Jeanne Arc, for the umpteenth time, cursed her life as she dry-heaved into a trash can. Air sickness was the bane of her existence, and the long flight from Loire in Eastern Sanus to Vale was bumpy on the best of flights. The high mountains between the two cities made travel rough, even when travelling go by air. Especially if you go by air.
"Gods, just let me die…" she muttered as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand.
She jumped when she felt something touch her shoulder, and her head turned to whatever did so. Jeanne found a shorter blonde in a brown leather jacket and a yellow crop top, whose lilac eyes were watching her with a mix of amusement and concern.
"You all right?"
Jeanne straightened and gave the girl a sheepish smile. Despite having nearly six inches on the newcomer, Jeanne felt, in a way, smaller. The other blonde just exuded an aura of confidence that she would be hard pressed to match.
"I think so, as long as the world stops moving," she answered with a slight nod.
The girl returned the smile and pulled out a bottle of water, "Good to hear, though you may want to drink up."
Jeanne gratefully took the bottle and opened it before taking a swig. She swished around the water before spitting it out into the trash can, thankful to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth. She took another drink, this time swallowing it. She smiled at the girl.
"Thank you, I really did need that." She held out her hand to her. "Jeanne Arc, prospective Huntress-in-Training."
The girl returned the smile and grasped Jeanne's hand, "Yang Xiao-Long, same."
"YANG!"
The shout caught the two blondes' attention, and they both turned to see a short girl sporting black hair with red tips who was dressed in a black skirt and blouse complete with a red cape. She waved at the duo, or at least Yang specifically. Yang gave Jeanne a small smile and shrugged.
"Sorry, left my sister to talk with you," Yang said apologetically.
Jeanne waved away the apology, "Seven sisters of my own, I know how they can get. Go on Yang, I'm sure we'll see each other around."
Yang nodded and grinned before turning and heading back towards her sister. Jeanne watched her go, happy to know that she may have made a friend. It made sense, after all her mother did say 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'. The squire reached down to the ground and hefted up her large backpack onto one shoulder, before pulling the second strap onto her shoulder, gently pulling her knee length braid out of the way and flicking it over the back of the pack.
With a whistle, Jeanne Arc, third daughter of Elaine and Gawain Arc, and most recent wielder of Crocea Mors, walked out of the terminal and headed towards Beacon Academy.
Weiss Schnee, eldest son of Willow and Jacques Schnee, and Heir of the Schnee Dust Company, was not having a good day. First, his airship from Atlas suffered an "engineering casualty" and had to make an emergency landing in the city of Loire on Sanus's easternmost coast, and to make it to Beacon on time, he had to take a commercial airship. Commercial! Someone of his standing should not have to take anything other than a private airship. At least he was able to secure passage in First Class, even if his seat mate was a faunus.
Though rather large, and Weiss would admit just about everyone was large to him, Mr. Belladonna was an excellent conversationalist and orator. They had discussed and argued the finer points of Human-Faunus relations, the treaty between Menagerie and Atlas, and the SDC. They might not have agreed on everything, but it was certainly not a boring flight, and Weiss did leave with some ideas to fix the SDC once he gains the chairmanship.
Assuming he lived long enough, if this damn idiot that smashed through his luggage was anything go by, death might just be in his near future.
With an open metal shelled case in one hand and a vial of Dust in another he berated the fool that ran into him.
"Do you know what this is?!" Weiss shouted, "This is Dust, you brain-dead fool!"
The girl grimaced, "uh…I know…"
Weiss shook the vial, "This is concentrated Energy Dust! One false move and you could have blown us all the way to Vale!"
He shook the vial once more, and a cloud of Dust leaked out cracked glass. Time seemed to slow as the girl started to lean back to draw in a breath, and sneezed. Years of training with the finest combat tutors in Atlas kicked in, and Weiss dropped the vial in his hands and shifted the open case in front of him just as the sneeze put enough pressure on the Dust cloud to activate it.
He raised his arm just as the explosion hit, throwing him back several yards. He landed on something soft as he fell to the ground. With a "oof" he slumped down with his eyes closed. He sat still as the ringing in his ears subsided. That is when he noticed that he was sitting almost upright, and his head was resting on something soft, warm… squishy… and moving? He turned his head and felt whatever he was resting on shift under it. He took a deep breath and looked up and sees a pair of bright blue eyes staring down at him, framed by messy blonde hair.
