The Lost Son

by OculiImperator

Jaune Arc wished to live his own life, a life not in the shadow of the Arc Family but a life where he could make his own choices. In order to escape that shadow, he decided to become a Huntsman. What he did not realize was that while Duty and Desire may not always share the same road they often share the same destination.

8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jaune walked out into the courtyard just as it started to rain a little, he looked up and gave a deep sigh as he walked away from his dorm building. Ilex had sent him a message saying that she was done with his chest plate; he was glad that she was able to fix before combat class.

He had a feeling that he'd be called up to fight again today. Yesterday was thankfully a team battle, he mostly just stood around as a weak point for the enemy team to try and take out.

Luckily for him he had Pyrrha who soundly decimated half of the enemy team before Nora and Ren took the other two out. Goodwitch of course got annoyed at him saying that while it was an okay tactic to use in a controlled duel, it was impractical anywhere else.

Which he agreed with but he didn't feel comfortable in not fighting with his breastplate. Jaune knew that Aura would protect him as it was essentially a shield of its own but his training with Areto had instilled that a good set of armor was just as important as a weapon.

He didn't get why most of his friends didn't want to wear at least some armor as well. Weiss, Ruby, and Nora wore skirts. While Blake, Ren, and Yang wore more practical clothes they still didn't have much protection to them.

Though in Yang's case she seemed like someone who'd want to take hits since if Ruby's explanation was true. her semblance was dependent on it.

Pyrrha thankfully at least wore some armor, though even then he did have some issue with the more, conspicuous, parts that were unguarded.

As he turned a corner, he wasn't surprised to once again see Velvet in the distance. She was sitting under a gazebo. Jaune decided to go over to her as he still couldn't get the sight of Cardin bullying her during lunch a while back out of his head.

She had her back to him and Jaune swore she was shaking her head a little. A small wave of fear and apprehension took root as he got closer.

"Velvet?" He asked tentatively but the girl didn't look at him so he walked up the gazebo steps only to see that she in fact had ear buds in. He could hear loud sounds of what he assumed was a metal band playing as she took them out of her ears.

"Oh hey Jaune, what's up?" She asked and Jaune rubbed his nose with one finger as he cleared his throat.

"Ah, nothing much, just thought I come and see how you're doing." The Faunus girl smiled but he could see that she was studying him.

"Thanks Jaune but as you can see I'm fine." Velvet said casually and Jaune nodded again not sure what he should really do.

"You can sit down if you want unless you've got somewhere to be then by all means, don't let me make you be late." Jaune shrugged as he sat across from Velvet, the rain hit the gazebo's roof softly as the two of them didn't really say anything at first.

"I know why you're here." Velvet finally said.

"Hmm, what?" Jaune asked trying to feign ignorance.

"Come on Jaune, I'm not stupid. I know you came to see how I was doing after you saw Cardin messing with me during lunch but there's nothing to worry about. I'm fine." She said, Jaune smiled as he laughed softly and shook his head at that.

"Velvet, the fact that you think your fine doesn't mean that it's fine that Cardin is being an asshole. In fact I would be more inclined to agree with you in saying that the Grimm can make great omelets than it being fine for you to be bullied just because you're a Faunus." Velvet shrugged in return.

"Not much I can do about that, if that's what people chose to think of me then all I can do is hope that one day that they'll see the error in their thinking."

"Isn't that stressful? I mean most people don't change on a dime without a very good reason. Do you really think you can just stomach that kind of pain without doing something in return?" Jaune asked but Velvet shook her head.

"It doesn't matter if I like it or not, it's just the right thing to do. If I fight back then I'll only be inviting challenge and if I don't face those challenges down then they'll double down on harassing me." Velvet said as she wrapped up her ear buds.

"Besides, that's would just lead me down a similar path as the current White Fang." Jaune cocked his head to the side.

"How so?" He asked and Velvet gave him an odd look.

"I mean, the White Fang shifted to using fear and violence to push their demand for equality which defeats the purpose as the respect one would gain isn't true respect." Velvet smiled.

"Believe it or not, my family was a part of the old White Fang and they used to take me to the local White Fang meetings. I can't remember much from those days but I remember there being even a few humans amongst the Faunus. We didn't have the love or support of the people as a whole back then but those that were with us were true believers." The smile turned a little sad at that point.

"A great change came when the old leader stepped down only to replace by a more ruthless one; all the human members were kicked out from the group. Those that resisted went missing or had suffered unfortunate accidents that saw them buried six feet under or in the hospital for a very long time. My parents left the White Fang in the turmoil of change along with a great deal of others but the new message or image that the White Fang put out still ended up drawing more in that quickly paved over the Old Guard." Velvet chuckled slightly as she pushed her hair over to one shoulder.

"And now the relationship between Faunus and Humans are far more strained than it has been in the last two decades. So when you suggest using my fists to make people stop, I can't help but think about the new White Fang and their twisted reputation." Jaune nodded slowly, he sort of understood her reasoning but maybe it was just his lack of experience in her position that made him want to lash out.

"I understand it's difficult to understand Jaune so I don't blame you." Velvet said but Jaune shook his head.

"No I understand, my family has always answered force with greater force when it comes to my youngest sister but I suppose not everyone can just do that as they're just in a different position than we were." Velvet cocked any eyebrow at that.

"Your sister?" She asked and Jaune frowned.

"Yea my adopted Faunus sister, I thought I mentioned that to you already. Maybe I said that to my partner, I forget sometimes." Jaune mused as he cupped his chin in thought then shook his head.

"Anyways, I just wanna say that even if you don't to fight then at least come to me or my friends. We'll gladly stand up for you against Cardin and his ilk. Anyways I should be going; I'm supposed to go pick up my breastplate from the Armory and Blacksmith." As Jaune was about to turn away, Velvet called out to him.

"Jaune wait." He turned to look at her.

"Yea?"

"Do you really mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"Will you really let me join you and your friends?" Jaune smiled as he remembered something his father once told Avalon's mayor when he came asking for help.

"Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word."

---

A Few Hours Later…

Jaune was back inside the first year's dorm building; he needed to head towards his dorm to get a new jacket as the one he wore was damp enough that it was uncomfortable then start making his way over to the combat arena for Goodwitch's class.

When he opened the door to their room he was surprised to see Ren waiting on his bed. The quiet teen was reading a small red book to which he closed with a snap as he looked up to meet Jaune's gaze.

"Sup Ren." Jaune said as he strolled in and looked around.

"Where's Nora?" He asked looking at the magenta eyed teen.

"She's with Pyrrha and Team RWBY."

"Why?"

"Cause I asked her." Ren said as he stood up, Jaune just cocked an eyebrow as he stripped off his jacket then tossed it on his own bed then headed over to their shared wardrobe.

"Is there something you need?" Jaune asked.

"I guess that depends on you." Ren replied and Jaune turned to him.

"Ren as much as I am enjoy this rare banter with you, what do you want?" Ren nodded.

"Fair enough, I'll get straight to it. Who are you?" Jaune tilted his head a little in confusion at the question.

"I'm me?"

"What I'm trying to ask about is your last name, Jaune Arc, as far as I'm aware of there's only one other Arc that comes to mind."

"That's kind of a jump in logic isn't it?"

"Maybe but I feel like this is one of those times it's best just to follow one's own gut." Ren said and it clicked in Jaune's head.

"Ah Ren, you're not fat at all." Jaune said

"What?"

"What." Jaune echoed.

"I don't know if you're doing that on purpose or not."

"Doing what on purpose?"

"Jaune."

"Yes Ren."

"Are you an Arc?"

"Like a movie arc?"

"No."

"Good cause then I would have to recommend sending you to the infirmary cause that's pretty crazy."

"Jaune why are you being so difficult."

"What do you want from me Ren? Yes my last name is Arc why does that instantly mean that I'm related to the Arcs of Arcadia." Jaune said feeling slightly annoyed at his teammate's persistence and Ren grabbed his arms.

"Jaune, I'm not messing around here, just give me a yes or no answer. Are you related to the Arcs of Arcadia?" Jaune hesitated, while he knew his father gave him instructions about not giving himself away at Beacon.

He couldn't help but feel trusting Ren with that information wasn't a wrong move due to his normally quiet nature plus he's mentioned about being in an Arcadian backed town before while also defending their actions during the last century.

"Okay, fine then. You win Ren, so allow me to introduce myself as Jaune Arc son of Alexander Arc the High Lord of Arcadia." Ren's eyes widen.

"Wait, you're Alexander's son? Then that would mean you're literally the son of the ruler of all of Arcadia and its Protectorates." Jaune cocked an eyebrow at Ren.

"Yea, that's what I just confirmed like you asked me to." Ren ran his hands through his hair as he stepped back looking at the ground.

"I thought you were just, like, an extended family member or something. Why on Remnant would you be in Beacon? Shouldn't you be like leading an Army or something?" Jaune shrugged.

"I wanted to become a Huntsman and he let me."

"But why?"

"Cause he fought with my older sister and that made her not come home except for certain occasions. With my sister like that he decided not to fight me on it as he did with her." Jaune explained as Ren sat back down on his bed.

"Why don't you ever stand up for Arcadia whenever people bash it? Like Blake when she criticizes it in regard to the Faunus." Ren asked after a few moments and Jaune sighed as leaned against the opposite wall.

"Because she's entitled to her thoughts, it's not my job to correct her on what she thinks is right. On top of that, no one is supposed to know that I'm the son of Arcadia's ruler as it could complicate things here in the Four Kingdoms."

"Then is it really okay that you told me?" Ren asked and Jaune shrugged.

"I trust you Ren and besides if my dad ever did find out I told you then I could probably convince him not to kill you."

"What?"

"Nevermind." Jaune said as he scratched his cheek and Ren shook his head.

"Okay, then can I ask why did you stick up for Velvet and fight so much with Cardin? Wouldn't that draw attention to you as well?" Ren asked.

"That's not necessarily a pure Arcadian trait it's just something a normal person should do when faced against hate or injustice."

"Fair enough, I just thought it was interesting comparison between your history and the history of the world as a whole."

"Ah yes, the whole Arcadians coming to the aid of the Faunus. I see what you're getting it but we should really get going Ren." Jaune pointed out as they still had class to go to and Jaune already didn't want to get any further on Goodwitch's bad side.

"So are you the only one that knows or does Nora know why you came to talk to me alone as well?" Jaune asked as the two teens left their dorm room.

"Nora knows as well but she didn't think it was necessary for us to know for certain hence why she was fine with not being here to hear you say the truth."

"Well, I guess it's not that bad for you two to know about my secret, hopefully no one else questions me about this as well." Jaune mused aloud and Ren glanced at him.

"Have you told Pyrrha?"

"Can't, as much as I want to tell her this is something I gave my word to my father about. It's one thing to confirm if you've pretty much already figured it out but telling someone that wouldn't have known wouldn't be a smart idea."

"How do you know that you can trust me?"

"Because you don't seem like someone that just talks for the sake of talking, the same goes for Nora, I know she'll keep this a secret as long as I want it to be."

"Thank you for trusting us Jaune."

"It's not a problem Ren you're my teammates and my friend."

"Then why not tell Pyrrha?"

"I'm just going to ignore that question for now."

"Fair enough, I'm not going to pressure you to tell her then."

"Thank you."

"I mean, it's sure going to be an interesting show when Pyrrha finds out that you've been hiding a secret like this from her." Ren said as a smile grew on his face, Jaune narrowed his eyes at the other teen.

"I wonder which one of us will have it worse? The person who wanted to keep it a secret or the one that figured it out but decided not to say anything."

"Obviously the responsibility will fall upon the one who had the secret in the first place as without their desire to keep it as such then the person who figured it out wouldn't have needed to keep it a secret for them as well."

"Well shit." Jaune murmured and surprisingly Ren made a sound that Jaune swore sounded like a laugh. The two of them didn't really say anything as they made their way over to the arena, waiting outside of the main entrance Jaune wasn't surprised to see Nora and Pyrrha.

"You two took your time." Nora said as Jaune and Ren walked up to them.

"Eh, Ren was asleep in the dorm and it took a while to wake him up." Jaune explained.

