“As odd as this is to say, it would seem that Ms. Valkyrie’s hypothesis has some merit to it. Your aura seems to have fully recovered.” Oobleck poured over the data he had recorded, making even more notes on top of the pages he already had as he gave his conclusion to Jaune.
The last few days had been boring, but in a good way. No unexpected surprises, just attending classes, sitting out of combat exercises, and trying to adjust to having a constant nagging voice he couldn’t escape.
Aww, I love you too Jaune. You ungrateful little-
“I am going to tentatively say that you may return to normal aura usage, combat practice and all, but be sure to keep an eye on it. If your semblance, ahem, Second Thoughts, truly fits the analogy of having needed a jump start, then while he should have no problems running on his own for now, that does not mean that he always will. It would not do for you to suddenly find your aura draining at an alarming rate while in the middle of a combat situation.”
“Of course, sir. Thank you for spending all of this time helping me out.”
“There is no need for thanks, I am simply performing my duties. Although… there is one other thing that I wanted to mention before you leave. Have you noticed anything… strange? Beyond the oddities related to your semblance of course.”
Jaune pondered the question for a moment, but as far as he could tell, every odd thing that had happened recently had been because of Second Thoughts.
Go on, keep it up and see how much I decide to help you out from now on.
“Nothing I’ve noticed, why? Should I have noticed something?”
Oobleck sighed. “I certainly hope not. You see, in one of my discussions with the headmaster recently, he said some things that I… fundamentally disagree with. I feel morally obligated to let you know that he has been making plans to spy on you. He wants to know if you can be trusted now that Second Thoughts is ‘influencing’ you. I told him that I wouldn’t stand for such a thing, but it’s possible that he has decided to do it anyway. Have you noticed anyone following you around? Coincidentally being around you a lot more than they were previously?”
“He what?! Spy on- no, I haven’t- I mean… I haven’t noticed anything like that, but it’s not like I was looking for it either…” Jaune was clearly disturbed by the news, thinking back on the last few days.
“Perhaps Second Thoughts has noticed something?”
Of course I noticed, does he think I’m as dumb as you? I pointed out the spy and everything, you just up and ignored me. Not my fault you didn’t take me warning you seriously.
“What? When did you warn me about being- the bird?! You were serious about that bird?! I thought you were messing with me! How can a bird be a spy for Ozpin?!”
Oobleck seemed just as perplexed by Jaune’s outburst. “A bird?”
“The other day he told me some nonsense about birds not being real, that they’re spies for the government or something like that. It didn’t, and still doesn’t, make any sense!”
It makes perfect sense, thank you very much. Did you happen to recognize what kind of bird it was?
Flustered as he was, Jaune’s response was made aloud. “What kind- I didn’t realize I was meant to be inspecting it! It was… black I think? Kind of big too… I don’t know, a raven maybe?”
Close, but no dice. Raven is Yang’s mom. The bird you saw was Qrow.
“The more you talk the less it makes sense! So what if the bird was a crow, what does that have to do with anything?”
Oobleck was quicker on the uptake. “A crow you say? Hmm… is it safe to assume that one of Ozpin’s apparent right hand men being named Qrow, and that you were spied on by an avian of the same name is not a coincidence? Though I’m not sure what the specifics would be, we know that Qrow’s semblance isn’t some sort of shape shifting ability.”
It seems the doctor more than earned his title. The next step requires outsider knowledge, so I can't blame him for his confusion. You see-
“The Branwen siblings both possess the ability to turn into their namesake. This is separate from their semblances. Qrow can turn into a crow, Raven can turn into a raven.” As Jaune spoke for Second, neither he nor Oobleck seemed any less confused.
“But how can that be possible? I don’t know his sister beyond some vague details, but I have seen Qrow’s semblance in action. The poor fool was bumped by a passing student, tripped over a cat that was passing by, fell into a mud puddle, splattering Glynda’s brand new white blouse while she was trying to impress James… I didn’t see the rest of it, having gotten out of there as soon as I saw the look on her face, but I cannot imagine that sort of thing can happen regularly without it being his semblance. Turning into a crow could be nothing but a semblance. Perhaps… is it the work of a semblance belonging to someone else? The mechanics would have to be quite strange…”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
That’s all you’re getting out of me as far as that particular rabbit hole goes. If you want anything more, you’ll have to get it from another source.
“What use are you if you’re going to give us garbage information and then act like it’s someone else’s problem?” Jaune sighed, trying to repress his annoyance with his semblance before making a suggestion to Oobleck. “If you’ve met him before, you could just ask him, couldn’t you? This Qrow guy is Ruby and Yang’s uncle, he’s gotta be somewhat reasonable.”
