Chapter 04: Into the Swamp
~Night of the Second Day~
-36 Hours Remain-
"For the record I blame you!" Jaune shouted having to duck as a stream of fire shot over his head.
After deciding to listen to Tatl about finding a tougher opponent, he eventually found a cave that held two Dodongo's. What Tatl failed to mention was that they were freaking dinosaur like creatures bigger than a car that can breathe fire.
His hair was already singed from that.
"Relax they're still young so they're not that big-." Tatl tried with Jaune whirling around to balk at her, having to jump back to avoid being cooked.
"They get bigger?!"
"Not the point," Tatl said with Jaune taking cover behind a huge rock as fire blasted it, the flames shooting around them, nearly melting the rock. "Because it's young their tails are the weak points or you can throw a bomb and it'll eat them."
"They eat bombs?" Jaune asked incredulously.
"I didn't say they were smart, Dodongo's are usually pretty stupid." Tatl said with a shrug.
Giving a sigh, Jaune found himself lucky he still wasn't a Deku Scrub otherwise he would have burned up pretty fast. Still he had to focus. So reaching into his Gear, he produced a bomb, the fuse lighting immediately due to the air reaching it.
Counting to three, Jaune chucked it and the Dodongo opened its mouth catching it, the bomb exploding immediately as it collapsed winded.
'It's not dead?!' Jaune thought bewildered before realizing the second one was missing.
He could tell where it was when he heard an intake of breath behind him and he dove over the rock to dodge another fire blast, running as soon as it let up to get behind the first Dodongo, using Crocea Mors to stab its tail-why was it blinking red now?
"Get back they explode when they die." Tatl warned too late, Jaune having to use his shield to block the blast, his clothes being torn a bit as he was sent skidding across the ground, sparks coming off the armor parts.
"You could've warned me that beforehand." Jaune muttered dazed in pain but the thundering footsteps of the second Dodongo brought him back to reality despite his ears ringing from the blast.
"Sorry, I keep forgetting you're from not from Termina, it's common knowledge about Dodongo's exploding upon death." Tatl apologized to the blonde as he pushed himself up. "If you're not up to it we should go."
"No let's finish this." Jaune muttered as if he ran his training wouldn't mean much.
Sure it could be argued that he definitely improved considering what he just took down but he needed to improve further. Besides what kind of hero ran away from a fight?
Tatl looked at Jaune before giving a nod.
It was his choice after all.
So, Jaune got ready and threw a Deku Nut, the blinding flash making the Dodongo back up in pain as Jaune used that to his advantage to move behind it, however the Dodongo heard him and spun around, his tail catching Jaune by surprise as he felt blinding pain in his ribs showing he might've broken one and was sent flying back into the wall where he tasted iron.
"Jaune?!" Tatl quickly took the attention off of him by flying around the Dodongo making it snap at her. "Get out of here!"
Jaune gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up, gasping in pain now knowing that he wouldn't make it far with this injury slowing him down and the Dodongo would no doubt take advantage of that.
So he moved as silently as possible while Tatl was keeping the Dodongo distracted before lunging as he cut the tail right off with the Dodongo roaring in pain, now blinking.
This time Jaune dove out of the way, dodging the explosion but he grimaced as he rolled to his feet.
Oh man that was painful-.
Tatl added to that by tackling his head.
"Are you an idiot?!" Tatl shouted at him while Jaune rubbed his head. "I told you to run, you could've gotten yourself killed."
"Hey we lived right?" Jaune asked with a grin but Tatl was glaring at him.
"Through sheer dumb luck, if you died everyone would be screwed or have you forgotten only you can travel back in time?"
… Okay Tatl had a point about that, Termina would be screwed if the only person capable of rewinding time to prevent the end of the world died because of stubborness.
Seeing that Jaune got what she was implying, Tatl's wings drooped. "Don't get me wrong you're getting better but you need to be careful."
Jaune gave a nod at that.
"... How bad is it?" Tatl asked as she saw how Jaune seemed to be favoring his left side a bit.
"I think I broke a rib." Jaune answered honestly wincing as movement hurt. "Should I play the Song of Time?"
"I don't think that would work, do the injuries heal?"
"Maybe? I mean I was fine when we did it the first time after getting thrashed by Skull Kid, but I was too preoccupied trying to make sense of it to be sure." Jaune said with a shrug.
