Chapter 14: An Arc's Word

Jaune had left Beacon with one direction only.

Home.

With liberal use of a scroll, he had begun to maneuver his way back to his home village. It wasn't that far of a flight, which was nice because he was getting a little tired of flying. He had stored his weapons in his inventory. A part of him didn't even want to look at his daggers after everything.

Still, it probably wasn't the best idea to fly without a weapon, so he had pulled out Crocea Mors and strapped the blade to his hip, ignoring the notification that came with it.

Due to Existing levels in Hunter Martial Arts and Dagger Arts, Hunter Sword Arts and Hunter Shield Arts have received a skill bonus.

Hunter Sword Arts Skill has been increased by 5.

Hunter Shield Arts Skill has been increased by 3.

He supposed the magic that calculated those things only when he had equipped his sword again for the first time in a while. It did make him question what would happen when he picked up other weapons.

Soaring through the sky was making him feel better, and while there was a knot in his chest at seeing his family again, there was a strange feeling of lightness as well.

Slowly but surely, his village came into sight, and he let Stealth overtake him and his Grimm. He drifted downward to a gentle landing in an alleyway and let the Grimm dismiss. Taking a steadying breath, he walked out of the alleyway.

Dressed in a long white shirt, dark blue pants, and tall boots with Crocea Mors at his hip, he felt very different from the eleven-year-old who had accidentally run away from home. Still, with a determined stride, he began the walk home.

The village had changed in his absence. Intellectually, he supposed that made sense, but to see different stores where others had been and the homes themselves slightly differing, whether it was shape, size, or wear, was strange.

His home, though, was just as he remembered it. Large, though not excessive, considering how many Arc family kids had been there. It was well maintained with large stone walls and elegant glass windows.

Despite himself, his steps slowed as he walked up to the door until he came to a complete halt as he looked at the deceptively easy-to-open object.

What was he doing?

Just open the door.

Open. The. Door.

Jaune growled and then slammed his head against the door, aggravated at himself. Causing a loud thud. Jaune blinked and then sighed.

Well, that was one way to do things.

He could already hear footsteps coming from inside the house, and for a wild moment, he wished he had a guitar. Maybe that would ease what was likely an unbearably awkward moment to come.

He heard the deadbolt click, and then suddenly, he was met face-to-face with a woman who could only be one of his sisters. Except she was taller and had longer hair. Was that makeup?

Jaune blinked, nonplussed, as he realized that he was completely unprepared for how his family would have changed. He really should have thought of that.

"Uh, excuse me, can I help you?" the woman said, looking at him strangely.

"Uh, you see," Jaune fumbled for words before landing on a stunning combination, "Hi, Sis, I'm back?"

Excellent. Nailed it.

The woman blinked once, twice, and her eyes widened.

Considering how much training Jaune had done, he really should have seen the punch coming.

Of course, it didn't so much as tilt his head, but he was stunned at first, especially considering the words that followed.

"You complete asshole!" she screeched, and Jaune could hear other people beginning to stir in the back of the house, "We thought you were dead! Everyone thought you were dead! You sent one message and a letter. Four Years!"

Jaune raised his hands defensively as she made to take what he thought was another swing at him, only to be completely unprepared as his sobbing sister wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

From within the house, four of his other sisters emerged; Saphron wasn't there, but there was Lavender, Amber, and Olivia. His twin sister Rouge was still sobbing into his chest. Of course, that wasn't the end of it as his father emerged, followed closely by his mother.

Nicholas and Juniper Arc.

They had been drawn by Rouge's yelling and had looked ready for a fight, but upon seeing him, their faces had dropped, as had his stomach.

They stared at each other as Rouge continued to sob.

Given that his family wasn't saying anything, ignoring whatever his twin was mumbling into his shoulder, Jaune supposed that the responsibility fell to him.

He had given thought to what he would say, which immediately went out the window as he looked at his family.

"I'm sorry," were instead the first words to leave his lips.

