AN: Once again, I just wanted thank you for all of the reviews, suggestions and PMs.
I'll be honest, it took longer than usual to write this chapter mostly due to a combination of a mild case of writer's block, social engagements with my friends, several Twitch streams and the newest episode of Game of Thrones.
I haven't seen an episode of any television show with that amount of shitty writing combined with good writing ever. It seems like they're trying their hardest to make a certain character's journey difficult no matter how nonsensical and absurd the challenges are. I'm just waiting for the books at this point, I enjoy them much more even if the TV show does have its moments.
Anyways, the World Cup of Rocket League was pretty lit even if France didn't win. At least one of my nationalities, the United States, won so there's that.
I also came to a starting realization today. Halal is an anagram for Allah, crazy right? Makes sense considering how good the chicken over rice at this one cart I go to is.
Here comes the typical warnings: I don't own RWBY or Durarara!
Enjoy the chapter, please. Or don't, that's your choice.
Chapter 3 - Initiations
Jaune shuffled nervously from foot to foot as he waited for the Headmaster, or whoever was in charge of the initiation, to make their appearance. Though he stood among a crowd of hundreds of prospective students, he couldn't feel anymore lonely as he waited with bated breath for the test that would decide whether or not he would become a huntsman. Everyone else seemed to know each other as they formed into small groups and greeted each other with familiarity and with smiles on their faces that no doubt belied their nervousness. Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, his mother's words rung throughout his mind as he glanced nervously at his fellow students. How was he supposed to make friends if they were all in groups, their backs turned to him like his village's walls? That just made it more intimidating and challenging. Jaune sighed wearily as he dragged a hand down his face, stretching out his youthful features.
They all had their neat little combat uniforms ready as well, no doubt painstakingly prepared the night before, while he was only dressed in a comfortable set of jeans and a hoodie. He had already spied several students looking down their nose at him, judging him for the lack of flashiness that his 'uniform' possessed. Not only that, but everyone seemed that a weapon as well! He only had his fists because his dad said it would be too dangerous for him to have a weapon which certainly didn't help his self esteem.
He covered his ears as a harsh ringing sound came from the speakers spread out across the walls of the auditorium, all conversations stopped as the sound of someone clearing their throat replaced the void that the combined murmurs of hundreds of students left behind. The source of the sounds was found at the podium that was located at the middle of the grand stage: a man with graying, black hair and a olive green military-like uniform stood there while tapping on the microphone to see if it was working.
"Testing 1-2-3. Testing 1-2-3." he muttered into the microphone before looking up into the crowd and squinting. Jaune followed his eyes and saw a man by some sort of mixer giving a thumbs-up, showing that the audio situation was sorted out.
The man at the podium, presumably the headmaster, cleared his throat before commencing his speech "Good afternoon, students, my name is Ash Prescott, the Headmaster of Signal Academy, and let me be the first person at this institution to congratulate you all for making it this far into the application process of Signal Academy. Why don't you give yourselves a round of applause?" he paused and waited impatiently as he let the clapping of students and staff members subside "For some of you, this is the beginning of your journey as huntsman, defending the Kingdoms from the ever-present threat of the Grimm. For others, these may be your first footsteps on your path to dedicating your life as a member of the armed forces. For plenty of you, though, this is where your road ends, at least at Signal."
He paused to let the final statement sink in as confused muttering came from all around the auditorium. Some students puffed their chests out in pride, confident that they wouldn't eliminated in the culling, while others looked among each other uncertainly. Jaune balled his hands into fists as he looked up to the stage, looking at the man that seemed to be smirking as he looked at the collective indecision of the student body.
"Let me make this clear for all of those who didn't understand: only fifty percent of those who made it this far into the application process will be able to continue their careers in the Combat Education System, at most. Your family name will not help you here, the amount of money your family has will not help you here and any possible connections among the staff will not help you here. The only things that will ensure that you make it past this part of the process is your skill and your determination to follow your dreams and ambitions. You will all be paired up and you will spar in front of a panel of judges, those who lose their spar will not be accepted into this institution, neither will those whose performances did not satisfy the panel made up of different staff members, including myself. Don't worry, we here at Signal were especially careful to make sure that an even number of applicants made it this far so that there wouldn't be anyone left out." He paused to cough and clear his throat "You are all dismissed, please report to the table in the back where your the first letter of your last name is displayed."
