Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 3 Part 1: Queen of the Black Puddle
It has been a month since the incident with the shadow. Three weeks since I learned that apparently there exists a crazed duck that can speak English and has a giant mallet. And two weeks since I got a job at Charlie's Diner. And just who is Charlie you may ask, well, he is a giant mouse that not only speaks English but owns a diner and is a part time delivery service person. Or mouse. Either way, from that day forward with Le Quack and his attempt to steal the Bagge family's identity and money, I have stopped trying to make sense of everything and decided to just go with the flow and deal with each problem that comes my way.
But it was a week after the incident with Le Quack that I realized something. That I didn't do crap when he was here. I should have done something. I may not be a huntsman, but I should have done something to help protect the family that essentially took me in and gave me home. That's why I am currently training in front of the farm house with a sword and shield I got the last time I was in the town of Nowhere. Even though it is pouring right now, I did not stop. Only taking breaks when I was close to passing out. But as I continued to practice, my mind kept on drifting to the person who helped me so much and I have never been able to thank her properly. Even after getting expelled from Beacon, she tried to find a way to make me stay.
'Man, do I really miss you Pyrrha.' I thought as I went back to the porch to grab a drink from my water bottle. 'And the rest of the team as well.'
I really do miss my friends. Well, the ones I can still call friends. Team Rwby is no longer my friends after they learned the reason why I am getting expelled. Nora said she does not care what caused me to get expelled and said we are friends and team no matter what. Ren I can tell is on the fence about the whole thing. Though what surprised most was when Velvet clung herself to me and kept telling me not to go.
'Maybe I will see them again one day.' I thought as I picked up my sword and shield, ready to start training again. But before I could resume my training, I heard Courage scream from inside. Looking towards the door, I saw Courage already outside, standing next to the support beam for the porch. Trying to catch his beath. I walked up to him and was about to ask what happened, but got my answer when the familiar sound of Muriel smacking Eustace with her rolling pin greeted my ears.
"You all right Courage?" I asked him once he calmed down enough. He nodded before taking a seat on the porch. Seeing no harm in taking a bit more of a break, I set my shield and sword to the side and sat next to him. Raising my hand, I began to give him a scratch behind his ears which he loves. As evidence by him laying down and giving a smile as he used his leg scratch his back as well.
'Huh?' Courage asked getting up and looking out towards the field.
Turning to see what he was looking at; I noticed a puddle bubbling a dozen feet from us. Getting up, Courage went to go investigate the puddle. Curious as well, I got up and followed him. But not before grabbing my sword and shield. Heading over to the puddle, I notice that it had stopped raining suddenly. Only a moment ago it was pouring nonstop with no indication that it would stop anytime soon. Strange as it is, it wasn't the strangest I have seen so I ignored it. Getting to the puddle, I notice that it was indeed bubbling as if it was boiling. Yet, it did not seem got enough to be boiling and instead something else was causing those bubbles.
'Huh?' Courage asked again while scratching his head as the bubbles suddenly disappeared.
Confused, we both leaned in and saw our reflections in the water. But a moment later, the reflections started to merge together before taking the new shape of a mysterious lady. She was wearing a black robe, had extremely pale skin, purple or violet eyes and purple hair. Curious, we both leaned in to get a better look but stopped when the reflection hissed at us. Showing that she her mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. Courage immediately howled in fright and ran back inside the house. Not wasting a single minute, I grabbed my sword and swung at the reflection. Hoping to hit whatever was causing it. Unfortunately, the reflection disappeared right as my sword struck the water. Curious, I dunked my head into the water and looked around. Only to barely be able to see anything as it was so dark. Hearing voices coming from behind me, I raised my head out of the water to see Courage carrying Muriel over to the puddle and placing her next to me before pointing at the puddle and whimpering at it.
"Did you seem something Jaune?" She asked me.
"We thought we saw something underneath." I answered. Never taking my eyes off the puddle. Don't want any surprises from whatever we saw. Even though we saw a mysterious lady, I cannot say for certain.
"Oh, you two. It must have simply been a fish. Nothing to worry about." She said before heading back inside.
