Hey everyone! Here's the first part of the rewrite and I think my approach to this story will change, there will be moments where there is high octane action like I enjoy writing, but I also want to build a world that fits somewhat comfortably within the framework of RWBY. This chapter is a bit fast paced, and it will span the first few days after Jaune leaves Beacon, but it will also show the third week of his travels and the beginning of the events that will fast track his character where I want it to be.

The other chapters will be taken down, but my essential plot points will remain. I do apologoze if that seems harsh but I would rather work to address the flaws in my work and slow the plot so that I can more fully express my story without sacrificing enjpyment on the readers part.

The general plot of the story is a tale as old as time. In a world that pushes you to sacrifice your individual humanity, is it possible to return to being a humane individual after the fact? I intend on using Jaune as a sort of Locus to this philosophical reasoning and I also intend to use Winter as a way of addressing that. Also watch out for Cinder, I do have some plans for her. Please feel free to comment and review, but also remember to please be civil and constructive. Thank you all for your patronage, and I hope you find my writing entertaining. 'Till next time, please stay safe and stay well. -PlzNoStabby.

Jaune POV

I breathed out deeply as I sat on the roof of the dorms, the sun had set an hour ago and the world seemed to be still, I had thought about the past few days. Cardin had learned about my transcripts, Pyrrha had offered to train me and for a while, I sank into a depression, but then the Forever Fall trip happened, and I saved Cardin. Things were looking up.

For a few days at least...

The day I saved Cardin, he didn't take it too kindly, he thought I was trying to undermine him, so he told Goodwitch, and most importantly, he told his father, Daniel Winchester, a member of the Vale council. I didn't stand a chance.

That day Ozpin had told me that he was sorry and that he wished for anything but this, but finally, he said it.

"I need you to pack your things and leave Mr. Arc, today. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid this is out of my hands." He spoke in a low and gentle tone and a single tear fell down the left side of my face. He placed a hand on my shoulder and walked to his desk and sat down as I left. I turned one last time to face him, a downcast shadow had settled on his features. His eyes were now akin to stone, his thoughts clear. He didn't want to send me away, he truly sought to keep me here.

The shame I felt was overwhelming as I walked back to my room, the seconds seemed to stretch into hours as I walked and when I finally came to the door, the weight of the knob felt like a hundred pounds. I silently walked in and grabbed a duffle bag and filled it with my clothes, save for my hoodie, armor, and Crocea Mors. I couldn't take them. I wanted to give the hoodie to Pyrrha since she liked it so much, but the rest I simply didn't deserve, it deserved better than me.

Better than Jaune The Fraud.

I couldn't face them, I was scared of the end result, I was scared of the chance that they may hate me for the reality of my pathetic nature. Cowardice was the oldest friend that I had, it had always been there, through everything, my nature was always present, I could never see the things in front of my face. Why? Because I knew that I had something good, something unearned. And I knew I would destroy it.

'I'm sorry guys, maybe one day I'll be able to explain, but I can't, not now.' My thoughts clogged my mind, all I could think of was the reaction of my team, and how they would find out about my deceit.

I stepped out of the room, packed all my valuables, and handed the scroll to Ms. Goodwitch. My footsteps lightly thudded through the hall and it seemed like Ms. Goodwitch wanted to say something, but she held it back as if she knew it wouldn't help. I tried to keep my head up, but I couldn't. Every time my eyes pointed forward; it was almost as if I could see the image of my friends walking away.

'Away from me.' I thought and looked down again.

Eventually, I left the school and began walking through Vale, I looked at the bullhead dock and saw the name of the destination, 'Ansel'. I looked down and sobbed gently, my feet unwilling to carry me to the bullhead that would take off soon. My heart ached, racking cries filled the lobby of the dock, and I collapsed to my knees. This was all too much, my dream was dead, how could I ever face my family? How could I ever be a hero and protect people if I couldn't be a Beacon student?

I sobbed for so long that the sun that was once high in the sky was hanging just over the western horizon as I looked at it through the window of the lobby. I could feel the light warming my skin and I could hear the world around me come back into focus. I remembered a few very vivid memories in that moment, when my grandfather had shown me how to deal with a wound. When my father comforted me when my childhood pet dog died.

These images found themselves in my head for a single vested reason. Because they were all moments when I was in pain, when life was a point of suffering for me, and every time the ending was the same. I would stand back up. And then I would take one step, then another, then another.

