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"I really didn't need to know this about myself," Jaune groaned as he held the bucket in his lap and had his face over said bucket. The nausea was worse than anything he had ever experienced in his short life. Never in all his life did flying even come close to registering as a legitimate threat. Grimm, bandits, and disease yes but never flying.
The bullhead then hit a bit of turbulence and he dry heaved into the bucket. His previous vomit sloshing in the bucket made him dry heave harder. The muscles in his back tensed painfully as they held him hunched over the bucket. After what felt like an eternity his back relaxed and was able to sit up again.
Handing the bucket over to Theodore. The man didn't need the bucket but he stood up and lowered the ramp of the bullhead before dumping the vomit out. Giving the bucket back once the vomit was gone.
"Never would've thought that motion sickness would be what does you in," Theodore said with a slightly sympathetic tone as he gave Jaune a water bottle to wash the vomit away. "At least it seems like you got everything out now at least."
"Ugh… Doesn't make me feel any better," Jaune stated as his stomach proceeded to do flips. Doing those flips while also spinning.
"Try and get some medicine for it when we get to the capital. Won't be that hard to get. Cheap too," when Jaune looked at him quizzically as for why he would know that Theodore shrugged his shoulder. "My son's girlfriend suffers from it as well."
Jaune nodded his head but didn't say anything else. Taking his time as he sat there in the bullhead to try and center himself. Deep and calming breaths while he rubbed his thighs and curled his toes. Those were the only things that were keeping him centered at the moment. Even then he felt like he was about to throw up again.
Thankfully, Theodore was right about there being nothing in his stomach. Dry heaving wasn't much better but at least he wasn't actually puking anymore. He would end up suffering through that pain for another half hour before looking to Theodore pleadingly. The man nodded before punching him hard enough in the head to knock him out.
Jaune didn't know how long he was out for. The expected headache was there but that was far better than dealing with the pain in his stomach. Much rather deal with the headache than suffer through his motion sickness. A, previously undiscovered, problem of his that would definitely make the trick to Menagerie suck in every possible way. He was determined to head that way eventually though, wanting to visit the place. After all, he had hospitality to call in.
When Jaune did wake up, he did so from a gentle shake on his shoulder from Theodore. Sighing in relief as he found the ship not to be moving at all. They were firmly on solid ground and no longer needed to worry about throwing his guts up. Unbuckling himself from the seat he got up and went out of the bullhead behind Theodore. When they stepped off the ramp the man turned to Jaune.
"It's been good getting to know you Jaune. Safe travels," he then held out his hand for Jaune. He took the hand without a thought giving a firm handshake to the man. Releasing hands each turned around and left the other. Theodore headed for Shade Academy while Jaune went into the town proper in search of both an Inn and a library.
He didn't have to look long for the Inn. Being dropped off at the port for Bullheads Inn's would naturally be close for any visitors. Going to the cheapest one available he walked in and after a few minutes had a key to a room which was paid for the week. Dropping off his bag and equipment in the room he prepared to take a shower before heading out in search of a library. Only to find that the room didn't have a shower or bath. Grabbing his bag and equipment he went straight back to the counter he had gotten his key.
"Hello, I'd like to change rooms if at all possible," Jaune stated. The person manning the counter, a faunus of some reptilian descent, breathed through his nose in a condescending manner. One Jaune was familiar with from people who didn't want to deal with someone.
"First time in Vacuo's capital, I take it then," Jaune nodded. "Only private, expensive, homes and Shade have showers or baths. We have communal baths around the city."
"Why?" That would've been a nice bit of information for Theodore to tell him but there wasn't much consequence to not knowing that fact so he let his budding anger go.
"Water conservation. Plus, it builds community to bathe with others and Vacuo needs that to survive. Thus, we have bathhouses," from what Jaune knew about Vacuo that did make sense in a way to him.
"Why not have them on the frontier towns then?" After all, the inn in Baltan had a working shower for the entire month of his stay.
"Because they can charge out the ass for all the water you use. If they treat the water right too, they can reuse the water with little problem," that made a good bit of sense to Jaune. Which for a second made him blanch at the possibility of owing Theodore for all the showers he took. He shook off that thought quickly by convincing himself that Theodore wrote off the bill as a business expense. He was on approved emergency leave after all, his words.
