Vendetta543
patreon
No Victory in Strength (Minecraft Jaune) - Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2024-05-31 11:54:29 +0000 UTCNext commission. This one has an OP Jaune, but not in the usual way. Instead of being a one-man army, his Semblance is Minecraft powers, making him a one-man industrial revolution that everyone wants on their side. Kind of like Raise but not as dark.
For anyone interested in making a commission, email me at: storylover543@gmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: Breaking the setting in half
This was so exciting!
Ruby bounced up in her seat and eagerly looked out of the bullhead's window. She was practically buzzing with excitement. This was team RWBY's first-ever mission! Okay, so they weren't going out to kill a horde of Grimm or anything, but it was still exciting for her.
The rest of the team didn't share her excitement. Weiss was sitting straight and rigid next to her with her hands on her lap and a sour look on her face. Across from them, Yang was slumped over bored in her seat while Blake was reading some book that she scratched the title out of. Ever since she told them that it was a scouting mission, the rest of the team got super bored. Even Weiss, though she wouldn't admit it, was looking forward to getting some action.
Hey, she wanted to go kill Grimm too, but she'd take what she could get!
They were being sent to scout out a village on Eastern Saunus. Apparently, it was growing super fast and the place was completely safe from Grimm. Which was good, but from what the headmaster told her, the place got like that in less than a year. It was weird. Places like Patch and Argues took years to be safe, and even then that took the backing of kingdoms or Huntsmen deciding to congregate around the area. This place - Domremy, it was called - didn't have that.
Yang yawned and stretched her arms above her head, "Man, this sucks," she groaned, "Why are we being sent out for this? The freaking pilot could check out the town. You don't need four people to do this."
"Didn't you read the briefing, Yang?" Weiss asked.
"Eh, I leave that to you guys."
"Of course." Weiss sighed and tapped her scroll, "Our mission is to scout out a village, yes, but we're also supposed to 'observe, and protect, if need be' someone of great importance. Apparently, this settlement's rapid industrial boom was caused by said individual awakening to his Semblance."
"Pft, you're telling me one guy put a town on the map? He's not Cereal Girl." Pyrrha's team was doing their own mission: shadowing a deputy to get a better idea of what Huntsmen were supposed to do in remote settlements. It sounded about as interesting as what they were doing now, but she was curious all the same. While she focused on weaponry, engineering in general was something she was passionate about. She wondered what this guy did to help his village out so much.
"I passed by this place a year ago." Blake turned a page on the book and her bow twitched. Cute, "Domremy. It's more village than town. The only thing that stuck out was the winery they had. Enchanting Elixrs, I think it's called? A family called the Arcs run it if I'm remembering right."
"I've had a couple of their bottles in mealtimes. Decent enough vintages, though nothing spectacular. Mother has sampled their brews as well." Weiss wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips. She didn't like talking about her family and they didn't push.
"Hey, maybe we can score some free drinks while we're there!" Yang grinned.
"Yang! No drinking on the job!" Ruby said.
"Come on, Rubes! Lighten up!"
"Nope! We're professional Huntresses-in-training! Professionals, Yang!"
The four of them chatted for the rest of the flight. The mission wasn't supposed to take long. Get in, get some info on the settlement, then check out the person responsible. They were only supposed to stay for three days. Long enough for them to get an idea of what made the settlement so special and make a detailed report. Yang had whooped and said it was a chance to cut classes, which Weiss glared at her for. Ruby didn't say it out loud, but she was happy for a chance to avoid another one of Professor Port's lectures.
"We're here," the bullhead pilot said over the intercom. Ruby grinned and stood up, ignoring Weiss' protest that they should sit until the vehicle fully landed. Yeah, right. She saw Weiss' sister standing on the bullhead ramp when she arrived in Beacon.
Ruby stood in front of the ramp and waited for it to lower. She briefly considered the idea of making a pose for anyone who just happened to be on the other side before thinking better about it. Weiss would scoff about how she was being immature or something.
As soon as the ramp hit the ground Ruby rushed outside and stopped, eyes wide with wonder. The picture of Domremy they were given was of a pretty standard village-cum-town. Regular fortifications of a wall and a militia while the buildings were built more for practicality than anything else. She grew up in Patch, so she was used to rustic surroundings. The four kingdoms and some rare offshoots like Argus were the only places you could expect something better.
