Sorry if I got any hopes up, but I probably won't be bringing in RWBY's canon plot into this. My reasoning is that the whole point of Jaune wandering outside the Kingdom walls is to shine a focus on the part of RWBY that really isn't expanded upon, the frontier towns. Maybe I can have Jaune become of note to Ozpin and he'll send him to where he thinks Salem is meddling with.
Unless I have an idea for a 'main plot' (which I don't), I'll keep the current formula of each chapter essentially being its own self-contained (ish) one-shot.
That said, just because I don't have a main plot in mind, doesn't mean I can't have plot lines. Something like an arc consisting of adventures in Vacuo that leads up to investigating the Crown. Or Jaune following the path of destruction left by the Branwens in Mistral. Or Jaune almost freezing to death in the Atlesian tundra.
Also, just an idea: Should I include magical shit? And by that, I mean artifacts. Things like the the magic necklace and Clock of Displacement that were used in RWBY: The Grimm Campaign.
With that said, while I showed it before, I have one more trait I need to highlight. One more trait, or skill, of Jaune's he uses a lot.
The White Knight walked many paths,
Made many friends,
Although he also earned many villain's wrath,
He braved their fury until the end.
(buffer)
Jaune Arc was not always a Huntsman. Not in the chronological sense, as in that he once wasn't a Huntsman. As in, in his time wandering as a Huntsman, he didn't always act as a Huntsman. As one only not in name, he took the oath to always help those in need, which is why he was helping take care of a farm while the family who owned it were at a funeral. That was also why he was currently sitting on a rocking chair, whistling while shining Crocea Mors on a gloomy day. Perfect for a funeral.
"I probably should show more surprise." He supposed he should. He didn't go to Beacon or any of the other academies, but he was pretty sure that the students, even if they were trained to fight monsters born of hate, hadn't seen death like he had. At least not typically. The frontier has no use for those who can't handle death. And at the start, he really couldn't handle it. The first one was peaceful, a man dying of hunger. The next wasn't. It made him go catatonic. The only reason the Grimm didn't slaughter him as well was because of his teacher, who protected him and helped him move on.
"Pour one out for the poor soul here. And then, we move on." This was a relatively safe area, so the family could afford to gather in a funeral. They had a different huntsman guarding the funeral as well, just in case. Regardless, his job was important: Guard the farm from any Grimm, intruders, or other dangers.
Apparently, he'd been making a name for himself. Or at least his actions had. When he said he'd work for free, the family in question immediately recognized him as the 'White Knight.' Weird name, but he supposed it worked. Typically when he told people he'd work for free, they got suspicious. Or, at least whenever it wasn't regarding Grimm. When it was, they were usually grateful. He supposed the reputation worked to his advantage, letting him work without needing to deal with skepticism about his intentions. He supposed it was only fair, being out of the walls and under constant threats made people paranoid. Well, paranoid assumes wrongness. More, cautious, Jaune supposed.
Plus, now that Jaune thought about it, he actually did do quite a bit. But it wasn't like any of it was really impressive. Veinshire was loaded with dust that he used, Combhome was simply a case of being the bait and beating the culprits. (who weren't that good at fighting) He engaged each of the Three Cannon Gunmen seperately and with advantages. And he really didn't know how he saved Micksville from being destroyed by Grimm. But it certainly wasn't him 'singlehandedly defeating every last son of a bitch there.'
Shrugging, he almost went to sleep. Almost. There were a few things nagging at him. First, his foot was a bit uncomfortable. Second, he had slept already and didn't feel like breaking the trust vested in him. Third, there was a giant fucking localized tornado in the slight distance.
It was probably the third thing that kept him awake.
"What the?" Jaune squinted, blinked, and only got more confused as, following a localized lightning storm which was equally confusing, a tank's worth of leaves rose in the air, froze, and were shot like projectiles at something he couldn't see. There were two options, one: leave it the hell alone. Two: investigate. He decided on option two, might as well. So, with the twirl of Crocea Mors, he sprinted over to the localized disaster zone.
What he found wasn't pretty. A woman, with shoulder-length brown hair, Huntsman clothes clearly made for adventuring, and a staff with dust at each end was being attacked by three people. One had dark skin, green hair, and way too little clothes for what was a chilly day. Another guy had grey hair and metal legs. And a third woman joined in the fight. From how far she seemed to approach from, Jaune could tell that this was supposed to be an ambush attack. And, guessing from that, he assumed that the brown-haired girl was the victim of the ambush. He also watched a bit more of the fight.
The brown haired girl only fought to protect herself, always on the defensive. Meanwhile, the metal-legged guy aimed his kicks at vital organs and the red-dressed lady was trying to gut the brown-haired one. They were getting a few obvious hits in, which made Jaune notice that the green haired girl was staring hard into the brown haired one's eyes. It was clear what Jaune had to do. So, when three arrows were flung by the lady in the red dress, he intervened.
CLUNK!
With his shield, he suddenly jumped in and blocked the three dust arrows that the red lady had shot. Not wasting any time, he pulled out his flare gun and shot a flare at the green haired girl's face (she had aura, it'd be fine). They were too surprised to do anything about it and were hit in the face with the blazing hot light, which temporarily blinded her. The three attackers paused, surprised by his sudden intervention. He shifted his shield back into a sheath and put Crocea Mors back into it. He raised an eyebrow at the three and looked.
"Careful, the green one has illusions. Don't look at her eyes, alright?" Jaune said to the brown haired girl, who looked just as surprised.
"Who are you?" The red lady spoke with confidence, though Jaune could tell she was angry. Obviously, it was because he stopped the attack. Those arrows were loaded with enough dust that it could probably shatter most peoples' armor. The green girl was still blinded, clutching her eyes while her mouth formed a vicious snarl towards whoever dared attack her. The silver haired one looked indifferent, if a bit annoyed at the interruption.
"Eh, just some guy." He kept his stance loose. And his face was always kept to his trademark goofy smile. "Just happened to be passing by! By the way, that's a nice sword. Not many people use bows nowadays, though I can appreciate those who don't use guns." His talking was for many reasons. First, to stall for time. He was waiting for the girl behind him to regenerate her aura and possibly for her to explain what the hell was going on.
"I asked, who are you?" The red lady's voice was grave, unamused as it seemed. He sighed dramatically.
"So rude." She really didn't like at that. He could've sworn he saw fire dust weaving in her dress kindle at that. Well, it wasn't like his life was on the line there. "I'm just some random guy, no need to know. But if I must, may I have the pleasure of your name first? I rarely get to see such a beauty in the wild." The compliment apparently stroked her ego.
"Perhaps you should let this beauty do her business. We have things to do with that woman. Leave now and forget what you've seen."
"Nah, I mean, you're obvious robbing this poor girl. And, you are beautiful, but you ain't that beautiful. Not pretty enough to make me step away." And Jaune instinctively put his shield up against the sudden arrow that shot at him. With a bit of aura in his shield, the arrow essentially flattened on it.
"WHAT?" Jaune, kind of not reading the room, just kept going.
