And we're back! A day later than the usual, but with my job, that's inevitable. Just a heads-up, from here on, the update schedule will be far more erratic, as I still have a flagship project that takes priority.
Today, we get an intro to Jaune's family and see a few of Leman's traits coming up to the surface.
Wolves of Remnant
Chapter 5
The Day After Beacon Initiation
Arc Home, Village of Attika, Kingdom of Vale
Joseph Arc sat at the table reading his morning paper the way he did every day. He was a bear of a man, with short-cut, greying brown hair, a thick, matching beard and sharp green eyes. His left hand was an Atlesian prosthesis, having lost it years earlier defending an Atlesian village from the Grimm. He was currently reading the financial section, having gone straight there after noticing the front page was covering some supposed scandal in Vale. Political, most likely.
He looked up when he heard footsteps coming downstairs, to see his second and third eldest, Artoria and Seras, coming down. Artoria was taller than her sister, with long blonde hair done up in her usual bun, and her father's green eyes. Seras' hair was shorter than Artoria's, about neck length, and flared out in the back, but she had her mother Suzie's blue eyes. The two were still dressed in their pajamas when they came into the dining room.
"Good morning, girls." Joseph said with a smile.
"Morning, Dad." Seras said cheerily.
"Good morning, Father." Artoria said with a smile, kissing her father on the cheek. "Anything good?"
"Hmph. Not yet." Joseph grumbled.
"May I, then?" she asked, indicating the pile of discards.
"By all means."
"Seras, can you give me a hand in here?" Suzie called from the kitchen.
"Sure thing, mum." Seras replied, standing up. "What'cha making? Smells great!"
Joan came in as she left, also in her PJs. She was about the same height as her elder sisters, maybe more, and had long blonde hair kept in a long braid behind her.
"Morning, family units." She said teasingly.
"Morning, Joan. Any news on the other three?" Joseph asked.
"Just the usual. Lucy is re-reading the next chapter of her story before she posts it, and Tanya is showing Ilya some videos in her room. I gave them a heads-up on breakfast for you."
"Thank you."
"Father, are you sure you read this section?" Artoria said. Joan frowned, she actually sounded worried.
"What? The front page? No, I skipped it. Didn't feel like reading about damned politicians and their shenanigans."
"What's up?" Joan asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Here." Artoria handed her the front section.
Pyrrha Nikos Passed Over
Mistrali Champion Shafted out of Leadership Role
"Huh, so Nikos actually went through with it, did she?" Joan had heard the rumors about the championship fighter from Mistral hanging up her gladius in favor of a Huntress career, but she never thought it would actually happen.
"Keep reading." Artoria told her, holding her head as Suzie and Seras came out of the kitchen, bearing platters of bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns.
"Alright, everyone, dig in!" Suzie said, before turning to the stairs. "Girls! Breakfast!"
Joan spoke as she read the article.
"Four months ago, Pyrrha Nikos surprised the fighting world when she announced her intentions to quit competition fighting in order to pursue a career as a Huntress. Though her decision was met with praise, she truly shocked us when she went on to state she planned to attend Vale's Beacon Academy, rather than her home kingdom of Mistral's Haven Academy. The reasons for this decision remain unclear.
"As Beacon began its traditional initiation yesterday, many believed Ms. Nikos to be a shoo-in for a leadership position among whatever team she eventually found herself on. However, this was proven false when the four-time regional champion was passed over for an absolute unknown."
"Huh, well that must have been humbling." Seras commented as Lucy, Tanya and Ilya took seats at the table.
"Indeed." Joseph commented.
"Keep going." Artoria ordered.
"Despite the amazing feats she performed in initiation, including the assisted killing of a fully-grown Deathstalker Grimm, Beacon's Headmaster Ozpin proclaimed the leader of the team she was assigned to, known as JNPR (pronounced 'juniper'), would be Jaune Arc, 17."
"WHAT!?" the family yelled collectively.
"Unfortunately, due to privacy policies on the part of Beacon Academy, no further information about Mr. Arc could be found beyond his hometown of Attika, a moderately-sized port village on the eastern coast of Vale, southeast of the city proper. Additionally, Ms. Nikos' family and manager are offering no statements at this time, other than complete support for their daughter, her team and her friends."
"So, you're telling me that Jaune- our bumbling brother, who still forgets his right from his left occasionally- not only got into Beacon, but also survived initiation, got on a team with the female fighter of our generation, and was put in charge of her? Am I getting this right?" Tanya asked.
"I think so, sis." Lucy said, stunned.
Joan dropped the paper, her hands shaking. Seeing her like this, her family backed up slowly, clearing a path for her. Joan was… complicated. She was one of the kindest, most loving individuals in the family, but she also had quite the temper, especially where her twin was concerned. So, when Joan looked up, and her father and mother saw the inferno in her eyes, they knew the proper thing to do: stay out of her way.
