A/N: And so, another chapter arrives ^-^. I really enjoy this one... my longest one so far!

'Nyways, Onwards!

"What do you think of him?"

Professor Ozpin lifted his mug up to his lips, drawing a sip in. In front of him stood Jaune, who looked very troubled. Jaune scratched the side of his cheek, absently thinking about what had happened just a few minutes ago.

Imaar, who was some kind of Dragon Rider, wanted to take over the world.

Why?

Was there something he wanted in Remnant? Or was Imaar just power hungry, and wanted control?

How did no one know about him?

Jaune looked up at Professor Ozpin, frowning at the question.

"He seems dangerous." Jaune said. Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"I think I've established that Mr. Arc." Ozpin said drily. "What I mean is did you sense anything… unique about him?"

Jaune paused, thinking about Imaar. The man—if he could be called a man—had been covered in a cloak, as well as a dark mask. Jaune hadn't been able to see anything about Imaar besides his gestures, which there was very few of.

Even though Imaar had hidden himself very well, Jaune could still feel the power that had emanated from him, something that put Jaune's teeth on edge while Jaune was looking at Imaar.

And he spoke Dragontongue.

Whatever Imaar was, it had something to do with Azura and Vedrahgol, and their world. Which brought up another question.

How did Imaar get onto Remnant?

Jaune needed answers, and the only places he could get the answers would be from Azura or Vedrahgol. One Jaune didn't even know how to contact, and one hadn't spoken a word to him since he had read the Oghma Infinitum.

"Whatever he was Professor," Jaune said quietly, "he isn't from this world."

The professor leaned back and weaved his fingers together, Ozpin's face intent on the implications that Jaune had said. The room was silent as the both of them continued to think. Finally Ozpin leaned back forward and placed his hands on the desk.

"Very well. We will have to continue this another time. It's late Mr. Arc, I'd suggest you get some rest." Ozpin said. Jaune nodded gratefully, exhaustion bearing down on him from the day's worth of excitement. Jaune rose to leave and was stopped before he entered the elevator by Professor Ozpin calling out his name once more. Turning, Jaune saw a slightly curious expression on the professor's face.

"By the way, did that book help you at all?" Ozpin asked. Jaune blinked at the unexpected question. While the Oghma had finally seemed to broaden his understanding of the Dragon's language, it also seemed to silence the only link that Jaune had to the other world, except his sword and shield… which couldn't really help him understand the other world.

Instead Jaune just gave a small smile and nodded. Ozpin smiled back and finally turned away from Jaune, dismissing him.

Jaune leaned back onto the elevator walls as the doors closed. Stomach jumping up with the elevator, Jaune kept thinking about Imaar, and how he related to Jaune. It didn't take much thinking to figure out that Imaar was the threat that Azura was warning Jaune about. He looked dangerous, but how dangerous? Jaune didn't know anything about him, except that he was part of the same world as Vedrahgol and Azura, and could control the Grimm with his staff.

His thoughts kept circling around and around the subject until he opened the door into his room and was surprised by four more bodies than he expected inside.

"It's about time!" Yang exclaimed, throwing up her arms. "What took you so long Jauney?" Jaune gave a weak grin, trying to shake off the sudden surprise of having both teams staring at him.

"Oh you know what it's like when you're called into Ozpin's office. He wants a thorough report." Jaune said, laughing unconvincingly. Weiss rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Right. And what are we going to do about the rider? As a matter of fact, what were the two of you speaking in? I have never heard of that language before." Weiss demanded. Jaune winced internally, but tried not to show it too much. Another question that Jaune couldn't really answer.

"It's, uh, something or the other." Jaune said vaguely. "My dad taught me some of it and uh, I guess I remember enough to talk to him."

"What a load of bull." Yang said, glaring at him. Jaune's shoulders dropped in resignation.

Yeah, he wasn't the greatest liar in the world.

He needed to work on that.

Jaune glanced around the room to see everyone still focused on him, all of them waiting on Jaune to admit the truth. Jaune sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of the best way to talk about… everything. Jaune took a deep breath and began.

