A/N: So it looks like this will probably be about the update schedule for now. A little bit longer than before, but probably still a bit less than a week. So… pretty much at random and whenever I feel like it…. XP

A few people have recommended switching up the teams, but I'll be honest. I like the original teams and I sort of already have things planned out for it. Some sad things. Some funny things.

Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!


"We are not heroes Jaune"

His father was right.

His father was right and it hurt more than Jaune had thought it would.

His eyes locked onto the girl in red falling towards the earth.

'I need to help her! I should help her! I have to help her!"

Jaune did nothing.

'If I could just catch her…'

Her fall would be broken by his body, possibly killing him.

'So what? It's not like I wouldn't just come back to life.'

Everyone there would see. Pyrrha would see. She would see that she had a monster as a partner.

'So she'd see that I'm immortal. It's not like that would change anything would it?'

Verdan and Clover came into Jaune's mind, still staring at him with an unspeakable fear in their eyes.

'Pyrrha could be different right? There's always the chance…'

Ozpin had told him to keep his immortality secret.

'That's just an excuse. What am I so afraid of?'

Eyes full of fear stared back at him.

'Am I really going to just sit back and watch Ruby fall? Just so I don't risk hurting my feelings?'

A ball of shame coiled in his stomach. Jaune didn't think he could feel shame.

Ruby was close now. She was close enough for Jaune to see the whites of her eyes, the fear in her eyes. Eyes full of fear that Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was responsible for. Eyes full of fear that hurt so much more than those he had seen look at him before.

All of the sudden, Ruby's fall jerked to a halt. "Hurk!" Ruby's cloak stretched and yanked Ruby back up slightly, effectively stopping her in place. A familiar red and gold spear had appeared stuck in Ruby's cloak, piercing the tree behind her.

"Wow! Ren did you see that? Pyrrha that was amazing!"

Jaune turned around to see Pyrrha with a satisfied smirk on her face. Her arm was still outstretched, having thrown the spear that had saved Ruby from having a very hard meeting with the ground.

"Oh my god Ruby!" Yang had already managed to climb the tree that Ruby was hanging from, freeing her from the tree in record time. "What the hell were you doing?" The two of them climbed back down the tree as Ruby tried to explain.

"Well you see Weiss and I were walking along and all of a sudden this huge nevermore came out of nowhere. And the- Thanks for the save!" Ruby waved excitedly at Pyrrha as Yang handed back her spear.

"Ruby focus!"

"Right! Anyways! It chased us all over the place so we kinda sorta… ended up climbing onto it… and then it took off."

"Ren! Everyone is riding something cooler than me! Find me a dragon Grimm!"

"Nora please…"

"Then I ended up jumping off and… here I am!" Ruby finished her story with a shrug of her shoulders, a sheepish grin on her face. She fidgeted with her cloak, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Wait Ruby… If you were riding it with Weiss… Where's Weiss?"

Everyone stared at Blake, before the color drained from Ruby's face.

"Oh…" Ruby said as she slowly looked upwards. Everyone else's eyes slowly followed hers.

Weiss was falling. Specifically Weiss was falling towards the ground.

"Pyrrha! Can you get her too?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "There's nothing around for me to pin her to!"

Jaune started running as soon as Pyrrha shook her head.

He had stood by when Ruby was falling. He never wanted to feel that shame again of just being a bystander who did nothing.

He had covered the ground faster than he had thought possible, he could feel his legs and lungs burning but he simply paid them no mind. He had felt worse.

His sprint ended with a final leap, covering the last bit of ground just in time as Jaune reached out his arms in an attempt to catch Weiss. Arms that he knew would probably snap from the impact.

Jaune watched as his arms reached out to where Weiss would land… and then past it.

'Dammi-' "OOF"

Jaune felt Weiss crash into his spine, using his body as a cushion as the two of them slammed into the ground. He let out a low groan as he heard Weiss make a similar noise of discomfort. Something felt wrong however…

"Ugh… my spine…"

"What … kind of catch… was that?"

