AN: Just something to say real quick before this chapter starts. I feel the same way about this that I did with The Brave and the Bold. No matter how this goes, I'm putting out all the chapters and finishing this. Just to get it out there after working for months on it because I'm not having this sit on my phone after all of that.
Anyway, here's the chapter.
Chapter Two
Finally…
Atlas Academy: General Ironwood's office
"I just… I can't deal with those two anymore, sir. I'm sorry." The dark-brown haired teen said to Ironwood with a sigh. Both he and his brother were seeing him about the situation with their team. He wore his combat outfit. He wore a black denim jacket with only the left sleeve, loose over his arm. It was lightly armored on the left side and had two light shoulder guards. On his right arm, he had a spaulder with a design of a snake wrapping around a cross. Under that, his entire arm, hand, and fingers were covered in bandages. He wore a pair of black cargo pants and black boots with white straps around the tops of them and zippers on the sides. His dark-red tail was wrapped protectively arond his waist and his cat ears were drooped down against his skull.
His brother wore his sleeveless, dark-red duster over his chestplate that had the same design as the other's spaulder. He wore a pair of black jeans and dark brown work boots. He rested his head in his hand which was propped up by his elbow on the armrest of the chair. His greatsword, Standoff, leaned against the wall next to the doorway along with his brother's greatsword, Legacy.
"Are you sure about this, Jace?" Ironwood asked him.
"If it was just them saying stuff about me, then I could tolerate it more. But Michael grabbed my tail and just pulled… It felt like he would rip it off… I can't deal with that again… If it happened again I would probably do something bad. He's lucky that Genesis got him off of me."
"He's lucky he got off with a broken nose." Genesis added.
"I understand, but I wish there was another way," Ironwood sighed, "And you're sure you want to switch to Beacon?"
"I'm sure, sir. It's… something me and Gen wanted to do too."
"And what would that be?"
"You've seen that we're pretty evenly matched," Genesis stated and the General nodded, "We talked about it before and we came up with something. We could go to different schools and train differently. Then after awhile, we see who gets better."
"A competition of sorts?" Ironwood asked and the brothers nodded, "I suppose that's a way to do it… It could also be a competition between Atlas and Beacon themselves in a way."
"I'm sorry if I'm letting you down with this, sir… I tried…" Jace said sadly.
"It's alright, Jace. Ozpin and I have already discussed this and finalized the paperwork yesterday."
"That was faster than I thought…" Jace remarked.
"It was a month." Genesis said.
"Yes, but I still don't have details of your new team as of right now," Ironwood told Jace, "You both may be dismissed. Jace… good luck at Beacon."
"So, how's it feel going to a new school?" Haile asked Jace over dinner that day in Haile's penthouse. His dark green hair was bound in a short ponytail. Both it and his short beard were peppered with gray hairs, which he adamantly calls silver. He wore a black and white camouflage hunting vest and a white dress shirt under it. Over his legs he wore black jeans and a pair of black boots. His sky-blue eyes looked at Jace with a bit of sadness and more than a bit of pride.
"Feels like a sweet release from those two…" Jace said with a sigh as he stabbed his fork through a piece of raw tuna in his plate.
"It's gonna be so weird being so far from home." He thought to himself and took a bite of it.
"Forget about them," Genesis told him, "I might have to stay on the same team with them, but fuck it. I'll set their asses straight if it's the last thing I do."
"Yeah, I'm definitely gonna try. I'm sorry you have to stay with them," Jace said, "It's gonna be weird to get used to it all… New kingdom, new school, new people… It's gonna be so weird."
"No doubt about that," Haile gave a small grin, "You'll be okay. After this, we'll get to the house and you can finish packing. I'm surprised Ironwood is letting you use the Ravensword for when you go tomorrow."
"He said it was to get me there faster and to get used to Beacon faster. It's nice of him."
"It's a reason I work for him."
"Might sound bad to say, but at least you had hardly any friends here," Genesis said with a grin, "Not really leaving much of anyone behind that you care about."
