Chapter 3 – It Was All Yellow Journalism
In which Jaune Arc gets a partner and gives a statement.
"…led by Pyrrha Nikos."
Jaune politely applauded as the cereal box girl led her new team off the stage. It was tough to get himself interested in the festivities when he, Ren, and Nora seemed to be a team of three. He didn't want to be a downer and ruin the fun for everyone else, but everyone else was having a gay old time with their brand new partners. Even Ren and Nora, as nice as they were when they commiserated with Jaune, had one another.
Only Jaune was alone.
Ruby and her crew were called up to the stage at the front of the auditorium next. Jaune smiled at her as she rose up the stairs and threw her a thumbs up, but it was all forced. Even as she was named leader for her heroic actions on the battlefield, Jaune couldn't bring himself to feel anything beyond a passing interest in the ceremony.
Weiss seemed to be throwing some sort of fit about how she hadn't been named leader, but Yang ushered her off the stage before she could do anything truly embarrassing. With that, the last of the other teams were called up, leaving just Jaune and his three-person circus.
Man, I was really hoping for a cute girl to be my partner. I'm literally surrounded on all sides by the best of the best looking, and somehow I end up entirely alone except for Nora, who's already with Ren? It's not fair.
"Well, we're not together-together," suddenly clarified Nora. "We're together, but not like that."
Okay, but that doesn't really make me feel any better. At least I'm not on Team Sausage Party, lead by that Winstonshire guy. Wait a sec, did Nora just read my–
"And with that, we have our first year teams. A most promising group of young candidates, I must say. Would that I could stay and praise you longer, but I must away. Professor Goodwitch shall now provide you with some important safety bulletins about how to maximize the use of your time at Beacon while not placing yourselves in any undue danger."
Wait, that couldn't be right. Jaune's team hadn't been called!
Jaune rose from his seat and was about to raise his hand when the collective eyes of the entire audience, as well as a particularly cowing pair belonging to Goodwitch herself, fell on him. Awkwardly sitting back down, he made a mental note to raise the issue with the headmaster when he could find him.
"Ahem. Now that I have you undivided attention…"
Nora smiled and patted Jaune on the arm. "We'll find you a buddy, Jauney," she whispered.
"T-Thanks."
"Though I doubt a huntsman of your skill levels needs one," added Ren.
Goodwitch had launched into a series of announcements about student protocols on going into the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall for training, but it meant little to Jaune. He'd looked up aura on his scroll the second the bullhead had taken him back to civilization and wireless connection, and he now had a better idea of what he was missing.
Aura was somewhere between a shield and a sword that fundamentally changed the essence of how one fought. Not only could it be used to heal wounds and guard one's body from certain types of trauma, but it could also augment one's strength and speed to an alarming degree. It seemed like the kind of thing that would vastly improve society if everyone had their unlocked, but that idea wasn't without a price.
Grimm detected aura like grandparents did their grandchildren's hungry stomachs. That was the only reason Jaune had even survived initiation – as soon as the Deathstalker had exited the cave and caught a whiff of the other hunters' actually unlocked aura, Jaune had become little more than a passing nothing to the Grimm. It had been so intent on hunting Team RWBY, Ren, and Nora down that it couldn't have even been bothered to waste the time it would take to shake Jaune off.
Jaune was orders of magnitude weaker and less defended than everyone around him, but he wasn't nearly as much of a target. Of course, that was only against Grimm. He would have to think of some way to fight back against human opponents until he could sneak out of Vale on a weekend and pay some pro-hunter to unlock his aura.
He'd also figured out the reason his scroll's aura reader seemed to be malfunctioning. He's scanned himself, and the baseline it read was zero percent. Thus, no matter how much he got punched around or exerted himself, without aura to lose, he would remain at max aura, a.k.a. no aura. It was a bizarre stroke of luck that meant he wouldn't be instantly outed as a normie human, but it only worked as long as he didn't take a single hit that he should have used aura to protect. The excuse of conserving it out of caution had worked during initiation because Ozpin had specifically told him to, but that wasn't going to fly when he got to combat studies or Grimm riding class.
