Author Notes: Well… it seems like I forgot to talk about the lion Grimm last chapter. But no worries, I'll talk about both in greater depth in the Author Notes at the end. Also If anyone wants to use any of the ideas or OC's that may appear in this fic, Go right ahead. You don't have to ask me for any permission whatsoever.

"Weiss! Pyrrha! Over here!" A familiar voice cried out.

Upon hearing their names the two huntresses immediately turned around with their weapons raised just in case it was that lion Grimm again but they lowered weapons when they saw a perfectly safe and healthy Ruby in the distance, happily waving at them and before they could answer back the girl had already begun to run towards them. With no reason to keep her waiting both Weiss and Pyrrha also began to move towards the girl but as they came closer they saw to their relief that she wasn't alone, following after Ruby was two other girls running closely behind. One was a tall strong looking blond that neither Weiss nor Pyrrha recognized and the other was an athletic-looking dark-haired girl with a bow that Weiss did recognize from yesterday, They must have bumped into each other, good. With all the Grimm around any and all help will be greatly appreciated even if she was rude to me last time.

Within a minute the two groups met and before anyone could say anything Ruby was already doing the introductions, "This is my sister Yang and her partner Blake and this is my partner Weiss and Pyrrha who is Jaune's partner but I don't see him right now..." Ruby began scanning the area before turning to her sister and said, "I'll go look for him," Pyrrha and Wiess tried to step forward and stop Ruby but Yang had already intercepted the two of them in order to introduce herself.

"So you're my little sister's partner? My full name is Yang Xiao Long and before you ask, no her name isn't Ruby Xiao Long and yes we really are biological sisters, it's a pleasure to meet you both," Yang offered one hand to Weiss and the other hand to Pyrrha who politely smiled at the gesture and long with Weiss shook the hand but was too worried about the Grimm and Jaune to appreciate the joke.

"I'm Weiss Schnee and I'm sorry but we need to cut this meeting short. We need to find-"

Blake stepped in and cut the heiress off who glared at her in repose but she ignored it, "If you are worried about the Relics, then don't worry. They're just on top of that hill in this weird shrine-like place, Yang and I can take you there."

Pyrrha moved forward, "We appreciate the offer but that isn't what Weiss was trying to tell you."

Ruby then returned confused and a little concerned after finding no sign of him from her little search around the immediate area "Weiss, Pyrrha where is Jaune? Is he okay?"

"I hope he didn't run away when he heard I was coming," Yang said with a playful smirk.

"Just opposite actually, he was worried about Ruby's safety so he went looking for her to make sure she was safe and help her if she needed it," Pyrrha explained to them.

Ruby was confused, "But why?"

"Ruby, willing we were separated I was ambushed by a Grimm that could not only talk but it was mimicking your voice." Weiss' voice was deathly serious, so much so that no one questioned for even a second whether she had just made up something as absurd as a talking Grimm.

"Did it look like a cat?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha was surprised by her question, "Ruby, do you know what it is?"

"My sister Yang and I are from a family of Valen Huntsmen. In fact, my father and uncle were once teachers at a Huntsman preparatory academy called Signal where I studied with my sister. They taught us about the different kinds of Grimm that could be found in Vale and the rest of the world," explained Ruby

"By the sound of it, you were attacked by a Nemean. It's fast but not too strong, it's an ambush-style killer that can mimic voices in order to ambush their prey." Yang finished for her little sister.

"But you were able to kill it, right?" Blake asked, naturally concerned about the danger that such a Grimm would pose.

"Ruby where are you?" Jaune frantically searched for the source of the voice he heard earlier, to say he was worried would be an understatement, he was terrified. He hadn't known Ruby for long but she was still the first friend he made in Beacon and if there was anything he could do to help her then he was going to do it!

"Jauuuune Heeelp," The voice was coming from just behind a wall and he did not hesitate to look behind it and before he could react he was knocked down and pinned to the ground by the Grimm and unfortunately Jaune had no Aura or Backup, the monster had him dead to rights. However, it did not attack him, instead, it just stared at him with what could only be described as a confused look before it slowly got off of him but it didn't leave, rather it began circling around him as though it was conducting some kind of examination.

