Jaune Arc: Dark Avenger

by DragonoftheEastblue

The boarders overrun, the castle's death knell, atop the tower where the Maiden fell. The Ring is fractured, the warriors scattered, the Knight who loved her; his soul now shattered. Self-loathing and penance, his pain is endless, now in his hand wields the sword of vengeance. The hunt has begun, by the Moon and Sun, he will resist and bite, until it is done-Arkos, Boop, RoseGarden

1. Chapter I: Woeful Tears of the Unavenged

Introduction:

Hello. Good to see you all again. Now, let me state for the record that I am writing this after posting Chapter I of Dreams Do Come True, and so far, the reviews have been very nice. What they will be by the end, and what people will think of my work as a whole, remains to be seen. In any case, I thank you all for reading it, and for those of you who liked it enough to want to see more, I have something new to share.

While I was working on Dreams Do Come True, a new story was growing. Seeing what CRWBY had done up till that point, and what greater damage they did to Jaune and Pyrrha, ramped up my anger. It fueled me with energy to write Dreams Do Come True, but also to develop this other story, which I wanted to get to as soon as possible. Like Dreams Do Come True, it has been in my mind for a long while; since Pyrrha's death in fact. As time went on, and CRWBY continued to ruin RWBY completely, I fleshed it out more and more. And just like Dreams Do Come True, the more I thought upon it, the deeper it became, so I expect it to also be considerably longer than I originally planned. Furthermore, I am writing this right before the release of V8, so only the Gods know what fresh Hell CRWBY are about to unleash upon us all.

With that being said, this story is both similar and different to Dreams Do Come True. While that story was centred on Arkos and critiquing the series as a whole, pointing out the issues from V1 through 4, and introducing corrections and world-building that holds relevance to current RWBY, this story, while centered on Arkos once again, is about two egregious factors:

The first is Pyrrha's death. We were all against it, and only in time did we learn just how badly written it all was. What was birthed from it was the unanimous desire for Jaune to hunt Cinder down and kill her. That goal is paramount to him, and we expected to see him grow from it.

The second is the bewilderment and anger brought about by the betrayal of CRWBY regarding Jaune and Pyrrha. What I mean by that is how Pyrrha no longer mattered to the story and the characters who loved her most. Her death has had little to no effect on Team JNPR. Instead of being a constant pang that affects the characters, Jaune most of all, it somewhat appears when the plot requires it, and then it is gone—akin to Yang's PTSD. This is more insulting than people realize, and I have had to explain it enough times to people who did not understand to know.

Since CRWBY have no idea how to write, allow me to provide an explanation as to why killing characters off is difficult and not recommended unless you have thought it through: a character's story does not end when they die.

Actions have consequences, and, as a writer, you constantly have to keep an eye out and ask yourself, "How will this affect the world around it?". In the case of a character dying, you have to think good and hard on how the other characters will react, how they will be affected, how long they will be affected, if they were prominent, then how will the world react, etc. Pyrrha Nikos' death, as a celebrity, should have been a massive blow to Remnant, or at the very least to Mistral. To the people that loved her, Jaune, Nora, Ren, her own mother, it should have been devastating. But it was not. No one cares, and it is legitimately disgusting. CRWBY suffer from Post-Modernism, where they love ideas more than people. They loved the idea of killing off Pyrrha, for in their minds, it makes them "mature" and "bold" for subverting expectations. This is why they did not put in any of the work, and just stole the visuals of the death of Boromir the Bold; because it looks cool.

Instead, what they did was anger the community. Many people abandoned the show right afterwards, and to this very day, fans are still angry; I know I am.

What I find most humorous, was that they stole that visual to pull at the heartstrings when they murdered Pyrrha, but failed entirely to understand why Boromir's death was impactful and important. Boromir redeemed himself after succumbing to the evil of the One Ring, and paid with his life, before showing the respect Aragorn deserved. Boromir's death affected everyone that knew him, and with it the world of Middle Earth, all the way till the end of Return of the King. Aragorn constantly kept his mind to Boromir's sacrifice. Pippin was so affected that he pledged fealty to Denethor II and became a Knight of Gondor, which also affected Merry, enough so to make him pledge his sword to King Théodin, and was later knighted by King Éomer. This caused them both to grow and achieve glory in the Scouring of the Shire, putting their skills to use to defend their homeland. Frodo and Sam were affected when Faramir told them of Boromir's death, with Faramir himself being deeply affected by his brother's fate. The list goes on and on.

So, this is not a hard-line stance that you can never kill a character or even Pyrrha, but you need to do it correctly, and know that it is not a one-and-done.

I now ask you, what was the context of Pyrrha's death? The mission objective was lost, there was no civilian in danger, Jaune was not being held hostage by Cinder; there was NO reason for her to go to the top of the tower, other than furthering the plot by having her die in front of Ruby. Of course, leaks now tell us that that was never the plan, and with the Silver Eyes subplot being despised by the fanbase, the real reason was for clout. [edit] In that vein, taking into consideration everything that has happened from V1-8, I truly call into question the validity of the claims made by both CRWBY and the community that Monty had planned for Pyrrha's death.

Two of the most dangerous words within the RWBY community are "assume" and "imply". I say this because it is assumed and implied that Pyrrha is a warrior who would fight to the death, just as much as she is a person of faith, but the show never overtly tells or shows us that. CRWBY want you to accept the vague implication to fill in what they left out, and not ask questions. It is laziness to such a disgraceful degree, and the series has paid for it dearly.

Getting back to this story, the core idea is "How would Pyrrha's death affect the characters and the world?". And while it will do that, the person I will be focusing on, is the character that would be affected most: Jaune Arc.

As I showed in Dreams Do Come True, I stand by the idea that Jaune was meant to be a Knight and a warrior, and I set him on that path. This, of course, is not what happened in the show, choosing instead to ridicule him, belittle him, and completely stagnate his growth as a character.

For the sake of argument, as the usual go-to response from people who think the show is perfect is "You're just mad because you didn't get what you wanted", allow me to present the four best possible ways Jaune could have grown as a character:

1. Pyrrha survives, they become a proper couple, and they help each other grow, with Jaune becoming a Knight as I showed in Dreams Do Come True. This is the best-case scenario, with them surviving till the end, getting married, and having a family.

2. After Pyrrha dies, Jaune completely breaks. She was the one person who truly believed in him, he now knows she loved him, and he blames himself for her death. This is the final straw for him, and he just does not want to fight anymore. Taiyang offers to look after him until he recovers, allowing the others to go on ahead. This would allow Jaune to be trained by him, which would be appropriate, for Tai is a teacher at Signal, and could fill in the gaps in Jaune's training. Also, Tai is the person who understands best what Jaune is going through as a double-widower. He could offer advice and help him in his mourning. When Jaune asks him how does he move forward without Pyrrha, and through all the pain—when will the pain stop? Tai can reply honestly that it never does, for he sees it in the faces of his daughters; the faces of the women he loved and lost. When Jaune's Semblance is awakened and he is back on his feet, he heads after the others, revenge ever on his mind.

Not only does this develop Jaune's character, but also Tai's. Honestly, I really wanted to know about Tai given he has gone through the horror of losing two wives, but now, the confusing mystery of Raven and the Branwens just made my head hurt. I am actually glad Burnie left, as Tai cannot be ruined further, though I doubt that will stop CRWBY.

If this all sounds familiar, yes, this is what they went with for Yang, and failed miserably.

3. After Pyrrha dies, Jaune becomes consumed with revenge, wanting only to hunt down Cinder Fall and killing her. Now there are several ways this could go, and I have seen the community suggest them over the years. The idea that I prefer is Jaune leaving the group alone without telling the others, training and hunting Cinder down. Others have suggested that Nora and Ren go with him, being closer to him and Pyrrha than they are with Team RWBY, and also wanting revenge, as they too know the pain of loss after what happened to Kuroyuri. I have seen some suggest that Team JNPR turn racist, or at least become untrusting of Blake and the Faunus after the White Fang's involvement, but I do not think that works. Racism as a whole has been a disaster in the story since the get-go, with Miles himself admitting it. I can agree with Jaune/JNPR not trusting Blake anymore, but becoming flat out racist towards the Faunus, seems pointless and counterintuitive.

Much to my delight, this notion of Jaune going rogue seems to be very popular with the community, with great fan art of Jaune in new armour, Hell-bent with hate in his eyes, wanting to kill Cinder, and nothing else.

If this sounds familiar, yes, this is what they did with Blake, and failed.

4. And finally, after Pyrrha's death, Jaune is badly hurt, and mourns with Ren and Nora. He hates himself for failing to protect her, and devotes himself to training, in order that what happened to Pyrrha can ever happen again. He begins to take on Pyrrha's mannerisms, trying to emulate her greatest qualities, and dedicating himself to becoming a better warrior and leader. He would effectively become a Paladin, seeking guidance in faith, and emulate his namesake, Joan d'Arc, inspiring others and leading them to victory, clad in golden armour. Despite this, he will never get over his loss, and in his heart, he will secretly hope to die in battle, so that he can be with her once again.

Furthermore, excluding the first option where Pyrrha survives, the progression of Jaune's characters includes the awakening of his Semblance. There have been a number of suggestions, but the one that I agree with (in the context of Pyrrha dying, as I have been working on a Semblance since early 2015) is Jaune's Semblance being "Magnetism". Not only is it appropriate, for it matches Pyrrha's Polarity, but since he was trained to fight by her, he would copy her fighting style as a way to keep her alive and feel a closer connection to her. This would allow him to make full use of his large Aura reserves, and turn him into a force to be reckoned with, giving both he and the audience a more satisfying fight against Cinder.

Of course, we got none of this.

Our poor boy remains the punching bag of the series, never growing, never learning, doomed to fail forever. And "boy" is the key term here, for he will never be allowed to become a man, even though he's nearly 20. His awful V7 design cements that visually, as I want to stick a helicopter beanie on his head, and shove a large, rainbow swirl lollipop in his mouth. V7 does a lot of cementing; cementing that nothing matters, that Pyrrha does not matter and died for nothing, that Jaune does not care about her, that Ren and Nora do not care about her, and everyone is selfish beyond belief.

Since we are here, I might as well present my theory as to why CRWBY refuses to let Jaune mature and develop. Leaving aside the obvious reason, over the course of 2020, I started delving into classic stories from my childhood including The Once and Future King by Terence Hanbury White, The Lord of the Rings by Professor J.R.R Tolkien, and fairy tale collections such as the Andrew Lang Fairy Books. This led me to a realization that is the backbone of my current theory. All four of the paths I presented for Jaune to take, result in the same end: Jaune becomes a better leader, warrior, and a Knight. I then realized his archetype is Arthurian, which should have been obvious given that he is a tall, blond, blue-eyed Knight in white armour. And then it hit me. If Jaune was allowed to come to his natural conclusion...he would really show up Ruby, wouldn't he?

Yes, what I am insinuating is that CRWBY have and still are actively sabotaging Jaune's character in order to protect Ruby and her position as main character; because Jaune is a protagonist. This is not a stroke of genius on my part, as I have now found many suggesting that Jaune should have been the main character, many with fan-fics here focusing on Jaune as such. I cannot help but wonder if this is the reason why there is such hate for him; consciously or subconsciously. And if this sounds like a farfetched conspiracy theory, bear in mind that they have done this before with other characters like Weiss, who quickly began to take off, before being nerfed. It is the reason to why I went from hating her to unironically liking her, as her side-story was the best part of V4. Are CRWBY so "intelligent" to do this? Maybe, maybe not, but I do think they are nefarious enough, as they have ruined everyone else, turning Ren into a coward in V7, and retconning everything about Sun in RWBY: Before the Dawn , all to make him worthless and make Wasp "canon".

In any case, the reason why so many of us are angry, is because the death of Pyrrha became equivalent to the raping of Casca, and the corruption of her and Guts' unborn child. Just as Berserk fans, myself included, want Guts to violently kill Griffith and avenge Casca, we wanted Jaune to do the same for Pyrrha on Cinder. It is now very clear that Jaune will never do this. If he does, it will be even more unsatisfying and unjustified as Adam Taurus' death. Ironically, it is just as frustrating for Berserk fans, as it seems more than likely that Miura Kentarō will never complete the Manga, seeming to have lost his passion in the same manner as G.R.R. Martin with A Song of Ice and Fire. [edit: fuck]

And here is where we now find ourselves. It is that anger, which has led me to the selection of Path III for Jaune. This story will be about him hunting Cinder down and avenging the woman he loved. I originally wanted to describe Dreams Do Come True as a fine meal, whereas this one is a nice, greasy burger, giving us what we want on a primal level. However, the more I thought it out, the grander and more refined it became. What it will be by the end, I do not know, but I will not rest, until it is done.

—DragonoftheEastblue, September 17, 2020, 3:56:28 PM

---

I was planning to have this introduction be at the end of the chapter, as I know what I say and what I write pisses off fans of current RWBY. My introduction for DDCT did just that, and it was far tamer and polite than this one. And while I was grateful that it worked as a bulwark to ward off the fanatics, as time went on, I started to wish that more would give it a chance. I would like for die-hard RWBY fans to see exactly what we think regarding the show, rather than assuming and straw-manning our positions. Feel free to disagree and love the show up and down, but please do not lie about our legitimate grievances with the show and the company. Also, please have something more substantive than the typical accusations of sexism, intolerance, homophobia, racism, etc., and the empty "You're mad because you didn't get what you wanted" card.

So, while my stories appeal primarily to my fellow ex-fans, who want to see what could have been, and feel sad that the show fell apart after Monty's passing, as vitriolic as my interactions with RWBY fans have been, I would still like to hear their thoughts.

You are going to get what you wanted from the show anyways, so why get bent out of shape? What have you got to lose? Give it a shot.

