The Bear and the Archer
AN: I am glad you all enjoyed the fight in the previous chapter.
I can't believe I managed to get to 10 chapters and so many people like my story.
Thank you all!
Now to the continuation of our hero's adventure to Beacon.
I'd like to thank 'Nightengale4698' for being my beta-reader for this chapter, and the chapters in the future.
(Days till New Year's Eve: 3 Days)
It took the company the whole day to drive down the mountain and into the forest below. Unfortunately for the company, they discovered that the forest was infested with Grimm. Every time they tried to set up camp, they were attacked by Beowulves or Creeps. With so many Grimm around, they were unable to find a good camp sight.
They eventually had to stop to refuel their vehicles. The moment all the vehicles were turned off, it was completely quiet. No sound of birds, forest animals, or even the hoot of an owl. Everyone in the Grizzly had to jump out if they were attacked again.
Jaune got off his bike and walked up to Blake and Velvet, "Scout ahead. See if you can find us a way out of this forest, or some kind of shelter." He had to whisper in the hopes to not risk any more Grimm discovering them.
They both nodded and jumped up the trees and moved north form the company.
"Why did you ask them?" Ruby asked.
"Because their breeds of Faunus have night-vision." Jaune said.
"Oh, that makes sense. What are we going to do?" Ruby said.
"Hold up here, refuel the bikes and tank, and wait for them to come back." Jaune said as he took one of the gas tanks form the Grizzly and began refueling his bike.
Yang did the same with her bike; Yatsu started refueling the Grizzly as well, with the help of Fox. While the refueling was underway, Coco and Weiss were distributing bullets to everyone who needed more after their last battle.
(Blake and Velvet's scouting point)
Blake and Velvet jumped from tree to tree to find shelter or a way out of the forest. Thanks to their night-vision, they were able to see through the dark night and see where they were going.
Blake looked around and found what looked like a large rock formation to her left and started moving towards it, Velvet followed her. They both started to hear what sounded like a loud roar.
Velvet felt a chill run down her spine, "What was that?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of a roar like that. Almost sounds like an Ursa." Blake said with a worried look on her face.
"It sounds bigger than an Ursa." Velvet said with a little fear in her voice.
Blake looked to the rock formation and saw something. It resembled a grizzly bear, except it was large. It was very large. "I think I found it." Blake whispered.
Velvet pulled out her camera and tried to use its lenses to see farther. Once it was in focus, she could see that the 'bear' was very large, had scars on its main body and face, claws like blades and teeth like knives. She took a picture, minus the flash so that she wouldn't draw its attention, but the creature turned its head towards them when the camera clicked.
"We need to get back to the others." Velvet suggested.
She got no argument from Blake as they both made their way back to the company. They heard another that roar sounded closer, meaning that the beast was following them.
(Back with the company)
They finished refueling their vehicles restocking their ammunition, now they were waiting for Blake and Velvet to come back.
Weiss was starting to nod off, but Jaune woke her back up by tapping her foot. "Don't fall asleep out here!" he whispered with a hiss.
"I am tired! We've been going non-stop for over 20 hours straight, Jaune." Weiss hissed back.
"You're not the only one who's tired, Weiss. But we can't risk letting our guard down out here." Jaune said.
Blake and Velvet landed next to the tank and walked up to the company.
"Blake, Velvet, your back." Ruby said with a whisper.
"What do you have to report? Is there any shelter, or at least a way out of the forest?" Jaune asked.
"No, but we have a new problem." Blake said with a worried look in her eye.
"What is it?" Qrow asked as he was drinking form his flask.
"There is something out there… something really big." Velvet said with fear in her eyes.
"What did it look like? Like a bear?" Qrow asked with serious look in his eyes.
Both Blake and Velvet were shocked by his question.
"Yes… But it was huge, almost bigger than the tank." Velvet said with shock in her eyes.
"How did you know?" Blake asked with a surprised look on her face.
"You know about this thing?" Neptune asked.
Qrow turned towards the path, he looked as though he was deep in thought.
"We should turn back to the mountain, and find a way around the forest." Sun suggested.
"It'll take too long to go around. Plus there are a lot of Grimm between us and the mountain base." Jaune said.
"That and we aren't strong enough to take on any more Grimm, we're all exhausted." Ruby stated as she gestured to the worn out company before her.