"I'M GONNA KILL HIM!" she roared as she sped back up the stairs to her and Jaune's shared bedroom.
The remaining seven Arcs sighed, knowing the bullet they had dodged and that Jaune was about to receive.
"What else does it say?" Ilya said, picking up the paper and handing it to Artoria.
XX
Jaune was not having the best morning, and not just because of the near-interrogation he had received last night at the hands of Nora.
First, he had somehow forgotten to charge his scroll overnight. It was such a rookie move he actually facepalmed when it was Ren's alarm (here read as Nora) that woke him up rather than his phone. So, he had to leave it to charge throughout the day, thus leaving him at worst inconvenienced in the grand scheme of things.
Second, his entire head just hurt for a few reasons. The most minor of these was the fact that his teeth hurt for some reason. It was a pain he had never felt before in his life and he couldn't really describe it. It made him wonder what eating was going to feel like.
Then there was the fact that his senses seemed to have gone into overdrive. His vision was sharper than before, his hearing was suped up so that he could hear Team RWBY arguing across the hall, and he could even pick out what kinds of shampoos the girls used. It was sensory overload, and it was giving him a migraine.
Then he got to the cafeteria and it was like someone had twisted the knob on his sensory overload so far that it was torn off in a manic fit of lunacy. It was too much for him, though he was able to keep it hidden from his team long enough to hide himself in food. Upside of enhanced senses: everything tasted a hell of a lot better!
"Yeesh, Vomit Boy, think you got enough protein there?" Yang joked when he walked up with a plate full of bacon, sausage, eggs and potatoes in various varieties.
"What? I got some toast and OJ to balance it out." He defended.
"Still, Jaune, there is such a thing as protein poisoning." Pyrrha agreed.
"Are we ignoring the fact that Nora is carrying a pile of pancakes about half her height here?" Ruby asked.
"Ruby, this is a normal breakfast for Nora." Ren said over a mug of coffee.
"That is not a normal amount of food for any one person." Blake commented.
"Maybe not for wimps like you guys." Nora said with a grin before she started shoveling pancakes into her mouth.
"Sooo, how'd you guys sleep?" Jaune asked his fellow leader.
"Pretty good." She answered, taking a sip of milk, "We pretty much crashed as soon as we got in the room, so we wound up getting up pretty early. We even had time to decorate before we came down for breakfast. How 'bout you guys?"
"Well enough, I'd say." Jaune answered. "We weren't as tired as you guys, so we managed to work a few things out before we got to know each other over a game of poker."
"Strip poker?" Yang said, wiggling her eyes. Pyrrha blushed furiously, and Nora didn't hear it, too absorbed in her sugary breakfast, but Weiss glared at him fiercely, and even Blake looked up from her book.
"Clearly, you overestimate me, Yang." Jaune said. "Personal code of honor aside, there's no way in hell I could get two women I just met to do that."
"Wow, you're that innocent?" Blake drawled.
"Nah, just that awkward."
"See, Jaune, this is why we're friends." Ruby said, high-fiving him.
They continued chatting for another twenty minutes before Weiss ended it by leaving.
"We should go." She said, "We'll be late for class."
Jaune quickly looked at the clock on the wall and recalled the first-year class schedule he had read last night. "But our first class is Grimm Studies at 9." He said.
"So?" she said haughtily.
"So, it's only 8:20."
"One should always arrive a minimum of thirty minutes early to anything important."
'Oh, Gods, another Artoria.' Jaune thought to himself. He didn't know how he didn't recognize it sooner. Probably just hormones kicking in during a moment of teenage weakness, blinding him to her oh-so-obvious imperfections. Definitely a hard no as a romantic possibility.
"If you all want to have your performance suffer, then fine by me, but I will not allow mine to do so just because you all don't have proper study skills." She said, walking off in a huff.
"The regret of ever thinking I had a chance with her is strong." Jaune groaned. Pyrrha chuckled, rubbing his back reassuringly. "She does have a point though. If we leave now, we can get decent seats, plus it's not like any of us know where any of our classrooms are."
"Guess you're right." Ruby shrugged. "C'mon, Team R_BY, let's get to it!"
Jaune glanced over to Nora and saw the impressive dent she had made in her stack, though not nearly enough to finish it. "Nora, we gotta go."
"But, pancakes…" she said, her eyes watering.
"I'll make up the difference as dessert tonight." Ren assured her.
"Okay."
XX
"Okay, am I the only one who didn't learn a damn thing from Professor Port's 'lecture' today?" Yang asked as Team _BY and JNPR had dinner together.
"I think it was more an introduction to his teaching style." Pyrrha said.
"Makes sense." Blake agreed. "It is only the first day of classes after all."
"Then why not just go over a syllabus like with Oobleck and Goodwitch?" Yang asked.
"There are some things Man was not meant to know." Ren said. "The methods of teachers, I have found, are among such things."
Yang looked to Nora. "Was that a joke?"
