A/N: Sorry about the super long delay guys and the semi-short chapter. Well long for me anyways. Updates will be a bit more sparse now that I have to do actual work at my job now that training has finished. I'll do my best to keep up the updates however, coupled with my complete disregard towards the writing process in order to get it all done.

As always thanks for reading and please review!

Criticism and grammar corrections are always appreciated.

Also as an apology for not updating in awhile, I left a gift at the end of the chapter.

-Past: Three Days after Clover and Verdan-

Jaune stared warily at the giant scorpion… thing that was standing in front of him. Verdan's hunting knife was held loosely in his right, while the clothes they had given him were still colored with the remnants of Jaune's blood.

It had only been a few days since Jaune had saved Verdan and Clover. It had only been a few days since Jaune had left them.

He had been walking non-stop, eager to get away and eager to get to his destination. Home.

He knew the rough way, the rough direction. That was not what made the journey rough however, rather it was the things he ran into along the way.

Like said giant scorpion thing.

Jaune flipped the blade over, holding it in a reverse grip as he raised the knife in front of him. The scorpion easily dwarfed Jaune with it's size, The many red eyes dotting the front of it's literally monstrous frame were all zeroed in on the skinny, pale boy in front of it.

The dense white bone that was constant in all Grimm, covered the entirety of the scorpion's back. It presented a menacing white armor covered in red swirls, that Jaune was certain that his knife would have no chance of penetrating. He had learned his lesson from the ursa major he had fought, his knife simply bouncing off its bone-white armor.

His grip on the knife handle tightened, as he took a steadying breath. He'd find a way.

He ran towards the beast, knowing that a forward assault like this was foolish, but he knew it wouldn't matter in the end.

His suspicions were confirmed, a claw shooting forward faster than Jaune thought possible. p. The hunting knife attempted to block it, but it did nothing to stop the pincers shutting tight around both it and Jaune his shoulder to his hip.

'Sort of similar to the ursa' Jaune thought as its grip crushed down upon his body, blood already spurting out as the claws dug deep into his body. Then his world went dark.

The scorpion's giant yellow stinger had lodged itself through the top of Jaune's head, the tip of its stinger poking through the bottom. It yanked it out to a shower of blood, as its claw let go of the still twitching bloody mass.

Then the twitches were replaced, as the body launched forward. Jaune's eyes were wide and bright, intent on their target. His knife stabbed forward. The scorpion was down one eye.

Jaune pulled the knife back, intent on sinking it back into another eye. As he brought his arm forward for another stab, he felt a familiar grip crushing his body. This was quickly followed by a familiar stinging sensation in his brain.

Jaune came back to several yards away from the scorpion, rolling to a stop as he came to his feet. The scorpion had flung his corpse away this time instead of dropping it.

'Looks like it can learn…'

Jaune shot forward once more. The scorpion easily saw him coming, its claws moving once more to crush him.

They missed.

'I can learn too'

Jaune's came out of the slide underneath its claws, his knife once more sinking into one of its many eyes.

He pulled the blade free, falling onto his back underneath the second claw that had snared him the last time. This time his knife bit into the underside of the claw, the beast pulling it back in a surprising show of timidness.

Then came the stinging.

Jaune saw the stinger plunge deep into his stomach, and the the ground pull away from him as the tail lifted him up. Then his world began to spin.

This time Jaune came to with his back again a tree, it's wood cracked and splintered as the scorpion's tail finished its swing.

Jaune stood back up, looking distastefully at the hole punched through his shirt. His even paler stomach was revealed to the world, his belly button staring back at him.

That had been his only shirt.

He dashed forward once more, a thirst for vengeance pushing him even faster than he usually ran.

The same claw as before, dodged in the same way as before.

A knife thrust, this time bouncing off its white shell as it averted its eyes.

A second claw, this time avoided with a step back before a knife swing bit into the exposed bottom claw.

A descending stinger, deftly avoided with yet another step to the side.

This time however, Jaune grabbed onto the stinger, as it lifted itself from the ground. Then Jaune flew.

