Beta Reader: Champion of Fate
Jaune felt as though his legs were on fire.
He has been following the others for nearly five days now. They would stop every night to get some rest, but Jaune felt like he was dying. Despite having his aura The three on horseback as they got to the entrance to a trail that went through the center of a forest on the western coast of Vale.
"Sooo where are we?" Jaune asked as he followed the other horseman down the path.
"Home." War said.
As the four of them began to walk down the path Jaune began to see movement all around him. It was the creatures of Grimm. They were following them through the forest, but strangely they seemed uninterested in attacking them.
"Why aren't they attacking us?" Jaune asked the group.
"They know better. The creatures of Grimm in this forest are very old and much smarter than any you've probably faced before. They know that we are stronger than them, and are waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack." War said.
"How many did we kill last time? two, three hundred?" Famine asked.
"At least." Death said.
"Damn. You guys really are good." Jaune said.
"We aren't called the four horsemen for nothing. Soon enough you will be able to succeed at such things as well. Now stay alert we are almost there." Death said.
Jaune nodded as they continued to walk down the path. After a little while longer they finally arrived home. It wasn't much, it was a two story house that wasn't very big but it was located in the middle of a wide open field that had a lot of what seemed like training equipment.
Jaune went and put his things in the house then came back out to the porch of the house and met the other riders. "So are you guys gonna show me what you look like now or what?" Jaune asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Don't see why not. Now that we are away from Beacon I see no harm in it. You two introduce yourselves while I go check on our guest." Death said as he walked around to the other side of the house as War and Famine grabbed their cloaks off and showed what they looked like.
War seemed to be no older than Jaune. He was about the same height as Jaune and almost as big muscle wise. He had almost completely pitch black colored hair that ran down to his shoulders while a few strands covered his forehead, the tips of his hair were also pure white. He had heterochromia iridium, his left eye was red while his right eye was blue. He wore a black coat with a bright red trim along the entirety of it, he also wore a dark red long sleeve shirt underneath the coat that had shoulder guards on it along with a red chest plate in the center of the shirt with a matching pair of gauntlets that attach to the sleeves of the shirt. He has a pair of black and red steel toed boots, along with a pair of black pants with black shin and leg guards the pants also have a belt that is equipped with a multitude of dust rounds. On his back sat his large two handed great sword. The blade was nearly all black only for the outline of the guard and blade itself which were red in color.
Famine had dark brown and the same color eyes. He was around six foot seven and was more on the lean side compared to the other riders. He wore a regular gray shirt with a small bag on the back and a pair of black pants. He wears a pair of tan fingerless gloves on his hands along with a pair of metal vambraces, along with what seemed to be a pair of light shoes compare to Wars boots. He carried his short knives on his waist with what looked like chains hanging off of them.
"You two look a lot more...normal than I had expected," Jaune said.
"What did you expect? Red skinned demons with horns and fangs?" Famine asked him.
"No. Just didn't expect you to look so normal. Kinda." Jaune said.
"I can understand that." War said.
"So how about you tell me your real names so I don't have to keep calling you by what rider you are." Jaune said.
"Names Daegan. Daegan Aedus." War said.
"Vince Lusro." Famine said.
"Nice to finally meet you, Daegan, Vince." Jaune said.
"Diddo." the two of them said at the same time.
The three of them then looked to the side and saw Death walk over with someone with him. He had hair as black as Daegan's with eyes as red as Daegan's armor. He wore a black jacket that had the symbol of a wolf over the left side of it. He was the same height at Jaune and Daegan he didn't have any weapon on him that was visible. He was considerably older than any of the three of them he was at least in his early to mid-twenties.
"Glad to see you three got the introductions out of the way. Allow me to introduce the other member of our group. His name is Daman Heolstor." Death said.
"Nice to meet you. So your Conquest huh?" Daman asked.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you." Jaune said with an outstretched hand.
Daman took it and shook it and then detached as Death began to speak.
"Now that introductions are out of the way your training will commence tomorrow. Go ahead and get settled in and we'll start your training tomorrow." Death said as he got a message on his scroll and he pulled it out to look at it.
"Aren't you going to show me what you look like too?" Jaune asked.
"Not today. But don't worry, you'll find out." Death said as he walked off to the side of the house.
"Where are you going, brother?" Vince asked.
"I have some hunter business to attend to so I will leave Jaune's training to you three for the time being until I return. Don't worry though I will be back in the next week or two! See you four later!" Death said as he summoned Despair and rode off.
Jaune looked at the others and they all shrugged in unison. The four of them then went into the house and Daman went and crashed on the couch and began to flip through tv channels. Daegan went up to his room and closed the door behind him since he was tired from the ride from Beacon. Vince showed Jaune his room before going to his own and crashing on his bed as well.
