Woo! Chapter 50! halfway point to 100! I'll be honest, I'm surprised I'm still writing after this far. And not only that, I've finally hit the 2000 follow mark! Yaaa! Well, hope you guys enjoy this much longer chapter than usual and continue to keep supporting me! Review if you can!
Let's see, the initial portion of this chapter, traveling to the island, is inspired by the latest episode of RWBY. The rest is my own idea, though.
Team JNPR was on a Mistral ship heading to the island and enjoying the view. Lake Matsu, the lake located near Haven, had many pieces of land floating above the lake itself. Each one exerted its own gravitational field due to the gravity dust that grew here, making flying ships undergo a bit of turbulence. But it was still a sight to see.
"Heads up, we're nearing our destination," announced a pilot, "Be careful. Quite a bit of Grimm likes to hide around here."
As if fate wished to tell them that it was true, there was suddenly radio chatter.
"What's wrong?" asked Jaune, quickly hurrying to the pilot.
"Not sure. we're getting a burst transmission," replied the pilot as he adjusted the radio knob when they heard a female voice coming through.
"Mayday, mayday! We are a small passenger flight, and our Huntress is down! We aren't equipped to deal with this! The Grimm hit us 400 klicks north of the southern shoreline!"
Team JNPR's eyes all widened in shock at this as the sound of an explosion was heard
"Get them off us! If anyone can hear this- Ah!"
"Get us over there," said Jaune, "The mission can wait a little. They need our help."
"You sure?" asked the pilot. He turned to see their faces set, "You look sure. Changing destination. We should have enough fuel to still make it to the island and get me back home."
They immediately jumped up to the top of the ship, ready to fight. Jaune was already linking up with his dragons, deciding what who to use for a full link.
"Link up with me. This will most likely be an aerial fight," advised Aryz.
"Same with me. This is a good opportunity to teach you how to combine our elemental power," declared Lung Wang.
"Bah, you just want to get a good fight in," laughed Othim, "He hasn't used your power for a while."
"We've already taught you how to use each of our element. Now it's time to show you how deadly you can become when you combine elements together," said Lung Wang, sucker punching Othim in the face.
"Some of our elements mix well, some don't," shrugged Andusk, "Wind and fire an excellent example."
"Because wind can cause fire to grow exponentially!" answered Jaune, "Does that mean I have a chance to control metal like Pyrrha if I combine lightning and earth?"
"No. Combining those two elements isn't efficient. We used our powers to amplify a basis that already resided in Pyrrha. Lightning and earth, in general, don't really match up well," said Alearth.
"We'll leave you to figure out which elements work well together," said Fafnir, "Need to make you think about it anyways."
"I see them!" announced the pilot, "One of them is going down! They'll smash into one of the floating islands at this rate!"
They looked to see a ship going down, flaming spewing from its hull.
"Pyrrha!" shouted Jaune
"On it!"
Pyrrha used began to concentrate and used her Semblance.
In the falling ship of the S.S. Percy, the captain was trying to guide his ship, but the controls were shot. His passengers were screaming in fear as he tried to pull up.
"Come on, Gary, use the force!" shouted the captain to himself as he tried to will the airship to a safer location. He saw that they were going to crash into an island and closed his eyes for impact. He felt the ship suddenly jar and waited for the imminent explosion and death. After a few seconds of hearing his heart still beating, he slowly opened his eyes to find out they were hovering in place right in front of the island.
"Holy shit! I really do have special powers!" exclaimed captain Gary until he noticed another ship with the very noticeable Pyrrha Nikos hold her glowing black hands up. He grew sad to find out it wasn't him doing it. However, Pyrrha was straining herself as the ship was primarily made of wood, and the few metallic objects were barely enough for her to lift it to safety.
"We're saved!"
"Oh thank Oum!"
As Pyrrha slowly levitated the airship to the top of the floating island, Jaune, Nora, and Ren looked to where the ship had come from to see another ship being chased by several large Grimms that looked like giant wasps, creating buzzing noises from their wings.
"Grimm Lancers," said Ren as he narrowed his eyes.
Two of the Lancers fired their stingers into the fleeing ship, hooking onto to it before one quickly flew ahead to pull while the other pulled the other direction. The poor ship was now locked in position, unable to fly anywhere.
"We're hooked! I repeat, we're hooked!" cried the female pilot as she fruitlessly tried to steer the airship. The two Lancers started to pull in opposite directions, causing the ship to break apart from the tension. "Everyone, abandon ship!"
The passengers and the crew looked helplessly outside. Where could they run to? They were thousands of feet in the air surrounded by Grimm. There was nowhere to run. They all closed their eyes as one of the Grimm started to dive bomb into them, awaiting death. Suddenly, they heard a symphony of gunshots and explosions.
Jaune had used his sniper rifle function in the shield, loading an explosive bullet in it and killed the suicide bomber. Nora fired grenades at the Lancers that had been hooking the ship while Ren gave supporting fire. The two grabbing the ship died, allowing the airship to quickly fly over to them for safety.
"I'm going," announced Jaune as he flared red feathery wings, "Nora, use a lightning dust crystal and fry them if they get too close. Pyrrha, grab the ship and help it to land. Ren, cover Pyrrha."
And with that, Jaune shot off into air, passing right by the airship and into the flock of Grimm Lancers. The passengers gawked as they saw a flying hunter pass by and slice one of the offending Grimm.
The Grimm buzzed angrily at their prey being stolen and fired their hooks at Jaune, each hook roughly the size of his head. Jaune quickly dodged them and began to fly away, leading the eager Grimm away from the others, who viewed Jaune as the bigger threat.
"Alright, got your attention now. Let's see just how maneuverable you guys are in the air," muttered Jaune as he flapped his wings harder. He dodged a few more hooks before seeing a clump of islands staggered near each other.
He quickly formed a plan and spread his wings, quickly braking as several of the Grimm flew right past him, slicing one of them in the process. He quickly put his sword back into the sheath before taking a deep breath. The Grimm Lancers quickly turned around to give chase. Jaune flew into the series of islands, luring the others in. Others who were watching gasped in worried shock.
