Arc's Ironworks: Chapter 2
Jaune sighed as he lent across the glass counter of his store. It was midday on Thursday, and Ruby was to come in later for her first lesson on using the dagger. That was still almost five hours away, and frankly, he was bored. He had to wait till tomorrow for the next shipment of metals to start forging again, he had already dusted down the weapons and walls, swept the floor, and cleaned his tools. Sure, the occasional hunter would come in the buy some ammo, and a traveler would come in to inquire about a pistol to help discourage others of try to mug them, plus the rare shady guy that spent a long time asking questions only to buy a simple knife off the counter, but that was few and far between. All in all, it was a very slow and uninteresting day.
That was of coarse, until Roman motherf*king Torchwick walked inside his little store, followed by his ever silent companion Neo. Sure, Jaune had meet the guy, he was the first customer after all, and he had needed a some Fire dust for his cane. Few days later he came back, this time with Neo in tow, and contracted him to make that knife that fit inside her parasol. Needless to say, they were acquainted, still didn't mean he liked the guy. Dad always said not to trust a guy that wore a lot of white and put on makeup. Neo, well, he knew not to mess around with the little sadist, especially concerning her ice cream, even if it was his to start with.
"Jaune my boy, how've you been. Eating well, getting enough sleep, not working too hard are we?" Roman said as he strut around the store, looking at the cane blades on the walls. Neo was looking intently at the door behind his back, no doubt trying to figure out if he had restocked on ice cream. Jaune stood up and made a show of loading Frost, bullet by bullet. So what if it wouldn't work to intimidate them, gotta make a show right?
"What do you need from me, Roman. You don't exactly come off as the "concerned friend" kinda guy to me." Jaune said as he holstered Frost, leaning back against the wall, eyes glancing between the two.
"Why Jaune, you wound me. Are you telling me that we're not friends?" Roman asked, gripping his chest in an overly dramatic way. Jaune just rolled his eyes, figuring the prick would pull something like this. Seeing Jaune unamused at his little display, Roman quickly moved on to a more serious matter.
"Look Jaune, I need body armor, enough for a gang of twenty men, twenty crowbars, twenty pairs of knuckle dusters, and a gallon of ice cream. I need it all by next Friday, midnight at the latest." Jaune narrowed his eyes, that was a tall order fill, especially in such a small amount of time. One thing was bothering him about this sudden order though, and if something bothers him, he made sure to get some answers for it.
"Why a gallon of Ice cream? I'm not a convenience store you know." Jaune asked, a bit peeved that the man couldn't just go get some himself. An Ice cream shop was just down the street for crying out loud.
"Neo is banned from all stores that sell Ice cream, and I have better thing to do than play shopper. That is beside the point, can you do it?"
"Yeah, I guess I can get it done. Thats a tall order though, it's gonna cost you."
"Good, and the upfront is right here. The rest will be transferred after we collect. Deal?"
"Deal." Say what you want about the man, but he pays good for the things he needs. After filling out the paperwork, (under a fake name and account that is) he got the number to call after the order was complete. (Different number every time. Can't have the orders tracked to a single point, or something along those lines.)
Turning to walk out, Roman quickly turned back to Jaune,a serious face on the normal cocky man.
"Is that armor of mine coming along well? It'll be time for me to cut off soon, and that will be my lifeline as I do, you know that right Jaune?"
"It's almost there. I need some more earth and fire dust, in it's purest form to finish off the head piece. After that, I have to do the gauntlets and line the whole thing with heat reduction cloth. I get those done, it'll take at most two more weeks to finish the thing." Roman frowned, he need that armor, and two weeks was a long time to wait in his line of work.
"I'll get that dust to you by tonight then." Roman and Neo gave a wave before breaking into glass, vanishing from his store.
Opening up the upfront payment, he found a stack of money, enough for two months rent of the place, meals, and supplies. Overall, it was a good amount of dough, with more coming in after he finished the order for Roman. Yeah, he, Jaune Arc was working for a crime boss. Well, a very good thief at the very least, not much of a boss if you only have one person following you,no matter how crazy they are. Sighing, Jaune looked at the clock, he still had another three hours before Ruby came. Deciding to take a nap, he went into the back that held his personal area, not including his forge. A simple bed and bathroom in one room, kitchen/dining area in another part of the place, it wasn't much, but it was home. Jaune laid down, making a mental reminder that he needed to get some new clothes. His old ones have been collecting an amount of burns and holes in them.
