Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter came out so late, I was hoping the alert system would be back up and running correctly long before today. However, it did not, so I held off on this chapter until it did. A bit out of schedule, but I don't fault myself for FFNet's site issues.

Enjoy.

There were two ways this was going to go. Either his plan was going to work and he would have a very cool story to tell his kids one day… or he would probably die.

Either way, Jaune was certain that they couldn't outrun the monster chasing them. And though he hated to leave Pyrrha running alone, he was also sure that him dying was better than Mistral's Championship fighter. Better he than someone who could influence the world. When she distracted herself pushing branches out of her way, he slid to a stop and spun, jumping to a branch and hauling himself up the thick wood.

It creaked under his weight, but he ignored the danger in favor of maneuvering himself until his body was hidden from the coming threat. Crocea Mors left the sheath and came into his view, unassuming for what it had done before. "I hope you work this time." He muttered to the naked blade, leaning to the side to see the spider hobbling it's way over the forest floor. His plan was a simple, if somewhat stupid one - drive the blade into the thing's head by falling on top of it. He wasn't even sure it would kill it, seeing as how losing a limb hadn't slowed it down, but it was worth a shot.

When it crested the fallen log below him, Jaune dropped from the branch with a cry, dipping the point of his sword downwards and realizing at the last moment that he had miscalculated. Still, the sword slid through the carapace without resistance. Jaune impacted into the hard body with a grunt, clutching Crocea Mors in both hands as the thing below him bucked in surprise and pain. As before, the wound inflicted by the blade lit up in a light blue flame, spreading no further than where the sword touched.

What he had hoped was that his sudden cowboy ride would cause the insect thing to stop. What happened was that it instead ran faster and recklessly. Intimately, Jaune found himself acquainted with brush, tree branches, and tree trunks. But, still he held. At some point, probably around the time the spider cleared the forest and rolled over to buck him off with an agility that nothing that size should have, Jaune realized that he hadn't actually stopped screaming.

War cry. It's a war cry. That was his story and he stuck to it.

He landed in a roll of grunts, groans, clattering armor and flailing limbs. Someone called his name, told him to move. So he did, pushing himself up just enough to dive to the side as one of the remaining bladed feet sunk itself into the dirt where he'd just been. Jaune's wide eyed glance flickered at the impact, then the spider, then where Crocea Mors lay in the grass some two meters to his side.

He had to get to it, that much was certain.

"Hey, bug brain!" A voice called, familiar as the figure who practically flew in from the side and landed a heavy punch to the side of bug brain's head as it was en route to him. At first Jaune expected nothing, but his fears were quickly dashed when the golden gauntlet discharged a blast of fire and pain onto the spider. Yang's momentum carried through, the blonde landing in a roll and coming up with his sword in her hands. She gave him a glance and a wide smile, tossing the weapon towards him and cocking one of her shotgun gauntlets.

Crocea Mors landed in the dirt, quickly snatched up by its wielder and hefted at the ready. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He sighed as Yang circled over to him. Jaune made to say more, but another voice interrupted him. His partner was heading their way, a very unhappy look on her face. "Jaune!"

"I'm fine." He reassured her, eyes back on their adversary. It thrashed and spun, striking out at a blur of black and white - another student. "We gotta kill this thing."

"What is it."

"A spider." Pyrrha answered for him. "A giant monster spider."

"I guess you don't like spiders?"

"Can we save the twenty questions until after we win?" Yang enunciated with two shots from her weapon, the balls of flame arcing lazily towards their target. "Rather not lose my partner in the first day. Pretty sure that goes on my permanent records."

"Got any bright ideas?" Jaune looked between the two of them. Pyrrha shook her head, while Yang ground a fist into her palm as explanation. "Oh good. Well. It's fast, it's stupid strong… doesn't seem all that smart."

"Or flexible."

"Or flexible. Pyrrha couldn't quite pierce its shell-"

"And if Wonder Woman couldn't hurt it, what can?" Yang asked, earning an even blink from Pyrrha. Jaune took one look at his sword. He lifted it to the light. "I can. Or at least, this can."

"Neat. So what's the plan, vomit boy?"

"Well first, we help your partner. I need you to distract it so I can get close enough to cut its legs." The girls nodded, and began to charge into battle, Yang with a loud cry and Pyrrha with the sound of footfalls. Jaune… took a slower route. He moved forward at a stride, taking a circular path so that he could examine it clearly.