Domremy wasn't anything like the pictures. The buildings reminded her of the ones back in Vale, except even fancier looking if that was possible. Each and every building was meticulously designed and decorated, managing to look both expensive yet practical. Back in Patch, the biggest place they had was the mayor's house in the nearby town, and yet every single building easily matched or even surpassed that place with how well-built they were.
The docks they'd landed on were similarly designed. Most docks in outside settlements tended to be a clear patch of land with the bare minimum of necessities. Most villages didn't have the money to keep things like fuel and repair shops on hand due to the rarity of flying vehicles coming and going.
Not this one. The landing pad - an actual landing pad - was surrounded by the usual amenities back at Beacon. Heck, there were more than that. A fueling station, a garage, and even a small bar(!). It was like something straight out of Nova Wars.
Ruby turned around and her eyes boggled at the wall circling the town. Vale's defenses, like just about any kingdom's, consisted of a wall and automated defenses. There was a defense force, of course, but the majority of them were engineers who were meant to keep the defenses online. Most settlements couldn't afford anything similar. Defense systems were expensive and needed the right technical know-how to repair. That was why they made do with militias.
Like everything else in Domremy so far, it was different. The wall was big - easily matching Vale's in height - and covered in turrets, AA guns, and advanced watchtowers. There were sniper nests with spotlights observing the area and people patrolling the walls on top of everything else. And their armor...she knew that people without Aura (or those with poorly trained ones) needed armor to blunt the difference, even if most kinds of protection weren't really much of a help against Grimm. There was a reason they had to reinforce their weapons with Aura.
The miltia patrolling the walls were each wearing proper steel plate. Even from a distance, Ruby could tell each and every suit was well-made. It still wouldn't have been as good compared to Aura, but it was definitely above what the average outside settlement would have.
The rest of the team went down and looked around in similar awe. Yang's eyes in particular lingered at the well-stocked bar, though Weiss had grabbed her by the ear just as she was making to walk off.\, "Ow, hey! I was just gonna check it out!"
"No getting drunk, Yang!" Weiss scolded. She let go of the blonde's ear and looked around again, "This place is...not what I expected."
"It definitely didn't look like this a year ago..." Blake muttered.
"Stuff like this takes way more than a year to build," Ruby added. Just the wall alone would have been a huge effort, and that wasn't even counting everything else on top. And this was all because of one person? Even someone with a Polarity Semblance like Pyrrha couldn't do something like this in a year.
Their wondering was cut off when someone walked up to them. Ruby turned to greet him and stopped when she saw his armor. She was used to working with rare materials in her efforts to improve Crescent Rose, even spending most of her allowance on any esoteric stuff she could find. Still, she'd never worked on diamonds before. They were super expensive, and despite how hard they were, they were also extremely brittle. One good hit and it'd shatter into a million pieces.
And yet here a guy was walking up to them wearing an entire suit made out of diamond. And it was definitely diamond. Ruby wasn't fancy schmancy like Weiss, but she knew the real stuff when she saw it. Weiss did too. Her bestie's eyes were wide and the look on her face made it obvious that she was mentally calculating how much the entire suit cost. Ruby was more curious about how someone could find enough diamonds to make a whole suit of armor.
"Holy shit..." Yang whispered behind her. Blake hummed in agreement.
"You four must be Team RWBY. The headmaster contacted us. Name's John Oakwood, I run the militia around here." The man said. He was a tall guy with a big bushy beard and a rough face that didn't match the fancy suit he was wearing. He reminded her of Old Bear Gunderson from back home, "Headmaster said you all wanted to check out our one-man revolution. I'll take you to him."
"Um, pardon me," Weiss said. She sounded downright meek, which was creepy, "I know it might sound boorish, but are those..." She trailed off and pointed to the diamond chest plate.
The middle-aged man's face split in a wide smile and he laughed, causing Weiss' cheek to flush red, "Right, right. Forget how odd it must look to anyone new." Odd wasn't the word she'd use, but Ruby kept that to herself, "Yeah, it was a gift. Didn't think much of how useful it'd be, but I was proven wrong."
"Uh, really?" Ruby couldn't stop herself from asking. She continued before her embarrassment made her stop, "Diamonds are hard, but they're not really good at taking impacts."
