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RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Salt and Sanctuary belongs to SKA studios.

Chapter 34: The Jester


"Jaret, are you sure this will work? I'd wager that Azredak will have taken the seas by now." They heard the Sodden Knight inquire.

Kaira smiled in relief. After weeks of searching, they had finally found their quarry. They were near the northernmost tip of the continent. Ren calmly held Nora back as Ronin and Kaira drew near. They could see a ship anchored a short ways off the coast. A small dingy was on the shore. The Lightborn was sitting in it, while The Sodden Knight and Jaret were loading a few various items into the small boat. The Lightborn saw Kaira and gasped. The Sodden Knight and Jaret turned.

There was a tense moment of silence. Ronin walked up, next to Kaira.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to turn around and let us go, would you?" Jaret asked.

"Give us the Lightborn and maybe we would." Ren said, making his presence known.

Nora bounced in next to him. Licking her lips and looking at the three with hungry eyes.

"What has he done to you?" Jaret muttered at the sight of his two former students.

"Augmentation and perfection." Ren stated.

"I wouldn't call that perfection." the Sodden Knight said, as he drew his sword.

"I would warn against attacking." Jaret stated.

Kaira noted that clouds were rolling in and rapidly growing darker. Nora seemed giddy at the prospect of a thunderstorm.

"You two take the king." Ronin said. "I've got the knight."

Nora launched herself at Jaret. Ren quickly followed suit. Nora swung her black hammer at Jaret while Ren ducked in for a slice. Nora's hammer missed, but Ren was able to tear off a piece of Jaret's jacket. The green liquid on his bladed fingers, sizzled and popped as the fabric burned away.

Jaret wasted no time in drawing his cane. He deftly ducked another swing of Nora's hammer and countered Ren's strike. The two Darkened growled. They glanced at each other and nodded. Jaret dashed forward to strike at Ren, but he simply vanished. Jaret was given no time to wonder what happened as Nora slammed a fist into his back. A surge of electricity arced down her arm and into the King of Storms.

Jaret growled and slammed his elbow into Nora's gut.

"You were quite prone to overextending." Jaret noted as he kicked Nora away.

The King deftly backstepped as Ren slashed at his side. He parried another attack and forced the boy to stumble back.

"And you can be easily predicted." He stated, before pressing his advantage.

His advance was slowed as Salt spheres started appearing around him. He deftly avoided them and kept advancing on Nora and Ren.

While the two Darkened were slowly being beaten back, Francis was finding it far harder to make any headway against Ronin Cran. The smaller swordsman was much faster than the imposing knight. For every strike that Francis made, Ronin made three more. Francis was growing tired of this game. He held a fist high and slammed it into the ground. A wave of electricity flowed outwards, catching the smaller swordsman off guard. Ronin locked up for a second as the electricity surged through his body.

He quickly shook it off and leapt backwards as the Sodden Knight descended on his previous position. The knight's blade slammed into the ground, right through where Ronin had just been standing. Francis stepped forward and swung his blade in strong measured arcs against him. Ronin struggled to avoid each one. But, as with many cases of brawn vs agility, all it takes is one good hit from brawn.

Francis swung his blade once more. Ronin made the critical error of attempting to block the attack. The force of the blow knocked Ronin's sword from his hand. The blade landed in the sand a few feet away. Francis gave no quarter and continued his advance. Another strong swing was ducked under. Ronin snarled and tried to kick Francis away. The Sodden Knight shrugged off the attack and swung his blade overhead. The attack happened fast enough that Ronin was unable to fully avoid it. The blade cut clean through Ronin's arm.

The Darkborn growled in pain, but Francis kicked him backwards. Ronin was sent away from his sword. Francis moved in to attack once more. However, his attack was easily blocked by a dome of Salt. He turned to see Kaira rapidly conjuring Salt based attacks against both him and Jaret.

A burst of flame flew past Kaira's head. The Salt dome she had conjured dissipated as she turned to face the Lightborn. Kaira smirked and began calling on her Salt once more. She had grown in knowledge over the last few weeks. She may not like to serve him, but Kaira would admit that Azredak's influence had done wonders to her Salt magic.

