Jaune and Arslan strolled through the woods in silence, the reddening sky casting a dark shadow within the forest. Arslan trailed just a small distance behind the ranger, trusting his apparent navigational skill to get her back to her team. Arslan felt every hair on the back of her head stand up right, as though there was some unseen danger that stalked them. Arslan closed her eyes and let out a pulse of aura once more, just to see what might be within range of being dangerous.
There was nothing. No gaping darkness stretched over a grimm flesh canvas, no near blinding bright greys, just the black and white forest. Except for jaunes strange dull yellow, denying all known rules of her semblance by daring to have color in her monotone world.
She wondered what it was about Jaune that made him such an outlier. He didn't seem particularly powerful, or his aura seemed particularly potent. She had cracked his jaw in one punch, after all.
They passed the tree that Arslan had used as an ill-fated punching bag. It had collapsed under the damage the lioness had inflicted. Jaune gave it a curious stare.
"A building huh?" He murmured under his breath. He could believe that, should it have been a small one.
Well, judging by your jaw, that seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? B said with only a slight amount of snark. Nora could probably level buildings too.
Jaune mentally snorted at the prospect. Only if pancakes were on the line. He responded with a smile. He missed Nora's particular brand of high energy chaos
Arslan groaned with exasperation, overhearing Jaunes whispered thought. "I said it was a just small one." She whimpered, wishing that the sins of her past would just leave her alone. It was like she would never outlive that particular disastrous incident. Jaune smiled at the complaint, reminding him of some of his sisters when he teased them about their own embarrassing moments.
Jaune's lips twitched upwards, the ghost of a smirk on his face. "Is that so?" He said as they neared the forest line, his voice betraying none of his mirth.
Arslan met his mockery with silence, only rolling her eyes out of his vision. You can only mock someone if now one knows. Arslan remembered the advice her father, probably in a jest, gave her when she was little. She gave a small wistful sigh at the thought. I can't wait until winter break and Hakartuka. Arslan smiled, her head tilting to the ground as she let her mind wander for a short stroll. I'll bet that Mom will make Glava again. And Kaan will complain about it.
I wonder if Ardun will come home for Hakartuka this year. Arslan thought wistfully as she watched the wet grass dance and drift in the wind. It shifted heavily, the weight of the dew hindering the breezes efforts.
"What are you thinking about?" Jaune asked as they approached the town. Firelights came to life as the sun set, plunging the town in a cozy looking darkness. Arslan turned to look at the blonde, who seemed to almost fade in and out with the shadows.
"Oh, nothing." Arslan responded. "Just looking forward to getting some sleep. Although," Arslan continued, giving Jaune a coy look, "You could probably do with it more than I do."
Jaune gave a small chuckle at that. "I think so"
"I think so."
There was a knocking on the door at the room where team ARBN resided. Reese looked up from her prone position. Bolin stood, pacing over to the door. "Arslan." Bolin greeted with a smile, seeing his leader standing in the doorway. It fell when he saw the tall blonde behind her. "I see you're back." the monk said in an even voice, it's edge hard enough to crack stone. "How was your training?"
Arslan gave him a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. "It was constructive." She replied before turning to the other two members of her team. "Well, it is late, and I am hungry. I am sure the rest of you are as well?" She offered the team.
Reese nodded, stretching out. "Yeah, I could go for some chow." She grunted with a series of popping sounds coming from her spine. Nadir cringed at the sound, covering his ears.
"Please, please don't do that." he pleaded.
Jaune watched the team in a meandering fashion preparing for dinner. Reese seemed excited about the prospect, dashing down the stairs. Nadir was on the opposite of the spectrum, shuffling with his head to the ground at the back of the pack. He seemed to be counting his steps, or the floorboards. Jaune really couldn't tell.
There is something wrong with the pink one. B pointed out with a nod. A raised an eyebrow, directing his attention to Bolin, who had composed himself with an almost stiff grace.
Really? A asked, questioning B's prioritization of their new found hunters. Blue seems like he's going to be much more of a problem than Nadir.
