Hey, this is already the most popular story of mine in terms of favorites and follows. Which isn't saying much… but it still gives me an incentive to write.
Jaune was covered in cold sweat. His head ached horribly and his stomach kept convulsing, even though by now all its contents have been vomited out into paper bags.
To say that Jaune Schnee had a rough start at Beacon would be a major understatement.
Heck, he wasn't even in Beacon yet. Right now he and the other students were on an airship, that was just about to land on one of academy's landing pads. And yet, he already made a horrible first impression on everyone present. He was prepared for the air sickness to strike, hence the paper bags, but he didn't expect it to be that bad. Perhaps it was his nerves that made it all worse.
Because he really was nervous. His future very much depended on his actions now and he didn't really know what to do. He had made plans prior to going to Beacon of course, but, as he only now realized, those plans were hardly specific. He knew that he should try to get paired up with the strongest, try to show off just a bit and not make any enemies if possible… but none of these helped him very much now. Not with making allies and certainly not with his air sickness.
Damn, how much he hated it. Weiss, not having to deal with her stomach rebelling against her, was probably already forming alliances and such. Luckily, judging from the recent announcement, they were about to land in a minute or two, after which Jaune would be able to talk to people without vomiting all over them. He hasn't really lost all that much time, though his interactions with the fellow students would be hindered by them remembering Jaune Schnee spewing his breakfast out.
After the aircraft finally landed, Jaune was one of the first people to get out. He felt an urge to kiss the ground, but there was no advantage to acting so comically, at least not as of now. Instead he just took several deep breaths, partially to calm himself down, but also because he enjoyed inhaling air that didn't smell of vomit.
Taking a quick look around revealed that most prospective students were either chatting in groups or - not unlike Jaune in all honesty - stumbling around nervous and confused. Jaune failed to recognize anyone from face alone but he assumed most people were from Vale or its adjacent territories. Most people would rather attend a school in their own Kingdom, after all. He wouldn't be surprised if he and Weiss turned out to be the only ones who came from Atlas.
Weiss… Jaune considered finding her and sabotaging whatever she was doing right now, but he concluded that it would be largely pointless. Starting his own little endeavor was a better strategy by far.
And besides, Jaune didn't really want Weiss to fail. She wanted to be a huntress just as much as he wanted to be a huntsman and she deserved a chance to live that dream. And he certainly didn't wish her to fail at making friends here – his sister could definitely use some companionship.
Thing was, he didn't want her to succeed either. Not when it meant her inheriting the Schnee Dust Company. Jaune's own aspirations aside, she just wasn't fit for the role, regardless of what she might have claimed. She was bossy, easily annoyed, not to mention prejudiced against the faunus… and people who she deemed less intelligent than her. Oh sure, Jaune wasn't perfect either, but with no fourth sibling to take the helm, he was the best person for the role. Or, at the very least, the lesser of two evils. That's why he needed to win this little game, and he could start by making some friends.
He doubted he could just blend into some group, as those have likely been established long prior to the initiation day. The nervous loners were unlikely to be very strong or capable, as hypocritical as it was for Jaune to think that. He needed to find somebody who looked confident, but wasn't already a part of some conceived team. From then on he could convince them that they should try to team up later on, hopefully by appearing strong himself, though he wasn't exactly above utilizing bribery. He was sure Weiss wouldn't play fair, so why would he?
It took him quite a while to spot a person who fit both the criteria. A girl dressed in a black and white outfit, standing with her back against a nearby tree, holding some book in one hand. Her fair, almost pale skin contrasted with her long, black hair. Really, the only part of her that was neither black nor white were her eyes which bore this unusual shade of… yellow? Amber? Gold? It was hard to tell.
Jaune forced himself not to think about her physical features – which was pretty hard, because the girl had a really nice figure – as he knew what would happen if he tried to flirt with her. He had a long history of getting rejected by females. A history which occasionally involved the girls slapping him or kicking him in the balls for good measure, neither of which was something he wanted to get from a prospective huntress. On the plus side though, by now he knew exactly how one should not talk to women. Maybe he could apply that knowledge right now.