"There is a house not far from here." Qrow said as he turned back towards the company. "We could stay there for the night."
"Who's house?" Yang asked. "Are they friends?"
"Not exactly. They will either help us, or turn us away." Qrow said as he looked to Jaune, "But I have a feeling they won't."
"Not like we have any other choice. Mount up, everyone. Qrow, lead the way." Jaune ordered.
Everyone got into their vehicles; Qrow sat behind Jaune and pointed him down the path they were previously on.
The company continued through the forest and made it out, but they could still hear the large bear's roar echo through the air. Jaune could tell that it was following them, and it was getting closer.
Qrow lead the company to a small farm in the middle of nowhere. Weiss even looked at their holographic map to see that there were no villages anywhere close to this farm and that it was just outside both Vacuo and Vale's boarders, meaning that this farm was independent from both kingdoms.
The farm had a large house; it was two stories, made of wood and had trees growing on the sides of it.
"How can there be a farm all the way out here, alone?" Weiss asked with a completely surprised face.
"Yeah, most usually don't make it on their own in the outlands." Blake said in agreement.
As they pulled up and got out of the tank, they walked to the door. They all jumped when they heard the roar echo behind them. Everyone turned to look behind the tank to see the large bear breaking through the tree line and charging at them.
Qrow ran to the front door and started banging against it, "Meri! Meri, open the door!"
Everyone gathered at the door behind Qrow. Jaune could hear someone walking to the door. Then he heard a woman's voice, she had an accent he never heard before. "Qrow, is that you?"
"Yes it's me, open up!" Qrow demanded, mostly because of the angry bear that was charging at them was getting closer.
The door opened fast and everyone pilled in. The bear jumped over the Grizzly and ran straight for the front door. Everyone ran to the door and closed it, the beast slammed against the door before they could fully close it.
Once they heard the beast walked away, everyone relaxed. Neptune put his back to one of the walls and slowly sat on the ground, he was winded when he asked, "What the hell was that thing?"
"That 'thing' is ma guidman, Beorn." The woman said with a slight hiss in her voice. The woman was pretty tall, roughly the same height as Jaune or Qrow. She had blue eyes and long curly orange hair. She wore a blue dress.
"Your what?" Ruby asked, she didn't understand what the woman said.
"She said that was her husband." Qrow said as he drank from his flask.
"That thing is your husband? That thing could kill you!" Weiss practically shouted.
"He wid ne'er harm me." Merida said with a slightly annoyed look in her eye.
"And who are you?" Ruby politely asked.
"Ah, whaur ur mah manners. A'm Merida." The woman said as she bowed her head slightly. She then turned to Qrow and hit him in the shoulder, "Qrow, whit th' hell urr ye daein' 'ere?"
"Ow! We were passing by and we needed a place to stay the night." Qrow said as he was rubbing his shoulder.
"We will only be here for the night, we promise. We'll pay you for the inconvenience." Jaune said as he walked up to her through the group.
Merida looked at Jaune with shock in her eyes, almost as if she saw a ghost. She shook herself back to reality, she smiled, "Ye dinnae hae tae dae that." She then looked to Qrow, "Althoogh, ye micht huv tae apologize tae Beorn th' morns mornin'."
Qrow closed his eyes, smiled and rubbed the back of his head. Merida gestured for the group to follow her, "C'moan, ah will gie ye a' some blankets."
"So you're wedded to a bear?" Weiss asked with a disgusted look on her face.
"He insae a bear, he's a skin-changer" Merida said with irritation in her voice.
"You mean they're real too?" Blake asked with shock in her eyes.
"You know about them?" Ruby asked.
"Yes. It's an old legend, as old as the Faunus themselves." Blake said with amazement in her eyes, "According to legend, there was a special breed of Faunus that not only looked like animals, but they had the ability to turn into the animal they resembled."
"I thought they were extinct." Velvet said.
"Heh, Trolls, Goblins, now Skin-Changers… What's next?" Coco said in an attempt to tempt fate.
"Alright, that's enough of the history lesson. We need to go to sleep now." Jaune said, he was practically at war with his body to stay awake. He got no argument from anyone else in the house. They all got their blankets and pillows form Merida and found their own places to sleep in the house.
