Residuum
Blood 1.3
i
Jaune glumly stood near the end of the group, looking at the ground with just barely a pout on his face. Both Glynda and Ozpin were nearby, the headmaster as stoic as ever. He could see Glynda adopt a very professional attitude, looking at all the students impassively, though he did catch her giving him a small smile when he first showed up.
Fastening the parcel Qrow had given him around his shoulders, the blond stood patiently on the platform, waiting for them to get started. Jaune could see Ruby and Yang somewhere down near the middle though they didn't seem to notice him. Beside him stood Pyrrha Nikos, studiously not meeting his gaze. Her cheeks were still tinged pink but she had taken the revelation of his gender with much more grace than Weiss, whom the former had to soothe into not taking any egregious actions against him.
"I'm sure there has been a lot of talk regarding teams," Ozpin said, gathering the attentions of all the students, "Let me put your questions to rest. You will all be given your partners today, partners for the rest of your time here at Beacon."
There was some slight muttering, but nobody dared talk over the man.
"You will be launched into the Emerald Forest that sits behind us," Ozpin explained, "The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the rest of your time here at Beacon. You are to make your way to a temple in the northern part of the forest where we have placed a relic for you to receive. Do not falter; there are dangers within the forest that will test you. Should you get careless, you will die."
"You will be marked based on your landing strategy and performance. In order to pass however, all that is required is to retrieve one of the relics," Glynda explained, "Any questions?"
Jaune placed a hand on his pack to assure himself, he took a look around to see his classmates with determined looks on their faces. After what was probably a decade of training for them, they had likely been prepared for this day.
"Good," Glynda said, "Prepare yourselves."
One by one, the hopeful students were launched off the side of the cliff into the forest below. When it came to Pyrrha's turn, she suddenly swiveled her head to look at him, an unreadable expression in her gaze. It was… evaluating? Determined?
But it was only for a moment as she too was launched off, her stance picture perfect. Knowing he was next, Jaune prepared himself with slight trepidation as he stepped closer to the top of the platform. He felt an abrupt lurch beneath him that launched him off the ground and into the air with impossible speed, giving him more elevation than the others.
The wind whipped against his face but Jaune ignored it, wanting nothing but to be on the ground. He knew he had to time it right so he waited until he hit the apex of his rise. Grabbing the red cord dangling from his bag, he yanked it hard, resulting in a long string coming out with a large-print message tied to it. He felt his heart stop in sheer terror as he glanced at the note, barely making out the words.
'Wrong cord - Qrow'
"YOU ASSHOLE!" he shrieked as he frantically searched for the other cord. Finding it, Jaune pulled with all his might, causing a parachute to billow out behind him, slowing his descent. His heart still thudded in his chest at the momentary fright but he let out a sigh of relief as he realized everything was going to be okay.
He was going to kill Qrow.
As he slowly fell to the ground, Jaune noticed something odd. Because of the direction he was tossed off the cliff, he had been parachuting forward. However it seemed as if he was somehow changing direction mid-air. At first it was subtle, a slight tug from on his rear. Then he went almost perpendicular to his original path.
Jaune looked at the parachute to see if there was something on it that was doing this but as the tugging became more apparent, he realized it was coming from behind him. It was his weapon, Reaper.
Grabbing the handle, he pulled it out from behind his back. He spun slightly as the sword was dragging him over to where it seemed to want to go.
"What the hell?" he asked himself, no clue what was happening. But it was too late for him to change direction again as he was too close to the ground now. Jaune pulled off the parachute, letting himself fall to the forest floor in a crouch.
Moving swiftly to avoid being covered by it, Jaune inspected Reaper again trying to see what had happened. Before he could really discover anything, he heard a snapped twig from a bit aways and he moved swiftly, hiding from sight.
Walking through a bush, Pyrrha stepped forward to where he had been standing not so long ago. She had her weapons sheathed and looked as though she was searching for something much to Jaune's disappointment; did she not sense him? Weiss had mentioned she was a champion of some sort, but perhaps Qrow was right when he said that his classmates would have trouble with him.
"Jaune?" she called out, startling the blond. Jaune stepped out, silently approaching her.
"Hello," he said, making her jump.
"Oh! Jaune," she said, smiling at him, "You startled me. I was looking to see if I could find someone and I saw you land nearby."
"Yeah, it was kind of weird actually," Jaune said, frowning as he looked at Reaper again before finally sheathing it, "My parachute changed direction for some reason."
"That sounds odd," she said, something slightly off in her tone before she quickly changed the topic, "I guess this makes us partners!"
"Yeah," Jaune replied happily, almost not believing his luck in procuring the redheaded beauty as his partner, "I'm looking forward to us working together."
