Omake Inbound:

A seven year old, Jaune let out a panicked breath as he slumped against the thin barrier that kept him safe.

How?

How could this happen again? How had he been so stupid?

He couldn't let it, not again! He wasn't as naive to the way of those horrible traitors as he was before, especially in that tone of voice!

Innocent as an angel?

He shivered.

The barrier thudded as his tormentors bashed against it, making the barrier shake and wobble.

"We know you're in there! You can't escape!" One called.

Jaune cursed in his head as he scanned the surrounding area for an escape.

He saw one chance and realized he would have to time it perfectly if he had any chance of survival. He took a deep breath and lunged at the lock blocking his salvation, desperately unlatching the lock.

The door swung open as the monsters finally gained entrance.

Jia, Bianca, and Violet barged in just as Jaune slid the lower half of the window up.

"Get him!" Violet yelled.

He flung himself out the window and let his aura cushion the impact before sprinting like hell away from his home.

"Using your aura's cheating Jaune!" Jia complained.

"You are NEVER putting me in a dress! NEVER!" Jaune hollered, running like a madman for the forest.

His oldest sisters didn't hesitate to follow him and he ducked behind a tree as they followed. He wasn't going to wear. dress ever again! In any life!

He held his breath as they searched for him.

Suddenly his instincts screamed and he dove out of his hiding place just out of reach of Jia's hands.

"Drat!" She complained.

He looked back at her, which turned out to be a crucial mistake.

Bianca scooped him up as he tried to get away and he struggled to free himself without hurting her.

"NOOOOOOO!" He cried as she grinned at Violet who held out the dress.

"Yes!" Violet began to lift the accursed fabric up.

He realized that he had no choice and just as they began to shove the dress over his head, he activated his semblance in his hands and swiped his hands at the cloth covering his vision. He finished shredding the fabric and squirmed hard enough for his sister let go in shock. He landed in a crouch and bolted away.

"Jaune, you ruined the dress completely!" Bianca complained., "Now we have to get a new one!"

"Never!" Jaune roared as he dashed.

[A.N. Don't even ask why, just don't.]


Loud thwacks sounded as Jaune's fist cracked against the training bracers his father was using. Jaune spun and launched a roundhouse kick at the bracer, and another loud crack echoed through the clearing. John steadily retreated and advanced, moving to give Jaune a challenge as he kept pounding the wood. His father had made sure Jaune had a decent amount of training in hand-to-hand combat, claiming that only a fool would ignore the possibility of being disarmed. Jaune had eagerly agreed but wanted to learn to help his fighting when he was using his holy elements, he could have made blades with ice, but using only one weapons was sure to be a crutch if he ran out of energy to form them.

"Uppercut!" His father commanded.

Jauned ducked a swipe from the wooden braced and launched a fist into the edge of the bracer, a spiderweb of cracks covering the end.

John smiled as he backed away, "Fantastic job. Take five son."

Jaune panted and collapsed onto his ass as he wiped sweat off his forehead. He blinked as he saw a hand holding out a water bottle to him. He looked up at Lilly, his twin.

"Thanks Lils." He said gratefully, immediately downing a third of the bottle.

She smiled and sat down next to him, "It's fine, you've really gotten strong. I bet girls will be swooning at the sight of you in the city with all those muscles you've been growing."

Jaune chuckled dryly but the mirth in the sound was real; he quickly lay down so he could rest his head on his sister's lap, "I doubt it, all they'll see is some country bumpkin from the outskirts."

His sister laughed and ran a hand through his hair, "Well then, they are all blind."

Inwardly, she frowned at Jaune's constant put-downs on himself. He was an amazing person and an even better brother. But whenever he was complimented, his expression twisted into something bitter for just a split-second before his good cheer returned.

He smiled and let his eyes slide closed as Lilly continued to stroke his head, fingers carding through his hair.

'I will protect everyone, I never want to lose them again.' He thought. 'I don't want to lose this feeling ever again.'

He loved all of his family fiercely, but Lilly was his twin. They shared a special bond because of that, she had always been incredibly protective of him, just as much as he was of her. They had always been close, even in his previous life. His entire family was close-knit and caring. Despite his schedule, he would make time for his sisters, laughing with them and making sure they were as happy as could be.

Jia and Violet were actually several years older than he was, they were planning to become business owners and had taken a short sabbatical before jumping into the business scene, despite their... eccentric nature. Bianca was a year behind and had decided to work in the village, despite going to a hunter prep, she simply wanted to help protect the town in case of an emergency. She had a very easy-going outlook on life, and simply took what came to her. His mother and father were hunters but once every blue moon, things would get out of hand and grimm would come in hordes. Lilly was calm and collected, as well as born as his twin. She was brilliant and would always take a step away to look at a situation from every angle; aspiring to be a professor at a university.

