Arc: Introduction
Chapter 1: ON A ROLL!
A/N: First story! Woohoo!
UPDATE: Reworked the whole thing to make it easier to read.
I rated this T because their may be coarse language but that's about it. The violence won't be very graphic and should be suitable for people 15 and up considering what you can watch in a movie theater when your only 15 lately. If anyone thinks I should increase the rating then give me some good reason's and I will think on it.
Anyways, the main character's will be a little OOC because this is an AU where Cardin and Jaune grew up very differently. Though I'll try to keep everyone's personality as close to cannon as possible. I kind of find Jaune's depressing sarcasm, self deprecation, and altogether awkward demeanor to be quite endearing.
And useful to set up interesting plot points.
Soooo for this introduction arc I wanted to get all the big parts of the knight duo's background out of the way. As in how the world of Remnant works in this AU, how Jaune and Cardin fight, and what their relationship with their families is like. I've come to understand a few basic things that apply to all people. One of those basic things being the person they holds dearest to them in life is how they will also see the world. So family is a pretty big influence on that.
Don't worry though, I didn't kill off the lovable knights families. They are alive and happy!
Almost...
One person is reeeeeally angry.
I will have most of the cannon events happen. Seeing as I still want team RWBY to be hero's in their own story, I love them to much to make them simple side characters in this one.
So I've decided to have them fight separate bad guys, RWBY gets the White Fang plus Cinder and Co. Jaune and Cardin are going to fight something completely different. Buuuuut I'll be covering that around the end of this introduction arc, so for now enjoy the story!
WARNING: There will be cursing, but not in a hateful or spiteful way for the most part. It's just how Koko communicates with people.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it belongs to its respective owners. I'm just a fan who has to much time on their hands, as well as a laptop.
I also like my OC's, please don't take them from me.
"text" - quote/memory
'text' - thoughts
text - sound effect/Cardin yelling really loud
.
.
"Peace and no sorrow" - Leo Shine
.
Our story begins with two young men, both of them are not particularly special. One is as strong as an enraged Ursa and the other is as weak as a flightless Nevermore. One has a quick temper, the other is patient and nearly impossible to anger. One wields a mace that explodes when he presses a pretty red button. The other has a sword and sheath, though he only recently started to learn how to use the sword.
Which brings me to the point about one is actually trained by his father to fight with their weapon. The other has only a limited amount of training from their father, who stopped teaching him at 12 and he's 17 now, but his twin sister often practiced with him so his swordsmanship is at least passing level. He's only been using a REAL sword for about four months though.
Even with their many differences, they are true friends. Only someone who knows both boys would understand that though. Both of them cover for each other's short comings with unwavering resolve. They would never abandon each other even if it meant being hurt.
Not to mention their similarly huge desires to become huntsman.
One boy's father view's huntsmen as warriors rivaling the Knights of Vale, but he did wish that BOTH of his son's could become knight's. But only one can and the other has no choice but to become a Huntsman.
The other boys father believed that he wasn't cut out to even wield a weapon, because he didn't have a 'Natural Arc Gift' for it like himself. He wasn't impressed by his son's knowledge in other things that he learned from watching his mother either, those things are: cooking, cleaning, gardening, sewing, knitting, dancing, and first aid.
Honestly speaking the boys never even wanted to become Knight's of Vale. Not that they think knights are not cool, they just didn't quite like the "knight life"(couldn't help it) of the city where they are stationed.
They want to become true hero's that fight for what they believe is right. They want to go on adventure's in the badlands that cover most of the world. They want to find what the nomadic tribes of Remnant have always been searching for...
The Answer.
The Answer to the questions that have plagued the minds of the nomadic tribe's for hundreds of years. Why did the Grimm appear? Why do we praise Dust yet have no God? Why do we have a concept of what a God is, but no one has ever even started a religion? What are the Grimm Forests that cover our world? But the most important question they possess is one that the people inside the walled kingdoms would never even consider as odd.
Why does the moon shatter?
In one of the stories that the knight duo's Master has told them, it says that the moon didn't shatter in the past but eclipsed slowly as it's phases instead of breaking and reconstructing. The nomadic tribes believe that if they find the Answer to that one question, then all the other's would be answered as well.
But not all of the things that help them get along are profound. No, they share a very interesting hobby. This hobby is very, VERY important to the knight duo because it has saved their lives many times.
That hobby is so important, they would risk their lives to pursue it.
So amazing they just stop and stare at anything that has to do with it.
That hobby is...
PLANTS!
Yes, our knight duo has a beautiful hobby that includes rare plants that have temporary effects ranging from dragon-like-powers to becoming a human glow stick. With side effects that are just as strange. There are even flowers that the nomads used as a sort of Grimm repellant.
But alas, times up for my little intro. It seems the idiots got themselves into quite a good spot of trouble. So lets watch them and see if they will actually have the strength to stand up to this threat.
