Author's Notes: A bit of a shorter chapter this time but fear not, as this next part of the story progresses the chapters will naturally become longer.

Ozpin was sitting at his deck deep in thought when Glynda came into the room with a mournful look on her face and holding a stack of papers that were the preliminary reports about the foiled robbery at the Docks. For the most part, the reports praised the students of Beacon for stepping in when they did to defend the cargo, though a few did raise the fair question as to why they were even there in the first place. For every report that praised the students another one condemned the police for not even showing up though some reports defended the police by noting that multiple robberies were taking place at the same time. However none of that mattered to the two professors, what mattered was the loss of innocence and the grim reality that Salem was on the move, she was going to do something huge and they were still in the dark about it.

Without needing to look at his ever-faithful right hand Ozpin addressed her, "Roman Torchwick and the White Fang working together? That almost seems like a bad joke and yet... to this day I still don't know how she does it. The White Fang alone I would understand, in fact, I've been worried for some time that they would end in her control but, Roman? He's a thief! A skilled one who can do much good if he wanted to but nothing that would normally grab her attention! He is a local celebrity at best!" Ozpin took off his sunglasses and began to rub his eyes, "What are we missing here?"

Glynda placed the documents on Ozpin's desk and began to absentmindedly sort them out, "Perhaps he's not doing this willingly or maybe he was just promised something... but none of that matters. What matters is the stolen Dust and the fact that our students are safe."

"You're right, how are they anyway?"

"Well the Haven student Sun Wukong is safe and the others have told me that he was of great assistance. As for Ms. Schnee and Ms. Belladonna, I have heard that they decided to bury the hatchet and start over much to the relief of Ms. Rose. Even better they even asked Dr. Oobleck to teach them about the history of the Faunus and how it relates to the modern world."

Ozpin arose from his funk to look at his second in command, "Really? That's a rather pleasant surprise and what about team PRAN?"

"They are alright but Jaune killed two members of the White Fang and is handling the shock rather poorly," she answered with a sigh.

"Well, that's to be expected, just about everyone has trouble at the beginning."

"It wasn't the killing that is bothering him, it was his reaction or rather a lack of a reaction that is upsetting him. I think he's worried that this is a sign that his condition has made him less than human," she explained as she continued to arrange the documents just to keep her hands busy, "Dr. Gris wants to bring in his boyfriend to talk to Jaune."

"Dr. Riviera correct? Well then if Jaune agrees to talk to him, I have no problems. How about team RWBY?"

Making their way through the hallways was team RWBY, on the surface, they were a shining example of unity despite hardship and proof that friendship triumphed over everything. A closer look would reveal just how wrong all of that was, Blake and Weiss were walking with a clear visible distance placed between the two, and standing in that gap was Yang who while smiling and joking around was always ready to catch one of the two if they tried to run. Meanwhile, Ruby was leading the group and kept turning around to face the others to make sure that they were still there.

The truth of the matter was that the incident at the Docks hurt the trust that both Ruby and Yang had for their respective partners but it paled when compared to the issues Weiss and Blake had with each other. An apology, no matter how sincere would not even begin to cover the very real and still unresolved grievances that they had against each other, Blake was still a former agent of the White Fang and Weiss was still the daughter of one the biggest enemies of Faunuskind. But that didn't have to be the whole story, Ruby loved her team too much to let end like this, and Yang would never let Weiss or Blake continue to avoid and ignore each other letting that heartfelt apology go to waste, not while there was still something that they could do.

"We're here!" Ruby joyfully declared while standing in front of Professor's Oobelcek's classroom, not waiting for the other to respond she opens the door and heads inside accompanied by the rest of her team and once inside they are greeted by the odd sight of Professor Oobleck zipping around the classroom while preparing a presentation of some sort.

"Ah, it is truly good to see such bright young people interested in history and the lessons that we can learn from it! Truly splendid!" The professor had a great big smile on his face as team RWBY got into their seats and he was even happier when the door to the classroom opened up again.

"Sorry, we're late! I was helping one of the students from Haven find his way around!"

"Nonsense! You're right on time! Please have a seat, Mr. Winchester," the Professor declared while standing right behind his desk ready to start.

