A whole summer.
Last year Jaune would have complained that he was losing his whole summer break to more school. Now he was complaining that it was that he was being asked to teach it.
He almost agreed to do so immediately when the General and Headmaster came to personally apologize the morning after his incident at the mall. His brother told Jaune that he was young, stressed, and probably weak to authority figures, but that wasn't exactly why.
The music from his dreams helped calm him down after yesterday's stressful evening at MIT, the Mechanicus Institute of Technology, even if it was embarrassing that Summer recorded him playing and wouldn't delete it despite his totally not whining request which definitely involved no crying. Jaune was… well his life was so out of whack at this point that maybe he was sort of centered and that would have to be enough.
But General Ironwood was a hero that led other heroes.
It made him at least twice as cool! N-not as cool as his Big Brother Juniper, of course, but he was cool!
The problem was that despite the knowledge spewing from wherever it was seared into his brain, he had zero knowledge of how to educate. Maybe if that was somewhere he could even contemplate it, but that wasn't the case.
Dr. Polendina was different. He understood Jaune was uncomfortable with the concept of teaching and became more of a speaking partner than a student.
There was a flash of memory back then, not from the ARK of Humanity, but of Hector prince of Troy. A lazy man that did not wish to teach soldiers and instead sparred with them so they might learn their own lessons. Not the same, but analogous enough. It helped him relate to the doctor, even though somehow, his dumb six going on seven butt was the superior in this context.
Although it was weird how the history recorded from Earth conflicted with the reality of his memories. Hector was a prince of Troy, his rival Aias bore a seven layered shield that could stop him. How it was boasted that every layer matched the walls of Troy in their fortitude, thus someone else decided, it was Hector's spear that pierced his own walls.
Bards tales and faulty people's memories and desires for a good story seemed to make it all twisty-turvy.
Remnant's history probably wasn't convoluted like that. Right? No grand conspiracies or Divine Spirits aka Gods mucking things up? Not like Earth. Both versions of Earth Jaune knew were just messed up six ways to sunday.
Unlike Earth, Remnant had evil monsters in the Grimm that EVERYONE knew about. They were more important than writing one's own narrative. Nobody would be dumb enough to do that when there was a literal humanity (Faunus included) ending threat constantly on the horizon.
Regardless of his personal tangent, thanks to Big Brother Juniper's guidance they came to a different arrangement.
Firstly, though his big bro seemed a bit hesitant, Juniper asked Jaune to offer an upgrade to General Ironwood's prosthetics.
The General had paused, giving Jaune a measured look, as if he was trying to read his soul as he spoke.
"Why do you offer that first, Jaune? I am flattered, and I will admit, quite willing. But I came to request that my scientific research officers over in Mechanicus learn from you. I haven't come with the desire to put myself further into your debt."
Though his voice ended in some humor, the look on the General's face was serious.
All he did was repeat Juniper's words after his big bro took a moment of thought. He did fumble plenty, occasionally searching for the courage to say what he was told.
Saying 'Yes, but no' to a big hero was… intimidating.
"You… I mean. The truth is, if you wanted to, you could just take it. Demand it. Most adults might have done that. I'm just a kid. It'd be easy to force me somehow, someway. But you came wanting what I have, but came with good intentions and I can see that. You… seem like you want to treat me well and have me be more willing to provide. You and the doctor. You treated me more like… like I was your equal. I like that. I don't think most people could do that when they look at me. Not just because I-I'm a Faunus but because y'know. I'm six and a half."
Jaune had to ignore the feeling that Ironwood wanted to laugh at him. He kept a perfect poker face and his emotions were weirdly muted, like something kept it in check, but Jaune could still feel the tug of repressed humor.
"It's not pure altruism." Ironwood informed him, testing him. Why? He was a kid! "I simply believe there is far more to be gained by earning your trust, than by force."
He mostly meant it too. It wasn't as if he wouldn't be completely against using more forceful methods if it suited him better, but Ironwood felt that to be distasteful. He had, what was it called? Morals. He had morals and wanted to stick to them.
Jaune had the feeling he was a man that could ignore them if came to it.
