He had been awake when Ms. Goodwitch had knocked on his door. The nausea was what had woken him up, and he had been standing over the bathroom sink for the past hour or so, waiting for his previous meal to make an appearance. After a few minutes his anxiety was replaced by anger at his body for being as indecisive as him. How come even his stomach was conflicted? He heard a knock on the door but before he could answer it was open.
"Mister Arc, are you awake?"
Quickly wiping his mouth and drying his face, he stepped out of the bathroom. He had had minimal contact with the stoic and imposing deputy of Beacon since the time he had left Vicus and he had been handed off into Qrow's "care". The distance had done nothing to dull the pangs of discomfort he felt when she looked at him in her usual – at least he hoped it was – severe way.
"Retrieve anything you feel you will need for initiation and follow me."
Her tone brooked no argument, and Jaune's nausea wisely retreated as he moved to collect Crocea Mors and his armor and followed the tall woman.
The halls were eerily quiet, the sound only broken by the sound of Ms. Goodwitch's heels impacting the floor. Jaune had to adopt a longer stride to keep up with her, and seeking to break the tension, he blurted out
"Thank you for waking me." Great, now the deputy thought him to be some sort of moron, and that was before he would undoubtedly make a fool of himself in initiation.
"You were awake when I arrived" was the only answer he got, and the chill in her tone made him wince as he sighed quietly and fell back into place behind her.
Thankfully they did not have to walk much further, and as they left the school building and moved into a clearing he could start to hear the low but growing din of the crowd. There were dozens of girls lined up in front of a cliff that looked over the Emerald forest as he had known it was called. He saw Glynda leave his side in his peripheral vision and he couldn't help but stand frozen on the spot. It was time. They would probably be tested in some way, and he would have to fight Grimm to claim his spot. Or would they have them fight each other. The very thought turned his skin as close to ash as you could get, but before he could start sweating and hyperventilating he saw Ozpin's eyes meet his own. There was a small smile on her face, and she gestured him to the edge of the cliff at one of the extreme corners. Jaune shut his eyes and tried his best to push away his fears. When that didn't work he took a deep breath anyway and practically ran to the spot the headmistress had indicated. Edging closer to the cliff he could see the black pads on the ground that everyone else had occupied. Warily, he tested the pad and when it turned out to not be a mine he placed one foot then the other on top. While he was looking down at the several hundred feet fall in front of him, he noticed the two girls to his left talking. Well, one was talking at the other to be more precise.
"This is wonderful, I'm sure whatever method the headmistress has devised for setting up teams would see us paired up!" the further of the two girls exclaimed.
In response his neighbor gave a non-committal weak laugh before she realized there was another person to her right. Seeing a reprieve she instantly turned towards him.
"Hello, I don't believe we've met. I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
Jaune however, was still looking down. He had spent almost a year with Qrow, which had led to a sort of second sense about when exactly he was going to get his shit pushed in again. When early on Jaune had revealed he couldn't swim, Qrow had pushed him into a pool and watched him flail, submerge into the pool, and then emerge about a dozen times. Qrow seemed to be an understudy or protégé of Ozpin, and he was very, very afraid he knew exactly what was about to happen. A voice rang out behind him.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors and huntresses. Enduring great hardship, you have made it here but now your skills shall be tested in the emerald forest."
There was barely a tree rustling or a leaf sliding on the cliff, such was the rapt attention the silver haired headmistress commanded.
"Now I am sure many of you have been puzzling over the assignment of teams. Well, let me tell you that your teams will be assigned today. Furthermore, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
That got a reaction, and the awed silence was broken by a familiar wail followed by frenzied murmuring that grew into outright yelling. Jaune looked to his left to see the reaction of those beside him, only to make eye contact with his immediate neighbor. Neither of them could hear Glynda's command silence their merry band; both of them stared at each other. Pyrrha looking at his face, then his body, trying to make sure she wasn't being egregiously rude towards a fellow girl that happened to have a masculine aesthetic, while Jaune racked his brain trying to remember where he had seen her.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path. Or you will die.
You will be graded throughout your initiation but our instructors will not intervene. At the end of the path is an abandoned temple with several relics. Each pair should take one relic and return to the top of the cliff. Now if there are no further questions, let us begin."
Jaune had barely heard the latter part of the headmistress's speech but his attention was jolted as he saw the girls behind Pyrrha being launched off the platform and into the forest.
"So, is this the part where you hand out parachutes?" he asked, turning towards Ozpin. He could also hear a gasp emanate from the redheaded warrior next to him.
"No, you will be devising your own landing strategy" the headmistress answered, and he could have sword she sipped from her mug to hide her smirk. She was ten times worse than Qrow.
The girl next to him – Pyrrha – turned to yell out towards the headmistress but before she could was launched into the forest. Jaune looked forward – not down – and breathed in. Before he could breathe out, steel himself and reopen his eyes, the platform extended to send him sprawling through the air. If Pyrrha had heard his scream, she would have been very confused about how a relatively masculine voice such as his could have gone up quite a few octaves into distinctly 'little girl' territory.
Pyrrha considered herself a very composed combatant. She was a multiple time Mistral champion that had graced the covers of many publications – and a cereal box – but she was most definitely in a slight panic at the moment. Some idiot boy had somehow fooled the Beacon faculty into letting him attempt the initiation. She had been in the air for only a few moments before she used her semblance to right herself and look behind her to spot the flailing male. He had procured a shield from someplace and was attempting to bring it to bear, possibly to use it to cushion his fall. She knew it wouldn't matter. Without aura even his trip through the trees would maim him irreparably. She felt an uncharacteristic anger at the foolishness of the boy. What was he thinking? But before she could dwell on the stupidity, her irritation was smothered almost instantly by how selfish she felt thinking about how her initiation was going to be affected when there was a life on the line.
As soon as she landed, her eyes were tracking the boys flight that had somewhat stabilized as he descended from his arc. He had placed the shield below him now and he was relatively stable as he made his way into the canopy. If he had had no shield she was confident she could have hooked him to a tree with her spear, but as it was the shield would hinder any attempt to help arrest his momentum. His yelp as he hit the tree line would have been comical but Pyrrha was looking for the inevitable scream as he hit a branch and broke his bones or worse. However when the comical yelling stopped, she was confused. She had been racing towards his spot for a while now and she couldn't help but cover her mouth with a hand as he fell out of the foliage and right in front of her. He had not moved since he landed, and Pyrrha felt frustrated tears threatening to overflow. How could Ozpin let this happen? The boy hadn't even made any attempt to hide himself, how could he have been allowed to attend initiation? As she was musing a cough erupted out of the corpse in front of her, and Pyrrha screamed.
Jaune wanted to sleep. The flight from the cliffs to the forest floor had been very educational. He had learned how long he could scream before he needed to breathe. How many times he could crash into a tree without shattering his aura. He learned what people meant when they said their arms felt like lead, and after such an educational session he felt he deserved some rest. Then he heard the rustling of the brush as someone or something took a few steps towards him and stopped. Right, he was in the emerald forest, which happened to be filled with Grimm. Maybe it would mistake him for dead if he went to sleep? His instincts mutinied against his fatigue, and he coughed out the dust and leaves he had sampled during his journey through the trees. His eyes shot open as he heard a distinctly feminine scream not even a few feet from him. He had to hand it to Qrow, her training routine was effective enough to not hone instincts perfectly per se but it was enough to make the instincts impossible to ignore. Immediately he was on his feet, Crocea Mors in his hand only to see a peculiar sight in front of him. There was a girl in front of him dressed in a slightly revealing outfit – did no one think about proper armor here? – and holding a shield and spear aloft. He turned to see the threat she was pointing at only to see nothing. When he turned back the girl was still in a combat ready position. Seeing as the two had made eye contact and were now partners for the next four years, he decided he should at least say hello.
"Hi there. I guess we're uh, we're partners now?" extending his hand he continued.
"The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sw- oh shit that hurts" his customary greeting broken by an intense bout of pain from his ribs where he had tackled a branch particularly viciously.
"How are you even alive?" the girl asked him, finally lowering her weapons minutely.
"I admit my landing strategy could have used some work but-"
"You couldn't have survived that fall. Not the way you fell, and not without aura."
"Well, new partner, that's where your wrong. Wait. Actually, you're right. I couldn't have survived that without aura. Pretty lucky I have aura then."
The girl's eyes thinned and her weapons were back up.
"Do you take me for a fool?"
Jaune sighed. He hadn't had to prove his aura to anyone since Qrow and Glynda had asked to see a demonstration. This part always sucked. Aura protected you from damage but you still felt a shadow of the pain you would have taken otherwise. He raised Crocea Mors, and the girl's eyes widened, no doubt thinking he was about to attack her. It sailed right back down and into his thigh, and Jaune couldn't help the yelp that left him. That would no doubt leave a bruise. As he was rubbing the spot to massage the pain, he saw the girl lower her weapons fully for the first time. She was staring at his thigh but his mind couldn't help but extrapolate it to make him think she had been staring at his groin. When he felt he was about to blush from the rigorous scrutiny, he coughed and extended his hand to grab her attention.
"So as I said, the name's Jaune Arc. Can't help but think that I've seen you somewhere, are you a celebrity?"
That did the trick, and she looked up finally. Shaking her head, she shook his outstretched hand and answered.
"You're saying you don't know who I am?"
Recognition hit him hard enough to make him facepalm.
"How could I have forgotten? You're the girl on Pumpkin Pete's cereal aren't you?"
The girl was taken aback, her incredulity forgotten as she broke into laughter.
"I am Pyrrha Nikos; it's nice to meet you Jaune. I've never- "
She was cut off by two Ursa emerging from the forest, their roars synchronizing to form a very loud cacophony. Jaune knew this was his chance to convince his partner, and he withdrew his sheath to transform it into a shield.
"Right one's mine, partner". And with a yelp he was off, Pyrrha's "No!" trailing behind him. The ursa were far enough apart that he did not have to worry about himself getting double teamed. His adversary unleashed a roar before charging forwards to meet him. Just before the two could collide Jaune rolled to the side, sticking out his sword to leave a large gash in the creatures flank. The massive bear Grimm did not like that one bit, and in a surprising feat of agility was able to stop quickly enough to slap away Jaune with a massive paw. He was just able to bring his shield up in time but even then the force of the backhanded slap sent him flying a few feet. He was back up before he had fully hit the ground, and was able to bring his shield up in time to block an incoming strike. He made a tiny miscalculation however. The ursa weighed at least a ton, and the force it was able to bring to bear was nothing short of herculean. His knees buckled under the overhead strike of the vicious, giant black paws and before he could reposition himself he felt his very bones shake from another cleaving strike. He fell to one knee and before he could think up a plan, the creature gave one short piteous whine before the pressure on his shield let up.
He lowered his shield to see Pyrrha retract her weapon back into spear form. Seriously what was it with huntresses and their convoluted weapons? He accepted her extended hand and stood up, but she couldn't look away quick enough to stop him from noticing her stares. He could see the light dusting of pink on her cheeks, probably from the fight no doubt.
"We should keep moving. The sound of those ursa is bound to have attracted more."
The two of them walked in silence for what seemed like an hour before Pyrrha spoke again.
"How long have you…"
"How long have I had aura?"
She struggled to accept the question, and her eyes were closed. Then, drawing a shallow breath she looked straight at him – dust, she had pretty eyes – and nodded.
"Well, I don't know the exact date but I'd say it's been almost a year."
"How did…, how did you unlock it?"
"Well, I was with my family on a picnic and I wandered off and ran into a Beowulf. It got me pretty good, and a huntress tried to unlock my aura to save me, and… it did" he smiled up at her only to see her puzzled face.
"But, that makes no sense."
"Beowulf? The huntress was there training her nieces so it might have been attracted by the sounds of the battle. It's not like we were too far inside the kingdoms."
"No, I mean why would a huntress bother trying to unlock a man's aura? It would have been much more prudent and effective to get you to a hospital."
Jaune grimaced, hoping that his new partner didn't see his discomfort.
"Well, I don't really know. But she did, and I'm here. Sorry if you were hoping to be paired up with that white haired girl, I know I'm not exactly top notch and- "
"You said you've had your aura unlocked for a year?"
"Huh? Well yeah, almost a year."
"And you started training at that time I presume?"
"A few days after, I suppose."
"Less than an year of training and you were able to stand up to an ursa. I admit, I wasn't really sure about your claims before but now I'm sure that with time you'll make an excellent huntre-, I mean huntsman Jaune."
And there it was, that damn blush he had been trying to smother got the last laugh.
The rest of the journey was spent in companionable silence, as they moved through the forest. Jaune knew he wouldn't have been nearly as unafraid if he was alone, thankful for getting a partner that seemed so much more at home at all this than him. But when the accursed temple that Ozpin had mentioned didn't appear after what seemed like hours of trekking through the undergrowth and thorns, Jaune grew restless. He was about to complain when he saw the treeline give way to what seemed like a cave. There were inscriptions of a death stalker on the mountain face that seemed very, very old.
"Well, this is interesting."
Pyrrha hummed as she moved towards the inscriptions, rubbing her hand along the wall. Jaune took the time to step into the pitch black cave, his hand along the cave wall to guide him. He had moved only a few feet when he saw two rubies light up in the distance. In the darkness their light was almost ethereal in its beauty and mystique. Before he could gaze at the hypnotizing orbs any longer, he was grabbed by the collar with incredible strength and pulled back. The massive Grimm claw that crashed into the ground before him killed any sound of complaint he was about to make, turning into a whimper that would have been comical at any other time.
"RUN, JAUNE"
He was back on his feet just in time to see the Grimm charge the cave entrance and the beady eyes quickening their pace towards him. Any hopes that the small size of the cave entrance would have saved them were squashed as rock and rubble went careening off into the forest, to reveal the largest scorpion he had ever seen. Qrow's voice finally seemed to kick in, and his legs started running more from muscle memory and fear of Qrow's punishments than anything else.
He was almost certain Pyrrha was slowing her pace down to compensate for his scatterbrained start, and he pushed his aching muscles even more. The two of them ran back into the forest, hoping the massive beast would be slowed down by the dense cover of the trees. And miraculously, it did. He could hear the beast trying to uproot the trees in its mania to get at them but the roots had had many eons to grow and grasp the earth well. When he finally looked back, the monstrosity had disappeared, merging into the darkness prevalent in the forest. Neither of them made to stop however, even when Jaune's legs had started to pain as they cramped, and his lungs were burning. His resolve was renewed when he saw an inkling of a clearing up ahead that seemed to contain the ruins they had been searching for. With a mighty heave he crashed out of the forest, and fell straight down. Even the mere act of breathing was painful for him, and he felt like he would never be able to move without puking his guts out again.
Jaune had emerged into the clearing just a few moments after herself, plopping down to the floor rather ungracefully. Pyrrha couldn't help a chuckle as she saw the ruins before her. Their flight from the deathstalker had inadvertently led them to their goal. And they weren't the only one there.
"I'm. Fine. Just. Need. To. Rest. A. Bit." He panted out, his voice muffled by the ground. Leaving her obviously winded partner – and wouldn't that be something she'll have to get used to – to recuperate, she moved on ahead to meet the other pair, one blonde and one with black hair with a bow on top.
"Hello there, I'm Py-"
"Pyrrha Nikos, we know. You're kinda famous if you don't know already" the blonde teased, but Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at the good natured way she did it.
"I'm Yang Xiao Long, and this here's my partner, Blake Belladonna." The black haired girl nodded with a small smile.
"Sheesh, your partner looks like she could use some cardio."
Pyrrha looked back, and only just stopped herself from correcting her. On one hand, Jaune wouldn't really be able to keep his masculinity hidden. He wasn't exactly androgynous with his broad shoulders and developed arms and strong-, wait why was she blushing? Intrusive thoughts aside, she didn't exactly want to put her partner on the spot either, so she decided to let him explain himself how he saw fit.
"Yeah, they're a bit new to the whole hunting thing."
"Looks like she's getting up at least, and sh-" the black haired girl, Blake stopped talking, her eyes wide.
"What is this? It's a guy! What's he doing in the emerald forest?"
Yang's expression was confused, flitting between the two girls before Jaune walked close enough that there was no mistaking him for the fairer sex. Instantly Yang was in front of him.
"Hey! I know you! You're vomit boy. You are so lucky you didn't get any of that filth on me while we were in the bullhead. Speaking of, this isn't really the place to get lost. There's grimm everywhere around here."
Pyrrha saw Jaune shrink under Yang's suspicious gaze, and saw her partner look at her for help deflecting the barrage of questions that Yang threw at him. But Pyrrha was facing an investigation of her own from Blake.
"You said that he was your partner Pyrrha. I don't understand why you'd do that." Thankfully for Jaune, he was given a reprieve as Yang turned about to bear on her now.
"Wait, yeah. I almost forgot about this. How come you never mentioned you had to rescue a guy in the forest? Seriously, I hope Ozpin gives us some extra credit for bringing back this damsel."
Before she could reply, Jaune spoke up.
"If you would allow me to speak, my name is Jaune Arc. And I'm not really a damsel. Well, Pyrrha did rescue me but you can ask her. She'll tell you I was doing ok before that!"
The face Yang made was so pitying that Pyrrha couldn't help but grow annoyed with the blonde.
"Look, I can understand how awful it must feel to not be able to protect yourself because of your sex, but trust me nothing good can come of playing pretend."
Jaune had stilled, and Pyrrha felt she should defuse the tension to prevent anything untoward but stopped as she saw his lips twitch upwards.
"Well I guess you're right. I can't use aura cos I'm a guy, so I'll always be weaker than you lot."
Yang actually seemed remorseful and hurried to reassure him.
"Hey, it doesn't mean you're useless, you can do anything you want. Except this."
Jaune's lips twitched again, and he seemed to be having difficulty suppressing his emotions.
"No you're right; I'm not cut out for this life. Which is why I'm going to END IT!"
He had been holding his sword steady by his side and before any of the girls could register what he said, or even express shock, he raised it and drew it back down into his abdomen. Even though he was moving dreadfully slowly, none of the two girls were prepared for his actions and were frozen in place, looking upon him mutely. Pyrrha had to admire his acting, and she would have joined the chorus of "NO's" that emanated from the two girls had she not been laughing so hard. They were both standing with their jaws open, looking down at his stomach as if they were expecting the blood to start flowing any minute now. Blake was the one who unfroze first, moving forwards to touch his abdomen. Seeing Jaune blush, Pyrrha was about to say something to help her partner out when the black haired girl stepped back.
"You have… aura."