"All warfare is based on deception."
- Sun Tzu, line 18 of book 1
—
The old man knew he was dying.
He was very tired, too tired.
The arms that had forged weapon after weapon for soldiers, heroes and kings would not move.
It was time to leave the world.
The kid grabbed the old mans hand.
He had carried him to the soft bed.
The kid was crying.
It was a weird sight, he had never seen it.
"Hey kid."
The boy stopped crying, and looked at the old man.
"Why are you crying."
"You know I'm not scared, why are you?"
The kid shook his head in sorrow.
The old man examined the boy he had cared for so much.
He had a new scar, it was over the bridge of his nose.
The Shattered Walls had been hard for any man.
man
The old man smiled, there was no boy in front of him.
In his stead, was a brave, strong man.
"Stop crying."
The man looked at him, wiping the tears away.
"It's time for me to go back to Elenda, you know I want this."
The man sadly looked at him and gave him a weak smile.
The old man knew that he was worthy.
He willed his arms to come back to life, for one final deed.
He weakly broke out of the kid's grip, and pointed at the chest.
"You can open it know."
"Grab everything in there, I know you'll use it wisely."
The man looked at him with a confused and sorrowful look.
He opened his mouth, and a hoarse voice slipped out.
"What….."
"Do…"
"I do?"
The dying man simply smiled at him.
"Find something worth dying for, to make it beautiful to live again."
He raised his hand to stroke the man's cheek.
"I know you'll find something."
"I love you"
And so his hand drooped.
Then he died.
—
Jaune Arc shook as he emptied his stomach into the trash can. He was aware of all the stares, but he couldn't care less.
It wasn't his fault, air sickness was a dangerous thing! He didn't want to ride this flying bucket of scrap.
Feeling the nausea ebb away a bit, he stumbled towards his seat. He collapsed into the confines of the chair, sighing at his own misfortune.
He didn't know why he had even cheated on the entrance exam. He wasn't ready, nothing could replace all the education he had missed out at Signal.
He then realized someone was groaning beside him. He turned to see a moderately short figure in a blue hoodie, muttering under his breath as he roused himself. Jaune realized that he had woken the guy up.
"O-oh, sorry" Jaune stammered out. The kid turned around and looked at him. He shook off the hood that hid his face, revealing bushy white hair. He had a fair complexion and brown eyes. He also had a scar on the bridge of his nose.
The boy was dressed in a simple attire, a deep blue hoodie and some black jeans. A green scarf clung from his neck. The only outstanding features were the gauntlets that he wore. They were worn bronze, showing scars from past battles. The finger armor seemed to be missing, exposing his small calloused fingers.
He simply smiled at him, indicating that it was okay.
The boy shook himself, yawning as he rubbed his eyes.
He then withdrew a stout, leather bound book from the inside of his sweater, and started reading it. Jaune peeked at the book, curious to see what the book was. It was, "The Art of War" by a man named Sun Tzun.
Jaune whistled appreciatively, he had heard great things of this book. He loved literature, even though it was a major cause of his subpar strength.
He remembered the old days. While the other boys ran around with sticks, Jaune would stay in the library, reading and basking in the knowledge of the books.
The kid heard the whistle and stared at Jaune inquisitively.
"You also like reading?" asked Jaune, eager to discuss with a fellow bookworm. He hadn't had a chance to talk to anyone since the start of the airship journey.
The kid smiled and nodded. Seemed that this blonde was a nice person.
Jaune asked him, "So, what are your favorites?". The snow haired boy simply gestured to the book in his hands.
Jaune awkwardly sat there for a second. He had never been good at talking to people. He managed to ask, "So, what's your name?"
The boy simply showed him the inside of the book's cover. There, in cursive writing was written "Alric Hymm".
Jaune laughed, "Wow, you'll do anything to get out of talking right?". The boy simply shrugged.
Jaune extended his hand, "Jaune , sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." The kid smiled, and shook Jaune's hand.
Jaune grimaced as he noted that the kid had a really tight grip.
Jaune wanted to have a longer conversation, this boy seemed to be nice. He never had any friends when he was young.
But he felt spit suddenly gathering in his mouth, and his stomach lurched again. The green tide would wash ashore again.
Oh boy.
Jaune rushed to the nearest trashcan, faster than a thousand Ursai.
He tried to reach the trashcan, but ultimately failed and lost his lunch on the ground.
"Aw Yang gross! You have puke on your shoe!"
"Grossgrossgrossgross"
—
The kid got lost in the book as time slipped by. The blond man, Jaune. He seemed nice enough.
Even though he did throw up everywhere.
Then the intercom started, seemed they had arrived to their destination.
Kid sighed, getting up from the comfy chair. He then reached to the overhead storage compartment.
He withdrew a long black rectangular case. He strapped on the shoulder strap, and set out of the airship.
He was greeted by the sight of Jaune throwing up in a trashcan. The kid approached him and patted him in the back, trying to help him ease the nausea.
