JoJo's Bizarre Adventure – Wayward Son
Chapter 2: Stand Proud
Jaune couldn't fall asleep. His body was buzzing with energy and his mind was racing. Amber unlocked his aura a couple hours ago before she went to sleep in her tent.
The boy was laying on top of his sleeping bag, still dressed in his clothes from earlier, admiring the white glow of his hand as he manifested his aura.
His newfound "force field" was blowing his mind. Who needed armor when you had this stuff?
But he remembered what Amber told him. "It's like a battery. Use up all of the power and you'll be defenseless. There're countless stories of huntsmen who overestimated their aura reserves and ended up as kibble for whatever Beowolf they were fighting. Don't test your luck, Jauney."
But all he wanted to do was just test said luck. He felt like he could take on a whole army, but he knew better than that.
If he could just try and kill just one small Grimm, he could fall asleep with no issues.
He got up, attached Crocea Mors to his waist and snuck out of his tent. He took care not to wake up Amber as he walked away from the campsite.
After he got a fair distance away, he ran through the crash course in aura Amber gave him and focused it as an armor. Jaune could immediately feel like that he could get hit by a train and walk away with no issues.
The boy drew his sword and expanded his shield as he marched on through the dark forest.
One quiet half hour later and he suppressed the thought that this was a bad idea. "It's just a test of what I can do. The fact I've never been in a real fight doesn't matter. I'll be fine." Jaune said to himself with a semblance of confidence.
Rustling bushes caught Jaune's attention and he whipped around, ready to face whatever Grimm horror would face him.
He raised his shield in front of him, just under his eyes (which were full of fear), as his heart began racing.
As the creature jumped out of the bushes, Jaune screamed like a girl and sliced towards it, missing it completely as the creature was nothing more than "A bunny?!"
The little bunny stared at him with abject confusion before hopping away.
"Well... I'm a big weenie." Jaune said to himself as he let his guard down and turned around to meet a wall of black fur and bleached bone.
He looked up into the eyes of the eight-foot tall Beowolf as it was drooling at Jaune hungrily.
Jaune raised his shield and swung his sword in a wide arc, but the Grimm was faster. With one swipe to his chest, Jaune was sent flying into an open field with the wind knocked right out of him.
The boy realized that even though he wasn't directly hit, his aura was drained more than he expected from the impact. The only thing that took damage was his white t-shirt, which now sported four large slashes.
Jaune caught his breath and got up, watching as the Beowolf was fifteen meters away. Jaune was confused as the Grimm was just standing there, swaying with the wind.
His fear grew, was this monster playing around with him for its own sick amusement?
Jaune remembered what his dad told him about the Grimm. 'They feed off of negative emotions. Especially rage and fear. The more negative the emotion, the more they are attracted to it. Sometimes they play with their soon-to-be victims in order to 'season' the meat. If you ever run into a Grimm, don't give into fear, Jaune. That's how they win.'
"You have to be brave, Jauney." He told himself. He took a deep breath and stared down the monster in front of him.
It could sense the change in the boy, growling as it hunched over to get on all fours. All the while its eyes never wavered from Jaune's.
Jaune raised his shield and loosened his vice-grip on his sword, with another breath he calmed himself down and focused right on the Beowolf. While he had no training, he did have advice from his dad. Keep yourself loose and don't tense up, as he'd suggest.
With a silent signal, the Beowolf pounced towards Jaune in one bound. Jaune jumped to the side and let the Grimm crash face-first into the ground. With a quick slice, the Beowolf lost its left arm from the elbow. The beast jumped back, howling in pain. Not letting it have a chance to recover, Jaune charged at the beast.
It saw him coming and swiped with its remaining arm, sending Jaune flying as it hit his shield. The boy crash onto his back, kicking up dust as a result of the impact.
Jaune groaned, dazed, but rolled onto his front so he could push himself up within seconds.
The Beowulf charged with a downward slash with enough force to tear his shield arm off, if it even connected as Jaune lurched backwards in order to dodge.
Time slowed down for Jaune as he saw his opening as the Beowulf's attack would mean no chance for defense if Jaune acted upon this opportunity immediately. The only thing stopping Jaune was nothing as his will to live overtook control of his actions.
