Well, now we're getting to Forever Fall. We all more or less know what happens here, but there's going to be a few changes and Pyrrha's semblance needs to be addressed. After that we need to check in on a certain someone I think…

Chapter 11: Forever Fall and Madness

"A site has been selected deep in the Dragon's Talons. The location is a large valley able to contain the project and farms, inaccessible from the ground without Janus' assistance. With easy access to required resources, we'll be able to proceed without interruptions. The design phase will begin immediately." -Aurelius to the other members of the Second Triumvirate, on the Bastion Project, year 399 of the Triumvirate's reign

Forever Fall

Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of nature around her. She listened quietly to Professor Goodwitch speak as she glanced around, the mention of collecting sap getting her attention before she raised her hand. "Um, Professor Goodwitch, aren't there a number of Ursai in this forest?"

Goodwitch glanced behind her as she continued to walk. "That's correct Ms. Rose, so it's recommended you spend as little time as possible on your assignment and do not drop any jars. Now then, you have your assignment. Enjoy yourselves, but be careful."

Ruby let out a sigh before glancing at her team and JNPR, minus Jaune. "Alright, make sure you get the jars filled and then seal them off as soon as you can. The longer we have the sap exposed to air and the more of it that's out in the open, the more likely we have to deal with an Ursai." They nodded quickly, except for Nora who pouted slightly, and went off toward the trees. Jaune let out a sigh as he hesitantly followed Cardin.

With Jaune and team CRDL

Jaune glanced over the hill before looking at Cardin. "Alright Cardin, this is the last time I'm helping you, you promised that to me."

Cardin smirked as he looked at the blond. "Oh, sure. This is the last thing I'm going to have you do, then We'll just pretend nothing ever happened…" He quickly handed a jar of sap to Jaune. "See, all you need to do is hit Pyrrha, the heiress, blondie, and the mutt with these jars. Then we're going to let out the rapier wasps you got us and let them go to work. That essay you wrote me last week said these nasty things love sweets. I figure, what better way to teach the red-haired know-it-all, the stuck-up heiress, her little pet mutt, and the blondie a lesson?" As soon as Cardin saw Jaune hesitate, he continued on. "And if you don't, I'll have a nice chat with Professor Goodwitch about how you got into Beacon. I'm sure that'll be fun to watch."

Jaune looked down at the group below him before his talk with Ruby came to mind. "If I do this, would I be able to live with myself for hurting my friends to protect my chance at being a Huntsman?" He looked down at Pyrrha for a moment. "Would I be able to live with myself for hurting Pyrrha after all the faith she put in me?" "…No."

Cardin looked at the boy in surprise. "No?"

"I won't do it," Jaune said before Cardin stepped forward and tried to push him down the hill, causing Jaune to throw the jar of sap at Cardin. The larger boy growled out as he looked down at his sap-coated armor.

"Oh, you've done it now, buddy," Cardin said before the rest of his team grabbed Jaune, dragging him into the forest.

With teams RWBY and JNPR

Ruby was watching the rest of her team and JNPR as they collected the sap, letting out a frustrated sigh as Nora downed her fifth jar of sap. The group had decided that Ruby would use her Analysis to improve her senses to keep watch for Grimm while the rest worked. "Nora, stop drinking the sap. We can't sit out here with this stuff for too long or we risk attracting an Ursa."

Nora let out a groan. "I can't help it, it tastes sooo good!"

"Look, I know you like sweet things, I do too, but we can't-" Ruby stopped suddenly as she heard the faint sound of a jar breaking, causing her to look in the direction of a nearby hill.

Weiss glanced at her partner in confusion. "Ruby? What's wrong?"

Ruby glanced around as she pulled Crescent Rose out from behind her. "Someone broke a jar, I think I hear Jaune yelling at someone. The problem is, if it was a full jar there's probably at least one Ursa in the area can smell that sap now." Ruby glanced at Pyrrha to notice the look of concern on her face. "Weiss, Pyrrha, come on. Jaune might be with team CRDL, but if our run-in with them says anything, they'll probably bail at the first sign of an Ursa. Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora, keep an eye out in case one comes through here." The group nodded and readied their weapons, Ren quickly filling up a jar and hiding it from his partner, before the trio started moving towards the hill.

Deeper in the woods

Jaune let out a groan as Cardin punched him in the stomach. "You know that wasn't very smart Jaune-y boy. Forget letting Professor Goodwitch know about you cheating to get into Beacon. By the time I'm done with you, there won't be enough left to bury," Cardin said, not noticing Ruby, Weiss, or Pyrrha hiding in the nearby bushes.

"I don't care what you do to me… But you're not hurting my friends…" Jaune said, weakly glaring at Cardin as the boy lifted him off the ground.

"What, you think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" Cardin let out a growl before pulling his arm back for another punch, while Ruby grabbed Pyrrha's arm to stop her.

"Ruby? We need to-"

"Wait…" Ruby still had her semblance active, giving her a chance to notice the brief shimmer that went across Jaune's body. Every part of her semblance was active and focused on what was going on as Cardin punched Jaune, from the cracking noise on impact to Cardin dropping Jaune and grabbing his own wrist in pain. Ruby flattened her wolf ears and winced at the ringing noise coming from the clearing as another shimmer went across Jaune's body. "Wow, looks like he got lucky…"

Weiss looked at Ruby in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It looks like Jaune's semblance just awakened. I'm not sure what it is, but either he's able to convert parts of his body into something harder than bone… Or it allows his aura to reflect any damage he receives back on whoever or whatever hit him." She let out a sigh as Dove kicked Jaune in the back. "It doesn't look like he has much control over it though…"

A roar drew their focus away from the group in front of them as a massive Ursa charged out of the trees, knocking Cardin over while the rest of his team ran, screaming in panic. Ruby glanced over at Jaune to see the boy get up, looking around as if unsure what to do. "Come on Jaune, you want to be a hero, now's your chance…" Ruby muttered, watching as the boy drew his sword and shield before charging in front of the Ursa to stop it from cutting Cardin to bits.