"…for your time. Now, please report to your assignment dormitories. Classes will begin promptly tomorrow, and tardiness shan't be tolerated, so I suggest you set your alarms a few hours early to avoid common first year mistakes like not taking into account showers, morning routines, and breakfast. Good day, students."
Jaune rose and looked around the sea of teenagers to see if the headmaster was still in the room. Last Jaune had seen of him, he'd taken a seat in one of the chairs in the front row of the auditorium, but that seat was currently vacant. Perhaps he'd slipped out? Jaune hoped that that wasn't the case, because he'd much rather air his grievances to the kindly-seeming old man that stern Professor Goodwitch.
"Hey, did you guys see where Ozpin went?" he asked Ren and Nora, without looking at them.
"Nopity nope!" said Nora from his left.
"Not I," said Ren from his right.
"I think he's not far," said Ozpin from behind him.
"That's okay," said Jaune. "If you all don't mind, keep an eye open for him. I need to talk to someone about my pa– about our fourth member, and I'd rather not deal with Goodwitch after I nearly accidentally interrupted her speech."
"Oh, I'm sure she's not mad," Ozpin said.
"Oh, you say that, but I saw the way she glared at me. I doubt even – wait…"
Jaune did a double take and saw that it was, in fact, the headmaster with whom he was speaking. "O-Ozpin?"
"I was rather hoping to speak with you too, Mr. Arc. I think it would be best if the both of you came along as well." He nodded to Ren and Nora. "We need to discuss the matter of the fourth member of Team Juniper."
"I recognize you!" Jaune said upon seeing the Faunus. "You're that guy, the one who launched just before cereal box girl!"
"Cereal box…? Well, I'm glad I made an impression upon you. What made me stand out among the crowd?"
"I…"
Jaune paused. The reason he remember this dude was because of how scary he had looked, but that wasn't the kind of thing he was supposed to up and say to a guy's face. The Faunus wasn't huge or anything, but his beefy arms were thicker than both of Jaune's put together. There was a tattoo in the shape of a snarling wolf on his chest that was just popping out from the neck of his shirt. Jaune didn't see a weapon, but he figured that the guy must've had one somewhere if he was a Beacon student.
But is he a Beacon student? I'd assumed this guy was supposed to be my partner, given that's how Ozpin framed this meeting, but he looks like he's ten years older than anyone else I saw during the team naming ceremony.
Realizing that he hadn't given an answer yet, Jaune decided to lie. "Because you look so…strong."
"It's because I freak ya out, isn't it?" The Faunus chuckled. "No need to BS me, kid. I know that I'm not your typical run o' the mill student. Nothing wrong with admitting the truth when it's right in front of ya."
Jaune nervously laughed along, unsure of what to say. "I wouldn't say you freak me out. You just look…"
"Tough?" offered Ren.
"Nontraditional?" offered Ozpin.
"Awesome-super-hyper-mega-epic?" offered Nora.
"Let's go with tough." Jaune offered the man an outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet you…"
"Perry. Name's Perry." He took Jaune's hand and gave it a very, very strong squeeze. Jaune struggled to maintain a neutral face as his fingers were reduced to mashed potatoes. "I suppose I'm the P in Juniper."
"Not quite," loudly announced Nora. Her face strained, and for a second Jaune worried she was having a heart attack. Then, a small puddle appeared at her feet. "That's the P in Juniper."
Jaune and Perry stared at her for a second, then mutually reached an unspoken accord to ignore the crazy girl altogether.
"So, Perry, if you don't mind me asking, why are we partners?"
"I know I'm no one's first choice, but it's all above board, I promise."
"Not like that, man. Up until two minutes ago, I thought that I wasn't even going to have partner. I'm super stoked to have you and all. I just don't understand why we're meeting now instead of having looked into one another's eyes in the middle of Grimm territory. I remember that you were launched, but I can't rightly recall seeing you after that."
Perry awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Eheheheh…Oz?"
"Mr. Perry's circumstances regarding his entrance into Beacon are rather unique. You've no doubt noticed that he is slightly outside of the age range of a normal student."
"Don't make it sound like I'm some old geezer." Perry snorted. "I'm only thirty-five."
Thirty? I could accept Ruby being two years young, but Perry's over twice the age of a typical entrant!
