A/N

This is where I'll answer reviews. I won't answer every review but only ones that I think will be beneficial to understanding the story better. I mean, this is a small story so that probably won't be a problem anyway

ZonZus: I am basing Jaune's semblance loosely on reinforcement from the nasuverse. It will have its own unique applications though. With this in mind, Jaune will be an all-rounder at close range. He will be agile, strong, and tanky all in one. I'm not going to give him a long/medium-range option. He will get a shotgun though. Because I think that would be cool. That's as much as I'll say without spoiling future progression.

Sir Lone: Don't worry, Jaune will not become a murder hobo that murders to solve all his problems. It was more to open up a last resort when he can't trust others to solve the aftermath and as a reality of living in the Grimmlands. Like, why send someone to jail when they will just escape (*cough* Torchwick *cough*) and expect the problem to be solved? The Jaune I'm writing wants to be a huntsman for righteous reasons. He won't shy away from killing when necessary (like in a place where prisons aren't safe or logical), but it won't be his go-to problem solver.

He might also kill rapists and other killers, but who cares about them, am I right or am I right?

Hope that clears a few things up.

Anyways, on to the chapter!

It was a dark night with barely any moonlight penetrating the thick forests of Mistral. Most people would be asleep by now, peacefully. But not here. The night was illuminated not by dawn, but by crisis.

A blonde boy, now a little older, could be found fighting outside the safety that the settlement defenses desperately tried to provide. He was glowing a brilliant gold as he massacred Grimm with brutal efficiency. His speed and power were more than should have been possible with his smaller frame.

A large lion faunus fought alongside him, smashing through the beasts with a colossal hammer. It was an impressive sight, seeing the two fight together like a well-oiled machine. The settlement walls were much the same, with every civilian capable of fighting occupying a spot.

Currently, they were defending against a Grimm tide, an unfortunate event that occurred by pure bad luck. It happened when multiple packs of Grimm stumbled upon a settlement at the same time. It wasn't a rare event, but not common either.

The walls were holding against the wave of Ursai and Beowolves valiantly as the townsmen rained down dust-infused bullets on any Grimm that got too close. But the Grimm were never-ending and their ammo was limited. Out on the frontier, most conserved their resources except for the most hopeless situations.

While they defended, the real threats joined the chaos. Three Ursa majors and one Alpha Beowolf began their advance to the settlement, having hung back for the first hour or so of battle.

"Jaune!" Aldric yelled, reducing two Beowolves to meat paste, "Stop the Alpha!"

Jaune, who was previously defending his position, started to advance through the horde, slaying any Grimm unlucky enough to be in his path. Aldric repositioned himself in front of the Ursa majors, and the final confrontation began.

Jaune sized up the Alpha in front of him. It had a higher coverage of armor on its back and flanks, so he would have to go for its underside. Jaune formed a simple plan in his head; disable the legs, then stab the shit out of it.

The Beowolf was impatient and attacked first, lunging for his throat. The glow around the hunter-trainee shined bright as he rolled out of the way, wind rushing through his hair. He slashed toward its hind legs once he was on his feet, but the Alpha was fast and Crocea Mors didn't connect.

Not discouraged, Jaune initiated the attack this time as he brought his sword down in an overhead arc. The wolf allowed the attack to land on its armored head, letting Crocea Mors bounce off. Jaune was forced to dodge another blow, and a pattern was quickly formed.

Dodge, attack. Dodge, attack.

While Jaune was busy with the Alpha, more and more Grimm slipped by, heading to the settlement walls. The civilians holding the wall grimaced, as the sounds of empty guns clicking filled the air. Their ammo was gone.

They switched to a variety of bladed weapons; swords, polearms, axes, and hammers entered the battle.

It was not enough.

The majority of the settlers didn't have their auras unlocked and were swiftly dispatched by the Grimm, which soon overwhelmed the few that did have auras. Screams filled the air as the Grimm pushed past the improvised defenses.

