Yay Chapter finished!
It took way longer than I expected. At least the chapter is a bit longer as well?
Guest;DragonTetho - Don't worry I wasn't planning on making Jaune join Beacon in my story, I have a couple of ideas for certain events to happen at Beacon but that it.
Xealchim - Me to buddy. There is currently a remake running if you do not mind pirating it but from what I've seen I'm very dissappointed in it. That's actually part of the reason as to why I started to write it.
Everyone else - Thanks for the good words.
A week has passed since Jaune and Summer began their search for the shaman king tournament. They have asked many humans and faunuses both living and dead yet not a single asked person knew anything that could be useful for them. It was almost as if the tournament was a made up fairy tale no one has ever heard about. Fortunately, even if there were no findings they stayed optimistic the entire time.
"Argh, How is it possible that not a single living soul knows anything about this joke of a tournament?!" Or at least tried to as Summer wasn't really afraid of showing her irritation born from their fruitless search. Well it's not like Jaune was feeling any better, one can only sleep in parks and random cheap hotels without getting closer to their goal for so long before starting to get annoyed after all.
"Calm down Summer. I know how you feel but complaining about our lack of information isn't going to magically grant us knowledge." Sighed Jaune as he took a sip of coffee he somehow managed to get by helping this cafe's owner's dead grandpa pass into the afterlife.
"It can make me feel better, besides with how little we know it might as well be the only thing we can do right now. Are you certain that the old spirit who told you about Shaman Fights didn't know anything concrete about it either?" Asked curious Summer as everything she knew about the tournament of shamans came from Jaune.
"Yes I'm certain. Old man Asakura might have been the oldest spirit that I met but even he was still too young to remember the previous tournament." Answered Jaune reminiscing about his singular meeting with the person who taught him the basics of shaman life.
It was a story that he didn't tell Summer before as he didn't really consider it to be that interesting and he still regrets a little that he sent the only other shaman, albeit dead one, he knew to the afterlife. Well, It's not like there was anything keeping him on remnant after he passed his teachings onto me. thought Jaune a little somberly.
"We know that Shaman Fights should happen every five hundred years, are always preceded by two comets flying through sky on both sides of the world, and that selections will take place in every major city aside from Atlas as because of its lack of culture, spirituality there is declining. Which is still quite a lot if you ask me." Said Jaune with a sigh before taking another sip of his coffee.
"Well it's not a lot for me. When will the comets fly? How will the selections look like? Who will be the referee? I swear if I were to have only so much information when I was a huntress I would ha-Ahh" Summer's speech was cut short as she was blown off by some transparent green spiritual air that suddenly started pushing every spirit away.
"Summer are you alright?!" Asked loudly startled and concerned Jaune only to cower a little after realising that many eyes were on him right after he said that.
"I'm perfectly fine! I don't think anything painful can happen to me anyway considering that I'm dead." Screamed back Summer before trying to float back only to be repelled by the wind again.
"What is that?" Asked confused Summer because since becoming a spirit nothing like this has ever happened to her.
Meanwhile across the road a huntress and a huntsman in training were casually walking and having a conversation. The girl of the pair was a bundle of energy. She was smiling from ear to ear, her orange hair was becoming a bit messy as she was lightly hopping while walking and changing topics as soon as it was physically possible. The boy on the other hand was the personification of peace. He was calmly giving his opinions and answers to whatever topic the orange haired girl decided to bring up completely content with having her dictate the pace of conversation.
Both of them were in a great mood as they just recently, not even three days ago, have passed the initiation of possibly the most prestigious huntsmen school Beacon Academy. Currently they were happily conversing about their team and classmates not knowing that a spirit who somehow was capable of using spiritual wind to push other ghosts was following them.
"-And then she was like 'Don't worry, I've got this' and used her sword spear rifle weapon thingy to defeat all the grim sneaking up on us. She was awesome. Pity that she decided to go right back to Mistral after initiation though, right Renny?" Orange haired girl asked her best friend with whom she is together but not together-together.
"Huh? Sorry Nora could you please repeat that? The wind muffled you." The calm boy answered hoping that his friend would repeat herself because he couldn't hear almost anything over the wind that was blowing when Nora was talking.