The trio watched the fight for a bit before Jaune made a mistake, leaving himself open for a swipe from the Ursa's claws, when Ruby suddenly gripped onto Crescent Rose with a gasp as it was almost yanked out of her hands. As soon as she saw Jaune miraculously block the Ursa's strike and kill it, she turned to look at the redhead next to her, noticing Weiss holding onto Myrtenaster. "What did you do?" the heiress asked.

Pyrrha smiled at the two of them. "My semblance is polarity."

Ruby sighed. "Sooo, you used a semblance you apparently have never practiced with to move Jaune's shield without warning the people with on, one of which has a scythe, that their weapons might be yanked out of their hands and fly at either you or Jaune?" Pyrrha paled before Ruby put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, it's sweet that you'd be willing to help him like that to boost his confidence, but it won't help if it gets someone killed in the process. Keep practicing though, it'd be pretty useful in a fight if it came down to it."

Weiss glanced at her partner. "So, we're not going to tell anyone what happened here?"

"Nope," Ruby said simply, folding up Crescent Rose before turning to walk away, the other two following close behind.

Jaune helped Cardin up before glaring at him. "Don't ever mess with my team or my friends again, got it?" Cardin smiled weakly before Jaune turned around and walked off, leaving him alone.

Beacon Academy, Bisman's Office

Bisman let out a sigh as he rubbed his head, a collection of scrolls and books in front of them as he looked around between them. Over the last week, the work put into translating all of his texts had started to take a toll on him, more so than normal. But that wasn't what was bothering him as he thought back to his most recent vision.

He stood before the gates of a city that, somehow, was vaguely familiar to him before glancing out at the sea. A feeling of disgust filled him without warning before he turned away and turned towards the gates passing through to a building beyond it as the guards stepped forward to stop him, each with the image of a dragon perched on a tower, tail coiled around it, painted onto their armor. "Let me through, I don't care if they're "busy," I refuse to wait for them any longer," he said, before the vision faded.

Bisman sat down on the couch, eyes closed as he thought about what he had just read, comparing it to the vision. "If what I read is true, I'd assume that the gate was at the harbor of Point Refuge and the building… Normally, I need to have at least a small idea of what I'm looking for in order to have a vision. I've never had one that showed me a location or time I didn't intend to look at… Let alone one a vision I didn't try to have." He opened his eyes and glanced at the map on the wall, faint lines crossing it that he knew weren't there. Over the last two weeks, every book or scroll he translated brought him closer to piecing everything together, every attempt to pierce the veil around Draconys bringing him a step closer to success… Until a week ago, when his visions started to happen without warning. They were usually small, but they only happened while he was working on translating a text and always gave him a fresh insight into the subject.

He glanced down at his scroll, a report on the side effects of Perception semblances on the screen. He memorized the warning signs long ago and knew what to look for: inability to keep the past and present distinct, failure to differentiate between visions and reality, occasionally hearing and responding to things that aren't really there… All of these could indicate a loss of ability to function in everyday life or, worse, the onset of insanity.

"I'm not sure what else could be wrong, but it doesn't quite fit…" he thought before he glanced at the map again. He was drawn out of his thoughts as his scroll went off, causing him to glance at the screen with a sigh before answering it. "Professor Ozpin. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Arthur, I thought you'd like to know that the team we sent to look into your most recent lead has reported back. They've found the ruins of a city on the island, fairly well preserved even compared to more recent settlements, but it seems there's very few Grimm around, just a number of these "automatons" you mentioned recently." Bisman paused as a headache overcame him, a number of explanations for why there was a city on the most accursed continent in Remnant completely untouched by the Grimm coming to mind. "They made it back safe and sound, so we're going to be planning the expedition soon-"

"I'd like to be part of the expedition," Bisman found himself saying before he could stop himself, getting a sigh from the other end.

"Arthur, I know you've been putting in a bit of practice and that you've been working on this for the last three years, but-"

"But the team is going to be landing somewhere that has no reception from the CCT network, in the ruins of a civilization that uses a language that only two people in the world have any idea how to read, without any maps or knowledge of the area beyond what we've already gathered," Bisman said, trying to justify his sudden request to both Ozpin and himself. "If they discover something, it might be important that they get a translation to them immediately."

Ozpin sighed before responding. "Very well Arthur, I'll make sure to include you in the expedition, which will be leaving within the next few weeks. Just make sure you don't get anyone killed. Convincing the Council to authorize another trip to Draconys was difficult enough as it is." With that, Ozpin hung up, leaving Bisman to stare at the scroll in his hand.

"I have no idea why I did that, but it's probably the worst thing I could do right now…" Bisman sighed. He wasn't stupid, he knew that he was unstable right now and the last thing anyone needed was for him to take part in this expedition when he could snap at any time and someone could get hurt. At the same time though, he found himself drawn to the map on the wall. "I won't lie, I've always had this feeling there was something pulling me towards Draconys… I'm just not sure why it's getting stronger now." Bisman got up slowly and started putting everything away. He had a class to teach tomorrow, after all.

This chapter was one I where I didn't know exactly what I was going to have happen. Besides Bisman's part and the scene regarding Jaune and Pyrrha's respective semblances. I didn't really put much thought into it beforehand. I'm willing to listen to input on everything overall, however.

The next chapter is going to be another lore dump, after that the next normal chapter will be Weiss' concert, followed by the events just prior to Volume 2, another lore dump, and then from there on out things get interesting.