So, this is the next chapter for my little attempt at writing. Much longer than the last one, but oh well, I can't be tied down by expectations of writing the same amount every time. I refuse to conform. Anyways, enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think, or don't. Again, your life your decisions.
"Jaune, you're not becoming a Huntsman, and that is the final word that we will have on the matter." Alexander Arc stated. He was the patriarch of the Arc clan, a proud group of warriors that were known for their aura reserve and their military prowess. But after Alexander had let all seven of his daughters into the Huntress field, he finally had enough when it came to let his children run into danger. He would let Jaune live his normal life, one without fear or the pain of losing someone close to him.
"But why can't I? All of my sisters got to at least be trained by you and mom, but I'm not even allowed to train?" Jaune Arc was only 15, still a child and unable to see his father's wisdom, instead going off what he believed was best for him.
"But you're not your sisters Jaune. Why can't you just live a normal life?" Alexander sighed out.
"Because I want to be a hero like you and mom, and Grandma and Grandpa. The entire bloodline has been Hunters or Huntresses, but I'm going to be the only one who can't be a hero!" Jaune yelled.
"This line of business, Jaune, it's not all what it's cracked up to be. No one can go through their entire career being the Hero that they dreamed of being. Why can't you see what I'm trying to do is protect you?" Alexander had had this conversation with Jaune more than once now. No matter how hard Alex tried, Jaune could never imagine himself doing anything besides upholding the Arc legacy.
"I don't care, dad. I want to save people and I want to do what you and mom do. Why can't you just let me train under you, why am I so different from my sisters?" Jaune was almost in tears. Alexander understood what his son was feeling, he truly did, but he still would not budge when it came to this.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. But I won't train you." Alexander walked away from his son in the living room. Jaune was shaking in anger, fuming about his argument.
Why couldn't his dad see how much he wanted to be a Hunter? All Jaune wanted to was to make his family proud, but they would never listen. They still treated him like he was too weak to even put his own clothes in the morning. Jaune had had enough of being treated like the weakest Arc in the family, and he was going to do something about it.
XXX
Jaune waited until nightfall before he made his daring, albeit stupid, attempt at proving his own strength. Jaune got up from his bed about thirty minutes after he heard his parent's door close for the night. He had to do this on how own; he would show his family that he could take care of himself that he deserved to be a Hunter.
Jaune sneaked down to the main floor, where he retrieved his grandfather's weapon, Crocea Mors, and left the house, off to prove that he could be a Hunter, but he didn't realize this would probably be where he dies.
Jaune jogged out of town, his armor weighing him down more than he wanted to admit, to the dark woods that lie ahead of him. Most of the town was at home and asleep at this time, with just a few guards in the sniper towers, making sure that nothing got into the town without their notice, but they weren't necessarily worried about someone sneaking out of the town. Jaune crept his way through the darkness, past the guard posts at the main entrance of their village, to prove his strength.
As he got into the forest, he quickly realized how out of his element he already was. Jaune had never had any training, hell; he had never even seen a Grimm before, with the town watch usually keeping the Grimm at a safe distance away. Jaune had his sword and shield drawn, unaware of how much noise he was making, and how much negativity he was releasing. With all of his pent up emotions, it was like a beacon in the dark for the Grimm, and it was only matter of time before the completely swarmed him.
Jaune kept travelling deeper and deeper into the forest, not even realizing that he could no longer see the lights of the town in dark, and also couldn't tell that a pack of Beowolves were closing in around him. The Grimm struck out like lighting, all of them attacking Jaune at the same time.
Jaune immediately panicked and swung his sword in a horizontal slash. The lead Grimm was too far into the charge already to stop in its tracks. He was able to chop the Grimm's head off, by pure luck, but he still wasn't ready for the rest of them. Two of the Grimm attacked him from the sides, one viciously trying to get past his shield, while the other went after his sword arm. Jaune's bracer was the only thing that was keeping any damage from hitting his skin, and his shield was bulky enough that the Beowolf couldn't just bite at him.
While Jaune was dealing with two of them however, a third one was charging him head on, while another one was rounding around behind him. The one that went head on was about to bite his neck off, but he was able to raise his sword just enough that it ran directly into the tip of the blade. While the Beowolf didn't completely impale itself on the sword, it was enough for the Beowolf to take a step back, just snarling instead.
Suddenly, the Beowolf that was attacking his sword arm broke through his bracer, immediately piercing flesh, causing Jaune to cry out in pain. But with that momentary lapse, the Grimm that was attacking his shield arm, managed to pry past it, taking a bite out of Jaune's shoulder. The Grimm that was behind him and in front both saw the weakness and went in to finish it off.
