Chapter 3.

Jaune Arc: Age 8.

Mom and Dad are on a hunting trip and they haven't been home in a few days. This was a normal occurrence, so I and the other Arc spawn weren't worried. The Longest they've been gone was one month, and that was because the Bullhead ran out of fuel because the pilot didn't refuel before they left.

They now always observe the refueling from now on. Anyway, since my parents are out hunting, Olivia was left in charge given she was the eldest of we siblings here.

This, I am alright with. We have an unspoken agreement. While she goes around being momma hen to the twins, the newest of the brood Aster, and Violet, and I stay out of her hair.

Now, before you think she was abandoning me for whatever reason, she's not. If I'm hungry I can just head back and get my own food. The only thing I can't do is kill a Grimm, but then again, I'm eight.

The twins were in their rebellious stage. They...Want to be huntresses, but failed to get into signal and so now all the worlds their oyster the tear up in anger, and believe that 'the man' shouldn't have any say over who can be huntresses, and violet is a year old and entered her terrible twos early.

I was currently sitting on the ground in a field just outside the village reading a book. This is one of the best things I have done since my reincarnation. I loved books because there wasn't much you could do for fun in winter or rainy days when I was a kid. This and Dungeons and Dragons were my lifeline.

At least till I got my first forge and could work metal next to a very warm forge. Perks of being a blacksmith, you don't need to pay for a heater in the shop. Fans though, as well as nice ventilation if your using a coal forge, is a must.

Anyway the book I was reading was the novelized, and obviously fictionalized, tale of the legendary 'Grimm Reaper'. It was written by one Maria Calavera and it was the ninth book in the series.

It wasn't the typical book, given it was closer to a collection of short stories that were vaguely connected.

I heard the crack of a branch, and moved to my feet and reared back with the book.

"Whoa, there champ, no need to throw the book at me. I'm not Qrow." A familiar voice said and I looked up and saw Priscilla, wearing what I presume is her combat attire, that makes me angry just at a glance.

Her attire was a pair of leggings and a long buttoned-up white coat that looked vaguely like a lab coat, only it's made of what appears to be leather. She had what appeared to be a chain whip, wrapped around a hook, connected to a dagger that was sheathed in the hook on her belt.

She wasn't alone however as beside her was a massive unit of muscle. He was dusty skinned with short brown hair and a beard. His expression showed a calm look as he stared at me as if he was breaking me down in his mind.

It was fucking creepy, but maybe he was just naturally intense looking? I mean I've seen peoples who had a resting look of an ax murderer, so maybe that's how he was.

"Hey, Aunty Priscilla," I said giving her an unamused look as I then looked at the massive and rather intimidating man. "Who's he? Is he your boyfriend?" I asked 'innocently'.

Judging by the blinking of the large man, and the amused look on my aunt, I'm gonna say that's a no.

She deemed my question ignorable, and I rolled with it as she crouched down. "Why are you out here?" She asked and I pointed towards the village.

"The twins, Violet, and the new baby Aster are giving Olivia trouble. The last thing she needs is me getting in her way." I said with a frown and sat back down.

"Trouble?" The baritone grumble must have come from the man, who I'm gonna call Jumbo. I nodded my head.

"Mom and dad say Violet had the Terrible twos early, and the twins hit their rebellious streak after Signal, and Sanctum, refused them," I replied. "So why are you out here?" I asked in return and he gave me a raised brow.

"Curious mind. We came to see your parents about something, but I guess they're not home?" He asked and I nodded in confirmation. "Can you take us to your home anyway?"

"Sure." I agreed to Jumbo's request. He was with Priscilla, so he was probably her friend. If he was an ax murderer, I bet she'd kick his ass.

I put the book under my arm and stood up and began walking back to the village, and towards home when Priscilla noted the book and raised a brow. "What ya reading there?" Seeing no harm I answered her question to which she blinked in confusion.

"I'm reading 'The Grimm Reaper, The Anthology' by Maria Calavera." I begin but pause. This is a young adult book, not a kids book. How the hell am I gonna write this off?

"Your apparent prodigious reading aside," Jumbo spoke, his face as stoic as it usually is from what I've seen, but a lot more intense. "I'm surprised you are reading about her of all people. You wanted to be a blacksmith, isn't that correct?" He asked, with what I swore was a hint of accusation but I wrote that off as my mind playing tricks.

Fuck it, I'm going to roll with it. "I do want to be a blacksmith. I've done research on the dust net about blacksmithing techniques." Which is only mostly bullshit. I looked up what forges are used, and it's basically a dust version of a propane forge. Which is honestly vastly superior to either Propane or coal as it has the benefits of both.

