Legends.
Stories of Heroes, of villains.
Of Monsters.
Scattered throughout time.
Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the tales of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts of a forgotten past.
Those who love to delve into these tales often forget the truth buried behind them from ages ago. But none can forget humanity's descent from the Golden Age, an age of prosperity, of fortune, of ingenuity. And all can trace back the start of the Golden age to The Traveler. With the arrival of the Traveler, human (and Faunus) life span tripled, and technology jumped faster than could ever be predicted. But with the arrival of the Traveler came the Darkness, the Grimm. These soulless creatures tried for decades, centuries, to send humans back to the Stone Age, and more importantly, into extinction. However, because of the monsters of Grimm, came the Guardians of the Golden Age, the first defenders of the Traveler and Humankind. Armed with the knowledge, instincts, and technology vested by the Traveler, these brave souls protected Human and Faunus kind from the Grimm, and from total annihilation. Notable defenders that have risen through the ages include the family of Schnee, the Family of Rose (later Rose-Arc), and the lineage of Nikos.
But despite their best efforts, they couldn't prevent the destruction of most of Earth's civilizations. Where we had to rest and recover, the Grimm simply got back up, seeming to form from the ever growing shadow of the Darkness.
On the brink of Extinction, humanity retreated into four great Cities: Atlas (based in the once towering city of Shanghai), Mistral (the old capital, Berlin), Vacuo (in based in remains of Athens), and Vale (in the rather well known city of New York), current residence of the Traveler. And appropriately, they stopped referring to their planet as Earth, and started calling it Remnant.
And there we begin our tale, one of a simple, if not helpless, soul.
"You can't be serious."
"Glynda-"
"No Ozpin, I don't care if you are the new headmaster or that I am speaking to the Traveler, I will get an explana-"
"Please trust on this matter, I do beli-"The Traveler seemed to hum before being cut off.
"But why would you choose this…boy? He isn't even a resident of the city, he is an outskirter. He probably has no prior training necessary to become a defender of the City. Why him?" The now identified Glynda Goodwitch inquired.
"…I'm not quite…sure. It is just a feeling, a 'gut instinct' as you humans like to call it. There is something about him that makes me believe that he will be…important…in the coming future."
"No intention to insult you, but I don't quite remember the textbooks mentioning anything about your ability to see into the future."
"You are quite right. I can't predict the future, but I will not change my opinions on the matter. I do request that he be recruited for the final position of the six."
"There is another reason. And you're not giving it."
"Glynda, that is quite enough. The trip isn't that long, especially with the new Bullhead model jets that we just commissioned." The man, Ozpin, said, believing that it might be necessary to interrupt, or they might be standing and arguing in that room all day.
"Fine, but this isn't over." Glynda sighed, before leaving to prepare, her heels softly clicking on the tile.
"You humans never cease to amaze me."
"Trust me; you never will stop being amazed. Though whether or not that is a good thing is debatable. I would know."
*Tap tap tap* *Tap tap tap*
"Jaune! There is someone at the door!"
"Thanks Juniper! Hold on, I'm coming!" Jaune called out…before tripping over a ladle that was on the floor.
"GAH! Sonavabi-"*Tap tap tap* "I'm so sorry!" Jaune said as he yanked open the door, surprising the two visitors.
"I'm not that impressed so far." Glynda whispered as she studied the boy. "Where are your parents?"
"They're not here…"
"Well, where are they?"
"Uh, they're…well they're…dead."
"Ah, I'm sorry young man, then who is in charge of the household?" Glynda asked, slightly surprised.
"That would be me…" Jaune replied, scratching the back of his head.
"I see. May we enter young man?" Ozpin spoke up for the first time.
"Of course! Come in, I just made lunch!"
"Why me?" Jaune said in surprise.
"It seems that he doesn't even believe that he has the capability to be part of the program…"
"Hush Glynda."
"I'm right though"
Ozpin sighed, "Jaune, to be honest, I'm not quite sure what the Traveler's reasons are, but I trust him enough to heed his suggestions. I'm sure his reasons are…for the greater good of human and Faunus kind."