Amber rose from the dingy and faced the Salt Alkymancer. She summoned flame and threw it at her with no abandon. Kaira smirked as she casually dodge and deflected any flames that came too close to her. She recognized that the girl was young. Far younger than Kaira herself. With that youth came inexperience.

The wind began to pick up. Kaira groaned as a bolt of lightning flew down from the heavens. Fortunately, the Salt protected her, but now Jaret was running interference for Amber. However, that meant that he was dealing a fight on two fronts.

Kaira flew around another blast of fire. She summoned multiple Salt bombs. The small white spheres came into existence around the Lightborn. She appeared to have not noticed them. Kaira smirked as she flew towards the Lightborn. Kaira ducked under another bout of flame before grabbing the girl by her neck. Amber didn't have much time to react as she was tossed towards a Salt bomb.

Kaira began detonating them. They burst in a flash of white arcane symbols. The force of each blast disoriented and further hurt Amber. One blast sent Amber flying back towards Kaira. The Salt Alkymancer grabbed her and threw her to the ground. The Lightborn fell unconscious.

"You are nothing more than an inexperienced little girl." Kaira gloated as she floated down.

Kaira had a brief second to hear the rumble of thunder as a bolt of lightning slammed into her back. She was thrown back onto the beach. She, painfully, got up.

"FRANCIS, TAKE HER AND GO! AZREDAK CAN'T BE ALLOWED TO HAVE HER!" Jaret yelled over the growing storm. "I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"

Francis kicked Ronin away and nodded. He ran towards the dingy. He pushed it into the water and began rowing towards the ship anchored offshore. Kaira growled and prepared to fly after the fleeing Lightborn and Knight. Jaret, however, halted her immediately.

Kaira floated off the ground and was immediately buffeted by the winds blowing her back inland.

Jaret readied his cane and prepared to fight them all. The standoff was tense and brief. Nora and Ronin rushed the King of Storms, Ren disappeared once again and Kaira began summoning the Salt to aid her.

Jaret easily dodged and blocked each of the flurry of blows that Nora and Ronin rained down against. He responded by slamming a bolt of lightning into the sand. The explosion of sand threw the two back as a pillar of glass appeared where the bolt had hit.

Jaret leapt over the lightning glass pillar and slammed his cane into its base. It crashed down on the invisible Ren. He growled and pushed it off of him. He slashed at Jaret with his poisonous bladed claws. Jaret dodged each attack. He sensed his other two attackers had recovered and were hurrying towards him.

Jaret smiled and backflipped over Ronin as Ren slashed at him. Ren's attack carved a deep gouge into Ronin's chest plate. Jaret landed on Nora with another bolt of lightning. Another formation of lightning glass burst from the ground as the explosion launched Nora towards the sea. Jaret ducked as a Salt bomb flew over his head. He had almost forgotten about Kaira. The King of Storms, with aid from the winds, jumped towards the Alkymancer.

She attempted to attack him with the Salt, but she wasn't quite the match in close quarters. Arcane symbols appeared on her hands as she attempted to block the King. A bolt of lightning flew from the skies and Jaret channeled it through his cane. The surge of energy sent Kaira flying away.

Jaret sent another bolt towards Ronin, Ren, and Nora. He was unprepared for what happened next. Nora caught the energy and sent it back at him. Jaret could barely contain his surprise as the electricity slammed into his side and he fell to the ground. It was far more powerful than anything he had ever summoned. He recognized that it burned with the same darkness that Azredak commanded. His vision was blurring, and everything was growing dark.

"They got away." Ren stated, looking out to the horizon.

Jaret smirked as his vision fell to darkness. At least Azredak wouldn't have access to a Lightborn.

"Maybe, but Azredak may still be pleased with what we did manage to capture." Ronin said, walking up to the downed Jaret.

"No. He'll demand we do better next time. He wanted the Lightborn, not the King of Storms." Kaira said.

"So, what do we do about her?" Nora asked.

"Leave her. Carsejaw and Saira will have left to take an island. Azredak will soon control the seas as he does the skies." Kaira replied. "And when that happens, Azredak will order the seas to claim them."

"Ah… can I have part of him?" Nora asked.

"Bind him and we'll take him back." Kaira said, ignoring the question.

"You can have his hands." Ren whispered. "But not until tonight."

Nora smiled as they bound the King of Storms and began their trek back to Azredak.

