A few days later after the incident with Cardin and meeting Yakumo, the mysterious boy who could control Grimm, the students were now out with Glynda Goodwitch, on a journey through the Forever Fall Forest, the same forest Blake, Akito and Setsuna were in when they were partnered with Adam. Just being in the forest again brought memories to the black-haired wolf Faunus as he looked around before leaning towards Blake.

Akito: "Brings back memories, don't it?" He whispered to her to which she whispered back,

Blake: "Yeah, it does.. Though not all of those memories were.. good to say the least."

Akito: "I hear ya."

However when the two glanced at Setsuna, she seemed extremely happy as her wolf tail was wagging and she had a happy open-mouthed grin on her face. The two raven-haired Faunus looked at each other before letting out a small laugh at the Arctic Wolf's display.

Glynda: "Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee, Professor Peaches asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."

Autumn: "Wait... Children have died during this class before???"

Glynda: "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4:00. Have Fun!"

Summer: "You just told them that the place is filled with Grimm and that they could die and you then say, 'Have Fun'??"

Spring: *innocently "Sounds super fun to me!"

Winter: "...You poor thing, Spring..."

>Chapter 6: The Red Forest<

Now with the students splitting up with their teams, they all went off in different directions into the density of the forest. Teams RWBY, WOLF and JNPR all went together; well JNPR was without their leader, Jaune and Pyrrha seemed to have definitely taken note of that as her smile wasn't present. With Nora eating out the sap of every Jar that Ren gave her before returning the empty one to him, without him knowing for the longest time, they weren't making any progress on the task. Team RWBY seemed to have been moving pretty smoothly with Blake already being finished as she began reading her book while sitting on the ground and against a tree.

As for Team WOLF, Akito watched helplessly as Setsuna struggled to get sap out of the tree. At one point, she began to punch it out of frustration.

Akito: "Setsu... You just need to put a small puncture in the tree... not punch it."

The white wolf glanced back at him, her ears twitching before she suddenly bit the bark of the tree. Upon moving her fangs from it, sap began leaking out into the jars. She looked back at him, smiling with her tail wagging.

Setsuna: "Like this?"

Akito: *deadpans* "Yeah..." He shook his head and sighed before he took a glance at Pyrrha, who stood by herself just filling her jar up. Deciding to see what was wrong with her, he approached her. "Everything alright over here, Cherry-Pop?" Hearing his voice, caused the red head to turn around and look at him.

Pyrrha: "O-Oh.. Hello, Akito."

Akito: "Seeing you frown like that is scary. Everything alright?" He asked, placing his hand around her shoulder. She just sighed and looked down before slowly shaking her head. "Is it Jaune?"

Pyrrha: *nods* "Mhm..."

Akito: "Huh... Makes sense... He isn't here either.. You wanna talk about it?"

Pyrrha: "No really..."

Akito: "Alright, I won't push it. But.." He pulled her closer and pat her head gently. "If you wanna talk, remember Setsu and I are here." He said, giving her a thumbs up and a small smile. Seeing that caused the red head to blink before smiling back.

Pyrrha: "I'll remember that. Thank you, Akito."

Before he could respond however, a loud roar echoed throughout the forest, alerting everyone as they suddenly stopped what they were doing.

Akito: "The heck!?" Suddenly, Team CRDL, minus Cardin himself came running towards the groups.

Russel: "URSA! URSA!" He bumped into Yang who grabbed him by the collar and slightly lifted him up.

Yang: "What!? Where!?"

Russel: "Back there! It's got Cardin!" He said pointing back to where they ran from. Akito blinked for a moment before seeing Pyrrha drop her jar with a look of horror on her face; only then he knew.

Pyrrha: "Jaune!"

Akito: "Shit..."

Ruby: "Yang! You and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch!"

Akito: "Setsu, go with them!" The Arctic wolf looked at him and nodded as she, Yang and Blake all dash off while Pyrrha turned to her teammates, while equipping her weapons.

Pyrrha: "You two, go with them! There could be more!"