Jaune sat there looking at his clean plate, as if trying to ask his reflection for its opinion. "Fine, but I'll have to ask my sis-"
"DO IT!" Said sisters suddenly ran out from behind the wall that they were hiding behind.
"But…are you sure guys? Jasmine, Juniper, Jade, Jackie?"
"Yes we are sure. Calypso, Saber, and Juliet already left for Vale to become guardians. It's now your turn. Besides." Jasmine quickly pulled her big brother into a hug. "We always knew you were meant to do something great. Go slay some monsters for us. I can handle these pipsqueaks." Jaune smiled, before being tackled by his other three sisters.
"Fine, fine, I'll do it." Jaune laughed as he managed to pull them off and sit back up.
"Good, we'll meet you at the ship tomorrow at ten o'clock." Ozpin said as he stood up, with Glynda silently following his lead. "Good luck young man" He said cryptically before closing the door behind him.
"Well guys, looks like we got some preparing to do." Jaune said before a hearty cheer erupted from the four sisters.
"Why me?" Jaune asked for the fifth or so time in his head, his sisters having long fallen asleep. He had spent a good portion of the day after Ozpin left pondering the question. As far as he knew, he had no talents in regard to combat. While he could fire a gun, his aim was mediocre at best, and he only knew because his father had shown him one time before he…disappeared, along with his mother. He only had vague memories of his parents. His older sisters never talked about them, and one by one each of them left to train as guardians. At least they were qualified. They could swing around a sword, fire a gun, and beat most of the guys in a village to a pulp without breaking a sweat. He never touched a sword, and spent a lot of his childhood getting beat up by the bigger kids (before they were beaten by one of his sisters…or all of them). The only thing he could take credit for was being able to take a punch or two or five without showing any sign of such actions occurring. Getting bullied helped in that department. However, iron-skin hardly would help against the monsters of Grimm. Right?
Shaking his head, Jaune got up from his bed, and walked over to his closet. He opened the door before pulling out a chest. Opening the chest revealed an elegant rifle. It had a smooth barrel and a red, white, and blue paint job. Everything about it was beauty to the eyes, from the stock to the weapons cartridge, even to the ammo display and the iron sight that rested on the top of the gun. On the side was the word Arc. It was similar to the older Suros auto rifles that used to be used by the old guardians of Vale. Jaune looked at it sadly. His older sister, Juliet, told him that it used to belong to their father, and as the first-born, and only, son, it was rightfully his. Despite his best efforts, none of his sisters would take it. While his ability with the rifle was mediocre, holding the gun brought a sense of peace to him, and he would sometimes just stare at it for a while, before going back to helping his sisters. It was named Crocea Mors.
Jaune sighed, and started to put away the gun, still deep in thought, when something else grabbed his attention.
"GRIMM!"
Wait-Grimm are attacking the village? Why? Why now of all times!?
Without a moment of hesitation, Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors and running to go help fend off the attack.
When Jaune got to the town square, it wasn't quite what he had imagined. He thought that all the buildings would be in pieces and burning. Instead, most of the houses were fine, which was good, as most of the villagers were hiding in said houses. In the most cliché fighting area they could possibly find, were Glynda and Ozpin, killing hordes of Grimm. Glynda was holding a standard issue Scout rifle, firing three-round bursts with great precision. At her waist was a riding crop, though Jaune didn't know what for. Ozpin on the other hand was holding his cane and a hand cannon, picking off Grimm and batting those that were too close for comfort. Jaune started too wonder how these people were professional Guardians. Who used a cane as a weapon? Well, obviously the guardian in front of him did, and quite expertly at that. He started to wonder if anyone at the Tower used farming tools as weapons…
Despite the seemingly ease that the duo showed as they picked off the Grimm, their obvious lack of armor was a problem. If the Grimm got too close, there wasn't anything that could protect them.
Jaune decided that standing in one place analyzing the situation would only go so far, so he started to help the two. Cocking Crocea Mors, he started firing in the crowd of Grimm, picking off as many as he could.