"That's what I thought too, but results speak for themselves." He rubbed his beard in thought, "Hm, tell you what. You Huntresses got good guns, right?" They all nodded except for Weiss. Myrtanester didn't really have a gun form in the traditional sense, "Right then, why not do a test? Go on and shoot me in the chest." He tapped the diamond chestplate and grinned.
"Um...are you sure about that?" Ruby shuffled from one foot to another, "Do you have an awakened Aura, sir?"
"Sure, but I ain't trained it like you lasses." He rubbed his beard again. It reminded her of Professor Port, "But it'll be fine. Only if you really wanna see how effective the armor is, 'course. We could just get on our way."
Ruby chewed on her lower lip. They really should be going, but she couldn't deny that she was curious about how effective it was, "Alright..." No one disagreed. Either they were curious like she was or, in Weiss' case, still trying to calculate how expensive a whole diamond suit would be.
They walked over to a more secluded spot...after Yang made sure to record the guy saying he was giving Ruby his consent to shoot him. Just to avoid any problems just in case, she said. Ruby stood across a fair distance away from the militia leader and unfurled Crescent Rose into its sniper rifle form. Mr. Oakwood gave an impressed whistle, which caused Ruby to smile. She was never one to turn away compliments for her baby.
Ruby raised the rifle and aimed dead center at his torso before squeezing the trigger. A loud bang erupted and Ruby released a breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding. The bullet impacted against the surface of the chestplate and...nothing. There wasn't even a scratch. The bullet had been smashed flat on contact and Ruby watched as the no-thin circle of metal fell to the ground.
...Wow.
"Told ya it worked." He rapped a fist against the pristine chestplate, "Jaune does good work."
"Jaune...I suppose that's the name of the individual responsible for all this?" Weiss asked. Her eyes hadn't left the diamond armor since he first showed up.
"That he be. Jaune Arc, Nathanel and Elise's kid. Lad always had his head in the clouds for a while, but then..." He shook his head, "Ah, I'll tell ya lasses on the way."
The four of them followed after him silently and listened. The rapid changes began six months ago. Jaune Arc, one of the people living in the village, had awakened his Semblance. Mr. Oakwood was sparse on the details - apparently, he didn't know much about it himself - but the gist of it was that his Semblance allowed him to build good. Like, really good. Everything from gathering the resources, designing the buildings, and creating said buildings from the ground up. The others tried to help where they could, of course, but apparently, Jaune was just way better at gathering and building than they were.
Ruby had to admit that she felt somewhat jealous. It took her years of lessons and trial and error to get where she was, and even then she wasn't nearly as good as this Jaune guy sounded. She definitely couldn't make buildings or make armor out of freaking diamonds.
"There's a lot of people here," Blake said, "The place was definitely smaller when I passed by a year ago."
"Things have changed, aye," Mr. Oakwood replied, "When Jaune started changing things, the other places noticed. They realized it was safer inside our walls than it was in their own places. It started slow at first. Just a few people coming in and making a place for themselves. But then more and more newcomers showed up and people got worried. Domremy wasn't built to handle so many people. We don't have enough land, enough houses...well, you get the idea."
"You seem to be all doing fine," Weiss commented airily.
"Thanks to Jaune." He nodded, "Needed more space? He just expanded. Needed jobs? He set the foundations for new farms, fisheries, and anything else you can think of. People always need more food and farmland comes at a premium. We still had some bums who came in expecting an easy ride, 'course, but we got the lazy bastards out. Damn wastrels wouldn't even patrol the walls or help plow the fields. Everyone else here works for what they have."
Ruby kept looking around without saying a word. This place reminded her more of Vale than anything else. More rural, sure, but just as advanced. Could one person really be responsible for all of this? She'd never heard of a Semblance that strong. Then again, she'd never heard of hereditary Semblances before she met Weiss, so...
The place was bigger than she thought. Miles and miles of land were filled to the brim with farms, shops, and factories. The people here were all working hard and many stopped to wave happily as they passed. Ruby eyed a bunch of people harvesting large quantities of grain along with a few other stuff. She didn't know much about it. Despite living in a cabin in the woods with Dad and Yang, none of them really knew about farming. They could all hunt and live off the land, but not that way.
She stopped and did a double-take when she saw something else. Was...Was that a strawberry farm? She rubbed her eyes just to make sure and, yep, it definitely was one. Her mouth salivated at the sight of the fresh berries being plucked by hard workers. She was so tempted to speed over there and get some, but she held back. It'd been so long since she had some strawberries...