"I'm reading this because of her weapon. I've seen a few designs of weapons online, but her weapon seems the most interesting. It's a pair of Kama, pistol trick weapon with gravity dust on both, so if one's thrown it returns. " I pause, and quickly change my words to go from a nerd ramble to a childlike one. "It's so cool! Imagine if someone did that with a round shield and a gauntlet? You could throw it and then use the gravity dust in both to control it! It'd be awesome!" I didn't have to hype up my excitement, as the thought of a Captain America shield with the ability of physics breaking bouncing did seem very persuasive to me.

The massive man nodded, but his intense stare didn't let up. "That shield would be interesting, but would it be practical? A weapon should not be thought of by what's cool or awesome. It should be thought of by what it needs to do. We created guns, as an easy to learn and operate weapon to give us an edge on the Grimm who fly in the sky, we made shields to protect us from the blows of our enemies, whether they are Grimm or man. Tell me, Jaune, what makes a shield with gravity dust being thrown around, a smart weapon?" He asked and I grew a bit angry.

I knew this, any blacksmith worth their salt knows that information, but to have some… brute try to teach me about a craft that I am a master in? Now that set a fire under my ass, cover be damned.

"Because it's not, at least not alone. A shield is not just a weapon, but armor as well. Used well with almost any other one-handed weapon, ranging from clubs to pistols." I growled at this man, eyes narrowing as I stopped and stared right back at him.

"If you made a targe, and threw it, using gravity dust and Aura manipulation you could guide the shield to intercept an attack from above that a companion would miss and save a life." I informed him with what I hoped was an intimidating 'I will murder you in your sleep' glare

Judging by the cooing sounds, either my sister's found me and Aunty saw the baby, or she finds the glare cute, rather than scary.

Me and the giant stare at the other for a moment, that felt as if it dragged on for an eternity, till I saw the corner of his mouth twitched upward into a sort of smile for half a second. "Correct, also nice thought of how it can be used. Have you put a lot of thought into it?" He asked and I shrugged. Not like I could say I spent an entire childhood and a decent portion of my adult life reading about Captain America.

"A bit, I mean, throwing your weapon is incredibly stupid. The Grimm Reaper got away with it due to the dust, clever uses of Aura, and the fact she had two and always threw with her off hand so her dominant one was still armed." I replied and smiled a bit myself. "If you only had a shield as a weapon and did it you'd be pretty dumb unless you were a hand to hand fighter."

Jumbo nodded and we started to move again, but this time in silence.

xXXx

We arrived at home in silence and Priscilla knocked and entered without a reply. "Hey! Robin, Aureolin, you two home?" she said as she stomped into the house, knowing that they weren't but probably just to see if they came back when I was away, and saw Olivia holding Aster in her arms while Violet was watching us from the doorway to the den. She looked up at Aunty's call and smiled.

"Hello Aunty Peaches, Mr. Rainart." She said with a smile and I couldn't help but say in a bit of resigned exasperation. Why does it seem that she knows all the adults who seem to pop up from the ass crack of nowhere?

"Not all, just the ones mom and dad knew. Also, watch your language." Olivia informed with a small frown.

Priscilla snickered while the newly Identified 'Mr. Rainart' l just closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. Probably to show he doesn't want to talk.

"So, where are your parents?" Peaches asked and Olivia sighed and pointed at me.

"On there way back. I just got a call, and they should be back within the next two hours." She said and Priscilla nodded.

"Well, would you mind if we stayed and had lunch with you?" My aunt asked and Olivia smiled. She loved cooking so more people the better, in her eyes.

"Of course! I hope you enjoy Chili Fries!"

xXXx

As usual, when my sister cooks, the food we had was amazing.

Alas, when mom and dad returned the air grew awkward and still. There was a little back and forth of general small talk you make when you try to cut through an awkward situation.

We had finished lunch when my dad coughed. "So...Hazel...Why did you come here? I don't believe it was because you wanted to catch up on old times." He said and Hazel who was wiping his mouth with a paper towel, paused and gazed at my father and nodded.

"You'd be correct. I am not here for pleasantries. I want the boy."

I choked on the water I was drinking as I ended up doing a nasal variant of a spit take, instead of spitting it out, cold water shunted through my sinus. It hurt like a bitch.

I wasn't the only one to react in such a fashion as my dad snapped his metal fork in half while Priscilla coughed and said. "Phrasing! Elaborate before they decide to kill you thinking you're a pedophile!"

I went to beat red as, of course, the twins asked in unison. "Mommy, what's a Pedophile?" We all froze and Olivia scooped up the baby.