After the briefest of moments, Weiss realized what exactly he was resting his head on. He blushed furiously and then shot up from where he was sitting, accidently knocking his head into the girl's forehead in the process. He stumbled back, holding onto his head. Turning around, he faced back to the girl he had fallen onto. She was rubbing her head as well and had her left eye closed in confusion. She was ruffling her shortish, spiky blond hair, though Weiss could see the beginning of a braid by her neck. She was dressed in a dark navy hoodie and baggy jeans, which did well to hide her curves and legs.
He stepped over to her and offered his hand.
"I am deeply sorry about that."
The girl stopped rubbing her head and looked up at Weiss.
The moment Jeanne stepped into the central quad of Beacon, she knew something was going to happen. She could hear people arguing by the main fountain, but she decided to ignore it for the time being as she walked past them. But then a flash of red caught her attention. Stopping, she turned back to see the red cape of Yang's sister. Apparently, the younger girl was one of the two people arguing. The other person was somehow even shorter than the girl in red, with white hair pulled into a long pony tail. Around them, Jeanne could see scattered pieces of luggage.
Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck rose up, just as an explosion ripped through the area. She was pushed back by the force, yet she stood her ground, until a body plowed into her, causing Jeanne to stumble and fall backwards. Her large backpack kept her from hitting the ground with her directly, but regardless, she still fell onto her ass.
Her ears were ringing as she cracked her eyes open and felt…something, or someone, moving against her chest. Glancing down, she was greeted by a pair ice blue eyes looking up at her. In an instant those eyes widened, and a deep blush blossomed across pale cheeks, right before they shot up and smacked Jeanne in the nose and forehead.
As the weight was lifted off her lap, Jeanne rubbed her head, trying to ease away the pain. Her head didn't hurt that much but it still smarted something fierce.
"I am deeply sorry about that."
She opened her eyes and looked up at the voice. It was the person Yang's sister was arguing with, and their left hand was held out towards her. He was short, with a well-defined jaw and a long scar across his left eye. Despite the explosion, his white and grey trousers and shell jacket were unblemished, along with the matching waistcoat with a dark blue shirt and red cravat.
Jeanne took this all in and blushed.
"It's…It's alright," she stammered out as she slipped off the straps of her backpack.
She grasps his hand and lets herself be pulled up off the ground. Even as she started to push her self up to her full height, she never let go of his hand. She blushed slightly at the strong grip he had in that small hand.
"Thank you."
Standing back up, Jeanne realized how short the boy was. She knew she was freakishly tall at 6'4, even discounting the soles of her shoes, but still, he had to have been only a hair taller than 5 feet, thus marking him as one of the shortest people here at Beacon. Many of her younger sisters stood taller, though she supposed it wasn't by much. Most of her sisters stood at or near 5 feet, with only her and Arcueid being over 5'5.
"You're welcome," she heard him say through her thoughts, "though I suppose I should be thanking you, Aura or not, I would rather not have to start the year by getting a concussion."
She blinked and looked down into the ice blue eyes. He was smiling slightly and looked apologetic, as she let go of his hand.
Jeanne shook her head, "There's no need, I was just passing through."
"That maybe, but…" he trailed off and his eyes flicked up. "You're bleeding."
She blinked and reached up with her right hand and brushed it across her hairline. Pulling her hand away, Jeanne noticed blood on her fingertips. Her eyes widened in surprise, as she didn't feel a thing.
"How are you bleeding?" he asked, "No matter, it will still need to be looked at."
He looks around and saw porters starting to gather up his luggage, and waved one over to grab Jeanne's backpack.
After waving down a porter Weiss noticed the young girl that caused the Dust explosion being helped up by a buxom looking blonde. Both looked no worse for wear despite the explosion, which made his blonde bleeding far more unusual. The other blonde with the girl in red noticed him and gave him a brief thumbs up and a dismissive wave. Taking that as his cue to leave, he grabbed the girl by the hand again.
"Come on, best to do this away from others."
"Wait, wait!" She said as she pulled her hand out of his grasp. "Can we at least introduce ourselves before dragging me across the courtyard, or before I run the other direction? Strangers might be friends you haven't met yet, but getting dragged around by someone you don't even know the name of isn't exactly a good impression."
Weiss stopped and sighed to himself, she was right after all. "I apologize, it was not my intent. Weiss Schnee, Heir to the Schnee Dust Company."
The girl nodded, "Jeanne Arc, not an heir to anything I'm afraid." She smiled, which caused something to stir in his heart. "Alright, now I guess we can continue."
