Initiation Day(s)


Cover Art: drivorobotnik77 at DA


"Gonna be late, gonna be late, gonna be late...!"

Skidding across the hallway floors to break right, Jaune narrowly missed crashing into some random sparring equipment by the end of the hall before gruffly straightening out his gear and entering the locker room.

He vaguely recalled the first time he'd been here. Ruby was there, Yang was there, and he was pretty sure that Weiss was there. He couldn't help but scoff at himself for thinking the term 'Snow Angel' would've been a suave pickup line the first time, but then again, it was his first day as a Hunter-in training. He was excited. Still, she was a gorgeous young woman... it was still a little fuzzy, but he recalled that even though he'd had a crush on her for a while, it just kinda tapered down to... well, not a crush. Point is, he didn't really feel the need to aggravate these people today with half-baked one-liners, so he'd just...

"I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk! ...Oh hey Jaune!"

Yelping in surprise, the knight jumped back as the two sister's eyed him with amusement. This... had definitely not happened the first time.

"Heh, someone's a little Jaun-py today..."

A cricket-chirping silence settled in before being broken by a snort-like chuckle from Jaune, immediately causing Ruby's eyes to go wide and begin shaking her head adamantly with the 'cut it out' hand-across-throat gesture. But it was too late.

"What? It was funny!"

Ruby let her hands drop in defeat with a deadpan before noting, "It was horrible. That's why no one laughs at her puns."

"Yeah well... one time I tried to make a pun about rubber bands," Jaune noted flatly with a shrug, "But it was a stretch."

"HAH!" Yang chortled aloud with a wide grin, her eyes alight at the joke, "Finally, someone who understands the comedic genius of the spoken word! I've decided - you and me are gonna get along just fine!"

Jaune might've noted that it was her occasional association during his time at Beacon that had gotten him to try out the occasional double entendre but wisely chose not to, instead noticing Ruby's increasingly nonplussed expression as she regarded her sister with admittedly adorable flushed red cheeks, "Yaaaang... not cool..."

"What, you were the one against meeting new people just now~"

"Jaune's different, he's not new!" Ruby retorted hotly, "He's Vomit Boy!"

The knight in question merely lifted his arms up in affront at the nickname, the crimsonette retracting with a small eep of apology before Jaune heard what he was looking for around the corner of the lockers.

"Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."

"S'cuse me, ladies," Jaune noted softly as he lightly pushed between both surprised women in his effort to locate the sound of the voice, "I was actually just passing through. See you both at the cliffs."

"Cliffs?" Ruby echoed in question without receiving any reply.

Yang scoffed incredulously as he passed them by, glaring at Ruby as the brawler pointed at her fellow blonde, "Seriously? Brushed off right before I was gonna give him my number!"

Huffing in bemusement, Ruby merely mumbled some dark things about sabotaging a certain someone's shampoo bottle as the sisters peeked around the side to see Jaune approaching the two young women nearby.

"Well, that sounds-"

"Pyrrha!"

The two young women turned to see the knight, Weiss cocking a brow at the young man who so familiarly stepped forward to the Mistrali celebrity as if they were long-time friends as the green-eyed woman herself gave him a tight-lipped smile in reply.

"Er... Hello...!" she replied unsurely at the young man who clearly knew her name... just like all the others. Weiss tried to step in to stop him, but he merely held out both hands to stop her before she could speak.

"Wait wait, I remember this," he noted in excitement, straining to recall the list from memory, "Graduated top of her class at Sanctum, won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row - a new record, if I recall correctly - and on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box! The Pyrrha Nikos!

Pyrrha, whose already plastered smile had begun wilting more and more with every achievement being counted off, only noted with some strain, "Yes... that's me... you got it..."

"Right! So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?"

He had told Pyrrha that the first time, right? Yeah, he was pretty sure... they'd ended up in the same team after all!

"Well, as I was saying a moment ago, I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may..."

"Ah well, that's true," Jaune noted brightly, trying to play off his advantage of already knowing where said chips would fall with his confident smirk, "But you know, teams would have four students each and stuff, so I'd say our chances of ending up together are pretty good!"

"And if you end up with me instead?" Weiss interjected aloud, hands on her hips in an almost challenging pose to accompany her almost challenging question at the blonde. Though she would never admit it in a million years, she wasn't quite sure about how to feel towards someone who'd so easily brush past the opportunity of working with her during the initiation. Even if it was for someone like Pyrrha Nikos.

This thought process was likely why her jaw literally dropped as Jaune merely remarked without even turning to look at her, "Trust me, we're not gonna."

"If... I'm not mistaken," Pyrrha noted, her mask of politeness almost beginning to strain at this evidently persistent fan, "It seems the process may be more left to chance than can be helped..."

"Well then Pyr, play your cards right and uh," Jaune then pantomimed a javelin thrower's arc with a wink, "Shoot straight, and you'll end up on the winning team. Whaddaya say?"

'Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.'

In turning to face Glynda's voice coming over the intercom, Jaune completely missed Pyrrha's sigh of relief, and Weiss' seething glare burning into his head.

"Welp, see you girls later!" he noted brightly at the women as he made his way out, joined by Yang and Ruby who casually seemed to appear around the corner of the locker as if they weren't just eavesdropping on the whole thing... but for Jaune, they may as well have just bumped into each other on accident.

"Aiming a little high there, eh Lady-killer?" Yang noted before glancing at his waist and suggesting with a wink, "Must be pretty good with a sword to do that, am I right?~"

Just like Ruby, Jaune completely missed the double meaning before noting with a shrug, "Well, I may look like I haven't used it before, but don't let appearances fool ya. I once took on more people than you can count with it for several hours straight, barely broke a sweat. But that's secondhand knowledge mostly, cuz I honestly don't remember that day too well anymore..."

The three students now making their way outside towards the shuttle, Ruby spared Yang a curious glance as the brawler slowed her step noticeably at Jaune's words.

"Uh, you okay, Yang? You're heating up..."

"Uhhhh... uh-huh?"

Ruby decided that was clearly a lie. And decided not to ask.


Now, Glynda was indeed a dangerous woman.

Dangerous, but misunderstood. Sure, her Semblance was rather formidable, and the sight of her weapon of choice alone was enough to make a lesser man wince. But what made Glynda Goodwitch's reputation truly notorious was neither her brawn nor her disciplinary methods.

Glynda Goodwitch... was a hawk.

Able to catch what others couldn't, to discern motivation and intent through all the variables. As a matter of fact, one could literally just put a picture of Glynda Goodwitch under the dictionary definition of Astute and all the scholars would agree. It was just how it was.

So when the wizened woman of green-eyed acuity zeroed in on the placid knight while every other student balked at Ozpin's initiation speech on the Beacon Cliffs, Jaune should've known that his serene smirk was already getting him on the wrong radar in a bad way.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin now asked, satisfied with the congregation of groans and dejections his words had brought about before frowning a bit at the lack of hand raising, "Hmm, well that's a first. Very well, let the initiation... begin."