"Thanks for the information then. Would you be able to point me in the direction of the nearest bathhouse then?" Jaune asked, getting a nod from the faunus.
"Take a right out the main door, turn left at the third opportunity, right on the second and the place will be on your right about half a block down," Jaune nodded to the man before heading back to his room. He dropped his pack and gear off along with his AK, sword, and shield. Leaving the Inn with his ax and pistol/knife hybrid while dressed in some lax clothes and an extra pair to change into in a bag. Leaving his armor in his room as well.
As he walked through the capital of Vacuo a few things stood out to him. The few people that he saw here stood and walked proud as well but at the same time all looked ready for a fight to break out in an instant. Not a single person was unarmed. However, they were surprisingly kind to each other.
He saw a man helping a woman take her groceries into her house as she corralled her kids and then walked off without a word. A tiger faunus help a human man clean up a broken vase outside a flower shop before both walked off in separate directions without a word between them or the shop owner. Some kids were walking down a street sweeping up some sand that had accumulated before throwing them into bags before walking off to the next street without asking for payment. They weren't supervised either so likely weren't doing so as a punishment for something.
A few other instances but none of them stood out like those. When Jaune saw all of this happening in front of him, he smiled. This here was a community of people that weren't just for themselves. They all viewed this place as a spot for everyone and they needed to be together to survive.
When he saw this, his mission for going to the bathhouse was forgotten in favor of exploring the city. The more he traveled around the city the more and more he saw things like this happening. A true community of people all banded together through their shared experiences of surviving the harshness of Vacuo.
He had seen Mistral's capital and knew they would never be able to replicate this. If even half the rumors of Mantle and Atlas were true something like this was a pipe dream. Vale might have a shot but the extreme bureaucracy of Vale's capital would never allow something like this. Well, he assumed anyways as he had never seen Vale's capital but from the few times Aedon had talked about the place, doubted they had a chance.
He was truly astounded at what he was seeing all around him and he thought back to his time in Baltan. He must've been too tired or distracted to notice what was going on but even in the frontier of Vacuo they did the same. All one community of people just trying to survive this place. The vision of what he was seeing having him rethink his stance on heading to Menagerie for a bit.
"Jaune!" a familiar voice broke him out of his stupor. His head snapping to the voice as he saw May waving at him with a smile on her face as she walked over to him. A long white dress that reached her knees and flowed in the wind around her. The white of the dress contrasting perfectly with her tanned skin and gunmetal eyes. Her hair free flowing in the wind as well.
She was followed by three colorfully dressed girls and a monkey faunus with his shirt completely undone. Green, purple, blue and then white were what they were dressed in. The group walked up to him. All of them mildly hesitant except for the monkey faunus and May. Her smile never left her face as she walked up to him and returned her smile before she turned around and addressed her friends.
"Guys, this is Jaune," all of them widened their eyes and two of the girls took a step backwards. The other girl just widened her eyes and the faunus had a gobsmacked look on his face.
"You shoved a guys balls down his own throat!" the faunus exclaimed getting the attention of several people walking around the at the moment. Most of them stopping as they heard what the faunus said. Eyes focusing solely on Jaune who just sighed at the way this had gone.
"He was a bandit and a rapist," Jaune stated with a voice just loud enough for the people that had stopped to hear him. A few nodded or shrugged before walking off but they all were of the older variety and had more expensive weapons, probably retired hunters if he had to guess. The obvious civilian adults and some of the kids Jaune's age or younger looked uncertain but left, nonetheless. Deciding that being a bandit and rapist was a good enough reason for that to happen to someone.
All those reactions surprised him. The adult hunters he had come across in other countries would've admonished him for either doing something so unnecessary or not getting help as they would see him a still a child. Not someone who had been on their own since six and trained by, arguably, the strongest hunter to ever exist. Plus, a killer at the age of 10. Jaune had long since been desensitized to violent death. Seeing the results so often in his travels from either bandits or grimm.
May's friends had obviously, at least to him and the older hunters, not experienced much death. Let alone were the ones who did the act.
