Hey everyone and welcome back! This chapter was a bit of a bitch to write but I got it done in the end. I hope you all like it.
"So you guys are all set to go?" Blake asked with genuine interest.
"Yeah, we're all packed up. We just gotta meet our huntsman at the airship docks later this afternoon and then we're off." Jaune replied with an air of excitement, yet Blake could see beyond that. She could see the nerves and possibly fear for his home village.
"That's pretty cool, I bet you're all really excited to get out there huh?"
"Yeah! What about your team, are you guys still going out on one too?
"Well, Yang managed to 'persuade' them to postpone it apparently. She, Nora and Ren all refused to go without me so it got held back a few days until they let me out of here."
"Well that's pretty cool huh?" Jaune was beginning to flounder for things to say.
It was idle chatter and normally she wouldn't have bothered with it, but after a mind-numbing week of being in Beacon's infirmary with nothing but Yang's poor puns and bawdy jokes to break the monotony, Blake welcomed any and all conversation. She was beginning to look well again after so long couped up. Her various bruises and scrapes had healed up nicely and the medical staff reckoned that she would be ready for discharge by the end of the week. Blake of course disagreed, her whole body itched with the anticipation of being able to walk around again. Yet with her own team's mission approaching the doctors wanted to keep her in for as long as possible to give her the maximum time to recover.
"Well, we just wanted to come see how you were doing before we headed out. Oh I almost forgot! We wanted to bring you this." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a hard back book with a large blue dragon embossed on the front. It was a sizeable book, approximately three inches thick and had a fair weight to it. Blake's eyes grew slightly wider at the sight, a book! Jaune had brought her a book! She darted forward and swiped it from his grasp before he had even fully extended his arm to offer it to her. She ran her hands over the cover, savouring the feel of paper beneath her fingertips once again.
Flipping the book over in her hands, her golden eyes quickly scanned over the summary on the back. It was an interesting concept about a young farmer boy who finds a dragon egg and who's life is forever changed when it hatches and bonds with him, turning him into a dragon rider. Admittedly she wasn't one to read such novels on an ordinary basis but after so long separated from her beloved books (Yang had refused to feed her thirst for literature under the assertion that all of her books were 'lust filled romance novels'), she was willing to give it a try.
"Thank you Jaune, I've been in dire need of a good book. Good luck on your mission. Pyrrha, take care of him, make sure he comes back in one piece?"
"I'll do my best." Pyrrha giggled and made to follow after her leader. Weiss and Ruby both wished the faunus well and shuffled out the door.
Blake smiled warmly at the champion and watched as the blonde and his team made their way out of the room. The moment they were gone and she was once again left alone, Yang having been dragged away by Ren to classes, she opened the cover and began to read.
'Wind howled through the night carrying a scent that would change the world'
Team JSPR made their way back to the dorms and ran through their bags double checking that they had everything that they might possibly need for any eventuality. Weiss was ruthless in ensuring that they had all packed properly. For Jaune, Ruby and Pyrrha it proved to be incredibly frustrating with more than a few arguments breaking out over what one might have believed to be trivial items such as extra toothbrushes. Yet eventually, they did manage to finish packing. It had taken over an hour to run through the heiress' whole checklist but they had finished at last.
Hefting rucksacks far larger than any of them had ever anticipated, they steadily made their way across campus to the airport. It was hard work and took far longer than it normally would have done given the weight that they were carrying yet at long last they made it. The four teenagers dropped their bags into a heap and dropped to the floor beside them. The weather was boiling hot, the sun beating down on them without mercy and it took its toll. Even the Ice Queen seemed to have lost her cool.
"How long is this huntsman going to be?" She gasped, checking her scroll for what must have been the thousandth time. Jaune opened his mouth to speak but before he could a familiar voice cut him off.
