Errantry

by Twisted Fate MK 2

The House D'Arc is an old, storied line, with centuries of history behind it. And not all of it pleasant, even to today. Disinherited and cast adrift with the ancient, strangely mystical, sword Mort Noire - the Black Death of Ansel - Jaune Arc must regain his honor through deeds and, hopefully, take titles of his own.

4. The Shining Beacon, I

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A couple hours of air travel and he had at least calmed down, and moved on from the strange ending to his time in Lavender Town, even if he still wasn't quite sure what to think about it. Most of the miners had of course been Faunus, and with how the guards had been talking about them, he'd assumed that Lavender Town was run the same way. Jack boots on Faunus throats, and him with nothing he could do about it but watch and frown. A bunch of miners left to die? Par for the course.

But instead Azure had been furious, and taken the crime out of the perpetrator's hide without a moment's hesitation. But why had he reacted that way? Because of what had happened, or for some other reason?

"Lord Arc, we're in view of the city, if you want to take it in." His pilot said over the interior communicator, dragging Jaune out of his thoughts. "ETA to Beacon is five more minutes, but most people like to take in the sight. Left side window, if you like, Lord."

"Thanks." he said, pressing a little button beside his chair to open the line from his end. "The view is great, from what I hear."

"I think so, Lord Arc." The pilot answered, a smile clear in their voice, "Let me know if you want me to slow down, I won't mind."

Inside, the Bullhead had been retrofitted into a high end transport, as expected of a Guild Master like Azure. Leather seats, a thin wall that split the middle of the bay with more seats and tables set comfortably around it, plenty of head room, and plenty of space to move around between the seats. The seats were the fancy kind, like you saw on television that the rich and famous used on private planes and airships. Between each set around the edge of the craft were even little mini-bars, stocked with snacks and drinks he'd taken the liberty of sampling. They weren't great, really, beyond something to nibble on, but he knew better than to look free down on free food when it was on offer.

Out on the frontier, you never really knew where your food was coming from all the time.

"I always love a good view…" Mort said, "I remember my last wielder always made sure to let me see, too."

"Not very subtle, are you?"

"I'm a sword that lights on fire every now and again." Mort answered in their eerie, raspy voice, "Being subtle isn't exactly something I'm very good at, no."

Rolling his eyes, Jaune undid his belt and dropped the sword in the seat next to his, where the little gem could look out on the city while Jaune dropped onto the other. Outside, over a sea of green and with the sparkling of a truer, blue sea beyond it, Jaune looked out on Vale. He'd been here once upon a time, years and years ago…

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"Sweetie, I know you aren't happy about why we're visiting Vale, but can't you at least enjoy time with the family?" His mother was saying from behind him, brushing his hair while he watched the green of the forest pass by below.

"Why?" His sister, Saphron, said from the seat across from them. "Will it make it easier to auction me off to some guy I've never met?"

"You're fourteen, and you've been engaged to him since you were six. This is just to let you meet him, that's all." His mother pointed out tiredly, already knowing how this argument would go but pushing through the motions anyway because it was her 'job as the mom'. "You won't be marrying him until you're seventeen at the earliest. Eighteen is the most likely, though, if not nineteen."

"That isn't the point…"

"No, the point is you being a selfish brat and not wanting to do what's best for your family." His mother countered acidically, patting him on the shoulder and smiling when he turned to look up at her, "All done, sweetie. You look like a prince, as always."

"Thanks, mom." He smiled, turning a look on his sister and asking, quietly, "Why are we going into Vale?"

"It's to-"

"To take me out to market like a cow and sell me to the first offer worth a damn." Saphron snarled, ignoring the glare his mother turned on her for it.

"That is not how a young lady should talk. What would your-

"What would dad say? He'd sigh and shrug like always, because even if he'll hock me like an old t.v. at a pawn shop he can't muster the strength to defend doing that." Their mother opened her mouth to tell her to behave, as always, but this time Saphron cut her off, "Please, tell me what you could possibly do to me that's worse than selling me off like a chicken that won't egg anymore."

"...One day, you'll thank us."

"Not. Likely." Saphron growled, crossing her arms and watching the sparkling city approach. "When is Jaune going to get sold off?"

