Disclaimers: RWBY - Rooster Teeth; Destiny - Bungie.
Yeesh... a month after the last update. I've got to pull myself back into this...
Also I just want to address a few things before we get started with this chapter. A few features that were showcased in Destiny 2 (i.e the new weapon system) will be incorporated into this story eventually. The new Supers won't probably be until much later on the story. If things get too complicated, I'll just rewrite and start a new narrative from the very beginning. But time will tell if things get too chaotic in the details of this.
Also if you were looking for a Qrow and Jax vs Tyrian battle, sorry to disappoint you; Qrow will be doing most of the fighting here and there with Jax observing from the sidelines perse.
But I'll make it up to you in the next chapter with Jax and JNPRR(?) fighting the Nuckelavee in Chapter 5.
So without any other delay, let's get this started.
Atlas Headquarters
'Another day, another dollar' as the old saying went.
For a certain leader, it was more of 'another day, another mudpile to trudge through'.
General Ironwood was sitting in his office with reports stacked on his desk. The aftermath on the Fall of Beacon had been much worse toward him than the actual battle himself. Dealing with the lot of reporters, councilmen from the other continents, and various interrogations had taken much out of him. Still, he was general to Remnant's most technological army and fleet which was relied on very heavily. He had to uphold his responsibilities to the people of Atlas and to protecting the people of this world.
If he couldn't do so, then who else would be crazy enough to take his place as leader of Atlesian fleet and Atlas?
He forcefully had to focus himself on filing and writing out the small remainder of reports that had been left on his desk. Just a few more pages and he'd finally be done with this event from Vale thus far.
As if there couldn't be any more interruptions, a voice sounded off on his desk intercom. "General, sir? You've got company."
He sighed to himself in exhaustion while gripping the side of his face. A man's duties are never done. He pressed the button to respond. "Tell them that I'm busy at the moment filling out the last of these reports and conducting my schedule on more meetings. I don't have time for-"
"It's Winter Schnee, sir. She wants to report to you personally."
The general stopped writing his report and glanced back at the intercom for a moment. He knew that when Winter wanted to talk to him personally, there was something of extreme importance that couldn't be leaked out to the public yet.
He narrowed his eyes and before responding a second time. "Send her up."
General Ironwood filed up the last of the papers away in a folder and placed under his desk. He folded his hands in front of them and waited patiently for the high ranking specialist to enter.
A few tense moments later, a knock on the door had filled the silence. "Come in." He answered.
The door was slid open and revealed a woman with white hair tied in a bun on the left with her bangs falling to the right side of her face and blue eyes. Her normal attire was a white coat, black gloves, and snow-colored pants.
The woman saluted as soon as she was a few feet from her leader's desk. "General Ironwood, sir. Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee, reporting."
The general gestured his hand which moved down. "At ease, Schnee." Winter's hands fell toward the side, but her posture was still straight. "Give me a sitrep on your reports regarding any recent activities."
"Sir, comms have intercepted White Fang transmissions and communications concerning past rallies within the last 72 hours. Besides the Grimm, scouts have reported there has been an exponential increase in mobilization from the White Fang across Remnant all focusing in on Mistral. Weapons and dust trading have also been largely expanded within that small window of time." Short pause followed. "We may be looking at another attack, just as the one deployed against Beacon Academy, sir."
General Ironwood narrowed his eyes. It had already been for a few months and the White Fang was itching for another fight. He had to give them credit though. They were persistent in their attacks as they were very tactical in their assault against the Vytal Festival and Vale.
He'd consider them worthy opponents if he hadn't seen them as a threat to Remnant's people.
Winter ended with one last question. "What are your orders?"
Ironwood immediately replied. "Deploy back to Mistral and report any new developments you see. If the White Fang are preparing for another attack, I'll report it to the council and our allies."
Winter's eyes widened but only slightly. "But, sir, considering the circumstances-"
"I know what the circumstances are, Winter." Ironwood assured her. "But this is something we must take seriously considering from what we've seen from the attack against Vale. Our air and ground power has been severely diminished and there's only so much we can do now. I will place the fleet on standby and on a low threat level. Until then, I need you to keep gathering intel and report on any new activity. Only then will we talk about deploying the remainder of our forces to Mistral and Haven Academy. Understood?"
Winter had a small amount of seriousness and concern written on her face, until she nodded her head. Yes, sir. Understood."
"Good. You are dismissed." Ironwood stated. Winter turned her back and exited the general's office leaving her to wonder if things will be just as disastrous to that of Beacon.
As for the general himself, he'd have to think hard on this new development. The White Fang had become more bolder and dangerous than they've ever been in the past coming years. With a potential new threat, he'd doubt that the headmaster of Haven would able to handle such a large scale invasion just like Ozpin did back at Beacon.
Ironwood would have to report on this development to the council together with the leaders of the other continents and hope they still trusted him along with the other officials of Atlas. He already had a lot on his plate after Beacon was attacked and reports of numerous sightings involving a mysterious Huntsman with wolf sigils wielding solar powers and advanced weaponry that went well beyond Atlas' technology.
However, the safety of the people of Remnant would have to come first before he made any other moves. And if he could, he'd want to personally meet with this 'living legend' since he sounded so… otherworldly.
Ironwood had a feeling that things were about to spiral even more out of control than before.
Oniyuri Forest Crossroads
The trail to following Ruby was a quiet one, but Jax didn't expect it to be a conversational one. He and Qrow were already caught up into knowing each other, yet the Hunter did not tell him information which could compromise his and Jiro's true identities and abilities.
