Hey everyone, I'm back again with another story. I don't know if you care, but this is kinda related to The Grimm of Beacon. I made people vote there (Arkos or Lancaster). The ship that loses will be the ship in this fic, so everyone's happy. Right?

Anyway, I expect this to be harsh.

"Up!", said the man before him, hissing the syllable as if he hated it. "Again!"

The boy groaned his pain as he staggered to his feet and straightened himself, his broken arm limp by his side. In the other hand, a kris-like sword was ready to fight, although the boy already knew he was going to lose again, and to be beaten again. It always ended like that. He had never even been able to score solid hit on the man before him.

As he expected, the man charged as soon as he was standing, easily dodging the clumsy attack and dragging his axe-blade across his chest, creating a long and red wound all across his ribcage. Ignoring the pain like he'd done a hundred times before, the boy tried to slash at his opponent, only for his swing to hit the air when the man moved again, kicking him straight in the stomach, like he'd done hundreds times before, sending him flying and landing on his broken arm, muffling a scream of pain.

"You're weak", laughed the man. "I see why your family abandoned you. You aren't worth the dirt under my boots, why should you be worth being their son?"

He gritted his teeth as he stumbled on his feet, only to be knocked down again as the man punched him in the face.

"How does it feel? To be powerless, useless, unwanted by your own family, exiled, bleeding, in pain and completely at my mercy?". He cackled evilly. "I am not a merciful man. You are amusing. In your weakness, I have to admit you are amusing. Your will to go on, your indomitable spirit...".

The boy cried out in pain as a boot fell down on his wounded chest, pinning him down. "All useless, if you don't have the strength to fight and win. Your will... a mere word. Without power, you can do nothing". The man removed his boot and lifted him up, staring at him. "You have been amusing, but it's time for me to go. I played with you for years. But after all the fun you brought me, I feel like I owe you at least one thing".

The man tore off the cloth covering his eyes and stared straight into the boy's unfocused blue eyes. "I will bring you to Vale, where you will be able to attend Beacon and maybe you'll reach the power you so desperately need". He smirked when the boy stifled a cry of pain as he let him fall back on the ground. "Am I a generous man? Of course I am... and before we finish our little game, hear my advice: you can win as many times as you want, but you can lose only once. Keep this in mind when you will be at Beacon".

The boy could only nod before a boot connected to his face, knocking him out.

Jaune Arc awoke from his memory as easily as he had fallen into it, without the smallest movement or change in his expression. All around him many other teenagers were gushing over how awesome Beacon was and how great it looked, but he himself wasn't interested in that. As long as it was Beacon, he was fine with it.

There were many people in the Bullhead. He heard two sisters not too far away speaking about a stopped robbery, their names Yang for the older one and Ruby for the younger. A bit separated from the others stood a boy and a girl, Ren and Nora respectively, although their isolation was more because of fear of the hyperactive girl than their own choice, but they didn't seem to mind. In a corner there was a girl who was completely silent, but every time someone came too close, she would stealthily sneak away. In her scent he could make out the faintest hint of fur. A Faunus, then. Among the other students there was also Weiss Schnee, easily recognizable by the imperious sound of her voice and the massive amount of ridiculously expensive perfumes she had on her persona. Another girl, one who he heard being called Pyrrha Nikos, was wearing some kind of armour, if he had to guess something very light except for her legs, and high heels. He would never understand why Huntresses wore heels. They hindered movement like nothing else.

After Professor Glynda Goodwitch had welcomed them to Beacon, he had been expecting the students to break into excited chatter, but he was pleasantly surprised when that didn't happen. Maybe there was something about the woman that had shut them all up. He had indeed heard the silence after she had spoken.

He heard and felt the Bullhead gears beginning to slow down, sign they were approaching their destination, and thus that his own destination was nearby. Beacon Academy. After his `instructor` had unlocked his Aura and sent him to Vale with a train ticket bought with money no doubt coming from illegal methods, Jaune had wanted only one thing from life: attend Beacon Academy. He still remembered that when he was younger, he and his twin sister Joan used to dream about being heroes. Then he had been exiled and he had met the man who had beaten him for two years before sending him to Beacon.

