1. Texas Chainsaw
The aircraft moved at a steady pace through the sky. Many of its passengers were eager to begin the next four years of their lives, as they would soon be approaching Beacon Academy. Beacon was one of the elite schools for huntsman and huntresses, the best line of defence humanity had to offer in face of their neverending adversary: The Grimm.
The Grimm only ever had one constant. They would not stop.
They could not be argued or reasoned with. They did not have a soul, and if they did it was guilt free. For years beyond counting they ravaged villages and clawed at the walls of the great cities. There were many questions about the Grimm and their existence to this day.
Why do they exist?
Are they a part of the natural order?
Do they have a leader?
Do they even have a true purpose?
One question was never asked.
Do they taste good?
That question brings us inside the aircraft, where many student are eagerly awaiting to start their first year. The variety of gear and equipment made a certain red hooded brunette blush with excitement. Her sister, a blonde with a fiery personality, pulled her into one of many headlocks when she got too excited. Beyond them at a bench sat a young man.
He was a little over six feet with scraggly blond hair and blue eyes. The boys frame was wiry, but hidden under his slightly tattered wool sweater with a collared shirt under it, with regular work pants. He was not particularly unique physically. What stood him out with the rest however, was his apron. His blood splattered apron.
Of course many might assume it was tomatoes. Maybe he was a chef or smith? Many would not notice because he was haunched over, gripping the hem of his apron tightly. He did not like flying, but it was a burden he had to bare. He had to for his family. His loving family.
The boys name was Jaune. He didn't have much to his name, beside the sword resting on the left of his hip. He preferred the sludge hammer on his right side. His uncles and brothers taught him how to handle it proper. Sometimes he would practice with the sword. Mama always said have a variety, don't be picky.
Mama usually turned out right. That is why Jaune kept both with him, alongside his last gift. Resting on his back must have been some sort of blade. whatever it was. it had a pretty big motor in front of the handle armored in aged yellow casing. An aged sheath,wide and black, kept most of it from view
"We will be arriving at Beacon momentarily, please do not forget personal belongings on the transport. Thank you and welcome to Beacon"
BOOM
The blast distracted Jaune from his re-reading of old world recipes. Looking over he could see a LITERAL crater near the center of the open walkway. A girl covered in black powder was stomping away leaving small trails behind her.
With one hand Jaune snapped his family recipe book shut and stuck it into his apron. Getting up he took a easy trot over to investigate. Uncle had always told him you never knew what you could scavenge from what other people left behind. People were inconsiderate like that,wasteful. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Or, one man's bag of bones is another mans holiday decoration.
Reaching the crater he looked down to see a girl flat on her ass. She was still stunned, it seemed, from the explosion. Her eyes spun while her head moved in a daze. He reached out to her as she shook out of her stuper. The first thing she sees is his palm outwards toward her.
"Need a hand?"
Ruby Rose didn't know what to think of her newfound friend. He was kind, though his attire seemed more a cooks then a huntsmen. Of course she did not expect that weirdo with the cane to fight so efficiently. She was walking with her new friend on the school grounds. He had introduced himself as Jaune Sawyer, "meat enthusiast", his accent reminding her of some that lived in the more wild areas south of patch. She did not know what that meant, but he gave her a cloth to clean off leftover dust. She decided, for once, to reach out to another person.
"So this is my baby, Crescent Rose." she pulled out her weapon, releasing it from its folded state into the overly sized scythe. Jaune's eyes bulged in wonder as his mouth opened in awe." She also has an alternate function as a sniper rifle."
"Amazing, you can be a Huntress and a Farmer!" Jaune exclaimed. Others might be insulted, But Ruby could tell his response was genuine. "Your blade is not bad for animals too. Definitely a slice and dice."
"T-thanks." Ruby stuttered at the praise. "What about you?" 'Oh my god, its show and tell, and its my turn! but...' Jaune seemed to look at himself for a moment, as to decide what he would show, and how he would show it. His uncle always said it was a good idea to keep some things close to your chest. He also said it was good to keep certain advantages hidden. He did not want to be mean to his new friend, and decided to wing it. He drew the word at his hip. A simple sword with a golden guard and a blue hilt.
"Well, this sword right here is a family heirloom. It has a sheath that does something, but I don't really use it. not my style." Putting the sword away, he pulled out his sledge." Now this here is my Sludge. Its a good smacker, and the best way to kill. Makes the meat better"
Ruby took a good look at the Sludge. It was simple but sturdy and heavy looking hammer. She remembered seeing similar ones in her dads shed tho much less intimidating. She could she dark stains on the blunt ends. He must use it frequently, she guessed.
