Chapter 5:
He felt a ringing in his ears as a bright light above him nearly blinded him. Jaune opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by seven people. There was Crimson Reaper, bobbing up and down with nervous energy as she looked at him with concern, Golden Dragon standing next to her trying to calm her down. There was a tall blond woman he did not recognize next to them, who was writing notes on a clipboard, with a stern expression on her face.
On the other side of him, Frost Storm glared at him, although looking in her eyes indicated a strange conflict of emotions. Next to her Centurion was rubbing her arm, with an anxious expression across her face, her eyes widening as she noticed him waking up.
By his feet stood a silver haired man, holding a cane, who was wearing a small and curious smile. He held the end of his cane with both hands and seemed to be waiting for Jaune to wake up.
Suddenly panic flooded through Jaune as he realized he was in a bed, somewhere far from his hometown.
"Where am I" Jaune moaned as he felt his head ringing and his vision was shaky and blurry, before snapping back to reality, flailing about, and darting his eyes back and forth across the room "Wait, who are you people?"
He turned his attention to the man at the end of the bed, pointing in shock "Wait you're the Wizard!" He almost yelled, his mood being conflicted between fanboy joy and terrified confusion.
"Yes, Jaune I am" The Wizard stated calmly with a small chuckle, unsure of what to make of this kid.
"We are in a medical facility off the coast of Vale. You were injured by the impact of the deathstalker tail and received, thankfully, only a small dose of poison as a result. We just had an associate of mine with a powerful healing semblance arrive and heal you an hour ago. We were just discussing the events of the day, involving you and these young ladies fight against the deathstalker. I was wondering if you could elaborate on what happened, in order to get a…more complete picture on how it occurred."
"Oh" Jaune said, finding it odd that the most powerful Huntsmen on Remnant wanted to know his story "Um, well I noticed a pattern in the dust robberies and figured out there was going to be one today near my house, and I went into town and saw them fighting the giant scorpion thingy…"
"Deathstalker" The Wizard corrected, looking amused.
"Right" Jaune continued "and they looked like they could use some help, so I did. I can't remember much else of what happened, since I think it hit me with it's tail."
"Hmmm" The Wizard said, stroking his chin "From what these huntress's have told me, you did more than help. Is it true that you came up with the strategy to take the Deathstalker down?"
"Yes" Jaune replied shyly "But I never could have done it unless…"
"And" The Wizard interrupted "You saved Frost Storm at the beginning of the fight, at great risk to yourself?"
"Yes but…" Jaune tried to add, before being cut off again
"And the only reason, Centurion is standing here is because you knocked her out of the way of the Deathstalker stinger, resulting with you being grazed yourself."
"…um technically yes, but if I was faster, I could have avoided…"
The Wizard interrupted once again "So what I'm hearing, is you, an untrained civilian, figured out a location of a robbery conducted by master criminals, tracked them down, saved the lived of two highly trained huntress's, and developed a strategy to take down a dangerous opponent in the middle of a fight?"
"Yeah, I guess?" Jaune said unsure of himself, before adding "But when you say it like that it makes me sound impressive, but really I was just trying to help."
"It sounds like you were being an idiot" The blond woman interjected, who Jaune now realized was The Violet Witch, another highly trained and skilled Pro Huntress "You nearly got yourself killed, jumping into a battle with no training and little forethought. You should have alerted the authorities and stayed out of it. But it is undeniable that your actions were…" Violet Witch looked like it pained her to say it "…heroic, if not completely moronic."
Jaune looked at the floor, disappointed as one of his idols was basically calling him a dumbass.
Violet Witch continued "If it were up to me, you would get sent home with a pat on the back…"
Jaune looked up hopefully
"…and a slap on the wrist" the Violet Witch snapped as she whipped out her crop, hitting Jaune's fingers on the table, which the young man pulled back on his hands and yelped at.
"Hey!" Yang interjected "we would have never taken it down without him."
"Yeah" Ruby added "He saved Weiss's life too!"
Frost Storm, the one Jaune assumed Reaper was talking about rolled her eyes and grumbled "I would have been fine without him." But she didn't say much after that, as her pale cheeks turned red, clearly embarrassed at the fact that a newbie saved her.
"I would have been stung as well" Centurion said softly, giving Jaune a appreciative smile, which he returned, his face burning in embarrassment.
Violet Witch seemed to soften at this and looked at Pyrrha with concern before her face turned hard and looked at Jaune with an expression of judgment, but it was still less harsh than before.
The Wizard was silent throughout this, clearly deep in thought, before addressing the room again. He went on to ask Jaune one more question.
"What do you want to do with your life Mr. Arc? If there were no limits, what would you want to be?"
Jaune thought about this for a second before the answer came to his head, with only one answer that he could think of.
