Author's notes: Hello everyone. Well, those of you who know me as an author will know that I'm normally more active in Danmachi fics. However, even though I've got a fic that's doing well, I'm getting a bit bored of Danmachi and I need a change of scene.
Just the thing, I'm in my RWBY period at the moment... just when RT's closure has been announced and the future of the series is very uncertain... RWBY isn't a perfect series, but I love it nonetheless and I'm still holding out hope that someone will buy the IP and give it a proper conclusion.
In the meantime, I'm offering the first chapter of a little project of my own. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I thought I'd give it a go. And don't worry, my Danmachi followers, I'm not giving up on the Ishtar fic.
So, for those of you who don't know me, one important thing:
I'm French and I write in French. By the way, the French version of the fic is published alongside. As I'm not bilingual, the version you're reading has been translated using the DeepL translation tool, combined with my own knowledge. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done.
So if you see any pronoun errors, odd sentences or word choices, don't be too surprised, and I hope you'll still enjoy discovering my work.
Enjoy your reading.
Chapter 1: A look at a new journey
They say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul. We can speak with words, but words can easily deceive. We can communicate with signs, but the body can also lie.
But the eyes... they're one of the things that lie the least, because you can always see the truth in someone's eyes...
The bullhead had just taken off from Vale. On board were a number of young people, almost grown up, on their way to the famous Beacon Academy to become the huntsmen and huntresses who would defend the world against the threat of the Grimms. But there was one person on board who stood out from the rest, so much so that she was clearly younger than the others.
Ruby Rose had always dreamed of going to Beacon and becoming a hunter, just like her mother. But she had never wanted to enter two years early. It was only fate that got in the way. Fate in the form of Roman Torckwick, who had come to rob the dust shop where she had been quietly leafing through a magazine.
One of the criminal's henchmen had tried to rob her, before learning to fly and the rest getting to meet her enormous scythe/multi-purpose high-calibre rifle. This led her to fight alongside Glynda Goodwitch, only to be severely reprimanded by the latter, before finally meeting Professor Ozpin, who welcomed her into his academy.
Many others would have jumped for joy, but this was not the case for Ruby, who would have liked to attend Beacon normally, having completed her last two years at Signal. She was already mature enough to understand that this exceptional advance, combined with her youth, was not necessarily going to help her.
The only good thing was that she was enrolling in the same year as Yang, her older sister by two years, which was more than welcome moral support.
The blonde tried to cheer up her younger sister, who was really trying to motivate herself, but without much success. Fortunately, she was brought out of her thoughts by the on-board television, which was announcing Torchwick's latest exploits before switching to the news.
Then it was replaced by a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch giving a welcome speech as warm as a spanking with her riding crop.
The two sisters then admired the view before them as Beacon entered their sights.
However, they weren't the only ones watching the scenery, someone had just arrived right next to them and this person was also staring at the horizon.
Curious, Ruby and Yang glanced over and saw a young man about the same age as the older girl watching the scenery, with scraggly blond hair slightly lighter than Yang's and beautiful dark blue eyes.
"Are you enjoying the view too?" asked Yang, with her warm smile, showing that she was clearly the more sociable of the two sisters.
"Yes," replied the young man in a soft, calm voice before turning to her. "Beacon really is beautiful."
What does Yang see in this young man's eyes?
Nostalgia. A mixture of sadness and joy, a cocktail of bittersweet sensations. But also a deep kindness, coupled with a smile of great warmth.
Ruby had also let herself be caught by his gaze. It was so deep that it aroused various emotions in her.
"You have beautiful eyes..." she said without realising it, externalising her thought. She realised immediately and turned as red as her hood, while Yang smiled in amusement, having something to tease her about for a long time.
The young man laughed and seemed equally amused.
"Thank you, but probably not as much as yours. Silver eyes, that's the first time I've seen that."
"T-thank you." Ruby stammered, not knowing where to put herself, which prompted Yang to take over again.
"So, first year at Beacon too?"
"Absolutely. Jaune Arc, nice to meet you." He said, holding out his hand.
"Same here. I'm Yang Xiao Long." She replied, shaking his hand.
"And the one who just tried to hit on you is my little sister, Ruby Rose."
"Yang!"
"Nice to meet you." He said, ignoring Yang's comment and shaking Ruby's hand, still embarrassed by her blunder. "Well, if you don't mind, I'll go and sit down."
"Something wrong?" asked Ruby, still worried that he'd taken her remark about his eyes the wrong way.
"Well, at the risk of not looking cool in front of two pretty girls, I'm afraid my motion sickness is starting to kick in and I'm going to go and get some rest. See you later."
"See you later!" replied Yang in an energetic tone as Ruby tried to gibber something herself. "A bit weird, but quite cool." Concluded the elder.
"Yeah, he seems nice."
"So, little sister..." began the blonde with a teasing smile. "Are we going to start hitting on boys now?"
"Yang!"
Although a little embarrassed by her sister's teasing, Ruby was already feeling a little better, the whole thing had lightened the mood.
