Chapter 2 Training Begins

"words" 'thoughts'

I do not own RWBY or any characters. So far only the Bianco family is mine

So, it's been years since Ozpin's visit, and although their coffee orders never stopped ('they honestly helped pay for my schooling') they never came back themselves.

School had been just as difficult as Cole expected: once again he was the nerd who knew too much to be normal. The only real difference is this time, none of the others could hold a candle to him.

After he had started school Cole begged his father to start training. He was reluctant, and his mother was even more so. She didn't want Cole to become a huntsman, tried to entice him any way she could. It was only after denying him Ice cream, books and many different types of toys did they agree to start his training when Cole turned 8.

Cole, however, wasn't that naïve.

Instead he asked to join the common sports teams, something his mother jumped at right away, anything that moved him away from being a huntsman. She didn't consider that the exercises are to prepare Cole for training anyways. Three years of that and both Cole's little brothers were just old enough to bring to his tournaments. ('I had brothers! Still feels odd being the older one. Now I had to set a good example for the twins... I can do this.')

In almost no time, Cole had hit eight and reminded his parents of their promise. They had…mixed reactions. Dad was nervous about him being a Huntsman. The world wasn't like the story books he would say, there might not always be a happy ending.

In response, Cole handed him the most realistic origin of a children's story he found. It stunned him that Cole had been reading such a dark story, but it had the effect intended. Cole told him: "I know the world isn't a nice place". It hurt to have to show him how much he knew, but he held little back when he explained how much he wanted, not to live a happy life, but make sure everyone else lives a happy ever after. Cole told him how he knew Charles scars (no matter how hard he tried to hide them) hurt, to get and to live with.

Sno was even harder to convince. She had listened to his explanation to father, and if anything, she felt it reinforced her opinion he had to find a different path.

Cole didn't give her much of a chance for an argument. When he saw she wasn't going to budge, and dad wouldn't without her, he began his own training with a bokken and any book he could possibly get his hands on.

After years of going to the library, Cole's reputation with the librarians was as high as it could be. They knew him, better than his parents to some degree. So, they weren't really surprised when Cole told them he wanted to start his training. They wouldn't help him directly, though, it'd be disrespectful to his parents, but he still checked out as many books as he could. His sports training was helpful, but hunter training was so much more.

Cole's parents weren't happy to see him start without them, especially Mom, although Dad was proud to see him take the initiative.

He wasn't going to budge on this, he knew what was going to happen. He knew of Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. he knew about the maidens, and the Gods. He knew of Salem.

He was lucky he had at least some idea how much time he had left. Yang and Ruby helped. Their father was a professional Hunter. Summer too. He could look them up to see how far they are. He was able to watch Pyrrha and her Tournaments too, easy bets to win some money for later.

But his biggest clue was that the White Fang was still Peaceful. It looked like he ended up at minimum 5 years or more before Cannon. That meant Blake's father was still leader.

He got a more accurate time line when he ran into a few protests by accident ('shut up I am not directionally challenged'). He had hopes that maybe he could affect what happens with how he treated Faunus and how he demanded they be treated in front of him, but it's not like a child's voice changed much.

Imagine his surprise when in a world full of wonder, he ran into a certain young cat Faunus and her parents.

At mid-way through eight, he saw what had to be a seven-year-old Blake Belladonna. This answered his question. He had arrived a year earlier than the rest of RWBY and JNPR. ('I keep saying arrived, but birthed sounds so wrong'.) He was surprised. He didn't think he'd meet the team. he hoped, but he didn't think there was a real chance to talk to them, especially before cannon.

She was part of a protest, younger and more active than Cole ever actually seen her in cannon. She was holding a sign when she was knocked by some guy behind her. He ran to help her up and she was surprised to see him help her.

'Probably because I'm a human', he thought. He picked her up, snagging her sign and handing it back to her and said: "Good luck. We'll change things, you'll see".

He never found out if she heard him or not over the sound of the protest, but he did see her run back to her mom. She wasn't hurt, but her mother would fret over her daughter, injury or not.

Still, eventful meeting or not, it gave him an accurate measure of how much time he had left. With Blake, a rough 7 years old, that means he had 5 years until the White Fang changed, then 5 more until Beacon… and the FALL.

'But we won't fall' he thought as he swung his bokken again. 'I wouldn't let them fall…I won't let US fall'

"You won't change your mind?"

