Chapter 1 - Seeing Double?

"Who are you?"

"Wait! Why are you naked!?"

"Me? No, you're naked!"

So said both sides in perfect sync. Two sets of blue eyes gazing at each other while his mind raced, trying to make sense of what was currently happening. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to go back to when it all began.

Jaune's life was somewhat of a middle ground. While it was quite normal in quite a few ways, it held a few unique points to be sure. One such was the size of his family. Not too often did one see a family of ten, even less so with him being the only male of eight children.

Another one could be accounted to his family being a line of heroes; well, war heroes, but heroes none the less. And then there was the fact that his parents weren't far off from those titles, both of them being huntsman who boasted many achievements and great renown.

Despite all that, Jaune was quite, well, the outright definition of normal.

He may have had some quirks such as being well acquainted with female fashion and possibly being able to qualify as a house husband at the age of 17; or maybe it was how he had a rare innocence for his age and love for fairy tales, mostly of the knightly variety, but past that, he was just an everyday, moderately awkward young man, enjoying video games, playing the guitar, a bit of singing, and also had some anxiety and self-esteem issues. Mostly normal.

And as befitting of that normalcy, he dreamed, and as befitting of those that are young, he dreamed big. Having heard stories of his family and their escapades, Jaune had always dreamt of being one such hero. It was something he believed to be possible since there were real ones out there, his role models from his very own family at that.

Of course, he'd also felt a sense of duty. Some of his sisters who had already started following a career had gone their own ways, such as music or management; others though, had become huntresses, following the family tradition. It was something that Jaune had also desired to do.

If he were to have had some other interest as deep as this one, he might've been able to let it go, but considering how inspired he'd been and how sure he was that this was his calling, well, he wasn't prepared to back down easily in the least bit.

His family, or rather his parents had not been keen on training him. They had denied him due to him being too old when he had asked back when he was thirteen.

He'd have wanted to blame them for it, for not training him on time, and he did at the beginning. But in the end, he knew it was his own fault. He had taken far too long to finally voice his desire and had seemingly lost his chance. Was it his anxiety that stopped him from trying on time, maybe it was more likely to be his foolishness and irresponsibility, or maybe simply all of the above. All he knew was that becoming one, if he had any chance, had gotten far harder since then.

With that in mind, he had tried his luck in asking his two sisters. It had gone about as well as he had feared it would, as they had few chance to teach him, one being in her latter years of training, the other a working huntress. They had little time for short spars and training sessions, mostly during the holidays.

Still, over the period of about three to four years, he had managed to garner at least a bit of something resembling proper training through those few spars. He was likely still worse than even the younger trainees, but he still saw hope. After all, a school is where one learns, right?

If he managed to get into an academy, he could make it, he'd give twice the effort anyone else did and would slowly catch up; he'd make his ancestors proud, his family proud, and himself proud.

At least, that was the gist of it. Seemingly simple, but sometimes the most efficient things were supposed to be such.

However, life wasn't quite as simple as the stories of glory that he loved so much though.

He made his decision and ran from his home, taking Crocea Mors, his family's heirloom sword, with him. He had managed to find someone who could get him false documents and ensure he entered one of the best academies out there, Beacon Academy.

It all seemed so easy, quick and simple. He would meet his man when he arrived at Vale. He had already traveled half the way there. Bullheads were still the stuff of nightmare, but saving the world from them could wait.

It was only one last ride to Vale, albeit a couple of days. But with everything else out of the way, this wasn't even a bump on the road, and that's why he got an outright hurdle thrown in his way.

Bad omens tended to be accompanied by storms, and with storms like the one at current, he wouldn't be going anywhere.
Bullheads were grounded to stay until it lifted, and there was no telling when that would be.

Jaune was at an impasse, right at the final stretch that should have been a new beginning, not an ending. He was on the clock. Having only a week and also having yet to actually prepare the transcripts, he couldn't afford to wait through something that was going to likely last five days, and that was if he was lucky.

He quickly asked around for alternatives, and narrowed down his best chance to crossing through the mountains. Most seemed easy, at most he'd just have to trek through some forest and hike over a few moderately sized hills. If all went well, he'd be able to get through it and all the way to vale in less than two days, less than the foreseen duration of the storm.

He had already checked and made sure it was moving away from the mountains, luckily not being directly here as that would have both ruined his short-term stay in this town and completely walled him in.