'But... but... but... oh...' Courage said trying to get Muriel to come back but went unheard as Muriel entered the house.
Seeing as he was not going to get Muriel's attention, Courage gave up and went back inside as well. Sighing, I got up and went back to training as I still needed to keep up what little skills I have. Yet, all the while, I kept my eyes on the puddle. Making sure that if something comes out, I can catch it first and take care of it as soon as possible. Taking a moment to catch my breath after another hour of practicing, I looked towards to house to see Courage staring out the window at the puddle.
'He's been like that since going back into the house.' I thought before looking towards the sky. Seeing that the sun was setting, I decided to call it for today and head back inside. Heading up to my room, I placed my sword and shield under my bed before heading back down. Once down, I saw Courage still looking out the window at the puddle.
"I'll think I'll have some more tea myself. Would you like some tea Jaune?" Muriel asked me as she got up from her chair.
"Yes please." I answered with a smile. I always did like tea and Muriel makes some great tea. Luckily, without vinegar.
"Alright. It'll be out soon." She said as she went into the kitchen. Bu as she exited the room, a dripping sound was heard. "What's that dripping sound?"
Not sure where it could be coming from, I began to look around for whatever could be causing that dripping sound. But it was when I heard a faint voice seductively say Eustace, that I turned around and saw a very small transparent, nearly invisible illusion of the same lady I saw in the puddle, but this time being in Eustace's tea cup. The lady called Eustace a few more times before flicking her hand, causing some water to hit Eustace on the glasses. Hearing Courage scream snapped me from my daze. Rushing to Eustace, I grabbed his cup from him before the lady could do anything more. Only for her to smile and splash some of the water in my eyes as well. Quickly wiping the water from my eyes, I looked back at the tea to see that she was now gone. Feeling a sting in my eyes, I blinked a few times to try and stop it, only for me to feel very different. Like a calmness took over me, but for some strange reason, only when I thought about her.
"Are you both alright?" The voice of Muriel asked snapping me from whatever that water did to me. Turning to them, I saw that Courage had run to get her from the kitchen.
"Huh? Yeah, yeah. Danr herbal-What? Where is my tea?" He asked snapping from whatever that lady did to him. Only to realize that he was no longer holding his tea. "What you doing with my tea?"
"You were about to drop it on your hat. And I grabbed it so that wouldn't happen." I quickly lied. He growled at this and took the cup from me.
"The kitchen ceiling is leaking again, Eustace." Muriel said while pointing towards the leak.
Eustace growled, went to the closet and retrieved a bucket before heading into the kitchen. Having a feeling that the leak is actually the lady's doing, I decided to follow Eustace into the kitchen. Opening the door, I heard Eustace grumbling about having to fix the leak and couldn't even fix a cup of tea. Ignoring him, I looked around the kitchen to see if I could guess where she could come from next. Remembering that she appeared in Eustace's tea, and in the puddle outside, made me realize that she could appear in anything that has water. With that in mind, I made my way over to the kitchen sink and made sure that it was off completely and dry so no water would drip. Once that was done, I turned to see Eustace looking around confused before turning his attention to the dripping water. Looking closely, I saw that it had stopped and the drop closest to Eustace face transformed into that lady again where she this time, sprayed Eustace with a spray bottle. Hearing the door open, I saw Courage scream before dashing back out to get Muriel. Knowing, I had to react quickly, I dashed towards Eustace and pulled him away. But failed to do so as the lady splashed more water into my face. This time, the water burning my eyes badly that I felt like I could go blind. Yet a moment later, the burning sensation turned back into the comfortable feeling again, but this time a whole lot stronger. Now, the feeling made me want to go to wherever she is.
'FUCK! WHAT IS SHE! WHAT IS SHE DOING TO ME?!' I mentally screamed as I stumbled back into the chair. All the while, desperately fighting and wondering what she did to me. Hearing the door open, I looked over to see Muriel worried with Courage pointing towards Eustace and me.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Oh, Eustace. Jaune. You both don't look so well. Let's get you both to bed now." Muriel said worried. Looking over to Eustace, I saw that he had a dazed and dreamy look on his face. The face itself was creepy and unsettling, never mind the fact that he was smiling. But what concerned me was the fact that he was now sitting in the bucket with the water now hitting his hat. "Courage, be a dear and help Jaune to his bed. I'll help Eustace."
