Jaune was getting ready for the day. It was early that Saturday morning. Jaune had spent the last week being oddly fretful about the occasion, much to Reese's mirth. She had a great joy in Jaune silently fretting over what to do with children.
"I, what do you do with children? You know, for fun?" Jaune had asked Arslan over one of their mutual study periods. He found that he was spending more time with team Aces, at least they now saw each other as a whole group more than twice a week. Arslan just looked at him with a blink.
"Are… are you asking me to help you babysit?" She asked, wholly surprised. Jaune nodded sheepishly. Arslan sighed, putting down her book. "You're not asking the best person, but I guess I would take them to a museum or something?" She offered with a shrug. Jaune hummed, looking back down at his notebook.
He wasn't quite sure how, but Arslan or maybe it was Reese had convinced the rest of Team Aces to go as well, as an absolutely entirely separate group.
"Please, can we please go with Dad, Mom?" Reese had asked in a false pouty voice, while upside down on the couch. Arslan had signed, only responding with. "Don't call me that. I'm too young to be your mother. And don't call Jaune Dad either!"
Eventually Arslan had broke, agreeing to take the other two team members for a day out. So here he was, up particularly early in the morning, with a little folded piece of paper with an outline of what he would be taking the children to do. Firstly, pick them up at ten am, and make it to the Museum of history and war, break for lunch at 1, and then offer either a nice park in upper Mistral or back to the museum. He did up the last button of his bright red Hawaiian shirt, striped with white silhouettes of flowers and grass. He would have to stop by the bank first and pick up some lien-
Uhh, buddy, I have some bad news for you. B made himself known, tapping on the side of Jaune's brain.
Yeah, what is it? Jaune asked, looking at his image in the mirror. Frowning, he tugged at his collar, fixing it.
We don't have a bank account. We lost that when we stopped being Arc's, remember?
Jaune's face formed a tight snarl. "Fuck." He cursed under his breath.
"Fuck?" A wonderfully smooth voice that often sent jaune off to lala land came from his doorframe. Turning, he saw Arslan in her casual clothes. Looser low hanging pants and a long tee shirt with a bright, kaleidoscope like pattern on it. "that is a rarity from you. What's got you cursing."
"I need to make a bank account." He growled, shaking his head. "I haven't gotten around to doing it yet."
Arslan looked at him, before deflating with a sigh. "How? You know what, knowing you I'm sure there is a reason I don't want to know." She sighed. "Should I join you to the bank to?"
"Please." Jaune whimpered, picking up his pocket pouch of gold.
So that is how Jaune found himself on the gondola heading down into Mistral with a ebony lioness in tow, watching over a beautiful misty forest turning into rays of golden light as the sun peaked over the white and red mountains. Streaks of bright light as pure as gold made their way through the trees. The cold mist was like cold steel being warmed by the flames of the peaking sun.
"I forget sometimes what the morning looks like." Jaune said. He didn't have much of his effects that might have normally adorned him. As this was a peaceful, normal, not at all dangerous outing, he forwent any armor or blatantly visible weapons. He did have a knife strapped to the inside of his boot but no one really need to know that. His near religious items were also missing. He found himself wearing the wooden coins of his sisters less often in the waking world, despite them being a constant in the Dream.
"Is that so?" Arslan asked, leaning against him. The morning was chilly, despite the forecast calling for a warm 78 to 80 degree high. Jaune just hummed, doing his best to hide his spiking heart rate. Inside his head Klaxon alarms were ringing in his head, turning the living space of A and B flashing red.
What in the world is going on! B yelled, clutching the arms of his chair.
A just looked like someone had passed him the blunt. Get out of Jaune's endorphine stream and help me turn this thing off! B yelled at his compatriot.
A just shrugged. Mah dude, an attractive black girl is cuddling against us, I'm going to enjoy the ride he sighed, sinking into the couch. B just let out a growl.
A! I swear to god, help me get the brain back online before Jaune makes a fool out of himself! The figment cursed, slamming his hands onto a keyboard he had manifested
Ahh, she's so warm. A sighed blissfully, not really paying attention much at all to B's desperate tech support. Error, error, Jaune not found. Jaune was nonresponsive, his jaw locked tight as he did his best to be wholly respectful and not at all weird. Like open his mouth. Or breath. Eventually his body did remind him that he needed oxygen to live. He took in a deep breath, desperately ignoring whatever scented shampoo Arslan used, and let it out. The frigid cold that seemed to poke into his lungs helped center him.
Relax, breath. It's just Arslan. He told himself mentally, relaxing into the lioness's body.
Yeah, attractive, sexy Arslan. A commented from his position on the couch. Jaune gave him a mental side eye.
Not helping. Quick, help me make conversation! Or something. Jaune snipped at the two. B went wide eyed for a moment as he thought.
It's cold! The weather is always a good neutral topic! He blurted out, hating that he had to take over what was traditionally A's role.
"Cold, Ms. Altan?" Jaune asked, having manifested his grey feathery dreamborn cloak. It was warm, being draped over Arslan, covering the two of them from the morning mildew and mist.