And thus with all of those dilemmas aside, it still seemed like it would be something he'd manage in the end, a trial to persevere over before achieving your goal like in his tales. That hope was one to quickly be shattered by the time of the evening's first rays of sunset.

And that brings us here, to an uncertain amount of time ago. When a young man rushed through said evening rays, the large knapsack he carried having been tossed aside long ago due to its weight, light armor adorning his torso, light as it may be, still armor none the less, but still holding its presence on his person in fear of losing what semblance of protection he had, a sheathed sword at his hip and a pouch across his shoulder.

Scrambling through branches and bushes in an attempt to slow down or shake off his pursuers while his adrenaline numbed out the pain of all of the accumulating cuts.

Jaune felt many things, terror, remorse, his ever present anxiety, at times being hard to differ between them all. What he felt most though, was the adrenaline course through him as he desperately sped through the forest, attempting to find anything that could be his salvation.

One Beowolf he could handle, maybe even two; but he hadn't been properly thinking. Little as his knowledge may have been, even he knew that anything with wolf in its name traveled in packs, and these Grimm were no exception. While there was no certainty in him managing to do so, he had his chance at avoiding them, yet he was careless enough to challenge a lone one that seemed like it'd be simple enough for him to beat.

It was far off, but he had indeed managed to slay it, albeit with the Beowolf trading him back a good few, luckily shallow wounds. The problem came in the noise they made, and the specific howls it let out. His chance at a quick practice round against one of the beasts of Grimm quickly turned into an all-out gauntlet as another had been quick to leap at him after his fight had just ended.

He had managed to fend it off initially, but the many howls reverberating in the woods quickly destroyed what confidence he may have had built up over his previous encounter. Those most definitely didn't sound like normal wolves.

Knowing how dead he'd be if he turned his back on the one before him and how much more so if he didn't run and stayed, he did his best to quickly retreat while avoiding the end to something more than just his journey.

And thus, he ran. Barreling through anything that held the slightest possibility of being an obstacle for his bloodthirsty pursuers, be it too small for them to pass through or capable of hopefully entangling them, all while trying to avoid said outcome himself.

It was not going well to say the least. It was no longer just the second one. In between the trees, he could see more Beowolves catching up, some steering sideways away from him, likely in an attempt to flank and surround him.

He wasn't the best under pressure. That's why at current, he wasn't quite sure if it was the life threatening scenario or his adrenaline pumping like never before in his life, but regardless, he was analyzing and processing the situation much like he'd expect a machine would.

He kept going through scenarios and plans, some as simple as would they be able to climb a tree or be willing to wait for him for however long if he was to climb one himself, to recalling every bit of the surrounding area and paths he'd gone through and assessing whether he could manage to give himself any geographical advantage that could hopefully save him. All in all, running for your life definitely showed it could have some exceptional effects on you.

And while his mind was busy racing, his solace had surprisingly come in the form of the gathering storm. He wasn't sure if it was moving this way or just passing by at the edge of the forest, but right now it was gloom and rain overhead, and the mud did more to hinder him than the Beowolves.

Little did he expect though, that rather digressing, he'd be finding reason to rejoice over said storm. For one of the flanking Beowolves and the second one that led them straight behind him had both lunged at him, one gnashing at him, carving out a large wound on his abdomen.

Right then and there, Jaune used all the strength he could muster to push the beast away, tearing skin and likely a bit more as it dislodged itself off of him, after which he instantly tumbled, saving his head from the jaws of the second.

Tears streaking down his eyes, indiscernible on his rain drenched face, and with a heart that felt like it released tremors and quakes with every beat. He got up and trudged on with renewed despair as his motivation.

The two Beowolves were quick to resume their chase and charged him anew. And exactly then, the sky fell.

Lightning fell. Likely no more than ten feet from him.

For a few short seconds, night became day.

He didn't know if it was the lightning, the cold or the dread that forced every one of his hairs on end. What he did know, was that he wanted to live, and so, he kept moving, fearfully turning to keep his gaze at his pursuers as he did his best to limp away, one hand clutching his abdomen.

There, motionless, one of the former Grimm was now a carcass, burning away and disintegrating, the other seeming to be partially ablaze as well, thrashing about spastically, the rest moving in a disorientated manner.

It looked like some were howling or whining, but no sound seemed to be able to go through Jaune's ears, only a constant muffled screech, heightening the never before experienced despair even further.

He didn't wait after that. Blood trailing behind him, he kept moving.

Much like with his current hearing, he had lost all sense of time. Eventually, he reached a cave. He had passed by some, this one not being small enough to block a Beowolf either.

It didn't matter. Energy, tolerance, adrenaline; his numbed out body had run dry on everything.

He entered the cave with clumsy steps, quickly retreating to its rear. He probably didn't have the best grasp of distance in his current state, yet it was small enough for him to be able to tell so. He hadn't even bothered to be wary of possible inhabitants. He just felt like everything was giving out.

As his feet finally buckled after going far further than he'd ever had expected them to, he met the ground, shoulder first and with an audible slam, though no grunt or groan followed it, be it due to the lack of strength to do so or the numbness in his body.

And there he lay, bleeding and likely dying, the gaping wound on his abdomen seemingly to be the end of him. He had no idea if they'd follow him, considering the trail of blood, but he didn't quite feel like being just that thankful yet, even if they didn't, since he was seemingly going to die anyway.

"Like this…", he let out in a rasp breath, finally taking full realization of the fatality of his situation.

He was going to die, so young. He had hardly lived any of his life, he hadn't even had the chance to attempt reaching for his dreams.

It was an extreme sense of despair, feeling like he hadn't done anything in his life. Most of all though, he felt terrified at the prospect of dying alone in some remote cave with no one for miles upon miles.

"I don't want to die, to be alone... to die alone…", was all he could manage to think as his final tears streaked the sides of his face and his consciousness drifted off as the world turned black.

Jaune's eyes slightly cracked open. Dim white light was what greeted him, blurring out anything that may be in his surroundings, though quickly enough, that white radiance faded and he was able to somewhat gather his bearings.

He felt quite dizzy. He was also seeing double, or was he? As his vision adjusted to his surroundings, he could see the walls of the cave. It felt, in a sense, like he was seeing them doubled, but, not quite. It most definitely felt strange and out of order though, and he closed his eyes for a bit in the hopes that it would pass.

At that point he realized how strange his body felt. He felt as cold as if he were completely naked, feeling the wind tickle his skin, yet he also felt a bit chilly but mostly fine at the same time, the caress of his clothes over his skin being obvious. It was a strange sensation.

Opening his eyes once more, he attempted to take in his surroundings, his vision seemingly still as out of order as it was when he woke up. He hurriedly surveyed his surroundings, and there he was, or she was… they were?

Before him stood a girl. Blonde hair like his own and blue eyes gazing back at him. Quickly, he jumped up and got to his feet in a fluster, practically yelling out a panicked, "Who are you?", at her. However, much to his surprise, she did the very same, reciting the exact same words in perfect sync with him as if it were a prerehearsed performance.

"Wait! Why are you naked?"

"Me? No! You're naked!"

Jaune quickly averted his gaze while his mind was giving out all kinds of alarms. In his peripheral he could somewhat see the girl. Yet again she was mimicking him to a tee and seemed for all he knew just as confused as him.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt at this point. Too many questions were jumbling through his brain to allow anything to surpass his confusion, but despite that, he took notice and realized how unnatural things really were.

Before his eyes he could see her, imitating his every movement, even his very expression. He was sure of that because he could see it himself. He was turned away, but still looking at her from the corner of his eye, and from it he saw both her and himself.

He wasn't quite sure how, but right now it felt like this was a far off thing from something like seeing double. He was looking at her from the corner of his eye and at himself from… the corner of her eye?

He turned around to be sure, but as he did, there was no one there; the sight he witnessed though, was far from nothing. Before him was the exit of the cave. It was a small one he had crawled into during his desperate escape. He could see the light from the passageway that was no more than ten meters away from the exit, at the same time though, he could see the back wall of the cave. He wasn't sure how, he only knew that he was somehow both looking at the back of the cave and its exit at the same time, or at least so he thought as he prayed this wasn't some comatose dream as he laid dying in the aforementioned cave.

Uncertain and confused, but with a crazy enough theory to match the current situation, he turned around towards the girl and spoke.

"Hello?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jaune Arc."

Both of them spoke In unison, uttering the very same words, not the slightest of variations, and the craziest thing of all was how he was looking at... them. He didn't know how to put it in any other way; he was looking at that girl, and he was looking at himself.

He could see that behind the girl was the wall of the cave, the back and dead end where he'd huddled to in his escape, and behind him was the corner leading to the entrance that radiated the rays of morning sunlight.

Then he extended his hand, slowly, cautiously, the girl mirroring him even n that. Both of their hands were extended straight forward, slightly turning it... them, they touched, he felt her hand, and he also felt his own.

"Is this for real? This is insane!", Both echoed each other, not a syllable off.

"The name's Jaune, Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the…", They both paused.

"This has got to be a joke, right? This… this can't be real…"

Jaune proceeded to pinch himself, something not quite effective through a shirt and an overly thick hoodie. Much like his expectations, he didn't quite feel anything past a touch, yet it also somehow felt like a slight sting. it wasn't exactly on his hand and yet it was, the girl before him having pinched herself too. He could literally feel it.

That one slight pinch, however, reminded him of how he was dying here in the first place, thus he quickly turned to inspect his body, namely the abdomen that was bleeding out profusely and fatally.

Glancing over to his stomach, he could see there was no wound to be seen. His clothing was torn, but the skin was smooth and unscathed, not even the slightest of scars from something that should've outright killed him.

However, he also noticed the lack of all clothing there to begin with. No, that wasn't right, he was clothed with his usual apparel; his jeans and shirt, hoodie and armor on top, all topped off with a heavy pair of combat boots on his feet. Yet it seemed like he was naked though, or was it more appropriate to say she? They were half naked?

The naked girl before him had inspected her side as well, they both returned their gaze to one another... No. That might've not been right, rather, he returned his gaze to himself, herself... Themselves?

This seemed insane, but for all that it was worth, this girl before him indeed seemed to be… him.

Maybe it would be most proper to call it them now? He wasn't sure, but was too confused to care at this point. Either way, coming back to the point of her- his- their nakedness again, he started to once again get slightly flustered and decided to take off and give her, err, themself his hoodie.

As he started unlatching his armor, he realized how hard it would actually be, the girl, he, was doing much the same, except that body had no armor on and was simply following the motions. That, however, didn't change how he saw though her own eyes and could see far too much, especially when he knew that was seemingly he himself.

Closing his eyes and doing his best to work on memory, he managed to relatively quickly remove his armor and then hurriedly took off his hoodie. It seemed like it was all good till then. Until he tried to pass it to himself. Then he realized exactly what kind of headache this was going to be.

Some minutes later he found himself sitting cross-legged on the ground, motioning as if he was putting some kind of shirt on all while his, err, female self was putting on his hoodie. He definitely wasn't prepared for the absurdity of a bit ago.

Who would think you'd need five, or maybe ten, he wasn't quite sure, but way too many minutes for sure, all to literally just pass someone an item. He tried giving him… Herself his hoodie after he'd taken it off. It all seemed smooth and easy, well, easier, until he realized what a nightmare it can be if both bodies mimicked each other to perfection.

He kept trying to pass on the hoodie, both their hands grasping or letting go at the same time, moving up, down or sideways. It felt like he was trying to give something to the him in a mirror. It was a nightmare, and that was just over such a simple action. On the bright side, after said five or so minutes, he'd actually managed to get the bodies to make slightly different motions and finally pass on the article of clothing.

It seemed to fit quite on point, as when he stood up, he could see him... herself, gah; he was never going to get used to that. either way, he could see herself. she stood exactly as tall as him, as slim… alright, as scrawny as himself. Eyes of a perfectly matching shade of blue and hair much the same color as well, though it seemed to be somewhat longer.

Scratch that, now that he actually bothered to look closer, it was extremely long; it went all the way down to her waist. That for sure was a big difference. Aside from that, her face looked much like the ones you'd see in his family. It had a slight resemblance to his sisters and father, more so to his mother, but most of all, he could see it, he could see how much it was like his own, except every single masculine line and trait in it was inverted to be feminine.

He could perfectly compare them since he was seeing himself from her eyes at the same time, their eyes. And now wasn't that just wonderful? It was crazy! Looking through two sets of eyes at once, he could tell why he was still slightly dizzy.