"Really?" Pyrrha asked and Ren shrugged.

"What can I say; it was a breath of fresh air being in there by myself so I took the opportunity."

"What are you trying to say Ren?" Nora asked peering closely at the magenta eyed teen.

"I think he means he enjoyed having the room to himself from distractions." Jaune explained and the orange hair girl nodded.

"I know what you mean Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune are such chatterboxes when you put them together." Jaune frowned.

"Chatterbox?" Nora patted his arm.

"It's okay Jaune, it keeps things lively but you gotta understand that Ren needs his space sometimes." Jaune laughed softly as he gestured towards the door.

"Come on, let's go in before Professor Goodwitch rips us a new one." Jaune said as he walked through the doorway, already there were two opponents waiting in the arena. On one end was Yang and the other end was a tanned skinned girl with brown hair that carried a Manriki.

"Who's Yang fighting?" Jaune asked as the four of them took spots a row above team RWBY.

"She's fighting Tara from team TMBR." Ruby said as she waved at Jaune over her shoulder before going back to looking over Weiss's shoulder who was filing away at her nails.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yang obviously." Ruby said from below.

"I'm going to have to agree with Ruby, Yang, for all her faults she's good at two things. Telling bad jokes and fighting, though of the two I'd say her fighting ability is the only plus." Weiss explained.

"I'm not sure, Yang's a formidable opponent in hand to hand combat but Tara's got the advantage in combat control." Blake, in a rare moment, chimed in on the conversation.

"Nonsense, Tara's got nothing to control the range plus her weapon's rather, simple, design shows that it's not going to be capable of blocking Yang's attacks." Weiss retorted and Blake glanced at her with a slightly narrow eyes.

"What do you think Jaune?" Pyrrha asked looking at him and he shrugged.

"I don't know. All I can assume of Tara is that she's a competent fighter but so is Yang it's really just going to come down to how they react to each other."

"Well in that case, Tara's screwed if Yang gets mad." Nora commented from the other side of Ren.

"Oh yea, Yang's go her temper tantrum semblance." Jaune mused aloud.

"Hey now, it's more than just that." Ruby said as she looked at Jaune but everyone looked at her and the young reaper just shrank down a little.

"Okay fine, it's kind of like that but don't underestimate her. Yang's semblance absorbs energy from the attacks dealt against her then she uses it to bolster her own attacks but it doesn't negate the fact that she's still getting hit." Ruby explained and Jaune filed that vital information away in his mind. As at some point Goodwitch might make him face off against her.

"The match is starting." Weiss interrupted as the lights dimmed everywhere except above the arena.

Below them Goodwitch signaled the start of the match. Yang was the first to move, making two quick punching motions, two blasts of Ember Celica headed towards Tara. The leader of team TMBR jumped away, Yang however was already moving towards her with a fist raised.

Tara was able to dodge the first blow then the quick upper cut from Yang before kicking Yang away then sending her own strike with her Manriki which Yang ducked under.

Above them Jaune could see that despite avoiding the brunt of Yang's strikes, Tara's Aura was less than before, Ember Celica still fired shotgun shells so he assumed that they must have nicked her anyways.

Yang pressed in again sending two quick jabs before sending a low kick aimed at Tara's legs. As the girl jumped away, she was able to catch Yang's leg by using her Manriki to wrap around the incoming leg. This however was a mistake as Yang had unexpectedly swung at her.

A full blast of Ember Celica's hit Tara in the chest sending the girl back, losing the grip on Yang's leg. Yang went after the girl as she struggled to get back onto her feet but instead of trying to dodge out of the way she jumped forward into Yang's guard.

Tara wrapped her Manriki around Yang's right arm as she went past her then pulled Yang over her shoulder slamming the blonde into the ground. Yang, not one to go down easily, immediately rolled away then rose to her knees to fire Ember Celica again but Tara's Manriki was already arcing down on Yang.

The weighted end of the weapon struck aside the gauntlet before she twisted around to strike Yang in the knee just as she tried jumping towards the side to counter Tara's spin.

Jaune could see Yang smiling as the two combatants backed away. Of the two, Tara was doing worse in terms of her Aura but Yang had taken a few blows that had lowered her Aura as well.

Yang jumped forward and Tara moved to meet her upward swing with her weapon but Yang spun to her left avoiding the weapon as she closed in on Tara. Yang slammed her left gauntlet into Tara's ribs before sending a high right hook that connected with her face sending the girl into the ground.

Tara rolled away on the ground while Yang began a pendulum step, her arms hanging loosely at the side as she waited for the fallen girl to get up. Jaune glanced back up at the screen; Tara was almost out of the fight with how low her Aura was.

"Well it looks like Yang is going to win again." Weiss said with an almost bored tone in her voice.

"The match isn't over yet." Blake said from the side and Jaune had to agree with her. Tara didn't look like she was giving up as she was on feet as well; she looked exhausted but not beaten.

Tara started spinning her Manriki slowly then dashed forward towards Yang who grinned as she lunged towards the other girl ready to trade blows. As Yang struck out at Tara, the other girl leapt to the side just as Yang had made the move however Yang could see that Tara's weapon was glowing green and yellow at one end.

Yang cursed loudly as Tara struck the ground near her; Yang's vision briefly went white as she was flung backwards into a roll. Coming to her feet she looked up to see Tara coming at her again with the Manriki coming down towards her.

Not having a choice, Yang used Ember Celica to blast herself forward into the girl. Though she was unable to get another hit in, the force of her launching forward hitting the girl in the torso was still enough to send the other girl tumbling backward.

"That's enough! The match is over! Yang is the winner." Goodwitch called out and the lights overhead brightened. Yang jogged over to help the fallen girl up and the two shook hands before breaking off.

"Well, I'll admit that she sort of put up a fight but Yang is clearly the better fighter." Weiss said as she looked at Blake who didn't reply.

"Actually, I think she could have beaten Yang." Jaune chimed in and Weiss looked up at him with a certain level of disdain.

"What do you mean?"

"She seemed to have underutilized her weapon, at the very end there was a weird blast that sent Yang flying back." Jaune pointed out.

"Ah yes, I think she used a mixture of Wind and Lightning Dust, it would explain the flash and how it sent Yang back. Though I would have to correct you on something, it wasn't the fact that she underutilized her weapon but simply her weapon isn't as practical in comparison to Yang's." Weiss replied and Jaune just looked confused at her.

"What?" He asked and Pyrrha put on a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune I think she's saying that Tara's weapon requires it to actually hit something in order for the Dust to work. A smaller target means the greater chance for it to miss though it might be useful for the Creatures of Grimm, which are larger than any of us so that would mean it hits more often. Now while a near miss like what we saw down there might have an effect there's a second thing you're not taking into account and that's the fact that it looks like there's a limited around of Dust for her to use which would mean she can't open up with an attack like that without wasting it on an attack that has no major effect." Jaune nodded slowly in realization.

"I think I get it now." Though he was a little distract at how Pyrrha seemed to be rubbing her fingers in a circle on his shoulder.

"Alright, the next match will be a team match." Goodwitch called out as she walked to the center of the arena. Above her eight blank pictures appeared on the screen then it began to cycle through the pictures of all the students present. Jaune sighed as the eight images stopped on his team and team CRDL.

"This match will be between team CRDL and team JNPR. Both teams have ten minutes to get their gear and convene." Goodwitch said before turning away. Jaune led the way as his team headed down the steps towards the locker rooms. As they turned into the hallway leading towards it Jaune could see Yang stepped out as well.

"Oh hey, you guys up for a team fight?" She called out to them and Jaune nodded.

"Who you fighting?"

"Cardin." Pyrrha replied and Yang whistled.

"Lucky, I wouldn't mind knocking their heads together. We'll be cheering for you then." Yang said Jaune and the others went into the locker room. At the far end Jaune could see Cardin talking to his three teammates as well.

"So what's the plan?" Ren asked and Nora laughed.

"We don't need a plan to win; me and Pyrrha will kick butts and break legs."

"Yea I'm gonna have to say, don't break anyone's legs Nora." Jaune said and Nora frowned.

"Jaune, why do you have to hold me back like that?"

"Because I don't want Goodwitch doesn't break my legs in reprisal." The shorter girl nodded as the four of them split off to put on their gear. After a few minutes Jaune turned around then waited by one of the benches as Pyrrha, Ren and Nora walked towards him.

Pyrrha and Nora openly carried their weapons but Ren tucked his away in his sleeves. Jaune had yet to figure out how he was able to do that.

"So who's fighting who?" Pyrrha asked.

"I was thinking Nora would fight Sky Lark, Ren takes Russel, you'll take Dove and I'll fight Cardin. How does that sound?" Pyrrha seemed to think for a moment.

"I'm fine with it, how about you two?" She asked and Nora nodded completely content with whoever she fought.

"Wouldn't it be best to have Nora fight Cardin? Match his strength with hers while Pyrrha fights Sky since she has a spear and you take Dove with your sword against his." Ren pointed out and Jaune nodded.

"While that's what I would normally but this is a controlled match so I feel like it would be best if I, as the team leader, fought against Cardin. Pyrrha's also a very versatile fighter that she could fight each and every person on team CRDL and win. She's got Akoúo and Miló which she uses with such skill that she can go toe to toe in ambidextrous fighting with Russel. Her skill with the javelin can beat Sky easily as for Dove. Well he's kind of just there so that's no contest. Lastly of course is Cardin, she's faster and far more skilled than him that his strength is useless. So with that being said, it's kind of difficult to find a place for Pyrrha to fight." Jaune explained evenly and Pyrrha looked to the side.

"Sorry." She said and Jaune stood up abruptly.

"No! Its fine Pyrrha, I'm not trying to lambast you for being incredible." He said and Nora whistled.

"Fearless leader, is now really the time to be flirting with your partner?"

"F-Flirting!? I'm not flirting, I'm just pointing how the truth!" Jaune sputtered and Nora cackled as she walked away. Ren gave Jaune an apologetic shrug as he followed his teammate and Jaune turned to Pyrrha who was smiling now.

"I-I'm not, bah, whatever. Let's go." Jaune said with a heavy sigh as he turned away to hide his red face. Pyrrha surprisingly giggled behind him as the two of them walked to catch up with Ren and Nora who were standing by the locker room doors.

Soon the four of them were outside on the arena again, across from them stood team CRDL. The four of them took up positions across from their agreed upon opponents.

"Alright! I want a clean fight, be mindful of your Aura levels. If anyone tries to strike at someone with low Aura I will catch them and they will be punished severely." Goodwitch called out, Jaune jumped from side to side in a pendulum step as Yang had done earlier.

"Combatants get ready!" She called out and the light dimmed overhead. Jaune drew his sword from its scabbard but left it on his belt. He and Cardin had fought two more times since the first time and Jaune figured it would be best to keep it aside for the most part.

"Begin!" Nora made the first move by launching four of her grenades which scattered team CRDL as they tried to avoid getting caught close together.

Ren immediately peeled off to chase down Russel who was unfortunate enough to get caught by the concussive force of the grenades which tossed him to the ground.

Pyrrha was already exchange fire with Dove as she sprinted towards the teen who was backpedaling fast to keep distance away from Pyrrha.

Cardin on the other hand had simply roared as he charged straight for Jaune. He dropped into a Fool's Guard with his left leg forward and right leg back in a bent position, Crocea Mors pointed down and away from him.

As Cardin jump forward to swing his mace downward Jaune's skull, se immediately jumped to the side spinning Crocea Mors around to swing down instead to strike at Cardin's right forearm.

Jaune however cursed as Cardin's mace hit the ground there was a flare of red then an explosion that sent him onto his back. Rolling to the side he was immediately on his feet again as Cardin was yelling again as his mace came soaring around to strike at him.

He didn't have time to get out of the way this time and it stuck him in the right side which sent him flying several feet to the side. Cursing softly Jaune got to one knee as Cardin grinned at him then came at him once more but Jaune was ready for it.

Instead of dodging out of the way he raised his sword into a left sided hanging guard to block the mace right under its head.

As the two weapons touched Jaune immediately shifted to the right then pushed down. With that Jaune was barely able to lock his crossguard under the mace head and push it aside much to Cardin's surprise.