A final warning I should give is that there will be many changes to lore and additional world-building as I did with DDCT, so keep your head in a swivel. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for reading.

—Edit made on December 9th, 2022, 2:40:46 AM

---

Incipit Liber Primus

Chapter I: Woeful Tears of the Unavenged

The assault of Albion City and Beacon Academy sent shockwaves across Remnant, bringing not only Vale, but all Kingdoms on high alert, as citizens from the remaining realms were caught in the crossfire. The Valian and Atlassian soldiers, who succeeded in repelling the northern Grimm hoards, headed south as fast as they could to reinforce the Capital Guard. After the initial panic struck the White Army, Huntmaster-General Ironwood rallied his men behind him, as well as the stationed Valian Capital Guard, and destroyed the hijacked White Army Paladin units. Using the city's conventional defenses, which included the stationed armour units, they not only repelled the traitorous machines, but the remaining Grimm, and the retreating White Fang.

It was thanks to this last-minute effort by Ironwood that the number of casualties was lower than the damage of Beacon Academy and Albion would suggest. Together they evacuated the wounded back to their home Kingdoms, along with the students of Shade, Ýdalir, and Haven Academy being immediately called back to aid with emergency defences. Every active Huntsman and Huntress, as well as those in retirement still fit for battle, joined the counterattack, pairing of with squads, platoons, and companies, hunting street by street. Fighter jets had quickly been scrambled to kill the airborne Grimm around the city, before converging onto the Wyvern Grimm that had perched itself atop the tower. Unfortunately, while the jets had given chase and were certain it had been hit many times over, they could not confirm it had been killed.

Beacon Academy had been ravaged by the Grimm and enemy forces, though the majority of the damage was centered on the CCT that was once the Donjon of the former castle. Less than half of the structure remained standing, burned black by fire, with the foundation partially collapsed due to the vault beneath it crumbling. The students had been sent home, as it was now impossible to run the academy with the hospitalization of Grand Huntmaster Ozpin, and now with the help of the Valian military and local construction companies, were slowly beginning to rebuild the school. Deputy-Huntmistress Glynda Goodwitch had naturally been given the title and position of Acting Grand Huntmistress, though it took her over a week to recover from the shock. The professors that remained to help in the reconstruction could see how much of a struggle it was for her to aid and coordinate the repairs, but greatly respected her for persevering through it all.

However, while the assault of Beacon Academy and the destruction of the CCT shocked the world, the death of Pyrrha Nikos cut especially deep. The Champion of Mistral, the Invincible Girl, falling in battle, was an unthinkable notion to the Mistralese people. She had become a national treasure, not only due to her combat prowess, but her constant charity work over the years. Vartholomaíos I, the High Presbyteros of the High Temple of Astrofengiá (Starlight) in the capital city of Helike, made a public statement about her death. He voiced his sympathies for her family, and held a ceremony of mourning that was broadcasted across the Kingdom. While it did aid with the heartbreak of the Mistralese, their sorrow turned to frustration, for they were provided with immediate information on how Pyrrha died. It was naturally assumed that she fell defending innocent civilians, but the lack of details, as well as the failure to recover her body, left them in denial of her passing. Her hometown of Argus was particularly affected, and talks had already begun in erecting some form of monument in her memory.

While the Kingdoms began to mobilize their forces in fear of invasion, not all students had returned to their homelands. Qrow demanded that he'd be given passage back to Patch Island with the other islanders so that his nieces could be brought home. Huntmaster-General James T. Ironwood gave him full support by granting him an airship, but only when Yang recovered from surgery enough to be fit for travel. After a couple days, Qrow was finally able to leave with Ruby and Yang, who were both still unconscious. Along with his nieces, Qrow brought Blake, who also underwent surgery, and needed time to recover. Weiss refused to abandon her teammates, especially with her being the only one of the four fit for combat, and had boarded the vessel without hesitation. Winter was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her sister in Vale when she was meant to return to Atlas, but after a short yet passionate conversation, she stepped back, and warned her that she would not interfere with their father's disapproval of her actions.

Along with the wounded Team RWBY, was Team JNPR. Ren and Nora had nowhere to go, but even if they did, they would not abandon their friends, especially in their time of need. The devastating shock of Pyrrha's death left them beyond gutted, as while they had already experienced such pain before, they did not expect to feel it again so soon. They felt such elation when they met Jaune, Pyrrha, and the others, as for the first time in a decade they had friends, and they had become so close so quickly. To have it all taken away in the blink of an eye was indescribable, and only comparable to that horrible day in Kuroyuri. However, they all knew, Weiss and Blake included, that the one most distraught by Pyrrha's death was Jaune.

When the Valian and Atlassian armies reformed the line and counterattacked the Grimm, they secured a part of the grounds with a direct route to the academy's air and naval harbour to use for evacuation. A M.A.S.H, a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, was set up to tend to the wounded and dead, before being given the clear to be airlifted out of Albion. It was here that Yang and Blake were treated, carried in by Qrow who found them trapped in a burning building. Ren and Nora had begged for the Branwen heir to let them come with him in their search for Jaune and Pyrrha, but he angrily told them that they would only slow him down in his search for them as well as Ruby. Then out of nowhere, Jaune entered the M.A.S.H, carrying an unconscious Ruby in his arms. Qrow, Weiss, Ren, and Nora dashed to him, terrified that Ruby had been as horribly injured as her teammates, but when Jaune passed her to her uncle, they were relieved to see she was merely unconscious.

Ren and Nora's immediate question for their captain was the whereabouts of Pyrrha, but the words died in their throats when they saw the emptiness in the blond's eyes. All he could muster was a shake of his head, as if he were exhausted, and slowly walked away from them. It was then that they saw that strapped on his back were Akoúo and Miló, and clasped in his left hand was Pyrrha's headpiece wrapped in her red sash. It would take several days before they got any information regarding Pyrrha, for Jaune refused to speak to anyone, though it was painfully obvious that she was gone. It was only when Ruby regained consciousness did she confirm that the red-haired champion had met her end at the hands of Cinder Fall. With so much to deal with, they chose not to push the issue, and focused on getting their injured friends to safety outside of the capital, and eventually passed on what they could learn to Goodwitch, who they expected would get in contact with Pyrrha's mother.

It had been many weeks since that horrid day, and now the Beaconites found themselves standing before the Xiao Long home on the outskirts of the town of Blanche. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake stood before the house with packs of previsions on their backs, safe for Blake, whose left arm was in a sling.

"Are you sure you're fit to travel?" asked Weiss, eyeing the Cat Faunus' arm.

"I'll manage" Blake assured with a sigh. "We can't wait any longer for my shoulder to heal—plus if Yang is ready to go, I can't complain. What about you? Are you sure you can come with us? I overheard your...conversation with your father a few weeks ago."

Conversation was certainly not the best way to describe what occurred, as a shouting match would suit better. Weiss' refusal to return with the White Army caused her father to be outraged, and due to the destruction of the Valian CCT, had to force a courier to be sent to Patch to reach her. A private line of communication was established between Blanche and Mantle, and Jacques Schnee demanded to know why his daughter had refused to come home. Weiss' answer that her entire team had been badly injured was not enough to satisfy him, and he told her to leave with the White Army courier to fly back to Atlas. That was the last straw for the heiress, and she screamed at him that she would much sooner die than abandon her friends. She did not care if he disowned her for this, for her friends were more important than his peace of mind. She ended their conversation that she had taken an oath to be a Huntress, and she would stand by it till the end. The Xiao Long house was a small one, and despite Weiss taking care to step into a room with the door closed to take the call, all within the home heard her shouting. The poor courier received the brunt of her ire, and she told him to leave immediately, or she would contact her sister to have him court-martialled. The heiress had no such power of course, but the glacial anger in her eyes and tone of voice was enough to shake the soldier, and he promptly left the house without protest. None of her friends brought up the topic until now, knowing it was always a sensitive issue, and simply took solace in her fierce loyalty.

"And I am sorry for that, but I do not care what my father thinks is best. Ruby is my captain and only she can dismiss me" Weiss replied steady as she sighed. "Furthermore, since she was out of commission, it is my responsibility to take command of Team RWBY, and make sure your well-being and safety is secured before my own."

Her teammates were greatly touched by her words, especially Ruby, who was so gracious to hear them, for they had started their professional relationship on a terrible foot. For Weiss to now express such loyalty and willingness to stand by them over her own family, was something the young captain could not thank with words alone. Without hesitation, Ruby threw her arms around the Atlassian rapierist, and embraced her tightly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She said nothing, but Weiss understood what she was saying, and hugged her back, patting her on the back of the head to sooth her, as she began to hear her captain sniffle.

The sound of a sudden metallic click pulled them out of their hug, and they turned to the source, which was the garage door activating and retracting. It revealed a mostly recovered Yang, now rearmed with a military grade prosthesis painted yellow, and she pulled her equally yellow motorcycle, Inferno, out onto the driveway. She made her way towards her teammates, clearing the drive and showing that she attached a covered pull behind to her bike, and that she was fully prepared for the long journey ahead.

"You girls ready?" she asked, activating the bike's kickstand.

"I think so" Ruby replied. "We've gone over our packs, and we should have enough rations, money, and ammo to cover the march to several towns over."

"With restraint" added Weiss.

"How are you feeling?" asked Blake cautiously, eyeing her friend's new arm.

"Other than my shoulder cramping every so often" the blonde remarked, rotating her metal appendage as she rubbed her shoulder, "I feel pretty good. Still gonna need more time to get used to this thing, but I'm already excited at the possibilities for upgrades. I need to thank the General for covering both the surgery and the custom arm. I've been reading the long manual I was given for it, and it's got top of the line tech in it."

"Of course, it does—it has Schnee parts in it" informed Weiss proudly.

"Your family's company has a hand in that industry too, do they?"

"Not directly but–" began Weiss, but halted when she saw the mischievous grin on her teammate's face, and realized what she had done.

Yang then looked to the Faunus for her reaction, but instead saw that her eyes were glued to her new arm. She raised her left hand and snapped her fingers, which she had been practising as she was unable to with her knew one.

"Hey, I'm up here" she said, causing Blake to look up at her, and her ears folded back in guilt. "But thanks for reminding me."

Before she could ask what she meant, the blonde punched Blake's uninjured shoulder, which took everyone by surprise. She quickly recovered and looked back at her teammate in confusion, and flinched, as Yang was now pointing at her with her right hand, her index finger mere inches from her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't blame you for what happened?" she went on, frowning as she stared the Cat Faunus down. "We had our time to cry about it weeks ago, and we did, and I'm sure we looked ugly doing it. But it's over with, we're both here, and we move on. So, stop looking at me or my arm like that."

"I-I'm sorry" Blake stammered. "I-It's just...if I hadn't gotten cut off, then I wouldn't have run into Adam...and then you wouldn't have gone looking for me, and...it's all my fau–"

"Stop" Yang said strongly, causing Blake to wince once more. "It was Hell out there. Everyone was lost and confused. And if you forgot" she pointed at the Faunus' shoulder "you accidently ran into Taurus, and he tortured you. It's not like you tried to fight him and got your shit pushed in. If anything, I'm sorry that I didn't get there faster. Maybe together we could've fought him off if not kicked his ass for good, I don'know, but there's nothing I can do to fix that now. I get why you feel guilty—no shit I know why—but you look like you want to jump off a cliff, and it's really starting to piss me off, cuz you've been through enough too, and I don't want to make it worse. Great, now I'm lecturing."

Blake swallowed, and her eyes fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry, it's...it's because of everything that's happened up till that point" she confessed. "I ran from home to join the White Fang, and then I ran again after what happened in Mantle, coming to Beacon to try to make amends and protect people. I came with all my baggage, not trusting Humans, even still hating them, and then...I met all of you. You treated me like a friend, even after lying to you since the beginning. I already can't forgive myself for that, especially after learning that Weiss, the daughter of the Schnee Dust Company, which I was told again and again was treating my race terribly, was a nice, good person. You're my friends, all of you, and you're all Human, and you fought for me. You fought with me against the White Fang, and you, Yang, nearly died for me. And despite that, your uncle brought me to safety, and your dad gave me a place to say and looked after me. So, I feel so guilty for fucking up for so long. I owe you and the others so much fo–"

Her confession was then halted as Yang reached out with her left hand and squashed her cheeks together.

"Just because I started monologuing, doesn't mean you get to. You've made yourself and your feelings very clear. Thank you for the nice words. On behalf of the family, you're very welcome. You were a great guest, and you made Dad very happy by loving his homemade seafood pizza. Are we good?" the blonde asked. Unable to speak, Blake nodded, to which Yang nodded as well, and let go. "Then all is forgiven. BUT" she pointed to her right arm "if you keep this up, then we're gonna match, got it?"

The Cat Faunus swallowed, as she saw the seriousness in Yang's eyes, but nodded once more, trying to blink away the tears that were forming. Yang then gently hugged her with her left arm, glad to see they could put it behind them.

"But you got hurt."

"We both got hurt, and in the end, I got a cool arm out of it. And friends are always ready to give a helping hand—just like Weiss did with her company making this one."

The heiress normally would have rolled her eyes in annoyance, but instead found it rather endearing, given the circumstances.

"It's good to see you all in one piece, Yang" she said softly, deeply touched by her teammates' passionate exchange.

The elder Xiao Long sister raised her eyebrows in shock.

"Now you're making puns? Did I die and go to heaven?"