"Thank you for shouting that out for the city to here though… uh?" the faunus got the unasked question and answered.
"Sun. Sun Wukong. These are Dew Gayl; the green one. Nebula Violette; the purple one. Octavia Ember is the blue and final one," Sun introduced himself and the other girls gesturing to them. They didn't look too enthused with him except for Nebula who had a look in her eyes he couldn't exactly place. Though the way her eyes roamed made him feel like a piece of meat and didn't know why.
"Nice to meet you," Jaune nodded his head to them politely in greeting. He didn't exactly know what to do or how to continue the conversation but being polite wouldn't hurt him.
"It's a pleasure," Nebula spoke for the others as she stepped towards him and raised her hand but with the palm down. Not knowing what she wanted Jaune raised his palm to hers and shook her hand in a weird sideways angle. This action earned a deadpan stare from the girl and muffled laughter from both Sun and May. Dew and Octavia had no outward reactions he noticed.
"So Jaune," May began as he pulled his hand from Nebula's. May mildly stepped in front of Nebula so the other girl was behind her but still visible. "What are you doing in Vacuo City?"
Jaune quirked an eyebrow at the name of the capital of Vacuo. He thought that the country names were just their names. Not the names of the capitals as well. He found that fact unimaginative but didn't voice that.
"I was planning on heading to one of the bathhouses but just began wandering the city instead. Observing the people of the capital. Never been here before and got distracted," he let a small smile reach his lips at his words.
"You like it here?" Sun asked with a smile on his face as he noticed Jaune's smile.
"Yeah. Lot better than Mistral's capital," that seemed to get all their attention.
"You've been to Mistral?!" Sun enthusiastically stated with a beaming smile on his face. "How was it? You been to other countries as well?" he rattled off back to back.
"All except Menagerie and Atlas. As for Mistral I don't plan on visiting again anytime soon," that got the attention of all of them. They started trying to talk over each other while Jaune's eyes widened and took a step back. Not thinking that traveling that much would be such a big deal. He finally got them to calm down by raising his hand to them and they quieted down.
"How'd you get from place to place? Bullhead? Train?" Octavia asked as she was the first to speak after they calmed down.
"Walked," Jauned answered simply. All their eyes widening at this admission. A fact that queued him into that benign a much bigger deal than he thought.
"How'd you make it through all that alive? You can't be older than us," Sun exclaimed looking shocked at Jaune's honest answer.
"Taking jobs when I could, being smart on where I went, and killing when I needed to. Been doing so most of my life."
"What about all the Grimm? They must've come after you a lot," Jaune nodded at May's question. Not a hard question to answer however.
"They did. I killed them," what else was there to say for him. Surprised by their shock at the casual admittance of dealing with Grimm.
"What's the biggest one you've killed?" Sun asked. A gleam in his eyes as he looked at Jaune expecting an answer. Jaune thought about his answer for a few moments. He could say Goliath's as he and Aedon had killed a few by bringing down the rocks of valley on their heads. That might not be the right thing to say though, he knew Goliath's were S rank at minimum. Plus, he hadn't technically fought them. Only manipulated the outcome to get them killed.
"A couple Alpha Ursa, Alpha Beowolfes, a maturing Slinx, and a pack of Ruxin among others. Rest were all bandits though a couple had their Aura unlocked."
Finishing up saying that he guessed he should've lowered himself even further. If the shocked looks on their faces were anything to go by. He believed they must've been thinking he just walked up to those beasts and fought them. Not had a plan and killed them that way. Though he was sure he could have gone the way they were thinking and gotten away with that plan there was no point in doing that.
As Aedon had said to him. If you are in a fair fight, then you've already failed.
"Holy shit," Nebula breathed out as she bit her lip and looked at him with a bit of red on her cheeks and twinkle in her eye. May had the same look while the other two girls just looked shocked. Sun almost had stars in his eyes as he looked at Jaune. Nebula was the first one to break out of their stupor.
"You doing anything tomorrow? The sparring rings are open for anyone all day at Shade and you could teach me something," she scooted closer, stepping around May to do so. He shrugged at her question. Would be good to see the improvement Theodore's training had granted.
"What time? We could all meet there," that didn't seem to be the answer Nebula wanted as her eyes dimmed just a bit. Sun and May seemed happy.
"How about 10 in the morning. We could get a few spars in and then we could show you around town," Sun said with an easy-going smile. Everyone seemed to be okay with that but both May and Nebula's smiles were just a bit strained. Jaune not noticing that.
"Works for me. You guys could show me around a bit too," Jaune had an easy smile on his face. Earning smiles from the rest of them.
"We could show you around now too if you'd like," Nebula stated politely and he was going to decline as he wanted to bathe but held his tongue for a moment. He could get them to show him around a bit and maybe even get a free meal out of it if he played his cards right. He was taking time out of his day tomorrow to spar with them after all and just showing him around wasn't worth that. Regardless, he was going to bathe first.
"I'd like that but I'm going to head to a bathhouse first. Swing by my Hotel in a couple hours, let's say around five o'clock, and you can show me around then," he gave them an easy smile and they seemed to be okay with that.
"That sounds like a good idea Jaune," May stated. "Now, we won't hold you up any longer."
He gave them a smile and a nod before turning around and walking away. Giving them a wave as he walked away never noticing the way Nebula's head snapping to May's. Nor would he have cared too focused on retracing his steps to find the inn. Taking almost an hour to do so.
Arriving at the inn he remembered the instructions from the receptionist and made his way to the bathhouse. Getting there he checked in and had to pay a small fee to enter the bathhouse. Only a few lien and as more of a stipend in case he damaged anything. The receptionist's words.
Heading to the locker rooms he undressed before covering himself in a towel and heading in. the bathhouse wasn't exactly big, about the size of the apartment he had been in while in Baltan. The whole place was incredibly clean though and definitely well maintained. The water he washed himself with too was pure. Far more pure and clean than water he had experienced for a shower anywhere else. Time slipped by as he bathed himself in the water.
Finishing up his bath he left the bath refreshed. The lingering dirtiness from the motion sickness vomit washed away. Changing into the clothes he had brought with him. A pair of ripped jeans worn from use but clean nonetheless and a light gray t-shirt. Strapping the ax to his thigh and his pistol/knife was hooked into the back of his jeans, covered by his shirt.
Walking back to the inn to see May and the others already there was a surprise. Giving him a polite wave and he waved back to them before heading up to his room. Dropping the used old clothes off he took a moment to check his scroll. Showing that the time was 5:15. Seeing the lateness at his requested time to meet Jaune hurried downstairs.
"So, what do you want to see?" May asked politely as she noticed him walk out of the Inn.
"How about some food first then you can show me around the hunter's shopping district," she smiled at him before leading the way. May walked alongside him in the lead of their group with Nebula on his other side. Sun right behind them and both Octavia and Dew behind him shoring up their rear. They may have been in the capital but even having a makeshift formation like they did alleviated some of Jaune's paranoia he had developed from spending so much time on the frontier and in the wilds.
Before long they stopped in front of a small looking restaurant and headed in. Quickly getting a table for them all they were put in the corner of the restaurant. As Jaune sat down he looked around and noticed the appearances of everyone inside. Even at a glance it was easy to tell they were mostly hunters with a couple odd ones out. Mostly people who were obviously in some type of relationship with their hunter counterpart. Seeing all that he guessed that this place was mostly for hunters or people training to be hunters.
When they sat down Jaune sat at the chair closest to the exit on the far corner of the table. Nebula sat across from him with Sun to her left and Octavia on his left. May sat on his left with Dew on her left. Menu's were quickly put in front of them all and Jaune took one look at them before realizing he had no idea what any of the food was.
Not that he couldn't read all the words, as some were completely foreign to him but because there was no description of the food. Just names like Diamond steak, Frites, Queso, Almonti Alfredo, and Flambeyed Carp. None of them rang any bells in his mind as he had rarely eaten a meal with a menu beyond soup and snails in the past month. Before that wasn't much better as his time in Mistral had mostly been spent scavenging for food while he was in the capital.
"How about you order for me," he leaned over to May and whispered. He knew he was out of his depth here for ordering. Having someone order for him was better than looking like a fool. She gave him a quizzical look before nodding and leaning over to look at the menu. Taking all of a few seconds before placing her finger on the Diamond Steak. Jaune gave her smile at the suggestion and he went back into his silence. The rest of the group talking amongst themselves.
