Hello, Mithos here again. I had intended to write this a few days later, but after the previous writeup, the ideas for this part kept distracting me. So I decided to bite the bullet and just write it. Hopefully, it turned out acceptable. Mm. As always, please give me your opinion on how this came out so I can improve. Osu!
Oh, and just a simple definition: Flags is a term used in dating simulation games to describe a trigger for an event or a relationship. Yes, instead of his confidence coming from his parents, it's from his games.
Kthunk...Kthunk..The sound of the train chugging along drowns out the conversations around him. Jaune takes a glance out the window, with the red color scenery passing by. Reminding him of blood, he looks away and to his scroll, currently playing the game Nyan Nyan Masters 2. When he first heard the game got a sequel, he was extremely surprised. After all, the first game did not have any plot, and was short enough to finish in an evening.
Well, at least the girls are cute, he thought as the next dialogue box pops up. Suddenly, he felt the train shake out of the normal rhythm, and he hears the sounds of explosions towards the back of the train.
Everyone around him seems unconcerned; whether it was because they did not hear or did not care, he couldn't say. He considers investigating versus staying still, when he remembered one of Master's "rules" for him. Rule #1: When you don't know what to do, make the choice that triggers more flags! she would say, with her hand out in a victory sign. Obviously, following this rule means he gravitates toward any and all trouble around him.
He takes a look at his scroll again. Well, whatever it is, it's probably better than this. Putting the scroll away, he gets up and starts walking towards the back of the train.
Did Ozpin give me any warnings about trouble? Jaune honestly could not remember; the only thing he recalled was the word trouble definitely coming up in their conversation. As he thought about this, he had already reached to the last passenger cart, stopping at the door leading to the cargo.
A burly man stands in front of the door, looking the very stereotype of a bouncer. "Kid, what are you doing here? Go back to your seat before you get yourself in trouble," he said, sending Jaune a glare as intimidating as his appearance.
Unaffected, Jaune gives the man a smile. "Hello, my name is Jaune. I am currently a hunter-in-training, and while I would like heed your advice, I already heard an explosion in the back. As such, it has now become my responsibility to investigate, as I am unable to ignore this. I know you are merely doing your job, but what do you think would happen if the cargo was damaged on your watch, while a hunter offered his help?" As he finished this last statement, he sends the glare right back to the obstruction.
A bit unnerved by the blonde's attitude, he cracks. "Y-yes, it would be great to accept your help to see, e-even if nothing is wrong. But, it's y-your own fault if you get hurt!" the man stutters the words out, moving out of the way.
I can't believe that worked. Looks like everyone does rely on Hunters for anything and everything.
With a silent nod, he walks past the door and is immediately hit with the cold wind. He moves to the cargo section, noting the Schnee Dust Company(SDC) symbols on the boxes. Eyes drawn to movement, he hides behind one of the boxes and peers out at the scene.
Two characters face a spider like robot, with colors of red and black, looking like it came from a Term-tor movie. It had four rifle canons on its torso, with a laser sight in the center of it all.
The two face towards this droid, and one had clothes that screamed criminal. The man wore a long black coat, with the symbol of the White Fang on the back. The red hair is less noticeable compared to the Grimm mask he's wearing. On his waist is a long sword, with the man holding one hand over the sheath. To Jaune though, the other one was far more interesting. Unlike her companion, she does not wear a Grimm mask, or any indication she's from the White Fang. She's shorter than him as well, despite the black bow on her head to give her extra height. Her choice of weapon seems to be a katana, tied with black ribbon on the hilt. Holding this on her right hand, her left hand carries the sheath for this weapon. If she did not have her weapon, she would seem out of place in this scene.
