All right new chapter! Thank my betareader for proofreading it! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
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Edited on 03/01/2017. Made a few adjustement on Vytal Festival Tournament. Counted and found out its 32 teams, not 16. Dam you misinformation! Also extended tournament to six days to sound more reasonable.
"You weren't kidding about VIP room," commented Jaune as they sat in a comfortable room with snacks and drinks. They were situated at a perfect height, where they could see all the fights, and yet not be too far away from seeing the details. The room even had television sets so they could watch individual fights if they wanted to. The front row seats were for competitors only.
"I know, right!" said Octavia cheerfully, "Thank Nebula and her dad for these seats."
Jaune chuckled as he took a looked into a holo-display in front of him. He saw team names displayed out on who was participating along with what academy they were from, and when he clicked on the said team, it expanded to show who the members were. Apparently, as long as you were in the academy, there was no age limit. Only skill would be the deciding factor here. The teams that went into the tournament must have two professors to recommend them, by popularity from votes of students, or personally recommended by the headmaster/mistress of the academy. After that, they competed amongst themselves until there was only the eight strongest team from an academy. There were eight teams from each academy, fighting for the glory of their academy. Jaune raised an eyebrow as he quickly typed in Winter's name and found her as team captain of team WNTR. Jaune smirked at that.
The dragons were impressed at the stage and how it could simulate different environments. They agreed that humans had indeed come far.
"I'm rooting for team SFRN!" said Nebula, grabbing a fan flag.
"It's going to be team WNTR who'll win," said Gwen, "That team, especially with Winter Schnee as captain, dominated the last tournament."
"Team SLVR has some pretty hot guys," commented Octavia.
"Do you have a team in mind?" asked Dew towards Jaune. He merely shrugged.
Jaune and the dragons were pretty interested to see how the other Huntsmen and Huntresses in training fought. After a few matches, Jaune was inserting random tactical mistakes some teams made while praising some ideas. Nebula was exchanging plans on who should have done what. Gwen and Octavia were merely cheering them all on. Dew was trying to see what techniques she could steal or learn from watching. When Winter's team came forth, Jaune cheered her on. The girls were slightly shocked to learn that Jaune personally knew her, and soon, they begged him to take them to her for an autograph. Soon, a match that Jaune never imagined came forth.
"Now introducing Team SFRN of Haven versus Team ARLN of Shade!"
Jaune stood up as he saw her long-lost sister Saffron Arc standing with her team. Of course, she would be in this tournament! She was four years older than him, which meant she would be in her third year at the academy. He quickly pulled up the display and saw it was her sister in team SFRN, being the leader. He smiled warmly, remembering all the kindness his sisters had shown him. In a rare moment, a teardrop appeared in his eye.
"Jaune?" asked Dew, noticing the teardrop. Jaune quickly waved it off, saying it was nothing before pulling up her sister's opponent. He had noticed that her sister was giving her opponent, a young boy, a death glare. The boy seemed oddly familiar. When he pulled up the name, he froze. For the leader of team ARLN was...
Aurelian Arc.
Jaune's mind froze at that. How was that possible? He knew he only had seven sisters and no brother. What was worse, was the boy seemed to be the age of 18, a second year. After racing through the possibilities, it became clear. His sperm donor, Vlad Arc, apparently had a mistress or mistresses on the side and had them bear him children. No wonder his dam sperm donor never tried to find another way to teach him. He had plenty of other choices! The boy looked like a bleeding clone of his sperm donor!Jaune gripped his hands so hard that it was bleeding. His vision was slowly turning red. Then, he felt someone's hand touch his, clearing the blood lust.
"Jaune? Are you okay? What's wrong?" asked Dew. Nebula, Octavia, and Gwen turned and saw Jaune was bleeding in his hands.
"It's nothing," said Jaune, "Just some bad memories. Cmon, let's watch this fight."
Conceding but planning to bring it up later, for now, the girls turned their attention back to the fight. They could, however, feel Jaune's anger permeating in the room.
At the arena
"Chill out, sister. You'll get wrinkles," winked Aurelian.
"I am not your sister. I only have one little brother, and it's certainly not you," growled Saffron.
"You mean that failure Jaune? Psh, I show more talent in my pinky than his entire existence," taunted Aurelian.
"Saffron, calm down. We need you to have a clear head to win this," whispered Fizza, Saffron's partner.
