Author Notes: Guess who just got out of Prison! That's right: Me!

Though in all seriousness I was visiting the Prison to get footage for a documentary I'm working on. So far everything is going well but, it's all but killed my Free Time. However, I'm stubborn and I won't start something I can't finish.

The blow was aimed at his face and to most people it looked like a killing strike but that was lie, it was feint. It was a strike which was thrown without any intention to actually hurt him or even touch him, it was a trap designed with the intention to force him to take a step back and guard his face on instinct while unintentionally leaving everything below unprotected allowing for the finishing blow. Jaune saw right through this, the time he had spent with Qrow had been used for training and while that drunk could be a nightmare to fight there was no denying that it had prepared him for just this sort of tactics. So instead of blocking he ducked under the blow and in the same motion he thrust Crocea Mors forward skewering the Training Droid before it even had a change to try and defend itself.

"Level four Completed," The cold artificial Voice of the Automatic Training System echoed throughout the Sparring Grounds as Jaune pushed the broken droid off of his sword. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't feeling just a little excited, but it was not enough. The training session that he had with Pyrrha was an eyeopener and one of the most frustrating moments of his entire life as he realized just how far behind he was everyone else. "Would you like to Continue your Session?" the voice asked.

"Reset Level four," he answered, I can do better, I have to if I want to be anything other then dead weight!

Without any fanfare, a shutter door opened up and another combat droid emerged and walked toward the center of the arena walking past the broken remains of several other droids all who had all become an outlet for Jaune's frustration and need to improve. Once it reached the center it produced a hard-light quarterstaff and took a defensive stance as Jaune met the droid in the center of the ring , raised his shield, lowered his stance while pulling his sword arm back and angling Crocea Mors at the droid's chest broadcasting his intentions, he was going to try and impale this walking [piece of hardware just like the droid before it.

"Beginning Combat Exercise in five, four, three, two, one... Begin!"

With all the speed he could muster Jaune launched himself at his artificial foe but unfortunately he had been too frustrated with himself and too eager to end the fight with one blow that he had failed to notice that his stance had been a little off or that he had misjudged the distance between himself and the droid. As a result the lunge was too slow allowing the droid to parry his sword as it dodge to the side that had been left unprotected by his shield. Jaune soon realized what was about to happen but was powerless to do anything about it as the droid attacked with a methodical blow to the back of his head. Had this happened to anyone else it would have just been a humiliating but ultimately minor issue as Aura would have protected the head from any real damage but, he was not as fortunate as everyone else and the strike sent him stumbling into the ground with his head bleeding, I got to keep going, I got to catch up! He forced himself up and without even checking his own wound, threw himself at his foe attacking with wild abandon trading blows and receiving blows until he eventually struck the droid's shoulder and cutting it in half.

"Level four Completed, would you like to continue your session?"

"Reset Level four."

"Warning, scanners have shown that you are injured, recommendation: Seek medical aid before continuing.

"Reset Level four."

"Jaune, are you all right?" a familiar voice suddenly asked causing the boy to turn around to face the whoever it was that had addressed him and found to his tremendous surprise a rather concerned-looking Ozpin standing before him.

He was at a complete loss for words, "Yes, Sir! I, um Well I-," but at least he tried.

"Mr. Arc do you have any idea what time it is?" the Headmaster inquired seemingly unconcerned with the boy's head wound that already was healing.

He thought it over for a bit, "Well, I suppose I've been here for a little over an hour and I cam here after I had lunch at around twelve so it should be around one thirtyish?"

"Mr. Arc... It is nearly five o'clock," Ozpin replied not with anger or disappointment due to Jaune missing almost a full day of classes but, rather with a bizarre amusement and intrigue. However he wasn't blind to the look of understandable panic on the boy's face and did not hesitate to offer some relief to him, "I assure that you are not in any trouble with either your professors or your teammates, though the latter are a bit understandably worried about you."

"Wh- What!?"

