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Auburn
As I'd more than half-expected, unlike Blake, my sisters wasted no time in questioning me about Amber, but they eventually laid off when I revealed Professor Ozpin had asked me to look after her. Of course, they picked right up with teasing me about inviting a woman to live with me, so I was a bit neutral on whether it was an improvement, even if it was in good fun.
Amber herself blushed copiously at every innuendo and insinuation, but she always had a comeback, so I didn't feel the need to wade in on her behalf.
Obviously, neither of us mentioned Maidens nor magic, and defaulted to the simple explanation of her being an acquaintance of Professor Goodwitch who had been recently injured, and that I'd healed her. None of them could have missed that there must be more to the story, but nobody pressed.
Blake and I also recounted how the test had gone, and how it had squared with what Olivia told us to expect. We also prodded the two recent graduates for details about the professors we'd met, learning that — as I'd expected from the show — Goodwitch was indeed usually as strict as she appeared, Oobleck really was that hyperactive and passionate, and Port did in fact usually have a point or lesson buried in his self-aggrandizing stories.
More interestingly for me was that I could now see titles for Indigo and Olivia. Technically I could have read Olivia's before the levels I'd gained today, but I hadn't actually seen her in a few weeks, since she'd moved out East.
‹The Encompassing Grasp›
LV 78
Olivia Arc
This still seems off… I glanced at Indigo to be sure.
‹The Long Dark›
LV 87
Indigo Arc
I know they're strong, but are they really stronger than Beacon professors? I could maybe buy Oobleck being lower, he can't be much older than them, but Port? And Indigo's stronger than Goodwitch? I've gotta be missing something.
Still, it was a sign of how far I'd come that I could finally see something other than question marks over the heads of people I knew were considered strong — chatting and sparring with my sisters, they had made it clear that Olivia was the strongest in her graduating class by a wide margin. My own observations placed senior students in the 50s, so that jived.
I, myself, was apparently well into the junior year range by level, but my stats were far beyond that — Amber was more than twice my level, but I had her beat in every stat except INT without any of my active buffs running. My stats were starting to show a spread, which wasn't the worst thing since I was definitely going for a physical-focused build, but on the other hand, I didn't want my MP to fall too far behind, especially given the utility of blocking damage with [Aura]. However, it was becoming extremely difficult to gain any stat points by exercising or studying, so…
Later that night, lying in bed, I brushed aside the [You are resting in a bed. How long would you like to sleep?] prompt in favor of my [Stats] sheet. I hesitated another moment, before shrugging and buying both INT and CHA up to 50. It would cost 24 of my 148 points, but it meant (I assumed) two more stat-boosting passives. Even if INT and CHA are effectively my dump stats, that doesn't mean I have to completely suck at them. I'm the Gamer, I get to be good at everything with time. But time is also a limiting factor for me, coz I've reached the canon timeline and shit is about to start going down.
[By raising INT to 50, you can select a new skill!]
Aura Affinity (Passive)
A skill that represents your ability to sense and manipulate Aura.
Passively increases INT by 1%.
10% increase in power of Aura.
Dust Affinity (Passive)
A skill that represents your ability to sense and manipulate Dust.
Passively increases INT by 1%.
10% increase in power of Dust.
Fuck, every single one of these binary choices makes me hesitate and doubt myself. I don't use much Dust outside of ammo, and I don't use much ammo anyway, because I don't love having my combat strategy relying on a resource I can run out of. But on the other hand, unlike most Hunters, I have an [Inventory] that can theoretically hold as much Dust or as many bullets as I can afford, and judging by the way the other 50-stat skills have improved, I can assume that'll go up pretty sharply.
At the end of the day, though, I was still a frontliner, and I used my Aura for damage dealing, damage mitigation, and healing. Part of me would probably always wonder what I could accomplish with Dust if I chose to specialize in it, but I had to go with the one that made more sense for me.
[You selected the skill [Aura Affinity]!]
[Aura Affinity (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that represents your ability to sense and manipulate Aura. Your soul is attuned to the world in a way few others are.]
[Passively increases INT by 1%.]
[10% increase in power of Aura techniques and activated skills.]
Wonder if that applies to the stat boosts from [Aura] as well? I checked. …Hell yes, it does. My buffed stats are getting nutty. Actually, for that matter, my passive stats are getting a bit nutty. Should I figure out the right level to hold back, or just keep standing out more?