Tatl went quiet in thought before speaking. "Let's get you to the Fairy Fountain, it'll heal your injuries up."
~Dawn of the Final Day~
-24 Hours Remain-
Jaune sighed in relief as after a long, painful walk his ribs did seem to mend when he was in the Fairy Fountain, it was painful when it did mend but the relief outweighed it.
The Great Fairy just looked at him in amusement before looking at Tatl. "You realize my Fountain isn't a hospital right?" She asked with Tatl looking a bit sheepish as she tried to explain but the Great Fairy gave a small laugh. "Don't worry I don't mind, I think I can make an exception for him as long as the Skull Kid remains an issue."
"Thank you Great Fairy." Tatl bowed her head as Jaune stood up before she looked at him, hissing. "Show your gratitude."
Jaune looked a bit put off by that but he gave a slight bow as he remembered that the Great Fairy seemed to be revered by the other fairies for some reason and he didn't want to accidentally offend her.
Thankfully the Great Fairy seemed more amused than anything else.
"It's getting close to when you'll have to restart the whole cycle isn't it?" The Great Fairy asked with Jaune hearing the annoyance in her tone showing she would be back to being broken again.
"If you can remember the rewinds, why can Skull Kid still break you apart?" Jaune asked curiously because the first time she said that Skull Kid caught her off guard.
"I'm already shattered when you get to that point." The Great Fairy elaborated to him. "But with that mask on him I doubt I'll be much help against him anyways."
There was some bitterness in her tone now at that making Jaune look away before sighing. "Right, well I'm going to go practice a bit more, thank you for letting me heal here."
"Mr. Arc a moment," The Great Fairy spoke up right before he could leave, the blonde turning towards her. "When you do start the cycle over again, might I suggest playing the Song of Time backwards when you do?"
"Play it… Backwards?" Jaune asked surprised to hear that but the Great Fairy just smiled and disappeared into the Fountain once more. "Any idea what she means?"
"You're asking the wrong fairy." Tatl said dryly as she still didn't understand how that Ocarina of his worked.
~Night of the Final Day~
-12 Hours Remain-
It was strange to see the town so empty again as Jaune walked through it after spending the day training, looking around with a sigh before he blinked at seeing a familiar face. "Oh hey Jim." He said to the leader of the Bombers.
Jim whirled around and gave him a suspicious look. "Who are you?" He asked not knowing him with Jaune blinking before doing a facepalm. "How do you know my name?"
Right he only met Jim as a Deku Scrub but more than that everything started over, so even if he met Jim in his normal form he wouldn't have remembered him.
This would be confusing.
"... Lucky guess?" Jaune tried with Jim keep giving him a suspicious look before Tatl intervened.
"Don't mind him, he heard your name walking around, we're tourists." She said with Jim giving a nod.
"Right, well if you need anything the Bombers will always help out." Jim said before he walked off. "Have to get home though."
As soon as he was out of sight, Tatl looked at Jaune. "What was that?"
"Forgot he wouldn't remember me," Jaune muttered with a sigh before looking up at the moon which stared menacingly back. "Just like how the Swordsman won't remember me."
Heh, he doesn't even know the guy's name but the man was awesome, both as a teacher and as a person.
Tatl went quiet now seeing what he meant. "By the Goddesses that would be confusing."
Jaune gave a nod. "How many times would we have to do this before we stop Skull Kid?"
He was already dreading the next time because he did one run, played it a second time to experiment with it and now he would do it again soon. Sure it was because if he didn't the moon would crash into the world, but it was like he had a clean slate everytime the only person remembering besides him would be Tatl and the Great Fairy.
"As many as it takes." Tatl said with Jaune agreeing with her. "Should we go ahead and rewind?"
"... Let me say goodbye to the Swordsman." Jaune said as despite it only being three days the Swordsman taught him a lot and the man wouldn't even remember.
So he wanted to give his thanks.
With that decided, he headed for the school with Tatl flying behind him, the two ignoring the ground shaking as some of Clock Town's inhabitants moved to get home quickly.
It was sad to see them so panicked but there wasn't anything he could do at this very moment.
Eventually they made it to the school and opened it only to pause as it was empty. "Hello?" Jaune called out hoping that the man would show himself if he heard Jaune's voice. "Sir are you here?"
"Jaune there's a note." Tatl said flying towards the wall where the Swordsman usually sits.
Walking towards it, Jaune read the note. 'I'll be on Vacation for a short while. Please don't look for me.'
