Hello all, and thank you again for reading my first ever story! I've been completely blown away by all the love you guys sent for this story, even though this is my first time writing something like this. Nearly 100 follows in less than a day!? I'm so incredibly thankful for all the positive feedback and reviews, and I hope I can continue that momentum in the next coming chapters!
I've had a couple of people asking me what kind of build Jaune is using. In case you missed some of the references I made in the previous chapter, Jaune will be more of a spell-sword knight using the various Glintstone sorceries, the weapons and armor of the Carian Knights, and a little something extra. I did initially consider making Jaune a Strength/Faith user but decided to go with the Carian Knight aesthetic since I felt it would match his knightly appearance and mannerisms in the show.
And I didn't want to make Jaune completely overpowered since if he was a Faith user, he would have access to some of the most broken miracles including Black Blade (hell, any of the Black Flame spells), Law of Causality, Giant's Flame spells, Ancient Dragon Lightning, Golden Vow, and so forth. While in PvP miracles aren't quite as strong or versatile as sorceries, if I adapted them into this story using their lore-accurate power and descriptions, then Jaune would easily be able to annihilate every living being on Remnant.
That said, I am curious as to how you guys would feel if I decide to add Law of Regression to his list of skills. Law of Regression is unique in that it seems to be the sole miracle in the game that only scales off of Intelligence. And though it's effects in-game are mostly used to simply remove all buffs placed on the player and invader, its lore and implications have given me a lot of interesting ideas on how it can be used in this story. I'll leave it up to you guys on whether I should have Jaune be able to use Law of Regression or not. Would it be alright, or would it make him too overpowered?
'Oh, no. Oh nonononononono…'
Jaune's will completely broke as he hurriedly shuffled his way to the nearest trashcan, vomit spilling from his lips and landing on the shoes of one extremely pissed and grossed-out girl as he tried and failed to contain the contents of his stomach the moment the Bullhead took off from the docks.
With everyone giving him a wide berth as the nauseating smell of his puke started to fester in one of the empty cabins, Jaune finally found his salvation and hurriedly opened his mouth as an entire waterfall of stomach acids landed in the trash.
'Marika's tits, why? Why!? Why am I still getting motion sickness after all this time? I haven't even eaten anything in years!'
As a Tarnished, or as the Two Fingers described them: the 'dead who yet live', his body had no need to eat, drink, or sleep. Anytime he did need to do any of those basic functions was to heal his own body or to maintain his own sanity, at least for a while. It was hard for him at first to get used to no longer needing to do any of those old habits like he did when he was first alive. Only after getting some help from Summer, who also experienced a similar shell shock when she too was first resurrected, did he slowly start to get used to no longer needing to eat or sleep to survive. As a matter of fact, he could easily count the number of times he actually ate solid food in the Lands Between with one hand, when he discovered to his pleasant surprise that he absolutely loved the taste of cooked prawn and crab.
But apparently, dying and resurrecting multiple times, not eating any solid food for years on end, and having as empty a stomach as humanly possible wasn't enough for him to completely remove the motion-sickness that plagued him since his childhood and which became the primary target for teasing by his amused sisters. He was thankful that he never experienced such nausea during his time in the Lands Between, but the moment the Bullhead took off from Patch his long-forgotten motion sickness returned with a vengeance and he soon spent the majority of his trip to Beacon hunched over and holding his stomach in agony. The only saving grace of the situation being that most of the occupants left him all by his lonesome once they saw how green his face appeared. The last thing he wanted was to strike a conversation while he was struggling to hold the contents of his stomach in.
By the Gods, he could easily imagine Summer laughing her head off if she ever saw him like this. It was bad enough that he made himself look like an idiot so many times whenever they worked together to survive, but he definitely didn't want her to see him in such a pitiful state.
Knowing her though, she would probably just make him lie down on her lap and start to stroke his hair as she sang a lullaby to help calm his stomach and mind down.
While Melina would reappear in front of them and with a disappointed glance begin to question if this was the Tarnished that would eventually become Elden Lord.
With his nausea now gone, Jaune wiped the side of his mouth with his sleeve and took a quick glance around the now empty cabin to find some kind of restroom. Finding one near to his left, he unpacked his backpack of recently purchased supplies and made his way inside to brush his teeth.
His new journey to fulfill Summer's dying wish was already off to a bad start, and Jaune shuddered to think how easily he could be incapacitated by a rocking Bullhead. If Ruby was ever in trouble and she was stuck fighting for her life on a Bullhead like this, then he would just end up becoming a useless nauseated mess.
What was he going to do against any Grimm or man that would try to attack her? Puke on them?
Growling in anger at himself, he hurriedly brushed and gargled his mouth several times, hoping that he finally got rid of that god-awful stench before packing his things and making his way to the next cabin where thankfully no one had batted an eye in his direction. Gazing around the cabin, he could make out several unique heads looking through the windows to glance at the approaching Beacon Academy, reading or watching videos on their Scrolls, or casting their eyes above to the screen showing the latest news report. Making his way through the crowd, he kept an eye out for a dark-red and blonde-haired pair of sisters.
All the while, somehow completely missing the gaze of a tall, red-haired spartan who looked on in surprise as he walked past her without a single glance in her direction while she was almost completely surrounded by onlookers and zealous fans.
Never in her life did Ruby wish she was taller as she once again found herself suffocating in the well-endowed chest of her older sister, who returned from the restroom with recently washed boots and began to pull her in a rib-breaking hug.
It's no fair how buxom and tall Yang was compared to a shorty like her! She drank milk!
"Yang, quit hugging me so much! It's embarrassing!" Ruby said in a muffled voice as she started to grow more embarrassed by the many amused glances narrowing in her direction.
"Sorry, sis, but I still can't believe that you're actually here going to Beacon with me! I'm SOOOO proud of you!" Yang said as she finally stopped suffocating her sister and gave her the classic 'proud big sis' smile.
"It was nothing sis!"
"What do you mean 'it was nothing'? You stopped an entire robbery by yourself and the Headmaster himself personally invited you to Beacon! Just you wait, everyone at Beacon's gonna think you're the bees' knees!"