Perry smiled, and Jaune realized that he hadn't masked his shock at all. "I get it. I'm not your typical college kiddo."
"Mr. Perry is what we refer to as a nontraditional student. While Beacon typically accepts graduates of the primary combat schools like you, Mr. Arc–"
Jaune gulped.
"–some exceptions can be made. Apprenticed to huntsman, rare cases like those of Miss Valkyrie and Mr. Lie, Ruby's accelerated track – as long as a candidate is qualified, their application won't be turned down simply because they did not take a scholastic path. Mr. Perry shall be the oldest candidate Beacon has ever seen, but he is more than skilled enough, I assure you."
"I spent the first half of my life scraping out a meager living on the streets of Vale, hopping from job to job, sometimes running with a rough crowd, until I decided that I didn't want to spend the second half doing the same thing. I have my aura unlocked, and I know how to use it, so I thought, 'it's never too late to pursue a higher education.'"
"I guess so. I mean, if–"
Jaune was about to bring up Ruby and how she'd been accepted early as an example of why age wasn't an issue, but he realized that doing so might put Perry on the spot. After all, if a fifteen-year-old was in the school, it might be kind of embarrassing to shove her in the face of a man who was twenty years her senior and still at the same level as her.
"–if you have the skills to fight Grimm, there's no reason to let something as silly as age hold you back," Jaune went with instead. "You're probably more experienced and mature than most of us kids, anyways."
"Not from what I hear. Riding a Garrial up a river, turning a hive of Deathstalkers against a Nevermore? I've heard quite the story about you, kid. Er, Jaune. I guess I'd better get used to calling you by your name if we're going to be partners."
"Sure thing, Perry. But I still don't understand why we're only meeting now. I saw you launch into the forest."
Perry's face soured. "That would be the fault of that little son of a b…ahem. That would be due to some rather rude behavior I faced at the hands of a certain deplorable human."
Ozpin coughed into his fist. "Mr. Perry made eye contact with Sky Lark, who immediately proceeded to try brawling with him on account of his species."
Perry grinned.
"I knocked his lights out."
"Ahem. Mr. Perry defended himself suitable, but I decided that it would be best if their partnership did not continue. While I encourage the natural formation of camaraderie between students and do find myself liking the notion that any two individuals can come together and form a functional fighting unit, the truth is…well…"
"…you can't fix stupid," finished Perry.
"No. I suppose you can't." Ozpin shook his head. "A dysfunctional team would only make this unique situation even more complicated, something I doubt Mr. Perry needs. We are hoping that he may pave the way for future nontraditional students, so I decided that the odd-numbered relic seeker without a partner would be partnered with Mr. Perry, should they consent. Do you find this acceptable?"
"Of course! Like I said, I'm happy to have you. Right, guys?"
Nora gave him a thumbs up, and Ren stoically nodded.
"Quick thing, though," Jaune said. "Is Perry your first or last name?"
"Perry's my name."
Jaune picked up on the dismissive way Perry approached the topic and was smart enough to drop it. "Well, welcome to Team Juniper, I suppose. Would I be correct in assuming that Perry's the leader, Headmaster?"
It would make sense for that to be so. Nora and Ren had told Jaune how they didn't have any formal training, so between the four of them, not one was a graduate of a primary combat school. Perry, as the oldest, was probably also the smartest of the four of them. Nora seemed too fever-dreamy to be a leader, and Jaune doubted that she was all there at times. Ren seemed mature enough, but he didn't seem like the personable type, and he rarely spoke; issuing orders might have been a challenge for one as tight-lipped as him. Jaune was obviously underqualified, which left Perry.
Perry grinned a toothy smile. "Think again, Jaune. The team name always starts with the leader's letter."
Team name, huh? We're Juniper.
JNPR.
J.
Well, poop.
"As it happens," said Ozpin, "Mr. Perry isn't the only Faunus I wish to introduce you to, Mr. Arc. Your team may retire to their dormitories for the evening. If you would please follow me, Mr. Arc?"
The headmaster led him outside the auditorium. The school seemed mostly empty, as the first years had all trickled out and gone to their dorms while Jaune and his team were meeting Perry.