Events transpiring on Remnant were already bad enough with the Grimm becoming more vicious along with the White Fang becoming more bolder in their attacks as their recent assault against the Vytal Festival prove as evidence of their insurgency spreading all the while becoming worse each passing day. It would become even more deplorable if the people of this planet were to find out the Hunter was from another world. All the more reason for the Jiro's persistence into finding material into repairing their warp drive and constructing a new ship in case he needed to go back home to the Tower and report on this new development to the Vanguard.
However, Remnant seemed to be nothing short of backwater compared to Earth with its Guardians. The Hunter supposed the situation could be a whole lot worse.
After all, he and Jiro still had not been sucked into a transdimensional vortex from the Shrine of Oryx.
After trudging in silence for what it felt as though years passed by, Qrow lifted up his left hand as if he sensed something was wrong. At the same time, Jax's instincts were kicking in held up his Lingering Song as Jiro started beeping in acknowledge.
"Heads up. I'm detecting movement not too far from us. Moving at a rapid pace towards the village." The Ghost acknowledged.
"Grimm?" Jax asked.
Jiro shook himself. "No. I'm not detecting pure dark presence within 7 klicks. It's too fast to be one of those creatures for sure. Almost as if it's… human." Both men tilted their heads in confusion for a moment. "We should get a look at who's heading there. Marking intercept point in your HUD."
Coordinates were uploaded in Jax's helmet feed as Jiro went ahead to catch sight of the target. The Hunter turned back to Qrow, who was still a little baffled, until the small gesture to follow snapped him back to reality. Once they reached the edge cliffside, they spotted a man in a brown long coat with wrist blades in hand running down the pathway at swift speeds with a seemingly killer smile on his face and sadistic giggles escaping from his mouth.
Jax narrowed his eyes while Qrow's widened slightly with Jiro gazing on in interest. "I'm also detecting some peculiar traits in his long coat. I could be wrong." The Ghost noted.
The trio did not need to know much else as to what this stranger's next move was.
Qrow had a determined expression on his face in that second. "Stay behind."
Jax turned toward him in disbelief. "What? Why? We both know too well what's gonna happen to Ruby if we don't get to her right now!"
"This is between me and whoever that sicko's working for." He turned back to the Hunter before gazing ahead of the rocky path which the man was starting to disappear across the horizon. "Besides… they'll want to know what's going on before this is over."
Before the Hunter could argue his point even further, the Huntsman turned himself into a crow much to Jax's surprise at which it, or rather he, flew off into the distance to catch up toward the armed stranger to deal with him himself.
Jax let out a breath out his nose before he ordered his Ghost, "Lock onto the coordinates to where they're going."
It was Jiro's turn to show disbelief (as much as a Ghost could anyway). "What?! You heard Qrow. He said that he'd deal with it-"
Jax stopped his Ghost's protests. "He doesn't seem know what he's getting into nor does he care. Qrow will need all the help he can get." He locked his primary to his side and took his But Not Forgotten in hand. "Besides, we're not gonna stand on the sidelines and let him get killed along with his nieces and her friends on the way anyhow." Jax started jumped down along the pathway and started sprinting to his new objective.
Jiro followed suite back into invisibility and was already amazed at how the Guardian had switched his priorities. "Wow, it's only been a few weeks and you care for what happens to them?"
"My duties lie within protecting humanity. Even if it falls to a group of young children." Jax replied through the psychic link as he picked up the pace.
"To be fair, Ruby and her teammates are probably just as old as you are." The Ghost replied.
"Younger, older, same age, it doesn't matter. They're in danger now and what matters is that we get them out of whatever trouble they're in alive." Jax concluded.
The Hunter had made sure he was ready to switch his other subclass Bladedancer in case close-quarter combat would be necessary in situations such as these. The Guardian and Ghost might not have known much about what their new enemy and it didn't matter at that moment.
What they did know was that they needed to catch up to Qrow and get to Ruby before worse came to worse.
Oniyuri Village
To say things were bad was an understatement.
Ruby and her friends were struggling to hold off against an unknown enemy who were attacking them with little difficulty. As soon as the attack stopped, the man revealed himself to be a scorpion Faunus as the reveal of his tail was shown. He now stood at the top of a roof with a malevolent smile still across his face. Who was this character and why did he want to take Ruby away?
They needed answers right now.
"What is this about?! The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?" Ruby exclaimed to their enemy.
He only scoffed in response. "Plastic soldiers and pawns! My heart and body only belong to my goddess." The Faunus lifted his hands into the air as he gazed up at the sky.
Pyrrha's heart stopped for a moment before her face twisted in righteous anger.
Ruby also glared in tranquil fury as she knew only one person could fit that description… or so she thought.
"Cinder." She spat out in disgust.
The Faunus only let out a small chuckle and sneered. "Heh, only in her wildest dreams!"
His assault continued as he uses his tail to knock back Ruby's Crescent Rose. She still manages to maintain her grip onto it as both try to land a hit on each other with the Faunus finally able to punch Ruby away and quickly turning his attention to Ren as he dodged a little frantically as Pyrrha tried to get into flank him. Tyrian saw this and kicked Ren away as he used his tail once again to flick into his new target as Pyrrha brought up her shield to minimize damage. The shockwave effect still knocked her back though. Jaune joined into the fray, but his efforts prove unsuccessful and was kicked back. Nora's attacks were also just as ineffective and she was pushed aside as well.
This was a one-sided battle.
Meanwhile, as the fight raged on, a crow is currently flying into the village determinedly with a certain wolf not too far behind.
"Get me a good vantage point for observation." Jax requested in the link.