Saffron took a deep breath, calming herself down. Her partner was right, they would need a clear head for this fight. The seven sisters had learned of Vlad's mistresses and were not pleased. Yu divorced him immediately but was not allowed to gain custody of her children due to Vlad's influence. Instead, when each girl came of age at 21, they immediately threw away their last name. They were technically of age at 17, but they needed to have the Arc last name to join any school of their choice. Saffron would be the second to last one to join her sisters. The youngest one, Orabelle Arc, was attending a civilian school, hoping to become a doctor.
"For you, Jaune," whispered Saffron.
The bell rung, signaling the fight had started. Saffron immediately activated her Semblance, Enhancement. This semblance allowed her to choose what trait to enhance. She chose an all around enhancement, increasing everything by 30% only. She would need more training to increase it, but if she chose to not increase speed, then she could put more onto power. Still, she chose this one as it would allow them to prepare for any surprises team ARLN had.
Aurelian charged towards Fizza, using the Arc sword style. His great sword also had the ability to transform into an RPG if needed. Fizza tried to block it with her weapon, but with too many swings, Fizza was blasted off the stage.
Saffron didn't sit still, though. She drew out her bastard sword and swung, using the same style, on her opponent. A few seconds later, he was blasted out of the stage when she pulled a trigger on her hand guard, causing her sword to explode on impact.
The fight was long, and soon, it was a 2v3 with SFRN losing. As Aurelian fought Saffron, he taunted her once more.
"How's it feel, to be weaker than me? Don't worry, I'll lead the Arc clan to greatness. Perhaps my first order will be to send a false hope to Jaune and bring him back just to crush him under my feet."
"Shut UP, BASTARD!" shouted Saffron as she swung her blade. She then noticed her Aura was draining faster than normal.
"Finally noticed?" said Aurelian, "My Semblance is Aura Steal. I can drain my opponent's Aura and put them into my own reserve. It has its flaws, but in the end, all shall bow to me."
With a final swing, Aurelian swung and broke Saffron's collar bone as well as forcing her Aura into nothing.
"And Saffron is out by Aura Level!"
The last one of team SFRN was also knocked out by low Aura Level. As they left for the lockers, Aurelian taunted her one last time, causing her to just grit her teeth and leave.
"Well, that's the last of the fights for today," said Nebula, "Let's hurry to Atlas Academy's locker rooms! I wanna meet Winter Schnee!"
The girls dragged Jaune towards those lockers. Luckily, the teams of Haven academy were located right next to Atlas while Beacon and Shade were at the other side of the arena. Jaune had no desire to see his apparent half-brother. He put on the hoodie, just in case. Truth be told, he would have rather just gone back, but the girls were too stubborn to let him go.
Winter Schnee took a breath as she changed her clothes, leaving her weapon in her rocket locker. By rule, they weren't allowed to have their weapon while exploring the city. And she obeyed the rules. She wasn't going to like telling her father that she was planning to join the military after finishing the academy instead of following his business, but that was for later. Plus, Weiss always wanted to be the heiress, and she had inherited the best of mother's trait as well as some of her father's trait, though a few were undesirable. She saw Saffron with a bandage and stepped to meet her.
"You did decent out there," complimented Winter.
"Not as good as I wanted to," mumbled Saffron.
"Hey, it's okay. We all learn from our failures," said Winter, "Not to brag, but your the fact you were able to have Aurelian reveal his semblance helps my team if we face them next round."
Saffron smiled, "As long as you kick their ass, I have no complaints."
They heard a scuffle outside the locker room and went to see what the commotion was about.
"You're not allowed here," said a security staff.
"Cmon! Let us through," pleaded Octavia.
"He knows Winter Schnee personally!" said Dew.
"Pfft, yea, and I'm the head honcho of the SDC," retorted the guard, "Get lost. We don't need fans trying to get in there."
"Just let Winter see this card, and she'll know who I am," said the male in a hoodie. Winter and Saffron couldn't make out who was in the hoodie.
"Joke's over, brat!" said the guard, slapping the card up. It landed right in front of Winter, whose eyes opened wide as she did recognize the card. She picked up the card and strode forward.
"Hold it!" said Winter. The guards turned around quickly.
"Ma'am! Just getting rid of these pests. They won't bother you for long."
"That's enough," said Winter, "It just so happens I am a personal friend with that man, as he is also a good friend of all the Schnee family, including my father."
The guards paled and gulped in fear. They had just disrespected someone who was friends with someone with a lot of power. They turned back to the hooded male and begged him for mercy.
"Relax. You were just doing your job. Just don't be so overzealous next time," said the teenager, waving them off. They thanked him and allowed Saffron and Winter to pass through.
"Come. I'll take you all out for dinner at Royal Buffet. My treat," said Winter as she gave the card back to the hooded teenager. The girls cheered, as they would be spending time with their favorite team leaders. Saffron looked at the hooded teenager. He seemed so familiar.