The spider was injured, the area where the insect would normally spin webs from lined with jagged wounds, while the puncture in its center still gave off a ghostly blue hue, a remnant of the strike he'd made. Something about either him or Crocea Mors was effective against this thing. Logically; He had just gotten his Aura today, while his sword had never cut through Grimm as easily as that, which pointed towards himself… but the odds of him getting some super power from something everyone goes through was so insanely low that he didn't bank on it.

Just the same, this Spider didn't look like any Grimm he had ever seen before. The Grimm he'd seen or learned of were animals, not insects, with fur and red blood.

This thing had black blood, it stained his gloves after all, and hard chitin, he'd felt it earlier. The only similarity were the red eyes, glowing and full of hatred. It shared the seemingly mindless way that Grimm fought, but for all he knew that was because it was injured and on its last bit of life. Pyrrha turned aside a strike with her shield and stabbed out as she retreated, which let Yang come up to its side. The insect spun and swiped out, stopping her charge in her tracks and letting the last girl pepper it with shots from a little machine pistol.

Jaune closed the distance and struck out, his blade narrowly missing the closest leg as the spider spun and struck out again. Yelping, he hopped back out of range of the sharp leg. He collided with something and went down with a sprawl, coming up on his knees and rolling out of the way of a follow up from the insect. The girl he collided with, amber eyes and a bow, shot him a sour look between her labored breaths and spun her weapon in her hand. A blade as black as night extended out, his peer leaping forwards and slashing at anything in reach. She dipped out of range when the spider thrashed and struck out wildly, unpredictable and deadly.

Each of them hefted their weapons and backed away from the whirlwind of sharp legs and hard chitin. "This thing is crazy." Yang muttered, jerking her head back as a strike came close. "More energy than Ruby."

"It's got to tire out eventually…" Pyrrha didn't sound convinced, her face white and her retreat quicker than the others. "Right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure." The third girl drawled, seeming almost bored. "Even with three injuries, it doesn't seem to be slowing down."

"I should've been a student councillor or something." Jaune sighed, "Much easier than fighting this."

"Too bad, so sad." Yang shot an experimental blast at the ravenous insect, leaping out of the way with a roll when it shrugged it off and swiped at her. The blonde growled and cocked her weapons. "Can't get close to the damn thing."

"This is a nightmare." Pyrrha said, looking quite frightened. "We should run, try to get the headmaster."

"We need to slow it down." The amber eyed girl glanced our way. "Anyone specialize in dust?"

"No." Jaune took a swipe on his shield that staggered him, forcing him to hop back away. One check behind him showed a set of saplings and brush, which meant that he couldn't maneuver it to the thick trees and disrupt its swipes. The spider stopped its strange whirlwind of attacks, seeing the new distance between it and its quarry.

"Nope." Yang shot twice again. "I could take a hit from it, which would let me hit it back harder."

"We can't get close to it after you get hit." The pale girl stated, "Not even mentioning that we don't know how hard it hits. I might be able to distract it with a clone long enough for someone to hit it. Anyone else have a Semblance that will help?"

"It's not made of metal."

"I gotta get hit first."

"I only got my Aura twenty minutes ago." That earned him a duo of blank looks, lilac and amber eyes on his. Jaune rolled his eyes and gestured toward the amber set of eyes. "Later. You, you said you can distract it?"

"My name is Blake." Her reply was curt while she drew the cartridge out of her pistol to check her ammo. "When you see it hit me, don't panic, just hit it."

"Hey, I hate to interrupt, but that thing is doing something." Yang, though she didn't sound too sorry, snapped them out of the conversation. Jaune followed her gaze to the spider, which seemed to be heaving and shaking. Then, with a sound that turned his stomach, it set it mandibles towards the earth and released more of that living black stuff from the cave on the ground

"Oh, yuck." Pyrrha grimaced. Blake kept her face impassive, while Yang had a similar expression to his partner. "Check it out, Vomit boy, it's your perfect pet."

Despite the joke that was most definitely aimed at him, Jaune's interest lay with the spider, and how the creepy black spread over the floor and up the monster's limbs. "That is gross." He stated, eyes narrowing. "And bad news."

"It's regenerating." Blake reported, her eyes wide. "Well. That's unfair."

"Not the leg Jaune cut off though. The wound isn't even closing." Pyrrha readied her weapons. "I think we stick with the same plan?"

"I don't see why not." Jaune sighed and hefted Crocea Mors. Blake gave him a wordless nod and dashed forwards, quicker than he could ever hope to move. He followed, along with the other two partners. Yang took to the right with Blake, while Pyrrha met the beast head on. It didn't take long in their surround to recognize a new problem - they were fighting in its territory. The ground below was slippery and treacherous, roots and holes hidden by the black… stuff.