For a moment Jaune was confused but then remembered what happened the day he woke up in the forest, It's just like the Beowolf who found me in the forest back then, it acted like it wasn't sure of what I am. But if things turn out just like back then it's going to make up its mind and attack me real soon, however before it does maybe I can figure out how to beat it! Looking at the Grimm he recognized it as the same one that he and Pyrrha saw attacking Weiss and after hearing Ruby's voice coming out of its mouth walking, it made sense how Weiss walked into that trap. But knowing that didn't help his situation however, what did were the gaps in the Grimm's bony armor, I might be able to take it out when it attacks. With that thought, he picked himself up and slowly prepared his shield and sword began to brace himself for the assault that he knew was going to come and he didn't have to wait long. The monster soon made up its mind and leaped at him with a blood-curdling snarl fully intent on pinning him down a second time and ripping out his throat, however, this was exactly what he thought would happen and thus he was ready for the beast sidestepping the monster and swing his sword at the Grimm as it passed him by. But the monster had an amazing reaction speed so when Crocea Mors came in for a counterattack the Nemean responded by shifting its body and tilting its neck so that the sword impacted against the mane of horns.

The noble blade struck the horns of the Grimm and sunk in but failed to go all the way through the bony material and in response the beast spun around to face Jaune who was still gripping his blade, however, this proved to be a mistake on his part as the momentum threw him off balance and left him wide open which the Nemean took full advantage of. Its Claws pierced through his armor and sunk deep into his flesh before dragging its paw across his chest spilling blood everywhere and then the beast attempted and succeeded at repeating this action against his leg as it roared in victory.

However, he did not fall and thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his veins along with this odd feeling growing inside of him he found the strength to wretch his Crocea Mors free and bring the pommel of the sword down on the jaws of the Nemean as it attempted a bite to his neck that would have most certainly killed him had it connected. Before the creature could recover, he took his shield and smashed it against the face of the Grimm again and again and again until the beast was flung away from Jaune who stood there bracing himself for another attack that never came. Instead, the Nemean fled leaving him behind and confused as he watched the fleeing monster with disbelief. Why did it run? It had me dead to rights, Jaune waited to see if it was a trick after all the creature had already set two traps one for Weiss and the second for him, so he ignored his bleeding wounds and waited for an ambush that never came.

It took a little time but eventually, Jaune did lower his guard to tend to his wounds, the first step was to He carefully remove the chest plate that Qrow had given him letting the armor drop to the floor, after everything it had been through today the armor had been rendered all but ruined and now it was just dead weight. Once it was off he began to examine the still throbbing but oddly painless deep cuts on his chest and legs and soon noticed that his blood seemed… off. The way it was seeping out of his body was strange, it felt too slow and when he touched it he was shocked to find that the texture had a certain gelatinous feel to it but most importantly the color was just a shade darker than it should have been, I knew there's something wrong with my body but this is insane! I need to talk to Gris when this is over but first I need to find Ruby and complete this trial. He looked around one more time just to see where the Grimm could have gone before coming to a realization, It's waiting for me to bleed out, if that's the case then I should be okay for now but I show leave before it decides that I'm taking too long to die… I need to move, I need to find the others.

Ren and Nora learned many things during their stint wandering the lands of Mistral as orphaned vagabonds and right now they were putting one of the most valuable of those lessons to work: Hesitation at the wrong moment leads to death. With that in mind they threw themselves at the Polearm wielding Grimm and they attacked it with such ferocity that the beast struggled to keep up with them, Nora was too strong to block and Ren was too fast to dodge and the beast soon realized that it was outmatched so it tried to retreat. However, Ren chased after the Grimm and quickly caught up to the monster who saw his approach and attempted to knock Ren away with a wild untrained swing with its stolen weapon. This, however, was actually what he wanted and in a grand display of acrobatics and reaction speed, he leaped over the weapon and delivered a swift and powerful kick into the face of the monkey-like Grimm and knocked the monster back toward Nora who was ready with Magnhild to smash the monster into a fine paste.

"Batter Up!" Nora pulled back for the swing of a lifetime that never came... instead, she was blindsided by a Beowolf who had taken advantage of her distraction to attack, fortunately, she was able to put the shaft of her weapon between herself and the Beowolf's fangs.

