Author's Note: Thank you for the kind remarks. Expect another chapter in the next few days, and then following chapters every week or two. I appreciate the support given so far.

The light the fairy guiding Jaune through the woods felt like a summons, and Jaune wasn't sure how he knew that. But maybe it was a hint toward why he knew the things he remembered, proof of who...

Who he was.

Yet his eagerness was being beaten out by his exhaustion. Jaune had been walking after the hovering light fairy for hours now, propelled by a second wind of excitement that was rapidly dwindling. He was growing tired again. In addition, with the increased darkness of the forest, it was becoming more dangerous to navigate. Forget the danger of Grimm- Jaune was risking serious injury by even continuing to walk in the uncertain footing of the forest.

"Can we set up camp? I'm tired. I can't hover past the terrain like you can." Jaune requested. The twinkling light took a second, as if to consider his request. It answered him by hovering toward him, before resting upon his brow.

"Is that a yes then?" Jaune asked. The light the fairy twinkled, as if responding positively. Jaune blinked, the bright light straining on his eyes. He took a closer look once the brightness went down.

It was shaped like a person, if that person was the size of a frog, and had no distinguishable traits. It was like a mannequin without the strange ball joints, a polished edifice that put out constant light around it, and hovered in the air. Very light wings fluttered, keeping it up. They were so light Jaune could see through them in the moments that they rested in midair, as if not quite necessary to keep it afloat. It could be a semblance, Jaune allowed. Perhaps something that allowed a person to shrink down into this shape, or maybe an illusion semblance leading him onward.

Jaune did not believe this was a semblance.

Without much more to do, and exhausted, he began setting up camp. A simple canvas was stretched over a fallen log, on the off chance it somehow rained overnight. Jaune did not bother to set up a campfire, instead merely laying out a bedroll. There was still one more thing Jaune wanted to do however, something he had been interrupted from doing when Lavender had caught him taking Crocea Mors.

With one hand, Jaune took out his scroll, turning it on to serve as a makeshift flashlight. In the other hand, Jaune brought out Crocea Mors, looking over the blade and sheathe. He had always been impressed with the durability of the blade, not to mention its mechanistic nature. Even though it weighed the same as a normal sword and shield, he had always thought that it would be far more convenient than carrying a shield on his back (though, the thought occurred to him at times that maybe doing so was better to avoid getting stabbed in the back from an assailant, and also why would he think of such things?).

His eyes felt heavy, and with a weary blink he put the scroll away in his pocket, and the sword by his side outside the bedroll. Slowly, Jaune settled into a fitful slumber on the hard forest floor. He had been called upon for an adventure. And now, he found it hard to sleep during this adventure, expecting something to come out of the shadows at any moment.

It was another day in the Arc household. Cereal, juice, coffee, and an entire loaf's worth of toast was being set down at the table. Family scrambled to their seats, as eager to eat breakfast as they were to avoid any consequences for missing it.

Juniper didn't have many strong rules, but one of them was that everyone had to eat at the table, and interact as a family in the morning. Beyond merely wishing for her family to interact, it was a personal indulgence of hers. She had given birth to these children, raised them. She would have them eat at the table with her if she wanted!

Thankfully, things were calm this morning. Lavender and Amber had finally stopped throwing bits of toast at one another when they thought that she wasn't looking. Nicholas wouldn't be going on a mission for another two days. She took pleasure in the sensation of his firm, calloused hand on her shoulder, greeting her at the table. It was peaceful. It was familial.

And Jaune was missing.

"Can one of you go wake up Jaune? We don't want him to oversleep again." Juniper ordered. That had not been a fun habit of Jaune's, and she was glad it had disappeared quickly, unlike his other habits.

"Oh, he's not asleep mom. Jaune went out into the woods last night." Lavender cheerfully said. The sound of cutlery upon cereal bowls, the crunching of breakfast food slowly came to a halt.

"What did you say honey?" Juniper said, not quite comprehending what Lavender had just told them.