With Nora and Ren joining the other three that had retreated, Ruby, Akito, Weiss and Pyrrha all dashed towards where the roar came from. Upon arriving, they immediately spotted Cardin on the ground with some sap on his chest armor and an Ursa Major looming over him. It brought its claw down on him, only for Jaune to block it with his shield. The others got ready to attack but Pyrrha stopped them.

Pyrrha: "Wait!"

Jaune pushed the Ursa Major's paw off his shield and slashed it before it decided to smash its paw down at him, but he dived out of the way. The Ursa Major swung its paw at him again, only for Jaune to jump over it but immediately as he touched the ground, the Ursa Major hit him back with its other paw.

Weiss: "What are you doing?"

Ruby: "Yeah, we gotta help him!"

Pyrrha: "No, he needs to do this by himself."

Akito stared at her before retracting Alpha as he knew what she meant. Turning their attention back to the fight ahead of them, Jaune charged towards the Ursa Major and jumped into the air but the Ursa Major managed to knock him towards the ground. Jaune however got right back up and both he and the Ursa Major charged each other before everything seemingly slowed down. Jaune was thrusting his sword at the Ursa Major, which was bringing its claw down upon him, but his shield was lowered, making him vulnerable. Ruby and Weiss' eyes widen as I narrowed my eyes, but then Akito spotted Pyrrha lifted her hand up which had a thin black aura around. Suddenly, Jaune's shield projected the same aura as it lifted itself and his arm up to block the attack, which it did, and with a final yell, Jaune slashed the Ursa Major's head completely off, ending it. Jaune began to pant as Ruby and Weiss seemed confused. They looked at Pyrrha as she lowered her hand.

Autumn: "Holy...!!"

Ruby: "Uh... what?"

Weiss: "How did you...?"

Pyrrha: "Well, Ruby has her speed and you have your glyphs. My semblance is Polarity."

Ruby: "Woah... you can control poles..."

Spring: "So cool..."

Summer: "That's not what Polarity means Spring..."

Weiss: "No you dunce! It means she can control magnetism."

Ruby: "Magnets are cool too..." As they were talking, Akito and Pyrrha turned around and began walking away with satisfied smiles on their faces.

Weiss: "Where are you two going?"

Ruby: "Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened!"

Akito: "Now where would the fun be in doing that?" He half turned to look at them.

Pyrrha: "Exactly. Besides, it can be our little secret." She smirked as she eyed the wolf who returned the smirk back to her. Seeing the situation, Ruby and Weiss smiled at each other before walking away with them.

>>Time Skip brought to you by Chibi Akito running away from a bunch of cars Chibi Pyrrha flung at him with her Polarity<<

Blake: "So that's what happened huh?" After returning back to Beacon Academy, Akito had informed Blake about what actually happened. The two of them were just walking through the halls at night, side by side, both with books in hand.

Akito: "Mhm. Pyrrha should be talking to him now so hopefully things clear up."

Blake: "I see. That sounds interesting. But I hope she'll be able to get him on his feet finally."

Akito: "Same here." He said before he heard something interesting going on in the little home in his head between his sisters.

Spring: "Gah!! That was so cool! The way he yelled out and slashed that Ursa!! Eek, it was so cool!!"

S.A.W: "Ugh..."

Hearing that stuffed a small laughter from Akito, causing for Blake to look at him, before raising an eyebrow with a small grin.

Blake: "Let me guess; Spring's being herself again?"

Akito: "Oh you don't know the end of it, kitty." He said which caused for her to let out a cute giggle with the male staring at her, a small blush forming on his face before shaking it away. "Anyways, it's getting late. Shall we head back to the dorm?"

Blake: "Yes, we shall." She said smiling.

The two turned around and were about to walk back towards their dorm room before they both suddenly halt, hearing some quick footsteps. Alerted, both of them got into defensive stances as they scanned the dark hall way.

Akito: "Who's there!?" He demanded.

