Gods Within The Arc

"Speaking"

"gods/heroes speaking"

'Thinking'

"Monster/Creatures"

"Voice over radio"

Chapter 7

Overcoming Trails

Jaune woke up in a cold sweat. It poured from his brow and he found himself panting as if he had ran a full marathon. Jaune's reason for waking up were simple; he had vivid nightmares. This time, he dreamt of a battle that caused the end of everything. Ragnarok. Jaune put his hands over his face, trying hard not to break down.

Everyone and everything has a tipping point, a point where it all breaks. Jaune was lucky to have the gods at his side, helping him, whispering small comforts in his head, but Jaune didn't know how much more he could take. He wished it would all go away but he knew it wouldn't, he couldn't make it go away, all he could do was endure.

Jaune reached for his scroll and saw that there was a whole hour before initiation, so he got up from his resting spot and decided to walk around, hoping to clear the image of Ragnarok out of his head. Maybe he would go have breakfast, maybe get changed.

He carefully maneuvered his way out, a set of magenta eyes following his every move.

Jaune walked the dark halls of Beacon, utterly lost but content as long as his mind was elsewhere, not focusing on Ragnarok.

All the while the gods argued on how to help Jaune deal with his nightmares, everyone was either shouting ideas or shutting down ideas, everyone except Quetzalcoatl.

"Someone approaches," Quetzalcoatl said softly, but this caused the gods to stop their arguing and Jaune to halt in the middle of the hallway. He turned around and lit a flame with power of Hephaestus, waiting a short while before a figure stepped into the light. Even with the less than illuminating light of the fire in his palm, he recognized the figure as Lie Ren.

"Ren? What are you doing up so early?" Jaune asked, realizing his hypocrisy, muscles relaxing as he dropped his hand to waist level.

"I could ask you the same thing. But let's not talk in the middle of a dark hallway. Come," Ren said, before turning and walking away. Jaune shrugged and followed him. It was better than wandering the halls of Beacon.

The two walked into the cafeteria, immediately going over to grab a bite to eat. Ren grabbed some soup native to Mistral and Jaune grabbed some French toast and some orange juice. Jaune and Ren sat down and begun to eat their respective meals in silence, until Jaune spoke.

"So, why are you up so early and why were you following me?" Jaune asked, curious as to Ren's actions. Ren took another sip from his soup before addressing Jaune.

"To answer your first question, I tend to wake up early to make Nora breakfast. This time though, since there's a cafeteria, I decided to catch up on a book I've been reading," Ren said, level-headedly, voice neutral. "As for your second question, you seem to have had an even worse nightmare than the one you had back in the bullhead. So, I decided to make sure you were okay."

"I appreciate it, but why help me?" Jaune asked, hoping Ren wouldn't take offense, thankful when he didn't. Ren simply finished his soup, before once more addressing Jaune.

"Everyone has to experience nightmares once in a while, but they don't have to do it alone, do they?" Ren said wisely.

"I guess you're right. But, for what it's worth, thanks for helping me here and in the that metal death trap," Jaune said with a small smile, a smile that Ren returned.

"I should head back, before Nora wakes up and does something that we'll both regret." Ren stood up, said goodbye, and left.

Jaune watched the boy leave before continuing to eat his meal in relative peace. At least, before Jaune heard several footsteps and voices coming towards the cafeteria. Jaune finished his meal in a hurry and then booked it.

Time had flown so quickly, Jaune only had a couple of minutes to grab his gear and get ready.

Jaune found himself wandering about the locker room, cursing in Egyptian and Greek. As for why? Well, he couldn't find his damn locker.


"Come on! I don't remember counting up to 636!" Jaune exclaimed in frustration.

"Jaune?" A voice spoke from behind Jaune, causing him to turn and find Ruby, accompanied by a blonde girl, walking towards him. Jaune's frustration seem to subside, enabling him to smile and wave at the pair.

"Hey Ruby, how's it going?" Jaune greeted with his normal cheery attitude, though his tone held traces of his prior frustration.

"It's going great! Oh, forgot to motion, this is my sister, Yang," Ruby said, gesturing at the blonde girl.

Now if Jaune had to describe Yang in one word, that word would be beautiful. She had stunningly blonde, long hair, mischievous lilac eyes, and a very attractive physique. Jaune extended his hand out to greet his fellow blonde, making sure to ignore Apollo's and Loki's teasing.

"I'm Jaune Arc, pleased to meet you," Jaune said in a friendly and well-mannered voice.

"Yang Xiao-Long, likewise," Yang said with a pleasant smile on her face. "Ruby told me what you did for her, I appreciate it." Jaune recognized that sisterly tone.

"I don't know what I would do if my little sister got hurt," Yang said, striking a dramatic pose, causing Ruby to pout and Jaune to crack a small grin.

"Yang, stop it! I'm not little, I drink milk!" Ruby exclaimed, the latter part spoken in a matter-of-fact way.

Yang simply laughed and started to mess around with Ruby, something the younger girl found to be rather irritating. After another moment of watching older sister tease younger sister, Jaune bid farewell to the two and embarked on his odyssey to find his locker.

With the small aiding hand of Ruby, Jaune finally found the damn thing, but Jaune saw that Pyrrha and the white haired girl from earlier were standing right in front of it.

So, Jaune simply walked up to duo and overheard something about team forming, something Jaune knew nothing about.

