The airship was moving smoothly through the air, something that was no comfort to Jaune as he kept his eyes firmly shut and his hood pulled low. He'd managed to mostly get over his motion sickness, there was a trick with aura for it, but he'd gained new limitations with that. Either way the ride was almost over and with it his solitude. He'd have to get up and interact with the world.
"Hello and.." Jaune pulled his hood tighter around him as he heard Goodwitch's recorded voice, more interaction with her was the part of Beacon he was least looking forward to. One good part was that the rest of the passengers had gone silent with her speech, leaving him with only one voice to try to ignore. He felt more than heard the ship land and its doors open. The volume surged then slowly decreased until he was sure he was the last one aboard. Only then did he pull back his hood and open his eyes.
Unsurprisingly it was still the ship's cabin, brushed metal and industrial carpeting in the indulgently spacious plane. He looked to his hip just to be sure but he could feel the comfortable weight of Crocea Mors on his waist. He couldn't resist a smile, he hadn't really thought he'd make it here and was determined to enjoy it. "Just you and me buddy."
The girl who was just passing him- how could he not have noticed her still being aboard? - looked back at him quizzically. "Were you talking to me?"
"Uh no, just.." He was about to sound exactly as awkward as he knew most people thought he was, so he trailed off. She seemed to have picked up on what he would have said in any case, raising an eyebrow as she glanced at his sword.
"There was another girl who was treating her weapon like a person, maybe you should look her up." She moved past towards the exit with that, towing a suitcase that judging by the indentations in the carpet was full of- he looked away.
Beacon. It was as impressive now as when he'd first seen it. He'd half hoped that his first time as a student would be different but it was the same shining towers, all the roofs inclined to Ozpin's pinnacle. It hadn't changed, but he had. It was time to leave the airship. The breeze that greeted him was refreshing, it was a relief to release his aura now that nausea was no longer a worry and the brisk fall air dismissed any lingering unease. It also carried the sounds of an explosion nicely, two girls were surrounded by the characteristic aftermath of mixed activated dust. The girl he'd spoken to was heading in that direction and everyone seemed fine, so he left them to it and began to head towards the Main Hall.
He kept his head down as he walked but he still caught snatches of conversation around him. The new students were nervous, and the upperclassmen watching were mixed between nostalgia and amusement. It was a little ridiculous how they kept the initiation a secret, or tried to, but it was a bonding experience for the school as well as a final weeding out of candidates. Jaune couldn't quite imagine what it would be like to be unprepared before the launch into Emerald Forest, but the pads had a purpose. It was just a step in any direction to avoid them. Someone, probably Ozpin, made them the first lesson of Beacon, that occasionally a Huntsman had no choice but to suffer. Of course the academies taught their students how to deal with it, no doubt laughing to themselves as they flung teenagers hundreds of feet into the air. At the end of the day a terminal velocity fall wasn't that big a deal for anyone with awakened aura.
He reached the Main Hall and joined the milling crowd, towards the back but not so far as to be on the edge. Ever since he'd figured out his semblance he had the tendency to be a bit of a wallflower, but this was a new part of his life. He could take the opportunity to change his habits. Jaune glanced around, he was just between two groups, spaced closely enough to both that they'd both assume he was with the other. Pulling his scroll out he flipped it open and pulled up a game, it was easier to deal with the sights and noises if he could focus on the three inch screen. More importantly he had to beat his sisters at it. They'd formed a team against him and were probably cheating too in the name of fairness. He didn't think any of them would have spotted 'exquisite' across a triple word score without the aid of a program. Whatever, he was still up seventy points, his semblance really helped with spelling and vocabulary. Before he could draw upon the strength of his soul to find the best combination of letters Ozpin reached the stage.
The old man, he wasn't especially old except in a profession where most died young, walked to the podium, his coffee present in his hands as ever. His eyes scanned the crowd, never stopping as they moved through the same constant search that all Hunters eventually mastered before he began his speech.