Over at Beacon
Yang loved her dear sister, well, dearly. However, there were things that she could get short minded with when it came to Ruby, cookie obsession being one, lack of humor another, (her puns are funny damit) but this, well this just took the cake. After returning home from that weapons store in town, she was a stuttering mess. After ten minutes she managed to get the whole story from her. Explaining to the rest of the team that after losing a bet with the weapon master, who was slightly older than they were, she now has to learn to use a dagger. Now secretly, Yang was glad that her sister was getting these lessons. Ruby, along with as most of the student body, knew only to fight with their chosen weapon. With this, if something where to happen, well, she'd rather not think about it.
"What if he doesn't like the way I'm training, or how I act, or maybe my age will be a turnoff, or " Ruby was currently blabbering to Weiss, who was trying her best to see where she was coming from, but couldn't help but be bothered at her partners incessant jabber.
"Look Ruby, I think your taking this date thing too seriously. I mean, the guy is helping you train, not taking you as a bride. So relax, go as you normally are, and everything will be just fine. Plus, you should not be worrying about what is a turnoff young miss."
"Yang's right Ruby, he probably didn't mean it in a romantic sort of way. You just meet each other right?" Blake said, not eve looking up from her book.
"I guess your right. Oh it's time for me to go, I'll see you guys later." Ruby rushed out of the room, leaving the rest of her teammates to themselves.
"So, we gonna follow her and see what goes on this date of hers?" Blake asked once she was sure her leader was out of range.
"Yup, I have to make sure she stays safe."
"Do you truly believe that as a huntress she cannot take care of her own well being?" Weiss asked.
"Awww are you jealous that someone asked Ruby out before you, Weiss-cream?" Yang teased.
"What! Heavens not, I only say so becau-"
"Whatever, lets go make sure we don't lose track of her." Yang interrupted, and off they went to stalk err observe their leaders date. After all, what are teammates for?
Back with Jaune
Waking to sound of buzzing, Jaune was confused. Mom and Dad wasn't gonna call him until next week, and the guy that wanted an extra large chakram (why anyone would want one of those was a mystery to him) wasn't gonna come get it till later tomorrow. So why did he set an alarm? A knocking at the front door distracted him from his current predicament. When he opened the door, he was saw Ruby there in her school uniform, and was reminded of why he set said alarm.
"Hey, how come your here in those?" Really didn't seem like the kind of cloth one would wear when training.
"Oh, well you see, uh, school just finished and I came right over, and you know, didn't think to get changed and er if it's not good then I can go change, then come back later ..." she stopped talking as Jaune held a hand up, an amused smile on his face.
"No it's fine, your just a bit earlier that I expected. Come on in, let's get started." Jaune walked back into his shop, Ruby right behind him.
Walking towards the counter, he walked behind it and crouched under, searching for the one he had picked out that would suit her the best. While he was doing that, Ruby was inspecting a peculiar looking weapon. It had several metal rods attached to each other, and a dart on one end and a handle on the other, there was a piece of black cloth wrapped close to the dark portion of it. She was lost at how one would use such an odd thing in a fight.
"That is called a chain whip. It's a unique kind of thing, one of the harder ones to get good at, let alone master. If you did happen to master it, well, people would have a tough time winning against you thats for sure. " Ruby shrieked as she spun to find Jaune right behind her looking at the object of her interest.
"Ha, sorry about that, uh got what you were looking for?" Ruby questioned. Jaune held up a dagger that was about around eleven inches long, and was decorated on left side, which was dull, and sharp of the right side.
"This is called a Mistral dirk. Over in Mistral, the upper class people, you know, the ones that made all kinds of art and books and stuff? Yeah they didn't like to have big and obvious weapons on their person, made them look barbaric or some other dumb reason. They liked being without a hunk of steel to defend themselves with even less, so they came up with this beauty. Capable of hiding it under a long skirt or in long boots, such as you are wearing, while still being fashionable it is perfect as a secondary weapon, since you'll still use Crescent even after you learn how to use this, won't you?" At her nod, he led her over to a dummy that had lines of red and dots of blue on it.
"What are the lines and dots for?" Ruby questioned.
"This has one side that is sharpened, so you need to use that side to cut where those lines are, representing the major arteries and veins in a person. The dots are fatal ares to stab in a person. Remember, this is a slashing weapon, stabbing is where you commit entirely to finishing a fight. If you know for certain that you have the chance to end it, or that they can't counter you, then, and only then, do you stab. Ok? Have at it." Ruby took the blade and went to work on the dummy. As she started, Jaune found that something looked wrong, and after a couple more minutes of watching, he found what it was.
