Disclaimers : I do not own RWBY,

everything in this story belongs to their rightful owners

"Normal " - speaking

italics- thinking \ flashback

Bold-yelling

He Who Endures

Ch 3:Threats

Tigri's eyes opened slowly, squinting at the sun's rays bleeding through the window next to her bed. She tried to turn over and ignore the sun's golden rays, but her stomach seemed to take the suns side and let out a low groan.

"Fine, I'll feed you." She sighed, having enough of the two disturbing her and her slumber. It was a rough night for her, she had a weird dream that some blonde guy in weird clothes found her and offered her food. She looked around and saw nothing, no cans, and no blonde guy. "Of course it was a dream." No one like that came around these part, and if they did and they saw Tigri they would probably try to strip her of what little she had. That's how it worked, you have to fend for yourself, she was alone and had no one to rely on but herself. She went out of her room and walked down the hall to get ready for her daily hunt for food.

When she was midway through the hallway, she smelled something that was unfamiliar to her, not only that but she heard crackling. When she reached the end of the hallway, she jumped back from what she saw. In the living room in front of the fireplace was the same blonde that she dreamed of last night. He was looking deeply into the fire as if he expected something to come out and attack him, it wasn't until Tigri looked closer that she realized what he was doing. He was cooking, and by the looks (and smell) of it, it was fish. To anyone else, this would have looked like a normal meal, but to Tigri, the fish that was on the fire might as well be a five-star meal. However she had to hold herself back. She tried to walk back to her room slowly, until her stomach decided to do it's best impression of a beowolf.

The teen perked up at the noise and turned around, she cursed her stomachs bad timing. She looked back at the teen and saw him shrug going back to the fish, not noticing the faunus. Tigri sighed in relief, once again she tried to get back to her room. Her stomach had other plans however and let out a louder growl, almost as if it was demanding her to get the fish.

"Tigri?" She heard the blonde call, she stayed silent and prayed that the he would turn back. "Oh it is you, had me worried for a second." She turned and saw him down the hall with a relieved smile, "Come on, the food is about done." He beckoned, turning around walking to the fish. Tigri's feet shuffled as she follow him, still nervous. She was aware of what she did last night, crying on his shoulder and all, but she was still nervous. She had her experiences with humans, they weren't the best times she had, and they were around her age. She didn't know how to feel about one that was probably twice her age, even if he did all of those things. She watched him move one fish from the fire, and then another, and then another, up until he had six fish, each on a separate stick. Tigri's eyes sparkled as he offered her one of them, but she shook her head. "No thank you." She said politely, waving her hands in front of her. He deflated when she declined his offer before a growl made him tense up.

"What th- is that a grimm?" Jaune said, looking out the window, the growl continued and he followed it until his eyes landed on her stomach. She blushed at her stomach growl, did he actually think it was a Grimm? Jaune snickered at this, once again he held out a fish, but she held strong and shook her head. Jaune frowned a little, before getting a mischievous smirk. He brought the fish to his mouth, taking a large bite from it. "Mmh, wow! This is really good." Jaune said, trying to make the fish sound better than it actually was with a series of 'mmh' and compliments. huh wonder what Yang would do with that. He continued until she looked like she was about to break, it wasn't until he held a fish out to her that she reached her breaking point.

"O-Okay, I'll have some." she said softly, holding out her hand. Jaune smiled and placed the stick in her open hand. She started by taking a small bites, but her small bites progressed into literally tearing the meat off of the fish's bones. After finishing her first fish in under a minute, she grabbed another one and dug into it. Jaune had to eat faster to keep up with her, in the end though, he only got two of the six fish while she ate the rest. Jaune had to keep himself from laughing as he watched Tigri lay on the floor, stomach bulging with food and deep breaths.

"You full?" Jaune asked, sitting on the floor next to her. He didn't get much of an answer besides a small, cute burp. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Thank you for the fish Mr. John." She said, blushing while she sat up. This the first real meal that she had that wasn't out of a steel can, and for that she was grateful. Jaune smiled once again.

