Hello hello! Welcome back to Jupiter! It took me a while to start writing this chapter because of family matters, but once I was back in my trusty writing hammock the whole thing was done quite fast. (Yes I write in a hammock, I did not have a stroke mid-sentence)
I want to thank every single person that took the time to read this story, followed or favorited it and those who left a review. I love being able to talk to the reviewers via private messages.
Anyway, I hereby present to you; Jupiter chapter 4.
"Jaune Arc."
Jaune sighed in defeat.
"Fighting Cardin Winchester."
Miss Goodwitch had made her choice for the final fight of this first combat class of the year. Only half of the students had been chosen, the time being limited. Jaune had wished to be skipped for this class, that way he would have had three days to prepare. This was the third class of the first year's first day at Beacon, so Jaune had hoped a small amount of theory would be given before they were expected to fight.
Jaune was not prepared to spar with any other student alone, and he knew that perfectly. If his first fight had been later in the week the teenage boy could at least have trained a small bit with his team, learning the basics of combat.
Weiss had been really insistent that the whole team train each day starting immediately. That way they could rapidly get acclimated to the others style and train using the free time they had before too much homework started piling up later in the year.
Jaune's ego had been shaken by the evidence that Weiss was unimpressed by his skills, but he had had to admit to himself that she was right. He had no training at all and simply relied on instinct to survive the initiation. His partner had obviously picked up on this, but Jaune was relieved that she had decided to give him a chance.
Jaune stopped reflecting and moved to the small arena in front of the class. The floor still showed the scars of earlier fights. One particular crater in the cement grabbed Jaune's attention, he remembered the blow from Nora's hammer that caused it. The boy was thankful that his partner had been chosen to face off with the pink menace. Weiss had been able to win, using her semblance and apparent skills at dodging to counter her adversary's strength.
Jaune looked at his team still at their seats while the teacher made the final preparations for the fight. Ruby was on the edge of her seat, waving at him and throwing encouragements his way. Pyrrha was doing the same, albeit in a calmer manner than her partner. His own partner sat with her arms cross, simply nodding stiffly at him. Jaune was content with that small token of what he assumed was support.
Jaune's adversary was now in front of him, a scary sight for the untrained knight. Cardin wore heavy armor covering a lot more than Jaune's. The mace he used as a weapon seemed heavy enough to cause massive damage.
"Mister Arc, please refrain from using extreme dust attacks which could be dangerous to the spectators." Jaune moved his attention to Miss Goodwitch. "This class is not equipped with shields for the crowd and I highly doubt a hurricane would be safe. Anyhow, we are here to judge your sparring abilities so you should only use techniques that would easily merge with your fencing."
That made sense. Throwing a hurricane at his opponents might be effective, but it would not be fair. At least he could use his other, less dangerous dust attacks. Jaune looked at Cardin, nodding respectfully at him and receiving a mean smile in response.
Jaune unsheathed Grey Dusk, activating it and positioning himself in his fencing position. He tried to replicate the stance used by one of his favorite video game character, a monster hunter known as the White Wolf. He held his sword two-handed on the right side of his face and parallel to the ground.
"Very well, now I assume you remember the rules I told to the earlier fighters?" The two boys nodded their affirmation. "Then fight."
Jaune saw his adversary cover the ground between them with haste. The knight reflexively swung at his opponent, trying to keep him at a distance, only to see his sword be hit to the side. Jaune managed to keep hold of his weapon and back stepped quickly to dodge Cardin's mace. He tried to swing upwards, Grey Dusk again being blocked by his enemy's mace. Cardin then launched a punch that took Jaune on the cheek, sending him to his knees.
Jaune was dazed by the punch, and when he tried to get up he was hit with such force he was launched several meters further. His aura protected him from being injured, but it took him several seconds to get back his bearings.
Jaune looked on as Cardin approached him, the mace he used to hit Jaune still in his hand. Jaune decided the only way he would have a chance was to use his dust.
"Slash!" Jaune yelled the voice command, a blade of wind coming out from his sword.
The wind struck Cardin, pushing him back. A surprised expression showed on his face and he seemed to take a more cautious stance. Jaune used the time his attack had gained him to look at his scroll and his aura level. The meter was already in the yellow, Jaune having lost about a quarter of his aura. I won't last long if he hits me like that again.
Jaune heard Ruby yell some encouragement at him, just as Cardin started moving at him again. Jaune launched some more dust attacks, only to see them get blocked by Cardin. Indeed, the blades of wind were dispersed as soon as they were hit by Cardin's mace.
Cardin quickly got into striking distance, blocking every dust attacks launched by Jaune. The mace wielder swung his weapon powerfully, Jaune barely managing to duck under it. The blonde swung at Cardin, hitting his armor weakly. The hit reverberated into Jaune's arm, making him wince.
