Jaune stayed silent, clenching his eyes to see if he ignored the knocking sound if it would go away. There was a moment of silence. Jaune gave a small sigh of relief. And then the knocking came back with a vengeance. Jaune groaned, pulling himself from the soft bed sheets and to the door. He strode to the door, and if his feet made a sound, they would have been stomping. Jaune peeked through the peephole.
It was that monkey faunus from earlier. What was his name? Sun?
I think so. A confirmed. Yeah, it was Sun. as in the star.
B squinted. I think his name is moreso a historical reference. He thought, vaguely remembering an old Vacuo story. A just shrugged.
Jaune sighed, turning to go get his armor. He would need it when dealing with other hunters. The ranger moved, almost stumbling at the unexpected weight on his shoulders. Jaune looked down, seeing the familiar sight of his dented and worn on his chest. I could have sworn I took that off? Jaune thought to himself, very confused.
Jaune, still absolutely baffled by the fact he had forgotten to take off his chestplate, along with his greves, opened the door.
"Mr. Wukong." He greeted the monkey faunus.
"Yo." Was the returned greeting. Sun blinked, looking down at Jaune. "Bro, you still in your armor?" He asked upon noticing that Jaune had the same metal bound to him as when they first met.
Jaune remained confused as to how, but nodded dryly all the same. "I suppose I am." He admitted. He wanted it on, but the fact that he must have forgotten to take it off was interesting. "So, what brings you knocking upon my door, oh hunter of mine?"
Sun squinted at him, trying to piece together just exactly what Jaune had said. "Whut?" He responded after a moment. "I mean, I wanted to invite you out for dinner with my team. You know, you being a new student and all. Get to know each other, you know bro?" Sun offered, the offer becoming more and more awkward as it went on.
Jaune gave him a scaldingly dead look. Jaune stepped back, closing the door.
"There will be free food." Sun spat out, pulling the ultimate trump card in negotiations. Jaune stopped, and opened the door a little wider. His face was one of invested curiosity.
"You have my attention, Mr. Wukong," Jaune said. Sun blinked, before his face brightened to rival his namesake. He gave a powerful fist pump.
"Yes! And Arslan said I couldn't get you to join us!" he whispered under his breath. "That's great dude! Meet us by the gondolas!" Sun said as he scampered off. Jaune shook his head.
What did I just agree to? Jaune pondered. Welp, it doesn't matter now. He apparently had free food to go obtain.
The gondolas were surprisingly easy to find. Jaune only had to jump through a window to get to a hallway he wasn't sure how to navigate to once. Or was it twice? Amazingly, falling some three or four stories was an easily forgettable experience. He supposed it called in comparison to when he was falling into some massive unknown depths to the bowles of a mountain.
Jaune saw a surprisingly large group hovering around one of the entry ways. There were a couple faces he recognized, namely that of Sun and Arslan. The rest of Arslan's team was there as well as who Jaune assumed to be the SSN of team SSSN. And with them, standing at about equal height to him, was leaning against one the supporting poles. Jaune blinked, wondering if he had just walked into a western movie. The man was dressed like a cowboy: a wide leather hat that covered the top half of his face, a long brown trench style coat that went down past his knees. A button down shirt covered by a brown vest, along with similar shaded brown pants and combat boots. The man shifted as Jaune approached silently, his eyes catching Jaunes figure. The stranger gave him a subtle nod as Jaune analyzed the huntsman. He clearly was a huntsman. Jaune could tell that he was a huntsman by the way he carried his shoulders. They were used to the weight of a weapon, perhaps and most likely some form of rifle. The other students did not get the greeting jaune got from the elder huntsman. Jaune moved forward, practically a ghost through the busy crowd by the gondolas. Jaune figured that the gondola port must always be congested with traffic. He slipped past them all the same. Unnoticed and unbothered. He smiled, a rather childish thought coming to mind.
He snuck up on Arslan, trying hard not to be noticed. Jaune stood behind her, almost her shadow given form. He leaned down, so that he was just behind her ear.
"Boo." He whispered.
Arslan could feel something tugging at the back of her mind, like the faintest grasping of her semblance. Like the faintest sense of warmth from the edge of a room.
Then she heard it. A deep, rasping whisper that reminded her of hushed winds on hot summer nights. It was like the draft from ashes blowing through the river reeds. It uttered a single word that sounded like the last breath of some ancient thing.