"It is just as I said, here at Beacon we take mental health very seriously and you are under a lot of stress. The last thing you need if for us to add to that stress but either way that not why I'm here for... I heard about what happened in the cafeteria a couple of days ago, you did the right thing Jaune when you stood up for Ms. Scarlatina and you should feel proud."

"I don't deserve any praise for what happened because I didn't do it to help her," Jaune watched as Ozpin's expression went from amusement to surprise and so he continued, "Watching her there asking him to stop while everyone looked and did nothing made me angry, I intervened because at that moment I hated Cardin and I still do."

The Headmaster's expression shifted from one of surprise to understanding before settling on empathy, "Mr. Arc, one of the most valuable lessons that I have learned in my long life is this: Every single emotion has its time and place, there is no such thing as a truly wrong emotion. What you went through before coming here was a nightmare and I cannot even begin to imagine how bad it must weigh on your mind, now I am not a psychologist but if I was to guess what happened back in that cafeteria, you saw someone in trouble looking for help that wasn't coming and maybe it reminded you of what happened to yourself or maybe it was the thought of how things could have changed had someone helped you. Maybe it had nothing to do with your experience at all but no matter what, remember that a Huntsman is supposed to be a protector and an exemplar, you did good."

Jaune's feelings did not have a complete reversal, his doubts were still there and weighing on his mind however they weren't as heavy as before. He could feel his frustration and restlessness fading away and a type of… calm settling in, "Thank you sir, I guess I just really needed someone to tell me that."

The old headmaster just smiled, "We all do, from time to time and now instead of taking up anymore of your time I will get to the reason why I'm here and it has to do your actions in the cafeteria and no you're not in trouble. Rather you have given me a fantastic idea on how to explain a few things to the rest of the student body, for now at least. Tell me Mr. Arc, do you know of the legend of the Berserkers?"

Now, Jaune was interested but at the same time, he was worried about the name Berserker, That does not sound like anything or anyone I'd want to mess with, "No, sir. I can't say that I have."

"A long time ago before the Kingdoms of today and even long before the kingdom of Mantle had been conceived there existed ancient warriors who were said to be stronger than ten men and swifter than horses. They were said to be fueled by rage and their bodies were like iron, being able to fight longer than others and survive blows that would have otherwise killed them."

"They sound like people who had their aura unlocked," Jaune observed.

"That's the current theory held by most historians and I agree with them but I wanted to draw attention to the rage that was said to fuel them. You see Mr. Arc some semblances do draw on emotions like anger or love to fuel themselves. For example there is a senior year student here whose semblance allows him to alter the weight of everything around him depending on his emotional state at the time and I think that we can convince others that a similar thing is happening here, that your semblance boosts your physical abilities whenever you're angry."

"And when my actual Semblance emerges? How am I going to explain that one?"

"Naturally what I am proposing isn't a solution but rather a stopgap. A placeholder if you will for a far better solution but, if a better solution cannot be found in time, but know that you will not be left to fend for yourself." I'll grant the boy this. He does seem to have a good head on his shoulders, shame what has happened to him... He could have been a great Huntsman.

Jaune understood what Ozpin was saying and saw the wisdom in it, however, he still had questions "Thank you sir, that mean a lot to me but what about the fact my aura doesn't fully protect me? How can a semblance explain that away?"

"You are acquainted with Qrow Branwen, correct?" Ozpin inquired.

"Yeah, he was the one who found me and during the time I was with him he showed me the basics of combat."

"Mr. Branwen's Semblance is for a lack of any real scientific explanation, Bad Luck. During your time with him you probably noticed an uptake in unfortunate events occurring around him"

Jaune took a moment to pick his jaw off of the floor, "You mean to tell me… oh, that… sucks so much! Like damn, that's bad," he suddenly felt a little better about himself but he still struggled to understand it, How is a Semblance like that even possible? Unless… then it hit him, "Wait! Does that mean that some Semblances come with some kind of negative backlash or have requirements? Is that why don't Huntsmen go around using it every opportunity possible?"