(AN: I would like to make a note, everything that Merida said was real Scottish slang from the 'English to Scottish slang translator'.)
(The Spire Fortress)
The trucks came back, once they stopped, one of the White Fang guards had to carry Cinder out of the truck and into the Spire.
They walked into the elevator and went to the prison level. As the door opens, Emerald was in the hallway standing in front of Pyrrha's cell. It looked like she was talking to her.
Emerald moved to the side as the guard carrying Cinder took her to the medical bay at the other end of the hall. Pyrrha stood up and walked to the bars, her eyes were wide from shock. There, in the arms of one of the guards, laid the woman who surpassed her.
"Who could have done that?" Pyrrha questioned in her mind, she knew that if she had said that out loud they would have punished her in some form or fashion.
In the medical room, they lay her down on the table and begin to operate on her arm. After about an hour, they patched her arm and disinfected the wound, Cinder was starting to wake up.
"Hugh…" Cinder groaned and put her right hand to her head, she then looked to the stump of what was left of her left arm. "How bad is it? Can you replace it?"
The main doctor in the room looked nervous. "I… cannot. If it was a clean cut, yes. But the wound was cauterized. The only way to replace it is if we cut more off."
She squinted her eyes in irritation, "Very well, I will have to make do with what we have." Cinder then raised her stump towards the back wall. The wall was then engulfed in fire; droplets of liquid dripped from it and hit the ground. The liquid then formed together and began to float in the air.
The ball of liquid became clear; it wasn't water, it was glass. The liquid then moved to her stump. Once it made contact with her skin, she bit her lower lip till it bled. The liquid ball then formed into a forearm and a hand.
Once the glass cooled, it didn't harden. She opened it and closed it; it moved just as fluidly and easily as a normal hand would. Everyone looked in shock at the marvel of her Fall Maiden talents.
"Benefits of having magic, instead of semblance." Cinder said with a devious smile.
Emerald moved slowly and touched the hand, it wasn't hot at all, in fact it was cold. She then looked to Cinder, "Who did this to you?"
"Remember the knight that scared the crap out of Neo? It was him." Mercury said with anger in his voice. With a box of tools next to him, he was fixing his broken leg.
"A knight? Who was it?" Emerald asked.
"His name is Jaune Arc." Cinder said with anger in her voice.
"Jaune Arc?" Emerald asked with shock, she had a face what was both surprise and confusion. "Wasn't he the guy who wore a dress at the dance?"
"Yes, although he doesn't seem as weak as he did then." Cinder said. "If he's an Arc, then that would mean he's…"
"Is there anything about him in Beacon's database?" Mercury asked.
Emerald looked into her scroll and pulled up Jaune's file. "Well, he was the team leader of team JNPR, and the partner of 'princess'. You know… Now that I think about it, she did have a certain reaction when she heard his voice on Neo's recording." Emerald said with a curious look in her eyes.
"You think they were close?" Mercury asked.
"I doubt it; someone with his stats wouldn't get far with a girl like her. She's out of his league." Emerald said as she looked into scroll again.
"I wouldn't be so sure. He took us apart fast; he's in a league of his own." Mercury said as he looked at his scroll, watching Jaune's 'entrance' into the battle.
"I believe I know what he is…" Cinder said with an ominous voice. "But more to that later, how is the progress on our guest?"
Emerald stepped back from Cinder; she had a nervous look on her face. "Well… we haven't made any."
Cinder's glass hand started to glow red, "Excuse me?"
"Wait, hear me out!" Emerald said with both her hand up, Cinder's had then returned to normal and she waited to hear Emerald's explanation.
"Every attempt we made to corrupt her, alter her, or even so much as torture her was stopped." Emerald said.
"What?! How is that even possible?" Mercury asked.
Emerald took a deep breath and took a data pad form one of the doctors, "Remember that aura reserve that saved her from your arrow? Well, whenever we tried to do something to her, it would appear and stop us in every way."
"That's impossible." Cinder said with irritation, "You said that aura went away after she was awakened."
"That's what we thought, but it reappeared every time we tried something." Emerald said as she looked down, "Almost as if it went dormant until she was in danger."
"So what do we do? If we can't torture her, how do we get her to be on our side?" Mercury asked.
"Maybe she does care for him, she certainly seemed a little happy to hear his voice again when I played Neo's recording to her. If we imprison him like her, we might be able to get her to cooperate." Emerald suggested.
