The Arc Manor was a large Manor that was rewarded to Commander Julius Arc after he defended the frontier town of Incus from a large tide of Grimm. Incus was located just north of Vale next to a large lake.
The Arc Manor, despite being quite old was maintained regularly and had all the modern Dust appliances and was sturdy enough to contain the family of Huntsman that Lived within it.
The family's only son was currently within its armory, where his tale would begin.
Fourteen year old Jaune Arc had always wondered what the names of the weapons of his bloodline meant.
As he looked around the Arc Armory – His third youngest sister, Joy, had started calling it the Arc Armory and eventually everyone else started calling it that too – with a reverence that only a child could have he couldn't help but want to see if he could use these weapons.
He looked to the wall and saw Gravis Mors, the weapon of his late grandfather Christopher Arc.
Gravis Mors was a plain looking Great sword that was as tall as his father and weighed just as much. The huge blade was riddled with scratches and small dents and the edge was lined with Gravity Dust, when activated would increase its weight and tear through – not cut – whatever Grimm was unlucky enough to be in its path.
As Jaune ran a hand along its dulled edge he wondered just how strong his grandfather had to be to swing such a thing around.
He looked to the end of the hall, gazing with amazement at the dozens of weapons and armor that ranged from rifles that turn into mauls to the classic sword.
Most if not all the weapons that his family used were named something along the lines of 'Crocea Mors' or 'Ustrina Mors'. The names were very cool in Jaune's opinion and they rolled off the tongue quite nicely but he'd have to ask his father what they meant after he was done looking around.
He continued walking through the hall and something caught his eye that was right at the end.
A sword that was in a glorious white sheath that had two golden stripes running along it. Next to the sword was a large white suit of armor with golden lining and the Arc crest right on its chest plate.
Jaune felt… drawn to the sword. He stopped next to it and looked at the golden plaque next to it that read.
Crocea Mors
The Sword and Shield That Was Wielded By the Savior of This Village.
In Memory of Julius Arc.
My great great grandpa saved Incus?
Jaune wondered with stars in his eyes as he looked at the ancient blade and wondered if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of the rest of his family. He always wanted to be different from the rest of his family but now that he thought about being a Huntsman sounded much cooler than he remembered.
Jaune's dreams had been all over the place ever since he was a child, ranging from being a musician to being a professional wrestler, he could never really decide on something and that ended up with him having a host of random talents that he enjoyed but never really felt very passionate about.
Playing the guitar was quite fun when he played for his friends and sisters but he recently realized that he didn't want to spend his entire life fixated on instruments.
Dancing was something his sisters had roped him into while they dressed him like those princesses that could make the animals dance with their singing, Jaune shuddered as he remembered how his father had actually thought he was a girl at first glance during one of their tortur- Tea parties.
Wrestling was something that he had tried simply because his classmates kept calling him a supposedly famous wrestler. He'd never heard of 'Jaune Cena' but they kept calling him that for whatever reason, so he decided to start wrestling to spite them, he never was quite good at wrestling though.
His dreams usually never lasted a week before they changed.
But as Jaune stood in the Arc Armory gazing at the sword his great great grandfather used, he couldn't help but want to be a Huntsman, and a grin slowly began to blow out on his face as thought about the future of him being a Huntsman. He looked at the suit of armor next to Crocea Mors and imagined himself using the same suit of armor and cutting down Grimm while the people he protected looked at him with hope and gratitude.
It was at this moment in that the Arc Manor's only son came barreling out of the Armory — His father, Alexander Arc swore he locked it - like a starving man that had just seen food for the first time in months.
"Dad! I wanna be a Huntsman!" Jaune exclaimed with Sapphire eyes seeming to glow with excitement.
Alexander Arc was quite confused.
Alexander Arc was a huge man who looked just like Jaune but with a beard and hair that seemed more like a birds nest than a head of hair.
He had been sitting in the living room couch reading an article detailing how the Schee Dust Company was underpaying their Faunus workers as they worked in unsafe environments when his favorite son — His only son, his daughters would point out — come running out of the Arc Armory tripping at least three times before coming to a stop in front of him.
"I wanna be a Huntsman!" His son exclaimed, and Alexander grinned in amusement before his grin faltered slightly, how had Jaune gotten into the Arc Armory now that he thought about it? He'd padlocked it so that, Lily who'd just started to walk wouldn't get into the armory and cut herself on something.
He'd figure that out later.
"Why the sudden enthusiasm?" The Arc Patriarch asked with a raised brow, stroking his beard out of habit as he set the newspaper down on his lap.