"I need a moment more to calculate the probabilities and behaviors of the motions I'm tracking. They're a little sporadic." Jiro informed back.
"Sporadic or not, we need to make sure we get a clear shot at that man who's attacking Ruby."
A moment of silence, until… "Results have been made. Marking safe distance and observation coordinates now."
As soon as those words were heard, Jax disappeared into a flash of light as he ported to his new destination. He found himself on top of a roof on a very high, yet a bit of an unstable building. He ran to the edge of the structure and caught sight of the conflict that was developing and it was proving inadequate at the moment.
The man had already caught up to the group of young Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training Jax and Qrow had been tracking and were getting torn apart easily. The Hunter caught sight of the man, who also had a tail?! He must've been one of the Faunus that Qrow was talking about. Was he from the White Fang?
No time for questions. Now was the the time for shooting.
He already had Ruby down and the others were separated, trying to recover from the attack as they looked on in horror. Qrow was nowhere in sight and things were already at their worse.
Jax narrowed his eyes down in anger as he took up his rifle looked through the scope of it, trying to get a clear shot at the Faunus' head as he heard him laughing malevolently from the distance faintly.
"If you're gonna take the shot, now's a good time!" Jiro frantically said to the Guardian.
The Hunter glared through the lense of the scope and aligned his sights perfectly at the man's head.
As his finger tensed on the trigger and was about to press down on it, a wall to the side of them was smashed through revealing Qrow blocking the stranger's tail with his sword without even looking at him. He gazed at his niece for a minute only uttering one word before he forced the stranger's tail back to face him.
Jiro sighed in the link. "Yeesh. Talk about close calls."
The Hunter stopped aiming but kept narrowed eyes under his helmet as Qrow and the Faunus seemed to start exchanging words. He turned up his helmet's volume to spy on in the conversation and zoomed his visor to focus on the group.
"Finally, a true Huntsman has entered the fray!" The man bowed in somewhat real courtesy.
Qrow only had an eyebrow raised as Ruby got up from behind him. He turned to his niece for answers, but she only responded with a whisper. "I don't know. This guy's weird."
'Pft, no kidding. He needs to be locked back up in his asylum.' Jax thought to himself.
The veteran Huntsman turned back to the Faunus with a glare. "Look, pal. I don't know who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone."
The scorpion Faunus chuckled. "Why, friend, my name is Tyrian, and I'm afraid that's not possible. One of my assignments from her Grace is to retrieve this young girl. So… that is what I must do. One does not upset the queen."
"Queen?" Ruby questioned, not receiving a grasp of the true situation that's developing in front of her.
Jax knew in that instant who he was talking about and eyebrows narrowed once more. "Salem."
"Of course. I mean, it would make sense that she would send one of her subordinates after the young lady to make sure nothing interferes with her plans. That or evil is just plain lazy." Jiro informed through the link with sarcasm at the end.
"Hmm, I think we've had enough talk, don't you?" The man, now identified as Tyrian, decided to conclude the exchange and assumed a pouncing position.
"Took the words right out of my-"
Qrow's statement was stopped when Tyrian rushed the Huntsman and the two started exchanging blows toward each other. Once again, Jax focused on the fight which resumed once more, but with Qrow taking on the mysterious Faunus, Tyrian, by himself, ordering the others to stay away from him.
The Hunter was impressed by Qrow's skill set, and as much as he hated to admit it, to Tyrian's. Both would be able to give some of the Guardians a run for their money. Still, as an Iron Lord and Vanguard Elite Specialist compared to his standards, he was far more powerful and faster than one might judge him. Thanks to Crucible spars with Saladin, he had been able to learn the basics on how to handle swords and mastered a few fighting techniques while adopting his own style. He made sure to pay attention to each lesson given to him, especially toward the ones where one did not need to be flashy and to be focused in the art of battle, while using the environment to their advantage.
It was one of the testimonies to how he had earned his spot among the Vanguard Elite Specialists.
As the fight raged on, he saw Ruby climb onto one of the rooftops to try and shoot down Tyrian, but no effect. Jax wasn't nervous that he might get spotted as Ruby seemed to be too focused on getting a shot at Tyrian. This didn't stop the young huntress as she sprung back into action when the brawl dragged onto another rooftop which was promptly destroyed. Much to Qrow's dismay, Ruby would not stay back as he told them to, and Jax couldn't blame her.
He'd join in to if one of his allies was in immediate danger.
Just as Qrow saved Ruby from a falling beam, Tyrian took the advantage and grazed Qrow with his tail much to everyone's else shock, except for Ruby who did not even seemed fazed from it and was glaring at the Faunus.
As for Jax, he wasn't gonna have any of it either and glared one last time through his scope, aimed at Tyrian's tail and muttered only one word.
"Checkmate."
Not even half a second after his word, he pressed the trigger and the void round found its destination.
"AAAH!" Tyrian reeled and screamed in pain as his tail was shot off by an unknown source with traces of gravitational and dark energy surrounding it. Everyone else stood in confusion at the sudden turn of events which presently transpired.
Just as he was about to locate the source, he was suddenly assaulted upon by two sword slashes across his chest, followed by one down his stomach, and quick boot to the face.
As he laid on the ground trying to get his senses back, everyone else, except for Qrow, stood in awe at who was standing amongst them. However, Tyrian gazed in horror when his vision returned to him and received a clear sight at what- or rather who- had damaged him.
The figure in front stood protectively between him and the other young Huntsmen and Huntresses with his sword in hand at his right side. He bored silver armor with fire teeming inside them, a green cape, and ornamented wolf sigils.
