Greetings everyone!

Welcome back to the fifth chapter of "Don't Mess With An Arc."

And let me tell you I've been having a serious bitch-of-a-time with this chapter due a case of Writer's Block. A terrible ailment for those of us with desires to place our words on printed paper or electronic devices. But beyond that, it's been a pretty chill week for me. Which is ironic to say considering it's been freaking hot as hell down in the south.

Sheesh.

Next Scheduled Release Date:

July 29th: "Don't Mess With An Arc - Ch. 06"

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Till next time!

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Chapter Five

In the distant azure sky, launched high above a sea of emerald treetops with his limbs outstretched and a carefree smile plastered on his face as adrenaline coursed through his adolescent body and the wind ruffled his baggy clothes and messy blonde hair while his bright cerulean eyes shined with a brightness to rival the very sun itself, was none other than Jaune Arc.

Launched from the top of Beacon Cliff into his first step of becoming a Huntsman, excitement filled his childish heart as he soared through the azure sky with reckless abandon.

And as his body neared it's climax, Jaune's eyes quickly darted around his surroundings, scanning the forest floor for a suitable landing area that would not only break his fall but produce the less amount of damage to the forest itself.

Jaune had learned from his previous excursions that his immense amount of Aura had essentially become a beacon for Grimm. Always calling out to the creatures of Grimm to come and challenge him and prove themselves the strongest. His father had once said that the creatures of Grimm could be attributed to those of wild animals. While some tended to go it alone, others banded together in a sort of pack mentality, such as when a group of Beowolves joined together. And among that group of Beowolves there would always be a leader...An alpha.

And when another alpha entered it's territory then there was only one outcome.

A fight to decide who was the strongest.

That was the downside of having such overwhelming power, there was never a moment of peace and quiet.

But... Who ever said Jaune wanted peace and quiet?

An excited smirk graced Jaune's lips as a pack of Beowolves quickly surrounded him, their gaping maws releasing short, ragged breaths as they eyed their prey. Swiftly, Jaune released his flag spear, making sure the loose flag was tied properly around the metal shaft before taking his stance just as the pack began to split off to either side, allowing the Alpha to step forward and face it's challenger.

"Let's get this over with. I've got a partner to find." said Jaune, aiming his weapon's bladed tip at the Alpha, smirking as it released a monstrous howl before charging at it's quarry.

Soon both Jaune and the Alpha Beowolf began circling one another, their eyes trained on the other's as their muscles tensed with anticipation. When suddenly, the Alpha Beowolf sprung into the air above, it's claws poised to strike but a swift roll to the side and an uppercut to the jaw from Jaune's spear sent the Alpha Beowolf flying back into the sky before plummeting back to the ground.

But Jaune wasn't about to give it a moment of rest as he charged his legs with Aura, launching himself at great speeds underneath the Alpha Beowolf's shadow and thrusting his spear upwards, summoning a torrent of wind that ripped through the Alpha's body, completely obliterating it with ease.

There still surrounded by Beowolves with his weapon in hand, Jaune smirked as the Beowolves began to cower in fear before taking off away from Jaune's position, causing him to groan in disappointment.

"Oh, come on!" he shouted in frustration. "How am I supposed to go all out if you all keep running away?!"

But it wasn't Jaune the Beowolves had decided to run from. No, they had long since grown used to witnessing one of their own being slaughtered with ease. It would only mean that a new pack leader would be decided. But as a massive looming shadow overtook Jaune's form, causing the Beowolves to run in terror, a feeling of excitement and adrenaline filled his body as Jaune turned to face his new opponent.

"Like moths to the flame." said Jaune, turning to face his opponent with vigor as it released a monstrous roar, pounding it's chest as it's dark shadow encompassed the light of the sun.

...Ruby & Weiss...

Far off into the distance as a loud obnoxious roar reverberated throughout the emerald forest, reaching the delicate ears of Ruby Rose and causing her to twist her head in the direction of the sound. A feeling of looming danger entered her heart, causing her to grip her weapon's handle in anticipation while her partner, Weiss, carried on. Either blatantly ignoring the mysterious roar or unaware of it's notice.