"I don't want to be the 'bees' knees', or any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees!" Ruby said as she started to cast her eyes downwards. While it was true that she was over the moon when she returned home from the police station at the recent admission into Beacon, her excitement had simmered down over the next couple of days as she knew without a doubt the difficulties that would come with being accepted 2 years early. Luckily Dad gave her some much needed advice on how to try and conduct herself when she first arrives, well aware of how overwhelmed she might be. Although somewhat hesitant to let her go to Beacon so soon, he relented when he saw just how much Ruby wanted to go. The poor guy would soon be all alone at home save for Zwei, and he wasn't ready to have both his beloved daughters leaving home so soon. Unbeknownst to Ruby, he had suspected Ozpin's true intentions in letting Ruby be admitted so early, but he trusted him with his own life and he could never try and break Ruby's heart by refusing to let her go. At least if she went, she would be with Yang who would no doubt be with her and keep her out of trouble. And away from any boys.
"What's with you, Rubes? Weren't you all excited to come with me to Beacon this year?"
"Of course I'm excited! But I got moved ahead 2 years, and I don't want people to think I'm some kind of prodigy."
"But you are special." Yang said as she gave a quick one-arm to Ruby. She could see where Ruby was coming from, but she knew that Ruby would be fine and would fit right in at Beacon. Uncle Qrow had trained her extremely well, and despite her less-than-stellar grades in history and math she excelled in combat and weapons engineering. The fact that she was able to stop a robbery by herself and go toe-to-toe with a wanted Huntsman just showed how incredible of a fighter her beloved little sister was. If she was concerned that she wouldn't fit right in at Beacon, then her worries were completely misplaced. And besides, Yang was more than happy to deliver a knuckle-sandwich to anyone who would bother her precious baby sister.
"A-and besides! I didn't stop the robbery all alone, I had help! Didn't I tell you and Dad about the guy that saved me and tried to stop the Huntsman from getting away?" Ruby said as she tried to wave off Yang's praises.
"Oh? You mean the tall, blonde, and dashing knight in shining armor who swooped in, defeated the baddies, and carried you in his arms before whisking you away on a white horse?" Yang teased as she saw Ruby's face redden like a stop sign. When Ruby mentioned how she stopped a robbery and got rescued by a blonde knight, she threw her head back and laughed while her Dad almost had an aneurysm and started to cry saying how Ruby was 'at that age'.
'I mean, really Rubes? You happened to get rescued by a blonde knight like in those old fairy tales Mom and Dad used to read for us back when we were kids?'. This was Ruby for crying out loud! A girl who spent more time tinkering with her weapon than she did eating and bathing. And who thought that trying to make a conversation about anything besides weapons would be as difficult as the math and history homework she despised back in Signal. Yang seriously doubted something like that happened, and if it did, she'd like to have some words with him should they ever meet. Ruby was so animated when she talked about this mysterious stranger and his crazy tricks with his Semblance when she talked about the robbery, and her Dad grew more and more worried with each passing word of praise.
"Oh, knock it off, Yang! He actually helped me a lot back there, and I was kind of hoping he'd be around here somewhere since he also said he'd be coming to Beacon too. I could introduce you to him, and maybe he can show me his weapons again! I soooo want to know how he keeps his sword so nice even after being used for so long. And also what kind of Dust he used to do all those amazing tricks!"
"Okay, slow down Rubes!" Yang exclaimed as she started to get overwhelmed by Ruby's excitement for this mysterious stranger. Yep, if she ever meets this guy, she'd definitely have some words with him. "At least you seem to have met someone cool. All I've seen so far is some blonde moron who puked all over my shoes and ran to the nearest trash can. Ughh… talk about a downer. These were my favorite boots too, and next thing I know I'm spending 20 minutes in the bathroom trying to get rid of all that vomit. And the smell! What did that guy eat last night, rotten prawn!?"
"Oh, gross, gross, gross! Don't say that stuff right now, Yang!" Ruby recoiled in disgust, having finally gotten the reason for her sister coming in with wet boots. "Please tell me you just got vomit on your shoes and not the rest of your clothes! You just gave me a bear hug, and I don't want vomit all over my clothes! Especially my cloak!"
Before she could respond, the local news broadcast closed down, and a hologram showing the full body of Glynda Goodwitch appeared, grabbing the attention of everyone on board.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have been selected to attend this Academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it! You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." Glynda concluded as her hologram faded away. While most of the upcoming students were excited for their new year as Beacon students, there were a few others who looked at the fading hologram with hesitance. One such student, a young girl with black hair, amber eyes, and an oddly twitching bow on her forehead silently scoffed at the mention of the world being in "an incredible time of peace" while returning her gaze to her book. Another student, a girl with snow-white hair, clothes, and pale-blue eyes clenched her fist and looked on ahead, ready to prove to the world and her father that her goals were nothing to be scoffed at. An energetic orange-haired girl jumped up and down in excitement while dragging a poor, black-haired ninja with her, and a spartan warrior broke away from her fans and silently prayed that her choice to go to Beacon was a correct one.
And a blonde knight far off in the corner suddenly grasped his stomach as the Bullhead made a slight bump in the air.
Ruby, meanwhile, only grew more excited, and soon she found herself near the window as the full scale of Beacon Academy was now completely visible to her.
"Take a look little sis. Beacon's our home now." Yang said as she joined her sister at the window. "I just hope I can meet someone better than Vomit Boy earlier…"
Making her way out of the aircraft, Ruby could only widen her eyes in amazement and look up as she took in the entire academy in her eyes. Beacon Academy was structured like a massive castle, with marble-white towers and buildings scattered across the estate, and a massive clockwork tower taking up the center of the Academy and standing over all the other buildings in the facility. The entire area was well-groomed and sparkly cleaned, and soon all the other prospective students made their way down the path towards the academy entrance.
As Yang whistled in approval beside her, Ruby immediately zoned in on all the students as they walked past them, and in a move that surprised no one, began to literally salivate at all the weapons each student brought with them.
"OH! OH, YANG LOOK AT THAT KID'S GOT A COLLAPSABLE STAFF! OOOOHHHH! AND SHE'S GOT A FIRE SWORD!" Rolling her eyes as her little sister practically levitated off the ground, Yang brought her arm down on Ruby's shoulder before she could start flying around and drool all over everyone's weapons.
"Easy there, Rubes. They're just weapons."
"Just weapons!? Yang, they're an extension of ourselves! A part of us!"
"Well, why can't you just fawn over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?"
"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Ruby said as she unfurled her beloved scythe. "It's just like meeting new people! In fact, it's almost better than meeting new people! No awkward sentences and boring conversations!"
Rolling her eyes again, Yang yanked on Ruby's hood, covering her eyes. "Come on, sis. Maybe you should try to make some friends here!"
"Why would I want to make new friends when I got you?" Ruby asked. While she did hope that with Yang's absence she might be able to branch out at Signal, now that both of them were at Beacon why should she even bother? She and her sister can be partners and be on the same team!