"Mom, dad, this is your job, I'm gonna go put the baby to bed, then...listen to very loud music for an hour. Goodbye!" Olivia said as she power walked away, and mom quickly went to distract the twins by offering to bake them cookies, thus leaving my dad and aunt who had their faces buried in their hands. My dad because this was a cluster fuck, and my aunt because she was barely holding back a laugh.

"So, Hazel...Elaborate." He said as he held up the crushed and snapped remains of his fork after he pulled his face from his hands. "Speak thoroughly, I don't think the cutlery will last if you speak bluntly with no explanations."

A snort escaped the massive man's face before he leaned in. "I want to take him on as my apprentice. After my sister's death being in vale hurts. I want to move away, go to vacuo. Alas, I don't wish to sell the home I made for my sister and me, and forget my business. Instead, I will teach him. He will learn, and if his sheer interest in the topic has anything to say, he will master it." He spoke and I couldn't help but feel a burning sensation flood my nerves; it was pure Anticipation.

I haven't so much as touched a forge, as my parents think without supervision I'll burn the house down, or not know what to do. Logical beliefs, if not for the fact that I am a reincarnated master blacksmith, but since they don't know it, I can't fault them as much as I wish I could.

"...How much?" My father asked, which pulled me out of my musings and away from the ocean of anticipation I had for getting behind the anvil again.

"Because I requested him, and I have as much need for him as he has a need for me, no price. He'll work for room and board. He will accrue debt, and from his thirteenth birthday onwards when he is not busy at school, I will have him work the forges. He will be off on school days and work weekdays along with whatever spare time he wishes to spend at the forge. In summer and breaks, the days off are reversed." Hazel said and my father, Aureolin, nodded as he spoke.

My mother though, spoke up now that the terror twins were placated. "We need to think about this. Feel free to spend the night, we have a couple of guest rooms, but we need to think this over as a family." She said before anyone else could speak and dad nodded.

"That sounds reasonable. This was sudden after all. Can you decide by tonight? If he comes he will need to pack before he goes." Hazel said and I piped up.

"I can do that; because I already know my vote. While you adults have fun bickering back and forth, I'm going to go pack." I hopped off my chair, grabbed my bowl of chili fries, my third bowl, and was about to head to my room when my mom spoke.

"Excuse me, mister? We haven't decided yet." She said and I replied, after a brief moment.

"I'm preparing in case I do go. I mean, I hope I do. You let dad train Bianca and unlock her aura at my age, this is a lot less dangerous. Sides, have you seen his biceps? That man could crush a Beowulf skull between his hands without effort. I'm sure he could keep me safe." At my words, I continued out, munching on my fries.

Damn, I wasn't a fan of these in my first life, but I am loving these now. Does a new body mean new taste buds? Whatever, I need to pack.

xXXx

Jaune Arc, Age 12.

Downtown vale.

So I became Hazel's apprentice and he thinks I have Savant syndrome because when he first let me behind the anvil I forgot about my cover and began forging a knife I have made a thousand times, a simple full tang bowie knife.

Granted this was less a test of actual skill, I lacked the upper body strength to work a forge proper yet, at best I could make nails which I did.

So I used aluminum, not impossible to cold hammer, but tough too. It was heated, and I forged it like I would any other.

I was rusty but the fact the knife was as nice as it was, even if it was a wall hanger at best given it was made of an aluminum ingot made from melting down pop cans.

So I ended up increasing my workload, which...I am not that upset about. It's been four years and I'm already making and putting up my own line of knives up. They don't sell often, but I mostly sell bushcraft knives. The sort of thing outdoorsmen use for skinning, meat cutting, firewood chopping, that sort of thing.

I did make me a knife for personal use, it's a bowie knife nothing special really. I don't often use need it, I only take it out of its sheath to maintain it. The only time I used it was when I went camping and hunting, normal hunting not monster hunting, with him last year in the summer.

It did its job well that week. Skinned a couple of bucks and a hog, as well as split some firewood my dad brought.

Back to the current day. I'm working behind the counter, bored out of my mind with I hear the door chime and turn to the door to see a ginger teen in a black suit pursuing the merchandise.

"Welcome to Hazel's blades." I greeted him as I did to all customers who entered when I didn't have a customer.

He looked over and gave a wave but went back to pursuing the display cases, slowly making his way over.

After a few minutes, he spoke up, while looking over a Kukri Hazel made. "You make this?" He asked and I shook my head.

"The owner did, I made the survival knives, near the back," I replied to him and he hummed in acknowledgment as he looked up and walked to be across from me.

"I saw those, very nice blades. Do you take Custom Orders?" He asked and I nodded, and he grinned, as he pulled off his red sunglasses. "Terrific, I'd like to order a weapon. You here are the best so I am willing to fork over the money." He said and I grinned.

