Author's Notes.
Well, back at it with some more Jaune Arc King Of The Monsters. Figured since this one, along with The Mad Arc, seem to be my most highly rated stories, figured I'd do some more.
Also, be on the look out for my secret project. This will be done in celebration of reaching 100 followers, though its late because its been slow going.
Anyways, hope you enjoy.
Warning: mentions of depression and self-harm
=Flashback: Beacon, day before Dust Incident=
*Slam*
"Jaune Arc is out of the ring. Ms Valkyrie is the winner"
Pulling himself out of the freshly made hole in the wall, Jaune looked across the arena at his 'opponent'. Though, in saying, that term is used very loosely considering she whacked him as soon as the buzzer sounded. If that wasn't speaking amounts of the pain he's feeling, then how about him being sentenced a fate worst than death.
Those who say punches to the dick by Yang Xiao Long hurt like Hell, obviously never experienced taking Magnhild up there before.
Slowly getting up from his kneeling position on the arena floor, his aura numbing the pain, Jaune idly noted that he's the only here besides Nora, everyone else already gone. Though, wherever Nora is, Ren is bound to be nearby.
'Just leave it Jaune, she's probably basking in the feeling of ending my bloodline' Jaune thought to himself, slowly heading towards the changing room hoping to get to his next class on time. That is, until a voice cut through the silence.
"Why don't you give up already? No one wants you here anyway." he heard Nora say to him in contempt. Though she did bring up an interesting point.
Why was here anyway? His friends abandoned him, except Velvet and Ruby, nearly half of Beacon hates his guts, and he's still here playing make believe. So, why hasn't he left already? Thinking on it, he couldn't come up with anything. By all accounts, he should've left the moment he started being hated, ostracised, abused and everything else in between. Though, thinking some more, perhaps there was one reason he stayed.
Eight female faces looking at him in pity while one male looked at him in mild disappoint, flashed in his mind.
"Because no one believed in me, so I wanted to prove them wrong." Jaune answered, stopping his stride. He really didn't want to answer, but Nora would probably shove Magnhild somewhere he didn't want it to.
"Well guess what?", Nora asked, "They were right, because you're nothing more than a stupid faker who doesn't deserve to be here, with people who actually do." Nora stated, glaring at him as hatefully as possible. Truthfully, she just wants to take her hammer and smash him right on out of here, but some things are not worth being expelled for. He was one of them.
He should've found himself hurt by those words, but instead, he felt anger at them. What did she know of what he went through? What does she understand of his pain? He lost count of how many times he begged for a Grimm to fucking kill him already, yet for some reason, they were nowhere to be found when he went into the forest next to his town. Yet, hearing those words from her, digging into his soul. He did something that the original Jaune Arc never would.
He said everything that people have been thinking about her for years.
"You know what Nora? Do you want to know what I think of you?", he asked, "All I see, is a small, pudgy, hyperactive girl who can't seem to SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR ONCE!" he shouted at her, her cyan eyes widening in shock at the amount of anger is expressed on his face. Narrowed eyes, grinding teeth, he looks about ready to pin her to the ground and punch her 'til she blacks out.
"I swear, dealing with you is like dealing with a fucking Grimm of all things, you just make people's lives miserable every you go. You eat the fucking house everyday, not asking if anyone else would like some if they're still hungry. You smash down everything that's in your path, not giving a shit of who has to fix it, and worst of all. You're probably the reason, why Ren is such a fucking recluse." he growled at her, listing some of the many things he could be saying.
Tears in her eyes, Nora went through the depressing memories being resurfaced by his harmful words. Every glare, every whisper behind her back, everything. In the end, the part about Ren brought her out of her state.
"What?" she whispered softly, as if facing a life ending threat. For all intents and purposes, this came true just a day later.
"How many times have you cut him off during a conversation, hm?", Jaune asked, "How many times has he tried to say something, only for you're annoying high pitched voice to cut in. You've probably given him psychological damage, like every time he has an opinion, he doesn't say anything thinking nobody will give a shit." he explained, Nora facing a realisation afterwards.
He was right. How many times did she cut him off, spouting nothing more than mere nonsense fit for an insane person. Though, in her nature, she would not accept defeat from him of all people.
"And what would you know of that kind of stuff, hm?" she asked, appearing strong but fearing the answer.
Instead of talking, Jaune grabbed the end of his right sleeve and rolled it up to his bicep. Along his forearm, multiple sets of scars ran across it, occasionally crisscrossing with another cut. Rolling up his left sleeve, the same thing was on his left forearm. Just by looking at her face, he could tell she was internally getting sick at the sight.
"No one in my family believed I could be a Huntsman. My sisters would look at me in pity, for I could never pick up the skills taught to me. My dad saw me as a disappointment, ending my training swiftly after seeing it as a waste of his time. Everyday, I'd come home with a different injury, playing it off as an 'accident'. My sisters teased mercilessly, often teasing me about things that made me feel like a waste of space.
It eventually got so bad, that when I went to go see professional help, they diagnosed me with severe depression. I started to lose hope and interesting in everything around me, not seeing the point. I began to cut myself along the wrist, the pain feeling like a sweet release. But, you want to know the funniest thing?" he asked her, Nora remaining still after hearing the whole thing. Jaune continued on, not bothering waiting for a reply.
"After I came here to Beacon, meeting you, Ren, Pyrrha and Team RWBY, I felt better. I actually felt I had friends who I could count on. Though, I guess that was just wishful thinking." looking into her eyes, Jaune could see an endless pit of shock, horror, guilt and regret. Though, like he gave a shit anymore. She doesn't care about him, why should he?
