Right, well it sure has been a bit but here we are again. With the lack of new RWBY content being guaranteed to us I've been a little sad about that. This whole thing kinda got me pretty down so I've spent a lot of time diving into fanfic's about our boy Jaune, only to run into quite the few harem/sex fic's that put a damper on my enthusiasm.

Honestly it really made me not want to continue reading those crummy stories. Seriously, where was the story elements besides Jaune practically proving he was some kinda sex god and could conquer women and men with his sword/penis?! Luckily I did find one that I liked a lot but boy are those emotional scenes with Pyrrha tearing me up inside. If your interested in this fic it's call "The choices we make" and for some reason it feels pretty familiar for some reason. IDK.

Anyways on to the story.


"Alright that's enough for now." Winter called an end to their current practice and had everyone gather around. "Jaune, Ciel and Flynt. Each of you have the foot work down well enough that I believe that with a little practice on your own you'll be just fine." Winter looked to the others and crossed her arms. "The rest of you need more practice, hence why I'll be joining you to make sure you get it right. Take five for now, and when we reconvene I'll have each of you dance with me to show you what your doing wrong."

Both teams left the makeshift dance floor and went to the small table on the side to get a drink from the cooler. No one spoke and the cracks of water bottles caps were all that were heard for the first few minutes.

"Aahh, I'm alive again," Neon said after gulping down a good amount of her beverage. The cat faunus found a nice spot on the floor and plotted down on it, choosing not to bother laying down since the wooden floor would be too cold for her. "I don't know how you do it Jaune, that woman is a monster. Sure, I'd get it if it was us going up against a bunch of Grimm or something, but this is just a dance. There really isn't a need to go all taskmaster on us is there?"

Jaune chuckled while keeping an eye on Winter to make sure she didn't overhear them. "I will admit she can be a royal pain sometimes, but I can tell that she's only doing the best she can because she believes we can do this." Jaune watched Winter fret over the music she brought over by the stereo. Her head shook with each song she dismissed. "Besides she under a lot of pressure right now, what with her dad and General Ironwood springing this out of the blue on her."

Neon watched him with a careful eye and hummed her agreement. Looking down at her bottle of water the cat faunus threw her head back and downed the rest of it.

Ciel wiped her face and stepped into the middle of their group. "I think your all forgetting the most important thing here," she said as she looked to each of them. "This won't be something as simple as a school dance where you'll only embarrass yourself if you mess up. Think about those who are putting in the effort to make this happen, and how they'll look if you do something foolish in front of those who were also invited. Most importantly we shouldn't forget that the General has something going for this event. If we shame him in anyway it'll only make what he's trying to do all the harder." Ciel made sure to stress that last point to make sure they better understood who's reputation was riding on their success.

Jaune stepped forward and placed a hand on Ciel's shoulder, giving her a small nod to show he was taking what she said seriously. "Ciel is right, this party and how we behave will reflect how the people act towards us and the General. After all the privileges the General has already given us the least we can do is not screw him over. Treat this like a mission if you need to, but let's be sure to give it everything we can give."

Flynt and Penny raised their fists and agreed while the rest gave a less energized response.

"5 minutes are up, time to get back at it everyone," Winter said as she took center stage of the makeshift dance floor. Her eyes landed on Jaune, and the blonde wondered if she was going to ask him to help out with the class. Luckily for him that wasn't the case. "Jaune, Ciel, Flynt, you've all been excused for now so please take your leave. I need to focus on the ones who need more instruction, and your presence will only hinder my concentration if you remain."

Neon groaned as she slowly got to her feet. "Man, there's no way that was five minutes, it felt more like two tops."

"Your right, it wasn't five minutes," Ciel said with an unreadable expression. Her stoic persona crumbled as she tapped the wristwatch on her left wrist and smiled. "It's actually been seven minutes or so, so technically your late."

Neon shot her a side eyed glare and trudged on by with the other members of their combined teams. Ciel watched them go until she felt something nudge her shoulder. She looked to her side and saw Jaune tilt his head slightly, motioning for her to follow him. The two of them excused themselves and split off from Flynt when he said he had something to take care of for class.