Jaune seemed to grow contemplative, his head tilting as he thought about it – A habit he'd begun to pick up from his mother.
"W-well," He began, his stutter coming back now that his excitement toned down, while looking down in slight embarrassment "I…I always read those books about t-the knights that save the princesses, that looked all cool and strong while they slayed the Grimm dragon. I wanna save people from the Grimm!" Jaune said, gaining more resolve the longer he talked.
Alexander's grin transitioned to a soft smile after hearing Jaune's reason, but his grin faded as he got ready to say that it was already too late for his son to apply to a combat school.
"Jaune, my boy…it's too late for you to go to a combat school, they start training kids at twelve years old and you're already two years late." Alexander said gently, hoping Jaune wouldn't get too beat up over this. Jaune seemed to look down at the ground with a growing frown. Alexander sighed and prepared to try and stop Jaune from bursting into tears before Jaune's head snapped back upwards.
"Th-that won't stop me from being a Huntsman, even if I have to work twice as hard as others, I'll catch up no matter what!" Jaune declared, stomping and clenching his tiny fists. He only seemed more determined now and was looking up at him with a defiant glare.
Alexander was hit with a wave of nostalgia as Jaune glared at him, the very same glare Alexander would give his own father when he was knocked down by his great sword as they sparred. Alexander held back tears as he remembered back when his father was still alive, when he'd do pushups with weights strapped to his back and swim through the lake with a sack of rocks tied to his feet.
When Alexander had begged his father to be a Huntsman no matter how hard it would be, his father had laughed before telling Alexander that he'd become the best Huntsman in the world with how hard he'd be trained.
Well if he were to decline Jaune's wish, he'd only be a hypocrite wouldn't he. Plus someone else would understand the torture that was his training now.
"Get ready to work thrice as hard, training starts tomorrow at 5am." Alexander said with a chuckle as he got off the armchair he was on, the newspaper falling off his lap to the ground completely forgotten.
"Really!" Jaune said, his tone indicating it wasn't a question and more of a statement.
Alexander just chuckled again, feeling restless as he ruffled his son's hair.
"Really."
Jaune was absolutely ecstatic, he'd start training as Huntsman tomorrow! Now that he thought about, now he'd be just like all his sisters and one of them was already about to graduate! Dad had told him to go to bed, but now he just couldn't sleep.
He was feeling restless and he couldn't help but giggle slightly.
"Jaune, keep it down would you?" A female voice said from the bunk, his sister that was younger than him by two years, Julia.
Julia had shoulder length hair and was quite a bit shorter than Jaune, only coming up to his shoulder and couldn't see a thing without her freakishly large glasses. She was as innocent as a puppy and often would go bright red in embarrassment when she heard anything regarding romance. Despite her being as blind as a bat without them she was still training to be a Huntress, using her weapon, Sanguis Mors.
It was often quite a shock to people to find out twelve year old innocent Julia used a chainsaw that could transform into a shotgun. The shotgun fired her own custom eight gauge explosive shells that were powerful enough to turn a car into a burning heap of scrap –She was grounded for three months after that particular incident- and would grin maniacally as she tore Grimm to bloody pieces, often leaving behind a corpse so mangled and unrecognizable that you couldn't even tell what the corpse was.
"R-right, sorry." Jaune said, slightly embarrassed, apologizing rather than playfully snapping back like he usually would.
"What's got you all excited? You usually fall into bed and fall asleep as soon as you touched the pillow." Julia asked with a giggle, Jaune grinned sheepishly in response even if she couldn't see it.
"Y-yeah, but dad said he'd start training me tomorrow to be a Huntsman." Jaune explained, Julia letting out a hum in response.
"That's great! But I thought you didn't want to be a Huntsman." Julia said asked curiously.
"I know but it all seems so awesome now that I thought about it! Protecting people from a horde of Grimm and being strong enough to take down an Ursa bare handed!" He explained with not a small amount of excitement in his tone.
"None of us can take down an Ursa barehanded right now, Jaune. Only dad and Ellie can." Julia pointed out, amused at hearing her big brother be so excited about something.
"But I'll be that strong eventually, I know that I won't magically become strong enough to wrestle with an Ursa without being turned into a red paste." Jaune said, knowing he couldn't do much at the moment if you exclude all his other random talents.
"Well then you better sleep, a tired Huntsman is a dead Huntsman." Julia said, shifting in her bed to get comfortable before going silent.
Jaune just nodded his head even if she couldn't see it and got comfortable before closing his eyes, sleep coming to him a bit more easily this time.
Tomorrow would be awesome!