His family didn't say anything, but Jaune, unable to help himself, felt more words pour out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry I left. It wasn't my intention at the beginning. You see, I wanted to fight some Grimm. So, I thought sneaking into a cargo container would get me past the border checkpoint, but instead, it was an airship, and then I did manage to fight some Grimm, so I got offered the opportunity to go to a combat school. I knew you wouldn't let me, though, so I thought if I just stayed and trained for a while, I could become a Huntsman."

The words were tumbling like a stream from his lips, but now that the dam had been loosened, it couldn't be stopped, "Then some other stuff happened, and now I'm here, and this is my fault, and I'm sorry. I wanted to come home, but I also knew if I did, you still wouldn't let me be a Hunter."

His family was quiet, staring at him before his Father spoke, his voice slightly shaky, "What made you decide to come home then?"

Jaune opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

"I've made a lot of mistakes, and I want to fix them. I miss my family. I understand if you're angry. I expect you to be."

Then Jaune braced himself, but he wasn't ready to suddenly be crushed on all sides by his sisters, mother, and father, who wrapped up the entire family in a giant bear hug.

The embrace was crushing, but despite himself, Jaune found he was smiling.

His dad spoke quietly, whispering into his ear, "I'm sorry as well. I thought that if we stopped you from being a Hunter, we could keep you safe. I was so afraid after you left that we would never be able to talk to you again. I'm just so glad you're home."

Jaune blinked his eyes rapidly as they began to burn.

They had eventually moved inside and Jaune had been placed in the center of the living room and been made to recount everything. It had been easy to talk about Atlas and Weiss, but describing the jump to Signal was problematic, to say the least. He had simply said he transferred there in the end and left it at that, completely cutting out his journey to Menagerie and then back to Atlas.

His family had hung on to his words the whole time, seemingly desperately drinking in his presence.

They had eventually broken to go to bed and Jaune found himself in his room. Not for long, though, as unable to sleep, he had hopped onto the roof and found himself polishing Crocea Mors for lack of anything else to do.

It truly was a beautiful weapon, and Jaune found himself wondering about the distaste he had developed for it until his eyes fell on the sheath. The Arc symbol blatantly stared back at him.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out the weapon he had made and placed it side by side with Crocea Mors.

He glanced between them. There were advantages to both realistically. Maybe the weapon he needed was a combination between them.

He had gotten taller, and if, instead, both the daggers were combined into a sword, he could pair them with Crocea Mors…

He pulled out a spare pad of paper and began to draw, etching a design onto the paper.

Day found him at a blacksmith parting with a fair amount of Lien, but a feeling of pride sinking through him as his daggers were pieced out and the mech shifting parts were reassembled and first formed into an equal-length sword to Crocea Mors. A long glimmering silver blade with a minimalist curved guard that was blue and wrapped with gold. This sword was then integrated into the sheath, allowing for a transition between the two, creating an elegant inner handle and outlining the outside of the shield in blue and gold.

After testing to make sure the shield could transition from sheath to shield to sword, Jaune's weapon was finally complete.

He spun his dual swords around before shifting the sword back to a shield, miming a block, before transitioning the shield to a sheath and sliding Crocea Mors home. He had given up the gun functionality, but he had decided for now he was going to rely on his aura projection skills for range.

He hadn't given up entirely on the dust charges, though, so there was a portion of his sheath sword into which he could inject a dust cartridge.

Something the blacksmith allowed him to test outside. With a flex of Aura Projection through his left sword, what had been an arc of aura turned into a burning crescent of red fire.

He had considered doing more than the touchup work on Crocea Mors but found himself unwilling to change the fundamental simple form of the weapon. There was something solid and dependable about the weapon of his family legacy, completely reliant on neither dust nor mechashifting.

This felt right.

After thanking and paying the blacksmith, Jaune headed home, Crocea Mors hanging loosely at his hip.

Wearing only a plain white t-shirt and jeans, he didn't look much like a Hunter aside from Crocea Mors.

