Man, the favs and follows just keep coming! Seriously, it amazes me how much you guys are liking this so far. Just hope I'll be able to keep your attention, ha ha.

And by God! Just watched the new Broly movie recently and holy fuck, I love it! Always been a Broly fan, but this new canon version of him is so awesome that it almost physically hurts! Now here I am feeling tempted to write some fics about him, ha ha. But seriously, if you guys are DB fans or just want to see some excellent animation and action, Dragon Ball Super: Broly is definitely worth checking out!

Heh, but my brief fanboying aside, allow me to just say one thing about this fic. Again, just want to say this fic will be something of a slow burn as far as the crazy action goes but will naturally be heavy on the character interaction and depth.

This will be evident starting with this chapter since it'll still be covering volume 1 of the canon series, which as we all know, was more about set-up than actual action. But that isn't to say it will all stay the same. And of course, after watching Broly, I've new ideas for some of the action scenes too, so it'll definitely be pretty epic when I get around to that for good, ha!

Well then, let's get started!

Chapter 3

Jaune wasn't someone that dreamed very much, no matter how deeply or lightly he slept. It simply wasn't in his nature.

However, that wasn't to say he didn't dream regularly. Indeed, during his time traveling in the frontier, he dreamed every so often, usually after a day of activity.

And it was always the same exact dream – a dream of memories past, when he was but a young boy.

He dreamt of his seven sisters, all so rowdy but loving, messing with him by putting his hair in pigtails on occasion or playing outside with one another, causing trouble.

He dreamt of how he used to play video games with his dad whenever the man was home for a while, his boisterous laughing echoing in the room whenever he showed Jaune up at his favorite fighting games.

And he dreamt of his mother and how he used to stand on her feet whenever she made a large breakfast, singing along with her beautiful voice as she merrily cooked.

And then those memories, so filled with joy and longing, would be plunged into a dark abyss, an abyss known otherwise to him as 'that day' – the day where his life, as he once recalled it, came to an end.

Innocence, once lost, can be never regained.

And the same could be said of his freedom.

On that day, he'd lost both, completely and utterly. The person he once was and the person he could've likely been died that day amongst the violence.

By all rights, such loss should've left him in despair, but it didn't. Instead, all he could feel in response to reliving that day over and over every time he did dream… was absolutely nothing.

And it was this same feeling of nothingness that always caused him to wake up.

He opened his blue eyes, no longer looking so intense, and stared up at the ceiling of the dorm room he now stayed in with his newly formed team.

There was hardly any sound at all save for the light snoring coming from Nora just two beds over whilst Pyrrha quietly tossed and turned in her sleep, a little habit she'd warned him and the others of having earlier, much to her mild embarrassment.

It was dark outside, just barely past midnight. Classes would begin in several hours.

By all rights, he should get up, change, and find somewhere to do his exercises as he usually did, but he stopped himself from doing so. Knowing himself, he'd train and train until it was time for class and even he knew that showing up reeking of sweat and blood wouldn't be a good first day impression.

So, he merely lied there in bed, unable to tear his gaze away from the ceiling, almost as if fascinated by it.

In reality, he was lost in thought and memories.

His rowdy sister and their natural cheer…

His loud and boisterous father with his good humor and playful personality at home…

His demure but radiant mother with her lovely singing voice and kind smile…

The memories of them occupied his thoughts completely as was often the case whenever he awoke from the dream.

He missed them terribly and he resolved to give them a call later, once classes were done for the day, if only to hear how they were doing.

Considering how long it's been now since he last talked to any of them too… he really was a terrible son and brother, wasn't he?

Sighing lightly, he finally bothered to get up and look around the dorm room. He'd done so once already when they'd first been provided it along with scrolls, but he did so again right now for the sake of ridding himself of his current line of thought – continuing on with it would only lead him down a road he's already been down before and he had no desire to repeat it.

