A/N: So I've never really tried to update two stories at once... So let's give this a go!
Please by gentle with me, it's my first time taking on two at once /
'Nyways, I will admit that these chapters will probably be shorter than As I Shout, but I'll try (emphasis on try) to update this every... Thursday/Friday? Shrug.
Sounds good to me ^-^
Onwards!
Jaune had found treasure.
He lifted up a dirty book out from his hole that he had dug in his backyard and admired the complex designs on the back and front of it. He had gotten a little blood on it from one of his numerous cuts from playing around too hard, but all in all, it was a good find.
He opened it up and ooh'd and ahh'd at the circles that looked so complex and beautiful under the sun.
A pair of hands snatched the book away from Jaune and he cried out in indignation.
"What's this?" Josephine Arc, the youngest sister said with wonder. Cracking open the book, she frowned.
"Why's the book have all these empty pages?" She asked as she flipped through the book. Jaune scratched his head in confusion.
"What're you talking about? Can't you see all of these diagrams and words on the page?" Jaune said.
"Aren't you a little too old to be playing make-believe Jaune?" Jaune turned around to face Ellie, the third eldest sister. Her face was lined with amusement as Jaune sputtered in anger.
"I'm not playing make-believe! There are words on the page! Why can't you see them?" He demanded.
Ellie just rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say brat." And ruffled his hair, ignoring his loud protests.
"What is going on here?" A gravelly voice said.
"Grandpa!" Jaune hopped out of the ditch and took his book back, making Josephine cry out as it left her possession. Jaune ran up to Grandpa Rike and held open his book.
"Tell the girls that you can see the pretty circles on the pages!"
Rike's eyes widened a little. "Circles, Jaune?"
He nodded excitedly. Jaune turned the book around to read it. "What do you think it means grandpa?"
Rike stroked his beard. "I think it means that you're a very special boy Jaune." Grandpa Rike leant over to pat Jaune on the shoulder.
Jaune beamed.
Jaune had made a mistake. For the last three years Jaune had studied the book intimately. Learning the craft of Alchemy, as he learned to call it, was a hard but rewarding task. Jaune could remember Grandpa Rike cheering when he managed to transmutate a block of wood into a toy pony. He could remember when Grandpa Rike laughed when Jaune pranked his sisters by turning the ground into a mud trap.
Jaune remembered every time Grandpa Rike smiled, hugged, and cheered on Jaune when he continued to develop further on without the book, extrapolating the knowledge from the book to create his own transmutation circles and form his own theories on Alchemy.
Jaune remembered when Grandpa Rike died.
Jaune cried and cried and cried that day. His parents tried to comfort him, telling him that they were still with him, and that no matter what, Grandpa Rike was still with him in spirit.
Jaune didn't want Grandpa Rike to be with him in spirit. He wanted to grandpa to be with him in body.
With eight kids to take care of, Jaune's parents literally didn't have the opportunity for equal treatment. They were forced to thin their support across for all of their children, and hope that the eldest would take care of the young. Grandpa Rike was always there when Jaune's mom and dad weren't there. He always spent time with Jaune, and was there for every achievement.
Which was why Jaune wasn't going to let go of grandpa so easily.
He used his knowledge of Alchemy to form a theory that was so out there, Jaune wasn't sure what would happen. He knew the Laws of Equivalent Exchange by heart, and he assumed that hey, the worst thing that could happen would be that the transmutation failed.
And so Jaune gathered his materials and created his circle and tried to become God, resurrecting the dead.
What a horrible mistake that had been.
After a horrible darkness and a conversation with a disembodied voice, Jaune woke up in immense pain, groaning.
Sitting up, Jaune faced an abomination with the face of his loving Grandpa stalking up to him. Jaune's eyes dilated with terror as the abomination approached him. Jaune scrambled back.
"Stay away!" Jaune screamed hysterically, trying to backpedal back. The monster stopped moving, its chest heaving large breaths before it spoke.
"Now why would I want to do that Little J? Don't you want to give your grandpa a hug?" Jaune shivered as Rike's voice floated through the air, vibrating. This wasn't his grandpa. This was a creature of darkness. Something from out of a nightmare.
Jaune knew he had to destroy it.
Jaune's father scrambled down to the basement when he heard an enormous explosion underneath. Reaching the bottom, Noah saw his worst nightmare. His only son was on the ground, bleeding out. Beside him body parts were scattered all over the place, and Jaune was didn't have both his arms.
He had a stump where his left arm was, and when Jaune opened his eyes, the right eye was just a hole, bloody tears flowing out.