As Jaune continued to empty his stomach, The kid lifted his gaze.
There it was, Beacon.
Gramps would be proud.
He turned back to Jaune, seems that he had finished throwing up. As Jaune looked up form the trash can, he saw the kid with a faint, reassuring smile.
Jaune regained his composure, and cleared his throat. "Well, come on!". He set off, beckoning to the kid to follow him. The kid seems nice enough, it would be nice to have a friend in the first day.
They walked through the path that lead to the great academy of Beacon. Jaune and the kid stared in awe to the buildings around them.
They were awakened from they reverie when they heard a explosion go off in the distance. Jaune almost fell down in surprise. "Wow, what the hell was that?!" he asked, looking at the kid. But The kid was already gone, dashing towards the source of the explosion.
—
The kid arrived at the source of the explosion. He bumped with a girl in his hurry, almost knocking her down. She has long, wavy black hair, and her eyes are amber. A black bow sat atop her head, and she wore black buttoned vest with coattails, and a white sleeveless undershirt.
The kid tried to apologize, but the girl just shot him a glare which paralyzed him. She then walked off.
The kid sighed, what a good first impression. Gramps had always warned him about women.
He then saw a pale girl dressed in a black and red gothic dress slumped on the ground, sighing to herself.
It was the girl that Jaune had almost throwed up on.
The kid walked up to her, she was grumbling something under her breath. He offered her a hand with a smile.
The girl noticed him, and stared at him for a second. She then gratefully accepted his hand and lifted herself off the ground.
—
"Hey!"
The kid turned around to see the blonde boy approach from the distance. He looked a bit ticked off.
"What's the big idea, ditching me like that?"
When Jaune stood in front of him, The kid could only give him a sheepish grin and a shrug. He was really sorry in leaving the poor guy there.
Ruby watched curiously as Vomit Boy and the white haired kid bickered. She noted that the kid that had helped looked almost as young as she was.
And also that he wasn't speaking at all, just waving his hands to Jaune trying to signal that he was sorry.
What a strange boy.
—
After Jaune had introduced himself, (with the same cheesy one liner) the trio walked through the street towards Beacon. The girl was named Ruby Rose, and she appeared to be… peculiar.
The kid stood beside Jaune and Ruby as they argued over Jaune's new nickname, "Vomit Boy". While they were arguing about calling Ruby "Crater Face", The kid smiled at their antics.
It was like the Walls again, with the scouts singing and joking in the mead hall.
"So, I've got this thing." Ruby said, and brandished a red rectangular case from her back. But then it quickly unfolded itself, revealing itself to be a wicked looking red scythe. The kid also noted that it had characteristics of a rifle.
Jaune flinched as the scythe unfolded, backing off into a safe distance.
"Woah, is that a scythe?!".
"It's also a customizable high impact velocity sniper rifle!" Ruby said as she hefted her beloved weapon. Seemd like she was a weapon nut.
Jaune frowned in confusion, and asked, "A wha-"
"It's also a gun."
"Oh, that's cool."
"So,what've you got?" Ruby asked, as she took a look at the sword hanging at Jaune's hip. "Oh-uh I got this sword", Jaune withdrew the blade from it's sheath.
It was a normal arming sword, with a golden cross-guard and a blue handle. It seemed that it had been crafted by an expert. But the kid noticed that Jaune's movements were awkward, he seemed to not know how to properly hold the sword.
"Yeah, I've got a shield too!", Jaune also grabbed the sheath of the sword, which expanded laterally into a shield. Ruby asked, "So, what do they do" as she touched the shield.
The shield sprang upward, and Jaune tried to awkwardly catch it. The kid was confused, weren't only the best invited into Beacon?
Jaune was nice, but something seemed…. off here. It was as if he had never seen combat.
He was shaken from his thoughts when he heard Ruby ask him something. He turned around towards her.
"So, what's inside the case, your weapon?" asked Ruby, pointing at the rectangular black case on The kid's back. He simply smiled at her and shrugged.
Before Ruby could ask anymore questions, the trio heard the distant ringing of a bell. Jaune frowned and looked at his watch.
Miss Glynda had announced that the opening ceremony would begin at 2:30 pm.
It was 2:20 pm.
"AW CRAP, IT'S 2:20"
Ruby turned to him, surprise showing on her face. She comically clutched her.
"OH NO, WE'RE GOING TO BE SO LATE."
Jaune frantically looked around, trying to see if the auditorium was anywhere close. He didn't recognize any buildings.
The kid looked around while Ruby and Jaune were freaking out. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He remembered the lessons that Robert had taught him.
the memories
The kid went back into the "attic",seeing the photo album. He opened it
for the memories you need
He flipped the "album", until he got to the page he needed.
He saw in the pictures the winding path, each individual building and tree.
The kid opened his eyes. He knew where to go know.
He simply grabbed both of his new friends by the sleeves, and took off running.
—