Weave left. Roll right. Yaw. Pitch up. Brake to avoid hitting a rock. Accelerate. Fire a blast into one of the gravity Dust as he passed by. Fold wings in while diving straight down for a second before flaring his wings out to glide straight. Dodge several hooks from Lancers. Roll left while going upwards. Exit the series of islands before suddenly turning around. The audience out a breath of relief they didn't realize they had been holding before choking to see a flock of Lancers fly out. Jaune saw that several of the Lancers had crashed and dissolved in his run through the islands and grinned. They were all clumped up together in a tight flock, giving him the perfect chance.
"Let's test this out," grinned Jaune as he channeled fire into his right hand and wind in his left hand. The Grimm seemed to notice it was a trap and tried to disperse, but it was too late. Jaune roared and fired what seemed to be two spinning blades of green wind and red fire. The blades clashed right in the center of the Grimm Lancers and exploded with such might that a few islands shook from the explosion as all the Grimm Lancers were destroyed.
"Got them all," grinned Jaune as his audience cheered, quickly landing on one of the islands to take a quick breather.
"Thank heavens we're saved," sobbed captain Gary as he got out of his airship to inspect the damage. The female pilot also got out to inspect the breach in the hull, frowning as she saw how bad it was. Gary's ship had a hole in his, but that was easily fixable. Her's however, was already almost split into two. The only way they would be able to get to safety was to dismantle hers to use as parts to fix Gary's. The other ship, though unharmed, would be unable to carry all the passengers and the injured Huntress they had on board.
"Wait, do you hear that?" said Ren, turning his head towards Jaune. Everyone became silent as they heard a rather large buzzing noise. Suddenly, in front of them was Queen Lancer, poised to strike, causing mass panic amongst the civilian.
KRAK POW
The sound of thunder rang through all the panicking civilians' ears as Nora blasted the Queen Lancer with a huge lightning infused hammer swing in a panic, followed by Pyrrha and Ren shooting the Queen Lancer.
The Alpha Grimm shook its head in irritation and looked up, opening its pores to fire spikes while readying its hook. The hook of the Queen Lancer was ten times stronger than the regular Lancers, and the side of an adult human torso. But before it could fire, it heard a chilling roar. It looked up to see the maws of a green dragon bearing down on it and squeaked, trying to fly away. The people stared at the fleeing Queen Lancer, trying to dodge and fly away from the dragon. They had never seen a Grimm act so scared.
Back on another island, Jaune chuckled as he saw the dragon trying to bite the Grimm, dodging the spikes with ease. Jaune had seen the Queen Lancer and decided it was time to practice summoning a dragon once more. Quickly cutting himself and putting blood on his sword, he spun the blade four times in front of him before stepping the blade parallel to the ground, dragging two fingers across his blade to drag his blood across the blade. He swung his blade around him before raising it above his head to spin once more and stabbed the ground below him. Symbols formed beneath him and four small hurricanes arose into the sky, combining into one huge one before shining brilliantly. When it died down, a green scaled dragon with tints of yellow on its horn came forth, gazing down at the scene, its wings were wrapped in a glowing green Aura.
"Ah, Elysium, the Green Skydragon," smiled Aryz, "Quite a good choice for this one."
As the chase continued, the Queen Lancer found out its spikes couldn't even penetrate Elysium's scales. Thinking there was no other way, it flew up before turning around to fire its hook. When it tried to fire its hook, it made a huge error as the dragon dodged it and bit down on the cord from the Grimm. Elysium suddenly accelerated into the heavens, dragging the Queen Lancer with him. For one second, the eyes of the Grimm became white in fear before it was dragged off. Elysium was going to take it for a ride.
The Queen Lancer was smashed into several islands before Elysium finally tossed it up into the air and started to charge up energy within his mouth. As the battered Queen Lancer tried to reorient itself, it noticed Elysium was already gathering power and tried to flee. But Elysium had locked on already and fired a fierce wind that cut through the Queen Lancer, instantly killing it as it faded away. The audience could only blink as the dragon roared in victory and flew away.
"That…. was…. AWESOME!" cheered Nora.
Soon, one of the ships was fixed to take the passengers to safety. A few of them agreed to hitch a ride with team JNPR, taking the slight detour before heading back to Haven. Each one of them profusely thanked Jaune and the others for their help, while quite a few tried to hit on Jaune. They soon stopped when they saw metal bending before their eyes by a cold smile from Pyrrha.
"We're here."
Team JNPR had arrived to the island in the middle of the huge lake Matsu. The pilot dropped them off and flew back to Mistral, leaving them on the floating islands, though the first port was at sea level. It was protocol, as airships never stayed in one area too long unless if it was a major safe zone or city. The airships were too valuable to have them staying. Instead, the Huntsmen and Huntresses would need to call for a transport back, sometimes having to time it just right. Since they had just finished a battle, they decided it would be better to delay the trip up to the village to rest up.
"This island seems peaceful, I wonder why they need assistance?" mused Pyrrha as they walked from the beach port the next day.
"Who knows," said Ren solemnly, "The village should be up ahead."
It took them an hour of hiking to reach it, jumping from island to island with the vines and ropes that connected the floating islands. They walked into the village before noticing the villagers were seemingly glaring at them.
"Umm, why do they look like they hate us?" asked Nora, confused. "Don't they know it could attract Grimm?"
"Let's just get to the mayor's house first," said Jaune, urging his team forward. The villagers still glared at them, and one, a workman toiling away at an elevated platform, even 'dropped' a toolkit full of heavy items on them, only for Pyrrha to use her Semblance and fired it back at him. They found the mayor's house quite easily and knocked before entering.
A man opened the door and introduced himself, "I am Mayor Bai, and I assume that you are, ah, the team that responded to the request?" They nodded, "Excellent. I've needed a team to check out the shrine nearby here. It's fallen into disuse, but it is still sacred grounds to my people. Lately, there's been something suspicious going on, as if there's some criminal activity going in the shrine temple. Nobody in my village wants to check it out, claiming they shouldn't interfere. But I need to know if it affects my village."
"Are all of your villagers so accepting of newcomers?" asked Jaune sarcastically.
"No, we are not," sighed Bai, "Most of the village prefers isolation from the rest of the world. The fact that I called in help is already making me unpopular."
As they stepped out the house, they found themselves surrounded by the villagers, all looking coldly at Team JNPR.
"Go away, foreigners!" shouted a kid, throwing a tomato at Jaune, who caught it easily.
"Stay away from our shrine!" yelled an adult.
"Everyone, calm down! They're just going to check the suspicious activities that we've all been hearing about!" shouted Bai.
