Jaune sighed dejectedly as he stepped through the streets of Vale. The stars shone overhead, along with the shattered moon. The transcripts he had submitted had gotten him into Beacon, and all he had to do was pass the initiation next month. It couldn't be that hard. So what if he had no training, education, or anything even remotely related to huntsmen. He would prove his family that he was ready.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated how much life was willing to bring a man down. As soon as he had arrived in Vale, he had nearly gotten mugged, the only thing that kept his lien in his pocket was the sword hanging from his hip, one of the muggers recognizing it as a huntsman weapon, quickly scaring the others off. Then, booking a motel room for a month had been a lot more expensive that he had realized, eating up most of his funds.

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his mind, Jaune crossed an intersection, the crossing signal blinking lazily as he moved. He was hungry, and the only food place that wasn't takeout was quite a walk from the motel, forcing the young man to trek the city at a time he wasn't entirely comfortable with. The weight of his family sword on his hip calmed more than he felt it should have. After all, he barely knew he to swing the thing, and if he needed to use it, he was going to have to rely on the comics and video games he had invested most of his time in to show him the ropes.

Slowing as he approached the food joint he had looked up, Jaune looked around, not for any particular reason, more from a habit he had picked up during his school years, bullies teaching him to always be vigilant. Always. Not seeing anyone, the young man opened the door, the smell of food reaching his nose pleasantly. There were hardly any customers, only a lone man at the counter, tearing into his meal with zeal. From behind the counter, an employee, a man with dark blue hair, took a look at Jaune, and saw the sword at his hip, a frown on his face. "If you're coming here to eat, you're gonna need to put that with the other one."

Jaune blinked in confusion, and the employee rolled his eyes, before pointing to the left of the young man, where he saw a guandao leaning against the wall. Unhooking his sword from his belt, Jaune placed it next to the other weapon. Taking a seat close to the other customer, Jaune was handed a menu, which was more diverse in culture than he was expecting. Looking at the food, and the prices that went with them, Jaune could feel the strain it would place on his already pitiful funds.

After a solid three minutes of staring, the silence was broken form the other customer. "For the love of- Hey, Bisman, just give him my usual. I'll pay for it." At those words, Jaune turned to the man, getting a better look at him. The man was older than he first thought, the graying edges of the man's shoulder length hair and thin beard showed that he had to be at least as old as his dad, probably older. The man was lean, his skin a shade or two paler than Jaune's own. His clothes looked simple enough, with a plain white button up shirt, and black jeans, with a ring held by a twine necklace around his neck. Folded on the seat next to the man was what looked like a grey duster.

Blinking in confusion, Jaune shook his head. "Oh, no, that's fine. I can pay, just need to-"

Unfortunately, Jaune didn't get too far in his sentence. "Shut up and take the food. I've never seen you here, and new people take forever to decide on what they want. Besides," The man turned to Jaune, peering into the blonde's soul with cold, dark grey eyes. "I have a few questions about that sword of yours." Jaune gulped, fear gripping at him.

"A-alright then." Jaune wasn't sure what it was about the man that sent a chill up his spine, but he didn't like it. Roughly ten minutes later, the employee, Bisman, brought out a large plate, the food mainly consisting of fried rice, and various meats.

"Eat up, kid. It's not everyday that old Gray here decides to pay for somebody's meal." Bisman let out a snort, apparently finding some amusement in the situation. As the smell of the food hit Jaune, he felt his stomach growl, and his mouth start to salivate. With a quick thanks to the old man, the blonde began to eat as if it was the first time he'd seen anything edible in a week.

"This is amazing!" Jaune exclaimed between mouthfuls, shoveling forkful after forkful into his mouth. More than once he nearly choked, needing to swallow the water that had come with the food, which earned an eye roll from both men. Unfortunately, Jaune had barely started to appreciate the flavors of his meal before it had been devoured. Once every scrap was gone, Jaune let out a sigh in satisfaction.

The old man chuckled. "Well, glad to see you liked it. If you didn't, I would take that as a personal insult, and I would have had to kill you." Jaune let himself laugh nervously, unsure if the old man had actually meant it. "Well, I gave you food in your belly. I would say it's more than fair if I ask you a few questions." The young man gulped nervously, a small part of his mind wondering if he would be able to get his sword and run fast enough to get away from the man.

Fortunately, the larger part of his mind wasn't stupid enough to take that chance. "Alright. What do you wanna know?"

