Prologue-Destiny's Crossroad
Vale
"Ticket please," a bored Faunus stated a second time in an annoyed tone behind the counter.
Simply shocked about my current circumstance, I numbly handed whatever was in my hand. Wait, wasn't there a more pressing matter?! I started to frantically pat my body, particularly my chest. I was damn sure that I was dying earlier. I did just have a giant scorpion stab its giant gold stinger through me. I know it wasn't a dream given how much pain I was in moments ago. I even felt all my senses start becoming mute as I bled out.
"You okay, kid?" the Faunus asked after noticing my obvious distress.
"Yeah... I think I'm fine..."
But was I really? I mean, I just died. I may not be dying or have a gaping hole in my chest anymore, but I'm pretty sure being dead was not being fine. Usually, that would be considered the exact opposite of being fine and_
"Kid, take a deep breath. It's just the nerves acting up. See it all the time for the newbies. Whatever you're experiencing is perfectly normal."
"Normal?" I gasped as I noticed that in my confusion I had been panting pretty hard. Must look like a bloody psychopath.
"Yes, normal. You're here because you wanted to be a Hunter. Correct?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm here. Me and my stupid dream of becoming a hero worth something," I replied sadly. Right, I'm here only because I was too damn stubborn to listen to literally everyone who told me that my dream of becoming a hero was impossible. I should have listened to them when they said it was a fool's dream only destined to end in failure. By the gods, I didn't even have my Aura unlocked until Initiation (fat load of good that did for me when Pyrrha and I ran into that monster). And because of my recklessness, I died.
Looking around, I noticed that Pyrrha was nowhere around me. Thank goodness. At least she didn't die because of me. Or was she shuttled somewhere else? Hopefully, she managed to get away from the monster after it had impaled me.
"Kid, no dream is stupid. Take it from me. Plus, the fact that you made it this far in the name of your dreams means that it wasn't stupid. Countless others don't even have the chance to get as far as you have."
"Really? You mean that?"
"Kid, only people who have potential can participate in Beacon's Initiation test. Headmaster Ozpin is known for being quite good at sifting through new recruits and finding gems."
"Even if I were too pathetic to even get past Initiation? If I were to die?"
"It happens time to time, but that's the life of a Hunter for you. Sometimes things just don't work out and Hunters will die. It's the risk that comes with the job, but it's the job of a Hunter to step up to protect everyone even at the cost of themselves. You lot are all that keeps the Grimm at bay after all. Don't think of death as something disgraceful. It sucks, but for a Hunter, death is a constant companion. Whether you die in glorious combat, in the comfort of your own bed, or even at the beginning of your career, the death of a Hunter or even a Hunter in training is a death worthy of heroes. After all, you are risking your life to protect all other life. No matter what, anyone who tries to be a Hunter is a hero in my book."
"Thanks," I managed to choke out. So even a pathetic failure like me was a hero despite my lack of deeds. Somehow hearing this was comforting despite the fact that I was dead.
"No problem, kid. But enough with the dreary talk. Don't want to miss your airship and the line behind you is starting to build up," the Faunus said with a comforting look on his face.
"Thanks. Sorry for being such a bother."
"It's no bother, you aren't the first to have a breakdown here," the Faunus chuckled.
"Yeah, but seriously thanks," I said as I calmly boarded the airship.
I guess I have no regrets. So I died before my career started, but at least I died for my dreams and that my dreams were worthy of dying a hero's death. Though I wonder where that left me now. Where would I go now since I was still aware of things? I mean, I was on the airship bound for some destination. Wait... if I was still conscious, would travel by airship induce my motion sickness. I mean, being dead should mean that I had nothing in my stomach to really hurl out. Right?
My thought line was quickly disproven.
Goddamit, even in death I can't escape it.
Not wanting to hurl in the plane, I quickly tried to shuffle myself to the bathroom. I say shuffled because every bit of motion just caused my insides to roil with maximum discomfort. After some agonizing slow movement, I finally made it to the door to press the unlock button only for the door to unlock and reveal a boy around my age wearing a green... shirt? He also had a strand of pink hair in his hair and pink eyes.
Wait why am I observing his appearance. I had urgent business to attend to and I would rather not ruin this dead boy's day even further by vomiting on him.
