RWBY 1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Welcome to Beacon

Jake stepped off the airship, looking upon what would be his new home for the next four years of his life. Beacon Academy, a school designed to train the guardians of Remnant, but they're really just referred to as Huntsman and Huntresses.

His cat ears twitched and his tail swayed left and right as he listened in on conversations being engaged between other kids applying to Beacon, but heard nothing of interest, so he just moved on. New students were given maps to the school in order to help familiarize them with the layout easier, but Jake's heard that sometimes there would be some students who couldn't get their hands on a map, so they had to find their way through the school without much help.

He followed the many new students towards the courtyard and placed himself in a corner away from most people. If he was going to socialize, he would do it after initiation. He wasn't feeling very open at the moment. Unfortunately, his luck isn't very good, because he could feel someone poking his kitty ears from behind.

He turned around to find a girl about his age with long black hair and red eyes, still prodding at his ears when he stares at her.

"Could you please stop poking my ears, it's getting annoying."

Finally she stopped, but she remained staring at his Faunus traits. "Do you not see too many Faunus?" Jake asked. She nodded and finally spoke. "I lived with a very discriminatory family, so they made me avoid the Faunus as much as they could."

"What about you then? What do you think of the Faunus?"

"What's to think? You and the other Faunus are just like us Humans."

_Oh good,_ he thought. She's not like all the others. "Can I get your name?"

"It's Haley. Haley Moriarty and it's a pleasure to meet you," she said as she shook hands with him. "The name's Jake Martin. The pleasure's all mine."

**Four hours later…**

Jake unrolled a couple of blankets and pillows as he got ready to sleep, dressed in a simple T-shirt and pajama bottoms. He was quick to fall asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. He's aware of what would come next. A long and painful initiation test was going to take place tomorrow. He wasn't worried though, he would face whatever and get it done.


	2. Launched

Chapter 2 – Launched

Jake woke up with a big yawn. He rolled up his blanket and his pillows and stuffed them into his bag and headed over to the locker room to get his equipment ready for initiation.

As he headed over, he noticed a group of four picking on a young rabbit Faunus. He stared off at them and then turned his head, only so that the bullies wouldn't notice his smile as he sent an electric charge through at them and fried them all, avoiding only the Faunus girl. He gave the girl a winning smile and continued on towards the locker room.

As he got to the locker rooms, he noticed that two other initiates were arguing and it looked like something he could just ignore, until he noticed one of them unsheathing his weapon. In about ten seconds flat he had managed to rush over there, grab the initiate's weapon, swing him into a locker and position the blade of the weapon against his throat.

"Save the fighting for when initiation begins." The assault surprised the initiate and he was made speechless. Jake released him and handed him his weapon. "Just don't do it again, alright? If you get into a fight, there's a chance you'll get kicked out of the school."

"Would all first-year students, please report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation."

Jake headed on over with his gear ready and prepared for his initiation. He stood on one of the platforms and prepared himself for the launch.

Goodwitch and Ozpin briefed them on their assignment for initiation and began to launch the new students one by one into the air. As soon as Jake was launched, he unsheathed his sword and waited until finally the blade shifted into a whip and extended towards the branches of the trees below and then used his aura to slow his descent. The whip penetrated the surface of the branch and slowed his descent further until it was finally safe to land. He pressed a button on his weapon and the blade retracted and finally he re-sheathed it.

_Better to be done with this as fast as possible, _he thought. He activated his semblance and took off, speeding through the forest.

"Hey, stop right there!" That was all he heard before he felt himself come to an abrupt stop. He looked behind him to find Haley holding him by the back of his shirt. _How did she catch me? I was going at top speed!_

"I used my aura to look for the others and you were coming at me fast, so I grabbed you," she said, almost as if she read his mind.

"I guess we're partners then?" More of a statement then an actual question.

"I guess so."

They were about ready to run off when three Beowulves surrounded them. "Oh, well that's just freaking great," Haley shouted to no one. "Got a weapon?" Jake asked.

"Better than that," she replied as she jumped at one of them and lopped off its head with what looked like nothing at all. Jake, however, noticed her aura wrapped around her arm. "That's quite a good use of aura."

Jake charged toward another Beowulf and thrust his sword through its chest and sent an electric charge through the blade, frying it until its body could no longer function. As the two warriors finished off the last of them, they took off running. "If you're able to track the aura of the other initiates, then we should be able to find the general area of the relics, right?"

"You'll have to carry me though. If I try to concentrate on something like this then I'll most likely slow down, so you're going to have to give me a lift."

_You've got to be kidding me._


	3. Coming to a Close

Chapter 3 – Coming to a Close

A white-haired boy named Xavier walked through the foliage, trying to find his way to his objective. Instead, he found a blue-haired girl named Kanade with one of the relics already in hand. "Where do we go from here?"

"I could take you to the forest temple. I saw it off in the distance when I nabbed this thing," she said, holding up the medallion. "I just needed to find a partner before I completed the assignment."

"Fantastic work, by the way. Now we just need to hurry before anything unwelcome arrives." As if on cue, an Ursa Major crashed through the trees, charging towards Xavier and Kanade. The Ursa took a swing at Xavier with its claws, but was narrowly avoided. Kanade took this opportunity to cut into the monster's back. It roared in pain and turned toward Kanade, ready to take her down, but it didn't. It just paused abruptly. It's almost as if Kanade and Xavier had suddenly disappeared from its vision.

"What's going on?" Kanade pondered. "I'm not sure, but let's not stick around to find out," Xavier replied as he grabbed his partner's hand and ran through the trees.

_Meanwhile…_

Jake and Haley finally found the resting place for the relics they needed to complete their assignment. Jake picked up a blue medallion with a wind emblem engraved in the middle. "So I guess we just need to get back to the cliffs now, right?" Before Haley could respond a King Taijitu threw him off to the side and into the trunk of a tree. The pain from the impact hurt too much and he couldn't pick himself up.

The Grimm hovered over him, ready to end him. Haley was running as fast as she could his direction, but he knew she wouldn't make it in time. The Grimm would attack and kill him and then it would be over, yet nothing happened. The Taijitu just stood there, leaning over him. Haley made it over and helped him up, taking him as fast as she could towards the cliffs.

The prey was getting away and yet the Grimm still wouldn't move an inch. Whatever was going on though, Jake and Haley were thankful for it. However, they didn't notice someone in the foliage watching them as they made their way back to Ozpin.

"What was that about? I thought for sure I was a goner," Jake muttered.

"Let's just be thankful that you're still alive, Jake."

They ran as fast as they could through the trees. They expected more Grimm, but much to their surprise, they didn't find any further opposition. Eventually they reached the cliffs and handed their relic to Ozpin and headed back to the academy for the start of their school year.

Ozpin looked on as the rest of the pair-ups made their way back to the cliffs. "What's happening? I expected more Grimm attacks," He thought to himself.

_Three Hours Later…_

"Relic Ray, Brenda D'Frain, Ulric Bane, and Natalie Turner, the four of you have collected the red sun medallions. From this moment on, you will be known as Team BURN."

He looked on to the final team and called them up. "Haley Moriarty, Jake Martin, Xavier Brim, and Kanade Inari, the four of you have collected the blue wind medallions. From this moment on, you will be known as Team HIJX. Quite an interesting name, I might add. Welcome to Beacon Academy."


	4. Heated Arguments

Chapter 4 – Heated "Arguments"

For their first classes, Team HIJX had to take Grimm Studies and, of course, History. Professor Port was, if not delusional, self-centered. Whenever he would do his storytelling routine, every story he told was often about himself when he was younger, never forgetting to call himself handsome at some point in the story. He also kept giving creepy looks at a blonde-haired female student in the upper seats, prompting her to ignore his perverted glances. As for Professor Oobleck, he was definitely better than Peter Port. Although he was hyperactive and zipped across the classroom to the point where the students had to turn their heads every few seconds, he was a driven teacher that never allowed himself to be distracted from his duties.

Team HIJX had noticed that both of these professors had gone into a discussion with Grimm that was thought to be myth.

The subject was mostly focused on one particular Creature of Grimm that has been dismissed as fictional. The Grimm Alpha, otherwise known as the original Grimm. An upperclassman raised her hand and Oobleck called on her. "Excuse me professor, but why are we discussing myths when they are nothing more than just that?"

"Ms. Schnee, what you may not believe is that every supposed fictional story or myth always hides truth behind it in some form and extent."

"But this Grimm Alpha idea is just ridiculous. Creatures of Grimm are wild and mindless and act on instinct alone. The idea of a Grimm that can actually think is just absurd."

"May I finish, Ms. Schnee?"

The young girl sat back down in her seat, mumbling angrily to herself as Professor Oobleck continued. "Now students, myths may seem like nothing more than a fairy tale to you, but just remember, it's not about the myth thought to be fiction, it's about the truth buried within that matters. That is exactly why these so-called fairy tales and myths might have been a tale of an actual historic event, or merely based off one. What matters is that we figure out the truth."

Professor Oobleck dismissed the students and we got out of our seats to leave. Haley ran ahead of the rest of HIJX and grabbed the white-haired girl by the shoulder. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"Why did you interrupt the Professor? He was just doing his job. Don't be rude just because you have a problem with the subject."

"Excuse me? I was merely sharing my thoughts on the subject."

The rest of Team HIJX and the white-haired girl's team stood in the background watching the two argue. "Uh, shouldn't we stop them?" the blonde girl said to everyone. "No, just leave them be, I know Weiss won't back down from this easily," Xavier exclaimed. Everyone turned to him in surprise.

He groaned and explained. "I am Xavier Brim, heir to the Brim mining company. Unlike the Schnee dust company, we mine jewels and iron and other materials like that. I and Weiss have known each other for a while, so I know she won't end this peacefully."

Kanade turned to Weiss' team and asked, "So, what are your names?"

"Blake."

"The name's Yang!"

"And I'm Ruby! What about you guys?"

The teams made introductions, happy to be distracted from Weiss and Haley's argument. Kanade looked up at the clock and jumped. "Oh, crap, we're going to be late for sparring, let's get out of here!"

The two teams ran as fast as possible to sparring, making it to class just in the nick of time.

"Nice to know that even you can show up for class on time, RWBY," Professor Goodwitch stated before announcing the first battle.

_Weiss Schnee vs. Haley Moriarty_

"Oh, this is going to be good," Haley exclaimed, loosening up for the fight. Weiss wore an annoyed expression in response to Haley's confidence as they headed up to the arena and readied their weapons.

_Ready…_

_FIGHT!_

Haley shifted her hammer into its crossbow form and readied a red-tipped arrow, firing it off immediately. Weiss dodged out of the way and thrust Myrtenaster into the floor, summoning ice to rise up below Haley. She jumped up and landed on the tip of one of the ice spikes, using her aura to regulate her balance. She shifted Red Devil back to its hammer form and charged at Weiss from there and swung her weapon as hard as she could, only for her strike to be blocked by one of Weiss' glyphs. Weiss thrust her weapon towards Haley and barely grazed her. She took another swing at Haley, only to have her attack blocked by Red Devil's Crossbow form with an electric stun arrow strung. Before Weiss was able to react, she shot the arrow and it hit her directly, giving off an electric charge, putting her out of commission.