Much to the surprise of the entirety of team RWBY, Cardin Winchester entered the classroom followed closely behind by the rest of his team. "Oi, hey Yang! I guess you're shocked to see us here," spoke Russell Thrush upon seeing the Blond Biker who in return gave a small wave while staring on in disbelief.

"What are you doing here," Blake demanded, nearly jumping out of her seat while doing so.

Team CRDL stared blankly at her for a bit not sure how to answer a question that they felt had just an obvious answer but, eventually, Dove stepped bravely forward "We came to learn."

Ruby was getting excited, "What!? Does this mean, you guys are good guys now?" The implication of Ruby's question stung every member of Team CRDL and even her team winced a little at that comment but, at the same time, no one standing in that room made any attempt to correct her because everyone including CRDL agreed with her. Huntsmen were supposed to be defenders of the weak, heroes to the downtrodden, they brought peace and justice to where there was none. They stood their ground and fought so that others could live to see another day and there is without a doubt that without Huntsmen Grimm would have overrun humanity a long time ago. It was a noble legacy that CRDL and sadly countless other Huntsmen over the years have failed to honor.

But people can change, with time and effort, they could change.

"Alright let's get this lecture started with a question that has a rather interesting answer." Dr. Oobleck paused for a moment to allow everyone into their seats, "How many Kingdom should there be?"

Ruby being ever so eager to please was the first to raise her hand, "Four! There are four kingdoms in total!"

"I'm sorry Ms. Rose but that answer is incorrect," Oobleck stated while drinking some coffee to hide the smirk on his face, And here it comes the ever so delightful look of confusion followed by beautiful curiosity. "You see, the question was not how many kingdoms there are but rather how many there should be." Just like he predicted there was a look of confusion on the faces of the two teams until rather unexpectedly one of them raised their hand, "Yes, Ms. Belladonna?"

"Menagerie by all accounts should be counted among the kingdoms," she answered as curiosity overtook the earlier confusion.

"Menagerie? I've never heard of that kingdom," Russel spoke out loud not in a dismissive tone but instead, he and the rest of his team were genuinely interested in the answer and was looking to Blake hoping for some clarity that she was more than happy to deliver.

"It is the name of the island that was given to Faunus as a reward for their participation in the Great War... It's also where I was born and raised." She answered.

Sky Lark leaned forward in his chair to get a better look at a map of the world that was now being displayed by the projector. On that map, the island of Menagerie was marked making it rather easy to find and Sky along with the rest of his team as well as most of RWBY were surprised by just how big the island was, "Wow, that is one hell of a way to say thank you."

"On the contrary Mr. Lark, the Faunus considered it to be a grave insult," Oobleck then hit a button and the map zoomed in on the continent revealing that most of the Island country was just desert wastelands. "As you can see, most of the island is uninhabitable and there is little in the way of natural resources. I can assure you all that this was not an earnest mistake, they knew exactly what kind of land Menagerie was when they gave it to the Faunus. To add further insult to injury the newly formed kingdom was all but excluded from the treaty that followed and as a result Menagerie has no Huntsman academy nor does it have a CCT, thus effectively cutting the nation off from the rest of the world which for the most part pretends like the island does not exist... Sadly it gets worse."

The image changed again becoming a montage of newspaper clippings each dated before the Faunus Rights War and each one detailing an event that would eventually lead to the war, "The actual cause of the war cannot be summed up in a mere clip show due to how far back the animosity goes and how messy the issue is. Frankly what you see here is but a fraction of the whole story and that only accounts for what was actually reported, we now know that many cases were simply swept under the rug and most were never reported at all.

Even Blake who was already familiar with the subject matter was gobsmacked by just how much information was being presented right now, Mom and Dad lived through some of this and yet they still believed that it was possible to work things by just talking? It was a depressing thought for the young Faunus, I have to fix this, I need to because this is my fault. I should have been able to stop Adam and instead I just left him… No! I mustn't blame myself for the choices he made!

Dr. Oobleck looked at the two teams sitting in the classroom and paused the presentation, "This is not the first time I've held these special lessons nor will it be the last and honestly I'm happy for that. Racism is the product of ignorance and understanding why and how things are is an important part of reducing this irrational fear, mistrust and in cases hatred towards other people for what is ultimately minor differences. With the Vale Branch of the White Fang on the rising distrust towards the Faunus will also increase leading to the tension that the Vale Branch and other radical groups will, in turn, take advantage of to recruit more for their cause, ultimately creating a self-sustaining cycle of violence."