'Alright.' Courage said while nodding his head.
He then walked over to me and helped me up while handing me a wet towel that he pulled from somewhere. Taking it, I thanked him and wiped my face. We went back up to my room. Entering it, I turned to Courage and told him that I could take it from here. He nodded and left the room. Moving over to the bad, I knelt down and reached undeath and pulled out the storage I got from town to store my clothes. Taking out a white t-shirt and some pajama pants, I changed into them before turning off the light and getting into bed. Yet, instead of falling asleep like I how wanted to, I stayed awake. My mind constantly wondering what that lady is doing to me and what she wants Eustace for. Soon, I felt my eyelids start to droop and could feel sleep was about to take me. Only for it to disappear as I bolted straight up when I heard Courage scream. Getting out of bed, I raced downstairs to where I heard Courage scream. Going down, I saw Courage and Muriel standing in front of the bathroom.
"Oh, my. I'm beginning to worry about you, Eustace. Tomorrow, we're off to see the doctor. That's all there is to it." Muriel said to him. Moving closer, I peeked inside and saw that Eustace somehow got his head into the drainage pipe of the tub.
"Which reminds me." Muriel said turning to face me. "Remind me tomorrow Jaune to sign you up for Dr. Vindaloo. You need an appointment as well."
"Alight Muriel." I told her but never taking my eyes off of Eustace and trying to figure out a way to get him out of there.
"Good. Now, be a dear and help Eustace out there." She said before leaving the room and back to hers.
Nodding, I went inside the bathroom with Courage. We each grabbed onto Eustace's arms and pulled as hard as we can. After a few more tries, we finally managed to get Eustace out of there. He seemed still out of it for a moment, but a good slap to the head snapped him back to reality. Confused, he began to ask questions before just growling and getting out of the tub and going back to his room. Sighing at this man's stubbornness and just plain being an asshole, I left the bathroom and headed back to my room. Opening the door and entering, I got back into my bed and tried to fall asleep. It was hard, but eventually, after some deep breathing, I finally manage to let sleep come to me.
7:00 A.M.
Groaning, I moved my arm to block the rays of sunlight that entered my room and pulled me from my sleep. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I got out of bed and changed out of pajamas and into my day clothes. Heading to the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. As I washed my faced, my mind went back to the dream I had last. Which was about the lady that kept appearing and splashing me with water. The question that stayed in my mind was; what does she want with us? The dream was about me going with her to her home. Which only confused me more. Turning off the faucet, I exited the bathroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to eat. But as I neared the kitchen, I heard Muriel crying. Immediately, I rushed to the kitchen and opened the door. Unaware that Courage was right beside me. Opening the door and looking inside, I saw Muriel sitting in one of the chairs with a towel in her hands as she cried. I was about to ask what was wrong when she said the reason before I could ask.
"Eustace is gone." She said as she continued to cry. "Oh, my Eustace. I knew something was wrong."
Courage stepped up to her and tried to cheer her up. First by pouring her some tea. Then by offering her an ice cream Sunday. Next by making a puppet show of puppets beating each other. When that failed, Courage resorted to hitting himself with a frying pan he pulled from somewhere. Only to still not a get a reaction from Muriel. Seeing nothing was working, Courage grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room.
'Looks like there is only one thing left to do.' He said with a wine as he looked at me.
"We have to get Eustace back." I said with a nod.
'But I won't like it.' "But I won't like it." We said at the exact same time. We both let out a chuckle once we realized this.
"Go to the puddle Courage. I will be there in a moment. I am going to grab my sword and shield." I told him.