"Yeah, speaking of… I see my friends over there, so gotta go. Bye!" Yang quickly said as she practically zoomed away with a crowd of other people. Knowing just how clingy and socially awkward her little sister can be, Yang took the chance to get out and hopefully give Ruby a chance to make some friends of her own. Though she feigned ignorance, Yang knew that the majority of people who claimed were Ruby's "friends" were merely just paying lip-service to her so that they can get closer to Yang. She always felt guilty about it even though she tried her best to bring in people who could actually be friends with her at Signal. Yang hoped that with her absence at Signal, Ruby could meet some people who would actually be good friends with her now that she was no longer there to unintentionally draw people to her. But now that both of them were at Beacon, she had to take matters into her own hands to make Ruby grow up a little.
'Sorry Rubes, but this is probably for the best. Hopefully you can make some friends here on your own. I mean, you're a prodigy and you're adorable. How bad could making friends be?'
Sadly, making new friends turned out to be as bad as she thought it would be.
Spinning around dizzily from the sheer speed of Yang's desperate escape, Ruby could only wobble around before tripping backwards onto a pile of suitcases that started to spill their contents onto the pavement.
"Hey, what are you doing!?" A sharp voice pierced the air as Ruby started to untangle herself from the fallen luggage. Looming over her with a finger pointed straight at her and a piercing, unamused gaze was a young girl with a white dress and pale-blue eyes. "Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused!?
"Eep! Uh, sorry!" Ruby could only give a squeaky apology as she hastily grabbed a random suitcase and held it up to the girl.
"Give me that! This is Dust! Mined and refined from the Schnee Quarry. Are you brain-dead? Fire, water, lightning, energy!" The noble girl exclaimed as she grabbed a random Dust vial from the suitcase and angrily shook it in front of Ruby, unimpressed by her silence to her questions and unaware of the clouds of Dust that started to leak out of the vial. "is any of this sinking in yet? What do you have to say for yourself!?"
"Look, I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby exclaimed. How could things go so wrong so quickly!? One minute she was so excited to be at Beacon's front door, ready to begin becoming a Huntress alongside her sister! Only for said sister to run away and abandon her to some grumpy girl 10 seconds later! The traitor! She'll make sure to get back at Yang for this, but she really wanted this girl to stop yelling at her. Already she wanted to cover her head with her red cloak and run away, but whoever this girl was, she was clearly irritated with her and seemed hell-bent on making her life miserable!
"Oh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here in the first place? Don't you think you're a bit young to be attending Beacon in the first place. This isn't your run-of-the-mill combat school! We're here to learn how to fight off the Grimm! If you can't even walk 2 feet without stumbling and hitting everything around you with your feet, then I don't think you belong in a place like this!"
"Hey, I said I was sorry! And for the record, I got moved ahead 2 years, princess!" Now Ruby was starting to get really annoyed by this huge dummy-head!
"Heiress, actually." An unknown voice rang out as both her and Ruby turned to face the newcomer, a black-haired ninja girl who had grabbed a vial of Dust off the ground and kept an open book with the other hand. "Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Weiss visibly brightened at the acknowledgment of her status. "And the company infamous for its controversial labor practices and questionable business partners." And her bright smile instantly disappeared with the inclusion of that last sentence.
"What!? How dare you! The nerve of someone like you!" Weiss growled furiously as she started shaking the vial of leaking Dust in her hand. Caught up in her anger, she failed to notice the ever-increasing size of the Dust cloud as it made its way to Ruby, who was no starting to strongly sniffle. The ninja girl, having caught the impending disaster approaching, swiftly made her escape while Weiss continued to berate her, unaware of the upcoming sneeze until it was too late…
Jaune slowly made his way out of the Bullhead, his knees wobbling as he tried to steady himself from the agonizing trip to Beacon.
'Marika's tits, never again'. He thought as he slowly but surely made his way away from the ship of death and despair behind him. 'I need to get rid of this stupid motion-sickness as soon as possible! Think, there has to be some kind of pill or medicine I could take to solve this!'
He still found it ludicrous how he could get motion-sick so easily on a Bullhead when he had suffered far worse riding on Torrent alongside Summer as they maneuvered around the Lands Between. Ever the adventurous warrior, Summer would eagerly ride on Torrent and have him jump around or easily maneuver and dodge ballista and arrows raining down on them with Jaune forced to grab onto Summer's waist for dear life. Even today he could never get used to the sudden rush of weightlessness that came whenever Summer had Torrent leap hundreds of feet into the air when he rode on these pockets of wind scattered around.
Taking his mind off the deathtrap behind him, Jaune looked around hoping to catch site of Ruby or her sister. He decided to hang back and keep himself hidden after he realized that he pissed off Yang by puking all over her shoes. While he wasn't particularly afraid of her, he really didn't want to add more fuel to the fire by giving her more reasons to hate him, and he didn't wish to take his chances when his legs and mind were still wobbly.
As he began to move forward looking to catch a glimpse of her, the sound of a large explosion crashed into his ears. Pulling out his sword and scepter in a fraction of a second, he scanned the area for any threats and prepared himself to rain down glintstone on any fool who thought they could harm Ruby. Noticing the large trail of smoke a dozen or so meters away, he made his way towards the source of the explosion.
What greeted him was a sight that brought a smidge of laughter and relief on his face. Lying spread-eagled on the pavement next to a large smoking crater was one Ruby Rose, looking depressed as all hell but completely unharmed. As he approached her, he heard a miserable whine from her followed by a dejected, "Welcome to Beacon…".
Coming from the side, he bent his knees and offered a hand, catching her attention with his next few words.
"Hey, how's it going Ruby? Nice to see you again here at Beacon, though I can definitely say this isn't how I expected we meet!" Jaune said with a smile. One that Ruby quickly returned the moment she turned her head to the new voice and recognized him.
"Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed as she eagerly grabbed his offered hand and pulled herself up. Finally, an actual friend here at Beacon! Noticing the color of his hair and the fact that she could smell his mouthwash this close, she quickly put two and two together.
"Wait, were you the guy who threw up all over Yang's shoes?"
"Oh come on! Motion-sickness is a much more common problem than people let on! And it just came so suddenly!" Jaune exclaimed as he internally recoiled at the new nickname Ruby gave him. Of course, his blunder would blow up in his face as he walked alongside Ruby towards the entrance of Beacon. Now he would forever be christened as the infamous "Vomit Boy", the Tarnished who threw up on his first day at Beacon.