At that, the first student was launched into Emerald Forest, the rest of the teens dropping into ready position as Jaune gave Ruby a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Jaune," she whispered to him as more catapults were heard going off, "Maybe we'll end up on the same team?"

He shrugged before noting, "Eh well... I wouldn't get my hopes up on that, but I got a pretty good feeling you'll do just fine."

"There you go again with that," Ruby noted lightly, her silver eyes glinting as they narrowed at him over a playful smirk, "Guessed the cliffs before they got announced, and now sounding so sure I'll make it okay..."

"World's best guesser, remember?" Jaune stated with a winning smile, the crimsonette rolling her eyes at him and turning to see her sister put on some aviators to get launched, "I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

Ruby turned back to stick her tongue out at him before being launched off the platform, the knight watching her go before leisurely straightening up and engaging in a light oblique stretch.

"Mister Arc, you're dropping out of your launching stance?" Glynda asked with a neutral expression as the knight remained as the sole student, to which he gave a small shrug.

"Meh. I'll be fine," he replied calmly, giving her a light salute before being launched into the air. At that, the disciplinarian looked down at her tablet with a slight hint of surprise before glancing over at her superior who merely lifted his pinky off his own tablet to raise the mug he held in the same hand to his mouth.

"We wouldn't want him falling too far behind his peers, would we? Come now, Glynda, he's yet to become an official student... let him pass the entrance exam before you subject him to a formal interrogation."

"Hmpf," she huffed as she kept her head high and walked to the edge of the cliffs beside him, each Professor watching the knight flail through the air like a poorly-chucked starfish, "I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

meanwhile, in the air...

For lack of better terms... Jaune was a happy camper.

He recalled being horrified the first time he had gone through this, but then again, he didn't know that he'd be miraculously pinned to a tree the first time, either. It was nice, now that he really got to think about it, how great soaring through the air could be. Heck, maybe the whole airsickness thing was just a mental thing, after all! Right, no need to feel nausea about these things when what should really be coursing through your body is the thrill!

"Yeah!" Jaune shouted as he continued flipping through the air aimlessly, spying a clearing in the trees approaching, "Ah, that's where Pyr and I found that Death Stalker! Man... I really wish we hadn't, but I guess I'll have to if I'm gonna keep things as close to the original timeline as I can!"

Indeed, the knight was very proud of himself. He'd already met Ruby and Yang, talked with Weiss, and even helped Pyrrha out by giving her a hint! Not too much, of course, but it sure felt when he was walking out that locker room that everything was right on track!

Which... started feeling strange... considering that he was surely to have been clipped by Milo by now...

"Uhh... that treeline is getting awfully close..." Jaune noted worriedly as his altitude began dropping considerably, "Any moment now, Pyr..."

It wasn't until he passed the canopy line that the confident knight realized that at some point in the past 24 hours, he had gone wrong. And it wasn't until he saw the giant tree trunk he has hurdling towards at near terminal velocity when he finally screamed for his life.

"AW, C'MON!"

THUNK

meanwhile, at the cliffs...

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty," Glynda nodded somberly at her tablet, calling the attention of the Headmaster who looked at his deputy over his shoulder with a raised brow in question.

"Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?" she noted pointedly before showing the screen and its gory contents to the silver-haired man whose jaw seemed to slacken at the unexpected news.

"...Oh dear."

"Is that... water, in your mug?"

"Yes... yes it was," Ozpin replied somberly before slowly pouring it out on the cliffside grass, "I'll be sure to have arrangements made for the collection of Mister Arc's body upon return to the Academy... as well as the strongest brew of robusta beans we have stocked."

Glynda's eyes widened, knowing full well the Headmaster's request was the equivalent of a man in despair emptying an entire liquor cabinet in grief-stricken stupor, "You mean... the Death Wish coffee?"

"Yes, Glynda. The Death Wish coffee."


"GAH!"

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he-

"Wai- wai- wai- wai- wait..."

Jaune checked his limbs, his torso and his face, walking forwards until reaching the full-length mirror. His brows furrowed, his eyes narrowed, and his impending facepalm was heard around the entire area before he dragged his hand down his face in disbelief.

"I... I died. I actually, literally died," he quietly groaned at himself before a shift in the floor beneath him caused his nausea to act up. Turning but not falling completely, he could easily see where he was and when he'd gone back to, "Back to Day On-bleh!"

Having a better idea of what he needed to do, he rounded a corner, spotted the sisters, and dashed to the aluminum bin located right behind them.

Memory was fuzzy... but less fuzzy, now. It'd only been a day. Just a day.

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone," a smug-sounding voice began from behind Jaune as he coughed out what was left in his system and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. But this time, he furtively pulled out a fraction of Crocea Mors from his sheath and counted.

One, two...

Three...

Four arcs...

'Hm. A counter? Oh well, for now, I guess it's stick to Ozpin's plan of live, die, and repeat...'

"Fine. Hey, you holdin' up alright there, Vomit Boy?"

a few minutes later...

"Awww, this blows! Where else am I gonna find a nice, quirky girl to talk to!?" Jaune shouted to no one in particular inside the auditorium just after Ruby ditched him upon the blonde girl's calling, his anger quickly evaporating as he then held a hand to his chin in thought, "Hm... yeah, that felt pretty believable. I think I might've actually managed a clean run on that one! Let's see... then I walked over here..."

The next few minutes of Jaune's retracing his steps went by fairly quickly, dodging the gum, repeating Ozpin's speech, and ambling over to the girls to repeat as best he could the kinda-previous day's conversation. His distraction in recalling was enough to emulate the distraction he'd felt the first time upon the discovery of his Semblance... and then again, it was much easier to emulate a conversation from a technical day before than from who knows how long before that.

"Right... Later," Jaune noted to the girls with a final wave, doing an internal fist pump at another decent run before making his way out of the auditorium, "Okay freaky brain thing, do your stuff."

Jaune took careful, counted steps, cursing at himself at missing an opportunity now that he thought of how awesome an idea counting the steps would be to gauge where Ozpin might be. It seemed numbers were much easier for him to remember after a reset...

"Maybe Ozpin was waiting for something, too?" Jaune droned loudly as if reciting from a script, but still hopped back in fright upon turning a corner and finding himself face to face with the intrigued Headmaster.

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

"GAH, scared the Grimm outta me, Ozpin," Jaune stammered as he regained his bearings, the man simply standing there as if he were one of the many statues that lined the sides of the open walkway between marble columns while he idly took another sip of coffee with a raised brow.

"Mister Arc, I presume."

Jaune blinked, recalling there being less of a lack of vague amusement the first time they met.

Ah, right. This technically was the first time they were meeting.