Now, he didn't want to be a hero any more, not for the reasons he had when he was younger. At the naive age of fifteen, he had wanted to become a hero to help and protect people, to save the innocent people from the Grimm... but now he knew the truth. The so-called `innocents` could be monsters. He had been exiled because of those `innocents`. The Faunus had felt the need to create the White Fang because of those `innocents`. Many modern-age tyrants ruled freely because those `innocents` didn't care. Many `innocents` were forced to become criminals in order to survive, all because the other `innocents` hadn't cared about them.

Now, he wanted to attend Beacon Academy because his sister had always wanted to, and she never had the chance to realize her dream. Now, he wanted to become a hero because he had promised Joan, when he left his house, that he would become a hero. That he would become stronger and attend Beacon. That he would become a Huntsman. Now, he only wanted to fulfil a promise made to a crying girl on the threshold of a house that wasn't home any more, while holding that girl in his arms to comfort her, even when he already knew he wasn't ever coming back.

It was the least he could do for her. Joan, his damnation, his salvation, the one he promised to become a hero. And even if the other Arcs had told him that his name wasn't Arc any more, because he wasn't part of their family any more, he would never go back on his word. Not even if he had to kill all the Grimm on the planet. He would die rather than break his promise, even if it was an empty promise aimed only to comfort a crying girl during a clear Spring night.

The Bullhead smoothly slowed to a stop and the doors opened, letting the students out and into Beacon's courtyard. Jaune sighed as he followed the stream, hanging in the back of the crowd, feeling the warm rays of the Sun fighting off the freshness the air conditioning system of the Bullhead had left on his skin. The students chattered like a flock of birds, talking about their expectations and their fears, and making up improbable hypothesis about the oncoming year at Beacon Academy. He frowned when he heard a deep male voice -deep usually indicating size larger than average- commenting how he would like for Beacon not to accept `animals`, clearly referring to the Faunus. How he hated those appellatives. Even if the Faunus had some animal traits, humans could be much more bestial.

Although it was also true that Faunus too had done horrible things.

He shook his head. There were no `innocents` in the world. Just people who had done less evil than the average. Only a newborn could be deemed `innocent`. He frowned. It was also true, thought, that often people turned out how they were because of what had happened in their pasts. The White Fang had turned into a murderous terrorist gang after the years of terror and racism from the humans. In a way, they were all `innocents`.

How he hated that word.

Innocent. Guiltless. Blameless. Innocuous. Naive. It was amusing how different words could have such a similar meaning, and yet be completely different. He had been guiltless, in his own way, but he was far from innocuous, naive or innocent. `Innocent` was too used and too little thought about. People used that word without really knowing if what or who they're using it to was really `innocent`. For example, the short girl who smelled like rose petals, Ruby if he wasn't wrong, was probably innocent when meaning naive, but surely she wasn't guiltless. Even when she had seen the Dust -he could smell it from where he stood, for Oum's sake- she hadn't taken any steps away, instead standing right in the middle of the cloud of extremely volatile Dust and finally igniting it with a sneeze. Of course the other girl, the overly perfumed Weiss Schnee, shouldn't have agitated the vial of Dust, and she should've stopped as soon as she had seen the leak, a rookie mistake for someone who knew so much on Dust. They were both blameable for the accident.

When a third girl, the Faunus from the ship, approached them, she became blameable too, since she intentionally shot a not-so-veiled insult to the Schnee. She wasn't innocent, but at the same time she was right to accuse the Schnee Dust Company of slavery and Faunus exploit. Did that made her completely guilty for provoking the Schnee, or did that justify her actions? It wasn't an easy question. Someone who had never heard of the slavery would've said that her words were harsh and also aimed to the wrong person, since Weiss Schnee wasn't the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, but someone who was informed about it would've probably agreed with her in condemning the Schnee family.

He was neutral. The answer simply didn't exist. There wasn't a real line between good and evil, because there was no Good and Evil. What was good? Donating food to the poor might've been good, but if that food was donated only to gain reputation and ascend to power? Not so much. Killing a person wasn't good, but if that person was hurting a child, maybe it wasn't so bad either. Stealing was wrong, but if you were doing it only because you had to in order to feed your own family, didn't that make you the victim? He had no answer to those questions. He'd leave it to other people to discuss and discriminate over that. He had no time for such idiocies.

