Chapter 2: Unwanted Preparation (posted 7/9/17)
Jaune's mind was in a jumble. Everything had gone so terribly wrong in an instant. The word team sent a shiver down his spine. There was no possible way this would end well. Sure, if he was careful everything should be fine. But one slip up and there would be no coming back.
He was calling it now. Everything will work out at first. He'll make some friends, and then just as he lets his guard down, it'll all come crashing down.
He couldn't believe Ozpin was ok with this. The headmaster had been there with him from the beginning, since he first noticed the signs with Dorch and reached out for help. He knew what could happen but was acting like it was no big deal. It was unbelievable.
The stress built and built within him as he tried to come up with a solution for his predicament. Short of dropping out, he couldn't think of any. But he needed Beacon.
Contrary to popular belief, not all huntsman school graduates became huntsman. They were certainly the majority, but some also went into research, be it grimm analysis, dust and weapon development, or even… aura studies. If he wanted to get into the highest level aura research labs he needed to graduate from a top huntsman school. Otherwise he'd be stuck back at home, experimenting in his basement.
'Maybe I should give up,' he thought. Why did he even want to get into aura research anymore? He originally wanted to figure out how to fix his family, but Ozpin had taken him around to every researcher, doctor, or spiritualists in Remnant. Anyone who claimed to have some knowledge in aura... They all said it was impossible. Not even just impossible right now, but impossible forever, regardless of advancements in technology.
At first he hadn't believed them. Told himself they were all idiots and he'd figure it out himself. But then he tried that experiment on Flopsy… It really was impossible. He should give up, move on, and live his life. He was about to do just that, when he remembered something.
"I can't do it Dad. I'm too little and it's really, reallllly heavy," he whined up to the man, having finally had enough of swinging the stupid sword. It was taller than he was!
"Don't say that Jaune," his father said, kneeling down to be at eye level with him, "you can do it."
"No I can't! It's impossible!" he'd pouted. His dad had just looked at him and sighed, knowing that he was dangerously close to a full blown temper tantrum.
"Hey, did I ever tell you the story of Goud Arc?" his father asked
"No,"
"Do you want to hear it?"
"No!" he stubbornly parroted,
"Are you sure? He was the very first Arc to become a huntsman," his father said with a smug smile.
"Really. Was he suuuuuper strong? Did he save a princess? Defeat an army of evil huntsman?" little jaune had instantly forgotten his grievances and jumping up and down in excitement.
"Haha, let me tell the story," he said, smirking at Jaune's predictability.
"Goud Arc grew up a long, long time ago," he began, "You see, back then you didn't choose what job you wanted to do, you just did whatever your family did. So if your father was a farmer, you were a farmer. Your father was a blacksmith, you were a blacksmith. But Goud Arc's father was not a huntsman, and yet he became one anyway."
"What's so special about that?" he naively asked.
"Well, he had to learn how to unlock his aura, train with a weapon, and fight grimm all on his own. No books, no school, and no dad to train him," he said with a pointed look. Jaune blushed in embarrassment, "everyone made fun of him for trying. Said he'd get himself killed. But he wanted to be a hero. His head was filled with dreams of adventure and excitement. A lot like you actually," he said, ruffling Jaune's hair.
"Then he proved all the dummies wrong and was super strong," Jaune predicted, pushing his father's hand away.
"No. He was awful just like they said." His dad laughed at the gobsmacked expression on Jaune's face.
"That's a stupid story," he grumbled and pulled back, feeling tricked.
"Hold on a sec. I'm not done," his father grabbed him before he got away, "Yes he was terrible. He was so bad everyone made fun of him. But… he never gave up. He tried and tried and tried as hard as he could until one day a swarm of grimm attacked," Jaune gasped, immediately drawn back in.
"There were so many, the family of huntsman that normally defended the village fled, leaving everyone to die," for a moment his father made an expression he'd never seen before. It wasn't the face of the doting man who loved his family. For a second, he got a glimpse of the veteran huntsman of 100's of missions, made of steel instead of smiles. But Jaune blinked and it was gone.
"Goud Arc stayed with the villagers to face the grimm. Besides him, no one else even had there aura unlocked. He had a simple sword and shield while everyone else had axes and pitchforks."
"So he beat all the mean monsters and saved the day… right?" he'd looked up at his father expectantly, but received a sigh and a sad shake of the head.
"I'm afraid this isn't one of those sorts of stories…. Goud Arc knew that the fight would be bloody and most, if not all, of the villagers would die. So he distracted the horde of grimm and lead them away from everyone, giving them time to escape."
