And here's the next chapter.
crisg99: Well, yeah. Funny you should bring that up, you may have noticed a theme naming going on. The chapter titles are all terms or things relevant to archaeology or paleontology. That even extends to some names in the world itself, that is, the things that aren't named after colors.
Chapter 4: Archaeopteryx
Qrow's sword twitched in anticipation for battle, but before he and Gaara could cross blades (or sand, in this case) in the middle of a relatively cramped and tight bar, the sleazy drunk was interrupted by one of the few things he feared.
"Now, hold up just a second there, you two! If y'all are gonna fight for whatever stupid reason men have, then you best not do it in my bar. Or else, it's your head that's gonna be on a platter, Qrow..." the bartender seethed, to which Qrow winced.
"Uh... yeah. I'll just take this one outside then..."
Gaara sighed in disgust and followed the man outside, pushing past the double doors and into the dusty roads for what was sure to be the definition of a Mexican standoff. The redheaded bartender gave one final worried look at Gaara, and one final angry look at Qrow before closing and locking up her inn to make sure her building wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.
Similarly, people meandering around in the streets saw the experienced huntsman with the giant sword and accordingly made themselves scarce. A few brave ones stayed on the porch, hoping to get a glimpse of the ensuing battle.
Qrow drew his sword, and Gaara crossed his arms. They stood in silence for a few moments as Qrow leveled a cocky smirk at the boy. But, it was becoming clear that Gaara would not move unless Qrow attacked first. In fact, the boy would probably have preferred to just sit there and wait for Qrow to go away.
"What's wrong, kid? Not gonna attack? Can't say you're making a good first impression; it looks like you don't have the guts to be a warrior if you just stand there. Come on, I'll even give you a free first shot!" Qrow goaded.
Gaara blinked.
"Ooh, okay Mr. Tough Guy! Not gonna take it, huh? Well, I'll have to get you to fight back somehow, just don't blame me when you start bleeding!" Qrow said, before deciding to let his actions do the talking.
Gaara blinked again when Qrow appeared within reaching distance of the Jinchuuriki. He had already seen the sand barrier, and thus wasn't surprised when his sword slashed about halfway through the automatic sand shield.
Qrow narrowed his eyes and grunted, letting go of his blade and leaving it embedded in the sand. His fist shot out, which would've left a mark on Gaara's face if it had connected. But, while the wall of sand incapacitated Qrow's weapon for the time being, that when Qrow's fist shot out, another wall of sand shot out seemingly out of nowhere and blocked that too.
"That sand's a pain in the ass, kid. Hard to believe that you have such an advanced control of your semblance at such a young age... Your reflexes and timing when blocking attacks are remarkable, as well..." Qrow said.
"Semblance?" Gaara thought. He kept learning new terms in this place; it was so far alien to anything from the Elemental Countries. Qrow hadn't used any chakra yet, and he seemed to be under the impression that his sand was a "semblance" something or other, not to mention Qrow hadn't seemed to figure out that the Suna no Tate was automatic as opposed to controlled by Gaara's will.
Gaara narrowed his eyes. That punch wasn't that great, certainly nothing when compared to the Taijutsu of other people he had fought, such as Rock Lee. Gaara didn't realize that, but it was somewhat of a hat for almost all huntsmen. Very proficient when their practiced weapons, but not particularly effective without them. At least, they could incapacitate a civilian, but to someone trained in Taijutsu...
Of course, it wasn't like Gaara was skilled in Taijutsu either.
Nevertheless, he grabbed his sword and pulled it from the sand in a quick display of skill and precision. He rotated his arm, giving a timed combo of about three identical slashes, one after the other.
The sand popped up and blocked them yet again, but from the look on his face Qrow was expecting that to happen at that point. Without missing a beat, Qrow grabbed the dull end of his blade and pulled it back. The sword was compartmentalized.