"Hello ladies," Jaune said. What was supposed to come out all suave and cool sounding came out sounding gods awful, his delivery lacking due to his voice cracking.

Pyrrha and the white haired girl paused and turned towards him, with two different reactions. Pyrrha seemed pleased to see him, and was sporting her real smile. The white haired girl looked like she was two literal seconds from murdering him. Of course, if she tried that Fenrir would jump in right away, but it was the expression that hurt more.

"What do you want?" The white haired girl, who Jaune recognized as Weiss Schnee, heiress to SDC, asked, voice dripping with venom.

Jaune cleared his throat to make sure he would avoid any more embarrassment and/or creating any material for Apollo's or Loki's teasing, before deciding to speak.

"Well, you're in front of my locker. I would like to get my equipment before initiation," Jaune said, hoping not to enrage the heiress. To his surprise, Weiss blinked owlishly before stepping aside, allowing Jaune to finally complete his odyssey. Jaune opened his locker and started to put on his equipment but was still interested in the topic they were discussing.

"So...what was this I hear about teams?" Jaune asked but before Pyrrha could answer, knowing the question was probably meant for her, Weiss butted in.

"Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" Weiss asked harshly, ticking off Loki, Apollo and even Quetzalcoatl, though thankfully Baldur held them back.

Once more, before Jaune could give an answer, Weiss spoke.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos. She graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum and established a new world record by winning the Mistral Regional Tournament four times," Weiss said boastfully, as if said accomplishments were her own.

Jaune knew of Pyrrha's winning streak but knew not of her accomplishments in her academics. Jaune turned towards Pyrrha, who in turn, turned towards him and give him a weak chuckle while she scratched the back of her head.

"You graduated at the top of your class?" Jaune curiously asked, drowning out whatever the Heiress was saying, which sounded like something about Pumpkin Pete?

"Yes..." Was Pyrrha's response. It was low, barely audible to Jaune but due to his training he was able to just hear it.

"How cool, so you're not only good at combat but you're also incredibly smart. To top it all off, you know how to use the weapons that I made for you." Jaune said that almost innocently, almost. Jaune had put a little too much emphasis on the last part, and it wasn't accidental. Weiss's rambling ceased to a halt, she blinked a couple of times before she register what the scraggly blond had just said.

"Wait, you made them?" Weiss said slowly, still in disbelief.

"Well I didn't make them, but I did fix them right up. If I hadn't, she wouldn't have won her fourth tournament," Jaune said, once more, voice laden with fake innocence.

Weiss took a very small step back and finally realized who she was talking t. The scraggly blond that stood in front of her, the very same she had insulted yesterday, was the very man that made all Atlesian politicians scramble to cut a deal with him so that he'd work for them. The very same that her sister Winter describe to her. Jaune Arc. And now, Weiss very much realized what she had done and what she had to do. Weiss took a step back before bowing slightly.

"I'm terribly sorry for my behavior just now...and for insulting you yesterday," Weiss apologized in a formal manner. To other people, this would have been just a person of high reputation try to save some face after an embarrassing moment, but Jaune could tell Weiss was sincere about her apology. Well, it wasn't completely sincere but it was something. People like Weiss always had some sort of agenda.

"It's alright, no harm no foul, right?" Jaune said, this time sporting a friendly smile. Weiss looked at Jaune before nodding, before Jaune proceeded to change into his combat armor and was in the process of putting on Crocea Mors and Theós before Weiss spoke out.

"Jaune, was it? If you're interested, you could join our team," Weiss offered in a low and soft voice. Jaune finished putting on his gear before turning to address Weiss.

"Sadly I don't think we have a say in the matter. From what I was told, teams are selected by the professors, sorry," Jaune explained. Due to his sisters attending Beacon prior to him, he had a slight advantage over everyone. He didn't know everything, like knowing what the initiation was going to be or how teams were selected. His sisters had told him to take everything with a grain of salt, knowing the initiation is bound to change.

Weiss deflated upon hearing this, her plans of being with Pyrrha ruined. Pyrrha also deflated, knowing that she couldn't snatch Jaune for herself.

Soon after, Jaune bid the girls goodbye and wished them luck, which he doubted they'd need.


The outside was bright, but Jaune's eyes adjusted quickly, and saw everyone lined up at the edge of a cliff overlooking the beautiful and deadly Emerald Forest.

Apollo noted how all the students were standing on some sort of platform. Jaune proceeded to take an empty one that was right next to Ruby. Ruby waved at him and mouthed a quick 'good luck'. Jaune did the same mouthing a 'you too' back at Ruby, something that made her smile with glee.

Of course, the jovial atmosphere couldn't last as Ozpin and his Headmistress Glynda walked out. Jaune then felt...odd, to say the least. Jaune turned his head towards the source of whatever it was, and found it was coming from the Headmaster.

An odd aura was coming from the Headmaster, but as quickly as it came, it vanished. Jaune quickly dismissed it and chalked it up as a side effect for being nervous. Jaune then quickly shook himself out of his thoughts in time to catch the last thing the headmaster said

"...the first person you make eye contact will be your partner for the next four years," Ozpin said nonchalantly, ignoring or simply not caring that the students either voiced their complaints or had a small mental breakdown like Ruby. Once more the voice of the Headmaster fell to deaf ears for Jaune, as he simply picked up small snippets of what he was saying, important things like going to the northern part of the forest, some type of mock relic that need to be collected, how they would be graded on their performance, and how they would need to get back here with said relic, but something was missing.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked. This prompted Jaune to raise his hand but he went ignored by Ozpin, who pretended not to notice him. After several more moments, he relented with a small sigh.

