A Nightmare In Passing

Ozpin, Qrow and Jecht had just returned to his tower when Ozpin's scroll beeped and he was informed the teams had departed aboard Lady Luck. He sent a quick message to the Bullhead pilots and technicians to be ready for launch in ten minutes to restore the cameras after the operation began. He figured the teams would cause a distraction long enough so that they could get all feeds back online without any issues.

As the elevator doors opened, they stepped in and Jecht hummed a tune while Qrow was attached to his flask alternating between the two he carried on him as he let his gaze drift off towards Jecht. Ozpin just stood quietly staring forward as the doors opened and they all stepped into the office. Ozpin moved over to the table that held several cups and a fresh coffee pot that became ready as he reached for the handle. He poured himself a mug and turned to offer his guest some. Qrow surprisingly accepted the offer and filled a mug halfway up before he finished it with his flask.

Jecht just smiled as he took a seat in a chair and waited patiently for the two men to stop dawdling and delaying over this conversation. "Come boys, it's not like I'm here to deliver a death sentence or anything." He chuckled out as Ozpin sighed and sat down at his desk sipping his coffee for a moment before setting it down. Placing his fingers together in a thoughtful way he looked at Jecht.

"Well again thank you for answering my call so quickly, it has been too long since I've last seen you, my friend. I was hoping you could fill me in on the fake transcripts here and why they were necessary." He said as he pulled the papers out and laid them on the desk.

Jecht just smiled as he pulled out a cigar and lit it taking a puff, much to Ozpin's displeasure as he pressed a button and the windows on the left opened. Jecht just chuckled again as he extended his free hand out and pulled the papers to him before he smiled again looking at the offending documents.

"I take it you noticed them on arrival, Ozpin. I must say my work has slipped over the years, sadly." Jecht said cheerfully as he looked at the headmaster. "Then again, it was good enough to make it onto your desk and no one else noticed so job well done. The more pressing matter though, why would you knowingly fling my great-grandson off a cliff without his aura?" Jecht inquired his tone turning serious.

"It was part of initiation, but I'm more interested in the fact his aura wasn't unlocked by you or his parents before coming here." Ozpin replied back in an inquiring tone as he sipped his coffee again brushing concern aside for a moment.

"Because we couldn't, he is the first Arc in seven generations to inherit the mother's semblance without aura which means he will most likely have a lot more gifts and burdens should his aura be unlocked, not to mention the bonding between himself and whoever unlocked it." Jecht finished as he took a puff of his cigar. "That redhead I saw earlier, that was Pyrrha Nikos wasn't it? Is she the one who unlocked his aura?" He questioned as he stared lazily forward.

Ozpin nodded as he looked at the elderly man and then turned to Qrow who was watching something on his scroll. Qrow was busy watching his nieces in the Vulture flown by Gunny, and was amused to see Yang and Pyrrha both intently entranced by the Arc boy. "Looks like he takes after his father as well. So what's this bonding thing your talking about?" Qrow snickered as he turned his scroll around showing the other two men.

Jecht leaned in and smiled watching as his boy got up and jumped from the airship with his team in tow, Lily waited a moment before she slipped over the edge following her "wards".

"Only females can unlock a male Arc's aura and vice versa. For females it's not so much who does it but when, for males when their aura is unlocked they bond with that person and when they are near them they are at their strongest. Should that person travel far away or die then Arc men become fragile shells for a time, things get hard for them…" Jecht paused to puff his cigar again before continuing. "There was an incident with Jaune when he was younger and his mother, fearing for her only son's safety, decided to keep him from combat training. His father couldn't unlock his aura as a persuasion that he needed training so he did the best he could without undermining Heaven, you remember the temper she has. On the other hand, that boy wanted to be a huntsman so badly; I couldn't abandon my only great-grandson." Jecht explained finally shedding some light on Ozpin's concerns and questions.

"May I inquire about this incident you speak of or would I need to go through the Matriarch herself for that information?" Ozpin inquired as he glanced at Qrow's scroll again to see JNPR jumping from the ship. He took out his own scroll and pulled up the same feed before plugging it into his desk and a large screen displayed the interior of the ship and the remaining teams aboard.