Cardin managed to punch Jaune in the belly, following his attack by striking the blonde's weapon with his own, disarming him. Jaune felt Grey Dusk leave his fingers, but before he could react Cardin's mace struck him directly in the stomach.
Jaune fell to his knees, before falling down completely as the mace hit him in the middle of the back. His aura still protected him from injuries, but the pain resonated through him all the same.
A loud buzzer then grabbed the fighters' attention.
"This fight is over." The teacher said while walking to the two adversaries. Jaune on the floor and Cardin smirking victoriously.
The blonde boy looked at his scroll, seeing that his aura levels were now in the red. Three hits with his mace and two punches, that's all Cardin had needed to do to beat him.
I probably didn't even get him in the yellow. Jaune looked up from where he was still sitting to see Cardin wearing a mocking smile.
"Very well, this class is over." Miss Goodwitch addressed the other students. "Do not forget to create your individual or team training program for next class. You are dismissed."
Jaune got up, seeing Cardin go back to his team while the rest of JWPR walked up to him. The blonde teen watched his teammates faces for their reaction.
Ruby wore a small comforting smile, one that said 'come on, this isn't the end' and 'I believe in you'. But, her reaction was definitely not as energetic as those she usually showed, Jaune understood that she had been surprised by his lackluster performance.
Pyrrha had an almost motherly expression on her face, like the one his own mother wore when he crashed while learning to use a bicycle and she swooped in to help him. The expression conveyed both the idea that she was disappointed by his performance and that she would do anything to help him.
Weiss' expression was a mix of pure discouragement, badly restrained anger and what Jaune hoped to be pity. He was not certain if pity was really something to hope for from a partner, but in such a situation he would take any sort of sentiment that wouldn't result in Weiss screeching at him.
"Was that really the best you could muster?" Weiss' tone almost perfectly mirrored her expression. "Your poor performance as a fighter and a leader reflects on us too you know." Jaune cringed at his partner's words.
"Aw, come on, don't be so harsh." Ruby tried to come to Jaune's rescue. "He already accepted to train with us as much as needed, you don't need to discourage him. We could even start this evening!"
Before Weiss could retort, Miss Goodwitch addressed the four teenagers, the only students remaining in her class.
"While I am glad to hear that your team as already decided to begin training, I must tell you that Mr. Arc will most likely require more practice than the usual student." She then addressed Jaune directly. "From what I have seen in your fight you lack a sparring style of your own, you will need to develop one if you wish to improve." Jaune simply nodded his understanding, having nothing to say.
"We will make sure to help him improve, professor." Pyrrha said respectfully to the teacher while pushing Jaune and her other teammates out the classroom door.
Jaune had been crushed in front of his team, his classmates and his teacher. Weiss was totally right when she said that his performance would reflect badly upon JWPR. That was something he could not let continue. Not letting his team down would simply be another reason for him to get better at fighting and leading. The fact that his teachers and team would also push him to get through his limits was really encouraging for Jaune, he would not be alone.
JWPR got out of the class and started making its way to the lockers.
"We really need to stop having those dramatic team meetings in the middle of classrooms." Ruby said. "Otherwise, teachers will start questioning our normality."
"I doubt anybody who would willingly train to fight Grimm can be considered as 'normal' anyway." Pyrrha said, smirking at her partner. "But I do get your point." Jaune smiled at the two girls' antics.
"I think we should concentrate on the important things right now." Weiss spoke up. "We need to create a detailed training plan and implement it as soon as possible. Our next combat class is Tuesday, right?" Jaune nodded in confirmation. "Then we have ample time to train in different ways and determine which will be the most efficient."
Jaune was impressed by how organised his partner seemed to be.
"Sounds good. This was our last class of the day, so we might as well get started now." Jaune said, agreeing with his partner.
The knight was far from confident about going to train with his team, but he saw it as a necessary suffering in order to accomplish his goals. These three girls spent a big portion of their lives in combat schools learning the basics and the specifics of fighting, they had years of lead on him. Jaune knew perfectly well that he could not have gotten into Beacon without his fake transcripts.
But, something even more impressive is that his three teammates had semblances. These powers gave them such an incredible advantage on him that it was honestly scary. To be fair, even if I had a semblance I wouldn't be close to their level. Thinking about it a little more, Jaune realised that Cardin did not use a semblance during their fight, so maybe he was not the only one lacking this ability. However, it was possible that Cardin's semblance was not useful in combat or that he did use it without Jaune realising anything.
"Hey, concentrate you dolt." Weiss took Jaune out of his thoughts. Ha, I wondered when she would release some of her anger, I guess she wanted to be far from the teacher's ears. "Recharge your weapon so we can go train."
Jaune realised that the group had reached the lockers. They were all already in their combat gear since they had just left their sparring class, and Weiss was reloading her weapon with dust.
"Oh yeah, that." Jaune sighed internally while talking. "I didn't bring any extra dust with me. I suppose I will have to go buy some tomorrow." Weiss' face went back to its disappointed expression.
