Residuum

Blood 1.3

iv


"He's waking up."

"Jaune? Jaune!"

Jaune blinked awake, coughing as he tried to slowly rise out of bed. Gentle hands pushed him back own, a hand on his chest and another on his arm. Jaune spotted the red hair, immediately coming to a conclusion as to who this was.

"Pyrrha?" he asked. As his sight cleared he saw her emerald gaze taking in sight of him, relief clear in them.

"You've been out for a few hours now," she said, inspecting him closely. Jaune felt something tied tight around his head, raising his still bandaged hands to feel for it. Pyrrha smacked his hand sharply, making them flinch down.

"No touching," she told him sternly. Behind her, Jaune saw Qrow sitting in a chair, chuckling at them.

"What happened?"

"You took a heavy blow to the head," Qrow said, "Knocked a few screws loose. Or maybe put them back in place, can't tell with you."

Pyrrha gave the man a reproachful look, making him put up his hands innocently.

"You're extremely lucky you didn't receive any permanent damage," Pyrrha said, "The doctor and your aura did a good job in fixing you up. Your aura even absorbed most of the blow. If we hadn't unlocked your aura today… you could've been…"

Jaune frowned at the implications.

"Dead," Qrow filled in, "Kicked the bucket. Having a dirt nap. Living-challenged."

"Yeah, I get it," Jaune said, rolling his eyes. Pyrrha shook her head at the man's antics.

"At least you killed that Deathstalker," Qrow said, "Imagine if you died and didn't manage to kill it. Would've gone out as my eternal shame."

"Oh shut up."

"I can see where you get your recklessness," Pyrrha remarked dryly. The Huntsman barked in laughter.

"Do you mind if I talk with my apprentice for a bit, little lady?" Qrow asked, giving Jaune a meaningful look. Pyrrha looked between him and her partner for a moment before nodding.

"I believe Yang and Ruby were eager to visit you," she said, "I'll let them know you're up."

Once she left, Qrow moved his chair closer to Jaune's bed and kicked up his legs, resting them near the end. He peered at Jaune for a bit before saying anything.

"It was a smart call," he said, "It's what I would've done, leading the Deathstalker away. That thing would've been too much of a distraction especially with that Nevermore up in the air."

"I thought so," Jaune said, "I've fought those things before. I knew if I could get it in the forest myself, I could deal with it."

"The difference between you and me though," Qrow said, "is that I'm leagues ahead of you. We both know what you did to beat that thing, and it wouldn't fly anywhere else, not unless you want people learning about what you can do. And that will paint a target on your head, one that we might not be able to protect you from."

"I managed to kill it without too much problem," Jaune defended himself, "I just got a little bit careless this time."

"So did a lot of people I've had to bury over the years," Qrow replied quietly, giving Jaune pause as he considered the man's words.

"Look… I had the opportunity to lead it away alone and I took advantage of it," Jaune told him indignantly, "I wouldn't have risked it if I wasn't alone."

"Yeah, and Ozpin has cameras all over that forest," Qrow told him, making Jaune's eyes widen in surprise, "Yeah, it's on camera. We already edited the video to take that part out. But if someone gets a chance to see the video, if they look closely enough, they'll know something's up."

"Well, then, what was I supposed to do?" Jaune asked. Qrow didn't reply immediately, just sighing forlornly.

"So you finally unlocked your aura, huh?" he asked, completely skipping over Jaune's question much to the blond's frustration.

"Yeah," Jaune replied, "I wanted to do it myself, but I already rebuffed Glynda twice and I got the feeling Pyrrha wouldn't give up. Besides, she made a pretty good argument."

"You know kid, I never really did get to explain much about what my family's traditions are," Qrow told him.

"Pyrrha explained it a little bit," Jaune said, "That people believed our souls had meaning beyond the… the physical realm. How there was significance in unlocking it. It's pretty much what you told me."

"She's one smart cookie, that girl," Qrow commented, "My family's traditions were always about finding yourself. What's the point if everything is handed to you? You want to unlock your aura, do it yourself. When you finally do manage to unlock it, it's all the more meaningful for you because of the effort you put in it."

Jaune nodded, remembering the first time Qrow had explained this to him, back when he was first learning about aura from the man.

"A Branwen family tradition," Qrow said, snorting, "Both me and Raven went through it. As my apprentice, I told you about it but I still offered to unlock your aura. You decided to follow in my footsteps instead of just letting someone do it for you. Do you know why?"

Jaune shrugged, not wanting to admit he did it for Qrow.

"I told you how significant it could be when your aura is unlocked, that there was so much meaning in it," Qrow said, "But meaning isn't something that just pops into your life. Meaning is what you make of it."

"Huh?" Jaune had little to no idea what the man was saying, "Are you drunk again?"