Due to how much time he's spent outside the walls, he'd become a bit out of touch with modern architecture and technology. Although he'd grown up with video games and other stuff, his years out in the wilderness by himself or within the more rural villages and towns had left him reeling somewhat when he'd tried to get his scroll working earlier to even access the room, a little event that had actually left him just marginally embarrassed.

Though he'd quickly relearned earlier how to use a lot of the technology that Beacon had to offer, he resolved to never let it slow him down again – after all, there may come a time someone needed to be saved and he couldn't allow himself to be slowed by a few precious seconds by something stupid like unlocking a door or locker with the scroll.

Ah, but on that note…

Not for the first time so far, he looked now to his sleeping dormmates, or more precisely, his team, people that he was now responsible for.

He tried not to clutch his bed's covers too tightly at such a thought.

Him, leader of a team… even now, the thought boggled his mind a bit, but at the same time only sharpened his resolve.

For so many years now, he's vowed to help and save as many people as he could. And now here he was, being put in an official position that would require him to do more than just help the others survive, but to also guide them in battle. Truly, he'd been given an incredible responsibility and even he was left feeling a little taken aback by it all.

But he swore to himself to do what he could for them. If they wished to fight beside him, he'll gladly welcome their aid.

And if they ever ended up hiding behind him for whatever possible reason? No worries, he'll just as gladly offer them his protection.

It was in his nature to do so, after all, the very core of his entire being, his entire existence. To go against what he is was like an ant trying to stifle a hurricane, it simply wasn't possible.

Ah, but enough of his thinking and pontificating. If he was going to be up this early, he might as well try to do something to kill some time.

Now… just how many push-ups and sit-ups can he do over the next few hours?

When Nora awoke from her deep slumber of epic dreams where she ruled as queen, it was to the sound of her new leader, the fearless Jaune, showering. A few minutes after that, while she groggily and grudgingly woke up fully, Jaune exited the bathroom, fully dried and dressed in Beacon's spiffy uniform.

The second she saw this, she almost nearly panicked. As rambunctious as she usually is, that didn't mean she wanted to be late for class or anything, especially not on the first day.

But he'd shaken his head gently and motioned to the digital clock near the room's sole nightstand and Nora breathed easier upon seeing the time.

Sheesh, looks like her leader was an early riser. Not that that was a bad thing.

Anyways, as several more minutes passed by, Renny and badass girl Pyrrha woke up too, just as groggy as she'd been just now. As for Jaune, he slipped out of the room to give them some time to freshen up, which they all did after bidding each other a quick good morning.

When he returned about ten minutes later, it was plates of food, utterly mouthwatering in their taste.

By then they'd all hastily been freshening up but took this break to eat a quick breakfast.

He'd gotten them pancakes, something that put him much higher on Nora's favorite person list, now second only to Ren.

Not much was really said as they ate and after doing so, Jaune took the plates away while they all went back to freshening up.

She and Pyrrha shared the bathroom to do so, both comfortable in doing so due to their same gender.

As she put on her uniform, Nora felt herself grinning like a loon. Obviously staying her in this dorm meant she was now a Beacon student but wearing the uniform somehow had more of an impact. And judging by a quick glance to Pyrrha, she felt the same way.

Stepping out of the bathroom to let Ren go in and finish up, she eyed their leader who stoically sat on his bed.

Her grin grew. "Ready to start learning how to kick some Grimm butt?!"

Jaune smiled slightly. "I guess so."

Nora scoffed comically. "Bah, come on, put some emotion in it! Today's the start of our official journey to royalty!"

"Uhm, you mean huntresses, right?" Pyrrha chipped in from beside her.

Nora laughed darkly. "I know what I said."

"She does," added in Ren from within the bathroom.

The brief exchange of quips was enough to draw some mild laughter from them all for the next minute or so, just in time for Ren to step out, fully dressed in the uniform.

They all had roughly a solid half hour or so until the first class was said to start, but Nora was now vibrating with energy, her usual reserves restored by those deliciously fluffy pancakes.

She couldn't stand waiting around any longer.