"Nora!" Ren dashed towards the Beofwolf, running right past the Polearm wielding Grimm in the process. He didn't even notice that he had passed the monster on his way to tear into the backside of the beast who had laid its filthy claws on Nora and tear into the Beowolf he did. When he reached the Grimm he began swinging the blades of his Storm Flower Pistols with such ferocity and speed that the weapon lived up to its name as they blurred into each other and became a maelstrom of steel completely eviscerating the creature before it had a chance to offer up even the most pitiful of defense partially thank to Ren's Fury and Nora using her strength to hold the beast in place. It was only when the Beowolf died and evaporated did he finally stop and run to Nora's side and was thrilled to see that she was already picking herself up from the ground, then without warning, she pushed him to the floor and raised her hammer.

"Don't you touch him!" Nora cried as she swung her hammer and killed another Beowolf that had snuck up on Ren while she was distracted by the one from earlier. Before the creature could finish dissipating she transformed Magnhild into a grenade launcher and Ren who realized what was going prepared his pistols and together the two opened fire on the rest of the pack that had shown up only to die when met with a wave of explosives from Nora and bullets from Ren. Within a few seconds, the pack was no mare and Nora helped her partner and soul mate back onto his feet, "Ren let's kill that monkey, find those Relics and get the hell out of this Damn Forest."

'I agree," But when the pair turned around they were surprised to find that there was no trace of that weapon-wielding Grimm anywhere in sight, "Strange, the Beowolves was the perfect distraction, so why didn't it attack?"

Nora just shrugged, "Maybe it got scared away by our combined awesomeness! I still want to kill it though."

Ren nodded in agreement since some species of Grimm such as the Goliath were known to avoid fights it wasn't absolutely sure it couldn't win so who's to say that whatever species that monkey Grimm was couldn't be the same, However that means someone else is going to be attacked...

Jaune wasn't looking for Ruby anymore and it wasn't a decision he made lightly however Ruby was someone he could trust to take care of herself and besides he now knew that she was safe from the lion Grimm which was why he went looking for her in the first place. Now that he knew she was safe it became far more important for him to take care of himself first even if she wasn't going to bleed out anytime soon, In hindsight, my decision was really stupid since I don't have any aura to spare! I should have waited for Pyrrha to finish helping Weiss and then the three of us could have gone together and I wouldn't be wondering just how much about as has changed thanks to this condition. Once he was done, he grabbed his sword and shield and started to make his way back up the hill where Pyrrha and Weiss should be waiting for him, then...

*Crunch*

Jaune was struck from behind by a vicious blow and he went down, he wasn't just down he was done. He was done with the trial. He was done with being a scratching post for some overgrown cat, he was done being looked at like he was a monster by some wannabe princess, he was done with being treated like a burden and most importantly he was done with whomever just struck him. He picked himself up from the ground seemingly unaware of the blood that was slowly seeping out of his head wound or maybe he was just too angry to care as he looked for whoever or whatever had just hit him.

He soon spotted someone close by holding what appeared to be a polearm of some kind but the light was in his eyes as well as some blood so all he could really make out was the black blurry silhouette of he assumed was the asshole who struck him but he didn't need to see their face to notice that the bastard was raising their arms to strike him again but Jaune refused to give them that opportunity. Recalling some of Qrow's lessons he quickly found his footing, I can't see well so a stab probably isn't the best however maybe I can put him in a position where that won't matter. With a plan in place he rushed at his foe and struck back with a shoulder tackle that knocked them both onto the floor but in the process, he dropped his sword but it didn't stop him instead Jaune then sat right on of his enemy and began punching and punching and punching until his attacker finally kicked him off.

However, that just put him in a position to reach for his sword only for his attacker to strike him in the stomach fracturing a rib and knocking the air out of him but most importantly moving him away from his sword, however, his hand did find a rock. With the improvised weapon in hand, he came at his attacker who swung the polearm at his head only for it to bounce off of his shield as he continued his rush down, he crashed into his attacker with enough force to make them drop their weapon as the two fell to the ground together locked in a deadly struggle to for control which Jaune eventually won pinning his enemy beneath him as he took the rock in his hand and raised it to the sky and for a moment he hesitated but it was only for a moment, "I don't know who you are but you have no one to blame for this except yourself!"