"I mean, you look pretty and all, but I'm not into older girls. Plus-"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" The green haired girl had regained her eyesight and was shooting at him. Fortunately, he avoided her eyes and put up his shield. From the ferocity in her tone, she was definitely attached to this red lady.
"Yeesh, I faced worse in Veinshire."
That stopped the firing and the green haired girl, and the red lady for the at matter, stopped to stare at him. He avoided the mint haired one's eyes in favor of amber eyes. She seemed curious at the very least.
"That was you? I must say, you were quite, thorough, in your work. Now, as someone who has faced their fair share of danger, I'd recommend you walk away. You are encroaching on matters you need not know about." Jaune hummed a bit before sighing.
"Quick introductions, I'm Amber. If it comes to a fight, I'll back you up." Amber whispered to him.
"Cool." He whispered back. While he was perfectly well and good fighting Grimm, other people was another story. The green girl wouldn't be hard, just outlast her ammo reserves. With any melee weapon hidden in it probably not being strong enough to beat a shield. And her semblance wasn't an issue with his flares and knowledge of it. The metal legged one would be harder. He fought with skill and his kicks looked deadly.
Plus, he had shotguns in his legs.
Anyways, the red haired one fought with the skill of a hunter. There was no question about it. While silver and green might be able to stall at the very least, and stall while losing at that, Cinder seemed to be a bit below Amber's skill as far as he saw, but he wasn't sure if just the two of them could beat the three of them. He might be able to exploit the lack of teamwork amongst them (they didn't work in coordination, more so just doing their own thing while trying not to get in the others way.) but he wasn't going to be on it.
"You've made a mistake. We will be back." But before Jaune could really formulate a plan, she conceded. Why? Despite his bluffing and confidence, Jaune wasn't that good of a fighter. He'd probably have a lot of trouble against the metal legged person, let alone the red lady. He also felt a little venom in her voice, probably directed at him. That only left one possibility. Regardless, the red lady walked away with her minions. He could hear the silver and green haired ones say something to the red lady, but they were immediately cut off by her. He supposed she was the boss of this little ambush, given how she spoke on behalf of the group.
When he was sure they were gone, Jaune turned back to Amber, who held her staff tightly. She was looking him up and down, judging him.
"So, thank you I guess?" She was hesitant, understandable, she'd just been ambushed.
"Nah, it's no problem. I'll be going on my way, be careful on these roads." He began walking back to the farm, but felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned back to see Amber, with a white horse next to her once more. She seemed, hesitant, scared even.
"H-hey, I know you don't know me, but, can I come with you for a bit? I-I don't feel safe. She was shaking a bit, probably unused to the ferocity and willingness to kill she'd faced. Or at least, the ferocity and willingness to kill she'd faced from other people. It was always a hard thing to face, people who clearly wanted you dead. Not just injured, dead. It was something he rarely faced, if he was being honest. Even bandits just wanted to maim typically, or didn't have the same precision. The red lady and her cohorts were trained. At least, the red lady and silver haired one seemed to be. The green one had no real 'style' per say, it was more wild in the non-deliberate way. Regardless, they were fleeing for now. And plus, beautiful people like Amber were hard to find in the frontier. To be fair, he'd gone long amounts of time without interacting with people, so 'attractive' wasn't exactly the only qualities he wasn't getting much exposure to. 'Alive' was as well.
"Sure!" Jaune flashed her an easy grin. She nodded and followed him to the farm, where he sat on the same rocking chair while she leaned against a support beam after tying her horse's leash on it.
There was silence for a good moment, but Jaune reckoned all must come to an end at some point.
"Should I ask why they wanted to kill you?"
"I-it's private, sorry."
"Nah, it's fine." People had their reasons. "Well, what's her name?" He looked at the horse, who seemed to almost glow. He paid a bit more attention before giggling. She raised an eyebrow and he barely controlled his laughter. "I-I'm sorry, d-d-d-does that horse have Aura?"
"Yes." She gave him a pout. "It was a good idea at the time, Grimm had attacked." And his laughter died in a hole.
"Sorry, just that I haven't heard about horses with aura before." It wasn't impossible per say. At least to his understanding, anything with a 'soul' could have aura. So, technically, any living being could have aura. Did that mean potted plants could have aura? Did that aura extend to the pots they were in? Do plants and animals with aura unlocked taste different? Do they have different benefits? Does eating an aura-unlocked pig also refill your aura? What was Jaune thinking about before. Oh yea, aura-horse.
"It's fine. Her name's Albus." Jaune thought for a bit, rubbing his chin. "What?"
"I just realized something, why do we name our weapons? I get why we'd name ourselves, or pets, or other things! But why our weapons? I mean, look here." He pulled out his sword. "This is Crocea Mors. My grandpa used it in the Great War. He was apparently the greatest fighter in his army and his blade was nicknamed the 'Yellow Death' after him. I don't think he called his sword that before."
"Eh, how did we get here?"
"I dunno, you wanna talk about your life story?" She looked hesitant. "Then humor me, I just don't get it."
"Didn't you learn this in class? The concept is simple. As Huntsmen, our weapons are parts of ourselves. That's why reinforcing aura into our weapons is easier than typical. It's because we see our weapons like extensions of our will, our soul. Giving it a name is just a part of that." Jaune nodded, it sounded simple enough he supposed.
"Oh yea, I remember. Teach really tried jamming it in my head. I suppose that's one lesson that didn't really stick. Or, I guess it did? I mean I can put aura in this baby just fine." Amber seemed to perk up.
"Oh? Was it Goodwitch?"
"Goodwitch?"
"Professor Glynda Goodwitch? Of Beacon Academy?" He didn't respond, still confused. "Oh, did you go to another academy?" He didn't respond. "Shade? Haven? Atlas?" Nope, nope, and definitely not. Too cold. Plus, he heard the uniforms were more like monkey suits. To be fair, that was also-sorta the case with Beacon. But hey, Beacon was like, the best one. At least in his opinion.
"Hah. Hah." His laughter was wooden. "Yea, didn't go to an academy. Didn't even go to a combat school." While his earlier laughter was wooden, the chuckle that followed when he saw the horrified expression on Amber's face was pretty real.
"What!? Really? T-then, w-what was that about? With the whole thing a-about Veinshire?"
"W-well, here's the funny thing. I lied." The look on her face was priceless. In the end, she just gave up with a sigh.
"Well, I can't complain. Still, most who try to become a Huntsman without training just, die. I take it you were an apprentice?" He nodded.
"Yea, my family didn't exactly approve of my choice. So, I sorta ran away? Yea, not the smartest decision." Yea, his teacher made sure to never let him forget how dumb of a mistake that was.
"Well, at least someone found you. It's kind of funny, you know?" She paused and gained a solemn look on her face. "Do you believe in destiny?"
Did he? Could he? He supposed he could, though if he did, then whoever made it is far beyond his or anyone's comprehension. There was no reason to believe it was a thing, then again there was no reason not to. Proof that it exists could equally serve as proof it didn't. But it wasn't a question of if it exists, it was if Jaune believed in it. And that was an easier question.
"No, I don't." In the sense of 'destiny' being some pathway you were meant to take. The universe was practically screaming at him not to become a Huntsman, but he said screw it and left anyways. Amber laughed.