Or just die an early death, that's always a possibility as well.
.
Somewhere in the King's Forest...
.
It was a quite afternoon in the King's Forest. In a large clearing in the dense forest the only sounds are a nearby river and waterfall with the soft accompaniment of wind passing through the trees.
The many trees leaves were a soft orange, bright yellow, and royal purple mixed in varying amounts in the tree tops, no two trees looked the same. These leaves casted a welcoming shade over the roots and dark green grass below.
Surrounding half of the clearing is a tall cliff face that forms a arc in the jagged, near circular, clearing. The waterfall flows off of the cliff and down with great force. The river went down the center of the clearing, effectively halving the area. Two young men had their backs to that cliff face, sweating from the summer's afternoon sun beaming down on their black clothing and armor clad bodies.
Giving them a similar thought.
'Why the hell did I think a black long-sleeved shirt/thick hoodie was a good idea today?'
To the left is a deep river and waterfall crashing down. To the right is a thick forest with a large assortment of thorny bushes. Finally in front of the boys was one of the most wonderful things they'd ever seen.
About 30ft in front of them and past six incarnates of evil in the form of wolf-man-things.
"Yup, the forest is completely calm. Not a Grimm in sight Little Wolf! Even in this small beowolf territory." The boy rolled his eyes.
"This was probably the best plan you've had." The sarcastic young man spoke. His burnt orange hair matted with his own sweat. The gel that was keeping his hair slicked already deluded by that sweat long ago. His thin indigo colored eye's glanced towards the other young man next to him.
"Really you don't say?" Replied the blonde boy dryly.
The blonde boy heaved a sigh. "I think this plan was probably the stupidest plan ever." He raised a gloved hand to whip off the sweat from his brow.
The blonde heaved a defeated sigh, "Like, not even Leo would go along with it and he's already DEAD. Whatever made me think that the Grimm that live in this territory wouldn't be here, I will personally beat the crap out of."
His friend chuckled and he sent him a glare, "Heck, Master will probably shoot me for this one with some of her 'blonde roast' bullets. I'm just glad the alpha was killed by Master Koko a few days ago." Said the smaller of the two boys.
Moving his eye's back to the dark monstrosities in front of them. His calculating deep blue eye's scanned the pack for possible movements of attack. So far the beowolves have just watched them and waited. Without a leader they don't exactly know when to attack and since these ones are older then new borns they know how to wait and watch.
"Well there's only one thing left to do Little Wolf, you up for it?" Smirked the larger boy.
The blonde shrugged, "Not like we have a choice now do we? It's either run and live but miss out on getting a rare flora for when we go to Beacon's entrance exam in three days, let them eat us, or kill them and pray that the flower's don't get damaged. That won't end pretty for ANYONE here."
They both shivered, those flowers they want to get are extremely dangerous after all. Especially when they are disturbed or damaged.
The boy's short blonde locks feel around his face. White armor snuggly fastened on his body, brown fingerless gloved hands tightening on his sword and shield. His feet started shifting into a basic sword and shield stance that was a little rigid. Feet spread apart and body low to the ground he had his shield raised and held his sword awkwardly at his side.
'Okay sis, lets see if I can actually use this piece of metal!' The blonde boy glanced at the sword and then his shield, 'Even if I screw up with the sword I can still protect myself with my shield. I've had the shield for six years after all and only got the sword a few months ago.' The boy gave a heavy sigh and then shook his head, steeling his gaze at the beowolves.
His comrade in arm's took the silent hint and moved into a more stable stance with his black mace.
Turning his body sideways with his back facing his pal, all the while never breaking eye contact with the beowolf in front of him. The mace wielder hefted his mace into a stance where his right hand wielding it has the middle of the maces shaft propped up on his right shoulder, knee's bent and feet apart with his left hand stretched out and palm facing out at the beowolf he has kept his eye contact with.
"Since we both know we're going with the third option, I suspect you got a plan Little Wolf." Indigo eye's narrowed further at the black beast.
"Yup, just the usual though, you take the three beowolves on the right and I'll take the three on the left. We'll rush them on the count of three, does that sound good to you? Little Cardinal?" The blonde asked coldly with a hint of fear in his voice, never moving his gaze from the enemy.
"Sound's good to me." The mace wielder whispered with short breath. Not with just fear for his life, but with anticipation for what's to come.
'And that was a lot of 'threes'. I guess he's TRIPLE sure it will work.' The cardinal sniggered.
"Okay, one." Said the blonde swordsman a little louder than a whisper. The larger of the two leaned a bit forward readying to charge.
"Two" Spoke the mace wielder, now the knight duo pressed their back feet into the ground and leaned on the forward foot pointing them each at their target's.
Blood red eye's piercing through the slits in the wolves natural bone masks at the knight duo. What looked to be a soft orange flame's lit from the soles of their feet. The beowolves must have noticed the boy's reading their attack, because they readied themselves to lunge at the sword and mace wielder's.
"THREE!" Bellowed the boy's in unison as they disappeared for a second and reappeared before their first targets.
.
At the moment they charged...
.
BAM!
He made the first move and smashed his mace with one hand into the side of a beowolves ribcage, sending it's heaping body at a tree. Killing his target instantly.
'One-hit wonder of the week!' smirked the boy.
Still following the momentum of his swing he lifted his back foot off the ground slightly and completed the 360 spin with a sickening crack as the cage of thick blades that make the head of his mace was imbedded in the side of the second beowolves head.
CRACK! STOMP!
Smashing his foot into the ground when his mace hit it's target, he grabbed his mace with both hands and launched the corpse attached to his mace at the third beowolf with a kick to its chest, the sole of his foot still burning with the orange flame.
WHACK! THUD!
"HERE YOU GO!" yelled the boy with vigor! Both beowolves, corpse and living, fell and within seconds the third wolf's head was smashed in by the mace wielder.
Pivoting on his foot to turn to his right and see how his companion was doing. His eye's quickly scanned the area.
Just as he suspected... His pal was doing not so fantastic.
"Dammit Jaune! At least TRY to use your sword!" Yelled the burnt orange hot-head.
His pale skin glistening in sweat as black sludge like blood from the beowolves he'd killed was dissipating off his steel gold trimmed armor and black clothing, luckily the red sash and satchels around his waist can't get stained by the blood of the incarnates of darkness seeing as it disappears as though it was never there. A good thing about fighting Grimm in his opinion.
.
At the moment they charged...
.
'Okay Jaune you can do this!' He thought to himself as he bashed the beowolf in front of him with his white shield making it see stars.
'Masters "instant movement" technique is fantastic!" The blonde didn't have time to think anymore as the second beowolf came at him from behind the stunned first.
THUNK!
Jaune rose his sheild and dug his heels into the ground. The orange flames roared to life again and he kicked of, hitting the stunned first and lauching it into the second. Before he could cheer for his inginuity, a flash of black caught his eye and he rose his shield to intercept the third beowolves swipe towards the side of his head.
SHINK! SHHHHRIK!
Angling his shield to deflect the blow and force the beowolf to follow the path of it's claw. Sword hand now glowing with the orange flame, Jaune then thrust his trusty(?) sword below the shield straight through the beowolves vulnerable side and ripped it through the beasts black body. Successfully bisecting the monster and sending it's black blood across the dark green grass. Some of the blood landed on Jaune's white armor and face.
Jaune also had the added "bonus" of having his arms spread out wide in a completely open and vulnerable way with that attack. Now he was sure to be getting tackled by one of the now recovered beowolves he didn't finish off!
A single thought went through his mind the moment he saw the beowolf charge at him from over his shoulder.
'More then sure my gravestone will read: "Here lies the Failure Arc. As much of a failure in combat as he was in life. - Love Dad" '
THWAK!
Luckily the black beasts claws struck the back of the Jaune's chest plate, the shield barer instinctively raised his kite shield to cover his head before they hit the ground. The white metal protecting him from gaping jaw of beowolf, aiming for his throat.
THUD!
'Note to self: Thank Mom for giving you the suppossibly useless family heirloom and giving you money to buy some armor, they saved your life.'
Jaune internally chuckled at his way of thinking. He's scared to death of fighting, but fights anyways. That isn't what is funny to him though. What's funny is that he's fighting for his life and his thoughts are hardly anything a normal person would think about in his situation.
Or even anything cool.
'I have had WAY to many near death experiences...' Jaune thought dryly as the Beowolf was trying to naw and claw through his shield to rip his throat out.
'Good thing these young beowolves are idiots, or I'd already have had my legs and butt chewed off.' The blonde knight rolled his eye's at that thought while his face was being pushed into the ground by the beowolf's swipes at his shield.
"Could!"
WHACK!
THUD!
Jaune's face promptly met the ground.
"You!"
WHACK!
THUD!
And again.
"STOP!?"
WHACK!
THUD!
And again...
'Huh, so this is what dirt and frustration taste like together... I can't wait to find out what dirt and soul crushing defeat's flavor will be.' Thought the blonde knight as he had his face pressed further into the ground by another swing from the beowolf. Since he had dropped his sword and is in no position to get it without dieing, he has to wait for his best friend to rescue him.
'Any second now...' Jaune thought dryly as he waited for his friend to save him. In the mean time Jaune would become closer to nature, him and the dirt are practically best friends now with how close they are!
.
A little bit after Jaune screwed up...
.
"HELL NO!" Screamed the mace wielder as he used his 'Instant movement' skill to get over to his pal. With one decisive strike, he swung his mace upwards into the beowolf's stomach as it trided to claw through Jaune's shield.