Well perhaps speech was too grand a term. It was mostly an indictment of their ambitions, although Jaune could have sworn that Ozpin was looking at him when he mentioned the limits of knowledge. Whatever, he was more than his semblance and he'd prove it. Looking around no one else seemed to have taken that motivation from him. The crowd had gone quiet when he started and stayed quiet after, the earlier chatter was noticeably absent.
Goodwitch appeared, twice in one day was far too often, and instructed them to head to the ballroom, Jaune joined the human flow and he felt something fall into place. Flow, movement, stream, current, flux, rheology- that was it! His semblance had come through again. He pulled out his scroll and triumphantly used all seven of his tiles. Fifteen points, a double word score and then fifty for using his entire slate. Maybe his sisters had a point.
His mass text may not have been the most sporting but if they were using a computer and still couldn't beat him they deserved a little mockery. He was so caught up in his scroll, they might be transparent but he had never gotten the hang of looking at two things at once, that he tripped over a girl who was already half set up for bed.
He was about to pick himself up, he'd prioritized his scroll and had rolled to land on his side, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He felt lighter as she pulled him to his feet, the weight of his armor and weapons was nothing compared to his embarrassment- no the weight was different she-
"Are you alright?" He met the girl's eyes and froze, they were the same green ones that glared accusingly at him from the cereal cabinet. Well maybe glared was a strong word but Pyrrha Nikos's eyes seemed hard when he went past her box for a more sugary variety. In real life they were hardly kinder even if they were filled with concern, there was just too much history between them.
His mouth was moving before he could think, anything to shift the judgement of the fighter onto a different target. "If a fall like that would hurt me I'd be in trouble tomorr-" Jaune cut himself off, it was a secret, or it was supposed to be. Now he looked and sounded like a spaz as well as spoiling a time honored tradition.
The concern didn't fade, she was probably worried that a patient had escaped from a mental hospital. "Are you sure? And what do you mean about tomorrow?"
"You'll see." With those hopefully enigmatic words he vanished back into the crowd or tried to. Two conversations, both with girls who could conservatively described as striking, and two strikes. "Just how I wanted things to go on day one at Beacon."
"You too?" The voice came from far below, and the speaker's age seemed to fit. It was a little girl in a red hoodie, the same he'd seen earlier in the dust explosion.
"Didn't you blow up?" Her face fell and Jaune inwardly swore at himself. Three for three Arc, nice going.
"Only a little! And that wasn't entirely my fault!" She looked to the side, Jaune followed her gaze to a girl entirely dressed in white, "The pamphlet she gave me agrees she should have taken more care with her dust!" She turned back to Jaune looking expectant, but nervous.
"Well all's well that ends well my Dad used to say." Given time to think about his words he was halfway competent, he hadn't seemed like a weirdo or ruined a tradition that time!
The girl looked almost as excited to continue the conversation as he was, maybe her day was going as poorly as his. "Mine says that too! Mostly when something goes horrifically wrong and we only barely escape death or disfigurement, but still." She smiled but still was uncertain, it was his turn.
"So, I'm Jaune Arc, what's your name?" A classic conversational gambit, the introduction.
"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose! It's so nice to meet you, ever since I got here it's been crazy. Yang, my sister, abandoned me, then I blew up and then I made a negative friend!" Her words were spilling over themselves, so that it was a shock when she paused. Jaune boldly seized the opportunity to interject.
"How do you make a negative friend?"
"They're typically called enemies," Another girl joined them, from the way Ruby brightened at seeing her Jaune felt confident that this was her sister. "And I didn't abandon you, you just need to make friends, positive friends. Just think of me as the mama bird, pushing you from the nest."
That was definitely a sister, with seven Jaune felt he was qualified to judge the interaction. "Trying to bring her out of her shell?"
