Ruby and Yang sat together out on the Beacon Cliffs, the younger of the two leaning against her sister. A feeling of deep exhaustion permeated both girls' minds. It was the day after the memorial, and the two felt the need for some family time.

Yang let her head fall back against the tree she was sitting against, her eyes gazing at the swaying trees of the Emerald Forest as she held Ruby close.

The Arc family had left earlier that day, having spent the night at Beacon, getting to know Jaune's friends. Scroll numbers had been shared before the groups parted, with the Arcs promising RWBY and NPR any help and support they could offer once the students had graduated. The teens had promised to always be available to lend the Arcs a hand in return.

"...I'm thinking of pulling us out of the Vytal Festival, Yang…" Ruby said softly after a while sitting in silence.

"...Yeah, I kinda expected that." The blonde admitted. "We aren't in any shape to fight seriously. We still need to recover." She let out a breath. "Besides, it wouldn't feel right to compete if JNPR doesn't…"

"Well, nice to see you two have matured a bit, even if it isn't for the reasons I'd like." A male voice said behind them, making both girls jump up and turn in shock, their eyes resting on the two men standing before them.

"Dad! Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cried out with surprised happiness, racing forward with her semblance to slam into her father, wrapping her arms tightly around the man's waist.

Taiyang Xiao Long let out huff from the impact of his daughter hitting him, wrapping his arms around the girl as his brother-in-law chuckled at him. "Hey Ruby. I missed you." Ruby proceeded to hug her father harder.

Yang walked over as well, pulling her uncle into a hug, which was returned. She stepped back with a small smile as she looked at him. "What are you two doing here?"

Qrow shrugged. "I was on my way here to give Oz a report on my latest mission when he contacted me and Tai about what happened. He thought we might be able to help you two with coping."

"Sorry I wasn't here sooner." Taiyang said as he stroked Ruby's hair as she held him tighter. The light blonde man looked at the daughter who got his hair color. "How are you two doing?"

Yang shrugged. "Some days are better than others. Sometimes I wish Vomit Boy was still alive just so I could punch him in the face for putting us through all this."

Qrow smiled sardonically, bringing his flask to his lips. "I know the feeling, kiddo."

"Is this how you felt when mom died?" Ruby asked softly.

Taiyang gave his daughter a gentle squeeze. "Maybe. Our relationship with Summer was different than yours and this Jaune fellow's. And we'd known each other a lot longer. So it isn't exactly the same."

"I can't imagine it hurting more than it already does…" Ruby said, a slight whimper in her voice.

"I hope you never have to experience it, kiddo." Her father said with a small, sad smile. Then he pulled away from the girl. "Now then, why don't you and Yang introduce us to your friends? I'd like to see who you're hanging out with."

Ruby pulled back and nodded with a slight smile, taking her father's hand and leading the way to Beacon proper, Yang and Qrow following leisurely behind them, the blonde feeling her heart ease at the simple joy her sister took at having her family around her.

"I think she'll make it through this, Vomit Boy. Don't you worry." Yang said to herself with a small smile, hoping her friend was content wherever he was now.

Jaune was not having a good time of things. It was only about noon, by his estimation, and he'd already had to fight nearly a dozen high level Grimm as he tried to creep around the ancient city without being spotted.

It wasn't that he was a bad sneak, especially without his armor, though he'd never be able to beat Ren at it. It's just that the amount of Grimm in the city was much higher than he'd originally estimated.

He managed to avoid most fights by keeping himself calm as he avoided Beringels, Bouncy Balls, foxes and even an Imp. However, he inevitably got spotted at some point, and when he was the fight that ensued generally ended up attracting the attention of other Grimm, making things harder than they had any right to be.

It didn't help that he was fighting without any armor to protect him after having removed it to keep from drowning. He was using more aura taking what blows he couldn't avoid than he usually would, which was tiring him out faster.

Still, he was making progress. After leaving the house Sophia Sand's team had died in, Jaune began making his way to the temple he'd seen when he arrived. He reasoned that, as the most important building in the city (as far as he could tell, at least), it most likely had a cavern or passage that led to the outside world. If nothing else, it might have something he could use.

