Chapter: Jaune

If he had named his weapon, Jaune wouldn't have had to sit through an awkward talk with his partner on what soul marks mean to Hunters and Huntresses.

At least he could be forgiven for not knowing this. Only schools with Hunter/Huntress in-training classes in Vale briefly cover the topic. Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo don't have it in their curriculum. Not like auras, semblances, or dust. His parents never even thought to explain to their 'I'll use a family heirloom as a weapon' son about finding a person he'll work in perfect sync with. By the time his redhead partner finishes the talk, he is a month into schooling and the topic hasn't even come up in class.

Jaune doesn't remember anyone talking about this to him before his partner. He doesn't even know if his parents have a mark. Seven sisters, and maybe once was it mentioned, but, if it was, he deemed it too mushy to take seriously.

Also, since he wasn't the one to name Crocea Mors, he isn't expected to have a soul mark on the weapon. His partner can't help him with this, because she assumes what most Hunters and Huntresses assume: if you don't make and use the weapon, you don't want to see the mark. Ruby or Yang, or even Blake if he had ever said something about the topic, could have showed him how to make a chopstick show his soul mark. But, since he had a weapon named by someone else, they thought he just didn't want to know.

Most civilians don't want to know. With Jaune's level of skill and recently unlocked aura, the others completely understood if he didn't.

Any soul marks he could have had wouldn't have showed if he did try another weapon. With the focus he had on training himself up to standards, the blond's soul marks would have stayed gone until he took focus away from himself. If the 'evil' in Remnant had stayed away in his lifetime, he wouldn't have his first mark until his thirties.

(Not to say Crocea Mors doesn't have a soul mark. As terrifying as it is to think, the souls of two people from the Great War were still around. But the soul mark was so small - hidden from sight while it fades and reappears constantly - it is no wonder no one knows it's there.)

But the 'evil' in Remnant doesn't stay away in Jaune's lifetime.

If he had named his own weapon, a soul mark would appear the moment Pyrrha shoves him in the locker. Because, at that moment, Jaune Arc realizes he would do anything – anything at all – to protect the woman who just kissed him. She is his partner, his guiding hand. She is the only person who one hundred percent believes he can become a warrior.

He feels cold from a moment that should have left him warm.

A goodbye kiss.

And the death of Pyrrha should have made his not-there soul mark disappear forever.

But, if Jaune names a weapon before, during, or after the impromptu trip with his new team, the words she first said to him – his soul mark – would be on that weapon.

'Nice to meet you, Jaune!'

Then again, if Jaune hadn't taken Crocea Mors with him, they never would have had the weapon that would save the world.

A/N: Thanks for reading!