Son of the World Eater

ch 1: A Dragon's Beacon

Puberty sucked. That much was obvious for anyone who went through it. For Jaune Arc, as he rode the airship to Beacon, he was cursing every deity for making him face a second puberty, especially now. Thanks to his father, he was accepted into Beacon by passing the entrance test even without an active Aura. Still, he ached, itched, and was generally uncomfortable as he forced down his growth. It took multiple combinations of illusions and alteration magics just to not attract hostile attention with his changing form.

Jaune Arc was a dragon in human skin; the son of the World Eater and a human-as unlikely as that...partnership...was.

As it was now, there were only 9 dragons left; his sisters, his dad, and himself. His sister, Saphron, had already earned her Dovah name.

Nahstrunviing… Nah-Fury, Strun-Storm, Viing-Wing...Her Dovah name meant Winged Storm Fury. Jaune had felt the very world tremble as Alduin Named her.

He felt like he had to live up to that very event. While they were given human names by their mother, Dragons did not have names upon birth. Instead their names were titles earned for events. While his father did not trust humans except their human forms and their mother, Jaune did not share the same view. Neither did Saphron, as she took the human woman Terra Cotta as her loved one. When Alduin stared down Terra in his Dovah form, Saphron had shifted into her own Dovah form and launched a Frost Breath Thu'um at him. When Terra stayed by Saphron's side...Alduin granted her his blessing on one condition.

When they decided they wanted a child, they would come to him so he could perform a ritual to create a child within Saphron from Terra's very genetic makeup. While the child will look more like Terra, this would mean he or she would be more likely to be a dragon itself. After granting his blessing, Alduin then gave Saphron her Dovah name for staring down a Dovah that could kill her in a heartbeat.

His mother's family had a history of making great warriors and heroes...and Jaune hoped that trying to live up to that reputation would please his father enough to earn his Dovah name. As for his skills without Aura, Dragons were born with the ability to use magic...and a deadly power called the "Thu'um", or "Shout". A Dragon's Shout was made from three "Words of Power" within the Dovah Zul, or Dragon Language, that was within a dragon's very soul from the moment they were born. Not only that, but the sharp, steel-hard scales, fangs, and claws on a Dovah also proved to be formidable weapons.

It was why Jaune tended to get quiet when angry; his Voice could blast apart his own home if not carefully maintained. There were certainly enough patched holes in his homes from when his sisters got mad!

He wore sneakers with left and right written on the bottom-a safety precaution lest he lose himself to Dovah instincts and forget which one goes on which side, blue jeans with rips in the knees from constant training with two belts in an "X" form on his waist holding his ancestor's weapon; Crocea Mors. Above that, he had a yellow shirt underneath a Pumpkin Pete's hoodie... call him childish, but he was proud about winning that when most of his sisters also competed for it. Above that, he had white armor plates on his chest, shoulders, and back with his Family Crest on his left shoulder and golden borders on each armored plate.

Near him, two girls were embracing with a closeness found among his own sisters. One had a mane of golden hair and lilac eyes with brown and yellow clothing, the other had black hair with red streaks and silver eyes with black and red clothing complete with a red hooded cape. He caught the words that the silver eyed girl was arriving two years early and felt like someone punched his gut. Here he had worked hard to hone his combat skills to enter Beacon without his Aura, and this girl got in two years early.

Forcing down a growl, he took a deep breath and worked on suppressing his dragon pride and took a careful observation of the two girls; a task made harder since his mother had babied him the most being the only son among seven sisters. He started with the blonde his age. Her golden gauntlets held shotgun shells and her muscles were not bulging like a bodybuilder, but they were definitely stronger than his own human form's. Seeing no blade on her person, Jaune deduced that she specialized in hand-to-hand combat. That was something he could respect. Hand-to-Hand was becoming more rare in the age of mechashift and projectile weapons.

Casting his eyes to the younger girl, he could see that her arm muscles were not as developed as the blonde's, but the ones in her legs were very lean and strong. A ranged fighter that used speed. The later was definitely useful for ranged fighters. His father stated that in the past those who specialized using Bows were often quickly outmatched when the distance between them and their target was suddenly removed. At least with speed on her side, the young one could keep distance between her and her target.

"Can we help you?" Jaune blinked and he saw the girls staring at him, a small thoughtful frown on the blonde's face. Great. He had zoned out looking at them and they had noticed.

"Sorry. I got lost in thought there." Jaune said honestly, "This is the furthest from home I've ever been on my own." That was also true, as camping trips had always been with his family.

"I understand your nerves." The younger one said with a small smile as the blonde relaxed. "At first it was exciting to be here... now I'm scared."

"Ahkrin. It takes a lot to admit your nerves to another." Jaune said, slipping into Dovah Zul for the first word.

"Ah-what?" The blonde asked with a raised brow.

"Oh. Sorry. Ahkrin. It means 'Courage' in my dad's language." Jaune said, making the blonde grin and the young silver eyed girl look at him in awe for knowing a second language.

"Yang Xiao Long." The blonde said, holding out her hand.

"Jaune Arc." Jaune said, biting his tongue as the rest of his 'introduction' his mother taught him threatened to spill out as he placed his hand in hers. The newly introduced Yang squeezed his hand with a vice grip as Jaune's eyes narrowed and his dragon instincts roared at the challenge and he allowed his hand to harden and muscles to channel his dragon strength and squeezed hard enough that Yang flinched momentarily before giving him a grin and letting go. Apparently he had passed some test.

"I'm Ruby Rose!...So... I've got this!" Ruby said, pulling a red device off her back and Jaune watched a long and almost comically large scythe unfurl. "This is Crescent Rose!"

"A…scythe?!" Jaune said in shock.

"She's also a high-impact sniper rifle." Ruby said proudly, at his blank look she added on "It's also a gun."

"Ah." Jaune said as he unsheathed Crocea Mors and expanded the sheathe into a Heater Shield, his family crest displayed proudly on the front of the shield. "I only have Crocea Mors. It's my ancestor's blade...that as you can see the sheath becomes a shield...that is all it does."

Yang looked at the design while Ruby gave a cheerful grin. "That's alright." Ruby said, "Not everyone has an appreciation for the classics. My sister's gauntlets only fire shotgun shells, so they're rather basic as well."

"Basic!" Yang said in mock indignation as she started ruffling Ruby's hair while Ruby protested, "Ember Celica is awesome!"

"While they are indeed awesome." Jaune said, earning a grin from Yang, "May I suggest adding some armor over the knuckles to keep the bones in your hand safer?"

"Worrying about little ol' Yang, already eh?" Yang said with a teasing smirk.

"No offense meant, of course." Jaune said, "Just thought it would help."

"Don't worry. My little sis and I are quite strong." Yang said while placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. The two sisters had their attention drawn by a recording of a woman coming on the screens of the airship. With this, Jaune let out a sigh and looked at the window as the Airship started to land. While he hated the second puberty he was going through, he was thankful for his Dragon Self... lest he may have his mother's motion sickness.

Still, he was nervous. While he didn't share his father's distrust of humans, he was still scared of their reaction to his growing dragon form. A Humanoid beast that is covered in sharp, dark gray scales with a crown of four horns with yellow tips. If that wouldn't be confused with an unknown form of Grimm like his father once was, he didn't know what would happen.

It was for this very reason Jaune kept his Dovah Heritage a secret; only showing and talking about his Human one...

Made much harder by the fact that NOW his "Dragon Puberty" was hitting now that he was heading to Beacon...but he could handle it...he had to.

For he was the son of Alduin; the World Eater.