The bullhead finally arrived at the academy and the stream of new arrivals began to trickle down.
As for Jaune, he was still sitting in his spot. If he was suffering from motion sickness, he was hiding it rather well. On the other hand, he seemed to be deep in thought, observing his left hand, which trembled slightly from time to time. He began to open and close his fist several times, as if trying to regain full control of his body.
Then he was one of the last people on board. He stood up and looked ahead, his eyes full of determination.
"Time to go." He said softly, as if trying to motivate himself.
Ruby already hated her first day. First, she'd made a very embarrassing remark to a complete stranger on board the bullhead, which had opened the door for Yang to tease her to her heart's content. Then her sister had simply left her in the lurch. Next, she'd knocked over the luggage of some hussy who'd found nothing better to do than make her sniff powdered Dust, causing her to sneeze in the most destructive way. And the girl in black with whom she had wanted to get to know had also left her in the lurch.
Disappointed, she let herself fall to the ground.
"Welcome to Beacon." She said wearily as someone held out a hand to her.
"Bad day?" asked the rather strange boy she had met earlier.
What does Ruby see in Jaune's eyes?
Kindness, gentleness and tenderness. An almost paternalistic look... no, more like that of a gentle, loving big brother.
This time, Ruby held back, but her thought was confirmed: Jaune had beautiful eyes, or rather... extremely deep eyes.
The girl accepted Jaune's help and the two found themselves walking side by side.
"Nervous?"
"A little." she said with a sigh before feeling the urge to open up. "It's just that... I don't know if I really belong here. You've probably already noticed that I'm younger."
"That's what I've been thinking. And so, when you're nervous, you pay compliments to strangers?" he asked teasingly.
"What... no! Not at all!" she exclaimed before hiding her embarrassment under her hood. "Please, can we just forget the whole thing?"
Her reaction was far too adorable not to make Jaune laugh.
"All right, all right, I'll stop. So, how did you end up here?"
Ruby then explained her confrontation with Roman Torchwick and her meeting with Ozpin, who had invited her to join the academy two years early.
"You shouldn't be so down on yourself Ruby. You stood up to a dangerous criminal, neutralised his henchmen and got Professor Ozpin's attention. I don't think he would have invited you two years early if you didn't deserve it."
Jaune's compliments made her blush again, but also smile; his words went straight to her heart. However, she felt the need to change the subject.
"And so I use this," she said as she drew and deployed Crescent Rose.
"A scythe?
"It's also a high impact sniper rifle."
"Well, that's some piece of gear."
Ruby gave a nervous chuckle as she realised that her weapon was indeed very original, even here.
"I'm a gun freak, I might have gone a bit too wild when I made mine."
"Oh? Are you one of those people who make their own weapons?"
"We were encouraged to at Signal."
"I'm afraid I don't have anything that fancy. I, for one, use this."
Jaune then drew his sword.
"A sword?"
"Yes, and the scabbard can be extended to form a shield."
Jaune immediately demonstrated.
"Otherwise, its only other feature is that it's extremely strong. The shield can take an Ursa's bumper blows with ease and the sword is very sharp, despite the weight of decades, I only had to give it basic maintenance to restore it to its former glory."
"Decades, is your weapon that old?"
"It's a family heirloom, my great-great-grandfather fought in the Great War with it."
"Well, classics are fine too," Ruby quipped, trying to hide her disappointment at such a rustic weapon.
"True, but I don't intend to remain locked in the past, I've already got a few ideas to give my equipment more power."
"Oooooooh! If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me!"
"With pleasure."
Then, without warning, Jaune put his hand on Ruby's head and stroked it paternalistically. The young girl was so surprised that she froze in place. Only two people had ever done that to her before, her older sister and her father. Jaune's manner reminded her more of her father. It was horribly embarrassing, yet... not unpleasant.
Yes, Jaune really was a strange boy, yet he was really very nice, she could feel it in his voice, in his gestures, but above all in his eyes...
Finally, the two young people arrived in the large hall where all the new arrivals had gathered.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted at her sister.
"Hey sis. Looks like you found our friend from earlier."
"You mean after you left me behind? It's a good thing Jaune was there, otherwise I wouldn't have known where to go."
This made her sister laugh, and she decided to take it all in stride.
"Thanks for taking care of her."
"You're welcome."
"However, despite what I've said, you're not allowed to hit on my baby sister without my permission."
"Yang!" protested Ruby, embarrassed by her sister's behaviour. As for Jaune, this simply made him laugh.
"That wasn't my intention. Besides, who knows? Maybe I prefer pretty blondes with a sparkling personality?" he pointed at the older girl with an amused smile.
"Oh? Nice try, handsome, but you'll need more than fine words to get me into your bed." replied Yang in the same teasing tone, which made the young man laugh again.
"I'll make a note of it. And I'll leave you sisters alone too. See you later girls." he said before walking away, waving at them.
"OK, see you later Jaune." replied Ruby, now more relaxed thanks to him.