He nodded and went outside while I went upstairs. Entering my room, I went to my bed and got my sword and shield from under it. Giving a few swings, I nodded satisfied, and left my room and headed back downstairs and outside to where Courage was. Only to be a little surprised to see him in his own diving suit with an oxygen tank on his back. Getting to him, he smiled and pulled out a suit and tank for me. Not questioning it, I put down my shield and sword and got into the suit and hooked up the oxygen tank on my back.
'Ah, the things we do for love.' Courage complained as he put the goggles on his eyes. I could not help but agree with him at that. Putting the goggles on, I looked back at the puddle only to realize something.
"Wait. Is this puddle getting smaller?" I asked in fear. Taking a closer look, I saw that it was indeed getting smaller. "It is getting smaller."
'We better hurry before it closes up.' Courage said in panic before jumping in.
'Don't worry Muriel. We'll get him back.' I thought while looking back at the house. Taking a few deep breathes and putting the oxygen piece in my mouth, I jumped in the puddle.
Once in, I looked around to see that it was not as pitch black as before. Spotting Courage waving at me, I swam towards him. As we looked around and tried to figure out where the lady took Eustace, we saw ships, treasure chests and what appears to be a person diving for one of the chests buts seems to be frozen in time. But what really caught our attention was the fact that there was a castle nearby. Figuring that's where she took Eustace, we made our way there. Swimming through the gates, we headed up towards the highest window on the castle. Looking inside, we saw that Eustace was there. However, he seemed to be in a trace. Standing in front of him, the lady was dancing seductively. Yet, it seemed like she was preparing to do something. She then reached into a chest next to her and pulled out a weird but familiar looking necklace.
'Why does that look familiar?' I thought as I racked my brain trying to remember. As I tried to remember, I heard Courage whimper next to me. Turning to look at him, he grabbed my face and pointed at the thousands of skeletal remains that surrounded the castle. Confused, I was about to turn to him when I spotted what he was pointing at. Around each skeleton, was the same necklace she just put on Eustace.
'Shit. Is she going to eat Eustace?' I thought panicked.
Looking back inside, we saw her place the necklace on him while saying his name seductively again. She then took a few steps back and smiled. Wondering what she was about to do, we continued to look and were horrified at what we saw. She transformed into her true form. Her hands were now elongated with razor sharp fingernails. Her back was now hunched with her jaw now extending and becoming extremely large. Her teeth were also now about a foot long. They seemed like they could crush a man easily in a single bite.
"Courage, I'll draw her attention. You find a way to get Eustace out of there." I told him. He nodded and looked around before spotting a fishing rod resting on a nearby ship. Nodding at this, he swam away to get while I moved back a bit and pulled out my sword and shield.
'Hope this works.' I thought as I began to strike the shield with my sword making a lot of noise. Regardless of the fact that this is working while we are under water. But it worked, as a moment later, the lady came storming out of the castle to see what was making the noise.
'Gotcha.' I thought with a smirk. She smiled and charged at me and tried to grab me but I ducked out of the way. From the corner of my eye, I saw Courage use the fishing rod he got and managed to snag the pants of Eustace to take him away. Ducking under attempted grab, I tried to hit her with the shield but she easily avoided it. We kept at it for a while longer, me trying to hit her and possibly take her out but failing. She kept on trying to grab me and possibly bite me but I managed to avoid it each time. Our fight was only interrupted when we heard the sound of a loud crash nearby by. Looking around, we saw Courage had crashed into the gate of the castle. Turning back to the lady, I saw that she had transformed back into her non monstrous form.
"Jaune. Oh Jaune." She said seductively.
For some unknown reason, I felt instantly drawn to her. Swimming closer to her, she touched my face with a smile before leaving. Yet, I didn't go after her as I felt stuck just thinking about her. It felt like an eternity I was stuck there. But it was only when I thought of her, the girl that I fell deep in love with, that I was able to snap out of the trance the lady put me in. Unfortunately, it was too late for as soon as I snapped out of it, I saw that the lady was coming for me.
'CRAP!' I thought as I mentally prepared myself for what's to come.
