RWBY: Shadows of Remnant

"You are banished from death cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark, a curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time, but we can be saved…for you have been chose to save it from the ambition of a mad woman and only by stopping her can we be free of our curse...Jaune Arc"

Chapter I: Banished From Death

"GASP!" a rush of cold air ran straight throughout Jaune's body as his eyes snapped open, only to stare up into the midnight sky. A million shining lights blinking down upon him like an array of sparkling lights. The moon cast an eerie glow of blue and white light across the forest floor. Confused and disoriented, he tried to stand on his own two feet before he fell and stumbled to the ground.

"Pyrrha? Ren? Nora?!" He called out as he managed to regain his footing.

He grunted as he grabbed a hold of his ribs, feeling as if he had been thrown under a bus and ached like it. When he finally could, he looked down to notice that the entire right sleeve of his arm and parts of his armour had been ripped off. Leaving him with only a chest plate, his black hoodie, pants, shoes and the belts that crossed his pants.

As he began to look up, he noticed something odd as the world around him seemed to flicker and wave like flames. Distorting and obscuring the images of the red leaves in the Forever Fall Forest. It was both beautiful and strange as well frightening him.

"What the heck?"

He began to look around the strange distorted world moving forward, before his foot kicked something on the ground that made him look down. Down by his feet was his sword Crocea. The blade was stained red with crimson blood, as he bent down to pick up the ancient blade and looked at his reflection. Instantly he began to remember as the world shifted and changed.

He now stood in a small clearing while carrying a box full of Rapier Wasps. He instantly remembered this moment, as it was early today when Cardin blackmailed and made him avoid his friends to play a prank on them. He looked over to see Cardin as he shoved a jar of red tree sap into his hands and pointed to the left.

"Throw it at her"

Cardin demanded as Jaune turned his head to see not far from him a girl with long red hair and emerald green eyes, as she collected more sap and placed it into another jar. He recognised her instantly as Pyrrha Nikos, his partner and the only other person who knew his secret. His hands shook as he gazed back and forth between her and the jar of sap in his hand.

"No...No!"

In a brave moment of defiance, he turned around and threw the jar straight at Cardin, as the red sap stained the man's clothes. Cardin then proceeded to beat the living day lights out of Jaune, who could barely handle the abuse he was dished out. But before Cardin could deliver another blow to the boy, Jaune's body exploded in a flash of white light.

The force knocked away the taller boy and caused Cardin to tumble to the ground in shock. Looking between the taller fallen boy and himself, Jaune was surprised as watched his hands glow pure white before slowly fading away.

Cardin looked furious as he stood back up and prepared to beat up the boy again. But before he could get any where neat him, the sound of a roar broke him from his anger as the group turned around to see a large Major Ursa growling and glaring at the boys. The beast stared especially at Cardin as his clothes were saturated with red sap.

The beast roared at the group of boys causing Sky, Dove and Lark to flee the scene leaving their leader and Jaune behind to face the beast.

The memory faded as Jaune found himself once again in the strange distorted realm, shaking his head he looked around hoping to find more answers. His gaze was soon cast upon a headless Ursa Major corpse, not to far away as its severed he'd and red pupils gazed vacantly right back at him.

The corpse slowly dissipated into nothing but fine black dust, as the world shifted again. This time he now stood before the terrifying beast as he shielded Cardin from the monster.

Jaune blocked a claw strike and attempted to strike at the creature's soft underbelly before it batted him away with ease causing him to cough as specks of blood landed on the grass. He looked up to see that the creature had grown bored of him, and had now turned its attention back to the fallen boy Cardin.

Jaune cursed as he saw the creature lose interest and turned back to Cardin, as the teen shrieked in fear. Afraid for the boy, he desperately tried to come up with a plan to save Cardin, as his eyes searched for anything that could help him save Cardin.

A glint caught his eye as he looked to his left to see the jars full of the red sap as a plan quickly came into his mind. Jaune quickly picked up one of the jars and smashed it against himself as the red sap stained his clothes. The beast instantly stopped it's advance and turned its attention on the blond haired knight.

"Hey ugly! Over here! I'm delicious!" he yelled as he smacked his sword against his shield making a large amount of noise. The beast roared as it bounded towards him. A brief moment of fear struck Jaune before he stamped it out an turned to the forest.

"Cardin run! I'll try lead it away! You just go get help!" Jaune yelled as he ran away from the beast as it followed him deeper into the forest leaving behind a shell shocked and confused Cardin as he watched the boy disappear.

Jaune jumped and bounded over multiple fallen trees and stumps as he attempted to out run the beast. his heart beating rapidly in his chest, and breath becoming gasp and heaves as he tired to out run the beast that pursued him.

"This is by far the worst plan I have ever come up with!" Jaune said as he looked behind him to see the beast still following him from a distance. But when he turned his head back to the front of him, he instantly slammed on the brakes as he came to the edge of a large cliff. Small bits of pebbles fell of the cliff into the deep abyss below, as he turned around to see the Ursa Major appear behind him and charge at him.

Seeing no other choice Jaune stood his ground as he raised his shield and prepared for the worst just as the beast lunged at the boy. He managed to block a strike from its claws before he swiped at the beast's hand, causing a deep cut to appear on the beasts paw.