"I'm surprised that old bucket is flying around, I remember when you were with that lot flying around causing trouble. 'Mount of times we got calls about Lady Luck being impounded in Atlas or Vacuo because you or Gunny were drunk off yer heads. Summer, Heaven and Lily were the only things stopping you kids from destroying everything around you, bless their hearts. I miss the times when you all visited the summer home and spent vacation with us..." Jecht said as he gazed at the screen a tear forming from memories of when his grandson was in school with his friends.

"But yes yes, Jaune…" Jecht got back on track. "Well where to begin... His mother's unique gift was apparent in him, foresight which let him dream of the future. At first it was little things that would have led to non life threatening accidents but the dangers seemed to get worse as he grew older, the dreams becoming nightmares. Fate or destiny or whatever you wanna call it, if you even believe in that stuff seemed to not appreciate his good heart and persistent interference, and his mother had a nightmare; hadn't had one in years but she did, that he would die out in the world still so young as a huntsman…. So she decided he should stay home where she could protect him." Jecht finished looking forlorn as he stubbed his cigar.

"That didn't really answer my question though on the incident itself?" Ozpin noted as he stared at Jecht who looked confused.

"Thats weird, I thought I just told you about it." Jecht said as he raised the stubbed cigar to his mouth and tried to puff it. "Must be getting old, getting forgetful" he chuckled as he looked at Ozpin "Just ask her about it okay" he said as he pulled out his scroll typing something and then turned it towards Ozpin as the Arc symbol appeared on the screen.

A moment passed as the image of a beautiful woman appeared with long silver hair and deep blue eyes. She smiled as she stood in full view of the screen, arms clasped in front of her, the golden silk robes she wore flowing all around her. Heaven Arc was smiling as she addressed him.

"Hello Ozpin, it's been awhile hasn't it, almost 5 years if memory serves, since we last spoke." Heaven spoke softly and precise.

"My grandfather informed me a week ago that you have my son at your school and that you accepted fake transcripts allowing him entrance when you could have easily denied them…." She said as the smile turned into a neutral expression, Ozpin could feel the impending doom and dread come from the screen. He glanced at Jecht who smiled sadly and mouthed 'I'm sorry'.

"YOU ALLOWED MY ONLY SON INTO YOUR ACADEMY WITH NO TRAINING, NO AURA, NO PROTECTION AS YOU FLUNG HIM OFF A CLIFF AND DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO SEND ME A CALL ASKING MY PERMISSION!" She screamed appearing to come out of the screen as Ozpin felt himself scoot back a inch in his chair. Qrow jumped at the unexpected noise spilling his coffee everywhere. "HOW DARE YOU, OZPIN! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO COME THERE MYSELF AND BEAT YOU INTO THE GROUND FOR THIS! LUCKY FOR YOU I HAVE DUTIES TO ATTEND SO I'M SENDING MY HUSBAND TO COLLECT OUR SON AND BRING HIM HOME! AND YOU JECHT, WHEN YOU RETURN WE WILL TALK ABOUT YOU GOING BEHIND MY BACK! WAS XAVIER IN ON IT? I SWEAR IF HE WAS….." She said as she turned and stormed out, opening a door with such force it shattered and disappeared, as she screamed the whole way through the hole she created. They could only make out 'Xavier' in all the words she was said. Jecht closed the scroll and sighed, feeling the end of his life come nearer and nearer with each passing second.

Ozpin let out a sigh of relief as he looked at Jecht who looked downcast and then at Qrow who was rapidly pushing the elevator button trying to make it come as fast as possible. "Really Qrow…." Ozpin said as he shook his head and sipped his coffee again.

"At least it's Xavier and not Heaven, I swear I don't know how we would survive if she came…" Jecht said as the elevator door opened to reveal a tall man with emerald green eyes, blonde hair and wearing a cloak that had the arc crest wrapped around it. His face was pale like all the blood had left it and he looked out of breath.

"If my wife calls, I'm not here yet." Xavier said as he stepped in and pushed the lockdown button on the elevator. "How is my son doing? I'm glad he's here honestly and once Heaven calms down I'm sure we can try and reason with her then." He said as he stood by the table.

"I heard her screaming so I only had time to grab my cloak and leave… do you, uh, have any spare uniforms or clothing up here?" He asked as he pulled the cloak tighter around him.

"Really boy, you should have the decency to at least get dressed before leaving your home regardless of whether your wife's yelling or not." Jecht said shaking his head and standing up he opened a suitcase and grabbed a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and hoodie tossing it to Xavier who proceeded to turn around and get dressed.

