HELLOOOOOO! I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter of Jaune Arc Gryphon Knight. As those of you who read my other story "The Vagabond" know I'm starting college soon, so updates may slow down depending on the workload I have to deal with. However I will not stop writing either of these stories. As long as there are people who are willing to read it I will continue to write it. Before we jump into this new chapter I have just one thing to address.
Lazylegionspark asked if the Maidens would play a part in this story. To that I say yes. I will be tying them into the mythos I'm creating around the Lady and the Gryphon Knights. Like I said I want to keep as close to the original story told in the first three volumes of RWBY as possible, so the Maidens still play an important part in this story.
With all that out of the way, ON WITH THE STORY!
Team Juniper followed Nathaniel as he walked back towards the village. Jaune pelted him with questions the whole way.
"Cailan Arc? Who's Cailan Arc? What's the Order of Light, and what does it have to do with-"
Nathaniel interrupted Jaune's questions with a wave of his hand. "I will explain everything soon, but not until you have seen the Sanctuary."
"The Sanctuary?"
Nathaniel had replaced his helmet on his head so Jaune couldn't see his face, but the blonde got the feeling that the man was smiling. "You'll see."
When they reached the gate Nathaniel pushed it open and stepped into the village, the huntsmen in training right behind him. Immediately they noticed something very unusual.
"Where is everyone?" asked a perplexed Nora.
"No one lives here but me," replied Nathaniel, "the village was built to disguise the Sanctuary from those who would wish to find it."
"How long have you lived here?" asked Ren.
"Virtually my entire life. Like all of my ancestors stretching all the way back to Knight-Captain Marusus we have lived here in solitude until the scion of house Arc came to claim their birthright."
"My birthright?" asked Jaune. "Why me? Why not any of my ancestors? Your ancestors could have brought any of them here at any time."
"It had to be you," Nathaniel responded simply. "Your ancestor Cailan was granted a vision of the future, and in it you were the one who claimed the birthright."
Jaune's mouth opened, then closed. He looked at Pyrrha and twirled his finger around his ear, silently questioning Nathaniel's sanity. Pyrrha simply shrugged back, looking similarly perplexed.
"I know how that must sound to you," said Nathaniel, "but it will become more clear when you've entered the Sanctuary."
"You still haven't explained this 'sanctuary' to us. What is it exactly?" asked Pyrrha, who Jaune noticed was all but pressed against him in an attempt to put herself between Nathaniel and Jaune in case the man's sanity was as questionable as they thought.
"You will see it soon enough. The entrance is just ahead."
Nora bounced ahead of them and turned to face them, skipping backwards as the other four walked normally. "So I have a question. You said you've been here pretty much all of your life, right? Like all your ancestors?"
"That's what I said."
"If that's the case, then have you and your ancestors never... you know... done it?"
Nathaniel's head cocked to one side. "Done what exactly?"
"You know, the nasty? The bedroom tango? The midnight premiere at the vag theater?"
"Nora!" shouted an indignant Ren. "Really?!"
"Well sorry," pouted Nora, "but if he and his ancestors have lived here alone all their lives then I just don't see how he could have been, y'know, born. Even I know you need at least two people for that."
Jaune could almost here Nathaniel's eyes rolling in his helmet. "When it became evident to each of my ancestors that Jaune would not be born in their lifetimes they would set out to find a woman to sire a son with. When the son was born they would take him back with them to raise them here in solitude and train them as a knight of the Order. I was on the verge of doing the same myself when I caught wind of Jaune's enrollment into Beacon."
"What about the mother, or if the child is a girl?" asked Pyrrha.
Nathaniel was silent for a moment. "The mother was left behind. If the child is a girl then my ancestors would simply find another woman in another village to sire a son with. They would continue this process until a son was born, then return here with the child."
"That's horrible!" said Jaune angrily. "They would just leave them? Why couldn't they take the mother with them, or train the girl to be a 'knight' or whatever? Girls are just as good at fighting as guys." He glanced at Pyrrha. "In some cases they're better."
"I agree that it was a dishonorable practice," said Nathaniel, who still walked straight ahead without looking at them. "But it was necessary. The fewer people who knew about this place the better. Secrecy was and is the Sanctuary's best defense. As for why they wouldn't take the daughters with them, they couldn't. Holy writ mandated that all knights of the Order must be men. It's not because women can't fight. In the order's short history there are a number of accounts of knights fighting alongside very capable female warriors."
"You keep mentioning an 'Order' of some sort," said Ren. "I assume you're referring to a knightly order judging by your appearance, but what order exactly are you referring to?"
Nathaniel stopped walking. At first Jaune thought they had gone too far with their questioning, but then Nathaniel spoke. "We're here."
In front of them was... nothing.
It was just the open center of the town square, a flat square area made of stone. There was nothing here that suggested it was the hidden entrance to some sanctuary, or anything else. Until Jaune realized that there was something in the center of the square. A flat metal disk no more than two feet wide with a hole in it's center. "The three of you will wait here," ordered Nathaniel, "Jaune, you must come with me."
"Why can't my friends come too?" asked Jaune suspiciously. "I trust them."
"The sanctuary is for members of the Order and you only. Your friends are neither members of the Order, nor are they you. After you've seen what's down there and I've answered your questions then you may tell them whatever you wish about what you saw. But only you may see it."
Jaune gulped. The last thing he wanted to do was go with this strange man anywhere alone, but he couldn't deny that he was curious. The idea that whatever was in this sanctuary was waiting for him, the prospect of him being something more than the weak link on his team? It excited him as much as it scared him. But now he had to make a choice. Did he agree and go alone, or did he refuse to go unless his friends came with him? Nathaniel had said he could tell them what he saw and learned, so he clearly didn't have a problem with them knowing what was down there, just with them actually going down there. Jaune seriously doubted they could force him to take all of them down there. Something about the man told him that he could take them all apart with ease if it came to a fight.
But the deciding factor was how he felt about the whole situation. He had every reason to be wary of this man and refuse to go anywhere with him alone, but he didn't feel that surge of fear he normally did when he was about to do something incredibly reckless. Something about this felt... right.
"Fine," said Jaune, "I'll go alone."
Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's arm in a grip like a vice and dragged him away until they were out of earshot of Nathaniel, Ren and Nora following close behind. "Jaune, you don't have to go with him alone," she whispered frantically, "we don't know this man. For all we know he could be a complete madman! How do we know anything of what he's saying is true?"
Jaune placed his hand over the one gripping his arm. "Ozpin said he thought we should go on this mission because he felt it was right. I do too. I think he's been telling us the truth about this whole situation. I mean why bother making up a lie as weird as his story? Wouldn't it have been more believable for him to say that more Grimm showed up and killed the other villagers if this was all a lie to draw me out here?"
"That still doesn't mean you should go alone with him." Pyrrha turned to Ren and Nora for back up. "Guys, tell him that going alone is a bad idea," she pleaded.
"It does seem ill advised," said Ren, "while the ridiculous nature of his story actually lends credence to its authenticity, or to the possibility of him being insane, we still know next to nothing about him besides the fact that seems to have lived alone for most of his life, which would probably result in a less than healthy mental state. I believe we should go together." The three of them turned to Nora, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.
She shrugged. "I think he should go alone."
Their mouths dropped.
"Y-You can't be serious Nora," sputtered Pyrrha.
"Look, Jauney's a big boy, and our leader. He may not be the best fighter, but he's got a good head on his shoulders. You can't hold his hand and protect him Pyrrha. He's going to take risks that you're not going to like because he's the leader, and at the end of the day what he says goes. Besides if anything does go wrong we have our scrolls. Jaune can call us for help, and we can call the school and have full fledged huntsmen here in a jiffy." She hefted her hammer. "That being said, if that Nathan guy tries anything nasty I'm going to break more than just his legs."
Jaune smiled at his bubbly teammate while Pyrrha and even the usually composed Ren stared open mouthed at her. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Nora," he gently pried his arm free of Pyrrha's grip, which had been steadily growing tighter. "I'll tell you guys everything when I get back, okay? I promise."
He jogged over to Nathaniel, who nodded at him. "Your friends done questioning my mental health then?"
Jaune winced, "you heard that?"
"I did, but I don't blame them. I'll admit that this whole scenario must seem very strange to all of you. But enough of that. Are you ready to see the sanctuary?" Jaune nodded. "I am too. Your halberd, Brillant Mors, is the key to the entrance. I've never seen the inside myself."
