Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 41: The Sand Whale Strikes
It was currently eight in the morning at the farmhouse. I was in the master bedroom drinking some coffee and reading the news on my scroll. Looking down, I saw Courage sleeping on his back on my lap. Normally, I would be either asleep in my room or just getting up. But today was a bit different.
It was two weeks since the vacation voyage on the evil river where we met Carmen. Blake and Weiss had gone back to Beacon the next day after we got back. After they left, it was relatively quiet. That was until Eustace got back naked and covered in bananas a few days later. It was a bit of a surprise when we saw. But our surprise continued when a yesterday, we were visited by the entirety of Team Rwby plus their mothers. They included, Kali which was Blake's mom. Willow which is Weiss's mom. Summer who is the mother of Ruby and stepmother of Yang. And last was Raven who is the mother of Yang.
About two weeks after the magic tree of Nowhere, the mothers of them had met up with each other to reunite and discuss what happened why everything changed so suddenly. Thankfully, while Team Rwby did tell them about their adventures in Nowhere, they did not say anything about the magic tree of nowhere. After that, they all decided to take a vacation together with their daughters. And for some reason again, they decided to come here to Nowhere. Reason being, they wanted to see the place where their daughters had their adventures. Which they chose to start with me and the farmhouse. And now, the mothers are sleeping in my room while Team Rwby was sleeping in the living room.
*Yawn* 'Morning Jaune.' Courage said stretching.
"Morning." I said while giving him a small scratch on the ear.
'What's on today's-' Courage began but was cut off when we heard something.
*WHISTLE*
"What was that?" I asked worried.
'Sounded like a train-' He began was cut off when something big and heavy hit the house which sent the bed Muriel and Eustace were on flying to us. I managed to move us to the side to avoid us getting hit and smashed through the wall like the bed just did.
"Is it time to get up already?" Eustace weakly asked.
"Eustace, there was an earthquake or an explosion. Or worse." Muriel said panicked.
"I don't think it either of them Muriel. And good morning." I told her as I moved the mattress so that they could get up. At that moment, the mothers of Team Rwby came out of my room worried.
"Did anyone else feel that?" Willow asked trying to keep calm.
"Are you all alright?" Kali asked when she saw all the wood and destroyed wall.
"We're all right." I answered as I finished moving the mattress away.
"Did anyone else feel the earthquake?" Yang asked suddenly as she and the rest of Team Rwby came running up.
"I don't think it's an earthquake Yang. But yeah." I answered.
"Well, whatever it was, we best check outside the house for any damage. And to be safe in case if it was an earthquake and an aftershock comes." Raven suggested.
"Good thinking." Ruby said before dashing outside before anyone else could get a chance to say anything.
"My little rose is so adorable." Summer said giggling. We all chuckled before heading downstairs as well. Opening the front door, we went over to the side where we felt the hit. And to our shock, we saw a massive ident in the wall with broken wood. Almost as if something large had crashed into it.
"Must have been those darn neighborhood kids again." Eustace said when he saw the damage.
"Exactly what kind of kids are you talking about?" Willow asked glaring at him. Needless to say, she instantly disliked Eustace the moment she saw him.
"I doubt even Yang could make that kind of damage by herself. Outside of combat that is." Raven said eyeing the damage.
"But how about this trail. What could have made this?" Blake asked.
"I have no idea." I answered while Courage sniffed the trail. But as he did that, we started to feel the ground tremble.
"After shock." Weiss said as she tried to remain up right. The shaking seemed to intensify but then out of nowhere, we saw a giant whale come out of the ground and head towards us.
"Oh, my." Muriel said surprise.
"What's huh?" Eustace asked confused.
"MOVE!" Summer shouted when we saw that the Whale was heading in our direction. We all quickly moved to the side to avoid getting crushed. All except for Raven and Yang as they stood where they were. We were about to tell them to move, but didn't need to as the Whale landed in front of them. The impact of the ground caused everyone else to tumble to the ground.
"You missed." Yang said with a smirk. But the smirk left when the whale slammed its tail on the ground.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed before dashing behind me.
"Better call the exterminator." Eustace said not fazed at what he is seeing.
"ICKETT? ICKETT BAGGE?!" The whale demanded.
"Ickett Bagge? That's me father's name." Eustace explained.
"I'm sorry Mr. Whale. But Ickett Bagge is no longer with us." Muriel told the whale.
"I thought that our kids were first crazy or something happened to them when they told us that they met actual animals, not faunus, that can talk and act like people." Willow said feeling a bit weird that a whale was talking to us.