"Very good Mr. Arc! But the main reason is because it costs Aura to use the Semblance and not all of them are suited for combat, it is a fascinating subject and I would love to tell you more but, unfortunately, I must depart back to my office. Miss Goodwitch would surely have a few things to say to me if she found out that I attempted to escape the cruel inhumanity known as paperwork," with that the Headmaster left presumably to go back to his office though it was hard to be sure with that man.

What Jaune did know for sure was that his anger and frustrations were still there they had been greatly lessened, Was that his intention? Or was this just a coincidence? Though I suppose that a Headmaster should be aware of what's going on in their school… but, then again he accepted me, a civilian with no training and an unknown condition...

He was no longer sure what to think about headmaster Ozpin.

As it turns out, Ozpin was not lying to Jaune. He really did need to go back to his office and he actually did need to work on some rather annoying but at the same time important paperwork nor was he lying when he said that he thought that paperwork was a form of evil torture but. Also the part about Goodwitch giving him an earful if he didn't complete the paperwork was actually an understatement but it was also justified. The paperwork created a physical record of events detailing what happened, who did what, when it happened, how it happened, why it happened along with any other details that were important and necessary for any level of accountability to exist. Even events and deals that would and should never be brought into the public's view absolutely needed and even demand accountability… that was a lesson he learned the hard way from his Ex.

Suddenly a loud buzzing and ringing and sound caught his attention and Ozpin soon realized that it was his private scroll that was ringing. Officially this scroll did not exist, only his most trusted comrades knew how to reach it and they only ever called when it was dire, so while continuing to march toward his office he answered his scroll.

"What's wrong?"

"Oz I got bad news," Qrow's agitation was clear in his voice. "Jaune isn't the only one that was experimented on."

It took all of Ozpin's discipline to keep himself walking forward, to keep smiling and to keep the worry from creeping into his voice and face. He wasn't in his office just yet and there were people around him still, granted those people were just students of his Beacon Academy but Ozpin knew first hand that sometimes it is a small insignificant event that could lead to doubt and then tragedy, he had to be strong for them! "Whatever do you mean?" he said, trying his best to sound pleased, it was difficult but experience brings with it the chance to learn skills and many opportunities to perfect those skills, such as lying.

"I found four other people whose stories bear strong similarities with Jaune's."

Ozpin frowned for a moment, "Qrow, you of all people should know just how common stories like that are, especially around bars located in the smaller more remote settlements."

"Of course I'm aware Oz, why do you think it took me so long to get back to you!?" It was rare for Qrow to snap at him like that and it only ever happened in most serious of situation, "What I meant is that I found four people who suddenly and for seemingly no reason had a violent reaction after drinking a regular drink such as coffee in one case and then being picked up by an ambulance that arrived unusually quick."

"But then they never arrive at the hospital?" Ozpin guessed.

"Officially they did arrive and the paperwork exists to prove it along with a note claiming that the patients awoke during the trip to the hospital and refused any treatment before leaving, I even found the record that claimed the same thing happened with Jaune."

"So then what actually happened, Qrow?" he asked as he reached the door to his office.

"I did interviews with the hospital staff and found that not a single person remembered seeing any of the victims so then I checked security footage and didn't see shit. Oz, whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."

Ozpin was now in his office and he walked straight to the computer ignoring all the paperwork piled on the desk, they could wait and Glynda would hilariously be furious if he thought for even a moment that paperwork could even compare to this. He then checked his private mail server and noticed that Qrow had already sent him four files about the people he found, he also noticed that one of the files had been marked at a much higher priority than the other three, "Tell me, what's so special about this fourth person?"

"I never found her and the other three are already dead."

"Dead!?"

"Yup, it wasn't that hard to find their bodies which makes me think that they were meant to be found and all three of them had their corpses mutilated in a way that would cause people to think that it was a Grimm that killed them, actually it would be more accurate to say that their bodies were mutilated in the way to trick civilians into thinking that it was a Grimm that did it."

