[OPEN] Infinite in distance and unbound by death

[beaconed]

Who: Jaune Arc & You
When: IC: 7/18 - 19
Where: Various
What: Jaune can't even die properly and now he's out and about - strangely better than ever.
Rating/Warning: None!

---

ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ.

[ The last thing Jaune remembers is coughing up blood, his insides slowly rotting away while his weird immune system (read: Aura) tried fighting against it. Whatever Clarke gave him to drink also seemed to change him slightly, but that effect seems to have worn off by now.

Now, three days after apparently dying in one of the most painful ways, Jaune can be seen walking around the hospital. A strange sense of deja vu hits him as he recalls being bound to a hospital after his previous interlude experience, too. That time, he didn't die, though, and recovery was a little slower, which... makes this all the more strange. How does recovering from death make him feel better than ever?

In fact, should anyone decide to visit him, expecting to find him bedridden or hooked up on some IV, then they're in for a surprise. Jaune is walking around in his hospital garbs, greeting some of the staff members he recognizes and helping patients who are worse off than him.

You may find him doing various things as he waits to be discharged, from doing wheelies in a wheelchair that wasn't meant for him, cursing at the vending machine because it doesn't serve patients for free, or telling jokes to a group of patients who are probably high on painkillers. ]

...I looked at his burger, and then I said-- I said, man, you're gonna need a bigger mouth!

[ The audience laughs. ] I love these guys...


[ Alternatively, if your character is also hospital-bound, they could be sharing a room! ]

ᴠɪᴠɪᴅ.

[ Hospital shenanigans outside, Jaune isn't left unaffected as he appears on the surface. He's always been okay with the concept of dying-- or rather, he always knew what he signed up for. If there ever comes a day in which he needs to give up his life for the people he wants to protect, then that's just what a Huntsman is supposed to do. Which is why it bothers him so much that he got killed the way he did. It felt pointless. Why did his Aura, which is supposed to be a manifestation of his own soul, not fight back hard enough?

Could it be that he just didn't train hard enough? He's aware that he skipped more Aura lessons with Pyrrha than he should have, focusing on improving his swordplay instead. Now that she's gone, he needs to practice every department more than ever. Skill, Aura, leadership, teamwork... and what better place to do all that than in a game of ViViD?

So if your character is up for some gaming, they'll find themselves randomly paired with Jaune, who seems more focused and determined than usual. ]

Hey.

[ (If you choose this prompt, I'll try and write a unique scenario for every thread!) ]

ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ.

[ Look, training isn't just about getting stronger physically! Education is important, too, which is why Jaune is quick to return to school so soon after his recovery. LEARNING IS IMPORTANT.

Haha, just kidding. It's only half a day later and he's involved in a food fight inside the cafeteria. Even though he normally doesn't do well in these, it's nice to be reminded of home a little.

Jaune flips one of the tables and jumps behind it like a barricade. There's a slushy dripping across the side of his face as he counts his "ammo" (just random food particles). Your character can either be hiding with him or firing from the other side. ]

Alright! I got seven nuggets!! [ He... eats one of them mid-sentence. ] --Six nuggets. And a carton of chocolate milk. Augh, where's the mashed potato?! I need it, I need it now!

sᴀɴᴄᴛᴜᴀʀʏ.

[ Normally Jaune doesn't spend too much time in the sanctuary, the place can get a little too tinfoil-hatty for a guy who naively takes everything at face value. More than that, he sometimes starts feeling strangely ill if he hangs out in it longer than necessary. It's probably just him, though.

He also figures there's going to be another mass gathering here in the coming days, assuming there were other people who got kidnapped as well. If not, then he needs to at least tell some of his friends about what happened. What if he randomly dies again without sharing everything he knows?!

This all sounds well and urgent, but if you happen to see Jaune in the sanctuary, he'll just be... mopping the floor and cleaning the walls. What? It's therapeutic! ]

More pizza leftovers... I wonder if we can order McCeres for the next group meeting... n-not that I, y'know, dislike pizza or anything. ... Also, why am I talking to myself.

ᴄʜᴜʀᴄʜ.

[ Jaune isn't religious by any means, and the building itself isn't dedicated to any particular god. What he does like about this place is the sense of community, as well as the idea of keeping faith and hope strong.

Jaune wonders if he started a trend here or if it's just normal thing that happens, but ever since he put up a small photo of a missing Pyrrha on the walls, others have been doing the same. Eventually it became a memorial wall for those who have fallen or gone missing from Cerealia, with Jaune even updating Pyrrha's status from Missing to... well, resting in peace. Around her picture are the names of his other friends carved: Sousei, Tenka, Peko, Zack, and many more. Rapunzel is the latest addition, and there was also Weiss' name, but it's been crossed out. Twice. ]

It looks like this place still isn't done with me yet, huh. Man, this is gonna get confusing...

[ Quietly, he wonders if anyone would even add him to this little shrine if he doesn't come back someday. It's not like he talks about this special place with anyone. ]

Comments

[zerotohiro]

[Get up to his level, Arc, c'mon.]

Not...that often? [Eheh.] Twice so far not counting this last time where I went against my own will. Is that really that bad?

[beaconed]

Is it bad-- are you kidding me?! That's awesome! I've been trying to get in there for months!! Well, no, I... it's more like I tried once or twice and... kinda gave up for months, heh...

...
There's a dungeon-slash-bedroom underneath the facility?

[zerotohiro]

I--you what? I think you can just walk in on a normal day but why've you been trying to get into the other parts for months? Just say something next time and I'll keep that in mind.

[SIIIIGH.] There's definitely a dungeon-slash-bedroom under the facility. Or in it. Can't really tell where it is, but we got pictures and everything. It was actually pretty creepy but what I don't understand is how the five of us got in there. We were thrown in from different places.

[beaconed]

It's... a long story. [ Involving a previous incarnation of Ruby going missing for a week, something that Hiro probably doesn't need to hear. Then there was the time Pyrrha disappeared for real, and Jaune definitely doesn't want to talk about her. ] But you say something next time, too!

[ Missed teamwork opportunities aside... ]

I can't even begin to imagine what dungeon-slash-bedroom looks like. [ ... ] Wait, I can-- I think I'm visualizing it-- o-oh, oh man, that's... alright, I'm officially grossed out, yep... [ ??? what did he imagine????? ]

--what do you think it means anyway? Someone clearly wanted us to find these things, but... then what? It's not like we can just ask Mosley...

[zerotohiro]

[Ah. Yeah let's not talk about those opportunities because that would be sad times all around. He nods solemnly instead even if he sort of continues to give him a mildly skeptical look.]

Definitely. I'm probably staying out of their tower for a little bit just to get them off my trail but I'm not done yet. I have a lot of answers I need to get from them.

[He can't help but wrinkle his nose as Jaune brings up the dungeon snuff-room. It's entirely as unpleasant as you'd imagine.] Dude, try being there. I really could have lived my whole life without it. [There's a slightly awkward grin when Jaune says they can't ask Mosley because...that...is exactly what he plans on doing sometime soon, but he doesn't think it's important to explain that yet.] What's weird to me is that some people were taken by that robot that reached out to us and some were taken by Mosley. We already knew we were missing a ton of pieces...maybe they just wanted to arm us with more information. Knowledge is power, whatever. All it's done is make us wonder what side Mosley's on, too, and why the robot picked us. You think that was on purpose?

[beaconed]

MOSLEY-- [ Jaune quickly covers his mouth, then proceeds in a lower volume: ] --Mosley is involved, too?! Hiro, this is huge! If he's secretly working against CERES, I kinda doubt he'll be inclined to share stuff considering we're monitored all the time...

Unless... nah... I mean-- I dunno, think we could invite him over here? Seems risky, but... Augh, this is such a mess...

I wish that robot thing could contact us again. [ At least their approach was more direct. ]

[zerotohiro]

So I've heard. Remember what the robot said to us? "Everything here is his fault. He is trying to figure a way out. They won't let him out. He is under contract." [Which...he knows is true. He and Mosley have discussed this and it's just one more thing for Hiro to consider.] It's hard to say what side he's actually on since he's also the one who helped us free the Bridge so that the sacrifices can continue. But...I dunno.

[He stares at Jaune like that's probably the craziest thing he's heard...but.] We could. Maybe not with a bunch of other people since I'm pretty sure most of the colony would love to punch him, but you think he'd be okay coming here to meet with some of us if CERES wasn't watching him? For all we know he knows about the other robot, too, and could tell us where to go from there.

[beaconed]

That's the idea! It won't be easy setting it up, let alone him agreeing to it in the first place... but we got nothing to lose by trying at this point. [ The worst that can happen is Mosley saying no. ... Or someone killing him after he says yes. .... Uhhh.... ]

...You're right about him needing some assurance, though. What if I were his bodyguard during the meeting?

[zerotohiro]

I could try to talk to him and see what he says. Or you could try. Whatever. [He does have one thing though.] What makes you sure you could be his bodyguard, dude? Could you handle a bunch of angry colonists?

[beaconed]

[ Jaune's first instinct is to be modest and say he doesn't know, but doubting himself flies in the face of everything Pyrrha, Ruby and Ozpin see in Jaune. ]

What good am I if I can't keep one person safe? I can do it, Hiro.

[zerotohiro]

[...oh. He's quiet for a moment before he slowly nods.]

I know. I trust you. [Half of it is that Ruby trusts Jaune, and he also likes Jaune enough to trust him on his own merits.] Next time I talk to him, I'll let him know. I think he'll need it.