The only characters I own in this story are my OC's; all other aspects are the property of Roosterteeth and their affiliates.
Thank you.
"...the latest in a string of mining disasters plaguing Schnee holdings in Vacuo. Speculation that the White Fang is at fault has arisen, but all factions of the Faunus organization have denied responsibility to far.
"In local news, the so-called 'Blur of Vale' made another appearance Saturday, when members of the White Fang disrupted the Faunus civil rights protest. Eyewitness accounts say the aggressors were rounded up by 'a gust of wind and a rainbow trail' and tied up with a fallen lamp post for the authorities to handle."
Jaune Arc smiled weakly as he listened to the news broadcast from his position, doubled over, airship bench. The Blur had been the talk of the kingdom ever since he'd arrived. People were utterly caught up in the idea of an honest to Oum superhero running around the city, fighting crime and helping out where he could. Unfortunately, several members of the Vale High Council were put off by the notion, and a hefty sum of money was being offered up to anyone willing to capture it.
Which made the fact that the Blur's alter-ego (/Jaune's traveling companion and best friend), Jonathan Marcellus was currently beside him, in the middle of a transport full of huntsmen and huntresses in training, funny to Jaune. He probably would have found it more amusing if he wasn't currently holding his lunch in through sheer will, but it was still at least ironic.
"Hold on buddy, just another couple minutes." Said Jonathan, while rubbing small circles into the younger blond's back to alleviate his stress.
Jaune was glad that the two of them looked so similar or the act might have drawn some looks. Of course, once you got closer to them, the differences between them became more evident. Jonathan's eyes, though obscured by sunglasses with many multicolored frames above and below the main ones, were a rich brown, while Jaune's were a deep blue. Jaune was taller than his friend by about three inches, though a life of training had made Jonathan more toned. And while Jaune's hair was a solid yellow, Jonathan's was longer and more of a dirty blond, with the beginnings of a goatee forming on his chin.
They had their similarities too, though more in their situation than in appearance. They were both lost to their homes (one by choice, one by calamity), they each carried an heirloom used in their families for generations, and they both had a desire to help people above all else. That last one is what convinced Jonathan to come with Jaune to Beacon nearly two seasons ago. Since then they'd gotten to know each other reasonably well.
The airship lurched, and Jaune found himself unable to keep his food in his stomach any longer. He leapt from his seat and bolted for the door, hands clasped over his mouth as he ran. Thankfully, the ship pulled to a stop and opened its doors just as he reached them. He sprinted for the trash can, that was always just outside airship exits for food and diapers and poor saps like himself with airsickness, and gripped its sides as bile and vomit came staggeredly out of his mouth.
Jonathan walked up behind him and patted his back. He pulled some napkins out of their shared duffel bag and held them out to Jaune, who gladly accepted.
"You alright?" He asked.
Jaune nodded slowly. "Yeah, just give me a minute." He blanched. "Oh man, it tastes like spoiled beef."
Laughter escaped the older boy's lips. "I told you not to eat before the flight."
"Hey, I paid seven liens for that sandwich. I'm getting my money's worth!"
Jonathan rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.
The pair began walking toward the exit of the docking area, and into the central courtyard. The boys stopped outside the building's door and stared at the school before them. Beacon was more extensive than most Ivy league universities and twice as grandiose. It looked like a castle from an old fairytale, with ivory-colored walls topped with ebony tiled roofs. Well-manicured lawns lined white stone paths that twisted this way and that through the campus. Large windows peered into lecture halls, and gymnasiums, and a genuinely excessive dining hall. In the center of the campus stood a soaring clocktower with a glass face and wrought iron detailing (which Jonathan realized was the headmaster's office), that seemed to glow the faintest shade of green in the late afternoon sun.
Jaune turned to Jonathan with a face-splitting grin. "We made it."
Jonathan smiled back. "No more cave-ins, no more floods, just smooth sailing from here on."
Their smiles dropped when an explosion erupted in the courtyard. Jaune gave his friend a look.
"Yeah, that one's on me." Sighed Jonathan as the pair ran off to find the source.
It wasn't especially hard, seeing as a large plume of smoke was still visible above the site.
The courtyard around the crater was charred, with cracks spider-webbing out from the dent in the cobblestone path. In the center of the pit stood a young girl with scorch marks on her boots, looking dejected as two older girls walked off in opposite directions. She sunk to her knees and then to her back, mumbling something to herself.
Jaune wasted no time in walking over to her and extending his hand to help her up, with Jonathan right on his heels. The girl stirred when a shadow across her face suddenly blocked the sun. She looked up to see Jaune offering his hand and a supportive smile.
"Hey," He greeted. "I'm Jaune."
She smiled a little bit and accepted his hand up. "Ruby."