"And whatever happened to them happened to Summer when she said she was kidnapped by a giant bird to babysit baby birds." Raven added.
"He's standing right there. Don't try to fool me." The whale threatened while pointing one of its fins at Eustace.
"Eustace. That sand whale thinks you're your own father." Muriel told him. Taking his hat off, Eustace took out a photo of his father.
"I don't see any resemblance." Eustace said as we all looked at the photo. And aside from the white beard, they could honestly be twins.
"Um. Mr. Whale. What do you want?" Weiss asked.
"I've come for my accordion." The whale answered.
"What? Accordion? I don't know—Hey, me father had an accordion." Eustace said suddenly remembering.
"Perhaps you should give it back." Raven suggested.
"Me Ma has it." Eustace explained.
"Oh, great. We have to deal with her again." Blake groaned while slapping her forehead. Only to get a light smack by Kali on the back of her head.
"Don't say that. We don't know how she could be. She might be better than Eustace." Kali scolded.
"Actually Ms. Belladona." I began but she cut me off.
"Kali. Please call me Kali. After all, you deserve it after everything you've done for our daughters." She told me.
"Ok. Kali. Well, if you ever heard the expression, like father like son, it's exactly like that. Except it's his mother instead." I explained.
"Oh." She said realizing this.
"You're trying to cheat me like you cheated me before Ikectt Bagge. You won that accordion off of me in a crooked card game a long time ago. And I want it back... NOW!" The whale demanded.
"I guess greed and selfishness runs in his family as well as with Jacquess." Willow said disgusted at having to repeat her ex-husband's name.
"I ain't Ickett. I ain't got no accordion. And I don't want to be talking to no whale." Eustace shouted.
"I think you should tell him where he can find his accordion before you regret it." Summer said glaring at him.
"It's taken me all this time to find you. And I won't be cheated again." The whale told him.
"Blah, blah, blah." Eustace taunted which caused the whale to growl.
"Now you have done it." Yang said as she readied her gauntlets. But instead of listening to anything, Eustace further enraged the whale.
"I'm telling you. I don't have the accordion. Me Ma has it." Eustace told the whale.
"Ok, Ikett. If you don't give me my accordion, I'm going to have to shake you up until you do." The Whale threatened. It then leapt at us with its mouth open.
"WATCH OUT!" I shouted as we moved out of the way. Unfortunately, while Courage, the moms and I managed to avoid the attack, Team Rwby, Muriel and Eustace got swallowed up by the whale.
"RUBY!" Summer shouted.
"BLAKE!" Kali shouted.
"WEISS!" Willow shouted.
"YANG!" Raven shouted.
"Damn it." I said as Courage and I ran after the whale. But quickly discovered that despite not being in water where it should be, it moved like it was in water. Meaning that we quickly grew tired and before long, it was gone.
'What do we do Jaune?' Courage asked panting and out of breath. But before I could say anything, four angry shadows loomed over us. Looking up, we saw the mothers of Team Rwby glaring at us with an intensity that only a mother could muster.
"Um, yes?" I asked as sweat started to pour down my face while Courage shivered behind me.
"Jaune." Raven began in a chilling tone. "You and Courage are both going to help us get our children back."
"Or else. Well, you don't want to know what we have in store for both of you." Kali added. Gulping, I steeled myself, which was hard to do under their fierce gaze, before answering.
"Alright. We'll get them back. Besides, it seems that the Whale just wants Eustace." I told them.
"Where should we begin then?" Kali asked. Courage and I looked towards each other before sighing,
"First we should get that accordion as that's what the Whale wants." I answered.
'And that means going to Ma Bagge. Great.' Courage whined. Even though, she treats him nice most of the time, he still doesn't like her.
"How bad can she really be?" Summer asked.
"How bad can who be?" Raven asked her confused.
"Oh, right. I forgot." Summer said giggling. The threatening atmosphere now mostly gone. "When I came back to life by whatever force, it gave me the ability to understand Courage."
"Um. So, you can understand him?" Kali asked confused and worried.
"That's really concerning is what I would say had we not just witnessed a sand whale kidnap our daughters." Raven said with wide eyes.
"Anyway, who was this person that you mention, um, Courage?" Willow asked hesitantly.
"He said we have to go to Ma Bagge, mother of Eustace to get back the accordion." I answered.
"You told me earlier that Eustace's mother was as bad as him. But now I am having doubts about that." Kali said thinking it over.
"And I'm sure if we can discuss it, we can get that accordion easily." Willow added with the other nodding in agreement.