"Was there something you wanted from me," Ciel asked as they walked back to the dorm room together.

Jaune nodded, "your time, for one," he answered as they continued on. The two made it back to the dorm room and Jaune opened the door for them both. "I would also like your help with something as well." Ciel took a seat on her bed and waited for her leader, hoping beyond hope he wasn't about to ask her for advice about dating or girls in general. Sure she was a girl but that didn't make her an expert on other females of the human or faunus race.

Ciel sat quietly and watched Jaune discard his shirt to reveal an impressive set of abs that had her instinctually swallowing. She changed amongst comrades before when she was training with a squad under General Ironwood command, but those were older men then what Jaune was. The blonde said something that she didn't quite pick up on, seeing as her heart was pounding a little too loud as she watched her team leader about to take off his pants. Ciel looked away and refocused her attention on something more important, namely Jaunes words.

"Seeing as your a hand to hand fighter, maybe you can give me a few pointers as we go for a few rounds." Jaune turned her way and raised a brow when he noticed his partner faced away from him with her eyes closed. "Um Ciel, are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I was listening. Although, next time you wish to discuss possible sparring matches with me I'd appreciate a little warning first." When Jaune tilted his head with a raised brow, Ciel knew he didn't get it. "What I mean is, please give me a warning before you start stripping in front of me. Not that I didn't enjoy the show, but I'm pretty sure if Penny or Neon for that matter found out about this there'd be hell to pay. For me, that is."

Jaune looked down at his self, notice he was down to his boxer and instantly felt his face burn red. After focusing so long on getting things down fast and efficiently as possible, how could he forget something as simple as human decency?! The blonde quickly grabbed some of his clothes and pulled them in front of himself, oh how he could just die from the embarrassment right now. "S-sorry," he said bashfully.

Ciel open one eye and looked to her partner out of the corner of it to see if he was decent enough. Once he was she turned to face him fully. "It's fine. I'm not mad or anything of the sort, just wanted you to be aware so you don't strip in front of the others." She could only imagine how Penny, or even Neon would react to such a thing. "Anyways, I suppose it would be a good idea to practice together if only to familiarize ourselves with each other combat styles."

Ciel stood up and made her way over to her own gear. Instead of making the same mistake Jaune did, she gathered her stuff and carried it to their bathroom to change in peace. When Ciel was finished she returned to their room to see that Jaune had taken the time to finish getting ready himself. "Are you ready," she asked as she walked passed the blonde and grabbed hold of their rooms door handle.

Jaune got up and followed after his partner to the training room to see what he could learn from his new partner.

/

In the headmasters office Ironwood stared down at the latest reports to cross his desk of the ongoing problem in Shelter. Unfortunately it seemed like their military personnel were having problems with the common folk. It wasn't all that much of a surprise really, seeing as Shelters people followed their founders beliefs and all but hated what Atlas had turned into. He couldn't fault them for that, and although he said founders, he actually meant Ozpin from a former life.

If only things remained as they did, if they did he wouldn't be dealing with the aftermath his predecessor's left behind for him. Angry faunus's, a terrorist organization and racial supremacy that ran rampant through his kingdom. Ironwood sighed deeply from just thinking about it. "Well, now I see why you wanted to leave this place so badly Rudolph". Hindsight was twenty - twenty and all, but if someone told him it would be this hard before, then he'd have laughed it off. More the fool him, he supposed.

Anyways it looked like he was going to have to pass on some new orders for Clover if he wanted to smooth things over. Who knows maybe he could get Rudolph to lend a hand seeing as the man was no stranger to the military life. Before he could think about it more an email notification appeared on his terminal. Seeing the sender was Leonardo, Ironwood opened the email and saw a report about a Grimm never before seen in the regent.

Attached to the report were a good number of photos taken by the local hunters who happened to come across the beast. The Grimm in each photo were a spitting image of the Grimm that led the assault at Shelter. All except for the latter half of the photos, in which they had the most humanoid look out of the bunch. It's body was of the size and shape of a typically grown adult man. Ironwoods eyes went back to the report where the witness who saw it all reported to Lionheart on how the Grimm creature broke apart and transformed into that thing.