"We have no need for strangers!" yelled an elderly voice. The crowd split to let an old woman with a walking staff and a bent back shuffling forward. She was quite short, barely hitting three and a half feet.
"Elder Shiro," groaned Bai, "It is my duty to make sure that the people of this island are safe from any threat. The fact that the disused shrine temple has started to act up again is cause for concern."
"Bah, the shrine temple is our sacred ground! Not for strangers to go in. What the elder council says should be obeyed."
"I'm curious," interrupted Jaune, "When did it start acting up?"
"Around the end of the Vytal Festival Tournament, when we all heard the huge roar," replied Bai, much to all the citizens' protest, "We heard something about a huge black dragon. We don't get much news here. Just whispers in the wind."
"Isn't that when Jaune went nuts and summoned the dragon to kick ass?" whispered Nora to Ren, who nodded before replying, "That was Bahamut."
"So I was the cause of it," murmured Jaune, "Wonder what that means."
"Wait! That Mark!" said Shiro, moving unusually fast for a woman of her age.
She had somehow jumped onto her staff and jumped once more, landing right on Pyrrha's breast and groping it while examining the Mate Mark above her heart. Pyrrha blushed immensely that an old woman was groping her breast. Only Jaune could do that!
"Umm, could you please get off?" asked Pyrrha. Seeing that she wasn't moving, Jaune pulled Shiro off, who tried to hang on by grabbing the hard leather.
"Mayor Bai? Appreciate a little help here," grumbled Jaune as he didn't want to accidentally hurt the elderly woman.
"Elder Shiro! Control yourself," scolded Bai as he helped Jaune pry her off Pyrrha.
"Nice tits, young one," complemented Shiro, making a groping motion. It took a lot of willpower for Jaune not to kick the old lady as far as he could, which would be lethal considering how powerful his kicks were.
"Promise you won't do that to her again?" asked Bai, glaring at Shiro.
"Fine, fine," grumbled Shiro, and the two boys let her down gently, only for her to jump once more, this time on Nora's chest.
"Hmm, not bad either," said Shiro with a perverted grin as she squeezed, causing Nora to groan in annoyance while Shiro was examining the Dragon Mark on her chest.
"That's it!" shouted Jaune and Ren as they grabbed her off of Nora.
Jaune produced a rope from his bag and the two of them tied Shiro and put her back on the ground.
"Please tell your elder not to grope our girls," snarled Jaune.
"You're a bad man! You can't treat Elder Shiro like that!" shouted a boy as he began to kick Jaune in the shin. The boy ended up hopping on one foot, howling in pain while Jaune shrugged it off.
"Elder Shiro, what has gotten into you?" shouted Bai, "You can't just grope maidens like that! Especially in front of their boyfriends!"
"Bah, I was getting a closer look at those marks on their chest," pouted Shiro, "Those markings look very similar to the ones at the shrine."
"Are they?" said Jaune sharply. The dragons picked up on this, too.
"Yes, no one's quite sure what they mean," said Shiro, "But you're still not allowed!"
"That's not up to you," snapped Bai, "I hired them, and I will not have your stubbornness put us in danger!"
"It might go deeper than that," said Jaune, "If those markings are there like you said, then it's something related to the old Dragon Clan."
"Dragon Clan?" asked Bai, "I'm not familiar with this."
"Bah, that old clan of fools?" hawed Shiro, "Just a myth about some drunk clan who thought they had the power to protect others. Didn't help much considering that they all died off."
"Really?" said Jaune, his hands clenching tightly. Ren was in the same state as Jaune, wanting to rip off the ladies tongue. The dragons themselves were roaring in anger.
"Elder!" scolded Bai, "We, the villagers, were supposed to keep the temple clean until you and the other elders decreed that it was to be 'sacred' grounds and let it fall into disrepair! At least I know that much!"
"Bah, there's no point in keeping that place clean for some pathetic clan," replied Shiro, "Resources that went to keeping that place clean was better used for the village!"
"You mean your comfort!" shouted Bai.
"Feh, some of it did go to us elders, but we needed it," said Shiro, "Plus, the majority of it went into the town. The villagers can't complain, can they?"
Team JNPR looked around to see most of them nodding to the elder's words.
"UNGRATEFUL BRATS!" roared Lung Wang, "If this shrine is really connected to the Dragon Clan, then these people are either retainers or descendants of the clan. From what I sense, it's the former, and thankfully not the latter."
"Nonetheless, Team... JNPR was it?" asked Bai, which they all nodded, "You have my permission to go ahead to the shrine. I want to make sure that nothing threatens the village."
"The faster we get out of here, the better," whispered Pyrrha, to which they all agreed. The scarlet-haired amazon glared at Shiro as she followed the mayor.
"Just point us in the direction," smiled Jaune. It was easy to see it was a fake smile. After all, Shiro's lucky she was an old lady, if she was a man, and much younger, she would find herself embedded into the ground for touching Pyrrha and Nora like that.
"Yes, right this way," directed Bai, who started to lead them towards the path.
"You will take not one step further!"
Four other village elders carrying the same staff as Shiro blocked their path as Shiro caught up to them. All five of them threw their staffs in front of the only entrance. The staffs glowed with power before a light barrier sealed the entrance, the staffs hiding behind the barrier
"Elders!" shouted Bai, getting frustrated that the elders were blocking the path.
"There is nothing there that needs investigating!" shouted one of the elders.
"Try to pass, if you dare," sneered Shiro, "The barrier blocks everyone... well maybe except for that clan, but I don't see that happening anytime soon! The only good thing they gave us were these staffs. And only we can reclaim them."
"That barrier isn't a problem for me," growled Jaune, stepping forward.
Everyone laughed, only to be silenced with shock as Jaune passed right through the barrier without any trouble. Pyrrha and the others followed and phased right through as well.
"What!?" shouted Shiro in confusion. Jaune and the others picked up the staffs, causing the barrier to shatter.
"These will be useful," said Ryo-Wo, "These staffs not only store Aura if you feed it, it takes in ambient Aura in the air to help sustain it. The protection they create will aid you if you have injured. The smaller the radius, the stronger the barrier is, though. So be careful when you have them placed."
"By the power vested in me as the last descendant of the Dragon Clan, I confiscate these staffs back from which we once gave you all," announced Jaune as they bundled it together and shoved it into his bag.
"You... you can't do that!" shouted an elder.
