Someone, most likely Arslan, was gracious enough to hand Jaune the trash can.
"Thank you." he groaned, grabbing the bucket quickly. He continued to empty his stomach. I forgot about our airsickness. A grumbled, displeased at their inherited flaw.
"Yeah." Jaune managed between hurls. "I hate my airsickness too."
Reese blinked. "You have airsickness?" She asked. "I thought you were just hung over."
Jaune gaped at her, giving her his best scandalized look. "It's one or the other." he said after a moment. "But let's go with air sickness." he said, bending over the basket once again.
He looked up, bleary and green. "It makes me look better." the ranger joked dryly, before his cheeks swelled as the bullhead jerked.
Nadir blanched. "I didn't think people could turn that color." He grimaced, turning away. It was an uncomfortable sight to see.
It was some time before Jaunes stomach was empty and he had nothing left to give to the bucket. Not that it made him any less nauseous. It just made it so that he didn't throw up.
Jaune leaned back in his chair, trying to focus on something that was not his upset body.
How long is this trip going to take? A groaned.
That is a good question. Jaune thought back. "How long until we arrive at Haven?" Jaune asked.
Nadir shrugged. "A couple hours at the fastest. It took us most of a day to get here, so I imagine that the return trip is going to be quite long as well."
Jaune squinted at him, really not wanting to believe that statement. "You're kidding, right?" Jaune asked. Nadir shook his head.
Jaune made a disgruntled face at that information. "Fuck."
The flight was uneventful. There were no great hordes of nevermores come to wreck terrible vengence upon them for their crimes against their kin. No massive dragons lying under lakes of gold to terrorize the metal flyer. It was a peaceful ride that jaune, if he was not under the ill effects of motion sickness, would have enjoyed greatly.
But alas, all good trips must come to an end. And Jaune's journey to Haven, his great exodus, came to an end with it.
Arslan made that sound one makes to gain the attention of someone that is clearly not paying attention.
Jaune opened his eyes to look at the lioness. "Yes, Ms. Altan?"
"You will want to see this. We're coming up on Haven." Arslan said. Jaune looked out the window as they approached the academy.
It was remarkably different than Beacon academy. Particularly the trading of the round circular curves Beacon for solid straight lines and shapes of a rectangular nature. The entire building was modeled strongly after the Edo era of Mistral architecture. The white washed walls shined like quarts in the glare of the sun. It was far more humble than the grandiose Beacon academy, with it's massive spires and castle like design. The bullhead dipped down, heading to the clearly light and designated landing pad. The school was beautiful in its own right.
Once they began their descent to the landing pad, and Jaune had filled his gaze with the white washed buildings, Arslan posed Jaune a question. "How do you know Feral?" She asked.
Jaune looked surprised at the question. "It was taught to me a long time ago. A friendly group of sailors took me across the sea in exchange for a language and some good fortune. I picked it up on the ride." jaune explained. Arslan gave a nod, but was incredibly suspicious. The Feral language was not to be given out so lightly.
Arslan remembered the second thing Jaune had said to the magistrate. "How did you know he was of the fifth testament?"
Jaune blinked, confused at the phrase. "I'm sorry, the what?" he asked.
Arslan looked equally confused. How does he not know the scripture he references? She thought with a headshake. "The fifth testament of the Tal'Qurac, the Bible, the Faunus scripture. You do know what the Bible is, correct?"
"Only in passing."
Arslan was shocked. How could you reference Krydth, Patron of the fifth, and not know about the fifth testament? "How can you speak Feral and not know of the Bible on which it's based on?" She asked. Jaune shrugged.
"I will be honest, Ms. Altan." jaune started. "I only know the words. It is the difference between knowing the word "Acquiesce" and "Obtain", and knowing the difference between their meaning. I know what I say, but not the meaning behind it. But Krydth is the god of all men, is he not? Does that not make all his children?" Jaune asked, his explanation turning into a chance to learn something about Arslan's native tongue.
Arslan was surprised at jaunes' explanation. Most learned the language by reading the Bible, and she imagined that understanding the language, which was strife and filled with biblical references and metaphors. It was an intrinsically poetic language, and not knowing how such poetry was formed led to poor grammatical errors and strange style of speaking.
Jaune took this moment of contemplative silence to ask his own question. "I have been meaning to discover this, but what do the words 'Karmora' and 'Shabyth' mean? I have heard them, but do not know of them."
Arslan supposed that such a gap in his knowledge made sense, as both were direct references to the Bible, the second testament in particular.