Gently pushing his body, I managed to squeeze through the door to enter a stall and unload my... whatever the hell I was spewing.
"You okay?"
"Blergh!"
"Motion sickness?"
"Hugh Blergh!"
In response to my less than stellar answers, I felt gentle motions on my back as the boy started to rub circles on my back to help speed up my release.
"There there. Just let it all out."
"Thanks," I managed to gasp as the lest of my stomach contents finally made it out.
"No problem, try this. It'll help settle your stomach after all of this," the boy chuckled as he handed me some... greenish paste. Not wanting to offend the nice boy, I shakily stuck whatever it was in my mouth.
It was disgusting.
Wanting to spit it out, but at the same time not wanting to offend him, I simply gagged as I tried to force it down.
"Better?"
Better?! It was such a horrible experience trying to insert that thing in my body and...
"Yeah?"
Go figure. Turns out the most vomit-inducing thing I have ever eaten was also the cure for my desire to vomit.
"Glad to hear. Hopefully, it'll last the whole trip," the boy said with a light chuckle.
"If only. Knowing my luck, I'll have another episode the moment I step out of this bathroom," I weakly joked.
"Names Lie Ren by the way. But my friends call me Ren."
"Friends?"
"I would hope so considering that I was basically holding your hair back as you vomited. I may not be the most sociable, but I'm pretty sure that makes us friends."
"Sounds about right. Names Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, ladies love it."
Even in death, I was such a dork.
"I'll take your word for it, Jaune," Ren stated with a light laugh.
"So what brings you here?" I asked gently as I wondered how this boy died as well.
"Same as you I suppose."
"Motion sickness? By all means, you can take my stall."
"Haha," Ren stated in the most bored tone but a light smirk adorned on his face.
"How about I start then. I'm on this ship because I wanted to be a hero and live up to my family's legacy despite having zero experience."
"Ugh... Not to be a downer for this bonding moment, but can we please have this conversation outside of the bathroom? It's not you, but..."
Yeah, this is a pretty weird place to be having a moment.
"Gotcha, why don't you head on out first. I'm going to go wash out my mouth before leaving."
Nodding silently, Ren quietly exited the bathroom with the only indication that he had truly left was the hiss of the door opening. Not wanting to keep him waiting, I quickly washed out the rancid feeling in my mouth. So I made a friend on this journey already. Too bad it was in the afterlife. Why couldn't we have met when we were both still alive? Ren wasn't disgusted by my unfortunate disposition and was actually accommodating of it despite being strangers prior.
Once I walked out of the bathroom, I was immediately tackled.
"Nora," Ren sighed out in exasperation.
Nora? As I began to get my bearings, I realized that the someone who tackled me was in a fact a girl. A very attractive girl. A very attractive girl that smelled of maple syrup. A very attractive girl that smelled of maple syrup with the biggest smile on her face. A very attractive girl that smelled of maple syrup with the biggest smile on her face and a very cushy feeling...
Bad libido. We're both dead already.
"Nora Valkyrie at your service!" the girl cheered in the most bubbly voice.
"Jaune Arc."
"Oooh... Jaune... Jaune! I like it! It's so short and sweet! Just rolls off the tongue"
"But do you love it?" I questioned hesitantly.
"Mmmm... Nope! I like Ren's name more!"
Looking back at the boy, I noticed him trying to hold back a smirk.
"Three and a half out of four. Good enough for me," I snarked.
"That's the spirit, Jaune-Jaune!"
"Sorry about, Nora. She can be overly excitable at times."
"Hey! Ren, don't make me sound like an overeager puppy! I'm trying to make a good first impression," the girl pouted as she quickly hopped off me to hang off of Ren.
"I don't see the problem. She's quite friendly."
Whatever I just said seemed to instantly make the girl jump for joy.
"See, Ren! He totally gets it!"
"So I'm assuming that you two know each other?"
"You would assume correctly, my friend. We've been together for years_"
"But you know not together-together because that would be weird! Right?" the excitable girl interjected at a pace that made it clear to me that that wasn't as such.
Oh dear. That means that these two were lovers that died and in quick succession. How sad. Somehow my situation seemed much less grave knowing that these two lovers met a cruel fate. Possibly before Nora could let Ren know how she felt about him.
Not wanting to let the conversation accidentally steer itself to a somber situation, I asked, "So how did you two end up here?"