"Hey, John. New people living in the village?" Another voice called out. Ruby tore her eyes away from the field of paradise and blinked. The new arrival was an old woman who looked like the classic gradnma straight out of a storybook. Short and dressed in heavy layers with a head of wispy white hair and a face full of wrinkles that told of a long life.
Except for the fact that she had muscles that put Yang to shame, which she put to use by carrying what looked like 300-pound sacks of grain over each shoulder. Her big sis looked at the bulging arms and legs of the old lady then self-consciously rubbed her own (not small) arms, "Hey, Annette. Nah, these city folk are Huntresses. Came to see our miracle."
"Visiting Jaune? Well, guess I shouldn't be surprised." She smiled, "How about I take them the rest of the way? I'm supposed to take these-" she hefted the bugs on her shoulders, "-over to Jaune's place anyway so it'll save you a trip."
"If you don't mind." Mr. Oakwood nodded, "Annette will take it from here. See you all around."
They all mumbled their goodbyes and followed their new guide. The woman - Annette Crowder - was just as chatty as Mr. Oakwood, "This is all thanks to sweet little Jaune, of course," she beamed like a proud grandmother, "Though, I guess he's not so little anymore."
"So hey, uh..." Yang rubbed the back of her head, "Hope you don't mind me asking, but what training regiment you got going on? I'd kill to look that good at your age."
"Oh, these?" Mrs. Crowder flexed her arms and laughed, "It's not because if anything I did, dear. It's another one of Jaune's gifts. They're...well, I guess you could call them health drinks? He brewed up some for me and af ew of the others when we collapsed. Old age, you understand." She shook her head, "We said that we didn't need it and he'd already done so much for us, but he insisted. Would've been disrespectful if we refused and the rest is history."
"Fascinating. I'm sure Atlas would pay a lot for that drink." Weiss hummed. Blake looked away and scowled slightly, "Would you happen to have the recipe?"
"No, no. Jaune has that, and he's the only one who can make it, I think. Some rascals tried to make some for themselves and all they got was an upset stomach and a trip to the hospital." She laughed, "Don't let the muscle fool you young'uns. The drinks make us strong, but it isn't permanent. All of us agreed that we wouldn't use it unless we really had to. Wouldn't wanna get reliant on it, right? You look like you worked hard for those," she said to Yang.
"Thanks for noticing." Yang grinned. She still looked somewhat self-conscious, but being praised had helped, "So...this Jaune guy. He makes buildings, gives jobs, and gives freaking magic potions. Is there anything this guy can't do?"
"He does seem universally skilled just from what we've been hearing," Weiss added.
Blake didn't say anything. She just looked around with narrowed eyes while her bow kept twitching. Ruby suddenly had a bad feeling, though she didn't say anything out loud. Blake was probably making some weird plan again.
They left the more bustling town and walked up a hill. At the top of said hill was an honest to Brothers castle. She'd been here long enough that she wasn't that shocked anymore, but it was hard not to be impressed. Like the town proper, the castle was surrounded by its own wall lined with anti-air defenses and automatic turrets. Any Grimm or ship trying to land without an invitation would've been shot out of the sky."
"And I thought Atlas was secure..." Blake muttered.
They walked past the drawbridge(!) before Mrs. Crowder turned to them, "Well, I'm heading off to the stables. The four of you can head on inside. Jaune should be inside. The rest of his family is out, but he should be down in the workshop. Take the first door on the right and the stairs down. Jaune'll be working on something else, knowing him. Boy will never slow down. Shame, so many of the village lasses wish he'd actually see what he built."
"Thanks." Ruby bowed politely and walked inside. The inside was just as fancy as the outside. Marble floor, numerous paintings on the walls, and gold-lined chandeliers on the ceiling. And that was just the start. The golden suits of armor lining the hallway made her dizzy to think about, and even Weiss felt out of place.
"...60 billion lien." Weiss mumbled.
"Huh?" Ruby turned to her.
"That armor Mr. Oakwood was wearing. It's worth easily 60 billion lien. No one would buy at that price, of course, but even at a reduced price, it would be enough to fund a decently sized town for months. Yet this Jaune gave it to someone else as a gift."
"Um..." Ruby shuffled from one foot to another. She really didn't know what to say about that, "Let's just meet this guy."