But that also felt like something a hero might need. To save as many people as he could, it was important to do whatever it is that you had to do, right? Jaune wanted to agree with that way of thinking, but he hated it.
"But you're honest about it. I like that. I like the Doctor too. I offered to help with his legs too, but he said no."
"That does sound like the good doctor."
Jaune giggled.
"The good doctor. I like that."
He really did.
But Juniper had more for him to say.
"You gave a lot, wanting something in return. I, uh, also want something."
"Then the crux of our discussion." Ironwood smiled, appreciating the more directness compared to veiled words. Like a hero. "What do you want, young Jaune?"
"I want to be a hero. Right now… right now I think that means helping a bigger Hero who directs a bunch of heroes to be stronger, faster, and uh… more comfortable."
Ironwood's emotions muted harder, making Jaune unsure what the older man was feeling.
"I… don't really know what to do." Wasn't that the truth, "Answering the doctor, the good doctor's, questions was just… confusing I guess. A man twice my…"
Jaune swallowed hard. He… he didn't want to think about his parents. He missed his sisters. He missed his bed, the smell of grapes and sunlight on the wind.
Shouldn't he miss his parents too? He missed the memory of them. The idea. But he didn't want to think about them at all.
"...my d-dad's age. Asked me to teach him, that was weird and I didn't like it. It was ok because it was him, though. Dr. Polendina is nice man. I like him and that made it ok. I don't know if I could do that for others. I-I don't know how to teach, but I do want to help. Contribute to something good. I want my offer to stand as proof for how much I want to help, I could try to write something to teach. Maybe answer questions. Not teach. I thought I was ready for that back on Patch, but I'm not, I'm sorry. Yesterday I was overwhelmed at and th-the thought of standing in a room of scientists like that as they all pay attention to my every word makes me just want to run away in terror."
Ironwood made no change to his face, but despite his muted emotions, Jaune could read his displeasure.
He immediately wanted to apologize and take it back, but it was like Big Brother Juniper could read his mind and understand what he wanted, as if he could understand Ironwood too.
"Please." Jaune pleaded, his words genuine, despite being Juniper's exact wordings somehow they were his own. "We can discuss more in the future. I'm not ready… not right now."
Jaune wasn't sure how genuine the promise was to be. As he was right now, it felt that this promise never would be, like it was a lie, because as real as his knowledge was, in a way that was a lie too.
"...I am sorry if you feel I have come here to force my expectations on you. I will admit it's embarrassing how… heavy-handedly I have come to entreat this of you. Even more so to cause you enough distress that it has resulted in my friend Qrow Branwen and his Partner Summer Rose to feel as if they must be listening through the door like an old married couple."
There was a nervous cough from the door to Jaune's hotel bathroom where the duo were currently hiding as they acted as emotional support for him. He felt a flush of embarrassed pride? Affection? Comfort? He wasn't sure what the feeling was, but it gripped his heart, made him feel safe.
"There's no error with the simul-respitory oxygenation protocols, that cough is a purely psychosomatic response to emotional stimuli to maintain-" Jaune caught himself explaining Summer's cough and stopped himself as he felt his face flush. "Uh…"
He hated the Ring sometimes. He really did. He wouldn't take it back, but man, it was frustrating.
Ironwood chuckled briefly, using his left hand to give Jaune a pat on the shoulder that made him somehow straighten his spine.
"Alright. Maybe not teaching. Not right now. Would you consider working alongside the good doctor then? Not… permanent. For now." The implications were left unspoken, "Perhaps just for the summer? There will be pay as well as-"
"Yeah! I can!" He'd take working with the good doctor over teaching anyday. "B-but you don't have to-"
"Nonsense." Ironwood shut him down, "Like you said, I'm here to treat you as close to an equal as can be managed. At least I am doing my utmost to. This involves making sure an exchange of knowledge is repaid accordingly. Rather, it's harder to say how much I should pay for your expertise."
"Wh-whatever a normal scientist gets? I don't really care if that's undercutting me right now. I-" Jaune paused, as Big Brother Juniper whispered in his ears, "If I can get it in a way that doesn't involve taxes is best? Also, uh, a bit of Dust to experiment with would be nice!"