It was on a whim, one born out of repressed desires and fancies that she would never admit, that would drive her to lean into Jaune's warmth. It was a cold morning, one that turned her breath into clouds and the back of her neck shiver. While Jaune was not as warm as she would have assumed him to be, considering his semblance burned him from the inside out, churning and ripping at his muscles as it slowly poisoned him, turning the walking corpse he called a body into a living breathing walking star, but he was far warmer than the air around her. She felt a little bit bad about the way he suddenly stiffened, his flesh turning to stone as if Arslan had triggered some kind of instinctive combat instinct. She was about to back away, apologizing for the contact when she felt something soft wrap around her shoulders, trapping the natural heat of her body.
I don't remember him bringing his cloak. She thought for a moment, but the thought was whisked away with the soft scent of ashes and that burning tingle one gets in the nose from sniffing a strong draught, the kind that turns your cheeks red and your nose rose colored. Or maybe it was just the cold. Eitherway, any semblance of particularly critical thinking vanished as Arslan suddenly found herself as enveloped by Jaune's presence to the point where he might have wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Of course he isn't. Arslan reminded herself, reestablishing her expectations of reality. Jaune is not some corny hero from one of the plays.
"Cold, Ms. Altan?" Came that tingling wonderful voice made of gravel and reeds and honey.
Arslan looked up at him from under his cloak, a warm, full bodied smile on her lips. "I was, for a moment Jaune." She said, opting to enjoy the silence. The morning was beautiful, now the cold no longer bit at her skin.
Eventually the gondola made its way to the bottom, letting the two walk off. "So, which way to the bank?" Jaune asked after a moment. Arslan looked at him.
"Why do you think I know where it is?"
Jaune gave her a look for a moment. "You have a scroll." He said bluntly. Arslan blinked at him.
"So do you!" She said, nudging him in the side. He just raised his eyebrow at her.
"Arslan, I am, as Reese would say "Several left turns out of the wrong century." Do you honestly think I use a scroll?" Arslan just shook her head, pulling out her own scroll.
"Alright you old man, let's get going." She said, leading Jaune to The Bank of the Hunt. It was the only global bank in the world, and one that catered to the unusual financial needs of huntsmen. As such, it would be well accustomed to whatever heinous bullcrap Jaune would certainly dump upon them. It also had the added benefit of being particularly close by to Haven Academy, so it was a small walk.
The Bank of the Hunt was an unassuming building, looking like most modern cafés, minus the smell of coffee and actually comfortable chairs.
It's like the wafflehouse of banks. A commented as they walked in. Jaune looked around the mostly crème colored interior, not entirely sure what to do from here. Arslan have him a gentle push towards the receptionist, a rather bored looking human woman. She looks a little bit like Ren. Jaune thought, noticing the very similar eye shape and bridge in the nose.
Jaune stood there awkwardly as the receptionist continued to ignore him, or maybe she just didn't notice him.
Jaune gave a small cough to garner her attention. She looked up at him, being somewhat surprised at the appearance of the strange hunter.
Clearing her own throat, she recomposed herself. "Ah, Mr. Hunter. How can I help you today?"
Jaune nodded, mentally going through the conversation.
Ask to open an account, deposit some gold, withdraw lien for today. He mentally went through the motions.
"Yes, I would like to open an account under my name." He said, his voice coming from all directions around the receptionist, like wind whispering through the trees. She just nodded.
"Right." She forced out, telling herself that Huntsmen and women were just weird. "Do you already have an account with us?"
Jaune shook his head. The receptionist, Named Lizzie Huan if he was reading her name tag correctly.
"Great. We will need you to sign some forms here." She said, pulling out a vanilla folder and handing it to the hunter. He opened it up, scanning through the pages. It was fairly simple in terms of legal financing. They would hold his money, he could withdraw any amount from his funding whenever, a rather low annual interest rate on their savings and checking accounts, but most of it seemed to be fairly stock standard. The only curiosity that Jaune saw was that in the case of his death, the bank would keep up to fifty percent of his funds as "collateral." This money could not be passed on to next of kin, etc. Jaune signed, handing it over.
Lizzie looked over it, checking for any mistakes.
"Mr. Jaune, your last name is required." She said, handing it back. Jaune mentally bit his lip, looking at the blank dotted line.
"Do I have too?" He asked her. She just nodded.
"it is policy that all members do have a last name on file." She said, using her best customer service voice.
"even if I don't have one?"
Lizzie gave him a nod. "yes sir. If a last name is required, we can put "Smith" on file." Jaune shook his head.
"no, no, it's fine. I'll come up with something." He said, while glancing around. He was thinking about what last name to use. He couldn't use Arc, despite how comfortingly familiar it might be. It would have to be an A because otherwise it would be team JARS, and the last thing Jaune wanted was to be mean leader.
A, words with A, words with A, what would be a good last name with A. Jaune thought.
It took A only a couple moments before he was hit with a rare moment of inspiration. Arcana! Jaune Arcana!
Why arcana? B asked.
Because we're wizards. I mean, what else could be we?
Jaune nodded, liking it.
"Arcana." He said, taking the vanilla folder back. Writing his name in the blank line, he finished the folder. "Jaune Arcana."
Lizzie Huang nodded, filing it away as she typed away on her computer. "Right, if you will give me a minute, we can make your first deposit."
Jaune pulled out his pouch of gold coins. "Do you take gold as a conversion?" He asked, putting about six or seven coins onto the table. Lizzie raised her eyebrow, glancing at the small pile of gold.
"By weight, and weight only. If you want the full value of artifacts, you'll have to get a signed certification of value by an appraiser."
