This isn't several years of quality, so don't expect to blow loads after reading this. Sorry for the extreme hiatus, and if any of you follow any of my other stories I can't promise updates any time soon, but I'll at least try. I've just got one more class to complete before I get the fuck out of college so I should have more free time after that.
Sparks flew as blades of sword and saw clashed and collided. Both fighters swinging with all their vigor, with Dragon Slaying abilities thrown left and right. Neither fighter could get the edge over each other. While Lukai was undeniably the stronger of the two, Jaune was faster and able to dodge any swing that he knew would be costly to block or parry. It was only a matter of time, however, until one of the dragonkin got the edge.
"Lunar Dragon's Crescent Rake!" Lukai bellowed as he swung his right hand diagonally towards Jaune. As his hand moved, his fingers seemed to sketch out a pale light for each digit. Each of the five lines of light them bent and flew at Jaune, tearing apart the ground as they flew dangerously quick towards the White Dragon Slayer.
Jaune rolled to the side, but Lukai anticipated this and rushed the blond fighter at speeds unlike before. As Jaune came to the very end of his roll, he looked up to see Lukai raising his saw and swinging downwards with the intent to rip Jaune to shreds. Knowing he couldn't move in time, Jaune raised his shield and braced it with both hands. The ground beneath Jaune cracked as the saw collided with the nigh impenetrable shield.
Jaune grit his teeth in exertion, knowing he would not last long against the pressure Lukai was pressing down with. Jaune's arms rattled as the saw blades tried to break through his shield. Thinking fast, Jaune leaned as far as his pressured body would allow, just enough to see Lukai's feet from beneath Jaune's shield.
"White Dragon's Roar!" Jaune grunted out, firing his laser-like ability right at Lukai's shin. While Lukai's aura held up, it didn't negate all the pain the attack brought, almost like a bullet hitting a kevlar vest. Lukai lost his footing, thus his grounding and let up on his attack. Jaune took the initiative and leapt at Lukai, driving his knee into the faunus's face.
Lukai stumbled back and swung his arms to his sides in an effort to regain his balance, and Jaune saw his chance to land a tide-turning blow. One that would either allow him time to escape from his situation or put this Dragon Slayer down for good. Either was fine for him honestly.
"Let's see you avoid this, White Dragon's Claw!" Jaune sheathed his sword and drove his now free glowing hand right into Lukai's chest, branding him with the White Dragon insignia, thus rendering him motionless. Or so Jaune thought.
"You may be a strong fighter, but you're still green, aren't you?" Lukai taunted with a grunt. The insignia was very clearly traced onto his chestpiece, but Jaune with unveiled surprise that Lukai's body looked more jagged and glowed with a faint light. The spot Jaune struck was void of clothes, but the skin underneath was now covered in durable scales. "Even with my Lunar Dragon Scales, I still felt that hit. But it was meant to do more than just hurt. Am I right?"
Before Jaune could retract his hand, Lukai gripped his wrist with the swiftness of a King Taijitu, with restrictive strength to match. Jaune struggled to escape his grip, but to no avail. Lukai didn't hesitate to drive his knee into Jaune's stomach before tossing him away. Jaune's vision dimmed for a moment from the lack of oxygen he was receiving due to being winded. However, the tell-tale sound of a saw cutting through the air made him alert once more. Jaune forced his sluggish body to move, but the saw still grazed the side of his head, ripping off a small bit of skin.
Jaune's aura made slow work of the wound, making his lowered reserves obvious. Jaune slashed at Lukai, but the bruiser just tanked the hit with only a small, almost unnoticeable chink taken from the scales on his forearms. Growling in frustration Jaune leapt back right as Lukai swung his chainsaw, letting Jaune reset his fighting stance with his shield held just below eye level and the flat of his sword resting on the top. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, knowing rushing this fight anymore would mean death.
"What's wrong Dragonling? Have you nothing in your arsenal to pierce my scales?" Lukai taunted, raising his arms as if to give Jaune a target. This inspired the surrounding White Fang members to cheer Lukai on, encouraging Jaune's pain and humiliation.
Jaune almost fell for the verbal jab, but remained stood in his position. Jaune began to move slowly forward, keeping his eyes trained on Lukai. The Lunar Dragon realized that Jaune wouldn't be taunted into making a sloppy mistake at this point in the fight. He almost laughed; the young whelp was learning.
Lukai met Jaune's approach with his own, and given that Jaune wouldn't be letting his shield down to attack Lukai struck first. Going for a heavy horizontal swing with his saw Lukai swung. Jaune leaned back far enough to dodge it but not lose his ground. To Lukai's surprise Jaune didn't attack back, he just remained in his defensive position.