"Yes." Cinder said with an arrogant smile, "He may have surprised me, but he would never beat me in a straight up fight. And when we have him, she will do anything for his safety." Cinder then stood up and walked out of the room, Mercury and Emerald followed.
Pyrrha was up against the wall, trying to scrape at it with a fork she got for her food. The material on the wall scratched easily, but whenever she made a small hole, more melted over it and covered the hole. After the second time she had a face of both fear and confusion.
"It's not metal," said a malevolent voice from behind.
Pyrrha turned quick to find Cinder, Mercury and Emerald standing outside the bars. "This entire building is made of enchanted glass. And there is only one way out, so don't bother trying to escape." Cinder said with a devious smile.
"What do you want?" Pyrrha asked with a hiss.
"I have a few questions for you." Cinder said with a smile. Just as she was about to ask her first question, a White Fang guard came up to her.
"Ma'am, we have a special guest coming." The guard said with slight fear in his voice.
Cinder looked at him with irritation, "Very well." She then looked to Pyrrha, "We'll talk later."
Outside the main gate of the Spire, came ten bikers. All wearing black cloaks that covered their heads accept one. The one in front had brown hair, wore a small Grimm mask that covered his face from the nose up and horns coming out of his forehead.
As the riders pulled up, Cinder walked to the head biker. "Adam Taurus, to what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked sarcastically.
"I was ordered to bring you to Dol Guldur. The Necromancer says it's urgent." Adam said with a content look on his face.
Cinder's eyes squinted, almost as if she hated the mention of that man, "Very well." Cinder looked to Emerald and Mercury, "You two, find out more about this knight, get the info form Nikos if you have to. I will be back soon."
Both nodded to her orders. Cinder then sat on the bike, behind Adam. Adam got a quick look at Cinder's new arm, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Don't ask, just drive." Cinder said with anger in her voice.
They then rode off to the south with all the other bikers following them.
(Days to New Year's Eve: 2 Days / Beorn and Merida's house)
As the sun began to rise, the large bear that was patrolling the house started to move closer to it. It started to get smaller, and look more human. The man fell limp and hit the ground, but then picked himself back up.
Merida was waiting at the front porch, holding cloths in her hands. She walked over to the man in the distance. The man walked but was dazed.
Once he reached Merida, she hugged him tight, she could feel the man tense up in her arms, "Relax, a'm 'ere, mah loue."
Beorn stood only a foot taller than her, he had long brown hair coming down his head. There was an iron shackle on his left wrist. He had big bear ears coming out of his head, like how Blake's ears went.
She could hear him sniff the air, "Who's here?" He then looked behind her and saw the Grizzly parked in front of the house. "Hunters!"
"Na, ah let thaim in." Merida said as she held both his arms. "Thay wantit oor hulp."
Beorn rolled his eyes, took the cloths from Merida's hands and walked past her, "I told you before, Merida. We do not aid anyone, let alone hunters." He said with a growl.
What Merida said next made Beorn stop as if he was a statue, "Th' son o' Jonah Arc is wi' thaim."
Beorn looked to her slowly, he had a face of shock. "Are you sure?"
"He looks juist lik' him. He even soonds lik' him." Merida said with a half-smile.
Beorn groaned, as if he was defeated, "I… will get the food for breakfast. See to it that they are awake soon."
Merida nodded both as a 'yes' and as a 'thank you'. She then remembered who else was with them and gave a nervous smile, "Qrow is wi' thaim tea."
Beorn groaned again and rolled his eyes as he made his way to the barn, "Hugh, I'll deal with him later."
Jaune woke up to find everyone still asleep. When he stood up he found that there was a large chair in the room he was in, and over the fireplace was a war-bow. The bow was brown, but there were two small blades at each end of the bow.
Jaune walked over his friends, who were still asleep on the ground, and to the window to see Merida return.
"Och, guid. Ye'r awake." Merida said with a smile. They both then heard a cry upstairs. It sounded like a baby's cry, "Ah will tak' care o' him. Kin ye wake a' body up, breakfast wull be duin soon."
Jaune nodded to the woman and began waking everyone up. One-by-one he either shook them or tapped their foreheads to wake them up. Nora was the last for him to wake up, but she slept like a log.
