His eyes remained closed, yet the sweet blissful embrace of sleep filled nothingness refused to claim him, even with the assistance of the medication he had taken. The airship rocked, causing his stomach to lurch once more. The quiet turning of the book pages at his side further blocked him from succumbing to slumber.
Jaune sighed deeply as he opened his eyes, words freely escaping his lips without a modicum of thought.
"God, I should just throw myself overboard at this point. I thought the allergy medicine would work."
The turning of pages momentarily stopped as Blake briefly glanced at him from behind her book.
"The drowsiness from the medicine isn't instant. Give it a few minutes. That or do a flip, I guess," Blake spoke dryly.
Jaune grinned, "Can do."
He rose his right hand, his middle finger rising as the rest of his fingers curled.
Blake glanced at him, her gaze falling upon his right hand, "Woah. Amazing display. Charming. Ten out of ten," her voice was laced with heavy amounts of sarcasm.
"Thank you! I'll be here all semester! Probably…" He lazily bowed his head as he lowered his right hand back into his lap.
Blake hummed, her attention returning to the book she was reading, "How confident, Mr. Runaway. Afraid your best won't be enough for Beacon? You have been getting combat practice in, right?"
Somehow, he doubted she would consider him getting into fights with boxes he was trying to shove into the baler at work would count as combat practice.
He deflected the best way he knew how, with an insane amount of cringe, "I've been battling my inner demons every day."
Jaune did his best to look entirely serious as he spoke, even as he internally died at his own words.
Blake lowered her book, her attention fully on him. Her lip minutely twitched. A moment passed, Jaune continued to present her with a false facade of seriousness on his face. Blake lost her composure, the small twitch of her lips turning into quiet giggles as she rushed to cover her mouth with her hand. Jaune's composure similarly broke, as his false visage of seriousness was replaced with a grin.
Blake removed her hand from her mouth after a few stifled laughs, "Congratulations, Jaune. That was by far one of the worst things I have ever heard in my life. For your sake, I hope you put in just as much effort into your combat practice as your comedy routine."
"Thanks, I try. I think I'll be fine at Beacon. What's the worst that can happen?"
Blake rose her brow as if she was questioning his sanity, "Crippling injuries? Loss of limbs? Being ripped apart by Grimm?"
Jaune shrugged, "Two of those can be solved with disability pay for life. The third wouldn't be my mess to clean up because I'd be dead. Would suck for the clean-up crew though. Maintenance doesn't get paid enough for the shit they have to deal with."
"Such an optimist. If only I could be such a glorious beacon of positivity," Blake said monotonously.
"That's reality. Do or die."
Blake sighed, "Die, in your case. Especially, if you make it a habit to only get three hours of sleep. Look, I can give you some tips or spar with you if you need to refresh on the basics. You're not that out of practice, right?"
Jaune happily smiled, "Let's assume I've been so lazy that I'm practically a novice again!"
Blake looked astonished by his answer, "God, maybe you should just toss yourself overboard. It would be a far more merciful way to go than falling to a horde of Grimm."
Jaune sadly shook his head, "If only it were so easy. But no, I'd rather hug an Ursa than free fall from this airship. Don't think my family would ever cope otherwise. At least there's some honor dying to the Grimm or so my good old gramps once said."
Blake frowned, "How depressing. Unfortunately, that's our reality, isn't it? Huntsmen don't have very high lifespans on average."
"But what a life to live! I think I'd prefer an early death over slowly rotting away doing nothing with my life. Isn't that why you're here too?" Jaune questioned Blake's motives.
"Not wrong. I don't think I could blindly live a peaceful life after finding out how many people struggle within the kingdoms every single day of their lives. I know I can make a difference at some point, might as well make myself useful."
There was an undercurrent of something more to her words, yet Jaune couldn't quite figure out what she was implying. Was she saying she was trying to protect the people only against the Grimm or…
He decided it would be wise not to dig further into her motivation.
"I'll likely take you up on your offer, Blake. I think I could use a few spars. Even if I claim I wouldn't mind a shorter lifespan, I don't actually want to end up dead a month into Beacon."
