Residuum

Blood 1.2

iv


Jaune's eyes snapped open as he awoke. Stifling a yawn, he rose from his makeshift bed as silently as possible. It was a habit from his days living in the Wilds, one that Qrow had told him to keep.

He was an early riser, he had to be. It was something he learned very quickly; he still had the scars from that lesson, hidden under his shirt. Stretching out, Jaune stalked around his sleeping classmates, noticing a few others were also up. He didn't think people would awaken earlier than he did; Qrow slept in more often than not and he had assumed that others would as well.

As he made his way to find a place to freshen up for the day, the blond noticed that the others probably had not gotten a lot of sleep judging by the tiredness he could see in their eyes. Qrow said he would have no problem with initiation as it took place in a forest and Jaune had relaxed a bit at hearing it. His mentor had assured him that there was nothing more dangerous in the Emerald Forest that Jaune wouldn't have encountered in the Wilds, and he had Qrow's training on top of it.

Once he had freshened up, Jaune left the ballroom and found himself in an empty hallway, the lights still on. The sun had yet to rise though Jaune knew there was less than half-an-hour before it was dawn. Unsure of exactly what he wanted to do until initiation, Jaune began wandering.

He blinked when he saw Glynda approach him, looking at him appraisingly.

"Good morning," she greeted with a smile, "Qrow told me you would be up this early. I wasn't sure whether to believe him."

"Morning," Jaune greeted back, "Force of habit, I'm a light sleeper."

Glynda's smile strained a bit, but she didn't break it.

"Well, maybe you might want to sleep in late sometimes," she said, "It's always good to let go once in a while."

"I think Qrow does that more than enough for both us," he said, making her chuckle, "Do you need help with anything?"

"I'm actually here to speak to you," his teacher informed him, "First to deliver your very own personal scroll. Here you are."

Glynda gave Jaune a rectangular device he had seen his mentor use before. Taking it from the woman, he inspected it curiously before placing it in his pocket. He wasn't sure of it's capabilities beyond telling the time and calling others, but the blond didn't have anyone to call. It didn't exactly interest him.

"Has Qrow spoken to you in regards to your… Vespers?" Glynda asked him, recalling their name. Jaune nodded in the affirmative.

"He mainly asked about how it worked, what they can do," he replied, "For example, if I convert a Grumpy Pup, it gets stronger to make up for it's weakness. When I convert a Snuggabear, it gets a lot faster to make up for its slowness."

Glynda blinked, having no idea what he was talking about. She opened her mouth to ask him, but thought better of it and decided to not get involved.

"Did he mention how unique your ability is?" she asked.

"He told me that he'd never seen anyone do what I can," Jaune told her, "That I should use it very carefully when we got to Beacon."

"Nobody really knows where the Grimm come from," the bespectacled woman said, her voice taking a practiced lecturing tone, "We know they've been around for as long as anyone can remember. Knowing that someone is able to control them will make people wary. It was fortunate that Qrow found you, it is fortunate that you are here with us now Jaune, but not everyone is as patient as we are. Some have the tendency to react violently."

"Be very careful who you show it to," she warned him, "Qrow might fool around but when he wanted you admitted to Beacon, it was based on your skill in combat, not this ability that you have. I recommend you avoid using it unless you have dire use of it."

"I can't really control it," Jaune told her, "If I bleed onto a Grimm, it'll turn into a Vesper. I can't stop that."

Glynda looked at him for a moment, wondering how to broach her next suggestion.

"If you unlock your aura," she said slowly, "perhaps it would be less of a concern. Aura can protect you from cuts."

Jaune smiled at her, shaking his head in the negative.

"May I ask why it is you don't want your aura unlocked?"

"Qrow did give me a choice when he taught me about aura," he explained, "But when he told me about his own experience…"

Realization dawned on Glynda. Perhaps the boy was more attached to Qrow than they had thought. It… really spoke volumes of the bond between the two.

"I didn't think Qrow still believed," she commented.

"He said he didn't," Jaune replied, "But I don't think he rejected it entirely. Or at least, that's the feeling I got from him."

Glynda still thought that the blue-eyed blond should have his aura unlocked, but decided then that she'd stop trying to persuade him. It was ultimately something between the apprentice and his master.

"Come on," she said, turning and walking down the hallway, "I'll escort you to the cafeteria. It's a bit early but perhaps we can have breakfast together."

After breakfast was over, Glynda decided to give Jaune a small tour of Beacon, showing him the classes, the dormitories, and where her office was. More time had passed than they realized and Jaune realized most of his colleagues would be awake by now. Thanking her, Jaune went back to the ballroom, his spirits lifted.

"It's her! Hey!"

The girl he had briefly met yesterday ran up to him, stopping a few feet in front of him with another blonde behind her.

"Hello friend! It's me, Ruby! Remember?" she asked, introducing herself again. Jaune did remember.

"Hello," Jaune greeted back. The taller girl grinned at him, making him feel slightly nervous.

"Wow Ruby, you were right. Even has a cape kind of like yours," she said, causing the younger girl to begin shushing her.