"Headmaster... Ozpin... my apologies," Jaune stated with an overly polite awkward bow, secretly relieved to find a hint of an amused smirk curling the older man's lip as he rose back up, "I came here looking for you - I know, against Glynda's orders - but I have something to say. I know it'll sound crazy at first... but the more I speak, the more it'll start to make sense."

"Fairly dramatic for an introduction," Ozpin noted pensively before motioning at him with his mug, "Continue."

Jaune fumbled a bit with words, trying to condense about an hour or two's worth of walking and conversation in a few sentences, "Uh... Okay... first, this is a new wing, destroyed last year cuz a Professor, Port... yeah, Port... blew this place up with a Grimm. This'll be where his lecture classes are this year... You'll want to take me for a walk, not sure why, but when I say I've seen everything in this school before, you take me to that statue of my great-great-gramps in the courtyard... only to spend a ridiculous amount of time telling me about chess pieces and knights and convincing me that I'm not Jaune Arc, but Julius Arc, sent into the future, back to the past... and back to the future!"

Another sip of coffe from arguably the best poker face on Remnant as Jaune quells his growing excitement enough to finish with a winning grin.

"And you know this... because you spent all day researching Julius down to the Chucks we're wearing, because you knew someone with my Semblance could exist," a final pause for dramatic effect as the knight then pointed at the Headmaster with flair, "...And because YOU'RE the one who sent me back to find you!"

Another moment of silence permeated the air before the Headmaster took another sip of his brew and eyed the knight for a moment more.

"The sword?"

"Not a knock-off. The arcs are new... and I'm starting to think they're some kind of counter for my resets. The first time I was here there were three, now there are four... and sometimes, I can almost remember days when there were only two. You showed me that on the statue, Julius' blade only had one," Jaune paused to pull out Crocea Mors halfway, "But see? Four. It's a working theory..."

"And a good one at that, no doubt," Ozpin noted with a scrutinizing air about him as he gave Jaune a brief nod, "Your memories?"

"Um... can't always be sure. But I'm starting to think the more I reset, the better I get at remembering, weirdly enough. Maybe it's use, or maybe it's the length of time reset from, since last loop was about a day's time, but I'll figure it out. We're still trying to figure out how or if I can remember my original timeline... if that's possible. But I remember more of the last reset than any before that."

"Very well... quite a bit learned from merely a second trip," the Headmaster replied with a - dare Jaune say - impressed expression of a raised brow before his countenance slowly fell to reveal a more somber face than he'd seen the Headmaster's face make before, "So then... do you know why you came back?"

At that, Jaune sighed, his gaze suddenly finding the ground between them to be much more interesting.

'Don't tell him he dies, don't tell him he dies...'

"Uh... yeah. About that. Looks like my Semblance is a funny thing, you see, cuz it only activates, only sends me back... if I die. So far, I've been sent back to early this afternoon, before we arrive to Beacon. No idea why it sends me to that moment, but that's something else I'm sure I'll figure out..."

"So. You lose your life tomorrow during initiation," Ozpin deduced calmly with a sip of his coffee, Jaune's glance coming back up to him in question which prompted his reply, "You stated that the last reset sent you back about a day's time. You found yourself trapped? Forced to give your life in the place of another knowing the nature of your Semblance?"

Jaune chuckled nervously at that, scratching the back of his head sheepishly with a small groan, "Ehhhh, not exactly. See, I kinda... sorta... failed the 'landing strategy' part."

A small surprised spurt of coffee into the coffee mug brought Jaune's gaze back up to the slightly taken aback Professor... and an embarrassed flush to the knight's cheeks.

"Yeah yeah... I know. Don't be surprised, it's something you can expect from a kid who faked his transcripts to get into Beacon," he noted before watching the man's reaction.

By this point, Jaune was able to easily discern the genuine emotion creeping over the Headmaster's face: confusion.

"Wait. You faked those transcripts?" Ozpin finally asked before clearing his throat of the drink left within, "Hm. Could've fooled me."

"Yeah well, I thought I'd kept to the original timeline closely enough, but I guess I went wrong somewhere... I was supposed to be helped by another student. I'm sure if I just change what I did, I-"

"I would strongly advise you didn't change anything," the Headmaster stated firmly, quickly calling to Jaune's mind his previous advice, "Trying to change your past is pointless compared to honing your own skills for the future. Doing so will only waste resets when you can train yourself to overcome the challenges ahead of you instead."

Jaune's face softened at the useful information as he pondered, 'So that's what he meant the first time around...'

"But, how can I do that?" Jaune questioned, "If I reset, I'll just get sent back in my current body. Training won't really help much..."

"Oh, but it will," the silver-haired Professor noted with a small smirk, tapping the head of his own cane to his temple, "Your greatest ally will be your memory. Not just that of your mind... but of your body. True, your brawn will not translate over resets, but your muscles are capable of memory just like your mind. Train your mind and your body... and this I say truly, neither will forget."

"Huh," the knight huffed in thought, nodding his head in agreement, "Okay, that shouldn't be too hard! Mind if I use a place I used to know here to go think for a while? The building's empty right now since I'm pretty sure it was the first-years dorm, and there's still a couple things about my transcripts and my first timeline I'm trying to figure out, so..."

A brief hum in thought preceded a rare single-shoulder shrug rom the man, "I suppose."

Jaune grinned at the implicit permission, eager to reacquaint himself with the place he'd come to know and already making to take his leave when he recalled what Ozpin was about to do.

"Nothing is more invigorating than knowing the world is as unstable as you are."

Jaune couldn't help a smug smirk as he watched Ozpin casually chuck the mug over his shoulder and begin walking in the other direction as the ceramic crashed against the floor several feet away, calling out after him as the distance between them increased. He was gonna catch this mysterious Professor this time...

"So uh... Professor Peach's gonna clean that?"

"She already did."

"...You gotta be kidding me-" Jaune cut himself off as he noticed where there was once a ceramic mess was now free of debris, the blonde glancing back and forth between the empty space and the distant Headmaster before throwing his hands up in the air, "HOW!?"

the next day...

Jaune stretched out after a long night of thought and rest, sure to drop by the lockers first to repeat the previous day's conversations as best as he could manage. He still felt like something he'd done the previous reset could be changed, but Ozpin was right... it'd only waste time trying to find out what he'd done wrong instead of actually figuring out a landing strategy.

The first student was launched into Emerald Forest, the rest of the teens dropping into ready position as Jaune gave Ruby a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Jaune," she whispered to him as more catapults were heard going off, "Maybe we'll end up on the same team?"

He shrugged, holding back a small smirk at how well he must've been repeating the action judging by his recollection of Ruby's same face the first time before noting, "Eh well... I wouldn't get my hopes up on that, but I got a pretty good feeling you'll do just fine."

"There you go again with that," Ruby noted lightly, her silver eyes glinting as they narrowed at him over a playful smirk, "Guessed the cliffs before they got announced, and now sounding so sure I'll make it okay..."