Jaune had put the Alpha down after jamming his sword through its throat and up to the brain when he realized the wall had fallen.

"No!"

His glow intensified as he cut through the Grimm with renewed vigor. He had 9 months to train his semblance since the bandit encounter, and it showed as Grimm corpses began to litter the ground in his wake.

But even with all his training, he wouldn't reach the town in time, and Aldric knew it. The lion faunus had finished up with the Ursai and made his way to Jaune, gripping his shoulder tightly.

"It's over!" He yelled over the howls of Grimm and sounds of destruction, "We need to go, or we'll be next!"

"I can't! I've gotta help them!" Jaune shouted back as Crocea Mors bisected another Beowolf.

"Look around you! There's nothing left!"

And he looked, as the screams of the people were silenced by the trampling Grimm. As the buildings were lit on fire from the ignition of leftover dust.

"We need to go. Now." Aldric said, more softly this time. Jaune felt his eyes well up with tears, the bitterness of failure overwhelming his conscious. Even so, he knew Aldric was right. They had to run, or they would be next.

The faunus huntsman turned away from the scene and fled with his apprentice in tow.

Jaune was silent as he sat on a rock near their campfire, nibbling on the tasteless rations. Aldric was right across from him but was much more at ease. It wasn't the first time the lion faunus had seen settlements fall to Grimm tides, so he was less affected.

Jaune suddenly stood up and choked down the rest of his ration. Aldric looked up at the sudden movement, his eyes meeting blazing blue ones.

"I want to up my training," Jaune said stiffly.

"Why?" Aldric asked, staying indifferent.

"What happened today… I know it wasn't my fault. But I feel like I could've done better, and the only way I can make that a reality is by becoming stronger."

Aldric closed his eyes and nodded approvingly, "Good enough for a reason. I'll up your training; just don't come whining when it's harder than you thought."

"I won't."

With his piece said, Jaune sat back down, lost in memories. At least, he was, until his mentor spoke again.

"Also, we're gonna stop by a bigger city soon and get you a gun."

"Huh? But I suck with guns!" Jaune complained lightly, the mood lightening slightly.

Aldric let a ghost of a smile cross his face, "Don't worry, the gun I have in mind for you doesn't take a lot of skill."

They spent the next couple of minutes chatting, with Jaune trying to get past the events that happened earlier in the night before turning to bed.

Jaune resolved himself before sleeping. He would not fail a second time.

Jaune walked behind Aldric, shoulders drooping over dramatically.

"How long are you gonna keep this up, kid?" Aldric asked while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I'm telling you, Crocea Mors is all I'll need. I don't wanna use a stupid gun…" Jaune grumbled as they walked through the city.

Aldric had commissioned him a gun at the nearby smith about two months ago. Currently, they were going to pick it up. A couple of weeks would be enough to get a gun in a place like Vale or Atlas, but Jaune's mentor refused to go to any large cities, stating that it was already a compromise that they weren't on the frontier.

Jaune constantly asked why he was so adamant about getting him a gun if he didn't want to leave the less populated lands, but he never got a straight answer. The past two months hadn't been bad for Jaune despite this, however. He was able to eat good food again, read books, and sleep in a comfy bed, which were all luxuries the Frontier didn't have.

After being spoiled with good food for a couple of weeks, Jaune decided he was never going back to rations if he could help it. He brushed up on his cooking skills and scoured the library for knowledge on edible plants and herbs and where to find them.

When he brought up to Aldric that he wanted to start cooking for them, the lion faunus was surprisingly encouraging about it.

"A person always needs a good hobby to distract them. If not, we'd all be crazy by now."

And Jaune found that he was right. The first couple of weeks he had been having nightmares, reliving the day he killed another person. Picking up a hobby was unexpectedly therapeutic in that regard, so Jaune decided there were worse things to waste time on than cooking.

He was broken out of his thoughts as the duo arrived in front of the weapons shop. It was an old brick building that looked like it had seen better days. They entered to see an old man sitting behind the counter, reading a book.