Lukai smirked and swung his saw once more, but Jaune evaded the swing like before. Lukai kept up his assault, and while his swings were starting to connect, it was only because it was in instances where Jaune couldn't dodge to he chose to parry. This new cycle continued for several minutes until Lukai hastily overextended one swing and Jaune finally retaliated.
Lukai swung for one overhead swing, but it was much slower than before. Jaune didn't get pinned down by it this time, instead he flipped his sword into a reverse grip and slammed Lukai's chin with the pommel, cracking the opposing Slayer's mask and the scales underneath with the force of the blow. Lukai stumbled back but Jaune lashed out with a kick to knock him further off balance. Finishing off his combination attack Jaune fired off another White Dragon's Roar for good measure, but Lukai was able to cross his arms in time for the last attack.
While Lukai's arms were chipped and smoke rose from the laser Jaune reset his stance once more and laughed.
"Your scales are strong, but they have one glaring flaw." Jaune commented as he rushed his opponent this time, prompting the next assault. Jaune swung his sword from what seemed like every angle, and as Lukai endured most of the hits and tried to land a few of his own, Jaune was seemingly untouchable. Lukai tried to slice at Jaune, only for the White Dragon Slayer to lean to avoid the attack and land another cut on Lukai's torso. "Like all armor, the more you have the harder it is to move. Isn't that right?!" Jaune yelled, slamming the edge of his shield into the same spot as where his sword hit, causing a larger crack to form on Lukai's chest.
Lukai staggered back, but held his chainsaw level and steady. Lukai took a deep breath and chuckled menacingly, "You think I don't know my own weaknesses? The point of this armor is for you to waste energy on me, and it's obvious from the rise and fall of your shoulders that you're getting tired." Lukai's laughter grew louder once he saw Jaune try to retort, but his breath came out rapidly and his breath continued a hasty pattern. "I will admit though, if this goes on, I don't believe that I will win. Not without a 'boost.'" The Lunar Dragon Slayer then turned to his audience of faithful followers to address them, "Listen now brothers and sisters. I refuse to place you all in unnecessary danger, but this is now a matter between Dragon Slayers. As such I order you all to evacuate immediately."
The members of the White Fang, old and new, looked between each other. Some of the more elite members stated their disagreement to Lukai's request, but Lukai didn't respond with words. At least not immediately.
"Lunar Dragon's Roar!" Jaune watched as Lukai didn't aim the blast at him, but at the ceiling. The attack ripped a new hole in the already tattered rooftop, exposing most of the room in the dim moonlight. Jaune connected the dots quite quickly and moved to rush Lukai, sword and shield ready even as they weighed heavily on his fatigued arms. Lukai growled and swung his chainsaw overhead as Jaune approached, blades connecting in yet another clash of sparks and metal.
"Go! This fight is sure to have attracted the attention of law enforcement, possibly more huntsman!" Lukai bellowed, shoving Jaune away and slashing once to gain distance. Jaune rushed Lukai while the commander addressed his people. Jaune landed two quick slashes before he was forced back again, this time by Lukai's glowing free hand, the finger tips looking razor sharp and illuminated by the pale light of the moon.
More than three quarters of the White Fang members began to flee, but the more loyal members of the group moved to attack Jaune. Unfortunately for them, a wounded and tired huntsman-in-training is still dangerous, far more dangerous than terrorists with minimal combat experience and training. Jaune waited for them to approach, only attacking to counter incoming hits to conserve energy. Those that stuck back to fire at Jaune found that there weren't any open shots, given the abundance of melee fighters.
Between lashing out with every part of him that he could Jaune could see that Lukai had resigned himself to this outcome and outstretched his arms, basking in the faint light above them all. Jaune growled and moved to rush Lukai, driving his knee into one sword wielder and throwing his body at one of the riflemen. Jaune felt a few slashes and more than one bullet hit past his armor and each one felt like it might shatter is aura, but the biggest danger needed to be dealt with first.
Jaune found out he was too late in two ways, stopping Lukai and realizing that he ran out of time way too close to the newly powered up Dragon Slayer.
"The moon may be covered by the clouds tonight, but it's enough." Lukai grinned savagely, arm whipping out to grab Jaune as the blonde tried to skid to a halt. Lukai managed to grab a hold of Jaune's chestpiece and drove his other fist into Jaune's stomach. The blow was powerful enough to rip the straps of Jaune's chestpiece apart, leaving the piece of armor in Lukai's hand.
Jaune was sent to a pile of crates, his body now obscured by broken wood and debris. The remaining White Fang members trained their weapons on, Lukai right behind them. As the melee fighters moved closer they could have sworn they heard someone swallow something. Not out of nervousness, but as if someone was eating.