"You know, I kind of expected that. Since I was a little girl, people have always said I'm special. It was, nice, at first. Someone always said I was destined for greatness. I was spoonfed ideas of becoming a hero, a hunter. And when I was finally finished? When I was officially a licensed huntress, I was denied. He told me I was too important, that I couldn't live my own life. Then I realized that my importance was a cage, a cage I'm still locked in."
He nodded, knowing it best not to interrupt.
"Those people that tried to kill me, they wanted something from me. Something that can only be gained from killing me. Something important I've had for most my life." Jaune couldn't make heads or tails, she was only giving a vague idea. But that vague idea was enough to tell him that she was dealing with a lot of stress.
"Is that why you wander? To be free?" She nodded. "It's a fair idea. But, it seems your conviction has been shaken, what will you do?" A dusty old crow sat on the porch, probably listening in. Jaune didn't have the heart to shoo it away, nor did Amber.
"They tried to kill me. I could see it, in that archer's eyes most of all. She wanted me dead so much." Amber was shaking once more and Jaune went to comfort her, sitting opposite from her on the porch. "I don't know what I'll do. If I die and she gets that power, I-I, I-I don't know. If that happens, t-the world will be torn apart." Jaune didn't question it, he didn't need to. "Can I trust you?"
"Weird question. But, I don't know. Maybe you can. I'm just the knight in shining white, who knows whats under the armor." Amber chuckled at the dramatic analogy. "Seriously though, take your time. This isn't Vale, not everything is on the clock." Amber nodded.
"I'll decide to trust you." Jaune nodded and Amber closed her eyes. She opened them again, only for fire to blaze out of them. It could've been a semblance, but Jaune wasn't detecting aura. It was something else entirely. Something close to aura, but not quite there. It felt ethereal, wild, and odd. Power was radiating from Amber and she let her palm face the sky. In her hand, a small tornado began to form. Leaves started coming from the tornado, and then, it collapsed, simply leaving leaves in her hand. She blew those leaves away, making them burn into dust. She sighed and blinked slowly once more, letting the fire subside. "That is why they tried to kill me. I-It's something I've had for a long time.
Jaune nodded. "Cool."
...
The crow squawked, as if surprised. Amber's eyes were wide.
"W-what?"
"Cool. What? Did I say something odd?"
"I-it's just that I expected more surprise, you know. It's magic!" Jaune hummed a bit before shrugging.
"Eh, who cares? I mean, I could probably do that. Shove a couple leaves up my sleeve and give me a crystal of wind dust and I can make it happen. Also just a pinch of fire dust as well. I mean, I've used dust a lot of times, it's really versatile." Amber contemplated that explanation. "I take it you created the tornado and lightning?" She nodded. "Yea, not too exciting. I mean, just toss electricity dust in the air and activate it. And anyone good enough with dust can create tornadoes, it's just ridiculously expensive. I mean, seriously! Do you know-"
"Stop! Stop! No, this is not happening, what!? How are you taking this so well!?" Amber's somber moment was completely hijacked by confusion over Jaune's willingness to accept the possibility of literal magic. "I've met people with semblances that are so close to magic it's unreal that told me they were surprised! Who are you!?" She was riled up, practically in his face at that point.
"Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." Jaune didn't mean to get flirtatious. That corny introduction was just kind of ingrained into him. Mostly because Coral wanted him to sound 'suave' to test out some dialogue for her novel. And hoo boy would the others never let him forget the first time he said it. They had it recorded and all! Wait, would they try blackmailing him with that recording to get him to come home? They wouldn't, would they? Oh crap, they would. Jaune was going to have to watch out for that. Oh yea, magic lady, totally forgot. Said magic lady had slumped back down on her side of the porch and began snickering.
"S-sorry it's just- HAHAHA! Oh, sorry. I-I've been tense and this conversation helped me a lot. Some people I know, who I don't think I can say the names of, wanted to keep me in Vale to protect my powers. But I just, couldn't."
"You couldn't sit by with power as the Grimm ravaged the countryside?"
"That's what I told myself. When I left, it was because my home was attacked. That's where I found Albus. I continued to say it while I wandered from town to town, making rivers and lakes to help with droughts, slaying Grimm, protecting people, and stopping fires. It was only when I was told to come back when I realized that I just wanted to be free. Helping people's nice and all, but I wanted freedom." Jaune, once more, shrugged.
"Fair nuff." Amber gave a sigh that was filled with irritation yet also a light amount of fondness.
"Nothing ever fazes you, eh?"
"You know, I wasn't lying when I said I leveled Veinshire, it's just not in the way anyone thinks." Amber raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I guess you could start now."
"Yea. Well, it was because of a job."
An hour or so later and the family had come back from the funeral. After checking their farm, they thanked Jaune for doing them a favor. The crow followed them, though Jaune really didn't think much of it. He denied any gifts and got on his way with Amber. From afar, he might've looked like the escort, but she was the far more dangerous person. First of all, she was an actually trained huntress. Second of all, she had more experience than him. Third of all, the magical powers that Jaune was constantly forgetting about.
"And then I decided to roast some bacon I found on the last bits of fire." Jaune finally finished up his story about his month-long clearing of Veinshire. It was essentially just a Grimm culling, except instead of a forest he was dealing with a town.
"You are either one of the best fighters I've seen or one of the luckiest people alive." Amber had cringed at his less than ideal choices during the entire journey. "I mean, really? You're good, great even at fighting Grimm, but you don't even carry basic survival tools?"
"Hey, I carry my flare gun!"
"Really? I meant more than that! What about a tent! Or a sleeping bag!? Or even just some rations!?" She had all those things in the sack her horse was carrying. Meanwhile, Jaune had taken his teacher's approach of not bothering with any of that at all, for the sole reason of saving lien.
"Well, I got jerky." Jaune pulled out a stick, which he subsequently took a bite out of. He was getting a bit peckish.
"Oh my god you are such a wreck." Amber was grinning while facepalming, having laughed her fair share when he described the comical amount of bumbles he made during his many fights. "What about that weapon of yours? Most hunters use something a bit more complex. You know, a sliding extension, a different form, a hidden gun, dust cannisters. I don't really see anything on there." Jaune had a smile on.
"Well, it was my grandfather's, I told you. It'd feel disrespectful to modify it." Before she could say anything, he rolled his eyes. "That's the first reason. Second of all, I find that a simple weapon like this fits me perfectly. I mean, tell me how many ways that this sword can malfunction?"
"I-I, hmmm. Aside from you stabbing yourself, pretty much none?" She began inspecting her staff, Parting Ways. She looked at the extending mecha-shift feature in contemplation.
"Now, theoretically, how many ways can a tommy gun waraxe with a collapsable long handle jam, break, malfunction, misfire, and blow up?" Amber, having taken basic weapon engineering, began counting on her fingers before moving onto mentally going through the possibilities. "That was rhetorical, it's a ridiculously long list. Now tell me, why? It increase the vunerability of your weapon, makes you reliant on things like oiling kits and other tools to repair them if they get jammed, and they're also ridiculously expensive."