Jaune's table was the easiest to find as it was the first one at the back left corner of the auditorium. A piece of paper was taped to the front with the letters 'A-F' clearly printed out in black. A woman with brown hair in a ponytail and tired eyes hidden behind glasses looked up at him lazily. "Your name please?"
He cleared his throat to make sure that his voice didn't crack. "Jaune Arc. J-a-u-n-e, A-r-c."
She hummed as her lidded eyes roamed the list twice before settling at the stop. "Ah, here you are. It looks like you will be paired up against... Summer Vermillion. Please report to room 1F which you can find by going through the first door on your left. Good luck!"
Jaune nodded nervously in thanks before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking out of the auditorium, pushing past the bronze handles of the double doors with his body. The halls of Signal were dark and foreboding, making him wonder if they did that on purpose to psych out any applicants or if it was generally part of the building's whole 'gothic' theme. He looked at the signs above the doors he passed looking for Room 1F, occasionally pausing to look at any interesting paintings or pictures of scenes depicting heroic hunters facing the Creatures of Grimm. Eventually, after walking past five doors, he finally found the room he was assigned to before taking a deep breath and pushing the doors aside.
He was greeted by the sight of a well-lit room with a large circular platform in the center with a table with three seats set at the back wall. Two men were conversing quietly as they awaited the combatants, one had graying, messy hair that was brushed back, he wore a grey dress shirt with black pants and a tattered red cloak while the other was tanned, had blonde hair and had shorts, a vest and one pauldron. Judging by their own flashy and distinguishing style, Jaune had to guess that those two were huntsmen. The one in the red cloak noticed him first as he beckoned him over to the table in the back.
"What's your name, kid?" the man asked, looking Jaune in the eyes. He could smell the alcohol wafting from his breath.
"Jaune Arc."
"My name's Qrow Branwen, you can call me Mr. Branwen, that there is Taiyang Xiao-Long" the blonde man waved at Jaune "you can call him Mr. Xiao-Long. Let's see where you are on the list, yeah? Alright... looks like you got lucky, kid: you're up first. We'll just have to wait for Prescott and your opponent to show up. Why don't you have a seat over there?"
It didn't take long for the Headmaster to show up, he offered Jaune a nod of the head and a shake of the hand before he sat down at the middle chair of the table and made himself comfortable. However, it took a few minutes longer for girl with red hair and a cocky grin to show up to the stage.
"Miss Vermillion, I presume?" inquired the Headmaster in a neutral tone.
"That's right." said the girl, the cocky grin remaining on her face.
"Hmm, I suppose you two know the typical rules of a spar, correct?" seeing them both nod, he continued "Well, why don't we begin? Will the contestants make their way to separate sides of the ring?"
Vermillion practically skipped across the stage to her starting spot while Jaune simply walked, when he got to his space and faced his opponent he saw that she already drew her weapons, two identical knives. She probably thought she would look cool after a watching one of those ninja cartoons that played every Saturday morning.
Jaune looked towards the panel, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to begin. Mr. Branwen was slouched in his chair, one hand cradling his face as he waited for the fight to begin and Headmaster Prescott simply formed a bridge with his hands and hid his face behind it.
"Begin!" Mr. Xiao-Long shouted, though neither combatant made a move to begin the fight at first.
Vermillion strode across the stage confidently, that cocky smirk still present. That was really starting to piss him off and that was probably what she was going for, too. He wasn't about to let her control the center of the ring either so he set out to meet her.
"What? You're not going to draw your weapon?!" she shouted from across the ring. Seeing his obstinate look, she started to laugh "Don't tell me you don't even have a weapon. What? Your parents too poor to afford a weapon or even a proper combat uniform?"
Jaune began to growl, his hands balling into fists as he tried to keep his cool. Didn't this moron know not to piss him off?
