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To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 5

"If you want my advice, then you better not trust The King. History is going to remember him fondly, but that's what scares me about him."

-Sir Harry 'The Flash' Arc's private conversation with Watcher Reeves.

I sat on a rock, waiting to reunite with the others as I contemplated on how I got there. The Great Powerful Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch were able to find me first and congratulate me on my recent success. "Mister Arc, knowing your family, I expected great things from you but this is quite a surprise," Ozpin said. "I could only name a few times when initiates have truly managed to impress me."

I was tempted to ask him why in the name of the Light Brother's holy babysitter was a Nevermore and a Deathstalker doing there but I'll have to ask that for another time. For now, I'll just have to humor him with what he presumably believes. "I just did what everyone would have done, Headmaster," I said, which wasn't exactly a lie, of course, your survival instincts would act up if a giant bird grabbed you and tried to make you its next dinner. [1] "But I couldn't have done it without the others. They deserve some recognition for the role they played."

Ozpin gave an approving smile. "I appreciate the modesty, it is good that you acknowledge the efforts of your fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses but do not forget that your skill and leadership made your success possible. I must admit, the Nevermore and the Deathstalker were not meant to be on the premises…"

Not surprising but I digress. Fighting those things was stressful enough and I wasn't in a mood of debating over it at the moment. He might probably even send me to fight another large Grimm as punishment.

"…but you have proven that you are indeed capable enough to be Huntsmen. I've been wanting to get rid of that Deathstalker for a long time and I am grateful that you managed to get rid of it."

That wasn't me though, all I ever did was wake the damn thing up and led it to everyone, almost getting us all killed because I was stupid enough to think that its glowing stinger is a relic. It was Ruby and her team that got rid of it so all the praises should go to them. The Nevermore, on the other hand, was dead mostly because I killed it out of self-preservation and most of the damage was caused by my team. I wouldn't have done much otherwise.

He took a sip before he continued. "You have a bright future ahead of you, Mister Arc. Please, keep doing what you do." I hope this 'bright future' doesn't involve dealing with worse Grimm, this initiation alone was too much to have almost made me wet my pants. At least I now know what to expect and prepare for it.

The rest of the gang made it out and approached us. "Ah, you all finally made it," Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch turned to the group. As I anxiously expected, they all looked proud of me and I could only smile back.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha ran toward me. "I was so worried about you! Are you alright?"

Well aside from that I had to cope with the fact that I was almost bird food and was still recovering from minor air sickness, I was mostly unscathed thankfully. "I'm fine, Pyrrha. Don't worry, it's all over, we won the day." I said, pulling out the 'relic' and giving it a toss.

Nora gave me a quick yet tight hug before stepping off. "You were so great! You flew on a Nevermore and killed it while landing with style! First, the bandit lord El Segador and now a Nevermore! Is there anything you cannot do?!"

I wished she didn't have to bring up the former, especially that loud as I didn't want anyone else learning about it yet. Unfortunately, they must have all heard it as I saw Yang grin. "Wait, that was you?

"Of course, he is! Didn't you know, he was the slayer of the infamous reaper of Vacuo; the Defender of Podunk himself! Jaune Arc!" Nora answered. The sisters were astounded while Weiss raised a curious eyebrow. Blake meanwhile, didn't react much over it, having the same nonchalant poker face as usual.

Terrific, now more people know of my fraudulent reputation I got from that embarrassing day, I was already happy with people being oblivious to who I was. Nora is definitely going to sign my death warrant one of these days, and she was going to be my teammate. If there was any consolation, they would have heard about it one way or the other so on the bright side, I don't have to worry about them thinking that I was hiding secrets from them now that everyone is aware of it.

"You were that guy?! Oh, oh, please I got to have your autograph!" Ruby squealed. And there it was, another cheery girl on the fan club which means more people to disappoint once the truth comes out, which is a shame because I was growing fond of Ruby as a person, and maybe as a friend.

Miss Goodwitch spoke up. "Students." Everyone turned to her to pay attention. "Now that you're all here, I want all of you to report to the auditorium by noon for the announcement of teams. In the meantime, take some rest; you've all earned it."

That was something I have been aching to hear since I landed in the forest. We nodded before she walked away while Ozpin gave me a wink before following her out.

