Hello! riozard88 here, and I'm eager to continue the story (with hopefully double the word count this time) A bit of world-building for sure, and a showing of how the greatest loser got his start. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth

Chapter 2

Loser's Bet Part 1

No, he couldn't give up just yet. Not after trying for the Beacon entrance exams at least. Smacking his cheeks to stay motivated, Jaune got out of bed a little earlier than usual, the dream taking away the desire to sleep another hour. He did his morning rituals and prepared to quietly make his way downstairs. As he was passing the mirror on the wall by the door, he paused a moment to look at himself. He was an average size for his age of 16, 5'9, though his body was on the scrawny side (I'm working on it!)

He had dark skin he inherited from his mother, and a facial structure he got from his father(If only the baby fat on my face would go away so my mom stops pinching my cheeks!) His hair was a combination of both parents. Thin dark brown dreadlocks turning blond at the ends(I keep telling people it's a natural dual-tone, no one believes me though.) His hair was long enough to cover his ears, his bangs just above his eyebrows.

His eyes were a dark grey, could be mistaken for black unless you looked close enough. Though no one ever did, considering he wore glasses and never stayed still long enough for people to notice. That suited Jaune just fine though. He liked to keep busy. He couldn't afford to be lazy if he wanted to be a Huntsman. He adjusted his outfit, making sure it wasn't wrinkled or too dusty.

He wore a black shirt with the golden Arc symbol sewn proudly on his chest(Love you for that Big Sis Saphron!) with a royal blue hooded trench coat with gold trim that flowed down to his ankles. He had on rugged black jeans (also with gold trim) stitched into the seams. Form fitting at the waist, but loose going down his legs to his feet, where he had on thick black socks. He nodded to himself, thinking he was just about ready before his eyes widened.

(Ah crap, can't forget her!) Opening his drawer, he found what he was looking for. Attached to a silver necklace, was a multifaceted black pendant with a slight glow to it, seeming to shine slightly brighter as Jaune gazed at it. He carefully picked it up, and slipped it around his neck, his right hand gently cradling the jewel-like pendant. (Jack Of All Arms, or Joa for short. We'll go far together, you and I.)

Jaune smiled fondly at his weapon, memories flooding his mind, going back to when she was first thought of 10 years prior. (You were only possible because of my sister, one Gepetto Polendina and a loser's bet he made with me. First time I truly won anything.)

10 Years ago

Jaune's POV

"And it'll be super cool! It can become a sword, an axe, a spear, and those fist looking things-" "Gauntlets?" Big Sis Saphron said as I sat in her lap. "Yeah, gauntlets! It'll be amazing! You'll see, mom & dad will too, and they'll change their minds about... about..." No, no I won't do it, I won't cry again, I'm not a baby anymore! Big Sis held me tighter to her chest, fingers gently stroking my hair as I fought the tears that were coming despite myself. " I know Jaybird, I know. I believe in you."

My Big Sis always had my back. Even though she was so much older at 11, she didn't talk down to me like my dad , or give me looks of pity like my mom , thinking I was too young to notice. Yeah I read books without pictures already, I know the difference between empathy and pity dang it! Big Sis says she'll get into a medical school in Atlas when she's done with school here, and find a way to help me get strong enough to be a huntsman one day, even if my parents refuse to help!

We live in a small town on Sanus, called Domremy, close enough to the kingdom of Vale where they have combat schools like Signal, and an academy called Beacon! All the best Hunters come from there, and I wanna go there too! As soon as I knew what I wanted to do(which was like a month ago but who cares! It's never a bad thing to help people against the Grimm!) I told my parents, and I figured since they were both retired Hunters and knew about that cool aura stuff, they would wanna train me n' stuff! I promised I'd keep my grades up in school, stay diligent with any training, and work hard to make them proud. I was wrong.

" Honey," my mom, Tamara Alistair-Arc began, worry showing in her brown eyes. "I just don't believe it'll be possible for you. With your poor vision and your asthma... if we tried to unlock your aura as you are, we could make things worse. Besides, your father and I already agreed that we wouldn't put any children we had through the Hunter lifestyle we went through."

"That's right," Johan Arc added, his blue eyes softened for a moment before hardening in determination. When you were born we... almost lost you. You were born early due to complications, and the thought of you risking your life in an endless struggle just... No. it won't be happening."

I felt tears sting my eyes as I heard this, but I refused to cry in front of them. " But I... I can be strong mom, dad, just like the two of you! Don't you believe in me? I can already read really good, the teachers talk about how smart I am for my age, I'm sure in time my body can catch up and-"

"Enough." Both of my parents did this thing with their aura that knocked me back a little, causing me to cough from the stress of it all. Big Sis Saphron was shocked and angry . "Why did you do that?!" She ran to my side, knelt down to rub my back and give me my inhaler she had on her for emergencies. "Did you have to go that far to prove your point?!" Both parents paled at what they did for just a moment, then their faces were set once again.

"Yes," Dad said. "It's to show we're a united front on this . To show it's not a game. You two are still children, you don't know the horrors of a Hunter life like we do."

"It also shows your little brother how w-weak he is, even compared to an average person. So he can get those fool notions of being a Huntsman out of his head before they take root." Mom looked like she wanted break down as she said those words, but she held it together in front of us.

" To show that you're... not cut out to be like us. You'd be nothing but a liability to any teammates you had, a burden for them to look after. A failure to your class in any combat school or academy you applied to. A... loser that would only get you and any potential team killed." Dad looked so old and tired as he said those words, but kept his eyes firmly on us as he did so.

I stood up after that, head down, and slowly walked back to my room, feeling like my whole word was crashing down. As I closed my door, I heard my sister say, "I'll believe in him then, enough for the both of you!"

Had to break this up into two parts, sorry it got a bit heavy there, had to set the tone a bit. R , let me know what y'all think! Peace!