Prologue: Breaking Stone and The Beginning of a Dream

Perhaps the day may come when we shall remember these sufferings with joy.

-Virgil

I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?

-Zhuangzi

The forest was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the leaves rustling blown by a gentle breeze. A loud cry suddenly broke the silence followed by a soft thump.

A shock reverberated through his arm, his knuckles bled.

A boy no older than 13 stood in a clearing facing a spire of stone approximately ten meters high.

With another cry the boy's fist connected with the pillar of stone, another soft thump echoed through the clearing.

This stupid hunk of rock was the only thing standing between him and becoming a Huntsman.

His arms hurt though. He had been at this for the past ten hours yet as to be expected, he had been unable to make the slightest dent in the stone.

This wasn't possible. There was no way he could break this rock with his fists.

Had Zhu Que lied to him? Perhaps the old man didn't want an apprentice, and this was his way of shrugging Jaune off. Just like his family had shrugged him off.

"It's just a phase you'll grow out of it."

"You just don't have the right temperament."

"NO! That's my final answer Jaune!"

Jaune let out another shout furiously pounding the rock focusing on the burning in his hands instead of the burning in his eyes.

This was his only shot at becoming a Huntsman, unless he broke this rock in three days any chance of his dream coming true would die.

With renewed vigor he battered the stone again with his fists. Still, the stone remained completely whole unaffected by his raging emotions.

Jaune attempted to raise his arms again only to find that they wouldn't respond. Taking ragged breaths, Jaune glared at the stone.

Was this why he would fail?

Tears gathered in his eyes and he grit his teeth. He wouldn't cry. Whatever he did he wouldn't cry, he hadn't failed yet. Furiously he wiped his eyes.

Even if this task was impossible, giving up wasn't an option.

Morning light filtered through the trees landing on the unmoving body of a blonde-haired boy and a great rock. Slowly the boy stirred until his eyes snapped open.

His hands hurt. His whole body hurt, to be honest. Still, as much as he wanted to curl in on himself, he knew he had to move.

Doing his best to avoid any pressure on his hands he pushed his back against the rock and used it to support himself as he shakily rose to his feet. The rock stood as it did yesterday with nothing to show for the effort he had expended.

Winding up his fist he struck the rock. He could be thankful at least for his Father showing him how to throw a punch. Not that it would matter. Mere muscle wouldn't overcome solid rock. Pacing around the spire, he examined it.

Maybe there was a weakness located somewhere on the expanse of earth. Maybe there was a trick to it. Something he was missing.

Something caught his attention, it wasn't obvious at first glance, but something seemed… off about the part of the rock he was staring at. Reaching out he brushed his hand against the rock. Something was definitely off.

Taking a deep breath, he struck. Only to recoil in pain, the pain in his hands had changed from a dull constant throbbing to a sharp spike when he hit the rock. The pit he had tried to ignore opened up in his stomach as tears of what he had convinced himself was pain streamed down his cheeks.

He couldn't do this. He shouldn't have even tried. He should just go back home.

Jaune attempted to turn around except his feet wouldn't move. Instead, they shifted so that his left foot was leading, and his right foot slid back. His hands raised, and he struck.

Why?

He struck again.

Hadn't the world shown him he should give up?

Another thump.

But this was his dream. If he gave up now, it would all be over. His family would have been right.

Glaring at the spire, he let a shout filled with emotion; equal parts fear, pain, and something he couldn't describe. With all his might he slammed his fist against the rock.

Something cracked and shifted against his hand. Pulling his hand back a piece of stone a little bit larger than a pebble fell from its former place in the rock.

He should have been more disappointed, but he wasn't. This was the proof. No matter how small he had broken a piece of the rock.

As the sun slowly set once again the sound of fist hitting stone with the occasional crack filled the clearing.

Jaune no longer knew what time it was. Somewhere between the punches time had started to lose meaning. All that mattered was he kept going. Something told him if he stopped he wouldn't be able to start again.

His arms had stopped hurting somewhere along the way. In fact, he no longer felt pain. All he knew was he needed to keep striking forward.

Still, even in this state, he knew he hadn't made enough progress.

He needed to be stronger.

Something shifted, and he felt… lighter, his hands no longer screamed in protest, he felt strong.

Fist plowed into rock chipping it.

It wasn't enough.

As if summoned by his very thoughts white light flared on his right fist, and something told Jaune that he needed to put everything into this one strike.

Fist met stone and his world froze before a thunderous explosion blew him back. His body tumbled like a leaf across the ground till his body collided with the trunk of a tree.

Slowly Jaune's vision swam into focus. The spire of stone was still standing. Stone fragments littered the clearing, but the majority of the structure was still intact.

He had failed.

A shaky laugh escaped his chest, and he mumbled, "Just my luck…"

Black slowly descended on his vision.