Dismissing that to ponder later, and maybe debate with my sisters, I moved on.
[By raising CHA to 50, you can select a new skill!]
Charm (Passive)
A skill to allure and appease with posture, tone, and word choice.
Passively increases CHA by 1%.
10% better persuasion of friendlies.
Intimidate (Passive)
A skill to overawe or threaten with posture, tone, and word choice.
Passively increases CHA by 1%.
10% better persuasion of unfriendlies.
And here we have the paragon and renegade options. Honestly, both have their place, and neither is worth much against Grimm. On the other hand, Intimidate is pretty much just for enemies, while Charm can be used on allies and less-dedicated enemies. Fits better with my oath anyway. Paragon till death.
[You selected the skill [Charm]!]
[Charm (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that represents your ability to allure, appease, or enthrall those you interact with. You are charismatic in speech and poise, and people tend to listen when you talk.]
[Passively increases CHA by 1%.]
[10% increased chance to convince allies and neutrals to agree with you.]
[1% chance to reduce hostility of enemies.]
Awesome, got new skills to grind, now back to hoarding points. Glancing over my [Stats] sheet again, I didn't feel quite as unbalanced. All my base attributes were in the low 50s, bringing my passive stats to the 90s or better. Three of them were over 100 all the time, and I could easily bring that to 4 since my passive MP Regen outstripped the cost of any one of my animal buffs. [Bull's Strength] is probably the way to go for the permanent upkeep in the field. In the city, maybe I should start keeping [Eagle's Splendor] active all the time. That would probably help train [Charm].
If nothing else comes up, I'll plan to hang onto the rest of my points until I hit 150, then buy up STR, CON, and DEX. Maybe even until 200 so I have 50 spare still? Although that means waiting another ten levels, and I do need to make sure I'm still improving before the next disaster…
Brushing those decisions aside, I sat up for a moment, then laid back down, causing the bed to prompt me again.
[You are resting in a bed. How long would you like to sleep?]
The next week flew by without incident, and soon Friday rolled around again. With Olivia now officially living in Mistral, and me having taken over her lease, we had effectively switched places; she was staying with Indigo while I lived in the apartment in town. I had offered to leave the whole penthouse to Amber, but she insisted on taking the guest room, saying she would have the whole place to herself most of the time soon anyway. She had a point, so I elected not to argue further. As it turned out, her MP did continue to drain as the days went by. Not any faster, but fairly steadily, until she was getting noticeably sluggish by the time Friday rolled around again.
I caught her wrist as she slouched back from the kitchen toward her room, tugging her down onto the couch. Before she could complain, I started to rub her shoulders, triggering [Lay On Hands] at the same time. She moaned in appreciation, and once her back was less tense, I began meditating so it wouldn't take another two hours to top her off. With all my buffs running, I refilled her ridiculous MP bar — half-empty and she still had more MP than I did — in about six minutes. She let out a sigh when I shifted away, and we agreed to make sure to meet up each weekend so she would never fall too low.
My birthday was a fun affair, with a cake Olivia baked to go along with the conspicuously gun-shaped present waiting on the kitchen table when I arrived at the house. The party itself was small; Olivia, Indigo, Blake, Jazz, Amber, and I played board games and shot the breeze, ate cake and pie, and had a few drinks as the night went on. There were, of course, enough empty rooms in the house for everyone to crash, and I took advantage of it rather than risk getting pulled over on my bike.
I was re-reading the well-wishing texts I'd received from the rest of my sisters — plus Bia, which made me happier than a polite text probably should have — when a light knock sounded at my door. My passive [Detect Aura] range covered most of the house by this point, but I tended to tune out familiar signatures after a while. A moment's focus told me it was Amber. Curious, I re-equipped an undershirt and sat up. "Come in."
She slipped inside and pushed the door almost shut behind her. She was wearing an oversized shirt in contrast to my tight one; it came down far enough that I couldn't see what shorts she was wearing under them. If any. I swallowed.
Seeing her hesitate, I tried to break the ice. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," she replied, smiling weakly. Then she squared her shoulders and gave a more confident smirk. "I wanted to thank you again for healing me — I don't think I can ever thank you enough. Even now, I was only feeling well enough to come tonight because you did it again."