“Relying on familial relations to judge character is a bad idea Mr. Arc, but in this particular case I don’t think your idea is unreasonable… I’ll see if I can’t hunt him down, get some answers out of him. I apologize for not bringing this to your attention sooner, but I had hoped that Ozpin would see reason.”
“I can’t really blame you for that when my own semblance was aware of the fact and decided to tell me in riddles…”
What do you mean ‘riddles’? I straight up told you the bird was spying on you, that is the literal truth. You doubting my words is on you. You should be taking everything I say as gospel, I’m the greatest thing that’s hap-
“I am sorry all the same. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an alcoholic to hunt down.”
----------------------------------------
“I think we can call it here for tonight.” Pyrrha stepped back, grabbing a bottle of water, not that she seemed to need it. Team JNPR had found themselves a quiet spot to train that night after Jaune told them he was cleared. Ren and Nora had at least worked up a sweat, so Jaune didn’t feel quite as bad about the fact that he was drenched in it, panting for breath and red in the face.
That was kind of pathetic. I knew you were bad, but this was really something else.
“Shut-” Jaune gasped for air “-shut up Second.”
Nora perked up at the mention of the mysterious semblance. “Oh! We’re whipping you into shape, but can Second implant awesome fighting skills into your mind?!”
Definitely not. I don’t know how to fight.
“He says he doesn’t know how to fight. Besides, you guys are much better teachers.”
I could teach you all sorts of things, I just haven’t felt like it!
“Hmm. He doesn’t know how to fight?” Ren mused, “In a way that makes sense, with Second not having a physical body and all, but at the same time I find myself surprised by his limitations.”
“Should we be surprised, though?” Pyrrha questioned, “I know that Second pulling out those secrets the other day sort of got it in our heads that he knew way more than the rest of us, but sometimes it seems like he’s just another person. A person stuck inside Jaune’s head, of course, but you know what I mean.”
“If Second is just another person, he’s the most annoying person I know.” Jaune grumbled.
“Is he actually that annoying, or is the problem just that you can’t escape him? Renny is amazing and I don’t think he could ever annoy me, but even we aren’t together all the time.” Ren notably did not say anything about whether he felt the reverse was true of Nora, but he nodded in agreement with her point.
“I guess when you put it like that…” Jaune sighed, “It could be worse.Though Ozpin’s suggestions are making it a bit easier on us, so that helps.”
“Ozpin’s suggestions?” Pyrrha inquired.
“Well, the whole point of us visiting Ozpin when Second was unlocked was to get advice from him I guess? Because he-”
they’re not supposed to know that
“-uh, not to be rude, but he’s kind of old, plus he runs Beacon. He was bound to have seen something at least tangentially related! So Second wanted some advice from him…”
Pretty weak save, but I’ll let it slide this time.
“Ah, you did mention something like that, didn’t you? I had forgotten about it in all the drama of you unlocking your semblance.” Ren said, “So what sort of advice did he give you? Anything interesting?”
“Interesting? More like the opposite. He has me meditating, and thinking about things that differ between me and Second, and concentrating my aura to different parts of my body… the list goes on, but they’re all about the same level of mind numbing.”
“And how is being bored out of your mind supposed to help you?” Nora seemed offended at the mere idea of going through such a process.
“Well, he said something about it creating a more solid distinction between us? Honestly it all sort of went over my head, and I’m not sure how many of his little tricks are working, but something is working. It’s not by much, not yet anyway, but I’ve definitely been… ‘overhearing’ Second’s thoughts less than I was before. I think we’re getting closer to a point where I don’t hear anything from him unless he wants me to.”
“What do you mean by overhearing? I mean, conceptually I get what you’re saying, but when it all happens in your head…” Pyrrha’s brows were furrowed in concentration as she tried to work it out.
“I mean that I would hear idle thoughts I wasn’t meant to. When I first heard him, it was thoughts about how boring my meeting with Oobleck was. There was some commentary on our conversations I don’t think he meant for me to hear… although half of the stuff that leaks through doesn’t make any sense to me at all. I’m never sure what’s a person’s name, what’s a place, what’s a concept I’m just not familiar with. He uses weird expressions sometimes and I’m hoping that I didn’t pick up on any of them.”
“Have you considered writing them all down and trying to work out his plans for world domination?” Nora’s eyes were wide with excitement at the prospect.
If you start doing something like that I’ll use our connection to torture you with catchy songs you don’t know the entirety of. You’ll have to register your semblance as Earworm instead.
“I don’t think I’ll be doing that. Sorry, Nora.”
“But you didn’t deny the plans for world domination! Ha! I’m onto you Second! If you think that you’re gonna snatch my spot on the throne, you’ve got another thing coming!”
As Ren tried to keep Nora from attacking Second Thoughts through Jaune, the blond whispered to Pyrrha. “I think it might be a good idea to just have the two of us come for the next training session.”
The redhead had to suppress a smile. “That might be for the best.”