Jaune nodded, understanding. "Weight is fine." He said, pushing the coins across to the counter. She just continued typing for a moment, before taking the coins and putting them on a scale.
"mmmm, well, your first deposit amounts to six hundred thousand lien, Mr. Arcana." Lizzie said, printing off the receipt. "Would you like any amount of that in cash?
Jaune gave her a nod. "I would, actually. Eighty thousand please." A stack of small plastic cards that made up the currency were handed over, along with another receipt.
"of course, will that be it?" Lizzie asked. Jaune nodded, turning to walk out. Arslan got up from her seat, putting down some kind of magazine.
"So, that went well." She said as they left. "Might have been the easiest time at a bank I've ever seen." Not that Arslan had been in banks often, her only real memory being when her father opened up an account for her. It was still the one she used, just sitting there accumulating small portions of money per year.
"I suspect it has to do with the fact that they work with huntsmen in particular. They seem like an easy ask no questions kind of business model." Jaune mused as they wandered around for a moment, taking in the early morning air. Haven's gondola port was smack in the middle of one of the nicest parts of Mistral, making it an excellent place for a morning walk as it had wide sidewalks and wider roads, made out of smoothed asphalt and polished stones along well-kept brick buildings. Jaune couldn't help but wonder how much keeping these white marbled streets and shiny bronze light posts cost.
"So, what next?" Arslan asked the dreamer. He just shrugged.
"I have no other plans until about ten, when I go pick up the children." He said, watching his breath drift away in the cold morning. Arslan nodded, still draped in his cloak.
"I will say, on days like this, I miss the South Mountains." She sighed, thinking fondly about her home temple. The South Mountains were the defining geological feature along the southern coast of the very edge of Mistral. They sat an almost modest distance from the coast covered in predominant costal wetlands that filled the space between the mountains and the sea. On the other end, a great desert beat upon by the rising sun scoured most all life from it's gaze. The Monks of the Southern Mountains had their temple facing the sun, warmed by it's gaze in what would be normally the cool atmosphere. The mountains kept the clouds and rain at bay, permently locked on the other side towards the coast, turning everying on the west side of the mountains permanently wet and flooded with a rising tide and constant rainfall, and all that laid to it's east was a parched wasteland, inhabited only by the grimm. The mountains and adjacent wetland were dotted with small fortresses and villages that were stereotypical for the distant borders. Much like Orleans, the Southern Mountains were basically wholly self sustaining despite lacking the orderly and well-established governmental hierarchy that Orleans had.
"I can assume your home was a warmer place?" Jaune said, making some small semblance of conversation. Arslan raised an eyebrow as it not being often that the gaunt blonde opted to open the conversation. Even rarer was it to be something that could be calculated to hit close to home.
Normally, B would have stopped this line of conversation, but he was busy trying to figure out and plot the rest of the day, ensuring that their pouchful of lien would last two excited children.
Arslan nodded. "It is. Each day the sun strikes it and our stones are dark. Most of our buildings are build out of dark rock and are partially painted with white. It's designed to keep our houses warm during the nights, which get rather chilly." She said, looking up at the sky. "We're up high on the mountains, so it's a dry heat. There's not a lot of moisture there, or really anywhere beyond them. The Southern Mountains border a great desert, that's why you can't make a direct line to Mistral and my home. You have to go up and around, going down the spine of the mountains or approach from the coast. It makes us a little isolated from the world, but it's alright. It's one of those few places where the culture isn't corrupted by the modern life. Well, not too much anyway."
Jaune hummed, just looking straight ahead. "It sounds like a pretty place." He said after a moment. "Orleans… I remember Orleans being much like this place." Jaune started, and Arslan listened with the intent of not missing a word from his lips. "The entire town was built in this tutor style: grey stones made up the first floor of most buildings, with a wooden and plaster walls for the upper levels. I remember only the families in good standing seemed to have large housed made entirely out of rock. It was also very green. Orleans did a lot of farming, if I recall correctly. Great fields of wheat and orchards of fruit were kept evergreen except for when the cold breath of winter came to roost upon their branches. Then it snowed. We had short falls, and middling winters, so there was only ever one snow for the year. A great flurry would come in sometime in early December after a month or so of browning leaves. A foot or so of snow would fall, blanketing the entirety of the country in this covering of white." He said as he was wistfully whisked away to earlier, simpler times in his life. "it was tradition to make this spiced hot drink from apple juice and unfermented wine, at least for children it was unfermented, for the first snow of the year. The entire main town would reek of the stuff, tickling ones nose with a homely smell."
Arslan bumped into him, gazing softly at his face. "that sounds wonderful, Jaune." She said, picturing an almost water colored world one might find in a picture book. Jaune just hummed lightly, stopping at the gondala.
"I suppose I will meet you there?" He asked the lioness. She just gave him a smile, the kind that made the world seem just a little bit warmer and he himself want to go to a doctor because the weird motion in his chest surely couldn't be natural, bounding off beyond the gondola doors.
Jaune buzzed the gate of a familiar apartment building. There was a couple moments before he was let in. Abkir greeted him on the balcony, already dressed in his apron waived down to the ranger. Next to him the two children were. Jaune waived back, meeting the family in the middle.
"Abkir. Bello, Mahati." Jaune greeted with a nod. The children gave a bow back.