"Don't joke!" hissed Blake, her face fully reflecting her displeasure. "You got beyond lucky with Adam! I don't know why he didn't take your head off, since he threatened to kill all of you because you're my friends. On top of that is his hatred of Humans, so whether it was due to hubris or him wanting me to suffer even more by watching you bleed out, be thankful that you're alive, unlike–"

Blake winced, remembering the consequences of the battle. The others all hung their heads in sorrow, knowing she was talking about Pyrrha, and reminded of not only their mourning, but what suffering the remaining members of Team JNPR were going through. Nora was now completely drained, no longer her energetic and upbeat self, with Ren becoming even more reserved and quiet. It was Jaune, however, who was worst off, as he had hardly spoken since the Battle of Albion. He would seclude himself wherever he could in the small house, or go outside to the surrounding forest to be alone, which already concerned the others, but this reclusive behaviour in conjunction with his unwillingness to eat, greatly amplified their worry.

Ruby and Yang hardly remembered the loss of their mothers, robbing them of a more direct way of empathizing with the blond. They felt sorry for him, of course, as Pyrrha was their friend as well, but they acknowledged that he was suffering on an entirely different level, and decided to let him mourn in his own fashion.

"Hey!" came a shout, causing the girls to look up the road. To their surprise it was Sun Wukong who called to them, and was running towards them with Neptune Vasilias beside him. The Monkey Faunus' eyes were locked on Blake, and before she could speak, his hands were gently on her shoulders, and he looked her in the face. "Are you OK? How's your shoulder?"

Blake was taken aback by the level of concern in Sun's voice and eyes, for they looked as if he was afraid she was going to be taken away from him. It was not a shock to others however, for he had been tremendously worried about her since Qrow had brought her and Yang to the M.A.S.H. He had stayed by her side until Teams RWBY and JNPR left for Patch, which had been a massive point of contention for him, as he wanted to go with them, as did Neptune, but were refused by Qrow, and forced to follow Grand Huntmaster Blanco's orders to return to Paraíso. None were certain if the boys had returned from Vacuo, or they had stayed within Vale's borders, but it was clear what their motivation was.

"I'm OK" she assured, feeling rather nervous for some reason. "The White Army surgeons were able to realign the collarbone and set it with a couple plates. So long as I let it rest, I'll be fine. I got lucky."

"I'm sorry" he breathed dejectedly. "I lost track of where you were in the battle. If I had only been there–"

"No! Adam would have killed you" Blake cut in, grabbing his jacket with her right hand. "I know how cruel he can be, and you showing up...I know for sure he would have killed you without hesitation."

Blake could not explain why she knew this, for there was too much going on to reveal how close she had been with Adam both professionally and romantically. Adam had been "merciful" because Yang was Human and her friend, so having her bleed before her was more painful, or so she assumed. Sun, however, regardless of his race, would have been killed, for Adam would never allow another man to be near her. If there was any good to come of that day, it was that Sun had not been the one to find her.

"You don't know–"

"Yes. Yes, I do."

Sun looked at the raven-haired girl, whose head was now bowed forward, and her ears were folded against it. Knowing that words were useless, he gently pulled her into his arms, careful to avoid hurting her, and felt relief when she wrapped her uninjured arm around him.

Neptune and Weiss were in a similar situation, where he was greatly concerned for her well-being, though, of course, she had been the best off of her team.

"You're alright?" he asked.

"As much as I can be, given the situation" she replied steadily. "What about yourself? Have you been in Vale all this time?"

"I'm OK, and no, we weren't. Things have been pretty chaotic back home. Grand Huntmaster Blanco's been on top of things, trying to get things in order, plus working with the Valian soldiers stationed within our borders. Instead of getting our summer break, we've been going through new training—even before the new school year starts. A few days ago, we were going to go back to Paraíso, but we ran into the White Army, who then gave us a lift here since a detachment was being sent to Blanche."

This caused the heiress to blink in confusion. "A detachment? Why, and with whom?"

Before the blue-haired young man could respond, a familiar yet very unexpected voice sounded off further up the road.

"Salutations everyone!" it said, causing them all, Ruby especially, to stare in wonder. Penny Polendina was briskly marching towards them as she waved her hand exaggeratedly, smiling as if nothing had occurred. After the initial shock, Ruby bolted towards the ginger, and with full force crashed into her, hugging her tightly. Thankfully, due to Penny's true weight and strength, she hardly bent backward from the embrace, and returned it happily. "Hello, Miss Ruby! It is so good to see you again!"

"You're OK!" cried Ruby, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Of course I am. I may have been torn to pieces, but my head and torso were undamaged. All I needed were for the engineers to replace the damaged joints and actuators, and I was as good as new. I had immediate duties to attend to, which is why I was unable to visit you until now."

"I'm so happy to see you again too. But how long are you visiting? We're leaving Patch today."

"Oh, I am very much aware. It is why I was sent" Penny informed, as she carried Ruby back to the group, which was comical given the large pack she had on her back, so that she could inform the rest of them. "Grand Huntmaster-General Ironwood wished that I provide support on your mission. I am programmed with an extensive degree of knowledge on First Aid, as well as the latest in surgical technique. Furthermore, due to the complex technology in Miss Yang's arm, which was partially based on my own body, I can repair and upgrade it, as well as any other robotic or mechanical device. And lastly, a special communication system was added to my frame before I was redeployed. This way we can remain in contact with the White Army Head Quarters in Mantle, as well as any other location that connects to a CCT. So long as the weather and terrain permit, I can secure a private line of communication to the General. In short, wherever you go, I will go. Recently promoted Second-Lieutenant Penny Polendina reporting for duty and combat ready!"

The energetic ginger saluted with pride as she stood at attention, eager to be on this special mission. The others looked at her with mixed emotions. It was both relieving and shocking to learn that she was a robot, for the expected horrific image of her ripped to shreds at the Vytal Tournament, would have been beyond scarring otherwise. At the same time, they were left uneasy by the knowledge of Penny being a robot, for her being able to generate Aura suggested something beyond technological had created her, causing a myriad of questions to swirl in their minds. The last emotion they all sensed was woe, as Penny was with them, whereas Pyrrha was not.

"So not only does the General send me a new arm, but my own Wrench Wench. I need to buy him a drink when we get to Atlas" Yang remarked, crashing through the tension without an ounce of tact.

"As uncouth as ever" Weiss lamented as she rolled her eyes, though slightly grateful for her teammate providing levity.

"Wrench Wench?" asked Penny tilting her head to the left, confused by the term. She then tilted her head again in the opposite direction, before returning to the centre, smiling happily. "I like it!"

"I don't think she knows what that means" Sun said with a smirk.

"Penny, that's not a nice nickname" Ruby informed with a very displeased expression on her face.

"But it is accurate, Miss Ruby" she retorted, raising both her hands, biting both tips of her middle fingers and pulling off the "skin" gloves to reveal her metallic hands, which suddenly separated into a number of instruments, all for dealing with electronics and machinery. "I have no less than forty-five different types of wrenches installed for any and all nuts that need fastening."

Yang snorted childishly as she folded her arms.

"Good to know. Can you tune a bike?"

"There is not a single past or current piece of machinery that I cannot operate or repair."

"Welcome to the team, sister" the blonde said genuinely, holding out her right hand. Penny took of graciously, and they both comically made metallic noises as they shook.

"Oh! Speaking of sisters. Miss Weiss" Penny said, putting her gloves back on before she reached behind her back and produced a white, military grade case with double-throw latches. "Your sister, the newly gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel Schnee, wished for me to deliver this to you, with her compliments."

Weiss blinked in surprise, as she hadn't heard from her sister in weeks, and was far from expecting her to send her any supplies. Thanking the robot, she accepted the case, unsure of what it could contain given its relatively light weight.

Despite the sombre situation they found themselves in, it was rather comforting that they had another ally to add to the group, and one that would be incredibly useful. It was going to be a long journey, and they were going to need all the help they could get.

"You two coming with us?" Yang asked the Vacuans.

"Light knows we want to" Sun replied. "But Huntmaster Blanco himself told us to come back to Shade as soon as we made sure you guys were OK."

"Vacuo's boarders are hard enough as it is to defend" added Neptune. "Vale still seems willing to continue lending us their support, which we've always been grateful for, but Blanco's never been one to rely heavily on others. We'll have to go back and help secure home, but when things settle down, we'll come back you up. That or we meet up from being deployed or something."

"You better look after these two, OK? Especially Blake, since she always seems to get into trouble."

"Don't worry, we'll keep her on a tight leash" Yang assured, as the Cat Faunus blushed in embarrassment.

"Are you all leaving right away?" Neptune asked, eyeing Weiss before the others.

"We're waiting for the others" Ruby replied, gesturing to the house. "They're still inside but they should be joining us shor–"

Suddenly, a bang caused them all to jump, as the side door of the small home was thrown open and collided with the house itself. A figure emerged from the doorway at great speed, revealing itself to be Nora, who was now frantically looking about, her face plagued with fear. Ren was right behind her, trying to calm her down, though even he was failing at this effort.

"Nora!" cried Ruby, dashing to her friend with the others right behind her. "Nora, what's wrong?"

"He's gone!" the ginger cried, tears forming in her eyes. "He's gone!"

"Who's gone?" asked Blake.

"Jaune! We can't find him anywhere!"

"He must be here somewhere" assured Weiss. "Have you looked in his room? If so, then he could be nearby on a walk."

Nora shook her head in dismay, as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"His pack's missing, and Akoúo and Miló are missing too! He's gone off without us!"

The group all bore concerned expressions on their faces. Jaune's reclusive behaviour had been expected, but they had not thought he would run away. However, this was the Xiao Long Sister's home, and they knew it better than he did.

"He can't get off Patch before we can catch him; if he's even trying to leave that is" Yang informed, as Ruby moved towards the porch.

"Dad!" she cried, knowing that he could hear her even if he was on the other side of the house. Her assumption was correct, and Taiyang emerged from the front door in only a few seconds, Zwei at his heels, his face plastered with seriousness and concern.

He wore leather boots, rugged looking golden-brown pants with many pockets, matching chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled to just above the elbows, behind a nice double-breasted vest. He was very obviously Yang's father, as his hair, long-stubble beard, and soul patch were the same shade of blond, with his locks reaching his eyebrows, but kept at just below his ears. His eyes were also the same shade of lilac, which meant that Ruby got everything from her mother, which was confirmed by the photos of Summer the others saw in the home. If that was not obvious enough, he had the same taste—or as Weiss called it, affliction—in comedy, though it could be considered as "Dad Humour", and partially forgiven. That too Ruby did not gain from her father, but instead had his hospitability, which Yang did not have—at least not in the same polite fashion—and neither child had his patience. A teacher and father should be patient, so perhaps it was learned, which he now was not displaying.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing his new guests.

"Is Jaune in the house?"

"No, I thought he was with you."

"Did you see him leave? Either his room or the house?"

"I was taking a phone call in my office. He hasn't done much of either since you got here. Why? When did he leave?"

"We don't know" answered Ren. While he was more composed than Nora, his eyes failed to conceal his own turmoil. "His things are missing, and he took his gear, as well as Pyrrha's. He must have gone off on his own, as he wouldn't dare leave Akoúo and Miló behind."

Taiyang nodded. "He wouldn't let anyone near them." The blond paused for a moment, his right hand gently tugging at his short beard. "The kid and Nikos..." he then said slowly, "they were involved, weren't they?"

The others remained silent, unsure of how to answer the question.

"S-She loved him" Nora answered finally, sniffing and wiping away her tears. "...I don't think he knew..."

Her words caused her friends to feel incredibly queasy. It had been as obvious as the broken moon that Pyrrha had feelings for Jaune, and it was surprising that they were not dating after the stunt the clueless blond had pulled at the Dance. Nora informing them that the truth had still been kept secret from Jaune, made them feel even more pity for the mourning young man, who seemed to be beyond tortured.

"No, he knew" Taiyang corrected, folding his arms across his chest, "and there's no way he'd be acting that way if he didn't love her back. Trust me, I would know..." He glanced at his daughters, who both tensed, as they knew what he was referring to.

To their surprise, he continued.

"I know what it's like to lose the love of your life. I had to go through it twice. Yang and Ruby's mothers were my teammates and friends, and I loved them more than I could ever put into words. When I lost Raven, I felt powerless, as Yang was only a baby, and I didn't know how to go on raising her alone. Summer, Ruby's mom, dropped everything to help me look after Yang, and after two years, I fell for her. Then, several years later, I lost her too. I broke that day, and if it wasn't for my girls, I don't know how I would have gone on. For the past several weeks, it was like looking in a mirror every time I saw that kid's face. I know what he's going through...the pure Hell...and the heartache..."

The students stood there in silent sorrow, knowing they could not utter a word. Honestly, what could they say? The man had been incredibly generous to feed and shelter them as they waited for the injured to get back on their feet, displaying the patience of a saint. To hear him voice something so personal, now explained why he had been so willing to help them without asking for anything in return, though they helped nonetheless. Ren examined Taiyang with a new level of respect, for he also knew what it was like to lose family so suddenly, and why he had helped to give Jaune privacy in his time of mourning.

It was Yang and Ruby, however, that were the most affected by their father's words. He would always refrain from telling them about their mothers, the topic clearly being too hard for him to revisit. No matter how much they asked him over the years, he would give only small details of their Beacon days, always stopping himself whenever he would begin to get caught up in his memories. During their rebellious stage, they would get close to arguing with Tai, more desperate than ever to learn about the mothers they could not remember. They had no choice but to go around their father and ask their uncle, who while would share more than Tai, still remained mostly mum on the subject, revealing it was difficult for him to recall as well. It was only on the respective anniversaries of Raven's and Summer's deaths did Tai talk about his late wives. It was a double-edged sword for the girls, for while they were grateful to finally hear more about their mothers, it was clear to them that their father did not have the energy to suppress his sorrow, and it was plastered on his face as he recalled the past. The following day he would be more like his usual self, and the girls would then stay awake until the early hours of the morning discussing what they had learned.