"The wind again? It's a windless day. I think you really should go to the doctor to check your ears Renny, recently it started to happen quite often don't you think?" Nora said just as they passed a cafe where a certain blond shaman was trying to find the source of a wind that was pushing other spirits around.
"Summer have you seen him? I think that spirit is the reason for this green air." Whispered Jaune to Summer after finding his first suspect.
"I think so too, but why and how is he doing that?" Asked Summer while looking at the spirit who was currently moving away with the pair of Beacon students.
"He might be asking higher spirits of the wind for help, on my journey I've once seen older spirits capable of doing something similar. When it comes to 'Why?' though I have no idea. Why not ask him?" Suggested Jaune thinking of the most obvious and direct way to get information.
"Hey! Why are you blowing all the other spirits away?!" Shouted Summer loud enough to be certain that the other spirit heard her.
In response to her question, the spirit merely grunted and blew her away with the wind once again.
"He ignored me." After being pushed away by the wind for the third time it wasn't hard to see irritation on Summer.
"Jaune, I will merge with you after which you will go talk to these Beacon students that guy is following and then after we break our unity, I will talk to him. This guy is not getting away until he explains himself. Understood?" Summer ordered with enough resolve and determination in her voice that Jaune couldn't really decline.
"Got It." Jaune said before performing spirit integration with Summer.
Almost immediately after they stood up and started walking towards the pair from Beacon, Summer asked a question whether or not Jaune would be able to hold a conversation with two people he has never met in his entire life. To which he replied positively.
Jaune obviously was confident in his socializing skills. After all, over the last ten years he met and befriended countless spirits and people. Striking a conversation with a pair of people who were already talking should be a peace of cake for him.
With this mindset after arriving right next to the duo he got their attention using the best conversation starter he knew.
"Howdy strangers. How is it going?" Okay maybe he shouldn't judge his social skills based on being friends with ghosts who cannot talk to almost anyone else or one off conversations related to his search for other shamans.
"Hello there. It's going awesome we just recently passed our initiation where we were throw off the cliff to find relics and fight grimm!" Huh, that somehow worked.
It didn't take long for the three teenagers to immerse themselves in their talk and for Summer to break unity with Jaune to have her own talk with the spirit.
The moment she flew out of Jaune the spirit frowned and used the wind to make a barrier between them and teenagers. Probably to make sure that they wouldn't be heard by the shaman, but without talking to him she couldn't be quite sure.
"So, are you willing to talk now?" Asked Summer with a little irritation in her voice.
"It appears that now answering you is unavoidable." Said with a sigh the ghost who was able to control the wind.
"You are right about that." Summer said calming down before asking the first two questions that were on her mind. "Who are you and why are you blowing other spirits away?"
"My name is Li Ren, father of the boy with whom shaman that you are following is talking, and let's just say that the reason why I was pushing you and every other spirit away was to make sure that my son won't come in contact with the dangers of a spirit world." The answer given certainly contained the reason behind his action but Summer was focused on a different information included in his statement.
"Wait, you are protecting him from finding about the ghosts and spirits. Does that mean that he is spiritually aware?" She asked quite happy that She and Jaune were finally able to find a person capable of being a shaman.
"Yes, although I wish he wasn't. It would make his life way easier and allowed me to pass to the afterlife and wait with his mother for him there." The answer shocked Summer because if her daughters were to be spiritually aware she would've been delighted. Even now she often is sad as despite knowing full well where they are and having the ability to see them whenever she wants, she unfortunately cannot talk to them.
"D-Does your son not know that you are always right beside him?" Asked a little shaken Summer not really understanding how could a parent make such a choice.
"Obviously, I don't want him to know about the spiritual world and I'm part of that world as well." Even though Li answered with a clear sadness in his voice Summer couldn't accept that a parent would make such a choice willingly.
"Do you want help? Jaune is a shaman and across the years we've helped many spirits find their peace. I'm sure that with our help, we will find a way to protect your son without hiding your existence from him." Summer asked hoping they will be able to help resolve this unfortunate situation.
"I do not desire help. Even if there are other ways, I'm certain that they will not be as consistent as what I'm currently doing." Li answered to the ire of Summer.
