Jaune stopped in a clearing after some time walking, deciding to try out his new weapon. He needed to make sure he was not too out of practice, and that the bow was still working alright. Normal bows wouldn't be in great shape after so long out in the open, especially not the bowstrings. Thankfully, the weapons wielded by Huntsmen and Huntresses tended to be more robust, made of better materials and with advanced techniques.

Assuming whoever the original owner was hadn't cheaped out, of course.

He set his newly acquired bag down to the side and readied the bow, nocking and drawing an arrow. He was gratified to note that the bowstring didn't seem to have any problems as he drew it back. The action itself, however, was not as smooth as he would have liked. He really was out of practice. He'd need to take some time to correct that. It could be the difference between life and death.

Once he was ready he let the arrow fly at the trunk of a sturdy looking tree. It hit with a satisfying impact, but Jaune still frowned. He'd hit the edge of the tree, about five inches from where he'd been aiming. Not as bad as he'd feared, but not great either. He drew another arrow and repeated the action, this time hitting a bit closer than before. He sighed but squared his shoulders. Time to do some training.

Jaune spent nearly an hour firing arrows at his chosen tree, getting used to using a bow again. Blundering around with a weapon he wasn't sure he could use correctly didn't seem like the best idea after all. He already had enough problems when it came to Crocea Mors.

He'd just taken a sip of water from his canteen during a break when he heard something. It was the sound of something moving through the brush. Slowly, he set the canteen down and picked the bow back up, looking around warily as he nocked an arrow. The sound of movement was promptly joined by a low growl, and he drew and aimed at where it was coming from.

From out of bushes walked a Grimm Jaune had never seen before, either in person or in Port's class. It was a squat thing, moving low to the ground. It was built heavily, about as wide as it was tall, reaching his chest. But he didn't fool himself into thinking the girth was cumbersome fat. Grimm were rarely so accommodating.

Its legs were double joined oddly, making its movements seem clumsy, but if he had to guess they probably let it jump prodigiously. It had short, stubby arms with foot long claws at the ends. Its mask was large, covering its wide face, and it had fangs protruding from its upper lip which reached its lower jaw. And though he couldn't see its back, he could spot what appeared to be large spikes extending from it, indicating bone armor, which made a back attack… troublesome.

The two stared at each other for several seconds before the monster let out an odd screeching roar and jumped at him. He was disappointed to find he was right. It could jump well. It was actually falling towards him, claws outstretched to rip him to shreds. Jaune quickly aimed up and let his arrow fly before quickly scrambling away from his position. He could practically feel the air as the thing swiped at him, barely missing even as it let out a screech of pain.

He turned his head to see it, finding it wrenching the arrow from its shoulder and tossing it aside. Jaune turned and somewhat shakily drew another arrow before aiming and letting it fly as quickly as possible. The Grimm jumped over the projectile, making him miss entirely, once again aiming to land on him. This time, rather than run, he dropped the bow and drew Crocea, extending the shield to catch it as it fell.

The Grimm was caught by surprise as Jaune forced it back with a grunt, making it land awkwardly. He quickly took the opportunity to thrust forward with his sword, aiming for its chest.

Sadly, the Grimm didn't feel like dying just yet, and it sprang back just in time, barely avoiding the tip of his sword.

"Alright Bouncy Ball, what are you going to do now?" Jaune muttered, eyes narrowed. He considered grabbing his bow and using it while it was away from him, but discarded the idea. This wasn't The Legend of Hilda, where the boss was weak to the weapon the player just got. The bow was situational, and this wasn't the situation for it.

Bouncy Ball let out another growl, its claws moving as it glared at him. Then Jaune decided to take the initiative and charged with a cry, lunging forward sword first.

The Grimm screeched as it jumped over the running human, landing behind him, and whirling to attack his back. Jaune, however, turned his charge into a forward roll, evading it entirely, and sprang to his feet before whirling around in a clumsy but still serviceable slash. His opponent let out a piercing shriek as one of its arms was cut off, staggering back.

Jaune didn't let the opportunity pass him by and thrusted once again, finally managing to catch it in its throat. Bouncy Ball let out a gurgle as Jaune proceeded to slash out, cutting it open further. The Grimm fell back, thrashing, before going still and beginning to fade.

Jaune sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead after sheathing his blade. "Pyrrha is never hearing about that fight." He muttered to himself. She'd kept trying to get him to stop rushing forward all the time. She would not be pleased about what he'd done in this fight, despite his win.

He quickly proceeded to pick up his things, take a quick sip of water, and move back out. Staying in one place probably wasn't the best idea, especially after the noise caused by his fight.

NPR, RWBY, SN and CFVY were outside in one of the Academy's various open areas. SN and CFVY had decided that it would be best for their friends to get some air while they talked.

Pyrrha was sitting on the ground with her knees against her chest and her arms wrapped around them as the others talked softly. She didn't feel like participating, though she didn't want to be alone either, feeling that she'd break down again if she didn't have something to distract her.

The sun was warm against her skin, the sky blue and cloudless. Normally this would be a great day that she'd eagerly spend outdoors. But that was when she had Jaune around to spend the time with her, making it all better with his goofy antics. Now she couldn't help but hate the way the weather seemed to mock her.

She was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a moment to realize that her friends had gone quiet. She glanced at them, wondering what was going on, to find them all staring at something, most with flat, hard gazes. She turned to see what they were looking at, only for her eyes to narrow.