The man looked up from his reading when the bell on the door jingled, "Oh, it's y'all. Ya got the rest of mah payment?" He asked with a strong accent.

Aldric nodded and pulled out a scroll, prompting the old man to do the same. Usually, in bigger cities, electronic payment or credit cards were the way to pay. Out in the frontier, it was hard cash only since you wouldn't always have a signal from a CCT tower.

After a couple of minutes, the man nodded, "I'll go grab it fo' ya. Wait 'ere a minute." He shuffled into the back of the shop, disappearing from their sight.

He came back a couple of minutes later, holding the gun, which was a sawed-off semi-automatic shotgun, and a bag of ammunition.

"I changed the mag like ya asked, so it's gonna hold less. It's built for incendiary rounds specifically, so dontcha go around putin' other types of dust rounds innit, ya hear?"

"Loud and clear," Aldric replied, taking the gun and the bag before ushering Jaune out of the store.

They walked down the street before Jaune began talking, "Why'd you get so much ammo? We won't need that much before we can resupply."

Aldric grinned, "Because you need some practice before we hit the road again."

Jaune groaned, "This is why I didn't want a gun! I suck at aiming…" It brought back memories of when his dad tried to teach him, causing Jaune to grimace.

Aldric broke him out of his depressing thoughts, "Who said anything about aiming, kid? This beauty only has an accuracy of up to 15 meters. You just need to point it in their general direction."

"If it's only close range, why get it at all? I'm good enough with my sword," Jaune whined.

"To make space and surprise people. You will practice a little bit of aiming, but what you'll focus on will be quick drawing."

Jaune tilted his head, confused.

Aldric sighed, "Kid, it's going to be a hidden weapon; you aren't gonna be wearing this on your hip. It'll also be good for stunning Grimm, which is why I had it made for incendiary buckshot."

As much as the blonde hated to admit it, his teacher had a point.

"Fine. I'll use a stupid gun."

"That's not all though. I'm also gonna teach you to maintain it."

Jaune's head dropped into his hands, 'Looks like I won't be enjoying this last week comfortably, huh?'

He was right, learning the ins and outs of his weapon would be a lot of work.

Clangs of metal rang throughout the forest as teacher and student battled. The lion faunus swung his hammer downwards, looking to smash his opponent. It was dodged by the blonde student and made a crater in the ground where it landed.

"Jeez! Are you trying to kill me?!" The blonde yelled, yelping as he was forced to dodge another blow.

"If you don't feel it, you aren't learning!" Aldric laughed as he spun around, kicking Jaune in the chest. The split second before his attack landed, Jaune was enveloped by a golden glow, enabling him to hold his ground without falling over. It hurt like a bitch, though.

Crocea Mors clashed with Aldric's hammer, sparks flying. The fight went on for a couple more minutes before Aldric was able to end it. Jaune's mentor did this by throwing his big-ass hammer at him like it was a heavy frisbee and forcing him to block. The now taller blonde was able to deflect the hammer but at the cost of losing his balance.

Aldric capitalized by launching a brutal punch into his student's liver, following up with a barrage that sent him tumbling.

Jaune hit the ground, bruised and exhausted. Aldric bent over and picked up his hammer, slinging it over his shoulder.

"You're getting better, kid. The semblance of yours is scary."

The blonde groaned as he hauled himself to his feet, "It's not enough to beat you, though," he grumbled.

His mentor sighed, "You're not gonna be good enough to beat an experienced huntsman at the age of thirteen. You've literally only had your gun for what? A year and a half?"

While Jaune was frustrated at losing all the time, Aldric had a point. It had been a year and 8 months since he got his gun, and only three and a half years since Aldric started to train him. And he was making good progress, which was visible in his healthy and athletic form.

It was irritating that he still wasn't that strong in the grand scheme of things, though.

"Besides, I think you're strong enough to help me with a problem," Aldric continued.

