Jaune watched Counselor Vex stride out of the training room, her coat swaying lightly as the door hissed shut behind her.
He blinked, shifting on his feet. 'Wait… she never actually said who my squadmates were supposed to be.'
His gaze slid to Ruby and Yang first, but Ruby was already fussing with her scroll. Yang leaned against the wall, arms crossed and smirking like she hadn't just sparred at full tilt minutes ago. Neither of them seemed concerned.
So Jaune turned to the other pair. Ren's expression was calm as always, unreadable, while Nora was grinning at him like she knew exactly what was spinning through his head.
"…So, uh," Jaune started, scratching the back of his neck, "did she mean, like… I'm in a squad with… you two? Or—"
Bonk.
"Ouch!" Jaune winced as Nora reached over and bopped the top of his head with her knuckles. Not hard, but enough to jolt him out of his rambling.
"Jaune, you dummy," she said with a giggle. "Of course it's us! Who else would it be? Ren and me, duh. You're looking right at your squad."
Jaune rubbed his scalp sheepishly, cheeks warming. "Oh. Right. Uh… I guess that makes sense."
Ren gave the faintest nod, voice even. "Nora and I have been working as partners since we both awakened. And since we were the ones who found you, adding you in was simply the natural choice."
That should have been reassuring. And in a way it was—Jaune felt something uncoil in his chest. But still…
"Okay, yeah, but…" He tilted his head. "What about that Oscar kid? The one I saw with you two that night in the Dream? Where's he fit in? Isn't he supposed to be part of this?"
"Oh, Oscar!" Nora's eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. "He'll be around later. He's still in middle school right now, so he can't just—poof—show up in Beacon's base whenever he wants."
Jaune blinked. "…Middle school? Seriously?"
"Mm." Ren's calm tone softened slightly, almost amused. "It surprises most people at first. But you awaken when you awaken. Age isn't something LUCID can control."
He paused for a bit, before adding, "Unless, they're you... I suppose?"
Jaune could only shrug. He had no control over it either, but he understood what Ren was implying.
Nora leaned closer, stage-whispering with mock seriousness. "Don't let the 'middle school' part fool you though. Oscar's a lot tougher than he looks. He keeps up with us, just fine."
Jaune's brows furrowed as he tried to wrap his head around that. Fourteen. That was the minimum, wasn't it? The age when someone could awaken and start seeing the Dream. Which… meant Oscar probably had only just crossed that threshold, yet he was already squad material?
"…So wait," Jaune asked slowly, "does that mean every kid that awakens at fourteen just… gets sent here? To Beacon?"
"In Vale, yeah, pretty much," Nora said, flopping her arms dramatically like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Congratulations, you just cracked the system."
Ren added more evenly, "When a person awakens, they're enrolled at Beacon as soon as they enter high school. LUCID operates parallel to their normal schooling. After their classes end, they report here. Training, patrols, missions—it becomes part of their life."
Jaune nodded, chewing that over.
'So that's how it works. Kids who don't awaken live normal lives. But the rest of us… we get drafted into this whether we like it or not. I suppose it is a good thing, considering they'll help us survive... but still...'
Another thought bubbled up and he frowned. "…So do all the prospects go through the drama club entrance?"
That earned him a laugh from Nora, bright and unrestrained. "What, you think the entire city's awakened kids are lining up behind a bunch of stage props?"
Even Ren's lips quirked minutely at that.
"There are other entrances, Jaune," he said. "Every district has them. Not every operative takes the same path underground."
"Oh." Jaune rubbed his chin, a little embarrassed. "Yeah, okay, that makes sense. I guess that wasn't part of the tour huh?"
Ruby looked up from her scroll then, tucking it away. "Don't worry, Jaune. They'll show you soon enough. Once you've got your bearings here, they'll walk you through all the routes. Or maybe we could, later on?"
Before Jaune could respond, her scroll chimed again. She glanced at the message, then caught Yang's eye with a quick gesture.
"Looks like our teammates are here," Ruby said, her voice light but hurried.