B gave a conceding head tilt. I said there was something wrong with him, not that he was going to be a problem. B sighed. But yes, Blue is going to be a much larger problem than Nadir.
We could remove him. A suggested with a nonchalant kind of malice, mimicking sharpening a blade of some kind. Or perhaps slitting a throat. Either of those possibilities could have been the case. Either way, it did not paint a peaceful narrative for A in any regard.
I am not killing Bolin just because you guys don't like him. Jaune said to his renters as he closed the door that led to team ARBN's room. At least he assumed the name was team ARBN. He was working off the assumption that all the school's followed Beacon's naming system.
B turned his newspaper. A flawed assumption, as the headmasters are apparently law unto themselves. They can probably do whatever the fuck they want.
Jaune's head tilted to the side. He remembered that chess game he had with the headmaster Ozpin. "it is often that Huntsmen have criminal pasts of often violence. We often overlook it for the sake of having more viable and skilled Huntsman. It is unfortunate that you didn't end up killing someone instead, Mr. Arc, that would have at least been excusable." jaune recalled with… Jaune really didn't know the term. Indifference? No, it was more detached than that, in a sense.
It was a paler emotion. Indifference was a deep grey color, like the rainy sky or a quarry of stone. What jaune felt was paler than that. Like a birch tree, or a mimid's feather shade of grey.
It was a paler emotion than indifference, but uncaring all the same.
Arslan turned at the top of the stairs to look at the ranger. His eyes were so dull when he was quiet. It was like looking at a dead man. A ghost. A stranger to this earth, someone that belonged once, but no longer.
Perhaps he was a Shabyh, or departed walker. A spirit condemned to walk the earth as a warning for his fellow man. A sign from the beyond, a force of god.
Arslan wondered for a moment, and just a moment, what he had come down to warn her of. She proceeded to discard the idea almost immediately. That's foolish. She reminded herself. Ghosts don't, and have never existed.
"Jaune." She finally said, drawing the dull grey blue eyes to her own. "Are you going to join us for dinner?" She asked. "Or would you rather return and hunt in the woods?" The last sentence was in a teasing manner, hidden only barely by her professionalism.
Jaune hunched his shoulders slightly, shrinking his already lanky frame under all that armor. "To be honest, Ms. Arslan." jaune gave a small, timid smile. "I would prefer to go hunting."
Oh gods above this boy is sheepish. Arslan thought to herself, comparing him to her timid pink haired teammate. He's almost as bad as Nadir.
Jaune took his hood off, letting his shoulder length hair fall out from it's loose prison. A patch fell in front of his eyes. He frowned, glaring at the stray strands of hair.
Phewph. Jaune blew the strands up with a huff, only to have them fall back into their intrusive place. Jaune gave another huff, only to repeat the same results.
Jaune sighed, not attempting a third time. "But I suppose I could-er, should join you. You and your team that is. It might be rude of me not too." he smiled widely. The motion felt strange to him. Familiar, but unknown. Like a friend you lost long ago, only to see some decades later. Grown. Changed. Changed so much that you might not have known them at all. "I'm assuming that they are joining us?" That sounded normal, right? Jaune asked mentally. A made the universal sound of unknowing, while B put his paper down.
I have no idea. Look at Arslan's reaction and then decide.
Jaune gave Arslan's face a quick scan. It was… unimpressed was most certainly a word that could be used. But it was not weirded out, or that exasperated in that regard. She must have dealt with odd people for a long time, or on a regular basis.
Jaune nodded mentally. Ah, so not normal then. He concluded. Shame.
Come to think of it, when have we ever met a Huntsman that was, by any definition of the word, normal? B asked.
Jaune took a moment to think on that. I mean, Pyrrha was pretty well put together, and Arslan seems nice enough. He gave those examples to counter B's veiled point. And Ren is sane as well.
B thought on that, before giving a conceding nod. I suppose those are fair. So that is three hunters out of the dozen or so that we've met?
