Marksman of Remnant
The previous night passed pretty quickly. After Teams RWBY and SVRN had finished unpacking the few things they had, the eight of them were brought down to the dining hall for dinner. They were all surprised by just how delicious everything was. Several of them went back for seconds. Sadly, Jaune did not make an appearance at dinner. Bertrand had informed them that he had some work to do so he regrettably would be eating in his study.
After that, the eight retired to their room after a long day of hiking through the forest and killing Grimm. Each one took their own shower or bath before changing into their pajamas and crawling under the blankets of their beds to get some well-deserved sleep. All of them falling asleep instantly when their heads hit the pillows. Even Weiss had to admit that it was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in.
The morning came relatively quick and soon they all rose from their beds, some like Nora and Yang were a bit more begrudging about it. They all soon got dressed and made their way down to the dining hall for breakfast. As they walked, the scent of their would be breakfast wafted through the hall, making their stomachs growl and mouth salivate.
They walked in to see that Bertrand and another of the wait staff were finishing placing the silverware at the seats along the large dining table. While another was placing the food in the center. Bertrand looked up with a warm smile, "Good morning. I was just about to wake you. But regardless, your breakfast is ready."
Without any more prompting, the two teams quickly sat down at their spots at the table.. RWBY on ones side while SVRN sat on the opposite. They started to help themselves to the platters of freshly cooked ham and bacon, eggs, and toast. Nothing too extreme but it would give them the energy they would need throughout the day. While they did that, Bertrand filled their mugs with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, depending on their taste.
As they were eating, Ruby noticed that Jaune hadn't shown up to eat as well. She turned to Bertrand as he was looking over his scroll, "Bertrand?" she asked.
The older man looked up from his scroll, "Yes, Miss Rose?"
"Is Jaune not going to join us for breakfast?" she asked.
He chuckled, "Master Arc should be here anytime now. He was up late trying to finish the work he left when he went out to retrieve you all. So it isn't shocking to say that he is having a bit of a late morning."
She nodded at that. It was still weird to think that someone just a couple of years older than herself was in charge of the entire settlement but despite that, a part of her was hoping that the two could possibly become friends. She still didn't have too many in Beacon and he seemed nice enough.
"Must be lonely for him." Velvet added quietly but she was just loud enough for everyone at the table to hear her. She looked up and blushed slightly from all the added attention, "He lives here all by himself." She looked over to Bertrand, "No offense."
He shook his head, "None taken, Miss Scarlatina. As much as I and the rest of the staff here care for him, we are no substitute for his family." He sighed, "It wasn't always like this. A few years ago, this manor was filled with more life and warmth. The old master and his wife and all eight of their children made sure that there were few dull moments." He finished with a sad smile.
"Eight children?!" Nora shouted in shock, the same shock that was reflected on the other's faces. "Jaune has seven siblings?"
Bertrand nodded, "Seven sisters to be exact." He finished with a smile.
"Wow." Ruby said in awe. "I wonder how he survived that? I only have one and Yang can be a handful."
"Love you too, Sis." Yang replied with a cheeky smile from down the table. Ruby just maturely stuck her tongue at her sister. That earned smiles and giggles from all their friends. Even Bertrand gave a small chuckle at the interaction.
"Well, despite a few rough patches here and there, Master Jaune loved his sisters dearly. I remember very few serious arguments that any of them had with one another. And any of those were quickly resolved and put behind them."
"Sounds like a very loving family." Weiss replied neutrally but her team just managed to pick up the subtle sadness to her tone. She just ignored their looks and took a sip from her coffee.
"We are." Said a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see that Jaune was walking in with a smile on his face. Dressed almost exactly like yesterday with his black t-shirt and jeans. "Good morning everyone."
"Good morning, Master Jaune." Bertrand said with a warm smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you coming."
"Good." He said as he sat down and started to fill his own plate, "I wouldn't be much of a hunter if you could. Always good to keep my skills sharp, you know?"
