Chapter 2
(AN: Longer chapter this time but 4k is still a bit low compared to other fics. Let me know what you think in the reviews. I got the next few chapters planned so I think the next chapter will come out sooner than this one did.)
"Be honest with me, what are the chances my son ever wakes up again?" A black haired woman asked the doctor in the dark room.
"I don't know what is honestly keeping him in the coma. Not much is known about comas so it's impossible to determine how long one will last or if there will be any long term health issues. The most we can do is determine brain damage and other factors. Add things like aura into the mix and this all becomes much more baffling. He could wake up like right this second or twenty years into the future." The doctor explained.
"Mom?" A bleary eyed Jaune croaked as he tried to lift himself but was gently pushed back onto the bed.
"Nurses!" The doctor called out for help as he reached for his scroll.
"Oh Jaune, my precious boy." His mother reached out to hug him before she was stopped by the doctor.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Arc. Jaune is still somewhat fragile at the moment and I want to run a quick check up to make sure he is alright." The doctor then reached for several tools that he used to scan Jaune from head to feet.
"Can you recall the events of the night that led your current state, Jaune?" The doctor asked as he finished his analysis.
"I need a moment. I'm still confused, I'm in the hospital but why am I here?" He looked confusingly around the room and at himself.
"Oh you won't find the damage there son. Here, take a look." The doctor whips his scroll around displaying images of Jaune's previously untreated wounds.
"Your family launched a search party for you after you didn't make it back home. You were found two days later lying in a pool of your own blood. From the broken weapon and your recovering aura, we deduced that it was the grimm. I believe it was your aura which saved you that night, Jaune." The doctor pocketed his scroll.
"We will be talking about that later, Jaune. For right now, I'm grateful that you are still here with us." She was finally able to embrace her son as the doctor didn't stop her this time.
"Oh don't be so hard on him Mrs. Arc. Aura is usually unlocked during moments like this but your suspicion would be correct. His trained muscles, the broken weapon, and his aura suggests pretty efficient training." The doctor sheepishly hid behind his clipboard as he noticed Jaune's glare.
"That's not all, me and your dad have talked to many people in Higanbana. We know you went behind our backs and decided to find yourself a teacher. You will not be allowed to go on those trips of yours anymore. You will be staying home where you will be safe." Jaune rolled his eyes and slumped down into his bed.
"I shouldn't have woken up." He closed his eyes and decided to ignore everyone.
"Jaune!" His mom scoldingly yelled.
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Jaune poked at his food as he tried to pretend like the pest in his room didn't exist. After a few minutes he couldn't handle the purposely obnoxious chewing any longer.
"Why are you even here? Don't you have friends to play with or something?" Jaune slammed his fork down as he couldn't find peace even in his own room.
"Uh Uh, Mom said to watch you until Dad gets home. They want to talk with you about something." His little sister said as she continued to chew loudly.
"Jaune! Come downstairs, we want to talk." His sister jumped up and down in excitement before racing downstairs as well. He decided to take his time walking down the stairs. Petty, yeah that was the point.
"Yes, mom?" To his surprise his dad was also home now.
"We have decided that it would be cruel of us to keep you locked in here all day so your dad has found you a job in town. Go on honey." His dad smiled at him warmly as he cleared his throat.
"As your mom was saying. A friend of mine has grown old and can't keep up with day to day things like before. He is a good blacksmith that supplies the town's huntsmen with weapons, he promised to teach you the ins and outs when you get there." Jaune felt tired as he looked back and forth between the two.
'This whole place is cursed. I don't want to be a blacksmith.' He stared blankly into the distance while deep in thought.
"So Jaune what do you say?" His parents encouragingly motion him to respond.
"Can I have my scroll back?" That wasn't the answer they were hoping for and he felt it was the wrong thing to say as he saw their disbelieving expressions.
"No, not until we feel that you earned our trust back." Jaune expected this and didn't say anything else. He had made his mind up already as did they. There was no changing that.
"Alright, I'm tired right now. I'll let you know what I think later." He made to climb up the stairs but his dad stopped him.
"We were not done talking, son. You need to tell us what happened the night you disappeared. We were worried sick that you were dead in a ditch somewhere." Jaune looked back at his dad and felt guilty for a moment before squashing the feeling.
"I can't remember. Please, I'm tired and I want to rest some more." This time no one stopped him.
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"There you go Jaune. You see, I told you that it was easy once you put some sweat into it. Believe me, you'll be sweating lots doing this almost everyday." Old man Jenkins said as he slapped him on the back.
