Beneath The Elder Tree Chapter 4

Shortly after all the students had finished their respective battles they were debriefed, given some tips and points of improvement, and were dismissed to enjoy lunch.

After team RWBY and JNPR had their fill they promptly went to Professor Oobleck's classroom for their History, Politics, and Legends class. They were one of the first students to arrive so that they may get their preferred seating arrangements.

Once the whole class was filled, Prof. Oobleck had zoomed into the classroom like he always does, after taking a drink of what was always presumably coffee, he began right away on the subject matter.

"Good afternoon, I hope all of you had eaten well as today's topic is full of speculation and I hope to hear your fresh opinions. Now tell me class, when were the existence of Grimm first officially recorded? Yes Miss Schnee", Oobleck gestured to Weiss

"Officially the recordings of Grimm date back to about 300 years ago, though there may have been speculation that the Grimm may have existed much longer than that."

"Splendid Ms. Schnee, That is correct. Now why do you think it is necessary to at least have some awareness about this topic? All of you are capable of killing Grimm, you are able to protect the ones you love and your kingdoms so long as you are able. So why? Hmm how about you Mr. Arc", Oobleck asked rhetorically.

"Huh me?... Well knowing about your enemy is half the battle right? So the more we know, the better.", he put one of his hands behind his neck and he continued more seriously, "If the Grimm had been around for more than 400 years, then that means people have been suffering from their attacks for so long, we've and adapted and thrived but if you look at it from a historical perspective…"

"Go on Mr. Arc, It looks like you've been taking Professor Ozpin's lesson to heart"

Jaune nodded and continued," We've always been on the defensive, we've never really been winning, just surviving…or…",his face turned a bit pale not wanting to continue.

"Delaying the inevitable? Yes Mr. Arc that is a most compelling point." Oobleck's eyes became sharp as he said that, the room could feel the vibes of their Professor.

"All your Professors, including myself, have slain our fair number of Grimm during our active hunting days, reaching from hundreds to thousands and if there was one thing we had established is that there seemed to be no end to the Grimm."Oobleck pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued.

"We believe that there is a source, which I'm sure you've all heard of, The Origin. Naturally, the Grimm no matter how you see them, are definitely not a natural part of this world, so it has been theorized that they came from somewhere, and somewhere far to the Northeast, after so many risky long range observation and Grimm research, they seem to originate somewhere here. Back then most never really cared about it since they were happy living their lives in peace while the hunters defended them… until legions upon legions of Grimm had pushed humanity back to the brink of extinction 300 years ago. Now which of you still remembers a bit of the story?"

Ruby quickly raised her hands and stood up," OH I DO! When humanity was at its lowest, having been unable to push back the largest grimm invasion remnant has ever seen, the towns and villages further to the northeast of Vale were turned to nothing but ashes. The military even with the prized veterans and skilled warriors of the Hunter Corps suffered defeat after defeat due to the sheer number, unknown variety, and mixed unit tactics of the grimm that was never observed before and in a few months the last bastion in Vytal was Vale and if Vale had fallen, the other kingdoms would follow. The other kingdoms had forced marched their forces to help hold Vale but they were still a few days away.

The City was under siege, the King had ordered the royal forces to place the keep on lock down and demanded that whatever Hunters that were standing were to ensure that the grimm would not penetrate the keep, all well and good but the refugees were too many and could not all be accommodated so about two-thirds of the refugees were waiting outside the gates, begging to be let in.

The ground rumbled as the largest grimm any man has laid upon, it's intent was quite clear as it was closing upon the keep an army of the foul beasts beneath it, building crushed beneath it like twigs. Even the keep couldn't withstand that.

Soldiers dropped their weapons in shock, the people embracing each other and when hope was a dying ember, the dark clouds parted and the moon in its shattered glory had revealed unto the masses that a unknown group heroes stood in the beasts way.

A man with dark blonde hair, his armor dented and scratched, uniform and cloak in tatters wielding a sword that glowed like moonlight and a shield bearing the insignia of 2 Crescent Arcs,

A lady with strawberry blonde hair, fox ears, and a furry fox tail that had definitely seen better days, wielding two long amber and black whips that seemed to move with a life of their own

A man with short black hair covered in bandages over his uniform was the most injured of the three, blood still seeping into them, wearing dark ebony gauntlets and greaves, blades protruding from the elbows.