The older man sighed, "Must you keep on doing that? It was one thing when you were a child but you're fully grown now." He started to pour Jaune his cup of coffee. "I still remember the time you startled me and I dropped your mother's favorite tea pot."
That made Jaune laugh, "That's right. I never saw her that mad before. I thought that vein in her forehead was going to burst." He sighed to himself, "Luckily Dad calmed her down so I was only grounded for a month."
"What did that entail?" Pyrrha asked and the Lord of Arcadia turned to her. "You being grounded, I mean."
"I couldn't leave the manor. Couldn't play with my sisters outside or go hunting with my dad. On top of that, twice as many tutoring sessions." He sighed, "That was by far the worst part. And of course the stereotypical no dessert policy."
"That sounds terrible." Nora said wide eyed in horror.
He shrugged, "I had it coming." That made them all have a laugh.
After they all calmed down, Jaune started to eat his own breakfast and everyone else resumed their own. Yang was the one that brought up the question that was on all their minds, "So where is your family? On a vacation?" she added jokingly.
That joking expression fell when she saw Jaune freeze and soon all emotion drained from him. He set down his silverware before closing his eyes. They could all hear him sigh. A few looked to Bertrand and he was just looking to the side as well. "I'm sorry." Yang said immediately. "I didn't mean to…"
Jaune just raised his hand, "It's alright." He opened his eyes and tried his best to give her his own smile, "It's all right. I knew the question was going to come up sooner or later. Although I was hoping it would be later." He added, trying to make a joke.
"Allow me." Bertrand said as he took a step closer to their table. "You see the old Master of this house and Lord of Arcadia, Jaune's father, he… He sadly passed away about a year ago." Ruby, Velvet and Pyrrha gasped while everyone else just felt their jaws drop. They turned to Jaune but saw he was looking away from them all. "With that, Master Jaune had to take over the mantle of Lord before he should have."
He looked up with that, "I was the next one to inherit the title. My older sisters didn't want it and I wanted to be the one to protect my home after my dad. Because of that, he had been teaching me since I was ten or eleven. So, I knew what to do. It was just a lot sooner than any one of us wanted me to take over." He took a sip of his coffee to try to appear as casual as her could but Blake and Ren could see his hand shaking slightly as he did.
He cleared his throat before talking again, "It hit my mother the hardest. It was hard for her to even live in this house without my dad. He was the 'love of her life' as she liked to put it. So, after we had a long conversation, we thought it would be best if she went to live somewhere else. Luckily, my oldest sister had moved to Argus to start a family with her wife. We had a vacation home out there and she wanted to see her grandson more often. I thought seeing him would be good for her. My younger sisters decided to go with her to help her out. Which left me here to keep Arcadia moving froward."
There was a silence for a bit, "I'm sorry." Yang spoke up and when they looked to her they saw she was looking down at the table, trying to not look him in the eyes. "I wouldn't have brough tit up if I knew all of that."
"Yang, it's fine." Jaune told her. "None of you had any idea this place existed yesterday. Let alone anything that would be happening with my life. Besides, it's not like I don't talk to my mom or sisters. We talk to each other nearly daily." He smiled at her, trying to make sure that she understood he had no hard feelings.
They held each other's eyes for a bit before Yang nodded, gaining a smaller smile as well. "So, not to be rude but what exactly do you want us to do today?" Velvet spoke up. Trying to move them off the topic they were just on. Which the two blondes were grateful for.
"I was giving that some thought last night and did come up with something." Jaune said as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "I think it would be best if one of your teams stays here in Arcadia proper while the other heads into the forest with a guide. The teams swapping every few days or so. That way you can become familiar with the forest around the settlement and get rid of any Grimm before they get close. While the other team can offer support for the guards here if any Grimm get too close and get used to the settlement. Thoughts?"
"That makes sense." Ruby said with her head tilted.
"Definitely." Weiss added. "This way we don't leave the settlement unprotected."
"And it'll be easier to move around the forest with fewer people." Ren added.
"Guess the only thing left is to figure out which team will stay and which team will go." Pyrrha pointed out.