And with a decapitating slice to the neck, Jaune Joseph Arc killed his first creature of Grimm.
Jaune stood proud for his achievement as the Beowolf disintegrated. He now believed that he could stand a chance at Beacon, instead of just hoping he could ride the waves through training. With this baseline, Jaune felt that he could really grow and become stronger as a huntsman.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a thumping sound from far behind him. Whipping around with his shield raised, Jaune was tackled to the ground by another Beowolf.
It was on top of him, but Jaune was able to push it back enough to keep it from biting into his face with his shield. Its paws were trying to push down on Jaune's shield, but the boy's aura-infused strength kept it at bay. If Jaune's mind wasn't focused on surviving the Grimm attack at this moment, he would be thinking up countless praises to the lord above that the Grimm weren't as smart as people.
Jaune shifted his sword's grip and stabbed into the side of the beast, but it only dug into its leg and nothing vital. But it was enough to make the beast howl in pain and jump away from Jaune.
Jaune quickly got to his feet and noticed the Beowolf was taking a more defensive stance as it couldn't run away. It was leading with its good leg, arms tensed with hands ready to claw, hunched over a bit and its jaw shut.
Taking the opportunity given to him, Jaune charged with his shield. The Beowolf went to bat Jaune away, but Jaune ducked under the attack, used his shield to push its arm upwards to redirect the attack away from him and stabbed the Beowulf in the stomach. Keeping up his momentum, Jaune pushed the Grimm beyond the stab and tackled the Grimm to the ground, burying the sword into the ground through the Grimm up to the sword's hilt.
With a pained howl the Beowulf's body began to disintegrate, signaling its death.
Jaune left Crocea Mors stabbed into the ground as he rolled onto his back to lay on the ground in order to catch his breath.
That was two Grimm! He killed two Grimm! Jaune's pride swelled up inside of him as he smiled contently.
But he figured that he was at his limit, anymore and he'd surely get killed. If he had to guess, he only had maybe five percent of his aura left.
Jaune lifted himself off and noticed that dirt was stuck to his sweaty body. He dusted it off of himself but realized that he wasn't really in an open field.
Jaune Arc was in a small desert-scape. He looked around and saw that the area wasn't that large, maybe about the size of city block, when compared to regular deserts.
It must've slipped past his mind while he was fighting to not get mauled, but it was bizarre that the boy didn't even notice that he was in a small desert.
Jaune pulled himself off and felt a wave soreness wash over him. His adrenaline kept the pain at bay, but now it was gone, leaving him worn out.
He ignored what his body was saying and just focused on getting back to Amber's campsite and falling asleep.
As he re-entered the forest scape, the sudden appearance of the desert crossed his mind. Jaune turned around to take another look at the oddity when, to his shock, it was gone and in its place was regular forest.
"Did I hallucinate that?" He asked himself.
He shook off any more thoughts on the matter as the need for sleep overtook every other thought he had.
One half-hour later and Jaune found the small campsite, entered his tent, crawled into his sleeping bag and slept what was left of the night away.
(Five hours later)
At the crack of dawn, Jaune's tent was opened and Amber called out "Rise and shine, Jauney-Boy!"
The boy was still asleep, zipped up in his sleeping bag like it was a cocoon. Amber rolled her eyes. It was a long day yesterday, might as well give him a little more time to sleep in.
She stepped out and took in the beauty of the early morning sky. Amber then took one her steel balls into her hand and imbued it with the spin.
"[Scan]." She said before she threw her steel ball high into the air. Her stand activated and through her right eye, which shifted her iris into a beige color with the word 'TURBO' inscribed in it, she saw a bird's-eye view of the landscape as an eye appeared in her steel ball. She activated the x-ray vision of [Scan], seeing through the various trees that the two of them were alone for at least a mile or two.
She dismissed her stand as it fell back into her hand.
'Valkyrie did help to put a great amount of distance between us and those guys.' Amber thought as she walked over to the horse, who was starting to wake up.
"Hey girl, you slept well?" Amber asked as she petted Valkyrie.
The horse neighed to her rider, seemingly to voice "Yeah." to the young woman. Giving Valkyrie her breakfast of carrots, Amber then began to pack up her sleeping bag and tent, humming a little tune to herself to pass the time.