"Oh." Jaune said a bit saddened by that as Tatl flew on his shoulder.
"We should go." She said as they turned to leave only to hear something fall.
Both of them turned towards the wall as they heard a bit of a whimper.
Quickly unsheathing his sword, Jaune slowly approached the wall before seeing that it looked weird so placing his hand on it, it gave away to show a hidden passageway. Naturally feeling curious, Jaune walked down the passageway to come into a storage room where the Swordsman was huddled in a corner shaking.
"S-Sir?" Jaune quickly sheathed his sword and ran to the man's side.
"Uuuuuurgh!" The Swordsman whispered not even looking at Jaune as he shook. "I'm scared… I can't take it! I don't want to die."
Jaune took a step back in shock at that.
The man while teaching Jaune was amazing, he threw a lot at him, helped him learn and yet here he was cowering away in fear.
… Because there wasn't anything he could do.
How would one stop the moon from falling? In fact in the first run he felt the same hopelessness that this man was obviously feeling, he was scared out of his mind.
This was just reminding people of how small they truly were.
"Jaune, we should go." Tatl said softly. "He obviously doesn't want anyone to see him."
Jaune however shook the man. "Get ahold of yourself." He said snapping the Swordsman out of his fear.
"Y-You?" The Swordsman looked ashamed at being caught like this. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you, why are you here hiding?" Jaune asked with the man tensing before he gave a slight laugh.
"What else can we do about that thing hanging around outside?! It's the end what else is there to do?"
Jaune looked down. "So you're hiding like this because you're scared?" He asked unable to believe that despite seeing it.
That made the Swordsman look at Jaune with a glare. "Don't act all high and mighty I can tell you're scared too, what do you think we can do about that thing?!"
"I might be scared but at least I'm doing something." Jaune snapped at him before Tatl pulled on his hood.
"Jaune your yelling isn't helping." Tatl told him with the blonde wincing.
He just… He actually looked up to this man after learning under him and to see him act like this.
"It doesn't matter, nothing can stop this." The man said with Jaune clenching his fists.
"You're wrong, there is a way to stop it." Jaune said looking at the man. "I promise you that it will be."
"Don't make an empty promise boy, it's unbecoming of a swordsman."
"So is hiding like this," Jaune said standing up to leave but he paused. "And it's not an empty promise, an Arc never goes back on their word."
As he left the Swordsman looked down still trembling but the words went through his head a bit before he looked up at the roof as if seeing the moon. "Is this truly the end?"
"Why would you do that?" Tatl asked him. "You do realize he won't remember this at all when we go back, it's for nothing."
"I know." Jaune said swallowing. "I just-. I reacted badly I'll admit."
It didn't help that the Swordsman was right because he was just as bad when he was trapped as a Scrub, but he at least tried to do something.
Tatl gave a slow nod right when Jaune pulled the Ocarina out and began playing it.
He barely hit the last note when the Swordsman came out with his sword, determination on his face ready to at least try, but it all disappeared in a flash of white.
~Dawn of the First Day~
-72 Hours Remain-
Jaune sighed as he walked out of Clock Tower with Tatl behind him back on the first day. "So yet another run." He said with Tatl giving a nod.
His clothes seemed to be repaired as well so there was that, but he was now Rupeeless again.
"Might as well get started." Tatl said with the two heading out to have the blonde practice his sword techniques.
It was the same routine for quite awhile.
Practice for three days, get some experience slaying monsters usually the Dodongo's and the Peahats-those last ones making Jaune unsure of which was more terrifying as they were some sort of flying plant with its weakness being its root, however it was protected by a circle of bladed leaves that spun in a circle-then it was to playing the Song of Time once more.
It was during this routine that he tried out the advice that the Great Fairy gave him and much to his surprise playing the Song of Time backwards actually slowed time itself down-it didn't really affect the people all that much just the flow of time itself so he was able to give himself more time to practice with.
Deciding to call it the Song of Inverted Time, Jaune was really milking it for all it was worth with practicing and he was feeling a lot more confident about his chances after the twelfth time playing the Song of Time.
Thirty-Six days of practice since he got here, about a month or so if he remembers correctly.
Man his sense of timing will be skewered if he gets back to Remnant.
Still not much happened except for him getting yet another mask from some dancing guy in Termina Fields after he ended up playing the Song of Healing for him.