Really, the day was going well until he walked past a television playing the news.

"The Schnee Dust Corporation is still refusing to comment on a recent terrorist attack leaving a partially destroyed Schnee building and at least one confirmed death- "

Jaune glanced at the television and frowned before he kept walking.

Any brooding that might have caused, though, was interrupted as his scroll began to ring. Jaune fumbled in his pockets for a moment before he managed to pull out his scroll, revealing that it was his twin sister, Rouge.

He answered.

"Jaune, where are you?!" The raised voice was maybe a little loud for a scroll call but given everything Jaune couldn't blame her.

"Uh, in town?" he said, somewhat hesitantly.

"Mom and Dad want you to come home," Rouge said, "We have a surprise!"

"Right, will do," Jaune acknowledged simply.

He began his walk home and, in short order, arrived at the doorstep and opened the door to a sea of chaos. His dad was shoving something inside a suitcase but looked up at his entrance.

"Jaune! You're here! I know it's a bit of a rush, but we completely forgot to mention we had a vacation already planned, and since you're back…"

His father trailed off, and Jaune instantly jumped in, doing his best to jump ahead of the awkward tension that was still going around, "Yeah, totally! Where are we going?"

"Argus!" His Father said excitedly, "We're going to go visit Saphron!"

"Oh!" His sister lived in Argus? How close had she been all those years ago? "Sounds great!"

"Go and pack!" His father said and moved back to trying to organize the mad chaos of the Arc family.

Somehow, his family got their act together in time to make the bullhead flight, though it was a near thing. His mother had overbearingly pressed him about whether he would be okay on such a long flight due to his air sickness, but he had waived her off with a half-truth of having grown out of it.

The whole family thing was becoming slightly overwhelming. Being in such close proximity for so long to them was equal parts wonderful and tiring. He had forgotten just how frantic the household could be.

Still, he didn't have the heart to push any of them away and found himself agreeing to a card game, though he didn't understand how to play, and whatever his Luck stat was wasn't helping in the slightest.

Jaune found himself using the night as his time for recuperation, basking in silence while thumbing through a book as he stared out one of the bullhead windows.

He had lost a lot of time with them. His family tried to hide it, but the closeness that had been so constant felt strained. He wondered if they were afraid that he was going to leave again.

He supposed if they were, he couldn't blame them.

Jaune shook those unpleasant thoughts away, and his thoughts drifted to Weiss. Seeing her again… She didn't look like the girl he had befriended all those years ago. She was… well, gorgeous.

Jaune wasn't sure why that was the thought that stuck in his mind. He blamed his Intelligence stat for seemingly devoting entirely too many resources into saving his brief glimpse of her and burning it into his memory so now, whenever he didn't occupy his mind with something else, she appeared again.

What he wouldn't give for some Grimm to vent his frustrations on.

They landed in Argus and exited with the other passengers streaming out to see Saphron and what looked like her wife, who was holding a tiny bundle to her chest. Saphron ran up excitedly to their family, and despite himself, Jaune found himself walking a couple of steps behind them as they greeted his sister.

Of course, Rouge wasn't going to be happy with that. As the greetings wound, she turned and grabbed him, yanking him forward.

"Look whose back!" she cried out with an evil gleam in her eyes.

Saphron's eyes widened before fury filled them, "JAUNE!"

Jaune cringed, his eyes turning toward them, as he frantically gestured with his hands, "I'm back. It's good. Rouge already slapped me!"

Saphron didn't exactly look calmed down, but the fury did abate slightly in her eyes, "Where were you?"

Jaune sighed, "Look, I'm willing to have this conversation again, but can we do this not in public?"

Saphron finally seemed to notice the attention they were attracting, and she backed down enough to give him some air. Not that the glare had changed much.

Given how much fun the first explanation had been, this one wasn't that much better; other than that, it was only for Saphron, her wife, and a baby.

