Chapter 5 - Campfire Chats
Jaune quietly fed another stick into the campfire, before looking at the fancy tent Sir Lancelot had retired to for the night and sighing to himself as his mind once gain replayed the events of the day, and he tried to make sense of just what in Oum's name had happened.
Let's see, he'd stumbled across Sir Mordred fighting an Addanc, helped kill... whatever it was, learned that his Aura could heal people, learned that there was apparently a whole other continent that knew nothing of Aura (or Huntsmen, or Dust), and, thanks to Sir Mordred's very enthusiastic explanation, learned about the Knights of the Round Table before he'd finally been led out of the forest he'd been lost in for almost three days.
So, far he could still understand all of that.
But how on Remnant had that translated to him getting an invitation by Sir Lancelot (who, based on what he'd deduced so far, was the equivalent of a Huntsman Academy Headmaster if Sir Mordred was the equivalent of a regular Huntsman) to join them as an apprentice (unofficially, pending the King's approval upon his return) in Camelot?
Oum, he could only imagine his friend's reactions when they found out. Nora would probably bruise his back slapping it in congratulations, Ren would probably just give his usual wise-sounding platitudes, Pyrrha would be torn between concern and praise, and Ruby...
...
Well, Ruby had joined Beacon two years early because of Ozpin's recommendation, so there was definitely nothing she could really say that he couldn't turn around on her...
"Hello there!"
A sudden voice next to his ear jolted Jaune out of his thoughts, and he spun around to find the young armored short-haired blonde girl that had been with Sir Mordred and Sir Lancelot leaning down towards him, giving him what he could only assume was a polite and friendly smile.
Jaune smiled back even as he took a moment to search his memories: "Hey... you're... Sir Gareth, right?"
"Please, just call me Gareth." Gareth's grin grew. "It's a bit too early to call me "sir", since I'm still a squire. Anyway, just wanted to properly introduce myself to you, Sir Jaune!"
"Well, it's nice to meet you then, Gareth." Jaune smiled back as he offered a hand to the girl. "And there's no need to call me "sir" either... I was only a Huntsman-in-Training..."
"So I've heard." Gareth nodded as she shook Jaune's hand, and sat down next to him. "Sir Mordred told us about you... truthfully, I believe hearing about your plight is one of the reasons why my mentor has such an interest in you."
"... wait, is that why he asked if I wanted to become an apprentice?" Jaune blinked as he finally put two and two together. Groaning, he quickly explained: "Look, like I told you guys earlier, I didn't mean to get anyone's attention! I just... I just saw someone who needed help, and-"
"And that is exactly it, Jaune." Gareth nodded, smiling with approval. "What the King values above all else, and what the Round Table thus looks for the most, is a heart full of nobility and chivalry. Even in this era of relative prosperity, it is not common that one meets a warrior stranded in a foreign land who still offers such charity to another."
"..." Jaune's smile faltered as he was reminded of his situation, and he looked away as he admitted: "... look, if I'm going to be honest... I still don't know if I can accept Sir Lancelot's offer, As I'm sure you already know... I'm not exactly from around here. And I was trained to be a Huntsman; I don't know the first thing about being a Knight, let alone being a Knight of the Round Table."
"That won't be an issue." Gareth reassured him easily. "Sir Palamedes hails from the other end of the former empire, and many among the ranks are Kings and Lords in their own right, all with their own domains to care for; as long as one's interests do not conflict, they are generally overlooked. In fact... joining our ranks might even help you find your homeland, between the wealth of knowledge within the archives of Camelot, and the access to foreign dignitaries..."
"And I guess whatever I learn about being a Knight will probably help me be a Huntsman?" Jaune asked wryly, before holding up his hands in surrender as Gareth only grinned and nodded. "You know, you're really selling me on this... did Sir Lancelot ask you to do this?"
"Honestly, no." Gareth shook her head. "Sir Lancelot would never act so under-handed; he would have spoken to you personally if he wished to give you further encouragement. But I trust Sir Lancelot's judgement, and based on Sir Mordred's account of your battle with the Addanc, I would definitely feel honored to fight alongside you one day."
"Uh..." Jaune looked away and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he remembered how he'd fared in Beacon for the past few semesters. Even with Pyrrha's teaching him how to fight, Ren helping tutor him, and Nora helping him with his workouts, he was only confident in fighting Beowolves by himself, or maybe Ursai, Nevermore, and Deathstalkers with his team backing him up.