The man gave Jaune a grin. "Well, first thing's first. Just what exactly are you doing with it, and not you're dad? He give the sword to you?" Letting out a snort, the man let himself answer one of the questions. "No, good ol' Nick would have said something about the next Arc huntsman. So, what, you're some kind of runaway?"

Jaune could feel terror grip at him, and sweat begin to collect at his palms. Swallowing thickly, he opened his mouth. "Uh, well, you see, the funny thing about that... It's, well-"

Bisman let out a sigh, cutting Jaune's sentence early, much to the blonde's relief. "Jeez, Grayson, calm down will ya? You're gonna scare the kid to death at this rate."

Chuckling darkly, the old man, Grayson, kept his eyes on Jaune, like a predator that was toying with its prey. "Yeah? Well maybe that's what I'm going for. Maybe he's too much of a coward to come up with a good lie on the spot like this, and maybe he'll just try to run."

Those words were the straw that broke the camel's back. Turning swiftly, another skill acquired from bullies, Jaune began to run like a man possessed. He took three steps before he felt a hand on the back of his hoodie, his feet being thrown out from under him, and gagging from the force his neckline had abruptly put onto his neck. Landing on his back, Jaune let out a whimper as he looked up, to find Grayson standing over him, his arms folded across his chest. Scared out of his mind, the young man let the first thing that came to his mind out of his mouth. "Please don't hurt me."

Grayson sighed and shook his head. "Listen, kid, I"m not going to hurt you. At least, not if you just cooperate, and talk." The old man unfolded his arms, and reached out, silently offering a bit of help getting up.

Jaune took the hand quickly, both out of fear of what would happen if he didn't, as well as genuinely needing the hand, being a tad disoriented from his fall. "Thanks. I guess." Jaune walked to his previous seat, and took his spot, while Grayson simply turned from his position, standing a few feet away from the young man. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

Letting out another sigh, Grayson walked to his duster, searching through the article of clothing until he had pulled out a canteen. Unscrewing the lid, the old man began to drink from the canteen. And drink. And drink.

Once Grayson had downed the entire canteen in a single go, he set it down, and let out a burp that had lasted a staggering seven seconds. Bisman waved the air in front of his nose, face scrunched. "Good gods, Grayson. What the hell did you put in there?"

The old man looked up thoughtfully, and tapped a finger against his chin. "Well, Glynda recommended this new tea the other day, and I managed to pick some up. It didn't smell so great, but it tastes okay enough. A little too bitter for my palette, but that's for another time. For now," Grayson turned his attention to Jaune, who had been silent through the exchange. "Questions. First off; does your family even know you're here? Left a little note home? Because for some reason, Nick hadn't said a thing about this. So, either he never expected you to even get close to this far, or he trusts you on this whole mess. Could go either way, really."

Feeling his face flush with shame, the blonde let out a tortured sigh. "No, I just took the sword, the money I managed to save up, and left. No note, no call, nothing. I haven't even heard from my family for a few weeks."

Grayson stroked his meager beard, looking at Jaune as if examining a puzzle. "Well, that makes things a lot harder. Can't exactly just call ol' Nick and tell him his son is in Vale. Second question; what are you even here for? I don't exactly have enough info to get a good guess going."

Jaune shook his head. "I'm here for Beacon." At this, Grayson blinked, then began to chuckle, which escalated into cackles of laughter. For a bit, the old man just laughed. After a full minute, Jaune snapped. "I'm serious!"

Chuckling still, Grayson nodded. "Oh, heh, I know, hehehe, it's just... Well, you're not exactly Beacon material. I don't mean to in an insulting way, it's just a fact. I mean, all I really did to stop you from running was grab your hoodie, and you went down like a sack of bricks. Huntsmen need to be able to take actual hits. The kind that would kill normal people."

Jaune's eyes widened. "Wait, what? How? What kind of armor do you have to wear to be able to tank that kind of hit?"

Grayson let out a snort. "Damn kid, you really don't have what it takes if you don't know the answer to that." A moment passed, then Grayson blinked, looked back to the young blonde man, contemplating. Jaune didn't like the way he was being stared at, like some piece of meat. Finally, after two or three minutes, Grayson snapped his fingers, and slapped his palm onto the counter, which left an imprint the exact shape as his hand. Looking at it, Grayson gave a sigh. "Look, Bisman, I'll pay for that, just don't say anything, I just made a decision."

The blue haired man just shook his head and sighed, staying silent. Jaune was less so. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, but what was that just now?"

Grayson grinned. "I'm sorry for this, but I'm going to answer that question with another question. Exactly how much training have you had to be so confident about going to Beacon?"