"And the fourth? Were you able to find anything about that person?"

"Not too long after she disappeared there were reports of a ghost lady walking around the woods who matched her exact description, I tried to track her down but I couldn't find anything and now all reports of her sightings have ended." Qrow sighed, "I know this is going to sound messed up but for her sake, I hope she's dead, I don't wanna think about what Salem might do with her."

"Thank you Qrow, now go home and rest a bit. You've earned it." Ozpin then ended the call and began browsing through the files with much on his mind.

The first thing that he noticed was that the four Qrow found had very little in common with each other or with Jaune and while many would think very little of that detail all of Ozpin's experience had taught him to take a closer look and peek in between the lines. But before he could do that he had to start with what they all had in common: A reason to be found in the woods. Hmmm… whoever did this was either a rather lucky opportunist or they knew exactly who they were targeting, though given Salem's servants in the past there is no possibility that this was a lucky streak of some thug. This was the work of someone higher up on the chain, someone intelligent and familiar with the work of Merlot. Sadly none of the known agents fits that bill which means this is a third party or Salem as either a new pawn or has been able to keep one a secret and none of those scenarios is ideal.

He continued pouring over the files trying to find anything else that could link the four with Jaune but, there was nothing. One was a child, another a middle-aged adult, the one that was missing was an old woman and a Faunus, one was a drifter, another an office worker and two were unemployed... and then it hit Ozpin. They were chosen because they had nothing in common except an excuse to be in the woods! Whoever did this to them did not know what sort of factors would play a part in this sick experiment so they tried to insert as much variety as they could but then why only five? Maybe there are more victims that we haven't found yet or maybe they only could arrange five test subjects or perhaps they could only afford five.

And so the Headmaster of Beacon would continue this work trying to piece some theory together all while being plagued by two vital questions: Where was the missing one? Was she even still alive?

Dinner at Beacon Academy tended to be a comparatively quiet affair when compared to the madness of breakfast and especially lunch which could become a battlefield. The reason for this relative peace was because there were simply fewer people in the dining hall during this time as a fair number of students were either studying, training or socializing elsewhere, With many simply choosing to go out to eat something other than cafeteria food. However, for the ones who did choose to eat in the cafeteria an assortment of snacks and lite meals were offered along with various drinks that would either assist with sleep or promote alertness if that was what the student needed. This made the Dining hall at this time a surprisingly good place to study and it was a fact that Team RWBY was currently taking advantage of it.

"Now Ruby, tell me what are the four sub-varieties of Ice Dust?" asked Weiss who was enjoying a rather invigorating cup of Green Tea.

"There is Powder, Dry, Standard and Blue," Ruby answered with confidence.

"That's correct! Now explain the process by which one can create Blue Ice from the Standard variety?"

"Well, you need a distillation rig to do so as well as the following variety of Dust in the following qualities and quantities starting with…"

While Ruby continued her explanation an impressed Yang turned to the Heiress, "What did you do Weiss? Seriously I've been trying for a long time to get her to pay attention to Dust studies and she always refused unless it was about ammo. So, how did you pull it off?"

Weiss was done with her drink and put the cup down on the table, "Well Yang I simply told Ruby to treat Dust like they were weapons."

"You serious? That really worked? HOW!?"

"It makes sense in a bizarre sort of way, you and Ruby both made your weapons and must have required a lot of math and mechanical know-how plus most weapons incorporate Dust to some degree or another even if it's just as propellant for bullets," commented Blake.

"Well, yeah we had to know that stuff in fact I still get shivers thinking about all the reversions I and Ruby had to make to our blueprints. That project was so hard that many students just gave up on their dream weapon and instead turned in some lame basic-bitch design. And don't even get me started on actually building the thing," Yang shivered as she recalled the long nights working.

"...after a thirty-hour break, you can begin the next part of the Distillation process which starts with…" Ruby droned on

"I built Gambol Shroud or rather I took the individual pieces and put them together to make my weapon," Blake mentioned.

