A Dishonorable Task of Love
The orange sky was a sign of the rapidly approaching night as the girl with hair white as snow hastly made her way through the darkening forest. „Dust damnit, I should have reached the village by now" she mumbled, her voice trembling from the nearby sound of grimm. Keep calm Weiss, remember your training. You're strong, you can do this. The words that have been going through her mind since her bodyguards we're killed in an ambush hours ago didn't calm the girls mind, rather caused the fear grow.
With a rustle from the nearby foliage she unsheathed Myrtenaster and prepared herself for combat. Breathe. A beast, fur black as night, eyes glowing red, emerged from the bush. Its just a beowolf, you're fine. The girl tensed up as a second figure appeared from behind the first. Two beowolves, you've dealt with worse. Head held high, shoulders perched back and her right foot forward she lifted her rapier and prepared her glyph. A dash and a thrust to the chest will take care of one, then a flip back will give me room to deal with the second one. With the plan set she cast her glyph, forcing her to dash forward faster than the beowolf could expect. The girls eyes widend as she heard a deep roar from her left. Ursa. A paw, bigger than the girl's head, came swinging at her, catching her left thigh as three sharp claws ripped flesh.
Being flung several feet from the unexpected attack, the girl landed hard on the dirt path. She tried to scramble to her feet, but collapsed from the pain of the wound. So this is how I fall? In the hands of a few grimm any first-year could have handled? The giant ursa dashed forward to finish its prey, but was stopped as metal met paw.
A young man in a white breastplate and blue jeans stood infront of the white-haired girl, shield held high, blocking the paw of the ursa. Twisting his body to the right he built up speed for his sword arm and leapt as he brought the longsword up to meet the neck of the beast. With a loud grunt and faithful strike the head left the beasts shoulders causing the giant corpse to fall with a loud thud. As he eyed the beowolves that had observed the short conflict, he released a fierce battlecry that echoed through the forest. In a blur the beasts fled the scene with only whimpers indicating their location.
„You're hurt m'lady" the man spoke in a soft voice. „Sir Jaune Arc at your service. Here, let me ...". „Keep your hands off me you oaf" the girl shrieked „I don't need your help, I'm just fine". She slowly got up to stand, but as she put weight on her left foot she flinched and lost her balance. The man dashed forward, catching the falling girl in his arms „I'm sorry m'lady, but you're hurt. At the very least, please let me attend to your wounds". „Fine!" she murmured, lowering her head as she was lifted into the arms of the knight.
They went off the path a short distance to a nearby stream where the knight sat the girl on a boulder next to the water. The white-haired girls eyes grew wide and face flushed red as the knight stripped off his armor for she expected what would come next. „W-what are you doing?" she shrieked as the man removed his shirt.
The man didn't let the protesting words of the girl phase him and he leaned over the water to wash off the sticky ooze that is grimm blood. With his upper body clean he turned to the blushing girl. „Let me take a look at that wound" he said as he knelt infront of the girl. After a few minutes of pouring cold water over the wound the bleeding had almost stopped and the knights hands now rest on the thigh as he closes his eyes and starts to mumble something in a low whisper. Pain. Searing pain ran through the girls body as she let loose a shriek to be heard all the way to the kingdom. After just a few seconds the pain subsided and the panting girl looked at the wound. Its healed? With a confused look she caught the tired expression of the knight „Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voice. „Its alright. I used my sembelence to heal the wound, its just a bit exhausting".
After agreeing to make camp next to the stream for the night and continue their journey in the morning, the knight set up a fire and washed his clothes. „So if you don't mind me asking m'lady, who are you and what brings you out here all by yourself?" the knight queried in hopes to start a conversation. „I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the throne. I was visiting family members who live outside of the capital. I was on my way back, but we got ambushed by a group of bandits on the way. My bodyguards fought them off as I ran the rather one-sided fight.". The knight listened intently, sharpening his longsword. „It seems our paths lead to the same destination. Do you mind if I accompany you to the kindom? Even with the wound healed, you're in no condition to fight." the knight spoke with a warm smile. „Thank you, sir Jaune. I'll see you are greatly rewarded as we return."
As the fire grew it started to illuminate their surroundings and the heiress took note of the knights muscular and scarred body. Three distinguishable scars caught her eye as she scooted closer to the man. She reached a hand towards the knights face „May I?". „Ofcourse" the man replied as the girl ran her slender fingers over what looked to be a burn wound that ran from the right corner of his mouth to his ear. „What happened?" she queried with a sense of sorrow in her voice. A deep sigh left the knights lips as he began the story.
