Residuum
Blood 1.2
ii
Jaune saw the giant dust-ship land with slight trepidation. It worried him two-fold: first that he'd ever have to ride in a death-contraption of that size, and second that the people he'd be spending at least the next four years with were on that ship.
Throughout his travels with Qrow, they spent a lot of time together and Jaune got to know the man very well. It had been a step up from complete seclusion but they hadn't travelled to heavily populated areas. Prior to meeting Qrow, Jaune was practically incapable of protecting himself from the Grimm without the aid of his Vespers, and his Vespers scared people away. With Qrow however, he found himself not needing that same protection as Qrow was more than competent to protect both of them. Unlike the stragglers he saw while in the Wilds, the ones that always seemed to run away, Qrow was the only one that stayed and became a fast friend.
Though he did meet a few people on the dust-ship to Beacon, Qrow and maybe Glynda were the only two he had formed any sort of connection with. Qrow said there were a lot of people that went to Beacon, and Jaune could understand that given the size of the place.
Jaune watched silently as the doors opened and a gaggle of people walked out. No, not just people. His peers, his future comrades.
He stood still, slightly apprehensive at the size of the crowd approaching him. There was no way he'd befriend so many people, but he looked at the carefree faces getting closer and felt his heartbeat quicken in excitement.
The first group was right beside him!
And walked right past. As did the second. And third, and fourth. Jaune stood there like a statue as everyone, everyone just kept walking, not acknowledging him past a few glances here and there. Nobody stopped, not to ask for his name or to introduce themselves, not even to ask for directions or the time. Just laughs and smiles that didn't include him.
Jaune caught snippets of conversation, some too fast for him to keep track of. Conversations he wasn't a part of.
"PANCAKES!"
"-hope everything goes okay, I-"
"Wow! The view from Vale's got nothing on this!"
Eventually the students exiting the ship slowed down to a trickle, all the way to the last person who ran out, apparently worried about being late to their team meeting.
Not a single person had stopped for him.
"Nothing new, Jaune," he muttered to himself, feeling foolish as he was the only person still near the ship. Walking away glumly, Jaune followed the crowd to where he knew Ozpin would soon be giving his speech.
Near the center of the courtyard, he witnessed some sort of altercation between a small girl in a red hood and another dressed in pure white. Slowing down, he watched the two argue from afar, witnessing a third girl wearing a black bow cause one of them to storm off.
The shortest of the three collapsed, lying on the ground as the dark-haired girl stalked off as well.
Perhaps catching someone alone was best?
Jaune approached the girl finally catching sight of her face. She wasn't just short he realized as he got closer, she was younger. Qrow had told him Beacon only accepted students of a certain age, which meant she just looked younger or was also a special case.
"Welcome to Beacon," she muttered as he got closer. Before Jaune could help her off the ground, the girl stood up, brushing some dust off of her skirt.
"Darn it Yang, why'd you ditch me?" she said to herself, pouting as she looked towards the assembly hall.
"Uhh…" Jaune wasn't sure what to say to get her attention, but Ruby jumped away from him at the noise, her hands held in a faux-karate stance.
"What the!?" she exclaimed, before realizing what she was doing and blushing in embarrassment, "Oh, sorry. Are you lost as well?"
Before Jaune could muster up any sort of reply, the girl pointed down the centre to where Jaune knew they had to go.
"Come on!" she said, running away. Jaune sighed as he ran after her. She hadn't let him get even one word in.
When they reached the hall, Jaune could see the new first years had already lined up.
"My name's Ruby Rose, what's yours?" the girl told him, making Jaune smile slightly. Finally he could introduce himself.
"Jau-"
"Ruby!" a long-haired blonde called out, interrupting him, "Over here! I saved you a spot!"
"Coming!" Ruby replied, quickly turning back to Jaune, "It was nice meeting you, I'll see you around maybe!"
Jaune watched the girl take off, feeling a bit melancholy. He just sighed, shaking his head. Ignoring his pathetic attempts at speaking to someone, Jaune resigned himself to being alone and walked to the back of the room near the wall, waiting for Ozpin's speech.
"Ahem, I'll keep this brief," Ozpin started, gathering everyone's attention. Jaune witnessed the room immediately go quiet. The Headmaster of Beacon clearly was very well respected if he was able silence a room of this many people with only a few words.
