Author's Note: Sooo...it seems I finally got a flamer and a rather active one at that since I recall finding them on some of the stories I enjoy. It's so frequent I wonder if they're just trolling. Regardless, I consider it a rite of passage for this story which is a win in my book. Also, please do not harass them or anyone else for their opinion. The internet is toxic enough as is.
This one is a little shorter than the last one cause the Initiation Arc got longer than I intended and had to split for convenience. Also, you can consider this a test chapter of sorts. As for what it's testing for? You'll see near the end.
The Emerald Forest, which bordered Beacon Academy, was beautiful from afar as it is deadly up close as the lush forest was home to grimm. Nobody knew why there forest had so many grimm despite being so close to Beacon Academy and the City of Vale in general. From the ruins scattered in the forest, many scholars had proposed that the Emerald Forest used to be capital of a long forgotten kingdom that fell to the grimm while others believed that there are hidden trails that grimm migrate through anually. Regardless of the reasons, the grimm's presence ensured that the forest stayed untouched by humanity, keeping it quiet and peaceful.
However none of that mattered to one Jaune Arc as he tumbled through helplessly through the air.
"Oz! Do something!" Jaune wailed.
'Alright, alright! Calm down. Let's quickly review the core lessons of a landing strategy-' Ozma started.
"Oz! Not enough time!" Jaune screamed when he realized that he had stopped rising and was going down rapidly
'Right! Spread your arms and legs out to slow and stabilize your descent.' Ozma instructed and Jaune quickly did so and found himself slowing down as Ozma had said. 'Good, now we have some time to go over our options.'
"What exactly are our options here?" Jaune asked worriedly as he watched the fast approaching ground.
'Not much, I'm afraid. Given your lack of training in a landing strategy-'
"And whose fault is that?" Jaune deadpanned though Ozma ignored that as he continued.
'-your only option is to brute force it by reinforcing your body with as much aura as you can spare and brace for impact.' Ozma stated. 'Hopefully, you'll crash through some branches to bleed off some of the momentum and soften the impact on the ground.'
"Any other options?" Jaune asked, the idea of intentionally crashing into the ground not appealing to him.
'Umm…aim for the bushes?' Ozma offered unhelpfully.
Jaune frowned and sighed before he did as Ozma suggested and flared his aura, reinforcing his body as much as possible and hoped that it would be enough. However, before he could find out, he suddenly found his trajectory altered mid-flight and slammed into a nearby tree. While his aura had protected him, the force of the impact still knocked the air out of his lungs.
"Ugh…what just happen?" Jaune groaned before he noticed that he was hanging in the air and looked up to see a spear had pinned him to the tree by his hoodie. "Huh…"
'Jaune, are you alright?'Ozma asked in concern.
"A little dizzy and confused but fine…"
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha's voice called out in the distance.
"...scratch that, I think I might be concussed cause I just heard Pyrrha say I'm sorry." Jaune said while checking if his head was injured.
'You're not concussed. I heard her too.' Ozma stated. 'Since the spear seems to match her combat outfit, it probably belongs to her though why did she throw it at you?'
"Well, at least she said sorry so she probably didn't mean anything bad by it." Jaune said in her defense.
'Regardless of her intentions, I believe that we should get down and make our way to the northern part of the forest. You still have an Initiation to pass after all.'Ozma reminded.
Jaune nodded in agreement before he reached for the spear over his head with both his arms around the shaft and braced his feet against the tree before he yanked the spear out of the tree in one quick motion. He dropped down to the ground before rolling forward to bleed off the momentum and stood back up in one fluid motion.
He then examined the spear in his hand and while he personally wasn't an expert in weapons, he was still impressed by the weapon's design, including the buttons along its shaft which told him that it was capable of mechashifting. He admired how the sunlight gleamed off the polished red and bronze surface of the weapon. It was obviously well crafted and well cared for. He was honestly a little envious of Pyrrha for owning such a beautiful weapon.
Though that thought was pushed to the side when he noticed the bit of orange and black fabric clinging to the red and bronze head of the weapon. He immediately reached for his hood and pulled it over his head and sighed when he saw through the hole in it.