It was called the Kamaro's Mask and all it did was have him dance like the guy.
Well that and it seemed that his traveling back in time had an effect on the Bomber's Notebook as it seemed to be repairing itself by showing the events he already did. Truth be told, Jaune isn't sure how that worked, maybe it had something to do with his Ocarina?
Still he's been using the blank pages to write down his progress-kind of a makeshift journal and all as well as writing down the places in Clock Town where he found Silver Rupees in case he needed them.
Jaune found himself wondering if time was repeating in Remnant as well or has he been missing for a month? If he was then his parents must be worried sick for him because he left a note saying he was heading to Beacon.
Chances are they would've checked and if he hasn't shown up it would be horrifying for them.
Just thinking about that has done nothing but made him feel miserable.
"Hey you ready?" Tatl asked bringing Jaune's attention from the Bomber's Notebook before he closed it.
"I am, so we're heading for the Swamp right?" He asked double checking his inventory as he liked to call it.
Turns out the bag was enchanted in a second way besides having infinite space-it was enchanted to where a person just needed to think about what to grab and they were able to find it easily which would make it extremely easy if he needed to switch to his bombs or Deku Nuts.
"Yeah the Swamp is home to a kingdom of Deku Scrubs, they usually keep to themselves though." Tatl explained with Jaune blinking before realizing that meant he might have to use his Deku Form to get around.
Well it wasn't too bad because he can switch to and from being that, besides he would learn more about the Deku's by doing that.
Still he did have a deadline.
"Let's get going."
Once more Jaune was in Termina Fields and was walking towards the Swamp Area a feeling of adventure coursing through him.
After spending what felt like a month of confining himself to the town, he will admit to being a little excited about what lay further ahead.
Tatl gave a gasp however as they passed a hollow log and flew on ahead, throwing Jaune through a loop before he ran after her to see her stopping by a tree with a peculiar drawing on it.
It took Jaune a second to see that it was a drawing of Skull Kid before he had the mask along with a purple and white dot that was more than likely Tatl and Tael.
Jaune kept quiet when Tatl spoke. "I remember this," Tatl said sounding like she was close to crying. "Tael and I drew this with Skull Kid when we first met him."
Just seeing this made Jaune remember what happened to Tael and he knew that Tatl was thinking the same thing before she continued.
"He told us he has been fighting with his friends and they left him all alone," Tatl whispered surprising Jaune. "We found him curled up inside of the hollow log on a cold, stormy night crying."
Jaune hesitated finding that hard to believe from what he knew of Skull Kid.
But he had to remind himself that Skull Kid wasn't always this heartless monster he saw.
"Back then, Skull Kid was childish and at times a little selfish but it was because he was afraid of being abandoned, he loved to pull pranks but always made sure to never take it too far," Tatl whispered her wings drooping. "H-He even went hungry one day to ensure Tael and I ate once… So why?"
That question caught Jaune off guard.
"Why did he kill Tael? Why is he trying to destroy the world? It doesn't make any sense," Tatl said and this time she was crying. "That isn't Skull Kid, there's no way it is."
As she cried, Jaune looked back at the drawing and saw the beak on the Skull Kid's face drawn into a smile and he knew that Tatl had a point. It made no sense.
"I… I don't know Skull Kid like you," Jaune began his voice catching Tatl's attention. "I can't say anything about what he was like or why he's doing this but he needs to be stopped regardless."
"I know," Tatl snapped at him. "But that doesn't make this any easier."
"I would've been worried if it did," Jaune told her concern on his face. "Do you need a minute?"
Tatl looked from Jaune to the drawing before speaking. "No, we need to hurry before it's too late."
It was a pretty quiet trek towards the Swamp after that moment, neither Jaune or Tatl said anything but it was broken by a wolf's howl as a silver furred wolf ran out of the tree lines.
Tatl quickly got to work as Jaune unsheathed his weapons a bit freaked as he thought this was a Beowolf at first. "Careful it's a Wolfos," She said urgently to Jaune. "Their forelegs are armored and they are adept at blocking attacks, lure them in and watch their movements. They really don't like their tails being touched as it's unarmored."
Giving a nod as he heard that, Jaune quickly blocked a strike from the Wolfos and jumped back before jumping to the side but the Wolfos was smart enough to avoid leaving its tail unguarded as it was turning with him.
