Some semblances are oft crafted by the soul of the person, yet some are shaped by the experiences of their owner. In that case it can be either a blessing or a curse and for one Jaune Arc, when captured by the White Fang, he learns his Discompose certainly seems like the latter.
Pain is Merely a Touch Away.
By
Hibiki
Imagine you could have the rights to RWBY, but for the rest of your life, you would have to clean up every mess or problem created by every Rooster Teeth 'Million Dollars, But..." challenge accepted. Would it be worth it? Not for me.
RWBY is created by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Three: The Means to Destroy Capacity for Collected Thought or Decisive Action.
(-o0O0o-)
Jaune quickly made his way off the vessel and to a nearby trashcan to remove the last contents of his overwrought stomach. In some small way he was glad his action was causing his fellow teenagers to keep their distance. He watched with horrid fascination as a sickly reddish black aura slid unwanted down his arm towards a small unsuspecting spider crawling away from the quivering hand that had disturbed it. Just as he managed to wrangle his control back, the inky blood aura enveloped the arachnid.
"...Jaune?" He started, looking up into Blake's worried eyes. He quickly let go the breath he had been holding, easing his ironclad grip on the trash bin.
"I'm okay." He responded to her unasked question. "Sorry to worry you."
"It's fine. Honest, Jaune." She glanced to her scroll. "We have a small amount of time before the admissions. Let's find a quiet spot, okay?" He nodded.
"Sure. You want to start reading that new book, right?" She nodded deftly, just enough to for Jaune to recognize her ears twitching at the thought of devouring a new book. The two slid away from the airship, heading to a nearby bench.
Behind the trashcan a dying spider lay twitching in agony.
(-o0O0o-)
The two of them had only barely sat down before Blake was knee deep into reading her book with a look that said nothing but rapt attention. For Jaune, it allowed his as of late favorite past time. Her golden amber eyes followed the words on the page with deft fluidity as she relished the written word with as much fervor as he did watching her do so. Being in the open did mean they didn't have much in the way of shade, and the feeling of the harsh day sun pounding on his hood was rather distracting so he turned away from his Blake watching long enough to notice two girls arguing about something about twenty feet away from his companion and himself. The white haired one was waving around a vial of what appeared to be dust so fine the cap was flinging it around as she waved her arms wildly arguing with the red caped girl. 'She's going to set something off flinging dust around like that.' Jaune thought to himself. As if prophetic, moments later the young girl sneezed and set off the cloud of dust in the air with a fiery explosion. The vial of red dust landed just inches before him. Jaune looked over, Blake hadn't even noticed the loud boom let alone the vial of dust. He stood and collected it, deciding to see if he could stem the tide as the two began yelling at one another again. Walking forwards he began to hear the tidbits of their conversation.
"...So watch where you're going!" Yeesh the taller girl was loud.
"Hey, I said I was sorry princess." The smaller, apparently younger looking girl had lost all sweetness at the constant barrage of negativity coming from the older, yet somehow less mature figured one.
"It's Heiress actually." Blake had stepped up with him, shocking the lad. She wasn't much for arguments, usually preferring to stay out of the limelight. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Miss Schnee seemed to straighten her back at hearing all of this supposed praise, but Jaune knew Blake and her moods. He knew she would soon come back with a biting remark.
"Finally some recognition-!" Blake cut her off.
"The same company infamous for it's controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The heiress' face contorted into a fracas of anger and shock as she tried to shriek out a rebuttal to Blake's snark. The smaller black haired girl's giggles at her tormentors only made the Schnee more angry and in a huff she snatched the bottle he had picked up from his hand and marched off, her servants quickly grabbing the fallen cases of dust and items from around them to hurry off. The girl still by them called after the heiress, futilely he might add, trying to sooth her ruffled feathers. However she then turned to... just him.
Blake had already turned away, apparently done with the moment. He noticed her stalking away, hips swaying unconsciously as she returned to her book on the bench. He started again when with a flump the younger girl slid to her knees before in a complete crumpling display of flexibility fell back looking to the sky with obvious sorrow. Jaune was caught between his friend and the desire to help this girl. Fear took hold, and he began to quietly walk after Blake.
