Unraveling the Knight

Jaune awoke the next morning in his bed, thoroughly confused. The last thing he remembered was being up on the roof by himself. When did he get back to his dorm? But the more dire question was: Why did he feel fine?

Even before coming to Beacon, he had been feeling agonizing hunger that was barely curbed by coffee. He would have to deal with that pain from the moment he woke up, up until he passed out that night, just to wake up to that pain and do it all over again. But this morning, he felt nothing. No pain. Just his body feeling…satisfied.

That's when the fog of his mind cleared and his eyes widened. He remembered. He remembered the Ghoul somehow showing up again and everything it had said to him. Then how Cardin had overheard 'them' and tried to use him, again. That's when the Ghoul spoke again and everything went black. All that added up to only one solution and it made his stomach turn.

He quickly threw his blankets off of himself and ran to the bathroom. He got to the sink and started to splash water on his face. It did little to help and he felt himself start to gag at the reality he faced. He placed his hand over his mouth and felt himself about to be sick. That was until he spoke up, "Don't even think about it."

Jaune looked into the mirror and saw the Ghoul leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom. He had his arms crossed and was giving him a serious look. But for once, his white hair wasn't blocking his eyes, so he could see the almost demonic orbs looking back at him. "I did not put all that in us, just so you could spit it back up."

Jaune just stared at him through the mirror. He had a feeling if he turned around, the Ghoul would just move out of his line of sight. He spoke up in a hoarse voice, "So, you actually did it. You killed Cardin and…"

"Devoured him. Yeah. Along with the rest of his team." He then reflexively popped his index finger. It made Jaune shudder slightly. "They tasted like shit, by the way. Especially, Cardin."

"I don't want to hear about it." Jaune said with venom in his voice. He looked back into the sink, "If anyone finds out what you did, it'll be over for me." He was shaking as he was speaking.

"Calm down. I'm a predator, so I know exactly how to hunt my prey. No one was close enough to hear what happened. Plus I used our Kagune, not Crocea Mors, so they will have no way of knowing it was you." Jaune looked up and saw that he was off the doorframe. "Just enjoy the fact you aren't agonizing over your hunger. No one will miss them and those that do, aren't our problem."

Jaune scowled at his apathy and turned to scream at him but when he turned, he was gone again. He looked around but didn't see him anywhere. He sighed and relaxed just the smallest amount. He had no idea why the Ghoul was back. He was sure he locked him away in the recesses of his mind, for good. But either way, he had to make sure he stayed like that, he couldn't just lose control and let him out again. Who knew how many people he would kill if he did. He just shook his head and took a shower to try to clear his thoughts.

Try being the key word. His mind was nowhere close to clear. Just the fact that it happened again sickened him. He swore that after what happened to his family, he would never allow himself to fall to those urges again. But all it took was one push, just one little jab by Cardin and that was it. But the real problem was the one that hadn't truly sunken in yet. He had killed four people. Even if the Ghoul was the one that did it, it was still him that did it. He may not remember what happened right now, but he would. It always happened. The memories from the Ghoul would always drift into him. Usually in the form of nightmares. So, it would only be a matter of time before he would know what had happened and be further tortured by it.

He punched the shower wall, shattering several tiles. He took several deep breaths before he pulled his fist free. He looked to see it was virtually fine, besides a few small cuts on his knuckles but they quickly started to heal. But not from his aura. He sighed, 'I guess that is what he meant by being the best of both. My aura will still protect me but even if something bypasses it, my body will just heal because of my Ghoul biology.'

He flexed his fingers a bit and just stared at his hand. Even if it was only a few hours, the flesh he had eaten was already bringing his body back to what it was. Before, his body felt slow and weak. But now, it felt back to 'normal'. Meaning he was now four times stronger and faster than most people, minimum. He clenched his fist in anger and disgust. 'Only 'bright' side is because of that, I'll have a few months before my body starts deteriorating again. That'll give me some time to figure out what to do next. About how I'll survive. And my future here.' With that last dreary thought and an exhausted sigh, he shut off the shower and went to change into his uniform.

