I will be frank with all of you: this bit with Port is crap and I am sorry for it for many reasons. I just felt like writing it at some point and it stuck.
Pyrrha gets another clue about Jaune's problems. Jaune and Pyrrha will start to deal with the thirst real soon - you'll see.
"That! Was! Awesome!" Nora shouted. "You really are our fearless leader."
"Nora, please."
"No, really, you just tanked a hit from Boartusk just to stab it! That takes guts!"
So that's how he had managed this time? All Jaune knew was that he had gotten angry. After that it had been like an autopilot took over. His movements had felt natural but even so he had fallen over, tripping on his own feet. Just because his memories knew how to do something didn't mean he had the muscle memory for it or the needed training.
Still, it had gone better than in combat class.
He just couldn't trust himself around people when the thirst got hold of him. It was crying for blood and Jaune knew that the might never be enough.
"I think it went fairly well. I dare say you are maybe even improving." said Ren.
"Be quiet." Ruby said, interrupting them.
"Yang wants to try something new. But yeah, it was a pretty sweet move Jaune."
They turned to watch the final demonstration for the days grimm class: Yang vs. a Beowulf. The outcome was never really in doubt.
The new thing Yang wanted to try was only a small variation to her usual blows. Still she raised her fist high in celebration.
"You go sis!" Ruby shouted. Yang answered with a mocking bow to the audience.
It made Jaune reminisce of the antics of his own siblings: Rosinca, Desmine, Thulite, Virdine, Horus, Leman, Vulkan…
Jaune's head snapped up at the mental images he was seeing.
Who was he remembering and why?
Jaune had no brothers. Still, he remembered a face with every name. But how?
His family was in Vale, all of them. There were only his sisters, his mother and father… Father?
No, 'Father' was not what Jaune called Augustus Arc. Augustus Arc was 'dad'.
'Father' - the very word made Jaune think of the color gold.
That settled it, 'Father' was not 'dad' for Jaune.
Augustus Arc hated gold as he was a simple, down-to-earth kind of man. 'Farther' on the other hand was above and beyond.
In his mind Jaune knew from where these people came from: his dreams.
But where did the dreams come from?
Jaune was snapped out of his thoughts by the bell. All the students were getting up from their seats. "That's all for today. Don't forget to keep up your training." said professor Port.
Jaune, my boy, a word please."
Well, this was new.
"Go on ahead guys, I'll catch up."
"Don't keep us waiting too long vomit-boy." teased Yang, still running on the fumes of victory.
She backed off when Jaune accidentally bared his fangs in annoyance. He muttered an apology and went to talk with the professor. Port had hoisted himself on his desk and invited Jaune to take the chair.
"Now my boy, you don't mind that I call you that right? I'm sure that you are wondering what I want to discuss with you?"
"I would prefer Jaune and yes, sir."
"Hrmph. Call me Port or Peter. No one else is around to hear us."
"Yes si- I mean Port."
"Good, you can adapt. Now to the matter at hand."
Jaune braced himself. Did Port know about his transcripts? Was he getting booted out? Jaune could feel himself start to sweat despite the cool air in the room.
Port sucked in air through his teeth, looking for the right words to use and the right angle to approach the subject from.
"I know you have been having some difficulties lately with combat. Don't try to deny it, Goodwitch has noticed the same thing. The stress has been getting to you."
Jaune nodded shamefully. Grimm class he somehow managed but combat class remained difficult. Against fellow students the thirst would flare up but not against grimm, unless students were around.
"Shin up, Jaune. Just because the going gets hard doesn't mean it's the end of the road. I fact, I think I have a way to help you."
Jaune looked up. A way to help him?
"I have seen the signs Jaune. And believe it or not, but I do keep track of what is being said at Beacon. You are sleeping badly. You have trouble concentrating in class and your full skill only seems to come out sporadically."
It was true. despite his spars with Pyrrha he could not let loose at will. He had gotten the anger mostly under control. The problem was the Thirst. It was lurking in his mind. It was always there but it made itself felt when he tried to pull on his other memories.
It was a struggle to keep it in check normally, to do it while in combat was almost impossible. Still, with Pyrrha's help he had made some progress.
"So, what would you have in mind?"
"Let me tell you a story."
'Oh Dust, not another snooze-fest. I don't have time for it.' thought Jaune.