"Come on, you guys!" She shouted. "We've got other new students to show up!"

"And here I thought I was the leader…" quietly quipped Jaune, though it was kind of hard to tell how serious he was being or not.

"Oh, sorry!" Nora said dramatically. "Lead the way, fearless leader!"

He smiled again, just a little bit more than before. However, if only for a split second, his expression had shifted into something that definitely hadn't been amusement. Nora was almost half-convinced she'd hallucinated it, really.

But she shoved the oddity she'd (possibly) seen to the back of her mind for now! For she had far more important things to do! Like learning right away on how to kill even more Grimm than she already did!

Yeah, today was going to rock!

Ren consoled a less than chipper Nora with gentle pats on her head while she tried not to sob into her arms over the despair she was clearly feeling… all while trying frantically to write his own notes with just one hand, but it was tough going.

Beacon didn't have their students study in too many classes, so each class was roughly an hour or so in length.

The first class of their day had been Grimm Studies with one professor Peter Port, who'd been… interesting. But at the same time, definitely not what he'd expected. For one thing, the man had primarily discussed himself, specifically his various achievements(?) throughout life, like all the Grimm he's killed and all the women he's woed during his travels and more.

It'd been a rather dry class, to be honest. Many of the students had nearly fallen asleep. Hell, some actually had fallen asleep and it hadn't been until the end of the class when he called on a volunteer to test their might that they all had truly started paying attention.

It'd been one Weiss Schnee against a Boarbatusk of all things – how the professor had caught and locked one up, Ren could only guess at – and it'd been a rough going for the heiress until she was able to slay it, but with more than a little stress still remaining tightly wound within her.

He couldn't claim to know what exactly was going on with that team RWBY, but so far it didn't seem like Weiss was a big fan of how things had turned out. He sure hoped nothing would happen with that team. It'd be pretty messed up if a team was to already fall apart on just the first day.

Anyways, that had been earlier and Ren almost longed for it right now.

They were currently in a history class, taught by professor – no, doctor, he hastily amended – Bartholomew Oobleck. And unlike with professor Port, everyone was awake and alert for this class, if only because the man talked at lightning speed, hence his current situation of frantic writing.

Nora had already thrown in the towel on keeping up with the professor's speed, Pyrrha was doing admirably well though Ren could see her straining her ears and hand badly in trying to keep up. Ren was in the same boat, only lasting this long thanks to his years of 'training' in keeping up with a sugar-enhanced Nora.

However, it was Jaune who once again impressed him the most, his leader simply sitting where he was, his intense blue eyes focused entirely on the professor. He wasn't even writing any notes, he simply sat there with hands intertwined under his chin, dedicating his entire being to listening.

Even if it turned out he wouldn't recall anything, Ren still couldn't help but admire the blond teen's sheer amount of coolness under pressure. It truly was admirable.

Eventually, the veritable torture session came to an end and every student longed for freedom – only to despair ever so slightly when the professor immediately told them to start reading ahead for the next class.

Ren tried to hide his wince at that, truly he did. But he failed. His only saving grace was that everyone looked just as terrified as he felt.

Seriously, if any other professor was like that… he shivered.

Up next, they had a class with a professor Peach, a lively woman whose demeanor immediately reminded them all of their previous professor only much easier to understand since she didn't talk at like a billion miles an hour, something that they all gratefully thanked the heavens for.

That class came and went by in a veritable eye blink compared to the previous two classes despite being even lengthier than them, for by the time it ended, it already time for lunch, much to Ren's amazement.

Not that he was complaining – with how stressing the classes had just been in their own different ways, he'd already found himself mentally and even to some extent physically drained and in need of some food.

He never thought he'd even think this, but he was almost looking forward to eating almost as much as Nora normally did.

Heading for the cafeteria and swiftly getting in line while meals were served, he pondered over how the day had been going so far.

And much to his surprise, he found himself wondering that if the very first day was like this, then just what did the future have in store for them all?