He could hear the crack of the ground as Cardin's mace hit but Jaune wasn't in the position to withdraw his sword as he was too close to Cardin. Instead of trying to use his weapon the larger teen decided to head-butt Jaune.

Jaune could feel the flash of pain blossom across his nose and his eyes watered but he quickly retaliated despite the pain by kicking the inside of Cardin's knee. Aura or no Aura the blow knocked Cardin's leg out from under him.

The large teen wasn't done with Jaune as he fell to one knee he grabbed the edge of Jaune's breast plate, pulling him forward. Jaune lost his grip on his sword as he was lifted above and over the larger teen only to be tossed onto his back.

Jaune rolled to the side as Cardin stood up then kneed him in the face sending another painful flash in his vision.

"You think you're better than me Arc? You think you're stronger? I'll show you what true strength is." Cardin growled out from clenched teeth as he grabbed a handful of Jaune's hair then pulled his head up only to send a jab at Jaune's mouth.

Jaune sent an uppercut right into Cardin's groin, it's a shame that he still had Aura as while it forced the larger teen to let go it wasn't as satisfying as he'd hope for.

Cardin however stepped back and picked up his mace however he also kicked Jaune's sword further away.

"This is it Jauney boy." Cardin growled but Jaune ignored him as he pulled his scabbard out then quickly shifted it into a shield, bringing it up as Cardin brought down his mace. The impact was jarring to say at least but Jaune had successfully blocked the attack.

Gritting his teeth he strained as he pushed Cardin back then quickly broke contact only to crouch down to ram the edge of his shield into the knee he had kicked before.

Jaune rose up as Cardin lurched to the side; he pressed the attack slamming the edge of his shield into Cardin's chest before kicking the larger teen in the stomach.

Jaune used that break in their engagement to go back after his sword then turned around to see Cardin kneeling on the ground breathing hard. Jaune advanced forward despite the several flaring pain that his nose emitted as Cardin got back to his feet to swing his mace again at Jaune.

Not wanting the mace to reach full momentum, Jaune aimed a punch with his shield edge at Cardin's right elbow. Cardin yelled in anger as he struck at him with his left hand but Jaune simply turned it to his left with his crossguard.

Wanting to end the fight as quickly as he could, he slammed his right elbow back smashing Cardin's nose. As the bigger teen reeled back Jaune sent a back hand downward slash with his blade's tip hitting Cardin's exposed collar bone.

"That's enough! Cardin Winchester is out of the match! Team JNPR wins!" Goodwitch voice called out jerking Jaune out of the moment as Cardin crumpled to the ground. Blinking he looked around to see that his friends were standing by their own fallen opponents.

"Mr. Arc you may take your team back to the locker rooms now." Goodwitch called out and Jaune nodded slowly as he shifted his shield back into a scabbard then sheathed his sword as he headed back. Pyrrha and the others quickly caught up to him.

"You kicked Cardin's ass Fearless Leader." Nora said as she bounced ahead of him and Jaune winced a little on the inside at the nickname.

"To be fair he had me on the rope a few times there." Jaune said but Nora snorted.

"Come on Jaune Jaune, you're almost as good with a sword as Pyrrha." She said and Jaune snorted in return.

"Let's not kid ourselves here Pyrrha would wipe the floor with me." Nora nodded.

"Oh yea that would definitely happen but telling a little white lie never hurt anyone."

"But then why say it?"

"Cause silly that would just be mean if I constantly told you that you could never beat her. It's true but the truth hurts when it gets rubbed in your face." She explained and Jaune had to admit that she was onto something there.

"Come now Nora, Jaune's already a competent swordsman and he's quite effect in using his shield both on offense and defense." Pyrrha chimed in to his defense.

"True but you'd still beat him."

"The question isn't whether or not he could beat me but if he could just handle himself in a fight which he has proven to us now." Pyrrha explained and Nora seemed to think for a moment.

"I guess you're right, if I had to compare what I saw when I first met Jaune Jaune to what I see now I'd say he's proved himself a thousand times over."

"I'll have you know, it wasn't my fault I was like that during Initiation." Jaune tried to explain as they entered the locker room but the others just laughed as they broke apart to put away their gear. After a while team CRDL and two other students entered the locker room as they were about to leave.

Jaune made sure to give a wide berth to Cardin and his goonies as he left the locker room. Once outside he could hear the buzz of chatter from the other students as they got closer to the stairs leading back up to the seats.

"You guys did awesome out there." Ruby was the first to call out as they ascended the steps.

"I know right? I only wished I could have beaten up Cardin but I guess our Fearless Leader needed to blow off some steam as well." Nora jovially said as she fell onto the bench above team RWBY.

After two more fights the class drew to the end and Goodwitch started talking about some festival. He ignored it however as a small smile grew on his facing watching as members of their two teams talked with each other.

It was strange to think that just a little while ago there was what seemed like a strain between them. Now they were pretty close, studying together, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner together or just hanging out.

Jaune Arc simply hoped that it would never change.

---

A Few Days Later…

"Do you think she'll ever show up?" Yang groaned from the table to his left before a loud thud echoed through the room as a head hit a desk. It had been twenty minutes since class was supposed to start but Professor Peach their Life Science teacher had yet to appear again.

As far as Jaune was aware, they had only ever seen Professor Peach and that was on the first day of class. If Jaune recalled correctly she was a short mousy woman with grey eyes and spectacles. Honestly Jaune had thought she was a student at how nervous she was.

Now though it seemed that whenever they entered her room she was nowhere to be seen. Instead she always had her, rather large, chalkboard covered in detailed illustrations and instructions about that day's lesson.

They'd read what she wrote, do the end of chapter questions then leave it on her rather barren desk. Then the next day they'd find their work graded with notes either pointing out things they did wrong or praising them if they did something she liked.

What was odd now was the fact there was nothing on the board, no papers waiting for them either. Some of them were thinking that maybe she'll actually show up and teach them in person.

That quickly was squashed as no one showed up. Most of the students were asleep or on their scrolls, a few of the more diligent students like Weiss, Pyrrha and Ren were actually reading the textbook.

"Shit! Goodwitch is coming!" One of the students who had left to go to the bathroom called out as they raced back to their seat and everyone stiffened before pulling out their textbooks. Less than a few seconds would pass for Jaune could hear the steady click of Goodwitch's high heels and she appeared in the doorway.

Jaune made sure to keep his face pointed down at his textbook as he flipped open a small notebook that he used for notes. In his peripheral he could see Goodwitch, with a textbook under her arm, shake her head in annoyance before striding towards the front of the room.

"Alright class, it seems Professor Peach will be unable to make it to class for this week as such I shall be taking over for the time being." She said before setting her textbook down onto the table.

"Everyone put your textbooks away; I will be going over Musculoskeletal and orthopedic biomechanics follow along and take notes." Goodwitch said while above her a purple silhouetted piece of chalk began writing at the top of the board. So began a grueling forty minutes of note taking as Goodwitch walked around the room while simultaneously using her semblance to write on the board from afar.

When the bell finally began to ring, there was a collective sigh of relief as students set down or dropped their pens or pencils.

"Class tomorrow will be different, meet at the landing pads in the front of the school with your weapons, we'll be heading to the Forever Fall Forest." Goodwitch called out drawing their attentions before leaving the class.

Jaune sighed as he flexed his right hand as he skimmed over what he had written, normally he'd take one or two pages of notes of each of the chapters.

Now though he flipped through six pages of essentially copying down everything Goodwitch wrote and said.

"Kill me." Nora groaned as she rested her head on her own pink notebook.

"If I do that then I would have to carry your body out of here after cleaning up the mess." Ren said evenly.

"Did you get everything down?" Pyrrha asked drawing his attention and he nodded.

"I think so."

"If you want I can look over it for you?"

"I rather not subject you to the torture of trying to read my handwriting." Jaune said.

"It's not that bad." Pyrrha said with a smile as she rested a hand on his notebook and pulled it closer to her. She continued to have that smile but Jaune could see that look on confusion enter her emerald eye.

"Told you." He said and she snapped her head up.

"No, its fine I can read it."

"Come on Pyrrha, my hand writing sucks." Ren leaned over.

"It's better than Nora's."

"Yea but that's because she likes to doodle on her paper which is why it looks messy. Take the doodles away and it's neater than yours." Jaune pointed out and the other teen shrugged.

"Yours isn't bad, you actually write pretty neat the only problem is you write so small that the letters sometimes looks smashed together." Pyrrha noted as she leaned close to him to point out several words that looked closer to ink blobs than words.

Jaune however was far more concerned at how close his partner was to him, he could smell cinnamon in her hair. Was it her shampoo?

Pyrrha looked up at him and noticed how close she was to his face as well. Then immediately sat back straight then close his notebook then slid it back to him.

"So what's the plan boss man?" Nora asked and Jaune looked up at the clock, classes were over for the day but it wasn't nearly time to go get dinner.

"I'm not sure, is there anything you want to do?" He asked looking at his three teammates.

"I was planning on doing some maintenance on Akoúo and Miló." Pyrrha said and Nora groaned.

"Pyrrha you work on your weapons every morning before class, I think you don't need to do that now."

"Well we just had a practice match and besides that a well-cared for weapon is essential."

"Sure but over caring is also a thing." Nora said as they started to gather their things.

"She's kind of got a point Pyrrha, it's good to take care of your weapons but sometimes it's easier to just let things be." Jaune said and Nora snapped her fingers.

"See? Even Jaune agrees and he normally sides with you."

"No I don't." Jaune said trying to defend himself.

"Yes you do."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"You're wrong."

"No, you're wrong." Jaune tilted his head back and sighed loudly.

"Fine, let's agree to disagree."

"Sure." Nora said with a barely concealed smile.

"But you're still wrong."

---

Later That Night…

Pyrrha walked out of the bathroom after taking a nice cool shower, after dinner she had excused herself to go get a light workout done in one of Beacon's gyms. She was wearing a red tank top with loose shorts.

She had wanted to invite Jaune but he had to go to one of those Team Leader classes which were held at night. So instead she was forced to go alone as Ren didn't seem like he wanted to go and Nora obviously wasn't someone that she could ask.

As much as she liked Nora, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel exasperated with the bubbly orange hair girl sometimes. This was rare because she always thought she had a good level of patience to handle anyone.

She sat on her bed and looked around the room. Ren was working on his own weapons while Nora bounced her head to the rhythm of whatever music she was listening to.

Pyrrha didn't know what to say to them so she just stood up and looked for a pair of slip on some wool lounger shoes then picked up her scroll as she left the room. She was surprised however to see Ruby standing outside her door.

"Oh hey Pyrrha." The younger girl said as she turned to look at her.

"Hello Ruby, is your team leading class done?" Pyrrha asked and mentally slapped herself for asking the obvious.

"Yup." Pyrrha looked around but didn't see Jaune.

"He said he had something to do." Ruby said startling Pyrrha for a second.

"What?"

"Jaune."

"I know but what did he have to do?" Pyrrha asked but Ruby simply shrugged.

"I don't know maybe he's trying to get a snack at the cafeteria." The younger girl said before waving goodbye and disappearing into her room.

Pyrrha decided to walk down the hallway instead of going back inside. It was a little odd to find the hallways so quiet but at the same time she enjoyed it.

No one was looking at her or whispering behind her back. Sure it was better than the start of the year when other freshmen came up to talk or get a picture with her but she'd prefer it if they completely ignored her.

Of course that could never happen; even now she'd get messages from her parents relaying offers from companies that wanted to sponsor her or were offering ridiculous amounts of Lien to appear in a simple commercial with their product.

At first she'd say yes to as many as she could which her parents agreed with as all three of them knew that being a Huntress, even a famous one, didn't mean it was a lucrative job.

So her parents would always save most of the money that she got paid for while giving her a small amount as an allowance. All in order to keep her attitude about money tempered.

Though after a while when her bank account reached more digits than she had on one hand she stopped caring. Sure she had enough self-restraint to keep herself from abusing the money she got but she would have felt just as fine if it wasn't there at all now.

