A/N: Hello again! Just a bit more before Beacon finally starts! Who's excited for school! Whoo!

I tried to take my time a little bit more with this chapter than compared to last chapter. I did feel like I kind of rushed the last chapter, and I still feel like I rushed this one :\.

Anyways, as always thanks for reading and please review!


Jaune was ready to leave his home once again. He had Crocea Mors strapped to his hip, his hunting knife strapped to his leg, a small bag containing a spare set of clothes, and he finally had a proper pair of pants again.

His family knew not to give Jaune anything too expensive to wear, knowing that such finery would soon be reduced to nothing but rags. Instead he wore a simple pair of jeans with a pair of converse shoes that Crystal claimed was coming back in style, and his lucky black hoodie.

He had sent in fifty box tops of Pumpkin Pete's cereal to get this hoodie, and it was lucky in that it he hadn't been wearing it in the explosion that had separated him from his family. Over his hoodie was his father's old armor. It had been something he had worn when he was around Jaune's age, a simple chest plate and shoulder guards. It was a little bit big now but Brun was sure Jaune would grow into it.

Jaune Arc was all set to leave.

There was just one little problem.

"I don't want you to leave…" Rouge whimpered as she clung tight to Jaune's neck. Today was Rouge's birthday, and for her birthday Jaune had given her the gift of him leaving and never coming back.

Maybe Rouge was being a bit dramatic.

Jaune hugged Rouge back, squishing her tiny frame into his.

"I'm sorry Rouge, but I have to…"

Around them were the rest of their family. It had only been a week since Jaune had gotten back and now he was leaving again. They were not pleased.

The person who it had arguably hit the most however was Rouge. Rouge had always been closest to Jaune, and his 'death' had hit her the hardest.

Now that Jaune was back from the dead, she wasn't going to ever let him go.

"Rouge…"

"No!" Rouge said as she burrowed even deeper into Jaune.

"Not even for your gift?" Jaune said, watching as Rouge perked up?

"...No…" Rouge said, her grip already loosening.

"It's a gooooood one…"

Rouge reluctantly let Jaune go, holding out her hand expectantly. She kept her head down, but her eyes shone from behind her bangs she pouted at her big brother.

Jaune pulled out a small slim box and placed it in Rouge's hands. It was simply wrapped with a small little bow on it.

It had only taken Jaune a few minutes to wrap, but it took Rouge only seconds to tear apart the meticulously wrapped gift.

.Rouge was left holding a simple doll of cloth and thread. It was small, it was slightly lopsided, and it was one of the ugliest things that any of the family had ever seen. But it was unmistakably a tiny little doll of Jaune, right down to the clothes he was wearing.

"I didn't really have much time and money, and I pretty much had to follow these step-by-step instructions from a kids sight, but it's the best I could do right now… and -ooof!"

Jaune was cut off from his ramblings by Rouge pulling him in close for another strangling hug.

"I love it…" she mumbled into his hoodie as Jaune wrapped her up in his arms.

"This way you always have a little me with you until I get back, okay?"

Rouge nodded her head as she snuggled deeper into Jaune's embrace.

"Okay…"

Jaune smiled as he hugged Rouge, a small content smile on his face.

"You know you still owe us like two years of gifts, right?"

Jaune's smile dropped off his face, replaced by a scowl.

'Dammit Crystal…'


The journey to Vale seemed much less daunting than the journey back home.

Brun Arc was a hunter with lots of experience, and with lots of experience came lots of friends and favors.

One of such friends was working on a cargo train crew that was headed to Vale, and had been more than happy to give Jaune a ride to Vale. There were only a few rules. Jaune was not to ask about the cargo, learn about the cargo, talk with any other of the crew members, or be seen.

It was around that moment that Jaune realized that he was being illegally smuggled into Vale.

Given that Jaune was also probably being hunted by a black ops military group, he felt that the need for secrecy made a certain bit of sense.

That was why Jaune was currently huddled over inside of a hidden smuggling compartment that his father's 'friend' had shoved him into.

It was hot, stuffy, and smelled of human waste and sadness. It had also been about 2 hours since Jaune had first been stuffed in there, and he refused to contribute to the smell. Luckily the compartment opened from the inside, giving Jaune ease of access to the rest of the train.

Jaune looked around. His eyes quickly getting used to the dark interior.

"Now where's that bathroom…"


Blake Belladonna, faunus, former White Fang terrorist, and lover of books and smut watched as her past faded away into the distance.

The Forever Fall was a beautiful backdrop, and Blake couldn't have asked for a more fitting one than the eternally red forest. She could still see her former partner in the distance, watching her as she watched him. He was standing on the other half of the train with a full shipment of dust, a train that Blake herself had split apart in order to say goodbye.