Ruby led the way down. It was weird. Beacon was a castle, but this place felt different. Not bad, but still. Ruby stopped at the bottom of the staircase and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" A boyish voice called out from inside. Not even a 'who is it?', just an open invitation. Then again, no one else seemed to worry about them going to meet him while he was alone. She liked to think it was because of how trusted Huntsmen were.
Ruby opened the door and stepped inside. She only managed a few steps before she was frozen at the amazing sight before her. The strawberry fields were nice, but this was amazing. It was a forge. No, calling it that was an insult. It was a basion of creation! Beacon had a forge, the best Vale could afford for their future protectors. And yet it paled in comparison to the the room around her. As an aspiring blacksmith and engineer, she could just tell that miracles were made in this place. Her mouth drooled at the thought of creating so many weapon upgrades. Crescent Rose with a high-frequency blade...
The other reason she was drooling was because of the person who owned the room.
Ruby didn't get why other girls were so into boys. Who had time for all that stuff when they were so busy being Huntsmen? That wasn't to say she was blind to how attractive guys could be, but the ones at Beacon just didn't do it for her. She didn't think Neptune was 'so hot' the same way Weiss and a bunch of the other girls in her year did.
Yet despite that, she was unable to tear her eyes away at the sight of (presumably) Jaune Arc hammering away at a blacksmith's table. He was shirtless, which made sense given how hot forges could be. His position gave them a good side view of his entire body. He wasn't the most muscular - people like Cardin or Sun were bigger - but he was definitely well-built with firm arms and well-formed abs. His bare upper body glistened with a light sheen of sweat and he panted softly in slight fatigue as he brought the hammer down on the cube atop the table.
She'd seen half-naked guys before - a bunch of them tried to show off in the auditorium before Initiation - but those didn't interest her. Way too many Huntsmen only knew how to hit things and didn't even make their own weapons like in Signal. Boring. Now, seeing a guy sweating it out at the forge to build something with his own two hands? That...she liked that.
"Ooh, mama like..." Yang said next to her.
"Be with you in a sec!" Jaune brought the hammer down one last time and the square cube turned into a sword. The pure white blade seemed to shimmer and she was almost blinded when he grabbed the golden hilt and raised it with a smile.
Oh damn. That was a nice image.
Weiss coughed, though Ruby didn't miss how red her cheeks were. Blake's too, "Mr. Arc?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry." He set the sword down on the table and picked up a light blue shirt hanging on a nearby chair. Ruby refused to voice out how disappointed he was when he put it on, "How can I help you all? Need something built?"
"No, thank you." Weiss gave him the 'businesswoman' smile, "My name is Weiss Schnee. This is Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, and Blake Belladonna." She pointed to each of them in turn, "We were sent here to investigate this settlement."
"Oh. I hope it's nothing bad?"
"Quite the opposite, actually. We'd heard about the advancements that took place over the past year and the headmaster sent us to verify things with our own eyes, so to speak."
"Oh...cool. Hope it didn't disappoint." Ruby almost scoffed at that. He'd made his own miniature kingdom and he was acting like they were gonna say something bad about him, "I mean, I was just building stuff. I woke up one day with all these ideas in my head and I knew I just had to build it. You know what I mean?"
"Oh yeah." Ruby nodded eagerly. Granted, in her case there were a lot of failures and test runs. Just cause she thought she could give Crescent Rose a high-powered laser didn't mean she actually knew how to build one that wouldn't blow up in her hands, "Speaking of, what was that sword?"
"Huh? Oh!" He beamed proudly and picked it up again. The pure-white longsword seemed to gleam in response to being held, "I was testing out this new metal ingot I made. Meteor ore with a dash of silverite. Not sure how well it'll do yet, but I'm hoping it'll at least match the diamond sword."
"...Excuse me, the what?" Weiss said, barely managing to keep a straight face.
"Diamond sword. Should be around here somewhere..." He turned and rummaged through a nearby chest like he was looking for a spare bit of lien. It only took him a few seconds to pull out a sword covered in a fine blue scabbard, "Here it is."
He handed it to Weiss as if she'd asked for it. Her partner looked down at the sword and reluctantly took it before slowly pulling it out of its sheath. Her eyes practically bugged out as the crystal blue blade was exposed to the open air. Again, Ruby could already tell she was calculating just how expensive this one sword was.
