Bit shorter than usual, hope you still like it!
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The Naming ceremony was short but sweet and filled to the brim with cheers of excited students, which confounded Jaune to no end. If everyone was so happy why could he smell negativity? Even while walking down the halls with his team towards their new room the scent persisted.
It was faint, barely noticeable at all but Whitback caught it immediately, just after they were named team RASY (Rhapsody) with Ruby as their leader. Was someone unhappy with their team? It's coming from the white haired girl, Weiss Schnee.
Jaune held back the urge to respond and looked sideways over his new team-mates, seeing Ruby and Yang happily chatting up a storm with each other while Weiss had her head down deep in thought. He scratched his head, trying to think of something to say that might help her feel better.
"Is something bothering you?" He decided to try just asking her, tact was never his strong suit. Weiss looked up at him with a hint of confusion "What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong, I-I was just thinking." She said defensively, crossing her arms and giving him a glare.
"Sorry, I just thought… Nevermind." Jaune shook his head and continued walking ahead, earning a few curious stares from his team. He knew something was wrong but why did Weiss want to hide it? Had he done something wrong? Strange, I wonder why she would lie.
The negativity persited and even grew when Ruby insisted on making some impromptu bunk beds to save on space in their somewhat cramped room. Was Weiss mad at Ruby? Had something happened before they met in the forest? Seeing the moon rising outside the window he knew he would have plenty of time to think about it while everyone slept.
He put his sword and shield on the side of his bed, keeping a bit of Whitback's body inside the weapons so they wouldn't lose their shape. To remove his armor he relied heavily on the cloak covering himself to hide the black veins that snaked outwards and widened the armor enough to be removed by hand. Again Whitback had to leave a part of itself inside to keep the white material from evaporating without contact with Jaune's body.
After stripping from his armor and placing it on the ground at the foot of his bed, Jaune was left wearing a slim fitting shirt and pants. "Wow…" Yang sounded surprised and Jaune looked over to see her staring at him.
"What…?" Jaune asked a bit self consciously while looking over himself, had he made a mistake and given himself away already? "Nothing, just…" She scratched her head, unsure how to properly explain. "Don't take this the wrong way but shouldn't you be… bulkier?"
Jaune cocked his head to the side, what on Remnant did she mean? I am positive my calculations of your rate-of-growth were perfect. You look exactly how you should at seventeen. Whitback sounded almost defensive and Jaune just stared blankly, unsure if he was at risk of being caught not.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to touch a nerve, you're just a lot stronger than you look is all." She tried to backtrack, misunderstanding Jaune's hesitation for offense. "Oh, that's what you meant." He mumbled to himself with a sigh of relief, she just thought he should have more muscle-mass, not that he looked alien or grimm-like.
"My semblance is density and strength, downside is I can't really control it" He explained, flicking the tip of his bedpost and splintering it to prove his point. Lying didn't come naturally to Jaune and he really didn't like doing it but Ozpin had convinced him it was necessary. He was better off keeping his Grimm abilities hidden, he just hoped it wasn't for forever.
"Well if you're offering explanations." Weiss spoke up as she walked out of the bathroom wearing her white pajamas. "Then why do you wear a white mask like the White-Fang?" She pinned Jaune with a glare, she couldn't think he was a member could she? That's a bit ironic.
"I-I uh… Was in an accident when I was a younger." He tried to avoid actually lying by just being vague. "There was a dust explosion and -" He coughed, feeling his throat burn as his lungs suddenly filled with smoke. The smell of his fathers burnt flesh was thick in the air as he died protecting Jaune.
He coughed again to clear his throat before taking a calming breath to shake the memory. "Sorry about that, kinda dry in here." He doubted they believed the flimsy excuse but no one pushed it and he continued. "That happened before I had Aura so I got some… bad scarring."
Weiss looked downwards, guilt written on her face "I-I'm sorry, I didn't-" She began trying to apologise but Jaune didn't let her get far.
"It was a long time ago. Nothing to worry about." he raised his hand gently to cut her off, he knew she was just being cautious and he couldn't blame her. Whitback would probably be twice as bad if someone reminded him of an enemy.
"We should get some rest, classes start early tomorrow."