"Again, my most exalted friend, I cannot thank you enough." Abkir said, readhing to shake Jaunes hand in greeting. Jaune let it happen. "Jalil is out helping a close cousin of ours, and I would feel bad about having my brother watch the children again." He explained to which Jaune just nodded.
"Of course. As of right now, I intend on taking them to the historical hunstmen's museum, lunch somewhere, and to the park." He explained to the stout man. He nodded, agreeing with the decision.
The children said their goodbyes, giving Abkir a hug before scampering behind Jaune. "So, I believe that my friends might have decided to also join us, if that's alright." He said to them. Bello just shrugged while Mahati looked very excited.
"So, more huntsmen friends?" She asked, jogging to keep up with Jaune's long strides. Jaune gave her a hum. He made sure to keep them close, one hand always within grasp of a child as they took the footways and trainpasses. Jaune might had mad the mistake of teaching them the basics of breaking and entering, such as pathing or threat assessment, and that most guards really didn't care as long as you weren't making too much noise.
"Don't tell your parents I taught you this." He said as he picked Bello up, putting on the other side of a short concreate wall. There were a lot of those, for seemingly no reason. Sections that cut off the inner circle from the outer edges, artificially creating chokepoints and forcing pathways through certain parts of town.
Parts that are significantly more policed than elsewhere. B noted in disgust. Jaune knew well enough what they were doing with that, but as he was neither a Mistral Citizen or a law abiding one, he figured it wouldn't reflect too badly on him if he crossed the spray painted walls. They walked out of the short alleyway, hand in hand right past a police man. He gave them a raised eyebrow, which Jaune quickly dissuaded. "Runny nose, you know how it is." He smiled at him, ushing the children away with an easy pace. The officer let it go, either not caring or buying the excuse with ease.
It was not hard to find the rest of team AACS in the museum courtyard, considering that Rheese might be seconded only to Nora in terms of noticeability. Having a bright green spike of hair seemed to help. He walked up to them, as they were mostly unaware of his presence. This realm of unseen silence didn't last long, however, as Mahati sprinted forward towards the museum.
"Woah, place is huge, Sir!" She exclaimed, spinning around the stone complex. Team AACS turned at the voice. Not because they recognized it, but because a loud child rushing in their general direction. Arslan raised an eyebrow for a moment before seeing Jaune let out an exasperated sigh.
"These are the children?" She asked, doing her best to hide her smile. She was failing to succeed in that.
Jaune gave her a nod. "Yes, these are children. Bello, Mahati, this is my team. Team AACS. This" he gestured to Arslan. "Is our leader, Arslan Altan. Next to her is Nadir Shiko, and the girl having a seizure over you to is Reese Chloris." He said as Reese cooed over the small children, taking pictures of the two small children.
"They are so cute!" She said. "What are your names?"
Mahati smiled at her, grinning widely. "I'm Mahati!" She explaimed, before rushing back and grabbing her brother. "And this is Bello! He's a bit of a grump!"
"I am not!" he whined, shrugging his more enthusiastic sister off. Jaune shook his head with a smile, being harshly reminded of his own sisters.
Jaune left this children in the capable hands of his team Man, what a weird thing to say again as he went ahead to the main kiosk.
Huh, they have a discount for huntsmen. B noted, looking at the prices. Makes sense, considering it's a huntsman dash war museum
Twelve hundred lien for adults! What a rip off! A complained.
At least the children won't be too bad. Kids get in for 400. Jaune noticed I'll let everyone else pay for their tickets.
"Two children and one huntsman please." He asked.
"may I see your license?"
Jaune blanked for a moment, not having one. "Does a student card count?" The ranger asked, pulling out his little plastic Haven ID. The worker just shook his head.
"Ah, shame. Well, two children and one adult then." He handed over the lien.
Walking back, he had found that the children had indeed behaved themselves, at least to some extent. The world wasn't on fire, and no one was bleeding, so a success in his book.
"Bad news, we don't count has huntsmen, so it's the full charge for you three."
Reese groaned, cursing the gods under her breath.
"Alright, let us get in line." Arslan said, pulling out her own wallet. She grabbed her two teammates and dragged them away towards the kiosk.
Jaune looked down at his two wards. "So, we have our tickets here." He said, handing them their little slips of paper. "So we can spend as long as we want, but we should start thinking about what we want to do first."
Bello shrugged as Jaune led the two into the main entrance. There was a map right there.
Oh, cool, frontier lands! B noted as they waited for a moment, letting the rest of team AACS catch up.
Arslan came up behind them, peering at the map over Jaune's shoulder.
"So, where to first?" She asked from behind, standing at his shoulder. Jaune gave her a shrug, still pouring over the map.
"I'll be honest, the first civilization's looks interesting." Jaune admitted, before looking down at the children. "but today is for them. Bello, where do you want to go?" He asked, as Mahati had decided to pester Reese about her time as a huntress with the exuberance only children could muster.
Bello looked at the map for a while. "There." He pointed up at it.