Jaune bit his tongue at that. That was only a fourth of the huntsmen so far at max, probably less in reality.
So, what i'm hearing is that there is a 75% chance we're all going to go absolutely bonkers? A asked. No one answered him.
Really? Really? No one is going to tell me that we're probably going to loose our fucking minds?
B coughed. Uh, buddy? He started, not sure how to break the news to his counterpart.
What? A asked, as innocent as the mind gremlin could be.
B put his fingers together, deciding between the tough questions. He eventually came to a decision, one that would alter the world forever. We're literally bodyless voices inside Jaune's brainmeats. B said matter of factly. We always have been.
A gave a blank, shook look. What?
Yeah… B trailed off. We technically don't exist.
A looked indignant for a moment. I think, therefore I am! He finally yelled out, enraged at the topic at hand.
Jaune looked at the two. Even without a face, you persist. Even without shape nor form, you persist. You are not me, despite your existence being tangential to my own. You may not be seen or heard outside this… brain space, but you exist to me. He told them, pulling the words from deep in his heart. It was a place he had not touched in a long time.
A gave the blonde a soft smile. Jaune. He cooed, touched by the words. That was really beautiful. Thank you. It means a lot to me. He sniffled, wiping away tears
Arslan's face shifted to confusion and concern. "Jaune? Are you ok?" She asked the blonde.
Jaune's head snapped up. "Yeah, I am ok. Why do you ask?"
"You're crying." Arslan said, flat and short, but with some concern for her fellow… man. He must have been a man. For he walked like a man, he talked like a man, he looked like a man.
Must be a man, right?
His face was as solid as stone, no muscle betraying the fact that he was crying, tears leaking from his eyes. It was like watching a painting cry.
And yet, he must be a man. For what else could he be?
Again, he could be a Shabyh. Arslan's brain posed before rejecting the idea. That's dumb. Again, ghost's don't exist. And if they did, they wouldn't look as alive as Jaune.
Jaune reached up to touch at his eyes. His fingers came back wet with the salty tears. "Huh." he said. Those tears aren't my own.
Arslan blinked at that statement. What the fuck?
"I'm sorry, what?" Arslan dared to ask. Maybe all that lack of sleep was really getting to the blonde more than she thought.
Jaune blinked. "Did I say that out loud?" he asked, astounded that the words had escaped his lips. He thought that he had said that mentally, not out loud.
Arslan gave him a wide eyed nod. "Yeah… you did." Arslan said. "Are you sure you are ok?" the question was of concern, like when your grandfather was having a mental breakdown. Jaune gave her a quick nervous nod, the kind someone gave when they were very uncomfortable at a party. Like Jaune at parties.
"Yeah, I'm ok." He said as he gripped the railing. "I'm ok." he repeated, as though the words were making that a reality.
"Oookay." Arslan conceded. "But you are going to sleep immediately after dinner, got it?" The lioness commanded, using her "commanding" voice.
Jaune nodded, his face gaunt with tiredness. "Yes ma'am." He responded automatically upon hearing the tone.
Arslan put an arm under his shoulder, steading the man in case he collapsed under his own weight. Arslan gave her companion a good look in the face. He looked, in a word, dead. His skin had paled to an unhealthy shade similar to dust, grey and earthy colored. A paper thin scar danced up his jaw, almost reaching his cheek bone. Arslan wondered where he got it. The area around his eyes were caked in the crusty sandy gunk that collected in the eye over time. The bags that accompanied the yellow crust were unhealthily large. Deep sagging patches of skin led her gaze to his eyes. They were blue, but a shade impossible to find in the human genome. Dull and faded, like slate or a long faded tapestry. Arslan wondered what caused such a unique eye color, and if it was natural. It might have been caused by his semblance, whatever it was. Arslan suspected it was his strange ability to be silent. There was no way that was natural, or that his footsteps were simply that soft.
Surely it must have been a semblance. Even the creaking from the wooden stairs the two descended only came from one set of feet. Her own.