"Or maybe... your parents just don't care enough about you to even bother buying proper gear?"
Taunting might have worked on any other opponent, but she was taunting Jaune Arc so it didn't work as well as it would have on anyone else. Kind a like lighting firecracker, but instead of a firecracker she got a stick of dynamite.
When Jaune came to, the room was filled with silence and he was cradling his aching hand. He looked around frantically before his eyes finally landed on the form of his opponent lying well outside the boundaries of the ring. Her face was covered in red, darker than her hair, as if her nose exploded from the impact of his blow. She was being attended by medical staff from the school and Jaune, as embarrassing as it was to admit, honestly felt like crying, he should've known that something like this would happen... But a victory was a victory right?
He looked towards the panel with uncertainty and saw that the Headmaster was shaking in barely-contained rage while Mr. Xiao-Long looked at him disapprovingly. Mr. Branwen was looking at him in interest, however.
"Never have I seen such unnecessary violence in a sparring ring!" Jaune looked at his fists in shame, noting the discoloration of the bruises along his knuckles and barely holding back tears "Despite winning this spar, you will not be attending Signal Academy as it would be too dangerous for other students. Not only would they be placed under great risk for injury, but we simply do not have time or energy to waste on a someone with as little control as you!"
"Oi, lay off the kid a bit." said Mr. Branwen in protest as he shot Jaune a sympathetic look.
The Headmaster glared at the professor before taking a deep breath. "Leave. You may find your luggage at the entrance of the academy. I hope that one day you will find the control necessary to become something of service to the Kingdoms as opposed to a menace."
There was no point in arguing, the Headmaster's words had as sense of grim finality to them. As Jaune left the room, his head hanging in shame, thoughts of his family, who supported him unconditionally despite him being such a burden crossed his mind: What will they think of me now?
The sight of an auditorium filled to the brim with students milling about, waiting for their headmaster to make an appearance brought up bad memories for Jaune as he looked through the crowd for a familiar bow-covered head. Him being taller than most students gave him an advantage but he still couldn't find Blake. Knowing her, she would be hiding near the back or in the outskirts of the crowd. With a sigh, he began the arduous task of maneuvering through the packs of students. Some shot him dirty looks as he pushed past them while others seemed content to ignore him while they conversed in small groups.
Much to his annoyance, his journey was interrupted as he felt a small hand tugging on his right sleeve.
"Um... excuse me." he heard a small voice ask.
"What?!" Jaune demanded, his scowl on at full force as he looked back at the source of his interruption.
He was greeted by the sight of a small girl with red hair, black clothes and a red cape. That immediately made him feel guilty, he always felt that way when he made a child scared or feel threatened after one of his outburst. However, instead of seeing her flinch act scared, she merely offered a triumphant smile.
"Ha! I knew you were some kind of huntsman. You took out those thugs yesterday like they were nothing! You were all like ha! Schwah!" Jaune tuned her out as she made a whole variety of fighting sound effects. Just who was this girl? "Ooh Yang, this is the angry blonde guy I was talking about!"
Jaune's eyebrow twitched as she called over another girl, apparently named Yang. 'Angry blonde guy?' Well, she's wasn't wrong...
An older looking girl with blonde hair and an outfit that revealed a curvaceous figure popped into his field of view. He sighed slightly, he could already tell that this one was loud.
"So you're the guy that helped out my little sister yesterday, huh?" Ignoring the other girl's embarrassed cries, Yang looked at him appraisingly. She nodded approvingly.
Deciding to ignore her, Jaune looked towards the younger sister instead. "Do I know you or something?"
He could feel the disapproving gaze of Yang on him as the younger girl adopted a more crestfallen and shyer expression. He could feel his guilt returning. "Um, don't you remember? My name's Ruby, you helped me out with that dust robbery..."
Jaune squinted his eyes and cupped his chin in thought as he reevaluated Ruby, was there someone else at the robbery? "Oh right! Yeah, I totally remember you... Ruby?" He totally didn't but she looked happier now that he supposedly remembered her but he could see Yang's flat and disbelieving expression. He cleared his throat. "Are you a student here, or are you just accompanying Yang for the initiation? You look kind of young to be going here..."