Pyrrha's thoughts were interrupted when she nearly walked into a wall, looking up she realized that she was at a familiar set of stairs. The same set of stairs that led up to the rooftop where she had taken Jaune last week.

She walked up the stairs slowly then pushed open the door; a cool breeze came through chilling her a little. Beyond it though she was surprised to see Jaune out in the open and even more surprising was the fact that he looked to be training.

Jaune Arc stood with his shirt off as he held his sword with two hands crossed above his head with the blade pointing forward and slightly down. He stepped forward spinning the blade clockwise in upper swing before switching sides then spinning the blade around in a downward slash.

Pyrrha watched as Jaune switched from what she gathered were different forms. It was a strange style of fighting, while she was sure in combat he would fight more fluidly but now the way he looked it almost robotic in how he switched forms.

She stepped out and slowly closed the door but it clicked loudly. Wincing she turned around to see Jaune standing up straight with his sword resting on his right shoulder.

Pyrrha couldn't help but lower her eyes to zero in on his torso. While Jaune isn't some super well-built guy, he had a lean but powerful looking body. Sure she could see it in the dorm whenever they were getting ready but there was something, interesting, about seeing it in the middle of a workout.

"Uh, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked snapping his fingers in front of her face and the red head shook her head as she looked at him. While the moon was out and gave off enough light that they could generally see each other, she was glad or just hoping it wasn't enough for him to see how red her face was.

"Is there something you need?" He asked but Pyrrha shook her head.

"No I was just wondering where you were, Ruby had already returned from your class but you were nowhere to be seen."

"Ah, well I had some extra energy that I felt like burning off."

"So you came up to the roof, stripped off your shirt and started practicing what I assume are stances with your sword?" Pyrrha summarized and Jaune shrugged.

"Pretty much." Pyrrha just shook her head as she laughed.

"Well come on then, you're gonna catch a cold without a shirt."

"In a moment, I kind of want to stay out here for a little longer." Jaune said as he turned away from her.

"Is something a matter?" Pyrrha asked but Jaune chuckled softly.

"No, it's just nice out that's all." Of course Jaune was lying; he had started thinking about his conversation with Ren earlier when he confronted him about being from Arcadia.

It had honestly frightened Jaune a little when the usually quiet teen had done that. Sure they had that little spat when they first met about his ability to lead but after that point it had been mostly smooth sailing for the team.

Now though, he had broken a promise he had made with his father about not revealing himself to anyone. He could argue that he had been confronted about it but then again he didn't actually try to deny it or come up with a logical explanation.

He folded at the first sign of confrontation about who he was and honestly it was pathetic. Most importantly however was the fact that now two of his closest friends in Beacon knew who he really was.

However his partner didn't know who he really was and for some reason that rubbed him the wrong way. Should he tell her? It seemed like a good idea, to get it all out in the open with his team but at the same time it felt like the truth would just make things complicated.

For Ren and Nora it seemed that they already knew a decent amount of what the Arcadian people were like since they said they had been in an Arcadian backed Outland town.

He wasn't sure why but it was something he needed to think about. As once the cat was out of the bag there was no way any of them could forget about it.

Jaune sighed as he picked up a white under shirt then slipped it on as he went to the edge of the roof and sat down. Pyrrha wasn't far behind as she sat down next to him.

Neither of them said anything; the two of them just sat staring at the Academy. Below them Jaune could see a few lights on most likely from the main hallways and maybe a few dorm rooms.

"Hey Pyrrha." He finally said.

"Yes Jaune?"

"Have you ever wanted to tell someone a really important secret but were unable to because of how important that secret was?"

"What?" He sighed.

"Let's me put it like this, let's say you have a secret, one which you were sworn to keep but the longer you keep it a secret the more it makes you feel wrong on the inside because there's someone you want to tell it to but aren't able to due to you swearing to keep it a secret in the first place even though you don't want too."

"Sounds tough but, well, if you made a promise you have to keep it."

"Really?"

"Of course Jaune, if it's something you've given your word about not saying then you can't tell anyone." He sighed as he looked out over the school again, that wasn't the thing he wanted to hear but she was right.

"So, excited for the trip to Forever Fall?" He asked changing topic.

"Yea I hear it's beautiful out there, well, except for the occasional Grimm pack." She said sounding excited even at the mention of Grimm.

"Hopefully we won't have to deal with any of them out there." He said and Pyrrha hummed in agreement. Jaune gave off a little sigh, content with her going along with him with the conversation. Soon the two of them talked for a little while but wholly ignorant of a certain person who happened to be standing starring at from the window below them.

---

The Next Day…

Jaune stepped out of the Bullhead as it touched down in a large fenced off area on the southern side of Forever Fall with several large structures in the center. It was the Forever Fall Station, a place for tourists and travelers from the north to stop by before Vale.

There was at least several dozen people, most noticeably though was the three other groups of what seemed to be school children.

At the edge of the clearing however was a high metal fence with a second layer of what Jaune assumed was some type of safety glass.

As more students piled out of the Bullhead Jaune could see men in green and brown uniforms that wore dark green tactical gear while carrying Dust Rifles.

Valean soldiers, a rather rare sight, as most of the Vale Army resided outside the city of Vale though Jaune wasn't sure why this was the case.

"Alright class, please gather around!" Goodwitch called out as she stepped out from a second Bullhead by herself. Jaune however could see a number of boxes piled up behind her.

"Each team is to take one box after which we'll be heading out in the forest of Forever Fall." She said and several people including Jaune stepped forward to get the boxes. He could see someone approach him from the corner of his eye.

"Sup loser." Cardin whispered as he bumped into Jaune but Jaune didn't respond with anything but a heavy sigh. He didn't want to deal with Cardin today as he was rather excited to explore the Forever Fall forest. So he stepped forward grabbing a box of his own then turned to walk back to his team.

Looking down he could see that there was eight glass jars sitting in two rows of four. He tilted his head to the side a little confused at why they would need that.

Then again he supposed they must be taking samples of some kind since this was a Life Science class. He glanced over at Professor Goodwitch who, like always, seemed rather annoyed.

Though this time it seemed a little justified as she's been forced to cover for the ever mysterious Professor Peach.

"Alright does every team have their box? Good, let's move." Goodwitch called out after making sure everything was off the Bullheads. Then headed over towards a gated section of the fence where five soldiers stood around. Jaune couldn't hear what she said but he saw the five men stiffen as she went up to them before the gate slid apart.

"I think this is the first time I've ever actually seen Valean soldiers, police sure but not soldiers." Ruby spoke up from behind him as team RWBY walked up beside them.

"Really? Ruby we saw that Army convoy a few years back when they came to Patch." Yang pointed out.

"Yea but that wasn't really a convoy it was just some people who were going away to train to be soldiers." Ruby said.

"I mean this is Vale not Atlas, they don't have the same military presence as us." Weiss said and Jaune glanced at her.

"What do you mean?" She sighed.

"Seriously? Oh, wait, I forget you lived in an Outland town. Well you know about the Great War right?"

"I'm not that stupid Weiss."

"Your words, not mine." The white hair girl said and Yang laughed a little before quieting down when Weiss glared at her.

"Anyways, after the Great War the Four Kingdoms wanted to prevent the chance of going to war ever again. As such the Four Kingdoms began a massive disarmament of their militaries."

"Except for Atlas." Blake cut in and Weiss hesitated on that before continuing.

"Well yes, Atlas didn't believe in the disarmament. As they believed they would still need their Military's strength to secure their borders from the Grimm and expand out as they grew since they didn't think the newly established Huntsman Academies could be relied upon alone." Jaune hummed a little.

"That makes sense."

"Does it?" Pyrrha asked looking at him.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't a military force; they're mostly just freelancers, or independent contractors, that go around protecting those they can in the Outlands. When it comes down to taking and controlling ground it would make more sense to use an Army which is far larger so they'd be able to cover or protect more ground. Also it makes sense on a logistical scale as well, if you compare the eight of us now you can see we all use different weapons or ammunition for our firearms. If Yang runs out of shotgun shells for Ember Celica then that's it for her since none of us carry spare shells. The same goes for Ruby, Pyrrha, Nora, and Weiss. Ren and Blake might be able to share since they use handguns but I'm not sure."

"So our individuality makes it hard, as future Huntsmen and Huntress, to be organized like a military force?" Ren asked.

"Kind of, I can't say for sure but I'd think it would be a logistical nightmare. That being said, how many Huntsmen and Huntresses are out there? In the eighty years since the start of the Academies has there been an actual difference in the amount of Grimm out there? Maybe the Four Kingdoms and the Outland towns or villages close to them are safer but what about the ones nowhere close to the Four Kingdoms. How long does it take before a Huntsman or Huntresses is free to go out there but by then only come across a destroyed town."

"That's what we're here to do though Jaune, we're going to make sure they're safe as well." Ruby said but Jaune couldn't help but just shake his head.

"I'm sure there have been others that thought or felt the same way as you Ruby but like I said. It's been nearly a century and while there has been a noticeable growth in the world's population there hasn't been much progress in defeating the Grimm for good."

"So what are you trying to say? That we shouldn't train to fight in order to protect people because how hard the task is?"

"No but you can't blame me for thinking that something is wrong in how little it seems we've made in progress in defeating the Grimm."

"He's got a point." Blake said and before Ruby could argue with her Jaune cut in again.

"That's enough now, I'm sorry for bringing the mood down."

"It's fine Jaune." Yang said eager to change the subject as well. The eight of them quieted down as they along with the rest of their classmates followed Professor Goodwitch deeper into the Forever Fall forest.

It wasn't long before called them to gather around her before explaining that they needed to get some sap from trees found within the forest for the class. While unexpectedly letting them know that they only need to turn in four jars while keeping the other four for their own consumption then told them they had an hour to complete the task.

Jaune glanced over to see Ren eyeing the jars that he carried with a looked that was mixed with contempt and horror.

"What's up?" Jaune asked and Ren shook his head as he realized that Jaune was talking to him.

"You say something Jaune?"

"I asked, what's up, you're starring at these jars as if you're gonna kick them out of my hands." The magenta eyed teen nodded slowly.

"I'm just a little bit worried." Jaune frowned a little in confusion.

"You see, I read that the sap we're getting is really sweet and if Nora figures that out I dread to think what might happen to us." Jaune felt a bead of sweat break out on his forehead. They had all become aware of the chaos that Nora could sew when given something like sugar or caffeine.

The first time that happened, Nora had somehow escaped their dorm building and went running around the campus. Jaune and Ren were barely able to retrieve her without Goodwitch finding them first.

"Should we stick together?" Pyrrha asked gesturing to team RWBY who were wandering off on their own.

"I don't see why not." Jaune said and headed after them.

"Heads up, I spy four assholes at 1 o'clock." Nora said and Jaune glanced up to see Cardin leading his team uphill nearby. He couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about knowing they'd be nearby.

Alas he was determined to enjoy the day, so vowed to do his best to ignore them. As Jaune and the others began to gather their sap he found that it was almost therapeutic. He watched as the red sap slowly went down the side of the glass jar building up slowly and slowly till it almost spilled over.

Looking to the side however he was surprised to see Pyrrha crouched in front of her tree with what looked to be a scowl on her face. He could see that her jar was barely a quarter of the way full, tightening the lid on his own he set it down before walking over to her.

"Need some help there Pyrrha?" He asked softly as he crouched down next to her. He could see Pyrrha avoiding look at him as her cheeks went a little red.

Was she embarrassed?

"It's fine Jaune." She said and Jaune laughed softly which Pyrrha shot him a glare to which he held his hands up.

"I'm sorry you just reminded me of my sisters for a second there with how determined you are to getting it done by yourself." Her glare lightened at this.

"You have sisters?" She asked and Jaune coughed into his hand.

"Yup, they're annoying as one would expect. What about you Pyrrha? Now that I think about it I don't think I've ever asked if you had any siblings." Before she could answer however, someone started to scream. Jaune stood up with his hand already on Crocea Mors handle. Ren and Nora immediately run back to them as team RWBY gathered around each other as well.