"Yes, Mr. Arc, do you have a question?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes, so um, are we going to be dropped off or something?" Jaune asked, curious as to how they would be getting to the Emerald Forest. His answer came in the form of Weiss being catapulted into the forest.

"No, you will be falling," Ozpin said with a mischievous smile, one that installed both pride and fear into Loki. The moment after the man finished talking, Jaune heard gears and pistons moving below him, prompting him to utter one word before being launched into the belling of the beast.

"Fuck..."

And then he was catapulted.


As Jaune soared ungracefully through the sky, he watched as everyone else either used their semblance or weapons to land. Jaune quickly switched over to Zeus and begun flying as if he were one with wind.

Jaune soon found himself peacefully flying over the forest gracefully, though unfortunately it didn't last very long.

"Jaune! Three-o-clock!" Someone called out. Jaune didn't bother with the who, he cared more about what they were warning him about. Jaune spotted a javelin coming straight for him.

Acting quickly, Jaune flew a bit lower, allowing the javelin to fly above him and once it was directly above him, Jaune twisted his body and managed to grab the projectile. Due to the momentum, Jaune was carried a small way before coming to a dead halt in the air. The teen took a closer look at the weapon and recognized it as Miló. Jaune then heard a distanced 'I'm sorry' from what sounded like Pyrrha.

"Is that girl crazy?! That could have killed us!" Quetzalcoatl said, making his concern know to Jaune.

"Relax Quetz, I have aura, remember? It would have protected me," Jaune said, reassuring the Aztec deity of his safety. Jaune liked how the gods expressed their concern in their own different way, it was rather comforting.

'Now, to return this to its rightful owner." Jaune thought, before soaring towards the direction were the javelin came from.

Jaune flew just above the trees, keeping a close eye out for the redheaded owner of Miló. In the distance, Jaune heard what sounded like fighting, so he quickly sped off into the direction were the fighting was coming from.

Jaune arrived at a clearing, only to see Pyrrha fighting a cluster of Ursa with only her shield. Jaune notice that one of the bear-like-Grimm snuck up behind her and was now charging towards her. Jaune wound back the javelin and begun to charge it with lightning before letting it soar straight through the head of the Ursa, pinning it to the floor. The fighting ceased as Pyrrha and even the Grimm stared at the decomposing body, only for Jaune to land next to it and pulling Miló without problem. Jaune tossed Miló to its owner and made direct eye contact.

"I believe this yours, partner," Jaune said, cracking a small smile. Pyrrha, in turn, smiled gleefully before falling into a battle stance. Jaune unsheathed his sword and bowie knife as he too fell into a battle stance. The Ursa shook themselves out of their funk and went back to being their usual, murderous selves.

Jaune smirked and bolted towards the nearest Ursa, avoiding the incoming paw aimed for his face, before stabbing the Grimm with Theós and letting lightning course through it, frying it in the process.

Pyrrha turn Miló into rifle mode and started firing at the Grimm with marksman-like precision, but one broke the line and begun charging. Pyrrha simply shifted Miló into javelin form and threw it, allowing it to lodge itself into the Grimm's head before being pulled back thanks to her semblance.

Back with Jaune, he had just decapitated an Ursa before charging towards another, when Jaune misread one of its attacks and was forced into a situation where he couldn't dodge. He switched to Baldur and tanked the hit and then proceeded to hack at its left side, making it roar in pain and allowing Jaune to jam Theós, in revolver form, into its mouth and begin firing into the bear-like Grimm. Jaune kicked the Grimm away and shifted Theós back to bowie knife form in time to stab a Ursa, who tried to flank him, with Theós' and Crocea Mors' blades puncturing through skin and flesh with ease.

The blond host turn to see his partner make quick work of two Ursai. The redhead threw her shield at one of the Ursa stunning it and then her shield flew back towards her, allowing to club the other one over the head before sheathing her Xiphos in the Grimm's head. She then shifted Miló once more into rifle form and fired one shot towards the remaining Ursa, successfully getting a clean headshot.

With the fighting over, Pyrrha and Jaune were allowed to catch their breath and this allowed Jaune to ask an important question.

"Why...did...you throw...a javelin at me?" Jaune asked through tired and labored breaths.

"I...thought...you...didn't..."Pyrrha said before stopping herself mid-way. After taking several deep breaths, she continued, "...have a landing strategy." Jaune noticed a subtle pink tint on her face while she spoke.

"Well, we should get going. After you, partner." Jaune spoke normally once more, but his face maintained a goofy grin as he spoke. After composing herself a bit more, Pyrrha nodded and took him up on that offer by walking ahead of him.

Jaune didn't see but Pyrrha had the brightest smile plastered across her face.


The lovely duo walked through the forest completely unchallenged. There were no Grimm to be heard or fought, almost as if they had just up-and-vanished, but being seasoned warriors, both Pyrrha and Jaune kept themselves on high alert. Their walk was quiet and peaceful, rarely breaking the silence for anything, apart from the occasional trivial question. Soon, the duo stopped in front of a cave.