"I found him! I found Jaune!" Pyrrha didn't waste any time waiting for Ruby and the others to catch up and instead ran to her partner without any hesitation.

"Pyrrha! Wait! We have to stick together." Weiss' futility called after her but she was already gone, She must be using Aura to empower her legs because I've never seen anyone run that fast! Weiss thought to herself as she watched Pyrrha reach her partner's side and for a moment Weiss wondered if everything that happened with the Javelin and Jaune really was an accident, Did I just overthink it? Why would a murderess have such concern for their victim... I think I owe her an apology.

The sight that greeted Pyrrha was not a pretty one, Jaune was exhausted and the claw marks plus the wound on his head made it clear that he had been attacked while looking for Ruby and had nearly fallen victim to the very threat he sought to protect Ruby from, Damn this mountain, damn me for not going with him! I just keep screwing him over at every turn! she bitterly thought to herself. She tried to touch his shoulder when he suddenly turned around and looked at her, his eyes wide and constantly searching for something or some foe but most jarring was that his iris seemed different, they were no longer pure blue, It looks like there's another color mixed in… she was snapped out of her thoughts when he tried to stand up, only to collapse and come pitifully close to passing out. However she was able to catch him and it was then that she got a much closer and clearer look at his wounds and noticed something strange, His blood, the color isn't right. The way it's oozing out, this isn't right... he was desperate to pass, desperate to become a huntsman, he acted like this was his only chance… is he sick?

"Hey Pyrrha what's the hurry… is he alright?" Yang who had finally caught up to her began to survey the area and noticed that Jaune was starting to snap back to reality a nd at the same time she saw that his hands where gripping a fairly large stone so tightly that it seemed as though he believed that his life depend on the rock and judging by his condition, his life did depend on that rock. "Hey dude, it's okay, you're safe now, it's okay."

"Jaune it's alright, whatever you were fighting it's gone now," Pyrrha whispered.

"I fucking hate today," He finally spoke as let the rock drop from his hand. Pyrrha then began bandaging him up by tearing up her sash and using those pieces of fabric as makeshift bandages.

While that was going on Ruby and Weiss took it upon themselves to search for Jaune's missing sword as Yang and Blake stood in the event that yet another group of Gimm attempted to kill them. Together they quickly found Jaune's sword but not too far away from it was another weapon that neither Ruby nor Weiss recognized. It was a polearm with a spiked club at the end which doubled as a gun but it hadn't been maintained very well; it was rusted, bent, and had fresh blood on it. Blood that looked just like Jaune's bizarre blood which sent Weiss's mind into a frenzy trying to piece together what had happened, Someone attacked him! Or did Jaune attack someone and they dropped their weapon? Was it a bandit, no… they would have to be the dumbest bandit in all of history to be here. It couldn't have been some who had been Huntsman trained, no Huntsman would ever let their weapon reach this state of disrepair… picking up his sword, Weiss decided that the best thing to do was just ask Jaune himself.

By the time she had made it back to Jaune, he was already bandaged up and able to sit upright on his own, And yet another display of his insane recovery time. Ruby was by his side handing him back his shield and cracking a joke that he seemed to enjoy but Weiss wasn't listening, How should I do this? Should I be subtle or blunt, he does seem to be a rather straightforward boy so I'll be blunt.

"Thank you, Ruby. Thank you, Weiss." Jaune was tired but the sincerity was still present in his voice, he reached out for his sword that was in Weiss' hand but she did not hand it back drawing confused looks from him and Ruby.

"Jaune." Weiss decided that now before he could get his sword was the right time to ask, "While looking for your sword I found another weapon, it had fresh blood on it... it looked like your blood, please tell me what happened so I can feel safe giving this sword back to you."

