Coming to terms
Chapter 2
AN: Last chapter had very nice comments, thank you to all who left some words. I would like more people to be critical, though. I feel like all the nice comments will make my ego a bit too big. That should be all, see you at the end of the chapter.
Coming across a run-down and abandoned town was spooky. Getting attacked by some psycho was just scary. He wanted to take Ruby, and he was interested in Jaune? Yeah, no, this wasn't good. He had his sword and shield at the ready. Then the man suddenly disappeared.
"Behind you!"
Jaune spun around and deflected the strike with his shield. Only for the guy to use his shield as a platform handstand on and kick Ruby. After training without it for a few weeks, it felt too heavy to use.
"Damn!" Making a split second decision, Jaune threw his shield away.
"Jaune?!" Ren called out, but he ignored him. Jaune thrust at the heart, the man dodged easily, only for Jaune to punch him with his left fist. The man looked shocked for a moment, before smiling and ramping up the pressure. Jaune was barely keeping up, but after suffering in training under Ozpin, he couldn't let himself be beaten too easily.
The words rang in his head 'move' 'thrust' he let his body move on instinct. The fight became a flurry of steel. Jaune actually started to think maybe they had a shot at winning this, when something wrapped around his leg and threw him aside. The tail. He forgot about the tail.
The psycho started to rush Nora. A shot rang out and Nora was hit by one of Ruby's lightning dust bullets.
The man started to laugh hysterically, before Nora appeared behind him at inhuman speeds, bringing her hammer down right onto his head. The dust cleared, to reveal the man had blocked the strike with his tail.
He kicked Nora away, before jumping onto the roof of a nearby building and striking a pose.
"What is this about? The white fang? Roman Torchwick?"
"All soldiers and pawns. My heart and body belong only to our goddess!"
Fear jolted through Jaune. But it wasn't his own.
"Ozpin?! What's wrong"
"This man. I believe he serves Salem"
"Shit!" That was bad news.
The man lunged at them, immediately attacking Ruby, knocking her down and moving on to Ren, getting knocked away just as Ruby had.
"Jaune, I need you to focus and let me take control."
"Wait, you can do that!"
"Yes, I didn't need to use it before, but now I do. This man is strong, stronger than all of you. Please."
How could Jaune refuse? 'Focusing' was kind of vague, but Jaune didn't have time to practice. He closed his eyes and focused on letting go, surrendering control to someone else. It felt… odd, like he was floating on air. His eyes shot open, and he moved, but it was not Jaune. He could still see, hear and even feel.
The fight took a sudden turn, with the psycho on the back foot. Ozpin was so fast even Jaune had a hard time keeping up. There was a brief lull in the fight. When Ozpin took over, it took the Faunus off guard.
"Mind telling me more about this 'goddess'?" Feeling his mouth form the words, but him not being the one to say them, was a jarring experience.
The man looked all too happy to oblige.
"Oh? Curious of our Goddess, are we? Keen to repent for your crimes against her? If you swear undying loyalty, I'm sure she can find a place for you."
"What's her name?"
Ozpin had an edge to his voice that Jaune had only heard once.
The Faunus just smiled.
"Jaune?"
He heard Ruby call his name, undoubtedly confused about his inquiry to an obviously insane man, and perhaps his sudden skill with a blade. But he could not respond, and Ozpin was solely focused on the madman.
Until Ozpin zeroed in on a bird flying behind the psycho. Heading straight towards him.
Before his eyes, Jaune witnessed the bird transform into a man midair. He drew a sword and was preparing to come straight down onto the Faunus with a straight overhead swing.
Caught off guard, The Faunus tried to use his tail to block, the swing was too powerful. It came off without a sound, just a thump of it hitting the ground, and a blood-curdling scream.
The man, in a violent rage, started lashing out at their bird-man savior.
Looking at the man who had come to their assistance, he saw him and felt himself falling. Until he was suddenly somewhere else.
Jaune was sitting behind a desk, drinking hot chocolate out of his favorite mug.
Sitting across from him was a boy who could be no older than 18.
The office looked exactly like the headmasters in Beacon. The man across from him, with black hair and pale red eyes, wore a complicated expression on his face.