"But since you have another class shortly I'll keep it brief."
Port unbuttoned his coat and shirt. Jaune was getting rather uncomfortable with the situation: him - a young student and Port - an eccentric elderly man, alone in a classroom.
"I was once a very different man." Port said and revealed a number of tattoos under his clothes.
There were a lot of them. They looked to be gang tattoos Jaune had seen on television.
"It was before my adventuring days had started. I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. I would get into fights and do all sorts of crap."
"But what does that have to do with me?"
"I was also a substance abuser."
Oh, so that's what this was all about. Jaune almost let out a laugh. Peter Port had thought that Jaune was an addict of sorts!
Without missing a beat Port kept on telling his story.
"Eventually I hit rock bottom. I was broke, on the street and alone. I could either get my shit together and move on or die in the gutters, high on whatever shit I could find."
"What did you do?" Jaune really wanted to know. He was not an addict.
He had not taken anything in his life. His cravings were not the result of substance abuse. Still, he could see the parallels between his and Port's problem.
"I knew I couldn't just stop, that would have killed me. I started to cut down on my fixes. Small cuts over a long time to deal with the physical cravings."
Jaune frowned. Cutting down was not an option for him. He didn't have anything to cut down on!
"But I knew that would not be enough. I had seen others try the same thing and fail. I knew I had to fill in the void that came after my cutting downs."
"Replacement therapy?" suggested Jaune.
He remembered how his dad, Augustus Arc had smoked for a time when Livia was pregnant with Blende. Nicotine patches had been the only way for the man to quit. A lot of nicotine patches.
"Sort of. I could not switch substance, then I would just be in the same shit again only with a different substance. No, I did it differently. As I felt the cravings I forced myself to take something else, regardless if actually helped or not. It was a struggle at first but after a while it became a habit. Soon I was of the shit I had been hooked on for so long."
Port beamed with pride.
"What did you take?"
"Sugar."
"What?"
"Sugar. ridiculous amounts of the stuff. I must have downed bags of the stuff during the bad weeks."
"That can't have been healthy."
"It wasn't. The cravings continued for years after I had left my criminal life and become an adventures. How do you think I earned the nickname 'Sweet Pete'? Anyhow, after some years on a sugar-based diet the consequences finally caught up with me."
Jaune eyed the man carefully. He went over the man's tattoos, the aggravated red pricks on his skin, the redness of the man's face, his breath and his story.
"Are you diabetic, Sir?"
Peter Port nodded grimly.
"Yes, and it marked the end of my adventuring days. By then I had already gotten known to Ozpin and he offered me a job here. It suited me just fine. I got to pass on my skills to new generations, get in on the occasional action and getting my insulin here is easy. Getting it as an active huntsman in the field would have been borderline impossible."
Jaune was quiet for a while. He had always figured the professor as a boasting loudmouth, bragging about past glories, but now Jaune could not help but have some respect for the man.
"But we are getting of track. Jaune, I am not claiming that you are some addict but I think you could do with something to get your mind off things."
"Like what?"
"Anything. A girl, some booze, maybe a game even. The point is that you need to find something to direct your problems at and to relieve your stress with, rather than to struggle against a shapeless enemy."
The bell rang out, signalling that a new class was about to begin.
"Just remember to keep it under moderation. Now, off with you. Oobleck will have my hide if you are late to his lecture because of me."
Jaune thanked the man for the "advice" and took his leave.
'To find something to replace his desired substance with. It is worth a shot.' Jaune thought.
He would have the evening to himself today as Pyrrha was going to give her parents a call. Jaune could head into town and get himself something.
'I have to try something.'
It was morning. As was the norm, the sibling teams JNPR and RWBY were having breakfast together. Jaune was absent though. Having had a really bad night he had decided to seclude himself in order to clear his head. His teammates had come to accept this sort of behavior by now. They did not like it however.
From her uniform Nora produced a notebook and started to shuffle through it. It was Jaune's dream journal.
"Nora, should you be reading that? Isn't a journal supposed to be personal, and private?" asked Blake while trying to sneak a peek of the notebook's content.
"What, I'm helping him. Like Ren."
"How is this like anything Ren has done?" asked Ruby.
"Well Renny gave him the idea to write down his dreams. I'm just making sure that he actually writes something down. Besides, he is already up. He won't be writing down any more today." stated Nora and started reading.