Jaune entered his room and closed the door behind him. He put his bag in a chair in the room and then got into his bed after slipping off his shirt and pants and putting on just some regular sweat pants. He then fell onto his bed as his legs gave out on him. He then proceeded to close his eyes and drift off into unconsciousness.
Pyrrah and the rest of team JNPR, or what was left of it at least, awoke in a groggy state. They were still upset by the fact their friend and leader was now gone and most likely never coming back. Pyrrah took it the hardest since she was the closest to Jaune. Nora was, uncharacteristically, extremely down and not at all her usual self. Ren was quieter than usual and only talked to his friends when he was asked something. The three of them along with all of team RWBY were just out of it. Even in combat class, they were extremely down and out of everything. They began to slack in class and as they were in the middle of one of Ports "lessons" when the three of them are called up to Ozpin's office.
The three of them walked together in silence as they approached the main building the three of them entered it and rode the elevator up to the top floor where Ozpin awaited them.
"Good you three are finally here. How are you three feeling?" Ozpin asked.
The three of them stayed silent.
"That's understandable. I know you three are going through a rough time with your leader and friend being forced to leave and all but trust me it will get better. I promise you that." Ozpin said as he took a sip of his coffee.
"What would you know of what we feel?" Pyrrah said.
Ozpin looked at her as he put his coffee down and he sat it back down on his desk.
"I know a great deal of what you feel. I have lost many things over my many years as both a huntsman and a headmaster. I have lost both precious friends, students, and many other things over the years. So do not say I know nothing about loss Ms. Nikos. I have known enough pain and loss to last five life times." Ozpin said silencing the red headed spartan.
The room then fell deathly silent until Ren decided to break the uneasy silence.
"Sir, what is it you really called us here for?" Ren asked as he stepped forward.
"I'm glad you asked. Since Mr. Arc is officially off of your team you will need to have a new fourth member for your team to take his place but not his position. That place will be taken by you, Lie Ren." Ozpin said shocking them all, Ren more than the others.
"You want to replace Jaune?!" Pyrrah yelled out.
"I have no choice, a team must have four members whilst attending Beacon. Either I get another member of your team or I will be forced to send you all home, and I do not wish to do that to such a promising team." Ozpin said as he heard Pyrrah grit her teeth together.
"Who is this new team mate of ours, sir?" Ren asked.
"I'm glad you asked Ren. Glynda! show her in please!" Ozpin said to Glynda who stood on the other side of the room.
Glynda walked over to a door in Ozpin's office and opened it and a young girl no older than any of the others were. She had long black hair, eyes as red as Pyrrahs hair, a black jacket with white trim and a matching black shirt underneath of it and matching black pants. She also wore black tenis-shoes with gray trim on them.
"Ren, Nora, Pyrrah meet your new team mate. Her name is Ailie Heolstor." Ozpin said.
Ailie walked up to them with an outstretched hand and both Ren and Nora took and shook it with a bit of hesitation. She then went to shake Pyrrahs hand but she crossed hers under her breasts so as to not shake the girls hand. Ailie caught on to what she was doing and pulled her hand back.
"It's nice to meet you three. I hope we can get along and work as a team better in the future." Ailie said.
"Agreed." Ren said.
"Yeah!" Nora said.
Pyrrha didn't say anything and glared daggers at her.
Ailie felt uneasy about how she was looking at her but could understand why. She averted her gaze from her new partner and looked back at the headmaster.
"Now you three should get to know her better. She will be the permanent new member of your team so I would suggest you get to know her a little better. You are all dismissed." Ozpin said.
Pyrrah stormed out of the room before anyone else and took the elevator down first. Ailie, Ren, and Nora waited for it to come back up and then rode back down together. They then proceeded to lunch where they met up with team RWBY who were currently enjoying their meals. Ailie walked over to what once was Jaune's seat that was now vacant.
"Do you guys mind if I sit with you?" Ailie asked.
"Yes." Pyrrah said in an angry voice.
Ailie got the message loud and clear and walked off from them and walked over to where she once sat with her old team. She ate her food by herself and then placed her head on top of her arms that were now crossed on top of the table.
"So that's your new team mate huh? She seems nice." Yang said as Pyrrah shot her a glare.
"Look Pyrrah we know you're upset about Jaune having to leave. we all are, but that's no reason for you to be acting this way. It's not her fault Jaune had to leave." Ruby said ass he munched down on a cookie.
Pyrrah let out a low grumble as she continued to eat her food.
Things are about to complicated.
Jaune was currently sleeping in his bed when he felt himself get kicked out of it by someone wearing steel toed boots.
"Get up it's time to train." Daegan said as he put his boot back on the ground.