"Can you believe it, Yang?! I got to fight with an actual hero!" Ruby said.

"Easy there sis, I think you made him a little uneasy," Yang grinned at me. All the praising over my supposed heroism made me uneasy alright now that I've raised their expectations of me.

Pyrrha patted my shoulder. "You did well. Don't worry, I know the pressures of having such fame."

As someone who had been the champion of Mistral's regional tournament four times in a row, I guess she dealt with worse, and I welcome her sympathies. It's good to know that I wasn't alone when it comes to being on a pedestal "Thanks, Pyrrha."

We took an hour to unwind, taking showers and wiping off the sweat, and just doing whatever we could do in our own leisure before gathering at the cafeteria for lunch to celebrate our success. We all sat together eating. I ordered one of those dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets myself. You can say that I haven't outgrown them but I enjoy them so much I just couldn't help it.

Ruby eventually stood up, gathering everyone's attention at the table. "Alright now that everyone is here, let us properly introduce ourselves to each other, let's start with me. Hello, my name is Ruby Rose!"

Her sister followed suit, pointing her thumb to herself before sitting "I'm Yang! Ruby's sister and I pack a punch in more ways than one!"

"Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." Weiss bowed, finally smiling for once.

"Blake, Blake Belladonna. It's… nice to meet you." Blake introduced herself before immediately returning to her seat. A mysterious one, I thought. Even then, I know nothing about her apart from her weapon, her distinct bow, and her mesmerizing behind. She's probably just shy, I can tell just by looking at her face that she isn't exactly an extrovert.

"Pyrrha Nikos, but I guess you all already know that," Pyrrha said, before nodding her head toward me.

I took my turn to stand up and introduced myself. "Arc, Jaune Arc. A pleasure to meet you all."

Nora hopped from her chair introducing herself with as much energy as ever, as if that battle with the Nevermore barely wore her out, "And I'm Nora Valkyrie! This is my best friend and partner, Lie Ren!"

"Hello everyone. I hope you don't mind my partner here," he frankly spoke, looking a little embarrassed but doesn't seem to be particularly annoyed by Nora's antics.

"It's fine," I reassured with an understanding smile. "I live with seven sisters, I think I can handle her." I'd even say that she's more bearable than all of them combined so far but that's probably because I've just met her.

Now that everyone's here, it's time for me to learn about their abilities, it's important to know your allies as much as you need to know your enemies and their semblance is the best way to familiarize yourself with them and what they are capable of. I started with Pyrrha, still remembering how she saved my life with her semblance back in the ruins. "Hey Pyrrha, you said your semblance can control magnetism, would you care to share?"

"That seems fine," she nodded. "Okay everyone, if it's alright with you, let's discuss semblances. Mine is polarity." She demonstrated it by making her spoon float.

"Does that mean you can control poles?!" Ruby asked with a wide grin on her face, missing the point.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss angrily corrected.

"I can also use it to retrieve my shield and javelin after throwing it. It took a lot of practice and patience to properly control it, though," she said, slowly putting the spoon back down. Looks useful so far, I could make her use it to disarm any opponent's weapons, thereby cutting a battle short in our favor.

"That's cool!" Ruby said, "My semblance is speed! I can move from one place to another with a blink of an eye!" She chooses not to demonstrate it though, presumably because it might cause an accident in the cafeteria while everyone was trying to mind their own business and enjoying their food. Or maybe she did and we were just too slow to notice? [2]

"My semblance is glyphs," Weiss casted a rotating symbol resembling a snowflake on her palm. [3] Just like Pyrrha, she used it to manipulate a spoon, the difference was that she made it spin while a small glowing snowflake symbol rotated below it. "They can be used as solid platforms and can control motion." Sounds flexible, and might come in handy in multiple ways should the situation call for it.

"Neat. My semblance makes me hit harder the more I get damaged." Yang stated. That's going to make her a tough target to bring down then. Wouldn't want to be on her bad side then.

"That's cool! Mine makes me stronger when I get hit with electricity!" Nora said. Well, I now know who to send when dealing with anyone who has anything related to electricity as an opponent. Even if they don't, one has to wonder if she doesn't mind being electrified by her teammates to amp her out. We'll see.