"Versatility I guess? I just have my thing collapse for ease of use."
"Yes, but why have your sword turn into a gun if you can carry a gun as well?" That was a good point. One that simply made Amber shrug.
"Eh, carrying one is more convenient?"
"But then if it gets knocked away, you'll lose access to both options. My flare gun isn't taped onto my sword for the same reason I wouldn't want to glue Crocea Mors into the shield." This was mostly Jaune rehashing the rant his teacher went on when he self-deprecated about his sword. He had a mecha-shift rifle/katana himself but always would get annoyed with how the gears would jam, get loose, or just break entirely.
"Eh, well it's not really my question to ask. You have some good points, but it's also about weight-efficiency. Aside from value, why have a solid iron statue if you can remove ten tons inside and make it hollow without compromising the security?" Jaune shrugged.
"That reminds me, I have to save up." He muttered before turning back to Amber. "Anyways, where are we heading?"
"To a nearby village. I was asked to meet with a friend of someone I know." Sensing she was being vague for a reason, he moved on.
"What then?"
"Hmm?"
"It looks like you have to make a choice. You could go back to Vale, but is sitting in there really any safer? And if you keep on wandering like this, those three will attack you again." Jaune liked helping people, but he really didn't see any way to help Amber except point out the obvious. "So, what will you do?"
"I don't know, alright? I hated being cooped up in Vale. I wasn't allowed to take any missions because of my value. I'm pretty sure if they could, I'd be locked up in a basement." Jaune hummed a bit.
"Well, they haven't, yet." A grim chuckle emerged from him. "Amber, I'm not exactly looking for a traveling buddy, so I cant help you there. And if your power is as rare as I might think, then those three are going to chase til the ends of the earth to kill you. Or at least the red lady. I'm not saying you should go to Vale, because that won't help."
"It won't?" Amber wasn't expecting him to say that.
"It won't. The only thing you're protected from in Vale would be the Grimm, which isn't exactly your problem. In fact, Vale is probably worse. To keep a low profile there, you'd either have to change your identity, keep a super low profile, or straight up just lock yourself from the outside world." Each option made Amber cringe. "Yea, I thought so. Either get someone whose abilities and loyalty you trust, or hide so well that your enemies give up entirely, and that won't exactly be an easy task." Amber sighed and put her hands to her head.
"This isn't what I thought life would have in store. I have people that either want to kill me or imprison me to protect me from the people who want to kill me." Truly, a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. And the thing about those types of situations is, that there's no 'good' option.
"Yep. Sorry." She rolled her eyes, back straight, and standing strong despite it all.
"Don't be. I guess I have to keep a low profile and jump towns more often." She sighed, knowing that'll both be a pain to deal with and not even a guarantee that her hunters will give up or not find her. There's no accounting for chaos, after all. Jaune looked towards the horizon, seeing the town she was talking about.
"Well, I guess I'll see you later? Talking with someone else has been nice. It gets lonely on the road." Jaune looked around them, partially out of worry that the three random bandits would pop up again.
"Yea, see you later Jaune."
The crow that had been following them watched as Jaune and Amber parted ways, putting to mind the face of the blond hunstman.
The White Knight once came across,
A town distressed,
But he handed the bandits a loss,
And he left the town a fortress.
It had been a week since then and Jaune was in another town. Loketon, a small dust mining frontier town that actually was an independent dust seller. Due to Valean laws regarding those, they actually got better dust prices selling to the SDC than if they were an official mining outpost. Though, also because of that, they didn't recieve any official protection from the SDC and were a target for bandits. Currently, their 'protection' was essentially them being extorted by a bandit gang called the Shredders. Anyways, Jaune woke up in his hotel room only to find another person in his bed.
A middle aged man, black hair that was beginning to gray, stubble, a black and red cape, an outfit that could be described as 'adventure casual' and the smell of alcohol constantly coming off of him. He was definitely a hunter. How could he tell? There was a giant mechashift sword-shotgun in the corner of the room. And Jaune was pretty damn sure that wasn't his. Jaune was also recovering from a massive hangover and also was wondering what the hell he did yesterday. It was afternoon when he decided to grab a drink and after that, everything was a blur.
"Hmmm, I like my women strong." The man was also cuddling his arm.
"I'm underage."
"FUCK!? WHAT THE HELL!?" That certainly got him up. He leaped out of bed in a flurry and stared at Jaune. "GOD DAMNIT! I think Tai was right, I should stop drinking if this is - are you a guy? Oh no, did I come onto you? Did you come onto me? Did we both drink? Please tell me we were both drunk, or better yet, only I was drunk."
"Look down." To protect his fragile masculinity, he did so.
"Oh, didn't score. Well, I guess that's a good thing here." He got up and looked around, straightening his outfit and getting a look for their surroundings. "So uh, what happened yesterday? Why were we in bed together? Can we forget that ever happened? I really really really want to keep that under wraps."
"Sure. And I have no clue. My head is killing me and my memory stops after I came into the bar."
"Bar, bar, oh yea! Yea I think I got some drinks with you. This your first time? The first hangover is always the worst."
"Pretty much." Sure he'd had a sip of his dad's beer once, though he spat it out once he realized how badly it tasted. And with the killer headache, he wasn't sure why anyone drank.
"Here. I don't usually say this, but considering what I thought I might've did, sorry." He tossed a pill bottle over to Jaune, who took some and tossed it back for the man to just gulp it all down. "Name's Qrow, you?"
"Jaune."
"Cool. You mentioned you were underage, what's a kid like you doing wandering out here?" Qrow walked over to their weapon and got to some morning maintenance. "An academy dropout?"
"No, just a wandering huntsman." Qrow scoffed.
"Pfft, really? You look as young as one of my nieces. And she's still not ready." He sat down on one of the wooden chairs of their hotel room as he attended to his blade. Jaune supposed he should get to working on Crocea Mors, so he pulled out his sword as well. The mecha-shift function in his shield wasn't really all that complicated so he just had to do some basic oiling and that was it. For Crocea Mors, all he really had to do was shine it and make sure the handle is clean. The blade seemingly never got dull.
"Eh, being thrown into the wild makes for a good teacher." For some reason, that got Qrow to laugh and mutter something about landing strategies.
"Well, that's true enough. Say." Jaune had put on his armor and was stretching for whatever the day would throw at him. "That's some awfully white armor. Reminds me of some stories I've heard."
"Oh, of me? Most of it is crap. Except the refusing of pay, unless its an official job. I still have some things I need cash for." He also had to maintain his armor.
"Yea, not many people wear armor anymore, you know. Aura does the job as well, if not better."
"Yea, well I'm not exactly wearing a full set of platemail. It's just a chest piece, not even all that covering." Well, a chest piece and shoulder guards. But still, it wasn't all that much. He'd been told by many people that his huntsman clothes were rather plain and he liked it that way.
"Yea, yea, I guess." Moving on, he pulled out his flare gun. He really should give a name to the thing, but he honestly didn't feel like it.
"Nice gun." Qrow gave a smirk as Jaune spun and admired the piece.