After he was dressed, he made his way to the cafeteria. That's where he expected to find his team, it wasn't uncommon for him to be the last one up and to meet them later. As he was making his way there, he saw several students walking around and whispering about random subjects. He ignored it. It wasn't his business anyways.

When he finally walked into the cafeteria, he quickly found where his team and RWBY were sitting. He silently made his way over to get a cup of coffee and sat down besides his partner. "Morning, guys." Was all he said as he took a sip from his coffee. It was practically the only human thing his body wouldn't reject.

They all returned his greeting before Pyrrha looked at him confused. "Where's your breakfast, Jaune?"

He only shrugged, "Not really hungry. Coffee is really all I need right now."

She just continued to look at him, "That's not really healthy."

"I'll be fine. I know what my body can or can't do."

It looked like she was going to say something else. But she was interrupted when someone jumped on his back, shouting his name. He would've gone face first into the table if it wasn't for the fact that his body was sturdier now. He sat up straighter with a tired sigh, "Yes, Nora, what is it?"

The cheery bomber on his back quickly replied, "What did you do to your hair?!"

That got the other six to stare at the two of them. Jaune raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder to barely see her. "Wait, what's wrong with my hair?"

He then felt her place her hand on the back of his head and gently taking some of it between her two fingers. "A few locks back here are white."

Jaune went rigid and his eyes went wide, "W-what?" he asked weakly.

"Your hair is white back here. Hold on, I'll show you." Nora moved around on his back for a bit before her hand reached around and showed him her scroll. On it was a picture of the back of his head and true to her word, several locks of his hair were stark white.

Jaune was just frozen. He had flashes of the last time his hair was that color. Screams, the sounds of battle, breaking of bones and the ripping of limbs. Then flashes of the cold, dead eyes of all of his victims. His breathing became shallow and he started to sweat slightly, 'No. No. This can't be happening. Not again!' He was practically screaming in his mind.

He was pulled from his breakdown when a hand grabbed his shoulder, "Jaune?" His head whipped to the side to see Pyrrha looking ta him in concern, "What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he was calm again, he opened them and saw everyone a the table looking at him. He put on a tired smile, "Sorry, guys. Just…the white hair brought up some bad memories."

Yang gained a smirk, "Flashbacks to all the times Ice Queen here rejected you." She jabbed her thumb towards Weiss who gave an indignant 'Hey!'

Jaune felt his right eye twitch slightly and a pang go through his heart. 'First thing in the morning and I'm already a joke, huh?' He sighed and closed his eyes as he brought up his mug to his lips. "No. Just some very painful memories." His voice was neutral and cold. They all just stared as he drank his coffee.

He placed his mug back down but kept his eyes closed. He then brought his fist up to rest his chin on as he just tired to relax. Around that time, Nora got off his back and they resumed whatever they were talking about beforehand. He tuned them out and when he thought he'd be okay, he spoke up again. "What did I tell you, Jaune? You almost have a panic attack and they make a joke outta you. Good friends there, huh?"

"Shut it." Jaune mumbled under his breath.

He just heard the Ghoul chuckle, "You know I'm right. Why else would you just shut down the conversation like that, instead of smiling and shrug it off like usual?" Jaune tensed up slightly at that. "You know it now. I ripped off those rose-tinted glasses you loved to wear and now you see them for what they are."

"Shut. Up." Jaune spoke under his breath. "Get back in your cage."

There was a silence and Jaune thought he'd done it. Until his hand was on top of his head, "Here's a question you need to ask yourself, Jaune. If you wanted me in that cage…" He then heard him finish in a whisper, "Why aren't I in it already?"

Jaune opened his eyes and the feeling on top of his head vanished along with the Ghoul. He didn't move after that just stared across and out the window in front of him. His eyes were looking but he wasn't seeing anything. His mind was just going over what he had just heard and how much truth were actually in those words.

Unbeknownst to him, Blake was looking over the top of her book and at him. She had a frown on her face, but thanks to said book, it was hidden. No one else had heard it but she did. Who was Jaune talking to and what exactly was he talking about? She wouldn't normally think about this but she thought she understood enough about Jaune and he never spoke to himself before. At least not like he was having an actual conversation.