"See you later, handsome," said Yang in turn, amused by this exchange of pleasantries.
The two sisters then found themselves alone.
"He's cooler than I thought," said Yang, curious about this encounter.
"Yes, he's really nice... And it's a good thing he was there." said the younger sister, giving her sister an accusatory look.
This was followed by a long explanation from the youngest sister about an explosion after she had knocked over the luggage of a hussy. The hussy in question happened to be standing behind her at the time, leading to another outburst from the latter, who unleashed all her cynicism on poor Ruby.
For her part, still in the background, Jaune was watching the scene with an amused smile on her face, while her eyes showed a certain nostalgia.
Fortunately, all this was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Ozpin, who made his welcome speech. A speech that was not at all motivating, about as cheerful as a notice of unpaid taxes.
Jaune listened attentively to the Director's speech. Throughout his speech, the young man's gaze was completely unreadable...
At Beacon, it was the initiation that would determine how the next four years would unfold for each new arrival, which meant that on the first night, everyone was gathered in the ballroom to sleep, boys and girls together, which had always shocked some people. Putting young people barely out of their teens and with their hormones boiling over in mixed dormitories was a real invitation to unfortunate 'accidents'.
But on the other hand, it was also a good opportunity to remind aspiring huntsmen and huntresses of the value of self-discipline, which meant that trouble due to promiscuity was very rare within the four academies.
But on this particular evening, boys and girls were slightly separated, each occupying a specific area of the room. By a twist of fate, the four girls who didn't yet know they were going to become team RWBY got to know each other... well, in a way.
Blake would have preferred to be left alone and quietly go back to her book. However, her eyes were drawn to a peculiar sight in the boys' area. Although hidden under her ribbon, she turned her ears to catch what was happening.
Jaune had moved his sleeping bag against a wall and settled into a rather odd position. Instead of lying down, his back was against the wall. And the second strange thing was that he hadn't taken off his clothes, at least not all of them. He had taken off his shoes, his gloves and, above all, his armour, but he was still mostly dressed.
Another detail was troubling Blake: the position he was in should have allowed him to hold a weapon while sleeping. This very particular way of sleeping was something she had only seen in experienced warriors, the old wary ones who only slept with one eye open. It was clearly not the kind of habit you would find in an apprentice huntsman.
However, she also saw that he had attracted the attention of someone else, even if he was heading towards Jaune for other reasons.
Cardin had noticed this rather odd fellow for a while, but it was clearly his clothes that had caught her attention. Thinking he'd found the perfect person to annoy to take his mind off things.
"Hey buddy. Nice pyjamas." began Cardin in a mocking tone, making two of the other guys with him laugh.
" What? My hoodie?" Jaune asked, undaunted.
"That's a cute little rabbit you've got there," said the big brute, pointing to the character on Jaune's clothes with a mocking laugh.
"Don't you recognise it? It's Pumpkin Pete, the one from the cereal."
"And how did you get this? By sending the box back?" continued Cardin, no longer even hiding the fact that he was pulling his leg.
"Fifty actually, that takes dedication. This hoodie is good quality, it fits me and it's very comfortable, I'd be stupid to get rid of it just for aesthetic reasons. What's more, it's practical for other things too, it lets me gauge people," says Jaune with a wry smile before looking into his eyes.
What did Cardin see in Jaune's eyes?
Disappointment. The feeling that he had been tested and had failed. The look of a man who didn't care about his provocations, which seemed to him to be nothing more than childish pranks.
Seeing that his taunts were only getting the better of Jaune, the brute simply grunted in frustration and walked away. He would have plenty of time to sort things out later and make Jaune pay for this humiliation.
For her part, although she pretended not to be interested, Blake had followed the exchange without missing a beat.
The faunus cat gave a very slight, concealed smile; she didn't know this young blond man, but she already liked him.
What everyone didn't know was that the teachers were observing what was going on via a discreet video surveillance system. On the one hand to avoid incidents, but also to begin to evaluate the students.
And clearly, Jaune's behaviour did not go unnoticed, particularly in the eyes of Professor Ozpin, who also recognised in the young man the behaviour and body language of an experienced huntsman. However, something didn't seem right. Ozpin couldn't put his finger on it and it bothered him.
The night was short for many of them, largely due to nervousness, as they were about to face the initiation, the test that would determine their future at the academy.
The day before, everyone had had to leave their equipment in a locker, so it was no surprise that morning that the changing rooms were abuzz with activity as everyone prepared themselves and speculated about future teams.
Ruby and Yang were motivating each other in their own way, while Weiss was already hard at work trying to form a duo with Pyrrha, paying no attention to Jaune who had come to collect his things from the locker next to them and overheard their conversation.
"From what I've heard," began the young man, inviting himself into the conversation. "We're not the ones who choose the teams."
"Oh? And how would you know that?" Weiss asked with her usual sympathy. But all she got from Jaune was a mysterious little smile.
"Rumours are flying..." the young man finally replied. "But in a way, it will be all the more fun. I mean, who knows? Maybe the three of us will even end up on the same team."
