A/N: I initially wanted to cover all of initiation in this chapter but figured that was a bit too ambitious. So I'll save that for Chapter 3.
Jaune Arc stood at an impasse. On paper, it was an easy choice. But in reality, in practice, it could either spell his doom or salvation. And that choice was whether to board the Bullhead to Beacon Academy or not. He could risk taking the long way again or he could face his fears head on and just suffer.
At least, that's what he was agonizing over until he opened a package from his mother which contained his motion sickness medicine. And just like that, his fears were over. He proudly stepped onto the craft and immediately found himself shoved against a wall. Not because someone had pushed him on purpose, but because there were so many students here!
He could barely hear himself think with how loud it was. Was it bad that he almost wished he was back in the wilderness, facing Grimm? At least that was more peaceful, strange as it sounds.
Eventually he was able to wrench himself free from the wall and navigate the sea of young adults. Normally, he might be a bit flustered to be pressing up against so many attractive girls, but right now that was the furthest thing from his mind. He just wanted to get somewhere more quiet. And he found what he was looking for when he found an inconspicuous looking door and slipped inside it. He allowed himself to collapse against the inside of the door and let out a sigh of relief.
"This is so much better."
"Tell me about it."
Immediately his heart rate spiked and he quickly swiveled his head to the right to locate the source of the voice. There, sitting cross-legged was a girl with long black hair and piercing yellow eyes. She had a book in her hand and was gazing at him.
"Oh. Did you find this place first? I'll leave if you want me to."
Last thing he wanted was to bother someone.
"It's okay," she muttered as her eyes flicked back to her book. "You aren't loud, so I'm okay with you."
The silence continued for a bit longer and Jaune felt like screaming. It was so awkward. He was alone, in a small space, with a fairly attractive girl - from what he could tell in the limited light - and all that could be heard was his own heart beat and the flipping of the pages in her book.
He couldn't take it anymore. He had to say something. But he knew he had to be tactful about it. She seemed like, well, the Atalante type. And from what he knew of her so far, going in as the casanova wannabe his father trained would be tantamount to suicide.
"I'm Jaune," he said as casually as he could. "It's nice to meet you."
There were a few tense moments of silence before she thankfully replied. "Blake."
He groaned inwardly. He got her name, but he knew he couldn't push it. What could he say to her that would make her more willing to talk?
To his surprise, however, she was the one who engaged.
"You did a good thing," she murmured.
"Huh?"
She looked up from her book. "Helping that girl. Taking her to Vale. Not many people are that selfless anymore."
Oh, right. He'd forgotten about that story going around. He was going to be a minor celebrity, wasn't he? Great. Just what he wanted.
"It was nothing," he said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I just couldn't leave her, ya know?"
She stared at him for a moment before a ghost of a smile appeared on her face and she gazed downward. "If only I'd met someone like you sooner," she said under her breath.
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it. Say, do you read books?"
"I mean, I've dabbled."
He could have sworn her smile got wider.
After the Bullhead landed, he and Blake went their separate ways. She said she had something to check up on and he wasn't about to hold her back. But on the flip side, they'd exchanged numbers. Which he partly dreaded. Sure, an attractive girl gave him her number, but said attractive girl was also the same one who'd spent the last twenty minutes talking his ear off about why Gandalf could totally take Dumbledore in a fight.
Who knew Blake was into power scaling?
And as he watched her - and her rather large butt - walk away, he couldn't help but smile to himself. He'd already made a friend. He didn't make a fool of himself on the Bullhead and things were looking up.
Which of course meant everything had to go wrong as something nearby exploded. He heard some yelling, some more yelling and at one point he could have sworn he heard Blake. And then even more yelling before it devolved into a lone voice whimpering.
"Guess I'll go," he said as he sauntered over toward the scene of the commotion. There, in a crater, he found a girl who looked to be younger than him. She had short dark hair that faded into red and startlingly silver eyes. Eyes that took him aback for a minute. He'd seen eyes like those before. In Atalante's memories.
Artemis, his mind helpfully supplied.
She had the same eyes as Artemis, Greek Goddess of the Moon.
He blinked several times. He was fairly sure this girl was important. Somehow. Call it a hunch. Either way, he extended his hand to her.
"Hey, are you just going to sit around all day?"
She stopped her whining and whipped her head toward him. "Uh?"
Oh, wonderful. She was just as awkward as him.
"I mean. The ground probably isn't all that comfortable."
She seemed to snap out of her stupor and instantly grabbed onto his hand to pull herself up. "Uh, yeah! Thank you!"
"Don't mention it. Name's Jaune Arc," he said as he helped lift her up only to step backward as she was suddenly in his face.
"You mean the guy who beat that entire army of Grimm and saved that girl?! Ohmigosh, can I have your autograph?!"
Since when did two Grimm become an army?!
He held up his right hand to get her to calm down. "First of all, it was two Grimm. Secondly, my autograph isn't worth anything. I'm just a normal guy."
