Hey guys and gals, been a while I know. Back at work now and my PC decided to just up and break, so I had to wait for my new laptop to arrive. BUSY BUSY BUSY! Anyway, welcome back to another chapter! Thank you for those who have waited patiently!
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Jaune shifted uncomfortably under Xander's gaze. He and the rest of team JNPR were standing around a small bedroom, waiting to go over the mission with the older man.
"Soooo..." Pyrrha drawled out "What's the plan?" Her emerald eyes glanced between her Leader and the man.
"You the leader?" Xander asked, not taking his eyes away from the blonde boy.
"Umm, No." The redhead replied.
"Then fall in line." Xander scowled "You're leader should be the one talking right now."
Jaune didn't know why, but this man put him on edge "What's the plan?" He nervously spoke, shrinking even more under Xander's stare.
"And he finally speaks!" He fake applauded, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it "Here I was thinking you were just the dead weight of the team."
Nora, Ren and Pyrrha steeped forward dangerously and Jaune held his arm out "Well, you're technically not wrong there." He let out a light chuckle "Now, what's the plan?"
A cloud of smoke and a thoughtful hum "A few weeks ago, children began disappearing without any trace. Just up and vanished. Me and a few others have been doing the rounds out in the forest, but we've not come across a single clue." He groaned, shaking his head.
"If it was Grimm, surely there'd be bones?" Ren said "Maybe bandits?" He suggested.
"We would have found campsites or smoke from the fires if it were bandits." Xander answered.
Jaune stroked his chin "How do several kids just vanish?" He whispered to himself.
"That's what you're here to figure out." He crushed the butt of the cigarette out in the nearby ashtray "I suggest you split up again. One pair to investigate the forest and the others to investigate the village. I hate to admit it, but it might be a local who's the cause."
"Let's hope not." Nora frowned "Ren and I can scout out the village while you and Pyrrha check out the forest."
Jaune nodded in agreement, ignoring the odd look and headshake from Xander "Good idea, Nora. Make sure you keep your ears open."
"Will do, Boss!" The orange bomber saluted, before dragging Ren out of the room.
"Hey, Red."
Pyrrha tilted her head "Yes?"
"Can you give me and your leader a minute?" Xander said, eyeing Jaune with disappointment.
Pyrrha looked to her leader for the answer, to which he nodded with a smile. She nodded in response "Sure thing." She said, leaving the room too.
"Why you letting that girl give the orders? Thought you were the leader." Xander's gaze hardened "Are your teammates going to be relying on her when things get tough, or you?"
"I.." Jaune tried to come up with anything, but failed. Why hadn't he given the order? He was about to right? She just beat her to it. A sigh broke him out of his thoughts.
Xander ran a hand through his hair and his eyes softened "Sorry I'm being tough on you, kid." He took a seat on the bed "I know what it's like being the leader and the weakest of the team. I just... I guess seeing those traits in someone else just pisses me off." For the first time since meeting, he shared a small smile with Jaune.
"I guess I'm just not cut out for the leader role." Jaune shrugged "I know I'm far behind the others, but I will catch up."
"You don't need to catch up with them." The brunette man spoke.
"Huh? Then what do I need to do?"
"Learn. Toughen up. Be there for people when they don't know what to do." He listed off "This path you've chosen isn't all rainbows and sunshine. People die and villages fall, you need to be the pillar that holds up your team." Xander pulled out another cigarette and gave a light laugh "I'm getting soft. Do you get what I'm saying?"
Jaune nodded "Yeah, I'll be there for them when they need me." He promised.
"Good, now get going, you have a job to do."
The blonde teen nodded again and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
"I don't think it's very safe..." Pyrrha said as Ares was gawking at the weapon on her back.
"Pleaseeeeeeee!" He begged "I only want to hold it. I wanna be a spear user when I'm a Huntsman." The young boy explained excitedly.
Pyrrha looked to Jaune for help and he could only smile "Hey Ares, our weapons are really dangerous and we really don't want you to get hurt." He squatted down so he was eye level with the boy "And besides, we need them for our forest patrol. Maybe Xander could show you his weapon?"
Ares pouted and crosses his arms "He doesn't let me see his."
"And for good reason." The man in question stood in the, now open doorway "Ares, let them do their jobs and stop pestering them."
"Yes, Dad."
"Don't call me that."