"At least let us try. Just meet with the two of us at the Vale's outskirts park at midnight when beacon students will be asleep anyway and talk about this. Please." Summer asked, hoping for Li to agree.
"Alright, we might do it like this." Li answered with a sigh giving in to Summer's request.
Afterwards their conversation consisted mainly of Summer trying to convince Li to change his ways of thinking until the teenagers decided to bid each other farewells and promise to meet each other the next day.
...
At Midnight...
...
Outskirts of Vale were strangely quiet at midnight. At least compared to how loud the city center can be during the night thought Jaune. It almost felt as if the entire Vale agreed that at night the center of the city is for partying and outskirts are for sleeping.
Jaune was currently waiting with Summer at the place she said they agreed on meeting at. He was sitting on the closest bench that he could find while using his wooden staff to lightly hit the ground in the irregular pattern. Neat trick he found on his journey to keep himself awake while on the road. After all, in a world where grimm and bandits are a common occurrence, it's rarely safe to sleep outside towns or villages.
Summer meanwhile was scanning the area around them, probably searching for the spirit they were supposed to meet here. She also appeared to be thinking about something, maybe a topic for a conversation to alleviate the boredom? He definitely wouldn't mind that, currently any help in keeping himself awake would be appreciated.
"Uhh, Jaune are you sure that you don't need to sleep?" He must have looked really tired if she was that concerned about his sleeping schedule.
"Not really. Honestly if what you said about Ren being spiritually aware is true, I don't think I would be able to sleep right now anyway." Jaune answered with a yawn showing his tiredness. "Although I wouldn't mind having a conversation to pass the time until our friend arrives."
"So how were they?" Summer asked after a moment of thinking.
"You mean Ren and Nora?" In response to his question Summer simply nodded.
"They were nice." At least they appeared to be. Jaune wasn't a stranger to people wanting to seem better than they actually were during the first meetings. Many spirits often exaggerated their lives and deaths if they thought they were unremarkable. "Apparently they are first years and members of the team RLND or Roland with Ren actually being the leader."
"That boy is a leader of his team huh? I wonder what sort of team Yang is a part of." Summer said, probably thinking of her oldest daughter who should also be in Beacon right now.
"Based on what I heard from Ren and Nora, She should be a member of team RWBY led by your other daughter." Jaune answered with the information he got during his talk with a pair from Beacon.
"What? Ruby is already at Beacon!? She should've joined Beacon in two years not now. Being a huntress is dangerous let alone becoming one two years early. What is Ozpin thinking!" Summer looked really concerned after hearing what Jaune said. Well, he really shouldn't be surprised, any mother would be afraid for her child in this scenario.
"Ahh, He's coming." Summer stopped herself after spotting a ghost floating towards them.
Li Ren looked reluctant while approaching them, probably convinced that no matter what they say he won't change his mind. Which was understandable, It's hard to change after doing something for a long time, no matter if it's a good or bad thing. Jaune probably wouldn't stop looking for other shamans just because someone asked him not to either.
"I'm here. What is it that you want to talk about shaman?" Li's voice sounded both monotone and tired yet at the same time from his expression Jaune could tell that Li was curious about something.
"Not much, I already know what is mostly going on thanks to Summer so I will go straight to the point. Why are you not giving your son a chance to learn of spirits and what can we do to change your mind?" Jaune asked while standing up and stretching to make sure he won't fall asleep during their talk.
"I do not think you can change my mind. I'm protecting him from the burdens of a shaman clan. For ordinary people these burdens are both impossible to do and deadly to encounter. You can't fault me for wanting my son to be safe right?" Li answered, showing his concerns for his son.
Normally Jaune would be excited to hear that someone he knows was from a shaman clan as it would mean that not only said person was a shaman but also that their entire family is one where being a shaman is normal. After hearing what Li said though, He could feel only sadness and pity towards Ren.
"You are right I cannot fault you for that but at least give him a choice! If you will always push all other spirits away from him he will never have a chance to stop being an ordinary person who cannot be a shaman!" Jaune said rising his voice, trying to convince the spirit to give his son a chance to become a shaman. From the corner of his vision he could see that Summer was nodding her head agreeing with him.