"World's best guesser, remember?" Jaune stated with a winning smile, the crimsonette rolling her eyes at him and turning to see her sister put on some aviators to get launched, "I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

Ruby turned back to stick her tongue out at him before being launched off the platform, the knight watching her go before dropping down to a ready pose with a determined grin on his face.

'Landing strategy... it can't be too hard!' the blonde thought with anticipation, readying himself mentally as he caught a strangely focused Glynda reaching towards the catapult control for his Launchpad on her tablet, 'I know where I land, I know who I have to meet...'

A rush of wind across the knight's face as he was launched and soared through the air for several seconds with a wide smile... and still slightly awkward form... before closing in on his target spot, 'All I gotta do is put my mind into it and-'

THUNK

meanwhile, at the cliffs...

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty," Glynda nodded somberly at her tablet, calling the attention of the Headmaster who looked at his deputy over his shoulder with a raised brow in question.

"Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?" she noted pointedly before showing the screen and its gory contents to the silver-haired man whose jaw seemed to slacken at the unexpected news.

"...Oh dear."


"GAH!"

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he quickly regained his bearings and walked to the full-length mirror only throw his arms up in frustration as he realized where he was.

"Aw, c'mon! -blergh..."

several minutes and awkward conversations later...

"Maybe... Ozpin... was waiting for something, too?"

As if it were a lucky charm intoned to make a wild Headmaster appear in the hallway, Jaune still yelped in surprise as the Headmaster's question caught him off guard.

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

'Hehe... seventeen steps...'

"Because you were the one who sent me here, Headmaster Ozpin," Jaune began with more confidence as he unsheathed Crocea Mors, the man raising a brow as he listened with intrigue, "See this? Five arcs, counting my resets and my times coming back here if our theories are anything to go by, and I'll prove it to you. This is the lecture hall wing, you researched me after seeing my transcript image, and you think I'm the Julius Arc who fought in the Great War... and maybe... maybe I'm starting to believe it, too..."

"I see," Ozpin noted flatly before taking a small sip of coffee, "Do you know why you came back."

"Yeah," Jaune replied carefully, surprised how easily the next words out of his mouth came out, "Apparently, I died. My Semblance activates only when I die, and sends me back to just before arriving at Beacon. Still figuring that bit out, along with how my transcripts got here in the first place and how I got to this era eighty years after I was born... but anyway, yeah, I die tomorrow during initiation cuz I fail the landing strategy bit."

A raised brow as Ozpin raised the mug to his mouth before Jaune explained, "Faked my transcripts."

PFFFFFT!

The knight grinned at the Headmaster's reaction and following remark, "Wait. You faked those transcripts?"

"Coulda fooled ya, huh?" Jaune noted with a smirk before adding, "But it was my mistake expecting another student to pick up my slack. If I'm gonna make any progress, I gotta figure out how to learn from every reset and memorize my strategy. It shouldn't take too many tries... Mind if I use a place I used to know here to go think for a while? The building's empty right now since I'm pretty sure it was the first-years dorm, so..."

"Hmm... I suppose."

"Great!" Jaune stated, waiting to see Ozpin slowly looking down at his mug.

"Nothing is more invigorating than knowing the world is as unstable as you are."

Casually chucking the mug over his shoulder and beginning to walk in the other direction as the ceramic crashed against the floor several feet away, Jaune stared at the mug to catch this mysterious Professor this time...

"Mister Arc," Ozpin noted finally as he stopped in his step, getting the blonde's attention with a slight turn of his head, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Jaune began, stopping abruptly as he noticed where there was once a ceramic mess was now free of debris, the blonde glancing back and forth between the empty space and the distant Headmaster before throwing his hands up in the air, "AW, C'MON!"

the next day...

"World's best guesser, remember?" Jaune stated with a winning smile, the crimsonette rolling her eyes at him and turning to see her sister put on some aviators to get launched, "I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

Ruby turned back to stick her tongue out at him before being launched off the platform, the knight watching her go before dropping down to a ready pose and being launched himself.

'Keep steady... keep steady,' Jaune internally commanded as he tried to keep his body rigid in the air. It felt much better than flailing around haplessly... but it wouldn't make eventually slamming headfirst into that same massive tree trunk from the beginning any less painful. Which was currently closing in faster than Jaune could control.

"AW, C'MON!"

THUNK

meanwhile, at the cliffs...

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty," Glynda nodded somberly at her tablet, calling the attention of the Headmaster who looked at his deputy over his shoulder with a raised brow in question, "Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?"

Ozpin glanced at the screen and the generous splatter of red across the lenses as his eyes widened slightly.

"...Oh dear."


"GAH!"

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he simply walked over to the mirror with a grimace, placed both arms against either side of it to lean forward and look into his own face, and grimaced.

"Take three... blergh..."

several minutes later...

"Maybe... Ozpin was waiting for something, too?" 'Fifteen... sixteen... seventeen!'

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

Jaune grinned, completely unfazed by the Headmaster's seemingly sudden entrance before taking a slow deep breath to begin speaking.

shorter conversation and night of recalling memories on paper later...

"World's best guesser, remember? I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

A few seconds later, and the test flight began again.

'C'mon... c'mon,' Jaune hedged at himself, keeping enough stability to attempt reaching an arm out as he dropped under canopy level... just to have it dislocated as soon as it hit the first branch, 'AW, C'MON!'

THUNK

meanwhile, at the cliffs...

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty... Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?"

Ozpin glanced at the screen, his eyes widening at the mangled mess he was looking at.

"...Oh dear."


"GAH!"

The young man immediately jolted upright, letting out a huff before stomping over to the mirror.

"Take four! ...Blergh."

the next day...

'Keep it steady, keep it steady,' Jaune told himself as he was airborne once more, still trying to keep his hair from getting in his eyes as he soared through the air and dropped under canopy level, 'Dodge that branch... yes! Now to try a flip-'

THUNK

meanwhile, at the cliffs...

"Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?"

"...Oh dear."


"Guhhhhh..."

A small head-pound on the mirror before a low growl, "Take twelve..."

the next day after a night of recalling memories on a longer sheet of paper, at the cliffs...

"Hm?"

"...Oh dear."


"Take... thirty-seven," Jaune drawled as he looked at his reflection on the Bullhead mirror.

He then turned, sticking a finger down his throat to force him to gag and ready himself to vomit as he made his way into the Bullhead main room.

the next day after a night of recalling memories on a MUCH longer sheet of paper, at the cliffs...

"HM?"

Ozpin cocked a brow at his deputy glancing again at the screen, "Well... where is he?"

Glynda scoffed, shaking her head before lifing her finger to point out the knight's remains, "There... there... there..." a wide circle around a corner of the tablet screen, "And the rest scattered throughout theeeeere."

The Headmaster paled a bit, his eyes widening as he counted the pieces.

"...Oh dear."


"Take," Jaune paused, half-heartedly knocking the mirror with a sigh, "Whatever..."

the next day...