"I'm glad to be able to help," I said simply.
"Still, it means more than I can say." She stepped closer. Her knees brushed mine, and I found myself looking up into her wide brown eyes. After a fractional hesitation, she leaned down, and pressed her lips to mine.
The kiss wasn't deep, wasn't a wild and passionate thing, but somehow it still took my breath away. After a few endless moments, she tilted her head down, breaking our liplock and pressing her forehead to mine. "Happy birthday, Jaune," she whispered.
"It certainly is now," I hummed, reaching up to brush her hair back from her face. I never noticed before, she has a beauty mark under her eye. She didn't renew the kiss, but didn't shy away either, and we probably spent a good minute like that, savoring the closeness.
The clock in the study downstairs chimed midnight, and the moment broke. Amber straightened up, smiled, and we wished each other good night.
Amber didn't press after that, although there were some lingering looks over the next week since we did, after all, live in the same apartment. We still talked, both in person at home and over text, and I was fairly confident there was something more than gratitude behind those looks, but I decided to give her a little more time to make sure she wouldn't change her mind. I didn't think she would, but… If I'm not mature enough to wait a week, I'm not mature enough to start a relationship and have confidence it'll last. Sometime in the next few days, I'll invite her on a date for next weekend.
The following Monday afternoon found me once again on a bullhead for a brief flight out of Vale and up to Beacon to properly start the canon timeline at last. Unlike in canon, I didn't get sick, although the turbulence was bad enough that I couldn't blame the original Jaune if he'd encountered the same. Frankly, given we were still nearly in the city, I wondered if the pilot was just drunk, because someone else was looking very green.
‹A Breath Of Inspiration›
LV 26
Fillet Sable
Pyrrha found me almost immediately after takeoff, all but hiding behind me to escape the stares from the other students, especially a certain white-haired heiress who was now eyeing the pair of us speculatively.
"You're just going to draw attention to me," I complained good-naturedly. "Once they realize who I am, the stares are going to double."
Pyrrha pouted, but straightened up and changed the subject. "How have you been, Jaune?"
"Pretty good. Has your training been productive?"
"Not… especially," she sighed. "It's getting more and more difficult to advance. Most people in the circuit don't want to train with me, and there's only so much I can learn from instructors."
‹Afar With The Dawning›
LV 31
Pyrrha Nikos
No change, huh? Makes sense if what she says is true. Not that I thought she was lying.
"Well, I can't imagine Professor Goodwitch letting you coast, so you'll probably be improving again in no time," I reassured her.
"I hope so. And you? Did you make any advances in the last few months?"
I thought back to what my stats had been during our show match, compared them to now, and coughed. "Modestly."
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling it's your attitude that's modest, rather than your growth?"
"I've been working hard," I admitted. "I'm sure you remember how our match ended, because I was spending too much Aura on enhancing myself? Well… I'm almost as strong without my buffs now as I was with them then. And my skill level is definitely higher."
"Meaning you would be able to fight on almost that level, but conserve your Aura for defense," she realized immediately. A look of excitement crossed her face. "I hope you wouldn't mind a spar every so often?" she asked hopefully.
"Count on it." She was the one to offer the fistbump this time.
Soon enough, we had landed and were shuffled off to the auditorium. The content of Ozpin's speech was basically what I remembered from canon, although he seemed much more focused, his tone more earnest and passionate. Maybe he was really distracted by Amber's injury in the canon timeline?
After dinner in the cafeteria, all of us new arrivals were shut into a ballroom with a pile of sleeping bags, and told to rest for the Initiation test in the morning. Being teenagers, nobody listened, instead chatting, mingling, boasting, and bullshitting through the evening. A single glance through the hall showed that, indeed, I was the highest level freshman by quite a bit. Aside from Pyrrha, no one else had even hit 30, although I did spot a couple people who were close. The one who stood out the most was a tiny, petite girl with strawberry blonde hair in a long braid even more elaborate than Violet's.
‹The King›
LV 29
Giuliette Escutcheon
After stepping into the bathroom to change my equipment into boxers and a muscle shirt, Pyrrha remained more or less glued to my side. She was wearing full pajamas, which actually covered more skin than her usual outfit. Soon enough, I spotted a certain bow by the wall and made my way over there. "I expected to bump into you earlier," I commented drily, dropping my sleeping bag next to Blake's and sitting with my back to the wall, nudging her with my shoulder.
