Dreaming of a better future

AN/ hello again, Sorry for the delay. THANK THE BETA HE DID STUFF! Read the bottom for real information.

Chapter 12

Jaune laid in darkness, pain filled his body as he laid in the darkness. The knight didn't know what was happening, he couldn't think, he couldn't even tell what happened to him. The knight couldn't remember anything, all he knew was the darkness around him and that was terrifying to him. The knight wanted to leave the darkness, he wanted some light and as he lay in pain he screamed for something to come and save him anything that could help. No sound came though as his mind tried desperately to find anything, searching through the darkness for a light to pull him out of the dark.

The knight tried to turn and search for anything only for the pain to grow as his body felt like molten lead was being poured into his limbs. He didn't care though because he had to get out of the darkness. Only as he finally lifted his body he was met with the sound of crying. The knight lifted himself to his feet searching the darkness for whatever was crying as he looked around to something in the distance caught his eyes.

It was a small figure sat in the darkness. The knight tried to move to the figure against his body's protests as pain filled him and he dragged himself toward the figure. It was the only thing in the darkness, a small white figure. The knight slowly dragged himself toward the figure to see what it was as it was like a beacon to him as he tried so desperately to reach it. The knight reached out as he tried to grab hold of something to pull himself forward.

As he reached out though everything began to spin as he found a pain lance through his eyes as he covered his face, closing his eyes. As the pain began to fade he opened his eyes slowly to be met with the sight of a white ceiling. Slowly the knight began to remember what had happened as he remembered the fight with the Nightmare only for the rest of it to fade as the last thing he remembered was the beast preparing to kill him.

'What the hell happened? Where am I?' The knight thought as he turned, looking around as he saw he was in a medical room… again. The knight let out a sigh as he lifted his hand up and saw that it was covered in bandages that ran up his entire arm. The knight slowly sat up, wincing as he did as he saw his chest was bandaged as he saw little dots of red appearing through the bandages as he let out a sigh. 'I was really put through the ringer wasn't I?'

The knight thought as he sat up looking around. He turned just as the door opened and in walked a doctor. The doctor was reading of a clipboard as he entered slowly looking up at the knight then back to the clipboard only for his eyes to shoot back up as he stared shocked at the knight who just gave a small wave. The doctor just turned and ran out of the room calling for another doctor. Jaune just stared at the door confused on what was happening as he slowly swung his legs over the edge wincing all the while as he looked at himself.

He was really beat up, his legs had bandages on them as he lifted his pant legs to look at them. He looked up to the door as the sound of running met his ears as he was met with the sight of a woman in a doctor's coat came running in as she stared at the knight shocked. He simply sighed as he waited for the doctor to say something. From what he could tell he just might have escaped death and the doctors were beyond shocked to see that.

"…How are you alive?"

'Bingo.' The knight though as he ran a hand through his hair and looked to the doctor.

"I have no idea."

The knight answered as he leaned back ready to just fall back onto the bed only for the doctor to rush to him grabbing hold of his shoulders as she forced him to look into her eyes.

"How are you alive!?"

The doctor asked in an almost terrified tone as she stared at him, eyes looking over his body filled with shock and fear. The knight just reached up sliding her hands off him as he leaned back forward.

"I don't know, if I did I would tell you, so calm down."

The knight said as the doctor stepped back staring at him as she seemed to be trying to understand the situation. The doctor was about to speak up only for the sound of more footsteps coming down the hall as in barged General Ironwood with Ozpin behind him. The doctor was about to speak up only the general silenced her with a quick glare.

"Out!"

The tin man ordered as the doctor scampered away past the headmaster and tin man. The general slowly looked back to Jaune who looked to Ozpin for answers only for the headmaster to look to the ground sadly. The knight worried that Ozpin had told Ironwood about his future daughters. He looked to Ironwood who just stepped right in front of him glaring down.

"I want to know exactly what is happening; Ozpin has refused to tell the truth so I hope you are smart enough to tell me the full truth!"

The General ordered as the knight just stared almost uncaring as he slowly stood up wincing as he did. The General was taller than Jaune but he wanted to be standing when he spoke to the man so he could, in a way look him in the eyes proper.

"I am sorry but you have me at a loss I don't know what you want me to tell you."

The knight said while he wasn't completely lying, he didn't know what Ironwood really wanted. Either he wanted to know about the Nightmare seeing as it was probably the thing that brought him down from his airship, or he wanted to know about the kids, one was easier than the other while still having risks for both he needed to know exactly what the General wanted. The knight could see the General's frustration as he balled his hands into fists before taking a deep breath.