"Well, he just did," taunted Nora as they turned to leave, going up the path that led to the shrine temple.
As the villagers stood there in shock, Bai turned to them angrily, especially towards the elders.
"This is your fault! If you old fools weren't so stubborn, then we wouldn't have lost the staffs that were given to us. Did you forget that they were given to us, and in return, we were supposed to keep the temple at least clean?"
"But... how were we supposed to know they would come back?" whined an elder.
"You all forgot why this village exists in the first place!" exploded Bai, "I at least read through the old manuscripts. This village existed because that boy's clan took all of us in for safe haven! Something we might have just lost because of all of your greed!"
Bai huffed and ran to catch up with team JNPR, leaving a shocked village.
"Arrogant little miserable..." Fafnir continued to grumble curses as team JNPR traveled along the path to the temple shrine. The rest of the dragons also had similar feelings
"Think they were primary retainers of the Dragon Clan?" asked Ren.
"If they were, they're not keeping that position," replied Jaune, "That belongs to you and Junior."
Ren froze for a second, a small tear almost fell from his eye if it weren't for him wiping it away, "Thank you."
"I've always had you as one," replied Jaune, "Never think any less."
They arrived at a rather huge but ruined shrine entrance after 10 minutes of walking.
"Hey, look. It's the marks that's on Pyrrha's chest and mine!" exclaimed Nora pointing at one of the poles. "That's what that kooky old bag was blathering about!"
"You're right!" gasped Pyrrha after she examined, "Does that mean this shrine was dedicated to the Dragon Clan?"
"I have a feeling it's more than that," said Jaune, "Let's check it out further."
Grabbing their weapons, they went into the shrine temple. They saw overgrown grass and falling rotten wood everywhere. The temple itself, while they could imagine in the past looked grand, was now in such a sorry state.
"Well, this is pathetic."
They turned around to see Bai had caught up, wheezing heavily.
"Mayor Bai? Why are you here?" asked Jaune.
"Had... to make sure there was nothing," wheezed Bai, "That, and I also wanted to see how the temple was like right now. Even when we were supposed to take care of it, many slacked off on their jobs. It just got harder and harder to maintain with barely anyone caring about it."
Jaune frowned and turned back to the temple and stood at the entrance. He opened it to reveal a large hallway with a wooden floor. There was cracked wood everywhere. It hurt the dragons to see such a place in ruins.
"Well, let's get this over with," sighed Jaune as team JNPR stepped into the hall. Suddenly, the doors slammed shut, cutting off Bai who was about to enter. The whole room's atmosphere seemed to change.
"Everyone, be careful," warned Jaune as they got into fighting poses.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Two people suddenly appeared in front of them, wielding weapons. The first one was a rugged male with short black hair and tanned skin, wearing a green expensive looking cheongsam with a green shoulder pauldron on his right shoulder. He had white kung fu pants and held a dagger. The dagger itself had buttons on the handle and a different color handguard on each side. The second one was a pale, beautiful woman with long, braided blonde hair. She had wore armor, unlike the male, but there were gaps in between that showed plenty of skin for any lustful men. The most attention-grabbing part, however, wasn't her cleavage, although eye catching, but rather her choice of weapon and heterochromia eyes. She had gauntlets that was much bigger than her own hands, and her right hand looked like it was part of the dragon's upper head while the left hand was the dragon's lower head. And lastly, her eyes were different. The scelera was pure black, the cornea eerie blue on the right and the left was eerie gold, and her pupils were slitted like a dragon.
"Where did they come from?" asked Nora, a bit nervous. None of them had sensed remotely anyone in the room before they entered.
"Who are you?" asked the man darkly.
"Jaune," advised Alaerth, "Be careful. This may be an ancient guardian dating back to the Dragon Clan, but I sense rage within those two."
Jaune nodded but stepped forward anyway.
"I am Jaune Ryu-Long. Descendant of the Dragon Clan, contractor of seven dragon kings. Next to me is my mate Pyrrha Nikos and my two retainers, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. To whom am I speaking to?"
"We are... the defenders of this shrine, belonging to the Dragon Clan," replied the woman, "We were placed here to defend this place. But... we have been asleep for so long. Sooo loonngg. Until we heard a dragon's roar recently and it awakened us from our slumber."
"The... temple," groaned the man as the two clutched their heads, "It's in ruins. The villagers... they broke their promise. They must...DIE!"
As one, the two guardians growled in anger and roared, shaking the temple. Jaune and the others had to lower their knees to make sure they didn't fall over.
"Enough!" shouted Jaune, "I already confiscated the presents that were given to them! As I speak, I have new retainers! Ones that I trust! And I have mates!"
The two guardians ignored him and charged forward, attacking team JNPR before forcing them into two groups. Jaune and Ren were facing the male while Pyrrha and Nora faced the female. A barrier suddenly came out, splitting the two groups apart.
"Show me your strength, then," said the male as he twirled his dagger, "Prove to me, Qyrentes the Quiet, that you are truly part of the Dragon Clan."
"And prove to me, " announced the female to Pyrrha and Nora, "That you are worthy to be called a mate of the Dragon Clan, that you are worthy of bearing the children of this clan's future. I am Penerros the Champion, and I shall judge your worth."
And with a roar, the two guardians charged.
Jaune and Ren immediately open fire at Qyrentes. He responded by showing why his dagger was special. Quickly putting the silver part of the handguard to his mouth, he blew into and started to play a song,
"It's an ocarina too?" asked a bewildered Jaune while he was still firing bullets.
Suddenly, something shimmered in front of Qyrentes and reflected the bullets back at Jaune and Ren.
"Ren!" shouted Jaune as he tossed his shield to Ren and grabbed his sheath and expanded it to a shield to protect themselves from the bullets they had fired.
Qyrentes showed no signs of even stopping as he continued to play the ocarina while calmly walking towards them. When he stopped playing it, he was already close enough that he dashed forward and kicked the shields away. Jaune immediately tried to link up with the dragons, but Qyrentes tapped on the floor. Jaune felt his links not working again, and Ren was surprised to find out he couldn't use his Semblance either.
"No Semblance. I want to see if you're worthy without help," announced Qyrentes before attacking once more. To Ren and Jaune's horror, the man also used Dragon Style fist in his attacks, combining it with his dagger. Jaune slashed down, just for Qyrentes to catch it with one hand. Ren fired a hail of bullets, but Qyrentes played a few notes again and blocked it all and fired it back at Ren.