Soon the pulpit revealed himself, to me quite a large rat that scampered out of the shadows and right over Blake's feet, causing her to squeal before loosing her balance, falling on top of Akito and bringing him down onto the ground with her. With the Rat now gone, Akito groaned before opening his eyes and looking up at the feline, who was on top of him.

Akito: "Are you okay..?"

Blake: "U-Um... Yeah... Sorry about that.." She apologized, looking down at him, though unconsciously with a tiny blush on her face, most likely from the embarrassing position they were in. However, a squeak escaped her mouth as her eyes widened and her blush worsened. "A-Akito..!? Where are you touching..!?"

Akito: "H-Huh...?" He rose an eyebrow with a blush before feeling a soft sensation in his hand. As he looked over her shoulder, his blush worsened as he saw that she was gripping her rounded and soft rear end, the female squeaking again as he accidentally groped her. For you more matured people, her ass. Immediately, he took his hands off of her. "S-Sorry...! I-It just felt so soft and natural, I didn't-"

Blake: *blushing heavier* "That doesn't make it better!"

Akito: "Sorry!"

After a minute or two, the two were just sitting on a bench in the halls, in a very awkward silence as they looked away from each other. Despite the two being friends for a very long time, that was a first for the two. Like, sometimes Akito would accidentally walk in on Blake while she's changing or something like that, but never had there been physical contact in that manor.

Akito: "Are you... mad a me..?" He asked in a slightly quiet tone. There was a brief silent, which lead to a small sigh from the wolf Faunus, however...

Blake: "No.." He slowly glanced back at her, to see her now sitting right next to him while leaning her head against his shoulder. "I'm not mad... Cause at the end of the day, it was an accident and it started with me falling on top of you so that was already a setup for disaster. And besides, not the first time something like that happened between us.. Well not to that extreme." She said, ending it with a small laugh as Akito looked a bit surprised, but rubbed the back of his head while chuckling.

Akito: "Yeah.. Hah... Talk about embarrassing." Unknown to him, the feline slowly was closing her eyes as she snuggled against him.

Blake: "Yeah... But in all honestly... I don't mind... that it was..-" She was beginning to whisper as Akito rose an eyebrow.

Akito: "What was that, Blake?"

He looked at her, only to be surprised to find that she was fast asleep with a tiny blush on her cheeks but a cute smile that filled his heart with butterflies.

He blinked before smiling with a small blush and wrapping an arm around her before taking a chance and giving her a small peck on her forehead, causing her bow to twitch as she hummed.

Akito: "Goodnight Blake."

S.S.A.W: "Awww!"

Akito Telepathically: "Shush!"

The Next Day...

Team RWBY and WOLF were in their shared dorm, already up and about, getting ready for classes for the day. However, they'd soon be interrupted by a knock on the door.

Akito: "Setsuna."

Setsuna: "Got it!" She sped over towards the door and opened it, only to be surprised to see a worried looking Nora. "Nora?"

Yang: "Hey..." The others looked towards the ginger-haired girl. "What's with that worried look on your face?"

Blake: "Did something happen?" She hesitated briefly before she glanced back to her team's Dorm room. The door was still open, allowing everyone to see that Pyrrha and Ren were in there, the red-haired girl kneeling by Jaune's bed with a worried look on her face.

Nora: "Jaune's not waking up..."

Ruby: "What!? What happened???" Akito stood up alarmed, as his sisters all collectively gasped in his mind.

Nora: "We... We're not sure... He just... wouldn't wake up and we found what looked like a bunch of vines along his back. Ren's already called Ozpin and he's along his way."

Akito: "Well... We'll help out anyway we can. Right?" He glanced at the girls, who all almost immediately nodded in agreement, minus Weiss, who was just humming to herself as she stroked her chin in thought.

Ruby: "Of course! Jaune's our friend after all. If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask us."

Nora: "Thank you guys." She sighed in slight relief before hearing a pair of footsteps approaching. When she peeked down the hall, she breathed another sigh of relief. "Ozpin's here!" She exclaimed as she rushed back into her dorm.