"Last night I saw big brother grabbing dad's sword. I told him dad wouldn't like that, but he said he had to go out in the woods to do something. He packed his camping supplies, so I guess he'll be gone for a few days." Lavender said cheerfully. Horror crept over Juniper's mind, as everyone looked incredulously at Lavender. Nicholas stood, his hands shuddering in anger as he peered around the corner of their dining room, into the living room.

Crocea Mors was gone.

The older members of the family exploded into action. Nicholas shouted at Saphron to call Louie, the head of the village militia immediately. At the same time, he began scrambling as fast as he could, running around the house to find his spare sword.

And Juniper was left to figure out what Lavender had been thinking.

"What were you thinking? Why would you let your brother run off into the forest?" Juniper asked incredulously, at the shocked Lavender. She had clearly not been expecting the reaction her family had given her.

"Big brother is really strong mom. With dad's sword, he'll kill any Grimm!" Lavender said confidently. She neglected to mention the rabbit. She may not have expected her family to react like this, but her in trouble senses were tingling now. She would need to ease them in the idea of a pet rabbit.

He's too good of a big brother. I can't believe we need to teach our kids to never trust Jaune again. Little had Juniper suspected that years of having Jaune watch after Lavender would result in something like this.

And oh, wasn't that mention of Grimm something horrible. You needed training and the strength of aura, or powerful firearms to take down Grimm. Not-not... not her boy!

"Lavender, did he say where he was going?" Juniper said, very carefully. She would not be mad at her. Not yet. Maybe once Jaune was home.

"Nope!" Lavender said, trying her best not to be cheerful.

She hoped the rabbit would have big whiskers!

The forest was rough, and Jaune was glad he had stopped for the night. It was a true wild forest, untamed and uncultivated. Jaune could remember so many forests within a kingdom, developed so that lumber could be harvested and wild game hunted down (and again, why should he remember these things, he's only ever gone on camping trips to Mistral?). Forests within kingdoms were so often artificially neatened, just to make it easier on the lumberjacks and hunters.

This forest? Truly wild. Large roots hindered his progress. What might be mild brush for an adult stood at half of Jaune's height as a 10 year old. The terrain itself fought against him, often hiding treacherous pitfalls, or forcing him to move uphill. There were no paths to follow out here.

Yet ever patiently, he marched on, the early morning turning to mid-day. Jaune wondered for a bit what his father's reaction would be. Surely his father would have realized Crocea Mors was gone by now. Fear seized his chest at the thought.

Maybe I don't think about that.

The fairy, as Jaune had resigned himself to calling it patiently floated onward. Its destination was unclear to him, but it at least seemed to have an idea. Jaune noticed that it tried to steer him away from the worst terrain in the forest, and was going vaguely southwest of his home. He had to hope it didn't expect to go all the way to the ocean.

The two eventually came to a river. The river was broad, though did not appear that deep. The fairy floated to the other side of the river from Jaune, hovering still at the opposite tree line. Not far from the fairy stood a family of deer, only slightly skittish at his presence. It seemed that the animals here hadn't learned to fear humans yet.

Jaune was kinda glad he didn't have a bow on his person to prove them wrong.

Instead, he knelt down by the river, doing what the nearby deer were doing- getting water to drink. He filled up his canteen, giving an appreciative hum as he dropped in some water purification tablets he had grabbed from his father's supplies. Without them, he would have had to boil the water, something he was very glad to go without doing. In fact, with all the modern amenities his family had taken on their camping trips, he actually enjoyed camping.

Why did he know what it was like to go camping without "modern amenities"?

Ignoring that thought, Jaune took a drink out of the canteen after a few minutes of waiting. It tasted fresh, if slightly of iodine.

The family of deer across from Jaune scattered.

Jaune's eyes narrowed. The reaction of the deer suggested something. It meant that something dangerous was nearby. Jaune listened to the surrounding trees. Everything was quiet, apart from the flowing noise of the river. Then... there it was. The sound of brush breaking under a heavy body.

A Grimm emerged from the forest, appearing from nowhere on the other side of the river. It was eerily similar to how the fairy had appeared before Jaune, though thankfully far more distant.

Yet though distant, it was far larger than Jaune had been expected. Even on all fours, it was the size of a bull, and somehow even bulkier than one. Its body was entirely black, with bone surrounding it in terrible, deadly spikes making even a near dodge deadly. The disturbing, pseudo-lupine body seemed straight out of a horror movie.