"Thank you Ms. Arslan." Jaune said as they approached the bottom of the stairs.
Arslan gave him a side eye for a moment, before returning her gaze to where her foot would be next. "Altan." She said with a step.
Jaune's head moved in a small shake. "I'm sorry?" He asked, begging for clarification.
"If you wish to call me Ms." Arslan said in here trademark coolness of voice, chilled and calm like a stream. Not cold, but refreshingly even. "My last name is Altan. You may call me Arslan, however." Arslan continued, not looking at Jaune. "If you wish."
Jaune gave an understanding nod. "Arslan Altan…" he rolled the flavor on his tongue. It was even warmer, and smoother than his initial impression. More like a darker chocolate, or perhaps a warm orange potato curry. He liked the taste even more.
"Thank you, Ms. Altan"
Arslan saw her team sitting at a table, an empty chair reserved for her. Arslan gave a small smile at the notion.
"Will we need another chair?" Reese asked with a mirthful manner. "I wasn't aware that he was part of the family already, mom." the green girl teased. Arslan gave her an unamused glare.
"It wasn't funny the first time, and it isn't funny now." Arslan sighed. Jaune pulled up a chair next to Arslan's seat at the table.
"Have you all ordered?" Arslan asked, pulling up a menu. It was standard out town fair. Soups, a cut meat dish, a salad, a fowl dish of some kind. Standard things you could find in a far away town like this one. Simple food for a simple place like this one.
Jaune shuffled in his seat, waiting for a menu to be free. Reese looked up from hers. "John-" She said, catching his muddled eye. "I've decided what I'm going to eat." She said, tossing the menu to Jaune like a frisbee, letting it spin and glide through the couple feet of air between them. Jaune reeled back as the projectile was sent flying at his face, snapping it out of the air. The blondes legs snapped out, catching the reclining man with the table. Precariously Jaune teetered backwards and forwards, regaining his balance on the back two legs of the chairs. He leaned forward, wide eyed as the front legs of the chair hit the ground with a thud.
"Passing it to me will do just fine next time." Jaune said with an edge as he opened the menu. He gave it a long look.
Man, it's been so long since I've seen a menu, I almost don't know what to do with it. Jaune thought to himself, careful to keep his mouth closed this time. A waitress came by, asking if they were ready to order. She was average looking. The olive-bronze colored skin that was common for someone of western minstrel descent. Brown hair and green eyes peered from a round head. Arslan nodded, placing her order of a chopped mean and vegetable dish. The waitress turned to Jaune. "And for you sir?"
Jaune blanked for a moment. What do I even want? It's been so long…
Ask if they have anything for the soul. B asked. Can't go wrong with that.
"Do you have anything for the soul?" Jaune found himself asking the waitress. She gave him a confused look.
"Honey, I don't believe we got anything for anything but your stomach."
Jaune blinked. Damn. "I'll have your soup then." he said, putting the menu down. The waitress nodded as she took the menu from his gloved hand. Her gaze lingered, like she was looking at a picasso or some equally disturbing piece of art.
"I would like your medley dish." Bolin said without even waiting for the wait staff to turn her attention from the blonde. She jolted at the sudden demand of her attention.
"I'm sorry sir." The waitress said, recentering her notepad. "Repeat that for me?"
Bolin closed his eyes and took a small moment in. "I would like your medley dish, same as Arslan's order." he said in a slower pace.
Man. A said from his couch. What an asshole.
You're right. B said from his stool. We should kill him.
Jaune's eyes widened with exasperation. Guys- he started, only to be cut off.
I vote we just stab him. Take them into the woods and run him through when the opportunity arises. A said as he munched on a chip. B shook his head.
It's like you've learned nothing from Tsun Tzu. Everything must be planned, at least at first. B said with a sigh. Or else we will fail. I say we engage in an argument with him and then kill him in his sleep. We dump the body and say that he went out for a walk. B suggested.
A scoffed. That is a shitty plan. Mine is so much better.