Soon enough, they were at a private room with food being brought to them. All they had to do was order something off the menu, and it would come to them. The girls were in dreamland while Jaune was having a good time getting some delicious food in.
"So, are you girls going to introduce yourselves?" asked Winter, "I already know him."
The girls blushed and introduced themselves quickly.
"I can't believe Jaune actually knows you!" crowed Gwen.
Saffron perked up at this. Could it be her little brother Jaune? Was he alive?
"Yes, Jaune Ryu-Long is a good friend, even if it for a day only. My father took a liking to him and personally invited him to a concert. It was right after that, he saved my little sister's life from a White Fang assassin," explained Winter.
Saffron's face fell back down. There was no way Jaune could have made it to Atlas from Mistral. Without any Aura or funds, Jaune was most likely dead or scavenging for food. Vacuo wouldn't be kind to him, as the villagers accepted only those who could live in the desert. No pity was given.
"Speaking of which, Jaune, take off that dam hoodie," said Winter, "It's annoying, distracting, and disrespectful."
"Are we in a safe room?" asked Jaune. Saffron twitched but didn't change her expression. It sounded like him, but with a tone that was much deeper.
"Yes, of course. This is a private room," said Winter.
Jaune took off his hood and stared at Saffron, whose eyes were growing bigger by the second.
"Hello, sister."
"SISTER!" shouted all the girls. Saffron didn't say anything as she threw herself on her not so little brother.
"Jaune! JAUNE!" sobbed Saffron as she continued to hug him.
"I'd prefer that none of this information leaves this room at all," said Jaune sternly to the rest of the occupants. They slowly nodded.
Saffron soon stopped sobbing and drew her head up whispering in a quiet voice, "I can't believe you're alive and well. That sick man s-."
Jaune immediately put his finger on her lips,"Let's not talk about the past. I don't want to talk about it if it's possible. I noticed I apparently have a half-brother."
"Two of them," said Saffron, "That sick man decided to have two of them with his mistress. Mom immediately divorced him after she found out. Unfortunately, the Arc name is influential, and she wasn't able to gain custody of us. However, all of us decided to follow mom and throw away our last name when we hit 21. I'm the second to last one. Jaune, you should come with me! Come back home to mom and the rest of the family! Mom got a nice settlement from the divorce, and the rest of the family is doing well that we got a rather large house."
"I can't," answered Jaune, "If that man knows I'm still alive, he can easily use that influence to force me back to him. There, he could easily 'hide' my body. I can't afford to be found until I hit 17 and get into the academy. If I could, I probably would have accepted the adoption that my friend and her family offered me."
Saffron hung her head down in resignation, knowing that it was true. Their conversation was held in whispers, so none of the other occupants heard what the conversation was about.
"Allow me to explain," said Jaune, turning to Winter and the girls, "I said sister, but I only call her that because she used to take care of me when I was younger. Some events happened, and we were separated. She thought I died."
Jaune and Saffron winced inside. They didn't like hiding the truth, but it was needed.
"Let's stop with history talk," said Jaune, "and talk about something else."
Everyone agreed and continued to eat their dinner, talking about the competitors. Nebula, Dew, Gwen, and Octavia got their autographs from Winter, who was amused by them. Saffron talked with Jaune for a bit more about her life. Jaune, however, remained silent for the rest of the night. For Saffron, it was easy to see why he didn't want to talk to anybody. He was still reeling from the fact that Vlad had gone and sired another son, one that would take over the Arc family someday. The others huffed in irritation but left him alone with Saffron. Soon, they were all walking towards Dew's home. Dew offered Winter and Saffron to stay for the night. They shook their head and said they needed to head back to Shade academy to sleep with their team. Winter needed to plan out with her team. They offered to at least walk them safely back home.
They were walking when Jaune noticed the street was unusually silent. Looking around, he noticed the nearby shops completely closed.
"Umm guys? I think something's wrong,"
Winter and Saffron noticed it, too, and quickly pulled out their Scrolls to call their weapon. However, before they managed to do so, their Scrolls suddenly sparked with electricity before breaking down. The same were with the rest of the girls.
"Hey what gives?" asked Nebula, shaking her Scroll.
"So. You're the one who my people tried to attack. How fortunate that I meet you here."
They turned around to see a female with a Grimm mask covering her face. She was dressed in red and black, with long black hair and what seemed to be a giant sheath for a simple long blade.
"Get behind me," said Winter quickly stepping forward. Saffron also stepped forward to shield Jaune and the girls. Both of them recognized the woman as leader of a notorious bandit clan.
