1

So, this is the day when it all begins.

The day I arrive at Beacon Academy.

My first step in becoming a huntsman.

To be able to be fight the Grim.

…

To be strong enough to protect…

…

But before that a more immediate problem must be addressed.

GURGLE

Where the blazes is somewhere I can throw up? Ugh it is as if my stomach is trying to fight me. And my stomach is winning.

Not that I particularly blame me stomach at the moment. If man was meant to fly through the air he should have been born with wings. This Dustplane is indeed a marvel of man's ingenuity but I am not one for riding on it. Why couldn't they just have a road or a bridge that led to Beacon? I would have been perfectly fine with that.

Then again it is not exactly feasible for there to be a road all the way from the village. We were kind of out of the way. Okay, we were extremely out of the way. But still it was home.

Still thanks to that Ozpin guy in return for coming here to the academy, he'd provide funding to repair the village walls, as well as dispatching a huntsman or huntress to protect the village until the hole was fixed.

So here I am. Inside this flying contraption away from the only home and people I've ever known, with an antique sword and shield from a family I barely remember, save those few sayings from my mother that echo in the few dreams that are not nightmares of gleaming fangs and slashing claws.

And…wait…I feel I have forgotten something.

GARGLE

Ah yes, my rebellious stomach stating the rather obvious fact that I suffer motion sickness on planes.

With that I made a mad dash for the bathroom, weaving to and fro between the various other prospective huntsman and huntresses heading towards Beacon, entered the bathroom slid into a stall and did my very best attempt at throwing up my internal organs into the toilet.

Well. That was certainly a marvelous first impression to my fellow classmates wasn't it? Here comes Jaune Arc, that guy who threw up on the plane.

Swell.

I spat the last of the bile out of my mouth before using the water from the nearby tap in a futile attempt to erase the taste of the aforementioned bile from my mouth.

I heard the doors slide open and the other passengers on the plane begin making their way off. Looks like were here.

Yay.

Okay final checklist.

Family's antique sword, which works surprisingly well considering how old it is?

Check.

Sheath to sword, which apparently is also a shield. How the dust was I supposed to know that?

Check.

Favourite pair of jeans and my lucky jacket?

Check.

The surprisingly light armor that the village had gifted to me when I was leaving?

I flicked my new breastplate with a finger absentmindedly. Check.

Both belts with pouches full of salves?

Check.

Bag full of other stuff?

I quickly returned to where I was before and picked up my sole piece of luggage before exiting the plane. Check.

I am not riding inside one of those things again unless I have to.

Welcome to Beacon, Jaune.

As I steeped of the bridge and onto the street proper I looked up at the vision ahead and whistled lowly. Now that is a city. Arching lines, towers extending to the skies, lights at every few meters. It certainly was beautiful looking place. As I gazed upon the central tower I saw what appeared to be orbs of light inside the giant lighthouse-ish structure. Oh. That must be why they call it Beacon Academy. Food for thought.

I directed my gaze forward as I started walking towards the academy and saw little black haired girl in red, quite a lot of red in fact, dancing around talking at the speed of an charging Ursa about the various weapons she could see, before her blonde companion who appeared to be older quickly dragged her back.

I wondered what weapon she wielded? Maybe something small like daggers, or pistols or…wait no she's deploying her weapon now.

…

Whoa.

I would be lying if I did not say I was feeling slightly emasculated right now when I compared her weapon to mine. Only slightly though.

Mom's sword was still all kinds of cool. And I'm am sure the shield would be too. When I learnt how to properly use the blasted thing.

That was one hell of a scythe, maybe even taller than Red was but she easily held the thing in one hand. Note to self: Little miss red riding hood over there is not one to underestimate.

As I finished my little monologue Red's older blonde companion met up with what I assumed to be her own group of friends and scarpered off into the distance, leaving a dizzy red to spin from the speed of her companions exit and collapse unto a luggage trolley behind her knocking several identically white bags flying. Wonder who that belonged to?

"What are you doing!?"

That answers that question. It appears little Red has invoked the ire of the white queen by the way this new girl was carrying on.

Wait that was a tad harsh of me. More like a white princess, she's not that old.

Still during her tirade, the new girl white had opened up one of the fallen cases and pulled a clear vial with something red inside from within waving it around as she continued talking.

No, wait a moment that's dust. That has to be a pretty shoddy container to let that much Dust be flung around.

Oh look Red's about to sneeze. Into the cloud of red dust. That's going to end well.