"Do you think this is it?" Pyrrha asked, making sure to keep her voice down to ensure that no Grimm could hear them. When she turned to Jaune for an answer, she spotted him looking at what appeared to be cave drawings. Jaune stared intently at the crude drawings, seemingly depicting ancient men fighting a large scorpion, most definitely a Grimm.

"No, I don't think this is it but I believe this might be a short-cut to our objective," Jaune replied, but just as Pyrrha was about to enter, Jaune stopped her.

"These cave drawings speak of a scorpion-like-Grimm, a Deathstalker I believe. It may be a warning, so we need to be on high alert," Jaune explained, dead serious. The redhead nodded, understanding the severity of the situation. Jaune lit a flame on his palm with the power of Hephaestus, surprising Pyrrha quite a bit but she simply pushed it away for the moment. She would have time to ask questions after all this was over.

As they traversed deeper into the narrow cave, they stumbled upon a glowing object. Jaune approached the glowing object while Pyrrha guarded his rear but right before he could grab it, his instincts screamed at him to move, and he obeyed without missing a beat.

He nearly didn't avoid a giant pincer that was aimed straight for him. Jaune let out a stream of fire that lit up almost the entire cave, and from the darkness, Jaune caught a glimpse of an Elder Deathstalker, so huge it could almost reach the ceiling of the cave. Pyrrha engaged, shooting at it while Jaune relentlessly burned it.

In its rage, the Deathstalker slammed into the cave wall, causing the cave to shake and rumble violently. So violently, in fact, that it caused some of the stalactites above Jaune to fall. Thankfully the gods warned him in time allowing him to roll to the side and avoid becoming impaled.

"Jaune, we have to get out of here! We can't fight it in this enclosed space, let alone in the dark. The more we fight in here, the more we run the risk of becoming trapped here," Zeus warned. Jaune understood and quite frankly, he didn't need to be told twice to know that fighting in a cave with a giant Grimm was a very bad idea.

"Pyrrha! Run for the exit, I'll keep its attention on me!" Jaune shouted over the constant gunfire. Pyrrha fired a couple more shots and then booked it like a bat out of hell, headed back the way they came. Jaune kept the stream of fire for a few more seconds before he himself sprinted out. Sadly, his attack didn't stun the Grimm for long as it was now charging at him in a blind rage.

Jaune could see that it was gaining on them and if he didn't act quickly, him and Pyrrha would be trampled underneath the giant Deathstalker. Right when he was about to switch over to Zeus to fly out of there, his world went black. Unlike passing out, however, he was still very much conscious.

Then, after a small moment, his eyes were assaulted by a very bright light, as Jaune adjusted to his surroundings and noted that Pyrrha and him were now outside the cave. Before he could question what had just happened, a roar filled with pure rage echoed out of the cave. Acting quickly, Jaune summoned Ra's power and created several Mini Suns. He then proceeded to launch them at the top of the exit, successfully causing a cave-in.

"Come on, that won't hold it for long," Jaune said, prompting Pyrrha to start running alongside him.

"Was that one of you guys?" Jaune questioned the gods but they simply remained quiet, as equally confused as their host.

The blond host and the amazon warrior traversed through the dense forest until they reached some ruins. Standing in said ruins were Yang and Blake, but before Jaune could catch a damn break, screaming was heard from above.

Everyone set their eyes to the sky, only to see Ruby falling from what appeared to be a Nevermore. With a tired sigh and a roll of his eyes, Jaune zoomed over to the falling reaper and successfully caught her in a bridal style. Jaune then landed and put Ruby on her feet, allowing her brush of dust and wrinkles on her skirt. Before Jaune could ask why on Tartarus she was falling from a Nevermore, a roar erupt causing everyone to reach for their weapons and fall into their stances.

Everyone turned towards the direction of the roar, waiting patiently for the beast to reveal itself. And from the bushes, a Ursa came in but before they could open fire, it fell to the ground dead.

"Aww, it broke," A voice said with childish disappointment. Jaune looked up only to see a girl with orange hair and turquoise eyes. Right behind her was Ren, hanging onto the protruding bones of the Ursa like his life depended on it, which was probably the case.

"Nora...never...do...that again...please," Ren begged, with pleading eyes that belonged better on a convict on death row. But his desperate plea fell on deaf ears because when he looked up he found his partner already in front of what seemed to be a rook piece. The newly identified Nora picked it up and begun to sing something about her being the queen of the castle. The calm monk finally snapped.

"Nora!" Ren shouted to his partner.

"Coming Ren!" Was the ginger's response. Nora took the rook and hopped back to her partner.

Jaune turned to Ren for some sort of explanation, but only received a tired look and sigh. Now at this point, Jaune and the gods had the most powerful headache known to man, and as Jaune massaged his temples, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turn to see Ruby pointing straight up. Jaune followed Ruby's finger and saw that she was pointing at the Nevermore. Upon closer inspection, Jaune found that Weiss was riding the oversized bird and he noted that her grip was faltering.

"How could you leave me!" Weiss shouted, struggling to keep her grip on the bird's feathers.

"I said jump!" Ruby shouted back at her apparent partner. Weiss tried to steady her grip but only made herself falter and begin plunging straight towards Remnant. Jaune stood there for a moment or two only to realize everyone was looking at him. And so, with a another very tired sigh and with help from Zeus, Jaune shot straight forward towards Weiss. Jaune caught Weiss midair and brought both himself and her down to safety and as Jaune touched down, he gently put Weiss on her feet.