"...welcome to beacon..." It was so quiet had he not been trying to silently slip away he would have missed hearing the utterly forlorn mutterings of the girl. His hand shook as he paused. He sighed and looked to Blake, noticing she was back into her book, the rest of the world forgotten. He sighed again and his hand clenched into a fist for a moment.
"Hey." He called out, reaching down to help her up with his left hand. "I'm Jaune." She looked stunned for a moment, taking in his covered appearance, before a small grateful smile appeared on her face and she accepted his hand.
"Ruby." She replied and he pulled her up, however due to the awkward way he tried to do so, she tripped on some rubble from the previous explosion. Jaune reacted without thinking and quickly caught her left elbow with his right hand to try steady her. Her right landed on his heavily clothed chest a moment later. His stomach was still not agreeing with him for the air travel and retaliated against the quick movements by trying to pull itself through his esophagus.
He and Ruby groaned in unison, heaving against the feeling of throwing up before he bolted away from her to puke in the grass off to the side. Ruby fared better, merely leaning heavily on her 'normal' knees as the feeling quickly vanished and she rose long before he did.
"You okay, Jaune?" Ruby asked as he finally rose, wiping his mouth with a towel from his pack before replacing his mask once more.
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
"My sister is the one you'll need to apologize to, Vomit boy." He snapped his shaded blues to her laughing silvers.
"Motion sickness is a very common problem!" Deep down he was glad he got the girl smiling, even if it was at the expense of his own person. But maybe... could she laugh maybe a BIT less?
(-o0O0o-)
"RUBY!" was only slightly louder than "JAUNE!" as the awkward duo wandered into the main courtyard of Beacon. The Blonde who had been standing with Ruby on the airship was waving her over and Blake from the other direction holding a hand up.
"Oh hey, I gotta go, I'll see you after ceremony? Bye!" With that Ruby disappeared in a shower of rose petals. Jaune blinked then turned to head to his friend, nearly running into a red haired girl in bronze armor.
"I'm sorry!" They announced together.
"My fault. I should have watched where I was going." Jaune put his hand behind his head bashfully.
"No it was mine, I shouldn't have stepped forward when I did." She replied amiably, sort of shyly holding her left wrist with her right hand.
"Let's just say it's both our faults and let bygones be bygones, Miss... uh?" Jaune paused trying to see if the girl would say her name. She did, but only after smiling so bright it felt like the sun had risen a second time.
"Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos. And that would be fine by me...?" Pyrrha trailed off so he could finish.
"Jaune. Jaune Arc. Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Nikos."
"Please, call me Pyrrha."
"Call me Jaune then. Once again a pleasure to meet you, Pyrrha." He vainly tried to ignore the rabble of the crowd around him as it seemed to feel like all of their eyes were on him. He clenched his right hand against the shakes, trying to ignore the feeling through force.
"Likewise!"
"Come on Jaune." Blake popped up, as if from nowhere. "Sorry to interrupt, but the headmaster is about to speak."
"Okay. Pyrrha, this is my friend Blake. Blake, this is Pyrrha Nikos."
"Nice to meet you Ms. Nikos." Blake announced while snaking her arm around his and began to pull him away. "But we should be going."
"Right, bye Pyrrha." He barely had a chance to wave as Blake pulled him away with force.
"Nice meeting you!" The nice spartan called out.
(-o0O0o-)
It took everything in her power and then patience more to keep her ears from laying flat on her head in annoyance. Not only did he wander off on her with the little red girl, he was over there obliviously flirting with THE Pyrrha Nikos of all people. Next thing she knew he would be serenading that Schnee girl or something equally distasteful. She almost pouted. However Blake Belladonna doesn't pout.
"Blake are you okay?" No. She wasn't going to dignify it with a response. She was just fine. She wasn't the one going around and being salacious with half of Beacon within minutes of ditching her best friend!
"-Yeah and we can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like... tall, dark, and mysterious over there." The two dark clothed persons looked over to Weiss as she began another loud rant and pointing over her shoulder at Jaune.