A dark depressive atmosphere hung in the classroom as the weight and reality of the cruel weight of history crept into their minds. How can this be fixed? How can anything we do ever put a dent in this? Is there a point in even trying?

Oobleck wasn't at all blind to the effects his words had on the students and he was well aware that many of his colleagues would call him a fool for starting this vital lesson in history with such a pessimistic tone rather than easing them in. Quite frankly, those people were probably right and Oobleck quickly realized that he needed to salvage the situation and fast or he'd lose them, "I must apologize it wasn't my intention to place you all in such a state of distress. While it is true that there is still much work to be done to end this idiotic hatred toward our fellow man, it would be irresponsible for me not to acknowledge the work that has already been done." Now that he had their attention once more he could rectify this wrong "We have come so far from when we caged the Faunus simply for being Faunus and even though there have been attempts to return to that barbaric age with the latest being the Faunus Rights War, they have thankfully have all failed. Despite the efforts of those ruled by hate, people are becoming more and more educated and aware of the unjust systems put in place by monsters for no reason than to hurt innocents. Look at yourself, this isn't an actual class, none of you had to be here and yet! You're here because you chose to stop living in hateful ignorance, you all chose to be better than the ones who came before you. Now let's begin this lesson properly."

Jaune had a reputation in Beacon as someone who wasn't generally a happy or warm person, on his worst days he was distant and on his best days he was cautious. The truly sad thing about his reputation was that it wasn't who he was at all and his teammates and friends like Ruby would happily attest that the real Jaune was someone kind, sincere, bright, and warm, but they would also admit that he held back and kept others at an arm's length almost as if he was trying to protect others from himself. Certain people like Ozpin and Qrow knew the truth and the others such as Pyrrha and Ruby despite everything they had done for him were rewarded with a lie. Sure, most would call the lie necessary and Jaune would hesitantly agree with them but that did not mean he had to like it. However things were getting better, he was connecting to his team and forming friends outside of PRAN and RWBY. The Jaune that they knew at the beginning of Beacon was slowly but surely becoming a memory, the kind thing that in the future they might have teased him about in a friendly joke that would elicit some laughter as they continued with their day... Then the Docks happened and Jaune reverted right back into the nervous distance person he was at the beginning.

I'm supposed to feel something, right? Why don't I feel anything?

In the library of Beacon, there exists an extensive collection on the subject of psychology which covers an impressive span of topics while being frequently updated for sake of anyone curious or in need of that information. Of particular note, though also not surprising, a large part of that section was dedicated to the complex subcategory of Huntsmen's Psychology. It is here that Pyrrha could be found studying with the aid of her teammate Lie Ren. While they were here Nora was elsewhere keeping vigilance on their final comrade, Jaune who had made so much progress and they would not let him regress without a fight.

It wasn't hard for them to find the information they were looking for, Huntsmen, after all, have to fight people as well as Grimm. Criminals trying to escape the law by hiding in the wilds, Bandits and even Black Market Dealers were enemies that might lie in the future of any aspiring Huntsmen and a violent encounter was all but promised. Death happens and everyone responds to it differently and surprisingly Pyrrha and Ren soon found that Jaune's reaction was a rare occurrence but that was all, it didn't mean anything!

"So it's not his semblance, oh that's a relief!" Pyrrha allowed herself to sink back into the chair with a content sigh.

Ren, however, took note of her choice of words, "You thought that his semblance might be the cause?"

"What? No, I- I'm sorry. That came out the wrong way," after taking a moment to think of what she was going to say, she turned to face Ren who was sitting across from her. "I know that his Semblance had nothing to do with it, but he thinks it did. This book, however," she held up the book in question so that Ren could better see it, "makes it clear that it simply isn't the case. No Semblance has ever been discovered that could remove feelings of guilt much less turn you into some kind of sociopath and when you consider that Aura and Semblances come from the soul, it's really no surprise."

