Chapter 1: Origins
'Ugh...I feel like I'm gonna be sick...' Jaune thought to himself as he sat on the plane that was heading to Beacon, his new school. Jaune had his black hoodie over his head as he tried not to be noticed by anybody, focusing on his aura to make sure he does not make a scene by vomiting in front of a bunch of people.
Jaune Arc, a 17-year-old blondie, is known as a celebrity across Vale, with his nickname, the "Arc Knight". He won the Vale Tournament 5 times in a row and won his very first tournament when he was only 12 years old. His family came from a line of noble warriors and they could not have been prouder for their prodigy son who lived up to their family legacy.
'How is it that I've been through so much crap, from killing hordes of Grimm to fighting in tournaments, and I STILL cannot deal well with my goddamn air sickness!' Jaune kept on thinking to himself.
"Hey look! It's Beacon!" A girl yelled. Jaune looked up and out a window as he observed the architecture of his new school. The outside of the school amazed Jaune as his jaw dropped. The school looked like a fortified castle.
'Finally! Some fresh air!' Jaune thought to himself as he exited the plane. He kept his hood down to prevent anyone from seeing his face, for he knew that anywhere he'd go, there could be a crazy fan of his. As he was walking to the school, Jaune heard an explosion. He quickly turned and saw a girl dressed in black with red accents lying on the ground above a small crater. Next to her was a white-haired girl dressed in whitish-blue, with a rapier next to her waist who was yelling at the girl on the ground. Jaune could tell that the girl dressed in white was a Schnee, given by the fact she had a bunch of dust vials and cases and the fact that all Schnees had white hair.
'Hm, A Schnee attending Beacon? Well, that's just great. Another entitled sassypants enters the arena! Seriously, why can't anything get any easier?' Jaune thought to himself as he decided it would be best to walk over and try to stop a fight that looked as if were about to come into play as the Schnee girl and another raven-haired girl dressed in black and white were arguing before both marched away from each other, leaving the girl dressed in red and black to lie on the ground.
"Welcome to Beacon." The girl said to herself. She then looked up to see Jaune reach out his hand to help her up. "Need a hand?" Jaune asked. The girl gratefully took Jaune's hand and he helped her up. "Thanks." The girl said. "No problem Crater-face, hehe". Jaune laughed as Ruby made a pouting face.
The girl introduced herself as Ruby Rose while Jaune introduced himself to her. When Ruby realized who she was talking to, she became nervous and began to stutter.
"Y-y-you're...Jaune Arc? T-the J-Jaune Arc?" Ruby stuttered as she slowly pointed a finger at Jaune. Jaune sighed and nodded, smiling at the little rose, whose face began turning as red as her cape. Ruby then snapped back into reality as she wanted to keep talking to Jaune.
"So...I have this." Ruby said as she pulled out and transformed her scythe. "I call it Crescent Rose," Jaune observed Ruby's weapon for a moment before speaking. "I made it so that it can also transform into a sniper rifle," Ruby explained as the weapon transformed into another shape.
"Cool, it really suits you...Well, since you've shown your weapon to me, I guess I'd show you mine in return." Jaune said as he pulled out his sword and shield. To impress Ruby a little more, Jaune pressed a button on his shield which made razor-sharp blades pop out from the edges.
"The sword's name is Crocea Mors, my ancestors used it a long time ago before I was born. I also decided to add blades to my shield before coming to Beacon. You know...so that my shield can do more things than just get hit." Jaune said as Ruby went all weapons-nerd on the shield.
"That's such a cool upgrade! Do you have anything else? Do you!?" Ruby asked Jaune with excitement. Jaune chuckled and pulled out two black handguns with yellow accents and the Arc symbol on each side of the guns.
"These are my handguns. I call them Terror Twins." Jaune unclipped the ammo and pulled out two metal bullets with one of them having a red marking, and the other having a blue marking.
"These bullets are made of titanium, a light metal. The red ones are for explosions while the blue bullets are stun rounds." Jaune explained as he decided to let Ruby hold both guns for a moment. He could literally see stars in Ruby's eyes. How does that happen? Who knows, who cares.
"Also, be careful with the red bullets. They're kinda sensitive to pressure and might blow up if you're not car-"
"Whoops!" Ruby exclaimed as one of the red bullets accidentally slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
"-ful..." Jaune finished, moments before the bullet hit the ground and exploded, causing Jaune to fly backwards and land on his back. He got up and coughed out some smoke before seeing Ruby lying on the ground in the middle of another small crater. Ruby groaned as she slowly got up. When she realized what she had done, she felt as if her stomach dropped, and then she looked up at Jaune.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I'm so sorry!" Ruby said as Jaune laughed softly before retrieving his guns from the ground.