The tail flung Jaune high and away, his flight being stopped short by yet another tree.

Brushing himself off as he stood back up, Jaune looked at his mangled left arm, his fore arm having snapped clean in two and flopping at his side.

"Why couldn't it have just killed me…" Jaune said as he stumbled forward. He caught himself as he looked down at a trembling leg. It looked like his ankle had also become sprained from his sudden landing.

He continued to hobble forward, his his injuries simply nagging away at him as he walked towards his next death.

The death was similar to all the others. A pincer crushed him. A stinger ended him. Then he woke up next to yet another broken tree.

When Jaune rose this time, his left arm was fixed and he no longer limped.

This time when Jaune shot forward, he had a new plan in mind.

A claw, dodged. A second claw, side stepped. A scuttle back, met with Jaune's step forward. A step to the side, beginning before the stinger had even truly begun its descent. A hand grabbing onto the stinger.

This time the moment Jaune saw the beast began to tug, he let go, using the force to add lift to his jump. He landed feet first on what appeared to be the scorpion's neck, before he slipped.

Jaune cursed his clumsiness as he landed on his stomach, grabbing on to a bony protrusion with his free hand. Immortal he may be, but Jaune was still Jaune.

"What to do n-"

Jaune's musings were interrupted by a searing pain coursing through his body. A pain he had felt many times before in the lab. Poison.

"W-where…" Jaune tried to move, the poison coursing through his veins, only to feel his body tug at something. He looked back to see the Grimm's stinger lodged in his body. His body had been penetrated by the stinger, letting the insidious poison flow into his body.

Specifically, Jaune's butt. The yellow stinger was lodged into the place where Jaune's butt had formerly been, the penetration completely destroying his nether regions.

The poison worked quickly, Jaune's vision of his destroyed behind quickly going to dark.

He came back to an even more terrifying sight. His resurrection coincided with the Grimm's raised stinger preparing to descend onto Jaune's defenseless and now exposed glutes.

"Aw hell n-" Jaune tried to shuffle away, only for the stinger to descend. This time, it punched a hole through his leg, it's withdrawal tearing the lower half of his leg clean off. Jaune saw the stinger getting ready to fall once more. He flipped backwards, trying to get away.

A familiar stinging sensation came, accompanied by a familiar burning sensation. Jaune looked back, already knowing what he would see. Yet another strike had seen the stinger lodged into his behind.

"W-Why… the… b-butt…" Jaune asked weakly as the poison once more claimed his life.

Jaune's return to the world was once again accompanied by a mad scramble. Jaune didn't know where he was crawling to on the scorpion's back, he just knew that he would rather not get stabbed in the butt again.

He saw the tail flex, coiling up for a strike. Jaune grimaced as he prepared for the eventual butt stabbing.

…

…

Jaune looked around confusedly. He was near the base of the scorpion's tail, he could see its powerful dark muscles flexing as it continued to strike again and again.

There was no pain however, no stabbing sensation, no burning of poison, nothing.

Jaune looked backwards, and saw the stinger striking the ground near him, but able to strike no closer.

He looked up, seeing the tail curve in as much as it possibly could in an attempt to strike Jaune's fleshy bits.

"Huh," Jaune said as he continued watching the scorpion struggle, it scuttling about in reckless abandon as it tried to wreak havoc upon Jaune's body.

His hand was currently wrapped around both his knife and a bony protrusion in a literal death-grip.

"I guess… I'm safe?" Jaune thought as he moved into a crouched position. Well as safe as one could be on the back of a giant monster scorpion.

His eye quickly caught a flash of vulnerable black flesh in-between the plates of armor. A thought came.

Jaune slid a little bit closer, his grip still sure. He spotted an opening in-between the shell plates close to the base of the scorpion's tail.

"An eye for an eye… a butt for a butt…" Jaune whispered to himself as a maniacal gleam came into his eye. Sure it wasn't the scorpion's actual butt, but Jaune would take what he could get.

Jaune felt a gleeful cackle come to his lips as he sunk his steel into the scorpion's 'butt' over and over again.

Vengeance was sweet.