"Trickshift and Mecha Shift?" Arslan read out. "sure, we can do that." She patted him on his tiny little head, to which he shook. "Alright gang, we're going!" She called, hounding the two other women to stop giggling the corner and join them. The Trick and Mecha Shift Collection was a collection of weapons throughout history that various huntsmen used. It was Nadir that noticed a particular Weapon on display from the first war. It was credited to being one of the first trickshift weapons recovered from the period. There wasn't a strong or firm difference between what made a weapon trickshift and what made a weapon mechashift, but the usual agreement was that a trickshift weapon was entirely kinetic while mechashift options had some form of motorized or technologically based movement. Corcea Mors was usually cited as the first true Mecha shift weapon due to the shield's spring-loaded mechanism.
What Nadir was looking at was a sword. A rather familiar sword at there, behind glass with a little plaque that read: Early trickshift weapon, First war C.450. Serrated Whip Sword.
"Whatcha looking at, buddy?" Reese asked as she peered over his shoulder. The pink haired man just nodded towards the sword.
Reese looked at it, turned to the side then looked again. "Huh." She said, squaring her hands on her hips. "That looks real familiar, doesn't it?" She asked Nadir, who just nodded.
"It does look a lot like Jaune's Glassvain. Although I will say, it looks more like a finished version or later prototype compared to Glassvain." He surmised as he took the blade in, mentally comparing to what he considered Jaune's signature weapon. He was pretty skilled with all weapons, if his basically unending ability to produce more and varied varieties of combat to accompany his basically spotless record in the schools combat ring was anything to go by. But Nadir had noticed that he seemed to favor the versatile blade. "Although there are marked differences. Clearly whoever made this had the gift of foresight. The trigger handle is longer, and probably has an easier latch to push. That and the curving cross guard probably protects the hand from the whip form better than Glassvain does."
Reese nodded. "it's also gold." She pointed out, comparing it to Jaune's rather dull steel colored armory. Nadir nodded, taking a picture of it.
"it is also gold." He said. The entire blade wasn't gold, of course, but bright bold highlights in the shining metal were predominant throughout the cross guard and handle.
Reese scampered off, coming up to Jaune, Arslan, and the two children. Jaune talking to the children about weapondry, as he was asked which kind of weapon was superior on display.
"So I guess for you two, you would want that dagger there. However someone like your father would probably want either the large hammer or a spear. They're just more useful and require less training to use."
"Yeah, but what about you?" Bello asked the ranger. "What would you use?"
Jaune had to think about that for a moment. There were a lot of okay options here. He was sure he could use all of the artifacts to great effect. But they were just that, artifacts. Not weapons, at least not anymore. He was sure they all had their fill of violence and blood. Besides he doubted that they were actually kept with
"if I had to, I like that spear there. The one that becomes a short axe. It's good and versatile, and it's the one that's probably in the best shape." He pointed to one on the top shelf, dated to have been in use during the color war. It was probably old by then, but that still made it the newest one to be on display.
"Heya, dorks." Reese greeted. Jaune straightened up to look at the intruder. "We found something interesting over there."
"oh, did you now?" Jaune started to move, lightly pulling Bello and Mahati with him. "So, what did you find?"
Jaune's question was quickly answered when he saw the sword on the wall. It was strikingly similar to Glassvain, although Jaune supposed there was only so much variation someone could have on an idea.
"How quaint." Was all he said. "How quaint." Nadir blinked, analyzing that in his head. "How quaint." Quaint? That is the word he chooses. Quaint. attractively unusual or old-fashioned. Familiar, yet odd and unorthodox, often paired with a sediment of sentimentality.
Quaint.
Jaune had moved on, the children having found another odd curio to garner their attention.
They had made their way to a different section, some time later. Mahati had stayed close to Reese, finding a kindred soul in the energetic skater. Arslan on the other had kept herself and Bello close to Jaune, ensuring that he never wandered away too far. Not that he seemed to have a tendency to, much preferring to stay next to the two knowledgeable adults that could answer his questions.
"Why is that notch on the blade?" "How did they know to draw the lines there?" And Jaune's personal favorite "But that would make them just stupid, right?"
That did indeed put a small smile on his face. He had turned it to stone when a hand brushed against him. A dark hand that seemed to burn him as it brushed against his skin in a way fire couldn't. Yet somehow, he didn't want to pull away. He had steeled himself so much against any negative reaction barely even registered the way his ears seemed to heat up under his long hair
Huh, wonder what that means~ A giggled, poking Jaune in his mental cheek. Jaune's head tilted.
Maybe Arslan's feeling a little unwell? She could be coming down with something. That would suck. Arslan probably hates getting sick.
A and B went slack jawed, turning to look at each other. They just sighed, shaking their heads.
Arslan blinked when she felt Jaune's hand brush against her own. It wasn't often that Jaune dared to touch someone, she suspected because of his semblance. She wondered if he lived constantly in fear of his semblance, pulling it away from his skin so that the simple act of touching something didn't turn it into unstable ash in his hands. This must be a huge step for him. The lioness thought to herself with a small smile, twisting her fingers so that they wrapped around Jaunes in a chaste interlocking. She gave him a brief squeeze of encouragement before striding away to catch a Bello that had seen an old army uniform from the Color War and wanted to take a look. Jaune stopped for a moment, looking down at his hand that seemed to radiate heat. He replayed what had just happened. Arslan had grabbed his hand. A girl had grabbed his hand. A pretty girl had grabbed his hand. Was that flirting? Did that count as flirting? Could Arslan have flirted with him.
Nah, impossible. The blonde thought shaking his head clear of it AND Ignoring A and B in the background, groaning as though he had just missed the winning pass he rejoined the two as they looked at the medal adorned blue and grey uniform.