Ironwood read on and got a full description of what the witnesses saw when they investigated the noise coming from the forest near their village. It started without warning and early in the morning, loud howling like an animal crying for help except more unsettling. Ironwoods eyes scanned the screen and he could almost picture what had happened with how detailed the report was.

/

It was the crack of dawn and Whitmer was almost finished getting everything he needed for the day. Strapping his carving knife to his thigh the man stood and inspect himself to make sure everything was in order. He had his camo vest and matching pants on, as well as all his pockets filled with bullets and bait for attracting and killing deer in the forest. The meat was always good and the hide always sold well.

Whitmer pick up his hat from the nearby wrack and slipped it on his head before heading outside, making sure to grab his rifle on the way out. It was definitely going to be a good day he thought as he leaned the gun against his left shoulder and breath in the morning air.

"Yo, ready to get todays hunt underway?"

The question came from his next door neighbor Aron, who like himself, was dressed and ready for the morning hunt. Whitmer smiled at at his old buddy. They had been through a lot in Atlas and when given the chance to retire from the Schnee security force they chose this place for the peace and quite. It wasn't some big village with a whole bunch of people, just a small one built on top of a large hill that gave them a good view of anything that might come out of the nearby forest.

Bandits weren't able to sneak up on them easily since on the opposite side of the village was complete flatlands as far as the eye could see. It also helped that Atlas's soldiers were posted in the village because of the lumber that the villagers provided to the kingdom. No doubt one day Atlas would probably add more people in the near future to expand their intake of the trees, but for now he didn't have to worry about that.

"Did you remember to bring the lunches, it is your turn to make them," Whitmer asked his buddy Aron as he set his rifle in his truck. His truck was nothing too impressive but it was an energy efficient model that absorbed the energy from electric dust cristals slowly.

Aron lifted his giant lunch box and smiled. "Turkey sandwiches with no crust and a few hard boiled eggs for you and a chicken salad for me". Aron pat his stomach with a lopsided grin, "the wife's been saying I've put on some weight". The both of them loaded up in the truck and drove to the front gate where they waved to the guard and were given the okay to pass.

You would think people who saw them drive into the forest like this would have been more worry about them, but with their experiences this was nothing. They parked the truck near the entrance to the forest and proceeded deeper in on foot. They had their own little set up on the trail up ahead but until then they were very quiet to keep themselves from being seen or heard by anything that could be out there. It was when they made it to their makeshift latter that would take them up into the trees above that they heard it.

It came from a little further in, a cry that sounded like a wild animal caught inside some kind of bear trap or was being tortured. That's what it sounded like at first before the howling gradually changed and sounded like a man roaring in anger. Both Aron and Whitmer exchanged looks with each other at the bottom of the ladder, one extremely curious while the other had the look of terror on his face.

Whitmer grabbed Aron by his collar and brought him close. "Keep your emotions in check," the elder man said sternly. The reality check had Aron taking a deep breath and nodding to his friend. "Good," Whitmer said as he looked towards where the howls were coming from. "I don't know what the hell that is but I say we check it out," he said as he shouldered his rifle. "We take a quick look, then we high tail it back to the village and inform the others".

Whitmer looked back to his partner to see if he agreed. Aron took a minute to swallow his fear and steel himself before dropping the lunch box on the floor and readying his rifle. With a stern nod the two followed the noise to it's source but kept low and used the trees for cover. What they saw was something straight from a horror film.

In a clearing within the forest laid a hulking mass of a Grimm, one in which they had never seen before in all their years. It's body was hunched over on all four and it continued to scream in pain as a human like hand that was as pale as as a ghost ripped through the flesh and bone on it's back. The two glanced at each other before Aron took out his scroll and aimed it at the beast.

The pale hand slammed down on the Grimms back and started pulling hard on the bone plates forcing what the hand was attached to to rise out of the black flesh. A head popped out at first, then a shoulder until half of the humanoid figure was out. Black veins ran all over the humanoid creatures body from it's eyes downward. Aron's jaw dropped but his thumb stayed glued to his scrolls screen, taking pictures one after another in rapid succession.