He smiled back and grabbed her hand, leading Jeanne away from the crater and towards a secluded bench on the other side of the Quad. Jeanne blushed slightly as he pulled her along by her hand, even through the leather of her gloves she could feel the gentle warmth of the young man's hand.
"Ok, I think this is far enough," he said before turning towards Jeanne. "Take a seat please."
She blinked and tilted her head, "Why?"
"Because I can't take a look at your head while you are standing," he replied with a sigh.
"Oh…sorry," she said before taking a seat on the stone bench.
With her seated, Weiss reached towards Jeanne's face and brushed past her hair. She winced a bit at the action.
Weiss tisked, "Doesn't look too bad, still, your Aura should have stopped an injury that small."
Jeanne grimaced, and Weiss noticed the expression as he fished a small first aid kit from a pouch strapped to his thigh. "Something wrong?"
"No…it's…it's…I don't have my Aura unlocked."
Weiss paused as he opened the kit and looked her straight in the eye. "You are trying to enter one of the most dangerous careers on Remnant, and don't have your Aura unlocked?"
The young squire looked embarrassed as she stared down to her lap, before looking back up at him. Her blue eyes blazed with the ferocity of a Caerbannog. "Even if my Aura is locked, I will still push on to be a Huntress. I don't care if it puts my life on the line, I am an Arc!"
Weiss had to smile at the declaration. He pulled out some butterfly sutures and sealed the gash on her forehead.
"It would be amiss to have a prospective Huntress fall during Initiation due to a locked Aura." He met her gaze, "and it would be amiss if a Schnee does not repay a debt."
Her eyes widened, "There is nothing to repay!"
"Yes, there is, now stay still. Unlocking your Aura will only take a moment. Please trust me."
The ferocity drained from Jeanne's eyes, and she nodded, "How do we do this?"
"Calm your mind," Weiss said, before blushing, "I…will have to put my hand on your heart."
Jeanne blushed as well, "If that is how you have to do it, then do it."
Weiss nodded, and placed his left hand on her temple and right hand on her left breast over her heart. The blushes faded but never quite vanished. He closed his eyes and concentrated, before a pale-blue glow enveloped him.
"Thy Soul shall become my Shield, thy Heart shall become my Sword. I release thee from thy mortal bounds." His Aura flowed over Jeanne, enveloping her "my Soul shall become thy Haven, my shall Heart become thy Anchor. Together we walk towards eternity."
The pale-blue light drained of color and became a brilliant white. The young woman felt her being, her very soul burst forth. Warmth enveloped her, and in that instant, it felt like nothing could stop her. And then, for a brief moment, she felt something slice across her left eye, a slap across the face, shrapnel tearing across her back, shouts and screams, pain and sorrow. As soon as they came, those feelings vanished, and she returned to the present.
"Ugh, Winter didn't tell me it would take so much out of me," Weiss stated as he stepped back, holding his head in his hand. "Nor about seeing visions."
"Was it supposed to be like that?" Jeanne asked as she shook her head free of the memories.
"Maybe," Weiss replied honestly. "First time I've unlocked someone's Aura. Did you see anything?"
Jeanne hesitated, "No, I just saw the glow through my eye lids nothing else. We probably should get going."
Weiss knew it was a deflection, but saw no point in pressing the matter. He himself wasn't sure about what just happened, and he wasn't going to press her on the subject. Not until he had a chance to do some research and talk with Winter.
"Agreed, now, from what I have heard, tardiness at Initiation might get you expelled then and there. So…shall we?"
He held his hand out, and with a nod, Jeanne grasped it.
Paladin's Note: First published foray into RWBY, and despite the rather odd idea behind it I hope it will be rather successful. Still not quite sure where I got the idea of doing a Genderflipped AU, but it was one that refused to let me go especially since it's just two characters being flipped instead of the whole cast.
It's a rather fun challenge when you think about, it in addition to the usual challenge of seeing how a character a would be changed if the gender was flipped but otherwise keeping them recognizable as their canon-selves.
I would like to thank Korben600 for Betaing, Proto-Saber for spamming me pics of Jeanne d'Arc from the Fate series, ieatedanimation for doing sketches of Male Weiss (thus showing that he is as handsome as his canonself is beautiful) and bouncing appearance ideas off of, RandomIncog for prodding me relentlessly to keep at it, and the rest of the boys and girls at the White Knight Discord Server to keeping me interested in this. Thank you all.