"I want to be a huntsman" He stated "My great-great-grandfather was a hero in the great war, saving lives on both sides. All my life I've wanted to live up to that, do more than just live a normal life. I want to be the hero, save people, and destroy monsters. Make the world a better place, like he did."
The Wizard seemed satisfied with his answer and remained quiet. He then turned to the three young huntress's "If you three could go wait outside, there is something I would like to discuss with Violet Witch and the other Huntsmen" He said, turning on a giant monitor behind Jaune, showing various faces, recognizing each of them as Pro Huntsmen.
"And Jaune" Ozpin added as he turned to face him "Perhaps it would be best if you could wait outside as well."
Jaune got up from the bed, still woozy from the fight, nearly tripping over himself before being caught by Centurion. He gave her another appreciative expression, as she led him out of the medical room, down a set of stairs, across a moat and onto a giant sectional couch, which they all fell on to, exhausted from the day. Jaune looked out the window to see it was already sunset. He began to panic as his parents would be worried sick about him, before a large impact on his back snapped him back to reality.
"Hey nice work buddy!" Golden Dragon congratulated, his fellow blond shaking his shoulder excitedly "You're going to be on the team!"
"What!" Jaune yelped surprised "What do you mean?"
Weiss glared at him "Well despite your obvious lack of skill and training, Ozpin…
Oh, so that's The Wizard's real name Jaune realized.
…seems to be impressed with you for some reason and against his better judgment, he seems to be considering having you join us."
Reaper leapt between Golden Dragon and Jaune, with a surprising amount of energy for someone who had just been in a fight against a mob of dangerous criminals and a ten-ton arachnid.
"Well, you did help us take down a giant grimm!" She cheered enthusiastically, before adding awkwardly "Even if you have a really weird fighting style."
She remained silent for a moment before her eyes widened, with excitement.
"Can I see your weapons?" She asked, eyes glimmering with curiosity.
Jaune was taken back a second, surprised by the red hooded girls sudden change in interest, before he replied, "it's in the medical room right now, but if you want to see it later, sure."
Reaper looked disappointed for a second, before shifting back to her usual smile, and giving a small laugh.
"I guess we never really introduced ourselves" She said, extending her hand, which Jaune shook "I'm Ruby Rose."
"Jaune Arc" He responded, before realizing his mistake "But I guess you already knew that." He finished dryly.
"Yang Xio Long" said Golden Dragon, introducing herself with a big wave, and crushing Jaune's hand a death grip when he went to shake it, although Jaune suspected it wasn't intentional "I'm Ruby's big sister."
Jaune looked at surprise at the two teenagers, since they really didn't share many similarities. While Ruby was short, lightly built with shorter black hair with red tinges, and had a fairly conservative style of dress, Yang was tall, athletically built with some larger features which Jaune resisted the urge to look at, and most noticeable, waist length golden hair. She also dressed rather flamboyantly in comparison to her sister. Jaune smiled back at the Brawler, who had her arm around her younger sister. Well, at least they were being friendly with him.
"Weiss" Frost Storm added coldly, not even turning to look at Jaune. Despite her less then friendly demeanor, Jaune couldn't help but be drawn to her. She was graceful, an incredible fighter and was honestly quite stunning. She was built even smaller than Ruby, and with her all-white fancy outfit, including her incredible white hair. She looked just like a princess or ballerina, and like she knew exactly who she was, which was a quality Jaune wished they shared.
"I'm Pyrrha" Centurion interrupted Jaune's thoughts about Weiss, placing a hand on his other shoulder. Jaune turned to face her, shaking her hand as well. Well at least three out of four seemed to like him. She was taller than even Yang, only a bit shorter than Jaune, although he suspected much of that was her heels, with vibrant crimson hair. Jaune made things slightly awkward by staring for a few seconds. He quickly shook himself out of his trance before things got weird and began to chat with his new friends.
It seemed like forever before Ozpin and Violet Witch emerged from the medical room, but Jaune didn't really mind. He was nervous about what the Huntsmen would say, but he could certainly be in worse company. It wasn't every day that he could hang out with three quirky, interesting, nice, and pretty girls, who were essentially superheroes, although there was one who wanted nothing to do with him. Three out of four wasn't bad though.
However, as Ozpin descended to their level, all five teenagers seemed to shoot to their feet from where they were lounging.
Ozpin flashed them all a relaxed smile, before he spoke.
"Ms. Goodwitch and I only need to see Mr. Arc and Miss. Nikos. The rest of you may go do as you please." Ozpin said, with his usual calm and mysterious manner "Please follow me you two."
Jaune and Pyrrha turned to each other surprised. Jaune gave Pyrrha a small shrug, and she nodded and walked behind Ozpin, with Jaune running up in order to not get left behind. He turned and saw Yang and Ruby flash him a quick thumbs up before walking over to stairs where the girls said the kitchen area was, likely to get a snack after the rather exciting afternoon. Weiss led the way, and again acted like he didn't even exist.
