Chapter 1 - Settling In

My door creaked open, protesting as I pushed my weight onto it's handle and swinging it inwards. I was greeted with the sight of my temporary enclosure: a small living room that connected to both my bedroom and bathroom at the same time. A small couch took up the majority of my living room with the rest being occupied by my Television and space to move around.

I liked to keep everything tidy for my small cot, and it showed as my newspapers and letters were organized on the counter that contained what was my little kitchen. Most importantly, the clean smell of my apartment clued me in on the fact that I had been refusing to admit until now.

I stunk.

Apparently getting into a massive brawl with someone who could use superpowers and a larger than average gas explosion was cause for smelly concern. I decide to write that down for future notice, and stock up on deodorant next time I went to the store.

Slowly, I shambled my way through my small apartment, taking care to lock the door behind me. I reached my even smaller bathroom a couple seconds later rejoicing in the small blessing that is a bath of hot water. It was with great pain, and lack of adrenaline, that I realized just how damaged I was.

Several blackened bruises dotted my sides with the added bonus of a split lip and a large black eye that had just begun to swell up. My sides burned with every breath, and I was assured that I had only broken one or two ribs. There was also a couple of places where my clothes had decided that my skin was the perfect place to melt onto.

All in all, I looked like I belonged on the front page of a gang violence pamphlet. The funny part would be that they wouldn't be too far off the point.

"Sss... ow, ow, ow..." I moaned, struggling in my porcelain lounge. A link nearby whispered honeyed words my battered body wanted to hear as I felt a familiar warmth sink into his stomach.

[Liquid contact based accelerated healing. Minor micro-hydrokinesis.]

I shook my head at the rather useless second ability. Intuitively, I knew that I could barely shift the water in my tub, but I could achieve the same effect with my arms. Secondary skill or not, the first one worked wonders on my everything. The added benefit of realizing that I could create small bubbles of water to land on my face was only the icing on the cake.

I really was beaten black and blue. And I never really knew how much of an odd feeling it was to have your ribs rightened into place. Not one I'd like to experience repeatedly that's for sure.

"That could've gone better..." I mumbled to myself.

My first night of supposed heroism had nearly backfired, and even then I still caused enough collateral damage to put whatever good I had done to shame. Though, I hardly cared about that in the heat of the moment.

I was too reckless and confident in my abilities. I knew what powers I took like the back of my hand, but that didn't translate to using them to the best of their traits. And that almost cost me.

Bringing myself out of my stupor with a heavy sigh and a addled mind, I rose out of my healing bath, letting go of my link in the process, and left for my bedroom. With a few winces of pain and well meant limps I struggled into my bed.

Then my scroll rang on the nightstand beside my head.

Glaring vehemently at the piece of technology that vibrated to a not so catchy ringtone, I took it into my hand. Looking at the time I balked as it was already six in the morning, and then I paled as I had several missed calls from my mom.

Hurriedly, I took the scroll into my hands, taking a breath to calm my nerves. Then I paused right before I pressed the accept call button. Reflected back at me was my face that still had traces of a black eye, and a few bruises.

I spread out my ability to sense powers, and combed through any of the ones nearby, looking for something to get me out of my predicament. By luck I found one that would help, and felt the warmth settle into me.

[Variable distraction based focal points. Increased cosmetic affinity.]

I immediately put a few tips of makeup to use that had unknowingly come to mind. I felt a little awkward at having makeup in my home, but knowing my sisters they'd probably forget theirs if they ever decided to come by. Even still, I never expected to use the backups for myself.

"Jaune Arc, you better have a good enough reason for ignoring all of my earlier calls!" It wasn't even seconds after I finally accepted the call that a tone of righteous feminine fury descended from the other side.

"Sorry mom, I was... in the bath." I stumbled slightly.

"You were in the bath? For five hours?" She said, voice chilling to a vicious calm that sent shivers down my spine.