"The hell is this?"
"SWEAR WORD!" shouted Ruby earning a sigh from her teammates.
"No seriously, what is this stuff? I can't read it."
"What, is vomit-boy's handwriting that bad?" Yang chimed in.
Ren looked over.
"No, far from it. The penmanship here is better here than on anything else Jaune has written, better than most peoples'".
Pyrrha nodded. She recognized some of the of the writings as words Jaune used when he talked in his sleep.
"No, it is just that it isn't Valean."
"What?" All Of Team RWBY said in unison. They did not know Jaune was multilingual. He didn't seem the type.
"See for yourselves."
They looked at the text confused. A few words resemble Valean but otherwise it was incomprehensive to them.
"Yeah it's all Mistalian to me." said Weiss, earning an angry glare from Pyrrha, the resident Mistralian. The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company quickly apologized.
"What even is a Baal? Is it a dance?" Nora asked as she tried to form the words in her mouth.
Weiss tilted her head in confusion. She prided herself on her education and all-round knowledge. Not knowing things annoyed her.
"What is a Segmentum?"
"What is a voidcraft?" Ruby said. "Do you think it is a ship?"
Blake broke up the questions and grabbed the notebook.
"You are all missing what is most important."
Blake stated and pointed out some words that appeared several times. 'brothers', 'Father' and 'sons' appeared the most often.
Ruby scratched her head.
"Is he dreaming of his family? Is Jaune a dad?"
"That can't be right. I have talked with his mother. He is the only boy in the family, and I'm pretty sure he is too young to have kids." said Ren, matter of fact.
"Well, maybe he has kept it a secret. What if it's some cult or- Oh my, what hunks." Yang said as she kept flipping through the pages.
She had found drawings of some people and she liked what she saw. Blake leaned in closer, agreeing with Yang's point of view.
"Hey, I didn't know Jaune could draw."
"None of us knew either." Pyrrha said and snagged the notebook.
She looked at the beautiful handwriting, the detailed drawings. Jaune had made all this by a glimmer of moonlight. How he was able to see in such faint light was beyond her.
She turned to the last set of filled pages. Though she hardly understood anything of what was written she realized it was a conversation with a "Master Apothecary" that Jaune had written down.
Throughout the text Jaune would occasionally use Valean. It allowed Pyrrha to get some insight into what the text was about.
It became clear that the conversation the words made up was not a happy one.
A word kept popping up: "Red Thirst."
Then the handwriting changed. Where it had been perfect before it was now ragged.
There was a line of text that clearly did not belong in the discussion. She recognized it from a few nights ago.
"I will not be responsible for the erasure of the Blood Angels from Imperial history. I will not have a third empty plinth beneath the roof of the Hegemon as my Legion's only memorial!"
Pyrrha sighed. "Guys, I think this is more than we bargained for."
"Agreed. I think we should ask for some real help." stated Ren earning nods from the others.
"But who can we turn to? I mean, it's not like Beacon has a counselor at stand-by." Nora pointed out.
"One of the teachers perhaps."
Pyrrha remembered her talk with Goodwitch about Jaune's problems. She had considered telling the professor about the journal then as the dreams did most certainly have something to do with Jaune's problems.
"I think maybe Goodwitch might help us out."
"Goodwitch? Really?"
"She is not that bad, Ruby. Besides, she does look out for us. I have talked about some of Jaune's problems with her before."
"Maybe she is not that bad to you Cereal-girl but the rest of us would prefer to stay clear of her."
Yang sighed as Pyrrha handed the notebook back to Nora. Yang would have to keep tabs on it in case Jaune drew some more hunks, hopefully with less clothes on.
"Alright girls and Ren, let's go. Better get this over with."
Glynda Goodwitch had not expected Team RWBY and JNPR at that time. There was still plenty of time before her lecture began and they were in their uniforms, not combat gear. She quickly noted that Jaune Arc was missing.
"It's about Mr. Arc, is it not?"
Pyrrha stepped forward and handed her a notebook.
"Yes. We have something that might give us some insight to what is bothering him."
"I see. and what is this exactly?"
"A dream Journal. I suggested it to him shortly after be began attending Beacon. He has been writing constantly in it ever since."
"I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I shall try to look into it."