Ren gave his leader's explanation some thought, That makes a fair bit of sense ever a Semblance like mine cannot remove an emotion, only suppress it for a time. But, where does that leave Jaune? If his Semblance isn't the cause then that would mean what we saw his natural reaction…

"Ren? What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked with a tinge of concern on her face.

"If his semblance was not the reason for his reaction or rather lack of a reaction, then that implies... That-"

Pyrrha cut him right off, "Ren! Jaune is not some sort of Psycho!"

"I wasn't going to say that, though I understand why you'd assume that and I apologize." Ren waited to see if she would accept his apology and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she did. "What I meant to say was this might be more difficult now that semblances are out of the question and he has to come to grips with his own natural reaction."

"He'll be alright, he might need some help but that's what we're here for. To help each other out!"

"But can we help him with this?"

There were certain secluded spots in Beacon that were considered special to the student body, they were places that one could go to to escape from the chaos and stress that was inherent in a Huntsmen Academy. Places where it was possible to just have a nice quiet moment on their own or with friends and for Jaune, his secret oasis was an empty rooftop balcony that required a little climbing to reach, it was here where in total privacy he tried to clear his head. Sadly despite his efforts to think about anything else other than the Docks his mind kept returning to the fight, replaying it over and over again while asking the same question: Why?

If I had been paying better attention, I wouldn't have been ambushed and could avoid killing them, Jaune thought to himself. He had been in a rush back there and trying to subdue someone is harder than trying to kill them, maybe it was the noise of his previous takedowns that alerted them to his approach, or maybe they were already lying in wait for someone to pass by their hiding place behind a shipping container. Either way, it didn't matter, Jaune was forced into a fight for his life when a machete struck his shoulder as he tried to run past, the masked grunt wielding the blade wasn't by any means skilled and all it took was a shield shove to get some distance between himself and the White Fang grunt, then he was shot and everything went to hell.

The dust round impacted against Jaune's armor which held strong against the bullets, a true testament to the workmanship of the smith. Turning around to face his new foe he in a moment of carelessness left himself open to the machete-wielding grunt had recovered and struck at the foolish huntsman-in-training who now found himself beset on both sides. Then came a third cry as yet another member of the White Fang was rushing in to assist her brothers in killing the wannabe knight. Soon all three were charging at him and then in a moment, it was all over.

The one with a machete had left himself open and Corcea Mors struck true and pinned the aggressor onto the wall of the Storage Unit directly behind the Faunus. Shots then rang out from the gunman eager to avenge his brother but for whatever reason, he got too close and the edge of Jaune's shield struck the man's neck, instantly breaking it. The gunman dropped to the ground dead but his finger never left the trigger and as he fell the third and final grunt was killed by friendly fire.

It took Jaune a moment to process everything that had just happened and even after he had come to grips with it, he just stood there waiting. Back then at that moment, he had no idea what he was waiting for. Now days later he understood, he was waiting for the emotional rush that never came, and in the present, sitting in his secret spot overlooking the Emerald Forest he was still waiting for anything. Whether it was sorrow, horror, joy, relief, or really anything at all as long as it was more than the nothing he felt now.

Unbeknownst to the lad, he was not alone, Nora had been watching him the whole time by the request of Pyrrha just in case something happened and the truth be told, she did not like this assignment. It felt like they had a lack of faith in their friend but, now looking at him she realized why Pyrrha asked and why Ren insisted but more importantly she knew what she had to do. Coming out of her hiding spot she walked over to Jaune and sat down next to him, she didn't say anything, If he wants to talk, then we'll talk.

The pair sat in silence for a while and like she'd hoped her presence was proving to be a comfort to Jaune and eventually, Jaune spoke up, "I'm sorry."

Nora winced, she didn't like what was coming but held back from saying anything, Let'em vent first. Getting this stuff out of his system will make him feel better and then I can tell him what a big dummy he's being and then we'll hug it out.

Not noticing her discomfort Jaune kept going, "I'm sorry for being such a broken fucking mess, I'm sorry for constantly holding everyone else back. I just… I just keep-"

"Don't you dare say it," Nora's anger surprised Jaune. "Don't you even think for a moment that it was your fault, it wasn't! You never got to choose your semblance, no one gets to choose their semblance so don't even toy with the idea that you're somehow guilty!"