That last bit wasn't from Juniper, but Jaune had become a bit addicted to the Gacha even if he sort of hated it. Dealing with it everyday was normal. And getting Trash about 40% of the time felt awful.
He could feel some affectionate exasperation from Juniper's hand on his shoulder. Warm, powerful. Spiced pine from the woods of Domremy. Like vineyard grapes, but less fruit and more fragrance.
"I believe that can be arranged, Jaune." Ironwood nodded, a more serene smile forming on his chiseled jaw. "In the meantime, you and the, gods, what a mouthful, Rose-Branwen-XiaoLongs will enjoy all the hospitality Atlas can offer."
"Ok! Thank you!" Jaune felt lucky that General Ironwood was so understanding. He supposed it made sense, the man was a Hero, after all! "Oh!"
He fidgeted, pulling out his Scroll, looking at a rather busy slew of messages he had received from the pushy cat Faunus girl from the White Fang rally. There was a smattering of messages from Trivia as well that he'd been responding to, who was cool because she was like him (and she was lucky that she could let her spirit sister take physical form) but Blake Belladonna was a Faunus like him.
He wanted to learn more about the Faunus and a new friend would also be nice. Plus she seemed very passionate and chatty and he enjoyed that, even if he wasn't sure how to respond to it all. But he finally got to send a reply to some of her messages this morning. And she had told him of a fundraising barbecue in Mantle Central Park.
Despite being in the coldest continent of Remnant, their summers were warm enough for such a thing if the weather was clear enough.
"Uh, I got invited to meet a friend down in Mantle today for a White Fang event. Would it be ok? I-if there were already plans I can-"
Ironwood gave an interesting hum as if he had a thought of… something Jaune couldn't quite read. His ability to read people was imperfect, in the end. Never far off the mark, but imperfect.
"Don't worry. In fact, as an apology for making you feel so worried…" Ironwood gave a warm grin. "Why don't I take you there myself?"
He was doing this because he, a hero, wanted to earn his trust. Even though he wanted something from Jaune, he took a step back to acknowledge his fears, even if he didn't know all the details. He just accepted that this was all Jaune could comfortably offer now, though it was true he could give more if pressured to, but didn't because he knew it would make Jaune miserable.
Jaune grinned.
General Ironwood was pretty cool.
Despite normally preferring the quiet, Blake knew that she was a bit outspoken when it came to working with the White Fang.
Mama Kali said that she was surprisingly passionate (Why wouldn't she be? This meant EVERYTHING to her parents AND all of Faunuskind! Who wouldn't be passionate about that?) and that it was a beautiful thing.
Mama Kali didn't say it, but Blake knew she worried that it was maybe too early for her to get involved in White Fang work. But Blake knew how hard Mama Kali and Papa Ghira worked and just wanted to help in any way she could. She wanted to make them proud and she saw how much the people of Menagerie believed in them, looked up to them.
Blake just wanted to be just like them. Even if it was hard. Maybe it being hard made it feel like it was more important sometimes. That made Blake sometimes feel that way was wrong. Equality should be easy, it was obvious to her that people were just people regardless of their appearance. Why couldn't the humans see that?
So when the weird boy Jaune who had rabbit ears and a doggy tail showed up with an Atlas Specialist looking out for him (The human one was quickly joined by a Faunus woman with a lizard tail, who was also a Specialist!) she had leapt to figure out what his deal was.
She didn't take no for an answer as she, maybe, bombarded him with flyers, pamphlets, and booklets on the White Fang and the Faunus struggle, getting his Scroll number as well before he left.
Blake had even got a bit of a grin from the reptile Faunus Specialist, making herself feel super proud.
She wasn't from Atlas, so Blake didn't understand what a Specialist was exactly but people seemed to think it was very important. Faunus didn't often get important positions like that, so she was cool. Blake took a photo when she thought she wasn't looking, but as she was taking it, the Specialist lady turned to her with a wink and a conspiratory hushing of a finger.
She'd show Illia it when she got back to Menagerie. She'd be super jealous!