Lukai seemed to have heard it too, but his reaction was much more violent.
"No you don't!" Lukai took a deep breath to prepare another roar, but a blindingly bright light flashed from the broken crates, stunning the hypersensitive Faunus.
"White Drive."
A wave of energy forced the pile of wood away from Jaune, and he did not hesitate to dispatch those around him. Jaune used a smaller version of his Holy Ray to dispatch those closest to him, also hitting Lukai in the chest. The two remaining ranged fighters fired their weapons at the glowing white Dragon Slayer, but found that they didn't even expend half of their magazines before he was on them. Two White Dragon's Claws rendered them immobile. Jaune grabbed them both by their hoods and threw them across the room. Even as they skid across the ground their bodies remained stuck in their firing positions.
Lukai's vision finally returned, only to see those who stayed behind with him had been taken care of. Lukai growled at his own incompetence, quickly training his eyes onto Jaune. His eyes widened in disbelief in what he was seeing, he was sure Jaune was one of the rare elements. One that couldn't be powered by common means like himself.
"How the hell did you gain more aura? You should be completely out right now!" Lukai declared, spreading his legs into a defensive stance. Jaune's eyes turned towards Lukai, wisps of white flickering within the dark blue of his eyes.
"I've been given a work around, thanks to my father." Jaune stated, sealing the capsule containers of his weapons with deft motions, reattaching Crocea Mors to his hip. Lukai braced himself as the newly empowered White Dragon Slayer crouched, and like a wound spring shot towards Lukai with both fists glowing in white brilliance.
Lukai offered the first strike, cleaving vertically downwards with his chainsaw. The cycling blades dug into the ground where Jaune should have been, but he bounced high and lashed out with a kick. The flat of his foot impacting against the reinforced skin of Lukai. While not visibly damaging the scales, he did stagger back. Out of instinct, Lukai spun with his saw swinging wide. Jaune leaned back, the saw just missing his chin, and whipped back to land three consecutive punches across Lukai's left arm. This time each blow was starting to show signs of wear and tear across Lukai's shoulder and lower biceps.
Roaring defiantly Lukai backhanded wildly to force Jaune back, quickly following up with several quick bursts of Lunar Dragon's Roar. Jaune zig zagged around each blast, the last kicking up broken debris in front of Jaune's line of sight. Thinking fast, Jaune slammed his glowing fists together creating a flash of light. Lukai, who had advanced to catch Jaune in the smoke was blinded by the extreme flash of light.
Lukai huddled up, guarding himself as much as he could and concentrated his power into fixing the cracks of his scales. Jaune took a deep breath and drew his fist back. The light around it becoming more concentrated as his power consolidated into one point. Taking one deep breath, Jaune nearly blinked forward, intended to blow Lukai away.
"White Dragon's Holy Nova!"
Aiming for center mass, Jaune's fist connected to Lukai's crossed arms. At first, all of the light surrounding Jaune disappeared. Then, everything went white. The brilliance of light was so immense that it shot out of every hole in the room. The largest being the hole in the ceiling created by Lukai himself, lighting up the sky like a beacon.
"Man, you weren't kidding! this hits the spot."
After Sun and Neptune were thrown off the highway by an Atlas mech piloted by one of if not the most infamous crime lord Roman Torchwick, the same crime lord that was at this very moment engaged in a destructive and life threatening battle that was not only endangering their very lives, but any civilian caught in the crossfire the two huntsman-in-training took the next natural step and went to grab a bite to eat.
"I know we already talked about this, but don't you think we should go help team RWBY?" Neptune inquired after a large helping of noodles.
Sun cupped his chin, almost like he really was considering it, but then brought his tail holding a generous portion of noodles to his mouth and chomped down. After several seconds of long, drawn out chewing, Sun replied.
"Eh, I'm sure they'll handle it." Sun grinned cheekily, digging into his bowl once more. It really was tasty! It was hard to find wet foods back in Vacuo.
Neptune still didn't look to sure, "Okay I guess, so Sun."
"Hm?"
"I didn't really think about it when we were fighting that mech, but where was Jaune?"
"Oh, he opted to stay behind to fight an entire room of White Fang members and one of their scary looking higher ups."
Neptune dropped his spoon, "What."
"Oh yeah, there were loads of 'em. He told us to go without him cuz he'd slow us down. Not really sure how, he seemed pretty good at parkour when I met him the first time, but to each their own I guess." Sun replied nonchalantly, not looking up from his bowl.
Neptune's jaw dropped next, "Okay, so while we're here eating. He's probably in a fight for his life with no support surrounded by enemies on all sides?"
Sun's eating pace slowed down, "Uh, maybe?"
