Glitter and Gold (RWBY Jaune Reimagining)

Chapter 1

Diligently taking notes, I ignored the fact that I had no idea what was going on and simply focused on following the lecture. Dr. Oobleck, a green-haired hyperactive teacher of a man, was currently going over the syllabus.

...Or he was, but now he’s going over how discrimination against the Faunus would not be tolerated. Obviously! Go, Prof! Also, question, genuine question, why would anyone want to bully or be assholes to the animal waifus and husbandos!?

...Great, now I’m getting conflicting feelings again. One side of me is feeling that it’s obvious that they’re discriminated against and feeling guilty about, and another is screaming about heresy against the anime gods.

In between taking lecture notes, I was also drafting a list of what I know for sure, what I didn't know, have learned about, but still don’t know for sure, and what I simply do not know. It seemed pertinent to sort out what I knew seeing as I was apparently launched off a cliff three days ago, thrown into a forest of monsters, and then became a team leader of a monster hunting team.

At some point, I got amnesia, but no one knows and I am keeping it that way as long as possible. I should really be dead, especially considering the demon bears, the giant demon crow, and the giant demon scorpion, but I’m not.

That being said, let’s start with what I know for sure as of now. My name is Jaune Arc. Apparently. I have a sword and a shield that pops out from said shield. This is anime land where we kill monsters called Grimm. Grimm will kill you.

...Well, that’s a promising start. I know who I am, where I am, and what to avoid. Technically, where I am is Beacon, a school for training how to fight these Grimm, but since that’s also in anime land, it’s close enough.

Still do not know what anime is. I’ve used it twice already and I should stop using it, but it pops up randomly in my head. Sounds Mistralian.

...Note to self, look up what Mistral is. Actually, let’s just look up the Four Kingdoms. Should be easy enough. Common enough trope of Four Kingdoms. You’ve got your asshole one, the good one, the one people forget, and the controversial one.

...What’s a trope!? I resisted the urge to slam my head into the desk. Ugh, it’s like I have two sets of memories in my head, but somebody didn’t bother to organize this crap.

Moving on to what I didn’t know about, but am learning about. I am a leader of a team of… Hunters? Huntsman? I have no idea what the precise name is, and at this point, I’m too afraid to ask. We’re an in-training sort of thing. My teammates are Nora Valkyrie; pink hair girl with hammer-grenade launcher, Lie Ren; black hair with pink streak boy with dual pistols that have knives attached to them, and Pyrrha Nikos; redhead gladiator fox-girl with a spear-gladius-rifle thingie and a shield. That’s my team, and we are, for some reason, called Juniper. Or JNPR. I don’t understand how it works. I wasn’t paying attention when they announced the teams on stage.

Amnesia is really stressful, but I am long past the point where I can just admit it and ask for help. Got to do this on my own.

What else do I formerly not know, have since learned, but still have a bunch of questions about?

Oh right. I also have aura, a magical power that shields and protects me while also strengthening me. It manifests as a sort of strange bubble and all huntsmen have this. Sidenote, learn as much about this mystical power as possible as soon as possible since it seems to be the most common thing out there. And will also save my life.

I have no idea why Pyrrha was nice enough to activate mine, but I am extra thankful that she didn’t ask too many questions as to why I didn’t know this apparently very obvious thing.

Moving on to what I still don’t know.

...Pretty much everything else.

...Oh fuckadoodles, this is not good.

...I have so many questions. Who exactly am I? Do I have a family? Am I supposed to be here? How hard did I get hit if I can’t remember anything? How am I good at fighting if I can’t remember training? Why am I so good at taking notes? No, seriously, I have two sets of notes; my private ramblings and the actual class notes. The actual class notes are surprisingly coherent. Also, why is there a different sheet of--

Oh crap. This is a pop quiz. Looking around, I realized that my fellow students were all focused on taking the quiz. Just one question.

What is the purpose of history?

...Wow, Professor Oobleck. Hitting us with some hard philosophy straight off the bat, eh?