"Thank you," Weiss said with genuine gratitude, and if Jaune's eyes saw correctly, she had the faintest trace of a smile. Jaune's reply was cut short when the Deathstalker lived up to its name and broke through the tree line.

"Great, the gang's all here, now we can all die together," Yang said, her morbid comment demoralizing everyone expect Ruby.

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby's comment was heroic, but it was reckless and suicidal too. Before she could rush off to engage the Grimm, Jaune took a hold of her cape and stopped her.

"Our objective isn't to fight it, but to retrieve the relics. Let's not put ourselves in unnecessary danger," Jaune's words held wisdom but also concern.

Having little room for argument and having fallen into a mutual agreement, the pairs each collected one of the chess pieces and begun to haul ass out of there into the dense forest. Using their years of training, everyone traversed the forest easily and differently, some using their weapons while others used their semblances.

Jaune was flying above the trees, noting that the Deathstalker didn't relent on its pursuit, knocking down tree and stamping through everything that was in his path. Jaune also noted that the Nevermore was on their tail too, patiently flying over them, waiting to strike.

The colorful band of trainees quickly found themselves in other set of ruins, this had old and moss covered pillars and an old looking bridge that looked like it was bound to collapse if somebody so much as breathe in its direction.

Having no other alternative, the seven hunters-in-training begun to cross the bridge whilst Jaune threw lightning bolts at the Deathstalker to ensure everyone crossed safely.

Jaune was too preoccupied with the scorpion to notice the Nevermore aligning itself adjacent to the bridge, flying right through it as if it was made of paper. Thankfully, nobody was on its path of destruction, but sadly it did divided the group. Now, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha were stuck facing the Deathstalker while Ruby and the rest of the girls face against the Nevermore. Jaune threw one last bolt of lightning and flew on down to regroup with everyone else.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Ren asked while reloading his submachine guns. Jaune finally noticed how much he was twitching and how deep and labored his breathes were, meaning he was running out of stamina due to the overuse of Zeus's lightning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just overused my semblance a bit, but I should be fine," Jaune said, giving Ren his most convincing smile that he could conjure.

Ren, of course, didn't buy it but if anyone would know Jaune's limitations would be Jaune himself, so Ren said nothing and simply nodded.

"How do we take that thing down?" Jaune asked for some helpful advice from the gods.

"I may have an idea." Was Baldur's responds. Jaune stood motionless from a second, analyzing and hearing out Baldur's plan until a small grin appeared on his face. Jaune sheathed his weapons, and summoned Baldur power.

"Ren! When I give the signal, be ready to take out its stinger!" Jaune shouted loud enough for his comrade to hear him.

Sadly, Ren didn't get the chance to ask what the signal was because Jaune zoomed past him and the others, and intercepted the Deathstalker's pincers, holding both in place. The Deathstalker gladly accepted the challenge of strength and begun to slowly put its weight on this opponent but when it saw that Jaune was holding his own against it, it decided to cheat.

The Deathstalker lifted its stinger and brought it down hard on the blond host's chest, but before the other could react properly, Jaune give the signal.

"Ren! Now!" Jaune said shouted easily, as if the stinger that had been plunged in his chest was nothing but a minor inconvenience.

Ren shook his shock away and proceeded with Jaune's plan. The boy ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the Deathstalker and when he had reached it, he vaulted over one of the pincers and hopped on top of its stinger, decapitating the head of the stinger by putting StormFlower on either side of it and slashing it horizontally. The Deathstalker didn't like that, if it's roar of extreme pain was anything to go by.

It whipped its stinger-less tail violently in an effort to get rid of Ren. It worked, as the boy found himself flung off the tail and impact against a pillar. Jaune, stinger still in his chest, used this opening to push off the Deathstalker off of him and to remove the deadly stinger from his person.

Jaune then proceeded to turn the stinger around and stab the owner with its own natural weapon. The scorpion didn't take kindly to this and hit Jaune with one of its pincers, knocking the blond host to the side. Jaune tried to get up only for a black aura to surround him and whisk him away out of the path of the now pissed off Deathstalker. Jaune was brought towards Pyrrha and Nora, the latter shooting a grenade launcher, saying something about retribution. The black aura stopped and the hero found himself in front of his partner with her eyes closed. Once they opened, they were instantly filled with concern.

"Jaune, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Pyrrha asked worryingly, looking up and down Jaune's body, trying to make sure he was okay.

"I'm fine Pyrrha, I swear. But let's not focus on me, we have to focus on killing that thing," Jaune said, looking towards the Deathstalker that was now dealing with a barrage of grenades, courtesy of Nora. Jaune's eyes searched for Ren, finding that he was already up and attacking the Grimm but Jaune noticed that his moves had become sluggish and he was doing less acrobatics than before.

Jaune, once more, changed to Zeus and begun to charge lightning on his hand but was stopped by Nora.

"Oooo lightning, quick, hit me, hit me!" Nora said, confusing the hell out of Jaune and the gods.

"Jaune, just do it!" Ren said, dodging another attack from the Grimm. Ren could regret his choice later. Jaune looked at Ren a while longer, and trusted his judgement. Jaune charged up a bolt and fired it towards Nora, who took it like it was nothing.

