So here it is, Ch 18 of TPA. Made readable by JJD

"You really gonna drink that?" Asked Clay, voice mixed with disgust and worry.

"It's not like I have much choice. Someone needs to test it, and with my Semblance I'm the best candidate. Unless you want to volunteer?" Jaune said with a smirk.

Clay's grimace said it all. And frankly, Jaune didn't blame him. The man had assisted him for the whole time he was trying to make an antidote for whatever was used to poison the water in this damn town. It was hard, considering he had only very basic equipment, and the only thing he could really determine was that something was used. So the only way to develop an antidote was the tried and true trial and error method - Jaune Arc style.

Step one - drink poison. Use Semblance to force it into dormant state so it won't kill you.

Step two - drink, or eat, anything that you think might help neutralize said poison.

Step three - use Semblance to force poison to react with every substance one by one, to determine if any of them would work as part of the antidote.

Oh, and try to not puke your guts out in the process.

Nice, simple, and easy. At least in theory.

Jaune sighed and swirled the small beaker he held in hand and winced. The thing inside looked even less appealing that it smelled. And considered how badly it smelled…

Well, no point in delaying this. Bottoms up!

The blond drank it all in one go. For a moment nothing happened, then he bent double, one hand clutching his stomach, the other covering his mouth.

"Oi, you alright there?" Clay was next to him in instant, worry clear on his face.

"Yeah, I'll live. It's just tasted even worse than it looked." He managed to get out after a few moments of struggling to keep the contents of his stomach on the inside.

"You sure? You look rather pale. And considering what you added to that mixture of yours…"

"Yes, I'm sure. Remember, we're all poisoned, can't get much worse than that."

"So.. What now? You use your Semblance and you instantly know what the poison is and how to make an antidote for it? Or you will produce it inside of your body, and we will have to drink your blood to get the cure?"

Jaune chuckled, staggered to a nearby chair, and almost fell over trying to sit.

"Unfortunately, it's not that convenient. Best I can do is use my Semblance to test how it reacts when mixed with other substances. Then I compare it to poisons I know, and based on that, I can try to figure out how to make an antidote."

"Isn't that a bit... risky? I know you said you're immune, but couldn't you just use this." The older man asked, pointing to a makeshift laboratory they set up in one of mansion rooms.

Jaune winced when another wave of nausea washed over him.

"It's not that simple. It's all very basic equipment, even if I did manage to figure out what this thing is, it would take a lot of time. Something we don't really have."

Clay looked like he wanted to say something, but a commotion coming from downstairs stopped him. He looked towards the door, considered something for a moment then looked back to Jaune.

"You mind if I go see what that's about?"

"Go ahead. I need to focus on my Semblance anyway. Just come check on me in and half an hour or so, make sure I'm not dead." He said jokingly. Well, he tried to. Between focusing on his Semblance, and trying to not let content of his stomach go back the way it entered there, his words sounded more like pained groans.

"Yeah, sure." Clay walked to the door,and Jaune focused on his Semblance. It was a delicate process, one that he had to completely focus on. He barely registered the sound of the doors closing behind the older man.

Alright. Let's see what we have here…

"Hey kid?" Jaune shot an annoyed look towards door, held slightly open, Clay's head popping inside.

"Want me to grab you something to drink? Like arsenic?. Or maybe strychnine? I swear I saw a bottle somewhere..."

"Just go already." Jaune growled at him.

Clay laughed, and left. Jaune stared at the door for a few moments, just to make sure he wouldn't try any more jokes. When a few moments passed with no annoying Hunters trying to distract him, he focused back on the task at hand.

"So, what's all the fuss about?"

The Old Man turned to see Clay approaching.

"What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to help the kid with making an antidote?"

"Said he doesn't need me. So, what happened here?"

"I sent Toto and two others to scout out the area around us, see if they can find any survivors. And they did."

Clay perked up at that.

"Civilians?"

"No. Someone from Team one. They should be here any moment."

Ten minutes later, four people entered the mansion. Three of them were members of his team. The forth one - was a girl that he recognized instantly.