Jaune perked up.

"I was contacted a couple of months ago by an old friend from my hometown in Menagerie."

Jaune got excited at that, "Does that mean we get to go to Menagerie?! You never talk much about it, but it sounds awesome!"

Aldric sighed, "I don't know where you got that from, kid. Most of them won't be as nice to you since you're a human."

"Eh, it can't be that bad, can it?"

Aldric sighed again, "Yes. It can. It's obvious I'm not gonna convince you any time soon, just keep in mind that most of them have lived with discrimination from humans for a long time. They're not going to trust you as easily."

Jaune sobered up at the mention of racism, "I'll just have to change that perception, then."

The lion faunus smiled slightly, "Anyways, we'll start heading that way soon. There's still a couple of settlements that I want to check on, so it'll be a couple of months before we get there."

The blonde deflated, "Seriously? Why can't we just take a bullhead to the coast?"

Aldric shook his head, "I hate air travel. Besides, we can still do some good here on the way."

Jaune couldn't argue with that, considering helping people was the whole reason he wanted to be a huntsman.

"Well, let's get going, then!"

"Tomorrow, kid. We'll leave tomorrow. Today is a physical training day." Aldric smirked at that last bit.

Jaune paled, "Damnit…"

A boat drifted through clear, shallow waters, heading for a dock connected to a rather busy marketplace. As the boat stopped to let its passengers out onto the beach, a blonde jumped out ahead of the crowd and fell onto the ground, kissing it like one would a long-lost lover.

"Ground! Or the boardwalk, I don't care! I will never leave you again!" He yelled, the residents looking at him weirdly.

A large lion faunus stepped out next, smacking his palm to his forehead, "Jaune, stop making a scene."

Jaune finally noticed the looks he was getting as he stood up from his loving embrace on the dock, "Eh, whatever," he said, acting like he hadn't been kissing the ground a second ago.

Aldric sighed before walking past Jaune, said blonde following behind him. They walked through the dock and into the market on land, Jaune taking it all in with sparkling eyes.

"So, where are we headed?" Jaune asked.

"We're going to meet up with the one who's asking for my help."

It was Jaune's turn to sigh, "Vague as always…"

They kept moving deeper inland, but Jaune was starting to get unnerved. Every person they passed looked at him strangely. Most looked with simple curiosity or weariness, but some with disgust or even hostility.

After traveling with Aldric for a couple of years, he didn't really care what strangers thought. Getting stared at by everyone was still unsettling, though.

The blonde nudged his mentor, "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

Aldric glanced at him from the corner of his eye, "That's because you're a human. They don't usually see non-faunus in the homeland. And those who are used to humans…"

He trailed off as his eyes gained a bitter quality. The silence trailed on awkwardly, Jaune not knowing what to say. Eventually, Aldric huffed, "Don't worry about it, kid. As long as you avoid the White Fang no one's gonna bother you."

Jaune looked confused, "The White Fang?" He questioned.

Aldric froze, "Ah, I'm a dumbass…"

Jaune smirked, "Well, I know tha-"

He got knocked on the head for his trouble, holding the spot with tears forming.

"That's enough out of you, brat. The White Fang is a group of faunus that used to be peaceful but are now more of a terrorist group than anything. They advocate faunus rights through violence."

"Oh," Jaune said lamely. The blonde didn't mind violence as a solution since it was a constant necessity for him in the past couple of years, but terrorists? Hurting random people instead of the problem? That was too much…

The duo stayed silent as they continued walking, now on a wide stone path through a tropical forest. They eventually came upon a large house, almost a mansion but not quite. As they walked up the steps, Jaune was getting excited.

"Is your friend super rich?"

Aldric smirked, "Something like that."

They approached the large double doors, where the lion faunus rang the electric doorbell. Jaune heard a shuffling of feet as someone approached the door. A couple of locks clicked, and the door cracked open slightly.

"Hello, how may I- Aldie?!"

The door swung wide open as the figure enveloped his teacher in a hug.