They must have lost their minds but despite their ragged and tired forms, they stood with dignity heads held high under the gentle light of moon. The blonde man had chanted something as a large aura glyph formed encircling the three and when the chant was finished, the man in front roared so loud that it even made the humongous grimm give pause and the three charged and with heroic daring, skill, tactics, and copious amounts of unknown artillery support they managed in taking down the biggest Grimm, one that was about the size of 8 story building or more!

Standing upon the corpse of the beast the dark blonde haired knight beckoned them to find their courage and fight " That we will show these monsters that humanity will not go quietly in the night. We will not simply lay down and die. Not while there is still moonlight to banish the darkness!"

They managed to defend the city and reinforcements from the other kingdoms arrived and it was not long until they managed to push the grimm back, the three were called,

"The Moonlit Heroes"

Due to their heroic defense of Vale and they were always at the forefront of the campaign, never resting until the campaign finished, their monikers as hunters were

"Aura Knight"

"Indomitable"

"The Mistress"

Ruby gushed as she always loved the inspiring things that the heroes of old would do.

"Thank you for that Ms. Rose. After that victory, mankind had beaten back the Grimm and had retaken lands that were lost. After so many victories… mankind had decided to rebuild itself for the next 20 years but at the same time it also became arrogant. They thought that this time it was time to get back at the creatures of Grimm. Exterminate them once and for all, so they began the expeditions." Oobleck visibly frowning but continued onwards, "Now what are your thoughts regarding this? How about you Ms. Belladonna?"

"Naturally if we had the power to push them back then we would also assume we have the power to crush them but judging as to the fact they still very much exist, means they failed."

"Yes that is right. Failure upon failure, hundreds of thousands dying, there have been no official records of anyone ever returning. They were well equipped and skilled, led by capably leaders."

"so what got em?", Yang chimed in, genuinely curious

"That Ms. Xiao Long, is still heavily debated upon, they say most died during the journey itself on the harsh environments, others say they were killed by legions of Monstrous Grimm, those of which have never been recorded, the superstitious say it's a curse. There have been a total of 25 expeditions. 100% fatality rate. Each expedition more prepared than the last. After the 25th, the kingdoms just decided to stop, and put them on hold, the losses having been too great a strain, a waste of resources and from what we have seen so far, maybe even forgotten as we simply just engage in protecting territory and focus on the problems within the kingdoms."

"But here is one thing I can tell you though. I managed to stand at the border of the first place you would need to cross to get to the origin if there really was, The Arid Bone yard. After the 25th expedition, there was a clear law that no one is to get within 25km of that place unless you had a death wish. I snuck away from the long range expedition camp and stood there curiosity getting the better of me. I was younger at the time, having the arrogance that came with it too. What I saw there, I would never forget. There remains hundreds of thousands of bones of the fallen, their swords and tattered armor, there for all to see, a shameful testament to man's arrogance. I felt the stares of thousands of Grimm, as their blood red eyes glowed making their presence know through the veil of shadows. I retreated back as fast as I could and managed to get away unscathed."

"It really makes me wonder if there is no way to stop the creatures of Grimm permanently… *sigh* but what matters now is that you, the next generation are at least mildly aware of this and that maybe in the future things will change and I hope you will be the ones to usher a new age. So for now just leave the theories I mentioned in your notebooks and the back of your minds and just focus on the now. We have enough problems to deal with already. You are all dismissed."

"Well that was kinda depressing…"Yang stating the obvious as the group walked along the corridors.

"Yes but it does bring some things to consider in the long run. Can humanity really survive?" Blake mentioned offhandedly.

"That's what we're here for! No matter how many come we'll just keep being the awesome teams we are and be protectors of humanity, Right Ruby?" Nora smiles as she does a heroic pose with a imaginary pink mushroom cloud behind her.

"Exactly!' Ruby posing too, cloak billowing from some strange wind from god knows where.

"Now that we've shaken of that depressing feeling, why don't we go off into town and have some fun?" Yang offered.

"Sure!" Everybody nodded in agreement

The two teams went into the city center and enjoyed the food festival. Stalls line up the streets with foods coming from all corners of remnant, lights, dancers and performers in designated areas making it more festive.

The two teams enjoyed themselves and decided to break off and explore more.

"Hmmm… I'll meet with you guys later, I'd like to check something out. I'll meet you guys at the Airbus station"

"Sure Jaune, see ya later, C'mon Ren, you too Pyrrha, there's a prize and I need you two to win it!"

Nora dragging a resigned Ren and a slightly pouting Pyrrha.

Jaune wanted to just walk around and have some time to himself a little bit, and was looking for a nice place to just sit down and relax. Also or some reason he couldn't get over the Oobleck's lecture and decided to let his mind wander.

Surprised at how much her teammates were pigging out and having fun, she was honestly having a great time. Even Weiss was pigging out on all of remnants exquisite confectionary. While she herself delighted in the treats of the far east. Mhhmmm… Tuna

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a familiar blonde knight walking by himself looking at the sights and sounds. Seeing as her friends were too busy stuffing themselves, she decided to follow the knight and see what he was up to this time.

"Jaune.."

"Huh?", Jaune turned around a bit surprised at seeing Blake behind him but smiled a moment after ,"Hey Blake, got separated from the group too?"

"Not really, they're over there. What about you?"

"Oh you know… just enjoying the sights and sounds, though I was also kinda looking for a relaxing place to chill out. You wouldn't happen to have any recommendations would you?"

She thought it over. This would be the perfect chance to get to know the knight in a more casual setting. It couldn't be a more perfect opportunity.

"…I know just the place", she went past Jaune and grabbed his hand leading the way. Had she turned around, she would have seen Jaune blushing at the contact, but she didn't as she was trying to get her blush to settle.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at Tranquility, a small corner tea shop that had a more eastern ambience and a small library for those who wants peace and quiet, or a place to read a good book. The smell of tea leaves and honey permeate the air inside, ambient eastern style music playing in the background.

The two opted to sit on a table for two, next to the small Zen garden. Once they got seated, they ordered some tea.

"Wow Blake, this place is pretty cool. How'd you find it?"

"Well Jaune, if you had to live with those three, you would find motivation to look for a quiet place, as fun as they are, it's not really a conducive reading environment."

"You don't say?"Jaune chimed in, sipping the nice honey lemon tea, breathing the aroma, and letting the music relax his mind, as he closed his eyes.

They talked about anything under the sun, the music they liked, books they've read, laughing as they shared stories about their teams' antics, and even disclosed a little bit more about their past.

Blake and Jaune shared a few moments of silence but both were content with that. Every now and then Blake would steal glances at Jaune and when he caught her glance he would blush and look away a bit.

She was quite happy spending time with him, she delighted in knowing more about him, his dreams and taste and had found themselves pleasantly exchanging meaningful ideas and thoughts. To an intellectual such as herself, there are only a few things that could ever top that and she had never really expected that in the blonde goofball as he was popularly known. There was a surprising…depth to him.

Jaune had noticed that it was almost time to head back and gestured to Blake. They had both enjoyed themselves and paid for their drinks and were walking out the door.

"Thank you Jaune, you were pleasant company", Blake looked at Jaune with a sincere smile

"Thank me? I should be thanking you! I mean, I know I'm not…" Jaune began to stammer but was interrupted

Blake rolled her eyes as she saw he was about to stammer and would probably start belittling himself again, so she got a naughty thought to stop him. She swiftly gave him a nice long kiss to the side of his mouth and began walking away to the Airbus station, a little more sway in her hips with a playful smile gracing her face as she simply turned around to see him, and she was pleased with the results.

Jaune was gob smacked. His mind was put on hold, trying to comprehend what happened. His right hand tracing the area where he was kissed, well not lips to lips but still, by one of the most intelligent and beautiful girls he has ever come to know. He had not expected it at all. How'd it happen? Is my luck finally turning around? These thoughts all came to a halt as he saw her looking back at him, a playful smile adorning her face, the festive lights providing the backdrop. Wow.

And there at that very moment, a unexpected person has begun to take a hold of his heart. Slowly, the seeds of love have begun to grow.

With a face still flushed, he mumbled with a silly grin on his face, "You're Welcome…" as he slowly jogged after her into the festive lights.

Authors Note: Sup guys, Razyangel here. Hmmm yes i know its a bit short but I can honestly say that this was just me trying to progress the story onwards by making the premise of what future plots will come into play, the events of the past impacting the plot of the present's future. I swear I did my best not making the romance awkward, but once again, I was assailed by thoughts of more aggressive romance but as our TAU brothers say," The patient hunter gets the prey", I know how I want this to end, muhahahahah, its the getting there believably which is challenging. Next chapter, back to the sanctuary, heroes of the past, small Black Moon teases and etc. Maybe make some adjustments later on. So lemme know what you guys think?

04/07/2014- Added more details regarding the Story of the Defense of Vytal, Like it? there will be a more detailed account in the future