"So he did save the day!" Jaune whooped with joy.
"Yeah… he did," his father gave him a sad smile, "but that was also the last time he was ever seen." Jaune froze.
"What?" he whispered
"His family searched for him later, but all they ever found was his sword lying in the middle of a torn up field."
"I don't like this story," Jaune had whimpered, trying to push away.
"This is important Jaune!" his father's voice was hard as stone, "If you really want to become a huntsman, this is something you need to understand," he'd grabbed Jaune by the chin and forced him to meet his eyes. The huntsman was there again.
"Remnant is a dark and dangerous place, filled with more sad stories than happy ones. If you really want to become a huntsman, a hero, then you have to be willing to give it all, because the world won't take anything less.
There'll be times in your life where everything's against you, where there's no hope. If you let them, these moments will extend until they dominate your life. So you have to fight. Give it everything you have or else your life will fall apart and everything you care about will end.
Goud Arc fought, and because of that he saved everyone. In return they built his family this estate where the Arc's have carried on his legacy for generations. We don't give up no matter the odds. No matter the consequences. That's what it means to be a Hero."
He'd kinda forgotten about his father's serious side. It had faded ever since Jaune's semblance affected him, starting the moment he said those fateful words and unlocked his aura.
Jaune sighed. The memory had knocked him out of his dark brooding, but did nothing to fix his dilemma. It was one thing to say never give up, but that was a stupidly general statement, meant more for fairy tales and pep talks, not real life. What if he continues on and harmed someone else because of it? It's one thing if the consequences of your actions hurt yourself, it's something else entirely if others have to bear them.
What would he do if he affected someone. So far it had only been his family. If it was someone else h-
"Hey! DON'T IGNORE ME JERK!"
Ruby Rose was not having a good day. First her sister abandoned her, than she bumped into that mean white haired girl, and now she was truly and hopelessly lost. Just how big was this place?
'It's a school for Huntsmans. Why do they need an ice skating rink?' she thought, leaving said room and exiting out into another winding hall that lead to who knows where. She couldn't do anything but sigh, pick a direction and walk. Room to room, hall to hall she continued hoping to find some map or at least a person to get directions from. It felt like she was going in circles.
'That or they have two identical ice skating rinks,' she wailed, resigning herself to the fact she'd miss the welcome ceremony. But than she rounded a corner and found someone sitting on a bench just a little ways ahead. She was saved!
"Excuse me," she said, rushing up to him. Excited to finally figure out where she was... But he didn't reply… or even move.
"Hello?" Maybe it was just a mannequin or really life like statue. It was hard to tell because of all the clothing. She got closer to get a better look. No! She could see him breathing!
"Hey! DON'T IGNORE ME JERK!" she yelled right in his face. He bolted upright in surprise, almost falling off the back of the bench as he reeled away from her.
"Oh… Hello," he said awkwardly, sliding sidways so he could stand up away from her, "What did you say?"
"It's rude to ignore people you know," she pouted at him.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Rubbing the back of his head, "I was kindof lost in thought. I didn't mean to."
"Ok," she sighed, scrutinizing him. At least he apologized, "I was wondering if you could tell me where the auditorium is. I need to get there quick."
"Sure. What's the rush?"
"For the welcome ceremony dummy," she said exasperated, "I'm a new student here."
"That's not till 3:00" he waved her off.
"It's 2:55," she wailed, shoving her scroll in his face.
"Oh crap," he exclaimed before mumbling something under his breath, "We have to hurry," he declared, and without another word, turned and quickly walked down the hall.
"Wait up," she called, zipping to catch up with him, "You're a new student too?"
"Uhhh.. yeah,"
"How do you know your way around Beacon than? It seems like a giant maze to me." she complained.
"Haha. Yeah it's like that at first. This school is filled with hidden and forgotten stuff that few people use. Did you know they have two ice skating rinks?"
"AHA! I knew I wasn't going in circles!" she screammed in triumph.
"Uhh yeah…. Anyway i'd recommend spending some free time figuring your way around. Otherwise you'll constantly get lost when you need to get anywhere."
"Thanks! I'm Ruby by the way. Ruby Rose," she said with a smile. Time to try and make friends.
"I'm Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you Ruby," he said with a smile of his own. But she could see it didn't make it to his eyes, "anyway… i don't want to be rude, but why are you covered in soot?"
"Oh. ha ha.. I kinda... blew up."
"Blew up?"
"Ok Ruby. We don't want to embarrass ourselves so let's make this explanation quick.'