"So you know about my semblance…" Jaune started.

He described his semblance, and the two dreams that he had back to back. Jaune explained how he unlocked his semblance, and how dragons were related to it. Jaune also talked about the Oghma Infinitum, and what it did to him, as well as Vedrahgol.

When Jaune finally finished, the rest of the room fell into a stunned silence, not sure how to process everything. But some of them seemed willing to try.

"So, what you're saying is that you can speak the language of… of dragons?" Yang said tentatively. Jaune nodded, adding in, "Well, Dragons from the world where my dragon used to live in, which is called… Nirn. If I remember right. Which I might not."

Yang waved her hands in front of Jaune, stopping him from rambling on for much longer. Taking care of Ruby for so long, it didn't take much to pick up on how to interact with Jaune.

"Right, right." Yang said, "But what you're also saying is that when you say specific words in a specific order, it… it…" Yang's eyebrows gathered together as she tried to figure out how to phrase it. Jaune didn't envy her, knowing that what he could do was pretty… weird.

"I guess you could call it bending reality." Jaune offered. Yang kept her frown, still not happy with the phrasing, but she let it slide for now, not able to see another way to describe it.

"And you're right Yang. That's apparently the case." Jaune answered the partial question.

"How?" This time it wasn't Yang who asked, but Pyrrha who looked intrigued, but also a little worried. Jaune snorted mentally. Even showing off something so cool made her worry so much. Jaune didn't doubt that some way, somehow, Pyrrha had construed those words to make it so that Jaune's semblance was going to be harmful to him in some way.

Nevertheless, Pyrrha had a point in asking that question. How did it work anyways? Was the language of the dragons just something that was so powerful that when Jaune spoke, it was always true? That sounded ridiculous. But it didn't change the fact that Jaune didn't know.

Dust, Jaune didn't think that he was going to miss the homicidal dragon soul that had inhabited his body. Finally, Jaune gave up trying to think of a good answer for Pyrrha and slumped down a little, muttering and small "I don't know," to her.

And on cue, Pyrrha decided that the best thing to do was to protect her partner.

"Well, maybe it wouldn't be a good idea for you to continue to use your semblance until you know more about it then." Pyrrha said in a kind tone. No matter how kind it sounded though, to Jaune it just sounded as though Pyrrha didn't trust him.

And with his own semblance nonetheless.

Jaune shook his head, a little stubbornly if he was willing to admit it.

"No. This is the only link that I have to Imaar, and I have a feeling that I need my semblance. I mean," Jaune laughed, with a slight touch of hysteria in his voice. "when has anyone's semblance really hurt them? And who here really decided that 'oh, maybe I should be careful until I figure out more about my semblance?'" Jaune looked around to see that no one answered his question, knowing that he was right.

Pyrrha rested a hand on his shoulder, her maternal instincts still not sated apparently.

"Still, you're a special case Jaune. Your aura was unlocked only a year or so ago, and then your semblance doesn't show up until now. Maybe it's true that none of us really were cautious, but I don't think it would hurt—" Pyrrha stopped when Jaune stood up abruptly. Jaune's face was drawn together in an angry scowl, having enough of Pyrrha's mother henning.

"So what you're saying is that you don't think I can handle my own semblance." Jaune said quietly. Pyrrha drew back, a little stung.

"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Pyrrha said hurriedly. Jaune turned towards her, still angry.

"Then what did you mean? That I can't take care of myself? That I don't know what I'm doing?" Jaune brushed his bangs to the side in a brusque manner, too angry to think straight. "I'll have you know that I can very much take care of myself. I may not be the best fighter around, heck, any one of you guys could probably stomp me flat!" Jaune drew in a deep breath. "But," Jaune added softly, "that doesn't mean I'm defenseless." Jaune looked at Pyrrha in the eyes. "So stop treating me like a baby that needs to be protected."

A long silence drew out into the room, Jaune still standing in front of the sitting Pyrrha, who had a hurt expression on her face. She finally decided to lower her gaze to the side, her arms crossed under her chest, her eyes closing to hide the hurt.

