Hold the line

Jaune Arc came from a long line of heroes. What he didn't know…what he wasn't told…was that all of those heroes were the SAME hero. And now it's his turn. He wouldn't fail now! Or…at the very least, he wouldn't make things worse. That's admirable right?

Chapter 1

Jaune Arc, the eighth child and only son of Rusl and Uli Arc was not a happy camper as of two days ago. He, at the ripe old age of fourteen years old had decided that the he was going to be a huntsman. And not just any old huntsman. No sir! The greatest huntsman that had ever lived! But his dad had merely laughed at him when he told him that he needed a few hundred thousand pointers in regards to getting started.

What was so bad about that? Rusl was his dad! It was legally his JOB to help him accomplish his dreams. But he said no. That it was too late to be a huntsman. That he would quit like he quit all the other things he had wanted to be.

"Remember the King of Dance Jaune? What happened to that?" Jaune had no answer for that but...his dad just didn't get it. Nor did his mom or sisters come to think of it. He had originally thought that he had found his calling in dance, like he had told his parents but he had been mistaken. He was allowed to make mistakes! Arcs weren't perfect right? Of course, mistakes didn't seem to apply to his sisters, they all excelled at being huntresses or whatever they put their minds too. But so would he! He was just a late bloomer! It would start.

Any day now…

But that was with the understanding that his family would be supportive and help him out. Now though? He wasn't quite as confident as he had been two days prior. Don't get him wrong, he was still going to be a huntsman! Just…maybe the greatest was out of his reach?

Jaune quickly banished those thoughts. He would be the greatest! And it would sound even more impressive that he did it without any help from his family! Yeah, a underdog hero rising from nothing to save everyone! People loved stories like those! Well, he did anyway.

So now that he had managed to lift his spirits, the only question now was; where did he begin…?

Xxx

Armed with his father's sword and shield, (which was a bit too big for him but he would manage!) Jaune had thought long and hard about what the best way to get strong enough prove himself would be. After thinking some more about the problem the night before, he had come to the conclusion that he needed to show his dad that he could in fact kill a grim. So he needed to go find a grim, kill it and bring his dad the corpse. He'd be so impressed and worried that Jaune didn't know what he was doing that he would start training him immediately! And Jaune would accept his training offer humbly, because that's what heroes did! It was fool proof!

Except for the fact that the grim came in packs. A fact that Jaune only remembered as a wolf looking grim dove at him, teeth bared in a snarl.

He managed to get his dad's shield up in time and staggered from the force of blocking the hit, which hurt him more than he thought it would, but he was so surprised that he had actually blocked an attack that he stood there in surprised shock just long enough to be tackled from behind by a separate wolf grim.

"Wait! You guys come in groups?!" Why hadn't anyone told him! Why hadn't he asked! There was so many different not dangerous things he could have done to begin his hero's journey and THIS was what he had chosen?!

'Oh no…I'm an idiot.' Jaune was slowly realizing as more and more black wolves came out the woodwork to surround him. He counted at least five of them…not counting the one that was pinning him to the ground. His arm not only hurt, but he was laying on the shield and it was cutting into his chest quite painfully.

'And so ends Jaune Arc…he wasn't great…he wasn't even a footnote.' Jaune thought to himself in despair as he prepared for death, waiting for the wolves to devour him, or kill him or whatever it was grim did.

Instead of any of that happening a piercing wind blew through clearing that Jaune had made his 'heroic' stand in. Something about this wind gave Jaune a strange feeling throughout his body. He intellectually knew that it was wind, but it sounded more like a wolf howling. But then again maybe he was imagining that because of all the wolves around him.

"If you guys are calling more of you to come kill me…could you not? I mean you guys alone are plenty you know…" Jaune couldn't help but tell the grim, who had stopped moving and seemed to be waiting for something.

"Guys?"

That something came in the form of another wolf. This one looked nothing like the grim though. While the grim appeared as red black and white wolves with bone plating on them in certain places, depending on their age…you would never mistake them for actual wolves.

This one looked a normal wolf. You could almost say it was a wolf except for the fact that it was golden and glowing with an ethereal light. Before Jaune could even blink or get more details on this glowing wolf's appearance, it had already plowed through and destroyed the grim around Jaune. Then it sat on its haunches and waited patiently, staring at Jaune.

'Get up' it's eyes seemed to say, and Jaune did so slowly, gingerly. He didn't want to set this wolf off that killed all the things he struggled with so easily after all. He locked eyes with the wolf, noting that it only had one and it was red and also glowing.

'Did normal things also have red eyes' Jaune wandered to himself, not even noticing his surroundings change. He paid no attention to the grass turning gray or the pillars rising up and replacing all the foliage that had previously surrounded him. What was once green and full of life turned to a grey desolate landscape with a foggy dreamlike quality to it. Not that Jaune noticed that, lost in his musing.

"This is the ghostly ether."

That phrase caught Jaune's attention, considering he was the only person here.

"Wait. This is…" Jaune trailed off as he noticed the scenery change for the first time, scanning the grass, the new pillars, the mountains in the background, and even checking under his feet to see if the grass there was still green. It wasn't. It was all different.

"You desire to be a hero."