"Of course, so what are you looking for? We do all sorts of weapons. Daggers, swords, halberds, Axes, Spears-."

"I'd Like a Cane."

I paused and he repeated when I asked him to so I said. "Okay...I assume you want to use it as a club, and you just want it to be in the shape of a cane?" I asked and he nodded.

"I actually have a rough idea here." He said as he pulled out a folded up piece of paper and unfolded it to reveal a cane, that was not only a cudgel but was a grappling hook and a flare gun.

"This...I can't do this but I could run it by the boss. He should be able to make it. However, this would be a Huntsmen tier weapon, which will cost you a pretty penny due to the mechanisms in the handle to handle the grappling feature and the firing of the flares." I told him and he nodded.

"How much we talking?" He asked me and when I told him the number he froze and when he shook his face, his sunglasses slipped off his face revealing his dark green eyes, but he caught them. "Okay...and if we got rid of the grappling feature?"

"Substantially less. The grappling feature would have needed a place to bundle the cord, as well as a place to breach the shell of the flare, now it's just the latter. This would run you at about forty-thousand Lien, including the repair warranty." He whistled and gave me a look.

"Pricy, any way you could go lower?" He asked and I shook my head. Typical clients, always wa- "Then I guess I'll have to pay." He said and I blinked as he laid down a few Lien notes which I quickly counted up to be about ten grand. "Can you take the rest in intervals?" He asked and I nodded as I dialed in the order and began to work into his specifications.

"Name?" I asked and he told me, with a pearly toothed grin.

"Roman Torchwick." I nodded at the name, and to be polite I told him my own.

xXXx

It's been a few weeks, and I was done with the cane. Hazel shoved it off to me because it was a 'simple job'. Which, compared to the time he had to repair this one girl's handbag machine gun cause she had no idea what happened, I don't blame his belief. How they got a five hundred round drum and a four-foot long rotating barrel in a one-foot long handbag, I will never understand.

I was out back in a small while Hazel ran the shop. "So Roman, here you are. I took the liberty of setting you up with a shot so you could see how it handles when you fire it off. Please strike the concrete building as a target, that's just a shed and nothing there has enough dust to damage it."

He nodded and looked over and loaded up an orange one. "Burn dust, the traditional flare type. Fires a single whistling ball of fire that can go up to three hundred meters within a single second." I said as he loaded it into the breach of the cane, aimed down the pop-up analog sight from the bottom of the cane, and fired.

The roman candle esque flare zoomed with a whistle as it hit the concrete building, and bounced off landing in front. I ran over and used an extinguisher to put it out, all the while he whooped.

"That was awesome!" He said and I grinned once I was done extinguishing the flare.

"Glad you liked it. I even got a spare end cap for you if you ever want to have it show that Jack-o-lantern. It's an easy twist off." I told him as I preened and he took out his wallet and laid down his first payment of five hundred.

"Worth every penny. How durable is this?" He asked and I grinned.

"I used it in testing and I busted up cinder blocks left, right, and center, with a loaded flare and it still fired like a dream. Not even a scratch." I said proudly and he nodded with a grin that matched mine.

"That is it, you sir, have earned the honor of my only blacksmith. You are a prodigy. You said this is your first custom order? I'll make sure I bring you any orders I have."

I laughed and held out a hand which he took and we shook. "Please, you give me too much credit. Flattery won't get you out of paying, Roman." I joked and he snorted.

"Obviously. Now, I need to go. Take Care, Jaune. See ya at school." He said and headed off, his cane in cane mode, and used as it's appearance.

Oh, I forgot to mention. We go to the same school, he's a sophomore, and I'm still in middle school so we don't see each other much, aside from the halls.

xXXx

Three months later.

Welp, Roman didn't lie. I've got a number of weapons brought in, mostly swords, clubs and axes from one Junior. A decent back order of fifty, which is a lot of metal work to do. I asked if they were all okay with a mass produced version as it was a single bulk order and they were willing, for a lesser price which I accepted.

By this rate, I will start actually making money from this, and not just pay off my ever increasing debt to hazel.

Currently, I am in the forge, grinding an edge on the swords. This was the second sword today, and I had four more to grind to shape before I could return it.

"Hey, Blacksmith." I heard and I yelled back to wait a few minutes, as I finished up the blade, and set it aside and let the grinder stop before I turned away at the person who was the only other person aside from Hazel and family to enter the forge, Roman.

We became fast friends when he saved my ass from getting beat up for refusing to do a jocks homework. He was a troublemaker in the high school apparently, known for getting into fights. He and a few of his friends acted as enough deterrent that the bullies stayed off me.

