{THIRD PERSON POV}
The journey to Vacuo was not comfortable in the least; that was what Jaune had noted now that he had spent two days at sea.
The rations Mordred bought, along with the few bottles of water, were enough for Jaune to survive one or two more days if he didn't conserve them. With rationing, he could stretch it to a week at most.
"Sigh"
Jaune sighed and looked at Crocea Mors, which was propped up against the wall beside one of the crates, and started to think-mostly about what he would do after the ship arrived at its destination.
If all went well, Jaune would arrive in Vacuo in a day or two, though he could be wrong. Still, he could hope.
As for which port the ship would stop at, Jaune frankly didn't know. But from the fact that Andrew told Jaune all of these supplies were from the government, there was a good chance the ship would dock somewhere under Vacuo's control.
It would be a lot easier if the ship stopped directly at Vacuo proper, but unless Vacuo somehow relocated far enough south to be near the ocean, that wasn't going to happen. Vacuo sat deep inland, far from the coast.
That meant Jaune would probably have to make his way to Shade Academy himself after he arrived at the port. It shouldn't be too hard to find Shade Academy, considering it was the only place where someone could legally and officially train to become a Huntsman, at least as far as Jaune knew.
There wasn't much in Vacuo from what Jaune had gathered-mostly sand and danger. It wasn't hard for him to understand why Vacuo was considered the weakest, or at least the poorest, kingdom in the world, even poorer than Kuo Kuana, which wasn't even a kingdom-just a city, or maybe a large town. It definitely wasn't like the scattered settlements spread throughout Vacuo.
At least Kuo Kuana had fishing and trade, given the tropical climate. As for Vacuo, Jaune couldn't think of much that would be valuable to export to the other kingdoms. Glass, maybe. Spices, possibly, though Anima had spices too.
"Sigh. I know I should've done more research. I'm going to be living there for years."
Jaune regretted focusing so much of his research on Huntsman-related information about Vacuo.
The Huntsman situation there wasn't encouraging. Not many Huntsmen stayed in Vacuo, since job opportunities and general living conditions were better in the other kingdoms. Shade Academy had even opened its doors to children over the age of eleven.
And because Shade knew most children didn't have official birth certificates or any identification, they allowed applicants to write down their names and ages on paperwork and enroll.
That was one of the biggest reasons Jaune wanted to go to Shade Academy: he could enroll just by writing a name and age-both of which he could lie about.
Over the past couple of weeks, Jaune and Mordred had brainstormed fake names for him, and they had narrowed it down to a few options.
The first was Jaune Luna, or John Luna.
The second was Arthur.
The last was Nero.
Jaune was open to other ideas later, but for now those three were his options.
Thinking of Mordred made his chest ache again. He missed his sister. If it were possible for her to come with him, he would have wanted it, but he knew she couldn't. It would put a bigger target on him and make him easier to find.
It was much easier to search for a pair of blond siblings than it was to search for a single blond boy.
Even though blond hair wasn't common in Vacuo, there were still plenty of blond people there. Jaune would probably need to dye his hair lighter-maybe closer to white-to dull the bright gold into something more muted and ashy.
For now, Jaune planned to let the sand and sun do their work on him over time.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and looked out through the small window in the wall.
He cut off the thought of Mordred before it could spiral into something heavier. His mood was already low, and the last thing he wanted was to sink further and risk drawing unwanted attention.
A few hours earlier, a small pack of Grimm had attacked the ship. Fortunately, some of the sailors were retired Huntsmen or people with their Aura unlocked, and they dealt with the Grimm in about thirty minutes. Jaune had felt the pull to go out and help, but he wasn't reckless. If he went out and fought, it would be over for him. The sailors would learn he was on the ship, and even if he managed to slip away when they docked, they could report him to the authorities-and, most importantly, to his father.
Was Jaune worried that his father would search for him in Vacuo? Not really. Jaune had made sure not to leave any clues that he was heading here.
And frankly, it wouldn't make sense for his father to assume he'd gone to Vacuo. His father didn't know the real reason Jaune ran away. He would likely assume Jaune had been kidnapped rather than choosing to disappear, especially since their relationship had improved.
His father had tried to mend their bond, and Jaune had let him. But even with their relationship closer than it had ever been, Jaune still wanted to become a Huntsman, and his father remained the biggest obstacle in his way.
The last place his father would think to look was Vacuo. If Jaune was right, his father had already contacted the authorities and started a search.
Did Jaune feel guilty about that? Yes, but he still believed he had to do this. Beacon was not an option. If he went to Beacon Academy, his father would find out immediately.
And right now, anyone who wanted to go to Beacon had to pass an entrance exam from a combat school. From the rumors Jaune had seen on his Scroll, Beacon might become more lenient about those requirements later to accept more students, but that didn't help him now.
Vacuo was his only choice, and Shade was far enough away that it bought him time. He could cross the ocean into Anima, but Vacuo and Vale were on the same continent, just different kingdoms.
For now, all Jaune could do was wait for the ship to arrive in Vacuo.
PS GOALS: 150 PS= 5-10 extra chapter on an update.
💕💕
READ 45+ ADVANCED CHAPTER AT MY P@TREON! FOR ONLY 10$
at [email protected] /Zaneninjacat
💕💕
💀💀 gimme powerstones!💀💀