"Even more reason to call you Crater-face now," Jaune told Ruby as she made another pouting face and crossed her arms.
"Hmph! No fair!" Ruby said as Jaune holstered Terror Twins and smiled at Ruby.
"Hey, I'm not the one who made two craters on school property, now let's hurry up and get to the speech!" Jaune said as he started running, with Ruby behind him.
"Oh right! We're gonna be late!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran.
After the two children ran into the school, they managed to reach the auditorium in time, with Jaune and Ruby both panting from running so fast. When they arrived, they saw that many other students were already in the auditorium, talking to one another about who-knows-what.
"Oh, there's my sister!" Ruby exclaimed "Well, I gotta go! I hope I'll see you soon!" the girl said as she ran towards where her sister was. Jaune watched as Ruby ran towards a blond-haired girl who was waving at her, smiling.
'So that's her sister? They look so different. Hm, maybe it's because they're step-siblings. Oh well, whatever.' Jaune thought to himself as the auditorium began to become silent. Jaune turned towards the stage as he saw a gray-haired man dressed in black, with a kind of green scarf that covered his neck, walk towards the end of the stage with a cane.
'Ozpin.' Jaune thought to himself. He remembered the day the man gave Jaune a letter after he had finished winning his fifth Vale Tournament. Before he met Ozpin, he saw the man talking to his parents as he was going to go talk to them when they were near a food stand in the stadium. When he reunited with his parents, the man introduced himself and congratulated Jaune for winning the tournament before giving him a letter and leaving. Jaune stopped replaying the memory as he decided to focus on whatever Ozpin was about to say on the stage.
"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." Ozpin said, before leaving the stage.
'Well the man didn't seem to sound happy' Jaune thought to himself.
Nighttime had officially come to Beacon as students were in their sleeping clothes, either talking to one another, goofing around, or sleeping so that they were prepared for tomorrow. Jaune, who was wearing a white t-shirt and short sweatpants that reached to his knees, decided to kill some time by playing some games on his scroll. As he sat on his sleeping bag, playing Remcraft, Jaune got a call on his scroll. He looked at who was calling him and saw that it was his father who was calling him. Jaune sighed as he accepted the call and put the phone next to his left ear.
"Dad?" Jaune asked, waiting for a response.
"Jaune, my boy! How've you been?" Jaune's father asked with seemingly lots of happiness.
"Well, if you're talking about how sick I felt while riding a plane, then terrible. But if you're talking about me right now, I'd say I'm doing fine." Jaune joked as his father chuckled.
"Well, at least you're in Beacon now. Your mother says hi by the way!" Jaune's father said as Jaune smiled a bit.
"Well, tell her I also said hi. Dad before you go, I wanted to ask you something. Can you tell me more about these teams you said I'm gonna be in?" Jaune said as he waited for another response.
"Sure! Hmmm, where should I start? Well, during my time at Beacon, our teams were formed during the Initiation Exam. You're gonna be thrown into the woods from a cliff and whoever you find first during Initiation will be your partner for the next four years at Beacon. You're also gonna have to find some chess pieces to pass the exam." Jaune's father explained.
"What!? I'm gonna be thrown into the woods!?" Jaune exclaimed, trying to make sure nobody heard him. "What kind of lunatic would want to throw kids from a cliff!?"
"Relax son, you won't be literally thrown into the woods, you'll be catapulted by a platform!" Jaune's father explained.
"That doesn't make it any better!" Jaune groaned. "Ugh, whatever. Anyway, I gotta end this call now. I need to get some shuteye." Jaune said.
"Okay then! Good luck on the exam son!" Jaune's father said before ending the call. Jaune sighed as he laid down his scroll and closed his eyes and thought to himself.
'Thrown off a cliff? Why the hell would someone do that? Welp, I guess I better use my shield when I'm falling. God I'm screwed' Jaune thought, as someone walked up towards him. He looked up and saw that it was the same blonde female that Ruby was talking to, moments before Ozpin's speech. The blondie was wearing short black shorts and a yellow-orange tank top.
"Hey, there hot stuff. How you doing? Oh, I'm Yang by the way." The blonde said. Jaune smiled at Yang.
"Nice to meet you, Yang, I'm Jaune Arc," Jaune told Yang. Yang's eyes widened as she looked at Jaune, finally remembering who the Vale champion was.