As he made his way through the city he saw some of the murals and carvings Sophia had mentioned in her journal. He stopped and studied them when he was able to do so without having to worry about being attacked, finding them very interesting. When he could he pulled Sophia's journal out of the box he kept strapped to his waist to consult it.

From what he could tell, not being an archeologist, the murals depicted various scenes, some from daily life, others from what could only be myths and stories. He quickly noted that there were no mentions of Grimm as he knew them, corroborating what Sophia had written. However, there was something else he eventually noticed was missing the more murals he saw.

There were no depictions of Dust. No crystals, no Dust woven clothing. Considering the fact that the people displayed were clearly shown manipulating the elements, such as fireballs being held in hands, the fact that they weren't showing the Dust required to do so was odd.

It was possible that what he was seeing was the effects of Semblances and not Dust, but it was still strange.

In any case, Jaune focused on making his way to the temple. The sun was starting to go down, and he wanted to reach it before night fell.

Carefully and as calmly as possible, the knight made his way through the streets of the ancient city, stepping lightly with his battered sneakers making little noise. He rotated his shoulder slightly to work the kinks out after the last fight where he'd hit a Boarbatusk badly, almost getting his sword wrenched out of his hand and his shoulder dislocated. As he did so he saw that he was only a couple of blocks from the stairs that led up to the temple. Sighing in relief he slowly made his way, being extra careful now that he was close to his objective.

Thankfully he reached the base of the stairway without incident and sat down to rest on one of the large steps, hiding himself in the shadows cast by one of the pillars that stood there like silent sentinels. Wishing he still had his canteen to slake his thirst he leaned against the cool stone and closed his eyes, feeling his aura slowly work on healing the various bruises he'd accumulated throughout the day of constant fighting.

Jaune was tired, both physically and mentally. He'd been in the Deathlands for a long time now, fighting almost non-stop the entire time, and it was taking its toll on him.

True, his skills were growing by leaps and bounds. Constant combat with high level foes will do that to you. However, it also chipped away at stamina and morale, the latter of which was very important when out in Grimm country. He was well aware of the importance of keeping his spirits up, especially after the brief time when he nearly lost himself to despair after he saw the bullhead flying overhead, leaving him behind. The fighting had been constant due to his dark emotions at the time.

Still, there was only so long one could go while having hope constantly torn away along with the stress of constant combat.

"I'm going to need therapy when I get out of here…" He muttered with a sigh, before his lips quirked upwards in a slight smile at what he had just said. When, he'd said. Not if, when. That alone buoyed his spirits a bit, as it showed that he hadn't given up, even subconsciously.

Deciding that he'd rested enough, the blonde got up, stretched, and turned towards the stairs leading upward… only to freeze as he saw an Imp observing him from further up the staircase.

The humanoid Grimm stared at him, its skull like mask pointed directly at him, two long horns rising from the top of it. It twitched erratically, like a ghost in a Mistrali horror movie, and its fingers curled and uncurled as it prepared itself to attack as its digitigrade legs shifted to pounce.

Had this been a movie, Jaune was sure the music would have paused to give emphasis to the scene of two enemies encountering each other. The knight couldn't really appreciate the dramatic tension, however, focused as he was on not panicking.

Port had briefly mentioned Imp Grimm types during one of his stories. He didn't go into detail, stating that was a lecture for a later class. However, he had said it was an especially difficult Grimm to tackle solo due to its offensive capabilities. Now Jaune wished Port had decided to discuss those capabilities more in depth.

Jaune slowly reached down to draw Crocea Mors, trying to keep the Imp from attacking before he was ready. The Grimm tilted its ugly head as it watched the blonde reach for his weapon before it suddenly opened its mouth as widely as it would go while being 'sewed' shut by tendrils of black flesh, letting out an ear piercing shriek that made Jaune's hands fly to his ears as he was assaulted by the jarring cry, stumbling backwards in surprise. Then, before he could react, the Imp whipped its arm at him, the already lengthy limb elongating in mid flight to strike him, hitting him in the side and sending him flying with a cry.