What Tai had just shared to all of them, was far more than he usually would, and they were unsure of what brought about the sudden change. But as he admitted that Jaune reminded him of himself, the girls quickly understood, and their pity for Jaune greatly grew.

"Did he leave anything to let you know where he was going? Maybe he just wanted to go home?" Tai asked.

"No, nothing" Nora replied, swallowing the lump in her throat. "And he won't answer his Scroll."

While the CCT had cut off regular communications with the other Kingdoms, as well as a number of other lines across Vale itself, local communications were still up and running. Cell towers, including those on Patch Island, were functioning just as they always had, along with landlines, meaning Jaune's Scroll was working and he was simply ignoring it.

"Then we need to find him. I know what's going through his mind—the anger, the denial, the bargaining, the desperation. If we don't find him soon, he'll do something incredibly stupid, getting himself badly hurt or worse. Yang," he looked at his eldest, "head for the harbour. If he's trying to get off the island, then he'll board one of the ferries. Use your bike to cut him off."

"Got it" she replied. In a flash, she unhitched her pull behind and kicked Inferno to life. She was about to leave, when her father shouted over the roar of the engine.

"Helmet!" he reminded, being a father regardless of the situation. Normally Yang would argue, but knowing that this was larger than herself, she depressed the button to the compartment beneath the passenger seat, and produced an expectedly yellow helmet. Putting it on and shutting the visor, she gave the others a thumbs up before revving her bike, and peeling off eastward, disappearing from view. "Break up into pairs and try to cover as much ground as you can, and rendezvous back at the house in two hours. Blake, you stay here."

The raven-haired girl blinked in confusion, unsure as to why she was being singled out.

"Why? I can help look."

"We need someone to wait here just in case he comes back" he explained. "Also, you're still injured."

"I've healed enough to travel, sir."

"Maybe, but if anything happens to you while you're under my care," he then leaned in closer and lowered his voice so that only her sharp ears could hear, "Ghira will take my head off." Tai then straightened himself and spoke strongly. "Zwei, keep an eye on her. Move out!"

Blake's mouth hung open, taken completely by surprise that the teacher knew her father by name, and would have demanded he provide an explanation, but was left behind as he and her friends ran from the home. Sun gave her one final look to voice his agreement with the taller blond, as well as his sympathies, before heading off with Neptune into the forest. Knowing there was nothing more she could do, the Faunus walked back to the Xiao Long home, and seated herself on the wooden porch swing, which Zwei joined her on. She sat in silence, other than the sound of her breathing slowly becoming shallow, trying to process what she had just learned. She looked down at her right hand that rested on her knees, and she gripped her pant leg tightly.

Now left alone and free to ponder, Blake began to feel new emotions she had not experienced before. She had been so desperate to protect herself by hiding her past, that it nearly cost her her life and Yang's. Instead of telling them of her involvement with Adam, and being the daughter of the original founder of the White Fang, she kept it a secret. She would have been arrested if she told either Grand Huntmaster Ozpin or Grand Huntmaster-General Ironwood the truth, but after what had occurred at Albion, it would have been a much better outcome.

On top of that, somehow Mister Xiao Long knew who her father was, and did so in a manner that implied they were more than just acquaintances. That was something that took her by surprise, as she had always feared that her true lineage would be discovered, but not like this. Her father had never mentioned having friends in Vale, let alone Human friends, though given that she had always been too enthralled by her parents' past with the White Fang to ask about their time before that, no wonder she was uninformed. It explained a great deal as to why Tai had been so willing to aid them, as well as to why he had been so kind to her in particular. Blake assumed it was just because she was injured and had helped protect Yang before Qrow found them, not to mention she was part of his daughters' team. Then again, she had hardly protected Yang, had she?

Swallowing audibly, she bowed her head, and as she tightened her grip on her pants, she began to cry. In her paranoia and fear, she failed to protect her friends, and now knowing Jaune had been harbouring the same sorrow as Tai, which now forced him to run as she nearly had, guilt began to overwhelm her. Zwei, sensing her anxiety, laid his head onto her lap, almost as if for her to stop grabbing her clothes and to pet him instead. Blake wrapped her free arm around the dog and held him, pressing her face into his fur.

"Pyrrha...I'm sorry..." she sobbed, a cold wind passing through the trees surrounding the small house.

†λ†

Jaune panted heavily as he ran through the thick timber, trying to get as far away from the Xiao Long residence as possible. He knew that the day would come for the group to ship out. He may have been deep within his grieving and suffering, but he happened been blind and deaf to their discussions. He knew that Team RWBY were waiting for Yang and Blake to recover enough for them to be fit to travel. Ruby had luckily been uninjured, by some miracle, and her recovery had been the fastest. He was not sure where exactly they were going to go, though he surmised that the Council was no doubt mobilizing all the Kingdom's forces in order to protect it. Would mere first-years be called into service? He had no idea. Either way, he had come to his own conclusions, and knew only one thing: he wanted no part in it.

While the pain and self-loathing had been overwhelming, it did not stop him from thinking of what he was going to do when it was time. Jaune did not have it in him anymore. He did not want to be a Huntsman any longer. He had first come to Beacon Academy to try to make something of himself, lying to get enrolled; and after succeeding and becoming captain of a team, he thought he was finally on his way. In reality, he had gotten nowhere, and only disgraced himself further. Pyrrha, the only person who believed in him, was dead, and he was the one responsible. He knew that if he voiced this realization audibly, his friends would say he was wrong, and that blaming himself was not fair.

Jaune knew the truth, however, and that the blame did indeed rest on his shoulders. Because he lied to get into Beacon, Pyrrha had spent all her free time to train him on the basics in secret. They trained not only with Ren and Nora in the day, but alone in the night, using every spare minute in order to make Jaune into a proper student and captain. The blond now knew that all that time had been a waste, and if it had gone towards Pyrrha sharpening her skills, then she would have survived the battle against Cinder Fall. If Jaune had never stepped foot into Albion, Pyrrha would have rightfully been made captain of the team, along with another properly qualified Huntsman- or Huntress-in-training taking his vacancy. Without being in her way, Jaune knew deep within in his broken heart she would have lived, and while he was not the one that killed Pyrrha, her blood was thoroughly on his hands.

He failed to stop her when she tried to climb the tower, as he had known there was no chance to save the CCT or Grand Huntmaster Ozpin. Jaune had already spoken very little since that day, and would not dare utter a word about their kiss goodbye. Merely thinking of it increased the heartache a thousand-fold, and he thought of those final moments constantly. His teammates had tried to console him, but the blond would not open up to them. Just glancing at them caused his guilt to intensify, as he saw how heartbroken they had been from the news, and he blamed himself for hurting them. He could not stand to be in their presence out of shame, and he decided that when the opportunity came, he would leave them and the others behind. Jaune knew they would come after him once they realized he was gone and taken his things, and he had to put as much distance between himself and the house before they did. He did not want to go with them, and he did not want to be found.

As Jaune pushed passed an eye-level branch, continuing his unrelenting march, it snapped backward and whipped him across the left cheek. This painful strike brought him out of his turbulent thoughts, and caused him to halt. He swallowed uncomfortably, as it reminded him of the day he had met Pyrrha, though the pain in his cheek was far greater now than before. Now out of his manic escape from the Xiao Long property, Jaune discovered just how out of breath he was. Sweat was pouring down his neck despite the summer heat giving way to the cooler winds of autumn, and he found it difficult to swallow, as his saliva had become thicker.

Trying to catch his breath, Jaune quickly glanced around him, and saw that he was standing in a clearing with the ground being partially worked. A broken section of a wooden post-and-rail fence sat on one side of the clearing, suggesting that a corral of some kind had once stood there. This was a reasonable theory, as to the opposite side was a bungalow farmhouse that had clearly been abandoned from some time. The foliage around it had overgrown, which gave the home an added aura of decay; an aura it did not need aid in, for the broken windows and partially collapsed roof was more than enough. Beside the home, around fifteen yards away, stood a barn with a gambrel roof, and it was in an even greater state of disrepair, with more than half of it collapsing in on itself.

Jaune guessed that this had been the farmstead of a family that had found an unfortunate end, as not all the damage to the property was natural. Grimm had attacked this small farm, and no doubt had killed everyone that lived there.

That reminder of death brought back the emotions and thoughts that had not relented since the Battle of Albion. The family that once lived here did not deserve to die. Pyrrha had not deserved to die, especially so needlessly. He could have stopped her; he should have stopped her. Why had he not? He was not strong enough, that was not up for debate, but it was also due to him being stunned by her sudden kiss. Jaune had not expected it to happen, which he now knew was what Pyrrha had predicted, for it gave her the chance to push him into one of the weapon lockers. Those final moments flashed before his eyes once more, feeling as if they were being played back in slow motion, allowing him to relive every agonizing second. He recalled the panic in his heart as he realized what Pyrrha had done, and the desperation that came as he feverously pounded on the locker door. He remembered the dread that washed over him as he gazed through the slatted vents, and could tell she was reaching to press the buttons on the command panel. She never once took her eyes off him, with large tears began to fall from her emerald orbs. In those final seconds, with a sorrowful smile that he would never forget for as long as he lived, Jaune heard her say over the hum of the locker engines, her last six words; each of which pierced him like a vile, black arrow:

"Goodbye, Jaune Arc...I love you."

His cries rang in his ears as the locker launched away from the former Donjon, and he saw his beautiful friend shrink as she entered the broken elevator shaft. The moment he returned to earth, he struck at the door until his fists began to bleed, desperate to get back to her and stop her from doing something that he knew would get her hurt or worse. He remembered shouting desperately at his partially damaged Scroll for anyone to help him as he ran towards the CCT, his fear driving him as if Utter Darkness were at his heels.

As he reached the tower, a massive explosion forced him to stop, and he stared wide-eyed at a Wyvern Grimm that sat perched atop it, become engulfed with silver light. Jaune could not comprehend what had happened, but by some miracle, he saw something come tumbling down along with the debris of the tower. It was the distinct bright red hooded cloak of Ruby Rose, who the blond was able to see was still attached to. Again, by sheer luck, Jaune managed to close the distance between himself and the base of the tower, and caught the girl by sliding, allowing his body to absorb and hopefully cushion her fall. Taking only a moment to recover, he desperately began to examine her as best he could, and breathed a sigh of relief that she was alive. He then asked himself the question he so badly needed an answer to: where was Pyrrha?

His answer came in the form of several metallic bangs. The sound caused his head to snap to his right, and saw that a sword and a shield had fallen from the tower, with the blade now imbedded into the ground, allowing the blond to see it clearly. His stomach twisted sickeningly as he instantly recognized it as Pyrrha's sword, Miló, and shield, Akoúo, and he began to shake his head, wretchedly refusing to allow the thought to enter his mind. To dash his hopes from him, another bang sounded, causing him to look up to see Pyrrha's circlet bounce off the ground twice before coming to a full stop.

Still in denial, Jaune looked up at the top of the tower, praying that Pyrrha would emerge unscathed. His eyes began to focus as he saw something red drawing closer, and for a moment his heart leapt with joy. It then fell into his stomach, as the red object he saw fluttering down, was Pyrrha's sash. His eyes followed it as if he had no other choice, ignoring the sight and sound of screaming jets attacking the Grimm, watching its descent before landing right before him. He continued to stare at it unblinkingly, as his eyes began to focus on a horrifying detail. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but he could make out a fair number of dark spots across the sash. No longer in control of his own body, Jaune reached out and grasped the cloth, bringing it close enough to his face so he could confirm what he did not want to. Tears began to fall down his cheeks as his thumb touched one of the dark spots, and saw that they were fresh blood stains.

In the present, Jaune was hyperventilating from the memories of that day, with tears streaming as he shook uncontrollably. He could remember every detail of that horrid day, and he would remember it till his last. But what he was recalling in his sorrow was what brought him more agony than he could describe, and why he refused to speak it to the others.

He remembered Pyrrha. He remembered the softness and the taste of her lips, the brief moment of bliss they brought him, as well as the happiness on Pyrrha's face. He remembered her scent, something he could not explain why he was able to, but it was there in his memory like the scent of summer turning into autumn. He remembered her smile; not just from when she broke their kiss, but of the night they had danced together. It had been brighter than the Sun, and he could recall in crystal clarity the curves of her face as they swayed slowly to the music.

This led Jaune to remember the most painful moment of that night: the moment where he insulted her, and brought an end to her saintly patience.

"Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me."

She loved him. Pyrrha Nikos had loved him, and he had not realized that fact until it was too late. How could he have been so blind? How could he have been so naively confident with Weiss, and not dream of someone like Pyrrha having feelings for him? Those burning questions were ones Jaune had tried to avoid asking himself, as he feared to decipher them and uncover the truth. But he could not run from them any longer, and the shame of his terrible foolishness washed over him. And because of that foolishness, it had cost Pyrrha her life, for as a final act of love, she pushed him out of harm's way.

Jaune clenched his teeth in bitter rage and sorrow as he cried, his fists tightening to the point of turning his knuckles white. They trembled at his sides, desperately wanting to lash out at something or someone in a hopeless manner to release himself of the pain. His breathing became even more erratic as Pyrrha's beauty and woeful tears flashed in his mind's eye, missing her so much that his already shattered heart shattered further. Every fiber of his being was bursting with hate and despair, unable to live with himself after knowing how much of the blame rested on his shoulders.

He should have been the one to die, not Pyrrha. Why had he been the one to live? Jaune Arc, the coward, the liar, the naive boy, left to fight another day, whereas Pyrrha Nikos, the kind, the thoughtful, the beautiful, the strong, the loyal, paid for her piety with a senseless death.

"You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?" he admitted with a weak laugh. "Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?"

"I'm sure they didn't mean–" Pyrrha began, but froze when she felt him take her hand.