"He doesn't move around, and he hasn't attacked yet. Judging by his words, he has no intention of doing so as long as he thinks he can get around with just defending. I still haven't convinced him that this fight isn't pointless, and if I can't pressure him even a little bit, then he won't attack. In other words, it's like trying to crack a really tough eggshell..." the experienced hunter thought.
And then, he fired the gun worked into his weapon. There came a loud crack as the fire dust pellet shot out of the barrel of his weapon, and Gaara actually flinched at the loud noise he had never heard before.
Just one bullet burned a hole right through his sand shield, impacting against his right shoulder as it finally lost momentum and puttered out after almost drilling a hole through the Suna no Yoroi.
Gaara looked down at the affected shoulder in confusion and surprise, where little bits of sand were falling off from the damaged Suna no Yoroi. He covered his hand over the area, making sure that he was not harmed by the strange method of attack.
No blood. That was good.
Well, at the very least Qrow seemed to finally wake Gaara up. Gaara removed his hand at his chest perplexed, finding nothing of the attack that managed to pierce his Suna no Tate.
He clenched his fists and channeled his chakra, raising his shield around himself in a complete sphere to protect himself like an eggshell protecting the yolk. Now in complete darkness and protected, there was only one thing left for Gaara to do.
"San no Mai..." he said, activating his signature third eye as he covered his own left one. The third eye of sand formed right outside the container that Gaara had encased himself in, hidden well enough to be right outside the view of Qrow while being perfect for looking at him.
Qrow fired more fire dust bullets from the interior of his sword, but Gaara had raised the defense and thickness level of his shield when he encased himself in it, so they didn't go further than half the width of the shield before losing all momentum and fizzling out.
"Hmm, that's thick stuff..." Qrow said while smirking, though Gaara couldn't hear him from within his protective barrier, "Maybe fire ain't the way to go, but at the end of the day, it's just sand..."
He fired again, but this time the sound was of a slightly different pitch. Not by much, but Gaara were not in his near-soundproof barrier he would've noticed the difference. He did however notice through the third eye the mist trail that was left in the barrel of Qrow's weapon as he fired it. It was a cool whitish-blue rather than the red of the fire dust.
"Oh, crap!" Gaara thought a little too late as he felt chilly air wash over him from even inside the barrier of sand. Suddenly, sheets of ice froze the outside layer of his shield before flowering to the interior and freezing his entire barrier.
The third eye swiveled around as Qrow suddenly pushed the offensive after disabling the use of Gaara's sand. With his weapon back in the form of a sword, one quick clatter against the frozen sand was all it took to shatter the shield.
Pieces of the shattered barrier flew everywhere, a few sharpened ones just whizzing by both Gaara and Qrow's faces. Qrow saw his opportunity, grinning wildly as he clenched his blade tight and tried to bring Gaara into a close-quarters fight where the huntsman would have the advantage.
And when he slashed at Gaara, he succeeded in doing the very thing he had set out for when he started a fight with the Jinchuuriki. He pushed Gaara enough for the boy to attack him.
The shield wasn't back yet, but a stream of sand rose out of his gourd and struck the ground near Qrow's feet in attempt to draw the fight away. At this point, it was becoming a struggling to put the fight where each of them would be most effective. Close-quarters for Qrow, and distance for Gaara. Qrow tutted and flipped the sand stream harmlessly, but the sand moved and undulated like a whip, as more sand rose from his gourd to attack at different angles.
Yet, there were things Qrow didn't know about Gaara's ability yet, and he didn't know the environment they were surrounded by was of advantage to Gaara. A desert, to be precise. Even the roads of Cerro Gordo were covered in dust and sand.
He couldn't control all manners of sand per se, but it didn't take long for Gaara to turn any sand into "his" sand, so to speak. And while he was whipping his sand around in a flurry of attacks, Qrow suddenly found his ankles locked in a layer of sand shackles, freshly created by Gaara via the sand on the ground of Main Street.