"Boo".
That word sent shivers down her spine. She practically swooned backwards as her nervous system was sent into a minor overdrive. She felt her back collide with a surprisingly solid surface. She craned her neck to see who it was that dared spook her like that.
"Jaune!" She scolded upon seeing the mop of unkempt blonde hair peeking out from under a cloak. "Don't do that! You'll end up getting punched again." She hissed at him, playfully baring her fangs at him. Jaune gave her a smile. Not that many people would call it a smile, but Arslan could see it in his eyes and how they shone in the dimming daylight.
"That is not an experience I wish to repeat, Ms. Altan." Jaune said, in his oddly hushed voice. It was as though his words were for her and her alone. The cowboy raised a questioning eyebrow at Reese, who just shrugged.
"You must be Jaune Arc." The unknown huntsman said, drawing the attention of the gray ranger.
"I am just Jaune. The title of Arc is a falsehood that I no longer bear." Jaune responded with, drawing a curious look from the other huntsmen there. The gunslinger gave him a nod.
"Alright then Jaune," he said, introducing himself. "I am Professor Sebastian Cortez. I'm technically a teacher at Haven. I look forward to having you in my classes, Mr. Jaune."
Jaune raised an eyebrow at his introduction. Technically a professor? What in the world does that even mean? Juane wondered. B just shrugged.
I have no clue. The figment admitted. And I'm not even sure I want to know, to be honest.
Jaune merely gave him a nod, looking around at the nine huntsmen. One of them, the redhead that Jaune assumed was on Sun's team, spoke to him.
"Dude, you know we're going out for chow, right? It's not like we're hunting for grimm." He said, taking note of the battle ready armor Jaune was wearing. Jaune simply gave him a look and a miniscule shrug. He wasn't sure if the redhead even saw it.
Jaune could feel their stares at him, even as they chatted in slightly hushed tones amongst themselves. Sun brought the ranger over to his group of boys. "Jaune, this is my team, team Sun."
Jaune gave them a look over, and found them frankly more so a boy band than actual huntsmen. "This is my bud Neptune. The redhead over there is Scarlet, and the big guy is Sage." Jaune gave them a droning hum as they made their introductions.
"I am Jaune. No more, no less." He said, giving the team his name. He felt that there should have been more attached to that introduction, but could not form the words he wished to speak. "I look forward to working with you all." He eventually decided on it. It was a placeholder phrase that was similar to Lorem Ipsum, spoken without meaning, spoken without weight. An odd phrase, innocuous enough that if you weren't paying attention to it, it might just fly over your head. But Arslan caught it, and it's lack of meaning. She was sure that Sun had an inkling as well, judging by his raised eyebrow.
Dr. Cortez, who had remained silent, gave a chuffing laugh. "Alright children. It's getting late, and we'll never get there at this rate." he said as he opened up the gondola door. The ten of them shuffled inside, packing together like slightly loosely packed sardines. Jaune shuffled uncomfortably, trying his best not to make contact with anyone.
He practically counted the seconds down the metal box. It took four minutes and thirty two seconds for the gondola to make it to the bottom of the mountain. Almost five minutes of tense, near unbearable silence. Jaune could feel their presence, packed around him. They finally got off, giving jaune the much needed space between him and his fellow huntsmen. It allowed for him to be just out of shanking range, after all.
"Alright kids, follow me." Dr. Cortez said, strolling off into the darkening city. The lamp posts were slowly starting to power to life, the electrical hum almost bordering the sound of the city. People gawked and stared at the cluster of huntsmen, despite it being a rather common sight. Juane would never understand why people were so obsessed with the lifestyle of Huntsmen. It was not glamorous, not glorious, Or at least it should not have been. People that thought that it was did not know what they spoke of. They did not know what this life was about. Jaune looked up as they entered a new block of town. It was just barely outside of the gilded center section of town, well lit and patrolled by police hidden in alleyways.
Dr. Cortez had brought them to a single story, wide and flat building. A bright neon sign that flickered "Tao Buffet ''. Jaune recognized the kind of restaurant this was. They were all over the place. Cheap east Mistral food served all you can eat. They were particularly popular for immigrants from the eastern provinces of Mistral to start, fleeing from the seemingly ever growing crime rate. He had seen several in Orleans, and almost an order of magnitude more in Vale.