"What about that thing on your back? Is it a gun?" She asked. He seemed to ponder for a moment before saying.
"Its my backup, in case the meat is too big." He looked at the giant clock in the distance. " We should get going, they are going to start that speech thingy soon. And that means Dinner is soon"
"That's not your breakfast hon." Jaune drawled. His mood a cross between amused and frustrated. The night before was not pleasant. Some uppity girl in white mocked his dashing figure and family apron, not realizing he was within earshot. The headmaster's speech was a complete waste of time,barely worth listening. Night came and went fast enough. When morning came he was first in line for breakfast, the most important meal of the day. At least now they had bacon.
But now, His right hand holding a plate with pancakes and bacon drizzled in syrup. His let hand held a half-awake Valkyrie away.
"Paannncakessss" was her only response.
"Mine, not yours. They are servin over there." Jaune tilted his head in the direction of the catering area. "Bacon is better anyway"
The statement snapped the girl out of her sleepy state into a state of combat focus. Her eyes now aware and narrowed, focused on the subject who stated such heresy.
"Say that again." She demands
"Bacon. Is. Better." Jaune complies unblinking, unafraid. " The syrup makes it better."
"Fight me." The Valkyrie commands, standing at full height.
"Sure." Jaune meets her gaze, having to look down to meet eye to eye. After a full minute both looks soften, as though an unsaid conversation just took place.
"Did you say syrup on bacon?" She asked. " Rennie never puts syrup on our bacon."
" Its a secret, momma says if our recipe secrets are revealed, either the grimm or the government would find a way to ruin it." Jaune states. "I need to show these sheep how to cook a real meal. This place is disappointing." A sheep faunus looks up for a moment, then goes back to his breakfast, recognizing the figure of speech. The girl has a beaming smile on her face now.
"You and Rennie need to meet, I bet you'd be super best friends like me and him! And maybe you and I... are we friends? Did we just become best friends?" The girl practically vomits her sentences out. Jaune gives a smile.
"What's your name hon?" He asks
"Nora Valkyrie!" Nora exclaims.
"I am Jaune Sawyer, and yes I think we just became friends." He responds. Nora beams even more, like a firecracker just set off in her skull.
"I am happy to meet you Jauney. Now I gotta find food. And Ren. Food and Ren, oh my god I don't know where Ren is. I'll catch you later new friend!!" Nora skips slash sprints along, a energized expression and a red blush adorning her face.
"Such a nice girl, momma would love her." Jaune says. He proceeds to demolish his breakfast, goes for seconds, and demolishes that as well. Fed but far from dead he makes his way to the lockers.
Finding his locker is a bit of a challenge at first. After some assistance from a giant second year with a broadsword he understood the number system better. Looking away from his locker number he notices a white haired girl and a redhead girl in his way
"Pardon me darlins. Yur in front of my locker." Someone says, interrupting the pairs one-sided conversation. Pyrrha looks at the newcomer. Taking note of his wild blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She then looks behind herself, then back at him with embarrassment.
"Oh! pardon me" Pyrrha says. stepping away
"No worries Miss Red." He responds. Not paying her any more mind. Weiss Schnee, however, payed mind. Now to her AND him.
"Excuse me, do you even know who she is?" She asks the Blonde with an uppity attitude. He turns to the white haired girl. His back to Pyrrha, She notices not only the the rough buckle straps holding his apron in place, but the harness over his sweater.
"Of course not, we just met." He says. Pyrrha is surprised for a moment. Her dread quickly shifts to confusion, than to happiness. The young mans dialect and accent hints at a more rural upbringing. He had to have been raised outside the kingdoms. Finally, Someone didn't know her-
"Shes Pyrrha Nikos!" Weiss exclaims. 'Goddammit' Jaune Looked at Pyrrha after equipping his sword.
"Hi Pyrrha, im Jaune Sawyer." He reaches his hand out with a smile. She grips his hand firmly. smiling.
"A pleasure to meet you Jaune."
"You are kidding me. She doesnt ring a bell?" Weiss questions. 'Shut up dammit' Jaune looks at her inquisitively. "Mistral Champion?" He is still looking at her.
"She has won four times in a row." Jaune resumes equipping his gear, indifferent. As he is about to grab his backup she practically screams. "For god sake shes the mascot of Pumpkin Petes!"
For Jaune. Time froze, he was six years old again. his mama held his hand in front of a Massive factory. Pumpkin Petes brand plastered over the entryway. His mama is holding a big sunflower in her other hand.