Jaune saw the look on her face and smiled, "Do you want it?"
"Wh-What?!" Weiss sputtered, looking completely caught out.
"Do you want it? You seem to really like it!"
"N-No! I mean, yes, I do think the craftsmanship is superb, but I can't just accept this! This is too much!"
"Is it? I have a few more. I don't mind giving this one to you." The casual declaration made Weiss' breath seize. Ruby knew that Weiss was rich - she wasn't exactly shy about it - but all that money came with caveats. Her allowance came from her dad and continuing to receive one meant having to keep him happy. If she sold that sword, she could easily afford any expenses she had at Beacon for the next four years and beyond.
The internal struggle was plain for all to see. Weiss' pride and sense of decorum were fighting against the mountain of lien she held in her hands.
"What? No present for us?" Yang asked with a joking smile.
"Yang!" Ruby scolded.
"Huh? Oh, I'm being rude." He laughed lightly and picked up another box from a nearby table, "I don't really know what you three will like, but I have some spare materials. Here, see if anything interests you!"
He opened the box and offered it to them. Ruby, Blake, and Yang looked inside and Ruby was almost floored at the messy pile of gold, gemstones, and other high-quality items. A fist-sized ruby, some gold bars, a handful of pearls...it was like something of a pirate's buried treasure. Yang's mouth parted open, but there was no quip or joke to be had. Blake looked similarly stunned and looked into Jaune's eyes, trying to see if there was some kind of implication with the gesture.
Nothing. He just continued to smile and hold up the box.
"I...I can't..." Ruby mumbled. She was so tempted, but-
"Well, I'll take this then." She grabbed the ruby.
"Wha- Yang?!"
"Hey, he's offering!" Yang shot back.
"Thank you." Blake took a single gold bar.
"You too, Blake?! Come on, we're not here to..." Her voice trailed off as she saw something far more valuable than jewelry. Buried under the shiny rocks was a single dimeritium ingot. Whatever lecture she had died in her throat. Dimeritium was a rare and expensive material. Even if she saved up her allowance for a year straight, she wouldn't have been able to afford even a single one. So many upgrades she could do with Crescent Rose if she had even one ingot...
Jaune noticed where she was looking and smiled. Without any hesitation, he rifled through the box with his other hand and brought out three ingots that he handed to her.
"W-Wait, I can't accept-"
"It's fine." Jaune nodded and pressed it to her trembling hands, "Most people don't go for ingots. I'm guessing you want to build something, right?"
"Y-Yeah..." She blushed in embarrassment. The ingots felt heavy in her hands.
"Wanna try building it here? If you don't mind, I mean."
"C-Can I?" Oh gods, she was so lightheaded. He'd just given her some of the rarest materials on Remnant and now he was offering to let her use his workshop. She thought that people that like him didn't exist out of fairytales...
"Sure! It'll be nice to see someone else's work!"
"Uh...we'll give you two some room," Yang said. Ruby could barely hear her. Not when she'd found her soulmate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaune Arc...
The name ran through Weiss' head as she walked aimlessly around the miniature kingdom. Her right hand limply held a sword easily worth millions. The thought of it made her head swim. As the heiress to the SDC, Weiss was used to luxury and expense. Birthday parties and celebrations were lavish events, each easily costing hundreds of thousands of lien. Father didn't care about his family, but he couldn't deny the temptation of throwing his money around and lording it above everyone else.
And yet she'd never witnessed such generosity. Or was it a pure lack of regard? Jaune had given her this sword with as much care as one would give out an old shirt. This wasn't like Father's audacious shows of wealth. He legitimately did not care to part with something so valuable. And why would he, she thought. If money was what he was after, he could easily make a fortune off of his creations and 'materials' and live the easy life of a king.
But he didn't. Instead, he built...all of this. She looked around at the happy people, the general feeling of contentment, and her grip on the sword tightened. It was everything her father could've done but didn't. No, instead he chose to abuse his employees and throw away any sense of honor and morality for the sake of his greed. He and those sycophants who followed him. Thinking of it made her gut churn with disgust at the selfishness of it all.
Despite her feelings, Weiss was already making plans. Father was a bastard, but he didn't raise a fool. Jaune was clearly skilled. Prodigiously so. Whatever his Semblance was, it allowed him to do miraculous things. She also knew that the headmaster wouldn't have sent them here simply to report that Jaune Arc did, in fact, exist. No. It was more than that. The headmaster wanted him, that she was sure of. A man of his skills (and physique...) would be valuable to anyone.