"Look who we have here." He called out, approaching the small group. "Isn't that lil Foxy?"

The woman perked up, and gave him a small smile.

"Hey there Clay. What have you been up to?"

"Ah, you know, the usual. Wanted to check out this wonderful getaway resort." He said, spreading his arms wide.

"I heard that the food here is to die for. But accomodation prices can be murder. Decided to see for myself, and here I am."

She managed a weak laugh, and shook her head.

"Good to see you still have your terrible sense of humor. Hows Ori?"

"He..," Clay swallowed. "He didn't make it."

Her face fell instantly, as did remained silent for a moment, paying respect to their dead friend. Eventually, Clay shook his head, and put a small smile on his lips. There would be time for grief later. Now they needed to focus on surriving.

"How…"

"We fought against a Wraith, strong one. His Aura got depleted, and he was wounded. It wasn't anything too serious, but the next morning he was already dead."

She let out a staggered breath.

"So, he too was chosen…" she mumbled quietly. Clay raised a single eyebrow, but didn't comment. He wasn't too religious himself, like most people these days. He could have sworn Foxy wasn't either - but hey, he wasn't one to judge.

"Anyway, you hungry? We have some food we can share, and then you could tell us what happened to your team."

She nodded and they all went to kitchen. Clay spared a single glance towards stairs, wondering whatever or not he should call Jaune too, but discarded the idea. He was busy with his own job, no need to interrupt him. Someone could always fill him in later.

"Still nothing?"

Ren shook his head.

"They are still investigating. Doctor Oobleck said that they will let us know as soon as they find something."

Pyrrha sighed. It was the same story that they got every time they asked. Some small part of her understood that the people in charge probably were doing what they could, but this did nothing to lessen her worries.

It was nearly twenty eight hours since her partner and team leader boarded that damn bullhead.

No one told them any details, but one look at Ozpin's face told them that something had gone wrong. Very wrong. This feeling grew only stronger as time passed, and no one had any new information.

Pyrrha felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Nora giving her a reassuring smile. She tried her best to return it, but it felt weak. She wanted nothing more than to grab someone, anyone, who knew something, and force them to tell them what happened. Problem was, that apparently no one knew what really happened. Beacon, and Vale, was full of rumors, every new one crazier than the last. But no one had any answers.

The only thing they knew for sure was that some city, not far from Vale was in some kind of trouble. Three squads of Hunters were sent to investigate, twenty four in total, all of them experienced veterans.

Well, all except of one. Pyrrha thought bitterly.

It's not that she didn't believe in Jaune. He'd proved himself already, both as a skilled fighter, and a knowledgeable Hunter. But he was the same age as them. Sure, he spent four years traveling with an experienced Hunter - but that didn't made him a veteran.

So why he was sent there? Why had Ozpin stopped them, and team RWBY, from going? What did he mean that they didn't have the equipment, knowledge, or skills necessary to do what Jaune was doing? It's not like any of them were a worse fighter than him. And Pyrrha was certain that she was far better than… well mostly anyone in Beacon. And it wasn't just her ego - though the last two weeks she'd received multiple requests for 'friendly spars.' So far she won every single one, regardless of whether the challenger was a first, a second, or even a third year.

So what were they lacking? Pyrrha doubted four years worth of experience in the field was the reason. Jaune himself said that he and Leon didn't spend all that time in the Wilds.

So many questions, and no one had any answers.

A quiet knocking broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Ren opening the door, and letting two people inside.

"Hey guys. How are you doing?" Ruby asked.

Ren looked at his two teammates, and shrugged.

"I'd say rather well… all things considered."

"I guess… still no news about Jaune?"

"Sadly no. They are still investigating, but there is no new information. Or there is, and they simply don't want to share."

"Could be both. This whole thing is fishy as hell." Said Yang, sitting next to Pyrrha.

Nora tilted her head, confused.

"What do you you mean?"

"Think about it. What could happen in a city, only two hours by bullhead from Vale, that would warrant sending so many Hunters? It couldn't be Grimm, any group big enough to cause something like that would be eliminated much earlier. Bandits? The same thing."