More words again. Who was talking to him? He stopped examining his surroundings and looked at the wolf. Only, it was no longer a wolf. Where there was once a golden wolf stood a six foot tall armored skeleton…with one glowing eye. Just like the wolf…

"A-Are you that wolf?" Jaune couldn't help but stammer. This was so far out of his expectations that he couldn't help it. The warrior's single red eye seemed like it was searching through Jaune for something before the helmeted figure nodded once.

At the skeleton's nod Jaune felt a lot better about the situation. He had no idea what was going on, but the wolf wouldn't have saved his life and brought him here only to kill him. Secure in that knowledge he bowed to the warrior, wanting to thank him for saving his life.

"Thank you for saving my life sir! I really appreciate it!" Jaune said as he bowed, bowing again for good measure.

"What were thou attempting to do young one?" The skeleton asked, its eyes having never left Jaune's face. It was a little unnerving, but his grandpa did the same thing on occasion so it didn't bother Jaune too much.

"Well sir…I want to be a hero! But my dad said I started to late and that I wouldn't be a good huntsman…but I know that if someone would just give me a chance, I would be the best!" Jaune couldn't help but spill his heart out to the talking wolf/skeleton. At this point Jaune wouldn't have been surprised if this wasn't a dream. He would have been more surprised if it wasn't actually.

"I come from a long line of heroes. Great heroes, including my parents and sisters and for some reason…it never really clicked for me. But I can feel something in me just screaming that this is the right path for me. But no one will help me walk it! So I took matters into my own hands…which is what happened today…" Jaune trailed off sheepishly, hands rubbing the back of his head.

"What is your name?" It finally said after an unknown amount of time had passed. As far as Jaune could tell, there wasn't a way to tell whether time was passing…wherever they were.

"How rude of me! My name is Jaune Arc! It's nice to meet you Mr…?" Jaune trailed off, not sure what to call this warrior.

"Link."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Link!" Jaune started to say before the newly named skeleton interrupted him.

"Jaune. Are you certain that the path of the hero is for you?"

Jaune didn't even hesitate.

"Of course!"

Link paused for a moment before continuing. "I have lived a life that was very fruitful and pleasing to me. But I lived out my life regretting two things: The past and the future. I fought against evil in my time and successfully banished her for a time, but I could not defeat her. And although I had children, they were not heroes. I wanted…no needed to pass on my knowledge to someone that would succeed where I failed. I waited and waited, but no hero came. And then despite my best efforts, she rose again. I felt like a failure. My life transpired, and still no new hero came. I reached my death, taking my skills, knowledge and regrets to the grave; and yet that was not the end."

Jaune listened to Link's sad tale, transfixed by what he was hearing. It looked like Link was preparing to continue his story so Jaune quickly refocused and prepared himself.

"Jaune, this is a world evil continuously threatens humanity and in a world like that, what makes a hero? Is it one who simply stands up to evil and saves the day? Or is it something much more specific and special?"

Jaune who thought this was a direct question, opened his mouth to respond, only to be silenced when Link raised a boney hand for silence.

"There is a spirit that is housed within those who become true heroes. To be a hero is to be part of a specific bloodline and to the possess the spirit of the sublime beast. This power is something that flows in the blood of every hero. When there is a need for a hero in Remnat, the spirit of the hero awakens within one who is worthy. The fact that you can see me…The fact that you can traverse into this realm…It is a sign that powers of the chosen one rest within you…and that they are awakening."

Jaune couldn't even begin to unpack all of what Link had just told him. Him? A hero! He wanted it so very badly, but…his parents, his family…they couldn't all be wrong could they? But on the other going by what Link said, the fact that he was even in this mystical weird place said he had the 'spirit of a hero' which made him a hero! And that was what Jaune wanted so very badly. Just hearing the fact that he had the 'potential' lifted his spirits. Although what Link meant by the great evil being a her confused him a bit. He didn't even know that grim had a gender!

"Our time grows short." Link spoke suddenly, drawing Jaune out of his admittedly all over the place thoughts. "Meet me at this same location tomorrow at noon. Do not bring those weapons that are too large for you, I shall supply you with something more fitting. Do not be late." And with his piece said he turned around and walked off.

"Hey wait!" Jaune said, standing up (When did he sit down?) "How do I get-" Jaune trailed off, noticing that he was no longer in the ether, but back in the clearing from where he started. "Clearing." Jaune finished even though his question had already been answered. "Come right back here." He repeated to himself, marking the location. "I can do that."

He quickly began to gather up his father's sword and shield before another realization hit him. "There's no grim bodies here. Do they vanish when they're killed? Aw man, my idea was doomed from the start!"

His time had indeed passed, even the slowest witted person could tell that he was a skeleton, implying that he had lived and died. And what a long and varied life he had lived! Even if he had spent seven of them sleeping. One of his biggest regrets was the fact that he wasn't able to pass along his skills and knowledge to his descendants, one of which he had standing in front of him. The fact that the youth could even see and speak to him led credence to the fact that he was looking at his next incarnation.

Each and every incarnation of the hero usually had to learn their skills on the fly without being taught. Since they were essentially the same hero again and again, it didn't necessarily take too long to relearn said skills. But too much time had passed. And not only that, this youth wasn't even at the age where they usually become empowered.

He was everything that the man was looking. He could ensure that this newest incarnation received every bit of knowledge he held about fighting and surviving. And if his previous attitude was anything to go by, maybe some critical thinking couldn't hurt. By the time the spirit was done, this newest hero would be as amazing as he wanted to be. And maybe he would succeed where all the other incarnations had failed.

XxX