Beacon Academy

Ozpin's Office

I sat at my desk, finishing the last of my paperwork while refilling my coffee. Glynda, on the other hand, seemed quite irritated at my latest choice of team selections. She wouldn't stop pacing in front of my desk.

"I just can't fathom your reasoning for assigning Mr. Arc as a team leader. We have no idea what kind of pressure that can put on his already questionable psych. Surely Ms. Nikos or, hell, even Mr. Ren would have better success!"

It was a rare occasion to hear my friend curse. She stopped her pacing for a moment and pinched the bridge of her nose, then moved her glasses up to rub her tired eyes. I gave her my best reassuring smile. "Now Glynda, surely you have more faith in the boy than that." She sighed.

"It's not a question of faith. But we have no idea what's going around that boy's head and he hasn't exactly been very open about that issue, even with you or Qrow."

I set my mug down and steepled my fingers. "Jaune's been having problems, no one can refute that. But my hope is that, through the support of his friends and team, he'll be able to find some semblance of normalcy and routine. Who knows, he may end up as great a leader as yours truly." I said humorously. Glynda crossed her arms, "Or like Summer."

I turned in my chair to look out over my school and the city of Vale in the distance. The smile was gone now. I stared off into the night sky and thought of our late friend. As much as I hated to admit it, her words rang somewhat true. When Qrow found Jaune, he was broken, tortured, scarred. We all had doubts about his story or if he'd ever recover. Now, with both James and the CIA breathing down my neck, I could only hope he'd be able to deal with all these changes to his life, realistically speaking. And the dangers they'd bring.

Being a huntsman wasn't exactly winning any safety awards anytime soon. Despite all that, I had no doubt that things would turn out fine for the boy. At this moment, he was probably getting to know his team in their new dorm.

That's when the elevator went off. We turned to see two arms force the doors apart, revealing a rather agitated-looking Jaune Arc.

"WHAT THE SHIT, OZPIN!?"

I stand corrected.


After a lengthy conversation with Ozpin while Glynda used her semblance to keep me from strangling him, I'd gone back to my dorm and collapsed into bed. The nutty professor gave me another vague and controverted excuse about how this would "be good for me". I hated that man, yet he'd saved my life.

Now, I was stuck being the leader of a world renowned fighter, a ninja, and a ginger with the strength of Mogar. I wonder if she used to be a man.

Speaking of men, I'll need to see Kreiger about getting more Grimm-effective bullets. Going up against that Deathstalker was like shooting a Mi-24 Hind with a BB gun. If only I had the minigun from Vorkuta. Or any minigun, for that matter.

I let out a long groan into my pillow.

I heard someone, probably Nora, jumping on a bed next to mine. I heard Pyrrha ask, "What's wrong, Jaune?" I turned my head so my voice wasn't suppressed by the pillow.

"I'm having a stressful evening."

"How come, Leader?" Nora asked as she landed in a seated position on her bed. I sat up and took off my shoes, then the ankle holster on my leg. "I just had a personal issue that needed clearing up. Nothing to worry about." I took the .25 caliber pistol out, unloaded the magazine, popped the round in the chamber, caught it, replaced the bullet into the magazine, then put the gun and holster into the drawer of the nightstand next to my bed.

I hadn't had to use it, it probably wouldn't have done much good against those monsters anyway.

I checked the clock on the wall above the bathroom door. It wasn't that late. Now what the fuck do I do?

As if reading my mind, Nora asked, "What do we do now, fearless leader?" I decided to take the honest approach, while sighing, "Fuck if I know. The only thing I've ever led was a prison break."

That statement left even the ginger in silence. Carefully, Pyrrha asked, "Jaune, what do you mean by that?" I sat on the edge of my bed to face them.

"Alright, full disclosure? None of what I'm about to tell you can leave this room. I shouldn't even be telling you this, but we're now a team, and trust should be a two way street, right?" They nodded, listening attentively. I began my story.

"I'm originally from the capitol of Mistral. I never knew my parents since they dumped me in an orphanage at the age of three. I went in and out of foster homes for a good decade before I got out of the system and just drifted through the streets. As you can imagine, there aren't many ways for a street kid like yours truly to make money, so I did what I had to do. I'm not proud of it nor will I be sharing the details anytime soon.

"I went to juvenile hall two, three, maybe six times before I was fifteen. If you think I'd hit rock bottom there, just hold your horses." I saw Ren and Nora exchange a look. Pyrrha was also growing concerned.