"Ah, hello young huntsman and huntresses in training! Are you ready to embark on your first adventure?" Jaune recognised that voice all too well. It was the one voice he had hoped not to hear, the voice of Professor Peter Port. He opened his eyes a little to confirm his fears and found, to his dismay, that he wasn't mistaken. Standing over them was the portly Professor in all of his moustachioed glory. Over one shoulder he had slung a large kitbag, easily large enough for several weeks worth of provisions. His famed moustache was just as bushy and well-kept as ever, although Jaune wondered just how he managed to get it to keep its shape.
The blonde collapsed back onto his kitbag with a long low groan. Pyrrha swatted his arm playfully before helping him to his feet. Immediately Port rounded on him.
"Mr. Arc, I believe that we are to stay with your family for the duration of our operations is this correct?"
"Uh yes Professor. My family are gonna let us stay with them."
"Capital! This is just the kind of camaraderie that I would expect from the huntresses and huntsman of the future!" The professor grinned, slapping Jaune on the shoulder and nearly sending him flying with the surprising force of the blow.
"Now then!" Port continued "I have personally prepared our aircraft so if you'd be so kind as to board, we can set off without any further delay." Spinning on his heel the Professor walked off towards one of the bullhead transports on the landing pads, a slight spring in his step. Seeing this, Ruby couldn't help but wonder just how long it had been since he had last stepped outside of the classroom. Shrugging it off she heaved her bags onto her back and shuffled along with her friends over to the aircraft. The had barely stowed their bags when the engines span up and the craft took off for the skies. Jaune staggered around and fastened himself securely into his seat, not wanting a repeat of their foray into the forest of Forever Fall.
"As you are all aware, there has been a marked increase in Grimm on the outskirts of our destination!" Port yelled, fighting to be heard over the tumultuous sounds of the engines while still maintaining his theatrical demeanour. "Our job will be to scout out the surrounding area and try to work out what it is that is causing the Grimm to gather and target the village. Now I know that some of you might be feeling nervous or uneven on the eve of battle so allow me to put your minds at rest with a tale from my youth! It was around the time of my third year in training when my team and I..."
Jaune's attention fizzled out at that point as his stomach began to play up. He sat doubled over in his seat, leaning against the harness and staring at one of the rivets in the floor with all of his intent. A tap on his shoulder broke his concentration and brought all of the feelings of nausea rushing back. A tiny hand was thrust into his view, in the palm of which rested two tablets. He looked up and saw it was that of his partner. He took the two tablets and swallowed them dry, shuddering as he caught a little of the after-taste... it was far from pleasant. Fortunately the effects were entirely positive. Not long after his stomach settled and he was able to look up and away from his riveting rivet and actually pay attention to Port's story. Almost immediately however, he tuned back out, since the professor was still only on the introduction. The blonde settled into his seat as comfortably as he could and waited for the moment their three hour flight would end.
Blake was torn from the book in hand by a gentle knocking at her room door. She sighed as her eyes flicked up to the doorway, loathe to tear them away from the words on her page. It had taken a while but the story had finally got going. It had detailed the development of the dragon into adult hood in such a way that had kept her entranced. The stoic was surprised then, to see Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin accompanied by General Ironwood. The three stepped into the room and gathered at the foot of her bed. Ozpin gestured towards the chair beside her, the faunus nodded her consent and he sat down.
"Can you help you professors, General?" Blake asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Well, first off we thought you might like this back?" Ozpin answered, Ironwood stepped forward and from behind his back, produced Gambol Shroud. It was just like new, the cleaver-sheath gleaming with a highly polished shine. She reached out and reverently took it from him. Blake drew the blade from its sheath and scrutinized the blade, amazed to find no sign of where the intruder's dust weapon and fused with it. Sheathing it again she looked up at the General and his companion, her eyes flitting from one to the next and scanning their features for a full minute or so. She was now far more willing to listen to what they had to say, after all they had brought her Gambol Shroud back in the best condition it had been in for a long time.
