It was an unsaid thing between his parents that if there was something that mom doesn't approve of so would dad, everyone in the house knew it. So when mom would teared up with just the mention of huntsmen, it was absolute that dad would not let Jaune go to a combat school.

"But it wouldn't hurt to try."

And Jaune did. Only to be yelled at by his dad and grounded for a week. He didn't talk about huntsmen or combat school after that. At least not to his family.

Instead he turned to Billy.

Billy wasn't an official hunter like dad, having died after his first year at a combat school, but he was supportive. Despite the lack of body to properly teach Jaune, Billy tried his best to guide him on how to fight.

" Now you jump."

Jaune looked down at the seas of trees beneath him from the edge of the cliffs. When Billy said that they would be doing some training in the middle of the Arc family camping trip, this was not what Jaune expected.

" Billy, is there a point to this ?" Jaune asked, inching away from the edge.

" It's good practice for your wind magic." Billy said authoritatively. "That and I just remember that landing strategies are a thing."

" Landing strategy ?" Jaune questioned.

" You know, just in case your need to jump out of a collapsing building from the 26th floor."

"I'm sensing a story here."

Billy let out a sheepish laugh. " Of course, but back to the matter at hand. You're aura can tank it if you fall from this height but try to use magic."

Taking a few steps back, Jaune gathered himself. With a deep breath Jaune began to run, the next thing he knew he was falling down toward the trees under him. Summoning gusts of wind from his hand, he tried to navigate himself toward a nearby clearing. But between the inconsistent bursts of wind and his wobbling hands, Jaune found himself getting his face smashed into some trees on the way down and landed on his butt on the dirt. He was pretty sure he heard the ground cracked on impact.

"Could use some more work but you didn't crush a car so that's a win. You still need to work on your control with the wind through." Billy comments.

Jaune groaned, letting aura take care of his bruises. " So now what ?"

"You're getting back up on the cliffs using wind magic of course."

Jaune sighed. This was what he got woke up in the middle of the night for. Well, no point of complaining, he did ask for training.

Time and time again, he rose up above a tree, wind propelling him upward before he lost control over them and ended up falling back down. It was hopeless, tried as he may it wouldn't be enou-

"Come on kid, just a bit more. I know you can do it! "

Before Jaune could crash on the ground yet again, he summoned more wind to him. They pushed him up once more, much faster this time. The cliff was so close in sight and Jaune could not let Billy down.

Fawcett was an idyllic town not far from Domremy, just a few bus stops and one night of camping away. Jaune hadn't been in the town since he was five.

" I first met you here remember ?"

Which would be why his parents had been so hesitant of coming back here after years. Last time he was here Jaune got himself kidnapped and nearly killed, it was surprising that he wasn't traumatized from that experience.

The only reason why they even came to Fawcett this summer was because his cousin Jullie was getting married.

Clearly his parents hadn't quite got over the kidnapping the same way Jaune had because all day Jaune was forced to stay inside his aunt's house while his sisters were allowed to explore the town.

" We'll bring you back something." His sister Clementine said stiffly as she left. After an incident a few years back their relationship had been rocky.

Mom and dad were awfully insistent on keeping Jaune inside. Mom more so than dad with tears threatens to leave her eyes. Billy had long pointed out that mom was faking it but Jaune still couldn't bring himself to make her cry, real or not. That being said, she couldn't cry if she didn't know he was out of the house.

Like many times before, Jaune decided to sneak out in the middle of the night which was much easier said than done. The twins, Coral and Aurora, were light sleepers and would wake up at the smallest sound outside their bedroom. Clair, his oldest sister was a night owl and is no doubt reading a book downstairs in the living room. He was lucky enough that aunt Cana had enough room in her house for everyone so at least he was alone.

" Don't forget, your mother likes to check on you randomly."

Jaune sighed, he knew mom cared for him very much but the constant surveillance was smothering sometimes. He was fifteen now, he could take care of himself.

"Nothing a little illusion can't fix." Jaune turned on the little bunny night light that his aunt, under the impression he still used them, left for him.