"What do you want with him?" asked Saffron.
"Merely to talk to him. I do not need any obstacles or distractions, so leave," replied the woman.
"Not happening, Raven Branwen!" shouted Winter.
"So, you know who I am," said Raven as she removed her mask, "Looks like Ironwood has trained his little dog well. Not well enough." With a snap of her finger, 10 more people showed up to surround them.
"Just leave the boy with us, and you'll go free without harm," said Raven.
"Not happening," retorted Saffron.
Very well, then." said Raven as she lifted her hand up.
"Wait!" shouted Jaune, stepping forward, "You wanted me? Then talk. Why are you coming for me?"
Raven smirked, "Why, don't you remember? Perhaps seeing this person might job your memory."
From behind her, the one-eyed bandit came out. Jaune's eye widened in surprise.
"Ah, I see you do remember. The group of people you mercilessly killed" stated Raven.
The female of Jaune's group turned to Jaune in horror.
"They tried to kill me. I only acted in self-defense," said Jaune coldly. "Are you for revenge?"
"I know. That's why I'm impressed. You are strong, so you live. They were weak, so they died. That's the way the world works. That's how our clan works. I'm here to offer you a choice. Come with us," announced Raven.
"No," replied Jaune immediately, "I have no desire to become someone who preys on the innocent, who robs people of their light."
"A pity," said Raven, "Perhaps you'll come with us when we separate you from your weak friends."
With a slight tilt of her head, the bandits charged. Before they could blink, Jaune had thrown his hoodie at one, blinding him and forcing him to not notice Jaune was already on him, punching the bandit right into the ground, fracturing the cement ground. Another bandit drew out his staff, transforming it into a battle axe, and tried to slice him horizontally. Jaune had his hands already formed as dragon claws, sinking his fingers into the bit of the axe, letting the edge barely touching his palm.
"What!?" shouted the bandit, trying to push his axe in with all his might. Jaune smirked as he poured a bit more aura and strength into his fingers.
"The dragon's claw rips those who defy those who try to control him with power!"
The axe suddenly shattered into pieces. The bandit couldn't even yelp as Jaune punched the bandit in the face before doing a front flip and landing an axe kick on the man's head, leaving him unconscious.
"So, you're strong even without a weapon. That only makes me want you in my clan even more," said Raven. "What fortune to stumble upon a diamond in the rough."
"Jaune?" said Saffron in amazement. The Jaune she knew wasn't this skilled.
Jaune merely shifted back to a fighting position again. He might be unarmed but he was far from helpless. Especially since he had taken off all his weights for the day.
Before Raven could step forward, Winter attacked Raven. Even without her weapon, Winter had training with unarmed combat. It was a requirement upon entering the Atlas military.
"Useless," scoffed Raven as she dodged Winter's attacks. Saffron was busy dealing with 2 other bandits
Nebula, Dew, Gwen, and Octavia were also busy dealing with their own opponents. Jaune was fighting against Raven's top two bandits.
Winter was pushing Raven into a corner. She kept using her Semblance and summoning light Beowolves and small Nevermores to distract Raven. Raven found them annoying as she sliced them in half, only to dodge a kick from Winter as she also entered into close quarters as soon as her summons dissipated. It seemed as though Winter was winning, but in reality, she was draining too much Aura from all her attacks while Raven was barely using any. When Raven finally found herself with her back to the wall. Winter jumped into the air, her right leg raised high into the air, ready to bring it down on Raven's head. It seemed as though it would land on Raven's head when Saffron was blasted into Winter by her opponent.
"Lucky me," said Raven as she drew out her blade. Unable to react, she sliced both her enemies. Their Aura took the majority of the hit, but they were unable to prevent a deep gash from the chest to the waist. Their bodies shimmered for a sec before it broke down, like static going throughout their body.
"Urg," they both dropped down in pain. Raven lifted her sword into the sky.
"Die." Raven slashed down towards Saffron's head. Suddenly Jaune appeared between them both. He had managed to push the bandits away from him to give him time to dash between Raven and her victims.
"Jaune! Get out of the way!" shouted Saffron and Winter.
"Jaune! NO!" screamed Dew. She tried using her semblance, but it wasn't perfected yet. She had to concentrate to form a whirlwind, and the opponent she was fighting wasn't allowing her to do so. Aryz noticed, though, and was intrigued.
Raven was puzzled. Why and how would this man try to block her attack with just his bare hands?