She heard shuffling from behind her, turning around to see Jaune doing the same.
"Enjoy your nap?" Amber asked.
The lack of a response made Amber uncomfortable. She walked over to Jaune and tapped his shoulder, but he didn't respond.
She turned the boy around and saw that his eyes had dark rings around them. He was dead tired, being barely awake.
Amber then noticed the large slashes in his shirt and immediately put the puzzle pieces together.
"You went out looking for a fight last night." She voiced her realization.
Jaune went back to packing his gear and tent into his large backpack. After he finished, he sat by the campfire and just stared emptily at the embers of the previous night's fire. He began to doze off again, struggling to remain as conscious as he is.
Amber finished packing her gear as Valkyrie stood up, ready to ride for the day.
She nudged Jaune to the horse, helping the zombie-like boy up before mounting the saddle herself.
Amber then spurred the horse to the road as the small group were off on their way once again.
Jaune wrapped his arms around Amber's waist, having a dead-man's grip on the girl as he fell back asleep on the saddle.
This only served to make the young woman worry; she's seen horrible cases of aura depletion before, but not with someone whose aura was unlocked for less than a day.
She spurred Valkyrie to hurry along as she hoped to find a small town or something, far away from Grimm, to help Jaune recover.
(Hours Later)
Jaune felt oddly comfortable, considering he's in a sleeping bag in the woods. What felt especially odd was that it felt like he was laying on a mattress.
He was still dead tired; the previous night's excursion still made his bones ache. While he felt the bruises on his back were now gone, Jaune felt like he couldn't get up for anything.
All he wanted to do was sleep his troubles away. But his stomach growled, making Jaune realize that he was starving.
He forced himself to sit up, taking a moment to open his eyes to adjust to the light.
It then hit Jaune like a train that he was in a bed in some random room. Panic settled in his mind as he looked around for his sword and shield, only to see them missing. In this small room with a window that had the late afternoon sun shining through it, he could see his backpack on a chair in the corner of the room. To his left was a nightstand that had a lamp that was turned off, with his scroll laid beside it.
Jaune grabbed it and saw that he had a new text from an unknown number. "Jaune, it's Amber." He read aloud, solving his first question. "Give me a call ASAP the moment you get up, or else."
After living with his many sisters for most of his life, he knew that ignoring her message would be a death sentence. He added Amber's number to his contacts and called her.
The dial tone rang once, before the line was picked up. "Hey-" Jaune got out before Amber immediately hung up.
A moment later, the door to Jaune's room was kicked in and a rather angry Amber was staring him down. The mystery of his missing weapon was solved as it was attached to Amber's waist.
While the Beowolves were scary, Amber was downright terrifying.
Before Jaune could apologize out of reflex, Amber yelled at him "What the hell were you thinking?!"
Jaune's voice died in his throat, he couldn't voice his thoughts to the young woman.
"Are you trying to die painfully?! I specifically told you stories about guys getting mauled to scare you from trying it, not doing it yourself!" Amber yelled.
Jaune noticed her eyes were bloodshot and her stance shaky. They've only known each other for a day, but their shared brush with death made Jaune understand her well enough to know that she was stressing over him for a while at this point.
His sense of guilt overwhelmed him as Jaune knew if he died last night, Amber would've lost her only human friend in the world.
"Well," Amber said, snapping Jaune out of his thoughts, "What the hell do you have to say for yourself?"
Jaune made a move to get up, but Amber tossed a spinning steel ball that impacted his chest. It tightened into his flesh, making Jaune collapse onto the bed.
He felt paralyzed from head to toe, a sensation that felt like he could simply describe like he died but his ghost still could see out of his own eyes.
He could talk, but the words kept dying in his throat as he didn't know how to explain himself to the young woman.
"If you're going to get yourself killed, do it where your loved ones can find you." Amber said, her voice cold as ice.
Amber didn't mean what she said, but she couldn't help but to beat the message into the boy's mind that what he did was dumb.
But this message did finally help Jaune figure out what he wanted to say.
"I can't go home… I left without saying any goodbyes." Jaune admitted.