"I mean, I happened to be... um, out of my apartment at the time. Uh, getting groceries... Just recently, I was... in the bath." I reasoned while a brief flex of my recently pilfered ability let me apply it to speech. I shoved as much effort into distraction that I could, hoping for a miracle.

My distraction might've worked or might've failed horribly, but either way a sigh graced my speaker as my mom continued, "Jaune, I realize that you wanted to try and live in the city, but I want you to be careful. You're only sixteen and I hear how dangerous some parts of Vale can get."

"I get it mom," I said, remembering my night so far, "I really do. I try to keep my head down," then I felt the power I took activate a little. Distract. Pull attention elsewhere. "Just yesterday a place nearby I worked was attacked, so I kinda get what you mean. Don't worry, though! No one was harmed; just the owner was a little scared."

"Did they happen to be a Faunus?" Mom asked as I felt the notion to hide a smirk. Distraction success.

"Uh, yes? How'd you know?"

Another sigh came, this time a little more tired and resigned. "Well, now that you're not in Ansel anymore I guess it's more prevalent. You need to be careful about anti-Faunus sentiment; most of them are just angry from the war a couple years ago, and need something to blame. The increased violence by the White Fang don't really help..."

"But that doesn't give them the right to abuse others!" I stated, feeling a bit of steel enter my voice.

"No, it does not." Mom agreed easily. Then I could feel her tone soften, the tension of our previous conversation falling away. She too was trying to distract, my power said. "By the way, your father and I want to see you soon. We're thinking of bringing the twins, and I think Sienna comes back from Atlas Academy next week. Do you think you have time then?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss you guys for the world."

"Good, we'll look forward to seeing you again. Be safe and stay out of trouble; we love you, Jaune." With that the call ended and I was left in my silent bedroom.

I stared at my scroll with a mix of emotions on my face as I stood to get the makeup off my face. My floor creaked with my limping, but I was slowly getting better at hiding it. I decided to try and heal a little more in my bath considering the time, and take off the makeup.

I only paused when I stared at my black eye in the mirror. My lips pursed before I found something I needed to say, "Sorry mom."

-x-

The monorail beneath me rumbled along as it sped above the city. Concrete buildings passed underneath, and I stared at the people who meandered on to and fro. They all seemed happy. They all had little worries for what had occurred last night.

In most aspects, I expected a little more from my deeds. Maybe not crowds parading around proclaiming a new hero in town, but maybe a little more recognition. Sure, my struggle was played on the news, yet my part wasn't ever announced. In fact, I was now a suspect in the murder of twenty two known gangsters.

Another thing that set my teeth on edge. Sometime after I had left someone had decided to finish whatever I started. Finish all of them permanently, in fact. I honestly had no idea what to feel about that.

'Do I mourn?' I thought. 'They were definitely nasty people, but do they deserve death for that?' I couldn't feasibly reply to my moral quandary as the whole situation was a blur to me.

Thinking over it, I should be glad that there is no mention of me. Getting involved first was definitely my fault; the fact that they died was not. Now that I think about it, was it one of the gangs that were after them? I should probably look into the ones who that leader guy mentioned.

Sighing one more time at the situation, I stepped out of the monorail when it arrived at my stop. The whole thing was getting to me. I wanted to become a hero because it was the right thing to do, not to get recognition. Settling into that frame of mind I picked up my pace.

Downtown Vale was perhaps the least populated, building wise. Colorful bricks laid in vivid displays were used simply as ornate walkways. Sides were lined with Forever Fall's beautiful red leaved trees mixed in with emerald trees in cleanly trimmed shrubs. Shops and vendors happily sold to the visitors and residents alike that ambled about in the nice shade.

I smiled and waved to some of the vendors I knew while making my way down the pretty bricks. It was a calming and cheerful atmosphere that juxtaposed my last night. Still, I let myself get caught up in my surroundings, and ignored the information that was trickling into my mind from multiple nearby sources.

Oddly enough, there was less sources of warmth nearby. Mainly just dull warmths, meaning none were in use. I had no idea if it had to do with the area, but I made sure to make note of anyone who could be a problem.

