A/N

This story is still very much alive. I'm just stressed as all hell and dealing with a lot. But I always come back to it eventually. Writing is something I can do that helps me in various ways. But it is and always was a hobby. So it's gotta take a backseat every now and then.

So here's chapter 11. We're closing in on the starting point for the show. Soon. Either next chapter or the one after that.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Champion of the zodiac

Chapter 11

Current test and a past failure

Blake watched blondie walk towards the waiting room doors. She wasn't the only one either. Just about the entire building had their eyes glued to his back. Blake's own narrowed gaze was perhaps the only pair watching the closest however.

Jaune stopped and cast a look behind him, quickly locking eyes with blake. This only cemented her belief that something was seriously off with the guy. First he checks her out, sits silently throughout the entire testing period, then splits that crazy robot in half with aura casting.

It was a technique she was familiar with, even if she couldn't do it herself. She'd seen that bastard Adam do it since he was nineteen. But Adam was a combat prodigy. He fueled his entire being with hatred and prejudice. Every strike a thesis to the world at large about how he wanted it to burn. And even then it wasn't on the level of this random seventeen year old guy.

She gave the damn test everything she had and still lost. All her training and experience in the white fang didn't cut it, and that wasn't the type of lifestyle where you could half ass it. She put her life on the line for those skills. She was probably the second (or third, if you counted Sienna Khan) best fighter in the whole organization.

If she had time or the inclination she would definitely try to investigate Jaune, but she was pretty sure her face was on a few posters in Atlas. She wasn't a student just yet, so no using Beacon for immunity. Laying low was her best course of action right now.

After all, she couldn't go back. Not anymore, after what she saw. Those were kids on that train. Kids. Human or Faunus, they hadn't done anything wrong yet. She wanted Faunus rights and equality just as much as any other Faunus. but she wasn't a murderer. And she… she couldn't go home. She wasn't sure she would ever go home again. How could she look her family in the eyes, the former leader of the white fang and current head of Menagerie, and tell them what she'd been a part of.

She needed a fresh start. Somewhere new. A place she could try again. A place she could show the world that Faunus had every bit the integrity and right to exist as humans did. She prayed she made the right choice in coming to Beacon and becoming a huntress.

Blake looked up and finally noticed she was one of the only ones left in the arena. Getting up, she made her way to the doors, making a snap decision. She'd keep an eye on Jaune, but she wouldn't go out of her way to follow him. She couldn't afford to get mixed up in any trouble right now. And one way or another, a guy like that was trouble.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Jaune probably would have enjoyed his sandwich, if the entire room didn't have the vibe of a trial. He had his back to the door, so he wasn't immediately aware of why the room went silent for the second time. Glancing back behind him he saw the black haired girl, Blake, walk in. She stopped in her tracks after seeing everyone look her way. Jaune could swear her bow drooped.

She quickly went and grabbed a tray and several tuna sandwiches of her own then sat at an empty table. She also set down a book next to her. It seems like Jaune wasn't the only one here who was alone.

He briefly entertained the idea of going over to her table and talking about the test, but decided against it. She didn't seem the talkative type and would probably just get annoyed.

After an awkward thirty minute lunch professor Goodwitch entered and gathered us up. A short walk over the campus led to an empty lecture Hall, with a test packet in front of most of the seats.

"We will now start the written portion for the entrance exam. In front of each seat is a basic comprehension test for aspiring huntsmen and huntresses. You will have one hour to complete the test. If you finish early you may place your completed test on the front desk, and exit that side door, where you will be free to do as you will until six pm. At which point your testing group will be called to the main gathering hall." Goodwitch said to the assembled group. Silently we all picked a seat at random.

"Begin." She said.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Jaune had to use the full hour for his test, but he was far from the only one at least. A lot of the history portion was off to him. It was like reading a different language with how disconnecting it was. Several of the questions just didn't have a proper answer as he knew them. Recent history was easy. But the entire section for the discovery of vytal was wrong. According to his teachers, the Faunus had laid rights to it almost eighty years before anyone else. They weren't even mentioned here.

It was a prevalent problem throughout the test. Jaune had once got the chance to read the personal journal to the first king of Vale. Along with another two books written by his personal adviser painted a very contrasting picture to what the test asked. For the first time he realised his education was completely void of the filter of time. He got to read actual first hand accounts of the most pivotal moments in history, ever.

Dust mechanics and chemistry was also a point he probably didn't do phenomenal on either. He could use it in a pinch, but his teachers held a great disdain for it. Dust was something like the planet's magic, or its lifeblood. Using it isn't a taboo for them, but being excessively wasteful with it was. He could fashion an I.E.D with fire dust and a few other tricks, but he couldn't mix his own rounds. Why should he care to learn now to use yellow dust when he can convert his aura into electricity? Well, he could. If the conditions were right. And he could concentrate. Success one out of five times wasn't terrible, right?