"And I as well," she said, still smiling, "Let's get going, shall we?"
The two of them walked side by side as they headed north to retrieve a relic. The Emerald Forest reminded him a little bit of the Wilds, giving him a slight feeling of nostalgia. On their way through the lush woods, Pyrrha seemed very curious about him which made Jaune apprehensive. He didn't really want to frighten her off with his rather troubling past.
"So you were very well prepared for today," Pyrrha mentioned, "What made you bring a parachute?"
"Ah, that…" Jaune said, chuckling weakly, "Well, I was kind of given a heads up about today. From my teacher."
"I see," Pyrrha said, "There is nothing wrong with that. It is important to gather information before one embarks on a mission. You should use whatever advantage you can."
"Oh! Yeah, that's what Qrow told me," Jaune replied, glad she didn't accuse him of cheating, "He sometimes likes to mess with me so I wasn't sure, but it worked out in the end I guess."
"I… see," she said when she clearly didn't, "You mentioned you weren't from around here. Where are you from?"
"O-oh, that," Jaune said, playing with a strand of his hair as he desperately wished for a change in topic, "Out near Mistral. I, uh, didn't get out much. How about you?"
"I'm from Mistral as well!" Pyrrha said excitedly, and then she said something that sounded like complete gibberish.
"Gero mero sanorik… sorry, what?" he asked, completely confused.
"Oh, you don't speak the language?" the redhead asked, sounding a bit let down. Jaune cringed inwardly. He didn't know they had a different language there.
"Um, I'm not exactly from Mistral, just near," he said, "I actually lived in the Wilds."
"Ah, sorry," she said, but Jaune became determined to steer the conversation away from himself.
"So there's a different official language in Mistral?" he asked. She shook her head.
"No, the official language is still English," she replied, "But there are a lot of people that still speak the language of our forefathers so as not to forget our culture. I thought perhaps you might know, but that's alright."
Jaune was about to ask her another question when he picked up on something… a familiar scent. He stopped walking abruptly, causing Pyrrha to look at him curiously.
"Jaune? What's-" Jaune interrupted her, putting a finger on his lips.
"Grimm."
He retrieved Reaper, causing Pyrrha to also grab her sword and shield. They stood there, waiting for the Grimm to appear. Jaune knew he couldn't fight as he would have in the Wilds. Thankfully, Qrow had taught him to fight without having to rely on his blood.
"Are you sure?" she asked him but he just ignored her.
"Wait here," he said, running into the forest. Pyrrha hesitated too long, torn between going with him or obeying his command, and he completely disappeared from sight. She was unable to go after him when a small pack of Beowolves emerged. Pyrrha quickly did a headcount, finding herself alone against the three growling beasts. She wasn't afraid of them; really, they were no match for her but Jaune had disappeared and she wasn't sure why.
Deciding to take care of the Grimm before finding her partner, Pyrrha switched her weapon into a gun, shooting at the Beowolves to scatter them. The group split up, trying to catch her in a pincer attack.
Switching her gun into a spear, she twirled around to gain momentum in her swing as she struck the closest Grimm across its body, completely cleaving through it. Dodging the next incoming struck with a backflip, Pyrrha struck downwards and impaled the flanking Grimm to the ground, completely piercing through it.
As the final Beowolf charged at her, Pyrrha finally switched the spear back into a sword, patiently await for the Grimm to get close enough to her as she readied her shield to bash it. A silver sword appeared from nowhere, surprising both her and the Grimm as it sliced through it's head. Looking at the blond that had come back, Pyrrha noticed the pleased smile he wore.
"All done," he said, collapsing the blade to its short form. Pyrrha just shook her head.
"There were only three, Jaune," she said, "They usually attack in groups of at least five."
"There were two more in waiting," he said, "I took care of them."
"Oh, well done," Pyrrha replied, looking pleasantly surprised. Jaune gave her a sly grin.
"Hey, that's my three kills to your two," he said teasingly, "Aren't you some sort of champion, or do they give those out to anybody?"
To his surprise Pyrrha just laughed delightedly, looking possibly happier than he had seen her before. She gave him a playful shove, her smile absolutely radiant.
"The day isn't over. I believe I'll get to show you why I'm a champion yet."
"Looking forward to it, partner," he said, and the two continued their trek, their friendship becoming stronger by the minute. Jaune made a note to himself to thank Glynda for her advice. Things were looking up.
Notes: Initiation has begun, and Qrow's played some pranks. Pyrrha on the other hand, decided to cheat the system a little bit. Adorable.
People keep mentioning or asking about pairings. I've said it before and I'll say it again: don't bother.
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