"At least I wasn't wearing my Pumpkin Pete hoodie." Jaune said as he pulled the hood back and made a mental note to sew it after Initiation. And to send a thank you message to his mother for teaching him how to sew. "So Oz, where are the ruins Professor Goodwitch talked about?"
'If you're asking me for directions then I'm afraid I can't help you there.' Ozma replied.
"Can't, or won't?" Jaune asked.
'A little of column A and a little of column B.' Ozma answered cheerily, 'There isn't exactly a detailed map of the forest in my memory and even if there were, it'd be severely outdated since forests change as they grow. Plus, this is your Initiation and I'd hate to rob you of the opportunity to prove yourself.'
"Alright, alright. I get it. No cheating." Jaune sighed before he reached into one of his satchels and pulled out a compass. "Let's see, Professor Goodwitch said the ruin was in the northern end of the forest." he tapped the compass to make the needle move and waited until it settled in a certain direction. "And off we go!" he declared as he started walking with the compass in one hand and Pyrrha's weapon in the other as he had no place to put it on him.
He started humming a jaunty tune to distract himself and ward off any negative emotions that might draw the grimm towards him. However, it wasn't long before he felt something was off and stopped humming when he saw a pair of red eyes glowing ahead of him. He watched as a lone beowolf, a wolf-like grimm came out into the open, growling at him menacingly.
"Guess it was too much to hope for a quiet stroll." Jaune muttered as he put away the compass though when he reached for his sword, he remembered that he was still holding Pyrrha's weapon. He didn't get much chance to consider what to do with the spear when the beowolf howled and charged at him.
He immediately expanded his sheath into a shield and raised it just in time to block the beowolf's claws. He looked up from his shield to see the beowolf already swinging its other arm at him. He jumped back to avoid the blow, causing the beowolf to stumbled forward as it swung at empty air. Jaune punished the mistake with a heavy shield tackle that knocked the beowolf back with its arms wide open and leaving it exposed. He capitalized on this and thrusted the spear straight into the bottom of its jaws and out of the top of it's skull mask, killing it instantly as black blood spurt out both ends before it dissipated into black smoke. He then let out a relieved sigh and lowered the spear.
'Nice work with the spear. A little rough but still pretty decent.' Ozma complimented. 'We could work on your spearmanship after Initiation if you like.'
"Thanks but I'll stick to Crocea Mors." Jaune said. As nice as it was to use the spear, he preferred his family sword. He then heard rustling in the distance and turned to see three more beowolves coming out into the open. He heard a growl before a fourth beowolf appeared though this one was larger than the others and had more bone plating on its arm and body, indicating that it was an alpha.
'It seems that our friend from earlier wasn't alone.' Ozma said bemusedly. The alpha beowolf then belted out a loud roar, prompting the smaller beowolves to charge at him together. 'Guess you'll be practicing your spearmanship after all.'
"I guess I am." Jaune snorted before he raised his shield to the front and Pyrrha's spear at his back. "On your mark, Oz." It was what he used to say whenever they trained in the forests near Ansel.
Feeling nostalgic, Ozma played along and waited for the beowolves to get a bit closer before he said, "Begin!"
The ground at Jaune's feet exploded into a shower of dirt when he launched himself forward with an aura enhanced leap. He rocketed towards the closest beowolf and crashed into its face, shield first. The grimm's bone mask audibly cracked as it was sent flying back into the second grimm behind it while the third beowolf, which had avoided the tumble, lunged at Jaune.
Jaune used the remaining momentum to roll forward and back up into standing position just in time to parry the claws with his shield and thrust the spear at the grimm's head like the other one from earlier. However, he missed but still managed to plunge it into the grimm's neck. The beowolf struggled briefly in a last attempt to get at him before it went limp and dissipated into smoke.
"That's two." Jaune declared before turning to face the two beowolves that had already disentangled from each other and had resumed charging him. He decided to let them come to him and raised his shield into position. He braced himself when the nearest beowolf which he recognized as the same one he had shield bashed earlier by the crack in its bone mask, lunged at him likely looking for some payback.
