The simpler time that he knew was gone. Even so, he has returned to find any shred of hope that could lead him to continue through any more days.
Enjoy.
He walked down the empty streets, alone.
As he gazed at all the houses and buildings that lined the street, there appeared to be no signs of life whatsoever.
Some of the buildings stood perfect, not a single hint of damage was evident on their exteriors, as if nothing had happened at all.
While others didn't fare so well. Other buildings sat in crumbled shambles of dust and derbies. Stone, wood, and brick symbolizing the great town that once stood in this very place.
An old food cart sat with its crops still secured firmly onto the long wooden board. Bushels of hay and mounds of fruits and vegetables. Though the foods were beyond edible, their exteriors growing all sorts of fungus and molds. Not even the hungriest horse would eat the hay that was on the cart, its color turned from the light yellow to a dark brown.
Vines crept up the sides of the walls from the cracks in stones of the street.
The cobblestone roadways would crack and crumble in places where a crater was nearby. The crater was no more than two feet across and almost a foot deep. It could have been from a weapon emplacement that stood on the walls of this once great city.
Twenty thousand people used to reside here. Now it was just ruins. Sitting, wasting away.
Nobody dared to try and repopulate after the people were slaughtered.
Too many grimm patrolled the streets and the perimeter of the entire city. The forest, the canyon, the riverbeds. All of those areas were infested with them. Killing any form of life that decided to cross their path.
Dens could be found everywhere. Even in the city there was a large one right in the center. Not even the gods would be able to tell just how many of those things could be found in the deep dark pits.
The man walked with heavy caution, as he should have. But he didn't carry himself the way someone in his situation should have. A sword sheath hung from his waist. His clothes were torn and tattered. The thinning fabrics looked to be seemingly lightweight and probably didn't protect much against the elements when the cold came around. His growing beard frayed out and was disproportional, as if he tried to shave at one point with his longsword.
His blue eyes looked tired. Not sleeping well for weeks and months could do that to someone. But who could sleep well after what he had witnessed. What had happened. The images from that night years ago still played in his head as if they were happening before him once again.
Every time he would close his eyes at night, he would be brought back to the night. And he would wake back up moments later. Sweating and shaking heavily and on the brink of a panic attack.
He couldn't do anything about it. Not then, not now, not ever.
He was Jaune Arc, and he used to be the ruler of the lands. A man who had lost everything that he had gained. This city was once his home.
All he could do now was wallow in his survivor's guilt and remember the lives that were lost all those years ago.
He looked around as he walked, one hand resting on his blade that was at his side. The sword that he had since he was a young boy. He kept it well maintained for all of these years.
But, even if he unsheathed it now, it wouldn't do much good if he was attacked. It was broken, completely in half. Shards of the blade would crumble off at points, the wear from all the years finally catching up to it. The only reason why he kept it was that it was one of the only things that had any sentimental value to him. Everything from his old life was gone. Things that he had and people he knew. The later more important than just plain things.
He descended a short staircase carefully, minding that it was crumbling and the weathering had pushed multiple stairs from their holdings in the brick and stone.
The long pathway was coming to a fork in the road.
As he approached, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
A low hum could be heard just around the corner to the right.
His feet seemed to implant themselves into the ground, fear taking over his body.
He knew exactly what was behind that corner.
It didn't take a genius to figure it out.
If you had grown up anywhere on this world, you would know the unmistakable sound of a growling beowolf.
Jaune forced himself forward to the corner.
He needed to know just how many of them were near. If there was one, he could probably sneak around it and get away without any issue. But if there was more than one, he would need to get out of the area as soon as possible.
He looked to the building that was off to the right, blocking the view of him and the possible Beowolf. Towards the doorway, there lay a body. Jaune could smell it from here. On the ground next to the body lay a hunting rifle, slightly rusted but seemed to be in working order from where he could see. It had been almost eight years since everything happened, so it wouldn't have fully decayed by this point, but how it wasn't picked clean to the bone for food was beyond him. Maybe the grimm in the area had taken pity on a single man who had gone to try and protect his home, only to be slayed at his doorstep.
Jaune tiptoed over to the body and crouched next to it. Half of the rifle was buried under the man's body. Jaune took a deep breath and turned the corpse over, letting the rifle free from the man.
Memories flashed through his mind as something clicked. Jaune had seen this man's face many times through his years in the kingdom.
"I'm sorry, rest well." Jaune whispered to the body. Of course, the man had already been resting for a long time.
He grabbed the rifle, pulled the bolt back and grabbed the magazine. Two rounds, that was it.
Jaune knew that it would have been the worst idea that he had ever had to try and fire this rifle. The time that it hadn't been used had been immense, and there would have to be some form of rust or dust inside the inner workings. It would either fire without any problem, which the chances were very low, or explode, sending shrapnel into his face, which the chances for that were very high.
He pressed the rifle to his shoulder and looked down the sights, noting that they were still aligned.
Jaune had never been the greatest shot with a gun, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to use one.
Ruby had always been the better shot.
More memories flashed through his mind as he remembered one of his closest friends. Now gone.
He shouldn't be letting these memories infiltrate his mind. He hadn't seen any evidence of his closest friends being dead... except for one.
Shaking his head to rid his mind of any more thoughts, he refocused on the current situation.
He pressed himself against the wall and inched closer to the corner.
The closer he got, the weaker the grip that he had on the rifle.
Why was he doing this? Why was he being so stupid trying to peek around the corner? If the Beowolf was looking in his direction and it spotted him, he was a dead man.
He looked around the corner and saw the large minor Beowolf with its back turned to him.
Jaune lightly exhaled at the sight that he seemed to be in the clear.
Why was he always wrong?
As he was looking at the Beowolf, two more came from an alleyway down the path.
And one of them looked directly at Jaune, whose head was still peaking around the corner.
The Beowolf growled in his direction and the other two beowolves turned in the direction.
To see nothing.
The one Beowolf that saw the blonde haired man charged towards the corner and looked around for the human.
Jaune had completely disappeared.
Where had he gone?
Well, he was hiding in an alleyway that was on the other side of the street.
His heartbeat was fast.
A small nook in the side of the alley was all that was protecting him.
The rifle now on the ground across the alley from him.
Sweat began to trickle down his forehead and neck.
If anyone had seen him now, they would have ridiculed him, told him that he looked like he had seen a ghost of sorts.
It wasn't a ghost that he had seen, of course, but it was something that could definitely make him a ghost.
He tried to control his breathing as he heard large footsteps approach him. From the sound of it, it appeared that just the one Beowolf that had seen him was approaching.
The growl of the Beowolf lowered, trying to hear Jaune to its best ability.
Jaune could hear loud sniffs and breaths from the Beowolf.
It was close, very close.
Jaune turned his gaze slightly to look at the small corner of entrance to the alleyway that he could see. The shadow of the Beowolf could be seen in the early afternoon sunlight.
The Beowolf growled louder.
A howl in the distance ceased the wolve's curiousness.
A hunting call.
The Beowolf bounded away, howling with the other two Beowolves as they went to converge with the rest of their pack.
Jaune's legs collapsed and he slid down the wall. His body shaking with fear.
He had come back after running for so long. He couldn't turn back now. He needed to know.
He came back to find just what still remained of his old life in this world.
Years Before
His rounds of the city were continuing as normal.
He did this everyday.
Check on the city guards at the main gate in the wall and then take the long way back to the palace.
Many would call it a castle, based on some of the large towers that were connected to the main structure, but it was indeed a palace.
It was modified to hold off any enemy attacks throughout the years. Decades ago, the city declared themselves as independent and neutral. Even though the city would find itself at times to be on the brink of a small invasion of bandits, the guard would stand strong and repel the attackers before they had a chance to even get atop the city walls.
After those events, the previous king ordered for the palace to be slightly modified, in case they were ever attacked by a much larger force.