The beast hollered in pain as it growled louder at the boy before swatted at the boy, knocking the shield from his hand and caused the heirloom shield to fall over the cliff.

Jaune cursed slightly as the beast swiped at him again, this time knocking him onto his back. Dazed and slightly confused he looked up in time as the beast raised its claw and plunged it towards the boy. Jaune reacted instantly as he brought up his left hand to block the incoming attack, the claws of the beast plunged itself deep into his hand.

"ARGH!" Jaune screamed as the bony appendage dug deeper into his hand, blood gushing from the wound as the beast tried to wrench its claw free from the boys grip. But proved difficult as he held his grip on the large bear, Jaune took the opportunity as he plunged his blade into the monsters neck. The beast roared in agony before Jaune sliced the head clean from its shoulders, its head falling down into the cliff below .

The great bears body rocked before it leaned and fell of the cliff, dragging the boy with it by his still impaled hand. Jaune screamed as they were both thrown over the cliff and plummeted towards the bottom. Time slowed to a crawl as he desperately reached out to grab the ledge of the cliff, in a vain attempt to save his life.

But as if fate was mocking him he missed as he managed to grab but a few strands of grass from the cliff, as he drew further and further away. He felt weightless as he fell into the abyss, the world around him seemed to move to a crawl as he saw the final moments of his life flashed before his eyes.

THUD! CRACK!

He slammed mercilessly into the ground and nearly blacked out from the pain. He coughed as a small splash of blood gushed from his lips and trailed down his chin. To him this was unbearable as he felt nearly all of his bones cracked and broken as his organs and body screaming to him as if they were on fire. It was hell, pure and utter hell for the boy.

As he lay there bleeding and struggling for breath he began to think back on his life and how much he had screwed up. He began to think of how sad his family and friends will be once they find out he is dead. And he thought about how much of a jerk he was to Pyrrha when she offered her help and he bluntly refused her.

He only hoped she would forgive him before his eye's grew heavy, as they slowly closed and the world was blanketed in black…

Suddenly images of a woman glowing a beautiful white light appeared before him, clad in a flowing white dress surrounded by blue flames like a burning eye. She moved towards his broken body and placed his head on her lap, cupping his cheek in her hand and smiled warmly before whispering something that he could not understand.

Then a man appeared next to him clad in armour and glowed a dark blue light from his corporeal form. He seemed to be standing above him talking to the woman in white, the man only nodded before he placed his hand on Jaune's chest. A terrible pain circulated in his chest as Jaune then screamed in agony as his body glowed brighter and brighter before the memory faded.

Jaune looked back down at the severed head as he realised what had happened and asked the daunting question that plagued his mind.

"Am I dead?"

"No…But you are banished from death" Jaune spun around in shock as he tried to find the voice, but all he saw was a flash of blue flames as it disappeared.

"Who is there? Who are you?" he asked as he searched for the voice his sword swinging around trying to find the voice.

"I am like you young man, lost and confused..." a figure began to appear before him as he stared at the boy.

The figure before him was that of a man, glowing white and blue while clad in armor but glowed like a white light. He had long black hair with two wolf like ears at the top of his head and a head band across his forehead. On his back was a quiver with a multitude of arrows and a small assortment of daggers on his chests.

His figure was tall and imposing as he stood a few inches above the boy in height, his posture suggested that he was regal and disciplined with a near permanent scowl across his face. What had scared Jaune the most was the fact the mans face looked partially old and rotten like corpse, he had a deep scowl on his face as he glared slightly at the boy.

"What's happened to me?" he asked as the spirit walked up to him.

"To put it simply...you died, you fell to your death and died along side the beast you see before you" Jaune looked down at his hands and felt his body, his hearts still beating in his chest and the cold air leaving his lungs.

"Then how am I still alive?" he asked as the spirit looked to him gravely before taking a deep breath and began to tell him the horrifying truth.

"You have been banished from death, and have now been cast adrift between the worlds of light and dark. A curse binds us together to walk the earth of Remnant for all time." Jaune's eyes widened at this, he looked down to see his hands shift between his own white Aura and the mans Light Blue Aura. A great sense of fear and dread washed over the boy as he cast his gaze to spectral spirit.

"But we can be saved, you have been chosen to save Remnant from the ambitions of a mad woman. And only by stopping her can we be free of our curse..." he said as Jaune turned around to face the spirit.

"Chosen...What do you mean 'Chosen'…chosen by who?" He asked as the spirit could only shake its head.

"I cannot say for sure, but who ever it is has bound our spirits together and brought you back from the brink of death. And I believe 'that' may hold some of the answers that we seek" he said as he then pointed to the left of him as Jaune turned his head to the left and jumped back in shock.

Before him was a skeleton, old and decayed, wearing armor similar to the spirit but aged and deteriorated. He held in his hands what looked like a half snapped sword with a jagged end and a strange symbol on the hilt of the blade.

The strangest thing about the skeleton was the fact that impaled into its chest was a glass dagger, buried deep into its heart. Jaune moved with caution he got closer to the body as he then grabbed hold of the glass blade and took it from the corpses chest.

Instantly his hand and the blade began to glow as Jaune screamed in pain as strange images began to flood his mind.