After the grueling day of fighting and then taking the written, Jaune was wandering around the campus grounds since it was such a beautiful day. Several large statues loomed around of famous huntsmen and leaders throughout history. He even saw one had an intricate wolf tattoo on his shoulder, meaning he was a former champion of the zodiac. Jaune remembered some of his story, if not his name.

He led a vast uprising against a tyrant queen, went on to slay an ancient Grimm that had terrorised the land for centuries and eventually settled down in the wilderness somewhere in Mistral with his wife.

Jaune laid out in the grass and closed his eyes, thinking. Was that his fate? To be immortalized in stone and for some kid to vaguely remember his story? Would he even have a story? He didn't particularly like it so far if he was to have one. Being a hero was depressing as hell. Being made to make tough calls. Lives in the balance of your actions. Failure so complete, it haunts your nightmares for years…

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

One year before Beacon, age 16

Somewhere in the Mistral frontier

" GET TO THE GATE! Get those civilians to the shelter and for the love of the twins watch the skies! Nevermores are coming!" Jaune screams into the night, after running from the inn he was sleeping in.

"Silence boy! Who are you to-" The head guard said a moment before an Ursa's maw breaks through the wooden palisade encircling the village.

The grown man had the time to turn halfway towards it before his arm disappeared down the monster's gullet, his scream lost to the general din of panic and battle. Jaune shoves another stunned guard away and brings his sword down, right over an over large red eye. The monster roars in anger, spraying Jaune with the blood of its victim and the black ichor of Grimm.

Without missing a beat, Jaune's eyes glow from his own rising anger and his sword slides into the roof of the bear grimm's mouth, right into where it's brain should be and out the other side. A strange moment of silence rang in Jaune's ears with the feeling of his blood pumping madly. With an incoherent yell he pulls his sword free.

The stunned guards watch this nameless child rip his weapon free and turn with an adult snarl. The red and black blood mixing as it drips off his face gives him a demonic look.

Jaune walks over to the whimpering man who just lost his arm. He sinks his sword point down into the dirt and uses one hand to hold him down and shoves another right over the wound, causing him to scream loudly.

The small child's glowing eyes intensify for a moment before he closes them. Another two men run up and try to pry him off, thinking he was punishing their captain for some reason. But no matter how much they pull, he doesn't move an inch. Without bothering to even shake them off the boy pulls his bloody hand away, revealing a stump that was completely healed over.

"He will live. You two, haul his ass with the rest of the people to shelter. The rest of you, with me!" Jaune says picking up his sword and jogging towards the gate that was the only thing holding a horde of grimm at bay.

Most of the soldiers snap to action. Following orders were ingrained in their every action. Especially orders that made sense. The two who grabbed him earlier pick up their former leader and start screaming for everyone to follow them to shelter. Soon, a small stream of people start to follow them to some kind of cellar under the Inn.

Jaune's mind whirls at his current situation. He was sleeping at an Inn in the middle of nowhere. One last lone training trip before heading to Beacon. A woman's scream about Grimm had jolted him awake, but he barely had his wits about him or his pants on. His armor was left discarded in his room.

Jaune rushes the gate just as a large scorpion stinger pierces through it, before it could retract he slices it off with a single stroke and an inhuman screech fills the air. A spider Grimm crawls over the wall just above his head and gets pierced to the giant gate with a plain spear. Jaune never even looked at it or flinched. He knew the rest of the guards had followed him.

"Those with guns watch the sky! I hear nevermores coming, aim for the throat. Some of you, brace this door with me! The rest of you, man the walls! Until help comes this is all we can do!" Jaune screams into the night.

Jaune shoves a hand into his shirt and grabs his amulet, praying for someone to hear his call.

Master! Any member of the zodiac! This is Jaune, the dragon champion. I'm at a small village under attack! Help! He mentality projects into it. But that was the extent of any kind of message he could send. With more and more Grimm slamming into the gate, he had to focus on the fight in front of him. a large claw he couldn't even identify reached through the new hole in the gate, scraping against his aura. Somehow a fire had started in the village behind him, the glow lit everything in a frantic light.

Gunshots filled the air behind him, after bracing the gate with a shoulder he turned to see a guard get picked up by giant talons. A massive alpha Griffon had plucked him like a dandelion. Something was off. A Grimm attack usually consisted of a small pack of the same type of Grimm. A few beowolves or a pack of ursa. It was like every grimm for a fifty mile radius was converging right here. There were even alphas. what kind of madness could amass such numbers of Grimm?

Jaune was snapped out of his thoughts when a giant Beringel climbed over the gate with ease. Jaune raised his sword but was battered away with a swift backhand from the gorilla like Grimm. His head slams against something and his vision swims. Ears ringing he stumbles trying to get back up. When his vision finally sets in the blood drains from his face. Horror. Disbelief. Hate. Rage. In a moment his emotions begin to boil over.