"This used to be a meat packing factory Jaune. A while before you came into our lives the family worked here with many others. Than a Bigshot suit came in. Bought the whole thing. We were told in our final work week to prep the place for a new product before we were let go." Mommas hand shook around his, not the usual shaking either.
"We had to take apart our entire workplace before we were kicked to the street. second to last day, there was an accident. You're brother Tom. You never got to meet him. He was a good boy. He would have loved you very much. He was killed in the accident. So were a couple of others." Momma crouched, laying the sunflower right outside the entrance. "They swept it under the rug, and families that have been here for generations were out of work. forced to leave their home to find more work if they could. A month after, this fucking cartoon pumpkin is smiling at us. My boy died for fucking cereal. " Momma was sobbing now,Jaune put his arms around his momma.
"Don't be sad mama." Such a simple statement from a child. She put her arms around his, tears fell into his hair.
Jaune Slammed.the locker door shut, the resounding slam startling the snow haired girl. He looms over Weiss. His bangs cover his vision partially, giving him the look of a wild man. She takes a step back.
"Do not EVER say that again." He growled. "Do not bring up that tarty fucking brand of flakeshit soup to me ever again." Ripping open the locker, He grabbed the large yellow cased weapon. equipping it on his back, he turns to Pyrrha with a smile."See you at initiation."
It was later when Jaune stood at the cliff, letting his boiling anger settle into a simmer, breathing practices letting him forget the white haired bitch. He was not impressed with beacon that much. Headmaster Ozpills speech was boring. Stuff about wasted potential. If anything was a waste of potential, it was that sorry excuse of a dinner. He had more variety on a tuesday night back home. There were two meats, TWO meats, ridiculous. He ate what he could and shut down into sleep mode. Breakfast brought similar disappointment, although he may have made a friend. A cheery girl named Nora. Maybe another friend in Pyrrha, if his somewhat violent reaction didn't scare her off.
"Jaauunneyy!" speak of the devil. The red-head with electric blue eyes was making her way towards him. She wore a pink and white getup that oozed passion and violence. she was dragging her giant hammer in one hand, and a sleepy looking fellow dressed in green. "I am so glad you are here! This is my bestie Rennie!" She shook the boy "RENNIE! This is JAUNE SAWYER, he's our first friend!"
Lie Ren took one look at Jaune Sawyer, and felt two distinct conflicting emotions. One was joy, because Nora befriended someone new. Said person seemed to appreciate Nora's presence than simply tolerate it. The other was dread, because Nora found someone like her, just a boy. This was not jealousy, this was fear for the rest of the student body.
"I am Lie Ren, hello." he said neutrally. Jaune gave a Nora-esque smile. Lie Ren shivered.
"Nice to meet you Ren! Nora told me you were besties. Once this is over, I would love to make a proper lunch for you guys. Even if we don't end up on a team, I would like to be friends." Jaune Sawyer made his move. straight and to the point. He promised himself he would make friends. Make no mistake He loved his family, but making friends outside the family was kind of hard. Visitors always left before morning, and meanies were taken care of to keep the family alive. Ren' heart did warm at the gesture.
"That sounds nice, I would love to."
The others began arriving. Among them Ruby and her yellow sister. He gave them a wave and a smile. He did the same for Pyrrha who had a cloudy look until she saw him wave at her. Jaune did not pay much attention to the others after that, Ozpill was talking, and although he was boring he had to to try to listen.
" You are going to start by being launched into the forest." I wonder if mama will get my letter. I know she will be excited to hear how im doing especially now that I have made friends. " Your objective is to retrieve a relic from the forest." Maybe I was too harsh on the food. After all it could be different each day. I think I will still have a little hunt today, my friends deserve fresh ingredients. "The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years." Well that's neat.
The students began launching one by one. Jaune turned to the headmaster.
"Thank you Mister Ozpill, I am sure glad you are helping us make new friends alreaDEEEE-" Jaune went flying through the air. I should ask Ren if he is vegetarian, oh god I hope he isn't, meat is too good!
Headmaster Ozpin watched the young man fly through the air. The boys sword had caught his attention immediately. He had not seen that blade for over a decade and a half. The young man's appearance raised many questions.
"sir, did he just call you Ozpill?" Glynda asked.