Jaune crashed against one of the pillars and gasped from the impact as he dropped onto the stairs, coughing as he tried to regain his breath. He growled lowly as he slowly got up, hearing the Imp make its way closer to him. He looked up only to find the monster whipping its arm downwards to bash his head in. Jaune quickly rolled to the side, wincing when the Grimm's fist impacted the stone hard enough to blow chips off.

Hurriedly scrambling to his feet, Jaune drew his blade and ran at his opponent. He could see now why this Grimm was dangerous. With it's long reach it could keep enemies at distance, using its screech to paralyze them momentarily and get some hits in. Normally the best strategy would be to fall back and pelt it with ranged attacks, however he no longer had his bow, so his next best strategy was to get in close where it couldn't use its long arms to full effect, negating one of its advantages.

Unfortunately that was easier said than done. The Imp screeched again, making Jaune falter in spite of himself. He managed to avoid getting hit again, however, barely dodging another swing by his enemy. Once he'd recovered he resumed rushing the Grimm, sword glowing white as he prepared to cut the thing in half. What he wasn't expecting was for the Imp to suddenly leap backwards and up the stairs, granting itself the advantage again.

"Sunnova…" Jaune growled as he saw the Imp twitch its head as it observed him. He needed to pin the Grimm down somehow, or otherwise impair its movement. Remembering his hunting knife strapped to his boot, he reached down and drew it, holding it in the hand that clutched his shield. Then he rushed up at the Imp again.

The monster let out another screech once Jaune was in its range again, but he managed to power through it this time, expecting the aural assault. He quickly threw himself forward as the Imp whipped its arm at him, trying to crush him, and scrambled to his feet in order to keep going.

When he saw the Imp was about to leap away again, Jaune imbued his knife with aura and quickly threw it at the Grimm's right leg, praying that his gamble would work.

Apparently Lady Luck had decided to smile at him, as the knife sliced through quite a bit of the monster's leg, making it stumble just as it attempted to jump. It screeched again, this time in pain, and Jaune smiled as he leaped forward, glowing sword coming around as he let out a cry.

Seconds later, the Imp's head fell to the floor, it and the body beginning to disperse into smoke.

Jaune fell on his ass with a groan, sheathing Crocea Mors before clutching his side. His aura had protected him, but he'd still felt the impact, and he'd likely bruise. He was getting too exhausted, his aura getting too low, for it to be otherwise.

Jaune slowly made his way back into the shadows before laying down to rest, his eyes closing as he did his best to recover his strength before he continued.

He must have rested for about a half hour before he opened his eyes and got up with a small groan. As much as he just wanted to sleep for a few hours, he knew he had to keep moving. After making sure that there were no more unpleasant surprises, Jaune slowly continued making his way up the stairs to the temple proper. Once he reached it, he stopped and stared, his mouth hanging open slightly.

He was in a large room with three hallways branching off. Two altars stood at opposite ends of it, one made of obsidian, the other of gold. Upon them were statues made of the same materials, a slim obsidian man with what looked like ram's horns, and a muscular golden man with large antlers.

The rest of the main room of the temple drew the eye just as much, however. The walls were covered in carvings of mixed obsidian and gold showing many different scenes. It was here that Jaune had another shock, as one of the scenes displayed the first mention of Grimm he'd found. Carved Beowolves were shown to surround the ram horned man in what was unmistakably a deferential manner. The antlered man wasn't shown as having anything similar.

"Oh man, what I wouldn't give to have a working scroll right now. Oobleck is going to flip." He moved closer to the statues on the altars, studying them. "Why would they be worshipping a couple of faunus, though…?" He was confused, but he couldn't think of any reason why the humans of the city would. It wasn't Jaune being bigoted, he was just well aware that it didn't make sense considering what he knew about how faunus had been historically treated.

Seeing that he wasn't going to figure out anything more by studying the room, Jaune began to explore the rest of the temple, heading first into a hallway beside the golden statue.

