Like clockwork, Jaune was the first to wake up and well before sunrise to boot. Pressing the tips of his fingers to his eyes, he took a deep breath to steel himself before jumping out of bed. The dresser beside him was filled with fresh new clothes which he tiredly gathered up. The shower called his name and he eagerly basked in water so hot steam filled the room and left his skin flushed and tingly. Silently, he stalked out of the dorm and commenced his morning run around campus to fully wake up. At this time of day not one soul was active save for him and on occasion a girl he came to recognize as being his senior.

She didn't go out every morning but this particular day she was there, and he gave a nod in acknowledgement which she returned. Still partially asleep, she continued her halfhearted run going in the opposite direction of him. By the time he returned to the dorm and finished his second scalding shower the sun was beginning to peak above the horizon. He fashioned the pink sash around his waist after slipping on Beacon academy's uniform. While probably against the dress code he would never part with it.

Pyrrha stirred her sleep, "Jaune?"

"Good morning." Jaune fussed with his tie, knotting and reknotting it.

"S'good mornin-,"

"Yeah, it is. Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep." Pyrrha muttered something under her breath too quiet for him to hear. Once she rolled over Jaune slipped past the door and shut it without making a sound.

:X:

Jaune sighed and leaned back in his seat, hanging his head over the back of the chair. One week had come and gone at Beacon Academy and he had been painfully aware of nearly every moment. Professor Port's classes were mind numbing and if he wasn't fighting to stay awake, he was stifling the urge to storm out. Professor Oobleck's class was torture of a different kind. He spoke so quickly he was playing catch up the entire time trying to piece together the information he'd thrown up on them and even then, he never managed to jot it all down.

Jaune closed the textbook he'd been trying to read for the last hour and got up, dropping off the tome on a nearby cart with similar discarded texts. It was useless. His time was better spent elsewhere, and he knew exactly where to go.

He quickly exited the library and headed in the direction of the lockers. Once in front of the one assigned to him, he quickly swiped the scroll he'd been given and began to change out of his uniform. With Auger and Verreaux on his belt he began to feel like himself again. More students filed in however these ones were already dressed for battle and were caked in dirt and sweat. He vaguely recognized some of them as second years but didn't pay them anymore more mind as he closed his locker and headed out. His destination: the Emerald Forest.

Once he'd left the borders of the school Jaune swiftly travelled through the forest on the path he'd set days before. One week wasn't nearly long enough to become familiar with the massive stretch of untamed wilds that was the Emerald Forest, but he knew the outskirts directly outside the school well enough. Before long he emerged into a small clearing that he'd made his own personal getaway. On his third day he'd felt like tearing the essay he'd been assigned to pieces and nearly did but instead opted for the Forest to try and clear his head.

As if answering his prayers he'd run into a pack of Beowolves that were more than eager to help relieve him of his frustrations. Since then, he'd made this trek into the forest part of his routine.

When classes were over and he'd stomached all the homework he could, he'd come here to work up a sweat and cull some Grimm. Today was quiet though and so instead he thought he'd widen the clearing just a bit. Jaune walked up to one of the smaller younger trees and stood before it. He clutched Auger's sheath in his left hand and fell into his stance with practiced ease. Breathing in and out he focused. In a flash of steel, he struck out at the tree and though he was too far to actually make contact the wave of energy he traced in the air and fired sliced through the trunk and gouged out a sizable chunk out of the tree a few feet behind that one as well.

He easily backpedaled and sidestepped the trunk as it leaned toward him and crashed to the ground. Jaune sheathed his sword and nodded, satisfied.

"That was quite impressive." Jaune whipped around and was poised to strike when he recognized grey haired man in front of him.

"Ozpin."

"Professor Ozpin." He corrected. "I reiterate: your foe while tall and imposing fell swiftly at your hand. I applaud your efforts."

"What are you doing out here?" Jaune stowed his weapon and rested his palm on its handle by his waist.

Ozpin's gaze lingered on the gesture briefly before he continued. "To speak with you of course. It has come to my attention that you have made something of a habit of venturing into the Emerald Forest entirely on your own. Even knowing such an act is dangerous and strongly discouraged."

"Am I to be confined to my dorm then?" Jaune crossed his arms and stared.

