Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.
"Alright, testing, Burn Dust in a vacuum," I said to myself. It was the weekend and I was in the lab attached to Professor Peach's classroom. I had an experiment to conduct and this was the only place with the equipment I needed. I currently had a vacuum tube sitting on a scale with a small pile of powdered Burn Dust at the bottom
"Hypothesis, Dust should have some sort of by-product from being used. Testing in, three, two, one." I put my hand on the side of the vacuum tube and extended my Aura to the Burn Dust. It ignited, burning easily, despite the lack of oxygen.
"Note, Burn Dust functions in a vacuum. May contain an internal oxidizer." I checked the scale the tube was on.
"Hypothesis disproved. Mass is being lost. Dust is defying conventional physics." I waited for the Dust to finish burning itself out, then slumped into a chair. This is what I was afraid of. Using Dust converts matter to energy, which is fine, but the numbers don't balance. It shouldn't be burning, it should be exploding. I sighed.
Honestly, I'm kind of amazed it took me this long to notice this problem. It was right under my nose the whole time and I never even thought about it. It wasn't until I spent time examining the depleted Dust crystals we'd found on the mission that I even thought about it. Now the mystery wasn't how those things came into existence, but instead why they didn't show up every time someone used Dust. It didn't make sense.
I sat back and sighed again. Still no progress on them. I couldn't figure out how they'd been created, I couldn't figure out how they worked, and I still couldn't decipher the maddeningly familiar symbols on them. I started packing up.
"Still nothing?" Rebecca asked from behind me, startling me.
"Oh! Hey, I didn't hear you come in," I said as I turned to face her. "No, I'm afraid not. At this point I'm just finding more questions."
"Like what?"
"Why Dust defies physics," I said dryly. "It just doesn't fit within reality."
"Defies physics?"
"Yes. How would you describe Dust?"
"Well it's energy in a solid form," Rebecca said. "Usually activated by -"
"That's all I needed," I said with a raised hand. "The problem is, that can be used to describe anything. Energy and matter are the same thing."
"They are?"
"Yeah, they are. This is something that was discovered in my world a long time ago. Energy and matter are the same thing. You are basically frozen energy."
"...I'm not sure if I should feel offended by that or not."
"Don't be, it's just a statement of fact. Dust is also solid energy, but the numbers don't add up. What would happen if I, theoretically, took a pound of Burn Dust and set it off in this room?"
"Um, you'd destroy something like half of the building and probably set Beacon on fire," she said nervously. "Why?"
"Well here's what would happen if I converted a pound of something else into energy. First there would be a massive flash of light that would make the sun look like a candle. That alone would most likely vaporize anyone nearby." Rebecca blinked, startled. "Then the shock wave would hit. That would level most of Vale. Then the fireball would destroy everything that's left. And then, depending on the method used to convert it into energy, you'd be dealing with radioactive fallout that would poison the area for at least decades, possibly centuries."
"You're joking," Rebecca said, her face pale.
"Nope. If anything I'm probably underestimating the damage it would do." I did some calculations in my head. "That'd be...ten megatons, I think. Yeah, I think that's right. Ten kilotons is enough to destroy most of a city, and this blast would be a thousand times more powerful than that. Vale wouldn't just be destroyed, it would be nothing but a crater."
"How is one pound of anything that powerful?"
"E equals M C squared," I said. "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. The mass doesn't have to be all that big when it's multiplied by that big a number. The thing is, Dust doesn't follow this rule. It converts itself into energy, but nowhere near enough of it."
"Maybe Dust is different from other things?"
"Obviously, but... It just doesn't make sense," I said. "It would make more sense if those depleted Dust crystals we found were created every time someone used Dust. Instead they're the anomaly." I rubbed forehead, trying to fight an oncoming headache. "This is why I don't like Dust. It just doesn't make sense."
"Why don't you take a break?" Rebecca asked. "Besides, there's something else we need to deal with."
"Something else?" I asked.
"You need to start packing!" she said with a smile.
"Packing? Why am I packing?"
"You don't remember?"