THUNK! SWOOSH!
The beowolf was launched high into the sky and landed some ways away from the boys. After seeing it's comrade get launched the last member of the group, who finally got control of itself, lunged at the mace wielding menace. Jaune shifted to a sitting position looked up at his friend's angry glare at the now dead beowolf.
"Thank you for choosing Mea Culpa airlines. My mace, Mea Culpa, is not responsible for any injuries so don't even try suing." Smirked the sarcastic mace wielder as Jaune laughed at his comment. He looked down at his friend and gave him a friendly smirk.
"Thanks-LOOK OUT!" Jaune grabbed his pals leg and pulled it out from under him. Now forced to lean backwards at a 90 degree angle at the knees, the mace wielder caught himself with his left hand his right hand clutched tightly to Mea Culpa.
Wide eyed the burnt orange knight watched as a black blur with sharp teeth and sharper claws flew right over where his head was. The mace wielder and Jaune quickly scrambled to their feet as the monstrosity landed and turned around with a blood curdling howl. Jaune shifted his foot to just under the hilt of Crocea Mors and in one fluid motion threw it straight up to his hand. Giving it a little twirl when he caught it.
'Finally! I did something cool!' Jaune had to surpress himself from letting his glee out in front of his bestfriend who was now staring daggers at the beowolf.
"Little Wolf." spoke the hot-head as he glared at the black beast, his eerily calm tone cutting through the mostly silent forest. Upon hearing his tone Jaune completely calmed down and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.
"Yeah Little Cardinal?" Jaune was the same as his pal now. The same eerily calm tone seeped from his words. A soft orange flame started etching a pair of yellow crescent moons on his cheeks, just like the symbol on Crocea Mors' shield. His pal having the same colored flame tracing a gold wing over his right eye. Still in a calm stat the orange haired boy spoke.
"Let's make Master proud and show that herbivore our-"
"-TRUE POWER!" The boy's screamed in unison and rushed the beast.
SMASH! WHOMP! THUNK!
Jaune instant movements into the beowolf with his sheild raised, launching the monstrosity off its feet! The mace touting menace then instant movements right past Jaune, mace in both hands raised over his left shoulder, and then swings it at the beowolve in the middle of its flight. Once the head of the mace connected an explosion is set off, shredding through the beowolf's flesh and bone. Launching it further in front of the boy's.
The beowolf's corpse rolls as it dissipates leaving a trail of black sludge like blood and scared earth from its corpses travel through the clearing. The symbols on their faces also fading away like the very Grimm they just killed, like they were never even there.
Jaune caught up with his buddy and they gave each other a high five, low five, spinning double-five, and all other kinds of fives known to mankind.
"ALRIGHT!" Yelled the mace wielder while Jaune laughed. The duo still had adrenaline running through them from their resent near death experience.
"What's with that look Cardin?" Jaune asked his comrade with a puzzled look. Cardin had one of his rare smiles that actually DON'T look menacing or evil.
"Hehe..." Cardin chuckled still smiling brightly as he pointed to the scarred earth and lifeless body of the downed beowolf.
"I guess he was... ON A ROLL!" Bursting out with laughter the boy's basked in the glory of surviving another encounter with death.
"Come on, we should hurry up and get those Bomb Bulb." Jaune patted his partners shoulder and walked back to the cliff they had their backs to a little bit ago.
"Yeah, I'm sure Leo and Master are bored out of there skulls with editing Masters book." Chuckled Cardin as Jaune and him went over to a small crack in the cliff face. Inside was a thatched basket and brown knapsack containing several kinds of flowers, berries, seeds, roots, and vines.
"By the way, why do they call them Bomb Bulb's if they're like grenades?" Cardin squinted his eyes and struck a thinking pose with his arms crossed. "I mean, all you have to do is pull a single petal and then the whole bulb slowly lights up. It blows up in a matter of seconds but you still got the time to toss it like a granade... Before the thing turns into a mini hurricane of death firing a ton of razor sharp petals everywhere."
'Who ever thought of that name and whatever deity decided to make this plant must have been nuts.' Thought the burnt orange knight as he rolled his eyes.
Jaune held up his pointer finger but then brought it to his chin, taking the same pose as Cardin almost. "I don't really know..."
They furrowed their brows in contemplation, trying and failing to figure out this mystery.
"Meh, might as well not think to hard about it and just grab the thing." Shrugged the swordsmen. Soon the duo retrieved their supplies and went to get those Bomb Bulb's before heading back to their Master's cottage.
.
An hour of walking later...
.
"We're back!" yelled the blonde knight with a huge grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye's. Cardin carried a brown knapsack full of seeds, roots, and vines. Jaune was carrying a basket with strange flowers, some of them were even glowing a little bit.