However, before it could reach him, something suddenly flew by and he heard the distinct sound of a blade cutting into flesh. The beowolf flew towards him a few more inches before it dropped to the ground, cut into two halves vanished soon after. Jaune quickly noticed something embedded in the ground and raised a brow when he looked at it closer.
"Is that…a shield?" Jaune asked out loud.
'Indeed it is. It also seems to match the aesthetics of the spear in your hand.' Ozma pointed out.
"Jaune!" a voice called out and he looked to see Pyrrha dive kicking the third beowolf away before she turned to him with a concerned look. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, Pyrrha right?" Jaune asked to which the girl nodded while smiling brightly at him for some reason. He then remembered the spear in his hand and held it out to her, "Oh right! I believe this is yours. Sorry about the scratches on it. I had to use it a bit when I got jumped."
Pyrrha smiled and took the weapon back, "It's fine. I'm just glad that it was of use to you." they were then interrupted by the alpha roaring at them. "Let's talk more after we deal with these grimm first."
"Right. I'll take the front and while you hit them from their flank." Jaune said as he unsheathed his sword from the shield. He smiled at the familiar weight and stepped forward with Pyrrha at the back. Jaune then paused and added sheepishly, "If that's alright with you that is."
"Of course, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled before she held her hand out to their shield which was then covered by a black glow before it flew back into her hand "Ready on your go."
'Interesting semblance.' Ozma stated and Jaune nodded in agreement while wondering what his will be like when he finally unlock it. 'For now, let's deal with the grimm.'
Jaune nodded to both Ozma and Pyrrha as he turned to face the alpha and remaining beowolf which had went back to the alpha's side. The two grimm growled menacingly at them when he stepped forward with his shield raised. He then decided to attract their attention by banging the pommel of his sword against his shield, creating a racket and agitating the grimm.
"Come and get me you overgrown mutts!" Jaune taunted. The alpha roared, prompting the other beowolf to charge at him on its own. He smirked at the fast approaching beowolf as he focused some aura into his sword which visibly glowed with the white light of his soul.
When it got close, the beowolf leapt towards him with its claws raised high but before it could reach him, he raised his sword high into the air and shouted, "Air Slash!" before swinging it down, unleashing a shockwave of aura that sliced through the air and into the beowolf which split in two as its two halves sailed past Jaune and disintegrated before it hit the ground.
'Jaune, I told you before that calling out your attack name is pointless and as your sisters once said and I quote, "Full of cringe."' Ozma deadpanned though he was still impressed.
The 'Air Slash' as Jaune called it, was a technique that allowed its user to focus their aura and use it to attack a distant target. He had taught Jaune the technique to compensate for his lack of a ranged option. However, the technique had its weaknesses such as the need for the user to stand still, albeit briefly to focus their aura and aim it, which was why Jaune didn't use it against the 'Chimera' in the Assessment Test.
It was one of the many techniques he tried to teach Jaune and one of the few he had any aptitude for. One of the others was a technique Jaune had dubbed 'Reinforcement' which allowed him to briefly augment his already aura enhanced body even further, something he did quite often even if it was subconsciously. This drained quite a lot of aura in exchange though given his his host's huge aura pool, the drain was negligible so long as he didn't do anything too crazy or wasteful.
Regardless, Jaune's aptitude for the 'Air Slash' technique was remarkable as he had learned how to use it in a matter of months instead of years he had initially estimated. While he was proud of Jaune for his diligence in learning the technique, he had mixed feelings about Jaune shouting out the names or variations of it.
He blamed the video games Jaune played for this odd quirk. Thankfully, the boy was self-conscious enough to not do this when he was with other people…most of the time.
'Come on Oz, just let me have my fun.' Jaune said while rolling his eyes before he heard movement behind him.
"Jaune! Behind you!" Pyrrha shouted.
He turned to see the alpha beowolf looming over him with its claws already mid-swing. He barely had time to raise his shield when the alpha hit him hard and sent him flying. He gritted his teeth as he tumbled on the ground several feet away before he crashed painfully into a nearby tree.
'This is certainly becoming a familiar position for you lately.' Ozma quipped.
"Damn it…I let my guard down." Jaune muttered critically at himself.
'Calm yourself. It happens to the best of us. Now, get up and fight.' Ozma stated. Jaune nodded as he staggered to his feet, ready to face the alpha though he was stunned at what he saw.