"After an unsuccessful afternoon of pickpocketing, I was brought to the police station, only to see a new face amongst the boys in blue. A dirty cop named Castro had somehow been transferred to my local precinct. I'm not sure why he chose me, but he came into my holding cell that very night and knocked me out cold. When I woke up, I was being held in a shipping container on a cargo ship."

"How did he get you out of a Mistrali police station and onto a cargo ship?" Ren asked.

"I'm not sure. Like I said, I was...unconscious..." I trailed off as a blinking red light caught my attention from a bookshelf on the far wall. I got up and went over, moving around the scarce books before finding the culprit. It was a small, black, wireless microphone. The red light displayed that it was currently recording any noise within the room.

"Motherfucker." I muttered.

"What's wrong, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. I crushed the small mic before heading into the bathroom, tossing the audio equipment to my team. "We've been bugged." I stopped in the bathroom doorway and motioned for them to join me. Hesitantly, they came in and took seats where they could find them. I closed the door and sat on the rim of the bathtub.

"So, why are we in here?" Nora questioned. "Our room's been bugged. Someone, probably the CIA, wants to keep tabs on me. To reiterate, do not repeat anything you hear right now, got it?" More nods.

"Good. I doubt Ozpin would let them put anything in here, if he even knew about it. So we should be able to talk freely. Now where was I?"

"Cargo ship." Ren answered. "Right. So, I was on that ship for at least two days. No one came to check on me or give me food. I had to do my business in a bucket. Once the ship docked, It was snowing outside. At first I thought I was in Atlas, but I was actually in Russia."

"Wait, as in Russia, the kingdom that's completely closed off from all other continents and has had minimal contact with the other four kingdoms since the Great War?"

"The very same. Anyway, from there, I was beaten and dragged to a train yard. Then I was brought to a prison. Vorkuta." Nora raised her hand, "What was it like?"

I looked her in the eyes. "It was hell. We were tormented every day and treated like vermin."

Standing from the edge of the tub, I clapped my hands together. "I'd say that's about enough for tonight, yeah?"

Nora jumped up and shouted, "Wait! You can't just end there! We need to know how you got back!" Ren put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, Nora. We shouldn't rush Jaune on something this personal. Besides, you need to go to bed."

"Aww." He took her out and it was just me and Pyrrha. She shifted uncomfortably.

"There something you want to ask?"

"It's just...after hearing all that, it's hard to picture just how you survived, Jaune."

"I didn't go through it alone. I made friends on the inside. You usually die if you don't." I told her. "When...when we broke out, not a lot of us made it. Most of the other inmates, I never saw again."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I was tired. I went to grab some sweatpants from the wardrobe and changed in the bathroom, stripping off the dirty hoodie, jeans and T-shirt. I kept my black spriefs on since they let my nethers breathe. I stumbled in the dark room to my bed with a yawn. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be so dramatic.


Tomorrow was much more dramatic. Mine and Ruby's teams were almost late to our first class, then she and Weiss got into some pissing match in the hallway and she stormed off. And now, I'm looking into Ruby's kicked puppy face as she asks me if Ozpin should or shouldn't've made her a leader. Why did she have to be so damn adorable?

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Look, Ruby, I've known the Professor for a while. If he made you leader, he knew what he was doing." She didn't look convinced.

"Alright, tell me, what do you think a good leader should do?" She thought on that for a moment. "Make sure their team is happy and is able to work together?"

"Good. Do that. But also remember that you're gonna have to make some tough choices along the way. Schnee shouldn't expect you to be whatever her version of a perfect leader is. You've never been a leader before and she hasn't told you her version. All she's done is bitch and moan some. Ozpin made you leader, so you'll both have to deal with it and...hug, or whatever it is girls do. Got it?"

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Jaune." She started to walk off, but then stopped. "Wait, how have you known Headmaster Ozpin so long?"

"That's another story for another day, Red." She looked crestfallen, I felt a bit awkward. "We should probably get to the next class." I patted her on the head.

Later that afternoon, after I fully experienced the formal education system that Vale had to offer, I wanted to get as far away as possible. Why did no one tell me how boring this shit was?! It was like prison all over again! That shit was psychological torture all by itself. How do kids put up with this for years?

I needed a serious purge of any thoughts of school. If my hears on the streets were telling the truth, I knew just the place.


There we go, another chapter. We'll see how Jaune adjusts to school life. As always, review and read some of my other stories.

-Fireballmonkey