Well, whatever would end up coming their way, he sure hoped it wouldn't be as bad as the classes so far…

…Huh. Why did it feel as though he just jinxed himself?

As she got in line along with the rest of her team, Pyrrha did her best to ignore the stares and whispers her very presence garnered. This was something she had plenty of practice doing, but it didn't make it any easier for her to simply shrug off.

If anything, it was even harder than ever for her to do so. She'd hoped her reputation wouldn't extend as far as Vale, but she'd clearly been hoping for too much as she heard excited and disbelieving whispers of 'the Invincible Girl' and 'Mistral champion' from others further behind her in line and from those already seated at some of the tables.

As the line moved forward, some tried to make some small talk with her, small talk that she's heard plenty of times by now, she replied cordially but made sure to shake them off as best as she could, something that proved much easier with some much appreciated help from Nora, who began to animatedly whine to her about classes just now.

Such talk was able to get a big smile out of her. She'd certainly been lucky with the team she'd ended up with.

There was Nora here, who seemed more caught up in her own little world and whatever grabbed her interest than in focusing on her reputation.

Then there was Ren whose seemingly longtime friendship with the former had pretty much inoculated him against all sorts of things. Surely, the amount of energy required of him to keep pace with Nora meant that focusing on anything else wasn't worth the effort, which she was certainly grateful for.

And then… there was her partner and leader, Jaune, whose reaction to her fame being something she could only describe as indifferent acknowledgement. Thanks to Weiss' little rant yesterday before initiation, he was now aware of her status as Mistral's 4-time regional champion and although he seemed to admire her for such an achievement, it was due more to her efforts in obtaining such acclaim rather than the title itself, which was honestly a first for her. More so that beyond such a thing he just didn't care at all about status.

This was something made obvious yet again as he went ahead and got her a tray too in addition to one for himself. "Here."

"Thank you," she said gratefully as she accepted the tray.

It was amazing how such a simple but heartfelt act could so completely cheer her up. Even when some others nearby whispered amongst themselves of who exactly Jaune could be to be so close to her, Pyrrha hardly felt annoyed anymore.

He merely nodded and the two waited to the side while Nora and Ren got their food and together they found an empty table and sat down at it.

Without a word, they all started to dig in, Nora more so than anyone, eating not unlike how a kid would only with even more gusto somehow.

"So what do you think of the classes so far?" Pyrrha risked asking, wishing to make some conversation, especially since she could feel a lot of eyes on her right now. She needed something to distract herself with. That, and she really did wish to get to know the others, especially since all of yesterday after initiation had been more focused on simply fixing up the dorm room the way they wanted and then heading to sleep.

"They're… interesting," Ren began. "In particular, our professors. They're a colorful bunch."

Nora huffed. "They're nuts!" she nearly shrieked. "One of them talks more about himself than Grimm and another talks like it's going out of style! One class, we're all dying of boredom and the next, we're all trying to not overheat our brains! Only the last class was normal enough!"

"It's not that bad… it'll just take some time to get fully used to it…" Ren mumbled.

"Yeah, by that point we'll already be dead from wearing ourselves down! Isn't this supposed to be a huntsmen school?! Where's the epic class fieldtrips to kill Grimm or save towns?!" Nora whined.

Pyrrha giggled at her energy. "Well, it would be a bit much to start with that so early on. They do have to work up to that point for us."

"Bah, you were barely doing better than us! I could practically hear your mind shutting down during the first two classes," Nora continued.

This caused the redhead to blush a little from embarrassment. Nora… she wasn't exactly wrong.

"Same here," a voice called out, clearly belonging to that of a girl.

Pyrrha blinked mildly in surprise and turned in her spot to see who was now approaching them.

It was the blonde girl from that RWBY team, who was now grinning wryly at them. And just a few feet behind her was the black-haired girl that was her partner, Blake, if Pyrrha remembered right from the team assignment yesterday, while the blonde was Yang.