Jaune smirked as he put a new technique he had learned to the test. He put his right fist up, palm upwards, letting it come near the blade that was aiming for him. He touched the side of the blade with his jutting bent thumb before twisting his whole fist and arm, resulting in a corkscrew punch. He launched it right towards Raven's face who looked shocked to see her blade sliding harmlessly along Jaune's arm while his fist was incoming towards her face. Too late to move back, Jaune landed a punch right into Raven's face, who flew back a few feet before landing on her feet again.
Everyone stopped fighting for a second. The bandits were in shock that their seemingly invincible and untouchable boss actually got hit from the teenager, while Winter and Saffron were amazed. Dew was screaming with joy inside.
Raven spat out some blood while using her free hand to feel that bruise that was forming on her face. Her Aura would take care of that, but it hurt her pride that she got hit by someone who hadn't even gone to combat school. She signaled her top two men to stand down, as she would take care of this. They nodded and went after Winter and Saffron, who had managed to get back up, to prevent them from interfering with Raven's fight. Winter and Saffron had to deal with two opponents each, now.
"I really am fortunate. You're even stronger than I thought," Raven grinned before she charged in slashing again.
This time, Jaune was forced to defend as he couldn't attack her at all. She was too fast, too experienced for Jaune. He tried to use the same attack as before, but she was able to read it and dodge the attack with ease before kicking him in the stomach. Jaune blocked it, but it forced him to take a more defensive stance now. Even with his dodge training, Raven was able to predict where he would go with ease. She could slip her sword into his defense and stab him at several non-vitals. Luckily his Aura took the hits, but Raven was draining it fast. Not to mention that when she slashed, she always seemed to get lucky and force Jaune into an even worse position. Raven managed to even slash through his Aura and right onto his chest. His shirt ripped open, revealing his Mithril shirt for all to see. Jaune was lucky he had worn his shirt, otherwise, he would've been bleeding from that attack. Raven raised an eyebrow at this. So this teenager was well-connected in his sources too.
"Jaune. Link up with me," said Othim, no joking tone in his voice, "You can't win like this. She's too strong for you right now. We'll have to reveal your secret to these people, but at least with my power, we won't attract too much attention since it's night and our opponent has been kind enough to remove other people from this area."
Jaune gritted his teeth. He didn't want to reveal his dragon contract and nature yet. If Vlad Arc ever found out before Jaune turned 17, he would force Jaune into a political marriage, have him make a few kids, before killing him before claiming the Dragon Clan as part of the Arc family. That, and it still took awhile to link up with his dragons. It wasn't perfected yet as he didn't get all of their powers when linked, and he had to visit the last cave to train. There was also no guarantee he would win. He may have the edge in speed and power from the contract, but Raven was still far ahead of him in technical skill and experience.
"I know it that it's risky, but right now, that woman is a serious threat," said Lung Wang.
"Show them what it means to truly fight a dragon," stated Fafnir.
Jaune managed to force Raven back after taking another hit to his forearm, leaving a gash before jumping attack had managed to cut through his Aura. He channeled all his remaining Aura, and his Aura flared up for everyone to see. The Aura formed into a dragon's head, and Raven felt like she was being stared at an ancient creature far older than even the Grimm.
She unconsciously took a step back when one of the lamp poles suddenly collapsed from all the fighting and fell right towards her. Raven instantly sliced the pole away.
"Nice one, boss. That was bad luck that pole just fell down like that," commented a bandit.
'Bad luck?' mused Raven before realizing something important. She turned around, blade up just in time to block another blade aiming right at her body.
"Hello, little brother," said Raven.
"Hey, sis," replied Qrow before flipping over to where Jaune was. Jaune instantly ceased channeling his Aura, interested at what was happening.
"QROW!" shouted Winter.
"Hey there, Ice Queen," answered Qrow as he shouldered his blade, "I'll talk with you later."
Qrow looked at Raven, "The Hunters and Shade Academy have noticed something wrong here already and are on their way. I suggest you back off from this kid for now."
Raven gritted her teeth. It looked like her luck had run out for now. Scoffing she turned around before slicing a portal open. Her bandits quickly walked in, but not before giving a death glare to Qrow and Jaune. As Raven was about to walk in, she turned around one last time towards Jaune.
"Remember my offer, Jaune. You are strong and have power. My clan will always be willing to accept you as one of us if you join us. You may even become my successor. After all, not many can say they have laid a hand on me," said Raven seductively.
"Cougar," coughed Qrow. Raven glared at him before disappearing into the portal.
"What did she mean by that?" asked Qrow as he uncorked his flask to take a chug of his whiskey.