At this moment Jaune finally calmed down, and could see that his words were just a tiny bit aggressive towards Pyrrha. His conscience kicked in, and Jaune wanted to throw himself out of Ozpin's office in embarrassment for losing his temper like that.

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh.

"Pyrrha—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Jaune continued, "but Pyrrha, you have to realize that I'm not the same guy I was when we just arrived at Beacon. I mean, I had one the the best fighters in the school teach me, don't you think I've picked up just a little?" Jaune said with a grin.

Pyrrha's lips curled slowly into a small smile, finally understanding what Jaune was trying to get through. He was right, Pyrrha thought. Jaune and Pyrrha were partners for more than a year now, and it's hard to see people change when you see them every single day. But if Pyrrha recalled the awkward boy that came to Beacon unsure of his potential and compared him to the man who stood in front of her today, who wasn't running away from confrontations…

Then she could see it.

Jaune was stronger than she would care to admit.

Finally Pyrrha gave a small nod, which turned Jaune's grin into a full blown smile. Feeling the moment, Jaune leaned down and gave Pyrrha a tight hug, making her jump a little and go 'eep'.

"Thanks for understanding Pyrrha." Jaune murmured as he pulled away. Pyrrha just nodded, her face a little pink.

"Well, that was a thing." Yang said in amusement, startling Jaune. He had forgotten about the people in the room, and now he was the one that was red in the face. There were a few people that were polite enough to look away from such an emotional scene (Blake, Ren, Weiss), and others who silently watched in hyperactive joy (Nora, Ruby). And then there were the people who saw this and couldn't help but tease the two people (Who else?).

Ren, being the kind friend that he is, decided to rescue the two of them before Yang could say anything else.

"I think it's time for us to go to bed. After all, we have had a very unusual day, and it would be best for us to recharge for the next morning." Ren said calmly. Nora jumped onto her feet, agreeing with the childhood friend.

"Yeah! We need to be at the top of our game so that we can beat some dragon butt!" Nora declared, arms high up to the sky with a smile the size of Vale.

Everyone else found that as their cue to pick up after themselves to leave, except Yang, who sported a big pout.

"Aw, but I wanted to play with Jauney." She whined. Blake rolled her eyes and grabbed Yang's arm.

"Come on Yang, let's go." Yang resisted for a little while, still moaning.

"Aw come on, I just want some time with Jauney~" She said, winking at him. Jaune's face turned a little bit redder at the wink.

"If we didn't know any better, it would sound as if you were hitting on Jaune." Blake said in a sarcastic voice. Yang snickered.

"Well, Jaune did beat me in a fight. And he isn't a bad person." Yang winked at Jaune again before saying, "Maybe Jaune's finally spArc'd my interest!"

Everyone groaned.

"Yang, that was probably your worst one yet." Ruby said exasperatedly. "I think you need to go back to your room and reflect on your actions."

And with that, team RWBY firmly shoved Yang out of JNPR's room, causing Yang to yelp at the sudden force.

Jaune released a breath in relief as they all left, and turned to change out of his school clothes.

Hopefully he could have a full night's rest to clear his mind.

"A whole year at Beacon and you still can't learn not to jinx yourself." Jaune muttered.

A roiling plain of black surrounded Jaune, looking like a prairie field that was under an enormous shadow. The black leaves waved to an imaginary wind, which felt incredibly odd when you couldn't feel any hint of a breeze. If Jaune concentrated, he could see circular clouds in the distance.

Scattered across the ground were dozens and dozens of roots that seemed to stick out in the oddest of ways, which only made the area look eerier.

Jaune took a step forward and jumped when the roots decided to sift around in the ground, a few of them pulling out and pointing towards Jaune.

"So you are the one they are relying on." A voice said with a tone of amusement. The tone was strange, as if whoever was speaking was at the end of a tunnel, and his voice bouncing and echoing multiple times along the walls.

Jaune turned and gaped at the sight that lay behind him.