He approached the girl, his expression casual, not bothering with any outward gesture of greeting. The brunette spared him a rather uninterested look, though there seemed to be a measure of alertness in her eyes.
"What's the matter?" The girl's voice matched her facial expression. Largely apathetic, but with a note of caution. Jaune got the feeling that she was ready to pull out a weapon and strike him down at any moment. One more reason not to hit on her.
"Most people are heading towards the auditorium right now. Unlike you. I just wanted to check if everything's okay." Jaune responded, going for a rather risky strategy.
"Everything is fine. I'm just reading." The girl gestured to the book she held. Man with Two Souls - not exactly sublime literature as far as Jaune was concerned, but it was certainly interesting that she was willing to spend her time reading the day before the initiation. She definitely felt confident about her skills... or just she loved reading more than she loved being alive. Jaune decided to be an optimist for once and assumed the former.
"Look, there is no reason to be embarrassed." He said, assuming a mildly patronizing tone. "To be honest, I'm not feeling all that confident either."
"What are you talking about?" All the cautiousness was replaced by confusion, with a tinge of irritation. Well, more than just a tinge.
"You are clearly nervous and not without a reason. I just wanted you to know that failing won't be the end of the world. A huntsman's life just isn't for everyone and there many other, wonderful careers available." Jaune responded, managing to keep a straight face, though not without some effort.
"What? I... I'm not afraid!" Irritation, or rather outright anger, has overtaken the girl's voice. "I know how to fight. Better than you, I bet."
"Now, there is no point in denial. If you don't acknowledge your weakness, you will only hurt your chances even further." Jaune kept the patronizing tone.
"I'm not denying anything! Well I am, but that's because..." Brunette suddenly paused. "You are messing with me, right?"
"Eh, not entirely. I was serious when I said I'm not feeling confident. Really, I'm surprised that you are that calm. Wanted to ask you how you manage that." Jaune said, this time keeping the tone of his voice neutral.
"You... have a strange way of starting conversations." The girl still seemed somewhat annoyed, but not quite angry. In fact, the sentence betrayed some level of interest from her regarding his person.
Perfect.
"Well, let me start again then." Jaune coughed theatrically and then stretched an open palm "Hi. My name's Jaune."
"Blake." The girl responded after a moment of hesitation. It looked like Jaune managed to apply just the right level of smugness. "Are you from around here? You don't look like it."
"You mean I'm exceptional?" He teased again, but in a way that left Blake an obvious punchline.
"Exceptionally annoying, maybe." Blake responded, without much originality. "You just have that look in your eyes. As if you were constantly looking for threats. Were you raised outside the Kingdoms?"
Damn. The girl sure was perceptive, even if her conclusions were backwards.
"Nah. It's sort of a normal thing in my family." Jaune replied truthfully. "My father says a Schnee always has to be on their guard."
Now, different people would react differently to finding out Jaune's family name. Most would find themselves surprised in a neutral sort of way. Some, namely gold diggers and vultures, would be immediately delighted. Others would react in disbelief and some people, unfortunately, would react negatively.
To say that Blake reacted negatively would be an understatement. Her eyes narrowed, this time not in irritation, annoyance or even anger, but in a clear and pure hatred. Her right hand quickly moved towards the weapon on her back and, for a moment, Jaune was genuinely afraid she would attack him. He reached for Crocea Mors, even though he probably wouldn't be able to intercept a strike in time.
Before either of them got to kill the other one, however, a loud sound resonated in the air. An explosion, sounding somewhat like a really loud dust firework. Jaune instinctively tilted his head in the direction the sound came from.
Well, I could have expected something like that.
In the distance, Weiss was talking, or more likely, arguing with some other girl. It was hard to tell from that far, but the other girl appeared even shorter than his sister and likely a bit younger, though that would raise the question of what she was doing in Beacon. Scattered bags laying on the ground suggested some sort of dust accident. It wasn't hard to make out what has just happened.
"Why won't you go hang around with your family?" Blake said to Jaune, turned around and walked away without another word. Apparently, she was able to recognize Weiss a member of Schnee family, but not him. It made Jaune feel sort of sad and maybe a little offended, though he was mostly relieved that the brunette seemingly wouldn't be slicing his head off.