After a short conversation between them, the girl hops forward towards the robot. Strafing and dodging the energy shots from the rifle shots, she shortens the distance before making a jump towards its side and making a cut with her katana. On contact, she lets go with the blade embedded, letting the ribbon untie for a few feet, before grabbing on to it again. The momentum swings her above the robot, before she pulls out the katana again. She spins her weapon around herself several times, all cutting into the robot and firing shots from the rifle attached to the katana to gain extra speed.
She's using her speed against a robot not designed to rapidly adjust its aim. Her weapon is also versatile to make use of all ranges, while the robot cannot. Clever.
The girl lands, pulling the katana and rifle combination back to her. Dashing towards its back, the girl makes several cuts while dancing around the robot's legs. Unfortunately, none of the cuts seem to do damage, where she's then forced to stab its head from underneath. She fires several shots into the head before leaping back towards her companion.
The defense droid, finally regaining control, pulls the four rifles towards each other, gathering energy in the center. It fires a concentrated blue laser at the two. While the girl rolls away, the man unsheathes his blade, absorbing the entire laser before sheathing it again. A small grin appears on his face as the droid jumps towards him, attempting to change strategies. However, before the impact, the man pulls out the blade, and with a clean swing, cuts the robot in halves. However, the parts did not simply separate; each part starts disintegrating instead.
The masked man turns around to face his partner, who is already at the cart Jaune is on. She whispers, "Goodbye," before she takes her blade and cuts the connection between the two carts. The man seems surprised at this, but is unable to react as the distance between the two increases. As the man's silhouette fades away, she turns around, only to see the blonde stepping out from behind the crate.
"Sorry if that was a 'moment,' but...you didn't think no one would check with all the sounds of fighting, right?"
"!" Ignoring the question, she runs forward, trying to get past him. Jaune tries to grab her with his left hand as she approaches him, but he only grabs a shadow. He could see her slip past under his hand and behind him. She can't get away.
Taijitu Series: Grimm Infusion. His bracelet materializes and its ability replaces his shoulder joints with Grimm matter, allowing his arms to move freely. Swinging his right arm 180 degrees behind him, he grabs the girl's arm, stopping her escape.
In surprise, the girl turns around. She sees his arm bent at an unnatural angle, before he tosses her over his shoulder, slamming her against the metal floor. The impact temporarily knocks her breath out, and she loses the strength to resist and get up.
Jaune uses this chance to grab handcuffs from his pouch, and quickly locks both her and his wrists together, preventing her from getting away.
"No need to run, I just want to ask some simple questions. If you answer truthfully, the handcuffs can even be removed today. Hahaha," the blonde says with a dry laugh. He also uses this chance to turn off his semblance, and the bracelet fades away.
"I have no reason to answer you. I did not do anything wrong. Please let me go." The girl speaks with venom in her voice, and a glare that would send even grown men running away.
"...? I never accused you of anything. But it's hard not to ask questions after seeing what just happened. If we are both civil about this, there will not be a need for authorities or violence." With this, the girl seems to relax slightly, and stands back up.
That was probably the right thing to say. I knew those game's dialogue choices will one day be useful! Jaune thought. "Okay, let's start with names. Mine is Jaune, one syllable, and sounds like something a main character would be named."
Ignoring the last part, she introduces herself in monotone, "Blake. Blake Belladonna."
"Okay, Blake. So give me the story of what happened here."
"I...I saw that White Fang member attacking the defense droids. I tried to stop him, but before I could, that spider droid started attacking both of us, seeing both of us as enemies. To save myself, I worked with him to stop it, but seeing how strong he is, I realize I couldn't win against him. So, to protect the passengers, I separated the carts." Blake gave her story without letting her sadness get to her.
She is clearly lying to me, but it is not like I expect her to tell the truth to a stranger. Plus, she is trying to hide her emotions, but looks like she will cry anytime now. After thinking about it for awhile, Jaune speaks up."Hrmm...Okay. Is there anyone that can vouch for you that we can contact?"