Landing was easy for Jaune. Curling into a ball mid-air he let himself fall where he would. Using his aura to reinforce his body, he braced himself for eventual impact. He couldn't see where he was going but he should be land-
CCCRRASSHH
'Ah there we go' As he felt his motion slow to nothing he peaked an eye open. Seeing he stopped, he started with his head to look around. He then tested each arm and leg individually to check for possible damage and movement hindrance. He mentally cheered once he was checked out fit as a fiddle.
Standing up he noticed the giant track he left in his crater-like landing. looking up he noticed what used to be a thick tree. Used to be, as he shattered the center of the tree apart when he crashed through it. The bushy top of the tree now sunk to what remains of the stump. Jaune thought it looked like a shorter tree compared to the rest. To him that was funny.
'Now hold on a sec, there are suppose to be grimm here?' As though on que, Several Beowolves emerged from around the fallen tree. With a smile Jaune pulls out his sludge. While giving it a few one handed test swings, a new Beowolf leaps from behind the sunken tree. Jaune quickly grabs the handle with both hands. His aura is channeled into the sludgehammer, reinforcing it. He arc-swings it right to left. Straight into the beowolfs face.
CRACK
The impact shatters half of the beowolf's face. Its jaw exploding into black gore. There is barely a head left as the swing exits left. Jaune lets the momentum of the swing spin him. He force stops in the direction of the next Beowolf. He swings upward, quite literally removing the head and neck from the spine with sheer force.
The head flies into the air as viscous fluid sprays upward. Jaune is lightly sprinkled by black rain. The last beowolf rushes forward to tackle Jaune. Said man does not hesitate as he turns and swings downward, straight into the Beowolf's head. Its entire body is stopped dead as its head disappears onto the earth. Jaune is still for a moment, before he pulls upward, his hammer drenched in black fluid.
The entire fight was over in less than 10 seconds. Jaune's smile never let up the whole time. He quickly used the grass to brush the gore of his hammer. Slipping it back on his waist he pulls out a flaying knife and gets to work on the grimms corpses. So fixated on his work he does not notice the newcomer behind him.
Pyrrha watched his direction during freefall and headed his way as soon as she could. Even with his sudden violent reaction to Pumpkin Petes he treated her like any other. The hostile reaction with Weiss, and his smile after solidified her goal. She arrived to the scene to see Jaune stuffing grimm meat into his satchel. She looks at the scene in a mix of confusion and growing horror. Not only did he run into Grimm, he was picking apart the corpse, for what? He looks up at her arrival and smiles.
"Partners then?" He says. Pyrrha nods quietly, than points at his satchel. " Oh, don't worry, its sealed up tightly. Grimm meat decays faster in open air." That was not her concern, and she had at least a dozen questions. At this point, however, they were partners. She much preferred the slightly erratic boy that barely knew her, over the heiress that knew TOO much about her. He stands and points his thumb behind him.
"So, I know we are lookin for relics, I dare say that cave looks like a neat place to start."
"Ruby, where is your partner?" Yang asks her sister in an open field. She found her partner in the quiet Blake, yet Ruby's was no where to be scene.
"IM STILL UP HERE YOU IDIOT!" Oh.
Suddenly Jaune and Pyrrha rush through the treeline on a dead sprint. They both brake at the sound of Weiss's voice. As much as Jaune did not appreciate her attitude earlier, she was a classmate and potential friend. What to do however? A lightbulb dinged brightly in Jaune's head. he pulls out his sludge. He quickly pulls a cap off the bottom and pulls a loop out from inside. He begins swinging it in a circular motion. He reinforces his arm and weapon with his aura. The spinning increases speed.
"Weiss! Drop!" Jaune yells. Weiss drops with no other option. Jaune starts running. When Weiss is halfway to the ground he lets the swing move forward. He offers no resistance, allowing the weapon to literally pull him through the air. He collides with Weiss making sure she hits his chest and not the weapon. That would be awkward. Weiss looks up at him.
"You can fly?" She asked.
"Hell no, but we are falling AND landing with style!" He responds, quickly swapping their positions so that his back will hit the ground. He reinforces his body with aura.
They did not land with style. Not at all. The landing was blunt, simple, and made a resounding crash. Straight into the relic temple. As Weiss realized she wasn't dead, the smell of old gore invaded her nostrils. She quickly lifted herself from Jaune's chest.
"Thank you." She says. He simply smiles getting up.
"Anything for a friend darlin." He responds.
"That's cute you two but... Nevermore?" Its Yang that says this. Everyone began looking for the nevermore only to see, or hear, nothing.
"Where did it go?" Ruby asks this question.
"It went back in the direction of the mountains." Blake spoke up, her eyes on the avian grimm since it had dropped Weiss.