The group traded blows, attacking like Beowulves. Jaune would strike forward and pull back, then Yang from the opposite side would land a hit. Blake would strike forward, then Pyrrha would feint a strike and pull back so Blake could follow through. Unlike the plan, however, Jaune took the first hit. The claw screeched against his shield, which he had used at an awkward angle that sent the sharp leg cutting through his shoulder.

He cried out and swung his sword in a wild arc that met air, retreating back with his arm feeling tired and weak. A quick check of the damages showed a jagged slice through cloth and flesh, but no more than muscle damage… except that Pyrrha's expression worried him. The insect pushed its advantage a moment later, spinning on her and charging forwards into a moment that Jaune had not expected.

Pyrrha Nikos went white and froze.

A black ribbon whirled around her torso and jerked her to the side, while a yellow set of gauntlets intercepted the clawed leg as it made to follow. Yang snarled and wrapped her hands around the bladed limb and pulled the entire monster to the ground. Blood trickled down her forearms. "Any time now!" She cried, flicking her reddened eyes at him. The insect struggled and twisted away, in time for the same ribbon Blake had saved Pyrrha with to wrap around its head and anchor it.

His shock snapped, and his body moved on its own accord. Jaune jerked forwards, tearing the heavy shield off of his injured arm and leaving it in the grass. It would only slow him down. When he neared the beast it thrashed and swung at him. He dipped away from the wild strike, only for Pyrrha to come from his right and take the limb on her shield as it went to swipe again. He wasted no time severing the nearest leg, moving from one to the next to cripple it. "Blighted." He snarled, an uncharacteristic tone in his voice that earned him a raised eyebrow from Blake in the distance. He met her eyes for only a second, long enough to force his teeth together.

When he had removed the legs of the spider, Jaune clambered to the top of the remains of the spider and pressed the point of Crocea Mors into the center of its head. It slipped through like flowing through water, only catching resistance when it met the dirt below. There was a shared sigh of relief as the wound caught fire where the blade touched, the thing falling still while Jaune fell back to sit unceremoniously on the corpse of their fallen foe. Working to even out his labored breathing, he shot a smile to Pyrrha, who shared one back with the rest of the group.

Relief flooded through his aching body, a far more welcome feeling compared to fear. It replaced the adrenaline that he had made his body sing, but with the lack of adrenaline came the pain and fatigue. He winced and rolled his injured shoulder, doing his best to keep the movement small.

"Jaune…" His partner's smile disappeared, an indicator that she had noticed. "Let me see your shoulder."

"Huh?" The teen slid down to the ground and knelt down to stop the whining of his tired body, his hand working the cloth around his wound to the side while she approached. It was an ugly, thin cut. Jaune took the path of reassurance. "Nothing bad, it's just a flesh wound."

"A flesh wound through Aura." Yang corrected, her voice somewhere between worry and curiosity. "You did say you have Aura?"

"Yeah… why, is it supposed to stop this?"

"Aren't you glad you didn't take a hit?" Blake's tone was wry, her words aimed at Yang. The blonde lifted her hands up and examined the thin cuts along both of her palms. Then, she snorted. "Okay, this sucks the big one. Not even in a good way. You could say that it's aura-ble"

"We need to get this bandaged." Pyrrha winced, her eyes on Jaune's shoulder. "It's pretty deep, and it's not regenerating like it should."

"Neither are my hands." Yang added, turning her palms to the partners. "I don't think this was part of the test."

"Speaking of the test, we still need to find the temple and relics."

"You mean the giant temple?" Blake pointed over the forest canopy. "The one with the Nevermore corpse literally nailed into the side of it?"

"Is it nailed, or is it impaled?" The other blonde interjected. "Ah, I guess it's like the difference between a raven and a crow. Just a matter of a pinion."

Would there have been crickets, even they would not have made noise in fear of egging her on.

"What's a Nevermore?" Jaune asked, but the answer was, as Blake had observed, nailed into the temple wall by a spike of ice. "Oh. Giant bird Grimm. Cool."

"I guess we go that way?" Yang shook her hands, grimacing at the blood that dropped to the grass and blight below.

Blight… when had that word come to his mind? He glanced towards his blade, where it still sat impaled into the top of the spider's skull. The name… fit, he supposed, but he wasn't sure that he could get away with calling it that out of the gate. It was best to suggest it, he decided as his fingers wrapped around the hilt and drew his burning blade from the corpse.

"Might as well get the relics and get out of here." Jaune agreed, retrieving his shield. Pyrrha shook her head and ripped a segment of cloth off of her outfit. "I'm going to bandage your shoulder first, so you don't bleed out."

"Aw, Blakey, look at them. They're like real partners." Yang's lips split in a grin and her hands came up. "Gonna tear up some of your clothes for my cuts?"

"You've got a scarf." Blake noted dryly. Her partner's expression took on mock hurt, then a playful scoff. "I see how it is."

"I can bandage your hands as well, if you'd like." The red cloth was pulled taut around his shoulder, knotted swiftly and tested by a roll of his arm. Satisfied with her work, Pyrrha stood and turned to Yang. "It is no problem."

"No, it's alright." Yang shifted, "Just scratches. Already stopped bleeding."

"We should get moving, in case more Grimm are around." Blake, the voice of reason, sheathed her weapon. "I would like to finish our objective and get out of this forest."

"Finish our objective." Yang echoed. "Anyone ever tell you that you talk weird?"

"You have. Many times already. More than anyone ever has. We met an hour ago." Pyrrha shot him a look while Yang bickered good naturedly and Blake shut her down with flat replies. Still, they were moving again, steps closer to victory.

And more importantly for Jaune, steps closer to the rest that was sorely needed.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the reviews.

We got a name for our adversary. We got a threat level(hint: high). I'm sure there are plenty of questions for the new readers in how this comes about. My fans from the pre-rewrite, do your best not to spoil it for them please. I, however, would love to hear any theories my old or new fans have on all of it.

So, we've got a really weighty change coming next chapter.

-Phoenyx

Advice for the Aspiring Author - Suspension of Disbelief
Let's talk about one of the things I see fail spectacularly in Fanfiction.

Suspension of Disbelief is a key aspect of any fiction work, but it is also present across many other things in the world. For the sake of not barraging you with philosophy, let's stick to fiction. The definition is in the name; the limit to which a person can suspend ones critical faults over aspects of a story in order to believe the unbelievable. It factors highly into the enjoyment and immersion into the world.

It all starts with grounding yourself and your story. Considering the logical progression of your plot, characters, and world. For some people, they'll focus on the science of the characters, others will be pulled out by plot holes, and others by personal preference when it comes to action or otherwise. If you create a mage who can teleport with no drawback, or very little, then there's no reason for him to sprint in a tense situation. But you can provide reasons that he'll walk alongside friends instead of simply teleporting to the intended location. It sounds believable.

If you make a character that can control fire, then there's very little reason for that character to rely on his fists in a fight to the death.

These are pretty broad examples, but the point should be clear.

So how do we avoid breaking the suspension? We make rules. Worldbuilding, characterization, plot points. All of these have a say in whether or not your story can be believed within the bounds of itself. Now obviously you don't have the killer moves like team RWBY in the real world, but in the RWBY verse, it's established and gives a very good weight of belief towards Ruby flipping around Crescent Rose for hours. Or Jaune taking the brunt of an Ursa blow on his shield without staggering.

But I can provide an example that pulled me out of the story; Yang losing her arm in one strike. Here's why; We had no indication of one of two possible reasons - Either Adam's sword ignores Aura, or Yang had no Aura left to protect her.

This was a classic case of pulling a deus ex machina out of your ass. Specifically done this way for shock value, but as someone who pays attention, this was awful storytelling.

Want a good case? The Red Wedding. Everything that happened was the result of a leadup of characters actions. It holds true shock for us because when we think about the why from what we know, we find the reasons in the writing.

So how about violence and fights, how do you suspend disbelief? You make them dirty, fast, and violent. Don't draw it out with conversation unless it is absolutely necessary. Fiction isn't an anime, and fights most definitely are not pretty. Extended fights such as the one in this chapter can and will have lasting effects on the characters. Fatigue in the short term, injury, recovery, and emotional turmoil in the long term.

Why is the existence of a giant spider in my world believable? Because I introduced the other threats in terms of size from smallest to biggest. Beowulf, then Ursa, then Deathstalker. Subtlety is key. This let me bring in a big threat without making it seem like it was improbable, and likely making you wonder why it's there as a question of story rather than as a question of why it's addition.

And I established some things of importance in the fight - the Blighted ignore Aura. Crocea Mors is the most effective weapon against the Blighted. Later, when these things come up again, it won't be out of the side lines. The danger is very real.

This is called Tension, in the story. This subject comes later my friends.

Lastly, Characters. Honestly, the best way to avoid breaking disbelief is to have good characterization. But here are my rules; No character has plot armor. Violence is painful. And I am willing to hurt them. Deeply.

Here's the thing that I love about writing; These rules are made to be bent. There is only one rule I urge you to not break; No Deus ex Machina.

You sell the story right, and I'll buy it.

Until next time.