The building they walked into was a fairly large cottage with sturdy logs covered in moss on the outside and spotless walls on the inside. Floors of sturdy polished wood lined every walking space in the cottage. The interior walls that weren't part of the outside were a light brown. Pictures of a bear faunus women standing with many people in photo's lined the walls...
Well, it was more like placed between the guns that lined the walls.
One look and its obvious that the main attraction in the cottage is that all over the walls were gun racks completely loaded with no space for new ones, and in several corners boxes of many kinds of ammunition. Anyone would believe this place was some sort of government armory, secretly hidden in the middle of a Grimm Forest between a friendly little village and a large city.
Besides the display of its large amount of artillery that could arm at least 30 people to the teeth, the building was practically spotless. You'd have to search out the dust and dirt if you wanted to find it, and even then you'd find very little.
The room they walked into was likely the den, with its large fireplace and leather furniture. There was two large couches with a single coffee table between them, the other two ends of the coffee table were occupied by armchairs. Fortunately they were gun and ammunition free for your tired legs.
The only electronics that seemed to be inside the building were the lights, TV and gaming console upstairs, and appliances in the kitchen. You could see the entire kitchen over the bar counter separating the den from the kitchen that was to the lovable duo's left. The bar counter had a perfect wood finish and the separating half-wall the counter was on has a sleak black paneling.
The bar counter was in the middle of the kitchen/den boundary making two exits/entrances. So you have to walk around the bar to enter and exit the kitchen and or den. Just outside the Kitchen and a little ways from the entrance in the middle of the cabin, is a staircase that leads up to a loft.
The loft is were the TV plus console and four twin beds plus foot chests are all nicely fitted into the space. The space between the kitchen and staircase is a hallway that leads to the library at the end of the straight path and a single bathroom on the right wall. From its appearance anyone could tell that this place has quite a few visitors.
Most of them the adventurous sort if the pictures on the walls are anything to go by. Heck one of the guys in those pictures has a mustache that covers his entire mouth and was standing ontop of an outrageously big boarbatusk corpse!
The knight duo put the bag and basket on the coffee table next to a peculiar long sword. The sheath was black with a orange cresent moon that has a star on the inside of the curve, this symbol is on the very center of the sheath. The bottom and top of the sheath has silver trimming and the entire sheath looked to be recently polished.
The hilt of the sheathed sword is a silver guard shaped like a rectangle bent in a small arc pointing towards the grip, the guard has several runes engraved in it from a language mostly forgotten. From what they were able to figure out, each rune was a single word: Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Wood, Light, and Dark.
Orange rappings were on the grip and looked to be newly replaced. The grip and pummel are made of the same black metal as the blade and sheath that seemed to always give off a strong sense of power. The pummel was in the shape of a black crescent moon with a star, just like the symbol on the sheath. Next to that sword was a empty plain leather sheath that looked the same size as the black one. The difference is that the leather sheath had a strap on it to slig it over the weilders back, a spare strap was hooked onto the black sheath.
"Took you two long enough! I was getting really bored here!" A LITERAL ghost of a young man, probably around 18, came walking through the wall that had the library just on the other side.
"You know I can't go anywhere without that sword right? I know I've been dead a long time and I'm grateful for you both taking me with you. But the last thing I wanted to do was help a crazy women edit her smut books." The tanned, slim, and well toned young man pouted.
Wearing no shirt, he had medium length wavy brown hair slicked back out of his face. His left cheek has a straight thin scar running up from his jawline to just the middle of his cheek. On his left ear was a dangling earring, held on the end of the short chain from his earlob was an orange crescent moon and star shaped gem. His chest, abdomen, and arms are covered in small nick's and scars probably from sword fights and or sharp claws. Black and fuzzy animal skin pants covered his legs to his ankles. The pants were held up by a thin brown leather strip looped through stiched on belt loops and tide in a knot at the front. To cement the young man's cave man apperance, he has bare feet. His lion tail was swishing back and forth behind him as he pouted.
Tapping his foot on the floor, without making noise, and crossing his arms the young man inspected the boys infront of him with questioning soft orange eye's that are reminiscent of the orange color you see during dawn or dusk.
The blonde skinny looking boy Jaune and the taller more muscular burnt orange haird Cardin stood infront of the apparition.
The blonde boy, looked to be at least 17. Jaune wore a black hoodie with red-orange lining on the inside that's sleves reached to just his elbows and old jeans with simple sneakers on his feet. Strapped to his chest was a white chest armor and his upper arms adorned similar white plates all fascined onto him with brown leather straps. His forearms are covered by red-orange leather sleeve-like bracers with black elbow pads attached. Jaune's hands were covered by brown fingerless gloves with hard black leather palms.