He could practically see Summer clutching her ribs as her face teared up in laughter at his latest mishap, which wasn't too difficult to imagine as Ruby did the exact same as she walked alongside him.
"Look, I'm sorry, but Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind! I mean, one day your acting all cool protecting me from that baddie a couple of days ago, and when we met again you puked all over Yang's shoes!" Ruby said happily as she continued to laugh at his misfortune. Who would have thought that their reunion would start with her laughing at his recent blunder! At least it helped her forget her utter failure at making friends a few minutes ago. Take that, Yang! Who said I was socially awkward or that I couldn't make any friends here! At least I've got Jaune!
"Oh yeah, well what if I called you Crater Face? Didn't think destruction of public property was something you loved to do in your free time!"
"Hey, that explosion was an accident! And besides, who was the one who caused a massive crater himself with a blue cannonball only 2 days ago? If anything, the one who should be called 'Crater Face' here is you!" Ruby laughed out loud as they both giggled at the crazy turn of events that happened to them. She instantly felt way better than she had a few minutes ago, and now she felt her previous excitement and happiness at joining Beacon return once more, now that she had a good friend by her side once again!
"Hey, that crater wouldn't have happened if that Bullhead didn't stop moving around so much! Speaking of craters, how did that one back there happen anyhow?"
"Oh, uh… I accidentally toppled over some crabby girl's suitcases full of Dust, she started yelling at me and waving around this broken Dust bottle, another girl came in, they started yelling at each other, I sneezed all over the Dust bottle, and that girl exploded…"
Jaune laughed out loud. He couldn't think of a more Ruby-like way for her to introduce herself. "Wow, that's rough. Was she really that crabby?"
"Yeah, she was a total meanie! I mean, it's not my fault she didn't see that her vial was leaking Dust everywhere! But enough about me, what about you? How were you doing these past couple of days? Were you… able to see your mentor before you left Patch?"
Jaune scratched the back of his head as the memories of his tearful farewell at Summer's grave flooded his mind once again. "Y-yeah, I… said my goodbyes. Don't worry though, I'm okay. I didn't really do much these past couple of days. I just spent most of my time training and buying some clothes and supplies. I didn't have a lot of money so I just spent most of my time roughing it out in the woods."
Ruby gasped. "You spent the last couple of days camping out in the woods!? Jaune, those forests were infested with Grimm! My dad and the teachers at Signal often go there at least once a week to clear out the Grimm there since there's always a large amount of them trying to leave the forest and attack the town! If you didn't have a place to stay you could have told me and I would have let you stay at my place until Beacon started. I'm sure Dad and Yang wouldn't mind. I mean, I did tell them how you saved me back there, so I'm sure they would have been happy to let you room for a few days!"
Somehow, he doubted it. Before he started camping in the woods he kept a close eye on Ruby as she entered her house and the overprotective look her dad gave her immediately told Jaune everything he needed to know. He had seen the same exact look on his own dad's face whenever one of his sisters brought back a boyfriend or when Saffron introduced her girlfriend Terra to the family. If Ruby thought her own dad Taiyang was overprotective since he had 2 daughters to look after, he paled in comparison to the overprotective and brooding nature of Nicholas Arc and his evil gaze whenever he saw someone try to make a move or hurt his girls.
And both of them paled in comparison to the mollycoddling and overprotectiveness of his own mother when it came to him. Out of his entire family, Jaune's mom was the most against his idea of becoming a Huntsman. Not out of a lack of belief in his ability to succeed but out of massive worry that her precious baby boy would go hunting and come back in a body bag. When he left home, his Scroll was constantly bombarded with messages from his mom who texted him asking for updates every 5 minutes before he angrily told her to stop badgering him lest he block her number permanently. He was still incredibly pissed off at his family's reluctance to let him pursue his dreams when his own parents welcomed and encouraged each and every one of his sisters' dreams and future careers. Even his own dad came around to the idea of Saphron getting married at the young age of 24 to her childhood sweetheart Terra, and took to coddling and spoiling Adrian almost immediately.
But when he alone said that he wanted to be a Huntsman? Nearly everyone in the family was against him from day 1. Even Saphron, whom he adored the most out of all his sisters and whom he supported the most during her early days in her relationship with Terra, tried to convince him to pursue something else. Terra, whom he got along with really well, also tried to convince him to not pursue his goals when even Saphron failed to convince him saying that she wanted Adrian to know his beloved uncle when he grew up and that he might die if he tried to go along with this without any training. But what was he supposed to do? His own father wouldn't train him, and they lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere, with no Huntsman around to train him either.
The sudden remembrance of his mother gave Jaune pause and a heavy sense of melancholy flooded his soul once again. In truth, he could never hate his family no matter how much they tried to sway him from his dreams, and his journey in the Lands Between only made him miss them more as time passed. Summer had filled the hole in his heart when he longed to be with family once again, but she's gone, and no doubt his family would be besides themselves with worry ever since he went radio-silent for several days.
'Once I get into Beacon, maybe I should text everyone to let them know I made it. Maybe once they see that I actually got in and am with a team, they might lay off the attempts to get me to go home and I can finally apologize to them for the silence.' Jaune thought, resolving to try and mend the relationship he once had with his family.
"it's okay, Ruby," he said once she noticed his silence. "I'm used to roughing it out in the woods. As my dad would say, survival camping is the best way to get some hairs on the chest and man up! And he always says that that's what'll bring the ladies to you!" Ruby laughed at his light-hearted attempt at humor. "Anyway, how have you been? You excited to finally be in Beacon?"
"More than anything in the world!" Ruby said happily as they finally entered the school and were greeted by a large crowd of students facing the large podium in front of them. Making their way through the crowd, Jaune heard a voice calling out to Ruby.
"Oh, that's my sister! Why not let me introduce you to her? I'm sure she'll forgive you for puking on her shoes!" Ruby said as she grabbed him by his gloved hand and dragged him towards Yang.
'Oh, great. Well, here's hoping she doesn't beat me up too badly,' Jaune thought as he was dragged towards Ruby's blonde sister, who initially raised an eyebrow at Ruby dragging a guy towards her until recognizing his face and immediately had her eyes turn red and her hair light up in an inferno.
"Soo, you're the guy who decided to puke all over my brand-new shoes, huh?" Yang said as she cracked her knuckles menacingly the moment Ruby brought Jaune over to them. "Got any last words before I knock your teeth out?"
