Something wasn't quite right. That was the feeling Jaune Arc felt as he peered through the dense fog that hung over the ravine.

He hadn't known there was such a massive ravine cutting through Emerald Forest. It certainly wasn't able to be seen from Beacon's cliff that he was propelled off of.

Jaune shuddered, just thinking about that made his stomach crawl.

They had separated into two groups, he and the other seven Beacon initiates, one group fighting the gigantic Deathstalker and the other, the Nevermore. Between the two, Jaune was glad he was stuck with the grounded scorpion Grimm and not the flying monstrosity. With no projectiles, he would have to rely completely on his teammates.

After a riveting display of teamwork, Jaune and the others, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, managed to finally kill the monster. It turns out that despite his little to no training, working with three other capable people was enough to take down a Grimm. Jaune only hoped that his lack of ability wouldn't drag anyone else down.

However, after the defeat and small celebration of passing Beacon's Initiation, Jaune and the others were surprised to see that they had lost contact with Ruby and her group. After Ruby had shot up on… Weiss' glyphs, a dense fog had happened to obstruct their view of the fight, completely separating the two groups.

Had something happened after their fight with the Nevermore?

"I can't see anything…" Jaune muttered as he squinted his eyes.

"The fog is too thick, if we got closer then we may be able to see them" Pyrrha, his partner, commented. Jaune turned to the girl beside him. Despite it being rather chilly, Pyrrha wore some rather revealing if not practical armour. Mixed with leather and bronze pieces, her neck and legs were the only things actually protected. Considering that some of the other girls and even Ren didn't even bother to put on armour, Jaune supposed it was better than nothing. He wondered if having Aura made armour useless in that regard.

Weiss had mentioned how Pyrrha was some kind of famous tournament fighter. While he had never heard of her, the evidence was clear in her skill as a fighter. He was glad that she was on his team, as she could execute his crazy ideas that he called plans flawlessly.

Regardless, Jaune would have agreed to venture into the fog, was it not for the fact that getting closer meant jumping across the ruins of an ancient stone bridge that crossed a seemingly bottomless ravine. His Aura may protect him from the Grimm, but not a fall of this height.

"Ruuuby! Weeiss-y!" Nora shouted, "Can you hear me?!"

"If the Nevermore wasn't killed, then it would have targeted us next." Ren reasoned, "The fact that hasn't happened means Ruby and the rest must have defeated it."

Jaune nodded, "I hope you're right."

As they were all mulling over what to do, a gust of wind blew across the open air unhindered by trees or other obstacles. Jaune stumbled at the sudden force to his side and would have fallen down the cliff were it not for Pyrrha's firm grip on his forearm.

Pulling himself up, Jaune gave her a weak smile, "Thanks Pyrrha, you saved my bacon."

"No problem, Jaune." She returned with a brilliant smile of her own, "You just have to be careful around ledges."

Jaune laughed, "I thought you were my partner, not my Mum—"

He trailed off as something else caught his attention, something beyond the fog.

"I think I see someone!" Jaune exclaimed.

Pyrrha, Ren and Nora all turned towards the stone ruins that littered the ravine and followed Jaune's gaze. True to his word, there was indeed a figure in the distance. It was difficult to make out who it was but whoever it was, they weren't moving.

Ren felt the breeze gently caress his face and blow his ponytail to the left, before nodding, "The wind must have made the fog dissipate a little. We could try getting their attention now as they can see us too."

Nora, eager to follow Ren's advice, began shouting the girl's names once again. Jaune squinted his eyes, trying to make out who the person could be.

"I think that's Blake," Pyrrha said.

When Jaune gave her a quizzical look in response, Pyrrha became flustered, "Oh, well— she had some kind of grappling hook on her weapon, right? You can kinda see it from here."

Jaune took another look and after a moment, recognised the rope that she was talking about. The hook seemed to be wrapped around a pillar above while also connected to the figure, or Blake.

"Oh I see it now," Jaune nodded, "But it's strange. Why is she just standing there?"

But as he looked closer, Jaune's eyes widened and a cold sweat began to trickle down his neck.

"She's not standing…" Jaune gasped, "She's hanging there!"

Nora began to shift side to side uncomfortably as the words soaked in. "Is she okay? Renny, she's not hurt is she?"

Ren placed a hand on her shoulder, "We can only guess from here. If we get across this gap, we may be able to help them."

Jaune grimaced as he glanced towards the broken bridge. Not only had he been unable to make the jump after the Nevermore rammed through the bridge, but the gap had also been increased when Nora had slammed her hammer down, using the force to propel himself across.

"You three can get across, right? Find out what's wrong with Ruby and the others and I'll try and contact the teachers with my Scroll." Jaune told the others, "If something is wrong then we can get the extra support and if not, we get a ride back to Beacon."

Ren and Nora nodded in affirmation but Pyrrha's forehead furrowed, "Are you sure? I could stay here just in case…"

Jaune shook his head and gave her a weak smile, "Don't worry Pyrrha, we've already beaten all the Grimm here. It's more important that we make sure the others are okay."

Pyrrha's eyes darted across his before she sighed in defeat, "Alright, we'll be back soon."