"I guess...I'm just trying to say that...you've always been there for me...even when I didn't deserve it. And I can tell there's something on your mind, so...I don't know. How can I help?"

She stared at him in shock, but quickly melted in gratitude, and smiled warmly at his unintentional cuteness. She leaned over and placed her head on the blond's shoulder, this time surprising him.

"You're already doing it" she replied softly, shutting her eyes and squeezing back.

It had not been enough. It had not been nearly enough. He failed to help her when she needed him. He failed to take charge as both a captain and a friend when she was lost and fearful, allowing her to stumble and succumb to her fear. What he would give to go back and correct his wrongs. What he would give to go back to that moment and be the man she wanted him to be—that she needed him to be. What he would give to hold her hand once again, to see her smile once again, to hear her laugh once again, to kiss her and hold her one more time.

This was the last straw for the devastated swordsman, as something snapped deep within in, and with tears burning, he screamed like he never had before to the bleak heavens above. Jaune had been in such shock from Pyrrha's death, and so disconnected from the world around him, that he had not the energy to truly focus on it and accept it. He remained in denial for weeks, but now, all those repressed emotions came surging through him like a roaring river. His anger, his hate, his sorrow, his self-loathing, his guilt, his anguish, his pain; everything within him channeled into one loud, tear-filled howl. Jaune looked into the overcast sky, his vision blurred from his tears, sobbing and demanding the Light and the Gods why he had been allowed to live instead of her.

Shaking, the blond fell to his knees, his strength leaving him, hanging his head in bitterness as he cried. Even in his grief, he knew that he needed to keep moving if he wanted to avoid the others finding him, but he now could not bring himself to move from the abandoned farm. He felt as if he was made of lead, so heavy that he could not stand even if he wanted to. The truth was that it was his guilt that weighed him down, and he did not want to move, and would rather waste away right there like the dilapidated farmhouse, hopefully to be forgotten by all. That was what he deserved, and he hoped that no one would find his body; a fitting end, as no one had been able to recover Pyrrha's.

Suddenly, an unholy growl roused Jaune from his misery, and he looked up to the tree line before him. Instantly he saw a pair of red glowing eyes between the bows of the oaks and ash, staring at him with evil intent. The blond knew that it was a Grimm and that it was a Beowolf, as the eyes rose, and a horrid howl emanated from the darkness. More red eyes began to appear within the trees, and as one pack, a dozen Beowolf Grimm stepped into the clearing, growling menacingly at him.

Despite the danger Jaune now found himself in, he did not react at first. He gazed at the monsters almost in fascination; not that Grimm had managed to get onto the island, but that they came upon him so soon. He deserved this. He deserved to die for what he had done, and this could very well be the will of the Light for his end to be as horrible and painful as possible. In that moment of realization, Jaune felt something else rise in his chest. If he was going to die, he was going to die like a man—on his feet and fighting till the bitter end. His anger began to spike, returning his strength to him tenfold, and he rose to his feet, dropping his pack, teeth clenched and bare. He wrenched Crocea Mors from his sword belt, and drew the blade forcefully, but instead of attaching the scabbard-shield to his arm, he threw it to the side. He did not care about returning his sword to it in order to protect the blade. He would not need it where he was going.

"Veni! (Come on!)" he roared, drawing Miló from behind Akoúo with his left hand. "Dona mihi mortem, et contumeliis te afficiam sata inferos! (Grant me death, you vile spawn of Hell!)"

The Grimm opened their jaws and roared back, before bolting forward with three coming head-on as the others began to encircle him.

Without care or thought, Jaune lunged to meet them, and slashed at one of the three Beowolves. His arming sword cut through the left side of the monster's face, causing it to whine in agony, as it was not enough to end its wretched life. Without hesitation Jaune thrust at it with Crocea Mors, plunging his blade into the wound, and silencing the beast. He was then struck from behind, for one of the Beowolves took a swipe at his exposed back. The Grimm's claws failed to pierce the blond's flesh however, as they came into contact with Akoúo, for it was strapped to his back. Jaune instantly reacted by pivoting to the Grimm that attacked him, and drove Miló into its left eye socket, embedding the shortsword to the hilt, killing it instantly. He then swung Crocea Mors in a wide stroke to push them back and keep them from surrounding him.

The Beowolf to his left leapt at Jaune with its front paws aimed at the blond's chest to sink its jaws into him. Jaune reacted by dropping to one knee and riposte with a piercing thrust from his arming sword into the Grimm's now exposed neck. Unable to take his victory, another Beowolf pounced onto Jaune's back, crushing him into the dirt, and snapping at his neck, trying to bite it. Jaune hunched over as much as he could, using Akoúo to shield his neck as he twisted himself beneath the beast. As best he could, he slashed at the Grimm's belly with Miló, causing it to roar in pain. That gave him enough room to push his right foot against the Beowolf, allowing his arming sword just the amount of clearance needed to skewer it into its chest, twisting upward to reach the skull. Jaune tried to scramble to his feet, but suddenly shouted in pain as he felt what must have been the jaws of another Beowolf on his left shin, and was dragged out from under its dead comrade. Gritting his teeth, Jaune stabbed it in the right eye, which forced the beast to let go, and gave him enough time to get to his feet and finish it off with a stroke to its neck.

Jaune spun to face the rest of the pack, doing his best to avoid being flanked again. There were still seven that remained, and exhaustion was already taking its toll on his body. He put his weight on his left leg to test how injured it was, and found the pain to be fading quickly. Jaune was not sure if that was due to him acting swiftly or his adrenaline, but as long as it did not impede him, it did not matter. He was not planning to make it out of this fight alive, but his stubborn pride wasn't going to allow him to rush into the jaws of death without a fight.

The Grimm themselves seemed to be slightly more cautious now that their numbers were thinning, though it also seemed to entice them to end Jaune's life. They continued to circle around him, maintaining their instinct to keep him from escaping, and finding a gap in his defenses.

Their nature failed them with this prey, for the blond charged and slashed at the Beowolf to his right, catching it off guard and slicing it through the top jaw and out the back of its head. He then tried to attack the Beowolf beside this one, but caught it with the point of Crocea Mors, wounding its right shoulder. In doing so, he only saw at the last moment another Grimm leap at him from the corner of his eye. Instinctively he brought up his left arm to block the attack, only realizing too late that he had Miló in his hand and not his heater shield. The Beowolf bit Jaune's forearm with ease, and managed to sink the front row of its fangs into his chest. Jaune's poor quality chest plate only succeeded in blocking the bottom canines, with the top canines finding their mark and burrowing into his shoulder. Jaune cried in pain, and he stared into the burning red eyes of the monster, seeing clearly the evil that lay within. His distraction lasted only a moment as he felt the Grimm try to grip him with its human-like paws, and Jaune reacted by driving his arming sword through it and out its back. In anger, he slashed at the Beowolf's head with Miló, as it had let go in pain, before chambering his left against his chest to halt the bleeding, trying to keep the rest of the pack at bay with Crocea Mors. He did his best to examine his wounds will keeping an eye on his foes, where he then noticed that his arm and chest were glowing gold—his Aura reacting and healing him. The blond was unsure if it would be enough to stop all the bleeding, and he almost began to laugh at the prospect of what was occurring.

'Now of all times?' he thought, the bitter irony not being lost on him.

Jaune suddenly ducked as another Beowolf swiped at him, and he countered with a swing at the creature's right leg, cutting it off from the knee. It roared into a whimper, before dragging itself across the ground, trying to get behind the rest of the pack. To the blond's shock, one of the other Beowolves crushed its wounded comrade with its left paw, and without hesitation, ripped its head from its shoulders with his right. Jaune then noticed that this Grimm was possibly the one that first looked at him from the tree line, and judging by its size, thicker mane, and larger spines, that this was the Alpha.

'No retreat, no surrender, huh?' he thought, taking the best stance he could with two swords. 'That suits me just fine.'

He glared at the three remaining Grimm, knowing that even if he managed to kill the two Betas, the Alpha would be another task all together. Again, that suited him just fine. Two captains fighting to the end. One of the Betas, made its approach and swiped twice, making use of its longer arms to avoid a counterattack. Jaune returned with a few swings of his arming sword, connecting with only the Beowolf's long claws. When the Grimm tried to swipe again, Jaune took advantage of its new timidity, and lunged with Crocea Mors, sinking his blade past the weak portion of it into where the heart of a living creature would lie. Whether it was not enough, or the Grimm did not care about its injuries, it bolted forward, trying to bite down onto Jaune's head. Surprised but not shaken, he thrust Miló into the creature's open jaws, and while the shortsword's blade was just that, it was enough to pierce through the skull and kill the beast.

At that very moment, one of the Grimm attacked Jaune from behind the dead one, and he only realized too late that it was the Alpha. It lashed out with one of its long-clawed hands, hitting him in the face and neck with such force, he flew over twenty feet and crashed back first into the trunk of an elm. He fell to the ground groaning in pain and head swimming, though still trying to stand. The Alpha's claws had pierced him; the index and middle slicing his cheek and jaw, and the thumb, ring, and little finger puncturing his throat and upper chest. Jaune coughed up blood onto himself, mixing it with the blood of his other wounds.

'Orior...(Rise)' he ordered, trying to put his feet beneath him, and using Crocea Mors to help him stand. 'Get on your feet and die like a fucking man' his grip tightening on the hilt 'Stipendium peccati mors est...(The reward of sin in death) Malo mori quam foedari...(Death before dishonour) Die like she did...'

The remaining Beta with the wounded shoulder, either fearing repercussion from the Alpha or sensing that death was near, began to run at Jaune. This time seeing the attack, the blond forced himself to his feet, and with a roar of hate, threw Crocea Mors at the Beowolf. It met its mark, entering its jaws just as it tried to pounce, and hit with such force that its head snapped backward and pulled its body with it. The dead Grimm fell onto its back with the sword sticking into the ground, allowing its skull to slowly slide down the blade.

Panting, Jaune tried to stand straight, and glared at the Alpha. The beast returned the gaze silently, and the blond almost wondered if it was having second thoughts. That notion was quashed when the Beowolf stood fully on its hind legs, revealing its true height of twelve feet. Jaune laughed weakly before aggressively spitting up blood, and glared at the monster. His time had come. There was no chance of victory, and that was perfectly alright. He would fight to his last dying breath of course, but even with his Aura continuously working to heal his wounds, it would not save him from being eaten alive.

It was a fitting end for him, his body being fed to wolves. This was the debt he needed to pay for lying to entre Beacon, lying to his friends, failing to be the man Pyrrha needed him to be, and running from his problems. He would not run today. He would not run from his fate. He would fight and die like Pyrrha did, and his body would be eaten so that it could not be recovered like Pyrrha. She deserved to be remembered, but not he. It he had never come to Albion, she would still be alive, and therefore, the fate of it being as if he had never lived, was just in his mind. His only wish, as selfish as it was, was to see her again on the other side, though he knew in his heart where she had gone and where he was going, were not the same place.

Taking a shaky breath, he took Miló with both hands, which was difficult given the one-handed nature of Pyrrha's shortsword. Nonetheless, he gripped it tightly, and took a Long Tail Guard with his left forward and knee bent, his right leg behind and straight on his toes, and Miló held to his side, pointing diagonally to the ground.

"They say that the way of the warrior is found in death..." he said more to himself than the Grimm, a vile taste in his mouth rising above that of his own blood. "I should have been trying to be a man first..."

The Alpha could not understand what he was saying, of course, but rebutted in kind with a monstrous roar. It bolted forward, crossing the half the distance between itself and Jaune in the blink of an eye, before leaping into the air with claws and jaws open. Jaune did not retreat or break eye contact, but shouted his war cry, swinging Miló with all his might.

Suddenly, the Alpha's roars were silenced, and its outstretched body contracted almost into a ball before crashing into the ground, just before the confused blond. Wide-eyed, Jaune looked at the fallen Grimm, unable to understand what had just occurred. All he was certain of was that it was dead, but he had no idea of what had killed it. The Beowolf's body was beginning to burn away, as all Grimm do upon death, so he hastily began to examine the carcass before it was gone forever. Jaune could see that the skull was punctured in several places, with many identical holes in its neck and chest, and they appeared to be bullet holes. How was that possible? Firearms were very loud, and he could scream till he was hoarse, and he would never be able to top the volume of a rifle. Even handguns produced a great deal of noise, so how could he have not heard someone open fire? He began to look about him, trying to spot the marksman.

"Who's there?!" he shouted, his eyes scanning the tree line. He suspected that it would have been his friends given that they must now be looking for him, but then why would they be hiding and not call out to him; especially given his blood-soaked clothes.

A sound did emerge from the silence, and it was loud, but it was not what Jaune expected. A crash boomed behind him, and he spun round to see that the dilapidated barn had fully collapsed on itself. His eyes bounced to every inch of the ruined building, not sure what to expect, though the possibility of it being more Grimm was likely. Then again, why would a Grimm save him? It must have been a Huntsman, but why would they damage the barn? Was it just a coincidence?

These thoughts raced through Jaune's exhausted and dizzy mind, and he shifted his stance to make sure that he did not fall over. He then heard the very recognizable sound of metallic rustling; specifically, the sound of nails knocking against one another. He looked to the ground and saw that his left foot had brushed up against exactly that: a pile of rusted eight-inch-long pole-barn nails. Had they been what killed the Alpha? It would explain the holes in the carcass and how no gunshots were heard, but their age was suspect, let alone the question as to why nails had been used in the first place.