Unfortunately vengeance was a bit too sweet.

Drunk off of revenge, Jaune never noticed what was happening to the deathstalker. The creature grew more and more frantic, the incessant stabbing driving it ever forward in an attempt to escape its prey turned tormentor.

Then it saw salvation. To be correct it saw a cliff.

It ran over the cliff, uncaring of the consequences, Jaune's maniacal laughter continuing as the two plummeted to their deaths.

One a giant, Grimm scorpion. The other a cackling, young, blonde man wearing assless chaps.

-Present Day: Beacon Initiation-

Pyrrha stared at her partner, a hint of concern in her eyes. They had wandered into this cave, thinking it might hold the relic they were searching for in order to pass the initiation. Pyrrha was beginning to think they had wandered into the wrong cave.

Jaune was currently staring at a strange yellow rock that was dangling in the dark of the cave. A torch was held aloft in his hand, it's light managing to illuminate the cave much, but not reveal much about the mysterious item in front of her.

Pyrrha had a feeling the glowing bulb wasn't the relic they were looking for, in fact it reminded her oddly of a scorpion's stinger.

What she was really worried about however, was the disturbing glint in Jaune's eye. It was a glint of madness that Pyrrha had only seen a few times before, usually held in the eyes of opponents who were about to come up with an insane plan for victory. None of them worked of course, and Pyrrha was a little worried to see a similar look in her new partner's eyes.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha called out, the grip on her weapons tightening as she drew closer to the pale boy. "I think we should get out of here."

Jaune's eyes stayed focus on the bulb, the glint only seeming to shine brighter. An equally insane grin began to stretch its way across his face, threatening to split it into two.

"It's alright Pyrrha… I've got an idea. Could you humor me for five more minutes?"

Pyrrha hesitated, before slowly nodding.

She regretted it immediately.

Yang Xiao-long was feeling pretty good about her day so far. Blake Belladonna, her new partner walked beside her and from what she could tell the black bow wearing, black-haired girl in black was a strong fighter with a good head on her shoulders. It had been relatively easy for the two of them to cut their way through the Grimm of the forest, encountering no real resistance along the way.

They had finally found a stone platform in the center of a clearing. Old stone columns covered in moss surrounded it, and similar looking ruins were visible in the distance. Ruins in a forest. Likely the forest ruins they were looking for, with a number of golden chess pieces on them, obviously the relics they were looking for.

Yang Xiao-long was feeling pretty good about things right then.

That good mood was ruined by a rumbling in the distance, as her and Blake's eyes were drawn to something crashing through the forest, felling trees in its wake.

An ursa finally came bursting through the forest line, roaring and flailing about as it stumbled forward.

Then it fell dead.

From the back of the ursa hopped a small girl with orange hair, a pink skirt and a collared black vest. What drew Yang's eyes however was the giant hammer the girl held aloft in one hand.

"Did that girl just come in riding on the back of an ursa?" Blake said as the two girls stared at the newcomer dumbly.

Shortly thereafter a boy in all green came running up, his breath haggard. He had magenta eyes and one of his bangs also dyed the same color. Normally this would have been something Yang latched on to tease mercilessly but damn the boy somehow managed to pull it off and make it work. He leaned over onto his knees as he began to say something at the girl, who simply seemed to skip around him.

"Please… Nora…. Don't ever do that again…" was all Yang's ears caught as the boy struggled to regain his breath. She felt a little sorry for him. With a partner like that… the next four years were sure to be interesting...

All four of their eyes were once more drawn to the tree line as something began to work its way over to them as well. Whatever it was was mowing down more trees than Nora's ursa, cutting a swathe through the once rich woodland.

Then a deathstalker came bursting through the treeline.

"Did they just come in riding a deathstalker?" Blake said, somehow managing to keep a relative calm if confused voice.

They?

Yang's eyes were drawn to two people that were actually riding the deathstalker. Her eyes caught onto a flash of blonde hair and then of vibrant red hair. The red hair was easily identified as the Pyrrha Nikos. The Invincible Girl. The girl on all the cereal boxes. She was definitely someone to look out for.