Amber took in his words before their true meaning hit her and she realized "You ran away from home to go to Beacon." She then plucked the steel ball from Jaune's chest and the boy had control of his body once again.
Jaune nodded his head as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, his feet dangling as he hunched over to wallow in his guilt. "I thought I could be a hero, like in the stories my father told me about my ancestors. They're legendary... I'm ordinary." Jaune took another deep breath before admitting, "So I left home with the family weapon, Crocea Mors. I blocked their numbers my scroll, I can't go home and look any of them in the face until I prove I did the right thing."
Amber sat next to him. "You ran away from home with a sword and shield, with no guns at all, using a fucking moped to get to Beacon, jumped into a fight against professionals while having no training in the slightest, then fighting Grimm on your own… are you suicidal, Jaune?" She honestly asked.
"No." He said without a thought. "I like living… but all my life I wanted to be a hero like my ancestors."
"Playing hero gets people killed." Amber said, with a tone that Jaune figured meant that she knew this from first-hand experience.
Jaune could hear Green's words from yesterday echoing in his mind, "Playing hero is for those with the skill to back it up. Try again in the next life."
"You shouldn't throw your life away to become a huntsman." Amber said.
"… I know." Jaune admitted.
"And yet you still went out last night to fight Grimm. Just tell me why you did that?" Amber asked.
"I felt power for the first time in my life when you unlocked my aura, Amber. I felt unstoppable… I felt like I had something going for me for once." Jaune said.
Amber stayed quiet.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I'm not useless. Even yesterday, I had my ass handed to me. I just got lucky when I sliced Grey's fake leg off." Jaune said.
Amber put a hand on his shoulder, "You're not useless. You're more of a… a work-in-progress."
Jaune's mood got even darker, Amber noted. While she was still mad at him, seeing him like this put a pit in Amber's stomach.
"Jaune, I would have probably died yesterday if you didn't show up. I'm grateful to you." Amber said, softer than she realized.
Her words got through to Jaune, who said "I'm sorry I made you worry."
Amber sighed tiredly. "Just… don't do that again. We're in this together, partners on the road. I'd feel much more comfy with you fighting Grimm if I have your back, okay?"
Jaune smiled, "Okay."
Amber chuckled and punched him in the arm.
Jaune laughed and got up out of bed. He felt a breeze through his shirt, looking down to see the large slashes from last night's fight.
"Got any spare shirts?" Amber asked.
"A few." Jaune said as he walked over to his backpack, dug through it for a spare shirt and quickly changed into a brand-new white t-shirt and throwing on his Pumpkin Pete hoodie.
Amber took a good look at the bunny logo, before she stifled a laugh. "It-uh… I love the hoodie."
"Thanks. You have no idea how many box-tops I had to mail to get this." Jaune said with some pride.
Amber laughed. "Maybe the Grimm will get scared off by that cute, little bunny-rabbit."
Jaune rolled his eyes. "Well it's not like I have any armor."
That statement made a lightbulb go off in Amber's head. "Then let's get you some. There's a blacksmith shop nearby. I checked it out and he has some good armor in stock."
"Really? Let's go check it out." Jaune said, before his stomach grumbled again, "How about after lunch? I'm starving."
"Follow me, bunny-boy." Amber joked as she stepped out of the room.
Jaune grumbled a complaint before following her out.
(Sunset)
After a few hours with the blacksmith adjusting a white chest-piece and pauldron set made with his measurements, along with purchasing a set of brown finger-less gloves, Jaune felt pride looking at himself in the bathroom mirror of his current lodging.
He looked more like a real huntsman and had something to protect his prized hoodie.
Amber had left him with the blacksmith to get some supplies earlier, so she hasn't seen his new look.
Jaune began flexing in the mirror before a knock at his door surprised him. "Jauney, I'm back~" He heard Amber say in a sing-song voice.
"It's unlocked." Jaune called out as he stepped out of the bathroom.
As Amber walked through the door with a bag in hand, Jaune took a step back in surprise. "Sorry about the hold-up. Had to feed Valkyrie and dropped the supplies off in my room."