For a moment a part of him was furious at Weiss for being asked to explain what happened to him as if the wounds on his didn't already make it clear what had happened but another bigger part of him understood why Weiss was asking him, Almost every one of our interactions has been negative and the fact that she letting me explain myself at is a step in the right direction. "Okay, I'll tell you what happened." Everyone was now listening in with great interest and for most, it was out of concern for him however Weiss was the exception along with a bow wearing black haired girl that he didn't recognize, She must be the cautious type because don't remember giving her any reason to doubt me..., It took him a second to gather his thoughts. "I was looking for Ruby when I suddenly heard her voice coming from behind a wall."

"The Nemean," Whispered Yang.

"Is that what it's called? Either way, it's what is responsible for the cuts on my legs and chest. I managed to hurt it back and afterward it just left."

"Just like that?" asked the girl with the bow who seemed unconvinced.

"It was waiting for him to bleed out," Yang explained to the girl.

"I figured that's what it was doing, so I decided to go back to rejoin Weiss and Pyrrha but then I was attacked from behind, there was blood in my eyes so I all I could make out that they were literally black as night and really hairy."

Ruby excitedly cut in, "Oh I know that Grimm it's called a Vanara! They are super rare!"

"I guess I'm lucky… or rather unlucky. Either way, I dropped Crocea Mors after it attacked me so I grabbed a Rock and well… I won."

Yang grabbed Jaune and helped him up. "Well, then I guess Vomit Boy is officially a badass and guess what dude? It looks like you just found your lucky break because me and my partner Blake found a shrine with the Relics and there are enough for everyone and more!"

Jaune cheered, he didn't care how silly he looked right now, he was just happy that the damn trial was nearly over and it wasn't just him. Pyrrha laughed as well, first at him and then with him and Ruby was just glad that it was all over which made her bigger sister laugh with her. Even Blake was struggling not to crack a smile but Weiss was not laughing or even smiling.

She was considering everything that had happened today. The idea that Jaune was able to survive his repeated injuries, his weird looking blood, the way he acted back when she told him he was going to fail, his eyes back when he was regenerating from Pyrrha's Javelin and on top of all that somehow defeating a Grimm with just a Rock!? It was unbelievable! But truth be told, on an intellectual level, Weiss knew that she was being paranoid, she knew that he hadn't done anything to warrant her distrust. But she could not get rid of that ever so annoying pit in her stomach, that feeling that he was dangerous. Ruby suggested to me that his Semblance was the reason that he was able to survive being speared from behind but, what about everything else. I'm going to have to talk to a professor about this… that was for later, now she would drop the subject and leave him alone, "Here's your sword back.

"Thank you, Weiss," I really appreciate you finding it for me.

"And I'm sorry for acting paranoid, I hope we can put that behind us!" I'll be watching you Jaune Arc!

Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart of Haven Academy was a coward and a traitor, those were two painful facts about himself that he knew and understood. Sure he would argue that he did not have a choice on whether to turn traitor or not and he would even go as far as to say that Ozpin never really left him a choice on this matter, that if people knew what he knew then they would have also chosen as he had. But, that did nothing to justify what he had and what he was about to do. Leo Lionheart was a coward and that fact was a burden that weighed heavily on his soul as he pulled out his scroll and made the call.

The screen flickered to life and on it appeared the face of Dr. Arthur Watts, "Well Leo, what's so important that you had to reach out to me on such short notice?"

"Ah, yes well you see something came up that you may find interesting." the headmaster nervously muttered.

However, Dr. Watts had very little patience for this muttering, "Leo you are a Headmaster please try to maintain a shred of dignity so take a deep breath and calmly explain yourself."

"It would be easier just to show you." Lionheart then sent Dr. Watts a file containing Jaune's information.

"Well let's see… Leo? Is this a joke?" Watts, already had very little patience for Leonardo's sniveling cowardice but this? This was ridiculous on a level that even he with his prodigious intellect was having a hard time understanding, "This boy is dead, I know because I was the one operating on him in the first place. I was there when his heartbeat for the last time, By her name's sake I was the one who attempted to defibrillate him and I was the one to carve him up afterward!"

"Please! Watts!"

"Doctor, it's Doctor Watts."

"S... sorry, Please Doctor Watts please keep reading the report." Leonardo pleaded.

