Sanguine Kisses

In light of horrible computer errors, I've lost everything. Truly a frustrating time to be me. But I will persevere and bring you content (finally). If you like Mightier Than The Sword, please consider this little entry.

Prologue

Everyone has bad days, my dad told me once when I was young enough to sit on his knee. He would regale me on his past adventures of heroism and even his mistakes but one thing that stuck in my mind was that no one was perfect and everyone was fallible. I took those lessons to heart but I never thought that I would be reminded of that in such a gruesome way…

Jaune slowly removed the tip of Crocea Mors from his opponent. His hands trembling as the sounds of the legendary blade made scraping across the man's bones echoed in the alley way. How did it come to this? All he wanted to do was take a short cut to the airship and head back to Beacon! He was on a simple errand, how did it end with him killing a man?

He nearly dropped his sword as a feeling washed over him. He had wondered how his first non-Grimm kill would feel like but...this feeling...it wasn't of disgust. It was...something different. A small smile grew on his face as he felt something bubble up inside of him. Shock gave way to a feeling he wasn't sure was the right one to feel in this situation: joy. He was always told that the first person kill wouldn't be easy but...somehow he felt he could do it again and again and again! What was wrong with him?

"You just going to stand there like an idiot?" A voice called out to him. "Wait don't answer that, its too easy." Jaune's eyes scanned the alley way only to lock eyes with a girl who was the literal definition of heterochromia. Pink and brown hair defined the rest of her color scheme as she seemed to be living Neapolitan Ice cream. Scratch that, despite being short she did have a rather impressive bust size that Jaune's eyes did look at for a brief moment. But at that brief moment she was suddenly in his face causing him to fall back on his ass. "Are you even paying attention?"

"No?" He answered unsure. "Who are you?"

"Never mind who I am, grab your weapon and come on, stupid. Unless you want to be arrested for murder." As she said this, Jaune could now hear the sirens of the local police vehicles getting closer. Jaune paled, he didn't want to go to jail. He wasn't even sure what was going on anymore. Still he flicked his sword and sheathed it before following after the ice cream girl. Along the way Jaune silently tried to make sense of everything. He woke up this morning relatively early to go out to Vale to mail off some letters and to enjoy his day off. Now he's murdered a guy and now on the run from the police. He mentally sighed, his luck never changed.

"Hey stupid, what's your name?" The girl demanded as she lead him somewhere. Anywhere away from the cops was a good thing.

"Jaune Arc." He kept his name short and sweet. He'd long stop introducing himself the way his dad taught him. "Who are you?"

"Just keep quiet and follow me." She ordered. Jaune frowned but still obeyed. They soon were in rather well furnished safe house as the woman kept making sure they were followed or spotted. Jaune sat in on of the chairs still sort of lost.

"Alright Jaune." She said finally addressing him as something other than idiot. "Tell me what happened."

"Well..." he began nervously. "I was heading back to Beacon when that dude attacked me. It was weird, he fought like a wild animal and was constantly trying to claw out my throat. I didn't mean to kill him, it was merely self defense."

The woman sighed. 'Great, the guy who killed my target is one of Beacon's boyscout.' "Well then Jaune, I'll let the fact that you killed my target before I could get to him slide, but you need to go back to Beacon and forget everything you saw today."

'Go back to Beacon...I can't...I actually...' Jaune thought. "I...I can't. It might have been self defense...but I enjoyed every second of it. The feeling of ending that guy's life...it was almost euphoric." as he spoke his eyes slowly turned from blue to red, surprising the woman.

'There's a surprising amount of bloodlust in those eyes...' she thought amused. "So what are you saying?" She wanted to know where he was going with this.

"I enjoyed killing that guy...I can't go back to Beacon. What if...I just start killing others?" The thought of killing Cardin came to mind and he could feel himself getting giddy over it. He could almost envision it, taking off the smug bully's head and setting his corpse ablaze. There was something oddly poetic about it that he couldn't deny its appeal.

The woman on the other hand narrowed her eyes. "Well that's your problem not mine." 'Besides, if he did, it'll make the plan go much smoother.'

"No, I refuse to go back. I don't want to put my friends in danger." He replied stubbornly. "You said that guy was your target right? So you're a bounty hunter or mercenary?"

'Uh oh...' "Something like that." She said before asking. "Why?"

"Train me. Teach me how to kill." Jaune said with conviction.

"Why should I?"

"You have nothing to lose with keeping me around." Jaune said quietly. "It's not like my parents even expected me to become a hunter. In fact, when I told them I was going to Beacon, they just said their door is always open." His parents had no faith in his dream, a dream that was over. "And I'm a complete wash-up in Beacon. You could probably just kill me if I become a liability." It was harsh thinking but it was the truth.

She was going to call his idea stupid when a thought occurred. By training him, she'd get a subordinate, someone she could order around and do the menial jobs she was too skilled for. He'd become her tool, and she can focus on the important jobs.

"Alright...but you better learn quick, idiot, or I'm removing you for good." She told him.

"Not a problem, I learn by doing anyways." Jaune admitted. "Now can you tell me who you are?"

She smirked. "My name is Neopolitan. But you can call me boss." She then left the room to make a few calls. If she was going to deal with this idiot she better be prepared for it.

He gave her a lidded stare as she left. 'Even her name is referenced to the ice cream, how did I not guess that?'

Everyone has bad days, and my day went from bad to worse. But my old man told me that its up to me to make most of it. I guess becoming a mercenary like Neo was the best I could do at the time. I couldn't risk my friends being in danger, especially because of me.

But this is only the beginning of a very long story. A story sealed with a Sanguine Kiss.