"Are you excited Jaune? Three months of travel and were almost there." The voice sounded as excited as Jaune felt.
"Yep, it's almost miraculous that there have barely been any Grimm attacks." He turned to the merchant who had let him sit on for all this way. The wagon they sat on was on the front of a long line other wagons with guards stationed around them. The forest they were in would sometimes make the odd birdsong.
"The Traveler must have watched over us and you helped to Jaune, no need to be humble about it." The Merchant complimented, though Jaune didn't feel like he deserved it.
For three months he had been a part of the caravan and he hadn't done that much. He helped prepare camp for the night, acted as an assistant when there was too much too do and prepared the food. It was the least he could do when he had asked for a seat right before they left his village.
The Merchant, Rufus, must have known how Jaune felt.
"Jaune, how many times do I need to tell you that when someone gives you a compliment that you take." Rufus ruffled his hair. "You might not think it, but every single person you helped are thankful for what you've done."
"If you say so." He didn't quite believe him.
"It seems I need to bring out the guitar once again." He gave the reins of the horse over to him. He took out a guitar and pricked at the strings. "You have to only ask if you want me to play, maybe 'A new dawn' would fit best for the occasion."
Rufus played a tune that started slow but slowly picked up the tempo. Jaune had to keep most of his concentration to make sure that he steered the horses right, but he couldn't but sing along. The chorus was what he liked the most about the song.
And even in the darkest of nights,
there will always be a morning waiting for you
A new dawn
There were a few other that heard the song, they started to sing along or bring in their own instruments for the song. It wasn't the first time the caravan would do this.
The first time Jaune had been slightly terrified when heard it since he feared that the sound might attract the Grimm. It was then he would learn that their ears were more for decoration than actual function. The same went for all their other senses to different degrees, except for whatever they used to sense negative emotion. That made so much noise helped them, a good song drove away any negative emotion.
It was a thing he would learn during his first month on the caravan, that those who travel would always learn some skill to make sure they didn't attract Grimm. Stories, jokes or puns were a few examples of ways the caravan had made sure to ensure as few deaths as possible.
For the times they didn't work, the huntsmen that had been hired as guards would step in.
It was only a few hours later that they would finally make it out of the forest and to his stop. The perimeter of the cleared forest was the first sign that a village was here. There were thirty meters of clearance before the farms started and not far from it was the wall that protected the place.
He gently shook Rufus awake as he had managed to exhaust himself with all the songs he played.
"Rufus, wake up." He didn't wake at first so Jaune got a little rougher. "We need you to give them the code."
He woke up and walked over to the gate, a small hole at eye level had opened up. Rufus had told him about this the first time they arrived at a new village. How villages might let small groups of people in with too much trouble, but once the group reached a certain size they would need special permission. It was a system meant to ensure the safety of the village as bandits had often tried to dress up as merchants or mercenaries to get into a town unopposed.
Rufus whispered a few words through the hole and the gate opened, he jumped back onto the wagon and led the caravan in. They were led to the plaza where they parked their wagons and set up shop. There were few wares set out since they only planned to stay here for half a day, a more prosperous town wasn't too far away from there. It would be the caravan's final stop before they made a long way home.
This place would be his.
Jaune stepped off the wagon and thought of how this place would be his new life. Jaune had set out to the frontier to make a name for himself, one that wouldn't be burdened with Arc legacy back home.
Jaune said his goodbyes to the people that he had spent the last three months with, people who he could easily call his friends. He was given his luggage, but also something extra that he easily recognized.
"You're giving me your guitar Rufus, why would you do that?" The guitar looked brand new, but Jaune knew it was because Rufus would maintain it every night.
"Think of it as a gift for your services and besides," He pulled out a second guitar from the wagon. "I got a spare."
"I don't know what to say, except for thanking you. I don't know that many songs though." Rufus had taught him a few, but he had only fully learned two songs.
"That's alright, I have a book you could borrow. I have already learned all the songs in them."
Rufus engulfed him into a hug.
"I wish you luck and I'll come here again in about a month."
Jaune returned the hug and then went into the village. He found a villager and asked for directions to the mayor's office. The place wasn't too far away and soon he was in front of the building and on his way in.
The inside was cramped, dusty and it didn't look like someone had lived there for a long time. Jaune wondered if he had gone to the wrong place, but he saw a man that was asleep on the desk all the way in the back.
"Hello?" The man woke up with a start and Jaune could now see that he could easily have passed sixty with the amount of grey hair he has.
"What?" He looked around before his eyes settled on Jaune. "What kind of business do you have with the mayor?"
"I'm here to register myself as a new citizen. I just arrived with the caravan and-" The man's eyes bulged at the mention at the caravan, he stood up and started to move around the office at a speed that didn't befit his age. Jaune could only hear a few mumbled words as he did.
"Finally free-Retirement-Where are my pills." It didn't take long until he stood in front of Jaune with a suitcase in hand and tried to storm past him.
Jaune stood in his way, more out of confusion than intent.
"Did I say something wrong, I'm only here to register my-" The old man interrupted him.
"Listen here boy, I have been the mayor of this town for the last thirty years and I cannot tell you how much I've hated it. Do you think that I will not beat down a child?" He looked at him with wide, crazy eyes. "If not then you underestimate how hellish this job has been and you better move by the time I have finished speaking." Jaune feared for his life with the way the man looked at him and stepped aside. The man didn't waste any time and went past him.
"But who do I speak to about registering as a citizen?" He whispered to himself, but not low enough for the old man not to hear it.
"Just write your name in the big book behind the desk, you know what" He set down his suitcase and turned around fully. "By the power invested in me, I appoint you to the position of mayor of Mining Outpost 341. May you suffer as much as I have." The words said weren't fully processed until the man was already long gone and even then the answer was only a simple word.
"What?"
Jaune Arc, at fifteen years old had become the new mayor Mining Outpost 341 within ten minutes of his arrival.