Jaune didn't have to wait long to see how it moved. His dread seemed to inspire the Grimm, which bounded to the riverbed, before jumping into the water. Even the way it moved seemed unreal, moving not like a wolf (and oh, yet another thing Jaune could not explain knowing) but instead like a man pretending to be a wolf. It was sickening, it produced a sense of uncanny in Jaune's mind. It moved fast all the same. It tore through the water, growling in a way that sent goosebumps down Jaune's body. Even over the sound of the water, the lowly growl shook him more than he cared to realize. He felt trepidation, felt fear...

And he knew that he would not be able to back down, or run. The thought only occurred to Jaune in the theoretical sense, as if anyone would be able to run from this thing on foot. He knew full well that anyone who met this thing and couldn't fight would die.

Instead of provoking the fear it should have, it only provided certainty within Jaune. This was one of the many monsters that pushed humanity behind large walls and deadly technology, but left humanity fearing for their existence all the same. Somewhere in Jaune's mind, a switch flipped.

He would destroy this thing. He would destroy anything like it, if he had to. Something inside him, something about him refused to allow the thought of others coming to harm, where he could help.

Jaune maneuvered along the side of the river, sidling left alongside the current. He would need to meet the beowolf while it was still in the water, and that meant adjusting his position to meet where the beowolf was pushed by the current. Crocea Mors was drawn, the blade raised above Jaune's tiny body. The beowolf swam across the water, doing a hectic doggy paddle in the river that was only slightly deeper than the beowolf was tall at its deepest.

It grew larger, and larger in Jaune's vision. Its height, even on all fours was taller than Jaune. If it stood on its hind legs? Easily twice as tall as he could ever stand. And its weight? Jaune wouldn't be surprised if the thing wouldn't even notice his corpse swaying on its-

Jaune shoved all fear into the back of his mind, forcing himself to observe its motions, its clumsy disregard for the threat he could possibly pose as it neared him. It was nearly upon him, yet still in the water...

He surged forward, swinging Crocea Mors down toward its snarling head. The beowolf roared, the sound and foul breath hitting Jaune like a wall. And then the creature began to thrash.

Crocea Mors was nearly torn from Jaune's grasp as the creature dislodged the blade from its skull, as it desperately tried to reach for Jaune. A swipe, a sharp set of claws upon humanlike hands nearly cutting him. A single good swipe would spell his doom. Jaune stumbled, barely missing the claw, He almost fell into the water, the current that seemed so surmountable for the beowolf almost sweeping Jaune off his feet.

Jaune forced himself to brace, and as the beowolf went off balance from the failed swipe, he stabbed. And then he stabbed again. And again. Jaune knew that another swing here, another slash would likely lead him off balance. But stabbing? Quick to come, and quick to pull out, unlike the meaty cut that had nearly gotten caught in its bony skull just now.

Another clumsy claw sailed at Jaune overhead. This time, Jaune moved his body almost instinctively- moving his sword to take the blow, jarring as it was to his pitiful limb to force him down, to better his posture in the moving water. He then stabbed the limb, growling back in pathetic fashion at the beowolf. Then he stabbed again. And again. And again.

Eventually, after a few more stabs into the flaying beast- but what felt like minutes to Jaune- the beowolf eventually lost its footing in the water, bleeding and injured as it was. Jaune's eyes narrowed. He could not afford for it to wash down river, and recover.

Beowolf were pack hunters, after all. And he wasn't going to give it the chance to find its pack. He moved forward, in what might have been a powerful jump on dry land, but was instead a clumsy kick off in the water. Once again, he pointed his sword forward, and with the momentum of his tiny body and weight of his sword and shield plunged into the back of the beowolf.

The creature gave out one last sorrowful whine, half-breaking off as the sword seemed to find purchase in something. And then it erupted into vapors around Jaune.

Jaune coughed, nearly retching as he pulled himself back onto shore. The body of the slowly-dissolving beowolf floated downriver away from him. Somehow, the sight of a creature of darkness dissolving did not seem unfamiliar.