It had been a tough decision that had been debated again and again inside of her head. Adam had been getting increasingly worse, as had been the rest of White Fang. It had started out small. An accidental death here and there had changed into purposeful "regretful sacrifices" for the cause.

Blake still remembered what White Fang and Adam had stood for, and she wanted to leave before those memories were lost. That's why she had to leave, before the blood on her own hands became too much, before she couldn't look at herself in the mirror, before-

"Hey, do you know where the bathroom is?"

Blake whirled around, too caught up in her own thoughts to realize that someone had snuck up on her.

As her eyes settled on the new figure, they widened, panic settling into her brain.

Blonde hair and blue eyes stared back at her. The same blonde hair and blue eyes whose blood was the first to stain Blake's hands when everything had started going wrong.

She still remembered that day.


They were going to send a message.

A simple bombing. Destroying some Schnee dust supplies.

Her running through the streets, trying to escape the guards who had caught her and Adam, the

bomb still heavy in her bag.

It was her first time. She was clumsy.

A burning sensation on her side, a bullet just barely grazing her. A distraction.

The bag falls. Her eyes widen in shock as it comes to rest at the foot of a boy and a girl.

Bright blue eyes and blonde hair. An older brother and his sister.

She tells them to get away. They get the message too late.

The boy throws his sister to the side.

It's all the time he has.

An explosion.

The fire engulfs him.

She doesn't stop to look, can't afford to stop and look.

All she remembers is a pair of blue eyes.


Those same blue eyes that have haunted her for over two years. Those same blue eyes that are staring at her right now.

"Uhm… Are you o-"

Blake Belladonna panicked.

She thought she was just hallucinating, a culmination of all the stress she had been going through.

"Gah!" She yelped as she tried to push the eyes away, only to feel herself pushing away at clothe and flesh.

The rest of the features filled in. A boy roughly her age with short but still somehow unruly blonde hair wearing a black hoody and jeans. A boy that she had just pushed off a moving train.

"WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-"

His voice trailed off into distance as Blake stared in shock at what she had just done.

"There's no way that could have been him… There's no way that just happened right?" Blake said as he continued trying to rationalize what she had just seen.

There's no way that she had just murdered someone right? Not again? Not like last time.

That boy was dead. Dead and gone.

After all, the dead don't come back to life.


Jaune died.

Then he came back to life.

Then he died.

Then he came back to life again.

It turned out that the train had been crossing a particularly steep part of the terrain just then on the edge of the Forever Fall. What that meant was a lot of sharp rocks with jagged edges, and the occasional tree branch for him to fall onto.

He wasn't even entirely sure what had happened. One moment he had been asking this girl with cat ears where the bathroom was, the next moment he was flying through the air and off the train.

The first death was relatively quick and painless. He fell headfirst onto a rock, the blow cracking his skull open and smashing his brain as his lifeless body continued to flop down the mountainside.

He came too just as he flip-flopped into a tree, feeling it crack as he too tumbled away from it. He registered a searing pain in his stomach, causing him to look up as he continued to fall.

A small branch had pierced his stomach, before lodging onto a part of his intestine. When Jaune had continued falling, that particular organ had not gotten the memo. Instead it had stayed stuck to the branch, and the rest of his small intestine was now being pulled from his body like some kind of morbid magic trick.

The worst part was that meant there was already a hole in Jaune's lucky hoodie. It hadn't even lasted one day whole.

Jaune quickly unsheathed his hunting knife, cutting off his small intestine in annoyance as he continued to tumble and fall.

Sheathing his hunting knife, he let out a sigh.

He hoped the next death came quickly. This was getting tedious.

That thought made Jaune pause.

Since when did death become tedious for him? When had it become… normal?


The journey to Vale actually wasn't as bad as Jaune had expected. Especially considering that half way through he had been tossed off a moving train by a deranged cat girl.

He had been lucky however in where he had been pushed off the train. After falling for what felt like an hour, Jaune had finally landed in a quaint little town. A quaint little town with a working bullhead pilot who needed to go to Vale for supplies.

It looked like Jaune's lucky hoodie was finally working.

One short bullhead ride later and one visit to a trash can later, Jaune was finally at Vale.

It seemed slightly… anticlimactic. Especially his last journey.

Jaune wasn't going to look a gift horse in the eye however, and simply waved goodbye at the friendly bullhead pilot who had dropped him off.

Jaune looked warily off into the distance. He could see it from here. Beacon Tower, birthplace of huntsman and starting place for heroes. Just one more wall to overcome in order to get there.

He needed to ride one more airship. And this time, he wouldn't throw up!

With his mission set, Jaune walked up to the nearest ticketing booth he could find.

Oddly enough there was no one in line despite it being the middle of the day and the rest of the area bustling. He could hear a multitude of airships taking off and landing in the distance with giant crowds walking everywhere.

It certainly seemed a bit odd to Jaune, but Jaune wasn't going to complain. He had always hated lines.