"Besides you two and Apricot." Jace sighed.
"You've been through a lot, Jace," Haile said to him, "This is just moving schools. Nowhere close to what you've dealt with before."
"Right… Just moving kingdoms, thousands of miles away from my family and my only friends," Jace groaned, "It's a new start at least."
Genesis reached over and scritched his ears. "It'll be alright. You got this, bro."
Jace closed his eyes and purred lightly as his tail swayed back and forth behind them. "Yeah… It'll be fine."
Just then, Jace's scroll buzzed and he received a message from headmaster Ozpin of Beacon.
"Who's that from?" Haile asked.
"Ozpin." Jace answered and Genesis chuckled as he stopped rubbing Jace's ears.
"In trouble already?"
"Eat it, Gen," Jace laughed before he checked the message, "Oh, it says who my new teammates are."
"Really? Who are they?" Genesis asked and payed close attention.
"Two female Faunus. One cat Faunus with ears and one fox Faunus with ears, then a human male."
"A cat Faunus huh? I'm sure you'll get along great." Genesis winked at him.
"Hey, I'm not thinking about that stuff right now. I just want to get there and see how everything is."
"You'll do alright with it," Haile assured him, "At least it's not in the middle of classes."
"True."
"Your arm doing okay?" Haile asked.
"Still annoying… it feels like blood rushes to it all the time." Jace answered and looked at his bandaged right hand. It had been burned badly recently while he was training with burn dust. He still kicked himself over that. He should have known his aura's limits.
"Just remember to change the bandage every day."
"Yeah, I will. I already have bandages and ointment in my bag."
"It should get better soon, so you shouldn't have to deal with the pain much longer." Genesis said.
"Yeah, I'm hoping."
The family finished off their food and left the penthouse. It was an hour and a half drive through the city and to their house on the outskirts. Haile went inside while Genesis led Jace to the garage were his motorcycle, Titan, sat.
"It'll be weird not having my little brother by my side." Genesis said silently while they stood in separate places.
"Yeah… It's gonna be weird." Jace agreed.
Genesis cleared his throat. "Umm, I've been doing some things to the case. I figured I'd get your opinion of it." He said and showed what he had done to his motorcycle.
Jace knelt down and looked it over. "It seems a bit bigger than what you need it to be."
"Is it?" Genesis asked as he took his sword off his back. He opened the case and set Standoff inside and it was loose, not snug-fitting as it should be.
"Huh… how about that…" Genesis mumbled, his eyes starting to blur, "You try yours."
"Okay…" Jace said and took Legacy off his back. He placed it in the case and it fit perfectly, no rattling around or anything.
"Why does my sword fit it but yours doesn't?" Jace asked quietly and looked to his brother.
"Because… I've been thinking about this since you said you wanted to switch to Beacon…"
"Gen… this is your motorcycle. The one you spent almost five years putting back together..."Jace said as his disbelief grew, "Don't tell me you're just-"
"Listen, Jace," Genesis interrupted him, "You're going to a new kingdom. A huge fucking kingdom at that… And honestly, I think you'll get more use out of it than me right now. It's a gift… and I think you might be able to use it."
"You're seriously giving me Titan?" Jace asked and Genesis nodded, "Oh Oum… thanks, man." He said and hugged him.
Genesis returned the hug with a grin. "Just take care of it. I already called over there about meeting with the people for a storage place. You'll make it there in time. It's at three and you should get to Vale around maybe one."
"You expected me to take it?"
"Hey… I would've forced you to take it."
Jace sighed and they separated. "Thanks… I'll take care of it."
"I know you will. I'll probably be getting something else soon."
"You're gonna just buy another one?"
"Yeah, I saved a few thousand lien from that settlement I got a couple years ago from when... that happened. I should be good to get something I want."
Jace gave a short laugh. "It won't be the same if you don't build it yourself, y'know?"
"Trust me, I know."