One of the so-called clouds that Jaune had spotted earlier was floating right in front of him, pulsing a sickly looking black, some parts lighter than others, making the scheme look like a pattern of black and purple. The roots that Jaune saw on the floor were, in fact, not roots, but what seemed like tentacles, which seemed to stream in and out of the sphere. In the dead middle of the what looked like a tear of the world, an eye rested, watching Jaune intently.

Jaune took a step back in fear.

Jaune's instincts, honed through so many months of high pressure situations, were screaming at him to run away. Jaune didn't know what that thing was, but he could feel it all the way in his bones that whatever it was, it wasn't right.

Jaune felt like he was staring at the face of an evil that had a total apathy for everything it set its eyes on.

Jaune gulped nervously, knowing that this visit was different than when Azura had visited him.

"What do you want?" Jaune asked, hoping to dust that his voice wasn't too shaky. The sphere seemed to shake a little, and a strange noise echoed endlessly from within it. It was laughing.

"What I want is what you need, boy." The sphere said, its tone contemptuous if a sphere could be that.

"What—Who are you?" Jaune said haltingly, quietly wondering if everyone on the other world liked to answer questions in the vaguest ways possible. The sphere went silent for a second, as if contemplating on whether or not to give an answer.

Finally it spoke, again in a voice that made all of Jaune's hairs stand on end.

"Are you sure you want to know, boy? With knowledge comes a price. Are you willing to pay it?" The dark abyss asked almost tauntingly. Jaune didn't know what was happening at the moment. He felt more at edge talking to this thing than he had talking to Imaar, who also had the whole school surrounded with a number of Grimm.

It was like that game of Chess his dad used to try to make him play, except that if Jaune made the wrong move, he would be eaten whole.

"How much of a price is there to know your name?" Jaune asked cautiously, deciding to start with that. The abyss didn't answer right away, and Jaune wasn't sure if he was considering the price or impressed at Jaune's careful question.

"The price to know my name is simply an equivalency." The sphere finally said. "A trade, if you will. If I would say my name, may I know yours?"

Once again Jaune took his time before answering. His dad had told him many fairytales when he was younger, before he had dreams of becoming a hunter. One of them was a creature who talked in riddles and tongues, finding a way to steal an unsuspecting soul.

One of the ways this could be done was through your name.

Now, Jaune didn't know if this was the same thing. Heck, seeing as how it was clearly from the other world, Jaune didn't even know if they had the same legends, if the abyss could do something like that.

But…

Jaune needed to know something more. He was stuck in a place where he knew just enough to get in into trouble, but not enough to get him out. Whatever that thing in front of Jaune was, it seemed like it knew a lot, no matter how sinister it felt.

"My name is Jaune." Jaune said slowly, deciding that leaving out his last name would be a safe thing to do.

The dark sphere pulsed once, the tentacles surrounding it writhing, as though in ecstasy.

"And I am known as many things," The abyss started, which Jaune couldn't help but mentally sigh at, seeing as how every one of the things that he's met in his dreams seemed to say the same thing. The sphere continued, unaware of Jaune's thoughts.

"But to me, you may call me Hermaeus Mora." It said with a tone of finality.

Jaune paused, as if trying to remember something. He had heard this name before. Hadn't he? Jaune should have been able to recall a name as unusual as that one… but he couldn't really put his finger on it yet.

Hermaeus… Hermaeus Mora… Mora…

Jaune's eyes widened in recognition of the name, at last.

"You were the one that gave Professor Ozpin the book." Jaune said. Now that he thought about it, he remembered his dad talking to him about having a dream talking to something similar to what was in front of him.

Hermaeus dipped in acknowledgement, and blinked slowly. It didn't bother to add anything though, letting Jaune continue.

"Why?" Jaune asked, "Why did you do that? And—" Jaune remembered what had happened when he opened the book. "Why isn't Vedr—my dragon soul talking to me?" Jaune covered up Vedrahgol's name hastily, not sure if it would be a wise thing to tell Hermaeus. After so long, Jaune finally learned that operating cautiously would be more beneficial to him in the long run.