Two crossed belts around his waist had an assortment of things attached to them. A length of rope was hooked to one of the belts and both belts held pouches to store various things like lovely plant's, a sewing kit, medical bandages, weird tonics that he makes from plants, a pocket knife, and whatever else he may need. You can't tell because of the jeans and hoodie but he has a broad chest and well toned legs and back muscles, due to hours of training with his twin sister and Master.
Jaune stood scratching the back of his scruffy blonde hair with an awkward, 'hehe, please forgive me?' smile. Jaunes deep blue eye's looking right at the apparition's orange ones.
Standing with his arms crossed and thin indigo eye's looking off to the side, face in his ever present natural scowl. Cardin, the tallest one in the room, stood with now messy short burnt orange hair. He also looked to be at least 17. Steel, gold trimmed amor was draped over his body.
He wore a chest plate with gold trimming around the edges and a bird with its wings outstreched on the center of his chest plate. He had shoulder guards as well as loose plates on his thighs. All of the plates were fitted onto his person with black leather straps. A large band of steel encases his biceps with vambraces covering his forearms, there is a generous amount of space between the armor for his elbows to move unhindered. Steel leggings starting from just below his knee to his ankles guarded his calves and shins. His steel plated boots made his already heavy steps even louder.
Under his armor he wore a black long-sleeved shirt with red lining and black pants held up by a red sash/belt. Two small ash grey satchels were crisscrossed around his red sash, he stores tonics and plants in them along with a small hunting knife with a serrated edge.
Cardin looked far more like a knight then his awkward counterpart.
Cardin spoke up first, "Don't blame us, Master is the one that wanted you to stay and help with her writing. After all its not everyday you have an amnesiac ghost attached to a sword and sheath as a convenient house guest when you want to write a new series of books. Since you agreed to help her write it you should help with the damn editing to, rule number three Leo." Cardin started pouting himself as he spoke, pursing his lips and glaring at the crate of ammuntion nearest to him when he finished talking.
"By the way, how is the memory thingy going? You remember anything but your name and the swords yet?" Jaune smoothly changed the topic with great finesse. After years of dealing with seven sisters and a hot-headed best friend you have to develope this life saving skill.
"We didn' find anythin' little animals." Spoke a strong female voice. "What we did find is that Leo MIGHT be an old enemy of the Knights of Vale though."
Slightly limping out of the libraby and stoping at the bar counter to lean her back on it to face her guests, was a women in her 20s. With honey brown hair and a chocolate brown left eye. Her right eye had a scar straight down the middle starting from just above her eye brow and ending at her check bone, an eyepatch is placed over that eye.
She looked at the three boys in her den, taking the cigarette out of her mouth and scratching the back of her short brown hair with her other hand. After a few seconds the women closed her eye removing her free hand from the back of her head and lifting both her elbows to rest on the counter she's been leaning on hands hanging limply while she groaned from the coming headache.
Her hair was extremely short to the point of it just being a little bit past the growth line and poking at odd ends like she just got out of bed. She wore a simple dark brown tanktop with the word "Koko" in light tan color accross the lower back part of the tanktop, the O's in Koko were replaced with bear paw outlines. Around her neck was a thin chain necklace with a silver pendant shaped like a calm bear face and a little brown gem, the size of a small marble, was in the center of its forehead.
The necklace felt alive and the knight duo didn't know why, but they felt like today they'd find out.
Her tan cargo pants are tucked into brown leather steel toed boots, clips and bullets could be heard ratteling in the many pockets of her pants. She had similar belts to Jaunes with all the same pouches plus rope. Rapped around her thighs are two dark brown leather pistol holsters with her favorite guns, Scream and Shout stored in them. Her knees are protected by steel plated knee pads. The brown bear ears on top of her head twitched as she listened to her surroundings.
"Yup! Turns out I might have killed one of your ancestors Jaune and even tortured Cardins for a couple months!" Leo said with a cheery tone and a bright smile like nothing was wrong in the world.
SLAP!
Three heads turned with quirked eyebrows to look at the women, she now had her head leaned back and her free hand's palm dead center on her forehead. The cigarette in her other hand hanging limply between her finger and thumb.
"You could show a lil' more tact when ya talk 'bout shit like that, ya shitty cub." groaned the women as she dragged her hand down her face.
"Whoops, guess your right Koko." The apparition responed with an apologetic nod.
"Can't that little shit ever take anythin' seriously?" Koko rolled her eyes as the apparition scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
"You alright Master? That sounded like it hurt, alot." Jaune said while raising a finger to point at his own forehead.
"Pfft, Master is fine Little Wolf! Hell if she got brain damage from that it might make her a little less of a, LOCO KOKO." Cardin smirked at Koko as she turned her face to glare at him with narrowed eye's. Her face was quite child like, with round cheeks, a small button nose, and a pointed chin. Though right now the main attraction of her face is the red handprint on her forehead.