"One with my spine… Why can I still feel my legs?"

"Aura you dolt."

"Riiiiiiiiiight…."

Jaune internally smacked himself on the head. He had totally forgotten about aura. Aura that shielded and protected him. He would have kept on internally berating himself, but there was something more important on hand.

"Hey Snow Angel."

Weiss glared at him, stifling a "shut up" only because he was still lying on the ground from where she had just landed on him. Her glare quickly turned into a look of concern. He had just turned himself into a cushion for her after all. "What?"

"Nice of you to… drop in."

Weiss kicked him.

"I didn't think that you'd actually… fall for me."

Weiss kicked him again. This time a grudging smile on her face. 'At least the idiot is fine…'

"Who knew you had a ...crush on me." Jaune wheezed out a breath as he finished, his aura already fixing his slightly bruised ribs.

Pyrrha buried her face in her hands, before stifling a giggle. Nora had no intentions of hiding her giggles, whilst Ren and Blake simply groaned. Yang was still busy checking on Ruby.

Weiss lifted her leg for another kick, before stopping. Her gaze centered in on someone, and her eyes narrowed.

"You!"

"Eep!"

Ruby hid behind Yang as Weiss stepped around the still fallen Jaune and stalked towards her target.

"How could you leave me up there! I could have died you imbecile! What were you thinking?!"

"I-I…. I told you to jump…" Ruby said, easily cowed by the older girl's ranting. Jaune could practically see her shrinking into her cloak, seeking from sort of comfort from the cloth surrounding her. Luckily for her, a certain older sister wasn't quite in the mood to see her younger sister get a verbal tongue lashing.

"He-"

*CRASH*

The sound of falling trees interrupted Yang. As one their eyes went to the treeline, straining to see what was rampaging its way through the forest.

"Oh crap." Yang's eyes widened as a deathstalker came bursting from the foliage. An oddly familiar deathstalker took one last swing at an errant tree, before its scuttling resumed.

"It's coming right at us!" Blake drew Gambol Shroud as she turned to run. A blur of red shot past her, followed by Yang's hand missing the ends of a flowing red cloak!

"I got this!" Ruby shot forwards, moving so fast she turned into a running red blur with rose petals in her wake. Crescent Rose arced behind her, its blade at the ready. Jaune's eyes could barely keep up with her.

"How's she so fast?!" Jaune's jaw dropped as he tried to track Ruby with his eyes.

Yang could only grit her teeth, before chasing after her. She knew she couldn't catch up. "It's her semblance. Lets her zip around with all those little rose petals behind her." Yang ran as fast as she could, but she knew better. Ruby was on her own for now.

"Wow…" Jaune said. Ruby was already practically right next to the deathstalker. No one else even had time to move. Her scythe rose high in the air, preparing to slash downwards and drive its point deep into the deathstalker's brain. "Uh oh…"

"What?" Pyrrha looked at Jaune, wondering what he was so worried about.

"Ruby's in trouble." Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose with both hands before leaping into the air. Her dash carried her forward, the deathstalker raising its claws a second too late.

Pyrrha realized why the moment Ruby's scythe slammed into the Grimm's skull.

"Gah!" Ruby felt her scythe bounce off the Grimm's hardened armor and fly free from her hands. There was nary a mark on its carapace as its claws came up around Ruby. Her eyes widened as she watched the pincers begin to tighten around her.

Jaune eyed the person chasing after Ruby. Yang was too far away.

Ice snapped over the Grimm's claws, preventing it from closing. Then a torrent of ice froze forward, barring the Grimm's path.

Weiss stood there, an elegant rapier in her hand. The point was still stabbed forwards towards the Grimm, frost still settling on its blade.

Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she fell to the ground. She turned to Weiss, a big grin on her face. "Thanks Weiss!"

Her grin quickly froze as soon as she saw the frosty stare being directed at her. Weiss glared at Ruby, the point of her sword lowered, but her grip still firm. "Don't leave me behind like that again! If we're going to be partners you're going to have to start listening!"

Ruby picked up Crescent Rose, a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm sorry Weiss... But you care! You really do care!"

Weiss opened her mouth, only for Ruby to be swept up in a Yang-hug before being dropped back onto her feet. "Ruby! What did I tell you about doing stupid things like that!"

"Uhm… Don't do them?"

"Right! Don't do them!"

"Uh… what should we do about the frozen deathstalker?"

Weiss, Ruby, and Yang turned to look at the apparent voice of reason who had pointed out the big frozen deathstalker in the room. Blake kept her eyes trained on the Grimm scorpion. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren came up behind her, their eyes also on the frozen spectacle.

"I can't hold it for long. Anyone have any ideas?" Weiss looked critically at her ice. It was alright for a rush job, but the frozen prison was already cracking. The scorpion would soon be free.

Surprisingly it was the youngest of the group that spoke up. "Let's just grab the relics and run. There's no reason to fight it right?"

"Ruby's right. Let's get out of here!" Jaune had finally found his voice after watching Weiss encase the scorpion in ice.

'Wow… Ruby's super fast… Weiss is apparently a wizard and Pyrrha's some sort of amazing warrior. And me? … I'm just really good at dying… Woo….'

Agreeing with Ruby and Jaune, everyone turned tail and ran towards the forest ruins. Ruby was naturally there first, rose petals still in her wake. Golden chess pieces sat upon various pedestals. "Probably the relic's…" Ruby grabbed one right as she heard a cracking of ice.

The deathstalker was free.

"Run away!" Ruby cried as she ran with Weiss hot on her heels.

Nora was next, her eyes narrowing in on a golden rook. "Look Ren! I'm queen of the castle!"

"Please Nora not now!" The raven haired boy briefly manhandled the girl, shoving her in the direction that Ruby had already started running.

"Aw Renny! Don't be such a spoilsport! I had a song ready and everything!"

"I'll listen to it later Nora! Please we have to run!"

Pyrrha was the last to grab a piece, everyone else already running after Ruby. Blake and Yang had presumably grabbed their relic beforehand.

"Jaune! I've got it. Let's g-"

Pyrrha turned around only for her partner to be nowhere in sight. "Whe-" Her eyes quickly found him. Right in front of the rampaging deathstalker. His back was facing her, but she could see that he had already drawn Crocea Mors. The sheathe stayed at his hip, sword held with the point low.

"Jaune what are you doing?!"

"It's fine Pyrrha! Go on ahead."

The red-haired girl couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Go ahead? What are you talking about Jaune! Let's go!" She shot a quick glance at the rest of their group. Ren and Nora each shot a glance back at the two of them, their stride beginning to slow.

Jaune did not turn to look at her, waving a hand dismissively at her. He spoke with a distracted voice, his mind clearly on something else. "It'll be fine Pyrrha. That giant bird thing is still circling around and I don't want to get stuck between the two of them."

Pyrrha sputtered as she watched Jaune wave her off. She was… She was…! She was indignant! How dare he! Who was he to just wave her off like that?!

She drew Milo with a rasp, a growl in her throat as she stalked to stand beside Jaune.

Jaune shot Pyrrha a glance, a questioning look on his face. "Uh… Pyrrha? I-"

Pyrrha cut him off. "Shut. Up. Jaune."

Jaune made a zipping motion with his hand as the two of them faced down the rapidly approaching giant scorpion.

It's mandibles twitched together furiously, a mad light glinting in its multitude of glowing red eyes. It's maw opened to-*BOOM*- promptly explode in a pink explosion.

"Oh no you don't Jauney Pants! Don't think you're going to go and ride more deathstalkers without me and Ren!"

Jaune and Pyrrha turned in surprise to see Nora holding a grenade launcher. Ren stood beside her, two pistols with blades for handguards in his hands.

"We believed you might need some assistance." Ren nodded at Pyrrha and Jaune as they nodded back. "The others went ahead to find cover and deal with the Nevermore."

Jaune turned back to face the scorpion, the smoke already clearing.

'Since when were explosions pink?'

"Thanks for the help you guys." Jaune took a step forward, his sword still low and held in a loose grip. He looked around at those with him. This was new. He wasn't really used to fighting with others. He also wasn't used to fighting without dying. Not dying would be… weird.

What was also weird, was the fact that everyone else was still looking at him. Like they were waiting for something. Jaune was feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

"What's the plan Jaune?"

"What." This was weird.


Ruby had a plan. In her own opinion, it was a genius plan. Weiss didn't share the same opinion.

"Ruby… this plan is stupid…"

"Please Weiss! This plan is genius!"

They had finally been cornered by the nevermore. It had struck right as they had reached another set of ruins, this time built into the middle of a gorge. In front of them there was a single high cliff wall, blocking their way. Behind them had been a singular bridge which had connected the ruins they were standing on to the rest of the forest. A bridge that the nevermore had just destroyed.

The situation had looked dire, the bird too swift and far away for any of their attacks to reach, whether it be bullet or magic.

Then Ruby had a plan.

Blake had unraveled a long ribbon from Gambol Shroud, a ribbon that was currently stretched between two pillars and held taut by both her and Yang. The center of the ribbon had pulled back, held in place by one of Weiss's glyphs. And Ruby?

"Ruby… you're sitting in the middle of a giant slingshot."

"Genius! ...You can make the shot right?"

Weiss simply let out a "hmph", as if insulted that Ruby would even ask such a question. The giant nevermore that was stalking them flew into view.

'As if I could miss'

Weiss released her glyph, and watched as Ruby passed through several more of her glyphs. Each time she passed through the glowing runes, she sped up, until finally she was nothing but a red blur.

Crescent Rose was angled low as Ruby flew straight towards the nevermore.

'This is the best idea ever!'

Ruby tightened her grip, preparing to catch the nevermore's neck in the crook of her scythe.

"Hi Ruby!"

"J-Jaune?!"

Ruby could only watch as Jaune came flying through the air… straight into the nevermore's open mouth.

"Jaune!"

The nevermore had barely closed it's mouth however, before it started choking. It began with a hacking cough, effectively halting its flight. Ruby flew past the nevermore, narrowly missing the bird-like creature as it continued to choke in mid-air.

Off in the distant, she could hear Weiss yelling. "I missed?!"

Ruby slammed into the nearby cliff face, Crescent Rose digging into the earthen wall and holding her in place. She looked back to find the nevermore still choking. In fact it was so distracted by its choking, that it had not noticed that it instead of flying, it was falling downwards.

Downwards into the gorge.

Ruby could only watch as Jaune, Grimm and all, fell into the dark depths. The dark nevermore quickly disappeared, its black body blending into the shadowy depths of the gorge.

"Jaune?"


-A few minutes prior-

For Jaune's first 'plan', he thought it had been going alright.

"Ren! Circle around behind! Hit and run. Pyrrha! Shoot it in the eyes! Nora!"

"Yes sir!"

Jaune looked at the grenade launcher in her hands. "Hit it really hard."

Nora looked at Jaune for a brief moment, before a manic grin came on her face. "Yes sir, Jaune sir!"

He rolled his eyes at the hyper girl's response. 'Maybe this will work out after all…'

Jaune stepped forward towards the deathstalker as Ren blurred off to the side. Pyrrha's sword had somehow turned into a rifle - which Jaune just thought was unfair when he was stuck with a weird sheath-shield- and had settled into a shooting stance.