"It's nothing Tigri, I'm glad to know you're full." He said, rubbing her messy hair. He got up and turned around to help her up. "You don't have to say 'Mr' just my first name, also, my name is Jaune, not John." He corrected, her cheeks colored when he corrected her. She had just thanked a man using the wrong name, isn't that embarrassing.

"I'm sorry Jaune." She apologised, but once again, Jaune waved it off.

"No problem, now you know." He said, he then went on to pick up the sticks that they had just used and threw them into the fire. He had woken up earlier in the morning and decided that he should look around to see what he could find. He still had a lot of houses to look in. A surprising amount had locked doors, which he had to break down, by now he was sure that he was sure that he was either going to have a bruise on his shoulder, or find another kid. He had found some useful items, such as a lighter, some canned food, and bottled water. It didn't seem like much, but this place was attacked by Grimm. He felt a tug on his shirt along with a small voice.

"Um, Jaune." He heard Tigri call, he turned around and saw that she was behind him. "Where did you get the fish?" She asked, letting go of his shirt. Jaune was confused as to why she would ask, but he still answered.

"Yesterday when I was trying to find a place, I came across a pond in the forest. I thought that there would be some fish in there, I was right." Jaune explained, it was difficult to get the fish. But he was taught how to spear fish by Pyrrha, of course he still had a hard time. He adopted a grim expression as he thought about his partner, he really didn't think about anyone at Vale. 'All of those times I fought beside them, and this is what they do when I need them.'. Jaune was aware that all the evidence had pointed to him, but even before his hearing they had given him hateful looks. They should have known that he couldn't have beaten Weiss, yet they did somehow seem convinced that he did it.

"J-Jaune, are you alright?" Tigri asked when she saw Jaune expression darken, concern along with fear was in her voice. Jaune had noticed this and quickly changed his expression to calm her, the last thing that he need her to do was fear him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Tigri." He said, walking to the kitchen grabbing the two of the few waters that he brought back earlier. When he came back and offered Tigri one, to which she took with both hands. "So why did you ask about the fish?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, n-no reason." She lied, averting her gaze. The real reason she asked was so that she knew where to go for fish. She didn't expect Jaune to stay a long time, if fact, she expected him to leave by tomorrow. Sadly, the pond was in the forest, so that meant that she wouldn't be able to get fish unless she wanted to take the risk. And right now, she didn't want to even get close to the forest.

"Huh, alright then." He said, not believing her answer, but he didn't let her know that. He opened the water bottle and took a drink. Although the water was warm, that didn't stop him from downing half the bottle. The same went for the faunus in front of him, just how thirsty was she? "Hey Tigri," Jaune said, getting her attention, "you've been here for awhile right?" Tigri nodded. "Do you think that you can help me scavenge the village for some things that we could use?" There was still a lot of the village to go through, and Jaune didn't know if Tigri scavenged most of the village. If she did, then he didn't want to waste anytime on checking the ones that she had already looked at. Tigri looked surprised when he had asked her to join him, she hadn't thought that she would ask her to join him.

"Umm, okay I'll come with you Jaune." She said, Jaune smiled at this and got up and walked to the hallway.

"Great, just let me put on the gear and we'll get going." He said, and with that, he went to the room he left the gear and put got ready to set out.

(Several hours later)

"Another empty house." Jaune said with a sigh, they had been out for hours with hardly anything worth taking. He and Tigri had look through almost all of the village, even an area of the village that Tigri explained was the part that the Grimm focused on. Tigri had a fear of going there, that showed by how she gripped Jaunes arm, but they had to find something of use. The sun had set just moments ago, and Jaune was beginning to think that they had raided all that this place had to offer. Jaune let out another sigh as he walked up a set of stairs to a two story house with a large hole on the second story, Tigri still holding on to his arm. "Let's check this house and call it a night." Jaune said feeling Tigri nod, he brought his hand to the knob and turned it. Fortunately, the door was unlocked and didn't have anything blocking it.