'I can't believe this is how I'm going to die, a mile away from my hometown, where more than one professional Huntsman resided, able to kill more than a hundred of these Beowolves with just one hand.' But as he was starting to pass out from the pain and blood loss, the Beowolves stopped attacking him. Each one of them slowly back away from him, making Jaune almost jump in joy, before immediately wondering why.
Why are they stopping their attack? With Jaune's last bit of strength, he turned his head from his prone position and saw the largest Grimm that he had ever seen. Well, his experience was only with Beowolves, but this just seemed like an upgraded version. This must be what they called an Alpha Beowolf, a much deadlier version than the pups that had been attacking Jaune. If Jaune had had any hope left, he was sure that it would've left immediately.
The Grimm roared before charging Jaune's prone figure.
'I'm sorry Mom, Dad, you guys were right, I'm not strong enough.' Jaune closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, but one of the loudest noises he had ever heard rocked the forest. Then there was a loud thump right in front of him. As Jaune opened his eyes, he saw the disintegrating form of the Alpha Beowolf and he was bewildered. How did this thing just die?
The pups all ran towards the sound, but Jaune was too tired to even try and turn his head, but he heard four more loud shots ring out, and then there was silence.
"Oh kid, you really messed up bad, didn't you?" An unknown voice spoke to Jaune. Jaune felt himself get hoisted up bridal style and was finally able to see his savior. He looked young, probably not more than ten years older than Jaune, but there was a certain maturity behind his blue eyes, like this wasn't the first time that he had seen someone like Jaune.
Jaune was about to pass out, but the man that was holding him jostled him. "Come on kid, you're going to have to stay awake for me. So I'm going to need you to try harder." The man said.
"I.. hero…" Jaune mumbled out, but could even finish his sentence. The man looked down at him with a small sad smile on his face, but Cameron understood what the kid was trying to say.
"Oh kid, don't we all." Jaune passed out.
XXX
Jaune woke up at the local doctor's office inside of his town, feeling worse for the wear, but much better than he expected, since he wasn't really expecting to wake up at all.
"Jaune, can you hear me?" Jaune looked at the man speaking and realized it was his father, with worry plastered all over his face.
"Yeah, yeah I can hear you… Dad, I think I messed up a little bit." Jaune said softly, his father letting out a small chuckle.
"Sure, a little bit. But those Grimm were angels compared to what you have in store." Alexander said. Jaune looked confused before the room's door bust open, revealing a veer made Athena Arc, Jaune's mom.
"Jaune Julius Arc, I can't even begin to comprehend how rash of a decision you just made! You could've died! You realize that right?! That this isn't all just a game!" Athena yelled. Jaune shrunk down, looking like a abused puppy at his mother's onslaught.
"I know Mom, I know." Jaune's sad tone was enough to tone down Athena's rage. She sighed before walking close to Jaune's bed, and wrapping him up in a hug.
"Oh you stupid boy… I'm so glad that you're okay." Athena had a small smile, before it was replaced with a stern look. "You're so grounded though." Jaune just nodded his head, not really expecting much else. As they were having a family bonding moment, there was a knock on the door. Athena's glare immediately returned, opening the door ready to yell, before a smile graced her face.
"Oh, hello Cameron, how can I help you?" Athena asked. Cameron walked in like he was just out of a war zone, carrying a backpack, rifle, a scarf that covered his whole neck, and with grim all over.
"I was just wondering how your son was doing? I mean, he wasn't in the best shape last time I saw him," he said looking at Jaune. "No offense or anything." Jaune just shook his head to motion not worry about it. Jaune had been in a pretty sorry state, but he wasn't quite sure who this man was though.
As if he was able to read Jaune's facial expression, Cameron began to speak. "Oh sorry, haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Cameron Gundacker, and I was the one who took you out of the forest yesterday. I wasn't expecting you to remember me, considering you were passed out most of the time." Jaune's memory started coming back to him. He was remembered how he went into the forest to prove himself, and then when he was attacked by Grimm, and he started getting ripped apart…
Jaune looked at his body and didn't see any noticeable damage, which either meant that he was out for much longer than he thought, or he just healed quickly. Alexander noticed Jaune's confusion and let out a sigh.
"I know what you're thinking right now, and the answer to it is: I unlocked your Aura." Jaune looked at his dad in shock. His dad had always told him that he would only unlock his aura when he thought he was ready, but he can see on his dad's face that that was not the reason he did it. "Jaune, you almost died. The only thing that saved you was unlocking your Aura, but, don't think this means I will let you be a Huntsman."
To say Jaune was sad was an understatement. Jaune finally understood why his dad didn't want to be a Huntsman now, especially if his first encounter with Grimm almost got him killed. Maybe, maybe, he could live without being a hero. But that thought still saddened Jaune.