Walking up to the young girl had been out of a moment of pity. She hadn't gotten up from the ground, she had given up. Her position reminded him of all the times he'd found himself in that position, a boot on his chest or a blade merrily piercing his skin and flesh as the man pressed it deeper just to watch him suffer. He liked to think that even after two years passed being beaten -he wouldn't lie and say `training`. That hadn't been training, although he did learn from it- he was different from the man. He wouldn't laugh and leave her on the ground like he'd done with him. He was better than that.

He walked up to her and offered her a hand, in silence. It wasn't as if there was something to say, after all. He felt her tiny hand grab his gloved one and he pulled, lifting her on her feet. She was really light and short, and if the sound of her footsteps as she shuffled awkwardly on the spot was any indication, she wasn't wearing heels, but combat boots. There was also something else, a rustling sound that probably came from a skirt or a cape, or maybe both. He was also sure of the cape, hearing it shift with every movement the girl made, and fairly sure of the skirt, hearing it brush against her legs every now and then.

"So~", she said, a tiny, lively and acute voice. She was probably younger than he was. "I'm Ruby".

He nodded. "Jaune", he introduced himself, and then they fell silent again. He had nothing to say, and he could almost feel her nervousness. The light but continuous shuffling of her feet, her slightly irregular breathing, the small noises she made through closed lips, as if she was trying to come up with something to say, but she couldn't find it in her to say it. And then there was the very atmosphere around her. It was lively, but at the moment he could feel she was nervous. Not that she shouldn't have been: they had just met, after all.

He stifled a sigh as he used one of his trump cards to break the silence. "Can you guide me to the atrium?", he asked, although he didn't need to. He had heard the students walk in that direction, and the air was still saturated with the students' scents, so he could've just followed that trail and reached the atrium without any problem. But asking for `help` had worked before, and he was fairly sure it would work with her, too.

"Oh... you're blind?", she asked, looking up at him. His face was hidden both by his hood and by the thick cloth covering his eyes and upper face, so she couldn't really tell, but her tone indicated his plan had worked, and she was less nervous now.

Instead of answering vocally, he nodded. There was no denying it. After all, he was blind, although he could move and fight perfectly even without his sight. His other senses, included the famous `six sense`, his empathy, his insight and instincts and his Aura provided him with all he needed to know about his surroundings. He would go as far as saying that he saw more than many people saw. Firstly, because he wasn't able to judge just by the appearance of a person. He had no idea if the clothes Ruby was wearing were expensive or not, or if she was wearing much make-up... although he doubted it, since the only scent on her that wasn't hers was a slight rose perfume that only highlighted her natural rose petals scent -seriously, the girl smelled like roses- and a slight dog scent, probably from a pet at home, since it would've been different, had she been a Faunus. While other people could make themselves a mental image of Ruby based off what they saw of her, he had to find out personally. It was a better way to get to know people. Sight wasn't needed when you were observing a person.

For example, when he heard her soft `oh` of pity and compassion, he learned that Ruby was a compassionate person, although she didn't know what being blind was like. For many people, being blind was a curse, especially for the ones who weren't. For the ones who accepted it and worked hard to make up for it, sometimes it was a blessing. Ruby didn't know that, but she had a good heart and she felt sorry for him. The atmosphere around her had gone from nervous to sorry.

"Okay, then, take my hand and follow me", she said, trying to grab his hand, but he stepped back and she missed. "Oh?".

"I don't need you to lead me by hand", he explained wearily. Some people really thought that blinds were completely incapable of moving. How did she think he had found her on the ground? "Just walk and I'll follow your footsteps".

"Oh... okay", she repeated, awkwardly beginning to walk, slowly at first but faster once she noticed he was keeping up without any problem. "So~... I have this thing~".