"And you didn't think for a second to go back for him once we were out of our fight?!"
"Uh…. It didn't cross my mind?"
Neptune slapped his forehead, "Are you kidding me? He could be dead right now! Where's the warehouse that you left him at?!"
"I have no clue! I wasn't exactly paying attention to where we were going when I was running away from a giant Atlas murder bot!"
Neptune stood up, his budding huntsman spirit burning, "Well we have to at least try! There's only so many warehouses!"
"But that could take forever! And there's like five ports! He could be at any one of them."
Before the boys could bicker further, a large beam of light shooting into the sky drew their attention. Only taking a few seconds longer than should have been used, they started moving rapidly towards it. Both only saying one thing.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap!"
As the light died down, the room revealed Jaune with his fist outstretched and panting heavily. On the other side of the room, in a straight line in front of Jaune was Lukai. Back to the wall and his standing body incredibly still, Lukai almost looked like a statue. At first the only noise on the room was falling debris and the rapid breaths of Jaune. After several agonizing seconds, Lukai let out a pained gasp and fell to his knees. His Lunar Scales falling off of him and fading away in a dip flash of moonlight.
Standing straighter, Jaune calmed his breathing and made his approach. Still moving cautiously, Jaune held the handle of his sword tightly, ready to draw it at the first sign of movement.
"We could have been allies, friends even. You're the first person I've met that has the same past as me. The same dragon heritage." Jaune lamented, stopping is strut a good ten feet from Lukai. Hard focused eyes on Lukai's still, kneeled form Jaune sighed, "I don't know much about the White Fang, but what they're doing is wrong. You know as well as I do there's a greater threat out there, and it isn't humanity. There's a being out there capable of killing dragons. I've made it my goal to kill them, but I can't do it alone."
Lukai's breaths slowed, if only slightly. For a moment Jaune thought he would respond, hoping beyond hope that he might agree. However that was quickly thwarted by Lukai's rebuttal.
"Lunar…Dragon's…. Roar!"
Jaune tried to avoid it, but even with the distance he gave himself his last move was more draining than he thought. The blast clipped his shoulder, sending him spinning away towards the entrance of the building. Jaune glared in Lukai's direction, but Lukai wasn't following up with another attack. The remaining White Fang loyalists finally recovered from their paralysis and flanked the Lunar Dragon Slayer from both sides, weapons trained on Jaune. Before they could shoot however, everyone in the room heard a shout from behind Jaune.
"Jaune!"
Jaune couldn't react before he was hoisted up by Sun as Neptune brandished his weapon and stood between his allies and the remnants of the White Fang members. He couldn't help but notice the damage inflicted on both parties, wondering how either of them were even conscious at this point.
"What… took you assholes so long?" Jaune raggedly asked, a small smile on his face.
"Eh, stopped for some food. Had to recharge from fighting Roman." Sun replied.
"Are… are you serious?"
"Hey you've got your priorities and I have mine."
Jaune stared at him for a long moment before letting out pained laugh, "I can't… even be mad. I might've done… the same thing."
The sound of sirens was heard in the distance, quickly becoming louder as red and blue lights were seen further down the street. The White Fang members began to sweat nervously, not wanting to run but not confident in their odds of escape either.
"White Dragon."
Everyone stilled, Jaune's gaze moved to Lukai finding battle-hardened eyes staring back at him.
"You're right. There is a creature somewhere in this world capable of enough destructive power to slay dragons."
Lukai moved to stand on unsteady feet, moving to his saw. After retrieving his personal weapon, Lukai looked to the corners of the building's enterance. Specifically, the support beams holding what was left of the building together.
"But there are other monsters out there, closer than you think."
Before any of the huntsman-in-training had a chance to ask further, Lukai let out one last Lunar Dragon's Roar. The blast cutting across to both support beams, collapsing the front of the building on itself. The heroes had to move back to avoid the dust and rubble from hitting them.
"What was that about Jaune?" Sun felt compelled to ask, only for Jaune to shrug.
"Don't know, but I have a feeling he'll explain it the next time I meet him."
Sun tilted his head, "And how do you know he'll want to meet you again?"
Jaune met his gaze, "I won't give him a choice."
The night ended with more questions than answers, from both parties. Roman escaped with the help of a new arrival, and the White Fang were not found by police on that night at the warehouse. Even though Jaune was left frustrated about the outcome of the night's events, he couldn't help but feel at least a bit satisfied finding another of his kind.
'I wonder how many more are out there.'
I hope everyone enjoyed. One of my biggest motivations for continuing this story is just to get to the Vytal tournament, and more specifically so I can write Adam's character. Spoiler he's not a dragon slayer.