"Daddy…"
In that moment, the Arc family changed.
Noah Arc was able to bring his son to a nearby hospital, but was forced to activate Jaune's aura lest he die. After several days on touch and go critical surgery, Jaune was finally released with a new biomechanical arm, as well as a new eye. But while his body parts were replaced, a part of Jaune had died back when he tried to bring back his Grandpa.
For the next three years Jaune relentlessly studied Aura, Dust, and Alchemy. He went on to take lessons with Crocea Mors, as well as discover the hidden secrets of Alchemy, to find if there was a way to reverse the tragedy that had happened.
"No." Jaune said, before back flipping away from the reaches of a wooden blade. Noah grunted and stepped forward, turning his sweeping arc into a hard stab. Jaune raised his left arm and blocked the sword, tilting it away before counterattacking with his own practice weapon.
"Come on Jaune. You're of age, and Ozpin himself invited you." Jaune's dad was only a half step away from pleading. Jaune pursed his lips and spun his sword to transfer the weight of Noah's sword away, before thrusting at Noah's chest.
"For the fifteenth time, no. I don't want to go to some silly combat school, and I certainly don't need it. I just need to focus on my own studies and that is it." And with that, Jaune spun counterclockwise to sweep at Noah's neck, then spun clockwise to hit the legs once Noah blocked the first hit.
Noah pursed his lips. He really didn't want to have to do this.
"Jaune. Ozpin is inviting you there because he has a few… articles that he would like for you to have a look at while you're there as well. Something to do with your Alchemy." Jaune just grunted before slamming down at Noah's forehead with an overhead slash, which was neatly blocked.
"Why would he want me?" Jaune asked. He was only seventeen, and even after six long years of study, it seemed as if there was still so much more that he could learn.
"Well, seeing as how you are literally the only person who has any knowledge of alchemy that we know of," Noah stepped forward, showing a flurry of attacks that would blind almost any other combatant. With the help of his biotech eye, Jaune was able to just barely hold his own and parry most stroke with his sword, and any that slipped past were caught by his metal forearm.
"And why do I have to be a student there to study a few journals?" Jaune asked.
Noah finally saw an opening and took no chances, kicking Jaune across the shoulder and sending him flying with a pained yelp.
"Because no one wants to show that there's someone who knows an Ancient Art like Alchemy, which could be a very dangerous tool for many people to have. We want to keep it on the down low, and you being a student there would be a very good cover." Jaune stayed quiet, and Noah desperately pressed it, hoping that Jaune was conceding. "He even says that you just have to stay until the end of the semester, then you can drop out and leave."
Jaune was getting tired of this. Sitting up, Jaune clapped his hands once and placed them on the floor, the ground rippling and long spikes sprung out in all directions around Noah.
"Alright fine, you win." Jaune murmured before standing up and heading back into the house.
"Really?" Noah asked uncertainly. Jaune rolled his eyes and just put up a thumbs up before closing the door. Noah pumped his fist in excitement before realizing that he was trapped in a pit of spikes.
"Uh, Jaune? A little help?"
Jaune looked up at the Bullhead uncertainly. He wasn't carrying much, only a duffel bag full of essentials and two changes of clothes. He wasn't planning to stay very long anyways.
The sooner I get on this thing, the sooner I can finish this and go back home. Jaune thought to himself. With a groan at the stream of logic, Jaune just decided to step on and get the trip over with.
He knew this was a bad idea. He laid on the ground trying to regain his bearings. After throwing up on a very buxom teenager's shoes, Jaune was sure that the day wasn't going to get any worse. That thought was quickly banished when he heard a nearby explosion.
He pushed himself up to a sitting position to see a girl in a smoking crater, alongside a white-haired beauty that was screaming to the point that even he could hear her.
Ah Dust be damned. Jaune cursed in his head. He walked over to the girl and offered her his right hand.
"Need some help there?" He said politely.
The girl looked up at the boy and tilted her head. "Aren't you the boy who threw up on the bullhead?" Jaune huffed a breath in exasperation.
"I'm not gonna live that down anytime soon am I?" He muttered quietly.
Lifting the girl up to her feet, she gave a huge smile and introduced herself.
"Hi! I'm Ruby, and this," Ruby pulled out her scythe and unfolded it to its full length. "is my baby, Crescent Rose!"
Jaune eyed the rather huge apparatus, and had an urge to say something about compensation if she wasn't a girl. "It's… a scythe." He said uncertainly. She nodded proudly.
"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle!"
Jaune raised an eyebrow. Six years of reading the most convoluted texts that have ever been written allowed Jaune to quickly decipher her words.