Hermaeus laughed again, and Jaune still couldn't shake the feeling of dread when he did so.

"Oh? Is that what happened? My Oghma Infinitum behaves very unpredictably. Even I do not know what it may do next." For an open admittance in ignorance, Hermaeus seemed very smug, as if he was proud of the fact. If Jaune wasn't confused before, he was in the thick of it now.

"I don't understand." Jaune said finally. Hermaeus let out a sound that seemed like a cross between amusement and intrigue.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. This is not what I am here for." Hermaeus said. Jaune stiffened as the wretched abyss decided to turn towards his business.

"What I am here for, is your cooperation." Hermaeus Mora said slowly. Jaune didn't have any time to ask for what, as the being only paused for a second.

"I want you to join up with a dragon priest named Imaar, and help me collect knowledge upon your world." It said. Jaune's face paled a little, if not a little happy that another piece had finally been settled onto the table.

"Imaar? You mean the one that's going to try and take over Remnant? Is that why he's doing this?" Jaune said in an almost brave tone. The eye blinked slowly, as if Hermaeus could hardly care about that.

"I only released Imaar out of his prison and asked him to collect for me. I did not specify how." The sphere gave a long sigh that held no emotion. "And I could hardly care how he goes around doing so. So long as he does it."

Jaune… was angry. Sure he was scared, but now he was also a little angry. How could something not care so much? So many people could die from this. In fact, Jaune knew that none of the schools would give up their students so easily, and Jaune doubted that Imaar would do the same thing he did at Beacon and simply leave every single time.

"So, what say you?" Hermaeus Mora said. Jaune glared at the eye, his fists tightening.

"I would never help something so… so uncaring about human life." Jaune said angrily. Once again, Hermaeus blinked slowly, its tentacles seeming to stop in place.

"So you… refuse?" Hermaeus asked. "That is not a wise choice. I am not the one you want to cross, Jaune." Hermaeus said his name with perfect enunciation, as if Jaune was the one speaking his name. Jaune shivered at that, hoping he wasn't doing something stupid.

Oh dust, it's not like it would be the first time.

"I refuse." Jaune said firmly, steeling himself.

Hermaeus stared at Jaune for a moment, as if weighing his options.

"Very well." Hermaeus said finally, before his tentacles exploded into action, writing their way towards where Jaune was standing. Jaune screamed (note: screamed, not shrieked. And even if he did, who could hear it?) and jumped backwards, dodging a particularly fast one and turning to run the other way, only to meet with another dozen or so of the tentacles on the other side.

The tentacles wrapped around him, constricting his movement and holding him completely still. Jaune was turned to face Hermaeus again.

"Such a shame," The abyss sighed, "I looked forward to a new champion. However, your knowledge will have to do." As it said that, a single tentacle raised up and aimed itself at Jaune, looking every bit much as menacing as any weapon that Jaune had seen. Jaune would have screamed as the tentacle thrust itself towards him, but another one had covered up his lips, not allowing him to speak.

"Gaar Mun Staadnau!"

And as quick as a flash the tentacles uncoiled around Jaune, dropping him onto his knees. Gasping for air, Jaune looked up to see the hovering form of Vedrahgol in all his majestic glory.

The dragon roared, shaking everything from the ground to the air around Jaune before diving towards Hermaeus.

"This human is mine!" Vedrahgol roared.

Hermaeus Mora chuckled uncaringly and sent another one-eyed glance over to Jaune, causing him to brace just for a moment.

"Until next time then, Jaune." It said, before shrinking in on itself and disappearing.

Vedrahgol crashed into the ground where Hermaeus was, bringing up dust and dirt that blinded Jaune.

When his vision was restored, Jaune found himself back in Vedrahgol's cave.

"What… was that?" Jaune said shakily.

The dragon swung his head towards Jaune, watching in almost a human way, his eyes filled with weariness. The head of Vedrahgol lowered itself, getting close to Jaune, who flinched at the close proximity.