\-/
Roman never liked taking orders, it was part of the reason he left behind the Huntsmen and turned to a life of crime. That being said he liked dying even less than taking orders, so when Cinder Fall came to him with lien in one hand and death in the other, he chose to obey. That was until she started talking about an infiltration of Beacon Academy.
"I won't be apart of it, I don't care how much lien you pay me, I am not making a move against that school." Roman bluntly refused, trying to act calm but sweating profusely in fear. Cinder had proven she could wipe the floor with him, Neo and all his men single-handedly but what she was doing could bring something worse than death.
"What makes you think you have a choice?" the black haired woman glared menacingly at Roman, her red dress glowing with dust as a fire licked at her fingertips. Neo opened her umbrella, expecting a fight but Roman jumped between the pair.
"Just listen! You don't know what's in that school. I doubt even that fool Ozpin really knows." He had made sure to keep an eye pointed the school's direction ever since that day two years earlier, when he witnessed a true monster.
"So explain it to me." Cinder said curtly, sitting back down on the couch Roman kept out for his "business meetings". Neo closed her umbrella behind Roman while he took a long drag from his cigar, trying to think of the right words to describe what he saw.
"Two years ago about thirty of my best men were torn to shreds and eaten by a single Grimm." He hated the sick feeling he got in his stomach whenever he remembered seeing that freak biting into the corpses of his henchmen like a rabid animal.
"What a shame..." Her tone suggested it was anything but.
"This grimm was different. Called himself Jaune, walked and talked just like you and me. And it looks like old Oz recruited "Jaune"." Cinder only raised a curious eyebrow and Roman felt a touch of disappointment at the weak reaction his words got out of the woman.
"So you're saying you'd rather be burned alive than eaten?" Her gaze seemed to intensify and Roman sweatdropped. After a long pause Roman let out a long sigh "Fine, I'll help. Not like you're giving me much of a choice…"
Cinder ignored the grumbling and let a smile spread across her elegant features. "I'm glad you understand." He only groaned in response, clearly wishing he was anywhere else. "Don't worry so much, I'll handle your "Monster"." She teased while striding out of the room, leaving Roman to prepare for his contribution to the new world.
\-/
Team RASY's day started out well enough, Jaune having woken everyone up an hour before classes to give his team plenty of time to prepare. The day only got complicated when, during a demonstration in Professor Port's class, Weiss snapped at Ruby and yelled at her to "Stop telling her what to do!".
The bell rang and Weiss stormed from the class before any from her team could stop her. "Jeez, wonder what crawled up her butt." Yang muttered and turned to her sister. "You alright?" She asked softly, seeing the hurt look that crossed her sister's face.
"I'm fine… I'll be right back" She said while clearly not being fine before chasing after Weiss, leaving Yang looking a bit dimmer. "Should we go after them…?" Jaune could sense the negativity coming from Yang now, as if it was spreading like a virus.
"Maybe later." Yang responded with a sad sigh. "Let's give them some time." Jaune felt a strange sense of deja-vu, had he seen this scene somewhere before? It's fascinating seeing how another family interacts with each other, so different than yours and yet so very similar. Whitback spoke more to himself than Jaune.
"If you think it's best." Jaune could only shrug at Yang, feeling helpless. "I'm going to get some fresh air, I'll see you in dorm later" He felt clearing his nose of the negative scent would help ease the anxious feeling in his chest.
He left the class feeling a bit discouraged, his first day with his team wasn't what he would call a rousing success. Was it normal for teams to be fighting on the first day? He didn't think so, but he didn't know what he could do about it.
"Getting more practice with negativity than I expected…" Jaune commented to himself while he wandered the school grounds, clearing his nose of that sickeningly sweet scent. Don't be dramatic, the more you focus on the bits of negativity the bigger they will seem. It's only been one day.
"You're right." He said and took a deep breath, attempting to push away the anxious thoughts. "Let's find something to distract us." He knew idling about would just lead to him overthinking everything and psyching himself out. Well you're favorite Rose looks to be in a hurry, why not see why?
"What are you-" Jaune stopped when he noticed Ruby through a window, walking with such determination Jaune had trouble catching up to her without running. He didn't sense negativity coming from her like when she left the classroom, which was a good sign in his book.