The giant Grimm that the humanoid one was breaking out of suddenly went quiet and stopped moving all together. After a few seconds of silence the body started dissolving into a black mist as most Grimm tended to do when they died. The biggest difference here was that instead of the mist vanishing into thin air it instead swirled around the humanoid creature who then opened its mouth and sucked it all in.

At this point Whitmer couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The Grimm creature cracked it's neck and wiggled it toes as if it was feeling the ground for the first time before it opened it's eyes. It's eyes were a dark red with black where the White's of it's eyes should have been. It didn't stay that way for long before bone plates started forming on it's body. The bone plates slithered over it's body and melded together to make a brand new form of armor. In a way it looked like an Arma Gigas's full body plate armor with a helmet that covered the entirety of it's head.

Underneath the plate armor black liquid covered the white skin then harden to almost resemble the rubber on a tire for a car. Then once it's new form was finished the humanoid creature crouched down on one knee as black liquid exploded from it's back. The liquid shot out like it came from an open wound only to freeze in the air. Slowly and easily it shifted and transformed into a pair of giant Nevermore wings that anyone could have easily mistaken for angel wings.

The hunters didn't move, hell they were barely even breathing at this point from the shock of what they were seeing.

The creature rotated it's shoulders for a moment then looked to the sky before kicking off the floor. The ground beneath it's feet shattered and created a shockwave that knocked the two hunters off their feet. It either didn't notice them or didn't care that they were watching in the slightest because as soon as it was airborne it took off at blistering speeds through the sky.

"W-we need to get back. Warn the headmasters," Whitmer said, any and all self control escaping his grasp. The elder hunter got up and rushed over to his partner. He bodily lifted Aron up to his feet and dragged his frightened form back to the village to share what they saw.

/

Ironwood went back and looked over the photos one last time before sending copies to Ozpin and Theodore. Whatever was happening he was almost one hundred percent sure that this was only the beginning. Where the creature was going was a mystery but apparently it seemed to know where it needed to be. Then there was this. Ironwood stared at the photo of the creature when it revealed it's human like form.

It's skin and appearance was drastically changed but it did resemble the only other creature in existence that looked like that. Salem. The Grimm Queen.

Ironwood pinched his nose and growled. With all this happening now a part of him wanted to shut down the event happening this weekend. Unfortunately that was impossible. Shelter needed this as well as Jaune and his team, if not someone like councilmen Grey would probably do it to worm his way into their good graces and take advantage of the situation. Politics, he hated them with a vengeance. They were the bane of progress just as politicians who were in the game for themselves were.

That being said he was incredibly grateful to Leonardo for keeping him updated on these new developments. Knowing the enemy that they were facing went a long way to strengthening their cooperation with each others forces. He was going to have to change his opinion of Mistral's headmasters if they continued to work this well together.

/

In Haven academies headmasters office, Leonardo read the thank you message Ironwood sent him. There was also the little tidbit that the General sent the warning to the other headmasters, but that was to be expected. Leonardo looked up from his terminal and closed the holo screen as the figure waiting on the other side approached.

Cinder gave a seductive smile as she approached Leonardo's desk, visibly pleased with the headmasters handling of the situation. It was of course under her orders but the fact that things were going her way is what really put a smile on her face. "Good work Lionheart, be sure to give the good General your full cooperation moving forward. The more trust we gain by being a ally he can rely on the more we stand to learn what he has that can defeat Salem."

"Do you think the Queen would be happy with us helping Ironwood like this," the lion faunus asked carefully.

Cinder sat on the corner of his desk and chuckled darkly. "Come now Lionheart, just what kind of question is that suppose to be? Salem will be elated to know of the Generals plan, after all the best way to destroy any hope for his victory is to be the upmost prepared for when he brings it to fruition. If we know what he has planned we can dismantle anything he can think of and then crush him along with those who support him," Cinder said with a chuckled.

"And here I thought Professor's were supposed to be smart". At least that was the official story, but everyone knows you shouldn't believe the official story. No, what she really was planning was to take advantage of Ironwood plan for her own sake, because if Salem could be beaten then she'd be one colossal step to having no one to interfere with her climb to the top. Salem's immortality was a big concern cause no matter how strong she got she would always be second best at most to that crazy witch.