"Because you think you're worthy of it? Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"Yes, you're Weiss Schnee."
"That's right! And this is Pyrrha Nikos..."
"I know," Jaune interrupted. "Top of her class at Sanctum, four-time winner in a row of the Mistral regional tournament and the latest face of Pumpkin Pete's cereal, by the way." he said as he approached the flame-haired beauty. "Even if I wanted to, I could never ignore who you are..." he finished with a tender smile.
Pyrrha, a little embarrassed to have her CV exposed in this way, looked up at Jaune, but whatever she wanted to say, she was unable to utter a single word.
What did Pyrrha see in Jaune's eyes?
An expression of rare complexity. Nostalgia, infinite tenderness, the eyes of someone who seemed to be reunited with a dear friend who had disappeared for too long.
Pyrrha was all the more troubled. Did she know him? An old childhood friend she had forgotten when she grew up? No, no matter how hard she searched her memory, she was sure she didn't know him.
But that look...
The champion was not naive, she knew very well the effect that her celebrity could have, she had to deal with her share of admirers and other people wanting to take advantage of her and above all of her status. And without being arrogant, she knew that she was very beautiful and that this aroused the desire of many, especially coupled with her reputation.
But she saw none of that in Jaune's eyes. All she saw was tenderness. In her eyes, she seemed to be simply Pyrrha.
She couldn't tear her gaze away from his, she could have lost herself in his gaze, drowned in it, forgetting the march of time...
Until he broke eye contact of his own accord, rudely bringing her back to reality as he turned his attention to Weiss.
Still confused, she turned silently to her locker to grab her weapon and check it one last time.
For his part, Jaune had turned to Weiss.
"Excuse me Weiss, could you do me a favour?"
"What?" She asked, as unsympathetic as ever.
"I saw that you use powdered Dust for your weapon and not cartridges. I use it in that format too. I wanted to stock up before taking the bullhead yesterday, but the shop where I was going to stop got robbed and I was caught short. I know, it's my fault, I should have been more careful, but if you could help me out with a couple of bottles, that would be great."
"What? And why should I do you this favour?"
A favour that would cost her nothing, given the amount of Dust she had in stock.
"Well, out of generosity. And also because I'm asking you nicely." replied the young man in an amused tone.
Weiss was about to give him a scathing reply and looked into his eyes before suddenly falling silent.
What did Weiss see in Jaune's eyes?
Kindness, sympathy. He didn't seem in the least perturbed by her cynicism.
But more importantly, she had the feeling that nobody had ever looked at her like that.
She was Weiss Schnee, she knew her worth and that of her family. She was used to dealing with the upper crust of Atlas society, navigating in circles where everyone wanted favours. Where many young men dreamt of repeating her father's feat of marrying Heiress Schnee and taking her name.
She was also used to the looks of hatred and contempt that her name could provoke. She was used to all that.
But there was something different in Jaune's eyes. In her eyes, she seemed to be just Weiss... just Weiss.
And it was the first time someone had made her feel that way.
A little embarrassed, she nevertheless managed to regain her composure and broke the silence.
"Well... I do know how to be a generous person from time to time. So take this." Putting her money where her mouth was, she placed three bottles of Dust in his hands.
"Fire, lightning and gravity. Just what I needed. Thanks Weiss, I'll return the favour sometime."
By way of reply, the young woman simply left, gibbering something incomprehensible, although it was obvious that she was embarrassed.
She needed to get some fresh air, the initiation was about to begin and she didn't need to have her mind elsewhere just because a stranger had disturbed her with his gaze.
For her part, probably because she was still a little confused, Pyrrha mishandled her weapon and accidentally fired a shot while Miló was in its spear form. The weapon flew at full speed towards Jaune.
But against all the odds, and in a move of incredible speed, the young man raised his arm and intercepted the spear in mid-air, demonstrating that he possessed both instinct and reflexes above the norm. Even so, the slight glow in his hand showed that his aura was at work to help him.
"Whoa!" came the instinctive response from Ruby and Yang, who had witnessed the scene.
Jaune remained frozen like that for a moment, his arm raised, his head turned towards the tip of the weapon he was holding firmly.
What did they see in Jaune's eyes?
The coldness of a warrior. Pure instinct at work, the eyes of a huntsman on the lookout for a threat.
"Sorry!" said Pyrrha with an embarrassed smile as she moved towards the young man. The latter's frozen expression suddenly relaxed and he smiled again before turning the weapon in his hand and handing it back to its owner.
"It's nothing, even the best are not immune to mistakes."
There was no cynicism in his words, just the same kindness that characterised him. Somewhat embarrassed, the beautiful flame-haired warrior went ahead after apologising a second time.
Jaune watched her leave with the same look, still filled with bottomless tenderness. Then he turned his attention to the two sisters as they came towards him.
"Are you all right?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, it was nothing, don't worry."
