Chapter revised 31/12/2017; please see chapter 11.
/
I'm baaaa-*Narrowly dodges a brick*
Well, that's just rude.
Anyway, howdy folks, how's it going?
I know, I know, it's been far too long. You cooould stay here a while hearing me blame life for that. Ooor, we could get right down to review answering and the new chapter.
Oh, but before all that, a few things.
Big obligatory shout-out to Chaos Productions, for all his support thus far in my stories.
Also, some of you have expressed some concerns about my Dragonborn being a Gary Stu. Believe me, this is something that I'm trying really, really hard to avoid. But that being said, I ask that you understand that Tristard is a man who has been on the road for a long time, so to speak. While RWBY are at the beginning of their journey, he already has a few of those under his belt. That does not mean he is without issues.
Oh, and he sided with the Imperials during the civil war. Don't like it, though.
Kloensy1: I never played Destiny to be honest, so any reference I might have made was purely accidental.
Slyr3x: Well, few things make me feel as accomplished in fanfiction as having authors of stories I enjoyed commenting on mine. That is to say, I was a big fan of A Decision of Fate, m8 :)
Would you believe me if I told you it took quite a while to figure out what you meant, and that it was a purely unintentional reference?
Tristard's wearing Miraak's robes and the Kohnariik dragon priest mask.
On J'zargo, I always had this headcanon that portrayed him as a bit of a pervert, feel free to disregard it xD.
Lastly, that would be telling.
Kidkaboom1: Guess what? You're about to find out :).
KingArthur3: You're not the first to ask this, and I doubt you'll be the last. Frankly, I am... hesitant, to bring the DP over. I just can't seem to come up with a good way of doing it.
IlikeHotDogs: S'all good, m8, I understand your concern. And you'd be right.
Uneasyknave1: Some of the points you've raised have been addressed above. That said, there's no need for apologies, m8. Provided it's not straight up flaming, I always take what my reviewers write into account, and you did give me some things to consider.
Mountedcombat: For the apologies, see the answer above. For the rest, glad you're enjoying the story so far. As for the Semblance cover up, well, you said it yourself. Anyone in Nirn could use magic, provided they were willing to learn, but only a select few can use the Thu'um to any serious effect, and since semblances were supposed to be unique to each individual, it made more sense to me at the time to go with that.
Alright, with that done, don't let me keep you.
Enjoy
/
As he wandered aimlessly through the halls of Beacon, Jaune couldn't help but sigh.
Why did things always seem to go wrong for him?
Since before he could even walk, the blond's parents had told him stories, tales of courage and valour of the Arc family, from legends of the very first warrior to use the name all the way down to his parents' exploits.
As is so often the case, this left an impression on the child.
Like so many before him, young Jaune had become fascinated by the concept of Heroes, righteous fighters and defenders of the downtrodden.
He wanted to be one. He wanted to show the world that he could be strong, he wanted to make his family proud.
The problem?
By the time he had truly decided to dedicate himself to this path, he was already far too old, and no amount of last minute training could possibly allow him to meet the academies' ridiculously high standards.
It seemed like his dream would be denied to him before it had a chance to truly start.
So naturally, when the idea popped into his mind to cheat his way into Beacon, he had, surprising himself somewhat, not hesitated one bit.
The events of the initiation had very nearly made him regret the decision. But then again, he had made many friends in his time here.
Friends who had actually prepared for this, friends who could kick his ass six ways to Sunday with minimal effort.
Ruby, pretty much his opposite, so skilled that she entered Beacon two years early.
Weiss, for whom perfection seemed to be the standard.
Pyrrha, his partner, a champion through and through.
Tristard, who could pretty much become a force of nature when he wanted to.
Ren, Nora, Yang, Blake... They had all earned their place, they were all strong.
And they all kept getting stronger, leaving him further and further behind.
He did not resent them for it, no. If anything he was happy for them, but he was also incredibly frustrated with himself.
Why did he not grow any stronger no matter how hard he tried?
What was Ozpin thinking when he decided to appoint Him to be the team leader?
Pyrrha, ever the caring partner, had noticed his distress and had tried to comfort him. On that night on the rooftop, the stress of all his lies, all his troubles, all his worries, caused Jaune to break down, admitting everything to her.
She didn't think any less of him for it, not once had she judged him. Heck, she offered to help him, something that moved him deeply.
But something shined in her eyes that just pushed Jaune over the edge.