By the time I arrived to my place of work I found my manager already manning the cart. It was a pleasantly styled, wooden ice cream cart with two white spoked wheels. The whole thing was painted an obscene white with images of random food items emboldened along the edges of it. A frilly umbrella hung over the main chassis of the cart while several tubs of ice cream was presented to the world.

An elderly man stood with a welcoming smile as he tried to draw in those walking by. His wispy grey hairs were smothered by a white chef hat that adorned his head. Wrinkly, liver-spotted skin hung to face as his startling clear blues stared out from their slightly sunken recesses.

"Good morning, Mr. Greengram. I can take over now if you want?" I said, watching as his eyes trailed to me and a smile splayed out on his face.

He didn't say anything and just took off the apron on his torso before handing it to me. His hat followed and so too did a pair of white gloves on his hands. After I had put on everything and taken up his position behind the vendor cart, my manager smiled and patted my shoulder.

I knew he spoke. He had done so when he hired me, but I realized he seldom spoke much unless you were a customer. If anything he was a happy old man that agreed to hire me despite my age and inexperience. That had to be worth something at least.

Though, if I was to be completely honest, I didn't really need to job; my parents were paying for my apartment and sent money often enough for me to live comfortably. At first, I just wanted to find a place where I could cycle through as many nearby powers as possible; to familiarize myself with the more powerful ones. Of course Downtown Vale was out of the question when I compared it to the outskirts for that purpose, but I felt the need to help the old ice cream vendor and I wanted to be a little independent of my parent's money.

"Do you have any standard Valian flavors?" A deep voice rang out in front of me, and I felt the information enter my head before I turned to look at them. Their ability was in use!

[Tactile gravitational manipulation. Biologically augmented internal gravity.]

I eased as the information came; his was one of those passive ones that were always active. Still, I tensed a little as I looked up, and up, and up. The man in front of me was a giant that stood a head or two above my own six foot height. His tan skin, bulging muscles and sleeveless green shirt were definitely not helping the dangerous image I painted for him.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I have no idea what flavors would be Valian." I craned my head to look up at the man's face only to find his features a little less mature than I would've expected. Innocent for a word; with a short crop of brown hair and black eyes. An easing smile on his face said he had probably seen me tense up at his size.

I hurriedly pulled a link to his warmth and I felt the knowledge of his abilities expand. My body shifted as internal changes took place in seconds. Instantly I felt lighter, but, if I willed it, I could increase the gravity the was exerted on my muscles. I realized that this was probably what led to that insane physique. In fact, I decided to train a little too with his useful ability.

"I might not be able to know what a staple Valian flavor is, but I recommend the rocky road." I smiled as I regained some sense of confidence. My body was still sore from last night, yet the increased gravity training made me feel a pleasant burn.

"I'll take a sample of that then." The larger man said. "Pardon me for asking; you look my age, but do you know where I might find where to apply for Beacon? I've been looking for them for a couple hours now, and have realized that Vale is very different from Mistral."

"That's understandable, I've been in Vale for only a couple of weeks, and still barely know my way around. I think that Beacon's got an office somewhere in the Eastern parts of Vale." I said automatically, getting a sample my recommendation for him.

I blinked as some information he had said fully hit me. I couldn't help but blurt, "You're my age?"

"Hmm? Yes, you're seventeen too, right? This is pretty good too; I'll take two scoops." The teen answered while pointing to the cleaned spoon. His words made me pause for a little bit.

"Huh? Yes, of course." I shook into motion. "Cup or cone?"

"Cup please."

Getting his order ready, I felt like I missed something obvious. I turned back to him the words at the tip of my tongue, "You're seventeen?!"

"Uh, yeah, I'm Yatsuhashi Daichi, or is it Daichi Yatsuhashi here? Just call me Yatsuhashi if you're confused. I'm still getting used to Vale culture." The giant teen replied easily. His face held no sign that he was offended by my comment. Maybe he was used to the reaction already?