"He has his aura unlocked. He has already made a choice that made him unable to become shaman." Li explained with a sigh, unfortunately for him his explanation only confused Summer and Jaune.
"What does having unlocked aura have to do with being unable to be a shaman?" asked confused Summer and Jaune.
Upon hearing their question Li sighed a bit disappointed that young shaman didn't know the reason.
"Aura is a manifestation of someone's soul that protect it's user from harm. Huntsmen consider it to be their most useful tool for fighting grimm as being able to survive otherwise lethal hits is invaluable for them but for shamans having their aura unlocked could just as well mean that they cannot be shamans anymore as aura not only protects them from harm but also makes them unable to perform spirit integration. A possession is consider by a soul to be an attack after all." Li clarified what he meant a moment before.
"Wait really? That explains why old man Asakura forbade me from ever unlocking my aura." Jaune said, realizing why he wasn't allowed to have unlocked aura.
"Asakura? You are related to the Asakura clan?" The spirit of a dead shaman asked while raising an eyebrow. He seemed to be surprised by the fact that Jaune knew someone from the Asakura clan.
"I'm not related to him. He merely taught me the basics of a shaman's life." Which wasn't a lot now that he thinks about it. He's pretty sure that most of the things old man Asakura taught him were related to the history of shamans and not to actual shaman activities. At least he learned that spirit integration is a thing.
Li in response simply nodded his head and grunted.
It really looked like nothing could be done to fix the issue of having unlocked aura. As far as Jaune knew, It was impossible to lock someone's aura and without his father's help Ren, as a spiritually aware human, would definitely be a target for mad spirits, oni's or other devils. It didn't mean that he agreed with Li's decision of course. He still believed that Ren should know about his father and other spirits.
Jaune sighed and lightly shook his head before speaking. "You really should stop hiding things from your son though. He deserves to know that you are near him and if you aren't going to tell him then I will do it tomorrow."
"I doubt that he will believe you." Li responded with certainty.
"He probably won't but even if he will not believe me, he will at least get a choice to believe it." Jaune answered with determination and from how Summer looked after she heard what he said, he was certain that she agreed with him and will probably do her best to make sure that Ren actually believes them.
"Just... Do whatever you want, I won't stop you." Li answered disconsolately before turning around and floating towards Beacon academy.
Upon seeing Ren's father flying away from them, Jaune and Summer turned their heads towards each other and nodded with determination clear in their eyes solidifying their decision. This determination didn't last long unfortunately as just after nodding Jaune tiredness got to him and he had to stretch and yawn.
"Well, I guess we will have to go and look for a hotel for tonight." Jaune said after he was done with stretching.
"Uhh Jaune, do we even have enough money for a night in a hotel?" Asked Summer uncertain about their budget.
After hearing what Summer said, Jaune quickly checked how much lien he had left in his wallet. It wasn't an impressive or even a sufficient amount. He was pretty sure that if he were to sleep a night in a hotel he would have to cut on both food and hygiene for the next half of a week to survive.
"It looks like tonight I'm sleeping on a bench." Jaune said with a hollow laugh.
...
The next day...
...
It was a bit after twelve a.m., Jaune with Summer floating right beside him was currently going towards the meeting space he and the pair from Beacon agreed on earlier today through a scroll call. Weekend had just begun so he didn't have to worry about Ren and Nora's lessons, he could have called a bit later than he did though. Ren sounded barely alive during the call.
Thankfully they agreed on meeting today and hopefully they won't think of him as a weirdo for calling them so early literally the day after meeting them. It's not his fault that he was so excited from the prospect of introducing another person to the spirit world that he couldn't wait until midday.
"Are you ready?" Summer asked him. She sounded almost as excited as he was.
"As ready as I can be." He answered with a smile.
Of course he was ready. He might have slept on a bench the previous day but right after waking up he showered in the closest dust station and ate the cheapest breakfast he could get. Considering how little possessions they have these were the only things he could do to prepare.
"We are doing it the same way as yesterday right? I doubt he will stop using wind today." Summer asked him for confirmation.