"I guess you're right..." Jaune stated with mirth as he tried to hold back his amusement. Leo on the other hand was laughing so hard he was crying! Or he would be crying if he wasn't a ghost.
Koko's eye's shadowed over and a chill ran through the room. She hated Cardin's puns and often let him know that verbally AND physically. The three boys all stopped dead in their tracks as they felt the temperature drop, all three broke out into cold sweats. Well I guess two of them, ghost's can't sweat afterall.
"What's rule number three boys?" Said the bear faunus who now possessed an eerily calm tone as the small orange fire etched a brown bear's paw over her left eye. The boy's gulped in response and said as one.
"Grit your teeth after you make the first swing."
There was screaming that day, the sound of a young man pleading and a little girl could be heard for miles.
.
Thirty minutes later...
.
Jaune and Cardin were each laying down on the couches across from each other. Armor off and placed with their weapons behind their respective couches. Jaune also shed his hoodie and draped it over the back of the couch showing his orange t-shirt. Icepacks were clutched in both of the knight's hands and pressed against the wounds from their grand battle.
In other words, they're nursing the wounds they received from Koko in a completly one sided fight.
"So how do you guys feel about your test for Beacon in three days?" Leo asked from one of the armchairs, being a ghost meant not being able to get hurt by physical objects. That means the only thing Koko can do is ground him to the house for a while as punishment.
"I think we got it." Grunted Cardin as he winced from the cold finally getting to him. He repositioned the icepack on another bruise from the rubber bullets Koko shot them with.
Cardin and Jaune had each taken a short shower after they got beaten up by Koko, so they didn't look nearly as bad as they had AFTER they got beaten up by her. They were already covered in dirt and small cuts from being in the forest, but Koko had given them some bruises and MORE cuts.
Plus Cardin's hair was the way he liked it now, gelled and awesome.
"You know what the Little Sparrow will do if we mess up, and since she'll BE there at the exam we have to pass." Cardin said while rolling his eyes. Jaune chuckled at his answer, and then winced from the pain.
"An Arc and Winchester never go back on their word. We promised her that we'd all go to Beacon together, and I also promised my sister." Jaune stated with a goofy smile towards Leo, who returned the gesture.
"Besides," The blonde got up on his elbows, "it can't be any harder then being launched into a Grimm Forest without a landing strategy." Jaune managed to say with a pained goofy smile from moving positions. He flopped back down onto the couch after he said his piece.
"Damn Master, you could have been a little more gentle it was a pretty damn good pun." Cardin said as he got on one elbow to burn a hole through the back of the bear faunus's head with a glare. Koko was preparing lunch for them all before they had to start their Test of Mastery. It was her way of telling her students, "Sorry for being so rough" before they started training as well as a thank you for all they've done for her.
After all, they help her out with pretty much anything she needs. Sure she trains them how to survive, fight bare handed, tried to teach them how to shoot guns too (failed horribly), and not to mention teaching them lost techniques from her tribe that was wiped out 10 years ago.
But the little animals are always so ready and willing to help anyone that needs them, never once complaining about what is asked of them. That's what makes Koko proud to call them her students.
"Ya got a point, but then again, I'm a bear that got cooped up in a library for the last three days to reach a Dust foresaken deadline." She grumbled as she watched the stir fry while adding in some more spices. They couldn't see with her back towards them, but Koko was smiling mischievously.
"I don't think that warrent's kicking us both in the head and shooting us with rubber bullets." Deadpanned the blonde knight who then glanced at his partner in pain. Cardin gave him a grunt of agreement and fell back down onto the couch.
'Why are all the wemon in my life violent/cruel?' Mentally grumbled Cardin and Jaune respectively.
"Anyways!" Leo stood up and clapped his hands silently.
"I didn't know that the Little Sparrow was coming to watch your guy's entrance exam." Leo looked at Cardin with a curious face as he somehow plopped back down on the armchair.
How he doesn't faze through is something they will never know.
Cardin just stared at the ceiling as he spoke with an unreadable expression, "I told the Little Sparrow about a month ago when her father sent her to talk with that herbivore, Mr. Dilkan I think?" Cardin looked at Jaune perplexed.
"Dilan is his name Cardin, he's had to introduce himself to you at least 15 times now." Jaune chuckled and rolled his eyes at him. "At least try to remember him."
"He's a herbivore, he doesn't matter." Cardin grumbled at his blonde friend, getting a laugh from Leo and Koko with an amused sigh from Jaune.
"Anyways! It was at the Dust mine just outside Black City. That mine isn't far from my home so she sent me a message that she was nearby." Cardin visibly shivered at the thought of their encounter. "Since the herbivore was there she had her persona on so her father wouldn't become suspicous, and nearly froze the herbivore to death with a glare when he told her about the bad news of some White Fang stealing more Dust."