"Really?" Ruby seemed really happy about it and despite her best intentions Blake fought the surge of something green and covetous filling her chest. Thankfully, her attention was soon brought to the man standing in front of them all and she poked Jaune in the ribs, perhaps a bit harder than normal to get his attention. He gave a wince and looked to her as she tilted her head forwards.
"Ahem..." Ozpin cleared his throat. "I'll... Keep this brief."
(-o0O0o-)
Blake couldn't keep her cold shoulder act up long with Jaune. He wore her down with being the same caring loveable dork that she had known, not that he ever really realized WHY she was upset in the first place, until they spent the rest of the day lounging under a tree until it cooled enough for Jaune to get the late day training in. As the sun began to set the two made their way towards the area set up for the students. The two of them had talked about it, both of the pair being equally worried about any potential issues with Jaune being surrounded by countless others but short of sleeping outside they would do the best they could. Therefore it was with much trepidation that they reached the auditorium. Ruby and her sister waved over at them, however they paused when the blonde figure that had been standing besides Professor Ozpin earlier that day appeared before the monochromatic duo.
"Mr. Arc and Miss. Belladonna, you have been assigned a room. Please follow me." Glynda commented on, walking past the two without any more said. The two looked to each other, slightly intimidated but mostly relieved, and followed.
"Hey Jaune." A voice called out. It seemed Ruby and her sister had also followed them. "You two aren't in trouble, are you?"
"Hey Ruby. No we're not. Uhm... Blake this is Ruby, she is the one you helped with Weiss on the path here and her sister... Sorry we haven't been introduced and about your shoes earlier." Yang seemed to wave off the apology as she smirked and pointed a thumb at herself.
"I'm Yang! Nice to meet you too, vomit boy, Blake."
"Nice to meet you, Yang, Ruby." Blake was about as sociable as she gets. Must have been comfortable. Yang smiled honestly and put her hand out to shake his, only she quickly stopped smiling when he didn't take it.
"Um Nice to meet you too, Yang. Sorry, I uh, I really can't shake your hand." Jaune softly mentioned scooting back a little from the hand, fearful.
"Why is that, do you think I'm not good enough to shake your hand, is that it? I saw Blake put her hands all over you earlier." The blonde girls eyes flashed red a moment.
"Miss Xiao-long, control yourself." Miss Goodwitch interceded, pushing her glasses up her face. "It's due to Mr. Arc's unique semblance that he cannot touch you. It is also the reason we are removing him from the auditorium at this time. Ms. Belladonna has the unique ability to be unaffected by his semblance and therefore the two of them are being assigned a room earlier than the other initiates. There is nothing to worry about. Now, children, say your goodbyes and then we must be off. It is almost curfew."
"Sorry Yang. I didn't mean to offend." Jaune apologized but Yang shook her head.
"No, my bad. I can get kinda hot headed. We're cool!" She waved goodbye. "You kids have a good night! See you tomorrow!" She grabbed Ruby by her pajama strap.
"Yang wait! Stop! I can walk on my own! Bye Blake, Jaune, Miss. Goodwitch! Night~!" The young Rose's farewell echoed in the quiet hall long after she left, leaving the remaining two to follow the stern deputy headmistress towards their new accommodations.
(-o0O0o-)
"I have heard you occasionally have nightmares, Mr. Arc, and loose control of your semblance. Therefore the headmaster has provided this room for you and your team's use. The extra room built in is meant for our later years as a married dorm but should provide you with ample room in case of this happening." Jaune looked down, embarrassed for the extra need due to his problems.
"Do Beacon students get married that often you need rooms like this?" Blake mentioned stoically, though her thoughts were betrayed by the faint dusting of color on her pale cheeks. Looking around it seemed like the room was pretty standard but the extra door off to one side was open, showing a large room with a bigger bed inside.
"Many teammates spend years in close proximity of one another, in life and death situations and further still, in everyday life. It's in some ways not uncommon for partners to fall in love and marry one another." She narrowed her eyes slightly as she thought about something. "or more."
She shook it off and continued."So Beacon supplies rooms like this. Now I'm hope you two have more tact than to sleep with one another without proper protection." Blake and Jaune choked on spit as the insinuation rolled over them. "While we supply rooms for married couples, we do not offer babysitters." The two were as gobsmacked by her words, redder than a certain reaper's cloak, and grasping at words worse than a certain angry heiress as they tried to clear the implication. Glynda closed the door on the two of them, her face expressionless.
Quietly she walked away before she pulled out her scroll, dialed a number. After a few rings a voice picked up.
"Glynda?" She smiled finally, unable to hold in her mirth.
"Put me down for those two to be together by second year."
"Ah, how is my son and future daughter-in-law?" Nicholas remarked.
(-o0O0o-)
Next Chapter: To Disturb the Composure of; Disconcert
AN: Weeeeeeeeee. Between work being hell, Easter, and the odd thought processes due to watching the old volumes again to get a feel for things, this one started off as a real rough ride. Hard to wrangle but as we moved past the airship the more I felt at ease with this. Not to say getting certain characters right was easy either. Blake might be a little OOC due to Jaune well being Jaune. But hey, a little license is required for doing stories like this.
Itz Syndrome: Thanks for the interest, it's still hard to pull the chapters out at the moment, but as we get further from the norm, aka, the canon; the hopefully the easier this will be.
Surviversp: Thanks and yes, I like me some Knightshade.
Pyrothekid: I've seen similar Jaune captured/injured/something by the White Fang, but never have I seen a Jaune tortured by the White Fang. So I hope it's relatively unique even if I am using an idea for a semblance from a Naruto possible bloodline limit.
X3runner: Blake didn't just heal him. She was his only source of anything beyond hate and fear for three months of hell. For Blake, Jaune was the last piece of hope she hadn't become a monster like Adam and the others had. It's not a happy reason for them to get together and that will bring bumps along the way. As for the Bleach and soul eater... I'm lost sorry. I don't know either well at all. Bleach put me to sleep, and can't remember soul eater for the life of me.
FlankerFan: Thanks. As of this moment the only person in the world who can even touch Jaune is Blake. Now if this changes in the future depends on a few things. And no, what happened to Adam is the additional part of the change I made to the original idea that you, yes you are correct, mentioned. (agreed I miss those days as well.)
Digimak2: Ouch a 6/10? Game/movie score that's not too bad but if not those two, ouch. Not to worry. There is a way I will be going back to those horrible times with Jaune and Blake. The rushed feeling might still be there, but I will build up this story as I go to hopefully get past that feeling into a proper story. Outside of the occasional bad grammar that is always something with my stories at first. Thanks for the opinion!
Reishin Amara: Hey Amara, agreed, I get the niftiness of his semblance and all, and even sort of wrote how I think it will work in the Reunion one shot. But that's why we write fan fiction, for when things don't work for us, we can change it. Just sometimes the show/book/movie goes jumps the shark so hard it's impossible to keep going. I'm hoping RWBY doesn't do that.
Eramis8 Getting to hear a little bit about the way that they escaped has given me some ideas about his semblance. Can't wait for how you make the team names. Hope as the story progresses it becomes more clear. Teams are already figured but need to have some
Jauneforever: *looks around before holding his finger to his lips.* SHHHH! Yes there will be, as more things come to light as the story progresses, there will be opposition to Jaune and Blake's... 'relationship'. I can't say anything more than that.
Majin Othinus: I am trying to be subtle and not throw out all the semblance at once. I've seen writers do that and it makes the story rather bland, especially when it feels like they gave him every supposed superpower or problem all at once. A nice even balance, keep the character still recognizable, and change things enough to be different than the original story to not get bogged down. Also sorry, it SHOULD be one week a piece between any RWBY works, so if a one shot pops up in my head, it takes over that week, if Extra Scoop gets an idea or even one of my other more in Hiatus ones get an idea, I will update those. However this one seems like the one to be updated more often. It's farther removed than the others. Meaning I have more fun and less worry with this than I do with the others.
ice of darkness: I have no earthly idea about Bleach at all, sorry. However I DO have an idea on how this power can change as the story progresses. Hopefully I can get through it all to that point.