She'd blasted Jaune's Scroll with questions once she got back to the apartment of the family that she was staying with while she was in Mantle. Papa Ghira was up in Atlas and Mama Kali was helping him, although she'd be joining her down here in Mantle today.
And he didn't respond to any of her messages.
Blake would have been worried that she was given the wrong number if they hadn't tested his Valean (Why was he in Mantle if he was from Vale? What was he here for?) Scroll took messages from her own. Hers was technically from Vacuo so she had some issues with it from time to time. It was cheap and did better in sand, so her model was more common in Menagerie.
They didn't have their own CCT tower, but they had a booster relay built by hard working Faunus volunteer engineers that let them make calls and texts from their Scrolls, even if they couldn't use the internet and the signal could be spotty, they could make calls across their little Kingdom and beyond.
He didn't even really get back to her until in the morning, although he took the time to try to respond to everything she had messaged him.
As she got a wall of answers back, thankfully spaced so she could go back and forth to remember what she was even asking in the first place, Blake realized she might have been a bit… too much… with how many messages she sent, but texting was easier than talking usually.
Honestly outside of White Fang work, she didn't actually talk that much at all. She liked reading and napping in the sun.
But maybe twentyish messages without getting a response was weird? Blake didn't know, she was more used to talking with Illia who usually just met with her face to face. But when Illia couldn't visit, she'd often send a bunch of pictures and messages to Blake for them to talk about later.
But she had to be outgoing like Mama Kali if she wanted people to like and listen to her. It was hard, but Blake had mostly gotten the hang of it after a year. Sort of. It was sometimes exhausting.
So Blake was a bit excited when Jaune agreed to come and meet her at today's Fang Fundraiser at the Park. It was still a bit colder, but the sun was out and bright, so you could get warm if you wanted to. Blake wanted to stay a bit warmer, so she was wearing a thin black coat just to help against any potential windchill.
She was honestly scared that she might have scared him off or that he'd be busy. She had so many questions.
Like why he showed up in a military car with General James Ironwood.
There were only really enough reporters at the fundraiser to count on one hand. One of the older Fang members said they were here to write a 'puff piece' and told Blake to not be too excited, but that still meant they were writing about the Fang activities, right?
They went almost ballistic when the General stepped out of his vehicle, the same two Specialists from yesterday, and Jaune who was clutching a little white envelope.
There was also another human lady, actually she was with Jaune when he left yesterday, Blake recalled, with gorgeous and almost too perfect of an appearance with snow white, almost silver hair and green eyes like a summer meadow, like some sort of angel trying to disguise itself as a human. She had two little girls with her. Had.
A few other Faunus didn't seem to like that she sort of looked like a Schnee, but did nothing. The Schnee were famous, but they didn't have a monopoly on white hair.
The smaller one jumped on Jaune's back and clung like a koala as she giggled, causing Jaune to laugh too. The other girl just stretched and stepped up to pet the smaller girl's head.
Was he adopted? Was that it? None of them looked related. Maybe they all were.
If so, that was proof that their message of equality meant something. That it was correct and humans and Faunus weren't different after all.
Blake liked that.
Jaune waited patiently as the General charismatically answered questions to the four reporters that were flashing with their cameras.
Despite her cat ears, Blake's hearing wasn't particularly any better than a normal humans, though she could hear some frequencies that normal people couldn't. She had to get closer to listen in on snippets of this sudden interview, catching an excited wave from Jaune that she returned with a bit more (what did Mama Kali call it? Ah, right. Classy. Refined?) calmness.
Elegant. That's the word. Blake was elegant.
"...in no official capacity can I state anything further. I am here simply accompanying a personal guest. I already released an official statement last night that young Jaune is a guest of the state, backed by myself as well as Dr. Polendina, head of Mechanicus, which I believe made this morning's headlines. Meanwhile, you are all to remember to behave yourself and not take advantage of his age. Once again, he is a guest of state which allots him the freedom to refuse all media questioning under the current peacetime diplomatic relations protocols, thus unless he specifically requests it, you are not to interview the boy and give him the space and respect he deserves of that position. No more questions. Please disperse."