Amber was now clad in a new wardrobe: gone was her white blouse, olive green pants and her brown cloak. What she now wore was a royal purple blouse under a beige vest, a beige half-cape, beige pants designed for horseback riding, a leather belt with silver spiral belt-buckle, royal purple boots, deep purple fingerless gloves that covered the length of her forearm, a beige face-mask that hung loose around her neck with a set of tinted goggles and a wide-brimmed beige hat that has slits to let some light through.
The only things she kept from her old outfit was the bronze bracer on her left forearm and the bronze pauldron on her right shoulder.
Amber caught Jaune staring and grinned. "Whaddya think?"
Jaune gave her a thumbs up since he couldn't find the right words to express his thoughts.
"Good answer, here's your prize." Amber reached into her bag and tossed Jaune something small, which he caught. He saw that it was a white beanie, with a large gold star design that'd cover his entire forehead.
Jaune slipped it on, looking in the mirror liking the addition to his wardrobe.
"I figured if you're changing your look for some practicality sake, so should I. It'll throw off the guys from yesterday off our trail a little bit. And I figured the beanie would hold your shaggy hair down when Valkyrie goes fast." Amber explained.
Jaune nodded. "So, what's next?"
Amber sat on the bed and said "Vale and Beacon are a while away. With how far out in the sticks as we are, the reception's shit and I can't get a call out to Beacon. We're on our own until we get to Vale. With stops for supplies and rest, I'm gonna guess we should arrive in about a week." Amber stopped for a moment and sighed, "But that's just our best-case scenario. Realistically, with my luck, it'll take maybe double due to several things; accidents, bad weather, bandits, Grimm… and some other things."
"Like?" Jaune asked.
"Like the guys who came after me. The girls were especially dangerous. Red was strong, and she drained me of half of my strength…" Amber sat down, grateful she didn't have a mirror to show her the scars left behind by Red.
"Is that why they were after you? Because you have some special power?" Jaune asked, sitting behind Amber on the bed.
Amber knew she'd have to explain her powers to Jaune sooner or later, guess now was the time.
"What do you know about the story of the four maidens?" Amber asked.
"It's been a while; I know I was told about it when I was a kid as a bedtime story." Jaune said.
"Well… it's real- they are real." Amber stated.
Amber recanted the tale of the four maidens to Jaune; how they were helped an old wizard and were given special powers as a show of thanks. Amber mentioned that she is the Fall Maiden, gifted with a power beyond what most have. She then explained how said power put a target on her back, as her death would give the power to the last woman they thought of.
Her mother was the previous maiden, Amber got her power at a young age after a huntress mission gone wrong. She learned to control the power on her own as her father and grandfather taught her The Spin, to give her more of an edge to protect herself. When she became sixteen, she left home to journey the world and to protect the last of her family from being associated with her.
Amber closed off with how she knew that Red drained her of half of the Fall Maiden's power with that weird glove, and that Jaune was the only reason that she didn't take all of it.
Jaune was amazed, believing everything Amber told him as she didn't seem anything else but stone-cold serious. And the demonstration of controlling wind in the room with her eyes glowing killed any doubts he had. "Wow." He replied.
Amber smiled, "Wow indeed."
"… And what's so special about Green? You mentioned that she was also especially dangerous." Jaune asked.
"That one is harder to explain, I'm not even sure where to start." Amber said as she grabbed one of her steel balls and passed it to Jaune. "[Scan]."
Jaune raised an eyebrow, but then screamed in fear as he looked down to see an eyeball in Amber's steel ball. He immediately dropped it and turned to Amber. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Amber was confused for a moment, before realizing "You can see my stand." She muttered, but Jaune could hear her. "But that's impossible. Stands can only be seen by other stand users."
"A what?" Jaune asked.
"A stand is a special power, a manifestation of one's fighting spirt. Getting one is dangerous; as people who try to get one, but don't have the potential, die as a result." Amber said. "What did you do last night?"
"I fought off two Beowolves, almost getting my face bitten by one and disemboweled by the other." Jaune said.
Amber pushed her next question upon him, "Was there anything weird about the situation? Did you get struck by a strange arrow or something?"
"No." Jaune said, before it dawned on him. "Well, the place I fought them was weird. It was a small desert, I was covered in sand because of the fight. But it disappeared after I left."