"I kinda wasn't looking where I was going and bumped into this mean girl with all her luggage and It was filled with dust so it spilled everywhere so I said i was sorry but she didn't care and started yelling at me, so she was shaking stuff around and lecturing about all this stuff and I just really had to sneeze so suddenly everything blew up and she started yelling at me more and more until this other girl came up and said she was an heiress and they got in a fight but then they both left leaving me all alone and i got lost!" she blurted out.
'Stupid brain. I meant quick short not quick fast! Now he's gonna think I'm weird,' but when she looked at him he wasn't cringing or looking at her like she was crazy.
"Hahahahaha," he suddenly burst out laughing.
"It wasn't that funny," she pouted.
"I'm sorry," he wheezed, "It's just... I haven't heard anyone other than my sister fit that much in one breath."
"So you have a sister" she asked, trying to cover up her embarrassed blush.
"Seven actually," he replied, wiping tears away and smiling. A real smile this time.
"Wow. That's a lot."
"You have no idea."
"Which one has a motor mouth like me?"
"Jean, the 3rd oldest. I swear she could recite an entire book in one breath when we were kids." he said almost proudly.
"So she grew out of it?"
"Uh.. Yeah… something like that," he said, the smile fading from his face, "anyway we're almost there. It's just around the corner."
"Yay," she cheered, "come on we're almost late," she burst into a run, excited to get the school year underway.
It had been interesting meeting RWBY. She brought up good memories with her childish personality. He hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.
Once they got to the auditorium she'd run off to join her other friends he presumed. She apologizing for leaving him, but he was ok with that. He was more than happy to avoid the crowds and instead retreat to a nice dark corner.
He thought Ozpin's speech had been a little odd, but so was the man. It was also nice not to hear another "work hard and you'll succeed speech". So with the incredibly brief welcoming ceremony over, the students were released to explore and mingle.
He saw Ruby on the other side of the auditorium. She was so easy to spot with that red hood. The red hair helped too. It was debatable who was more eye catching, her or the blond she stood next to. He debated going over and talking with them, but decided against it.
'I'm not even sure I'm staying here,'
He sighed and exited the auditorium. He needed to find Ozpin and try to talk some sense into him. He had been so shocked when they had last met, he hadn't even put up a real argument. This was his dilemma solution. He would make his father proud and not give up, but he wouldn't endanger others because of it.
'I'll force the stupid tea obsessed man to listen. I can't be on a team'
Or at least, that's what he thought 7 hours ago when he first went looking for him. He had since searched Beacon top to bottom, but the mysterious professor Oz was nowhere to be found. It was now dark and he was starting to think the man was actually hiding from him. Glynda had tried to help, telling him where the stupid headmaster should be multiple times. But he'd always arrive to find an empty classroom or office. Finally, he called off the search and decided to retire for the night.
'I'll get you tomorrow Ozpin,' he swore to himself.
But now that his search was over, he had to deal with one of the greatest challenges of his life. Surviving the night in the ballroom… with 100's of teenagers. Luckily he had brought his secret weapon.
'How can 2 people be so noisy?' Blake asked herself, trying desperately to get immersed in her wonderful book. But try as she might, she couldn't help but listen to the fight between Weiss Schnee and the curvy Blond.
It had started when the heiress had come to lecture the redhead again for the incident earlier. Typical Schnee attitude to hold every little grudge. It had been low key at first until the blond had come to little red's defense. Since, it had devolved into a shouting match that had every student in the room watching them. It looked like it was about to come to blows when they both suddenly froze in place.
"Is this a school for huntsman or children?" Ms. Goodwitch shouted, stepping into the center of the room, "here you are expected to act like adults not immature hooligans." she then raised her riding crop and with a gesture lifted the two girls apart, placing them on their respective sleeping bags. Everyone stared in awe at her casual display of power.
"I've had enough for today," she fumed, "You will all need your energy for tomorrow so i suggest you turn in now," she said with a look that made it clear it was not actually a suggestion.
"But-" the heiress began.
"No buts Ms. Schnee. Go to bed," she said with a terrifying scowl, "the next person who disturbs everyone wil-" she was cut off by a loud screech and groan as the double doors leading into the room slowly opened.
Everyone was silent as they watched a student slip in before closing the doors again with an equally loud screech. He turned around and froze, realizing the attention he had drawn to himself.
"Ummmm. Hi." he said awkwardly raising his hand. Blake actually felt bad for him then, certain he would receive Ms. Goodwitch's ire.
"Thank you for joining us Mr. Arc," the stern woman sighed, "Was your search successful?"