"Ms. Schnee's aura has now dropped into the red zone. The winner of this match is Haley Moriarty."

Haley helped Weiss on her feet and back to her team. "That was a good match, Weiss. You know, despite being a know-it-all, stuck-up rich girl, you're alright."

"Is that supposed to be an apology for the argument and hitting me in the chest with a stun arrow?"

"No, of course not, Weiss. I hate to break it to you, heiress, but this isn't your father's school, you don't get whatever you want, just because you say you want it. I'll see you later, RWBY, but I'm going to the cafeteria."

Weiss was left a little dumbstruck as the leader of HIJX walked off.


	5. A Problem with Parents

Chapter 5 – A Problem with Parents

After about a week and a half, HIJX met up with Teams RWBY and JNPR for lunch. Jake yawned, uninterested in the conversation going on between his friends. He sipped soda out of one of the Beacon coffee mugs and ate his food. Suddenly he heard his name being called.

"Jake, are you alive in there?" Kanade started tapping his head. "I'm listening now, so you can stop tapping my head, Kanade."

Instead of relenting, she kept at it and he got frustrated. "You want me to fry your finger, Inari?" She finally stopped and let Phyrra repeat what she had said earlier. "We were just talking about our parents and wanted to know if you wanted to join in."

Not very likely, as parents were a sore subject for Jake, but Kanade read his expression. "You're hiding something, Jakey-boy! Spill it!"

"Not going to happen, Inari. Now leave me alone." Of course, Kanade wouldn't do so. She just kept bothering him. "Come on, come on, little kitty! What's the word on your headaches?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"What? Something bad happen? Did they die?"

"Kanade," Xavier shouted for her to keep quiet, but it was too late now. "No, they're not dead. It's more complicated than that. Just leave me alone."

He got up and threw his trash away before heading to his dorm.

_Three hours later…_

Jake was sleeping in his bed when he heard a knock on the door. "It's unlocked, go ahead and come in."

Ruby and Blake walked and sat down on Jake's bed next to him. "Hello, Jake."

"Hey Ruby, hey Blake, What's going on?"

"We were just a little concerned, that's all."

"You shouldn't be, Ruby, I'm fine. Kanade's just rude and I plan to have a talk with her about that later."

Ruby and Blake looked at Jake with curiosity. "Oh, don't tell me that you want to know too."

"There's no denying that we're a little curious, but you deserve to keep your personal things to yourself," Blake replied. He smiled at her, glad that she can keep some self-preservation, unlike **someone **on his team. "I really appreciate that, Blake; You too, Ruby." He laughed as he smelled something. "I promise to keep your secret too, Blake, if you don't want others to know." It was no secret to him what Blake was. Other Faunus gave off a unique scent and he could easily smell it.

"Thank you, Jake. That's very kind of you."

Ruby looked back and forth between Jake and Blake and finally realized what Jake meant by "her secret".

"So, as far as my parents go, I don't feel comfortable talking to anyone right now," Jake muttered.

"We understand, Jake."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Jake!"

After they left, Jake reached under his shirt to his back, feeling the scars crossing over each other and groaned. "Glad they understand."

He lay his head down on his pillow and went to sleep.


	6. Dealing with Bullies

Chapter 6 – Dealing with Bullies

It was the weekend and Team HIJX decided to go ahead and practice sparring. Once inside the sparring room, they found a brunette rabbit Faunus being picked on by a second-year team. They were known as CRDL and they were infamous for bullying the Faunus of the school. Their victim today was none other than Velvet Scarlatina.

Velvet was usually more well-known for being a gifted scholar, rather than a fighter. Although skilled in combat she didn't really spar very often, making her a prime candidate for bullying.

"Should we help her?" Haley whispered.

"Best not to get involved," Xavier replied.

"Well you can go ahead and sit on the sidelines; I'm not going to let this slide." Jake hadn't brought his weapon with him, but it didn't matter much. He had an excellent speed semblance and he took full advantage of it as soon as he took his first step. He zipped towards the group and tackled Cardin before standing up on his torso.

"Try to play nice Cardin, you've got four-on-one and that's not quite fair," he said with a smug grin. Sky attempted tackle him, but he leaped out of the way and Sky just ended up dog piling onto Cardin. "Not the brightest set of fighters, wouldn't you agree? Try to think before you act, Sky."

Next up was Russel Thrush. He managed to sneak up on Jake and place him in a chokehold. "That was a bad idea, Russel!" Jake sent an electric current into Russel, forcing him to release his hold on Jake.

All that was left was Dove Bronzewing. He turned left and right, looking back at his injured teammates and stepped back a couple feet. "You're a smart man, Dove."

Jake turned to face his team, finding that they were holding up whiteboards with numbers written on them.

Kanade held up a 10, as did Haley, but Xavier held up a 5. "What's with the low grade, Xavier?"

He nodded to Cardin and Sky, who had gotten back on their feet and were now charging at him. "Oh yeah, I forgot about you two."

Before they could engage in further conflict, Professor Goodwitch interrupted them. "Excuse me, but wouldn't you like to settle this in the arena?"

"Fine, we'll settle this the official way," Cardin growled. "I'll take you on!"

"Are you sure you want to go at it alone, Cardin? I guarantee you'll need a partner." Cardin narrowed his eyes into angry slits and headed to the arena.

When Jake got into the ring, Goodwitch handed him his weapon Storm Bolt. "Thank you, professor."

_Jake Martin vs. Cardin Winchester_

_Begin!_

Cardin charged in and swung his weapon downward, but Jake zipped out of the way and grabbed him by the neck. In the brief moment of surprise, Cardin was slammed into the floor immediately. Jake zipped back a bit, waiting for him to get back on his feet.

"Come on Cardin, what are you doing? I thought you were supposed to be some big tough guy. How about that gem on your weapon? Is it just for show?"

Cardin got up on his feet and pointed his weapon at Jake, energy gathering into the gem. Jake looked up at the aura displays and noticed Cardin's aura going down as his weapon charged. "What a risky move to use, Cardin," he thought, "No wonder you rely on physical combat."

Cardin released the immense amount of aura into a charged blast towards Jake, but, once again, he simply zipped out of the way. He swung Storm Bolt at Cardin, placing an electric charge into the tip. Cardin still had some aura left, so he should be able to protect himself from getting cut. When the blade connected, Cardin was electrocuted until his aura finally dropped into the red before Jake drew his weapon back.

"The winner is Jake Martin," Glenda announced.

Jake grinned as walked off the arena, giving Velvet and his Team a winning glance. "Alright, Jake, that was a good fight. I honestly didn't expect you to win that," Kanade said as she pat his shoulder.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Inari. I really appreciate it," he groaned. He felt Velvet tap his shoulder. "Thank you for sticking up for me. I'm sorry if it was problem," she said in a low tone. He almost couldn't hear her. "No problem at all! I didn't mind it at all. Besides, I needed to get in some sparring practice today, and what better way to do that then to fight Cardin Winchester."

_**Elsewhere…**_

"What an impressive son you've got there." A Faunus and a human were watching a live display on a monitor. They viewed the fight between Jake and Cardin. "But are you sure he has what it takes?"

"I'm positive."

"Alright, kitty, but it'll take more than this to convince the boss."

"I'm already aware, Roman."


	7. An Unpleasant Stroll

Chapter 7 – An Unpleasant Stroll

_**Area Unknown**_

"We still need Gemini if we're going to finish research."

"What are you talking about? You've got plenty of candidates for Gemini."

"But he's the most likely to survive experimentation! Besides, Jonathon is already on his way to get him."  
_**Beacon Academy**_

A few months into the school year and everyone was issued on a week-long vacation. Some of the students stayed behind at the school. Jake stayed at Beacon while the rest of his team went home to their families. All of JNPR went home, with Jaune and Phyrra visiting the Arc family. Thankfully, the same goes for CRDL, so now he won't have to deal with the lamest bullies in existence. As for Team RWBY, everyone left for home, except for Blake.

She had come by Jake's dorm and asked him to accompany her into Vale for a few errands and he was happy to oblige.

They headed down to the city and entered a few dust shops for a bit, buying their share of dust crystals for ammo, and then headed to a café. Jake drank a vanilla latte while Blake sipped black tea. That was when he arrived.

"Hello Jake, it's so good to see you, son. Where have you been all this time?"

Jake bolted up, knocking his chair down, as he faced the man. "Leave now or else!" He shot a menacing glare at the man. "Oh, you're so scary, son. Don't be so mean to your old man," he replied.

Jake turned to Blake, ready to tell her to run, but she seemed to recognize the man. "Jonathon, what are you doing here?"

"Miss Blake Belladonna, it surprises me to see you as a student at Beacon. I see you know my son, Jake. So nice to know he's making friends."

"What do you want, Jonathon?"

"I just wanted to borrow my son for a while, Blake. The White Fang would like to meet him. Speaking of which, Jake, where's your sister, Charlotte?" Jake growled and shot a lightning bolt at Jon, only for it to be blocked. "That's just sad, son. I thought I taught you better than that."

"Get out now, dad!"

"No can do, kiddo!" Jonathon zipped at Jake, weapon drawn. He barely managed to avoid the attack.

Jonathon's swung his axe again at Jake, barely missing once again. Jake zipped over to Blake, grabbed her arm and ran as fast as he could to Beacon. Blake managed to keep up with his pace.

Jonathon gave chase and shifted his axe into a sniper rifle. He shot off a couple of dust rounds at his son, who was trying his best to avoid the gunfire. Jon was slowly gaining on them.

"Why are we running, Jake?"

"I can't take him on and neither can you. We can't even beat him if we worked together. My father has taken down an entire police force by himself. Do you honestly think that two students can do any better? Besides, he never goes alone. He's probably got White Fang soldiers ready to-!" As if on cue, Blake and Jake were knocked off their feet from a dust round shot out of a rocket launcher.

Jon and three other White Fang soldiers approached their targets, standing over them, ready to take them to god knows where.

That's when one of the soldiers a bo staff to the rib cage and got knocked down. A monkey Faunus with blonde hair stood in the soldier's place. "I'd leave the two cats alone, if I were you, boys."

The boy swung his staff and bashed another soldier in the head before he could react and then he separated his staff into double-barrel gunchucks. He blasted the third soldier as he tried to attack him and knocked him out immediately.

All that was left was Jonathon. "What a surprise. I didn't expect a Faunus to intervene. Care to tell me your name?"

The boy helped Blake and Jake back on their feet. "It's Sun Wukong. Make sure you don't forget the name when I crack your skull!"

Before they could engage in another fight, the police showed up followed by a number of huntsmen and huntresses. "I gotta go, kids. Don't want to waste any further time here. I'll be back, don't worry." Jonathon zipped off, leaving the White Fang soldiers to the police.

"What was all that about?" Sun asked. Blake looked to Jake for a brief moment and then turned to Sun. "We don't know, but thanks for the assistance, Sun."

"No problem, Blake. I'll see you later."

He ran off, leaving Blake and Jake alone with the police.

_**Elsewhere…**_

"I thought you said that you had it under control, Kitty," Roman shouted. "If I wasted anymore time there, and then the next person would have been Ozpin and Goodwitch. I'm not risking the mission to impatience," Jonathon threw back; "We need to be very patient if this project is going to be successful!"