With a deep breath, Jaune began to bend what little light emanating from the night light. Twisting and turning them until a shape to form.

"What do you think?" He gestured at the image of him sleeping soundly on the bed.

"It looks real enough." Billy hummed. "But you know, that's not going to last if your mom decided to touch it."

"Then let's hope she doesn't." Jaune declared with a whisper. " Or maybe you could take over and make a solid one for me."

"Jaune, how will you learn if I kept doing everything for you?" Billy said, amused.

If he could, Jaune would blow a raspberry at him. At last, Billy did not have an actual body so Jaune had to settle for an indignant. "It's your fault I have to sneak out anyways."

" How is it my fault? You're the one who insists on finding my weapon ever since we got here." Billy protested.

"And you're the one who insists I get a weapon." Jaune pointed out on his way out the window. Maneuvering on to the nearby tree, he began to make his way to the ground.

" That doesn't mean you have to get mine, what about Crocea Mors? That thing is pretty sturdy."

The family heirloom had been sitting on top of the fireplace untouched ever since dad retired from being a huntsman. It was a gift from the King of Vale to his great-great grandfather in the Great War, the blade and shield was rumoured to be near indestructible in a fight (But it might had been the Arc's family hereditary defense semblances). When he was younger Jaune dreamed of being a hero, he would imagine holding that sword and use it to fight Grimm and villains.

" Dad would notice if I started taking it out to practice. You know how possessive he is with Crocea Mors." Jaune couldn't admit that the sword had come to represent dad's disappointment in Jaune. He knew dad wants at least one of his kids to take up the family tradition. His sisters had never expressed interest and Jaune….

Jaune wasn't strong enough.

Billy sighed. " I don't know if Aeternal Campio is still where I left it or even if it is still usable."

"It wouldn't hurt to try."

Years ago Fawcett wasn't exactly all that welcoming to huntsmen and huntresses. So when Billy accidentally stumbled upon in while on his vacation he was forced to hide his weapon.

" The town was smaller then so the park your sister visited this morning used to be part of the forest."

"I can't believe you hid your stuff in a tree." Jaune's voice muffled underneath the scarf as he ran. Stealth wasn't exactly his strong point so Jaune stole his sister's green hoodie and red scarf, hoping that nobody would realize it was him if they saw.

"And I can't believe it wasn't cut down."

Getting to park was easy, fifteen minutes of running and he was there. Now figuring out where Billy stashed his weapon was a bit harder. Jaune looked at walls of ancient pines in front of him, not sure where to start.

There was a nudge from Billy and immediately Jaune knew what to do. Relaxing, Jaune closed his eyes. When he opened them again the world was a bit clearer than before and Jaune wasn't in control of his body any more.

Taking control of Jaune's body Billy got to work right away. From within his( ?) mind, Jaune could feel magic flowing through Billy 's finger tip in waves. One second pass, and then another before the both of them felt a tug from one of the trees. It was as big as those around it but Billy was sure it was the one.

Walking up to the tree, Billy stripped away the illusion he had put there so long ago. Shadowy bonds released itself at his command to reveal a tree hollow. Within it laid Aeternal Campio, his spare bag of dust laid nearby. After all these years, there wasn't a sign of rust on the lance.

"Hey buddy, it's been a while hasn't it?" Billy whispers using Jaune's voice."Ready to meet your new owner?"

Excitement bloomed within his chest as Billy gave him back the control. Within his hands was a weapon, an huntsman weapon ( because no matter what Billy said, he was a huntsman in Jaune's eyes). And whereas Crocea Mors had always felt heavy within his hands, Aeternal Campio was just right.

Unfortunately, his excitement didn't last when Jaune realized something. " How am I gonna hide this ?"

The lance, despite being built by someone who was much smaller than Jaune currently are, reached his chest. He doubted he could just stuff it in his backpack without anyone noticing.

"Uhh." Billy too had just come to the same conclusion as Jaune. " I guess I'll take over when we get back? If that's okay with you?"