He had been doing this blacksmithing gig for over a month and nothing had changed. Besides some secret on and off training of his semblance which he somehow still had trouble with, everything else continued its standard routine.
"Here as a reward for doing such a good job. Don't tell your parents though, they gave it to me so that I could inspect it but they must have forgotten about it. They told me it was found on your body after the whole disappearing act you pulled." Old man Jenkins pulled out the newly repaired short sword out of a box and handed it to him.
"I would've given you a better weapon but I'm told that you won't be a huntsman. Bah, who wants to be a stinky huntsman when you can be a blacksmith." Old man Jenkins belly laughed as he took a swig of what smelled like whiskey.
"There is nothing wrong with this one, it served me just fine and is probably better than any of the junk you can ever hope to make!" Jaune finally broke after a month of repressing his anger.
"I didn't mean an-" He couldn't care less as he ran out of the store and kept running even when he was outside. He kept running even when he passed the village gate and some more when he saw the wheat fields go by. More scenery passed him by and soon it all became a blur as he felt himself go into autopilot.
Somewhere along the way he felt his feet give out beneath him and he bounced from passing landscape to another. He finally felt himself stop somewhere cold and for that he was grateful. His legs were literally on fire.
"Hot Hot, ah nice and cold." He rolled in the snow and relaxed his cooling body before standing up to observe his new surroundings.
"Where in the world am I? My semblance is super speed! Awesome!" He looked around and found himself in a snowy biome. He laid back down and decided to make a snow angel. He messed around a bit more before getting cold and figured he needed to find his way back to civilization. Out in the distance he saw a road leading further into the snowy landscape.
"How did it go again, all roads lead to Mistral or was it Vale? Screw it, I'm going this way." Having a little more confidence in his semblance, Jaune tried to go fast but only accomplished going at a light jogging pace. He strained himself, huffed and puffed, and finally jumped up and down.
"Why won't you work? Run damn it." Even though he wasn't moving, the snow suddenly slowed down to a crawl along with the previous chilly air blowing in his face. He looked around and reached for some snow and found that he could interact with everything just fine. After grabbing enough snow, he formed it into a snowball and played with it before deciding to launch far away.
Time sped up again as he launched the snowball from his arm towards the direction of a mountain. The snowball disappeared from view almost instantly before a massive crack resounded through the area before quieting down.
"Awesome!" Jaune jumped up and down before pulling up his Pumpkin Pete hoodie. The cold was starting to get to him especially as his body cooled down rapidly from the run. Looking towards the road once more, he threw caution to the wind and ran to wherever it would end up taking him. Jaune didn't have to run for long as a small settlement on the other side of the mountain came into view. He needed to know exactly how far he ran and a map would be a good start on finding his way back home.
The settlement was made up mostly of log cabins with a few businesses thrown in the middle. Spotting an open bar, Jaune made his way inside to find a lively and cozy host of people.
"You look a little young to be here, boy. Where are your parents?" A gruff voice spoke to him from the counter he hadn't noticed when walking in.
"Oh, they're nearby. I just thought I'd stop by and see if there was any way I could get some directions. Do you perhaps have a map I could borrow and could you tell me where I currently am?" Jaune explained with a kind smile on his face.
"Well that's easy here." The old man rummaged under the counter for a bit before pulling out a dusty old map.
"You find yourself in Arrowhead, a small community of good people. Within the best kingdom in the world, Atlas." The old man said with no small amount of pride.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaat!" Jaune felt his eyes bulge out of his eyes. With the amount of people staring at him, he felt as though they actually may have.
"Keep your voice down, are you done with your questions? This really isn't a place for kids. You should hurry back to your parents. You can keep the map, it's on the house." The old man told him before turning around. Noticing that he wasn't leaving, he turned back around and chuckled.
"I see, you came here for more than instructions. Wanted to have a quick pint without your ma and pa knowing, huh? I remember my days as a teenager, ah what a time. I'll indulge you but don't tell anyone." The old man reached for a clean glass behind him and a bottle of whiskey
"No No, I wa-." Jaune got cut off before he could finish his sentence.
"Ah you are one of those refined city kids. No kids around here dress like you do. So, wine I take it? I do have some good stuff here. Enjoy, while your parents aren't here. Bottoms up." The old man patted him on the back and served himself a cup as well.
"Oh what the hell." Jaune felt like he could use one after everything that happened. He reached for the cup and clinked his glass against the old man's before downing it.
Some time later
"Chug, Chug, Chug!" Everyone in the bar watched in amazement as a blonde underage kid competed against a well known alcoholic. The blonde boy did not even look all that tipsy as he downed the 15th pint of beer with no problem whatsoever.