The blonde smiled broadly, "I was thinking more like making her spread her wings, but I guess you can't make a friendship omelette without breaking a few eggs." Ruby didn't look entirely happy about the analogy, but her sister continued. "So I'm Yang, you are?"
"He's Jaune Arc."
"Short sweet, the ladies love it." Both sisters exchanged a look, then Yang grabbed Ruby.
"Right- nice to meet you, see you around!" The two of them vanished into the crowd and Jaune started to look for a place to sleep. So, three strikes and then a fourth just for fun.
"Just how I wanted thing to go on day one at Beacon." This time no one responded and Jaune collapsed into his sleeping bag. "Well at least I didn't make any negative friends."
The next day found the entire entering class at the edge of the cliffs. Jaune stepped onto his pad warily but a few others had more visible nerves. He saw Pyrrha standing next to a girl in white, the one Ruby had blown up, and then the two sisters next to each other. He tuned out Ozpin's speech, considering how bored the man sounded he was probably ignoring himself too. Initiation was simple in concept anyways. Don't die in the fall, don't die going through the Grimm infested forests, don't die getting a relic and don't die returning to the top of the cliffs. Just four steps.
"I can handle four steps." The class and Ozpin turned to look at him, apparently interrupting the opening speech was poor form.
The professor took a long draw from his mug, swished the drink- fair trade coffee from Vacuo- around for a second and then gestured vaguely. "Well then Mr. Arc, good luck."
His stomach was left behind as he launched, the suddenness of the pad giving him no time to draw upon his aura. For all that he knew it was coming being tossed from a cliff was never a good experience. It took a few seconds to control his tumbling flight, he saw others being flung after him until he settled into a more controlled fall and looked ahead. The ground was approaching rapidly and he began to orient himself, flaring his aura an instant before he hit.
He left what he considered a very impressive crater, the ground had cracked beneath his feet. He took a second just to breath, this was it, this was the beginning of his hunting career, before with a sharp exhale he started jogging north.
The first person who met his eyes, that was who he'd be spending four years partnered with. So far he hadn't made a good impression with anyone here, it might be best to meet someone new. Statistically it was likely, he'd interacted with less than ten percent of the the class and - those bushes were moving against the wind.
His sword was suddenly in his hand, his shield was in its more compact form but for anything capable of hiding in the brush he shouldn't need it. He breathed in, steadying himself as he faced the edge of the clearing and released his semblance.
Smaller Grimm- not an Ursa or larger- Beowolves- five of them- no six, the sixth was sneaking around behind him- the sixth was behind him- the sixth was-
He dove to his right, rolling to his feet and scanning back to his left. There was a Beowolf there, larger than average but looking almost puzzled at his sudden dodge. The beast had still been a few seconds away, his semblance had overreacted.
His leap had left all of the Grimm in front of him though, scattered across a wide front as the rest of the pack ambled from their cover. Jaune pulled his shield up, and focused again, his semblance wasn't great in combat but occasionally it was useful.
Alpha will feint- one of the pack, third from the left-
Jaune pivoted towards the alpha, the world dulling as he clamped down on the stream of information. Learning that his opponents sword was part of a set of three and was covered in a layer of silver chloride in an effort to reduce the risk of infection was remarkably unhealthy in a fight. He'd gotten to bleed all over the sword before he gave up on trying to leverage his semblance during combat. Besides, these were beowolves, his father killed them by the hundred, and he had handled larger packs on his own.
The alpha charged and Jaune lunged, not to meet it but to slash the other. Its mask shattered and it fell- the alpha saw its plan fail and attacked for real only to be met by his shield. It reeled back, temporarily stunned as Jaune waded into the other four. He ducked a swipe, flicked out a probing blow that cost one a paw, and then stepped into an overhand blow that severed the spine of the least cautious. Two more swings finished the subordinate group- that just left the alpha- he spun back and only saw its rapidly receding body. He also saw the girl who launched it, the blond, Yang, still in her follow-through admiring its flight.