ACHOO

BOOM

There was an explosion, a ball of fire surrounding the girl in white, followed by the crackling of ice and even a little lightning. I winced. That had to hurt. The vial of dust was sent flying leaving a very embarrassed Red, and the princess in white covered in a layer of soot.

I have to admit I've never seen someone cause dust to explode from a sneeze before. That in itself is quite an achievement. Albeit not one that you would feel any pride in achieving.

The errant vial of red dust was returned by one mysterious looking girl in black lolita-esque clothing, a pale Dark-haired girl that caused me to stop and stare upon seeing her. This one…

Was dangerous.

She walked with the calm and steady gait of a predator, akin to a cat stalking its prey and from the ease in which she did it appeared to be purely natural. Now this one was not one to be dismissed so easily.

The girl in Black then delivered a verbal smack down that if the children back home had heard would no doubt be oohing at the sound of.

Weiss Schnee as I had learned from the girl in black, hmphed and walked off heels clacking as she walked towards Deacon academy in a huff.

The girl in black flicked open her book and was on her way again, Red turning around to address her to her only to find her walking away.

At that it appeared to be too much for Red as she, sat down and leant her head on the ground. Murmuring something beneath her breath.

Ah damn, she looks like a kicked puppy. Looks like she could use a helping hand. And probably a friend but I'm not particularly experienced when it comes to friends my own age…

Screw it. Fortune favours the bold after all.

Apparently.

I walked over to her and extended a hand.

"Hey…I'm Jaune."

I extended my hand.

"Ruby." She replied back with a smile as I pulled her to her feet. Though really, Ruby? My nickname was pretty close. She was pretty cute with the way she smiled and her unique silver eyes, despite the fact she was obviously a year or two younger than me.

This friendship thing might be easier than I thought.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked grinning.

On second thoughts, maybe not.

"You really are good at this first conversation stuff aren't you?" I said dryly raising one eyebrow.

At that she laughed hesitantly, before apologizing, "Sorry." Then her eyes perked up again. "But were you?"

I sighed at that and began walking towards the academy, Ruby walking besides me. "Yes, yes it was me."

I absently cursed my motion sickness once more. Before I decided to get any more lost than my frankly suspect sense of judgement would make me, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the campus map I had stashed their earlier. What? I'm not good in cities okay, it all looks the same to me. Give me a forest of trees and the dirt beneath my feet any day over these mazes of concrete and steel.

After glancing at it for a few seconds I handed it to Ruby, who had her own look at it as we came closer and closer to our destination.

"But really, motion sickness?" Ruby giggled lightly.

I rolled my eyes at Ruby, restraining the urge to sigh in resignation. My word, she is just like the children back home at the orphanage. "It was my first time in a dust Plane or any dust vehicle really. And I have to say I much rather prefer my own two feet as my main mode of transport. Motion sickness sucks."

"Look I'm sorry," Ruby said gently, hands raised in surrender mouth still smiling, "Vomit Boy was just the first thing that came to mind."

My right eyebrow twitched dangerously at that. Vomit Boy? Oh she is so going to get it now. Time to unleash the sheer might and majesty that is the Jaune Arc witticisms. Refined for years against an onslaught of unruly children and one perverted old bastard.

"Apology accepted," I said smiling lightly before I added the first volley, "Crater Face."

Ruby nodded, before gasping. "Hey that explosion was an accident!"

I grinned at that. "Sure it was. First time I'd seen some one explode via sneeze before." I said lightly ribbing her.

Ruby crossed her arms and looked the other way. "…shut up." She mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

Time for the kill.

"Hey now don't frown you're going to worry your boyfriend with a look like that on your pretty face." I said acting concernedly.

At this Ruby lived up to her namesake and shone a right cherry red, arms waving and what appeared to be steam escaping from her ears. "Wha-Wha-What are you saying?" She yelped, gesturing madly.

"Single then? Now that is a surprise." I remarked off handily, keeping my eyes fixed on the map.

"Whuh? Y-You.."

I raised a hand to my mouth to help mask a grin. Game, set and match. The undisputed Champion once again, the one and only Jaune Arc!

The old man may be a bastard but he was a master at the art of war through wordplay. To avoid continual abject humiliation I learnt how to hold my own. Though that's not to say I could beat him with words. Oh he would still tear me to shreds. It'd just take longer is all.

Now then where were we before I was so rudely interrupted?

Ah that's right, introductions!

"Well the name is Jaune Arc. Short, Sweet, rolls off the tongue. Straight from the middle of nowhere, at your service." I introduced myself giving a little bow as I did so.