Ozpin met his gaze easily, "Of course not. Though again I strongly advise against coming out here on your own. I have no doubts about your strength but all the same I would prefer you not court danger like this. If you wish to stretch your legs, then I recommend a trip to Vale as you have done in the past. The city is quite grand with no end its wide and varied distractions."

"You've been watching me. Or you've monitoring the scroll you gave me or the account you set up." Jaune thought back to that first night in the dorm. One message had been from Ozpin welcoming him to the school as well as gifting him the scroll. 'A vaunted tool of this day and age and a necessity for any aspiring young huntsmen.' As he'd put it. The message continued about a stipend he set up for him with the second message confirming the details of the account. "Why did you give me those things? I didn't ask for them."

"I have indeed been keeping an eye on you though nothing so underhanded as to invade your privacy outright. As for why I've already said in my message. Going forward a scroll will be a necessity as will lien to fund your endeavors. You only had your weapons and armor when we first met. Your situation, while uncommon, is one I've had experience with in the past and so I wished to elevate you to the same level as your fellow classmates." Ozpin watched Jaune carefully as he explained his reasoning. Suspicion was etched on the younger man's face clear as day, but no reaction beyond that.

"In any case, all I merely wished to do was observe and ensure that you were adjusting well to your new environment. To that end: how are you doing? How has this first week treated you?"

Jaune fixed his gaze though relaxed somewhat, "It's been…fine. It wasn't what I was expecting."

"And what were you expecting?"

"Missions. Training."

"Missions will come in time as you progress on your journey here. As for training we have ample equipment at our gym."

"No, I mean like scouting the region, culling Grimm, gathering resources."

Ozpin glanced back at the school and its pristine buildings and state of the art facilities visible above the tree line, "I did not realize our school was in such dire straits."

Jaune's lips pressed into a thin line. "You're not listening to me."

Ozpin turned back. "I assure you I am. You were expecting something more…extreme. A place where huntsmen are pushed to their limits and where their lives hang in balance. The sort of environment where you fight for your place in the world with tooth and nail. A game in which you play for keeps and to lose is to die."

"Yes! Exactly! Huntsmen are supposed to be warriors. The strongest of the strong should train like it."

"I see." Ozpin adjusted his glasses and clasped his hands behind his back. "Jaune. You will find no such scenario here at Beacon Academy. A fact I am quite proud of I might add."

Jaune stared. "What?"

"Oh yes. Make no mistake, your time here will be filled with new experiences both pleasant and unpleasant. The hurdles you will have to overcome will become more challenging as time goes on and the odds of you succeeding on your own will be slim to none. Yes, you will be faced with all sorts of perils once you begin venturing out into the world but here on school grounds you will be safe as can be. This is a place of learning where you can try and fail as many times as it takes until you succeed. A safe space to grow alongside your peers."

Jaune's skin began to itch. "I'm ready for more!"

"You are not. My boy, you haven't even managed to turn in a single homework assignment on time let alone completed them to the standards your professors expect of you." Jaune fumed silently, his neck and ears burning. He broke eye contact with Ozpin and looked away. "I do not say this to embarrass you or to demean. There is more to being a Huntsman then fighting but I suspect you haven't had much tutelage on these other facets am I right?"

Jaune said nothing. For a long time, it was simply about survival but once his aura had manifested and he'd committed to his training his life took a turn. Essays and reports had no place under Raven's instruction. Ozpin had hit the nail on the head, but he wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.

"It is imperative that your education not continue on this trend."

"It's only been a week," Jaune fired back. "I'll fix it."

"Alone?"

"How else? I'm the only one being graded on this stuff, right?" Jaune said crossing his arms.

"Not at all. Your classmates are in much the same boat. Why not consult them?"

Jaune blinked, "You mean like a study group?"

"That could certainly prove useful though I can see you have some reservations." Jaune frowned and covered his mouth with his hand, thinking. "Your professors are indeed valuable sources of information, and you will certainly learn much from them as time goes on. However, they are with you only a few fleeting minutes. Your teammates on the other hand are with you during that time and beyond. Each of them has their own well knowledge and specializations that you lack. Learn from them, Jaune. Now is the time to experiment and learn just what sort of huntsman you wish to be. Afterall, there is no better, or safer, place for it."