"There you go again with that," Ruby noted lightly, her silver eyes glinting as they narrowed at him over a playful smirk, "Guessed the cliffs before they got announced, and now sounding so sure I'll make it okay..."

She then cocked her head a bit at the knight, noting something... off.

He seemed excitable enough the previous day, equal parts funny and awkward, and she honestly liked that quite a bit about him! But it seemed that after the not-so-successful mishap with Pyrrha and Weiss that morning, Jaune was starting to seem... different.

"Hey... you okay, Jaune?" she finally asked, sorta surprised how quickly the deadened look in his eyes disappeared as he snapped his gaze back at her, seemingly thrown off as if something had just gone wrong, "You look like you're about to go to a funeral or something..."

"...Heh, maybe I am," Jaune chuckled dryly, Ruby not being sure whether to take that as a joke or not as he scratched the back of his head with a shrug, "Meh. Guess I'm just used to the suspense by now."

"Wait. Used to it? How-"

"You've got about two seconds."

Ruby looked at the straight-faced boy in question, "Wha-?"

TWANG

Jaune watched the shouting crimsonette flung unceremoniously into the air, sighing as he watched her eventually right her position and continue her course before turning to cock a nearly indifferent brow at the Professors.

"You guys could've waited a bit."

"A Hunter must be focused on task, Mister Arc," Glynda droned as if reading the phrase off a classroom expectations poster, pushing up her glasses along the bridge of her nose before looking down at the tablet in her hand, "Ready your position."

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

TWANG

Now, one thing Jaune had never stopped enjoying... after the fourth or tenth time... was the initial rush of wind from being catapulted into the air, the blonde knight savoring the sensation with shut eyes and a faint smile as he soared gracefully through the air before reaching the apex of his flight. Opening his eyes, the faint smile was gone as Jaune's body went rigid and a single train of thought shot through his mind.

'Here goes. Canopy incoming, five seconds,' Jaune brought his knees to his chest as he took out Crocea Mors, cradling the sword behind its sheath as he expanded the shield, "Rebound off fourth right tree, third branch from top, sixth left tree, ninth branch from top-'

A pause in thought as Jaune did just so, twisting himself to place the shield between him and the first branch with only a wince of pain on his otherwise intensely concentrated features as he pushed off the wood with just enough force to turn himself around and rebound from the second tree.

'Flip off twelfth right tree trunk, dodge baby Nevermore, brace for foliage...'

Adjusting his flight path as sunlight became scarce under the brush, Jaune timed the release of his contracted legs just in time to get him to leap off another tree's trunk, using the momentum to flip and turn over an angry Nevermore that sped through the brush with the intent to tear him apart mid-flight before holding out his shield in front of him to take the brunt of the many whip-like smacks of the smaller branches he flew through.

'Now for the tricky part,' Jaune hedged internally as his descent velocity increased through the lighter foliage, 'Wait for it... wait for it...'

And just when the foliage ended, providing the knight with clear view of a catacomb of fallen tress forming bare logs that criss-crossed in front of him, he slung both sword and shield along his back and rebounded belly-up off a tree trunk underneath him before flipping and using the centripetal momentum to jump off another fallen trunk and give himself the needed vertical momentum to lean forward head before heels.

"Sword!"

The shrill cry of metal being bared against wood was followed by jarring impact as the knight drew the sword and shifted his body to stab it just deep enough into a final trunk at just the right angle to slow his advance, forcing him to enter a spin as he gouged a long spiral around the same trunk until finally unable to maintain control. Freefalling the final dozen feet or so to the ground, Jaune emulated the best floor-tumble he could attempt before letting himself just roll flat on the floor several more times to kill off the last of his momentum.

Wide-eyed and panting heavily, Jaune slowly rolled on the ground a final time to face upwards through the tree canopy, letting Crocea Mors fall to his side and relishing in the ambient sounds of Emerald Forest along with the thunderous pounding of his own heart... before lifting both arms above his head with a yell at the top of his lungs.

"YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS! I, JAUNE ARC, AM NOW MASTER OF THE LANDING STRATEGY! AND WITH MY SWORD, I, JAUNE ARC, WILL BE THE STRONGEST UNDER HEAVEN AND ABOVE EARTH! NO! THE STRONGEST ABOVE HEAVEN TOO! I AM THE BEAST, I AM JAUNE ARC, I AM-"

GRRRRRRRR...

The knight turned his head from his sprawled position on the forest floor, finally making out the twin heads of two fairly large Ursae before letting out a small whimper.

"...so dead."

meanwhile, at the cliffs...

Glynda and Ozpin watched the scene unfolding from her tablet slack-jawed, thoroughly surprised that a student capable of such an intricate landing strategy would fail so miserably against the first Grimm he encountered.

Ozpin swallowed the sorrowful lump in his throat before both Professors made eye contact and stated simultaneously, "Oh dear..."

Glynda nodded somberly before adding, "I'll brew the Death Wish coffee..."


'Aaaand, done.'

Jaune sighed as he made his way out of the auditorium, the very well-rehearsed plastered smile on his face as he'd waved goodbye to the three girls in the auditorium instantly vanishing the moment he stepped through the door. Dragging his hand down his face with a silent groan, he wondered if that's what Pyrrha felt every time she was in public.

Yes, Jaune had figured out that Pyrrha's general countenance was little more than a mask after a few dozen resets... he knew because it had eventually become exactly what he was doing, too. Except... he still couldn't for the life of him figure out her reasons why.

Lightly shaking the thought out of his head, Jaune merely marched down the hallway, literally catching Ozpin, of all people, by surprise as he unsheathed Crocea Mors and drove its tip six inches into the marble floor about a foot in front of Ozpin's shoes.

"This... is not a knock-off," Jaune stated gruffly as he stood in front of the Headmaster with both hands on the hilt of his embedded sword like one of the Templars of old, "And I... am the 'knight' you've been looking for."

Ozpin's features remained neutral, scanning the youth before him with wizened eyes before finally noting, "So I see..."

But in glancing down to swirl his mug in contemplation, the Headmaster didn't think much of the young boy's odd reaction of growing a sort of mischievous smirk on his face as he raised his mug to his lips until it was too late.

"...And I faked my transcripts."

PFFFFFFFFT!

Loudly clearing his throat, Ozpin leveled the knight with the heated glare of a Headmaster, further surprised that this youth took no mind to it and continued cackling in delight before wiping a tear out of his eye and pointing good-naturedly at the Professor.

"I am... pfft... so sorry... it's just, that part's my favorite part, and you have no idea how hard it is to time it!" Jaune explained with a grin as Ozpin drew a hanky from his coat and dabbed away any remaining coffee stains on his suit, "You see... too early, and you get a cough; too late, and you get a choke. But just right? Oh Oum... priceless..."

"Very well," Ozpin noted, still a bit bemused at how well Jaune had played that antic, "I am certainly convinced of your claims."

