head possessed me to fight the alpha.' I groaned mentally, praying that he would hear it and believe it. " Well sir it was the first time volunteered for a fight in a while. Not only that but I went into the fight without a weapon. And yet I was fighting without any proper knowledge of how to fight with my fists." I said to him.

He first let out a sigh before speaking. " So you volunteered to fight a Grimm. Knowing full-well that you might come not come out alive." Ozpin said. I only nodded, with the weight of his words coming down on me. " Mr. Arc I know for a fact that you are smart enough to know when you are able to fight or not. I've seen things like this happen many times before, they were eather in the wrong state of mind, or they were forced to do what they did." he stated as took his glasses off, and stood. " And frankly, I believe that you were forced." he finished, giving me a look that could sent any Grimm running in the opposite direction.

My heart began to beat faster as the words left his mouth. 'Does he know of Reaper, what's he going to do if he finds out about him.' these were the only thoughts that were running through my head. " W-What do you mean professor? No one forced me." I said hesitantly.

He shook his head gently before saying, " I don't mean anyone from this school Mr. Arc. I mean the other soul inside your body." and then, my heart dropped. This meant that Ozpin found out about Reaper. " And please do not try to act dumb about it, that's the only thing that can make this situation worse." he finished.

There was no use. I wouldn't be able to lie to him, even if I tried he would see straight through it.

" How did you find out." I asked hanging my head low and avoiding his eyes.

" When you finished the beowolf off with that 'attack' of yours. I noticed a black outline around your fist, it was small, but it was there. There were never any reported cases of a single person having multicolored auras. The only way that can happen is if two souls were to share one body. " he explained, reaching out and wrapping his hand around his coffee mug and brought it to his lips and took a few gulps " That's the only possibility Mr. Arc." And with that the silence followed

" Show me him." he stated, breaking the silence

"What?" I said

" Show him to me." he repeated

" Professor, I don't thin-" Suddenly, I began to feel cold, like I had been shoved into a freezer. The sudden change made me gasp

" You called." I heard someone say. I didn't even need to turn back to know who it was.

" Nevermind." I muttered, still in a slight shock from the change in temperature. my best guess was because of Reaper leaving my body. This may have been the second time he left my body. But this is the first time I experienced it, if that makes sense.

I looked up to see Ozpin's reaction to the character that stood behind me. He didn't reaction was no different from his normal stoic look.

" So this is the one that has been residing in your body." he said. "May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Ozpin asked.

I looked back at Reaper wanting to hear his response. He had a stare that seemed to be fixed on Ozpin.

" Reaper." was his only response.

" Interesting name." said Ozpin with a raised eyebrow.

" It's not the one I was born with."

Ozpin didn't reply, seeing how wasn't going to say his name any time soon, he changed the subject.

" So were you the one to 'volunteered' Mr. Arc to fight the beowolf." he questioned.

" Yes. I was the one." Reaper replied.

" You know. I don't appreciate when my students are thrown into danger when they're not ready to face it. Especially when it can be avoided. " Ozpin said. I then started to get a strange feeling. It felt ominous, and cold but I ignored it.

" Really now. You don't like your students thrown into danger." Reaper said. To which Ozpin only nodded. " Because from what I heard. In order to be accepted into Beacon you must be thrown into the Emerald Forest, which is a hot spot for Grimm, to retrieve a relic. Which I heard, were chess pieces. You through your students in a life threatening situation for sometime barely worth any lien. And for what? A partner, A team." Reaper said while I started to panic. Never in my time in Beacon have I heard anyone talk to Ozpin like that.

I looked at Ozpin to see his expression to Reaper statement, the only thing I saw change was the grip he had on the cups handle. The handle was probably grinding to dust by now.

" I'm not trying to bash on your way of doing things, heck i'm sure that you have a good reason to do what you do." Reaper said, noticing his grip on the handle. Walking to the chair next to me, he sat down. " But if you take both situations and compare them. Which one sounds worse?" Reaper asked, looking Ozpin straight in his eyes.

" I am aware that my method of making teams is a bit…extreme." Ozpin admitted. " But in my experience of being headmaster, i've figured that this way is the best way to make teams. I would rather not explain it to you." The grip on the handle eased.

Reaper only shrugged " Whether you tell me or not is up to you, I really don't care. Let's stop talking about this, I know that you didn't ask for me to come out here to talk about your way of team making. I'm sure that you have another reason."

" I do, I want to ask you a few questions regarding you." Ozpin said " My first question is how you got into the school grounds. There are multiple teachers that guard these grounds. How is it that you were able to slip pass? I can't even find you in any of our security footage that I went over yesterday." Ozpin said while bringing up multiple camera recording on his desk.

Reaper stayed quiet for a few seconds to find his answer. " Would you believe if I told you that I teleported into the school grounds." Reaper said, as we both looked at different cameras. Nothing really interesting in any of them, except for one that showed professor Port, he seemed to be fixing his mustache in the reflection of the window. Nothing more than th-and there goes the shirt, along with what respect I had for him. He then proceeded to flex and do multiple poses as if he was in a competition. Fortunately, Ozpin closed all the camera recording, unfortunately what I saw will never leave my mind.

"You mean that you teleported onto the school grounds?" Ozpin questioned with doubt in his voice.