"I swear if my great-grandson inherited that from you I'll take you both into the arena for some retraining." Jecht grumbled as he sat back down pulling out a fresh cigar and lighting it. Ozpin just sighed as he sat back in his chair again and looked at the screen. All the teams had departed and it looked like Gunny was flying circuits around the area they were clearing. Pushing a button he pulled up seven more screens that showed Bullheads flying and landing in different areas clear of Grimm. He smiled as he watched his feeds of Emerald Forest turning back on as they got repaired/replaced.

The reports that came to his terminal as the repair teams moved from site to site all came back the same. Something had gotten on the cameras, like acid and had melted them. He shook his head as he found it unlikely that rain could do that or that someone outside of his school knew where all the cameras were, let alone the fact that they hadn't caught anything on their screens before being destroyed. Something isn't right he thought as he turned his attention to the other screens. He accessed Lady Luck radar and noted that two of the dots that were marked as Velvet and Cardin were not showing. The side panel bar showing everyone's status was green with ACTIVE still next to their names.

Ozpin reached to contact the ship when he heard Jaune Arc speaking through the ship's speakers, asking the very question. They waited a moment as they heard the conversation going on as different people were speaking. The underbelly camera of the Vulture showed the ground cave in and and people scattering a moment later as utter chaos happened. Several bars went yellow as Sugar, CFY and RDL both entered Low Aura.

"What is that?" Qrow asked as Jecht rose from his chair looking at the feed as whatever it was had just launched itself into the air and the video feed froze as it got close. The image of its face burned into the camera lense as a second later all of the other screens froze as well and the voices cut off and were replaced by static. Ozpin pressed a button on his scroll and then reached for his cane. A minute passed before the underbelly camera feed came back on showing black smoke billowing around it and the low altitude warning blaring as the ship skimmed the treetops and then the water before the sound of a explosion and the screen went black.

"That is a Scarab Overlord." Jecht said as he got up and leaned on his cane limping towards the elevator as everyone else moved past him, Xavier turned the elevator back on and the door opened, everyone climbing in. They rode down to the ground floor and and stepped out into the open air as a Bullhead touched down in front of them.

"Were to, Professor Ozpin?" The pilot said as the climbed in and settled into their seats.

"Emerald Forest, now." Ozpin responded as he hoped for his students safety. They rocketed away from the school quickly and passed the cliffs a few minutes later. "Call two Bullheads to wait at the cliff's base for any of the teams who arrive and get them back to the school." Ozpin told the pilot who nodded sending the orders out two the other Bullheads that were flying around. Two 'Affirmatives' were heard as they saw two Bullheads rise out of the trees moments later and move towards them. The smoke billowing up into the air marked where the downed ship was and in the distance the glint of sunlight reflecting off the two long walls of ice showed them the general area.

They flew overhead and saw the destruction that was caused by the black flames, looking down they didn't see any people or Grimm in the area and hovered in circles as they looked for anyone who was fighting or moving through the trees. Out in the distance they saw the Bullheads rising along the cliffside and picked up a radio call from some pilots saying they picked up ((fourteen)) people and that Dravius and two girls took off back into the forest, flying in that direction. The four men looked below searching for them, they didn't have to look far though as they saw trees falling over and several explosions light up the trees.

"I'll give you three guesses as to who that is down there." Qrow mused as they flew over the spot and spotted a white glow and several more explosions. Several more trees fell over as whatever they were fighting was charging away. They moved to intercept and Xavier and Qrow jumped from the Bullhead. Ozpin ordered for the pilot to land. "I forgot my weapons at home….." Xavier thought as he plummeted down towards the fight...

Dravius had dealt with a lot of things in his life ranging from fighting monsters and people to upholding the law as a huntsman and managing the trials of being an adult. But when it came to a hysterical 17 year old girl upset, crying and freaking out he froze up unsure of what to do but sit idly by. Looking at Yang who was sitting over the unmoving form of Jaune, he thought back to 20 minutes earlier when things had taken a dangerous turn.

He had just removed his hand from his face as the bright blue light was fading away, but all he could see were spots as his eyes adjusted from the brightness. He could hear the girls he was looking after cheering for their success and was happy to know they weren't hurt. The mission complete, food was the next stop after this and then maybe some joyriding with Gun in Lady Luck with his friends, just the usual post-job stuff.