The younger sister sent the older one a gaze that practically screamed 'I told you so' much to Jaune's confusion.
"Well, I kind of am but Ozpin decided to let me in two years early because how impressed he was yesterday!"
"Huh... he did the same for me. Not the two years part, but the whole letting me in because he was impressed thing."
Their conversation took an awkward paused then as both teens searched for what to say next. Yang, the most socially experienced of the group, was going to but in but Jaune remembered why he was there in the first place before she could.
"Right, have either of you seen a girl at about this height" he held up his palm at around shoulder level "she has black hair and a bow. She also-"
"Oh yeah, I remember her! She was there after I sneezed and blew up."
"You what?!" is what Jaune eventually registered after the ringing in his ears and the shell shock subsided.
Ruby then went on this tirade about she encountered some really rude girl who transported dust in unsecure containers. She then apparently inhaled some fire dust that had spilled out then sneezed, thus causing a huge explosion which must've been the one that got Blake's attention. When the girl (apparently a Schnee) was about to go and tear the redhead a new one, his friend came to Ruby's rescue by identifying the Schnee's unscrupulous behavior. Moral of the story: she had no idea where Blake was at the moment, but she did see her. Another moral: the heiress was standing right behind Ruby.
Her hands were on her hips as she looked down her nose at Ruby as she recounted her tale of dust, deceit and abandonment. She looked like his oldest sister, June, whenever she was about to blow up on Jaune for breaking another one of his bones back when his body couldn't handle his peculiar strength. She had the twitching eyebrow down and everything. He decided then that he didn't want to be around for that explosion, so he backed away quietly while raising a hand in good-bye as he sidestepped multiple groups. He used that technique whenever he didn't want to be held accountable for disappearing from whatever party Tom would drag him to.
What a day. And still no Blake. He would have to get her to teach him how to disappear in a crowd of people like that.
Lesson number 1: Don't be so tall. And blonde. Or have the name Jaune Arc.
"There you are."
Jaune would have cried tears of joy at the sound of his only friend's voice were he not so manly and tough.
He rounded on her with an accusatory look "You left me alone with these people. Do you know how worried I was for you?"
"Sure you were." said Blake dryly.
"The people here are so strange..."
Blake fixed him with a look that said, Really? Right, guy with extreme anger issues and ex-White Fang member. Maybe Ruby and Yang weren't so strange after all...
All chatter ceased when the sound of Professor Ozpin clearing his throat sounded out across the auditorium from the speakers. Certainly better than the harsh sound he was treated to at his initiation at Signal.
"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction." Jaune swore that he saw Ozpin look his way "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Students, unsure of themselves, muttered in confusion as they attempted to decipher the meaning of Professor Ozpin's cryptic words. It seemed like the initiation speeches of academy headmasters were intended to have that effect, thought Jaune as he recalled Headmaster Prescott's words. However unlike the Headmaster of Signal's speech, Beacon's wasn't that threatening in terms of if it would affect someone's chances of actually becoming a fullfledged member of the academy. If anything, it seemed to challenge the students' view of what it meant to be a huntsman or what their purpose was in attending the prestigious and historical institution.
Why did he even want to become a huntsman? That wasn't a question Jaune had considered in a long time, not that he had any real reason to until last night. He also didn't really have an opportunity to either as he was forced to make some (literal) last minute preparations in order to be properly prepared to attend Beacon.
There was definitely the fact that his particular set of skills wasn't useful for any other kind of profession on the legal side of things, he definitely wouldn't be suitable for the military and its rigid command structure. And, as evidenced by his experiences at the debt collection agency, it would only be a matter of time before any of his employers would decide to stop putting up with his penchant for destroying public property (mostly light poles and street signs.) But Jaune wasn't really a pragmatic person, he usually did things for emotional or moral reasons.