"That's getting annoying," growled Ren as he changed his weapons into chakrams and dashed forward to attack. Qyrentes then tossed Jaune aside and parried the chakrams easily before grabbing Ren's wrist and throwing him into the floor. Jaune came back and launched nine simultaneous strikes, but they were all parried before he struck Jaune in the chest with the dagger, sending him flying back into a wall.
Jaune groaned as his back slide down the wall, shocked to see the attack had failed. "Nothing's working," he muttered as he got back up before realizing his sword was no longer in his hands, that he had dropped it when he had been flung back.
Qyrentes wasn't going to let him pick it back up as he charged forward with his dagger. Jaune quickly assumed his Dragon style stance and clashed fists. It soon became apparent that Qyrentes was much better at it than him as he overpowered Jaune's defense easily.
"You have much to learn," lectured Qyrentes as he managed to parry Jaune's thrust before spinning his dagger and landing an x cross on his chest. He followed up with a swift kick to the chin.
Ren quickly got up and charged forward to buy Jaune some time and tried to land a low kick on Qyrentes. He jumped over it with a butterfly kick and made it seem like he was going to hit Ren's face with a kick. Ren quickly moved his arms to block it, but it was a feint. Instead, Qyrentes landed first and did a back thrust kick into Ren's stomach. Gasping for air, Ren bent forward just for Qyrentes to grab his head and knee him in the face repeatedly.
"Stop it!" shouted Jaune as he ran forward, going for a low kick.
Qyrentes moved his leg to block intercept it, letting go of Ren after tossing him into a wall. He saw that the low kick suddenly go upwards and predicted a high kick. Instead, Jaune landed a mid kick into his stomach and sent him away. Qyrentes flipped in the air, landing on his feet but looking quite well.
"You alright?" asked Jaune as Ren got up, quickly grabbing his sword.
"Feels like I've been punched repeatedly by a Beringel," groaned Ren, "He kneed my face five times before you got him off. How are we going to win? Clearly, he's better than us in terms of martial arts. He's mastered the original stances. None of our techniques are working."
As Jaune and Ren tried to regain their breath, they both remembered Wong's words when he sparred with them. They had used their Dragon stances but still met defeat.
"The world of martial arts is vast. History shows rise and falls of different styles. The original Dragon style fist is no different, even if it does seem stronger. The length of a style that existed in time does not equate quality of it. In the end, they all must keep going forward and develop into something new. That is what I have done, and that is what I expect you all to do someday."
"In that case, let's mix it up. I've got a technique Wong showed me," said Jaune.
"Same with me. Can you draw his attention?" Ren asked.
"Will do. Get ready to strike!" shouted Jaune as he charged forward, grabbing his blade to attack.
Qyrentes parried with his dagger and attacked back, but Jaune took a more defensive strategy. As Qyrentes began his fierce attack, he noticed Jaune staying in one place and parrying all his attacks, whether by using his blade or hand.
"Nice defense. It's not part of the usual style of our people, but it works well," praised Qyrentes as he tried to break through. This was one of the techniques Wong had taught him, to completely neutralize an enemy's attack by keeping a calm mind and creating a zone to defend. Jaune had yet to master the next step, though. Not only that, he was slowly being pushed back, feeling Qyrentes's fist graze his face.
Ren threw his chakrams forward while Qyrentes was still attacking Jaune, so he jumped back to start to play his ocarina. Before the first note even came out, Jaune took this chance of dashing forward right between the chakrams and kneed him at the waist, aiming for his right side. He had noticed Qyrentes needed to use his right hand to play the notes in the first place.
Qyrentes blocked it with his right arm as he tossed the dagger to his left hand and threw them right into the chakrams to block them before it returned to his hand
"Nice-"
Qyrentes didn't get to finish as he felt his defense being broken through. Jaune yelled out loudly and turned his knee into a thrust kick, crushing into Qyrentes's ribs. As Qyrentes was about to land, Ren was already upon him. Ren slammed three palm strikes infused with Aura at Qyrentes's stomach. Qyrentes, not knowing what was with the rather weak strikes compared to earlier, kicked Ren away and landed on his feet and charged towards Ren.
Ren shifted into a stance where both his hands was behind him, Aura charging into them. The bracelets he had taken from Cinder was helping him gather even more, making it completely visible. Green Aura filled between his hands.
"I won't let you!" shouted Qyrentes as he tried to blow into his ocarina once more before he noticed something wrong. He suddenly spat out more blood as it felt like he received a huge punch into the gut.
"Looks like my attack worked," smirked Ren as he finished charging, "If you're wondering, those three palm strikes intersected at one point. Your stomach. With the three attacks combined, the damage received is multiplied by the power of three. It's based on Lar's concept of Gamma knife, using dust infused beams to remove tumors."
"With this, you're finished!" shouted Jaune as he grabbed his sword and charged Aura into it.
Ren's hands glowed as the Dragon's Mark shined with brilliance as Ren fired his Aura Ball. Jaune followed with a blade beam into the ball and transformed it into a dragon made from Aura as it charged forward, roaring before opening its mouth to consume Qyrentes.
"Magnificent," whispered Qyrentes before the attack hit him.
Meanwhile, Penerros blocked a hammer swing from Nora with her left hand before meeting Pyrrha's strike with her right.
"Not bad. But not good enough," taunted Penerros as she kicked with her right. Pyrrha used her shield to block it but was knocked back. While doing so, Penerros grabbed Nora by the hammer and flung her to Pyrrha. Pyrrha caught her but had to throw her to the side as Penerros charged at them, fists up. She threw a right hook into Pyrrha's shield, making her feel the attack all the way down to her bones. Before Pyrrha could do anything, Penerros was already coming in with a left hook. Pyrrha blocked this with Akouo, but just barely. Penerros wouldn't stop and became an unstoppable whirlwind of hooks. One of them finally got through and hit Pyrrha in the face. But Penerros wouldn't stop there. She kept going with her hooks, forcing Pyrrha's Aura levels to go into critical level.
"Eat this!" shouted Nora as she swung her hammer, charged with electricity.
Penerros stopped her assault and blocked it, putting both her gauntlets up to defend. She felt the electric shock her as she stopped the attack, forced to back off a bit.