~~~Aura Link~~~
The bronze shield flew passed the Beowolf, severing it's right arm, blood and black mist erupted from the wound. Pyrrha dashed forward, raising her hand and calling her shield back. A quick onslaught of slashes and the creature fell lifeless. Without wasting a second, she moved on to the next target.
Jaune was faring just as well. He blocked a swipe from one with his shield and lashed out at the other attacker with his sword. He parried another swipe, pushing the creature away and creating enough space for him to swing his blade in a wide arc, decapitating the other Grimm.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out and a bullet shot passed the blondes head, imbedding itself in the skull of a Beowolf that was in his blind spot.
"Thanks Pyr!" He called back, thrusting his sword through the chest of the last Beowolf and ending the battle. Jaune sheathed his weapons "I thought they didn't see much Grimm over here?"
"Normally they don't." Pyrrha placed her weapons on her back "I guess all the negativity from the disappearances is the cause."
Jaune looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was starting to set "Yeah. I wonder if the others have had any luck."
"Look out!" Shouted a familiar voice as an Alpha Beowolf burst through the bushes.
Jaune turned to see who called out "Ares!" He shouted in disbelief "Why are you here?" He asked the child as Pyrrha engaged the Alpha "Go and hide!" Jaune instructed.
"Let me help!" Ares offered and tried to push past the taller boy, only to be pushed back.
"Don't be stupid." Blue eyes hardened "Stay here and don't move." He ordered before rushing over to help his partner. He drew his sword and slashed at the beast, successfully pushing it back. "You okay, Pyr?" Not that she couldn't handle the Grimm on her own.
"Thanks for the back up, Jaune." She shot him an appreciative smile before unleashing a flurry of strikes on to the wolf's hide.
Ares was about to join the fight until the creature let out an earth rumbling roar and his whole body froze in fear. The stiff boy stared in a mix of horror and admiration at the scene before him. The way they didn't shy away from the creatures war cry was inspiring to him, but the fact that his body wouldn't allow him to move was terrifying. Did he really want to be a Huntsman? Of course he did! He needed to get used to seeing these sorts of things now, so he could be ready in the future.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out and crouched down with his shield facing the sky. The redhead instantly flipped on to his shield and was thrown into the air. The Beowolf looked up at the flying girl, failing to notice the blade rip into it's side. As the blonde dashed passed. The creature turned it attention to Jaune, back now turned to Pyrrha.
Pyrrha saw this as 'go time' and used her semblance to hold her shield in place, pushing off of the metal and shooting towards the Grimm, blade poised to strike the back of the neck. She noticed Jaune break into the guard of the creature just before she made contact.
Two new wounds appeared on the, now dead, Alpha Beowolf as it slowly faded into mist. Ares eyes glowed at the sight, a Huntress and Huntsman had just killed the evil in the world and now stand over it victoriously. To his childlike mind, he was currently witnessing a scene from those old fairy tales he used to get read.
Pyrrha stormed over to him and grabbed his shoulder "What do you think you're doing? You could've been killed! You not only put yourself at risk, but also us!" She shook him angrily.
"Pyrrha, stop!" Jaune pulled her away form the boy. They noticed that Ares' face hadn't changed from the look of wonder.
"You guys are amazing!" He burst into laughter "One day, I'll be doing the same! I swear it!"
Jaune sighed but smiled "You wont be doing anything if you die out here today. Come on, let's go back."
"But, you haven't got any leads yet!" The young boy yelled with a frown "We can't go back empty handed."
"There's no we, Ares. Just Jaune and I." Pyrrha replied with, a somewhat, stressed sigh of her own "We're taking you back to the village and then regrouping with our other teammates."
"But..." He went to protest.
"No buts." Came the stern reply from the invincible girl as Ares reluctantly sunk.
~~~Aura Link~~~
"No one so much as looked at us." Ren shook his head "This is proving to be more difficult than I had originally thought." He spooned some of his stew into his mouth. They had gathered in the Inn's dining room as they discussed their findings for the day.
Jaune ripped off a chunk of his bread and dipped it into his own bowl "We can't let it get us down." He ate the chunk and continued "Somethings bound to turn up soon. People don't just disappear."
A loud burp vibrated throughout the quiet room as Nora pushed her fourth bowl away, hunger finally satiated. "Did you guys manage to find anything in the forest?" She asked, patting her stomach happily.
Pyrrha shook her head "Only a few Grimm here and there, no signs of the missing children though. It's quite the mystery..."