The teller was an older man, complete with gray hair and spectacles. Aside from his hair however, the man did not look that old, with a slim body and a stern but young looking face. The teller sat in his booth, sipping coffee and idly reading from his scroll.

Jaune waited for the teller to look up from his scroll. Then he waited some more. Finally Jaune had enough.

"H-"

Right as Jaune began to speak however, the teller looked up, a glint in his eye making it look like he had just won some sort of unspoken contest.

"Can I help you?"

Caught off guard, Jaune stumbled with his words slightly as the teller set his coffee mug down and stared him down.

"I.. uh… I need to make it up to Beacon?"

The teller simply gave him a bored look as he went back to his coffee and his reading.

"No one's allowed up except students and authorized personnel."

"But I need to talk to Ozpin!"

This caught the teller's attention, the scroll and the coffee mug once more settling onto the table.

"Oh? And why would you need to do that?"

"Uh…" Jaune really wasn't sure where to go here.

'Because I'm immortal? Because I was just broken out of a secret military installation and needed his help? Wait, that's it!'

"Qrow told me to come here." Jaune said confidently, sure that it would convince the teller to get him to Beacon.

The teller's bored look came back on his face.

"And who… is Qrow?"

"Qrow…" Jaune's voice trailed off as his eyes slowly widened. Of all the stupid things he could have done, Jaune would never have expected he'd forgotten Qrow's last name.

'He was literally the first person you talked to after two years! How do you not remember his name! Stupid Stupid stupidstupidstupid!'

Jaune had no choice, he had to take a shot in the dark.

"Qrow…. Drunkguy?"

Despite Qrow having not drank anything in front of Jaune, the smell of alcohol was still heavy on the stubbled man. Maybe the alcohol was simply stuck to his stubble.

"Qrow Drunkguy." The teller repeated slowly, staring at Jaune with a blank look on his face.

'Remember Jaune. All you need is confidence!'

"Yes. Qrow Drunkguy," Jaune said as he nodded. The teller just stared at him. The stare went on for a few more uncomfortable seconds, before finally the teller shrugged.

"Okay." The teller said as he began to type something into his scroll.

'That… worked?' Jaune couldn't quite believe it, but he wasn't going to argue with results.


One Bullhead ride and one more vomiting session out of the way, Jaune was at Beacon.

Beacon, school for hunters and huntresses, bastion against the darkness that is the Grimm.

Jaune never thought he'd actually manage to ever make it Beacon. Then again he hadn't made it here as a student so he guessed it didn't count. He'd take what he could get.

Jaune walked the long entry way towards the giant tower rising up in the distance. If he had to make a guess, that giant tower was probably where he needed to go. He had read enough comics and watched enough television to know that the boss was always in the giant tower. Always.

"Stop!" a woman's voice rang out, as Jaune froze mid step. Something in that woman's voice simply sent a shiver up his spine as if promising a world of hurt if he did not listen.

His head slowly turned to face where the voice had come from. A blonde woman slowly stalked towards him, her heels clicking on the stone floor. Her outfit practically screamed teacher. Glasses? Check. Blonde hair done up in a no-nonsense bun? Check. Skirt and heels? Check. White blouse open to show cleavage with a black corset, a riding crop, and a cape? Check?

Admittedly the last few things that registered in Jaune's brain didn't quite fit, however Jaune was too busy trying not to get smited by the approaching woman. He had never been smited before. He didn't even know how one was supposed to smite someone, but he had the strange feeling that this woman would somehow manage it.

"What are you doing here? This place is off limits to everyone except for students."

Jaune unconsciously felt himself standing up straighter. He may have even popped off a salute.

"Ma'am I'm here to talk to Ozpin ma'am!"

'Dammit! Too many ma'ams!'

Jaune could somehow tell that his constant use of ma'am had also managed to irritate the riding-crop-wielding teacher.

"Ozpin?" she muttered before something rang out on her scroll.

"Excuse me," she said as she pulled out the scroll, reading its contents before her eyebrows shot up. She glanced up at Jaune before looking back down at her scroll.

"What the hell are you planning Ozpin…" she muttered as Jaune looked on in confusion.

"Ma'am?"

She glared at Jaune and he went rigid, back as straight as possible.

"Just… follow me." she said with an exasperated sigh as she turned and walked off.

Jaune simply shrugged and followed along. He hadn't been smited yet. No reason to get smited now.


The elevator ride was… interesting…

"So… do you come here often?" Jaune asked, sending a sidelong glance at the clearly irritated blonde teacher.

"Yes"

"Oh… Cool" Jaune said as he let the conversation die. The blonde teacher was certainly pretty, Jaune even dared to say beautiful, but she scared the actual bejeezus out of him. Jaune hadn't used bejeezus to describe anything before, but somehow it felt …fitting.