As for her dislike of his family, he really couldn't blame her. Schnee Dust Company had a pretty poor reputation and not without reasons. Heck, Blake could have been one of the people who got screwed over as a result of the company's economic expansion. Jaune knew he risked running into people like that... he just hoped that the first person he talked to wouldn't be one of them.
With a sigh, he turned his attention to the scene unfolding in the distance. It looked almost comical, the short girl twitching her fingers while Weiss yelled something about her being a dolt. Not atypical for his older sister.
Really, he probably ought not to interfere. Weiss was really doing him a favor by making enemies in Beacon this way. But then again, Jaune attended this school to become a hero. Somebody who protects the people and fights for justice. And having to deal with a pissed-off Weiss was not something anyone deserved, dolt or not.
He therefore sighed again and made his way towards the two young women arguing on the avenue.
To say that Ruby Rose had a rough start at Beacon would be pretty accurate.
She was pretty nervous about coming to the prestigious academy despite being two years younger than all the other students. It's not that she was afraid she wouldn't turn out good enough - she was pretty skilled and had the best weapon ever at her disposal. It was just the regular, but annoying anxiety that came with coming to a new place and meeting new people, especially since all of these people would be older than her.
She consoled herself with the thought that she would at least have Yang at her side. But nope, her sister ran away, leaving Ruby behind, alone and confused.
And now, the youngest Beacon student ever was stuck with some crabby girl that wouldn't stop lecturing her.
"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters! So watch where you're going!"
"Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!" Ruby thought that maybe, if she talked back, the girl would leave her alone sooner. Judging from how her frown deepened, that was not the case. Before she got to respond, however, another voice filled the air.
"It's heiress, actually." A tall boy in full armor approached the two of them. He paid Ruby only a quick glance and focused his gaze on the girl in white. "Weiss, what do you think you are doing?"
"And why do you think it's your business?" The girl, Weiss as she was apparently called, seemed just as upset at the new guy as she was at Ruby. Perhaps even more, judging from how her eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing him.
"Oh, sorry for interrupting you. I just thought our game would be more fun if you didn't sabotage yourself from the very start." The boy responded, his eyes still focused on the girl in white. His expression could be best described as cold. Uncaring and hardly angry, but not entirely emotionless either. It was kind of creepy to be honest. Weiss responded with a stern look and a pout of her own.
They then stood like this for almost a minute, eyes set on each other. Ruby failed to make out the reason for it. Were they having some sort of telepathic conversation? Or maybe it was a staring contest? Was that this 'game' the boy mentioned?
Finally, the girl huffed theatrically, turned around and walked away. The armored boy kept his eyes on her for a few more seconds and turned to Ruby. His expression softened and a small smile appeared on his face.
"Sorry for her. I'm Jaune." He extended a hand towards Ruby, who reciprocated the gesture.
"Ruby. And I'm kind of to blame for that." She looked around, over the scattered bags that apparently contained refined dust among other things. A group of people in black suits moved in, presumably to gather the luggage.
"Don't blame yourself. She can be like that sometimes." Jaune responded and then gesture towards the large building in the distance. "I'm heading to the auditorium. Want to go with me?"
Ruby nodded and the two of them made their way through the avenue. Suddenly, Ruby recalled seeing the guy on the airship. From what she could remember, he was vomiting throughout the landing, but she bit her tongue before she brought that up. 'Aren't you the guy who threw up on an airship?' didn't sound very polite, and Jaune deserved some of that after rescuing Ruby from that crabby girl. Therefore, Ruby settled on another topic.
"So, who was that girl? You seemed to know her." Ruby asked, before adding hastily. "Not that I'm lumping you two together or anything."
Jaune smiled weakly. "Well, you'd be kind of right to. You just had a pleasure of meeting Weiss Schnee, my dear big sister."
That reply took Ruby by surprise. Sure, she could see some similarities between the two now that she thought about it, such as blue eyes and extremely light-colored hair, but it just did not compute with how Jaune and Weiss acted towards each other. At all. Shouldn't siblings, like, like each other? At least a little bit? Ruby had her spouts with Yang, but what happened a minute ago seemed far more serious. Her voice of reason told her not to dig into the topic, but curiosity prevailed.