Tyrian knew too well who this mysterious stranger could have been, and he did not seem to happy to stare down upon him.
Not to mention, the fact that he couldn't see the man's face horrified the scorpion Faunus even more.
"Leave. Now." His next words were the embodiment intimidation as Tyrian was trying his best to breath normally. No sooner had the Faunus heard those words, he got up and scurried on out of the village muttering to himself that Salem would forgive him for his failure.
Cinder wasn't kidding when she said that this Guardian would be able to subdue and he almost paid a hefty price for it. Tyrian didn't know much of the Guardian, but he knew that his opponent was restraining himself from killing the Faunus then and there. He'd have to watch his back from now on.
Of all the places, why did he have to show up here and now at the time? What did he have to do with stopping him from taking the young rose away? Did he know about the legend of the silver-eyed warriors, the Maidens, including Salem herself?
Tyrian almost wished he didn't want to know more of this Guardian's secrets and abilities. Almost.
He'd get revenge on him soon for this humiliation and make sure he knew his place.
That is… if Salem doesn't dispose of him.
As soon as the scorpion Faunus had left his sight, Jax placed away his sword to his side and turned back to face the others he had followed and protected for so long, even Ruby who was tending to her uncle, who had expressions of awe written on their faces.
The same red haired girl he rescued from months ago, however, found her voice. "You're… you're… still alive…"
The Hunter smiled under his helmet and quipped. "What? Were you expecting maybe a ghost or something?" The girl returned a look of disbelief that he would crack a joke at a time like this. Jax couldn't help it though. He picked up that kind of habit from the other Hunters and Cayde.
Still, there were other serious matters at the moment. "But yes, I am. Though you should worry for him." He pointed to Qrow as he was still breathing heavily as he clutched his wound everyone arrived to him at his side.
"I thought I told you to stay behind." The veteran Huntsman panted in pain, much to everyone's surprise once again.
"Whoa, wait a minute. You know this guy?" The blonde haired boy of the group asked in disbelief but he was ignored.
"You did, but then you and your niece along with her friends would've been killed and/or kidnapped. Besides, you've been grazed." The Hunter pointed out.
"It'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound." He managed to release a shaky smile before going back to breathing.
"Yeah, that'll definitely heal up…" Jax sarcastically replied much to Qrow's chagrin. Both could only relax for a moment, before the huntsman was bombarded with questions.
"Who was that guy?" The orange haired girl asked.
"How did you get here?" The black, pink-striped haired boy questioned next.
"Why are people after Ruby?" The same blonde haired boy asked.
"And who is this guy and how is he still alive?" The red haired girl shot another question, pointing and referring to Jax.
Ruby glanced at all of them, even Jax, turned back to her relative, released one final inquiry. "Uncle Qrow, what's going on?"
With a few seconds of breathing, Qrow responded. "What's your favorite fairy tale?"
Jax spotted a cross of disgrace written on Qrow's face. He too could also feel Jiro's questioning glance. Both of them knew where this was leaning towards and secrets were gonna be spilled out. Still, it was high time for the truth to be told since stuff was going down, and people needed to know what's up.
Some people at least. Not everyone could handle the truth.
Nightfall, Oniyuri Forest
The entire day so far felt as if she had been sucked into huge nightmare.
Pyrrha had much on her mind after proper introductions with Jax being the 'Blazing Wolf' just as Qrow finished telling the rest of her friends the existence and legends of the Maidens which was thought to be lost to time, but turned out to be real. Next, was the true motivation behind building the Huntsmen Academies to safeguard the relics and seemingly hide physical forms of knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice to keep out of the true enemy, Salem.
However, she still couldn't decided which was harder to grasp: the fact that Jax (who was out scouting the grounds not too far) was somehow still alive after taking an arrow to the chest and that he was the 'Blazing Wolf' the recent stories had deemed him to be, the reason that Qrow stayed away because his semblance would bring misfortune to those around him, or that there were other higher powers seeking to destroy Remnant in a heartbeat.
And why was she getting this feeling that Jax was much more than he seemed?
"Pyrrha?" Jaune's voice broke the gladiator out of her thoughts causing her to blink rapidly for a few seconds and turned to her companion. "Are you okay?" Upon that question, she realized everyone else, even Qrow, had been staring at her in worriment and concern.
Pyrrha released a weak smile and nodded. "I-I'm fine, Jaune. It's nothing."
"You haven't been the same ever since the night Beacon fell and Ruby left her team. You've become more paranoid and space out more than usual." Jaune pointed out. "If there's something bothering you can always tell us."
Pyrrha turned her gaze at the ground with guilt. "It's not like you would believe me if I told you."
"Pyrrha, we're your friends." Ruby reassured her. "Of course we'll believe what you say. You'll only make things worse if you won't say to us what's been causing you to isolate yourself from us. We don't want you to get to the point where you won't trust us anymore. We just want what's best for you and the rest of us."
Pyrrha tried her best to keep a few tears in. It was already bad enough at which the feeling of shame could not let her go on for months since the gladiator thought she had failed in protecting those she cared about. Not to mention, the thought of leaving a battle to a stranger she thought died when he took her place on top of the tower against Cinder haunted her even to that day. Although she had exceeded in her combat classes in Mistral and Beacon, it still seemed to prove futile in the long run since there were enemies and allies alike that she could never seemed to close the gap in combat to protect Remnant.
Even with that, the world was just a giant tinderbox which was waiting for someone to light a match and set it off.
"C'mon, kid." Qrow spoke up this time. "The sooner you tell us, the sooner we get this problem solved and over with."