He looked on as he noted that they were short twelve people when only ten should have been absent. It was a surprise he hadn't noticed sooner but given the fact they were being chased by a mob he understood how he missed that detail. He was about to tell the others that fact when the girl called Coco started freaking out over her missing team member. She was a jibbering mess when they heard the sound of approaching feet and turned to see JNPR and Lily arriving, the blonde boy's scroll was out and on call with Gun.

They could hear Viviane in the background talking to someone else saying they had eyes on the two approaching the walls and they looked injured. After hearing that, two of the groups bolted out into the open and ran towards the other side of the sprung trap. Dravius smiled with relief as he was glad they were mobile, when he heard on his left someone shout a warning. Suddenly the ground shifted and everything moved. The two missing students toppled over and the ground between them caved in swallowing the approaching group as well.

He grew worried as the dust began to settle and a dark shape was emerging from the hole. A large clawed hand and its twin rose up to reveal a large Grimm mask and head Dravius had never seen before. It rotated one way before turning and looking at the group, then at the people farther off before it opened its mouth and black flames came out, blasting into the first group and traveling to where the blonde boy and redhead had been standing. The boy apparently had fast reflexes and was lying on top of the girl several feet away from where they had been.

Dravius let a sigh escape his mouth before his eyes went wide and he felt a burning sensation in his foot as a second cone flew past him exploding into the icewall. He looked at the black flames that were spreading out and around where the fire burned darkly. He then felt the ground rumble as the creature fully emerged from the ground having launched itself into the air at the Vulture spewing more of those evil flames at it.

The boy gave orders as the whole situation felt surreal to Dravius. He ran forward with his girls not having paid much mind to Jaune's words. He got to where the kids had been buried and quickly cleared the dirt and debris away, picking up Yatsuhashi and Sky and placing them on his shoulders before he took off with the girls and two others in tow. They reached the edge of the wall turning back only to see the swarm that was around the unidentified Grimm. They bolted into the woods making their way to the cliffs as fast as possible. Ruby and Weiss were ahead with Coco and Fox. Blake had Sugar in her arms, Ren had grabbed Russel and Nora had Dove.

Yang was on the lookout for anyone in need of assistance while she scouted for any approaching Grimm to deal with. She could feel adrenaline rushing through her while she kept up behind Ruby and Weiss, The two girls were flying across the ground at lightning speed as they moved for several minutes arriving at the cliff base. There were two Bullheads waiting for them as they dropped off the unconscious students.

Yang couldn't be bothered when the Avery Trio arrived and all three hopped on the other Bullhead that creaked from Cuddles' weight. All Yang could think about was Jaune as she turned around and started back across the clearing to the forest edge when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Dravius and behind him stood Ruby who looked concerned as well. He said something she couldn't comprehend at the moment before he signaled for her and Ruby to follow and they took off while the scream of the Bullheads echoed behind them.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and could see several pings from her classmates scrolls moving towards the cliff save for Jaune and Pyrrha's which had just stopped moving. Ruby yelled and got in front leading the way as she headed right for them. Yang could feel a twist in her stomach as she felt an onslaught on dread at the thought of Jaune injured or worse. They made it to a clearing as Ruby checked her scroll again showing they were close when suddenly Jaune and Pyrrha's scrolls disappeared from her radar and she panicked. Using her semblance, she disappeared into the trees. Yang was right behind her used to chasing down her sister, not that she was ever successful but knew to follow the rose petals to find where she went. Dravius had a little less luck as he could not keep up with either of them and lagged behind but took note of the petals and put two and two together.

Yang and Ruby both saw a flash of light up ahead as a tree toppled over and the sound of a loud familiar shriek echoed. There was a white glow around Jaune, Pyrrha and Lily as the creature stood off to the side thrashing around wildly as it smashed into trees, boulders and underbrush. It shook its head left and right like it was blinded. It smashed its tail at them seeming to have no effect as Ruby and Yang opened up on it firing off shell after shell. It roared at them charging as they both leapt out of the way and Dravius brought his sword down hitting the hard shell on its back, sparks flew as the creature continued on into the trees severing a few with the spikes running along its side as it disappeared.

Dravius gave chase as it barreled through everything in its path, before it suddenly launched itself backwards and Dravius rolled to the side to avoid getting bowled over. As he looked up, he saw the creature looking at him as it opened its mouth. Yang came screaming through the trees punching it hard enough to turn its head as black flames burned off to his side. She felt herself lose momentum and fall to the ground as it reared back and tried to impale her but missed as rose petals fluttered under it and she was gone.

Several feet away, Ruby put her sister down and fired several rounds at its face as it raised an armored hand to block them. Dravius leapt at it his sword getting larger as he brought it down on the creature's back again. He saw the black arm on its back grab ahold of the blade as it hit the armor and yank it from his grip. The creature turned and leapt at him but he jumped to the side and rolled once more however the side of its tail crashed into him and he was sent sprawling backwards into a tree. Several explosive rounds hit it in the face again as Yang jumped back into the fight when the sound of a Bullhead overhead caught everyone's attention. Xavier and Qrow jumped down and the creature leapt away as Qrow slammed his scythe into the ground causing a crater where they landed..

It breathed the black flames once more as it ducked under a swipe from Ruby who flew over its head and it charged away from the new arrivals. It moved quickly with everyone in pursuit as it jumped forward pulling its legs up and disappeared into a large crevice that went way deeper than sunlight could reach.

The girls stopped next to it looking down as the sound of scraping sounded distant as everyone else stopped next to them and looked down into the darkness. Yang fired the last few rounds she had into the walls filling the hole with rocks. With a sigh of relief, all the adrenaline and energy left the girls and they sank to their knees. Ruby pulled her scroll out and could see the emergency beacon blinking from Pyrrha Nikos and every got up and quickly made their way back to them.

As they arrived they saw that all three were unconscious on the ground, Jaune was shielding Pyrrha and Lily with his body. They were relieved to see that they were mostly unharmed save for angry red marks on Lily's arm and the wound on Jaune's thigh that had begun to heal. Yang reach down scooping up Jaune and hugging him close to her as a few tears ran down her face. Ruby grabbed the weapons and armor while Dravius picked up Pyrrha. Xavier scooped up Lily and they headed back to the Bullhead that was waiting for them.

Ozpin sat down in his office with a pained expression on his face reading the reports and viewing the footage that was available. He addressed those that were awake informing them of the identity of the Grimm, the larger one known as a Scarab Overlord, the smaller ones were called Scarab Ravagers. They are known to exist in Dust mines and eat raw crystals which is why they have elemental attacks.

There hadn't been any recorded sightings of them for over 300 years in the Four Kingdoms and that troubled him since he was certain that they had all been hunted down and destroyed long ago. But if that wasn't the case he had a problem on his hands….

The look on the huntsmen and huntresses faces said it all as each one shared disbelief on the fight they had barely survived. The people in the room looked over at Jaune, Pyrrha and Lily who had managed to hold the creature off that had sprung out of the ground. It was a walking nightmare that had gotten worse with its apparent ability to spit out that black stuff that burned like hell, no one had expected that.

Half of them had come out unscathed from the mission once they had regrouped to assess the situation. Sugar was in a Dust chamber healing from the burn she suffered on her leg from the black fire, had it not been for the smother of dirt she would very well have been burned alive. The kids had fared better having avoided the flames thanks to her but were still low on aura and had to rest awhile. Lily's arm was another matter as the acid had melted down into the tissue but not the bone.

She encased her arm in ice before she passed out from the pain, solidifying the skin and tissue to slow potential further damage. She was also in a Dust chamber healing from the injury and was expected to be unable to see combat for a month or more. Jaune was out cold from aura depletion and was in a coma. Pyrrha had woken up and moved to his side and hadn't left it since they had been brought back.

CFVY and CRDL had recovered after a full night's rest save Velvet and Cardin who had severe burn damage as well as identical cuts in their sides that were healing slowly Cardin's more slowly since his was deeper than Velvet's. When Velvet woke up the first thing everyone wanted to know was what had happened to them and how they got separated as well as what happened to Cardin.

She recounted the story to best of her memory~

Cardin had just pulled her from the hole she had fallen into and they were walking towards the noise of howling Grimm that was moving away from them. They had followed the noise for about 10 minutes when they had been ambushed by Grimm they had never seen before.

She kept the fact that he had apologized to her and the little moment they shared to herself as she explained.

They had just moved over a creek and past several holes that should have served as a warning to them. As they pushed through the underbrush a curtain of fire enveloped them igniting the trees and shrubbery as well as burning them as they saw several Grimm propelling forward. A moment later the Grimm were scuttling towards them and attacking with their long pincers. Cardin jumped at them swinging without abandon as he batted the Ravagers away or using the explosive Dust to crack their armor.

Velvet jumped around kicking into one and sending it flying as she avoided the sharp pincers that were determined to gouge holes into her. Cardin had just slammed one against a tree when he heard a loud explosion and saw another Ravager flying at Velvet who had her back turned. He moved without thinking as he partially blocked its path, one of the sharp side spikes slicing through his armor and side, nicking Velvet as she turned towards his pained yell.

She froze for a moment before she extended her hand forward and a blue version of his mace appeared in her hands and she bashed the remaining two around into the ground. She sighed in relief, feeling the pain in her side as she moved to Cardin helping him to his feet and throwing his arm over her shoulder as they trudged forward. They weren't attacked by any other Grimm as they got in sight of the ice walls. When they managed to make it around the wall and into the opening the ground under their feet moved knocking them over. After that Velvet blacked out from exhaustion as the last thing she saw was a large clawed hand rise up out of the ground.

Lily was the next to wake three days after the incident. Her arm had healed mostly during the two days. There was still the angry red marks that the doctors guessed would go away after a few more weeks as long as she stayed out of the field. She of course wasn't very keen on that as she looked at the boy across from her in his own bed. She vaguely recalled what had happened as she tried to remember all the details. She had leaned against the tree and watched Pyrrha patch Jaune up, it was only because the of the silence that she went alert and saw the shadow loom over them.

She just reacted as the scythe leg went right through the tree and his her ice barrier and shield as acid splashed onto her arm and shield. The shield melted away and burned a ring of metal on her arm as the Scarab Overlord reared back and swiped again at her hitting the ice cracking it before it swiped again with acid melting through and barely missing her as she backpedaled and tripped. She felt her life flash before her eyes as a white glow on the corner of her vision and the Overlord standing over her to deliver a killing blow, all of a sudden she was jerked to the left and was under Jaune's arm and then everything went white and then she woke up here apparently a day later.

Jaune hadn't woken up yet and it had been four days, his wounds had healed and his aura had finally reached normal levels but still he did not wake. Pyrrha hadn't left his side since she woke up and had been lying in his bed curled up against him holding and hugging him. The only time she wasn't lying down was when Yang visited with food as she periodically checked in on Jaune to see if he was awake and to see how Pyrrha was doing, she did care for her friend as well and she wasn't going to let her starve.

"Hey Pyrrha, how is he doing today?" Yang asked as she set a pile of toast, bacon and a cup of juice down on the stand next to Jaune's bed.

"Better than yesterday, the wound on his leg has healed and is only pink now. His aura levels are back to normal, finally, I can't believe it took him 4 days to hit normal levels. He has a lot of aura…." Pyrrha said as she sat up and reached for the juice and a piece of toast.

Yang forced a smile as she sat down in the chair next to the bed and brushed some hair out of Jaune's face as she looked at him. "Us blondes got to stick together..." she mumbled as she gazed at him as she frowned and she felt her eyes water up.

"Yang, he will wake up; I know he will." Pyrrha said as she munched on some bacon and more toast. Yang nodded and they looked at each other for a moment before Yang stood up and hugged Pyrrha feeling her emotions starting to get the better of her. Pyrrha unsure of what to do just rubbed her back and gently returned the hug. She never really had given it any thought that Jaune and Yang had been close but she could see right now that he clearly meant something to Yang….

The Emerald Forest was burning in black flames as the Scarab Overlord rampaged through it heading towards Beacon. Hundreds Scarab Ravagers scuttled along the ground all around it as they seemed to be making a beeline for the cliffside. The Overlord reared back smashing its large black fist into the stone ripping rocks and stone out of the wall as it began to tear into the side of the shear wall. After a few moments it backed down having made a sizeable dent in the hard stone.

It breathed into the hole melting a tunnel of slag as the Ravagers scurried in burrowing into the softened rock, kicking it backwards, as the hole grew large forming a cave as they went about widening it. After minutes of work the Scarab scraped its way inside and rested inside the dark area as the black flames extinguished having nothing else to burn. The dark red glow of the Scarab Overlord's eyes bothered Jaune as he felt himself standing there looking at it.

He felt as if it was watching him as well and couldn't help a cold feeling travel up his spine as he entered the cave.