'Wait watch their movements… That means that it follows a pattern.' Jaune thought jumping back again his eyes looking over the Wolfos before realizing it pauses to take a breath for two seconds.
Not that much time but it was the only window of opportunity that he had.
So gripping Crocea Mors, Jaune jumped out of the way of the next two swipes before rushing in as the Wolfos was breathing heavily, stabbing its tail with enough force to make it erupt into flames, killing it.
Giving a slight smile, Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors. "I think I'm getting the hang of this."
"Don't get too cocky." Tatl reprimanded him in amusement this fight seemingly taking her mind off of what happened.
Jaune was about to answer when he heard a few more howls and saw four more Wolfos running out showing that he only killed one of a pack.
"Okay time to go." Tatl said as Jaune only fought one on one with these monsters or two on one considering the first encounter with the Dodongo.
Giving a nod, Jaune got moving.
It didn't take long to lose them as now they were walking on. "You alright Jaune?" Tatl asked as they moved seeing a frown on his face.
The reply was immediate. "I'm fine."
He was a little sore that they had to run from four Wolfos when he's heard stories of how some Huntsmen can easily slice through a legion of Beowolves.
Was his training even doing anything?
Shaking his head, Jaune continued on with Tatl giving him a look that showed she didn't believe him but she didn't push as they made it to a lake, a sign calling this place Southern Swamp passing by an owl statue.
There was a dock with a boathouse up on a platform above the lake that looked pretty nasty-why did it look purple near a cave where a giant monster was staying?
In fact why was that monster just staying there instead of attacking?
A bit on edge, Jaune casually grabbed a rock and tossed it into the purple part of the lake.
The sizzling sound it made did nothing to calm him down. "Oh great an acid lake."
"That's not right, the lake is supposed to be clear." Tatl said in shock as she's been here before.
'I wonder if Skull Kid had something to do with this.' Jaune thought not putting it past the guy before wondering how the rest of the lake remained poison free.
"Ho-ho-ho-ho-hoot!" A voice made Jaune jump as he turned to see a rather large owl settled on top of the statue that looked eerily like it. "This is a rare sight. You are a fairy child, correct?"
"Fairy Child?" Jaune asked in confusion his brain trying to process that he was talking to an Owl.
Then again he seen a lot of other weird stuff that this was rather tame in comparison.
Ignoring the question, the Owl spoke. "What business do you have in this poisoned swamp?" He tilted his head curiously. "If you dare not pass any further, I shall pass no judgement. It is better that you retreat until you are ready to return."
That made Jaune glare at the owl but he felt some relief.
He wouldn't be judged at least for not being ready, that was the last thing he needed with everything going on.
"This Swamp you are in lost its Guardian Deity, but it was destined to fade anyways." The Owl spoke making Tatl perk up.
"Guardian Deity, that must be one of the four we were sent to retrieve." She whispered with Jaune frowning.
"But if it was lost how do we do that?" Jaune asked making her wings droop.
Still a freaking deity was lost? Wasn't that a God or something close to one?
If Skull Kid took that down he must really be out of his mind to think he can win against the guy.
The Owl looked at them critically as he heard them talking. "You remind me of someone I knew so long ago only he wore green." He said to Jaune making the blonde blink in confusion. "Or perhaps my tired eyes are playing tricks on me."
With that he rotated his head making Jaune grimace as while it was upside down it looked like the owl had a second face that seemed to peer in him.
Seeing that was unsettling the teen, the Owl rotate its head back to normal. "Hoo-hoot! Still the destiny you seek is not solely restricted to this Swamp Mister Arc."
That surprised Jaune while Tatl was now more weary of this owl. "How do you know my name?"
"I know many things." The Owl said being reminded of the young boy in green even more as he asked the same question. "If you have the courage and determination to proceed in the face of destiny, then I shall teach you something useful."
"Something… Useful?" Jaune asked relaxing his stance a bit.
So far this Owl hasn't acted hostile and while he was on edge about it knowing his name he didn't think it would attack him.
Tatl looked between Jaune and the owl in confusion.
"The Stone Statue that bears close resemblance to me," The Owl explained making the two look closer at the statue. "I place those throughout the land to aid the one with the power to change destiny… Wherever he may appear. In order to use their power just play the song beneath my feet."
"Song beneath your feet?" Tatl asked in confusion only to give a yelp. "H-He's gone."
Jaune spun around to see that the owl was definitely gone, not a single feather remained.
How did something so big just vanish like that?!
Still he looked where the owl was to indeed see some notes and pulled out his Ocarina, playing them. The melody that followed was a short and sweet one before he was suddenly in Clock Town in front of the first owl statue he saw.
"W-What just happened?! Tatl asked pure confusion on her face. "D-Did we go back in time again?!"
"No, it's still bright out, if we did the sun would just be rising." Jaune said unsure of what happened himself.
Looking at the Ocarina he swore he heard the Owl's voice. "May the Soaring Wings take flight."
"Soaring wings?" Jaune muttered before doing a test thinking of the owl statue in the Swamp as he replayed what he just learned and they were suddenly there. "A song that allows teleportation?!"
Shaking her head as the teleportation kind of threw her off, Tatl gave a nod. "That would be incredibly useful, especially if we find more of those statues."
"Yeah they would." Jaune said looking back to where they saw the Owl.
Just who was that?
"Welcome," Jaune couldn't help but stare at the huge behemoth of a man behind the counter as he entered the elevated house, who wore a brown vest that didn't do anything to hide his physique, he also wore a hat of some sort with blue goggles on his face. "Wait is this your first time at the swamp?!"
"Y-Yes?" Jaune answered unsure what he was getting at.
The man looked a little apologetic. "Normally I would've let you take a free swamp tour but with how dangerous it's been getting I'm not sure that would be a good idea, especially with all of the monsters becoming more dangerous as of late or those Deku Scrubs being hostile."
"The Deku's are being hostile?" Tatl asked in surprise, her appearance made the man look at her with a slight frown. "What?"
"It's nothing, I have a son that's obsessed with fairies," The man said before answering her first question. "As for the Deku's apparently something happened that made them cut off all communication with everyone, not sure what though."
"That's not good." Tatl mused while Jaune looked thoughtful waving good-bye to the man as they left the shop. "The Deku Scrubs in the Swamp are usually pretty peaceful, the idea of them being hostile is bad."
Jaune gave a nod just agreeing with her because he had no idea what else to do. "Perhaps but we need to find this temple which means we need to find them."
"We don't even know if finding this temple will work," Tatl reminded him. "We're just going by what we thought Tael was saying."
"What else could it be?" Jaune asked praying she would have the answer but when she shook her head he sighed. "It's the only idea we have."
Seeing a path in the lake that wasn't purple, Jaune felt that he was better off going that way, especially since he saw a few lily pads that were set up like a path.
Gaining an idea, Jaune took his Deku Mask out. "I think I know how the Deku's get around." He said with Tatl noticing him looking at the lily pads.
"Makes sense, they can't swim yet they can traverse the swamp," Tatl mused to him. "Those pads will sink if you go on them normally but as a Scrub you're practically weightless."
"Good to know." Jaune placed the mask on his face and immediately wished he didn't as he stumbled, grunting in pain as the soul inside of the mask began to interact with his own.
The contact of the two souls merging made Jaune scream in agony as the mask turned him back into a Deku Scrub with him hunched over panting.
"Jaune?" Tatl flew close to him. "You alright?"
"T-... Vat just happened?" Jaune asked remembering how he had to speak as a Scrub.
Shaking his head, Jaune decided to leave that question for later because they only had three more hours of sunlight left until the first day ended which meant they had to hurry.
With that in mind, Jaune began to hop towards the lily pads, Tatl taking cover in his hood.
…
It didn't take long for him to reach a hut in a rather large tree in the shape of a giant kettle, the water looked extremely clear in comparison to the rest of the lake, a grotto being nearby as well.
Tilting his head in confusion, Jaune took the Deku Mask off expecting pain but to his surprise there was none leaving for him to look at the mask in contemplation.
Why did he feel pain when he first put it on?
Putting it up, Jaune began to climb the ladder and saw this place was a 'Magic Hags Potion shop'. Given it was a shop he didn't feel too guilty about entering where he saw an elderly woman with white hair and a blue gem on her forehead dozing off a bit, but she jerked awake when he closed the door. "Welcome to Magic Hag's Potion Shop, we're open from Six in the Morning to Six at Night, how can I help you?"
"Just browsing," Jaune answered looking at what she had. "So do you get a lot of business out here?"
"Tch used to," The woman muttered in annoyance. "Ever since the Scrubs started their hatred on those monkeys I haven't seen any business."
'Monkeys?' Jaune thought not getting how that worked before noticing that the woman looked at the time in worry.