Pyrrha sighed once again. "The thing that's been bothering me… is… it's just…" She paused before she started from the very beginning. "Ever since Beacon was destroyed, I've been… having mostly bad feelings cross me. Paranoia, just as you said before Jaune." Her friend straightened himself out more at the mention of his name. "I've been more on guard than usual even after I've gotten to safety; even more so one our way to Mistral. I didn't even have a clue as to what was really happening until Ozpin showed me that girl, Amber. Then, things from there… just spiraled out of control. Everything hit me so hard, I… I didn't know how to handle it." A moment of silence passed. "After that, I thought I could stop Cinder by myself and I almost paid my life for it. Instead, that man … he...just showed up out of nowhere and saved me. I wanted to repay him for what he did until I found out what happened to him when he faced Cinder and I blamed myself for everything." She tilted her head down in sadness. "If anything, I'm nothing but a coward for everything after that."
Once again, the gladiator choked back on her tears. Her friends were surprised that she has keep this all bottled in for months even before their journey to Mistral. JNR and Ruby felt remorseful for her and scolded themselves for not even questioning her if she had been tearing herself out on the inside rather than physically because of her self-guilt. Had the other teammates had known, they would've consoled with her on that matter.
Still, it was better late and now than never.
Jaune was the first to speak. "Pyrrha, you're nothing like a coward from fleeing to safety. You knew that you were in danger and did what was best for yourself and us alike. If it wasn't for Qrow's friend showing up in the nick of time, you wouldn't even be here. Besides that, you were knew what the circumstances were and if you hadn't gone up to face Cinder, who knows what could've happened? She would've taken advantage of her new powers immediately and destroyed us if you hadn't at least intervened in that conflict." He gave her a warm smile. "It's because of your bravery that we're all still alive right now and that we all still have a long way to go if we want to protect everyone we love and care about."
"It's why we're all going to Mistral together." Ruby included, joining Pyrrha at her side. "We're gonna try to make sure nothing like that happens again. We're in this together as a team."
"Besides, we have Ruby's Uncle's help and along with his friend." Ren pointed out, also standing by. "Which will make the trip a little easier."
"Yup!" Nora perked up near them all. "On to Mistral to better arm ourselves!"
Immediately, everyone looked her way in confusion, disbelief, and a little bit of betrayal. Nora only looked back in puzzlement for a moment before she realized her mistake and blanched.
Ruby's sister, Yang, had her arm cut off during the incident at Beacon and Nora said to better 'arm' themselves in a sentence.
Awkward...
"Uh, I-I meant upgrade our weaponry so we could blow up our enemies more efficiently and stuff!" Nora stammered through her statement. "Not the other thing… concerning… Yang… and her arm… Ruby… hehe..." She trailed off with a sheepish smile and a blush across her face. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, that's my phrase. No stealing." Pyrrha playfully scolded her teammate with a smile.
But soon enough, the unintentional joke was brushed aside when the sound of someone clearing their throat brought everyone's attention to the source followed by a new voice which entered the group's interaction and started a new conversation.
"Aw, what? No hug for me? I already feel so excluded."
Everyone turned their heads to find the same, new voice came from caped man that saved everyone else earlier and tagged along with Qrow. They found him leaning against a tree trump with both his arms and legs crossed with one another; one hand still holding his solar sword with a firm grip latched onto it.
A few seconds passed before he started walking over to the group to find a spot and be included in the group's rest stop.
"By the way, we're clear of Grimm and there's no sign of our scorpion friend either. No one will be bothering us tonight." The caped figure stated as he sat down on a log with relaxation written over him.
As soon as he sat down, he placed aside his weapon to the back of his armor where it was well-hidden beneath his hooded cape. The atmosphere was tensed with an awkward silence that seemed unbreakable until everyone got back to their original spots around the campfire.
Ruby started. "So… uh… we never caught your name earlier?"
"Never threw it. Name's Pyralis. Jax Pyralis Blackwood." He revealed his name to the other Huntsmen and Huntresses.
"And you're the 'Blazing Wolf' character that everyone's been talking about." Ren continued.
"Yes. I actually kinda like the name considering it's close to the one I've been given after short period of time from working with one of the older warriors." Jax commented with a nod.
"And you've been following us with some help…" Pyrrha added.
"Uh-huh." Another nod from him.
"All because you just wanted to keep us safe." Nora finished.
"Yup, that's the gist of it."
"But why?" Jaune received Jax's attention at the sudden question.
"Uh, beg your pardon?" The caped warrior turned his helmet his way.
"We just want to know why you would do this for us. How come you would go out of your way and risk your life for just a small group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training on their way to another combat school?" Jax tilted his head to the left. "I mean… we thank you for it, but why waste your time with us when you could have other lives to save throughout the wilderness or look for lost relics and treasures of the past that could have an impact on us all?" At the last part, Jaune had both of his hands extended out to Jax, who only sighed after a moment of silence.
"So you all really want to know why I'm focusing on you guys?" He received various gestures from nods to shrugs from the group. "Welp, I suppose I could start from the beginning."
"After you've taken your helmet off?" Nora suggested, eager to see the 'Blazing Wolf's' face.
"Then my appearance wouldn't be a mystery anymore." Jax quipped.
"But then we wouldn't have to wonder what you really look like." Pyrrha reasoned.
"..." He only returned silence at the moment.
That is, until Ruby got in front of him with big, teary eyes that just screamed innocence and adorableness. "Please, Please, Please?! Please show us what you really look like! We'll promised not to tell anyone you're the 'Blazing Wolf'! PLEASE? Pretty please with a cherry on top?!" To top it all off, she ended with her hands clasped together in front of her and a pout as the icing on the cake.