"Hehehe, tickles!" Nora said manically. Nora then begun running towards Pyrrha. "Heads up!" She said, already mid-jump. Pyrrha understood and acted quickly, putting up her shield up, allowing the ginger maniac to jump on it and push off of it like a spring board.

Nora shifted her weapon into its hammer form while several feet up in the air, where she began coming down, spinning along with her hammer, giggling crazily the whole way down. Nora brought down her hammer on the Deathstalker, specifically on the stinger on its head. The stinger went right through the poor Grimm, killing it instantly, and to add insult to injury, Nora discharged some form of pink lightning, electrocuting the already lifeless Grimm. Jaune broke into a smile, but remembered that Ruby and the others were facing against a giant Nevermore. Jaune turn and so did the other, and together they caught a glimpse of Ruby decapitating the Nevermore. Jaune and his 'team' all grinned but their victory was cut short when the floor below them began to crack.

"Run!" Pyrrha shouted, prompting the others to run to Ruby's side of the bridge. As they all hauled ass, they didn't notice Ren lagging behind. As they neared the edge, one by one, they jumped safely to the other side, and when it was Ren's turn, his jump was sluggish and was lacking the right distance. Ren hit the edge and plunged to the abyss below.

"Ren!" Nora cried out, but before tears could form, Jaune had already jumped down to save his brother-in-arms. Several tensed moments passed and nothing happened. The happy mood that had befell Ruby and her 'team' died as several more moments passed. Pyrrha knew Jaune could fly, but she had overheard him say that he had over used his semblance, maybe...he had reached his limit?

'No, you can't think like that,' Pyrrha thought, reassuring herself that Jaune would be okay. He would save Ren. She just had to have a little bit of faith. After a couple more moments Nora sunk to her knees but before she could begin sobbing, a loud Boom broke the silence as two blurs flew out of the abyss below. The blurs fell on the bridge in a coughing fit, one trying to regain the air that was knocked out of him when he hit the edge of the bridge while the other tried to regain his strengths after over-exerting himself.

"Thank, *cough*, you." Ren said, still trying to recover.

"No problem*cough*" Jaune replied, a small goofy and infectious smile on his face. It was so infectious that it even got Ren to smile, albeit being a small smile. After a while, both guys stood up, only for one to be tackled by an orange blur.

"Renny! I'm so glad you're okay!" Nora said, hugging what little life was left in Ren. Nora wiped the tears that had formed and proceeded to murder Ren with hugs. Ren tried to hug back but sadly, he couldn't, not that he minded, if the small smile was anything to go by.

"That girl reminds me of Thor," Loki said, making himself and Baldur shudder at the thought of that mindless brute. Jaune simply smiled at the scene until he was punch in the shoulder. Jaune turned and found the culprit to be his partner.

"That was incredibly stupid. Don't ever do that again." Pyrrha tried to sound harsh but the small smile of relief on her face made it hard for her to stay mad at Jaune.

"I'm sorry Pyr, I'll try not to do it again but I promise you nothing." Jaune said but he knew his nature, he knew he was a selfless person, so he knew he would be putting his life in the line if it meant saving the innocent and those he loved. Jaune regrouped with the others, so that they can finally finish their initiation.


The Beacon staff allowed the initiates to rest for an hour before they were called out to begin their ceremony. One by one, teams were formed and leaders were chosen. The third to last team to be created was team CRDL, led by one Cardin Winchester.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces," The Headmaster said, a screen to his right displayed their faces and a letter from their first name, or last in Ren's case. "From this day onwards, you will be known as team JNPR, led by...Jaune Arc. Congratulations, young man." Ozpin said, the 'J' for Jaune becoming red, symbolizing his role. Nora, once more, hugged Ren and Pyrrha proceeded to playfully punch him in the shoulder, though thankfully he didn't lose his balance.

"Thank you, sir." Was the only thing that Jaune could say, quite surprised that he was chosen. He and his newly formed team walked off the stage to allowed the final team to be created.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieve the white knight pieces. From this day onward, you will be known as team RWBY, led by...Ruby Rose." Ozpin finalized, leaving Ruby and Weiss in quite a shock. Yang congratulated her little sister by wrapping her in a sisterly hug.

Jaune would have been happy but there was something that still two things that bugged him. Firstly, how had he and Pyrrha end up outside the cave? It was as if he and Pyrrha had teleported or something. The gods had promised that none of them could teleport, and from what he saw, Pyrrha's semblance appears to be some sort of telekinesis. And secondly, what was that odd feeling he got in the cliffs? Jaune would have dismissed it as him being nervous but the gods insisted that something was wrong with Ozpin. The gods told him he wasn't a host but something else. Jaune would have to look into this soon, but at the moment he could push that aside to do more important stuff, like figuring where his team's dorm was.

The newly formed teams JNPR and RWBY found themselves walking to the same destination. Due to some unseen force, be it luck, the intervention of a god or something else, both team's dorms were right across from each other. Both team idly chatted with each other about trivial stuff to better get to know each other.

Everyone but Nora, who was out like a lightbulb and being given a piggy back ride by Ren, and Blake. Blake seem to be lagging behind them all, quietly staring that the floor, as if looking for something. Jaune begun to slow down his pace very subtly until he was now walking side-by-side with Blake. Both must have the same idea because they started to walking even slower to the point where they were both sure they were out of ear shot, although, that didn't stop them from talking in whispers.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked softly, but he already had a good guess as to what was going on.