"Holy crap! It's really you! Well, thanks for helping my little sis out. She could get a little annoying at times." Yang said as she scratched her head. Jaune smiled at the blonde.
"No problem. Well, Imma go to bed now. I'd love to talk to you more, but I need to get some shuteye for tomorrow." Jaune said as he pulled the blankets over his body and winked at Yang before closing his eyes.
"Sure! No problem! See ya!" Yang said as she left Jaune alone and walked back to her sleeping bag where Ruby was blushing and covering her face with her blankets.
Today was the day of the Initiation Exam. Jaune was busy retrieving his weapons from his locker while mumbling to himself as he strapped on his armor.
'Locker number 636. Seriously, out of all the people here, why is it that I have to get such a number!? God I hate lockers now.' Jaune thought to himself as he put on his shoulder pads that had yellow stripes in the middle. He put on his gauntlets, gloves, chest plate, and shin guards that reached up to his knee. He tied the straps on his chest plate and put on his long white jacket that had black stripes and yellow accents as he looked at himself through a nearby mirror.
Jaune's chest plate contained the Arc symbol. He made it so that his armor had a touch of yellow and mostly white. Jaune then took Terror Twins and holstered them on his back, hiding them in his jacket. He then placed Crocea Mors on his back and made sure his shield was deactivated. Jaune turned around to leave the locker room when he was stopped by a white-haired girl dressed in white who was standing in front of him.
"Hello there. I'm grateful that I'm able to speak to you at this moment." the girl said to Jaune with a formal smile. "I'm Weiss Schnee by the way." the girl reached out her hand for Jaune to shake in which he did. "Jaune Arc." the guy said as he smiled at Weiss.
"I was thinking that maybe we could be partners. I've seen your fights and to be honest, I was really impressed by your performance in your previous tournament." Weiss explained. Jaune gave a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head.
"Well, thanks I guess..." Jaune said to the girl. To be honest, Jaune never liked being told of his accomplishments. Before he went to become a champion in the Vale Tournament, he had many good friends with who he would hang out during the weekends to play video games or sports. But as time went on, his friends began to stop talking to him. Jaune knew that they thought that they were not good enough to be at Jaune's side, and it hurt him that his friends would stop talking to him because of that. Sometimes Jaune wished that he was treated like a normal person.
As Weiss was still busy trying to encourage Jaune to become her partner, another girl chimed into the conversation. The girl appeared to have red hair that was put into a ponytail. She had a golden circlet resting on her head along with a bronze chest plate that covered her body. She wore a gauntlet on one of her arms that had tight dark-brown gloves that reached her forearms. She also wore a dress and a long red sash that was tied to her waist. She also wore heels and golden shin guards that reached over her knees. The redhead also had a Spartan-like round shield and a red weapon on her back.
"H-hello to you both..." The girl said as Jaune and Weiss looked at who was joining their conversation. "I'm Pyrrha...nice to meet you."
"Hey, Pyrrha," Jaune replied with a bright smile, causing the redhead to slightly blush.
"I was wondering umm...If maybe you guys would be my partners?" Pyrrha said as she looked down at the ground while twiddling her fingers together, waiting for an answer. As Jaune was about to say that he'd love to be her partner, Weiss spoke first.
"Excuse me Pyrrha, but do you have any idea on who you're talking to right now?" Weiss asked Pyrrha, as she was pointing to Jaune. Jaune began to feel uncomfortable.
"N-no, not really..." Pyrrha answered with a nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her head.
"Jaune graduated top of his class and skipped a grade at Signal Academy," Weiss stated, which was technically true.
"Nope, I don't remember," Pyrrha answered.
"He won the Vale Tournament 5 years in a row," Weiss stated.
"Don't know," Pyrrha answered. At this point, Weiss grew irritated that the girl was so oblivious. Jaune began to be even more uncomfortable because Weiss kept on telling someone about his accomplishments which was exactly what he wanted NOT to happen.
"Oh my god, he's the one that's on BEAST Energy Drinks, and Pumpkin Pete's Cereal Boxes!" Weiss said with annoyance. Pyrrha then remembered and her eyes widened and looked at Jaune.
"Oh right! It was you! I ate your cereal a few times!" Pyrrha said with a happy tone.
"Heh, yeah, that was me. Don't eat the cereal though, it's not that healthy. Too sweet. But I admit, I kinda like the energy drinks" Jaune replied with a smile. "Anyways, I'd actually love to be your partner Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha instantly smiled until Weiss spoke again. "So after everything I just told you about him, you still think you have a chance to be his partner?" Weiss asked, causing Pyrrha to become slightly nervous, looking for an answer. Jaune then decided to intervene and placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder. Weiss turned around and looked at Jaune in the eye as he sighed.