"Shabyth means ghost, in it's most direct translation." Arslan started, feeling a little awkward about the explanation, considering her constant comparison of the word to jaune. "They are warrior spirits left behind to guide people out of the battlefields of the dead."
Jaune nodded in a semblance of understanding. He was sure there was more to the definition, but it was sufficient for now. He could find out the rest later.
He waited patiently for Arslan to continue to address the second half of his question.
Arslan took in a breath, unsure how to truly cover the complicated definition and connotation and context behind the word Karmora. "Karmora is… they are a forest god, designated to the ancient world and old untamed woods." Arslan started, seeing that the very definition is probably a good place to start at. "They are often depicted as evil and malicious to the invasive man, playing cruel tricks and magics on those that dared wander into his domain. But has had a kind of "softening" in the fifth testament."
Jaune nodded, fascinated by the explanation.
How many testaments do you think there are? B thought. She's mentioned at least five of them.
Jaune would have to ask that question later, and the bullhead was about to land anyway.
Jaune was grateful to get onto solid ground, swiftly moving to the nearest trash can.
"You still have stuff to lose?" Reese asked, amazed at the vastness of his sickness.
Jaune's warbaling groan came from the depths of the trash can as a response.
Headmaster Lionheart approached the bullhead, his face of kind friendliness shifting into disgust and concern upon seeing the sickly green ranger bent over a trash can.
"Ah, er, Hello Mr. Arc." The lion faunus said to the hunched figure. Jaune looked up at him.
"Good morning." Jaune said as he pulled himself up off the steel can. "Please call me Jaune." the ranger said, brushing himself off.
"Ah." Lionheart nodded. "Jaune then. I am Headmaster Lionheart." He introduced himself. Jaune's eyes widened at that statement. "You're headmaster Lionheart?" he asked dumbly. The headmaster just smiled.
"What? Am I too old?" he joked, to which Jaune shook his head.
"No, actually." He said quickly. "I expected someone closer to Ozpin's age."
Lionheart frowned at that. "By that do you mean younger or older?" He asked, unsure of the target age Jaune was referring to. Ozpin managed to look both twenty and six hundred at once, somehow. Leo was a little envious of that, to be honest.
Jaune shrugged in response.
"I'll take it." Lionheart said, leading Jaune and team ARBN into the school. He walked them through the gate into the main courtyard, rambling all the way about how pleased he was that Jaune had chosen to move to Haven.
"Ozpin spoke very highly of you, you know." Lionheart mentioned to the ranger. Jaune was surprised at that. He hadn't really done anything note worthy during his time at Beacon. "Came to me with a personal recommendation for your transferall, he did."
Arslan perked up with a keen interest there. Freaking Ozpin gave Jaune a personal recommendation? She thought, astounded with the information that was presented.
The walk quickly turned into a tour of the school. Lionheart seemed to be ecstatic to show Jaune around, from the training ground to the dorms to the cafeteria. "Here are the dorms. You'll notice that there is a little more space in these dorms than back at Beacon, I assure you!" Lionheart laughed as he gestured to the room. It was one small common area, roughly two and half meters by two meters, that led to another equally small room that Jaune assumed was the bathroom. Along the wall, there were four separate doors that led to, what Jaune assumed, were individual bedrooms. Depending on the size of those rooms, the dorms were indeed larger than Beacon's singular eight foot by eight foot room per team. One singular room and an attached bathroom. That had been an interesting experience, sharing a room with Nora.
"We are so pleased that you decided to come to our academy Mr. Arc." Lionheart said cheerfully. Jaune shook his head again.
"Once again, Headmaster. Call me Jaune." Jaune said, his voice carrying an unfriendly chill that sent shivers down Lionheart's spine.
"O-of course, Mr-Jaune." Lionheart corrected nervously. "D-do you have a scroll?" The headmaster asked, recomposing himself. Jaune nodded.
"If you could kindly give me your number, I can add you to our system."
Jaune gave him another nod. "To where should I deposit the number?"
It was at this point that Nadir spoke up, interrupting the headmaster. "Https:login/signup/identify/Haven_Academy.org. The H and the first A in Academy are capitalized." Nadir said, going on to speak out the entire website address for Jaune. Jaune turned to the pink gunner.
How very interesting. B thought as Nadir shrunk away from his gaze. What an intriguing sentence.
Closer to really weird. I mean, who says the entire website address? That's just strange as heck. A frowned, confused as to why. Jaune shrugged it off, seeing as the oddity was not particularly important or insulting. "Thank you." Jaune said, giving Nadir a small head bow.
Returning his gaze to the headmaster, Jaune continued his questioning. "I assume I will be given a room once my number is in your system?"
The headmaster nodded. "Along with your class schedule, yes."
