Screw It, I'm Going Out to Find It!

Chapter XXIX: Origins for a Dream of Destiny

Every time Jaune touched the bars of his cell, he felt weary. It was as if they sapped his strength from them, and they did. Jaune was more than aware of seastone: a material that acted the same way as water does to devil fruit users. He had tried every surface he could except for the roof, but it was all lined with seastone. Maybe they had left the roof just metal, but it would be risky to rely on that. Not to mention, he couldn't even touch it despite his height. He had spent the majority of the first day jumping just to see if he could. He hadn't tried swimming through a surface he couldn't fully reach yet, but he figured it might be similar to doing a pull up.

Giving up for the moment, he sat back down on his cot, thinking over his conversation with Ozpin. It had been much more tame than most of his interactions thus far, though he tried to pull the 'disappointed' card a lot. He felt more like a child getting reprimanded than someone in his actual position. He was glad that his cell had a window. Bars lined it even though it was probably too small for him to fit through anyways. He was able to stare out over the wide ocean and the blue skies. Just how long had it been since he made those his goal? He was only a kid when he made his decision final, yet it had never fully stuck with him. Worry and doubt always clouded his mind — could he really be enough to compete out on the seas? Yet, that fateful day when he learned he had the will of D, everything changed.

Perhaps it didn't matter that much. Maybe he could have gone out on his own anyways, gathered a crew, and journeyed across the seas. Yet, he wouldn't have done that without knowing his name. It gave him a sense of destiny, and that was what set him out to the seas. No what-ifs would ever change that.

***

Eleven years prior

Ansel was a quaint town. Rolling hills reached out into the distance, speckled by woods and cut by brooks. The winds, like the people, were relaxed, dragging the clouds along the azure skies. The meadows where the children played were dotted with flowers, specks of color that brought life to the green hills. Just toward the woods, a log wall was sunk into the ground, one that surrounded the entirety of Ansel. While there were huntsmen in the area, villages like Ansel were located so far from the kingdom's core that protection from grimm lacked. This was balanced by the smaller population which gave less negativity over all.

The Arc household was built on a small knoll. One side was steep enough to tumble down, and Jaune had many a time. Yet it wasn't far enough to actually hurt him. The flatter end had a trampled path that led both into the town and into the meadow below. Most days, Jaune would sit at the top of the steep end as his sisters would play in the meadow, running around with each other. Jaune once too enjoyed doing the same, but he grew tired of it. There was only so much of the sectioned field to explore before he reached Ansel's wall. Even the small section of woods inside was kept from him by his protective parents.

Ansel was a safe village, often a place for retired huntsmen away from the big cities. It offered a mellow refuge for a heart scarred by battle to rest. Jaune's parents never worried about him roaming the village, trusting their neighbors almost like kin. Though, the decision was mostly made by Jaune's mother, as his father was most often working. So, on the days where Jaune grew bored of sitting and watching his sisters play, which was most, he would wander through Ansel to see what adventure he could find.

While Jaune had the heart to explore, that same heart couldn't handle most of the mischief that came with it. No, he didn't want to sneak into someone's house; no, he didn't want to find anyone's diary; no, he didn't want to sneak out of the wall! It was almost as if the other boys in the village were going to grow up to be criminals! Jaune would never.

It was a pleasant day where Jaune's adventure-seeking brought him to the local pub. Ansel's Ales: a small cozy place mostly populated by retired huntsmen and passing huntsmen alike. The first time he entered, it felt like he had gone into another world. He had thought his home was stock full of things, both from his father's travels and from his mother's collectings, yet Ansel's Ales was more. Not an inch on the walls was left vacant, covered by paintings, pictures, decorations, newspapers, and more. The bar was crowded by stools, and the shelves behind were stacked with bottles every shape, size, and color Jaune could imagine. Tables were spread around the floor, circled by their own stools, all matching the same dark wood of the floor. On the far left was a set of carpeted stairs that led up to the next floor.