"Yang, stop! It was an accident, a-and besides! This is the guy who saved me from those robbers! Don't you dare punch him, sis!" Ruby said as she tried to stop Yang from knocking her fully-loaded gauntlets into Jaune's cheek.
Jaune quickly raised up his arms in front of her, trying to save himself from the wrath of the older sister. "Woah, woah, woah! Look, I'm really sorry about your shoes! I didn't think I'd get that motion-sick so easily. If you want, I'll buy you a new pair of boots if need be. Name's Jaune. Jaune Arc." Showing his hand toward her and giving an apology, he looked up to see her hair start to stop glowing and her eyes turn back to their original lilac color.
"I'll hold you to that, Vomit Boy. Those boots cost me a lot of money." Jaune inwardly groaned, worried that he might have to rob someone if he was unable to pay for replacements with the minuscule amount of Lien he still had left. "So, you're the guy Rubes said saved her from Roman Torchwick a couple days ago?" Taking a cursory glance at him and looking up and down his body, she shook her head in mild disappointment. "Gotta say, you don't look nearly as heroic as Ruby says you were."
But then Yang's eyes twinkled and Jaune froze, suddenly reminded of the times his sisters used to tease him or style up his hair to mess with him when he was young. He recognized that twinkle in Yang's eyes instantly: the teasing big sister look. "Well, as far as boyfriends go you don't seem half-bad. Didn't think you were into blonde and scraggly knights in shining armor Ruby." Yang said as she cast a teasing smile at Ruby, whose cheeks turned bright red and who started stuttering in her embarrassment.
"What? N-no way Yang! I'm not into that kind of stuff! Gross! Quit teasing me!" Ruby flapped her arms as Yang continued to tease her.
"Relax, Rubes. Well, if you did help Ruby out back there, then thanks for getting her out of a tight spot." Yang said as she took Jaune's offered hand and shook it. "But if you try and do anything funny to her without her permission, I'll tear your junk out, got it?"
Jaune could only roll his eyes at that final comment, finally glad that his apology so far didn't piss her off. "Believe me, I've been there. I have seven sisters after all, and even I get protective over them whenever they brought a guy home. Relax, Ruby's a good friend of mine."
Yang slightly spluttered at that last comment. "S-seven sisters? Damn, did your dad forget to use a condom or something!?"
"Oh, he tried. Mom just didn't believe in protection."
"Did neither of them get exhausted!?"
"My family lives in a small town. It's not like my parents could pass the time by playing video games all day, you know?"
Shaking her head from the disturbing thought, Yang turned her attention to Ruby. "So, how's your first day at Beacon so far?"
Ruby shuddered at the recollection of her initial encounter with Weiss, and then grew grumpy at how Yang essentially ditched her for her friends. "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded!?"
"Oh, she's not joking about that part. She really did explode." Jaune added.
"Yeesh, rough day? Sure you aren't trying to pull my leg here?"
"No! I really did explode! There was this super grumpy girl whose luggage I tripped over. She yelled at me, I sneezed and we both exploded when she kept waving this bottle of Dust near my face, she started screaming at me again, and the whole time I just wished that she would stop yelling at me!" Ruby said, not knowing that Weiss was right behind her.
"You!"
"Oh god, not again!" Ruby screamed and immediately jumped into Jaune's arms, who grabbed her in a surprised princess-carry, with Yang silently raising an eyebrow at him.
"Consider yourself lucky that no one got hurt in that explosion!"
"Wow, you really did explode…"
"It was just an accident!" Ruby said as she blushed and jumped out of Jaune's arms. The moment she touched the ground however, Weiss was immediately on to her, thrusting a small brochure near her face.
"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not recommended, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust application and practice in the field." Weiss said, reciting the entire disclaimer with an almost robotic manner as Ruby appeared to become increasingly more lost and confused trying to keep up with her didactic speech.
"If you want to make things up to me, then read this and never speak to me again." Weiss said as she dropped the brochure into Ruby's hands and began to leave.
"Woah, woah, looks like we got off to a bad start here! Why not start over and try to be friends?" Yang asked as she noticed Ruby's disheartened face. While Weiss could definitely learn to act like less of an entitled brat, she did hope that maybe Ruby could rub off on her and she could find another friend for herself. Something Ruby also tried to do as she eagerly continued off from Yang.
"Y-yeah! Why don't we start over! Hi, I'm Ruby! Want to hang out later? We could go shopping for school supplies!"
"Oh! And we can paint our nails, try on new clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and scraggly behind you!" Weiss said in a clearly mocking tone as she adopted a fake smile and pointed towards Jaune.
'Again? Am I really that scraggly?'
Jaune knew he wasn't a body builder, and he was definitely extremely lanky even compared to other Huntsmen, but he had hoped that his time in the Lands Between had at least given him the opportunity to grow some muscle. Summer did use to say that he was getting much more lean and muscular the more time she spent training him.
Unfortunately, Ruby didn't seem to have noticed Weiss's clear sarcasm. "Oh, really?"
"No."
Noticing Yang becoming more angered at Weiss's attitude towards Ruby, Jaune decided to try and intervene lest a fight break out between the two. "Look, while I appreciate that you consider me cute, I really think we're starting off on the wrong foot here. What happened earlier today was an accident, and Ruby clearly never intended to set off that Dust explosion. As an heiress, shouldn't you be more calm and accommodating during accidents like this? As the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, you should be a little more understanding and maybe try to soothe things over with Ruby about what happened. That'll show your maturity and your leadership skills, something that'll be greatly appreciated in Beacon. Let's just let bygones be bygones, alright? And the name's Jaune, Jaune Arc."
He raised his hand like before and tried his best to appear polite and noble. Looking at Weiss, he couldn't help but remark at how beautiful and delicate she appeared to him. He could easily imagine her being the target of admiration by many men and women, if only her attitude lessened.
Sadly, his diplomatic approach only seemed to piss her off even more. "Don't lecture me about etiquette, Mr. Arc! I shouldn't have to take advice from some wanna-be knight who throws up all over the Bullhead before we arrived here! As a future Huntsman, maybe instead you should learn how to hold the contents of your stomach in! And for the record, you are not cute!" Jaune flinched at her sharp tone and sudden reminder of his blunder on the Bullhead. He really hoped he didn't have to deal with her in the future, now that she seems hell-bent on not cooperating with them.
Before Ruby could come to his defense, the lights around them started to dim before focusing on Professor Ozpin who stood behind the podium and began to speak through the microphone.
"I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you finish here, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction."