"So congratulations Nora, You and the others awoke my near suicidal depression. I bet you feel soooo good about yourselves." he stated with as much sarcasm as possible, before continuing on to the changing rooms, already knowing he's late for class.
However, he missed the wide magenta eyes staring at him from the creaked open door.
=Present day, Kuo Kuana marketplace=
Shaking the memory out of his head, Jaune continued on his way to the marketplace near the docks.
Honestly, he almost felt bad for intruding on those who helped him recover just fine. After some casual talk, they introduced themselves as Kali and Ghira, the leaders of Menagerie. Having never been to Menagerie before, he asked what it was like.
From what he was told, the continent itself was just over 3/4 desert, whilst the remaining 1/4 is habital land. The village itself is named Kuo Kuana, and and it looks nice from he's seen.
Walking through the marketplace for something to eat (preferably fish), Jaune looked around seeing everyone get along. Its been a while sense he saw anything this peaceful, because every other day back during the prehistoric times was one fight for survival after another.
Something this peaceful, felt refreshing.
Looking over the stalls, Jaune found one serving various fish. The who was manning it was a brown haired woman with a deer's tail poking out. Her appearance wasn't all that eye catching, just a brown t-shirt with brown shorts, but her eyes shown a kindness similar to perhaps Velvet and Ruby, Jaune theorised.
Walking over to her, Jaune gave his greetings.
"Hey there! How much for the tuna fish?" he asked. Even as a human, tuna had always been one of his favourite meals to eat. However, before he could get his answer, something strange happened.
As the woman was going to greet him, the moment she looked in his azure eyes she froze. Then she went so pale, one would think she was a corpse. Slightly shaking in noticeable fear, she whispered something that had him shocked.
"Alpha..." she said, right before fainting on the spot. Before she could hit the ground, Jaune managed to catch her, leaning over the counter top of the stall to do so.
All around him, those nearby who heard the commotion looked at the disturbance, seeing him with the girl in his arms out cold. Sick of the silence and worried about her well being, he shouted to them at the top of his lungs.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET SOME HELP OVER HERE!" he called out, his voice echoing out from his lungs. Shocked out of their stupor, some of them went to get some medical assistance.
All the while, Jaune's thoughts were on overdrive.
'What did she mean by "Alpha"?' he thought to himself.
=Timeskip, Kuo medical tent=
Keeping the theme of an old time village, the medical facility on Menagerie was just a beige coloured tent, only able to fit 20 patients at a time.
On one of the beds was the same Deer Faunus that Jaune had somehow scared into fainting. Even now, he couldn't come up with a possible reason as to why. The only thing had to go off of was when she whispered "Alpha" to him, and even that wasn't much. Hearing the tent flaps, Jaune looked to his left, seeing Kali and Ghira coming in and standing next to him.
"We heard what happened in the market. Do you know what caused this?" Kali asked in a 'concerned mother' sort of way.
"That's what I'm still trying to figure out. I just went to her stall asking for the price of the tuna when she looked into my eyes, paled, and then fainted in front of me. I managed to catch before she hit the floor luckily." he answered.
Looking between themselves, it appeared as if Kali and Ghira were having a silent conversation. This continued on for a few seconds before they looked back to him.
"Did she say anything before passing out?" Ghira asked, his gruff voice laced with concern.
"All I managed to hear from her was the word "Alpha" before she tapped out." that got their attention even more, evident by how the suddenly tensed up. "What? Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Well, the thing is... In Remnant, there is a rare occurrence, borderline near impossible, that when a Faunus is born, they are what as known as an 'Alpha Faunus'. They're stronger, faster and have more enhanced senses than regular Faunus." Kali told him.
"What does that have to do with me?" Jaune asked, looking between the two.
"Simple. An Alpha Faunus is recognisable due to them having more than one trait. Say, an Alpha Wolf Faunus for example, would have a wolf tail as well as wolf ears. A regular Wolf Faunus would just have either the tail or ears, never both." Ghira clarified.
Looking over himself, Jaune came to a realisation.
"She said that because I'm an Alpha." he concluded, Kali and Ghira nodding in turn. "But, that doesn't explain why the girl fainted when she saw me." Jaune discovered after some thinking.
"It has to do with a Faunus' animal instincts. Deer are herbivores, while your Faunus traits show you're a carnivore. Like animals in the wild, the carnivores hunt down the herbivores as they're easy prey. She fainted because, not only of those instincts, but also because you're so strong of an Alpha that your very presence invokes fear. For herbivorous Faunus anyway." Kali said, whispering that last part. Fortunately, Jaune was able to hear it.
"What do you mean "For herbivorous Faunus anyway"?" he asked.
After a moment of silence, Ghira told him.
"As mentioned, Faunus have the instincts of their animal counterparts. Your presence brings fear to the herbivorous Faunus, but should you encounter a carnivorous Faunus, well..." Ghira trailed off, as if contemplating he should tell him. "If the Faunus is a female, they would become sexually attracted to you. Only because of your strength." Ghira quickly explained, looking uncomfortable explaining the subject.
"Look, why don't we head back to the house and we can talk there? Sound alright?" Kali suggested, Jaune and Ghira looking to each other, then Kali before nodding to her.
Unaware of a ship containing a certain feline and ape on board.
Author's Notes
Welp, managed to get this done. Honestly had some trouble writing this chapter. Hopefully the later ones are easier. Also, for those who have a hatred for Ironwood/ all of Atlas, have no fear. I've got ideas for them in this story.
Until next time, Redsummer out.