Dr. Cortez walked in with a particular swagger that could only be described as returning home to victory. He threw the ornamental doors wide open, revealing the interior of the restaurant to his students. It was more dimly lit than one would expect from an establishment, but somehow was bright enough to see everything. The smells of oily fried food wafted from the kitchen as an older lady from the cashier looked up. Her face lit up upon seeing who had just walked through the door.
"Seb! Good to see you back! Come, come!" She said as she shuffled over to the teacher. "You bring large crowd this time. Is it good for business, no?" She smiled as she opened her arms for a gun. Dr. Cortez smiled, wrapping the much smaller woman up in his arms and actually lifting her off the ground with his hug.
"Madam Cheng, it is good to see you." The hunter smiled brightly, setting her gently on the ground. "It has been too long since I've had an excuse to be back here." He was practically beaming as he looked around the building wistfully.
"You no need excuse to come here!" Mrs. Cheng said, almost insulted. Dr. Cortez only laughed as the two started to wander off into the depths of the restaurant. The eight other students followed the pair. Jaune turned to follow, but was distracted by a familiar face on the wall.
A framed picture hanging behind the register. Dr. Cortez, Mrs. Cheng and what Jaune assumed was her family. Dr. Cortez was surrounded by three other people, clearly Huntsmen of their own. One of them was an armor-clad man, taller than Cortez by a whole shoulder. He was clearly going for the knight look, something Jaune was trying to achieve when he started as a huntsman. Squatting in front of the two men was a cat faunus making peace signs at the camera. Behind the gunslinger was a truly massive woman, an absolute unit if you will. She stopped to rest her head on the good doctor's own. She must have been massive when she stood to her full height.
"Jaune, you coming?" Arslan's voice came from behind him. Jaune gave her a nod, silently trailing behind her, like a ghost.
Like her ghost.
Arslan led Jaune to a particularly long table in the corner of the restaurant. Jaune took a seat at the end, opposite from his apparent teacher. Who was the only one that remained seated, as the others had left to gather cheap all you can eat food.
"You're rather tense." The doctor said as he broke open a steamed bun. "Anything on your mind?"
Jaune shook his head. "Just a new place." He said, waving off the teacher's concern. Jaune stood up and left the table as he saw Sun's team approach. The food was piled into metal trays, set above vats of steaming water. Jaune gathered what little food caught his eye, and returned to the table. Everyone else had started to dig into their food, while Jaune just looked at the wooden chopsticks that had been set at his place. He blinked at them, picking them up experimentally. He looked around as everyone else deftly using the wooden rods with ease.
He looked back at his own hand trying to mimic the movement, but ended up fumbling helplessly with them. Arslan looked over to the struggling ranger.
"Would you like some help?" She offered, resisting the urge to snort. Reese, however, couldn't. A small suppressed snicker escaped her covered mouth. Bolin, on the other hand, had no such respect and openly chuckled at Jaune's struggles. Jaune looked at them, unimpressed.
"I think I would prefer a fork at the moment. Perhaps I can learn later." He said. A waiter, at Sebastians request, brought a set of tableware over for the ranger.
Dinner was… it was an affair. Full of questions directed to Jaune. Where he was from, why he moved to Haven, why he moved from Beacon, those kinds of questions.
Jaune squirmed in his seat slightly, unused to the attention. He nervously tapped the table in between bites.
"So, what brings you to Haven?" Sun asked.
Jaune looked at him. He could have sworn that he had already answered that question. "Beacon was not quite the right place for me. The people there were…" How does one put being ratted out due to forgery in a positive light? "Not particularly understanding or morally shaded."
Dr. Cortez raised an eyebrow at that, taking a sip of his soda.
"They were not morally gray enough?" He asked. Jaune's head bobbed side to side.
"Or too much. The world is full of hypocrites." Jaune countered as he ate some lo mien like it was spaghetti.
Bolin leaned forward. "Oh? So what, the school deemed you too unruly to keep around?" He asked, resting his chin on his hands ever so smugly. Jaune squinted at him, about to respond with equal vile.
Wait. Let's see how this plays out. B said, staying Jaune's tongue. Assume you respond with something equally piercing and witty. What happens next?
Jaune thought about it. He would return verbal fire, letting things escalate between the two of them. It would either devolve into a childish squabble, or it would come to physical violence. Jaune had no question in his ability to beat Bolin, based on what he saw back at that backwater town. He could imagine it. The table would be broken, and most likely a chair. The group behind them, two moms and their young child who was eyeing that sushi roll with suspicion, would have their dinner ruined by Jaune body slamming the monk into the plastic plates.
And if Jaune had to pull a blade?
Things would only get worse from there. No, Jaune could not let that happen. These were simple folk here. Mothers and Daughters, buddys from work, kind, unsoiled and innocent souls. Jaune simply could not start a fight here.
So Jaune calmly, carefully, put his fork down. He stood up with all the dignity he could muster. "Thank you for the meal, Doctor. It is likely I will see you tomorrow." He said as he gave the teacher a nod. Turning deftly, he walked out into the bright city night.
Arslan glared at her teammate, her hand involuntarily flexing with rage.
CRACK!
The chopsticks that she held between her fingers broke upon the pressure. She leveled a gaze that could evaporate milk with its fury. "We will have words." She snarled at her fellow monk before standing. "I'm going to make sure he makes it back to Haven."
Sun gave a whistle as she left. "She's going to tear your head off."
Dr. Cortez only leaned back in his chair. "How very interesting." he whispered as he watched her leave. "I do hope that they'll be alright."
Jaune had most certainly made a wrong turn somewhere, as he had ended up on a street that he did not recognize. It was clearly part of an art district, judging by the glowing, handcrafted signs and storefronts that littered the muraled and painted streets. He strode down the street, curiously peering through the store windows. It was dark, and such windows bathed the world in the multicolored lights, mingling with the drowning glow from the lamp post. The windows themselves were filled with art, mostly. Paintings and sculptures and masks and extravagant clothes. Pretty things, crafted to catch eyes and coins alike. Jaune continued his stroll until he came across a music shop. It was not the first he came across, but this one caught his eye. It, unlike the other neon and pastel colored shops, was of simple wood and stone. It clearly appealed to that rustic, simpler theme. In the window was a set of guitars and a single brass horn. Jaune looked at the craftsmanship, taking in each detail of the dark wood and pale cream colored plastic. Jaune knew that on an expensive version, such material would be bone instead. The other guitars were made of different woods and different materials, but frankly they were not as pretty as the center guitar. Jaune stood there for a little while, taking in the night scene.
He heard someone rushing towards him, their gait was familiar to him. Jaune looked over to the side, seeing that it was indeed Arslan that had found him.
"Ms. Altan." Jaune greeted once she approached close enough. "I didn't mean to pull you away from your meal. You did not need to come find me." Jaune said, not tearing his gaze away from the instruments. Arslan was about to say something, but noticed that the stringed instruments had captured his attention. She turned to look at the guitar.
"Do you play?" She asked the ranger. Jaune made a humming sound.
"I did, once upon a time." Jaune rasped, a small sorrowful note in his voice. "It's been a long time."
Arslan gave a thoughtful hum. "How long?" She asked, and then immediately backtracked. "If you don't mind me asking, that is." She quickly said, hoping that she had not overstepped the gray man's boundaries. She knew that he was a fairly private man who did not like to share information freely.
"Do not worry, I do not mind." Jaune chuckled. "Somewhere in the time frame of months, but it feels like decades." he sighed wistfully, trying to remember when the last time he played. Was it at some ill fated attempt to woo Weiss?
Most likely. A answered. Jaune was inclined to agree. That was the most likely case.
Arslan took a single thoughtful moment before grabbing Jaune by the hand. "Come on, let's go inside." She said, pulling the poor boy into the shop. Jaune made a light sputtering noise as he was taken by surprise at the lioness's action.
The inside of the shop was as rustic and as homey as the outside looked. A young person of a gender that could be only described as a gremlin looked at them. They looked up from their newspaper at the duo.
"Welcome?" They asked, unsure of what to do with customers so late at night, or so clearly non civilians. "I was unaware that there was a renaissance fair in town." they chuckled at their snippy joke. Arslan moved to cut them off, but Jaune met with an amenable gaze.
"My friend would like to try the guitar in the window." Arslan explained, moving the subject away from the cashier's sarcastic wit. They blinked, looking at the ranger.
"Uh, sure? Which one do you want to try?" they asked, moving out from behind the counter and into the shop itself.
"Anyone of them-" Jaune started, but his soft words were quickly overpowered by Arslan's.
"The Center one. The dark one with the white on it." She smiled. Jaune gave her a confused look that clearly asked What are you doing?
The gremlin pulled the guitar off the stand, carefully handing the woodwork to Jaune. Jaune took it in his hands reverently, slowly sitting down on a stool.
"I should warn you, it's been quite some time since I've played." jaune said, looking up with concern at Arslan. Concern for her eardrums and for his ego. She merely laughed at his worry.
"I don't mind. You can't be any worse than Reese." She offered, hoping that it would bring him some solace. Jaune gave a defeated sigh, letting his war calloused hands rest on the strings in a way that felt natural.
"Well then, Miss Altan. It Was you who dragged me in here, so it must be you who wants to hear something. So, what would you have me play?" he asked his companion.
Arslan hummed, taking a thinking look on her face. "I don't know. Nothing you would know, I am sure." She admitted. "You choose."
Jaune took a breath in, thinking about the options he had. He plucked at the strings absentmindedly, trying to find a melody within the fingers. After a moment, he recentered himself, clearly about to start. His fingers deftly plucked at the strings, the somber tone dropping out of them.
"I hurt myself today." he rasped out, his voice verberating in that deep reed like tone it had taken on from some decades in inhaling the dust from the dreaming city.
"To see if I still feel it. I focus on the pain. The only thing that's real." He continued. His mind wandered to his experiences. The countless deaths from the Dream, the endless cycle of wandering, fighting, killing, dying, and wandering again. The ceaseless violence. Ironic worthless riches that littered the world. Deep history hidden and obscured by shadow and darkness.
"The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting kills it all away." Jaune remembered the comforting numbness that the booze he scavenged. "But I remember everything."
"What have I become? My sweetest friend, everyone I know, goes away, in the end." What would Nora think of him now? Now that he had become this thing? Something between man and dreamer, somewhere between Nameless and Jaune. What would Ruby, Ren, and everyone think if they saw him now? Battered, broken, scar covered from his ongoing stint in purgatory. He wondered if they would care.
"And you can have it all! My empire of dirt, I will let you down, I will make it hurt." Jaune's voice trembled as he continued. He took a breath, the sudden influx ebbing as quickly as it came. "I wear this crown of thorns, upon my liar's chair, full of broken thoughts I cannot repair-" Jaune continued, but was stopped by his finger slipping, playing a jarringly off key note. He made a grimacing face at the strings, as though it were their fault that he had misplayed.
"My apologies. It's been some time." he said, looking up at his companion. She gripped at the hem of her waist cloth. The words she wanted to ask were unspoken.
Jaune carefully handed back the guitar to the cashier, who carefully put it back up. "You're a little flat." they pointed out as it was put away.
Jaune made a huffing sound. "I never said I was a singer." he admitted as he headed for the door. "Thank you for the opportunity. It was… nice." The gremlin only nodded as the two left.
"What a weird couple…" They said once the door was closed.
The trip back to Haven itself was all in all relatively quiet. They walked in silence, absolute silence in Jaunes case, and rode up the gondola without so much as a word. It was not until Jaune stood outside his door that he broke the silence.
"Thank you for that." He said, stopping Arslan in her tracks.
She turned to face him. "I'm sorry?"
Jaune swallowed. "The music store. I wouldn't have played if you hadn't dragged me in." he explained. "It was fun. Thank you."
Arslan blinked at him. "Uhh, sure. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Jaune shrugged. "If you wish for that, sure." jaune slipped behind his door, closing it off from the rest of the world.
Arslan stared at the door for a moment. "You could have said good night." She said, and headed back to her room. She would see him tomorrow.
Welp, another chapter done.
I know I promised that there would be the dream in this chapter, but that was traded out for relationship development. Oh the sacrifices I make for romance. I really like how this chapter turned out, all things considered.
We also met my favorite "Side" character, Dr. Cortez. You'll understand why soon.
But at least next chapter will reveal some of the truth about the Dream, or at least it's history.
Feel free to leave a comment, review, or idea you would like to see.
See you all soon!