"Secondly, we had heard that you were awake and well on the way to recovery. We were hoping that you might be able to tell us a little about what happened that night before I found you Miss Belladonna." The General continued. Blake sighed and was silent for a long while. She had known this moment was coming of course, only, the faunus had hoped it might have taken them a little longer to actually get around to it. In truth she had been reliving that night every time she closed her eyes to try and sleep. The dreams never got any easier to watch, everything was so real. The pain, smells and the sound of her assailants voice were all on point. It was terrifying and she had woken up screaming in a cold sweat on more than one occasion. In truth the fact that she had been so close to death was a shocking fact. That her life was such a fragile thing that it would take so very little to snuff it out.
"W-well there's not much that I can say really. I came out of the ballroom to get some fresh air and I saw some movement on the rooftops. I decided to follow after and observe, calling for back-up if she proved to be a real threat. I lost sight of her outside the CCT and found the first guard. I called for my locker and went in to investigate. Inside I found another two guards knocked unconscious. I made my way up to the main transmissions floor since that seemed the most likely place to start and that's where I found her. She and I fought for a little while but she overpowered me with her strange weapons. She was about to kill me when the General interrupted..." Tears streamed down Blake's cheeks as she relived the events, the memories still too near, raw and painful for her to bear.
"I know this must be difficult for you, but is there anything you remember about this mystery woman, any features that we might use to identify her in the future?" Ironwood pressed the inquiry, although the sympathy was evident on his face.
"I-I... don't think so. In truth she was pretty conservative about her appearance. She was in a uniform black catsuit and a mask. The only real unique thing about her was her weapons, I'd never seen anything like it. One moment they were completely solid and the next they flowed like water. They caught me completely off guard and before I knew it she had rendered Gambol Shroud effectively useless. I've not felt that helpless since I was very small... It was... horrible."
"Thank you Blake, we can see that these are very traumatising memories for you to bring up. You did very well, acting with courage and integrity in the face of adversity, qualities which we have come to expect of huntsmen and huntresses the world over. Thank you for your time this afternoon, we shall leave and allow you to return to your book." Ozpin spoke before Ironwood could press his interrogation any further, a fact that the faunus was eternally grateful for. Ironwood was the first out of the room, followed closely by Ozpin, leaving Goodwitch alone with the faunus. The blonde Professor leant forward onto the end of Blake's bed with a soft and subtle smile, not too dissimilar from Blake's own. She took pause for a few moment and cleaned her glasses with a small lens cloth.
"You know Blake, what you did the other night was incredibly brave and you almost paid the heftiest of prices for it. Such courage is something to be proud of. I do however want to take the opportunity to say that if there is anything that you would like to talk about regarded the incident the night of the dance, you can come and see me from there, I will pass it onto Ozpin should you rather the General didn't find out for whatever reason." Goodwitch nodded and tapped the side of her nose in a sly gesture, but Blake knew what it meant. It meant that they didn't trust the General nearly as much as they let on, that should she happen to 'remember' anything, it might be better to speak with Goodwitch or Ozpin directly and they would pass on her remarks to Ironwood if they saw fit to do so. By suggesting such a thing, they allowed Blake some freedom and breathing room to deal with the issue, a fact that the stoic was immeasurably grateful for. The only thing was that nothing out of place came to mind.
"Thank you Professor. I'll be sure to keep that in mind should anything come up." She smiled. The moment that the professor had gone, she re-fluffed her pillows and settled in to read her book again, subconsciously sifting through her memories of the night for anything important, any detail that she might have missed at the time that could be picked up on now. Returning to her place in the novel she read onward, briefly wondering how her friends were handling their assignment,
"... And that children, is how I killed the Namean Ursa. A beast who's skin was so thick according to local folklore, that no weapon could pierce it. All it took was a couple of good swings and it went down leaving me the victor." Port grinned and looked around at what he was sure would be a captive audience. He was mistaken. Jaune's motion-sickness pills had worn off, so he was back to staring at the rivet again. Beside him Pyrrha had drifted off to sleep and now sat, snoring gently with her head leant against his shoulder. On his other side, Weiss looked about ready to join the champion and after nearly three hours of 'stories' the heiress looked all set to join her in the lad of nod. Off beyond the Schnee, Ruby was completely asleep. The rose sat slumped forward, a long string of droll hanging from her mouth and stretching all the way down to the flooring panels, leaving the metal slick and slippery.
Three hours... It had been three hours solid that Port had been telling his 'motivational tales' for. By the time that they felt the aircraft begin its descent, they were all about ready to leap from the aircraft to escape having to possibly listen to any more of his stories. Jaune sat upright, his stomach twisting itself into tight knots as he looked out the port hole next to him. Even as he watched on, his childhood home came into view, growing in detail as the approached. It brought up more than a few memories, both good and bad as well as the feeling of homesickness that he had felt on leaving. Weiss gently clasped his shoulder with one of her little hands and shot him a rare yet entirely welcome smile.
Their craft touched down relatively smoothly and Port unpacked their bags, throwing them out of the aircraft door and into some patches of long grass just outside. Both Weiss and Jaune set about reawakening their sleeping partners, not the most easy task, to Jaune's surprise.
"Pyrrha, it's time to wake up. We've landed, the mission starts now." Jaune said softly as he gently shook her awake. The Champion groggily opened her emerald eyes, taking a moment for her vision to focus itself she looked at Jaune with confusion written all over her face.
"You fell asleep on me during the flight. It was actually pretty cute" He explained, smiling as he watched the blush creep over her cheeks. Turning around he watched Weiss' attempts to wake Ruby.
"Wake up you dolt!" She yelled, throwing a pinch of her ice dust onto the rose. The sudden chill had Ruby up on her feet in a nanosecond, shivering violently and drawing her signature red cloak in tightly around her. Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at the heiress' slightly more... questionable methods although he did feel sorry for the little reaper. The four teenagers checked over the cabin quickly for anything important that they might have dropped. When none prevented themselves, they disembarked back onto the solid earth again. Port bid their pilot a fond farewell as the air filled with the sound of turbines once more. Their transport lifted off and began the long flight back to Beacon. JSPR watched after it until it faded completely from their view, once it was out of sight they turned back to their objective and got their first real look at the village. Their reactions were mixed, Ruby and Pyrrha looked on it with an appreciation for its quaint nature. Jaune looked on with a strong feeling of nostalgia, everywhere he looked there were memories in his head associated with whatever he could see. Weiss looked on, severely underwhelmed. Not at all surprising given her lavish upbringing in the Schnee manor in Atlas.
"This is your home town? Its..." She paused, catching venomous glares from the other two girls. "Pleasant enough..." Jaune heaved a sigh of relief, in a way it was Weiss' opinions that scared him the most, given her initial reluctance to so much as come out here in the first place.
"Team, welcome to Avalon! The jewel of Vale and home to the Arc family for over seven generations!" Jaune announced proudly.
It looked to be simple town, composed of several clusters of low wooden cabins most of them were single floored but there were some two stories tall. They were set into a neatly organised pattern of outwardly spiralling streets with a large three story building, presumably the town hall, set in the very centre. Set in the centre was a foreboding grey stone clock tower. Small wisps of smoke rose from the various chimney stacks across the village. It was a peaceful visage far from what any of them had been expecting, rather there seemed to be no signs of the Grimm presence at all. Everything seemed just as it had the day that Jaune had left for Beacon, a fact that the blonde was eternally grateful for.
They each shouldered their bags and Jaune led the way for them into the village. It was a relatively short walk before their feet met with a paved pathway and passed into the settlement proper. Passing between the neat rows of houses Jaune led them into an open square where several market stalls were set out, merchants peddling their wares from spices to poultry to fine handcrafted jewellery. Hundreds of voices calling out in a cacophony, fighting to be heard over all of the others. It was a unique atmosphere to be certain.
The five of them made their way through the square, the girls being accosted on numerous occasions by jewellery traders. Many a time they had to pull Pyrrha away from the salesmen because she was on the verge of being fleeced out of her money. It was almost surreal for Jaune, he could remember always coming down to the market with his parents on market day and many of these traders he knew well. Here and there, those that did know him stopped and stared watching the young blonde and his friends walk by.
They passed through the square and out the other side, heading through to the other side of town. Taking them down one of the streets he led them up to the front door of one of the two story houses. Out front was a simple low stone wall behind which was one of the well tended and luscious gardens around, so much so that even Weiss looked it over appreciatively. Taking a key from his pocket, Jaune unlocked the front door and stepped inside leaving the rest of them to follow after. Ruby paused for a moment in the front yard, she stepped over to admire the single rose plant. It was a fine specimen with numerous pale white roses adorning it. Leaning down she lightly sniffed them, taking in their fine fragrance before darting inside after the others.
Ruby found herself in a well lit hallway with a single passage running down to what she assumed was the other side of the house. Opening off of it on the right hand side were a number of doors leading into various other rooms while off to her left was another door and the foot of the stairs. From what she could tell the stair ran up parallel with the main hallway to the second floor. The interior walls were papered in white and all along were hung eight pictures, portraits of what Ruby assumed to be a much younger Jaune alongside seven girls that the rose assumed to be his sisters. They were all blonde with blue eyes save for one of them, she was brunette with She silently pointed it out to Weiss and Pyrrha and at her signal the three girls crowded round the frame giggling and cooing at the image of the cuter, younger Jaune.
Jaune turned around to welcome his team and direct them to dump their bags onto the floor when he saw them all gathered around. He blushed and was about to step in when he heard a familiar feminine voice off at the end of the hallway.
"Jaune? Is that you? Jaune! It is you, you're home!" A wide grin spread across his face as he turned around to find him Mom jogging down the hall. Before he could quite react, he found himself enveloped in a strong set of arms and the life being crushed out of him.
"Hey Mom... Nice to see you again too..." He groaned as several of his ribs audibly popped before his mother finally released him.
"And who are these three lovely young ladies you have with you Jaune?" His mother asked with a raised eyebrow, spying the three girls all still giggling over Jaune's childhood photographs all of whom immediately fell silent under her stare. Jaune turned to look at his teammates and then back to his Mom, a dark blush spreading across his face.
"I-It's not what you think! These are just my teammates! They just happen to all be girls." He cried out in protest to the growing smile on the older woman's face and the twinkle in her eye. Both Ruby and Pyrrha appeared physically deflated at his answer, though the knight couldn't see their reactions, his mother could.
"Three very attractive girls." She observed teasingly "Your father will be so proud when he gets home. Now where are my manners, I am Jaune's Mom Mabelle." The three girls all introduced themselves, though Ruby was by far the quietest. Not just due to her being nervous but also because she was getting a good look at Mabelle, taking in every detail she could and trying to scope out any potential weaknesses. After all if Jaune's speech was anything to go by then his Mom was every bit the protective lioness over her cub. And that meant that should the rose want to try her luck with dating him then she would need his Mom on side.
Regrettably, the older woman seemed relatively unassailable. She was a tall and proud looking woman of quite a lithe figure with brunette hair and the most intense set of emerald green eyes that Ruby had ever seen. Under their stare even the most stalwart warriors' courage would falter. It made sense given that she had given birth to and raised eight children... well, seven. By Jaune's account his younger sister was still only young, yet weren't they all?
"Where are the others Mom?" Jaune asked, tearing Ruby from her scrutiny of his mother and bringing her crashing back down into the reality of their situation once again. Jaune had raised a valid point, he had seven sisters and save for the photographs, they had yet to see any of them.