"Um, did you guys had an argument recently or something? She seemed kind of mad at you."
"Me and Weiss... don't really get along. It's complicated." Both his words and the tone of his voice made it clear that he did not wish to discuss the matter any further. Ruby mentally kicked herself for bringing the topic up and decided to change it to a more pleasant one.
"Hey, what's your weapon? If you are coming to Beacon like me, then I bet you must have some cool one."
Jaune gave her a strange look, filled with something resembling suspicion, but smiled just a moment later. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours first. Deal?"
"Deal." Ruby grabbed and activated Crescent Rose. Jaune took a quick step back, either to be able to fully admire the unfolding scythe, or just to avoid being accidentally hit by it.
"A customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle, with scythe as its melee form." Ruby said proudly.
"That's cool." Jaune responded and drew what looked like simple longsword. "I got this thing. And no, it doesn't have any additional forms, though I can expand the sheathe into a shield."
"That's nice" Ruby commented, but couldn't quite stop herself from adding a little jab. "You aren't one for fancy features, huh?"
"Well, I wasn't the one to design Crocea Mors. It's a family heirloom, passed from generation to generation. I'm sort of surprised it's still in one piece." Indeed, the blade has several cracks on it, but it still looked fairly sturdy. For all her love of guns, Ruby could appreciate the fine, classical craft of the blade.
"Cool. So it's a Schnee legacy weapon?" As Ruby asked that question, she recalled that Jaune called Weiss an heiress. If that was correct, than why was he the one wielding the family weapon? And were the Schnees a hunstmen family anyway?
"No." Jaune's smile fell somewhat. "I was talking about the Arc bloodline. My... biological family."
Crap. Way to avoid sensitive topics, Ruby.
"Well... " Ruby desperately searched for some way to change the subject, but aside from weapons there really wasn't much she could talk about. "I'm looking forward to seeing you fight during the initiation. I'm sure you'll do great!"
"I sure hope so." Jaune responded, smile now wiped from his face completely. A long moment of silence followed, one that Ruby couldn't find a way to break. So instead she just kept on walking while beating herself up.
Eventually, they reached the main building. A lot of students were coming in and it looked like the headmaster's speech was just about to star.
"Well," Jaune spoke, putting on a smile again, though it didn't really mesh well with the tone of his voice. "I hope we'll see each other in Beacon. I'm sure you'll do great as well, Ruby." He then stepped into the flow of people and passed through the door without looking back at her.
"See you!" Ruby yelled, trying to sound cheerful, but even she could tell that it came out really awkward. It appeared like she just screwed up, and more than usually at that.
Ruby sighed. Once she found Yang, she would tell her off for leaving her sister like that, with her nonexistent social skills.
Hopefully that argument wouldn't be as cold as some were...
Seriously, what is that thing Blake used to wear? It takes the wiki like two paragraphs and several obscure words to describe this outfit. She looks a penguin if you ask me.
But to the more important stuff. Someone in the reviews predicted that I would stick with Weiss' perspective and keep Jaune's thoughts secret so that I could set up a false narrative that I would then subvert… no. For one, it would make story pretty predictable, but more importantly it would make it much harder for me to write a compelling conflict. Having one of the main characters as an antagonist would require me to make them a lot stronger and/or cunning than the other one in order to preserve the stakes, as the story is no fun when the protagonist has the situation under control.
I think I'm going to be jumping between the two perspectives, or rather between two focus points of the story. Show their actions, their plans, the opinions other people hold regarding them as well as their own views on the people and events around them. Gives a broader perspective and all that.
Also, in case I didn't make that clear enough; Whitley doesn't exist in this timeline. I sort of assumed that Jacques just resolved to produce kids until he got a son. With Jaune being present and more or less compliant with his father's plans, there is no need to make the family any bigger. Also, Whitley would make the story even more complicated than it already is by adding a third player to the mix and giving Jacques yet another potential heir, if both Jaune and Weiss are deemed unsuitable. So yeah, he is an un-person now.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed.