{Third Person POV}
"WHAT?!" Mordred shouted as she grabbed Jaune's shoulders and started to shake him.
"Are you out of your goddamned mind?!" She continued shaking him, making Jaune's head bob like a wobblehead.
"Wait, wait, Mordred, let me expla-" Jaune tried to explain, but Mordred just shook him harder.
"Explain what?! That you want to run away like a dumbass?!" She shook him harder. 'This stupid kid!'
Jaune sighed and let her shake him. She was already exhausted from breaking her Aura.
'Well, hopefully it doesn't take too long... at this point I'll get whiplash or something...' Jaune thought to himself while his head shook back and forth like he was listening to rock music. 'Mordred would probably be used to shaking her head like this... she loves rock music... what was that band name again that she had a poster for in her bedroom? Ironica? Yeah... Ironica...'
After a minute of shaking Jaune, Mordred was panting, out of breath, and frankly exhausted from everything-from the sparring and from turning Jaune into a wobblehead.
'Shit, my arm is sore...' Mordred thought to herself while rubbing her shoulder. 'What is this kid made out of? Oh yeah... stupidity.'
"So... can I explain now?" Jaune asked while rubbing his head to soothe the dizziness.
"You better explain well, or I'm turning you into Grimm bait!" Mordred glared at him. "Promise me it's not because of something stupid like you want to broaden your horizons or some shit!"
Jaune let out a soft laugh, which he quickly stopped when Mordred glared at him. "Okay, I promise... an Arc Promise."
Mordred's eyes widened before she looked at him approvingly. "Go on. Explain."
"You know how people generally need to graduate from a combat school before they can attend an academy, right?" Jaune asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah. We need to go to a combat school, but sometimes there are a few exceptions. For example, at Beacon you don't exactly need to attend a combat school, but you do need to be tested by the professors before you even join the Initiation. Also, you need to have your Aura unlocked before the test begins, because the professors won't unlock your Aura for you. In Atlas, if you never get formal training or go to a combat school, then you're shit out of luck. The best you can do is become a soldier, because people who don't go to combat school generally never get their Aura unlocked. And getting your Aura unlocked by another person is really personal, considering we're using our soul to reach another person's soul..." Mordred explained further.
"Yeah... well, I want to run away to join a combat school," Jaune explained, telling her why he wanted to leave.
"So you want to run away to join a combat school. Why? With how you are now, you can wait a few years and try to get into Beacon," Mordred told him, but he shook his head.
"But I can't go to Beacon. Dad and Headmaster Ozpin are really close, so Ozpin will tell Dad, and he'll come drag me home before I can even make it to Initiation..." Jaune let out a tired sigh. "So I can't go to Beacon. That's why I need to go to a combat school first, so I can attend a different academy later."
"Shit... I forgot about that," Mordred muttered to herself before looking at Jaune again. "The only combat school near here, other than the one I attend, is on Patch... which is Signal, right? Yeah, Signal. That could work."
Jaune shook his head again. "No, it's too close. Dad used to go to Signal, so it's a big risk if I go there, considering I look like Dad did at my age. And I'd have to bring my birth certificate and other stuff to register. I can't exactly hide where I am if my identity is registered at the school. With Dad's connections, he'd find me easily. He might also have friends on Patch, considering he grew up there before he moved to Orleans after marrying Mom."
"Then where?" Mordred asked, resting her chin on her fist as she started to think. "I don't know any other places. You really don't have much choice."
She looked back at him. "Wait. I know you're a smart boy, Jaune. You wouldn't tell me this if you hadn't already found a place."
"Yeah, I found one," Jaune said. "It's Shade."
"Shade?" Mordred's eyes widened. "Are you dumb? Shade, as in Shade Academy in Vacuo? That's not a combat school, you stupid dimwit!" She slapped the back of Jaune's head, then immediately regretted it when his Aura activated automatically and it felt like she had hit a concrete wall. "Shit, that hurt, you dumb fuck."
"Well, I didn't tell you to hit me, did I?" Jaune laughed softly and shook his head. "Yeah, Shade Academy. What do you know about Vacuo, Mordred?" Jaune grabbed Mordred's palm and started to massage it to soothe the pain.
'Shit, this kid is too good to be true,' Mordred thought to herself before answering. "Vacuo is some desert wasteland where it's all lawless and shit. The government has almost no power there, and it's the best place for rogue Huntsmen and shit. Also, the Grimm there are generally more dangerous because of the terrain. They can hide under the sand and set up ambushes... and everyone there is dirt poor."
"Yeah... you're right about all of that, but that's why I want to go there," Jaune told her, and her expression made it clear she thought he was being stupid.
"That still doesn't explain shit, dumbass. You're not a rogue Huntsman, and that still doesn't explain how you can get into Shade. You're twelve years old. You can only get into a Huntsman Academy at sixteen or seventeen!" She looked like she wanted to smack the back of his head again, but she didn't. It had hurt, and it also felt good having her hand massaged by Jaune. She knew there was a reason she, Saphron, and Artoria had taught him how to do it, and she remembered the time Jaune basically became the three oldest sisters' personal masseuse.
"It's because the government doesn't have much power in Vacuo, and there's a lack of funding," Jaune told her, then continued before she could speak. "Shade Academy became a combat school last year because they needed more manpower to fight the Grimm, and they didn't have the resources to be picky."
Mordred's eyes widened, and she nodded. "So you had the whole thing thought through. But don't you still need to register your identity there?"
Jaune shook his head again. "No. There are a lot of street orphans in Vacuo, so Shade only needs a name and an age. They don't require government identification. That means I can give a fake name and still get in, as long as I have Aura, which I do."
Mordred sighed. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?" She used her free hand to cover Jaune's hand where he held hers.
Jaune stopped for a few seconds before looking at her. "Yeah... I need to become a Huntsman, Mordred. I've got the power, and I've got the responsibility. If I don't do it, and somebody needs help and I'm not there, then it's my fault if they get hurt." He sighed again. "And I have dreams, Mordred... actual dreams where I'm in a war. I always wear the same armor and wield the same sword. The sword is beautiful, Mordred... the most beautiful sword I've ever seen."
Mordred looked at him strangely, but she didn't stop him from talking.
"And there are always two people. A blonde woman who can use magic, and a brown-haired knight. They're always with me on the battlefield. They don't get along well. They always bicker over different opinions." Jaune looked at Mordred, waiting to see if she wanted him to stop.
"Go on," Mordred said. "Why did they fight?"
"The woman is too cold, I guess. She doesn't care what happens as long as her goal gets done, even if it means hurting people. But the brown-haired knight doesn't like that. He always thinks that if the journey hurts innocent people, then whatever comes at the end, even if it's good, still isn't right." Jaune let out another sigh.
"And since when have you had these dreams, Jaune?" Mordred asked, still holding his hand.
"Since I unlocked my Aura. It's not exactly full dreams, just a few seconds before I wake up. Never more than twenty or thirty seconds, I guess." Jaune leaned back and looked at the cave walls. "Am I going crazy?"
Mordred chuckled and shook her head. "Crazy? No. Stupid? Always. But what about you, Jaune? What did you do in those dreams?"
Jaune hummed softly. "I think I was a commander, or a general at least. They both always followed my orders, and the woman was... overzealous with me, I guess. Like she went above and beyond to carry out what I said, sometimes at the expense of innocent people."
Mordred stared at him for a moment. "So you're dreaming about being a general with a cold bitch and a soft knight. That's a hell of a dream, I guess." She watched him nod. "You've been dreaming about this since that night." She exhaled. "Well, I guess the great Mordred Arc has no choice but to help you."
She tried to look smug, but there was a tightness in her chest at the thought of him leaving. 'Maybe I need to go to Shade too. Someone has to make sure this idiot doesn't do something reckless.'
"Wait. How are you going to Vacuo anyway?" Mordred asked. "You either have to sail there, which would take weeks; walk there, which would take months; or fly there, which would take days. Did you even think about that?"
"Yeah," Jaune said. "I've got a plan."
[You could read up to 10 chapter ahead if you support me on patr30n. At patreon.com/Zaneninjacat]
Hey, lets make a goal.. if in a week i managed to get like.. 120 powerstones? I'll upload 5 chapter as a bonus... so y'all better gimme powerstones.