"I apologize Maldovah. The demon that you saw had found a way to bind me temporarily, and it has taken much of my ingenuity to find myself free of its grasp." Vedrahgol said, his voice rasping like two pieces of sandpaper.

"I don't—I don't understand." Jaune stammered.

"I know. But I am tired. You are tired. For now, rest. Tomorrow brings a new day, and we will discuss how to tear our enemies apart then."

Before Jaune could say anything, or even react to that, Vedrahgol leant his head and touched his snout to Jaune's forehead, breathing out a word that Jaune couldn't hear, and a flash of light enveloped Jaune as he faded out of consciousness.

Omake

Props to THEREADINGADDICT123 for the idea of this next omake

"What the…?" Yang said, trailing off as she looked at the scene in front of her.

A circle was drawn around the floor of their room, the lights completely off. In the middle of the circle was a trussed up Jaune, thrashing desperately around with wide eyes.

Blake sat next to Jaune, wielding a knife that looked older than Remnant.

"Uh. What's going on here?" Weiss asked from behind Yang. Blake, who for once had her ears uncovered by her bow, looked up at the three of them and smiled viciously.

"Oh hi there guys. Don't mind me." Blake said casually, bringing down the knife. Jaune was luckily stronger than he looked and was able to move out of the way just in time, letting the blade sink into the wooden floor. Jaune squealed in fear before looking pleadingly at the other three members of RWBY.

"Uh, Blake," Ruby said haltingly. "Can you explain what's happening right now?"

Blake tugged at the knife, which was stuck firmly into the wood. Frowning, Blake said, "Apparently, if I sacrifice someone, I'll be able to open a portal to an alternate dimension where there are endless amounts of books." With another strong tug, Blake was able to pull the blade out completely, humming in satisfaction.

Yang grabbed Blake's hand to stop her from gutting Jaune again.

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Let's calm down here and make start making sense again. How did you figure this out?" Yang asked, trying to be the calm one for once. Blake looked her straight in the eyes.

"I got it in a dream." She said.

"You… what?" Yang said numbly, completely thrown off guard.

"A dream." Blake repeated. Yang blinked rapidly for a second, trying to wrap her head around what Blake had just said.

"You know Blake, you are the last person I would have expected to do something like this because of a dream." Weiss scolded. Blake's ears flattened briefly in shame before they flicked back up in defiance.

"What about the knife?" Blake asked.

"What about it?" Weiss shot back.

"Well, after the dream, I woke up with the knife in my hand. How're you supposed to explain that?" Blake challenged smugly. Weiss just stared at Blake, unsure of what to say after that. Yang could feel a headache coming on from all of this.

So this is what it feels like to be Blake, Yang thought to herself.

"Let's just calm down. I mean, is killing a friend really worth a few books?" Yang asked. Blake shook her head adamantly.

"It's not just a few books. You didn't see what I saw. There was almost every book I could imagine, and then a few more. There was even books that weren't supposed to be out yet." Blake hissed out, "I need to know what happens next in my stories!"

"You mean your smut books?" Yang asked with an eyebrow raised. While Yang and Blake were arguing, Ruby knelt down and tried to untie Jaune.

"Wow Blake, how did you learn how to tie people up so well?" Ruby asked, grunting and trying to tug open a few knots that tied up Jaune.

Blake flushed pink a little. "Books are a fountain of information." Blake said haughtily.

Ruby gave up and trying to untie Jaune by hand and pulled out Crescent Rose, quickly slamming the edge down to cut the ropes loose, making Jaune scream in fear as the blade almost grazed him.

"Perfect!" Ruby declared happily, folding Crescent Rose back again. Jaune scrambled up onto his hands and knees, before pulling off the gag and sprinting out of Team RWBY's room.

"Aw." Blake said, pouting. With the subject of sacrifice safe, the other three girls relaxed a bit before Blake turned around.

"Oh well. I was kind of hoping to use the other sacrifice anyways!" Blake said happily, procuring the next subject, lifting it up to the other three teammates' horror.

"Blake! Put Zwei down this instant!"