Hi everyone! It's another chapter of To Create One's Path. Duh. And this chapter is going to be a bit more lighthearted than the last one. Just so none of you are confused, he is not going to become permanently weaker because of the injury. It's just going to be like that for a small while. Anyway, I'm sure just a few of you are actually going to read this, so I'll leave you all to the story and end this here.
"Gah! Who!? What!? When!? Where!? Why!?...How did I end up in this place?" Jaune exclaimed in quick succession as he jolted up from his position on a...comfy bed? All he remembered was approaching the village border, then passing out. He's pretty sure that it was just from the hunger, but the fatigue throughout his entire body told him otherwise. That and the fact that he realized he was inside a hospital now was a big red flag.
"That...can't be good." Jaune thought out loud. He looked around and saw that the room was bathed in darkness. It was nighttime then. Huh. How long has he been out? It's all been a long blur of motion. Though, in his dream, he could have sworn he saw what his family from Patch was doing. They were all training and trying to settle into a city of sorts. But that was probably just his imagination. As optimistic as it is, it brought a smile to his face. Thinking about his family always brought good feelings to his heart.
But enough of the feels! He needed to get to the bottom of how he got into this mess. So with a flip of his blanket, he took off all of the weird wires and machines connected to him and walked over to the window, opening it and just observing the nighttime view.
.
..
...
Until he got sick of the loud noises that the machines were making and just decided to jump out the window.
"Alright, now to just-Gah!" Jaune tried to say until he felt a stab of pain through his entire system. He was trying to use his powers and create a bubble of air and soften his landing to nothing before he suddenly felt a huge spike of pain through his body, causing him to seize up. He couldn't do anything until he crashed to the ground with a hard thump. It didn't bother him much, but the pain from earlier was still there, causing him to curl up into a ball and grit his teeth.
'Dear lord! Is this what pain feels like!? I hate it! It's everywhere! Make it stop!' Jaune thought to himself as he tried to get up and get help from someone. Anyone! He just wanted the pain to stop!
"Help! Anybody!?" Jaune cried out, going into the street and trying to find anyone that would listen. His vision was blurry however, and he could only make out basic shapes and coloring. He stumbled and walked down the dirt road, feeling his body starting to shut down again.
"Anybody?" Jaune asked weakly, falling to his knees, an eye already drooped closed. He heard distant voices coming closer to him, as if exclaiming to help him, but he had already gone numb. His body couldn't handle so much pain at once. So as he landed on the dirt path with his head to the side, his world slowly turned to black once again.
As Jaune came to once again, he noticed a couple of things. He was once again on a comfy bed. Difference this time however, was that he could tell this wasn't the hospital. Second, he was accompanied by a Goliath of a man! Said man had noticed him staring and his eyes lit up, a smile on his face. The older gentleman was wearing a white muscle shirt with dark grey cargo pants. On his feet were steel tipped combat boots. His aged white hair having been combed back, showing his rather youthful looking face. The most prominent feature being the lone scar that went over his eye that was obviously blinded. What you could see of his torso was littered with different scars that told stories of glorious battle.
"Ah, he's awake! Hanzo! Get in here!" The tall man said in a peculiar accent. It sounded strange to Jaune. It was something that he had never heard before. The accent left him wanting to know where he came from before he heard a small commotion from the other room. Soon after, it was followed by footsteps. He looked to the man and went to ask something before the door to the room slid open, revealing Hanzo himself.
"I see. So you have woken up." Hanzo stated, walking to the foot of the bed. Jaune looked to his left, then to his right before looking back to Hanzo and raising an eyebrow.
"Where am I and what am I doing here?" Jaune asked not really getting the situation he was in or why these strangers were talking to him.
Hanzo nodded in understanding and decided to introduce himself. Getting that Jaune would be confused as to why he would be in another person's house.
"My apologies, I should introduce myself. I am Lie Hanzo. The head of the Lie Clan." Hanzo said with a bow. Jaune nodded before his eyes widened after thinking about it for a minute. This guy was-
Before he could think on it too much, the other man with Hanzo spoke up next with his boisterous voice and exotic accent.
"And I am Wilhelm Reinhardt. Head of the Village Guard!" He said as he puffed out his chest and stroked his beard. Jaune stared at it for a moment, subconsciously reaching a hand to stroke his bald chin. He was definitely growing a beard the next chance he got.
"I brought you into my home after finding out you had escaped the hospital and collapsed onto the road." Hanzo explained, giving Jaune insight as to how he got here. Jaune nodded, looking down at himself before finally speaking up.
"Alright, I think I have a gist on the situation. But uh, why exactly was I in the hospital in the first place?" Jaune asked, looking to Reinhardt first but turned to Hanzo when the big man just shrugged his shoulders, telling him that he had no idea either. Hanzo nodded to him before explaining.
"When you and your sister were entering the village, your heart had ceased beating and you had spouted blood from your mouth. The paramedics were able to restart your heart, but they were unable to cure you of whatever illness that had caused it in the first place. They gave you a weeks time before you perished. However, I was able to see what the problem was and rid of a foreign substance that was reeking havoc on your body and Aura." Hanzo explained, telling Jaune all he needed to know about where that 'foreign substance' came from. He would have to talk to Amber about that soon. Speaking of whom...
"I see. By the way, do you happen to know where my sister is? She's average height, tan skin, brown hair, has a spear...Ring any be-" Jaune tried to describe before he was interrupted by a brown comet.
"JAUNE!" Amber shouted, tackling the small boy off the bed and to the floor, nearly hugging the life out of him,
"Oh my gosh! You don't know how worried I was! Please don't ever do that to me again!" Amber cried into Jaune's shoulder as he sat there dazed. He shook his head before hugging her back, glad to know how much Amber cared for him. He really was grateful for his big sister.
"It's alright, sis. I'll always get back up. I promise." Jaune said, making Amber smile at him before Hanzo cleared his throat to garner their attention.
"I'm glad you two could reunite, however, I must warn you about the injury that Jaune sustained and what has happened to his body and Aura. because of it." Hanzo said with caution. It made Amber feel worried all over again while Jaune already had a gist of what was happening with his own body.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Amber asked, already knowing that whatever Jaune's father did to him was more than met the eye. Hanzo spoke up, starting his explanation of what he had sensed within the boy.
"When I had taken a look at his Aura when he was being taken into the village, I sensed that he had a massive Aura pool. Larger than I have ever seen before. Yet it seemed to have been imploding upon itself. When I came into his room to try and heal whatever ailed him, his Aura had shrunken to an average child's. It was there that I found a strange...substance taking residence within your chest, right where your heart was." Hanzo started, explaining to the both of them what he saw. Amber was already going to the conclusion that Jaune's father had done that on purpose to weaken Jaune. However, Jaune had thought of something else. Something that he already knew the two wielders of his cores would realize when they learn what happens when a mortal tries to harness the power of the divine...
"As I approached him, I could see that the dark substance was absorbing all the Aura that was trying to combat it. All of that Aura was doing nothing to the strange energy. When I tried to root it out, the foreign entity had physically pushed me away. However, with my mastery over Aura control, I was able to successfully drive the substance out enough for it to die out on it's own." Hanzo said, finishing his explanation of what he had done with the apparent 'sickness' the boy encountered. He continued, finally explaining what his condition is now and what he needed to do.
"Jaune, your body suffered greatly from the experience. All of your Aura was too busy to try and get rid of the substance that the virus itself had no resistance in harming your body itself. Any Aura enhancements you might have been able to do is strictly impossible in your state. Your Aura is vast, but it is uncontrolled. Any attempt to infuse yourself with Aura or any other power will lead to further damage. As of now, any Aura enhancements are strictly impossible. You will hardly get through the day as you are, let alone fight. Which is why..." Hanzo said, laying out just how bad the situation was for him. Jaune thought about what Hanzo had said and how it made sense. That was why he couldn't call upon his normal powers. His body just couldn't muster the strength to do so. He didn't really hear what Hanzo had said last, or that he was going to lead into what he had wanted from here in the first place, but he was going to ask the same thing, coincidentally.
"I want you to train me in the ways of Aura."
"I want to train you in the ways of Aura."