Yang pushed off the wall, stretching her arms lazily. "Guess playtime's over."
Jaune opened his mouth. "Teammates? You mean you've got a—"
But the sisters were already moving. Ruby waved quickly, Yang gave a cheeky salute, and then they were slipping out the door with a few quick goodbyes.
Jaune stared after them, curiosity gnawing at him.
'Ruby's team. Yang's team. Who are they with?'
But the thought barely had time to settle before Nora clapped her hands together, snapping his attention back.
"Alright, squad time!" she announced cheerfully. "You, me, and Ren. No excuses, no distractions. We're gonna run you through the basics."
Jaune hesitated, glancing between them. "Alright… what kind of basics?"
"The fun kind," Nora said with a mischievous grin.
Ren's calm gaze met Jaune's. "Team exercises, coordination drills and everything in between. Think of it as learning to breathe together in combat. You'll understand soon."
Something about the way he phrased it sent a little shiver down Jaune's spine.
'Breathe together? That sounds… intense.'
Still, he nodded. "Alright. Let's do this."
Nora pumped her fist. "That's the spirit!"
And just like that, the three of them turned toward the training room floor, the first true steps of Jaune's squad training was about to begin.
Jaune wasn't sure what he expected when Ren and Nora said "team exercises."
Running laps? Sparring drills? Maybe some trust-fall thing where he'd close his eyes and hope Nora didn't let him crack his skull on the floor?
What he got however, was something far more intense.
The training room shifted with a low mechanical hum, its sleek metallic walls folding away to reveal the projected dreamscape. Streets and rooftops flickered into place like glass being painted into existence. The whole place shimmered with that half-unreal quality he'd come to associate with the simulated Dream.
Ren stood calm at the center, his hands clasped behind his back. "Our focus is not simply fighting, Jaune. It's survival, adaptability and hunting prowess. You'll need to know what to do if you face something stronger than you."
Jaune swallowed, slightly nervous, but he mustered up the courage to nod.
Stronger. As if everything he'd seen so far hadn't already been stronger than him. This truly was nightmare fuel.
Nora slapped him on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of him. "Don't worry! We've got you. Just keep those baby-blue eyes open and watch how the pros do it."
"Baby-bl—" Jaune started, then wisely cut himself off.
The first projection materialized with a shudder of air, and Jaune's heart stopped cold.
A winged shape loomed above the cityscape, blotting out the sky of the simulation dome. Its body was monstrous, black as tar with feathers glowing faintly red at the edges as though dipped in embers. Its wingspan stretched wide enough, that Jaune didn't even take it in at once; he had to turn his head just to track its arc through the air.
"That bird," Ren explained evenly, "is called a Giant Nevermore."
Jaune's mouth went dry. "Giant Nevermore? That's—you can't even call that a bird anymore. That's a whole ass building with wings!"
"Biiiig birdie," Nora sang cheerfully. Then she grinned over her shoulder. "Wanna see what it does?"
Before Jaune could say absolutely not, the Nevermore projection screeched and banked its massive wings. A shimmer of energy rippled across its plumage.
Feathers detached from its wings, except they weren't feathers. They glowed black-red, sharpened to spearlike points, and then shot downward in a storm of homing projectiles.
"Might want to move." Ren called out.
Jaune managed to stumble aside just in time as one slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the projected street. He turned wide-eyed toward Ren, who had already sidestepped with fluid grace, and Nora—
Nora, who was charging straight into the storm with a gleeful laugh.
She ducked one glowing feather, deflected another with a crack of her hammer, and then launched herself into the air like a cannonball. The training system amplified the hit, and for a heartbeat Jaune swore she was actually going to punch the bird out of the sky.
The projection flickered as she slammed into its wing with a thunderous blow from her warhammer. Energy bled out in glowing shards before the image stabilized again, the Nevermore screeching as if in anger.
Nora landed in a crouch, grinning ear to ear. "See? Easy!"
"Easy?!" Jaune's voice pitched higher than he intended. "That thing is—how do you even—" He clutched at his hair. "You're telling me I might have to fight one of those?"
"Not alone," Ren said calmly, though a hint of amusement could be heard from his tone. "Never alone. That is why we train as squads. In any case, its rune skill which you just saw was dubbed by researchers as Feather. You've seen what it does, so be careful when you are escaping from it in the future."
Jaune took a deep breath and forced himself to nod. "Right. Okay. Squad. Got it."
The simulation shifted again before he could fully wrap his head around the idea of massive grimm like that existing. The Nevermore faded away, replaced by tall, hulking shapes that stepped out from the shadows of the dilapidated dreamscape buildings.
Jaune froze. He knew those outlines. He'd fought them before.
"Beowolves," he muttered.
But these were… different. Taller, leaner, their claws longer and glinting with faint black-red light. Their eyes burned hotter, and every step they took seemed to crackle with predatory energy.
"Yes. But these are the higher ranked equivalents. Alphas." Ren explained. "Rank 1's. They are faster than the ones you've fought and much stronger, too. And most importantly—"
One of the Beowolves lunged forward, jaws opening unnaturally wide.
Jaune's stomach flipped as a projection of black-red energy snapped outward, stretching its bite into a fanged arc that chomped several feet beyond where its teeth should have reached.
Ren's voice remained steady. "—they possess Runes."
Another Beowolf swiped with its claws, and the strike extended in three crimson arcs of black-red energy, raking through a projection of a small five-story building, utterly destroying it and leaving deep scars onto the ground.
"Bite and Claw," Ren continued. "Two of the most common Rune Skills among beowolf packs. They make closing the distance dangerous."
Nora cracked her knuckles, still grinning. "Don't worry, Jaune. They're a pain, but not that scary once you get used to 'em. Just remember—don't stand still!"
She barreled into the nearest Alpha with a war cry, swinging her hammer in a wide arc. The Beowolf's Claw strike lashed out, but she ducked under it, rolled forward, and came up with an uppercut that launched the thing skyward in a burst of shattered projection light.
Jaune stared, equal parts horrified and impressed. "Do you… ever get tired?"
"Never!" Nora chirped.
The drills continued from there, Ren guiding Jaune through mock escape routes and city layouts. The system shifted rooftops, alleys, and shadowed corners into different configurations, forcing Jaune to adapt on the fly. He stumbled a lot—sometimes literally—but Ren's calm instructions kept him moving, and Nora's energy made it hard not to push himself just a little further each time.
By the time Ren finally called for a halt, Jaune was drenched in sweat and half-convinced his legs might give out beneath him. But he was still standing. Still breathing.
Just maybe he would be able to keep up in the future.
A sharp knock at the training room door jolted him from his thoughts.
The three of them glanced toward it. Ren strode over, tapped the panel, and the door slid open with a hiss.
Standing there was a boy Jaune recognized instantly.
Dark hair, freckles and green eyes. A little shorter than Jaune remembered—but then again, Jaune had only seen him briefly that night in the Dream, when Ren and Nora had appeared to save him from the Deathstalker.
Oscar.
For a second, the kid looked a little uncertain, shifting on his feet as if the base's futuristic corridors still felt slightly new to him. Then his gaze settled on Ren and Nora, and he relaxed slightly.
"Sorry I'm late," Oscar said, his voice a touch shy but steady. "Classes ran long."
Nora beamed and bounded over to clap him on the shoulder. "There's our fourth! Knew you'd make it."
Jaune blinked at him, still catching his breath. "Hey, you're… Oscar, right?"
Oscar nodded, offering a small, polite smile. "And you're Jaune. The... uh... anomaly?"
For a moment, Jaune didn't know what to say. This was the boy Ren and Nora had spoken about—the middle-schooler who was somehow already walking into this nightmare life the same as them.
Jaune let out a slow breath, forcing a smile back. "Yeah. That's me, I guess. I suppose that makes us squadmates?"
Oscar's eyes flicked between him, Ren, and Nora, and then he nodded again. "Yeah. Looks like it does."
.
.
AN: Give me ya power stones!
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