"Then I suggest that we try a better opportunity to grab what we need."

"Beacon Academy is having their annual Remnant Ball in about a month. All the teachers, students, and staff members will be gathered in one part of the academy. That should give us enough opportunity to satisfy you, Torchwick."


	8. Bones Broken, Heart Fixed

Chapter 8 – Bones Broken, Heart Fixed

After everyone got back from their school break, it was announced that all classes were going to be cancelled for a week, save for Sparring. Teams HIJX and RWBY were late for class and were rushing to the Sparring Room.

Luckily no one from either team had a fight beforehand.

"So why would they cancel our classes to give us more sparring time?" Xavier questioned. "Suspicious activity from the White Fang has come up," Jake answered. Of course he would know.

After Jonathon Martin was driven off, the police had begun to question him, but before they could get anything out of him, Ozpin had come and taken Jake and Blake back to the Academy. After making him promise that he wouldn't tell anyone about his relationship with Jonathon, Jake answered Ozpin's questions. True to his word, Ozpin kept his secret, only releasing necessary knowledge.

_Next Match-up_

_Jake Martin vs. Yang Xiao-Long_

"Are you serious?" Jake groaned as he made his way to the arena.

"GO ON, JAKE! KICK HER ASS!"

"GOOD LUCK, YANG!"

"GIVE US A GOOD FIGHT!"

Jake's friends were giving Yang and he mixed comments as they cheered on. He groaned and unsheathed Storm Bolt, while Yang prepared Ember Celica.

_Begin!_

Jake zipped ahead and whacked her upside the head with the flat of the blade, sending a quick charge of electricity through it. Yang recovered from the blow quickly and swung her fist at him, but he dodged the attack and smacked her again in the side.

Jake kept up his speedy offense, slowly draining her aura. She got down low and did a swift 360-degree leg sweep, knocking Jake off his feet. Then, she attempted to stomp on his torso, but he rolled out of the way and got back up on his feet.

He switched Storm Bolt into whip mode and cracked the blade at her, but she grabbed the blade and pulled hard on it, drawing him in, before giving him a good hard punch to the face. Before he fell over, she grabbed him by his shirt and pummeled him. He electrocuted her, managing to get her to let go, but her punches left him stumbling as he backed away.

The electricity he sent into her body fried some of her hair and when she finally noticed, she exploded. Literally! With blind fury she sent him flying across the room with all her strength. It was too painful to move.

_Winner!_

_Yang Xiao-Long!_

Both Team RWBY and HIJX came over to Jake immediately and picked him up and took him to the Medical Wing.

"He's broken at least six ribs. Who did this exactly?" The nurse said.

Everyone turned to Yang without hesitation. "What? It was a sparring match!" Yang said.

"There's this thing, Yang, it's called 'holding back'," Haley replied.

The nurse took another look at the X-ray and turned to everyone. "It will take at least six weeks for him to recover. At least, that would be the normal amount of time, but here at Beacon, it should take just two."

"Damn it, Jake. You get to stay here for the week while we have to slave away in Sparring." Kanade groaned.

"Let's see you try lying in the Medical Wing with six broken ribs and find out how you like the smell of Antibiotics for the week."

"Well you all have to leave. There's only supposed to be two visitors allowed here." The nurse pushed them all out of the room and went right back to work.

_**Three hours later…**_

All of Jake's friends came to visit, mostly in pairs at a time. The only one who didn't visit him was Weiss. She said she didn't see the point in visiting him if he was going to be up and about again soon. Now it was Blake's turn. She asked the Nurse to leave the room and although hesitant, she obliged and waited outside the door.

"How are you feeling, Jake?"

"Even though Yang isn't beating on me anymore, I still feel like a steam roller is sitting on top of my chest." Blake shuddered a little. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be out of here soon enough. Although I have no doubts that two weeks will feel much longer for me."

"It will feel the same for all of us. We'll all be waiting for when you're released."

"Thanks, Blake. I know you're all worried. Well, maybe not Weiss." Despite being friends, Jake and Weiss still felt distant from each other.

"That girl is still _Weiss _Cold."

"That was a terrible pun, Jake," Blake said with a laugh. Jake scratched his cat ears a bit. "Anyways, I should probably thank you and Ozpin for keeping my secret."

"Everyone has secrets, Jake."

"Yeah, but mine aren't something I'd like to share, so thank you anyways."

Blake smiled down at Jake and he suddenly felt a little nervous. "So, uh, I was wondering, Blake," he began. "What is it, Jake?" It took him a couple minutes to say it. "After I'm released, would you go on a, uh…date with me?"

_Outside the Medical Wing…_

Kanade was eavesdropping on the conversation. She grinned evilly. "I can't wait to tell the others," she thought to herself. Suddenly, the Nurse grabbed her shoulder and pushed her away. "Go back to your dorm room!"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I've already got what I came here for," she thought to herself as she walked away.


	9. First Date

Chapter 9 – First Date

As Blake walked back to her dorm, she found that both her team and Team HIJX were there waiting for her. "What's going on here?"

"Kanade told us that Jake asked you out, Blake," Xavier explained. Blake turned to Kanade with a grumpy expression. "What? I just overheard a conversation and relayed what I heard to my team…and yours too." Haley held her hand up and smacked Kanade in the back of the head.

"You had no right to spy on them, Kanade!" Xavier and Haley were not at all happy with her. "Yeah, I've got to admit, that's pretty low," Yang commented, "Even though it's awesome news."

Blake switched her glance to Yang, annoyed. "You've finally found love!" She laughed, but no one else would join in. "Come on, guys!"

"Just stay out of her personal business. If she's asked out to a date, than no one else should have the right to tell anyone but her," Weiss said.

"Wow, since when are you such a date expert, Weiss?" Yang asked. She just growled in response, trying to keep some self-preservation. Blake groaned and went to leave when Yang grabbed her shoulder. "Wait, can't we help in any way?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know, to make your date better?"

"No, Yang, just stay out of it." She shut the door behind her, leaving everyone to think about the situation.

"You really had no right to do that, Kanade! You two had better stay out of this from here on out. Do you understand me?" Haley ordered. Yang and Kanade begrudgingly nodded in response and Team HIJX left the dorms.  
But, of course, that wouldn't be the end of it.

Two weeks later, after Jake was finally released from the medical wing, Blake went down to Vale to meet up with him for their date. Yang and Kanade were hiding in the shadows, watching Blake. "Okay, so are we ready to get started?" Yang asked. Kanade nodded quickly. "Let's do this!"

Jake was waiting near a dust shop wearing an orange T-shirt with his emblem, the Storm-Polished Gem on it as well as blue jeans and yellow and orange skate shoes.

Blake was wearing her usual outfit, making Jake laugh a little. "What is it?"

"How often do you wear that same outfit, Blake?"

"I never really got too many clothes other than this."

Jake laughed even further. "Alright, alright, come on, Blake. Our first stop is a clothes store. We need to get you some less serious clothes." And off they went. Yang and Kanade followed them as quietly as possible.

"He just insulted her outfit!" Yang exclaimed. "Stay quiet, Yang, or you'll blow our cover!"

Yang begrudgingly ceased her complaining and they continued to follow the couple, making observations.

The two Faunus headed into a clothes store and they looked for more casual clothes. Finally, they found a black layered shirt with black-and-white striped sleeves along with an emblem of the crescent moon on the back. From pants, Blake picked up a pair of black and red cargo shorts that reached her knees.

Jake noticed a sign that advertised shoe design for a pair of skate shoes. Jake headed on over and ordered a pair of black and white skate shoes with Blake's emblem on the sides. He paid the price for all the clothes they got and Blake dressed up in her new casual outfit.

Blake looked herself over for a bit before heading on over to Jake. "You look good, Blake!"

"It feels a bit strange," she muttered. "It's fine, Blake, don't worry about it."

They left the store and Yang and Inari came out of hiding. Yang was steaming. "It's like he's turning her into a tomcat!" Inari gave Yang a quizzical look. "Tomcat" was a strange choice of words. They continued onward, following them to their next destination.

Next, they headed off to a café. Yang and Inari put on disguises for this next part, as there wasn't a single place for them to hide in. Yang and Inari wore the cliché trench coat and sunglasses disguise, along with old hats to hide their hair.

Blake ordered black tea while Jake decided on a pumpkin spice cappuccino. They began to engage in conversation, but what was being said, Yang and Inari couldn't hear. Yang got up to get closer, but Kanade stopped her. "What are you doing? You could blow our cover!"

"We can't hear anything unless we get closer." She continued to move closer to the table, but she made it seem as though she were just passing by. Luckily for her, the restroom was in the direction she was moving.

As she got closer, she noticed Jake smiling more grimly than when she was back at her own table. When she got close enough, he pressed an open palm against her side and blasted a powerful charge into her body, knocking her down. "Lose the getup, Yang, we know it's you. You can tell Kanade to end the charades too."

Yang grumbled and tore her cliché disguise off to show Inari that it was over. "How long did you two know?"

Blake chuckled before responding. "We knew from the very beginning."

Blake and Jake sent them off back to Beacon immediately. "Why can't we just get some privacy?"

"We just have to pick our moments, I suppose."

"Hey Blake, would you be my partner at the Remnant ball that's coming up?" Blake smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Sure, Jake, why not?"

_Elsewhere…_

"Your last chance is approaching within the week, Jonathon."  
"Understood, Cinder, I promise not to fail this time." He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You had better keep that promise, Jonathon. Screw things up for us and we will have to take things into our own hands. We will allow you the use of the lower forces, but that's it."

"I understand sir."


	10. The Remnant Ball

Chapter 10 – The Remnant Ball

Jake and the rest of his team were preparing for the Remnant Ball which would take place that very night. Inari was dressed in a red and purple dress, Xavier was suited up in a white tux, Haley had a red dress, but Jake was going with the commonplace black tux.

They stepped out of their dorms to meet up with their friends. Teams RWBY and JNPR were all dressed up for the ball except for Yang. "What's with you, Yang?"

"She couldn't get a date to the Ball," Ruby replied. Jake laughed a bit, "What? Did you scare off the male student body?"

"Don't make me sock you in the gut, kitty!" Jake looked over Team RWBY, but Blake was nowhere to be found. "Hey, where's Blake, guys?"

"Oh, she's still getting dressed. Not used to wearing a dress, I suppose," Weiss replied.

Jake snickered under his breath and muttered, "She's not used to casual clothing either."

While his friends went ahead to the ballroom, Jake stayed behind to wait for Blake to come out of her dorm room. After a while, he heard Blake open the door. She came out in a black and white formal dress. "Come on, Blake, or we'll be late." He grabbed her hand and they made their way to the ballroom.

As they walked in, the sight of so many couples came into view half of them were dancing while the other half was getting food for the evening. "So what do we do now?"

Jake thought for a moment. "I guess we should dance?" It was more of a question than a statement. By the time they had reached the middle of the room, they realized they had no idea how to dance. "Aw crap, what do we do?" Jake mumbled. "I don't know, I thought you knew!"