Once Merida came back down, holding a little boy in her arms, she walked over to the stove and fired it up. The child was small; it had short brown curly hair, and had blue eyes.
"Ye a' kin set up th' buird, breakfast wull be duin in a minute." Merida said as she sat the baby in a seat next to the table.
The whole company helped in setting up the table; most of the girls were going crazy over Merida's baby. The little boy smiled at them, and giggled.
Ruby looked to Merida, "How old is your baby?"
"He is twa 'n' a hauf year auld." Merida said with pride. She laid four strips of bacon on a pan over the stove.
Jaune was still standing over Nora, trying to wake her up. She wouldn't budge no matter what he did. Ren came up to him, holding a finished strip of bacon in his hand, "I have an idea."
Ren then put the bacon in front of Nora's nose, when she inhaled, her eyes shot open fast. She quickly opened her mouth and ate the bacon out of Ren's hand. She bit his hand a little in the process. "OW!"
"Sorry." Nora said with a nervous smile, "Is there more?"
"Go sit at the table, Merida is still making the food." Jaune said as he pointed to the table behind him.
Beorn walked in through the door in the kitchen, he was holding a bucket of milk and a basket of eggs. He placed the basket of eggs on the table next to the stove and poured the milk into the milk separator.
Everyone was talking amongst themselves, some were talking about what the fight the other night was like for them, some talked about the baby at the table, Jaune was the only one who wasn't talking.
Beorn could see Jaune through the group and was surprised at the way he looked, "You're right. He does look like him."
Qrow came down from the upstairs, "Merida, thanks again for letting me stay in the guest room…" Qrow stopped talking when Beorn was in his sight. "Hey, big guy… How've you been?"
"Not exactly happy to see you so soon." Beorn said with an angered voice.
"Well it's only been two years." Qrow said with a nervous smile.
"Two years too soon." Beorn said.
"I take it you two have a bad history?" Yang asked.
"Sort of." Qrow said with a nervous smile, "I'd rather not talk about it."
Once Merida was done making the food, Beorn picked up the food and took them to the main table. In his right hand there was a big plate with bacon strips stacked over each other, and in his left there was a big bowl of scrambled eggs. Merida handed everyone their own cups and pored each of them a glass of milk, then returned to the kitchen.
"A'body waant coffee?" Merida said as she was holding a coffee pot.
"Coffee for me, please." Coco said.
"Me too." Weiss said as she raised her hand.
"I'll have some of that." Qrow said.
Beorn walked past Jaune as he finished setting down all the food. "So… You are Jaune Arc, son of Jonah."
Jaune was surprised, "You knew my father?"
"Knew him? if 'twas nae fur him, we wid nae be 'ere." Merida said with a huff.
Beorn walked over to the child and picked him up, "A hoard of Grimm attacked the farm in the middle of the night. My wife was pregnant at the time, so I had to fight them off myself. Even in my other form, I was being overwhelmed. Then your father arrived." Beorn looked to Jaune when he said that, "I guess he was on a patrol mission on the boarders of Vale, but I guess that doesn't really matter. We fought off every Grimm that night; I've never before seen such spirit in a man."
Jaune felt somewhat proud to hear such a story about his father. Even when he was around, his father never told him of his adventures like Ruby's parents did. It always made him sad that he never did.
"Tell me, what brings you here?" Beorn asked as he gave Merida the child.
"We ran into a little bad luck with goblins up in the mountains." Qrow said.
"Why would you go near goblins for? Stupid thing to do." Beorn said with a voice of annoyance.
"That was my fault actually. I didn't know there were goblins there. But we had to get across fast." Jaune said.
"I see." Beorn said with a more calm voice.
"I'm curious, are there others like you?" Weiss asked.
"Once there were many." Beorn said.
"And now?" Blake asked.
"Now there are few." He said with a sad voice.
"What happened?" Velvet asked.
If anyone else had asked, he would have ignored the question, but since it was a fellow Faunus who asked, he was inclined to answer. "Our kind were the first to live in the mountains. The goblins came and decided to live below the surface. Over time, the goblins pushed us out. They killed most of our people, but those who survive were forced into the out-lands. My son and I are two of the few left."
"I'm sorry." Jaune said as he lowered his head.
"Don't be, it happened decades ago. And you are here now." Beorn said. "You are trying to reach Beacon, aren't you?"