"Don't worry, this is nothing serious. Simply the passing fancy of a student of mine to whom I cannot say no."
"O-Oh." Jaune hadn't really been thinking about who he was supposed to be meeting. Ever since he'd been a kid, he'd always followed adults and authority figures like parents and teachers without questioning why. I'm going to have to unlearn that now that I'm a leader myself. I've got to be the one to make the calls, or my team won't respect me.
Ozpin took him into a tall building in Beacon's eastern wing that seemed to be completely devoid of windows. "Here we are, Building 98. Classroom E-5 is our destination."
"Okay."
"I must say, Mr. Arc, I was most impressed by your performance during the initiation trial. While I did tell you to conserve your aura, I had no idea that you would take it as far as not expending a single percent. Most students go down into the yellow, and some even have theirs broken. To defeat three exceptionally large Grimm without the use of your semblance is remarkable, let alone the lack of aura use."
"Y-You were watching?"
"We record all students to determine partnerships and get a better idea of who we're teaching. That's how I knew to intervene when Mr. Lark was – ah, we're here."
The classroom at which they arrived looked like some sort of photography studio. Jaune didn't know much about the art, but he was savvy enough to recognize a tripod, the lighting equipment, and the dark blue backdrop. Inside was a lone rabbit Faunus that was distracted with a digital camera.
"Miss Scarlatina?"
At the sound of the headmaster's voice, the rabbit girl looked up, and her face lit up like a candlestick. "Ah, sir! And is this Jaune?"
"Oh, dear. Jaune, you say? This is Miss Yang Xiao-Long. I suppose I switched up the blondes."
"Ozzzzzz," the Faunus drawled, snickering.
"He's all yours. Mr. Arc, this is Miss Velvet Scarlatina, a second-year huntress in charge of Beacon's school newspaper. Word of your exploits during initiation reached her, and she requested an interview with you for the purpose of running an article about you in next week's issue. Would that be okay with you?"
"O-Oh, well, sure, I guess. I mean, we've already walked all this way over here, and I've got no reason to say no."
That was technically true. Despite racking his brains in desperation to not be grilled by someone over his falsified history and fictional escapades, Jaune could not concoct a single reason to decline the interview.
"Excellent. I've leave you both to it. Mr. Arc, please meet up with your team when the interview is finished. I trust you remember the way?"
"Sure do, sir," Jaune lied.
CLICK!
Jaune blinked a couple of times, then looked at Velvet. The camera she'd used to take his picture wasn't the digital one from before, but a larger, old fashioned looking one.
"Oh, sorry. Candid shots are the best."
"No worries," Jaune said as he rubbed his eyes. "Cool camera, by the way. So, you're a photographer and a writer?"
"And the editor. And the distributor. I pretty much run the newspaper. Coco sometimes helps with set design and costumes when we do something fancy, but other than that, it's just yours truly."
"Coco?"
"My partner."
"Neat. So, uh, do you have questions for me? H-How does this work? I'm not used to being interviewed or anything."
"No worries. I've got a few questions prepared in advance, but I often find it works best if we don't stick to a script. Do you mind being recorded?"
"No, ma'am."
"Heh. Ma'am," Velvet snickered in her South Vacuoan accent. She pressed a button on a tape recorder, and the tape began to spin. "Tuesday, 4pm, interviewing Jaune Arc, leader of Team Juniper. Now, Jaune, why don't you tell us in your own words what happened?"
"O…k? Where do I begin?"
"How about the middle?"
"Uh, so I guess that I went into a cave and–"
"Oh, you silly goose! I'm kidding! Start at the beginning of your initiation, please."
"Um. Right, the beginning." Jaune had to make sure he sanitized the story enough to not give away his own lack of aura, but also kept it consistent with whatever Ozpin had seen while monitoring him. He seemed to be close friends with Velvet, and he would probably read the news article when it came out. If Jaune lied, the headmaster would know.
"So, the headmaster told me that this initiation was going to be a tough one, and that it would be best to not burn out my aura to early. I wanted to impress him. I don't use Dust, you see, so I pretty much have to rely on my aura as my primary source of heavy artillery when the punching starts. So, I lowered my aura so that I would burn out my aura too fast, and then–"
Velvet paused the recording. "Jaune, it sounds like you're rambling."