...Meh, it’s a pop quiz. Or more of an essay question. I’ll just write down something cheesy about learning from the past. Let’s aim for five hundred words with examples. Toss in a few poetic bits about how the duty of a huntsman is to be mindful of their power; something short and witty about ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ kind of jazz. And…

Huh, Already filled up the front and back of the page. I looked around and saw all the other students packing up to leave, chattering as they went by.

“Are you done, Jaune?” Pyrrha asked, startling me, “Nora fell asleep waiting for you.”

Looking at the pink-haired girl gave a quick confirmation to Pyrrha’s statement. Ah, genki girls.

...I really need to look up what a genki girl is. Also what an anime is. Then I noticed Pyrrha’s concerned look.

Shaking my head to refocus, I smiled, “Oh yeah, yeah. I’m done. Professor Oobleck’s a fun teacher. Kind of heavy with the question at the end. I got carried away answering it.”

Cocking her head to the side, Pyrrha frowned, “You… understood what he was saying?”

“Yeah, just basic first day stuff. He went over the syllabus, talked a bit about how Faunus discrimination wouldn’t be allowed which I still do not understand. Why should we discriminate against others just because they got extra bits?” I sighed, “Absolutely mind-boggling.”

“Heh, boggling,” Nora sleepily giggled even as Ren tried to shake her awake.

Looking me up and down, Pyrrha raised an eyebrow before smiling blandly, “Well, we’ve got combat class next, so we should really be going.”

“Eeyup,” I nodded before organizing my papers to slip them into my folder. I paused before putting in the venn diagram organizing my memories and knowledge. It’d be bad if people saw this, right? This pretty much admits that I have amnesia.

I shrugged and balled up the evidence of my amnesia before shoving it into my mouth. Chewing quickly, I swallowed. There, all gone, never to be seen by mortal eyes.

I then heard a yawn be aborted by a choke of horror.

“What the fuck, Jaune?” Nora snapped, eyes wide in horror. Ren mirrored her expression. How? I don’t know since he didn’t emote much. I didn’t dare look at my partner, Pyrrha. I didn’t think I could handle yet another source of judgement.

“I’ll meet you guys at the combat room after I chat with Dr. Oobleck!” I grinned, rushing down to escape the awkwardness.

----------------------------------------

Chatting with Dr. Oobleck was an absolutely genius move on my part. I get to learn about the history of Remnant, rank up my Common Sense knowledge, and skip out on combat class.

The combat class was set in an outdoors arena, so it was easy to sneak into the class. Heh, I’m so smart.

“So what’d I miss?” I asked, joining my team on the lower bleachers, “And where’s Pyrrha?

“You missed the introduction,” Ren answered, placidly sipping at his thermos of tea, “Not much. Simple reminder of combat etiquette and paying attention to aura.”

“But you’re just in time for fighting,” Nora whispered with excitement, “Pyrrha’s volunteered!”

Looking out on the stage, I saw Pyrrha standing beside the lecturing professor, a blond-caped lady with a stern librarian vibe and glasses. Probably a teacher’s pet, but I have no room to speak since I just had a fun conversation with Professor Oobleck. Pyrrha’s tail flicked idly from side to side, betraying her excitement for a fight.

“I hope she does Team JNPR proud then,” I bullshitted with complete confidence. I have no idea why we were a team and why I was the leader, but if I was a leader, I was going to fake being a good one at least. Which involved boasting about team prowess, I think?

“Mr. Arc! I see you’ve finally grace us,” Miss Goodwitch called me out, “Would you like to help demonstrate the bout rules?”

Immediately, what felt like every eyeball in the arena stared at me. Smiling easily, I grinned,“Uh, no! No, I would not!”

I fought with Pyrrha at initiation; I’ve done my research on her over the CCT. I’m the kind of idiot Pyrrha goes through as a morning snack. Not even a breakfast kind snack; just a munchie snack like a fun-size kit-kat bar. No, I like to think I have something resembling a survival instinct.

“...Are you disrespecting me, Mr. Arc?” Miss Goodwitch asked, annoyed for some reason. I don’t know why she’s angry at me! She asked a question; I gave my honest answer!

I shook my head, crossing my arms with a huff, “Um… No? You asked a question, and I answered honestly. Do you want me to come down and fight?”