"I won't hold back. I don't care what combat school you attended or if you went with independent practice. I'll whip you back into shape, no matter how out of practice you are. I could use the practice too," she looked determined.
Jaune rubbed his chin pensively as he considered just how much he needed to catch up to even have a chance of not instantly ending up dead, "Good. I don't need you to be gentle. I just need you to show me the ropes. You can batter me around all you want; I can take it. I'm a quick learner, promise."
He saw a brief flash of pink on her face before Blake was once more obscured behind her book.
"O-okay," she answered a little too quickly for his comfort.
"Blake?"
She stayed hidden behind her novel.
Jaune suddenly felt very uneasy. Was he going to regret asking her for sparring practice?
With Blake ignoring him and sleep eluding him, Jaune spent the last part of the airship ride wasting time on his Scroll. His three older sisters were still constantly spamming him with messages, it was starting to get on his nerves. Jaune decided to respond to his older sisters in a completely mature way. He sent them all requests to play against him in a word scrabble game on their social media profiles before turning his Scroll off.
Before long, the airship came to a stop at Beacon Academy. Calls for disembarking played repeatedly from speakers throughout the hallway. Jaune could hear a steady stream of movement throughout the airship as excited hopefuls rushed to exit the ship.
He slowly stood up, taking a few moments to ensure he wasn't going to vomit. He felt… fine enough.
He called out towards Blake, "Ready to go?"
She closed her book, taking a moment to tuck it away into her backpack, "I'm going to take my time. I don't want to end up dragged into the crowd."
"Eh, I'm not in a hurry either. I'll stick with you," Jaune stepped off to the side to lean against the wall next to the couch.
Blake spent a few moments rearranging things in her backpack before standing from her seat, "Leisurely stroll it is."
Jaune's face scrunched up in disgust, "Just as long as we don't end up being those types of people that block the path out. I swear I'm going to go insane if I see a group of people suddenly stop in the middle of an aisle to have an entire discussion about their life stories."
Blake shook her head, "I hate that too. Happened to me when I was buying some things yesterday to prepare for Beacon. So inconsiderate. Have your family reunion somewhere else. Not in the entrance doorway of the store everyone is trying to get into."
Jaune was more than satisfied by her answer. She was, without a doubt, one of his fellows. She understood, utterly understood. People sucked.
A genuine smile bloomed on his face as he kept up a casual pace at Blake's side as they headed towards the exit to the airship. He could only hope he didn't make a complete fool of himself in the coming days. It wouldn't be easy, especially because he didn't have Aura… yet.
Aura, the power of one's own soul. His Aura remained dormant as there was never a reason for it to awaken. From what he understood, Aura could be awoken by another person with Aura using their power to jolt another person's Aura awake or through a more extreme method. A near death experience could awaken a person's Aura.
An individual's soul does not wish to be snuffed out without a fight. His Aura would surely awaken if he was on the verge of death. It was a disturbing thought. Especially, since it seemed like such a practical avenue to awaken his Aura. It's not like he could parade around the fact he didn't have his Aura at Beacon. That was the major requirement for applying to the academy and the only part of his transcript he 100% lied on.
He was in a bit of a pickle. Jaune had to find a way to nearly die, but not die. An alternative was to at least be put into such an intense situation his soul would suddenly decide to bail him out. Sparring with Blake might do the trick… maybe? He wasn't actually sure. Too many factors. He had to pass the initiation first and then Blake would have to spar with him without noticing his lack of Aura.
He ignored the dark thoughts creeping at the very back of his mind. Whispered suggestions of other possible methods to awaken his Aura. Horribly risky methods. Methods even he wasn't in a dark enough mindset to truly consider. The consequences for doing so were not worth it, even if he succeeded in awakening his Aura.
He put a stop to that line of thought at once. Jaune's focus returned to his surroundings as he took in the sight of Beacon Academy in person for the first time. It truly was one of the wonders of the world. The academy itself was an awe-inspiring mix of modern and medieval in its design as a massive sparkling white citadel. The massive tower in the center of the academy loomed high above.
Blake spoke at his side, her voice somber, "It's crazy, isn't it? I wonder how much Lien was spent here over the years… How much blood, sweat, and tears was shed to build this place into the 'Beacon of Hope' it allegedly is?"