"What the hell?" the huntsman asked. His feet wouldn't budge. He grunted in annoyance, before noticing the very slight off coloring that separated natural sand from Gaara's. He whistled; the control Gaara had over sand was truly incredible. He had never fought against an ability like this.
"Ah..." Qrow said cockily as he finally noticed, before hefting his sword over his shoulder. Quick as a flash, he cut the hardened sand in two binding his feet in two, with such remarkable precision that he didn't cut his own feet.
And when he was able to regain his mobility, he jerked and dodged around the various streams of sand that had clearly tried to capture him once Gaara had snared him.
"Impressive, kid! You have all the makings of a fighter. I knew there was something about you the moment I saw you!" Qrow said energetically. "You have the fighting ability to become a huntsman, and with training the mentality of one will come along with it!"
Gaara blinked, and Qrow was gone. A split second later, and the sand boy felt the cold steel of a blade tip being pressed against his jugular, Qrow taking advantage of an opportunity while the Suna no Tate was still down.
"It would be a shame to throw away all that potential. If you wanna accept my offer, then look around for an island called Patch and get yourself there. There's an academy called Signal on the lsland, one of the premier combat schools in the world. It's the first step to joining my field of work."
Gaara was unflappable in the face of the giant sword that was currently holding him hostage. He had had quite enough of the prattle that this drunken fool was spewing, no matter how sober he may have seemed.
A wave of sand burst out from both Gaara's gourd and the ground around them, flowing backwards from the Shukaku host like a miniature wave heading for its target.
"Whoa!" Qrow called out, yet he recovered his footing in a heartbeat as he took the offensive, slicing through waves and tendrils of sand with his cleaver. Turning up the speed, he attacked with a barrage of swipes and slashes, before flashing to the side. This kid clearly didn't think much of his offer, but perhaps he would change his mind after a little more intense of a display.
"Think about the offer, kid!" he called, rushing Gaara at top speed. The sand couldn't keep up, and Qrow appeared right next to the Jinchuuriki after bypassing his shield, grabbing Gaara's shirt with his free hand.
Gaara grunted as the two of them went barreling forward; they were off the ground after the two had collided, directly on a collision course with the closest building. Crusty cowboys and ranchhands that were spectators to the fight made panicked grunts and scattered, before Gaara and Qrow went straight through the right wall and window of the saloon they had been in before.
Qrow's aura protected him from the impact and the debris, while Gaara's sand shield did the same for him. The boy lay suspended in a cushion of sand while Qrow pushed a broken wooden board and some drywall off of him.
Gaara leveled a stoic glare at the man as the sand pushed him to his feet as if it had a life of its own, the draft from the inside of the building coming from the gigantic hole that was now in the inn.
"What in tarnation?" a female voice cried.
"Ah, crap..." Qrow's face fell. Gaara recognized the shrill, indignant voice as the owner of the Inn, who suddenly now had a gigantic hole in her property because of their fight. Apparently Qrow noticed it too.
Gaara blinked and raised an eyebrow when the older man wrapped his cape around himself in a practiced gesture, and a split-second later the man was gone, replaced by a pitch-black crow.
The corvid cawed and flapped its wings, making a convenient escape through the hole that it made in the first place.
Gaara stood in the rubble of what was once the Inn, watching as the man turned crow fly away into the sun. He was unharmed, but no doubt the redheaded woman wished her parlor was in the same condition.
"The asshole ran away! I can't believe him!" she said in shock and fury as she ran up to him and knelt before the remains of her ruined bar.
"Huntsman, my ass! Thinks he can just waltz into our town, trash the place, and then take off like nothing happened. He doesn't think about these things, none of them do!"
"Think about what, may I ask?" Gaara said, bending over to start picking up pieces of glass. A crowd had gathered, made of patrons from the bar who were now in disbelief of their ruined Inn. It was just a miracle that no one got hurt in the crossfire.
The bartender sighed.
