Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its franchise.

A helpful guide incase you get confused:
"Dialogue."
'Thoughts.'
[Powers?]

-x-

Chapter 8 - Laws are Made to be Followed

A bell jingled over me as I carefully pushed the door open. Stepping inside, I found myself in the right place as I glanced at the walls full of books. Isles of more books a little below eye level were strewn throughout the place with little signs labeling which genre they were.

"Welcome to Tuskon's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun!" A jovial voice announced from behind the front counter. "Do you need help looking for anything?"

I blinked at the man. He was large enough that I wondered how I missed him in the first place, and the fact that he had no warmth apparent to my senses also made his size quite weird. A fact that had been connecting in my head was that the more fit members of society normally had a warmth, or power, that I could sense.

Still, I didn't think more on why that was as I looked over the man. A fairly middle aged shopkeeper with clean cropped, black hair and deep sideburns that traveled along his jaw to the outer fringes of his chin. Light hazel eyes watched me, crinkling as a welcoming smile spread on the man's face.

He wore a short sleeved shirt underneath another short sleeved zipper shirt of dark brown. His hairy arms were crossed in a way that hid his fingers on his sides, but I paid it no mind as my attention was focused on the fact that his forearms were huge. Larger than some of the people who I had seen in the gym regularly.

Idly, I felt as if I had stared too long. After my talk with Roman, and his explanation about how I was now someone of interest, I naturally tended to sizing everyone up in case they turned out to be enemies.

'You're going crazy if you keep suspecting everyone is after you…' I joked internally. It was one thing to be cautious, but now I was even making sure that even kind shopkeepers were dangerous individuals.

With a small cough, I gave the man a smile of my own. "Sorry about my slow response. I, uh, am looking for anything in Aura." I answered him finally.

"Aura, huh?" The shopkeeper echoed. "I think I have a couple manuals in the back, but," He paused to look at me up and down, eyes slowing slightly on the thin scar that curled along the left side of my face. I was sure that my mom was going to kill me, but that scar pretty much refused to go away. "No offense, but I need to see a Huntsman license or a unlocked Aura permit."

I coughed awkwardly in my hand, "Um, how about we skip that?"

"No can do, kid." The man didn't even falter in his denial. "There are laws against giving Aura manuals to unlicensed people. I recommend if you have Aura that you get registered at the nearest Beacon office; they have people who can handle these sorts of things." He frowned at me, his thick sideburns curling with his features. "If you're thinking of doing something illegal, then I ask you not to ask any other places. I am willing to overlook your questions, but other places will just call the police when they go to 'get' your books."

I blanched at the information, appalled at the fact that simply asking for a book can get me arrested. "I…" I felt myself stuttering, "I didn't know."

The man looked a little shocked at my admission for a second; his once stern expression falling into something of pity. "Hey, it's okay, kid. Normal civvies are not supposed to know how to get Aura else everyone would be trying to get their hands on it."

"What?" I was once again shocked by his admission. People were actually hiding such a useful resource? The applications of healing alone would be a miracle to the hospitals around the city being the first thing that came to mind. "Why would they hide it?"

"Ah, kid." The shopkeeper just rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "Well, a lot of places have to follow several penal codes set in place by the Valian council. Most of it is to prevent the spread of panic, and other types of emotions that could send the city into a mass of negative intent. With Grimm being attracted to rampant, negative emotions, places like mine are forbidden from selling or offering certain things. You following?"

I nodded slowly. Grimm were a constant threat to humanity, and them being attracted to whenever people felt sad, angry or were in fear didn't make it any easier for the four Kingdoms to manage them. It was a miracle when a town expanded from their walls for a reason.

The man just looked at me for a second before continuing with a sigh, "Kid, what I'm going to tell you shouldn't be spread around, got it?" His face was all seriousness as I nodded once more. "Alright, well, people with their Aura's unlocked are basically beacons for Grimm even if they're not feeling too bad. One or three in one place is not horribly bad -they still attract their fair share of them, but when you scale that up to cities, the Grimm are basically set on a warpath to any place with lots of unlocked Aura users."