'Oh, if they only knew.' I thought as I looked over to Courage who shook his head as well. Sighing, I turned back to them. "Alright. Just be prepared. Let's go."
Half an Hour later
Walking up the dirt road, we made our way to the trailer up ahead where Ma Bagge resided. We would have taken Eustace's truck but the whale destroyed it when it was leaving. The trip here was tense as the moms were silent and glaring at me. But I shrugged it off after a while. Stepping up to the trailer, we heard what sounded like a razor coming from inside. Knocking on the door, we waited for Ma Bagge to hopefully answer.
"So, this is where she lives?" Summer asked as she looked around the area and wrinkled her nose at all the trash.
"Couldn't she have at least cleaned up every now and then. Seems like this place hasn't been cleaned in years," Willow added while covering her nose.
"She is just as cheap as Eustace." I explained. They nodded as we continued to wait. A few seconds later, the door was opened.
"Courage. Jaune. Good to see both of you. Yes." She said smiling before frowning and looking around. "Where's my stupid son. And who are these ladies?"
"I'm Raven. This is Willow, Summer and Kali." Raven answered as she also introduced the others.
"Don't care. What do you all want?" Ma Bagge asked impatiently.
"Came here for an accordion that Eustace says that belonged to his father that you now have that initially belonged to a sand whale." I answered while Courage transformed into a whale then an old man with a white beard and finally an accordion. All the while, Kali, Raven and Willow stare in surprise at what Courage just did while Summer just smiled.
"That darn sand whale. Come on in. I'll explained everything." Ma Bagge said as she went inside and motioned us to follow. Going inside with Willow closing the door, we went over to the table as Ma Bagge handed each of us some water bottles while giving Courage some dog food. She then sat down with the accordion we are looking for.
"How do you know the Whale Ms. Bagge?" Willow asked.
"Drop the formal crap. No need for any of that useless stuff." Ma Bagge said surprising Willow. "Anyway, I know that sand whale because he was me husband's mortal enemy."
"A whale being a mortal enemy? How does that happen?" Kali asked amazed.
"You'd be surprised at what can happen. Either way, Ikett spent his life hunting that durn whale." Ma Bagge answered before moving to an object covered in a tarp before removing it. "And this was Ikett's fine vessel."
"A fishing row boat. Was his fine vessel?" Raven asked skeptically.
"Yeah, now get in. All of us are going to hunt that whale." Ma Bagge answered as she easily grabbed me and Courage and tossed us into the ship before tossing the accordion in as well.
"OW!" We bother grunted hitting the floor of the boat.
"Why do we need to hunt the whale? Can't we just have that accordion so we can get our children back from the Whale that took them?" Willow asked.
"Ha. Like I'm going to give up this accordion. But I'll cut you a deal. Help me catch that Whale and I'll give you this accordion." Ma Bagge said with a greedy smile.
"And our children?" Raven asked threateningly with a deadly aura emanating from her. But Ma Bagge just scoffed at her.
"Yeah, yeah. Your children as well. Now let's go." Ma Bagge demanded as she began to push the boat out another entrance to exit the trailer. "You want your children back or not?"
Half an Hour later
"I question the efficiency of this." Willow said as she sat down on the seat of the boat.
"Don't like it. Exit is that way." Ma Bagge said pointing to her left acting as if there was a door despite the fact that we were in a boat.
Instead of just following the Whale with a vehicle, Ma Bagge insisted that we use the rowing boat. And Courage and I were the lucky ones to row the boat with the oars in the sand. Ma Bagge was at the front looking around to see if she can spot the whale. Team Rwby's moms were sitting on the benches talking about everything they just learned and what else they are planning on doing after this. Taking a quick look around, we saw that we had made it back to the house.
"That way now." Ma Bagge demanded.
Cursing under our breaths, only to get smacked by Kali and Raven, we used the oars to turn the boat into the direction Ma Bagge wanted before rowing in that direction. Rowing as fast as we can and carefully to make sure to not fall into one of the holes that sand whale made, we hoped to eventually reach the whale before our arms fell off. After about ten minutes, we were forced to close our eyes when a sand storm hit out of nowhere. Grabbing some cloths that were on the boat, I tore off a piece and handed it to everyone so no cand can get in their mouths or nose. Soon though, we were forced to stop rowing when the sand storm became so thick and intense that we could not see anything. But it quickly went away. Only to leave a surprise for us.
"HOW DID WE END UP HERE?" Kali shouted as everyone huddle in the center of the boat. Somehow, someway we were perched precariously on a tall thin tree about a hundred feet in the air.
"Nobody move." Raven ordered as the ship finally stopped rocking back and forward.
"How do we get down from here?" Willow asked sweating. Before anyone could offer an idea, a particularly strong wind came and tilted the boat to the side enough where we began to fall to the ground.
"OW!" Courage and I shouted in pain as we hit the ground. Getting up, I rubbed my head in pain and saw Team Rwby moms land gracefully next to us. But before anyone could say anything, Ma Bagge shouted in our ears.
"STUPID DOG AND KID! NOW ROW!" She ordered. Frighetned, Courage began to row frantically.
"WAIT STOP!" I shouted when I realized that we were basically in the edge of a tall cliff. Unfortunately, I was too late as we row off the cliff. And this fall was worse as it was about a thousand foot drop this time. When we hit the ground, we went through it by about ten feet. Groaning, we slowly got up and looked around. Soon spotting the mothers walking towards us.
"Are you two, okay?" Summer asked us worried.
"Fine. But how did you four get down here so fast?" I answered before asking.
"Simple. We took the stairs." Willow answered before pointing to a set of stairs nearby that led up the cliff.
"Enough wasting time. You four get in. I see the whale. Now follow it." Ma Bagge suddenly yelled.
"But how are we going to get it the boat out of the-" Raven began to asked but was silenced when Courage, using his insane strength, somehow lifted the boat out of the ground swiftly and easily by rowing the oars. "Never mind."
"Get in. Or don't you want to save your precious daughters?" Ma Bagge taunted. The mothers growled before getting in the boat.
Rowing as fast we can, we gave chase to the whale. But we knew that we wouldn't be able to catch up to it. And even if we did, it can easily put some distance between us. I began to wonder what we could use to lure the whale to us when I suddenly heard the sound of the accordion being played. Looking up, we saw an annoyed looking Raven play the accordion while Summer giggled. We were confused for a moment before Summer gave us a wink and we instantly understood what she they were doing. Unfortunately, Ma Bagge soon heard the accordion as well.
"Put that down. I ain't giving that to no stupid sand whale. All of you are stupid. Do you know how much a sand whale is worth? I'm bagging him and taking him all the way to the whale bank." Ma Bagge yelled before laughing greedily.
"At first, I thought Jaune and my daughter were exaggerating but you really are Eustace's mother. Only someone as greedy and selfish as you can produce someone as him." Kali said disgusted.
"Ah, shut up." Ma Bagge simply told her as she rubbed her hands together. Imaging what she can do with all the money she can get if she successfully manages to get the whale.
"And what about our children?" Willow asked threateningly.
"Ah, the whale can keep my stupid son and his stupid. And to keep them company, it can also have your children as well." She answered while laughingly.
"Care to say that again?" Raven asked with an aura of pure rage coming from her.
"You heard me." She answered before realizing what she just said. "Uh-oh."
"Cover your eyes and ears Jaune and Courage." Summer told us as she smiled wickedly and cracked her knuckles. "This won't be appropriate for either of you."
'We should leave.' Courage told me as he grabbed the accordion.
"As fast as we can." I said agreeing with him.
Grabbing him, I helped him out of the boat before getting out as well. We then ran as fast as we could to the whale all the while ignoring the screaming yells of pain Ma Bagge released when she started to get pummeled by the moms of team Rwby. Knowing that we could lose the whale at any moment, we started to play the accordion as we started to get slightly closer. For a brief moment, we were afraid he would not hear it. But luckily, he did as he hit the ground hard in surprise. He then turned to us with his eyes going wide.
"HEY! That's my accordion." The whale said before jumping up and diving into the ground and heading towards us.
"CRAP! RUN!" I shouted as we began to run away as we near he could easily smash us to pieces.
'I have an idea.' Courage said as he shifted his grip on the accordion before tossing it into the air where the whale caught it in his mouth. The whale then dove into the ground again.
"There you two are." Willow suddenly said giving us a light scare. Turning around, we saw Kali, Raven and Willow in the boat sitting down and smiling as Summer rowed the boat with incredible speeds to us.
"And we see you managed to return the accordion to the sand whale." Kali added as the row boat came to a stop with them getting out shortly after.
"Oh, thank Oum that's over." Summer said before collapsing.
"Um-" I began but Raven stopped me.
"Payback for making me play the accordion. Don't question further." She explained before threatening.
"But now we need to find the whale to get our children back along with your parents." Kali reminded.
"HERE THEY ARE!" The whale shouted as he came out of the ground and landed next to us. He slammed his tail before letting out a giant stream of sand from the hole on top of his head. And from it, Muriel, Eustace and Team Rwby came out.
"AAHHH!" We heard them scream as they flew high into the air. Soon the sand that was keeping them in the air stopped which caused them to fall.
"WE GOT YOU!" The mothers shouted as they moved to catch their children which they successfully did.
'Help me Jaune.' Courage said. Looking down at him, I saw him carrying a mattress. Nodding, I helped him position it so that Muriel and Eustace would land safely on it. Though, we did miscalculate a bit as Muriel safely landed on the mattress but Eustace hit the ground just short of the mattress.
"OW! STUPID DOG AND KID!" Eustace shouted in pain.
"Thanks for bringing my accordion back." The whale said getting our attention. At that moment, Ma Bagge came running up heavily bandaged while holding a giant net.
"GOT YA!" She shouted as she used it on the whale. Only to realize that the net was cut.
"Ahem." Summer said getting our attention.
"Pardon us. But we are so clumsy sometimes." Willow added as she showed a pair of scissors.
"Argh. Stupid ladies." Ma Bagge grumbled before realizing that the whale was smirking at her. "Uh-oh."
"You going to pay." The whale said before swallowing her and going away. Shaking my head, I turned to see Team Rwby getting hugged by their mothers before recoiling in disgust when they realized that Team Rwby was covered in whale saliva.
"I'm going to need a bath." Weiss said disgusted.
"We all do." Blake said as she shook off some excess saliva from her face.
"Either way, thanks for getting us out." Yang said before wincing when she noticed that her hair was covered in saliva as well.
"Yeah. For getting us out. Though, it was fun riding around in there." Ruby said pouting a bit. Before outing even more when Summer pinched her cheeks while saying how adorable she was.
"Well, I'm glad everything worked out." Muriel said getting up and dusting herself off. Surprisingly, she and Eustace were not covered in saliva.
"But the whale got me Ma." Eustace reminded us.
"Like Muriel said, we're glad everything worked out." Kali said smiling.
"I just got one question." Ruby said getting our attention.
"What is it baby rose?" Summer asked smiling now covered in saliva as well from hugging Ruby.
"What does a whale want with an accordion anyway?" She asked curious.
"Seems kind of odd that a whale wants one." Wiess agreed.
"Maybe he is in a play or musical." Blake suggested. At this, I remembered something I saw this morning. Taking out my scroll, I began to look for the music section.
"What are you looking for vomit boy?" Yang asked with a smirk as she leaned her elbow on my shoulder.
"This." I answered when I found what I was looking for. Turning the scroll around, I showed them the reason he wanted the accordion.
"The Sand Whalers Accordion Group?" Weiss asked reading the section I showed them. Which was a poster showing the upcoming event that was about sand whales playing the accordion. And in it was the whale that just left.
"Learn something new every day." Willow said surprised yet sounding interested in the event.
"Maybe we could see it one day if they are around again." Weiss said liking the idea of watching the event.
'Note to self, book some tickets for them on the computer.' I thought s I closed my scroll.
"Okay. Let's head home as we are starting to stink." Yang said pinching her nose shut.
"Before we go, I have to ask this." Blake said getting our attention.
"What is it honey?" Kali asked smiling.
"Why was Ma Bagge covered in lots of bandages that seemed to be bleeding?" Blake asked curious. The others seemed curious as well.
"It's best you don't know about that until your all older." Summer said with a smile that sent shivers down our spines. The fact that the other mothers were smiling the same way as well made us start to sweat a bit as well as we made our way back home.
Note:
(1) The Mask with Blake and Velvet. (2) Muted Muriel with Ruby and Weiss. (3) Car Broke, Phone yes with Pyrrha. (4) The last of the star makers with Winter and Iris. (5) Night of the Scarecrow with Qrow, Ruby and Yang. (6) Thousand years of Courage with Sun and Neptune. (7) Wrath of the librarian with Blake. (8) Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog with Nora and Ren. (9) Cabaret Courage with Wiess. (10) Family Business with Winter. (11) Curse of Shirley with Qrow, Yang and Ruby. (12) Goat Pain with Blake and Iris(?) (13) Journey to the center of Nowhere with Peach. (14) Forbidden hat of Gold with Port and Oobleck. (15) McPhearsome Phantom with Blake and her parents. (16) Heads of Beef with Sun and Neptune.
Changed a few parts to better fit the story. (I.E. The sand whale destroying the house before swallowing Muriel and Eustace to doing it in front of the house.)