Jaune gave him a silent nod. "So that is everything, correct?" The ranger asked. The older lion faunus gave him a rapid and nervous nod.
"Yes, I believe so."
Jaune gave him a nod, clearly dismissing the headmaster, as he had no new information to give him.
Lionheart picked up on the dismissal, as surprising as it was to be so blatantly dismissed by a student.
"Wow, bro. That was cold." an unfamiliar voice whistled from behind Arslan. Jaune peered over the shorter girl to see another faunus. This one was a blonde monkey faunus who apparently had an intrinsic dislike of shirts, or an unhealthy pride in his abs. He looks like the definition of a sunny saturday morning. Laid back, relaxed, and generally cheerful. The man simply radiates positivity
A looked at him with envy. They have some impressive abs. He admitted jealousy.
Arslan spun to the intruder, her face one of friendly recognition. "Sun. Hello." She greeted him. Sun gave her a 'sup?' nod in return. "Who's the new kid?" He asked.
Arslan stepped aside, removing the barrier between the two blondes. Sun sized up Jaune, deciding that he was only a little taller than him.
"Sun, this is Jaune, a new student." Arslan introduced the two. "Jaune, this is Sun, leader of team Sun." She said, before muttering under her breath "please don't hurt him." She whispered to Jaune.
Sun strode forward with confidence, moving to greet the grey clad ranger. And then realized just exactly how poorly hid judgment was.
Jaune was not a little taller than him. Jaune was a lot taller than him. Sun was, even with his shoulders squared and his back straight, only eye level with the rangers chin. Sun looked up to meet the grey rangers dulled eyes.
"Wow, you are tall." Sun said, sticking out a hand. Jaune looked down on it, his entire head peering at the offered limb like some kind of bird. Perhaps those dinosaur eagles that ate bones.
What were those called? jaune wondered, remembering when he had read about them on Wikipedia.
B recalled that they were called Harpy Eagles. Their diet consists of roughly 80 percent bone and they like rubbing clay into their feathers to turn them red.
Jaune reached out with his armored glove, the roughened and well used from its decades of service to the ranger. Sun shook it, looking down in surprise. No huntsman wore armor anymore. Not really, anyway. Anyone who did so only did so for show. Or they were just hardcore oldschool like that.
You didn't have to worry about your Aura breaking if you were decked out in plate mail, after all.
Jaune nodded at his statement. He was indeed, "Tall" as the monkey faunus put it.
Sun, Jaune discovered, was a very chatty person. He liked to know people, and he liked asking questions.
"So, where are you from?" The monkey asked, walking besides Jaune as team ARBN trailed behind them. They were most likely going to their own dorm suite, ready for a peaceful rest in their own beds.
"Orleans." Jaune grunted, striding swiftly through the school's tiled floors.
Sun nodded, before frowning good naturedly. "Orleans? Can't say I've heard of it. Is it nice?"
Jaune noted that Sun didn't ask where it was, but if it was nice. "Nice as any other place, I suppose. Pretty quiet, not a lot happens there." Jaune admitted as he turned a corner, trying to remember how to get to the gym, and attached to it, the communal showers. He stopped at a crossroads, trying to remember if he was supposed to go right or left. He clasped his hands together, pointing his fingers like some kind of dowsing rod to direct him in the way he wished to go. He eventually decided on right, heading that direction.
I'm pretty sure it's on the left, actually. B said, correcting Jaune's direction.
Modern buildings are confusing… Jaune grumbled, turning around on his heels to head in the suggested direction.
"Quiet, huh?" Sun asked, leaning against the hall. "Must be nice. I'm from Vacuo." He continued as Jaune seemed to decide which way he was going. "It's pretty hot there, you know? All that sun and sand will just bake you alive."
Sun continued to fill the silence as Jaune wandered his way to the gym area Lionheart had showed him earlier. Sun stopped at the edge of the bathrooms. "I'll, uh.. I'll see you around." Sun offered as he realized what Jaune intended to do. Jaune nodded.
"Of course." He said, taking off his cloak. "Thank you for your company."
He closed the door, cutting off his vision from the blonde monkey faunus. He looked around the white tiled room. It was pretty stereotypical for any well maintained gymnasium public bathroom. White tiles, white paint where tiles was not necessary. A row of porcelain urinals and stalls. Behind them was a large singular room with a line of showerheads. Jaune headed directly to the showers, slipping out of his armor as he strode.
The water rushed through the pipes upon being summoned, and Jaune could not help but let out a content sigh as the scalding water. "Oh, hot water I missed you" Jaune practically moaned as he lathered himself in the hot water. The bath in the inn was nice, but was nothing compared to the steaming hot water that could be provided with the power of a boiler. It was nice, having all the amenities of modern living again.