Nora raised her hand.
"Eh? Shouldn't the school have like a counselor for this sort of thing?"
"It certainly would be needed. The training to become a huntsman can be taxing to say the least. We have tried to establish such a position here at Beacon several times but professor Ozpin keeps neglecting to give it a budget." said Goodwitch with a pained expression.
'The coffee addicted bastard, him and Bartholomew both.' she thought.
So many problems could be solved with just one specialized member of staff.
Goodwitch looked inside the notebook at the notes. It was gibberish to her and the handwriting was not like how she remembered Arc's.
"And you are certain this is Arc's handwriting?"
"Yes, we have seen him write it all." stated Ren.
"Most curious. Alas I can't comprehend this but I know someone who might. Is this the only copy?"
"Yes."
"Do you think you could deliver it to profes-, I mean, to doctor Oobleck, without Arc noticing that it is missing? While you may be acting in his best interests it might be best if he didn't know that you have snatched his journal like this."
Ren nodded. "Yes, I think we can do that. Jaune has been having trouble focusing recently. I doubt he would miss it."
"Then see that you do. I shall arrange things with Doctor Oobleck. In the meantime I suggest you do what you can to help."
'Dust, he will need it if he is to make it with his skills.'
The students thanked her and took their leave to get ready for combat class.
'Well, maybe we will figure out what has brought a boy with forged transcripts to Beacon after all.' she thought as she hurried to deliver the notebook to her colleague.
Oobleck would have to scan it and then hand it back. Glynda would let Arc's friends have it back after her class.
Glynda considered what the Arc case meant, beyond the bet between her and Port of course.
Ozpin had recently taken a different approach to it. He seemed to deem Arc more as a curiosity or potential ally rather than a threat but was still treating the matter cautiously. He had even gone so far as to try to change his stake in the bet - to no avail as was Beacon's rules.
Ozpin had told Glynda of what he had learned from Tai.
While that story did fill them with some hope they had no way to verifying the legitimacy of the Golden Man's claims. For all they knew Taiyang could have just hallucinated it all.
Jaune Arc had befriended Ruby Rose but that was not really proof of anything, now was it? As for Arc saving the girl while she was unconscious? Well, for Arc to have to do that something must go terribly wrong on a scale beyond comprehension.
'It simply won't happen.' thought Glynda or rather, she hoped so damned hard that she began to believe.
For now all what they could do was to wait and see. Or maybe give Arc the same treatment as Taiyang had gotten?
No, that would not yield anything. So far it was clear from the investigation that Arc was not some nefarious mastermind.
He had simply followed his dreams of becoming a huntsman, but all his hopes on one very risky plan and somehow gotten in. Ozpin was rather certain that Jaune didn't even know of the Golden Man's intervention.
However, the headmaster was not blindingly trusting. He had made it very clear that he would look further into the matter before he reached out to Arc properly.
"One day we will have answers when we have more clues." muttered Glynda and began to prepare for class.
The group made its way to combat class. Jaune was already there, sleeping with a book open. He woke up when they take their places around him.
"You are here early." pointed Ruby out.
"Yeah, decided to get here early and try to get some reading done. I'm too far behind as it is."
"Did it help?"
"No, I keep falling asleep and just can't focus. My mind just keeps drifting away."
He didn't mention to what things his mind drifted to.
The thirst was getting worse and worse. Were the nightmares not enough? What gods had he pissed off to deserve this?
(Somewhere in the Immaterium, four gods were snickering like a bunch of kids that had just pulled a massive prank)
He yawned and took a swig of his juice. He grimaced. It did nothing for him and it tasted terribly bad to him, just like all the others.
Taking professor Port's advice to heart Jaune had tried to find something that could ease his problems. He had tried all kind of liquids. He had even asked Yang to smuggle in some booze for him into Beacon. Nothing helped.
"Oh, a new brand again? What ever happened to your favorite one?" asked Nora.
"Oh, just wanted to try something new." he said halfheartedly.
"Can I try it?"
"Sure, I'm done with it anyway." he said handing over the almost full container.
"Hey this is some good stuff! You sure you don't want it?"
"Yes. It is not what I'm looking for." he muttered as he laid his head down on the table. Dust, he was tired.
Nora shrugged.
"Your loss."
"Bad night?" Pyrrha asked with concern.