Drat. Whatever questions they were asking Blake had missed it while observing everything else.
Curse her curiosity. Knowing what was exchanged between the General and the reporters was probably important.
She could have told Papa Ghira what they said for some headpats and a tuna sandwich. Double drat.
Her sulky thoughts were broken by Jaune who stepped forward lugging his maybe little sister on his back like she weighed nothing as his other maybe sister followed as she gazed around curiously at all the other Faunus like a tourist. Well they were from Vale, so tourist was probably accurate.
Blake ignored the dumb doggy tail wag. She focused on his ears instead. Rabbit beat dogs.
Everything beat dogs.
"H-hi, Blake! Nice to, uh, meet you again."
"Ullo!" The backpack girl echoed. Her hair was black, but now that she was closer, Blake could see they had reddening tips, almost as if her hair was more of a very deep dark red and that it was when her hair thinned and the light shone through that the red was visible.
"Sup?" The blonde girl's hair ran long and wild, enough that Blake almost contemplated if she was a lion Faunus, but only males had manes. She also had some bandaging around her left forearm which stood in contrast to her big orange tee.
It was clearly meant for an adult, but the small girl had scrunched up parts of it and tied it in place with hair ties. The edges of faded denim jean shorts could be seen under it.
"Is your arm ok?" Blake asked diplomatically, trying to channel the same energy that Mama Kali gave off.
"Yeah. It's pretty much healed, but Mommy Summer's paranoid so I gotta keep this on. I'm Yang, by the way." Yang laughed as she shook her left arm, gesturing at the too pretty white haired woman that gave them the most gorgeous smile. "Aura healed it up just fine."
Blake noted that their maybe adoptive mother Summer effortlessly picked up a large white carrying case labeled Huntress Weapon. She appreciated that it was in a locked case. The White Fang were a peaceful protest group. They weren't ever seen carrying or near weapons for their image, though Huntsmen and Huntresses were allowed some exception just for the Grimm.
It was one of the reasons that despite some people wanting them, no Faunus Huntsmen were allowed to attend rallies if they had their weapons on their person. They had problems from it before. Blake thought it was dumb, those weapons were for Grimm, not people, but Papa Ghira said people still bore the scars of war. Whatever that meant.
Didn't the Faunus still bear those scars too? What about their people's scars? It felt unfair.
Blake felt a small pang of further jealousy. Yang and Jaune looked her age, but they both had Aura! Papa Ghira said she couldn't have hers until she was at least nine. That was still almost two years away! So long!
"Cool." She replied just a bit too quickly. She was supposed to try to impress guests, not the other way around. "Come on and join the barbeque. Food's almost ready, but we have some snacks already. Someone brought a whole deep fryer, so we've got fries and other goodies."
"I just hope they're not like the weirdos in Vale that try to deep fry butter." Yang chuckled.
Blake crinkled her nose, seeing Jaune also look a bit stupified.
"Why would anyone do that?"
"I donno. Adults are weird."
"I wan cookies." Backpack girl said.
"We have cookies too, but they're better as dessert." Blake replied, seeing Backpack Girl's eyes light up.
"Cookies!"
"Ruby, you can get your cookies after lunch." Jaune promised, shifting as he pulled the girl further up his back.
"Listen to Jaune, Rubes." Yang shut down her sister's attempt at a protest. "You know what Mommy Summer would say."
"No cookies on an 'mty stomach." Ruby recited as if it was a law. A sad, sad law that kept her prisoner.
Blake giggled. The smaller girl just looked too sad and adorable, deflating on Jaune's back like a little dark red balloon.
"Oh! I almost forgot." Jaune spoke up, his hand still clutching his envelope. It looked a lot thicker this close up. A lot thicker.
I-it must have been filled with small bills. Yeah. Loose change and pocket money saved up.
It was sweet. Blake genuinely thought Jaune was sweet.