Under his helmet, Jax had a deadpan expression, but he knew he had no chance of saying of no by himself. It was pretty much like facing the Gorgons. Once they caught an intruder in their gaze, the target would be forever doomed. Even Jiro admitted he would have a hard time saying no to the girl and he was just a star-shaped construct.
Well, it still didn't prevent him from having emotions.
The Hunter turned his helmet to Qrow, who only shrugged back with an expression of 'You're own your own, pal'. Jax frowned in response with his own face under the helmet that said 'Thanks a lot' and a short exhale.
"Fine." He sighed, much to everyone else's (especially Ruby's) delight. "But if word gets out about this, I'm keeping this helmet on at all times after that."
Ruby nodded her head with a bright smile, along with the others. Jax simply pulled back his hood and and took off his helmet revealing his facial appearance to the others. As a result, Jaune and Ren looked on in interest, while Nora and Ruby were practically squeeing.
As for Pyrrha, she already caught sight of Jax's face, but it was nice to see his somewhat easygoing expression and vibe again considering the current circumstances.
"What? Were you expecting me to have some kind of beard and mustache to go along with this?" Jax asked, pointing to his face.
"Nope." Ruby answered expectantly.
"I kinda did expected you to be taller, with a lower voice." Nora added with a shrug, much to Ren's (and Jax's) slight annoyance.
"We talked about this Nora." Her friend commented.
"So? Whatever happened to hoping for the best?" She still stuck to her argument.
The sound of Jax clearing his throat again caught their attention. "Are you done yet?" Both nodded their heads, now waiting patiently for their savior to answer Jaune's previous question.
The Hunter, looking to the travellers, started. "Now as I was trying to say, the reason why I've been following you is because it's pretty much my general oath of protecting other people. Not owing to the fact that I'm bored and in need of a new adventure. It's the same motive to Qrow tailing all of you. With things getting even worse, more people are getting into more danger, and I can't be in multiple places at once. There's only one of me." A short pause followed.
He turned his eye contact to Jaune. "To answer the second part of your question, looking for relics and treasures is part of my job. However it's like I said before, humanity's safety comes first before I do that, even if it falls to protecting a small group such as yourselves. And especially if the lot of us holds the key to our survival." At that part, Ruby turned her gaze downward to the ground. "Besides, these relics are built around the Huntsmen Academies and there's no telling how much trouble I'd have to go through to find even one of them without causing some suspicion whether if it's for our allies or enemies. It's no use chasing around what you can't find or get. If the power these relics hold are as powerful as Qrow told me before you guys, then we need to decide our next move carefully. We're virtually playing a huge game of chess where our enemy is already four steps ahead of us. Their moves have been executed flawlessly to the point of where they'll win this indefinitely if we're not careful enough. So I'm gonna say the same thing that Qrow might've said if he already hasn't. We must be rational in what actions we take."
A wave of silence passed the group when the Hunter finished, until Ruby broke it. "What should we do?"
The question was expected, but it caught the Hunter off-guard at the same time. There were some moments where he would implement a battle plan in order to win a battle whether it be in the Crucible or against Earth's enemies. He thought for sure Qrow would've answered that question.
Then again, he did say he placed his trust in someone of whom was a higher authority.
The Hunter turned his head Qrow's way. "You never gave them any ideas didn't you?"
The huntsman only shrugged in response. "Nope, but I'd like to hear one."
Jax only sighed before answering. "Right now, the only thing we can do is see how far down this rabbit hole goes."
It was a straightforward and practical answer, but nobody seemed to like it given their expressions and uncomfortable body language throughout.
"That's it?" Jaune asked. "We just keep fighting ourselves to the bone? Not even a complex plan to even just hurt the White Fang?"
Jax crossed his arms on top of his legs. "Listen, I know how you all feel about this. I had the same thoughts you did, but I'm not the best big battle strategist. It's the only option we've got so far until we can come up with an actual plan to hinder Salem's plot in her quest to destroy humanity. Until we're able to get actual backup, we'd just be shooting ourselves in our feet rather than doing any good." The Hunter explained patiently. "If that's not good enough still, I'm open to any other suggestions."
More silence followed thereafter, but this time Pyrrha broke it. "Jax…" Everyone, including the Guardian himself, turned their attention to the gladiator. "I know what we're about to do is crazy and it might seem that we're just fighting with our eyes closed, but I'll follow through with whatever plans that will keep us fighting and I won't hesitate to lay down my life for safety of everyone else." Her eyes gleamed with determination and renewed fire.
Jax grinned back. "That's good to hear. But you might wanna leave that to Qrow seeing he has more of an eyesight of what's happening here. My battle plan so far is that just eliminate everyone until Salem's all that left."
Qrow chuckled in response. "I had the something along those lines too with possible interrogation to get information on where we can find the relics before Salem."
"See? He has somewhat more of a plan than me." Jax pointed at him for a moment. "Even if it's a little too general." Qrow hmph'ed to himself before getting up and clutching his side and started to walk away from the campfire.
"Where are you going?" Ren asked him.
The veteran huntsman stopped before turning back to and answered. "Taking a walk."
Ruby gave one final question to her uncle. "There's nothing else you wanna tell us?"
Qrow stopped walking and paused for moment. He looked toward the crow that perched itself on the branch shortly after before gazing back to the ground. "Not tonight." And with that, he continued down his path just as a log from the campfire fell out and Ruby continued to look at her uncle with sorrow.