Jaune narrowed his eyes as he saw Dove, Russel and Sky came running towards them as they yelled about a Grimm. Yang grabbed onto Russel before jerking him in front of her.

"What's going on!?" She shouted.

"Ursa! It has Cardin!" He said as he tried to pry himself out of Yang's grip.

"And you left him alone?" Jaune asked and Russel seemed to pause before resuming in his effort to break out of Yang's grip. The taller blonde girl let him go then looked towards Ruby.

"Ren, Nora go get Goodwitch. Pyrrha you're with me." Jaune said evenly as he drew Crocea Mors. Ren and Nora didn't hesitate as they took off in the direction that Goodwitch was supposed to be. Ruby started calling out something as Jaune ran in the direction that Russel and the others had come from.

As Jaune was running he couldn't help but think if this was really the right idea? Cardin was a bully and a racist but did he deserve to be left alone to fight off the Grimm? Saving people was what Huntsmen did but what if the person that was in danger wasn't a good person.

Should they be left to die?

In warfare there was a certain level of acceptable loses, people were expected to get hurt or killed. Yet he didn't want that, he wanted to save people like in the tales of heroes but those tales never talked of saving someone that didn't deserve to be saved.

As he started to climb the hill he could hear someone yelling, it sounded like Cardin. Jaune gritted his teeth as he tried to run faster.

He couldn't help but think about his father, he was a stalwart man that seemed to always stick to some strange code.

Jaune wasn't sure but he knew it had a level of coldness to it that startled him. He could remember reading old reports during the Faunus Rights Revolution about some of the personal decisions his father made.

Razing whole villages that showed support to the Four Kingdoms while unleashing devastating firepower on the armies of the Four Kingdoms.

He executed Army Officers after capturing them without even giving them a chance but at the same time devoted whole regiments to protect Outland towns even when they were technically enemies. He would airlift food, medicine and clothes to villages in the Outlands that suffered in the fighting and lack of trade.

As he ran into a clearing he could see Cardin lying on the ground as a large Ursa Major loomed over him. Jaune didn't stop to think as he activated his shield then ran in without saying a single thing.

The Ursa seemed to stiffen as it sensed him but Jaune didn't give it the chance to turn around as he plunged Crocea Mors blade into the back of its right knee. The creature howled in pain as Jaune quickly pulled the blade out in a clockwise spin before slashing the left knee.

Crocea Mors sliced deep enough that the Ursai faltered in its movement. Jaune ran to its left to counter its attempt at turning right to face whoever attacked it. Jaune sent a thrust into what he assumed to be its ribcage, the Grimm roared again in anger before swiping backwards with a massive paw.

Jaune brought up his shield at an angle, despite the paw sliding off he was still forced back but mostly importantly the Ursai fell on its side with the lack of support. It attempted to roll towards him but Jaune jumped to the left then stabbed downwards towards the Grimm's skull.

However instead of trying to get out of the blade's way, the Ursa lunged forward with its two front paws slamming its head into Jaune surprising him. The blow from its head sent Jaune flying several feet back only for him to roll back to his feet.

Jaune looked to see the Ursa shifting its entire body to face him. While its movement was restricted its head-butt showed that it could still be dangerous.

Pyrrha on the other hand stood passively by as Jaune fought the Ursa, for some reason she felt it would be best to have Jaune save Cardin alone. As much as she would prefer to see the Grimm rip the detestable teen apart she knew Jaune would take it hard to have something like that happen.

"Pyrrha!? What's going on!?" A familiar voice called out, she turned to see Ruby and Weiss running up to her with their weapons drawn.

"I'm just watching Jaune beat this Ursa." She said simply Ruby frowned as she looked over to see Jaune fighting the injured Ursa Major with Cardin in a fetal position on the ground. She needed to get him out of danger as Jaune fought the Grimm, she made to move in his direction but Pyrrha held a hand up.

"Don't." The taller girl said and Ruby frowned.

"What are you doing? We need to help." Pyrrha nodded.

"Trust me, this is for the best." Pyrrha turned back to see Jaune slicing into the paw of the Ursa as it tried to swipe at him before ducking into its reach to bash the side of his shield against the Ursa's face as it tried to bite him.

With that he had the opening to thrust his sword into the side of the creature's neck before pushing down ripping the blade out through its black fur. The Ursa slumped to the ground, its head flopping loosely as only half of its neck was still attached.

Jaune was breathing deeply as he stared at the slowly dissolving body of the Ursa. Jaune then turned around to see Pyrrha standing next to Ruby and Weiss at the edge of the clearing. He nodded to them to let them know that the Ursa was dead.

Sighing he walked around the Ursa to see Cardin staring in a stunned silence at the corpse, he collapsed his shield back into a scabbard then sheathed his sword.

"Get up." Jaune said as he held his hand out. The larger teen took it as Jaune helped him up; Cardin was still staring at the Grimm corpse. Jaune couldn't help but notice that the larger teen seemed to have what looked to be red sap staining his chest plate.

"Thank you Jaune." The larger teen said in an almost dazed tone and Jaune tightened his grip of Cardin's hand drawing his attention.

"I want to lay this all out for you, so listen well. I think you're scum, a pathetic egotistical asshole with disgusting prejudices that bullies others like some low life thug. Yet here I am, protecting your life whereas others like your teammates did nothing. So I want to ask you this Cardin Winchester, do you want to be the person that comes to the rescue of others, a hero, or the one that's abandon to his fate due to his hateful beliefs, a unmarked tombstone. Think about the legacy you leave behind." Jaune said getting in Cardin's face then pushed him away, leaving Cardin to stare down at the Ursa. Jaune felt jittery, was it the adrenaline of the fight? He wasn't sure but he didn't care as it just left him in a foul mood.

"Jaune!? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked as he walked towards her, he let loose another long sigh.

"I'm fine and so is Cardin."

"I'm surprised you helped him." Weiss said and Jaune tilted his head a little.

"Is it?"

"I mean isn't this the guy that's essentially been bullying you for the last few weeks?" She asked and Jaune shrugged.

"True but that didn't really bother me though I think I did give him something to think about." He said as Goodwitch came into view with the rest of the class. Nora, Ren, Yang and Blake immediately zeroed in on them as Goodwitch demanded to know what happened at seeing the dissolving corpse of the Ursa.

After some time explaining what happened, Goodwitch ultimately ended the trip early then directed the class to head back to the Forever Fall station. Where they waited for the Bullheads to come then take them back to Beacon.

---

A Few Days Later…

Jaune was walking back to his dorm room after he had turned in a handwritten report about what had happened during the trip in Forever Fall to Goodwitch.

"Jaune." A familiar voice called out and he froze as he knew who it was. Turning around he could see that it was Cardin Winchester, he frowned.

"Is there something you need?" He asked tersely and the taller teen nodded.

"I, look, this isn't easy for me but I wanted to say thank you." He said as he stared at the ground.

"There's nothing to thank for me for." Jaune said casually before turning around again.

"Wait." Cardin said raising his voice a little and Jaune turned to look at him.

"I'm trying to be sincere here Arc, I had some time to think about what happened in Forever Fall. About what you said to me and what I felt when I saw my own teammates leaving me behind." Jaune raised an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything.

"You're right to think I'm some pathetic loser because that's what I'm feeling about now as well. I've been careful to gauge how others see me as of late whenever I walk by and I can almost feel the burning disgust most of them have and that terrified me. I thought my grandfather was correct in his belief that Faunus were really just the scum of the world and that most of Humankind agreed with that sentiment but that's not the case. I even talked with my teammates asking to know what they really think." Cardin gave him a rueful smile.

"They don't even hate the Faunus. They just went along with what I was saying which might have made it even worse. This begs the question what's the greater evil, me in spouting my hatred for the Faunus or them being such weak spine sycophants to follow along with something that they don't believe in. I suppose it would be me since I'm the one that started it which then makes me think back to what you told me. I'm leaving a path of hate that others took up which than makes it worse." Cardin slammed a hand against a wall and Jaune could see the muscles in his jaw tighten as he gritted his teeth.

"I don't know what to do anymore." Jaune was honestly a little skeptical; a part of him understood that Cardin's world has taken a serious hit that affected his beliefs in a way. At the same time Jaune wasn't sure if Cardin was just using this as a ploy to catch him off guard further down the line.

"So what do you know?" Jaune finally asked.

"I know that I need to apologize to you." Jaune shook his head.

"I don't want your apology Cardin." The larger teen seemed crestfallen at hearing that so Jaune continued before he could respond.

"If you really want to make things right, not only to me but everyone else then I know of one person you can apologize to." Cardin tilted his head to the side.

"Who?"

"Velvet Scarlatina and you have to do it at lunch in front of everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Yes, it's the only way to show others that you want to change and for them to take you serious again. Velvet sometimes comes by our table now so be on the lookout as anywhere else she'll probably just avoid you since you've been a massive asshole to her." Cardin seemed to be thinking so Jaune took this as his cue to leave but he called out to him again.

"Jaune, wait I got one more question." Jaune turned to look at him.

"Why did you save me out there?"

"I thought I already told you?" Cardin shook his head, Jaune looked at up the roof as he closed his eyes remembering a conversation he had with his father when he was very young.

"Well I guess it's something to do with what my old man once said in regards to ideals. A Hero must not only protect the innocent and loved but protect those that are hated as well when it is right." Jaune said as he finally opened his eyes to look at him.

"Protecting those that are hated?" Cardin murmured to himself then looked at Jaune.

"I think I understand a little more now Jaune, thank you." He said reaching out his hand and as much as Jaune wanted to spit on it he took it as well.

As Cardin walked away he couldn't help but let a little frown slip out as he had no idea what was in the future for him. Jaune didn't think it should be that easy for someone to change so easily but maybe it had to do what he said about his grandfather.

Though that still didn't excuse him for the things he did or say. Jaune sighed, in the end it didn't matter what he thought of Cardin, if he could make a change for the better then there was nothing to think about.

---

The Next Day…

"Well that was a thing." Yang was the first to say after the group witnessed Cardin bowing to Velvet in front of the entire cafeteria during his rather loud apology.

Jaune was a little relieved to see that Cardin had actually gone through with it since he had his doubts about whether he was serious or not about changing.

"You think he's lying?" Yang asked looking around the table but most of the group merely shrugged.

"I don't know what to think but I know that apologizing in front of everyone like that means it would be hard to turn back and save face at the same time." Ren said.

"I think it's great to see Cardin apologize to Velvet, it means he's going to be a good person now." Ruby said.

"Just because he apologized to Velvet it doesn't mean he's a good person." Blake said and Weiss nodded with her.

"She's right Ruby, change doesn't come easy."

"No it doesn't but we shouldn't be dwelling on that, if he's trying to become a good person we should welcome him with open arms." Ruby said and Weiss snorted in a very unladylike manner.

"If you wanna hug Cardin then be my guest."

"Uh, Ruby isn't going to hug anyone till she's married." Yang chimed in.

"That doesn't make any sense." Jaune said but the blonde girl just glowered at him and he held his hands up.

"Look, I talked to Cardin and I was the one to suggest to him to apologize to Velvet. I think if he's actually listened to me then we can give him some slack for the time being." Jaune said.

"Wow Jaune, I didn't think you were so quick to forgive people." Weiss said and Jaune shook his head.

"Look there's a difference between forgiving and forgetting. I can forget about it if he's trying to be a better person but I don't have to forgive him for what he's done already."

"That seems pretty fair to me." Pyrrha said jumping in on the conversation.

"To think if Cardin is so easily changed then what's the point of the White Fang? They make it sound like we're incapable of change so that justifies their terroristic violence." Weiss said as she went back to eating her food and Jaune could practically see a vein pop out on Blake's forehead before asking for a thorough explanation for what she meant. Jaune sighed as he rubbed his temples with both hands.

"I can already feel that this is going to be a headache."

---

Going from one to problem to another there Jauney boy.

So this chapter took a while since I had to write the second half on the fly as I did the main section.

Though that's all really just an excuse because I got distracted by reading Manga, which on a side note Goblin Slayer is a good read once you get over the occasional Goblin rape scene.

Oh and finally I watched Volume 4, which I gotta say I don't exactly get what people are hating on it and Volume 5 though admittedly I haven't seen that yet but I'll get to it at some point.

Also this is technically the end of the Chapter so you can read the portion past this point or just skip all the way to the bottom as it doesn't technically have anything to due with the plot that concerns Jaune.

---

Arcadian A.A.R

Author: First Lieutenant Donald Jacobsen

Time of Report: 1630, November 1st, 2032 A.D.

Afflicted Area: Irkalla Provence

Participants: Arcadian 3rd, 5th, 6th Field Armies, Arcadian Army Corp of Enginseers, Arcadian Air Force, Sisterhood, Praetorian Legion.

Enemy Combatants: Ruinous Powers and Creatures of Grimm.

Initial Date of Incident: September 16th, 2032 A.D.

The purpose of this After Action Report is to establish a preliminary timeline of events that started in the early morning of September 16, 2032 at 0530.

This A.A.R will however not touch upon the Grimm attacks that occurred in the surrounding Provinces. The distinction between the Ruinous Powers and those Grimm attacks is clear within the Arcadian High Council.

On September 16th of this year at roughly 0530 Lieutenant General Sigrus and his 12th Corp, placed to defend Irkalla was attacked by a large mixed force of the Ruinous Powers which will be known as a Great Host or simply the Host.

The initial onslaught, from the surprisingly large enemy force, took Sigrus by surprise. This Great Host was later revealed to be roughly a hundred thousand strong infantry force with at least five thousand AT70 Reaver Battle Tanks, two thousand AT83 Brigand Super Tanks and four thousand STeG 4s.

All of the classifications of the names for the enemy tanks come from Canoness Superior Sanian who spoke of a place called Urdesh. There are no known accounts in regard to that name as such the assessment of this place is, for the time being, is irrelevant to Arcadia.

Note to Reader: For the sake of imagination in this story think of the AT70 Reaver Battle Tank as something like the Russian T-55. The AT83 Brigand Super Tank for all intents and purposes is the shitty cousin of the Macharius Heavy Tank however it only has 1 Battle Cannon and a front hull mounted Heavy Stubber. That being said while it's shitty in comparison to the Imperial Guard Heavy Tanks it proves to be a challenge to standard or the Main Battle Tanks that Arcadia fields which means it'll be able to take on the Predator and Tempest Class Tanks even in a 3 on 1 situation. The Sicaran however will be able to go 1 on 1 against it with ease. The STeG 4 on the other hand for a lack of a better model think of it as the BTR-80 that uses either a twin linked 14.7mm Heavy Machine Gun or 25mm Autocannon, cheap, easy to make but also easy to kill as it's weak armor can only stand against small arms fire and a few hits from shoulder mounted rockets. However its use as a Light Armored Infantry Support Vehicle would show it's capable due to the numbers that can be put on the field.

The Ryre Stronghold, located in the center of the Arcadian Northern Lines came under heavy assault. There the large stone fortress loomed over miles of trenches and bunker complexes that covered the south bank of Ryre River that came down from the White Peaks. Along with the full strength of the 56th Division under the direct command of Lieutenant General Sigrus.

In the cover of night with the added bonus of the first snowfall of the season the Enemy made their first move.

Thousands of Chaos Warriors crossed the Ryre River along with advance teams of Chaos Space Marines which had apparently already made their way onto the south bank.

The Chaos Warriors however did not understand the strength of the foe they sought to kill. As such they had no idea what to do when they wandered into the minefield that had been dug into the bank of the river by the 56th Division.

The numerous unexplained explosions took them by surprise and the Arcadian defenders who up to that point didn't know they were there immediately woke to face whatever threat that had set the mines off.

Alas the Chaos Space Marines were far more intelligent on the sort of soldiers they faced. They were able to reach the trenches with relative ease as their simple plated brethren were blown apart.

Once in the trenches the slaughter began, the Arcadian soldiers had expected Grimm to be their enemy but when bolter fire thundered and the sounds of chain weapons roared in the night. They realized how dangerous the situation was.

As the Chaos Space Marines slaughtered the Arcadian soldiers, observers that were relatively unmolested by the traitorous Marines saw the Chaos Warriors finally clear the minefield by simply charging through regardless of the danger.

Soon enough the trenches and bunkers are swarming with large plated warriors and pockets of soldiers fighting desperately against the foe.

In the stronghold, the Arcadian forces began pelting the northern bank of the Ryre River with their Serpent Infantry Guns and Lancer Field Guns as salvos from Chaos cannons and armor began to bombard the trenches and stronghold walls.

Hundreds of soldiers manned the ramparts and closed the main gates on the north side as Sigrus roused his tank crews in order to field as much armor as he quickly could.

What would later be identified as Traitor Guardsmen that made up the bulk of the Chaos army would push across the river at several points as the 56th was distracted by their struggled to clear their trenches.

Armor formations accompanying them quickly drove to surround the stronghold; the mass of tanks added to the fire that pummeled the walls and gates.

The tanks of the 56th Division tried to rise and meet the challenge but most of the tank depots were located in bunker complexes along the lines, which subsequently were destroyed by the rampaging Chaos Marines.

The few tanks residing within the Ryre Stronghold were unable to make a push outward as the waiting Chaos armor picked them off by their weight of fire.

Sigrus at this point had sent out reports to his Division Commanders, letting them know that the 56th was in dire trouble. Avagisa, his most senior Division Commander, was the first one he contacted; she would rouse three of her regiments to move to his aid.

It would be too late as the fortress was brought down, not by the soldiers and tanks that scoured the trenches or fields surrounding it.

Instead it was reported that Chaos Marines were the ones that would kill Sigrus and break the Ryre Stronghold. These Marines were Legionnaires of old, ones that excelled in infiltration.

As of the creation of this report, it would be clear that these were members of the 8th Legion.

The Night Lords.

The Night Lords would make their way into the heart of the stronghold where they found Sigrus and his command staff that were desperately holding the defenders together. None of the room's occupants would survive that encounter.

The Traitor Legionnaires reportedly also turned on the stronghold's P.A. speakers as they flayed their captives alive this was the final nail in the coffin for the 56th.

Soon enough the Traitor Legionnaires turned their sight on the other defenders. Previously placed Melta bombs were triggered and a number of explosions rocked the stronghold from the inside, in the confusion the Traitor Legionnaires made their move against the defenders.

These warriors of legend butchered the defenders before making a beeline towards one of the stronghold gates. Killing any who stood in their way they opened the gates wide for the waiting Chaos forces. At that point the Ryre Stronghold fell to the enemy.

The few shattered battalions or regiments left alive outside of the stronghold fled south as the forces of Chaos butchered and raped everyone in sight.

With Sigrus's death in the center along with the rout of the 56th Division the entire 12th Corp was left with their center exposed. Before Major General Avagisa, the most senior officer in the 12th Corp could plug the gap left by the shattered 56th with her 57th. The rest of the line was attacked, to the west the 60th Division was taken by surprise when Chaos Warriors appeared far too close to their lines without them noticing.

The seasoned Chaos veterans forced their way into the trenches, Sangars, pillboxes and other defensive fighting positions. Caught in tight spaces with the expert melee fighters the Arcadian infantry was forced southward from their positions after brutal close quarter combat.

In the Center, Avagisa deployed her 57th with a few straggler units from the 56th that rallied to hold out at Fort Ebbing which covered the northern roads that connect Helvisk with the now former Northern Line.

Helvisk at this point is also alerted to the breached frontlines. As such Province Lord Alfred Jeremiah deployed the Helvisk Garrison northward to support the 12th Corp.

So he sent the entire Helvisk Garrison Regiment along with the Garrison's company of tanks towards Fort Ebbing.

Skirmishes would resume in a few hours as a vanguard force of Chaos Armor and Light Infantry probed the line of the 57th but was pushed back. As the additional firepower from Fort Ebbing, which was ready for an attack, proved that the Arcadians were still not out of the fight at this point.

To the east Avagisa took direct command of the 59th Division as it went to support the 58th which found itself in a fierce fight against the more modern Chaos Light Infantry.

While initial reports made it appear that they were mostly wearing odd mismatched uniforms and unfamiliar solid shot weapons they were quickly found to be something to be concerned about.

As despite their ragged appearance, the enemy wasn't mindless nor did they lack sufficient armored support as they had cheap but relatively effective tanks along with the support of Chaos Marines.

It should be said that out of all the Divisions of the 12th Corp, the 58th had been the one to react first which let them come out relatively fine all things considered.

Major General Ian Tanet pulled his Division back immediately by regiments. He had the 189th and 190th Line Infantry Regiments to move south while having his 186th and 188th Armored Regiments draw attention as rearguard in a series of tank battles.

The combined regiments lost a total of 62 Tempest tanks, 47 Predators and 3 Sicaran Tanks to the Enemy Armor. While having a confirmed 97 AT70 kills, 116 STeG 4 kills and 14 AT83 Brigand kills.

The 187th Heavy Infantry which also stayed to support them had also held back several infantry battalions that tried to bypass the armor fight. Despite taking heavy losses to the numerically superior foe they were able to hold out long enough for the order for withdrawal to be given for the 186th and 188th Armor.

The 186th and 188th would provide cover as they made their way to the wetlands where the 189th and 190th had already taken up new positions.

At this point the entire province along with the Sharlor, Argus, and Lemavi Provinces were made aware of the general situation. Reserve Artillery Companies are pulled forward to begin raining shells on known or last seen enemy positions near the now abandoned Northern Line as most of the previous Artillery companies were either killed or forced to leave behind their weapons.

Enginseer Brigades immediately began constructing new trenches and defensive fortifications for the retreating 12th Corp to reoccupy against the advancing Enemy. Avenger and Corsair Squadrons were prepped for combat then sent airborne to slow down the advance of the enemy.

Over the next sixteen hours, the remaining Divisions of the 12th Corp have finally stopped retreating south. In the western lowlands the 60th Division took up position on the south side of the Farnram River. On the northern side were the twin fortresses Yarlmouth and Falmouth which began a long range artillery duel with the Enemy.

While in the eastern wetlands the 59th and 58th bunkered down as much as they can but the cold weather mixed with terrain of the wetlands made it difficult to establish a proper defensive line without the proper tools or experience of Army Enginseers that had yet to reach them.

It will be some time later that the High Lord in Falias is made aware of the escalating situation.

The twin Fortresses on the Farnram River would soon be destroyed. The Chaos warriors had broken the defenses of the Arcadian Fortresses; no one is sure how exactly that happened.

Current speculations lead us to believe that the Chaos Warriors received aid from the Traitor Legionnaires that had destroyed the Ryre Stronghold.

The 60th Division would be forced to brace in its position on the south bank of the Farnram River for the inevitable enemy advancement.

The Chaos Warriors would bring up their infernal weapons which began pelting the south bank. These large strange cannons are reported to glow malevolently before firing incandescent balls of power that emit the screams of what can be described as those of the dying as they soar through the air before impact.

The range, accuracy and firepower of the 60th Division's tanks proved to be almost if not more than equal in deadliness of the Enemy's cannons.

The Farnram River itself also proved to be a useful tool in stalling the advance of the enemy. While the Chaos Warriors were expert foes in close quarter combat, at range it soon became apparent that the Arcadian Forces made up that difference.

Over the next seven hours the 60th Division would beat back half a dozen major charges that the Chaos Warriors tried, resulting in thousands of their ilk to perish under withering gunfire.

At the eight hour mark that would be the time that the 41st and 42nd Division from Lieutenant General MaRaul's 9th Corp will arrive to support the 60th Division.

The two Divisions would have arrived just in time to assist in the seventh charge which will be the most dangerous at that point as Daemonic Cavalry riding atop Juggernauts would make their appearance.

It's with these that the Chaos Forces are finally able to make it across multiple points along with southern bank; Tempest Tanks immediately depart from the battle line to hunt down the breaching Cavalry.

This leaves a noticeable lack of firepower for the defending infantry against the following Chaos Warriors that charged after the Cavalry.

The Chaos Warriors will be able to get into contact with the new frontlines of the Arcadian Army. Casualties will be high as the Arcadian Infantry try to contend with the full plate armored warriors.