"Mind if we sit here too?" the blonde – Yang – asked as she hefted up her tray. "Most of the other tables are getting full already."

"O-Oh, sure!" Pyrrha spoke on behalf of her team and scooted over to make more room, not that she had to given they were the only team at the table thus far.

Yang grinned in thanks whilst Blake merely nodded and took a seat.

Then she turned to Jaune all of a sudden. "Hey there, Jaune. Looks like we're finally having that little hang out I mentioned last time, eh?"

Pyrrha watched as her partner smiled a little. "Looks that way, Yang. Good to see you. And you too," he replied, also addressing Blake, who blinked a bit but nodded again, though a bit more warmly than just a second ago.

There was a slight pause afterwards while Yang and Blake got comfortable and Jaune eyed them a little. "Where's Ruby and Weiss?"

Yang's grin got a little strained. "Well, I guess you could say they're dealing with some stuff right now. They don't exactly get along right now."

"Ah…"

Pyrrha understood what she meant right away.

During professor Port's class, while she'd done her best to take some notes, she'd noticed team RWBY's leader goofing off alongside Nora… and Weiss hadn't exactly looked pleased by that. In fact, it'd been that frustration she'd clearly felt that had prompted her to volunteer to fight the Boarbatusk. Ruby had shouted out some advice throughout the match, some pretty solid advice in Pyrrha's opinion, but the heiress clearly hadn't been happy to receive any help.

She frowned in slight worry. "I see. I hope they'll work things out. Even if it's only the first day, having a strained partnership can be bad further down the line."

Yang smiled. "I'm sure they'll make up, though I'm not gonna lie, I really want to try pulling that stick out her ass…" Her smile vanished as quickly as it'd appeared and her lilac eyes were turning red now as she grumbled.

"She's a little awkward, but Ruby is a good person," Jaune suddenly said in between bites of his food. "And Weiss doesn't strike me as an inherently bad person, just entitled. So long as you leave them be for now to cool off, they'll both come around to one another."

Yang looked surprised by what he'd said. So did Blake and even Nora and Ren too. Even Pyrrha herself felt a bit taken aback by how suddenly yet earnestly Jaune had sounded there.

Then Yang chuckled. "Heh, thanks. Alright then. I'll give them some time alone for now… but if Weiss tries sassing my baby sis anymore…"

Jaune looked amused. "You'll flatten her, I know. I've an older sister that's the same way. And I can relate too whenever with my younger sisters."

Sisters, hmm? Sounded like he had a few, Pyrrha noted with mild intrigue.

Yang nodded in response to his words, looking even more at ease now before deciding to switch topics. "So, already complaining about classes? Can't say I blame you – we had the same problem too, right Blake?"

Blake, in the middle of taking a bite out of her grilled tuna sandwiches, nodded hesitantly at suddenly having their attention focused on her. "Yeah, it's not quite what I'd imagined it to be."

"Pfft, more like the exact opposite of what we'd all thought!" Nora now added again. "Like I just told them earlier, where's the Grimm slaying or town-saving?!"

"Aye, my girl~!" Yang reached out for a fist bump, clearly agreeing with her. Nora returned the fist bump most enthusiastically.

"…What about you?" Blake spoke up slowly, looking to Jaune. Pyrrha got the feeling the B of team RWBY wasn't exactly used to talking much but was trying to make an effort here to change that.

"Classes are interesting so far," Jaune said without hesitation. "Though unusual, there's a lot to be gleamed from professor Port's tales about slaying Grimm. I was interested in asking him to expand on several things but held off for now – no need to be so eager right out the gate."

Everyone sort of paused at that, having not expected such an answer.

Jaune continued. "As for history, while not my greatest interest or subject, it'll be handy in case negotiations come up – historical examples, if used right, can be used to persuade some people into standing down during conflicts or motivate them to fight."

Again, more silence.

"What about the last class?" Ren asked, interested.

"It's… it's there." Jaune had nothing else to add there, it seemed, something he looked sheepish over.