Reaper nodded his head. " Yes, more like I teleported into the school, right in front of jaune actually."

" Is this true Mr. Arc?" He asked.

" Yes Headmaster, It is true." I answer after breaking out of my trance.

" Why did you not report this, this person could have killed you and many others." Ozpin said with a stern look on his face.

" I-I wasn't in the best of moods yesterday headmaster, he helped me somewhat." I said with a small studder.

" It doesn't matter if you're in the best of moods or down in the dumps, any suspicious activity should be reported or dealt with immediately." Ozpin stated.

" Yes headmaster." I said looking to the ground.

Ozpin let out a sigh and took a few sips of the coffee before going to his next question.

" What is your semblance?" Ozpin asked, looking back to Reaper.

" My semblance?" Reaper said confused

Ozpin nodded. " Yes, Your semblance. You said that you teleported in the school, so I assume that it has to do with that."

" No, my semblance doesn't really have anything to do directly with teleporting. My semblance is actually Shadow Manipulation, I can manipulate any shadow that I connect my aura to." Reaper explained.

" Can you show me?"

Reaper shrugged " Sure, don't see why not." he then raised his left hand and I watched as his shadow traveled up his body starting from his legs, up his upper body, and wrap around his arm, making his arm look like a shadow.

Ozpin went wide eyed for a second before going back to their standard look.

" What an interesting semblance, the ability to control an object that cannot be touched." Ozpin said, while looking closely at Reapers arm, before the shadow went back to the ground.

" It has its perks." Reaper said, " but it has some downsides to it."

Ozpin then seemed interested, " Downsides? Would you like to explain."

Reaper chuckled, " Allow a man some secrets, sir."

" Fine," Ozpin sighed, " My next question is towards you Mr. Arc."

" What?" I said in surprise.

" Well, it's not a question but more of a deal." Ozpin explained.

I got confused for a seconded and looked at Reaper, he looked just as confused, even with the mask.

" What deal, headmaster?" I asked.

" I'm going to tell you something Mr. Arc." Ozpin said looking me dead in the eyes. " You will no longer attend any classes because as of right now, you are not a student of this school."

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

" What?!" I shouted while jumping out my seat.

" Yesterday the council told me that having someone that cheated their way into Beacon would not be good for not only this academy, but for the others as well." Ozpin explained. " So they told me that I had to expel you from the school. The decision almost went through until I told them of some of your accomplishments. The only thing that they saw wrong was your transcript, and your combat abilities. So I made a deal with them, a associate of mine is going to come to Vale next week. I told them that if you can impress him in a mock battle with the team I chose and he gives his approval that you have potential in becoming Hunter, we will make you a proper transcript and you will continue your studies in Beacon. The decision to do this though is up to you in the end." He paused for a moment. " Will you take the risk and wait for the mock battle, or are you going to go pack your bags with no idea on where to go."

I began to pace around the room and think about the deal that Ozpin gave me. He was giving me a chance to keep studying at Beacon, and even a proper transcripts. I can finally become the hero that my ancestors were, I can become a proper Hunter. Everything would be better for me, but I have to go through a mock battle with the team of Ozpin's choice. With what I have right now I might not even last the first minute in the match against a team, not to mention I have to impress whoever is coming to see Ozpin. Wait, Ozpin never said anything about winning, all he said is that I have to impress the guy. He's just looking to see if I can qualify to be a Hunter, I think I can do that. I might need to do a lot of training, but I think that I can do that.

" I-I think I could do that sir." I said as I began to relax and sit down.

" Excellent Mr. Arc, so exactly one week from today you will have your mock battle, I will send you the team you're fighting as soon as I come to a decision. Train hard this week, you're going to have to if you want to stay." Ozpin said, sticking out his hand. I reached out and gave a firm handshake. " Before you go I heard that you were staying in Professor Port's classroom to sleep. Is that true?" he asked while letting go of my hand

" Ohhh, yes headmaster it is." I answered

" Well although it's not allowed for a student to sleep in a classroom, there are no dorms open for you to sleep in." after I heard that I started to panic, where was I going to sleep. " I do think I have a place for you though that's outside the school grounds. I will send you the location to your scroll. And I let all your teachers know of your situation. Now you are excused Mr. Arc." And with that I began to walk out of the room and Reaper stood up.

" Reaper, I actually have more to talk about with you." Ozpin said

" Alright then, I guess I'll stay here." Reaper said, sitting back down. I didn't question Ozpin and Reaper didn't seem to have a problem so I walk to the elevator.

" Headmaster may I tell you something?" I looked back and saw him nod. " I no longer have the Arc name, so can you please refer to me as my middle name, Miles." I asked just as the elevator opened. He looked at me for a moment before nodding his head.

" Very well, I hope to see you soon Mr. Miles." And with that I walked into the elevator and closed the door and felt the elevator descend.

(End of Ch 4)

Okay I know that I said that I would cancel this story in order to make a 'rewrite' but after reading through it and making a story for A Different Path. I realized that they are becoming two different stories, and because of that I decided that I would bring this back from cancellation. Plus some people were still giving this story follows and favorites, so me bringing this back is my final decision. Please tell me what you all think about this chapter in the review section.

So until next time, Lupus out.