"Choice, Jaune," he said, not rising to Jaune's baiting, "There is meaning in the decisions you make. Choice is what gives our lives significance. One of the worst things you can do to a person is to take away their ability to make a choice."

"You've been alone for so long, with nothing but those… absolute fucking monsters for companions. You obviously didn't choose that. I offered you a chance between unlocking your aura and letting you do it yourself. Lo and behold, you chose to do it by yourself. So tell me kid. Why? Why did you choose that?"

"I…"

"It's because everything you've done for the last eight years, you had to do yourself," Qrow told him, "Yeah, it's shit. You didn't get a choice in the matter, you haven't had anyone to rely on but yourself so you made your decision based on that."

"But in the end, I wasn't able to unlock my aura by myself, someone else had to do it," Jaune said.

"Yeah. It's your goddamn soul Jaune, and for the first time in eight years, you were able to trust someone else with something that important," Qrow said, "If there's no meaning in that, then I don't know what else could be any more significant. So you're asking what else could you have done against that Deathstalker? Trust in your partner, your teammates, your friends."

Jaune watched the man silently, seeing a rare side of him not seen very often.

"I'm not saying it's gonna be easy," the man said, "Even I still got problems with it. You have your own fair share of excuses. But you've been given an opportunity denied to you for so long. Don't waste it trying to be like me."

"You've got plenty of time to get stronger," Qrow finished, "Until then, learn to trust your teammates. Life isn't something you go through alone. Even I got family."

"Yang and Ruby," Jaune filled in.

"Heh, yeah," Qrow said, "You met them, I'm guessing? It's been some time since I last saw them. I suppose I should meet them before I leave."

"You really should," the blond said, desperately wanting to see that reunion, "Wait, you're leaving?"

"To Mistral. You were in the Wilds near there, it's the best place to start if we're gonna find out who you are."

Jaune fell silent as he thought about it. His family. Qrow had told him not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help it. Were they in Mistral? Did they think he was dead? Did they even remember him?

"We'll find something," Qrow assured him, "If you were truly from the Kingdoms, it shouldn't even be that hard."

The doors to the infirmary opened, Pyrrha having returned with Qrow's nieces, as well as most of the others that Jaune had met a few hours ago, Nora, Ren, and the contemplative Blake, though Weiss was nowhere to be found. Yang and Ruby immediately set sights on their uncle.

"Uncle Qrow!"

They ran over to him, making the man chuckle as he saw them approach for what he assumed were hugs.

Yang socked him in the face.

"AAH!" Qrow yelped in pain as he clutched his face, "I think you broke my jaw!"

"You deserve it!" Ruby told him fiercely, "How could you abandon your own daughter like that!?"

"My what?" Qrow asked, staggering.

"Jaune told us how you abandoned her at birth!" Yang told him, "You deserved it."

"That little liar!" Qrow said, glaring at the smirking blond, "Jaune's my apprentice, not my… wait, daughter?"

"Sorry Yang, Ruby," Jaune apologized, "I didn't mean to trick you, but you know Qrow. He scared me half to death when we were launched off that cliff, I couldn't resist."

"So you're not our cousin?" Ruby asked in a small voice.

Both sisters gaped at him, with what Jaune regretfully noticed to be hurt. Qrow also noticed this and jumped in to the boy's rescue.

"Look, he's taken my name because we haven't found his yet," the man told them, still rubbing his jaw, "Maybe it isn't by blood but he's as good as your cousin. And since you apparently haven't realized yet, despite the pretty face and the hair, Jaune's a male."

"Well, I guess if you're family, all's forgiven," Ruby said, grinning at him. Jaune smiled at her, feeling warmed by her kindness. Pyrrha walked over to him, giving him a grin and taking the empty seat by the bed. Yang on the other hand…

She looked down at her chest then back at him. And back down, and at him again.

"Yang?" Jaune asked.

He saw her eyes flash red, saw her crack her knuckles, and instinctively knew this was going to hurt.

"You..."

As he tried his best to dodge Yang much to the laughter of everyone in the room, Jaune couldn't help but think that if having family and friends was like this, perhaps getting beaten half to death by his pseudo-cousin was worth it.

fin


Notes: The conclusion of initiation and everyone is now aware of Jaune's status as a male.

The important part of this scene is the bonding between Jaune and Qrow and the look we get into Jaune's psyche. One of the small hints I was talking about in my preceding author's notes is directly addressed in this one: in the previous scene, Jaune was caught off guard by the Deathstalker's blow because he was thinking about impressing his new friends. Qrow talks about the shift in Jaune's state of mind here. He's been alone for so long but now he has other people to rely on and trust, and he has to learn to do that more.

Anyway, Qrow's headed to Mistral so we won't see him for a bit.

By the way, this story is going on a temporary hiatus while I deal with some personal matters.

Cheers, and leave a review!

knuckz