Two of the only guards left had run forward with mad yells and thrust with spears, but they didn't even pierce it's hide. With a massive roar the monster grips one and bites his head clean off. Afterwards the monster grabs the twitching body by the leg and slams it on the ground. He whipped it around, taking the other guard down and flung most of what was left of the mangled body into a house, a leg still in the monster's giant paw.

Jaune's left hand starts to burn bright as his senses begin to fade. This last bit of carnage tipped him over an edge he didn't know existed. With inhuman speed he was suddenly in front of the thing he wanted dead. Sword forgotten, he grips a hairy arm and flips the beast over and places a foot in its armpit. Then he pulled. Jaune didn't just want it dead. He wanted it in pain. Brutalized. With a sickening pop the arm comes off and he beats the Beringel to death with it's own appendage, showing no mercy as he knew none would be given.

The gate bursts open, spilling a screaming tide of black, white and red. Jaune roars in anguish. He was too slow. Too inexperienced. It was all too much. A bright light flashed in the distance. So many people were dying in front of him. Jaune's feet weren't touching the ground. Another roar. Was that him? He charged against impossible odds. A rushing noise of air and blood. That was the last thing Jaune remembered of that night.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Look at it Yōuměi, this is what you have started. Our shades awaken and… wait. Your boy-champion is coming too." A gruff voice says softly.

Jaune awoke to bright sunlight hitting his face. His body was covered in gore and dried blood. He felt weak. Weaker then he ever had been before. Lifting his arm and moving to a sitting position against a tree took every ounce of energy he had. His bones hurt and muscles burned. His eyes watered at the light. All of his aches along with a pounding headache made him groan heavily.

"Don't move too much, little one. I have healed you. But you put too much strain on your body. It will take time for you to be right again. Surpassing your limits is costly." A soft feminine voice says as a hand brushes his hair out of his eyes.

"Yōuměi?" Jaune croaks out. He was so thirsty. Why was everything so bright?

"Drink, boy. It will help." The soft male voice says.

A bottle is put in front of Jaune's eyes that he slowly takes. It felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. Whatever was in it was tasteless to him, but if that was to the drinks effect or his condition he didn't know. It soothed a sore throat and brought him to wakefulness In truth. A thing he instantly hated. His pain easily tripled.

"I remember you forbidding me to never push myself past a certain point that only I would know… I'm guessing I broke that rule. Whoops." Jaune says with closed eyes. He couldn't bring himself to care about his flippant tone just then. He heard a sigh from someone.

"A foolish child for a Foolish master. This is your champion? You've lifted peace from the world… for this?" The soft spoken male said.

Yōuměi opened her mouth to retort but Jaune beat her to it. He cracked an eye open and spoke before his master could.

"Good to see you too lýkos. Surprised to see you out of your little den to hound me." Jaune said with a lopsided grin.

The man's face slowly split into a massive smile with sharp canines. It was in complete symmetry with his clothes. His hair was a short and shaggy brown-grey, stopping just above his eyes of blue gray, a scar showing under his left eye. Around his shoulders was a large puffy weight of fur, resting over an open and wrinkled black kimono with his chest bared. At his waist was a sarashi and a blood red sash. His feet were bare as usual, but If there was anything he learned about the zodiac it was their aversion to footwear.

"Enough, both of you. Jaune… we need to talk about what happened last night. look at your hand." Yōuměi says with trepidation.

Jaune brings his right hand up dumbly before realizing she meant his other hand. Shaking his head he brings his left hand up and inspects it. There for the first time the mark of the dragon was present in truth. What appeared to be a tattoo made with the brightest and most vivid ink, shone in the daylight. The skin all around it was red and agitated down to just below his elbow. Just yesterday it was only three quarters there. Jaune stares at it expressionless before closing his eyes again.

"Neat." Jaune grunts.

"Jaune!" Yōuměi says sharply while lýkos snorts out a laugh. Jaune just sighs. He was too sore for this.

"I'm sorry master. But please… did… Did anyone survive? Did I save anyone?" Jaune asks seriously and cracks an eye open once more.

A silence follows his words and the two zodiacs share a glance. The silence stretches and is broken only by the call of a raven in the distance that draws Jaune's eyes. The village was burnt to the ground with carrion eaters circling it. There was nothing left. No brightly lit homes or laughing children. He remembered the round faced Innkeeper and his wife. The gruff guards that gave him directions. Wives hanging up laundry and whispering to each other. The brown bloodhound that sat on the Inn porch that people would feed leftovers. There were even a huntsman and huntress pair there at the small bar at the Inn. Now there was nothing. Only a thin trail of smoke and some animals that find such tragedy a feast.

"I see…" Jaune says hoarsely.

