The theologians of Remnant have it easier than those of other worlds. There was only one truly established religion, and though it had different names depending on the kingdom you hailed from, they all recognised the same god; Monty Oum. Said to have been the first thing to appear in the universe, the oldest texts and stories told that he had created Remnant from nothingness, and given life to all its creatures. Some theories even insinuated that the Grimm were also his creation, but those were largely rejected. After all, the Grimm were soulless abominations – no true god would unleash them on a world of their making.
Of course, there were debated issues – such as the afterlife. No two theologians or ministers could truly agree on the nature of the soul, and what happened to it after death. However, there was one idea that was always rejected: reincarnation. The idea of a soul returning to Remnant after death was scoffed at as an upset of the natural order, the kind of event which could tear apart the balance of life and death.
And what kind of god would ever do that?
The answer was simple. A bored one.
Jaune Arc opened his eyes.
He was staring up at the gangplank for the massive transport which was carrying students to Beacon. His right foot was just on the walkway, his right hand holding the banister. He turned around, and was faced with his mother, father and younger sister. Melinda, his sister, was waving and laughing. His mother Jetta was standing tall, but he could see tears in her eyes as she waved too.
His father, Cornelius, was another matter. All the acknowledgment he gave was a curt nod, and Jaune knew he'd get no more than that. It was the former huntsman's way of saying "You're on your own from here." His family had been against his trying out for Beacon, becoming a Huntsman - his father didn't talk about his reasons, but he had hung up his weapon long ago, and had made his view of Jaune's dreams clear from the beginning. He waved back, the action instinctive. In all that had happened, he'd never even considered the effects his death would have had on his family.
You truly know nothing, Jaune Arc. He chastised himself as he turned back to the walkway and pulled himself up and into the belly of the ship.
Looking around, he recognised many of the faces. People who he might not have interacted much with, but with whom he had shared the halls of Beacon. Some he knew better than others, but he was looking for two faces in particular. He found one of them quickly; a figure noticeably shorter than many of the others, black and scarlet defining her clothing and hair. Silver eyes glinted in the window's sunlight, and Jaune thanked Oum that it was this time he got to restart from, so close to those he knew would be friends.
Restart. That was actually what he was doing, wasn't he? The past year wiped completely clean...every failure could be rectified, every disaster could be averted. Jaune shook his head as his reason kicked in. No, that wasn't true. He had to try and keep as much to the previous time line as his goal allowed. Maybe Oum knew, but Jaune couldn't predict how much fiddling with events could change the future for the worse.
As he slowly played over some worst-case scenarios in his mind, he felt a familiar shudder as the airship began to move around him. He staggered slightly, and felt a familiar discontent in his stomach. He forced it down, relying on the breathing exercises and balancing tricks that Pyrrha had made a part of his training. Pyrrha...she was alive, in this time. He'd see her again in mere hours... But it wouldn't be the Pyrrha who had kissed him goodbye before going to her death. This Pyrrha didn't even know of Jaune Arc...and to have the same relationship as he'd once had, this Jaune Arc needed not to know of Pyrrha Nikos.
In fact, he'd have to try and remember his early days at Beacon as well as possible, in order to start things off on the right foot with those around him. He needed to increase in power massively by next year yes, but he also needed to spur the others to greater heights. Paradoxically, if he was assured that they could handle themselves, he would be in a better position to protect them. He sank deep in thought as he replayed his early days at school over and over, recalling all the good times he'd had with teams JNPR and RWBY.
Jaune was shocked from his reverie by a joyous exclamation from behind him, and he turned just in time to feel the back draft from a blonde juggernaut racing by to embrace her little sister. Yang Xiao Long; whole once more, in every way. Jaune's hands clenched into fists. Adam Taurus...something else to consider alongside Torchwick. And the dust user who had been behind the whole thing, of course. Three major criminals with ties to each other, and he had to try and thwart all their plans at once. He almost asked "Why me?"...but of course he'd volunteered. Because no matter how impossible the struggle, the reward was too great to fail.
His stomach mostly under control, Jaune considered approaching Ruby and Yang now, to befriend them earlier...but then he remembered the circumstances of Ruby meeting Weiss. If he approached the sisters and they were friendly with him, then when Yang left Ruby alone she would simply fall into walking with Jaune, which could very well ruin her first encounter with the Schnee heiress. No, better to let them be...and simply not vomit on Yang's shoe this time.
Jaune watched from across the courtyard as Blake and Weiss went their separate ways, leaving a confused and weary Ruby lying next to a dust-inflicted crater. He smiled to himself, knowing that he'd just witnessed the first step on a long journey for those three. He walked towards Ruby, until his shadow notified her of his presence. He offered a hand for her. "Hey there. I'm Jaune."