He felt like he'd never concentrated as much in his life before, so as to properly comprehend all stimuli from both eyes. At that to even differentiate between which belong to which body. If you'd compare it to a game, it'd be from one of those sadistic ones with all the difficulty settings possible in the world, and it would namely be the insane one times the impossible one.

Some might say he was over-reacting, but he felt he had that right with nearly dying after an appropriately terrifying death chase, all topped off with waking up to having two bodies, one of each gender. What was next? Did he get a third one that was a squirrel or something?

Jaune let out a sigh and pointedly tried to ignore how both of his bodies followed that order. It wasn't the time to get flustered now. He was in the middle of nowhere with no one to help him, them, and there was a decent chance they might be mauled within the next anytime by Grimm.

They might've thought him dead enough to leave him, but he didn't know Grimm at all, even if he'd liked to pretend so. He was lacking in knowledge, like a lot, as he'd put it.

But he wasn't foolish, at least not enough so to get himself killed, only nearly killed… Alright, that might've been a bad example, but he was definitely going to be properly on guard for his life now. Speaking of it, did it count as two lives now?

He turned towards his other body, both of them locking eyes once again. He could see how their perfect co-ordination in the worst of mirror like ways was definitely going to be a hindrance. He wasn't sure why his wound disappeared or how he survived in general, nor how he got a second body out of the blue, but he could be sure he wouldn't make it if they both kept running into each other or moving directly backwards from one another. He needed to get used to controlling them individually or he'd be doomed.

He could do this, he'd managed it in just five to ten minutes with their hands. And thus, he proceeded in what he'd soon consider as possibly being some of the worst exercises of his life.

Two blondes lied down on the ground, both letting out exasperated sighs in perfect unison, this time though, with full intention.

He felt like he should be grateful for managing as much as he did in just an hour. He still felt like this was a headache like no other though, except for the exact same one the opposite body was having.

He'd practiced and tried for the past hour and managed to get them to slowly, if awkwardly, move individually of each other. He got properly used to differentiating between each one's vision, though it still felt like it completely drained his concentration and then some.

His... their hearing was something he'd given up on telling apart. He was not going to split up when he was already alone in a place as good as a death zone anyway, and even less so splitting up with him-very-self at that, er, her... themself... damn it! The headaches were coming back and they were most definitely double.

His hearing and smell may have been a bit hard to tell apart, or rather absolutely impossible at current, but right now it was enough that he could hear and smell to begin with, even if he wasn't sure which body was managing the feat. They were both sticking together and aiming not to die anyway, so it was fine like that. His ability to properly see from both feeling like a boon he really needed in these dire times, and his sense of touch actually being something he can tell apart seemingly easily enough as well.

He had tested out walking one beside the other, a hand shake, and had even ended up high fiving him, themself in excitement practically automatically, both with different hands at that, when he'd managed to get basic movement sorted on both of them.

Learning to talk though, as laughable as the concept may have seemed, was still a relative work in progress. He'd expected it to be a lot quicker and easier, he may have not given it as much attention as the rest of the functions, but this was definitely being more trouble than he'd have both expected and hoped for.

At this point, he was just glad breathing was automatic on both sides. He didn't want to even consider the notion of him somehow failing to, out of all things breathe and end up dying in one of his bodies due to that.

And wasn't that a calming though? how did that work? Did they share damage? Did each one individually take it? Would one dying kill the other? Gah, those thoughts were getting too grim too fast.

This seemed to somehow be his body as well now and he most definitely didn't want to die, so all the tidbits could be left for never for all he cared, he was going to get out of here and both of him, them, would survive.

Now, having finally mastered… himself? Sort of… and having gotten over probably every mental breakdown destiny had scheduled for him till his 40s or 50s in about an hour, it was time for him to assess the current situation.

He turned towards his provisions, or what was left of them. His rucksack having been tossed aside so he could make his escape, had left him with little past the clothing on his, their backs, his hoodie being on the other him…her, Crocea Mors in its sheath still latched on his waist and a small pouch he'd left on a rock at the side of the cave.

Hurriedly, he went to the bag and took out what was in it. Jaune Arc was untrained, maybe naïve and most definitely lacking in knowledge, but he was rational. He was no fool... Well, mostly.

He had stuffed this small pack with as much emergency ratios as he could considering its size. In it he had drinking water, long lasting high protein and energy foods and snacks , a compass, the map of the local wilderness he'd bought, most of his lien and an all-purpose knife.