"I want to know about the Grimm that attacked the students, my soldiers have talked to all, saying a giant Grimm monster appeared out of nowhere and started attacking. You were said to be seen being chased by the Grimm so tell me what it was and how it got in the school!"

The General was stern and more than a little on edge as the knight stared at him and looked down sadly. 'Seeing as he knows I was attacked by the Nightmare that seems to be as far as his knowledge reaches seeing as he hasn't referred to it as a Nightmare. To him it was just another Grimm.' With that the knight decided to take a page out of Ozpin's book and lie.

"I… I am sorry General, but I don't know how it got in the school, the last thing I can remember is seeing you this morning when I went to have my meeting with Ozpin."

The knight said as he kept his gaze to the ground afraid if he looked at the General he would see through his lies. While in all truth the knights lie was a damn good one seeing as how would you not believe that memory loss was possible when talking to a person who had just been basically comatose in the hospital. While though the knight was certain a lie would fool the General he probably knew better but if the knight played it right he could make this work in his favor.

"What are you talking about, are you telling me you have amnesia!"

The General shouted as he waved his arm to the side angrily as he glared down at the knight. Jaune just lowered his head as he flinched at the outburst. The knights flinch was real there, he really didn't expect the General to explode on him. The general stared for a few seconds waiting for the knight to speak up.

"I-I am sorry General, but I can't remember, I wish I could but I can't."

It was all a lie but it was the only thing Jaune could do in hopes of keeping the General in the dark. Even if he knew about the Nightmares being here now he just couldn't know about the rest of it. If he learned about time travel and what possible future awaited them then he would change it and if he was refused the information of the future than that left even more problems for the knight. The General was either really pissed or he was calming down seeing as he lowered his hands to his side and became silent.

The time ticked by and the knight didn't know if he should prepare for a fist to hit him or to continue lying.

"If you can't remember there isn't anything I can do now can I. If you happen to remember anything than please notify me as soon as you can?"

The general said calmly as he turned around walking past Ozpin, not saying anything as he left leaving the two completely alone. Though as the general walked outside of the building he turned to several soldiers he had standing at the doors on guard.

"Keep an eye out if the boy begins acting odd or shows signs he is planning something, take action and stop him. I don't trust him and I doubt he was telling the truth in there so please keep an eye out."

The general said getting nods from his soldiers as he left them. Back inside the room the knight was at a loss for a second as he slowly sat down on the bed behind him as he looked up to Ozpin in confusion.

"Did he really believe me?"

The knight asked as he ran a hand through his hair as he sighed and the headmaster did the same as he looked back out down the hall at the General as he left taking his soldiers with him. The headmaster looked back to Jaune somewhat impressed at how he pulled that off.

"I must admit, that shouldn't have worked."

The headmaster said as the knight just chuckled as he rubbed a hand over his face.

"Believe me; I am just as shocked as you are." The knight said as looked up to Ozpin with a small smile. "So how long was I out?"

The knight asked.

"You were out for the whole day. Its half past midnight and everyone has fallen asleep in the waiting room."

The headmaster said as he leaned back against the wall of the room as Jaune just sat staring at his hands in thought.

"You know; this isn't the first time I have woken up this beat up."

The knight said surprising the headmaster as he looked him over. 'He must not know how badly he was truly beaten.' The headmaster thought as he walked to a clipboard that was at the end of the knight's bed and picked it up.

"Jaune let me read you this."

The headmaster said catching the knight attention as he looked up to him ready to listen.

"Alright than; the wounds you arrived with earlier today were extensive. Twelve of your ribs had been broken in six different places, and three of your ribs had been basically turned to dust from the force of the attacks you had taken. Your collarbone had been split in five different place, and your left shoulder was shattered. Your right leg was twisted in a complete 360, and your right forearm was shattered."

"And that is only the damage to your bones; I have to say I have never seen such wounds on anyone!"

The headmaster said in complete and utter shock as the knight just stared at him, shocked himself as he looked down to his body as he looked over all the bandages. 'So that's why the doctor was so shocked.'

The knight thought as his ran a hand over his chest, feeling to see if he indeed was missing ribs but found that he was only bruised and sore.

"I hope you understand that you being alive, let alone moving like you are, is a miracle."

The knight just sighed as he stood up and began to take off the bandages as he turned to Ozpin.

"You don't have to tell me that. But believe me this isn't a miracle, I am just the luckiest, unlucky person ever."