"Yup, we are using spirit integrity." It worked last time so he doesn't see any reason for it to not work this time. "Speaking of which, Summer spirit ball form!"
Summer hmmed and nodded before turning into a small form he could use to perform soul union with her. Right after that he grabbed her and brought her right next to his heart before pushing her into his body allowing both his and Summer soul to occupy it.
He didn't mind using soul integrity out in the open. Sure he had to stand in place for a moment for it to work but it didn't require many noticeable movement and you didn't really need to talk to do it so there weren't any situation where he looked like a madman talking to a wall for half an hour, he had asked Summer for a spirit ball form out of a habit.
Point is, It's very hard to notice someone performing it if you aren't a shaman as well. That's why he was a bit surprised when during the time Summer was fusing with his body there appeared to be a young white haired teenage boy interested in his actions he could see out of the corner of his eye. Is everything alright? You seemed a bit shocked right now. Summer asked him in their now shared mind.
Before answering Summer he quickly checked to make sure that what he saw wasn't just some figment of his imagination. Unfortunately for him the boy he saw during the soul union disappeared. Everything's alright. I must be imagining things. He answered with a shake of his head to regain focus.
Then, let's go! Summer suggested excitedly and he has agreed immediately.
The rest of the walk took only a couple of minutes as they've already traveled most of the way earlier.
The meeting place was some sort of an outdoor pancake house that apparently Nora wanted to visit since coming to Vale. When she woke up during his scroll call with Ren even he could hear her excited shouts demanding that they meet there. Honestly he wasn't surprised, most of their talk the previous day consisted of her either depicting their initiation in a most hyperbolic way possible or her talking about different tastes of pancakes.
As they were approaching the pancake house he could already see the pair from Beacon and a spirit that was floating above them. To be fair it wasn't exactly hard considering that a certain overprotective ghost was still using wind to push every other spirit away and Nora stood up and started to energetically wave her hands to catch his attention the moment she saw them.
"Jaune! Here! We've saved you a place!" She shouted as if simply waving wasn't enough for him to notice them.
"I see you." He said with a small wave of his hand to show that she didn't need to shout anymore.
After saying that Jaune went straight to the table Ren and Nora were sitting at. That table was at the edge of the pancake house area meaning that it was right next to the street. At first he thought that it was a bit weird as he was quite confident that Nora would definitely choose a sitting place that was as close to the staff as possible. It would mean a shorter time between pancakes after all. After thinking about it for a second though he guesses that all the tables next to the bar were probably already taken.
Upon arriving at the table, he has laid his wooden staff next to a chair decided to sit on. He chose a chair between Ren and Nora, with Ren sitting to his right and Nora sitting to his left. He was facing backwards to the street and towards the pancake house so he couldn't see the people who were passing them by on a street.
"Here I am. How's the first weekend at Beacon going on so far?" He asked after sitting down. It was a way better conversation starter than the one he used last time. He has Summer to thank for that, after she heard the beginning of his previous conversation with Ren and Nora she decided that he couldn't be trusted with starting a talk with other humans.
She was wrong of course. Their talk wouldn't be so awkward now that it's not their first meeting. I highly doubt it. She said in their thoughts after rudely reading his mind.
"It's fine-""It's awesome! We didn't have any plans for the weekend yesterday so I was a little worried that It was going to be boring today but the first thing I heard after waking up was that you wanted to meet us today so we can eat pancakes, visit interesting places and explore the entire Vale and it's going to be amazing!" The answer Ren wanted to give him was cut short as Nora energetically chipped into a conversation.
"Moving on." Ren said with a smile probably born from Nora's antics, before turning towards him and asking a question. "Why did you want to meet us? It's not like I mind it but you sounded quite serious in the morning."
Just as he said that Li turned his head towards Ren and frowned a little. His expression seemed to be an expression of a concerned person with many conflicted feelings. It seemed to be like it most likely because that was how he felt at the moment. Even though Li said that he doubts Ren will believe them, he probably still is afraid about what he would actually do if Ren learned about the spirit world.
"I sounded serious because I actually was. I know that you probably won't believe what I'm about to say and I will not fault you for that but I will still say it. What I'm about to say is important so please listen closely. You are-" Jaune had to stop what he was about to say as he saw a white haired boy he saw earlier charging at Ren with a saber drawn out.
