In this chapter: Jaune's training with Pyrrha begins and he finally decides to try to remember things from his "past". Ozpin gets a clue. Jaune's transcripts are explained. Oh, and Qrow is there too. And booze. Lots of it.
And someone very special is revealed. Someone... godly.
Chapter 8: Ass beatings, drunkterrogation and divine intervention
Jaune's ass was sore.
Pyrrha had knocked him on his ass for the we-quit-counting-ages-ago-th time that day.
Keeping track of that was only going to make his self-loathing worse, something Pyrrha intended to rectify in the future… somehow.
Jaune took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. He had not been getting much better combat-vise but he was getting his anger under control. He had hoped that once the anger was under control he would be able to make real progress. That was not the case.
Now a new problem had reared its ugly head and it was even worse.
It was the thirst and it was maddening.
He would find himself biting down on his own lips when the pangs hit him.
Pyrrha, ever supportive, had just assumed that he was trying to deal with some of the worst parts of his "anger issues".
In truth, he was doing what he could just to think straight. Ever so often he would find himself staring at her when she wasn't looking.
Most men would have done it because of her beauty but Jaune did it for a much darker reason. He would look at her neck, see the veins under her skin and imagine the lifeblood flowing through them. He would feel his teeth throb and throat dry up.
A swig of ice-cold water was all that would offer relief but only for a moment. It would numb his teeth and water his throat but it would not make the problem go away.
"Better." Pyrrha said. "Think you can do it again?"
"Just give me a moment."
They had been trying to help him master a move he had tried to do a few days ago. He was trying his hardest to remember it clearly.
Who had he been fighting when he used it? He could remember a large, green body and a lot of shouting.
As he tried to recall more the thirst got worse. He forced the urges back and got up. Pyrrha was putting a lot of effort and time into training with him. He would not let it go to waste.
It was not the Arc way.
"Okay, once more and then we call it a day." he said and picked up Crocea Mors.
"Already? But yesterday we kept on for twice as long?"
"Pyr, my ass can only take so much abuse in one day. So unless you start knocking me down on my face instead this will be our last spar for the day."
"Well, okay. Should we perhaps move our training sessions to the woods and the soft ground?"
"My butt would be ever so grateful."
"... Then we could keep training much longer."
"Actually, the roof is lovely this time of year." joked Jaune or maybe he didn't. Pyrrha still chuckled at the bad joke.
The soft ground would be less hurtful to fall on but it would also mean more sparring. More sparring would probably lead to his mind snapping.
'Doomed if I do, doomed if I don't.' thought Jaune.
Their blades clashed again and Jaune did end up falling on his ass again, having made an unexpected turn making Pyrrha miss her strike. She had intended to knock him over his face.
"Sorry!"
"Don't be."
The unexpected turn had really been him attempting yet another maneuver that he hadn't practiced yet. He had seen an opening in Pyrrha's defense. With his ordinary skill set he would not have been able to exploit it, but with the new move he might just manage.
It failed. Jaune ended up tripping on his own feet and getting struck.
This had been the norm for the past few weeks. It had been difficult but Pyrrha's words of encouragement kept him going. She did mean every word.
He had made some improvements. Jaune no longer froze up in battle as much. He still struggled though on account of him having less experience and less conditioned muscles than his peers.
Whenever he would try to test out a new technique he would mess something up. That or suffer an "anger-attack" as Pyrrha called them. He would wince and struggle to bring himself under control.
She understood why he would want to try to use these new moves but she sternly reprimanded him anyway.
"No new moves until you've mastered the old ones." she would say.
The anger-attacks caused by the thirst were not helping as they took up valuable time from them and they did seem to cause Jaune incredible discomfort.
He would even go so far as to bite his lips until they bled.
Pyrrha did not push the question of why Jaune got his rage-moments or from where he remembered his moves.
'A past life forgotten.' she reasoned but was stuck wondering how anyone could forget something like that.
One day Jaune would tell them. One day he would get a clear answer from his folks about his heritage, if he had any to speak of.
Maybe he would also learn of why he had his nightmares.
Maybe someday, but not yet.
In headmaster Ozpin's office an unusual scene was taking place.
Ozpin was sitting at his desk overlooking the two other men in the room: Qrow Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long, both former members of Team STRQ and brothers-in-law.
Taiyang had been married to Qrow's sister, Raven, and had a child with her named Yang. Taiyang, or just Tai for short, had separated from Raven. No, actually, it had been Raven who had ditched him and Yang.
After that Tai had gotten together with Summer, the S of Team STRQ, and had a daughter with her. Said daughter was Ruby Rose.
Summer had effectively been the loving mother for both girls while Qrow, despite lack of blood relations, had become Ruby's uncle as well as Yang's.
They had all gotten along with one another after that. Well except for Raven because she was kind of a cunt.
Ozpin reasoned then that Qrow, being Raven's brother, was kind of a dick.
Ozpin wasn't completely wrong there.
Qrow was currently liquoring up his former brother-in-law. Bottle in one hand, funnel in the other.
Not that odd really. In the past they had both had many drinks together but this was the first time they had orders to do so by Ozpin.
Okay, maybe the funnel going down Tai's throat was a bit odd. But hey, you can't argue with results.
Tai had been asked, or rather, been politely ordered to get his ass to Ozpin's office and explain himself and his actions in person.
Said actions were accepting Jaune Arc's transcripts and sending them to Beacon while disregarding the safety protocol that he had followed for many years.