Jaune followed Ozpin, Goodwitch and Pyrrha, walking in silence before entering the medical bay again. He gestured for both teenagers to sit down on the medical bed, which they complied with.
Ozpin spoke first "Mr. Arc, you did say that your dream was to become a huntsman correct? That you want to be a hero?"
Jaune's eyes lit up, his expression changing from nervous to excited instantly "Yes sir, more than anything."
"Excellent" Ozpin said, before continuing "Me and some other huntsmen were talking, the mentors of the three young ladies you fought with. They agreed that it would be alright for me to extend the invitation to join this team" He paused before trailing off for a second "although Blonde Phoenix did express some concerns about having a male on the team, but I suspect once he meets you, he will see there is little concern."
Jaune was offended for a second but decided it might be best not to speak up, as Ozpin got back on track.
"So, Jaune would you like to train and work with us, to develop the skills necessary to become a Huntsman. Would you like to join this team?"
Jaune didn't answer, initially blown away that he even asked. I mean it was pretty obvious that he was going to but still. The Wizard was asking if HE wanted to be a huntsman and join his team. This was beyond any of Jaune's wildest dreams. After a rather long awkward silence, Jaune answered with a simple "Uhhh, yes please Sir"
Ozpin looked satisfied and gave him a polite nod before Glynda interjected "However we do have concerns about your combat ability at the moment…"
Jaune's face fell slightly at this
"…and we decided that it would be best if you received additional training and avoided field work, until your skill is up to par. You will train with the rest of the team and receive private training with a professional huntsman, but when the rest of the team is on missions you, for the moment, will assist them remotely. The Wizard feels that with the strategic ability you showed today that you may be able to help direct them while they are in the field."
Jaune was slightly crestfallen at this before he realized the ridiculousness of the expectations he had. Of course, they weren't going to send a complete newbie into missions with professional fighters. And hey with a huntsman's help he might even be able to get somewhere.
"Excuse ma'am, who will I be training under then?" Jaune asked earnestly, with some fear in his stomach over who they would stick a stiff like him with.
"That would be me, Mr. Arc." Ozpin answered, still keeping his calm and somewhat emotionless smile up.
Jaune was flabbergasted, and didn't respond to this, not believing what he was hearing. The Wizard, the greatest and most powerful Huntsman of this generation was going to be training him. Why would he ever want to do that.
Ozpin continued, without waiting for Jaune's response "Of course you have not yet completed high school, have you? Your hometown is a bit too far from the cave so you will need to be transferred to Signal High, where you will attend with Miss Rose, and finish your senior year. You will live in the cave with Miss Nikos and Miss Schnee and I'm sure they would be happy to give you the tour later. However, there is something that we must do before we organize all that. In order for you to fight with the creatures of Grimm you must be able to use your aura, which according to the report from your three teammates you did not use in the fight. Tell me are you able to activate an aura on your own? According to the team you did not have it up during the fight, which caused you to be knocked out."
Jaune lowered his head. He was dense, but even he could tell that this was a basic part of being a huntsman.
"No matter, it isn't difficult to unlock it, and with time and practice you will be able to do it without even thinking" Ozpin said "Which is partially why I brought Miss Nikos. If you would Miss Nikos would you be as so kind as to unlock Mr. Arc's aura."
Pyrrha nodded and got to her feet, walking over to Jaune, standing face to face, with barely a foot of space between them. She then put her right hand on his chest, and the left hand on Jaune's face, next to where a particularly painful scratch from the fight was. Jaune was about to ask her what she was doing when he felt an intense energy burst sweep through him.
"Close your eyes" Pyrrha whispered warmly and Jaune obeyed nervously
He then felt the burst again, but this time as a wave, flowing through him and connecting his soul to the rest of his body. Warmth radiated off him and it was nearly overwhelming, but he quickly was able to get it under control. He felt his cuts and scratches close up and his aches disappeared as his injuries healed. He opened his eyes and found his whole body glowing with a bright white light, and he saw Pyrrha, supporting herself by holding her hands up with her knees, clearly exhausted.
"Pyrrha, are you okay!" Jaune squeaked, his voice high with concern.
She quickly stood back tall, meeting his concern with a smile "Yes, I just used my own aura to unlock your aura, but the energy protecting you is your own." She paused before adding "You have a lot of it."
Cool, Jaune thought as he watched the white glow disappear from his body, and Ozpin interjected "Thank you Pyrrha, if you can wait outside, I think it is time for us to visit Mr. Arcs home and save his parents from the stress they must be feeling right now."