Images of fire and death appeared in his mind as the same glass blade that was impaled in the skeleton was held by a stranger unseen as the blade came down on to him as images of fiery eyes were all he could see before it faded away.

Jaune gasped as he let go of the blade as it clattered onto the floor, he struggled to regain his footing as he looked at the glass blade at his feet. "You're...that skeleton was..." He said as the spirit nodded his head.

"Now do you believe me child?" Jaune shook his head as the vision still lingered within his memory, the pain he felt when the blade pierced his chest still ached.

"Who did this to you?"

"I do not know, all I remember is betrayal and fire...and that's all. My thirst for vengeance is the reason why I cannot move to the other side, but I feel there is something else that keeps us to this plane of existence." Jaune looked up to the sky to see the night sky and the glowing stars. Jaune sighed as he heard this and rubbed his head in frustration.

"Something else he says great...just my luck..." he then remembered his team and the rest of the class, wondering why they hadn't found him yet. He reached for his belt as he pulled out his scroll and attempted to call his team, but soon found that his scroll was broken completely shattered.

"Damn it my scrolls broken...we need to get back to Beacon, the headmaster might know what's happening to me." He began to walk away before the spirit grabbed hold of his shoulder.

"And what could he do to help us? As far as I know there has never been anything like us before in all of Remnant. As such he would not be inclined to believe us. And how pray tell would he be able to believe us? I cannot be seen by mortal eyes, so proving my existence would be hard enough as it is. We need to think about this more carefully, otherwise we will be...detained for madness" Jaune shook him off his arm, he then sighed as he thought about what the spirit said, and unfortunately could see the truth in his words

'He's right how can Ozpin help me? I don't even understand myself what going on, and if I told anyone they would probably throw me in the looney bin just for talking to myself...'Jaune thought to himself as he tried to figure out the best course of action.

"You do know I can read your thoughts?" The spirit said as Jaune snapped his head toward the spirit in surprise. "We both share one body now, your thoughts are as open to me like a book on a shelf" he said as Jaune nodded at this although still slightly annoyed that his own thought were no longer private to himself.

"Well at least it will make it easier for us to talk this way then" he said as he walked over to the Ursa corpse and grabbed the sheath beside body. He picked up the sheath as he inspected the old heirloom and pressed the button hoping for the sheath to transform into its shield form, but remained as a sheath.

"Damn looks like the mechanism is busted, probably from when it was thrown off the cliff," Jaune said as he looked up at the cliff that he fell from. Seeing no alternative Jaune sheathed the blade as he attempted to place the blade back on his waist, only to discover that the clip to hold the blade was broke as well.

"Great survives for over a hundred years and I manage to not only break the shield but break the waist clip for it...I have the worst luck" Jaune said as held the sheathed blade in his hand. The spirit reappears beside him as he looked at the blade in his hands.

"That sword..." he tried to remember where he saw that particular sword before. He shook his head as he saw the somewhat distressed looking the boys face as he looked at the broken shield/sheath, he sighed before he grabbed the boys attention.

"Stop your bellowing and just use the harness from my corpse over there"Jaune stopped his breakdown to see the corpses harness that allowed for a blade to be held across its back, along with a spare blade that was missing. Jaune looked back at the spirit as he was concerned about the thought of desecrating the body.

"Are you sure? I mean isn't this technically grave robbing?" He asked as the spirit just shook his head in annoyance.

"I'm dead so I won't be needing it anytime soon. And you have my permission, so there shouldn't be any problem." Jaune nodded before he walked over and removed the harness from its chest.

He the placed the harness over his chest as he locked the latches in place and secured the sword and sheath onto his back. The blad handle now appearing out of his right shoulder, as he checked the straps and adjusted the blade slightly until it was comfortably for himself. He then looked down at the half snapped blade as he picked it up.

"What about this?" He asked as he showed the spirit the blade. The spirit stared at the blade before he nodded at the boy.

"Take it...I can't explain why but...I feel as thought that blade is...important to me" he said with a look of longing in his eyes. Jaune nodded before the spirit disappeared as he placed the broken blade in the spare sheath on his back, he then looked up as he stared at the cliff.

"Well we better get moving, everyone must be worried by now" he said as he began to climb up the side of the cliff, he grabbed hold of the rocky surface as he began to climb up the cliff and after already a minute of climbing he began to speak to the spirit.

"So do you have a name?" He asked the spirit as he continued to climb the rocky surface, the spirit was quite as it registered the boys request.

"I…I do not know…it is as thought there is something blocking my memories, I cannot even remember how I ended up in this place." Jaune was silent as he continues to climb the cliff face.

"Well I can't just keep calling you spirit every time we have to talk, and I think it would be nice to call you by a name instead of it" he said as the spirit was perplexed by this.

"You strike me as curious Jaune Arc…most humans I have seen as a spirit usually don't care about a Faunus like myself, what's more you didn't freak out immediately the moment we met?" he said generally surprised by the boys lack of hatred. Jaune just smiled to himself as he continued to climb.

"Well I really don't care that much if you're a Faunus, because believe it or not my family had a belief 'It does not matter if you be Man or Faunus everyone is equal on this earth' and we have kept that motto up for the past 1000 years...or so" he said just as his foot slipped a little and he dangled off the cliff for a brief moment before he regained his grip.