B gave a gasp. A shitty plan?! Your plan is literally to stab him in the middle of the woods! He criticized with a heated gusto.
Jaune shook his head at them. We are not killing Bolin. Now shut up, i'm pretty sure Reese is saying something.
"-we get back." Reese finished her sentence and took a swig of her water. Huh, when had that gotten there? And apparently something was happening. Jaune tuned into the conversation, leaving the scheming A and B to their well, scheming.
Arslan nodded. "Ok, but be careful. Wear pads this time." the lioness said serenely.
Reese gave a scoff. "Why? I have aura. I don't need pads."
Arslan gave her a deadpan look. "You called me, crying over a badly busted leg, last time you went to the skate park-" Jaune gave a slow single nod. Ah, they were talking about skate boarding. Or biking. Jaune assumed skateboarding judging by the weaponized hoverboard the hoodie wearing green one had in the room.
How do you bust up a leg if you have aura? Jaune thought to himself with a frown. It really shouldn't be possible, particularly at a place as docile as a skate park. How do you break your aura at a skate park?
Jaune kept quiet, however, and watched them argue over semantics. "I was not crying!" Reese cried indignantly. "I was merely expelling pain!"
"By crying." Arslan teased, a small smile on her face. Nadir made a gesture to the green girl. "She's got you there." He said. "You were, indeed, expelling pain via tears."
Reese humped, turning her head away from her team and crossing her arms. "Soooo…" She trailed, turning her attention to Jaune. "Arslan said that you fought some grimm in the forest."
Jaune nodded. "I did." the blonde said with his strange soft voice. It carried across the table, as though he was sitting right in front of them. Bolin blinked at the sound. That was not how sound naturally worked.
Reese leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. "And how was the fight? Thoroughly impressed by our glorious leader Mom?" Reese smiled with the question. Jaune gave another nod.
"I was. I don't think I've seen someone as physically strong as Ms. Altan." Jaune admitted. "It was an impressive sight."
Reese's smile grew even wider. "Was it now?" Jaune smiled at the cheery question, giving another affirming nod.
"She toppled a tree." he smirked, the ghost of the emotion dancing on his face. Reese and Nadir blinked, their eyes meeting. Reese burst out laughing at the information, her fist beating into the table as she curled over.
It was surprisingly soft for something so loud and forceful. Sounded like a proud trumpet, and by no means a kind laugh. It snorted and chuckled and giggled, but it was still soft.
Nadir only sniggered silently, the only evidence that he was even laughing at all was the fact that his shoulders were bouncing relentlessly.
Bolin only scowled at their mirth. "You should not make fun of Ars like that." he scolded them, but was ignored.
A raised an eyebrow in mockery. Man, this guy could bring the grimmpocolyspe around on his own. He groaned at the blue themed monk.
"She- she collapsed a tree!" Reese wheezed, almost falling over out of her chair. "We need to get insurance for you Ars!" she joked with great mirth.
Arslan pouted at the humor at her expense for a moment, but couldn't help but let a smile creep on her face. Jaune smiled at the scene. The joy suited them.
Happiness suited the face of mankind.
Jaune wondered why it was so hard for him to smile, then.
Their food came after a time, filled with moments of laughter and jokes. Most of them were told by Reese, even if it was to cover the silence that might have been there. Nadir had slowly managed to turn his napkin into a cube by the time the wood carved plates had arrived. Jaune swirled the simple spoon around in the bowl, watching bits of shredded chicken and what appeared to be spinach? In the yellow broth.
Jaune raised the spoon to his mouth, taking a taste of the soup.
Oh.
Jaune felt the spoon in his hand fall to the table with a soft clatter.
ARBN watched as Jaune suddenly froze, turning stock still and letting his utensil fall to the table, colliding off the side of the bowl. They watched him lean back in his chair, wide eyed and staring off into space. Reese raised an eyebrow, reaching over to poke Jaune back from the astral plane. Jaune flinched upon seeing the intruding hand, only inches away from his breast plate.