"I don't recommend trying it out right now though," Ren warned, seeing how she just killed an Ursa and smacked a Nevermore on its face without even using her semblance, I agree that it was a good idea not to. "Anyway, my semblance masks negative emotions. It may not look like much but it makes you invulnerable from Grimm."

Now that's something I can get behind. Looks like Ren is going to play a crucial role in keeping his leader out of harm's way from the Grimm. I was liking this team so far, and I was beginning to think that year might actually go smoother than I feared.

"I can make shadow clones of myself. Keeps me from getting seen." Blake said. For someone who looks mysterious and possesses a fighting style that relies on cunning and agility, I think that suits her quite well.

"What about you, Jaune? What can you tell us about your semblance?" Ruby then asked. Crap, I was worried I had to answer ever since I brought this up. This was unfortunate because Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha, and Nora seemed eager to hear about it.

"Oh yeah… it's kinda funny actually." I hesitantly said. Here goes nothing, literally. "I… don't have any… Really, I never unlocked my semblance."

Yeah, that's right, The Defender of Podunk himself who was apparently good enough for Beacon—has no semblance. They say that your semblance defines who you are as a Huntsman and I am literally nothing. I don't even know what my semblances are supposed to be if I am to have one. Dad's semblance has his palms sense imminent threats, Mom is almost fireproof, Bleu can analyze for strengths and weaknesses of a person or creature, Rose can shoot multiple targets with deadly accuracy and Rouge is immune to loud noises that are otherwise capable of making an average person's ears bleed. I wouldn't be surprised if mine turns out to be comically useless. There is nobody to blame for this other than myself, if I did have a desire to become a Huntsman I would have unlocked my semblance years ago.

They all confusedly fixed their eyes at me for a few seconds before Nora spoke. "That's… actually amazing! So what you're telling me you can do amazing things without having a semblance?! Awesome!"

Sigh, there she goes again. I guess at this point anything disappointing about me is another excuse for her to idolize me. There was no helping her at all. On the bright side, it kept my image intact. I'm still just as good as they heard them and the lack of semblance didn't change that at all.

"We'll have to fix that," Ren said. "A person's semblance is important. While your skills are superb, it will put you to your fullest potential."

"I agree. I'm looking forward to discovering it," Pyrrha added encouragingly.

I don't know what exactly to think of that though. Not having a semblance barely bothered me at all and having one requires more practice and a bit of adjustment, but at the same time, it could provide very useful advantages in a situation where I would need it. For now, I'll enjoy being a relatively mundane fighter for a bit more. I'm content with it anyway. "Thanks, guys… I really appreciate it." I said before going back to eating my meal.

Much later, we went to the auditorium to attend the post-initiation. We placed our respective chess pieces on their platforms on the stage. Looking at the pieces made me hope I'm wrong about the thought of us being in an elaborate chess game with Ozpin and his students being the players and pieces respectively.

We stood back with the other teams as the Great & Powerful Ozpin began his speech. "Remnant is a dangerous place…" An understatement if I ever heard one. "Which is why people call for Huntsmen like us, but even Huntsmen are just as vulnerable to the beasts they dedicated their lives to fighting against. However, with the combined strengths of multiple Huntsmen, it creates a formidable force that can potentially take on the worst of the Grimm has to offer. But to ensure victory, a team must possess trust, fellowship, and coordination. It is now the time you start exercising bonds with one another as now we shall begin the declaration of this year's freshmen teams."

He proceeded to announce the teams of the initiates, giving them team names that are formed from the first letter of each member's name. (which is either their given name or surname, whatever that would make a good acronym to them at least.)

The person who makes up the first letter assumes the role of the team leader; in one funny case: "Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby) Led by…Ruby Rose!"

While it does sound like a bad joke, that was actually the team name given to them and Ruby was indeed the one leading, except that Weiss's initials were taking the place of the 'u' in 'ruby'. It's almost too much of a coincidence that she gets to lead a team that is almost named after her as if Ozpin just made her the leader for that team name alone. [4]

It was our turn then. The four of us stepped onto the stage and stood before Ozpin as he officially announced my team. "And finally, Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)." As soon as I heard our team name, I knew what I was in for. "Led by… Jaune Arc."