Bending down, Jaune picked up one of the nails, and turned it over in his right hand, examining it with care. They were covered in rust, possibly several decades old, and while it made no sense, he immediately deduced that they came from the destroyed barn. That would explain their ware and why the barn collapsed, but that did not explain how they were pulled out of the wood and fired into the Grimm. He frowned in consternation at the long piece of metal, and he laid it flat against his palm as he stared at it, wracking his brain for an answer. His thoughts were cut short however, as the nail flew towards him and hit his chest plate, causing him to recoil in shock. He looked down at it, fully expecting himself to be impaled, but instead found it pressing against his armour length wise. Bewildered, he tried to pry it from him, but without warning it dropped to the ground, and no longer moved.

At a loss for words, Jaune brought his right hand up to his face to move his sweaty golden locks out from his eyes, when he noticed that his hand was still glowing. He stared at it in confusion, as he was not controlling this. He expected for his Aura to partially remain active, but this amount was far more than he ever had produced before. Had his Semblance truly awoken at last? There was only one way to find out.

Doing his best to recall what he had been taught, he began to channel his Aura, and started to raise his left arm to see it in action before the main test. He instantly recoiled as all the nails on the ground flew towards him, attaching themselves to his arms and armour, and by some miracle not point-first. Jaune stopped channeling in shock, allowing the nails to fall back to the ground, and he looked at them before moving on to his hands. Was he causing this?

"No..." he said to himself, his mind pointing to a single conclusion that he knew was just not possible. "No..."

He knew what his Semblance was; that was the last secret he had been keeping from Pyrrha, and he had been sure that it had awoken at last under the stress of battle. There was no way that what was happening was true. He touched his face and neck, and as he expected, found that his wounds had closed. All Huntsmen were blessed with a level of supernatural healing, varying from Huntsman to Huntsman, and grew with their training. Some naturally had larger Aura reserves than others, and some having Semblances with healing as either the focus or a lovely bonus. People with healing Semblances, most of which were Huntresses, became combat medics, before retiring after a long career to helping at hospitals. Then there were Huntsmen like Yang, whose Semblance not only gave her added strength and resilience, but increased her healing factor. Jaune knew what his Semblance can do, which explained why he had healed such terrible wounds so quickly. So, what was going on? Jaune then looked up at Crocea Mors, still stuck in the centre of the clearing, and he swallowed knowing that he needed to confirm his theory.

Returning Miló to his back, he stood straight and held out his right hand, channeling Aura into it once more, and trying to focus it on the hilt of the antique arming sword. It began to glow gold, and was wrenched from the ground as if it were being pulled by a rope, flying in a direct line to Jaune, who just barely managed to catch it. He turned the sword in his hand, looking up and down the blade in stunned fashion.

"No..." he repeated in denial.

He reached out to his scabbard, and once again pulled on it and caught it. Sheathing his weapon and returning it to his belt, he held both his hands up, turning them over as they continued to glow.

This was not possible. This could not be what he thought it was. He stared at his blood-stained hands, trying to find a different answer in the slowly drying fabric of his gloves. Ironically, he did find an answer. Something caught his eye, causing him to bring his hands closer to his face. He focused on the outline of his hands, which were still glowing with Aura, and noticed there was something wrong. Jaune raised his hands to the sky, trying to create a better contrast, and despite it being very overcast, it was enough for him to confirm his fears. His Aura was certainly glowing gold, as it always had. But there, mixed in the gold, was another colour...

Red.

Jaune's hands slowly descended as the realization of the truth overtook his denial. He desperately tried to focus his thoughts to comprehend what had occurred, and how it was possible his Semblance had become Polarity. Was this why he had so many problems with Semblance and Aura for so long? Was this the reason as to why he had so many problems at home? But then why was his Aura tinged red? Why was it tinged with her Aura?

His confusion then began to give into rage, his teeth clenching, as were his fists, and he turned his eyes back to the heavens.

"Are you doing this to mock me?!" he cried, his voice echoing throughout the clearing.

Of course, he was given no answer, other than droplets of rain, as the dark clouds finally caved. Bitter tears of anger began to mix with the rain, and Jaune hung his head in self-loathing. He wanted to die. He wanted to suffer for his mistakes. Why was the Light not delivering its judgement upon him for being responsible for the death of someone so beloved and devout? And to give him her powers? What in Remnant had he done to be deserving of such power? He was weak, both in body and in mind, and being allowed to live was a slap in the face that he could not explain in words.

Then a thought came into his mind. Power. He had power. He was not entirely helpless anymore, and if he trained, he could truly be useful. While that would have once been a wonderful thought, his mind turned it to a more macabre goal. Jaune had been too distraught after Pyrrha's death to feel anything other than sorrow. Now, he felt rage and a desire to fight, possibly due to the adrenaline still pumping in his veins. He needed an outlet for this desire, and one he had not dared allow himself to feel was bubbling to the surface: vengeance.

He wanted to avenge Pyrrha's death. He wanted to make her murderer pay for taking her from him and their friends. Anyone in his position would feel that way; the only difference was that Jaune knew if Pyrrha was not able to defeat her killer, how could he? Now, he had a chance. Perhaps this was why he was not granted the horrible death he knew he deserved, and why he was given Polarity. Was the Light and the Gods telling him that this was his path to redemption, or at the very least a sentence for his sins? That possibility was certainly one to consider, though he would not do so now, for his rage and lust for blood was taking over.

If he had a chance to avenge her, he would take it.

Jaune knew that he needed to move fast if he wanted to achieve his new goal. After all the commotion caused by his fight with the Beowolf pack, would no doubt draw in the others, and he could not allow them to find him. They would try to stop him, he was certain of that. Even if Ren and Nora did not disagree with his goal, he knew they would want to go with him, and that was something he could not allow. This was his burden. He was responsible for Pyrrha's death, and therefore, he was solely responsible with avenging her. They were also too precious to him to put them in any further danger. His incompetence put Pyrrha in peril, and it cost of his shortcomings was her life. He could not risk that occurring again.

Marching quickly towards the toppled barn, he began to search for what he would need before leaving the abandoned farmstead. In doing so, he found a large piece of canvas amongst the wooden beams, and in quick fashion, drew Miló and cut a smaller segment of it. He turned it into a makeshift cloak, using some rope on the ground to fasten it to his neck to shield him from the rain. He then finished gathering the rest of the supplies he needed, filling them into the remaining segment of canvas, and after shouldering his pack, he dragged the new bundle behind him. Judging where the Xiao Long home was located on Patch, Jaune had a fairly good idea which direction was north, and without wasting any more time, made his way to the northern shore of the island.

At that moment, the Huntsman-in-training he had been for the past year was dead, and his goal of becoming a Huntsman to achieve the respect of his family he so badly wanted, was over. He could never go home again. He could never return to the friends he had made at Beacon. He was a damned fool, and damned fools deserved death. He knew he would find that fate in the end, but there was one mission he needed to complete before then. He would never be a true Huntsman, but this would be his last hunt, for he wanted one prey more than anything in the world. He had one goal, one desire, one reason for living through the pain, despair, regret, self-loathing, and sorrow:

Kill Cinder Fall.

---

Author's Note:

Well. Starting out strong, aren't we? Probably too strong for some, but we can't please everyone, can we? I am sure that many of you have things to say and questions to ask, so let us first cover the most obvious elements of this story. Let us begin.

Changes From the Show

No doubt some of you are confused with the number of changes that have been made in this story; not only the change of events, but of names, locations, groups, and more.

The reason is that this story draws from two sources:

The first is from my first RWBY fan-fic called Dreams Do Come True, which was a rewrite of the end of V2 and the majority of V3, filled with most of the lore changes that you see here. The point of these changes was to show just how many problems RWBY has—even back then—and offer criticisms and solutions from a point of tough love for a series I used to adore.

The second source is what DDCT was based on, which is my full rewrite of RWBY, which I began to develop in my mind ever since the end of V3, and even a bit before after binging the first two volumes after learning of Monty's death.

JADA is just like DDCT, where I am criticizing the decisions made by CRWBY, pointing out those flaws and offering solutions within reason, as many need to be fully rewritten from the beginning to repair, or replaced completely. While becoming familiar with DDCT would certainly help, I will be as clear as possible to explain the purpose of these changes and why they were made, ensuring that you will not be lost in the weeds. Of course, these changes make far more sense if you are familiar with the show and have paid close attention, which even my readers who are ex-fans that want to see rewrites like these, were not fully aware of certain issues until I pointed them out.

Furthermore, lots of new information you have seen and will see was invented to fill gaps in knowledge from several years ago, some of which have been retconned by CRWBY (that make no sense), and others that have never been filled. So, if I have written something that contradicts what has been introduced in the show in later volumes, please know that I was not aware, and my level of interest will vary wildly upon what CRWBY have done. In any event, I will be pointing out those changes at regular intervals.

That is why I decided that I needed to actually make use of the Author's Note trend here on FFN and Ao3, which I only began to do from Chapter XI onward during the publishing of DDCT. People were very receptive to them—for and against—and it helped get things across. Unfortunately, they tend to be quite long, so forgive the long-windedness, but it is far better than the alternative, which is saying nothing or close to nothing, something that CRWBY are quite good at.

The Defending of Beacon and Albion

The Battle of Beacon and Beacon City, now called Albion City, was logistically mind-numbingly stupid. Basic levels of defence that would not require easily hackable computer systems are completely absent, namely walls, bunkers, medium and heavy guns, man-operable anti-air weapons, soldiers, and veteran Huntsmen teams, leaving a takeover childishly easy. There is no excuse for this, so I obviously changed it so that Valian and Atlassian forces were able to regain control rather quickly, and were quite successful on the ground beforehand.

The trojan used to take over the systems is, by this point, acknowledged by everyone as beyond stupid. This is why when I had it that everyone checked their systems after Cinder mucked about in DDCT, so many people commented on it being the most obvious thing in the world. In the context of JADA, I decided to split the baby, where the trojan was so good and well buried into the systems that it disrupted the city's defenses long enough to wreak havoc, but also that the good guys are smart enough to counterattack.

While I touched on this in this story, and far more so in DDCT, this is such a deeper issue that is far worse than people realize. I will be exploring it in great detail in future chapters.

Convalescence at the Xiao Long Home:

This should have been far more important and had much more time to develop than it did, plain and simple. With so much of it off-screen, we not only fail to establish other characters, but world-building and sense of scale of the consequences. While the scene I wrote was quite self-explanatory, I will quickly go through it to cover my thought process.

Together They Stand

The separating of Team RWBY was undeniably a pointless decision at best, and detrimental to the characters and the story at worst. It certainly did not help that they had nine to eleven storylines running at the same time, greatly limiting what runtime they could allocate for each storyline and/or character(s), but what made it worse, was how little they ended up using it for. There is a lot to unpack there, but let us stick to Team RWBY for now.

Weiss

We ended up learning nothing about Weiss and her family while in Atlas, nor anything about the Kingdom itself, other than more of the same infantile hatred of the rich, which continued years later in V7 and 8. Nicholas Schnee was "established", but never seen, nor did we learn what relationship Weiss had with him or how he had influenced her (check DDCT and BICO for what I did if you are too curious to wait). Jacques' slapping of Weiss made little sense, for as a Huntress, she could have either dodged it, caught his arm, or not even be hurt from it. All it was done for was to make him more of a villain—without any depth, by the way—which then had no bearing on things in V7.

By the end, she goes back without giving us anything that could not have been explained earlier in private conversation, and despite what her voice actress, Kara Eberle, said, that she was never prouder of Weiss for leaving home, as that was when she rejected her 1% past for the 99%, it failed miserably. That was not what I got from those scenes, and rolled my eyes at the continuation of the previous one-dimensional nonsense.

That being said, it was the best of V4, with her going from one of my least favourite characters to my new favourite. That is not a joke, as I have made it clear many times over that she was battling for my number one spot for most-hated-character. It was her fight with Flynt that changed my mind. I felt that she did not deserve the humiliation, even though I did not like her, and after seeing her picking herself up and leaving on her own volition, I began to like her, leading me to write her as she is now in DDCT, BICO, and JADA. I still, however, consider her overcoming her Summoning blockage that quickly, which was never explained before or after, a Deus ex Machina and a dereliction of duty as a writer to character build. Objectively, it is still a failing grade.

Therefore, we have Weiss as she is in this story. As I wrote in the chapter, Weiss was the only member of Team RWBY that was still battle-ready, and as the lieutenant, she needed to take command in Ruby's place and care for the team. She is a Huntress-in-training of Vale, and has duties to uphold. It never felt right that she just up and left, as there was not enough setup and world-building, yet again coming across as "The Plot Demands It", so it made more sense that she would resist her father's demands.

In my full rewrite, she wanted to stay, but because of her grandfather, as well as her squad leader overseeing everything and giving her leave, she returned to Atlas. She did not magically learn to summon in that time, but got other things in order, and was about to leave on her own, when her squad leader, captain, and Team JNPR turn up. She then takes the wind out of their sails, informing them that she was already leaving, and guessed rightly that they were going to "rescue the princess from her tower". There is much more to this, of course, but I hope to reveal it slowly as the story goes on.

Oh, and one more thing, yes, I retconned CRWBY's retcon of Weiss and Neptune getting closer thanks to the Beacon Dance. DDCT and BICO explain why, but I did not like what CRWBY did to Neptune either, even though I could not care less about him. See a pattern?

Yang

Ho boy. There is a lot to say about Yang. I guess I can only say it directly: she has been completely ruined as a character. Yang was my favourite character, and she is now irredeemably awful. I completely disagree with every decision CRWBY have made for her—the changing of personality, character archetype, injuries, PTSD, sexual orientation, and more—all of which I explain in detail throughout JADA. For now, I will just comment on Yang's sitting out.

I do not think it works. It flies in the face of her character, with no setup for it in any way, which is why the radical change in character and "recovery" by the end was rushed, to, like Weiss, merely bring her back to Ruby. It was a wasted opportunity to flesh her and her father out as characters, and turned my favourite character into my second-most hated.