"You two are hopeless," Weiss exclaimed as she made her way over with Xavier. "Here, let us help you," Xavier said with a smile. It was obvious that he was stifling laughter. "You put your left hand on her waist and you hold her left hand with your right." The two Faunus followed his instructions hesitantly, embarrassed that they needed help. As if from nowhere, they were pulled away from Xavier and Weiss over to the windows in the ballroom.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked. She and her date had pulled them away from the most embarrassing moment of their lives. "Yeah, we're fine, Ruby, thanks for the help," Blake replied.

"Are you sure? You two looked like you were face to face with a Deathstalker," Ruby's date exclaimed. "I think we'd rather face a Deathstalker than dance." Jake looked at Ruby's date with curiosity. "Aren't you from Team BURN?"

He nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, my name's Relic, it's nice to meet you." He held his trembling hand out for Jake and he shook it laughing. "The pleasure's all mine, Relic."

"So what's up? How come you two aren't dancing either?"

Ruby and Relic looked at each other nervously. "Ah, I see now. What a date you picked up, Ruby. A guy who's just as shy and nervous as you is a perfect match for you! Now I'm curious, who asked who to this ball?"

Ruby raised her hand for a moment. "Ah, in that case, Relic, you should have more confidence. You were chosen by a cutie like Ruby." Blake chuckled a little in the background.

Jake turned to the windows admiring the view when he noticed a red glow in the distance. It happened all at once. A fire dust round broken the windows and blew everyone off their feet. The doors burst open and more fire dust rounds were fired off.

Jake was ready to get back on his feet when he felt someone put their foot on his back, forcing him back down. "Sorry to drop in uninvited, kiddo, but we don't plan on leaving this time without you." It was his father again. "Get off of me right now!" He was about to send an electric current into Jonathon's legs, when a White Fang grunt kicked him in the face, knocking him out cold. "Let's get going, boys!"

He picked Jake up and turned to leave when he found his path blocked by Blake. "Let him go!"

"You look so beautiful in that dress, Ms. Belladonna. I wouldn't want to rip it in battle. Out of my way now," He ordered. She stood her ground, however.

"Very well then," He muttered, "I guess I can have some fun before I leave." He threw Jake across the room, only for him to be caught by a red-haired Faunus wearing a mask on his face. Adam Taurus, Blake's old partner.

"Come back here," she yelled as she started after him. Jon grabbed her by her dress and pulled her to the ground. "Come on now, first you challenge me to a fight and now you're having second thoughts?"

Jon pointed his weapon at Blake. "Either you fight me or you get out of my way!"

Before he knew it, though, Relic had placed the blade of his sword against his throat. "Get out now!"

"Well, well, another one!" Ruby ran and stood by Blake's side and before he knew it, Team RWBY had gathered around him. "Well, huntsman and huntresses and soon, Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch. I suppose I should retreat again. Adam should be getting back to us soon anyway. He sent a shock through Crescent Rose and Ruby backed away, giving him the opportunity to jump out the window and land into a bullhead. "I hope to see you kids again soon!"

The airship took off, leaving everyone wondering what they were doing here. Blake took off immediately.

Meanwhile, Jake was being carried off through the academy by Adam. He felt something pull against his leg and he tripped over it. "That's as far as you go, Bull boy!" A Faunus girl identical to Jake came forth, wielding a whip sword of which the blade had tripped him up. "They didn't tell me about this," Adam exclaimed as he got on his feet. Dropping Jake to the ground, he placed his hand on the hilt of his weapon.

"Of course they didn't tell you anything about us." Another Faunus came out of hiding. This one was a woman who also bore resemblance to Jake. "We were a surprise, for you and for him," she said pointing at Jake.

Behind this woman came Beacon Academy teachers and staff, all raising their weapons to him. "God damn it!" He drew his weapon and aimed the blade at Jake's throat, threatening to kill him. Something felt different though, as if his feet weren't touching the floor. He looked down and realized he wasn't wrong. He wasn't touching the ground, he was floating. He noticed Haley standing off on the side. She appeared focused and her body was glowing with her aura. She had shifted his body and took gravity away from him. He lost balance and fell on his back when gravity was returned to him.

Suddenly, the entire staff of Beacon was all over him, restraining him and keeping him pinned to the floor. Blake emerged from the crowd and shook Jake's shoulder, waking him up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but what happened?" Then he remembered getting kicked and instinctively felt his bruise and drew his hand away just as fast.

"Where is Jonathon?" Jake asked.

"He got away from us," she replied, "As did a number of other Faunus from the White Fang."

The woman that led the Academy Staff to Adam approached and knelt down next to Jake, smiling. "It's so good to see you again, Jake," she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. The girl from earlier came by and laughed at Adam as he was escorted out of the room. "That's what you get for messing with Jake!"

It was his mother and sister, Melanie and Charlotte.


	11. Truth Be Told

Chapter 11 – Truth be told

"Alright, mom, what are you doing here?"

Melanie smiled at her son. "What, am I not allowed to visit you?" He stared at her, irritated, knowing that she wasn't here for that alone. "Alright, I had some business with the Headmaster. Your sister wanted to come along to see you, despite being the leader of her own team back at the Academy in Atlas."

She turned around and headed off through the hallways, leaving Jake with the rest of the crowd. Charlotte walked over and looked at Blake. "Who's your pretty friend, Jakey?"

Jake pushed against her shoulders. "Back away, Charlie, this is Blake and no, she's not your type now get going!" Charlotte groaned in disappointment and disappeared into the crowd. "What was that all about?" Blake asked.

"My twin sister, Charlotte is a lesbian, so you might want to keep your distance from her."

Yang appeared and put him into a headlock. "What's wrong, Jakey-boy? Afraid your sister is going to steal your date?"

"Shut it, Goldilocks!" She let go of him and he distanced himself immediately. The rest of his friends joined her and gathered around. They asked the usual questions and he answered them all with ease, but one question stood out from the rest.

"Why would the White Fang come here for you?"

It was Weiss who asked the question, but she wasn't done.

"The White Fang break into the school and injure innocent students all so that they can take you back with them. Why would they be so interested in you, Jake? There's obviously something you're not telling us."

Weiss waited for an explanation, but he just turned and left for his dorm. "Hey, come back here!"

She wasn't going to get her answer, not now.

Jake threw himself onto his bed and closed his eyes, welcoming sleep. It didn't come as quickly as he wanted, but nonetheless he got what he wanted.

The next day was relatively normal. Jake and his friends took their classes, ate lunch, ran some errands, the usual stuff.

Meanwhile, Team RWBY was heading back to their dorm after running a few errands in Vale. "Still stressing over Jake, Weiss?" Yang's question broke Weiss out of deep thought.

"It's none of your business, Yang!"

"It's none of yours either, Weiss. If the little kitty wants to keep to himself, you've got no right to complain." Weiss mumbled angrily to herself as they made their way back to their dorm.

Later that night, Weiss was woken up from the sound of a door opening. She looked outside her dorm and found Jaune and Phyrra exiting their dorm to train on the roof. "Good evening, Weiss, sorry if we woke you up," Phyrra whispered.

Weiss was about to respond when Jaune went over to the next dorm room door and knocked. "Jake are you ready?"

Jaune just barely heard him say 'Almost'. "When does Jake ever train with you?" Weiss questioned.

"He doesn't train with us, Weiss. He likes to sit on the roof and watch," Phyrra answered. Why does Jake bother wasting time watching them train when he could be sleeping? The things she didn't know about him were starting to drive her insane.

After Jaune and Phyrra left, Weiss decided that this was her best chance to interrogate him, so she ran into his dorm room. Everyone was asleep except for Xavier and Jake. Jake was in the middle of putting on a new shirt. His back was turned and from that, Weiss saw it. Dozens of scars embedded in the skin on his back from numerous injuries. The one scar that stood out was the White Fang insignia seared into his skin.

Xavier was on his feet in seconds. He was trying to push her out the door, but she remained grounded.

"I heard you down the hall, Weiss. It really helps to know what you're going to do when you're so close to our dorm," Jake muttered. He knew she was coming and he didn't seem the least bit surprised, but his tone held obvious anger. He held it back as best he could, though.

"Are you done snooping around, Weiss? Because I have someplace to be and you're not blocking my way, so move, you're in the way." He slipped on a new shirt and walked to the door, stopping because Weiss hadn't moved. She looked down to the floor and moved out of the way.

Xavier waited for Jake to leave and headed to Weiss. He took her hand and led her down to the cafeteria. He wasn't sure where to start, but Weiss started for him.

"Did you know about this?"

Xavier nodded and Weiss banged against the table. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I know that you don't trust the Faunus, Weiss. He doesn't trust you with this information and neither do I!"

"Then why don't you tell me now?"

Xavier sighed and looked on. He considered it for a moment before relenting. "I suppose after what you saw, it's too late not to tell you. Jake is the son of two Faunus. Both were members of the White Fang when their first leader was in charge and when the White Fang underwent new management, his mother left the organization, attempting to take Jake and Charlotte with her. Unfortunately, Jonathon, his father, took custody of Jake while Melanie took custody of Charlotte. Jake lived with his father for weeks. His father beat Jake every day, but the Jake was planning to run away. Jonathon found out and seared the White Fang insignia onto his back as punishment, but he continued onward and ran away. He's lived with his grandparents since then, sending letters to his mother and sister who moved to Atlas. At least now they're back. So now you know why he kept to himself."

"That doesn't answer why the White Fang attacked the school to get him," Weiss pointed out. "Weiss, its bad enough he faces his abusive father when he just wants to forget about it. Just leave him alone, Weiss, he's got a lot on his mind," he replied.

Weiss stood up and left the cafeteria, running the new information in her mind. She went to her dorm and found Blake sitting up in her bunk, fully awake, waiting for Weiss. "Are you happy now, Weiss?"

Without response, she went to her bed and covered herself in the sheets, trying to push the image of his scars from her mind.


	12. Floaty!

Chapter 12 – Floaty!

All other classes besides Sparring were cancelled once again due to recent events. "Oh god, I'm getting tired of all this fighting. I miss all our little intellectual classes where we just have to sit down and listen to the teachers," Kanade groaned. "You don't even listen to the teachers, Kanade," Xavier pointed out.  
"Exactly!" She simply replied.  
Xavier hung his head in his hands. "Come on, Kanade, stop complaining, we need to get in more practice and training. Especially after what happened," Jake stated. "You're the only one who actually _needs_ training, Jake. The White Fang were after you. They didn't care about the rest of us."  
"That's exactly why everyone else needs to train, Kanade. You said they didn't care about us, right? That means, they don't need us and they can just off us whenever they want. They may not kill any Faunus, but you and me and many other students at this academy are human. We need to train to make sure we can stay alive and protect others." From that little speech Haley was fully awake and was now ready to take on whatever was thrown at her in Sparring.  
Early in the morning – _Every _morning – when she first wakes up, Haley's behavior varies from depressed, to angry, and even to unfeeling. Whatever she's like when she wakes up, it's never a positive attitude.  
By the time they got to class, Professor Goodwitch had decided to mix things up a bit. "Students, with recent events, today we will be trying an exercise I call Crowd Control. Two teams of students will fight every other student in the room all at once. The solitary team must take down as many of their opponents as possible until they fall, they beat the entire crowd, or time runs out.