"No no," Jaune corrected with a wave as he pulled out the sword and sheathed it with a hint of his initial mischievous smirk, "That wasn't for you. That's like... a high point in my loops..."

"Loops," Ozpin echoed, glancing at the intricate shield the knight now held, "I have a feeling there are many..."

"Yeah well, took me a while, but I figured it out," Jaune impishly stated as he idly held up his shield for Ozpin to observe, "There are four golden arcs to start off, one for each loop I go through; once you get to five, this black V you see here shows up at the bottom of the shield. From six to nine, the golden arcs turn black one by one, and once you get to ten, the V disappears and you're left with only the top arc - black... but now with a silver lining around it. You following me?"

Ozpin nodded, following the explanation as Jaune smirked at him.

"Good. Took me like twenty resets to figure out how to explain it in a way that makes any sense. Anyway," Jaune turned back to the shield with a quiet sigh, "Eleven, you keep the single arc with the silver lining, but the arc itself goes back to gold, and twelve through nineteen basically follow the same rules with the normal gold arcs and little V until you hit twenty... then you're left with two black arcs, each with a silver lining. You can pick up the rest from there."

The Headmaster nodded, taking a look at the shield with renewed interest.

It bore four black arcs along with the V at the bottom, the top three of them with the silver lining.

"Thirty-nine."

A small, but wry, smile from the knight, "You got it."

It was simple enough for the Headmaster who easily memorized the system aside from one question...

"And, the golden star on the top corner?"

At that, Jaune's small smile slowly faded as he glanced down and pointed at the two-inch symbol emblazoned just inside the golden lining at the top left corner of the shield itself.

"Heh... that guy right there? Yeah... got that one at fifty."

Ozpin's eyes widened, instantly putting together the updated count and understanding the odd juxtaposition of youthful and weary in the boy's features.

"That's right, sir," Jaune disclosed sullenly, that almost dead-eyed look befalling his gaze for a moment, "Eighty-nine resets. Almost three months spent in this loop... and only yesterday - technically - do I manage to survive just the 'landing' part of initiation."

"That must've taken some veritable resolve," Ozpin now stated, drawing the young man out of his cloud of thought, "Not many would have been able to endure such a feat, Mister Arc. You must give yourself credit... if your claim is true, then you are the first citizen in the history of Remnant to complete the initial phase of a Hunting Academy Initiation Exam without a day of formal training."

"But it's not enough!" Jaune barked, a scowl curling his upper lip as he exhaled sharply in frustration, "At this rate, I'll be older than Beacon by the time I survive my first day of school!"

"...Then what would you propose, Mister Arc?"

Jaune stiffened up a bit, not exactly expecting to be given the reins to something as complicated as Hunter training so easily, before finally pointing at the Headmaster, "I propose I get Hunter training, for real... from you."

An intense moment of silence between the two men before the silver-haired man broke the tension with a single-shoulder shrug.

"Okay."

"...Okay?"

Another slight nod from the Headmaster before he repeated with a smirk, "Okay."

...And tossed his mug behind him to send it crashing on the floor behind a column.

Jaune watched the column as Ozpin began walking away for him to follow, smirking to himself when for the first time, in less than a span of the blink of an eye, he caught what looked like the peach-tipped frill of a kid-sized frock disappearing from around a nearby column.

"Heh... caught ya."

a few minutes later...

"So this is gonna be it, huh? Where I start my training?" Jaune noted in wonder as he and Ozpin stood in the giant marvel of gears and clockwork that was Ozpin's penthouse office on the Beacon spire, the Headmaster himself looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, mugless, at the afternoon expanse of the campus below them.

"No."

"No?" Jaune asked, a brow raised in question only to see the man turn and pick up a few papers that had been on the corner of his desk since the moment they walked in.

"No," Ozpin repeated, picking up the stack, straightening it out with a few taps on the desk, and glancing back at the knight, "I needed to pick up this afternoon's itinerary as we prepare for tomorrow's initiation. As you know, these are very busy times for our staff."

"..."

Not minding the slack-jawed teen a few feet in front of him, the sudden sternness in Ozpin's voice was certainly enough to snap Jaune back to attention as he continued, "As for you, Mister Arc, I give you your training regimen now: one-hundred push-ups, one-hundred sit-ups, one-hundred squats... and ten kilometers running every single day for every single loop you live."

"Wha- that... you just made that up!" Jaune shouted, balking at the insane idea.

"I did not," Ozpin replied primly with a small smirk, "As a youngling, it was the training I submitted myself to for three-hundred days consecutively as I learned to control my Aura. Be grateful I do not submit you to the diet plan I used as well."

Jaune sighed in frustration before asking, "How far is a kilometer, anyway?"

"About... two times around the entire Beacon campus."

Jaune deadpanned in reply, "No way that's just one kilometer."

"Well," Ozpin noted, a hint of a mischievous smirk now appearing over the man's lip, "Figure it out."

The knight seethed at the Headmaster's astute path of vengeance, muttering under his breath, "Why, youuu..."

"Be sure to report to me at the end of the session, regardless of the loop. To get you started, I say we reconvene in," Ozpin raised both brows, casually counting the fingers on a hand before noting, "Ten resets."

"Ten... resets?" Jaune echoed with a twitch in his eye.

"Goodbye, Mister Arc," Ozpin stated with what Jaune could swear was a hint of a teasing tone in his voice as the man walked out the ample office, "And do refrain from exercising in this office, you'll have ample room to run around the campus."

After the elevator doors closed behind the Headmaster, Jaune let a few more seconds pass as he took a long, deep breath... before drawing out his blade and stabbing himself in the chest.


ten resets later...

"Ninety-nine resets... That must've taken some veritable resolve," Ozpin stated after having counted the arcs on the shield, "Not many would have been able to endure such a feat, Mister Arc. You then, are the first citizen in the history of Remnant to complete the initial phase of a Hunting Academy Initiation Exam without a day of formal training."

"No thanks to you," Jaune quipped sarcastically, "I'd barely call your little Training from Hell anywhere near 'formal' in my book, either..."

The Headmaster gave Jaune a small smirk, the blonde rolling his eyes before adding, "I know... payback for the coffee stunt, I get it."

"Didn't stop you this time," Ozpin hedged with an almost humorous petulance coming from a man of his stature as he dabbed at a coffee drop he missed which was already starting to stain his scarf, drawing out Jaune's grin at the memory.

"What can I say? I'm a slow learner. Anyway, I did the ten loops of training like you asked..."

"How did they go?" the man asked, getting a huff in reply.

"Died the first two times before I could reach the ground. Too sore to move quick enough. Made the landing every time after that... though I've yet to last more than ten seconds actually on the ground..."

"But the regimen became easier every time, didn't it," Ozpin discerned.

"Yeah, which I kinda don't get, considering my body resets every time I go back, too. How'd it become easier?"