Most of the rooms were empty, but after five minutes he stopped and stared in shock. "Holy shit…" He said softly.

The small room he found himself in held mounds of ancient gold coins scattered throughout it. From what he could tell they'd most likely been held in wooden boxes that had long since rotted away, leaving only the currency, which he could see had the image of a woman's head stamped on one side, and an eight pointed star on the other.

Jaune wasn't a greedy man. He hadn't decided to become a Huntsman, nor had he tried to date Weiss, for the money. That said, he'd be a complete fool not to take some of the treasure with him. However...

"Dammit, I don't have a bag to carry any of it in…" He muttered, dejected. It figured that with his luck he'd find a treasure like the one before him yet have no way to take it with him.

That was, of course, till he moved to leave the room and the empty quiver he still carried bumped against the doorway. His gaze shifted down to it before a smile slowly grew on his lips.

A few minutes later he was walking out of the room with a smile still on his face, his quiver full to the brim with gold coins, the opening stuffed and tied off with fabric from his hoodie, which was more than a bit ragged now, to keep any of it from spilling out as he fought. Satisfied with his haul, he continued exploring.

The rest of the rooms of the hallways he'd chosen to explore first were empty, though Jaune could see some remnants of whatever items had been kept within them. It wasn't surprising that most of what had been kept there had either rotted or rusted away. Once he was done in that section of the temple he made his way back to the main room before heading down the hallway beside the obsidian statue.

The rooms in this section of the temple had more to see. It was more like an armory, though each of the pieces of weapons and armor were on pedestals, seeming to be almost reverently positioned. Which wasn't the odd part. The odd part was that everything was intact.

Blades were still sharp and unsullied by rust. Armor was pristine and untouched by age or battle, even the leather straps appearing perfect. The wooden hafts of spears were as sturdy as they would have been after they had been finished, not a sign of rot on any of them. It was eerie. Jaune was well aware than none of those pieces should be there. Even the most cutting edge, dust reinforced weapons would have deteriorated to near nothingness with the apparent age of the city.

Ruby would go into a manic spree before collapsing in awe if she could see and examine these weapons.

Jaune paused in front of another piece of armor. It was a chestplate much like the one that he'd been forced to dump, except it was large enough to cover his entire torso while hugging it tightly and segmented in order to provide ease of movement. It was made of a metal alloy he didn't recognize which was silvery white, and as reflective as a mirror. Bronze and gold aesthetic accents covered the edges of it, adding to the look. Alongside it he saw that there were arm guards, bracers and greaves of a similar make.

He had seen several other pieces of armor as he'd walked through the rooms of the temple, but this was the first set that looked similar to what he was used to wearing. He considered it before smirking.

Ten minutes later, Jaune was shifting around, getting used to the feel of his new armor. He jumped around, twisted, turned, bent forwards and backwards, and anything else he could think of in order to make sure his movement wouldn't be impaired. Once he was satisfied he smiled, pleased that he finally had some sort of protection. Strapping Crocea Mors back to his side, he continued making his way through the rooms of the armory section.

It was when he entered the last armory room that he found his next prize. There were obviously no guns in the armory, but he did find bows, and he was drawn to a beautiful example in that room. It was a compound bow made of an unfamiliar type of wood which was a crimson red, reminding him of Ruby's cape. Even the bowstring was red, perfectly taut and firm.

Jaune picked the bow up, testing the weight. It was perfectly balanced, and lightweight without feeling fragile. He frowned as he considered taking it with him. Unfortunately he no longer had any arrows, and he hadn't seen any in the armory, so while he could take it with him on the off chance he'd find ammunition (a very unlikely scenario), in the end it would most likely be dead weight.

He sighed as he brought the bow up, pulling the string back to test it. It was too bad. The bow was perfect, and he definitely needed a ranged option now that his previous bow had been broken by that damned bug. Unfortunately it was of no actual use as it stood.