Jaune played with the idea of introducing her to Glynda Goodwitch or Oobleck.

His youngest sister actually hadn't been born yet, and to be honest he had no idea whether or not his decision to go to Signal would actually affect his parents conceiving another kid.

He rather doubted it, they were much too active for his tastes, especially since his house was not exactly soundproofed and he was prone to wake up at any tiny noise that wasn't natural.

'Shove in earphones, block out world.' He thought exasperatedly.

Jaune was dozing off when suddenly two weights descended on his stomach without warning and pushed the air out of his diaphragm in a loud whoosh.

Ah, yes...

Joanna and Jean.

Troublemakers and rambunctious as a playful pup.

He gathered them up, one under each arm and gave them a playful glare, "What did I tell you two about doing that? I think you need punishment!"

He began to tickle them and Lilly retreated with a soft giggle as they shrieked with laughter. They squirmed and wriggle until they were both bright red from breathless laughter. He stopped and hugged them close, and their arms wrapped around him before they stiffened.

"You're all sweaty!" Jean whined.

Jaune chuckled as he grinned, "Glad you noticed! Now you're both all sweaty!"

"Ewww!" Joanna complained.

Jaune laughed.


Jaune sat up on his side of bed as Lilly slept in it, gently petting her head. To be honest, ever since the school year had ended, his sisters had been cozying up with him alot more than usual.

He knew why.

He was leaving before Signal's school term started, after that he would have to start pushing himself harder and finding ways to train while not letting anyone know.

He wouldn't be able to stay here.

He closed his eyes and let his grimm focus on the feel of each of his family members' aura. He memorized it until he made sure that he would never forget it.

He hadn't been able to do that the first time around, he hadn't gotten word of the attack on his hometown until it had been far too late.

When he had seen his house decimated and the remains of his family...

He took a shaking breath before he forcibly shunted the image from his head, it would never happen again.

He wouldn't let it.

He had contemplated the idea of holding back on his training to spend a more time with his family. He wanted to make sure that he could squeeze as much time as he could before heading off to Signal. He knew he would get summer and winter breaks, but he was still debating whether or not to put his Summer break into the future.

He had to make sure of a few things.


It had taken some time but it was well worth it to him.

A few notes drifted out from his guitar as he gently strummed the strings, he hadn't touched a guitar in sometime and so a bit of rust was expected. He kept playing until finally he felt as though he had once again reached his previous level of skill. With that in mind, Jaune began to play one of his favorite melodies and let himself get swept up in the song as he played. He hadn't initially planned to play ever again, but when his sisters bought him a guitar and showed how excited they were to see him play it...

Well, he simply didn't have it in him to refuse.

His sisters all sat on the grass in front of him as he played, listening attentively.

When he played the final few notes, he glanced up at his audience, "Was that good enough?"

His sisters cheered and applauded as he smiled.

"When'd you get so good?" His mother asked as she hugged him, "I never saw you practice."

Jaune smiled sheepishly, "Well, I went out into the forest and practiced with some videos until I felt confident enough to learn some songs. After that, more practice until I cold play them off the top of my head. I mean, training to be a hunter is all well and good, but even I need downtime from that."

His mother seemed satisfied with that.


Jaune sighed as he brushed the leftover twigs and dirt out of his hair. To be honest, hiding from his father and mother wasn't exactly easy, but using the shadows made the process of getting outside considerably easier. Just a quick twist of his will and shadows would swallow him whole, and he could move through them silent as grave. That in of itself was all well and good until the shadows unceremoniously spat him out in a heap in the yard.

Still needed to perfect that, his movement wasn't as refined as it used to be.

After a brief jog, he made his way a bit deeper than usual into the forest, enough so that his father and/or mother would never look here if they woke up.

He covered his hand with bone and sank his gauntlet into the dirt.

A small spire of bone shot out of the ground and Jaune unsheathed Crocea Mors before coating the edge in flame and quickly slicing through the base. The bones tipped over and Jaune caught it with the shadows silently, and set it down on it's side. He pulled out a few torn and worn shirts from when he was a kid and set them on top of the spire. He dismissed his ancestral blade from his side.

"Now... lets craft with it..." He murmured.

He placed his hands on the cloth and bone and grey wisps of energy began to flow into the item. The slab of bone (and Jaune paused at the thought of crafting with actual grimm bone and what he could make) began to warp as the cloth twisted. Soon, Jaune was left with a pair of gauntlets similar to the ones he had gotten forged for him from Pyrrha's armor. He slipped them on and flexed his fingers, testing the motion, making sure the gauntlets didn't cause any friction or hamper his movements. Satisfied with that, he carefully strode over to a tree and punched it.

