Jaune dodged under another lunge from Weiss, then side stepped as her momentum sent her body past him. She steadied herself right before Jaune planted his foot in her backside. She couldn't believe this. She and Jaune were engaged in combat for the leadership of their team and he was playing with her. He hadn't even taken his hands out of his pockets. The boy just kept dodging all of her strikes, even when she used her glyphs.
"You're just embarrassing yourself at this point," Weiss heard the crinkling of plastic and turned to see that Jaune had taken out a sandwich, unwrapped it and started eating in the middle of the fight. He scrutinized her through narrowed eyes. "You seem... agitated." He threw the sandwich wrapper over his shoulder uncaringly. Weiss felt her eye twitch. "OF COURSE I AM! YOUR EATING IN THE MIDDLE OF A MATCH! ARE YOU INSANE!?"
Jaune took a few more bites before throwing the sandwich, it sailed in an arc over Weiss and landed straight in a trash can. He then shrugged and answered, "Who knows? I mean, people who are crazy usually don't think they're crazy, but if I know I'm crazy, then I'm not crazy. Isn't that crazy? Anyway, we should probably end this soon." He then cracked his knuckles and walked forward, the walk turned into a run, and soon he and Weiss were charging at each other.
Then, Jaune jumped forward, rearing his right fist back and then, at the last moment, ducking under another thrust from Myrtenaster and grabbing her wrist.
He spun into his momentum, bringing Weiss with him and sending her into the wall that elevated the bleachers from the floor... where Ruby and Blake sat, and were currently leaning over the wall to see if Weiss was alright. Jaune checked his scroll and checked the team's aura levels. All but Weiss were at 100%, the Schnee heiress's aura down to 35%.
He walked back over and offered her a hand. She took it and he hoisted her up. The blonde then started to leave the arena. In the rest of his teammates minds, however, they were wondering exactly what to make of their leader. At times, he seemed uncaring and aloof, kind of like Blake, and at others he seemed goofy, juvenile and, frankly, Nora-ish. They'd come to accept that the ginger's personality was its own adjective after only a couple of days... So many pancakes had been annihilated.
Anyway, Ruby super-speeded over to him in a flurry of rose petals. "Hey Jaune?"
"Yes, Ruby?
"Why'd you do that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why mess with Weiss like that when you could've beaten her quicker."
Jaune stopped and stared at the ceiling for a moment in thought, "She needed to be brought down a peg. Teach someone a little humility and it'll do wonders." Ruby nodded in agreement, "So, now what?"
"How about some food?"
"Weren't you eating a sandwich during the fight?" Jaune just gave her a deadpan look. Another similarity to Nora: His appetite.
The team sat around a cafeteria table, Jaune inhaling a third bowl of ramen, Blake reading a book, Weiss trying to get over the fact that she'd lost the match to Jaune and Ruby trying to break the silence. "So... Why don't we all get to know each other. You know, since were gonna be on a team for the next four years of our lives and all."
"Like, what, twenty questions or something?" Jaune asked. "Sure. I'm Ruby, I grew up on Patch with my sister and my dad. Oh, and my dog, Zwei. How about you, Jaune?"
"I lived outside the kingdoms, grew up with my uncle and now I'm here."
"Is that it?"
"Yup."
"Hey, Blake?"
"What is it, Ruby?"
"Well, what do you know about Jaune?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're his partner, and we don't really know much about him."
"No. He doesn't talk much. He's either training, eating or studying. Or out in the city doing who knows what."
It had been two weeks since Jaune and Weiss fought. Things had calmed down and their team had passed through classes and weekends boringly. "I'm also curious. Even in the last few days, he's been rather distant." Surprisingly, it was Weiss who spoke up. "Wait, where is he now?" Asked Ruby.
"He said something about going to Vale to check on something." Blake responded. "Maybe we should find out more ourselves." Ruby said. "What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
"Well, Beacon's got a bunch of terminals and stuff. I'm sure we could find his student file or something."
"That seems like a violation of-wait, where are you going? Ruby Rose!" But Ruby had already sped out in a cloud of petals. Weiss soon chased after her and Blake, not wanting to be stuck cleaning up Ruby's trail, set down her book and followed. She caught up with Weiss and the two followed Ruby down to Beacon's library. More specifically, the computer terminals.
"Hey guys! I think I know how to find info about Jaune. I figure if we search his name into Schnee-gle, we'll find something sooner or later."
"Ruby, you can't just go digging into someone's personal life willy nilly. That's a huge violation of-"
"Found it! Alright, let's see...Jaune Arc, seventeen years old, six-foot-one, 163 pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes, born in Helgen... Where's Helgen?" At that, Weiss fell silent. Blake and Ruby looked at her expectantly.