On a whim Jaune decided to channel his aura into the bow, wondering what effect it would have. He'd always imbued just his arrows with aura before, not the bow itself. He was surprised when a mass of swirling energy appeared between his fingers in the position he would have had an arrow. He was caught so off guard that he unwittingly released the string.

The arrow of energy shot forward at high speed, and it impacted against the wall of the room with a crack and a small burst of light. When the light faded, it showed a hole nearly half a foot deep into the stone wall.

Jaune stared in shock at what had happened before he looked down at the bow in his hands. He'd felt a small draw on his aura when that had happened, so it didn't take a genius to figure out what had just occurred. Quickly he brought the bow back up and pulled on the string before focusing once again, trying to recreate what he'd done before.

This time he paid more attention to what was happening when the arrow of energy appeared, ready to be fired. The swirling mass of light was two toned, half the usual white of his own aura, the other the crimson of the bow, the two colors swirling around each other.

Wanting to see if he could make the arrow disappear without having to fire it, he stopped feeding his aura into the bow. The arrow remained for a few seconds after he did so, but eventually the energy dissipated into nothingness.

Once again, Jaune stared at the bow in his hands. Then he smiled. "Yep, you're mine now." He let out an almost evil sounding cackle before coughing, embarrassed as he realized what he'd just done. Face burning slightly, he placed the bow in the holder that was attached to his quiver. It wasn't a perfect fit, as the holder was meant for a more modern bow, but it would do till he got his ass back to civilization.

Feeling much better about his chances now than when he'd first reached the temple, Jaune smiled as he made his way back to the main room and then through the last hallway, which rested between the two statues.

The path was long and dark, so he kept his hand on the wall to make sure he wouldn't slam into something. He could tell it sloped gently upwards, however, and that made him sure that he would be leaving the caves soon.

He felt a bit of remorse at leaving a wonder like the underground city so soon after finding it, and after having seen only a small part of what it had to offer. However, his priority was surviving and getting back to Beacon, so unfortunately his curiosity and sense of adventure would need to be put on hold.

With any luck he would return some day, this time with Oobleck and a battalion of soldiers and Huntsmen. The find was too big for that not to happen. And he'd feel much better about exploring the city if he wasn't doing so alone.

As he continued walking he heard the sound of a waterfall coming from up ahead, along with some sunlight that helped illuminate his way. He quickened his pace as the sound got louder and the light brighter till he emerged from the tunnel into another large, open topped cave.

It was a little under a hundred yards across, mostly circular. He was standing on a ledge above a pool of water which was being fed by a waterfall falling from above to his left, vegetation surrounding it. Hugging the wall to his right the ledge continued, encircling the opposite end of the cavern that the waterfall was in, reaching an opening opposite his position that led to the outside.

Jaune smiled, happy to once again be making progress. He quickly made his way along the ledge, heading for the exit. Unfortunately, as was typical of his luck, something stopped him halfway through.

A deep, groaning sound echoed from the pool below, and something shot up out of the depths, striking at him in order to splatter him all over the wall. He only barely managed to dive away from the attack, hearing the grunch of rock shattering as his attacker hit the wall behind him. He turned to see what new monster he'd have to deal with this time. "Oh… Fuck my life…"

He recognized the Grimm that had just attacked him. It was one he'd hoped to never see again. The last time he'd encountered it, it had taken the efforts of all of RWBY and JNPR combined to kill it.

He watched as the massive dark snake head, lined with jagged and sharp bone plating, moved away from the wall, shattered stone falling to the ground as it turned its head to glare at him. To make matters that much worse, seven more identical heads emerged from below, hissing ominously.

For a moment Jaune could only stare in disbelief. Then he let his head fall back to glare at the sky through the opening in the cave roof. "What the hell did I ever do to you!?" Then he scrambled to his feet and ran as another snake head launched itself at him, huge mouth open to swallow him whole.

With a constant chant of 'shit, shit, shit…' the blonde knight ran for the exit. If he could just make it outside, the Grimm would be unable to follow due to its size. Unfortunately the Orochi (a name Blake gave it from a story, since they never did remember to get the Grimm's actual name from Port) was smart enough to know what he was doing, and one of the heads moved to block the exit, hissing in challenge, waiting for its prey to keep moving towards it.