A shot rang out, easily taking out one of the deathstalker's eyes. It flinched backwards, allowing Ren to briefly latch onto its tail, slicing away at the scorpion's bulb, before jumping away.

Pyrrha fired off one last shot, taking out another eye. Jaune was closing in and she wanted to watch. Ren settled in behind the deathstalker, curious but also ready to pounce if things got hairy.

'There.' Jaune had just stepped in range of the deathstalker's pincers. The scorpion, seeing that Jaune was close enough, lashed out with one claw. It's gargantuan pincers neared Jaune, preparing to crush his body.

Then Jaune tripped.

*GASP*

Pyrrha heard Nora gasp, and saw Ren stiffen. She knew what they were thinking. They thought that Jaune was a goner.

The pincer clicked shut harmlessly in front of Jaune, his stumble stopping him from walking into the scorpion's grasp.

"Phew…. That was a close one…" Nora let out a big sigh clearly relieved their apparent leader had not already kicked the bucket. Ren also relaxed, thinking their worries were over. Pyrrha knew better.

The second claw swung in from the side, intent on fixing the previous claw's mistakes. Jaune took a step back, slipped, and fell onto his butt. *GASP* The claw arced towards his head- "Phew…"-only to the miss as Jaune's fall also made him roll onto his back.

The scorpion's tail flex in preparation to strike at Jaune's prone body- *GASP*- only to narrowly miss the clumsy young man by a hairsbreadth when he rolled onto his side. "Pheeeeeeeewww…."

Then Jaune wrapped an arm around the tail of the Grimm, the tail drawing back up and lifting Jaune with it. *GASP* Jaune then proceeded to finally use his sword, a clumsy chop with Crocea Mors still somehow managing to strike accurately, lopping off the giant scorpion's stinger. "Pheeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww…. Pyrrha… make it stop…. My heart…"

Pyrrha felt sympathy for Nora. She had gone through the exact same thing with Jaune when he had somehow climbed onto a deathstalker to ride it. Pyrrha couldn't help but admire Jaune's awkward and fumbling way of fighting. It was… oddly endearing. It really seemed to match the boy.

The stinger fell towards the ground, falling into and piercing the Grimm's bone-white exoskeleton. "Hit it hard Nora!" Jaune yelled out at Nora as he continued to dangle from the tail, his grip still firm.

"Okie dokie Jaune! Pyrrha give me a lift!"

Jaune's eyes bugged out as he saw what Nora was carrying and what she was doing. He had thought she had a grenade launcher. Apparently that grenade launcher was also a hammer.

Pyrrha held her shield up, providing a platform for Nora to jump onto, before pulling a trigger on her hammer. Pyrrha jumped up with the ensuing blast, sending Nora flying high into the air.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…" Jaune kept on repeating as he saw Nora finally come arcing down.

"Nora! Wai-"

*SMASH*

Nora came down like a thunderbolt, her hammer slamming the stinger into and through the deathstalker, before caving in the rest of the Grimm's head.

Jaune felt the rest of the creature's body convulse, stiffening for a brief moment upon death. It's muscles spasmed, tightening as much as possible in some vain attempt to escape death. Jaune felt the tail, the rest of the Grimm's body also flipping forward.

He felt himself start flying.

The tail and the force of Nora's hammer swing sent him flying away into the air, Crocea Mors flying from his grasp. It arced lazily through the air, before slamming point down into the ground near Pyrrha. She briefly stared at the sword, before looking back up to follow the trail her partner had taken.

Nora and Ren walked up beside her, also watching Jaune fly away.

"He'll be fine right?"


Ozpin rubbed his temples as he looked at his video feed.

"Glynda?"

"Hmmm?"

"Could you please go retrieve Mr. Arc?"

"Hmmm…."

"Thank you Glynda."


A/N: This chapter took some doing. I rewrote the beginning a few times and I'm still not sure if I'm happy about it…

Anyways thanks for reading! Merry Christmas everyone! Hopefully I'll update again before then.