Shoot
Reload
Shoot
Reload
Rinse and Repeat. Jaune was actually wondering where he was grabbing the additional cartridges, but he was focused more on firing at the monsters and not the two guardians to worry about how he seemed to be pulling ammunition out of thin air.
If Glynda and Ozpin were surprised by the additional firepower, they didn't show it. The same seem to apply to the Grimm.
However, Jaune's contribution did help turn the tide. Ozpin and Glynda started to press forward, leaving a gap between the two, pushing back the previously endless horde of Grimm. Jaune started to have a little hope that they might come out of this battle without any casualties.
Then, as if his prior thought decided to come back and haunt him (or it might have been his horrible "luck"), Jaune noticed a wolf Grimm charging towards Ozpin's backside. Knowing that there was no way that he would intercept the Grimm if he ran; Jaune formulated a very farfetched plan. He quickly hit his gun twice, changing the firing mechanism so that the bullets would come out faster and harder, but the recoil would also become worse. Then, he swung the gun behind him, and then jumped as high as he could, and pressed on the trigger. Suddenly, he was flying, screaming and laughing as he did. He collided with the Grimm, using his shoulder to send it flying. Without hesitation, Ozpin swung his pistol, and fired a shot, piercing the Grimm's head.
"I can't believe that actually worked! I think I broke physics…But now we have a chance to wi-" Jaune's thought was cut off by a Grimm claw slashing his chest.
The End…
Or so he thought.
As luck would have it, Jaune's aura had already been unlocked. However, it had stayed dormant in his body, so he never realized. When the Grimm's claw connected with his chest, his body's survival instinct activated the aura in order to protect him. This is good, as it just saved Jaune from an untimely death, but it was also bad because of one small factor.
It released his entire supply of aura at once. Why is this bad? Because Jaune has A LOT of aura.
The result was that Jaune nearly exploded. It's a miracle he didn't. Instead, it shattered in front of him, chunks falling to the ground. Then, as the Grimm howled in a mix of confusion and anger, the shards flew back towards Jaune, shredding the Grimm mercilessly. They then fused back together over his chest before glowing softly.
Jaune then promptly fell to the ground and passed out.
Jaune woke up to a warm sensation. He felt…content. Did he die and heaven was a nice roomy place where he could just sleep?
Nope.
As he finally gained full conscience, he saw Jackie, the youngest, snuggled on his chest. He tried to move a little, and then her eyes snapped open.
Oh boy.
"HE'S AWAKE! YA! BIG BROTHER IS FINALLY UP!"
In an impossibly short time, Jaune was being hugged and punched by all four of his little sisters.
"OW OW OK I'M GLAD I'M AWAKE, NOW PLEASE STOP HURTING ME!"
"NO!" All four sisters yelled in response.
"You think you have it bad, we were almost killed by them when they thought you were dead." Ozpin chuckled.
"I'm going to have nightmares for a week now." Glynda whispered, albeit smiling as well.
Finally, the girls released Jaune from their death grip; Jasmine looked at him with a pout.
"When I said to do something great, I did not mean to try and sacrifice your life before you even started training!"
Jaune chuckled nervously, "Sorry?"
"Maybe we should be recruiting the sister." Glynda whispered to Ozpin, who in turn smiled and slowly shook his head.
"And now that you have recovered, we can leave for Vale. And only three days late."
"Wait…three days!?"
"Moving on."
"Oh god dammit." Jaune groaned as his motion sickness made itself present, violently assaulting his stomach and making him wish there was a trashcan somewhere. Ozpin and Glynda just smiled and continued to look forward.
And the whole trip Jaune wished he was somewhere else.
All of a sudden, Glynda looked at Ozpin and said, "Isn't the view wonderful?"
Jaune knew she was making fun of him, but was more focused on not giving the floor a new color.
"You know, you can shut your mouth. You should, by the way, I can still see some residue in your mouth." Glynda quipped sharply, before sighing and manually shutting Jaune's mouth for him.