"However," Jaune perked up. "I'm not against training you in case something like this happens again." It looked almost painful for Alexander to admit it. But he knew now that he had his Aura, Grimm would be much more inclined to go and seek him out. It never hurt to make sure that there would be a little preparation to avoid something like that ever happening again.
"Thanks Dad, you're the best." Jaune tried to get out of bed, but he didn't get very far before he winced from the movement. Maybe he could take a day before he started training.
"But Jaune, I'll let you know right now; your training is going to be rigorous. You will be able to fight, but I just want to make sure that you know what you're getting into." Alexander said seriously. This wasn't a decision he made lightly, but he knew that it would be necessary.
"Don't worry dad, I'll do my best." Alexander nodded.
"Of course, your father won't be the only one teaching you. You will also be getting conditioning from me, and ooh Jaune, I will turn you into a warrior." The glint in Athena's eye promised nothing but pain for Jaune, and it took his entire being to not visibly sweat. He knew his dad was strong, but it's said that his mom was an absolute monster on the field.
"Oh, I'm, uh, already looking forward to it." His mother's smile was crazy, but he knew that she would never do anything to hurt him. Right?
"But, we'll start tomorrow, because tonight, we are going to have a nice dinner with Cameron being invited of course." Athena's crazy smile quickly turned into a pleasant one, looking at the young soldier.
"Oh, that's not necessary ma'am, I'm sure I can manage on my own." Cameron looked slightly uncomfortable with the offer, but Athena Arc would have none of it.
"Don't be silly, this is very necessary, we need to thank you for saving our son." Cameron just nodded politely with small thanks.
"Well, I should probably get going, let you all have some family time together, and don't be too harsh on the kid. We were all teenagers once." With those words, Cameron left the room.
"Such a nice young man, you certainly don't see that politeness everywhere these days." Athena commented. Alexander nodded his head in a thoughtful way.
"He definitely is, but, something seems… different about him, but I can't quite place it." Athena was the one to nod this time, noticing the same thing as he husband. It was as if the very air around him was, out of place.
"Well, maybe we can ask more about it during dinner tonight. I'm sure we could find out more about him if opens up a bit more." Athena said. Maybe they could learn more about their Mysterious Stranger in time.
XXX
Cameron left the hospital with a million questions running through his mind. He still wasn't quite sure what this Aura that they were talking about was, and he also had no idea how it could save someone that was mortally wounded and get rid of all the wounds in about a day. If the U.F. had that, they would be able to get rid of every single insurgent that threatened their way of life.
Another question that he had been: What the fuck are Grimm? Like the feeling grim, or like actual things named Grimm. Was that what he had killed last night to save Jaune? It would make sense since they were massive beasts that seemed to just radiate sorrow, but how does that make sense? He was also pretty sure when you killed an animal, it shouldn't just… dissolve? Is that the right word? Didn't matter, since it was apparently pretty normal in this world for things to not make sense.
But his biggest question, the one that had been haunting his mind, was how he had shot at all.
(Flashback)
Cameron was in his little camp space, having trouble sleeping in a place that was so unfamiliar, but he was used to sleepless nights, and he would be able to live with it. But what caught his eye though was a flash of white and gold.
Cameron sat up immediately, on guard that they finally decided to show their true colors and try to attack him, but he wasn't willing to engage yet, just in case he shot a civilian, and gods know he didn't want that on his conscious or record. So instead, he just followed the figure to where it was going.
He stayed probably a good hundred meters away from him, for most people it would be difficult, but for him, it was as easy as seeing someone in an open field during the day. But he realized that this person was just oblivious to his surroundings if he didn't even notice that some dog-like creatures were starting to surround him. Even Cameron was wary of these animals because they weren't like any dogs that he had ever seen.
That's when Cameron noticed all the animals attacked at once. The first wolf like creature was killed by the blonde, letting Cameron drop his guard for a second before realizing he didn't even mean to do that. Because the other wolves all immediately started biting at him and attacking, and he could tell the blonde wasn't going to be winning. Cameron went from a wary approach to a run. He couldn't risk this kid being a civilian that died on his watch.
And just when all the animals seemed to have been ready to throw the final blow, they backed off. Of course Cameron knew that it meant that there was probably a much more dangerous predator that was about to take the kill for itself. Cameron readied his rifle, and aimed it at the massive wall of fur and bone that had just appeared from the forest. This thing was easily the size of car, if not bigger, and it looked like it would take more than bullet to put it down, but Cameron wasn't to give up so easily.
Cameron looked down his sight, completely forgetting that he didn't even have ammo for this gun anymore, but as the beast took a step forward, something with Cameron surged. As soon as he applied pressure to his weapon, he felt a strange presence, pulling himself to the gun, but it was only for a moment before he fully squeezed the trigger. He heard his round fire, surprising within itself, but then he noticed that the bullet was… Red? He only saw it for a split second, but while it was travelling through the air, he definitely saw the bullet shine red.