The knight said only to pause as he relieved how redundant he sounded but shrugged it off as he finished removing the bandages as he looked over his bruised chest.

"Tell you the truth I am beginning to think the world has something against me seeing as I keep drawing the damn short straw with everything."

The knight said with a heavy sigh only to wince as he hurt his chest and just slowly rubbed his side. The headmaster just stared at him confused as to why he was acting so calm.

"Jaune, do you really understand what is going on here?"

Ozpin asked as the knight slowly turned back to him, scratching his head as he did.

"Well I understand that I escaped death, but that is it."

The knight said as he looked up to the ceiling confused on what was happening. The headmaster just sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face.

"Well I guess that is good enough for now." The headmaster said as he set down the clipboard and pulled up a chair and sat down. "So tell me, what happened in the forest?"

The headmaster asked as he looked to the knight as he walked over to a bag that had his clothes in it.

"Well I almost died, obviously." The knight gave a smart ass answer causing the headmaster to sigh tiredly. The headmaster was about to speak up only to stop as the knight continued. "When I was fighting the Nightmare it seemed to only care about fighting with me and wanted nothing more than to render me into putty."

The knight said as he put his shirt.

"So you mean to tell me this Nightmare was acting on its own."

The headmaster said only for the knight to shake his head.

"No, what I am saying is this Nightmare was sent back to fight me."

The knight answers to which the headmaster just stared somewhat confused as he thought about that. While it was Jaune's children being sent back, so it would make senses to kill the man who sired all the possible children. Also thanks to yesterday's events with the first Nightmare and how Jaune had been the one to land the finishing blow on the beast and his son being a part of its death it would be obvious to send more Nightmares back to end one of the most dangerous threats to the perpetrators plans.

With that thought the headmaster looked back to the knight as he leaned against the wall waiting for the headmaster to answer him.

"It makes sense when you think about it, I have caused whoever is pulling the strings problems just by sending my children back in time to try and stop him. Add in the fact that I helped kill one of the Nightmares he sent back and now seeing as I somehow survived his first attempt to kill me, I bet he is looking at his times history seething in rage at the fact he failed."

The knight said getting a nod from the headmaster who understood what he was saying. With everything happening the way they are it was obvious now that whoever the mastermind is behind everything they will want to remove their biggest threat; that threat being Jaune and his children.

"So this means we have to be more cautious now seeing as you are going to be targeted more and more by the Nightmares."

The headmaster said getting a nod from the knight who looked up to the ceiling.

"We will need to figure out a way of dealing with the Nightmares without drawing in the General now; it won't do if he starts sending platoons to fight the Nightmares when he doesn't even know what they are. I mean he would be sending his men to die."

The knight said getting a nod from Ozpin who knew all too well how the General was when it came to dealing with problems like these. Even when the General was younger he all ways was about acting over reacting. And while Ozpin could agree with that he knew even you can't always stop bad things from happening. It was impossible to protect everyone at once; so no matter what you would always have to make a sacrifice.

"For now let's just leave things as they are and thing about this tomorrow." The knight said as he walked over to the bed he woke up in. "We can't let ourselves get obsessed with this or it will destroy us."

The knight said knowing it would be best to continue the conversation later as he sat on the bed. The headmaster seemed to understand as he walked to the door.

"Then I will leave you to get some rest I hope to speak with you tomorrow afternoon after you handle the situation with your team and all the girls."

The headmaster said as he left the room with a nod. The knight just sat down on the bed, laid back and waved as he stared at the ceiling. The knight was all alone now as he sat in the room silent just thinking about what happened. The knight let out a tired sigh as he just decided it would be best to check in on the girls and probably talk with Aeron if he was there.

Medical bay waiting room

The room was full as all the members of team RWBY and their respected daughters all spread out lying around in seats and on the floor having passed out a few hours ago. Alongside them were the members of team JNPR and Helen alongside Glynda Goodwitch with Grace next to her the two sleeping in the corner while Velvet and Coco from team CFVY were there as well with Jasmine who was laid next to her respected mother Velvet.

Among the group though only one person was awake. Leaning against the wall at the door was Aeron as he watched over all the girls, even the new ones. Though the shadow user was lost in thought about the thing he saw in the emerald forest. He was shocked by what he had seen with how horrifically destroyed the Nightmare had been. The shadow user had battled with Nightmares more than a few times in his life and he had even killed his fair share. But he had never seen a Nightmare so brutally destroyed.