Since then, there had been no sort of attackers.
Only grimm that would make their way too close to the wall that would be dispatched without any problem.
He walked down the trail that lead to the main parts of the city.
And as he was going, he was joined by the sight of a familiar hooded warrior and her white haired partner.
"Good morning, ladies." he said to the two.
They both snapped their heads forward, as they had been in the middle of a conversation and looking at each other as they walked.
"Lord Arc." They both addressed him with a kind bow.
"How many times do I have to tell you two to stop doing that?" he asked them. Ever since he had been appointed heir by the previous king, Lord Ozpin, they had never been able to have a single interaction where they greeted or talked to him with such formality.
Weiss was one that seemed to do it at first with hidden malice. She had never thought highly of the bumbling blonde idiot of the past. In some cases, he would still be a bumbling idiot. But through the years he had proved himself with Jaune being named king, he had in some essence proved himself to her.
It was something that he never strove for, not seeing a point in doing so. Sure, he had a crush on the girl in his earlier years, but those feelings faded quickly when she had revealed to him that there would be absolutely no chance that the two of them could work out, to which Jaune was able to understand... after he had pitied himself for a few hours, and after other friends were able to console him.
Ruby still did it because she was one of the captains of the guards at the wall. Weiss herself being one of the captains in the inner city.
They had both joined the cities guard when they just met the age requirement at the age of seventeen. Ruby had been allowed to join earlier, at the age of fifteen, for she had shown performance unlike many people her age. She could fire a bow or rifle with as much accuracy as someone who had years of experience, and even take down a well trained guard with a short sword in both hands. And the girl had never before been in a fight before the tests. She had just gotten self defense lessons from her uncle and father.
Some said it was a gift, others said luck. But when she was given even more lessons by the city guard, both of those combined into pure raw skill. She turned into one of the best fighters that the city had.
Although, no one would be able to compare to one woman.
"Sorry, Mi'lord, er, Jaune." Ruby said, rubbing the back of her neck slightly. Her armor clinking as her arm moved. "Formalities. Ya'know."
"I understand completely. Its just that it gets annoying that I have to remind you everyday." He said the last word with a bit of emphasis and annoyance.
"Other than that, how has the day been so far?" Weiss asked, avoiding the obvious annoyance.
"So far, fine. The guards are all there today, and are currently awaiting your arrival, Ruby. I suggest you get there fast before they get a little more upset about their commanding officer being one of the last ones there." Jaune said with a small smile on his face.
"My apologies," Ruby said, her formality slightly showing. "I had some issues that had to be taken care of at home." she said.
"It's fine. As long as you explain it to them, also mention that you explained it to me as well, I'm sure that will help out in some way."
"I will, we must be going. We'll see ya later, Jaune." Ruby said, the smile returning to her face and jogging off with Weiss in tow.
Those two had been inseparable for quite some time now. Ever since the two of them became a thing, you couldn't find one of them without the other being nearby.
Jaune then continued his walk, the dirt and gravel path eventually turning into stone and brick.
The buildings soon enveloped around him and he was traveling through the city and people were bustling all around. The market was just outside the entrance to the main part of the city and was constantly filled with traders, buyers, stalls and much more.
He took in a deep breath and smelled some sort of meat cooking off in the distance. No matter what time of the day, you could always find something to eat. Nobody would ever complain to the smell of fresh food just brought in from the butchers and fields.
People waved to Jaune and greeted him with warm smiles. Never had there any been any issues between him and the people of the city. Sure, they were skeptical of when the previous king first named him the new ruler, but no one had ever doubted the word of Lord Ozpin. He was the one who took the kingdom to great heights, and no one would have thought that he would leave the kingdom in the wrong hands.
Many had wondered how the boy had managed to make his way into kingship without being of royal blood. It was later revealed that the boy had gotten a job working the horse stalls, cleaning horses, clearing out the stalls, and many other tasks.
When the king came across the boy one day on a stroll through the grounds of the palace, the two struck up a conversation that went on for hours.
The king never had a son, they had tried several times with the queen, Glynda, but to no avail. So when the king knew that he would need to find a candidate for a new ruler for the kingdom, he needed to begin looking.
So why not look close? He saw the boy in the stall and he saw potential. He didn't know how, but he could see the boy in his position of ruling the lands in the years to come.
Jaune later found that he had been given a promotion and was now one of the king's close workers. At the age of 16, he came so far with doing almost nothing.
Sure, that gave him some weird looks around the palace from the workers who had been there for years, thinking what was so special about this nobody teenager.
Jaune was too worried about him messing all of this up to acknowledge the stares that he had received. Jaune was assigned with being Lord Ozpin's... cane holder. Not even joking.
Jaune never knew that this job would be classified as an important one.
He was sure that the whole thing was a joke at that point. But after a week of the job and when he started actually getting paid for the task, his suspicions were crushed.
Maybe they were just trying to see how long they could keep up this act before revealing to him that it was all a joke.
Months went by and the king approached Jaune with a new offer.
Jaune had turned seventeen just weeks before and the boy had now been offered the position of a knight.
"What?"
"I said I want you to be one of my knights, Jaune." Ozpin said to the boy.
"I know what you said, my lord," Jaune said. "with all due respect, your words sound ludicrous to me."
"How so?" Ozpin asked.
"Well, I have never been involved in any form of combat. I would be laughed at if I tried to become a knight. The others would walk all over me. I won't be able to do anything against them." he said to the king.
"That's why I would have you placed under the authority of one of our senior knights that have been with us for quite a while. In fact, you may know him as the uncle of two of your close friends."
"You know of my friends?" Jaune asked.
"Of course. I am not a man who knows nothing, Mr. Arc." The king advised.
"That doesn't answer the question, my lord." Jaune said.
The king smiled. "Well, why wouldn't I know who they are when they are some of your friends, and you are one of my most trusted servants."
Jaune stood there for a moment. Still trying to process what was going on. What was it that the king saw in him. Jaune himself couldn't see anything in him.
"Still have questions?" Ozpin asked.
"Dozens upon hundreds." Jaune responded.
"Well, we can answer all of them within due time. We must get started
After that day, Jaune began his training to be a knight.
Qrow Branwen was indeed the one who had trained him. To his surprise, Ruby was also at times taking lessons from her uncle.
Ruby wasn't aiming for knighthood. She was just a soldier here for tips.
The two would spar whenever they could. Even though the girl was two years younger than Jaune, they seemed to be evenly matched.
Within 4 years, at the age of twenty-one, Qrow deemed Jaune worthy of being a knight.
It had taken all those years of practice to get to the position of where he was now.
When Jaune brought the news to his parents, they were dumbfounded to say the least.
They had been some of the people who thought Jaune couldn't do it. Now here he was, proving them wrong.
Jaune's father though, was the one who had the most hope for his son actually being able to do it, his mother thinking that he was just a weakling.
The man rewarded his son with a family heirloom. A longsword by the name of Crocea Mors.
He told Jaune that the sword had been kept in perfect condition for many years, and was still ready for use in battle if Jaune would ever need to. Jaune's own great-grandfather used the sword in the great wars back in the day.
Jaune, of course, accepted the sword with great pride in knowing where the sword had came from.
Jaune shook his head from his memories and looked around at where he was now, knowing that he had spaced out.
For some reason, his body had guided him here.
Jaune knew exactly where he was.
Well, he would know exactly where he was anywhere in the city. He lived here for long enough.
But that was besides the point.
The personal significance of this location was close to his heart.
A tavern by the name of Port's Pub.
Not many people would describe a bar as a place of great happiness, except for maybe the nearby drunkards that spent their entire days here.
Jaune, without knowing, lost himself in another memory.
It was a day after Jaune had been deemed to knighthood by King Ozpin and he was now celebrating.
How, you might ask?
With alcohol, of course.