He did not want to be pitied, he did not want to be the weak one that needed rescuing.
In his frustration, he had harshly pushed her away, causing a rift between them.
And to make matters worse, when he realized what he had done and tried to go after her, his prime tormentor showed up with a nasty, knowing smile on his face.
Pouring his heart out to Pyrrha on the roof of the student's dorm had, in hindsight, been incredibly stupid.
Now, Cardin had him on a leash, always demanding that he perform some chore or another, and the rift between his team and himself seemed to widen every day.
Jaune shook his head ruefully.
'Way to screw things up yet again, Mr. Arc...'
He noticed his wanderings had led him to the entrance of the school's library.
Oh, what the heck, Cardin was leaving him alone for now, he couldn't face his team, and he really had nothing better to do.
Maybe he could check if a new X-ray and Vav comic was out.
Once inside, the blond knight was quick to notice three members of team RWBYS sitting at one of the tables. The books floating kinda gave it away.
"Hhhrrrrrgghh..." Ruby whined pitifully as her head fell to the table, smoke apparently wafting out of her ears. "Why does this have to be sooooooo hard?"
"Oh, come now, Ruby." Tristard said encouragingly. "I did not know anything about the Faunus revolution until four days ago, but if I learned, then so can you."
"Yeah, but no one reads as many books as you do as fast as you do." The red-cloaked girl grumbled with a pout. "I swear, you must be a genius or something."
"Says the girl who entered a prestigious Academy, 2 years early." He countered, causing a blushing Ruby to begin stuttering out denials while frantically waving her arms, much to the amusement of the Dragonborn and Blake, who had been quietly writing down some notes.
Jaune smiled at the scene. This is what a team should be like.
"Hey guys." The blond greeted as he approached, causing them to look in his direction.
"Oh, hey Jaune." Ruby greeted back. "Been a while. Here to work on that assignment Prof. Oobleck gave us?"
"Eh, not really, just walking around." Jaune replied, before looking around. "Where are Weiss and Yang?"
"Cleaning up the mess they caused during Dust Chemistry class." Blake supplied, eyes not moving from the paper sheet she was writing on.
Chuckling a bit more at the knight's bewildered expression, Tristard elaborated. "Let's just say that Yang learned the hard way just how far she can push the teasing before Weiss loses her temper, with explosive results."
Oh, so it happened during the class he missed, because Cardin told him to get rapier wasps for some reason.
Remembering that fact made his somber mood return, which was not missed by his friends as he slumped down on a chair with a heavy sigh.
"Jaune... What's wrong?" Ruby asked in concern.
"Honestly? Pretty much everything. I messed up, big time. I lashed out at Pyrrha, when all she was doing was trying to help, and now Ca..."
He suddenly remembered the bully 'suggested' against talking about his current situation with Tristard.
"...And now I'm so deep in the hole I dug for myself that I can't even see the light."
The dejected knight stared into the ceiling, and thus did not notice the slight narrowing of Tristard's eyes.
"Maybe coming here was a mistake. Maybe I should give up..."
...
...
"Nope."
He looked back at his friends in surprise. Ruby was smiling her usual cheerful smile, Tristard was looking at him with an unreadable expression, and Blake had stopped her work, giving the conversation her full attention.
"Uh, what?"
"You can't give up now, Jaune." Ruby stated in a deceptively serious tone. "You are a leader, and that means that you are responsible for everyone on your team. If you walk away now... All you'll be doing is hurting them."
"But I... I'm just not good. How can I possibly be the leader if all I do is hold everyone back? If all I do is mess things up?"
Ruby did not immediately reply, instead glancing at the male member of her team, who stared back with a knowing look.
"Someone told me not too long ago that, as a leader, I would make mistakes eventually. He also told me that everyone makes mistakes, and that what matters is that you learn from them. I want to be a leader my teammates can rely on, I will do my very best to be there for each of them, and I know that even if sometimes I fall short, I will learn and do better the next time. So you messed up. It's not something you can't fix. And do you honestly believe that Pyrrha, Ren and Nora think so little of you that they wouldn't forgive you?"
Blake stared at her leader's surprisingly mature response with shock and newfound respect, amazed that she cared that much.
Jaune looked at his fellow leader in shock, as her words hit him like a proverbial hammer.
As for Tristard, the smile on his face could only be described as proud.
"Spoken like a true leader." He praised, which immediately caused Ruby to revert back into a stuttering mess, which caused laughter all around.