"I'm Ruby's older sister. The name's Yang," she said, winking at him as she held out her hand for Jaune to shake. He was slightly taken aback at her forwardness, but couldn't help but feel a little relieved that the day had started off on a positive note.

"I'm Jaune," he replied, finally introducing himself.

"Odd name. But hey, I love the hair," she gushed as Jaune took her hand, "We need to trade some hair care tips, how about it?"

"Uh, sure," he said, unsure what kind of tips he could provide.

"Ha, we are going to be great friends. Ruby was right though," Yang said, grinning mischievously at her younger companion, "You have a long way to go if you wanna be like me."

The girl tapped his chest as she laughed at her embarrassed sister who tried to hide under her hood. Yang took Jaune's bandaged hand and put it on her chest, causing his eyes to almost pop out in shock.

"Get a good feel, fellow blonde," she said, giving him a saucy wink as she walked away, "I'm sure you'll get there one day."

"Yang!" Ruby squealed, looking mortified, "I'm so sorry Jaune."

"Sis! How could you do that!? Yaaaang!"

Jaune watched, nonplussed, as the girl took off after her shameless sister. He didn't really understand what exactly had happened. Was that how people greeted each other? Qrow had talked about how the younger generation always had some sort of new trend going on, but he had no idea his age group was so risqué.

The blond just shook his head, deciding to just be happy he had made some new friends as he made his way after them.

When he arrived in the locker room, there were only a few students left. He had apparently missed both Yang and Ruby, just barely catching sight of the elder sister's golden hair as she left the room. Checking his scroll, he saw that the time for initiation was fast approaching so he decided to grab his weapon and head out himself. But completely froze when he saw something that made his heart stop.

Everything, everything else faded. Everything but this… goddess.

"I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together?"

And her amazing.Red.HAIR.

"Well, that sounds grand."

It was a breathtaking red, tantalizing locks of silk framed by a golden circlet. He moved forward as if on autopilot, completely ignoring the silver-haired girl's attempts at cajoling these amazing crimson locks into a team. It was calling him, hypnotic and unresistable.

Jaune reached out and lightly gripped the ponytail, marveling at their lustre.

"Excuse me?"

And it all came to a screeching halt as he realized exactly what he just did.

Green eyes peered at him curiously, thankfully not upset as he spied a polite smile on her face. The other girl did seem affronted but Jaune just ignored her as he stood stock still, mortified.

What should he do in this situation? Suddenly remembering Qrow's words about trends and Yang's greeting, he did the only thing that made sense.

"Hello," Jaune greeted her, "My name's Jaune."

And he reached out and placed his hand on her chest.

"Maybe we can trade hair-care tips?"

The girl's smile froze as she went motionless, not freaking out about the hand on her chest but also completely mystified and unsure on what to do. The other girl reacted enough for the two of them.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what do you think you're doing!?" she yelled at him. Jaune took his hand away as if scalded.

"Did I do it wrong?" he asked worriedly, "I'm so sorry, I'm… not from around here. I don't really know the greetings."

"What do you mean 'the greetings'?" she asked, disbelief and outrage in her voice, "Do you even know who she is?"

Jaune wanted the ground to rise up and swallow him whole. Did he just offend someone really important? The daughter of a government official or something? Could she get him kicked out of Beacon for this?

"Sorry, I don't know," he apologized again, feeling worried that he had done something to jeopardize his future at the school, "I didn't mean to offend you."

"She's Pyrrha Nikos!"

Jaune just shook his head; there was absolutely no way he could know. There wasn't a single celebrity he would know of.

The red-head seemed to have broken out of her trance, still feeling slightly awkward but now looking at Jaune curiously. She raised her hand in greeting.

"Hello Jaune," she said.

"Are you the daughter of a government official or something?" he asked, reflecting his earlier thoughts, "I didn't mean anything by it."

"A- a government official?" the other girl interjected, "She's the four-time winner of the Mistral regional tournament! She graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum! How dare you just, molest her like this!?"

"It's okay Weiss," Pyrrha said, hoping to calm the girl down, "Jaune did apologize. I think whoever taught you that greeting might have played a prank on you, Jaune. Let's just put it behind us."

Jaune smiled at her, relieved.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you, Pyrrha. I hope we can be friends." He offered his hand and she clasped it firmly with her own, smiling brightly at him.

"I would love to be friends," she said jovially. Weiss just grumbled.

"Fine," she relented, "Just be more careful in the future. Even if you're a girl, you shouldn't just grab other women like that."

The blond tilted his head in confusion.

"Umm, actually, I'm male."

When he saw their faces redden, one in embarrassment and the other in anger, he couldn't help but think that perhaps he should have kept that fact to himself.

fin


Notes: Hijinks!

If anyone is confused, Yang also mistook Jaune for a girl. We've previously established he looks like a girl with his long hair, and he apparently sounds like one as well. This is one place where this story kind of breaks off from canon, but it's kinda minor I'd say. If you want a mental image of Jaune, the one I had in mind while writing this was Kirito from Sword Art Online when he gets his GGO avatar but with slightly shorter hair (though taller and blond, I guess).

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