Then the dream changed

The creature was burrowing slowly through the stone towards Beacon, creating a tunnel straight up to the grounds followed by the many small Grimm behind it. Jaune felt himself being carried through the crumbling rock and occasional slag from the melting stone. He was certain that with enough time, uninterrupted, the creature would end up somewhere inside the school grounds with a swath of Grimm behind it.

He watched as it dug out into the open air just outside of the Beacon Gardens were it popped its head up and looked around. He watched it as it looked around and then dipped back below the surface vanishing from sight.

A moment later it felt like the dream had fast-forwarded

He saw Grimm charging into the cliffside and minutes later coming out of the hole while Beacon was on fire and burning. Their was a large floating structure in the air, many airships and even more flying Grimm all battling when suddenly what looked like a dragon appeared.

Jaune woke up with a start as he tried to sit up and felt a lot of weight on his body. He opened his eyes to find Pyrrha wrapped in his arms and Yang with her head resting on his shoulder as the two girls snoozed by his side. He looked out the window and the black sky indicated that it was night. The moon in the distance confirmed this to him as well. He felt sore all over but also relieved to see those close to him were not harmed. He let a sigh escape his mouth as he looked around and noticed that other beds had been used and were empty.

"How many people got hurt and how long was I out for?" he thought to himself as he heard footsteps approaching the closed door and he felt himself flush up as he realized he had two girls practically in his bed. He attempted to disengage from Pyrrha but had no success as she mumbled cutely in her sleep and tightened her hold on him. The door opened and light filtered into the room. Jaune saw green eyes and blond hair as his father strode into the room with his scroll in hand.

The flash of light as a picture was taken was all it took for Jaune to realize he was doomed, so he laid back down and smiled.

"Hey Dad, sorry I haven't called…" Jaune said sheepishly as he looked at his father who was smiling back.

"It's alright, your great-grandfather explained everything to me and we decided in our best interest to let you explain to your mother." Xavier spoke softly as he grabbed a chair and sat down.

"How are you feeling? You've been out for five days, kiddo." Xavier asked as he looked at the monitor next to the bed.

"I've been better Father, my body hurts all over and I don't really remember what happened." Jaune said as he wiggled a bit getting comfortable.

"Yeah, well I'll fill you in on the details but you should be proud to have people like these two looking after you." He gestured to Pyrrha and Yang.

"Ms. Nikos hasn't left your side since she woke up and Ms. Xiao Long has been basically here just as long as her. I'm proud of you too, you made friends and know what to protect. One day you could marry one of them or maybe both." Xavier joked as he stood up and walked to the door.

"We will talk more later, okay? Sleep well, Son." He said as he was about to step out.

"Dad, when did you get here by the way?" Jaune asked as he tried to remain awake but it was a fruitless battle against his body and felt himself become overwhelmed by lethargy.

"Funny you should ask, actually I'll tell you in the morning and I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Xavier responded as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. He replayed the memory in his mind as he wanted to see Jaune's reaction when he told him.

Xavier Arc had been in his study signing documents and paperwork for the new Dust mine that had been discovered deeper in the mountain. He was bored, to say the least, as he got up and went to take a shower. He had stripped down to his briefs when he heard the sound of his wife yelling echoing throughout their home. He wasn't sure what was causing the commotion so he moved over to his desk grabbing his scroll when he heard 'XAVIER'.

"Oh Shit…." he muttered as he grabbed his cloak and wrapped it around himself. He thought of Ozpin's tower and focused on being there instead of home (actually he would have preferred anywhere other than his home at that moment) as the yelling got louder. He turned on the spot and disappeared, reappearing in front of the elevator doors as they were closing. He jumped in and rode up assuming someone wanted to go down and would be in for surprise, instead he was surprised as he heard his wife's voice again and rapidly started pushing the down button. He sighed as braced himself for the verbal confrontation as the doors dinged open and Qrow was right there trying to jump in. Ozpin and Jecht were sitting there bewildered by his presence as he stepped out of the elevator pushing Qrow into the room as the elevator doors closed behind them. He did a quick survey and upon not seeing his wife pushed the emergency lockdown button and then announced. "If my wife calls, I'm not here."


Autor Note

Just some quick words to thank my Beta Reader for being basically awesome and always ready to dig into the next chapter so that it can come out. I'm having a blast with writing this story, and hope everyone else is enjoying it as well. Please read and Review, I really like hearing back from you guys as your the ones who matter most. Hope everyones enjoying May! MG out~~