Her silvery eyes lingering on the back of her partner as she trudged her way through the shrubbery of the forest, looking completely out of place in her current environment. From her pristine white outfit being covered with dirt and twigs to her snow white ponytail that had slowly started to become messy with split ends.

And yet still she marched on through the forest with a singular goal in mind.

Pass Beacon's initiation and became a Huntress-In-Training.

A goal that Ruby, herself, shared.

Both had aspirations of becoming Huntresses, like those in fairy tales told to her by Yang when she was but a baby. It was something that Ruby found herself admiring in her partner.

However, all of that admiration was quickly smothered by Weiss's cold shoulder and elitist attitude towards Ruby, simply due to their gap in age.

First, she and Weiss had met in forest after Ruby had just landed before running into her. And even after both of their eyes met, following the eye contact rule Headmaster Ozpin had placed on the group, Weiss had decided to blatantly ignore it in favor of going it alone but even so Ruby followed after her, powering through Weiss's silence as they walked through the forest.

And still she remained silent as they past the same mossy rock for the fifth time in past few minutes.

It wasn't until they past the mossy rock a sixth time that Ruby voiced her opinion.

"We're lost." she said simply, watching as Weiss only continued to move forward, ignoring her. "Did you hear me, Weiss?" she asked, watching with hidden glee as Weiss's shoulders tensed at the sound of her voice. "I said; "We're absolutely, totally, undeniably, lost"." said Ruby as Weiss turned with sudden aggression towards the younger huntress.

"We're not lost, you dolt. I know exactly where we're going." said Weiss, denying the truth.

"Oh? And where, pray tell, is it that we're going?" asked Ruby, crossing her arms and refusing to move until Weiss gave her an honest answer.

"We're going to the forest temple!" said Weiss, looking smug as soon as the unbelievable words left her mouth, causing Ruby to release a sigh of annoyance.

"Why don't you admit that you have no idea where we're going?" she asked, continuing to poke the ever-growing anger of her partner.

"I already told you! We're going to the forest temple!" shouted Weiss, finally tipping Ruby over the edge of dealing with her ice-queen-of-a-partner as she released a frustrated sigh, aggravating Weiss. "Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are either!" she shouted.

"Well, at least I don't pretend like I know everything!" Ruby shouted back, her lids narrowing over her silver eyes while Weiss gained a look of confusion and anger.

"What is THAT supposed to mean?!" she shouted back, clenching her firsts.

"It means you're a big, stupid JERK and I hate you!" shouted Ruby, releasing all of her pent up frustrations. But despite her partner's insults, Weiss maintained a wall of indignation as she sighed in frustration, turning to face away from her partner as she began to move forward.

"Just keep moving!" Weiss commanded, despite hearing Ruby's groaning.

"Oh, keep moving! Hurry up! Waaaah! Watch where you're going!" Ruby mocked, speaking in a faux imitation of her partner's bossy tone. "Why are you so bossy?" she finally asked, placing the straw that broke the camel's back. Her words causing Weiss to twist around with a look of anger.

"I'm not bossy! Don't you dare say things like that!" Weiss commanded, going against her own words in a hypocritical fashion.

"Stop treating me like a kid!" shouted Ruby, taking another step towards her partner.

"Stop acting like a kid!" Weiss shouted back, taking a step forward.

"Well, stop acting like you're perfect!" Ruby shouted, glaring at her partner as he cyan eyes widened in disbelief before narrowing in anger.

"I'm. Not. Perf-"

But before Weiss could finish her sentence, a sudden force broke the space between them, sending them toppling to the ground as the force crashed into a nearby tree, breaking it's large trunk and causing the tree to fall to the grassy ground with a boom.

And as the dust settled around them and Ruby's eyes landed upon the limp form of Jaune Arc lying against the shambles of the broken tree, a feeling of fear entered her body as a dark shadow loomed over her and her partner. Her silver eyes landing upon a massive black form, too frightened to make a move even as the large Grimm raised it's massive fist into the air.