This was a while ago, the man had requested to be removed from Beacon, if he recalled correctly.
"So, you wish to be expelled. May I ask why you haven't just dropped out?"
The man seemed amused by this response.
"C'mon Oz, you know Summer would drag my ass back here if I tried that shit. But if you expel me, that may be enough to convince them to give up. I doubt it, but it's the best chance I've got."
"Hmm, why?"
The man simply rose an eyebrow
"My semblance."
Jaune started to see where this was going.
"What of it?"
"Don't mess with me Ozpin, you know how much of a liability it is. If I stay around any longer, people could get hurt."
Jaune smirked.
"I'm not going to expel you, Mr. Branwen"
Qrow slammed his hand on the desk and stood.
"This isn't a goddamn game. I can't control it. It just hurts those around me, if it gets any of them killed, I swear, I will blame you."
Jaune just sighed. This was a bit tiring.
"Mr. Branwen. We are a huntsman academy. We have seen plenty of troublesome semblances that needed time to understand and train. Yours is no different."
"Oz, we're on teams, my semblance makes that damn near impossible. How the hell does keeping me here make any sense."
Jaune stood as well, giving Qrow a smile that he knew he hated.
"I keep you here, because I have faith in you, Mr. Branwen. Now if that's all you came here to say, I think our meeting has come to an end, you do have classes to attend."
Qrow snarled, turned and walked out of the office.
Jaune sighed, sitting back down and taking a sip from his favorite mug. This was going to be a long day.
Jaune jolted back to the present at the sound of gunshots. Ruby was trying to aid Qrow with his fight. Not knowing the danger she was in.
"Ruby no!"
"Ruby no!"
Their warning fell upon deaf ears as Ruby kept trying. She fell back near a building. A lone plank of wood on the roof seemed to get hit by a stray gust of wind, making it fall right on top of Ruby. Qrow shot forward, cutting the plank in two.
The psycho made a mad dash towards them, managing to slice Qrows side. Ozpin ran forward, only for the Faunus to scamper off, realizing the battle would not end well for him.
Ozpin released control and Jaune had to take a breather. Ozpin had made his body move in a way it wasn't meant to.
Making his way over to the rest of the group, he dropped his bag to get some bandages for Qrow.
He caught all of their eyes. Ruby, Nora, and Ren. That's right, when Ozpin took control, he fought like an actual huntsman, not like Jaune does, or even the rest of team RNJR.
He opened his mouth to speak
"I-"
"Let's wait until things have settled down, and we've made camp."
"-think we should get going, that guy might come back if we stick around."
They walked for around an hour. Ruby stuck to Qrows side like glue, although she did shoot him a worried glance or two. Nora kept bugging him. He just used the tried and true 'deny, deny, deny' it didn't really work.
Ren was quiet, but he could feel his gaze on his back now and then. Jaune did feel bad about keeping them in the quiet all this time, but it was better that way.
Once the sky began to darken and the campfire was roaring. Qrow sat them all down while he was nursing his flask and told them a story. A story Jaune had already heard once before.
Jaune wasn't listening. That memory back in the fight, about Qrow… wasn't his. But it had felt so natural, like it was his. He hoped this was a one time issue, a freak occurrence.
"We'll talk later"
Shit.
Qrow and the rest of them must have noticed Jaune was not listening.
"Hey, Blondie, you have something more interesting than gods and magic on your mind?"
"Jaune, now is the time. Tell him, 'I'd like my cane back'. He will know it's me."
Well, here goes nothing.
"No uhh, it's not that, it's-" Jaune scratched his neck nervously. This was harder than he thought.
Jaune walked up to Qrow.
"I'd like my cane back?"
Qrow just stared at him.
"It's… you?"
Qrow just started laughing.
AN: A bit short, but it feels important This was supposed to be where Chapter 1 was going to end, but the last ending just felt better. I am interested to see Jaune and Ozpin's interactions, especially later on when Ozpin's secrets are out in the open. Also, I'm not sure if Ozpin could feel what Oscar feels when he's in control and vice versa. But in this fic any pain Jaune feels Ozpin feels as well, same with Jaune when Ozpin is in control. That just made the most sense in my mind. Anyway, That's it for this one. -NeroCaus