Still...all these new developments were already hindering her plans to aquire the Fall Maidens power. She already had things going forward with the criminal gangs in Vale working to sabotage the Vytal Festival for her. Now though, this new White Fang group was interfering with those plan's by being vigilantes to earn the public's favor. They'd been cracking down hard and making an example of the criminal gangs they managed to catch. Honestly the whole thing was a mess.

If she had been there with Emerald and Mercury she would've destroyed them easily and taken control of the situation personally. There was a saying that if you wanted something done right you needed to do it yourself.

If only that was possible at this point.

Her grasp of the situation was starting to come undone because of her role here in Mistral. And now she didn't have the luxury of even being able to crack the whip on Torchwick. Knowing full well that that slippery thief would take advantage now that she was out of the picture. With every up there was always a down she supposed.

"Has there been any updates from the Queen, Cinder?"

Cinder snapped out of her inner thoughts to address the lion faunus. "Yes there is," she said as she crossed one leg over the other. "Salem saw fit to inform me of the creatures true identity as well as it's lineage and how it connects to her. Apparently the creatures previous identity was one Nicholas Arc, father to a young Jaune Arc that is in Ironwoods care if you remember."

Lionheart's eyes widened at this revelation. How could fate be so cruel as to draw such parallels between a father and his son. One to be an agent of pure destruction while the other encompassed the embodiment of hope. Leonardo linked his fingers and squeezed until they turned white. With the way things were going he wondered if fate, or perhaps the God's were conspiring against them, forcing them to fight one another. It was cruelty beyond imagination.

But what were the chances?

Cinder took in the troubled look on Lionheart's face and pushed off his desk. "Salem wants us to help with the disposal of this Grimm because it adheres to no command of her's and could potentially become trouble for us all if left unchecked. That being said, it's clear this new Grimm is after something or someone. Why it came to Mistral is still unknown at the moment but if we cross off what it could be after we have a chance of narrowing it down".

Cinder tapped her chin in thought. "The most likely objective would've been the relics because of how they naturally draw the Grimm to them. But seeing as Salem's has informed me that the creature was next headed to the kingdom of Vale, I believe we can right that off."

Leonardo raised a brow at that. "How can you be certain?"

Cinder tapped his desk with her one of her slender finger as she gave him her reason. "Because if the creature was truly after the relics themselves it would have come after the closest one in it's general location. Instead it heading for another kingdom." Cinder crossed her arms and sighed, "if we exclude the Grimms side of things and focus on it's human side more, I would wager on it being after it's own family".

Leonardo rose to his feet, eyes wide in disbelief. "That can't be. Are you sure it isn't following one of Salem's previous orders? Or perhaps it's going after Ozpin himself."

Cinder thought about it for a second but shook her head in the end. "The creature already verified that it obeys no one, and if it was after anything Salem desired then while it was here in Mistral it would have gone after the Maiden or the relic under this academy. Since it chose neither, my guess would still be on it's own family."

"If that's the case then why didn't it go after his son Jaune in Atlas," the lion faunus asked.

The headmaster did have a point there, but there was something more important then ones child. "His wife," Cinder whispered when she finally found an answer that satisfied her. It was so sappy that she couldn't help but laugh at it. But then again the man did have like eight kids with the woman so they must have loved each other a great deal she supposed. "His wife has given him much. She made him a father, a husband and a home for him to return to," she said as she started to walk off.

Leonardo had done a lot of terrible things to protect himself, even turned traitor against Ozpin and the other headmasters. Still, he was as human as any faunus could be, which was why he could at least send Ozpin a warning in the hopes of protecting this poor woman. It was in line with what Salem wanted so he knew he wouldn't get in trouble for it, but still...

"Cinder," the lion faunus called out before she could leave. The raven haired woman looked back and received a question she truly did not expect from the headmaster. "Do you believe in destiny?"

It had caught her by surprise but after a moment to consider it, and looking back at all she had been through in her life, a smile graced her lips as she answered. "Yes, I believe I do."


Fate. Destiny. Gods! Sorry Lionheart but your dead wrong. There's only one true evil in this world and he's writing your story! Mwahahahah!!!