"The huntsmen don't think about their actions, sometimes! I don't know what they're teaching them in these schools, but the motto of the huntsmen is to be the defenders of mankind. They are always supposed to help their fellow man, but quite a few of them end up doing some unsavory work under no allegiance to anyone but themselves. A trained warrior in a status like no other, completely unchecked. Even the tamer ones like ol' Qrow don't always think about how civilian lives go. My inn is how I make my livelihood. Out here in Cerro Gordo, most of us struggle to make end's meat. We can't possibly afford setbacks like these..." the woman sighed, "I don't know what I'm going to do now..."
"Isn't there some way to check these so-called huntsmen?"
"I wish! We can try to chase an unsavory one out of town, but the truth is they're just so powerful there's no way we could keep them from doing what they want. We can't sue them for damages as well; like I said, they're a protected class. They hold an extraordinary amount of power in different avenues such as government, schools, and military. They keep us safe from the Grimm, even if I do think they're fanning the flames of Grimm attack as much as they're helping..."
Gaara's mind drifted to ninjas; in a way these huntsmen didn't seem all that different. A class of people who held untold amounts of combat ability and gained a lot of political and military power because of that.
And like all humans, sometimes they went rouge and unchecked. But even without that, ninja didn't have such an esteemed title such as "protector of humanity". They were to fight on behalf of their village and nation, regardless of right and wrong. Nothing more, nothing less.
"I'm sorry about that, sweetie. You don't want to listen to me ramble about that old drunk, considering you got the worst of it. Attacking a kid right out of the blue, hmph... And then pushing him straight through a damn wall!" the bartender snorted.
"It's fine. I may be young, but where I come from people my age are more than used to fighting."
"I can see that. You were really somethin' out there, keeping up with a full-trained huntsman! I guess the "parents" question I asked you was way off-base then; you clearly can handle yourself."
Gaara hummed.
"So, are you going to go to Vale now and begin looking for your home? Or are you going to follow Qrow's path? I would advise against it, personally. I would just go on and continue with what you were doing. No good comes from getting involved with that man..."
"I honestly have no idea what he was blabbering on about, though. He seemed to have taken a vested interest in myself, claiming I had potential to be a huntsman. That is specifically what he told me during our fight."
"The jackass may not look it, but he is actually one of the most renowned teachers at a place called Signal, one of the most prestigious combat schools in Vale. You look around the right age to join a combat school, as a matter of fact. He's got a keen eye, that one. My guess is that he wasn't necessarily looking for you, but once he saw you he figured you'd make good huntsman material, so he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. But you fight well; who knows how many years you would be pushed up if you joined a school. Four years there, and you graduate to the next level and join a huntsmen academy. Another four years and you become a fully-fledged one. Whatever the case, Qrow has connections. He has seen what you can do firsthand and he clearly wants you, or should I say your ability. Huntsmen have a very hands-on way of scouting potential ones, but if you wish to take a different path you may find them to be... pushy."
"You're more familiar with this area than I am. What would you recommend my course of action to be? Should I continue on to the capital city of Vale, or should I seek out this island named Patch?"
"'S up to you, hun. I would recommend heading to Vale; it's the largest city in the kingdom and you'll probably find what you need there. Beacon Academy is there too, so if you do decide to pursue the path of a huntsman you'll have access to that."
Gaara thanked the woman and helped her clean up the rest of the mess. Qrow's words rang in his head that entire time; he ended up not telling him that much, but if he decided to obey the man he could easily find out more once he got there.
First and foremost, getting home should be a priority. He had no desire to make a home in this new world, much less become one of their warriors of humanity. Humanity as a concept wasn't something that Sabaku no Gaara fought for, regardless of how different he was from his former self.
He should have no desire to see this through, but... every opportunity existed in this world for him to lose his way. He was a ninja and a Jinchuuriki; he never saw himself becoming one of these so-called huntsman. But, in the event that things turned sour in the search for his home in Vale, perhaps this caste of warriors would lend him greater chances in trying to find it.