"Okay… Meeting at that storage place, right?" Jace asked Genesis after he called. Jace had just landed in Vale and he called to make sure he was going to the right place.
"Yep. I sent the directions in a text. You'll be sharing a garage with a girl named Yang Xiao Long, so be ready for that."
"Sharing? I wonder how big the garage is, then."
"Who knows. You should be able to find it easy…" Genesis sighed, "Why'd you take that damned journal with you?"
"Oh… you know about that?"
"Yeah, we know. You usually kept it under your bed."
"Why'd you look under my bed?"
"To make sure you didn't forget anything. Like the tools for that artillery claymore of yours."
Jace sighed. "I took it because sooner or later, I'm gonna tell my new team about it… and new friends if I make them. I'll need it to go by."
"You really think you'd wanna dig that up?"
"I wouldn't want to, really. I just think I should."
Genesis was silent for several moments before he sighed. "Just take it at your own pace. Look… if those two start talking shit about how you left, then I'm gonna completely go off on them. It might slip about what happened to us both..."
"Honestly… don't worry about it I guess. Hell, if it makes them shut up about my tail then go for it…"
"I hope I doesn't slip. I know how bad you want to keep it a secret. And gods I want to too."
"Y'know, you always keep what happened to your mom and dad a secret from everyone else too…" Jace said lightly.
"Hmm… Yeah, I know. Maybe we should both get everything off our chests sometime."
"Maybe…"
"I'm gonna get off here now. Get to that meeting before you make a bad impression."
"Right… Talk to ya later, Gen."
They ended the call and Jace slipped his bags over his shoulders. He put his helmet on and slipped his goggles over his eyes, then he hopped on Titan and stomped the lever on the side to start it. He drove away from the airship he took to Vale and went through the streets for thirty minutes before reaching the place Genesis said for him to be. There, he saw a man and a young woman with golden-blonde hair.
The man didn't give any expression, but the girl looked annoyed to be there. Jace sighed. "Already on someone's bad side… great. Maybe I can salvage it." He thought to himself as he stopped the motorcycle near them and turned it off.
"Hello, are you Jace Reznor?" The man asked him.
Jace nodded as he took his helmet off. "Yeah, I am. I'm not late, am I?" He asked and put his goggles around his neck.
"No, you're actually early," The blonde girl said, "I'm Yang. The one you're sharing a garage with."
"Nice to meet you, Yang." Jace greeted.
"If there are no questions, I'll verify your scroll to unlock the building." The man said and Jace handed him his scroll.
Jace took the time and opened the case on the side of his motorcycle. He took Legacy out and put it on the magnetic plate of his harness under his dark-purple jacket.
"Huh, that's new. Pretty cool." Yang remarked.
"Thanks. My brother built it all from the ground up and gave it to me yesterday. Took him a few years." Jace replied.
"I did the same with Bumblebee. My bike. Not the case, just buildin' it myself."
"I hope this isn't bothering you… Y'know, this meeting."
"It's alright. I didn't have any plans for the day. Just a bit annoyed that it cut in on my relaxation time."
"Yeah, sorry. I want to relax too after my flight here."
"Where ya from?"
"Atlas."
"Shoulda figured that out from the snow chains."
Jace chuckled. "What about you?"
"I'm from Patch. Came here with my sister."
"Huh, I heard it was nice to live there."
Yang nodded. "Yeah, it is. Small town on the coast, a nice beach up the coast too," She gave a grin as she looked at the weapon on Jace's back, "That looks like a hell of a sword."
"Thanks. It's an artillery claymore."
"A what?"
Jace grinned and took it off his back. He took the large magazine out and opened the tip of it with his aura, exposing the large barrel. "Exactly what I said. Uses really big bullets and it's really powerful."
Yang gave a grin. "You should meet my sister. She'll love to hear all about it."
"Here you go," The man said and opened the garage door with Jace's scroll. He handed the scroll back to Jace and nodded, "You're all set. If there's nothing else, I'm gonna go."
"No, I'm good. Thank you and have a good day." Jace said and put his sword on his back again.
"You too."
"Alright, I guess I'll get Titan inside and we can get out of here." Jace said and started rolling Titan into the garage, as far from the other motorcycle as he could get it.
"Titan, huh? It fits. Pretty big motorcycle." Yang remarked.
"Yeah, it's what my brother went by with naming it." Jace grinned. He let go of it and made sure nothing was under its wheels to set it off balance. When he was sure it was okay, he checked the distance between the two motorcycles in case his did somehow fall over. Satisfied that Titan wouldn't come close to touching Bumblebee if that happened, Jace stepped out and the garage was closed up.
"That didn't take as long as I thought it would." Yang said.
"Helps that I got here early, right?"
"Definitely."
"Bye Yang. Maybe we can both go relax." Jace told her.
"Yeah. Seeya around."
From there, the two separated to their own devices. Jace walked toward the closest airdocks as he shook his head. "I should've asked if she was from Beacon. She looked like she could be. Her sister probably is from her telling me she'd like to see Legacy… Shit, I hope I don't get lost." He thought with a sigh.
Along the way, there was a large wooden stand set up where a dog Faunus woman and her son were selling fruit. Jace almost licked his lips at seeing large apples for sale. He had developed a craving for them since Haile had given him one after he took Jace in. It always took him back to that happiness of finally finding a loving home after what had happened.
He stepped up to the stand and looked over the apples as his tail uncoiled from around his waist. It swished around behind him as he dug inside his pocket for his wallet.
"Hello sir!" The young boy greeted him, "You wanna buy some fruits?"
"Jack," His mother laughed, "You're supposed to ask, 'Would you like to buy some fruit'?"
Jace nodded quickly and brought a five lien card from his wallet. "How much apples will that get me?"
"Hmm… You don't seem like you're from here. You're dressed too warm for the weather." The woman said with a curious expression at seeing the midnight-purple jacket he wore.
"Oh, no, I'm not from here. I'm from Atlas. I just transferred to Beacon." Jace told her.
"Oh? Normally, that would get you eight. Since you're new to Vale and you're a Huntsman-in-training, you can have a sack of twenty apples for that."
"Really? That's nice of you, ma'am." Jace said with a smile.
"Don't mention it. I'm Caitlyn Reigns, by the way," She said and started bagging the apples. She looked to her son to introduce him as well, "And this is my… Jack! Stop staring at his tail!"
Jack jumped and looked away. "Sorry! I-I didn't know Faunus could have a tail and ears at the same time…"
Jace laughed and gave a smile. "I don't mind it. I was just born with a mutation, so I'm special."
"Really? That's so cool!" The boy exclaimed.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Oh pup, you're curious about everything, aren't you?"
She finished bagging the apples and Jace handed her the lien. "Thank you Caitlyn, and thank you Jack." Jace thanked them both.
Caitlyn nodded and handed him one more apple. "And that one's free. Have a good day."
"You too. I'll probably be back sometime. Probably soon."
"We look forward to it."
Jace continued walking down the street with the bag of apples slung over his shoulder. He smiled as he took a bite of the free apple, a bit of juice trickling down his chin.
"This is really good. I wonder where they grow these…" He wondered in his head.
Before long, he found the airdocks and an airbus ready to depart. There was a blonde boy standing outside of it wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans, looking like he was waiting for someone.
Jace stepped up to him and the blonde greeted him. "Hey, are you Jace Reznor?"
"That's me. Who are you?" Jace asked in return.
"Jaune Arc. Ozpin asked me to help you get to his office when we get up to Beacon."
Jace sighed in relief. "Thank Oum. I was afraid I was gonna get lost. Let's go."
"Hello mister Reznor. Please, have a seat." Ozpin greeted Jace when he entered the office.
"Hello sir. Thank you for accepting the transfer."
"After hearing your reasoning, it was the least I could do to help." Ozpin replied solemnly.
"Yeah…" Jace sighed, "I just couldn't take it anymore. Just the constant verbal stuff I tolerated but… he was lucky I didn't break his hand for grabbing my tail."
"Don't think of that. Just think of your future and your new team."
"Speaking of that, is anyone other than Raine here now?" Jace asked.
"Only one. Alyssia Wystar. I met with her only a little while ago."
"She's the other cat Faunus, right?"
"Yes, she is," Ozpin gave a short sigh, "Mister Reznor, I should tell you that your father told me everything of what you've been through. From when you were a child."
Jace nodded. "Yeah… I told him to. It's something that you needed to know, same with Ironwood. You should know that I'm not really a Faunus."
"It is understandable that you wanted to keep it a secret. I appreciate you having him tell me. What are the specifics of… this situation?"
Jace reached into his bag and grabbed the journal he brought with him. "This'll tell you better than what I can," He said and handed it to Ozpin. He took it and opened it to the marked page, "Basically… I can use dust at will. I have the instincts, senses, and urges of a cat Faunus, and I grew cat ears and a tail. It took me awhile to be able to use the dust… My brother went through the same thing, but he never recieved any Faunus traits like me. We still don't fully know why I did..."
"I hate calling myself a Faunus… It's just not true. I wasn't born with these ears and the tail. If I was gonna be Faunus, I just wish I was born Faunus."
"I am glad that man was executed and your birth parents were locked away for life. You didn't deserve to have that happen." Ozpin said lowly and looked back through the pages.
"It made it worse when I dealt with the racists..."
Ozpin finished reading through the journal and sighed. He handed it back to Jace and he shoved it back in his bag with his bandages. "Thank you for understanding, sir."
"Think nothing of it. I will be telling the other professors, but no one outside us will know unless you tell them. Do you have any objections?"
Jace shook his head. "It's alright with me. Just… not any other students."
"I understand. That, you would need to do yourself. I believe you should go rest. I'm sure you need it after your flight. Your room is on the third floor of the dormitories. At the end of the hall on the left."
"Yeah… that would be nice. Thank you sir." Jace said and left the office.
"So… what's in the sack?" Jaune asked as he and Jace made their way to the dorms.
"Apples." Jace replied simply.
"You have a sack of apples?" Jaune asked in confusion, "I'm not gonna lie, that's the weirdest thing I've heard."
"What?" Jace laughed, "I really like apples. Have since my dad adopted me."
"Oh, you were adopted?"
"Yeah…" Jace sighed.
"Still a sore topic?"
"Kinda. I'll tell you someday."
"It's fine if you don't." Jaune assured him.
Soon after, they came to the dorms. Jace opened the door and was met with the sight of a cat and fox Faunus, both with ears of their respective animal. His ears twitched a bit as he looked to the cat Faunus'.
He held the door open for them and they thanked him. Jace stopped and looked back toward the cat Faunus. He didn't know what it was, but he was just drawn to her. Her eyes specifically when he saw them. Emerald and sapphire. They were absolutely beautiful to him.
"Who is that? She's so pretty…"
The girl looked back at him and he waved nervously at her. She waved back and turned back around, then he and Jaune walked on into the building.
"I think those were your new teammates. Raine was the short one." Jaune told him.
"And I take it the other one is Alyss…" Jace said.
"Looks like it could be. You wanna go talk to them?"
"No, not right now," Jace said and looked at his right arm, "I need to change the bandages on my arm." They reached the third floor and walked down the hall.
"What happened to it?" Jaune asked and couldn't help but look at Jace's arm.
"I'm an idiot and wasn't paying attention to my aura when I was practicing with burn dust. I wrecked my arm pretty badly and it's all burned." Jace answered.
"That sounds like it sucks. I hope it gets better soon."
"Same here. It does suck." Jace said.
They came to a stop outside Jaune's room and Jace could hear a girl talking loudly inside with a cheerful voice. Jaune grinned and turned to Jace. "Wanna meet my team?"
Jace gave a smile. "Sure. It'll be even with the people I know from Atlas."
Jaune unlocked the door and opened it to his orange-haired and turquoise-eyed teammate, bouncing up and down on her bed with a plate of pancakes in her lap. She sat next to a raven-haired boy with pink eyes and a streak of lavender in his hair.
"Hey guys, you wanna meet someone new?" Jaune asked them.
"Sure!" The energetic girl said with a wide grin. She passed the plate to the boy next to her and he set it on the nightstand. They both stood from the bed and came out to greet him.
"You're one of the new guys, right?" The girl asked and Jace nodded, "Cool! I'm Nora, this is Ren." She introduced herself and the boy.
"Good to meet you." Ren said.
"You too. I'm Jace Reznor." Jace greeted with a smile.
"Hello~," A red-haired girl with a long flowing ponytail stepped from the side of the room and greeted him with a singsong voice, "I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Welcome to Beacon, Jace."
"Thanks. I'm really glad to be here," Jace said, "You fought against… Auron Karmine in those tournaments in Mistral, right?" Jace asked.
Pyrrha let out a short sigh. "Yes… I have."
"Oh cool," Jace grinned, "He's gonna be on my new team. Can you tell me about him?"
Pyrrha's expression lifted. "Auron's coming to Beacon? It's been so long since I've talked to him!"
"Is that your friend you told us about?" Nora asked her.
"It is," Pyrrha answered and turned to Jace, "He is a great fighter as he is such a nice person. He holds absolutely no resentment toward any Faunus. He'll be a great member of your team."
"I'll look forward to it. Thank you."
"Also… I won't lie in saying I expected praise from you… Like nearly everyone from Haven."
"Because you're a really good fighter?" Jace asked and she nodded sheepishly, "I honesty don't see why I would. Yeah, you fight really awesomely, but you're just you and you just have different skills than everyone else."
"Thank you…"
Jace nodded as he thought about something. "I guess I should get this out of the way… Wanna see something cool?"
"Umm… Sure?" Jaune answered.
Jace uncoiled his tail from around his waist and moved it around for them to see it. He grinned at seeing their reactions of shock to it. "I was born with a mutation. It let me have both the ears and the tail."
"I really hate having to lie about this…"
"That's cool!" Nora exclaimed.
"I think I'm gonna go to my room now," Jace said and just let his tail stay free for the moment, "I need to change the bandages on my arm from where it was burned."
"Okay. See you around, Jace." Jaune said and the others said goodbye.
Jace grinned as he walked on down the hall to his room. He was surprised to see Pyrrha in Beacon. He would have expected her to stay in Mistral where she was born and raised. Although, the same could be said for him and two of his new teammates as well. Or anyone that came from a different kingdom.
He came to the door and held his scroll to the handle. The lock disengaged and he opened the door. There was a table in the middle of the room and the desks were off to the right side in the corner. The beds had one nightstand between them and one bed had two bags on them, possibly from Alyss.
He set his bags on the table and set his sack of apples next to them. He took his jacket off and looked at his arm. It was throbbing in pain and he sighed heavily.
"Why can't you help me now, aura?" He asked to no one and started undoing the bandage.
After a few moments, he had his arm free of its bindings and he decided to let it have some fresh air for a bit. He looked at it and sighed. All the scars were just… unsettling to look at. If it was just scars from cuts, he could just deal with those normally. But looking at the burn scars just made him feel sick.
He spent a few minutes letting it air out and he grabbed an apple from his bag. He ate around on it as he played music from his scroll's speaker to take away the silence.
Before the tenth song ended, the door opened and admitted the two Faunus from before. "Oh, hello! I guess you're Jace Reznor?" The fox Faunus asked.
"I am. Nice to meet you." Jace said and couldn't help but notice the other girl's eyes locked onto his arm.
"Fuck…"
XxXxX
AN: And there was Jace's prologue, I guess you could call it. This story will have Genesis and Haile interacting with everyone. And no Armaddon burned his arm.
See you next chapter, and have a nice day!