At that Ruby cocked her head quizzically akin to a puppy gazing upon something strange. "The middle of nowhere?" She asked looking at me strangely.

I ran a hand through my hair at this, brushing some of the blond locks out of my eyes. "Yeah my village is quite a ways off the beaten track as it were. Pretty small community, Several young children, a couple of older folk and me. Isn't the prettiest place in the world but it is my home."

I sighed at that thinking of my small hometown of Freshwater. Yeah obviously wasn't the most creatively named place in the world, but it was nice and simple. Just like home.

"Wow. That's cool." Ruby said before trailing off slightly. Then her eyes lit up. "Soo…I've got this thing."

With that Ruby once again extended her mechanical death scythe, the tip piercing the cement with ease.

I thought it was impressive from a distance but its even more so up close. "That is…quite a scythe." I managed gazing upon the weapon.

Ruby hefted the scythe with ease, caressing the hilt, "It's also a customizable high impact sniper rifle."

"It's also a gun?" I asked hesitantly

Ruby grinned and pulled back on the bolt, the click-click of round chambering clearly audible. "It's also a gun." Ruby affirmed.

I smiled at that. "Now that is a cool looking weapon." I admitted taking it all in.

Ruby then made a show of examining me, "So what do you got?" she asked eyeing the sword by my side.

"Well it may not be as fancy as yours but I do have my sword." At that I unsheathed the sword before twisting it around my body in familiar arcs, tossing it lightly from one hand to the other.

"Ooh" Ruby marveled gazing upon my much older weapon. "So what does it do?" She asked inquiringly.

"Oh you know," I said deadpan, "Cuts, stabs, slices, all that sort of business."

Ruby glared at me with all the menace of a baby tiger. "Jaune..." She growled.

I laughed, waving her off. "It's a family heirloom from the time of the war. My great-great grandfather was the one who used it originally. Still does the job though." At that I also lifted up the sheath which extended into a shield after I pushed the button. "There's also this shield but I haven't really learnt how to use that properly yet."

"Well I like it." Ruby said firmly looking at the map in her other hand before looking back at me. "Not many people have an appreciation for the classics."

"Yeah." I said agreeing with her, collapsing my sword back into a sheath and placing my sword inside it. "Though your scythe is certainly an impressive weapon."

"Well" Ruby said with another giggle, "I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it."

I whistled at that. "You built that scythe?" I asked amazed. That was quite a talent.

"Of course!" Ruby said loudly "All students at Signal forge their own weapons."

Hmm, Signal must be like Beacon but for younger students. Elementary Huntress and Huntsman school maybe? I'll have to look into it later.

Wait Ruby's talking again, pay attention Jaune.

"So why did you help me out back there? In the courtyard." Ruby asked turning to me as she walked.

I shrugged my shoulders at her question. "Eh, Why not? It's not like I need any particular reason to help someone. My mum always said 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

And with that we'd entered the hall where the entrance ceremony was taking place. As well as where the rest of the prospective students from before were standing.

"Ruby!" A voice called out and I turned to see the blonde who was with Ruby earlier waving from near the middle of the crowd. "Over here I saved you a spot."

"Oh." Ruby said seeing her friend from earlier and turned towards me. "I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony." And with that she dashed off towards her decidedly well-endowed blonde friend.

Oh dear god the old bastard's perversion has infiltrated my way of thinking. Begone foul demon! I've resisted you this long I am not submitting now.

With that I made my way towards an empty spot and awaited the speech from the mysterious professor Ozpin. I mean the guy paid quite a bit of money to fix up the village wall and fly me here so I am decidedly curious about the guy.

"YOU!"

"OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!"

What was that? Oh it looks like Ruby's reacquainted herself with Weiss. And was currently being held in her blonde friend's arms.

"Oh my God, you really exploded." The blonde remarked.

"It was an accident." Ruby wailed. "I didn't mean to."

At that point Weiss proceeded to break out into fast paced company spiel after presenting Ruby with a pamphlet that proceeded to make poor Ruby look more and more confused as the speech went on.

After a bit more conversation in which Ruby revealed that her blonde friend was actually her sister, admittedly did not see that one coming, Ruby reintroduced herself.

"Hello Weiss! I'm Ruby. Want to hang out?... We could go shopping for school supplies." Ruby said, trying to put her best foot forward.

"Yeah!" Weiss agreed in an blatantly over-exaggerated manner. "And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like blond, tall, and scraggly over there."

God that was very high level of sarcasm over there. Hey wait a minute, did she just insult me? Why I oughta…

My musings for swift yet hilarious vengeance were cut short by the sound of a microphone being turned on and a slight cough into it to draw our attention.

"I'll keep this brief." The man said his right hand extending two fingers to push back his glasses.

The man was dressed in a green suit of varying shades, most of them dark, held a cane in his left hand, had brown eyes and dull grey hair. This must be the mysterious Professor Ozpin.

The man who'd paid for the repairs to the village walls, as well as provided huntsman to guard it until it was complete.

Ozpin continued on. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove your knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

I nodded at his words as I watched him walk off with a slight limp using the cane to support him as the other person on the stage, a blonde woman with a rather stern look behind her clear glasses, who the whispers around me informed that she was called Professor Goodwitch. Hah. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow initiation begins. Be ready. You're dismissed." She stated authoritatively before she turned and made her way off the stage.

Her tone was kind but there was a great strength behind it akin to steel wrapped in silk.

As the students began to murmur I made my way towards the ballroom. Had to be quick and grab a spot in one of the corners.

It was a much darker time as I exited the change rooms with my pyjamas on. They weren't really pyjamas, it was just an old pair of drawstring track pants and a long sleeve shirt. The shirt still covered everything up to my wrist but it was a bit tight around the arms. Did it shrink in the wash last time I used it? Last time It didn't feel this tight. Though it was a year or so since I last wore it.

I turned at the sound of a wolf whistle to see a rapidly reddening Ruby snapping her gaze back to her book while her blonde sister gave me a look that caused me to feel as if I was a piece of meat before a wild tiger. Or a bar of chocolate in front of the kids back home.

Weird.

I returned to my sleeping bag turning as I heard a match being lit. It was the mysterious girl with black hair from earlier lighting a candle to provide light for her to read.

Then I saw Ruby being dragged over by her sister to speak with the reading girl and promptly proved their relation in my eyes when it came to her speech. After a bit more I learnt the girl in black was named Blake and Ruby's older sister was named Yang. And that Ruby had apparently learnt from the best when it came to failing conversations as Blake attempted to get back to her boo…

Hold on a minute. Is that…it its! Hey someone other than me that appreciates the classics. That's one of my favourite tales. I should introduce myself. Anyone with that good a taste in literature must be a great person.

As I approached I heard Ruby inquire "Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well." Blake began hesitantly, It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"He Who Protects." I said as I reached the group. "It's the second in the Guardian trilogy. It's my favourite of the three." Then I remembered to introduce myself. "I'm Jaune."

Yang introduced herself, but Blake's yellow catlike eyes focused on me. "You've read this?" Blake inquired a touch disbelievingly.

I nodded, "My favourite scene's in that book. 'What is the difference between a king and his horse?" If their personalities and their power are exactly the same? There's only one answer.' The first true conflict between the two souls."

Blake looked shocked for a moment before a small smile made its way onto her face. Ruby stepped forward speaking again. "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters. There one of the reasons I want to be a huntress."

"And why is that?" Blake said "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will." Ruby admitted. "As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books, as someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

I smiled slightly at this. It was a very sweet dream. But dreams often require a great deal of blood, sweat and tears before they can be bought to fruition.

Blake smiled at this lowering her book slightly. "That's very ambitious for a child," Blake praised before she hesitated her eyes focusing on something unseen, "Unfortunately the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

Rather than being disheartened by Blake's response Ruby smiled, "Well that's why we're here. To make it better. "

I nodded at that. Ruby can be surprisingly mature for one so young.

"Oh I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang exclaimed before lifting her up into the air with a hug.

Her sister Yang appears to be quite the opposite.

"Cut it out." Ruby squealed before landing a punch on her sisters face, before descending into a dust cloud of violence.

Though it appears Ruby can still be just as childish as her sister can.

Blake then spoke up. "Well, Ruby, Yang, Jaune it's a…"

"What in the world is going on over here?!" Weiss asked loudly as she stomped over, her odd ponytail not in place as she slept apparently. Ruby froze in the middle of applying tickle torture to her sister left foot. Must remember that weak spot to exploit later. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" She asked.

At that I waved a goodbye to the group, which only Blake returned as the other three were far too busy arguing to see me leave. I reached my corner just as Blake abandoned any further attempt of reading her book, and blew out the light.

Alright time to sleep.

Just close your eyes and relax. There's no Grimm incoming.

No more attacks.

No more screams.

…

Not tonight anyway.