"Thanks." He carefully kept his eyes on the sky. Whoever he was partnered with he was a four year commitment and he wasn't entirely sure he shouldn't try for someone new.
"Lover boy?" She was incredulous, he didn't need to see her to know that.
"I think I'm more of a fighter."
"If your line last night was any indication, you'd have to be."
Jaune breathed in deeply, everything was always muted after a fight and his adrenaline was fading. "Well we haven't made eye contact yet so if-"
"That's against the spirit of the whole thing!" Her head, purple eyes weird, appeared in his field of vision. "Besides if you're that bad at flirting you need me. I guarantee you'll get the Yang of it in no time!"
Jaune closed his eyes, a facepalm would have seemed rude, and besides his hands were full. When he opened them he saw her looking exceedingly proud of herself. "Do you do those often?"
"I try to get Jaune or two in every conversation."
"Lovely."
"Keep that attitude and this partnership will go just fine."
The two of them kept moving north, occasional gunfire would break the silence of the otherwise peaceful morning. "So what's your story?" Or Yang would.
"Pretty standard I guess. My parents are hunters and I've always wanted to follow in their footsteps."
"You weren't at Signal though?" Yang pushed through the undergrowth as she questioned him. They emerged into a clearing with several toppled pillars, the ruins.
"I was there for a little bit, my parents pulled me."
"Really?" They strolled down towards the rocks, Yang clearly enjoying the sunlight. "I don't remember you, why'd they do that?"
"My semblance."
They'd reached the center of the ruins, plinths stood around the circumference with chess pieces atop them. "And?"
"Well they're both Hunters and they and their superiors thought I'd do more good helping them than attending school." Yang was interested now, clearly curious.
"So what is this semblance of yours? Time travel? Death rays? Super-strength?" She paused, her head tilted. "Is it too powerful to use much? Is that why you didn't use it on the Grimm?"
"I wish." He turned to the closest plinth, a black queen was on it. "It's a bit more subtle, intuition."
"Like you know what someone's going to do next in a fight? You're always three steps ahead?"
"Well not really, sometimes but-"
Yang was sceptical, clearly she'd hoped for more. "That doesn't seem worth pulling you from school."
"Well there's more-"
"I feel like we should go left! No right!" Yang had her hands up, both making mouths arguing with each other. "I mean you're here now, you don't need to make up a story about how you were too good for Signal."
Jaune sighed, he'd have to do the thing. He let the fetters on his semblance go and focused on Yang. The rest of the world didn't fade away, but around her he just saw more. "Your name is Yang Xiao Long, Ruby is your half sister."
"And? The hair wasn't enough of a clue?"
"You shared a father, the mother's out of the picture." She looked a little startled at that so Jaune pushed on, her micro-expressions giving him all the information he needed. "Dead? No missing- Missing and dead? Ruby's mother is dead, yours is missing, she left you early, you're looking for her."
Yang was silent for a second, Jaune could tell that was entirely uncharacteristic. "You can do that to anyone?"
Jaune smiled, it might have cost him friends and a more normal childhood but his semblance never got old, knowing things he couldn't was the greatest. "Anything." He moved to take the queen, but staggered, paying the price for his power.
"Are you alright?" Yang was there before he could recover. While he was glad she'd caught him having a shotgun, Ember Celica his semblance helpfully informed him, close to his head was a little worrying.
"Yeah, just when I do that it burns a lot of aura." He pulled his scroll free, he was still in good shape, the dizziness was already passing. He met her eyes, the concern was fading as he steadied. "And yes I'll do my best to help you find your mother."
She quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "You're not always right then?"
Man, he'd been on a roll. "Just mostly. Your sister then? I think we're the third group here, want to wait for her?"
She bowed then and mimed lighting a pipe, "Excellent deduction Sherlarc-"
Jaune cut her off with a raised hand. "If it's all the same to you, I prefer Poirot."