His family had a large number of war heroes for crying out loud, a knife that could be such as well as a screwdriver, wrench and much more was something they had at least seven or eight of, both new and old, and he'd taken one for the road. not his mom's favorite one though! Running away was already going to get him screwed enough as it was.

Pocketing the knife, he took out the food he had and looked it over. it wasn't exactly much. after all, he'd put it in for emergencies, but it still had to share its space with a few other key items, not to mention it was also a small pack. Even if the food was meant to last some, it'd probably last him at best three days, and that was if he was stretching it quite thin.

Then he took a moment to look at her, taking a moment to feel, he could sense how both his bodies were hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since the chase yesterday evening and by the still functioning watch on his hand, it was already twelve in the morning. He doubted his other body had eaten either, considering it just popped into existence overnight.

With this much food and water, he'd have proper meals for both for a day, but that was about it. He needed to get moving and fast.

Seeing as it was already midday and he was still not being lacerated, he decided it'd be proper to eat now and evacuate the premises after. He was seemingly alright for the entire night, so the risk felt minimal.

Passing on half of what would be their lunch to herself, he sat down and proceeded to attempt to eat. He didn't consider this to be anything too hard. Every living being needed sustenance to survive, right? He had confidence he could manage to just chew and swallow food easy enough, at least that was what he thought...

And once again, things weren't always like we expected them to be, much like Jaune never expected to be able to choke himself thrice on the very same bite of food. Or was it six times? Technically, it was two bodies and two bites, so it should've been thrice, though on two different fronts should've counted for something.

Regardless, he was not having it easy. They ended up taking turns, one eating, then the other. Initially, he thought about just one eating and then the other as a whole, but considering how unconsciously one body would try to chew and swallow from time to time, without both taking in water often enough, one would actually end up choking on spit. Bloody choking on spit! And he thought his air sickness was a pathetic case scenario.

Despite being quite hindersome, he had managed to finish a pretty decent meal, and both bodies seemed at least better than they started off. And now came the main point.

Should he try and hightail it to the closest semblance of civilization as soon as possible, or should he risk staying here, in this almost certainly compromised cave out of all places, and attempt to make sure both bodies can at least run, climb or do something that can save them at the same time; since the chances of meeting Grimm outside were quite likely higher than in the cave.

Great. He could feel the pressure, and now it was even double…

A faint alarm rang quietly, lightly echoing through the interior of the cave.

"19:00, about the same time the chase began, huh. No 24 hour rescue squad coming here though…", Jaune Arc turned off the alarm on his watch and sat down beside herself once again.

It had been roughly 24 hours since the Beawolves that had hunted him for what seemed like an eternity, or least since he last checked his watch yesterday. Since this whole roller-coaster began.

In the end, he had decided to remain in the cave and make sure his bodies didn't tangle their feet the moment they tried to do as much as a jog. It was a dangerous choice, but it felt like the safer one.

Besides, they hadn't found him in more than twelve hours, which had left him confident enough in being able to stay out of their radius for some time longer. At least so he hoped.

However, it was now around 24 hours since then, and he had seemingly not made the wrong choice as he was still alive.

He put away those side thoughts for a later time as both of his bodies turned to face one another.

"The"

"Name"

"Is"

"Jaune,"

"Jaune"

"Arc."

"Short,"

"Sweet,"

"Rolls"

"Off"

"The"

"Tongue,"

"Ladies"

"Love"

"It."

Both bodies chimed, each one taking its turn as they recited his favorite greeting word by word in sing song voices.

He always had a thing for music and singing after all, karaoke included. Jaune and... Jaune#2, both following the order and taking turns without the slightest of mix up or slowdown in their speech. It felt like he could put twins to shame in how they tended to complete each other's sentences. After all, he had done more. An even bigger of a feat than that. though he was kind of… in actuality both of them. Not two different individuals.

He still felt quite a bit of pride in managing to not only get both of them to speak individually, but also perfect it to such a level. It seems those ten minutes at the start where he failed, really were a bit absurdly little when he thought about it. But with about two whole hours leftover and a lot of practice time, it may have been annoying, but he managed it. He was actually getting the swing of this double body thing.