"Shut it, this baby will be in the Arc Family Hall of Fame one day." It was a small metal flare gun with a blooming barrel much like a blunderbuss, though definitely smaller and shorter. It was painted white, much like Jaune's armor, and had gold trimmings on it plus the Arc Family double crescent. Originally, it was quite the general weapon, now? It was Jaune's.
"Hey, no disrespect or anything. A flare gun's pretty versatile, just saying that it's kinda small. I've seen guys your size wield cannons twice their size, and you choose a flare gun? Why?"
"Ammo is cheap, custom ammo is easy, and it's portable. I travel a lot." Much of Jaune's choices were for reasons based in his logic. Crocea Mors was an easy to maintain weapon, as was his flare gun. His outfit, while simple, was quite generic. Jeans weren't hard to get and repair, nor was his hoodie. His armor wasn't made of complex plates, they were just shaped metal and straps. While if he went to Beacon in that outfit and with Crocea Mors, he would've looked like someone wearing a shitty costume of a hunter, outside of it, it was actually the perfect wandering gear.
"Hmm, can't say you're wrong. Anyways, I feel like we've cooped up in here for far too long. Lets say we go out, have a nice breakfast, and go our seperate ways?"
"Sure, this is a first for me as well." At least, drinking, waking up after it with another huntsman, and having no clue what happened last night was a first. So, the two of them packed up their weapons and went down the stairs of whatever inn they were staying at. The few patrons there widened their eyes when they saw him, a few raised their glasses, only raising more questions. Qrow and Jaune sat at the bar, Jaune ordering a soda while Qrow got whiskey. They also had some bar food.
Then, two more people came in. One of them was an old man, grey beard, hunched over, and with a wicked iron staff. He came out from the bar side, likely the owner of the place. Coming from the entrance, the newcomer didn't look like a customer. Everyone tensed up when seeing him, the bartender even panicked a bit and looked to the owner, who nodded and allowed the bartender to duck under the bar. The newcomer wore some curious clothing. With military trousers, white shirt, leather jacket, greasy hair, a bandana covering their face, and an Atlesian high caliber pistol, he walked like a cocky gunman or cowboy.
Hell, with the dim lighting of the room in comparison to the light of outside, he practically was.
"So, our boys have been hearing about some ruckus you've been making. Some sort of, rebellion? Look here, old man, today's the day you pay your dues, now, you got the lien?" Wow, these guys were brave making threats in the middle of the room, in public, with two huntsmen listening. Though he supposed they were in the corner of the room. Qrow seemed on edge, though he still kept his posture hunched over and purposefully small. The two of them had their hands on their weapons.
"No." The old man who looked as frail as they came, though his eyes betrayed that fact, stood defiant against the bandit. Even when the bandit pulled out his pistol and pointed it straight at the old man's face, he didn't move an inch.
"WHAT WAS THAT!? You little shit, you know that there's nobody out there to hear your screams. Now, unless you want a little accident out here, I recommend you pay up." And before Jaune could even think of moving, Qrow was but the flapping of his cape. The bandit was clocked in the face, he obviously had aura given that it flashed from the impact. Qrow was fast, faster than Jaune could ever hope to be. And from the looks of that punch, he was strong as well. "GAH!"
"Ok, wow. You are obnoxious." Qrow wiped his fist, looking down at the bandit who stared maliciously at the huntsman. "Look, I don't know what your deal is, but could you shut up while I drink?"
"Why you little!" The bandit aimed his pistol up at Qrow and fired. Jaune knew aura would protect him, but instincts took over and he quickly hopped in front of the bandit, shield already deployed. The bullet pinged off the gleaming metal shield, making the already downed bandit shake. Jaune put down his shield and pulled out Crocea Mors from it, pointing it down.
"Leave." Crocea Mors shone under sunlight as Jaune pointed it at the bandit. "And never return." He would've sounded cool if it weren't for the fact he was currently wincing from his headache. Honestly, that was probably why he sounded so pissed. Typically he maintained a friendly smile, no matter who he's dealing with. Well, typically.
The sound of his voice scared the bandit and he scurried out of the place, yelling something about his boss and how Loketon is going to burn. Jaune put Crocea Mors back into its sheath and collapsed it, then put it at his side and looked back. Qrow raised an eyebrow before giving Jaune, not a thanks, but a noogie.
"Wow, look at Mr. Hero over here! Thinks that this young and spry huntsman needs protection, well lets see how you do against this!" He continued to drill his fist into Jaune's head, who actually had to put up his aura to protect himself. They were interrupted by the old man, who cleared his throat.
"Thank you, White Knight. If you weren't here yesterday, I would've given them their money. But now? The town is brave enough to stand up to them." What. Qrow looked at Jaune with a confused expression, only to find an equally confused and a little scared expression on Jaune's face.
"I-I, what did I do?" Jaune did not drink. He may joke about it sometimes, but he didn't really drink enough to have a hangover like this. So how he acted while piss drunk was a mystery.
"You inspired us all! We were all down in the dumps about collection day, but then you yelled at us all and gave us an inspiring speech! You talked about how we were the toughest motherfuckers on Remnant, how we're here because we ain't afraid of Grimm, so why are we shivering in our boots over some two bit bandits!" One patron shouted, gleefully putting up a mug of frothing beer.
"And it looks like the Shredders are going to attack. We'll need your help with a strategy, because they weren't lying when they said they could bury us."
... Jaune did what when he was drunk? Jaune was going to do what? WHAT!? Oh hell, Jaune heard about what alcohol did, apparently in released inhibitions. And Jaune had two major qualities to him. One, heroism. Whenever he saw something wrong happening he would be the first person to take the hit or protect the victims. Two, pragmatism. He didn't accept rewards, mostly because Lien didn't have too much value to him on the frontier. Instead of cards, which required electronics that the frontier doesn't have the infrastructure for, they used bills and coins. Those took room, even if it was a minor amount. So, on top of genuine altruism, he typically just did tasks for a light meal or some other small thing to skip the middleman. And alcohol probably destroyed his sense of pragmatism, so heroics took over and he was the first person to leap to the town's defense, even if doing that was probably suicide. And as a combatant, even if he was crafty and stronger than average, he would still die if he was shot enough times. And from the looks of that Atlesian pistol, they had some high quality guns.
Qrow had dropped Jaune in shock.
"Oh, well, you fucked up, didn't you?" That was an understatement, because Jaune could put a few pieces together. First, while it was all theoretical, bandits flocking to independent dust mining towns was not entirely opportunistic money grabbing. They usually wielded Atlesian guns. Why? Because the SDC 'lost' them in their territories. Essentially, they were arming foreign bandits to strong-arm small towns until they gave in and allowed the SDC to take over. This wasn't well known for a few reasons. First, the victims were always small frontier towns, the ones that really didn't have a way to spread the news as anything more than rumors. Two, Atlas, the country with the most authority over the SDC, couldn't do jackshit about it because all dust mines in Atlas were owned by the SDC and they had no authority to punish them for what they did in other countries. Three, even if they wanted to, there wasn't any proof beyond the existence of those Atlesian guns, made by the SDC of course. And the guns they dropped were basically just one tier down from military hardware.
To be more specific, automatic dust rifles that could survive being dropped off cliffs. Aura was great and all, but it wasn't exactly a save-all. A clip or two could probably tear through the aura of most. He could probably survive one or two more, but that's it.
The townsfolk in there looked at Jaune expectantly. And then he realized something. Even if he wasn't all that great of a huntsman, these people still believed in him. They still needed him. They just bet their livelihoods on him after he rallied them (even if he was drunk) to rebel against their bandit overlords. Their lives were at risk and unlike him, they couldn't run. So, whether he liked it or not, whether he was scared or not, and whether he felt like he tripped face-first into a horrible situation or not, he had to remain calm. So, without wasting a moment, he steeled himself with a smile and stood up straight for the town.
"Yep! I guess we're fighting against them. I know everyone here has a gun." Yup. Patrons pulled out revolvers and pistols, the bartender nervously pulled out a shotgun, and the old man himself revealed a long rifle from his metal cane. He even attached a scope to it. Qrow leaned against the wall, deciding to observe Jaune. "You!" he pointed towards the old man. "I want you to get to high spot and alert us when they come. We don't have too much time. Make sure you're hidden, I want you to get anyone we can't shoot at when the fighting starts."
"Got it, sonny. If I can snipe an elk from a mile away, I can spot some bastard easily." Jaune nodded.
"Alright, someone go with him to spot and protect in case anyone gets too close." A woman with an old pistol nodded and walked out. "And you!" He pointed towards the one with the shotgun. "I want you and the others here to prepare this place for a shootout. We may be outgunned, but we have the advantage of home turf. And this place is probably built better than most of your homes." They more or else agreed with that and got to work. "I'll go rally up the rest of the townsfolk and help arrange our defenses. We'll beat the odds."
Jaune walked out with a confident step, only allowing himself to slouch and sigh when he was sure nobody was watching.
"Wow, real change of attitude. Maybe I was wrong about you, though some may think you'd still be better at Beacon. Even someone well adjusted needs to learn a few things."
"Eh, I found my place. It'd feel weird being tied down to an academy. Don't think I can get used to sleeping in the same place twice again." Jaune had become a wandering soul, there was no doubt about it. He held fond memories of the places he'd visited, but he never felt a need to stay in any place. Heck, he usually felt a longing to go somewhere else after long enough. The road and wild felt more like home to him.
"Yea, I believe you. No matter what some people say, I think you'd be better out here under your own direction." Jaune didn't know if that was an insult or compliment, but he took it as the latter. It just meant that he was better actually doing good than learning how to do it. He said as much.
"Well, are you going to help me?"
"Hmmm, why don't we just single-handedly dismantle the bandits? You may not be able to, but I'm a veteran huntsman, one whose strong enough to do something simple like that." He wasn't wrong. Though he felt like bringing up his age was a way to get pummeled, Qrow was old for a huntsman. Huntsmen with graying hair that wasn't from stress were rare, most died before that could happen. And if he had hair like that, he either exclusively took low risk jobs or was one tough motherfucker. And Jaune was willing to bet it was the latter.
"We could, but then what?"
"Huh?"
"Do you want to stay here forever?"
"I mean, no?"
"Then we can't do it ourselves. If we destroy the bandits, they might be gone for a while, but I have a feeling new ones will come with SDC made Atlesian firearms. And we probably won't be here by then. It's in the town's long term best interests if we instead prepare them for any future attacks." Qrow looked at Jaune hard in the eye before nodding.
"You have a level head. It's a thing I like about her, but my nieces would probably just go to the bandits and fight them all. You don't think like that. Well, fair enough." Qrow shrugged, giving a relaxed smile to Jaune. While Jaune stood straight once more as they were approached by some miners, Qrow slouched.
"Hey, heard something about the Shredders coming by. You huntsmen arranging it?"
"Yep! Do you have any guns? We need people armed with weapons. I'm thinking about spreading our gunners around some of the buildings to hide while we use the bar as a main stronghold to attract gunfire. From the empty places, we could have people spring out and fire the bandits in an ambush." Jaune used his father's advice, just be confident. And for once, it worked. Well, it worked in convincing the ones in the bar to help solve the problem he caused by being confident, but hey, small details.
Anyways, the town was very small. With houses more like shacks and it being only about the size of two streets. Regardless, with its dust mine and hardy workers, it was safe against most Grimm. Plenty of the townsfolk and even the bandits had their auras unlocked. In cities like Vale or even Argus, unlocking aura without legal permission was a crime due to the physical boosts aura gave. In the frontier, it was practically a requirement. Though their control of aura was typically limited, not having the time, guidance, or really any need to improve it, it was still good enough.
"Yea, we do. But what then? We were thinking of signing off to the SDC, that way the bandits screw off. The town may not get any better, but at least we don't have to pay off those fuckers to screw off." In a sense, it was better. It was the easy and sensible way out. But Jaune kind of dug his own grave here in such a way for that not to be an option. First of all, signing off to the SDC was not going to do anything. They'd take weeks to arrive and get a slight grip on the place. The bandits were coming immediately. But that was a pragmatic answer. He had to go for something else.
"So? You're just going to sell out? How many of you were born in the cities?" None of them raised their hands. "And how many of you were born in some cushy town that didn't need to worry about the Grimm?" None of them raised their hands. "Are you telling me that you are afraid of these bandits? This is what the SDC wants! They want you to give up to them! They think you're weak! Well are you!? Are you people who brave against the Grimm every night by sleeping in a town without walls weak!?"
"NO!" Came various cries, the miners had gathered. The 'town' was more of a village. With around twenty to thirty people, a good quarter farmers, one or two specialists, the bar owner and his employee, and the rest of them miners or their families, it wasn't very large. But to survive out there, they all needed to be armed and tough. And it was very easy to leverage that fact to get them ready to fight.
"Where are we!?"
"LOKETON!"
"AND WHAT WILL ITS NAME BE TOMORROW!?"
"LOKETON!"
"AND WHAT WILL IT NOT BE!?"
"AN SDC MINING CAMP!"
"GOOD! I want five of you ready in the mines to jump out and approach the bandits from behind. I want you to be safe, none of you need to die here. Where are your guns!?" The miners pulled out their own weapons. Because Grimm also appeared in caverns, being armed was a necessity. He saw a variety of pistols and a few shotguns, perfect. They also had their pickaxes with them. "I want the rest of you to either hole up in the bar or some other stronghold. I swear on my name that Loketon will survive another day, as will all of you!" And with that, the miners dispersed. Jaune turned to Qrow. "When the plan goes on, I want you with them."
"Why?" Qrow wasn't stupid, he knew why, but he wanted to hear Jaune say it. He probably meant it as a test.
"You're fast and that's a shotgun. You'd be better ambushing them from behind than taking potshots with that thing from behind cover." Qrow shrugged.
"Well, that's fair. Also gives me a close up on the action. And I'm not the type to cower behind a shield." Jaune took the dig in stride and shrugged it off.
"Keep the miners from rushing in and doing something stupid, alright? I wasn't kidding when I said that they will live another day." Jaune spoke in a way that left no room to argue, though Qrow didn't real have any reason to argue with the request.
"Got it, got it. We better check the town for a doctor though."
"Yea, preparing this town will be a bit of work. And I don't even know how large this gang is."
"These Shredders? I'd say that if its a small bandit clan, then you probably got a group of around fifty people."
"Got it. Hopefully my idea works out. Also, check if the miners have any explosives. We can use those."
"Alright, will do." And so Jaune and Qrow parted ways, the two of them doing their damnedest to help prepare the town to fight off well armed bandits.
A light flashed in Jaune's eye, signalling the start of the attack. Jaune decided to be the only one heading the frontal defense, everyone else was either hidden away or cooped up in the tavern, guns at the ready. Jaune looked at the approaching bandits. They all wore similar gear, with plain shirts, trousers or jeans, and occasionally a leather jacket or so. Most of them carried with them Atlesian guns. Most had automatic rifles. Some who didn't have the build carried pistols. They all seemed to have terrible trigger discipline, their fingers were all on said triggers and they were only held back from shooting him because of their fear or respect of their leader. Jaune counted around fifty people, headed by a rather intimidating looking man. He had two sawed off shotguns at his sides and he wore a sleeveless leather jacket. It probably wouldn't have fit him because his arms had significant muscle on it.
Jaune simply sat in between their approaching path and the town, Crocea Mors and its sheath by his side. He wore a goofy grin and relaxed. Even when he heard the clicking of guns being leveled at him, he never let it down. He heard the distinct cocking of the sawed off shotgun and looked up.
"Howdy, it's a mighty fine day out here in the frontier, isn't it?"
"Move, pretty boy." The leader spoke in a threatening voice, with his finger slowly tightening on the trigger. He was ready to shoot. Jaune could not beat this army, luckily, he didn't need to. He put his hands up and kept his smile.
"Sure!" In a flurry of movement, he kicked away the shotgun pointed at his face, diverting the shot into the ground. The dust kicked up allowed Jaune to pull out his shield, get up, and bash into the leader. The sound of gunfire echoed through the air surrounding Loketon, though not gunfire from those hidden in the tavern. The bandits were wildly firing at Jaune, who was hiding behind his shield and backing up, leading the bandits closer to the town. They were focused on killing him and he could admire that dedication. Unfortunately, he didn't admire it enough to not spring the trap on them.
It was a bit hard, though the incredible amount of gunfire blocked by his shield made it easier to balance. It was like a bed of nails, no singular one made the shield hard to hold since they were all unloading on him at once. They passed by a few buildings and at that point, Jaune was ready to spring the trap. Windows and doors were kicked open and gun barrels stuck out while a lot of the bandits were reloading. Before any of them could say a word, they opened fire.
Approaching Shredders' flanks was Qrow, some miners armed with dynamite and guns behind him. While the bandits were tied down with the gunfire, Jaune took out Crocea Mors and engaged in a fight with the leader of the bunch. He was red with rage and decided to fight Jaune with a brass knucle-sawed off shotgun combo. Considering the man's aura, Jaune was at a strength disadvantage. But where he lacked in that he more than made up with his shield. Or well, he would've, if his shield wasn't wrenched out of his hand by the man before he got a solid punch in plus unloading the two shotgun shells at point blank.
Feeling his aura at around 86% because of that, he recovered quickly and weld Crocea Mors with two hands, standing ready against the man as he pulled out his other shotgun and tried firing both shells once more. Jaune rolled out of the way of the shot and dodged most of the buckshot before going with a stab towards the man's center. While his brass knuckle might've been able to block a swing, he'd have to use aura in his palm to not cut it. And indeed, he did try to hold Crocea Mors with one hand and had to use aura on his palm. Before Jaune got in a contest of strength, he pulled out and made for another stab. Crocea Mors wasn't exactly made for stabbing, but he could do it faster than the bandit leader could make a counterattack.
And while he was fighting, he saw what was happening. The bandits were just being mowed down by gunfire. He convinced the townsfolk to focus their fire on standing targets, because once their aura broke, most untrained people would fall unconscious from the impact. And he was right, unconscious bandits were strewn across the dusty road of Loketon. He wasn't really trying to make any progress fighting the leader, he didn't need to. All he needed to do was wait for the townspeople to gun down his forces, at that point, he'd have won already.
So, in pursuit of that objective, he didn't waste any energy trying to fight. He turned from fighting offensively to stall to evasive maneuvering. He didn't have his shield with him, why bother with any other type of stalling? The man's hand-to-hand wasn't great. His punches were sloppy and over-committed, his kicks put him off balance in a way that Jaune didn't waste the effort of taking advantage of, and he really had no idea how to deal with Jaune's effortless dodging. He wasn't exactly doing somersaults, but he was leaning back or to the side just enough as to avoid letting the leader get any hits in. Tripping on a rock, he fell on his ass and looked up as the leader was about to get a really painful punch in.
The gunfire had stopped, the bandits were all dealt with, and it was just the leader, who was focusing on Jaune. He wondered why the townsfolk weren't firing on him. But he realized why when the flat side of a giant sword conked the leader on the head, breaking his aura and rendering him unconscious. Jaune looked up at Qrow with a grateful smile.
"Hey, thanks!" Jaune took Qrow's hand and was helped up. He looked over the battlefield. The bandits had tried to turn the tides and focus their fire on the townsfolk, but they focused too much on the tavern, which was reinforced, and didn't realize that other shooters were spread out around the town and shooting at them as well. Essentially, they were surrounded by a lesser force they didn't and then couldn't flee from. The doctor of Loketon was attending to a few wounds sustained by the townsfolk while the children of Loketon, who were kept safe locked up in the back of the Tavern while it was all going on, came out with the other townsfolk. Exuberant smiles and joy was evident as everyone cheered, a few hugging each other in joy as they finally rid themselves of the bandits.
"Hey! I just realized something, this is all of them, right?" Jaune realized his solution for the long term. Anyways, Qrow nodded to him. "Then let's just take their guns! And go to whatever camp they have and take whatever else they had in store! And you could probably fetch a good bounty for turning them all in.' At the realization that the entire town was getting better weapons to protect themselves on top of bounty money increased the town's happiness exponentially. So, they began to tie and gather up all the unconscious bandits, making sure to put extra rope on the leader, and took their guns. No miner or their family was without a rifle by the end of the day, nor would they be out of ammo for a while given how much the bandits somehow had in store. The SDC really were 'losing' a lot of it.
The town was grateful, more than grateful even! They cheerfully offered money and weapons, but Jaune denied all of them. For one, Atlesian ammunition wasn't exactly cheap or easy to come by on the frontier. And also he really didn't need their money. He did take some dust crystals with him. To be fair, they were dust miners, they had plenty of them. Enough so that Jaune didn't feel bad about taking one or two of them. And after that was done, he and Qrow were treated to free drinks and food in the bar, where they had a joyous celebration for a deathless victory.
"To the WHITE KNIGHT!" The patrons yelled, raising their glasses. Jaune sipped on his beer with a smile. He didn't feel like waking up tomorrow to realize that he accidentally inspired the town to revolt against the kingdom of Vale due to their lack of protection proportional to the taxes they paid. If he felt unconfident doing that with bandits, he'd feel even worse about trying that shit with a kingdom. Albeit, a kingdom without a military. But also, a kingdom with a large amount of very powerful hunters on its payroll.
"Hey, kid, you did good today." Qrow was drunk, but somehow still lucid after kicking back the strongest alcohol the bartender could get. "Propsh to you!" He drunkenly raised one of his empty glasses to Jaune, who clinked it against his beer before they drank. Well, Jaune did, Qrow just kind of collapsed on the bar. Jaune sort of felt sorry for the nieces he mentioned if this is how he acted all the time.
"Well, thanks I guess." He took a good look at the people of Loketon, tough, alone, and cheery. He smiled, this was often how towns on the frontier were. Depression rates were actually lower (accounting for scale of course) among frontier towns in comparison to the cities by a lot. It kind of was out of necessity though, but it was still nice. "I guess I'll be leaving soon." Yes, come the next morning and Jaune would depart another town once more. He was sure he could've built a home and becomes its protector, but that life wasn't for him. The road and wild beckoned him to come back with its familiar yet foreign passages that held countless surprises and encounters in store. And Jaune always came back to it.
In a tower constantly ticking like a clock, where the floor and walls showed gears working constantly as the clock ticked, an old man sat at his desk. He was sipping from his mug, sipping coffee, or was it hot chocolate? Either way, it gave him energy to move on. As the clock ticked, the level of liquid in his mug lowered, eventually giving way to the bottom of it. The man shrugged and pulled out another mug of the same variety, also filled with the same liquid. And somehow, up in the tall tower overseeing the forest and cliffside, a dusty old crow flew through the window and landed on his floor.
Normally, Ozpin would shoo away any avian that interrupted him, but he made special exception to this one. He didn't blink as the crow turned into Qrow, who spat out a feather and leaned against the wall. Apparently sitting in the chair across from Ozpin made him feel like a student again, the days of which he sat there he really did not want to remember. Ozpin chuckled fondly at the comment before getting down to business.
"What took you so long? I've been waiting for your report on the Fall Maiden." Ozpin had so much to consider and waiting that long had him worried sick. If the Fall Maiden fell into the hands of Salem, then she would have a massive amount of power under her control. The only reason he didn't worry for Qrow was because he always texted back that he was alive and well.
"Yea, got caught up in something. But she was attacked." That nearly gave Ozpin a heart attack. That was not good news. Salem was making her move. "She was able to give me some descriptions, I'll hand them to you later. Anyways, that's not the interesting bit. You see, I wasn't there in time to protect Amber."
"Qrow..." Ozpin raised an eyebrow and intensified the sipping of his mug.
"Shut up, I was late. Anyways, I saw someone protecting her. A Huntsman. Well, a brat of one. From what I see, he's about sixteen."
"Qrow, what's so special about this? Huntsmen protect people all the time. And while his age is rather unusual, he might be an academy drop-out or someone who couldn't get into one." That wasn't so unusual. So many of those decided to take a shot at skipping the academies and act as huntsmen without a license. That usually ends poorly. Either they misuse their talents or they die.
"This kid didn't go to an academy. Didn't even go to a combat school. He didn't even look all that surprised to see the Maiden Powers, and Amber did reveal them." That got Ozpin to raise an eyebrow. All three of those traits were rare and hallmarks of something.
"You suspect this is a ploy by Salem? Or that the boy is working with them?"
"No, doesn't make sense. From what I saw of the fight, before that kid stepped in, Amber was getting beaten. She was on the last dregs of her aura before he came in." Ozpin nodded, it wouldn't really make all that sense if he was an agent of Salem then. "After making sure Amber was all right and ready, I decided to follow him. I got a report written up of the events, but we got drunk together and saved a town from some bandits. To be honest, the kid's good. Not the strongest, nor the best fighter honestly, but he's got a good head on his shoulder. He was able to calm himself, rally the people, and formulate a solid strategy in seconds. Plus, from the dust crystals he was able to pick out as a reward, he's experienced enough with dust to pick the best ones. Plus, he's the White Knight. He's the guy who cleared out Veinshire."
That got a reaction out of Ozpin, or well, as much as he could give one. He merely paused his sipping and looked up at Qrow, who was entirely serious. Ozpin put down his mug. The White Knight was a figure Ozpin had heard about in some of Qrow's reports, but digging through a registry of Huntsman yielded no results. And apparently, the reason was because the White Knight wasn't actually a Huntsman at all, go figure.
"Hmm, should I be asking him to come to Beacon? Those traits are rather rare, they're something I'd like to foster here." And of course, possibly recruit him in this battle against Salem. Strategists like Ironwood were rare and he was incredibly valuable, though his strategies were often a tad blunt for Ozpin's liking.
"Nah, the kid won't. He already considers himself a huntsman, even if he doesn't have a license or education." To be fair, those things weren't really needed if one had the abilities and character of one. "On top of that little tidbit, he's a nomad, said as much himself. The road's his home and I think if he was shipped to Beacon, he'd walk out by the Emerald Forest by himself." Oh well, there was no place in Beacon for those who didn't want it. "Plus, he said that he liked actually being a huntsman opposed to learning to be one." And that was an opportunity.
"Hmmm, that's actually a rather good point. This White Knight might actually be more useful constantly in the field rather than with us." Ozpin could accept that. Plus, it was also less risky that way in case somehow, for some reason, this White Knight was an agent of Salem.
"I actually got his full name, he avoided it for some reason. Jaune Arc. Nicholas' kid, from the sound of it. He even got Old Nick's sword and shield." And that was interesting. "Could I ask something?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I know Nicholas is a great huntsman, but his kid made enemies with Salem's goons. I want him to know and for him to be protected, Oz."
Ozpin found no real problem with that. He'd just have to tell Nicholas wh- Oh son of a bitch.
"Qrow, would you please take this duty off my hands? You see, I'm still swamped with work over next year's Vytal festival and where are you going?" Qrow had already fucked off, leaving Ozpin to be the one to inform Nicholas that they knew of where his missing son was. The man had already come by to try and strangle Ozpin once already months ago, almost succeeding as well, and telling Nicholas this was not going to be pleasant. Especially because if he was told this, he might assume that Ozpin roped his son into the war against Salem, for which Nicholas would then strangle Ozpin again for.
"I'm going to have to ask Glynda to be there."
AN: So, I guess I got that done with. Next chapter's going to be Winter I guess. Also, yea, Jaune's dad. I'm stealing names from Couer Al'aran obviously. I don't know when I'm going to have Nicholas come in. Or maybe I could just wave it off as Juniper telling Nicholas that Jaune has finally found his calling. Maybe. Probably not. Maybe have an awkward family reunion where Jaune is kidnapped and brought back home? And he has to leave because the road calls for him. Well, that's for a later chapter.
AN2: Also, another chapter idea, how would feel if Jaune encountered CVFY on one of their academy missions? I dunno, they are first years while this current time takes place, so I guess it makes sense?