"I'm so sorry little one… I was simply too far away. lýkos arrived but he couldn't reach the city in time. There were foes here that even we cannot defeat with ease." Yōuměi says quietly.

Jaune shuts his eyes and lightly bangs the back of his head on the tree propping him up. A few tears roll down his cheeks, making lines through the dried blood there. So much death he couldn't stop. He doesn't make a sound or sob. Such things would be useless. An empty excuse. He was here. He should have done more. This was his failure. An entire village, whose blood was on his hands.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"...Jaune… Jaune… you're Jaune right? You might wanna wake up dude. They're calling you on the intercom." A bubbly voice says and something shakes his shoulder.

Jaune jolts awake and grips his sword handle. He instantly sharpens his aura to a fine point as well. The girl who woke him up backed up with her hands out. A guy slightly behind and to her right puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Woah there blondie! Calm down, juuuust a wake up call." The pink clad girl says with a smile.

"Uhh, sorry. I guess I'm just a little jumpy." Jaume said, rubbing his eyes.

Why did he have to keep having that terrible dream? Was he going to relive it forever? His eyes wander to the nearby statue with the old wolf champion. Of course. He was thinking about the wolf champions benefactor just before sleeping. lýkos, the wolf zodiac.

"Do you need any help? You seem shaken." The boy says in an even tone.

Jaune drops his hand from his sword hilt and rubs his eyes before giving his "wake up call" duo a look over. The girl seemed excited for some reason with a manic grin on her face and a massive weapon on her back. The first thing Jaune notices was that her muscle tone would put most men without training to shame. Hair a short bright orange and jade green eyes, she wore a sleeveless shirt with a heart cut out over the top of her breasts. A black sleeveless jacket with the color popped over that. Her mid section had some light armor that wrapped around and ran down into a hot pink short skirt. Bare legs ran down to white with pink accented tennis shoes.

The guy looked like a complete polar opposite. His face was serene except for a small frown in his eyes from his question. Black hair in a long ponytail broken only by a stripe of pink rested over a bright pink pair of eyes. A dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming going down the right side of his torso forming a black collar seemed immaculate. A stark contrast to the slightly ruffled look his companion had.

Jaune could tell without focusing his aura too strongly that the guy maintained a kind of calm whenever possible, and the bubbly looking girl could easily disrupt any kind of serenity he might find. An odd pair, but they say opposites attract. Jaune shakes his head when he realises he was starting to inspect the pair with aura reading. An ingrained habit he wasn't going to be able to shake off anytime soon. A whole lifetime of being told to use it had that effect.

"No, no. I'm… fine. Just got a little wore out from all the testing… what was it you said? About calling me?" Jaune said tiredly.

Just then a loud female voice called out from a nearby speaker.

"Jaune Arc of testing group one, you have five minutes to make your way to the grand hall. Last warning." Goodwitch said.

"Ahh, shit. Thanks for getting me up… uhh…" Jaune said before turning and stopping. He just realized he had no idea who they were.

"Lie Ren. Just call me Ren. This is Nora Valkyrie. And from the video circling the CCT net you're Jaune Arc." Ren says.

"Yeah, your fight with that robot was crazy! But uhh, don't you need to be somewhere?" Nora said with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, thanks again!" Jaune said, taking off at a brisk jog.

Wait, video on the net? He didn't realize that his performance was recorded. Ehh, probably won't matter. Jaune looks around and makes sure the headmaster is nowhere to be seen. He closes his eyes and quickly casts his aura into the giant castle like school, picking up on miss goodwitch's particularly strong aura.

Taking off at a dead run he didn't see the hidden door open behind him. Ozpin stepped out with his signature mug of coffee and a slight smirk on his face as he watched the youngster speed off.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

I seriously can't stand the formatting for this site. It is a damn nightmare. And no matter what app I use I just can't get a single file to upload properly. Every single time I post the spacing changes, some stuff disappears and I hate it. But anyways, on With the extra stuff!

Reviews!

MogtheGnome: Jaune has met Ruby and Yang. The only two of the main cast he has met in my story so far. They put him up after Jaune joined ruby for the events in the red trailer a few chapters ago. I didn't want to write in all of the trailers, but the red trailer was the very first thing I ever saw for RWBY and was the reason i got into it, so I wanted to incorporate it somehow.

thegermankaiserreich: *finger guns* hell yeah!

EnteTheSlayer: heh, you know what they say, it takes Juane to know… Jaune. Yeah… I really gotta find other times to write besides 3 in the morning after work. I'll try to update a quick fix for it. The start of the show is soon! We've covered a bit of his early life and the red trailer now. In fact the "start" of Beacon is just a day or two away from the current timeframe. Since Jaune wasn't sneaking in with fake transcripts this time, I wanted to come up with a way for other students to apply. The same will be true with Ren and Nora. They were orphans after all, so they never got to go to an academy.