Both Hanzo and Jaune looked at each other, a single eyebrow raised from each of them before they narrowed their eyes. Jaune got up to his feet, albeit with a wobble in his legs.
"We start tomorrow." Jaune stated, his voice leaving no room for argument. Hanzo added to the demand with one of his.
"At sunrise." Hanzo ordered before they both said their last pieces of the conversation.
"Don't be late." They both said in unison. they both nodded before Hanzo turned on his heel and left the room, leaving a confused Amber and an amused Reinhardt. Amber was the first to speak up, not really getting what just happened.
"I...was it that easy?" Amber asked to no one in particular. She understood what Jaune wanted to do here and she knew that he wanted to train under someone that had a high proficiency in Aura control, but she would figure that the person would be some cranky old man that would be too stubborn to take anyone under his wing. But for the exchange to be that quick and easy? Amber was getting real tired of all this craziness going on around her. And she still had to talk to that informant that Ozpin was going to send over.
Reinhardt on the other hand, was loving this kid.
"Haha! I like this one! You should meet my granddaughter! She would love to meet you." Reinhardt exclaimed, picking up a now confused Jaune and hoisting him over his own shoulder. Amber snapped out of her tiredness at this and giggle at how Jaune was so easily carried away by the giant man. Jaune just looked at her and shrugged before being carried out of the room and taken to whoever this granddaughter was.
Jaune was...having a blast actually. This Nora he met not five minutes ago was so lively and bubbly, it was contagious! So as they were playing around the rather large house, Jaune had learned very quickly just how strong Nora was. She was practically as strong as a grown Huntress in training for crying out loud! She almost beat him in an arm wrestling match.
Almost.
Currently, they were running around and playing tag-wrestling. A game that she came up with where one of them is 'it' and they have to tackle the other to the ground and pin them for three seconds to make them 'it'. The game was surprisingly fun. Nora was winning with five pins while he only had three. She had won one or two struggles between the two with how flexible she was and how weakened he was. Though, he still had a blast. There was one other thing that he noticed though with his time playing with Nora. And that was the other girl that had been watching them the entire time, not really approaching him. She would occasionally talk to Nora when they were alone, but would stop whenever he tried to get close to her. He wondered what might have been wrong with him to warrant such a reaction, but decided to ask her about it later. She would speak to him when she was ready.
"One! Two! Aw dang it! Get back here!" Nora exclaimed as she failed to keep Jaune in the pin long enough to gain another point. Jaune himself was panting and trying to run away while clutching his chest. His chest felt a little tight, and there was some mild burning in his lungs. He might want to stop now.
"Nora, hold on. I'm a little...a little...tired." Jaune said as he leaned against a wall and slowly slumped down on it. Nora stopped running and looked worried about her new friend. He looked really worn out. He was sweating and his breathing sounded labored. She squatted next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay? I should go get grandpa Reinie." Nora said, already getting up to get her grandpa, or even her uncle. But Jaune waved away her concerns, still sitting against the wall.
"It's okay. I'm just a little tired. I should be fine in a few minutes. Sorry for having to stop playing so soon." Jaune said, smiling at the ginger girl. Nora's worried expression slowly turned back to her joyful one again. However, she looked more calm now and sat down next to him. They stayed there for a moment, just resting from their playtime together.
Meanwhile, Rei on the other side of the room was debating with herself about how to approach this new person. She was lucky enough to not have to deal with the older lady. She was currently resting after staying up for five nights strait. However, now she had to deal with this blonde boy that her father had taken in. She knew her father had some purpose to bring him in, so she would trust him, but that didn't mean she had to like the guest. Admittedly though, she didn't dislike him either.
It was a weird feeling to not like person but also not-not like someone at the same time. She wanted to talk to him but her own nervousness was getting in the way. Along with the fact that he always seemed busy with playing with Nora to really talk to her was a problem. But now that he was taking a break and not doing anything, she could possibly talk to him now. The fact that Nora was there was helping as she had someone that she knew and cherished to help her if words ever lost her. So with a purpose in her step, Rei walked up to Jaune and introduced herself.