Jaune knew how the common worker was treated, far too well, "More than anyone may ever realize, I bet."
Blake frowned at his side, "That's what disturbs me the most. Vale has a reputation as one of the better kingdoms, so I can only hope the toll to create this place wasn't too high. If this was Atlas, the foundations for the academy would have been built upon piles of unmarked graves. Mostly faunus."
Jaune grimaced, he knew how the world worked. Faunus were treated horribly to this day by most of the kingdoms. From what he heard, Vale was one of the better kingdoms for their kind. However, he didn't doubt the possibility that some faunus may have been lost during the creation of Beacon Academy. It's just how things were, especially in the previous decades when the school must have been constructed.
He personally didn't have an issue with faunus. They suffered just as much as he did at work, perhaps even more so. Customers could be such assholes. They hardly even viewed him as a human when he was working. He could only imagine the amount of torment some of his faunus coworkers must have been subjected to by entitled jackasses.
Jaune's eyes lingered on the massive tower in the center of the academy as he spoke, "There goes the luster of the academy for me. Damn… what a waste. There's got to be only a few hundred students at most, if even that. This place is practically the size of a small town by itself. Guess they thought more people would throw themselves at the Grimm?"
"A Beacon of Hope," Blake mocked as her gaze fell from the tower in the center of the academy and returned to the path before them.
Jaune followed at her side, the awe-inspiring sight of the academy forever tarnished in his eyes.
As Jaune and Blake continued down the path towards the central building of the academy, they met a small crowd of students gathering around what appeared to be an altercation between two students.
A girl wearing a white dress, with white hair and blue eyes was shaking an opened briefcase filled with several types of vials. A bunch of similar briefcases were scattered on the floor alongside various suitcases. A luggage cart was knocked down just to the side of the messy pile of containers.
A far younger looking girl wearing black and red was splayed out on the floor not far from the knocked down luggage, tears welling up in her grey colored eyes.
The younger girl screamed out, "I said I was sorry!"
"Sorry isn't good enough, you idiot! Do you know just how close you came to setting these off?! Dust crystals are fragile! Why are you even here? Go back to your preparatory combat school you stupid brat!"
Jaune snarled at the sight as he whispered to Blake, "What a bitch. Why does she even need that much luggage? I packed enough to get by in just one bag."
The girl in white reminded him far too much of the pretentious pieces of shit he had to deal with occasionally at work. The type that would request him to aid with a carryout of simple groceries only to jump into their vehicles and not help at all. The type who wouldn't even lift a finger to unload their own damn bananas when their cart was filled with a good forty products at the minimum.
He saw righteous fury blazing in Blake's eyes as she seemed to war within herself.
The younger girl on the floor wiped her eyes on her sleeve, "I didn't know! I w-was just in a hurry to find my sister. I'm not a child, I deserve to be here just as much as you! Y-you stupid princess!"
The white-haired girl closed her briefcase, "That's where you're wrong. Look how pathetic you are. Crying like some petulant child. You are oh so much lesser than I or any other of these students around us. Do us a favor and leave already, the airship is still docked," she motioned with her hand as if she was shooing away the girl.
Blake left Jaune's side, moving towards the altercation. She placed herself between the girl sprawled out on the floor and the girl in white, before rapidly advancing upon the girl in white.
Her words were filled with anger, "Go fuck yourself Weiss Schnee! Your daddy probably paid for your entrance into Beacon. We all know the Schnee Dust Company has enough Lien for it. Hard not to with the number of ethical violations you scumbags commit daily. Why don't you go back to Atlas instead and spare us from having to deal with your bitchiness?!"
Weiss used her freehand to adjust her ponytail, throwing it over her shoulder.
"Hmph, a bleeding heart. What backwater village did you crawl out of? If you're so aware of the SDC you should know no court has found us guilty of breaking any laws."
Blake scoffed, "Please. As if daddy dearest doesn't fill the pockets of all those judges. You'll get yours someday Schnee. You morally bankrupt sociopath!"
Blake apparently hit a nerve with her words. The closed briefcase the girl in white started the whole altercation over, was thrown from her hands towards Blake's head.