Jaune skidded to a halt, dismayed yet unsurprised. Immediately he deployed his shield, imbuing it with aura just as another snake head came around to slam into him. The shield repelled the attack thanks to its aura enhancement, the snake head being blown backwards like a giant had punched it in the nose. Unfortunately, Jaune was relatively lightweight in comparison, and was immediately sent flying into the wall. He grunted from the impact, though the damage was mitigated significantly thanks to his new armor.

His mind raced as he tried to think of how to get away from this thing. He knew that the likelihood of him being able to kill it was remote. Ruby had needed to have Crescent Rose's already significant stopping power enhanced by one of Weiss's glyphs in order to take out the thing's weak point, and before that they'd needed Blake and Yang to launch them into position above the Orochi.

The memory clicked in Jaune's mind. He needed to get above the monster in order to be able to even spot the thing's weak point. He looked up, seeing the edge of the opening above the cave. If he could get up there, he should have the vantage point he need.

How to kill it, though? He didn't have the sheer fire power Ruby wielded in Crescent Rose. His new bow had done a decent amount of damage to the wall of the temple when he'd first fired it by accident in the temple. Sure, it had taken a small amount of aura, but he doubted he could get in a kill shot through sheer volume of fire before the Orochi managed to take him out.

Well, if a small bit of aura didn't do the trick, what about a lot of it?

A large, slightly crazed smile appeared on Jaune's lips even as he dodged another attack by the huge Grimm. Plan made, Jaune got ready to implement it.

Oddly enough, it never occurred to him that he would be able to run away once he made it above, since the Orochi was unlikely to be able to follow. He was now entirely focused on killing the monster.

Seeing another head coming around to attack, Jaune waited before making an aura enhanced leap over it as it crashed against the ledge, making the stone burst into pieces. He landed on the snake's back and promptly began to run, if somewhat unsteadily. He almost fell off the Grimm and into the water below when the snake began to rise, but managed to avoid doing so. He saw another snake head coming from the side to attack and jumped at the last moment. The snake head passed underneath him, and he fell towards it shield first, the metal imbued with a large amount of aura. It discharged when it made contact with the Grimm, launching him high into the air. He was almost on the level of the roof of the cave now, about ten feet from the opening.

He looked down to see yet another snake head rising from below, mouth open to eat him. He swiftly twisted his body, altering his trajectory just slightly, enough that he could once again put his shield in the way, using some more aura to imbue it just as the monster's nose made impact. Jaune was once again launched upwards, the snake head being blown backwards with a hiss.

He was now above the rim of the opening, but he was not going to land on the roof. Hurriedly he sheathed Crocea Mors as he began to fall before reaching out. He just barely managed to grab hold of the edge with one hand, and he grunted as his weight almost made him let go. Nearly panicked, he forced scrambled up and over the edge just as another snake head snapped at his heels.

Jaune stayed on his hands and knees for a few moments, panting from the adrenaline of what he just did. Then he quickly got to his feet and unslung his bow. Looking down into the cavern he saw that the Orochi writhing as it tried to reach him, its heads snapping up at him. And in the middle of all the heads, he saw the glint of white that was the Grimm's weak point.

The Orochi was actually an amalgamation of multiple King Taijitus, which had somehow been fused into a single monster by another Grimm which Port had called a Meldling. Meldlings were weak on their own, but they were prioritized when spotted because of their ability of combining Grimm and increasing their power.

Seeing the Orochi start doing more than snapping ineffectually at him, its mass moving to the side in order to make it easier for some heads to reach higher, Jaune took aim at the glint of white that was the Meldling and drew the crimson bowstring back. Then he took a deep breath and focused, feeding aura into the bow.

Immediately an arrow of energy appeared, the same size as the ones he had first generated. But Jaune knew it wasn't enough. So he kept feeding aura into the bow, and to his gratification the arrow grew in size.