"My team, they... they don't know I'm a Faunus. Let alone that I had affiliation with the White Fang," Blake whispered back, making sure to say the last part as quiet as Faunusly possible. "Not to mention that a Schnee is part of my team."

Enough was said with that comment. Jaune had heard the many rumors that surrounded the Schnee family, some false and some, sadly, truth.

"Don't worry about it," Jaune begun whispering. "If you don't want to tell them right now, you don't have too. But you'll have to do it eventually, because if you don't, it will come back and bite you." Blake let those words sink in. Last time when Jaune warned her of something, she hadn't listened properly, and she had paid for it dearly. Now, she would listen and act on his words.

"Besides, Ruby and Yang seem to be decent people. I don't belief they're racist or bigoted, so you should he okay with telling them... Weiss, well, we'll have to wait and see," Jaune said, further reassuring Blake that everything would be fine, although she wasn't sure Weiss would change, but all she could do was wait and see.

The rest of the walk was followed by a comfortable silence between the blond host and the Faunus in disguise, with Blake wearing the faintest smile. Both teams reached their dorms, bid their goodnights, and headed on inside. The interior was pretty simple, four beds on all corners of the room, a dresser for each one, and an adjacent bathroom.

Several boxes and backpacks were inside the room too, containing clothes or other essential items. No one really bothered to unpack, team JNPR idly changing into something comfortable to sleep in, even in their tiredness, they still remembered that they were of the opposite sex, so Pyrrha and Nora changed in the bathroom while Jaune and Ren changed in the dorm room. As Jaune laid his head on his pillow, he instantly succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep unaware of the fifth figure that inhabited his dorm. The figure looked down on Jaune's resting form and smile a smile that only a mother could muster. The figure then vanished, leaving the blond host to rest, she would be speaking to him tomorrow morning.

...

...

...

As the city of Vale rested peacefully, the shadows made their move.

In an abandoned warehouse in Vale, Odin was overseeing Seth's progress.

"Are you done yet!?" Odin questioned, frustration and annoyance dripping from his tone. Seth turned away from the mess of wires and regarded the Viking god.

"Do you want to do this, huh!?" Seth retorted, second away from snapping and pulling another Osiris sarcophagus. Odin stayed silent but glared at the Egyptian god. To Odin's right stood the figure known as the Master. His features were hidden to the outside world by a cloak and a mask but if anyone could see his face, they would find a small amused smile decorating it. The Master heard footsteps behind him and instantly knew it was his two most loyal bodyguards; the Oni.

The Oni were dressed in black samurai armor, or a pretty close match to samurai as they could get, and wore demonic masks of different colors. Their weapons varied, the one with a green mask had a katana resting on his hip while the one with a blue mask had two short swords on her back. The Master turned towards them to hear their report.

"Sir, the area is clear, although there are some drunks here and there, but nothing that should disturb us." The one with the blue mask said, her voice muffled by the mask.

"Good, you two have done well. Be on standby, the meeting shall commence shortly." The Master said, his voice lacking any distortions or voice changers. He turned back his attention to Odin's and Seth's banter and retorts towards each other, silently enjoying their little argument. Several minutes passed before Seth's connected the right wire and two screens to his right lit up. The screens show static for a several seconds before clearing up and showing two figures: one male, the other female.

The male figure appeared to be an old and fragile man, around his late sixties or early seventies. His grey hair was messy and unkempt, as was his beard and mustache, his skin a ghostly white. He was wearing a fancy grey jacket with a red shirt under it. He had one grey eye and one robotic eye that glowed a deadly red. Due to the screen, his whole lower body was hidden from view.

The female figure appeared to be a snake Faunus, around her mid-twenties. She was around 5'7 and had a physique that men would kill for. She had short brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail, and mesmerizing yellow eyes, with slight slits like that of an actual snake. Her skin was tanned, brown scales decorated her arms and the base of her neck. She was wearing a form fitting dress similar to the one that her leader wore, except that her's was a dark green and it didn't leave her chest and back exposed. She also wore a black fingerless gloves that had golden hieroglyphs on the back. The female figure was a little farther away from the screen then the male one, so you could see that she was wearing brown pants.

"Apep. Dr. Merlot. I hope this meeting hasn't disturbed either of you," The Master said, hoping he didn't catch his followers at a bad time, he wouldn't want to blow their cover.

"Not at all, sir." The snake Faunus Apep relied, her voice was smooth yet dangerous.

"Of course not!" Merlot said. He sounded like both an elegant and educated man, and a mad and deranged scientist.

"Good. Then let's us get this meeting started. Merlot, your report please," The Master said, the madman nodded before speaking up.

"Everything has being going splendid on my end! The new specimens you have brought me are just wonderful. They're resilient, I'll give you that, but give me some time and I should be able to break them in no time. They shall soon serve us like loyal animals," The doctor said, an insane smile forming on his face before turning into a frown. "Although the natives of this island are quite resilient too. They and I are now stuck in a stalemate but fret not, I have everything under control. But if I should need assistance I'll let you know." The mad doctor concluded. The mastermind nodded, turning towards the other screen that displayed Apep.

"Apep, how is everything on your end?" He asked. Apep's face contorted into a sour frown before she begun talking.