Jaune rushed forwards, but right before the briefcase contacted Blake, a small bag of luggage knocked it out of the air.
A female voice yelled out as rapid footsteps came from behind him, "That's enough!"
Jaune didn't turn around to see who had thrown the object, opting to head towards the younger girl stunned on the floor.
He held out his hand for her to grab, "Get up and get out of here. Go find your sister."
She took his hand, her voice still shaky as she spoke, "S-sorry."
She hung her head low as she rapidly moved past Blake and Weiss towards the main campus building.
Jaune headed towards Blake, standing at her side as she continued to glare hatefully at the girl in white. He heard footsteps behind him as a girl with a long red ponytail physically put herself between Weiss and Blake.
The girl with the red ponytail focused on Weiss for a few moments in complete silence before turning her attention to him and Blake. When she turned around to look at him, he recognized her. Those green eyes. It was the Pete sellout.
The sellout spoke, her words confident, the disappointment in her eyes, impossible to miss.
"Enough. Whatever this just was, no more. We're all here to learn. We all deserve to be here! I don't care if any of you think you were in the right. No one here was! Not a single one of you, especially those of you standing around doing nothing! Is that what you're going to do when the Grimm attack? Stand there and gawk?!"
Jaune had enough of the entire situation. He grabbed Blake's hand dragging her past the sellout and the Schnee. If the sellout wanted to rant, fine. He just didn't want to hear it anymore. There was clearly only one person in the wrong there. He was angry, fuming.
Blake seemed equally as mad as she started to rant at his side as they walked towards the central campus building, "Can you believe her?! Fucking bitch. She thinks the world should bend over backwards just because she was born lucky."
He agreed with her assessment, "Did you see how smug she was? She relished her own damn voice. She probably thinks the world revolves around her, that she's the main character. Bitch."
Blake continued to fume, "She's much worse in person. I can't stand her!"
Jaune nodded, "Agreed. So much worse."
Blakes anger seemed to somewhat fade as she sighed, "Sorry I got involved back there. I just couldn't sit back there and do nothing. Fucking Schnee…"
Jaune paused, confused, "Schnee?"
Blake's movement faltered for a moment as he continued to try to drag her forward hand in hand, "Yes… Weiss Schnee. The girl in white."
He awkwardly laughed, "Ah, I thought we were talking about the redhead with green eyes."
Blake looked very confused as she stared at him, "Pyrrha Nikos… You thought I was talking about Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, winner of multiple combat tournaments…."
"That's her name? I didn't know it or what she did to become popular. I just recognized her from her face being plastered on almost every Pete product."
"T-thats…" Blake froze before seemingly going into deep thought.
Jaune smugly spoke, "You're thinking about it now, aren't you?"
Blake broke free from his grasp, pulling her hand away from his. She moved to stand in front of him, her eyes glaring into his.
"Damn you. I can't unsee it now! There's no way you're right, I refuse. Everything I've seen online has pointed to Nikos being a good person."
Jaune scoffed, "I'm sure Weiss Schnee has plenty of good PR articles coming out of Atlas. Who's to say Pyrrha's case is any different with whatever kingdom she came from? That poor girl on the floor was pretty much used by both Weiss and Pyrrha to show off how great and mighty they were."
"I-I…" Blake's head hung low as she stared down at the floor.
"Dammit… We're surrounded by horrible people, aren't we?" Blake muttered.
Jaune rubbed his chin, "You don't seem that bad to me. I might be a bad person though. Runaway and all that."
Blake shook her head, her voice melancholic, "You're wrong. I'm an awful person."
Jaune hummed, "Someone awful wouldn't have gotten involved back there. Even if you did it to tell Weiss to fuck off, you came to the defense of that kid."
Blake chewed her lip, "She's not a kid if she's here. Whatever… Let's just go find the auditorium."
She stomped off, Jaune followed. There was no way one of his fellows was an awful person. Poor Blake, she must have been through a lot.
No, Pyrrha Nikos and Weiss Schnee were the monsters. Woe to anyone who would end up being forced onto teams with them. His heart truly went out for those unlucky enough to end up with either one of those two.
AN: Welcome to Beacon! Enjoy the ride.