"I'm sorry," I replied quickly. "I just had a rough night, and was kinda startled by you. Um, no offense... ah, my name is Jaune Arc, by the way! Or, err, Arc... Jaune? In Mistralian?"

The larger teen chuckled a bit at my attempt to ease the mood. His size still uneases me, but I don't think he's that bad.

"So who were you sparing with?" Yatsuhashi suddenly asked as he took the offered ice cream, and passed me the required Lien.

"What?" I sputtered.

Yatsuhashi chuckled a bit. "I'm just saying whoever you spared with definitely didn't hold back. You're favoring your left hand when you're right handed too. So, rough night?"

"Yeah, don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon..." I awkwardly rubbed the back if my head. Was I that obvious? "Anyways, why do you ask?"

"Oh, I didn't mean to be rude, but I wouldn't mind a sparing partner, too. Beacon's a ways away from home. You're honestly the first person I've talk to."

I blushed at his admittance. "Oh that's... thank you? But I'm not really signing for Beacon this year; I'm only sixteen."

Yatsuhashi blinked. "Really? You seem pretty strong. I'm sure you'll make it in now if you try."

"Well..." I drew the word out then leaned in conspiratorially. "My parents don't really want me to be a Huntsman, but when I turn seventeen I can sign my own papers."

"You should get permission from your parents, at least." The giant frowned, brows furrowed together. "Though, I guess I have no reason to judge you. Do you mind showing me the way to Beacon's recruitment office; when you're free to do so."

"Yeah, I don't mind. I get off for lunch in an hour if you can wait."

Yatsuhashi nodded and proceeded to sit down a ways away from the cart. I wondered why he did so until I saw some children, who looked apprehensive, approach happily after he left. Holding back a slight grimace, I served everyone who came while thinking that despite his size, Yatsuhashi was definitely a good guy.

-x-

For as long as I knew it I've always had the power to sense others who contained the odd warmth that signified powers. It didn't seem too weird when I was little; I thought everyone could do it. My mom, dad, and two eldest sisters had powers. They never showed them, but I still knew.

The thing that always annoyed me was the fact that they didn't use them. They had powers to help, to fight against evil, but they chose to instead stagnate. I love them. I always will; however, I don't accept their decision as right.

I realized last night that maybe their decision to stay put and do nothing could be due to how dangerous other people are. That maybe my power didn't really show me everything that that person could do; just everything their power did. My solution, while simple, was to even the playing field with one thing that Huntsmen were known for other than killing Grimm: weapons.

At first, I thought that maybe using weapons on some unsuspecting gangster was a little overkill when I could use virtually every superpower around me. I guess it was a little arrogant of me to also walk into the middle of a fight with only my thin clothes too. In my defense it was my first night.

Which is now why I am visiting a weapons shop in the middle of Southern Vale after I had dropped off Yatsuhashi. For some reason he had insisted that we trade Scroll numbers, and I found myself with my first friend from Vale. Well, Mistral, but he's living in Vale now, so it counts.

Anyways, back to the weapons. I found the place to be rather boring when I first came in, but the dull concrete walls were growing on me. Or I was having to watch them in favor of trying to aim the high caliber pistol in my hand that looked halfway between a steel brick and a slot machine.

The thing took me a couple of minutes to find out how to even load it, and the owner certainly didn't help when he explained only how to remove the safety. In the end, I had to rely on a nearby power to speed up my understanding of the gun's inner workings.

The result was my hands being blasted back by the sheer force of the kickback, the gun's barrel slamming into my nose a second later. There was a crack and I realized that I had broken my nose and my lip was split. Again.

Luckily, the blood stopped faster this time, and I had to only clean a little of the substance off my jacket and pants. I had plenty of practice doing that last night. It was also rather easy to snap my broken nose back into place with only a small snort of blood.

'Wow, that was really metal...' I mused to myself, reflecting that scene in my head. Other than the fact that I totally failed at firing the pistol, my recover should be in books for how awesome I was.

Uproarious laughter echoed out from behind me, and I was forced to blink the tears out of my eyes to see the man who'd let me try out weapons.

A man who looked to be in his late forties was lounging next to the entrance to the range. A shock of wavy, dark brown hair adorned the top of his sharp features. Two brown eyes laughed at me from the place next to the door. There wasn't that many identifying features that set him apart from normal citizens, but, somehow, I felt a little apprehensive.

He was a well built guy, corded muscles stacked beneath a nice, buttoned down shirt. Plain, grey slacks hung loosely on his legs that led to a pair of expensive, leather boots.

"You're holding that all wrong, kid." The man grinned after finishing his laugh, pristine, white teeth flashed towards me. "You gotta square your shoulders more, and brace your shooting arm."

I blinked, not expecting the advice, but complied anyways. When I shot this time the gun didn't buck as much as it did, and I was able to actually aim the weapon. Well, aiming was an overestimation of what I was doing. Shooting in the general direction, more like.

It was a step ahead, but it still didn't get to the level I wanted. I was having trouble hitting the target, and I couldn't really see myself getting better anytime soon. The warmth that I currently had was also telling me this.

Frowning, I realized that the man was still behind me. And that his piece of warmth was in use. Immediately, I reached out to connect to it.

[Weapon based omniscience. Intent-oriented, short-term, multi-path precognition.]

As the information of the power locked into my head I tried not to let shock show on my face. There were so many things that had suddenly been shoved in my head. The weapon based omniscience was telling me everything about the gun in my hand, and exactly how to hold it. However, the minor precognition was showing that it would be a bad idea to change my posture suddenly.

The man also shifted oddly with my change, and I knew that his ability was putting something into his head. It wasn't helping that I was also reacting to his reactions. Both of our respective precognitions were saying different things, and it was messing up our predictions.

"Uh, thanks for the… help." I said holding my gun up, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Ah right," he answered lamely, all signs of future aggression disappeared. It was rather weird that most of the paths to him attacking me was not moving my gun. "No offence though, kid, I don't think a gun fits you. Maybe a knife or sword? You look like the type for classics."

The warmth I copied from him was telling me something similar, but I could probably hit something with this power now, if I tried hard enough. Without it, though, I would need something else. "What would you recommend?" I asked.

"Well, kid," the man started, motioning for me to follow out of the range. "Rouge's Weapons should have what you're looking for. You seem like a sword guy, right?"

Hesitantly, I nodded. "Yeah, I practiced with my dad and sisters."

"Really? You going to Beacon, then?" He asked, falling in between the racks of weapons. His hands deftly passed by a couple of weapons, and I flinched as my precognition told me that he would cut me in half if I tried anything other than walking three steps behind him to his right.

We walked all the way to a counter in the back of the store, out of prying eyes. He shifted around minutely, and my precognition found nothing wrong in the action, but I warily watched him. If my last night had taught me anything, then it was to be ready at all times.

When he neither attacked or ran, he smoothly moved behind the counter. He brought out a large box that held cards of lien, and blinked at me, expecting a response from earlier.

"I, uh, am taking an off year before I do." I lied easily after thinking over what to say. "Wanted to get a feel for Vale before I attended, you know?"

The brown haired man smiled knowingly. "I hear you." He then proceeded to grab a sword from behind a counter and hold it up. "How about this one? It's a rather hearty blade."

I reached out for his recommendation, both with his power and my hand. The sword itself was long. A straight, double edged blade that looked like a it was a couple inches thick was laid in my hands. The tapered edges were sharp, and running a finger along the tip made me understand how dangerous it was. I was bleeding everywhere today.

Whatever metal it was made of, my power seemed to like it very much, and I had to stop myself from drooling at the fact that it apparently could switch from blunted to serrated and back to a straight edge easily. The straight edge was just the default form. A simple twist if the hilt would allow it to move between forms like a machine.

It felt light, too. Despite the clear weight of the blade and the handle being a little bulky, having a rounded guard of solid brown that sloped onto the blade with a strip of shiny metal in the middle of it, the sword was startlingly weightless. At first I wondered why the grip looked solid, but a quick grasp of my weapon omniscience told me that it had a memory metal tied into it that molded into the hand that held it, preventing unnecessary slippage. A triangular but of silver adorned the end of the hilt with a rounded off point.

My pilfered power was telling me that it was also well out of my price range.

"Ah, sorry," I apologized sheepishly. "This might be a little out of my price range…"

My precognition didn't alert me of anything nefarious as he began to smile like he understood everything. "Don't worry, it's a piece of junk to anyone who didn't understand it, anyways. You can always sell it back to me if you can't get it right." He held up three fingers, leaning on the counter and tapping the box of lien. "Three hundred lien for the sword and I'll throw in the pistol that broke your nose for another seventy. Hundred rounds of ammo, on the house."

"That's…" The price was missing a zero or two, I wanted to say. And I was beginning to have different thoughts of why I decided to leave my family's weapon at home. Though, the sword was very nice. Nice enough for me to ignore most of the futures I was watching with the precognition. "Could I ask for a discount?"

The man looked at me, not sure if I had made a joke or was completely serious. Slowly, ever so slowly, he shook his head in denial. "No… why would you even- you know what, kid, never mind. That was a horrible joke, by the way." He shook his head again. "Just think of it like a incentive to come back to buy ammo or repairs whenever you need. I also wouldn't mind if you came in regularly for shooting practice with paid lessons because, let's face it, your aim sucks."

I grimaced at the blunt acknowledgement of my poor skills. It stung a little bit, but I was used to the feeling. "That… makes sense." I reached into my jacket pockets and found my wallet, gripping the plastic cards of lien and handing it to him. "Do I need to sign anywhere, or am I good?"

"Nah, you're good, kid." The man paused for a second, eyeing the gun that was now mine. "Though, I think I should do a tune up on that pistol's rifling. It was due for another inspection soon, so I should get that out of the way before you take it."

My face was level as the information flowing into my head found nothing wrong with my pistol's rifling. In fact, all the signs that I got from his own power pointed that the pistol was completely new, and had never been used till today. So either he was lying or my power had missed something.

Still, I wasn't going to call him out on his lie, and it wasn't like the pistol would really be useful to me just yet. I handed the weapon over without a complaint. If it was tampered with then I could maybe fix it if I held onto his link long enough to attempt to do so.

The man took my new pistol out behind another door, and I had to wait a couple of minutes for him to finish. In the meantime, I shuffled through the nearby powers absently, making sure that I had one spot dedicated to the brown-haired man's rather potent one. He definitely had the strongest ability I have seen yet.

While trying to put a figure on the man who I was buying weapons from, I stumbled across a rather familiar nearby power. Glass based illusions were fed into my mind, and I immediately locked onto the link.

[Semi-physical glass based illusions. Illusion oriented spacial awareness.]

I had remembered it was the one that had saved me last night. It was also the one that was closest to those gangsters whenever I had left. The gangsters that were all announced dead in a small section of the news. They were killed, and someone had gotten away clean when there were definitely others nearby.

I am not the smartest around, but I can put two and two together. This power was very adept in escape as well as assassination, in the right hands. I wasn't healed yet, but I would definitely tail them to try and understand more of what happened last night.

Luckily, the man who had my gun had just come out just in time as the illusion user was getting a little too far from my immediate range. I had tested the range of my ability, and apparently I could sense warmths easier the closer they were. If they were in use then that range expanded.

Roughly two kilometers was my normal range. I think it would double if their own ability was in use as the warmth would show up brighter in my own senses, and, lucky for me, they had theirs in use. However, they were rapidly leaving my enhanced range to do Oum knows what.

"Here you go, kid." The man said genially. "If you're ever looking for something in the shop just call for Will Rouge."

My mind was elsewhere as I responded. "Yeah, my name's Jaune Arc, nice to meet you. Bye!"

I was gone before the man could mutter another word, following a killer of not really innocent men. However, what kind of hero would I be if I let some murderer run rampant in the good streets of Vale.

My sore body moved with the intent of bringing justice.