In my full rewrite, Yang's hard-headedness and ego, as well as her impudence towards her squad leader, are what play into her shutting everyone out. I think writing it that way made sense of it overall, as well as help Yang mature, which is what you all saw here. Much more to come.

And before anyone claims I am just brushing off that she lost an arm, it is far worse to use Yang as a prop, and follow the current trend of PTSD as a character trait and ignore it when it gets in the way, as well as downplaying Pyrrha's death, than arguing that Yang should have been more resilient and that the level of tech in Remnant makes it far less of an issue. I will go into more detail on this in Chapter IV onward.

Blake

Time to be blunt again: Blake's original actions solidified herself as my most hated character, for they destroyed her character irrevocably by having her stick to her terrorist ties and beliefs, and causing such cavernous plot-holes that she ruins the Faunus as a race—and I am not being hyperbolic. I went into great detail on this in DDCT, and will again in JADA, but my goodness did Blake's cowardice cause such a mess. I have done my best to justify it, why she was so paranoid and secretive with DDCT, and if you are not familiar with it, I hope it works in this story as it unravels.

In that same vein, if Yang had died trying to protect her, then her running would be much more understandable. How could she face her friends ever again, knowing that her secrecy had led to Yang's death? It is still wrong, but it is understandable. Instead, with her being more injured, Weiss digging in her heals, and Yang recovering faster, Blake cannot bring herself to leave. I am also trying to make her more likeable, so being more loyal is a good start, even if she is hesitant.

Also, for the eagle-eyed among you, I changed how Blake was injured. To be fully transparent, I changed it years ago to make it more brutal, and to make Adam a more sadistic villain, where he pins Blake to the ground by stabbing her through the shoulder. I had since completely forgotten that she was originally stabbed in the abdomen. I can only hope this is "better", not to make Blake suffer, but to justify her fear of him and make Adam a proper villain. I still think he sucks, for the record.

And that is why the three of them do not run in this story. While I came up with a different course of action in my full rewrite, that version has a lot of context and setup. This story is trying to balance things without it, working off what was originally presented, and then molded into the best it could be, thus they become the best they can be. In short, they are actually likeable, and shine at their worst moments, becoming better ladies and characters overall.

And before I am accused of anything about my hate towards the golden calves that are Yang and Blake, take a good, hard look at them and try to tell me if my hate of what they became is reflected in how they are here or anywhere I write them. Take a serious look before you chew me out, because I have so much planned for them out of wanting them to be great characters, Yang especially. I am not like most, who belittle characters like Jaune and Ren out of spite, and to make the other characters look better. The tide raises all ships; my job is to simply make them all seaworthy beforehand.

I Suggest a New Strategy, CRWBY: Let Us Rebuild Penny

This is yet another painfully obvious thing I thought of after Pyrrha accidentally ripped Penny apart. "Man, it really sucks, but she looks mostly alright", in the sense that she could be repaired rather quickly. Consider myself shocked that it took them until V7 before that happened...and then...

I have quite a bit to say about Penny, as a character and how her story unfolded, so I will save it for another day. What I will say is that I came up with a long story for her, as well as a more significant purpose. In my full rewrite, she was repaired by Team RWBY and JNPR's squad leader in the Xiao Long family garage while he waited until everyone was fit for travel. He then offered her a post with the squad as the medic and junior gunsmith, with more duties added later on, with Ironwood's blessing. Of course, she accepts, and she goes on to play a major part in the squad and story, with a very special journey and conclusion.

That version is what I chose for this story, though I can only take it so far, which I hope you will find to be funny, endearing, and interesting. Given all that I have done for her (long before V7 and 8), mostly out of pride as an Italian to honour a character based on Italy's greatest fairy tale, before becoming very invested in her through storytelling, I hope to do her justice here.

One last thing about Penny, while I am not a fan of it, I commend the fans that came up with a more heartbreaking fate, that when Ruby and Penny meet again, she does not remember her thanks to having her memory wiped. I go into detail why I still disagree about that idea in Chapter IX, but it is still better than what CRWBY did, so I tip my hat to you.

A Flightless Dragon is Still a Dragon

Man alive, do I go against the grain when it comes to Taiyang. From the beginning, the fanbase saw him, and still do, as a Chad for knocking up both of his female teammates. I, however, saw him as an incredibly tragic person who despite his suffering, rose to be a good father to his girls. I saw him having incredible potential, and I badly wanted to learn more about him.

What the show has done to him is honestly disgusting. The man is so pathetic, that I do not believe for a second he was able to court Raven (I have much to say about that), hold his own in battle, or was even able to raise Ruby and Yang properly. I do not even like his design. He looks like a child, which is made worse given he has not changed clothes in eighteen years—I almost never like the single, pointless pauldron—and his shirt is a recycled asset from Qrow. Also, they retconned his eye colour from lilac (like Yang's) to a deep blue. CRWBY really like doing that for some weird reason. In any case, he is yet another waste of potential, as well as this visit to the Xiao Long home being a wasted opportunity, given we learn so little from him before Yang leaves.

This is why I had to include this scene. I hinted at this throughout DDCT before saying it directly, but here, I was able to begin Taiyang's rebuilding at the right time. Here he was able to do what I also thought was most obvious: console Jaune for going through the same thing he did. He had been waiting for Jaune to open up a little to be receptive to help, but alas, Jaune had other plans.

That being said, Taiyang was able to figure out exactly what Jaune was feeling and thinking, which not only makes him useful (for lack of a better term) to the story, but allows his character to be fleshed out. Tai is like so many other characters in this show; absolutely loaded with potential, and horrifically handicapped. Here he can be a Human being, and not merely a name to be listed as Ruby and Yang's immediate relation on their character sheets.

It is only a small scene, I realize that, but I hope you found it better than what we got in the show. There is so much more to say about him, as well as what changes I made, for I made many, but I can only reveal this for now. I hope what comes in the future will not disappoint you.

Also, I must include something. You know who agrees with me on this stance on Taiyang? His own voice actor, Burnie Burns:

"To me, Taiyang is the ultimate dad. He doesn't spend a lot of time talking about his emotions, but he's been through a lot. I think about men who went to war and experienced horrible things, but when they came back to support their families, they never spoke a word about it. They took all that to the grave."

—Burnie Burns, The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, Part 2: Characters, Team STRQ, Taiyang Xiao Long, page 92.

The Knight Who Lost Everything

This is, of course, the big change, one that defines this very story, as well as the trade-off of having Team RWBY stick together and having Penny join the team.

While the scene speaks for itself, I still find it necessary to explain a few things, though the bulk of which can be found in the introduction above, as it is a rather raw spot for people on either side of the issue.

The death of Pyrrha should have been a devastating blow for Jaune, Ren, and Nora, as well as Team RWBY, which I have begun to establish. How could it not? To Team RWBY, she was a kind soul and friend (allegedly). To Ren and Nora, she was a dear friend and teammate (allegedly). To Jaune, he was his girl.

DDCT started on a reminder to all that Pyrrha's spat with Jaune at the Dance was not some minor payoff, but a confession that she had feelings for him. The show then went on to completely forget this, making no nod to it whatsoever in V3, which is confusing given that they stress that Pyrrha's hesitance to become the new Fall Maiden lies on her possibly losing Jaune. By choosing not to build off of Jaune and Pyrrha becoming much closer after the Dance, it makes the stakes of Cinder Fall and the Maidens' powers far less impactful, not to mention Pyrrha's erratic behaviour rather sudden and unearned—a clear case of "The Plot Demands It".

I have now done the same with JADA, with Jaune and Pyrrha having grown much closer in that time between the Dance and the Vytal Tournament, and as one would expect, he is beyond distraught over it.

Well, as one would expect if you have a soul and a functioning mind.

CRWBY, the voice cast, and the RWBY community, have made it clear that they do not want Jaune going on some quest for revenge for Pyrrha, despite the fact that her murderer was a (allegedly) major villain, Cinder Fall. CRWBY have stated again and again in the show, Blu-ray commentaries, interviews, comics, and novellas, and the community have attacked Jaune for years, going as far as to insult Pyrrha and say, "The show is called RWBY, not JNPR, so who cares?". This is why Yang and Blake were allowed to get their closure, but not Team JNPR.

You can see why I am a little cross about this, but more about that later.

The other major change I made is Jaune's Semblance.

Now, to be clear, I had no idea what Jaune's "canon" Semblance was for a long time. Instead, I gave him a hereditary Semblance called "Majesty", which I began to develop all the way back in 2015 where I saw him heal very quickly. I quit RWBY after V4 concluded, where I instead reminisced and expanded upon my rewrite, which I had been doing since before V3's airing, fearful of what the show would become without Monty.

I was shocked at first when I heard that Jaune had been turned into a healer, as that went completely against his Knight archetype, not to mention that, at least at the time, I still believed Jaune would get his revenge.

And then it clicked.

This was once again expectations being subverted, but there was something specifically malicious about this one. CRWBY knew that Jaune's archetype as a sword and shield wielding Knight, should have a Semblance that was tank orientated—plus a full suit of armour to go with it. Instead, they used the fact that Jaune has large Aura reserves to make him a healer and Aura amplifier, despite the fact they had Jaune upgrade Crocea Mors to have a warsword form and mentioned that his family are great warriors. They knew that Jaune would become a powerhouse, so they retconned his Semblance to keep him weak, by twisting Jaune's archetype to claim they were setting him up to be a healer from the start. That is petty to a horrific degree when you consider they have been actively trying to stop Pyrrha's avenging.

Furthermore, Aura Amp is a retcon, as Jaune said he had no idea what Aura was in V1—which is so fucking egregious it makes my head spin—so how can he come from a line of warriors, with his great-great-grandfather being a hero in the Great War? I am sure fans will try to defend this, as that Jaune was probably lying, to which I point out the fact that he was able to fake transcripts to get into Beacon, but does not know what Aura is and has not awakened his Aura or Semblance? Was a better lie not possible? And then we have the issues of Oscar being just as ill-informed, but we will get to that in time. In any case, I address this problem in full in DDCT, if you wish to know the extent of this problem.

I stand firm that Majesty is a far better Semblance for him than Aura Amp, though you can see that CRWBY and I started from the same point, and while I wanted him to be strong, they wanted him to remain weak. Jaune desperately did not want to be a damsel in distress, and that is what CRWBY made him into. So how does that connect with Jaune having Polarity?

There were many theories flying around with the end of V3, most of which being terrible, especially in retrospect (I thought for a little while that Jaune would kill Cinder and get the Fall Maidens' powers), but one of them was that Jaune would gain a similar Semblance to Pyrrha's, called simply, "Magnetism". It checks out, as Jaune was trained by Pyrrha, so him having a Semblance that is so similar to hers, he can fight like her and pick up the fallen torch, and fight like Hell, where perhaps Pyrrha's nature stopped her from fighting viciously.

That is why I decided to go with that for this story, with a small but significant twist, which you might have picked up on, since Jaune was expecting Majesty and got Polarity instead. It has far deeper implications, which will be covered in future chapters.

Also, I want to address something that came up during DDCT. Some of my readers were defending the Aura Amp decision as it meant that Jaune could be a Paladin, which I touched on as a possible outcome for him. And while I stand by that, I have to disagree. The reason is that for Jaune to be a Paladin, there needs to be a properly established religion, as Paladin's get their powers from holy vows.

One of the pivotal issues with RWBY is the distinct lack of religion, and no, that Brothers trash, which is your typical Unreliable Narrator tripe, does not count. I mean properly organized religion, with temples and clerics, having important significance to the world. That is completely missing, and it is good to know so many other people agree with me that it is a major issue. For Jaune, since he is not doing that, or rather, cannot do that, he cannot be a typical Paladin, other than becoming more pious like Pyrrha, and vowing to do the Light's will. Of course, as we saw the truth unfold, I have trouble understanding why anyone would fight for the God of Light.

Another problem is that while Paladins can heal, they are still formidable warriors. Jaune has instead been turned into a healer solely, despite the small chance we saw in V4 of him continuing on the path to becoming a warrior. Furthermore, all Huntsmen get their powers from the Light/Gods, so there is nothing unique about Paladins, at least as we now know them thanks to Dungeons and Dragons, and other such properties.

It is good on paper, but cannot be realized with the show as it is.

Also, because I have no idea where to include this, I especially do not like Aura Amp because I have an OC with a similar Semblance. He is my oldest original character (I was ten when I started creating him) and I turned one of his abilities into his Semblance, War Drum, when I added him to my full rewrite. I'll explain more about that someday.

But now, let us touch on Jaune's mission. This is why we kept watching RWBY after Pyrrha's murder; to see Jaune hunt this bitch down and kill her. But that would get in the way of the convoluted story regarding Ozma, Salem, the Maidens, and the Artifacts. Why have a straightforward story of revenge, when we can go for a poorly defined and wacky one? At the point of writing this, the writers have gone out of their way to stop Jaune from getting revenge, belittling him for getting angry and wanting revenge, have belittled the audience for wanting revenge, have tried to make Cinder sympathetic, have allowed Emerald (who was complicit in that murder as well as others) to switch sides without consequence or repentance, have admitted they just wanted her to change sides, and have admitted they believe Jaune has overreacted about Cinder.

Not only is this disgusting, and we would refer to as "Moral Relativism", but it leaves us without any reason to care about the show. Are you saying you don't care about Sal—yes. I do not care about the story because no one cares about the story—not I, not the "fans", not the writers, no one. The characters are what held up RWBY in the beginning, and when they were assassinated (in more ways than one), there was no longer a reason to care. Of course, I always care about story, but when both were abandoned simultaneously, and in retrospect, the story was not as important as the flashy fight scenes to everyone involved, I walked away.