I balked as the image of thousands of bloodthirsty monsters set on a crazed stampede towards my home was shocked into my mind as I tried to comprehend what he was saying. If what he was saying was true, and that all these powers were, in fact, Aura users, then that meant Vale should be under constant Grimm attacks. It was a miracle that there was never any reports of the Grimm constantly besieging the walls of Vale due to its natural barriers.

With a steep bulwark of mountains to the southeast and a warding presence of shallow waters to the northwest, Vale was one of the safer kingdoms of the four. There were supposedly a very low amount of Grimm attacks that were always successfully warded off with contemptuous ease.

And, now that I had delved into a life of -sort of- vigilantism, I was beginning to wonder just how much was actually being told to us.

Slowly, I wet my dry lips as I asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Its nothing noble, kid, I've seen people like you hearing of all the wonders of Aura, and wanting to use it for something like impressing a girl or…" He nods to the scar on my face. "Revenge or whatever. Some of them give up after I simply tell them no, but others end up trying everything only to end up getting pressed into a gang because they can now shrug off bullets and punch people's lights out with a few nonchalant blows. I'm telling you now because I've seen that look of determination many times before; if I let you go out, then you'd try to find a way despite my previous warnings of getting arrested. Better you know not to rather than let you be stupid."

"Oh…" I whispered, wondering just how many people were press ganged into the places that I was going to hit. "Then… then why doesn't everyone know what Aura does? Wouldn't that stop them from trying to getting it?"

The man just gave me a flat look that spoke volumes before he even opened his mouth. "Huntsmen use Aura, kid. Everyone knows that as fact with the Vytal Festival every two years. How safe would you feel if the supposed 'saviors of mankind and slayers of Grimm' were actually found to be one of the largest reasons that Grimm are drawn to cities and towns?"

I blanked as the new information hit me like a ton of bricks. His words, while easy to understand, were horribly hard to swallow. If people felt that the people who protected them were one of the main causes of said attacks, then it wasn't a stretch of the imagination to understand that there would be chaos. Some people were just not reasonable when the time comes, and if the fingers start pointing to the Huntsmen, there would be blood.

And there would be Grimm.

"You catching up, kid?" The man said to me, giving me another look of pity. He looked genuinely sorry for not helping me as well as shoving all this information onto me. "Don't go all depressed on me, kid. You seem old enough to know what's right and wrong, but try not to go spreading that around, please. Best to keep some secrets to yourself, you know."

"Ah… right." I stalled, mind numb from the bomb that had just been dropped. There must've been some shocked expression on my face as the man patted me carefully on the shoulder.

"Hey, uh, you alright there?" My attention snapped back into place as I looked towards him. There was a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry if I told you something you didn't need to know…"

"No," I interrupted. "No, it's fine. I rather know now than to actually attempt something I might regret."

Slowly, I felt my wits come back to me. The fact that Huntsmen, the heroes of the world, were being selectively targeted by the monsters of darkness was only a small afterthought.

They had such a dangerous condition, and yet they still fought to keep us all safe. Bearing the weight of nations on their shoulders while also knowing that you might attract the killers to the people you were protecting was a burden I felt could only go to the strongest of individuals.

And the fact that some people used Aura for their own selfish wishes was something that now grated me even more. They were a festering wound that spread blood in the water to attract hungry sharks, yet they still tried to achieve their own desires despite that. Something in me snarled at the inconsiderate actions that they probably knowingly caused.

"Thank you." I smiled at the man who had enlightened me. There was no need for Aura anymore in my mind. Wouldn't I be just the same as those villains who used Aura for their selfish desires?

'All you need is training, and then you will be good...' I decided. If Aura attracted Grimm, then it would be better to deal with everyone without it. After all, I was better than those who selfishly used Aura; even if my pride was talking more than my reasoning.