"Am I? I'm so sorry."
"Please, don't worry about it. This is just a puff piece. There's no need to be stressed about anything. In fact, we don't even need to–"
"No! I mean, it's fine. It'll actually be good to set the record straight. There have been a few too many rumors flying around about what happened, so this'll be a good chance to set them straight." Jaune inhaled deeply and let out the breath. "I'm ready."
And this time, I won't keep saying aura as every fourth word.
Velvet resumed the recording. "Go ahead."
"My landing strategy was to take advantage of the natural environment and use that rather than my aura. Thus, I aimed myself towards a lake and used the water to break my fall."
Velvet took out a notepad and began to furiously jot down something. "Don't mind me. I'm just writing down my thoughts. It helps to augment the recording when I get to writing the paper. Keep going."
"Ok. So, as it happened, there was this Grimm fish – everyone calls it a Garrial – that was in the lake. It tried to eat me, and it nearly succeeded once or twice, but I managed to beach it on the shores of its lake, and it was easy pickings from there. It did do a nasty job on my armor, though, and I dropped my sword about halfway into our fight, but it all worked out. Next, I saw a friend of mine being carried by a Giant Nevermore, and I felt like I needed to catch up to her before it was too late."
Jaune decided not to specify that he had no idea Grimm were typically ridden before seeing Ruby flying with one. After all, he didn't want Velvet to think he had no idea how normal hunters did things. For now, it was best to play everything off as intentional, rather than learned on the fly.
"I tried to use a cave as a shortcut, but there was a scorpion Grimm inside. It followed me out, so I got onto its back and rode it to the relic temple."
"Hold on a second. You rode it?"
"Y-Yeah. My technique is probably pretty poor, but I figure that I can sign up for some Grimm riding classes. Or is it an extracurricular or a sport or something? I'm not familiar with how Beacon teaches it."
Velvet scribbled something onto her notepad. "This story's going to be so good. Please continue."
"My friend and some other students were already at the temple when I got there, but the Nevermore from before showed up, and there was a big chase towards a canyon. The others got into a spire that was part of the ruins, but the Nevermore started circling around them. My Deathstalker was too big to follow them across the bridge to the spire, but I was able to take it to the high ground by navigating it through the bottom of the cavern."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh. I'm likin' what I'm hearin'. Please, do go on."
"I waited until the Nevermore was in just the right spot, then I had my Deathstalker jump onto it. The two sort of beat up one another while I watched, and the Deathstalker died first. The Nevermore fell out of the sky, with me grabbing onto it, and it died from the injuries and the fall."
"Did you then get a relic?"
"Hm? Oh, no I'd grabbed a relic earlier, when I passed by the temple the first time around."
"When the Nevermore was attacking your friends?"
"Yeah, roughly then. You know, they actually let me keep it. You wanna see?"
Velvet nodded, and Jaune held out the relic, still caked in a thin layer of blood from before. She quickly snapped a picture of it with her digital camera, gave him a thumbs up, and let him put it away.
"Sorry. It's a bit dirty from the initiation. I haven't been able to wash it off yet."
"No prob. And, please correct me if I'm wrong, but this was all without aura?"
"I was conserving it. Mr. Ozpin said that I might need it later, and I didn't want to make a bad impression on my first day by not heeding his advice."
"Perfect. I think I've got my story. Now, if you don't mind, can I ask you a couple of personal questions, just to give the readers a better idea of who Jaune Arc is as an individual?"
"Fire away."
"What's your favorite movie?"
"I'd have to go with Guy Hard."
"An enjoyer of Spruce Willis, I take it?"
"Only his biggest one! I love that guy."
"Next up – what's your favorite pastime?"
"Playing the guitar. I once even considered making a band instead of fighting the Grimm."
"What changed your mind?"
"Well, one of them actually makes a positive impact on the world, and the other's just something I do for fun. Besides, I'd been doing it since I was about three years old, and it was getting pretty repetitive for a simple hobby. It was an easy choice to make."
"Your favorite food?"