The 60th Division's Commanding Officer, Major General Valamir Sreten, would call artillery and air support practically on top of his lines. The subsequent bombardment from several artillery companies and a squadron of Avenger Strike Fighters would take a deadly toll on the Chaos Warriors finally pushing them back.

However he would have lost half a dozen companies from the fighting with them along with another two companies worth of injuries from the friendly bombardments. Whether or not this was the right decision will be reviewed at a later time by an independent committee.

MaRaul's 43rd and 44th Divisions would also make it to the eastern wetlands.

There Avagisa and Tanet were dealing with a dozen separate infantry skirmishes and two major tank battles. The casualties were piling up against them as aside from the wetlands themselves there is no major fortification to protect their soldiers.

The 189th Line Infantry was down to two half strength battalions, while the 190th was still at half strength. Tanet's 186th Armor was stretched thin covering Avagisa's 182th Line Infantry's right flank as it covered the 187th Heavy Infantry's retreat after breaking under several hit and run charges from STeG 4s.

Avagisa at the same time was trying to push her 181st Heavy Infantry along with her 183rd and 184th Line forward to retake the Grey Oak Hills that separated the wetlands from the central portion of Irkalla after they were forced off it.

The 44th would send its 217th, 218th and 219th Line Infantry Regiments in support of Avagisa's push while having the 220th Armor support the 185th Armor as it splits two of its Battalions to swing far westward around the Grey Oak Hills.

While having Colonel Mezei Kata's 216th Heavy Infantry move to relieve the over stretched 186th Armor from protecting the 182nd Line Infantry.

Major General Anzelm Kasper of the 43rd Division however thought of a plan to cut off the Enemy's reinforcements by deploying his 211th, 212th, and 213th Paratrooper Regiments.

He wanted them to drop down on the north side of the Grey Oak Hills. While sending his 214th Heavy Infantry to reinforce Avagisa's assault on the Grey Oak Hills and 215th Armor Regiment to assist the 220th and 185th as they swing around to the west to then cut off the northern side of the hills to the enemy.

Kasper draws upon as many Valkyries and Telamon Transports that the Air Force could spare. At the end of the day he would get enough aircraft to transport all three of his Paratrooper Regiments at the same time.

At 0100 the next day the initial vanguard force that High Lord Alexander put together would be ready to move northward. However at the last second he would change his orders by having several Heavy Weapon's Companies and six Enginseer Battalions to begin digging out new positions south of the current battle line.

The primary goal of this was to set up a rear fortified position for the 9th and 12th Corp to rest as they're switched off the lines. As such the 3rd Field Army was given orders to start deploying into the Irkalla Province; General Litvinovich began preparations to quickly fill the gaps made from the 9th and 12th Corp when the orders to pull back were given.

In the meantime however it is at this point that Champion Aeyr Forianus arrives with a Cohort of the Praetorian Legion. The thousand strong Praetorian force led by the venerable Champion immediately split up.

Two Centuriae were placed in the three fronts with orders to not only protect the two Corp Commanders but also the Division and Regiment Commanders as well.

Though that's not to say the Praetorians didn't take an active role in the fighting, while some were attached to the various commanders. Others went out onto the front lines battling effectively against both the Chaos Warriors but the Traitor Guard Units as well.

With the numerous skirmish victories that the Praetorians were racking up it's at this time more specialized Chaos Forces appeared. Namely groups of Pontifex Guards moved to check the appearance of the Praetorians.

The heavy shields, carapace armor and Power Weapons wielded by these fanatical warriors also signaled that things were getting heated on the front.

On the dawn of the seventh day since the start of the Irkalla Siege, General Elya Litvinovich finally was ready to deploy her Field Army to replace the battered 9th and 12th Corp.

At this point the defensive battle line on the south side of the Farnram River was bending under the weight of the Chaos Warriors. Multiple points of the river were no longer recognizable due to the bodies and destruction that twisted the landscape.

In the center, Fort Ebbing had a dozen points along its northern wall that were stressed to near collapse. Not to mention the increase of tank skirmishes that slowly drained the Arcadian Armored elements as they kept the Chaos Forces from growing too big.

In the east, Avagisa had finally taken hold of the Grey Oak Hills but her grasp was tentative. As the regiments tasked with cutting the northern sections off from the main body of the Chaos Forces had essentially been trapped under the weight of fire of two deadly forces before being forced to be a wall to crush the Chaos Infantry that had occupied the Grey Oak Hills.

With a loss of more than a third of the Paratroopers along with a quarter of their Armor, Line and Heavy Infantry reinforcements. It proved to make it a difficult task to defend the Hills as thousands of red cladded soldiers of the Enemy attacked their positions with light artillery and armor.

On top of that the weather was turning from bad to worse; a lot of the soldiers on the Frontline didn't have the proper kits to weather the harsh storms. Nor did they have the enough shelters to house the amount of exposed soldiers that were in the field.

Along with that the cold weather would freeze a lot of the water in the eastern wetlands and the western lowlands making it easy to traverse the otherwise natural barriers that had helped keep the Enemy out.

At the same time it may have also prove to be a helpful respite from the Chaos Forces as the snow storms would make it difficult for even them to mount a proper offensive.

Army Strategists surmised that they had two options, risk continuing the Offensive in hopes they can quickly break the Arcadian defenders or retreat back beyond the former frontlines. The same ones that had been thoroughly bombed by the Arcadian Air Force and Artillery Companies to the point that they were useless to shelter in.

Canoness Superior Sanian would also arrive to bolster the Elite Forces of the Province with the full force of Canoness Preceptors Gellea, Vennolla, Palena, and Sabisma. This put four thousand warriors of the Sisterhood in the Province.

At the same time General Litvinovich was deploying her Field Army with the pain staking task of replacing the two battered Corps with her 5th and 6th Corps. In the next thirty six hours the 3rd Field Army would be in position to withstand both the storm and the potential Chaos Assault.

It never came, as the snow storms had started even earlier, covering the land in a blanket of white and freezing the almost every source or body of water in the Province.

With that respite, the Arcadian Forces began digging into their current positions. It wouldn't be until a week later when the snow storms died down that the Arcadians figured out what happened.

The Chaos Forces had up to that point attempted to take shelter in the shattered trenches and fortifications of the Arcadian Northern Line. Alas as expected, many of their soldiers who were not equipped to handle the cold let alone the snow storms perished.

Strategists have conferred that the most likely scenario had been that Chaos forces decided to head back to the White Peaks after suffering dreadful losses due to the climate.

General Litvinovich would take the initiative by advancing her 5th Corp along with several Artillery Battalions, a dozen Army Enginseer Brigades, along with volunteer elements of the 6th, 9th, and 12th Corp. All in order to reoccupy then fortify the shattered Northern Lines.

Champion Aeyr would also press forward with the Praetorian Cohort he had under his command while Preceptors Gellea and Sabisma would accompany the 5th Corp's advance.

High Lord Alexander would also send an additional Praetorian Cohort. In addition he would send another six Divisions from the 10th and 11th Corps to bolster the forces in the Province.

Four days will pass without incident before two Armor Skirmishes will occur, though these will in fact occur behind the reoccupied Northern Line.

Two Enemy Armor formations containing a mix of STeG 4s and AT70 Reavers would ambush several supply convoys. Along with destroying three Artillery Companies that were being shifted towards the front before a flight of Vultures could arrive on scene to chase them off.

The 5th Corp would dispatch the 25th Division's, 123rd Mechanized Regiment and 124th Armored Regiment to hunt down the two Armor Formations. This would take roughly half a day before they're able to engage the enemy which they would destroy to the last machine.

At this point the fighting in the Province was all but done at that point; Army Enginseer Battalions were working around the clock to bring the Northern Line back to functionality. While the 6th Corp took up temporary position even further to prevent another attack from hitting the Enginseers as they worked on the shattered Northern Line.

Over the next week, roughly a third of the trench systems have been repaired to an adequate level that Army Units were able to take position in them.

Alas the rest of the trench systems, bunker complexes, motor pools, artillery pits, and other defensible positions were far from usable. In addition to that the Ryre Stronghold, the Warden Stronghold in the western section of the front, and the Blackstone Stronghold in the east were all effectively in ruins.

Most of the walls had been knocked down with their weapon platforms destroyed or looted. Internal supplies were ransacked or torched with corridors and barrack rooms smashed to the point of inaccessibly.

Worst of all was the belief that before they destroyed the main keeps; the Enemy had rummaged through for whatever intelligence they could get their hands on.

It was at this point that storm clouds appeared over the White Peaks, Specialists among the Praetorians and Sisterhood confirmed that its origins were from the Ether.

The 3rd Field Army consolidated its forces as forward observers reported seeing the Chaotic Neverborn in the distance. Many of those observers went mad and had to be put down as there was no time to deal with their tortured screaming as the Neverborn marched at the head of the Chaos Host.

As the Archenemy of Man closed the distance to the waiting 3rd Field Army, all Arcadian assets within the Province were directed towards the front. Including the recovering battered units of the 9th and 12th Corp.

The rest of the Sisterhood would also march to join them along with the arrival of a large Knight Cadre that was sent under the instruction of Forge Master Rosenstock.

The Knight Cadre contained a two Knight Paladins, two Knight Errants, a Knight Crusader, a Knight Warden along with two Helverin and Warglaive Knights.

At the head of the Chaos Army was at least a ten thousand strong force of Bloodletters, at their head however was something that gave pause to even Champion Forianus and Canoness Superior Sanian.

As the three towering figures of Bloodthirsters were at the head of even the Bloodletters as they made their way to the Arcadians.

It was at this point however that the Grimm made their appearance. As the Arcadian Artillery Batteries, Avengers and Corsairs began bombarding the enemy army, the Creatures of Grimm charged to flanks of the Chaos Host.

This took up a lot of their attention just as it did the Arcadians who had to hold back numerous packs of Beowolves, Ursai, Death Weavers, King Taijitus, Death Stalkers, Goliaths and Nevermores.

Though it didn't stop the Host from attacking the Arcadians as well as it seemed the Neverborn of the Blood God were particular eager at this predicament.

It's at this point that for all intents and purposes that proper reporting of the battle is difficult to manage or organize from what we know.

The western lines would be assailed by the Grimm. The 5th Corp which had its 21st, 22nd and 23rd Division there were able to hold them despite several dozen skirmishes within the trenches as packs of Beowolves, Death Weavers and Ursai were able to make it into them.

Several hundred Goliaths, Death Stalkers and King Taijitus would be engaged by the Arcadian Armor. At least 103 Tempest Tanks, 84 Predators and 3 Sicarans would be destroyed or knocked out of combat by the combined strength of the large Grimm creatures.

As for Infantry, at least several battalions worth of soldiers were killed or injured by the first wave of rampaging creatures. More may have died had the wave not been broken by a detachment of Sisterhood warrior along with a Knight Warden, Helverin and a Warglaive.

In the east the 6th Corp's 28th, 29th and 30th Divisions was exchanging fire with the Chaos Forces. The smoke and dirt kicked up from the numerous destroyed armor and explosions would darken the sky and make it hard to see or even breathe for anyone without a helmet on.

At least 115 Tempest Tanks, 105 Predators and 7 Sicaran tanks would be destroyed or crippled by the enemy. Whereas the Arcadian Forces would get a confirmed 234 STeG 4 kills, 156 AT70 Reavers and 48 AT83 Brigand kills within the first hour of fighting.

On the infantry side once more it was a blood bath. The combined Light and Heavy Infantry Regiments of the three Divisions suffered under the combined assault of the Chaos Warriors, soldiers, Pontifex Guard and a few thousand Bloodletters.

Taking into account the casualty reports of the three Divisions, they lost a combined total of 8,000 soldiers along with another 2,700 wounded with 1,400 that went unaccounted for after the battle ended.

The reasoning behind this pressure is due to the speculation that with the arrival of the Grimm, the Host's formation shifted sending a larger than anticipated portion of its forces into the waiting 6th Corp's Divisions.

Alas no confirmation can be made as many of the Avenger, Lightning, Vulture, Corsairs and Valkyrie assets were needed in close proximity to the Arcadian lines.