:X:

Ozpin's words played in his head as he marched back towards the lockers. Normally, he wouldn't return until late in the evening, but he decided it might be best not to push it in the forest with Ozpin breathing down his neck. Jaune wasn't sure how else he was going to spend the rest of his evening, but he should probably start by changing out of his gear. He stepped into the lockers and heard a familiar voice ring out. It didn't take long to find Ruby and Nora of all people huddled around Ruby's scroll on one of the benches.

"It's the newest model! Ugh, I tried to get an advance on my allowance, but dad shot me down. I neeeeed it, Nora!"

"I mean yeah it looks really shiny and all, but what can it do that your scroll doesn't already?"

Ruby reared back as if struck and held her scroll right under Nora's nose so she could get a better look. "The picture quality is insane! It's almost like I could reach in and touch what's on screen."

"I mean, I guess that's-oh! Hi, Jaune." Nora noticed they weren't quite alone anymore and waved at her team leader.

"Hi, Nora. Hi, Ruby." From what he could see they were either coming or going since they were dressed in their uniforms.

For her part the youngest huntress in the trio looked as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her eyes were wide and unblinking as she found herself face to face with Jaune. "Uh. Hi?" Ruby's voice cracked halfway through her greeting.

Nora eyes flicked between the two of them as she got an idea. Her and Ruby had hung a bit this week whenever they had some free time, so she'd heard most of the story of how Jaune and Ruby met in Vale. She also remembered how Ruby had come knocking once or twice to try and see Jaune only to leave empty when they told her he was out. Now though… "Well anyways. Momma's gonna go and get herself some dinner before all the good stuff's gone. See ya later!" With that she hopped to her feet and marched out the door.

Ruby clammed up and watched as Nora made her exit. She turned back to Jaune and the two locked eyes before she quickly looked away. It was finally happening! "Um…uhhhh." The words weren't there, however.

Jaune raise an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"Nothing…"

From the look of it she was extremely nervous about something, but since he probably couldn't do anything about it, he just took it in stride. "Ok." Jaune shrugged and went over to his locker leaving Ruby to fiddle with her scroll. He had just pulled out his own scroll to undo the lock when Ruby's voice echoed throughout the room.

"NO WAY!" In a smattering of petals Ruby appeared next Jaune held her hands around his scroll as if to stroke it lovingly but being too afraid to touch it. "This is the latest scroll model! The cutting edge of Atlesian tech! It's not even available worldwide yet! How'd you get this!?"

Jaune stumbled back and held his scroll away from him like it'd come alive and bite him if it got too close. This gave Ruby a chance to examine it from every angle. "Is it that big a deal?" he asked.

Ruby whipped around, "Of course it is! This kind of technology is super high end!" She was nearly drooling at the sight of it.

Veritable stars shone in her eyes as Ruby slowly reached out to touch the scroll. He couldn't help but smile seeing her unfiltered excitement. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Catch."

She blinked, thinking she had misheard him. "Huh?" Time slowed as he tossed the scroll to her underhanded and she reached out to grab it in the air but instead knocked it away with her fingers. "NO!" Ruby dashed forward, transforming into a swarm of rose petals and snatched the scroll out of the air inches before it hit the ground. "Are you CRAZY!?"

That was certainly something. Jaune laughed as Ruby shot to her feet, her face red and her eyes boring into him with incredulous anger. "I'm being serious!" she insisted. That only made him laugh harder and he put a hand on a nearby locker to steady himself. "I don't even wanna look at it anymore!" She thrust the scroll to his chest and took a seat on one of the benches.

Jaune followed suit as his laughter slowly died down. "S-sorry! I'm sorry! You should have seen the look on your face though."

"It wasn't that funny, Jaune."

"It really was."

"It wasn't!"

They went back and forth a few times before they settled into a comfortable silence. Jaune looked at Ruby who seemed to have gotten her bearings once more. "What did you want to talk about earlier?"

"Oh." Ruby fidgeted before turning to face him on the bench and steeling. "I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out back in Vale. You know, with the dust robbery?"

Jaune leaned back. "Oh that? Don't mention it. Honestly, it looked like you didn't need my help."

"Not with those smile fry! I could handle them in my sleep. Actually, one of them pointed a gun at me while I was browsing and I sent him flying through the window like that!"

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "The store owner's window, right?"