"I'm gonna have to declare the kid as the winner of this match. Better luck next time, buddy. You were unfortunate enough to go against this monster in human clothing." The old man clapped the passed out drunkard on the back before turning to Jaune.
"You are a natural, kid." The entire bar cheered as Jaune took the moment to finish his pint of beer. Free alcohol was free alcohol.
"Haven't I heard that before." But before he could answer, a man ran in and tried to say something but was too out of breath to speak.
"Calm down, Philius. Breathe in and breathe out. Then spit it out, you are ruining the mood of my bar." The man behind the counter said in annoyance.
"Sorry, Marcus. There is an avalanche on its way down the mountain right now. A huge amount of snow is almost halfway down the mountain. All of Arrowhead will be buried in the next few moments. Run for your lives!" Philius finished before running out of the bar presumably to safety or maybe to warn more people. The bar then exploded into panic as everyone got up and ran out.
"No! My children are home right now!" A woman cried out in despair. Torn between death with her family or saving herself. Multiple others also made known their similar depressing circumstance. The timing of the situation wasn't lost on him however.
"My snowball!" Jaune quickly realized what the cause of all this was.
"Kid, shut the fuck up about your snowball and run while you still can. Count yourself lucky that your parents aren't here with you. Get out here and go back to them." Marcus ran outside as well while pushing others out with him. Looking back down at the map, Jaune zoomed in on the red dot which marked the location of Arrowhead in Atlas. A place where he wasn't from and held no connection to. Looking upwards he saw the broken people who did have connections to this place and which they called home. All people that would be dead because of him. He could not imagine living with this amount of guilt for the rest of his life.
Jaune once more pulled up his Pumpkin Pete hoodie before concentrating to try and steel his nerves. He looked around the bar once more to confirm that his semblance worked this time. Sure enough, it didn't fail him as he was starting to become accustomed to it. It was like learning to walk for the first time, you held the ability to but weren't used to it. He walked by frozen people on his way out and made his way to the houses closest to the foot of the mountain.
"Personally, I think it's a terrible place to build a home but this is all my fault anyway." Jaune tried to enter the first house to find it was locked so he looked around the house for another way in. Try as he might, he could not find even a single open window. He contemplated the dilemma a bit more before he froze.
"I have super speed, what am I doing?" He then returned to the front entrance and kicked the door in easily. Inside was a family just going about their day without a care in the world. Grabbing the two children first, he ran down the road outside the village to drop them off. He returned and grabbed the rest of the family before dropping them off in the same spot.
Jaune continued this with all the homes he could find and tried to include any pets he could find as well. Dogs, cats, birds, fishes, and even a rat. Don't ask. Maybe he should just have left that man in his house. Just him. Looking around, he admired his handiwork before turning his attention to the mountain.
"That is absolutely terrifying." Above him, the enormous amounts of snow had blocked out the sun and were poised above the village ready to swallow everything in its wake. Judging by its size, he quickly calculated its speed and trajectory before determining that he hadn't placed the villagers far enough. Despite his efforts, they would still be swallowed if he allowed the snow to continue its course.
"Hmmm, what could I possibly do? Something to spread it out away from this place. Yes that would work, but what?" If anyone could see Jaune, they would have witnessed a real light bulb flash above his head.
"I could try and form some type of tornado to try and disperse it out away from here. Only one way to see if it will work." Jaune could feel his limit quickly approaching as he began to run in a circle. He was very aware that if this didn't work then he would be joining everyone under the snowy blanket. He wasn't fazed though, he had faced death before. What was once more?
The vortex of wind and snow formed up above him as he continued to run at super speed. A race of time against his own limits was close to declaring exhaustion the winner. Either way, Jaune continued the race until the vortex had consumed the mountain snow.
"Now to deal with the tornado of snow which I honestly probably made more dangerous than before." Jaune once again used his head and came to the conclusion that the simpler life was, the better. Just like Pumpkin Pete. Natural flavoring of pumpkin and some wheat. And a whole lot of sugar. Just how every kid liked their cereal.
"Take this!" He pulled back his arm and punched the side of the tornado which had the effect of blowing everything away from the people he was trying to shield. Everything, including many of the houses.
"Ooops." Before he once again lost consciousness, Jaune saw some of the dispersing snow get blown back towards him and ultimately above himself and the village.
"They can deal with that," Jaune felt himself getting tucked into bed under the rainfall of snow.
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For what he hoped was the last time, Jaune woke up in a bed with what was probably a doctor standing close by.
