Silence
"Uhh...hel-"
"If this is some sort of prank, I swear I'll-"
"NO-I mean, it's really me." Jaune says. "I promise"
More silence
"Prove it then."
"Uhh... for my 5th birthday, you and Rosemary put me in a dress and made me take a walk of shame through Ansel. Then you guys took me to see some Puck Morris movies to cheer me up." Jaune says remembering the day. He used to hate spending time with his sisters. Now he would sacrifice the world just to see them again.
Even more silence
"It's really you isn't it?"
"Yeah it's me Saph. I'm back." Jaune says, a grin forming as he spoke.
"Oh my god. Where have you been? What have you been doing? Why didn't you call anyone?"
"I'm sorry for that. I couldn't really make phone calls where I was at, but I'm here now. That's all that matters." Jaune says.
"What happened at Beacon? I got a call saying you were expelled, but then you never came back."
"Yeah uh...about that. It would be best to tell you in person. Are you still in Argus?"
"Yes. I went home for a little bit after you...disappeared. But I'm still here with Terra and Adrian."
"Okay. I'll see you in about -Ace how long would it take to get to Argus fro here?"Jaune asks his titan.
"Ace? Who is tha-"
"ACCORDING TO MY SCANS, IT WOULD TAKE ABOUT 50 MINUTES FROM HERE IF WE USE THE FLIGHT CORE." Ace says.
"Jaune? Jaune, who was that?" Saphron asks Jaune.
"I'll explain when I get there. Just keep an eye out for me alright?"
"Okay, but how are you get-"
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Damn it. What happened?" Jaune thinks aloud.
"PILOT. I BELIEVE YOUR CONNECTION WAS CUT DUE TO YOUR DISTANCE FROM VALE."
"Damn. Guess we'll start making our way now." Jaune says. "On to Mistral we go. Shoot Ruby a text letting her know we'll be leaving will you?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Well then, let's get moving."
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After some time flying, Jaune decides to touch down right outside of Argus as to not draw attention to the giant death machine that Ace is. As he enters Argus, he spots a familiar but welcome face.
"Saph!"
"Jaune!"
Saphron runs at Jaune and embraces him tightly, as if he would vanish right then and there.
"Saph, you don't know how good it is to see you." Jaune says. So many memories of him and the rest of his family doing stuff he thought was dumb at the time. Now he relishes those memories, as they were the only things that kept him going during his time in the militia.
"Jaune, I almost didn't recognise you. You look so... not you." Saph says as she takes the time to admire how much Jaune has changed.
"Yeah, a lot has happened since I left. I have so much to tell you." Jaune says. "But first, are you free right now?"
" I mean, yes seeing as how I cleared my schedule to see my brother who I thought was dead after 3 years. Why?" Saphron responds.
"Well, in order for you to believe everything I'm going to tell you, I need you to meet a friend." Jaune says.
"Sure. If it means I can find out what you have been doing for 3 years, then let me meet this friend." Saphron says.
"Good. Hop onto my back. It'll be faster this way." Jaune tells her.
"Okaaaaaaay?" Saphron answers, a little confused by where this is going.
After climbing onto Jaune's back, he sets off back into to the forest where he left Ace.
"WOAH! HOW ARE YOU MOVING SO FAST?!" Saphron yells as she feels the wind blowing in her face. It would be quite soothing, were it not for her moving at almost in human speeds on her brother's back.
"I'll explain once we get there." She hears from his helmet. How is he speaking through that?
After a bit more running he finally stops. Dismounting her brother, she takes some to to recuperate, only to find a giant-Paladin?-thing staring right her. "Jaune, what the HELL is that?"
"Well, Saph. I would like you to meet Ace."
Ace? I don't see anyone around. Who is he-
"HELLO. I AM PILOT JAUNE'S VANGUARD TITAN; DESIGNATION ALPHA-CHARLIE 3722. CODENAME ACE GIVEN BY PILOT. IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU."
"WHAT THE FU-"
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"So you mean to tell me, that you got expelled from Beacon because you weren't good enough-"
"Ouch."
"Almost killed yourself because you were too busy wallowing in your self pity-"
"Harsh, but yes."
"Got saved by a space soldier who then helped you join an intergalactic war-
"Well, when you put it like that-"
"Then got caught in the explosion of a weapon capable of warping space and time, and got sent back here somehow. Is that all?" Saphron finishes
"It's really simplified, but yes. That is pretty much all that happened." Jaune responds.
"Wow. That is a lot to digest. Are you okay?" She asks with a small frown on her face.
Honestly? Not at all. "Yeah I'm okay. I'm just still shocked that I'm back home."
"Jaune, it's okay to not be okay. There's no way you went through all of that without some sort of trauma." Saphron pushes.
"No really I'm... actually yeah. I'm not totally fine. But right now, I'm just glad I can finally be here for you guys." Jaune says, a tired smile.
"We'll always be here for you Jaune. I hope you know that."
"Yeah I know. And I'm more thankful than you'll ever know."
With that, the conversation had moved on to lighter things, such as cool stuff Jaune had found in his travels, stuff Jaune had missed out on while gone, and other things.
It eventually reached a point where they had reach the end of their conversation. Adrian had started to fall asleep, and Saph was tired from all of the new info she had received.
"Well Jaune, it's about time I take little Adrian and go to sleep. Do you have a place to stay?" Saphron asks.
"No, not really. I'm fine sleeping in my Titan. It's what I'm most used to after months of consistent fighting." Jaune replied.
"Well you can always stay here for as long as you need you know?" She responded.
"Yeah. Thanks for everything Saph"
"No problem little brother. And welcome home." Saph said with a heartwarming smile on her face.
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With that, I have returned. Some may have noticed I have another story up. That's because I had genuinely forgotten about this fic because of a lot of reasons. Moving around between places didn't help a lot, but I will try to post more often. I'm working on the other fic as a kind of refresher to writing. As always, if you see any mistakes or inconsistencies, feel free to point them out if it really bugs you. Deuces, from me!
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Jaune Arc: The Pilot
AdventureJaune Arc, abandoned by those he once called friends, goes on to find his way into the militia. He joins the 6-4 and joins the fight on Typhon, only to get sent to a foreign planet. But is the planet as foreign as he once thought?