The two of them walked over to the metal disk. "Insert the end of Brillant Mors into the hole and twist it to the right once, then the left, then pull it out," instructed Nathaniel, "the entrance should open then."
Jaune raised his halberd and inserted the butt of his weapon into the hole. He twisted it to the right, then the left, and heard some unseen mechanism click as he withdrew Brillant Mors. Suddenly the ground they were standing on began to rumble and a large circular portion of the town square, at least twenty feet wide, slowly began to turn in place and descend. Jaune looked up at his friends as the ground he was standing slowly began to sink. He smiled and waved to them, the nervousness he felt reflected on their faces. All except for Nora, who smiled and waved back happily. "Bring me some pancakes when you come back!"
Jaune laughed, "If I find any I promise you'll be the first to have a bite!"
The platform descended until Jaune couldn't see his friends, and he turned to Nathaniel. "So you have no idea what's down here?"
"Oh I know what's down here. I've just never seen it."
"Can you tell me what this birthright is then?"
Nathaniel removed his helmet and hooked it to his belt. He smiled at Jaune, and he realized that the man was just as excited about this as Jaune was nervous about it. "Trust me. It's better if it remains a surprise. I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."
"The day I've been having I just might," grumbled Jaune as he ran his fingers down the straight edge of Brillant Mors's axe blade. He glanced over at Nathaniel, who was staring at his halberd with barely disguised awe. "Would you ah... like to hold my halberd?" asked Jaune awkwardly.
Nathaniel blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was staring, but... yes I would. If that's alright with you."
Jaune shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He held the weapon out to Nathaniel, who slung his own halberd across his back by its leather strap. Jaune made a mental note to get one for his own halberd. It was tiring having to constantly carry it in his hands whenever he had it with him. The man gingerly took the weapon from Jaune and held it reverently.
"Brillant Mors," he whispered, "the weapon of Cailan Arc, Knight-Lord of the Order. Champion of the Lady." He looked at Jaune with unshed tears glistening in his eyes. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to simply hold this legendary weapon in my hands." He held the weapon out to Jaune, who took it back, "thank you for such an honor Jaune."
"Uh... no problem," said the blonde awkwardly. "You seem to know a lot about my weapon. This Cailan Arc, was he the one who forged it?"
"No. The weapon was forged by someone else. Something else. It was granted to him on the condition that he serve the weapon's forger."
Jaune frowned in confusion. "Something else? So not a person?"
Nathaniel locked eyes with Jaune. The look in the older man's eyes was completely serious, inciting Jaune to pay complete attention to the man. "Tell me Jaune, what do you know of gods?"
Jaune frowned in confusion, his brow scrunching up. "Not much. Just the basic stuff I guess. Why?"
"Do you believe that there is such a thing as a god?"
"Like... An all seeing, all knowing, all powerful god?"
"To an extent," replied Nathaniel with a shrug. "She is powerful, very powerful, but not omnipotent. Nor is she all knowing or all seeing. That is why the Order was created."
"You keep mentioning this order you're a part of. What is it exactly? Are you knights like Ren said?"
"Hmmm..." Nathaniel rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes, though I think it may be more accurate to say that we're warrior monks. We worship the goddess Vaya through our actions. The Order, called the Order of Light, is dedicated to battling the Grimm and helping the less fortunate. Unlike other religions we do not offer up prayers to our goddess. Vaya is a goddess of action, not of words. She does not want her warriors to sit around offering up benedictions in a chapel. She wants them, us, to go out into the world and help the less fortunate and battle evil. It is for that purpose that the Order of Light was created, and the Gryphon Knights formed, with your ancestor Cailan at their head."
"Gryphon Knights?"
Nathaniel grinned at him. "You'll see."
The turning platform reached the bottom. The room they had stopped in was a simple circle of stone with a steel door. Nathaniel walked to the door and pushed it open, metal hinges shrieking as it opened. The knight stepped into the room beyond, Jaune right behind him. What he saw on the other side of the door took his breath away.
Beyond the door was a massive hallway. It's roof was a hundred feet in the air and supported by marble pillars decorated with images of men wearing plate armor mounted on strange beasts battling Grimm. Their mounts seemed to be a blend of some lion and eagle. He walked over to one of the pillars to stare at the carving. "Are those the Gryphon Knights?"