Mahati squinted at the two blonde huntsmen as they walked through the museum. She watch this interaction with interest, before tugging on Reese's sleeve.
"Yes, what is it darling?" She asked the small girl.
"Are they bouncing?" She asked, pointing at the two blondes. That made Reese do a double take, snorting out of her nose.
"I'm sorry?" she wheezed, doubled over as if she was just punched in the gut.
"You know, bouncing?" She said, doing exactly that, bouncing on her heels. "it's something adults do. Because they don't have recess like children do, some adults bounce at night."
Reese blinked at her, doing her best not to break into the biggest, shit eating grin possible.
That is by far possibly one of the funniest explanations for "of course we're not having sex" I've ever heard. She thought as she finally came to response.
"No, but they honestly should be." She said, and Mahati nodded. It was like the fable of Stormkuld and Serpes, a warrior blessed by their gods and their seer gifted to them from the divine. Unfortunately, some of the darker gods liked to get in the way of their love by throwing monsters and evil spells at them. Meanies.
Mahati gave Reese another tug. "Do they have meanies?" She asked the green haired huntress. Reese gave her a raised eyebrow instead of an answer.
"I'm not sure what you mean darling."
Mahati shrugged. "you know, meanies. Like in the tragedy of Stormkuld and Serpes. They had meanies. The gods were meanies to them."
It took Reese a little while to figure out what she meant by that, as she was not familiar with the classic biblical love story that was Stormkuld and Serpes tragedy. If she did, she would absolutely think that Jaune would be Serpes, which she would have found very amusing. Historically the actual genders and real names of the two have been lost to time, their names in the play being actual titles that had survived the ages. It is often assumed that Stormkuld was a man(or atleast portrayed to be rather masculine) and that Serpes was a woman (or portrayed rather feminine.). Regardless Reese got there in the end.
"No, they're just… taking their time I guess."
Mahati nodded sagely. "Ah, so their stupid."
That made Reese actually double over laughing. Nadir just blinked at that.
"But they're not? They're just…" he trailed off, looking at the two blondes in question. He didn't know what that made them, but it didn't make them stupid. "They're just people."
"Yeah. And people are stupid." Mahati said sagely. Nadir sighed, shaking his head. "Like them. They should just be together."
"I don't think that's how it works." Nadir said as he ushered the two along, trying to keep up with the other three.
They found themselves in another exhibit, this one full of armor sets ll. Jaune's eye was caught by a set of metal armor. He stopped, halting his walk to look at it. It was a dark set of irons straps connected to large plates across the chest. It had a large hole put through the chest, right over it's heart. It had been blasted apart by cannon fire, or perhaps a dealthstalker's tail. Jaune wasn't sure of either. He just looked at it, taking in the damage. Whoever wore it sure put it through hell.
That's a burn mark, several actually. That there is a lightning mark, hammer, sword, spear, spear, acid, nevermore feather, ursa claws, ursa claws, sword, hammer, hammer, hammer, bullet, bullet, bullet, more bullets. Wow, that's a lot of bullets.
Arslan came up from behind the dreamer, lightly pressing into his side. The action sent Jaune ramrod straight, suddenly overly aware of where his hands where. "Something catch your eye?" She asked in a tone far more concerned than anyone would normally ask that question.
"We could have traded armors, me and them." Jaune said, nodding at the broken and well used metal. Arslan gave the armor a look over, before looking back at Jaune.
"it is full of holes." She admitted, looking at the plaque that was attached to the display. "It was worn by a great warrior, it seems. Tsubaru Kamuja was one of the last Samurai Lords during the Mistral Unification war, and died during the battle of the Twilight Gap." She read off, not that it pulled Jaune's gaze away.
So he spent his life fighting men, and I monsters.
I wonder if there is that much of a difference. I wonder if we were that different. He killed grimm too, and I've most certainly killed men.
Jaune just gave her a hum. A leaned back on the couch. we shouldn't loose complete faith in humanity yet. He said as he twisted in place, popping his back in a rhythmic fashion. Sure, there were some pretty shitty parts of it. But it's not all bad. Hell, even in Mistral there's Abkir.
Jaune nodded. Even in Mistral there's Abkir. That's a good wisdom. He let out a small snort, shaking his head.
Wisdom, huh? He ponded, still looking at the armor. I wonder if my grandfather could have worn this. I wonder if he would have wanted to in the first place.
Our father wouldn't have. B commented from his stool. That almost made Jaune laugh. He surely wouldn't have. His father hadn't wanted him to do much of anything, really, constantly pushing him towards his sisters and some local, boring life in Orleans. Someplace close so that his mother could have him nearby at all times, just in case something went wrong. Surely his sisters would stop by, unannounced of course, for dinner or lunch where they would talk the day away over a nice pasta or something. He was sure that this is what his father had tried so hard to protect him from.
Yeah, shitty way of showing it. B grumbled into his coffee.
Jaune furrowed his brow for a moment, wracking his brain as to what B was alluding. Sure, there was the constant emphasis on being a man: emotionally bigger than everyone else, taking things with that bendable stoicism because it was the mans job to be that. Calm, in control, stoney and always holding a silent kind of power, always willing to help and get pushed around by his sisters and his mother. Not that his father ever seemed to get ordered around, but that might have been parental status. At least that was the advice Jaune was given whenever his father seemed to have time for him. "Go be helpful, Jaune."