"Whaaaat?" she said, seeming to deflate. "But Yang said you broke them into pieces with your bare hands and then breathed fire!"
He blinked several times. "Is this Yang by chance your older sister?"
". . . Wow! How'd you know?"
"Because she was trolling you. Trust me, I've got plenty of experience in the area."
"Oh. Ooooooh. Yeah. That sounds like something Yang would do. Oh, right. I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!"
"Well, Ruby. I have nothing to do. Want to head to orientation together?"
"Sure! Except, I kind of, dunnowhereitis."
He tilted his head. "Why not?"
"Because Yang abandoned me here and said I needed to make more friends, but she knows I'm awkward and then I exploded and now I've made myself sad again."
He sighed. His older brother instincts were flaring up something fierce. "Ruby, do you have a favorite food?"
"Chocolate chip cookies!" she replied immediately, forgetting her earlier sadness.
"Tell you what. When we make it to the cafeteria later, I'll buy you some."
"Really?!"
"Yeah. So cheer up, okay?"
"Ohmygod, you really are the hero everyone says you are!"
Was it too late to go back to fighting Grimm in the wilderness?
On the way to orientation, which he'd figured out the location of thanks to Blake sharing the layout with him earlier via a text, Ruby yammered on and on about how she ended up at Beacon and how much she loved her weapon Crescent Rose. He let her, of course. He couldn't just tell her to stop. He'd have to turn in his older brother card if he made her sad.
When the topic came to his weapon, he just gave her a wry smile and said she'd have to wait and see. She scowled and kicked him in the shin, which led to her holding her foot in pain and complaining that his aura was way too dense.
Something he'd have been confused about if his earlier conversation with Blake hadn't breached the area and he'd learned that he'd unlocked it by accident. He basically explained to Blake that he had cut himself with a knife while making breakfast and was surprised when he didn't bleed as usual. This of course led to her telling him about aura and him realizing just how useful it was.
And as Ruby proved, his was incredibly powerful for reasons he couldn't quite explain.
Once they made it to the orientation proper, Ruby left his side to reunite with her sister, while he stayed back. He didn't want to get in between family matters. But it wasn't like he was alone. He soon met up with Blake and they got to listen to Ozpin's speech together.
"You have all gathered here to be Huntsman and Huntresses. Know this. All that stands between the common folk and oblivion are you. You are the next generation. The hope of this world. Proof that we don't just have to survive. Proof that we can fight back. To turn things around."
He tapped his cane, his aura flaring.
"Beacon isn't just any Huntsman Academy. It is the Academy. We only accept and train the best of the best. If you don't have what it takes, you'll be expelled. Now show me what the future generation can do and go beyond, Plus Ultra!"
Jaune noticed that aside from himself, only three other people caught the reference. Ruby, who was snickering, Blake who rolled her eyes and some orange haired girl who was yelling 'Plus Ultra!' at the top of her lungs.
Either way. He just smiled. This was going to be fun.
This was not going to be fun. He took it all back. Just what the hell was Ozpin thinking?! He thought that after the sleepover and casual breakfast this morning, that things were just going to transition into your normal entrance exam.
But nope. Here he was on a launch pad and all that was standing between him and possible oblivion was his aura and ingenuity. Apparently they were to be launched into the forest, whereupon the first person they lay eyes on became their partner for the next four years. After which, they would have to make it through what he was calling the Forest of Death to retrieve some relics and return to the starting point in one piece.
Easier said than done when the damn place was crawling with Grimm.
He gave Ozpin the stink eye. He thought he was an All Might fan. He'd read him wrong.
Ozpin simply gave him a shit-eating grin and pulled the lever that sent Jaune hurtling into the forest.
He's an Aizawa fan, dammit!
Immediately he installed Atalante, shifting into his Archer form in order to gracefully land among the trees without damaging his aura too much. He swung from the tree branches and did a flip before landing gently upon the forest floor. He deactivated his install the moment he did. He didn't want to use too much aura if he didn't have to.
He rolled his neck before kicking off into a dead sprint, just missing a certain redhead.
It was funny. Before that whole stint with the Grimm and Lime, he'd probably be scared shitless in this situation. But after accessing Atalante's memories and combat experience, he'd attained a level of calm he never thought possible. Perhaps she had influenced his mind somewhat. It was possible, given what Zelretch had told him about the risks of Install. But either way, he was fine with it. This new level of calm was practically saving his ass right about now.
He zigzagged through the trees before he heard the sounds of combat. His eyes narrowed and he picked up the pace, grateful that having his aura unlocked had given him levels of physicality he'd have never been able to attain before.
He dashed into a clearing just as a black blur destroyed a Grimm. Said black blur landed on the ground and quickly became very recognizable to him.
Blake turned around him, her yellow eyes locking with her blue.
He smiled.
"Looks like we're partners."
Blake gave him a small smile in return. "Indeed."