"Oh… No. I'll have to try again tomorrow. Thanks anyway for the help Glyn-Ms. Goodwitch." he replied, awkwardly corrected himself as the professor scowled at him.
Who was this guy. Was he suicidal, or did he actually have a close relationship with one of the top huntresses of Vale. She scrutinized him carefully and wasn't impressed. He was wearing one of the most ridiculous outfits she'd ever seen. Baby blue footie pajamas with bunnies for feet… He completed the look with an equally blue hood and white gloves. The only features she could really tell about him through the baggy one piece was that he was tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Nothing remarkable. But...
"Well we were just going to put out the lights. So if you would please find a spot to sleep, we'll call it a night," Ms. Goodwitch sighed.
"Ok. Goodnight Professor," he said before walking towards the far corner of unoccupied sleeping bags and took the one furthest away from everyone else.
'There's something about him,' Blake thought, her bow twitching as she watched him lay down. Her faunus instincts didn't kick in often, but when they did, she listened. And right now they were telling her to keep an eye on the unremarkable blond.
'Who in their right minds lets a bunch of horny male and female teenagers share a room together?' Jaune wondered with bloodshot eyes the next morning as he sat to eat breakfast.
His plan to isolate himself in the unoccupied corner had backfired. Twice throughout the night couples had sneaked to his corner to try and get some... "alone time". This left him in the awkward position of pretending it wasn't happening or interrupting them and dealing with the embarrassing situation. He had gone with option number 2 when the moaning got too loud for him to simply imagine the situation away.
Stupid teenage hormones. It wasn't like he couldn't understand. You have to be in peak physical shape in order to be a huntsman. So everyone was really good looking and going through the most hormonal driven part of their lives…. With no parental supervision. It was surprising there weren't more than 2 incidence honestly.
"Good morning Jaune," Ruby said, sitting down across from him.
"Speak for yourself," he grumbled back.
"Awww. Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bead?" a blond girl asked, sitting down next to Ruby, "Or maybe it was those bunny slippers. Did they eat your feet through the night?" she smirked.
This right here was what he was talking about. On one hand there was the cute and lean Ruby who he just wanted to cuddle next to and never let go. On the other was the blond who had more curves than should be legal on a 17 year old. What was a guy to do with girls like this everywhere you looked.
"Don't be mean Yang!" Ruby whined at her.
"Oh i'm just teasing baby sister," Yang relented.
"Sister?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah! Ruby here is a prodigy," The blond boasted while wrapping said girl in a bear hug.
"Yang… ca-eek."
"She was admitted 2 years early because of how amazing she is!"
"Oh really? How'd that happen?"
"She was totally awesome and stopped some dust robbers."
"Cool, but i think Ms. awesome is going to pass out if you keep strangling her," Jaune said gesturing to the blue face Ruby now sported.
"Whoops," Yang released her and Ruby gasped back to life.
"Yang. I told you I didn't want people knowing that," she said once she caught her breath, "I just want to be normal. Regular knees remember?"
"Sorry sis. I'm just so proud of you," Yang squealed going for another hug. But received a punch to the face instead. Quickly, a play fight ensued with the sisters rolling around and wrestling for domination. Ruby was frankly outmatched in every category other than speed so she quickly found herself pinned.
"Surrender!" Yang demanded.
"Never!" Ruby struggled without result.
"Than you leave me no choice," the blond smirked evilly as she kept the smaller girl pinned with her knees and reached down.
"No don-" the redhead managed before Yang's fingers viciously began to tickle her ribs, "NO…. this isn't… you're… fighting… dirty." she managed between painful laughs.
"I gave you a chance. This is your punishment." and so it continued until Yang decided Ruby's cries for mercy were enough.
"Well did you like the show?" Yang said with a saucy smile as she sat down across from Jaune again.
"What?" He replied in confusion
"Two hot sisters wrestling in front of you. Got your blood flowing didn't it," she said with a knowing smirk, "If only we were in our underwear."
Jaune honestly didn't know how to reply, and probably looked like an idiot with his jaw hung open. Did she really just say that?
"YANG!" Ruby screeched. Turning beet red. And before anything more could be said, she grabbed her sister and disappeared into a cloud of rose petals.
'WHAT!?' Jaune was frozen in hormonal shock for a while. He was so confused he hardly bat an eye as a lone girl ate a stack of pancakes as tall as he was.
"Yang. What were you thinking?" Ruby screeched at her after they came out of the blurring whirl of rose petals.
"Aww come on sis. I was only teasing," Yang replied with an easy smile.
"That was a little much for simple teasing," Ruby persisted.