"They are," responded Nathaniel, "and those creatures they're riding are the gryphons. Gryphons are mighty beasts of war. Unlike horses they choose their own riders, and are the most vicious and loyal creatures you will ever have the honor of meeting."
"So you're a Gryphon Knight then?"
"I am, though I've never ridden a Gryphon."
Jaune frowned. "Are they extinct?"
Nathaniel walked past him without responding to the end of the hall. Jaune followed after him quickly and saw at the end of the hall was a pair of massive stone double doors. Jaune had no idea how they were possibly going to open them without a small army when Nathaniel gripped a lever set into the wall and pulled it down. The stone doors rumbled as unseen mechanisms forced them open, permitting access to Jaune and Nathaniel.
The two of them walked in side by side. Nathaniel pointed at something laying in the center of the room. "You asked earlier if the Gryphons were extinct? There is the last and mightiest of them: Talon, your ancestor's Gryphon."
Jaune's eyes widened in shock and awe as he stared at the slumbering creature. It was beautiful the way any dangerous animal was beautiful. Its whole body was covered in feathers. Its powerful legs ended in paws with claws as long as daggers. It's head was that of an eagle with a fearsome looking beak that probably wouldn't have a problem tearing through any Grimm that got too close. Two powerful wings longer than Jaune was tall were folded against its body, gently moving up and down as the creature breathed peacefully in its slumber.
Nathaniel's hand on his shoulder shocked Jaune out of his trance. Without realizing it he had walked halfway across the room, his arm outstretched to touch the slumbering Gryphon. Jaune looked up at the man. "You said it was my ancestor's Gryphon? How old is it then?"
"Ten thousand years old," said the knight as if that was the most normal thing in the world. "Though he's been here for most of that, sleeping."
"It's been sleeping for ten thousand years?" Jaune whispered. "Why? How?"
Nathaniel sighed and removed his hand from Jaune's shoulder. "Ten thousand years ago the Order of Light was almost completely eradicated by the Grimm. The order had not existed for long, only a few decades, but it had been the greatest threat to the Grimm yet. Your ancestor Cailan Arc was the first of the order. He was a humble man, a blacksmith's apprentice, who had lived in a small peaceful village. The Grimm came however, and laid waist to the village. Cailan fought with all his might with only a smithing hammer to defend his friends and family, but it was in vain. The Grimm slaughtered everyone, save for him. He fought through the night, the dawn of the next day, then the night of that day too. On the dawn of the day after the battle he knelt alone in the rubble of what had once been his home and despaired, lifting his hammer to end his own life. That was when Vaya came to him. She took the hammer from his hands and placed it aside, holding him against her as he grieved for his family. When his tears dried he asked her who she was. She told him that she was a foe to the Grimm, and could give him the weapons he would need to take the war to the creatures of darkness if he would but serve her. He was doubtful at first, as she had come to him in the guise of a human woman, but his doubts receded when with a wave of her hand she created a suit of armor and a halberd for him, the very same halberd you carry now. When he saw this display of power he agreed to serve her, and she took him to a far away mountain where he would spend the next five years training to be a warrior and protector. When his training was complete she sent him out into the world on horseback to battle the Grimm and recruit others to the cause. For ten years he did so successfully. As his name and fame grew others flocked to his banner and his teachings, and Cailan formed the Order of Light, a warrior order dedicated to battling the Grimm and helping the people in any way possible."
"However where there is light there is also darkness, and Vaya was not the only power in the world. Where Vaya was the goddess of light and life, there was also a goddess of darkness and death: Salem, mother of the Grimm. Salem saw these warriors of light battling her Grimm to a standstill and was unhappy. She created two new forms of Grimm to combat the knights of the Order with. These Grimm were the Nevermores and Pegasi, avian Grimm that could keep to the skies and be safe from the weapons of the knights below. The knights had no way of defeating these Grimm, as few of them were trained in the use of bows, until Vaya came up with a solution. She summoned Cailan back to where she had trained him, and there she granted him two more gifts. The first was the knowledge of how to project the light of Vaya from his weapons. It was a searing light, the presence of which was enough to burn the Grimm as though it were a roaring fire. The second gift was a new creature, the likes of which had never been seen on Remnant before: the Gryphon. A beast that was half lion and half eagle, it was fearless and savage when fighting the Grimm. The first Gryphon created was the one you see sleeping before you. Vaya gifted him to Cailan, who named him Talon. The goddess ordered Cailan to return to his men upon Talon and to bring them to the mountain, where she would gift them all with a Gryphon and the ability to imbue their weapons with her Light. Cailan did as he was instructed, and all of the Order were granted these gifts. However as I've said before Vaya is not omnipotent. Her power has its limits. The act of creating the gryphons exhausted her, and she withdrew from the world, entrusting the safety of Remnant to the newly dubbed Gryphon Knights."