The inside of the house was a complete disaster, the wallpaper was filled with claw marks, the furniture was torn to shreds, a hole in the wall that lead to another room, there was even blood stains on the ground. The Grimm must have gotten in and killed whoever lived here. Jaune got a sick feeling, the same one that he got when he saw the bus explode. He ignored it, he needed to find something, not for him but for Tigri. He didn't need anything, but Tigri did, she was the one who brought him to this part of the village. A part that she had feared, she must have been desperate.

"Sit down Tigri, I'll check upstairs." He said, motioning to the couch, or what was left of it. Although he and tigri would search the houses together to make it faster, the bloodstains that he saw lead up the stairs. He didn't know what he would find up there, but if it was what he thought it was, he didn't want Tigri to see what would happen to a victim of the Grimm if she already hadn't. She nodded and went to the couch slowly, when she sat down Jaune had moved towards the stairs and followed the the bloody trail. When he reached the top, he saw bloody handprints on the walls and the floor. He still followed the trail until he reached a bright blue door, with a large 'B' on the door. He put his ear against the door, it was silent, but he wasn't sure what could have been inside. He drew the pistol that he had, he may not have known how to use it, but he wouldn't let that stop him from using the damn thing. He opened the door slowly, letting the gun slip through the crack. The door let out a groan, every second he opened the door the groan got louder. Once the door open, he let out a breath that he didn't realize that he was holding. Thankfully the room was empty, but there was a dried puddle of blood, there was also a hole that lead outside. Jaune holstered the gun and inspected the room.

The room was painted a bright blue just like the door, there were clouds painted on the walls along with some birds. The bed was split in half, the frame of the bed had splinters sticking out and the mattress had a large claw mark on it. There was an obvious struggle in here, but whoever it was probably lost. Jaune looked to the right side of the room and saw a dresser that was tipped over with a picture frame next to it. Jaune walked towards it and picked up the frame, it was a photo of what he assumed was a mother and her daughter. The mother was smiling brightly, she was wearing a simple blue blouse with a with a brown skirt that reached her ankles. She had long brown hair that reach her back. The daughter had been in her arms when taking the picture, she was almost exactly like her mother if her hair was longer. She had been wearing a blue dress with white frills, it was almost as if she was trying to copy her mother, she was also smiling brightly at the camera. Jaune felt sorry for them, but there was nothing that he could do, he couldn't save them. Jaune had put down the picture and picked up the dresser, when he picked it up he put the the picture on top of the dresser. It was the least he could do before he would do was about to do.

'Hope there's something in here.' Jaune thought, before opening the drawers. The first row was full of art supplies that was all spilled over. The second row was full of clothes, none of them fit him, but Tigri was a different story. He quickly grabbed a long sleeved shirt, and some trousers. He looked around and was soon able to find a pair of brown shoes. He wasn't sure if the clothes would fit Tigri, but anything must have been better than what she was was wearing. He left the room and walked down stairs to meet Tigri. When he got to the bottom, he saw her messing with her tail before she noticed him. "Got something for you." Jaune said with a small smile, laying the clothes on the armrest. Tigri's eyes had almost glowed when she saw the clothes. "Why don't you try them on." He pointed to the hole in the wall, she didn't say anything, just grabbed the clothes and ran to the room. A few minutes later she came out with the clothes that he had given her with a bright smile. The clothes were baggy on her, but she still wore them with a smile.

"Thank you, for the clothes Jaune." She thanked while inspecting the clothes. Before she could continue, a loud growl had interrupted her. Jaune smiled at this.

"The excitement got you hungry?" Jaune laughed, Tigri however gave him a confused look.

"Jaune, that wasn't me." She said, Jaune instantly stopped laughing and listen to the growl. It was louder and it sounded like there was more than one growl. Jaune followed the noise until he reached the window. His blood went cold at what he saw, outside was a large group of Grimm.

...And they were all coming this way.

(End of Ch 3)

Beta: TheShadowKittyCat

AN: sorry to say this, but I'm going to have to leave you hanging with a cliffhanger. I don't have much to say besides my hope that you guys like it. If you do, leave a review, if you don't, leave a review.

So until next time, Lupus out.