Since then we became close friends, we played video games when neither of us worked, and it man does it feel nice to have a friend who can keep up with me.

"Hey Candle, need something? I got that backlog from the security at the bar you work at." I said and he laughed.

"Ah, yeah I can tell. Didn't think the boss would dump so much of the workload on you." He said apologetically and I grinned in reply.

"If I knew you'd give me this amount of work I'd have made that cane of yours for free. I get the profits of all the Items I sell and-."

"..And it all goes to the debt you owe Hazel and you just might get a net positive at this rate." He finished for me with a small smirk. "So you've said. All the time. If I didn't know better I'd think you had a fetish for cold hard steel and hot fire and beating that steel."

I snorted and replied with no heat. "Says the playboy. I mean, who is it this week? Was it Sapphire, or was it, Rayne?" I replied before he grinned and replied.

"Both, and they love it." I couldn't help but shake my head at him.

"Your love life aside, what brings you to my forge?" I asked and sighed and rubbed his head for a moment as if trying to find the wording.

"I...may have joined a gang." He said and I paused. This...This could be bad.

"A gang? We talking drug dealing, prostitution rings, gun smuggling, or something else?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Neither, I work for Junior. He's...a Goon dealer and info broker. If you need information or manpower, you go to him. His crew works anything from security to heists, to even construction jobs." Roman explained and I thought this over, then shrugged.

"Cool beans, but not interested. Keep your illicit affairs off the premises and keep me in the dark and I'll be happy." I said as I leaned against my workbench, and he blinked.

"But I-"

"My mom, dad, and my oldest sister are Huntsman and huntresses, and so is my current boss, even if he's retired. Huntsman hunt more than Grimm. They hunt bandits, and rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses. If you think I'm not gonna be your friend cause you might one day kill someone then well, your an even bigger idiot." I said to him and he smiled. Not smarm or cheekiness, but an honest one.

"Thanks, but that wasn't why I wanted to tell you. I was going to ask you to unlock your Aura soon. I'll be graduating in a few years, and with my new job, I'll be off working more and be at school less. I don't want you getting beat half to death. Besides, do you know why Huntsmen make their own weapons?" He asked and I shook my head, slowly.

"Not really. Figured it had to do with the philosophy of 'A master can only be a master of a weapon if he was the one the create it' or something. What's this got to do with aura?" He grinned a bit and held up a book. "Take this. It's a book about aura and how it's used. It's heavily censored, but it brings up an interesting thing you'd like in chapter seven."

I took the book and after a moment, flipped to chapter seven, and skimmed it, and my eyes widened a bit.

Holy fucking shit. Huntsmen imbue their weapon with there aura when they make, increasing it's conductivity to there aura, which they use to further reinforce and enhance its properties…

I looked up at him and nodded. "I see your point, and while I'd love to learn about...Aura smithing? Whatever, while it's cool I wouldn't see a need to. If I imbue weapons with my own aura, then what's the point of it? It won't have the same effect on others."

He shrugged a small bit. "No, but still, it also gives you a layer of defense, not to mention a possible semblance." He said and I paused, as the word Semblance bounced around in my head for a moment, before I remembered.

The Gamer. The power I was told I'd get. I had wondered why I didn't have it upon birth and figured I got cheated, not that I cared as I was alive again. I didn't even think of it as being a Semblance.

If I could…

I couldn't help but grin broadly. "You know Roman? You're absolutely right. I'll talk to Hazel after I get done here, about unlocking my Aura."

I couldn't wait to get my aura unlocked, then I could see just what this power Julie promised me was all about.

Hello! Yes, this is LAWWB! I have updated this finally. Slow I know.

As for the chapter itself, I am ashamed at how it turned out. I feel like I shoved Roman in there, but I needed a customer, didn't feel like thinking up a character, and I planned to bring him in any way. The first half, with 8-year-old Jaune, is fine, I like that half. However, I hate the rest of it, with a passion but I needed to get this out else I felt I never would. As for Bard of Tristinia, I have chapter 8 done, which was gonna be Chapter 7, but I decided to make 7 be an interlude chapter so when I get 7 out, you'll have 8 out within the week on that so look forward to that.

As always, tell me what you think of the chapters, of the characterization, or just tell me I suck if you feel that I need to hear it.

Anyways off to other things...I played the new Borderlands 2 DLC and I love it. I Eagerly await Borderlands 3 with rabid anticipation! Also, I'm getting Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings soon so I may not upload for a bit... Oh, who are we kidding? I'm LAWWB. I could find a way to procrastinate even if I had nothing else to do.