"H-hello. My name is Lie Rei. It is a pleasure to meet you. What is your name?" She asked, bowing to him and trying to avert her eyes from him out of nervousness. Jaune looked up and saw the girl that was trying to talk to him. She was wearing a green long-sleeved shirt with some white cargo shorts. An adorable set of magenta eyes darting everywhere but his direction with a set of black hair on top of her head. A single streak of pink sticking out in her bangs. He thought that was a bit strange, but it brought out her eyes much more.
"Hi. I'm Jaune Noir. It's nice to meet you too." Jaune greeted back. He stood up from his position against the wall and bowed in return. When he stood up strait again, he looked directly into her magenta eyes for the briefest of moments before Rei diverted them again. Jaune couldn't help but think about how pretty she was.
"U-um, It was nice talking to you, and I hope we can spend time together later, but I must attend to the garden now. Bye." Rei said, excusing herself and walked out of the room quickly as to try and hide the blush that spread across her face. She had never encountered someone that had such deep eyes. She could also see his Aura and tell that he was special.
Much like her father, Rei could sense and see people's Aura's naturally. And Jaune's Aura was a pure white. It was just so...comforting and warm. It felt genuinely nice to talk to him for the small amount of time that they had interacted. She could see herself enjoying the rest of the time that he was going to stay here.
After that small interaction with Rei, both he and Nora went back to playing. All the while Hanzo was sitting in his study, trying to think about what could have caused such an infection to the small child. He has seen many things in his life. From his parents dying when he and his brother were young, to that same brother dying to save his life, to even the tragedy that befell his wife. Yet there was no explanation as to what he had encountered with that child.
That energy was just so unnatural that there was no reasonable explanation that he could come up with that would explain how such a young child could have contracted it within himself. The only things that he could think of that were even remotely close to making sense was that it was either a curse of his bloodline, or something that had to do with Grim. The only way he was able to drive it out was because he was able to make the energy exhaust itself by making it attack his Aura before retracting it before the energy could do anything. Even then, it took several hours to do so. For such a small amount of energy stored within the area, it had almost no end. It scared him how powerful it was. He'd have to ask about it at a later time. For now, he needed to talk to talk to his daughter, she had been standing in the doorway for the past few minutes after all.
"Yes Rei? Do you need something?" Hanzo asked, turning to his only daughter. She seemed to be broken out of some kind of trance and turned her attention to him as well.
"Oh, um, I just wanted to ask you for some advice, father." Rei said, making Hanzo raise his eyebrow. She hadn't come to him for much advice in a few weeks. What could she possibly need from him now?...Hold on.
"W-well. It's just...about the boy you brought into our home." Rei began, fiddling with her shirt sleeves. Hanzo had a blank face, showing his ever stoic and wise character. At least, that's what his daughter thought, but inside, Hanzo was really hoping for a certain something.
"Really? Well, if it's about how you don't like their company, then I apologize. However, if you would just give it time, then I can assure you that they will grow on you." Hanzo said, trying to reason with his daughter. Though, he hoped that her concern would be for the exact opposite. But as soon as he said it, Rei's eyes shot open and held her arms out, denying what her father thought she was worried about.
"N-no! That's not what I meant! I wanted to...ask you something that might help me." Rei said, now playing with her hair and sporting an atomic blush. The sight made Hanzo feel even more hopeful about what she wanted to ask of him.
"Anything you need my little Lotus Flower. I will try to give you my best advice." Hanzo said, giving his daughter a comforting smile...on the outside. On the inside he was preparing the party poppers and thinking about how he would spoil his future grandchildren.
Rei had no idea that her father was thinking this and looked to him with her flustered expression while giving an awkward smile.
"Can you teach me how to talk to boys?" Rei asked, not realizing just what she had done for her father.
"I see." Hanzo said in a calm voice. Yet, if you hadn't gotten the hint. Then you know what might be happening inside his mind.
'Haha! The Lie family Legacy will live on! I've got to get ready for my grandchildren! Oh! I should ask Reinhardt what I should do...Oh! I should tell Reinhardt! Haha! This kid is the best thing to happen to this family in a long time.'
"Well, let's see what I can do."
And that's the chapter. Thank you all for reading. I would just like to say that I am grateful for each and every one of you. But if you'll excuse me, I have another chapter to get to. So until next time. Toodles~!