It used to be that he wanted to continue the family legacy and follow in his father's footsteps. Silver Arc, his father, his grandfather, etc. were all hunters that served to protect the Kingdoms against the Grimm and in different conflicts such as the Great War. Jaune remembered sitting on the edge of his seat and ignoring the dinner his mom made for him just to listen to his dad recounting stories from the wide variety of missions he took. However, he abandoned that reasoning after he abandoned his family to live in Vale so that he would no longer be a burden for them. When Ozpin swooped in and rekindled his hopes of fulfilling his dream of being a huntsman, he realized that becoming a hunter would mean finding a purpose for his strength rather than using it just to make a living. If he played his cards correctly, he would be able to continue his education and find a path for using his powers to help people rather than just for self-serving destruction.
He felt Blake poke his arm then point towards the stage. The lovely Professor Glynda Goodwitch moved towards the center of the stage after Ozpin (figuratively) dropped the mic and walked off stage. Jaune readjusted his sunglasses.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight" she said simply "and tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"
"If you thought any harder, you might've blown your brain up." said Blake jokingly as they proceeded to the doors that led to the ballroom.
Jaune rolled his eyes, people thought that just because he was super strong, he was also dumb. "Just because I'm not very smart, doesn't mean I'm an idiot."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Well, I was thinking about Professor Ozpin's speech." Jaune hesitated before elaborating "About why I even want to be a huntsman, you know? That whole wasted energy, lack of direction thing."
"Why do you want to be a huntsman?" asked Blake curiously, yellow eyes peering into his brown ones (turned a dark shade of blue by his sunglasses.)
Jaune sighed, he really hated talking about himself. "Ozpin gave me a way out of my shitty, meaningless life to be a part of something larger than myself. I'd rather be a rage monster that lives to help people rather than a rage monster that destroys everything and everyone around him just to make a living."
Blake frowned at the self-loathing that entered his tone and touched his arm comfortingly "You haven't destroyed me."
Jaune smiled at her reassuringly but he could feel a sense of bitterness grow in his gut, he hated when people pitied him. And he didn't destroy her. Yet.
He cleared his throat "I don't even need to ask you why you want to become a huntress, it's probably something corny like 'uniting human and faunus, destroying hatred with the power of love!'"
She punched him in the arm, nonetheless acknowledging his change of topic, "You're a jerk."
"You might say that, but you know I'm here for you either way."
Blake sent a small, grateful smile his way "Come on, let's find a nice spot before they're all gone."
"Sounds good to me." Jaune said with a shrug.
Blake peered over the cover of her book and rolled her eyes at the sight of the countless amount of boys flexing their shirtless bodies in order to impress the female audience. It was just obnoxious instead of appealing. Considering the fact that you had to be in good shape to be a huntsman, having a muscular body wasn't that impressive. She glanced to her right over a wall of bags, Jaune was simply staring at the feeling with his hands cradling the back of his head. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt and shorts, much to her surprise. She had only seen him in his bartender outfit so a small part of her wondered if he slept in his iconic outfit as well.
"How do you think teams are chosen?" asked Jaune out of the blue, disrupting her wonderful book, much to her annoyance.
"Well, it's not like they're just going to let us choose our friends. They probably put people together based off of their test scores or grades from their previous combat schools." explained Blake, never breaking her gaze from her book.
"I figured that too, guess we wouldn't grow much if we were just stuck with our friends, eh?" said Jaune.
She flipped a page. It was book time, not converse with friend time.
Sadly, it was not to be as she felt a disturbance in the ground, as if an earthquake was happening, she looked at Jaune but he just had an annoyed expression as his face as he surrounded his ears with his pillow. She looked up from her book once more and nearly fainted at the sight of a voluptuous blonde dragging along a smaller, red/black-haired girl with her. She just wanted to read her book, damn it!
"Hi there! I'm Yang!" greeted the blonde boisterously, the other girl still hiding behind her "This is my little sister, Ruby!"
"Hello." said Blake neutrally, returning to read her book. Hopefully they would get the message.
"What's your name?" said Yang, her grin faltering slightly.
"Blake." Focus on the book. Focus on the book. Focus on the book. Focus on the book.