"I punched her in the face," deadpanned Jaune. Qrow lifted his eyebrow at that. He was impressed. Even if done by accident, it was really rare for anyone to be able to hit his sister at all. All that dam good luck helped her a bit too easily.
"Jaune, are you all right?" asked Winter, still clutching her wound.
"Ice queen, you should be more worried about yourself," chuckled Qrow, "With those injuries, you're in no shape to fight in the Vytal Tournament Festival."
Winter grinded her teeth at that. She had first met Qrow during earlier in her second year. At first, she admired the legendary hunter. Until he started to reveal his nature as a blunt drunkard. Winter lost any respect for him then and there. It was true, though, that the recovery would take at least a week, which meant it would be too late for her to recover in time. The tournament lasted only six days, each event fight lasting two days. Two for team, two for duo, and two for solo.
"Sorry about that," apologized Jaune as he scratched his head, "Didn't think she would be after me."
"You have nothing to apologize for, Jaune," replied Winter, "It was just a stroke of bad luck." Qrow slightly winced at this before telling himself that this time, it wasn't his fault.
"Is that a Mithril shirt, Jaune?" asked Gwen. Everyone stared at Jaune and noticed the shimmering shirt. "How did you get that?" she continued her question.
"Friend made it for me," replied Jaune before finding the hoodie he had dropped and quickly put it on, his tone telling them he wasn't going to explain.
"Well, then. Let's get out of here. I'll accompany you to your homes before I go find the Headmistress of Shade. Tell her she needs to buff up here security," announced Qrow.
Jaune, Nebula, Dew, Gwen, and Octavia were quickly taken to Dew's house, and after promising to come back, Qrow dropped Winter and Saffron back at Shade.
"So, are you planning to become a Huntsmen?" asked Dew to Jaune, trying to break the tension that hard formed in her house.
"Yea. It would be interesting to participate in the Vytal Tournament Festival. Lot's of people to fight in a controlled environment," said Jaune.
"Ooh! You should go to Shade Academy with us!" said Octavia, "You'd easily get in. We can even vouch for you!"
"No," said Jaune calmly, "I will not go to that one. There's a certain person in there I do not want to meet."
You mean Aurelian? Sure, he beat your sister, but he can't be that bad, right?" asked Nebula. Jaune merely shook his head, unwilling to explain it further. He just told them that there was a bad history between his family and him.
Dew felt her heart slightly break. Here was a boy she was attracted to, and he just told them flat out he wouldn't be going to Shade Academy. She wanted to either convince him to join or convince her friends to attend whatever school he was going to go, but knew that would be too selfish of her.
A series of knocks rang out from the door, and they knew it was Qrow. After quickly letting him in, they all went back to sleep, with Qrow keeping an eye out for them.
The next few days went past in a blur. They watched as Aurelian was named champion of the 39th Vytal Festival Tournament, much to Jaune's dislike. After that, Jaune decided it was time to visit the shop Hephaestus had mentioned. Before Qrow left, he called Jaune over.
"Here kid. Heard you wanted to be a Huntsmen. It's very rare that I give this out, but you definitely deserve this recommendation from yours truly. Show it to any academy, and it'll raise your chances to get in, even if you're not from a combat prep school."
Soon enough, most of the tourists left for their homes. Jaune was still staying at Dew's house for the moment while Nebula and the rest returned home.
One day, while the girls were all at Shadow Academy, Jaune went to the shop Armor Amour. As soon as he entered, he heard a gruff voice, "Aren't you a bit young to not be at school?"
Jaune turned around to see a gray-haired man with slightly long hair and a long beard. From his build, it was obvious he was the blacksmith Hephaestus had told him about. He was smoking a cigar pipe.
"I'm here to have some armor crafted. I was-"
"Not interested," replied the man. "I, Wayland the Smith, will not craft armor because some privileged snot nose brat wants me to. I already dealt with another blondie named Aurelian, who demanded I should feel honored he even chose me."
Jaune bit back his laughter, but Wayland caught it, "So you don't like him either."
Jaune nodded his head.
"Just because you agree with me, doesn't mean I'll help you still. You're just a bit higher than that brat for now," said Wayland.
Jaune shrugged before pulling out a chunk of Fleytium, about half the size of the Adamantine ore back in the cave, he had actually found in his travels and not in the caves. It was by complete accident while he was still walking towards Vacuo. He was hunting for food when the deer jumped towards the cliff, causing boulders to fall and cause a landslide. Jaune wanted to use wings to avoid the landslide, but Lung Wang told him to man up and run for his life. It was an excellent training session, in Lung Wang's opinion, but Jaune had been terrified. In the end, he couldn't outrun it, so he hopped on rocks that were falling, hoping to not fall. At the end, when the landslide finally stopped, he cheered out loud, declaring his victory. Then, another rock fell from the sky right into his face, almost knocking him out. Jaune suffered having a black eye for a few days as a reminder to always be on guard, even when certain victory seemed imminent. In turn, though, he found the ore he needed in the landslide.