"Are you seriously telling me that you did not have the forethought to prepare the ammo for your primary weapon before coming here?" She sighed. "Why am I even surprised."
Yeah, that was not smart of him. But, he probably would not have been able to buy the right sort of dust for his weapon anyway. It was probably written in the journal of notes his sister had written on the two swords, but he did not see it.
"That means you used Grey Dusk's dust during the whole initiation and your fight with that guy and it didn't run out?" Ruby snatched the weapon from Jaune's grasp and started observing it with sparkles in her eyes. "It must hold so must dust at once!"
"Huh, yeah I suppose so." Jaune replied. "Or perhaps it's just really efficient? I honestly don't know much about these swords."
"Do you at least know how to refill the sword with dust?" Weiss approached Grey Dusk, a curious look in her eyes. "I suppose there is a dust magazine somewhere in the handle." Ha! That for once was something he did know about!
"Yeah, I just need to use the vocal command to open the handle." Jaune took hold of the sword, Ruby handing it back to him. "Activate refueling." The bottom of the sword's handle opened up with a click.
"Pretty straightforward commands, I see." Pyrrha stated, having formed a semi-circle with the other girls around Jaune. "May I ask how you already know them? You did tell us that you got the swords quite recently."
Jaune nodded in comprehension of Pyrrha's confusion. He only explained how the voice commands worked to Ruby so of course the other two would have questions.
"I read the commands in my sister's journal." Pyrrha and Weiss looked at him with expressions of pure confusion, so he launched into the explications. "My sister Cyan modified Grey Dusk and Red Dawn so their dust functions could be unlocked using voice commands. Before that, the wielders needed to utilize their auras to use the swords effectively. Apparently, mastering the weapons different dust attacks could take years. Anyway, now that my aura is unlocked I might be able to use some basic functions without yelling at the sword." Ruby giggled at his comment.
"Your sister is quite talented." Weiss' voice was filled with was Jaune assumed was respect. "I have spent years using dust weapons but I wouldn't have a clue on how to modify them."
"Anyway, since we know how to open the dust chamber, I guess we only have to pour wind dust in it and close the handle?" Ruby was talking while looking into the dust chamber itself. "I can't see any dust in there, so it's probably close to being empty. The only dust left should be in the runes on the sword." A weapon nuts she was indeed.
"Ok, let's fill this up." Weiss had taken a flask of what Jaune assumed to be wind dust out of her locker. He tried to tell her that he would buy some for himself and that she shouldn't waste her reserves, but she silenced him with a look and continued talking. "I am the heiress to the biggest dust mining company on Remnant, thus, I can get this for free by calling up one of our warehouses and telling them my name. As my partner, I have no problem in providing you with dust freely." Jaune was astonished by what Weiss had just said.
She was heiress to a big company? The biggest dust company on the planet? No wonder Ruby had described her as a pompous rich girl. Then what was she doing here studying to be a huntress? How could she imagine being able to manage the company when she became president of it while still being a huntress?
Jaune was also surprised by how kind Weiss was to just give him free dust like that, for as long as he needed too! Of course, she had been kind while still acting in an icy way, and the dust cost nothing to her, but it was still kind. There may be a genuinely good person hiding behind all that iciness, that possibility made Jaune smile.
Jaune was ripped out of his thoughts by a fairly loud noise coming out of the sword , which was being filled with dust by Weiss.
"Ok, I will assume that 'ding' means we put enough dust in." Weiss said, closing the dust chamber and the flask she was holding. "I poured almost three times as much dust as I would for one of Myrtenaster's dust magazines, so that explains the long effectiveness of the sword's dust functions." She handed Grey Dusk back to Jaune, who put it back in its scabbard.
"Now let's go train!" Ruby said, her enthusiasm evident.
"Ok, just don't forget that less than ten minutes ago my aura was in the red, I won't be able to take much heavy training. Dying during a training session really isn't how I want to go." Jaune heard a small laugh from Ruby.
The group made its way to the gyms, following the indications given by the numerous arrows on the walls. When they entered the gym complex, Jaune saw that it was almost completely empty.
Only two people were present, busy sparring. One was a man built like an ox, the other a small, bunny-eared girl. The man had black hair, was at least a feet taller than Jaune and had arms almost as thick as the blonde's torso. He wielded a sword thrice as big as Grey Dusk. The girl was brown headed and fought using mostly kicks, being able to dodge her adversary's slashes.
Jaune stopped staring at the fighting duo and followed his group to the furthest part of the gym, where they would have ample space to train.
"Very well, I think the most important thing to start with is to find Jaune a fighting style and help him practice it." Weiss spoke with a determined tone. "Pyrrha, I would think that you are the most experienced in combat, what would you say is the best strategy for Jaune?"