As a gesture of my gratitude for the information, I bought several books from the man. Taking my time to remember that my little sisters would probably want a fairy tale to listen to when they came over, I asked the man, "What would you recommend for children?"

The complete turnaround seemed to stun the man, and he burst into a small bout of chuckles. "Sorry," he apologized after he calmed down. "Just wasn't expecting that. You know, coming in asking for Aura then going straight to fairy tales. But, I would say that the Legend of the Four Maidens; kids seem to love that for some reason."

"Thanks, that really helps." I smiled once again, finding the book not long after. Returning to the counter and pulling an appropriate amount of lien out, I frowned as I realized something. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I got your name."

The shopkeeper laughed and pointed in the direction of the doorway, "Don't know if you missed it or something, but it's on the sign. Name's Tuskon." He raised a hand.

I took it, still smiling. "I'll swing by again for some more books." Jabbing a thumb to my chest, I announced, "Your new number one customer, Jaune Arc, shall not let you down!"

Tuskon snorted, "Yeah, sure. You'd be hard pressed to match my real number one customer." The door jingled behind me, and I found a small smirk on the older man's face. "In fact, that's her."

Glancing over my shoulder, I didn't know who I was expecting, but a girl who shut down all higher thought processes was certainly not them. Long, black hair that ended in curly trusses a little below her shoulder blades. Her face was something sculpted out of a movie, and her eyes were bright, mesmerizing amber.

A vest of midnight clung to her body with twin coattails trailing to her lower thighs. One desperately-hanging, silver button was fastened over her stomach in a way that exposed both her white crop top and firm belly. Something that did little to hide the curves of her body. In fact, I would have sworn that they served to accentuate those curves in all the right places.

I had to catch myself before my eyes trailed to her white shorts and black stockings that faded to deep purple around her ankles. The clacking of heels meeting the floor clued me in on her shoes anyways.

Then I felt the warmth coming from her. The Aura she radiated tasted like it was on another level compared to the twins from before, and I couldn't help but reach out and link with it.

[Vector-dependent time-variable projections. Intent-based attention manipulation.]

I frowned slowly as I understand her abilities. One of them being a passive one that kept attention away from wherever she was most conscious about, and it currently was making my eyes seem to glaze over the large, black bow on top of her head.

If I hadn't had the senses to feel the power in effect, then I probably wouldn't have even found anything wrong with that bow. Then it twitched, and everything made sense.

I stifled a response to call her a Faunus as she was definitely hiding what I assumed her animal ears underneath that accessory. Instead, I continued to pretend to be dazed by her beauty. Which, while not true, was pretty darn close.

"Don't drool now, Jaune." Tuskon's voice cropped me out of my act.

I turned to him, sputtering in what I hoped looked like panic. "I'm not!" I announced.

"Right, right," the man smiled like a cat before its prey. "Anyways, meet Blake." He waved to the undercover Faunus whose face betrayed no emotions. "Blake, this is Jaune, my new 'number one' customer." Tuskon finished with air quotes.

"Uh, hey…" I waved to the girl after that rather painful introduction.

"Hey." Blake's eyes glanced over me, amber orbs falling onto the scar next to my eye. However, if she had a reaction to it, then it was probably the most well kept secret.

Then there was awkward silence.

Tuskon seemed to catch onto the awkward moment easily, reaching under his desk for something. He pulled out multiple books, and I had to blink as Blake basically blurred to grab them before I could even read the titles. Tuskon smiled as Blake glared at him, then me and then back to him. It was a sort of twitchy response that told me that she definitely knew my eyes were on her; something that reminded me oddly of Neo.

"I, uh, I guess I'll go…" I stated evenly as I watched the whole scene play out.

Tuskon gave me a wry smile and a shrug, "Seeya around, Jaune."

"Yeah, you too." I said on reflex while sparing what I hoped was a smile to Blake. "It was nice meeting you, Blake."

The girl in question just took a second to look up from her book to nod once. "You too." Then she returned back to the book that was opened up before her.

I escaped the awkward situation with all the haste that I couldn't have.