Nora waved her hand side-to-side. "Hard to tell sometimes."
"Jaune?" Blake said, asking across the table, "You okay?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah, why?"
"Well, in stark contrast to your breakfast, you've hardly touched your dinner."
Jaune sighed, knowing he had been caught. It was a shame too, he had picked such a delicious-looking ribeye and potatoes for dinner. "It's Ruby and Weiss." He admitted, "I figured something was up with how they interacted during Port's class."
"Weiss did seem a little catty towards Ruby…" Yang said.
"And then I overheard them arguing about Ruby's position as leader after class. I'm worried the division between them could hurt your team, I guess."
"Let Yang and I worry about that." Blake said, "Right now, if I were you, I would worry more about myself."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jaune said with irritation.
"Jaune, please, stop pretending." Pyrrha said with concern written on her face. "We can all see you're in a lot of pain right now."
Jaune stared at her, looking for anything he didn't like, but gave in. She was as bad as Joan. "Okay, but this has to stay between us." The group nodded and leaned in. "Okay, so ever since I woke up this morning, everything has felt… off, I guess."
"Off how?" Pyrrha asked.
"Like my senses are on overdrive. Hearing, sight, smell, taste, it's like they've been kicked up to ridiculous levels. It's so bad I've been taking aspirin since breakfast to take care of the headaches."
"Are you a faunus?" Blake asked.
"No. My family is one of those stupid pure-blood families, except we don't wear it as a fucking badge of honor."
"Maybe it's a Semblance?" Yang posited, "I mean, I think yesterday would definitely qualify as a trigger."
"It's the most plausible explanation I can think of." Ren agreed.
"So, what do we tell Ruby and Weiss?" Blake asked.
"It's not really important." Jaune said, "If they ask, send 'em my way and I'll tell them myself."
"As for the headaches, your Aura should be able to help with that." Pyrrha said, "I can teach you a few exercises to help relieve the pain, if you want."
"You are too good to me, Pyr. Thank you." Jaune said, making her blush hard. "Well, I think it's time to call it a night. Port and Oobleck gave us those chapters to work on for next class, so I should get started on them before going to bed."
"What about your dinner?"
"I'll see if the kitchen staff can wrap it up for me. Steak and taters are still good leftover, if you ask me."
XX
Team JNPR returned to their dorm, saying good night to Yang and Blake across the hall, with Jaune lamenting the wasting of such good food. As Pyrrha and Nora grabbed their pajamas and headed into the bathroom to change, Jaune noticed his scroll was up and running, and that he had several missed calls from Joan. He picked it up and called her back, excited to tell her about everything that had happened in the last three days.
"Sup, me?" he said with a grin, chuckling at their private joke.
"YOU FUCKING JACKASS!" he heard on the other end. It was so loud that he physically recoiled and dropped his scroll. Picking it up, he saw the face of a very much furious Joan Arc.
"Gah, what the hell sis? You trying to make me go deaf?"
"What the hell me? What the hell you, you little asshat! Three days we don't hear from you, and how do we find out what you've been up? The fucking newspaper, saying you were made team leader instead of Nikos! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Look, I'm sorry! I spent last night getting to know my teammates, and forgot to charge my scroll overnight."
"That doesn't make all the questions I've gotten all over town today okay! There is only one way to make up for this."
"Oh, Gods, please, no." Jaune's face paled.
"Yes, brother dearest. Go round up your team. It's time I met them." Joan said with a malicious grin.
So, yeah, That's the Badge and the Burden done. You'll notice that Ruby and Weiss were absent from half the story, and that is intentional. The show is called RWBY for a reason. In this story, we're focusing on JNPR, with a special focus on Jaune, obviously. And speaking of the bumbling idiot, not so much right now. He's getting more confidence and he's getting enhanced senses. Almost like a wolf, don't you think?
And now for probably the most controversial part of this story, Jaune's family. Now, I've only seen two other authors who go into detail about the Clan Arc; vixvix, the man who inspired this story, and Coeur Al'Aran, arguably the best RWBY fan-author on the site. Both of these individuals have their own ideas on naming, and I am no different, except for how I name them. Coeur follows the Remnant tradition of naming children after colors, while Vix named the elders after Rome's first Imperial family (Augustus and Livia) while the daughters are named after minerals. I, however, finding the tradition a little stiffling- and in universe, it is a tradition, not a rule or a law.
I decided to name the family after anime characters. The parents are named after Joseph Joestar, and his wife, Suzie Q, while the daughters are named (and modelled) after Saber/Artoria Pendragon from Fate/Stay Night, Seras Victoria from Hellsing, Ruler/Joan of Arc from Fate/Apocrypha, Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail, Tanya von Degurechaff from Youjo Senki, and Illyasviel von Einsbern from Fate/Stay Night. Saphron is the only exception since she has already been revealed in canon and I wanted to keep her.
Be sure to Follow, Favorite and leave a Review, and I will catch you later.