"I have the materials. I just need you to craft. Hephaestus recommended you for my crafting my armor," stated Jaune.
Wayland was not a person who could be surprised easily. He looked at the ore, then at Jaune, then back to the ore. He checked his pipe to make sure it was tobacco. He then puffed it again. He walked towards a window and opened it, taking a deep breath of air. He looked back at the ore again to see it was still there. He walked around it to inspect it. He touched it to make sure it was real. He stood back up to take a puff of his pipe. He sat down on his chair, grabbing his Scroll and putting it on the big screen he had on his wall. A dialing tone could be seen going out. Soon, the screen had Hephaestus on the screen.
"Is this the kid who you told me about?" asked Wayland as he pointed to Jaune.
Hephaestus looked at the direction and saw Jaune with a big lump of ore right next to him.
"Jaune!" shouted Hephaestus, "You haven't called us in ages. Pyrrha's been quite upset and took her anger out on some poor schmucks who tried to hit on her. You're lucky I'm at Pyrrha's house right now, lemme call your 'wife'."
Hephaestus looked away from the screen, calling for Pyrrha. A voice yelled back, and when Hephaestus said the magic word, a red and bronze blur came rushing through the stairs. Hephaestus didn't even have time to move as a javelin shot out and moved him out of the way, pinning him to a wall.
"Jaune! Are you all right!? Why haven't you called earlier? I was so worried!" shouted Pyrrha.
"Yea, so was I, but that's no longer my primary concern," shouted Hephaestus, "I'm more concerned with explaining to your parents why I'm stuck on the wall with the weapon I made you."
Pyrrha blushed before using her Semblance to unpin him from the wall, "I'm sorry!"
Hephaestus grunted as he walked over to Pyrrha, taking the Scroll from her and putting it into a port on a bigger screen so they could both see Jaune without crowding around the Scroll.
"Told you your wife was worried," said Hephaestus. Pyrrha blushed and punched her uncle on his arm.
"Wife?" asked Wayland with an eye raise, "Aren't they a bit young? And what about her parents. I recall they're pretty strict."
"Oh right, I didn't get to tell you," said Hephaestus, "Pyrrha unlocked Jaune's aura in front of us."
Wayland grinned at that, "I see. And those two didn't know the significance of that, did they?"
Both Jaune and Pyrrha blushed at that. Hephaestus chuckled before getting back on track, "So I'm guessing this call is also for something else?"
"Yea. I'm just going to say this once. And you know my character that it's rare I do this," said Wayland. He walked to Jaune, looking him straight in the eye. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND THIS MUCH FLEYTIUM, AND AT HIGH PURITY?!"
Hephaestus laughed at the sight of Wayland shaking Jaune back and forth, "I told you the kid would surprise you. Feel like making his armor now?"
"Very. I haven't had someone bring me such good materials for a long time. Most of them expect me to find it," said Wayland, "Do you have a design in mind?"
Jaune nodded as he gave him a notebook, containing all his armor details.
"I would give you the blueprints on a Scroll, but I was attacked while on my travels. The bandit used some sort of mobile EMP device and blew up my Scroll."
Pyrrha gasped, "Are you all right? No wonder you haven't been able to contact my uncle. Do you need me to come over and give you a new one? I'm sure mom and dad will be able to get one for you."
"That's all right, Pyrrha. I'll grab one myself later. I only have one and a half years left before I apply to an academy. I can last without one for the while," answered Jaune.
"But I won't be able to contact you," pouted Pyrrha. "Have you decided on an academy?"
"I'm not telling," teased Jaune. Pyrrha frowned before forming another question, "Is there one you don't want to go?"
"Shade Academy," replied Jaune automatically.
Wayland chuckled, "You really don't like that Aurelian kid, don't you."
"The one who was crowned champion recently?" clarified Pyrrha. They both nodded. Pyrrha secretly grinned. That was one school she knew Jaune wouldn't go, raising her chances of going to the same academy as Jaune. She didn't care if they had just won, all she cared was to be with Jaune.