Blake was wearing a short grey yukata as a nightdress. She turned the page of her book. "Too many stares."
Pyrrha cringed. "I'm sorry."
I rolled my eyes. "Blake, have you met Pyrrha? We met during my unplanned vacation in Mistral. Pyrrha, this is Blake, we've backed each other up on a few local hunts."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Blake," Pyrrha said politely.
Blake gave her a measured look. "Likewise."
Pyrrha deflated, and I flicked Blake's human ear gently.
She shot me a glare, but sighed. "It's very nice to meet you, and I hope we can chat again soon, but I'm really hoping to finish this tonight."
"And she hates being surrounded by people," I added.
Blake's lip twitched. "And that."
"I see." Pyrrha didn't seem to know what to do with Blake's bluntness, but I decided to cut the latter a break and shifted over to give her some space.
"Sit down, relax," I told the redhead.
"Oh, are you going to… sleep right here?"
"I was planning on it," I replied, confused for a moment before I realized what she was probably thinking. "You do know Hunting teams are coed, right? And the dorms are a lot smaller than this."
"Ah…" she blushed a little, but sat down, nervously tugging at her pajamas. "Yes, I know that intellectually. I'm still getting used to it — there weren't any boys in my graduating class at Sanctum."
"Really?" I wondered. "Well, I guess it's not impossible, but I don't think the SAB ratio is skewed quite that hard, at least in Vale. You should have plenty of eye candy."
"That's what I'm saying," came a familiar voice from above us. "Although not as much as you, eh Ladykiller?"
Standing with her hands on her hips was a familiar blonde, wearing an orange tank top and black boyshorts. The shirt didn't quite cover her stomach, but then, neither did her usual outfit. And if I had abs like that, I'd show them off too— well actually, I do have abs like that at this point, but a skintight shirt is classier.
‹Wanderer By Lone Sea-Breakers›
LV 27
Yang Xiao Long
Interesting, she's gained a level. Maybe from the fight she had in the Yellow trailer?
Beside her was a girl I hadn't met yet, with short dark hair that faded to red at the tips, and remarkable silver eyes.
‹The Dreamer Of Dreams›
LV 21
Ruby Rose
She was wearing pajama pants with roses patterned on them, and a somewhat more modest black tank top with a heart design. She was also lurking behind her sister, so I just gave her a nod before addressing Yang.
"Hey again; Yang, right?"
"That's me!" She shot me fingerguns. "How's that Victoria treating you?"
"Very agreeably. I named her Antares."
"And my baby's Bumblebee. And this," she dragged the brunette out from behind her. "Is my baby sister Ruby! She moved up two whole grades to join Beacon."
"That's very impressive," I said honestly. I was glad Ruby still made it. I hadn't been sure sure would, due to the butterflies I'd no doubt set in motion since appearing, but I had tried to stay out of Vale for the last month or so. "It's very nice to meet you, Ruby."
Yang folded her arms under her bust. "Hey now, don't get any ideas, buster." She was still smiling, but there was a hint of red in her lilac eyes.
"Yang!" Ruby protested, blushing.
I held up my hands in immediate surrender, and decided to introduce my companions. "This is Blake here on my left; don't bug her while she's reading. And this is Pyrrha; we sparred once and now she's stalking me–"
I cut off when Pyrrha instinctively smacked my shoulder. She looked briefly horrified by her own actions, but Yang and I both burst out laughing. Blake turned a page ostentatiously, but I could see her lips twitching out of the corner of my eye.
"What made you want to skip two years?" I asked Ruby.
She hesitated. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about it, but the short version is I interrupted a robbery and got caught up in a running battle trying to capture the thief before Professor Goodwitch stepped in." Her shoulder slumped. "Unfortunately the bad guys got away. But I met Professor Ozpin and he invited me to come to Beacon."
"That seems… impulsive," said Pyrrha.
"Yeah, he does that sometimes," I agreed. "But hey, it's his school after all."
"Who are you to imply you're familiar with Professor Ozpin?" demanded a new voice, and all of us glanced over to see a short girl with white hair in a periwinkle nightgown. She had her arms folded as she looked down her nose at me.