Jaune left the bath feeling the freshest he had in a long time. Decades, even, just washed away with hot water. Jaune checked that off of his list, dressing himself and opening his scroll. Next was to get himself settled into civilized life once more. He opened up the website Nadir had given him, and found that it asked for a "Student Identification number."
Jaune squinted at it.
Time to get to work. Juane sighed, cracking his neck. It took Jaune a pathetic two hours to force his way into the Haven server system. It helped when he had an almost direct back door to the servers. Jaune decided to just directly put in the information he wanted into the system, rather than letting the algorithm decide his fate.
"Room… Which room do I want?" Jaune considered pulling up a map of Haven. He would like something with a nice view, but he was going to be limited to the Kado Hall.
You know what, I like room 366. Nice mountain view, overlooking the city in the distance. A pointed out. Also, no one is in the connected dorms.
Jaune nodded. Alright then. Room 366 it is. And you know what? Jaune asked his counterparts.
I think things are looking up.
_________________
And with that positive note, I leave you with this chapter. This chapter wasn't that important, but to bring back some semi important details and skills Jaune has, like computer skills and languages.
We also are introduced to my third favorite blonde! Sun is in the house. I look forward to the next couple of chapters, but they're going to be slower on the Waking world side.
Let's just hope that it last's Jaune.
As always, please leave a comment with whatever constructive critism, scene idea, theory, or really anything else you have to say. I love reading them.
Chapter 30Chapter Text
Jaune stood in front of his door. It was an unassuming thing. A simple wood door, a metal plaque next to it denoting rooms 364-368. The door had an interesting frame, opening inwards and with the frame overlapping the seam where the latch engaged. A sensor was attached to the door itself to trigger the lock mechanism. The lock had a clearly fake wood covering ment to blend into the door and look a little more natural. It was most likely some form of acrylic plastic.
Jaune had stood in front of this door for quite some time actually. Not because it was a monumental moment for him. It was a significant moment for the ranger, as it was a new chapter for him. He was at Haven. He had made it. A fresh start for him, another step closer to his goal. He was almost there. Now he just had to keep his head low and out of trouble. Should be easy sailing from here. There is no possible way for the next three or so years to be somehow harder than the trip here.
But that is not what Jaune was thinking about right now. Right now, Jaune was rather disgruntled at that little plastic computerized lock. The blasted damned thing would not let him in. He was sure that he had inserted his number correctly and linked his scroll to the system. He should be fully in the system, so what was wrong?
We could wipe it with a magnet, if we had one. B suggested. Jaune nodded. They could just break it open, if Jaune had a magnet.
A was silent, thinking about how they could circumvent the obstacle in front of them. We could just break the door down. Wouldn't even be that hard. He suggested. Jaune actually considered it. He could slip a knife into the gap of the doorframe and just pop open the hinges, or he could remove the swipe reader.
Jaune would have to fix the underlying issue later, but for now he had to get into his room. Ideally with a minimal amount of property damage. Jaune squinted at the door, trying to figure out how best to overcome this obstacle. Jaune just stood there, glaring at the electronic lock. He was hoping that if he stared at it hard enough it would become intimidated and unlock itself out of sheer fear. Unfortunately the lock was stubborn, and remained stalwartly unshaken by Jaune's imposing presence. Jaune sighed, swiping his scroll across the sensor one more time. It beeped angrily at him once more, the sensor light flashing red. Jaune took in a deep breath, almost disappointed with himself as to what he was going to do. His knife slid out of its sheath, ready to pick apart whatever was demanded of it.
Jaune was crouched, leaning on one knee and resting his chin on his hand. It was a contemplative look. The plastic case had been removed, along with a surprisingly sturdy secondary protective plate. Jaune was looking at the wires underneath, trying to figure out which one needed to be disconnected to disengage the lock. Jaune was pretty sure that there was no alarm system attached to the unit itself.
I think we cut the red wire. A pointed out. Why would it be red if it wasn't a shutdown wire?
Jaune leaned his head back, the comment causing him physical pain.
That is not how any of this works? Jaune pointed out, trying to trace to which chips and packages were connected. If the green one connects to that, and that goes there… Jaune slumped, distraught at the confusing annoyance that was electrical design.
"You know what?" Jaune asked himself. "Cut them."
What-B asked, blinking. Jaune, no, JAUNE!