With a deep and exhausted sigh, he glanced over toward the fairy that had been leading him. As before, it still stood patiently on the other side of the river waiting for him. Jaune let out another sigh before beginning to cross.

The village of Ordon was a scene of chaos. Nicholas had rallied the village militia, alerting them to what his son had done. The militia gathered their supplies and other villagers quickly, turning the quiet village into a scene of shouting and yelling. Hunting dogs, usually reserved for chasing down wild game were brought in to sniff out Jaune's scent. Their yips joined the sound of the gathering militia. Other huntsman in the area had been called, and they were even showing up for once.

Nicholas should have been happy at the support the village was showing him. Instead, his actions were frantic, unpacking the bags his family had packed for him, just to triple-check that he had everything he needed. Once triple-checked, he once again folded everything back into his backpack, before slinging it across his shoulders.

"They'll be here in another minute Nicholas." Saphron informed her father, looking down at her scroll.

"Good. If we move quickly, we should be able to catch up to him today." Nicholas said. That was the only option he would allow in his mind. He had to catch up to Jaune. Because otherwise, if his son was hurt...

Everything would be fine, Nicholas told himself. He put on a brave face for his family, and in truth, he believed himself too. Nicholas wasn't a prodigy, but he was known for being a good and reliable huntsman, and he had spent years in the wilderness. In truth, he was one of the best possible choices to track down a kid in the wilderness. The dogs would find Jaune's scent, he would chase his idiot son down so fast he would have to carry the dogs in his arms, and then they would come home and make Jaune scrub down every bathroom, wash the dishes for the next month, and definitely make him write a letter of apology for creating work for the village militia.

It was then sirens started to wail. Distant as they were, located in the village boundaries, their message was clear. The sensors around the village had detected oncoming Grimm. In sync with the sirens, his scroll immediately received a message.

**(3) GRIMM DETECTED WITHIN ORDON BOUNDARIES, REQUESTING IMMEDIATE FOLLOW UP BY ALL NEARBY HUNTSMEN**

The Arc family looked at Nicholas's ashen face, a foreboding sense of resignation having fallen over it. Most villages in the area did not build walls, instead relying on electronic sensors to warn them of oncoming Grimm. And while false positives did occur, Atlas did a good job of building their sensors. One might have been nothing. Three meant there truly were Grimm nearby.

"Stay put." Nicholas ordered to the family in the room as he strode out. He began running down the path toward the village as fast as he could.

A true fight against Grimm was chaotic. It was never like some cartoon or video game where everything is clear on where everything is. It was disorienting, it was a desperate search to find the Grimm before they could cause harm, or trying to find the Grimm in the chaos after they had caused the harm.

He caught sight of the first Grimm immediately, the beast slamming against the walls to a nearby home. It turned to face him, only for Nicholas to slam into it. Being a huntsman as large as he was had its advantages, something he put to use as he not so much exhibited technique as he did pure force, slamming into the beowolf as hard as he could sword-first. Surprised, the creature toppled over wounded. Nicholas followed up, hacking into its soft underbelly until the thing dissolved.

His son was missing. His son was lost in the woods. There were Grimm nearby. Somehow, the village militia had missed these Grimm in their regular scouting. Instead of pushing the negative thoughts to the back of his mind, Nicholas embraced them. Panic, fear, worry for his son came to the forefront. And with these negative thoughts, the other Grimm already in the village (a smaller Ursa Minor) ran toward him, desperate to extinguish his life.

All the while, a strange ball of light floated in the nearby forest, just outside of Ordon. Following it, confused yet angry at its presence was the third creature of the Grimm. The beowolf leapt after it, tripping sensor after sensor, well away from the village proper. Once the father of the boy slew the two Grimm that made it into the village, he would have to follow after the trail that the beowolf was leaving in the village's sensors. All the while, the beowolf would be led on a confusing journey in and out of the sensor array, delaying Nicholas for hours as he was forced to alternatively chase after it, and fall back to the village to protect it. All while forced to perform his mission of protecting others, even as his son ventured into the dangerous wilds. All the while, delaying the search party looking for Jaune.

The boy would make its way to the fairy's creator, without interruption. Just as she had foreseen.