"Couldn't think of an easier way to wake me up?" Jaune asked as he rubbed the spot where Daegan had kicked him.
"I could have poured freezing cold water on you if you prefer. But then again I'm not an evil jackass like Daman and Death. Only they sometimes use scalding hot water instead." Daegan said with a shudder.
"Never mind then." Jaune said as he got dressed.
"Hurry up. We got work to do." Daegan said as he walked out the door and down the stairs.
Jaune got finished putting his clothes on, strapped his sword onto his waist, and headed down stairs to find the others waiting for him outside. He walked out and saw a heard of astral horses riding past their house.
"The first part of your training will be to find and tame your steed. Good luck. Your gonna need it." Vince said as he patted Jaune on the back then walked out and leaned against the rail in the porch of the house.
"How do you know which one is my horse?" Jaune asked as he walked out in front of the porch and turned around to the others.
"That's the easy part. Taming it is the hard part." Daman said as he sat down on one of the stairs of the porch.
"That doesn't answer my question." Jaune said.
"It's simple really. He's gonna try to kill you." Daegan said.
"Kinda extreme don't you think?" Jaune said.
"Were the four horsemen. If you cannot tame your own horse you do not belong with us nor deserve to fight as a horseman. We all had to go through this trial so don't worry." Vince said.
"Thanks for the bode of confidence. Well here goes nothing." Jaune said as he walked towards the horses.
The horses notice him walking towards him and they begin to gallop away back into the forest. All except for one. It was as white as the clouds that floated above in the sky, had white flames coming off of its hooves, and was more majestic than anything Jaune had ever come across in his life.
And it was about to try and kill him.
"So I guess you're my horse huh? Alright, let's see how this is gonna work." Jaune said.
The horse reared back on its hind legs and sped towards Jaune.
Jaune rolled to the side and drew his sword and expanded his shield. He then charged the horse.
"First mistake." Daegan said as put up his feet up.
Jaune ran at the horse and as he neared it, it vanished into white flames. It then reappeared and slammed into Jaune sending him to the ground.
"Damn that looked like it hurt." Vince said as he opened a bag of chips.
Jaune picked himself up out of the dirt and got into a defensive stance. He looked around for the open field for it but couldn't see it. He then realized what was going on and quickly jumped out of the way as the stead came out of the ground again and tried to charge him again. Jaune rolled on the ground to dodge it and then got back onto his feet and rushed the horse as it was still trying to stop its previous charge.
Jaune charged towards the horse with the blade in hand and as he got close the horse disappeared once more. Jaune dodged again only for the horse to slam into his back sending him into the ground again.
"At least he's learning." Daman said as he opened a soda.
Jaune got back onto his feet and watched as the horse charged at him once more. Jaune looked down at his sword and his shield and threw them to either side of himself.
"I think he figured it out." Daegan said as he leaned forward in his chair.
Jaune stood completely still as the horse charged towards him with no signs of stopping before hitting him. As the horse made contact with Jaune's body instead of hitting him to the ground once more it instead fazed through him and stopped on the other side of him. Jaune turned around and found the horse looking at him.
The two began to walk towards one another and as they neared Jaune placed his hand on the horse's neck and began to pet it. The horse then leaned down a bit and allowed Jaune to hop onto its back.
The horse reared back onto its hind legs and then placed its feet back onto the ground with Jaune still on its back. Jaune motioned for the horse to walk over to his weapons and Jaune retrieve them as he then led it back over to the others.
"Well, I'll be damned the boy managed to do it." Daman said as he stood.
"Indeed. He was able to figure it out faster than we were able to." Vince said.
"The guys a natural. This is going to be fun." Daegan said as he stood up from his seat and the three of them walked over to Jaune and his new horse.
Jaune dismounted the horse and began to pet its neck as he noticed the others walk towards him.
"Not bad kid. You figured out how to tame your steed faster than Death did. That's impressive." Daman said.
"Thanks. So do I name him or does he have a name?" Jaune asked as he stroked the horse's mane.
"It's up to you really. The last couple horsemen of Conquest all named their horses Subjugationall different names but it's really up to you ." Vince said.
"That's fine with me. I'll call you...Justice! How that sound?" Jaune said as he continued to pet his horse.
"Now that you have your horse we need to get your new weapon. The weapon that all horsemen of Conquest have carried into battle." Daegan said.
"A bow?" Jaune asked them as he turned toward them with one of his hands still petting Justice.
"Yes but not just any bow, the bow of the Conqueror. And only you can get it." Daegan said.
"How am I going to do that?" Jaune asked as he stopped petting Justice.
"We can help you get there but you must retrieve the bow yourself. You must prove worthy of wielding it to those who have come before you. Prove that you are worthy of being named the Conqueror and the bow is yours. Fail...and you die." Vince said.