"Hey, that was impressive, handsome. Keep that up and maybe you'll manage to interest me." Yang replied, having fun teasing him in her own way. This drew a small amused laugh from Jaune.
"I'll make a note of it. But, Yang, let me give you some advice..."
And suddenly, Jaune's gaze changed as he moved closer to Yang. She instinctively backed away until her back was against a locker and the young man put his hand next to her head as he drew closer.
Was this the famous "Kabedon" as they called it in Mistral? she wondered.
"Avoid provoking something that might get out of your hand." He said in a mysterious voice as he looked into her eyes.
What did Yang see in Jaune's eyes?
Provocation, teasing. But also a kind of maturity that seemed to tell her she was just a little girl playing grown-up.
Yang Xiao Long was a teasing girl, everyone knew that. She was beautiful, desirable and liked to play on that, whether in her choice of clothes or her behaviour, often to her father's great annoyance. She liked to pretend that she was a liberated young woman with an assertive sexuality.
But the facts were quite different: she provoked more than she acted, and in reality wasn't all that experienced. A flaw that Jaune had obviously spotted and into which he had pounced to turn her teasing against her.
All to the hilarious laughter of Ruby, twisted with laughter at the sight of her sister having a taste of her own medecine.
Without breaking his smile, the young man stepped back, giving her a knowing wink before leaving the scene in his turn, leaving the beautiful blonde as red as her sister's hood, who was still bursting with laughter.
"Bwahahaha! He totally got you here!"
"Shut up, Rub!" replied her sister, both offended that someone had seen through her game and amused that she'd found someone to stand up to her. "OK, handsome, if you want to play that game, count me in."
As requested, the young people gathered and were lined up on strange metal plates bearing the school's symbol.
Everyone was both excited and a little anxious. Ozpin and Glynda then told them the details of the initiation. Everyone would be catapulted into the forest. The first person they made eye contact with would become their partner for the duration of their schooling.
The next step was simple: go to an old temple to the north of the forest, collect a relic from each pair and return to the cliffs.
All this while facing all the filth that lived in the forest, namely grimms, all the while being observed and graded by teachers who wouldn't intervene, well, unless they really risked dying... probably.
Ruby was disappointed, this method didn't suit her, as she risked ending up with a complete stranger when she already felt out of place.
"Get ready." Ozpin said soberly as he took another sip of coffee. Sometimes you wondered if it wasn't pure caffeine running through his veins.
Everyone took their places and prepared to be swung through the air. Ozpin watched each of the future initiates carefully. Like every year, he saw the same things in them. Fear, excitement, impatience, worry. Sometimes the arrogance of young people who thought they were invincible and were quickly put in their place by the forest.
However, as he reached the end of the line, he saw Jaune. The young man had also taken up position, shield in arm, sword in hand. But what surprised the Beacon director most was the look in the young man's eyes.
What did Ozpin see in Jaune's eyes?
Determination. The purest of determination. And immense concentration, as if his mind was totally focused on his goal. No fear, no excitement, no arrogance, just a man focused on his mission.
It struck Ozpin that the look in his eyes was not that of a young Beacon initiate, but rather that of an experienced man who had learned from his mistakes and was capable of great mental discipline.
One by one, the students were propelled into the air. Jaune was the last. When he felt his turn coming, he adjusted his support to absorb the shock and took off in his turn.
Everyone had their own landing strategy, from the most subtle to the most brutal. Whether by smashing into the trees, using them as supports, or a bit of both.
Jaune opted for his own approach, he was ill-prepared and he knew it, his equipment was too rustic and he could only rely on the three vials of Dust powder that Weiss had kindly given him. With no special system or mechanisms to exploit it fully, he was going to have to use it summarily by activating it with his aura.
He grabbed the red vial from his belt and with quick, precise hand movements, juggling between the vial of Dust, his sword and his shield, he moved into position.
Waiting until he was close enough to the ground, he detached his shield to put it under his feet, curled up to disperse the fire Dust which he suddenly ignited with his aura, causing an explosion under his shield which triggered an inverted propulsion force that cut off his momentum and made him lose speed.
All he had to do then was land nimbly on his shield and plant his blade in the ground to brake.
He had landed... and as a bonus, not too far from where he wanted, which was not bad for total improvisation. Gathering up his belongings, he set off, having a clear idea of his destination...
Some people were prepared to play the game and put up with whoever fate threw their way. Others were trying to force fate's hand by looking for specific people. Weiss was hoping to find Pyrrha to form the ultimate duo (from her point of view). Nora and Ren were trying to find each other, despite their attempts to pretend they weren't together together. Despite her talk of emancipation, Yang was also looking for her sister, as she would never have the heart to abandon her.
Ruby was on the same wavelength, looking for her sister, although she was reviewing her other possibilities. Blake seemed nice, cool, competent, but also reluctant to talk.
Jaune... Yes, Jaune could be a viable alternative. He was nice, pretty cool, a bit mysterious, even... a bit weird. But he was still nice and from what she'd seen, she was pretty confident about his fighting abilities.
Yes, change of plan, Yang or Jaune.