"I guess, we can't rule out the possibility of a villager having kidnapped them." Jaune frowned "As much as I'd hate for that to be correct."
"Why don't we ask the kids if they know anything?" Nora suggested through a satisfactory burp. Suddenly, all of their eyes were on her "Heh, come on guys..." She spoke awkwardly "It was just a burp..."
"That's actually a really good idea, Nora!" Jaune praised her "Can I leave that job to you and Ren tomorrow?" He asked.
The ginger girl let out a laugh and saluted "Sure thing, boss!"
"Didn't you say that Ares stalked you through the forest? Maybe he knows something?" Ren added.
"I'm not so sure about that..." Jaune smiled "I think he's too focused on his dream to notice anything else."
"Anything could help us at the moment, Jaune." Pyrrha said "It couldn't hurt to ask."
"Right. I'll ask him if he knows anything tomorrow." Jaune sighed in defeat, not wanting to involve the boy anymore than needed. "Anyway, I'm heading to bed." He got up and tucked his chair in "Meet back here at 9am and we'll go over the plan for the day."
"Understood, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled at him "Hope you sleep well."
"You too." He waved back before he started to ascend the stairs. Pulling out his scroll and frowning at the '36 missed calls and messages'. The damn thing had been constantly buzzing in his pocket all day, yet he refused to answer. He got to his room and gently closed the door behind him.
Another buzz.
Why was he so scared? He had proven them wrong. He had passed the initiation and was now a student. So, why was he still afraid to speak to them?
Another buzz, but this time he opened the scroll and typed out a hastily written message explaining that he was on a mission and busy. His finger hovered over the send button, hesitant to hit it.
A knock on the door broke him from his dilemma and he put the scroll down. "Come in." He called out. The door gently opened, revealing Pyrrha with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked, taking a step towards her leader "You seemed like your mind was elsewhere all day. If you ever want to talk about things that are bothering you, you can always come to me."
He looked at his partner and smiled. Pyrrha Nikos. The first person to ever believe in him and his closest friend. He always wondered why she had picked him as a partner, but he was glad she had. "I'm okay, It's just some family issues." He admitted, knowing that there wasn't any merit in lying to her "I haven't really gone out of my way to talk to them since I left for Beacon." He waited for the redhead to take a seat before continuing "My family, they... They never believed that I could get into Beacon, let alone become a Huntsman. So, I left... Grabbed the family sword, and left."
"But, you had your aura unlocked before arriving at Beacon. That shows that they had some faith in you, right?" Pyrrha tried her best to cheer him up.
A dry laugh "I got caught by my dad as I was sneaking out. He only unlocked my aura to make sure I'd have a better chance of coming home alive when I failed." Jaune let a small but proud smile grace his lips "Proved him wrong though." He joked.
Pyrrha wore a confused frown "So, why haven't you called them? I'm sure they're worried sick about you."
"I'm scared..."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm terrified of what they're going to say. When I left they weren't the most supportive of my choice and they made sure to let me know that every single day." Jaune fell back onto the bed and spread his arms out "And besides, we're on a mission. I don't want anything distracting me."
An eyebrow rose "I think it'd be best if you send them a message at least. They're probably worried about you."
"I will after the mission..." He shot her a quick glance and noticed the unconvinced look she was giving him "I promise." He added.
"Good. If you ever need anything," Pyrrha stood up and made her way to the door "Please, don't hesitate to ask." She gave him one last comforting smile before leaving him alone.
His wrist burned lightly as his partners words put him at ease. He subconsciously rubbed at the heat sensation and closed his eyes. "After the mission..."
~~~Aura Link~~~
"You wanna be a Huntsman then you need to pick up that sword." An older blonde man stared down at the flat body on the ground.
Jaune let out a pained groan and reached for the sword, only for it to be kicked further out of his reach. He grit his teeth in frustration and pushed himself up on to one leg. Deep blue eyes bore into the man with a blend of admiration and hatred.
"Do you see now why your dream is impossible?" There was no malice in the words, just the cold hard truth "You can hardly hold a sword, you have no stamina and you don't even have aura. Jaune, why do you want to be a Huntsman? Why would you throw your life away like that?"
"I want to help people..." The boy managed to get out in between breaths, his dad had had enough of his constant nagging for training that he eventually gave in and this was the outcome. Jaune would try to attack the man and in return, he would end up face down in the dirt with a couple fresh bruises.