_Te_am _RWBY and Team HIJX_

Both Teams stepped up and gathered around in a circle, waiting for the exercise to start.

_Begin!_

Ruby rushed forward and swung Crescent Rose into the nearest student, knocking him off balance and then drop kicked him, evading an attack to her left directly afterwards. She jumped back and rejoined her comrades. Yang did a ground pound, scattering a fraction of the crowd. Blake stepped in and swung Gambol Shroud into the group of students to left of the fallen ones. Among the people she attacked was Cardin Winchester. He managed to grasp Gambol Shroud and yank on the ribbon, drawing Blake towards him. As soon as she was close enough, she flanked to the left and roundhouse kicked him. Then she immediately went to work, fending off dozens of students with her weapon.  
Weiss covered the arena floor around her in ice and the students that attempted to reach her all fell down. She ice-skated around the arena, knocking down students with Myrtenaster. Kanade activated her semblance and used her halberd to whip up powerful gusts of wind to knock the students off balance long enough for Jake to zip in and smash the flat of his sword into their ribcage, sending a stun charge into them.  
"This is surprisingly easy," Kanade exclaimed. "That's because we know they're coming at us. The White Fang caught us off guard though. The reason we almost lost that battle and I almost got taken away is because we didn't expect an ambush that day," Jake replied.  
By the time the majority of the remaining students were left, they were close enough for Haley to activate her semblance effectively. "Guys, get ready! Things might get a little…floaty!"  
Haley calmed her mind and activated it. Suddenly everyone started getting lifted off their feet. It took a while for them to adjust, but they began to work on knocking out the rest of the students. Jake switched Storm Bolt into whip mode and swung the blade towards the closest student, Phyrra. However, somehow the whip narrowly avoided hitting her. Was his aim off?  
Jake saw Blake off in the distance doing the same thing with her Gambol Shroud, whipping her weapon into the remaining students. Weiss was able to make her way through the gravity-less air by using her glyphs, Yang and Ruby propelled themselves forward using course correction shots from their weapons, Kanade used her wind semblance to push herself where she wanted to go, and Haley was still firmly planted onto the ground. The only person who couldn't move willingly was Xavier, who was flailing his arms around helplessly.  
Jake swung Storm Bolt's blade into the second closest individual, Jaune, but the blade missed him too. He turned his attention to Phyrra again and shot her a suspicious glance. "Hey Jake," Ruby shouted, "Phyrra's semblance is Polamity or something!"  
"It's Polarity, you dunce," Weiss shouted in response. So she has control over magnetism? That explains why he missed her. She made it so that it narrowly avoided her so that Jake would think he simply missed her. (Yes, I only came up with this because I watched the new episode)  
Jake sheathed Storm Bolt and pulled out his secondary weapon, his archer's bow, Subtle Storm. Phyrra stared at him in confusion. She's probably thinking, 'How does he plan to use that when he doesn't have any arrows?'  
He pulled the drawstring back and unleashed his semblance. Lightning ran through the drawstring and gathered at the front of the bow, a ball of electricity forming. It grew bigger and bigger and when it reached its full size, it narrowed into and formed an arrow of lightning. Jake released the arrow and it went soaring through the air and made impact.  
It didn't take long for her to get knocked out.  
When Jake turned his attention to everyone else, he found that the others had already taken care of the rest of their opponents. "Haley, we're all done, you can let us down now!" Jake called out.  
Haley released her hold on gravity and everyone fell down to the floor. Some of the opponents were knocked out cold, but most of them were just incapacitated.  
"I am surprised to say that Teams RWBY and HIJX have succeeded in controlling the crowd. After what happened at the ball, this comes as quite a shock," Glynda said. "You are all dismissed." 

**Author's Note:  
For those of you who weren't expecting a training chapter, I'm sorry to say that that's just what you get. I was writing the chapter before and I decided I'd finish it before writing one that continued the story. It would be terrible to just throw away a half-finished chapter, am I right?**

**Anyways, don't worry about the plot. I promise to you all that I will get back to that as quickly as I can, but school JUST started up again, so I'll be having some distractions for a while. I promise that I will try my hardest to get more chapters of all my stories out there. Just hang tight.  
Reploid7,**

**Signing off!**


	13. Halloween

Chapter 13 – Halloween

Everyone at Beacon was excited for the coming of Halloween. It was fun to dress up as monsters and watch horror movies every year. Not to mention, Beacon Academy will allow students to wear their costumes in class. Everyone in the school was really gung-ho about it.  
Jake dressed up in a Vampire costume with very real-looking fang extensions, Haley dressed up as a Zombie, Xavier dressed up as a ghost of the "tortured soul" persuasion, and Kanade dressed up as a demon.  
"You play a good zombie, Haley," Jake said. She laughed and did a butchered impression of a zombie moan. "Anyways, let's go get to our classes," Xavier said. Team HIJX left their dorm and headed to their Grimm Studies class, seeing Professor Port dressed up in his usual uniform. "Good day, class. Today we shall talk about the most common locations of Cait Sidhes." Jake knew all of this already, so he just tuned Professor Port out. Besides, the lesson would just transition into another stupid story about Port's days as a huntsman. He looked at the class and admired their costumes, but his attention fell to his close friends. While Weiss and Blake were listening intently to the professor, Ruby and Yang were distracted by the members of Team BURN.  
Jake's heightened senses as a Faunus allowed him to hear their conversation. "I like your costume, Relic," Ruby said. "Thanks, yours looks pretty good too," he replied. Relic was dressed as what Jake assumed was a wizard and Ruby dressed similarly as a witch. "Yang heard about your costume and suggested I dress up in this costume."  
"I think it looks good on you," Relic replied shyly.  
After class was dismissed, Jake witnessed Weiss tripping and falling to the floor. He went over and helped her up. "Are you okay?" Weiss wiped the dust off her Angel costume and said, "I'm just fine."  
Jake could hear Ruby say, "I keep telling you, Weiss, I think you may be cursed."  
"I am not cursed, Ruby! There is no such thing as curses!"  
"What am I missing here?" Jake asked. "Weiss has been having all these accidents since she woke up this morning," Yang said as she and Blake came out of the classroom. Yang was dressed up like a Kung-fu fighter, wearing a Kung-fu jacket, a black belt , sandals, and with ragged cloth wrapped around her fists. Blake was dressed up as a pirate (Even though women were said to bring bad luck among pirates and other sailors back in the days of pirating), wearing a brown hide jacket, old black boots, a white undershirt, and a hat with a feather that Jake guessed had probably come from a small Nevermore.  
"Ruby believes that Weiss is cursed," Blake said quietly.  
"Well, what about you guys? Do you believe in curses?" Kanade asked. "I've read a number of horror stories involving cursed individuals, but I honestly don't believe in it," Blake said. "I don't really believe it either," Yang added.  
"Anyways, I like your costumes, guys," Jake said, moving to a different topic, "They really suit you, in certain ways."  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Weiss demanded. "Nothing, Weiss," he replied with a laugh. "We should probably head to our next class," Xavier reminded them. The two teams rushed to Oobleck's class, finding the ever-so-hyperactive professor dressed up, unlike Professor Port. Going with a historical theme, Oobleck was dressed up in the old-fashioned clothes of a soldier, most likely from a time before the Kingdoms were built. And, who would have known, wars before the construction of the four kingdoms was the topic.  
After class ended, Oobleck wished his students a happy Halloween and everyone took their leave. As everyone left Kanade witnessed Weiss trip and fall to the floor. She winced as the heiress made impact. "Ouch, that had to hurt."  
Ruby helped her up on her feet before it was time for third period, Sparring Class. Professor Goodwitch was one of the few who wore a costume for Halloween. "Alright students, today, we shall be playing another round of Crowd Control.