Finally the elevator came to a slow stop and Jaune let out a sigh

'Oh thank Oum'

The woman beside him snapped her head to look at him.

"I said that out loud didn't I…" Jaune said as he averted his eyes.

She simply nodded as she walked out of the quickly opening doors.

Jaune simply sighed again as he also walked out. So far his first visit to Beacon was not going like he had expected it to.

"Ah thank you Glynda for escorting our guest up here. I feared he would have gotten lost otherwise."

Jaune's head snapped up. He recognized that voice.

"Just tell me what this is about Ozpin" the now named Glynda said as she walked over to the singular desk in the room. Clockwork gears made up the large window behind the desk, offering an impressive view of the mountains surrounding Vale.

Jaune ignored these impressive sights however to focus on the figure sitting at the desk. It was the teller from Vale. The teller from Vale was Ozpin. The teller from Vale also known as Ozpin had sent him on an entire Bullhead and vomit ride just to get here.

Juniper and Brun had taught their children never to judge someone based on first meetings. First meetings were often out of control and you could never gain the good measure of a person in such a short time. As this was the second meeting however, Jaune felt pretty safe in saying that he was beginning to hate Ozpin. Or at least mildly dislike.

"Welcome Mr. Arc," Ozpin said with that same goddamn mug in his hand. "I believe you were looking for me?"

Jaune just gaped as Ozpin calmly took another sip of his coffee.

"You're Ozpin?! Why were you even working in Vale?" Jaune said as he pointed his finger accusingly at the grey-haired fraud.

"I was waiting for you Mr. Arc." That stopped Jaune in his tracks.

"What? You were waiting for me?"

Ozpin nodded. "Yes. Qrow informed me of your… condition."

This time Glynda chimed in. " You mean?"

Yet another nod from Ozpin. "Yes. This is Jaune Arc, apparent immortal."

Glynda shot a quizzical look at Jaune, not quite believing what she was hearing. This was the immortal? He was just a boy, a scrawny and very awkward boy.

Jaune caught Glynda's look. She wasn't convinced. He drew his sword, noting the two of them stiffen once he raised it up to his neck. Seeing was believing after all.

'Meh, there'll probably be a lot of blood but it'll probably wash out, right?'

As Jaune prepared to behead himself however, the two professors finally caught onto what was happening.

The moment Jaune had tried to properly decapitate himself, he found he couldn't move his sword. Thinking he caught it on something, he looked at it only to see it was covered in a strange light.

"That's new,"Jaune said before he looked over at the two professors. Ozpin had rise slightly out of his seat, hand clenched on his cane. Glynda had her riding crop pointed at him and the riding crop was… glowing?

'Ah' Jaune thought as he connected two and two together. Glynda had stopped him.

"Uhm… Don't you want to see the whole immortality thing? No reason to lose your heads over it. If one of you could help me though that'd be great! It's actually really hard to decapitate yourself on your own."

"It's fine Mr. Arc, I believe you," Ozpin said as he settled back into his seat, one crisis averted. All that blood would have been impossible to clean up. That and having child decapitate themselves in your office probably wasn't good for one's sanity.

"Now then, what can I do for you?"

Jaune sheathed his blade as he began to shift in place. He never liked having to ask for help.

"Qrow said that you could help with my …condition. Maybe figure out what's going on with me? Or at least help keep me and my family safe. I don't want to wake up in some weirdo's basement again."

Ozpin nodded thoughtfully as he listened to Jaune.

"I see… Do you mind if I ask you a question first Mr. Arc?" Ozpin asked as he finally settled his coffee mug onto the table.

"Uh… Yeah sure. Whatever you need."

Ozpin stared into Jaune's eyes, as if trying to discern something that couldn't be seen.

"Doesn't it bother you?"

Jaune didn't quite know how to respond. "Doesn't what bother me?"

Ozpin and Glynda shared a look, as if seeing something that Jaune didn't.

"Doesn't it bother you when you die? Doesn't it bother you when you take your life like that?"

'Huh. Haven't actually thought about it before'

Jaune really hadn't. He didn't know when he stopped thinking about it. At this point dying was like eating or breathing to him. It just sort of… happened.

"Uhm. Not really. I mean if you're asking if I'm scared or anything not really. I guess I'm just… used to dying at this point."

The moment Jaune said those words, Ozpin and Glynda shared a look. It was a look that Jaune almost hadn't recognized, having not seen it in so long. It was pity. They pitied him.

Why Jaune had no idea but he wasn't going to argue if pity helped keep him and his family safe.

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, his face blank. Jaune began to fidget whereas Glynda simply sighed and began to rub her temples. Whenever Ozpin was like this, he was going to say something that would give her a headache for the rest of the day.

"Mr. Arc… How would you like to become a student of this school?"


A/N: Who saw that coming? Everyone right?

Anyways toodles!