Cole heard her approach, but he didn't turn until she spoke. It was kind of upsetting that he was the only one to keep their promise, but she was his mother, so he responded as politely as he could, "No. I wanted to be a hero before, and now." he put down his practice sword. The weights he put in the handle made every swing a pain, the point he guessed, so the break was welcomed.

"Won't change your mind for anything?" she asked

'she's up to something' his Mom was devious. She always got the best deals with her coffee beans, and thought of roundabout ways to punish his brothers for their mischief. "If I gave up now, I wouldn't be fit enough to be a Huntsman"

She nodded and started walking away.

"Then training starts tomorrow"

He was stunned. he never saw her give up on a deal, no matter who tried dealing with her

'I still haven't, have I?' his eyes narrowed as she walked away. An old bit of advice he kept saying in his past life came back to him as he started packing his equipment away.

Paranoia is your friend

Worst part is, he was right.

The first week of training was the worst hell he'd ever gone through, in any life. He was beaten, broken, bent in ways he could never have imagined existed. He remembered the characters doing unimaginable flips and midair turns and insane landing strategies, honestly, he should have expected this.

He never screamed. Never cried out too much and never out right cried. He refused to. His pride, the one thing beside his memories he brought over from his first world… in some ways, the last thing the old him still had, refused to let him give up.

Week two didn't change much and by week three he almost grew used to it.

"Still at it?" the entire time his mother never mentioned his training. She wouldn't speak for him and wouldn't tell his father he went too far even if he came back bruised and slightly bloody.

Still, Cole smiled through cracked lips, "of course not. Grimm wouldn't stop at this, huntsmen don't either"

She frowned. Cole knew it hurt her to see him like this. He had to push through, this was his last test before training got pushed even farther.

"Police save people." She said, "Doctors save people, even lawyers save people. Why do you have to be a Huntsman?"

"That lawyer comment isn't gonna help any argument", Cole snip back, "none of those do enough. A doctor can save one, two, maybe three people a day. And I would say police are more about stopping bad people than saving good ones. Fire fighters can save a few dozen from a fire, not that you mention them" Cole said, a dead pan look on his face as he added the last one. ('firefighters don't get enough love')

"So why do you have to be a Huntsman?" she begged.

Cole stopped smiling. He felt his age for the first time in years. 23 years on Earth. Almost nine on Remnant. He felt older than he should. 'Nothing new I guess. I always acted like an old man. Guess now I am old'

"They all save a few." He let his memories flow, every scene he remembered, every commentary, every person they lost. Pyrrha, Penny…gods knew how many people in Vale. "I want to save more than that. Be more than that."

Cole could see her argument. On Earth he wanted to be a teacher. Thought if he could teach the next generation he could help save so much more than just a few people. He could set them up and help them build the best generation possible. 'Idealistic, maybe even childish, but that was my dream'

It's kinda sad three weeks in he could tell he was a better fighter than he was a teacher.

She sighed, she knew he wouldn't let this go, and she and dad couldn't keep this up. His siblings were starting to get really upset about his daily state ('to my defense I thought my cuts stopped bleeding after I washed up upstairs').

The next week marked his first month of training. Charles had resumed the hell training, if anything, it was getting worse. At least that was his assumption when he got slammed through the side of the barn instead of the ground.

"Cole!" he heard from outside his debris mound.

"I'm good!" he answered back. At least, he started to, until he noticed the size of the piece of wall sticking out of his leg. "scratch that, I may need some help!"

Six inches sticking out of his leg, who knows how much inside, "In a minute this is gonna hurt!" he tells his father as he dug out the injured boy. Cole barely manage to get that out when the burning started. He grit his teeth as his leg started to burn from the wound outwards.

They got Cole to the house and tore through his pants leg to get at the pole. This far from the city, the hospital would be a waste of time. Charles was trained past first aid anyways. Still, Sno called the local doctor and dad started treatment before he even got there.

The whole thing had been a big scare for no reason. Cole was afraid his dad would reconsider training him, so the moment everyone's back was turned he told his brother, Jet (damn you Remnant), to stash his training weights and hide them under his bed, just within reach.

The doc was late but declared pretty much what everyone thought it was, a flesh wound, that'd clear up in a week, ready for training in two. When he asked what Cole had been doing, he was surprised to hear it was huntsman training.

"Without protection?" he asked.