"Yeah!" and just like that Ruby was back on her feet and pacing about the locker rooms as she recounted the story of the night they first met. "I jumped out and struck a cool pose ready to kick butt. That's when I saw you and at first I thought you were just some tall guy and I was all like 'Save yourself! I'll handle them.'" That's when you pulled out your sword and started showing off your moves and we started kicking their butts together! Oh! Oh! And then when Torchwick shot at us and you cut his dust round in half? That was the coolest!"

Jaune grinned as he watched her mime hacking and slashing with her scythe and recreating the move he used to cut that bullet in half.

Ruby remembered herself and she paused, sitting down meekly. "Sorry. What I really wanted to thank you for was for when you jumped in front of me back on the roof. And for helping me out with the Deathstalker." She felt a flash of embarrassment when she remembered rushing in like she did.

Jaune sat up. "You don't have to thank me for that. You're so quick it wouldn't have even grazed you. The explosion or the Deathstalker"

She didn't look convinced. "Maybe. It was a pretty crazy night though huh?"

"You're telling me. The last thing I expected for being in Vale for the first time was to get attacked by a bunch of weirdos wearing red sunglasses at night."

"That too, but don't forget attacking Professor Goodwitch like you did!"

"Oh that," Jaune shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I didn't know who she was. I was in fight or flight mode then, you know?"

"Yeah, things were pretty tense…" The two sat quietly next to each other as a natural silence fell over them. "You said that was your first time in Vale? Where did you come from?"

Jaune answered without thinking. "Anima."

Ruby's eyes widened "That's so far away! What made you come all the way here?"

"Y-yeah. It is. I heard Beacon trained all the best Huntsmen so here I am." The answers came so naturally. Ruby's eyes were so expressive and all he could see was genuine curiosity. It made him want to share more in spite of himself.

"My sister and I lived on Patch with my dad." Ruby shared first. "It was my dream to attend Beacon Academy and a dream come true when Professor Ozpin invited me two whole years early." She smiled fondly as she thought back to that fateful night.

Jaune recalled her performance in the Forest and it was clear to see why. "You must have really impressed him."

Ruby shrugged. "Well, I did something right. Yang was over the moon for me. Dad? Eh, not so much. Well, he was and he wasn't. He worries, like, a lot. He let me go in the end though and I couldn't have been happier."

"And your mom?" Instantly, the mood shifted.

Ruby seemed to shrink into herself and the whole room seemed to dim as she went still and her eyes went downcast. "My mom's not around anymore. Both my parents were Huntsman, but my mom died on a mission when I was a kid."

Jaune released a breath. "O-oh. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

She shrugged. "It's fine. You didn't know. What did your mom and dad think when you got into Beacon?"

Jaune frowned. "My mom doesn't know yet."

Ruby relaxed as the conversation shifted focus away from her. "Is she back on Anima?"

"Yeah."

"Where at? Maybe you should give her a call and let her know the good news?"

It was Jaune's turn to be uncomfortable. "I would but I don't know where she's at. I belong to a tribe of nomads. Our home is the open road and she's the leader of it. We travel around Anima fighting Grimm and bandits." He figured the more questions he could cut off before she asked them the better. "The day we met in Vale was the first I ever stepped foot in a major city. It's not like my scroll could reach that far anyways. That's why it's hard to get in touch."

Ruby turned to face him fully, placing one knee on the bench as she leaned in. "She didn't mind you going so far way without even being able to call her?"

Jaune squirmed a bit. "Well, this was the only way. I had to be the one go."

"Why?"

He scrambled for the right words. "Because…because my mom's the strongest. She's so strong but she has so much to worry about too. Defending the tribe, picking out targets, culling Grimm, picking a new camp, assigning jobs, gathering resources. Plus, not everyone in the tribes likes or agrees with her so she has to keep being strong to stay in charge. Not everyone likes us either, so this was my way of shutting them up and lightening her load."

Ruby hung on his every word. "Wow…I can't imagine what that's like. Is your dad super strong too?"

Jaune's throat went dry. "M-my dad? He's…dead."

Her silver eyes went wide in horror. "I'm sorry! You said 'us' so I assumed that's who you meant."

He quickly cut her off. "It's fine. I never knew him. I was talking about my sisters."

"Oh! What are they like?" Ruby asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Well, my older sister is second in command. She's really tough. And mean. My younger sister is really short and has pink hair and eyes. She has a fire semblance and we would go on missions together. She's incredibly nice and she's…dead too." His hand went to the pink sash and he squeezed it tightly. He looked away from Ruby and shifted his focus on different parts of the room, blinking away the sudden onset of tears.