What better way to celebrate than by killing your liver and committing the absolute genocide of thousands of brain cells.
It was Jaune, some of his friends, including Ruby, her sister Yang, Weiss, Ren, and others, along with some of the other knights that had been taught alongside Jaune.
Of course, there was no sort of awkwardness between the two groups as they were both there for the same reason, celebration.
At one point in the night, Yang walked over to Jaune and nudged him on the shoulder as they sat at the bar.
"Hey, Jaune." she said in a hushed voice.
he stopped mid sip and looked at the blonde girl. "W-what?
"Don't look now, but a barmaid off to your left is giving you a curious eye."
Jaune was about to look to his left, but Yang nudged him in the arm once more, a lot harder this time though.
"I thought I said 'don't look'." Yang said.
"Well how else am I going to tell what she looks like, maybe she's someone I know." Jaune said.
"I doubt you know a girl that beautiful." Yang replied.
"I know quite a few beautiful women, Yang, I mean I know Weiss, Ruby, you."
"Why Jaune, are you trying to get on my good side?" Yang said in a suggestive tone.
"Am I not already?" Jaune asked confused.
"Er... nevermind. What I'm trying to say is that you should go talk to her." she said.
"Am I going to be allowed to look at her if I do or are you just going to hit me again the moment I turn?"
Yang didn't say anything, just giving Jaune a look that told the man to shut up.
Jaune raised his hands up as a mock surrender.
Finally, he turned and got a look at the woman who Yang was talking about.
And boy was she right about the girl being beautiful.
His jaw dropped, luckily he caught it as it plummeted to the ground.
Long red hair cascaded down her back, tied in a large ponytail. Bright, emerald eyes illuminated her face. She held herself in a way that told she was strong in more ways than one. Her figure was one that could easily compete with Yang's own curvy and buxom body.
Jaune felt like he stared at her for an hour before Yang pushed him in the back to force him to take the first step forward.
Jaune began to walk towards the woman, one foot in front of the other. Brave face. Shoulder back. Falling. Wait.
The next thing that Jaune knew, his face slammed into the wooden floor of the pub. He felt a wetness towards his pant legs and saw that there was ale spilled all over the floor where he had stepped. There really should have been a sign there to notify people of the liquid.
Jaune heard footsteps approach him and saw the redhead standing before him, a worried look on her face. She quickly calmed down when she saw that Jaune appeared to be fine.
She even smiled and laughed slightly. "Hello there." She said.
"I'm Jaune." he said, lying on the ground.
The woman extended her hand towards Jaune, offering to help him up.
"Pyrrha." she said. "It's nice to meet you."
Jaune remembered that after that, the two became friends, and later lovers.
Now, she was Jaune's wife and the queen of the lands.
He turned down another road and got a full view of the palace that looked over the city on a elegent hill.
Beacon Palace.
Stone gray walls surrounded the palace in a rectangular shape. At each corner, a large tower rose high above anything else in the kingdom. Situated at the top of each tower flew a single giant flag that proudly displayed the city's crest.
Two battle axes that crossed their handles over each other. The colors in a pattern of grays and a deep red.
Jaune approached the first staircase that lead up to the top of the hill. It was a double staircase with a large center in the middle that held a small open area. On the wall in the center of the stairs, the same crest was displayed with gilded pieces surrounding it.
Many people walked past the staircase every day but few would ascend them. Mainly messengers and workers who lived with their families in the city.
Jaune climbed the left staircase, at the top of the steps, he moved to the next staircase that lead to the main gate of the stronghold.
Walking towards the gate, a simple two story tall oak double door with studded iron plating running down the side. Once again, the crest was plastered to the center of the door. The metals that it was made of shinned brightly in the morning sun.
The guards at the gate saluted to Jaune as he approached the gates.
He told them to be 'at ease' and they respectfully followed the order.
The captain walked up to Jaune. "How's the morning, Mi'lord." asked the large man.
"Fine as usual, Captain Winchester." Jaune replied. "The people are the same as usual and doing well. The harvest seems to be coming in nicely as well. Could be adding to their moods."
"Of course, sir." This man was known as Cardin. He was the head guard at Beacon Palace. He was the one who organized all the troops on the walls and inside the palace.
Cardin and Jaune had not always been on good terms. When they were younger and still in schooling, Cardin was the schoolhouse bully, using his unusual size as an advantage against the other students. One of the only people who were able to stand against Cardin and instill fear into him, was Yang. With her learning plenty of fighting techniques from the streets, which is how most people learned to fight if they couldn't afford someone to teach them.
When Jaune was appointed king, Cardin went into complete denial of the situation, already being a palace lieutenant at the time. He had refused to accept the fact that he was to take orders from Jaune from that point forward. But as the time went on, and Jaune continued to prove himself as a leader that the kingdom deserved, Cardin learned to... cope with the fact that Jaune was now king. Some would say that he had shared the same feelings as Weiss, but she had felt that she was able to get over it a long time before he had even considered accepting it.
A loud clunk jolted Jaune from his mind and saw that the gate was now opening. The gears inside the walls turning and churning to open the very large, heavy doors.
"You may go in, my lord." Cardin said. "I hear that the queen and princess have been waiting for your return." Cardin mentioned.
"I'm sure they have. I left before they had woken up this morning." Jaune said with a small laugh.
"Leaving without saying goodbye to the misses. Jaune, you must be some sort of crazy."
"Maybe I am."
Jaune entered the palace and was immediately approached by one of the butlers who took his coat.
Afterwards, Jaune dismissed the butler, not needing anything else at the time.
He had never seen the need for the butlers. He, at first, when he was made king, said that he wouldn't need butlers, maids, or any other servants for that matter. But when he had heard that most of the servants could not find any other place of work, he gave in and let them stay.
Walking through the halls of the palace, Jaune was reminded of the warm feeling that he always gets while traversing them. He had never thought that a place like this would become his home. It was always warm, even during the coldest of winters. It must have been the way the building was built or the materials it was built with. Or both.
There was enough room in the palace for ten families to live inside. But, there only lived one. Jaune's own. Him, Pyrrha, and their one daughter, the aforementioned princess.
There would be more living there if it weren't for the rest of the family's own reasons. Pyrrha's family lived on another continent. She was only here when Jaune and her met because she had wanted to travel the world and discover new places. When they had heard that she was going to be marrying someone in a faraway place, they had not been sure of her decision, and it took them a while to fully support the relationship. After Jaune had been proclaimed king years later though, their opinions of the relationship made a complete one-eighty. Funny how money and power can change someone's views.
Jaune's own mother and father had died years ago. His mother died of an unknown illness and his father was killed by a highwayman while making a delivery to another kingdom for his work.
The Arc line may have been filled with legendary heroes from many wars in the past, but that didn't mean every Arc could defend themselves. Though the man who killed his father was never found, he did not wish to pursue justice. The chances of finding the man who killed his father were slim to none. So he lived with the fact that his parents were both dead, and that he couldn't do anything about it.
His sisters were another story, though. All seven of them were spread out across the globe. They all were going on their own adventures and doing new things. There would be times that they would come back to the city and stay for a few days, then go back out and continue their journeys.
Of course, the royal family were completely content with this. They did not mind the come and go of the sisters. They were all on rather good terms. Although, every time that the one sister, Violet, would make a visit, she would interrogate and press the issue about Jaune finding their father's killer. Every time he would argue the same point that they would never be able to find the murderer because in the initial investigation of the case had come up with no leads as to who the highwayman could be. Just the usual kill, steal, and disappear act.
Jaune turned one more corner and was tackled by a small person. Circe Arc was the figure that brought Jaune to the ground. "Daddy!" The little girl shouted as she sat on her father's chest. He was able to see the girl's blonde hair that was done in the classic pigtails, and her two bright emerald colored eyes.
Jaune gave a mock groan and took the girl into his arms. She gave a playful cry as he stood with the girl in his arms.