"Myrtenaster was a gift from my older sister Winter," there was a warmth to Weiss's voice as she said that name, it was as if she was remembering a happy memory.

"...and finally after the fifth and final cycle you have Blue Ice Dust," Ruby put down the scroll she was reading from. "I gotta say, Weiss, that entire process sounds… awful."

"That's the reason why Dust mines are so valuable and the prices between different dust types can be so wide. But, even the most basic form of the most common type has many different uses, it's a big reason why the Schnee Dust Corporation is so big," Weiss did not even try to hide her pride over her family's legacy and that pissed Blake off.

"You would think given how much money they make that would be able to afford to treat their workers better," Blake spoke with barely concealed venom in her voice and any feeling of camaraderie began to choke in the oppressive atmosphere that the team now found itself in.

Weiss had for a brief moment a look of shame and of regret, A Schnee does not show weakness! If you want me to entrust the Corporation to you then you must never allow yourself to look weak! The words of her father Jacques echoed in her head and her eyes hardened as she shot back "Believe it or not these sorts of things take time but if the Faunus don't want to wait, they can just find themselves a better job!" Immediately after she said that Weiss wished she could take it back. It wasn't just Blake glaring at her but Yang and Ruby as well and Weiss didn't blame them. "Look, I'm sorry… I didn't mean it I-"

"I'm not hungry anymore." Blake got up and stormed out of the cafeteria leaving her team behind.

"Blake!" Weiss got up and reached out to her teammate but she was stopped by Yang.

"Give her some space, you can apologize later," Yang's eyes were red as she said this making it clear that this wasn't a suggestion.

With great hesitation Weiss sat back down and tried to collect her thoughts but, once again the cursed voice of her father rang through her head, A Schnee never shows Weakness. She began to grind her teeth and unintentionally gripped her cup so hard that it shattered and snapped her back into reality. Looking at the broken pieces in her hands Weiss also got up to leave, walking towards a different entrance from the one Blake used

"Weiss Wait-!" Ruby tried to stop Weiss but she was also stopped by her sister, "Let me Go! Yang Please!" But, her older sister wouldn't let go no matter how Ruby begged and it was only after Weiss had left the cafeteria did Yang release Ruby who spun around to confront her sister, "Why did you stop me?! Why wouldn't let me help her!?"

Seeing her little sister be so angry hurt Yang but she had no regrets, "Ruby, what Weiss and Blake are dealing with right now is something that neither of us can help them wit-."

Ruby cut her off, "Then what are we supposed to do? Just watch them hurt each other and themselves!?"

"What I was going to say is that there is nothing we can do while they are like this and that trying to help them without understanding what's going on will only distance them further."

"But, Yang I'm the Leader I need to… I need-" Ruby never got to finish as she was pulled into a hug by sister.

"Rubes, it's alright. You're doing nothing wrong, it's just that some people need time."

"But I want to help them."

"And we will but we need to give them time and we need help, remember what dad and uncle Qrow always told us."

Ruby thought for a moment to consider the situation to figure out what exactly their dad or Qrow might say, They always did say that we need to rely on each other… wait for no, that's not right... I'm remembering it wrong. What they actually said was that Huntsmen rely on each other and that only a fool tries to tackle a big problem alone. So what Yang is saying we need help! "Are you saying that we need help?"

Yang got up from her seat and began gathering her stuff as well as Ruby's "Look let's be honest, neither you or I know anything about counseling anyone or resolving conflicts that don't involve fighting. But this school is full of professors and counselors that have the training and experience to know what to do, so we should just ask them."

"I might know someone who can help," an unfamiliar voice spoke up.

Both sisters turned around to see one of their fellow students though neither recognized him for a reason that became clear when they saw that his uniform marked him as a third year. However they both had a bit of a hard time believing that as he was surprisingly short, seemingly appearing to be the same size as Ruby but on closer inspection they saw a faint glow behind his messy brown hair and soon realized that his eyes were glowing yellow! His eyes were observing, analyzing everything around him and those eyes were forced on them, "Sorry about my eyes, my semblance is Ocular Enhancement which is a fancy way of saying that I got really good eyes, but enough about me. Were you having a problem with your teammates?"