Ruby looked over to Velvet and raised her fist, "Usual?"
Velvet smiled and raised her own fist, "Sure."
"Winner goes into the forest." Ruby decided.
"On three?" The little reaper just nodded to the older girl. "One, two, three." With that, Ruby threw scissors and Velvet threw rock. Velvet just smiled at her fellow leader, "Looks like SVRN will be going into the forest first."
"Aw man." Yang said as she crossed her arms and leant back more into her seat, "You guys get the first crack at the action."
Blake poked her partner when she said that. "Protecting the settlement is just as important. It is the reason why we are here."
"I know but I am more suited for taking on Grimm, not just standing around." The blonde sighed.
Jaune chuckled, "Well either way, after seeing what you all can do in a fight I am glad to leave this in your hands. When we're done, I can grab my gear and I can start to show SVRN around-"
"Master Jaune." Bertrand said sternly. They all turned to him to see his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face. "I know you abhor paperwork but it is necessary to ensure that Arcadia keeps moving forward. I let you off the hook yesterday because it was necessary but I cannot allow you to go out again. Your workload is already starting to pile up."
Jaune just looked at Bertrand with a neutral expression before he lowered his head with a sigh. He turned to the students and grinned, "Had to try." They all smile at that.
He stood up with his coffee mug in hand, "Well I better get a jump on it. I'll call Captain Carmine and Oliver to let them know you will be giving them a hand." He smiled at them. "I wish you luck." He turned to walk out of the dining hall, "You know where to find me."
It was barely even a half an hour later that the people of Arcadia could see the two teams of Beacon students make their way from the Arc Manor to the front of the Gates. As they walked, people would look at them with either excitement or just analyzing them. You could hear people muttering about them as they passed, ranging from 'being relieved that they had a little extra help' to 'wondering if they would work out as well as the last guests they had'.
Only Blake and Velvet could pick up on those though. Velvet was visibly bothered by all the extra attention, mostly the negative kind, while Blake tried to appear unbothered but the subtle twitch to her eye was proof enough that it was annoying her.
"Well it looks like we're popular." Yang said in her chipper tone, being more than used to getting looks.
"Not exactly hard to do." Weiss pointed out. "Jaune told us himself that they barely get any visitors. So this is probably a shock to most of them. It should wear off in a few days."
"I'm not entirely sure about that one." Velvet spoke up, trying to ignore the extra attention but failing. "There is a fair amount of negativity about us being here. Something about their last visitors not working out too well."
"That's not too surprising." Ren spoke up. "With what they have here, I can think of many ways their last guests could've left a bad impression. We'll just have to prove to them that we are different."
"Ren's right!" Nora said happily as she was skipping to be in the lead, "Who better to kick Grimm butt than Team SVRN and RWBY?"
Pyrrha giggled at her teammate's enthusiasm. "She does have a point. Plus, it's not like we are getting just negative attention." She then motioned to the side of the road, where several children were playing but stopped to look at them all in awe.
Ruby smiled and waved at them. Some looked down in embarrassment for being caught but others just gave huge smiles before waving back with just as much energy. "Well let's not disappoint them."
Everyone unanimously agreed with that and kept moving. But Velvet and Blake stopped for a few seconds as they watched the children, both human and Faunus, play together without a beat of mistrust between them. They shared a look before falling in line with their teams once again.
As they neared the Gates, they could start to see several of the Guardsmen on the wall already keeping an eye out. All of them were equipped with rifles and dressed in simple grey armor. Simple but effective. Less than half a dozen other people were waiting by the Gates, each one dressed in green and brown for a simplistic camouflage. All of them carrying knives and crossbows while one or two had bows on their backs. Most likely the scouting party of hunters SVRN would be going out with. What drew all their attention were two people standing together and chatting amicably with each other.