Jaune grabbed the red one first, pulling it out of the main modem. The modem started flashing a red warning light. Jaune rolled his eyes, grabbing a black cased wire and carefully yanking that one out as well. The entire module shut down then as what appeared to be a power supplying wire was removed. Jaune nodded, standing up. He turned the handle and gave the door a push. It refused to budge.
Jaune's jaw clenched as gave a seething huff. "Ok, what in the fuck is wrong with you now?" He muttered under his breath. It took him and his allies against the door a couple of moments before B came to the solution.
The mechanical bolt is still in place. B realized, wanting to smack himself. It was such an obvious statement it felt dumb to point out.
You're kidding me. Jaune lamented. Why, of all the things, does that have to be the thing that is wrong? He bemoaned. That was going to be a pain in the ass to fix, expeccially considering he had kind of just removed any chance of hot wiring the thing. "Fuck." He said under his breath, leaning back down. He looked at the electric box once more, trying to mentally pick apart how it would have been built, and what the best avenue of getting to the deadbolt was.
We should just remove the whole module. Call it a day. A suggested. B shook his head at the ham handed baracacy of the idea.
No! These things must be done with precision. We are defacing private property. B said. Take out the screws and the lock mechanism.
Jaune thought about it. Aren't the schools public property, as they are institutions of the state? He pondered as he pulled out his knife again, deciding that it would be less conspicuous to go with B's suggestion. So wouldn't that make the school public property?
B shrugged as Jaune began to slowly disassemble the metal lock, prying and pulling it apart. The ranger was glad for the convenience that there were indeed classes today, keeping people out of the halls and therefore his suspicious actions unknown.
"Sooo…. What are you doing?" someone from behind him asked. Jaune jolted, freezing in place like a child caught with their hand in a candy jar. Jaune glanced behind him, seeing that it was Sun.
Uhhh… Busted. A cursed.
Damn it, what do we do now? Jaune asked them, his internal voice panicky. What if Sun called someone or told a teacher? What should he do then? What should he do now? Knock him out, like in those Hitman games? He was pretty sure he could, particularly if he surprised him.
Jaune opted to not respond, but instead go back to work on the lock, sweating as he basked in the tense, unanswered silence.
Sun leaned forward over his shoulder. "YOOOo!" Sun said loudly, causing Jaune to wince harshly to the side. "Dude, I didn't know that you knew lock picking! That's sick!" Sun said as he sat down next to the ranger. "Soo, real question though. Why are you picking the lock?"
Jaune turned to the blonde monkey faunus, raising an eyebrow at him. His face shifted back into its default, neutral glare as he started to work at the lock again. He had just managed to get to the mechanical part of the lock. It was pretty simple, with a motor attached to a gear. That gear rotated around, forcing a worm gear to move forwards and backwards, unlocking and relocking the door. Jaune reached his knife forward, hoping to be able to reach the small mechanical device.
His knife was stopped by the small mechanical and electrical components surrounding it. The blade was simply too wide.
Curses. Curses curses and purses, that is annoying. A muttered, disgruntled at the fact. Sun turned, seeing jaune's predicament. Jaune was about to scour his quiver bag for a thinner blade, something he was sure he had in his expansive collection of salvaged and scavenged weapons. Sun looked over to the ranger as he moved to his quiver of handles. Sun knew, or assumed he knew, what the issue was. "Dude, I got you." He said, fishing in his pockets for something. Jaune looked over, his hood only barely covering his skeptical eyes.
Sun pulled out a box of toothpicks, handing Jaune the plastic cylinder. "Those should work for you." Sun smiled. Jaune looked at him, surprised that he had the tools he needed. With a thankful nod, Jaune took the toothpicks and got to work.
The bolt finally slid back, letting the door swing open with an underwhelming lethargy. The room inside was dusty, having been unused in some time. Jaune walked into the small foyer room, looking around the silence with an approving nod.
It's a bit of a fixer upper, but we can make it work. A said as he took in the room. It would take some dusting and some personal touches, but overall it was a nice room. Jaune saw his room, tucked against the wall. He strode over to it, his hand resting on the doorknob.
B swallowed. This is it. He said. The end of this line.
Jaune nodded, pushing the door open. He was ready for a new start.
Hell. A drawled, rolling an imaginary cigar in his mouth. It's about time.
The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out why the system had shut him out. Turns out there were several subsystems that students needed to be inserted into. Normally, or at least at Beacon, all of these subsystems were integrated directly with the central student database. Haven, however, had a different set up.
They had an entirely separate system designated for the population of students. This system would take the student's information and spread it across the entire school system. It however, did not work in reverse. So jaune had made the mistake of assuming that simply putting himself into the main database and assumed that that would do. Jaune groaned, loathing the idea that he would have to manually input his information into each and every subsystem. He had tried to avoid that, but once he had discovered that he got a repeat error when one put their information again into the database, Jaune feared that he would have to do it manually.