"Also at the time I thought I had died so seeing a spirit would not be uncommon if I were dead." He jumped from one part of the cliff to the next. The spirit was silent as he heard the boys words, he did not know why but he felt as if he had heard these words before from a long time ago, he then chuckled slightly as the boy finally made it to the top.

"You are one strange human Jaune Arc…I am glad there are humans like you in this world in the mean time call me…Inu" he said as Jaune smiled at this.

"Its nice to meet you Inu" he said as he turned around and looked back in the direction he came, but found that he had ran so far that he got lost in the forest.

"…Damn it I'm lost" Jaune said as his shoulders slumped and a cloud of depression hung over his head, Inu appeared beside him as he shook his head at the boy.

"We need not worry, we simply follow your tracks" he said as he disappeared and Jaune looked down at the ground as foot prints glowing in the dirt appeared on the ground before him. Leading from the forest towards the cliff, this meant that he had to go in the opposite direction of the tracks.

Jaune sighed as he began to run into the forest following the bright blue tracks on the ground, but as he ran through the forest he noticed that he was moving faster then he had ever moved before. Almost at an unnatural speed, but slower compared to Ruby. Jaune laughed as he jumped over a fallen tree and zipped past the forest shrubbery with ease.

"This is amazing! How am I doing this!" he asked as he whooped in glee and fun, in his mind Inu smirked as he felt the boys adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"It seems that death has granted us the powers of a Wraith" he said as Jaune was confused at this.

"Wraith? What's a Wraith?" he asked as he jumped over rocks and leaped across a stream, Inu pondered as he began to recall what little he knew of the legends.

"I believe it is what I am…In legends it is an undying spirit bound to this earth with unfinished business most likely vengeance" he spoke as Jaune grew serious at this, if what Inu said was true then as a vessel he would have to fight in Inu's stead as a weapon.

"What do you have to be vengeful about?" he asked as he felt the man's scowl deepen within his mind.

"Betrayal is one…" he said as Jaune narrowed his eyes at this.

"LOOK OUT BOY!" Inu yelled as Jaune was snapped out of his thoughts as a Beowulf lunged at him, he barely dodged out of the way to realise that he just ran straight into a Beowulf pack and was now completely surrounded by the beasts.

"Shit there's too many!" Jaune said as he drew Corcea from its sheath on his back and pointed the blade towards the hoard. He felt their eyes on him as they circled the lone hunter growling and snarling as if to intimidate the boy, Jaune began to sweat as the beast drew closer to him until Inu appeared beside him.

"Stay calm boy, these are low level Grimm. Mindless pups that are all brawn and no brain. If you listen to me I can get you out alive, but you have to trust me" he said as the beasts drew closer. Jaune nodded as he pointed his sword towards the Grimm.

"Ok…not like I have a choice at the moment" he said as the beast were now within striking distance.

Silence echoed as Jaune stood prepared to fight the hoard of Beowulf minors with nothing but the sword in his hand, a broken blade and an undying spirit bound to his soul that kept him from dying. Let see how it turns out.

The first beast struck as it lunged at Jaune with the intent to bite the boys' head off his shoulders, "DUCK!" Inu yelled as Jaune ducked under the attack and then dodged another's claws

"STRIKE AT THE NECK NOW!" Inu yelled as Jaune thrust his blade into the creatures neck, the blade striking deep into the jugular of the beast as it crocked and hollered in pain. Jaune withdrew his blade and sliced the beasts head from its body. Two more charged in from behind Jaune as they attempted to catch the boy by surprise.

"Look out!" Inu yelled as Jaune spun around and blocked one with his sword but was left wide open for the other.

But before its claws could even get close Inu manifested beside Jaune as an ethereal sword appeared in its hands blocking the second strike before it batted the creature away, this allowed Jaune to kick the beast in the stomach dazing the creature slightly before it was silenced by Jaune slicing its head clean from its body.

Another charged in and attacked the boy, as he barley was able to parry the monsters claws with his sword "Thrust your left hand forward!" Inu yelled as Jaune complied and thrust it forward releasing a small flash of light from his left hand that caused the creature to stumble and back away before it glowed and flashed with a blue light.

"Attack now!" Inu commanded as Jaune ran forward and sliced the beast across the chest, before Jaune knew it Inu's top half manifested from him and slashed the creature in the opposite direction.

"Keep attacking!" he ordered as Jaune nodded quickly before he slashed again at the beast followed once again by Inu in the opposite direction.

Together the two slashed again and again as more cuts began to appear on the creatures chest, finally after two more cuts Jaune stabbed his sword through the monsters neck and then slashed at its midsection bisecting the monster in half.

He then turned around to see the last four looked at him in what Jaune could only describe as terror. But at the moment he didn't care as he readied the blade again and this time charged at the four, he thrust his hand forward as the beast was paralysed and proceeded to hack at the creatures torso, before he swept the creature off its feet and sliced it head off mid fall.

He then blocked one claw strike as Inu blocked the other before Jaune slashed the creatures stomach open, and stabbing the blade between its neck and its shoulder piercing the heart from above.