Goddamn it, brain. You have failed me yet again.
"Right. Your question from before. Well, Nora and I both wanted to become Hunters. We wanted to get stronger to stop the Grimm from taking more lives," Ren stated calmly. Despite his demeanor, I could see the slightest tremble in his shoulder. Nora ever-present smile even became ever so slightly strained for a moment. I guess for people like us who had such dreams of grandeur and a bright future, having it cut short so quickly would always be a heavy feeling no matter how we try to process it.
Not wanting the awkward air to persist, I tried once more to steer the conversation away from any possible landmines.
"That sounded a lot nobler than my reasons. At least your main reason for fighting was to save others. Mine in comparison was all about personal glory," I chuckled glumly.
"Trying to live up to your family name, one reserved for heroes, is a worthy reason to fight. You may have personal reasons to fight that focus on you, but if it leads to helping others then it can't be a completely selfish reason. Besides... I... we also have more personal reasons. Nora and I have reasons why we would risk our lives beyond just blind altruism," Ren said in a comforting tone.
Strange. Here I was trying to comfort my new friends, and I get comforted instead. At least whatever dark air had lessened. I guess his early death wasn't the only thing on his mind. Perhaps some regret associated with why he desired to help others. Ren seemed like a good guy.
"Thanks, but I shouldn't have let my family name dictate my actions nor should I have gone off half-cocked. At least without having done more to prepare," I sighed.
"Jaune-Jaune, don't be like that! You want to help people, right! As long as some old fart didn't push you into something you didn't want to do then you should be happy! You are a hero! A knight to stand against the darkness! Plus every good adventure starts somewhere! Plus preparing is for suckers! Live life to the fullest and take on whatever it throws at you as it comes! Preparing is for wimps!"
"I think what Nora is trying to tell you is that you shouldn't dwell on so many things. You are being overly critical of yourself. You wanted to help others. That should be enough to be proud of yourself," Ren said as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Right. I know that, but it's just that I could have done so much more before coming here. Had I done more..."
"Jaune, rarely in life is one ever prepared. We can try to stack the odds as much as we can in our favor, but life is unpredictable and we sometimes have to just make the best of what we have to deal with the situation."
"Yeah, but_"
"No buts, Jaune-Jaune! Now turn that frown upside down and let out a sloth warcry!"
"A what?!"
"A sloth warcry! Like this! BOOOOOOOOP!" she said as she hopped right into my face and poked my nose.
"Boop?"
"Needs some work, but we'll get you there in no time!" Nora excitably stated before wrapping her arm around my neck. She then proceeded to swing me like a ragdoll.
Despite the literal pain in my neck, I couldn't help but laugh. The sheer absurdity of a sloth warcry just broke me out of my funk. I mean really, a sloth warcry?
"Boop! Motherfuckers!"
"That's right, Jaune-Jaune! BOOOOOOOOOOP! Join us Renny!"
Chuckling, Ren stated, "As interesting as that sounds, perhaps we should calm down a bit. We may be disturbing the other passengers."
"Ahhhh, why's the party a party pooper?"
"Then you just need to make everyone in the party... not a party pooper," I joked.
"That sounds like a great idea, Jaune-Jaune! Come one, Renny! Let's go turn some frowns upside down!" Nora said before releasing me and running to the upper deck.
"Want to come along?" Ren offered me.
"Nah. I think I'll sit this one out for the time being. I want to collect my thoughts for a bit. Sorry for being such a downer."
"I can understand that feeling, and it's no problem. The nerves are just getting to you," Ren stated before heading to where his wayward friend went.
Getting up, I just meandered my way to the window to take in the sights. With the clouds gently rolling by the windows of the ship, I finally felt a semblance of peace. Ren and Nora were really good people. I'm glad I could meet them in life, even in death. They were so kind and comforting. Even in death they were together and having an adventure. I'd like to believe that perhaps... they would let me tag along for the ride with them.
Perhaps being dead wouldn't be nearly as bad as I thought it would be so long as there were others like Ren and Nora.
Come on, World! Jaune Arc is ready!
Being dead meant nothing to me!
Beacon
I wasn't dead.
Author's Notes:
1) Zeitgeist is German for time spirit.
2) You have no idea how weird it was trying to keep a conversation going where one guy everyone was dead without cluing anyone else to the fact.