Author's Note: Honestly I have no idea how this will turn out. I've tried writing a few stories before and have given them up as my interests in them faded, as well as just the standard progression of time has made me mature more than my previous works. I leave it up there because it did have memories attached, as embarrassing as some of them were, but this will be my second attempt at writing something for RWBY. While this series is something I enjoy more recently, My first story won't be available at this time until I get more comfortable writing, since I've tried writing more in the time I started a few months back and still haven't written past the first chapter. A big inspiration for much of what I wish for this fic to be comes from Coeur Al'Aran and his wonderful world building around our favorite blank slate of a hero.

Ansel was many things to its residents. A new beginning, a peaceful escape, a retirement plan. For one blond young boy, it was simply home. He was born and raised there, not knowing much past the outer walls outside of trips his family would take. Though those trips usually consisted of him turning his headphones up and drowning out the multitude of screams his sisters seemed to be able to give out every few seconds.

"Agh! Jade! That's my hair!"

"Mooom, Saph ate my candy!"

"I said it's my turn to play!"

The young boy let out a sigh, Turning up his music as he just let the theme from X-Ray and Vav play out to drown his sisters. He was, after all, Jaune Arc, The only male of the house sans his father. And as such, Jaune would end up helping out his parents by solving the most heinous disease his sisters could think of

Boredom.

This led to a multitude of hobbies having been explained and taught to the boy since he was little, his curious mind and desperate need to comprehend the torture his sisters had brought onto him. In the end, it was usually during trips that Jaune thought he could relax, but even that would soon end as he'd be called to help them in some way. That was his life, and at the very least, he enjoyed it despite how it sounded. His sisters' happiness and family made it all the struggle worth it.

This was made all the more true when an Ursa had decided to interrupt their family trip.

Now, looking back at the incident, there wasn't much thought on how the Ursa had shown up or where it came from. The only thing that had concerned them all was how it seemed to have not been noticed up till young Lavender had screamed in fear at the beast rushing towards her. His parents had been occupied entertaining the other girls on the trip, thus it wasn't until the shrill cry of fright from the girl that either noticed what was happening. The large beast had one paw reared back and ready to swipe clean through the smaller Arc sibling. Nicholas rushed over, his training and experience letting him know full well the outcome of this would be.

He wouldn't make it from this distance. The size difference alone showed the outcome of a straight hit without aura and what that would do to their younger daughter. His heart froze as his eyes widened as another mop of blond stood between the shocked girl and the frightening beast, one that did not change the hesitation of the beast as the claw followed through its natural course and all but catapulted Jaune away from his family, side first into a tree a few feet away.

The silence that filled the air was only broken by the disparaging cry of horror from Juniper as she screamed for him to show any sign of consciousness. Without waiting a moment further, Nicholas had managed to bridge the small gap that was left between him and his target, Corcea Mors raised high across his left shoulder as he swept the blade clean across the shoulders of his target. A thud sounded as the head and landed a small distance away, the body falling over, yet none of the Arc's relief was felt. Nicholas looked down at the shaking body of his daughter as he gently took hold of her, giving her a tight embrace.

"Go to your mother, I need to check on your brother." He quickly ushered her over to the matriarch, who looked to be only held up by the older siblings of the fallen Arc boy. He rushed over to the still body and as he got closer, he held back a choked sob. His body had experienced some severe breaks along the sides, no doubt from the fierce strike and subsequent slam into the fauna. Two fingers were quickly placed onto his neck as he pulled out his scroll and dialed the local policemen.

"Hello? It's my son, a grimm attacked and he's badly injured! Please! Send some help, he needs medical attention! He's still alive but.." he trailed off. He knew that with the time it would take to get to his family's location and back, he would all but pass from whatever internal injuries are keeping him down. "But he'll need some aura boosters and splints." He finished as he held his son close to his chest. With a confirmation of location and a promise to send assistance to him, he hung up the call on his scroll as he whispered quietly to his son, a warm radiant white glow surrounding them.

Juniper started to approach, a hand reaching out but stopped as her husband began reciting a mantra of some sort.

"For it is in family that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of sanctuary and dreams to foster the next generation. Infinite in love and bound by loyalty, I release your soul, and by my arms, nurture thee." After finishing the chant, the glow seemed to brighten significantly, as Nicholas took a heavy breath. He felt exhausted, but that did not stop him from keeping his son in his arms, trying to slow the bleeding as he noticed his aura immediately attempting to repair damage caused to him. He looked to the teary face of his family, and nodded his head firmly, noting the firm way Juniper's lips stayed closed. He would no doubt be told off later, but for now, his son would heal and it would be fine.

Jaune heard soft voices around his head, which in turn made the headache and dizziness seemingly infinitely more difficult to orientate himself or even go back to sleep. His eyes slowly fluttered open as he looked around the busy room, nurses and doctors moving back and forth, adjusting some of the switches around him as he started to take in the white outline of the hospital room he realized now he was in. He turned his head slightly to his family, groaning at the discomfort of how strained and tense his neck currently felt. At the noise, the room seemed to pause as one of his sisters seemed to take the chance to hope.

".. Jaune…?" The soft, cracking voice spoke out. It sounded like Lavender whenever Mom and Dad would scold her for something serious. He tried to get a look at her, but his entire family seemed to be just out of eyesight. The doctors and nurses that were hovering over him prevented him from seeing them but he did catch sight of the trademark blond hair over in the corner of the room. Another tired groan escaped his lips as he tried to speak, only to then notice the tubes digging through his nose. The feeling was foreign, only ever having to stay in the hospital when he had broken his arm once when he was smaller. His heart rate increased as consciousness soon flooded him.

"W-where…?" His voice was raspy, the dryness of his throat causing him to cough as a hand was placed onto his shoulder.

"It's alright young man, you're okay. Your aura is helping with the healing but you did lose a significant amount of blood so try not to move as much." A nurse replied in a soft voice. He took notice of the machines currently attached via tubes into him and then to his family once more as he noticed the dam of relief holding each of them back from collapsing into him. His father, however, did not necessarily hold the same concern for him. In its place, a stern, almost sombre look of determination as he nodded once to him. Unsure as to why, he suddenly remembered the events that led up to now; the Ursa almost hurting-

"Lavender!" Jaune sat up quickly, startling the staff surrounding him as he looked around. "Is she okay? I didn't see if she was alright!" His cries continued, eyes scanning over his family as his father pushed forward to his son.

"It's okay Jaune. She's getting rest too, the whole incident excited her too much and she's next door in case anything happens. You know how she gets when things get crazy." Nicholas explained to him. Jaune relaxed against the, he now realized, forceful pushes of the doctors to ease him back into bed. His eyes felt heavy as some unknown burden lifted off him. His family was safe, his parents happy, and of course he got hurt a bit, but that much was expected of the boy. He'd bounce back fast. His breathing stilled and he could hear the voices continue to talk past him, before exhaustion pulled him back into unconsciousness.

Steel clanged loudly in the open field outside the Arc home. Jaune heavily panted, hands bracing onto his knees as he tried to recover from the latest drills his father ran him through. After a few breaths, he found himself back into his stance as his father waited patiently for him.

After being released from the Hospital, Jaune was informed of some very serious news. The first, and biggest, was the unlocking of his Aura. His father explained it as a double edged sword. It would protect and enhance his physical traits and as such, make him even more durable than the 14 year old had been before. The only downside apparently being that the most vile creature known to humanity would be more likely to be attracted to his general location due to how Aura worked in the first place. Using his soul, he could shield or enhance certain parts of his body or his body as a whole, however that meant his emotions were easily tracked by the Grimm, which meant he needed to know how to defend himself if he was going to have Aura.

Hence, his dream now came true and his dad had decided to start training up the young boy to learn how to fight. His nightmare also came true, since his dad had been apparently a drill sergeant in a past life and was working him down to the last percent of his aura. When he had asked about it, his dad had simply told him this was a result of his late start.

Jaune wanted to rebuttal and say that his dad's initial refusal was the cause of the late start, but the prompt ass kicking he had just endured seemed to temper any sort of back talk he may have planned.

So now, with little more than a few months into his training, Jaune continued to work on his stance and swordplay. His muscles had grown well, his dad stressing that overindulging in brute strength was, surprisingly, not how many hunters handled the grimm. They needed a suitable amount of agility to complement the strength and endurance to balance the constant onslaught and mindless nature of grimm. As such, many early mornings were spent exercising through routine and preparing himself for another day of rigorous training.

Jaune still could not beat his father, however, something he didn't really imagine he would be able to do, not until after he graduated. He did manage to strike a few true blows, but the furthest it got was bleeding out a small percent of his aura down. Speaking of aura, Jaune had been blown away by the difference his body felt while coated in aura. Now, he wasn't much of a numbers guy, but he was all but certain that his body was at least over nine-thousand times stronger.

He was still a nerd, so sue him.

But that didn't stop him from appreciating the difference in his body. He could work longer and harder the better control he had, since aura helped with repairing the body. He could get his chores done quicker, since the aura boosted his muscles and made him naturally faster. Hell, he could even scale the side of his school's building without the ease of climbing a rope, which he could also now do stupendously.

He also did not learn this trying to impress Elizabeth from science class, and no amount of videos shared between his friend's scrolls could change that.

And wasn't that also a double take moment.

He somehow, after feeling a little better about his path in life and himself, found some friends. He was, unfortunately, still more quiet and reserved between them all, but he enjoyed the company pretty well.

All in all, Jaune had grown in more than one way ever since the notoriously named "Ursa Lake incident". And while he was definitely a lot stronger than how he was two years ago, he still was behind his entire generation in terms of lessons and proper training. As far as weapons go, he wanted to be able to carry on the Arc legacy in using Corcea Mors when he was ready, so he stuck with the sword and shield routine, since it also let his dad teach him the easiest.

Jaune was broken out of his reflection by the movement of his father rushing over towards him, barely having time to react to the movement as he brought his sword into a defensive hold, only to blink as his dad had somehow managed to slide around the blindside of his block, but now have gotten a good enough grip onto his collar to flip him over. The sound of his body slamming into the ground, air having escaped his lungs as he groaned on the ground, finally at his end as his father held the tip of Corcea Mors down towards him.

"I-I yield!" Jaune managed to say after recovering his breath for a second. His dad nodded to him, sheathing his sword and offering his hand up towards him. After being helped up, his breath still lost as he gulped what air he could gather, he smiled up at his dad once more. "And that… how was that time?" He asked as his dad took another deep breath himself.

"It was good, you really are picking things up quickly, Jaune. You shouldn't be holding your guard so closed though, that's what let me get behind you easily. When you guard, you want it to be out just enough to follow up with something for your opponent, either a counter or a plan to retreat. You should be adaptable, son." His father reviewed for him, making Jaune nod to each point. Jaune had learned quickly how much his father knew, which coincidentally caused him to become a bit more frustrated when he realized that the information was not one his dad would have provided had the incident not happened.

If it weren't for that random stray ursa that had come out of nowhere, he probably wouldn't have gotten a chance to train like this in the first place.

If that hadn't happened, what would he even do? Try to play guitar?

Jaune grabbed some water for him and his father, handing one to him as he all but collapsed onto the ground, rubbing his sore legs. "Got it, dad! But what do you think overall? Am I catching up to everyone else? I know you said you'd tell me but-" He stopped his ramblings as he heard his father's soft chuckles.

"Jaune. I'll be a bit more frank with you. You've gotten good these last few months, but you'll need to be more than good if you want to measure up to what the other kids will be going through. By now, almost every single one that you'll meet at Beacon's initiation will be going to signal, and since it's still a bit too late to enroll you into there, it isn't unheard of for children to be trained outside of the prep academies. Keep working hard, and maybe try focusing on beating me before you try measuring yourself to other kids." Nicholas kneeled down to the boy, gently ruffling his head, to the mild displeasure of the young teen as he shoved the hand off with a blush. "You're an Arc, Jaune. You can be great, the only thing stopping you is yourself. So just have a bit of-

"A bit of confidence and things'll turn out fine. Yeah dad, I know." Jaune couldn't help the dejected sigh before putting on his clumsy smirk. "I believe ya dad, I'll keep working on it."

Nicholas returned his smirk with one of his own, standing back up and offering his hand to his son. "Alright then boy, you can still talk which means, you can keep going. Your mother won't have finished dinner for another hour or so, so let's call it when she calls us."

He grinned back up at his dad, getting up with a small amount of struggle as he got back into his prepared stance. With a cry, he swung his sword once again at the older Arc.

Strike after strike connects as metal and metal clang loudly in the open field of the Arc home. His mind preoccupied with the twists and feints his current opponent would use to break past his defense. He bent his knee, shield tilted slightly and in a proper position for the blade to glide past his shield as he followed up his opponent's off balance retrieval with a fierce upwards slash with his free hand, connecting squarely in the center and forcing his opponent back for some distance. The girl he fought grit her teeth, engaging once more but getting progressively more agile. Her swift strikes had put more pressure on him than he had expected, falling back into his usual all defense motions as she started to look for more and more openings. He felt some swings cut across his upper arms and shoulders, almost like she was trying to get him to drop either item in his hand.

Eyes narrowing, he took a deep breath, a plan in the works. One… Two… double slash… one… two… now! He got up quickly from his defensive position, sword clanging down onto the ground. He saw the confusion before a quick panic process in his opponent, but it was unfortunately too late. He grabbed the glaive right underneath the blade, preventing the next step of the combo he was subjected to. He gave a yell as he pivoted his hips, striking at her with full force with the shield in his free hand, slamming her back and away, with no weapon. He stabbed the glaive into the ground, picking his sword back up quickly before she recovered and stood in front of the weapon, all but forcing her to engage at such a disadvantage.

For where it counts, the girl recovered quickly considering the force of the slam attack made against her was equal to being his by a cargo truck at full speed. He kept his eyes focused on her, as she assessed her situation now, after looking over everything twice, and with a dejected sigh, she held one hand in the air and uttered the words "I forfeit."

Jaune relaxed finally, breathing heavily as he grabbed the weapon he forced away and handed it back to his opponent with a small bow of his head and a smile. "Thanks again, Rosa, this was super helpful!"

Rosa smiled back at him, releasing the small bit of self conscious pressure over having beaten someone who, by all accounts, should have been more than ready to best him since she had started her training at ten years old. Sure now he had more than three years of practice and training drilled into him by his father in all his spare time, something his sisters weren't exactly happy with and boy did they remind him whenever they could. But his dad's training alone couldn't have bridged that gap between him and someone who had been training a significant longer period than him.

"It's no problem, Jaune. I'm just sad that we won't be going to the same school, or I'd hog you for my partner. Sure I can't convince you to join Haven instead?" Rosa smirked at him, making him chuckle and scratch his head.

"Sorry, already sent over the papers and my dad has some connections over there to ensure that Ozpin will take a look over everything since I never went to any of the prep schools." He explained to her. Rosa, for her part, looked very accepting, though a bit disheartened by the explanation, but if he truly wanted any chance at being accepted, he needed to trust his dad would help him by speaking for his behalf to the headmaster.

"That sucks. Well maybe we can see each other at the Vytal Festivals, then?" Rosa smiled back at him, arms crossed behind her as she leaned forward slightly.

"V-Vytal Festival?" Jaune asked, a blush creeping over him as he looked away and scratched his head. He didn't miss the teasing smirk that grew over Rosa's face, nor the knowledge that she teased him solely for that purpose. His sisters had all but drilled into him that Rosa was definitely not looking at him as anything other than a good childhood friend, something he was okay with reciprocating, had it not been for the cat-like grin that would appear whenever she wished to see him flustered like now.

Rosa nodded at him, her grin growing by the second. "It's an annual tournament the schools hold. Only the best of the best get to participate, and this upcoming year's hosted by Beacon. So I'll get to see you even if you don't get in."

"Yeah, well that's if you get to participate." He shot back at her. He honestly enjoyed having her support in his training, only having gotten to know her after his accident since the rumor mill in his school made him more of a badass than what had really ended up happening. Sure, his correction of the story made a lot of people leave him alone once finding out he didn't 'single handedly fight off a horde defending his family' and 'unlocking some broken semblance like insta-kill grimm', but Rosa was one of the few who still looked at him positively knowing he did in fact put himself in danger to protect his little sister, whom Rosa's little sister, Tulip, was friends with.

"Oh? Care to wager on it then? Whoever qualifies for Vytal is the winner, and if we both do then whoever gets further wins?" She straightened up, twirling her glaive behind her as she held the blade out at Jaune once more. "I, Rosa Garth, challenge you to see who is the better Ansel born native in the hunting world! Whomever gets further in the Vytal Festival is the winner!"

Jaune met her smile with one of his own, drawing his sword as the metal clashed once more, though this time staying against each other. "I, Jaune Arc, accept your challenge. May the winner receive the glory of victory and the dubious honor of gloating against the winner."

As the blades shone in the evening light, Jaune couldn't help but feel elated. His first rival and closest friend, saw him as an equal in fighting spirit and challenging him before either had even gotten into the schools of their choice said a lot. He nodded and both sheathed their weapons as Jaune heard his mother calling in the distance.

"Sorry, Rosa, gotta go! I'll see you at the station tomorrow, yeah?" He started turning away, making sure not to make his mother worry.

"You know it, see you there!" Rosa called back, heading to her house.

Jaune smiled once more and started running back, breathing easy as he made quick time back home. A lone thought springing into his mind.

If it weren't for that incident…

Sooo yeah, that's what I have so far. I'm thinking of how to progress Jaune and using the reference of his skills from the timeframe that the show has him go through. He'll start off with 3 years of training as well as a better foundation for his growth. Still likely to lag behind the main cast in their insane power gap, but still a threat of his own. As for his semblance, well I want to leave that until it gets revealed. When and how I'll manage that is up for debate but for now I want to set up the difference in beginnings to get an idea of what Jaune is capable of in this. Once again a HUGE thank you and shout out to Coeur Al'Aran, a wonderful author who has kept me entertained with his stories, as well as brought back inspiration for me to start writing again.