"Oh, it's so good to see you! How have you been? Oh, where are my manners? Come inside, come inside."

It was a beautiful, middle-aged cat faunus with short, black hair and gold piercings in her ears. She was wearing a black hakama over a white shirt and was adorned with different gold jewelry. She stopped fussing over Aldric and turned to Jaune, whom she observed with curiosity.

"And who's this?" She asked.

"This is Jaune, my student. I picked him up three years ago," Aldric replied.

That broke the floodgates as Kali surged forward and picked Jaune up in a hug, "He's so adorable!"

Jaune turned beet-red, "Gah! Aldric, help!"

Aldric looked the other way stoically. Jaune watched on, horrified, as his mentor abandoned him. He ended up being squeezed to death for three more minutes before Kali finally put him down.

"Come inside, come inside," Kali beckoned them forward. Aldric and an out of breath Jaune followed her in, coming to a stop in a well-furnished living room. They sat down on one of the two couches around the coffee table in the center.

Kali sat down on the opposing couch, "So, why are you here, Aldie? I haven't heard from you in five years."

"Ghira called for help on the frontier and I felt I was long overdue a visit," Aldric replied, glaring over at a giggling Jaune, who was repeating "Aldie" under his breath. The faunus knew better than to say anything in front of Kali, though. Jaune would be enjoying some nice, light "sparring" tomorrow though.

"Oh, my husband will be down shortly, so tell me about yourself; how have you been?"

They chatted for a bit while Jaune sat on the side, listening, before Kali glanced at him.

"And how did you two meet?" She asked.

Jaune grimaced and as Aldric replied curtly, "I picked him up from a Grimm tide."

Kali's eyes softened, "Oh, you poor thing. Don't worry; as long as you're on Menagerie, my home will always be open to you."

Jaune was surprised at her kindness, but it kind of made sense since she was obviously well acquainted with Aldric.

'Or Aldie,' he laughed to himself before speaking up, "Thank you, ma'am."

"Call me Aunt Kali, dear. Any friend of Aldie is a friend of mine."

It was at that moment that a huge man, even larger than his teacher, entered the room. The man clapped Aldric on the shoulders, "It's good to see you again, son. I'm sure my wife has already interrogated you on your personal life, but how have you been?"

Aldric smiled slightly, "I've been good, Chief."

The chief laughed before sitting down next to his wife. He looked down at Jaune, as if just realizing he was there, "And who are you, son? I am Ghira, the chief of Menagerie."

Jaune sat up straight, "I'm Jaune Arc, sir."

Ghira shook his head, "You're too formal. You can call me Ghira or Chief."

"Ah, okay, Chief."

Ghira smiled as he leaned back onto the couch, "So, Aldric, you finally answered my call."

Aldric nodded, "Yeah, I'm back to help with the frontier. Jaune too."

Menagerie's Chief narrowed his eyes as a tense atmosphere rose in the room, causing Jaune to gulp, "Is he good enough?"

Aldric nodded again, "Yeah, he's more than good enough. In a few years, he'll probably be able to give me a run for my money."

"Well, it's settled! Glad to have you two," Ghira exclaimed, laughing heartily and dispersing the tension. Jaune slouched in his chair.

"That's it?" The blonde asked, confused at how easily the Chief agreed. Ghira just shook his head wistfully.

"Trust me, son; Aldric wouldn't say so if he wasn't 100% sure you could handle it."

When Aldric indicated his agreement, Jaune blushed from the praise. It wasn't often Aldric affirmed his strength. After that was decided, Ghira gave them directions to the main outpost on the frontier and a letter of recommendation.

"Now be safe out there. And come visit every once and a while!" With those parting remarks from the Chief, the duo set out deeper into the wilderness.

"So what's the frontier on Menagerie like?" Jaune asked after a couple of minutes of walking.

"Mostly desert," Aldric replied, "We'll be heading to the coast, though since it's a better place to settle new towns with more food and water available."