I was talking about the abandonment and disowning, bud.
Ah. Jaune pursed his lips slightly. Right. Honestly, I'd kind of forgotten about that bit. It just… seems like a really long time ago.
It still happened. History are just events that are not the present, not some fairy tale that can be ignored or cast aside as a cheap fantasy. They shape the present, like an artist does to clay before putting a sculpture into the kiln. B said with a cool kind of coldness, more like snow than steel. And even this marks your soul.
Jaune's teeth ground at that. I refuse. He thought, still gazing at the armor. He knew his own armor would end up here, a replacement piece when time wore this one into dust. A hole over his heart, gashes in his chest. History has no grasp on my soul. I refuse to have the past cling to my soul as if it has a right to be there.
But it will, because your soul is made of the past, jaune. A sagely hummed. What are you, but all you were before? You exist in the context of the coconut tree. You can't escape that. You were Jaune before Jaune of Arcana, and you were Jaune Arc before Jaune. You were born years ago, not days. Your are built in the shadow of who you were
B turned to look at him. Coconut tree?
Yeah, the world one. Yiggdrasil. A responded before looking at Jaune. B is right: just because we have lived through worse does not mean that it didn't happen.
Jaune thought about it, and he really thought about it. He called upon everything he knew about his father, and his family. The mediocre wisdom and the well meaning advice. The warm meals and comfortable nights. Bedtime stories and encouraging, if awkward, talks. But there were things he was sure his father had forgotten. Beatings poorly disguised as training, a favoritism towards his sisters that he never understood was happening until he stepped aside and looked at it from the outside. The terribly withering lack of faith in anything Jaune showed interest in, the encouragement going to his admittedly more talented sisters.
Huh, I supposed that that was a thing that happened, wasn't it?
Why don't I care? Jaune thought. He supposed a normal person would care. He supposed that a human would care, should care. But he hadn't been normal in a very long time, hadn't' he? So he would cast it aside, shearing off a small part of his humanity once more and let it drift off away into the history that surrounded him, a small shattering of humanity that would forever be lost residing in these halls, unseen and unnoticed.
"let's go, Ms. Altan." He said, gently nudging her away. "I've spent enough time looking into the past I think."
Arslan looked up at him, a moment of confusion in her eyes. Those green jewels softened into something bittersweet, hopeful but knowing as she gave Jaune's hand another brief squeeze before walking away. Jaune was left there lingering for a moment more, before turning aside as well.
The left the history behind them, the two children running ahead of them. "So, Ice cream?" Jaune asked before he was suddenly slumped over as the two children grabbed his arms excitedly.
"Can we?!" They asked, stars in their eyes. Jaune gave them a nod.
"Technically it was supposed to be lunch, but Mr. Abkir doesn't have to know, now does he?"
Jaune discovered that Mahati really liked sherbert, and Bello leaned more towards chocolate. And that he had forgotten just exactly how tooth achingly sweet the frozen milk was.
Jaune came back a little just before dinner, rolling his shoulders. Arslan was sitting in the dorm, scrolling through her scroll.
"we're going to Vytal."
Jaune blinked. "Hello to you too. The children had a blast. Enjoy your afternoon, Ms. Altan?" Jaune said dryly as he sat down on the chair next to her. She hummed, still looking at her phone.
"I see. Well, I suppose I enjoyed it up until I heard we were going to Vytal." She sighed, putting her scroll down. Jaune saw a paused video of one of Pyrrha Nikos's many televised fights. "Now I'm just stressed."
Jaune raised an eyebrow, hands already wrapping around a single bottle. "I thought you liked these kinds of things."
Arslan let out a sigh, rubbing at her temples. "I do! I do, but it's just… we've been a team for what, a month? We've had maybe two training sessions as a whole team, our unit cohesion is a mess and we're going to the biggest tournament in the world in just over a week."
Jaune nodded, taking a deep breath in through his nose. He lazily held the bottle out for her, much to Arslan's disappointed glare. He retracted his offer, nesting the glass into his side.
"Alright then, team leader, what would you have us do?" Jaune asked her. She gave him a momentary look, knowing not to get into that argument again. They had hashed it out in hushed tones when the team was declared. Jaune was the strongest of them, levelheaded and deadly. Calm, collected, imposing, inspiring, the very model of an ideal leader. He felt safe, the eye of a storm, a war machine fueled by a kind desire to see a better world. To Arslan, he was one of the chosen warriors from the benevolent Gods, the kind she was told as a child from the old tales in the first testament. The kinds that lead armies and raised kingdom. Yet she could not refute the evidence Jaune positioned forward. She had been leading team AACS for longer than he, officially, and had lead team ARBN before that. She had been a leader for him, and she was more than competent at it. Also he was much more in the laze-faire position of leadership, which was apparently his native tongue for "hands off". So it was a toss up, letting people assume who was the lead A in AACS and taking it from there.
Jaune let out a soft rumbling, the kind that built up in the back of the throat before he said something. It was hard to hear, even with her heightened senses, but it was a clear sign that he was going to speak, and it often came with ideas he had carefully balanced and designed, crafted for politics and silvered tongues lined with poison.
"If you would be willing, I overhead something about a nighttime exhibit at the zoo. Something about nocturnal creatures. We still have some daylight left, and I some money. Would you be inclined I would be more than willing to take you. Good chance to blow off some steam, have a distraction. Not topple any incidental infrastructure."
That got him a scalding glare from Arslan. "You're never going to let that go, aren't you?" she asked, her mock anger masking her inner turmoil. Did Jaune just ask me on a date? She said, the more catlike side of her practically purring. Is this a date? Do I say yes- She started, her brain going down a short fantasy. They would walk through the zoo, laugh at the penguins, sit under some soft string lights in a gazebo where Jaune would pull her close. They could slow dance to whatever terrible elevator music was playing, before she would look up into his eyes and
Oh, Oh. The lioness flushed, curling her knees up under her arms. Oh dear. I might be in trouble. She thought with an almost giddy glee but the little voice she was going to dub her inner animal opened her mouth for her. "I would love to." She squeaked out. Jaune was unaware of her turning redder than her sash as he stood up.
"Great! I suppose we should leave in an hour or so." He said, escaping into his room.
Oh god, Arslan had to get dressed. Dressed nice. Date nice.
"Fuuuuuuuuu-"
Reese wasn't expecting much for tonight. Much less hearing a deft, powerful knocking at her door.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming- Arslan? Uh, hi." She was confused at the sudden appearance of her leader. "You need something?"
Arslan blushed, wringing her hands together. "I need fashion advice." The lioness decided to be blunt. Reese blinked, before looking at Arslan. Then down at her. Then at her hoodie filled closet.
"And you came to me?" She asked after a moment.
Arslan threw her hands up in the air. "I didn't have anyone else I could go to! Look, just please help me out. I have a date in an hour somehow-" She was cut off when Reese put her finger to Arslan's lips.
"You have a what now?" She asked.
"A date?" came a meek voice, trailing off into the empty doorway between them.
"A date."
A nod. "A date."
"With who?" Reese asked, before a moment of panic dawned over her face. "Don't tell me it's with Sun. I know those abs are impressive but I could not stand him as a father in law-"
Arslan shuddered at that thought. Sure, Sun might have been a good friend but the idea of doing… things with him made her shiver. "No, gods no. it's Jaune."
Reeses head tilted to the side. "Huh. Never saw him much as the intimate type. Where is it?"
"The zoo. Apparently there's some kind of midnight lightshow he offered to take me."
Reese's brow furrowed. "The zoo, huh? Well, not the most romantic place, but at least if he's a bad date there's a distraction."
Arslan bit the inner of her lip, thinking about Jaune. There was no way this was going to be normal date, was it? It was Jaune, a man who was about as mentally stable as a house made out of potato chips and sane as a snickerdoodle. Long term dust poisoning tended to do that to a man, she supposed.
Frankly, it's a miracle he's as well put together as he is. She thought as Reese dragged her to her room. Arslan was still spinning her head in circles when the feeling of cloth colliding with her face.
"Put that on." Reese said from inside the closet. "You really don't have much in terms of modern, or good, clothes. So it might not be the best look."
Arslan wordlessly shuffled it on, changing into the colorful clothes. A loose fitting yellow t shirt that hung loosely off a shoulder, showing off her collarbone. It had a faded Tabu mask, a theater mask for traditional dance, done in a lion on it's front. A long skirt, ironically the shortest skirt Arslan had, in a comfortable looking red was tucked underneath with a comfortable set of sandals. She twirled, looking into the small mirror on her desk.
"It'll work. I guess." She said, absentmindedly running a hand through her hair. "it looks good, right?"
Reese sighed, nodding. "Arslan, I picked it out. Of course I think it looks good. Now sit down, we need to do make up."
Arslan winced at that. "Do we?" Reese's flat look told her everything she needed to know.
Date night! Whoo! Initially I was going to wrap the date in with this chapter, but then I saw the amount of pages this was and I decided that it was going to be better to just publish this now.
Whoo we love Arslan dealing with the idea that she just might, might have a crush on Jaune. And we see Jaune open up some, do some normal human things that normal human people do.
Continuing with the story, I am probably going to end this after the Vytal Festival/ fall of beacon arc. Initially this was going to be throughout all four kingdoms chasing team RWBY as they try to get the relics together, thinking that that is a terrible idea summoning gods. (never worked for Jaune after all) but I'm afraid that it would never end. It does mean that I'm going to have to speed run Jaune and Arslan's relationship from here on, probably at the sacrifice of Reese and Nadir to some extent. Less opportunity for scenes for them after all. At least this means I don't have to make up the rest of the dream outside of what I have already planned out. But we are officially at the start of the home stretch now! only another two dozen or so chapters to go!
Sorry this took this long to get out considering how much I got done before the last page, I was one of the few lucky victims of the flooding in Appalachia. If you don't know, Appalachia was hit very hard by Tropical Storm/Hurricane Helene, and suffered some of the worst flooding it's seen in living memory. I thankfully managed to get out of dodge immediately after the storm unharmed and with all my stuff, but not everyone was as lucky as I was. I highly encourage if you are of the means and motivation to help where you can through donating your time or money. We as a species are built out of our mutual compassion for our fellow man, and it's those bonds that keep us human.
I hope to get the next chapter soon, considering my university is basically non functional for an unknown amount of time, so lots of time to work on the story (and procrastinate working on it)