"For decades the Gryhpon Knights battled the Grimm. The top of the mountain that Cailan had trained on was sculpted into the Order's fortress with smaller fortresses and outposts dotting Remnant. The Knight-Lord eventually found love and sired a family, but sent them into hiding in case Salem attempted to harm them. Salem's hordes were uncountable, but the courage of the Order's warriors was indomitable and slowly but surely her monstrosities were driven back. In desperation the Grimm mother created new and menacing forms of Grimm in an attempt to find something that could turn the tide in her favor. Eventually she found it: the dragon. A fire breathing creature of pure evil that could tear its way through scores of Gryhpon Knights before it fell to its wounds. With the dragons at her command she drove the Gryphon Knights back, killing thousands of them in each battle, though her own forces were not without losses. Many of the dragons fell too, along with an uncountable number of lesser Grimm, but it was not enough to stop the black tide."
"It seemed to Cailan that all hope was gone. His warriors were outmatched by the Dragons and so he determined to gather the last of the Order's fighters for a final push in an attempt to slay Salem, even if it meant their deaths. However before he could begin to gather his men he was granted a vision by Vaya. In it he was shown that it was not his place to kill Salem, merely to lay the foundations for the one who would, and to remind the Grimm Mother that while Vaya Herself might be absent from the world, Her power was not. Cailan did as She asked and had this underground sanctuary built to house his Gryphon, who would be put into a state of suspended animation until the one it was waiting for came to awaken it. While it was being built Cailan called back his Gryphon Knights from around Remnant to their main fortress and ordered that all other fortresses and outposts be sealed closed to protect what was kept within them. Gathered together, the Gryphon Knights awaited Salem's arrival. When she did show, Cailan sent the first man who joined him, my ancestor Marusus, to the sanctuary with Talon. When they arrived Talon laid down where you see him now and Vaya put him into the great sleep. Marusus sealed the sanctuary and for ten thousand years the men of my family have waited for your arrival into the world. When you joined Beacon I was granted a dream by Vaya, showing you killing an Ursa Major all on your own. An impressive feat for one so young and untrained, but I knew you were the one I had been waiting for, that my ancestors had been waiting for, that Talon has been waiting for."
"The Lady has chosen you as her new Champion Jaune. She has chosen you to slay Salem and free the world from her darkness."
Jaune's head spun and he felt like he was about to throw up again. This was all too much. He was supposed to kill a goddess? Someone so powerful that they had created the Grimm? He couldn't do that. He was... He was clumsy, klutzy, foolish Jaune Arc who couldn't kill and Ursa without help, let alone an immortal being of darkness.
He shook his head as he backed away from Nathaniel and the sleeping Gryphon. Now it didn't seem so beautiful. Now it seemed like his death, which probably wasn't too far from the truth. It would probably mistake him for a snack and take his head off the second it woke up. "I... I can't" whispered Jaune, "I just... I can't do that. You got the wrong guy."
"It is you Jaune," insisted Nathaniel as he stepped towards Jaune as he slowly backed away. "I can't imagine how confusing and terrifying this must be for you, but it is you who I saw in my dream, who Vaya has chosen."
Jaune tripped over his own feet as he backed away, sprawling on the floor. He pushed himself to his feet and continued to back away until his back hit the wall. Nathaniel stopped advancing towards Jaune and stood ten feet away from the blonde, his hands held out in a placating manner. "I-i-it's not me," said Jaune frantically, "It can't be! I-I mean just look at me! I'm scrawny, I barely know how to fight, I can barely take on a Beowulf alone, and let's be honest here, the most impressive thing about me is my weapon, which according to you was made by a goddess, which I would honestly be doubting a lot more if it weren't for the fact that there is a sleeping Gryphon in front of me."
"Jaune," said Nathaniel gently, " it is you. You are without a doubt the one I saw in my dream. Are you the most confident or capable fighter? Not at all. From what I can tell you have a very long way to go before you're ready, but that doesn't mean you won't ever be ready. I will help you Jaune. I will teach you how to be a knight of the Order like my father did for me, and someday when you are ready you will claim the title of Knight-Lord, and Salem and her Grimm will remember what it's like to fear the wrath of the Light, but only if you accept your birthright."
Jaune shook his head vigorously, feeling sicker than ever. Whoever this Vaya was she had clearly made a mistake in choosing him as her Champion. Why not someone else? Why not someone actually capable, like Pyrrha, who was a literal champion already? Four times over too! "Y-you said it yourself," insisted Jaune, "this Vaya you keep talking about isn't all powerful or all knowing. She could have made a mistake, she probably did make a mistake in picking me."
Nathaniel's eyes hardened, and he crossed his arms over his chest. Clearly he was done playing nice with Jaune. "So what if She did?" he snarled, "maybe Vaya did make a mistake, hell if I know!" He closed the distance between himself and Jaune with a few long strides. The blonde tried to slip to the side and out the door, but before he had moved and inch Nathaniel's gauntleted fist slammed into the stone next to Jaune's head, cracking it like an egg shell. Jaune didn't need much more motivation to stay completely still as Nathaniel glowered at him. "But I do know one thing. We are running out of time. In the last battle between the Order and Salem Cailan and his knights managed to wound Salem, and severely at that. I know this because you and I are currently alive and talking, and the world isn't swallowed in shadow. However she was not killed, and she's gathering power. As a knight of the Order I can feel the flow of power through the world, and what I feel isn't good. Dark powers are gaining strength every day, slowly eclipsing the few sources of the Light's power left in the world. Salem's strength is returning. Someday she will be strong enough to unleash her power upon the world, and when she does? Without the Gryphon Knights to oppose her Salem will swallow the world in darkness. The four kingdoms' martial strength will not be enough to stop her, at best they'll be a nuisance. The Huntsmen and Huntresses will fare little better. The sheer number of Grimm unleashed upon the world will overwhelm them, and the few who survive will be torn apart by Salem herself. Our world will be cast into darkness, and Vaya will be unable to stop it without Her greatest warriors."
He pulled his fist away from the wall and stepped away from Jaune, turning his back on the boy and clasping his hands behind his back. His armored shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths as Jaune stepped away from the wall. "Aren't there others?" he whispered, "there's no way your goddess would have just stopped at the gryphon knights if she was so intent on protecting Remnant, right?"
"You're right," agreed Nathaniel, his back still to Jaune as he gazed at Talon, "after the order fell there were others. Some of my ancestors came into contact with women called the Maidens on occasion as they traveled to look for a suitable woman to sire a son with. One even sired a son with a Maiden. These women are strong enough to have power over the elements themselves. However there's only four of them, their power is not what it once was, and Salem would have sent her agents after them in an attempt to either kill them or corrupt them to her service. I have reason to believe there may have been other groups throughout time who were granted various gifts by the Lady to combat the Grimm with, but these groups have either died out or been corrupted to the Grimm mother's service. The Order of Light was her first and greatest creation, and as such remains Remnant's only hope for salvation."
The knight sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jaune. I cannot force you to accept this burden. I know its weight is monumental, and that the mere thought of it must terrify you. I won't blame you in the least if you refuse. If you choose not to take on this burden then simply walk back to the entrance to the sanctuary and return to the surface and your friends. I will go with you. All I ask in return is that you leave Brillant Mors with me, as I will need it to get back into the sanctuary. I will give you my own halberd in return. She's not as ancient as Brillant Mors, but I've used her to slay many Grimm who have wondered too close to the village, and I can say from experience that she's a reliable weapon and will not let you down. I will try to find a way to awaken Talon on my own and do my best to reform the Gryphon knights to combat Salem when she returns to full strength."
He turned around and faced Jaune. The anger was gone, replaced by resignation and something Jaune knew all too well: fear.
"But if you think for even a moment that you might be up to this task, to answer the call of the Lady, then all you need do is place your hand on Talon. He should awaken at your touch and he will let you mount him. You will have your ancestor's Gryphon, his weapon, and I will teach you the ways of a Gryhpon Knight. And when the time comes and Salem comes to swallow the world in darkness, we may very well be ready."
Jaune looked at the slumbering beast, then at the doorway. It would be so easy. All he had to do was walk away, to run away.
He was good at that.
Instead he looked at Nathaniel. "How long?"
The knight frowned, "How long what?"
"How long would be until this Salem is strong enough to endanger the world?"
Nathaniel's frown deepened as he thought. "At the very least? Ten years, unless something changes to speed or slow her recovery. However that is the very least, and it's more likely that it would take twenty years. Regardless it will certainly be within our lifetime."
Twenty years...
Twenty years to prepare for an invasion of Grimm the likes of which the world hadn't seen in over ten thousand years, with the goddess of darkness herself at its head. Twenty years to reform an ancient order of knights that was so old it dated to before the written history of Remnant, and thus was essentially unknown to the rest of the world. Unless it took even less time for Salem to heal, which considering Jaune's luck was probably more likely than Nathaniel thought.
Could he do it?
Absolutely not. Jaune was many things, but he wasn't arrogant. He wasn't strong enough, or talented enough, or smart enough, or brave enough to do it. He knew himself well enough to know his limits.
"But could you become all those? True you are not ready now, but Nathaniel would train you, make you more than you are. You could become more than Beacon's fool. You would become more. It is in your blood to be a hero. It is your duty to Remnant and to those you love to accept the burden so that they do not have to."
The voice that whispered in his head did not seem to be his own, but it made just as much sense as his arguments for walking away. He was not ready, but could he be? Was it possible to be ready for something so monumental? He didn't think so, but at the same time Salem was coming one way or another. Everything Nathaniel had told him went against everything he thought he knew, but Jaune believed him. The evidence was all around him, was clutched in his hands in a white knuckle grip. He looked at the blade of Brillant Mors, his family's most prized possession, which according to Nathaniel had been made by a goddess. He remembered something his grandfather had told him when he was a little boy in bed, listening with wide eyed innocence to the stories his grandad had told him of great Arc heroes who had accomplished magnificent feats of courage and bravery that seemed almost impossible for a human being to accomplish. No one named Cailan had ever come up in those stories. Not surprising considering how long ago the Order of Light had existed. The order would have faded out of all memory long before his grandad's grandad had been born.
"All Arc men die heroes," his grandfather had said in an uncharacteristically somber moment. "That might sound like a blessing, but it's really a curse my boy. We don't get to settle down and have big happy families like your dad does, because he wasn't born an Arc. Your mother will be fine too as she's a woman and it doesn't seem to affect them, but there's not a single man born into the Arc family who hasn't died in battle against the Grimm. Someday your old Grandad's going to go the way of a hero, and probably sooner rather than later, but don't cry for me my boy, because it's our duty to the world to die heroes. My own father once told me that the fate of the world is tied to the fate of the Arc men. If one of us died a coward, then the world would die with him." He had smiled at Jaune then, who was clinging to every word his grandad was saying. "Probably just silly old superstition to make our fate a bit easier to swallow, but it's fun to think that our actions determine the fate of the world, makes us feel a bit important."
It was the last time Jaune had seen his grandfather. A few days after that night the old man had gone on a mission with several other huntsmen and huntresses to relieve a town besieged by Grimm. He had died at that battle while singlehandedly holding a breach that the Grimm had managed to break open in the wall. The Grimm had overwhelmed him, but he had gone down fighting and held the breach for hours on his own. by the time reinforcements had arrived he had died, but the village and everyone in it had been saved by his sacrifice. There had been no body. The only thing that had been returned to the Arc family was Brillant Mors. Just like he had asked of him, Jaune hadn't cried when he'd heard his grandad had died. His parents had been worried about him, but when they had questioned him about it he'd simply said, "grandad said all Arc men die heroes, that its our curse because we don't get to have big families like you do daddy, but that its our duty to the world to die heroes, so that's what I'll do when I'm older. I'll die a hero like grandad did."
Gods, how long ago had that been? Ten years ago? What would his seven year old self think of him now? Here he was with an opportunity to become a world saving hero, and he wanted nothing more than to run back to his friends and Beacon and pretend this had never happened, to live in blissful denial until Salem rose and swallowed the world in darkness.
"My own father once told me that the fate of the world is tied to the fate of the Arc men. If one of us died a coward, then the world would die with him."
Jaune laughed bitterly. Turns out your dad was right grandad. If I leave here then I'll have become a coward, and the world will die with me.
He looked up from his weapon and met Nathaniel's eyes. He was still scared, terrified in fact, of the task before him, but he was determined too. He would not let the world die.
Not without dying to protect it.
To say that Pyrrha was worried would have been a gross understatement of the highest magnitude. She was practically pulling her hair out with concern that grew with every second Jaune and Nathaniel were down there. She contemplated jumping down the hole after them. Surely her aura would protect her from the impact of landing, or perhaps she could somehow utilize her semblance to slow her descent? Ren seemed just as worried. Though he was much better at hiding it she noticed how he would occasionally check to ensure Stormflower was were he could grab them in a heartbeat. Nora however seemed perfectly okay with the fact that Jaune was down a hole in the earth with some strange man who claimed he knew Jaune. Pyrrha winced as she Nora's words went through her head again.
"You can't hold his hand and protect him Pyrrha. He's going to take risks that you're not going to like because he's the leader, and at the end of the day what he says goes."
Pyrrha knew he was their leader, and she had no desire to take that position from him, but surely she couldn't be faulted for trying to protect him? He just wasn't as capable a fighter as the rest of them, and she wasn't holding his hand as Nora had put it. She was simply doing her best to guide him until he was ready to take care of things on his own.
Even Pyrrha had to admit that sounded like holding his hand.
But what of it? She cared for the blonde boy, she cared deeply for him, but he could be a bit... oblivious. He had ignored the fact that this Nathaniel man could be and probably was very dangerous! Honestly the fact that Nora of all people had thought it a good idea should have told Jaune that going alone was in fact a very, very, bad idea. Pyrrha loved the girl like a sister, but she was not the brains of the team.
Pyrrha shook her head and stamped her foot. Her mind was made up. She was going down that hole after Jaune. The others could stay up here or join her, but she was going one way or the other. She turned to face her two teammates and opened her mouth. "I'm-"
Whatever else she was going to say was cut off by a massive gust of wind that nearly blew her off her feet as something flew out of he hole in the ground. She whirled around and stared at the thing hovering several hundred feet in the sky, its strong wings keeping it aloft and generating gusts of winds that she could feel from the ground. She didn't know what it was, but it was big, looked like it was part eagle and part big cat (maybe a puma?) and that sitting on its back was Jaune, who was waving like mad from his perch on its back. The thing swooped down and landed on the ground hard enough to make the earth shudder. The creature was taller than her by at least a foot, and its feathery body was composed of solid muscle. The creature tossed its head to the sky and shrieked like an eagle, only about a hundred times louder, as it flapped its wings, creating gusts of wind strong enough to knock Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora off their feet.
Grinning like a mad man Jaune slid off its back and patted the beast's flank as it calmed down. At that moment the platform that had sunk into the earth raised back into position with Nathaniel standing on top of it. His helmet was off, and he was also grinning like a mad man as he stared at the part eagle, part cat, thing with clear pride and awe. Jaune trotted over to his teammates and helped them to their feet. He pointed at the creature.
"Guys, meet Talon. He's my gryphon!"
Well this chapter was a doozy for everyone involved wasn't it? Jaune learned that he was basically Remnants last and greatest hope, Pyrrha got told off by Nora of all people, Ren's about to discover his fear of big birds (kidding, or am I?) and Nora suffered the worst of all: she didn't get her pancakes!
Joking aside I hope I did a good job explaining the history of the Order, who Vaya is, and everything related to that. I finished this chapter rather late at night but I went back and edited it when I woke up so I was bright eyed and bushy tailed (insert furry joke here). As always please favorite and follow this story if you have not yet done that. if you have questions, suggestions for the story, or just want to tell me what you think of it then feel free to leave a comment. If you have a friend who likes RWBY and RWBY fanfics then please suggest this story to them if you think they'd like it. I love you all.
BBBBBYYYYYYEEEEEEEE!