"…Heh." Yang snickered a little now. "Wow, sure wish I had that kind of attitude here. What's your secret to it?"

Jaune, having been about to take another bite, paused and did so for so long a moment that they all felt a little off-put by it.

"…It's just how I am nowadays, I guess," he eventually said. "Though I'm trying to change that…. right, that's right, that's why I'm…"

He trailed off, the last several words he'd mumbled being aimed at himself from the sound of it.

Pyrrha could only feel her interest in him grow that much more. Jaune… he was quite an enigma and he didn't even seem to be intentionally acting in such a way.

"Well, well, aren't you a mysterious one, oh fearless leader," Nora then said with a smile. "Then tell us, what's your opinion about Beacon as a whole?"

"It's severely lacking in several ways," Jaune suddenly said, putting down his fork and looking Nora right in the eyes so suddenly that the girl in question froze right on the spot. Though stated quietly, there was a force in his voice that silenced them all, even some others from nearby tables. "Firstly, these uniforms are freaking ridiculous – they inhibit our movements. Not by much, mind you, but even a second could count and if something happens suddenly enough where we're attacked while in uniform, we could be in danger.

"Secondly, those stupid rocket lockers – just what is the point of them? Why even bother with such idiotic things? If an attack were to happen either here or in Vale, we'd have to waste time calling them to us and arming ourselves. We're all fighters here, aiming to become huntsmen and huntresses and only fools would go anywhere without their weapons.

"Thirdly, location. We're miles away from Vale. Miles. If an attack is launched on it, mobilizing from here to there will take a solid ten minutes, maybe even fifteen. A single second – a split second, even – could mean the difference between living and dying for people and yet it'll take us minutes to get there to start helping others and combatting whatever the threat is. That's not even getting into the other two issues I just mentioned, where we'll easily be wasting time simply rushing to get changed into our combat uniforms and gathering our weapons and any additional gear before being sent in to help in the first place. That's easily a solid twenty minutes or more of us simply getting ready and sent out while people could be dying by the dozens in Vale from any crisis that could occur! The only reason I haven't voiced this to the headmaster already is because I'm trusting him to have some other measures in place to keep things under control!"

He'd gotten progressively louder with every point he made and while saying he was shouting by the end there would be wrong, he certainly wasn't quiet either, with many in the cafeteria looking his way now.

For once all eyes were not on Pyrrha and she was just barely even aware of this fact. Instead, all she could do was sort of just sit there next to him and stare like an idiot. Same went for everyone else at the table.

Jaune's rather harsh expression finally let up and he sighed. "Sorry, I… I can be overly critical of things," he said apologetically before taking a bite of his meal, an action that finally seemed to ease up on the incredible pressure that had descended upon the room, allowing everyone else to finally let out a breath they hadn't known they'd been holding and going back to what they were doing before.

"Well," Yang began, the first to smile out of the bunch, though awkwardly so. "Gotta say, you're pretty opinionated on all that – not that it's a bad thing."

Pyrrha watched as Jaune winced sheepishly. "…Sorry."

The redhead now found a moment to interject while Yang looked unsure on what to say to that. "It's nice to see you've put so much thought into it, though," she said somewhat quickly before she was left out of the conversation again. "While a little… overly critical, they're valid concerns now that you mention them… but I'm sure there's a purpose for everything."

She tried to smile in a reassuring manner, but her lack of experience with real friends left the redhead feeling uncertain if she was doing it right. For all her experience doing PR and occasional charity work, in more personal settings like this, she was just as awkward as most other teenagers.

Still, it seemed to put her blond partner a bit more at ease. "I'll take your word for it. Thank you."

Smiling genuinely now, Pyrrha allowed herself to relax a little more as she then went back to her meal for the moment, the others doing the same.

Silence followed for the time being afterwards, but after a few minutes of focusing on their food, conversation slowly began again among them, just as team RWBY's other two members finally showed up to join them.

As Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee swiftly joined them and rather roughly at first joined in the talking, Pyrrha took it all in with a slowly growing warmth in her heart.