Shit, Jaune thought to himself, as he again realized his parents must have no idea where he is right now. Double shit, there's no way that they'll be okay with me doing this. Jaune began sweating, before Ozpin interrupted his little panic attack, with a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Mr. Arc, that will not be an issue, trust me" Ozpin said kindly, patting Jaune softly on the back, as if he knew what Jaune was thinking, before walking out of the medical bay with Jaune following behind him. Jaune thought to ask him how they planned on getting to his house, but that question was answered the moment they got on the hangar. He saw the Bullhead and one word came to his mind, remembering the last time he was on an aircraft.
Crap!
Ozpin explained the plan on the ride there, and Jaune somehow managed to keep his insides where they were supposed to be and avoid puking on the huntsman's shoes, taking in his part of the plan. Ozpin would tell his parents that he somehow won a scholarship to Signal Academy, and that Ozpin was a representative from the school, which was kind of true. For some reason his civilian identity had connections to nearly every school in Vale and most schools in Remnant. All things considered it went pretty well.
His parents were surprised at first but with Ozpin's silver tongue they bought it without too many issues. His Mom did have some concerns about his living situation and the fact that Jaune was supposed to leave that night, but once Ozpin described how intense the workload at Signal she understood. Apparently Signal High was some kind of intense prep school. Jaune was not aware of that on the other hand and was cursing to himself, knowing that he was getting way over his head. Although, if he was going to be fighting monsters and super criminals, an intense high school experience should be the least of his worries.
The way back was a much different experience. Without the distraction of having to keep an act up for his parents there was little to keep him from vomiting at over the Bullheads toilet. Great first impression for the most important Huntsman on the planet.
Once he got back to Patch, he was exhausted and was more than ready to collapse in his bed, and have a good night sleep. After he said goodnight to a mildly concerned Ozpin, he dragged himself through the halls of HQ and found an unexpected, but not unwelcome surprise waiting for him. Pyrrha was half asleep on the couch in the main mission room.
"Oh Jaune" Pyrrha yawned as she stretched and got up from the couch and came over to great him "How was the ride over? Did you get all your stuff?"
"Yeah, the ride was fine" Jaune lied as he really didn't really feel like discussing his issues with air travel with the rather pretty girl in front of him. He then looked at the time for the first time since he got up today "Pyrrha, it's nearly two am! What are you still doing up?"
The crimson haired huntress let out another yawn and gave another big stretch, desperately trying to stay awake. "Oh, I figured you'd need some help with your stuff, so I decided to wait for you to get back."
Jaune was touched. He just met this girl today and she just decided to stay up way past reasonable hours just to help him out. I mean they did nearly die together today but still.
Jaune smiled and thanked her, which she just brushed off and said it was no problem. She grabbed on of the suitcases he was dragging and walked beside him, and lead him to where Goodwitch said his room was, which was fortunately right next to hers. Jaune tried to tell her that he was fine to take them both, but Pyrrha just ignored his failed attempt at machoism. They walked in relative silence with both being too tired to really think clearly.
As they got to his room however, Pyrrha pipped up "Jaune, are you alright? Today has been rather…eventful for you."
Jaune would usually just blow this off and say he was, but he was way too tired for dishonesty and his usual ego.
"Yeah, it's been a lot. I mean I don't know if you noticed but I'm not exactly the most skilled fighter and I'm not really sure if I'm ready for all this?" Jaune said as he turned to unlock his door, not wanting to face Pyrrha with how overwhelmed he was. Before he could open his door, Pyrrha grabbed his arm gently.
"Jaune, when this team first was formed, I felt completely overwhelmed since I've never had teammates, and packing up my entire life to come here was something I was completely unprepared for." Pyrrha admitted, rubbing her arm nervously, not used to being so open. "But Weiss, Yang and especially Ruby helped me, and were there for me. When you have friends like that, things that seem impossible are just a little more manageable, and just like for me they'll be there for you too. I will as well. We're a team, we help each other"
Jaune blinked in surprise. I mean he'd really only known this girl for a few hours but come on. This was Pyrrha Nikos, he saw her fight griffins, armed criminals, and a giant scorpion like it was a walk in the park. Even for a huntress, she seemed like she not only knew she was but what she was doing, but that everything was part of one great big plan. If even she could get overwhelmed by something like this…
Jaune let out a breath, and the tension was released from his body all at once. He looked back at the huntress who was giving him her trademark warm smile. He certainly felt better, or at least somewhat confident, that he would be able to get through this.
He smiled back, before responding "Thanks Pyrrha, I needed that. Thanks for defending me, helping me with my stuff, staying up…" His rambling was cut off by her placing her hand on his.
"Jaune, you took a giant scorpion tail for me today, if anything I should be rambling thanks to you." Pyrrha said softly "and for what it's worth I'm glad you're on the team."
She then turned and left the blushing boy to his thoughts as she disappeared into her room, with a quick goodnight before she slipped away.
And Jaune was left blushing and beaming at the same time, and now he was certain he was feeling better about this. What a weird day.