Amber had a look of surprise on her face, "If that was the cause… then you were a victim of the Devil's Palm." Before Jaune could ask, Amber continued, "It's a legend, described like a roaming curse. People wander into a desert that pops up out of nowhere. Usually something happens in there that is fatal. But those who survive and escape come out with a stand, so says the legends."
"Wow… how'd you get yours?" Jaune asked.
"Got hit by a weird arrow, almost died." Amber said plainly.
Jaune simply replied with "Huh…"
"Stands have special powers, usually related to the user's personality or situation. I wonder what yours can do?" Amber sat on the thought for a minute before a lightbulb went off in her head. She tossed a steel ball to Jaune and said, "Try Spinning it now."
"…Seriously?" Jaune said, unsure of himself.
Amber pulled out her other steel ball and got it rotating with the Spin effortlessly.
"Like I said yesterday, don't force it. Let it spin naturally. It'll get there, eventually. It just depends on you." Amber instructed.
Jaune relented and watched Amber's steel ball. Looking back to his, he visualized how Amber's steel ball spun. He looked at the ball given to him for a moment, before spinning it his hand. Not like Amber, more like anyone else.
He closed his eyes and focused on the ball in his hand. As he could feel it slow down, Jaune only focused on the fact it was spinning. He reached deep within himself, searching for his fighting spirit. He could feel it, so Jaune pushed through the fog in his mind for it.
Amber stopped Spinning her steel ball and looked in amazement as Jaune was covered in a pink-ish energy. It wasn't aura, Amber knew he is calling upon his stand.
The only thought Jaune had on his mind was 'Spin'. The pink-ish energy died down as Jaune felt the energy within him flow into the steel ball.
His lazily spinning steel ball, which started wobbling a few seconds ago, steadied itself. Jaune could feel the steel ball start to pick up speed, spinning faster and faster as the seconds passed by.
Jaune opened his eyes as the steel ball was Spinning like Amber's.
"I-I'm doing it!" Jaune exclaimed.
The look on Jaune's face made Amber feel prideful in him. "You sure are." She then holstered her second steel ball.
"I think that's enough for tonight. Considering you couldn't do it yesterday goes to show how much potential you got," Amber said
Jaune willed his steel ball to stop, stopping its Spin over a few seconds.
He tossed the steel back to her, though her could still feel the buzz of energy that the Spin gave him.
As the two processed the change in Jaune, they started to hear a low humming.
Jaune and Amber looked around themselves to figure out where the sound was coming from, until Amber looked at Jaune.
"Look at your hands." Amber said in disbelief.
Jaune found the request odd but found himself breathless when he did as she asked.
His hands themselves were normal, but his fingernails were floating off of his fingers and spinning extremely fast.
"HOLY SHIT!" Jaune screamed, before he started shaking his hands like a spider was on them.
"I'm willing to bet that's your stand's real power. To use the Spin on your nails." Amber concluded. "Not the weirdest stand I've seen. I once knew a guy who's stand just gave him motivational speeches."
Jaune stopped shaking his hands and reeled his thoughts back into place, focusing on stopping the Spin.
When his nails settled back into place as they should be, Jaune shook his head in disbelief.
"All-in-all: you're a powerful half-maiden who can spin a steel ball to do miraculous things and also see/attack stands with said steel balls after they grow an eye that you can see out of. And now I have my own stand and can use the Spin to make my nails float… Good lord, what kind of bizarre adventure did I sign up for?" Jaune remarked.
"Guess we'll find out soon enough." Amber said with a smile.
To be continued.
Author's Note: I know this chapter is heavy with exposition and explanations, but this is a necessary evil so I can jump into the action. Next up for Jaune and Amber will be their first stand battle together, along with Jaune developing his stand further. You can probably guess what I gave him.
I decided to give Amber [Scan] as her stand based off of Meti's YouTube video which detailed why [Ballbreaker] is the stand of the Spin, and not Gyro's. The fact there's so little of Amber known in canon opens up her history for any interpretation, which was fun. We'll have full flashbacks with her later.
If you guys have any ideas for stand battles, PM them to me. I have many planned and I already have most of the main characters assigned their own stands from the series, while certain characters while be without stands.