Jaune was then knocked back as the creature that Inu blocked swatted at him with his claws and went in for the kill, but Jaune deflected the attack and stabbed the creature in the stomach as he finished him off by bisecting his head form his shoulders. The last creature trembled in fear as it looked at the young hunter in fear as the ghostly silhouette of Inu could be seen beside the boy, and with that it high tailed it out of the intent on gathering its pack members.

"Jaune kill it before it can get help!" Inu said as he saw the creature attempt to flee.

"How? I don't have a ranged weapon!" Jaune said as he cursed his luck for being the only member in his team for not having a gun.

"Use this!" he said as Jaune felt a strange surging in his left hand as the blue flames circulated and morphed until a transparent bow appeared in his hands along with a quiver of arrows on his back, the boy nodded before he grabbed an transparent arrow from the quiver and aimed at the retreating beast.

"Keep calm and pull back gently" the ghost said as the world around Jaune slowed down and the world was once again blanketed in black and blue flames.

"Keep your aim true and I shall guide you" he said as the creature glowed red as he pulled the arrow back.

"And Release!" Jaune let the arrow go as it flew through the air and sailed across the field before hitting dead centre into the back of the creatures skull.

The beast fell face first to the ground dead, the arrow soon disappeared as it fade from existence leaving behind a disintegrating corpse. The bow soon disappeared from his hands as he looked down at the small scar on his left hand that glowed blue, Inu appeared beside him as he looked at the shot.

"Impressive...You are rather gifted with a bow young Arc" he said as Jaune continued to look at his hand.

"My Grandfather used to take me out hunting when I was a kid. He taught me how to use a bow and arrow…that was the only time anyone ever actually trained me." he looked down at the ground the thoughts of Pyrrha entering his mind as she offered her training, one that he denied. A roar was heard far away as Inu looked around.

"It is not safe here at night, even for us, we have to leave now before more return" he said as he retreated back inside Jaune who nodded as he began to make his way back to Beacon. Throughout the night he encountered many more Grimm ranging from Beowulf's to Ursa's as the undying spirit guided him through the dark forest, the crimson leaves that fell were now covered in blood as Jaune continued to make his way home.

Hopefully his team wasn't too angry with him.

Beacon Academy Morning, Cafeteria

Pyrrha stared blankly at the stack of pancakes before her, as she felt not the urge or motive to eat the delicious pastries. Around the table many were just like her, as they too could not find the strength to eat.

Yesterday Cardin and his team came running back to the rest of the group, saying that an Ursa Major appeared and Jaune was holding it off as best he could. As soon as they had heard this they rushed in the same direction they came in hopes of saving their friend. But when they got there Jaune and the Ursa were gone and all that remained was a piece of cloth and some of Jaune's blood.

Pyrrha had screamed instantly when she saw this and attempted to go and hunt the beast down, had Glynda not restrained her with her magic. Glynda then had Professor Port and Oobleck search the forest for the boy, but could find nothing but tracks leading only deeper into the forest. By then it had gotten too dark for the search team to search safely, without encountering Grimm.

They called off the search and retreated back to the Academy, in order to continue their search the next day. As soon as CRDL got back they were instantly reprimed by a rather rare display of anger from Headmaster Ozpin. He out right reprimed them for their reckless behaviour and threatened them with expulsion, if Jaune was not found by the next day.

Ozpin rather hoped that the young man was found soon, he had known all along of the boys fake transcripts and still enrolled him into his school because he wanted to see if he had the same potential that his ancestors before him possessed. The ability to defy all odds before them and and achieve what many deemed impossible...even at the cost of their own lives.

"It seems he did inherit their ability to put others before themselves…a noble but stupid trait" he said as he and Glynda stood in the cafeteria watching over the students.

"How are they taking it?" Glynda asked as she looked at teams RWBY and JNPR whose very presence reeked with depression and remorse, Ozpin sighed as he shook his head.

"About as well as one would take to losing a friend to Grimm…especially one that was left behind" he said as he looked over to the sad team members.

Ruby had small tears in her eyes as she held her legs to her chest as she released small quiet sobs that were unheard by everyone except those nearest to her.

Yang had a furious look on her face as her knuckles were near white as she too held in the emotion that she was feeling. Anger, Rage and guilt for not acting in time to save the boy.

Blake had a small look of remorse on her face as she tried her best to not seem affected by the event, but if you look close enough you could still see the hints of sadness in her eyes.

Weiss was living up to her namesake as she held on an icy appearance and cold behaviour to mask the fact that she too felt sadness of the young mans 'passing', inwardly regretting being overly cold to the blond haired teen as small cracks could be seen along her cold exterior.

Ren held a stoic face but in his eyes could be seen small amounts of anger and sadness as he felt ashamed for allowing his team leader and friend to die while cowards lived in his stead, it burned him up on the inside.

Nora the ever bright and bubbly girl that brought both a sense of laughter and confusion to the team seemed almost lifeless as she only just stared at the pancakes not even attempting to take a bite of her favourite meal, she just couldn't find the strength.

And Pyrrha, well what could be said, not long ago she was his partner. And even though he said mean things to her, he was still her partner and her friend. To her, the inability to protect her partner felt as though she had failed not only herself, but him as well. She had vowed to never have another partner again, if he did not return.