"You all right, Pyrrha? You're cheeks and eyes look a little swollen."
"She managed to get some of her attacks through the Aura. I took at least six of those hooks before you came through."
Pyrrha concentrated and tried to stop Penerros moving by controlling her metallic armor, but Penerros smirked and stomped the ground. Both Pyrrha and Nora found unable to use their Semblances.
"None of that now," Barked Penerros, "I want to see what you can do without relying on it too much. Show me if you're worthy of being a mate of the Dragon Contractor and a retainer."
With a flick of her wrists, the gauntlets were bathed in fire.
"Hey. You can't take away our Semblance and use yours!" complained Nora.
"This isn't my Semblance. I am merely using Dust, and I'm supplying Aura for it," replied Penerros lightly, "You can still do your hammer thing that I just saw."
Pyrrha and Nora responded by shooting her, to which she blocked by putting her gauntlets forward once more and charged in.
"Nora. Charge up your weapon. I'll distract her," commanded Pyrrha as she switched to using dual xyphos and charged in to meet Penerros.
"Facing me head on? You certainly are brave," commented Penerros as the two of them began the deadly dance between fists and blades.
Pyrrha kept parrying Penerros punches, knowing full well that blocking them head on was not an option. She ducked under chopping right and stabbed at Penerros, who dodged it.
'It's like fighting Yang, but Penerros is a much stronger fighter with even better techniques,' thought Pyrrha as she parried a high kick from Penerros.
She spun and tried to land a sword slash from the left on Penerros's shoulder, only to have it blocked. Pyrrha didn't hesitate and let go of left blade and punched Penerros in the face, making her opponent stumble back. Nora jumped towards Penerros, raising her hammer to the sky and slammed down towards Penerros.
Penerros responded by clasping her gauntlets together to form a dragon's head and intercepting Nora's attack. Nora's hammerhead was caught in the dragon's teeth, but the shock still hit her. Growling in anger and pain, Penerros opened her dragon mouth and chomped down again and again before ripping the hammerhead.
"You broke my Magnhild!" cried out Nora before getting a punch in the stomach after Penerros threw away the broken weapon.
"That was... shocking, but least I won't have to deal with that anymore," grinned Penerros before Pyrrha did a sweeping kick on her, knocking her off her feet. Pyrrha took this chance to combo her, hitting her up into the air with several sword strikes. She transformed her left xyphos back into a shield, using it as a foothold and shot herself upwards. She managed to grapple Penerros before transforming Milo into a javelin. She did multiple stabs into Penerros's abdomen, but Penerros blocked them. Pyrrha was expecting that, though, and managed to place her foot on her gauntlets, maneuvering herself before managing to get Penerros in a choke hold with her javelin. She then spun towards the grounds with Penerros as her hostage and slammed Penerros into the floor. Penerros gritted her teeth upon impact and quickly pushed herself away before Pyrrha could finish her combo with a somersault kick. She looked up to see the shield being bashed into her face. She stumbled and glared at Nora, who had picked up Akouo when it dropped and waited for the opportune moment for to do that.
Nora glared back as she transformed the shield into a xyphos, ready to fight. She charged in with Pyrrha, both striking at different points. But Nora's swordplay wasn't good, letting Penerros get the chance and knocking her blade out of her hand. Nora didn't give up and ducked under a fist and charged forward, tackling waist. Penerros tried to slam a fist down on Nora's head, but Pyrrha grabbed her pauldron, and from inside the paldron, three thin knives came out. They had been installed inside as a hidden weapon, courtesy of Hephastus. Pyrrha threw them at Penerros, who had to use her gauntlets to block the knives.
This allowed Nora to circle back and hold Penerros hostage, wrapping her arms around Penerros's arms and chest.
"No you don't," muttered Penerros as she lifted her right elbow and slammed it into Nora's kidney. Nora grimaced as Penerros did it two more times, but she wasn't going to let go that easily. Desperate, she grabbed hold of Penerros where ever she could when her grip slackened. Unfortunately, being hit so many times, she ended up grabbing Penerros by her breasts.
Penerros eyes opened wide in shock before blushing and yelling, "Why you little pervert!"
Nora wasn't paying attention, though, and she lifted Penerros up into the air before performing a suplex on Penerros, smashing her head into the wooden floor.
"Nice one," commented Pyrrha as she drew closer.
"What did I grab?" asked Nora, "They felt... soft. I couldn't tell because of those kidney shots."
"You... grabbed her breasts and performed what I believe was called... a boobplex," blushed Pyrrha as she looked away, trying not to laugh.
Nora looked down on her own hands, a bit shocked at what she had done.
"Don't you dare tell anyone I did that," whispered Nora.
"No worries. You won't tell anyone after I'm done with you," growled Penerros as she stood back up, her head pounding in pain and her cheeks red. With a roar, she ran forward and jumped, corkscrewing forward with her hands in front. She became a pillar of fire that shot forward, slamming Pyrrha and Nora into the walls. As they slowly stood back up, Nora grabbed the remains of her hammer head as a weapon while Pyrrha lifted her two swords in front of her.
Suddenly, there was an explosion that forced them all to turn to the source just in time to see Qyrentes being chomped down by an Aura dragon made by Jaune and Ren.
"What!?" shouted Penerros in surprise. This gave Nora the perfect time to grab her wrecked hammerhead, ejecting all her grenades, and throwing them right towards Penerros. Pyrrha gathered the last of her strength and Aura and fired an x cross blade beam at her, hitting the grenades and Penerros. Penerros went flying back into the light barrier before slumping down.
"I think… we've won," gasped Pyrrha, tired from the fight, and with that, the light barrier went down, allowing team JNPR to reunite.
"Are you alright?" asked Jaune as he hugged Pyrrha tightly.
"Yes, just a bit bruised on the face," replied Pyrrha, wincing as she felt the adrenaline leave her. This was going to swell up if she didn't get some ice and some rest to restore her Aura.
"Are you alright, Nora?" asked Ren.
"I'm fine, Renny. Pyrrha took more hits, but... my precious hammer is broken," sighed Nora as she stared at the remains of Magnihild. The only thing that didn't look broken was the pole.
"Excellent work."
They looked to see Qyrentes and Penerros standing up, looking uninjured.
"What?! How?!" shouted Nora while the other gazed with caution.
"Oh don't worry, you've passed the test with flying colors," waved Qyrentes, "You all truly are something."
