AN: So this is just a one shot, kind of a song-fic I thought of while reading 'One good Turn Deserves Another' By Coeur Al'Aran. This is quite obvious shameless pandering.
If you haven't read their work, they have some great RWBY stories, long ones and updated often. I ~Highly~ recommend Professor Arc (The Sequel just started up), and Relic of the Future (Incomplete but amazing).
This one shot takes place of the ending to Chapter 23; and was honestly inspired by another one shot I thought up but never wrote; and nearly crashing on a mountain road at two in the morning.
Code of the Hunter
Jaune was lost in his own thoughts, reminiscing on the lessons of his father had passed down. Things like to be confident, about how if you weren't confident you could fake it. Nicholas had always stressed the importance of mood and morale, that confident fighters were good fighters – how doubt could be crippling. Not only in terms of how you felt, in a battle, but how you wielded your weapon. 'A person who draws their sword in doubt won't live long enough to sheathe it.'
There was one thing that stood out. His father rarely talked about it, The Huntsman's Code' or Huntress depending on who you asked. He was sure Ruby would tell him the 'correct' title for the proverb.
His father hadn't put much interest in glory or renown. Probably why he had a fair amount of both. The 'Old Code' didn't feed or clothe a family. A man had to have his priorities in order.
No one was sure where the old adage came from; but it had been sung by Hunters in bars, in the streets, and even on the fields of battle for countless centuries. Although each nation had its own variation the core principle always stayed true.
'One day you'll leave this world behind
So live a life you will remember.
My father told me when I was just a child,
These are the nights that never die.'
He hadn't really payed attention to any hidden meaning. Maybe it was nights like this that the hunters of old were referencing. The impeding calamity, the sense of dread, waiting 'resting' while others fought on for your respite.
A wistful smile stole across Jaune's face. The little ditty warmed him inside just a little. He idly wondered if he could spread the feeling around, at least to his team mates.
'Or perhaps anyone' he thought idly as he glanced around the cozy room.
But what could he do to inspire confidence in these people, most of whom he had never met before? What could he even do to inspire confidence in his own team, his own friends? Nicholas was the kind of man who inspired people with is reputation, sometimes with his very presence. But Juane had also had the chance, when he was younger, to see his father speak at some events. He would confidently stand in the middle of a stage, talking to hundreds of people!
Juane didn't have any of those things. He was a middling student, who had grown quickly thanks to the efforts of his team, but beyond that he only had a few weak hobbies.
Some fresh shouts from the distance had the room in silence once more, even the nervous conversation dying out as people remembered where they were. Across from him Pyrrha put down her food, barely touched. His own was much the same.
He was the leader of team JNPR, it was his responsibility to look after the welfare of his team. They were his friends, his team. Something adorning the wall by the var caught his eye, even as his throat went dry. Oh gods… he could… it would be humiliating.
But it was his responsibility.
-0-0-0-
Blake's ears flicked as she heard Juane stand up with a sigh, but then she didn't pat much attention, instead focusing on the small pieces of chicken she was pushing around her plate. Even had it been tuna she doubted she could muster up the appetite for it, not when her enhanced ears could still make out the clash of steel on flesh, the sound of gunshots.
The occasional sound of someone screaming as they were dragged down.
A loud twanging noise jarred her ears, a deep thrum filling the area as her head perked up. Around her, the rest of her team looked about – much of the others in the room doing the same, as her yellow eyes lighted on the bar of the inn's common room.
"Oh Gods…" Weiss mumbled, and Blake felt much the same.
-0-0-0-
"Hey all," Juane said with a dry laugh, sat cross-legged upon the bar with a wooden guitar resting on one knee. "I-uh… I don't know what to say… so…" His face looked alittle flushed, but he took a deep breath and drew his hands down across the strings, strumming out some deep cord.
"I learnt this song some time ago-so just… bear with me". It was clear he hadn't played in a while, the first few bars of his tune felt off, too stiff. But as it went on, he seemed to warm up to the task his left hand sliding up and down the neck as his fingers traced intricate shapes upon the strings.
As the, at first, numerous mistakes lessoned she could pick out the melody. It was slower than she was used to but she recognized it anywhere.
"Hey, once upon a younger year, when all our shadows disappeared, the animals inside came out to play. Hey, when face to face with all our fears, learned our lessons through the tears, made memories we knew would never fade." The almost playful tune almost sounded somber played so slowly, but it's effects were fast acting. Hunstmen and Huntresses across the bar looked over, and leaned closer to listen to the familiar melody.
As he started the next verse the unmistakable voices of Neptune and Sun called out alongside of Juanes. The voices helping him to speed up "One day my father—he told me, 'Son, don't let it slip away' He took me in his arms I heard him say." Jaune's eyes widened as he momentarily struggled to keep up with the more impressive pace.
It helped when Nora bodily shoved the two from the barrels that had been sitting on. With Ren's help they overturned them making two makeshift drums, which Nora proceeded to beat on in pseudo time with Juane's playing.
"When you get older, your wild life will live for younger days. Think of me whenever you're afraid." A brief pause in the strumming was filled with several deep breaths throughout the bar.
As a chorus of disjointed and voices rose in a single garbled voice they chanted together. "One day you'll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember. My father told me when I was just a child, 'These are the days that never die.'" Some like Ruby, changed the parental figures. Mothers, Fathers, Brothers. Some of the older warriors just used the word Hunter instead but the intent was clear.
As the music resumed Jaune heard the accompaniment of some sort of Mistrialian wind instrument. Several people began clapping, or attempting to, in time with the various instruments as the song progressed. Other's like Pyrrah stood deliberately, undulating, swaying like a King-Taijutsu with the rhythm. Their movements were deliberant, but not forced as they moved into the open area before the bar and danced along to the music.
Mistrial was known as the land of festivals for a reason, it only made sense that people from there could dance.
As Juane strummed through the song he watched with a happy grin as Ruby and Yang attempted to copy the movements of the others. They gave up, quickly moving to their own beat. Throwing their bodies in whimsical almost candid movements.
Blake he noticed, sat shaking her head, though a smile lit her face. It brightened in mirth as Sun and Neptune climbed atop a wooden table and began a rather romantic dance together.
An older hunter with a slight accent began the next verse, with Pyrrah shouting proudly along as she danced skillfully around the floor. Lines of the song Jaune hadn't heard in the Valean version.
"When thunder clouds start pouring down, light a fire they can't put out! Carve your name into those shining stars!" Another group took over, this time with Sun, and Neptune aided by throwing in what he could only assume was a verse from Vacuo.
"He said, 'Go venture far beyond the shores, don't forsake this life of yours. I'll guide you home no matter where you are!'"
Yang's loud rambunctious voice carried out as she sang, though he would never admit it, horribly off key. "One day my Uncle—he told me, 'Girl, don't let it slip away.' When I was just a kid I heard him say, 'When you get older your wild life will live for younger days! Think of me if ever you're afraid."
As the chorus erupted again, the sound of voices outside the little inn joined from around the town.
"One day you'll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember! My father told me when I was just a child, 'These are the nights that never die.'
As the chorus ended, a hauntingly beautiful voice carried over the wind. Clear as glass, strong as a Huntress, and as entrancing as some of Pyrrah's movements; Weiss' skill was undeniable. Her crisp vocalization joined in perfectly with the wind instrument. Or perhaps she bent the player's tone to her own.
But there she sat still at her table since Jaune had begun this spectacle, in a dingy little inn surrounded by Grimm; and more closely jovial Hunstmen, Huntress and various soldiers, commanding the attention of the entire room as if she was on the stage of a concert hall, all without trying. Eyes closed she was in a world of her own as she subtly swayed to the music, fingers idly tapping on the tabletop to the base beat Nora provided.
Not to be outdone several others joined in vocailizing. All ranges of voice, and talent, could be heard throughout Magnis. The weary souls defending the battlements bolstered if only a little.
Their chorus served as a declaration against the Grimm.
'These are the nights, that never die.'
AN: The song used was 'The Nights' by Avicii. It has a powerful, uplifting message about living life to the fullest which I can see a lot of Hunters/Huntresses like Ruby getting behind. While fast paced, it is also simple and can be played on just a single guitar and stomping of the feet/clapping as the beat.
So I won't lie, I cried like…five times easy, when I read One good Turn Deserves Another the first…and second…and third time.
Anyway I had had an idea a while ago about Jaune playing the guitar and his team kind making a make shift jam session. Just impromptu instruments, drums, a flute. But Pyrrah though… Throughout the show Mistral has always sounded Gypsy-ish to me. A land of festivals and parties. A land not quite as wealthy as others, but rich in culture.
With that in mind I see her kind of like Esmeralda from Hunch Back of Notre Dam, her movements while dancing and seem highly sensual are still playful in spirit.