When the bullet hit the massive beast, it immediately fell to the ground before it started to dissolve. There was no way that one bullet was able to do that, he didn't even go for a head shot! But, unless his vision deceived him, the beast really did die.
The other wolves all took but a second to realize what had happened, before they went for a Cameron. Cameron quickly did the same thing again, firing off four rounds, each one with the same pull as last time, each one killing the animals as soon as it hit. He would've marveled at this new found ability, but the bleeding child on the ground might deserve some more attention currently.
"Oh kid, you really messed up bad, didn't you?"
XXX
Cameron had run back to the town and was met with some very distraught parents, who first thought that he was the one who attacked his son, but a quick explanation was sufficient enough for them. The father quickly took a hold of his son's hand before reciting an incantation of sorts, and then the kid glowed a bright white causing Cameron to cover his vision. When the light subsided, he was just met with a much less injured version of the boy that had been lying in front of him.
Well that was definitely weird. He certainly hadn't heard of any medicines that could save people on the brink of death that quickly. At least, not in his world, maybe this place was more advanced than he thought. So why were they still using swords and shields? Why not, just guns? Again a question for another day.
Cameron finally finished walking back to his tent and sat down on the ground to gather his thoughts. He took out the magazine of his weapon and looked at it. It was still empty. Just like the last hundred times he had checked it. But every time that he checked it, it was the same thing over and over again. He thought that maybe he had some extra ammo in it, but he always knew he was lying to himself, so why had his gun shot then? It just didn't make sense.
Cameron stood up and aimed his rifle at a tree that was near him. He looked down the sights before fingering the trigger, and he felt the same pull each time he had shot it. As he squeezed the trigger, he felt something go inside of the gun, and then when the bullet released, it glowed red and impacted its target. Now what should've happened, been they regular bullets, they would've put some medium sized bullets holes in the bark; but, no, it was like he was shooting explosive .50 cal rounds at the tree, and it ripped the tree in half. Something had happened when he had teleported to this world, and he just didn't know what.
The next thing Cameron pulled out was the sword that was firmly strapped to his back, never letting it out of his sight. While he had no idea how to handle a sword, he wasn't some medieval knight; he at least knew the basics. But the real reason that he held onto the sword was because it was the only thing that could bring him back to his world, he just didn't know how. Cameron walked over to another tree, deciding to finally test out how the sword worked, and as he started to pull back, he felt the same kind of tingly energy that he did with his rifle. And when he slashed at the tree, he cut through it like a hot knife through butter. While this should've surprised him, it honestly didn't as much as it should have.
And his last weapon, the only one that still had ammo, was his .44 magnum. This one didn't feel like his rifle or his sword. It still felt, normal to him really. He unloaded the bullets and stashed them away in his tactical back pack. He then aimed at another tree with the gun and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened though. Cameron couldn't tell what was happening, because this didn't make sense with his new found abilities. Unless, it wasn't him but it was his rifle instead that was making the magic bullets. That could make sense, in weird not making sense sort of way, but he was still confused.
He decided not to let it get to him and he holstered his revolver after filling it with six shots, strapping the sword back on his back, and holding his rifle in a casual position. He supposed he should probably head back to Arc household to meet up for dinner. While his manners had almost gotten the best of him, hadn't eaten for almost two whole days. Again, while not impossible to live through, definitely not a lot of fun to deal with.
As he walked into town, armed to the teeth, he realized that no one even spared a second glance at him. Were heavily armed warriors really just that common in this world that no one even spared a second glance, or maybe they were scared of him and just ignored him in case he attacked them? Whatever it was, he was kind of glad because he could keep the interaction to a minimum, and hopefully not come off as a complete outsider to this world.
When he approached the Arc household, he wondered if they would find it suspicious that he still had all of his weapons, and wore the same clothing as he was wearing earlier today. Well he hoped that they wouldn't because he didn't want to have to deal with those questions, maybe they would just accept and ignore it.
He knocked on the door and was immediately greeted by the Father, Alexander if he remembered correctly. "Ah Cameron, well it is nice to see that you decided to join us. I was unsure as to whether you would show or not."
"Well, it wouldn't be polite for me to just not show up after you so graciously asked me to eat with all of you." Cameron said as he walked past the man. Alexander was tall, probably 6'5", and built like a truck. While Athena was shorter, maybe 5'11" to 6', she was by means no short. She was built more for agility while Alexander seemed to be made for strength.