Akito and Ruby exchanged glances with their teammates and nodded before they all began to exit their dorm, just as Ozpin entered Team JNPR's dorm, where he was inspecting Jaune's vine-covered back. 

Upon seeing it, Akito's mind immediately went back to what he saw on Setsuna and Weiss but he couldn't be sure yet. The ones he thought he spotted on the two girls were extremely faint and very small compared to this one on Jaune.

Summer: "Big bro?"

Spring: "You okay?" Before he could really say anything, Ozpin piped up, his voice sounding quite serious now as he was now on his scroll, calling someone.

Ozpin: "Glynda? Bring Shion here. It looks like we found one." All of the teens exchanged confused looks.

Setsuna: "Who's 'Shion'?"

Pyrrha: "And what do you mean by that? Found what, exactly??" She questioned, her voice more worried and frustrated than calm. Ozpin calmly looked at the teenagers.

Ozpin: "I'll let them explain when they arrive."

So, they waited. Akito noticed how impatient Pyrrha seemed to be, evident by how much she was tapping her foot on the floor while seated on her bed, her arms crossed as she stared worrily at her team leader. Akito walked over to her side and sat down, a hand on her back, rubbing it to give her comfort.

Akito: "Have faith, cherryblossom. I'm sure he'll make it through whatever this is." 

The red-head just looked at him, her emerald eyes filled with worry but she gave a small nod, trusting her friend's words. Thankfully, no one would have to wait any longer as the door to the dorm opened. A serious looking Glynda Goodwitch walked in, followed by another person. Their gender was a bit difficult to determine, but they had long white hair and pale skin. They seemed to be wearing what looked like some kind of witch's outfit, with a pink top, white pants and a large witch hat on their head.

Ozpin: "He's right here." he spoke, gesturing towards Jaune as the person merely nodded, their eyes hidden by their large hat. Setsuna instinctively moved over to Akito's side and hugged his arm.

Akito: "What's wrong?" He whispered to her.

Setsuna: "Don't know... Just... Setsuna can sense extraordinary power from them..."

Autumn: "Yeah I feel it too..."

Winter: "But at least I feel zero ill intentions from whoever they are." Akito hummed to himself, watching as the person walked into the room and began to take a look at Jaune. They slowly ran their hand along his upper body, before stopping at his neck.

???: "It's my target. We need to begin immediately."

Akito: "Your target? What exactly is it?" They turned around and looked at the teenagers, revealing their violet eyes to them

???: "My name is Shion Zaiden. I'm a Nightmare Hunter."

(Shion Zaiden)

(A/N: "Also, it's confirmed that Shion is non-binary, hence why I'll be using "they" and "them" to refer to them, rather than he/she")

Setsuna: "Nightmare Hunter...?"

Pyrrha: "What's a 'Nightmare'?"

Shion: "A Type of Grimm that possesses humans and grows by draining their Aura. The possessed victim is trapped in their dreams, as their body becomes a breeding ground for Grimm." They explained as Ozpin and Glynda began to assist by moving Jaune to a more open room. As Shion began to follow them, the students followed as well.

Spring: "That sounds... terrifying..."

Summer: "Poor Jaune..."

Nora: "So we just have to kill this Grimm."

Shion: "Yes, inside his dream."

Ren: "Inside his dream?"

Upon entering a more open room, the door closing behind them, Shion began the ritual to free Jaune from this type of Grimm. After putting down their suitcase, it began to open up, revealing an intricate interior with multiple different things. 

Taking her weapon, Dream Catcher, she began to manipulate the multiple Gravity Dust strings attached to it. The Teams watched in awe as gradually, Shion's Dream Catcher strings began to weave into a large net that acted like some kind of bed for Jaune as well as a sleeping mask as a few of the strings wrapped around his eyes.

Shion: "It's a task for his closest friends. If a stranger tries, his heart will reject them." They then looked towards the group of teens. "Are any of you willing to enter the dream to battle the Grimm?"