In my mind I knew what I was doing, but I had to trust my instincts, because when it came to suffering, they always knew how to keep moving, even when I didn't. Gloved hands gripped the rail of the lobby, bile threatened to force its way up my throat, then I heard it, only faintly.

"Is that all that you got!?" The voice called out, and I spun to see a mirage like image of my father, his training sword had hit me and I was crying as a child.

"No, I'm not done, yet." I said faintly, barely a whisper. The words rolled off my tongue and I let go of the rail and headed into the city. The bustling of the streets and the sound of the world that I sought to defend filling my ears.

'Dad, I can't go home, not yet. I have to become better, because I don't want to leave my friends, I want to stand there with them as they work as heroes.' I thought, my mind focused on a singular goal, the Vale City Gate. The primary way in or out of the city.

'Am I really going to do this?' I asked myself within my mind, and the answer came as a much darker one than I thought I would get.

"What does it matter? Either I get strong or die, either way, the problem is resolved." I thought and then recognized that I had spoken out loud.

I exited the city of Vale; shadows being cast on the very edge of the Forever Fall Forest. I could see far in the distance where the road faded from vision. Boots clicked against the cobbled roads, then as if the world was weeping at the state of me, rain began sprinkling down on me.

"One day I will return, either when I am ready, or when something calls me to return." I said, my words carrying a weight that I had ascribed to them. Like they were etched in stone, they were my bond. I knew the truth of them.

Two Weeks Later...

Pyrrha's eyes were downcast, staring at the polished tiles of the floor, her thoughts wandering to the rumors that had begun for why Jaune had left.

'Why he had abandoned me.' She thought harshly, and then shook away the thoughts. She would focus on the positives that she remembered of Jaune. Focus on his goofy smile, his jokes that could light up the room, and his beautiful cerulean eyes.

The team had been having a rough time as of late, their leader had left, and Pyrrha for all of her talents, lacked the leadership that Jaune had. Her strategy was good, but she failed the basics of leadership as she assumed the strength of the team to be on par with her.

Nora was taking it the hardest, she felt that all of this was because of how annoying she claimed she was, and all the team could do was tell her that she wasn't an annoyance. Despite all of their desperate pleading with Goodwitch, she never told why Jaune had left, but the rumor Cardin was spreading seemed to hold a lot of merit, as he was bragging that his father was the man who stopped the 'Beacon Fraud'.

Deep inside of them and their sister team, RWBY, the teens had begun to heal, but a lingering resentment had taken hold, one that still burned the emotions of those Jaune was closest to. It burned the hearts of Ruby and Pyrrha.

Despite all of their worries and woes, the teens held hope, that one day they would meet the former leader. That they would be reunited...

Three Weeks After Jaune's Departure...

I had marched through almost ten miles of snowy tundra, the winter Valean Wilds were a fearsome place, echoes of the last seventy-two hours had been rattling around my brain. The small, bloodstained hand axe that I gripped was once a metallic and walnut color. The majority of the axe was dyed black and red from the aged and dried blood.

"Fuck, just a couple more miles. I gotta keep moving, c'mon." I said to myself as I kept marching over the crested hill that I had come to, the ever-present snow making the climb that much harder.

Then as I reached the top of the hill, I saw the village and I heard Them...

Echoes of roars ripped through the noise of the wailing, freezing winds. The sounds were distinctly human sounding and haunting. My feet sped up the soles of my shoes slamming against the ground, the sounds of the crunching snow ringing out as I raced down the hill. Then I heard it burst from the tree line that I had come from.

"Fuck, pick up the pace!" I said to myself as I broke into a sprint as soon as I hit the flat ground. My breathe came out as mist as I raced across the field, unknowingly I had pushed my aura to my legs as I sprinted.

"Hey! Close the gates! Shut the fucking gates!" I said as I rushed through the gates, then slid on the hard mud. Guardsmen blew whistles as the beast chasing me slammed into the wall of the town. I drew my axe and spun to see a guard running to me.

"What the hell happened!?" He yelled and I coughed as I tried to get my breath back.

"That monster was chasing me, it's a wendigo." I said and the guard looked at me, then he spun and spoke to another man, and I found myself being pulled to the infirmary.

"Get him looked at, those things are a myth." The man said and I growled in frustration, I stared at the man and spoke harshly.

"Myths don't slaughter towns, they don't fucking chase people either." I said and in that singular moment, deep red jagged claws tore through the wall of the town.

"READY MEN!" The head guard said as he drew his sword and soldiers drew their guns and weapons. I readied my axe and grabbed the top of a cask barrel nearby as I held it like a shield.