Jax also couldn't help but feel the same dolor for the huntsman as he gained some distance. Despite his jovial personality at times, he too had his moments when it felt as though he was less than worthless when it came to the Guardians (and their Ghosts) lives' he failed to preserve and rescue in the ongoing battles against the Darkness. However, the thought of someone having to distance himself because of powers which went beyond their control never crossed the Hunter's mind. There were times when Guardians' Supers were a little too destructive, but it would never harm their teammates in the process of unleashing their powers whatsoever.
Well, at least when it came to going against humanity's enemies since Guardians took their shots carefully. The Crucible was a completely different story.
Deciding he needed his own time to rekindle, the Hunter arose from his spot around the campfire and informed the group. "I'm… gonna go for a walk as well… but down my own path to get some... fresh air." He addressed awkwardly before he walked down a narrow pathway which would lead to an open spot in the forest which wasn't too far from the camping spot.
"B-b-but wait! We still have more questions regarding you." Jaune called to the Hunter as he was gaining distance.
"Oh, I know. That's why I'm leaving." Jax chuckled a bit, not even sparing a glance backwards to the group.
(A/N: :/ Hm… kind of a jerk move on his part don'cha think?)
Pyrrha watched Jax gained distance away from the group. She too had the feeling that Jax was also dealing with problems of his own. Still as Jaune said before, she had more questions she wanted to ask him regarding his true identity and if there were more people like him that could teach her and possibly her teammates into becoming more than what they were at the moment.
However, now was the time for recovery from today's events and preparation for the next day's imminent struggles.
Tower, The Last City
"Now, you're probably wondering why I called both of you here to this super important meeting that I thought of-"
"You mean why we called them here and the plan we thought of, Cayde."
Ki'lera and Jethor both stood attentively as Warlock Vanguard Ikora Rey corrected fellow Hunter Vanguard (and Exo who would kill other Guardians who aren't willing to go out in battle) Cayde-6 as both leaders were about to address Fireteam Ingin's next mission which would ultimately contribute to the new planet which they had discovered.
Cayde only sighed and shook his head. "Fine. We called you here." He then scooted closer to the two fireteam members to whisper hurriedly. "Still totally my idea."
Ikora cleared her throat loudly enough for the Exo to hear and acknowledge she was nowhere near deaf also very attentive to the environment around her. On top of that, a calm glare directed toward the Hunter leader.
Deciding to not let his ego spiral out of control which would result in some… injuries, Cayde resumed. "As we were saying, the reason we were calling you here was because we just received some new information that you might find interesting. So, in other words, good news."
"What kind of good news?" Ki'lera asked, wanting to get to the chase and barely holding back her patience. She wasn't one for standing around when there were enemies that needed to be dealt with.
Typical blood-knight personality.
This time, Ikora took over. "Intel retrieved thus far regarding the new planet we had discovered shortly after your deployment to Phobos. Codename: Remnant." A holographic image of the planet was then displayed on the table with vital points marked. "According to what the Cabal have gathered, they had been able to detect an abundance of resources and technologies on this planet. A possible lost Golden Age colony, if you will."
"But of course, that wasn't the only thing that's intriguing about this. It seems that the Cabal are also getting wiser when it comes to extermination. We've also intercepted some of their scans which show they were also able to detect to a faint distress signal laced with a Guardian serial coding and signature on that planet." Cayde informed.
The last part stood out for both Ki'lera and Jethor. A Vanguard signal that far off on the new planet was a little strange. How did a Guardian crash so far off outside the solar system? Did they have a warp drive malfunction in that instance? There were so many possibilities running through Jethor's head in that moment.
However, the pieces started coming together for Ki'lera all too quickly.
"Cayde, Ikora, do you think that the serial number and signature matches one of our own?" The Titan questioned seriously.
"We've ran it through a bunch of times through our coding databases and there's no mistaking this particular marking." The Hunter Vanguard answered. He noticed the slight surprise on Ki'lera's face.
And so did Ikora apparently since she spoke up next. "But I would not get your hopes too high. For all we know, Jax and Jiro could be dead already."
"Not so. Jax isn't so much the dying type from what we've seen." Jethor argued. "You've seen how he's contributed from the destruction of the Black Garden up until now. He's helped us lead to an age of hope of prosperity."
As much as Ikora did not want to admit it, but her fellow scholar-warrior had a point. Almost every time, she would see Jax come back and always have something to tell Cayde whether it be an achievement, a weapon he received, a made-up story, or even something pertaining toward various noodle incidents like the time one of the female Guardians got wise, snuck into his quarters and... well, next thing that happened was the Huntress was mixed up in the weapons delivery system.
Needless to say, she's trying to recover from that… event. Not even the jovial Hunter Vanguard bothered to touch the door.
"Even the best meet their match from time to time." The Warlock Vanguard sighed. "I will admit he has many deeds which accommodate to his already sufficient battle record. However, that does not mean he could be very much alive."
"He's one of our top Hunters. It's not like him to just stay in one place for this long and wait for us to contact him back. He knows better than that." Cayde argued then gestured to the Warlock Vanguard. "You said so yourself Ikora about the lost colony. He could've taken shelter there."
"The possibility does exist, but it's not a guarantee." Ikora stated.
"Either way, we have to look into this, find out about Jax's true whereabouts, and make contact with whoever's on that planet." Ki'lera said with determination.
"Agreed." Ikora nodded her head, very much appreciating the Titan's ability to take charge within a heartbeat. "With the majority of our fireteams keeping the Fallen, Hive, Vex, Cabal, Taken, and even the Splicers in check at the moment, there is a limited amount of Guardians we can assign and trust on this mission. But I believe the fireteam standing right before us is ready for our first reach beyond the system."