She could see it already. The people in the countryside were aware, but once Jaune's abilities were known throughout the kingdoms? They would each demand his skills, arguing over one another that they deserved his assistance over everyone else...including her. She chewed on her lower lip. Perhaps the headmaster didn't intend it, but he'd given her a headstart.
She wanted...needed Jaune's skills. Her position as the heiress was tenuous. Fighting for the chance to attend Beacon had soured her heavily in her father's eyes, and she was sure that Whitley was making his own little schemes to try and further discredit her. If she truly wanted to redeem the Schnee name, then waiting for her father to retire might not be enough. How many years would he take before he settled down? How much damage could he do in the meantime?
But with Jaune's help, she could...expedite the process. His engineering skills were miraculous. Surely, he could find some way to refine Dust or make the gathering process easier and safer. And if not, then less direct aid could suffice. Those potions of his could enhance the strength and vigor of any employee, and those tools she saw around the workshop would make it far easier for the miners to extract dust. If she could sell the idea that she could improve the SDC without needing to be devoid of morality, she could oust her father.
The diamond sword in her hands made her think of an even more audacious idea. Start her own company, damn the bloated mass of corruption her father created. She knew it was impractical, but it was a tempting idea regardless.
Now how could she...
"Weiss." She turned and blinked at the sight of Blake. Things between the two of them had been...tense ever since Blake had outed herself as former White Fang. While the two of them had publicly made peace for Ruby and Yang's sake, years of conflict couldn't just be swept away with one apology. They understood where the other came from, but it couldn't erase the fact that Weiss was the daughter of the man who'd borderline-enslaved Faunus and Blake was part of a group that had specifically targeted her family and killed people she knew growing up.
They weren't enemies, but they weren't exactly friends. Not yet, at least.
"Blake." Weiss nodded back. It was rare for Blake to seek her out and initiate conversation.
"I'll be blunt. What plans do you have for Jaune?"
Weiss raised a brow, "What makes you think I have any?" she asked back.
"Because I'm not stupid." Blake scoffed, "I could see the gears turning in your head when we left."
"Fine. You got me." Weiss crossed her arms, "I'm thinking of asking for his help in ousting my father." At Blake's silence, Weiss continued, "We might not agree on a lot of things, but we're both of the same mind that the SDC under my father is a bloated, corrupt beast. With Jaune's help, I'm sure that I could find a way to remove my father from his position." It would perhaps mean stopping her education at Beacon to take her place as CEO, though she could possibly find someone to serve the role in the interim while she finished her education. Regardless, she couldn't let this chance slip away.
"I see..."
"Do you disapprove? I'd have thought you would want Jacques Schnee removed from his position."
"That's not the issue here." She sighed and gestured to their surroundings, "Look around you, Weiss. See what Jaune did in just six months. Do you know who really needs that help? Menagerie." Weiss pursed her lips and resisted the urge to interrupt. Blake had given her the same courtesy, after all, "Two-thirds of Menagerie is uninhabitable due to the environment and Grimm, but with Jaune's help, that can all change. The Faunus can turn their home into something more than a glorified prison the kingdoms gave us as a 'prize'. Proper docks, defenses, and a town that won't be destroyed by one errant arsonist. The Faunus could have the kingdom they deserve."
"Sounds ambitious, but how long do you think this would take? Even with Jaune's skills, turning a village into a flourishing town is a far cry from turning something into a kingdom proper. You're talking about adapting to a hostile environment and having to deal with the Grimm. That would take months, if not years, even with Jaune's help. Whereas my plan would be far faster and lead to obvious benefits. No more employees - Faunus - dying in the mines due to greed and no safety checks. People can finally feel safe."
"And how long should my people have to wait while the rich get richer?" Weiss scowled at the insult, "It'll take longer, sure, but the Faunus deserve a chance to have a true home. You're already slated to become the heiress. You don't need Jaune's help. We do."
"I'm sure it appears that way from an outside perspective, but that's not the whole truth." Weiss sighed, "I need Jaune's help, Blake."
"So do I."
"Then I guess we're at an impasse." Weiss frowned.
"I guess so. Good thing I'm gonna win."