"Helgen was a village just outside of Atlas. It was considered still part of the kingdom, so the military was tasked with protecting it in case of a grimm attack. About ten years ago, the soldiers stationed there failed to give their weekly report. They sent a unit out to the village, only to find it burned to the ground, people dead in the streets. They chalked it up to a grimm attack, figured lanterns were nocked over and started the fire. But no signs or tracks were found. " The group got deathly quiet after that.
Jaune sat in the waiting room of Vale's Home For the Mentally Ill. He rested his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped in front of him. He could vaguely smell the fast food he'd picked up from the bag on the seat next to him. He raised his head when a nurse walked out and called his name. He rose and grabbed the food bag.
The boy walked down the hallway into the day room and looked through the window in the door to see a man in his forties with short brown facing away from him, sitting at one of the tables. He opened the door and the man turned to see him. He smiled kindly, his electric-blue eyes held a tired energy to them and he wore a beige trench coat over the garments the home provided for the patients. The man rose and pulled Jaune into a tight hug. "Hello, Jaune. It's...pleasing to see you again."
"You too, Cas." Castiel Angelus was on his father's huntsman team. When Jaune was four, He and his team were on a mission that went south. His father, Nicolas Arc and another teammate, Lukas Hemlock, were killed in action. Castiel, having watched two of his best friends be ripped apart in front of him, fell into insanity. Their other surviving teammate, who Jaune had never learned the name of, had vanished in the wind shortly after.
Cas had always been a gentler soul. Only slaying Grimm, but never killing people or animals. His broken mind had been improved after years in the institution. But, he'd always be that. Broken. When certain... Powerful undesirables tried to have him institutionalized in less-humane places where he could be watched closely and tested on due to his semblance, Professor Ozpin had helped keep Castiel here in Vale.
The two sat down and Jaune set the bag on the table between them. "I can't imagine what they consider food here." He took from the bag a cup with a plastic domed lid. Castiel put his hand up in decline. "Oh I don't do milkshakes. I've learned that they can attract large congregations of boys to one's yard." He leaned forward and said seriously, "I don't want the boys to come to my yard, Jaune."
"...Okay. So, what've you been up to, Cas?"
"Well, I've been spending a great deal of time in the gardens, watching the bees. Their patterns of flight vary wildly if one watches closely. Yet it's all planned, nothing ever needs changing. I've also been reading a great deal on biology. Did you know that a cat's penis is sharply barbed along its shaft? I know for a fact the females were not consulted on that."
"...Interesting."
They went on like that until visiting hours were up. Jaune mostly just listened as Castiel talked of life on the inside and ate the food Jaune got him. Having a trusted friend the man could talk to seemed to help. Before he left, Cas asked him something. "Jaune, how old are you now? Specifically, to the date."
"Uh, seventeen years, nine months and...twelve days. Why?"
Cas quickly grabbed a pen and pad of paper off the reception desk and wrote something down. When finished, he tore the paper off and planted it in Jaune's hand. "You're old enough now. Go to this address and look for a man named Bobby singer. Professor Ozpin can tell you more."
"What? Cas, what are you talking about? Who's Bobby-"
"Just, please, trust me Jaune. I-I can't say anymore." And like that, the man was gone." A semblance like teleportation was a valuable thing. It was the reason many military leaders, scientists and politicians had tried to have the former huntsman confined and rehabilitated so they could try to send him back into the field. The boy held the paper in his hand and stared at the writing.
Bobby Singer
676 Sioux Road, Vale
Who the hell is Bobby Singer?
"Bobby Singer was the last member of your father's old team."
"What?!" Jaune was currently standing in Ozpin's office. Ozpin was still sitting in his large,... phallus-shaped chair. The boy was now pacing back and forth in front of his desk as he absorbed this new information. "So, he was there when..." He shook his head, "So why have I never heard of him?"
"Well, after your team's final mission, something snapped inside of Mr. Singer. Much like Castiel. He vanished for a time. He made no contact with anyone else, he has no remaining family, not many associates, he just left."
"Well, that explains why Cas was so...Cas about telling me about the guy. So, what do I do now? I've got an address, I can find him if this is where he still lives."
"I wouldn't recommend that, Jaune."
"Why not?" He demanded, "Cas clearly felt it important to tell me about him now that I was 'old enough'." Ozpin sighed. "Jaune, school hasn't even been in session for a month. You can't be leaving school grounds every chance you get. You came here to be a student. To learn. You can't do that here if you're leaving every chance you get. Not to mention the way you've been neglecting your team."
"Ozpin, I realize that. But this guy knew my father. Undoubtedly more than I knew about the guy. Not to mention he might know something that could help Cas." He started walking toward the elevator.
Ozpin pondered tat for a moment, "You may be right. But you should still take these things slow. You may not like all the answers you get."
"I'll be fine. Now, if you excuse me, I have some work to do." Jaune then entered the elevator and it closed behind him.