Before she could ask him or even think of what to do about what she overheard, an announcement was heard throughout the cafeteria. It was Miss Goodwitch, "Attention students. All students are to gather in the amphitheater in twenty minutes. Repeat, all students to the amphitheater in twenty minutes." All the people in the cafeteria looked at each other and murmuring was starting to come from everywhere. Jaune and his friends quickly finished their meals, or in Jaune's case coffee, and quickly made their way to the amphitheater.

When they arrived they were greeted to seeing Ozpin and the rest of Beacon's professors on the stage with grave looks. Once every student was inside, Ozpin stepped up to the mic and spoke in a tired voice, "Today, students, marks a sad day for us all. This morning, Professor Port found the grizzly discovery of a team of first years on Beacon grounds. Dead."

Hushed whispers went throughout the students besides Jaune, who went rigid and his mind started to panic. Ozpin cleared his throat and all the students turned back to the headmaster. "The team in question was Team CRDL. I know many of you had mixed feelings for those four young men, but that does not change the fact that four lights were snuffed out before their time. We have investigated and have concluded that their assailant could be an unknown Grimm."

That got the attention of every student, including Jaune. "The wounds that they all sustained don't match any weapon we've seen before. And along with the detail that they were eaten after their demises, it would be safe to assume, it was not human."

'Well, he's not wrong.' Jaune thought to himself.

"With that all said, we have decided to cancel classes for the day while we, the professors, search for this Grimm. Any fourth years that wish to help can stay here for assignments. The rest of you, we ask that you stay within the main buildings of Beacon and a curfew will be put in place for after dark. This creature is highly dangerous and we wish to not lose any more students. Any student that is found breaking these new rules will be punished severely."

He let them all soak in his words before he finished, "You all are free to do as you like for the rest of the day. But I would like for all of us to have a moment of silence for those four young men. You may have not liked them but no one deserve the fate they did. So, please." He lowered his head and everyone followed his lead. Although, Jaune was no where close to being calm. When enough time passed, Ozpin raised his head again, "With that, you are all are dismissed. But please, be cautious." With that most students, besides a few teams of fourth years, started to make their way out of the amphitheater.

RWBY and NPR were discussing about what they heard and how was it possible for a Grimm to get on the grounds. Meanwhile, Jaune was quiet, trying to figure out what do next. He couldn't help feeling like he had a noose around his neck. And it was tightening.

Jaune awoke with a start that night. The memories of what the Ghoul did to CRDL had come to him while he was sleeping. The fact that it was happening wasn't the weird thing, but how quickly it came. When the Ghoul killed his family, it took a week or so for the memories to manifest. These showed up in a day. That didn't help him in the slightest. It worried him more than he could ever say.

He looked over to make sure his teammates were still sleeping. Luckily, they were. He silently got out of bed and decided to change out of his onesie. He threw on some jeans and his hoodie, forgoing a shirt underneath it. He then threw on his sneakers and made his way to the door. He opened it enough to peak out and made sure the coast was clear. That's when he slipped out of his room and started to make his way out of the dorms. He wasn't paying attention or he'd notice RWBY's door opened an amber eye looking out.

Jaune was able to slip by any fourth years that were patrolling the grounds. Since his body was back to what it was supposed to be, his senses were pushed up to that of a Faunus. He saw or heard them before they were any the wiser. He made his way to Beacon's cliffside and just looked out over the Emerald Forest. He took a deep breath of the cool night air and sighed.

That peace he just gained was shattered though, "So, you gonna do what you've debated a few times before?" Jaune glanced to the left and saw the Ghoul standing beside him with that twisted smirk of his. "You gonna take that one step and stop everything? The ultimate repentance?"

Jaune just tried to ignore him but it was hard to do when he existed in his mind. "No. I just needed to clear my head." He said exhaustedly.

The Ghoul started to walk behind him, "Of what? The nightmares? Or what your friends said about you earlier?" As much as he didn't like doing it, the Ghoul brought back up the events of earlier in the day.

It was a few hours after Ozpin's announcement. JNPR was in their room, trying to distract themselves. Although for Jaune, that was infinitely harder than the rest of his team. That's when RWBY knocked on their door and invited them to go to the training rooms with them, to burn off some steam and frustrations. They all agreed, Jaune a bit lackluster, and made their way there.