Cardin's natural scowl intensified, "No doubt her father would have fired the herbivore without a second thought and then get the poor guy thrown in jail for something or other. But the Little Sparrow helped him out with opening up a new tunnel so they could make up the difference, though she told us we had to keep it a secret from everybody who wasn't present for her plan."
Cardin's gaze grew with even more rage as he continued. "If what she's told us about her father is true. Then it's only a matter of time before that bastardous icy puppet master starts pulling her strings to carry out his own darker side of the buisness." Cardin and Jaune started glaring daggers at the ceiling that could rival the Little Sparrows, and she nearly gave Jaune a heart attack with her glare once.
"And we won't ever let that happen." Cardin hissed out as Jaune and him continued to glare at the ceiling. The knight duo took a deep breath to calm themselves down before they activate their Crest Sight from the intense anger.
"Don't worry lil' animals. If shit hits the fan, you know for a fact that we'll all be there to help kick the Ice Kings ass. Hell we even got the Ursai Triad on our side now and they are keeping good tabs on them White Fang shit heads in Vale!" Koko looked over her shoulder and the duo sat up to meet her gaze. "Ever since the Little Sparrow met you two she's slowly becoming a better and stronger person. She may still be a cranky birdy, but with the both of ya as her friends, all the lies and pain her father put her through will become less and less of a burden with time." Koko gave the two of them a bright honest smile as she said this. Instantly calming them down as they returned the gesture.
"Anyways, you should be worrying about the test I'M giving you numbskulls." Koko gave the knight duo a cheeky grin. "After all, if ya fail my Test of Mastery ya won' even get to take Beacons exam." The knight duo swallowed hard at that.
"Anyways boys, it's time to eat!" Koko chuckled as they all perked up at the mention of food.
"Thank you Master!" Jaune sprang to his feet and had to grab his head from the pain of the sudden movement. He groaned as he made his way to the kitchen in a slump.
'What made me think jumping up was a good idea? Ugh... Your an idiot Jaune, you're an idiot.'
"Oooooh stir fry! My favorite! Well at least it might be, after all I can't eat! Death Jooooooooke!" Sang the lion faunus.
"Really?" Koko looked at Leo with a deadpan, who only smiled at her in return.
"Yer the most fucked up ghost I've ever met..." Groaned the bear faunus while shaking her head.
"I'm the only ghost you've ever met Koko!" Beamed the ghostly lion.
The burnt orange knight slowly got up and made his way over to his friends, silent all the while. Just enjoying their usual antics.
'These last seven years of training have been nothing but trouble, and I wouldn't change it for the world.' Cardin had a ghost of a smile and then started to blink a bit in realization.
'Oh Dust... I'm turning into a sap like Jaune...' Cardin gave a sigh of defeat and decided to increase the amount of teasing he dishes out to his best friend.
Jaune was thinking of something completely different while he dug into his meal. 'Master will be testing our mastery of Heart of Will today. I wonder what that test will be like...' Jaune looked down at his partly eaten stir fry and gulped.
'She only makes stir fry when we are going to be doing something super painful.'
.
.
A/N
Alright first things first, I will be putting quotes at the top of every chapter. These quotes will almost always have something to do with the story. They may be from the chapter itself or from a chapter in the future.
I'm now going to explain the vague quote I chose:
"Peace and no sarrow." - Leo Shine
Because in this chapter you see that Leo is a very cheery individual and you'll come to find out that he tries to always find the good in the bad. The reason I wen't with a quote he didn't even say in this chapter is because he will be saying it a LOT in later chapter's, because that's his way of saying "goodbye" and "things will get better".
So in this first chapter I gave snippets of their family lives and introduce two important OC's I've made for Cardin and Jaune's adventures. Koko the bear faunus and Master of the knight duo who has been teaching them how to fight for roughly 7 years. And Leo a lion faunus that is also a ghost attached to a sword and sheath. He also has amnesia and only vaguely remembers his past.
Tell me what you think about them!
And before any of you ask, yes Leo made a joke about death similar to Brook from One Piece. Oh! If you can't picture Koko's hair style then think of how Zoro had his hair before New World. But brown instead of spring green.
Tell me if my fight scene flowed nicely!
I need to know if it was good or not so critisim would be fantastic.
Now to point out obvious questions:
What's Heart of Will? What is that strange orange flame? What are the Grimm Forests? Who's "Little Sparrow"? What's their Test of Maserty? and most importantly...
Who's the bombastic looking man with the mustache standing on a giant boarbatusk corpse in that photo?!
You'll find the answer to some of these questions next chapter! Which is full of world development and what the orange flames are, It's not Aura or dust I'll tell you that much.
I'd love for some reviews to pop up with constructive critisism. If you liked it tell me your favorite part, if you hated it tell me why, if you don't care either way... Just know that I will never forget you even if you leave a one letter review.
Just not a Q, I don't like the letter Q. No idea why really.
Thanks for reading! Laters!