Ignoring the puzzled looks of the students around them, Ozpin continued. "You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Removing himself from the microphone, he took one long careful glance across the ballroom before keeping his eyes locked on Ruby and Jaune for a few extra seconds, and then leaving the podium to allow Glynda to take his place and speak up.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your Initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." She concluded her set of instructions and followed Ozpin out of the ballroom, leaving the rest of the students conclude at the abrupt end of orientation and left to figure out their sleeping arrangements on their own.
"Well, that was weird." Yang said as everyone else began to unpack their things. "Kinda expected him to say something more, like maybe a 'Good Luck', or I dunno, something more, welcoming?"
"Yeah, it kinda felt like he wasn't really there. What do you think, Jaune?" Ruby said, when she suddenly noticed Jaune wearing a frown on his face in serious contemplation.
'Something's not right here. His whole demeanor felt… off. And the way he focused on me and Ruby? He might be up to something. There's something odd about him, and if he tries anything on Ruby, he'll pay for it.' Jaune thought. Even from the very first moment he saw him, Ozpin felt a little odd compared to everyone else Jaune met. There was an air of ancient energy around him, something that made him seem far older than he normally is despite his relatively young appearance. With his bizarre comment about Ruby's silver eyes, and the way he specifically paid more attention to him and Ruby at the end of his 'speech', Jaune could only have misgivings about Beacon's Headmaster.
'Could he know about Summer in some way? That comment on Ruby's silver eyes... From what Summer could remember from her past life, she said that her silver eyes are some kind of unique magical trait passed down through her family for hundreds of years. While she never really elaborated on why her silver eyes were so important, she did say that there were people out there who hunted her and her kind for their eyes in particular'
Although Summer never fully told him why her eyes were so important, she always mentioned how she lived in constant fear as there were people out there in Remnant who hunted those like her. Before she died, she begged Jaune to watch out for Ruby, as she very well may be the last silver-eyed person on Remnant, and that there could be people out there hunting her down now. Fearful of Ruby's safety, Jaune swore that he would keep a close eye out for Ozpin. Whatever scheme he has cooked up in his head involving Ruby, he'll deal with.
And if he tries to hurt her in any way… then he'll soon wish that he'd been delivered Destined Death before Jaune gets his hands on him.
Ruby excitedly scribbled in her journal as night set and the shattered moon casted its pale glow through the ballroom windows. As the sun started to set once Glynda and Ozpin delivered their final address to the students, Ruby, Yang, and Jaune continued to talk to each other about Initiation (and Weiss's prissy attitude, the huge meanie!) until a message appeared on their Scrolls reminding them that light's out would begin shortly. Before heading off to bed Ruby thought about sending a short letter to her friends back at Signal letting them know she was fine and starting to settle in to her new life at Beacon. Though she still didn't really think of them as genuine "friends" in the same way that she thought of Jaune and Yang, she still felt that she should let them know about her acceptance as a common courtesy. Eagerly jotting down all the crazy things that had happened to her in the past few days, she could only imagine the completely shocked looks on their faces once they hear how she took on a gang of Dust robbers unscathed and got moved up to the best Huntsman Academy in all of Remnant!
All around them, many different boys and girls were either changing their clothes, heading off to the showers, or forming small groups to bunk together with. Nearly everyone who arrived were completely in the dark on how they would be formed into Huntsmen teams, and despite having a mother, father, and uncle who graduated from Beacon, none of them have told her or Yang how they got their teammates or how Initiation went. Dad would just laugh and say that it's part of the magic of being a new Beacon student, saying that the methods they chose were meant to help strangers work together and form lasting bonds. It showed that the people of Remnant, whether man or Faunus, could stand beside one another and work together to achieve a common goal. He himself never regretted how his teammates on Team STRQ were chosen and of course he had eventually married his partner, Summer.
But when Ruby asked Uncle Qrow what happens at Initiation and how teammates were chosen, he just laughed and said that all the stuff that Dad talked about was complete nonsense. Though he never elaborated on how teams were chosen, he said not to think too hard about it and to let him know if she ever ended up with a horrible teammate so that he can 'give them a pep talk and show them the error of their ways'.
Dad gave her the stern, overprotective glare as he warned her about getting partnered up with a boy, and from the side she swore she saw Uncle Qrow roll his eyes at that before mumbling, "says the guy who banged two of his teammates…"
Needless to say, neither of them were of any help, and even Yang, as popular as she was, couldn't get any upperclassmen to give any straight answers.
Ruby could only toss back and forth in her sleeping bag after she finished penning her letter to Signal, worried about tomorrow. She knew she wasn't a social butterfly like Yang, and she couldn't bare the thought of being in a team full of strangers, or being partnered up with someone awful.
Or worse, someone like Weiss!
To her right Yang jumped onto her sleeping bag and held her head over her arm as she took in the sights around them, completely uncaring of tomorrow.
"It's like a BIG slumber party!" she exclaimed, as she soon took notice of Ruby's opened journal. "Let me guess, writing a letter to your gang back in Signal?"
"Yep! I thought I'd send them a letter saying what's going on, since I got accepted to Beacon so suddenly. It might be a long time since I see them again so why not send a thank-you letter and a promise to meet up sometime soon?"
"Aww, that's so cute!" Yang eagerly jumped onto Ruby's bag and immediately dragged her into a bone-crushing hug.
"Yang, cut it out! I'm still mad at you for leaving me all alone back there with that grumpy Weiss girl! Unlike you, I didn't bring any of my friends with me here!" Ruby said, pouting at her sister's behavior.
"Hey, I didn't think you'd literally explode the moment I leave you alone for 2 minutes! And besides, what about that Jaune guy? He seems nice… provided he keeps his stomach inside."
"Oh come on, can't we just forget that ever happened?" Jaune said as he made his way towards them.
"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby said, waving at him before a confused look appeared on her face. Unlike everyone else, Jaune hadn't changed into his pajamas at all and still wore his blue knight armor. "How come you haven't changed yet? Initiation is tomorrow!"
"Oh, uhm… my sisters pulled a prank on me and left me some really ugly and embarrassing pajamas to wear. And I, uhm, I'm a little shy when it comes to bathing or changing in front of other people. I really don't like showing skin in front of a bunch of other guys."
"Really? Well, don't mind me while I enjoy the show!" Yang said, purring as she cast an appreciative glance at all the boys who decided to go shirtless and started to either show off or wrestle with each other. Ruby could only cover her face in embarrassment at Yang's actions while Jaune just sat next to her and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"What were you guys just talking about?"