But fate was of the capricious sort and her first contact was... with the haughty, arrogant hussy. No matter, in life, you have to make the best of a bad situation and Ruby was sure that, with a little effort, she would manage to make her new best friend.
Weiss, however, was not to her liking and preferred to run off in search of a better life.
For her part, Pyrrha had also set off. She didn't have anyone specific in mind, but she was ready to accept whoever fate would throw her way. At least, that was her initial thought, because since what had happened in the locker room, her mind was starting to play tricks on her and a certain young blond man was making her curious.
Fortunately for her, Pyrrha had fate on her side, as Jaune appeared behind a bush. As soon as he saw her, he gave her a huge smile, which she returned.
"Well, looks like it's going to be you and me." Jaune said in a light tone, but one that betrayed his pleasure all the same.
"Looks like it." Pyrrha said, barely concealing her delight. Ever since she had looked into his eyes, he had intrigued her and awakened something in her. If she hadn't found herself in such a dangerous forest, she might have allowed herself to lose herself in his eyes again and try to understand why his gaze intrigued her so much.
Weiss emerged from a thicket a few moments later. She spotted Jaune's silhouette. Well, it wasn't Pyrrha, but it would be better than Little Red Riding Hood with her explosive tendencies. He was quite intriguing and part of her was curious about him.
She was about to raise her hand and say something when Pyrrha appeared from behind him, Jaune's body blocking her view until now.
The young blond man understood what she had in mind and gave her a sad little smile.
"Sorry, already booked."
Without a word, Weiss turned and went the way she had come, disgusted that her main choice and her backup choice had been lost.
For their part, Pyrrha and Jaune could hear a vague "That doesn't make us friends!" in the distance, followed by a squeal of delight.
Jaune allowed himself a little amused laugh, it all seemed to amuse him very much.
"Shall we go?"
"Gladly."
The last pairs were beginning to form. Ren and Nora had finally found each other, Yang had bumped into Blake, both of them not yet realising the extent to which this meeting would shape their destiny.
Ruby and Weiss were getting to know each other... in pain and incomprehension.
Pyrrha and Jaune were making their way through the forest.
"So..." began the young man. "Since, in theory, our fates are linked...well, for four years." he corrected, a little embarrassed.
"Y-yes, four years..." gibbered Pyrrha a little red-faced, her mind having just betrayed her by putting some very strange images into her head. For goodness sake! She'd only just met Jaune, so why was he having such an effect on her?
"I thought it would be nice to get to know each other. At least our fighting skills and abilities for a start."
"Oh! Erm... yes, that makes sense."
"Well, even if we say ladies first, since I started the subject, I should go first. My Semblance is aura amplification. Basically, I can enhance the power of another person's aura, make it more effective, improve their healing abilities and even allow them to heal serious, even life-threatening injuries."
"That sounds great Jaune."
"Yes, it is... and lastly, to a certain extent, I can also improve the Semblance of others. Make them more powerful, make them last longer, improve the range, that sort of thing. The only downside to my Semblance is that it requires physical contact, or at least that I'm very close to the person whose aura I want to amplify."
"A small price to pay for the effects it has."
Inwardly, Pyrrha told herself that she wouldn't mind if Jaune touched her.
OK, could someone take away the weird ideas she had in her head? Because the beautiful warrior was beginning to no longer understand the reactions of her own mind. Fortunately, she still had enough discipline to come back to reality and continue their conversation.
"As for me, my Semblance is quite simple, it's polarity, I can control magnetism and use it on any object that reacts to it."
"Simple, effective and with loads of tactical possibilities if used intelligently. I'd be curious to see what it can do when amplified by my Semblance."
However, their conversation was cut short when grunts were heard in the thicket. Jaune immediately drew his weapon and took up position, watching for the slightest movement, immediately followed by Pyrrha who put her back to him.
As for the teachers, everything was meticulously examined and analysed. The pairs that had been formed, the choices made, the fights, the reactions. The teachers were scattered all over the forest and the surrounding area, but Glynda and Ozpin were still at the top of the cliffs. The strict teacher held a tablet in her hand which gave her feedback on all the cameras scattered around to follow the students' movements.
"The first groups have already reached the temple."
"Good."
"I must say we have some rather... surprising freshmen this year."
"Are you thinking of Miss Rose?"
"Among others, although I still have reservations about her early admission."
"Initiation is here to tell us what's really going on."
"Certainly. But I was thinking mainly of Mr Arc." She said as she watched the end of a fight between the young man and three ursas before bringing up his file. "His file is incoherent, his transcript in particular, it seems below his real abilities."
"I know, a most intriguing young man, despite his age he sometimes acts like an experienced veteran. I'm having a bit of trouble getting to grips with him. Perhaps he was trained by a very competent huntsman."
"In that case, why wouldn't that show up in his file? It's looking more and more suspicious to me."
"We can speculate that he prefers not to mention the name of his master."
"Which makes him all the more suspicious then..."
For if he had not been trained by someone who wished to be recognised, then that person must have been disreputable.
"Could he be someone working for..."
"Glynda." Ozpin suddenly cut her off. "Making assumptions without evidence will get us nowhere. James is already paranoid enough for the rest of us. As for Mr Arc, it will also be the initiation that tells us more about him."
"Indeed, but I'd still recommend keeping an eye on him."
"Certainly, I'll leave that to you in that case. But for today, let's concentrate on the initiation."
Glynda nodded in agreement and they resumed their assessment of the other teams.
Down in the forest, Jaune and Pyrrha had just come to a cavern. On the rock next to the entrance, some things had been carved, a warning that looked quite clear.
"Jaune, do you think..."
"No. Honestly, no." The young man replied, looking strangely jaded as he gazed into the cavern. "I'd even say this place reeks of trouble and we should leave."
Which he was about to do when an ominous noise erupted from the cavern, followed by several points of light glowing in the dark.
"Seriously?" shouted Jaune before the rock exploded to reveal a Deathstalker, a large scorpion-shaped grimm, considerably more dangerous than a Beowulf or an Ursa. "Pyrrha, stand back!" warned Jaune, allowing her to dodge a pincer blow.
Both were in combat stance, shields up and weapons in hand, dodging, blocking and parrying pincer and stinger blows, looking for an opening to attack.
Out of the corner of her eye, the red-haired warrior noticed that Jaune was suddenly much slower; he seemed to be struggling to absorb the blows, a far cry from his performance against the Ursas.
The young man managed to narrowly avoid an attack and Pyrrha noticed that the hand holding his sword was trembling a little. Was he afraid? No, the look on his face betrayed irritation.
Parrying another attack, she stepped back and got closer to him, close enough to hear him murmur a few words.
"...shit... out of sync..."
"Jaune!" She shouted at him as she noticed the Grimm launch another attack.
A particularly violent pincer strike. Jaune took it with his shield, but couldn't redirect the attack, forcing him to take the full impact, which propelled him far back, leaving Pyrrha alone at the mercy of the beast and forcing her to flee.
As luck would have it, the Deathstalker had propelled him straight towards the temple, where Yang, Blake, Nora and Ren had just arrived. He almost collided with Ruby. Twisting in the air, he readjusted his position so as to catch the girl and land with her on a tree branch.
"Thank you, Jaune."
"You're welcome. Can I ask where you were falling from?"
Embarrassed and with a nervous chuckle, she pointed to the sky where there was nothing less than a Nervermore, one of the large avian Grimms.
Well, there were better transport companies than Grimms Airlines, but you had to adapt after all. Not to mention that Weiss was also on board and fell as well.
Jaune positioned himself to intercept her and caught her in his arms princess-style, using his aura to absorb the shock.
"My hero..." Weiss said simply, with his usual cynicism.
"Let's make sure it doesn't become a habit," replied the young man, putting her back on her feet.
And since one annoyance never comes alone, Pyrrha emerged from the edge of the trees a moment later, pursued by the Deatstalker who had tried to put Jaune into orbit.
This sequence of bizarre events, coupled with Nora's earlier ride on an Ursa, ended up provoking the ire of the beautiful, sexy blonde, who burst into... literal flames, asking if it was possible to have a little peace and quiet.
Ruby then tried to play the heroine, only to be pinned to the ground by the Nervermore's feathers, before being saved by Weiss, who let the Tsundere genes speak for themselves.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Yang.
The deathstalker was stuck in the ice and the nevermore would soon turn and come back.
"There's no sense in dallying when our objective is right in front of us." Weiss said, looking in the direction of the ruins.
"She's right, we don't need to fight these creatures." Ruby continued.
"Exactly, our mission is to recover one relic per pair and return to the cliffs, let's concentrate on that." Jaune added as he headed towards the relics.
Always on the lookout for what was going on around her, even if she was silent, Blake watched Jaune as he made his way towards the objects to be recovered. There were two in front of him, the white knight and the white rook.
She noticed that he was smiling mischievously and that his eyes sparkled.
What did Blake see in Jaune's eyes?
Malice, the eyes of a child who knew he could potentially do something very stupid and was holding back.
Then he suddenly became serious again and grabbed the white rook while Ruby took the white knight.
"Let's move!" shouted Jaune at them as the Deathstalker was freeing himself from Weiss's ice.
To get back to the cliffs, you had to pass through some strange ruins above a ravine, which wasn't very inviting, especially with a Nervermore and a Deathstalker stuck up your arse.
By chance, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang found themselves doing acrobatics in the ruins suspended against the black bird, while Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren stayed back against the scorpion with its far too menacing sting.
To give them a chance to breathe and reorganise themselves, Jaune tried a gamble. He threw the vial of Gravity Dust he had in front of him and charged forward with his shield. Once the vial was right where he wanted it to be between him and the grimm, he used his aura to activate it, triggering a shockwave that repelled the monster, but also himself.