"Maybe it was terrorist attack of some sort?" Offered Ren.

"Maybe. But in either case - we would hear something. Someone would call family in Vale, or there would be refugees, or wounded transported to hospitals. But there is nothing. I heard some students in the hallways saying they had family there, and can't contact them. A whole city was cut off, and anyone who tries to come close is turned back."

Ruby shook her head.

"If it's something so big, why would they send Jaune? He is just a first year. This doesn't make sense."

"I know. I tried to confront the Headmaster about it, but he's always busy." Pyrrha said with a tired sigh.

Yang laughed at that.

"Yeah, I know. But don't you think that sending someone every hour or so is a bit much? People are already betting on when you get banned from entering the main tower. Or if you try to break into Ozpin's office." She paused for a moment, looking around as if to check if the were alone, then leaned towards Pyrrha.

"We could lend you Blake when you decide to do it. She has a talent for sneaking." She stage-whispered.

"No need. We have our own ninja." Nora exclaimed, grabbing Ren's arm.

Pyrrha laughed at her friend's antics.

She watched with amusement, as Yang and Nora argued over which team's ninja was better, and then started making plans on how to break into Ozpin's office, with Ruby quipping in from time to time. None of these plan included what to do after they broke in, but Pyrrha supposed it wasn't the point.

It was just a way to distract them, to give them something to do, so they wouldn't spend the time worrying.

Pyrrha sighed and looked out the window, at the darkening sky. She wondered what Jaune was doing right now. Was he thinking about them? Or was he too busy with something important? Maybe they were worrying for nothing, and it all was taking so long for some stupid, silly reason?

"Hey Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you come with me?"

He blinked a few times, confused.

"Come.. where?"

"Doesn't matter. If I decided to go somewhere far away, would you come with me?"

"You mean on a dancing tour? Well, I guess I'm almost full-fledged Hunter now, so I could be your escort."

The girl next to him tilted her head, her green eyes locked on his.

"So you will come?"

He considered her for a moment. Why would she ask? He always followed her around, even if she didn't specifically ask. Sure, he might have been late once, or ten times, but he always came.

Well, that was probably another girl thing. Even after living with so many of them for so long, there were still things about them he didn't understand.

So he just sent her his best smile and nodded.

"Will you be on time?"

He sighed. Now, that was an unusual question. But he guessed it was justified, considering his track record. Well, this time will be different. He would make it in time - since there was nothing to distract him.

"Sure. I pro…" He paused when her finger pressed to his lips.

"Don't." She said, shaking her head, her crismon hair flailing in the wind. Was it just him, or it was getting hotter in here?

"Don't… what?" He managed to ask.

She looked at him, her expression sad.

"You won't be able to. You still have things to do out there."

"Wait what are you…"

He didn't manage to finish. She smiled at him sadly, then her face started cracking, and then fell apart, like broken glass. He tried to call out her name, but discovered that he couldn't speak. And it was so hot, as if he is sitting too close to fire.

He looked around, trying to understand what was happening - only to discover that there was nothing around him. He was floating in some dark space. He couldn't tell left from right, up from down. The only thing he knew was that it was getting hotter and hotter in there.

"Go, Jaune. You can't afford to be late." He heard her voice.

"What…" he managed to choke out.

"No, we don't have time for that! Just hurry up!" It sounded urgent, but he couldn't understand why.

"Hurry!"

Jaune awoke with a gasp. His heart was beating a thousand times per second, his breath coming in ragged gasp, and somehow he was feeling incredibly hot and cold at the same time.

"Oi, kid, you alright?" He heard a voice ask . A familiar voice, but he couldn't quite place it. He looked around, but everything was blurry. He vaguely felt something on his chest, something warm. He reached it grab it, and with some surprise discovered it was a hand. He tried to shake his head, to clear his vision, but it only made him nauseous.

He tried to ask what was happening and where he was, but only a horse croak came out. Moments later, something cold was pressed to his lips.

"Here kid, drink. It's water, clean water."

He drank greedily, choking on the cool liquid, and started coughing.

"Easy there kid. Easy. Deep breaths."

He again did as he was told, and after a few moments he calmed down. He looked around again, his vision still foggy, but at least he could make out vague shapes. He was lying in a room that he was quite certain wasn't his, lying on something hard. and there was someone kneeling next to him. He could just make out a few more figures standing around.

Did I overdo it with Elixirs again?" He thought, trying to get up.

"Easy there kid. Just lay down for a bit."

This time he ignored the voice, pushing himself to a sitting position. He looked up at the man next to him, trying to figure out who it was.

"Leon?" He tried most the obvious answer.

"Afraid not. But glad you are alive kid. We thought you were a goner."

He shook his head again. Who was this man? Where was he? And why did he think he was dead? He certainly acted as though they knew each other, but…

"Move it Clay, you are treating him like he's made of glass." Said another, gruff and unpleasant voice.

"Wait, I'm fine." Jaune managed to spit out. He shook his head again, and looked up, to see the Old Man with one hand raised, ready to slap him.

"Good. Now, what the fuck happened here?"

"I'm… not sure. I was analyzing the samples I collected, and then… I'm not sure."

"Well, you better have something for us after all this trouble. I was ready to skewer your heart."

Jaune laughed nervously.

"Well, yeah. First of all, I don't think this thing is really a poison."

"What?"

Jaune sighed.

"I ran the tests, and I couldn't find any toxin I know of in any of the samples. For all I know, this thing is completely harmless. On its own."

"Kid, stop playing around. Give me details."

"From what I found out this substance doesn't actually kill you. Not in a traditional sense. It affects the brain, most notably parts responsible for long term memory. And a few others, that are responsible for regulating your basic life functions, like breathing and heartbeat."

He sighed, shaking his head.

"This thing is strange. And complicated. I have only a very vague idea of what this is, and how it might work. I think the simplest way to describe it, is that it somehow convinces your brain that you are supposed to die, and then your brain turns off your heart. Somehow." He finished.

There were a few moments of silence after that, before the Old Man cursed, and glared at him.

"Kid, you are not making much sense." He growled.

"This thing doesn't make sense." Jaune growled back.

"So, is this the moment where we should start writing our wills?" Asked Clay.

Jaune considered it for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. From what I found out, this substance isn't too… potent. It won't activate as long as your life functions remain active at normal levels."

"Kid…" Old Man growled again.

"Aura will keep you alive. And even if you lose all of it, you should be fine as long as you stay awake."

"You don't sound too convinced kid."

Jaune looked at the older man for a few moments, then just shrugged and got up.

"Because I'm not. But considering we are still alive after the first night, I think my guess is pretty good. Anyway, one thing I'm sure about is that I will be able to make something to neutralize this thing. If I have to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… what's the point? We can just go back to Vale, give them a few samples, and…" he trailed off, and looked over the gathered people. Some wore serious expressions, some were shifting nervously. Even the Old Man looked concerned.

Ok, this can't be good.

"There is something important I don't know about, right?"

"Yeah. Look at this." Clay showed him his scroll. There were photos of the strange egg-like things they saw near one of the underground lakes. But these were sitting in the middle of the street.

"I don't like it already. And I know I'm gonna regret it, but could someone give me some details?"

"While you were busy up there, I sent a few folks to scout the area. They found a shit-ton of Ghouls, but strangely enough they weren't too aggressive. They saw a few drinking from a broken hydrant. After a few moments they turned into those eggs."

"Any chance this is normal stuff, and I just never heard about it before?" Asked Jaune, cleary not expecting a good answer.

"Dunno. I haven't heard about anything like that though." Answered the Old Man.

"Do we know what came out of them?"

"Yeah. Security cameras picked up a moment where they hatched."

Clay browsed his scroll for a moment, before giving it to Jaune again. The recording was short, and rather poor quality, but it showed what was important.

Creatures, for there were two of them, and they didn't looked like any Ghoul Jaune had ever seen before. They were much leaner, about as high as a normal human. Their legs and arms looked similar to that of a praying mantis, just bulkier. The torso remaned vaguely human-shaped, with the head looking like a mix between that of insect and human. Spikes growing from its shoulders and elbows completed the perfect image of an alien bug.

They were in the same cave with a small lake he saw on the monitors when they found Huwe dead. But there was one new detail that caught his eye, besides the two monsters that is - several severed human heads arranged in neat row by the one of the walls.

"Most of Team Two, three of them are from Team One." Clay answered his unasked question.

"How do you know?"

"That patrol I mentioned earlier? They found one survivor from team one. She identified some of the people. And gave insight on just how dangerous these things are. One of them attacked her team one not long after they entered the city. Killed one guy, heavily wounded another, then retreated. Soon after the Ghouls came, and they got overwhelmed, had to retreat to one of the houses, and barricade there. They decided to spend the night. This thing snuck inside and killed two of them when they were asleep."

"How does she knew it was the same creatures?"

"She woke up at night, to see it sitting there, with one head impaled on each of its elbow blades, and bodies lying next to it. It stared at her for a few moments, let out some strange sound, and walked away. She woke up rest of her team, and they attempted to retreat. The Ghouls found them, and they were separated from each other. She confirmed that at least two more died in this fight."

Jaune stared at the Old Man for a few moments, then looked back at the photo. Then walked towards the window, and peeked outside, noticing multiple black figures walking around.

"I have no idea what's going on here, but we cant let more of these things spawn. They are too dangerous." The Old Man said, standing next to him.

All Jaune could do was nod. Things looked bad.

Very bad.

Fun thing about this arc - when I initially started writing it, I thought it would be a short one, two chapter, in-and-out type of thing. Needless to say, it didn't go according to plan. But I think it should end soon - next chapter, or the one after that should be the last one.

This chapter was a pain to write. Not only was I constantly distracted this week, when I did get to writing, it just wouldn't come together. I scraped what I wrote multiple times, the end result being I finished it around 3am today. Fuck my life.

Anyway here is little omake of Jaune training:

Jaune rolled to the side, avoiding the wooden blade that came down on the spot he was in just a moment ago. He pushed himself up, and took his stance. The next attack came soon after, a slash coming from his left, followed by a downward slash on his right shoulder when the first attack was blocked by Jaune's shield. Jaune managed to deflect this one, and answered with a shield bash of his own. It didn't connect, but then he didn't expect it to - all he wanted was to break his opponent's rhythm.

Jaune eyed his opponent - Leon was standing about two meters from him, in Fool's stance. The distance either of them could cover in the blink of the eye.

Want me to attack? Yeah, sure, as if I'll make it easier for you.

Jaune settled into his own stance, content to wait. By now, he knew that attacking Leon when he was in this stance was a dumb idea. From this position he could answer any incoming attack in multiple ways, making it very hard to defend against his counters. Jaune managed to bait him only once, a few months ago, and his teacher never fell for it again.

SO, what are you gonna do, Leon? I can stand like that all day if I have to.

To his surprise, his teacher relaxed, resting his sword on his shoulder.

"Ok, that's enough for today."

Jaune blinked a few times, surprised, but lowered his guard only when Leon turned away, rested his sword against a tree and started drinking from his canteen.

"We are finishing early today?" He asked just to make sure.

Leon looked back at him, one eyebrow raised.

"What are you talking about? We were going at it for two hours, almost non-stop."

Jaune blinked a few times, surprised. Two hours? That was crazy. He usually didn't last more than a few minutes…right?

Truth to be told, he never bothered to check how long his training session with Leon lasted. Mostly because with as far away from civilization as they usually were, there was little point in checking what hour it was. You woke up when the sun rose, and went to sleep when it was too dark to travel safely. They ate launch when sun was at its zenith, and started his combat training when it was around halfway towards the horizon.

The other reason Jaune didn't keep track of how long their sparring sessions lasted was to not make himself feel worse about his losses. He knew he never lasted long, no point in bringing his mood down even further by actually seeing how fast he was beaten down.

But then again, they were training for… how long again? Jaune honestly started losing track of time. It was several months for sure. Six? Eight? He wasn't sure, but maybe he really did make some progress? Jaune focused on his body. It was aching all over, both from exhaustion, and the multiple hits he received, but he wasn't totally spent. He was confident he could keep fighting for at least a little while.

His lips slowly stretched in a small smile. But he didn't allow himself to celebrate just yet.

"Does that mean…?" He asked, standing next to Leon, and taking sip from his own canteen.

The older Hunter must have noticed the excitement in his voice because he smiled too.

"Yep. You cleared Leone's Special Endurance Challenge. Good work."

Jaune had to try really hard to not start jumping around cheering. LSEC - and Jaune still thought this acronym sounded silly - was something Leon set as sort of milestone for him. A test he had to complete before he had his Aura unlocked.

Ok, keep it calm, keep it professional. Don't act like a kid that is about to get his favorite cake.

"Does it mean you will unlock my Aura now?!" He squeaked, excited.

Well, close enough.

Leon shook his head, then looked at him, a wide smile on his lips. Jaune could tell the man was amused by his behavior, but also proud. It was finally happening! He would have...

"No." Came the short replay.

Jaune's brain needed almost a full minute to process this information.

"WHY?!" He whined.

"Simple. I don't know how."

There was another minute of absolute silence.

"Wha.. But…" Jaune had trouble articulating a proper response.

Leon just sighed, and sat down, patting the spot next to him. Reluctantly, Jaune joined his mentor.

"It's not easy, unlocking someone's Aura. I heard there are people in Mistral who know how to do it, but outside of that?" He shook his head. "Just think about it for a moment. How many Hunters have you heard of that had their Aura unlocked by someone else?"

Jaune considered it for a few moments, before realizing Leon was right. Every Hunter he met, had always talked about how he, or she, unlocked their own Aura,. No one ever told him someone else did it for them.

"So, what I'm supposed to do now?" Jaune asked to no one in particular.

"Don't worry about it. It will awaken eventually."

The blond boy sighed.

"But what's the point of all this training without Aura? I mean…" He paused, seeing as Leon raised his hand.

"There is a point, and an important one. You see, Aura is not as convenient as many people think. It will make you faster, stronger, and more resilient, sure. But it will be increased based on how strong, fast, and resilient you were already. The stronger your body is, the stronger Aura boost you can handle. If you could lift two kilograms in each hand, with Aura you might be able to lift four. But if you train to the point you are be able to lift ten normally - with Aura you will be able to lift thirty. It's like in some games - the higher your base stats - the better bonuses you get."

"I see… But I can train when I already have my Aura, right?"

"Yeah, but it's harder to progress that way. To use the game analogy again - if without Aura you need to train for two hours to get a single point increase in, let's say, strength, with Aura you would need to train for six. And it gets even harder, the higher your base stats are. Sure, you can you make the training more intense - lift more, or run faster, but there are limits."

He considered something for a moment.

"Another reason to train before unlocking your Aura is more combat related. You see, if you start training with it active, you might get this false sense of security. A lot of kids that got their Aura unlocked day one think themselves invincible. And they had to learn the hard way that it's not the case. If they are lucky, a teacher, parent, or some friend will do it for them. If not, the Grimm will teach them."

"I see." Jaune nodded. They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Jaune got up.

"So, will we be setting camp here? It's still an hour or so before it starts getting dark…"

Leon shook his head.

"Nah. There is a village.. Well more of a small city really, nearby. We will spend the night there, possibly fa ew if we find a job." He winked at Jaune. "Who knows. Maybe we will find someone who knows how to unlock your Aura."

"Sure. As if it would be so convenient. Knowing my luck, I will unlock it by fighting some hellish abomination, far out of my league."

Leon just laughed.

"Maybe. But I get the feeling you will unlock it pretty soon. Now, let's keep going. Soft beds, a warm bath, and food almost as good as yours awaits!"

Jaune chuckled, and picked up his backpack.

"Hey Leon? What is this place called anyway?"

"Kuroyuri."

Yeah, Jaune and Leon, after weeks, possibly months of roughing it in the Wilds, are finally going back to civilization. I'm sure they will receive warm welcome in this lovely city.