"It's also a gun." Jaune said dryly. Ruby gave a huge thumbs up.
Jaune just shook his head in amusement.
"I'm Jaune. And this," Jaune drew out his sword, it letting out a quiet rasp as metal slid around metal. "is Crocea Mors." Ruby nodded before saying, "And what does it mechashift to?"
"Nothing." Jaune said simply. Ruby froze. "Nothing?" Jaune nodded.
"Nothing. Well, the sheath turns into a shield I guess, but I don't really use that mode very often." Jaune just shrugged. "I'm happy with what I got."
"Oh, well that's really cool! Most people have no appreciation for the classics." Ruby said simply. Jaune just smiled at her heartfelt attempt to make Crocea Mors feel better. He laughed.
"It's alright Ruby, I know it isn't the greatest weapon around. But that alright, I rely more on my Alc- I mean, I rely more on my semblance than I do my weapon." Jaune nearly slipped loose his secret, which he supposed he shouldn't do. Ruby just nodded.
"I can respect that."
Jaune turned towards the towering school.
"By the way, where're we supposed to go?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know, I was following you." Ruby said innocently. Jaune turned to face her.
Jaune sighed and pulled out a block of metal from his pocket. He slapped his hands together with the metal in between. A brief glow enveloped the chuck before fading to reveal a neat little compass.
"Woah. Was that your semblance?" Ruby said in awe. "I've never seen anything like that."
Jaune felt a rush of pride before just nodding and recalling the layout of the map he received before the trip. Orienting himself in the right direction, he grabbed Ruby's hand and led her to the orientation site.
After the short speech that the headmaster gave, Jaune and the other students set off to claim a spot of land for their sleeping bags, ready to go to sleep.
He had finally found a comfortable looking patch of land before he heard more yelling off to the side. Turning, he was met with another confrontation between Ruby and the white-haired girl. Jaune walked towards them, catching the tail-end of their conversation.
"- and we can talk about boys like tall, blond, and scraggly over there." The stuck-up sounding girl said while nodding to Jaune.
"Really?" Ruby said excitedly, making Jaune snort in laughter. That girl needs to learn a little about sarcasm.
"No." Weiss said in a very deadpan voice.
Jaune decided now was a good time to intrude in on the scene.
"I heard something about a tall, blonde, and scraggly?" Jaune asked, looking at the girl. He stuck his hand out.
"Hi. I'm Jaune. Can I know your name? After all, it'd be nice to know the person that's insulting you after all." Jaune said with a bright smile. The girl flushed a light pink, having enough grace to look a little sheepish. She grabbed his hand and shook it primly.
"Weiss Schnee." She said it expectantly, as if Jaune was supposed to know her. He just smiled and nodded politely before letting go. Jaune turned to the girl sitting in between the two of them and smiled at the book she was holding in her hand.
"Sorry, I'm pretty sure we're interrupting you. I wouldn't want to distract you from such a good read. I'm Jaune, although you probably heard me." Jaune laughed.
Blake nodded and rose an eyebrow at Jaune. "Blake. You've read it before?" She asked. Jaune nodded. He didn't have much to do at home besides study, practice, and read.
"Yeah. Lots of magic and assassins. Lots of political intrigue. Super cool powers. Fun."
Blake nodded in approval. Jaune just smiled led Ruby away, Weiss heading in a separate direction.
"I'll leave you to it then." He said.
"Thank you." Blake said quietly.
After leading Ruby away from Blake and Weiss, the blonde haired girl that accompanied her decided to speak up.
"So you're Jaune huh? I'm Yang." She said reaching out to shake his hand. Jaune returned the gesture, wincing in pain as her grip nearly bought him to his knees.
Should have… used my left hand.
"Nice to… meet you." Jaune breathed out.
"Thanks for helping out Ruby! That almost makes up for throwing up on my shoes." Yang smirked at Jaune.
Jaune just rolled his eyes.
"Never going to live this down." He said.
"'Fraid not Vomit Boy." Yang said brightly.
"At least I didn't blow up part of the school." Jaune said wryly. Ruby protested loudly, saying something about 'normal knees' that both Jaune and Yang ignored.
Jaune just gave a small chuckle.
"Well it was nice meeting you both. I think I'm going to need to catch some sleep. I'll see you guys in the morning."
Yang and Ruby said their farewells and Jaune returned to his spot, only to be dismayed as another student had taken it.
Oh yeah. Jaune thought dejectedly as he settled into a colder, harder patch of ground. This is gonna be great.