"Mom and dad have been trying to convince me to quit. They think I'll reconsider so they haven't unlocked my Aura" Cole reasoned. He had worked it out week two. The only reason they wouldn't unlock his Aura was to make sure he could change his mind. It'd explain his harsh training too. There just wasn't another reason to push an 8-year-old this far.

"So, you've been training to be a Huntsman, without Aura?" asked the Doctor, shocked.

Cole frowned. "I'll have Aura, I just have to last until mom and dad actually accept I'm going to be a Huntsman"

"So, you're taking a beating, to become a Huntsman" he stated.

Cole laughed sardonically, "Every trainee takes a beating to become a Huntsman".

"From their parents?"

At this point Cole was pretty sure the Doc was trying to figure out how crazy the impact made him was, so he shrugged, "Better my dad than a grimm, at least he probably won't kill me".

He laughed his way out and Cole sat there in an awkward silence until his dad made his way in.

"If your gonna apologize, you really don't need to" faking childhood left him with some residual guilt.

"You knew about Aura?"

'ah…should have made sure they couldn't hear me…oops'

"Pretty much every book I've ever read mentions the Huntsmen's power, even if it's censored"

Turns out Aura is censored in most books. Makes sense, if every criminal could use Aura, the police would never catch anyone. That's not even considering any Semblance a criminal could have.

Suddenly Jaune's back story makes more sense. He hadn't read between the lines, so he didn't know about it. 'Which reminds me of something I had to add to my to-do list. His family visits Anima and having run away to Beacon meant he had to be somewhere between Beacon and Shion.'

Dad looked guilty. "we wanted you to think about what you wanted to grow up to be"

"And I did, Dad. If you think this can stop me, you're wrong"

"There's no going back once I unlock your Aura".

There was no going back before. "I'm ready" he says.

"No, but you will be" he corrects, "there are many chants given when one has their Aura unlocked. This is the one given to me by my teacher, my father" he put his hand on Cole's chest and a second to his face: "Take with you the armaments of light and dark, and recognize the nature of your soul. Accept the divine gifts bestowed upon you, my son, for you are the shield that protects your heart and the spear that seeks to destroy those who corrupt. I hereby pass my blessing unto you"

It was unlike anything he could ever hope to describe. One moment he was in his room, eyes closed, focused on his dad's words. The next he felt everything. It was like his perception had stretched to the entire room they were in, he became hyper aware of everything around him, but at the same time more aware of his own body as only part of him. Like my soul and my body were separate, but at the same time one.'

"Whoa" there really wasn't a better word for his sudden 'awareness' his body never felt so light. It took him a moment to notice his dad was way paler than he should have been. "Dad, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I used my Aura to unlock yours" he said with closed eyes. He looked like he was trying to regain his breath. "Kinda like hooking a fish by using another as bait, I hooked your Aura with mine from within you and pulled it to the surface. Now it's your own Aura protecting you…and you got a lot"

He remembered Pyrrha saying those words to Jaune when he had his awakening and he healed a cut on his face. But why…then he noticed his leg stopped hurting. he reached for the bandage the doctor wrapped around it and he found the bleeding had stopped and the injury looked days old. Another day he'd be fine to train again.

"Amazing. I thought it'd be at least a week and a half" he said, stunned. He knew Aura helped healed wounds, but he never imagined it'd help this much.

"You realize this won't change training." My father said after he recovered. "if anything, I may go harder on you now"

"But I'll be able to handle it this time. you can count on it!" he exclaimed. he'd be excited, but even he got tired from being slammed into the ground ('padded or not, it sucks')

"Have you decided which training school you're going to?"

"Signal was my first choice" he said, remembering Yang and Ruby's school of choice, "and Beacon right after".

Dad looked surprised "So you won't be going to Haven?".

"Your old school?" he asked and waited for his nod. "I wanted to see how it is in Vale instead. You know what they say about blazing a new trail"

That made him pause, "No, what do they say" he asked sheepishly.

"I will go where there is no path and I will leave a trail" plagiarized (I think), but Earth lawyers will never find me, so I'm good.

And so, my Training begins, this is the first of two time skips I plan to do to set up for my time at beacon. I used a different Aura chant instead of what I assume to be Mistral's chant to unlock Aura, simply to add something new to fanfiction. Thank you, Reddit user LuminousArrow. This is my shout out and my thank you

I will love any advice and tips as this is my official first Fanfiction. I run everything through word, but I am looking for someone to proof read what I've written. I hope you all enjoy