She glanced at his hand for a moment, then accepted it. "Ruby." she replied, and he pulled the lighter girl to her feet, remembering just in time to brace himself for the extra weight of Crescent Rose at her back.
He released her hand once she was standing on her own, and then a thought flashed across his mind. When he'd first met Ruby, they'd gone wandering around the Beacon grounds as Jaune justified his travel sickness. He hadn't exhibited that this time, so the conversation topic was gone. Options flowed into Jaune's head, and he recalled a later part of that same conversation, immediately pulling on it. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, is that your weapon?" he asked, gesturing to the familiar folded implement attached to Ruby's belt. As he'd hoped, her eyes lit up, her weapon mania brought to the fore and dispelling whatever shyness had been evident.
"Yeah, this is my baby, Crescent Rose." She drew it as she spoke, and it unfolded to its scythe form in moments. Jaune beheld the weapon with genuine awe; even after seeing it for a year, the dangerous beauty the weapon possessed always struck a chord with him.
"Oh, that's just awesome!" he exclaimed, as the sun glinted off the weapon's blade, as if it were winking at him.
"Oh, isn't she just? And she's not just a scythe; she's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle." Jaune nodded as she spoke, increasing the amount of 'awe' his expression and face were carrying.
"Now that's just unfairly cool. I mean, I'm feeling a little overshadowed." He rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.
"Oh come on, I'm sure your weapon is awesome as well!" Ruby encouraged him, leaning forward a bit at the prospect of finding a new piece to examine. Jaune took a step back, freeing up space to draw Crocea Mors.
"Well, I like to think so – they belong to my family; heirlooms from the Great War." As he spoke he let the scabbard spring into its shield form, sliding it onto his arm with a practised grace that he had lacked during the first iteration of this meeting. The blade caught the light, its honed edge almost seeming to cut the sun's rays. It was true that Jaune had considered his weapons somewhat lacking compared to others he'd seen, but now, he wouldn't trade them for anything else. He noted that they seemed to weigh more than he remembered...before he recalled the conditions of the deal he'd accepted. His body hadn't yet undergone the training of Pyrrha and Beacon; he was far weaker than he had been...at the end.
Ruby let out a low "Oooh" as she examined the blade, running her hand across the shield.
"Unfortunately, it's not also a gun." Jaune grinned, getting a smile in return from the young girl in scarlet.
"Guns are cool, but every weapon is brilliant in its own way." she told him seriously. "Of course, if you ever want to try and expand on the classics, so to speak, I have a few ideas that you might find interesting." Jaune sensed his opportunity, so he sheathed Crocea Mors in a fluid gesture which returned the blade to the shield and the reformed sheath to his belt.
He bowed from the waist, sweeping his left arm across his stomach to extend to his right. "I would be honoured to learn from you, oh wise weapon meister." he replied, and so Jaune felt, as he walked alongside the giggling Ruby, that so far, things were going well.
"Hey, Jaune?" Ruby spoke, after they'd been walking for a while, Ruby bouncing ideas off Jaune that could be applied to Crocea Mors to increase its effectiveness.
"Yeah Ruby?" Jaune replied, still wondering about Ruby's idea to place a high-power shotgun assembly in his sword's hilt, to provide extra power to a strike or even to serve as a ranged alternative.
"Where are we going?"
As Jaune spun on his heel and realised that they'd wandered a goodly ways from the hall where Ozpin made his first address, and also that his conversation had carried on longer than his first, it occurred to him that even after dying inside and outside, having a chance at love and leading a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, there was apparently still some of that idealistic idiot with forged transcripts and a family heirloom left in him. He gestured at Ruby to follow and took off for the hall, not at all worried about her being able to keep up.
He'd missed this.
Author's Note
Two chapters written and uploaded in the same day; not sure about the wisdom there, but I'm enjoying writing this, so wisdom can go and have a nice cup of tea while I'm busy doing...whatever it is I'm doing.
Thank you, anyone who's reading this, for sticking with it; as I mentioned in the header for the story, I'm going to be retracing Jaune's steps through the Canon, however as time goes on things will begin to diverge more and more, in particular because I've already worked things like Jaune's semblance and certain aspects of Cinder's character into the plan for this story, so no matter what happens (bear in mind, I'm writing this in the late spring of 2016, so Volume 4 hasn't yet been released) in the Canon, some things will be of my own creation.
I hope I can at least entertain you guys enough to make this worth the read.
Well, leave any criticism or ideas in a review, and enjoy your day.