The redhead took a few seconds to think before talking. "Grey Dusk could possibly be used one-handed I suppose, but that would mean cutting a big amount of strength and speed from each strike. The only way to make a one-handed stance worth it would be to use one sword for each hand. That would be quite hard to pull off effectively though, so I suppose we should keep to your two handed stance." Jaune nodded.
"The way you held your sword during your fight might be effective if you develop a strategy around it." Ruby added her grain of salt to the conversation. "Having your sword always held high can give a good momentum to your swings."
"Yes, this probably gives some much-needed strength to your blows." Weiss stroked her chin while speaking. "We will definitely have to work on your muscle mass though, from what I have seen your hits made almost no damage to Cardin during your fight."
Jaune had to admit she was right, like 100% right. For all of his life he had wanted to become a hunter, but nobody would accept to train him or even to let him train, thus, he never developed his muscles. Jaune already knew that fact, but hearing it from his new partner still hurt his pride.
"What's the best way to gain muscle mass? Should I just go buy steroids and start lifting weights?" Jaune made sure to give a silly edge to his voice so his group would understand his sarcasm.
"You dunce. This is not the time to be funny." Jaune backed off a little due to Weiss' tone. She seemed to understand that her point had made it across, since she continued in a calmer way. "The best thing would be to make you spar for as much as you can each day. That way you will develop the muscles you actually need to fight more effectively."
Pyrrha came back into the conversation. "You don't have the equipment needed to fight in a purely defensive way, especially for fighting Grimm." That was evident. Even if Jaune was able to block the paw of a Beowolf with his sword, the other paw would simply come crashing down on him. The same concept was true for the other types of Grimm. "You don't really have the strength or speed needed to use a purely offensive technique either."
"Yeah." Ruby started talking. "I can keep an enemy on its guard quite effectively because my speed lets me attack at a rapid rate, my sister and Cardin have weapons that can break through most defenses, but that won't work for you."
"Soo, what's the solution then?" Jaune had to agree with the two girls, he was not good enough to fight purely defensively or offensively, which meant…
"You simply need some hybrid form of fighting." Weiss talked as if the answer should have been evident. "I think the best for you would be to focus on dodging and counter-attacks."
Huh, that did make some sense. That was more or less what he instinctually tried to do in his fight. He had tried to dodge Cardin's attacks and had had some success at it. The major problem was that he did not exploit his opponent's lack of agility.
"Yes, that does sound like a good idea." Jaune agreed.
"But you also need to learn how to integrate your dust attacks in your combat style." Pyrrha still had her pensive face. "That was one of the major problems of your fight. You simply threw wind slashes at Cardin in the same way a bunch of times. He received the full force of the first attack but quickly adapted."
"Yeah, but I need to get more used to all the functions of these swords before I can think of using them effectively in a fight." Pyrrha nodded at Jaune's explanation. "Back in class I just tried to do something, anything, to slow Cardin down."
"Ok, now can we start training?" Ruby asked with what Jaune could only describe as puppy eyes. That almost made him burst out laughing.
"Sure, let's go." Jaune clapped his hands together and tried to look enthusiastic. "We should just split up into two duos for now, Weiss will help me with my dodging and you can practice anything you want." Yeah, very clear there, I am proud of you.
Jaune and Weiss moved a certain distance from the other duo and took out their weapons. Jaune activated Grey Dusk and prepared his stance.
"I will launch simple attacks at you, your job is to dodge to the best of your abilities and counter-attack if you can." Weiss talked while taking her stance. Jaune nodded to show he agreed with the plan and the girl started her attacks.
Jaune barely ducked under Weiss' first swing, before having to step back quickly to avoid her backslash.
The boy realised that his partner not only attacked a lot more slowly than when she fought Nora earlier in class, but that she also did not use her weapon in its best way. Her rapier was best used to stab at its adversary, not swing at it. Jaune understood that she fought that way in order to make it easier for him and to avoid impaling him.
"Ducking under an adversary's blows is rarely the best thing to do, Jaune. By doing so you stay within your opponent's reach. From my experience, unless you know you can take control of the exchange you should never stay too close to your adversary." Weiss' explanation did make sense. "You would be better off simply back-stepping away from the attacks immediately. And, since the reach of your weapons is quite long you should be able to swing at them even after your dodge."
"Ok, ok. That does sound good." Jaune smiled at his partner, which immediately closed the gap between them again.
She swung her weapon at his legs, making him move back so quickly he almost lost his footing. Jaune tried to keep Weiss from moving closer by lashing at her with his sword, but she deflected his blow and made one of her own. Jaune tried to dodge to the side but Weiss' rapier still struck his arm, making him yelp at the impact. The boy saw his partner frown slightly before moving in again.
"Windscreen!" Jaune yelled one of the only commands he knew for his sword as a reflex way to protect himself.
The shield appeared in front of him, pushing Weiss back a few steps. Jaune saw a legitimate expression of surprise on his partner's face for a few seconds, bringing a smile to his own visage.