A lot of the other people around them may still be shooting her all too familiar glances of that of fans, but she could now say she was part of a little bunch that may very well be able to alleviate the loneliness she's felt for so long.

And it felt good, damn good.

Quietly so, the P of team JNPR vowed to do what she could to keep their little circle together throughout the years to come.

Ozpin stood near his office's glass walls, providing himself with a great view of the campus below as well as much further beyond. In his hand was his usual mug of hot cocoa, which has always worked to calm him. While the sugar in it certainly wasn't good for him, it was far better than what he used to do in his youth… so to speak.

His paperwork for the day done just in time to watch the sun slowly setting, he allowed himself to merely look and get lost in the scenery. It was hardly new scenery, having long since committed to his long memory the sight of his own academy, but it still helped to instill in him a sense of serenity somewhat, especially since many other places that he's once loved to simply be in and observe were now gone, lost to the ravages of time over the course of his cursed life.

He smiled a little weakly at that particular thought. Cursed… well, he supposed it was an appropriate enough word, given how many centuries he's been around for, how many lives he's lived and lost. But it wasn't all bad. He's loved others fully and had made close friends throughout each life and though their passing always hurt, he never let it weigh upon him too much.

Still, he wished to one day be at peace himself, but such a day was far off, especially with how things were currently going for him and his allies.

Qrow had reported recently that the 'Queen' had mobilized a few of her new pawns, something that made him wary given his semi-recent 'guest' that lied comatose below this tower. However, he made sure to task Qrow with trying to track down these pawns and halt them before they can make another move and he had faith in the man's skills and perseverance, so his wariness wasn't quite as all-consuming it would've been otherwise.

That said, he couldn't afford to take it easy either. Indeed, it's been a long time since he's ever taken it easy.

More… he needed to do more. But what, precisely, should he do? This was a question that always plagued him, but more so now than ever before.

He could tell. Something about this current era… there was a shift, though what exactly it entailed, he could hardly fathom. What he did know for sure, however, was that this shift was far from over just yet. Only time will tell what it'll bring, for better or worse.

Sighing, Ozpin headed back towards his desk and took a seat, finishing off the rest of his mug before accessing student files.

Not for the first time, he scrolled them one by one until he eventually found the ones he was looking for.

The first was Ruby Rose, Tai Yang's and Summer's daughter. Taught by Qrow on how to wield a scythe, her skills were certainly quite advanced for a fifteen-year-old trainee, but for all her potential as a huntress, it wasn't her skills that had attracted his attention to her nor was it her heroism in attempting to thwart Roman Torchwick.

No, it'd be her eyes. Her silver eyes, inherited from her mother.

Although it pained him, they'd certainly be of great use in the future against humanity's eternal foe, but the question he had to ask himself here was when exactly 'in the future' meant for him and for her. As pressed as he was for any and every advantage he could gain, he wasn't so cold-blooded as to force young Ruby to take up tasks far beyond her current abilities and certainly not when she still had much to look forward to in her teenage years.

Even so… with the threat of the Grimm and 'her' always on the horizon, Ozpin had to ponder when it'd be truly unavoidable in having the young girl enter the fray.

Then… there was the other file he was looking at.

Jaune Arc, one of the eight children and only son of Lucien and Marguerite Arc. Although the Arc name was quite well known thanks to the actions of their ancestor during the Great War, the Arcs themselves were pretty much every day people, living out civilian lives for the most part with only a scant few exceptions. Ozpin knew for a fact that Lucien Arc was currently the only Arc among his generation to be serving as a huntsman, and a very powerful and skilled one at that too.

With this in mind, seeing the man's son now at Beacon to become a huntsman shouldn't be too a big a surprise… except for what his transcripts both said and didn't say.

Focusing first on the latter, it didn't say anywhere in it whether or not Lucien himself trained Jaune nor did it say if he'd gone to any kind of combat school. And thanks to some help from Glynda and other background investigators, Ozpin can say for certain that Jaune Arc didn't go to any combat schools at all.