"Eh, I really did mess up. I was so hung up on my reasons for being here that I never thought of the others..."
"Oh?" Tristard asked curiously. "If you don't mind me asking, Jaune, what exactly were your reasons?"
Jaune guessed he could tell them that much at least. And so, leaving out the part about his faked transcripts and Cardin's blackmail, he told them about his dream to be a hero, and how that caused his issue with Pyrrha.
Ruby smiled in approval, happy that her first friend's dream was so similar to her own.
Blake's thoughts were much more cynical, jaded even, but not wishing to ruin the mood she kept quiet.
Tristard had the look of someone whose suspicions had just been proved right.
"I see." He stated with a nod, before giving Jaune one of the flattest stares the blond had ever seen. "You're an hefhah."
Both team leaders stared at him in shock, the black-haired girl with a raised eyebrow.
They had known him for long enough to know what that meant.
"What?"
"You want to be a hero. To make your family proud. That's good. Respectable, even. But being a hero doesn't mean what you think it means."
The Dragonborn stared at the ceiling, looking as if he was considering something.
"Let me tell you a story, Jaune. It's a tale that's often told where I'm from."
Jaune and Blake sat a little straighter, while Ruby perked up in interest with a twinkle in her eyes.
She always did enjoy a good story.
The Archmage's hand rose, a faint blue glow surrounding it, and much to the younger girl's wonder, an ethereal mist manifested on the table as he began his tale.
Once, there was a boy. There really wasn't anything special about him. He lived in a small farm out in the woods. His parents were humble, but loving people. Life was though, but he lived it happily.
Forms rose from the mist. A small, rustic house, and three, indistinct characters, one noticeably shorter than the other two, who proceeded to run around the table like only an excited child could, stopping briefly before Ruby to wave at her, a gesture the girl returned with a giggle, before running back to the other figures.
The archmage stopped, seemingly for dramatic effect.
Unfortunately, it did not last. One day, men of evil came, destroyed the farm, killed his parents and left him for dead in the woods.
He lost everything that had ever mattered to him.
A shocked gasp escaped Ruby's lips. Jaune couldn't blame her. Tristard was way better at telling stories than Professor Port. Not very hard to be, but still.
More figures rose from the mist, cloaked and armed, surrounding the boy and his parents. They watched as the latter charged the intruders, seemingly in an effort to give the running child a chance to escape. On one of the assassins, much more detailed than the others, an ugly, crooked grin was visible.
That crooked grin would haunt the child for a long time to come...
He was eventually found by the guards of the nearby village, and brought to its orphanage. He quickly became an outcast, and the other children kept well away from him. All but one, a girl who, for reasons known only to her, decided that she would be his friend. He found her annoying at first, but her insistence of sticking around him eventually won him over.
The scene changed, and now the boy could be seen sitting alone, only to be approached by a slightly shorter figure, who began to poke at him insistently.
They became good friends, partners against the world. Soon after, they fled the orphanage, for the caretaker was a petty, neglecting old crone, and set out to make a good life for themselves. More specifically, the girl had always wished to go to the fabled college of a faraway land, to learn the arts of m... Aura.
But for two young children, such a journey was hard, and their options were pretty much limited.
Very soon they were forced to turn to thievery, and that drew the attention of a group that operated in the region. They found the children, and gave them a choice. Either join the gang, or die like the rest of the competition.
Not much of a choice, was it?
Another shift, this time showing the figures sneaking away from a rundown house, only to be surrounded by taller, armed figures, their hostiles intentions obvious.
The children chose the former. Years passed, and they grew. The girl became a thief without equal, while the boy became a fearsome warrior. Sadly, such an existence changed them, especially the boy. He became cold, uncaring of the world around him. Everything they did was just another job.
And it seemed that such would be their lot in life.
As all the others faded away, the back to back figures of the children grew, one wielding a pair of daggers, the other a large sword.
Then, one day, the bandit's leader picked both of them, along with some of his finest thugs, and led them to one of the farms that dotted the land. The farmers all had to pay a fee, you see, or else they would have to answer to the gang, and the owners of this particular one had missed quite a few payment deadlines.
The next scene showed a man forced down on his knees by two others, with the boy looming over him, sword in hand. Next to him, stood a figure much fatter than the rest, the leader no doubt, while the girl watched the scene from a bit further away.
The man begged and pleaded, but the leader was uncaring. An example had to be made, and the boy was to be the headsman. He did not even care, it was just another job. But as his blade was raised, a small voice wrang out.
The students watched in rapt attention as the boy slowly raised his weapon, then stopped as another, smaller figure walked into the scene.
'Papa?' An ethereal children's voice wrang out.
The farmer's daughter, roused from her sleep by the noise, had gone to see what was happening. The leader told the boy to carry on with it.
But the boy did not.
He simply stood unmoving, unblinking, staring at the child as horrified realization dawned on him.
The man with the crooked grin.
He had become the very monster that haunted his nightmares.
The leader's patience began to run thin, but just as he prepared to do the deed himself...
The fat figure moved forward, drawing his blade... only to be suddenly blindsided by the boy, who swiftly struck him down.
The boy lashed out against the one who had made him a servant. The other thugs made to retaliate, only for the girl to fall upon them.
When push came to shove, she did not hesitate to help her friend.
The scene showed the boy and the girl standing over the corpses of their former "comrades", the figure of the farmer staring on as he hugged his daughter.
The pair had realized that they had strayed. Allowed the harshness of their lives to dictate their actions.
They realized... and decided no more.
And now that they found themselves free, they decided to do what they had set out to do so many years ago.
Travel to the college of the far away kingdom, in order to learn the ways of aura.
The journey was long and arduous. Bandits and Grimm waylaid them at seemingly every step.
More scenes of battle were shown, with the boy and the girl swinging their weapons at indistinct foes.
But eventually, they came close to their objective.
The two were filled with hope and anticipation.
Finally, after so many years, their dream could finally be attained.
But it was not to be.
There was conflict raging through the kingdom. A petty conflict, fought for petty reasons to serve the whims of petty men, as they so often were.
And just as they had crossed the border, the pair were unwillingly drawn into a battle.
A battle... from which the girl did not walk away.
The scene shifted. This time, the boy was holding the unmoving body of the girl, shaking it gently, desperately trying to wake her up.
The boy... was shattered.
Once again, he had lost everything he had ever cared about.
So broken was he, that he did not even react as the victors, assuming him to be one of the enemies, chained him along with other captives.
The mist now showed the boy, on his knees with his head lying on a block of wood, another man standing beside him, holding a massive axe.
So broken was he, that even as the executioner's blade prepared to strike, he simply did not care.
Let Oblivion take him, as it had everything else.
But the gods had other plans.
A large winged figure rose from the mists, circling over the scene, jaws open wide in a silent roar.
For while men continued their war, a greater threat loomed.
The dragons, ancient beings of incredible power, had returned from their slumber of the ages intent on either claiming the world or destroying it if they couldn't have it.
The greatest of the beasts attacked the town the boy had been taken to.
It was a massacre.
They all watched, as an entire town manifested, only to be set ablaze by the soaring monster.
But against all odds, aided by the one soldier who believed he might be innocent, the boy survived.
Two men sneaked away from the ruined place, as the dragon above flew away.
Spurred by the soldier, the boy travelled to the nearest city, in order to warn them of potential attack. An attack which began just as he finished said warning.
Another city appeared, bigger, with a large castle sitting atop a large cliff, and a dragon, smaller than the last, soared overhead.
The beast tore through the city's guard, their swords and spears and arrows useless against it.
Desperate, the boy joined the battle.
And against all odds, his intervention turned the tide.
After hours of fighting, he landed the killing blow.
The reptilian creature lay on the ground, downed and defeated, the figure of the boy stabbing it through the throat.
The day was won.
But it was not over.
Soon, word reached the boy of a group of sages, who lived on a nearby mountain, hermits who were revered through the land.
And apparently, they had summoned him. By name.
That alone spurred him into action, and thus, he travelled to the top of the mountain to meet those who called him.
The boy was surrounded by a circle of other figures, their long robes hiding all features.
There, they explained to him the threat that the dragons represented. Of how they intended to remake the world in their image. Of how a prophecy of ages past had spoken of the rise of the one who would stand against them.
And of how the boy was the foretold one.
He was... less than enthused.
The world just kept taking from him, and now he was expected to save it?
To Oblivion with that.
The boy walked away from the hooded figures.
Feeling he had no other purpose, the boy travelled North, towards the college that had been their objective all along. Aura did not fascinate him has it had the girl, but he thought he owed it to his friend to make her dream a reality in some small measure.