"Now who said that you could bring me to the ground like that?" He asked his daughter.
"Mommy did!" The five year old responded with.
"Of course she did." Jaune said as he heard footsteps approaching him. He looked up from his daughter and saw Pyrrha walking towards him. "Did you really?" he asked.
"I knew that she could do it. Based on who her parents are, she is sure to be strong and powerful one day." She said as she walked up to the two.
"One day?" Jaune asked. "She's already one of the strongest people that I know." With her still in his arms.
"She sure is." Pyrrha smiled.
Acknowledging her parents words, Circe pretended to flex her muscles.
"Wow, look at those guns, honey! I'm jealous!" Jaune said.
Circe laughed hard at her father's words.
"So." Pyrrha said.
"Oh boy." Jaune said, knowing what was coming. He could feel a small drop of sweat trailing down the side of his face.
"I never got a goodbye this morning from our dear king." Pyrrha complained. "When I woke up in bed, there was just an empty spot right next to me. It felt so cold even with the nice warm blanket covering me. Now, my dear, what caused you to leave without notifying me?" Pyrrha asked in a sweet tone that for some reason shook Jaune to the core.
"I-I-I uhhh."
"Y-y-you what?" Pyrrha smiled.
Circe giggled in his arms. "Daddy's in trouble~."
"I uh, just didn't want to wake you because you seemed so peaceful sleeping there. You had a content face that I just didn't want to ruin. So I stepped out of the room as quiet as I could." Jaune explained himself with a minor blush.
Pyrrha waited for a few moments before nodding her head slightly. "Good explanation. Although, how are we going to avoid this issue the next time that it happens?"
Jaune thought for a few moments before he opened his mouth. "Wake up earlier?" He guessed with an expression between cocky and nervous.
Present Day
Jaune approached the castle steps, almost completely destroyed. Chunks of stone and concrete were missing from the beautiful wall and mural that once stood in front of the palace.
He could tell by the position of the sun that it was almost three in the afternoon. He had to make plenty of detours to get to this place. Whether it was because of a grimm den that held the home to many of the bastard creatures, or it was a building that had crumpled to dust and derbies.
Looking up to the palace above, he could see the effects on all the wear and weathering on the outward walls of the stronghold. Vines grew up the stone walls and moss built up towards the base of them.
He turned his gaze downwards to the patio that stood before the mural of the crest belonging to the old kingdom. But it wasn't the poor condition of the crest that drew his attention, it was what sat on the patio.
A rifle, lying on the ground next to shreds of red cloth.
Jaune's eyes widened at the sight and quickly approached the objects, his head jutting around to search for any grimm nearby that could be watching him.
He kneeled before the rifle and cloth and closely examined them.
The rifle had a red paint job that was chipping and fading away. A red band was tied around the butt stock, and had a rose emblem sewn onto the material. A name was carved into the wooden handguard under the barrel. Ruby Rose.
Ruby's rifle and shreds of her cloak.
Looking at the floor, he was able to spot spent cartridges from the rifle lying in different places on the ground.
Jaune looked up at the crest and squinted his eyes at it, trying to look for a clue at to what might have happened here.
When he looked closer, he was able to see that there was a faded red tint on the crest. Quite possibly blood that was sprayed.
Grimm didn't bleed. Their bodies didn't even last for long when they were slain. It took their bodies ten to twenty seconds to decompose before they completely vanished. After many years of studying the grimm in their environments, humanity still could not determine where they originated from. Their existence continued to be a mystery.
This place must have been where Ruby made a last stand.
But why would have Ruby been here? She was the captain at the wall.
Was she coming back to the palace to find survivors?
Why did she do something so risky?
...
Jaune thought about that question for a moment and answered the it himself. Ruby was the definition of taking risks.
He could feel his heart crawling from his chest into his throat.
He now knew what happened to Ruby.
But from the looks of it, she didn't go down without a fight. She never did.
Jaune gazed at the rifle for a few more moments before he continued towards the palace steps, mourning his good friend.
Years Ago
The day continued as usual with Jaune performing his needed duties.
Going over documents with his advisers and attending meetings to discuss improvements for the city.
It was around the time of three o'clock when he got word of a new prisoner being transported to the dungeon. He had been told by the messenger that they had been found on the inside of the walls without anyone knowing.
Jaune left the palace and descended a straight staircase that sat in the back of the large complex.
At the bottom of the staircase sat a large metal door with two sentries standing outside, making sure that no one would open the door without permission from a higher up.
Jaune approached the guards and stated the word 'Juniper'. With that, the two guards opened the door for Jaune, and the king stepped inside, the guards shutting the door behind him.
When it closed, the hallway that he entered became pitch black.
The only source of light was a torch that sat on the wall. Jaune grabbed an unlit torch from a pile that sat underneath the lit one and placed the piece of wood over the light flame. The torch lit, and Jaune made his way down the corridor.
His footsteps echoed down the empty halls of this sort of crypt.
He could feel the floor beneath him turn into a small slope, leading him further underground.
After another few dozen feet, he hooked a sharp left and continued down another hallway. The pathway straightened out and he was able to see a few flickers of torch light.
Four guards stood at a large door that could compare to the large gate at the front of the palace.
But this door was made of solid metal. No wood could be seen anywhere on the door. A large metal beam kept the door from opening.
"Open it." Jaune said to the guards as he extinguished the torch in a pale of water and placed it by the rack of unlit torches.
"Yes, Mi'lord." Replied one of the guards. The guard then ordered two other guards to pull the beam off the door. The two guards that he ordered were very large men, and very strong by the looks of them.
The two of them turned to the door and picked up the large metal beam. With the grunting that they made when they picked up the large piece of metal, it was obvious that the beam was very heavy. Nobody could simply knock that beam off with ease. There needed to be multiple people with you to get it off.
They placed the large beam to the side of the door and the pushed the door open.
Sunlight breach through the cracks and filled the dark hallway with natural light.
Jaune walked out the door and into the afternoon warmth. A large cube was covered in a large tarp. It stood very still. The four guards that stood around it kept their distance. One of them he knew very well.
"Ren." Jaune called to his good friend.
"Jaune." replied the eastern man, who approached Jaune with haste. "I don't know where it came from or how it got in, but it had to have come from somewhere in the northeast sector, we found it coming from that direction, so, at this point, that's our best guess."
"Did you send out scouts to find the breach?" Jaune asked.
"Of course. I told all the teams to send a messenger as soon as they found something." Ren replied.
"Good. Now. What do you say we get a good look for our little intruder."
"He is not so 'little', Jaune."
"Either way, I want to see it."
"I highly advise against it."
"Do it."
With a sigh, Ren told the other guards to remove the tarp. The guards gave nervous glances towards the cube but reluctantly grabbed the tarp. With a count of three, they quickly ripped the tarp from over the cube.
As soon as the tarp was removed, a large black and white beast bolted towards Jaune, but was blocked by thick closely fitted bars. The only thing to emerge from the cage was the long eight inch serrated claws that were attached the beast's paws.
"One Alpha Beowolf." Ren stated.
"How did you catch it?" Jaune asked.
"Nora, she gave it a few good scares with her smoke bombs and fragmentation bombs. She managed to lure it straight into one of the many pitfall cages that we have set up in case something like this may happen."
"I should've guessed. If anyone could scare a Beowolf while laughing maniacally, it would be Nora."
"Of course, sir. But, now the question stands, what on Remnant do we do with it?" Ren asked.
"Take it to the lower parts of the catacombs and find out what makes these tick. They messed up on the last one by letting it make them think that it died by playing dead. I don't want that to happen again, we lost too many researchers that day who had so much knowledge in their heads. I want to make sure that we know what exactly these grimm are. And I want it done right." Jaune said in a deathly serious, almost angry tone.
"Yes, Jaune." Ren said to his old friend.