Jaune moved a little further from his partner before deactivating the dust apparition. He could probably have kept it activated for half an hour considering Grey Dusk's dust capacity, but it would definitely not have been fair play, especially in the context of training. Anyway, Jaune knew from his experience of tree-hitting that the shield could be broken with enough force.
"Not bad, I see you were listening earlier when Pyrrha talked of integrating dust into your technique." Weiss' face was back to normal, but Jaune took confidence in her words. "Now come at me, I need to test your strength too."
Weiss took a defensive stance and Jaune charged.
Jaune left himself flop on his bed. His arms felt like they were made of playdough, his legs of cooked noodles.
"Are you really going to sleep like that without changing?" Jaune made the effort to lift his head in the direction of the voice, meeting eyes with the smirking Ruby.
"Right now I think that moving from this position might cause my legs to fall off." Jaune talked slowly, his complete exhaustion making its way even to his mind.
Ruby's smirk stayed on her face. It didn't look like she was mocking him, simply finding the situation funny in her own innocent way, but seeing the energy emanating from Ruby's face still annoyed Jaune's weary brain.
"You will have to get over your fatigue for tomorrow, Jaune." Weiss made her way to the bunk-bed, already having undone her ponytail. "I won't let you skip training, especially while you are still in such need of it." Wow, that was an almost nice way to tell him he was horrible at fighting.
During this first training session, Jaune had been completely dominated. Even when dodging to the best of his abilities and striking as strongly as possible he had not been able to accomplish much. During the first minutes it had not been that bad, but as soon as his stamina and muscle endurance reached their limits, which was quite a lot sooner than he would have hoped for, Jaune had started fighting about as effectively as a child given a sword too heavy for him to lift.
Weiss had pushed Jaune to continue until he simply could not anymore. The group had then made their way to the lockers and the dorms. This five minute stroll had completely dried up Jaune energy reserves, leading to this predicament.
"Now, if you will excuse me, I will go take a shower." Weiss grabbed one of her bags and made her way to their dorm's bathroom.
Jaune sighed and made the effort to sit on his bed. He knew that he could not get any sleep as long as his team decided the same thing and that it would at least take until Weiss was done with her shower. He started rummaging through his bags to find his sister's journal, deciding to read with Ruby and Pyrrha's conversation in the background. The two girls had apparently had a more successful training session, the two learning about each other's style and coming out of it barely tired.
The two girls seemed to have developed a very friendly relation in the short amount of time they spent together. Ruby's cheerful demeanor acclimated itself quite well to Pyrrha's calmer attitude. Jaune was happy for them, especially for Ruby which had looked so frightened by the idea of having a stranger as a partner. Jaune actually wished he could have such an easy time with his own partner.
Jaune was still really uncomfortable in Weiss' presence, when he wasn't simply scared of her, anyway. She was incredible, both magnificent and smart, both confident and competent. But, she was also so cold and distant, not only with him but also with Ruby and to a lesser degree Pyrrha. Of course, she was even colder when talking to Jaune, but that did not surprise him considering how disappointing he knew he was.
And she doesn't even know the entirety of it. How would she react if she learned he cheated his way into the academy? No, how will she react would be the better question. He knew he could not build his relationship with his team on a lie. He would never deserve their trust if he did not trust them himself.
Ruby will, of course, be surprised when Jaune will tell her the truth, but her reaction didn't really scare him. She was already so friendly with him he could not imagine her reacting in any other way than deciding to help him even more.
Of Pyrrha, Jaune was not so sure. She was quite friendly and even motherly, but he did not know her enough to be certain she would still accept him.
Weiss' reaction is the one he feared the most, even if he knew he would have to face it the first. If she learned that Jaune had already told his secret to the rest of the team before her Weiss would probably be even angrier, so he would have to tell her first. But, would she reject him as a leader once more? Would she reveal his secret to the administration of the school? Would she decide that him having cheated was unimportant, considering she already knows how bad he is at combat? These questions frightened him. And yet he knew he could not wait too long before revealing himself, otherwise his lie would eat at him.
"Hey, Jaune?" The blonde, taken out of his thoughts, looked at Ruby which had addressed him. "Can I borrow your sister's journal for the evening if you aren't going to read it?" Jaune realised he had taken the book out of his bags and simply dropped it off on his night table while absorbed in thoughts.
"Hum… sure, why not. I'm too tired to read right now anyway." Jaune smiled lightly at Ruby. She really is a nerd about weapons.
"Thank you!" Ruby gave Jaune a big smile, jumped from her bed and took the journal from Jaune's table. The boy then realised that she had gotten changed into her pajamas, and so had Pyrrha which was now brushing her hair.
"Did you just change while I was not looking?" Jaune was quite confused at how they had managed that.
"Yeah, you looked completely lost in your thoughts so we just changed under our covers." Ruby gave a small laugh, Jaune simply nodded.