„Over a month ago I was treversing the arid lands of Vacuo when I happened to cross paths with a firey demon. Thick, long, golden mane, lavender eyes that turned deep red when angered." A firey demon? I've never heard of such a creature, nor come across it in any of the books in the library. The heiress thought to herself as she listened to the man speak. „As she turned to face me a mischievous grin appared on her face. Fear coursed through my body as her eyes seemed to pierce my soul and filled my mind with thread so I drew my sword and shield and prepared myself for an intense fight. The strenght of the creature was incredible, smaller than a beowolf yet stronger than 10 ursa." Could such a creature really exist? I should have this documented when I return to the capital. If there are more of those creatures around, our warriors need to know how to defeat them. „The more I hit the creature, the stronger she seemed to get. The fight went on and on. After about half an hour I was exhausted, I was at a loss, I could not best her in a fight. One last idea went through my mind and I figured if I were to fall, then might aswell try it. I charged in, dodging the blow from the right, spun and brought my shield up to block the blow from the left. I threw my arms around her and pressed my lisp to hers. For a moment the flames raged hotter, but in soon after subsised, her body untensed, as I broke from the moment on intimacy she let out a sigh of fire that caught my face. I was scarred, but in the end I lived."
Her arm trembling from the story, the heiress hesitantly moved her hand to the knight once more. This time she directed her focus to the wound running from the bottom of the left side of his jaw to the right side of his chest. Three evenly spaced cuts ran deep and long. „Ah yes. The shadow demon." The knight spoke, rubbing his throat. Another demon? Could this be true? How has nobody heard of such creatures before? „I wasn't far from here when I encountered this creature. I was on my way to a nearby village to finish a bounty when she ambushed me." What? The creature was this close to the capital? „Armed with a curious weapon, she dropped from the trees, hoping to take me out with a silent strike to the neck. Had I not noticed her stalk me for hours she might have succeeded. Ready for the inevitable strike I drew my longsword and swung in a wide arc towards the descending foe. Confusion hit as my sword sliced through the creatures body with ease only to have the figure fade into dust.". Confused by the story, the heiress was about to speak as the knight continued. „A decoy. The creature now stood several feet away, tho it may have been dark I saw a her in detail. Hair black as a raven, eyes glowing amber, expression irradiating pure hatered. She was a faunus. As she dashed towards me I took a defensive stance to repell her attack, but when she flung her weapon off to the side I saw it was attached to a ribbon of some sort. With a flick of her wrist the sword transformed and fired a shot, propelling it towards me from the left. I turned around, deflecting the blade with my shield, when I turned to face once more she was already infront of me. As the claws ripped through my flesh I kicked her off and charged at her. By this time the blade came around for another hit, but this time I dropped my shield and grabbed the weapon as I swung at the ribbon to cut it. When I came around to face her I used my momentum to throw the blade at her only to have it pass through another decoy. I had planned on this as the tip of my sword met her stomach."
The cunning and quick thinking intrigued the white-haired girl as she eyed the last scar. She has gotten a glimpse of it earlier when the man had washed himself. Thick and deep, a wound that should seemingly have been fatal ran from his left hip, across his body to the underside of his right arm and looped around from the back. When her eyes met the knight's he lowered his head „The demon of deception and lust. I don't think this story is appropriate for royalty." „No its fine, I'd like to hear how you survived such a fatal wound. T-That is if you'd like to talk about it." the heiress spoke with a light blush as she thought about the knight's description of the creature. „Very well."
„This is from my lastest encounter that happened about a week ago" the man started as he gazed up at the stars. „I was heading back from Vacuo with a travelling companion I had picked up on my quest. A girl, perhaps a year younger than you. Red tipped dark hair, silver eyes, cheerful, short and rather cute. She carried the most impressive weapon I have ever seen. A scythe which had a powerful rifle built into it, combined with her speed sembelence it was at times hard to keep track of her when we batteled grimm that were unfortunate enough to cross our path.". A scythe? How can someone wield such an uncommon weapon without hurting themselves?
„One night when we had set up camp she insisted on taking the shift to keep watch, since I had just used my sembelence to heal a wound she had recieved from a luck shot by a bandit. I woke some time later in complete shock when I found her on top of me in the proccess of an act most sinful. I threw her off of me in sheer disbelief. A girl who had appared to be innocent and pure, turned to be decietful and corrupt. She wasn't happy about my reaction as she grabbed her massive weapon and stood ready for combat. I scrambeled to my feet realizing she had removed my armor so I grabbed my longsword. Before I could prepare myself she had dashed towards me, hooked the nightmare around my waist as she spun around me. With the blade of the scythe around my back and her standing on my chest I remembered so many fights we shared. She was about to rip me in half with a push from her legs and shot from the weapon. I didn't hesitate, I shoved my sword down my back, cutting myself as I placed the longsword against my spine in hopes to save myself from a gruesome death. When she fired the shot we were lifted high in the air. She looked me with wide eyes when she realized I had survived the execution. I brought my sword around in a swing that connected with her face. As she shrieked in pain I was able to disarm her, I grasped the scythe and squeezed the trigger and was set spinning from the shot. Before I could get sick from the motion I suddenly stopped spinning and was now falling towards the ground. The scythe had made contact with her, sending her plummeting to the ground and softening my fall.".
The heiress, slightly embarrased and completely shocked from the story sat still, staring at the scarred man. „Its late, get some rest. We need to get moving in the morning. I'll keep watch." the knight spoke in a soft voice as he climbed onto a boulder to get a better view of the area.
„Wake up!" a voice called, waking the sleeping heiress „Come on, get up! You three, get her up!". Disoriented from the uncomfortable sleeping conditions the heiress felt several unfamiliar hands lifting her to her feet. When she opened her eyes, fear struck her. Three women stood infront of her with shackles around their necks, all linked together with chains. As she examined the women she thought of the knight's stories from the previous night. Are these supposed to be the demons? They just look like people. Golden hair with lavender eyes, raven-hair with amber eyes, red-tipped dark hair with silver eyes, all match their descriptions. Fear creeped back to the white-haired girl as she felt something hard and cold around her neck. „Whats going on? Sir Jaune, get this thing off me!" she spoke in a demanding tone. „I'm sorry m'lady, but I've taken you prisoner. Now get moving! I want to get to the kingdom soon." the knight ordered as she gave the heiress a light push. „Do as he says. It will be less painful" the silver-eyed girl said from behind her. „No!" the heiress shouted „Do you expect to get a bigger reward if you take me back as a prisoner? My father..." the girl spoke when the knight interviened „Is dead! Thats right. I'm surprised this news hasn't reached you yet, but thats the situation! I'm taking you to the new queen". News of her fathers fate brought tears to the girl's eyes „Why are you doing this?" she sobbed. „I'm sorry, I truly am, but queen Valkyrie has the woman I love. She promised to return her to me if I brought back the four of you. I don't know what will happen to you when we return, but she said she has no intention of having you killed." the knight explained in a low and regretful tone.
As they entered the throne room, the knight had his weapon drawn and wore a deep scowl as he glared at the woman sitting on the throne, grinning at the knight. „My queen." the knight spoke in a venomous tone as he knelt, striking the ground with the tip of his sword „I have finished your quest". „Ah sir Jaune, its great to see you again. Amazing job you've done, truly great. Ladies, step forward" the queen spoke in an energetic voice. The four women in chains hesitantly walked towards the throne, keeping their gaze down, fear surging through them. The queen walked up to the group as she addressed them „Yang Xiao Long, I see you've grown since we last met, excellent. Blake Belladonna, my pretty kitty returns, oh how we've missed you. Ruby Rose, why the long face? From what I hear, you'll enjoy our little ''social group''. Ah and Weiss Schnee. Despite the public execution of your father and sister, I hear the people still support your family. I'm sure they'll come around when they hear that the rightful heiress gave herself to the new queen".
The queen walked back to her throne as the knight rose, rising the tip of his sword, pointing it towards the queen „I've completed your disgusting quest of personal pleasure, now release her or I'll remove your life partner's head and make you eat it!" the knight threatened in an enraged voice. „We're not together, together" the queen shouted „But seeing as you've brought all my enemies to me alive, I suppose you've earned it". The queen gave the man with lightish-red eyes a nod who then started towards the women in chains „Ladies. Welcome to the Nora Harem." he said as he directed the girls through a door to the side, returning immedietally with another woman in tow. „Pyrrha" the knight sighed with a smile. The woman's long red hair and emerald green eyes, tall and and beautiful, in the eyes of the knight she truly was a goddess.
A grunt and a crack, as a man with spiked green hair, dark skin and a white coat, shoved his greatsword into the knight's back. A shriek of horror „Jaune!" echoed through the room when the blade coated in blood burst through the knight's chest. The red-haired woman ran to the knight, tears streaming down her face. A whistle and a whirl, as a woman with black hair, friey eyes and a red dress, sent forth an arrow at the red-haired girl. The tall woman fell to the ground next to the knight, an arrow sticking out from between her breasts. A sense of doom passed through the pair as they lay on the ground. Rising their heard with all of their might, they meet eachothers gaze.
„A valiant knight and his love from the past, share a passionate kiss, their first, their last"
Fin.