"Missions, They were all called up either abroad or outside the kingdoms. You can guess how excited the idea of some action made them. They shot of like a rocket without even saying a proper goodbye. They should be back during your stay though so things will probably get a little bit cramped. You might have to sleep on the floor down here so that your team can have your bedroom because you won't be sharing a room with them... Of course Marron could always sh-"
"Jauney!" A shrill cry cut Mabelle off and a small blur shot past all of them and barrelled into Jaune, knocking him to the ground. Ruby blinked in surprise at the tiny brunette girl that was currently in the final stages of tackle hugging her leader. By her side Weiss, Pyrrha and even Port looked on with a similar look of shock, unsure quite what to make of the small brunette bullet.
"Hey Marron, it's good to see you too." He groaned, climbing back to his feet and dusting himself off. Placing a hand on little Marron's head he affectionately ruffled her hair before picking her up and perching his younger sister on his shoulders.
She couldn't have been more than seven or eight and seemed quite short for her age. It was immediately clear that she took after her mother given the brunette hair and bright green eyes, although in terms of facial structure, she was striking, sharing a resemblance with Jaune and the six other sisters in the photographs. There was however one inaugural fact about the youngest Arc; she was undeniably adorable.
"Mabelle! It has been too long!" Port burst out once the introductions had been made. The professor had remained silent, seemingly content to wait out the introductions before making his presence known to Jaune's Mom.
"Peter! Too long indeed you old coot! How have you been?" Mabelle's face lit up seeing the moustachioed Professor. She led him away from the teenagers and Marron and off into the room she had come from leaving JSPR alone with Marron. Jaune wasted no time with introductions.
"Marron, I want you to meet my best friends; Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos."
"Wh-what do you mean 'best friends' Jauney?" Marron asked, wide eyed.
"Oops, sorry... They're my best friends but you're my bestest of all. My partner in crime." He explained with a slight blush. That was it, that was the thing that melted their hearts. Even the Ice Queen's usual stern expression softened immeasurably to a point that it almost seemed that she was smiling. Marron looked over Jaune's teammates one by one her eyes seemingly scrutinising them all.
"I-is that the cereal box lady?!" She gasped, a tiny hand darting out and pointing towards Pyrrha. The champion seemed quite surprised by the outburst and shuffled back a little bit.
"You bet! She's my training partner." The blonde leader explained with a touch of pride in his voice. Pyrrha nodded with a warm smile as she was acknowledged
"She's pretty, they all are! Are any of them your girlfriend?" Marron giggled with child-like innocence, completely oblivious to the deep blushes and looks of total embarrassment on all of their faces, including that of her brother
"Jaune! Show them to their room!" Mabelle's voice rang out from down the hall. Jaune picked Marron up off of his shoulders and set her down at his feet. She pouted adorably at having been removed from her seat, though Jaune seemed to be immune to its effects for he laughed.
"Marron, I need you to show them the way to their room so I can bring their stuff up ok? We can cuddle after."
Marron nodded and grabbed Ruby's hand before darting up the stairs with Ruby in tow. She was followed in short order by Weiss and Pyrrha, leaving Jaune behind to tend to their things. Hefting their bags up and onto his back he began the walk up, straining against the load but not wanting to make two trips. Half way up the stairs he could hear his team's hushed voices.
"... I know right? And the way he acts with her is just so cute~" It sounded like Ruby.
"Yes, I have to admit that dolt is really quite adorable when it comes to his sister." That had to be Weiss
"It was heart-warming to watch." The third voice was of course Pyrrha's. Jaune blushed for the remainder of his way up the stairs, listening to his team talk about both him and his sister. He could hear his sister skipping around happily on the top floor and sighed contentedly, musing to himself.
'It's good to be home.'
Yep for those of you that read my other work you will notice that I have chosen the same names for Jaune's family. This is because I absolutely love them as characters. Now that they're with Jaune's family I can begin to implement the main adventure sequences for the storyline. I hope you are all enjoying it so far, let me know what you think in the reviews. As always please do favourite and follow if you found this pleasing.
Next chapter, the missions begin properly. More team BRNY and the first step into a ship. Which one you ask? Well you'll just have to wait and see wont you?
I have been theflagshiparkos you have been my beloved readers and this has been 'A Rose for the Champion' Thank you all for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter.