"Seriously, what's a scrawny weakling like you even doing at this academy?" Cardin sneered as he kicked the boy on the ground in the ribs once more, causing him to groan and choke as the wind was knocked from his lungs. The onlookers seemed disgusted at the display of poor sportsmanship from Cardin as he smugly grinned as he watched the blonde paladin writhe on the floor.
"That will be quite enough, Mister Winchester." Professor Goodwitch snapped as she stepped into the arena from her podium, looking over the loser of the sparring match with a quiet sigh of pure pity. "Mister Arc." she ordered as the blonde slowly rose to face her. "Once again, it seems you've failed to focus on the fundamentals of combat such as keeping your guard up and focus on your opponent at all times."
"Not to mention the fact he's a failure compared to me." Cardin boasted.
"I thought I told you that was quite enough, Mister Winchester." the platinum blonde glared, shutting the larger of the two boys up. "With that, we conclude today's lesson. I've sent your homework assignments to your Scrolls already. You're all dismissed." she explained as the class began to file out of the auditorium, Cardin and Jaune turning to leave for the locker room before a firm grip on his left shoulder stopped the blonde dead in his tracks. "Except for you, Mister Arc. I'd like to have a word with you."
While Cardin continued on to the lockers, chuckling to himself, Jaune turned to face his teammates. They all wore similar facial expressions of pity and empathy to him. "We'll be waiting back at the dorms, if that's okay." Pyrrha called.
"It's fine guys." Jaune sighed as the rest of JNPR filed out of the room. Once the paladin and his instructor were sure they were alone, she faced him, taking off her glasses to clean then with a small rag from her pocket.
"Jaune, the third semester is coming quickly, and you've barely made progress against your sparring partners. Cardin's marks in this class are almost as low as yours and you're still nowhere near his skill level." Goodwitch began. "Is there something bothering you that's been affecting your progress?" she asked.
"The fact that he's right." Jaune muttered.
"Excuse me?" Glynda asked, unsure of what her student was referring to.
"You know, what Cardin said. He's right; I'm a scrawny weakling with no business being in this academy, let alone leading a team." Jaune complained, finally letting it out. "How can I lead a Huntsman team if I can't win a single sparring match?"
"Well, a pessimistic attitude is nowhere near the right direction." the sorceress pointed out.
"It's not pessimism if it's the truth!" Jaune snapped, startling both himself and the older Huntress due to the outburst. "I...I'm sorry... I didn't mean to yell."
Professor Goodwitch bit her lip as she puzzled herself on how to take action. She doubted a stern talking-to would help snap Jaune out of his funk, or at the least, one from her. Instead, she lowered her gaze to her touchpad, typing up a quick message to somebody before looking back to the blonde boy in front of her. "Mister Arc, you don't have anymore classes this coming hour, do you?" she asked.
"No, why?" Jaune asked back.
"Come with me." she ordered in a less demanding tone. She began to leave the arena, a depressed Jaune reluctantly following her out. They left the training hall entirely as they walked across Beacon's campus, ending at the large marble-bordered doors that lead inside to Ozpin's tower. Instead of going straight inside, Glynda halted the both of them at the front doors.
"Miss Goodwitch?" Jaune asked, giving his teacher a confused look as she turned to face him.
"Well? Go on in." she motioned as the paladin looked between her and the door again. Usually when the mage brought a student to Ozpin's tower, it was either for an important reason, or that student was in deep trouble. For some reason, Jaune could tell it wasn't the latter as he walked through the large iron doors. Goodwitch didn't follow him inside.
The foyer was familiar to Jaune from the other time he was sent there for the incident in the Forever Fall with Cardin's team back in the first semester. It had an air of elegance despite the lack of color. Shades of metallic grey and olive green welcomed him as he sat on one of the lounge chairs that sat on either side of the room between the dark green area rug with a cog stencilled into it as it sat upon the linoleum floor. His eyes shifted around the room anxiously. One on end were the two elevator doors that lead up to Ozpin's clocktower office, with a pair of mahogany doors on either side of the elevator doorways. What was on the other side of those, he could only guess; probably just the elevation mechanisms for the two lifts. The way he came was less interesting to him, it being just the other side of the doors he entered through with banners proudly displaying Beacon's symbol on them that hung on either side of the door from the ceiling.
The chime of the elevator brought him out of his curious gazing around the room as the left lift doors opened. Out from it came the headmaster of Beacon Academy himself, Professor Ozpin, with his trademark cane and coffee mug in hand. "Jaune Arc." he greeted with a soft smile as he exited the elevator and slowly meandered up to the young man.
"Hey, Professor." Jaune glumly nodded back as the gentleman sat down on the chair next to him. "Am I in trouble for something?" he asked.
"Of course not, my boy." he assured the paladin. "However, I, as well as Professor Goodwitch can't help but be...concerned about your demeanor today." he explained.
Jaune let out a sigh before turning to the Huntsman. "What Cardin said was true and both you know it. I'm too weak, too unskilled for fighting Grimm. Even with the training in class and with Pyrrha, I've barely made any progress at all! I'll never be a great hero like my sister and my forefathers, so what's the point anymore?"
Ozpin bit his lip as he processed his student's reaction. It seemed a bit more of an issue than what Glynda had explained in her inquiry earlier for him to try and remedy the situation. "Do you really believe that in your heart of hearts, Mister Arc?" the headmaster asked, a silent nod from the downcast paladin as his gaze never left the floor they stood upon. "I see..." Ozpin stood up slowly as he turned his back to his student. "I'll prepare the papers for your withdrawl from the academy, but before we do so, I'd like to show you something."
With a shrug, Jaune agreed and the two men started towards the elevators. As they walked, Jaune's thoughts flew around his mind about his decision. His family and friends would definitely be sore about him quitting, but at the same time, he felt it was the right thing to do considering his lack of progress.
He was so caught in his thoughts, he almost did a double take as the paladin realized they didn't pass through the double doors of an elevator. They instead passed through one of the two wooden doors on either side of it. Quite contrary to Jaune's belief, it wasn't a maintenance access point for the elevators, but a hall leading behind the elevator shafts and into a well-lit staircase descending to a basement level area probably nobody he knew was aware of aside from the school's faculty.
After descending the stairs, they arrived in front of an even larger set of doors than the ones at the tower's front entrance. On either side of it stood giant stone statues of knights in ornate armor, whose helmets just barely scraped the edge of the ceiling that hung at least thirty feet above them.
"One moment please." Ozpin asked of his student as he stepped forward, positioning his cane over a small hole in front of the door that looked like it had no business being there at all. It turned out it did have some as Ozpin's cane tip fit perfectly into the divot. With the squeeze of the lever on his handle, a loud metallic click rung out through the secret atrium, as if someone on the other side shattered a heavy chain link.
Whatever happened that Ozpin's cane caused, it worked at something as the huge doors creaked open by themselves, revealing a dimly lit hall that both men walked into and immediately began looking around.
"What is this place?" Jaune asked as he looked between the walls adorned with dozens of framed photographs that looked as recent as one year ago to the age his grandparents were born into, even some as oil paintings on large canvas sheets from the time before cameras were invented.
"This, Mister Arc, is the hall where Beacon Academy showcases their success stories." Ozpin explained, leading him down the hall at a slow pace. "Each of these photos depict each team who has left this institution as certified Huntsman and gone off to accomplish extraordinary feats, from saving entire kingdoms to slaying legions of Grimm." He pointed out certain photos to further his point, picking a recent one on the left wall. "Your sister's team, CRSM, is one of them for work they did in the Goliath Stampede of Atlas two years ago after their graduation." He lead him further down the hall, where they started passing artifacts from historic teams as well. "This is another example: the harpoon-musket of Wake Zaffre, leader of the legendary team WATR, and pioneer for combat techniques against aquatic Grimm."
He continued through a plethora of more paintings, photos and relics of Huntsmen past before stopping at a large portrait next to a blank wall. It depicted four Huntsmen, two men and two women, standing proudly in front of a barren cliffside. The two on the end were the men, one a giant of a man with bright orange hair, a belt covered in dust-filled vials and a huge wooden mallet with an ironclad grip, and the other, a tall but more athletically built one in bronze armor, holding a matching javelin. The two girls sat in the center with stoic faces. One seemed to be of oriental descent, wearing a green tailcoat and short white pants and holding two miniature crossbows with knife blades on the bottoms. The other had long wavy blonde hair, and was decked out in light silver armor with an all too familiar sword and shield.
"I-Is that my weapon?" Jaune stammered as he observed the picture.
"Quite right, Mister Arc." Ozpin nodded. "This is Team SCTM, the first team to graduate from Beacon Academy upon its founding hundreds of years ago." He then cycled through the members of the team. "Tre Valkyrie: the pioneer of dust manipulation into ballistic forms such as explosives. Lie Mikasa: supposed granddaughter of the great Monty Oum and a master of Aura Manipulation. Chronos Nikos: a brilliant vanguard and combat prodigy. And of course, Sable Arc: brilliant tactician and weapon-smith. You're already well acquainted with her handiwork." the headmaster explained, gesturing to the folded weapon on Jaune's hip. "Wether it was a coincidence or fate that your team was assembled the way it was during initiation is not of great concern, but what I know for sure is that if you all try your hardest and live up to what you believe your potential is, I have faith Team JNPR can become more legendary than all the teams in this hall combined."
"That's very nice of you to say, Professor, but what if we don't?" Jaune asked. "I'm no leader. I'm just a guy who got lucky to get into Beacon thanks to my lineage."
"Yes, and with fake transcripts to further secure your spot." Ozpin added, eliciting a gulp from the blonde. "What? You thought you were the first to fool the administration into permitting you to attend Beacon? Shield Academy has been closed for decades, and I know Arno Arc's signature anywhere. That wasn't his on the permission slip of the transcripts."
Jaune let out a sigh as he turned to leave the hall. "I get it. I'll pack my things and be on the next airship out of here." he said solemnly, bowing his head in shame.
"On the contrary, Jaune." the silver-haired Huntsman said, catching the boy off guard. "I may have known your transcripts were fake, but even after the other teachers found out, I denied the motion to have you expelled for it."
"What? Why?" Jaune asked.
"Because I don't see a 'scrawny idiotic weakling' in front of me." Ozpin answered. "I see a young man with great potential, strong leadership traits, and greater dedication to your studies than when Professor Goodwitch and I were students here. With proper guidance and training, that potential can reach a fuller bloom than that of any of these teams on these walls. SCTM, WATR, QRTS, DMNO, IVRY, ORCD, all of them had the same qualities that you possess, and if you learn to have faith in yourself, then you and your team shall definitely be remembered as heroes."
Jaune took in the information as he rethought his options. Looking back at the photo of him and his team's ancestors. "You really think I can live up to a reputation better than their's?" he asked, a hint of hope in his voice.
"Jaune..." Ozpin started with a smile. "I guarantee it."
"...And guarantee it he did." a much older Jaune Arc recalled, his tired eyes looking up at the photo of Team JNPR as it sat next to that of his ancestor.
"What happened next though, Grandpa? I-I mean, Headmaster?" a blonde boy with teal eyes, who looked less than a day older than sixteen as he stood in a black and maroon hoodie with bronze pauldrons and a breastplate over it, the relic of a weapon attached to the hip of the young Huntsman.
The tired old Arc chuckled to himself as he looked at his grandson. "You heard the stories of when I was younger. You should know."
"Wow...Hard to believe all you needed to become such a good Huntsman was a pep talk." the boy wondered aloud.
"Sometimes a little reassurance is all it takes." Jaune agreed as he looked to his watch. "Your free period's almost up, Hercule. You should be headed back now for you class with Professor von Winkle."
The younger of the two generations' features fell at his name. "Please, do I have to? He's kind of a hardass when it comes to training." Hercule pleaded.
"So was your grandmother." Jaune smirked as his grandchild pouted. "Now run along."
With a long sigh of defeat, Hercule turned and left the hall, Jaune taking one last look at the picture hanging next to SCTM's portrait. It showed a much younger version of himself, arms around Ren and Pyrrha's shoulders as Nora stood at the oriental's side with a large trophy with the words "Vytal Tournament Champion: Jaune Arc of Team JNPR, Vale". It was the last photo he ever took during his time at Beacon, and the first triumph of his career as a Huntsman.
After spending some time looking at it, he started to leave the hall, walking lazily as he kept his eye on a single display closer to the door. "Couldn't have done it without you. Thank you again, Professor." he nodded to the lone cane that sat upon the pedestal before closing the massive doors behind him.
Hey everyone. Hope you enjoyed this one shot; leave it to Ozpin to restore some faith in our favorite team leaders. Also, if any teams mentioned in the hall of fame share similarities to any existing OC teams, it's not intended, and if you were curious, here's what they were in order of mentions:
CRSM: (Crimson), Marron Arc and Winter Schnee's team.
WATR: (Water), pioneers in fighting water-based Grimm
SCTM: (Spectrum or Sanctum), as stated, Beacon's first graduates.
QRTS: (Quartz), team of Qrow, Raven, Taiyang and Summer during their years at Beacon
DMNO: (Domino), Bartholomew Oobleck's team during his student years at Beacon, more info to come.
IVRY: (Ivory), famous team from the Faunus Revolution era.
ORCD: (Orchid), famous team from CRSM's graduating class, may do a one-shot with them in the future.
Now that that's out of the way, just a quick update on those who follow my writing other than this story. You may notice this has been my first (serious) piece in a little while. That joke fic was something I did after a night of drinking and watching a few vids that made fun of fanfictions, so don't expect another chapter of it. Sorry for anybody that actually liked...whatever that was. :/
Speaking of chapters, you might also be thinking, "DUST, HOW LONG TIL THE NEXT CHAPTER OF BROKEN HOME IS OUT?"
Well, stop yelling and I'll tell you. I've gone back to college recently and after failing a class last semester along with nearly failing a second since I focused more on Stolen Innocence than I did actually studying, updates for any of my work are going to be slim. Also, I've had a bout of writer's block and have had to scrap the first draft of chapter 5 entirely and even rework part of the story plan leading up to the climax. Please be patient, and with hope, you should see it before September ends. That said, I've got more to do, so I'll see you lads and lasses around. Peace.