A large fortress, hanging at the edge of a precipice, rose from the mists, and the boy entered.
It was not quite what he was expecting.
This castle, this place of learning which the stories and rumours he had heard claimed to be majestic and awe-inspiring, was a rundown thing, on which only a hand full of people resided. And unlike the wise and powerful sages he was expecting, they were... strange. Squabbling and bumbling amongst themselves like idiots.
But for all their eccentricities, they had welcomed him with open arms, and so he stayed.
The figure of the boy stood with other three in a circle, seemingly listening to the lecture of a fourth figure. Then, his ethereal shape began glowing.
Surprising everyone, himself included, he took to their teachings like a fish to water. Some thought it to be prodigious, in others jealousy grew. And always, the boy kept his distance.
But as time went on, despite his best efforts and the rising tensions, he came to care for this eccentric bunch, in his own way.
And for the first time in a long, long time, he was... content.
But the world kept turning, and his presence wouldn't be ignored much longer.
One day, another dragon attacked the college. They knew of the prophecy, and thought to eliminate the one threat to their plans.
One of the beasts stood on top of the college's tallest spire, raining down fire the figures bellow fired all sort or projectiles in return. Eventually, it toppled over and fell into the precipice.
The day was won once again.
But the boy realized that it wasn't over.
In his absence, chaos had spread.
Taking advantage of the civil war, which carried on even through their appearance, the spawn of Akatosh had wreaked havoc throughout the land.
They would continue to come after him, and thus, he wouldn't have a moment of peace as long as they were around.
So, he came to a decision.
Grudgingly, he once more set out to meet with the sages of the mountain.
He cared little for the world, but he'd be damned if he let it take from him again.
The sages welcomed him, and through their guidance, he learned what must be done.
Armed with this knowledge, he set out to bring the fight to the dragons.
Various scenes of battle played out in front of them, the boy versus the beast. Always victorious, and always growing stronger for it.
One by one, the dragons fell.
And the people of the war-torn land found hope, hope in the form of this boy, who fought only to protect a few.
Eventually, the greatest of the dragons, the very beast that he had first encountered on the town he was to meet his Doom, came forth to face him.
It towered over him, this monster. Dwarfing any of the others they had been shown, it was a creature of malice, covered in spikes and with red glowing eyes.
It breathed its ethereal flames upon the boy, even as he charged through them.
The battle lasted for days, fang and claw and flame pitted against steel and aura.
Grievous injuries were suffered by either side, things that none between man or dragonkind should have survived.
Then, as foretold so long ago, the boy struck down the Devourer and vanquished him utterly.
The dragon lay vanquished, as the boy stood over its corpse, raising his blade in triumph.
And so did his name pass down into history and legend.
The boy who became a criminal, the criminal who became a hero, the hero who became a Legend.
And with that, the glow faded from Tristard's hand, causing the mists to disperse, and allowing silence to follow in the wake of his tale.
He glanced over his audience.
Ruby was awed, staring back with a look of childish wonder.
"That was so awsome!" She cheered.
Blake was staring back with an unreadable expression.
"Quite the tale..." She mused.
Jaune stared back in confusion.
"Well... Yeah, it's a neat story. You're pretty good at this."
The Archmage nodded in acknowledgement of the praise.
Guess he did learn a thing or two from the bards.
"But... Where were you going with this?"
"Tell me, Jaune, what was the one thing that characterized the boy?"
Both team leaders blinked, a pondering expression on their faces as they considered the strange question.
"Uuhh... He was strong?" The blond ventured.
"Nay."
"He beat the bad guys and saved the day?" Ruby tried.
"Nay."
Their thoughtful expression shifted to confusion. They were not getting the point.
"...He was human."
Ruby and Jaune stared at Blake, unsure of what she meant.
"The boy ended up being hailed as a hero." The black-haired girl stated. "But he was just a person trying to live his life. He did not want to risk it, had no wish to save the world, but he did it regardless, to safeguard what little he did care about."
Tristard's smiled, pleased by his teammate's understanding.
"Just so, Blake, just so."
He then turned towards the blond knight, a serious expression on his face.
"Jaune, heroes are often exalted in stories. Made paragons of virtue and righteousness. But at the end of the day, they are human. People with their own dreams, and their own faults, no different from anybody else. It's what they do, when faced with the choices that no one wishes to make, when placed in the role that no one else wants, that earns them the title. And even then, it is all a matter of perspective. A person could be both the hero in the hearts of some, and the monster in the nightmares of others."
The Dragonborn stayed silent for a few moments, letting the words sink in.
"Also, they hardly ever accomplish anything alone."
Jaune and Ruby blinked, then stared at each other. What did he mean by...?
"The girl." they said, eyes wide in comprehension.
"And the soldier. And the sages. And the people of the college. They all lent him their assistance in one way or another. Just like anyone else, heroes need to be aided from time to time."
...
Jaune considered the advice he had been given.
He really had been going about this the wrong way, hadn't he?
"You guys have given me along to think about." The blond said as he rose. "Ruby, Tristard... thanks for the help."
"Think nothing of it."
"Yeah, what are friends for?"
The knight smiled at that.
"Oh, and Blake... well, thanks for listening."
The girl raised an eyebrow at the sincerity in his tone, but still nodded in acknowledgement.
"I'll be seeing you guys later."
And with that, Jaune walked towards the exit.
"Did we help him?" Ruby wondered out loud as she watched him leave.
"We gave him something to consider." Tristard replied. "It's up to him what he'll do next."
And with that, the trio prepared to return to work. But one of them found herself unable to contain her curiosity.
"Tristard?" Blake asked.
"Hm?"
"What happened to the boy afterwards?"
For a few moments he did not answer, a distant look on his face.
...
'Run, Tristard! Run!'
'Hello, my name is Sylara! What's yours?'
'You tried to steal in my turf. Bad move.'
'I want to be a mage!'
'We can't risk detection at this point. Kill them.'
'Sorry, Tristard...Far as I go... Live... a good adventure for me...will ...you?'
'He's not on the list.'
'Dooovaaahkiiin...'
'By the gods, you are one, aren't you? Dragonborn?'
'Long have we waited for one such as you.'
'You are weak, boy.'
'What is better?'
'M-mercy. Mercy!'
'Is this all you can muster, Dovahkiin?!'
'We're about to find out.'
...
"No one knows." He answered with a smile Blake couldn't quite glimpse the meaning of. "I like to believe he turned out pretty well, all things considered."
/
Forever Fall, with its perpetually red-leafed trees, was a place of beauty that truly lived up to its name.
Thud
However, as he was launched through the air by Cardin's punch, Jaune really couldn't find it in him to appreciate the fact.
Apparently, his bully had taken offense to a (totally deserved) snide remark from his partner, and had intended to have him throw a bottle of the sap they had been tasked to gather around the forest at her and let the rapier wasps he had acquired loose.
He refused.
Cardin and his cronies did not take well to that.
He wasn't strong like the others.
He did not deserve to be here.
He could not fight back.
But dammit all, he was NOT going to let this asshole hurt his friends. He'd rather let the Grimm eat him!
"ROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!"
Ah, crap...
/
RWBYS and NPR where understandably a bit confused when they saw three members of team CRDL running in a panic in their direction, screaming all the while.
"URSA! REALLY BIG URSA!"
Tristard grabbed one of them by the collar.
"Calm down, lest you attract more of them." He said, curbing the guy's panic somewhat. "Good, now where?"
"B-back there. It got Cardin!"
Ruby and Pyrrha looked at each other in alarm.
"Jaune." They said worriedly.
Then the younger girl stepped forward.
"Sis, Blake, Ren, Nora, go get Professor Goodwitch. Be on your guard. Weiss Pyrrha, Tristard, with me."
No one questioned her.
/
Jaune was once again sent flying.
Ok, the good news(?) were that he had managed to get the enormous armor-plated Ursa away from Cardin.
The bad news, were that the enormous armor-plated Ursa was now dedicating its full attention to the task of tearing him to shreds.
'Sometimes, I hate having a conscience...' He thought drily as he rolled into a kneeling position, and prepared to charge again.
/
Unnoticed by the blond knight, RWS and Pyrrha had arrived at the scene. But has Ruby and Weiss moved forward to assist...
"Wait."
Both the girls stared at the champion in surprise, to find her looking on with a serious expression.
"Let it play out."
"What? But..."
"I agree with Pyrrha." Tristard said, as he watched the struggle unfold with arms crossed. "This is Jaune's fight."
"But just the other day you said heroes needed help sometimes..." Ruby said, face scrunched up in adorable confusion.
"Aye." He replied. "That was a different lesson."
/
The Ursa swiped its claw at him, but this time Jaune managed to duck under the blow, and retaliate with a strike to its torso.
'It's big, and deceptively fast, but not very agile. Keep dancing around it, strike from different spots.'
And so it went. The beast still managed to clip him a few times, but always Jaune was immediately on his feet. And with a cut here and a slash there, he began to wear down the Grimm.
At one point, just as he managed to tear a gash through an unprotected spot in its back, the monster caught him off guard with a devastating backhand, but his shield rose to block it.
A small part of him wondered how had he managed to move it, but chalked it up as a surprisingly good reaction, completely unaware of his audience's intervention.
Sometime later, the Grimm began to tire, and the nicks and scratches it suffered began to take their toll.
In a last, desperate effort, the beast pounced on the boy.
With a calm that surprised him, the blond stood his ground and stabbed his sword forward.
The edge of Crocea Mors entered the Ursa's gaping maw and pierced through the roof of its mouth.
The beast slumped lifelessly to the ground, killed in an instant.
Freeing his blade, Jaune sighed in relief.
It was over.
As adrenaline wore off and his exhaustion made itself known, the blond fell to his knees.
"Jaune!"
He turned his head, to see his partner, Ruby, Weiss and Tristard running in his direction.
"Hey, guys..." He huffed.
"You ok?" The younger leader asked.
"Peachy... Just give me a moment to catch my breath..."
"I can do you one better." Tristard said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
As a golden glow surrounded him, Jaune felt his fatigue bleed away, the pain from the times he had been hit disappear.
A few moments passed before it faded, and the knight rose, feeling good as new.
"Thanks, Tristard, I owe you one."
"Nonsense." The Dragonborn replied, waving his hand dismissively. "You deserved some healing after dealing with that Ursa."
Jaune blinked.
"You saw that?"
"We only arrived in time to see you deal that last blow." Pyrrha said hurriedly. "You did great, Jaune."
"Yeah, it was awsome." Ruby cheered.
"Hmm, you did well, Arc." Weiss said, in as close to praise as she likely ever would.
The knight couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks guys." He then noticed Cardin still sprawled on the ground, staring at him in surprise. "Hang on a second."
Jaune moved towards his tormentor, staring at him with and unreadable look.
Then he offered a hand, helping the other boy up.
"Jaune..." Cardin paused, unsure what to say.
"Don't ever try to hurt my friends again." The blond interrupted in a deadly serious tone.
His piece said Jaune walked away, back to his friends.
Cardin watched him go, for once feeling... ashamed.
Jaune had saved him, even after all the crap he had done to him... Why?
"Because that's who he is."
Cardin started at the voice, then noticed not everyone had left the clearing.
"Your expression says it all." Tristard said. "Jaune has good reason to hate your guts, and yet he saved your life. Why? Because he's not the kind of person that let's petty reasons stop him from doing what he feels is right."
Cardin pondered these words. Jaune was a better man than he had given him credit for.
...On the other hand, he himself had done little other than push everyone around and harass other students since school began.
He had messed up, hadn't he?
"And now you begin to understand." Tristard said approvingly.
Then, a smile grew on his face.
"Now then, I came across this on the way here. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it?"
From out of nowhere, the Dragonborn pulled out a box. A box from which a buzzing noise rang.
"The rapier wasps?" Slipped through Cardin's lips before he registered it.
"Oh, they belong to you? Well then, it would be rude of me not to return them."
Realising the situation he was in, the bully paled.
"C-c'mon, Soverick." He stuttered, while taking a slow step back. "Let's talk about this."
"We already did." Was the reply. "I believe I told you that if I ever found you harassing others again, I'd do something unpleasant."
Tristard's smile turned downright dangerous.
"And I'm a man of my word."
"RAAN MIR TAAH!"
At these words of power, the box burst open, and the swarm within flew into position behind the Archmage, loyal soldiers waiting their command.
"C-c'mon, Soverick." Cardin pleaded desperately. "Jaune let me go."
"That was his judgement." Tristard said jovially. "This is my punishment."
"Sic'em."
A cacophony of buzzing wings and girlish shrieks spread through the clearing.
/
And done.
Not much action this time around, but some much needed character development (I hope).
But next chapter, we will begin the ending of the first volume, and trust me, over the next few chapters, shit will hit the proverbial fan...
I will try, Try, to have it out before the year's end, but no promises.
Cya all on the next one.