When the waiter came back and asked if everyone was ready to order he got 'yes' all around from everyone. All of them ordered something that he had never heard of before. He assured himself they were just fancy names for regular food. When the waiter left with their food Jaune just observed the group as they happily talked amongst each other. Smiles from all of them as they enjoyed themselves.
Nebula and May occasionally taking looks at him as they talked and he remained silent. Sun's tail swishing through the air behind him in a relaxed and casual manner. Octavia and Dew taking part in the conversation among them.
"How about you Jaune? What Academy do you plan on going to?" Nebula asked, breaking him out of the minor trance. He shrugged at the question.
"Never thought to go to one. I'd prefer to just keep traveling."
"Why though?" Dew asked him, looking intrigued.
"I want to see more of the world, honestly. See everything that it has to offer, from good to bad. Going to an Academy feels like time wasted when I could be traveling. Settling down eventually is a definite thing to do but going to an Academy just isn't something for me. Worst case a legal apprenticeship is a possibility but for now just… No."
"The Academies help everyone get better," Octavia answered hotly, not liking how he dismissed the academies as he did. "It's not like you've done many jobs either, probably just wondered."
"I've done a good bit of jobs, can't rely just on scavenging to keep your gear ready," Jaune answered right back, not liking the tone she took. "A few E and D ranks, a couple dozen C ranks, eight or nine B ranks with some being alone, and a couple A ranks. I was never alone for the A ranks though."
"Give me your scroll," Octavia demanded as he finished. Not knowing why he handed her his scroll. She went through his phone and clicked on the Hunter Registry App and began looking through his profile.
Now, Jaune didn't know that when you did a job for the guild, they would automatically upload a completed job form to your account saying that you had finished said job. What he also didn't know was that since he didn't have a scroll until Karachi Lizzie had taken all the physical job completed forms he had and uploaded them into his account. Giving him a huge number of jobs completed for his age. Even dropping some of the jobs they had done while Aedon's group was still together. The A rank where he had to pretend to be a slave being first and foremost.
So, with that in mind it was understandable for Octavia's jaw to drop once she saw his jobs completed list. Not the exact number that he had just told them but good enough. 14 E and D ranks completed, 31 C ranks, seven B ranks and three A ranks. Five of the B ranks and all A ranks indicating that the job had been done with a team. Facts that indicated that Jaune, at around 15 and a half, was a low to mid tier B rank hunstmen. An accomplishment only a few could boast.
"How did you fail a D rank but completed everything else?" Sun asked as he looked over Octavia's shoulder at the jobs log. Jaune just huffed at that; failing to catch the green haired thief and being routinely embarrassed by her still hurts his pride.
"She had an illusion semblance and technically the job is still open," he defended himself. Reaching back over the table he plucked his scroll from her.
"I still stand by what I said earlier," Octavia stated after she recovered. "The Academies help everyone and rarely does anyone graduate from there who isn't high B rank at least. You may be better than us now but that won't last."
"And how many of the S, SS and SSS ranks out there come from Academy graduates?" Jaune asked knowing the answer was less than 35% of them. All three ranks consist of a total of 50 people in the world. 30 S ranks, 14 SS ranks and six SSS ranks. With an unofficial extra one for Aedon but he kept that to himself.
Though he would admit that the strongest one mostly came from the Academies, 10 S ranks, three SS ranks but all on the higher tier and four of the six SSS ranks were Academy graduates. The rest never attended, mostly through apprenticeships. With the ones not being in apprenticeships being like him, orphans who had to make their own way to survive.
"Food's here," the waitress announced to everyone, breaking them out of their silence. Starting to place food in front of everyone.
They ate in mostly silence but Jaune was okay with that. He didn't mind the silence and the steak he found to be excellent. Juicy in all the right ways and the perfect amount of seasoning. When he first saw the steak too he realized that it was the edible part of a Diamond Tail Snake. Something he admonished himself for not picking up on with the name being such an obvious hint.