…/…

"It proposes an interesting idea. How does it know it will work?" Azredak inquired.

"Simple. The Saltborn falsely believes that I may not be on your side." The Untouched Inquisitor replied. "And the tome he brings may allow us- sorry, you to permanently deal with him. Besides, all I'm asking for in return is a single instance of the Third Lamb."

"And what is stopping from its mind by force?" Azredak said.

"My Lord, you and I both know that a willing informant is far more valuable than an unwilling informant." The Inquisitor replied. "Besides, what would I gain if I betrayed you? You have more than provided for me the opportunity to rebuild the Dome and its congregation."

"It makes a valid point." Azredak began.

"And surely, my Lord, you realize that through my plan, the Saltborn will come right to you." The Inquisitor continued.

"Its silver tongue knows exactly what it needs to say." Azredak stated. "Know this, Inquisitor, I will allow its plan to continue, unimpeded. However, should it prove to be a failure, then it shall learn why it shouldn't carry out plans without my knowledge."

"I wouldn't expect anything else, Lord Azredak." The Inquisitor replied with a bow, before departing from the dark god.

Azredak turned to gaze out the window. The kingdom that had once been Vale lay below him. A steady stream of refugees being forced back into the city. All lined up to be darkened. He could feel the agony rising from the city. It felt euphoric.

The Untouched Inquisitor may have been his best informant, but Azredak wouldn't leave anything to chance. His ability to access the minds of his creations had slowly been growing in power since Vale had fallen. The Inquisitor's information was not as guarded as he would have liked.

Azredak had no idea where Aurum was or what the Book of the Damned was. But he did know that the Saltborn was heading south towards them both. The Inquisitor put too much faith in the Saltborn following through with the deal he had made. Azredak, however, did not have such faith. As such, it was time to plan for such a contingency.

"Lord Azredak." A raspy voice greeted.

Azredak glanced at the being. It was tall and lanky. A large smile graced its faces and a jester's hat covered its eyes. It held two long rapiers in its hands.

"Jester." Azredak curtly greeted.

"I was beginning to wonder if I'd been forgotten." The False Jester rasped with a chuckle.

"No, it was simply not needed." Azredak replied. "However, now I find myself having a use for it."

"Oh, how exciting." The creature replied.

"Indeed. Somewhere, along the southern coast of this continent, there exists a ruined city called Aurum." Azredak said. "The Saltborn, Spectre Daas Lamina, is trying to find it."

"And you want me to stop him?" The Jester inquired.

"No." Azredak denied. "I want you to ensure he makes his way back to me… with whatever tome the Inquisitor sent him for."

"It will be done." The Jester replied.

The False Jester departed. Azredak smirked and looked back out over the ruin before him. A steady stream of Darkened were slowly departing the city. On the way to conquer the rest of the lands.

However, Azredak didn't have time for that. He had an island to rebuild. The once nameless god descended towards the docks. He walked the streets. Any Darkened and Darkborn he passed bowed. His power over them was absolute. It was a feeling that Azredak relished.

He passed one of the refugee lines. The people were being marched towards the center of the ruin. They tried to back away in fear from him, but the many Kraekan Cyclopes forced them to march ever forward.

Azredak continued down to the docks. He stood on the edge of a dock and willed a shadow to fall into the water. A minute later the massive head of Skourzh rose from the sea. Skourzh nodded his head in an imitation of a bow.

"Carsejaw and Saira have taken the island of Menagerie. Take me there." Azredak commanded.

Skourzh nodded and turned around. Azredak stepped onto the massive dragon's back. The dragon swam into the sea and disappeared beneath the waves.

The Scarecrow watched from the cliffs as the ruin of Vale continued to turn.


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Data Log BOS034

Information – A shorter chapter this week. I've recently had another idea for a story that I've had to start plotting out. It's another RWBY fanfic that I really like the idea for. I'm currently working on characters that I want in it and plot points that I want it to hit. I might start uploading chapters of it to the site soon. I am unsure, it still needs to be more fleshed out, but I have created a title: The Daughter of Death.

Information – Please leave constructive criticism. Updates to the archives take it into account, and it is greatly appreciated.

Express gratitude - Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated. Feel free to leave ideas and recommendations for the future.

Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.

End Log S.T.K.