"You are all here today in search of knowledge," Ozpin said, "To hone yourselves and acquire new skills. And when you graduate from Beacon, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. However, amassing knowledge like you intend to do is just wasted energy. I see young men and women in need of purpose. Of direction. Do not assume knowledge will save anything; it can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Jaune saw the mood of all the gathered students; Ozpin's speech was obviously not what they expected. It wasn't happy, it didn't exactly inspire confidence. It was… a warning he realized.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," Glynda said, stepped forward to the mic, "Your initiation is tomorrow. Be ready. You're dismissed."
When the students began speaking to one another, Jaune just sighed as he gave up his attempts to 'mingle' as Glynda had suggested. He leaned against the wall, resting his eyes as he waited for the crowds to start heading to the ballroom so he at least wouldn't be the only one there.
It was a few hours later that Jaune entered the giant room a little late. He noticed the room had already been cleared for all the students to use, an assortment of extra sleeping bags stacked along the edge of the room as well as some odds and ends here and there. Most students were preparing for bed, some already in their sleepwear.
Nobody was really sleeping; there were a few people trying perhaps, but most of the students were still talking to one another, a few of them scrawling in their journals or reading books by the candlelight.
Jaune couldn't for the life of him understand why people were so… social! How could they find so much to talk about?
Repressing a wistful sigh, Jaune exited the room to get some air. He didn't want to go to bed just yet, doing nothing but listen to them yap on and on.
"Jaune?"
Glynda approached him, peering at him as she frowned.
"What are you doing out here? You should be preparing for tomorrow," she scolded. Jaune actually appreciated it a bit. Qrow wasn't one to tell him what to do outside of training. Glynda sounded like she actually cared about him, something he had never really experienced. Maybe his parents or his sisters had cared about him but he didn't really remember them.
"Had to get away," he said, "I'd rather not sit there listen to them talk about… whatever useless shit they're talking about."
Glynda's eyes narrowed at his curse but she didn't reprimand him.
"I believe it's called 'small talk'," she said, but Jaune just shrugged.
"Well, it's dumb," he shot back, "Besides, not like anyone really bothered to speak to me. Might as well have been invisible."
Glynda closed her eyes momentarily in frustration. Yet another complication, but she couldn't just make people be friends with him. There was no place for her to interfere. Or was there?
Glynda walked over to a nearby bench, taking a seat and patting the space beside her, signalling her fellow blond to follow. Jaune did as she wanted, sitting and leaning back against the cool stone wall.
"You know, Jaune," she started, "In my time here, I've met quite a lot of people. Some I knew only just, others were good friends. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that it doesn't matter how fast or slowly you make new friends. Good friendships aren't forged in a day."
"I miss being out there sometimes," Jaune confessed quietly, "It was easier, I think. Didn't have to get my hopes up too much."
"But you're here now," Glynda replied, "You wouldn't have said yes to Qrow if you didn't truly desire this."
"I guess," Jaune said glumly.
"They may be strangers right now," she said, "But I believe there was a saying of one of my old friends, Chloe: strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."
The words stirred something inside of Jaune but he ignored it, looking at her skeptically. Glynda just laughed.
"Give it time, Jaune. Just go out there and be yourself, like you are here with me. Besides, you haven't even met your teammates yet," she told him, smiling, "I promise you, you'll form friendships that'll last through this life and probably even the next."
"Yeah, yeah," Jaune said, a small grin on his face, "Don't get all sappy on me now."
"And…" Glynda said, hesitating slightly, "If you have any problems, or just ever want to talk, feel free to come see me. I can't say I'll always be free, but…"
"I appreciate it," Jaune said, grateful, "Thanks Glynda."
"Professor Goodwitch," she corrected sternly, "Now go to bed! You want to be refreshed tomorrow morning for initiation."
Jaune nodded, standing up and heading back to the ballroom.
"Good night," he called out to her, leaving her line of sight as he exited the hallway. Glynda stared at the spot she saw him last for a moment, her face stoic.
"Good night, Jaune."
Notes: So, Jaune finally meets people his own age, but things don't go his way and some of his insecurities are coming to light.
As always, thanks for the reviews and leave another. Next update is scheduled for March 11th EST.
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