Chapter 20: Acceptance
Note to Readers at end
"Hey sis." Jaune wore his new armor while Pyrrha wore hers with her traditional headpiece. "We're going to Beacon today."
"Don't worry I'll keep him out of trouble." Pyrrha chimed in happily resting a reassuring hand on Jaune's shoulder.
"I... I..." The tightening in his throat becoming even stronger. A moment of silence passed through the air. It's been a year, the doctor had claimed that they didn't expect her to come out of the comma. They urged they cut off life support. Jaune and Pyrrha argued with the doctors to the point where they attack the doctor. It required that John and Joan held them back while the doctors scurried away from two massively pissed off teenagers. It came to a unanimous decision, Crystal would stay on life support. If she was still alive, there might be a chance.
Jaune cleared his throat. Now was the time to be strong. "I wish..." He steeled himself. "You could be here to see us." Pyrrha solemnly nodded.
"If anything happens, we'll let you know." Catoline stepped up, hugging her siblings. Jaune smiled. "And Pyrrha, you're going to be turning some heads while you're down there." Catoline looked over the redhead in her new armor that enhanced her already flattering feminine physique. Pyrrha blushed at the compliment, awkwardly rubbing her arm, unsure as how to feel.
"Try to not to fail out." Mabel chimed in from her ever-present book. "And Pyrrha."
Pyrrha looked at the diminutive book smart Arc. "Don't let him fail out."
Pyrrha giggled and nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't dream of it."
Abella was still hanging on to Jaune waist. "I'm going to miss both of you."
"Oh we won't be gone for too long." Pyrrha patted her head, and when we come back, we'll take you to your favorite ice cream place." Abella grinned with satisfaction. The two said their final goodbyes and left the room. Down the hall, Raven was waiting for them talking to their parents. She seemed to be in much higher spirits than usual.
Red eyes locked on them. Jaune and Pyrrha joined the trio of adults.
"Hey guys, excited?" Raven asked with a genuine smile. They both nodded. "Well I have a favor to ask."
"Sure."
"Anything."
The smile lessened up. "There might be a chance you run into my daughter, Yang, and my..." She hesitated, with conflicting emotions running across her face. "niece... Ruby. It is very important that you don't say anything about me… and I mean anything. Do you think you can do that?"
They both looked at each other, an odd request, but the least we could do.
"Raven?" Pyrrha voice came out shy. The older huntress hummed in response. "Mmm?"
"Will we ever see you again?"
Raven chuckled. "Oh yes, how could I ever forget about all of you? You're all family too me. I'll be around." She gave each one a hug. "Remember, I'm always watching." She drew her katana and cut a portal through thin air vanish away/
"Well, I guess we should get you two going." John sounded as reached for the sword on his side. He undid the belt and handed him the sword the reverently. "Jaune, it is about time I pass this on to you. Let me say, I am so proud of you, I would have no one else carry this blade." Jaune reached out and strapped it around his waist. "Remember to carry yourself with dignity and respect with that blade. That blade is the embodiment of all we Arcs stand for." The older arc looked at the redhead.
"Pyrrha I've watched you grow. You've come a far way. I am absolutely sure that your parents would be proud. I just hope I did them justice." Pyrrha embraced John tightly. "Thank you for everything Mr. Arc." Her voice struggling to maintain composure as he embraced back.
Joan joined in. "You two have grown up so fast. I'm so incredibly proud of both of you!" For a moment, the four of them were in an embrace that Pyrrha would always cherish. For all time froze, this was the moment where she finally found peace. Even after losing so much, so many people getting hurt around her, she found something she always wanted. Acceptance.
After saying their final good-byes, they boarded their airship to their new home. Beacon.
Pyrrha and Jaune elected to sit in the back of the airship. If Jaune had an episode of airsickness, he would prefer it not to be in front of his future classmates. Pyrrha hummed to herself while rubbed Jaune's back in an attempt to relieve his airsickness.
Jaune's stomach lurched up and down as it protested being on the flying machine of death. He doubled over, holding his stomach. Pyrrha handed him a bag just in case.
"Pyrrha." He took the bag. "I hate flying….."
Jaune stood up steeling his nerves and trying to hold his lunch down.
He stood up and wearily made his way to the bathroom.
Fate had other plans. The airship thudded with a large jolt hitting unexpected turbulence. Jaune fell to the ground and with it, his stomach.