They decided to have a small competition and see who could take out the most training bots in ten minutes. Yang, Pyrrha and Nora were easily holding the lead. That was when Jaune stepped in and what happened next shocked both teams. With Jaune's body at optimal condition, he was fighting way better than he had ever before. He was easily clearing out the androids with his increased speed and strength adding to his improved fighting style.

At the end of the ten minutes, he had destroyed as many as Yang, Pyrrha and Nora. That lead to him being congratulated by his team and Ruby, while Weiss, Blake and Yang just stared at him dumbfounded. They all went to return their gear and go back to the dorms. Jaune was the first to leave and as he was, he saw that Yang was fighting more training bots. It confused him until he heard Ruby shout to her, "Yang, come on. I don't understand what the big deal is."

He looked over to see the rest of her team was standing by and they looked concerned. Yang punched another android before speaking, "The big deal is that Vomit Boy tied with me. Pyrrha and Nora, I can understand but him." She growled and punched another android into the wall.

That hurt, if he was going to be honest. But that was when Weiss spoke up, "It is hard to believe that, that dunce actually did that. He had to have done something though."

Again, that hurt to hear. Finally, Blake spoke up, "He has been kind of off today. Something is definitely wrong. We might want to talk to his team and see if they know what's wrong with him."

Jaune sent a small glare their way with that. That's when the voice spoke up, "Good to know they think so highly of you." With that, Jaune shook his head and stormed out of the training rooms. He really didn't care that RWBY was looking his way or not. He even ignored Ruby telling him to wait.

Jaune shook his head to try and dispel the memories. But the Ghoul wouldn't stop. "You see what I mean now? They don't care for you, at all. They just put up with you."

Jaune wanted to dispute his words so badly, but he couldn't help but see some truth to it. The Ghoul put his arm around Jaune's shoulder and spoke in a low voice, "Why don't I have a talk with them?"

Jaune's eyes widened in shock before they hardened. "You will go nowhere near them."

The Ghoul just rolled his eyes, "Still protective of them. You are such an idiot. You would risk your life for them but they would cut ties and throw you under the bus to save their skin."

Jaune shook his head adamantly, "You're wrong."

He just smirked at him, "Am I?"

That's when they both picked up on the footsteps behind them They froze and Jaune's heart dropped at the person's voice. "Jaune, what are you doing out here?" Blake said.

Jaune could just feel the Ghoul smirk and he started to lose his grip on his consciousness. He tried to fight back but he couldn't find the strength to do it. Meanwhile, the Ghoul was whispering, "Get some sleep, Jaune. I'll take care of this problem for you."

With the last of his strength, Jaune tried to save his friend, "Blake, you need to go." With that, his head lulled before an unsettling grin made its way to his face.

Blake just raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Jaune, something is wrong with you. I'm not just going to leave you by yourself."

She heard him snort slightly, "Now she cares." That made her raise her other eyebrow but couldn't say anything as he continued. "You should now better than anyone that some things, some secrets, you don't wanna talk about." That made her freeze and she felt her ears stick straight up under her bow. She knew he knew about her heritage, her team had told JNPR, but this was the first time he ever brought it up with that kind of voice. One filled with disappointment and something else. "You really want to help me, Blake?" 'Jaune' asked.

Something seemed wrong with the way he said that but she was here to help him. "That's why I'm here, Jaune. So, what can I do?" As soon as she said that, her instincts were screaming at her. She quickly left a Shadow as a red glowing tendril impaled it through the chest and destroyed it.

She landed on her feet and stared at Jaune, who now had a single red glowing tail coming from his back. He then slowly turned around and what she saw, caused her so much unease. Jaune's face was set in a twisted smirk and his right eye was now black and red, practically glowing in the night. He then said something that rocked her to her core, "You can die, Belladonna."

A/N- Here is the next chapter! I wonder how many expected this to hit the fan so early? Also, how many thought Blake would be the first to become prey for the Ghoul? Anyways, I liked to thank Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh and Jauneforever for being my Betas again. If you haven't checked them out, just do it. Because I'm gonna say/type it every time anyways. On that note, hope you all enjoyed and I will see you in the next chapter!