"Oh, we were just talking about how Ruby's managed to mess up making new friends on her first day here. She got one new friend in you Vomit Boy, but she ended up making one new enemy too!" Yang then felt a pillow get thrown angrily at her face.
"It's not cool not knowing anyone here, Yang!" Ruby angrily muttered as she started to cover her face with her pillow. "I'm the only 15-year-old around here!"
"Don't sweat it Ruby, I'm sure it'll pass once Initiation comes and goes. And besides, remember what I said to you a few days ago? Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet! Just be yourself and you'll be more comfortable here in no time!"
"I know, but I'm also kinda scared about tomorrow. No one seems willing to tell me or Yang how partners or teams are chosen, and I really don't want to be partnered or teamed up with people I'm not comfortable with!"
"Oh, just relax Rubes you'll be fine! Hey, why don't we just walk around and see who's who? I'm sure we can introduce ourselves and see what the other students around us are like. If we're lucky, we find someone nice and they can join our team, and if not we can just ignore them!" Jumping to her feet, Yang pulled Ruby up to her feet. "You okay being on a team with us Vomit Boy?"
"It's Jaune, and sure I don't mind forming a team with you guys!" Shaking his head at the nickname he knew would stick with him for a long time, he followed the sisters across the ballroom looking for anyone willing to form a team with them.
"Oh, that girl over there!" Ruby pointed to a black-haired girl wearing a grey kimono and reading a book next to a lit candle. "She's the one who saw what happened before with me and Weiss and left before I exploded!" Making their way to the girl, Yang let out a sing-song-like hello before they finally stopped in front of her.
Looking up from her book, the ninja was surprised to see the exploding girl from earlier accompanied by her outgoing older sister and… an armored knight?
"Aren't you the girl who exploded earlier? And why are you wearing armor straight out of some children's story book?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the both of them.
"Uh, yeah, but you can just call me Ruby! Or…"
"Or you can call her Crater Face if you really feel like it!" the knight added with a smirk on his face as Ruby turned on him.
"NO! It's not Crater Face! Come on, Jaune! Why'd you have to mention that now!?"
"Hey, I've been the butt of every joke so far today, and I'm still being called Vomit Boy by everyone around me! Sorry Rubes, but it's time to take the L on this one. You did leave a huge crater in front of the school!"
Grrr! Forget being her first friend here, Jaune's now a huge meanie! Ruby swore she'll get back at him for this, but for now, she really hoped that this girl can be a new friend!
"So, what's your name?" Yang asked, trying to avoid the awkward introduction.
"Blake."
"Great! I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister, and that's Jaune aka Vomit Boy! I really like your bow! It goes great with your… pajamas!"
Blake didn't even raise her eyes from her book in response.
"Uh… nice night, don't you think?"
"Yes, it is. Just as nice as this book I'm trying to read… as soon as you leave."
Yeah, she definitely wasn't aiming for subtle here.
Still, Ruby wasn't going to give up that easily! While Yang bemoaned that Blake was a lost cause, Ruby instead tried to approach her from another angle.
"Your book, what's it about?"
Surprised at her inquiry, Blake blinked multiple times before replying, "It's about a man with two souls, fighting for control over his body."
"Oh yeah, that's… real lovely…" Yang said. Somehow, this Blake really seems to be the antisocial type. And she thought Ruby was socially awkward!
"Who won control over his body in the end?" Surprisingly, Jaune knelt down to get a closer look at Blake's book. "Is it like a case of a good and evil soul fighting for control, or is it just two different people with different goals trying to gain control of the body?"
Blake could only blink in surprise at how this conversation started to turn. His questions seemed… odd. Why those in particular?
"You… could say that. It was more like trying to show how everyone has this dark, ugly side of them that constantly tries to take control of us, should we let it. The main character created a potion that brought this dark side of him out and as a result he did horrible things, including killing an innocent person. Having woken up after retaking control of his body, the main character isolates himself and spends the rest of his days trying to create a cure that would stop his evil soul from taking over again."
"Did he succeed?"
"Yes… and no. While he did eventually subdue this evil soul within him, he couldn't get rid of it entirely. Because no matter how much he hated that soul, it was still a part of him and as long as he continues to live, that evil part of him will always exist."
Hearing the sad tone and summary of the book, Jaune lowered his eyes and adopted a melancholy look on his face. "So, even after taking control, he still has to bear the burden that that evil is a part of him?"
Blake gave him an odd look, one shared by Ruby and Yang as they noticed his sudden melancholy behavior. "Are you… really interested in stories like this?"
"No, it's just that it reminded me of another similar story. About a man who wanted to become the king of a distant land, and whom everyone wholeheartedly believed would succeed where so many others failed. He was accompanied by a dragon who could transform herself into a priestess, and a young maiden who could help him and guide him on his journey to claim the throne. The dragon priestess was powerful, and taught the knight how to wield and manipulate lightning like the ancient dragons before her. As a result, he could wreathe himself in lightning as a near impenetrable defense or use it as a weapon to smite his foes."
"Throughout their time together, the dragon grew to love her knight immensely, and decided to spend nearly all her time in the form of a human priestess so that he might grow to love her back despite the fact that she was still a dragon only masquerading as a human. Sadly, the knight only had eyes for his maiden, who had no special abilities or powers but was a kind-hearted soul who took care of him and showed him where to go, who to defeat, and healed him whenever he got hurt."
"But when he was so close to accomplishing his mission, he was told by a mad, blinded man that he would be able to ascend the throne as king, but only through sacrifice. A sacrifice that required the knight to have his beloved Maiden throw herself into a cauldron of fire. He was in disbelief, but when he confronted his maiden about this story, she replied that it was the truth. Though she knew that she would have to die so that he could ascend, she told him that she would do so gladly for that was her life's purpose to burn to ashes so that he could become king."
"Furious at the cruel fate handed to someone he loved dearly, he scoured the kingdom looking for a way for her to escape her fate, all the while both the maiden and priestess tried to make him stop this fruitless search. In desperation, he cut ties with both of them and went back to the blind, mad man who warned him of his maiden's fate. The man then told him to look underground where he could receive a power that would allow him to burn in his maiden's place. Desperate to save the one he loved, he went underground and received immense power, and the ability to burn his body as sacrifice instead."
"Only, the ritual went horribly wrong. He went underground to save his maiden, and what came out wasn't the kind and noble knight from before. What appeared was a twisted man whose armor was scorched and melted all over, and whose mind was ravaged by the very power he coveted. He constantly desired more power, and attacked everyone and everything around him like a rabid dog. The small rational part of his soul that remained was completely overtaken by the frenzied desire within himself to watch the kingdom burn to cinders, for how could he ever desire a throne built from the corpses of the innocent? The dragon priestess failed to change him and shed her human form, unable to recognize the knight she fell in love with long ago, and flew away never to return."