"I'd be disappointed in myself if I hadn't told you in a previous loop," Ozpin noted with some concern, "But your greatest ally is your memory. Not just that of your mind... but of your body. True, your brawn will not translate over resets, but your muscles are capable of memory just like your mind. Train your mind and your body... and this I say truly, neither will forget."

Jaune looked up, tapping his chin in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers, "Oh right! I think you said that one of the first times we met in a loop! Heh, I guess it must be true then, isn't it."

"Admirable memory."

"Another helpful piece of advice from you. Keeping the loops as identical as possible helps me keep track of any divergences pretty easy. It's all technically the same day, after all."

"Indeed," the Headmaster replied with a faint smile, an admittedly self-satisfied one, but a smile nonetheless.

Jaune then glanced as the Professor, shrugging in question, "So... now what?"

The faint smile grew just a fraction wider.

a minute or so later...

"Nope, nope nope nope," Jaune repeated angrily as the student and the teacher stood in the giant marvel of gears and clockwork that was Ozpin's penthouse office on the Beacon spire, the Headmaster himself looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, mugless, at the afternoon expanse of the campus below them, "Last time we were here, you just said you were picking up some itinerary or something before giving me that ridiculous regimen!"

"Which you shall continue to do," the spectacled man added lightly as he turned and idly picked up and straightened the itinerary in question before reaching down to grab something behind his desk, "That... and..."

Jaune flinched as Ozpin suddenly threw something at him with an underhanded toss, the knight catching it awkwardly and realizing the somethings that they were.

"Two rags and... a spray bottle of window cleaner fluid?"

"Yes," the Headmaster stated with a placid smile, "Your next assignment will be to wipe down the campus vista window from one end of this room to the other. You must be thorough - wipe clockwise with the wet rag, counter-clockwise for the dry one. Much like waxing a vehicle."

A narrow-eyed stare from Jaune, to which the man smugly pantomimed a waxing motion.

"Wipe on... wipe off..."

"How's that even supposed to help my training!?"

"It isn't," Ozpin informed, glancing at the huge window with mock-dejection, "I just happened to notice so many smudges have accumulated on the glass as I was looking over our cherished Academy..."

"Why, youuu..."

"Goodbye, Mister Arc," Ozpin stated with what Jaune could swear was a hint of a teasing tone in his voice as the man walked out the ample office, "And do refrain from taking your life in this office. I'd know that twitch in anyone's eye, and I'd rather not trouble Glynda with any coroner duties before initiation."

As the elevator doors closed behind the Headmaster, Jaune's jaw clenched as he realized Ozpin had likely known his intent to commit suicide ten resets ago... and had done nothing to stop him. Turning around with his cleaning tools, Jaune completed the task at hand while muttering a repertoire of profanity which would certainly have made a sailor blush.

a squeaky clean mega-window later...

"Done," Jaune growled, throwing both towels in front of the Headmaster's feet as they stood in the middle of the sparring arena, "I take it you called me here to begin some actual training?"

"In terms of training? Yes," Ozpin began matter-of-factly, Jaune swelling in anticipation before he continued, "And no."

"Whaaaaa-?"

"Training you to learn actual Hunter techniques would be a waste of time," the silver-haired man explained as he leisurely began to pace in front of Jaune like an actual Professor, surprisingly enough, "Therefore, our focus must then be to hone your instincts in the field. Train you to sense the danger, feel the killer intent... no matter from where... or when... it'll come."

THOK

"GAH! THAT REALLY HURT!" Jaune cried out as he felt his head jolt forward after getting hit by something from behind... hard.

"To aid me in your training," Ozpin noted as he continued pacing, not even flinching at the attack happening feet away from him and Jaune catching sight of the object that had hit him, "I will ensure to have Glynda participate in our sessions for the remainder of the day."

Bending down to pick up the object, Jaune picked it up and showed it to the cool-headed Ozpin with a visible tick on his forehead, "By beating me to death with a WRENCH?!"

"A WREN-!" Jaune turned around to repeat at Miss Goodwitch as well, only to cut himself off as he saw the literal wall of home improvement tools stretching at least thirty feet in every direction around the deputy herself.

"The concept is simple," Ozpin concluded lightly, "If you can dodge a wrench... you can dodge a claw."

"..."

"Glynda, you may begin when ready."

Jaune was just about to consider suicide once more when Glynda paused the first fling of metal at Jaune through her riding crop's command halfway, "Hold. Ozpin, a word."

"Yes?"

Glynda walked towards the shivering blonde, the Headmaster making his way towards Jaune as well when Glynda pointed out the issue with her crop, "Here. Mister Arc's head has not been healed. Has he even unlocked his Aura?"

"Hmm... indeed he has," Ozpin replied curiously as he examined the open wound on the back of Jaune's head, the boy himself peeping out from between his fingers to see Ozpin glancing at him with a raised brow, "He has shown time after time the ability to use his Semblance. This is indeed... odd."

"Maybe... I'm just not cut out to take a hit?" Jaune suggested with a weak chuckle as he began to straighten out, but the glare he then received from the disciplinarian caused him to retract a bit once more.

"Mister Arc," she began sternly. "If you've unlocked your Semblance, surely you've manipulated your Aura in the past?"

"Can you remember a time where you successfully managed to do so?" Ozpin asked as well, less sternly than his colleague by far as he added a little more quietly, "Any time?"

Jaune thought about it for a moment, a flash of... something... going through his mind.

"Well, there was this time I used my Aura... I was protecting my tea- er, my friends..."

Though the slip of words didn't go missed, Ozpin merely shrugged at Glynda, who seemed just fine with taking the reins from there.

"Then we have a possible case of Aural impotence," Glynda stated, the last word causing Jaune to cringe by the way she said it, "You cannot control your Aura, or at least fail to control it, because it controls YOU."

The last word wasn't as much a shout as it was unnaturally augmented by the crack of her riding crop in her other hand, startling the poor knight as she then seemed to lean forward to look down on him despite them being of similar height.

"No future Hunter going through this Academy shall be permitted to frolic among the students without adequate Aural control... Oum knows you children have enough bodily functions to keep control of already..."

Jaune gulped, already liking Ozpin's terrible training methods much more compared to those of this woman's...

"Control, Mister Arc!" Glynda stated with a voice that naturally echoed and rose in volume in the amphitheater as she too began to pace in front of Jaune in a seemingly much more aggressive way, "Control can define you, while the lack thereof can derail you. Remember that. Ozpin may tell me that you're in possession of a formidable Semblance, but without the ability to muster at least of drop of Aura when necessary, then I have no choice..."

She raised her riding crop arm, Jaune fearing the worst as he shut his eyes upon seeing an object entering his field of vision.

"...But to teach you the value of purpose."