A shadow passed over her as she and everyone else turned their heads slowly to look behind her, her blank look instantly changed into rage as she saw who was behind her, the man responsible for getting her partner killed while just cowered like a child, the person who should have died that day instead of him.

Cardin Winchester

The boy before looked different then his usual demeanour. He no longer held himself high and proud with the arrogance that came with his family name, Instead he seemed to be holding a heavy burden of guilt and failure. The look in his eyes spoke volumes of his failure and his guilt. When Jaune had sacrificed himself to draw the Ursa away from him, all he could do was stare wide eyed and stunned as he watched the boy he had bullied for the past semester save his life. Even when his so called 'friends' abandoned him to the Grimm.

To a proud Winchester like himself it was a major blow to his family name, one that he would carry for the rest of life least he be forgiven. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes as she glared at the boy.

"What do you want?" she said with a vast amount of venom in her voice as the boy stiffened under gaze. Cardin stiffened as he gazed back at her once green green eyes that shone like emerald gems, now seemed toxic green and full of hate, mainly for him. He sighed as he struggled to find the words to say.

"I…I just wanted to say…I'm…I'm sorry for what happened to Jaune" he said with no small amount of regret, the others looked at him for a moment as he continued to speak.

"Jaune…sacrificed his life to save mine, he stayed behind when my friends ran away and after all the mean things I did to him. Even after I blackmailed him int-" he couldn't finish his sentence as Pyrrha had enough and struck him across the face, causing him to crash into the floor.

The cafeteria was shocked as they watched the normally calm and patient girl lose her temper at Cardin. Ruby, Yang, Nora, Weiss, Blake and Ren had shocked looks as they saw the rage that swirled around her as small bits of metal began to silently creak. Glynda was about to go over and stop this, until Ozpin rose his hand signalling for her to stop.

"This needs to happen…for all of them" Glynda only nodded and stepped back to watch the scene before her. Pyrrha was breathing heavily as she glared down at the boy before her, her hair shadowed her eyes as her from shook in anger and rage. A closer look would reveal that her eyes were brimming with tears, waiting to gush forth at a moments notice.

"How dare you!" she said softly but full of hate that caused most in the area to flinch back in shock.

"How dare you even attempt to apologize for what you did!" she said as her teeth clenched in anger, she then raised her head as she glared at the boy. "Did you think a few words would clear you of your crime! Erase the pain you have caused us!" she yelled this time as Cardin backed away slowly on the ground until she grabbed him by his collar and lifted him to face her.

"Because of your bullshit! Jaune is dead! He died trying to save your Pathetic! Minuscule! Life! When he could have just run away and left you to die!" tears began to fall from her eyes as she yelled at the scared boy. "But he didn't! He didn't run away because that's not the type man he was!" she yelled as her voice began to crack.

"He was a good man! Who didn't deserve to die by those heartless monsters! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!" She yelled as she basically threw the boy across the hall as he crashed into a table causing the other students to scatter.

Cardin looked up in fear as the red haired amazon drew closer to him with rage and fire burning in her eyes. But he didn't move or even attempt away, to him this was punishment for his deeds, punishment for the horrible things he has done to not only Jaune but to everyone he ever came into contact with, Faunus included. But just as she grabbed him by the collar and was about to knock his teeth from his skull. The sounds of the cafeteria doors opening causing everyone, minus Pyrrha and Cardin, to look in its direction and then gasp in shock.

The gasp of shock was enough for Pyrrha to stop her rampage and turn around as she faced the doorway, and what she saw caused her whole world to be turned upside down.

Standing before them all was Jaune Arc. His shirt and chest plate were covered in blood, with his right sleeve completely destroyed and his sword with another secured on his back with an old leather harness. He had cuts and bruises all along his body, with a thin cut across his cheek as dried up blood streaked down his face and a black eye forming under his eye.

The room was silent as Jaune slowly walked through the cafeteria, ignoring the looks of surprise and shock as he passed by his team and RWBY. He continued past the teachers who looked at the boy in shock, Ozpin looked more intrigued then the others, before he made his way to a vending machine and fished around his pockets for a spare coin.

After a while he sighed as he turned to the group as he scratched the back of his head.

"Um…does anyone have any change?" he said with a nervous grin on his face. And just liked that the awkward silence was broken as Ruby and Pyrrha bolted towards the boy.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha and Ruby yelled out as they soon tackled the boy in a massive bear hug. That caused the three to collapse to the floor, but caused Jaune's head to smack against the machine.

"OW MY HEAD!" Jaune said as he attempted to cradle his head while being hugged by the two girls around his chest.

"Y-You're alive! I thought you were dead!" Ruby said with a few small tears in her eyes as she held herself closer to the boy.

"I-I can't believe you're all right!" Pyrrha said as her gripped tightened the small sounds of bones aching began to sound within Jaune. Jaune struggled as he felt their grip tighten on his form.

"I-was-until-you-crashed-into me!" Jaune said in between gasps as the girls continued to hug the boy, afraid that he was going to disappear again. The whole crowd was amazed as they watched the boy being hugged to death by the two red heads. Snapping out of their shock, JNPR and RWBY made their way over as they tried to pry the two girls off of him.