"Yes. We are going to slay Smaug and bring Cinder Fall's reign to an end." Qrow said.
"The only problem is, in order to do all of that, we need to be at beacon before New Year's Eve." Yang said after taking a few bites of bacon.
"Yer a'maist oot o' time." Merida said as she was rocking her child back to sleep.
"That is why we will cut through Mirkwood, to save us time." Qrow said.
"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees." Beorn almost sounded nervous at the mention of Mirkwood. "I would not venture there except in great need."
"We'll be taking the old road. It is still clear, thanks to the Atlas perimeter." Weiss said with a little pride in her voice.
"Clear? Maybe, but do not count too much on the kindness of those soldiers." Beorn said.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
"Ever since the 'Quarantine Zone' was set up, any Faunus who gets near the walls is detained and questioned. General Ironwood has become more paranoid than before; he believes any Faunus that isn't one of his troops is a secret agent of the White Fang. With all the bombings over the past two years, I couldn't blame him." Beorn said.
"We'll think of something when we get there." Jaune said with confidence to his company. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Assuming you reach the walls." Beorn said.
"What do you mean?" Qrow asked.
"These lands are crawling with Grimm. Even the White Fang have camps along the forest. You'll never get there without a fight, or without losing people." Beorn said.
"What are you suggesting?" Qrow asked.
Beorn then looked to everyone, "Aside from my wife, I don't like humans, hunters no less. They're greedy… and have prejudice towards those who they deem different form themselves. And blind to those whom they believe lesser than their own."
The tension in the room started to grow, even Merida was worried what he was going to say next.
Beorn then walked to Merida and petted his son. "But I owe your father my life, Jaune Arc; my life and the life of my wife and son. And so, I am indebted to you as well."
Merida started to smile, both with happiness and pride for her husband.
Beorn looked to Jaune, "What do you need?"
After the company finished breakfast, they started repairing the Grizzly and the bikes. As thanks for letting the company stay there and making breakfast, any who weren't working on the vehicles were helping Merida with the chores around the farm.
Merida talked with Weiss and showed her shortcuts on the map for them to take when they get into Mirkwood.
Jaune was sitting on the ground with his back to the barn. He pulled out a neckless out from under his shirt. It had a cross and a green jewel next to it.
The cross was the last birthday present his father gave him before he went missing. Jaune wore that cross every day since. The cross was from a religion his family believed in, he did too… for a time. But when his father went missing and people were saying he was dead, he started to lose faith.
The jewel he had originated from Pyrrha's headpiece. It was one of the green jewels that dangled on the chains that were over the ears. When Jaune had got the letter back from Pyrrha's parents, the jewel came with the letter. He had on his necklace ever since.
Jaune had his knees close to his face and used them to hold up his arms in front of his face. He looked directly at the cross, a face full of guilt and sorrow.
"I… I know it's been a while since I talked to you…" Jaune said with a guilty voice. With no one around to hear this, he talked out loud. "But I wanted to thank you… for… giving me the strength to save my friends this time."
"Wow. Last time you spoke to Him you were crying over me… Two years ago." Pyrrha said. Jaune looked to see that she was sitting next to him, legs crossed. Jaune nodded in agreement to her statement.
Jaune heard foots steps coming his way, they were from something big. "It's either Yatsu or Beorn." Jaune looked to find that it was Beorn who was approaching, carrying his child.
Beorn sat down next to Jaune, setting his son on his lap. Beorn noticed Jaune's cross, "I've seen that symbol before. Your father had it on him that day."
"Yeah, he gave it to me on my birthday, before he disappeared." Jaune said. He had a face of slight frustration and confusion, "The biggest problem I'm dealing with right now is that everyone seems to know him. At least, a version of him that I never knew."
"I mean I knew he was a hero but not the kind that made him so well known by everyone. I wish I could see him again and learn more about him, and to actually have a chance to say goodbye this time." Jaune said as he rested his forehead on his knees.
Jaune could see at the corner of his left eye, Pyrrha was sitting next to him, "You weren't just talking about your father, were you?" Jaune gave no answer, because she already knew the truth.