Or we could delete our information from the main database. A pointed out. Should work.
Jaune blinked, astounded that he hadn't thought of that yet.
"That would work." Jaune said out loud, navigating to the server that withheld his information. One quick highlight later, and the pressing of the delete key, Jaune had never existed in Haven. But that was only temporary.
Less than ten minutes later, a first year student named Jaune was a student at Haven academy. It was interesting to think about. Jaune, up until ten minutes ago, did not exist in any record of Haven. The computer didn't even know who he was, nor that he even existed until now. It was strange to think about how impermanent he was to the eyes of others.
If I fall in the forest, and no one is around to know, did I ever really fall? Jaune pondered to himself. It was weird, now that he thought about it. The impermanence of the world was a fascinating subject to think about.
That's great, Jaune, but could we please focus? B said as Jaune finished his work. We still need to put the lock together.
Jaune tilted his head. But do we? Do we really need to fix the lock?
Jaune left it broken as he made a checklist of things he needed to do.
First: He would need to set up his stuff, really move into the place. He had some tattered scavenges he wanted to set up on the wall, a couple of weapons he wanted to have hanging.
Second: He would probably need to figure out what his schedule was. He should have one, and it was probably pretty easy to find it. And if it wasn't? Well, he could always go through the mainframe again.
We need clothes. A pointed out. We've been wearing this hoodie jeans combo for upwards of two months.
Jaune grimaced at the thought of that. Yeah, a fresh set of clothes is on the list. Jaune agreed. And then he stopped. But for clothes we need money… he cursed under his breath. Money, or atleast what was apparently acceptable currency, was something he did not have.
Jaune racked his brain for a moment on how he should acquire some money, or barr that, acquire some clothes. I
"Gold has worth, right?" Jaune said to himself, rolling one of his coins in between his hands. "I suppose I could go to a pawn shop." B nodded, agreeing with the statement.
We could also go to a bank, but I am unsure if they will buy from us.
A frowned. What do you mean? It's money, they should take it.
I'm saying we look like we're homeless people. B pointed out to his counterpart. When was the last time you saw a homeless person in a bank?
Jaune grimaced at that particular commentary. Yikes. He thought, gathering himself up. He added that to the list, bumping up to first on the list. He looked over his things, trying to figure out what he would need. It boiled down to the essentials. Toothbrush, Clothes, deodorant, mouthwash, some paper, maybe a new wallet.
It looked like he was heading to Schnee Mart soon. Jaune stood, shouldering his cloak around himself. It was time to get his first taste of the City of Mistral.
Mistral, Jaune had decided, sucked. Sucked major. Major league sucker. If the kingdom of suckerdom had a king, it was currently in a long, drawn out revolutionary war between the ruling Atlas and the rebel Mistrali forces.
Man, I didn't know Mistral was such a shitty place. A thought as Jaune kicked away a drifting ball of trash. It looked like a couple month old wrapping of a WcMonalds Burger. The vacation advertisements always make it look so nice.
B squinted at them. Perhaps that's because it's, you know, a Vacation advertisement?
Jaune looked around the terribly dirty street. "And to think that Main street was so nice." He bemoaned. The inner city was actually rather nice, but once you got past the ring of hotels the quality took an unexpected turn for the worst.
Jaune looked across the street, seeing a dingy lit concrete block of a shop. A neon sign flickered in an almost broken manner, advertising the shop's services.
JACK'S: GOLD, JEWELS, $$$.
If it was dark and raining, we would be straight out of some modern action flick. Jaune thought to himself as he approached the door.
Ting.
A small tin bell rang out as Jaune entered. Jaune took a look around the place. It looked exactly like he expected on the inside. A cheap mismash of shelves, plastic tables and racks that had collected an entire set of oddities. Sure, there were the standard things you would expect to find in a pawn shop: Jewelry, laced in silver and gold, a couple of outdated pieces of technology: A slide projector, an old 8 track player, and what was probably a record player.
Jaune pondered the wares for a little while, just wandering around the shelves as he looked at the odd curiosities in the store. Most of it was cheap junk, not worth the lien it took to produce.
Jaune saw a thin dark man, dressed in a business suit that reminded him of those snake oilers you found in western movies.
Jaune approached, the shopkeep was distracted with arranging the front racks of his counter. Jaune watched him for a moment, casting his eyes over the desk. A picture of a clearly younger man with a little girl, no older than seven, celebrating at the park. It looked like a birthday, but it was hard to tell. The dreamer noticed that it was labeled with a date, and a signature. It was dated to be several years ago.