Without any hesitation, Pyrrha stepped forwards, her, along with Ren and Nora's expressions all brimming with determination.

Pyrrha: "Absolutely. We'll go." Nora and Ren both nodded in agreement.

Shion stared at the three before nodding. With a weave of their Dream Catcher, four small puppets of Team JNPR were crafted and slowly dangled over the net as Pyrrha, Ren and Nora all lay down on the net, its strings wrapping around their eyes as well as they would be put unconscious.

Ruby: "This is so... cool..." She mumbled in awe at the entire process and Shion's weapon in of itself as she and the others watched the process.

Blake: "A Grimm that feeds on your Aura... And the only way that we can beat it is to enter the victim's dream?"

Yang: "I just sure hope that none of us get possessed as well... I can't imagine what it's like for Jaune right now..."

Akito: "Please don't jinx it, Yang..."

Weiss' thoughts: "To be possessed by a Grimm like that... Hmph... I'll make sure to be extra cautious now. No way I'm letting that happen to me like this buffoon did." As the Heiress was thinking to herself, Setsuna just stared at her, as if she was able to read her thoughts as her eye slightly twitched.

Setsuna's thoughts: "Why do I want to punch her right now...?"

Jaune's Dream...

Jaune found himself, hugging his knees close to his chest as he was seated in the center of this dark space, only luminated dimly by the glowing white ring around him. There were many chibi knight bunny statues around him, holding carrots which acted like swords and shields as floating around him were his own armor and weapons.

Shield: "For generations, males of the Arc Clan have been fated to become glorious warriors."

Sword: "And then you showed up. What a disappointment you are, Jaune." His chestplate began to laugh in hysterics.

Chestplate: "You incompetent, miserable coward." All began to laugh at him and fade away, as Jaune simply continued to curl himself more into a ball.

Jaune: "No... I know I can do it. I can do it" he whimpered as behind him, the Grimm in question appeared; the Nightmare, stalking him as if it was satisfied with what it was seeing. Jaune's figure slowly changed, becoming much younger, with a pair of bunny ears on his head and a tail. "Big sis, I'm scared... Help me!"

He was on the verge of tears at this point as the Nightmare continued to stalk him before suddenly...

"Jaune!"

He gasped and looked up, desperate to find the voice in question.

Jaune: "Who's there...?" As he continued looking around, he noticed a small section in one of the thick vines above slid open, revealing none other than Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, their weapons in hand and smiles on their faces.

Pyrrha: "We've come to get you, Jaune."

Outside...

The phone on Shion's desk began to ring suddenly.

Shion: "It's me. Did you find him safely?" They answered as Pyrrha's voice was heard on the other end.

Pyrrha: "We did. Jaune's right in front of us. We also see the Nightmare."

Shion: "Very well. You must fight to set him free."

Pyrrha: "Understood! Ren, Nora, let's go!"

Nora: "Got it!"

Ren: "Right!" Shion hung up as Ozpin smiled as it sounded like things were proceeding both smoothly and quickly.

Shion: "They were able to find Jaune."

Winter: "Already? That was fast..." Akito hummed in acknowledgement to his sister's comment.

Ozpin: "That was quick. Excellent."

Shion: "The care they show for each other is what makes them a good team."

Inside of the dream, the battle against the Nightmare was proceeding smoothly as Ren, Nora and Pyrrha easily defeated the rabbit knight statues, which all fell over, defeated. Pyrrha then dealt the final blow to the Nightmare, throwing down her Milo, causing it to stab one of the vines, which instantly forced them to unwrap from around Jaune and retreat as the Nightmare ran away. Jaune looked up at his teammates, all with warm smiles on their faces as they all approached him. As his body returned back to its normal state, he slowly reached up towards them, towards the red-haired girl.

Jaune: "Pyrrha..."

Outside of the dream, everyone noticed the vines on Jaune's body suddenly darken in color and began to quickly disappear before a small hole opened in his chest and out came flying the Nightmare Grimm, attempting to make its escape. 