"Or perhaps we could have a practice bout together?" Gareth suggested excitedly. "Do you know how to joust? I heard from Sir Mordred that you used a wooden stick against the Addanc; are you proficient in lances and spears, Jaune?"
"Um... not really..." Jaune tried to explain as soon as Gareth paused for breath. "It just happened to be the only thing I had on hand..."
"Oh." Gareth's expression didn't outwardly change, but for some reason Jaune swore the brown bangs sticking out of the side of her blonde hair seemed to droop. "Then what kind of weapons are you familiar with, Jaune?"
"... uh... well... I used to train with my great-great-grandfather's sword. but I lost it before I came here..." Jaune admitted dejectedly even as he quietly pulled out his scabbard. "This thing's all I've got left."
"... I'm sorry for your loss, Jaune." Gareth murmured as she leaned forward and quietly inspected the empty sheath. "... if it is of any comfort, this is certainly an impressive scabbard. I have not seen many scabbards made out of only metal..."
"Well, it turns into a shield too." Jaune replied off-handedly, still imagining his family's reaction if they ever found out. After all, it was bad enough that he'd run away from home with the family sword, but now he'd gotten it broken, too?!
"... I'm sorry, I'm afraid I must have misheard you..." Gareth blinked.
"Huh?" Jaune simply flicked the scabbard into a sheath, and slid it down onto his forearm in demonstration. "No, see?"
"... how?" Gareth couldn't help but ask as she poked at it. "I mean, I've heard that the royal armory holds a ship that doubles as a shield, but I've never seen a scabbard that could do the same!"
"... you're kidding me, right?" Jaune turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm serious!" Gareth protested with a laugh. "My brother, Sir Gawain, he told me the King has a ship called the Prydwen, that can also function as a shield!"
"... but... how?" Jaune tried to imagine it.
"Hey, you're the one with a shield-scabbard; you tell me!" Gareth continued to prod at the shield in amazement.
"I don't know how it works myself, Gareth!" Jaune raised a hand in surrender even as he flicked it back into a sheath. "I just got it from my great-great grandfather. Anyway, what about you? What've you got?"
"Nothing as impressive as a shield-scabbard, I can assure you." Gareth rolled her eyes modestly as she took the bait and reached for her own equipment. "While my shield is tempered steel, it doesn't transform. My lance, on the other hand..."
Jaune quietly swallowed a gulp as he observed the massive spear, easily taller than he was and thicker than his arms.
... was it just his imagination, or did the lance have a magazine, like Crescent Rose had?
"Uh, Gareth?" Jaune pointed to the part that caught his eye. "Is that...?"
"Ah, I see you've noticed what makes Ira Lupus so special!" Gareth preened. "In truth, this is no mere lance! Lord Merlin helped me design and create it with his magic, allowing it to fire potent bursts of energy from a distance! I believe he called it a... gun-lance?"
"..." Jaune suddenly felt the urge to make sure her and Ruby Rose never met.
Or maybe he should introduce the two...
Ruby could have definitely used more friends, and Gareth definitely seemed to be interested in weapons...
"By the way, Jaune..." Gareth spoke up hesitantly, as a thought occurred to her. "Would you happen to know about guns? So far no one I've talked has even heard of them before, but, since you've come from a faraway place..."
"Uh... I guess I know a thing or two about guns..." Jaune admitted with a shrug, before he quickly added: "Not that much, though, I was always more of a "classics" kind of guy, but one of my best friends loved weapons and had a scythe that turned into a gun, so..."
"A gun-scythe?" Gareth couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. "How does that even work?!"
"Well, if I remember correctly..." Jaune grabbed a stick and sketched out what he could remember from Ruby's excited ramblings into the dirt. "The pole also serves as the barrel, so she buried the blade of the scythe into the ground to stabilize it when firing. Sometimes, when she was swinging the scythe, she'd also fire the gun part to give the scythe more force too..."
"..." Gareth studied his drawings and looked down at Ira Lupus, before turning to Jaune and requesting: "Please help me re-design Ira Lupus."
"Um, I'm really only repeating what my friend told me..." Jaune tried to ward off her enthusiasm as she did her best impression of any one of his many elder sisters when they wanted something from him. "What about that Merlin? Why don't you ask him to help you?"
"Well... I'm... honestly not too fond of Lord Merlin..." Gareth bashfully admitted, her foot fidgeting. "Don't get me wrong, I respect his deeds and appreciate his help! But... I really don't know why, but I find him a bit scary... ah, but please don't tell anyone I said that!"
"Said what?" Mordred's voice caused the two of them to jump, and they turned to see a familiar petite armored form stroll up towards the campfire.
"Sir Mordred!" Gareth squeaked. "N-nothing! Nobody said anything!"
"... tch." Mordred couldn't help but click her tongue as she watched the un-Knight-like behavior of her elder sister, and she bluntly jerked her thumb in the direction she came from as she said: "Then it's your turn to take watch, Squire Gareth."
"Right away then, Sir Mordred." Gareth nodded even as she hastily jumped up and went to her assigned post.
"Ugh, that was boring as hell..." Mordred whined as she slumped against a log near the fire. "This forest's too quiet... if only something like another Addanc would pop out..."
"Um, please remember I still don't have a weapon, Sir Mordred..." Jaune reminded him with a lazy wave of his empty scabbard. "And most of us probably can't beat an Addanc to death with our bare hands..."
"Oh, please." Mordred rolled her eyes at his modesty. "You and I kicked Addanc butt just now, and we didn't have two other members of the Round Table with us! An army of Addancs could come, and we'd turn them all into hides!"
"... please don't tempt fate like that, Sir Mordred." Jaune half-joked, as a small part of him remembered just how Initiation had gone.
"Aw, where's your sense of adventure and excitement, Jaune?" Mordred grumbled before changing the subject. "Anyway, what were you and Gareth talking about?"
"Eh, nothing much..." Jaune shrugged as he leaned back, and stretched out his arms. "We were just discussing weapons, and before that she was trying to convince me to accept Lancelot's offer-"
"Wait, you needed convincing?" Mordred blinked in shock. "Even after how I told you being a Knight of the Round Table was the best thing ever?!"
"I know, I know..." Jaune held up his hands before she could begin to proselytize again. "It's just... my friends and family must be worried about me..."
"..." Even Mordred could see the concern reflected in Jaune's blue eyes as he stared wistfully down at the fire, and while she personally couldn't really understand that (maybe except for Agravain nagging at her)...
... well, like she'd told him, a Knight of the Round Table helped people.
And he had helped her with the Addanc, and healed her arm...
Not that she needed help, of course. She didn't owe him anything.
"Hey." Mordred spoke softly as she placed an arm on his shoulder, and as he looked up she grinned behind her helmet, even if he couldn't see it. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll see them again."
"... thanks." Jaune smiled back at Mordred. "I can't wait to tell them all about the awesome Knights of the Round Table and my time with them."
"So you'll be accepting Lancelot's offer?" Mordred pressed.
"Well, Gareth said that it's probably my best bet at finding out where my home is." Jaune explained. "And, of course, learning from a Knight will only help me be a better Huntsman in the future."
"Hah! By the time we're done you won't even want to leave!" Mordred declared pridefully. "And wait until you meet King Arthur, too! ... I still can't believe you have Kingdoms without Kings..."
"Yeah... I honestly don't know why they're called Kingdoms, either..." Jaune admitted with a wry smile, having already had this discussion with the small and excitable knight earlier in the day.
As he shifted and stretched his back, however, a yawn escaped his lips, and Jaune suddenly realized just how tired he was.
Then again, for the first time since he'd woken up in this strange land, he didn't actually have anything to worry about.
He'd been fed and watered, he wasn't in any immediate danger, and he finally had an idea of where he was going and what he was doing.
For the first time since he'd woken up here, he could actually allow himself to relax and feel exhausted.
"Hey, maybe you should get some rest before it's your turn to keep watch." Mordred suggested as she watched him.
"Nah, I'm good, I'm-" Jaune tried to reassure her, before another yawn escaped his lips. Once he'd let it fully loose, however, he quickly continued explaining: "Used to do this all the time, during Beacon's survival lessons with my team. At least this forest isn't full of bears and wolves..."
"I wish! It would have certainly made my shift a lot more interesting." Mordred retorted with a chuckle.
Jaune just rolled his eyes even as he looked up to the night sky, and quietly muse about the strange land he'd found himself in, and especially the people he'd met- wait, what?
"Hey, is it just me, or is there something weird about the moon?" Jaune couldn't help but wonder as he focused his eyes upon it.
"What do you mean?" Mordred followed his gaze, and stared. "It's the same as always, isn't it?"
"Huh? But it isn't broken or anything!"
"... are you sure you don't need some rest?"
Author's Notes: Something something didn't know I'd put this out so quickly something something really should've waited to include this part in the last chapter something something don't expect the next chapter any time soon.