Ki'lera and Jethor both had many thoughts running through each of their minds about what powerful enemies they would encounter, the possible resources on this planet, and how the locals would greet them. Still, one thing was for sure Jax was on this unknown planet called Remnant and something had to be done fast.
Whether if he was dead or alive, conflict would most likely be inevitable.
"We won't let you down Ikora and Cayde. We'll find out if Jax is alive and gather more information on this planet." Ki'lera said with determination.
"Good, but be careful. There's no telling what you could be facing over there and how the locals might react." Cayde advised. "You'll to have keep a low profile." He stopped and thought for a moment. "Well, the lowest profile you can just as long as it doesn't end with someone's spine as their tongue. Not that I'm spitting out any names or anything..."
The last part was directed toward a certain armored Guardian as one of their teammates turned to look at her.
"He was asking for it when he said 'lollipop'." Ki'lera mumbled stubbornly under her breath with a glare, still embarrassed from last month's… encounter.
"He was naming his custom weapon 'Lollipop'. Not flirting with you." Jethor-4 corrected. He let the incident sink in for a moment. "I'm amazed that he has an addiction for giving his own weapons all sorts of names."
"Let's just be glad not all of our Guardians aren't like that or we'd be in serious trouble." Ki'lera stated.
Ikora cleared her throat to get everyone back on the subject. "If there are no other comments, then I suggest you deploy immediately, scout the land of this planet, and start investigating your teammate's whereabouts. We shall be in contact with you on your mission."
Cayde laughed for a second until he realized what Ikora said. "Heh, heh, h-wait. What?"
"Yes, ma'am." Both Awoken and Exo chorused. With that, they started heading out the Hall of Guardians and through the Plaza to get clearance to leave the Tower.
"So… uh… Remnant, huh?"
"You're not leaving this Tower, Cayde."
Said Exo sighed in annoyance and muttered under his breath. "Figures."
And meanwhile as their exchange was over, the two members of Fireteam Ingin were conversation amongst themselves.
"I hope this mission turns out to be something more than useful for a change." Ki'lera started the conversation between her and Jethor.
"I'm sure we'll find Jax and some monumental discoveries. After all, you could say that it's just a lost remnant of the Golden Age." Jethor (didn't really) quipped.
(Author: :-( Annnnd my heart just cried…)
Just as the Exo showed as much glee as he could, the Awoken returned a violent death glare his direction as silence filled, beside the various conversations other Guardians were having in the background.
"You better be glad I'm very worried about Jax right now. If I wasn't, I'd throw you off this tower." Ki'lera growled with much malevolence. The only she hated more than the Darkness was terrible wordplay.
And as if it heard her, the Tower P.A. came on…
"Guardians, this is a new round announcements: a bad pun is no excuse for throwing fellow Guardians off the Tower r doing any other sociopathic thing. Even if they're deliberately stupid ones. Have a nice day!"
Ki'lera looked at the Tower P.A. (wherever it was) in disbelief, while Jethor could put on the best trolling smile he could. After a minute, Ki'lera groaned loudly and angrily as put her arms in the air in exasperation whilst muttering to herself that it'll only be for a short time hopefully.
Jethor's ghost decided to come out and acknowledge the situation.
"You know if you keep being smart like that, she'll be the multiple deaths of you one day." Osias stated.
"True, but she always pulls through in the end and sends an apology letter after sending someone in the hospital for bad jokes." Jethor said. "That and I've made a pact with Jax if anything were to happen to him. I'll secretly tell him that I've been trolling her in his place."
Osias just sighed and shook himself. "I may never know how you two tease her like that and not get at least punched out of the building."
Oniyuri Forest Campsite, Daybreak
Morning came past in the blink of an eye.
The group was sleeping in their respective comfortable positions, except for Jax who was already up and about ready to get to the next stop which was Mistral. He was a Hunter, one who relished and belonged to the wilds. However, he did miss the feeling of social interaction and sense of security among other people, even it did seem naive to them. With him and Qrow now reunited with Ruby and her friends, events seemed to be looking up.
But as the sun rose from the east and the sky got brighter, things were still about to get darker for the traveling fighters.
"Rise and shine, everyone." Jax sing-songed to the group. Everyone who heard his voice arose from their sleeping bags and stretched for a bit.
Pyrrha seemed to notice the Hunter's optimism on his face. "So, I take you're a morning person?"
"Yup, depending on how much sleep I get." Jax nodded his head as he stretched. "I haven't slept that good since I was practically ordered to stop going through excessive training exercises in one day and get some rest."
The gladiator returned a concerned expression. "You don't get much rest do you?"
The Hunter shrugged with a smile on his face. "No rest for the wicked either." The answer still perplexed Pyrrha, but it satisfied her nonetheless.
"We should probably get moving." Ren stated.
Jaune agreed. "Yeah, yeah."
The sound of coughing caught everyone's attention. It soon became more worse with each passing second as everyone turned to Qrow who was sitting upright on the base of a tree. Ruby quickly got up and went at her uncle's side with Jax lagging not too far behind. Upon getting closer, the Hunter could make out purple straining on the Huntsman bandage. Qrow pulled away his hand and revealed purple staining on top of it much to Ruby's shock as she widened her eyes and gasped upon sight.
"Uh-oh. This is worse than we thought." Jiro said through the psychic link to Jax.
"Well… that's unfortunate." Qrow groaned before he passed out from the effects.
Just great...