"Ren watch out!" He shouted to warn his friend of danger and grabbed his wooden staff while standing up immediately after.
"What-" Ren reacted and jumped out of the way of the sword.
Ren and Nora got ready for a fight right after Ren dodged the attack. They didn't seem to have any weapons with themselves as they simply raised their guard and appeared to be preparing for an unarmed fight. He guesses that it's understandable considering that they came here expecting free time for relaxation.
After seeing his target dodging his attack and getting ready to fight, white haired boy scoffed before correcting his stance a little and charging again. This time instead of simply slashing at a random angle he first thrust his sword at Ren's head. When Ren moved out of the way he immediately made a slashing motion towards where Ren dodged forcing him to roll away.
His technique was refined and filled with experience in contrast to his young age. It almost looked like it wasn't a young teenager who attacked them but an experienced warrior instead.
He might be possessed. Summer suggested in his mind after seeing what had happened.
Probably. He answered quickly, already thinking how to free the innocent boy from the spirit controlling him.
Seeing that his attack missed again, white haired boy jumped away to make some distance between them. He then lowered his stance a little and said with contempt. "You have your aura unlocked yet you only dodge and run away. Shame on you, you traitor."
"What!? You not only attack us out of nowhere but now you also call Renny a traitor! Who are you and what is wrong with you?!" Nora shouted, angry at the white haired boy.
The boy shook his head and sighed with disappointment before answering. "I suppose I expected too much from you because of that shaman who's with you. My name is Whitley Schnee, a shaman from Atlas who's currently trying to eliminate a traitor of our kind. I assume that's what you wanted to do as well, right my fellow shaman?" He turned his head towards Jaune when he finished speaking.
Another shaman? Both Jaune and Summer wondered with interest and slight confusion in their thoughts.
"Wha-" Before Ren could voice his confusion he felt a strong wind blowing away from him and heard a voice he didn't hear in years.
"How is he a traitor!? He didn't do anything harmful to any living shamans, he didn't even interact with them at all!" Li couldn't keep his wind barrier around his son as he was too enraged at Ren's attacker. "Dad?" A faint voice of Ren could be heard during Li's outrage.
"Obviously he's a traitor. It's a duty of every spiritually aware person to become a shaman. We are the only link between our world and the spirit world, we cannot allow ourselves to have a population as low as it is right now. Tell me then, what is a person running away from their duties if not a traitor?" Whitley's answer was filled with confidence. The thought that he might be wrong probably never even crossed his mind.
"I disagree." Jaune's voice could be heard a second after Whitley finished speaking. "Being a shaman is nobody's obligation. It's a choice every spiritually aware person should be able to make. If being a shaman was their duty then wouldn't the duty of every faunus be joining the White Fang or the duty of every healthy person be becoming a huntsman?"
His answer only increased Ren's and Nora's confusion as they had no idea why they were being attacked or what was a shaman. Whitley on the other hand looked disappointed after hearing his answer.
Young Schnee sighed. "I thought that at least you would understand my reasoning." His tone and eyes suddenly become serious. "Tell me how many living shamans have you met throughout your entire life? Two? One? I'm probably the first shaman You've met, aren't I?"
Jaune's silence and downcast gaze were enough to inform Whitley that his assumptions were correct.
After a moment Jaune gritted his teeth and took a stance for fighting. In his eyes was determination and his entire body was tense and ready for action.
"Ren, Nora, is it alright if I am the one who fights him?" His question was directed more towards Nora than Ren as the young huntsman in training was still processing the fact that the spirit of his father was with them their entire life.
"Alright! Kick his ass Jauney!" She agreed and started cheering.
"You want to make it a proper fight between shamans?" Whitley asked while raising his eyebrow, before continuing with a small smile. "Alright let's introduce ourselves properly. As you already know I'm Whitley Schnee. My guardian spirit is Nicholas Schnee, my grandfather and previous shaman of my family who created the SDC thanks to the help of miners' ghosts."