Beorn looked to Jaune; from the first moment he saw him, he knew that Jaune was grieving for a loss, and judging by the way he spoke, Beorn could tell that it wasn't just his father. "Your father was good man. He was one of the few humans that I have ever trusted with my life. He spoke of you; he had a lot of pride in his voice whenever he mentioned you." Beorn said, while he was sitting his son up.
Jaune looked up to Beorn; a small smile grew on his face, "Thanks." Jaune looked to the child on his lap, and patted his back. "What's his name?"
"Jonah." Beorn said without missing a beat.
Jaune looked up to him and smiled. "It's… it's a good name."
"It was Merida's idea." Beorn smiled. He then looked to the Grizzly to see the companies that were working on it were finishing up. "Come on, I believe your friends are ready."
Jaune looked to see that he was right, "Yeah."
Once they both stood up, Jaune brushed little Jonah's cheek, then looked to Beorn, "Beorn, thank you, for all of this."
Beorn smiled, "Anything for a friend."
The company was loading up the tank with all the food that Merida could spare them. Coco was doing one last run through of all the bullets to see if they had enough.
Qrow and Beorn were talking as Jaune was starting up his bike.
"I will do my best to keep the Grimm off your back, but once you enter the forest, you're on your own." Beorn said to Qrow.
"Understood." Qrow nodded to Beorn. Qrow then looked to the tree line. He could feel as though the whole forest was watching them. "We're being watched."
"Yes." Beorn said with anger in his voice. "They've been out there since you arrived."
"Tis a'maist lik' they're hunting yer group alone." Merida said as she was walking up to them. She was holding a bow in her hand, there was a quiver on her back, and the feathers of the arrows were in different colors: red, blue, and black.
"Why? Why would these things be coming after us? Grimm have never hunted specific targets before." Qrow said after a sip form his flask.
"Apperently Cinder Fall haes some howfur tamed th' Grimm tae her wull, 'n' tae th' wull o' her mukkers." Merida said with anger in her voice, "Nae tae lang ago, th' white fang tried tae tak' oor croft, we beat thaim 'n' learned o' thair freish power."
"That was months ago." Beorn said. "Now they're getting smarter without being controlled."
"How is this possible?" Qrow asked.
"There is talk of an alliance between the Fall Queen of the Spire and the sorcerer in Dol Guldur." Beorn said.
"Are you sure of this?" Jaune asked.
"Hail hordes hae bin seen gathering thare." Merida said with a slight sound of worry in her voice. "A lot mair shaw up ilka day."
"What do you know of the Necromancer?" Qrow asked.
This was the first Jaune had heard of this sorcerer, so everything they said next was a first for him.
"Whatever he is, he isn't human anymore. A lot of darkness has been drawn to his power, even new forms of Grimm." Beorn said with a chill running down his spine. "Cinder fall isn't his master, neither is he to her, they both follow orders from someone else."
Jaune started to feel a little overwhelmed by all this new information, "Cinder isn't in charge? Then who is?" He snaps himself out of his thought and looked to Qrow, "We need to get going now."
Qrow nodded to Jaune and was about to sit on the bike, but Beorn spoke again, "There is more." Qrow turned to him to hear what else he had to say.
"Not too long ago, word spread… The dead had been seen walking in the continental strips of Lantis, near the High Fells of Rhudaur." Beorn said, and then he asked with a suspicious voice, "Is it true? There are tombs in those mountains?"
Qrow's face became pale, he cleared his throat, "Yes… There are tombs up there."
"I remember reading in old stories, stories that spoke of a great evil that had the power to bring back the dead." Beorn said. "If she is back, I would have you tell me now."
"Saruman believes it is not possible. That that evil was destroyed long ago." Qrow said with a little bit of anger in his voice.
"'n' whit dae ye say, Qrow?" Merida asked.
"I don't know." Qrow said as he looked down, then he looked to them both. "I know that something is coming, and when it does, we'll all have to fight together."
"'n' we wull be duin tae rammy." Merida said with a confident smile.
(AN: She said "And we will be ready to fight.")
Qrow then hopped on Jaune's bike as he started it. The Grizzly started up and purred like a kitten. All three vehicles rode off down the path that Merida laid out for them and made their way to Mirkwood.
AN: I wanted to give Beorn a little bit more of a story than the one we got in the movies. Plus, I felt that Merida was the best choice considering that she has experience with bears.
Next chapter will be up soon.
R&R