"Hey Ruby!" He caught her attention before closing the distance. "Where are you headed in a such a hurry?" He asked his partner with a friendly smile. It's strange how much energy you put into your face when no one can see it. Jaune ignored Whitback's comment and kept his attention on Ruby.
"Just to the library to uh, study stuff." She sounded unsure but determined and Jaune wondered if this had to do with the Weiss situation. "Would you like some help?" He offered, again with an unseen smile "I've got a pretty good memory."
The pair spent the rest of the day in the library, switching between history, math, and grimm studies. But when Ruby found out Jaune had never read a comic book before the fantastical literature was quickly added to the rotation for study.
Later that night, after Yang had fallen asleep, Jaune heard Weiss come into the dorm and gently wake Ruby who had fallen asleep with her books spread about her bunk. "Weiss! sorry I was just studying and-" Weiss interrupted Ruby's hushed apology suddenly, asking "How do you take you coffee?".
Weiss returned a moment later with a mug of coffee that was more sugar than coffee as something of a peace offering. "I'm… sorry for how I acted." Weiss said after a few awkward moments. "You do have what it takes to be a great leader." She admitted with an apologetic smile.
"Just know that I am going be the best teammate you will ever have."
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And we have another chapter! Jaune draws a bit of attention with his emotion sensing but still not enough to cause real suspicions, though it may work against him when compounded with other stuff. I hope I wrote Weiss properly this chapter, I kept her interactions a bit more "canon" for now just because i felt this part of the story was caused by Weiss's personality mixed with Ruby being chosen leader. That being said I hope I added my enough of my own changes with Jaune and such to make it interesting! Also some foreshadowing with Roman and Cinder, the latter of which is far more interested in this unknown grimm than she is letting on (wink wink).
Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh I was thinking the same thing! Maybe Pyrrha but I thought for sure if anyone would look past Jaune's grimm side it would be Ruby. I admit i didn't and still don't really plan on making a ship a focus but I'm thinking its more and more viable. I hope I'm not boring anyone with the lack of stuff happening, I plan on picking things up relatively quickly after this chapter but of course it mainly depends on what happens while i write. I also admit I also have a weak spot for the Grotesque Knight image, and that you are very much correct in thinking Jaune has a lot of potential for "evolution" so to speak. I would think he could make wings atm but without learning how a heavy grimm flies by devouring it, I dont think they would be any more than for show. I will also hopefully continue to power through with all of your support! thank you for the review!
Sm0keyPanda thank you for the continued support! I love Yang's character, that fun loving adrenaline junky is kind of fun to write as! For Ruby's memory i admit to being a bit split. On one hand it was a five minutes encounter that happened years ago in the middle of the night so could have thought it was some kind of dream. On the other hand Qrow asks her to recount it to Oz and the encounter itself would probably leave a pretty big impression. I think I will do something along the lines of something reminding her (possibly Jaune mentioning whitback or her seeing the material change.) but nothing solid yet. Sorry for the long reply, the memory thing was something i was thinking about a lot on during this chapter. Thanks again for the support!
Artjom435 I'm glad to hear I've improved! Reading you review I come to think you're correct! Jaune should still have a semblance, now i just have to think about what kind if semblance to give him and how to intergrate it as I honestly didn't plan on giving him one (My bad ) I would love to hear you suggestion on a semblance!(and anyone else who might be reading this too!). I would say Weiss does remember seeing Jaune's grimm material and face while also hearing his voice frenzied voice so I would say you assessment is spot on! Same with blake though at this point its entirely possible she recognizes Jaune right off the bat with his voice and strength, if not right away than not soon after as I think of Blake as very perceptive. With Jaune and military i would say 50/50? I think. I mean Jaune doesn't require any physical training and he is already awake at dawn because he doesnt actaully sleep. With authority though I would agree that he would follow the leader, especially after the mistakes with James. Sorry for the ramble! Hope to hear what you think!
The Menace Within I see your point and i have to agree, at the train station Even Jaune is very intense for a child. I admit my writing skills with children is sub-par so I will have to ask more opinions next time I write children in my stories! Thanks for the pointers, I hope that didn't ruin the story for you!