She guided them over to the table in charge of managing the donations for the fundraiser. One of Jaune's Specialist guardswomen (why did he have one of those by the way?) Pepper the pretty human with the long pretty hair and a tan that wouldn't have looked out of place in Vacuo or Menagerie grinned at their approach. Blake appreciated the Specialist participating in a way to help keep the bigots away, but…
Her smile seemed to insinuate that she knew something Blake didn't. Blake didn't like that, no matter how pretty she was.
"Hello, deary." An older faunus woman, some tired wrinkles edging around her eyes and mouth, spoke. Her Faunus trait wasn't immediately visible, being a short tail that curled behind her. "And what brings you here with little Miss Belladonna?"
Jaune dropped his thick envelope on the table. It thumped much louder than Blake was expecting. Even Mrs. Orshi, who was in charge of the table, seemed a bit surprised at the sound. Jaune hadn't slammed or slapped it onto the table, just dropped it.
"I got an advance on my first paycheck." Jaune stated matter of factly. "I want to donate it to the White Fang."
"Oh that's sweet of- hm? A paycheck?"
"Y-yes ma'am!" Jaune nodded confidently. "I want to do this."
Mrs. Orshi gave a sad smile. Blake felt a bit bad too. The White Fang and Menagerie shouldn't need people's donations just to function and survive. It was painful. Their farmlands weren't very good, and they were overfishing due to their population.
And Jaune must have scratched together all of his savings, every coin and- hm?
Blake realized she didn't hear any coins. The sound was uniform.
Mrs. Orshi began opening the envelope to count the money, freezing as she held a letter knife in her hands.
"O-oh my."
The envelope nervelessly fell from her fingertips, landing on the table with a loud thump, drawing some attention. Both from the sound as well as the sight of a STACK of dark purple Lien bills half-spilt from the opening made in the envelope.
It wasn't the normal green one hundred Lien bills that Blake was used to handling for a cheap candy bar or popsicle at the 100 Lien Store.
These were royal purple ten thousand Lien bills, complete with the extra strips of woven security features in them to prevent forgeries. A stack thick enough for a small book as the envelope was fit to burst at the seams.
Blake could hear a wild slew of surprised and disbelieving muttering.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Jaune just looked confused, as if he didn't just drop hundreds of thousands of Lien on the table. "I-I picked it up from the bank on the way here with the General! The money is good, I promise!"
Blake swallowed, but her tongue felt like cotton.
Think of all the Faunus that the money could help. Medicine, clothes, food. All things that Papa Ghira had come to Atlas for right after Mistral. How much could they stretch this out? HOW MUCH WAS IT ALL?
"How… what did you do for all this money?" Blake's throat was dry.
"Is it a lot?" Yang also sounded genuinely curious, her hands crossing behind her head. "Jaune's getting paid that for promising to help Dr. Polendina with stuff at his lab with the same things he used to save Mommy Summer."
"Is it a lot?" Blake felt faint. Were they just rich? What was she looking at?
"The General said that I couldn't actually get an advance on my paycheck, but I could pick up my sign-on bonus in cash if I wanted it, so I did that. Wh-what's the matter?"
Specialist Pepper couldn't contain her giggles any further, holding her stomach and laughing unprofessionally as her bust rippled in a near hypnotic fashion drawing even more eyes in their direction.
"You wanted to get paid a 'normal' scientist level, so the General and Head Doctor Polendina agreed that your sign-on bonus should make up the difference in how much they intended to pay you in the first place."
"I-I just wanted the normal amount!" Jaune panicked, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention.
Pepper wiped the tears from her eyes still laughing.
"Yeah, see. And you're getting that, silly. This is your bonus. All forty three million of it."
Blake felt herself fall unconscious as Jaune turned to grab her as she fell back into his arms.
AN: 100 Lien to represent ONE USD.
43 million Lien by that estimation is about 430K USD. Seemed like the rough maximum that I could reasonably justify being dealt with given the situation. Jaune's only going to be working for one summer… for now.
Lien eventually becomes more digital, in the form of little plastic bank cards at the start of canon, but they were known to be more paper before that. This transition will definitely hit later in the story, but for now SLAM CASH ON THE TABLE
Plus I'd argue even IN canon, the more illegal dealings or situations OUTSIDE of the Four Kingdoms likely used paper Lien given the choice.