Jaune fell into silence after that for the rest of their hour-long journey. They had left the main road a while back, following a dirt path that led into the forest, where they arrived in front of wooden walls covered in rows of spikes.

"State your business!" A dog faunus yelled from atop the wall. Aldric raised his letter with Ghira's seal on it. The man squinted before turning to nod at something from behind the wall.

"Open the gates! They're friendly!"

A section of the wall that looked roughly like a door opened up with a loud creak, allowing Jaune and Aldric to walk inside, the gate being pulled closed behind them by a team of faunus. The inside was pretty simple, just rows of wooden buildings lining the walls and center of the clearing. There was one significantly bigger building that was made of stone in the center of it all, which was probably where they were heading.

A different, leopard faunus addressed them when the gates had fully closed.

"I'm assuming you're here to help with the frontier?" He continued after getting two nods, "Alright, I'll take you to the active boss. Follow me."

And sure enough, he led them inside the stone building and upstairs to the second story. They came upon the doors to a large office. Their guide told them to wait as he entered in front of them. A few seconds later, they heard a voice shout, "Come in!" And so they did.

It was a large office but it wasn't furnished that well. Not that Jaune was expecting anything fancy, considering they were near the frontier. He turned his gaze to the desk sitting in the middle of the room and the person behind it.

She was a young cheetah faunus, with black spots on her light blonde hair and animal ears. She had piercing green eyes and fangs that poked out of the corner of her mouth. She was wearing a fur overcoat with a red undershirt and brown pants, tail swinging behind her.

She stood up when they entered, revealing her brown pants with a sheathed knife on each side.

"It's been a while, Aldric," she said, showing off her fangs in a wide smile."

Aldric sighed, "It sure has, Em."

She turned her eyes to Jaune, "Who's the brat?"

"This is my apprentice, Jaune Arc."

Jaune stood up straighter, "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

She waved him off, "Call me Em, most people do." She stuck a hand out as Aldric passed her the letter from Ghira. She tore it open and read it.

"Ah, so you're the help Ghira managed to get? I was hoping for more than you and a brat, but I guess it'll have to do." She sat back down in her chair with a huff, tossing the letter over her shoulder.

"We are trying to settle a fishing village on the Northeast coast, but there are a lot of nasties and we didn't have enough manpower to protect the settlers. Now that you're here, that might change."

Jaune started listening closely as Aldric got serious, "So we're helping you settle this village, then?" He asked.

Em nodded before speaking again, "We'll have a team of builders heading in with you and a squad of fighters with their aura unlocked. I'll be joining you all to coordinate the mission."

Jaune got confused at that, "But aren't you needed here? You're the boss, right?"

She chuckled, "I'm not the only boss. Each mission needs a leader, so there are a couple of us that switch around. I've only been here while I waited for more manpower."

Jaune nodded in understanding, keeping quiet.

"Well, I should be able to get it together in a couple of days, so Leo," she gestured toward the leopard faunus that led them here, "Will show you to your temporary homes. Now scram, I've got work to do."

With the dismissal, they left the office with the now-named Leo in tow. They followed him back to the walls, where he led them to what seemed to be a barracks. It was a low wooden building that was filled with rows of bunk beds.

"You can take any of the empty beds. The meal schedule is on the wall." With that said Leo left them and headed back to the gates.

Jaune was surprised by the abrupt abandonment, but Aldric was unfazed as he went to find an empty bed. The blonde followed and set his stuff down on a free top bunk. He turned to Aldric.

"So now what?"

At that, Aldric grinned evilly, "Now, we train. I haven't forgotten earlier today, brat."

Jaune paled, remembering that he was laughing when Aldric was called Aldie.

"Can we talk about it?" He whimpered.

His mentor just laughed and kept walking.

A/N

Hello all. This is a bit of a bigger chapter for you guys. School sucks btw so I haven't had much time to write since I got two tests and a lab this week. Anyways, leave a review, please.