"Hi Jaune." said Ruby shyly, stepping out of her older sister's shadow. She must be quite skilled if she made it into Beacon Academy at that age. Whatever age that was.
"Hmph?" grunted Jaune, his head escaping from the confines of his pillow "Oh, hey there Ruby. What are you doing over here?"
Blake looked between the two, that must have been one of the 'strange' people Jaune had been talking about earlier.
"Me and Yang saw you over here so we thought: 'Hey why not meet up with a friend and make another one in the process?'" said the scythe-wielder, slowly coming out of her shell around her acquaintance, apparently friend.
"Friend?" questioned the blonde, not to be rude but as if he were actually confused by the notion of someone besides Blake or Tom considering him a friend.
"Well yeah, my father said that the strongest bonds are always the ones that are forged in battle and we did take on Torchwick and his gang together, right?"
Jaune stayed silent for an awkward amount of seconds, scratching the side of his head while trying to make heads or tails of the situation. A small grin made its way onto, one which he had no doubt been trying to suppress. "Ah, why the hell not?"
A great big smile appeared on Ruby's face, one that could have lit up the ballroom had Blake blown out the candle at that moment. The smile disappeared when she was devoured by her sister's larger more... voluptuous form. "Aww! My little sister is making so many friends on her first day! I'm so proud of you, Ruby!"
"Yaaaaaang, you're embarrassing me!"
A more discreet smile appeared on Blake's face, one that she quickly hid behind the cover of her book lest the two sisters got the wrong idea. She was glad for Jaune, she knew how lonely he was so she was happy to see that he was making friends that weren't as quiet as her, ones that might be able to bring him out of his shell. However, she began to worry as a thought occurred to her: what if the sisters thought they were friends by association?
Yang wasn't satisfied with Ruby making just one friend, especially when there were two people already present so she attempted to engage her in conversation as well. "So... you enjoying the weather?"
"Yes, it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book..." both of them didn't seem to catch on to the hidden meaning "That I will continue to read..." Somebody save her! "As soon as you leave..."
Yang finally caught on and sent her a very disapproving expression, like a mother observing a rude child "Yeah. She's a lost cause."
Ruby wasn't so sure as she continued to probe the defenses of one Blake Belladonna. "Soooo... What book are you reading?"
"People are trying to sleep over here but you four keep on making noise!"
Never in her life had Blake thought that she would be saved by a Schnee. She didn't she would be thanking one either but the Gods and fate tend to work in mysterious ways... She glanced to her right to see Jaune send her a pleading look. She sighed. While she could read in the dark, it was certainly harder. It was quieter, however, and would no doubt ward off any unwelcome intrusions and social interaction between her and the Schnee heiress.
With one more small sigh, she acquiesced to Jaune's unspoken request and blew out the candle which, by then, was the only light source left in the room.
AN: So yeah, did you guys enjoy it?
As I mentioned before, I had some challenges with writer's block, mostly due to other story ideas bouncing around in my head, but I started to find my groove as I wrote out the interactions between Jaune and Blake near the end of the chapter.
Some of you may have noticed that ya boy Jaune started to get a little angsty, and that's natural don't worry, it's just him revealing the self-loathing nature he as underneath his scowly shell. I also started to reveal some of his past and why he wasn't at a combat school when we first met him. I like using his past as an intro to my chapters, I find it easier to write that than the scenes in the show. At least the scenes with Ruby and Yang.
Also, this is the longest chapter I have ever written, so I'll try my best to continue the trend of growth in chapter length. I entering the territory of, what I find to be, the optimal length, which is around 5000 to 6000 words.
Anyways, please continue to leave reviews, they encourage me no matter how negative they are. Though, most of them are really positive, which I'm grateful for.
Feel free to PM or contact me to leave me any suggestions or thoughts on how the story is progressing or should progress.
Please share this amongst your friends or anybody else you know who reads fanfiction, I would like my story to reach more eyes so that they can provide feedback that would allow me to grow as a writer.
Have a nice day everyone, I'll see you the next time a chapter is posted!