"Apologies." Jaune said, leaning forward and picking up his spoon once more. "It was been a long time since i…" Jaune remembered the last time he had hot food. On the road with a wagon, roasting boar done on a hasty fire. It was not fine, or even prepared, truely. But it was warm.
"Since I've had the privilege of eating warm food." jaune finally decided on, letting the words carry an unintended weight to them. Arslan gave him a concerned look, about to ask a question about Jaune's past. Jaune shook his head, holding his hand up to halt it.
"Don't worry about it." he said, picking up his spoon again. "It has been a long trip, that is all." the spoon entered the soup. "You all continue eating, lest your food gets cold."
Jaune let them finish their food, as he finished his. Reese ate with gusto and fervor that would put Nora to shame, She was the first to finish, followed by Arslan who ate a moderate pace. Nadir cut his slab of... pork? it looked like pork. He cut the pork into perfect cubes with a careful measureing. Bolin picked at his food, only taking a bite occasionally. After they had finished, and the waitress came over to tell them their cost, Arslan pulled out a wallet from the folds of her robes, counting out lien cards.
Ah, we should probably help with that, shouldn't we? B said, ever the gentleman. Jaune nodded, reaching into his belt pouch. It jingled slightly, almost silent to all but the trained ear, with coin. Jaune pulled out a set of coins, glinting silver in the burning lamp light. A forign stamp on their face indicated their otherworldliness.
"That should do." jaune said quietly, only Arslan hearing the whispered affirmation. She turned to face the ranger.
"Jaune, you really don't have too-" she said before she saw what he was paying with. Jaune put down three silver coins onto the table. "What." She dropped the word like a brick, staring at the glinting silver on the wood table.
Reese, seeing that Arslan had noticed something strange, looked down at the table corner. The small stack of lien cards was normal. The three silver coins, almost a half inch tall stacked up and a little over an inch wide, were not. Reese looked from the coins to the ranger and back to the coins. And then back to the ranger.
"What fucking century did you fall out of?" Reese asked, astounded. She shook her head, raising her hands in defeat. "You know what? It is too damn late to deal with any more questions from your ageless ass." She sighed, rubbing her eyes with a yawn. "I vote we go to bed and waterboard John tomorrow."
Arslan considered probing Jaune further, she really did. But they all needed sleep, him most of all.
"Let's go to bed." Arslan decided. "We can ask our new friend questions tomorrow."
Everyone nodded at that. "Agreed." Bolin said as he made his way to the stairs.
"Let's get some sleep."
so, boring chapter today that took way, way, way too long to write. Sorry about that. but we get characters talking, so technically development? I really want to get across that Arslan, while is kind of a hard ass, has a sense of humor and is rather emotive. Most fanfictions i read with her tend to have her be the stereotypical stoic monk. She tries to be, but ultimately enjoys life too much. I also wanted to get some traits for Reese and Nadir in, even if they are minor.
Anyway, I have an important question regarding Magic in this story. I have two options i can go for, one being a soft magic route, and one being a hard magic route. Jaune has already used magic in the waking world, and so far is an example of soft magic
The soft magic route is where the magic is negligible or not really noticeable. Being silent, evading someone's semblance, or enhancing one's ability to track would be examples. minor feats that could be mistaken for a semblance or even skill alone.
The hard magic is a little more extreme. This would be jaune throwing fireballs at people or teleporting around. More wizardly like spells being thrown out, and things that would be comparable to maiden powers or Ozpin's magic instead of being comparable to a semblance.
This decision really won't affect the story, but rather how the fights will go, and will only apply to the waking world. The dream is Hard Magic. Jaune will still prioritize sword play over throwing spells at people, and there will be scenes where Jaune does do incredible feats of magic and arcane power, regardless of which magic style is chosen.
As always, please leave a comment: constructive criticism, character ideas, scene ideas, questions, theory crafting and ideas are always welcome and fun to read. They are what fuel this fanfictions progress and development. if the idea is cool enough, i might even have to write it into the story.