Learning Curve

The days blur for Jaune Arc.

Preto Hele-Nui tries to teach him with little success as he's still mostly mindless when he shifts, only forced back by pain. Though they haven't done anything physical he still feels tired, his mind becoming more and more like mash potatoes.

Jaune yawns as he wakes up bright and early the next monday.

"Come on Jauneey~! Daddy says he won't serve breakfast until everyone's downstairs! So hurry you butt or else!" Violette calls through his door.

Jaune sighs and sits up from his bed, he takes several deep calming breaths and tries to numb his mind. He gets dressed in some comfortable clothing before traveling down to the dining area.

The dining area has a large rectangular table able to sit twelve right in the middle of the room, more than enough for the family of ten. At the head is his father, sitting on the man's right is his mother and on his left is Rouge, beside his oldest sister is Verte and sitting across from her is Violette.

Bleue is sitting beside the baby of the family reading on her scroll, mirroring her are the twins enjoying videos of some kind on the other side of the table.

Jaune sits on the opposite end of his father, his plate already made and ready to be eaten much like everybody else's, his stomach gives a grumble at the sight of his father's Arc famous pancakes.

"Alright, everybody's here! let's dig in!" Noah digs in and everyone follows.

Jaune doesn't take long to devour them.

"Jaune! Eat slowly, you're going to get a stomach ache." Jupiter warns sternly.

Jaune growls as he eats.

"Di… did you just growl at me?!"

His father laughs, "He's a growing boy, Jup. He needs the food. I remember Rouge was so hungry one time she bit me when I tried stealing a piece of her bacon."

"Please don't bring me into this." Rouge asks as she eats her own meal though much like the rest of her family she watches her brother eating like a beast.

Jaune stuffs the last pancake in his mouth and barely takes any time to chew before he swallows.

"Ew." Violette's face twists in disgust.

"JAUNE! Don't behave like an animal!" Jupiter exclaims to her son, shocked by his behavior.

Jaune ignores both of them as he licks his plate clean before chugging down his glass of orange juice.

"Oh, don't worry about too much ma, it's completely normal for a boy going through puberty to increase their calorie intake." Bleue tries to soothe the woman.

"Can I have more?"Jaune asks, holding out his plate, his father smiles and nods, getting up from his seat.

"You… you ate six pancakes in less than half a minute." Igo mutters.

"Impressive." Indi giggles.

School is, as always, Hell.

Jaune's improved senses didn't help. Conversations overheard, new smells discovered, it was all overwhelming and most of the time disgusting.

Though his ability to avoid Derek outside the classroom skyrocketed, so… he supposes it's a give and take.

"I can't believe you finished the mile before everyone else!" Edward Glass exclaims as he holds Jaune's feet down while he is currently doing crunches, "Gods Jaune, you've always been fast but that was insane!"

The other boy blushes, "Thanks, Ed."

"Like even now, I've lost count on how many crunches you're done. You've always been athletic but…" Edward shakes his head, "You're not taking any drugs right?"

Jaune snorts, "Fuck you, too." He stops the exercise when their P.E teacher blows a whistle, he and Ed switch places.

Edward breezes through the first five before he starts to struggle. By fifteen he's wheezing and inching forward with the speed of a snail.

Jaune head snaps up, a snarl on his lips and his eyes briefly flash, "What the fuck did you just say?!" He stands up and turns around to look at the bastards who said that.

The small conversations across the school front yard stop and the class looks at him in shock.

"Jaune?" Ed jolts.

Jaune's eyes are firmly on two boys that are in the back of the group, both are, of course, Derek's lackeys; Azul and Acer.

Azul is on the small side with light brown hair and coal-like eyes. Acer is the taller of two, closer to Jaune's height but with a slimmer build, he has gray-purple hair and copper eyes. 

Both boys frown at him but stay silent.

"Mr. Arc! There is no place here for that kind of language." The teacher reprimands the boy.