In a pretty glittery pink, there were two memento's, one that clearly belonged to the child, and another in a neat cursive. Eugene, happy birthday. ~ Sharon. Most likely his wife, or other romantic partner. He was not one to say. The letters were faded, almost to the point where even Jaune could not read them
That child should be in middle school at this point. Jaune thought, the deduction springing unbidden to his mindJaune looked down at the man. He had no ring on his finger.
Perhaps the child was an ill fated night? An accident from an old flame? B picked apart the information they knew. Jaune shook his head.
There was a ring mark, a thin band of untanned skin that came from years of wearing such an object. Looking with a focused goal, the dreamer saw another clue.
He wore a crooked cross upon his necklace.
This man was a widower.
Jaune had his fill of this window into this man's life. He reached forward, tapping the desk bell. The shopkeep jolted, snapping to attention.
"Sir!" he exclaimed, straightening his shirt. "My apologies, I did not see you…" The shopkeep, Eugene, trailed off upon seeing just exactly who stood before him. A man who looked like death. Tired, blearly blue eyes stared at him over heavy set bruised bags, blank and unwavering and as cold as the winter nights. He was dressed in a grim collection of greys and browns, faded leathers covered with ash stained cloth. His cloak made up most of his figure, the threadbare tattered dreamborne thing almost reaching the ground, stopping just short of his ankles. Heavy set boots led up to long faded jeans that were probably once blue and dented, dull plates of armor that would protect one's shins and thighs. A strange almost skirt like thing hung from a belt of something that resembled a lizard hide, but Eugene could not be certain. It was oddly decorated, with a chain of wooden coins hanging from the belt itself, and a set of colored lines just barely visible from behind the cloak. If it were not for the man's face, the most interesting and outlandish aspect of it would have been his chest piece. A large crack ran down one side of it, stapled and hammered and crudely welded back whole. He assumed that there was some equally brutalized and beaten armor around the arms as well, but the customer hid them behind that tattered cape.
That thing has most certainly seen better days. Eugene thought as he subconsciously crossed himself with his right hand. The man before him looked like he had just walked out of some museum exhibit, or perhaps some old grim fantasy movie.
To be frank, he looked like Death. Particularly with those eyes and that broken nose. He looked like some victim from the Great War, or perhaps the Faunus revolution, with those scars that crossed the grey man's visage.
Jaune snorted as he watched Eugene cross himself, as though to ward off some dead spirit. "You need to ward yourself from me, Eugene Jack." Jaune rasped, his amusement not reflected in his voice. It was a different voice than the one he had said goodbye to Nora with. It had become solemn and deep, like that of a dry well in a once great oasis. It had grown withered with his long silences of the dream. It had grown withered with his many cuts to his throat.
"Be not afraid, I mean you no harm." Jaune said, slowly reaching his hands out. Revealing the gauntlets he wore, he carefully took out some coins of his. "I only wish to trade."
Eugene looked shook, his eyes wide and skittish, like a deer that was being hunted, but not yet struck. He watched as Jaune put the coins down on the table as though it were a loaded gun. I was joking about this man being Death. He thought to himself, praying that this strange stranger did indeed mean him no harm.
"How did you know my name?" he asked, looking worriedly at the man before him. Jaune had several options here.
He could explain that he saw the photo, come clean with his perversion of Eugenes life, of his invasion into this man's soul and memory.
Or he could fuck with him just a little bit more.
We really shouldn't… B trailed off, his actual action very clear. Jaune thought about it for less than a moment.
You know what? It's been far to long since I've had some fun. He smiled, his grin twisting into a thin curved line on his face.
"I know many things, Eugene Jack." he said cryptically, fighting the shrew giggling he so desperately wanted to break into. "But that is beside the point." Jaune spread the two coins out. "I wish to sell."
Eugene quickly grabbed the coins, inspecting them carefully and closely. They were not of the kind he recognized, and were clear from some forgotten age of history. These things were probably priceless. Eugene bit one, confirming his suspicions that the coins were gold.
Clearly, this stranger did not know what he was giving up. He didn't look like a crackhead, or someone that any shark would ever dare even go after. The knives at his side and the armor he wore clearly dictated his profession.
"Four hundred thousand for the two of them." He offered after a moment of mental calculation. Jaune was unimpressed at the offer.