A family connection with a guardian spirit? Li also could be considered a guardian spirit of Lie Ren. Is it common for shaman clans to do that? Summer wondered in their mind after hearing that the young Schnee was currently performing spirit integration with his grandfather.
It appears so but they might be exceptions and not the rule. Do you want me to introduce you? He asked Summer for her opinion before deciding whether to introduce her as well or not. Go for it. She answered.
"My name's Jaune Arc, a runaway shaman looking for others like me. My guardian spirit is Summer Rose, a dead huntress and the leader of team STRQ." His introduction of Summer caused a surprised look on Nora. It was probably because of the connection between Summer and her daughter Ruby.
In response to his introduction Whitley nodded before raising his guard once more. He did so as well to get ready for a fight.
He and Whitley stared at each other for a moment before he dashed directly at Whitley. His way of fighting was mostly based on following the guidance of Summer. In the end she was the one with the actual life and death battle experience and not him.
He abruptly stopped right in front of Whitley to deliver a simple push with his wooden staff.
Whitley parried it by redirecting the strike to the side with his saber. They have already expected it so the moment his attack was parried he already started using momentum gained from the young Schnee to hit his side.
Unfortunately Whitley barely dodged his attack with a quick backward step and began his counter attack that was dodged rather easily by them.
After this first exchange, another followed quickly never really ending with clear hits.
They've reached a stalemate. Even though it was easy to see that Jaune and Summer were more skilled at fighting, as their attacks were way more unpredictable and they were the ones on the offensive most of the time, Whitley and Nicholas weren't as outclassed as one would think they would be, their fighting style while not impressive or refined compared to that of a seasoned huntress like Summer was still effective against threatening opponents.
The thing that was the biggest equalizer between Jaune and Whitley were their weapons. The wooden staff that Jaune was using simply couldn't compare to the saber his opponent was carrying as whenever he came close to Whitley to deliver a clear strike he was walking into the range of his saber forcing him to either dodge or block it.
Trading blows when his opponent had a sword and he had a wooden stick didn't sound like the best idea.
Jaune we have to do something about his saber. He probably knows that it's his biggest advantage, he probably stays on the defense the entire time to be able to capitalize on it. I've told you we had to invest in a real weapon. Summer said in their mind, annoyed that she cannot defeat their foe despite outmatching them in skill.
Thinking about a new weapon isn't going to help us now. Jaune paused for a second to dodge another counter attack from Whitley. Do you have any idea how can we pass through his defense?
"Tired? Let's just end this, we are getting nowhere. Just allow me to get rid of that traitor and we don't have to fight." Whitley said, seeing him jumping back again.
"Thanks but no." He answered still thinking on how to get a clean hit.
"Yeah, you said it, now show him who's boss." Nora cheered in the background.
I might have an idea on how to get to him. Tell me have you ever tried pole vaulting? Summer asked with uncertainty in her voice.
I did not but I guess now is a good time to try. He answered before, leaving the control of his body to Summer and charging at Whitley.
When Whitley saw them charging at him, he raised his guard and prepared himself for an attack. That's why when he saw a simple vertical strike for his head he didn't even need to think to dodge it with a step backwards.
Whitley probably expected that after the first strike another one would come at him.
What Whitley definitely didn't expect was for him to use that first strike to jump over him and use this opportunity to attack the back of his head.
After Jaune delivered a first strike that shook Whitley, he delivered another three stunning the young Schnee.
Upon seeing stunned Whitley, he immediately ran up to Nora who was cheering him and Ren who was conversing with his father. He forcefully grabbed their arms and hastily began running away just as Whitley was starting to recover.
"Huh? Why are we running away?! You had him!" Nora said a bit confused at his action.
"I did, but what's the point of unnecessarily hurting others when there are other alternatives?" He asked a rhetorical question before smiling and letting go of their arms.
They proceeded to run looking for a place where they could have a quiet talk with each other. Nora and especially Ren probably had many questions for him after what just happened.
...
A few minutes later...
...
Ren couldn't believe what he had just learned from Jaune. Ghosts being real, the existence of shamans and him coming from a clan of shamans sounded like a crazy talk to him. Yet no matter how much he wanted to decline that or say that it was just a really weird dream, two proofs of Jaune's truthfulness were right before his eyes.