"RUBY YOU DUNCE! LET HIM GO!" Weiss said as she, Yang and Blake tried to pull the girl off of him.

"NO! I WON'T LET GO!" she yelled like a child being denied their favourite toy, the same thing was happening to Pyrrha as Ren and Nora tried to pull her off as well.

"Pyrrha please let him go!" Ren asked calmly as Pyrrha shook her head as she denied their request while gripping the boy tighter. "NO!" she said in an almost child like manner as the two groups were pulling their respective partners in different directions. As this was happening Ozpin had an amused smirk on his face as he chuckled at this, Glynda noticing this looked like she had enough.

"Headmaster don't you think you should stop this?" she asked as the man shook his head.

"Relax Glynda they're just showing their relief that Mister Arc is alive and relatively well..." he said as he watched the interesting game of 'tug-of-Jaune' "I mean wouldn't you if someone you thought to be dead came back?" he asked as the blonde teacher looked conflicted as she watched the two teams express their happiness.

"Besides its not like they're going to actually harm the boy" he said as the two teams continued to pull on Jaune until…

CRACK!

The cafeteria went silent as the two teams stopped their tug of war and looked back to Jaune, who's face was purple while the top half of his body and the bottom half of his body looked crooked.

"JAUNE!" the teams yelled out they dropped the boy to the ground as he twitched and writhed on the ground. The teachers had wide eyes as they looked at the boy now frothing at the mouth.

"Oh dear…looks like they broke him" Ozpin said as he calmly sipped from his coffee mug. Glynda turned her heated gaze to the man as she brandished her riding crop, and struck the man on the head. While back with the group the teams were running around like headless chickens as they tried to figure out what to do in this type of situation.

"WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO WE DO?!" Ruby yelled over and over again as she ran around the boys semi-conscious body.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!" Weiss yelled at the red clad girl, while Ren and Blake were fanning the boy trying to get him awake. Pyrrha resting his head on her lap.

"WELL DO SOMETHING!" Yang yelled out as she waved her arms in the air.

"We need to give him some air!" Blake said as Pyrrha nodded as she looked down at her partner's semi-conscious face a slight blush on her face as she leaned on closer intent on giving him some 'air'. As this was happening Nora got near the boys chest as she pulled back her fist.

"DON'T DIE ON US JAUNEY!" she yelled as Ren's eyes widened at this "NORA WAIT!" Ren yelled as the orange haired girl slammed her fist into Jaune stomach. Causing the boys eyes to nearly bulge out of his head, as what felt like to him, a jackhammer slamming deep into his stomach.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT NORA!" Pyrrha and Ruby yelled out to Nora as yelled back

"I WAS GIVING HIM CPR!"

"THAT'S NOT HOW YOU GIVE CPR!" Blake yelled as the group fought amongst themselves. The boy curled up into a ball as he struggled for air as everyone was now arguing amongst them selves. Inu appeared beside Jaune, as he looked at the arguing group completely oblivious to the invisible entity.

"…They're worst then the Grimm" he said as Jaune could only nod weakly as he held his stomach.

"Tell me about it" he said as decided to black out from the pain.

Later at the Infirmary

"There that should do it" She said as she admired her own handy work, The nurse just finished bandaging him up as she looked at the boy before her.

"Please take it easy for the next few days Mister Arc, you suffered some major muscle strain trying to make it back to Beacon. Along with multiple small cuts and bruises" she said as Jaune looked at the bandages around his chest and arms, the bandaged boy nodded at the nurse.

"No problem Miss Tester" he said as she left the room to fill out some paperwork.

Nurse Tester was a woman in her mid thirties with long green hair and wore round glasses on her face, and a rather womanly figure if she did say so herself. Beside him were Pyrrha, Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, Weiss, Blake, Glynda and Ozpin as they crowded the boys bed hoping he was alright, Yang grinned as she slapped the boy on the back.

"Glad to see you back Vomit Boy" she said as he cringed in pain from the slap.

"Gah!" Instantly she noticed this as she drew her hand back "Whoops! Sorry about that Jaune" she said as the boy only smiled at her "Its ok…didn't hurt at all," he said with a quivering voice as Weiss raised an annoyed eyebrow and poked the boy in the chest.

"OW!" he said as the white haired Heiress shook her head "Stop trying to be cool Jaune and just rest" she said as she pushed the boy back into the bed. Jaune sighed as he rest his head back on the bed and raised his hand to the Heiress "Ok fine I'll rest happy?" he asked as the girl nodded.

"In any case it is good to see you alive and well Mister Arc"" Ozpin said as the boy nodded at this as he narrowed his eyes at his hand that was wrapped in a pristine white bandage.

"Yeah…alive " Ozpin narrowed his eyes at this. Glynda cleared her throat as she looked at the boy.

"You were very lucky to make it out of there alive Mister Arc, and while heroic as it maybe, please do not attempt to have a Grimm chase you into the Forever Falls to save a fellow student." she said as Jaune shook his head.

"Can't make any promises" he said as Glynda sighed while Ozpin chuckled to himself.

"How did you make it back Jaune? The forest would have been crawling with Grimm that late at night" Blake asked as Jaune scratched the back of his head.