"Ah you're awake. You don't look happy. Many people would be happy they are alive but you don't seem to be. Why is that?" The doctor also had a clipboard like the last one.
"Depends, are you one of the good ones?" The doctor looked confused before straightening back up.
"Ah you are worried about my credibility. I can assure you, I am a certified doctor who graduated from the school of medicine in the flying city of Atlas. I didn't actually finish my schooling there though as it became too expensive but I was taught by the best at some point." The doctor said as he fixed his red tie.
"So you didn't actually graduate from the school of medicine in the flying city of Atlas? I think it's a very important distinction." The doctor looked at him in anger before swatting him on the head.
"I'll chalk it up to hypothermia and not set Nurse Sarah on you. Even though your body has no signs of ever experiencing hypothermia. Which is weird as you were one of the few people buried under snow. Freak accident the whole thing is, everyone was suddenly teleported out of Arrowhead and the avalanche was dispersed all in the blink of an eye. I wonder…" The doctor eyed his legs for a moment as he muttered the last parts in a low voice before dismissing whatever theory he was going to comment about.
"Am I good to go?" The doctor regained his bearing as he looked through his clipboard again before shaking his head.
"I would like you to stay a bit more to monitor your condition but you seem to be fine as of now. Count yourself lucky, some of the others buried under snow are still recovering from terrible frostbite. Go home to your parents and take it easy, alright?" Jaune nodded before thanking the doctor.
"Hey kid, Thank you." Jaune tried to keep his perfected signature dumb look on his face before he finally decided it was a lost cause.
"Uhh yeah, please don't tell anyone" The doctor patted the stethoscope around his neck before nodding his head towards Jaune in respect. He walked out of there with a burden gone from his shoulders. On the other hand, his leg muscles felt like they were on fire and he knew that leaving was not going to be possible. Perhaps he could find a place to stay inside Arrowhead.
"Oh you're alive. I was worried when I noticed you weren't among the crowd of people." Turning around he came face to face with Marcus, the bar owner.
"Yeah, I didn't make it out in time. I saw someone who needed help and decided to stay a little longer to help. Thankfully I was only lightly covered by the snow. Good ol Doc, you know." Jaune laughed to himself as he sat next to Marcus on the bench.
"You're a hero for that. I only escaped because of the whole teleporting thing. There are many theories flying about. My favorite is Atlesian technology that the military decided to use here as part of a secret experiment to take over the other kingdoms ." Jaune joined in on the laughter at the ridiculous conspiracy theories of people with too much time on their hands.
"Where are your parents? Did you ever find them? Are they okay?" Marcus worriedly asked him.
"Yeah, I lied about that. I kinda ran away from home and I'm just going to find a place to rest before heading back." Jaune felt that he could trust Marcus with a bit of the truth.
"That would explain a lot. You didn't think to pack anything useful before you left? All you have on you is those rags you call pants and a hoodie with that disgusting cereal logo on it." He made a face at the thought of Pumpkin Pete's.
"Take that back, Pumpkin Pete's is the best cereal on the market. Name a better cereal and I'll tell you if you have good taste or not." Jaune replied back with heat.
"I don't eat cereal, All I have for breakfast is steak and beer." Marcus laughed at Jaune's disbelief.
"How are you still alive?" Marcus and Jaune continued their banter as the sun went down above them.
"The sun is setting now, Jaune. Why don't you stay at my place for the night and then you can set off in the morning." Marcus offered.
"Are you sure it won't be a bother? I can always find an inn somewhere else." Marcus waved him off.
"It will be fine, I have a spare bedroom anyway. My son started his own life elsewhere so you can stay in his room for the meanwhile. Since you ran from home, you probably didn't bring much money with you. I'll give you some stuff I have before you leave tomorrow." Marcus finished before motioning Jaune to follow him.
"Thank you, Marcus. You are a lifesaver. I will be out of your hair tomorrow, I promise." Jaune gratefully said.
"No problem, all of us here at Arrowhead always help those in need." Marcus proudly stated, with everyone in earshot agreeing in a chorus of cheers.
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"You are grounded. I will talk to you in the morning. Up to your room." Jaune quietly closed the door behind him in the middle of the night. His dad was sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee. He kept quiet and made his way up the stairs before closing the door to his room. Waiting a couple moments behind his door, he finally heard his dad walk into his room as the house went quiet. Jaune let go of the breath he had been holding ever since he walked up the steps to the house.
"Nothing I can do now. Seems like I really crossed a line." Jaune climbed into his bed and relaxed into his bed until he noticed the smell.
"I should have taken a shower first."