The first was a tall woman, standing just shy of six feet with neck length red hair with orange highlights, giving her a very fiery appearance. She appeared built and was wearing the grey armor that the rest of the Guardsmen were: Chest plate, pauldrons, bracers, and greaves. Although her's were modified heavily to be less weighty to possibly help with maneuverability but seemed to give her less protection. On her back was the standard rifle her fellow Guardsmen were carrying but she also had a sword and pistol at her hip. When she heard them she turned to look at them with a pair of sky blue eyes that contrasted beautifully with her hair.
Her companion was a shorter, older man, standing around five foot four or five. He short brown hair with a peppering of grey throughout that seemed to be in perpetual state of just being ruffled with a pair of large canine ears of the same color pointing straight up through it. He was more lithe than anything else with very similar camouflage that the other hunters wore. Although he added a mottled green and gray cloak with a hood over his shoulders, hiding most of his form underneath it. He was one of the few to have a bow over his shoulder and they could see at least three knives on his belt, glinting off the sunlight. The pair of ears on his head straightened at the sound of their footsteps. He turned to them with a pair of green eyes that seemed to analyze them.
The woman smiled and started to walk towards them, her companion just a step behind her, "Well look who's here. The topic of conversation." She smiled at them before holding out her hand, "Captain of the Guard, Carmine Rouge, at your service."
They all heard a weary sigh and looked to see the older man rolling his eyes, "You are too friendly for your own good, Carmine."
She turned back around to look at him, "And you're just as dreary as ever, Oliver." She said with a grin.
"I'm cautious. That's what kept me alive for so long." The now named Oliver told her evenly. He then turned to them, "Like the loudmouth said, I'm Oliver Vert. I'll be the one escorting you group of greenhorns through the forest. Listen to me and maybe you won't die."
They all looked at him, either shocked by what he said or just bristling at the implication that they would be that useless. Before any of them could speak up, Carmine laughed, "Don't mind him." She said as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders for a side hug. "He may seem cold but on the inside, he's just a warm and fuzzy puppy."
He just looked up at her with a neutral look, "I hate you." He said simply.
That earned him a smirk, "That is absolutely a lie. I'm the granddaughter you never had." That just got her a grunt as an answer. She let him go and turned to the bewildered students, "Anyways, Lord Jaune has already called us and let us know what the plan is. So which of you is on Team RWBY?"
They looked at each other before the four mentioned Huntresses-in-training slowly raised their hands. Carmine smiled, "Great. You four will come with me to patrol the walls while Team SVRN…" she turned to the other four. "Will head into the forest with Oliver." She turned around and started to move towards the stairs that would lead up to the top of the wall and the walkways that traveled around them. "We don't have all day!"
RWBY slowly turned to Oliver who just shrugged. "She's a handful. Just smile and nod and you'll be fine." He then turned to SVRN, "As for you four, let's hustle. We should've already been out there and I'm not losing any more daylight." He turned around, his cloak billowing behind him as he did before marching towards the Gates. The hunters quickly standing up at his approach.
The students just looked at each other, still just reeling from the introduction they just had. "Should we be worried?" Ruby asked.
Velvet shrugged, "I doubt Jaune would send us out with someone that didn't know what they were doing. So we should be okay." She tried to sound confident but there was a slight tone of uncertainty in her voice.
"Let's give them a chance." Pyrrha spoke up, "If we have any serious issues, we can always talk to Jaune when we get back. But for now, let's keep an open mind."
"Besides, we've been though worse." Yang told them with a lax disposition. "These two can't be any worse than Oobleck and Port. We can do this no sweat."
They all nodded at the points the brawler and champion gave them. With that they gave their goodbyes and good lucks before separating. RWBY quickly going up the stairs to meet up with Carmine who was waiting and SVRN going to catch up with Oliver who was already leaving with the hunters. And with that their first day was starting. One team to guard the settlement and one to stalk the forest around it. But both were necessary to defend the settlement they were tasked with protecting.
As that was going on, Jaune was back in his study going through all his paperwork. Varying from seeing if the walls needed repairs or reinforcement. Going through their supplies to see if they needed anything that he would have to reach out to one of the Kingdoms to get. The reports of how the CCT relay was doing after its repairs. And several dozen other things that he had to look over on a near daily basis.