"Is something wrong?"
His question made the woman look at him in surprise. "It's nothing, my Sister just hasn't gotten back yet," She said a hint of concern in her tone despite saying it wasn't a problem. "Koume left this morning to head into the woods out back for some mushrooms but she hasn't come back yet."
"Is it dangerous out there?" Jaune asked in concern.
"Just as dangerous as anywhere else, Koume is tough." The woman said, waving it off. "So you going to buy anything?"
"I can look for her if you want."
That surprised the woman while Tatl shifted inside of his hoodie. "Jaune we don't have the time for that-."
"Well I can't exactly stop you from doing that," The woman said a bit hesitant. "Here."
She handed him a bottle with red liquid in it.
"It's a health potion, in case you find her and she needs it," The woman said before frowning. "If she doesn't and you find her tell that old hag that Kotake is annoyed with her."
Jaune gave a nod, exiting the shop as he placed the bottle in his bag.
"Jaune we're on a time limit here." Tatl reminded him. "Are you seriously going to waste it finding someone?"
"How is it a waste?"
"Because when we rewind time she'll just be out there again."
On hearing that Jaune stopped the implications sinking in.
Right, just like that woman he helped after turning back to human would be robbed because he wasn't there or at how the Skulltula would be back in the Clock Town Sewer because he hasn't killed it yet and how the Great Fairy was in pieces because he hasn't taken the Stray Fairy to the Fountain.
Sure on finding this Koume now she would be fine but on rewinding time she would be back in danger.
No matter what he does, he won't be able to help everyone because they'll just be in danger when he does go back.
"Still, we do need information on this place so perhaps this isn't a bad thing." Tatl said cutting into Jaune's thoughts.
"R-Right." Jaune said trying desperately to push that morbid thought to the back of his mind.
They had a lost sister to find.
To Be Continued…
Sorry for the wait before updating, I hope you liked the small fight scenes that Jaune has had so far as well as how he's been taking to training with the time travel ability but now he realizes one of the bad things that comes with it in regards to helping others.
For example when he spoke to the Swordsman he actually got the man back to his feet on the third day to at least try but the time travel erased that moment as well.
So let's get the reviews done and I'll have this posted soon.
Pokemonsuperallstarfan: Haha yes Yang would definitely be proud of that pun. As for him keeping the mask… We'll see when we get to that point. Typing the reactions to team RWBY and NPR's to either his masks or Tatl would be hilarious.
Diddeysquat: Yes they will and it's already showing.
Thehappyvampire: Yes they would be, especially since now he realizes the dark implications of them. Yeah it would definitely be foolish not to take advantage of it, but it also makes sense that after doing so for a month he would get antsy to test himself a bit more instead of confining himself to the same area. There will be other training chapters in the future.
Zaralann: Thank you and good point on the Aura-I might have something happen in the first temple but there's a chance that I might not.
Duskrider: Thank you, I figured it would help with changing Jaune's character a bit. As for revisiting Termina with his future team, perhaps?
Drmonicblood: Haha thank you, I can see why you would expect that but I'm happy that you enjoy this story.
Ultima-Owner: Nope, but his personality will be different depending on what form he takes.
Guest1: Yeah I can see what you mean-it's an obvious plot hole that I overlooked because I got so into typing the story and now that I'm aware of it I'm shaking my head at how stupid I was for typing that part. Thank you for bringing it to my attention and I changed it a bit to where only two or three sisters became huntresses but the rest don't so it's not just Jaune.
BetaZackFan: The bottle ones yes because they can be useful-I have no idea how to integrate the hearts realistically. He may get the Fierce Deity Mask.
BruceLeeNagato: Haha thank you.
Jbrew123: I would be amazed if it didn't irk anyone either but I hope I can keep this story entertaining for others.
Guest2: Thank you, MM was my favorite game right after OoT which was the first Zelda Game I played so the Hero of Time Link was the first one I knew. I hope to keep this up and keep the writing clear for everyone.
Zeldawolffang: Haha that would be fun to do but I don't know about that.
Shonisto: Huh that makes more sense.
No Vigilance: I know, it's a surprise that there isn't much.
ARSLothes: Huh that would be an interesting idea.
DarkBlur2005: Thank you, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Risedragon0009: Yeah, he still has a long way to go with a lot of these monsters, especially where the Gerudo's are concerned.