Athena was preparing the table, and he noticed that there were two girls there, both seemed to be somewhat close to his age, and they were both very attractive. What? Just because he wouldn't do anything didn't mean he couldn't appreciate beauty. "Hello Cameron, I'm so glad you could join us. Although, if you wouldn't mind, we have a strict no weapons policy at the table," Athena spoke. Cameron nodded in agreement, leaving his rifle lying against the wall, with his pistol hanging on the coat rack. He unsheathed his sword, tempted to keep it on him, but if they wished for him to be unarmed, then he was no man to disagree. He leant it next to the rifle as well.
Cameron was pointed to his seat at the table, opposite of the two girls, but sat next to Athena. Alexander sat at the head of the table, which seemed to be the norm, but he quickly realized how large of a table it actually was. It looked like it could hold 10 to 12 people if the tried to make room, but who were all the seats for. Alexander cleared his throat, gathering their attention.
"Well Cameron, I'm glad you could join us, and allow me to introduce two of my daughters, Artemis and Sapphire." Both girls stared at him, not as much as a smile on their face, but Cameron said hello politely, not at all surprised when they didn't say anything back. "Girls that's no way to treat a guest, at least say hi." Alexander asked with a small laugh. Both girls begrudgingly said small hellos, before an awkward silence filled the room.
"Oh," Athena suddenly perked up. "Where's Jaune? JAUNE!" Athena yelled and Cameron could hear feet shuffling, before he heard and thump, thinking that he probably fell, and then a pitter patter of feet running down the stairs. The awkward and bumbling teenager that was Jaune Arc finally emerged into the dining room, looking slightly out of breath. "Well Jaune, we did invite him here because he saved you, so it wouldn't make much sense for you to not be here to be now would it?" Jaune put a hand to the back of his neck, mumbling out an… apology maybe? Cameron didn't know, but he could tell that he wasn't the most outgoing of individuals.
"Come on Jaune, we've told you before not to mumble your words. At least pretend to have some confidence." One of the daughters stated. While Cameron's face stayed neutral, inside he could already tell how this household worked. He had seen many of them before, where they would all pick on the youngest and crush any confidence before he had a chance to even develop it. Cameron had lived at one of those households, but he got out of the hole quickly enough with confidence being forced onto him by his father, which he realizes that maybe beating his brothers in a fist fight wasn't the healthiest way of doing that. Oh well, it worked out in the end.
"Sorry Artemis, it won't happen again." Jaune took the seat next to Cameron and gave an apologetic smile. Cameron waved it off as being fine. It's not like that would ruin his opinion on the kid.
"So Cameron, from the uniform and the weaponry that you're carrying, where are you a soldier from?" Alexander asked. Cameron knew that this would be how the night would go. Well he didn't want to seem like a total nut job, so he told to the truth, at least to an extent.
"Yeah, but you probably haven't heard of it. Its, pretty far away from here." Cameron said. Alexander looked at him with a smirk.
"I know it may seem like I'm just from a small village, but I've travelled more than you would think." Alexander said confidently. There were very few places on Remnant that he didn't know about, or at least have heard of, especially one that was large enough to have its own army, equipped as well as Cameron was.
"Well, I'm part of a nation called the United Federation of the New World, and I'm a First Lieutenant in its army." Alexander looked at him with a confused expression.
"You're right, I haven't ever heard of that place. Which Kingdom would you say it's close to?" Cameron immediately panicked. Kingdoms? What the heck were kingdom names, and how could he not have known about Kingdoms.
"And by that mean, you mean ..." Cameron noticed the confusion on Alexander's face and he knew he messed up. Of course that would raise warning flags. If they're big enough to be kingdoms, everyone on the planet must have heard of all of them.
"Do you not know what the Kingdoms are Cameron?" Athena asked politely. Cameron scratched the back of his head.
"Well, my nation isn't exactly large, or have a lot of people so we don't really travel much, but I was sent here by my officers, and this is the farthest that we have ever come to civilization on Remnant." Wasn't that the understatement of the year? His nation wasn't even on the planet, but it was massive with a lot of people, but that was beside the point. He had no idea how they would take the news.
"I guess that could explain it. So how did someone as young as yourself land the rank of officer?" Alex asked. Finally, back into some familiar territory.
"Oh well, I graduated from West Point," he noticed the confusion on all of their faces before realizing their mistake, "it's a school to train children to go into the military.
"Oh, so like Beacon then?" This time it was Jaune who spoke up. He had been quite the entire time, and he could already tell he regretted talking. Both of his sister's eyed him down, causing the boy to shrink back into his shell. Poor kid, he needed to work on his confidence.
"I suppose so if Beacon trains future warriors. Anyways I graduated at sixteen, which is usually when they start letting people into the Academy. Well, I was ahead of my peers at the time, so they let me into the army early. I didn't see a lot of combat until about three years ago, I believe, and then it's just been the military life ever since." Cameron finished his story and he could tell Alexander and Athena were trying to place it together. While the two girls looked wholly unimpressed. 'Wow,' Cameron thought, 'tough crowd.'