"Wasn't it you that told me to go hide in the bathroom yesterday because you needed to change?" Ruby nodded. "Why the big difference?"
"As long as we don't give you a free show it doesn't matter, does it?" Pyrrha answered in her partner's place, making the three teenagers laugh.
"I can see the logic behind that, even though it does sadden me." Jaune smirked at Ruby's 'Eww' and Pyrrha's laugh. "Just so I'm safe, I'll confirm that that was a joke." That time Ruby giggled softly.
She had already opened his sister's journal and was starting to read it. Jaune went back to his thoughts, quickly going back to the fear he felt earlier. Be brave Jaune, this can't possibly be worst than fighting that Nevermore. Or can it?
"Better, but that's still not good enough if you want a chance at beating Cardin." Weiss half-complimented Jaune after he had managed to dodge one of her slow slashing combos.
Yeah, Cardin. The guy who was quickly taking the place of class bully had already beaten Jaune in their two first fights. Miss Goodwitch even said they would again be opposed in the next class. Only a week had passed since the beginning of the school year and for the eighth day in a row, Weiss was training with Jaune.
The knight was getting almost familiar with the basics of combat, even if he was still clearly lacking considering Cardin had crushed him easily earlier that day too. The fight may have lasted a few seconds more than the first time since Jaune tried to focus on dodging, but the whole thing had ended without Jaune even scratching Cardin's aura.
"How is it even possible that you passed the first tests with such evident lack of skills?" Weiss asked herself the question aloud for about the tenth time in a week.
Jaune cringed at his partner's words. He still had not told her the truth about how he got into Beacon, even if he had wanted to do it from the start. I may not have passed the exams, but it does not mean I am good for nothing. I am determined to do my best to help and save people, that is why I am here.
Jaune looked at his partner, which shook her head and took her position. He decided he had waited for too long. He couldn't hide his secret anymore.
"You are right; I shouldn't be here." Jaune said simply.
Weiss lowered her weapon, a look of confusion on her face, then a surprisingly soft expression.
"Ok, sorry for saying that." Weiss talked softly. "I know you are determined; I saw that from the way you always give all the energy you have while training. I also know you do deserve to be here, that's why you were chosen as leader."
Weiss' words made what he had to say even more difficult, but he continued anyway.
"No, you don't understand, I really don't belong here." Weiss' expression went directly back to confusion. "I forged my transcripts. I never went to the exams but I got fake documents saying that I passed. I tricked my way into the system." Jaune said everything with a calm tone. He was relieved to have finally revealed his secret, but was now terrified of the aftermath.
"You… You…" Weiss' face mixed confusion and pure anger. "I … I can't. I just can't."
Weiss shoved her weapon back into its scabbard, gave Jaune a final hellish look, and stormed out of the gyms.
The duo was alone with the rest of team JWPR that evening in the gym since they had taken the time to book one of the rooms in advance. Ruby and Pyrrha were fighting at a certain distance from the others however, so they had not heard the exchange. They did see Weiss storm out, though.
Jaune was distraught. He had his head down, incapable of meeting eyes with Ruby when she made her way to him in confusion.
"Hey, can I know what happened?" Ruby's face was full of worry and compassion. Pyrrha was directly behind her partner, the same sort of expression on her face.
"I… Yeah, I will tell you." It hurt Jaune to have to tell his secret again right after the failure that had just happened, but he considered that if Weiss was as angry as she seemed to be she might be telling the headmaster everything right now, it would thus be his only chance of telling the truth face to face to the two girls.
Jaune slowly made his way to the benches on the training room's side, followed by the girl duo. He sat down, sighed, and told his story again.
"I told Weiss the truth about how I got accepted into Beacon." Ruby looked incredibly confused, but Pyrrha seemed to understand where he was going with his story. "I slipped into the system by cheating and lying because I knew this was what I always wanted to do but that there was no way I would be accepted normally. I hired some thug to fake my transcripts and create false results for my exams. And then when I got here I was lucky enough to get teamed up with people like you who would help me improve to possibly accomplish my dreams of becoming a hero and save innocents. I lied to you all simply because of my childish hopes."
During all his confession Jaune was looking at Ruby and Pyrrha's shoes, being too ashamed to look them in the eyes. When he finished there was a tense silence for several seconds. Jaune simply waited for the two girls to leave him too, thinking that they would probably be outraged by his lies. He was thus surprised when he saw Ruby's shoes move forward and felt the girl hug him.
"I don't care about any of that, Jaune. You might have made it here by sketchy means, but you made it because of a good reason." Ruby released Jaune from her arms. "I know you have a good heart and determination, not only because you told us so but also because of how you act." Ruby's face was again full of compassion, but she now sported a confident smile.
"You are our leader and our friend, Jaune, that's what's important here." Pyrrha's voice was confident. "How you got to Beacon is irrelevant to me, what matters is how you act once you are here." Pyrrha grabbed Jaune by the arm and pulled him off the bench, smiling at him.