Pyrrha had gotten between the alpha and himself as she thrust her spear into its shoulder, causing it to howl in pain but it was cut off by her shield bashing into its jaw before she shifted her spear into a sword and swung it at the alpha's unprotected neck only for it to lash out with both claws. She jumped back to avoid the attack and performed a midair flip during which she had shifted her weapon into a rifle and fired at the alpha before landing gracefully back on the ground.
"Whoa…" Jaune said in amazement as Pyrrha fired a few more times at the charging alpha before she changed her weapon back into a spear and charged at the alpha. "I don't think she needs my help."
'She is certainly impressive.' Ozma noted as he observed Pyrrha cutting, stabbing and even shooting the alpha with her weapon switching forms between attacks. Any attempts by the alpha to retaliate was brutally shut down and punished. 'Even if her movements and attacks seem unnecessarily flashy, they are quite effective.'
"Kind of wish I have some popcorn right now cause this is amazing!" Jaune gushed as he watched Pyrrha finish off the alpha with a final shot to the head. He sheathed his sword and started clapping, drawing her attention towards him.
"Jaune! Are you alright?" she asked worriedly as she rushed up to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jaune assured.
"I'm sorry about the alpha. It broke away from me before I could stop it." Pyrrha said apologetically.
"It's okay." Jaune reassured her before flashing a smile at her and thumped his chest plate, "See? Totally fine."
"I was wondering how you're still fine after taking a hit like that." Pyrrha noted curiously as she looked him over.
"Well, I've been told that I have a lot of aura so I can take more hits than any other person I've met." Jaune said proudly.
'That's not something to be proud of.' Ozma pointed out.
"That is certainly impressive." Pyrrha commented, contradicting Ozma's words, much to Jaune's own amusement.
"Speaking of impressive, you were incredible in that fight!" Jaune exclaimed before miming some of Pyrrha's movements in the fight, "I've never seen anyone fight like that before. Mind if we trade tips after Initiation? But only if you're okay with it." Jaune hastily added.
Pyrrha blinked before beaming a bright smile at him, "Of course Jaune. I'd be happy to! After all, we're partners now!" Pyrrha said giddily.
"Partners? Oh right, the eye contact rule." Jaune said as he remembered that particular rule. He told himself that he'll apologize to Ruby later for not getting to become her partner like he had promised. Hopefully she'll find someone nice to partner up with in his stead. "Well, happy to have you with me, partner!" he then offered his hand to her for a handshake.
Pyrrha smiled brightly as she happily accepted his hand and shook it. "Likewise!"
Jaune smiled in returned before fishing his compass back out, "Great! Now let's get our bearings and head…north, huh?" the needle was spinning wildly before it settled in a direction that he was sure was where he had come from earlier.
"Is something wrong, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked curiously before she saw the compass in his hand. "Oh, I'm sorry!"
"Huh?" Jaune quirked his brow in confusion.
"Hmm…" Jaune hummed as he looked down at his compass as the needle moved around before settling in a direction. He waited a few more seconds to confirm the direction before nodding and waved to Pyrrha who was keeping watch from a distance. She waved back before jogging over to him. As she got closer, the needle on his compass started spinning wildly before pointing in the direction of his partner.
"Did you get our bearings?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, we got turned around a little bit back there but we should be back on course now." Jaune answered.
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said sheepishly.
"Hey, it's fine." Jaune reassured her, "It's not your fault that your semblance works like that."
After swearing him to secrecy, including a rather childish and yet worrying vow about sticking a needle in his eye, Pyrrha told him about her semblance which apparently affected magnetic polarities which was how she retrieved her shield. She explained that her semblance passively produces a weak magnetic field that was affecting his compass.
Fortunately, it had a limit to its range though having to separate from each other to get their bearings made their journey through the Emerald Forest a bit slow. This was the reason why Pyrrha looked troubled for being the source of inconvenience.
"I know but…" Pyrrha started hesitantly.
"Don't worry about it. Hey, look on the bright side, if we ever get separated, I can just use my compass to find you." Jaune said jokingly which worked as Pyrrha's lips curved up into a slight smile. "Now come on, we shouldn't be too far now."
Pyrrha nodded as they continued their trek through the forest though they didn't have to go very far when they found something unusual and stopped to investigate.
It was a cave at the foot of a small cliff which wasn't too unusual though what did draw them in was the series of primitive paintings located just outside the cave entrance. The paintings depicted several stick figures, armed with swords, spears and bows. All of them seemingly fighting against a scorpion, a giant one if the size difference was anything to go by.
"Think this is it?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha placed a hand under her chin before shaking her head, "I don't know. This doesn't feel like this is the ruins Professor Goodwitch was talking about but if you think we should investigate, I don't mind going in."
Jaune hummed as he looked at the cave, 'What do you think Ozma?'
'Hmm, take a closer look at the paintings.' Ozma requested and Jaune obliged as he stepped towards the paintings and looked them over. He hummed as he referred through Oswald's knowledge of archaeology. 'If I'm not mistaken, the paintings tells a story of people fighting a grimm. An adult deathstalker if the painting is to scale. However, it doesn't say anything about them killing it. The fact that the people are only on one side of the cave entrance is rather curious.'
Jaune looked at the paintings again for himself and realized that the human figures were all on the right side while the deathstalker was on the far left, towards the cave. Almost as if they were pushing the scorpion into it.
'Think they might have trapped it inside?' Jaune suggested.
'If they did and it's still alive, then the deathstalker will be old, very old. Practically ancient if the paintings are even as old as I think they are.' Ozma stated, his words full of dread.
Jaune gulped at the idea of encountering such an old grimm and took a step back from the cave. Ozma had taught him that grimm would continue to grow larger and stronger the longer they lived. And in certain circumstances, some even gain form of intelligence which made them even more dangerous.
'I suggest that you and your partner move on from this place just to be safe.' Ozma cautioned, 'You can inform the professors about this after Initiation so they can investigate and deal with the grimm if it's still in there.'
Jaune nodded before he turned to Pyrrha who perked up when she saw Jaune looking her way.
"So do we investigate the cave?" she asked.
Jaune shook his head,"No. I think you may be right about this not being the ruins we're looking for. If it was, it'd be more obvious and more people would have found it by now." He didn't like lying but he didn't want Pyrrha to panic and attract the potential grimm inside the cave with her negativity.
"Now that you mention it, I don't see any signs of the other applicants here." Pyrrha said, gesturing to the lack of footprints, "Then I guess we should move on and keep looking for the ruins?"
Jaune sighed softly in relief, "Sure, I still remember the way north so let's go."
"Right. We shouldn't stay here any longer than we need to." Pyrrha said as she followed him away from the cave. However, had they stayed there just a little longer, they would have heard voices of another pair approaching the cave.
"Oooh! Look at the funny stick figures, Ren!"
Author's Note: As you can see, I gave Jaune a 'special attack' in the form of 'Air Slash' to take advantage of the stupidly large amount of aura I gave him in this story. The original draft for this arc involved Jaune getting a few other 'techniques' that Ozma had learned over his many lifetimes but I cut them out since I didn't want to bloat the story with special attacks that will eventually get out of hand.
The flamer/troll I mentioned at the start did make a good point about Jaune's training seemingly being not that much different from canon despite Ozma training him since he was young(I am interpreting and paraphrasing it of course) so I picked 'Air Slash' since it is established in canon that hunters can do like Blake in RWBY versus Paladin and Qrow versus Winter. So whether they were trolling or not, I have to be thankful for the kick in the pants I needed.
Edit:Added a line to explain a bit about Jaune pumping aura into his body.
Do you like it? Or hate it? Feel free to share your thoughts.
Regardless, here's an omake of what could have happened if Jaune had went into the cave:
Jaune hummed as he looked at the cave, 'What do you think Ozma?'
'Hmm, take a closer look at the paintings.' Ozma requested and Jaune obliged as he stepped towards the paintings and looked them over. He was going to refer through Oswald's near encyclopedic knowledge of archeology until he saw the painting of the scorpion. 'Huh, I think I know this place.'
'You do? Well what is it? Is this where the relics are?' Jaune asked excitedly.
'No…this is Big Bob's Cave of Trials.' Ozma answered which made Jaune raise a brow at the name. 'And before you ask, there's nothing special about the cave. It's just what the students call it to make it sound impressive. I honestly forgot who Big Bob even was.'
'What makes you so sure?'
'For one thing, how would supposedly primitive paintings survived this long exposed to the elements?' Ozma pointed out, 'Some students probably come out to repaint it to mark it out for their so called test of courage.'
'And what is the test of courage?' Jaune asked.
Ozma sighed before he reluctantly answered, 'If you insist…the test of courage as you can probably guess is just a stunt for students, typically first or second years attempt to prove their courage in a bid to become popular among their peers.'
Jaune's eyes lit up as his interest was piqued at this, 'Mind telling how this test of courage works?'
Sensing his host's intent, Ozma immediately answered, 'No'
Minutes later, Jaune and Pyrrha were exploring the dark cave with Jaune carrying a handmade torch that served as their only source of light.
'I can't believe I'm going along with this foolish idea of yours.' Ozma grumbled. He couldn't believe he caved in so easily!
'Come on Oz, relax. We'll go in, grab the first artifact we find and get out. Easy!' Jaune assured.
'Knowing your luck, I somehow doubt it.' Ozma muttered.
The test of courage, despite its name, was rather simple as it involved retrieving a relic of a battle that had happened a long time ago as proof of passing the test. However, the area by the entrance had been picked clean long ago, forcing Jaune to go further in though so far he had no luck finding what he was looking for.
'Come on, where could they be?' Jaune grumbled as he looked around only to find nothing but more rocks and clumps of dirt.
"Jaune, I'm starting to think that this might not be where the relics are." Pyrrha spoke up as she slowed down. "I think it's time that we leave. It's making me uneasy…"
'You should listen to your partner. There are other ways to become popular after Initiation.' Ozma insisted.
Jaune sighed in defeat at both of his partners, "I know but since we came this far, could we maybe go five more feet? If we find nothing then we can go. I promise."
"Of course, Jaune." Pyrrha conceded while Ozma simply sighed and said nothing else as they continued walking. They reached the third feet when they found themselves inside a cavern where they immediately found something.
"Jackpot." Jaune declared victoriously as he leaned down and picked up a broken spear head before the light from his torch shined on more weapons and armor piled around him. He looked down at the spear head and back at the rest of the artifacts in front of him.
'Jaune, I know what you're thinking but you're wasting time on this. You already have what you came for and…you're not even listening, are you?' Ozma deapanned.
'Nope.' Jaune cheekily responded before he dropped the spear head and went to rummage through the closest pile to look for the most impressive artifact to truly amaze his peers. However he saw that he couldn't search as well with only one hand so he beckoned Pyrrha over and held the torch out to her, "Could you hold this while I look?"
"Of course, but what exactly are you looking for? Maybe I could help look for it too?" Pyrrha offered.
"Sure, keep an eye out for something that might impress everyone at Beacon." Jaune said as he rummaged through the pile while Pyrrha looked through the pile next to him. He found more broken weapons and pieces of armor but nothing that stood out to him so he kept going.
While Jaune kept searching, Ozma couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something important about the cave but he couldn't put his metaphorical finger on it. What was it that he forgot about this cave?
"Whoa! Check this out!" Jaune exclaimed as he shifted the pile of weapons and armor aside to reveal a large golden object that gave off a fluorescent glow that Ozma suddenly found very familiar.
'Jaune…I just remember who Big Bob was.' Ozma said worriedly.
'Yeah, who is it?' Jaune asked idly as he dug the object out before it suddenly moved and lifted itself into the air. Several sets of red eyes suddenly appeared in front of him, followed by a chittering hiss.
'That's Big Bob…'
'Oh…'
Moments later, every person in the Emerald Forest as well as those at Beacon swore they heard the shrieking cries of a little girl.
This was actually a draft I wrote before I discarded it since it didn't feel right with me. Plus, I think I read a story where Big Bob(or just Bob) the giant deathstalker was a thing but I can't recall which fanfic it came from so I didn't want to step on that author's toes. Does anyone know the fic it's from?