Penerros walked towards the shrine that they hadn't noticed and grabbed a scroll before tossing it to Jaune.
"Here is the family tree scroll. It may not seem much, but it is always good to keep your family history. Merely dab a bit of your blood into the scroll, and it will update your name onto it, as well as your mates if I am correct."
Jaune took the scroll, looking at it before thanking them and putting them in his bag.
"And now, I believe our time is up," smiled Qyrentes, "We no longer have to protect this shrine temple, as the descendant has claimed the scroll, and the villagers... well they didn't do what they were supposed to."
"If only we could show them our might," growled Penerros, "But sadly, our powers are limited in this area only."
The two of them bowed in respect to Jaune and the others, while they returned the gesture.
"Still, it would be poor manners to have you leave without something else," mused Qyrentes, "I know. Lie Ren, retainer of the Dragon Clan, step forth."
Ren nervously stood back up and stepped up.
"I see you have a dagger with you, correct?"
"It was my father's. His last gift to me."
"Mmm, something you should cherish. And something that shall give you power. I shall bestow my dagger's powers into yours, as well as the song of barrier that I used against you."
Qyrentes presented his dagger in front of him while Ren did the same. Qyrentes's dagger glowed and turned into dust before floating over to Ren's dagger. Ren's dagger gleamed brightly before it transformed. It still had the slightly curved blade, but the handgrip was completely different now. On the grip were three buttons, just like Qyrentes's, and a silver handguard for Ren to put his mouth into to play. Not only that, but the whole dagger was a bit bigger, and the blade shone with brilliance.
"There. Now you can play the same songs as I did to defend yourself. It uses Aura, but it magnifies it to protect you as long as you play the song. You can play other songs, but it doesn't have any boosts. At least none that I know of. Though useful for charming girls while making sure you're armed."
Penerros was thinking about what to do before asking Nora for the remains of her weapon. Confused, she passed them to her.
"I guess I shouldn't have dealt so much damage since we were just testing you. My gift... will be to repair and improve your hammer."
Penerros took a deep breath and concentrated on the weapon. Her arm gauntlets disappeared in a flash before morphing onto Magnihild. Nora's weapon shone brightly that they all had to close their eyes a bit before registering what had happened. In front of them was a new hammer, quite similar to Nora's. However, the design had changed. The hammerhead looked like a dragon's head, with the mouth being the hole to fire grenades. When Penerros transformed it to the grenade launcher mode, it was designed so it also looked like a dragon head firing grenades.
"That should do it," grinned Penerros, "It won't break easily. Still has all the same functions as your old weapons, and the head of the hammer can charge electricity easier now. And a few more surprises for you to figure out."
She passed the weapon back to Nora, who looked at it in amazement.
"Now, we can leave in peace," announced Qyrentes, "Look after yourselves. Make sure you survive and bring back the glory of the Dragon Clan. May you have many children and live good, long lives. The blessings on the village that they had enjoyed so much will disappear once we are gone."
"The only thing left we ask is that you take the two crystals that we will leave behind and plant it into a new place where you'll create a new village for the Dragon Clan," said Penerros as the two guardians began to fade away, "It will bless the new village. That is to say, it will help the village expand quite easily. An example would be that any crops planted will grow well, and you won't have to worry about animals eating them too much. There is a limit, but it's a good start."
Just as they were about to fade, Penerros called out for Ren, asking for confirmation that Nora was his girlfriend before putting a troll face.
"Just to let you know, your mate grabbed my breasts and seemed rather fond of them. I'd be careful if I was you, as she might become... attracted to others."
With the final laugh, they disappeared, leaving two small crystals for Jaune to put into his bag.
Nora blushed crimson before spouting out random curse words while Ren sighed, his cheeks pink.
"What happened?"
Bai finally managed to get the door open to see the inside of the temple rather wrecked, with signs of fighting everywhere.
"Everything's been solved," announced Jaune, "There won't be any more suspicious activity here anymore."
Bai blinked for a bit before slowly nodding. Jaune called for a ship to come pick them up before receiving the news that the next available ship would be two days from now, at 1100 hours.
"So... what happens now?" asked Bai.
"Team JNPR knows we're not welcomed in your village," stated Jaune, "So we'll be either be staying here for the next two days or heading over to the beach port to stay."
"I say the beach port," suggested Nora, "No need to stay here much longer than needed. Plus, we can get food from the ocean, and get a much needed tan. I have tan lines I want to get rid of."
"All agreed on the beach?" asked Jaune. Everyone nodded in reply. "Ok then. Beach it is."
"I'd say it's safer," muttered Bai, "It takes longer to get from the village to the beach than from the village to the temple shrine, even if they declared it sacred grounds. The villagers, especially the elders, will be looking for revenge for taking the staffs."
"It is their own fault that they tried to stop us," said Pyrrha, "If only they weren't so stubborn, but what will happen to you?"
"I probably won't be mayor for much longer, I might even be exiled," sighed Bai, "However, it does allow me to see the world like I've always wanted to."
"In that case, if you need help, head to Vale and ask for Junior," said Jaune, sending a text to Junior before snapping a photo of Bai, "He's one of my retainers. He'll help you out and hook you up with a job if you need one."
"That's very thoughtful," said Bai, "I appreciate the offer. Just let me see what I can do with my own village first."
"Excellent job, Jaune," praised Lung Wang, "Though you still have quite a ways to go. Those two you fought... they didn't use their Semblance at all. If they did, then you all might've lost."
"Still, it shows progress as you are not completely dependant on our powers," added Ryo-Wo.
"Give the boy a break," chuckled Othim, "Hey, you're headed to the beach! That means... BEACH SE-!"
Othim didn't get to finish as Andusk and Aryz punched his head to shut him up.
And with that, they descended back down the village.
As expected, all the villagers glared at them before demanding the staffs back. Jaune replied that since they had failed to uphold their promise, he had the right to confiscate them as heir of the Dragon Clan, which had given the staffs to them in the first place. All the elders made a fuss about it, especially Shiro, who said she would be launching a complaint to Haven's headmaster and see that they were expelled.
Team JNPR paid her no mind and made their way down to the beach.
They arrived when the sun had just set. Once at the beach, they made themselves comfortable there. Ren practiced playing with his new knife ocarina while Nora practiced with her new weapon. Jaune created a sand wall to protect themselves from angry villagers trying to hurt them while Pyrrha caught some fish and placed them in the fire to cook after descaling them.