I have no idea why everybody in the room gasped at that. I’m just speaking my mind! Is that so wrong!? Why are they treating this like a soap opera?

...What is a soap opera!? Argh, will my mind stop giving me new memories that only make me more confused.

“Yes. Yes, I would,” Miss Goodwitch scowled.

“Oh,” I sighed, “Well, I already said no, so…”

Loud gasps yet again. Ugh, what the hell is with these people?

“Mr. Arc,” Miss Goodwitch ordered, “You will come down and fight Miss Nikos to demonstrate how a bout works.”

“...Busted,” Nora muttered.

“I can ban pancakes,” I growled as I got up. Ah well, I tried.

“Go Leader! Go!” Nora cheered.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed with a fond smile, “I’m joking. Ren’s the one in charge of pancakes.”

“...Good luck,” Ren nodded.

Taking the platitudes for what they were, I made my way down and planned.

Okay, first things first. What do we know of Pyrrha?

Nice and pretty and very, very awesome. Has an amazingly fluffy tail and fox ears with lovely pom-fluffs l that I shouldn’t touch no matter how much I want to.

...Okay, things that are related to combat. Chop-chop Jaunie-boy. You’re about to get your ass kicked; make it look good at least. Anyways,sShe has a spear that she apparently used to pin us to the tree, almost killing us and possibly definitely giving us the concussion-induced amnesia we have right now.

...Don’t get annoyed at Pyrrha for our own dumbassery; we should also remember that she made sure we didn’t die in that Grimm-infested forest and helped awaken our Aura.

Refocusing, let’s go. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Just think of it as a video game. Pros and cons, Advantages and disadvantages. 3. 2. 1. Let’s go.

Pyrrha Nikos. Four-time winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament. Uses a spear and shield for her main combat style, preferring a mid-range style. Spear turns into a rifle for long distance and a sword for short distance. Shield is a heavy part of her combat style; it is thrown around to come at angles unexpected. There may be an unseen mechanism by which she controls it. Her fighting style is extremely mobile and flashy, almost performative.

Myself. Jaune Arc. Rookie huntsman with amnesia. Uses a longsword and sheathe-shield. Longsword is good for powerful hits, but since I’m relearning how to use it, it’ll actually be detrimental against Pyrrha. My advantages is that I’m tanky. High aura supplies means that I can burn off more. If I can lock down Pyrrha and prevent her from moving too much, I can take my time whittling away hers in a war of attrition.

...Problem is catching her. I have a plan for that, but i’ve only got one chance.

“Any minute now, Mr. Arc,” Miss Goodwitch sighed, “We only have a few minutes before the third years start coming in.”

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “If it’s so close to time, why have me go? What if the fight goes on longer than expected.”

“It won’t,” Miss Goodwitch sighed.

Well, I was planning on surrendering to get this over with as soon as possible, but now I’m just going to draw it out for as long as possible to spite you, Miss Goodbitch.

The ring was a large ring, and an electronic billboard hung off to the side. Concrete tiles lining the floor, I winced at the lack of cover. If Pyrrha used her rifle form, I was fucked. She’d control the range and pace of the fight.

...Just going to have to make my opening move a really good bait then, I decided as I stepped onto the ring.

Walking towards my opponent, I let everything drop away. Worries, fears, everything dropped as I settled into position in front of Pyrrha, a body’s pace away.

Readying her weapons into a spear and shield, Pyrrha smiled, “Let’s have a good spar.”

“Sure,” I grinned, keeping my stance lax, hands in pockets, “Go easy on me?”

She giggled, “Sure.”

“BEGIN!” Miss Goodwitch shouted. On the screen, two bars filled up dictating our aura as we activated our soul-given shields. Mine was a bland white that simply existed over my skin, but Pyrrha’s was a beautiful scarlet red that blazed over her body.

“...Aren’t you going to draw your sword?” Pyrrha asked, eyebrow raised.

“Eh,” I shrugged and went into a casual boxing stance, “I’m fine like I am.”

Her perfect smile almost cracked as she tilted her head in skepticism. Then Pyrrha smiled, “Suit yourself.”