His breakfast came out on spraying a pair of tan boots. Oh shit. The boots were tapping the ground. Jaune looked up to see a surprised blonde with a wild mane of hair that cascaded down her back. Her lilac eyes filled with surprise, disgust, her eyes suddenly flashed red, as red as Raven's and Qrow's.
"Uhh sorry." He muttered through gritted teeth, still feeling queasy.
"Sorry? SORRY?!" Her voice would have been lovely if it wasn't filled with the desire to kill him. She picked Jaune by the scruff of his hoodie. "These are…. were my favorite pair of boots." She said darkly.
Pyrrha looked up to see Jaune on the ground clutching his stomach while a rather flashy blonde towered over him. She quickly darted up and moved over to the two.
"Excuse me..." Pyrrha stepped in. Fiery crimson eyes locked onto the redhead. "He apologized, it was an accident."
That only made the blonde upset, even more, raising the temperature on the ship. "An apology won't scrub my boots clean."
"Yang! Come on now! I'll wash them if it's such a big deal!" A small girl with brunette hair with red tips said. "Gah!" The blonde yelped in surprise as the smaller girl latched onto her arm. The blonde blinked, her eyes changing from crimson back to lilac.
She instantly dropped Jaune. Without saying a word, Yang stormed off. The brunette looked at Jaune and Pyrrha. "Uhh... Sorry bout that... She gets fidgety when it comes to clothing." She ran after the blonde.
"First day and you almost die." Pyrrha patted Jaune on the back.
"Have to make good first impressions somehow." He grinned, although it quickly faded as the queasiness took root yet again.
The airship docked and opened itself up as Jaune darted out looking for a trashcan, Pyrrha followed behind and found him hugging onto the can for dear life.
"Let it all out." She patted his back absentmindedly. There they stood before their new home for four years and here she was rubbing his back while he continued to flush out his system. She wouldn't have it any other way she thought as she smiled to herself.
Twenty minutes or so, Jaune lifted himself up. "Feeling any better?" Pyrrha asked.
"I feel less deathish." Jaune mumbled. The two headed down the main path to the academy. They reached a courtyard and was greeted by the same black clothed with red hooded girl laying on her back mumbling to herself.
"I think we should help her." Pyrrha whispered.
"Same thought."
Jaune walked over to the girl who was muttering something along the lines of "Welcome to Beacon."
"Hey." Jaune said snapping her out of her own thoughts. "Need a hand?" He offered his hand with a warm smile.
Ruby took it gratefully. Pyrrha picked up the bag and gave I to her offering a welcoming smile.
As they walked to find their way to the auditorium, they eventually got lost, after initial greetings they introduced each other. "You would think they would have maps..." Jaune muttered.
"I think they thought that future huntsmen couldn't get lost at huntsmen academy." Ruby shook her head. "How wrong they were."
"Indeed, it is a rather big school." Pyrrha noted looking around all of the big buildings.
"Heheh." Ruby chuckled awkwardly. Out of nowhere, a giant mechanical scythe appeared in her hand as she slammed it down on the ground. "So I got this thing..."
"Holy wow! What is that thing?!" Jaune jumped back into Pyrrha who blushed at the contact.
"A scythe with a customizable high-impact sniper rifle."
"A what?" Jaune was lost.
"A really big gun." Pyrrha helped.
"Yep!" Ruby grinned as she chambered a round.
"Neat!" Jaune said in even more fascination
"Impressive." Pyrrha agreed.
The small girl fondled her scythe as if it were a child. "I might have gone overboard when I designed Crescent Rose, but no regrets."
The Arc and Nikos jaws dropped.
"What?" Ruby blinked in confusion. "Didn't you guys design your own weapons?" They both shook their heads.
Pyrrha pulled out her weapon, "This is Milo, it is a short sword, javelin, and rifle." She pointed out with each transformation "It's an…. Heirloom" She tried to mask the bit of sadness that was bubbling up.
"Cool! You have a lot options over that!" Ruby said with eyes glued on the weapon, Pyrrha just shrugged modestly. The silver eyes shifted over to the blonde. "So what do you have?"
Jaune pulled out his sword, "Just this old sword, nothing special and a sheath that turns into a shield."
"It is special though." Pyrrha reassured him. "It was a sword his great-grandfather used in the Great War. It has a rich and proud history."
Ruby nodded approvingly "Well I like it, not many people appreciate the classics."
Jaune resheathed the blade. "I suppose so." Feeling uncomfortable with the whole thing. "So uh any idea where we're at?"
Ruby looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you knew where we were going…" Jaune just shrugged.