"I Know That! I know there was nothing wrong with killing them! But people are supposed to react when something like that happens! I was supposed to feel something! I took three lives, Nora! Three people who were only fighting for a cause that they believed in are never going home, and I feel nothing!"

The pair sat in silence for a bit, "You know Jaune… I've killed people too," she admitted much to his shock and visible disbelief, "You already know that Ren and I are orphans but what we never told you or Pyrrha is that for a painful period of time we were also homeless and Mistral isn't a very friendly place for those down on their luck and two scared kids trapped in the wilderness… are often seen as prey." Nora paused for a moment and closed her eyes calling back memories of that time, they weren't happy ones, "We were hungry and one day we found this house right on the road where we met this woman and she… tricked us. She pretended to be nice, she fed us and offered to let us stay the night. We were so happy, we thought… that we found a home. But instead of a warm bed, there was a cold cage." She took a moment to look at Jaune and nearly gasped when she saw that his eyes were now copper instead of his natural blue, Wait I remember this, his eyes get like this when he is angry. Is my story making him angry?

"Nora," Jaune's voice brought her out of her thoughts, "Please don't take this the wrong way but, please tell me that Bitch dies at the end."

Nora could help but smile, "Yup she sure does, I mean Duh! Otherwise how else are Renny and I here at Beacon? Unless we're ghosts! But, why would a ghost choose to haunt school that had nothing to do with their death? Don't get me wrong Jaune, I love this school but I wouldn't cross an ocean just haunt it as a ghost!"

A moment to forget and a good dose of laughter was something that Jaune was in desperate need of, it wouldn't make his problem disappear but at least it helped remind him that he was still human. Nora would have loved to just spend the rest of the time swapping fun stories but the story she was already telling had a point that she needed to get to.

"So, what happened?" Jaune asked, "I know that you both make it out. I mean, you are physically here in Beacon, so your story does have a happy ending but what happened. Did someone come and rescue you?"

"Nobody recused us," she answered quickly and grimly. "What happened was that after a while she'd tried to take Ren and leave me in the cage. We fought back and somehow we were able to kill her, then we ran out of that damned house and just kept running until we found a town."

"Nora… I-"

"And can you guess what the real kicker is? I liked it! I was happy no, Thrilled when some of the townsfolk found that bitch dead on the floor, and when a doctor declared the cause of death to be blunt force trauma I felt giddy because that meant that I was the one that killed her. Shortly afterward Renny and I were on the move again, kicked out of the town for having blood on our hands despite everything that had happened."

"But it was self-defense! What else were you supposed to do? Not fight her? God only knows what would have happened then or were you supposed to cry over the news of her death!? She tricked you, caged you, and hurt you! Even a single tear would be too good for that bitch!" Jaune was couldn't believe what he just heard, How stupid were those people!?

"I could ask the same about you Jaune. What were you supposed to do? Grieve for the death of those who wanted you and your friends dead?"

He opened his mouth to answer back but couldn't find the words, he then thought long and hard about it, Nora's right about not feeling sorry for them but, then again that's not my problem… So what is my problem? Earlier I was thinking about how I could have avoided that fight entirely but, honestly if I found myself fighting them again… I'd kill them again. Frankly, I don't regret killing them… maybe what I was looking for wasn't really a feeling but rather proof I'm still me.

"You look like you figured something out," Nora remarked.

"Yeah, I think I have an inkling on what my problem is, now comes the hard part."

Nora placed her hand on his shoulder and let it sit there for a moment before drawing him in for a hug, "We're here for you Jaune, no matter what happens or how long this takes we're going to help you out."

"Thank you, Nora."

"Let's see what darling has been hiding from me," the man spoke as he expertly opened up the locked cabinet containing physical copies of the medical records of every single student currently in Beacon… or at least the ones whose last name started with an "A". "Ah, there you are, Jaune Arc! But first, let's make some fucking tea." With the folder in his hands, he walked through the medical ward and over to the faucet that the Doctor and Nurses would use to wash their hands and filled a beer mug with water and then walked over to the waiting room where there was a microwave for anyone who wanted to warm up snacks. He placed the mug in the microwave and had a short but pleasant chat with a young man who happened to be in the waiting room to check up on their teammate who had apparently had an odd habit of twisting her ankles.