The view was quite amazing. The central tower of Vale towered over the walled city. Standing tall and proud, it seemed to challenge the darkness. Beneath it was the school of Beacon, built into the foot of the tower. Its three peaks stood tall and as proud as the Tower. Dotting the ground far below where Jaune was standing, was a bustling city, teeming with the activity of the people, living safely in the confines of the Vale. Jaune finally released the breath he didn't even realize that he was holding. This must be what it is like to live in the safety of the City, never worrying about Grimm running in destroying the whole village. Jaune sighed contently, as he just stood there for second, listening to the sounds of starships prepping for launch.
Suddenly, Jaune felt a stab in his chest. He doubled over, "Gah!"
Glynda and Ozpin whirled around at the sudden sound. "What's wrong?" Ozpin quickly asked.
"I don't know, I was just standing, looking at the view, and I felt a sudden spike of pain in my chest. I don-GAH!" Jaune yelled out in pain before falling towards the ground.
Ozpin quickly caught him. "Glynda, teleportation glyph!"
"You know I'm not good with transportation glyphs…" She muttered, but began casting the glyph anyways.
Suddenly, they were in the medic bay, scaring the doctors. "What in the worl-" "AGHHH!" "Never mind, settle him down on the table." As soon as they did, they were rushed out by the doctors per "medical protocol".
"He sure is an interesting case." The doctor said. Jaune was currently lying on a table, somehow sleeping soundly.
"Is it what I'm thinking?" Ozpin asked.
"If what you are thinking has to do with his large amount of aura actually damaging his body, then yes, yes it is."
Ozpin grimaced. Aura was the embodiment of a person's soul. It carried their hopes and dreams. It is affected by the person's personality, and the color of a person's aura is reflected by their personality. It acted as a second skin, protecting the person to the point of breaking. When it isn't active, it's impossible to see, and only becomes visible when activated. The properties of Aura go on and on, but the most important fact is that it acts as the person's shield, keeping them from harm. However, there have been special cases where their Aura is so tremendous that it the person's body can't contain all of it. It then proceeds to attack the person's body in an attempt to escape. If the aura is not siphoned or sealed, then it would eventually kill the person that it was suppose to protect. This strange phenomenon is referred to as Aura Feedback
"So did you seal the aura?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, we had a specialist create a seal. However, it will only last a week."
"What? But I thought seals were permanent unless they were removed by the original creator."
"That would normally be the case, however, we have never seen so much in a single person before. Apparently the reason that we think that seals are permanent is because we never encountered an aura big enough to break it. His, however, is, at least according to our specialist."
"Hmmm…that may prove to be a problem. But I might have a solution…" Ozpin mulled, "But I need to test it first."
"Well, I wish you good luck. But until you are sure it will work, don't try to remove the seal. No shoo! I have patients to attend to."
"I think this is enough information. Good."
Ozpin experiment was based around what the public has dubbed "Exotic Armor".
It's obvious that when fighting monsters, it's usually a smart idea to wear armor to protect yourself. While the creatures of Grimm can tear through conventional armor, they can't even chip guardian's armor. This is because of a combination of two things. The armor smiths of the Tower are so skilled that they invented a technique of forging that allowed a guardian's armor and weapons to tap into the guardian's aura reserves, which both strengthens them and makes them more efficient. If a guardian wears a certain piece of armor or carries a weapon into combat long enough, the equipment starts to evolve to better conform to that specific user's aura. This usually comes with added benefits that enhance the user as well. The armors tend to be made up from a combination of spirit weave, ascendant shards, and polarized crystal dust to make it flexible and lightweight, yet strong and sturdy. The crystal dust is the main component that allows the armor to tap into aura. All guardians have enough in their aura reserves to wear a full set of this armor while still performing at peak or near peak armor. However, there is a special type of armor that seems to bend these rules. Certain armors are so powerful that they drain much more of the wearer's aura. These are exotic armors. They are usually relics of war and crafted by their original guardian. Unlike normal armor that improves from aura, these instead improve the user's aura, modifying it as long as the armor is worn. Most guardians can only wear one piece at a time, or else their aura levels drop quickly, leaving them exhausted and vulnerable to harm, no matter how good their armor was crafted.
Jaune, however, is anything but normal.
"How do you feel?"
"I don't feel different at all."
"No more random spikes of pain?"
"None at all."
"Good, take the armor off please."
The monitor backed up Jaune's statement. His aura no longer lashed at his body, but instead was flowing into the armor. With the normal armor, his aura was still rampant, but when he put on exotic armor, it died down to normal levels. It was at the same amount as a guardian wearing no armor at all. Ozpin was most surprised though that he was able to wear two pieces at the same time. This finally sparked a idea that Ozpin had working on since he heard about Jaune's massive aura feedback.
"Jaune, walk with me please."
"Yes, sir."
"None of that, it makes me feel old. Just refer to me as professor or professor Ozpin from now on."
"Yes professor."
"…"
"Jaune…do… you know what your father did? Or your mother?"
"I knew they were both guardians, my dad was a "titan" while my mom studied magic as a "Warlock", although she always insisted that she was a "Seer", not a witch or warlock… she was always weird. Anyways, they used to live in Vale and would deal with Grimm outbreaks. However, they stopped when I was young, so it was weird when they suddenly left when I turned fourteen. I didn't think they were going to fight because my dad left Crocea Mors with me and told me to keep it safe. Mom did the same thing, leaving her pistol Hawkmoon with my oldest sister. Then they didn't return. We didn't even find their bodies. I'm not even one hundred percent sure if they died"
"Hmmm…there is much you don't know about them, but I can tell you that we haven't found them either. Is your sister by any chance a tall blond called Juliet?" Ozpin suddenly inquired.
"That's her."
"Hmm…I do recall her carrying a pistol with a feather engraving on it…also all the males in her year are deathly afraid of her."
"Yep, sounds like her…wait, how do you know what Hawkmoon looks like? Did she let you see it?"
"No, but I knew your mother. I was part of her fire team. Your dad was on another team that included Ms. Glynda."
"I don't remember you ever being mentioned…" Jaune was trying to remember if he had heard Ozpin's name before, but he was drawing a blank.
"I know, they were always the type to never talk about their adventure's, unlike someone else…."
"Professor?"
"I want to give you two things…ah, here we are. Elevator, floor Sigma." Jaune hadn't realized that they had reached the elevator, but he followed in on request.
"Floor Sigma is restricted, only senior guardians may have access. Please state pas-" An A.I popped in front of the two.
"Password: stability."
"Access granted. Have a nice day."
"Professor, where are we going?"
"Your parents dropped off a few…parting gifts before they disappeared. It only made sense that you inherit them."
"Wait…why not my sisters?"
"I offered, but they all turned it down. Also, you need this much more than they do. Remember the pieces of armor I had you wear? Well, I have two pieces crafted by your father, and schematics for another one from your mother."
*Ding*
"Ah, we have arrived. This is Floor Sigma, a classified floor that held powerful relics, artifacts, and exotic equipment. You are quite lucky to see it. Don't touch any of the items though. We aren't sure what some of them even do. But, I came here for your parent's armor. " Ozpin took a few turns, and stopped in front of a wall. He channeled aura into his hand before pressing it against the wall, which promptly opened up to reveal a chest piece, a helmet, and a scroll.
"Wow that was cliché." Jaune muttered.
Ozpin ignored the comment. "Well, try them on."
Author's Note:
Hello good readers. Thank you for reading this chapter of my first ever fanfic (yeah!).
I apologize for no new chapter, but I noticed an error in this chapter, and my strange case of OCD would not allow me to let it go. I also didn't have an author's note before because I didn't really know how to make one...
Anyways, I will try to get a new chapter in the next month (school is quite a hassle) so hang in there!
Also, if any of you guys want to give some constructive criticism on my writing, it would be much appreciated. Same goes if you have story ideas.
Thank you PhengophobicGamer,MrCraken, and Raptor010 for being my first ever followers!
And with that out of the way, have nice day ladies and gents. K out.