"He's the heir to the family." His mother answered warmly, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder while he watched the trees. "When he is of age, he and his father will find a proper match for him. You aren't the heir, so your marriage is arranged for you. Just like mine was."

"Because I'm not the heir…" Saphron growled, angry and confused, "That isn't fair at all!"

"Life isn't fair." She shrugged, "I had to deal with this, as did my mother, and hers, going back hundreds of years. How fair would it be to let you simply run off and ignore what so many others had to face?"

Saphron stayed quiet, glaring at the oncoming city, and Jaune turned to give her a little smile before turning back to watch the trees.

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"Thinking?"

"Yeah, a bit." He answered quietly, looking out at the thousands and thousands of glinting lights as they approached. "The city is beautiful… The sun bouncing off the glass of the buildings is like that place down south. You remember?"

"Waterfall Mountain." Mort answered and, if he'd been able, Jaune was sure he'd have nodded. "All that water pounding down the mountain cast off hundreds of rainbows… It was beautiful. I can see the resemblance, even if I prefer the waterfalls."

"Yeah." He nodded, "You prefer natural places. I know."

"It's a bit more than preference, but okay…"

"We're rounding the edge of Valean airspace towards Beacon, Lord Arc." The pilot warned him, "In-call with Beacon traffic control now- They weren't expecting you, Lord. Staff only expected people arriving tomorrow, but want us to land anyway. Their deputy Headmistress will be waiting for you at the site."

"That's fine." Jaune said, "Tell her I'm sorry for the bother."

"Copy." They said, adding after a second, and sounding amused, "She, uh, she says that you can apologize yourself, Lord. And that you'll, uh, need to get used to doing that kind of stuff for yourself instead of… Instead of making your servants do everything for you."

"Ah." He snorted, "That's, uh… Pretty blunt, pilot."

"Sorry, Lord." They said, sounding anxious and contrite all at the same time. "She, uh, told me not to muddy her words. I don't think she thinks very highly of nobility like yourself."

"Sounds like it." Mort laughed a long, dry, rasping laugh and then sighed. "Well, I suppose that puts her right up our lane, though, eh, Jaune?"

"Tell her I look forward to meeting her, then." He smiled, releasing the comm connection and adding, quietly, "Apparently before I get something new to wear, but… Well, as they say, I guess. Swings and roundabouts."

"Yeah." Mort murmured, "Swings and roundabouts."

It only took a few more minutes before they saw Beacon, shining like the fantastical castle it rightly looked to be, nestled against a high cliff overlooking a great harbor that reached miles out to the distant sea. Boats were busy at the dock below, preparing for the coming students no doubt, and workers could be seen all along the winding path that led up the cliff from the water. Above it was a small but verdant forest that capped the cliff and circled the Academy to the North, East and West, mostly hiding what looked like a decently built defensive wall circling the same.

Inside it, the Academy looked every bit like your average college, albeit surrounded by a forest and with greenhouses dotting the grounds. Presumably to supplement the food supply, and for classes besides.

"I wish we'd had one of these in my day…"

"You're a sword." Jaune pointed out, "What constitutes 'your day' exactly?"

"No clue." They answered with a wry chuckle, "Just seemed the thing to say."

He didn't have much to his name, aside from his horse and a pack of spare clothes and basic equipment fit to function in the wilds. The former he was told not to worry about, Beacon had people on staff that would see to Triomphe for him while the shuttle was refuelled and checked for wear. The latter he toed taught and wore on his back, descending the ramp with a contented sigh for the smell of the sea and the cooling breeze rolling off of it.

That contentment vanished, mostly, at the sound of heels on concrete, echoing around the empty, partially sheltered little decking area.

"Lord Arc, I presume." Glynda Goodwitch, alongside being the headmistress of Beacon, was a hard woman dressed in high end, well made clothes that hugged her form tantalizingly and sporting sharp, hard eyes that promised pain if he dared to let his eyes spend any time on the curves that showed.

"I am he." He nodded, gripping the handle of Mort Noire tightly and pressing a palm to his heart before offering it to her to shake. "A pleasure to meet you, Lady headmistress, even if I arrived early."

"And without announcing yourself." She nodded, mirroring his action save for her off hand, which she rested on her hip instead, since she lacked a sword. "But I'm not a Lady, as you can see."

"No sword, yeah, I know." In a civilian setting, a sword was as good a way to tell a noble or a guard to one as any cloak or sigiled plate. Smiling warmly and squeezing her hand the way he'd been taught to years prior, he said, "But you're the deputy headmistress regardless, so if you won't take offense, I would pay you the title."

"I…" She flushed, then scowled, but didn't so much pull her hand away as gently extricate it. "Well, if you wish to, then I won't refuse. Just do as you like, Lord Arc, so long as it causes no problems."

"Of course." He smiled and winked, drawing raised brows from the woman, "I would never want to cause you any problems, Lady Headmistress."

"Okay, you can roll that noble charm back a bit, now, Jaune…"

"Anyway." He smiled, waving a hand around himself at the wide and dempty docks. "Thanks for letting me land. I'm guessing this isn't the main dock, though, since it's too small for the liner-carriers I've been told Beacon uses to ferry in the student body greater."

"We do, and this isn't the main docking area. That is out front, at the end of the promenade you likely saw on your way in." He nodded quietly, remembering the massive circle at the other end of the Academy's grounds that he knew now was definitely for Bullhead landings. "This is where students come and go in smaller Bullheads, typically on field assignments to the neighboring areas."

"Whereas later years probably use the main ones." He assumed, "So they can use larger craft and carry more supplies."

"Astute." The woman complimented, turning on a heel and looking over her shoulder, "If you will follow me, Lord Arc, I'll show you to the auditorium. You'll be spending a couple nights there, until after Initiation when you will be assigned a dorm proper."

"She sounds confident you'll make the cut…"

"I'm well aware of your combat history, Lord Arc." She answered when he carried Mort's words over, the older woman striding away purposefully and leaving him to follow. Which he did, trailing behind her a step and keeping his gaze firmly forward respectfully while they made their way. "The Lord Warden and Headmaster of Beacon Academy Ozpin also sends his praise along as well. You're quite storied, in certain circles, you know."

"Hopefully for good reasons."

"No." Mort sighed, "You're storied because you flirt with every blonde woman you meet, like some sort of goblin."

Wisely, he ignored Mort's barbing, even if he wanted to point out the distinction between flirting and being charming to get a leg up after putting the woman out.

"Only for good reasons, yes. At least, in so far as I am aware of." The woman answered, ignorant of his partner's snide comments and turning to flash him a friendly smile. And thankfully one empty of the agitation he'd been afraid of, showing up as he had. "I recall reading about your venture to… Aria's Villa, I believe?"

"Arias'Villa." He answered, rolling the two words into one and earning a curious look from the woman. "Faunus name, Lady Headmistress. It's pronounced just a bit differently to how you would think from its spelling."

"I thought it was a Human settlement?"

"Partially, yeah, and it has been governed by a Human family for some years." Because of course it had been, even though the ratio was something nearing sixty forty against. "But even though it was conquered during the Revolution, it was never properly renamed. The Valean government just didn't pronounce the name properly, and they haven't bothered correcting anyone."

"A bit of an academic?"

"No." He answered plainly, "A bit of an Arc, Lady Headmistress."

"Well, I suppose Oobleck was right about your family, then." She turned to give him a more appraising look that turned into a warm one when he raised a brow challengingly. "Prof- Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. He has quite a few opinions regarding the Faunus, and those who support them as avidly and consistently as your family has."

"Oh?"

"Not in any bad way, Lord, forgive me." She rushed to say, coming to a stop and turning on a heel, one hand snapping up to catch his shoulder before he could walk into her. Letting him go and stepping back she sighed, "What I meant was that he supports your family and the causes they often fight for, Lord Arc. Not anything negative."

"Ah." He blinked slowly, mind working, "I feel like I recognize the name, too…"

"Rights Revolution to Uprising : A-"

"-Treatise on Violence for Civil Gains and the moral Justifications for Them." Jaune finished excitedly, pointing one of his fingers up the hall they were walking down and asking, eagerly, "This is that Doctor Oobleck? He works here?"

"He does, yes." She smiled, "A fan, are we?"

"Am I ever!" Jaune smiled even wider, turning to walk with the woman at his side, now, as they made their way through empty hallways that were almost cavernous for it. "I have his interview with Super-Sonic Blue, the world's fastest Faunus, saved on my Scroll! No one could keep up with their sentences except Doctor Oobleck-"

"And he wrote what he said down to translate into a text-to-audio machine more slowly." Goodwitch chuckled, "He tells that story often enough that I know it by heart. A fascinating person, with a powerful Semblance, even if it makes day to day living so much harder for them…"

"Not every Semblance is positive." Jaune nodded, growing a bit more somber as they walked, "Super-Sonic Blue can carve his way through Grimm like lightning, but he can't stop moving, or living, at that kind of speed. They're so powerful but that kind of life always seemed so..."

"Lonely." Goodwitch nodded, "Not unlike a life spent alone on the frontier, struggling to survive, I would imagine."

"I chose this life." He grunted simply, "Super-Sonic Blue didn't. They just had it fall on their heads, and had to make do or die."

"You chose to be disinherited?"

"No, but I chose Errantry and a pursuit to Knighthood and renewed nobility instead of, say, becoming a cadet family member or letting myself be married for an alliance." And that he had been given that choice while others had not silk rubbed him the wrong way in more ways than he could begin to explain. "That's already more choice than they had in what their life would entail, Lady Headmistress."

"True enough, Lord, true enough." She said as they came upon a wide, heavy door that she laid a hand on, smiling warmly. "As much as I have enjoyed our conversation, and would love to continue it, I have much to do today to prepare for the next couple of them. And though I mean no offense-"

"You've been forced to spend plenty of your time on mea, Lady Headmistress." He nodded understandingly, "I'm to take care of myself for the evening, then?"

"Yes." She nodded, "Make yourself comfortable in the auditorium, as best you can. If you need food, the cafeteria is stocked, if empty of workers. Use it as you will. I'm sure you can manage, though, given your time in the wilderness."

"I can manage." He nodded, "Is there anywhere I can get some better equipment for Initiation? I have Lien."

"The Beacon armories and stores open tomorrow morning, so feel free to visit." She answered easily, paying him a nod and adding finally, "If that is all…?"

"It is. Please, see to your duties." He smiled, once again saluting her, hand over his hear, and adding a parting, "Good evening, Lady Headmistress."

"And to you, Lord Arc."

"So." Mort said as she left and Jaune watched her, "She seems nice enough.

"Doesn't she?" He asked, turning and pushing open the door to the empty, but nice enough, auditorium as he spoke. "Terrifying, though. In a good way, but still."

"What is a 'good way'...?"

"It's, uh, hard to explain." He chuckled, finding a comfortable corner to drop his gear in and then falling on his rear and sighing. "Remind me to get some new kit tomorrow. I don't want to look like some strange bumpkin when I meet everyone."

"I mean… You are a strange bumpkin, though."

"Yeah, but I don't want to look like one, Mort." He smiled, "So do me the favor, alright?"

"Sure, sure." The spirit of the sword sighed, "As you like. And a good rest to you, Arc. Before the next couple of no doubt hectic days."

He only sighed, not quite looking forward to it but knowing he didn't have any way around it. He was not one for crowds, and he knew the problems that could bring. But he also knew that he had no real option but to ignore it and push through. So, it was like so many other things in his life so far, in that respect.

He'd survive, somehow, he was sure.

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Zenith Tempest :

Jaune was actually fairly highly trained, along with the rest of his family. Other events lead to where he is now, which will be detailed as the story goes on. And I will return to Ancient Code as soon as I get to it in my rotation, which I run around my commissions now. I believe rookie is next and then it will be up.

Balweskm :

Glad you like it, and yes, Mort can use magic. However, it is not common, per se, though it may crop up time to time. More details as the story goes on~

Truck-Sama (Guest) :

Magic is not truly common, no, as I said to the Review above. More details as the story goes on~

Azure Storm :

Glad you like it!

Death trooper 900 :

Glad you find it so interesting~!