"Ok and a little flirting. He's not half bad looking," she admitted, "but come on I had too. You see the way he dresses and acts. I've never seen someone who needs pulled out of their shell as much as him."
"You didn't have to be so inappropriate about it." Ruby pouted.
"So Cute," Yang teased, "that wasn't very inappropriate Ruby,"
"Yes it was!"
"That's nothing compared to what some people were doing last night," she said with a smirk. She had to thank Jaune for stopping them actually. A girl needs her beauty sleep after all.
"Last night? What were people doing last night?" she said so naively Yang knew she meant it. Ah, she'd forgotten how heavy of a sleeper her little sister was.
"Never mind. We should go get our stuff so we're ready for initiation."
"Ok!" Ruby cheered.
'And i need to come up with some good pranks to pull on tall, blond, and awkward,' Yang thought with an evil grin.
Jaune somehow found his way to initiation. Yang had really caught him by surprise there. So much so he had failed to search for Ozpin like he planned. He supposed It didn't really matter since the headmaster would be there for initiation. So instead of worrying about it, he quickly retrieved his gear from his jet locker (still one of the coolest things ever in his opinion) and headed towards the cliffs where they were told to meet.
He was one of the last to arrive, and found everyone else lined up on grey platforms. It looked like some sort of ceremonial starting point to the initiation. In front of the line stood Ozpin and Glynda, waiting patiently for everyone to get into position.
"Hey Ozpin," Jaune said approaching the headmaster, "I wanted t-"
"Just a moment Jaune," he cut him off, "Let me get initiation underway, and then we can talk.
"Ok," he grumbled. He guessed that was fair. Everyone else was ready and waiting. So he walked back and took his place on the far platform.
After a brief pause, Ozpin began. He explained the premise of the test and how partners would be decided. Jaune thought it was a little ridiculous to have something so important based on luck. But the man had been doing this for a while so he wouldn't judge.
'Maybe team compositions didn't really matter,' ACK he had accidentally thought THE word. It still gave him chills.
Regardless Ozpin wrapped it up and Jaune looked around for the bullhead that would take them down the cliff. But first he needed to talk with Ozpin. There was no way he'd allow himself to be on a team.
Just as he was about to step forward and confront the headmaster, the man turned and looked at him, an evil smirk on his face. Jaune was confused for a moment before he heard the soft clicking beneath his feet.
"You son of a b-" he got out before being launched into the air. He'd been played!
MWAHAHAHA. And so initiation begins. I hope you guys liked the chapter. I tried to find a healthy median of new content mixed with my favorite parts of cannon. I particularly liked having an actual explanation for the footie pajamas.
How did you guys like the flashback? I tried not to be entirely cliche with his reasoning for continuing on. So i tried to mesh a feeling of "never give up" with the darkness of Remnant. I'm worried it didn't turn out very good, which is pretty bad since it is gonna be the base for Jaune's motivation for a while. Please let me know what you think.
So finally I have a question I'd really like replies to. How naughty should I make this story? Obviously I made it rated M so I can go as bad as I want, but that was more for gore and general dark topics which'll eventually come about. I'm not really sure how descriptive I should be with the more sexual aspects. I tried to take a middle ground this chapter. Nothing too extreme but not really PG either. So should I go more descriptive and really get into the.. ehem... physics of the characters bodies as they move around? (I don't mean full blown lemons or anything, but a lot more detail.) Or should I keep it around this level where it's still there but not in your face? I honestly don't know what to do.
Next chapter is imitation. Right now i'm going with Yang as his partner but could be convinced otherwise if some people are particularly passionate about it. We'll finally be getting some action scenes which i'm excited to get to.
So thank you all again for reading. I'm trying to nail down a good time frame for making these chapters. I want to come out with new ones quickly, but at the same time I want to make a quality story. So I need to find a healthy balance between the two, where chapters aren't sloppy and rushed, but it doesn't take me a month to write one either. I also don't want to become one of those asshole writers that burn out and leaves all of you hanging. I will never do that. I may go on hiatus for a month here or there to give the muse some time to recharge. But i'm in for the long hall. There's nothing that gets my OCD going more than an unfinished story.
Thanks again you beautiful people. GrumpyHobo OUT!
P.S. Quick note to address some concerns I've been receiving in the comments. Jaune isn't some powerless fraud without any skills like in cannon. I thought I'd hinted to that with his crazy aura control last chapter, and because Ozpin and Glynda actually know him personally... so obviously he can't trick them with a fake transcript. So No. Jaune isn't a fraud. He's not some an all powerful mother fucking bad ass, but he has some ability beyond his semblance.