He sighed as he let his head fall back to rest on his chair, "I hate paperwork so much…" At that point, he heard a knock on his door, "It's open." He said loud enough to be heard.
It opened to reveal Bertrand walking in with a coffee pot, mug, and sugar on a tray. "I thought you would like a fresh cup, Master Jaune." he said cheerfully as he closed the door behind him.
Jaune smiled, "You know me so well, Bertrand." The older man reached his desk in little time before he filled the mug with Jaune's favorite coffee. The young lord took a whiff of the aroma. He hummed in anticipation before he took a sip. He sighed before turning to him, "Thank you, Bertrand."
He smiled with a nod, "It is no problem, Master Jaune."
He took another sip of his beverage before he turned back to him. "So why are you actually here?" Jaune questioned with a raised eyebrow. He continued with a smirk, "It hasn't been that long since breakfast so you usually wouldn't bring me any coffee for at least another hour or so."
Bertrand grinned, "Perspective as always." He then sighed, "I was just curious. Do you really think it is the best to send them to work with Carmine and Oliver?"
"Those two are the best at what they do." Jaune said as he leant back in his chair.
"I would not argue that sir. It's just…" Bertrand trailed off, not sure if he should say what was on his mind.
"That Carmine is overzealous and Oliver is abrasive at the best of times?" Jaune said with a grin. Bertrand just nodded and that made Jaune laugh.
"I am just worried about how they will fair is all." Bertrand continued. "I don't want to think about what effect this could have on Arcadia if those eight get hurt or worse."
"I know, Bertrand. I know." He sighed as he placed his mug on his desk. "For all their flaws, I trust both Carmine and Oliver with my life. Carmine will be laser focused when the time comes and we saw firsthand that she will lay her life on the line to protect Arcadia and our people. And despite his abrasiveness, Oliver cares more about the people around him then most know. Plus, he is the one that taught me everything I know about the forest and how to use a bow. And those two teams are skilled and I trust Ozpin to send us people who could handle this."
Bertrand just looked down for a bit before he nodded, "I know you're right. It's just… I can't help but worry."
"That's why my father respected your opinion." Jaune said, garnering the butler's attention. "You worry because you care. And sometimes my father would look over things to focus on the bigger picture. You helped to bring his focus back to the smaller one when it mattered most." He gave him a warm smile, "And I hope you will do the same for me going forward, Bertrand."
Bertrand just stared at the young lord before he smiled brightly, "It would be my honor sir."
Jaune smiled before turning back to his work, "It has been a while. Maybe after RWBY and SVRN has worked with them for a bit, we can invite Carmine and Oliver to dinner. For old times sake."
"That sounds like a marvelous idea." Bertrand said as he made his way to the door, "I will let the staff know in advance so they can properly prepare." He opened the door but stopped halfway. "Jaune." He looked back to him. "Your father would be proud of you. He always was." And with that he slipped out without another word.
Jaune just stared at the door for the longest time. Those words just echoing in his head for as he did so. He started to shake as tears slid down his cheeks, "Damn it, Bertrand…" he said quietly in a broken tone. He lowered his head and cried for a few minutes. Before he took a deep breath and pulled himself back together. "That's enough." He told himself as he wiped away his tears. "There's work to do now." He then focused back on his work, determined to finish it and forget about the small episode he just had. He had an entire settlement to look out for. He couldn't let them down. And he wouldn't.
A/N- And here is the next one. This should have been out sooner but life got a little hectic as they do. But it's hear all the same. This felt like a bit more build up but that is because it is. I need to set a few things up before I can hit one of the first major plot points. The extra work that comes with writing a story outside of what canon does but hopefully it'll pay off.
And to address the obvious point: Carmine and Oliver are OCs. They are important to the story but they won't be in every chapter, only those that their roles will be important for. You'll get a bit more backstory and how they are close to Jaune in the next chapter, for those of you that are curious.
Anyways, I hoped you all enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next update!