"Jonathan." The other boy introduced, with a nod.
Ruby smiled at both of them before snorting into her hand. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"
Supercriminal Roman Torchwick growled as he looked over his latest haul. In the three short weeks since that damned Blur showed up, he'd been able to keep less and less of his scores, a number that was dwindling further because of how many men the damned thing had gotten arrested. And then there was the incident with that stupid teenager.
He took a long drag from his cigar to calm his nerves. He needed help. Neo was currently in Atlas, helping their benefactor sneak into some research facility or something, and the thugs he borrowed from Xiong were ludicrously inept, as his last job had so wonderfully proved. He took one last drag and crushed the cigar with his cane, before taking a new one out of his case and lighting it.
"And here I thought I smoked too much." Called a smooth voice from behind the gangster.
Roman spun with surprising grace and leveled his cane at the speaker. A dark-skinned man in a charcoal suit and black tie stood with his arms raised halfheartedly in surrender.
"The hell'd you get in here?" Demanded the mobster.
The man smiled. "My boss has known about this place for a while. Let you be, 'cause he wanted to see what you were doing." He shrugged. "Guess you finally caught his attention."
"Cute." Deadpanned Roman. "Listen, pal; I get threats from other bosses twice a week, what do you want."
The well-dressed man slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He flicked it over to Roman, who caught it with ease. "My boss wants a meeting. He's currently abroad, but whenever you decide to contact us, he'll be ready."
On the card a shining silver "M" stood out on the black paper, beneath it read words:
Protection. Solutions. Weapons.
Roman looked back to the intruder to respond but was bewildered when all he saw was a white wisp of dissipating smoke where the man once stood. The gangster shook his mind clear and looked back to the card. Turning it over, he found a scroll number written in the same silver font.
Torchwick looked over to the wall where a map of the city hung above a small workbench. Sitting on the workbench was an old burner scroll that held an all too frequent contact. He sighed and walked over to the scroll to dial the number. The lady wasn't going to be happy about this.
"Look, all I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on." Argued Jaune as he Ruby and Jonathan strolled through the school courtyard.
"Look, I'm sorry Vomit-boy was just the first thing that came to mind." Said Ruby, sheepishly.
"Well, I'm sure you could have done better with more time 'Captain Crater'" Joked Jonathan from her other side."
Ruby threw her hands down indignantly. "Hey, that explosion was an accident."
Jaune smirked and jabbed his thumb into his chest as he started walking backward so he could face his friends. "Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."
Ruby looked at Jonathan. "Do they?" She asked flatly.
"Eh." Said Jonathan as he waved his hand in a so-so gesture.
"Hey, they will." Said Jaune quickly. "Well, I hope they will… I mean, my mom always said…" He realized he was making a weak argument and stopped himself. "Never mind."
The group fell into a silence that Ruby must have felt it was awkward because she pulled her weapon from her back and unfurled it into its scythe mode, jabbing the point into the path and causing both blonds to jump back.
"So, I got this thing." She said, motioning to it with her head.
"Woah!" Said Jaune nervously. "Is that a scythe?"
Ruby nodded, hefting the weapon onto her shoulder. "It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle."
Jaune and Jonathan looked at each other slightly, causing Ruby to smile. "It's also a gun."
"Oh." Said Jonathan, at the same time that Jaune said. "That's cool."
"So… What have you got?" Asked Ruby.
Jonathan motioned for Jaune to go first, and the younger blond obliged.
"Well, I've got this sword." He said as he unsheathed his weapon.
"Oooooooh." Said Ruby, examining the blade.
Jaune slipped his left arm through the loops on his sheath and hit a button on it, expanding it on it's way up. "And I've got a shield too."
Ruby looked over the newly formed shield, searching for joints and buttons. "So, what do they do?" She asked as she pushed the button on the shield.
The shield contracted along Jaune's arm with a metallic twang, decided that that was the wrong position, and expanded back out to its full width. Jaune seemed to struggle with the sudden motion but regained his composure.
"Well, the shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just," He sheathed the weapon and placed it back on his hip. "Put it away."
Ruby looked from Jaune to the weapon and back again. "Wouldn't it just weigh the same?"
"Yeah, it does." Said Jaune in a defeated tone.
Jonathan reached a hand up and patted him on the shoulder. Ruby looked over to him next. "What's your thing?"
The elder boy smiled and motioned to the technicolor array of smaller lenses around his glasses. "Dust lenses."
Ruby looked at him warily. "Isn't it dangerous to have all that right next to your face?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm pretty sure you just took a suitcase of the stuff to the face."
"Fair point." She raised her hands in concession, then went back to cradling her scythe. "I'm just a bit of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I went a little overboard in designing her."
"You made/designed that?" Asked Jaune and Jonathan, respectively.