The beast forced itself through the opening it made, and its bloody mandible drew up into a smile as it stood to its full eight-foot height. Ashen colored skin covered its body and leaves hung from horns on its head that covered the top half of its face, beneath the lower half was a protruding mandible that looked to be formed of both flesh and bone, a horrific smile adorned its face. Thin limbs were connected to its emaciated body, despite their appearance I could attest that they were quite sturdy.

Then it lunged and I saw as two of the guards were bisected in a single swipe. I stepped forward as it swung and broke into the guard of the monster. My axe head forced itself into its humanlike calf and I kicked the leg to free my axe. The monster spun to me and slammed me with the back of its hand. Blood splashed across the snow as I felt my nose break from the strike and my body went flying into a building.

"Fire with everything! Evacuate everyone and get to the city! We need to warn Vale!" The head guard yelled out as people raced around the small village. Blood dripped off my nose as the beast approached and I drew up my axe and slashed at the neck of the monster as it leaned down to me. The bit if the blade cracked into the bone of its protruding mandible, and I could see under the leaves that the monster used to cover its face. Human eyes stared at me, and I felt something in my gut twist as one of its claws slammed into my aura as I raised my defense.

The axe slammed into it again as I kicked at the monster forcing it away from my body. The moment giving the soldiers time to get the people of the town away, then arrows rained down on both the monster and me.

Arrows tore through the flesh of the monster, and it screeched loud enough to force my eardrums to pop, the world started to go dark as it wailed. Then I slammed my axe again, shutting down the bestial cries. Then the claws that slashed me tore through my aura and stabbed my gut.

I could hear for only a moment, the voice of the Wendigo that had hunted me from Barren Lake, to Dolemir. The Voice of Edgar Reese, A huntsman turned Grimm.

"Pleasssse. End. Thissss." He said in a very serpentine manner, accenting the "s" sound of his words. My aching hands reached around as the claws tried to force themselves through me completely, fighting with my aura.

I gripped two arrows on its back and tore them out as it stood up with its claws finally ripping through my back too and I drove both arrows through the eye sockets of the monster and slammed them in as far as they could go.

I could feel a distinct 'pop' as they punctured the brain and the monster collaped in a heap, sending me flying from its claws, into the side of a house. But as I hit the build and fell to the ground we heard it, dozens of calls just like this one, Wendigos that were desperately hungry.

Guards raced to me and pulled me to my feet and started carrying me to the town hall, and as we entered, I saw an overturned table that seemed to cover a bunker door.

My last night as the door shut was a young woman holding a single bloody doll that had the name 'Annie' stitched in.

16 hours later, Dolemir, Valean Wilds

"Shit this kid has aura; I'm thinking a huntsman trainee." I heard a rough voice say as my eyes cracked open, the dark flooded my senses and I saw a faint candlelight that seemed to illuminate just enough for the bunker to be visible.

One of the men noticed that I was stirring awake, and they rushed over to me, their eyes fixed into mine. Aged and cracked blood had covered my chest and the men looked over my bandages.

"You're lucky that you have that aura, kid. It saved your damned life. The wounds you had healed quick cause you had aura left, but not much so healing will be a tough time." The older of the men spoke and I finally got a good look at both of their features. The older man had multiple scars across his face, his eyes were a distinct yellow, and he was definitely strong, but I could see that he was aged, and his strength had faded in his twilight years. He stood at around 6"2' and his grey hair was swept back out of his face. I could see blood that had dried to his once nice white shirt.

"What's your name, Kid?" The older man asked as the younger man left to attend to the wounded.

"Jaune, just Jaune, Huntsman in Training. And I'm here to tell you about what happened at Barren Lake and to try to warn the city of Vale." I said roughly as I pulled myself to sit up against the wall that my cot was situated against.

"Alright, tell me what happened, and what the fuck is that thing?" The man asked and I recognized his voice, he was the head guard from the gate. I then thought to take a better look around the shelter, there were six fighting age and capable men, only six of his men had made it.

"I'm sorry for your losses, sir." I said and looked down. He grabbed my shirt roughly and spoke.

"You survived, lad. That's what we do, some of us aren't lucky though. Never apologize for your fortune, you did what you thought is best, and those men died to ensure their families could get to the shelter. Now tell your story." He spoke as he released me and I could see the anguish in the man's eyes, he was felling the loss, but he was a soldier. To be a soldier is to give up your humanity when the situation requires it.

"First things first then..." I said starting the story.