As much as I saw that coming, I couldn't help but feel perturbed especially now that I now have more responsibilities to worry about while looking after my own life.

A round of applause came as Pyrrha gave me a friendly shoulder bump as I tried to repress my agitation with a forced smile. Nora hugged Ren before moving to give one big group hug to the newly formed team.

"Congratulations, young man."

Yeah, thanks a lot.

"We're going to be the best team ever!" Nora said before she stopped hugging. I chuckled anxiously, having no other choice than to suck it all up and learn how to use this to my advantage. Maybe if it keeps me off the front lines it wouldn't be that bad.

"Looks like things are shaping to be an… interesting year. Enjoy your stay at Beacon, I wish you all the best." Ozpin said his closing words before leaving the stage.

Miss Goodwitch took the mic. "Now that the teams are officially formed, you may now vacate to your dormitories. You will be using your own scrolls to assign yourself to a dorm. If you do not own a scroll, we will provide one for you. [5] Lessons will begin tomorrow morning. Be sure to check your timetable and don't be late. You are dismissed."

With that, the assembly was concluded and every team left for the dormitories. I led my team out of the building as the first thing I did as an official leader.

=o=

1. Jaune was obviously making a metaphorical statement here, the Grimm don't eat nor do they need to. They simply attack sentient beings as part of their monstrous nature. The closest they get to hunger is their attraction to souls.

2. She didn't. Otherwise, she would have left a trail of rose petals in her position.

3. That was the Schnee Family Crest, the one we've been using since Nicholas Arc I who was the first among our family to possess the 'The Glyphs of the Northern Snow', and the design of the crest was based on it.

4. While it's not uncommon for team names to be pronounced after their leaders, Coral Grimes and Ash Davis of Team CARL and Team ASHE respectively for example. Headmaster Ozpin tended to take every opportunity to assign leadership to a student that would give their team a befitting name, regardless of their leadership skill and he refuses to break the tradition of having all teams named after colors. One infamous example is Cyan Duff of Team CYAN, who lacked leadership skills of any kind, causing his team to be one of the most chaotic teams on Beacon.

5. They're not exactly free. They did not mention that receiving a scroll from the academy is charged as part of a miscellaneous fee.

We arrived at the residence hall where we discovered that our dorm was assigned next door to Team RWBY. The room consisted of a space large enough for four beds, some desks, a single window, and a bathroom, and we were free to modify it to our liking. But we mostly kept it the way it is aside from adding a few decorations to suit our respective tastes.

After all the stuff I'd been through for the past few hours, I was finally able to have a day for myself, removing my armor so I could breathe easy as I lay down on the nearest bed.

"Yipee! We're gonna be roomies with The Defender of Podunk and the Goddess of Victory!" Nora said, taking off her boots and then jumping down her bed.

"Nora, please… you might break the bed." Ren sighed, sitting down on his bed before yawning and passing out of exhaustion.

It was evident that I'll be sharing a room with two girls for four years. I would have found this to be weird and uncomfortable if it weren't for the fact that I live with seven sisters and had to share a room with them several times so having to stay in a co-ed dominator wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for me. Being a rich brat who lived in a large house myself, the only thing I didn't like about this was there was only one bathroom. Of course, I could always use the public toilets and showers outside our dorm any time if the bathroom was occupied but I prefer not to travel an entire hallway just so I could use them so this was a little inconvenient for me.

After enjoying the dorm for a bit and unpacking my luggage, I decided to take a walk outside alone to clear my mind while Pyrrha took a shower and Nora watched over Ren while doing whatever she could to pass time.

On my way out of the residence hall, two boys were walking out of their dorms when they spotted me in my Pumpkin Pete hoodie. One of them looks and acts like an orange-haired stereotypical jock straight out of a bad clichéd high-school movie while the other looks like one of Rouge's ex-boyfriends except his tea-green mohawk look awfully ridiculous even by the standards of try-hard punk rockers who would eventually sell out to corporations they claim to hate. If I remember correctly, they're Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush from Team CRDL (Cardinal).

"Nice jacket, butthead," the brownish orange-haired one—Cardin, said while he and his goon laughed as they went the other way. "Man, what a loser."