"So you're just a soldier then, not even a Huntsman. Well you clearly can't be that strong then." Sapphire remarked. Athena hushed them and looked at him in an apologetic tone, but Cameron was just confused. So someone who fought people, was weaker then someone who fought, what? Animals? How did that make sense? Even if they were the things that attacked Jaune that the Huntsman fought, how were they any different than beefed up animals? Isn't someone who is capable planning, hell, holding a weapon more dangerous the any animal out there?
"Excuse my daughters; ever since they became Huntresses themselves, they have been quite opposed to the military in general. I've been trying to make them see that we need the armies because Huntresses and Hunters can't be everywhere at once." Athena explained.
"But just one Huntress is worth more than one hundred soldiers, so why not just train more of us." Artemis spoke this time. Oh so they were more about quality then quantity. He could understand that, but he didn't necessarily agree. Sometimes numbers make the difference, because if one person is attacked by hundred, all at the same time, very rarely will the one person survive.
"Well I'm sorry that you think that, but I've been trained to be able to handle myself." While Cameron wasn't quite sure how tough a Huntsman was, he was certainly no ordinary soldier. He was practically genetically engineered to be the perfect killing machine, but he apparently chose his words wrong.
"Are you trying to say that you're as good as us? Please, I've fought Grimm tougher than you, and they didn't even last a second." Artemis spoke. It seems that both daughters were getting riled up. Alexander and Athena looked at them angrily; Cameron also noticed that they weren't quite disagreeing. Huh, so maybe Huntsman were powerful, but maybe they didn't know what he was capable of.
Jaune continued to try and shrink on himself, mumbling about how this happens every time his sisters are in town. Well, they must have certainly been the life of the party.
"I'm sorry Cameron; sometimes my daughters can be rather blunt with their opinions. Something I've been trying to make them realize isn't always the best approach." Alex said with a firm glare on the two girls, but they continued to look at Cameron with barely hidden disgust.
"No, no, please, don't apologize. This is your household, I'm just glad that I was allowed to come, let's just try and leave this all behind." Cameron tried to change the conversation, which Alexander and Athena looked grateful of, but Jaune finally decided to speak, and not the words Cameron wished to hear.
"I bet he could beat both of you at the same time." If Cameron thought that the girls looked mad before, getting called out by their little brother was the last straw. Artemis went from a glare of rage, to a smug smirk in an instant.
"Well let's see if you're telling the truth then, Jaune. So we can put you back in your place." Both girls got up and stormed to the back yard. Jaune looked at the parent's of the Arc clan, and noticed two different expressions. While Athena was angry, she looked a little excited to see how this would play out, but Alexander was mumbling something about this happening every time they had company over.
"I'm so sorry Cameron. I don't know what has gotten into those two. You, of course, do not have to give into their demands. And as long as you're a guest in this household, they will remember that." Alexander spoke with a firm voice. He could tell that he was going to add more to the sentence like, or I will make them, but he decided against it.
Cameron looked at Jaune, and he could tell that if Cameron backed down, Jaune was going to get thrashed by his sisters instead. Cameron sighed, "No, no, its fine. A friendly spar might be good for them."
"Yeah, friendly." Jaune said with sarcasm dripping off his voice. Cameron stood up from the table and went outside to see that both girls were already waiting. They did both look surprised that Cameron even came outside; expecting him to wimp out, but Cameron wasn't one to back down from a fight.
"I see that you decided to take your beating. I suppose I can respect that. At least, a little bit." Artemis said with a smirk. Cameron just shrugged. He decided against grabbing his weapons, not knowing how much they would hurt the two girls, while the girls also left their weapons, expecting an easy victory.
"Well, let's just get this over with." Cameron got into a neutral fighting stance and his expression immediately went blank. There was a strange presence emanating from him that only the parents noticed.
'Interesting, maybe this won't be so one sided after all." Alex thought.
'Maybe he'll be able to win this.' Athena thought with a smirk.
'Oh, why am I so stupid,' thought Jaune. He was the one with the most to lose, depending on how the fight went.
Both girls didn't wait for someone to stay start, they merely rushed at him. While Cameron was surprised with their speed, he didn't let it show on his face. He could tell that these two weren't even nearly as close to the man who had killed his entire squad. While they may have thought they were going fast, to Cameron it looked like they were walking. A dark presence was surrounding him, enhancing his senses.
'Huh, this is interesting.' Cameron felt it too.
As Artemis was the first one to approach, she tried to end it immediately with one quick front kick to the face, but Cameron was expecting that.