He kept feeding it power bit by bit. A fifth of his remaining aura went into it. Then a quarter. A third. Half.

The mixed white and red light had become blinding, the projectile now the size of his torso and shining so brightly that it was visible for miles. The very air hummed with power.

The Orochi could sense the power its prey now held at the ready, and it increased its attempts to reach the human. Unfortunately for it, it didn't do so in time.

"Swallow this, you son of a bitch!" Jaune roared as he released the bowstring. There was a whooshing sound, and the arrow made of Jaune's power shot forward. Then he cried out and fell onto his back as there was a flash of light and the sound of a thunderclap along with the rumbling of an explosion in the ground he was standing on.

It took a minute, but slowly Jaune's sight returned as he stared up into the sky. The spots that obscured his vision were replaced by clouds and blue sky. "Ow…" He coughed before slowly getting to his feet. He wanted to see what had happened, so he moved over to the edge of the opening. His eyes widened at what he saw.

The Orochi was gone. Not even the customary Grimm smoke remained. Not only that, but a vast majority of the cave had been smashed. Any vegetation that had been there disappeared, and even as he watched a chunk of rock dislodged from the ceiling and fell into the pool below with a splash.

Jaune stared for a long minute before he slowly began to laugh, the adrenaline leaving his system and the realization that he had survived yet again making him giddy. He moved back from the edge and sat down as his laughter turned almost hysterical, his form shaking from the force of his guffaws.

Once he finally calmed down he saw his bow laying nearby and moved to pick it up. Looking it over, awe in his eyes, a silly thought came to his mind. "Huh, guess it is like the Legend of Hilda, huh?" That set him off again, and he burst into more riotous laughter.

Once he'd recovered his composure he looked back down at the crimson bow, a smile on his face. "You need a name!" He declared suddenly, the thought just striking him right then and there.

He'd never named his previous bow because it hadn't been his. As far as he was concerned, he was borrowing it from the man he'd taken it from. It had served him well, and he was grateful, but the weapon he now held in his hands felt like it was actually his.

Taking in its bright red wood, his smile widened as it reminded him of Ruby's cloak and Pyrrha's hair. That gave him the inspiration he needed.

"Good work, Vanquishing Thorn." He said with a soft smile. Then he stowed it away again and looked out over the trees and mountains of the Deathlands, feeling determination fill his heart.

It was time to get out.

This is a week (plus a day) late, and I want to apologize for that. Work issues, plus me just not feeling motivated for it, are to blame. Still, I promised that, if nothing else, I would upload my Patron requested chapter each month, and with this, I keep my promise.

So, this was a big moment in the story. Jaune found his new, more permanent gear. And he discovered something only Ozpin will recognize. He still has the journal, so he'll have something to wave in Oobleck's face to make the man leave him alone.

I hope you all liked the big fight at the end. The Orochi is a manga exclusive Grimm of dubious canonicity (I keep seeing conflicting reports when I look). It never got a name, nor did the small Grimm that made the King Taijitus fuse into one, but Blake mentions the story of an eight headed snake with a sword inside of it, so I can see them giving it the name if they couldn't find an official one.

Also, for those unaware, an Imp is the type of Grimm that fused with a Grimm Horse to form a Nuckalevee in Kuroyuri. Word of God states they can be encountered solo as well, though we've never seen it in the show.

The bow's name came from trying to think of something that stood for both Pyrrha and Ruby, who are the two romantic interests I have for Jaune in this story. 'Vanquish' came up as a synonym for victory when I looked, and Thorn is obvious. To Jaune, it's not because of romantic feelings (yet); Pyrrha is his partner and the person that believed in him even after his fake transcripts were revealed, and Ruby is his first friend at Beacon, and his fellow leader who has helped him become a better one as well.

In any case, the next chapter is going to be important. Something a lot of people have been wondering about will be happening in it. Care to take a guess of what and how?

As a friendly reminder, if you want a say in what I write each month, you can donate to my Pat A Ron, each dollar giving you one vote towards a fic on the monthly list I put up. It's at Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis.

Hope you all enjoyed. Till next time!