When they finished their meals Jaune got out a few lien as everyone else did and paid for himself. He thought about trying to convince them to pay for his meal but decided against that and just paid. Convincing himself with ease that doing so would be incredibly rude at this point.
Leaving the restaurant Dew, Octavia and Sun excused themselves stating that their parents had messaged them and wanted them home. Jaune didn't know if that was actually the case but he could tell Sun wouldn't bail like that so assumed they were genuine. Dew and Octavia on the other hand might, the pair being much harder to read as they were far more guarded in the way they acted than Sun was. Leaving him with just Nebula and May.
"I think we should call it for the night girls," he spoke to them right after the others walked off. "The sun's down and you should be getting back to your homes."
Both looked like they wanted to argue the point but relented, accepting his words. Not before both got his scroll number, to let him know where to go for Shade's training arena's as they both reasoned. He didn't argue there and made his way back to his apartment. Intent on making sure that he had time the next day to find a library. Even if only for an hour, he still needed to research the symbol on his shield.
Adam paced in front of the map that was propped up on the table in the command tent as he contemplated what to do. Markings all over signifying certain places and areas. Oasis', settlements, last known caravan locations, and both work camps and Mines. Almost all of which were used by the SDC with Faunus as the workers/slaves.
Blake was out scouting another mine a good 100 miles away indicated by a small black bullhead. Scouting out the next facility that they would hit after this one. Remembering her soft yellow eyes when she had left, they were no longer full of passion. Dull and indecisive as she was more of a passenger to their mission than the leader she had been mere months ago. Then there was her willing and verbal disagreements with him in front of the other lieutenants.
The only reason he allowed that was because her disagreements had saved lives. Making him alter their plans for the raids. Still, she was treading the line on what was acceptable and what wasn't. Even in their bed she had become… colder to him. She still reciprocated but the fire she once had was gone.
He was beginning to think about sending her home but the one time he had brought it up she shot it down. Citing that she was their best scout and that she would be away from him. The way she said 'him' though made everything seem like his fault. Something he vehemently denied.
As for her being the best scout, she most definitely was. Every mine and base they had attacked she had scouted first. Never seen, never heard and always brought back important information. Information that often dictated their attack plans; even she tried to change those plans almost every time.
Now, the plan he was thinking of wasn't one that she would agree with ever. However, she hadn't scouted this base and the plan would save the most lives of his people. His trusted lieutenants agreed with the plan; Bonesaw especially so. He wouldn't let the rest of the soldiers know, however. He didn't want their pushback on this but the plan was the best way he could find to preserve as many of his people as possible.
"Go. Have Silk and the other lieutenants pick up the cages with our bullheads and drop them off right outside the mining base. Come get me when it's done and I'll send the troops in," Bonesaw nodded before walking off. Adam sat in his chair as the man left contemplating how he would use this for the troops.
Hours later he led his detachment of troops in an attack on the mining base. The marginal defenses already exhausted of ammo so even with the updated targeting system they were in no danger. Entering the base with his men as he led them. They cut down a few Grimm that remained in the base. When they were confirmed to be all gone, he addressed his men.
"Look around you! Look at what they were building here! A place to take advantage of US! Of all Faunus! So steeped in their own hatred of us, to use us, to hate us that they brought the Grimm down on themselves before they could even begin. They HATE us so ferociously that even the Grimm pick up on their hatred!" the crowd roared in anger at the implication. That these people hated them so ferociously that they brought the Grimm, the enemy of everyone, down on themselves.
"That HATRED is how they feel, how they see us! We are nothing but ants to but put under boot to them! They show their true colors here and we must fight back because if we don't," he let his words hang in the air for a moment. "We will be their VICTIMS! And they will bring the Grimm down upon us all!"
His troops roared in agreement at his words! Their shouts echoing across the barren desert of Vacuo as their sergeant's corralled them and started ushering them back outside of the gates to go back to their base. As they left, Bonesaw came up to Adam.
"Servers and cameras are completely wiped. Scrolls destroyed as well."
"Good. Torch the server room and any place that looked even mildly important just in case. Meet me back at camp when you're done," Bonesaw gave a nod before walking off to complete his orders.
Hope y'all enjoyed. Have a good weekend y'all!