It wasn't really surprising that someone or something would do that to a Nightmare but what was surprising was someone or something was able to. Nightmares were strong and had many ways of fighting against human's and anything else that tried to stand in its way. So to think that someone was capable of actually brutalizing one to such an extent meant either they held a power far greater than what a Nightmare could handle or they had a hatred for Nightmares that couldn't be matched.

Still though it was rare and only a few people could match Nightmares like that with semblances. Even still Nightmares being the Grimm equivalent to human's also have evolved to form their own semblance's; so it didn't matter what power a person had it shouldn't be possible to kill a Nightmare in the way the one in the forest was killed. It really bothered the shadow user to think someone could do that.

Aeron was going to continue that thought when he heard footsteps coming down the hall he turned to see his father through the window of the door. The shadow user looked back in and decided it would be best not to wake the others and talk with his father in the hall. The shadow user quietly opened the door and moved out so his father could see him. The knight just waved at the shadow user as he walked up to him looking through the window on the door to the waiting room.

"How are they?"

The knight asked as he looked into the room.

"They are all shaken seeing as how bad you were hurt, but other than that they are fine."

The shadow user said looking his father over. The shadow user had to admit even knowing of his father's semblance's healing ability he was still impressed with his recovery rate. In all his memories of his father he never healed as fast as he does now. He guessed his father was right with how he said his healing got weaker over the years from when he was younger.

The shadow user could tell just from looking at his father his semblance was beginning to grow more and more. It was the only explanation as to why he was alive.

"So how are you?"

The knight asked pulling the shadow user from his thoughts.

"Good, I knew you would come out ok."

The shadow user answered getting a nod from his father.

"So were you the one who killed the Nightmare; or did it just leave thinking I would die from my wounds?"

The knight asked as the shadow user rubbed the back of his head.

"I didn't kill the Nightmare, but someone did."

The shadow user said knowing full well his father wasn't capable of killing the monster. It was beyond obvious. Still though the revelation that someone else killed the beast was shocking to the knight but he felt it would be beast not to say anymore till morning as he felt he would only give himself a headache if he continued thinking about these things.

"Well whatever, we will talk about this later. For now, let's just talk I feel that would be best for now."

The knight said as he leaned back against the wall sliding down to the floor as Aeron did the same across from him.

"Fine I don't mind, what do you want to talk about?"

The shadow user asked as his father just sighed looking up to the ceiling.

"How much of my own childhood have I shared with you?"

The knight asked as the shadow user just tilt his head to the side confused.

"Not much really, you told me about my aunts but that's it, you never went into detail on the life you had as a child. Why?"

The knight just chuckled at the shadow user as he heard that as he kept his gaze on the ceiling almost like he was looking through it at something far away.

"I am not surprised; I doubt I would ever want to share anything about my childhood."

The knight said as his son just stared confused.

"You said I took you to the fare when you were young right?" The knight asked as he looked back down to his son who nodded. "What else did I do with you?"

The knight asked as Aeron just rubbed the back of his head confused on what his father was getting at.

"To tell you the truth you always wanted to spend time with me, you acted really over baring and while you did good as a father teaching me a lot of things you seemed dead set on being around, it was almost like you were trying to make up for something."

The shadow user said as he remembered how his father was at times smothering with his actions. While Aeron didn't really want to be around him all the time and likes solitude when it was available he found his father's want to be around nice but again at times bothersome.

"That sounds about right."

The knight answered surprising the shadow user as he looked him over.

"I never spent much time with my father, and seeing as he would usually be out on missions or just sleeping the day away I never got to have a real relationship with him. Add in the fact I didn't have many friends as a kid back in my home town I was basically alone if I wasn't with my sisters."

The knight said as he looked back to Aeron with a small sad smile.

"Tell you the truth the only times I really spent with my dad was when I was in the hospital."

The knight said as he stood up and began to walk away. Aeron stood up ready to stop him only to freeze up as he saw his father staring back at him over his shoulder with a small smile. This time though it wasn't sad it looked like he was relieved.

"Goodnight, I hope I can be the father you expect me to be."

The knight said waving as he went back to his room. The shadow user just stood confused by what happened as he tried to understand what his father wanted from him.

End

AN/ hurray new chapter you people get to read I bet you are all happy beyond belief.

Ok well so I hope you like what I did by giving the story some more plot again and while I know I didn't do much with the General at the beginning; there is a reason for it so don't worry about that it will be explained soon. Also I am going into more detail on the characters past like I said I would so I hope you like. Now please leave a review, I want your minds to tell me what they think. Fav and follow if you wish.