Summer, Ruby's mother and a dead huntress was currently floating before him and scratching her cheek after helping with Jaune's explanation. Judging from Nora's reactions, she wasn't able to see or even interact with her, only further solidifying what Jaune said as truth.
The most important proof wasn't Summer though. It was the spirit of his father and a person he thought he would never be able to see again, Li Ren. His father was currently floating right beside him, avoiding his eyesight and looking ashamed probably regretting his prior choices.
"Wait! You mean to tell me that ghosts are real and Renny can marge with them? This sounds awesome!" Nora said with her typical energy, most likely excited from the prospect of many different and interesting adventures.
"Calm down Nora. While it's true that spirits exist and Ren can see them, his aura will make him unable to become a shaman, at least as far as I know." Jaune answered, killing a bit of Nora's energy.
After hearing what Jaune said his mind already moved to another issue that in his opinion was more important at that moment.
"It was also why you've kept it all a secret from me, wasn't it dad?" He asked for confirmation despite already knowing the answer.
"Yes, it was." His father answered with a somber voice, still not meeting his gaze.
Even though he knew what the answer would be he still became angry at it. Did his father really think that he was so weak that he wouldn't survive when faced against the spirit world?
"Why? Didn't you always say that the worst action to take was to take no action at all? Did you really think that I would prefer my own safety over the ability to be with my family?" While he didn't raise his voice, it was easy to see that his voice was filled with anger and sadness from the concerns of Jaune and Nora.
"I-I'm sorry. I was so afraid of the danger from the evil spirits and worried about your safety that I didn't think about your happiness and emotions. I promise I won't be hiding anything from you from now on." His father apologized, regret clear in his voice.
He sighed. Even if his father cut off the contact with him for most of his life he was still his father, of course he was going to accept the apology. He looked at his dad, smiled and was about to speak but Nora beat him to it.
"Come on guys, It's a joyful occasion, we get to meet a person long dead and Renny gets a new power. It's time to celebrate!" She said, trying to cheer everyone up.
A moment of silence followed her statement before a small laugh was heard from Jaune and Summer. After a while even he and his father laughed a little.
"You are right Nora, It is a joyful occasion." He answered with a smile, before turning his head towards his dad and saying."I accept your apology. While I may not be able to become a shaman I definitely want to learn about the spirit world and history of our family."
"Then I would be happy to teach you everything I know." Li answered with a smile, relieved to be forgiven.
After Ren made up with his father and they made sure they could safely travel through Vale, they decided, despite Nora's protests, to part ways for the day as they didn't want to start another fight with Whitley who probably was looking for them at the moment.
Ren together with Nora and his father went back to Beacon as unauthorized people were forbidden from entering it without either permission from Beacon's staff or escort from Beacon's students.
Meanwhile Jaune and Summer went back to traveling the Vale with the hopes that they would manage to find any information on the shaman king tournament.
...
Couple of hours later...
...
It was starting to get dark. Summer and Jaune were already searching for at least two hours and they've just decided to look for a place to sleep as they didn't want to spend the entire night looking for information.
Summer was following behind Jaune as he was moving a bit faster than normally, he also seemed to be grinning and spinning his wooden staff in his hand as he was walking.
"You seem awfully happy right now." She called him out on that.
"Of course I'm happy. We've met a shaman today!" Jaune answered with a smile and a laugh.
"I don't think a fight against a shaman trying to kill your friend counts as a good meeting." She said discouragingly.
"Every meeting with a shaman is a good meeting. Besides the fact that Whitley is in Vale is a great news for us." Jaune happily answered while grinning.
"How is that a good news?" She asked not sure why Jaune was so happy because of that.
"Simple, Whiltey is from Atlas but currently is in Vale right? That means that shamans from Atlas are currently moving towards other kingdoms." Jaune stopped after he saw that Summer finally understood his point.
"And this means that the shaman fight will soon begin."
How do you write an action scene?
I've had it clearly pictured in my mind but I'm really dissappointed with how I described it. If you have any tips on how to do it better I would love to hear them.
Sidenote: Do not start your first fanfic a literal week before your highschool exams. It's a terrible idea.