"So wait, did it really just piss off?" Yang asked. Everyone stared in the mountains direction for a moment.
"Looks like it." Blake answered.
"Well that's convenient-" A rumble from the trees forewarned them of the Ursa that bursted through. It stumbled and fell over, literally ridden to death by one Nora Valkyrie. Ren and came through next.
"Nora! Ren!" Jaune called out. Nora rushed over, Ren taking his time having to chase a raging Ursa. As Ren reunited with the group, Nora waved a chess piece in his face.
"Look Ren, Jaune had Chess pieces stuck in his back. He gave me one!"
"I think that's a relic Nora." there was a piece for each pair. Jaune and Pyrrha shared the same piece as Nora and Ren. Ruby held the same kind as Yang.
"Looks like we are wrapping up here. lets get back-"
PBSSSSHHH
A giant Deathstalker plows through the treeline into the field. Jaune tilts his head.
"Huh, I wondered where you went."
The Deathstalker let out a insectoid screech making its way towards the group.
"Alright, Rubes- Darlin I want you keeping your distance." Ruby eeped but started moving back. "Cat ears, you and Ren work on the tail. Everyone else keep dividing its attention. The black haired girl, Blake, looked at him in shock while Ren acknowledged the border. "Nora." She looks at him. "Lets break its fucking legs" She is beaming.
The group rushes the Deathstalker, Jaune and Nora are smacked away by the front pincers. Yang offers them cover, firing shotgun shells into its side. They quickly recover and go on the offensive again.
"Nora! its nubby legs!" the two swing their respective hammers into the legs of the creature. Its bone like armor is strong, however, and refuses to submit despite the beatdown. Nora's powerful swings make the legs rattle and shake its balance. Jaune focuses his hits on a particular leg. Ruby was covering from afar, firing round after round to distract it from the others. She paced her shots, not wanting to risk hitting her teammates.
The Deathstalker was ancient, and smarter than it looked. It seemed to recognize the strategy being used against its and started moving erratically. Ren got smacked with its tail into the treeline. Nora sputtered than revved up like an angry engine. She leaped high and swung and electric charged swing right atop of the Deathstalker. her swing forced the bone carapace to crack open before it knocked her off. Jaune however heard the crack, he knew the sound of bones breaking well.
"Pyrrha!" The Spartan gives herself some distance and looks over to him. " I wanna pin this biscuit! When I throw my sludge. use your semblance! Cat Ears! get that tail retrained!"
As Jaune leaps into the air the team flows in tandem. he channels his aura into his sludge as his arm winds up. he sends it careening down. Pyrrha uses her semblance, increasing the hammers speed and power. The weapon kisses the Deathstalkers "cheek". The force pushes the hammer through bone, pushing it hilt deep. The impact all but knocks the Grimm into unconsciousness. It balance however goes out the window as its splayed on the ground.
Weiss summon its gravity glyphs over the creature to keep it in place. Blake uses gamble shroud to restrain the creatures tail. Jaune lands on the creature as it begins to struggle again. He reaches for Crocea mors than hesitates.
It would take a while to hack it with this antique. hhmmm ah! Jaune smiles, a quite vicious smile the others would recall. He reaches for his back and grips the handle firmly. He pulls it out of his sheath. Saw teeth, dyed red from who knows what rest on the strip of the blade, feeding into the inner mechanisms in-cased in a yellow shell. Jaune grips a leather handle atop the small engine. He channels his aura through both hands.
And it revs.
Jaune goes for the tail first. Black fluid sprays everywhere as Jaune forces the chainsaw through the base of the tail. Not unlike a lumberjack and a tree, if the tree could bleed and screech. The others could only look in horror and shock at the scene. Ruby watches from her scope in disbelief. her sister shared the same expression. although much closer to the event. Weiss is open mouthed as she witnesses the gruesome display.
As his chainsaw finally severs the tail entirely, its blood sprays everywhere, on everyone. Weiss feels black blood splatter into her mouth and she gags, her glyphs dissappear. The deathstalker leaps forward. Knocking Jaune off, it attempts to escape into the field. Jaune is up and running after it already. His Chainsaw held high above his head.
The Deathstalker feels the effect of blood loss and slows down the farther it goes. it does not get far before Jaune goes for several of its legs. He cuts through them swiftly. The creatures movement slows to almost nothing as Jaune leaps atop the creature. Revving up the saw, he drives it into the crack. The innards are shredded beyond repair. The creature already a lost cause, finally dies. but Jaune doesn't stop. He drags it through the carapace, pulling it towards the front before dragging it down.It opens the dead creature like butter, the face is split in two before Jaune stabs the saw into the remans of the face. like a twisted mixer he blends it to black paste.