If I hadn’t already been planning on baiting her, I would have been hit for sure. As it was, Pyrrha's sudden leap forward almost had the spear skewering me.

Almost is the keyword though. Pivoting on one foot, I spun to the side, sidestepping the spear thrust with minimal movement. Then reaching out, I grabbed her forearm and span into her so that our shoulders were touching one another.

Pyrrha looked at me quizzically and opened her mouth to say something, but I didn’t let her. I only had one chance to set up my win-condition.

Sliding my grip down Pyrrha’s forearm to her wrist, hand squeezing tight around her bracer, I pulled the entire limb close to my chest, neutralizing her spear. A long-distance weapon at heart; there was no Pyrrha could get the leverage needed to use it effectively. Then I began punching her in the kidneys with my free arm, hitting her in an awkward position.

Pyrrha grunted a few times before  I suddenly felt my chestplate pull me away. A weird sensation for sure, but I barely had time to think about that as I realized Pyrrha had forced me into a frontal position against her.

“Good strategy, Jaune, but I’ve fought grapplers before,” Pyrrha smiled before chucking the shield at my head.

Leaning back to dodge the shield, I pulled on the arm I had a grip on to recover my balance, sending out a blind kick towards her. Pyrrha, being the graceful fighter she was, leaned into my pull to flip over me. Then she almost pulled me off balance.

As it was, I was forced onto one knee to recover, a position Pyrrha fully abused to kick me in the head three times in what felt like a minute, but was probably a second. I didn’t let go though.  Letting go of that meant losing my one advantage.

Instead, I pulled her down to pull myself up, punching at her with my free arm. Lowering her hips to keep her center of gravity, Pyrrha blocked my punch with a small deflection with her arm before she spun to kick me in the side. Blocking that blow with the twirl of my attacking arm, I stepped forward so that my left leg was behind her right and attempted to push her over the tripping hazard I created.

Pyrrha smiled indulgently at my little trick even as she easily recovered to kick at me with that same foot I had tried to trip her on. I grunted as the hit landed, but endurance was my one advantage here, one I was abusing and intended to abuse.

Praise for having huge aura reserves. Praise be.

In this manner, we traded blows. Pyrrha was far more skilled than me, hitting me for every blow that I landed on her, three times whenever I failed. She was definitely whittling me down, but I kept my grip on her. This was bad, but if Pyrrha was allowed to make full range of her motion, I was fucked.

While we fought, I made sure to watch her eyes. When I saw her pupils flick just slightly, I ducked and smiled as her shield whistled just above my head.

“How’d you know?” Pyrrha breathed, surprise entering her voice for the first time.

“Poker,” I bantered lightly before pulling Pyrrha down as I rose up, giving her a devastating headbutt.

Quickly recovering, Prryha looked me in the eyes and smiled blandly. I was starting to hate that smile. “Nice hit.”

Then she slipped her arm out of her wrist? No. She slipped her hand out of the bracer that she wore on her wrist, retreating only enough to gain enough space to properly punch me with her left arm, winding back her freed arm to strike with her weapon.

Leaning my head to the side, I lifted my right arm up to pin Pyrrha’s outstretched arm in between my cheek and bicep. When she swung forward with her weapon, now in gladius-form, I stepped forward and leaned backwards, pulling her down with me as I slid underneath her.

This had the unfortunate aspect of throwing her out of my grip again. I mentally kicked myself even as I recovered from my fall and ran towards my next objective. If I couldn’t keep her still, then I was going to at least disarm her partially.

Landing lightly on her feet, Pyrrha shifted her gladius into its rifle form and began taking shots at me. By that point, I had already expanded my sheathe into its shield form. Weathering the barrage of bullets, I forced my way to my objective.

“You’re good, Jaune,” Pyrrha taunted, “But I’ve still got a trick up my sleeve.”

Rushing forward, I stomped my foot onto the second of her weapons, just in time to stop the metal discus from returning to her owner.

“Looking for something?” I smiled, picking her shield up even as I felt her attempting to tug the metal discus towards her.I’d like to see her try her stupid Captain America impression without a shield.

...What's a Captain America!? Why do I keep on making references that I do not understand!?