The two of them stared at one another for a moment before Blake turned on her heel and left without a word. Weiss did the same, face marred with a deep frown despite her best efforts to the contrary. It wasn't as if she didn't understand Blake's point of view, but her plan was sensible. Turning Menagerie into a proper kingdom would be a far more difficult task than Jaune assisting her in ensuring her transition as the CEO. She would have to convince the board that Jaune was loyal to her, of course, or else those snakes would try to cut her out. She could simply...
Weiss stopped. How...could she convince Jaune to help her? Her first thought was money and connections - the usual bait for those seeking alliances - but that wouldn't work. Jaune could create things that would earn him more than enough lien if he so wished. As for connections...would her role as the heiress even matter here? What could she offer a man who could build seemingly anything? Was that why Blake was so confident that she'd seize victory?
She shook her head. No, now was not the time for doubts. She might not have been able to use her usual methods, but that didn't mean Blake had a leg up either. She would be the one to secure Jaune's loyalty and accomplish her plans. She just knew it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uh-oh, war's brewing already. Weiss and Blake have met Jaune for like five minutes and already made plans on how they can use his Semblance without even asking Jaune first what he wants to do. Ain't life grand?
Questions:
1. So between Blake and Weiss, who do you think deserves Jaune's help more? Ignoring the whole 'them not asking Jaune at all about his opinion' thing. Blake's plan is ambitious but is definitely a time-sink even with Minecraft powers. Weiss has a higher likelihood of success but it's not as widespread or significant as giving the Faunus an equal place on Remnant.
2. How do you guys want Weiss and Blake to try to appeal to Jaune? Especially Blake. I'm kind of torn on Blake trying to go for (poorly attempted) seduction or her trying to go full guilt trip like 'So I noticed you haven't helped any Faunus villages. Not saying you're racist, BUT...' to try and convince Jaune to help out of Human Guilt. Both can be humorous in their own ways.
Comments
MilitiaMasker
But it won’t be about the money. I image his father’s dream was to have a world famous wine company, and Weiss could help by spreading the name.
Thelurker12
Yeah, that is something. I did wonder if the other nations would try to forcefully keep Menagerie at a glorifed ghetto state. Biggest ones I can think off would be Jacques and maybe Mistral. Ironwood would go the same route if I crank up the stupidity and have him go 'terraforming Menagerie is kowtowing to terrorists'. Also, a target on Jaune is pretty much inevitable. Ozpin knows who he is and is likely gonna appeal for his help against Salem. That will draw the attention of people like Ironwood and Cinder. Not to mention the other evil factions. Jacques would want his gifts for the SDC exclusively. Sienna would want him building weapons, armor, and supplying potions for the White Fang. And so on and so forth.
Thelurker12
The wine business promotion is pretty pointless. As Weiss notes, money is not an issue. Jaune casually hands out stuff worth hundreds of millions of lien to people he's just met. His entire family lives in a castle. While the wine business is still there, it's a drop in the bucket to what Jaune is producing.
MilitiaMasker
Need MOAR!!!! In regards to the questions: 1) I’d say Weiss deserves Jaune’s help more. 2) Weiss could offer to spread word of Jaune’s family’s wine business, or to put on a personal concert for his family. Blake could try to bring the White Fang into it, by having them give up terrorism in exchange for him building Kuo Kuana into the fifth kingdom of Remnant.
Blanke
I enjoyed this a lot! There's a ton of potential for whichever direction it could be heading in. 1. I think the Menagerie idea is too time-extensive to consider in the short term, tbh. Even if the place was terraformed and equipped with the farming land, technology and resources necessary to cultivate an entire island territory, it's pretty likely any opposing nation wouldn't take that very lightly. It would expose our boy to world powers that could start wars over him. Unless it's done slowly over years, that kind of change so quickly would paint a bigger target on both Menagerie's and our boys back then is necessary. Doesn't matter how many games you can win in a season if the person carrying the team dies before you win the title lol. Personally, I think Weiss' idea is better to start with. Change the company, do some PR to match the changed policies, then claim they're "branching out" to Menagerie to extend the goodwill they've already set the precedent for. At least that way they have the most likely aggressor from the first example, Atlas, financially dependent on them, so they can't exactly argue. Or fill the Menagerie skyline with aircraft. Both are doable, imo. But also maybe Jaune wants to stay home and make pixel art with wool blocks, idfk.