As the others followed Jaune they stopped at a distance. As he rips out the chainsaw he holds it above his head spinning. They watch confused as Jaune continues to spin and move haphazardly with the saw. The chainsaw screeches loudly into the sky. Only Nora recognized it at the moment. When the other thought back to this moment they would realize he was dancing.
"Jaune Sawyer, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren. you form Team Juniper, led by Jaune Sawyer." As Ozpin announces this he tries not to grimmace. After retrieving the newly christened teams RWBY and JNPR they were sent to be showered immediately. A majority of them were covered in Grimm fluid, Weiss Schnee had a checkup with medical to make sure she had no problems. She had swallowed some of the tar, and although she threw it up immediately, the staff wanted to be safe.
Ozpin and the staff saw EVERYTHING. When Jaune pulled out his "last resort" Everything changed. Instead of using Crocea Mors, he used an industrial chainsaw to tear apart the ancient grimm. Even the boisterous Professer Port turned silent at the brutal display. Others took it far worse, Glynda comforted Peach as she threw up into a garbage bin.
Despite this, Jaune did not do anything wrong. His methods were horrifying, but effective against the Grimm. He rallyed the others together to effectively tag team the deathstalker. He would have to talk to team JNPR, sans Jaune, to discuss moving forward from here. Glynda already has the Chainsaw banned from duelling for safety reasons.
Said young man Smiled and gave a salute. While Everyone else was emotionally between stunned and numb. To the sidelines, Cardin Winchester watched the stage.
"Boys, watch out for that one, keep your distance." he said to his team. They were one of the first teams to wrap up. Cardin watched highlights of the early performances as he returned. He saw the two teams live as the reunited and felt his lunch try to escape his stomach at the grande finale. as they walked off stage they could still smell the aroma of dead grimm on some of them. Jaune seemed unaffected the whole time.
Just what kind of fucked family did this kid come from?
16 1/2 years ago. Southern Vale.
"Move faster Nubbins! god knows if Grimm or society is on their way right now!" Drayton Sawyer and his family were scouring the remains of a crashed aircraft. Ironic enough, they had nothing to do with it. They saw the burning metal beast coming down, and felt the earth shake as it crashed. Others would look down on scavenging, but life was hard in this part of the land. You could only count on your wits and family.
"Fuck off Dray! Why ain't Tex out here helpin us?"
"Watch your tone with me, Tex has his own work. you don't hear Chop Top complaining."
"Chop top dumber than shit-"SMACK "Ah! goddammnit!"
"Don't insult your brother even if its true." Drayton left Nubbins mumbling and grumbling. He headed over to the other side Where brother 'Tink' and momma Verna were looking through luggage. Tink was working on a small safe with a hacking tool.
"Tink, what you got?"
"Not sure, this safe has air circulation going through it. no idea why. just...about... got it."
The mall safe clicks open and a sound is erupting from the safe. Both men are confused, opening the door all the way. A crying infant is securely locked in its cradle. Verna, upon hearing the wails of an infant, bolted upright. A fire lit within the dead inside woman. Maternal instincts reacted, as she moved with a speed unseen in years. She flings both men aside, getting a good look inside the safe.
"Oh my goodness, hold on sweetie. I'm coming." She removes the infant from the cradle. Drayton gets up to see Verna cooing at the child. The baby already calming down in her arms. "Oh Drayton, he's blonde. just like how Tom was when he was born."
"They must have secured the baby before the crash." Tink thought out loud. Nubbins came around with a sheathed sword.
"Look guys, a sword! Is that a goddamn baby?" Drayton struck Nubbins again. "Ow! Drayton why?"
"Hush now, there's a baby. The way Verna is lookin at him. That's your family member." He walks over to Verna "Little feller got a name?" He looks down at the baby. The blue onesie styled like a bunny. A name on the chest spelled out 'Jaune'.
"Jaune huh? Jaune what?"
"Jaune who?" Nubbins interjected.
"Jaune Sawyer." Verna said lovingly with an air of finality. Drayton only grunted. Verna hasn't been this happy since before Tom passed. She already adopted him the moment she heard the cries. He turned to call out to the rest of the family.
"Pack it up boys, there's not much else here. Pigs will be here soon enough." He looks at Nubbins. "Bring that sword too. looks like a fancy antique."