Wayland took the scroll off the screen and handed it to Jaune, telling him that he would let him talk with Pyrrha as long as he wanted while he started to work on the armor. They talked through the whole day, telling each other of what had happened in their lives. Golga and Leonidas joined in and saw Jaune. The whole Nikos family was talking with Jaune, as if he was their family, too. When Jaune told them about Dew and how she was letting her stay at her house for a bit, Pyrrha frowned. She was jealous another teenager like her was with Jaune, and what was worse was apparently her parent's weren't home either.
'I'm not letting some other girl get my Jaune. I'll fight her if I have to," thought Pyrrha. She knew Jaune was a perfect gentleman and would not take advantage of Dew, but was worried that Dew might try to seduce him.
Jaune returned back to Dew's house. The days passed by and Wayland was done with his armor. Of course, Jaune went back to Wayland's house to talk with Pyrrha, who wanted to see him at every day until it was time for him to leave Vacuo. Back at Dew's house, he would talk and hang out with Dew, getting closer together.
"Not bad, kid. I like how it looks," commented Wayland. Dew had decided to come with him for once, and also liked what she saw. Pyrrha was unable to talk with Jaune for the day as she had to fight and a photo shoot scheduled.
Jaune had gone for a simple light armor design, allowing him to wear his hoodie. He had shoulder pauldrons on each side that extended all the way to his elbow. On each shoulder was, the pauldron was designed to look like a dragon's head. He had wristbands on both wrists that with a flick of a wrist, became forearm guards should he ever need to use CQC against someone with a weapon. It extended from the back of his hand, right before the knuckle, all the way down to almost the elbow. The construction of it was that there was a plate in each section, slightly stacked after each plate end, similar to a dragon's scale. He also had leg armor that protected his shins and knees. They were loose enough that he could still wear his jeans in them. The overall color of the armor was silver.
"I like it, Wayland. Hephaestus was right to recommend you," said Jaune as he put his shield on his back and sheath with his sword back at his waist. It was time for him to go. Fafnir had pinpointed the next and last nesting ground they would visit. It was in between Vacuo and Vale. As Jaune prepared to leave, Dew asked where his clothes were. He stuttered before lying, saying he had some of them shipped off to the next major city he was to visit. Dew questioned him further, but Jaune wouldn't explain.
"Sorry, Dew. It's best if nobody knows where I'm going next. Thanks for letting me stay with you," thanked Jaune, grabbing 3 white Lien cards and pressing it onto her hands. Dew gasped at the amount Jaune was giving her and tried to have him take it back, but Jaune shrugged it off.
"Fine," pouted Dew, "But one more thing."
Dew leaned in and kissed Jaune on the cheek. She wanted to kiss him on lips, but unfortunately, Jaune had turned when Wayland called for him. Still, at least she tried, and she was too nervous to do it again.
"Remember me in your travels. I'm sure we'll meet again as opposing teams in the next Vytal Festival Tournament." Dew gave him her number, making him swear to call her once he finally got a Scroll.
Jaune nodded, giving her a hug before leaving Vacuo. As soon as he hit the outskirts, he linked up with Alaerth, sprouting yellow scaly wings. He and the dragons wanted to reach the last site as soon as possible and continue his training. With a great flap of his wings, Jaune shot off into the sky and in a straight line towards the nesting grounds.
Raven was standing outside of Vacuo, waiting at the main road that leads from Vacuo. She was confident that Jaune would pass by this road. If not, she had others watching the other known roads. This time, she would get Jaune. Before she could think about how to seduce him, with her body or with one of her clan members, she heard a crack of what seemed to be lightning. She didn't have time to look up when a sonic boom washed right over her, forcing her to land on her back.
"What was that?" said Raven out loud. She didn't notice that Jaune had just flown right past her. Still, she decided to wait on the road for a week. She never saw Jaune and decided to give up for the time being. She'd find him sooner or later.
So, what'd you guys think! I tried to have Raven seem flirty, just like Yang. Except the difference is she's a mature beautiful lady while Yang's a hot teenager.
Hoped you guys liked it! I'm trying to portray Jaune with a reasonable growth, not super op at the beginning. Granted, he has dragons as trainers and trains almost all the time. He'll be a gentleman, but he will have his flaws, such as Arc issues. More on that later in the story!
If it wasn't obvious, Dew is part of the harem. I couldn't put her name onto my pairing list, as it doesn't have her name as a choice. Closest is Team NDGO, and I'm not pairing all of them with Jaune, merely one.
As for the OCs, I did follow the color name rule.
Read and Review!
Review Corner:
Shashenka: We're getting close to it! I can feel it!
Cy: Points to pairing list. It does say team RWBY.
Dp11: Eh, I'm more of conveying his generosity. Out of all the money he got, he gave the majority of it away.