Dr. Watts continued to read the report in complete silence only occasionally stopping now and then to take a drink or to reread a section to make sure he understood it. He never asked any questions nor did he hang up which had the natural result or Leonardo grew ever more anxious as the seconds turned to minutes and then turned into an hour spent in nervous silence that threatened to drive the Headmaster mad. Then finally, Dr. Watts finished reading the report and then leaned back on his chair and began stroking his mustache as he mulled over everything that he read paying no heed to the fidgeting headmaster until eventually, he broke the silence with a question. "Leo, who wrote this report?" Inquired the Doctor.

"It was Dr. Gris," Lionheart answered.

Dr. Watts let out a little chuckle, "Oh well that settles it! Dr. Gris may be an asshole but that also means that this report is most likely true. To think that all I had to do was wait."

"But you said that the boy had died! That his heart stopped beating entirely!"

"According to Dr. Gris, the boy's heart is indeed dead, or rather it is slow, weak, and barely noticeable. Now his blood seems to be self-propelled, rendering the organ obsolete though what that means remains to be seen. Either way, I must thank you, Leonardo. This has made my day."

The sick feeling of shame began to wash over Lionheart, Ozpin… I. If only I wasn't such a coward.

Dr. Watts quickly noticed the shame written everywhere on the Headmaster's face. "Oh, chin up Leo. I'll be sure to tell Salem about this gift of yours, just promise to keep updating me on the boy's progress. You help us and we will take care of you, understand?"

"Yes, Arthur… I understand." With that, the call ended and Leonardo was left by himself to wonder just how everything went so wrong.

Meanwhile, Dr. Arthur Watts got up from his chair and began walking around his lab. It was a reward from his Queen, a sign that she recognized and appreciated his intellect and work. More importantly, it was a place for him to relax, a place far away from any greedy politician or any other kind of ignorant official like a certain general too stupid to recognize to true talent which was abused! Everything in the room was simple, sterile, efficient, and most importantly easily replaceable, a true testament of the work ethic and brilliance of a man who was a peerless surgeon and roboticist! However, he still made mistakes and as it turned out one such blunder was thinking that his little experiment with the boy and the others would have succeeded had he been able to do his work in his main lab rather than the renovated shack where he had been forced to perform those surgeries. However, thanks to that illuminating read, all those previous thoughts just felt silly now and the act of thinking about it made the Doctor chuckle at his own silly mistake and his good fortune considering how everything ultimately worked out.

Then he reached his destination, which was a cabinet that had it been located anywhere else in the world, would have been made of the strongest material available while being outfitted with a security measure that would have been the nightmare of any would-be thief. But, his lab was in the Grimmlands and the Grimm were not known to be thieves which rendered such precaution a frivolous waste of resources that he had wisely decided were better invested elsewhere. He opened the cabinet, reached inside and pulled out one of several identical vials, and began to examine the dark liquid inside, "To think that I nearly threw away something so incredible. Merlot, I don't know from which hole in hell you are watching me from but, on the behalf of Salem. I thank you."

Author's Notes: You'll notice two things the first being that the Nemean was never killed. I was originally going to have Ren and Nora kill it but the scene just needed it up being far too silly. So, I decided that the Nemean should return at a much later date.

The second thing is that I didn't show the end of the fight between Jaune and the Varana. We'll see what happens either in the next chapter or the one after, it depends on how well that scene fits in with the rest of the chapter.

Now let's talk about the Nemean, it is an ambush-style Grimm modeled after the Nemean Lion from Greek Mythology. For those who may not know, Nemean Lion would kidnap Maidens to lead wannabe heroes to their deaths hence this Grimm can mimic voices.

Thanks to the last episode of RWBY we now know that Salem can indeed create new types of Grimm, so my explanation for the Nemean and Varana is that she wanted to create Grimm that could kill Huntsmen when their guards were down. This is why the Nemean lures his prey and the Varana only attacks when it thinks it can getaway. Salem only made a few Varana as they more often than not only succeeded in killing foes that were already in dire straits. The Nemean was far more successful but only at killing people without Aura, as a result, there are more Nemean than Varana.

However, the Nemean's success rate has been on a steady decline thanks to Grimm Awareness programs funded by the Council of Vale.