"Yes, bad dreams, again. I know right? News of the century."
Pyrrha looked worriedly at her partner and shook her head. Sarcasm of this kind was unbecoming of Jaune. He was not doing well.
Despite his best efforts he was not improving much in any field.
His combat, his grades and morale were suffering.
For now all he could do was to try to keep up. Soon even that would be impossible if he didn't start to get some real sleep. Pyrrha knew that Jaune understood this as well but did not seem to be able to break the cycle.
There was another thing Pyrrha had noticed. Jaune's 'condition' had gotten worse soon after they started training. He had seemingly gotten his anger under control but now there was something else haunting him, something even worse.
"Do you remember anything of your dreams?" Pyrrha asked. He wouldn't, like always.
He would just jot down something in his journal every morning only to forget it later on. Maybe he tried to suppress it along with his other problems?
"Actually, I think I remember it for once."
"Oh, what happened?"
Jaune furrowed his forehead, trying to put together last night's dream.
"Grimm, lots of them, in Vale. You were there, and Ren, and Nora. Even team Ruby, most of them. And others."
"Oh, Anything else?"
"I remember flying. Like, real flying, not like being tossed around by a Deathstalker."
"Hey, you did mention that you had flown before."
"Really, when did I say that?"
"When the Deathstalker tossed you at the entrance exam. Ruby told me."
"Oooh, come on Pyr. At least let me live that one down."
Pyrrha chuckled. At least he had some humor left in him.
"Alright children, settle down. Combat class is about to begin. Any volunteers for the first match?"
Two students, Jaune didn't know them, volunteered. From the chatter in the room he guessed the two had some grievances that they wanted to sort out by beating the crap out of each other in combat class.
It was not uncommon at Beacon Academy for people to settle their arguments in Combat Class. Here they could fight with no repercussion and the victor could humiliate the loser in front of everyone else.
Just like Cardin had done to him. Jaune did not like it. Even so he tried to pay attention and learn something from it.
It was daggers against an axe.
Jaune hadn't caught the fighters' names so he dubbed them Daggers and Axe in his mind. Unoriginal, sure, but he was having a bad day.
"Begin." ordered Goodwitch and the combatants started to approach one another.
Neither wanted to make the first move in fear if being countered. Instead they kept their distance, only briefly clashing just to pull back immediately afterwards. Then the taunting started. Daggers was better at this but left himself too open when Axe finally had enough. With his axe he pushed the daggers away and with his free hand backhanded Daggers in the face. For some reason Daggers hadn't kept up his aura and was now nurturing a bloody nose.
The class awed in the savage but effective maneuver and let out a collective 'whoa'.
Even Jaune raised his head from the table but he said nothing. He stared at the crimson liquid pouring out of Dagger's nose. He felt his throat dry up. He wanted it and it was right there. He opened his mouth, fangs bared, ready to take it all in.
'So close.'
Before he could get up he felt a hand on his shoulder. His mind snapped back and he looked at a concerned Pyrrha.
"Is something the matter, Jaune?"
"Uh, no, I'm just concerned, that's all. It looked like that hurt."
He pulled out another container of juice from his bag. He needed something to take his mind of things.
The match was soon over and Axe was declared the winner. There had never been any real doubt about the outcome of the match.
"Maybe I also could win for once." he sighed.
"All you need is a bit of practice." Pyrrha assured him.
He had been getting better, he really had if only a little bit. At least against grimm. Against human opponents he still had his troubles.
Jaune could hear his friends sighing and see them roll their eyes at him. He believed they were losing patience with him. In reality they were just a bit tired with his lack of confidence.
"Say, Jaune. We are free after the lectures. Would you like to spar after this? It might get your mind off thing."
Jaune was tempted to say no but after alienating Pyrrha once he did not want to do it again.
The thirst was getting out of hand and he did not thrust himself with it, not after this latest urge.
But he had no choice. He needed the practice or else he would fall too far behind. The teachers had made it clear that there were expectations for the students at Beacon, expectations he was failing to meet.
"Sure thing, Pyr." he said with a weak smile.
Dust, would he be able to control himself after this?
They all turned to watch the next match: Nora Valkyrie vs. Russel Thrush. The young Valkyrie did not get to break the boy's legs but the fight was entertaining nonetheless.