"Weiss, with all due respect, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'd rather not have people point out my accomplishments. It kinda makes me feel uncomfortable." Weiss's eyes widened in disbelief as she quickly apologized and bowed to Jaune.
"I apologize for that. I'll make sure to not do it again whenever we socialize again." Weiss said. Jaune touched Weiss's chin and raised her from her bowing stance.
"Please, Jaune is fine," Jaune told Weiss with a smile, making the white-haired girl blush a little.
"Well all first-year students come for the Initiation Exam" Glynda Goodwitch, the co-headmaster of the school asked through the microphone.
"Well, guess it's time to go. Let's hope we can ace this." Jaune told Pyrrha and Weiss who both nodded. Jaune then decided to start jogging his way to the Initiation Exam with Pyrrha and Weiss behind him.
'Dad wasn't kidding about being thrown into the forest.' Jaune thought to himself as he stood upon a platform that was meant to launch him into the forest. He looked to the side as he saw other students stand on the platform, waiting for further instructions. Ozpin and Glynda were off to the side as Ozpin began speaking.
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin spoke as the students listened. "Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." Ozpin finished.
One by one, the platforms began launching the students into the forest. He saw Yang wear a pair of sunglasses before being launched into the forest, laughing. Jaune positioned and readied himself to be launched into the forest with the other students.
"Good luck Jaune," Ozpin said, which surprised Jaune as he looked at Ozpin and Glynda.
"Wait wha-" Jaune wasn't able to finish his sentence before being launched from his platform and into the forest. He could hear Yang laughing as she released shotgun bullets to keep herself in the air for a while. He also saw Weiss who was summoning glyphs to slow her fall. Jaune activated his shield and put it in front of his whole body while activating his aura as he began descending into the forest. He used the shield to knock away any leaves or branches that might scratch him before crashing onto the ground shield-first. The impact caused Jaune to tumble around in the air.
"Ow," Jaune said as he hit the ground and was sent into the air again. "Ow." He hit the ground again. "Ow." He hit the ground again. "Ow." He hit the ground again. This time, Jaune pulled out his sword and stabbed it into the ground to stop him from rolling into a tree. He then stood up and brushed off some leaves and dirt on his armor and clothes before sighing and saying, "Ow."
Jaune placed Crocea on his back before running towards the direction where he believed he would find the chess pieces or relics. As he was running, he began thinking about who he could have as a partner.
'Let's see, Ruby seems to be good at fighting. Like me she got her acceptance letter from Ozpin personally. But then again, she caused a crater after holding my guns. She's sweet and everything, but then again, I don't really want her to touch my weapons again.'
'What about Weiss? Nah, Schnees always mean something bad. She's probably gonna have high expectations from a person like me. One mistake and she goes all psycho.'
'Yang? Hmm, maybe I could go with Yang. Who knows? Maybe she likes me. I mean, "hot stuff" kinda gives you the hint.'
Jaune's thoughts were interrupted when he heard gunshots and slashing to his right side, and some girl yelling. He could not tell who it was but decided that it would be best to help. Jaune ran towards the direction of the sound and saw that it was Pyrrha who was fighting off a group of four Beowolves. Pyrrha seemed to be maintaining her own ground, slashing away a Beowolf before flinging her shield at another while reaching her hand out, as if she was controlling the shield's direction. The shield then returned and Pyrrha caught it, using it to block a slash from a Beowolf that attacked her from behind. Pyrrha stumbled back but then accidentally tripped and fell backward onto the ground. She quickly raised her shield to try and defend herself from the Beowolf's paw that was on the shield. Another Beowolf began heading towards her from her left, pulling back its right paw, causing Pyrrha to shrink in terror. But before the Beowolf could swing at Pyrrha, Jaune rushed out of the bushes and slashed at the Beowolf's body as it fell to the ground and disintegrated. He then pulled out one of his Terror Twins and shot explosive rounds at the head of the Beowolf that had Pyrrha on the ground. The Beowolf's body flew from the impact of the explosions from the bullets and landed on the ground as its body disintegrated.
Jaune walked over to Pyrrha and helped the redhead up onto her feet.
"Thanks for the help Jaune," Pyrrha said with a smile. Jaune smiled and told her, "No problem." Pyrrha then twiddled her fingers while not looking at Jaune. "Sooo, does this mean we're partners now?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune proceeded to lightly place a hand on Pyrrha's head, causing her to blush.
"Partners." Jaune said with a smile.
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2: Partners