It's here however that the first major loss for the Praetorians and Sisterhood contingents is seen. After the Bloodletters pushed deep into the 147th Line Infantry's position slaughtering them then routing one of its Battalions.

A joint group of seven hundred sisters along with three full Centuriae would move to hold the gap till the 147th could shift additional companies from its other three battalions to fill the gap.

The Bloodletters would continue to press this weakened section, which if it fell would easily mean that they along with STeG 4s and other light infantry that were supporting them could roll up the flanks of the Arcadian defenders.

Thankfully they were able to hold the Bloodletters at bay but at severe cost to their own. As 72 Praetorians would get killed with another 27 injured to the point of no longer being able to stand. As for the Sister 217 of them were killed along with 157 wounded to the point that they could no longer fight.

It was the arrival of the other Helverin and Warglaive along with one of the Knight Errants that kept the Bloodletters from breaking through long enough for two Companies from the 147th and six restructured full strength companies from the 12th Corp's 57th Division to reinforce the position.

In the center however was the heaviest fighting. As it was a three way fight between the Creatures of Grimm, the Ruinous Powers and between them the Arcadian Defenders.

There the 24th, 25th Divisions of the 5th Corp along with the 26th and 27th Division of the 6th Corp stood side by side. Along with them was the rest of the Knight Cadre, the Sisterhood contingent led by Canoness Superior Sanian and Champion Forianus with the Praetorians.

For them most of the fighting was centered on the ruins of the Ryre Stronghold. There the Sisterhood and Praetorians stood amidst the shattered walls defending both the battlements and breaches from the encroaching mass of Grimm or Chaos Forces.

It should also be noted that one of the Bloodthirsters would have fallen earlier, not by Arcadian soldiers but by the Grimm. Reports have it that the Greater Daemon fell under the onslaught of a dozen Death Stalkers.

The other two however kept their attention on the Arcadian Defenders. There Champion Forianus and Canoness Superior Sanian would engage them along with two Knight Paladins and the second Knight Errant.

Eight Great Companies along with a dozen Chaos Infantry Companies in conjunction with Bloodletters would try to break the lines to the west between the 24th and 25th Divisions. While two dozen packs of Beowolves and Ursai used the confusion to slip past the battle lines.

Reserve Forces made up from the remaining units of the 9th Corp along with the Knight Crusader were able to lock down most of the Grimm Packs in order for Flights of Avenger Strike Fighters to eliminate them.

That being said many of those Grimm Packs did cause some serious damage to Artillery and Enginseer Companies that were behind the frontlines.

Going back to the center, as the 24th and 25th was pressured by Chaos Warriors. The Praetorians and Sisterhood warriors holding the flanks of the 25th and 26th Division were pressed hard by the Bloodletters.

The Praetorians would lose about two hundred and fifty of their ilk while the Sisterhood lost another four hundred of their warriors. The Knight Errant "Steel Endeavor" would be crippled by one of the Bloodthirsters.

Reportedly Sanian and a Knight Paladin would take advantage of the situation by attacking the Greater Daemon as the crippled Errant would hold onto the Greater Daemon with its Thunderstrike Gauntlet keeping it from turning to face them.

Though the Greater Daemon would rip the arm off the Errant then use it to nearly beat the other Paladin to death. Sanian would be able to land a strike which left the Bloodthirster blind in one eye before cutting off its head.

With the death of the second Bloodthirster, the Chaos forces seemed to go into an unusual panic. The final Bloodthirster would gather most of the remaining Bloodletters around it before making a straight line towards the Praetorian and Sisterhood position in the Ryre Stronghold.

With its attention focused on them Litvinovich, under orders from Champion Forianus, would divert as many air assets that she could muster to bomb the Bloodthirster and Bloodletters once they were locked in combat in the Ryre stronghold.

As the Chaos Daemons slowly pushed their way into the ruined stronghold baying for the blood of the defenders, Litvinovich made her move. Above them three Avenger Flights led two Squadrons of Corsairs with an additional Lightning squadron that would keep Nevermores and Lancers at bay as they began bombing both the Ryre Stronghold along with a two mile radius around it.

Subsequently the Ryre Stronghold was almost completely obliterated taking with it the last Bloodthirster and most of the Bloodletters.

The accompanying Knight Paladin within the walls did end up getting damaged by the bombardment but most the Praetorians and Sisterhood warriors were able to stomach the bombardment by taking shelter within the main Keep.

There the Praetorians had been holding the key chokepoints leading into the main Keep as the Sisters fired down upon the Bloodletters.

With the death of the final Bloodthirster, the remaining Bloodletters fled north only to disappear leaving the Host behind. Which had already taken a beating due to fighting both the Grimm and Arcadians as such they began a fighting retreat with the Grimm as they headed back north.

The Arcadians would still have to deal with the Creatures of Grimm. The eastern flank was freed up totally as the Chaos Forces withdrew.

As such they were able to send four Infantry Regiment and six Tank Battalions westward to provide help to the beleaguered 5th Corps 21st, 22nd and 23rd Divisions which were still fighting.

The fighting would die down over the next two days, on the third day since the start of the battle with the Chaos Host led by the Neverborn and the Grimm Litvinovich would declare victory.

The Irkalla Province was now once more firmly in Arcadia's hands.

So began the restoration effort to repair the crippled Province. The 9th and 12th Corps would be transferred back to Nyseion while the Argus, Sharlor and Lemavi forces were told to stand down as well.

Canoness Superior Sanian and Champion Forianus would leave their forces within the Irkalla as they travelled back to Falias to report to the High Lord. The bulk of the 5th Corp would be stationed back in the southern portions of Irkalla in case they were need as the 6th Corp guarded the Enginseer Corp as it began the painstaking effort to restore the defensives of the Northern Line.

It should be noted that even up to writing this A.A.R that the expected date of completion is still fourteen months away before the Northern Line is considered to be at full strength.

The reason for this is in order to actually begin reconstruction the first step the Enginseer Corps has to do is clean up the mess of shattered stonework and trenches.

At the same time this doesn't take into account the numerous Strongholds that were severely damaged or destroyed in the fighting. These alone would take at least four to six months to clean, repair and rearm.

Overall all the Northern lines, needs construction materials such as metal or concrete for bunkers, wall repairs and Dragon's teeth. Along with the need for wood, razor wire, sandbags for defensive fighting positions such as trenches.

There's also the need for more weapons that needed to be delivered to them such as the Lancer Field Cannons, Sabre platforms, Serpent Infantry Guns, Goliath Artillery pieces, Earthshaker, Manticore systems, Hydra platforms. This also comes with the task of organizing the right materials that would be needed as spare parts.

The numerous Four Year Plans put into place at the start of the last century proved to be a wonderful boon as the production during those times kept the Arcadian in a significant surplus of both civilian and military materials.

Even with the significant amount of supplies to draw upon whenever needed, the time it would take to transfer the needed items is a serious time drain. As the cross Kingdom rail system had yet to come to completion. As such most of the materials had to either be flown or moved by vehicles.

Both of these methods had their advantages and disadvantages. Aerial transportation was quick but it had the drawbacks of only being able to carry so much weight while having a limited amount of aircraft that can do heavy lifting such as the Telamons.

As for ground transportation while anything can be transported it was slow and ponderous taking hours if not days to get the necessary amount of supplies from one Province to another.

Even the Rail System had its flaws of being fixated to one point only along with the possibility of major delays due to the countless miles of tracks that had to be maintained.

Going back to the original topic, it's not only construction materials and military equipment that needed to be replenished but manpower as well.

Aside from volunteer units within the 9th and 12th Corp until they are able to obtain enough recruits to replace their losses they'll be put off active duty for the foreseeable future.

The 12th Corp started with roughly a little more than 110,000 if taking into account Heavy Weapon crews and other logistical personnel. At the arrival of the 3rd Field Army, there were less than 65,000 active personnel physically capable of fighting with roughly 7,200 soldiers critically wounded.

As for the 9th Corp, of their initial 100,000 they would end up with less than 75,000 with another 5,400 soldiers with critical wounds.

Even the 3rd Field Army took some losses when they replaced the two Corps on the frontlines. Of the 200,000 thousand soldiers deployed into the Irkalla Province they would end up only having 172,000 left standing with 4,800 wounded.

This isn't taking into account for the status of the various armored vehicles and tanks attached to these Corps. Many of them need new armor plates, parts for their treads, fuel and other worn down internal components.

While many more just need to be replaced as they were lost in the fighting, though a number of them could be salvaged if given extensive repair time.

The same goes for the Air Force assets within the Irkalla Provence. At least five dozen Valkyries were lost in the fighting, along with four dozen Vultures, three dozen Avengers, with a dozen Lightnings and Corsairs as well.

With all of this taken into account the general reconstruction, repair, recruitment, along with rearmament has the estimated time of completion being anywhere from one and a half to two years.

Army High Command has also submitted the proposal of deploying additional Army Units into Irkalla in order to push the Northern Line closer to the White Peaks.

Their goal is to establish a new Northern Line to take the pressure off the Army Corp of Enginseers as they repair the current non-operational Northern Line. As any further attacks will only serve to increase the time to completion.

This proposal was struck down however as to advance the Northern Line would require a large Forward Operating Base for such a task which the only position capable of handling that would have the current Northern Line.

So if to establish a new Northern Line requires the current Northern Line to be useable then there's no point in pushing forward. At the same time to construct a whole new Northern Line would require a proper survey of the land to set it down in the first place before acquiring the necessary resources to start from nothing.

With that being said Army High Command did get permission to push out with its current forces to create several temporary strong points past the Northern Lines. The purposes of these strongpoints are to serve both as preliminary warnings and distractions in case another attack comes.

Though the manpower for their construction must come from the Army Units sent out while the equipment is provided by the Enginseer Corp. As the Enginseers tasked to repairing the Northern Line have the higher priority.

As for the effect outside of the Irkalla Siege that some may have forgotten. Its neighboring provinces Sharlor, Lemavi and Argus were also attacked.

While they didn't face the Chaos Host, they encountered Grimm Hordes that were in the initial vicinity of the fighting which set them off into an agitated state making them attack our forces stationed in these Provinces.

Thankfully due to the quick decisions made by the High Lord additional Arcadian Army Units were sent to these Provinces in anticipation of something happening so damages were kept to a low.

In the end despite our victory we ended up having a crippled Province that's far more vulnerable than ever before. At the same time a serious blow that has been given to our Military Forces within Irkalla that will be felt in the months to come.

In the aftermath of the Battle, High Lord Alexander has also issued orders to the 1st and 2nd Field Armies to start shifting Divisions to the northern part of Nyseion in case another Chaos attack occurs.

At the same time the Army High Command in Falias has put forth the thought that we didn't actually destroy the Chaos Host. While they had a fighting retreat with the Creatures of Grimm, no one was able to confirm their destruction.

However it's argued that if the Chaos Host is still alive than it is in the White Peaks and would not be able to escape anywhere but to the south again. This would only lead them right back into the Army in Irkalla which would be expecting something like that alas this all speculation as to when the next attack will be.

With that said this A.A.R of Irkalla Siege that took place on September 16th, 2032 A.D. to October 1st, 2032 A.D. is now complete. Any additional information will be added on accordingly in regards to this event every eight weeks.

All questions or addendums must be directed to the Department of Army Logistics and Calculations for approval.

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Now then you're probably wondering "Hey, why the fuck is this so long?" well dear reader it's because I'm trying something out something new. Just as the last time when I added a little information blob about the Army I decided "You know what? Let's add this in as the second half." which is kind of like a World Of Remnant/Me not wanting to write an Alexander part but still wanting some of the action that would come from it sort of thing.

So go ahead and let me know you're interested in me doing more things like the information blob or recounting events that aren't necessarily tied to Jaune's experience like maybe a flashback in Alexander's mind of past battles or something along that line. Though I don't think I will do it for every chapter really just something to shake things up now and then.

Anyways go ahead and leave a review if you like or didn't like this chapter. Also if you have anything you wanna say or ask me go ahead and ask if not than you can PM me cause I'm totally willing to talk things out as some of you already know.

Till Next Time!