-x-

Walking along the pristine concrete sidewalks was a pastime that I didn't appreciate till I realized just how dangerous my life choices were. From the surprising amount of high rises to the looming buildings in the distance, the city of Vale was definitely an acquired taste. However, the huge tower that could be viewed from anywhere within the city was something out of fantasy.

Beacon tower was a symbol of hope and prosperity alike. It was one of the four prestigious academies where the aspiring heroes known as Huntsmen or Huntresses were taught, and it stood as a stalwart sentinel in the hearts of everyone in Vale. I always wanted to be a Huntsman and protect the good people of the world from dangerous Grimm.

However, my past spars with my sisters told me that I would never have the training to match them in a fair fight, but, now that I knew of Aura, I realized that they were using it to always beat me. Even my parents never told me about Aura; keeping me in the dark about one of the most important tools for being a Huntsman. Something about that grated me as well as stuck out to my cautious mind.

There had to be a reason for not telling me. They were my parents and sisters and I loved them, so I had to believe they had a reason for not telling me about Aura. And, now that I know of it, I'm even less inclined to actually get it.

The energy is one of the causes for Grimm attacks, and, whether or not it helps, I'd rather try and stick to my own abilities before using it. The less Aura users in the city the less Grimm it'll attract. Besides, I would only be a hypocrite if I selfishly used Aura against those selfishly using Aura.

Aura was made for heroes. For Huntsmen and women. Both of which I was not; not yet at least.

'Sure hope you're making the right decision, Jaune…' I mused to myself as I made a turn around one of the larger buildings. 'No, whether you have Aura or not, you're still powerful in your own right. You'll just have to get more skillful… And maybe buy some more Dust.'

So to make up for my shortcomings in the form of Aura, I needed to become much stronger in the ways of techniques. I also needed to get a gym membership, and start training as my last couple of fights really took the breath from me.

As such, I called the only person in the department of making me stronger body wise, his Semblance basically giving me the chance to train by just walking around.

Two rings were all I needed before they picked up.

"Jaune?" Yatsuhashi asked from the other side.

"Ah, hey, Yatsuhashi," I stumbled to find my words. While his ability definitely helped immensely in training, my mind was really only wondering how normal people called their friends, and if the big guy even considered me a friend despite our short time knowing each other. "How was initiation?" I asked in a rapid bid to end the silence I drifted to.

"It was good."

There was more silence. "Uh, great! Awesome even… uh, I'm sorry I'm not used to this." My head hung low on my side as I felt it unfair. Talking down to villains and criminals, easy. Talking to someone who is a maybe-friend, not so much.

"It is fine, Jaune." There was someone talking on the other end as Yatsuhashi spoke again, "Huh? Yes, his name is Jaune… I met him a couple days after I made it to Vale… Really?"

"I'm sorry?" I queried back.

"Oh, sorry Jaune. One of my teammates said they met you quite recently, and was curious if you were the same person. Do you happen to remember someone named Velvet?"

A brown haired Faunus came to mind, fluffy bunny ears bouncing in my head. "Y, yeah, I remember her." Internally, I made a note to treat the nervous and stuttering Faunus with more respect next time. Anyone who can pass into Beacon is strong in their own right.

"Great, I'm going into town in a day or two to pick up a whetstone for my weapon. If you want, you can tag along with us." Yatsuhashi offered, and I could practically hear him smile a calming grin through the phone.

His calming mood was infectious as I smiled back. "Yeah, that sounds awesome. I can even ask you how initiation was."

"Hmmm, maybe not," Yatsuhashi paused. "After all, you need to take the test for yourself. Besides, I heard they change it regularly."

"Oh, that makes sense… I guess."

"Don't feel too bad, Jaune, though I hope you don't mind if the rest of my team comes along."

I shifted on my feet at the mention of more people. While I was getting more experience with dealing with people, I don't think blowing places up and punching their face in was very conducive at forming great relationships.

