It had been a couple more days of sailing, with a few stops at docks that Jaune initially thought meant the ship had arrived at Vacuo, only to find out each time that it was just a stop for the sailors to rest for half a day or so.
Jaune had been rationing his food and currently had about 60 to 70 percent of it left in his bag. He figured he would need food later when he traveled to Shade Academy.
Did he have the Lien to buy food? Yes. Would he still ration his food to save some Lien? Yes.
He thought it was the smart thing to do in his situation, considering he would not have any source of income, and Shade Academy would only provide shelter and food. He needed to save his Lien in case he had to buy something important in the future.
Jaune would probably need to find a job or do some errands to get money. It wasn't like Shade Academy would give their students a monthly allowance, considering they themselves needed money to support the school.
If it were Atlas Academy, they would probably give their students a monthly allowance, but then again, Atlas Academy was wealthy considering it was in Atlas and was also part of the Atlas Military.
Jaune guessed that Artoria would probably join the Atlas Military. She would thrive there with her personality and discipline.
It had been a while since Jaune had talked with Artoria, and the last time they spoke was a couple of weeks ago, and it turned out that Artoria had found herself a friend there.
That was good for her, because Artoria wasn't good at making friends. From what Mordred had told him, the students in their combat school always tried to stay away from Artoria.
Not because they hated her, or because Artoria had done something to them; they just weren't fond of Artoria's militaristic personality.
It wasn't that Jaune minded Artoria's personality, but he would agree that people needed time to get used to it before they could become friends with her.
And it wasn't like Artoria was always cold or anything like that. Jaune knew she was kind, and she would banter with Mordred sometimes. Mordred might not say it, but Jaune knew she missed Artoria.
Speaking of his family, Jaune hoped they weren't too panicked, but he doubted that was the case. His dad was probably leading the search party, and Jaune wouldn't have been surprised if he used his connections with the headmaster of Beacon or some high-ranked Huntsman to help search for him.
His mom would probably cry. Jaune hated the thought that he had most likely made his mother cry. The others would probably see her cry in front of them for the first time, and if Jaune had been there, he would have seen it for the first time too.
Saphron would probably be getting gray hairs from the chaos the house was likely in because of him. Jaune knew she would most likely take over their mother's duties and take care of the younger children like Noir, Blancheur, and especially Olivia.
Artoria probably didn't know he was gone. The others would have hidden the fact that he was missing from her for the time being. As for how long before they told her, maybe a week, or two weeks at most. Jaune wouldn't blame them for not telling her, because he didn't want Artoria to know and stress herself out. She didn't need to worry about him; she had her Huntsman training to prioritize. Jaune also knew that when they eventually told her, she would demand that either his dad or mom bring her back home so she could help search for him.
Jeanne would probably cry a lot, and she would pray for his safety too. Jaune didn't know how or why, but she was surprisingly the most religious out of the whole family. None of the family members were as religious as Jeanne, not even close. They all believed in the Brother Gods, but did they worship them? No, and that was why it was surprising that Jeanne was the one who prayed to the Brother Gods the most.
Noir and Blancheur would probably change too. Noir would likely quiet down for quite a while, and Blancheur would become even quieter. Jaune let out a sigh, because he felt guilty about the fact that he had most likely made the loudest member of the family become as quiet as her twin, and that Blancheur would become quieter than a mouse, and all of that would be his fault.
Olivia would be old enough to understand that something was wrong, but hopefully she didn't realize that Jaune wasn't with them anymore.
As for Mordred, Jaune felt the most guilt for her. He didn't know how much grief she was in. She probably cried the most, and if Jaune knew anything about Mordred, he knew she would shut herself inside her bedroom. Jaune didn't know what to think about the fact that he had turned his sister, his loving and spirited sister, into a former ghost of herself. He really hoped she took care of herself. Jaune didn't want her to get sick because of him. What if she starved herself because she didn't have the mood to eat dinner without him? Jaune couldn't remember any breakfast or dinner that Mordred had eaten without him. If Jaune could bring her with him, he would, but he couldn't.
He really hoped the others took care of Mordred in his stead. It was the only thing he could do now: hope that everything was alright with Mordred, because he knew she was the one who took his leaving the hardest. He also hoped that this didn't sour Mordred and his dad's relationship, because he didn't want her to blame their father for the fact that Jaune had to leave to become a Huntsman, but he knew it was a fool's wish.
<=======]==¤
{THIRD PERSON POV}
A few hours had passed since Jaune had been stuck in his head thinking about his family.
Right now, Jaune was preparing to sneak out of the ship. He had left his hiding spot and was currently perched near the ship's anchor, preparing to jump to the docks as soon as it was close enough.
He needed to be fast and stealthy because a lot of the crew was on the deck now as they prepared to dock. Thankfully, it was dawn, so it was still a little dark, and the shadows hid Jaune slightly.
"Prepare the anchor!"
As soon as Jaune heard one of the crew members shout to prepare the anchor, he reinforced his legs and jumped onto the docks, then started running as quietly as he could into the buildings and alleyways.
Jaune let out a breath as he poked his head out of the alley to look back at the ship. He reinforced his ears slightly, trying to eavesdrop and see whether any crew members had heard or seen him jump.
"Deploying the anchor now! Prepare yourselves!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" one of the crew members shouted.
"Stop playing around!" That voice was one Jaune recognized. It was Mr. Rock's voice.
"Aye aye, Captain," another crew member, different from the first, answered back to Mr. Rock.
"Dumbasses, the lot of you..." Mr. Rock let out a sigh.
Jaune couldn't help but sigh too, because it looked like they hadn't noticed him.
Hopefully his father or the others didn't suspect that Jaune had stowed away on Mr. Rock's ship, because Jaune hadn't exactly hidden the fact that he had helped Mr. Rock with his ship.
His father and the others most likely suspected he had been kidnapped, and his father probably wouldn't think Jaune had run away to become a Huntsman. It had been years since Jaune had given them any sign that he still wanted to be a Huntsman. Only Mordred knew about it.
Jaune shook his head and walked further into the town, looking around.
The town wasn't in good condition from what Jaune could see with his own eyes. Jaune never expected Vacuo to be anything like Vale, but he still didn't expect this.
He could see that some of the buildings' roofs had been torn away, probably from the sandstorm Mr. Andrew had told Jaune about, the one that had hit Vacuo a couple of months ago. He also saw walls with holes the size of plates, and as he walked further into town, he could see it wasn't any better.
On the contrary, it was even worse than the houses near the docks. Some of the buildings were simply gone. It wasn't accurate to say they had fallen apart; it looked more like the sandstorm had ripped them straight out of the ground, leaving only floors and foundations that somehow still stood.
Jaune had only seen a couple of people who were up and about, probably preparing to start their day, which made sense now that he thought about it.
A few minutes passed before Jaune heard a pained cry in the distance, and his legs moved toward the sound before he even thought about it.
When Jaune realized where he was going, it was too late, not that he would have walked away even if he had time. He was at the mouth of an alley, and he saw a couple of men trying to rob two kids around his age.
One of the kids, the boy, had a black eye as he shielded a girl with his body. The girl had bruises on her arm.
"You know what to do, squirt. Move away..." One of the thugs stepped closer, and the boy covered the girl even more.
"Go away! Fuck you!" the boy shouted, earning a kick to the ribs.
"Ugh!" The boy let out a pained cry.
The other thug put a hand on the first thug's shoulder and chuckled.
"Hey, don't hurt him too badly. You know I like it when they're still awake..." Thug number two told thug number one.
"I know. The brat deserved it anyway. You take the boy; I've got the girl this time..." Thug number one answered, and he started to open his belt.
"Yeah... let's see how this one fares compared to the last brats we dealt with." Thug number two started to open his belt as well.
Jaune froze for a moment at what he was seeing, then shook it off and ran straight at them. He used a low level of reinforcement and kicked thug number two's head into the wall, embedding it with a bone-crunching sound. Before the other thug could react, Jaune hooked his foot behind thug number one's head and slammed him headfirst into the ground. Blood began pooling into the small crater.
Jaune panted, adrenaline surging through his veins. This was the first time he had fought another person besides Mordred, and he forced himself to focus as he turned to the kids.
"Hey, hey! Are you two okay?" He reached a hand out to the boy.
The boy flinched away at first, then realized Jaune was about his age.
"You... what... what happened to those two fuckers?" The boy stopped shielding the girl and sat up straighter, staring at Jaune's outstretched hand.
"Well... they're..." Jaune glanced back at the two men he had subdued. "They're taken care of."
"Yeah... I can see that now. Thanks..." the boy said, but Jaune kept looking at the two men.
He had thought they only wanted to rob the kids, but their plan had been something much more disgusting. Jaune could see that both of them were still breathing, even if it was faint.
Jaune couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for them. He didn't think he would feel guilty if they died, which shocked him, but he couldn't care about their lives.
Something deep inside him urged him to draw his sword and finish it, but he shook that thought away. Even if he didn't kill them, they had already gotten what they deserved. Neither of them looked like they had their Aura unlocked, and Jaune had kicked them hard in the head with reinforcement. He could still remember the crunching sensation under his foot.
Jaune wasn't going to help them, and he wasn't going to ask someone else to help them either. If they survived, they would probably suffer brain damage from traumatic injuries and cracked skulls.
"You..." Jaune snapped his head back to the boy when he heard him speak again. "What's your name?"
Jaune hesitated, then gave the boy-and the girl peeking from behind him-a small smile.
"My name is... Jaun-... John."
"John Luna."
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