Suddenly, her form was overtaken by a blinding white light, stunning the massive Grimm as it attempted to shield it's eyes from the flash of light. Turning her head back, Ruby's eyes widened at the glowing form of Jaune with his weapon in hand but the moment she blinked, his form was gone and the massive Grimm that had appeared was nowhere to be seen.

Before Ruby could make any sort of sense over what she had just witnessed, the sound of groaning turned her attention to her partner. Her white hair was covered in dirt and twigs as she released several coughs before looking at Ruby.

"Ruby, what was that?" she asked as Ruby turned to look into the distance before looking back at her.

"I think that was...Jaune."

...Pyrrha & Nora...

If someone had once told Pyrrha that she'd be chasing after her partner riding on the back of an Ursa on her first day at Beacon Academy, she might've just laughed it off was a ridiculous imagination. But here she was, chasing after a creature of Grimm while her partner, a hyperactive, hammer-wielder named Nora, "steered" the massive Ursa further and further into the forest.

Shrubbery and bushes alike were crushed beneath the Ursa's paws as it charged through the dense forest, carrying Nora along with it. Nora rode with such vigor and carelessness that she actually laughed like a madwoman sitting atop her vicious steed.

Suddenly, Nora unleashed her massive warhammer, turning only to smile wildly at her partner, who shook her head in desperation.

But it is on that day that Pyrrha learned a valuable lesson about her partner.

You can't reason with a madwoman.

This was proven true as Nora brought down her warhammer's head down on the head of their Ursa, stunning it to the point of skidding across the grass before pressing the trigger mechanism on the weapon's handle, releasing an explosive force on the Ursa's head, killing it and launching both Nora into the air. While in midair the hyperactive madwoman shifted her form into a double somersault before landing clear on her feet with her arms outstretched. Stopping only briefly to pet the head of her valiant steed as it slowly began to disappear just as all creatures of Grimm were destined to do.

By the time Pyrrha had managed to catch up with her partner, she had already sheathed her weapon and began walking towards the entrance of a massive cave system. The outer walls of the cave's entrance was utterly littered with crude drawings depicting a large bestial creature with claws and a tail.

Literally everything about the cave's entrance practically screamed "DO NOT ENTER!"

So then could someone please explain as to why her very own partner was walking into the clearly dangerous cave without a care in the world?!

Releasing a heavy sigh of exhaustion, Pyrrha hastily made her way after her partner, making sure to light a torch along the way as to light their way through the darkness,

"Nora, I don't think the relics are in here..." she said in a desperate plea to her partner's otherwise deaf ears.

"Silly, Pyrrha. Everybody knows you always find treasure in dark depressing caves. It's just a matter of fact." said Nora, laughing along as she hummed a show tune while Pyrrha began questioning every decision she'd ever made.

Suddenly, her partner stopped dead in her tracks, causing Pyrrha to bump into her, dropping the torch into a puddle of water and surround them in eternal darkness.

"Wait. Do you feel that?" Nora asked.

"Is it soul-crushing regret?" asked Pyrrha as she began groaning over her choice in partners as the distant sound of a Grimm's roar caused the cave to shake, sending rocks crashing down around them, most of which were deflected thanks to Pyrrha's shield.

But worry not for whom the Grimm's roars toll...

Within the darkness of the cave system several bright red markings glowed within, revealing the monstrous form of a creature of Grimm, one that stalks the forms of those close to death, and puts fear into the hearts of those that face it in combat.

A Deathstalker.

But despite the looming shadow of all things evil standing just in front of the two trained Huntresses, it seemed that none of this had apparently affected Pyrrha's partner as the hyperactive madwoman had begun to slowly face in her direction, cupping her left hand over the side of her mouth before speaking in a whisper.

"Psst! Pyrrha! I don't think the relics are in here!" she whispered-but-not-really as Pyrrha released a sigh of exhaustion.

Pyrrha was starting to think she would be having a red handprint on her forehead before the end of the day.

All due to the antics of her lovable but certifiably insane partner, Nora Valkyrie.