Biting my tongue roughly to punish myself for my lapse of attention, I refocused and quickly equipped Pyrrha’s shield along with my shield. A kiteshield on my left forearm, a small round grecian shield on my right forearm, I banged them together as I took up a modified boxing stance.

This was going to suck, but if Pyrrha wanted me down; she was going to have to work through two shields to get at my aura. And hey! I can just shield bash her for a light attack and a heavy attack between these two shields. Maybe if I chain enough, maybe I can knock her up into the air for a combo finisher!

...Wow, I am a snarky bastard to myself.

“...You’re fun,” Pyrrha smiled, just a hint of madness entering her eyes. Chills went down my spine as I felt the full attention of a champion, but I couldn’t help but enjoy myself. I was probably definitely absolutely going to lose, but it was going to be memorable.

Once more, Pyrrha leapt at me, spear reared back and ready to thrust at the right moment

“And stop!” Miss Goodwitch shouted, her whip snapping in the air.

I immediately relaxed. When the teacher says stop, you stop. Unfortunately, Pyrrha was still midair, so she couldn’t exactly stop.. The next moment was a blur, but when I was finally oriented enough to figure out what the hell had happened, I realized I couldn’t breathe.

Something was on my chest, and I could not get my arms into position to lift myself up. Shields upon my arms, why have thou betrayed and restricted me so?.

“What!?” I heard Pyrrha shout from above me, “We’re still good to go! Our auras aren’t even in the yellow!”

“Indeed,” Miss Goodwitch nodded, “But the Third Years are here now. Well done, Mr. Arc, you’ve surprised me.”

There were a lot of murmurs bubbling around the stands, but I was mostly trying to figure out what was going on and what was sitting on my chest. Blinking blearily, I realized that Pyrrha was straddling my chest. Huh, guess that something on my chest was a fiery vixen. My face heated up as I realized that her muscular thighs were indeed very muscular, looking to be the type that could crack melons. They were also very close to my face and… I am so thankful my pants were thick because my other sword suddenly felt like waking up.

...Argh, I just realized the same pants sheathing my lower sword were also blocking me from feeling the fluff in her lovely red fox-tail. Blessings and curses.

I should probably ask Pyrrha to get off, but… she was arguing with Miss Goodwitch and I was happy with how things were, so… Yeah. I’m just going to stay like this. Enjoy having a hot girl on my chest.

“Jaune,” Pyrrha scowled, snapping me out of my all-too-short daydream, “You’re not happy about this either, right?”

Looking down at her thighs, I looked back at Pyrrha and stated, “I am perfectly fine with how things are right now.”

Pyrrha blinked twice before looking down. She then buried her face in her palms as she silently screamed.

Vaguely understandable, and I’m almost sympathetic to her embarrassment. Not enough to try and change things though. To be absolutely honest, I liked Pyrrha sitting on me.

You know what? I may have amnesia, but I’m fine with things right now. Good fights to be had, cool people to meet; yeah, I think I can make something of this.

Letting my aura dissipate, I smiled as I watched the light of my soul flicker into non-existence. Heh. My aura almost looked like glitter and gold.

Arise, ting-ting, like glitter and gold.

AN:

This is what happens when you try to listen to RWBY music and RWBY analysises to make a RWBY-esque story. Originally, I wanted to work on Bunny's Boon, but things happened; many things happened, several breakdowns happened of the mental, physical, and digital variety happened, and then this happened.

I thought it'd be interesting to explore what happens if you drop a trope savvy amnesiac into RWBY, and then have them break the rules through sheer obliviousness. If I were to go through on this, of which I appear to be going through with this madness as I have already drafted an omake and a tentative chapter 2 with a very rough outline of things I want to happen, I'll primarily be focusing on Volumes 1-3 with all other volumes thereafter becoming non-existent and existing only to be drawn from.

If all goes well, I may attempt a File off the Numbers sort of thing with this, but don't count on it. RWBY's a mess, it makes me angry, and so I have attempted to create something more coherent than canon. By itself, in the void of knowledge of current RWBY, I suspect much of the writing and storytelling will be a lurching mess.

Still better than the shambling mess that is current RWBY though.