Once they finished eating, Jaune made another wall to block the winds while the others set up futons from Jaune's bag. Each person would be sharing one to keep warm. Naturally, Pyrrha was with Jaune while Nora was with Ren.
The next day, while they spent the time training on the beach for a bit, they heard someone gasp before yelling for an entrance. Curious, Jaune flew up to the top of the wall and looked down to see a few villagers trying to break through the wall.
"You guys need something?" shouted Jaune, causing them all to look up.
"You will return those staffs to us!" sneered an elder.
"I thought I told you already that I wouldn't! You guys failed to uphold your promise!" Jaune snapped.
"It is ours by right! No dead clan has the right to just come back to life whenever they feel like it, show up and take them from us!"
"Wow, you guys are really narcissistic. You already forgot that it was loaned to you by the Dragon Clan as a way to help protect yourselves, and in return, you would maintain the temple."
"Who told you that?" shouted another villager.
"The temple shrine guardians. They woke up from their slumber and were pissed to see the place in ruins. They were going to head to your village to cause destruction if we didn't stop them."
"Ha, let them try," sneered a kid, "We'd kick their butts."
Jaune shrugged and flew back down, ignoring their complaints and accusations. After an intensive training regime, they all decided to take the time to enjoy the beach. Jaune and Ren went for a swim while Pyrrha and Nora striped down naked and laid out on the beach to get rid of any tan lines. It was especially important for Pyrrha as she had to do photo shoots again when they returned to Haven. That, and they didn't have to worry about anyone spying on them besides their boyfriends.
After a while Pyrrha went out to join Jaune while Ren came back to the shore to lie next to Nora. Pyrrha swam out next to her mate, who was floating on his back, looking into the sky.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, just wondering; what other relics from the Dragon Clan are out there? Are their more villages like this?" He asked, the water making his muscular body shine in the sunlight.
"Well, hopefully not arrogant like this one. That we could live without." Pyrrha voiced.
"For sure." Agreed Jaune.
"There might be more out there Jaune, but when we find them, we'll reclaim them for our clan together," Pyrrha told him confidently.
"Our clan?" Jaune asked, looking at her.
Pyrrha smiled at him, "Yes, our clan! I am your mate, but most importantly, your wife, aren't I?"
Jaune looked at her beautiful, kind, loving face and the look of pure love in her stunning eyes.
"Yes you are." He confirmed before he 'sat up' and wrapped his arms around her, pressing himself against her. She leaned into him, sighing in content as she took in his scent.
"You know, that old bat was right about one thing; you do have nice breasts," Jaune told her, as he squeezed one, while pressing her against his chest.
Pyrrha chuckled and said "I know, but I'm not the only one with a good body." She then squeezed his butt to get her point across, making his laugh and he began kissing her.
They just floated together for a while, enjoying each other's company, and bodies as they rubbed, massaged, and kissed each other.
The next day arrived, and Team JNPR was waiting for the ship to come in the next hour. The villagers had tried several times to break through the wall but to no avail, as Jaune would just reinforce it every now and then, using Fafnir. They soon gave up when the clock hit midnight.
"Hello! Team JNPR? Are you there? Damn, I didn't think there would be a wall here, but I guess the elders were right."
"Mayor Bai, is that you?" called back Jaune.
"Just Bai," shouted the voice, "I was impeached, then I told them I was leaving. They agreed to it, as they had already been planning to exile me."
Team JNPR looked at each other before Jaune quickly made a hole for Bai to come through. He had several large cases with him.
"We're very sorry to hear about that," said Pyrrha, but Bai waved it off.
"I was getting sick of leading them anyways. They were such pests! Now I can finally see the world instead of being stuck on that island."
As the airship arrived to take them back, Jaune finally lowered the walls, letting it return to its normal landscape.
"We picking up one more?" questioned the pilot.
"Yeah, he wants to head back with us," replied Jaune before turning to Bai, "Do you want to head to Vale? Like I said, there are people there that I know that can help you."
Bai thought about it before nodding and thanking him.
As the ship lifted off, there was a shout, and the villagers came out wielding pitchforks and guns, screaming for vengeance.
"What the?" said the pilot, startled and staring at the mob.
"Just lift off. The mission was a success, but villagers didn't like that we had to go into what they called 'sacred grounds'," sighed Ren.
"Pyrrha, if you please," Jaune nodded to Pyrrha, who put her hand out.
The villagers were about to begin firing when they felt all their weapons ripped out of their hands, courtesy by Pyrrha. She gathered them into a ball, and with a toss, fired it back roughly into their village destroying a large section of road, but she shrugged before calling out, "I'm sorry!"
The villagers were left steaming as they could only watch them leave.
"That was a rather fast mission, in my opinion," said Jaune.
"Indeed, but only we could've actually completed it," replied Ren.
"I'm not complaining, but that means we have to train with Master Wong again."
They all shivered slightly at that though.
Usual thanks to my Beta readers UGX7, Jauneforever, and TheMischieviousPuppy.
Hope you've enjoyed this chapter, reviewed it, and look forward to the next one. The next chapter will be featuring Team RWBY and SSSN mission! And there will be a 'special scenario' chapter in there.
Since it's chapter 50, I guess I should do a background information about this story! For those who don't want to read it, just skip this portion below, though I will be slightly sad.
Q: What inspired me to write this story?
A: The Remnant Knight by MassEffect-TxS. Read that story, and wanted to create my one-shots first before expanding on it. Making it start at a young age was my own idea, though.
Q: Why 7 dragons of elements? And Why those elements?
A: Honestly, Chinese cosmology and what the old ages thought were the elements, though I didn't like using metal and wood. No, I did not use this idea because of Naruto, I thought of this long before that came out.
Q: How many chapters left?
A: I have no idea. I don't think I'll hit 100, but who knows. But I will endeavor to finish this whole story.
Q: Any plans to write another RWBY story?
A: So far... nope. Any multiple stories I write, I prefer to keep them in separate universes. Let's me relax my mind from that said universe. That being said, Jaune of Fake, Lantern, and Ranger are on backburners, though Fake has someone who adopted it. I might make another one shot if I have the time.
And finally, anyone who wants to do a RWBY reacts story or any reaction on whatever universe on this story is welcome to. My only wish is that you send me a pm so I can read it.