"I believe that's our business, not yours," Yang responded.

"Look, I get it. But take from a fellow team leader-"

"I'm not the leader, she is," Yang cut him off and pointed to Ruby.

The stranger was a little embarrassed but he was quick to apologize and turned to Ruby to continue "Sorry about that, I should have known better than to assume but, look! I know that's none of my business but I've also had a lot of problems with my team at first. Hell, we still haven't worked everything out but no one expects us to."

"That doesn't really help me out right now," responded a rather uncomfortable Ruby who was now starting to realize just how many people in the cafeteria had seen and heard what happened.

The guy awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "Yeah sorry about that, what I'm trying to say is that if you need advice you should talk to the professors or even the headmaster himself. None of them will hold it against you and even praise you for recognizing if you need the help."

Ruby was now legitimately curious, "Is there anyone specific you would recommend?"

He thought it over for a few seconds before answering, "Talk to Dr. Oobleck if you want to better understand the history of SDC and the Faunus, Dr. Gris is an asshole but he gets to the point and once even canceled a date with his boyfriend to help me out. Oh! And I can't forget about Professor Port!"

Yang did not even try to hold back her surprise, "Really Port!?"

"That guy is good at creating situations and opportunities to work things out," he answered before turning back to Ruby, "It's going to be rough but, it's worth it."

Doubt is a funny thing at times, one second you can have your mind completely and utterly made up, so sure in your choices that you step boldly forward to put your plans into action. Then it happens and you freeze, out of seemingly nowhere you find yourself doubting both yourself and your plans that you were so confident in a mere minute ago. Suddenly the path forward seems to be shrouded and the small insignificant voice of fear that you thought was silenced suddenly returns and transforming into a thunderous roar drowning out nearly everything else! Right now Jaune was standing in front of the door to his team's dorm room and he was being consumed by doubt. Though to his credit, he had tried to open the door but that was as far as he got. His hand felt almost frozen on the doorknob and he could not muster the strength to turn it, Come on Jaune all you have to do is lie to them just like Ozpin suggested! Why are you hesitating? You have to lie to them, they would never understand the truth and they wouldn't want anything to do with you if they knew the truth, they would push you away, you can't even go bac-

"There you are!" Someone was suddenly touching his shoulder and he spun around to see who it was and found that it was Pyrrha who stood there with a concerned and kind look on her face. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he never noticed when she had approached him or even when she first called out to him, "Thank the brothers you're alright, we've all been worried-! Your eyes! Jaune are you alright?!"

He let go of the doorknob and took a step back, "My eyes? What is wrong with my eyes?"

She stepped in close and began examining his eyes, "Wait, it's gone? Was that the thing that Weiss kept talking about?"

"Pyrrha what is going on?!"

"Your eyes changed Jaune, it was a small change but it was still there or rather it was there, for a moment your Sclera was a few shades darker and your iris… it took on a bit of a copper hue, is it part of your semblance or do you share Yang's condition?"

"Look Pyrrha I don't know, I just know that I… I," he wanted to tell her that he couldn't control it, he wanted to ask for her or anyone help but he couldn't seem to form the words. Fortunately, he didn't have to.

"It's okay, Jaune… please just let me help you."

"I, I- Can we just go inside? I don't want others to hear this."

The two went to return to their dorm but stopped at the sight before them.

The doorknob to their room was crushed.

Author's Notes: So we meet yet another OC Character designed just to give our cast someone new to interact with now and then. Will any of them ever actually matter? No. Or Will They!? Either way, I think it's high time for some horror to be injected into this crappy horror story! Oh and for those who don't know: There are many different varieties of Ice and Blue is considered the strongest.

And dear Lord was there a lot of talking in this chapter...