The blonde blinked, then a look of fear and nervousness shot across his features. "Uh, well, y'know, I'm so trained, like you wouldn't even believe."

The old man's grin inched ever wider. "Oh, I think I have a solution to your problem."

Jaune held up a finger, to correct the man. "Uh, don't you mean 'our' problems?"

"Nope, I mean your problem, because I have nothing to lose from this situation. But, on to my decision." Grayson clasped his hands together, his grin looking more and more maniacal. "You see, good young Jaune Arc, it's simple. I'm going to train you to be ready for Beacon in a single month."

Jaune blinked once. Then again. Then once more. "I'm sorry. It sounded like you said you were going to train me, could you tell me what you actually said?"

The grin never left Grayson's face. "I'm going to train you to be Beacon-ready. In a month. After all, you're an Arc, and Arcs are warriors. You should be fine." Grayson slapped an arm around Jaune's shoulders. "Oh, this is going to be the start of something beautiful. Or tragic. Definitely one of those two." Releasing Jaune, the old man grabbed the duster from the seat, and put it on with a smooth, practiced motion. Digging through his pockets, Grayson pulled out his wallet, and extracted a lot of lien, tossing it to Bisman. "There, that should cover the food, and most of the counter top. And before you say anything, don't worry. The kid is in safe hands." Moving toward the entrance, Grayson grabbed the guandao, and strapped it to his back. He then picked up Crocea Mors, and tossed it to Jaune, who caught it just in time. "C'mon kid. We have places to see, people to meet, the whole shebang." The grin, which had reached Cheshire levels, was planted firmly as Grayson opened the door, and strode out into the night.

Jaune could only fasten the ancestral sword to his belt as he rushed to catch up to the old huntsman. "Uh, excuse me! Can you slow down? Where are we even going?!"

Grayson turned on his heel, stopping abruptly, but thanks to Jaune's slow movement, the young blonde managed to stop himself before crashing into the huntsman. "Tell me, young Arc, what's the most illegal thing you've done? And be honest with me. I'll know if you're lying. You're bad at it."

Blushing, Jaune rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uh, you see, I might have, maybe, kind, sorta, y'know... Forged the transcripts I sent to Beacon..."

The silence than fell over the dark street, lit only by the lights of nearby businesses and homes, was nearly tangible. After a solid minute, Grayson spoke up. "You know, I'd congratulate you, but that would be like spitting in Ozpin's face. If you're sending fake documents, they're not letting that slide by undetected." Gone was the previous mischief, replaced by a solemn curiosity. "Hm. And you haven't gotten any letter or anything of the sort declining your entrance." A quick shake of the head from Jaune put a frown on Grayson's face. "Alright. Where'd you get those transcripts anyway? Some back alley thug?"

Jaune scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Well, I didn't really get a name from the guy, but he was really flamboyant, had his hair covering one of his eyes, and dressed pretty well for a criminal."

Apparently that was more than enough information to come to a conclusion he hadn't hoped for, because the groan Grayson let out could have been in a zombie flick. "Great. What did he charge? An arm and a leg?"

"Actually, he called it an investment, and said it was free." It was a bit strange thinking back on it, but at the time Jaune thought nothing aside of how lucky he had been.

The old huntsman's eyes widened, and he shouted out, "He what?!"

Wincing, Jaune nodded. "Yeah, not really sure what he meant by that, but it was a pretty good deal."

Slapping his forehead, Grayson dragged the hand down his face. "Right. Sure. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. So, you're not so innocent then. Good, because we're going to an underground fight ring, and I'm going to sign you up. Get ready, because they are going to tear you apart."

The blonde's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" The sound following was definitely not the whimpering of a child, despite any statements to the contrary Grayson would later give.

"Wow, didn't think people could get that high pitched." Rubbing at an ear, Grayson scowled at Jaune. "Anyway, yeah. Fight club, but there aren't any rules keeping anyone from talking about it. It's actually doing the economy some wonders with how much it's raking in. So, I'm signing you up, and betting everything I have in my pocket on you, so don't lose."

"What?! Why would you bet on me?! Why are you condoning this?! Aren't you supposed to stop this sort of thing?!"

Letting a smile on his face, Grayson answered Jaune's questions in order. "Fight club. You have an ace up your sleeve. Because I'm not some naive kid thinking all crime is bad. And finally, my job is actually keeping people safe from Grimm, although I focus more on the 'keep people safe' part." Waving off any objections, Grayson pressed on. "So yeah, we're going to a place I used to go to a lot when I was younger. Not a good time in my life, I'll tell you that much for free. Now," The huntsman grabbed Jaune by his arm, and began to drag him along, not even noticing the flailing and attempts at escape from the young man. "Let's get going. There's money to be made, secrets to reveal, and asses to kick. Maybe not that last one, but two out of three ain't bad." Jaune whimpered.