It also didn't say if he'd ever trained with Crocea Mors, a sword and shield combo that had been handed down through the family for generations. That he could vividly recall witnessing through the security cameras the young Arc fighting instead with two swords during initiation further raised the question about what had happened to the weapon.

What the transcript did say, however, or rather what it listed, was a number of towns and villages that the young Arc has visited and stayed either at or near during the past two years. An odd thing to list, yes, but seeing as these towns and villages were ones that the headmaster knew for a fact lied beyond the kingdom's walls said much more than one would think.

To travel outside the kingdom was by now means impossible, but carried with it certain risks – bandits, wild animals, hazardous landscapes… and of course, Grimm. Even if he had some companions, to travel for so long out there spoke a lot about his ability to defend himself.

Not only that, but the transcript also had on it numerous references, primarily from the town's mayors and village's leaders, including names and ways of safely contacting them should technological methods somehow fail.

As was natural for anyone that aspired to attend Beacon or any other academy, background investigations were fairly thorough and efforts were made to talk with at least several of the people Jaune had listed on his mailed-in application papers.

And no matter who was contacted, they all only had good things to say about the young Arc, speaking of both his character and skill in great detail. And although it could have been assumed that much of it was merely empty praise, overstatements and outright hyperbole, there'd been no mistaking the genuine respect and admiration in these people's voices.

They truly trusted young Jaune and vouched for him whole-heartedly, having listed numerous ways in which he's aided them.

And having seen for himself the sheer intensity the blond teen's very presence seemed to have to it as well as how he'd fought during the initiation, Ozpin was now quite certain that the people spoken to about Jaune had been telling the truth.

Jaune Arc had certainly been around and had done much.

But what exactly did he do? Sure, he'd apparently taken on Grimm and had fought off bandits for many towns and villages out in the frontier as it was called, but no real specifics were ever given. Just how many Grimm did he go up against at any one time? What types of Grimm? What about the bandits, how many did he usually fight against and how well-armed and trained had they been? These were important factors.

That his own family hadn't bothered to make any comments on the transcript itself too was also a bit of an eyebrow-raiser for the headmaster, for surely if Jaune's strength and skill was that great, Lucien would've gladly put in a word for his son.

And of course, there was the very fact that something just felt… well, not 'off' per say, but certainly unusual about the blond teen, though for all his knowledge and wisdom, Ozpin could scarcely imagine what that meant.

If nothing else, however, Jaune Arc was already shaping up to be an interesting freshman, just as much as Ruby Rose would inevitably be.

He looked forward to seeing how exactly the young man would develop.

He just prayed he'd have the time to see said development before things inevitably went wrong.

This chapter was brought to you by a combination of Blizzard by Daichi Miura and I Beg you by Aimer, two very awesome songs that helped me stay focused during the writing process. By all means, if you haven't heard them before, please give them a check out.

My blatant advertisement there aside, (heh!) the purpose of this chapter was once again to merely further set the roots of what's to come as far as characterization and the like will go. All of the differences between this version of Jaune and the canon version of him aren't merely due to my whims – there's story purpose behind it.

And given how much people are talking about what's going on in the current volume, I'm assuming everyone reading this is fairly caught up with volume 6 of RWBY, hence why I've already thrown around some mentions of Ozpin's past there. Primarily because trying to keep such info hidden would be plain stupid, again because I'm sure most of you already know of it, and partially because the recent revelations in the beginning of volume 6 aren't the main focus of this fic. Hope you understand.

Also, just want to say right now that this fic will naturally diverge from canon at some point, though when exactly that'll occur I can't quite say yet. There will be some differences here and there, but it'll be a while before said differences build upon each other enough for the divergence to be noticeable.

Whelp, with that said, hope you did find this chapter interesting… and not to worry, there's going to be plenty of fun stuff coming up soon enough!

Until next time, everyone. Take care!