He bid goodbye to the bartender and Inn owner, not really having a need to stay there for the night. She had kindly given him a map to Vale, after figuring out he didn't possess the technological bauble known as a Scroll.
And with that in mind, Gaara set out north through the desert towards his destination of the capital city.
One week later...
"Whatcha reading?" Naruto asked Flidais, who was clearly reading a newspaper she had gathered from the supply cart Arteshir and the others brought in from their trip into Mistral proper.
Flidais gave him a once over, scoffing at him in disgust before she turned back to her reading. A bandage was wrapped around her cranium with a few other smaller ones in other places, the deer woman having been injured in a Grimm battle from two days ago. They had been coming near the village like mad for the past week. There was scarcely a waking moment when they weren't being attacked by Grimm, and it was a constant battle for everyone in the village, including Naruto.
Flidais of course was the one who noticed that Grimm attacks increased once Arteshir accepted Naruto into the village. Even if had proven himself to not be part of that accursed circus troupe, Flidais knew. This boy was wrong; she could feel it in her bones. A human boy of around thirteen who would seem to be a combat prodigy for his age. Ha! If that were all he was, he wouldn't attract so many Grimm.
Too bad Arteshir didn't see him that way, and their village leader was the only one who kept her on (barely) civil terms with the boy, and what prevented her from slitting his throat while he slept.
Once she raised the newspaper above her head, Naruto squinted to make out the characters on the front page.
They seemed like blurry nonsense at first, but looking at them more he was able to piece together what they were saying.
"Huh? Weird..." Naruto thought, not paying much mind to it. These weren't characters he should exactly know, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.
"So, a volcano eruption in Atlas?" he asked, reading the big bold letters plastered all over the front page, along with the picture of an city in the kingdom of Atlas that had apparently been damaged.
"That's what they're calling it..." Flidais said offhandedly, grumpy as ever. Over the last week, Naruto had tried to get Flidais to open up. Arteshir did say there was a softer side to her.
"You don't think it was a volcano?" Naruto asked, tilting his head quizzically.
"There aren't any active volcanoes anywhere near the area that was hit by damages. It wasn't a volcano, and the perceptive folks in Atlas will pick up on that. Still, won't help them get any closer to what actually happened by figuring that out."
Naruto looked at the date of the paper. Arteshir had caught him up with timekeeping and the current date, and he could tell that this particular paper was from above five days ago. So, just a couple days after he would've arrived in the village.
Naruto put Catalhoyuk's slow information gathering out of his mind for the moment, and went back to preparations. He heard someone shout "prepare the dust cannons!" loudly along with the rumbling of wheels moving along the village.
Naruto couldn't say they were in a good spot. Arteshir was worried; they all were. The past week's worth of battle of Grimm was rife with injuries and exhaustion to many of Catalhoyuk's fighters.
"I see something!" Flidais and Naruto both perked up when one of the stationed village watches began to holler. Could it possibly be the Clover Troupe; everyone knew they were coming. It was merely a question of when.
"Just a beowulf!" he called a few seconds later. Flidais signed; yet another Grimm attack. That didn't mean they could relax though, despite it just being a mere Beowulf. Last time the Clover Troupe had attacked, they had unleashed the Grimm they had in captivity. There was no tactic too dirty that they wouldn't use.
"Thought so. Hey, Red! Go and take care of the Beowulf for me, would ya?" Arteshir called.
Though, when the Catalhoyuk warrior went out to kill the Beowulf, Naruto realized they had a power advantage and wouldn't need to resort to dirty tactics to win. As seen by the Goliath that rose over the treeline when the warrior went out there and was promptly gored on the giant elephant's tusks.
There was something about seeing a hulking man scream and thrash in his final moments before he was upended off the tusk and ripped practically to shreds by other form of Grimm.
And with that grisly introduction, the settlement of Catalhoyuk stood tense and ready for action, as the rapidly increasing plethora of Grimm were not the only things that were making their way out from within the underbrush. The sound of squeaky wheels going over the landscape could be heard over the din as well.
"LAAAAADDDIIIEEEEEEES AANNNNNNNNNDDDD GENNNNNNNTLEMEN!" a voice rang out as dozens of traveling carts moved out into the clearing that surrounded the village of Catalhoyuk.
The one barking was the first human to come into view alongside the slowly moving carts. Dressed in the typical white and red suit of a circus barker; it was not Otto van Klaver.
His voice was so loud that everyone in the village could clearly hear it, and they were all prepared to head to the village gates at a moment's notice. Arteshir cursed when he heard the barker's voice, directing traffic in quick response.
"They're here! They're here! Everyone to their stations. Prepare to fight for our home!" he called in a deep, booming voice as people loaded their weapons and rushed to their designated areas.
"They're starting with the circus barker. Trying to lure in villages under the pretense of family-friendly fun, when in reality it's nothing more than an ambush. It's how they succeed in most of their attacks; villages are woefully unprepared for it. But, they should know that we know better after surviving one of their attacks," Flidais said next to Naruto as they took their stations on the right flank of the village.
The deer woman pulled back one of her dust arrows, her black ponytail bobbing as she did so. She held it steady, ready to fire on the first thing that made a hostile action from their enemy, be it human or Grimm.
"Something's wrong..." Flidais said, a tinge of fear entering her voice, "They can't possibly have that many Grimm..." she said, as more carts came out into view. The circus barker continued his pitch anyway.
"Step right up to see the most death-defying acts the world has ever seen! Gawk at the strangest and most deadly of Grimm completely safe within captivity. Nothing is impossible with the Clover Troupe. Our amazing acts will guarantee you leave with a smile on your face and begging for me! That is..." the barker's voice turned ominous, almost sinister.
"If you come visit our show with an open mind and a smile on your face, the Clover Troupe will be a friend to you! But... should you try and hinder our act, you will find yourself at the mercy of the wild."
It was a threat directly to the people of Catalhoyuk; all of the warriors in the village realized that bringing out the circus barker was just for show. A beating of the war drum if you will.
The Clover Troupe had come back to declare its sweet vengeance after suffering losses the first time they attacked the settlement, this time preparing in earnest for it.
When Naruto strained his eyes to look at the identical rows of cages being hauled out, he saw why Flidais was so concerned. The screeches and roars of the creatures within told him everything. There were more Beowolves and Ursae than expected, as well as some rarer varieties that no one would have expected them to have.
Some gryphons and boarbatusks, and even a deathstalker or two contained within largest, most reinforced cages. The Goliath that had lurked its way near the village grounds was chained up by a multitude of restraints and forced to walk alongside the circus. Flidais grimaced further, and was about to turn around to go warn Arteshir, but Naruto stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Trust me, they already know they've got numbers..." he said, his eyes panning over to the other warriors in the village who could clearly see their opposition, and their own morale drop because of it.
Too bad the enemy was not going to let them off easy, because as soon as the circus barker cleared safely out of the way, the latches on the Grimm cages were undone by a couple of strong circus workers for every one, the doors now open for the creatures of darkness to wreak havoc at their leisure...
And we're done here.
So, who better to deconstruction the huntsmen ideal than Qrow. There will be lots of deconstructions in this story, and first on desk is the ideal of the huntsmen. This could apply to a lot of settings with supernatural powers (including Naruto's ninjas), but since we're in Remnant I'll stick it to the huntsmen. What would a world be like with a status of warrior like that, with abilities like those, and some of the personalities running around? I mean, Qrow's a great fighter and probably has a sharp mind befitting a huntsman, but most of the time he's piss-ass drunk and the first thing he does in the series itself is cause a scene. He's not an unsavory character or anything, but it's not out of the question to think that some of his character traits would have... consequences.
Suna no Tate: Shield of Sand
Suna no Yoroi: Armor of Sand
That's all for now,
The God of Pikmin