"A hamburger. No, a cheeseburger. No, a barbecue cheeseburger with onion rings, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes inside of it. I actually came up with that one when I was messing around in the kitchen one afternoon. It tastes delicious, trust me."
"Favorite vacation spot?"
"Easy one. I love going to the Downtown Vale Observatory. It's fun to learn about other planets in the solar system. And I guess the moon is pretty neat, too, I guess."
"Alright, last question. What color is your aura?"
Crap. I have no clue!
Wait a second – she also has no clue, and neither does Ozpin. I can just make something up, and they'll never know.
"Yellow."
"Yellow?"
"Yup." Jaune nodded, flashing her a wink. "Just like a lemon."
"Perfect." Velvet smiled warmly at Jaune, and her ears stood up to their full height. "I think I have enough to make a great piece off of this. Thank you so much, Jaune."
"Please, the pleasure is all mine."
Living the Dream
By Velvet Scarlatina
Beacon Academy is home to heroes of all shapes and sizes, but few can compare their paltry accomplishments to those of Jaune Arc, the new leader of Team Juniper. You've all heard the rumors, as has he. Jaune's the kind of man who lives the life us mere students can only dream about. I was fortunate enough to receive a rare chance to interview Mister Arc, whose team is so far above the rest that the headmaster now personally escorts him from building to building.
The second I met Jaune, I knew that there was something special about him. And I don't mean that metaphorically, dear readers. My semblance, Photographic Memory, allows me to copy the skills of hunters around me, but I wasn't even able to approach Jaune's level. After taking a picture of his weaponry, I attempted to mentally peek at his moveset and see what he was capable of with his ancestral sword and shield, but I was unable to do so or even comprehend any of his methods. Despite being the top ranked second-year at Beacon Academy, the most prestigious school in the entire world, I couldn't even being to wrap my mind around Jaune's mastery of his blade.
Within seconds, though, I found the tables turned on me. Jaune reacted to my invasive probing and immediately began to interrogate me for information in a shocking reversal. Some of my readers may know that my weapon, Anesidora, can double as an ordinary photographer's camera. Jaune, who had never met me before, saw right through the disguise and slily called me out on it. "Cool camera, by the way" he said knowingly, a twinkle in his eyes as my ruse was revealed. Within seconds, he was grilling me so heavily on my weapon, my abilities, and my team's strengths and weaknesses that I began to wonder if he was preparing for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament. When every single one of my tactical weaknesses were laid bare at Jaune Arc's mercy, our interview began.
Jaune's rise to fame began during this year's initiation process, where prospective first year students are launched into a trial by fire in the Emerald Forest. Not one to be outdone by the other applicants, Jaune didn't hesitate to turn his keen tactical mind on the headmaster and trick him into revealing the criteria by which candidates are ranked. Upon learning what Ozpin was interested in, Jaune manipulated his trajectory to launch straight towards the hungry jaws of a Garrial, one of the most dangerous freshwater Grimm known to huntsmankind, in a bid to awe the headmaster and secure his rightful place. "I wanted to impress him," said Jaune.
Was a mere Grimm enough to stop Jaune? Was it even a roadblock on his path to glory? Of course not! Jaune knew that his victories would only taste sweeter the more he was challenged, so he threw down his sword and lowered his aura to even the playing field against the outmatched Garrial. Dragging it onto land with his bare hands, he destroyed the mighty Grimm by caving in its windpipe and asphyxiating it in a stunning duel of titan vs. titan. An artists rendition of the engagement is depicted below.
i dot imgur dot com /bRlPUdW dot jpg
But our story does not end there, dear reader. No, Jaune Arc was merrily celebrating the fruits of his triumph when a dear friend (and possibly lover) of his, Miss Ruby Rose, was spotted overhead. A Giant Nevermore had abducted her and was carrying her off to its lair, likely planning to kill the poor girl in its mindless rage. "I needed to catch up to her before it was too late," says Jaune, who broke land speed records in his haste to rescue the imperiled maiden.