Pyrrha pointed towards a group of students. "Well I'm sure they're going to the auditorium, we should just follow them."
"Always a quick thinker." Jaune complimented. The three followed the group to find that they were indeed in the auditorium. "We just did a complete circle…." Jaune deadpanned. The three entered the grand auditorium, which to be honest, looked more like an arena. Large groups of students were standing around talking amongst themselves.
"Heythere'smysister,I'llseeyaguyslater!" Ruby dashed off in a cloud of rose petals. Jaune looked at Pyrrha who just looked as baffled as he did. "Well, she seemed nice… if not somewhat energetic…" Jaune commented casually. Pyrrha nodded in agreement. The lights dimmed as spotlights focused on the stage.
An old man wearing a black and green suit moved up to the stage. He pushed his spectacles up to the ridge of his nose. He stepped up to the microphone, leaning on his cane. "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. 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."
Jaune thought the Headmaster was a little cryptic at best, insane at the most. Wasn't the purpose of the school to educate them on how to become huntsmen? Wasn't that education supposed to lead them to become huntsmen? Pyrrha thought differently. It was about taking the initiative, sure knowledge will help, but taking the first step out of the gate is how you learn. You won't learn how to be huntsmen until you gain field experience. The two of them listened as his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch told them that initiation was tomorrow and that they were to sleep in the ballroom. At that, the lights turned back on. "JAUNE! PYRRHA! COME ON OVER HERE!" The voice of Ruby Rose called out to them.
The two made their way to meet the fiery blonde on the ship. "Ruby! You didn't tell me you made friends with Vomit Boy..." Yang brow furrowed. "I haven't forgotten about my boots…"
Jaune raised his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry…. But air sickness is more common than people would expect."
"Yang, I would rather you not knock out one of my only friends here…." Ruby pleaded. Yang looked at Ruby and crossed her arms and pouted.
"Fine…"
"Thank Oum…." Jaune wiped the sweat from his brow. Ruby then made introductions.
"Yang this is Jaune." She gestured at the redhead by his side. "And Pyrrha." who waved in response. Yang walked up to Jaune and placed an arm around his shoulder.
"Hey, Jaune! Buddy….. You wanna know something….?"
"Whaaaa…" Pyrrha watched the blonde girl, ready to strike if Jaune was in any danger whatsoever.
"If you ever make a move on my sister, I will end you…." Her voice was so soft but filled with resolution.
"I-I-I-I… would never…." Jaune stuttered. Ruby shook her head in embarrassment.
"I'll make sure of that." Pyrrha chimed in instinctively.
Yang put an around the redhead and pulled her in. "Awesome! We're going to get along just fine then. Right Vomit Boy?"
Jaune let out an exhausted sigh. "Yeah.. definitely…. Hey can we just get some food…." He pleaded.
"This place has everything." Yang plopped herself down beside her sister, the tray thudded as if it had a thousand pounds on it. She picked up a piece of the cheesiest pizza, globs of cheese oozed down.
"I don't know what I should be more horrified with, that thing you got there or the fact that Ruby consumed three trays of cookies." Jaune watched with fascination and disgust. Pyrrha giggled as she stabbed her salad with a fork.
"So any idea how teams will be formed?" Jaune asked with a mouthful of meatloaf. Pyrrha shot him a 'remember your manners before I beat you' look. The message was received, he swallowed and tried to remember his manners
"From what I hear it's a battle to the death!" Yang balled her hand into his ball giving a sinister smile. Everyone else looked at each other and gulped. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I don't know. Any thoughts on who you want to be partnered with?"
Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other; that was kinda obvious.
"Jaune." Pyrrha smiled warmly.
"Pyrrha." Jaune grinned.
Yang looked at the two and started to snicker. "That's so cute! The two love birds partnered together." Pyrrha reddened like a cherry while Jaune began to stutter uncontrollably as Yang busted up laughing.
"Yang you broke them." Ruby deadpanned.
"We aren't actually together together!" Jaune quickly recovered.
"We grew up together," Pyrrha confirmed, still blushing.
Yang gave a knowing wink. "Mmhmmmm sure..." She turned to her sister. "Any thoughts sis?"
"Well I'd be on your..." She replied unconvinced. Ruby stopped looking at her sister suspiciously
Yang started to fiddle with her luscious blonde hair. "We'll I thought we could on different teams..." Ruby gasped, horrified by the thought.