When Tai had been hesitant about giving Ozpin answers it had been decided that Tai's tongue needed loosening up.
Thus, they had decided to intoxicate Tai. They were not mean about it as it was being done out of necessity. And for laughs in Qrow's case.
He was Raven's brother after all and that did make him kind of a dick.
To be clear, Tai did not hesitate with his answers because he didn't want to tell the truth. He just didn't know what the truth was and what he did know he wasn't sure how to explain, not with proper words and grammar at least.
Now Ozpin had learned one thing from working with Qrow over the years: drunks do not care for such things as proper vocabulary or proper grammar but Qrow did his best reporting while drunk (a bit of a moot point seeing as Qrow was always drunk).
So Ozpin had reasoned that maybe it would work for Tai ass well?
They went through Tai's story several times. At first nothing new was revealed but during the second go new details began to slip in.
Maybe it was the booze or Tai was just getting too tired to hide stuff.
Tai had received Jaune's application and immediately noticed that something had been off. The paper the transcripts were on was of the wrong type and it's watermark had been wrong. The signature on the transcripts had been Tai's own, or rather, a forgery of his. It had not been very well made. Then he had noticed who the applicant was.
Tai had been surprised to learn that Augustus' kid was applying for Beacon. Tai had been under the impression that Augustus would never let his flesh and blood enter such a dangerous profession.
Anyway, Tai had figured out that the transcripts were fake and had been about to discard them and contact Augustus about his son's behaviour when "it" had happened.
Tai had spaced out for a while when he had been looking at the transcripts. He had closed his eyes for a moment and there had been a golden, bright light followed by an image going through his head.
Someone he didn't know was there, in his mind. He looked regal and powerful. He appeared to be tall, taller than any man should be.
"Let it happen." the man had said.
"Why?" Tai had asked and gotten one hell of a motivator.
An image of Tai's daughter Ruby had flashed through Tai's mind. She and another girl had been unconscious in Qrow's arms in a place that looked like Ozpin's office. Everything had been broken and a lot of people were dead.
Then Tai had seen the kid.
Jaune Arc was standing between Ruby with some others and an enemy, weapon raised as if to protect them from something or someone.
The enemy had raised a bow towards them and let an arrow fly. It had been stopped somehow.
The Golden Man had made himself clear: let the Arc kid enter Beacon so that he could protect Ruby.
That had been what made Tai send the transcripts to Beacon. He didn't wonder if the kid actually had the ability to save Ruby or if such an event would come to be.
Tai's instincts to protect his child had taken control. The suggestions from the golden man had merely guided Tai's actions, strengthening his resolve to see this done.
As if to sweeten the deal another sight had been shown to Tai. Ruby and Arc would be friends, good friends.
That was good. Ruby was not good at making friends. She needed friends.
After that the transcripts were sent Tai had just forgotten about it. A final message from the golden man had told him to "Not worry about it". And Tai hadn't. He had done something to keep his girl safe. What was there to think about?
Tai didn't even bother to call up Augustus about his son. The kid would do good work so there was no reason to bother the Arc family. Tai had then continued to go through the applications and nothing else had happened.
"An' there u hav' it." said a now rather drunk Tai as he finished his story.
Ozpin nodded. "I see. I thank you for your cooperation Tai."
"No probm'. Have you learn'd any'ing a'bout 'im? Thu kid?"
"No, apart from his sudden growth of fangs we have not noticed anything."
"Fangs, hu? Do you think they mean anything?" asked Qrow.
He had seen a lot of strange things in his life but that part had genuinely taken him by surprise.
Qrow knew Augustus Arc, well they were associates - hostile friends to be exact. Qrow having graduated a few years after Augustus.
He was pretty sure the Arc bloodline did not house a trait like fangs.
Ozpin nodded. He too was perplexed about the fangs.
"They might. But I am mostly concerned with how and why."
"Yeah, You're right."
Qrow turned around and took a sip from his bottle and noticed a board in the headmasters office with sums of Lien written on it.
"Hey, now Oz! Are you having a betting pool? And you didn't tell me? I'm hurt, Oz."
"Qrow, you are drunk most of the time. It would be irresponsible to let you gamble."
"Well I'm almost sober now. A hundred Lien on yes."
Qrow didn't even know or care what the bet was about. He whipped out some cash from his pocket and handed it over to Ozpin who wrote down Qrow's stake in the bet.
He turned to Qrow's former brother-in-law.
"What about you Taiyang? Do you want in?"
"Urg, no, I'm no bettin' man. Bud habit, don' wan' the girls to pi-HICK!- up any of thos."
"A good idea. Now, I imagine your nieces' and daughters' classes are over for the day. I suppose you would like to meet them."
Tai just shook his head.
"Ah appreci-hick!-ate yo concern but I don' wan' muh girls to si me like this."
"Yeah, and I have to take this drunk home and then get back to work." said Qrow and dragged Tai up to his feet.
"As u' sho'd, givun' ho man times I hah dun it for u'."
"Oh shut up, you drunk." Qrow joked and got Tai to head towards the elevator.
Ozpin sat down by his desk and began to process what he had learned. He poured himself a cup of coffee and let the dark liquid do it's work on his brain. Before his thought process had properly kicked off did he get a message on his scroll. It was from Qrow.
The man must have forgotten something.
The message read "Queen has pawns."
Troubling news for Ozpin. As if he didn't have enough of those already.