Still, the family had eventually broken up, and he had won his freedom, which he had used to take a walk around Argus.

It was a walk that would have been more relaxing if the entire city hadn't been in the midst of a celebration for something called the Mistral Regional Tournament. From what Jaune had gathered, there was some girl named. the 'Invincible Girl' who was dominating the tournament.

Why someone would be titled the 'Invincible Girl' was beyond Jaune's comprehension, but honestly, he supposed it wasn't his business. Though the name did sort of ring a bell.

Still, it wouldn't distract him from the objective of his walk. Namely, he wanted to find somewhere to burn off some energy.

Fortunately, after asking around, he had found a place. Out of the way, it was shaped a little like a coliseum, but for a nominal fee, he could stretch out his limbs a bit.

He started with the basics, getting a feel for the transitions of the upgraded Crocea Mors. He flipped between the shield and sword at will as he spun his body about. He slashed the cut and transitioned to a block.

It was a melding between new and old, the benefits of both, and with the aura slashes, he found himself confident he could be effective, at least at mid-range. It reminded him of a simpler time when his idea of training wasn't simply throwing himself at hordes of Grimm.

Not that hordes seemed to do much for him anymore as far as levels; he needed something stronger if he was going to produce his abilities more. Getting access to stronger Grimm, though, was potentially problematic.

He would have to go a distance out into the wilds to do that and preferably keep that on the down low from his family.

He swung, blocked, swung, and swept his foot, increasing his speed unconsciously until he was a blur to the untrained eye.

Till something tingled on the edge of his perception and he turned to see a red-headed teenage girl standing at the entrance of the area, dressed in bronze armor, a spear slung over her shoulder. She was staring at him with a strange look, and he found himself returning the look as something about her appearance tingled something in his head, a memory trying to break free.

"Do I know you?" he asked, looking at the redhead.

The red-headed girl looked at him seemingly confused at his question, though she hesitated a long moment before she said anything, "I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

Ah, that explained it. Wait, that didn't explain anything at all!

"Who?" he muttered dumbly. There was something about that name that scratched at his memory.

Pyrrha looked at him as if examining every part of his being, "You don't…" she seemingly stopped herself in her tracks.

Then, as she kept looking at him, her eyes landed on his shield and her brow furrowed, "You," she mumbled, "I've seen that symbol before. There was a boy…" she looked back at him.

"Was your brother Jaune Arc?" she asked quietly, looking at him with somewhat haunted-looking eyes.

Eh? Wait! This was the girl he and Weiss had fought with all those years ago! There were posters and everything!

And she thought Jaune Arc had died buying time for an escape.

This. This was awkward.

Stats:

Name: Jaune Arc

Class: Shadow Knight

Level: 22

HP: 700

AP: 7000

Mana: 8000

Strength: 70

Agility: 70

Health: 60

Sense: 60

Intelligence: 80

Luck: ?

Available Ability Points: 0

Skills:

Gamers Mind: Level Max

Dancing: Level 50

General Studies: Level 42

Hunter Martial Arts: Level 15

Hunter Dagger Arts: Level 38

Hunter Sword Arts: Level 36

Hunter Shield Arts: Level 28

Aura Control: Level 37

Shadow Extraction: Level 17

Hunter Gun Arts: Level 14

Stealth: Level 10

Knight's Shield: Level 6

Dust Channeling: Level 3

Survival: Level 3

Inventory:

Crocea Mors

Clothing

Assorted Food Supplies

Ninjas of Love: Volume 1

Camping Equipment

Authors Note:

Just a quick chapter. Setting up for some laid-back, drama-free Mistral adventures.

Because that went so well last time.

A new weapon as well! A melding of old and new was my intention with this as Jaune starts really becoming his own person and making some amends. We're also officially headed for a less broody Arc, even while he still tries to parse whatever he is feeling for a certain Heiress.

If you would like to check out some of my original work, check out my work on Royal Road under NFKipp or on my website, nfkipp . com.