Luckily it never came as right before she reached me, Courage placed a femur in her mouth. Not wasting this opportunity, I bashed her in the face with my shield as Courage bonked her on the head a few times with a leg bone before swimming away. Following him, we went back into the castle where I had an idea on how to stall the lady long enough for us to get away. I quickly placed Eustace on the giant clam in the room that the lady had him sit on earlier. Making sure the fishing rod was firmly latched onto his pants, I grabbed Courage and hid behind the chest in the room. He seemed to immediately know what I was planning. We waited a few minutes for the lady to come in and look for us. She did soon and once she spotted Eustace on the clam again, she dove for him. Just before she reached him, we pulled Eustace away using the fishing rod. She hit the clam which caused it to close and trap her inside it.
'Now!' I thought and grabbed Courage swam away from the place. We exited the castle and quickly looked around for the puddle to take us away from the place. We quickly swam for it when we realized that it was closing. But we were too late as it closed the second, we got to it. Panicked, we quickly looked around for any other way to exit this place. Looking down, I saw that Eustace became free of the rod and was slowly sinking back down. Grabbing his foot, we continued to look around. Courage soon spotted another way out. But a loud growl caught our attention. Looking down, we the lady got free from the clam and was now closing in on us. We moved out of the way to avoid her attack and swam as quickly as we could to the new exit. As we neared the exit, I could hear Muriel still crying over Eustace. Once we reached it, we swam through only for me and Courage to land hard on the living room floor while Eustace landed upside down on his chair.
"OH! EUSTACE! COURAGE! JAUNE!" Muriel said completely surprise at what just happened.
Instead of answering, Courage pulled out a hair dryer and quickly dried up the puddle which turned out to be Muriel's tears. As soon as it dried up, sealing any entrance back into that place, the lady reached us only to hit her head on the floor which caused it to go up in a hill for a moment. She screamed and cursed for a moment before the sounds of her swimming away were heard. Taking off my goggles and removing the tank on my back, I laid down and tried to catch my breath. Courage to my side was doing the same thing.
"Your back. Oh, Eustace your back." Muriel said relieved as she helped him stand up straight while hearing his back crack in an unhealthy way. Yet despite escaping form the lady, Eustace was still in the trance.
"Where have you been?!" Muriel demanded before smacking him on the head with her rolling pin. Taking him out of the trance he was in.
"Ow. What did I do?" Eustace asked while rubbing his head in pain.
'I can safely bet that is the only time where Eustace did not deserve the rolling pin.' I thought as I got myself into a sitting position. Courage doing the same.
9:00 P.M.
I was currently in the bathroom brushing my teeth after a delicious snack Muriel made. Courage was in the bathroom as well taking a bath. Muriel and Eustace were in their bed. Eustace was asleep while Muriel was reading a book. Happy that Eustace was back. Finished brushing my teeth, I rinsed my mouth and turned off the sink. Drying my hands on the towel next to me, I was about to exit the bathroom when I heard a bubbling sound. Just like from the puddle that led us into that undersea world. Turning to the tub as Courage was currently using it, I saw that lady had come back except this time, in the shape of a dog. In a possible attempt to capture Courage.
"Not this time lady." I said as I ran to her and slammed my shield on her head. She cursed and retreaded back to her world. Leaving us alone for now. I turned to look at Courage who turned to look at me as well. We were both dumbfounded at this. But instead of complaining, we just decided to go with it. After all, we both knew, these strange occurrences were only going to get weirder.
Note:
Saw some confusion about Jaune being able to understand Courage so this is to clear it up. Jaune can fully understand Courage as if he was speaking English. Muriel and Eustace don't understand him. Certain other characters understand to an extent what Courage is trying to convey like Ma Bagge. Others like Shirley and Dr. Vindaloo can understand Courage almost completely. But not as much as Jaune can.
No, Courage is not a Faunus in this story. He is an actual dog.
That brings another question. Should nowhere have Faunus or keep it to how it is in the show? It is already pretty strange there so they probably won't bat an eye if Faunus are not there and some appear suddenly.
Fun Fact: The lady is known as the Black Puddle Queen. She is based on the Greek mythological creature known as the siren. Creatures that use their looks to lure men to their death. Though here she uses her looks and water apparently to do that.