'Imagine: Jaune Arc, the terrifying Vigilante! Strengths: fighting and explosives. Weaknesses: Social interaction.' I stifled a small laugh, finally replying to my friend. "Yeah, my mom used to say that 'friends are strangers that I haven't met yet' after all."

"A good saying." Yatsuhashi agreed. "I'll send to the details later."

"Right, seeya later, Yatsuhashi."

"Bye, Jaune."

The line clicked with a close, and I found myself standing in front of Rouge's Weapons. The place didn't really look all that impressive now that I looked at it. Tinted windows that displayed cartoonish approximations of actual weapons, and a small awning was all that adorned the outer parts of the store. It was like the owner didn't particularly care for customers.

Putting that out of mind, I strode through the doors. The unassuming man named Will looked up at me, eyes falling to my scar and smiled. Something about that smile unsettled me a little bit, but I was already in this too far to back out now.

"Took you long enough." He smirked as he opened a door behind the counter. "What can I do for you, Jaune?"

I looked at the unassuming man for a couple seconds, wondering why his smirk looked so weird. "Can I use your gun range?"

"Of course, did you bring your gun at least?"

I nodded, pulling Mercy from behind my back. The bulky thing had been trapped between my belt in my pants for the entire day, and was just beginning to get uncomfortable. However, I would gladly take being uncomfortable to being unprepared any day.

Frowning as I made my way to the back room, I noticed that mister Rouge was following me. He seemed to be looking for something. "Uh, sorry about not paying. How much?"

"Huh, oh yeah, how about you just buy the bullets you use." He said hurriedly, eyes glancing over my form again. "By the way, Jaune, what happened there."

Following his finger to my face, I absently traced my scar. Visions of pain and blood briefly scratched my mind before I sent the shop owner a patented Arc smile. "Nothing, just messed up a little when handling that sword you gave me."

"How unfortunate... say Jaune, how would you like to train under me? You obviously don't want to get in anymore... accidents now, right?"

'He knows something...' My face was passive as I thought over his words. There didn't seem to be any sign of trickery or something of the sort, but the only question why did he suddenly want to train me?

There was nothing that stood out to me when we first met besides me copying his power. However, was that all it took for him to have an interest in getting to know me. For all intents and purposes, he was a shopkeeper with an absurd ability.

We were now standing in the back of his shop, facing the range that served as the place where I first used Mercy. I was beginning to feel apprehensive as Roman's warnings were ringing in my head. In an instant, I felt chilled by the thought that this man who had gifted me Vengeance was someone from one of the gangs.

'Is he part of the Union? The papers talked about the areas they are most prevalent, but can you take him?' My mind whirred with the possibilities of combat, and I think Rouge's power was telling him something as he hurriedly pulled up his hands in a gesture for surrender.

"Calm down there, Jaune." He said, placating. "I mean you no harm... really. If anything, I'm just a little worried that you were being hurt by some of the more unsavory people that are here. I probably should have worded my proposition better, but you don't seem like the type to accept my help so easily."

"I'm fine, but thank you for the concern."

"Really?" Will Rouge smirked, leaning on a nearby wall with his arms crossed. "Because you're probably one of the worst liars I've seen yet."

I felt heat rise to my face as his words resonated with a couple memories from back home. "I'm not!"

"Right, right, how about this then," The man said, smiling as if I was a rat caught in his trap. "Let's have a small fight -a test, if you will. You so much a land a hit on me, and I'll believe you can handle yourself as well as throw in a couple more boxes of ammo for your gun. Hell, I'll give you a discount on all high-caliber Dust rounds so long as I live and breathe."

I admit, as much as my trust to the guy had waned in the past couple seconds, I was certainly was tempted by his offer. Dust rounds were something that packed a sort of elemental punch to anything you desired to be shot at, and I was always up for something that would help my fighting abilities.

However, I halted my giddiness with calm calculation as I caught his words. All those boons were only if I won. And, while I was confident in my abilities, Will Rouge probably had Aura and his power to supplement him.