Speaking of which, he could actually manage to move about as well as he could in general in either of the bodies. It seemed his female one indeed did match him for the most part, exact height, seemingly exact strength, which may or may have not been somewhat insignificant in his case. She also rivaled his utter lack of grace, but he'd managed to get both to work right and that was more than just a big plus. That was his ticket to surviving here and making things go proper once more.

He still couldn't be fully at ease though. If both bodies were in quick motion such as running, making sharp turns with either without the other following suit tended to leave him optically confused.

There were also two rather relevant variations that did get in his way as well, one more awkward than the other.

The first was how the female him… her, had such damn long hair. Waist long hair was definitely something he wasn't used to. Luckily, it wasn't seemingly as troubling if it was just plain running, and he hoped it'd stay like that until he found something to properly tie it with.

The second one though, was awkward in a whole different plethora of ways. He had a chest. There was no better way to put it without destroying his male pride. His female self's chest felt tight and restricted, which was surprising due to how his hoodie was seemingly big and slightly baggy on him. But what that would entail felt like it would break his brain... brains? Well, it would definitely be painful mentally if he thought over that notion.

He did wonder if having two bodies with two brains meant he was potentially more intelligent, or if he had more capacity in some ways than average, but that was going off topic and for another day as a whole.

His, chest area, for lack of better words, weighed more than he would have expected or liked. He tried to get used to it, but it still felt like it was destroying his female self's center of balance from time to time. Not quite as badly as a sharp single body turns when both bodies are running, but still enough to be a worrying point.

All that said, he'd done all the preparation he could. He felt they could keep a relatively quick pace and even escape a Grimm, hopefully two or three if need be.

All that remained was to have dinner with most to everything left of the ratios, keep vigilant while resting up during the night, and leave early in the morning on unburdened stomachs, getting out of and leaving this Grimm infested place for good.

Easy peasy. Right?

It was about eight in the evening. Having prepared everything for a hasty departure at any time and eaten their full, all Jaune had to do was pass the night and be off before dawn break at about six, his alarm set to ensure he did so.

Deciding to make the best of two bodies, the female one had lied down and the male one was standing guard, vigilant and concentrated on the entrance.

With two of himself, themself, they could keep safe and get a decent amount of sleep while taking shifts. They had ten hours, so they'd be sure to get a decent five on each body for sure. It felt foolproof; some would even joke as Jauneproof, "Now that I think about it, I might be seeing where all the self-esteem issues are coming from...", well, they were all clear and that's all that mattered.

He glanced back at herself, eyes closed, trying to fall asleep. Well, compared to the impossibility of having two bodies, which was unheard of and way out of order, little could really be left to top it. Still, he could only wonder. He wasn't even sure if she'd be able to sleep since he was technically, well, awake.

Were both of his brains working at the same time? Could one be off at a time? Would he see the dreams in a sort of daydream sense? He hadn't a clue.

However, before he noticed it, he felt something. Looking back, she seemed to be relaxing, much like one would when falling asleep, though those thoughts were short lived as he felt extreme lightheadedness... No. That wasn't right. This was… drowsiness?

Is this what it feels like to have one of your brains shut down? No, wait! That question itself was way too wrong. He hadn't quite felt anything like this before, but his best guess was that this was how it'd feel to down an entire bottle of sleeping pills, or maybe get dead drunk.

he hurriedly rushed to his female self and shook her awake. Nearly instantly after, it felt like a haze had been lifted. His other self also felt as he would normally when waking, slowly opening her eyes as they started taking in the world around her. This was definitely way past weird.

Deciding to try swapping roles, this time the male Jaune lied down while the female one stood on guard duty, Crocea Mors at her side.

He wasn't sure if he'd have preferred that drowsiness to have been due to the mental fatigue from all of this or not, but that didn't seem to be the case.

As after some time, his body finally seemed to give way to sleep, much like his female one had, and the same urge to just shut down came over his female self as she quickly woke himself up.

"Oh boy, this'll be a long night...", Both bodies echoed with what might've been the thousandth sigh they'd made that day.

Well. At least this time the awkward character interactions, if they would technically count as such when it's one's self, were intended.

Well. Releasing a second story within about two to three days of my first, first ever at that, might be a bit audacious, but this was the one I originally intended as said first before the other one's inspirations just outright beat out this one's.

This story definitely feels like it'll be a doozy to write when it comes to its more unique variant of the pronoun game.

Well, yeah. All that being said, I hope you enjoyed!