‹The Music-Maker›
LV 23
Weiss Schnee
"I'm the guy the headmaster impulsively asked to heal a personal friend of his assistant, directly after the entrance exam," I drawled, using the safest version of the story I could think of. Then, because she hadn't introduced herself, I added, "You look a lot like Winter Schnee."
"I imagine so," Weiss replied, tossing her hair. "And how exactly did you meet my older sister?"
I tilted my head and met her gaze coolly. "I called in the tip that led to a political arrest back in October." My lips twitched. "Later that night we went dancing."
"I don't believe you," Weiss scoffed. "Winter wouldn't go out with someone like you."
"'Someone like me'?" I parroted, a grin starting to form on my face as I activated [Eagle's Splendor]. "Please, elaborate on that."
"W-well." She lost her momentum immediately, and two spots of color appeared in her cheeks.Tsun-tsun~."My sister is an Atlesian Specialist; she's a professional, and you're… my age."
"I'm eighteen," I pointed out, neglecting to mention that I'd only been eighteen for a week. "And she can't be more than twenty-two."
"Twenty-one," Weiss admitted.
"Half her age plus seven is eighteen," Yang stage-whispered. "I say go for it, Ladykiller."
Weiss gasped, but I spoke over her.
"Winter is very pretty," I agreed. "And I think she liked me, even. But I'm winding Weiss here up a little — while we did go to a club, we were accompanied by Winter's girlfriend Bia, also a specialist, and Bia's senior partner who happens to be my sister Sienna."
"Winter's… girlfriend?" Weiss repeated, eyes widening.
"Was that a secret?" I grimaced. "I know Atlas is very… reserved about private lives. Please don't let that get around if it will cause problems for her."
I was understating Atlas' conservatism with regard to same-sex couples, but given the disparity in the SAB ratio, open discrimination of that sort just didn't make sense. It wasn't quite as bad for lesbian couples as for gay men, but that didn't mean it was good by any stretch.
"For the record, I did not dance with Winter," I went back to the original point. "I would have, but she only danced with Bia that evening." I glanced at Pyrrha. "Your cousin is an excellent dancer, though."
"She always liked dancing," Pyrrha agreed. "Did you dance with her?"
Blake was watching the conversation over her book. Hah, you can't fool me, you love the tea.
"A couple songs," I admitted. "It was fun."
"You really are a Ladykiller, huh?" Yang teased, nudging me with her foot. "All these older women~"
I fished out my Scroll and pulled up a post-workout selfie Bia had sent me. "Tell me you blame me." I displayed the picture to the group.
The redhead in the picture was wearing her cyan sports bra, covered in sweat and muscles bulging from the 850 kg on the bar behind her. The caption across her flushed and glistening chest read 'New PB!'
Yang whistled. "Nope, can't blame you one bit, she's hot."
Pyrrha gave an awkward chuckle — it was her family member we were discussing, after all — but Ruby looked like she agreed, and Weiss was blushing a little. Guess she and Winter share some tastes.
"Hey, sorry to bug you guys, but it's getting kinda late," said a girl a few feet away, leaning up in her sleeping bag to address us. She had silver hair, distinctly darker than Weiss', with an odd blue stripe dyed in a circle around her temples like a circlet.
‹The Soldier›
LV 22
Bernice Argent
"D'you think you can keep it down?" Her dark blue eyes were friendly, and she smiled to take the sting from the request.
"No worries, I should hit the hay as well," I told her. "Sleep well and wake, all of you," I added to the three girls who were standing. Everyone bid each other good night; even Weiss, who seemed too off-kilter from learning her sister was seeing someone to remember to be snooty and uptight. I suspected she made a better impression on the rest of the future team RWBY than she had in canon.
There was a bit more rustling, but the scattered lights from candles and Scrolls were dimming all over the hall as people settled in for the night.
I think that went well, overall. Less bickering between Weiss and the others can only be a good thing, with time. Initiation's tomorrow, and I'm expecting it to be pretty boring, since there's no way I'm going in the cave with the Deathstalker. My biggest worry was that Ruby wouldn't make it, but it looks like I haven't butterflied so much that I can't count on my canon knowledge quite yet. There probably won't be any major changes until next term.
"Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, and Pyrrha Nikos; for collecting the white knight pieces, I name you team Auburn."
And apparently this is happening.
The letters ABRN appeared over our pictures on the screen overhead.
I just had to fucking jinx it.
I nodded along as Ozpin named me team leader. Having left both my sunglasses and [Eagle's Splendor] on ever since we got back from the Emerald Forest, I relied on both to keep from showing how shook I was feeling.
Right, Jaune, you dumbass, you've butterflied a lot of things. You met Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha last year. You didn't throw up on anybody's shoes on the ride over. Two name-ranked Grimm are dead, and I didn't even know those were a thing. Amber is alive — that probably doesn't have anything to do with this change, but it's a big fucking deal. Canon isn't just off the rails, the rails have been torn up for scrap.
A few minutes later, after announcing teams Siren (SYRN) and Sable (SBLE) consisting of the rest of the people I'd noticed or spoken to yesterday, Ozpin dismissed us to our dorms.
The space was… small. The four of us stood grouped by the door, looking at the four twin beds, the short bookshelf under the window opposite us, and the four small desks either side of the door. There were doors on either wall, one leading to a closet, the other to a water closet with toilet and sink — the showers, I presumed, were in the communal bathrooms we'd passed in the hallway.
I glanced at the other three, finding all of them blushing slightly as they looked at me and then away.
"Tell you what," I said, stepping to the side and straddling one of the desk chairs. "You three pick the beds you want, and I'll take the last one. Then we'll have a little icebreaker, because we're going to be at close quarters for the next few years."
After conferring, for a bit, they settled on putting me on the far right, closest to the bathroom. Blake and Ruby took the middle beds — nearest the bookcase, I imagined was their reason — and Pyrrha the opposite wall by the closet. Like in canon, Ruby suggested jury-rigging bunk beds to increase floor space; unlike in canon, I was able to shoot the terrifyingly precarious idea down immediately.
"I'm sure you're a talented engineer, but one little mistake could end in disaster." I said patiently in the face of her silver-eyed pout. "'Crushed to death by falling bed' isn't what I want on my tombstone." I might accept being crushed to death between a woman's thighs, but let's keep that thought to myself. "There's plenty of floor space in the common room."
"Fiiine," she grumbled, dropping onto her bed. Pyrrha patted her partner on the back. "What did you want to talk about? The whole getting-to-know-you stuff is always so awkward…"
"I mean, we all know why we're here," Blake pointed out from where she was kneeling by the bookshelf, organizing her novels. "We met last night, and we did fine working together during Initiation."
She was clearly angling to get out of the icebreaker I'd mentioned, and I wasn't having it. "Cool, you can go first. Those romance novels you keep buying must have introduction scenes. What should we call you, where'd you grow up, what do you do for fun, what weapon do you use?"
She shot me an amber-eyed glare, which I shrugged off easily.
"Fine. My name is Blake. I moved here from Anima a year or so ago. In my free time, I like to read. My weapon is a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe comprising a pistol and chokuto that folds into a kusarigama, as you already know."
"I did, but they didn't," I nodded at Ruby, who was leaning forward with sparkling eyes.
"That sounds so cool! Did you make it yourself?"
Blake leaned away slightly. "Some parts, but mostly I just designed it. The– I used to have access to a good smith."
The Fang has a good smith, I heard, but no one else seemed to notice her hesitation.
"We all forge our weapons at Signal," Ruby confided. "With some help from the forgemaster, of course. My Crescent Rose is a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe!"
"And your name?" I smirked as she focused on the weapon to the exclusion of the other questions.
Ruby flushed. "I'm Ruby Rose, I grew up on Patch and I already told you last night that I got moved up from Signal. I like to read or design new weapons for people. And… I told you about my baby, so that's all the questions, right?"
"Can you tell us any more about the robbery you mentioned last night?" Pyrrha asked the question I had been trying to phrase.
Ruby pulled a face. "That Roman Torchwick guy tried to hold up a Dust store while I was shopping. He had a bunch of guys in suits with red sunglasses and lame static weapons, but I kicked their butts and he ran away. I almost caught him, but he got picked up by a lady in a bullhead who fought off Professor Goodwitch."
"That's odd…" Blake murmured. "Torchwick doesn't have any known associates, does he?"
"The goons sound like the Red Axe gang," I offered. "They're local low-level operators. All of… three people with awakened Auras in the whole Family?" Everyone was looking at me, so I made an excuse. "I know a guy who deals in information." Which is true. Tukson sells books, and books are full of information.
"Who was the woman in the bullhead, though?" Pyrrha wondered.
"I'm not sure," Ruby shrugged. "She was pretty far away so I didn't get a good look at her. She had dark hair and was wearing a red dress, and she fought like a Dust Mage… Maybe the robbery was for her? I thought it was weird he didn't try to take the money."
"Wait, what?" Now Blake leaned forward.
"Yeah, I heard the clerk talking to the police. They held him up and told him to open the cabinets, and a bunch of them started filling transport tubes, but they didn't even ask him to open the register."
"Weird…" There was a few minutes' silence as the others digested that. While I already knew what the deal was — more or less; the whole Dust theft thing kinda just got dropped without resolution after the Breach in Volume 2 — I didn't have any excuse for knowing more than I'd already mentioned, so I couldn't bring it up.
"We've gotten off track," I said eventually. "I'm Jaune. I'm told I grew up outside Vale, but I lost my memory last July. I like to lift weights and ride my motorcycle, and I've also been reading a lot of history and nonfiction to either jog my memories or make up for everything I've forgotten. I fight with a static sword — which is a classic, thank you very much," I added to Ruby, who stuck out her tongue. "The sheath shifts into a shield, but that's it."
"You don't even have a gun?" Ruby asked, sounding skeptical. Then she got excited. "I can design you one!"
"I actually had a gun commissioned for my birthday," I said. "My sister paid for it; we had a bet on whether I would get into Beacon, and I very much won."
"Ooooh! What style is it? What caliber? Does it use Dust? Does it mech-shift? What did you combine?" Ruby fired off her questions without giving me time to respond, so I waited to answer until she gulped a breath.
"Well…" I leaned forward conspiratorially, and she leaned in too. "It's a secret."
"Boo!" Ruby tossed a pillow at me. Pyrrha giggled.
"You're up," I told the redhead.
She gave a little wave. "Hello again, my name is Pyrrha Nikos. I grew up in the city of Argus, north of Mistral, and I attended Sanctum Academy. My weapon is Miló, a Javelin-Rifle. The shaft can also retract to form a shortsword, and I use it in conjunction with Akoúo̱, which is a Discus-Buckler." She conspicuously skipped over the question about her hobbies, but I let it slide. "As I said last night, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I… hope we can be friends."
"Banzai!" Ruby cheered, raising a victorious fist.
"Banzai~" Blake and I echoed, deadpanning but gamely fistpumping.
Pyrrha broke down in giggles once again.
Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 44 (Next: 14.21%)
Title: Academy Student
Race: Human
Age: 18
Job: Beacon Student
Class: Paladin
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 4385/4385
MP: 2926/2926
STR: 99.6 (52)
CON: 111.8 (50)
DEX: 124.8 (53)
INT: 90.8 (50)
WIS: 98.5 (52)
CHA: 110.8 (50)
Points: 124
Money: 1,237,811L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]
A/N: Oops, did I 'forget' to reveal Jaune's new weapon? Guess we'll have to wait for some on-screen fieldwork.
I made a few references to the SAB Ratio this chapter, and only just now realized I didn't call it that before. Looking back, I think I only came up with the term recently: Sex-Assigned-at-Birth ratio. My Remnant is trans-inclusive, and most kingdoms are openly LGBT-friendly. Atlas is the most conservative, maintaining something like a don't-ask-don't-tell policy, while Mistral, Vale, Menagerie, and Vacuo (in ascending order) are more open.
ABRN isn't new by any means in fanfic, but this version of Jaune has good chemistry with Blake already, even if they won't be romantic.
SYRN, if it wasn't clear, is the remainder of the canon teams after I chopped them up to form ABRN — Weiss partnered with Yang, and Ren of course with Nora.
Also, as I mentioned in my other fic, I have seen a team SBLE mentioned in another story as background characters, but I'm pretty sure they all immediately died. Other than borrowing the convenient team designation, I invented these characters from whole cloth. They won't be that important; just let me have my pet OCs. (If it wasn't clear, the team consists of the three OCs mentioned in this chapter, plus Leo.)
Got as far as the dorm and realized I didn't know what bed Jaune should take; honestly rolled a d4 and it came up 4. After that, 2 and 3 fell into place (bookshelf) leaving Pyrrha on the far side.