Unfortunately for it however, Shion was prepared. They launched the strings of their Dream Catcher at it, trapping it before pressing a trigger, causing Lightning Dust to shock and stun the small Grimm. With a flick of their wrist, the Nightmare was flung into a container, which closed tightly.

Shion: "Now it's your turn to be trapped, Nightmare. Stay in there, and turn back into a seed." The Grimm desperately tried to escape its capture by bashing against the lid of the container before it slowly fell to the bottom.

Ruby: "Um..." The Nightmare Hunter looked at the group of six. "Can we look at it?"

Shion: "Of course. Be careful however."

One by one, each of Teams RWBY and WOLF took turns, looking into the container through the glass on top of its lid, and at the dormant Nightmare Grimm, which had by now converted into a seed.

Blake: "A seed... It's like a plant."

Akito: "First time I've seen a Grimm like that." He said as Ruby took her peek at it now.

Glynda: "Typically, Grimm take on a beast form. But some Grimm are unique. Keep that in mind."

Weiss: "So they should be waking up now, right?" She questioned, looking towards the unconscious Team JNPR as Shion nodded.

Shion: "Yes, they should be waking up right about... now."

As if on cue, the computer screen they had with them suddenly displayed the word, 'WAKE' on it as Team JNPR began to wake up one by one, with the strings around their eyes gradually unwrapping themselves. Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were the first ones before soon after, Jaune too woke up, only to shoot right up in a bit of a panic.

Jaune: "I overslept! Is class–" He paused, realizing where he was and the ones in front of him. His teammates all chuckled, much to his own confusion as he glanced back at them. "What's going on?"

Akito: "Welcome back to the world of the living, Pumpkin Pete." He said, with a small snicker as Yang, Ruby, Setsuna, Spring, Autumn and even Summer giggled while Weiss rolled her eyes.

Winter: "Big bro..." She tried to sound upset, but couldn't help but giggle slightly as well, while Blake elbowed him.

Blake: "Don't tease him, Akito."

Akito: "Sorry, sorry." He chuckled.

Shion: "I'm glad we caught it before it grew." They said, while securing the container in their suitcase as everyone minus, Yang and Akito gathered around Jaune. "It's probably because his Aura is still underdeveloped."

Glynda: "His Semblance hasn't awakened, and his Aura in combat is below average. That proved fortunate for him."

Yang: "I've never seen someone benefit from a weakness before."

Akito: "It happens from time to time but the situations are often rare." he said, with the blonde humming slightly. Then his wolf ears twitched slightly as he heard more of the conversation from the professors.

Shion: "I sensed other Nightmares in the forest, too. The more sensitive or emotionally conflicted you are, the more susceptible you become." They looked at Ozpin and Glynda now. "Please tell the student to remain diligent."

After hearing all of this, Akito couldn't help but think back to those markings he saw on Setsuna and Weiss' necks. Deciding to act now, he walked up behind the two girls, who stood next to each other before closely inspecting them.

Weiss: "H-Hey, what are you doing???"

Setsuna: "A-Akito???" he didn't respond and continued to search their necks. However, in the end, he found nothing... With a small sigh, he pulled away.

Akito: "Sorry about that. Must have been my imagination..." He said as he looked away. While Setsuna just tilted her head in confusion, Weiss scoffed and crossed her arms.

Weiss: "Hmph, please. If you really think that me, Weiss Schnee, of all people would get possessed by a Nightmare, then you must be terribly mistaken." Akito just deadpanned at her while Setsuna quietly growled from her tone.

Akito: "Right... Sorry, oh mighty Ice Queen."

Weiss: "Hey!"

__________________________________________________

Next Chapter: The Strays

Blake: "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

Weiss: "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can, or the lamp post as a lamp post?"

Akito: "Oh, if we're going by that mindset, should I refer to every damn human as ignorant, narrow minded, judgmental, bratty and flat out retarded like you?" She looked at him taken aback before glaring at him.

Weiss: "You can't say that!"