A sigh "No child of mine is going to just throw his life away. Why don't you try becoming a musician? Your mother and I did spend a lot of money on those guitar lessons for you." He stroked his stubble.
"No." Came the simple reply, as he finally got to his feet, head hung low.
"Why are you being so stubborn?" His dad asked.
"Why won't you training me properly?" Jaune's voice cracked and his head shot up, glaring daggers at his father through glossy eyes.
"Because, I refuse to let you kill yourself. You could be so much more than just a body in a war that might not end. I want to see all my children grow up and live their lives." He reached out for his shoulders only to have his hand swatted away by the boy.
"You don't get to choose what I do with my life." Jaune was crying by this point, he had finally hit his breaking point "I applied for Beacon, and once I get accepted you'll never see me again!" He screamed.
Dark blue eyes stared back at the boy "Go and get washed up for dinner. Don't keep your mother waiting." His dad instructed.
Jaune stared in shock, his dad had completely ignored him, did he really have no faith in him whatsoever? Without a word, Jaune trudged past his father and entered the house.
Days passed and Jaune had refused to speak to anyone in his home, he just sat in his room. His dad had stopped by every day and tried to talk to his son, but when he got no response he eventually gave up. He just waited.
A knock on the door and the shy voice of his little sister Rogue spoke "Jaune, there's a letter for you."
Jaune practically dashed over to the door and swung it open, pulling the young girl into his room "Shh! I don't want the others to know." He hushed his sister and together they sat on the bed. He took the envelope from Rogue and his hands started to tremble.
"Jaune..." Rogue placed her smaller hand onto his and he calmed down "I'm sure you've been accepted." She gave him her biggest smile. She was the only other person in the house besides their father that knew he had applied for Beacon.
"Only one way to find out..." He slowly opened up the envelope and pulled out the several folded pieces of paper. He opened one up and he could feel his pulse begin to race once again.
"Well?" Rogue bounced up and down in her spot "What does it say?"
"I've... Been accepted..." He began to shake, a grin appearing on his face as tears of joy poured from his eyes. 'Of course I got accepted, guess saving up for the transcripts worked...' He thought sadly, but was too overjoyed to think about the fact he had cheated.
"What are the other things in there?" Rogue asked, pointing at the other sheets of paper.
"Bullhead tickets and travel stuff." He said, wiping his stinging eyes.
"Oh! I'm so happy for you, big bro!" Rogue pulled him into a hug.
A week later, the clock struck 3am and Jaune hopped off of his bed, already fully dressed. He was too anxious to sleep so he had stayed awake going over the plan in his head.
He quietly snuck out of his room and avoided causing any of the stairs to creak on his way down them. It was a simple plan, grab sword and run. So why was he sweating? He neared the weapons cabinet and let out a breath of relief when nobody had been woken up yet. He opened the cabinet and retrieved his goal, Crocea Mors, his fathers blade.
"What do you think you're doing?" Came the deep voice of said man.
In surprise, Jaune unsheathed the sword and held it out in fear "Why are you awake?" He shouted in a whisper, not wanting to wake up the rest of the house.
His dad took a step forward and held out his hand.
"Stay back..." Jaune's eyes widened in fear.
A hand found his shoulder and he was covered in a white light "For it is in passing that we achieve virtue and prosperity, thus growing into a paragon of unbound glory and life. By my honour and the name of Arc, I release your soul, allowing those by name to protect thee."
"What did you just do?" Jaune asked.
"I unlocked your Aura."
"Why?"
"I don't know. If you're really planning on doing this, I want you to know that you will always be welcome back if you don't get in." His dad shook his head "Just promise me you wont die."
~~~Aura Link~~~
The sun had started to beam through the cracks in the curtains as it started to rise. Jaune thanked the fact his alarm had gone off and dragged him out of that dream.
He let out a yawn and stretched as he got to his feet.
Knock Knock
Jaune stared at the door confused, it was way too early for the team to be meeting up. He opened up the door and was once again met with Pyrrha. She had an odd look on her face and refused to meet his eyes.
"What's up, Pyr?" He asked.
"I.. I think I saw your dream." She responded.
"Oh..."
Kind of a slow chapter, but I kinda need to start working in the Arkos aspect and stuff, next chapter will be a straight banger though so don't you worry. Cant have climaxes without a little bit of character development!
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