"My dear sister Yang! Are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as your sister?!" Jaune and Pyrrha smiled as they watched the drama continued to unfold. "Uhhh… noooo…" Yang looked towards the two other friends. "Psst… guys help me out." Jaune shrugged, trying hold in laughter while Pyrrha shook her head, covering her mouth with a hand, trying to stifle the giggles.
"What the hell….." Yang muttered looking past Jaune and Pyrrha, which drew the attention of Ruby. An orange haired girl who wearing pink battle armor. Her turquoise eyes glowed in mischief. In her hands was a massive jug of what appeared to be syrup. She was dumping all of its content onto one pancake. Beside her was an exhausted oriental boy in a green petticoat trying to get the jug away from her.
"NORA!" He shouted as he was trying to grab the jug which she managed to fend while maniacally laughing.
"What the hell…. Poor dude…" Yang whispered dumbfounded.
"She has a bigger sweet tooth then me…" Ruby deadpanned.
"How is she not…. Fat…..?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha gave him a slight shove on the shoulder. "You shouldn't say that Jaune…" she paused for a moment, still watching the girl "However, I do have to agree with you..." Everyone nodded in agreement. They finished their meals and headed towards the ballroom, still watching as the girl ate a plate full of syrup with a pancake on top.
The ballroom was already being filled up with people. Ruby and Yang split off to talk to some raven-haired girl. Jaune looked over to see all of the commotion of some white-haired girl yelling at Ruby while this black haired girl looked irritated, book in her lap.
"Poor girl." Jaune whispered to Pyrrha who nodded in agreement. The two wandered off to get changed sleeping attire. They emerged with their sleeping bags and rolled them out. "You know, I got a good feeling about this place," Jaune said as he stretched his arms.
Honestly, something was nagging her in the back of her mind. Something felt… just off about everything. She just couldn't determine what it was. She banished these thoughts, burying them down. Everything was going to be fine. She was just nervous. That's right. Nervous about initiation. She noted how Jaune was looking at her slightly concerned. "Me too." She smiled.
"What's up?"
Pyrrha smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. Just nerves." She brushed off his concern. Jaune was about to push her, but she laid down yawing. "Good night Jaune." Jaune laid down in his own sleeping bag. "Goodnight Pyrrha."
A/N
Sup guys! New chapter… at Beacon and stuff.
I know this chapter was kinda short... think of it as a prologue...
So I need to admit I know I've been slow with updates…. Well I want to get a serious backlog going for the semester, so I'm looking at getting a backlog and such…. Gradschool is goin to be rampin up soon (which I'm loving btws). Cause of that, I might not be able to write as much as I want.
That being said, Shattered is taking precedence over all of my other stories. Now that being said, all other stories for the time being said will receive less attention, but I will try and work on all of them when I get the chance. I'm going to TRY to stick to a bi-weekly update schedule, but I have a tendency to upload whenever I want….
I also wanted to thank all of you who have joined me for my live streams. It means the world to actually get in touch with readers on a more personal level…. That being said, those who were there got some glimpses as to where Shattered and other stories are goin :D
So this the official introduction to Bacon. And all I can say is next chapter is going to be initiation. I wonder who is all going to be on teams and partners? Let me know what you think.
Also let me know what you think of Raven and Qrow as characters because they will still be playing major roles into this to the point where so far there is an entire chapter dedicated to them. But I want to hear from all of you. And yes the last official character on the FF character is Qrow. It is confirmed. (Hypes and boos are accepted xD)
Ohhhhh and fair warning, the story is going to be getting darker.
Please leave a review, pm, follow, favorite if you're inclined. I love to hear from all of you, even if if you are critiquing.
Note to the Readers:
Alright guys I just want to mention something. 179 followers, 116 favorites, 20,888 views. Now I know that isn't a lot to some of you, but to me…. Like wow. I am literally speechless.
I mean I really didn't think this story would be that successful. When I first started writing fanfics it was to create my own personal story within the RWBY universe. I honestly didn't think it would be this popular (popular in my own opinion.)
I won't lie, when I first thought of this idea, it was going to end at Beacon. But seeing this story blowup and gain so many followers, I kept on developing to the point where the first part of the Beacon Arc is going to be around another 15-20 chapters, and there is going to be one or two more arcs afterwards.
All I can say is that you guys mean so much to me. The encouragement, it's truly inspiring and I don't know….. All the stuff that goes on, you guys help pick me up. I'm saying that I have no regrets being apart of the community. So I wanted to thank all of you.
I hope I don't disappoint you.