However, Jaune had foreseen and anticipated the recoil, simply sliding back and managing his balance, while the Deathstalker was knocked over and took a little time to get up. Time that was going to be precious to them.
Jaune took command of the group, as if it were perfectly natural for him. Ren, though silent, remained observant and saw Jaune's gaze turned towards the beast.
What did Ren see in Jaune's eyes?
Determination, willpower, a warrior focused on his goal. No trace of fear, total control. And a feeling of confidence.
Ren wasn't prepared to put his life, and especially not Nora's, in just anyone's hands. But right now, he trusted Jaune.
"Ren, keep him busy. Pyrrha, the stinger. I'll take care of the claws and when I've given you an opening, Nora, you smash it!"
The other three nodded and Nora opened the show with a few covering shots from her grenade launcher. Then Ren got to him the quickest and started harassing him with rapid fire from his pistols.
It wasn't enough to pierce his shell, but it was enough to annoy him, giving Pyrrha the opening she needed. Dodging a pincer strike, she made a leap, coupled with a pirouette, which enabled her to slice through the monster's sting.
Jaune made contact at the same time. A first swipe, a dodge. He deflected a second strike from his shield and, with a precise, powerful and confident movement, thrust his sword into one of the beast's eyes, which did not appreciate this treatment.
But the worst was yet to come, in the form of a powder suspended around his blade. Jauine gave the creature a triumphant smile as he used his aura to activate the suspended lightning dust. The electrical shock travelled through his sword and struck directly into the Deathstalker's body, who roared in pain to indicate that he did not appreciate it.
It wasn't enough to kill him, but it already smelt like grilled meat.
"I forgot that before you cook the meat, you have to tenderise it first. Nora!"
The young woman sprang up and swung her hammer heavily at the creature's head, smashing its shell and flesh as Jaune withdrew her sword.
This was too much for the grimm, who breathed his last before turning back to ash.
For their part, it was all over and Jaune saw in the distance that the four girls were also finishing off as Ruby was killing the Nervermore with the most improbable beheading technique.
And so the initiation itself ended on a double positive note. Beacon was an academy for future huntsmen and huntresses, and it had let them know that. Once they had completed their missions, all the new initiates were summoned to find out the composition of the permanent teams.
Apparently, this was based on the relics brought back by each pair. In reality, the system was completely random. Between the formation of the initial pairing and the final composition of the teams, nothing was taken into account about their mentalities or the natural affinities between them.
But in a way, the aim of the academy was also to teach them to work as a team and they wouldn't always have a choice of partners. You had to adapt to everyone if you wanted to work effectively.
The names came one after the other, in groups of four. The CRDL team had just left the stage as Professor Ozpin called out the next four.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the White Rooks pieces. From this day on, you will work as... team JNPR."
The applause rang out and Nora couldn't help but jump around Ren's neck to show her delight.
"Led by... Jaune Arc." Ozpin finished.
The young blond man gave a simple smile and inclined his head towards the headmaster to thank him before their eyes met again.
What did Ozpin see in Jaune's eyes?
Joy, but not the joy he thought he would see. Generally, new team leaders expressed a more youthful joy, pride, surprise, sometimes arrogance. Quite often incomprehension and sometimes fear in the face of this responsibility.
But this was not the case in Jaune's eyes. It was a different kind of joy. An almost... nostalgic joy, the joy of finding an old friend, something long lost.
Yes, this young man was definitely not like the others and he would have to be kept under surveillance.
"Congratulations young man." Concluded the headmaster.
Pyrrha, all smiles, raised her fist to tap him affectionately on the shoulder, but it was then that Jaune raised his own and tapped it, giving everyone the impression that they were already very close. Jaune then turned his head towards her and gave her a knowing smile, which amused the beautiful warrior all the more.
Yes, he was a bit strange, but she liked him more and more all the same. When she'd first arrived at Beacon, she'd been very worried about who her partners were going to be. She'd been so afraid that, with her reputation, she'd end up with fans, jealous people or whatever, with whom she'd find it hard to build a real relationship.
But in the end, Ren and Nora seemed nice, if very particular, and Jaune... He knew everything about her, but didn't seem to care; in his eyes, she felt... herself.
Even though she had hidden it well, her heart had leapt in her chest when she had come across him in the forest. And now he was on her team. They were together for the next four years.
A lot could happen in four years...
Fortunately, Ozpin called the last quartet on stage, allowing Pyrrha to return to reality before her thoughts continued to drift towards very... particular shores.
To round off this emotional day, the last team, the RWBY team, was officially formed, headed by Ruby Rose, the famous young girl who had exceptionally joined two years early.
What kind of future are all these young people looking forward to?
Well... a future that no one could predict...
Author's notes: At this point, I think most of you will have understood the plot. It's very classic, but I wanted to try a slightly different approach.
In particular I'm trying to emphasise the eyes and what they express, but I don't know if my little experiment is really successful, you tell me.
Well, I'll be honest, I'm no good at action scenes. I've also deliberately abbreviated all the scenes that don't change from the show, so if you're reading this, you probably already know them.