"Hold on. Your stance is off, copy mine. When you cut down, bring it across you chest, like that, yeah. Keep your hand gripped like your holding a hammer, yup. Good, keep going." After an hour or so of getting her familiar with the targets to hit,and chasing her arrangement to better fit her build and style, he decided to call it a night for the dummy. Taking the dagger back, he placed it behind the counter.
"Nice job, Ruby. Tell you what, since its a bit late, wanna stay and have some dinner with me?" Jaune asked.
Ruby thought about it. She wasn't due back for another couple hours for curfew, and she was hungry. Plus, she could get to know some more about Jaune, so she agreed. Texting her friends that they should go ahead and have dinner without her, Ruby asked what was for dinner. Jaune gesture for her to follow him again, this time into the kitchen. She noticed that she had been following him places a lot today. In the kitchen, she sat down at the small table, and watched as Jaune got to work making dinner. She had to say, she was impressed as he made some kind of soup, chopping vegetables with ease, and making a pot of rice. Deciding to ask something while he was working, she ended up asking the first thing that had come to mind.
"Where is your family Jaune." Noticing his flinch, she went to apologize, be before she could, he started to answer.
"There is a little village about a weeks travel from here, called Stangael. (Pronounced Stan-Gale) Its a a farm town, close to the mountains. Dad was a Hunter of some fame, and Mom a Huntress, one of the best there was. They were on the same team, and after Dad got injured during a mission, they retired to that place. It was pretty hectic, being the fourth of eight children, but we loved each other. When I was fourteen I got an apprenticeship with the local blacksmith. I loved working with metal, taking something raw and then shaping it to a tool, knowing that I was the one to produce it, well, it was a special feeling. When i turned sixteen, Dad and I had a bit of a falling out. I wanted to be a smith, after making swords and shields for the local guard, I figured thats what I wanted to do with my life, my calling you know? My Dad however, he didn't like that idea very much. He had planned for me to take over the family farm, marry one of the girls there, and just live that kind of life. Me, I did't want that as my future, so one night I packed my things, told them I was moving to Vale, and I was going to make a name for myself as a smith. Two weeks later, I show up here, went to take the test, passed with a bit of effort, took out loan, and opened up this store. That was a year and a half ago. Now I'm seventeen, the place is still afloat, and even though people don't run here when they want a weapon, I still feel good that somewhere, something I made is helping people. Every few weeks my family, sisters and all, they call to ask me how I'm doing, but mostly to try and convince me to give up this dream of mien and move back and take up the farm."
Ruby didn't know how to respond to that. How could she, all her life she had her parents support, and even when her Mom had died, her Dad was still Ok with her wanting to become a Huntress. She couldn't imagine doing that, running off, leaving Dad and Yang behind. However, the fire in his eyes as he spoke, the passion he felt as he made it craft, the commitment as he told her about fulfilling his dream, it inspired her. She felt that if he could put so much into following his dream, then well, so could she.
"Don't worry Jaune, when I'm an awesome Huntress, you'll be the only place that I get my stuff from. Then everyone will come and buy at the place the famous Ruby Rose does." she promised, a fire in those silver eyes of hers. Jaune could only nod dumbfounded. He honestly didn't expect something like that to come out of the girls mouth after telling her his backstory.
After dinner was over, they talked a bit more, and then finally made their way back to the docks where she would catch her flight back to Beacon. Reminding her that the next lesson would be on Sunday, they bade each other a friendly farewell. Making his way back to the store, Jaune felt that they would become good friends. "Only if you manage to keep her from finding out that you work with criminals." his inner mind told him. While he did pass the test, and he did get a loan, said loan din't come from a bank. After seeing his no existent account and history with money, they refused. Getting desperate, he went to a guy named Junior, a big time crime boss, ironically enough. Agreeing that he would make things for Junior, and not ask questions about what it was for, Jaune got the money to open his shop. Would Ruby still be his friend if she found out that he, by aiding criminals, was also a bad guy? No use thinking about it, right now he had to get started on that order for Roman.
"Don't hate me if you ever find out the things I do, Ruby. Sometimes when you chase your dreams, you end up chasing them into a world of shadows." he mutters as he made it back home.
Yay, I did it. Are you not proud of me? Will the relationship deepen? Will I introduce someone else? Will my crippling depression and inability to grammar ever be fully resolved before I post more things on the Internet? Find out next time. Till then, I'll catch you guys in the next chapter.