Jaune's Accidents
Chapter 3: Dead, Kiddo
Jaune Arc was nervous, just like usual. This time, however, he had a reason that went far above the usual problems. He was standing in front of Ozpin, the man responsible for keeping this school running.
And he was alone. Nobody else was called in. Before the teams would be announced, Headmaster Ozpin wanted to speak with him.
"Please, have a seat," he said, waving his hand towards the direction of one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Jaune did. For what else was he to do?
He was probably already caught. His cover blown. There was no way that Ozpin didn't know his files were fake considering he used the same grades as his sister from a school he never went to!
And he'd not only end up expelled, this was so illegal, he'd be thrown into jail!
Somewhere in the distance, two Nevermores tries to get through barrier of Beacon but are unable to penetrate it. Jaune's negativity knew no bounds.
"There's been some rumors going around about you, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said. Jaune was shivering in his seat, trying to shrink his head into his shirt like a turtle.
"Whatever you heard about any faked documents is totally wrong, sir!" Jaune squeaked out. Ozpin blinked, leaning back into his seat.
"That's...not what this is about." Ozpin shook his head. He was great at going with the flow and didn't let the new information faze him. "We took you based on your potential ability as a Huntsman, not because of your grades. I have to say, a single Huntsman-in-Training taking down a Death Stalker is impressive."
"It… it was nothing," Jaune said, slumping in the chair with relief. He wouldn't get expelled. For once, he got lucky. "Pyrrha did most of the work."
"Did she?" Ozpin asked. Going with the flow, and fully aware how the fight went down, Ozpin just shrugged. "You still fought it and landed the killing blow, I'm just wondering how you trained this much despite your lack of training school visit."
"I hit a tree," Jaune explained. "With a wooden sword, but…"
Jaune opened his mouth and closed it again. Would Ozpin believe him when even his parents hadn't? He had fled from Grimm so often…
"How often did you do it?"
"Every day, sir," Jaune answered.
"For… for how long?"
"Eight years."
Ozpin coughed slightly, looking away. What a ridiculous idea, but considering the Nevermore and the Death Stalker, there was no way he could just dismiss it out of hand.
"You trained hard, then."
"I'd like to think so," Jaune admitted. "I've… I've always wanted to be a hunter, but my family wasn't very confident in me."
"Why do you want to be a hunter, exactly?"
"I'm… not sure anymore," Jaune said. There was no way he would be the hero he wanted to be. He was too weak for that. But he could prove to them, to his family, that he did have it in him. That he could be the Huntsman that nobody believed he could be.
He could prove to his childhood friends and his sisters that he was more than a crybaby.
He could prove to his old friend, the black dog, that he grew up!
"An old friend inspired me," Jaune answered. "My sisters, they all became Huntresses. They're strong, capable, and I don't want to fall behind. I have many reasons, and I can't count all of them, but believe me when I say- I want to prove it to them and myself."
Ozpin smiled gently. As good a reason as any.
"That's a strong answer," Ozpin mused. Rising from his seat and lifting his staff, Ozpin intentionally swung it forward - not holding back as he let the cane swish towards Jaune's head on its way to the ground. Jaune ducked quickly, letting the attack fly overhead as the cane settled on the ground. "Ah, sorry, I underestimate the length of that thing. Let's go and start the team placements."
Ozpin didn't really sound sorry.
"Of course, sir," Jaune said, ignoring Ozpin's obvious attack on his head. Of course, Ozpin looked a bit old, he just accidentally swung it towards him with the speed to shatter trees.
###
Jaune stood with his partner, Pyrrha, staring at the form of Ozpin on the large stage. The screen behind him was displaying all the first years that had managed to gather the chess pieces.
"Hey, isn't that the guy who killed the Death Stalker?" someone asked behind him in a hushed tone. The people sitting there were older students who had been at Beacon for a while already. Most of them also traveled on the airship back to Beacon when the year started.
"I heard he killed a Nevermore on the way here, too!" he heard someone else say.
Jaune's shoulders slumped, and Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. He appreciated the gesture, but their voices didn't stop.
"The first time will be Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, as the team RWBY, lead by Ruby Rose," Ozpin announced. Jaune's stomach plummeted further. He wasn't on a team with Ruby.
"The second team will be Jaune Arc," Ozpin began. Jaune looked up, watching his face appear on the screen. "Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos and Ren, forming the team JNPR, lead by Jaune Arc."
"Me?" he whispered. Pyrrha gave him a wide smile, nodding. "But…"
The rest of the teams were announced, and eventually, Ozpin revealed that classes wouldn't start until next week so everyone could have time to settle in and go have fun in the city and meeting their classmates.
Their dorm rooms were also announced. Co-ed dorm rooms. Jaune felt a bit more nervous.
###
Pyrrha, ever the honor student, was quickly roped into helping teachers out whenever they met anyone. After setting their rooms up, Jaune was left alone when Nora and Ren went off to get food.
Due to his mood, however, Jaune wasn't hungry, so all he could do was walk the streets of Vale until the sun went down. He wasn't actually very interested or invested in the sights, worried more about the decision to put him as team leader of Team JNPR rather than the obviously more capable Pyrrha.
Nora and Ren seemed fun, but they weren't the kind of people that Jaune could confidently call the leading type.
Of course, he was Jaune Arc. For someone like him, even something as simple in a city as safe as Vale could become an adventure. So when he found himself in front of a restaurant, and his stomach started to rumble, he had to enter. It looked cheap enough, after all.
"Welcome!" he heard an elderly man shout as he entered. Sitting down at a table, he gave his order and waited.
Halfway through the meal, however, misfortune struck. A man with hat and white suit walked in, his orange hair swaying back and forth. Sitting down on another table, the man threw his legs up and put them on it.
"Give me some food, old man," the man in the suit ordered. The elderly man looked angry, but before he could speak up, the man in the suit aimed his walking stick at the wall and pulled on something akin to a trigger. An explosion echoed through the restaurant as a bullet embedded itself into the wall.
"R-right away, sir!" the elderly man said. Jaune felt sick, but there was nothing he could do here...
Pushing his plate away, Jaune stood up and tried to flee the premises quickly to call the police. Before he could do, however, the man in the suit put his walking stick forward, attempting to trip him.
Jaune jumped over it, reflexively grabbing for his weapon.
"Oh? Where to?" the orange-haired man asked.
"O-out," Jaune said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice and failing miserably.
"Why that, come on, have a meal with me."
"I ate already," Jaune said, looking back towards his table.
"A half finished meal," the criminal spat. "What an insult to the cook, isn't that right, chef?"
"Y-yes sir," the intimidated elderly man said.
"I lost my appetite," Jaune admitted, trying to continue his escape. The criminal's weapon rested on his chest.
"Why that?" he asked. "Come on, be honest with me-"
"Because of you," Jaune squeaked out, also afraid of the weapon on his chest. He was being honest, after all, so the criminal would let him go, right?
"What the fuck did you just say to me you little bitch?" the criminal asked. "I'm Roman fucking Torchwick, are you telling me I made you so uncomfortable that you can't continue to eat?"
"Yes?" Jaune asked, confused. He was being honest, after all!
That was, however, the wrong answer, because Roman pulled the trigger on his gun after aiming towards Jaune's shoulder in an attempt to hurt, but not kill him. Jaune, however, was not the kind of person that would allow such a thing.
Dodging the bullet with a quick step to the side, Jaune smashed his shield against Torchwick's face, making the man fall out of his chair. The cook took the distraction to run out, and Jaune attempted to do so as well. Roman's sudden grab of his clothes was met with the sound of ripping, something that Jaune hadn't heard in awhile.
His clothes ripped, pieces of it still in Torchwick's hand, Jaune escaped.
"I'm going to track you down," Roman shouted after him. "And I'm going to make you miserable for the rest of your life! You're dead, kiddo! DEAD!"
Jaune squeaked the whole way he ran towards Beacon, the moon in the sky shining brightly.
By the time the police had arrived, Roman was gone, and the cook explained the situation in great detail to them.
The news of the heroic blonde swordsman that saved the cook's life and beat up a criminal for him spread all over Vale and towards Beacon. The only people who didn't hear about it where those that didn't care about the news. Jaune and Ruby were two of those.
###
Sitting next to his team in the cafeteria, Jaune sighed, his head on the table.
"I had one hell of a night," he said. Pyrrha blinked.
"You mean that restaurant last night, right?"
"Yeah, w-wait, how did you hear about this?"
"It was all over the news," Nora said, rather loudly. People stared into their direction. "They said a blonde swordsman beat up the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick and left him a mess on the ground-"
"W-what?" Jaune asked. The people whispered, mumbled, he could hear their mocking voices.
"Is that true?" Yang asked, approaching the group. Ruby was too busy eating her rather sizeable meal than to worry about any conversation going on around her. "That was you?"
"I didn't do anything," Jaune said. "I just- I…"
He just ran away after all, screaming like a child. He truly was useless, wasn't he?
"That's so cool!" Yang said. The people all around agreed. "You just beat him up like it was nothing, you say? You have to teach-"
Jaune had enough already, standing up out of his seat and walking away. He had enough of being mocked by all his classmates, and now they were even doing it in front of the whole school.
Pyrrha came after him quickly, and just like last time, Ruby looked up, only catching up the last part of the conversation.
"Yaaang!" Ruby said. "That wasn't nice! Stop bullying Jaune, he doesn't deserve it!"
"I- uh…" Yang tried. "But he…"
Ruby sighed. "I'll go apologize to him. Again."