Well, if there was any consolation over this rude acquaintance, they didn't kiss my boots for my exaggerated achievements, I was getting sick of those. This also reminded me that I need to buy some new clothes. As much as I like my Pumpkin Pete Hoodie, I was liable to get myself shot while wearing this, undeserved reputation or not.

I took time to familiarize myself with Beacon's layout when strolling around the academy so I won't get lost again like the previous. After a while, I finally stopped at the courtyard and sat at one of the benches, downloading the official Beacon Academy app on my scroll so I'll be able to access some important information available to students such as news, schedules, guides, maps, and anything that might potentially be useful.

I decided to contact Bleu once more and update her about the whole situation. It was still fairly noon and Mantle was around the same time zone as Vale, so she should be taking a lunch break from her classes.

"Well, look who's still breathing. Not that it surprises me or anyone for that matter," Bleu deadpanned after she appeared on my screen. "So, how did it go?"

"It was a freaking disaster; I was lucky to pass the whole thing and live," I said with blunt honesty. The whole thing could have been smoother and easier, had Ozpin been more considerate with the Grimm there. If I didn't have any half-decent teammates, it could have gone very differently.

"Oh Jaune, I'm sure it wasn't that bad..."

"Was a Nevermore and a Deathstalker supposed to be there?" I asked with an annoyed expression.

And that was when she lost her grin, which was enough to confirm whatever experience I had back in that forest was not normal. "Wait, what? You're kidding, aren't you?" My reply was to simply glare straight at her and that was enough to convey my grim sincerity. "Oh. That's strange, they shouldn't be sending Grimm that are too arduous for fresh initiates, I know Beacon can be demanding when accepting students but not like this."

Come to think of it, Ozpin did say earlier that they were not supposed to be in there, but apparently, he did nothing about it probably because they made the initiation less boring for him to watch. Either way, I see this as a very cheap way of making the initiation challenging just to see if they are worthy here. Some headmaster he was.

"Or is security still terrible after all these years?" She wondered.

I raised my brow at that. "Were they really that bad?"

"Oh, nothing," she quickly brushed it off before changing the subject to something else that was relevant. "Anyway, you did manage to get rid of them, did you?"

Being a little hesitant, I took a deep breath before answering. "Yes. I killed the Nevermore. No, my other friends were the ones that got rid of the Deathstalker."

"You did? That's great! I guess you really can handle more serious Grimm after all! I knew you had the strength of a Huntsman in you," she happily remarked.

"Well actually, my team absorbed most of its damage and I had to go for the killing blow because it grabbed me." I pointed out, still annoyed by having that experience fresh in my mind. It was worst than fighting an Ursa Major with a rusty iron sword.

"And that's your excuse? If you managed to defeat a Nevermore, then you have already proven yourself to be capable. Stop trying to deny it. You could have been a decent help in my missions with Rose and Father but instead, you keep persisting on trivial missions that only involved a few Beowolves."

I rolled my eyes at this, Bleu was at the point of helping Ozpin dig my grave. And I only bothered with easy missions because I was still an amateur unsure of my fighting skill, I expected someone as intelligent as her to be aware of this.

"What about your team? What can you tell me about them?" She then asked.

"Apparently I was good enough to become the leader of my team. Team JNPR. Yay," I deadpanned, preparing for her to cheer for me again, which she did as I expected.

"Really? That's wonderful! Mother and Father would be so proud when they hear about this!"

"Bleu please, I'm still trying to get used to this," I said, rather agitated as I was still trying to stomach all the responsibilities that were just recently given to me while I am too used to being that youngest and laziest Arc family member in the house that I have a penchant of tricking everyone into doing tasks I don't want to do myself and my only regret was I didn't convince someone else to do errand word to Podunk, therefore avoiding all of this.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine, you did manage to beat me in chess remember?"

Only once and I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I just randomly moved pieces until I somehow won. I didn't know how I did it, especially since Bleu was once in the Top 5 of her High School's chess tournament but I was able to beat her without even knowing it, and I'm hardly an avid chess player myself. "Yeah…"

"So, who are the unfortunate ones who have fallen to the tyranny of my dear baby brother?" Her grin returned, playfully asking about my teammates.

My first thought was of a certain someone, "Are you familiar with the girl on the cereal box I always ate?" I asked.

"You're not talking about Pyrrha Nikos, are you?" She asked. "You never bothered with the Regional Tournaments."

"I don't, but now I'm paired with her as my partner. She's surprisingly friendly for someone of her skill and reputation." I stated, feeling my cheeks burn when thinking about her.

Bleu grinned when she noticed me flush. "Ohh, sounds like someone's very lucky."

I felt my cheeks become warmer, slightly irritated by her teasing. "Please don't. I've only met her yesterday and there's nothing happening between us."

She laughed. "Calm down Jaune, it was only a joke. Though you two sound perfect for each other. I hope you go well together, unlike your 'ex-girlfriends', if you could even call them that."

I groaned upon hearing the last part. She had to bring that up, didn't she? Bleu still has the smart mouth of an Arc while legitimately being the smart one among the siblings.

"Okay, I think I had enough. What about your other two teammates?" she asked, returning to the subject at hand.

"Well, there's this one girl, Nora, she's a very big fan of mine because of what I did the other day and she's so hyperactive that I think her best friend looked tired all the time, who is Ren, another teammate of mine. Don't worry they're all competent in combat from what I've seen so far," I answered.

"Wow, sounds like the Headmaster got himself a powerhouse. You, Miss Mistral, and two other people. Under the right circumstances, your team should be unbeatable," she remarked.

While I'm grateful for having powerful teammates, I'm worried that people, particularly Ozpin, would try to take advantage of this; my undeserved reputation doesn't help at all. Powerhouse or not, we were still freshmen. If he knew what's good for us, then he'd let us sharpen ourselves first and not continue gambling for our lives just because we were lucky enough to kill a Nevermore that was never supposed to be there at all.

Bleu continued. "Whatever you're doing, I wish you the best. Remember not to neglect your studies. As cliché as this proverb may sound, knowledge is the key to success."

I couldn't help but chuckle since I remembered hearing Ozpin saying that knowledge could only carry me so far, basically contradicting that notion. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I can only hope. Keep in touch. Oh, by the way, Viola has been asking if you know where your childhood scrapbook is. I'm starting to think yo—" With that, I ended the call. I'm not going to even acknowledge that, the call already ended for me.

I continued to get comfortable while trying to be a little more optimistic about my ongoing predicament. I won't be experiencing any bowel-loosening terrors for a while since the following days would consist of more typical, boring school stuff with combat training being the only thing that involves fighting; it'll be a nice change of pace. I'll have to enjoy it while it lasts.

Oh Beacon, what else do you have to offer?

Editorial Note:

Before we conclude this chapter, I would like to add an extract from Headmaster Ozpin recorded sometime after the initiation. These extracts provide additional background information which Jaune either missed or ignored due to obliviousness or simply because it didn't concern him that much.

This excerpt details Headmaster Ozpin's thoughts on the freshmen's first two days at Beacon; it may also intrigue anyone interested in his inner workings and motives during his feud with Salem.

Because of the contents of these documents, such as the supernatural elements and the revelation that the Grimm Wars were being fought in the shadows before becoming a full-scale conflict, these documents were not declassified until his secrets were eventually exposed publicly. Normally, people won't believe in such things but after Salem and the rise of several cults with access to eldritch powers, it's safe to assume that they'll believe almost anything nowadays.

The Ozpin Logs: Knights and Rooks, Arcs and Roses

For ages I have been transferring myself from one body to another; I assumed many different identities, from an unassuming beggar to a monarch of one of the four kingdoms. I have rallied armies, ended wars, built several academies dedicated to fighting Grimm, and trained generations of Huntsmen hoping to finally turn the tides of this miserable conflict The Brother Gods sent me to.

But alas, it was never enough.

Sometimes I cannot help myself but wonder if Qrow was right with his notion that this entire war is hopeless and that Remnant is doomed and that I can only delay the inevitable at best. But I have forbidden myself to concede after everything I endured. I have an obligation to the Brothers that their creation shall not succumb to the hands of Chaos, no matter how slim the odds that may favour me. Nothing is truly hopeless, after all.

It is another school year at Beacon and comes yet another batch of young Huntsmen-in-training. In all honesty, I was having trouble attempting to display enthusiasm over the new freshmen as I have seen too many good students and Huntsmen die because of me. I am afraid that these children may likely follow the same fate. However, two remarkable students have caught my attention.

The first one is named Ruby Rose. The daughter of two of my former students, Taiyang Xiao Long and Summer Rose rest her soul. She greatly resembles her mother, even inheriting her silver eyes. [1] A sight that was always welcome for me.

We found her when we were almost close to tracking down who we believed was one of Salem's pawns; I witnessed her skilfully defeat a group of criminals with the use of a scythe, one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed, thanks to being mentored by Qrow himself. The problem was that she was a couple of years too young to attend Beacon. Nevertheless, because of her prowess and enthusiasm, I deliberately chose to make an exception for her. She was very excited to have finally had the privilege to study in this academy and I do hope that she could make herself useful in the events yet to come. It was gratifying to know that silver-eyed warriors still exist as I could use another one in a time such as this.

The other one is… a little more complex to say the least. This one is named Jaune Arc, the only son of one of my favourite—if stubborn—pupils, Caiaphas Arc. Prior to Jaune's attendance, Caiaphas has sent three out of his seven daughters to study at Beacon; Bleu Arc was a valedictorian and became a teacher at Mantle's Huntsman Academy; Rose Arc was skilful in different types of firearms; And Rouge, despite her abysmal disciplinary records she has the aptitude become a competent Huntress but sadly her Huntsman licence was stripped from her after an incident, which I cannot say I blame her though, she made it clear that she was more of a free spirit. Jaune, on the other hand, is a very strange one.

He has shown incredible skill in slaying several Beowolves and managed to manoeuvre a Nevermore before slaying it. Prior to that, he even managed to intercept a major bandit lord and killed an Ursa Major with only a basic sword and shield, yet despite all of this he attempted to downplay all of these when discussed, which makes him not too different from his ancestors since Sir Harry Arc, the Valish soldier that fought for me in my previous incarnation as King Phadrig VII during the Great War that he received the epithet of 'The Flash'.

The Arcs had always been self-seeking and somewhat pusillanimous, but they were still able to achieve great accomplishments because of it that I am convinced that there is more to them than selfish motivations. There was a good reason why I continued to seek out his family and employed his descendants, starting with his sons, Rhysmond and Noah, followed by the former's son, Edwin 'Beanadder' Arc, rest his soul, and finally Caiaphas Arc. These Arcs all suffered the same complications, but they were still as accomplished nonetheless. Caiaphas even led his own team here in Beacon before becoming an effective Commissar in his own right, only retiring to spend more time with his son. So I highly doubt that Jaune is any less different from his forefathers and I am sure he has the same potential as them, maybe even greater.

The only thing I do not like about the Arcs is their lack of honour as Huntsmen, they tend to waste most of their power and potential on taking the easiest way out of whatever situation they put themselves in. I understand that they are trying to be wise and pragmatic, but Huntsmen are meant to be shining examples of guardians of humanity, and as much as I strongly respect the family, especially those who have served me, it concerns me that people are being inspired by them when they barely follow these important ideals. I could only hope that Jaune would not do the same, but alas, he seems to have shared his father's stubbornness so averting this from repeating is sadly unlikely. The only thing I could do now is to make sure he stays useful and unproblematic as far as someone like him could go.

I should remember that as of this recording, it is only Jaune's second day here, his will and courage should develop eventually. He'll soon learn that his gifted talents are not wasted because he prefers to be idle during these dark times; all he needs is a little guidance. In the meantime, I shall continue to watch his scholarship here with great interest.

I have made both these children leaders of their respective teams. While Arc's apprehensions and Rose's inexperience are going to be an obstacle, I chose these two remarkable individuals for a good reason. Apart to serve my amusement so that I may cope with my losing war with Salem, I am very certain of their potential. They shall one day grow to be great heroes, ones that shall get me close to the victory I have been longing for an eternity.

I have my pieces in place. It's time to turn the tables at last

=o=

1. It is said that those born with silver eyes are destined to become great warriors. Grimm were believed to fear these warriors because of their supposed ability to strike them down with a single look.