A loud crack echoed and splinters flew as the part of the tree he hit practically exploded while his gauntlet didn't receive any backlash damage.

Not even a mark.

"Perfect." He smirked.

He walked back to the last item he crafted, a sword.

To be specific, a bone Gladius.

Black cloth wrapped around the handle and In all honesty, it looked more like a weapon made of ivory rather than bone.

However there was the etching.

Deep and violent red - like crusting blood - the archaic symbols carved into the blade of the weapon pulsed with was undoubtedly dark energy.

Jaune sighed, "Okay... let's see what we can do about that..."

It wasn't uncommon for red to be a color on a weapon, he knew that, but any grimm would dissipate after it was killed, and if the sword mad of grimm bone didn't... well, it wouldn't be good or easy to exlpain. Jaune knew he could play it off as ivory, but the texture was just wrong so if somone asked to check it out... He couldn't make an excuse about how he gathered grim bone, and he could say animal bone but it wouldn't be enough of an explanation for the red etching. So, with that in mind, he took the blade in his hand and gently pulsed his aura through the blade. Grey filigree marks crawled up the handle and interlaced with the red markings.

The red mark visibly flared as thought trying to resist the aura, but it was crafted from Jaune's power, it was his.

So he suppressed the dark energy and layered his aura on top.

The marks now shimmered a bright silver, not quite white, not quite grey.

Jaune smiled before taking a deep breath and took his stance.

And Jaune danced.

His blade was nothing more than streak of white that flashed in the night as he parried imaginary opponents and struck at the stretching shadows. He went through each attack he knew, every twist of his hand, flick of his wrist, every last motion. When he finally felt at ease with the blade he waved his hand at the darkness that enveloped the trees. The darkness writhed and twisted and a figure formed in the dark. It walked towards Jaune and as it entered the clearing, the moonlight made it visible.

Piece by piece, bit of bone by bit of bone, light gleamed of the overlapping bone scales that covered its form, all arranged to look like some scaled armor. Wisps of darkness drifted out of the small gaps in its armor, all of which soon were covered by bone of covered by the shifting scales. The darkness of the area seemed to cling to it, as though refusing to let it escape its cool embrace. It strode into the clearing and Jaune turned to face it, shifting his gladius in front of him.

Jaune tilted his head observing the form of his shadow.

The shadow remained still.

It kicked off the ground and two bone forearm blades jutted out of its arm. Jaune brought up his gladius they clashed with a loud crack. Jaune would have been worried about the sound but he had made sure he had gone far enough out so he wouldn't be observed.

They battled across the clearing, weaving in between each other blows and striking as much as possible. Jaune blocked a slashed and backpedaled as the shadow pressed forward. Jaune bent under a blow at his head and hopped in place, twisting just over a slash that would have split open his abdomen had it connected. As he was in the air, his hand lashed out and carved a divot out of the chest plate of the shadow he was fighting. It stumbled back but Jaune refused to relent, pressing his offense and scoring more and more blows.

His blade was finally caught by a cross-block the monster's forearm blades.

Black wisps of aura drifted out of the shadow's numerous marks. The shadow twisted the block so Jaune's blade was held off to the side and threw a slash at Jaune's head. Jaune's hand flashed up and caught the blade, filling the silence with the sound of screeching metal. Jaune's hand was glowing with grey light and Jaune grit his teeth as he held the blade away from his face. With a solid kick he knocked the shadow off of him and simultaneously used the kick as a launch to create some room.

He landed in a crouch and stood to his full height, "I think it's about time we finished, don't you agree?"

The shadow stayed silent, bone shifting to reform over the damaged areas.

Jaune tilted his head and looked to the side, exhaling through his nose and rolling his eyes, "Right, right. Forgot you don't exactly talk."

He exploded into a sprint, blade at his side in an icepick grip. The shadow launched a swift straight at Jaune's head, which would have impaled him. Jaune ducked under the blade, and slammed the pommel of his blade into the shadow's stomach. It bent forwards under the force of the blow and Jaune moved. He straightened, simultaneously flipping his grip on the handle of the blade. With a swift twist, his blade cut across the shadow's stomach and was brought down on the shadow's neck.

There was a soft thunk as the severed helm hit the floor and shattered into wisps of dark essence.

Jaune sighed as the body toppled and the dark essence of it's dissolving body promptly flowed into him.

He gripped the Gladius tightly and sighed, "I'll need a sheath and then I'll try to find a name for you..."