Ruby beamed. "Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"
Jaune unsheathed his weapon again and smiled ruefully at his reflection in the metal. "It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."
Ruby gave an awkward laugh. "Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." She saw that Jaune still wasn't smiling and continued. "Well, I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."
"Yeah." Said Jaune, brightening. "The classics."
Ruby began walking again, and the others followed. "So, why'd you help me back there, in the courtyard?"
Jaune shrugged. "Eh, why not. Jonathan and I don't like seeing others in pain, so we try and help out where we can. Besides, my mom always said 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"
Ruby mulled it over in her mind. "Huh."
"Hey, where are we going?"
Jaune looked at her. "What, I don't know I was following you."
"Oh." Said Ruby.
Jaune looked over to Jonathan, who was looking at the surrounding buildings, intently. "Jon?"
"Already on it."
It took a few minutes, but eventually, the trio made it to the school auditorium, where most of the other students had assembled. The building was a large cylinder topped with a glass dome that had a pair of concentric rings near the top. Positioned on balconies about a story above their heads were rows of stadium seating. On the opposite side of the room was a rounded stage with a large structure that resembled the outline of the school, with four blue lenses where the clock tower would be.
"Ruby, over here!" Called a voice from their right. The three looked over to see a girl with bright blonde hair and violet eyes waving at Ruby from amidst a crowd of people. "I saved you a spot."
Ruby smiled back at her. "Sorry guys," She said to her new friends as she took off toward her sister. "looks like I gotta go. See you after the ceremony!"
"Hey, wait!" Called Jaune after her, but Ruby wasn't paying attention to them anymore.
Jonathan chuckled at his friend's disappointment. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find some other girl to annoy soon enough."
"Oh, really?" Jaune shot back. "I seem to remember it was you who got us kicked off the Emerald Limited."
"That was an accident, and you know it!" Jonathan interrupted, with an accusatory finger. "Besides, I'm still convinced that woman was-"
He cut himself off as a familiar sensation began to pull at his stomach. His head went on a swivel as he looked for what Grimm could be nearby. Jaune's hand went to the hilt of his sword, but he kept it sheathed. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure."
Feedback from the stage gained the attention of everyone in the room as a man in a dark green suit began to address them, with a blonde woman just behind him. "I'll… keep this brief.
"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
The boys gave each other twin looks of confusion as the man left the stage and the blonde woman, whom Jonathan recognized as Glynda Goodwitch from the airship, took his place.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight." She began curtly. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"
Jonathan watched as the man in the suit left and the pull on his gut with him.
Jaune, now dressed in blue bunny footie pajamas, settled onto his bedroll as Jonathan paced alongside him in a black tee-shirt and shorts. Jonathan had told him about the way Ozpin had left at the same time as Jonathan's stomach had stopped being pulled on, and the two were trying to figure out why that was the case.
"The guy runs the most prestigious huntsman academy in the world, Jon, why would he be connected to the Grimm?"
The long-haired boy stroked his chin and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe he's doing some type of experiments on himself. Trying to make a better huntsman."
A flat look was Jaune's only response.
"You're right, that's stupid." He conceded as he resumed his pacing.
"You don't think that Glaslow chick found us, do you?" Asked Jaune worriedly.
"No, that felt different." Said Jonathan, shaking his head. "She felt like I was looking at myself; this is almost… draining.
"And what's more, I felt sort of the same thing around Ruby."
Jaune's head snapped up in surprise. "What, why her?"
Jonathan massaged his temples. "I don't know, but there's something peculiar going on here."
"Well, we'll just have to keep an eye on him, I guess." Jaune let out a yawn and sunk into his pillow. "Get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow."
Jonathan nodded to himself. "Alright, then. Goodnight, Jaune."
"Mmhmm, goodnight."
Jonathan sat himself down on his bedroll. He was probably just being paranoid. Maybe things would make sense tomorrow.
A/N
Well, here we are again, fourth time's the charm, right?
For those of you who don't know, this is a rewrite of my story Chromium. I didn't like how that was turning out, so I started over. I don't recommend reading it, but if y'all want a little bit of backstory on Jonathan, go ahead.
I'm going to state this now so that everyone knows: This takes place in a slightly alternate RWBY universe. This means that one or two characters have altered histories and/or motivations, and some new characters will play some prominent roles. All you need to know right now is that Jaune stole Crocea Mors and ran away from home about seven months beforehand, and has been traveling with Jonathan for six doing all sorts of things.
If you don't mind, I'd like one thing from y'all. Jonathan will be a member of JNPR (Jaune will still lead), and therefore they will need a new team name. I have one on the back burner already, but I want to see if anyone has anything better. You will be credited if yours is chosen.
Anyway, that's it y'all. Goodnight and God bless.