'And the other person is…'

Yang never finished that thought as instead her eyes narrowed as soon as she realized who it was.

Jaune. Jaune Arc. Ruby's first friend.

"You don't like Blue-Eyes over there?"

Yang looked over in surprise at her partner.

'Perceptive' she thought as she struggled to find the words.

"It's not that I don't like him… I-...It's just that there's something that rubs me the wrong way you know? I'm just not sure I can trust him… Like he's hiding something Big. With a capital 'b'."

Blake's eyes were trained on Yang, slowly nodding but saying nothing.

Yang continued. "It's like… his eyes… they're just so… dead…"

She felt bad about it, she really did. Her gut was telling her that there was something off about Jaune however, and while Ruby might like him… If he were to ever to do anything to Ruby…

Her hands clenched into fists as she kept her eyes trained on Jaune. He and Pyrrha had jumped off the back of the deathstalker, landing safely in a roll as the deathstalker continued to rampage forward and away from its tormentors.

"Ren! I can't believe theirs' was bigger than mine!" Nora yelled as she dragged the poor black-haired, young man over to meet Jaune and Pyrrha.

Yang continued to watch Jaune, her emotions leaving her feeling conflicted and her fists still clenched. The two groups of partners chatted amicably, with Nora excitedly waving her hands above her head. In such a setting Jaune looked… normal… excited… Like a regular teenage boy.

"It's okay. I don't trust him either."

Yang's head snapped over to Blake. Blake was also staring at Jaune, the same suspicious glint in her eyes.

Yang felt a little bit better about her suspicions, now that someone else was backing her up. Blake seemed fairly perceptive too.

'Maybe I'm right in being suspicious?'

Yang's thoughts were interrupted however, as the group of four in front of her and Blake began to point upwards, expressions of confusion and concern covering most of their faces.

Jaune's face however was blank. It took him a little while before his face also quickly morphed to an expression matching the others. None of the other group saw it, too busy looking skywards. Yang knew that she and Blake had both seen it however... and that was good enough for now...

"Uh…"

Yang turned her head to look at Blake, who was also staring up into the sky. She finally looked upwards. There she was something that made her heart stop.

She was met with a familiar face. A familiar face complete with a panicked expression and flailing arms. A familiar face that was currently hurtling to the ground at literally break-neck speeds.

"RUBY?!"

Omake: Not Canon however much we might all want it to be…

Jaune's father stared down at him, stroking his perfectly coiffed blonde mustache.

It appeared as though Jaune was finally reaching… that age. When young boys finally started noticing the charms of the opposite sex. His wife had told him that Jaune had recently been caught staring at one of the girls from his class. It was time for 'the talk'. No son of his would go unarmed into the battlefield that was love.

"Jaune," his full-bodied voice began, "Do you know what it is that men need when attempting to woo the fairer sex?"

Jaune shuffled his feet awkwardly, trying to draw upon all 10 years of his life experience.

"Confidence?" Jaune answered timidly as he looked up for his father's reaction.

His father gave a hearty laugh in return. "Ha ha ha! Confidence is important Jaune my boy, but do you know what you need to support this confidence?"

Jaune shook his head no, a part of his young mind eager to hear what his father was about to say.

He hoped it would be something profound.

That eagerness was quickly trampled as his father ripped off his shirt, revealing his chiseled form and muscled physique.

"MUSCLES!"

Jaune's small eyes were filled with images of dancing pectorals, an image that he would spend years trying to forget.

"Your confidence must be supported by a hearty bedrock of muscle and sinew, forged under the heat of your determination! LOOK at this body! LOOK at this body pumped full of CONFIDENCE!"

Jaune heard someone scream. He then realized that he was the one screaming.

"COME MY BOY! DOES THIS EXAMPLE OF A PERFECT PHYSICAL SPECIMEN NOT INSPIRE YOU?! PREPARE YOURSELF, FOR I SHALL NOW PASS DOWN TO YOU THE WOOING TECHNIQUE PASSED DOWN THE ARC FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!"