Jaune could not have asked for a better reaction from the duo. They were so accepting of him, even after what he had done. Jaune smiled softly, being extremely relieved. But, Weiss' reaction made it impossible for him to enjoy the moment.
Jaune looked at the two girls in front of him, both seemingly nervous at his lack of feedback to their attempt to cheer him up.
"Thank you, thank you so much for believing in me." Jaune's smile was still weak, but he attempted to put more energy into his voice. "I believe in you too, that's a big part of why I decided to reveal myself. I think one of the most important things in a team is trust, and if I had kept lying then that would have meant that I don't trust you enough."
"So you decided to out yourself for the team?" Pyrrha said. "That is quite noble of you."
"To be fair, I think that I would have had a mental breakdown after a while if I didn't tell you anything." Jaune emitted a small laugh. "So this was not done only for the team." Pyrrha nodded, an amused smile on her lips. Ruby let out a nervous laugh, all the while looking at the gym's door.
"What's wrong?" Pyrrha tapped her partner's shoulder and looked at where her eyes were pointing. Pyrrha's mind seemed to click, quickly understanding the problem. "Oh, I had forgotten about Weiss. I wonder where she has gone."
"Yeah, I just remembered that this all started because she stormed off." Ruby had a worried look on her face. "Let's hope she doesn't decide to get a teacher involved this time too." That might be hoping for too much.
Sadly, Jaune could understand why Weiss had left in such anger. She must have felt betrayed. Indeed, her partner was not only a massive disappointment, but he should not even have been present at Beacon. If he had not cheated the system Weiss would have been paired with somebody more competent and could have become a leader like she wanted to.
"I will go back to the dorms and wait for Weiss; I need to talk to her alone." Ruby and Pyrrha looked like they wanted to stop him from facing his partner alone, but he wouldn't have it. "I need to clearly explain my motivations to her, after that I will let her make her decision. I don't think that having you around to put pressure on her would help though, so if she comes back here please just tell her where I am." The two girls looked at each other before both nodding.
"Good luck, leader!" Ruby's shout was full of confidence Jaune could only hope was genuine. Pyrrha simply nodded at the boy.
Jaune made his way to the lockers and dropped off his equipment before starting his walk to the dorms.
For the first time since the beginning of the team training sessions, Jaune was not completely exhausted when he returned to his team's room, simply because the workout had been cut short. Yet, the trek to the dorms was even harder on the knight than on the previous evenings, his mind being in such shambles.
Jaune finally reached the door to his team's room, not even knowing if his partner was inside. He looked at his watch; thirty minutes since Weiss left the gym, she should have started to cool off. Jaune knocked on the door twice, quickly receiving a response.
"Who is that?" Weiss' voice reached Jaune's hears.
"It's me. Jaune." He talked with as calm a tone as he could muster. "Can I come in? We need to talk." Several seconds of silence followed.
"Come in." Jaune took a deep breath and opened the door.
Weiss was sitting on her bed, several feet above Jaune's own. She had changed out of her combat gear and into some plain clothes. Of course, plain clothes still somehow had a formal appearance when worn by Weiss, so it did not make a big difference. Jaune did not see any books or homework in the immediate vicinity of his partner, she had most likely been absorbed in thoughts just like him. She looked… calm. Or at least calmer than he had expected. Her eyes showed some anger though, so Jaune knew it would not be an easy fight.
Jaune walked to Pyrrha's bed and sat on it, that way he faced Weiss directly.
"Hey." Jaune started.
"Explain yourself. Now." Weiss' tone was cold but calm.
"That's exactly why I'm here." Jaune again tried to keep his tone calm. "You already know that I have always wanted to be a hunter, a hero that people all over Remnant could look up to and respect. Even when I was a child reading fairy-tales I would imagine myself in the place of the powerful Grimm-slaying knights. But, nobody ever gave me a chance of accomplishing this dream." Jaune was starting to have a hard time keeping his emotions at bay, all his memories coming back to him at once.
"Your father stopped you." Weiss' tone was not questioning. This confused Jaune for half a second until he remembered telling her about it briefly when they first met in the Emerald Forest.
"Yes, he did." Jaune confirmed glumly. "When I was really young my father was the one reading me fairy-tales and telling me of the heroism of hunters, he would even tell me stories of his own missions. Even now he is still a hunter. Anyway, his opinion of the matter changed at some point. I still have no idea why, but one night, when I was ten, my father stopped talking about how heroic hunters were and decided that I could never be one myself. I did all I could to make him change his mind of course, up until very recently, but he wouldn't budge." Jaune was filled with anger and sadness all at once.
Jaune lifted his eyes to see that Weiss was still observing him, but was not on the verge of interrupting, so he continued.