Remember what? Why would I need to pack? I'm not...going...oh. Oh. Right. Totally forgot about that. Yikes. "No, now I remember!" I said. "Your parents invited me to come visit over the Summer break, right?"
"Yes," she said. "They'd like to meet you."
Oh boy. This was going to be...interesting. I could think of all sorts of reasons not to go, but I'd already accepted the invitation. I couldn't exactly back out now. "Alright, I'll... get started on that," I said.
I started by deciding what I would take with me. Clothes were of course a must, along with things like my toothbrush. As a Huntsman in training I was also expected to take my combat gear with me wherever I went, so weapons and armor were also getting packed. I added a few books that I was reading, and of course my scroll would come with me too. I looked around the room in case I'd forgotten something.
Sitting on the dresser was the emblem Rebecca had designed for me. I hadn't quite decided what to do with it yet. I'd taken the design and stamped it onto the shoulders of both Molnair and Talon, but I had yet to figure out what to do with the original. I looked at it for a moment before packing it away as well. I'd figure out what to do with it later.
The last week of the school year passed slowly. I continued to struggle in Aura Manipulation, unable to get my power to cooperate. I was powerful, with a very strong Aura, but strength alone isn't enough. I needed control, and I needed coordination, and I had neither. I did learn a few ways to project Aura through my strikes, but beyond that, nothing.
Finally the year came to an end, and it was time for goodbyes.
"See you in couple months," Lily said as she closed up her suitcase. "Try not to die again, would you?"
"Aw, I didn't know you cared," I said.
"I don't, but I'd really hate to have to break in a new team member," she said with a grin.
"You take care of yourself too," I said. "We'll be back in school soon, and I want my team at full strength."
"Oh don't you worry about me, I'll be fine." She smiled again.
"Seriously, take care of yourself," I said. "I'll see you in a few months."
"You too," Lily said as she hefted her suitcase and exited the room.
"Hey," I said to David. "I'm going to be back in the area a bit before the end of Summer break to check in with White Fox. You said your dad works there?"
"Yeah, linguistics," David said. "You want to meet him?"
"Well it would be nice," I said. "Maybe you could come too?"
"Sure, that sounds good," he said. "See you then." He scooped up his own suitcase and placed it over his shoulder before stepping out.
Rebecca was already at the landing pad waiting for me, so it was time I got going too. I took one last look around the empty dorm. For the last ten months this had been home for me. Sure I'd had my own room when I was at Signal, partially because I just didn't fit in with the rest of the student body and partially I seriously needed some space while I worked through the trauma I was dealing with, but that room had just been a room, a place where I slept, worked, and occasionally hid from the world during those early months. This room was different. I'm not usually the sentimental type, but there was something about this place that made me want to stay. It wasn't just a room, it was a home, temporary though it might be, much like Ruby and Weiss's house was. I felt safe here, maybe even comfortable.
I shook my head. I was wasting time. I grabbed my suitcase and dragged it out to the landing pad and the air bus that was waiting to take us down to Vale.
A/N: Short chapter, just tidying up a few loose ends for the year.
To Blue, Jaune is something of a freak of nature. His potential is stupidly large, and may even be his Semblance. That said, there is a factor of personal affinity involved in how strong someone's Aura is, although Professor Tsan finds this concept mildly offensive on a personal level. To put it bluntly, some people are just naturally more powerful Aura wielders than others. Hunter schools like Beacon tend to be composed almost exclusively of such people, so it's less apparent than it would be if you took an accurate sample of the population. Only extreme outliers like Jaune are noticeable, although Kevin is heading in that direction, mostly because of his close shave with death.
Regarding the invocations, they are entirely my creation, save for the original, although the name is mine, and are somewhere between simple mnemonics and spell incantations, blurring the boundary between magic and the mundane. Each invocation does different things, although they do overlap in many cases. These abilities range from healing and bolstering an ally to tactile empathic and telepathic projection and reading. Like any other ability, they can be misused for some rather horrific things, but overall they do help Remnant survive the monsters at its gates. The Invocation of the Guardian is the most commonly used because Hunters represent the largest organized body of people with unlocked Auras, and the vast majority of Hunters can use it quite easily.
That's all for now, see you all next chapter.