Maybe it was partly due to the lack of bodily harm caused by physical trauma at lethal speeds, but it was mostly due to the unexpected softness in the deputy's voice that caused Jaune to open his eyes. When he did, he was surprised to see his unsheathed Crocea Mors floating inches in front of him, the knight taking the sword out of the air as Glynda continued.

"Protecting those you care about is a noble... and potent, call to action," she stated firmly, but with a warmer tone than previously, "I may even venture a guess that your Semblance manifested under similar circumstances... so, as our training unfolds, I ask of you one thing. Remember this. Remember your purpose. And your Aura will respond when you beckon for it, for you will no longer be a child of whims..."

She looked up, causing the knight to jump again as she cracked her crop on his upheld sword like a drill sergeant, "You'll be a man of direction!"

"Excellent, he is intimidated enough to begin," Ozpin noted happily as Glynda stepped back, Jaune's knees threatening to start shaking as she manipulated the wall of metallic tools to stretch and surround them all like a dome of fear.

"Aw c'mon, how am I supposed to-" THOK "Gah!" THWAK "Nyah!" THUNK "Dugh, my leg!"

Glynda merely stared incredulously at the knight who was on the floor on all fours after dodging all but three of three wrenches, Ozpin pinching the bridge of his nose before instructing his surprised colleague, "Again."

"But sir, I-"

"A-gain."

The disciplinarian complied, raising her crop hand to telekinetically set several more projectiles in position as Jaune struggled back up to standing position.

"Jaune," Ozpin stated abruptly, the powerful echo around the amphitheater carrying the man's voice snapping the boy to attention as the Headmaster opened his eyes with more ferocity in them that he'd ever seen, "The kingdom's under siege. People, are dying! You watch your friends fight valiantly, but watch as they fall, one by one, to an enemy you very well know they cannot hope to beat!"

Jaune felt his eyes watering already, thoughts from his original timeline beginning to flood in clearer than ever before as he began to practically hear the cries of agony surrounding him.

"These enemies you cannot understand, you feel the fear they stab inside of you. It confuses you. Paralyzes you! ...But courage is not the absence of fear!"

Jaune's gaze snaps up to the Headmaster with a fiery blue flicker of their own, a familiar warmth and glow beginning to build around his body as the Headmaster continues.

"Courage, Jaune! Courage is the presence of fear! Forged into unbridled power through an indomitable will and a determined soul! Your soul gives you power, your will gives you drive!" Ozpin continued heatedly, subtly raising his arm beside the wide-eyed disciplinarian as she watched the young man beginning to glow a brilliant white, "Remember that as long as you possess the will to protect those you cherish, no construct on heaven nor Remnant will break your resolve!"

The Headmaster then tapped Glynda on the arm, cueing her to drive her arm forward and send a salvo of heavy tools at the glowing knight as Ozpin called out again.

"Squat, sprint, push-up!"

Jaune ducked under the first wave of wrenches, breaking right and outrunning the steady flow of projectiles with unnatural speed before dropping down with his chest inches from the floor to evade a surprise volley of tools from behind.

"Sit-up, squat, sit-up!"

Flipping around to plant both palms on the floor, Jaune did a reverse somersault right on time to avoid a hail of falling metal from above, planting his feet down in a squat before rolling forward with explosive power to place himself away from the main thrum of levitating pseudo-weapons.

"Squat, jump, sit-up!"

Widening his eyes at the combination for just a second, Jaune unwittingly pooled Aura into his legs, squatting down before launching himself dozens of feet upwards with a yell. Satisfied at watching a bead of sweat rolling down Glynda's forehead as she tried to keep up with the knight and hit him with the massive amount of projectiles, Ozpin turned back up to watch Jaune eye the cloud of tools heading towards him and tuck his legs under him like a sit-up in midair to give him the spinning momentum necessary to orient himself just right.

"aaaaaaa-NYAH!"

PONNNG

And like a bell going off right between the ears, each Professor winced as Jaune impossibly thrust both fists downwards to deflect every single wrench flying towards him...

With a large, white force field.

Both Hunters were speechless in that moment, but thankfully, Jaune was the one to break the silence.

"Yahhhhhh... OOF!"

Glynda then blinked at the smoking frame of the knight who landed unceremoniously in a heap right in front of them, then turning up to see her colleage doing something she hadn't quite seen him do for many, many years... grinning.

"I believe he may yet have some promise," Ozpin declared with a new light in his eyes, making to move forward to the knight, "And to think he entered Beacon with faked transcripts~"

Leaving her behind as he helped Jaune up, both men couldn't help cringe a bit at Glynda's shrill cry behind them.

"He WHAT?"

"Let this be a lesson learned," the Headmaster stated softly as he knelt down and patted the knight on the back, "Human beings are strong... because we have the ability to change ourselves."

"Yeah. Guess you were right, maybe everything does happen for a reason," Jaune agreed as he looked up at the man with a weak smile, "Consider the lesson learned."

"Good," he replied, Jaune now immediately not liking the mischievous smile coming from the man's face, "Since you were so eager to receive my training, then you'll greatly enjoy my next lesson: Hell hath no wrath like a woman's scorn."

Supporting the blonde as they each stood up, Ozpin called back to the fuming disciplinarian, "I do apologize Glynda, but it seems it may have slipped my mind that Mister Arc's Semblance involves some form of post-mortem time travel. So by all means, refrain from holding back, as he seems to have countered your initial attack so easily and death is apparently no stranger to him."

Jaune gaped at the once-helpful maniac as he stepped back to Glynda's side giving the knight a shameless smirk and a thumbs up, the woman's ire literally glowing through her weapon as the waves of wrenches levitated once more.

"With... pleasure."

"..."

"AW, C'MON!"


A/N: And there you have it, chapter deuce! Definitely a fun write, though I've never had to write so many time skips into one cheaper before... I'd probably not even have to try another death montage once I continue now that Jaune is getting the hang of things. Speaking of continuing, yes, I plan on making Live, Die, Repeat my back up fic to TGG to serve as some drama detox. There's much to go in this story until now, like training, initiation, and the one member of team RWBY who's been practically completely glanced over to this point! Oh noes! Don't worry, it don't mean she won't be barred from getting shipped with Jaune. In regards to pairings in general, it hasn't been decided yet for this story. I actually have a poll up on my profile listing all the Jaune ships, and even though I intend to leave that poll up indefinitely, I'm going to be using it as an official pairing decider for this storyline!

And Neo has the early lead... Just think about it, what happens when a teleporter is pitted against a guy who can practically save-spam her? Hehe, maybe this'll end up as my first crackpairing fic since my Ren/Yang one!

On a final note, Jaune's Semblance may look great right now (and he gets the force field on top of that? Booo.), but everything good has a bad effect to it. He just doesn't know it yet. Truth is, I'm still considering all my options between ending this as a comedy or a tragedy. But meh, we will see. Until then, feel free to Fave, Follow and Review to show your support! Take care...

And Happy Reading!


Live. Die. Repeat.

TPS (c) 2015, 2018