A mere few minutes later and the man was sitting comfortably down on one of the empty patient beds reading through Jaune's file while occasionally stopping to drink some hot tea from the beer mug. "Foreign tissue of neither human nor Faunus origin, internal organs being repurposed? Spinal cord compromised, nervous system-"

"Babe, da fuck yer doing?" asked a rather irritate Dr. Gris as he looked at the annoyingly calm and just a little smug figure of his boyfriend Dr. Daniel "Danny" Riviera.

"Well, if I am to help this boy, I need to know what I'm dealing with. Also, I simply didn't feel like dealing with Ozpin's cloak and dagger shenanigans," he answered before taking another sip of tea.

"Ya do realize that der is a reason fer dat secrecy bullshit. Hell, ya got the file! Ya don't need me to tell ya what's going on here!" an exacerbated Gris sat down on the bed next to Riviera and peeked to see what section he was on, "If ya think dat's bad, wait till ya git to his aura."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It doesn't work! Instead, he got high-speed regeneration which isn't as helpful as ya might think."

"And yet, he's still enrolled despite the elevated risks and certain pain, how does he handle Goodwitch's class?"

"Ummm, not every well," Gris shyly admitted.

"Well if he does agree to see me I'll be able to ask him then but, that's all later." Riviera closed the file and handed it back to Gris before asking him a question, "In your professional opinion not as a doctor but rather as a Huntsman. What's bothering him."

Gris took a moment to consider the facts of the situation, Nothing bout wat happened at the docks is anything new. The difference is da boy. "Not aving any feelings after a first kill ain't something new under da sun. Hell, I was downright giddy after my first kill. It's his body, ave been hiding da exact details from everyone but da boy underwent hybridization and das da problem ere, it been messing wit his head in odd but predictable ways. I think dat we are looking ere is fear. Fear dat his lack of a reaction is the result of his condition, dat he's been changed in a way dat makes him… no longer human."

"Well, Duh!" Riviera declared with a roll of his eyes much to the annoyance of his boyfriend.

"Then why ask me?"

"Two reasons with the first being that even if it's obvious it always better ask for the second opinion especially when it comes to mental health. Second, I just like hearing your voice."

Gris got up from the bed and started walking away, "Nope. Not right ere, not right now and especially not on that bed."

"Spoilsport."

Dr. Gris was walking towards the door but stopped and took a look back at Riviera. The man wasn't a huntsman which under normal situations was never a real issue as a psychologist Riviera had no need to weapons, armor, or even aura but, Jaune was far from a normal situation, "Listen to me, dat kid you'll be talking to got a situation dat's far more complicated than you know."

"Oh? How so?" Riviera asked, genuinely interested.

"Nothing dat happened to em was natural and it wasn't some kinda accident either. Somebody did dis to em dat somebody is still out there. You git wat I'm trying to say?"

...There was a stretch of silence that would have never anyone that didn't know Dr. Riviera well enough, since Gris was dating the man he naturally was excluded from that category and was hoping for this very response. It means that he listened, that he understood, and that he was fucking pissed. He was pissed by the cruelty of the event and furious that he couldn't go and find whoever was doing experiments on people and drag them to the cops himself if he had the strength.

"I don't care who it was, make them pay. You, Ozpin, Goodwhitch, and whoever else is in this little club of your had better make damn sure that whoever was behind this, dies. Not arrested or confined or even disabled, they need to die. I'm well aware that I would just drag you all down but Gris, take that ax of your and take their head. Got It?" Rivera asked.

"Dat was my plan from da every beginning."

Author's Notes: So this chapter and the next few ones are transitory to help go from Vol1 of RWBY to Vol2. My intentions from this point onwards are to try and slow the story down a little to give time for everything to grow at a natural pace while exploring some interesting angles that weren't seen in the show while of course guiding this train off of the rails and into a ditch.

Oh, and don't worry about Riviera 's lack of a description (I wanted to include it but I couldn't find a spot where it felt natural) as that will come in the next chapter.

As for Jaune, well I'm not going to keep kicking him around just for giggles (I promise Nothing!).