However, no man, not even the best that Beacon has to offer, can hope to outrun a winged Grimm. Realizing that he needed to fight fire with fire, Jaune kicked things into high gear and broke out his secret weapon: Grimm wrangling. That's correct, dear reader – Jaune Arc is the first huntsman in the history of Remnant to climb atop a Grimm and ride it. And not only did he pioneer this extremely daring mode of transport; he sees it as a mere sport! While you or I might kick around a football like the knaves we are in comparison, Jaune beats Grimm into submission, yokes them, and mounts them for no other reason than his own amusement. Truly a testament to man's dominion over beast…
Today's steed was none other than a lethal Deathstalker, one Jaune tracked down and flushed out of its mountainous habitat. Atop his broken-in Grimm, Jaune pursued the Nevermore and its victim to the relic temple, where he found a crowd of other students being massacred. The sight of a true huntsman sent the feathered foe flapping off in fear, giving Jaune a moment to treat the wounded. He managed to grab a bloodstained relic (image below) from the body of a dying student whose injuries were too severe for even our hero to save. To this day, Jaune still carries to relic of his would-be partner, never cleaning off the blood as a way to honor this fallen huntsman or huntress whose story is forever lost but for what remains in Jaune's heart. Attempts to reach the family of the victim were inconclusive.
With the situation at the relic temple stabilized, Jaune and his Deathstalker companion resumed their chase after the Nevermore, this time corralling it towards a monumentally wide cavern at the edge of the forest. The Nevermore was cornered, and it was in that moment that Jaune's true assault began. The huntsman extraordinaire commanded his Deathstalker to vanquish the bird-brained beast. The subsequent battle was so devastating and gruesome that it cannot be described to general audiences without bumping up the content rating of this newspaper to Mature Adult.
When his noble steed lay slain, Jaune realized that the Nevermore was too dangerous to be left alive and took matters into his own hands. Grabbing hold of its wings and breaking them both in an astounding feat of raw, primal strength, Jaune forced it out of the skies and crashed it into the bottom of the cavern. Eyewitnesses report that Jaune was entirely unharmed upon landing, and verified reports confirm that his aura was still at 100%. An artist's rendition of Jaune engaging the Nevermore is shown below. CONTENT WARNING – GRAPHIC VIOLENCE.
i dot imgur dot com /tToKdcF dot jpg
But this was not enough for Jaune. Organizing the shell-shocked survivors of the Nevermore's rampage, Jaune took command of the situation. Within just a few minutes, he had set up a defensive perimeter to ensure no other hostiles could inflict further damage upon the pitiable band of civilians now in his care. "At one point, he just wandered into the forest in search of more Grimm to kill," recalls Ruby Rose, Jaune's secret lover. "He'd been sitting around for a few hours [sic], and I guess he must've been getting reckless."
Upon emerging from the Emerald Forest with a kill count of three or more of the most violent Grimm known to civilization, Jaune was proclaimed leader of an elite kill squad codenamed 'Task Force Juniper,' one personally assembled by the headmaster himself. Witnesses report that after the team formation ceremony was completed, Jaune held a vigil for those brave souls who were lost during the initiation. He rose to stand in silence for ten seconds to represent the ten lives claimed by the test, an act so meaningful that Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch held off her opening remarks to allow Jaune's memorial service to go on uninterrupted. "I peed my pants a little," recounts Nora Valkyrie, Jaune's secret lover and currently pregnant with his unborn child. The unborn child could not be reached for comment.
Jaune also admitted to being a close companion and confidante of famed actor Spruce Willis during our interview. "I love that guy," Jaune says fondly, recalling his dear friend. Additionally, Jaune fought the Grimm as a hobby since he was a three-year-old, invented the hamburger, and regularly visits the moon for leisure.
With a life like that, dear reader, I can earnestly say that Jaune is truly a man living the dream.
tl;dr Jaune meets his future Faunus wife (Velvet, not Perry)
Next Chapter: This Faunus Boy's Running From Himself
In which Jaune Arc uses a console and consoles his partner.
Author's Notes
Jaune now leads Team Juniper Twoniper, with one notably different teammate. Fun fact: Did you know that if you rearrange the letters in Perry, it actually spells out Pyrrha? Crazy how RoosterTeeth snuck that in, and it flew right past most of us.
That's as far as we go for the new story. Updates will be Tuesdays, weekly.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!