"And the catch is?" I asked carefully.

"That you'll train under me for the foreseeable future, and keep coming back to my store for repeated business."

I paused, unsure. "Why are you so intent on training me?"

"Well," If there was anything that I was expecting him to say, I wasn't expecting a reminiscing smile that seemed too sad to fake. "I've dealt with some idiots before, and I guess I've grown fond of training them. And something I learned was that sometimes to need to beat some sense into the very prideful ones."

"I don't know if I should be insulted or trying to punch you..." I admitted, ignoring the pang of annoyance at being called an idiot. Sure, some of my decisions have been... odd, but everything had turned out fine in the end.

However, mister Rouge didn't look to perturbed by me threatening him. In fact, the man just grinned, emphasizing the challenge. "So are you accepting?"

[Weapon based omniscience. Intent-oriented short-term precognition.]

The link solidified in my mind faster than he could complete his sentence. As knowledge flew into my head, I briefly knew that I had been baited into a fight. I knew that he was calling me an idiot to try and rile me up, and that those benefits for winning would be very tantalizing for my career in fighting crime.

So, when I nodded in acceptance, I was confident in my fight against him. After all, I knew exactly what his powers did, and there was little chance that he could figure out that I was using his own powers against him before I at least got the winning condition of a single touch. Maybe it was the previous wins getting to me, or it was the actions of Roman trying to get me to join him out of fear for what I could do, but a small smirk splayed over my lips.

We lined up in the more spacious parts of the range, staring down at each other with our assured victory. The first to move was my pilfered precognition, showing Will calmly stepping forwards.

I frowned at the action, and carefully watched him in the future and now. There was the slight possibility that he knew how to get around the precognition he thought I had, and there was also the chance that he already figured me out.

My breathing became slow as I was afraid of any distraction to miss the slowly approaching man. That was until he moved in the future, running forwards with a speed that blurred in a path straight towards me.

I saw him move, every tensing of his muscles to every calm and even breath. There was little I couldn't miss when I was practically given the same image in the futures I could see. However, that meant that when it all went south, I couldn't even see it coming.

Will Rouge was already too close for me to even react by the time he finally chose to move. I had underestimated just how fast he could accelerate, and I had also grown complacent about the fact that I had taken down several Aura users.

Mister Rouge's ability worked along the lines of reaction speed, so when something comes along that can make all the seconds you see negligible in the face of their own speed you can only watch as they beat you. And I never knew just how aggravating it was to watch as a punch smashed into my head before I could even see it physically. Darkness hit me like a truck before I could even notice that I had lost.

When I finally came to, I found a deeply seated anger directed towards myself.

"Welcome back, kid." Mister Rouge smiled overhead. My head was suffering from a pounding headache, though. "I'll see you in the mornings."

I don't think I moved for a good couple of minutes as I mulled over what had happened. There were too many things that swam back and forth in the sea of my thoughts for me to actually pin down one, but I knew one thing for sure.

Jaune Arc honored his promises; even if he wanted to punch the man more than anything.

-x-

A little bit of Jaune's mental image of himself coming in. He's prideful, and even in the original he refused Pyrrha's help originally because he wanted to prove himself. However, at the same time he's pessimistic, and his time at home probably didn't help. A time that shall be expounded upon soon.

As for Aura, he doesn't need it quite yet. Mainly because he'll be somewhat fine without it, and I don't wanna give him it unless he absolutely needs it. I mainly wanted to show that he was against seeming like it was selfish of him to get it, but that can only explain somewhat of the issue. Again, I have a scene for it, so the slightly contrived nature of his reasoning is intentional.

As for the names of his weapons, honestly, it was more of a spur of the moment type of thing. My reasoning was that he used his sword more than his gun, so Vengeance more than Mercy. Almost exactly what happened to the Club. Expanding on them a bit, I thought Vengeance was more visceral and personal, hence its the sword while Mercy is quick. A little bit of back-bending to actually make sense, but it makes sense to me.

As always, Enjoy!