"I decided that I could not let him crush my dreams and so I started training on my own. I would pick up branches in the woods and fight trees, I would run for as long as my young body could bear me, I basically did everything I could to be in shape. I thought that my father would see my determination and decide to let me get into a real fighting school." Jaune sighed. "But that was not enough. Even after harassing my father for months to let me attend Signal academy, or even a smaller fighting school nearer to our village, he would not budge. At that moment I abandoned my dream for the most part. How could I have any chance of becoming a hunter if I was not part of a combat school and didn't have any training? I could jog, do push-ups and hit trees for hours and hours each day of my life for years and it still would not be good enough to enter Beacon or any other hunter academy. So I just stopped trying. My dream of becoming a hero was still at the back of my mind, but I continued on with my normal life." Jaune had been looking around the room while talking to avoid catching Weiss' eyes, but he finally locked his vision on the girl.
She was still in the same position as when he had started, but her eyes had changed. The glint of anger Jaune had seen in Weiss' eyes earlier was now gone, replaced by something he could not quite discern.
"So that's why you used fake transcripts to get into Beacon?" Weiss' voice was also mostly rid of anger, her tone now softer.
"Yes. Less than a month ago I saw an announcement from Beacon academy on television, reminding people that the exams were about to start. That rekindled my hope. I managed to get into contact with some thug, made him forge transcripts and exam results, and sent everything to Beacon." Jaune let a small smile slip on his face. "I got accepted."
"How did your father react?" Weiss asked.
"I never told him." Jaune answered truthfully. "I never told my mother, my few friends or seven of my eight sisters. The only person related to my old life in any way shape or form that knows I'm here at Beacon and not gone to Vacuo like I said in the letter I left on the kitchen's table is my older sister Cyan, the one that gave me the two swords. Even then I only told her because she ripped the words out of me." Weiss nodded slowly at his words.
Being finished with his story, Jaune simply waited for a reaction from Weiss. After a few seconds of silence, he got up from the bed he was sitting on.
"I'll get out of here for a while if you want, the gyms will still be open for at least half an hour." Jaune told Weiss, thinking she would want some time alone to digest everything and make her decision.
"No, I believe I am ready to make my choice." Weiss spoke slowly. "Have you already told everything to Pyrrha and Ruby?" She jumped from her bed.
"I told them of how I faked my transcripts and they accepted it. Just after you left the training room." Jaune answered. "But I didn't tell them everything about my father, that's not a story I love to remember." Weiss nodded stiffly.
"I will accept everything you did depending on two conditions." Weiss held up two of her fingers. "First, that you promise me that you have no other hidden secrets that could jeopardize our team. Second, that if any other problems like this ever occur again you will tell the rest of the team without delay."
"I swear to your first condition and promise the second." Jaune's face had lit up with joy while his partner was talking. "But, I want to make these conditions apply to the whole team, are you okay with that?" Jaune scrutinised Weiss' face for a reaction.
"Yes, of course, I agree." Weiss answered, before holding out her hand in front of her.
Jaune shook her hand happily, refraining himself from doing anything more that his jubilant self wanted to do. He could hardly believe how well everything had gone all things considered. His three partners had accepted him as he was and as a bonus he had managed to tell his full story to anyone other than his sister for the first time. It had been difficult, but oh so worth it. He felt better about himself than he had since arriving at Beacon.
"I'll text Ruby and Pyrrha and tell them things are all right, they should be here in about five minutes." Jaune told his partner after releasing her hand and taking out his scroll. "You should prepare yourself for a very happy Ruby, we never know." He smiled at his own joke.
Jaune saw Weiss roll her eyes at what he said. He smiled even more at her reaction.
He verified his text before sending it to Ruby: mission accomplished, the ice princess has forgiven her brave knight. A new royal decree published, both of you are asked to the castle.
Jaune turned his gaze to the princess and smiled. She won't use her guillotine tonight.
Voila, the first arc of this story is done. Yep, the next chapter will be presenting the immediate situation after the time-skip I mentioned last chapter. I will still take the time to explain the ending of this chapter's conflict under Weiss' view so don't worry, I won't leave you without any justification to her reaction.
I moved through this conflict fairly quickly it is in part a continuation of the last chapter's conflict where Weiss did not trust Jaune's abilities and 2. it is still a fairly simple conflict.
Now, I hope some of you understood the reference I made to the 'White wolf' while talking about Jaune's fighting style. If you actually played the games you should easily understand that I was referencing Geralt of Rivia from the witcher game/book series. Of course, Jaune will not fight exactly like a witcher since quite a few of the moves presented in the series prioritise good looking over overall effectiveness. Jaune's stance is based on the ox sword guard which you can find images of on google. This guard reminded me of the one used in the witcher.
As I said earlier, this chapter took a fair amount of time to write, so I have decided to make myself a schedule for the rest of the summer. Thus, next chapter will be published around the 5th of august.
Please let me know your opinion of the story in any way, shape, or form. I would greatly appreciate it.