Ren and Nora took a few steps back before running towards the edge. With a smooth and practised motion, Nora swung her hammer down into the dirt and used the force to propel herself up into the air. With no words needed, Ren jumped after and grabbed the hammer's head pulling himself with her. Finally, Nora landed like a gymnast on the edge of the ruined bridge and flung Ren over to safety. In no less than a moment, the two had managed to make it across the impossibly large gap.

Before Jaune could even react to the stunning display, Pyrrha turned towards him and made a small smile.

"Stay safe, partner."

Immediately, she turned and sprinted towards the edge, kicking back dirt and rock from her Aura-enhanced legs, and shot up and over.

Slightly dazed, Jaune blinked a few times to get back to reality and held up his hands to his mouth, "Be careful!"

A distant "Okay!" and a wave was all Jaune saw and before he knew it, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora had become consumed by the fog.

At their disappearance, Jaune immediately took out his Scroll that had been in the back pocket of his jeans. Opening it up, he fumbled his way through the interface until he entered the contact information for Beacon's reception. He honestly didn't know how to contact the teachers otherwise.

However, instead of receiving an answer, a "No Signal" error message was displayed on the screen.

"That's strange… we're not that far into the wilderness are we?" Jaune muttered to himself.

He attempted to call them a few more times before giving up.

"Shit… I guess all I can do is wait for the others—"

A scream.

Jaune's body tensed as he turned towards the broken bridge and he gripped Crocea Mors in preparation.

That scream… it was Nora's.

"Hey!" Jaune shouted, "Are you alright!?"

In response to his cry, sounds of brick breaking apart, shots being fired and metal clashing metal was heard. Before finally…

A figure appeared beyond the fog. From the broad shoulders and height, it appeared to be a man.

"Ren…?" Jaune asked, more to himself.

The figure didn't respond but instead kept walking leisurely towards the edge of the bridge. Now that he was getting closer, Jaune was able to see that the man wasn't alone, rather, he appeared to be holding a girl on his shoulder.

As Jaune slowly began to understand what was happening, the man crouched down and jumped across, cracking the bridge behind him even further. Without pause, he landed directly in front of Jaune, sending him flying backwards as the ground took in the force of the fall.

"Hk—" Jaune grunted as he hit the ground, winding himself from the impact. Pushing with his right arm, he managed to get himself into a sitting position. He hazily looked towards the man and his eyes widened.

The man stood with a crooked back, staring at Jaune as if he was a piece of meat. The white sleeveless vest that covered his torso and the wrist blades he wielded was all covered in scarlet.

Without care for the unconscious girl he was holding, the man dropped her to the floor. Jaune turned his shaking pupils away from the man and towards the girl. A black lolita dress and a red cape…

"Ruby!" he cried.

The man laughed and began walking towards Jaune, every step identified by the crunch of his leather boots, "My my my, all on your lonesome? Well, that's okay, I had thought I had finished off all of you little whelps but it seems I was just one short."

Cracking his neck, the man smiled from ear to ear, yellow eyes gleaming as he approached the trembling Jaune. Despite the fact he had fought humanity's greatest threat, the Grimm, just moments ago, Jaune felt for the first time that day that his life was in danger.

All his friends… his partner, they had been…

Jaune grit his teeth and began crawling away with his back turned as fear overtook his actions.

Why was this happening!?

"Hey now… weren't you applying for Beacon? Why are you running away like a coward?" the man asked openly. "At least give me a bit of a fight!"

He hadn't run away from home, from his family, for this.

"Ah—!" Jaune let out a yelp as his foot was grabbed and pulled back.

"I got you!" the man cackled.

Jaune swivelled around and began frantically kicking with all his might, "Gerroff me—!"

Click.

Jaune looked up and saw the wrist blade aimed directly at him. At this distance, he was able to identify two cylinders on top of the man's wrists.

"Goodbye."

Jaune put up his hand to give himself some kind of protection but it was useless. The dust shells flew and cut through the flesh, shattering the bones and hitting his unprotected belly.

Blood splattered across Jaune's face as he was flung backwards.

The heat from his abdomen was so excruciating it made him want to tear his stomach open.

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.

Of course, without any knowledge or experience in controlling his Aura, there was very little stopping the dust shell from cleaving through his stomach and mutilating his internal organs.

He had screamed his throat hoarse until a clump of blood eventually replaced it. He could only hope for a small chance that something, anything, could stop the fiery hot agony that inflicted him.

As he revelled in his pain, the man plucked the unconscious Ruby off the ground and placed her upon his shoulder.

"I expected more of a fight from Beacon's newest recruits but alas, my mission was to pluck this rose from its place and now I have. My Goddess will be most pleased!"

Without any resistance and barely a scratch on his figure, the killer strolled away with the lifeless Ruby. His friend.

No! Come back! Let me help her!

He reached out his hand but the action was futile. His mutilated fingers were already numb and he could barely feel his legs.

Unable to stand up, unable to help, unable to be the hero he believed he could be.

The pathetic Jaune Arc finally died.


A/N:

This story will be updated weekly, most likely early in the week on Monday/Tuesday.

Thanks for reading!