The guards covered the Beowolf with the tarp and they began to push and pull the cage into the tunnel leading into the catacombs.
"Ren, I also want that breach found as soon as possible. Don't fail me on this."
"I haven't failed you once, Jaune. You know you can count on me and my men to make sure that we find the breach."
"I know you haven't failed me. We just need to make sure that no civilians are hurt. We need to have them know that they are constantly safe."
"And they will remain safe. You have my word."
"Thank you, Ren." With those words, Jaune entered through the large door and Ren went back to the walls to find the breach.
Jaune didn't know, the thought not even being within his mind, that that would have been the last time that he saw his good friend.
Hours past and night eventually fell.
Ren had rejoined with Nora's search party and they have so far came up with nothing on the search for the breach in the wall.
Nora was not the type of person that you would think as the hammer wielding type. But she pulled it off. She had muscles that put some of the toughest men in the city to shame. She was able to wield the large maul like no other. And with her pack of deadly fuse bombs, she proved to be quite the effective killer in the case of hunting grimm.
She never had to use her weapons against people before, but she could send entire battalions fleeing for their mothers if they met her on the battlefield.
The sun's rays were beginning to dip over the hills on the horizon. The moon in the sky could be seen to slowly glow brighter in the coming night sky.
"How many copper do you want to bet that the breach will be in the last place that we look?" asked one of the other scouts that they had brought along with them.
"Twenty copper." said the second. "And throw five silver into that pot as well. I like the chances on this one. It doesn't always happen, but maybe this time I might get lucky."
"Keep sharp." Ren ordered. "People's lives could be at stake here. We need to focus on finding this breach pronto."
The men seemed to simultaneously remember the chances of people getting hurt rising if they didn't find the breach, and they both nodded to Ren.
"Shh." Nora said ahead of them. "I hear voices."
She went into a crouch and began to move behind a line of bushes, practically hugging the bushes as she went along.
Ren and the other two scouts followed close behind her.
He listened closely and was able to hear a few unknown voices as well.
"Do you think it's another patrol looking for the breach and we've just met each other?" whispered a guard.
"I don't know." Ren whispered back.
They approached the voices until they were able to be heard clearly.
"I'm still not getting a straight answer here, Emerald, why are we here?" Asked a male voice.
"I told you already. Cinder wanted us to let one stupid mutt in and then wait for her to come. After that, we get orders from her."
"This time you tell me the full thing. Last time you just said waiting. I need to know things. I hate it when people keep secrets from me."
"Yet I'm sure that you're keeping dozens of secrets hidden inside that coconut that you call a head."
"Hey!" the male voice shouted back. "That hurt." He said in a calmer voice.
"Sure." said the female, sarcasm clearly evident.
"Any idea who those people are?" Nora whispered to Ren.
"No idea. I need to look at their faces to be able to tell. Although I heard the name 'Emerald'. Ever hear of that name?" Ren asked back.
Nora shook her head.
Ren peered his head over the bush. His jet black hair able to be concealed the coming darkness of the night. The sunlight that remained was positioned so that the bodies of the two people were illuminated.
The female had short emerald green hair. Her skin was of a darker tone, and her red eyes were clearly seen in the sunlight. The clothing that she wore was slightly revealing, a mid-drift exposing her stomach and a tank top that showed off her bust a little too well.
The male had hair with a tint of dark gray and eyes of the same color. Ren wasn't sure if he was born with the hair, or if he had changed his hair with cosmetics. He wore a simple vest with gloves and a pair of long gray slacks.
If there was one thing that was evident, Ren didn't recognize either of them.
"I have no idea who those two are." Ren whispered to Nora.
"Should we question them?" Nora asked.
"Not yet. It sounded like they were waiting for someone. We should lie in wait and make ourselves known when the third shows up." Ren told her.
Nora nodded. "Good idea."
"Ya'know! It's not nice to listen in on other conversations!" A bone-chilling BOOM rang out and the two guards fell, screams filling the air following the small explosion.
Ren looked back to see the guard behind him rolling on the ground, his side peppered with bits of metal and glass. He looked over the bush to see the man with a blunderbuss in his hands, the barrel smoking from the gunpowder that exploded seconds ago.
With quick reflexes, Ren whipped out two flintlock pistol from two holsters. Attached to the ends of both of the weapons were long bayonets that he could use for hand to hand combat when the pistols were fired.
Ren knew he could stand without much happening to him. The blunderbuss, when fired, could take minutes to reload, even in the hands of a skilled user. This man had to have some sort of secondary weapon hidden on him.
"Can you tell me just what you are doing?" the man asked, the two pistols being aimed towards his head and chest.
Nora bolted over to the two guards that lay on the ground, clutching their wounds.
"Ren, they're going to bleed out. We need to get them out of here as soon as possible and get help!" she said to him urgently.
"Oh, that won't be happening." The woman said.
Ren turned his eyes a few degrees to the right and spotted the green haired woman sprinting towards Ren at full speed. Two scythe headed flails were in her hands and she spun them at a fast pace, getting ready to swing them at the eastern man.
Ren turned the pistol in his right hand towards her and pulled the trigger.
The musket ball flew from the barrel and whizzed past the woman by just a hair. She seemed to be completely unfazed by the high velocity projectile. She just continued to charge at Ren.
As she was about to be within striking range, Nora came from behind Ren with her maul in hand.
She swung the large hammer in a sideways strike, aiming right for the girl's side in an attempt to catch her off guard.
Seeing the attack coming out of the corner of her eye, Emerald jumped out of the way of the large hammer and ran back to the man's side.
"Who are you two?" Ren asked, keeping the one loaded flintlock in his hands pointed at the two people.
"What's it to ya?" The man asked.
"We're the guards of this city. If you do not state yourselves, then we'll be forced to take you to the dungeons by force."
"The dungeons!? Oh, anything but the dungeons! Don't send me to that horrible place!" the man gave a fake plea for mercy. He even pretended to give up by lowering his weapon in one hand and raise his other.
"Mercury." The woman warned. "Shut. The hell. Up. Or I'll stab you before they do."
"Come on, Emerald. Lighten up a bit. Try to have some fun in fights for once."
"I'm sorry, it's just that we are in the middle of a serious assignment, and I don't want it to be screwed up in any way possible."
"Any way possible? Emerald, you're working with me here. Something is bound to be screwed up at one point along the way."
"That's my point."
Tired of the needless banter between the two, Ren pulled the trigger of his remaining flintlock and the bullet rushed between the two assailants.
This halted the argument with ease. The two looked towards the eastern man with startled looks spread across their face, which quickly flipped to annoyance.
"Now that the two of you are through with your arguing, let's get things settled here. Come with us, and no one else will get hurt."
"But, what if we want that?" Mercury asked.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Nora asked in return.
"What if we want people to get hurt. That is kinda the reason we are here right now."
Nora slightly recoiled at the words that Emerald said. "W-Wh-."
"Take a good look." Said Mercury, gesturing towards the small section of wall behind them. Looking at the wall, there was a hole in the wall big enough for a Beowolf or a small to medium sized Boarbatusk to make it through. It looked like it had been picked away with pickaxes for many hours to make it through the ten foot thick stone wall. How none of the patrols had managed to notice a project like this? Packed around the wall, were mounds of explosives such as gunpowder and dynamite. Now how had all this been brought in? It looked like enough explosives to level a small hill.
Ren and Nora stared at all of this for a few seconds.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Emerald asked. "With knowing patrol rotation schedules and a few people to smuggle some supplies undetected, you can get a lot done without many people knowing. Almost as easy as stealing candy from a baby."
"Why are you telling us these things?" Ren asked.
"Because we anticipate that you will not be getting away if we try to run." Mercury said as he threw his blunderbuss to the ground. The hand cannon landed in the grass and the man took off running towards Ren and Nora.
Without another thought, Ren brought up the first pistol and fired.
The musket ball struck Mercury in the center of the chest and he fell to the ground, sputtering and wailing in pain.
"What!?" Emerald shouted in shock. "I thought you already fired that pistol!?"
"While you two were arguing with each other and obviously not paying attention, I managed enough time to reload it without either of you knowing. Next time, don't let your guard down, even if you aren't fighting."
"Hmm, fast with your hands I see." Emerald commented.
"You could say that." Ren replied.
"Ya'know." Mercury said as he stood up. "That really hurt. But lucky for me, I came prepared."
"How!?" Nora shouted.
Mercury turned towards the two to show that the musket ball stopped in his chest. No penetration. He flicked the musket ball and it fell to thee ground. Mercury rapped his fist on his chest twice and a ding ding sounded.
"Like I said. I came prepared."
Once again, Mercury charged at the pair. At full sprint, he jumped into the air and brought his leg down over Ren.
Ren crossed his arms and over his head to block the coming attack.
Mercury's leg impacted Ren's arms and sent the man to the ground, landing flat on his back, with Mercury performing a somersault over Ren.
"Ren!" Nora shouted in worry.
"I'm fine!" Ren said as he launched himself to his feet. "Watch out, to your left!"
Nora turned her head to see Emerald charging at her at full speed once more. They really liked to approach their enemies a lot like Ren does, she thought to herself. This would be her ace in the hole. She had trained with Ren for years, and being able to know just how fast they might be approaching her, she could time her swings perfectly.
With one swing, Nora brought her hammer in an angled strike in an attempt to hit Emerald as he got in range.
Rolling to the left, the green haired woman regained her footing and launched one of the flail head at the bubbly girls hammer.
The flail head wrapped around the handle of the large maul which was tugged on with Emerald full body strength. Keeping her grip on the hammer, Nora tightened her grasp.
Emerald struggled to pull the hammer from the other woman's clutches.
Realizing that she was only using a portion of her strength, Nora dug her feet into the ground and pulled on her hammers shaft.
The dark skinned woman lost her own footing and fell to the ground, face first.
Ren dodged another kick from Mercury. This man knew how to fight in close quarters combat, that was for sure. But Ren knew his fair share of hand to hand combat as well. The blows that the two were exchanging were equal in strength, even though one of them were using their hands and daggers, and the other was just using their feet and legs.
Each strike was blocked and parried by another attack. Ren tried to get a slash with his bayoneted flintlocks, but each of the strikes with them were always dodged.
Jumping back, Ren removed one of the bayonet's from one of the pistols. He gripped the blade and threw it at the gray haired man.
Caught off guard by this attack, the knife grazed Mercury's right arm and blood began to trickle out of the open wound. Grabbing his arm, Mercury tried to stem the bleeding. "Damn."
"You can see that we're formidable opponents. You cannot win this." Ren said. "Surrender now, and I promise that you and your friend will remain unharmed."
Mercury laughed. "You're telling me this after this tiny cut? Ha! This is nothing! You're going to need to try a lot harder than just this to put me down!" Mercury said as he charged at Ren, even faster than before.
Mercury's kick landed on it's mark right on Ren's cheek. It sent the man spiraling to the ground, flattening the ground under him.
Quickly recovering, Ren jumped up as Mercury's boot landed where Ren's head was just a millisecond before.
Emerald shook her head as she was still lying on the ground. Looking up, her vision slightly blurry, she saw the orange haired warriors hammerhead approaching her at an alarming rate, coming down right on top of her.
Emerald rolled to the side and the hammer dug itself into the ground, dirt and grass flying into the air.
Getting back to her feet, Emerald saw Nora pull her hammer out of the ground with ease.
"Almost had you there." Nora said with a grin.
"You may have knocked me down, but don't expect that to happen again."
Emerald swung at Nora and the orange haired woman jumped back. As she landed, the weight from the hammer caused her to lose her balance slightly.
Seeing an opening, Emerald approached quickly and struck Nora in the side with her flails.
Nora screamed out in pain as the serrated scythe head pierced and tore through her side. Blood flowed freely from the large wound and she fell to the ground.
"NORA!" Ren shouted, hearing his friends pained scream.
Seeing Ren distracted, Mercury landed another kick across Ren's face.
Ren fell to the ground once more. He instantly turned his eyes towards Nora and Emerald, the later now standing over the other. Nora's hands pressed hard into her side, trying to stop the blood flow.
"Get away from her!" Ren shouted at the green haired woman.
Mercury kicked Ren in the gut as he lied on the ground. "Shut up, idiot. There's nothing you can do."
"No.." Ren said as he watched Emerald raised one of her scythe flails once more.
"Stop..." Another kick was delivered to his gut.
The scythe flail came down and connected with Nora's neck. Blood curdled as she tried to scream out in pain. Her breath cut out, and she died right there. Her eyes gained the far off stare and eventually closed on their own.
"One left." Mercury said. Ren looked up and saw that he had just finished reloading the blunderbuss, putting in the last of the primer.
Suddenly, Ren shot upwards and moved to the two bodies of the scouts that were traveling with them. They too had died from the blood loss of their injuries.
They both had rifle on their bodies, and Ren picked up both of them. Ren held one in each and aimed both at Mercury. Firing, two bullets flew from their respective barrels. The bullets impacted Mercury, one hitting his left leg, the other landing on his right.
Wailing in pain, Mercury fell to the ground, both of his injured legs now collapsing below him.
"Mercury!" Emerald shouted.
Ren cocked the two rifles, one at a time, holding on under his arm while he readied the other. When he had the other one ready, he aimed one at Emerald and the other at Mercury who was holding his wounds on the ground.
"Stop your crying," Ren said to him, "it will all be over in a sec-"
fffUMP
Ren stopped what he way saying, unable to get the words he was trying to say out. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't say anything. He looked down and saw an arrow sprouting from the right of his chest. Looking upwards, across the small clearing of trees, he saw a woman with medium length black hair standing there with a bow in her hands, another two arrows notched in the string.
Ren managed to force a gasp out as the arrows flew through the air and hit him in the chest as well.
The force from the arrows knocked Ren to the ground, belly up. The rifles fell to the side of him.
Hearing footsteps, he saw Emerald walk up to Ren, Mercury's blunderbuss in hand.
"You all messed up now." Emerald said as she took aim with the blunderbuss. "Any last words that no one will hear?"
Ren's head tilted to the side and stared off at Nora's motionless body.
His eyes were wide. His friend was gone. But he was about to join her. There was no getting out of this. He was done for.
Ren turned his head forward once more and closed his eyes, embracing what was about to come. "I failed."
"Shame." Emerald said.
BOOM
Jaune paced back and forth in his office. He hadn't heard anything from Ren or any of the other scouts about the breach in the wall.
Where were they?
A knock at the door took his attention. Pyrrha stepped in with Circe asleep in her arms.
"Jaune? What's wrong? You've been in here ever since you came back after that messenger came for you. What happened?"
Jaune shook his head. "It's nothing. It's all under control, nothing to worry about."
Pyrrha glared at her husband. "If it's something that you are clearly worrying about, then I believe that it is something that I should be informed about." She said, closing the door to the office.
Jaune sighed. "Pyrrha, please." she always did this, pressuring him to tell him things that no one other than him and his advisers should know.
"Jaune."
Jaune took a deep breath. "There may be a breach in the wall. Today someone found a Beowolf wandering around. They managed to catch it before anyone got hurt, but nobody knows where the breach was. Scouts have been looking for it ever since, and yet there has been no word of anyone finding it."
Pyrrha's face made no changes as he told her all of this information.
"You know everything that I know now." Jaune said with a small smile.
Pyrrha returned it with a grin. For a second, it disappeared as she asked him a question. "Do we know anyone in the scouts looking for it?"
"Ren and Nora. Of course, all of the scouting parties know of the situation, but outside of them, no one else in the ranks knows of it."
"Well surely, with them on the case, everything is sure to be fine. We just need to be patient and be reliant on them. Have faith."
"Of course I have faith. Ren told me himself that he has never failed me once, and he wasn't going to break that trend now."
"See, there you go. Now stop worrying, it's almost time for dinner."
At those words, the little girl in her arms woke up and rubbed her tired eyes. "Dinner?" she asked.
Jaune and Pyrrha both laughed. "She's just like you," Pyrrha said, "ready to eat at a moment's notice."
"Fair enough. Let's go, the chefs should have the dinner ready soon."
The family left the office and began walking to the dining hall. The sun had almost completely set at this point, the sun now just a fading yellow and orange over the horizon.
Circe walked just ahead of both Jaune and Pyrrha. The small girl happy that they were going for food.
Booom! The small girl stopped walking, hearing something in the distance.
"What was that!?"
"I don't know."
They changed their course, making way for the door that lead to the main gates of the palace.
Jaune opened the doors and ran for the main gate that was opening. Pyrrha ran just behind him with Circe in her arms once more. "Mommy, what about dinner?" she asked.
"Not right now, sweetie, we'll get it soon, though." Pyrrha said to the little girl.
Cardin emerged from the doors and jogged towards Jaune. "An explosion just sounded from the walls to the northwest!" Cardin shouted.
Jaune went past him with Pyrrha behind. Cardin followed the two through the gate.
Jaune looked to the northwest and saw a large cloud of dust smoke and derbies. From the look of it, and Jaune's best guess, the explosion occurred on or under the wall, destroying a section completely.
"We need to get troops over there now." Jaune ordered. "The grimm are going to be attracted to the sound that the explosion created. Have the city guard force everyone to return to their homes immediately. Have no civilians on the street in the case that grimm get inside the walls. Hell, I'm sure they're already coming in. Little by little, but soon there will be more and by worst case scenario, the air."
"What will you do, Mi'lord?" asked one of the guards.
"I'm going to help any way I can." Jaune said.
"What!?" Pyrrha asked.
"Jaune," Cardin said, "We can't let you do that. If you're hurt out there, or worse, we will be without a leader. You can't do this. You're the king."
"I'm also a knight, Cardin, in case you forgot. Helping the kingdom and its people to the best best of my ability is what I do. If I do not do this, I would be going against that. And that is something that I will never let down." Jaune said as he turned back towards the palace and began a light jog to retrieve his things.
Jaune entered his bedroom and went to the closet. Opening the door, he walked inside to find an armor stand with a suit of shining steel armor, the Arc family crest displayed proudly the chest piece. Jaune removed the armor from the stand and strapped the latches around him. He grabbed the sword sheath that was off to the side and latched it to his waist. Finally, Jaune grabbed a large kite shield, it too having the Arc family crest forged onto it across the hard metal. Jaune slid the shield onto a hook on the back of his armor so that the shield was able to hang freely.
He exited the closet and was met with the sight of Pyrrha standing there, her eyes firm. Circe was in her arms, a scared look spread across the child's face.
"I'm sorry," he said to Pyrrha. "I have to go."
"I know you do. You gave your statement to Cardin outside. I knew the risks of marrying you, and I still did it otherwise. This is your duty."
"I'm glad you understand." Jaune said as he brought Pyrrha into an embrace. The small child between them was pressed between the two. When they broke the embrace, Jaune looked to his daughter. "Be good for your mother. I will return."
"Where are you going, Daddy?" Circe asked.
Jaune smiled. "I need to go help the people. You can help me too by behaving for your mother."
"Okay, Daddy." Circe smiled at her father.
"That's my girl." Jaune said as he patted the girl's head.
Jaune then walked through the door of his bedroom, his armor echoing down the halls as he moved.
As he left the room, Pyrrha's face fell. Her eyes turned sad and her mouth spread into a frown.
"Oh, wait." Jaune said as he re-entered the room. Pyrrha looked up to the man, tears brimming the edge of her eyes. Jaune stepped forwards and planted a kiss on Pyrrha's lips. Jaune thought back to the first kiss that the two shared. Pyrrha was the one who had made the move, and Jaune sat there for a few minutes completely lost on what to say.
Coming out of the kiss now, nothing had changed since back then. The kisses shared between the two never lost the electricity that had been there all of these years.
"Good luck." Pyrrha said.
"Thanks."
Jaune jogged out of the palace. A group of royal knights stood there, ready to escort him into the city.
"Mi'lord." one of them said. Jaune was unable to see his face due to the full helmet that covered his head completely. "We are ready to move to the walls. Just waiting on your go."
"Thank you, knight." Jaune said as he approached the knights. "Let us go, with haste." Jaune ordered the knights as they exited the front gates of the stronghold, with him in the lead and the other knights trailing behind him.
They descended the steps at a pace that made Jaune fear that him or someone else would fall flat on their face. But those thoughts left his mind as soon as they reached the bottom of the steps and made their way onto the streets. The city guards were already rallying up all of the civilians and forcing them into their homes. If their homes were on the other side of the city, they would place them in random buildings and be told not to come out or open the door unless they were told other wise. Homeowners begged the soldiers to let them fight alongside them with their own personal weapons, but were strongly refused, saying that they would be a liability.
Jaune and the knights ran for the wall. At this pace, they would reach the walls in fifteen minutes at the most. Hopefully they wouldn't run into anything that would delay them.
"THE GRIMM ARE ALREADY WITHIN THE WALLS! TOO MANY TO COUNT!" Someone shouted at the top of a guard tower at the center of a town square. There was said delay.
"Which direction are they coming from!?" shouted one of the knights.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK!? THE DIRECTION OF THE EXPLOSION!" Shouted a female voice in return.
Jaune recognized the voice. "WEISS!" He shouted up.
Weiss' head appeared over the side of the tower and looked down at Jaune.
"Jaune!? Thank the gods that you and the royal guards are here! Maybe some people will begin to calm down about this situation!" She said.
"Hopefully," he said. "Have you heard from Ren and Nora?" he asked.
"I"m afraid not! Why? We're they patrolling the walls?"
"Yes! I know you didn't know about this, but there was a Beowolf discovered on the inside of the walls this morning and we captured it. The scout regiments were deployed to try and find the breach in the wall."
"A breach!?" Weiss asked. Looking over in the direction of the explosion, she paused. She disappeared back inside the tower and re-emerged at the door at the bottom no more than a few seconds later, she sure was fast. "Then by best guess, the person who let that Beowolf in also detonated those explosions." Weiss said, panting slightly from the run down the stairs.
"Most likely. But we should not worry about that now. We need to handle the grimm that are already within the city."
"Of course, I have multiple guards spread across the city. The alarm bell should be ringing in 3... 2... 1..."
Across the city. A low pitched DONNNNGG sounded. And then again DONNNNGG.
Everyone should know the sound of the alarm bells.
The citizens would be forced to take part in an exercise that practiced something like this every month.
After the bells rang for another minute. They finally stopped, leaving the city in an eerie silence.
"There." Weiss said. "Now everyone should know fair well that this is the real deal and not just another drill."
"HERE THEY COME!" Shouted the other person in the tower who Weiss had left in charge.
Jaune turned to the street that lead to the wall where the explosion occurred. Coming down the street, he saw in the distance the sight of a patch of black and white bounding towards them and destroying everything in their path.
"Beowolves, Ursai, and Boarbatusks." a knight commented. "Anything bigger and we'll definitely be done for. We should count ourselves lucky that there isn't."
"I'm afraid that there was already a sighting of a Deathstalker climbing in the wall and attacking the emplacements." Weiss replied.
"The wall?" Jaune questioned, worry lacing his voice.