Cardin Winchester and his team, CRDL, were walking towards the group. Cardin, surprisingly, didn't have his usual smug look on his face. He simply stopped before them and looked at them all, appearing hesitant. "Uh… hey…"

"What do you want, Cardin?" Yang bit out, her lavender eyes narrowed as she stared at the bully.

The teen scratched the back of his head, appearing uncomfortable. "I, uh, just wanted to stop by and say that I'm, uh, sorry. About Jaune, I mean."

Something seemed to snap inside of Pyrrha. "You're sorry?"

Cardin practically squirmed where he was standing, and the rest of his team didn't look much better. "Uh, yeah."

Pyrrha gave a hollow, bitter laugh that was completely unlike her, making the others stare. "You bullied and tormented Jaune since we got to this school. You blackmailed him and practically made him a slave. But you're sorry?" She got to her feet, her entire body shaking with barely suppressed fury. "Even after all you did to him, he was still the better man and saved your worthless life when he could have just left you to die. And you never even thanked him. But now, when he might be dead, now you're sorry!?" Her voice had risen as she spoke, so that now everybody in the nearby area was paying attention, and CRDL looked distinctly uncomfortable. Pyrrha's gaze might as well have made Cardin combust. "If you truly want to apologize, Cardin, go out there and take his place. Otherwise, get the hell away from me." Cardin hesitated, briefly, and that was enough for the redhead. "GO AWAY!" She screamed, and Cardin backpedalled, practically running away.

Pyrrha stayed standing where she was, breathing heavily, angry tears at the corners of her eyes. Suddenly she felt arms around her and she turned to find Ruby hugging her. Pyrrha proceeded to sag and wrap her arms around the younger girl, still gritting her teeth in grief stricken fury.

The sun was setting, and Jaune knew he had to start looking for shelter before night fell completely. He kept an eye out for anything suitable as he walked with an arrow ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

He'd encountered two more Grimm since the one he'd termed Bouncy Ball. One was an exceptionally large boarbatusk that he'd taken out with arrows, mainly to the eyes, as he avoided its spinning charges. The other was the mother of all creeps which had stood taller than him. Thankfully it had been just as stupid as normal creeps, so it wasn't as difficult to take out.

Jaune sighed softly as continued making his way through the forest. He was utterly sick of this place, and he knew that unless he was miraculously found, he'd be wandering through it for a while to come.

He suddenly stopped when he felt something different under his feet. He'd been walking on normal soil, but now it had suddenly shifted to stone. And not just a single, large stone. Stones in a pattern with spaces between them. He looked down to confirm. Yes, it looked like he was standing on an old style paved road.

"What the hell?" He stomped on the road, trying to dispel the apparent illusion, but no, the stones remained in place. They were obviously very weathered, to the point the barely fit together anymore, but it was beyond a doubt what he thought it was. "What the hell is a road doing out here? From what I'd heard of the Deathlands, it's been a deathtrap for as long as anybody can remember."

He started to wish his scroll was working. He had no doubt Professor (Doctor!) Oobleck would want photographic evidence of this. He shook his head and continued forward, following the road, hoping it didn't lead to a nest of deathstalkers or something equally as dangerous.

Before long he reached what appeared to be a stone building. It wasn't large. About the size of a small house. Thankful that the sun hadn't gone down too much, he made his way in, bow at the ready.

It was all a single, empty room. Whatever floor there was originally was now covered in dirt. Beyond that, there was nothing of note.

Now Jaune was really confused. Who the hell built such an obviously old structure? There should be nothing manmade in the entire damn area.

He frowned before shrugging. It didn't matter, at least not at the moment. What mattered was that he had found himself some shelter for the night. He set his bag to the side, sat down, and pulled out one of his remaining pieces of boar meat.

Grateful for his lucky break, he set himself in for the night as the sun set.

Hopefully tomorrow would go well too.

Greetings kids!

Short, I know, but this chapter did what it needed to, and I figured you'd waited long enough anyway.

So, we start to get hints as to the greater mystery of the Deathlands. I never intended for it to be just 'Oh, this place is hell for no real reason, lol'. Salem has reasons for keeping that area under lockdown, and Jaune is going to discover some, but not all, of them.

That's why I feel okay about giving Jaune something mystical to find. It fits with what I already have planned for the area.

No big scenes in Beacon this time, but I felt what I showed was something that needed to happen. I'm not going to bash Cardin. There's no need to. He's already an asshole. :P

That said, he's a teenager, and teens are fucking stupid in many ways, bullies especially. Hopefully this is the start of him growing out of it. I don't know. I don't have any real plans for him besides this.

A couple of people pointed out that Jaune should have brought the bowman's scroll with him so it could be used to identify his benefactor when he got back. Yeah, that was a stupid little plothole. Let's just say that Jaune was thinking primarily about what would help him in the moment, and so left it behind. By the time he realized he could have done so, it was too late, and he smacked himself in the head about it.

Hope people found my custom Grimm interesting. I tried to come up with something different. Took some inspiration from the hunters from Resident Evil, except better at jumping.

For those interested, two chapters of my Chrono Trigger fic are up. I'd appreciate any comments or feedback you can give me on it. It isn't a popular fandom, so reviews are few and far between. I treasure every one, though.

I think that's all for this time. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review.