Ruby cringed. Why did every conversation she tried to have blow up in her face? "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You couldn't have known." The silence that followed was anything but comfortable and the mirth from earlier had vanished completely.

Ruby latched on to the topic she knew best. "I like your sword."

Jaune sniffed, hating how quickly he'd nearly fallen apart right in front of her. "Thanks. My mom gave it to me. She taught me to fight like her so her sword's kinda like my sword's mom too. Uh, that doesn't really make any sense."

"No!" Ruby said quickly. "I get it. Does it have a name?"

"Auger."

"Does it transform into a drill?"

"What?"

"A drill. You know, to dig stuff with?" Ruby lost steam halfway through her question.

"Ah, no." he cracked a smile at the absurdity it. "My little sister and I read stories about how certain people a long time ago looked to birds to divine omens. What direction did they fly in? Was it one or a bunch of them. What cries did they make? Whatever they saw in the birds determined whether it was a good omen or a bad one. They called those people augers."

"That's so cool…" Ruby whispered.

He continued, encouraged. "It was Rouge's idea, uh, my little sister's I mean."

Ruby hesitated before asking, but seeing Jaune now he looked more relaxed, almost happy telling her these things. "Why'd she pick that one?"

Jaune chuckled slightly, "Mom's super strict. We couldn't go very far from her sight unless she knew we were in camp. Rouge thought she was more like a seagull, always flapping and squawking overhead."

Ruby gasped, "That's…"

"Rude as hell? I know." Jaune cracked smile, "I thought so too at first, but the more I thought about it the more it was kinda true. It was our inside joke and we'd laugh about it all the time. We used to sneak out of camp and visit nearby towns whenever we could. Rouge said if we wanted to keep doing that without getting in trouble we'd have sit back and watch the birds just like the Augers used to."

Ruby shook her head but smiled all the same. "What about your other sword?"

Jaune's smile faded and he unfastened Verreaux from his side, "This belonged to Rouge. It's called Verreaux after an owl with grey feathers and pink eyes. Just like her pink eyes and grey robe."

There it was again. Ruby had gone ahead and stuck her foot in her mouth before hopping into a minefield full of topics not to bring up. "Sorry."

Jaune smiled wide this time, "It's fine. I'll tell all about it later though, okay?"

Ruby nodded. All in all, the conversation had gone well. A few close calls, but she got everything she wanted to say off her chest and by the end of it Jaune was smiling. There was one thing bugging her though. Before she could put any more thought into it though her scroll rang, and her face fell. "Oh no. I'm late!"

Jaune jumped as Ruby suddenly cried and fell to her knees in despair. "For what!?"

"My study session with Weiss. She's gonna kill me!"

He watched as Ruby wrung her hands. "Study session? What?"

Ruby sniffed. "Remember how I came to Beacon two years early?"

He nodded.

"Well, I skipped two whole years of learning to be here and it's biting me in the butt! My grades are already starting off bad and there was no way I was gonna catch up by myself.
And it's just the first week! Weiss said she'd help me study though and I was supposed to meet her in the library today, but I forgot! She's gonna hate me again even though we just barely made up."

Jaune still had more questions, but just then Ozpin's words sounded in his mind 'Each of them has their own well knowledge and specializations that you lack. Learn from them, Jaune.'" Him and Ruby were in the same boat and Weiss was sharing knowledge he lacked. Plus, Ruby would be there. She was weird at first but talking to her felt good. "Well…what if I go with you to apologize…and then maybe I could join in too?"

Ruby wiped her eyes. "Huh?"

"Mom didn't teach me much about being a huntsman other than fighting. My grades are in the gutter too and I thought that maybe Weiss wouldn't mind another student?"

"That's…not a bad idea."

"Do you think she'd go for it?" He pressed.

"If we ask nicely then…maybe. It's worth a shot and this way we could review together."

Jaune slapped his knees and stood up. "Good enough for me." He reached down and offered Ruby a hand.

She took it and he hoisted her up as though she weighed nothing. "She said we'd go pretty hard for a while to help me catch up at least until later this month. So you should brace yourself."

Jaune flashed his scroll to unlock his locker and stow his gear away. "What happens later this month?"

"You don't know? Combat classes start."

Author's Note: Another one done! Hope you're as excited as I am for the next one!