"Well, let's get this over with." Jaune said as Daman walked over and began to lead his horse over to another location so as to outfit it with the proper gear.
Daegan and Vince sat down on the ground along with Jaune and they began to channel their aura into him as he closed his eyes. This caused Jaune to enter into a meditative state. Jaune was then transported back to that pitch black world where he was once before in his dreams.
Jaune began to walk forward for what seemed like an eternity until, finally, he came upon a temple like structure. Jaune stepped inside and found that the golden rider that he had met the last time he was here was sitting in the center of the room as if he was waiting for him to come.
"Are you...the last horseman of Conquest?" Jaune asked aloud as he stepped toward him.
The horseman looked up from where he was looking and looked Jaune in the eyes. He then got up to his feet and was the exact same height as Jaune himself. He then quickly pulled out a bow, put an arrow on the string, and then pulled the arrow back.
Jaune quickly drew his sword and expanded his shield as the arrow flew through the air towards him. His shield blocked the arrow and then he felt two more quickly find their marks in the exact same spot. The last arrow lightly penetrated Jaune's shield so Jaune ran towards the golden knight and stabbed his blade forward without lifting his head from behind his shield.
The knight jumped back from the strike and loaded three more arrows onto his bow and fired them all. Two scraped Jaune and cut his shoulder while the last one just narrowly missed his neck.
As Jaune's shoulders bled in the shadow world his real body became damaged as well.
Jaune rolled on the ground as he dodged the arrows. If the bow was what he came here for all he would need to do is grab it and he'd be worthy. Right? Jaune broke the arrows that were embedded in his shield as he cut downward with his blade and then rushed the knight.
The knight loaded two more arrows onto his bow and aimed for Jaune's exposed legs. He let the arrows fly and the two arrows hit their mark making Jaune slow down a bit but not stop him.
Jaune kept running forward and slammed his shield into the knight's chest and he then let go of the shield to grab the bow only for it to phase through his hand as he made contact with it. He was then kneed in the gut by the knight sending him back and tumbling to the ground.
'I don't get it. Why wasn't I able to grab the bow? Unless...' Jaune thought to himself as he rolled out of the way of two more arrows.
Jaune regained his footing and quickly spun around and threw his shield at the knight hitting him square in the chest. Jaune then rushed at the knight and stabbed his blade into him. He then put his hand on the knight's chest plate to try and push him off of his sword only for his hand to be sucked into the knight's body. Jaune then pulled his hand out, causing the knight to fall back onto the ground, and it was encased in glowing yellow energy. That energy then went to his hand as the knight's body faded away and went up to his hand. The bow then began to form in his hand as it shined with a glorious yellow light.
"Huh. Who knew." Jaune said as he placed his fingers on the bow string and pull it back to test it. As he did so a quiver filled with arrows appeared on his back. "Hmm cool."
Jaune reopened his eyes and found both his shoulders gashed open along with his legs bleeding from where the arrows hit him. His aura quickly healed the wounds and he was now able to stand as he held the bow in his hand and the quiver of arrows was strapped to his back.
"Well damn that was fast." Vince said as he got back up onto his feet.
"Fastest I know of. How'd you do it Jaune? How'd you figure out how to get your bow?" Daegan asked as he too got to his feet.
"I kinda got it by accident. I had placed my hand on the knight's chest who I was fighting and my hand got sucked into him and when I pulled my hand out I had the bow. I got it by pure dumb luck." Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head.
Daegan and Vince looked at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates. They looked at one another then back down at him. And then they began to laugh. They began to roll on the ground laughing uncontrollably at Jaune. This went on for a good five minutes before they finally stopped and got back up with tears in their eyes.
"You two done now? Cause we need to get the real training underway." Daman said as he came back with Jaunes horse which now had a saddle on it.
"He's right. Jaune you ready to get started?" Vince asked as he pulled his twin chained short swords out.
"Sure let's get started this started." Jaune said as he was then kicked in the back by Daegan which sent him towards Daman.
Daman's hand changed into one that resembled an Ursas and hit Jaune towards Vince.
Vince wrapped his chained daggers around Jaune's body and flung him into a nearby tree, making the tree snap in two.
"The hell kinda training is this?!" Jaune asked in a pained voice as he picked himself up off the ground.
"Yours." Daegan said as he grabbed the grip of his blade and rested it on his right shoulder.
"I'm fucked aren't I?" Jaune asked again.
"Oh royally." Daman said as he took his weapon out of his coat.
Sounds of trees falling and wails of pain could be heard from miles around as the Grimm ran away from the forest in what looked like fear.
AN: Alright guys that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if so leave a review telling me about what you thought down below. See you guys later!