"The situation isn't looking good sir. The White Fang has been split down the middle. Some ally themselves with High Leader Khan while others side with the previous leader; Ghira Belladonna. To make matters worse, the Vacuan branch of the White Fang have defected and has now become a mercenary group dedicated to keeping order in Vacuo. The small foot hold that we possessed in Atlas was been snuffed out, to nobody's surprise. The Mistral branch is fairing off quite well, better than any of the other branches. And the Valean branch… is not looking good." She paused for a second to catch her breath before she continued. "As you already know, the Valean branch of the White Fang is under Cinder's control, although they still follow orders from the higher-ups to the letter, but I fear that a coup is being brewed by Adam Taurus. On the subject of Adam, his mental stability has been deteriorating ever since his partners untimely departure and betrayal. That was the bad news. The good news is that High Leader Khan has begun to trust me more than before, allowing me to become her personal adviser. That would be it for my report," The snake Faunus concluded her lengthy report.

The Master stood silent, allowing himself to soak in all the information that was just told. After a while, he nodded and processed to tell Odin to give his report.

"I've been keeping tabs with my old connection in the criminal underworld and I've got to say, I've never seen them this frighten before. Whomever you've sent me to track, whoever this Vulpes character is, they're good. No trace of them, as if they were not even there to begin with." Odin said, impressed to see that someone was able to get passed old Junior. That man was able to track and locate anyone, if he didn't know better, he would have thought Junior was hosting a god of knowledge.

"You mentioned the criminals fearing this Vulpes, why?" The Master asked, knowing that the crime families were not easily scared.

"That's because whoever he or she is, have been able to dismantle and systematically wipe out Los Rojos and Los Azules, in a span of a fucking month. Two major crime families that the Valean police have been trying to crack down on for some time now." This came to a surprise to those who knew the power that both crime families possessed. Los Rojos and Los Azules were basically untouchable, you tried anything against them, no one would hear from you again. To hear that this person annihilated them in a month painted how dangerous they were.

"Is there anything else?" The Master asked, hoping that there would be good news to Odin's report. But there wasn't any.

"Yes, one of my contacts in the force gave me this photo that was taken from the last crime scenes." Odin proceeded to hand the Master a photo that had a man that been tortured to the point that his face was barely recognizable. His fingers had been broken and burned repeatedly, the man's chest was exposed, revealing lacerations and burn marks. His eyes were gouged out and his neck had been slit opened but his focus was not on the man but on the message paint on the wall with blood.

"Para bellum. Prepare for war. " The Master uttered the phrase.

"Do you think its directed towards us?" Merlot asked.

"I'm not quite sure. It could be or maybe it could be meant for another crime family. All I know is that we need to keep a close eye on them. In case they are planning to attack us, we need all the information we need. Odin, compile all the information you can get about the Vulpes, anything that can give us the upper hand," The Master commanded. Odin simply nodded, already making a mental note to pay a visit to Junior. The cloaked man gestured to Seth to begin his report.

"Nothing worthy to report here. Ozpin sees me as a valuable asset and Salem sees me was a useful spy. Either way, both still trust me." Seth said nonchalantly, causing the others to slightly glare at him. Why do they have to give a detailed report while he doesn't?

The Master was not unamused by Seth, but he simply nodded at his underwhelming report. He sighed before speaking up.

"You all did good, continue doing so. I have new assignments for all of you. Merlot, keep up your research and experiments, I want those creatures tamed and ready for battle. Apep, be on the lookout for hosts that may pop up in Menagerie. Odin, find anything useful about the Vulpes and also keep an eye out for hosts. And Seth, don't do anything that will blow your cover. Am I understood?" He asked, his voice carrying a level of power to it. He was pleased when he received a chorused 'yes sir' but right before he could dismiss them all, Seth, curiously spoke out.

"What about you Julius? What will you be doing?" Seth said, not a care in the whole world for the murderous glare he got from the Master, also known as Julius. Julius glared at Seth for a second longer before relenting and sighing in frustration.

"The Brotherhood have been a thorn on our side for far too long. My task, Seth, is to find them and eliminate them, something that you fail to do. And Seth, I am your friend but that comes second. What comes first is that I am you leader and boss, I have shown you and everybody respect. So you'll at the very least show me a moniker of respect." And with that, Julius dismissed the meeting and they either disconnected or went there speared ways, to fulfill their objectives.


Author's Note

...Not died yet. Highschool may drag me down to a pit of despair, put I shall crawl out and deliver to the people. That is my duty! But in all seriousness, It's good to be back. This chapter has been haunting me for a while. It was just there, taunting me, sitting at around 1000 word. But then it went from 1000 words to 2000 words in one day, then 6000 in a couple of hours and then it reached 8000 words. This is by far the longest chapter I've written. But let's get that out of the way, and talk about my super late update. Well you see there is a vile and disgusting creature that sucks all the energy and creativity out of you, and that creatures name is Highschool. I've been hella busy with projects, essays, assignments, and I've recently took my quarter exams, and to top it all off, I have my semester exams right around the corner. Fun times! So yeah, I don't promise to update too soon, maybe during thanksgiving break. I apologize for the super late update. Also, SCP-7223 has been put on hiatus so that I can focus on Gods Within The Arc and Highschool more. I'm sorry for those who enjoy that story, but I won't be updating it any time sooner. Please leave a comment or some constructive criticism. I really hope you guys liked this chapter. PM if you have any suggestion or have some advice.

Beta-ed by AFatFlyingWhale. Thank you for the help man.