Jaune doesn't tear his eyes away from the two ignorant teens.

"Mr. Arc, continue the exercise before I decide to give you a detention."

Jaune still doesn't move.

"Now!"

"Jaune, please." Ed tugs at his hand, he almost doesn't listen but the fear in his friend's voice convinces him to do as he's told. 

Jaune's fury burns in the center of his chest, a harsh ringing echoing in his ears.

"Alright everyone back to it!" The teacher exclaims and the class does as they are told.

"What was that all about?"

Jaune holds in a growl, "Derek's fucking lackeys, they–" He bites the inside of his cheek.

"What did they say?" The other asks with a frown, "How did you hear them anyway, they're across the field?"

"I," Jaune's face twists in conflict for a moment before smoothing over, "I have really good hearing. Anyway they were making fun of you, calling you… disgusting things."

Ed raises an eyebrow, "Let me guess; tranny, ladyboy, dike?"

"...Yeah." He admits through gritted teeth.

"I appreciate you getting angry for me but the last thing I want is for you to get beaten up for mouthing off." The boy pats Jaune's hand, "Alright?"

"Alright."

The conversation moves from there, though a bit awkward and stilted. Class ends soon afterwards but the fury in Jaune's chest remains lit, getting hotter as the day passes.

With the school day ending, he walks through the hallways towards the stairs heading to the first floor only for the back of his shirt to be grabbed and pulled into a nearby bathroom. He lets out a small groan as he's thrown to the ground and slides across the tiled floor, he takes a moment to regain his bearing before he looks at the smug faces of his attackers; Derek, Azul and Acer.

"Hey Jauneey-boy, I heard from my friend here that you made a little scene earlier today, made them feel uncomfortable. I think you owe them an apology, don't you?" 

"What?" Jaune asks dimly.

"Are you deaf or something?" Azul strides forward before crouching down in front of him and grabbing his hair tightly, "Apologize."

Jaune glares defiantly, "Why would I do that? You guys were the ones saying those disgusting things about Ed! If anyone sho–"

"Plah!"

Jaune's head is slapped to the side.

"You're lucky we're letting you get away with an apology." He pulls Jaune forward until their noses touch, "Honestly what do you even see in it?" Azul gives a dry laugh. "Let me guess your fucking i–"Huk!"

Jaune's hand finds itself wrapped around the other boy's neck, his irises shift to an acid yellow as he stands up. Azul lets go of the others' hair and tries desperately to pry the hand off their throat.

"HEY!" Derek and Acer rush forward, the stronger of the two wrap their arms around Jaune's middle trying to pull them off while the other helps Azul pry the fingers off his neck. 

Azul stares fearfully into Jaune's eyes, he watches as his features become more and more monstrous. The fear becomes terror as his feet leave the ground and Jaune's other hand joins the first.

"SToP! You're killing him!" Derek yells, genuine fear entering his tone.

"I'll fucking kill you! Do you understand me! If you don't let him go, I'll fucking kill you and your whole fucking family!" Acer screams, as he pulls at the fingers with everything he has.

Jaune's eyes snap away from Azul to Acer's whose heart almost explodes when he does.

Something instinctual is screaming at him to run and never stop but his body is frozen. Acer's eyes move from Jaune's hands to his face, "Ag..ha.." A whimper escapes his throat as he backs away, tripping on his own feet as he does before desperately shoving himself away only to find himself trapped against a wall.

"ACER! WHAT ARE YOU DO–"

Jaune lets Azul go and treads to Acer.

"N…n…no…"

Derek moves his arms around Jaune's neck and squeezes but the other's stalk doesn't slow, "It was just a joke! It was just a fucking joke!"

Jaune brings his left arm high in the air, the urge to bring it down and feel the blood stain his hand felt irresistible but… but what?

An image enters his mind, one of him; older and wiser, he's wearing a full suit of armor in his family's colors, white and gold that he always imagined the Rusted Knight would wear. On his left side is the ancestral blade, Crocea Mors, a Hero's weapon.

The man, himself, takes a hold of the handle of the saber and pulls it from the sheath before, with a flourish of movement, equips the sheath to his left forearm and shifts it to a heater shield.

He's seen this image a thousand times in various forms, it has always given him comfort, hope but now, in this moment, it feels like a slap to the face.

Jaune stumbles back but the bloodlust rumbles throughout his body like a hurricane. His attention moves away from Acer towards the worst offender, he grabs Derek by the wrists and lets his claw sink into the tender flesh, relishing the scream that tears through the other boy's throat.

"Wh..y?" Derek mumbles out, a quiver clear in his voice.

Jaune flips him off himself and smiles at the noise of Derek's body hitting the ground. He opens his jaw wide, two distinctive popping noises resound in his ears, he brings his maw down and the tips of his canines scratch both sides of the other's head but the image of himself as a true blue Hero imposes on his psyche.

He pulls him back and lets Derek go, control seeps back into his conscious mind as he does. Jaune stares at the three boys and feels bile climb up his throat as his features revert back to normal, he stumbles to the exit, running as fast as his legs can carry him.

Preto stares at Jaune as he smokes his fifth cigarette, his hands shaking as he does, "Jaune, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

The boy hadn't said a word since he drove him to his house, he had just sat down and demanded one cigarette after another. 

"I…" Jaune brings the cigarette back to his lips and finishes the stick before holding out his hand for another. Preto sighs and grabs the silver metal rectangular container off the living room table,opens the top and pulls out a tube before handing it over to the boy and lighting it.

He takes several long, drawn out puffs before finally saying, "I almost killed three people."

Preto raises an eyebrow, "Almost?" He asks.

"Yeah, I.. a couple of classmates dragged me into the bathroom, threatened me and I almost ripped their heads off." Jaune closes his eyes as the memory flashes in his mind's eye.

"But you didn't." 

Jaune's eyes snap open and widen when he sees the wide grin across Preto's face.

"You didn't Jaune, you held back. This is what I've been training you for."

"Preto, I almost murdered three people!"

"Yeah, almost." Preto shrugs as if it's no big deal, "Like I said Jaune, your nature has been inverted, under even the slightest provocation you're liable to gut a bitch, especially so soon since the bite. The fact you didn't, that under extreme stress you held onto your humanity should be celebrated."

Jaune stares incomprehensibly, "Bu–"

"Kid, you gotta get it through your head; We're.Not.Human. We may look like them, sound like them, love like them but we're not them, I won't hold you to the same moral standards. I can't."

"They know though? They saw what I really look like." Jaune whispers.

Preto snorts, "No one will believe them."

"How can–"

"Because," The man leans forward, "No one ever does." 

Jaune gulps and takes another drag from his cigarette.

"Now how did you do it?"

The boy opens his mouth several times to answer but nothing comes out for a long while, "I.. I was about to rip one of the boy's throats out but a stray image made me pause; I saw myself as a Huntsman, a Hero. When I was about to bite into another one's head the same image appeared."

"Can you describe it?"

Jaune licks his lips,"Obviously I was older, late twenties I think, I was wearing a full suit of armor, the kind I'd always imagined the Rusted Knight would wear and I had the family weapon." He says the last part with clear reverence.

"Family weapon?"

"Crocea Mors, a sword and shield combo widely considered the first Mecha-Shift weapon, crafted for my great-great grandfather Nennius Arcenciel for the Great War. She's the symbol of our family legacy, to be allowed to wield her is… impossible." The boy sighs dejectedly.

"Why?"

"Nobody has wielded the weapon since Nennius died, like I said she's our symbol, she means too much to our family to risk damaging in battle." 

Preto hums, "Kind of like you?"

Jaune's eyes widened.

"A legacy isn't dependent on a single object but the actions a person takes, how many lives a person has touched." Preto leans forward with a soft look, "The way you talk about this weapon, you should wield her."

"No, no, no." The boy shakes his head frantically, "I can't, my dad would literally murder me!"

"A weapon is supposed to be used, to hang it onto a mantle like a decoration dishonors it."

Jaune slumps, "You think?" 

"I do."

"But my father would never allow me to.. to just have it." Jaune looks downcast.

The man sighs, "Something to think about in the future then." He pats the boy's shoulder. "Anyway, to celebrate let's get drunk!"

The boy looks up with surprise, "I thought we couldn't get drunk?"

"What, did you think we just focused on enhancing cigarettes?" Preto asks with a smirk.

The boy looks away with a flush.

"Well you assumed wrong, we also made a special moonshine guaranteed to make even the strongest werewolf stumble for a few minutes with a sip."

Jaune looks at the man with hestaintion, "I'm not–"

"Jaune." Preto stares with kind eyes, "I understand this is hard and the bite can feel like a curse but there are benefits, drinking an obscene amount of alcohol that would kill ten men over and walking away an hour later without even a headache is one of them. Drink with me."

The boy stares and gives a shaky nod, "Okay."

The man grins as he stands up, walking into the kitchen and out the sliding door, Jaune waits nervously tapping his thigh. A minute or so later Preto walks back carrying two mason jars with clear liquid.

The man hands one to Jaune before sitting back down, they unlid the jars and the boy flinches back at the ripe smell.

"Whoa, I think I'm drunk from the smell alone."

Preto laughs, "Damn right. Together." He brings the edge of the glass to his lips as Jaune does the same, after a second they both take a sip.

"Cagh!" Jaune chokes and the man across from him laughs, "Dear gods, why!" He holds his throat as he dry heaves, it takes only a second before his mind slows to a crawl and a wonderfully warmness fills his belly.

"There it is." Preto hums as Jaune's whole body loosens like jelly, he leans back and sighs deeply with a content smile.

"Whoa…" 

"Feel good don't you?" 

Jaune nods as he takes another sip and wiggles as his throat burns.

"I remember the first time I had moonshine, younger than you were, just turned thirteen and shifted for the first time." Preto leans back in his seat and closes his eyes, his face twisting in remembered grief, "I can't even remember why, probably something stupid but after the family threw a whole celebration. It was the best, I felt so loved."

Jaune looks at the man and a question weighs on the tip of his tongue and if he was sober it would have remained there, "What happened?"

Preto looks over at the boy, "What always happens to our kind; Slayers."

Jaune sits up, his stomach sinking in dawning horror, "Slayers?"

"The Grimm have Huntsmen and Huntresses, we have Slayers. I admit some of them do it to help, to protect but some, some just want to warm their hands with our blood." Preto takes a large swallow of his drink, "I'm sure you noticed the state of the house, well it's exactly what it looks like; it burned and the Hele-Nui Pack burned with it, my older sister and I were the only survivors."

Jaune has no words, he stares with what can only be described as pity and shared heartbreak. He feels an urge in the back of his throat, an instinct to allow the wolf within out, not for violence but comfort, "~Aaawwwol!~" A soft howl escapes his lips and bounces off the walls.

Preto's eyes widened along with his lips before a much more powerful howl escapes his mouth, "

"

Jaune is the first one to stop and takes a deep breath, Preto follows a moment later. The two stare at each other before the boy gives a awkward smile, "Th..that–"

"Felt right?" The other finishes, "When a werewolf howls they do it to signal their packmates where they are but like real wolves a howl can mean a lot of other things, like marking a territory as theirs or to attract a mate…or to mourn." He laughs and gets up before sitting back down next to the boy, he wraps him in a side hug. "I'm glad I met you, Jaune."

"I'm glad to have met you too." Jaune wraps his own arm around the man.