_Team JNPR and Team BURN_

Both teams gathered in the arena and prepared themselves as the rest of the class surrounded them. As the match began, Relic drew his sword and swung it into the first enemy. He fended off his opponents one by one before a couple of them managed to sneak around him. They nearly got him before Ulrich came and sucker punched one of them in the face with his steel prosthetic and followed up by back-handing the other. "Don't drop your guard, bro!" Ulrich exclaimed. "S-Sorry about that," Relic replied.  
"Don't apologize, idiot, just keep fighting!" Brenda shouted as she smashed her hammer into one of the oncoming opponents. "Right," Relic said before continuing his own assault. He tossed his sword up into the air and it came back down as a pair of revolvers. His hand glowed brilliantly as he pulled the triggers and fireballs came flying out.  
The fire exploded on impact, knocking out multiple combatants. Then something hit him from behind and stunned him. He just barely saw Jake off to the side with Subtle Storm in his hands. Jake zipped off and engaged in combat with Lie Ren, the two trading blows in a blur of yellow and black. Nora and Natalie, another girl from Team BURN took out multiple combatants by slashing, smashing and blowing up the competition. Unfortunately, their assault didn't last long as a piece of the arena rose up just as Nora was firing off a grenade. The grenade blew right in front of her and Natalie, knocking them out of the arena. Xavier took off towards Phyrra and swung his staff at her. She was unable to redirect it, as his staff had no traces of metal within. She blocked it with her shield and countered with an upward swing of her spear.  
Xavier jumped away and rushed forward again, but Phyrra kicked him in his jaw hard and knocked him out. Ruby and Blake attacked Jaune and had little trouble knocking him out. He may have been better than he used to be, but he still wasn't good enough. As Blake and Ruby were distracted Ulrich blasted them away with an explosive dust round from his Iron Rose revolver. It was now Weiss's turn. She thrust Myrtenaster into the floor and covered it in a sheet of ice and glided forward towards Phyrra. She redirected her rapier and avoided being struck.  
Seeing this, Weiss thrust Myrtenaster into the floor once more and Ice spikes rose up. Phyrra managed to jump away and, while still airborne, she tossed her shield at one of the spikes and it ricocheted off and hit Weiss in the back of the head.  
Yang ran forward and attempted to take Ulrich out, but he blocked her punch and began to exchange punches and kicks.  
Professor Goodwitch looked at the time and called off the match. "Class is dismissed children."  
Everyone left for lunch and Jake and Haley had to help Weiss wake up. "Are you okay, Weiss?" Jake asked. She got up on her feet, feeling slightly dizzy. "I'm fine."  
"Let's get to lunch then," Haley said. Jake and Weiss watched their friends walk off and converse with each other. "That was the first time I had ever seen Team BURN in action," Jake said, "They're pretty good." Ulrich was talking with Yang about the match, Relic was sheepishly starting a conversation with Ruby, Natalie and Brenda were just ignoring everyone.  
Jake smiled and looked to Weiss and realized that they never changed before fighting. "How's your costume, Weiss? Did it get ripped or torn anywhere?" Weiss examined her Angel costume and confirmed that it was undamaged. "That's good. It would have been a waste to have to buy another one, eh?"  
"That's nothing. I could by fifty of these costumes. I AM the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, after all." Jake laughed and followed their friends. "Yeah, I guess I forgot."  
Weiss followed after him and they soon reached the cafeteria. "So, it's been a good Halloween so far," Ulrich started. Kanade laughed, "It sure has. I can't believe that fight was dragged on for so long though. Not to mention your team is amazing in combat, too!" Brenda smiled smugly and bragged, "Of course we are. I'm the one leading them." Everyone just stared at her silently for a moment before resuming conversation. Then Ruby said something again. "Weiss, you got knocked out pretty quickly. Seriously, I think you're cursed!"  
Weiss was getting tired being told she was cursed and rose out of her seat to leave. Jake quickly grabbed her hand. "Just ignore it." She looked down at him and reluctantly sat back down. Kanade, Yang, and now, Natalie staring whispering to each and laughing. Brenda looked at the three girls just thought, "I don't even want to know what they're muttering about."  
Jake groaned and placed his hand on the table, sending a surge of electricity through it and zapping the three girls, careful not to zap anyone else. They all looked at him and he shrugged. "It's not nice to talk about others behind their backs girls. Their faces grew pale as they remembered that he had a better sense of hearing than them.  
Weiss looked at Jake and asked, "What were they saying?" He laughed a bit and said, "That you're 'into me' or something." Jake honestly didn't believe that. Weiss scolded them for gossiping about such things.  
Once again, Jake repeated, "Just ignore them." Weiss was mad, but she managed to calm herself. "So what are all your plans for Halloween," Jaune asked everyone. It took a while for them to respond as they had never thought of that.  
Haley was the first to answer. "Maybe we could set up a party."  
"I don't think the headmaster would approve of that," Ulrich said.  
"Approve of what?" Ozpin asked as he approached the table. "Where did you come from?" Ulrich exclaimed. "I can be very discreet when I want to be," he replied. Jake remained unsurprised. "We were hoping you would approve of us throwing a Halloween party. Possibly in the Ballroom, sir?" Professor Goodwitch was about to deny them that right, but Ozpin stopped her. "Very well, you may use the Ballroom to suit your needs." Jake figured Ozpin would be more at ease with the idea than Goodwitch. "However, in exchange, I'd like for you and your team to go on a Grimm extermination mission tomorrow." Jake and his team agreed and Ozpin left with Goodwitch following closely behind.  
"Wow, I didn't expect him to lend us the Ballroom so easily," Xavier commented.  
"Professor Goodwitch may be strict, but Ozpin is not," Jake said.  
"Alright then," Haley said, "If this Halloween party is going to be worth it, we need food, drinks, music, and more people. Team JNPR, I need you to fix the food for the party. Team BURN set up the music. Me and my Team will take care of horror movies and decorations."  
Although a few people didn't like Haley taking charge, they acknowledged her orders and spread out. Jake felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find Velvet standing there with the rest of her team behind her. "Um, excuse me, but would you mind if we joined you? We could give out invitations." Jake smiled warmly and said, "Of course, Velvet. The more help we have, the faster we can get this done. Team CFVY, you guys will work on invites. Just make sure not to invite CRDL, alright?" They all nodded their head and spread out along with everyone else. Hours passed and classes had ended. During every passing period, the five teams managed to get everything done. Horror movies were prepared, as well as music and food. Jake's speed worked wonders when it came to getting the decorations up, especially since they were pressed for time.  
A fair number of students actually came to the party. And, of course, CRDL was not invited. Ulrich got the music started and Thriller began to play over the speakers. Everyone did splendidly for the party and multiple scary movies were played. One of which was about a woman who was cursed to be tormented by demons, which refueled Ruby's concern for Weiss. Everyone had fun and it was the night came without any trouble. Until Cardin and his team came in.  
"What is this? Why didn't anybody tell us this was going on?" Coco from Team CFVY confronted Cardin and attempted to get him to leave, but he refused. So, she kneed him in the groin. He whimpered and fell to the floor before the rest of CRDL found RWBY, JNPR, HIJX, BURN, and the rest of CFVY surround them. Cardin was carried out of the ballroom by his team mates and they never bothered them again that night.  
"They just never know when NOT to butt in, do they?" Brenda growled. The party continued as if nothing ever happened. Soon enough, students began to leave the party and the five teams that set it up had to clean up. "That was pretty fun," Ruby said. Relic silently agreed with her and picked up a bit of trash. After the ballroom was cleaned up, the five teams left, wishing everyone a good night.  
Tomorrow, Team HIJX would be going on a mission and they had to prepare themselves.

**Author's Note:  
It's been months since the last chapter was posted and I am deeply sorry that the first chapter in months is a filler. I promise to get this back up and running though, so wait just a little longer.  
Reviews are appreciated.  
Happy Halloween.  
Reploid7,**

**Signing off!**


	14. Rising Conflict

Chapter 14 – Rising Conflict

Jake woke up and prepared his gear along with his teammates. Today they would be going out to a town on twenty miles from Vale called Chronis. They would be accompanied and supervised by a Huntress called Kuro. The team got onto a Bullhead and it took off out of Vale. "Our first mission of the year," Haley muttered. "I know, it's pretty cool, huh?" Kanade replied. Jake and Xavier nodded their heads silently and waited to reach their destination.

**-Location Unknown-**

"You have failed to capture your own son, Jonathon. Now we are taking matters into our own hands. However, the fact remains that your son is still a very capable candidate. Therefore I have seen fit to send a bit of my hired help to bring him in," Cinder said. Jon growled viciously at her. "Calm down, Jon, you will have a chance to redeem yourself in due time. Just wait a little and be patient."

**-Chronis-**

The bullhead landed and everyone piled out of it. The Huntress that was supervising the mission located the client and asked him a few questions. "How many Grimm are there?" She pried. "There are three Grimm," he responded.  
Kuro seemed skeptical at first, but continued questioning. "What type are they?"  
"All three of them are Cait Sidhes. Two of them are big and powerful, the third one is small and faster than the others." Kuro thought for a moment about this. She was skeptical before, but now it made sense. Cait Sidhes were a cat type of Grimm and they were known as the fastest Grimm in the world. Screams could be heard in town and the Team rushed to the source. True to the client's word, there were three Cait Sidhe Grimm terrorizing the citizens. Some local fighters were attempting to fend them off but were losing the fight quickly. Team HIJX rushed in and defended the citizens of the town and holding the Grimm at bay. Jake zipped off at top speed and would have slashed open one of the bigger Cait Sidhes' stomach if the smaller one hadn't blocked his strike with its armored tail. They weren't called the fastest Grimm for nothing.  
Jake and the smaller Grimm attacked each other over and over again, while the rest of the team fought with the bigger ones. Kuro used her weapon, a morning star to limit their movements while Haley, Xavier, and Kanade worked on killing them. Kanade whipped up powerful winds and Xavier shifted the earth to cage the beasts in a stone dome. Haley increased the gravity within the dome several times over, effectively crushing the Grimm. Xavier dropped the rock and allowed to take its original place in the ground. The two larger Grimm were dead, or so they thought.  
One of the larger Cait Sidhes charged at Jake and attempted to rip his throat open, but he blocked the strike with Subtle Storm as he drew it out. He strung the drawstring and shot the Grimm in the head with a lightning arrow, finishing it off. The distraction allowed the smaller Cait Sidhe to claw him in the back. He bashed it in the head with Subtle Storm and zipped back a bit, returning his bow to its harness and unsheathing Storm Bolt.  
Just as he was about to reengage the Grimm in combat, he felt his being blasted away by an explosive round. Before his team could rush to his side, a man with a black hat and white suit emerged from behind one of the town's houses. "Roman Torchwick, what are you doing here?" Kuro demanded. "Oh, I didn't know I'd be receiving such a warm welcome. Hello to you all." Kuro narrowed her eyes at him and he held up his hands in mock surrender. "Don't be so vicious, lady. I just happen to have some business to take care of. I'll be borrowing the cat for a while. I hope you don't mind." A couple of White Fang grunts came by and lifted Jake's unconscious body and carried him off. "You're not going anywhere with him!" Haley yelled and shifted Red Devil to its crossbow form, firing a bomb arrow at him, but a woman with pink and brown hair with white streaks jumped from seemingly nowhere and blocked the blast with her umbrella.  
The woman remained silent and simply stood between HIJX and Roman with her umbrella. "Not even going to bother fighting us?" Kanade spat. "Well I don't want to take too much of your time," Roman said. The grunts piled Jake onto a Bullhead and Roman headed off to it, himself. Kuro attempted to launch an ice shard at him with a dust canister, but Neo blocked it again and followed Roman to the ship.  
"Everyone, fire at the Bullhead and don't stop firing at it until it goes down," Kuro ordered. "But what about Jake? He could get severely injured or worse!" Xavier pointed out. "Would you rather he be in the hands of the White Fang?" She retorted. With nothing else to say, the team relented and threw rounds of ammo at the Bullhead. However, upon contact the image of the bullhead broke like glass and the real ship took off. "An illusion? Damn them all," Kuro cursed. The small Cait Sidhe from earlier had fled from the scene during the conflict.  
"What do we do now?" Kanade asked. "We report this to Professor Ozpin and send a rescue team." Knowing that there was no way they could follow them with the head start they had gotten at the speed the Bullhead was travelling, the group got back to Beacon Academy and Team HIJX headed straight for their dorm room. On the way, they met up with Team BURN. "Hey, you guys are back sooner than I thought," Ulrich said. They were unresponsive and they all had a look of disappointment in their eyes. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Relic asked. "Yeah and where's Jake?" Natalie added. Haley spoke up and replied, "The White Fang interrupted our mission and captured Jake. We don't know where they went."  
Brenda was about to say something, but Xavier stopped her. "The Huntress that supervised our mission is going to inform Professor Ozpin and they'll most likely send someone to rescue him, so hopefully we have nothing to worry about."  
Team RWBY was approaching when they started speaking and Blake was the first to hear what was said. She made a mad dash to the Headmaster's office and heard a conversation between Kuro and Ozpin. "…Can't just leave him to the White Fang. Who knows what will happen to him," Blake heard Kuro say as she approached the door. "I'm aware of that, but how do you propose we rescue the boy when we don't even know where his kidnappers have gone off to? I cannot simply send a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses to rescue a student when we are not entirely sure where he is."  
"But sir…!" She started.  
"We must determine their location first, then we will worry about getting him back." Kuro gave out a sigh and muttered, "Yes sir." Blake backed away from the door and ran back towards her dorms. She found Team HIJX in the cafeteria conversing with Teams RWBY and BURN. JNPR was nowhere to be found. "Ozpin won't send a rescue party until they have enough information to locate the White Fang," she said. Everyone had a look of disbelief, but it soon faded as they realized it was just common sense.  
"Then what do we do?" Ruby asked. "Why don't we start our own search for information?" Kanade proposed. Team RWBY seemed to like the idea. "We have experiences in those sorts of things," Yang said. "We'll wait for nightfall before we roam the kingdom of Vale in search of answers," Blake started. "Yeah, after what happened last year, I doubt they'll do anything out in the open," Weiss added. "After the sun sets, we'll head out into Vale and search for anything that raises suspicion. We're looking for people connected to the White Fang, so Faunus who are acting shady are going to be our best bet," Blake continued. "I'll go visit the Night Club again and see if Junior knows anything about this."  
"In that case, me and Xavier should investigate the multiple instances of Faunus kidnappings. If we look hard enough, we might be able to find something," Weiss said. Xavier agreed. "I'll go with Blake," Haley said. "Right, then I'll go with Yang," Kanade replied.  
"Hey, what about us?" Brenda demanded. Teams RWBY and HIJX looked at Brenda and her team. "We don't want anyone else to get involved. The seven of us should be able to take care of this without you."  
"Now what did I tell you last year? You should totally get friends involved." Everyone turned to find Sun standing behind them. "Unfortunately, I couldn't bring Neptune. He had more…pressing concerns."  
"No way, monkey boy!" Kanade exclaimed.  
Natalie growled and slammed her fists on the table. "You're not stopping us from coming, god damn it! Jake's our friend too, so don't try to keep us from this!" she yelled. A number of other students in the cafeteria turned and stared at them but soon turned their attention back to their lunch.  
Blake relented, "Fine, you can help us with the search. Just don't let anyone else in on this. The last time we attempted a search for information, it ended with a huge battle that destroyed part of the freeway. Brenda and Natalie will go with Yang, and Relic and Ulrich will go with Blake," Weiss said. After they made their plans, the twelve of them finished their lunch in silence and waited anxiously for the moment they start their search.