Opening his eyes, Jaune was blinded by the light coming in through the window. Groaning he lifted his arm in an attempt to block out the light. He was comfortable whatever he was laying on was soft and warm making sleep sound like a good option.

"Oh, you're finally awake?" a rich voice spoke somewhere to his left. At the sound of the voice, Jaune shot up to see a man seated comfortably in a rocking chair a book clasped loosely in his hands. The man looked to be of middle age with vibrant green eyes and dark red hair streaked with silver tied back in a ponytail. His face was set in an impassive expression with nothing to betray what the man was thinking.

Zhu Que. One of the only six other Hunter's in Jaune's village and one of the most respected Hunters in the area.

"Mr. Que... I… I'm sorry, I failed. I couldn't break the rock." Jaune grimaced, ignoring the stinging in his eyes, and the small trails of wetness coming down his cheeks.

"Indeed," Que nodded solemnly, "You did fail."

Jaune winced, "So I guess this it, I'll- "

"Would you like some breakfast? Though I suppose given the time, it's probably closer to lunch." Que interrupted Jaune casually lifting a covered bowl up off the floor.

"Um… I…" Jaune's stomach rumbled, and with a sigh, Jaune nodded. Que handed the bowl over and as Jaune lifted the cover of the bowl off the smell of what could only be described as rich broth pervaded the air.

"Well go on," Que gestured at Jaune with a casual wave of his hand.

It was quite in the room as Jaune ate his meal Que flipped through his book while. Eventually, though the clinking of Jaune's spoon stopped and Que looked up to see Jaune staring with distant eyes into the bowl.

"Done?" Que asked.

Jaune nodded.

"Good, let's get down to it then, Lesson One, Failure."

Jaune blinked and a dumb, "Wha- " escaped his mouth.

"You came to me for training correct? Well, this your first lesson Failure, your first and most important lesson."

"But… But you said…"

"I said that if you failed I could not teach you and you did indeed fail to break the rock," Que paused and looked Jaune directly in the eye as his lips broke into a wolfish grin, "Which means you succeeded."

"What do you mean I succeeded? The rock's still there!"

The grin on Que's face grew larger into a full smile, "Exactly, the test wasn't to see if you could break the rock, it was to see if the rock could break you. I needed to know what you had inside, if you had given up you would have never made it as my apprentice. What do you think it means to be a Hunter?"

"…"

When he was a child the stories told to him had powerful hunters facing insurmountable odds but always pushing through. He had grown up dreaming of becoming a Huntsman, dreaming of following in his family's footsteps. The application to Signal was due, and despite his parents' constant attempts to deter him, he had persisted.

"Being a Hunter is a fool's dream Jaune, the only thing that life does is chew people up and spit them back out."

"But in the stories- "

"Those are just stories Jaune, there's no great victory, there's no celebration, only an empty grave."

"But-"

"I've been very lucky to have survived, and even then, I've lost more friends than I wish to count if I lost you… I don't know what I would do."

"But-"

"NO! That's my final answer Jaune!"

The house was silent.

"Jaune I- "

Spinning around Jaune ran to the door throwing it open. He flew out the door, by the buildings of his village, his vision blurring. His lungs ached, and his legs hurt by the time he came to a stop. Desperately he gasped for breath as he gazed at a familiar stone cabin, trees stretching out behind it as far as the eye could see.

Taking a moment to regain his breath he then walked up and knocked hesitantly on the door.

"That you Jaune?" a familiar voice called out.

"Uh, Yeah."

The door opened and out stepped Zhu Que dressed in a muted white and tan outfit. The cloth draped about his body gently shifting with the breeze.

"What's happening Jaune? You okay?" Que said, an unsettled expression on his face.

It came out at all at once, "Can you train me to be a Hunter!?"

Que blinked, a frown appearing on his face as he spoke again, "Your parents didn't want you to go to Signal huh?"

"No, I get it, it's really dangerous, and they love me but… all I've ever wanted to be was a Huntsman. It's my Dream. Is that so much to ask?"

Furiously Jaune wiped his eye's gazing up at the man who had for innumerable hours told him tales of countless Hunters.

Que remained silent for a long moment, "Alright, I'll train you if you can pass my test. If you fail that's it, no second chances, if you succeed I'll train you to become a Huntsman."

"I- I don't know."

"Lesson Two then, a Hunter is someone who put's their life on the line to defend the people. It's not like the stories, you can't always push through. Sometimes the odds are too great. The Grimm too many. When you become a Hunter, you will die a Hunter. There's no backing out, this is your last chance, there is no shame in wanting a normal life."

Jaune looked down at his hands to see to his surprise that they had already healed with nary a scar on them.

"It's just a phase you'll grow out of it."

"You just don't have the right temperament."

"NO! That's my final answer Jaune!"

In the end, Jaune Arc could have made no other choice.

"Please. I need to be a Hunter."

It was his Dream.