Weiss' gaze was turned downwards, far enough that Jaune couldn't see her eyes. She nodded. "I'm worried too, more than I'm sure you think," fear and worry were heavy in her low voice. She snapped her stare forwards to the street and unsheathed her rapier. "But nevermind that for now, we have our own problems. Let's make sure that these beasts make it no further!" she shouted to the soldiers and knights that stood around them.
"YAAAHH!" they all replied, drawing their weapons if they were not already.
Jaune walked up to the white haired woman and whispered into her ear. "I thought that it was my job to rally the troops?"
Weiss smirked. "I have to steal the spotlight from you every once in awhile, Jaune." she said.
"I guess so." Jaune said as he drew his own sword and shield.
The battle continued into the late hours of the night.
For a time, the city guards, soldiers, and knights thought that the victory would surely be theirs.
But as the hours went on, they all grew tired and their numbers began to dwindle and forced to be spread out.
Jaune's own royal guard had been so spread out that there were no longer any around him. By the best chance, they could be dead, but they were some of the hardest trained soldiers in the city, able to take on multiple battalions of soldiers on their own. But that was against humans, this battle was against the grimm. Humanity's greatest enemy.
It was as if it was a game of tug-o'-war. Going back and forth, being pushed back and then making ground back and then repeating.
Eventually, they found themselves at the steps of Beacon Palace.
Jaune found himself alone. His sword and shield beginning to feel heavy in his arms.
He sliced through the abdomen of another ursa. He watched as the beast exploded into shadows and vanished.
He looked out at the city. Fires burned in the distance. What had caused that? There were multiple possibilities.
Jaune blocked the strike of a Beowolf claw with his shield. He pushed the beast back and sliced the paw off with one clean cut. The Beowolf howled in pain as the arm disintegrated. "Shut up!" Jaune shouted at the Beowolf as he gave a quick slice to it's neck, silencing it once and for all.
It was too late though. He heard more howls in the distance, drawing close to him.
Where had Weiss gone to? Has she gone to find Ruby?
Was this the end?
He never thought that he would be the final ruler of this kingdom.
There was no arguing it at this point. The city was lost. The grimm were everywhere.
Jaune heard the screams and pleas of the citizens echo throughout the entire city as the slaughter continued.
More Beowolves began to emerge from alleyways and seemingly appear from shadows.
Jaune bit back a curse. His legs fought with him.
He could only do one thing.
He turned to the stairs and ran up all the way, not daring to look behind him.
Cardin was still at the top with the other palace guards.
"Jaune! What's going on!?" he shouted.
"Run for your life. Save yourself!" He shouted back, still running up the stairs.
Cardin looked past Jaune and saw the Beowolves bounding up the hill behind Jaune.
"Shit!" he screamed "Get up here now!"
Jaune made it to the top as the guards began to slowly close the gate.
He ran with Cardin at this side as they both made it through the gate with the other palace guards there. The gate closed behind them just in time as Beowolves began to smash themselves against the hard wood and metal door.
"Where did they all come from!?" Cardin questioned out loud.
"I have no idea." Jaune replied. "But from the looks of it, this is the only safe place left in the city." he reported. Dread and sorrow were heavy in his voice.
"Impossible! This city is huge! How could the grimm take over so quickly?"
"Overwhelming numbers. There were thousands down there. I don't know how."
SCREEE
Jaune's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"No... no, no, no, nonono." Jaune said to himself.
"Tell me that's not what I think it is."
Suddenly, the front gate began cracking, creaking, and shaking.
After a few seconds, the door split in two and dust and debris flew everywhere.
Through the hole, Jaune spotted a Nevermore flapping it's wings towards them.
"RUN!' Jaune shouted. "INSIDE!"
All the guard turned and ran for the door. Jaune ran ahead of all of them.
Behind him, Jaune heard some of their screams as the grimm took them.
Jaune busted through the doors to meet the gaze of Pyrrha with Circe in her arms.
"Jaune!?" she shouted.
"We need to go!" Jaune said as he grabbed one of her hands and began to drag her along.
"What happened!?" she asked.
"Nothing good! The grimm are outside! Possibly inside the palace by this point." he told her as they ran through the halls.
"Well, what happens next?"
"We take the escape route!"
"You mean through the catacombs?"
"Exactly."
They ran down a staircase and opened a door that lead to the stairs to the catacombs. But when they opened the door, they were met with the sight of a Beowolf emerging from the catacombs. The two guards that were on duty had deep gashes across their chest. Jaune recognized this Beowolf to be the one that they had captured earlier today.
"How!?... Go back!" Jaune shouted.
They ran back inside the palace and began to run through the palace.
"Is there any other place we can go!?" Pyrrha asked him.
"I"m thinking." Jaune said. "Yes, there's one. A crawl space on the second floor. It's a gamble, but it could be our best bet."
"I'm with you." Pyrrha said, holding Circe close.
The two ran through the palace and up a staircase. Jaune guided them down a hallway, aiming for a door that was at the end.
A second later, the wall next to them exploded and they were knocked to the ground.
Jaune lost the grip on Pyrrha's hand as the fragments of the wall sprayed everywhere.
Shaking his head, Jaune looked up to see an Ursa standing in the hall between him and Pyrrha and Circe.
The beast gave a great roar, as if it was taunting the humans.
Jaune jumped to his feet and drew his sword. He swung at the beast at high speeds. The blade struck the side of the Ursa... and shattered., not doing anything to the bear.
He looked at his broken weapon with shock.
The Ursa swung at Jaune with it's own weapon. It's paw.
Jaune was knocked back twenty feet down the hall and slammed his head against the door.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted.
His vision blurred. He felt groggy, tired. He was done. He wanted no more.
He looked up and began to feel tears stream down his face.
The Ursa now towered over Pyrrha, who had a piece of rubble pinning her leg to the ground.
Free eats.
The ursa bounded atop of Pyrrha and began to tear through the woman.
Jaune heard his wife's pleas and screams for it all to end, to make it stop.
All Jaune could do was watch, he was already too late.
He stood and opened the door behind him.
Closing the door, he looked around the room, trying to find the crawl space that he had mentioned.
Where was it? Was it not here? Was he wrong?
Behind him, he heard more grimm coming for him.
Why were they so relentless?
Jaune saw only one option left.
He looked to the window, his only escape route.
Throwing his shield, the window shattered and the shield fell below.
Looking out the window, there was only one place to go where he could possibly survive.
A well.
He knew that there was always plenty of water at the bottom of it. Maybe it could be of some use one more time.
He heard a Beowolf sniffing just outside the door.
Climbing on the windowsill, he gave one last look back before taking one last step.
He fell to the ground below, and was suddenly enveloped by pitch black darkness.
Splash!
He landed in the water in the well.
Staring out of the well above, Jaune began to lose consciousness.
And then, finally, everything went fully black.
Present
Jaune had spent two full days in that well before he woke up and pulled himself out with the rope.
Now, years later, here he was walking through the halls once more.
Jaune couldn't find the body of either Pyrrha nor Circe.
He couldn't find out what happened to everyone else. There was simply not enough information to gather without him risking his life more than he already was.
Now the only question was.
Now what would he do?
Wow.
That was... a lot of words. Over 14000 of them.
I'm sorry if the end seemed a little rushed, I'm sorry. When I wrote the part before it, for some reason my computer decided to give me a middle finger multiple times and I had to write that single part about four times. After that, my creativity was drained a bit.
Other than that, it got the point across quite well, if I do say so myself.
A lot went wrong real fast.
This is a three shot. I was advised that I should split this chapter up into two and make it a four shot. But I said no because of later events and how the story will be laid out.
Shot out to MartunaMajor for editing this chapter! He did a great job putting up with this mountain of work that I put on his desk. Help me thank him by going and checking out his short little bit of poetry/prolouge known as "Can You Hear Me?".
I really hope you all enjoyed this very long read, and I'll see you all, in the next chapter.