"Well…I mostly tried to out run them until I got out of their territories, then they left me alone when I got closer to the city." nodded at this answer. Ruby had a wobbling lip and tears in her eyes as she looked at the blond knight.

"I thought-I thought you-you" she said as Jaune smiled and patted her on the head.

"Please as if some Grimm was going to kill me Crater Face" he said as Ruby blushed at her nickname as she still had to live with the first day incident.

"That was not my fault!" She yelled as she waved her arms in the air. Jaune laughed a little as he looked at her face.

"Relax Ruby I'm completely fine ok?" he said as the girl smiled softly as she nodded at the boy, Inu appeared beside him as he was unseen by the crowed.

"Despite the fact that you are banished from death" he said as Jaune narrowed his eyes at the wraith. Pyrrha walked up to his bed as she grabbed his hand in her own, Jaune looked at this before he looked up to see her relieved face.

"I'm so glad your safe Jaune" she said as Jaune looked at the girl with an indifferent face before he turned back to the group.

"Can you guys leave…I need to talk to Pyrrha about something" Ozpin nodded and started to usher them out of the room. Despite their protests, Glynda's glare forced them out. As soon as they were alone in the room Jaune sighed as he hung his head.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she looked at the boy waiting for him to speak.

"Pyrrha…I'm sorry…" he said as the girl raised an eyebrow. "I said something's that…I'm not proud of…and what happened in the forest made me realise…that I was a complete jerk to you and…I'm sorry" he said as hung his head in shame. He did not expect the girl hug the boy around his chest that caused him to blush red.

"Jaune…I forgave you the moment you came back" she said as Jaune's eyes widened at this. "When everyone thought you were dead, when I thought you were dead…it tore me apart from the inside" she said as the boy listened to her. Her grip on his body tighten ever so slightly, but Jaune only stood still as she continued to talk.

"You were my partner, my friend…and the thought of a Grimm feasting on your corpse burned something wicked inside me…and-and I couldn't stand it" she said as she pulled away and cupped the boys cheek in her hand.

"But you came back to me...and I don't intend to lose you anytime soon" she said as she placed a kiss on his cheek causing him to blush red. She then got up and began to leave the room.

"Roof top three days time…your training starts then" she said as Jaune could only nod at her, as she left the room a small smile on her face as Jaune rubbed the cheek that she just kissed.

"…What just happened?" he asked as Inu palmed himself in the face at the boy obliviousness.

"…Idiot…" he said as Jaune continued to look at the door his partner just left from.

Meanwhile in the Hall

Ozpin smirked as he watched the interaction between Mister Arc and Miss Nikos from his Scroll, as he had access to the schools cameras, minus the dorm rooms. He was relieved that the boy had survived and had managed to make his way back to beacon with as minimal damage to himself as he could.

But question were buzzing inside his mind when the boy turned up in the cafeteria. First how did he survive an entire night in the forest with his current skill level, which was minimal at best, when anyone else would have been wiped out. Second he arrived at Beacon with a rather old and worn harness with a half broken blade that he insisted he keep with him. And Third he seemed rather different from before normally he would chalk it up a post traumatic stress, common in situation like this.

But the way he talked and the way he responded to his comment before struck him as odd, like he didn't know himself if he was alive or not. It was troubling indeed.

"Headmaster?" he heard a voice as he turned to see the nurse that treated him "Ah Miss Tester how can I help you?" he asked a she faced the woman before him.

"Its about the patient, Jaune Arc, I wanted to inform you of something…odd…about him." she said as he raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh?" he said as the woman crossed her arms over her chest "As you know Mister Ozpin, my Semblance allows me to scan another's body for any anomaly's that could cause problems within the future" she said as the man nodded fully knowing this.

"Yes…what of it?" he asked as the woman looked almost confused as if she was trying to figure out something that was odd.

"Well when I scanned his Aura, I felt something…strange…like he had a second Aura inside of him" she as the mans eyes widened slightly. Unnoticed by the nurse.

"I don't know how to explain it, maybe it was his Aura reacting differently to mine thinking I was a threat or it could have been the many people in one room that was throwing mine off balance" she said as she ran over the multiple situations to explain the anomaly.

Ozpin however was deep in thought when he heard this "Two Aura's…" he said to himself "Could he be…" he said as the woman looked confused at the man that seemed to be troubled by this.

"…Headmaster?" she asked as the man shook his head.

"I'm sure it was nothing Miss Tester, the boy probably as a rare condition that made it seem like you sensed two Auras, I'm sure it will be fine" he said as the woman nodded and turned to walk away as the man was left alone in the hall.

As the man was left to himself he turned on his heel as he made his way to his office, fully intent on discovering the mystery of Jaune' behaviour and the second Aura in his system. Unaware of the events that would shake Remnant to its foundations and change this world forever.

"Could he be like him…the man with two souls?"

And scene well this is a first attempt of an Idea that has been plaguing my mind since I brought Shadow of Mordor. Basically making Jaune something similar to Talion and Celebrimbor, but unlike Talion Jaune is still alive and ages but is banished from death.

If I should continue this story please let me know, leave a review about what you think and let me know.

Masseffect-TxS.