He believed me? That was the first thought that passed through Blake's mind. Before letting relief show on her face, she replies, "Yes, the headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin. I was traveling there as a prospective student before this incident occurred. Unfortunately, I lost my scroll with his contact information." It was not a lie. She discarded her scroll beforehand to make sure Adam had no way to track her.
"Ozpin, huh? No worries, I have his info." Jaune flashes his scroll, forgetting that his game was still on screen; a picture of a cat Faunus dressed in a maid uniform was shown. In embarrassment, he quickly closes out of it, switching to show Ozpin's information, but the damage was already done. Blake gives a cold stare at him, making her evaluation of him even worse. A chill ran through his back, and it felt like winter came early.
Clearing his throat, he spoke as fast as possible. "Right, but we probably shouldn't talk to him here. We will go to a booth after we reached Vale, where we will talk to him. Until then, please deal with these," as he points towards the cuffs.
Though Blake wants to protest, she realized it was no use. I still have not recovered from the fight, and he does not seem like he wants to hurt me. Plus, this will give me a good cover until I get to Beacon. She also notices the katana at his side, and thought against resisting. She nods, and follows him back towards the passenger cart.
Jaune opens the door, seeing the bouncer from before. The man looks surprised that there was two of them, but was interrupted before he could say anything.
"The two of us were both investigating. She simply took a different approach angle," he reveals, while pointing up at the ceiling. He also uses this time to pull Blake behind him, hiding the handcuffs from the man's view. "We will personally report to the authorities about what happened. Until then, please let us rest in our seats." Pulling out a business card, he hands it to the man.
"Right..." His face show anything but trusting, but he felt out of his element here.
Walking past him, the two start strolling towards his spot on the train.
In a hushed tone, he whispers to his accomplice, "You probably want to get closer. I would prefer if rumors don't spread about a couple with strange cuff fetishes."
If he did not know better, he would have thought that Blake looked away with a strange blush. The girl tries so hard to be stoic. She wouldn't be embarrassed with such a joke, right?
The walk about to his seat was awkwardly quiet, and sitting down, it was even more so. Thankfully, the seat next to him was empty, but having nothing else to talk about, the two look off in different directions.
This is so boring. I want to start playing my game again. But her opinion of me will drop even more. Then again, she already knows...Faced with this inner turmoil, he eventually decided against it, not being able to endure through that cold stare again.
The kthunk of the train fill the silence, with the awkward atmosphere did not dissipate.
Eventually, they arrive at their station of Vale. Quickly getting off the train, they walked towards the nearest Scroll booth. It was transparent booth, holding two people at most, and blocks out noise around it. It had slots to charge and connect the scroll to the Vale network, which is what most people used it for.
Jaune quickly connected the scroll before calling Ozpin. After a few rings, a middle-aged man with gray hair, wearing dark spectacles showed up on screen.
"Jaune, I did not expect you to call me. I had assume you would meet up with me directly...unless you ran into some sort of trouble," the man spoke, with authority in his voice.
"Right...that's the thing. I DID run into some trouble, and I am kind of stuck with Blake here." Reading the timing, Blake walked up and showed herself to the camera, with the handcuffs. "She says you know her, and I need you to verify that I can let her go."
"I see. Despite my specific instructions..." Ozpin uses this pause to take a drink. "No matter. I had contacted with Miss Belladonna here. She will not cause you harm. You can let her go." Jaune takes a key from his pouch and starts unlocking the handcuffs. "I expect you to report to me about our agreement in the upcoming days." Blake nodded. "As for you, Jaune, please come to Beacon immediately. There is much we have to discuss." With that statement, the call is cut.
With the handcuffs off, the two step out of the booth. Jaune took the chance to speak. "Well, sorry about that. As I said, can't exactly let someone help destroy a SDC defense droid go without some verification." After a small pause, he added, "the time we spent together was short, but the love-filled memory will be held close to my heart."
Blake ignored the sad attempt at a joke. "Right...If you do not have any other business with me, I will leave now." With a small bow, she hastily walks away.
Was I really that unlikable? I guess having a stranger handcuff you would be weird, but I tried to be gentlemanly. Wait, I didn't ask for her contact info! Ughh...I really hope I don't get in trouble for this...
As Jaune walks away, others could hear him muttering something about raising the right flags and gaining affection points.
Swiping his scroll on the electronic lock, the doors opened, granting Jaune access into Beacon Tower. He walked towards the elevator, which automatically opened. He step inside, and before he had a chance to press anything, the doors closed and the elevator started climbing.
Okay. No worries. You are meeting Ozpin, one of the most well renowned Huntsmen, headmaster of the most prestigious Huntsman and Huntress school, and was Master's commanding officer. Nothing. Scary.
As he thought this, he could feel the sweat on his face and palms. He silently entertained the idea that the elevator was made as slow as possible to antagonize the rider, but quickly dismissed it as ridiculous. I mean, would Ozpin really spend his precious time thinking of ways to torture his students? Obviously not.
With a ding, the elevator reached the highest floor and opened its doors. Walking out, he could see Ozpin sitting in a large office chair with a large metal table. Looking closer, the table had several cogs and gears turning inside it. Even larger cogs and gears took the place of the ceiling. A glass window overlooking the academy was behind Ozpin. Walking out the elevator, he sees a blonde woman in her 30s with a hair bun tied behind her and a curl on the right side. She crosses her arm, with her right hand holding a riding crop. She has a white puffy shirt and a business skirt; with her posture, she gives the aura of a mature and strict schoolteacher.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch, Deputy Headmistress and a teacher at Beacon. Please take a seat, Mr. Arc." She states in a cold fashion.
"Call me Jaune. I...really don't like my last name, Ms. Goodwitch." Jaune immediately responds, as he takes the seat facing Ozpin.
She raises an eyebrow at this, but seemingly agrees. "Jaune, you are bought here to discuss your current situation. With the death of Xenith Versailles, your guardian, your situation is now unstable."
Ozpin speaks up. "Your master was a close friend of mine. In her will, she asked me to take responsibility of you. She had high praises for your combat ability, even stating at times to rival hers. When we first spoke, you showed enthusiasm for inheriting her job. However, I am reluctant to employ you in the same position as her. In my eyes, you are still a child. And..." Ozpin trails off a bit. "Especially due to your isolation. I do not believe you have any interaction with peers of your age?"
"Yeah. Master and I both lived in a cabin in the edge of Vale. The nearest sign of civilization was two days away, and she rarely bought me to get supplies with her. Even then, I only spoke with adults. Most of my conversations occurred with Master."
"I see. This does pose a problem. However, I believe we have the perfect solution." Ozpin replied, nodding to Glynda. She puts a stack of papers in front of him, with the first page being an application to Beacon.
"If you attend Beacon Academy, I will be able to keep an eye on you. You will have an opportunity to interact with peers your age, and even refine your combat abilities. After graduating, you will be in the same position as your master: a Hunter. I will have no objections about giving you position then. Finally, if you are impatient about taking on her job, I can give you simple assignments to work yourself up to her responsibilities."
This is perfect! I can follow Master's footsteps, and become someone worth something. But...would she want me following her footsteps? She also wanted me to make my own choices...
After a few more considerations, Jaune recalled Master's #1 Rule. With that, he made his decision. "Please let me attend Beacon Academy!"
Whew, that took a lot longer than expected to write. I had to constantly rewrite and change the wording of things to make it flow better, and trying to keep the voice of the characters. I also realized that the prologue didn't really explain his powers very well. Don't worry, the next chapter will have more of the conversation with Ozpin that will go over this. And as some may expect, I will have Jaune meet up with team RWBY. After all, attracted to trouble as he is, he is always at the wrong place at the right time!
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this!
PS. Yes, Nyan Nyan Masters is a reference to Nekopara.