"You are shorting me, Mr. Jack." he said coldly. The room seemed to drop several degrees with his voice as jaune rose up to his full height, seeming to grow to a towering imposing force in the matter of mere moments. The room darkened as what Eugene hoped was a cloud passing overhead, blocking the saving light that was provided by the sun. Eugene gulped, suddenly coming to a conclusion about trying to con huntsmen.
It was a bad idea, and he had fucked up.
"Five hundred thousand?" he offered shakely, dropping the coins down on the table. The gray spirit simply stared at him, boring into his soul with a terrible otherworldly presence. This man was clearly not of this world, but of something else entirely. Perhaps he was Death, in a manner. Eugene was never one of spiritualism or religion, but there were moments when he prayed to god. And this? This was one of them. A trickle of weak sweat dropped down his brow, but Eugene didn't dare move to wipe it away.
Jaune was even more unimpressed with this pawner's cowardice. He supposed some people were just like that.
Four hundred K is plenty for us right now. Besides, it's not like we don't have more from where it came from. A said. Jaune's harsh gaze softened a bit, but only a bit and not a single millimeter more.
"Four hundred thousand will suffice." jaune said after a moment, sending a wave of relief though the pawn shop owner. The sunlight had returned, and with it the warmth that had previously inhabited the shop. The shopkeeper cracked open his cash register, pulling out card after card from the thing. He handed Jaune the egregiously thick wad of lien.
Jaune gave him a nod of thanks, looking through the stack of odd bits and ends in lien cards. It was strange. This was the most lien he had ever held in his hands, and it truly meant nothing to him. He could probably throw it in a ditch and feel exactly the same as he did fifteen seconds before. "Tell your daughter I give her the best of luck. She has many trials ahead of her." He said before he turned to walk out the door.
Eugene almost called after him, to ask him exactly what in the world he meant by that. "What the fuck?" the poor shopkeep said, picking up the coins that were left on the counter. He really had no other words to describe that interaction at all. "What the fuck?" He repeated.
Jaune made his way to the nearest Schnee mart, and what few people that were there parted for him as he made his way through the city of Mistral. He got some looks, sure, but frankly he couldn't find it within himself to care. Why should he? It was unlikely that he would ever see them again, or that they would even remember what he was wearing by the end of the day. Some remnant of the Jaune that went to Beacon, the Jaune that spent his summers in the Orleans Library or shying away with his scroll games wanted him to dash through, disappear into the darkness of the alleys. But he had a place to go, and god be damned if he was going to stop. He had marched across an entire continent and a dreamscape, he could make it across a couple city blocks.
He had collected the minimum amount of clothes one would need for a week or so within an hour. He hadn't spent any time actually looking at the fashion of the clothes he was grabbing. Grey, white and black tee shirts, jeans of various shades of blue, packs of underwear and socks. He was heading for the checkout when he saw a rack of something truely terrible. Something so incredibly awful that Jaune just had to stop and look at it.
On it was a whole row of truely tacky Hawaiian shirts. Bright floral patterns of green, blue, red, orange and purple. A whole rainbow of shirts that would be fitting on an uncle on some mid life crisis tropical vacation.
Oh, we just have to have them. A said earnestly.
B looked horrified at the notion. No, absolutely not. We cannot. Jaune, no.
A merely grinned. It was a big face splitting grin that stretched from ear to ear, much like one might see on the Grinch. Jaune, yes.
Jaune, No. B responded with, his voice stern like a damn withstanding the oncoming flood.
Jaune, Yes! A became more manic with every second, practically vibrating at the idea of owning such majestic works of tackiness.
B took in a deep breath. Jaune. No. You shouldn't. They're terrible! He exclaimed. A only grinned wider with a terrible impishness.
Jaune. Yes. Do it. He said in a really bad Darth Sidious impersonation.
Jaune's face scrunched as he considered it. A and B continued to battle in his head.
Jaune. NO! Jaune, listen to me. NO. N. O. NO!
Yes, Jaune. Jaune Yes! Yes!
Jaune sighed, shaking his head. He walked out of the store, several bags in his hands. And one of them? One of them had just a sleeve of a pink blooming vine sticking out of the top.
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Another chapter done! So, we've hit a bit of a lull in the story. At least until the next big thing happens. I considered having this chapter being devoted to the dream, and just skipping over what was essentially a weeks worth of the waking world. I wanted to flesh out Mistral and Haven a little more before that, so it might be a chapter or two before we get back to the dream.
as for my non cannon power scaling of Jaune's aura, there is a legitimate reason for it that will be addressed in the next dream segment. I promise that it answers a lot of questions about this story.
As always, leave your comments, reviews, theories, or just cool ideas about this story that you want to share with everyone. I would greatly apricate it, as I love reading them.
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TO BE CONTINUED