Allow this to be that outlet for those who cared about Pyrrha and wanted her to be avenged. I am fully convinced at the time of writing this that Cinder will not die by Jaune's hand, but could even be welcomed as an ally. But even if she does die, and by Jaune, without the build-up, without seeing Jaune train, without seeing his motivation through his self-loathing, pain, and hate, Cinder's death will not be earned, and therefore worthless. Hence, allow me to show you how Jaune could have earned it, as well as how those who loved Pyrrha deal with that loss as Remnant heads towards another world war.

Let the hunt begin.

There is so, so, so much more to cover on each of the subjects presented, but I am trying to separate my breakdowns for each chapter that contains these issues. I am also trying to avoid frontloading too much, as well as not rant too bitterly until it is warranted.

I might have failed on that regard, but I have no regrets. Unlike CRWBY, I am not trying to subvert any expectations, other than to give you a good story.

Final Thoughts:

So, if I have not lost you, allow me to address a few more things before we go.

Firstly, to my returning readers, it is wonderful to see you again. I know I have been away for quite a long time, but a lot has been going on.

Secondly, I want to thank my editors, Ultron and Eddy, once again for their help, as well as special thanks to Knight of Wings and Kerlongsj, who not only went above and beyond in reviewing my previous RWBY stories, but became wonderful people to speak to, and agreed to be my first ever Beta Readers. I cannot thank you both enough for the help. Not only were you so perceptive with DDCT, picking up on so much I put down, but your opinions carried so much weight. For Kerlo, with English being his second language, being able to understand my story meant that I succeeded in being as clear as possible. For Knight, being a full-time teacher, any correction he makes stings twice as much, given I come from a family of teachers. Bless you both.

Also, all of you, do not feel shy about correcting any and all syntax errors that I make/miss. It will sting, but I will be extremely grateful to you for it.

Thirdly, and this is the one that will bum everybody: the state of this story. With DDCT, the first completed draft of the story took about nine months—October 4th, 2019, to July 1st, 2020. Then I spent roughly seven weeks editing with my friends before finally publishing it that September...and then spent over a year editing on my own between chapter releases because it really wasn't ready. It still isn't to be totally honest, and while I am still finding errors—much to my great embarrassment and shame—I have been using all my free time on JADA, so only four chapters have been re-edited since Chapter XXIX.

I mention this because that has been my modus operandi since my return to writing: finish before publishing as if it were a real novel. While DDCT was not technically finished, I at least had a completed first, second, and third draft before Chapter I went live. That has also been my plan for JADA...and sadly, I do not even have a first draft ready.

The JADA MS is, at the time of writing, 239k words, which is a far cry from the 460k final draft of DDCT. The difference, other than not writing as fast as I did for DDCT, is that at 239k, we are at 21 chapters, which is a third of the way into Book II of IV or V in total. This means that JADA will be, more than likely, longer than DDCT. The other reason why it is taking me longer, is that while DDCT drew heavily from my full rewrite, to which I was able to use the established framework of the tournament to tell my story, the events of JADA are mostly new, with only a few elements taken from the show and my full rewrite.

What this also means is that I reserve the right to change anything in this chapter that might cause plot-holes or fall short of my standard upon revision as the story progresses. Like all things, when plans go into motion, sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. This chapter is a place-holder, to let people know that more is coming, and as a bulwark for what is to come in V9. I hope you will understand.

RWBY: Ice Queendom

Since I have been asked privately about my thoughts about Ice Queendom, I figured I should give them: I don't have any.

Honestly, what is the point? Why would I bother to watch yet another rewrite by Rooster Teeth, when the show itself is trash? All it is, as it has been every other time, is a mostly similar retelling, not to fix the previous issues, but to assure Wasp is made canon, and maybe throw in some other nonsense. They did this in their comic rewrites, the Manga rewrites, and now in an anime rewrite, which they keep labelling as "canon-adjacent", meaning they reserve the right to use those retcons if it helps them in the show. Why do you think they kept releasing those novellas nobody reads? They can use them if they need to and ignore them if they don't. Also, the title itself is stupid (the Japanese Empire of Snow and Ice is far better), and I can only suspect that they attacked Weiss yet again in some way.

You know, I love how people get so angry at me for penning these rewrites, saying because I did not get what I wanted I have to write these to cope, yet say nothing when CRWBY retcon everything down to the building-blocks of the series since V3. Sounds like they are the ones that cannot cope. After all, they have said repeatedly that the rules don't matter. What I am doing is trying to come up with rules to follow, and go from there.

Also, I find it rather incredible that for a company that does not have the time, manpower, and budget to make this show properly, they continue to invest that limited time, manpower, and budget into a thousand different side projects. Comics, Manga, Anime, novellas, games, merchandise, and now a movie crossover with the Justice League; because the comics were so successful *turns to look at collapsed American comic industry*. Bloody Hell.

Final Predictions for V9

On that note, since this will be my last chance before V9 comes out—if it ever does—to give my predictions. So here they are:

1. Wasp will happen. Yang and Blake will kiss out of relief, either in front of Sun, or will do so again, thinking they were alone, and be surprised that he is there. Yang will at some point shave the side of her head to complete her hideousness.

2. This will either lead to Sun supporting them like a spineless cuck, will get (rightfully) angry for being strung along and lied to, and then be portrayed as a closeted homophobe. CRWBY will go further by giving David more screen time to make additional retcons of Team SSSN (see RWBY: Before the Dawn ), having him claim that Sun would call him a fag.

3. A less likely route is that they make Sun closeted gay, hence why he acts so manly, and they force him into a relationship with Neptune, saying he is also closeted gay. They already retconned it that Sun likes to be beaten by women, so nothing is beyond the pale, not to mention that Miles and Kerry have tipped their hat to the Barrel of Seamonkeys (SunxNeptune) ship in the past.

4. Little to no commotion will be made of Emerald being allowed to change sides. If Team JNPR, probably Jaune, make any comment, they will be slapped down.

5. Neo will be allowed to change sides.

6. Mercury will not, and will either be killed by Emerald or in some comedic fashion.

7. Cinder will either change sides (without consequence), helping to kill Salem, or be killed by anyone but Jaune; for as a man, even a hero, cannot strike a woman, even if she is a vile villain. Penny will be the only Maiden he kills. And even if Jaune is allowed to kill her, it will have no weight after spending years shaming Jaune for seeking revenge and keeping him from getting stronger.

8. Raven, for some unconvincing reason, will come to help.

9. Oscar will finally fade away. Maybe they will have Ruby cry again over this, but who knows.

10. I want to make predictions about the remaining Maidens—and possibly a new Fall Maiden—but given that I have had the Four Maidens set in my mind for years, I actually do not want to say anything to not spoil my own stories, one shorter story in particular...which means I can't say anything if by chance those girls end up being Maidens. Bleh.

11. Salem will be destroyed, possibly with Ozma, in some cockamamie, Deus ex Machina fashion, either with some new weapon, the Brothers, or the power of love, and may even be "forgiven". Excuse me while I vomit.

12. Major elements of Remnant, how the world was made, the races, and more, will be retconned yet again with another rendition of the "unreliable narrator" and the nauseating line "the story you thought you knew".

13. Since they have shown they can do anything and break their own rules, Pyrrha and Penny might be brought back from the dead. Since Jen Brown has been working with RT again, that seems to be likely, mostly to have Arkos to offset the Wasp garbage. As I said, or rather, CRWBY have said, the rules do not matter and the show is stupid, so anything is possible; the true embodiment of "The sky's the limit when you don't give a shit".

I had originally thought that with V8 revealing that Grimmification is actually a possibility and not something Bleach fans suggested given the similarities of Hollows and Grimm, Grimm Pyrrha would actually turn up. However, with the Djinn having carte blanche, and CRWBY for that matter, they, or even the Brothers, can bring them back.

14. Roman might be brought back for points, saying that he never died, and was unable to find Neo after the Battle of Beacon, which is why he did not turn up until now, taking away Neo's desire for revenge against Ruby.

15. Boop will be made canon, with CRWBY claiming they are now ready to be a couple—to help offset Wasp—despite Ren and Nora's relationship being completely destroyed in V7 and 8.

16. Yang will have the opportunity to be healed and get her real arm back, but she will refuse. Not for any good reason mind you; CRWBY just do not want to be called Ableist.

17. If the budget allows, we might get a future scene with the next generation, to assure everyone the cast are in loving relationships, and things are happily ever after.

These are the things that I think are more likely than not of happening, though I have been wrong before. I was sure that Ren was going to die, though he certainly did die as a character, so I only get half a point. I was also certain that they would never get to Vacuo and boom, we have portals. Can you really blame me for being wrong there? There can also be things that I do not foresee, some other absurdities they can pull out from their asses, which certainly worries me. Remember, sky's the limit.

All of this is me (obviously) saying that yes, I think that V9 is more than likely to come out. Even with all these delays, I still think we will see V9, though I think it is very much possible, if not guaranteed, it will be the end of RWBY, which was meant to be 12 volumes, and then 10.

The reason for my incorrect predictions of RT's demise, is due to their corporate masters. When AT&T was going to buy/merge with Warner, they specifically went into it with the idea of making a profit and paying their massive debts—to the tune of $150 billion. One of those plans was to cut anything that was not making money, and RT was specifically targeted as a leaky ship, having not made a profit in years, and bleeds tens of millions annually. RT was officially on the chopping block, and I was happy and looking forward to the cancelation of RWBY. Warner, being for the longest time America's dumbest company, circled the wagons to protect all their ideologically based holdings, hoping to hold out long enough until the merger would fail. They succeeded. The merger fell through, and they instead merged with Discovery. There I thought RT was "safe", until recently where Warner suddenly began to start acting like a company again, and has fired a bunch of higher-ups, axed movies, and are now trying to appeal to the audience with more "uplifting" content.

[edit: Never mind, they fired Henry Cavill. For God's sake, Warner...]

Better late than never, and while RT, especially RWBY, should have been put to rest years ago, the end is here at last.

And for the people who deny RT's problems and demand how I can "square that circle", for how could RWBY last this long if it was not popular and profitable, the CW—owned by Warner (who is over $50 billion in debt) and CBS—has not made a profit in 16 years, yet pumps out show after show. Do not ask me how they cook the books for this long, especially since AT&T is $150 BILLION in the hole. I wish we lived in a world where quality always beats crap, since so many good movies and shows make no money and/or get canceled, and crap sells like crazy; and as we have learned this past decade, it's not about the money, it's about sending a message.

Instead, what worries me most is CRWBY touching upon things (story concepts, character backgrounds, lore, weapons, Kingdoms, etc.) very late in the game; things that I have been working on for years, and have only been able to say now given my time away from the show. They did it in V7 and 8, and man does it bug me; not simply that they did it all incredibly poorly, but that when I do it, people will think I am just copying it when I had it all planned out for years. It is what it is.

And lastly, I know that my predictions have really pissed off RWBY fans in the past; that they are so nihilistic and cruel. My response to that is, "Have you watched this show?". That is what RWBY is; a dark, depressing story where there is no joy, penitence, redemption, hope, or even colour. And even if the happily-ever-after ending happens, it will not have been even remotely earned, and if you actually examine it, it won't be happy; just sweeping issues under the rug or lamp-shading them like all the rest.

You will get your Wasp, so take the W that I think so as well.

This has gone on for far longer than I expected, mostly because I feel like I am not saying enough to cover all my bases, as well as fearful that I am not being clear, but I hope that people, wherever you line up on this, can understand exactly where I am coming from.

So, I will say this as the final word to be as clear as humanly possible on my stance on RWBY as a whole:

I used to be a major fan of the show. I ignored it at first, expecting it to be terrible, and did not want to sully my opinion of Monty. When he passed away, I was shocked, and in my shock, I binged the first two volumes to give them a shot. I loved them, and I felt incredibly guilty that I didn't watch the show when Monty was alive.

I then became worried about where the show would go without him, and saw the only choices were to end it here, or take a long break to get things in order. V3 went ahead without serious pause, and while was very mixed at the time, in retrospect, was an unmitigated disaster.

I gave V4 a chance in hoping they would fix the big problems, as this was the point of no return, and instead, they doubled down. Again, it took time to realize how bad V4 was, though it came faster, and I was keener in the initial viewing to spot problems. I wanted to give V5 a chance, but I was out for good two months after V4 finished airing, thinking long and hard in that time, and accepting the show was dead. I then cut any and all ties from it. No fan art, no videos, no fan-fics, nothing.

Since then, I would often think about what the show could have been, and ended up creating a full rewrite, as my mind loves to wonder as I worked my fulltime job. Only after I caught wind of RT's scandals in 2019 did I finally decide to give writing a fan-fic a shot, having quit the hobby many years ago. That produced Dreams Do Come True, Baby, It's Cold Outside, Jaune Arc: Dark Avenger, and several more stories being worked on in the background.

All of this was done out of love for what this show was and could have been. My detractors say this is all hate, even though what they point to hate, is also called love by my readers who enjoyed my work. Hate can also be a form of love, as any fan of anything can tell you from watching a series, a company, or a studio fall to pieces. What about hating to see a loved one ruin their life? Is hating bad things wrong? That tends to be the logic of people who say "Love, not Hate", as if it is all the same. So, I am wrong to hate evil and you are better for loving evil? That may sound hyperbolic and reductive, but RWBY fans hate that we want Jaune to get revenge for the murder of Pyrrha, shaming him as a character for initially wanting that as well, and love the accomplices in Pyrrha's murder, as well as terrorists and other criminals, get to change sides without punishment or even regret.

And that is the point of this story. To right wrongs, to find peace, and maybe even some hope in the darkest of times.

I will end this with two of my favourite quotes:

"A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author"—G.K. Chesterton.

and

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter"—Isaiah 5:20.

They ring truer than ever these days, and I think you will realize that too as the story goes on.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, and I hope you enjoy this story from beginning to end.