'And they're predictable. I guess it doesn't matter when you're just fighting animals, but humans are a whole lot smarter.' Cameron got her foot and quickly twisted it around so she was facing the ground. Just because someone was strong, didn't mean that they were immune to the law of physics, and how the body will bend to avoid injury.
While still holding onto Artemis' foot, Sapphire had finally reached him and was also attacking with a kick. Cameron used the other girl's leg to block the kick, causing Artemis to cry out in pain, and have Sapphire look confused, but that momentary hesitation was all it took for Jaune to deliver a throat punch to the second girl.
While Cameron knew nothing about aura, he was lucky that blunt force could still be painful. That's why they could still get bruises, and why getting hit in the neck hurt so bad, especially by someone who was trained to fight people tougher than course, Cameron didn't know what Aura really did, it was more just hopeful thinking on his part, because if aura was what protected the Maniac from bullets, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be doing to hot. Artemis tried to sweep out his legs from under him, but Cameron just jumped over her legs, before swiftly kicking her in the face. While it didn't do much damage, it caused her to stumble which was all Cameron really needed. He only had to create opportunities where they weren't at their best.
Sapphire had finally recovered from her throat being closed off from air, and she tried to punch Cameron. While it certainly had power behind it, it was still predictable. When fighting a stronger opponent, use their strength against them. Cameron slipped past her arm, before grabbing it and throwing her over his head. She hit the ground with a thud, but it just dazed her for a second, then she took a hard steel toed boot to the head, which made her a little dizzy.
Cameron wasn't above hitting someone on the ground if it ended the fight, because there was no honor in war, as much as people say there is. Cameron barely dodged another kick from Artemis, but he realized something. 'She must not know how to fight without her weapon.'
While both were certainly powerful, they clearly relied on their weapon too much in battle. Cameron however, was trained to never rely on his weapon, but only on himself. And it showed in how different they were. Both the girls were constantly attacking, while Cameron waited for an opportunity to counter attack. From the amount of strength that both of them had, he was certain he would lose a head on fight with, trying to go blow for blow.
Cameron slipped past her punch, while also landing a powerful right hook to her chin. He then swept her legs out from under her before he performed an ax kick, and kicked her straight into the dirt. Cameron must have put way more force in it than he though because he saw the ground crack a little.
Sapphire was up again on the assault, and pressed Cameron so he had to back pedal. After one of her kicks, punched her hard in pressure point on her leg, causing her to halt for a moment from the pain, before smashing the side of his hand into the tendon on the neck, making her collapse on herself. Artemis looked like she was pissed and tried to kick Cameron again, which was a mistake since he just used Sapphire as a human shield. Her facing being the shield that got hit. With that powerful kick, Sapphire was thrown sideways, which caused Artemis to watch her sister fall to the ground.
Another thing they lacked was focus. Cameron had to be able to watch his friends die in front of him without batting an eye, because if he didn't, he would be the next one to die. This was the mistake that Artemis made because he tackled her into the ground. While she may be stronger he had an easy fifty pounds on her, more than enough to make her fall to the ground. He then hit her in the throat, much like he had done to Sapphire, before he blocked her punch by catching it in-between his arm and his side.
Cameron then threw both of his legs on top of her, with her arm inbetween them and pushed down to the point that her arm was about to break. He could feel her fighting back, but her positioning and lack of knowledge on how to get out of it, was surely going to end with her failure.
"Are you done?" Cameron asked. Artemis was still trying to fight, but with a little more effort, she could already start to feel the pain, so she just nodded and Cameron immediately released her arm. But Cameron knew this wasn't going to be over yet. He had to take one of them out of the fight because he could only go for so long fighting both of them.
Sapphire got back up on wobbly legs and rushed Cameron. Cameron could tell she was still a little out of it, so he just started whittling her down. He started with a quick jab right to the nose, immediately followed by an uppercut before shooting in on with a double leg take down. He lifted her into the air and threw her onto the ground pretty hard. The wind was knocked out of her at least. He then went onto her back and wrapped his arm around her neck and locked his legs onto her body. He held his arm in place with his other arm, making a trap around her neck. While it was possible to get out of this if you were an experienced free style wrestler, she probably just would try to force he way through it.
She was already losing air fast, struggling not helping that supply, until she started to struggle less. As soon as that happened, Cameron let go, not wanting to hurt her too badly. She flopped onto the ground trying to regain her breath, while Artemis was fuming slightly farther away, cradling her arm. She probably had a pulled muscle, but if she had this aura thing that saved Jaune, he was sure that would go away pretty quick.
Cameron stood up, barely looking like he even broke a sweat before walking back to the parents who looked… almost happy? He was expecting anger because he just choked at one of his daughters out, but it seems like they were waiting for this.
"Well, girls, what did we learn here today?" Alexander asked with a smug smile. Both girls refused to answer. Alexander walked up to both of them and looked them dead in the eye. "Never, on any occasion, underestimate your opponent or else they will kill you. Cameron could've not only broken your arm Artemis, but he could've killed you if he kept going. If he was an enemy, he would cost me two of my daughters." The last part was said softly causing both girls to look at their feet.
"We're sorry, Dad." They said in unison. Alexander had a small smile as he wrapped both girls in a hug, already giving them pointers on where they went wrong. Cameron had walked up to the porch when Athena stopped him.
"You're probably one of the best trained soldiers I've ever seen. How come your nation hasn't tried to expand?" Athena asked. Cameron knew he could tell the truth.
"We're more of a self-protection kind of nation. We don't bother anyone, as long as they don't bother us." Cameron said. While this wasn't technically true, it would have to be true in this world. Athena accepted her answer before asking a question out of the blue.
"Tell me," she said, "do you have somewhere to sleep tonight?" Cameron immediately tried to disagree, but he could tell that she knew he was lying this time, so he just sighed in defeat.
"How could you tell?" Cameron asked.
"Well, you haven't changed since we last saw you, and I'm pretty sure everything you own is in that back pack of yours, isn't it?" Cameron scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'm sure I can find somewhere else to sleep. I've slept in much worse conditions, for much longer periods of time." But Athena wouldn't have it.
"No, you saved my son and you taught my children a lesson that might save their lives someday. I want you to stay the night, please." While it seemed like a request, he knew it was more of an order. Cameron nodded his head in acceptance, knowing not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Refuse once to be polite, but refuse twice and it was just being rude.
Alexander Arc walked up to Cameron with a slap on the back that made him stumble. The man was as strong as on ox, and Cameron definitely didn't want to get on his bad side.
"So I see that my daughter have finally learned something from someone they believe to be weaker than them. I'm glad it was at least in a controlled environment, and not on the field." Alexander said. Cameron was so confused by this family. He was getting compliments from the parents from the two girls that he had beaten the living daylights out of. "And not only that, you beat them while they still had aura."
Cameron finally decided that maybe he should ask was Aura even was, because it seemed important. "I have a question," Cameron started, "What is Aura?" While Jaune and the two girls looked baffled, the two girls couldn't believe they just got beat by someone without their Aura unlocked, the parents just nodded, realizing that's what had been different.
"I see. Aura is the projection of our soul onto to our bodies to protect us from harm." Alex realized this wasn't working for Cameron when he looked at him disbelievingly. "Imagine this then; whenever we have our Aura unlocked, we have a shield that surrounds us from danger. This also increases our strength and our speed, as well as being able to progress quicker. But with those pros, there are also cons to having this ability. We become more targeted by Grimm, because our souls are what cause the Grimm to attack us. They want to take away the souls of people, since they don't have souls themselves. At least, that's the theory. We can never be truly sure of this though since we cannot study Grimm as of right now." Alexander finished and saw that Cameron was just trying to take in his words.
"So it's a shield that protects you from danger. That sounds very useful; I'm guessing it also speeds up healing then?" Cameron asked. Alexander nodded.
"Although Cameron, you seem special. Not only does your aura not seem to be unlocked, I believe you could be the first ever person that doesn't have Aura at all." Alex saw his confusion and continued, "Every single person on Remnant has Aura, but it's just not always unlocked. But, deep inside every person, their Aura is locked away, just trying to be freed and anyone with their Aura unlocked can sense it with the right amount of training. However, I can't sense anything from you; you're almost not here in a way."
Cameron nodded, not being entirely surprised about it. Well of course he doesn't have Aura; he's not from this planet so why would he be under the same rules as them. But for Jaune and the two girls, this surprised them. Jaune couldn't believe that someone like that existed, while the daughters couldn't believe that they got beat by someone without Aura.
"So Cameron," Athena started, "how do you not have Aura?" Cameron's sweat dropped, knowing that this could either go well or very poor.
"Would you believe me if I said I was from another world?" Cameron asked. The Arc family simply laughed at it, taking it as a joke.
"If you don't want to tell us, that's fine, a man is allowed to have some secrets. But we will figure it out one day." Alexander stated. Well, Cameron did tell the truth, but they didn't have to know that. Maybe he should keep it under wraps before he could fully explain it himself.
The family and Cameron said their good nights and Athena led Cameron to his room. Athena said it was one of the daughter's beds, but apparently they were out on a mission. This world confused him beyond no compare, maybe he should try to learn a little more about it so he doesn't get caught off guard again.
As he lied in the bed, he wondered if he would ever be able to go back to his world, but he had sinking feeling that it probably wouldn't be for a very, very, long time. And with that Cameron went to sleep.
So there it is. The next chapter will com out tomorrow, but then i'm probably going to slow it down, maybe going for once a week.