He stiffened at the sound of unfolding metal and mechanisms. It was clearly something with gears and clockworks. From the sound it made when the end hit the ground, it must've been large but not extremely heavy, since it was the girl's weapon, and she herself was pretty petite. Just before it hit the ground, he heard the hiss of a blade cutting through air, so her weapon was a bladed one. He doubted it was a sword, since she would've carried normally and he would've heard it moving on her back or at her hip. An axe or a mace were improbable, too, because the girl seemed too gracile to use those kind of weapon, and that ruled out halberds too. Since it had unfolded, it was probably a polearm, large but not heavy. A pike or a spear could've been, but it had a blade, so those were ruled out. There were very few other polearms with a blade, especially so when he had to consider the size of the wielder. If he was right, it must've been something she could spin to avoid having to use her own strength to attack, and instead use the weight of the weapon. So something with a blade on the top, and useful when spun. The fastest answer that came to mind was a scythe. Quite a bit unwieldy, but who was he to judge?

"Is that a scythe?", he asked just to confirm his hypothesis.

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle", she said, loading a round. The sound made him frown. The barrel had to be hidden in the pole, since he doubted the blade of the scythe could've housed a `high-impact sniper rifle`. Also, if it was a sniper rifle, she would've to have the scope mounted where she could use it. The sound of the loading was loud, and near, so he guessed it was a manually reloadable rifle. Often, that mean a really high calibre.

"That's cool", he replied, more out of politeness than out of real interest. Yes, it was cool, but weapons needed to be effective, not cool.

"So what do you have?", she asked, evidently interested.

He gestured at himself. "It would be a bit long to explain, but you can just take a look. I've got all my equipment on myself", he replied almost with disinterest. If his senses were right, they were moving away from the atrium, so he decided to change the subject. "By the way, weren't we going to the auditorium?".

"Yes, why... oh, wait, do you know where the auditorium is?", she asked, panic clear in her voice and how she almost jumped on the spot, trying to calm herself down.

"Me? I was following you", he laughed. The girl was amusing, he had to give her that. Apparently, she had forgotten he was blind. He didn't know if to feel amused or touched by that. Yes, it was funny, but finding someone able to forget his `handicap` so easily was good. Ruby seemed alright, so he decided to help her out with their path. "However, if I'm not wrong, the other students went that way".

"Oh, really?", exclaimed Ruby, realization creeping in her voice, probably after she had looked and seen the atrium. "Oh, right, let's go!".

He chuckled as he jogged after her, following the sounds of her running footsteps.

The two arrived soon after, and from the sounds of it the atrium was already full of people. How loathsome. He hated crowds. His senses were sharp and trained enough to avoid being overwhelmed by the sounds of a multitude of hormonal students in full excited-mode, but that didn't mean it was a pleasant experience. He had hoped Ruby could keep him company, but the voice of her older sister, Yang if he wasn't wrong, called her away, leaving him alone once again. Not that he really complained. It wasn't bad to be alone. Especially if he'd have to share a room with other people for the next four years.

He couldn't help but overhead the conversation Weiss and Ruby had immediately afterwards. He admired Ruby's willingness to be friends with a girl who basically yelled at her over nothing and then had a hand in causing an explosion with Dust. But he also couldn't help but notice how naive Ruby was. Did she really think Weiss would've given her a chance just because Big Sis had told them to start anew? The sarcasm was so thick he could've walked on it without problem, and that wasn't his Semblance or something like that.

A new voice tore him from his thoughts. It was a moderately deep voice, without doubt male, and old. Not the tone, even though even that sounded old, but more of the inflexion. It was the voice of someone who had lived long, and had begun to ponder on every decision and every word before speaking. The voice was old, way older than anything he'd ever heard before, apart from the sounds of Nature itself.

"I'll keep this brief", said the voice. 'The welcoming speech', guessed Jaune. 'So this must be Ozpin. I doubt he would delegate the speech to others'. "You've travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you've finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people".

Jaune frowned. Normally, reading people's voice was manageable, if not downright easy with the most open of people, but he really couldn't read the Headmaster's. He sounded serious and grave, but there was something else. Not like the headmaster was hiding something... more like there was something he was thinking about even while speaking, and it wasn't the welcoming speech. It was frustrating not being able to read his voice.

"But I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose... direction". Jaune felt a spike of irritation at the man's words, but judging from how easily and carelessly he had said them, he either was the best offender in the world, or he hadn't meant them in an offensive way. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove you that knowledge can carry you only so far... it's up to you, to make the first step".