**-Location Unknown-**

Jake woke up in a small room with only one door and no windows. He tried to go for the door, but was stopped by a set of chains that kept him close to the wall. He would break through the chains if he could, but his semblance would only magnetize the metal restraining him. What happened?  
He heard footsteps approaching and voices as well. "Why do you insist on having us experiment on him while he's awake ma'am. He may be a prisoner, but that doesn't mean we have to torture him. We should let him sleep through it." A low voice that could only belong to a woman responded, "He's given you trouble in all the time you've attempted to fetch him. Punishment seems suiting."  
A woman with black hair and yellow-orange eyes and a slender Faunus man came into view as the door opened up. "Good morning, Jake," the woman said, "We've been waiting for you to wake up for a while now." Now he knew why he was chained up. He must've been captured by the White Fang after he got knocked out. But why was a human with them? The White Fang would never work with humans. Right?  
"It's good to see you're finally ready for testing, Gemini," the Faunus said. Jake growled, "Don't call me that!"  
"I'm sorry Mr. Martin, but I suggest that you get used to it, because that is what you will be called after today," he responded, "Experimentation will begin in ten minutes, so prepare yourself." The Faunus man looked sad and looked at Jake with pity.  
Jake looked away from the Faunus man and looked at the woman. "Why is a human with you?"  
"Ms. Cinder has been doing business with all of us in the White Fang for a while now," the Faunus responded. "But why?" Jake asked.  
"That's for us to know and for you to find out. Be cooperative with us and you just might find out," Cinder answered. Jake growled at her and glared at her with a burning hatred. "I hope you're expecting pain, Jake, because you'll be feeling a lot of it in a few minutes," she said with a laugh.  
Cinder left the room while the Faunus walked over and added a new set of chains to his arms while removing the ones that kept him restrained to the wall. As the two of them left the room, Jake kicked him in the shin, making him fall to his knees. Jake ran off in the opposite direction of where Cinder turned. She may be a human, but Jake was afraid that she might be stronger than she appeared.  
The Faunus boy kicked his speed to its limits and zipped through the building. A group of Faunus from the White Fang blocked his way into the main hall of what he assumed was an estate. The place looked abandoned and ransacked, so that probably meant he was in an old building in an abandoned village.  
Jake was unable to use his fists as they were chained together, let alone use his weapons, considering they took them from him.  
Jake spun around the crowd at Mach 1 speeds and left behind a trail of electricity which formed a circle around the crowd. After circling them for about a minute and a half, he distanced himself and the electricity he generated around them exploded into a thunder bomb. The sudden burst of electricity knocked every single one of them out and would paralyze them for hours.  
Jake looked around the room and recognized the exit. He zipped towards it and burst through the doors. However, he was greeted by an even bigger crowd of Faunus with Grimm bearing their teeth at him. The largest Grimm was a King Taijitu. The enormous beast snapped forward at him, jaws opening wide. Jake leaped over and landed on its head, running across its long body.  
The other head of the Grimm made an attempt to snap him up in its jaws, but Jake put in a sudden burst of speed, avoiding the attack. The King Taijitu accidentally snapped its jaws closed on its own body as a result, piercing its own skin with its fangs. As Jake leaped off the Grimm a pack of Beowulves rushed him, swinging their claws at him. He managed to remove himself from their assault with nothing but a few cuts on his clothes.  
He swung his foot up and brought it down upon one of the Beowulves' heads and slammed it down into the ground. Just as a Beowulf dashed forward and swung its claws at him, Jake stepped back and raised his shackled arms and the Grimm's claws broke the chains. An Ursa joined the mix and the two Grimm swung their claws again, but Jake ducked under and gripped their extended limbs, redirecting their claws and forcing them to impale each other in the head.  
He looked back long enough to notice a Boarbatusk rolling in his direction. He somersaulted over the pig and watched as it collided with the building, falling onto its belly. Jake zipped over and grabbed one of its tusks, breaking it off and leaping back.  
The Grimm recovered and charged at him once again, but Jake delivered a powerful kick to roll it onto its back. With that opportunity, he thrust the ivory tusk into the monster's belly, stabbing into its heart. The King Taijitu came back at him and opened its jaws again, but Jake jumped in and, within the beast's mouth, he ripped the tusk through the roof of its mouth and ripped through its brain, killing one of the beast's heads. With the tusk now stuck in the snake's head, Jake broke one of its fangs off and leaped out of its mouth to confront the other head.  
During this full-on war between a single Faunus and multiple Grimm, Neo watched in the distance with Roman, enjoying the spectacle and they weren't the only ones. Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai and even Cinder was watching. They did nothing to stop the fight and bring him back. They simply watched.  
He was being tested to prove if he was truly worth it and so far he was proving them right.  
After Jake had finished dealing with the Taijitu, the last Grimm that faced him was a Cait Sidhe. He readied the Taijitu fang and soon he and the monster began trading blows at high speeds. Jake's greatest weapon was his high speed, but Cait Sidhes were capable of matching that speed.  
A few of the White Fang members watched with interest and before they knew it, Jake had impaled the monster's head with the fang. He turned his attention to the army of White Fang members and ripped the fang out of the Cait Sidhe's head. He dashed toward them and swung his weapon, but as soon as they made contact, the image rippled like waves and then dissipated, revealing a large room with multiple cages and actually very few people. Rather than a whole army, there were only a few White Fang grunts in the room. "What was that?"  
Jake heard hands clap and Roman Torchwick approached with his weaponized cane in hand. "What a show! You really know how to entertain your hosts, kid," he said. Jake was confused by what had just happened. "What just…?"  
"We thought we'd begin the tests. Didn't we tell you?" Jake looked around for an exit, but the only door out was locked up and he didn't think he could unlock it. "It looks like we were right to put the effort into capturing you," a Faunus woman in a lab coat said. "You fight spectacularly, young man. So much in fact that a sneak was the only way we could've captured you in the first place and even that might not have worked." She gave him too much credit. Although it has been proven that the older a Creature of Grimm was, the wiser they were, that still didn't apply to how he combats other people. Humans and Faunus are more difficult as they have a larger capacity to read another individual's movements.  
Jake had a feeling that the Grimm that were thrown his way were young and still at an age of recklessness, so fighting that crowd was not a feat as impressive as they let on.  
The woman with the lab coat drew a pair of tonfas with a revolver wheel and slammed her fist into his chest swiftly, a fire round following her sucker punch and pushing him back. With a locked door being his only way out, multiple armed individuals close by, and a feeling of exhaustion weighing him down, Jake was not likely to escape.  
The Faunus woman rushed him and threw both her fists forward, but he managed to back away before they made impact. She kept up her assault and it was a killer avoiding her attacks after he spent himself on the Grimm attack. He continued to back up until he bumped into someone. The man placed his hands on his shoulders and said, "I'm so glad you're here son and even more so that you were able to kill so many Grimm on your own. You were given a test and you passed it with flying colors." Jonathon released his grip on Jake and brought his elbow down on his son's head, knocking him out cold.  
Cinder walked over and kneeled down next to the unconscious boy. "He's quite an impressive boy, Jonathon."  
"He had to be to keep me from beating him into the dirt," Jon replied. "What a loving father," Emerald said sarcastically. Cinder gave out a chuckle before getting back up and heading for the door. "Angela, you and Jonathon can take Jake back to his cell." Jon and the woman in the lab coat picked him up and carried him out of the room.

**Author's Note:**

**This certainly is longer than most chapters I've written. The only chapter I've written for any of my fanfics that's longer than this was nine pages long, while this is six pages long.  
I had originally planned to end this chapter much earlier, but I figured I'd treat you guys to a longer read to make up for all the time I wasn't working on this.  
Speaking of which, I'd like to apologize to those of you who read this and wait for new chapters. I want to say sorry for not uploading any new chapters in months on end. All of that time I was working on another Fanfic I wrote called Ashes to Ashes and I got so caught up in it, I nearly forgot all about Grimm Future. However, with the end of Volume 2 drawing near, I figured I'd kick this thing back into gear and work on it more. I'll still be spending more time on Ashes to Ashes than this, but I promise to submit new chapters to this more frequently than before. Besides, Ashes to Ashes is almost at its ending point.  
Also, with the new pairing of Weiss and Neptune, Weiss's feelings towards Jake have been changed from Weiss having a crush on Jake (From the original concept of this story) to just a close friendship between the two. However, Jake's relationship with Blake will not be changed. Despite the signs of a pairing between Blake and Sun in Volume 2, I'm not going to have Blake date Sun or show any romantic feelings towards him in any way. However, you can bet that Sun will probably feel depressed that Blake already has a boyfriend. XD  
Anyways, I swear there will be more to come, so I hope that you will continue to enjoy my work. Reviews are always appreciated.**

**Reploid7,**

**Signing off!**


	15. Those Less Fortunate Part One

Chapter 15 – Those Less Fortunate Part One - Nyte and Day

Jake waited in his cell for hours on end, unable to sleep any further. The anxiety caused by recent events and possible future events kept him awake for a while. It was impossible to sleep when so many things could be waiting for him the next time Cinder visits his cell.  
So far, she has done no such thing. The visitors he got were few. He's been visited by a few Faunus, Roman Torchwick, Mercury, and the woman in the lab coat that attacked him earlier. Angela Copper was her name and the one time she visited him, she teased him about failing in his escape from the area. Luckily for him though, Jake was never visited by his father. With his current situation, the last person Jake wanted to see was his father.

**-Vale, Market District-**

It was the weekend so there were no classes being held. Team RWBY was making their way through the various stores in the market district. The place was bustling and business was booming despite the series of dust robberies that occurred last year.  
The team visited a café and ordered drinks for themselves. "Tonight's the night," Blake muttered. "Yeah, do we all remember the plan?" Yang asked. Everyone nodded their heads in response, not in the mood to say anything. They were all thinking about what they were going to do when the moon rose up in the sky. The last time they came up with the idea of doing a search for information, their plan was more solid and promised more progress than it did this time. They were all afraid they wouldn't be able to find as much information. Their biggest concern was the well-being of Jake. Weiss was holding her scroll tightly in her hands, tapping the screen and browsing through multiple articles at once, already hard at work in her search.  
The last time the four of them attempted a search for information, Weiss contacted her family's company to get the files she wanted, but it wouldn't take much to get what she needed this time. Every time she found something, she saved it to her scroll and resumed searching. A low rumbling roused her from her search and she looked at Ruby at the sound of her stomach growling. Her leader gave out a little giggle and ordered a few cakes. Weiss sighed for a moment before returning to her search, nibbling on a cake as they came in.

**-Beacon Academy, Cafeteria-**

Team BURN separated from Team HIJX and left for the Sparring Room to train in case the night grew violent, leaving the incomplete team to ponder future events for themselves. "Why can't we just start our search now?" Kanade moaned. "Because," Xavier said, looking up from his scroll, "The club that Yang, Brenda, and Natalie will be visiting is a night club, not a day club. Not to mention if our enemies are at all active, they'll most likely move about the most at night when few people are roaming the streets, giving them the opportunity to do things they couldn't do in broad daylight."  
Kanade whimpered and dropped her head onto the table. "We're just as worried as you are, Kanade," Haley said, "But we need to be patient. It's only for a few more hours, okay?"

**-Area Unknown-**

Jake heard the door open and raised his head to find Cinder and the Faunus man from the day before looking down at him. "Hello again, Jake, I believe you know why we came in?" Cinder said. Jake remained silent and lowered his gaze back to the floor. "Now don't be like that. The pain will come in just a few minutes, so perhaps if you behave, it might not be so painful. Topaz, bring him to the main lab." The man nodded his head as Cinder walked out.  
"Well, I don't suppose it's very comfortable having to sit down all the time and not get any exercise," Topaz said. His hair turned yellow as he offered Jake a smile. "What the…?"  
"My name is Harold Topaz and I'm a Chameleon Faunus. My hair and eye color changes with my emotions," he explained, "Yellow stands for understanding."  
"So then what is it you understand?" Jake asked him. "I understand why you did what you did yesterday to me. You're a prisoner here and I don't blame you for attacking me to escape." Harold heard Roman call for him and he quickly unchained Jake and helped him up. "You can walk, right?" Jake nodded his head to Harold and walked ahead, but turned back. "Aren't you going to chain me up?"  
Harold shook his head and moved on. "With our resources, it's doubtful you could escape. We believe that you would be able to understand that and make no attempts to escape. If you do try to escape like you did yesterday, then you most definitely be slapped in chains, but you're being given a chance to be at least a little cooperative." Jake understood and with the trick they pulled on him yesterday, he wouldn't be surprised if he failed to escape a second time.  
Jake followed Harold down the halls and met up with Torchwick, Emerald, and Mercury. "There's the man of the hour," Mercury said. "Ah, kitten brat, I was wondering when you'd get here," Roman said. Jake gave a low hiss in response at Roman. "I don't think the cat likes you, Torchwick," Mercury said to Roman, "I think he sympathizes with us." Emerald just remained silent and kept a watchful gaze on Jake.  
"Alright, it's time to get you to the labs," Topaz said nervously.  
The four of them escorted Jake, gathering in a circle around him. Everyone's eyes were wandering as they entered the lab. Except for Emerald. She kept her eyes on Jake, as if she were searching for something.  
"Ah, it's about time you arrived, little kitty," Angela called out from the center of the room, "I've been so lonely, I thought I'd never get to hear you scream." Jake tensed up as his four escorts led him to a machine standing behind Angela. The machine had a lot of wiring plugged into a table. Hooked up to the machine were cages carrying many different Grimm and glass containers carrying what Jake could only identify as blood and by the foul stench of it, he guessed it was Grimm blood to boot.  
"Alright everyone, lay him down on the table and keep him pinned while I strap him down and hook him up." Mercury and Emerald stepped back but Roman and Topaz walked him over and forced him to lay on the cold metal table.  
Angela strapped him in and grabbed a few tubes that ended with needles. Every tube was connected to a different blood tank. She inserted the first needle into his right arm and went over to a control panel. "Now let's see what Grimm breeds you're compatible with," Angela said pressing a button, "Could it be…Beowulf?" Blood from one of the tanks came surging through the tube and into his bloodstream. As soon as his the Beowulf blood made its way into his body, an excruciating pain blew through every nerve in his body. He began to scream and clench his fists. His nails dug into his hands and blood came out.  
Angela smiled sadistically and pressed a few buttons. "Why don't we let everyone see that wonderful expression on your face?" The table dipped forward and got Jake into an upright position. Roman, Cinder, and a few others remained unmoved by Jake's screams and his horribly pained expression. Topaz, Mercury, Emerald, and a few members of the White Fang, however, no longer wished to be in the room. Cinder kept Emerald and Mercury in the room, but Topaz rushed out with a few of his peers.  
Angela pressed a button and blood stopped coming through the tube. It took a while afterwards, but soon the pain ceased. Jake coughed up every drop of Beowulf blood that was pumped into him.  
"Well, judging by the pain you were subjected to, I'd say that you're incompatible with Beowulves," Angela said, "Even if you're screaming was entertaining." She took the needle out of Jake's arm and picked up another tube and inserted the needle end into the same place and started the machine up again. "Let's try Ursa's blood." The pain that came when the blood entered him was exponentially less than with the blood of a Beowulf. Jake was able to keep himself from screaming this time and he coughed up less blood.  
"Hm, it seems Ursai are somewhat compatible to you. How about a Boarbatusk?" The blood of the boarbatusk was just as painful as the Beowulf and Angela quickly wrote notes on a notepad before moving on to the next Grimm. "How about Cait Sidhe?"  
When the Cait Sidhe blood entered Jake's body, he expected another wave horrible pain, but surprisingly, no pain came. Everyone seemed shocked that Jake had no further reaction other than flinching a bit. "What is the meaning of this?" Cinder asked. "It appears that Jake here is one hundred percent compatible with Cait Sidhes. Kind of funny, he has the speed, the agility, he's a cat Faunus," Angela said with a laugh. "Well I suppose we've found your match. I wish I could have experimented further. I would have loved to hear you scream even more. Unfortunately, I've only been ordered to find your match." Angela unstrapped him and Jake fell to the floor, his body numb. Something was buzzing through his body…was it the blood they pumped into him? Mercury and Emerald lifted him up and Cinder ordered them to return him to his cell.  
"Man, you're heavy, you know that?" Mercury groaned as he and Emerald dragged him to his cell. Jake managed to get a laugh out and rasped, "Thanks a lot, jackass." Jake coughed a couple times before asking Emerald, "Why are you so quiet?"  
Emerald didn't answer and helped Mercury get Jake into his chains. Soon, the two of them left, closing the door and locking it up. "So why ARE you so quiet around the kitty?" Jake heard Mercury ask. "It's nothing," Emerald said.

**-Beacon Academy, Court Yard-**

Teams HIJX, RWBY, and BURN were all gathered in the court yard and preparing for their night. "Alright, it's time to get out there find out what we can," Haley said. "Yeah, let's do this!" Yang declared. The group boarded a couple of airships and made their way to Vale. The groups then split up in order to carry out their individual duties.

**-Vale, Night Club-**

Since Yang had three other people coming with her, she couldn't take Bumblebee out for a ride and was forced to walk. No one else had a vehicle. Upon her arrival, men wearing red ties and black suits started to freak out as she got closer.  
Everyone backed away from her and Yang and co. entered the club. There was very few people there due to the fact that the club was just now opening for the night. Junior and the twins were standing around at the bar. When they saw Yang enter they all shook. "So, can you explain how you have these guys shaking in their boots, Yang?" Kanade asked, "Are you some kind of street boss or something?"  
"No way, I busted everyone's butts the first time I came in here," she answered. Brenda and Natalie shuddered at the thought of Yang taking down everyone in a night club on her own.  
Yang headed to the bar. "Strawberry Sunrise, no ice," Yang said, "And don't make me wait this time!" Junior quickly grabbed a glass and got to work with Yang's drinking sliding it over to her when he was finished. "That's better," Yang said.  
"Can you tell me why you're here, blondie?" Junior asked.  
"What do you know about the White Fang, Junior?" Yang asked. Junior shrugged his shoulders looked down at the floor for a moment. "All I heard was that they've been kidnapping Faunus off the streets. Most likely, those Faunus are ones that don't want anything to do with them, otherwise, the White Fang wouldn't bother recruiting them so forcefully."  
"Are we going to return with no info again?" Yang thought to herself. Brenda spoke up and asked, "Well can you at least tell us of any White Fang activity within the kingdom that might be happening tonight or anytime soon?" Junior took a good look at Brenda and answered, "Yeah, they're recruiting new members in the kingdom again. I heard about what you did last year, blondie. They think it's safe to start recruiting again. Probably going to be in a different area this time, though." Natalie nodded her head and pulled out her scroll and placed a call to Blake.

_What is it?_

"The White Fang are apparently recruiting within the kingdom again," Natalie answered.

_Alright, we'll keep an eye out, Natalie._

Natalie ended the call and Yang finished her drink. "Alright, Junior thanks for the information. I might stop by every now and then," Yang said as the group began to leave the club. "Leaving so soon, blondie?"  
A man with long black hair entered the club wielding a scimitar with glowing blue marks along the blade. "Why not stay? I'd love to get to know the girl who beat up Junior, and maybe I can get know your friends too," he said observing the girls. "Get bent, asshole," Natalie yelled. "Yeah, how's about you pull your filthy head out of the gutter," Brenda added.  
"My goodness, quick pistols, I see," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. He took a bow, saying, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nyte and I'd like to have a nice long talk with the blonde one there."  
Yang prepared Ember Celica and glared at him with menacing red eyes. "Ooh, you're so scary. Alright, if you want to tango, then I'm game." Nyte and rushed towards Yang with his sword ready to strike. Yang ducked under the blade and brought her fists up to connect a solid punch to his lower jaw, but Nyte quickly kneed her in the face and she quickly backed up. Her aura managed to absorb most of the pain.  
Nyte quickly dashed towards her again and swung his Scimitar towards her knees, but she quickly jumped up and slammed her foot hard into his face. The man stumbled back a bit and stared Yang down. His jaw was dislocated, but he didn't care. He gripped his jaw and snapped it back into place without hesitation.  
Brenda and the others flinched at the loud crack, but Yang quickly fired a few rounds from Ember Celica at him. He avoided the gun fire and the marks on his sword began to glow brilliantly. He swung the blade through the air and a wave of ice appeared rushing towards Yang.  
She jumped over the attack and dropkicked Nyte to the floor. She placed her foot on his back and kept him pinned to the floor. Almost immediately after, she kicked him in the face again, even harder than before, knocking him out. Yang finally left the bar with Brenda, Natalie, and Kanade. "Pervert," she spat at Nyte.  
As soon as the group left, Nyte laughed and got off the floor, dusting himself off. "Oh man, I love that girl's spunk. Oi, Junior, how's about a few shots!"

**Author's Note:  
Hey everyone, I kept my promise. More chapters are coming in and the plot is thickening! More new faces are beginning to pop up as the heroes attempt to save their friend. Will they accomplish their mission? I ain't gonna tell you! NO SPOILERS! XD**

**Reploid7,**

**Signing off!**


End file.

RWBY, Adventure, Romance