If anyone had told Jaune in the past that fight clubs were actually a lot more organized than he had thought, he would have asked how they knew that, then told them they were crazy. But lo and behold, there was no crowd cheering for blood, no concrete cellars and single light bulbs, instead a rather nice cage in the middle of a large empty room. There were only about a couple dozen people present, all of which had nicer clothing than Jaune could have dreamed of owning. As Grayson led the blonde lad through the building, Jaune couldn't help but notice how confident in direction the old man was. He supposed that made sense, since Grayson had commented how frequently he came here when he was younger.

"Alright, so, luckily, we're the last match of the night, and considering that, there won't be as many people around, the main event's gone, and people don't really care about the fights after the hyped match. Now, about that ace I mentioned earlier." Opening a door, Grayson ushered Jaune inside. "So, you asked earlier about armor taking hits from Grimm. There isn't. At least, not by itself." Smirking, Grayson held up a hand, which then glowed brightly, with a dark bluish tint. "But, if you can channel some aura into it, it can help."

Jaune watched, amazed by the light coming from the old man. "Aura?"

Rolling his eyes, Grayson nodded. "Aura. It's what keeps hunters alive. We can do a whole lot with it, if we have the control, aura needed, and drive needed. But right now, we're going to focus on defense, making sure you can take a hit." Reaching out the glowing hand, Grayson placed it atop of Jaune's head, and the young man felt something well up inside of him.

"Uh, what's happening right now?" There was concern, but the blonde was sure Grayson knew what he was doing.

"Right now, I'm going to unlock your aura." Clearing his throat, Grayson began to speak, his voice clearer than Jaune had ever heard before. "For it is in understanding that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of self and morality to rise above all. Infinite in wisdom and unbound by doubt, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, guide thee."

The moment the words left Grayson's mouth, Jaune felt it. It wasn't anything he could describe exactly, but he could try. "This... It felt like I just had a star born inside of my body." Letting out a laugh, Jaune turned his attention to Grayson. "Thanks."

Grayson didn't hear, too stunned by the amount of aura he had just unlocked. Letting out a low whistle, the huntsman shook his head slowly. "You know, I went on a few missions with ol' Nick, and he had a lot of aura, but you have a metric shit ton of the stuff." Shaking his had to clear his thoughts, Grayson narrowed his eyes, and his tone become all business. "Alright kid, we don't have long, so here's the basics. This stuff is mainly for defense, and you have to call it out when you want it out, otherwise you're getting your teeth smashed in. Since you just got it, we can't be sure exactly your instinctual control is, so think of it as riding a bike, gotta learn before you never forget. Call it out real quick, if you can." A bright white light suddenly flashed throughout the room, blinding both men inside. "Holy shit! Alright, you might have a bit more control than I thought. Okay, so just making sure you know this before hand, but your opponent also has aura. I can tell you for free that it's going to be a lot less than yours though, so you really only need to wear his aura down before going for the kill. Figuratively, this is one of those fight clubs." Rubbing his eyes, vision was slowly brought back to Grayson. Unfortunately, Jaune wasn't as well off. He was doubled over, his eyes shut, hands closed tightly over them. Sighing, Grayson pointed out another of aura's uses. "Another thing aura can do is heal minor injuries. Including temporary blindness. The kind you have right now. Just focus on your eyes getting better, and the aura will do the rest." Hearing this, Jaune nodded, and began to focus on the healing of his eyes, the aura flowing through them, a sensation that startled Jaune at first. Opening his eyes slowly, he found that he could see again, with a grinning Grayson the first thing he saw. "Good. Make sure to not get too hurt, aura isn't a cure-all. Lose a tooth, finger, limb, anything like that, and it's gone forever. Unless you can afford a good Atlas prosthetic. You got all that? Summarize real quick for me, kid."

Nodding to himself, Jaune counted off the uses of aura. "It's mainly for defense, the guy I'm fighting has aura too, and aura can help heal some small stuff."

Grayson nodded, a small smile playing at his face. "Good. Now, I'm gonna show you a few punches and kicks. Make sure you know how to throw a proper punch before I throw you to the wolves." Jaune's expression turned from excited to afraid faster than Grayson had thought possible. "Oh don't worry, I'm not gonna break any of your bones. See? Who ever said that crime and illegal activity can't be beneficial?"