Silence permeated the group as Blake, Ruby, and Yang were taken back by the grim story Jaune told. Voice slightly wavering, Blake asked, "What happened to the knight at the end? And the maiden?"
Jaune closed his eyes in sadness and replied in a defeated tone, "The knight continued his mad rampage throughout the kingdom, butchering all those around him and turning their corpses to ash. The maiden desperately tried to appeal to the good still buried deep within the knight, but in his anger he stabbed his poor maiden and watched her slowly bleed to death. Seeing her blood across his spear and spilling onto the ground, the Knight's good side finally surfaced and watched in horror as the love of his life died by his hand. With his friend and mentor gone and his love dead, he no longer had any reason to pursue kingship and he slowly delved deeper into insanity. What was once the most celebrated and beloved knight in the kingdom soon became the monster of children's bedtime stories. In the end, many people were sent to capture and subdue the frenzied knight. Eventually, they succeeded and as punishment for his blasphemy he was jailed forever in the frozen depths of a long-abandoned mountain, unable to die and unable to free himself from his madness."
Jaune concluded his somber tale, and then casted his gaze to the ground again, embarrassed that he went off describing such a sad story.
"W-well, I like stories! Aside from the really sad stuff Jaune talks about, Yang used to read a lot of stories before bed! Stories about heroes and how they defeated monsters and protected others. They were one of the reasons why I wanted to become a Huntress!"
Blake took a moment to recollect herself, lost in the somber story Jaune told, before she took a look at Ruby, noting how young she was compared to everyone else. "Is that so? You want to be a Huntress to achieve some happily ever after?"
"Yeah, I hope we all will! As a girl, I always wanted to be like those Huntresses in the books! Someone who fought against monsters and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves. Just like our mom did!"
Blake could only privately scoff at the child-like reasons Ruby gave. "Amusing ambitions for a child, but the real world isn't like those fairy-tales we read as kids. Not everyone gets a happy ending, and almost always these stories end up as tragedies, warnings for those who think they can change the world."
"But isn't that why we're here? To change things and make things better? If we just let things go by without doing anything, then how can we expect anything to change for the better unless we do something about?"
"Oh, I'm so proud of by baby sister!" Yang said as she excitedly grabbed Ruby by the waist and pulled her into her another bear hug. One that Ruby didn't appreciate and soon both sisters quickly found themselves wrestling against each other.
While Ruby had the right mindset and positive attitude, Jaune couldn't help but privately agree with Blake. While it is true that without action you can never hope to change anything, he was worried just how optimistic Ruby was in regards to their future careers as Huntsman. Didn't he do the exact same thing as her? He was inspired by the heroic deeds of his forefathers and foolishly thought that he could become just like them. A hero who could change the world and be surrounded by beautiful women.
But reality is never that pleasant. He had been shown the cruel truth of the world time and time again, and despite his best efforts, even he could never foretell the consequences of his good intentions. Things could never be as black and white as Ruby thinks they'd be, and sooner or later tragedy would hit her hard in some shape or form. He swore to protect her with his very being, but even he knew that he could never be able to keep her away from tragedy for long. The fact that she yearned to be just like her mother only served to drive a painful wedge into his heart.
How could he ever explain to her what happened to her mom? How he had betrayed her so terribly, how he left her wounded and broken, and watched her die in his arms?
He was pulled out of his thoughts by an extremely irate Weiss Schnee arriving to tell Ruby and Yang off for causing a ruckus. As the three argued with each other, he could only cast an apologetic glance at Blake, who nodded at him and blew her candle out.
"Sorry about the ruckus. And for going off on a tangent with that random story." Jaune said as he apologized to Blake who gave him an inquisitive look before fixing her pajamas.
"It's alright. I can tell you understand how things end up for Huntsmen and Huntresses in this field. As much as we want to try and change the world, reality is often disappointing. Thanks for that story you mentioned. While it isn't usually my cup of tea, I did find it entertaining. Now please, can you drag those three away from here?" Blake said as she pointed to the three girls who were becoming more and more argumentative. Shaking his head, Jaune made his way over and separated them, saying that now was the time to sleep as Initiation was only a few hours away.
Leaning against the wall, Jaune kept his eyes wide open as he scanned the hall and gave a quick glance to Ruby's and Yang's sleeping forms. No longer needing sleep since he first became Tarnished, Jaune could only sigh at what will be the first of a long series of very long nights ahead of him. Back in the Lands Between he could always pass time by talking to Summer, having Melina increase his strength with Runes, conversing with Boc when he had the chance, or just head back to Roundtable Hold and spend time with Roderika.
Here, though? Most of his weapons were stored in the lockers provided and no one was allowed to go and train on their own right before Initiation. And he was back in a world where people needed their 8 hours of sleep. He better find a hobby or something to do, otherwise he'll have to look forward to staring at the wall or ceiling for the rest of his nights here at Beacon.
Still, he should mentally prepare himself for tomorrow. Initiation would begin, and he had a feeling that hunting Grimm would play a key role in it. This would be his first true test to see if he had the strength and will to carry out his oath, and whether he can protect Ruby to the best of his abilities. He didn't doubt Ruby's skill, that girl could swing that comically large scythe of hers as easily as a twig, but one can never underestimate the Grimm. And he worried that Ruby might be stuck with someone as incompatible as Weiss for a partner.
'Well, nothing much I can do about this now. Save your energy for tomorrow Jaune. You'll need all the focus you can get for whatever they throw at you for Initiation. This is your chance to prove to yourself that you can do this, that you're not some failure. Do this, for Summer, and for all the people you let down.'
Jaune spent the next several hours gazing at the broken moon, praying desperately that he could succeed.
And that's a wrap for this chapter! I really wanted to keep going but had I done so, this chapter would have ended up being nearly 40k words long!
Sorry if this chapter felt a little stale compared to the previous one! This chapter was also meant to act as a bit of set-up for what's to come next. Next chapter will focus on Initiation and the formation of teams, and if you were disappointed at all with this chapter, I hope the next one will me much more to your liking! Jaune will finally get to show off his abilities more and of course find his partner and teammates! As for who they'll be? We'll see!
Once again, I'm incredibly thankful for everyone who favorited, followed, or left a review for this story! I never thought my first story would get such praise, and I hope I can continue to deliver and provide an entertaining story for you all!