The man walked away, a his footsteps accompanied by a drier, louder sound. The man used a cane, although he wasn't leaning on it, otherwise it would've made a much louder noise, and his footsteps would've been much lighter. A second pair of footsteps walked forward, probably a woman since he could hear heels, and he had yet to meet a man wearing heels, especially high ones like the ones the woman was wearing. Judging from the soft rustling coming from her, she too had a cloak, although a different one since hers, as opposite to Ruby's, didn't touch the ground.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight", she said, and he recognized Professor Glynda Goodwitch's voice, stern and professional. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready".

Jaune stiffened, his frown strengthening. He knew he would have to sleep in the same room as his teammates, once the year started, but not that he would have to sleep with everyone else. He had already noticed the stares he was getting for his hood, that covered part of his face, and his weapons, that covered part of his body. He already imagined the stares he would receive without them. No, the weapons he would give up, but he would find a way not to be seen. As long as nobody saw him, he was fine with sleeping with the others. He would go to sleep later and get up earlier.

With that goal in mind, he stored his weapons in his locker, honestly taking a lot of time purposefully, before slowly making his way to the ballroom. He could hear the continuous chitchat of the students, and he -unfortunately- could also smell the odour of said students. Amassing so many people in just one room wasn't the most odourless solution for the housing of said students, especially if one of those students was blind and had trained his olfactory sense in order to make up for the lack of sight. Sweat, several perfumes and deodorants sprayed to cover the sweat, beer from at least a couple of students, other scents from the Faunuses... there was enough to fill a book. He tried to ignored the smell and instead walked up to his sleeping bag, that he had dragged away from the others. Basing on the sounds of sparse conversation and in some cases the odours of perfumes and deodorants, he managed to avoid all the students, ignoring the stares he could feel digging into his figure. The less interested he looked, the sooner those stares would've gone away.

As he predicted, many lost interest in the still fully-clothed boy and continued their chatter. Embarrassingly enough, he could hear perfectly well almost half the conversation in the room, since they didn't exactly tried to whisper. So he learned that one of the boys in a corner had an overly affectionate aunt that showered him in embarrassing compliments and gave him candies every time she came over to visit. One of the girls had already got her eyes on a boy, and she was discussing him with her friends, in the end agreeing with a well-earned eight in handsomeness rating. A boy with even more perfume and deodorant than Weiss Schnee herself boasted around about his...ehm ehm... length... and how it was the largest among his three brother's... something he really didn't need to know. Another boy -the one he heard calling the Faunus `animals` in the courtyard- was laughing alongside other three voices -boys, given the timbre- about Faunus not being true men but true beasts. He was liking that guy less and less every second that passed.

Four girls -Ruby, her sister Yang, Weiss Schnee, and the cat Faunus girl from the courtyard- began and ended an argument, and finally the silence fell on them all. He could hear the shuffling of blankets as the students finally went to bed. He waited for half an hour before grabbing his blanket and walking out of the ballroom, into the bathroom. He quickly removed his clothes and folded them carefully, blindly of course, before wrapping himself in the blankets just in case one of the Faunus was still awake, and walking back into the ballroom. He heard no gasp of surprise nor snort of laughter, so he guessed nobody would disturb him any further. He fell on his bed and listened to the students' steady breathing.

The next morning he would have to do the same thing, unless he decided to dress himself from under the blanket, and in any case he would have to do it before any of the students awoke. He wasn't particularly worried. He had learned to sleep very little and he could move like a cat -no offence to the Faunus girl-, so it wouldn't be a problem. And even if a Faunus was to wake up and see him, he would've been hidden by his blanket. The problem had been solved. Now it was time to sleep.

And hope for no nightmares.

Guess who's the man who `trained` Jaune?

God, it has been hard to describe everything without using the sight. I've passed an entire hour with my eyes closed to try and listen to my other senses. And I've discovered that my brother is very loud when cursing at his videogame.

Since this will get the ship that loses the pool of The Grimm of Beacon, you can vote here too, just keep in mind to specify if you want the ship here or in The Grimm of Beacon.

Until next time,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh